HIT THE ROAD, MANNY by Christian Burch

Are you ready to take a trip with a mom, a dad, four kids, and one manny (a male nanny)? If you are, you are in for one heck of a ride.

Keats Dalinger is having a birthday. He's not quite sure what to think when his father announces his birthday surprise - a cross-country trip in a rented RV. They are headed for LasVegas.

Keats shares this hilarious adventure which includes his parents, his older sisters India and Lulu, his younger sister Belly, and their live-in caregiver "the manny." (Readers may be familiar with the manny from a previous book called THE MANNY FILES.) Their adventures include the Wizard of Oz Museum, the excitement of staying at a hotel with an indoor/outdoor pool, being stopped by the police, a four-day stay at the manny's parents' farm where they witness the birth of a calf, plus much, much more.

Suggested cataloging is under the topics of family life, automobile travel, self-acceptance, nannies, brothers and sisters, and homosexuality. It is difficult to describe the content of this wonderful adventure. Practically every paragraph has laugh-out-loud humor involving some aspect of this weird and wacky family. Anyone that has vacationed with relatives will no doubt find some experiences similar to their own. HIT THE ROAD, MANNY will have readers laughing and grinning from the first page until the last.

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THE ICE CREAM CON by Jimmy Docherty

THE ICE CREAM CON is a rolicking adventure set in a Scottish housing project. Jake Drake is tired of the criminal element in his neighborhood. Growing up disadvantaged is hard enough and Jake is sick of having a bunch of louts bullying him for his grandmother's grocery money every time he heads to the market.

Jake along with his buddies decide to take matters into their own hands. It is agreed that Cortesi the local "godfather" needs some competition. Their answer is the Big Baresi. By creating this powerful but imaginary crime boss, they hope to fight back against the injustice present in their underprivileged neighborhood.

News of the Big Baresi travels quickly and strikes fear in the hearts of many. The problem is that the fictious character may be more real than they think, and controlling the thing they have created may become more than they can handle.

THE ICE CREAM CON is an action-packed story filled with determined kids, a farting grandmother, cold-hearted criminals, and wild car chases. Written for the 9-12 age group, it offers a fun alternative to the many fantasy offerings of late.

RES JUDICATA by Vicki Grant

Cyril MacIntyre is furious at this mother, Andy. That's not unusual. She is always doing things the infuriate Cyril. She is careless, competitive, cheap, and she's a constant worrywart, and she is forever involving Cyril in her crazy legal cases. Andy is an overzealous attorney who gets wrapped up with some of the most bizarre cases and weird clients, and somehow Cyril ends up helping her fight her courtroom battles.

Andy's most recent case has her defending a local college custodian. Newspaper stories first heralded Chuck Dunkirk as a hero, but his attempt to save the life of a famous scientist was quickly turned into an accusation of murder. It seems that Chuck was present when a small laboratory fire ignited, and when he came to the scientist's rescue by throwing a substance known as Power Powder in an attempt to put out the blaze, the opposite happened resulting in an explosion that killed the poor man. Now the scientist's widow is pressing murder charges. Cyril's mother has taken the case.

Having helped with so many previous cases has given Cyril a certain knack for recognizing when things don't look quite right. That combined with the fact he has decided to use this case as the subject for a school project, causes Cyril to examine the details of the case even closer, and he soon begins to question the true identity of Chuck Dunkirk. There are certain facts that don't quite add up.

RES JUDICATA, which in legal terminology means "the thing has been decided" is filled with quirky characters and great detective work. Cyril's off-beat life provides a colorful backdrop for the action, and readers will be kept on their toes right up until the end. Cyril's adventures can also be enjoyed in another novel by Vicki Grant called QUID PRO QUO.

SHIFT by Jennifer Bradbury

Chris and Win have convinced their parents that after graduation they should have a summer of adventure. They will both be starting college at different universities in the fall, and as best friends they have a plan to bike cross-country from West Virginia to Seattle.

If they were honest, their reasons for the trip may be a bit different. Chris's mother has made it perfectly clear that she thinks a summer job to earn college money is what he should really be doing. When he breaks the news of the trip to his parents, his dad takes his side and encourages the idea over protests from his wife. Chris later learns that his father once had similar plans and perhaps is using this adventure to live a little through his son.

