Sidecrollers by Matthew Loux

Brian, Brad, and Matt just graduated from high school and are spending their summer days lounging around playing video games and eating Slim Jims and candy.  Their peaceful laziness is interrupted by Amber, the cute new girl in town that Matt has an intense crush on.

Meg Cabot's recent novel How to be Popular was pretty much what I expected -- a girl finds a book on how to be popular, follows the advice, and soon finds that the popular people she seeks to emulate aren't all that great after all. As an added bonus, she falls in love.

 

Otto Malpense is not your average thirteen year old. He's lived his whole life in a run down orphanage in England, although he's been making sly improvements lately. When the Prime Minister threatens to close the orphanage, Otto takes matters into his own hands and takes down one of the most powerful world leaders all by himself.

What  books, movies, music and websites does Chase, age 12, recommend?

Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet by Kashmira Sheth

Growing up in a traditional family in Mumbai, India, sixteen-year-old Jeeta was taught that obedience and home-making skills were all that she needed for a happy future.  Her mother is consumed with the problems of arranging marriages for her three daughters and is sure that Jeeta's dark skin and smart mouth will turn off prospective grooms.  Then Jeeta becomes friends with Sarina, whose liberal, educated family and modern ideas open her eyes to other possibilities for her life.  Suddenly, she’s questioning the expectations of her society and her life becomes even more complicated when she falls in love with a mysterious (and forbidden) boy that she meets. Jeeta must now try to find a way to follow her heart without letting her family down and decide whether to respect or rebel against her traditional culture. ...