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You may never think about cheerleaders in the same way after reading Suzanne Young’s debut novel “The Naughty List.” She flips nearly every cheerleader stereotype on its head in her tale of a cheerleading-squad-turned-secret-society-to-catch-cheating-boyfriends. Rather than rely on the overdone image of a cheerleader as a ditsy blonde backbiter, Young paints a refreshing, nuanced and hilarious portrait of Tessa, the head cheerleader and head spy. Tessa takes cheering very seriously, but not because it’s a path to popularity. Because she truly believes in school spirit. And she believes in washing your mouth out with soap too. Rather than swear, she creates her own endearing four-letter phrases like “peanutbutter pickles” or “strawberry smoothies.” The story zips along at a quick pace with each chapter punctuated by a “cheater’s report” full of witty asides on the cheater’s behavior or tacky taste. But the complexity in this breezy tale comes in Tessa herself when she must confront what to do when she’s asked to investigate her own boyfriend’s possibly naughty ways. The Naughty List is a sparkling debut!

You know that scene in “Twilight” where Edward and Bella are in the meadow? That scene you read late into the night over and over and your face was flushed and you were glad everyone else in the house was asleep because you had goosebumps on your arms and your skin was kind of tingling in anticipation of a fictional kiss? Well, if you want to recapture that feeling strung out over an entire book, then read JM Warwick’s “Season of Eden.” The book is one long seduction, one tantalizing buildup.

The book tells the story of 18-year-old high school student Eden who crushes hard on her 22-year-old music teacher Mr. Christian. And that’s it. The story is that simple — it’s about love, obsession, sexual tension and desire. But it’s not dirty and it’s not graphic. It’s about forbidden romance, attraction and the bloom of first love. The characters do nothing more than kiss in this story.

If you’re looking for a romance fix, put this on the top of your list.

Thanks to “Just Your Typical Book Blog” where I first learned about this story.

Fine, so it’s a No. 1 New York Times Bestseller. So the movie comes out in one month. So maybe I’m ridiculously late to the game.

Still, if you haven’t read the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series by Rick Riordan, now would be a good time to start. The first book in the series is The Lightning Thief and it is the story of Percy Jackson, who has a perennial problem of getting kicked out of every school he’s been to. Finally, when he’s 12 it’s revealed that he’s a demi-god, the son of one of the Greek Gods from Mount Olympus and a mortal. Percy then must go on a quest to retrieve Zeus’ stolen thunderbolt to prevent a world war between the Gods.

But it’s not the specifics of the quest that make this story interesting. The Lightning Thief works because it’s a cool adventure series. Set in modern day, Riordan has moved Mount Olympus to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, transferred Hades to a recording studio in Los Angeles, and given the God of War a rumbling motorcycle to ride in on. Then there’s Percy, a born-and-bred New Yorker, who’s quick with a quip and still has a chip on his shoulder that gets him both in and out of trouble.

Riordan has crafted a fully-realized and believable world of Gods, demi-gods and monsters living among us, though not terribly harmoniously. Which of course, makes for a great story.

Note: I first ran this review in September and am re-running it because this book releases today.

You think vampires that want to kill you in high school are scary? Or maybe werewolves who could rip your throat out?

They’re cotton candy compared to the high school in Courtney Summers “Some Girls Are,” the January 2010 follow-up to her well-received debut “Cracked up to Be.”

No, there’s nothing like the high school hell she makes her characters endure in “Some Girls Are.”

Even standard high school misery, like clueless teachers, cliques and gym are kittens next to Hallowell High, where the Fearsome Fivesome roam the halls. This girl bully gang loves to hate — they devise cruel tricks and horribly mean pranks in a game of chess with other students as the pawns. Their targets have no recourse, nowhere to go. They become nothing when the quintet is through with them.

Regina Afton is part of this crew. Until she’s kicked out for something she didn’t do. Now, she can’t duck fast enough because they’re pulling out all the stops as the four remaining members seek to destroy her. She hides out in the storage room, in the washrooms, with the so-called “losers,” but even they don’t really want a mean girl hanging with them. Because, can a Grade-A Henchwoman really change her stripes?

