BOYS, BEARS, AND A SERIOUS PAIR OF HIKING BOOTS

BOYS, BEARS, AND A SERIOUS PAIR OF HIKING BOOTS, by Abby McDonald (Candlewick, April 2010)(12+). The summer after her junior year of high school, environmental activist ("green teen") and New Jersey suburbanite, Jenna, is faced with the most horrible of prospects: having to go spend the summer with her decidedly non-eco-friendly grandmother in her condo in Orlando, Florida. She's going to miss her friends and all the protests they have planned.

But then, she has a brainchild: why not spend the summer in rural Canada with her godmother, an environmentally-aware ex-hippie. What could be more perfect?

But when Jenna gets to the actual remote wilderness, she finds things are not quite what she expected: encountering gorgeous but sullen boys, the hostile Goth stepdaughter of her godmother, and discovering that the environment and one's place in it means something more than merely separating one's recyclables.

BOYS, BEARS, AND SERIOUS PAIR OF HIKING BOOTS is a light, romantic comedy and coming-of-age story told with an engaging voice that will leave readers with an appreciation of the outdoors and Jenna's growth therein.