Please enable JavaScript
All Books | Page 5 | LitPick Book Reviews
All Books
The Almost Truth
Eileen Cook
Synopsis: From the author of Unraveling Isobel and The Education of Hailey Kendrick, a smart, romantic novel about a teenage con artist who might be in over her head.

Sadie can’t wait to get away from her backwards small town, her delusional mom, her jailbird dad, and the tiny trailer where she was raised…even though leaving those things behind also means leaving her best friend Brendan. Sadie wants a better life, and she has been working steadily toward it, one con at a time.

But when Sadie’s mother wipes out Sadie’s savings, her escape plan is suddenly gone. She needs to come up with a lot of cash—and fast—or she’ll be stuck in this town forever.

With Brendan’s help, she devises a plan—the ultimate con—to get the money. But the more lies Sadie spins, the more she starts falling for her own hoax…and perhaps for the wrong boy. Sadie wanted to change her life, but she wasn't prepared to have it flipped upside down by her own deception. With her future at stake and her heart on the line, suddenly it seems like she has a lot more than just money to lose...
Publication Date: 11/12/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Red
Alison Cherry
Synopsis: Contemporary teen fiction with a twist!
Felicity St. John has it all: loyal best friends, a hot guy, and artistic talent. And she's right on track to win the Miss Scarlet pageant. Her perfect life is possible because of just one thing: her long, wavy, coppery red hair.

Having red hair is all that matters in Scarletville. Redheads hold all the power--and everybody knows it. That's why Felicity is scared down to her roots when she receives an anonymous note:
I know your secret.
Because Felicity is a big fake. Her hair color comes straight out of a bottle. And if anyone discovered the truth, she'd be a social outcast faster than she could say strawberry blond. Her mother would disown her, her friends would shun her, and her boyfriend would dump her. And forget about winning that pageant crown and the prize money that comes with it--money that would allow her to fulfill her dream of going to art school.

Felicity isn't about to let someone blackmail her life away. But just how far is she willing to go to protect her red cred?

Praise for RED:

"As thought-provoking as it is enchanting."--Rae Carson, author of the FIRE AND THORNS trilogy
 
 "Smart, funny, and full of Awesome Ladies Behaving Awesomely, Alison Cherry's RED is everything I look for in a book. It will make you laugh, it will make you think, and it will make you book an appointment with your colorist immediately."--Rachel Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author of the Hex Hall series

"Clever, wickedly funny and with so much heart."--Melina Marchetta, author of the Printz-award winning Jellicoe Road
Publication Date: 10/08/13
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Chick Lit
Cherry Money Baby
John M. Cusick
Synopsis: Hollywood glitz collides with workingclass aspirations in this satirical tale of an impulsive starlet and a sharp-witted small-town teen.

Cherry Kerrigan loves her simple life, her family’s tiny trailer, even working at Burrito Barn. Forget college — she’s marrying her sweetheart from next door. But here comes Ardelia Deen, a glamorous starlet who sweeps Cherry into a world of fast cars and penthouse parties. Now Cherry’s small-town life just seems so . . . small. When Ardelia drops a bomb of an offer — one involving a baby — Cherry knows her life will change forever, no matter what she decides. John M. Cusick focuses his signature wit on Hollywood royalty and the wide-eyed dreams of Small Town, U.S.A. in a novel about discovering who you are . . . and changing your mind.
Publication Date: 09/10/13
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Chick Lit
Edna In The Desert
Maddy Lederman
Synopsis:

Edna is a precocious trouble-maker wreaking havoc at her Beverly Hills school. Her therapist advocates medication, but her parents come up with an alternative cure: Edna will spend the summer in the desert with her grandparents. Their remote cabin is cut off from cell phone service, Internet and television. Edna naturally finds this arrangement unacceptable. She’s determined to rebel until she meets an older local boy and falls in love for the first time. How can she get to know him from the edge of nowhere?

Praise for Edna in the Desert

"I really enjoyed it. Edna in the Desert really captured the teenage voice and how they think they know everything. I definitely think more schools should have the opportunity to read it."

-- Melissa Mehling, Honors English Teacher, Carle Place High School, Carle Place, NY

"I LOVED the book! It was so dramatic and sweet. I just loved it. I will buy several copies for my school library, and I recommend it to students and teachers."

