Just finished this book,  It was a fun, short read about finding a mate.  Sarah Herlihy is divorced preschool teacher looking for a date,  Her friends persuade her to answer an ad in the personals.  She finds one that interests her, but it turns out that she meets her father!  The rest of the story is about searching for the right guy for Sarah and finding all sorts of unsatisfactory dates in the process.  The title comes from part of an ad; evidently dogs are a magnet to getting a date in Boston.  Most of the characters claim to own dogs, but they don't.  Some even borrow dogs from friends to attract a member of the opposite sex.

The book is just a fun read, nothing really earth shaking happens, but the characters are well developed and funny.  The best character is Sarah's dad's nutty girlfriend, Dolly, who does all kinds of silly things and talks about herself in the third person.  A good book to relax with on a rainy night.

This is a story set in the 1930's, during the depression.  The main character is Violet Mathers, a motherless teenager living with her drunken dad in Kentucky.  Violet is less than pretty, as skinny as a beanpole and mistreated by her father.  She is made fun of by all the kids in town.  When her fathers tells her to get a job, she goes to the thread factory for work. She is very good at her job, but one day the thread machine gets tangled and she forgets to turn it off before fixing the problem and ends up getting her hand amputated.  This makes Violet even more lonely so she decides to take all the money she has saved, gets on a bus and goes west toward California, where she intends to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. 

While on the bus, a terrrible storm blows up and the bus ends up stranded in North Dakota, where a family takes her and another passenger, a black man into their home.  This sets all kind of things happening.  Violet falls in love with the farmer's son, Kjel, and the son and the black man, Austin, set out to form a band.  Violet, Kjel and Austin meet up with Austin's brother, Dallas, and form the Pearltones.  Violet becomes their business manager; the band becomes a big hit.  They travel from town to town.  One night, Dallas brings some vagarants to the campsite and Kjel is shot and ends up paralyzed.  Needless to say, the band splits up and Dallas goes his own way.  The rest of the group returns to Kjel's home where all kinds of catastrophic things happen.

Read the book to find out how things come out.  The last part of the book is somewhat shocking.

Here's more books added to the Teen Scene area in October:

X-Isle by Steve Augarde

Baz and Ray, survivors of an apolayptic flood, win places on X-Isle, an island where life is rumored to be better than on the devastated mainland, but they find the island to be a violent place ruled by religious Preacher John, and they decide they must come up with a weapon to protect themselves from impending danger.

The Goblin Gate by Hillari Bell

Jeriah uncovers a web of political intrigue while trying to obtain a spell from Master Lazure that might allow him to rescure his brother Tobin from the Otherworld, where he was taken by the beguiling hedgewitch Makenna and her legion of goblins.

You by Charles Benoit

Fifteen-year-old Kyle discovers the shattering ramificatoins of the decisions he makes, and does not make, about school, the girl he likes, and his future.

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June by Robin Benway

After their parents' divorce, teenaged sisters April, May, and June recover special powers from childhood and use them to cope with moving to a new home and high school, but wonder if the gifts have a greatere purpose.

Plain Kate by Erin Bow

Plain Kate's odd appearance and expertise as a woodcarver cause some to think her a witch, but friendship with a talking cat and, later, with humans help her to survive and even thrive in a world of magic, charms, and fear.

The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan

Seventeen-year-old Mae feels that even though her world is out of control, she must find a way to protect the demon Nick from his brother Alan's betrayal.

Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

In a kingdom dominated by religious intolerance, 16-year-old Digger, a street thief, has always avoided attention, but when she learns that her friends are plotting against the throne she must decide whether to join them or turn them in.

Premiere by Melody Carlson

When two sisters get their own fashion-focused reality television show, vivacious Paige is excited, but Erin, a Christian who is more interested in being behind the camera than in front of it, has problems with some of the things they are asked to do.

Three Black Swans by Caroline B. Cooney

When sixteen-year-old Missy Vianello decides to try to convince her classmates that her cousin Claire is really her long-lost identical twin, she has no idea that the results of her prank will be so life-changing.

The Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry

A fictionalized biography of Joan of England, the youngest child of King Henry II of England and his queen consort, Eleanor of Aquitaine, chronicling her complicated relationships with her warring parents and many siblings, particularly with her favorite brother Richard the Lionheart, her years as Queen consort of Sicily, and her second marriage to Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse.

