Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty by Jody Elizabeth Gehrman

Confessions of the Triple Shot Betty by Jody Elizabeth Gehrman is a lighthearted story of friendship and romance. Geena plans to spend her summer working at the Triple Shot Betty coffee Shop with her two best friends: Amber and Hero. She imagines whipping up lattes during the day and sleepovers at night. Hero goes to an exclusive boarding school and is only in town for the summer, and Geena is excited that her two best friends will finally meet. However, things do not go as planned. Amber and Hero do not like each other and this puts Geena in the middle of an uncomfortable situation.

However, Amber and Hero put their differences aside when they work to set Geena up with a guy who is her rival for valedictorian. This part of the plot borrows itself directly from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. In an interesting subplot, John the school’s golden boy decides he likes Hero who wants nothing to do with him. When John uses both Amber and Hero in his ploy to get what he wants, Amber, Hero and Geena concoct a creative plan to get back at John for all he has done.

Enjoy this story of three friends who have many different strengths and weaknesses, but come out on top and together in the end.

Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling

If you are searching for a lighthearted book to read Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling is the perfect choice. I have to confess that I unwind every day watching the DVR of my soap opera, and Abby Savage, the narrator of this novel, loves soap operas. In fact, her entire life is a soap opera.

Her older sister Shelby is 20 years old and already married and divorced with one child. Her other sister Kait is pregnant with Steve’s baby. To make things worse Steve dated Shelby before he dating Kait; however, it makes it really a soap opera when Steve marries Abby’s mom and she is also pregnant with Steve’s child. Babies aside, Abby's best friend Cody will not admit he is gay and all Abby wants is to find a guy to date who has not dated or slept with any of her sisters or her mother! So she forms a 5-step plan to find her One True Love. But when Cody’s brother Jackson returns home from a summer spent helping the poor in Central America, he does not fit the One True Love plan and that complicates things. To make matters more confusing, Jackson used to date Kait and Abby suspects that he, not Steve, might be the father of Kait’s unborn baby. All of this makes for a fun soap opera read!

Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt

In Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt, Remy Walker has just graduated from high school and now must make some major decisions about his life. His family has always lived on Walker Mountain in West Virginia. It is not an easy life, living in a trailer with unreliable plumbing and his father mining and selling coal by the pickup load. But Remy has never known any other life and unlike most of the people in his small town, he does not dream of living elsewhere. He has a job working as a mechanic at the filling station and he is content.

However, it is "funny how things change, Remy's girlfriend Lisa is going away to college in Pennsylvania and she wants Remy to go with her. He doesn’t plan to go to college, but they could share an apartment and he could find a job while she is at school. The idea of not being with her makes him sick. But so does the idea of leaving his home. He once went to live with his mother in Virginia Beach, but he didn’t like it, missing his mountain and way of life more than he thought was possible. Can he really follow Lisa?

To make things more complicated, a new girl has come to town. She is working on a government grant to paint murals on the water towers of small towns around West Virginia. Through Dana’s eyes, Remy sees the beauty of where he lives and struggles with making a decision.

When we get a certain age, we all must make decisions about our futures and whether we choose home or adventure? New or Old? Love or Family? This is a great novel that explores these struggles.

Peace, Love and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle

I wish I had a sister. I have an older brother and he was okay, but I always wished that I had a sister. Peace, Love and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle is a story about sisters.

Carly returns home from a summer volunteering with a wilderness experience in Tennessee. While there she begins to feel that there are things that are more important than her small affluent Atlanta neighborhood and the ritzy private school that she and her sister attend. Carly is a sophomore and is excited to start the school year with her younger sister Anna as a freshman. But when Carly returns home, Anna has grown up. Suddenly Anna is beautiful! She has developed amazing curves and has a body that boys drool after. Now Carly is jealous of her younger sister and she finds herself at odds with Anna. Anna enjoys her wealthy lifestyle while Carly wants to live a more bohemian life. This puts her at odds with Anna and with her best friend since 2nd grade and even her parents.

