So Shelly by Ty Roth

Publisher:  Delacourt Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: February 8, 2011
ISBN: 978-0385739580
Pages:  336
Jacket Art:  Sara Lazzeroni


Ok, so if I had known this the book wouldn't have seemed so crazy to me!  "If Lord Byron, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley were living adolescents today, how would their literary talents, notorious personas and known fates collide?"

I was warned that the story might squick me out.  It did.  This is most definitely for the older teens, if for teens at all.  There's death, drugs, sex, rape, incest, abortion and a variety of other shadowy things gonig on.

To truly appreciate the book, you need to know about the lives of these people.  There is a quite a bit of historical fact mixed in with the fiction.  Go read about them before you read this, you'll appreciate it more.

As for the story, here's what we have:

           Shelly - goes by her last name, her mom died, her dad behaved poorly then got remarried, they're wealthy, she's radical and writes great stories while she pines for Gordon Byron who is her neighbor and best friend.

           Gordon Byron - rich spoiled kid, first novel published in eighth grade, full of himself, athletic, club foot, debauched behavior with women in general (maybe men) and with relatives in particular, divorced parents, some sexual abuse possible in younger years.

           John Keats - poor, parents died, brother dying, short and skinny, writes poetry, fear of death, narrator of story.

It's worth reading, just take your time and soak it all up.

Venomous by Christopher Krovatin

Publisher: Antheneum Books for Young Readers
Publish Date:  2008
ISBN: 978-1442412989
Pages:  336
Artwork: Kelly Yates


"So then I tackled Tommy Ferraro and bit off the tip of his nose."

So begins Locke's story.  It definitely drew me in - what kind of kid does a thing like that?!

Locke is plagued by anger issues, only his anger takes over and he can't seem to control it.  Well, chocolate milk seems to help for some weird reason, but not always.  He calls his anger 'Venom'.  He's pretty solitary just hanging out with his mom, little brother Lon and best friend Randall.  One day Randall decides that Locke has been a loner long enough and makes him attend a party to meet Randall's other friends.  Locke hits it off with Casey and falls hard for Renee.  The other kids at the gathering?  They all have issues and are the goths, emo, weirdo's, you name it.  They've formed a group called The Tarot.  They go by the cards of the Tarot deck.

As for our leading characters:
               Casey - gay, in love with a straight guy, rich
               Renee - heavily medicated, parentless, jock brother
               Randall - the 'steady' one, which can be the hardest thing to be in a group

There's smoking, drinking, vandalism, swearing, violence, fighting and sex.  This is not a book for the younger set - but I think 16yo and older would be fine with it.  It's not like they haven't heard it/seen it before.

In between the regular chapters are comic book pages of 'Venom'.  They aren't really explained, although Locke's brother Lon mentions the Venom doodles in Locke's notebook once.  It's a great touch to a fantastic story, I loved them.  I also loved when Locke found out that Spiderman's bad guy is named Venom and what he looks like.

The author was only 23 when the book was published and I think, since he was closer in age to the characters, he made them more realistic.   It was nice to read about a boy/girl relationship from the boys point of view and realize that boys feel the same way, they just don't always verbalize it.