Brothers, Boyfriends & Other Criminal Minds

by April Lurie

April Lundquist, or Ape, Monkey, and Chimp, as her older brother Matt calls her, lives with her family in a quiet Brooklyn neighborhood. Within two blocks of her house there live several members of two Mafia families. For the most part April doesn't worry too much about "Soft Sal" who lives across the street, or "Gorgeous Vinny" who lives on the corner of Twelfth, but when she discovers that Matt has a huge crush on Bettina, the daughter of the head of one Mafia family, she really starts worrying. They are playing the parts of Romeo and Juliet in a local theater production, which allows them to see each other much too often for April's comfort. To complicate matters, she is receiving attention from three guys all of a sudden, only one of which she really cares about--Dominick the long-haired slightly dangerous-looking musician--and her parents are putting pressure on her to "get involved" in extra-curricular activites. Matt swears April to secrecy about Bettina, but when he comes home late after the last performance of Romeo and Juliet, beaten pretty badly, April knows she has to go to her parents. This book is all about not judging a book by its cover, and about what it means to be loyal. April is an appealing character, and is based on the real life of the author. Brothers, Boyfriends... is on this year's Texas Lone Star reading list.

---reviewed by Mrs. Sams

breaking dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer proves again what a great storyteller she is in her fourth and final installment of the Twilight series. I really can't tell you much about this book without giving all the good stuff away, but I can say than none of her fans should be disappointed. In case there was any doubt, Edward and Bella are married within the first 50 pages of this 750 page book, but many of the remaining pages were filled with the unexpected. I can say that Meyer did a terrific job of tying up all the loose ends in very satisfying ways. The best love story ever! Multiple copies available in the library!

EPIC

by Conor Kostick

For a thousand years or more, the video game Epic has been an important part of society. At first it was just used for recreation, but gradually the game became central to the world's culture and began to determine the wealth, possessions, and social standing of every person on the planet. Beyond the game, the Central Allocations committee, made up of the richest and most successful players, controls allocation of all resourses. Unfortunately most of the world's people are living in poverty and are required to perform hard physical labor. In their spare time most people have to connect to Epic, to try to gain just enough to survive, while the privileged few control everything. Erik and his friends decide to play the game in a more dangerous and aggressive manner in an attempt to win a fortune and power. When the team succeeds in killing a dragon for the first time in a hundred years, and gains unbelievable wealth, the CA gets worried and begins scheming to get rid of these creative and smart kids threatening to upset the balance of power. With both sides gathering forces, the world is on the brink of a virtual war of epic proportions. Epic is a title on this year's Texas Lone Star list.

---reviewed by Dail Sams

Deadline

by Chris Crutcher

Chris Crutcher has done it again! Deadline has absolutely everything a great read should have--a heart wrenching, thought provoking plot, lots of humor, a quirky turn of phrase, a sweet if unlikely love story, an incredible football season, characters you can really care about, and an ending that had me trying to swallow a lump in my throat the size of Texas and blinking back tears for the last 30 pages of the book. Ben Wolf finds out after a sports physical that he has a terminal blood disease, and that he has about a year to live. This book is all about how Ben decides to live his life for that year. I think that every student at Lorena High School should read this book. A small warning: language is an issue, but it was appropriate and realistic. Yet another Texas Tayshas book for this year.

--reviewed by D. Sams