With spring break and summer around the corner, YA readers can start gathering fun titles to read by the pool side, such as Heather Burch’s Summer by Summer or Amy Spalding’s hilarious Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys). But if you’re looking for a good cry, Sarah Benwell’s The Last Leaves Falling fits the bill. Check out the latest assessments from SLJ’s resident teen reviewers. BENWELL, Sarah. The Last Leaves Falling. S. & S. May 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781481430654. Gr 8 Up–Seventeen-year-old Sora doesn't want to die, but he doesn't want to linger on in the grip of ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). With his newfound friends from an internet chatroom and his family, he comes to terms with both the difficult decisions he must make about his final days, and saying goodbye to the people he cares about most. Where to begin? I loved almost everything about this novel, and so far has been the best book I've read all year. The writing is absolutely gorgeous. It's contemplative, elegant, personal, and glorious. It doesn't leave you breathless from nonstop action, but meanders along at the pace of deep thought, and it's perfect. Sora may be one of the most interesting main characters I've read about in a long time as well. He is simply a normal boy who wants to become a professor, live to an old age where he can be a fantastic grandfather and spoil his grandkids rotten, hang out with friends, and enjoy life. However, because of ALS, he has limited time and can only dream about doing all of that. His development from bitter and silent to someone with genuine friends who wants to make the most of the time he has left while still being agonized about dying at 17 is one of the best things about the novel. Sora has such an authentic voice, and his relationships with his family and friends are so well-developed that by the ending your heart aches not just for him, but for all of them as well. Mai and Kaito are some of the best friends I've ever read about in a YA novel, which makes the final scenes of the novel all the more devastating. In addition, Sora's family is beautifully developed and I actually laughed out loud during some of his exchanges with his grandfather, even as I was recovering from fits of tears. This character development and emotional depth makes The Last Leaves Falling a resonant, powerful read. I was disappointed by only a few nitpicky things, because the book was absolutely stunning. The format of the chatroom snippets was a bit hard to follow at times, mainly because Kaito and Mai had the same font assigned to their messages. It made remembering who was typing quite difficult at times. Also, the positioning of internet searches in the middle of interior monologues was often distracting, and I would have to reread the same paragraph several times to make sense of why the search bar was there. Otherwise, The Last Leaves Falling was outstanding. The cover is beautiful. I would have added The Last Leaves Falling to my Goodreads shelves much earlier if I had seen this absolutely gorgeous cover instead of the generic ClipArt Cover they have featured. It's got a very ukiyo-e vibe to it, making it feel classic yet somehow very modern. Also, points for being a story set in Japan that doesn't have sakura blossoms on the cover, yet still has a cover that implies "this is set in Japan." The cranes tie in beautifully to the recurring metaphors of the novel, and once you've stared at the beauty of the art for a while, you notice the boy in a wheelchair at the very bottom. This is just so perfect , because once you notice that detail, you cannot forget it, just like the way the plot of The Last Leaves Falling never allows you to forget that Sora has ALS. I first picked up this book because it was set in Japan and wasn't, you know, manga or nonfiction about ukiyo-e. I had no idea how powerful or beautiful it would be. That being said, The Last Leaves Falling is NOT a book for everyone. The ending involves suicide, and much of the plot talks about the ethics of deciding to end one's life. If you're triggered by depictions of suicide or discussions of it, don't read this book.—Ella W., 15 BURCH, Heather. Summer by Summer. Zondervan. Apr. 2015. pap. $12.99. ISBN 9780310729631. Gr 7 Up–On a gone-wrong dive trip, Summer and Bray are stranded on an island in Belize. They fight to survive and find the essentials of life on this tiny island. This book captured my attention with the survival aspect and I couldn't put this book down until I was done. This book is beautifully written. I loved the survival aspect with a person who hates her. I felt like the book was going to be a thriller and it was. I also like how the romance got woven into the story. I was disappointed because the book was more about romance and I thought it would be more towards the survival side. As soon as Summer and Bray got on the island, the romance just started with no reason why. I would've liked a reason why, not just Bray suddenly kissing Summer.—Elisabeth L., 12 GREY, Jacob. Ferals. HarperCollins. Apr. 2015. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780062321039. Gr 5–8–This story is about an orphan who lost his parents at a very young age. As he witnesses a surprising attack his world changes forever when he finds out who his parents are and why they died. I really liked how the plot developed over the course of the book, not just having everything thrown at readers at the beginning of the book. The book kind of reminded me of the “Percy Jackson” (Disney-Hyperion) or maybe “The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel” (Delacorte) series, because the character related to the main character and it developed over time. I was most disappointed in the ending of the story because it leaves you hanging: "But it wasn't nothing. It was a spider. A spider white as bone." Even though you know the spinning man is going to come back, you just do not know how.—Sam C., 14 ST. JEAN, Trina. Blank. Orca. Apr. 2015. pap. $12.95. ISBN 9781459808072. Gr 8 Up—Jessica wakes up in a hospital and doesn't remember a thing about her past life, or anything until the moment the buffalo, Ramses, put her in a coma. It doesn't make sense, why can't she remember? Why is she forgetting? Will Jessica fight her present-self to be the past-self everyone wants her to be, or will she take the fresh slate and start a new life somewhere else, where people don't expect her to remember the things she can't recall. In this thrilling page-turner, journey along with the amnesia patient who will make you feel so much more grateful for your memories, good and bad. The cover made sense throughout the book. As much as I like it, and how it refers to Jessica's inner conflict of tug of war with her past-self all throughout the book, isn't that the same model on the cover of Judy Blume's, Tiger Eyes? I looked it up, and I’m sure that this is the same girl modeling for both covers, and both covers are taken with the same shot! No offense, but it needs a little more work to be considered "fresh and original" but maybe you already knew that, because on the first three pages, it says cover art is: TO COME. Thank goodness. I really loved how the author compares the past self of Jessica with her new, amnesia self. This type of book normally isn't in my reading range, but I really loved seeing this character persevere, fail at persevering, and affect the lives around others including, the people she knew and now knows. It's just really enjoyable to read the book, and I found it refreshing and comprehensible. I wouldn't change a single thing in the book, except where there were the few times the main character or another character used the term "God" in a derogatory and offensive way. I tell every author this when I read their books, so please replace the offensive slang with something more appropriate like "Gosh." Be aware of religious readers! —Sam G., 13 SPALDING, Amy. Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys). Little, Brown/Poppy. Apr. 2015. Tr $18. ISBN 9780316371520. Gr 8 Up—Riley and Reid are hilariously stupid when it comes to interacting with the opposite sex, and what they write in the Passenger Manifest—I was cracking up the whole time! You'll be swooning right along with Riley through Amy Spalding's descriptions of Riley's crushes. Then you'll be laughing at her awkwardness that we can all relate to—in some way or another. And, of course, you can't even compare anyone to Reid. He's trying so hard and failing at equal measures, if you aren't laughing at one character, it's the other. I’m doubling over laughing just thinking about some of the lists. I was a little disappointed that the humor factor was turned down towards the end, but that's okay because it made sense for the plot and the rest of the book was good too.—Charlotte L., 13