Two Terrific Teen Titles**

I have the opportunity to listen to recorded books while I work sometimes, and I was able to get through two short books by the same author.

SPEAK
by Laurie Halse Anderson

I first heard about this book on the blog Feminist Mormon Housewives as people were raving about it. The plot sounded interesting - a freshman girl is raped, and shunned by her friends, and eventually shuts off from the world (not speaking among other traits), until she finally confronts her own life. Very powerful stuff that captured my interest much like The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold).

The second book wasTWISTED

This features a young teen who must figure out what it means to be a man when his life goes to crap and nobody is there to show him. Both of these books were fantastic, captured a lot of the pressure of high school, and teach very meaningful lessons that all teens should think about. I am going to have my oldest read them this summer and would recommend them to all teenagers.

I am also through 75% of Quicksilver, my big book I started two weeks ago; and part one of the trilogy.

**I am nerdy enough to think that the alliteration in the title was not only clever, but a little cool.