Young Reading

My oldest enters high school in just a few weeks -- gulp! Despite the desire to rewind to simpler days when she crawled into my lap and we read picture books for hours, I am excited that she has reached an age where I can share my favorite books with her, books that have deep content and magical, lyrical phrasing. On vacation I lost count of what she read. One day she devoured The Secret Life of Bees. The next day she read The Kite Runner while I finished off The Host, Stephenie Meyers' latest literary treat. I promptly handed it over to Hannah for her to enjoy. The beauty of summer reading is that it isn't required; summer reading should be for the sheer pleasure it brings, pleasure that is best shared with another after the last page.

HOW TO BUILD A HOUSE. By Dana Reinhardt. Random House. Ages 14 and up. 227 pages. $15.99.

Many young people spend part of their summers volunteering. Harper volunteers to help rebuild a house in Tennessee destroyed by a tornado. She does so not out of altruistic goodwill, but to escape her family in California. Her father and stepmother's divorce has broken her heart and her family because of Harper's close relationship with her stepsister and best friend, Tess.

While in Tennessee, Harper learns about perseverance through hard work and through being part of a group. She also discovers love, and that reminds her to love herself. Beautifully written with a dominant theme of a young woman finding inner strength despite family upheaval.

DEFYING THE DIVA. By D. Anne Love. Simon and Schuster. Ages 12 and up. 257 pages. $16.99.

The first year of high school ended as a disaster for Haley Patterson, thanks to incessant verbal abuse by the reigning queen bee. Rather than taking the "Mean Girls" formulaic approach, this novel deals with the very real topic of bullying and overcoming the feelings of despair and victimizing.

Haley is able to escape her hometown for the summer, but staying with her eccentric aunt while her parents go to Europe does little to improve her outlook. Making new friends, discovering a summer romance and standing up to the girl who has made Haley's life miserable do not turn Haley back into herself. Instead, she emerges as a better, stronger person. This is a summer novel that will resonate long after the suntan fades.

HURRICANE SONG: A Novel of New Orleans. By Paul Volponi. Viking. Ages 14 and up. 136 pages. $15.99.

Although brief, this gritty book with its Superdome setting is sometimes difficult to bear. Perhaps that is because reality in the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina truly was this squalid, this difficult, this heart-wrenching. Paul Volponi creates a glad-you-weren't-there scenario as the reader accompanies Miles, his father and his uncle to the Superdome when they cannot leave the city. They are trapped for days without food, water or sanitary ways to live in the monstrous dome. From the headlines to a fictional account, Volponi reminds readers of how evil and how good humanity can be when pressed to choose.

DEATH BY BIKINI. By Linda Gerber. Penguin. Ages 12 and up. 223 pages. $6.99.

Loved, loved, loved this book. Fast-paced and action-packed, this perfectly sized paperback is a winner to slip into the pool bag. The main character, Aphra Behn Connolly, lives on a remote island where she and her father run a posh resort for the ultra-rich and famous. Sounds wonderful? Well, not exactly. It is so remote that Aphra has little to no contact with the outside world and no friends her age. That changes when Seth arrives on the island with his parents and a guest is found strangled by a bikini top. (Don't worry, parents -- that is the only violent scene, and it is handled without graphic detail). Aphra jumps on the case and discovers not only danger but also that her parents' secret lives included working as spies, a talent that must be in Aphra's genetic make-up. I can't wait to read the sequel, Death by Latte.

SAND DOLLAR SUMMER. By Kimberly K. Jones. Simon and Schuster. Ages 9-13. 206 pages. $5.99.

Another emotionally charged summer book, Sand Dollar Summer follows 12-year-old Annalise's journey to Maine. Annalise and her silent younger brother accompany Lise, their single mother, to her hometown on the beautiful but rugged Maine coast. Lise is going home to recover from a crippling car accident, and it is the first time that the two children have visited their mother's island.

The ocean terrifies Annalise, but she must face her fear to overcome it. She attempts to thwart the ocean's savagery during a hurricane while trying to rescue Ben, an elderly, blind American Indian whom she has befriended. The dramatic conclusion to the book, the snappy dialogue and the vivid characterization make Sand Dollar Summer another great read.

■ Monica Young can be reached at cyoung9@triad.rr.com.