When It Happens by Susane Colasanti

When It Happens is the perfect easy-read, beach book for the love struck teenage girl.  The author, Susane Colasanti is a high school teacher and hears the language and sees the motions of teens daily.  The dialogue is realistic, using slang such as "mad" and "like."  Her characters are multi-layered with multiple issues from college, grades, parents, cliques and school events; the problems her characters experience are extremely real and relatable, unlike the drama shown in Gossip Girl.  

I really enjoyed this book because I needed a break from all the serious and deep-thinking Jodi Picoult books and others similar.  When It Happens is a fun romance and proves that if you truly care for something or someone and have motivation to work for what you want and look to then anything can happen.  Colasanti gives teenage girls (and guys) the courage to believe and hope for what may seem to be the impossible, "When you find something real, everything else falls into place. . ."    

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

If you have a sister, a brother, a best friend who is like a sibling then My Sister's Keeper is a must read.  It is intriguing and emotional, fueling talk among friends but most importantly family.  The relationship between two sisters, Anna and Kate Fitzgerald, is unlike any sister relationship I know of because a part of Anna is literally part of Kate.  I also appreciate their bond because the two are best friends and would do anything for each other, just like my sister and I are.  This inspiring novel also demonstrates how many families undergo incredulous struggles and must live on a second to second basis everyday, never knowing what is ahead of them.  I will admit, at times I take my life and opportunities for granted; I know that I will be graduating high school in a few months, going to prom, going to college and I have a ton of friends always by my side.  However, for Kate know one knows if this can be the case, know one knows how much farther she can push.  Picoult has helped me open my eyes a little bit more and show how I must live in the moment and appreciate all that I am fortunate enough to do.  Another reason I was touched by this story is because Kate and Anna are about the same ages my sister and I are now, so I felt incredibly close to these two characters, but can't possibly imagine the fight they must put up every day.  "My Sister's Keeper is the story of one family's struggle for the survival at all human costs and a stunning moral parable for all time."

P.S. this story has the saddest ending I have ever read.  You will be in shock and in tears, but no doubt awed and inspired.        

Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult