A Room on Lorelei Street (Golden Kite Awards (Awards))9 reviews Mary E. Pearson Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2005 A Perfect Novel + more than just a room + Subtle, Surprising Exploration of Complex Topics + A Bleak and Gripping Story, with Streaks of Hope             Places to Look for a Mother: A Novel15 reviews Nicole Stansbury Carroll & Graf, 2003 Already anticipating the next book + A self-centered woman who borders on mentally ill, messing up her daughters' lives... + A compelling portrait of our need for parental approval + Reminiscent of "White Oleander"             The Chocolate War377 reviews Robert Cormier Laurel Leaf, 1986 Fighting the good fight + Catcher in the Rye meets the Lords of Discipline - Great Audio Version + Chocolate War Hyperboles, symbolism, style, point of view, etc. Many young people do not care...but after 8 years teaching 8th grade, as well as reading the book myself for the first time in 1989, the same age as my current students, the book changed me. Not back then, I merely worshipped the words, that ...             Mystic River418 reviews Dennis Lehane, Brick Scott, 2001 MYSTIC RIVER + Dark and Depressing + When the past and present collide .. + Chilling + A Tale of Three Boys             The Geography of Girlhood9 reviews Kirsten Smith Little, Brown Young Readers, 2006 Courtesy of Teens Read Too + Charming young adult book + A Powerful Debut Novel Novels told in verse usually fall into two categories: those that simply tell a story with poetry, and those that manage to capture a life so eloquently in verse that you fall headfirst into the story. THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD, thankfully, falls into the latter category. Kirsten Smith has ...             In the Deep Midwinter: A Novel9 reviews Robert Clark Picador, 1998 Timeless Issues in a Period Piece + A Stunning First Novel for Robert Clark + A finely nuanced and well crafted novel set in the 1950s. + For people who love Cheever and E. Connell's Mr./Mrs. Bridge             Girls: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)32 reviews Frederick Busch Ballantine Books, 1998 Exploring Human Suffering + Tragic and disturbing + A powerful and honest Story. What a troubled world we live in! Mr. Busch takes us into a world where girls are abducted and murdered, a story told from the perspective of a man troubled by his own secrets and his own loss, who is called upon to assist the family of a girl who disappeared. The story of what might be an ...             The Best Recipes in the World31 reviews Mark Bittman Broadway, 2005 terrific cookbook with an interesting challenge + A great book. + Let your International Flavor sing + Sophisticated yet Easy             Back When We Were Grownups: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)264 reviews Anne Tyler Ballantine Books, 2001 A book for women + Can you change your life? + Back When We Were Grownups + Refreshingly "normal" + Rebecca Davitch - A Stranger in Her Own Life             Celine (A Sunburst Book)12 reviews Brock Cole Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003 Best Book Ever, Period + Achingly funny + Portrait of the Artist as a Teenage Girl + Hilarious! + This book was awesome!             Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes124 reviews Chris Crutcher HarperTeen, 2003 An outstanding read for any age... + Staying Fat for Sarah Bynes + dang captivating + Wow             ALL TOGETHER NOW (Sue Ellen Bridgers Glb Reprints)1 review Sue Ellen Bridgers Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1979 A great book you'll want to share with a friend All Together Now, by Sue Ellen Bridgers, is a good book that'll teach you something as you keep reading. The minute Casey stepped off the bus, she new that summer would be very different. She meets Dwayne, who thinks she is a boy, and they become very good friends. She helps Hazard and Pansy ...             The Position: A Novel29 reviews Meg Wolitzer Scribner, 2005 The Kind of Book I Love, but Rarely Find + Good book! + She "gets" big families + Life... + Just like a new position, this one had some awkward moments             The Jungle: The Uncensored Original Edition57 reviews Upton Sinclair See Sharp Press, 2003 The reason I pay my union dues + Important, not-to-miss + Jungle + Timeless Classic             Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything14 reviews E. Lockhart Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2006 An Earth Shakingly Amazing Book! + Fun Read--not graphic in any inappropriate way Gretchen Kaufman Yee is an artist--mainly of the comic book variety--and a student at the Manhattan High School for the Arts (Ma-Ha). In a school full of creative, artistic types she feels like the only "normal" person there--which makes her a total outsider. She has one friend (who has been scarce ...             The Husband's Dilemma: Stories2 reviews Nicole Stansbury Carroll & Graf, 2004 husbands, lovers and other interesting stories I enjoyed reading this book. It is a book containing short stories dealing with husbands and wives or girlfriends and their lovers. Be warned some of the stories are very sexual. Some of the stories are humorous others are sad. The story titled, The Broken Children reminded me of a true story ...             Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose14 reviews Flannery O'Connor Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1969 " O'Connor's School For Writers" + Breaking O'Connor Open + amazing book! + an excellent read + The distinct, distinguished Catholic voice from the South             Tweaked: A Crystal Meth Memoir6 reviews Patrick Moore Kensington, 2006 "Tweaked" + Fascinating in Ways I Didn't Expect This is an excellent book. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as I have some knowledge of this addiction and found it to be true to form.             Story of a Girl27 reviews Sara Zarr Little, Brown Young Readers, 2007 wow... + Wow, this is GOOD! + Fast Read + Read it! + A Touching Coming of Age Tale             Saroyan: A Biography Lawrence Lee, Barry Gifford University of California Press, 1998 Along with Ernest Hemingway, William Saroyan, winner of a Pulitzer Prize in drama for The Time of Your Life and an Academy Award for the screenplay of The Human Comedy , was the most well-known American writer of the 1930s and 1940s. Lawrence Lee and Barry Gifford heard Saroyan's story first-hand from Carol Matthau, the wife he rejected; the son and daughter he alternately smothered and pushed ...