More to come!

This was a great book.  It was very entertaining and a quick read.  Cee Cee Honeycutt lives in the north with her mother and father.  Her father is a traveling salesman and her mother has mental problems.  Cee Cee gets stuck taking care of her mother who thinks she is still the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen in Savannah, Georgia.  One day, while her mother is out on a trip to the Goodwill for more pagent dresses, she is struck by a car and killed.  After the funeral, her dad permits CeeCee's rich great aunt Tootie to take CeeCee back to the place where her mother grew up.

At Aunt Tootie's, CeeCee never lacks for love, companionship and a neighborhood that adores her.  Oleeta, Tootie's cook, takes CeeCee under her wing and teaches her all sorts of things like cooking, proper manners and self worth.  Aunt Tootie gives her all the love she has never had.  Little by little, CeeCee learns to enjoy life again  and to enjoy the beautiful place she lives in, and the quirky characters on Gaston St.

This was a great story.  CeeCee turns from a sad, quiet girl, who won't share her problems with anyone, to a strong, confident young lady, able to think for herself.  Readers will also enjoy the descriptions of Savannah in the 60's, from saving historical houses to the wonderful, beautiful gardens.  You can almost smell the honeysuckle and roses.

I have just finished F.Paul Wilson’s Jack: Secret Circles.  This is the author’s second book in a series for teens. It is a prequel to his adult series featuring Repairman Jack, “the man who can fix any problem or mystery.”  It was a satisfying read.  Jack and his friends Weezy and Eddie find themselves coming across a strange find in the Pine Barrens and when Jack’s five-year-old neighbor goes missing it sets the stage for a creepy-supernatural who-done-it adventure.  I wish I had read the first book in the teen series entitled Jack: Secret Histories.  I would have been able to have more of a connection to the pyramid shaped stone cage and the smaller pyramid that had been stolen from them (in Jack: Secret Histories).  Be that as it may, Wilson left me wondering about the “secret history of the world” a sure hook to get me to read the next book in this series.  Would I recommend it…yes!  It has adventure, mystery and touch of fantasy.

The title for this book comes from a flower whose blood-red sap possesses the power both to heal and poison.  It is set in the natural Appalachia, where Amy Greene grew up and still lives.  The novel is about the legacies of magic and madness, faith and secrets, passion and loss that haunt one family across generations.  The women in this family struggle against abusive men and narrow values that try to destory their active spirits. 

After an accident causes the death of Myra's parents, she goes to live with her grandmother Byrd Lamb on Bloodroot Mountain.  Byrd realizes that wild Myra, with mysterious blue eyes, has "the touch", an extra sensitivity for communing with nature.   Byrd fiercely tries to protect Myra from bewitching people and animals alike.  Some of the people involved are the neighbor boy who longs for Myra yet is destined never to have her; the twins Myra is forced to abandon but who never forget their mother's love; and John Odem, the man who tries to tame Myra and meets with violent disaster.  The characters are resilient and flawed causing the reader to have an instant empathy for them.

There is a lesson to learn from this dark, riveting mystery.  People might be a product of their upbringing but they have choices.  They don't have to let thir fates be determined by where they come from or by who their parents are.

This is a book about failure and learning to use your failure to accomplish a goal.  I was surprised this book was not about Ms. McClure's successful crossing of the Atlantic, but was mostly about the first unsuccessful attempt.  She was able to learn from her experice to be come a more competent rower and also learned about her personal strenths and weaknesses.  It took Muhhamad Ali to encouage her to complete this goal.  He pointed out that if she didn't she would always live with the memory of what one thing she had not accomplished instead of thinking about all she had done in her life.

With her experince and strong belief in herself, her second attempt was successful and was added to her list of life accomplishments.  This is a very strong book with a very important message for all the readers.

I always enjoy reading Nicholas Spark's books and the way settings of his stories take place on the beach, which is one of my favorite places to spend time.  This book could appeal to adults or young adults, since the leading character is a seventeen year old girl. 

