We Are Okay

LaCour, Nina. We Are Okay. 2017. 234p. ISBN 978-0-525-42589-2. Available at FIC LAC on the library shelves.

Marin’s single mother died when she was a young child, so she moved in with her grandfather. Living near the beach in San Francisco, Marin met her best friend Mabel in elementary school, and their relationship has over time grown to more than just friendship. During the summer following her graduation, her grandfather dies, which sends Marin into a tailspin. She immediately leaves her house and her possessions to report to college weeks early, and broke contact with everyone including Mabel.

At the beginning of We Are Okay, Marin finds herself alone in her New York college dorm during winter break. Everyone else has left, but she’s got no place to go so she elected to stay behind. With a snow storm coming, Marin is worried, for Mabel, whom she hasn’t seen in five months, tracked her down and is coming to visit her for three days. Three long days where the two of them will be reunited. Marin is anxious. What will they talk about? Will she be able to avoid discussing what led to her hasty departure from San Francisco?

Forced to confront her past and her relationships with her grandfather and Mabel, Marin learns that your family is what you make of it, not what you get when you are born. The isolation caused by winter break and by the storm provides the background for re-examining what it means to be lonely and whether loneliness should be avoided.

Waking in Time

Stanton, Angie. Waking in Time. 2017. 360p. ISBN 978-1-630790707. Available at FIC STA on the library shelves.

 

It’s a new chapter in Abbi’s life. She’s heading to college. On her way there, Abbi stops by her grandmother’s grave. The most important person in Abbi’s life, she died before her granddaughter moved to her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin. The day after Abbi receives a hat box filled with grandmother’s memories, she wakes up in 1983. Abbi meets Professor Smith, a physics instructor, who reassures her they have met in the past, and he is working on preventing her from traveling through time. And he tells her there is one more time traveler. On her next jump back she meets Will, who also travels in time, but in his case he jumps forward. He tells here they’re an item and fall madly in love in the past. As Abbi jumps backward, she discovers that she her fate and that of her family is tied to Will and to Professor Smith. Can she hang on to her true love when they travel in different directions?

Stanton creates an intricate and well-crafted tale with the added twist of a second time traveler in the opposite direction. Abbi and Will’s growing relationship is enhanced by the time travel effect, with one party always knowing more than the other about what has happened, whether in the past or in the future. The setting itself is limited to the Liz Waters dormitory and surrounding areas of the campus, but each time period is well researched. Enough hints are present throughout the story to suggest what will occur, but the it remains filled with mysteries and revelations that will surprise the reader. Fans of Kierstin Gier’s Ruby Red trilogy and of time travel will enjoy Abbi’s travels

Teen Guide to Credit and Debt

Blohm, Craig E. Teen Guide to Credit and Debt. Part of the Teen Guide to Finance$ series. 2017. 64p. ISBN 978-1-68262-060-3. Available at 332.74 BLO on the library shelves.

Recent surveys show that 1 in 4 teens do not know what an overdraft fee is or where it takes place, and nearly 1 in 20 teens believe they do not have to pay back credit card debt. With the economy roaring back, teens increasingly have more disposable income and are working harder. However, college spending keeps increasing, and most teens will incur a heavy load of student loans before they even graduate. More frightening, many teens do not understand how credit works. This book aims to remedy that fact by presenting information on credit and how it is used in the life of teens.

A valuable tool for a stable financial life, credit helps people purchase big ticket items such as homes, cars, and college. However, misusing credit can lead to severe consequences including ever mounting debt, a ruined credit score, and even bankruptcy. Learning about how to use and manage one’s credit is one of the most important skills that any teenager will ever have, and this book does an excellent job of covering the positive and negative aspects of credit.

The Moon and More

Dessen, Sarah. The Moon and More. 2013, 435p. ISBN 978-0-670-78560-5. FIC DES  on the library shelves.

It’s after graduation, and Emaline is making big plans. She’s heading to East U. with Luke, her boyfriend of three years. But she has one more summer to spend in Colby before making the big move. But in this too short of a time, her life changes completely. Her father, who has not been present in her life, returns to Colby to sell his aunt’s house and bring with him her half brother, Benji. She meets a new guy, Theo, at the same time as her relationship with Luke crashes. Her friends Daisy and Morris are also slowly floating away, getting ready to move beyond high school. Her work is busy and her step-sister Margo drives her insane. And, in the middle, is Clyde, the Colby artist Theo and his employer award-winning documentary director Ivy are here to film. The upheavals in Emaline’s life will make her a stronger person, and she may in the end find the moon and more, but only if she can survive the intense summer drama!

Fans of Sarah Dessen will enjoy her other books, including Lock and Key, and Saint Anything.