Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman is about twins, Bronte and Tennyson.  Things haven't been great in their family since their father's affair and now their mother's retaliation affair.  Things get even worse between the twins when Bronte begins dating Brewster.  Brewster, known as the Bruiser by everyone at school, is a big, menacing boy who has made it a priority to steer clear of everyone else.  He lives with his alcoholic uncle and younger brother in a dilapidated old house, with a giant bull as a pet.  He is the brunt of much bullying at the hands of his schoolmates, but he bears it and shrugs it off.  Once Bronte enters his life, things change.  After his initial resentment, Tennyson gets to know Brew and they all become friends.  That's when things get hard for Brewster.  He has a strange gift... he has the ability to take pain and injury away from those he cares about and transfer the damage to himself.  That's why Brew has always made it a point to never get to know anyone but his family very well.  Once he begins dating Bronte, Brew is thrown into her world of friends, parties, and even her family.  Despite the consequences, he begins caring about many different people and his body suffers greatly.  When he and his brother become foster children and move in with Bronte and Tennyson's family, things get worse for Brew, but much better for the twins.  They learn that Brew's ability extends to emotional injury as well as physical - taking its toll on Brew when he's thrown into the dysfunctional life at the twins' home.

This was an awesome book.  In fact, I've never read one by Neal Shusterman that I haven't loved!  I really liked thinking about the personal consequences of Brew's ability and how I might deal with a friend or family member with such a power.  It's really an ethical dilemma, as the twins discovered in the story.

42 Miles by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

42 Miles by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer is JoEllen's story, told through her own free-verse poetry and pictures, On week days she is Ellen and lives in Cincinnati with her mother, while on weekends she is Joey and stays 42 miles away on her father's farm. As Ellen, she is a 12 year old school girl who enjoys a very set schedule with her mother - complete with take out menus and evening activities neatly planned out. She and her bet friends, Tamika and Annie (who think only hicks live in the country), are plagued by typical school assignments and "mean girl" bullies. On weekends, however, she becomes Joey. She and her father experiment with cooking meals and ingredients and play games. She spends time horse-back riding and hanging out with her cousin, Hayden (who thinks the big city is filled with filth and crime). 42 miles is the story of Joey/Ellen finding herself and becoming JoEllen again.

This was a quick and easy read because of the free-verse format. I think it would be really appealing to anyone who has been through a divorce. I felt triumphant on JoEllen's behalf when she began making changes in both parts of her life, no longer allowing her physical location to define her. It was enlightening to see her working to become the person she truly wanted to be in all aspects of her life. This author also wrote Reaching for the Sun, one of my all time favorite books!

Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick

Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick is about Alex, a 16 year old high school student who is living through his parents' divorce. One night he gets the "brilliant" idea to drink alcohol and drive his mother's car over to his father's house to confront him about his new girlfriend. Unfortunately, Alex only makes it up the street a little ways before ending up on his neighbor's front lawn, decapitating her lawn gnome in the process. As his punishment, the judge sentences him to 100 hours of community service at the nursing home where his mother works. His mom assigns Alex to work with Solomon Lewis, an angry old man with emphysema. Through his 100 hour experience, Alex has to write letters to the judge to keep her abreast of his progress. The purpose of this punishment is to hell Alex come "full circle". He is supposed to teach Solomon a lesson, learn a lesson from Solomon, and just, in general, learn from his mistakes. Needless to say, Solomon and Alex don't develop a real fondness for one another at first. 100 hours is a long time, though, and in the end both Alex and Solomon change in ways neither one expected.

I liked this book even more than Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, Jordan Sonnenblick's debut novel. A lot of the same ideas were explored within this book, but to a deeper degree. I really liked the way Alex developed as a strong, caring person who eventually was able to take responsibility for his actions. I also liked the way Solomon changed (but didn't)! I liked the little threads of romance laced within the story - Alex and his best girl friend Laurie, Alex's mom and dad, and even our old friends Steven and Annette (from Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie). This is one of the 2009-2010 Maud Hart Lovelace Nominees.