Birds of Paradise, by Diana Abu-Jaber

The same as one should not judge a book by it's cover, one shouldn't just a family or person by their appearance either. The facade of the Muir family is one of an upper class content family living in the lushness that is Miami. 

Avis, the mother has been enthralled with pastries since she was a teenager and was left home alone frequently. She first developed a taste for cooking in general that transformed into a knack for concocting sugary masterpieces. Brian, her husband, is all business. As and real estate attorney his view the world in a very black and white manner which makes it difficult for him to see anything from others' view points. Brian is the son that has done everything right. He owns his own trendy organic food business and couldn't be happier. Then, there is Felice. The single crack in the perfect family structure. 

Felice ran away for the first time at thirteen. Since, she has been coaxed into staying at home for days, even months at a time, but always goes off on her own again. Felice's stunning looks have opened the door to making a means of staying alive by doing random stints as a model. However, she definitely doesn't live the luxurious life of a model, instead sleeping in an abandoned house with other delinquents and skate boarding her way around town. 

At first glance, it appears that Felice is simply a girl that has gotten into to drugs or wants to live a life on the edge, but as the story progresses the reader comes to understand the horrible events that led Felice to flee in the first place and the disjointed and disconnected manner in which each of her family members have dealt with the issue. 

I enjoyed how the story was told from the various perspectives of each of the family members which gave insight into each of their ways of thinking and the ebb and flow of the family emotions that, while not entirely healthy, it seems, could work no other way. The food descriptions are reminiscent of the lavish descriptions of the spreads in Garden of Eded, by Ernest Hemingway, and will leave your mouth watering. The lush life paired with the sparse living of one family member are sure to bring to live the sharp paradoxes that are in any city and family, for that matter.

The Summer I Learned to Fly, b Dana Reinhardt

Drew is a girl who keeps to herself for the most part. She actually enjoys helping her Mom and the gourmet cheese shop, taking care of her pet rat and learning to make the perfect linguine from the perfect surfer Nick that works for her Mom. She doesn't understand the obsession that the other girls at school have with boys, but this soon changes when her rat leads her to Emmett Crane, a boy that is full of mystery and Drew is definitely intrigued. However, when he goes missing for days on end Drew starts to think that boys are just as much a waste of time as she suspected.

When Emmett shows up again at the cheese shop her interest is instantly reignited as she finds out that Emmett is actually a runaway in search of the truth that he found as a boy in the Native American tales told to him by his Father. Drew is also in search of answers concerning her own Father, who died when she was only three. Drew found notebook of her Father's with random lists of his like, dislikes and dreams for his own life that was cut so short.

Drew makes the instantaneous decision to embark on an adventure to San Francisco with Emmett in search of healing waters from one such tale. Uncharacteristically, Drew takes money from the shop and hops on a train with no definite plan in mind. The two find the pond and during the trip also find that Emmett's place is traveling while Drew's is with her Mother.

I felt that this book was  fast read, though, the ending seemed abrupt and much too neatly packaged. While there is a bit of romantic intrigue between Drew and Emmett, nothing is ever acted upon and Emmett comes across as being an older character from a cheesy romance film. I think that the dialogue was realistic and moving at times and that this book would hold the attention of teenage girls who may have their own dreams of running away with a runaway. 

The Obsidian Blade, by Pete Hautman

Tucker Feye's life is just as hum-drum and predictable as most thirteen year old boys living in a rural midwestern town. His Dad is a preacher no less. When Reverend Feye climbs on top of the roof to fix a shingle, the most exciting thing that Tuck could possibly imagine happening would be that his Dad may take a tumble and break an arm, but Tuck is astonished when he hears a yelp from his Dad and runs to the roof to find that his Dad has vanished. After searching all over the place for him, Reverend Feye calmly makes his way out of the surrounding woods with a strange fair haired girl by his side.

To add to the oddness, Reverend Feye's clothes are worn, he has some foreign blue feet coverings and he appears old. He simply explains that he went to town where he found the girl, Lahlia, and that she is from Bulgaria, which explains her silence. The unexplained elements mount as the family sits down for dinner and the Reverend announces that they will no longer say grace since there is no God. 

From this point on thing normal is that nothing is certain. The shock of Reverend Feye's denouncing God, yet continuing to preach the same as before, marks the beginning of Tuck's mother, Emily, losing here mind as her red hair quickly fades to white. 