Carly is an honest narrator as she struggles with her beliefs. When a new boy starts school, Carly develops a crush on Cole and she tries to figure out how he fits into her new belief system. Throw in an out of control party, some baby ducks and a back dive off the high dive and you have a great story about sisters!

Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford

If you are looking for a book that is laugh-out-loud funny, then Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford is the book for you. This book is told from his point of view and Carter’s point of view is priceless. He is starting his freshmen year in high school. “All I think about is girls,” he says at the beginning of the novel, “and I don’t do anything about it.” His entire purpose in life is to be cool and get girls. He goes out for football to look cool and get girls, he goes to parties to look cool and get girls, he tries to date the right girls to look cool and get more girls… Carter is ADD and this book wanders as his mind wanders and Carter’s mind wanders to the most hilarious places.

Football is the sport for cool guys, so Carter tries out for the team, after all a guy can spend a lot of time looking at cheerleaders when he is standing on the sidelines. Carter decides that being a kicker on the football team is the safest position, but he discovers that this isn’t even safe when even the girls drill team tries to kill him during practice. Carter gets himself into the worst situations and everything he says and does makes it worse—but seriously funny. It takes Carter his entire freshmen year to “finally get it.” But you will enjoy his journey.

I don’t find many books really funny, but students in the library yesterday were staring at me as I was laughing out loud at Carter and his escapades. Author Brent Crawford gets Carter’s voice just right. We have all met Carters in our lives. This is Crawford’s first book, but I am already looking forward to the next one! Check out his website for another laugh http://www.brent-crawford.com/blog/Welcome.html and he lives in Kansas!

The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti

What would you do with $2 million? What would you buy? Would the money change you? Do you think people would treat you differently? I’m not sure what I would buy with that much money, but I do know that I would love to find out. This is exactly what happens to Indigo Skye in Deb Caletti’s book The Fortunes of Indigo Skye.

Indigo is a senior in high school and doesn’t know what she wants to do with the rest of her life. She has no interest in college and can only imagine herself working as a waitress. In fact, she loves her job waiting tables at Carerra’s. She is a fantastic waitress and thinks that she would like to do it for the rest of her life. Of course, Indigo doesn’t have too many choices because her mother does not have very much money and Indigo’s twin brother is very interested in going to college.

However, that all changes one day when a customer leaves Indigo a $2 million tip. Suddenly her life has changed and not necessarily for the better. Now she has to worry about what to do with the money. People start to treat her differently and she wonders if all they want from her is money. Maybe having that much money isn’t such a good thing. This is a great book about how Indigo deals with all the problems that come with being a millionaire.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles is a modern Romeo and Juliet story. Brittany Ellis and Alejandro Fuentes are as different as they can be. Brit is from the North side of town. She is rich, captain of the pom squad, beautiful and perfect with a perfect boyfriend in Colin the captain of the football team. Alex is from the South side of town. He is dark, dangerous, the toughest guy in school and belongs to a gang. No one would ever call him perfect. However, both of their lives are changed when they are paired together as lab partners in Chemistry class. Their open dislike of each other is obvious from day one.

The longer they work together though, the more they learn of each other. Alex sees that Brittany is not so perfect and Brittany discovers that Alex is not so tough. And Brittany and Alex discover that they are a lot more alike than anyone would think. Both are acting like something they aren’t in order to survive in their very different worlds. These similarities draw them closer together. Brittany tries to deny what is happening while Alex makes a bet with his buddies that he will sleep with her before Thanksgiving. And the romance that develops is dangerous, forbidden and fun to read about.

This story is told in alternating chapters by Alex and Brit. We get to see Brittany’s not-so-perfect home life and what drives Alex to join a gang. His chapters are sprinkled with Spanish phrases when he speaks with his family and friends. The ending is a little too neat, but this is a good take on an age old theme of Romeo and Juliet.