Karen Casaceli, Gateway Middle School Librarian, Monroeville, PA

Publication Date: 09/09/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Seven Chances
Heather Slee
Synopsis: Abby is a nobody. That is, she was a nobody. Until a ­horrifyingly embarrassing thing happened to her. Now she’s the laughingstock of St. Theodore High. Abby is desperate to get her life back to the way it was, and after meeting a ­mysterious and unlikely ally, it seems she will get her wish. But trying to get it “right,” isn't as easy as it seems. Abby finds out all choices have consequences, good and bad, and you never really know what you're going to get.
Publication Date: 09/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
The Sound of Your Voice...Only Really Far Away
Synopsis: In the conclusion to the bestselling Secret Language of Girls trilogy, Marylin and Kate find that boys can be just as complicated as friendship.

Marylin knows that, as a middle school cheerleader, she has certain obligations. She has to smile as she walks down the hall, be friends with the right people, and keep her manicure in tip-top shape. But Marylin is surprised to learn there are also rules about whom she’s allowed to like—and Benjamin, the student body president, is deemed unnacceptable. But maybe there is a way to convince the cheerleaders that her interest in Benjamin is for their own good—maybe she’ll pretend that she’s using him to get new cheerleading uniforms!

Kate, of course, finds this ludicrous. She is going to like whom she likes, thank you very much. And she just so happens to be spending more time than ever with Matthew Holler. But even a girl who marches to the beat of her own guitar strings can play the wrong notes—and are she and Matthew even playing the same song? She’s just not sure. So when Matthew tells Kate that the school’s Audio Lab needs funding from the student government, she decides to do what she can to help him get it.

But there isn’t enough money to go around, and it soon becomes clear that only one of the two girls can get her way. Ultimately, though, is it even her way? Or are both girls pushing for something they never really wanted in the first place?
Publication Date: 08/27/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Ask Amy Green: Love and Other Drama-Ramas!
Synopsis: Love drama is on the rise as Amy’s mom prepares for her wedding, Aunt Clover dates a hot musician, and Amy takes on the mystery of her friend’s cheating beau.

There’s love drama going on all around Amy Green. Her mom is getting ready for her bachelorette party and wedding, Aunt Clover is dating a hot singer in a band, and Amy’s best friend, Mills, has fallen head-over-heels for the new guy in school, Bailey. When Bailey cheats on Mills, Amy is determined to get to the bottom of it, but what she finds is more than she bargained for! Factor in a dreamy "Irish Surfing Chef," a painful family secret, and Clover in need of a confidence boost as she ponders starting college after an exciting gap year as an advice columnist. Cue sidekick Amy to the rescue with advice and support!
Publication Date: 08/27/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Famous For Nothing
T/James Reagan
Synopsis: T/ James Reagan's Famous For Nothing, is a post-Empire novel that explores the lives of five socialites as they search for meaning in a landscape populated with harsh critics and soft jail sentences. The problem with Famous For Nothing is that it's a book. No one reads books anymore. You probably read a couple blogs a day. When things get challenging, you're like, "Four straight paragraphs? Really? When did I sign up to a be an English major?" Famous For Nothing is a novel for the blog generation. It makes you feel guilty and inferior and superior at the same time. Hopefully, it also makes you laugh. It's about socialites. It's about wanting to be a better person. It's about wanting to be something more. It's about five girls. It's about new wave music. It's about second chances. It's a guilty pleasure that can be picked up in the waiting period between peeing on the pregnancy test and checking to see what your future is- then you can put it down again. Maybe in the waiting room of Planned Parenthood, you'll read more of it on your phone. This is a novel for people scared of books. This is a novel for socialites, about socialites. So if the invites don't come in tonight, Famous For Nothing is here for you.
Publication Date: 08/16/13
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Chick Lit
Where Beauty Lies
Blair Fowler, Elle Fowler
Synopsis:

Step behind the velvet ropes of Fashion Week and enter an exclusive world of opulent parties, hot guys, designer style…and new lies.

In Hollywood, there's no such thing as bad press, especially when you're Sophia and Ava London. Despite their very public scandal, the London sisters are hotter than ever. Sophia's finally in the perfect relationship with the perfect guy…even if can't she get the memory of Giovanni out of her head. And Ava's taking a break from dating to focus on her career―while a new love interest is trying to disrupt her carefully laid plans. Best of all, Sophia and Ava have just been given a chance to create their own fashion line for New York Fashion Week. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity… but only if their ruthless rivals don't destroy them first.

