Some great books....

What a week for books! Susane Colasanti's new book came out last week as did Lauren Myracle's PEACE, LOVE, AND BABY DUCKS. I also read a great mg novel GOOD ENOUGH by Paula Yoo, and I'm reading GREAT CALL OF CHINA by Cynthea Liu. Good stuff.

You KNOW I'm a huge Lauren Myracle fan and if anyone out there with daughters has NOT read her books ELEVEN, TWELVE, and THIRTEEN, YOU MUST! And good news! Publisher's Lunch yesterday confirmed that Lauren Myracle has just sold FOURTEEN, so hopefully we'll see that one soon. As much as I LOVE that series, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that her new book, PEACE, LOVE,AND BABY DUCKS is her best yet. It has all the great elements of the series including sisterly love and great growing up issues, but this book's protag has an edge that will hook you from the first page. Loved it. I've said it before but it bears repeating: Lauren Myracle is the Judy Blume of my kids' generation, only they don't quite know it yet. Though she deals with a lot of issues that make us cringe, she addresses them beautifully and with sensitivity and even humor. Plus, the parent characters are well-drawn.

GOOD ENOUGH by Paula Yoo surprised me. I didn't expect to like it so much. I'm not usually one to comment on a cover, etc. (although I'm about to do it again on the Cynthea Liu book), but the cover isn't very appealing and I really knew nothing about Paula Yoo. I can't even remember why I downloaded this book. I think Cynthea Liu may have recommended it. At any rate, it's excellent. The main character, Patti Yoon, reels from the HYP (HarvardYalePrinceton) pressures of her Korean parents. She spends her spare time taking practice SATs on her computer in a quest for a perfect score, but through the course of the book, she comes to realize that her real love is music. She knows that music is not a practical course of study, and hides her Juillard audition from her parents with the help of a 'hot trumpet player'. I found Patti to be one of the most endearing characters I've encountered in a while. Check it out!

Now I'm in the midst of GREAT CALL OF CHINA by Cynthea Liu. I must say, on the surface, GREAT CALL OF CHINA is everything GOOD ENOUGH is not. The cover is fabulous and the author's blog makes you want to check out everything she's ever scribbled, so I couldn't wait for this one. And I haven't been disappointed. The protag is of Chinese descent, adopted as a two-year-old by her American parents. For her seventeenth summer, she heads to China to study Anthropology, research her roots including a visit to her orphanage, and perhaps pursue a yet to be determined love interest. I'm loving it, and I think you will, too. Go, Cynthea Liu! Some of you may have not heard of her, may be saying, "Cyndi Liu who?" (sorry I couldn't resist that corny joke), but she is one of the most generous authors out there with an interactive blog mostly dedicated to the craft of writing. Cool chick all the way around.

Have a wonderful Tuesday, and don't forget to check out MG and YA books. They're hot, hot, hot!