Michael Grant wraps up his "Gone" series superbly with the sixth book, Light. In Openly Straight, Bill Konigsberg depicts a gay teenager who wants to shed his "gay boy" label and just be one of the guys. And, Caprice Crane takes a crack at finding something new to say about mean girls in high school with her novel Confessions of a Hater. GRANT, Michael. Light. Katherine Tegen Books. April 2013. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780061449192. Gr 7-10—"Don’t fight it, Nemesis. The end is the best part of any story. The end." Light is the brilliant end to Michael Grant's "Gone" series. The people in the outside world can finally see the hellish situation inside. But then, aren't the people outside the dome also passing judgment on those inside? Will those outside the dome be able to understand what the kids inside had to do to survive? However, there's a more immediate threat in the FAYZ. The gaiaphage has a body and can move now, and she won't rest until she's defeated her nemesis Little Pete and killed everyone in the FAYZ. It's up to Sam and the others to fight one last battle. Light provides an epic conclusion to Grant's six-book series. After finishing the fifth book in the series, Fear (2012), I eagerly awaited Light's spring release. The book immediately captured my attention with the "new" character Gaia, who made me laugh despite being evil incarnate. Grant, in the spirit of his previous books, focuses on how the characters make their decisions. The reader truly feels their resolve and understands the reasoning behind it. This expert quality of Grant's writing is especially important with Light's themes of redemption and sacrifice. Grant's expertly crafted series comes to a bittersweet end for readers, but the story is not one readers will forget anytime soon.—Thomas S., age 17 KONIGSBERG, Bill. Openly Straight. Arthur A. Levine Books. June 2013. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780545509893. Once Rafe was “out of the closet,” he was instantly labeled as the gay kid. He wasn’t teased or bullied at school, his parents accepted him, and he was best friends with a girl named Claire Olivia. However, Rafe wanted to be label-free. He wanted to be “just Rafe." When transferring to Natick, an all-boys boarding school in New England, Rafe finds he isn't that gay kid, and gets to hang out with the straight guys. But when he falls in love with his friend Ben, he can’t tell him because, well, Rafe is supposed to be straight. Can Rafe keep on hiding the gay part of himself? I understood the message Konigsberg was trying to convey, but found Rafe’s mission to be label-free a bit dramatic. However, I loved the bromance between Rafe and Ben and enjoyed the tensions of brotherly love versus romantic love. The ending may disappoint those preferring a tidy wrap-up, but I enjoyed the book overall.—Vy M., age 14 CRANE, Caprice. Confessions of a Hater. Feiwel & Friends. August 2013. Tr 17.99. ISBN 9781250008466. Gr 8 Up—School has always been run by the popular mean girls, and Hailey Harper was one of their humiliated victims. When Hailey transfers to a new school in California, she has a plan to join the popular mean girls’ group with the help of a diary from her sister called “How to Be a Hater.” Hailey does manage to become a part of the group but decides to stand up to their awfulness instead of standing with them. Soon, she finds other friends who feel the way she does, and Hailey and her new friends focus on taking down the popular mean girls. Confessions of a Hater is a great book about standing up to bullies. However, I find this book to be a lot like the movies Mean Girls and Mean Girls 2. It has the usual conflict and a girl who finally decides to take a stand. After the girl unintentionally turns into a mean girl, she has to find herself again. It can be interesting but then repetitive and, eventually, boring. In what is overall an entertaining read, Crane adds in a few unique details and changes up the plot a bit, but doesn't particularly offer anything truly different.—Vy M. age 14