Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

“What if the person you need the most is someone you’ve never met?”

“Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.

In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?” - Goodreads.com

Jessie Morris’s life has been turned upside down since her mother’s death from ovarian cancer and her father’s surprise remarriage. Marrying a film executive that he met through an online bereavement group, she finds her life upturned when she and her father move to Los Angeles to live with his new wife and her son. Not fitting in at her new school, Jessie receives an email from Somebody/Nobody or S/N for short. The anonymous writer offers to help Jessie navigate the halls of Wood Valley. Jessie accepts the help and it’s not long before the two move from emails to instant messaging.

As Jessie tries to fit into her new life, things aren’t going well at home. Soon she begins to rely on S/N even as she finds herself attraction to Ethan, her English partner. Jessie begins to try and uncover the true identity of S/N even while it seems someone is interested in her. I had my suspicions about the true identity of S/N about ⅔ of the way through. And that ending! More than one boy shows up for the big reveal to keep the reader on their toes until the very end.

What happens when Jessie discovers the identity of S/N? Is it who she hopes it to be? Does she act on her feelings for Ethan? Can she repair her relationship with her father and her new family? Will Jessie ever feel like she fits into her new life in Los Angeles?

Visit Julie Buxbaum’s website.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles book one)

In this futuristic retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale, Cinder is a gifted mechanic who is also a cyborg. Adopted be her stepfather while he was on a trip in Europe, he died from the plague before they could get back home to New Beijing. Cinder lives in an apartment with her stepmother/guardian Adri and her two stepsisters, Pearl and Peony. Cinder supports the family be working as a mechanic in the market. It is in her stall that Cinder encounters Prince Kai when he comes looking to find the best mechanic in the city to work on his personal android. Cinder does her best not to become flustered by his attentiveness and hides the fact that she is a cyborg. After the prince leaves, panic breaks out in the market when the baker realizes that she is infected by the plague. Cinder hides in her stall until the coast is clear before heading back towards the apartment.

When Cinder arrives home, she finds that Adri has hired a seamstress to make new ball gowns for Pearl and Peony. Adri tells Cinder that if she is able to repair the magbelt that she might see about getting a gown for Cinder. Cinder knows she is lying but doesn’t let on. Instead she heads to her basement workshop to deposit Prince Kai’s broken android. It is here that Peony finds her and offers to accompany her to the landfill to look for the necessary parts. The girls head off and find what they need. The evening turns to tragedy when Cinder notices that Peony has the telltale signs of the plague. The med droids arrive to take Peony to quarantine and Cinder eventually heads back to the apartment. When Cinder arrives home, she finds her stepmother and several droids waiting. Cinder tells them she has no sign if the disease but Adri informs her that she has signed the papers for her to become a cyborg volunteer for research to find a cure for the plague.

Cinder is taken against her will where she is injected with the plague antibodies instead of getting sick. The doctor is awestruck as he watches Cinder’s body fight off the antibodies before she is given the experimental drugs. In the meantime, Emperor Rikan lies dying from the plague at the palace. Prince Kai knows that within the week he will become emperor whether he wants to or not. New Beijing is dealing not only with the plague crisis, but with the continuing threats from Queen Levana of Lunar. When the emperor dies, Queen Levana announces she is coming to visit New Beijing and continue their negotiations in person.

Why is Cinder immune to the plague? Can a cure be found in time to save Peony? What exactly is the mystery behind Cinder’ origins? Will Prince Kai discover that Cinder is a cyborg? What are Queen Levana’s true intentions? And what happens when Queen Levana lays eyes on Cinder?

Along For the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Auden West never had a childhood. She was always the perfect little adult for her college professor parents. Academics took precedence over friendship and fun. When her parents began fighting at night, Auden would disappear and hang out at the local diner all night. She soon became an insomniac while her driven mother and clueless father divorce. Auden is a loner who decides to visit her father, stepmother and new baby sister for the summer after receiving a photo of her brother backpacking across Europe for graduation.

Once Auden arrives in the small coastal town of Colby, she soon realizes that all the things her mother said about her father are true. As Heidi struggles with baby Thisbe, Auden watches helplessly from the sidelines as her father goes on like nothing has changed. After going out to pick up dinner, Jake from the bike shop invites her to join him later at the Tip, a local hangout on the beach. After growing tired of hearing the baby cry all evening, Auden decides to walk around town and soon finds herself at the Tip. She briefly hooks up with Jake but in her haste to leave, she bumps into a brooding stranger.

Later on at home with the baby stil crying, Auden decides to give Heidi a break so that she can get some rest. Auden takes Thisbe for a stroll on the boardwalk which calms her down. There she runs into the guy from the night before doing tricks on his bike. Auden realizes that her mother was right. Her father has not changed. He is still selfish and inconsiderate when he hands off Thisbe to her at dinnertime while Heidi is trying to fix things at her shop. While out with the baby, Auden realizes that the strange boy is staring at them. He takes Thisbe from her and instantly soothes her. Heidi soon arrives and introduces Auden to Eli, who is Jake's older brother.

While driving around Colby one night, Auden finds herself at the bike park. Watching frm the shadows, she finds that Eli has come up beside her. Small talk eventually leads to Eli realizing that Auden hasn't ridden a bike in years. A few nights later while hanging with the girls at a party, Auden once again strikes up a conversation with Eli only to have his former girlfriend try and pick a fight. Afterwards the gilrs fill Auden in on Eli past, including the fact that his best friend was killed in a car accident. Eli was driving but not a fault.

Auden and Eli soon realizes that they have a lot in common and begin to hang out at night. Eli shows her a side of Colby she didn't know existed and begins to take her on adventures of doing things she never did as a child. But will Auden turn over a new leaf or will she once again shut everyone out?