Catching Jordan

Title: Catching Jordan
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Pages: 281
Content: PG13
Language: PG13/R (40+ swears, 10 "f")
Level: High School
Recommendation: Optional

Summary: What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though- she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But everything she's ever worked for is threatened when Ty Greeen moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he's also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line? "A beautiful novel with a real and captivating depiction of high school relationships, Catching Jordan shows the same reverence for the human heart that it does for the game of football."

Review: Loved the storyline, hated the language.  I realize that this book centers around sports, but it is full of locker room talk.  I was disappointed in the amount of swearwords, "f" words, but mostly how casual the topic of sex is handled.  I wish the story could be re-written for a more conservative audience, because the story and the issues in this book are great.

The Highest Tide

Title: The Highest Tide
Author: Jim Lynch
Pages: 272
Profanity: PG-13 (Miles's friend has a dirty mouth)
Mature Content: PG-13 (Miles's friend also has a dirty mind)
Level: Middle/High School
Recommendation: Not in this library!!


Summary: One moonlit night, thirteen-year-old Miles O'Malley sneaks out of his house and goes exploring on the tidal flats of Puget Sound. When he discovers a rare giant squid, he instantly becomes a local phenomenon shadowed by people curious as to whether this speed-reading, Rachel Carson obsessed teenager is just an observant boy or an unlikely prophet. But Miles is really just a kid on the verge of growing up, infatuated with the girl next door, worried that his bickering parents will divorce, and fearful that everything, even the bay he loves, is shifting away from him. As the sea continues to offer up discoveries from its mysterious depths, Miles struggles to deal with the difficulties that attend the equally mysterious process of growing up.


Reviews: I loved the setting and ocean life included in this book. Although I fell in love with the main character, I struggled to finish this book. The "friend" in this book, although probably a normal teenager, referenced body parts and made too many "inuendos" for me to enjoy this book . . . the sexual references pretty much ruined the book for me.