Brooks, Martha. True Confessions of a Heartless Girl. Harper Teen, 2004. ISBN 978-0060594978 216 pp. $

True Confessions of a Heartless Girl by Martha Brooks is one of Allison’s favorite books. And now it is one of mine. The story of Noreen, the heartless girl, is one you immediately get lost in. I feel like I am part of this small town, wrapped up in everyone else’s heartache … and joy. So many rotten things happen in this book but the writing is so brilliant you never feel like it is too much or too intense. Noreen is just 17 but her life has been a hard one and it doesn’t get any easier in this story. Running away is all she knows how to do but now she’s got no where else to go. The people in Pembina Lake take her under their wings…a hodgepodge of family figures … Dolores the grannie, Del the strong & silent father, Lynda the tired and nagging mother, Seth an adorable and sometimes annoying little brother… like Noreen, they really have no where else to go but because of her they realize they don’t have to.

I had a hard time putting this one down but I also didn’t want it to end. I’ll be wondering about Noreen for awhile, who really isn’t so heartless after all.

Philbrick, Rodman. Freak the Mighty. Scholastic, 2001. ISBN 978-0439286060 192 pp. $7.99

Pam recommended Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick to me. Like True Confessions, this story flies by because it is so hard to put down. Though you can anticipate a not-so-happy ending you race to finish to see how it all turns out. You may recall the movie version, The Mighty (with Sharon Stone) which I don’t think I saw but Pam said was pretty weak. I think because of that I was never really interested in reading the book …I guess I felt like I already knew the story (even without actually having seen the movie). But she loved it so much and I trust her and I’m glad I did. This is really a book worth reading.

Kevin, the Freak, is growing inside faster than his body while Max is as big as a man at only 12 years old. He is also the spitting image of his father, Killer Kane. Together, Max and Kevin are Freak the Mighty and they are invincible. They battle dragons both in their imaginations and in real life. For both of them their freakish natures disappear when they are together and their friendship helps them confront an often cruel world.