Angus, thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

What a fun little book this was! Georgia Nicolson is a typical 14-year old girl living in England. The first book in this many volumed series depicts her life for one year. Told through her diary entries, and covering such dramatic events as her cat Angus trying to eat the poodle next door, the shaving off of her eyebrows (accidentally, of course!), boy stalking, friends and unfriends, and everything else you'd expect from a 14-year old, this book is a fun, quirky story. Georgia has a strange vocabulary, so don't forget to look up the British slang in the glossary at the back of the book!  A Printz Award for Excellence Book

Hush by Eishes Chayil

This book was recommended to me by a friend. Inside the closed community of Borough Park, where most Chassidim live, the rules of life are very clear, determined by an ancient script written thousands of years before down to the last detail—and abuse has never been a part of it. But when thirteen-year-old Gittel learns of the abuse her best friend has suffered at the hands of her own family member, the adults in her community try to persuade Gittel, and themselves, that nothing happened. Forced to remain silent, Gittel begins to question everything she was raised to believe.A richly detailed and nuanced book, one of both humor and depth, understanding and horror, this story explains a complex world that remains an echo of its past, and illuminates the conflict between yesterday's traditions and today's reality.