Kirkus Reviews 2009 March #2
In the well-heeled, hardly diverse suburbs of Reno, Nev., Jory Michaels has two big goals for the summer before senior year: to earn enough money to get the petite nose she's always wanted and to lose her virginity. Significant obstacles to each: She's a somewhat clumsy driver, so her job driving a bakery delivery van has its limits, and she's a good-natured girl looking for a romantic connection with a boy, not just a physical encounter. Jory's longtime crush is finally paying attention to her, but it turns out he is struggling with hiding his gay identity from his father. Another boy's aggressive approach is off-putting even as Jory's encounter with his unzipped shorts is cringingly funny. Several missed opportunities with a third and most likely lad have a sweetly comic dimension, while Jory's first experiences with drinking demonstrate without didacticism the downside of impaired socializing. Complex, likable, believable characters and a fresh, appealing fictional voice pull together this very agreeable summer romance.
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Dope Sick

Publishers Weekely
Starred Review. Using both harsh realism and a dose of the fantastic, Myers (Game) introduces an inner-city teen in the jaws of a crisis: 17-year-old Lil J is holed up in an abandoned building, believed to have shot an undercover cop in a drug bust, while police officers assemble in the street below. As he searches for a way out, Lil J is stopped by Kelly, an eerily calm vagrant who invites him to cop a squat and check yourself out on the tube. Kelly's TV not only plays scenes from Lil J's life but projects what will happen if he sticks with his current plan: suicide. Shocked, Lil J considers Kelly's question, If you could take back one thing you did... what would it be? Aided by Kelly's TV, Lil J revisits pivotal moments and wrestles with his fate. As expected, Myers uses street-style lingo to cover Lil J's sorry history of drug use, jail time, irresponsible fatherhood and his own childhood grief. A didn't-see-that-coming ending wraps up the story on a note of well-earned hope and will leave readers with plenty to think about.

The Complete Book of Hairstyling

A reviewer on Amazon says "This book is great! Its a combination of his 4 books (Vacation, City, Big Date and Big Day Hair). The pictures are beautiful, the writing is simple and there is pretty much everything you need to know about hairstyling in one book. Everything is broken down into easy to follow steps and tells you what you need before you start."

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Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

PW Reviews 2009 January
Down-to-earth mathlete Jessica Packwood is completely horrified when, a few months shy of her 18th birthday, a Romanian named Lucius Vladescu shows up on her doorstep, claiming that he and she are vampire royalty betrothed to each other since infancy—what’s worse, her adoptive parents verify the betrothal story and explain that her birth parents identified themselves as vampires, too. Fantaskey makes this premise work by playing up its absurdities without laughing at them, endowing Jessica with a coolly ironic sensibility and Lucius with old-world snobberies that Jessica’s girlfriends find irresistible. Jessica’s laidback parents serve as foils for imperious Lucius (“Can I ever again be happy in our soaring Gothic castle after walking the halls of Woodrow Wilson High School, a literal ode to linoleum?” he asks sarcastically); a scene at a steakhouse where the vegan Packwoods meet the carnivorous Vladescus is first-rate comedy. The romance sizzles, the plot develops ingeniously and suspensefully, and the satire sings.

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Teens Cook Dessert

VOYA Reviews 2006 August
What better way to teach teenagers how to cook than by starting with desserts? The authors of Teens Cook (Ten Speed Press, 2004/VOYA December 2004), create another delightful compilation of recipes for teens to try out. They start out with the all-around favorites, like classic chocolate chip cookies. There are holiday recipes for Halloween dirt pie, complete with cookie tombstones and gummy worms that seem to crawl out of the chocolate "earth." The final chapter has fancy foods like vanilla soufflé with chocolate sauce or fresh raspberry napoleons. (Are you hungry yet?) Not only do the recipes sound delicious, they look delicious in glossy color pictures. This book is a beauty just to look through, but it will make one's sugar-craving levels rise. The instructions are easy to understand, but often crammed into one or two large paragraphs. Beginning cooks will need some guidance when it comes to the terminology and techniques used. For a teen who already knows a little about the kitchen, this book will be a delight. There are tons of handy sidebars filled with helpful cooking advice or neat historical facts. This book is a must for any library with teens who have the slightest interest in making their own sweets.-

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Hardwear: Jewelry from a Toolbox

SLJ Reviews 2006 October
Adult/High School This book is a strong entry in the DIY genre. The projects and accessories are all made almost entirely from inexpensive items one can buy in a hardware store. Each chapter focuses on a different type: washers, rope, metal connectors, nuts, vinyl, plastic, and rubber. Materials lists are complete with illustrations, and the clear instructions are numbered and illustrated. Finished products are modeled in fashion-forward color photographs.

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Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim : YouTube creators

If you're looking for an inspirational biography, pick up this new one about the three young creators of YouTube.

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