The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

When the headmistress collapses dead, the students at Saint Etheldreda's School decide to keep the news under wraps so they aren't returned to their families.

This is a precocious murder-mystery book for preteens, with very little gore and a lot of innocently made bad judgment calls. It's the kind of story where a church basement strawberry social is the very epitome of the town's social scene.

But it's also a cracking good mystery full of fun characters: these seven Victorian-era British school girls cover the gamut of personality types, from the goth girl to the flirt to the science geek to the actress. You'll find from the 1890's era to modern days there isn't much difference when you gather a group of girls - you'll get sisterhood and teasing, both affection and a few tears.

How long with the crime go unnoticed? And above all, whodunnit? There are quite a few twists and turns to the plot, because it turns out the girls don't know quite as much about things as they'd thought. The gradual drama is fun, and the big reveal is a surprise in many ways.

Stand Off by Andrew Smith

In this sequel to Winger, we return to Pine Mountain Academy for Ryan Dean West's senior year of high school. Things got serious at the end of last year, and Ryan Dean may not have fully processed everything

But on top of his post-traumatic stress from that incident, he's got new concerns too: mainly, that since he forgot to apply for a room assignment, he's stuck in a tiny ground-floor dorm room with a claustrophobic freshman. That his roommate Sam is practically a reincarnation of Ryan Dean's own awkward former self is an irony not lost on our oh-so-much-cooler-now senior lead.

Again this time, the novel is hilarious and more than a bit sexually frustrated. Again this time, Ryan Dean is both wise before his years and an utter dolt, interchangeably. It's maybe not as strong as the first book - you'll definitely want to have read that one first - but it's a great continuation of the story and an engaging look at friendship.

And the myriad nicknames for Sam are worth the time alone!

Winger by Andrew Smith

Junior year is going to be different, Ryan Dean West has decided; he's been working out, he's got his eye on dating his gorgeous best friend Annie, and he's got big plans on diverting his boarding school classmate's focus away from the fact that he's only 14 years old.

It's a book about relationships and figuring things out as a teen. Rugby plays a central role, and the author does an excellent job explaining just enough about the sport but also keeps the story moving along. RD is a typical twisted teen - wonderfully insightful about a teammate's homosexuality, and then bullishly idiotic with his own hormones.

The text is liberally decorated with Ryan Dean's doodles (illustrations by Sam Bosma), which allow us to see into his head a bit. The book's a little gross, a lot horny, and overall excellent. Actually, the whole time I was reading I kept thinking it was a great book, and then at the end it became an AMAZING book. You'll have to figure out why on your own.

Spud - the Madness Continues ... by John Van De Ruit

South African John "Spud" Milton is back with another year's diary about his friends and foibles as a scholarship student in a prestigious boarding school: still struggling to understand girls, still waiting for his hormones to kick in, and still struggling to understand his lessons.

While I really enjoyed the first book in this series, this one left me a bit cold. The diary format seemed to turn dull here, just a rote entry-by-entry list of events rather than a more fleshed-out story of the boys' hijinks. And this time there's no "cast of characters" in the beginning to help you remember who's who (everybody's got a nickname).

Spud by John Van De Ruit

Proving that boarding schools are the same the world over, this is young John "Spud" Milton's diary: his first ventures away from home, his making friends and forming life-long bonds, and the dream of finding a girl to kiss. Along the way we also meet his odd-ball parents, his senile granny they call Wombat, and a whole cast of characters that make Spud's life interesting.

This book is head-and-shoulders above most of the genre - it could easily have been a throw-away story and instead it's a hilarious book. The reader really becomes part of Spud's world (although I admit to a bit of trouble keeping the immense, nicknamed cast straight), and at the end I was delighted to find there is a second book, "The Madness Continues."

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

As our narrator is entering a new stage in her life, she's feeling nostalgic. And so she begins her reminiscence: of her idyllic upbringing at Hailsham boarding school, of her friendships, and of her nearly-completed role as a "carer."

It's a quiet book, read with a genteel British lilt and literary diction. I found it easy to let my defenses down and allow my concentration to relax a bit ... to just pleasantly float along. Until I began to realize that many things don't add up in this story. Hey, does it seem like the book takes place in the 1950s, or today?

Hailsham students "know, and don't know" - and it turns out they aren't the only ones!

It's hard to characterize this story: It's literary and high-brow, with a somehow gentlemanly punch to the gut. "So sorry to have to dust you up this way, pip. But you'll be fine in a minute, old chap!"