The Opposite of Invisible

by Liz Gallagher

I really liked this almost love story. It was easy, a fast read, and true to teenage life, without having the usual "kids are so cruel to kids" theme. Alice and Jewel (a nickname for a guy named Julian) have been best friends forever. They both are artsy and just haven't needed anyone else. Except in their own small art group. they are pretty much invisible at school, and don't care a bit. Narrated by Alice, the story of their lives changes subtly when it seems that Jewel might be wishing their friendship was more than that, and Alice can't tell him that she has a crush on a jock in the popular crowd. When Alice starts dating her crush, Simon, it seems like the Alice/Jewel friendship is over, but it doesn't take Alice long to realize that she just isn't that comfortable with Simon. The good thing about going with Simon is that she is drawn into his crowd, and she makes new friends that just might last longer than the relationship. And to a lesser degree, the same thing happens to Jewel. When they are able to patch things up, Alice and Jewel have become more confident in themselves and their lives have become richer and less isolated. A sweet first novel for Gallagher, and on this year's Tayshas list. ~reviewed by Dail Sams

Dingo

by Charles de Lint

The day that Lainey and her large dog come into Miguel's dad's comic and music shop, his life is changed forever. She has wild red hair, beautiful brown eyes, and she and Miguel click almost immediately. The trouble is that she doesn't seem like the same person the next time he meets her, and Miguel starts having really crazy, frightening dreams. Lainey has this strange connection to her dog, Em, which she says is a dingo, a wild dog from Australia, her home country. When Johnny Ward, the town bad boy, tells Miguel about the dreams he has been having and that he really likes Em, whose dog's name is Lainey, Miguel knows he has entered the Twilight Zone. At a nighttime meeting on the beach, Lainey tells Miguel that she has a twin sister, and that they are shape-changers. Soon Miguel and Johnny are thrown into a perilous venture to save the girls from their biological father, and Dingo, the leader of their clan. Dingo is similar to the last book I read, Impossible, where a fatastical, magical reality parallels a normal, modern one. And again, the power of love is a central theme. Dingo is another title on this year's Tayshas list, available in the LHS library. --reviewed by Dail Sams

Impossible

by Nancy Werlin

Lucy Scarborough is the latest in a long line of cursed women who have become pregnant at age 18 and had baby daughters. Based on the lyrics to the old folk ballad "Scarborogh Fair", made famous by Simon and Garfunkel in the 1960's, Lucy, her family, and her best friend Zach realize Lucy must perform the three tasks mentioned in the song or she will go insane after delivering her baby. Each of the three tasks seems more impossible to perform than the last. The underlying tension of evil, personified by an incredibly attractive stranger named Padraig Seeley, makes this book one that is difficult to put down. The binding and breaking power of love is the most important theme threaded throughout this spellbinding tale. Werlin has created an unusual story intertwining the very modern and rational with the ancient and magical. A great read on this year's Tayshas list. --reviewed by Mrs. Sams

waiting for normal

by leslie connor

Waiting for Normal is another of several YA novels I've read in the past year or two about the struggles and fears of kids who have to take care of themselves because the adults in their lives are either irresponsible, cruel, or both. Addie's mother is not cruel, which makes this novel a little less painful to read than some, but she is selfish and thoughtless, leaving 12-year-old Addison to fend for herself on a regular basis. More than anything, Addie wants to have a normal life, with her two younger sisters who live with their dad, a good man who happens to love Addie too. But he's not Addie's blood father, so he hasn't been able to gain custody of her. He has done the best he can for Addie and her mother by providing them with a small trailer to live in and monthly support. Addie is happy with it, but Addie's mother is rarely satisfied, and she feels entitled to her own life, often leaving Addie alone, sometimes for days at a time. School activities and Soula and Elliot, the owners of a minimart across the street, make life bearable for Addie. When Addie accidentally sets the trailer on fire one morning while her mother is gone on one of her getaways, Soula finally calls child protective services, and sets in motion the circumstances for Addie to achieve her "normal." A surprisingly upbeat novel, considering the subject matter, Waiting for Normal is a great story about a girl who is a survivor. Read Sarah Dessen's Lock and Key and Deborah Davis's Not Like You, for other takes on the same subject. Waiting for Normal is on this year's Texas Lone Star list.

~reviewed by Dail Sams