What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen 402 pages 9780670012947

Sarah Dessen has a true gift for writing for teen girls. Each of her books is poignant and true. The characters are fresh, believable and hard to say goodbye to. McLean is moving, again, to her Dad's next assignment. He is a restaurant troubleshooter, sent to a troubled restaurant with a mission of evaluating the restaurant's chances of survival or the possibility of success with changes.
McLean's parents are divorced. Her mom took up with the hot basketball coach of Defriese University. Basketball is kind of a religion she shared with her dad -- she was named after the university's all-time winningest coach, until her mother defected, married and had twins with the coach.
So, every time they move, McLean creates a new persona with a new name. She has learned not to get attached to people or places since they are likely to move in 6 - 12 weeks. But she finds herself breaking her self-imposed rules when they move to Lakeview. She makes friends and really wants this restaurant to succeed.
Her mom wants to reestablish a relationship and threatens McLean's dad with legal actions if McLean does not start spending quality time with her mom's new family.
What makes this book special is her evolving relationship with Dave, the guy next door, who has his own family problems and is also a new kid at the local public high school.
These kids have problems, but not the messy drug and sex problems of so many teenage novels. This looks at the meaning of family and friendship and the importance of trust and communication.

Close to Famous by Joan Bauer 250 pages

Just look at the luscious cover of this book! Foster is a young girl who has dealt with heartache (her beloved dad died a soldier in Iraq), by watching the Food Network and adopting TV cooking show celebrity idol Sonny Kroll as her mentor/idol. Her goal is to have her own TV cooking show someday, sharing recipes, techniques, and morsels of homespun wisdom. Achieving this goal is not going to be easy. She can't read. Her mom yanks her from their home and flee Memphis. In the escape from mom's abusive, egomanical boyfriend Foster loses her pillowcase -- her treasure box of all her letters, medals and mementos of her father. Although she is devastated, she makes new friends and literally cooks up a job for herself. She becomes Culpepper's cupcake queen, whipping up cupcakes and muffins each day and selling them to a gruff diner owner, Angry Wayne. Her newest friend introduces her to the town celebrity, Miss Charleena, who seems to be hiding out from Hollywood and the world. Before you can say chocolate cupcake, Charleena is teaching Foster to read and Foster is teaching Charleena to cook. This book has a lot of teachable moments. My only complaint is that Bauer, who has written plenty of award winning teen books, but no cookbooks, does not include any recipes. Any reader will be craving a yummy cupcake or moist muffin before finishing this book.

Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder 304 pages

This seems to be almost a throwback in tone to Little Orphan Annie. Penelope is a bored, rich girl who wishes for something interesting to happen. You know that line, be careful what you wish for? Before you know it, her parents lose their fortune, their mansion and end up just about broke and move to a ramshackle house filled with eccentric people. Of course, they learn what is truly important in life and lonely, Penelope makes her first friend. A bit old-fashioned, but somewhat charming. Lots of unique characters.

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles 324 pages

This sequel to Perfect Chemistry features Alex's younger brother, Carlos who has just moved in with him. Carlos can't believe how much is brother has changed and blames Brittany, his gringa girlfriend. Alex had been a member of Latino Blood now he has reformed, is attending college and seems to be under his girlfriend's thumb. After Carlos gets suspended from school, he is forced to live with one of Alex's college professors. The professor has a young daughter that attends school with him. He finds himself attracted to Kiara and begins to imagine a different future. Thugs at school want to use him to get drugs and his life becomes very complicated. This is told in alternating chapters by Carlos and Kiara. Readers will root for this young couple.

Bystander, by James Preller 226 pages

When Eric and his mom move to a new town he is not sure that he will be able to make new friends easily. One day while shooting hoops before school starts, he meets a bully terrorizing a smaller boy. Griffin threatens to steel Eric's ball, but Eric is able to persuade him not to take it. At school, he discovers the school and adults seem to let Griffin do whatever he wants to. At first, Griffin seems to accept Eric and encourages him to join his lunch table. Griffin betrays his trust when he steals money and a cd when he visits Eric at home. Eric decides that he will not remain a bystander, and will stand up to Griffin and his group of thugs. Preller is the author of the popular Jigsaw Jones mystery series for younger readers. This book for older readers has a depth to it as well as a valuable message. Eric learns to deal with a variety of problems and also realizes the importance of communication. The ending is not sugar coated and one can see that Eric will find the right way to solve whatever problems may come his way.