Not what I wanted.

This just goes to show why I read things. Some reviews make me think that a book will fill a need I have, but sometimes it's not quite right. All synopses from publisher.

Defelice. Signal."After moving with his emotionally distant father to the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, twelve-year-old Owen faces a lonely summer until he meets an abused girl who may be a space alien. "

What I wanted: Either science fiction or child abuse. This wasn't quite one or the other. The shorter lenghth makes it better for elementary school. I love this author's Under the Same Sky.

Friedman. The Importance of Wings. "Although she longs to be an all-American girl, Roxanne, a timid, Israeli-born thirteen-year-old who idolizes Wonder Woman, begins to see things differently when the supremely confident Liat, also from Israel, moves into the cursed house next door and they become friends. "

What I wanted: A multicultural novel about an Israeli-American girl. This was more of a historical novel, because the early 80s reference were so thick. This is a fictionalized memoir of the author's life, and she does make special mention that she chose this setting deliberately to avoid the technology that students have today.

Voloni. Rooftop. "Still reeling from seeing police shoot his unarmed cousin to death on the roof of a New York City housing project, seventeen-year-old Clay is dragged into the whirlwind of political manipulation that follows. "

What I wanted: Gritty, inner city novel about drug abuse. This would fit the bill, but the language is too intense. I do have this author's Black and White, which has bad language, because it addresses racial issues that other books don't. If a book has the f-word, it has to be particularly phenomenal in order for me to buy it.

Wyatt. Funny How Things Change. "Remy, a talented, seventeen-year-old auto mechanic, questions his decision to join his girlfriend when she starts college in Pennsylvania, after a visiting artist helps him realize what his family home in a dying West Virginia mountain town means to him."

Freymann-Weyr. After the Moment (Not pictured) "Seventeen-year-old Leigh changes high schools his senior year to help his stepsister and finds himself falling in love with her emotionally disturbed friend, even though he is still attached to a girl back home. "

What I wanted: Romances. However, both of these were too sad to appeal to girls wanting light beach reads, but not sad enough to be billed as problem novels. Perhaps for high school.