Unsupervised, Tucker stays out late and hunts up mischief with the Kraus brothers. A massive rope swing going out over a pond serves as one day's entertainment. Tuck is pushed to be the first to give it a try. As he glides across the water and reaches the highest point in the arch he is startled by the instant appearance of a circular distortion of the surrounding sky. An orb. An entrance into another realm. Twisting and turning in surprise, Tuck is flung back too far smashing into the the tree and blacking out for a moment. As he comes to he instantly inquires as to whether the others saw the same orb. The boys are clueless, but Lahlia seems to know more than she lets on. 

Tuck finds out first head what is on the other side of the orb, known as a disko, the next time he comes upon one, as he is transported to another time and place. There are countless transports via the diskos to follow by the Reverend, Tucker, Emily, Lahlia and many others as Hautman takes the reader on a philosophical and sci-fi roller coaster ride that questions what is real, what is time and what is faith, true faith. Though, the story is so intricate that it is easy to find one's mind twisted in recalling how all of the pieces together, this is a riveting physiological soup where crucial moments in history meet with modern men, other beings are encountered, and time means nothing and everything at the same time. The Obsidian Blade is a must-read that will leave you hungry for the next volume in this series, The Klaatu Diskos.

The Sweetheart of Prosper County, by Jill Alexander

As a small-town girl from Texas, Jill S. Alexander made me feel right at home with the ups and downs of country girl, Austin Gray, in The Sweetheart of Prosper County. Like most High School freshman Austin is in dire need of a clique. However, it seems that all of her friends have deserted her during the move from eighth to ninth grade, which has left her searching for something, someone, anything...then she saw the sweetheart. Much as the 3 wise men were guided by a star, Austen found her guide in the form of the Future Farmers of America (F.F.A) sweetheart in the Christmas Parade. There's only one catch, you have to have a prize winning animal in order to even have a shot at being the "head ornament" of truck in the parade. People knowing you as something other than "that girl" is nice too. Austin's best friend and Mom are quick to come to the rescue.

First on the list is an animal. This problem is soon remedied with the help of her Mom and a sweet Cajun man who help to make Charles Dickens, a rooster, her very own. Next, to find some friends. Joining FFA helps in that area and a lanky boy offers up another dish of reputation help. If Austin's mamma would just give her a little more breathing room she would have it made in the shade. This is easier said and done since the passing of her Daddy years ago.

Austin owes a lot to others for her help with her sweetheart makeover, but others owe a lot to her too. This story is full of characters with personalities as big as Texas and relationships as sweet as apple pie. If you're from the south you'll find yourself reminiscing. If not, you'll find yourself wondering what in the world is going on down there. No matter where you're from you'll find your heart warmed. 

Okay for Now, by Gary D. Schmidt

There is nothing easy about moving to a new town when you're fourteen, but Doug Switeck is determined to make his way despite all. With a Dad that can't hold onto a job, a Mother that is taking every day as it comes and a brother that has just returned from Vietnam and has many of his own issues to deal with, Doug finds support in the caring nature of a girl named Lil and John James Audubon’s birds housed at the library along with the librarian. This is an endearing story that transcends ages and decades; arriving at the conclusion that adolescence is never easy no matter the time or the place, but on occasion it is simply OK. 

The Name of the Star, by Maureen Johnson

Though, Jack the Ripper first struck fear in the hearts of London and the world over 100 years ago, the brutal manner in which the victims were mutilated and the fact that the culprit was never found has caused that fear to simmer through the generations and has now been reignited with the surfacing of a Ripper copycat. The day of the first murder also happens to be the day that Rory Deveaux arrives in London from Louisiana to begin boarding school. Rory has a lot on her plate with settling in with her new roommate, keeping up with her classes and doing her best to make it out of field hockey alive, so she is not totally consumed by the Rippermania that has swept London.

When Rory happens to see the man that is at the top of the suspect list the police are very interested in what she saw. However, Rory isn't even sure what to think about what she saw since her roommate, Jazza, was right by her and didn't see a thing. Rory is instantly wrapped up in the middle of the Ripper madness, because it now seems that she could be his next victim.

I had to finish this book during the day, because I was too scared to read it at night. You will be on edge waiting to find out what it is that sets Rory apart from her classmates and why the copycat Ripper is so very interested.