Dandy Books

Dandy Books is a meme I began about books that are on my TBR list. They are mostly older books not necessarily from the current year. Hopefully I can make your list bigger!

Here are this week's picks:

Stoner and Spaz by Ron Koertge
A funny, in-your-face novel starring an unlikely teenage pair - a sheltered cinemaphile with cerebral palsy and the tattooed, straight-talking stoner who steals his heart. For sixteen-year-old Ben Bancroft - a kid with cerebral palsy, no parents, and an overprotective grandmother - the closest thing to happiness is hunkering alone in the back of the Rialto Theatre watching Bride of Frankenstein for the umpteenth time. Of course he waits for the lights to dim before making an entrance, so that his own lurching down the aisle doesn’t look like an ad for Monster Week. The last person he wants to run into is drugged-up Colleen Minou, resplendent in ripped tights, neon miniskirt, and an impressive array of tattoos. But when Colleen climbs into the seat beside him and rests a woozy head on his shoulder, Ben has that unmistakable feeling that his life is about to change. With unsparing humor and a keen flair for dialogue, Ron Koertge captures the rare repartee between two lonely teenagers on opposite sides of the social divide. It’s the tale of a self-deprecating protagonist who learns that kindred spirits can be found for the looking - and that the incentive to follow your passion can be set into motion by something as simple as a human touch.

RD: 2003
Interest: The reason I am interested in this one is because I LOVED Ron Koertge's writing in Margaux with an X. Check out my review here so you can see how much I freakin' loved that book! Seriously, it's one of my all time favorites. :)

Feed by M.T Anderson
A brilliant new satire from the author of BURGER WUSS For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon - a chance to party during spring break and play around with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who knows something about what it’s like to live without the feed-and about resisting its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires. Following in the footsteps of George Orwell, Anthony Burgess, and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., M. T. Anderson has created a brave new world - and a hilarious new lingo - sure to appeal to anyone who appreciates smart satire, futuristic fiction laced with humor, or any story featuring skin lesions as a fashion statement. Identity crises, consumerism, and star-crossed teenage love in a futuristic society where people connect to the Internet via feeds implanted in their brains.

RD: 2003 Interest: I bought this books about five years ago. It's still there.... I began reading it about two years ago then stopped because ugh. I'm thinking about giving it another shot. I'll have to try harder to keep reading it and see if I like it. I do understand how some book beginning suck but they can gradually get better or even awesome. I also have another M.T Anderson book, Thirst. I began that one too and it just sucked. I should maybe give it another shot. Both are for middle grade readers though so I'm not sure I'll like them now. Man I'm getting old! hehe

Teach Me by R.A Nelson

Teach Me invites readers inside an experience that fascinates everyone—an affair between a teacher and student—and gives an up-close-and-personal answer to the question: How does this happen?

The hardcover edition of Teach Me was a Booksense Fall 2006 Kid's Pick, a TeenReads.com Best Book of 2005, and a selection for the 2006 NYPL Books for the Teen Age.

RD: 2007
Interest: It just sounds really interesting

Dare Truth or Promise by Paula Boock
When Louie and Willa first meet, they don't know their lives will soon be changed forever. Self-assured Louie is gearing up for another successful year in high school, starring in a production of Twelfth Night and running the Comedy Club. Kicked out of her last school and still stinging from a past relationship, Willa wants only to get through her final year at school quietly so she can graduate and become a chef. More than anything, she wants to be left alone. But each girl unexpectedly finds that plans mean nothing when it comes to love. Louie discovers that everything she was sure of-acceptance, faith, and identity-are not what they had seemed. And Willa finds herself suddenly willing to take another chance.

RD: 2009
Interest: I read some mixed reviews on this one but I'm still really curious.


Have you guys read any of these? What did you think? Interested now?