The same unseen enemies who tried to ruin them back in L.A. are in New York to finish the job. And a new competitor is hiding in the shadows of the runway, waiting for a chance to steal everything Sophia and Ava have worked so hard for. In the cutthroat world of high fashion, it's impossible to know who your real friends are. At least Sophia and Ava can count on each other―but will it be enough to keep them from losing it all?

From internet sensations Elle and Blair Fowler comes Where Beauty Lies, the dazzling sequel to Beneath the Glitter

Publication Date: 08/13/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Bloggrls: Book One
Cheryl Dellasega
Synopsis: Sadie, a.k.a. nugrl90, finds out one day that her semi-happy teen life is taking a serious turn toward disaster. Not only are her parents really, truly getting divorced (as they've threatened a hundred times), but now her family is moving! She has to share a room with WS (Wicked Sister) and start the school year as 'the new girl.' So Sadie creates a blog to sort out every W3TP (What's Wrong With This Picture?) that has suddenly entered her life. When Sadie meets BB (Buff Boy), she thinks that maybe her luck is changing. Could this be Sadie's chance to fit in at her new school? Or will a relationship with BB isolate her even more? Through it all, Sadie has her blog--where she vents to friends and where she discovers the inner strength to keep moving forward. Written entirely in blog style, complete with a unique 'clicktionary' explaining blogspeak and scattered hand-drawn artwork throughout, Sadie's story will pull in readers from the very first page.
Publication Date: 07/02/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Burning
Elana K. Arnold
Synopsis: A sizzling love story between a small-town boy and a Gypsy girl unfolds as the Burning Man festival is in full swing. 

Ben, a small-town boy from Gypsum, Nevada, and Lala, a gypsy girl in town to read fortunes for the tourists who have come for the annual Burning Man festival, are from two completely different worlds. In the fall, Ben will be going off to college, and Lala will be entering into an arranged marriage. But this summer, each of them is searching for something more . . . And one sizzling summer day when Lala reads Ben’s cards, everything changes for both of them.
 

A Bankstreet Best Book of the Year

A Los Angeles Public Library Best Book 

“Seductive and uplifting . . . An absolutely perfect summer read.” —Andrew Smith, author of Winger and The Marbury Lens

“A story of forbidden love, great risk, and, ultimately, transformation. Readers will find themselves moved beyond words.” —Nova Ren Suma, author of Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone

“Wholly compelling and full of surprises.” —Pam Houston, author of Cowboys Are My Weakness

"Lyrical and inspirational."--Kirkus Reviews

"Readers looking for a romantic coming-of-age novel won’t be disappointed."--SLJ

"The stirrings of an unconventional first love and the new freedoms that lie in wait for Lala and Ben provide readers ample reason to keep turning pages"--Publisher's Weekly
Publication Date: 06/11/13
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Chick Lit
Belle Epoque
Elizabeth Ross
Synopsis: When Maude Pichon runs away from provincial Brittany to Paris, her romantic dreams vanish as quickly as her savings. Desperate for work, she answers an unusual ad. The Durandeau Agency provides its clients with a unique service—the beauty foil. Hire a plain friend and become instantly more attractive.
   Monsieur Durandeau has made a fortune from wealthy socialites, and when the Countess Dubern needs a companion for her headstrong daughter, Isabelle, Maude is deemed the perfect adornment of plainness. 
   Isabelle has no idea her new "friend" is the hired help, and Maude's very existence among the aristocracy hinges on her keeping the truth a secret. Yet the more she learns about Isabelle, the more her loyalty is tested. And the longer her deception continues, the more she has to lose.  

   Inspired by a short story written by Emile Zola, Belle Epoque is set at the height of bohemian Paris, when the city was at the peak of decadence, men and women were at their most beautiful, and morality was at its most depraved.

