This knock-out hit from Jennifer Echols (Forget You) will quickly rise to the top of recommendation lists.
Though Leah's mother has been moving the two of them from city to city, one thing has remained constant: they are always near an airport. When Leah turns 14, she makes a bold commitment: "If I was doomed to live in a trailer park my whole life, I could complain about the smell of jet fuel like my mom... or I could learn to fly." In Heaven Beach, Leah gets the chance to start her mission by getting a job for Hall Aviation, her current backyard airport. Run by Mr. Hall, who employs his two sons to tow banners, Leah works out a deal to start flying lessons with him and is soon in the pilot's seat. After tragedy strikes the Hall family, Leah is forced to work with the teenage Hall brothers--one who's a rule follower and seems interested in her, and another who seeks a good adrenaline rush (and on whom she's had a crush for years).
Echols hits the dynamics of teenage life on the head. Dealing with a mother who would rather please her boyfriend than care for her daughter and dealing with a self-absorbed friend, Leah is instantly endearing, even with her obvious flaws. The scenes between the brothers and Leah expertly reveal her confusion and struggle between friendship, romance and duty to her job. Most of Echols's readers will consider Such a Rush her best yet. --Shanyn Day, blogger at Chick Loves Lit