Borderline by Allan Stratton

Sami has been fitting in with his friends just fine ever since fourth grade.  But it is a slightly tenuous relationship because Sami is Muslim and his father just got arrested for being associated with a known terrorist.  Now his life is turned upside down as he tries to figure out how his father is associated with this other man.  He not only has to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but determine who he is in the process.

Sami’s friends are a couple of regular teenaged kids with their own life dilemmas, but I like that they stick by Sami through thick and thin.  Just when the reader thinks that they are going to take off and leave him to sort it out on his own, they become stand up friends.  This was a remarkable book, one every teenage boy should read if they are struggling with trying to figure out just where they stand in the world, no matter their ethnicity.

Check out Stratton’s website at:  http://www.allanstratton.com/

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Fifteen year old Evie has found herself in Florida on vacation with her Stepfather and mother just after the conclusion of World War II.  Her stapfather, Joe, is a appliance salesman and after receiving a phone call in a long line of harassing phone calls, he decides to take the family to Palm Beach on holiday.  While down there, Peter, a young soldier from his unit shows up and befriends the family and especially Evie.  They both know it is wrong for them to feel for each other, he is 24, but she falls for him none-the-less.  But there is something else amiss as the story progresses and Evie gets caught up in a web of lies that eventually are the downfall of poor Peter.

The reviews suggest this book for ages 14 and up for several reasons, there is adultery and some rather heated kissing sessions, but in the context of the whole book the incidents complete the story.  This is a well-written compelling thriller (not jump out and scare you, but edge of your seat, are they going to get caught) and is most definitely meant for a more mature audience.

Peeled by Joan Bauer

True to form, Joan Bauer provides the reader an exceptional story in Peeled.  The main character, Hildy, is a writer for the school paper and has tremendously bad luck with guys at her school.  But something is amiss in the small apple valley where her family makes their living selling apples.  The local haunted house is the venue for a mysterious death and the local town newspaper is slanting the details.  Hildy and her school paper try together the facts and end up getting shut down.  Will Hildy be able to help the people in the town overcome the fear that has fallen over her community?

I loved this book.  It was written with the same humorous, light voice that Bauer uses in all of her novels.  (Thwonk and Squashed are a couple of my favorites!)  This book also speaks of ethics in reporting and getting to the heart of the matter.  The academicadvisor of the paper is an irreverent ex-newspaper journalist.  He leads the teens in the story in a reporting revolution.  It was a great read!!