Teen Review

Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess is a magnificent story. It is a fairy tale meant for teens and adults with a touch of action and a hint of blood and gore, while keeping it mystical and whimsical. The fast-moving story keeps the reader in a run to follow the characters through the strange events and misfortunes that befall them all the way to the heartwarming ending. The story itself fires up the imagination with all the people and places Gaiman conjures up; the Lilim and Lords of Stormhold from Faerie, and of course Tristen and Yvaine from the sky. Add the outstanding illustrations to the story, and you have as much of a fairy tale as you can get.

--Teen Reviewer

Teen Review

Forgotten, by Cat Patrick, is about a girl named London who loses her memories of that day every night, and during the night she sees the future. She writes herself notes about the important things and struggles through everything else. When she gets a boyfriend, she's happy, but then, she starts discovering things about her past and her world starts changing. With the help of her boyfriend, she must sift through her "memories" of the future to uncover her past. But what she reveals may change her life forever. I highly recommend this book for teenagers that like romance/drama stories.

-Teen Reviewer

(Urbana Free Library's copy is on order!!)

Perfect Chemistry

Two Chicago high school students, one a head cheerleader from the north side and one a gang member from the south side, are thrown together as lab partners in their Chemistry class. Starting off the school year with a prickly confrontation that magnifies their many differences, Brittany Ellis and Alex Fuentes soon have greater challenges to overcome -- love. While breaking through and overcoming their personal misconceptions about each other, they are also faced with the disapproval of their friends and family. A passionate and intense story told in alternating narratives, Perfect Romance is recommended for teens 14 and up.

Perfect Chemistry had me hooked from the first chapter. Having read How to Ruin a Summer Vacation, also by Simone Elkeles, I look forward to other titles by this author, including a sequel to Perfect Chemistry, which is due for release in May 2010. You may also want to check out Elkeles website -- a creative and interactive site with forums, a newsletter, and rap video "book trailers" to promote her titles. One bit of interesting trivia about the author -- she's a graduate of the University of Illinois.

If I Was Your Girl by Ni-Ni Simone

Life for Toi hasn’t been easy – she’s growing up fast, trying to raise her baby, finish school and hold down a job. But her no good baby-mama’s womanizing ways sure aren’t helping – Toi has promised herself a hundred times that this time it’s over for good. Behind all the drama, the girl fights, and the tough talk, Toi longs for a future – and dreams that maybe she could go to college someday, and maybe, just maybe, open up her heart again...

If you like this one, you'll also want to check out Simone's other hot new titles - Shorty Like Mine and A Girl Like Me.

There are lots of other great new titles by African American authors in the teen section, including the Hotlanta series, the Kimani Tru books, Stephanie Moore’s Perry Skky Jr. series and Coe Booth’s new title Kendra.