more YA fiction

The one benefit of being home sick with a cold is having the chance to do some extra reading. Of course, the problem with being sick is that anything heavy is out of the picture. Here are a couple of books I've read amid the coughing and sneezing:

Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman

Synopsis:
Vince Luca is just like any other high school guy. His best friend, Alex, is trying to score vicariously through him; his brother is a giant pain; and his father keeps bugging him to get motivated. There is just one thing that really sets him apart for other kids: his father happens to be the head of a powerful crime organization. Needless to say, while Vince's family's connections can be handy for certain things — like when teachers are afraid to give him a bad grade as they can put a serious crimp in his dating life. How is he supposed to explain to a girl what his father does for a living? But when Vince finally meets one who seems to be worth the trouble, her family turns out to be the biggest problem of all. Because her father is an FBI agent — the one who wants to put his father away for good.

Pretty basic plot line, a modern-day Romeo and Juliet where Romeo/Vince is from a mob family and Juliet/Kendra's father is an FBI agent. This book just doesn't seem particularly fresh.

I liked the book (definitely liked it better than Mafia Chic), but I'm not exactly sure why it was named a 'best book for young adults' by the American Library Association.

It also looks like there is a second 'Son of the Mob' book out. It's called Hollywood Hustle.

The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

The first book in the Midnighters series:
For one secret hour each night, the town belongs to the dark creatures that haunt the shadows. Only a small group of teenagers know about the secret hour — only they are free to move about the midnight time. They call themselves Midnighters.

Interesting concept, kinda scary.

This book is definitely the first in a series. It leaves you feeling unresolved and wanting to jump into the next book (Touching Darkness).

So far, though, I don't like this series as much as the Uglies trilogy. The Uglies books were my first introduction to Westerfeld and I thought they were phenomenal.