 Ronnie Miller's life was turned upside down when her parents divorced and her dad returned to his home town of Wilmington, North Carolina.  She has become angry and isolated from her parents and given up on having a future music career.  Three years later, Ronnie's mother decides to send Ronnie and her brother to visit the dad for the summer.  Their father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church.  One day Ronnie meets a young man at the beach and discovers her first romantic love.  She will later become aware of a secret he is keeping about her dad.  Ronnie grows and learns fron her experiences of the summer and has to make some important decisions.  She comes to realize the reason her mother sent her to visit her dad and how she has misjudged him.  A lesson to learn from this book would be, if you are going to risk loving someone, know that forgiveness is a part of love because everyone makes mistakes.  

I have watched the movie but thought the book was better.  The characters seem like real people in real life situations.  Though the book is  sad, at the same time it is full of good humor and fun-loving romantic situations.  I'm excited to read the next Nicholas Sparks. 

If you haven't been to the Teen Scene area in the library, you should. It's really good for studying and socializing. If you're looking for a good book, there's plenty of them right there. Here are some new titles that just came in (this list will be in multiple parts since it's so long).

The Haunting of Charles Dickens by Lewis Buzbee

Meg Pickel's older brother, Orion, has disappeared. One night, she steals out to look for him, and makes two surprising discoveries: She stumbles upon a séance that she suspects involves Orion, and she meets the author Charles Dickens, also unable to sleep, and roaming the London streets.

The Demon King: a Seven Realms novel by Cinda Williams Chima

This book relates the intertwining fates of former street gang leader Han Alister and headstrong Princess Raisa, as Han takes possession of an amulet that once belonged to an evil wizard and Raisa uncovers a conspiracy in the Grey Wolf Court.

The Exiled Queen: a Seven Realms novel by Cinda Williams Chima

Two teenagers, one fleeing from a forced marriage and the other from a dangerous family of wizards, cross paths and fall in love.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Told in the alternating voices of Dash and Lily, two sixteen-year-olds carry on a wintry scavenger hunt at Christmas-time in New York, neither knowing quite what — or who — they will find.

Prisoners in the Palace: How Victoria Became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel by Michaela MacColl

Recently orphaned and destitute, seventeen-year-old Liza Hastings earns a position as a lady's maid to sexteen-year-old Princess Victoria at Kensington Palace in 1836, the year before Victoria becomes Queen of England.

Three-Quarters Dead by Richard Peck

Sophomore loner Kerry is overjoyed when three popular senior girls pick her to be in their clique, until a shocking accident sets of a string of supernatural occurrences that become more and more threatening.

The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt

Although they have never gotten along well, seventeen-year-old Levi follows his older brother Boaz, an ex-Marine, on a walking trip from Boston to Washington, D.C. in hopes of learning why Boaz is completely withdrawn.

The Alchemyst: the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

While working at pleasant but mundane summer jobs in San Francisco, fifteen-year-old twins, Sophie and Josh, suddenly find themselves caught up in the deadly, centuries-old struggle between rival alchemists, Nicholas Flamel and John Dee, over the possession of an ancient and powerful book holding the secret formulas for alchemy and everlasting life.

Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford

Upon learning on Christmas Day that their rich and imperious grandmother may soon die and disown the family unless the one who offended her deeply will confess, each of the three Sullivan sisters sets down her offenses on paper.

The Curse of the Wendigo by William James Henry

In 1888, twelve-year-old will henry chronicles his apprenticeship with Dr. Warthrop, a New England scientist who hunts and studies real-life monsters, as they discover and attempt to destroy the Wendigo, a creature that starves even as it gorges itself on human flesh.

Watch for more new books coming soon!

Sweeping Up Glass is the first novel for this author.  It is set in southern Kentucky, near the Tennessee border.  Olivia Harker Cross owns part of a mountain, and on it are some transplanted wolves.  When someone starts shooting the wolves, she starts to investigate who is doing this, but uncovers all sorts of things about the people and community that she lives in.

Her mother is mentally ill and lives across the yard in a small hut.  Her daughter left her son with Olivia and set off for Hollywood.  Her father died in a truck accident where Olivia was badly hurt.  She now runs the general store during the Great Depression and has a hard time making ends meet.  She has many friends in the small town, including the black folks who seem to appreciate Olivia more than the rest of the community. 

When she uncovers a terrilbe secret, it puts her, her grandson and the whole Black community in danger.  Only when they band together, can they defeat the evil doers among them.  To tell much more about this book would give the secret away.  This is one of the books that will be discussed in next year's reading groups.  Join the group in October to help solve the mystery and the shocking ending to the book!