POACHED, by Stuart Gibbs

The story: Teddy Fitzroy is back--so let the mystery commence and the poop flinging begin! In "Belly Up", Teddy solved the mystery of who murdered FunJungle's Henry the Hippo...but the stakes are even higher this time around. The bad guys have kidnapped the zoo's most famous animal, an adorable koala named Kazoo--and even worse, they've framed Teddy for the crime. If he can't find out who really did it, it's juvie for sure!

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence PG; Nudity G; Sexual Content G; Substance Abuse G; Magic & the Occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (mlld criminal behavior) PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: I really liked this story, for several reasons. First, Gibbs's teenage Boy Voice is spot on, and Teddy is a hero who not only does funny stuff, but who thinks in a very funny way. But the humor doesn't get in the way of the mystery, which involves a little animal that everyone can love; additionally, Teddy has to deal with his lack of friends as the new kid at school, and with a real chance of violence at the hands of a particularly nasty school bully. His smart mouth gets him in trouble, his past activities get him in trouble, and he's enough of a boy that he just can't stay away when even more trouble comes calling. Start with "Belly Up" if you haven't read that one.

BOY 21, by Matthew Quick

The story: When his coach asks Finley to befriend a new kid at school, he doesn't mention that there's a catch: if Russ--who wants to be called Boy21, and who claims he's from outer space--can pull himself together, he'll almost certainly end up taking Finley's spot on the team. Without basketball, how will Finley ever get out of this crummy town and away from the memories that haunt his family? Finley just wants to do what's best...but it's hard to tell what's best for anyone, even himself.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG-13; Violence PG-13; Nudity PG; Sexual Content (including mentions of his "stiffness" during make out sessions) PG-13; substance abuse PG-13; magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (murder of parents, mob assaults) PG-13; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: This started out seeming to be one kind of story (a sports/basketball story) and ended up as something completely different. And while at the beginning there was a lot of attention paid to Finley and his girlfriend and their make-out sessions, by the end the book became a commentary on the unpredictability of life, on the importance of going after what you want, and on the mutability of knowing exactly what it is you want. I liked the story a lot, but I expect the audience that picks it up (i.e., 8th grade boys looking for a Carl-Deuker-like sports story) will be okay with it until the middle, when they'll feel like someone pulled a bait-and-switch on them. I actually liked the book a lot better after the switch, but then, I'm a middle-aged lady.

FIRE & ASH, by Jonathan Maberry

The story: St. John's army of reapers is on the move, and nothing stands between them and the death of everyone Benny Imura knows and loves, except for six teenagers--junior "samurai" once taught by Benny's brother Tom. They're just kids, fighting both the zombie plague and the believers in a god who's directing his followers to bring all human life to an end. Big problems. Good thing they're smart kids.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language R; Violence R; nudity PG; Sexual content PG; magic & the occult (putting zombies here because I'm not sure where else they fit!) PG-13; substance abuse PG; adult themes (genocide, evil religions) PG-13; overall rating R.

Liz's comments: I really liked the first two Benny Imura books--strange, because I'm not a zombie fan--but found the third one too dark and violent for me. In the series closer, Maberry continues dark and violent, but offers hope (in the form of a cure for those infected by the zombie plague) and the reestablishment of an American Nation. If you're a big fan of the first two books, are able to overcome the sucker punch delivered by Tom Imura's death in Book 2, and can wade through the blood and gore of Book 3, this is a satisfying end to the series--one where things end up as well as could be hoped, considering the world is seriously screwed up. Don't give this series to 6th graders, though--Books 1 and 2 are for 8th and up, and Books 3-4 are for high school.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE, by Jennifer E. Smith

The story: a typo delivers an unexpected email to Ellie O'Neill from a fun and funny guy on the other side of the country, and an online correspondence is born. Ellie is soon looking forward to the daily, even hourly, messages from GDL. It's unlike any friendship she's ever had: she doesn't even know his name. For Graham, getting to know a girl without first telling her his name is a big plus…because it's a name she already knows, and most girls can't get past it. When fate brings a movie shoot to her small town, Ellie could never have dreamed it was because teen heartthrob Graham Larkin planned it that way--and by the time she figures it out, it may already be too late.

