(4) 4-6 Thirteen-year-old Ruby stars in a successful British soap opera. What her fans don't know is that her parents have split up, the show's producers are thinking about killing her off because she's going through an "awkward" phase, and she is agonizing over her first kiss. While the plot is formulaic, the soap opera frame and Ruby's liveliness are pleasant diversions.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(4) YA British teen Connie Pickles daydreams of living in Paris as "Constance de Bellechasse." Instead, she's stuck in a cramped flat with her harried mother and two stepsiblings. In her diary, Connie details her plan to find a proper (and prosperous) man for her mother. Packed with intricate scheming, Connie's diary is a little too polished to be convincing.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(4) YA Self-proclaimed "gearhead" Lexie is most comfortable web surfing. When her mother dies in a car accident and her father's new girlfriend quickly moves in, Lexie is thrust into a supernatural mystery that must be solved in and out of cyberspace. The rushed and convoluted ending will likely be a letdown, but Lexie's cyber sleuthing and computer lingo may appeal to techies.

Reviewer: Lauren Maggio

(3) YA A teenage boy is anguished when his mother falls into a permanent coma after attempting suicide. This novel in verse uses imagery of birds in cages and blooming and withering flowers as the boy contemplates what it means to be alive. Readers will be touched by the boy's questions about whether living on life support is really life at all.

Reviewer: Laura A. Woollett

(3) YA There are two novels in one in this gimmicky but sweet "flip the book" about gay teen Russ and bisexual Min (Geography Club). While acting as extras in a zombie movie, they deal with closeted soulmates, skeezy ex-boyfriends, intolerant parents, and long-distance relationships. As with his previous books, Hartinger's character development is top-notch and humor comfortably coexists with pathos.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(4) YA Seeking advice on love, Ruthie enlists the help of her mother's estranged sister, a glamorous advice columnist, and unwittingly reunites the family. Ruthie's dilemma--falling in love with her best guy friend--may resonate with readers and her overprotective mother adds humor, but the family secret is a letdown and the resolution is hollow.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(1) YA Fourteen-year-old Sym loves a polar explorer named Titus who lives in her head. From this premise McCaughrean builds a page-turning survival thriller, as Sym and her eccentric uncle Victor join a polar expedition. What makes the book stand out is Sym's unique personality; her relationship with Titus; the slow revelation of Victor's malevolence; and McCaughrean's inspired wordplay and powerful imagery.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2007

(4) YA To call Hope Shay an unreliable narrator would be an understatement. As her journal entries grow from insufferably obnoxious to indicative of mental illness, readers are forced to question her story of a breakthrough acting role, Romeo-and-Juliet romance, and kidnapping. Uneven pacing builds to a hasty conclusion, but Hope's manipulations and realizations will keep readers guessing.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(3) YA Illustrated by Matthew S. Armstrong. In this British import, nice-guy Simon, nicknamed Stuff, struggles with a newly blended family and the arrival of Sky, the cute new girl at school. At his art teacher's prodding, Simon creates an anonymous fantasy comic strip (interspersed throughout the book) that allows him to work out his anxieties, gets him further into trouble, and still yields an honest-if-predictable happy ending.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(3) YA Third-baseman Scott sweats out a week waiting for his AIDS test results after his best friend (who once bled all over him after a baseball bat–induced nosebleed) announces he's gay. Rejecting the tough jock mentality around him, Scott confronts his ignorance and homophobia, learning lessons about life and friendship both on and off the playing field.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(4) YA In this sequel to Peaches, Birdie, Leeda, and Murphy face heartbreaks and new beginnings after an idyllic summer. Secrets are revealed and relationships are damaged and repaired as the friends prepare to leave the orchard and strike out on their own. Though the book is often heavy on description, the girls' distinctive personalities and fierce loyalty infuse the plot with liveliness.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(4) YA Confessions of a Teen Nanny series. Against her better judgment, Adrienne decides to go out with the older half-brother of the eight-year-old she nannies for. Meanwhile, her best friend, Liz, is having troubles with her boyfriend. This third book in the series follows the formula established by the other two. However, the entertaining premise (New York City high society told from two high school nannies' perspectives) sustains interest.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) YA Tired of being known only as the girl who spilled a Big Gulp on the most popular girl in school's white D&G skirt in sixth grade, high school junior Steph hatches a plan to become popular. Though the plot is fairly standard and Steph's sentence fragments get annoying, this lighthearted look at social standing in high school is otherwise appealing.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) YA After ending her relationship with the abusive Nick (Breathing Underwater), Caitlin auditions for and transfers to the Miami High School of the Arts. The treatment of Caitlin's opera ambitions, her encounters with Nick, and problems with her mother are superficial, and the tone in her "online journal" excerpts is too vapid to be convincing. Fans of semi-serious chicklit will, however, enjoy this.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(3) YA Matt, star of the football team, witnesses his sadistic co-captain sexually assault a new player, and a team cover-up ensues. Matt's vacillation between staying true to his team and cooperating with an investigation underscores the enormous pressures associated with winning. This powerful story about the seamy underside of high school athletics includes graphic violence, drug use, and gritty language.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) YA Drew, Hector, and Skitz are finding life tough at their Boston Catholic school, as the Monsignor and his ineffectual priests work to pull their friendship apart. Skitz experiments with drugs and alcohol and Hector drifts toward violence, while narrator Drew tries to keep them grounded. The school setting is well drawn, and the boys are realistically supportive of one another.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(3) YA Fifteen-year-old Jenna is physically and emotionally damaged from the car accident that killed her mother. She's unsure of her memory, but thinks the accident may have been her fault. This uncertainty stalls her recovery until she meets Crow, a tough-looking older guy who helps her shed her fears and guilt. Jenna is a believable character whose pain is palpably drawn.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(1) YA Pratchett's unique blend of comedy and articulate insight is at its vibrant best in this new novel about Tiffany Aching. Tiffany, having thoughtlessly (and disastrously) joined the annual ritual dance that ushers in winter and sends summer underground, has altered the seasons in a way only she can fix. Wintersmith is as full of rich humor, wisdom, and eventfulness as its outstanding predecessors.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2006

(3) YA Audrey is seen as the quintessential good girl until someone photographs her having oral sex with her now-ex-boyfriend, Luke, and circulates that photo to every cell phone in the school. Shunned and ashamed, Audrey befriends the "school slut" and questions the double standards and preconceptions they both face. Shifting friendship dynamics are well drawn, as are Audrey's supportive but shocked parents.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) YA Alison, Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna are best friends. After Alison disappears just before eighth grade, the girls drift apart. Three years later, they start receiving anonymous e-mails and text messages alluding to a dangerous secret. In this first book in a planned series of four, the derivative plot is bolstered by the author's smart writing and keen ear for teen dialogue.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz