Teen Idol

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance

Cabot, Meg. Teen Idol. New York : HarperCollins, 2004.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Teachers and students rely on high school junior Jenny Greely. When a 19 year old movie star selects her high school to do research for his upcoming movie, Jenny is asked to be his student guide.

Are you reliable? Can you keep a secret? High School Junior Jenny Greely was given the secret assignment as the advice columnist “Ask Alice” on the school newspaper. She is the girl next door that everyone likes. She is always the one to smooth things out when trouble starts. When a 19 year old movie star selects her high school to do research for his upcoming movie, Jenny is asked to be his student guide. Can she spend 2 weeks at Clayton High School without anyone finding out who he is? Will Jenny be able to keep this secret from her best friend Trina, who is one of his biggest fans? Who will learn more from this high school research project, Jenny or the Teen Idol?

Grade 7 and Up-

New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age (WINNER)

ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults

Little Brother

Genre: Science Fiction

Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother. New York : A Tom Doherty Associates Book, 2008.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

When San Francisco’s Bay Bridge is blown up in a terrorist attack, the government takes control of the city to protect the citizens. But is taking away all of their freedoms really the right way to protect them. See what Little Brother does when he feels the government is treating the citizens unfairly.

Marcus Yallow code name w1n5ston (Winston) is a senior at Cesar Chavez High School in the San Francisco Bay area. He is what Bill Gates might be like if he was a teenager. He is always several steps ahead of the adults that think they understand the technology. From page 21:

“Library books are bad news. Every one of them has an arphid-Radio Frequency II tag-glued into its binding, which makes it possible for the librarians to check out the books by waving them over a reader, and lets a library shelf tell you if any of the books on it are out of place. But it also lets the school track where you are at all times. It was another of those legal loopholes: the courts wouldn’t let the schools track us with arphids, but they could track library books, and use the school records to tell them who was likely to be carrying which library book.”

When terrorists blow up the Bay Bridge, Marcus and his friends are questioned by Homeland Security as possible terrorists. This book has been compared to George Orwell’s 1984, with an updated twist. Big Brother may be watching, but Little Brother has something to say about it.

Grade 8 and Up-

Book Sense Children's Pick

VOYA's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror

Yotsuba&!2

Genre: Graphic Novel

Azuma, Kiyohiko. Yotsuba&!2. Houston, Tex. : ADV Manga ; 2005.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

In the second book of this manga series, green haired Yotsuba is trying her hand at drawing. Join Yotsuba in her new adventures with her neighbors.

Yotsuba is a very colorful and energetic girl with a creative imagination. Join her in book 2 of her adventures with her adoptive father, neighbors and friends. See if Yotsuba’s imagination translates into drawing abilities.

Grade 5 and Up–

Woolvs in the Sittee

Genre: YA Picture Book

Wild, Margaret. Woolvs in the Sittee. Asheville, NC : Front Street, 2006.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Woolvs in the Sittee tells the story of a young boy all alone afraid of what he will find outside. When the one person in the world that he knows is missing he must make a decision to face his fears or remain hidden.

Ben is alone except for his upstairs neighbor Mrs. Rodinski. Is Ben a young child that writes words the way they sound, or has he been afraid to go to school because of the Woolvs in the Sitee? The illustrations capture the emotions and helps lead the story in haunting shades of black, red, yellow, orange.

Grade 6–9

2007 Shortlisted for CBC Book of the Year - Picture Book

2007 Shortlisted for ABPA Book Design Awards - Picture Book

2006 Winner of the Aurealis Award - Children's Book

House on Mango Street

Genre: Multicultural, Realistic Fiction

Cisneros, Sandra. House on Mango Street. New York : Vintage Contemporaries, 1984.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

The House on Mango Street is a wonderfully honest look into the life of a young girl living in a Latino section of Chicago. She describes her family, her neighbors and the community that surrounds them.

Esperanza’s family is moving from a flat to a house. Her Mother and Father always talked about the house they would move into one day. From page 5:

“I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn‘t it. For the time being Mama says. Temporary, says Papa. But I know how those things go.”

You hear Esperanza’s voice come through in the 44 vignettes. The book is written in a stream of conscious fashion as she describes life in a Latino section of Chicago. She speaks honestly about her family, her neighborhood and the people that live on Mango Street.

Grade 7 and Up–

1985 The American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation

Eragon

Genre: Fantasy

Paolini, Christopher. Eragon. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.





[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

A fifteen year old farm boy finds a blue stone while hunting that will change his life forever. He discovers his destiny is to be a dragon rider.

When Eragon goes hunting early one morning he finds a beautiful blue stone that he thinks is valuable. He does not realize how valuable it is. It is actually 1 of 3 dragon eggs that remained from the time of the dragon riders. He learns about the time of the dragon riders from a local storyteller. He is destined to bring back the time of the dragon riders. He is mentored from an old dragon rider to learn this whole new world that he must now become apart of.
Grade 5 and Up–

2006 Nene Award by the children of Hawaii.
2006 Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award

The Silver Kiss

Genre: Horror, Romance

Klause, Annette Curtis. The Silver Kiss. New York : Laurel-Leaf, 1990.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Zoe’s life is spinning out of control. When her Mother goes back in the hospital, she has no one to turn to. Then she meets Simon, a vampire with his own grief to deal with.

Zoe feels surrounded by the loneliness that death brings: her Mother’s illness, her Father’s withdrawal, and her best friend’s insensitivity. From page 22:

“Lorraine really did care. It wasn’t her fault that people didn’t know how to talk about death. Not Dad, the neighbors, not Mom’s friends. Death’s partner was silence.”

The irony for her is that meeting a vampire like Simon who feels his own isolation in grief, brings new meaning to her life. See how Simon and Zoe help each other to get through their pain.

Grade 7 and Up–

1994 ALA 100 "Best of the Best" from the 1300 in the history of the annual "Best Books For Young Adults" list.

1991 American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults.

1991 American Library Association Best Books For Reluctant Readers

1990 School Library Journal Best Books.

1990 Booklist Best Books, and Editor's Choice.