Ms Rush Reads

copyright date: May 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (14 and up) I picked up this book because I had fallen in love with Alyssa B. Sheinmel’s first book for young adults The Beautiful Between .   I have to admit I was slightly disappointed with The Lucky Kind because I had such high expectations.  Both books are about family secrets, but I found the relationships and dialogue in The Beautiful Between to be much more realistically drawn than the family relationships and dialogue in The Lucky Kind.   I am wondering if that might not be due to the protagonist of this book being a guy instead of a girl.  I am curious to hear if guys find Nick more or less believable than I did. The Lucky Kind tells the story of Nick Brandt, a high school senior who is well-adjusted and wants for nothing in life, other than to get Eden Reiss, the girl of his dreams, to notice him. When things start to look like they’re working out with Eden, his relationship with h

copyright date: September 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) I am a sucker for a novel told in verse.   I am a sucker for anything having to do with Mexican culture.   I am a sucker for a metaphor involving a tree.   I am a sucker for a novel that makes me feel .   So, needless to say, Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall has found its way into my heart. The protagonist, Lupita, is the oldest of 8 siblings!   She is used to caring for her brothers and sisters and almost has a friendship with her mother as opposed to a mother-daughter relationship.   But there are still some things her mother doesn’t think Lupita is ready to hear.   When Lupita hears her parents whispering and realizes they are keeping something from her, she demands to know the truth, and finds out that her mother has cancer.   From that point forward, Lupita’s life will never be the same.   She does all she can to keep her family together while her mother fights

copyright date: February 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) Somebody Please Tell Me Who I Am by Harry Mazer and Peter Lerangis is not your typical war book.   It tells the story of Ben Bright, high school drama star and promising student.   Ben decides to enlist in the army, but keeps it a secret from everyone with whom he is close to avoid being talked out of it.   He is aware of the risks, but he deeply feels a need to serve his country, to do something big.   The book is divided into three sections: Before, During, and After.   Based on the title and the fact that the section titled ‘After’ is the lengthiest of the three sections, it is clear that things don’t go smoothly for Ben in the army.   He is injured and most of the book focuses on the impact of that injury on his family, his friends, and his life after military service. This is not a book with a political message against war, like it might seem to be on the surface.   This is

copyright date: March 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) Starters by Lissa Price tells the story of Callie, a teenager living in a world where Spore Warfare has killed off anyone who was middle-aged.   When Spore Warfare was in use, the government gave the elderly (Enders) and those under the age of twenty (Starters) priority when it came to getting vaccinated because they were most at-risk.   So, it turned out they were the only survivors.   Now, without her parents or any surviving grandparents, Callie is left to care for herself and her sickly younger brother.   She has support from a childhood friend, Michael, but that is not enough to keep them safe and well-fed.   Callie is tempted to earn enough money to save her brother and friend by becoming a rental Starter.   She is invited to undergo a complete makeover, and earn a large sum of money simply for signing up to rent her body three times to Enders who want to experience what it is