No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen

In this book we meet Felix and his mum whom live in a van. All their life is packed away as his mum relies on her cunning will to make sure she can provide a little food and a place to sleep that is at least slightly safer than a park bench.

They get his mum's friends to cover for them and not get them found out as Felix enrols in school and makes some friends especially and become a more settled despite their situation.

It seems their luck may change when Felix gets the chance to go on a tv show with a cash prize only then trouble strikes for the pair and their future looks even more uncertain than ever before...

It was a thought provoking book and was realistic as more families fall into poverty and struggle more and more. Though his mum was trying her best we see how she fell into deep times of depression due to their unending situation which is understandable alike Felix's hatred towards their situation which mounts throughout the novel too especially as he grows ill repeatedly and can't face his friends knowing his situation.
I really liked the topic being tackled and would love to see it mentioned more in young adult fiction as it rarely is.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

OCDaniel by Wesley King

Daniel suffers from OCD and has to perform certain tasks and rituals before bed and during the day all the time which take over his mind, especially number based tasks.

Raya is the girl Daniel likes but feels he can't get until he gets paired with her on a school project with his friend Max, but as he gets to know her he also gets to know why and quiet Sara whom he finds himself helping as she investigates her mum and her mum's boyfriend murdering her father...

It was an involved and intriguing plot nothing like I expected as a lot of the time to me the OCD became a back pedal storyline and the investigation seemed to take over more in all. However it was a good book and Daniel certainly struggles with OCD just not as much as I expected is it raised.

Butter by Erin Lange

Nicknamed by school bullies after there was an incident involving butter, our protagonists nickname became Butter.

He plans to eat himself to death and posts online on a website he creates advertising his upcoming last meal. It's through this that the popular group at school start to befriend him and take him under their wing.

Butter also likes Anna, a girl whom can't see him for who he is as they talk online anonymously all the time making Butter fall for her more but in real life she has no idea it's him she's really talking to online...

As he battles with his feelings over friends, weight, food and family we see how it all results in his 'last meal' as he feels lost in life...

A touching book showing how deep out feelings can effect the world around us and the way we see things too. It was especially touching in how he feels alone and only included when expected to kill himself and shows how dangerous the wrong attention and influences can be.

I Am Drums by Mike Grosso

Sam is a girl dreaming about being a drummer. She drums on books, notebooks, feels and hears drums all the time in her head.

However she finds herself having to earn money to afford her drumming lessons after her parents can't afford it and she finally gets the opportunity to learn with Pete the local awesome drum teacher.

She also gets into trouble at school and hides it from her parents scared of their reactions and her punishment as well as hiding the money she earns from secretly mowing laws to pay for her drumming lessons!

Sam is a hot headed character with a strong and fiery will and a can do attitude as she knows what she wants. We see her ambition and I admire her being a young step character as at her age I was nothing like that so it was fun to read about her achieving what she does.

Paper Chains by Elaine Vickers

Katie and Ana are best friends with secrets.

Both girls may be of Russian decent but Katie hides the fact she's adopted and has had a heart transplant whilst Ana hates the fact her dad had left her family and her mum is a shell of her former self leaving her kids to rely on each other.

Throughout the book we see how family can be many forms as well as how secrets can be revealed at the best of times to help a situation and just how dangerous life can be too. The title was really interesting and the reference we discover early on is the idea Katie's family use in the lead up to Hannuka as they right on them things they're thankful for. It was full of thoughtful moments and empathetic meaningful moments too as the girls struggles show how harsh the realities of their issues are to them.

Skin And Bones by Sherry Shahan

In this book told from a male perspective about his fight with anorexia and in patient treatment we meet, Bones as his inpatient roommate Lard calls him he suffers from compulsive overeating unlike Bones, an anorexic boy and group therapy shows him how others suffer to with food disorders.

I liked the flair of romance in the book as we see Bones fall for anorexic girl Alice, a ballet dancer wanting to perform for a company.

We see how control is taken from them and they try to take it back. We also see how dangerous their battles are with food.
It was believable and realistic as the teens all deal with real issues in relatable ways because of various reasons. We see their struggles and how much they are controlled in their thoughts about food.