As You Wish by Jackson Pearce

I have wanted to read one of Jackson Pearce's books for some time. Between her vlog Watch Me Be and her Twitter feed, the hilarity and outrageousness that is Jackson Pearce the person convinced me that Jackson Pearce the author would be worth checking out. It has taken me four years to finally read one of her books and I honestly don't know what I was waiting for.

Let's just say it should have happened sooner and I hope you will learn from my mistakes that you should NOT put off reading Jackson Pearce for danger of missing out on one of the wittiest most entertaining YA writers to come along since Maureen Johnson and Libba Bray.

As You Wish seems typical on the surface (Ancient genie falls for mortal girl after being earthbound to bestow three wishes upon her) but like Maggie Stiefvater's Mercy Falls series or Cynthia Leitich Smith's Tantalize, Eternal and Blessed, As You Wish is one of those books that both benefits from and is cursed by a little vampire love story by Stephenie Meyer. With a ready-made fan base thirsting for more supernaturally star-crossed lovers, books like these are always in danger of being compared to Twilight. Luckily, like for Stiefvater and Leitich Smith (and others) Pearce's story stands on its own.

Viola is having a rough time being sixteen. Her boyfriend and best friend came out, and in doing so, broke her heart. The experience has left her feeling rather invisible. So she makes a heart-felt wish in Shakespeare class one day and unknowingly summons a jinn who cannot return to the "perfect" world of Caliban until his master has made all three of her wishes. Not one to wish without thinking, Viola takes her time to consider what is worth wishing for and Jinn finds himself in an interesting predicament -- falling for his master. This happens to be a big no-no in Caliban.

Wishing alters Viola's reality (and open her eyes to the true invisibilities in her life), while granting her wishes spawns a battle against the confinements and limitations of Jinn's world (and we're not talking about being stuck in a lamp, although that is a possibility). In the end, the story is a page-turning, fun romantic read that will put Pearce's books, including Sisters Red and its upcoming companion book Sweetly at the top of any teenage reading list. (And mine as well.)

For 15 and up -- 3 bookmarks.

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson

Scarlett Martin is just your average ordinary 15 year old, who happens to live in a overdue-for-renovation Manhattan hotel which is run by her family. But after her summer adventures working with the actress-turned-agent Mrs. Amberson, and a topsy-turvy romance with Eric, an actor in her brother's theater troupe, Scarlett is headed back to school and determined to mend her broken heart.

Not an easy thing to do when the heart-breaker keeps turning up on her doorstep. Plus, Mrs. Amberson is running Scarlett ragged, her sites set on signing young flavor-of-the-week Chelsea -- whose brother happens to be Scarlett's newest classmate.

How can Scarlett be expected to deal with all this pressure, along with her brother's newfound fame, her older sister's on-again romance with a rich New York socialite, and her little sister's unusually kind and caring behavior (which raises all sorts of red flags Scarlett doesn't have time to investigate)?

Author Maureen Johnson re-captures the fun of Suite Scarlett, (Scholastic, 2008) in this follow up, leaving readers hanging at the end (WARNING, it's a major cliff hanger), with no pub date in sight for the third book. Ms. Johnson is just mean this way, but no doubt the conclusion will be worth the wait. (And that maniacal laughter you hear? That's her. I told you, she's mean! MEAN!)

4 bookmarks. For 12 and up.