23 Minutes

23 Minutes by Vivian Vande Velde, 176 pages

Zoe is in the foster care system because her mom is in jail for stabbing her dad.  Her dad recovered but doesn’t want her.  She’s 15 now but when she was younger she was almost hit by lightning and after that she found that she could travel back in time exactly 23 minutes, for up to ten times.  Everything stayed the same unless she did something to change it.  On a rainy day, Zoe finds herself in a bank that is being robbed.  When the situation goes very wrong, very fast, Zoe has to decide what she can do differently to fix it.  This realistic science fiction story is excellent.  I didn’t want to put it down.  It’s not very long and was a fairly quick read and I would give it to teens who like this genre.

Still Life With Tornado

Still Life With Tornado by A.S. King, 295 pages

Sarah is having an existential crisis.  She hasn’t been to school for several days.  Something happened at school but she doesn’t want to explain to anyone.  She feels like nothing is original and nothing ever happens.  Sarah is a brilliant artist but lately she can’t create anything.  During her crisis several different versions of herself appear, including her 10 year old self, her 23 year old self, and her 40 year old self.  She feels like she’s going crazy and she can’t talk to her parents or any of her so-called friends.  Her brother left home several years before and she’s thinking about calling him but isn’t sure how that will work out either. King is a pretty amazing writer.  I’ve really liked almost everything she’s written and this is no exception.  This is a great book for teens who are trying to make sense of their lives, especially those who may feel like their lives are out of control.

Lily And Taylor

Lily And Taylor by Elise Moser     188 pages

Taylor’s sister, Tannis, was killed by her abusive boyfriend, Bracken, so Taylor and Tannis’s son, Mason, have gone to live with her grandmother.  Taylor’s boyfriend, Devin, isn’t happy about this situation because she’s too far away.  Devin is a lot like Bracken, but since he lives so far away now, Taylor feels mostly safe, until Devin starts saying he’s coming to see her.  Lily is a girl at school, whose mother was in a car accident and now has some brain damage.  Her mom and dad are divorced and sometimes her mom’s boyfriends are abusive.  Lily and Taylor start to become friends at school, which could end up saving their lives.  A pretty good teen book about abusive relationships that girls would probably like more than boys.  In the back, domestic violence hotlines are listed for people who might need help.