True Believer

True Believer
Virginia Euwer Wolff

Quick Stats:

Page Count: 264
Age Range: 12 and up
Year: 2002
Genre: Realistic

LaVaughn is fifteen now, and she’s still fiercely determined to go to college. But that’s the only thing she’s sure about. Loyalty to her father bubbles up as her mother grows closer to a new man. The two girls she used to do everything with have chosen a path LaVaughn wants no part of. And then there’s Jody. LaVaughn can’t believe how gorgeous he is…or how confusing. He acts like he’s in love with her, but is he?

I would recommend this book to anyone who has trouble making decisions. Readers get to experience the kind of decisions other people have to make in their lives.

Ms. Leah

Make Lemonade

Make Lemonade
Virginia Euwer Wolff

Quick Stats:
Page Count: 208
Age Range: 10 – 14 years
Year: 2006
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Poetry

14 year old LaVaughn’s mind is focused on going to college but she needs money to make that dream come true. She ends up finding a job as a babysitter for a teenage mother Jolly, who has two children. She unknowingly helps Jolly make lemonade out of the lemons life has handed her.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes poetry. This story is written in chapters which are really short poems.

Ms. Leah