Win, however, doesn't have the backing of such a supportive family. When he announces their plan, his father barely gives him a glance and instead says Win shouldn't plan on being rescued if he gets tired or in trouble. On the actual day of departure, his mother is busy catching a plane for a trip of her own. Win's privileged background has often made him crass and wreckless, but one thing is certain - he can't wait to put distance between himself and his self-absorbed parents.

The trip is truly an adventure of a lifetime, and the young men immediately begin gathering tales they will tell for years to come. But as they travel further, Chris finds things that puzzle him about his long-time friend. There's the lack of contact with his folks back home, his vagueness about the uncle they will be visiting once they reach Seattle, and the huge wad of cash that Chris stumbles across in Win's pack.

The mystery only deepens when within a day's ride of the west coast, the guys have a falling out over a coyote and flat tire. Win rides on leaving Chris to change his flat. That's the last Chris sees of his friend. He finishes the trip alone and returns to West Virginia and then school in Atlanta. He figures Win has done the same until the day an FBI agent arrives at Chris's dorm asking all sorts of questions.

Debut author Jennifer Bradbury has created a mystery that will grab readers on the first page and won't let go until the last. With vivid chatacters and plenty of plot twists and turns, Bradbury shows a talent that promises to bring the YA world many fantastic books in the years to come.

ABSOLUTELY MAYBE by Lisa Yee

Run! Don't walk! to your nearest bookstore and pre-order this book. ABSOLUTELY MAYBE is fantastic!

Maybelline, "Maybe" to her friends, is living above her mother's Charm School. She is surrounded by glamour and future pageant hopefuls, but she feels anything but glamorous. Depending on the day, Maybe's hair color might be red, green, or blue thanks to endless boxes of unsweetened jello. Her baggy black T-shirts, her goth eyeliner, and dark lipstick have her mother frantic. That is when her mother isn't busy trawling for her next husband.

Maybe's best friends, Ted and Hollywood, are the only things that keep her going. Their support helps her tolerate her mother's boyfriends turned step-fathers until the most recent, Jake, makes an attempt to turn Maybe into more than an innocent step-daughter. When her mother sides with her pervert husband-to-be, Maybe decides it is time to follow through on her life-long dream to find her mysterious biological father. Ted and Hollywood join in the adventure as they head to L.A. in search of all their dreams.

Their arrival in California is followed by terrific opportunities for Ted and Hollywood, but not so much for Maybe. After weeks of living homeless, she finally searches out her mother's husband 2/4, the only one who made Maybe feel anyone ever cared for her. At least now she has a place to call home while she continues her search for the father she never knew.

What makes this an excellent read is the talent of author Lisa Yee. Her characters draw readers right into their lives. You'll root for some and curse others, but no matter what, they'll make you anxious to turn to the next page and sad when you arrive at the last one. I can only hope that Maybe returns someday to let readers know about the next chapter in her awesome life.

SPIRAL by K.L. Denman

Abby's life has been derailed by a tragic accident. It started as a part-time job, then a seemingly innocent request to change a burnt-out lightbulb, and then a fall in unsafe working conditions. A broken back has left Abby a paraplegic.

The world around her has changed. Her father picks her up from the hospital in an ugly beige mini-van, and she finds out he traded in his super-hot Mustang for this handicap equipped ride. When she gets home there's an obscene ramp built right over top of her mother's prized herb garden, and her upstairs room has been relocated to the den off the kitchen. Everyone tries to make the best of the awful circumstances, but Abby doesn't feel much like living anymore.

A surprise visit from Jim, another accident victim she met in rehab, adds some unexpected excitement in Abby's life. Jim offers her a sort of escape when he introduces her to cocaine. She hesitates but then decides a little might help fill the emptiness and frustration she experiences on a daily basis. It does make those feelings disappear, but soon it takes more and more of the cocaine to even begin to take the edge off. Abby's new world explodes when her younger brother catches her and calls in her mom and dad.

The next thing Abby realizes she is living at Spiral, an isolated treatment center miles from home. As the only live-in resident of the center, Abby learns she has been signed up for a six month course of treatment. Can it get any worse or can a place like Spiral have the answer for someone like her?

At just over 100 pages, SPIRAL by K. L. Denman, tells the story of one girl's plunge into life with a severe physical disability. Her reaction to her circumstances is not a surprise, but many might be surprised about where she finds help and a way to cope with the life changes she faces.