Our first post of the week is Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande!Who knew doing the right thing could be so wrong? It's Mena's first day of high school, which she's only been looking forward to since forever, and it's Day 1 in Her Miserable Life. Her parents hate her, and she's grounded for life. Her (former) best friend not only hates her, but is spearheading Operation Hate Mena at school and church. Her (former) crush/almost-boyfriend just hip-checked her in 2nd period, and everyone she knows from church is giving her the Hairy Eyeball. Things start to look up though in 3rd period Biology, when Mena meets her new teacher, the kind of weird, totally AWESOME Ms. Shepard (she of the venti Starbucks). Plus, Mena's lab partner, Casey, is supersmart, supercute, really into Lord of the Rings (which Mena isn't sure how she feels about, seeing as how she's not allowed to watch it), and best of all, not from church, so doesn't hate her.
Until the day Ms. Shepard puts up her blog about the hobbits (the prehistoric people, not the Tolkien ones) and starts a unit on evolution. And the Holy Warriors (or whatever they're calling themselves now) turn their chairs around and declare war on Ms. Shepard. And Mena's stuck between what she believes to be right and what everyone else is telling her is right, especially when she's not even sure what she believes.
If you want to know how science, the Lord of the Rings, organized religion, lots of Starbucks and jackolopes add up to one awesome book, check out Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature @ the library!
Megan
(who just finished Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson on Friday - AMAZING!! You all must read this book! It would totally be on this list if I had read it sooner.)
Comments