That is exactly what Regina desperately wants to do in this story — put her past as a very bad girl behind her — only she has to battle the now Fearsome Foursome, their toady boyfriends who do their dirty work, and worst of all, her own self doubts about whether she can be brave enough. The one bright spot is a loner boy who comes to see the good that is still inside her.

“Some Girls Are” is about what it means to be good, what it means to be bad, what it means to change. It’s about how to stand up and how to forgive and, especially, what not to do. It’s about — like the “Kiterunner” — “how to be good again.”

If you’ve talked to me about books for more than two minutes, you’ve certainly heard me mention Courtney Summers and “Cracked up to Be.” It is one of my favorite books of all time and also inspired me to switch genres from women’s fiction to young adult. Naturally, I was nervous reading “Some Girls Are,” hoping it would stand up to its predecessor. I can’t believe I’m saying this but “Some Girls Are” is even better. I was gripped with fear, anticipation, and intense, white-knuckling nerves during the second half of this book, wondering how on earth Courtney would possibly pull of a satisfying ending after she’d tortured her characters.

I won’t spoil the ending, though. You will need to read to find out! The countdown begins to the book’s January release date!

Take everything you think you know about supernatural romance and throw it out. Because BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl stands alone in the genre. Sure, supernatural romance is a red-hot category right now and readers seem to have an insatiable appetite for it. But BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is more than just the next contender. It is a wholly original story in its own right that is literary, gorgeous, inventive and turns convention on its head.

The novel tells the story of Ethan Wate, something of an outsider at his high school in Gatlin, South Carolina. Before Lena even arrives in town, he’s already falling for this new girl because she’s been appearing in his dreams, or rather his nightmares. The connection between them is electric, literally. But it’s also much deeper, rooted in shared loss, in shared identity, and quite simply in the time they spend together and even apart.

But the course of true love never did run smooth and Lena’s no ordinary girl. She’s a witch. And Ethan’s a mere mortal. And that may be what I love most about this book. Rather than the girl falling for the vampire, or the immortal, or the fallen angel, it’s the girl who has the powers.

Oh, and can I just say grab some palm fronds, because you’re going to need to fan yourself during the scenes when Ethan and Lena are alone together. They don’t do more than kiss, but the moments are luscious, especially when he tells her he is falling for her. It’s unlike any other confession of love you’ve ever read. Guaranteed.

What you first need to know about HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY is it’s nothing like TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE, the author’s blockbuster breakout book. TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE is romantic and heartbreaking and amazing. It is one of my favorite books of all time.

HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY is a modern ghost story. It’s told in the same rich, details that Audrey Niffenegger’s fans have come to love. But it’s not about an epic love across time. It’s about an ensemble of flawed people who are all stuck. The two identical twins are stuck with each other. The grieving widower is stuck with memories. The woman he loves died and is now stuck in her old apartment as a ghost. And the man upstairs is stuck too because of his own obsessive-compulsive disorder that keeps him inside.

The characters weave and dart around each other and London and this apartment building until the day the ghost learns to move objects and communicate with the living. That’s when the story really takes off and turns spooky. Because she can do other things. Stranger things, freakier things. If I tell you what she does, it would spoil the ending. But remember this — Niffenegger is not your typical writer. She likes twists and turns and she delivers on them in her second novel too.

It’s impossible to talk about TWISTED by Laurie Halse Anderson without addressing this — it’s written by a woman and it’s told by an 18-year-old boy. OK, fine. So JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter and even though the story is told in third person, her main character is a boy. But Tyler Miller, the narrator in this story, is ALL BOY. We’re talking raging hormones and long showers and girl lust and anger and muscles. The story surely stands on its own, but it also rises above simply because of that difficult feat — TWISTED100% feels like a book told from a teenage boy. That boy has been a dork and a troublemaker until one summer when he, how shall we say, blooms! He’s now over six feet, he’s ripped and he’s in love with the hottest girl in school. Oh, and she just might like him too…

Until one night when something happens. Only nothing happens. But because Tyler’s got a rep as a troublemaker everyone thinks he did something wrong.

The novel is true to its title and with brutal honesty and vivid imagery (Tyler imagines his dad with talons), Laurie Halse Anderson — a master of the teen lit genre — takes us inside a twisted family and a twisted tale.

