What We’re Reading

Wasteland | Francesca Lia Block

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Marina’s relationship with her brother Lex has always been different than that of normal siblings. Therefore, it’s not a shock to anyone when she takes his apparent suicide so hard. But there’s more to the story than anyone knows. At least, so she thinks.

As Marina delves deeper into the mystery, struggling to understand what happened to her brother, hidden truths come to light. But none so large as those learned when she takes off to visit her father.

This is a story of love: how it can raise you up and pull you down, heal you and break you.

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Boy Proof | Cecil Castelluci

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Egg is a geek. Preferring the life of a loner to that of the typical teen, Victoria Jergen has named and styled herself after the heroin of her favorite sci-fi movie, Terminal Earth. With multiple peircings, painted eyebrows, a shaved head, and a wardrobe that always includes a white cloak, Egg is definitely not run-of-the-mill. Her AP schedule, excellent grades, actress mother, special effects designing father, and phenomenal photographic eye make up the rest of the equation. She always does her homework, she always has an answer, she never says hello, and she likes to eat alone. Until Max.

When Max Carter shows up in AP History suddenly, and smelly, has the answers, and proves to be more than her match, Egg’s world begins to slide. Suddenly she isn’t “the one” anymore, and suddenly she’s acquiring interest in something beyond her self-imposed reality.

At first she takes the same cool attitude towards Max as everyone else, with some minor deviations. When her wishes work too well, she finds herself suddenly questioning what she truly wants. As more and more aspects of her every day routine begin to crumble, Egg begins to re-evaluate who she is, and why. Slowly she takes steps to become who she knows she ought to be. Victoria. Human. Flawed. A dreamer, with a lot of talent. An observer and an activist. A friend.

Some painful truths are stumbled upon, some harsh lessons are learned, but through it all Egg/Victoria remains strong. She’s a lovable, unique girl—definitely geeky—and will probably find a place in the hearts of readers world-wide.

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