(4) 4-6 Find Your Talent series. General directions guide readers through establishing a web presence. Anecdotal snippets about already established and popular sites add interest to the sometimes contradictory text (in Blog: "'wallpapers'...can make text difficult to read" and "brighten up the look of your blog by using...'wallpapers'"). The busy collage-style layout may be appealing to kids willing to scrutinize the pages. Some of the advice seems like common sense. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Find Your Talent titles: Make a Podcast and Start a Blog.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) 4-6 Find Your Talent series. Finding your style, recruiting bandmates, and booking first gigs are among the general steps outlined toward achieving musical stardom. Anecdotal "Early Days" of famous bands make pipe dreams seem possible; the busy collage-style layout may appeal to kids willing to scrutinize the pages. Some of the advice seems like common sense. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) 4-6 Find Your Talent series. General directions guide readers through establishing a web presence. Anecdotal snippets about already established and popular sites add interest to the sometimes contradictory text (in Blog: "'wallpapers'...can make text difficult to read" and "brighten up the look of your blog by using...'wallpapers'"). The busy collage-style layout may be appealing to kids willing to scrutinize the pages. Some of the advice seems like common sense. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Find Your Talent titles: Make a Podcast and Start a Blog.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) YA In Claysoot, males disappear at midnight on their eighteenth birthdays. Gray witnesses his brother Blaine's "Heist," then discovers he and Blaine are actually twins--so why wasn't Gray taken, too? While evocative of The Hunger Games and Running Out of Time in some respects, plot gaps and a flat love triangle mar this fast-paced novel kicking off another dystopian series.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(3) YA When high school junior Ashleigh texts her boyfriend a nude photo, she never envisions that their relationship will take a turn for the worse, resulting in the picture's widespread dissemination and criminal charges for them both. Brown's timely depiction of the sexting issue largely refrains from moralizing or nostalgia for pre-technological times, instead adeptly handling the complex emotional fallout.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) YA Orca Currents series. Fifteen-year-olds Eric and Chris are skilled geocachers--using coordinates and a GPS, they search for hidden "treasure" in their town. When a hunt turns mysterious and typical prizes are replaced with money, the two find added incentive to decipher complex codes. Character interiority is nonexistent, but budding Dan Brown fans will enjoy the ride of this fast-paced, plot-driven narrative.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(3) YA Angie returns after being abducted from her Girl Scout camping trip with no memory of the last three years. Diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, Angie's multiple personas--"Girl Scout," "Little Wife," etc., who all call Angie "Pretty Girl-Thirteen"--reveal her ordeal. A tight plot, empathetic protagonist, and a sensitive treatment of mental illness and trauma yield a compelling first novel.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) YA Escaping her dysfunctional family in Detroit to attend college in San Francisco and nanny for a wealthy family, Annie feels as though she's hit the jackpot. But as the Cohen matriarch becomes increasingly demanding and manipulative, Annie begins to question her own sanity. Annie is easy prey and displays little agency, but this tense psychological thriller is still satisfying.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) 4-6 Crush series. It's summer break and type-A Lauren can't wait to snag her crush from the beach as her permanent boyfriend. Enter Operation Cell Phone, which is part of her master Love Plan, and also free-spirited new BFF Chrissy, who isn't. Generally relatable dialogue carries this breezy beach-read with a message: be true to yourself, and the rest will fall into place.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(3) YA "Meg" (the latest of many aliases) and her family entered the witness protection program following a brutal crime. Often uprooted suddenly, Meg vows not to forge any relationships. But then she falls for Ethan in their new placement, rural Louisiana, and together the two embark on a risky quest. A strong narrative voice and compelling relationships propel Elston's first novel.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(3) YA High schooler Lexi must spend weekends shuttling her seven-year-old sister to beauty pageants all over Texas. Tired of feeling unnoticed, Lexi takes a bet to step up her own beauty routine, but she doubts her peers' motives when they take notice. A compelling voice and a satisfying twist involving the sisters' final stand in the pageant world make this a winner.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) 4-6 "It is as if we live in two different countries: not America and Haiti, but white Flatbush and black Flatbush. They are just as different, and just as far apart," Bijou says of Alex, a fellow Episcopalian school student in Brooklyn. Despite some uneven pacing, Farrar sensitively depicts two mature seventh graders' sweet relationship and their struggles with race- and culture-based bullying.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(3) YA After seventeen-year-old Delia's mother dies, she ditches foster care to find her way to Trespass Island, where she discovers her supernaturally aquatic roots among demigods and sea creatures. Though certain plot points feel familiar--the love triangle smacks of Twilight--the coastal Maine setting evokes a true sense of place, and the world Guibord builds is both convincing and compelling.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) YA When NYC prep school senior Lexi's father dies, leaving her broke, she heads to Florida in search of her circus-employee mother. Though her mom isn't there, Lexi finds an unexpected new home. The novel's structure--chapters that alternate between Lexi's previous life in New York and her time in the circus--is compelling but information is not always smoothly integrated.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) YA Simon missed his chance to get with Cassie four years ago, and when she finally breaks up with her boyfriend and throws a rager, Simon decides to declare his love. Taking many a cue from teen party movies (drinking, fights, falling in pools, etc.), the entertaining plot consists of two alternate timelines that result in one fateful ending but are difficult to differentiate.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) 4-6 Gateway Biography series. A coding prodigy, Karp, compelled by the vision of a blog format that is clean-looking and simple to use, launched Tumblr in 2007 at age twenty-one. Dull writing detracts from it slightly, but overall the presentation of Karp's self-propelled career is inspiring. Screenshots and contemporary photos add context but vary in relevance. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) 4-6 Find Your Talent series. Animation encourages trying out various media; Movie provides directions for screenwriting, shooting, editing, etc.; Photos explains concepts including composition and depth of field. Anecdotes about famous artists make pipe dreams seem possible; the busy collage-style layout may appeal to kids willing scrutinize the pages. Some of the advice seems like common sense. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Find Your Talent titles:Make an Animation, Make a Movie!, and Take Great Photos.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(3) YA Fourteen-year-old Sidney is a talented equestrian, but since her dad died, money is especially tight. A side job at a fancy barn unexpectedly affords Sid the opportunity to compete in a show, and her success reunites her fragmenting family. Just shy of sentimental, the novel tackles complex class issues while simultaneously appealing to devoted horse lovers and the equine-uninitiated.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) 4-6 Find Your Talent series. Animation encourages trying out various media; Movie provides directions for screenwriting, shooting, editing, etc.; Photos explains concepts including composition and depth of field. Anecdotes about famous artists make pipe dreams seem possible; the busy collage-style layout may appeal to kids willing scrutinize the pages. Some of the advice seems like common sense. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Find Your Talent titles:Make an Animation, Make a Movie!, and Take Great Photos.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(4) YA Seventeen-year-old Rae tries to steer clear of her abusive stepfather, and she's generally hesitant to get close to anyone--until Nathan, who exhibits textbook red flags that suggest his potential for danger, the extent of which is soon revealed. Told in both prose and (somewhat cheesy) poems, this is a suspenseful yet sensitive exploration of dangerous relationships--family included.

Reviewer: Allison Cole