Love You, Hate You, Miss You by Elizabeth Scott

“You know, I always thought I told you everything, but there are some things I should have said and never did. I should have told you about the time I lost your new sunglasses. I know you really liked them. I should have apologized every time I puked on your shoes and especially the time I ruined your brand-new skirt, the one with the beading. I should have apologized for a lot of stuff.” (From Love You, Hate You, Miss You by Elizabeth Scott).

Yeah, sure. You and your little friends are “bad.” Ha! These two could teach you a whole bunch of new tricks.

Julia and Amy are best friends, doing the kinds of things best friends do: coloring each other’s hair, sharing clothes, laughing and crying over boys. And then there’s the other stuff, like drinking - during school, after school, before school. Oh yeah, there’s also that time Julia gets killed, leaving Amy wondering how she’s going to make it on her own.

Love You, Hate You, Miss You is a complex story of growing up and what it really means to be a friend. I have to say, it seemed like one or the other of them was always annoying me, but that’s probably because I’m an old lady who thinks kids should behave themselves. How boring. You, however, will probably LOVE this book.

LAME FACTOR: I don’t see how you kiddies could find this lame in any way. I’ll give it a zero.

YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR: These two are always up to something, and that something often involves alcohol, drugs, or boys. Get your parents to take a look before you start reading. Only mature readers need apply.

BRAIN POWER: Well-written - but you don’t need to be a brain surgeon to figure out what’s going on.

Bad Girls Don't Die - Part 2

Maybe you weren't listening when I told you to read Bad Girls Don't Die - NOW. I guess I wasn't convincing enough, so here's a video summary of the story. Go ahead; tell me this is lame.

Dreaming Anastasia: A Novel of Love, Magic, and the Power of Dreams by Joy Preble

In case you haven’t guessed it already - I do hide it so well - I am a nerd. As such, I enjoy lots of nerdy things like astronomy and computers. One nerdy thing I absolutely love is history. World War I, World War II, the Middle Ages: you name it, I’ve studied it - in depth. But the one area of history I love above all others is the history of Russia, especially the Russian Revolution that took place in 1917.

Which is why I chose to read Dreaming Anastasia. The Anastasia in the title was a real girl who, along with her father, Russian leader Tsar Nicholas II, her mother, three sisters, and little brother, was executed in a totally gruesome manner in the middle of the night. Finding it hard to believe that anyone could do something so completely disgusting, people began to spread a story that Anastasia hadn’t actually been killed. It was suggested that she had been saved and smuggled out during the night. Over the next few decades, several people came forward and said that they were the real Anastasia. Fast forward to the present day and, as a result of some very complex scientific tests, we now know for sure that Anastasia was really killed with her family. A tragic ending to a very interesting story.

Dreaming Anastasia suggests another end to Anastasia, one way too complex for me to explain here. Let’s just say it involves a modern day teenager named Anne who seems to be channeling Anastasia in her dreams, a Russian secret society, and a fairy tale character named Baba Yaga. There’s also the mysterious hot guy who follows Anne around. Hint: he’s a lot older than he looks.

This is a topic that I love so, naturally, I really enjoyed some aspects of the book. It was, however, a little slow at times, and could be somewhat confusing if you don’t know much about the topic. It’s definitely a very original idea, and well worth looking into.

LAME FACTOR: As I said, in my opinion (and you should definitely find out for yourself), the story was a bit slow sometimes, especially when Baba Yaga gets involved. I’ll give it a 3 out of 5.

YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR: There’s a minor amount of cursing but not much of anything else that could be objectionable. Oh yeah, there's some stuff about her friend losing her virginity - but there aren't too many graphic details.

BRAIN POWER: The story is well-written with a respectable vocabulary. For some readers, the struggle may be with following what is going on as the characters switch back and forth. Give a try, though. It’s good exercise for your brain!

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

So how many books did you read this summer? What!? And how many days are there until school starts? Unless you want to start the year with a zero, you’d better get moving.

I suggest Katie Alender’s, Bad Girls Don’t Die. Main character Alexis Warren isn’t having a good year. Her parents seem to be missing (not literally; they’re just working a lot), her best friend has moved, and she is surrounded by the typical high school idiots - cheerleaders and assorted misfits. So what, you ask? Sounds like my life, you say? Well sure. Did I mention that her little sister is a homicidal maniac? Yeah. I bet you didn’t see that one coming.

What drives Alexis’ sister over the edge? What’s up with the crazy helter skelter changes in her personality? You’ll need to read the book to find out, of course. Let me just say that whatever it is, it is extremely spooky. Which is probably good since this is a ghost story.

Some ghost stories are, I have to admit, pretty lame, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why anyone would be scared. This book, however, combines so many truly creepy details that you’ll find yourself shivering - even as you read on the beach in the sweltering New York (or wherever you live) humidity. It’s that good.

So run - do not walk - down to the library or bookstore or computer keyboard and order yourself up a good summer fright. It’s almost as scary as the first day of school.

LAME FACTOR: A big zero for lameness. It doesn’t get any better than that.

YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR: Unless your parents object to discussions of the paranormal, there shouldn’t be anything here to upset them.

BRAIN POWER: Bad Girls Don’t Die doesn’t treat the reader like an idiot. The vocabulary is good but not overwhelming. The writing is sophisticated enough to make it interesting without being confusing. You have no excuses. Get to work.