Kate Bailey isn’t an extrovert.  Instead of hanging out with friends like a “normal” teenager she’d rather be on her family’s lake, alone with her thoughts, the sun, and the water.  Kate finds herself pushed out of her comfort zone when she is chosen to co-host the school’s podcast so she can give advice to her fellow students. Kate is hesitant at first, but finds that she’s pretty good at both listening and giving thoughtful advice, that is until an anonymous caller asks about a topic she has little experience in: love.  Kate thinks she knows the caller interested in her best friend, Alana, and the more time Kate spends with who she thinks is the caller, the more she herself falls for him.  I loved this fun summer romance, and I think you will too! 

The Dead Inside is not like any other book I’ve read for Kid Lit Exchange.  It’s heavy and heart wrenching, providing a glimpse into the 16-month stay the author, Cyndy Drew Etler, had at a place called Straight Inc.  Straight Inc. is described as a horrific place, where all free will and reason were thrown out the door. After a few wrong decisions and years of conflict in her home, Etler’s mother and step-father sent her to the “rehab” facility, telling her she was going to boarding school.  What follows is Etler’s degrading and painful account of the ways Straight Inc. attempted to change who they thought she was into an unfeeling, emotionless lemming.

If you were a fan of Nancy Drew but thought the only thing missing was a bit more adventure-look no further than Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold!  Kitty is a brave young pilot with the desire to prove herself. She leaves her small Canadian fishing village to spend the summer in Alaska studying humpback whales from her plane high above.  Little does Kitty know she will encounter more than whales! She faces a motley crew of criminals, stolen gold, and maybe a real-life curse! Kitty’s adventure is full of history, action, and mystery-a perfect combination for any age.