HGS

I have been a fan of Holly Goldberg Sloan since Counting By 7s.  I really loved To Night Owl from Dogfish.  Meg Wolitzer is an author of primarily adult books, but this book proves she can write for any audience.  One of the many things that I loved about this book is that it contains a love story (more than one, really) and it just happens to be two men.  But it's not a big deal that they have the same body parts.  I have a dream that all books will deal with this "issue" in this way someday because they will be reflecting reality.  Where society is like God, not caring WHOM we love, just THAT we love.  Great book. 

Of course

any book that mentions Judy is a great one.  We need to keep new generations exposed to the greatest talent who ever lived.  And every book I have ever read by Holly Goldberg Sloan has been a great one, too.  And Short was great! It just didn't wow me.  It just kept going along.  And I wondered if something MORE was going to happen.  But the thing was, even though nothing big happened, it was still a very good book because the characters were so likable and real.  I will recommend this book!

ABC

I am not a HUGE Michael Jackson fan.  I like his music, I do.  I just am not nuts over him the way I am say, Judy or Tupac.  I'll Be There, the book, gets its name from the Jackson Five song, I'll Be There.    It is by Holly Goldberg Sloan who wrote one of my most favorite books, Counting by 7s.  This is a story of a very mental ill father who has stolen his sons away and caused them to live a basically homeless life with no schooling, no clothing, no food.  They have had to fend for themselves and live in fear their whole lives.  Sam is an older teen who attends churches on Sunday for the music.  He hears a girl sing and instantly feels drawn to her.  She is a pretty bad singer and throws up, outside the church, right after her solo where he comforts her.  The two get to know each other and fall in love.  The sequel, Just Call My Name is also a very good book and totally different from Counting by 7s.  Very intense books.  I really did like it though.  A lot.  

3 is a magic number

Counting by 7s is one of the best books I have read this year.  So far, it is has been a pretty good year for books for me! 
This is one of those books, like Sure Signs for Crazy, that when you tell someone what it is about they think, "OH MY GOSH!  THAT IS WAY TOO DEPRESSING!" and with good reason.  In Counting by 7s, Willow Chance becomes and orphan in her tweens and she really has no place to go.  Plus, she is a really misunderstood kid, super-brilliant but totally misunderstood.  Plus, the only folks in her life are super-misunderstood adults, including a family that lives in the garage behind a nail salon.  But man, this book isn't depressing at all.  It is full of love and hope and told by Willow herself, who is a wonderful narrator.  Excellent.  Also, it has a couple of really great quotes.  "When you care about other people, it takes the spotlight off of your own drama."  I have no idea why.  Anyway, that is one of them.  There is another really good one about silence.  I need to find it.  Oh!  Here it is!  I found it through google books. Have you noticed that amazon don't have the "search inside" feature on as many books as it used to?  There are the "look inside" deals, but rarely is there the "search inside" option.  This made me very sad.  So I thought, why not try google books, and there it is!  So that is how I found this quote:  "And that is why the deepest form of pain comes out as silence."  I was thinking about all of the folks who suffer in silence.  Abused spouses and children was my first thought.  But a lot of other people, too. 
Oh, Three is a Magic Number is a great song.