Friday Five



1. For Thanksgiving had my younger brother, his wife, and two kids over for dinner.




With his 10 year old cousin. 

Son with his 12 year old cousin who is very knowledgeable on toilets.  Seriously, this kiddo will be a great plumber!



 2. Up to 39K on my NaNowrimo project! Really excited about it! This one is not YA, but a romance set in Italy.


Been researching Italian foods! Remembering Grandpa Consoli's authentic Italian cooking. Omg, he used to make the most amazing spaghetti with fist sized meatballs.  Plus, he added red wine in EVERYTHING!

3. Cybils' teasers for this week include a modern-day YA meets Judy Blume's FOREVER, desaparecidos   (missing girls) in Juarez,  Mexico,  to one that deals with 9-11 conspiracies.

This is an edgy modern day meets Judy Blume (think FOREVER) with a girl dealing with her sexuality in a frank way. This one I do have to give a warning on with it's scenes at a high kill animal shelter. This book reminds me of some books that 'tried' to deal with a girl and her sexuality when I was a teen, but fell short.

4. 

This one deals with desaparecidos, missing girls, in Mexico and a teen who is brave to ask questions after her best friend goes 'missing'. The scenes that show the seedier side of those who exploit innocence is intense.

Another book that does a great job of showing a similar topic with teens who flee a drug cartel after their families are executed during a quinceaneros party is:

5. 

This one really surprised me on how much I really enjoyed it! I'm not a big fan of conspiracies as I grew up with them(Dad was a huge conspiracy fan). Fast paced, intriguing premise of a teen who finds out her dad might know what really happened on 9-11 after her father is placed in a Psych ward. There's suspense, mega questions, and one teen willing to do anything, even put her life at risk, in order to find the truth and release her dad.

**Guilty Pleasure:

Hope to see this:

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