June Cleaver's book ratings: Language: PG-13; Violence PG; Nudity PG; Sexual Content PG; Substance abuse G; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (adultery and illegitimacy) PG-13; overall rating, PG.

Liz's comments: Jennifer E. Smith's YA romance novels are charming, and much less angst-ridden than many others of the same type. There's a girl, there's a boy, there's a problem that makes it look like nothing can work out between them--but with just the right amount of serendipity, everything turns out at the end. The few swear words sprinkled in are so unexpected that, though mostly mild, they come as quite a surprise in an otherwise very PG novel. I would even give this one to 6th grade girls…because if you go to a middle school, you've heard those words before anyway.

BETTER OFF FRIENDS, by Elizabeth Eulberg

The story: everyone knows that if you start out as friends, then move on to being in love, you can never go back to being "just friends" again. Right? Macallan and Levi have been friends--best friends--for years: so long that everyone already assumes they're going out. But that's one thing the two of them will never do, because it would just ruin a perfect friendship. Right? Right?

June Cleaver's book ratings: Language PG; violence PG; sexual content PG; nudity G; substance abuse PG; magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (death of a parent, bullying a disabled person) PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: As long as you're looking for a fun girl book with no pretensions to Socially Redeeming Qualities, this one is for you! It's a classic "hiding in plain sight" story of boy meets girl, boy and girl stay friends while both move on in their romantic relationships, until boy and girl both figure out that the right person for them was there all along. Great for MS girls, and a nice draw-down from Eulberg's recent "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club", which was definitely for an older audience.

ROTTEN, by Michael Northrop

The story: this is the story of a boy and his dog. But he's not just any boy, and it's not just any dog. JD has just finished up a stint in Juvie, and his mom hopes a dog will help him move past a really rotten time in his life--because JD's not the only one who's had a rotten time. Johnny Rotten is a shelter dog, abused by his former master, and this seems like a chance for both of them to move on...until the rescued Rottweiler is provoked into biting someone. Now it looks like he's going to be put down, right before JD and his mom lose everything in the accompanying lawsuit. How can a former juvenile delinquent talk the rest of the world into trusting him--and his dog?

June Cleaver's bloom ratings: Violence PG; language PG-13; Sexual Content PG-13 (nothing close to explicit, but lots of jokes with innuendo); nudity G; Magic and the Occult G; LGBT content PG; Substance Abuse PG-13 (underage kids don't actually score any liquor, but they do their best trying); Overall Rating: PG-13.

Liz's comments: don't hand this one to a sixth grader--they'll get all these kinds of ideas on their own in a couple of years, and there's no use getting them started early! In all, I'd review this for 8th and up, mostly because although the boys talk all bad, they don't actually get very far with it. And there's significant hope for JD to turn over a new leaf by the end of the book, under the influence of both Johnny Rotten and the girl who almost gets away.

THE FELLOWSHIP FOR ALIEN DETECTION, by Kevin Emerson

The story: from completely different areas of the country, three 8th-graders stumble onto the biggest story of the century (or maybe ever): aliens getting ready to invade, already running experiments on earthlings to decide whether to wipe them out entirely, or just allow them to survive as a sub-species. Don't let the cartoon-like front cover fool you: life on earth is about to come to an end if Suza, Dodger, and Haley can't solve the puzzle in time.

June Cleaver’s ratings: Language PG-13; Nudity G; Sexual Content G; Violence PG; Magic and the occult G; Substance Abuse G; GLBT contentG ; Adult themes PG (lying to parents, kidnapping); Overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: Judging from the cover, I really thought this was going to be an extra-terrestrial sci-fi parody--but much to my surprise (and despite some funny, accurate MS humor), it turned out to be an action-filled story about aliens, kids who interact with aliens, and the conflict between following your dreams and doing what's right for your family. Boys would actually be the best target audience for this, but sadly, Dodger's story doesn't begin until more than 150 pages into the book…and generally, boy readers won't have stuck around through that much girl stuff to get to the boy part. Sad, because Emerson's teens are very authentic and both boys and girls who like science fiction would find something to identify with if they'd give it a go