You know those hypothetical questions where someone asks “If you could be any character from a book who would it be?” I have my answer now that I’ve read E. Lockhart’s “The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.” The answer is Frankie Landau Banks because she is a modern-day rabble-rouser, a provocateur, a troublemaker in the best, most playful sense of the word. Frankie Landau-Banks is a sophomore at the prestigious Alabaster Prep school in Massachusetts (think Exeter, Andover, etc.) when she learns about the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, an all-male secret society at her school. She’s fascinated with the camaraderie of the boys in it, their clubbiness, but also their exclusivity. She infiltrates the group and begins commanding them to commit a series of fantastic pranks across the school, all without them having a clue she’s the mastermind. And yet it keeps gnawing at her that the only reason she can’t be in this group is because she has boobs. Frankie is a feminist, a malcontent, someone who will always question the social order. And that’s something we need to see from time to time in young adult literature.

Welcome to special correspondent and young adult author Courtney Summers who’s reviewing “Dani Noir” for us!

By Courtney Summers

DANI NOIR is a sharp look at the life of 13-year-old film noir buff (and big Rita Hayworth fan), Dani Callanzano, during a pretty tough summer. Her parents have divorced, she’s angry at her father, her mom still hasn’t gotten over it, and her soon-to-be stepsister is a nightmare. The only place Dani can find a little peace of mind is at the Little Art movie theatre… but not for long. When a girl with polka-dot tights shows up, Dani finds herself with a full-blown mystery on her hands and if she doesn’t solve it–and soon–someone she really cares about could be hurt.

This is an incredible debut by Nova Ren Suma and Dani Callanzano is one of the most memorable protagonists I’ve ever read. A total snarky delight from start-to-finish. With a very thoughtful and caring hand, Suma explores Dani’s world candidly and honestly and the narrative is charming, hilarious and heartbreaking all at once. On one page, I would laugh out loud at one of Dani’s zingers and the next, my heart would ache at Dani’s vulnerability and need to find balance and control in the way you need to find balance and control when things are changing around you in really difficult ways. And it’s a page turner, too. Once I started, I only stopped once–and that was to make POPCORN. The movie theatre scenes are so well drawn–I COULD SMELL THE POPCORN!–it was impossible to resist. And so I highly recommend making popcorn when you pick this book up because it will complete the experience.

The whole time I was reading DANI NOIR, I wished fervently that I’d had Dani as a fictional companion when I was her age. I remember the books I carried around then like lifelines, and I know that had DANI NOIR been on shelves, I would’ve toted it everywhere. I would have aspired to Dani’s cleverness, her wit, her charm, her sense of adventure and I know that Dani’s razor-sharp outlook would have made me feel less alone. I can just imagine how many girls out there will benefit from reading a novel like this, which is why DANI NOIR gets all five stars from me. This is not just the kind of book you read and enjoy in the moment, it’s the kind of book you treasure and love and pass along. So do that. Don’t you dare miss this one.

-Courtney Summers is the author of CRACKED TO TO BE.

This book is satisfyingly voyeuristic. A collection of anonymous secrets on postcards, POSTSECRET: CONFESSIONS ON LIFE, DEATH AND GOD is delicious and inspiring and intriguing all at once. Plus, it’s a cinch to read. The book is a smallish coffee table book, with each page bearing a full-color postcard and its accompanying secret. The postcard art is often as captivating as the secret - my favorites are the ones with scanned receipts turned into postcards because receipts really can reveal a lot of secrets.

There are also maps and paint swatches and even crossword puzzles that people have turned into postcards and sent to Frank Warren’s PO Box. Warren is the author and the blogger behind “PostSecret,” the Web site where he shares all the postcard secrets he’s received. His “PostSecret” books are are a sort of “best of.”

Some of the best secrets are:

• “I’m starting rabbinical school and I love bacon.” (It’s written alongside a comical looking pig.)
• “I worry that my candid sleep talk will one day cost me my marriage.”
• “I wanted him so badly that I slept with him, knowing he was going home to you. Now that I know he would cheat, I don’t want him anymore. I’m sorry.”

There are more, of course, many more. And sometimes you’ll see yourself reflected back in other people’s secrets.