Double Shot of YA Lit

I'm a tad behind on my reviews. So, I'm here to catch up now.  Not long ago I finished "North of Beautiful" by Justina Chen Headley. Terra Cooper is a senior, dating a jock, and has a great friend who has her back.  Life can't get much better right?  Except Terra and her entire family is under the thumb of her abusive father.  Terra is also trying to come to terms with accepting herself and the port wine stain that cover part of her face.  When she meets Jacob, everything changes.  Her own view of beauty and what matters in life may begin to look very different.  This book was wonderful, empowering, and a lovely little surprise.

"Breathless" by Jessica Warman is a tale about Kit Kitrell who is a swimming phenom.  Her father is never around, so much so that they call him 'the Ghost'.  Her mother is generally drunk and her brother, who she is closest to, suffers from mental illness.  After a horrible ordeal with her brother, Kit goes away to boarding school.  There she dives (pardon the pun) into swimming and tries to escape the lies shes told, 'that her brother is dead'.  She makes friends but the truth is constantly lurking.  It's not something she can out-swim.  Will the truth ever surface?

There was a raw honesty in this story. The characters are quirky and sometimes a bit too quirky for my tastes.  Katies constant drinking and smoking was a little disturbing to me, especially since she's an athlete.  I liked this book but didn't love it.  I would recommend for an older teen age range, due to the drinking and some sexual issues that arise.