Great Reading: Bookmark It!

Volume 30, Number 4, April 2003

Teens in Love
Grades 6-12

Rosemary Chance

All-American girl. Meg Cabot.
HarperCollins, 2002. $15.99. 0-06-029469-8. In the same frantic, humorous style of the popular The princess diaries, Cabot’s new novel involves Samantha Madison, who saves the President of the United States from an assassination attempt, reluctantly accepts an appointment as Teen Ambassador to the United Nations, and intrigues the President’s son. Oh, yes, and Samantha’s in love with her big sister’s boyfriend, Jack.

Once upon a marigold. Jean Ferris.
Harcourt, 2002. $17.00. 0-15-216791-9. Christian, who has been raised by a troll, admires a princess from afar through his binoculars, falls in love with her, meets her, and discovers a plot against her life. Romantic but silly, this fairy tale will amuse young teens.

One hot second: Stories about desire. Cathy Young, ed.
Knopf, 2002. $10.95. 0-375-81203-2. Complex and provocative feelings of love are explored in this collection of 11 short stories by notable young adult authors Jennifer Armstrong, Sarah Dessen, Emma Donoghue, Nancy Garden, Angela Johnson, Victor Martinez, Norma Fox Mazer, Rachel Vail, Rich Wallace, Ellen Wittlinger and Jacqueline Woodson. First crush, kissing, gay love, a bad date, car love, standing up for oneself, and more.

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Rosemary Chance is assistant professor in the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. She can be reached at rchance@student.necc.cc.ms.us.