(4) YA Eighteen-year-olds Hildy and Paul are paired in an experiment (inspired by a real-life psychological study) that tests whether intimacy between strangers can be achieved through a series of questions. A predictable romance plot is made livelier through engaging formatting, including IMs, texts, and transcript-style dialogue. The pair's entertaining banter, while in ways revealing, only scratches the surface of the characters' painful home lives.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(4) YA Orca Soundings series. Mick worries about ex-girlfriend Jade's four-year-old brother, who suffers from migraines. As Gavin's migraines worsen and Jade grows overwhelmed, Mick winds up taking care of them both. Mick's narration alternates with Jade's diary entries; the two perspectives reveal Jade's machinations (and her skewed sense of reality). Good-guy Mick and control-freaky, attention-hungry Jade are fairly flat characters, but the final reveal is well supported.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(4) YA Orca Currents series. Fifteen-year-old Dan takes a job that requires him to wear a humiliating hot dog costume, handing out samples at a food fair. The slapstick plot that unfolds features warring food mascots, a security officer looking for pickpockets, and two pretty girls who use Dan as a foil for their thievery. Light if predictable fare aimed at reluctant teen readers.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) YA Orca Soundings series. Ria adores her father, so when it appears that he may have defrauded investors and even faked his own death, Ria's world collapses. Running away seems like the only answer, but Ria's adventure turns nightmarish and she must return to face her problems. Although superficial, this topical melodrama is a quick and entertaining read.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) 4-6 Orca Currents series. Emery has misgivings about going along with Richard's practical jokes on the neighborhood, but "boredom's the reason lots of people get into trouble." How far will the two boys go to harass their neighbors? What exactly will the consequences be? When the story takes a bizarre turn, events liven up, though the lack of character development is a problem.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer

(3) YA Orca Currents series. Dan Hogg, a.k.a. Pigboy, can't believe his bad luck when his class takes a field trip to a pig farm. He's prepared for taunting, but not the deadly situation waiting at the farm or his unlikely role as hero. This slim but well-developed novel clearly targets reluctant readers and is memorable for its sustained intensity.

Reviewer: Lauren Maggio

(4) YA Thirteen-year-old narrator Cyril's mom is a twenty-eight-year-old former street kid who becomes an activist lawyer. When she gets kidnapped, Cyril must follow the clues to save her. Grant's characters are fresh and quirky, and she effectively combines humor with suspense. At times, however, she strains for a teenage voice, and there's an unexamined undercurrent of meanness in the story.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz