Teen Read Week
October 18-24, 2009 has been designated Teen Read Week by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA.) The influence of popular young adult books can be seen throughout our culture--with TV series such as Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries, films such as Twilight, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Cirque du Freak, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Lightning Thief, Eragon, Whip It, and the continuation of film series Narnia and Harry Potter. There are also many platforms encouraging teens to read--blogs; groups on Facebook, and Shelfari dedicated to YA; as well as fan websites dedicated to favorite series and characters. Many YA authors can be found on Twitter. To see which authors, find us on Twitter @CLCDreviews.
The books listed below highlight recent must-read YA. The books are either the first in a popular series, or serve as an example of a book from a prolific author. I invite you to explore these unique, creative, and insightful books that speak to teens.
To find more information on Teen Read Week, YALSA, or the American Library Association (ALA) please visit their website: click here.
Contributor: Emily Griffin
Reviews
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
Sherman Alexie
Illustrated by Ellen Forney
In this blunt yet poignant story of a teenager wanting to make the best of himself, Alexie uses his own experiences to give us a feel for an Indian boy crossing over into a white world. Not only does Junior feel guilty for selling out, but his tribe members and best friend, Rowdy, add to that guilt, while his new white school mates either tease him or ignore him. Finally connecting with an equally unpopular geek as well as the popular girl, because he cares enough to address her bulimia, Junior tentatively carves out a place for himself and makes friends. His basketball prowess gains him admiration although his victory against his reservation high school is bittersweet. He is a thinking, caring kid, who eventually manages to reunite with his buddy from the reservation, Rowdy. Multiple alcohol related deaths in Junior's family are particularly hard-hitting but make the point that alcohol is still a significant problem on many reservations. The sarcastic, self-deprecating humor should add to this book's appeal. 2007, Little Brown and Company, $16.99. Ages 14 up. Reviewer: Kathryn Erskine (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 0316013684
ISBN: 9780316013680
ISBN: 142876450X
ISBN: 9781428764507
Beige
Cecil Castellucci
In this hilarious story, Katy struggles to connect with her father, but more important, with herself. Katy's mother goes to Peru for an archaeological dig, forcing Katy to leave her comfortable home in Montreal and stay with her father in Los Angeles. Katy's father, whom Katy calls The Rat, is the drummer for the "infamously un-famous," and "infamously messed up," band called Suck. A recovering heroin addict who lives in a filthy, cluttered apartment, The Rat seems to be the polar opposite of Katy, a well-mannered, quiet girl who would rather be assisting her mother in Peru. When two and a half weeks turns into an entire summer, Katy has no choice but to make the best of her time in Los Angeles. One of her father's band mates, Sam Suck, introduces his daughter, Lake, to Katy, but Sam must bribe Lake to spend time with Katy. Lake subsequently gives Katy the less-than-flattering nickname Beige. Katy spends the summer trying not to live up to this nickname, and learning more about both music and herself. This story seems initially to resemble other stereotypical adolescent novels in which a disgruntled teenager angry with her parents somehow ends up finding her own identity; however, Katy's witty dialogue and hysterical inner thoughts make this story compelling and hard to put down. Cecil Castellucci brings the characters to life flawlessly and shares their stories in a fresh and innovative way. 2007, Candlewick Press, $16.99. Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Angela Sinisgalli (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 780763630669
ISBN: 0763630667
ISBN: 9781428747678
ISBN: 1428747672
ISBN: 9780763730669
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
From the beginning I was struck with the book's uniqueness. How can you not be struck when you open the cover to understand that the narrator is Death? Zusak imagines a vivid character who sees first colors and then humans, recording his thoughts about both in an extraordinary way. Death sees a sky, for example, that is "like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places, it was burned. There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked across the redness." Zusak visions a Death who is both detached and empathetic. It is Death who gently picks up a multitude of souls in Nazi Germany and carries them tenderly off. Add to this unusual narrator, the intriguing character of Liesel Meminger, the book thief. Death introduces her as a young child whose younger brother dies while en route to being deposited with their foster parents in Molching, a small town near Daschau. Rosa, Liesel's harsh-speaking, tender-hearted "wardrobe-bodied" foster mother is complemented by her new Papa. Hans Hubermann has eyes made of kindness and silver. There are a host of fascinating minor characters including Max, a talented Jew who is hidden for a long time in the Hubermann's basement and Rudy, the boy next door who longs for a kiss from Liesel and fancies himself a runner like Jesse Owen. While people starve on Liesel's Himmel Street, Liesel hungers after books and begins to "steal" them from a knowing mayor's wife. And there is one more fascinating component--the book's structure. Death, as narrator, slips in and out of time to foretell deaths and deeds, interrupts his narrative to announce in bold, certain truths, tender conversations, or other notes. Death begins each section with a playbill of events to come and ends with a chilling last note that seems to explain the book's last line, "I am haunted by humans." 2006, Knopf, $16.95. Ages 13 up. Reviewer: Susie Wilde (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 0375831002
ISBN: 0375931007
ISBN: 9780375831003
ISBN: 9780375931000
Charles and Emma: The Darwin's Leap of Faith
Deborah Heiligman
Most books about Charles Darwin center around his voyage on the HMS Beagle and the writing of his hugely significant and controversial book, The Origin of Species. This one is different. Here, the focus is on how Darwin's life was influenced by his decision to marry and raise a family with a woman of deep religious convictions. The book has been meticulously researched and reflects the time of Charles and Emma Darwin. Above all, it is a love story. It begins in 1838 in London, two years after Darwin's monumental voyage around the world. In this personal and highly readable biography, Deborah Heiligman examines how Charles and Emma Darwin met, how their friendship deepened, how they grew to love and respect one another, and how they struggled to create a successful marriage between science and religion. His wife's religious convictions and her fear that they would be separated after death when she would go to heaven and he would go to hell, moderated Charles Darwin's views and revealed to him how other faithful people might receive his revolutionary ideas. The author provides detailed sources notes, and these show that she has drawn from a variety of materials, including letters, notebook entries, and diary entries. This highly recommended book contains eighteen black-and-white photographs. Thirty-three chapters in length, it contains an epilogue, a family tree, source notes, a selected bibliography, and an index. 2009, Henry Holt & Co, $18.95. Ages 8 to 12. Reviewer: Phyllis J. Perry (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780805087215
ISBN: 0805087214
Graceling
Kristin Cashore
Katsa is a killer. The eighteen-year-old heroine of Kristin Cashore's Seven Kingdoms fights better than Bruce Lee on speed and always gets her man. That is the problem. Kat is weary of doing the dirty work of her uncle, King Randas. She is beginning to question her special grace, specifically the heightened power of fighting that came with her separate-colored eyes. Meeting Prince Po, a near-equal in the lethal arts, creates other questions for the young lady. As she and Po set off on a quest to discover why Po's kindly grandfather was kidnapped, the plot thickens into romance. Cashore's first novel contains all the requirements of fantasy: a world stuck in the medieval mode of swords and long-suffering peasants, a touch of magic, and non-stop action. But once she's gotten her moral priorities sorted out, Katsas real problem is not surviving impossible odds. For her, that's a bagatelle. Much harder is admitting her femininity and recognizing that love can have a place in her life. Still, it is fun watching Cashore's wonder woman single-handedly slay mountain lions and conquer impassable winter mountain passes in the course of rescuing the young queen of a rogue kingdom. It's fun watching her get her man, too. 2008, Harcourt, $17.00. Ages 14 up. Reviewer: Kathleen Karr (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780152063962
ISBN: 015206396X
The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman
It takes a graveyard to raise a child in this engaging horror/fantasy tale by the author of Coraline. A man named Jack is dispatched to kill a family, but the toddler manages to escape, finding refuge in a graveyard where the ghosts decide to take him in. His guardian is a vampire, his occasional teacher a werewolf, and his friend a witch, but the ancient graveyard is a safe, loving haven for the child they call Nobody Owens: "Bod," for short. He learns the knack of Fading and Haunting to escape detection and frighten adversaries, skills that come in handy when Bod grows older and makes forays out of the graveyard, encountering ghouls in their frightening land and bullies at school. Eventually Bod confronts Jack once again, and he must draw on ancient forces to defeat his old enemy. Gaiman has a true gift for narrative and a delightfully light touch, and there are humorous details along with spine-chilling ones. YAs will race through this fine tale and enjoy every magical, creepy moment. Illustrations not seen. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS*--Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2008, HarperCollins, 368p. illus., $17.99 and $18.89. Ages 12 to 18. Paula Rohrlick (KLIATT Review, September 2008 (Vol. 42, No. 5)).
ISBN: 9780060530921
ISBN: 9780060530938
ISBN: 0060530928
ISBN: 0060530936
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
Collins has mixed an extraordinarily brutal, post-apocalyptical dystopia with strong, believable characters; stirred in aspects of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, blended it thoroughly with philosophy, politics, and breakneck pacing; and ladled on the sauce of friendship, loyalty, and love to create a fantastic serving of young adult literature. Katniss Everdeen of District 12 (also referred to as the Seam since it provides coal for the rest of the districts and the Capitol) has been unwillingly thrust into a position of responsibility for the welfare of her younger sister and mother. After her father's death in a mine explosion, Katniss's mother suffers a complete breakdown and becomes incapable of even the slightest action to feed or protect her children. Because of her indomitable spirit and the generosity of the baker's son Peeta, Katniss is catapulted into becoming the family's provider. She takes to the woods outside District 12's fence, where she hunts and gathers to provide the sustenance so vital to her family's existence. In the woods she meets Gale, a young man who provides for his family in the same way. Their friendship is mainly about helping each other find enough game and greens to feed their respective families with enough extra to sell for the other necessities of life. An annual "punishment for previous uprisings" by the Districts, called the Hunger Games, is the Capitol's way of controlling the District's inhabitants. Each District is required to provide two "tributes," one boy and one girl, to participate in a yearly battle-to-the-death of strength and wits. Much like the Roman gladiatorial entertainments, people treat the Games as an opportunity for gambling, gaiety, and self-aggrandizement (backing the winner results in highly-prized fame). Readers cannot help but imagine themselves caught up in such a