3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares (318 pages)
Ama, Polly, and Jo were best friends since the third grade. Like most friendships, theirs was tested as they endured middle school and grew apart. Ama is on the fast track to earning a high SAT score, getting into a great college, and being a valedictorian. She’s only 14, but she’s spending her summer earning high school credit at a special camp. She thinks there’s been an error when she finds out her summer camp requires hiking and camping rather than reading and writing. While she’s miserably growing accustomed to her outdoor surroundings, Jo is spending her summer at the beach with her mother. Her parents have recently separated, so she welcomes the distraction of the gorgeous boy she meets on the bus to the beach. Meanwhile, Polly is stuck at home with a mother who doesn’t pay much attention to her and gets it into her head that she should go to modeling camp, despite lacking typical “model” beauty. She puts herself on a diet and gets ready to tackle a life of modeling. Throughout their summer apart, the girls reflect on what their past friendship meant to them and how much they miss each other.
Miss Simer’s Rating: ***
One year after his mother was arrested for murdering his stepfather, runaway Michael Daye returns to his hometown. He’s been living as “Robert Frost” with the carnival for the year, not telling anyone his real name or his family history. His mother’s trial is starting soon and Michael is reliving his last days with her and his stepdad. He remembers two years of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse that he and his mother endured and he begins to remember what really happened the night his stepdad was killed. Told in alternating times (from last year and this year), the truth behind Michael’s urge to runaway slowly begins to reveal itself. How much abuse can one person take before finally reaching their breaking point? Find out in this thriller!
