A 2015-2016 Florida Teens Read selection! Readers of John Green, Sarah Dessen, and Laurie Halse Anderson will be touched by the emotional depth and realistic characters of Jennifer Castle's teen novel You Look Different in Real Life. Justine charmed the nation in a documentary film featuring five kindergartners. Five years later, her edgy sense of humor made her the star of a second movie that caught up with the lives of the same five kids. Now Justine is sixteen, and another sequel is in the works. Justine isn't ready to have viewers examining her life again. She feels like a disappointment, not at all like the girl everyone fell in love with in the first two movies. But, ready or not, she and the other four teens will soon be in front of the cameras again. Smart, fresh, and funny, You Look Different in Real Life is an affecting novel about life in an age where the lines between what's personal and what's public aren't always clear. Gr 8 Up-Ten years ago, five kindergarteners and their ordinary lives were the subject of a documentary. Five years later, they were featured in a second documentary. Now they're 16 and it's time to once again be in front of the camera. Many changes have occurred since the last time they were filmed: Rory's been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder; former best friends Nate, who has reinvented himself as a cool jock, and Felix no longer speak; Keira, whose worst memory was caught on film, is a member of the popular group; and Justine, the break-out "star" of the two earlier films, feels that she's no longer interesting and hasn't accomplished all she had hoped to. The producers struggle to find usable footage and resort to staging some scenes, which in previous years was unnecessary. A team-building weekend ensues, which Keira uses to further her own agenda. While the book starts off slow and a bit tedious, it becomes much more interesting and exciting around the time of the bonding weekend. This novel is an interesting look at difficult subjects, such as autism, homosexuality, and friendship. A perfect fit for fans of Siobhan Vivian, Deb Caletti, and Sara Zarr.-Melissa Stock, Arapahoe Library District, Englewood, COα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Five students were the subject of two documentaries: Five at Six and Five at Eleven. Now the directors are shooting the third installment, Five at Sixteen. Narrator Justine is the funny one, while awkward Rory struggles with autism. Biracial Keira is still reeling from her mother’s abandonment, and handsome athlete Nate’s friendship with cheerful Latino Felix has faltered. At first Justine is reluctant to participate in the film, but she is drawn into the ever increasing drama. Castle has a great ear for teen dialogue, capturing the awkward pain of friends who have grown apart but must still interact. The documentary/reality aspect will attract readers, and the wealth of character development should keep them interested. While some might quibble that reality would not end as happily as the book does, that’s just what will attract readers seeking thoughtful comfort-food reading. Grades 8-12. --Debbie Carton "Castle does a superb job of endowing each teenager with depth and emotion, even though the narration is solely through Justine's point of view. The complexity of life shines through as we discover, along with the teenagers, just how much someone can change, especially when his or her life has been public for years." (Shelf Awareness) Some FAQs! Where did you get the idea to write a book about teens who are documentary film subjects? I've always wondered what happens to reality TV and documentary film subjects after the cameras go away. Do they live their lives differently, like someone's always watching? Does the way they're portrayed on screen change the way they see themselves in real life? The possibilities of character and story seemed so juicy, I couldn't resist. Then I started thinking about how the rise of blogging and social media has allowed pretty much everyone to make themselves the "stars" of their own documentary. Every time we post a status, a photo, check in at a location...we're building a narrative of our own lives. I think it's scary-easy to share so much of ourselves, to think so obsessively about what we're putting out there for the world to see, that we lose track of who we really are. I'm also a huge fan of documentary films, perhaps for the same reason why I love writing contemporary YA fiction: sometimes there's nothing more fascinating than real life. One of my favorite documentaries is the "Up" series of films by director Michael Apted. He started by interviewing a group of 7-year-olds in England in 1964, and has checked in on their lives every 7 years, with the most recent being "56 Up." This seemed like a great premise for a novel, and I couldn't resist. Did you have a writing playlist for You