When life gets tough, April talks to the "Dove Girl" poster above her bed for comfort. But when she asks the poster for a boyfriend, what she ends up getting is a whole mess of problems.
In Liz Gallagher's debut novel, "
The Opposite of Invisible," April gets caught in a web between outsider, artistic best friend Jewel whom she has known forever as "just-a-friend", or ultra-hunk football player Simon Murphy who has taken a sudden interest in her. When both kiss her and ask her to the Halloween Dance in the same 24 hours, April must pick one relationship, even if it means ruining the other.
In this fast paced novel filled with underground bands, hip coffee shops, first kisses (and more...) and the frenzy of being a fifteen year old girl who doesnt quite know who she is, April must learn that a place does exist between popular and invisible.
For John "Spud" Milton, life as a thirteen year old growing up in South Africa is anything but normal. Not only does he have to deal with the crazy antics of his semi-lunatic father who is scared South Africa is being taken over by communists, but also his senile grandmother who belives everyone has joined in on the plot to rob her of all of her belongs, namely her strawberry jam. To make matters worse, Spud is sent off to an all boys school and encounters some of the most lively (and strange) people that he has ever met.
Written in the epistolary form,
Spud experiences the normalcy, and quite a few of the abnormalities, of growing up in an all boys school. From late night swims to excentric quad-mates, Spud's adventures are never short of hilarious.
John van de Ruit really captured the trials and tribulations of a teenage boy in this outrageously funny, quick-witted, and at times, extremely moving first novel.
Watch for: Spud- The Madness Continues... (the sequel)
edit 08/2009- I LOVE both these books. If there is a third (which I hear there may not be...) I will be sure to review it.
Ethan Oppenheimer never thought much about his life in the suburbs of Pennsylvania until an incident and suspension at school led him to be sent away to his grandparents house in the inner city in Washington D.C. As the only white student in a predominantly African American and Hispanic school, all eyes are on Ethan. Dealing with his grandparents old fashioned ways, his parents divorce, a crush on a girl he can't understandand and trying to find friends in a place where he doesnt feel he belongs, Ethan begins to understand, and regret, the choices that he has made. 
Ethan, Suspended in the mist of gang confrontations and digging up information about riots and civil rights, discovers that things that he has never cared too much about may hit closer to home than he had thought. Ethan learns family secrets and discovers that his suspension from school may not be the only reason he was sent to D.C. In this heart warming tale about a young boys transition from a world of PlayStation and junk food to a place where he must realize what truely counts in life, readers will cheer Ethan on and embrace the changes that he makes in this novel.
In Jo Knowles novel
Lessons from a Dead Girl, fifth grade Leah and Laine become fast friends. Leah, who is popular, beautiful and very mature for her age, takes advantage of Leah's quiet and shy ways. Leah slowly convinces Laine to "experiment" in the closet, doing things that Laine feels unsure about and as they get older and into high school Leah becomes less and less sure that Leah has her best intrests in heart.
But when Leah dies in a tragic accident that Laine feels she may have played a part in, Laine is flooded with memories of her relationship with Leah and struggles to understand why Leah, who haunted her her entire life, continues to haunt her after death. In this tragic and moving novel, true friendships are tested as Laine learns the power that a secret can hold over someone and discovers the real meaning of forgiveness.
