SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

January 18, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS

SOHO Teen Presents…The Sweet Dead Life by Joy Preble

January 18, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS   1 comments

“I found out two things today. One, I think I’m dying. And two, my brother is a perv.”

So begins the diary of 14-year-old Jenna Samuels, who is having a very bad eighth-grade year. Her single mother spends all day in bed. Dad vanished when she was eight. Her 16-year-old brother, Casey, tries to hold together what’s left of the family by working two after-school jobs— difficult, as he’s stoned all the time. To make matters worse, Jenna is sick. When she collapses one day, Casey tries to race her to the hospital in their beat-up Prius and crashes instead.

Jenna wakes up in the ER to find Casey beside her. Beatified. Literally. The flab and zits? Gone. Before long, Jenna figures out that Casey didn’t survive the accident at all. He’s an “A-word.” (She can’t bring herself to utter the truth.) Soon they discover that Jenna isn’t just dying: she’s being poisoned. And Casey has been sent back to help solve the mystery that not only holds the key to her survival, but also to their mother’s mysterious depression and father’s disappearance.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Let’s give some mad props to Joy Preble for setting this book in Houston, Texas!  I love Southern settings for books that aren’t total overkill.  So, woot for Texas.

Now, let’s also give some mad props to one of the most talked about books amongst myself and other librarians because everyone is wanting to read this book, they all love the cover, and for those who have read it, RAVE about it.   

I love it because it is finally a MG mystery that isn’t Gilda Joyce.  Don’t get me wrong, my teens read Gilda Joyce books but this is one that looks YA and is just as easily enjoyed by MG readers as older adult readers.  Jenna is funny without being overly sarcastically annoying and the whole concept is fresh.  Order it now and read an excerpt…you’ll love it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Filed under: Mysteries, SOHO Teen

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

January 2013

SOHO Teen Presents...Deviant by Helen FitzGerald

by Karen Jensen, MLS

January 2013

SOHO Teen Presents...Strangelets by Michelle Gagnon

by Karen Jensen, MLS

January 2013

SOHO Teen Presents...Escape Theory by Margaux Froley

by Karen Jensen, MLS

January 2013

SOHO Teen Presents...Who Done It?

by Karen Jensen, MLS

January 2013

SOHO Teen Presents...What We Saw at Night by Jacquelyn Mitchard

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Read Aloud Hall of Fame #8: LET ME FINISH! by Minh Lê and Isabel Roxas

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day: My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! by Emma Hunsinger and Tillie Walden

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Casagrandes | This Week’s Comics

by Lori Henderson

Heavy Medal

Continuing the Mock Newbery Process: Time for July Suggestions

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

An Ode to Summer, a guest post by Ellen Hagan

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Shark Week, Vanilla Ice Cream, and the Honda CRV: Bob Shea and Brian Won Team Up for ADURABLE

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Five Debut YA Authors Make Readers Feel Something

February’s YA Debut Authors on Love and Inspiration

Laurie Halse Anderson Won’t Be Silent

Race, K-pop, and Magic: September's YA Debut Authors Tackle a Range of Topics

Resistance, Radical Empathy, and the Responsibilities of Privilege: An Interview with Tehlor Kay Mejia on “We Set the Dark on Fire”

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Teen Citizens says

    January 18, 2013 at 3:15 pm

    I'm a new librarian. Do you have a contact with SOHO Teen that I could get in touch with regarding ARC's? All of the reviews from TLT (and other book reviewers) are great! Feel free to email me at teencitizens@gmail.com.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2022


COPYRIGHT © 2022