My Invented Life

Bjorkman, Lauren.  My Invented Life.  New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2009.  Print.

Awards

Annotation

Roz is convinced her sister Eva is a lesbian.  To prove she’s right Roz decides to come out as a lesbian first, until her invented life gets totally out of control.

Booktalk

Then:  I used to be known as “Roz: sister and best friend”.  Recently, though, Eva’s taken that folder off her computer desktop and moved it into the trash.  In fact, she’s trashed our whole relationship.  If there was a replacement folder on her desktop it would be labeled: Roz: person to be ignored.

Now:  Currently, Eva barely speaks to me.  PD (post deletion) means we no longer share clothes, secrets or even mundane details about our lives.  We don’t even talk about the school play, even though we’re both in it together.

Then:  I used to know everything about Eva.  I would pine for (and sometimes go out with) her (ex) boyfriends.  She always talked to me about things and I thought she was perfect.

Now:  Eva has a new group of friends, the cheerleaders.  She’s still pretty much perfect, except I only know this from afar since she barely acknowledges me, let alone confides in me.  And…Eva’s a lesbian.  I think.

After finding a lesbian novel in Eva’s bedroom leant to her by Eyeliner Andie (a rumored lesbian herself), I started having suspicions about my sister.  PD, unfortunately, meant they would remain unconfirmed because Eva would never ever tell me.  I had a plan though.  I decided to come out as a lesbian and tell everyone at school about my “girlfriend”.  Once Eva saw how accepting and tolerant everyone was, she would feel safe enough to come out too.  Except…

That’s not exactly what happened.  I did come out at school, but then I starting having feelings for Eyeliner Andie in addition to my years-long crush on my sister’s current boyfriend, Bryan.  Will I able to figure out who I’m supposed to be with, get my invented life under control and gain my sister’s trust back, all before opening night?

Image credit:  http://laurenbjorkman.com/

will grayson, will grayson

Green, John and David Levithan.  will grayson, will grayson.  New York: Dutton Books, 2010.  Print.

Awards

2010 Indie Lit Award Runner-up

2011 Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Honors Award

2011 Rainbow Bibliography

2011 Rainbow List

Annotation

Will Grayson and Will Grayson may have the same name, but they don’t know each other…yet.  After they meet with the help of fate, though, their lives are changed dramatically.

Booktallk

There’s Will Grayson and then there’s o.w.g. – the Other Will Grayson.

Will Grayson is excited.  He’s about to meet Isaac, the boy he’s been talking to online for weeks.  Even though they only live a train ride away, they’ve never seen each other in person.  Will Grayson can’t wait to meet Isaac, he already knows he’s in love.  The only problem is, will Isaac like him back?  And what will he tell Maura, his girlfriend?

The Other Will Grayson is apathetic.  He’s not interested in school and while he is interested in Jane, he is deliberately pretending that he couldn’t care less.  Will is afraid to get hurt, but he’s also afraid that he is all of the things his best friend Tiny Cooper accuses him of: essentially, being a whiny sidekick, too scared to take a stand and go after what (or who) he wants.

Will Grayson and Will Grayson “might as well live on different planets”, but they’re about to meet in a weird twist of fate that’s going to change both their lives dramatically.  And it will be Tiny Cooper, the original Will Grayson’s best friend, who unknowingly helps to bring them together and keeps them together as they each begin “respective romantic turns-of-heart”.

*Phil (16 years old) told me about this book; he originally read it because one of his friends suggested it to him and "loved it"!  He thought the novel was "funny and a lot of fun...definitely different that what you'd expect".  He also mentioned that the two-person narration added a "cool twist" to the story because it allows readers to get the "perspectives from both of them".*

Image credit:  http://johngreenbooks.com/will-grayson/