Shift

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury
I loved this book. It opens with Chris starting college and remembering the cross country bike trip he took over the summer with his best friend, Win. Now Win is missing and Chris is taking the heat. Win's parents want to know where he is and don't mind putting the pressure on Chris to find out. But Chris wants to know where Win is too. As the book progresses, hints about where Win might be develop but Bradbury doesn't tip her hand too soon--tension is maintained throughout the whole book. Great for mystery lovers, readers of John Green and anyone who likes adventure.

Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning

Is there a genre called coming of age tomboy books set in the south? If not, there should be. Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning by Danette Haworth is a prime example of the genre.

When a new girl moves to her sleepy Florida town, Violet's life gets shaken up. Suddenly things she's always taken for granted--Friday night fish fries, looking for Brain Freeze cups to turn in for a free Brain Freeze, hanging out with her friends Eddie and Lottie--don't seem quite so easy and natural. Melissa is ready to grow up in a way that Violet isn't and seeing her own life through Melissa's eyes makes Violet uncomfortable.

The sense of place in this book is incredible--I could feel the humidity, the mud under the Cypress trees, the crackle of lightning in the air. And Violet herself is really real--smart, prickly, a word collector, able to see when she's in the wrong even if she doesn't want to apologize.

I'm putting this book on my "contender for a Newbery honor" list.