Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande

Your best friend hates you. The guy you liked hates you. Your entire group of friends hates you. All because you did the right thing.

Welcome to life for Mena Reece, whose year is starting off in the worst way possible. She's been kicked out of her church group and no one will talk to her - not even her own parents. No one except for Casey, her supersmart lab partner in science class, who's pretty funny for the most brilliant guy on earth.

And when Ms. Shepherd begins the unit on evolution, school becomes more dramatic than Mena could ever imagine as she is caught up in a controversy involving science, religion, freedom - and a heart-racing, blush-inducing, can't-stop-thinking-about-him crush.

Now Mena's own life is about to evolve in some amazing and unexpected ways.... (Taken from back cover)

I loved this book! It based on such an interesting topic and it was fascinating to watch this tale unravel. The debate on evolution vs. intelligent design and what should be taught in school is always a heated one but I think it was handled very gracefully. Obviously I agree with the book's opinion, so if you have a differing opinion you might not like this book. But I think Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature is an important book for anyone to read because it somewhat reconciles science and religon. The protagonist, Mena, is very rooted in her faith, but she still believes in evolution. My favorite line from the book is "I believe in evolution, and I believe in God. I just haven't worked out the details yet." As you can see, Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature gets kind of deep for a young adult novel (which is a very good thing). But there are also a lot of light-hearted parts. Mena's crush, Casey, is extremely funny and is able to make this novel humorous as well as serious. I think Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature is just a great novel all around and anyone can enjoy it.

9 out of 10.

FTC: I received this book through Random House's Random Buzzers.

Fat Cat by Robin Brande

Catherine Locke has always been overweight. It's hard for her to stay away from those candy bars, Diet Cokes, and chips. But when she has to do a science project on hominins, early ancestors of humans, Cat sees herself as the perfect subject. She decides to change her lifestyle and eating habits to those of the hominins, and see if she can be healthy for once in her life. Only eating organic and nutritious foods and walking instead of driving, Cat sees the pounds practically melt away. But with her new body comes a new problem: boys.

I loved this book! I could stop reading Fat Cat. I loved the characters, especially Cat. She was really smart and I thought her science project was so unique. I liked seeing her become healthy and was happy that she finally became comfortable in her own body. I also really enjoyed reading about her foray into the world of boys. Robin Brande really knows how to get into the mind of a teenager and wrote Cat's thoughts and ideas wonderfully. I would recommend Fat Cat to any fans of young adult literature.

9 out of 10.