Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Lucy Scarborough has a hideous family secret. The women in her family are all cursed to become pregnant at age 17, give birth at 18 and then slip into madness. And unfortunately, Lucy is not an exception. While visits from her birth mother are sporadic, they are filled with trouble and strife, and a weird old folksong.

Lucy's journey begins with an ill-fated prom date ending in her being raped to conceiving her child (even after taking emergency contraception). Once her mother's journal is found by her friend Zach pieces begin to fall into place and the folksong takes on a new haunting and horrible meaning. . .

Lucy has to figure out the song and how to perform the tasks that are in it, all before her baby is born. If she doesn't, she and her unborn daughter will be forced to follow the footsteps of the other women in their family history.

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Let me just say this: I LOVED this story. I found myself researching Scarborough Fair and The Elfin Knight to try to piece the puzzle together at the same time Lucy, Zach and their family tried to. I know for one, I will never be able to listen to Scarborough Fair the same way again. I never realized how haunting that song could be.

I've joined a reading challenge!

I have joined my first official challenge! The Green Bean Teen Queen has issued a Georgia Nicolson reading challenge. All you have to do is read all 10 books by June 18, 2010. That gives me a little over 10 months. So, each time I read one, I'll post about it here and hopefully I will get through the series in time. I'm so excited!!!! Find out about the challenge here: http://www.greenbeanteenqueen.com/2009/06/georgia-nicolson-reading-challenge.html

Nothing by Robin Friedman

Parker Rabinowitz has a problem. More than one actually. Between trying to do his best in school, meeting with his college consultant and trying to keep up with his father's ridiculous standards, he just can't do everything. With all sorts of pressure on him from every side, Parker strives to control the one thing he can. . . his food intake.

As Parker struggles to keep his food down or to not overeat, he finds his control slipping. While others watch without really seeing, only his little sister Danielle realizes something is seriously wrong with Parker. But even she has her own problems. . . namely that when her brother is around, she's invisible, silent and borderline non-existent.

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I was hesitant to read this book once I realized part of it was in verse, but I'm glad I did. Too often, books are published with serious issues and most of them are about girls. I was encouraged to find another book (similar to Target by Kathleen Jeffries Johnson) that brought a so-called Girl issue and showed that boys can suffer from it too.

Looking back, I'm actually glad that Danielle's portion of the book is in verse form because it tended to be more powerful than if it had been in a regular story form. I was able to appreciate the feelings behind her words and feel the suffication she must have felt being Parker's little sister.

This book has an interesting way of dealing with eating disorders, but in a not too graphic way and stresses that there is no such thing as a "girls only" issue. . . eating disorders and diseases can affect both.