A YASLA William C. Morris Award Finalist

A Junior Library Guild Selection

“Both touching and fun, this is a story about many things—true friendship, real beauty, being caught between two worlds—and it will delight fans of historical fiction.”—Publishers Weekly

“A refreshingly relevant and inspiring historical venture.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A compelling story about friendship, the complexity of beauty, and self-discovery…full of strong female characters.”—School Library Journal

“With resonant period detail, elegant narration, and a layered exploration of class and friendship, this provocative novel is rife with satisfaction.”—Booklist

“Much to offer a contemporary YA audience…flirtation and match-making to tantalize romance fans…prime book-club fare.”—The Bulletin

"This delectable Parisian tale left me sighting with sweet satisfaction. J'adore Belle Epoque!"-Sonya Sones, author of What My Mother Doesn't Know and To Be Perfectly Honest
Publication Date: 06/11/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Tidal
Amanda Hocking
Synopsis:

Don't miss Tidal, the spellbinding third book in the Watersong series by New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking!

Gemma and Harper Fisher are facing the fight of their lives. Gemma has been cursed with extraordinary powers that have a terrifying dark side, but she's finally found what she needs―a way to break the curse and become human again. But finding the means to do it will be her greatest challenge yet. And now Penn, Lexi and Thea―the gorgeous but deadly creatures who cursed her―are determined to kill her before she has a chance. Making matters worse, Penn has her sights set on Daniel―the guy Harper loves―and Penn always gets what she wants.


As Gemma and Harper race to break the curse before it's too late, they're thrust deeper into a mythical world of immortal secrets. They must delve into their enemies' past to find the answers they need, even if it means being drawn deeper into their savagely beautiful world. But one of the girls is not what she seems…and Gemma finds an unlikely ally as she struggles to save herself. But will it be enough to break an ancient curse that no one has ever escaped alive?

Publication Date: 06/04/13
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Chick Lit
Five Summers
Una LaMarche
Synopsis: Bittersweet, funny, and achingly honest, Five Summers is a story of friendship, love, and growing up that is perfect for fans of Ann Brashare's The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants  and Judy Blume's Summer Sisters.  
Four best friends, five summers of camp memories

 
Emma, Skylar, Jo and Maddie have all come back to camp for a weekend of tipsy canoe trips to the island, midnight skinny dipping in the lake, and an epic game of capture the flag--boys versus girls. But the weekend isn't quite as sunwashed as they'd imagined as the memories come flooding back...
 

The summer we were nine: Emma was branded “Skylar’s friend Emma” by the infamous Adam Loring . . .

The summer we were ten: Maddie realized she was too far into her lies to think about telling the truth . . .

The summer we were eleven: Johanna totally freaked out during her first game of Spin the Bottle . . .

The summer we were twelve: Skylar’s love letters from her boyfriend back home were exciting to all of us—except Skylar . . .

Our last summer together: Emma and Adam almost kissed. Jo found out Maddie’s secret. Skylar did something unthinkable...and whether we knew it then or not, five summers of friendship began to fall apart.

 A young adult book with a friendship story that will last long after the last s'more is gone.

  

Publication Date: 05/16/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Formerly Shark Girl
Kelly Bingham
Synopsis: Jane Arrowood, otherwise known as Shark Girl, has been living with just one arm for over a year. Now she’s searching for a new normal.

It’s been a year since the shark attack that took Jane’s arm, and with it, everything she used to take for granted. Her dream of becoming an artist is on the line, and everything now seems out of reach, including her gorgeous, kind tutor, Max Shannon. While a perfectly nice guy from her science class is clearly interested in Jane — removing her fear that no one ever would want a one-armed girl — Jane can’t stop thinking about Max. But is his interest romantic? Or does he just feel sorry for her? Formerly Shark Girl picks up where Kelly Bingham’s artful, honest debut novel left off, following Jane as she deals with a career choice (should she “give back” by trying to become a nurse, or is art an equally valid calling?) along with family changes and her first real romance — all while remembering who she was before she was Shark Girl and figuring out who she is now.
Publication Date: 05/14/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
The Kissing Booth
Beth Reekles
Synopsis: NOW A NETFLIX MOVIE STARRING MOLLY RINGWALD AND JOEY KING!

A cool, sexy romance novel written by seventeen-year-old British sensation Beth Reekles.

Meet Rochelle “Elle” Evans: pretty, popular—and never been kissed. Meet Noah Flynn: badass, volatile—and a total player.

When Elle decides to run a kissing booth at her school's Spring Carnival, she locks lips with Noah and her life is turned upside down. Her head says to keep away, but her heart wants to draw closer. This romance seems far from a fairy tale.

Is Elle headed for heartbreak or will she get her happily ever after?
Publication Date: 05/14/13
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Chick Lit

Pages



RECENT BOOK REVIEWS