#3: Stick

by Andrew Smith

Stark is a boy who was born with one ear. His other ear is squashed up against his head. Not only that, but he's very lanky, earning him the nickname Stick. His parents abuse him and his brother, Bosten, but that's what they're used to. That's their normal. They're really close, and they have a bond between them that doesn't break. When Stick finds out Bosten is gay, he doesn't really mind, but a few weeks later when his dad finds out, it becomes a big deal. Bosten runs away, and Stick leaves to find him. This book is a bit like The Perks of being a Wallflower in the fact that Stick and Charlie learn about what's considered normal. They start off as really shy kids, Charlie because that's his nature and Stick because he's self conscious about his ear. But slowly they start to grow up, physically and mentally. Stick gets a crush on his best friend, Emily, and Charlie starts liking Sam. They learn from their crushes. They both have problems in their lives; Stick is abused by his family and Charlie has PTSD from being molested as a child. Yet they still manage to overcome the obstacles in their path. Stick is a good book for people to realize that we're not all the same, and that people everyday get subjected to abuse and yet we still have to move on. I liked it because, like Rage, it faced problems in out world head on.

#5: Immortal Lycanthropes

by Hal Johnson

This book is a great book if you really like fantasy books. It doesn't really have a plot, to tell you the truth, but it takes you through the journey of Myron, a boy who was disfigured in an accident that he doesn't remember at all. It starts off with a comment on human nature "A shameful fact about humanity is that some people can be so ugly that no one will be friends with them. It is shameful that humans can be so cruel, and it is shameful that humans can be so ugly." It connects with him because he's so ugly, no one likes him. He is a lycanthrope, and throughout the whole book he's trying to figure out what animal he is. He has absolutely no recollection of his past. The authors imagination is wonderful, and I love the cover design. It gets a bit confusing because of all the people and places Myron meets, so if you forget stuff very quickly, this book will become very confusing to you. The one thing I don't really like is that it's told in second person. Arthur, another lycanthrope, tells use about Myrons journey. While he tells it well, and with a bit of humor, I personally like reading books in first person because then I know what they're thinking, and I can connect with them faster. But overall it was a great book to read. 

#7: The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group

by Catherine Jinks

This was an okay book, but the reason it came last was because it raises expectations with the cover. Not gonna lie, when I first saw the cover, I thought it'd be about teenage werewolf who ran away and fought tons of evil dudes while being destined for something great(okay so the whole destiny thing is a bit overboard, but it still could have happened). But at least it'd be exciting(Yes I know you shouldn't judge books by their covers, but it's human nature to want the most aesthetically pleasing object). What it's really about though, is a boy, Tobias, who is around 13, who wakes up under odd circumstances and is told he is a werewolf by some strangers. Then he is kidnapped by werewolf fighters. Now, that sounds like it could be exciting, but it's not. The whole first part of the story is slow paced, and while some people might like that, if you have a short attention span like me, you won't. Later on, Reuben and one of Reubens friends saves him and Sergio, a werewolf Tobias helped escape. They all fight with Tobias' capturers and eventually they win. Later on, he calls his mother, who has been a non-believer of this werewolf idea since the beginning, and she come to pick him up, which is when they find out about vampire. It ends with Tobias finally used to be a werewolf. The ending is very fast paced, so it's easy to get confused. Not only that, but the characters aren't the best. The main character, Tobias, is a total pushover. He agrees to all of his friends plans, even if he hates them. He also keeps whining. Sure you're a werewolf, but that's awesome. Why are you so sad about it? His mother won't listen to anyone when they say Tobias is a werewolf, even if that makes so much sense. She continues to deny anything werewolf related and hates Reuben.  And his friend, Fergus, is weird. In some instances, he's an idiot. He gets them all into trouble and can't keep his mouth shut. Yet, in others, he knows all of these ways to make homemade bombs and explosives(not the dangerous types, just the ones that get stuff everywhere and make a huge mess). I personally don't know any 13 year olds with that kind of knowledge. Amin is just quiet, he's not really an important chaacter. Reuben is my favorite character, because he wasn't being so annoying as the others. He actually knew what he was doing. Sergio, however, was my least favorite character. He was so annoying. He kept whining and crying and whining and then turning into a psychopath who wants to murder and then whining some more. If I was Tobias, the first thing I would look for was duct tape. And a lot of it. Basically, had the characters been better developed, this could have been a wonderful story. But they weren't, so it isn't. Another thing that annoys me is the pacing of the book is awkward. In the first part of the book, nothing happens. Then, when he gets kidnapped, all of a sudden so many things start to happen. It gets a bit confusing after a while, cause if you miss a paragraph one time, you won't understand the ending, but in others, it won't harm you in any way. So, those are my three biggest problems with this book; the cove, the characters, and the timing of things.