life, identifying with and analyzing the actions of Katniss, who volunteers to take her sisters' place as a tribute; Peeta, whose name is drawn as a tribute and who struggles to stay alive and protect Katniss in the Game; and Gale, who is left in District 12, promising to look after Katniss's sister and mother. The challenges set up in the Game arena are inventively cruel, and the methods of "entertaining" those viewing the televised Game are ingeniously creative. Collins mines every aspect of human emotions without every approaching "preachyness" and keeps the action rapidly advancing to ensnare her readers. Because knowledge and observation of nature play a big part in survival during the Game brawn and brute strength may be overcome. One of the author's strengths is her ability to include a myriad of interesting details that make the "former North American continent" seem alien, yet recognizable and real. Readers will eagerly await the second installment in this captivating trilogy. 2008, Scholastic, $17.99. Ages 12 up. Reviewer: Sheilah Egan (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780439023481
ISBN: 0439023483
If I Stay
Gayle Forman
This moving first person novel, told by seventeen-year-old Mia, begins as a carefree, unexpected holiday. School is called off because of snow, leaving Mia, her eight-year-old brother Teddy, and her teacher father free for the day. Her mother takes the day off work, too, and since the snow melts off the roads almost immediately, the family piles into the car to visit friends and grandparents. When a pickup truck smashes into the passenger side, Mia's mother and father are killed outright, her little brother is critically injured, and she finds herself standing over her own body as rescue workers fight to save her life. The book continues through the harrowing day and night with Mia's descriptions of current horrors in present tense sections identified by clock time followed by past tense sections devoted to her memories of family and friends. Through this narration, we learn about her eccentric but loving parents, her affection for Teddy, her deep friendship with her classmate Kim, her strong relationship with her rock-musician boyfriend Adam, and her own promising future as a classical cellist. Throughout her day and night in the operating room and the intensive care unit, she observes her unconscious self in the bed and--after hearing a nurse tell her grandparents that whether she lives or dies is up to her--wrestles with her decision. She is torn between fearing that she cannot bear to live with the loss of her parents and brother, and aching to stay with Kim and Adam and her grandparents. The resolution comes when Adam brings in a recording of Yo-Yo Ma, the cellist he took her to hear on their first date. Adam's tears and the sound of the cello combine to bring her back to consciousness. Well-chosen scenes and details make Mia and the other characters both vivid and appealing. 2009, Dutton/Penguin, $16.99. Ages 12 up. Reviewer: Judy DaPolito (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780525421030
ISBN: 0525421033
Just Listen
Sarah Dessen
Annabel Green is the girl everyone wants to be. She and her two sisters, successful models in their hometown, and all live happily inside their "glass house" with their parents. All is well until Annabel's mother struggles with the death of her own mother and the realization that her middle daughter, Whitney, is battling anorexia. In addition to dealing with these difficulties at home, Annabel also faces rumors that she slept with her best friend's boyfriend. Readers learn of Annabel's secret in bits and pieces as they follow her through her attempts to steer clear of her confrontation. In the middle of it all, Annabel finds herself befriending the most unlikely recluse in her school, Owen, who helps her find her path in a most unlikely way. Dessen examines the heart and soul of her characters and illustrates their blemishes, humanity, struggles, and accomplishments. She plunges into the intellect of multifaceted adolescents, bringing them off the page as she plays out their story in front of you. 2006, Viking/Penguin, $17.99. Ages 12 up. Reviewer: Lauren Hembree (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780670061051
ISBN: 0670061050
The Knife of Never Letting Go
Patrick Ness
Todd Hewitt is the last boy in town to become a man. The Noise germ infected the settlement of Prentisstown, killing all the women and allowing all the men to hear each other's thoughts as well as the thoughts of animals. After revealing a horrible secret, Todd's guardians send him away from town with a journal written by Todd's mother before she died. With only his dog Manchee for company, Todd flees the settlement, pursued by all the men in town. During his flight, Todd meets the first female he has ever seen, Viola, who has just landed on the planet. Together, they find their way to various oases of safety, but cannot ever stay long because of their hunters. As Todd talks to other people and reads his mother's journals, he discovers the true nature of Prentisstown. It is not until the final, horrifying confrontation that he realizes why they will not stop until they find him. This brilliant post-apocalyptic novel is gritty and exciting. The way the Noise is handled, from Manchee's simple thoughts to the chaos in Prentisstown is particularly well done, as are Todd's misspellings and grammatical mistakes within the text of the book (just enough to give us a sense of realism to Todd's narrative, but not too many to be distracting). An excellent and gripping beginning to the "Chaos Walking" series. 2008, Candlewick Press, $18.99. Ages 12 to 18. Reviewer: Amie Rose Rotruck (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780763639310
ISBN: 0763639311
Twisted
Laurie Halse Anderson
Just before the end of his junior year in high school, Tyler decided that he wasn't going to continue as an invisible student nerd at George Washington High School. He was going to get noticed by spraying bold messages with red paint on the school building. The graffiti caper forced him to sell his car and work with the landscaping company in order to pay for the damages. In addition, the judge mandated that Tyler complete community service, working with the high school building maintenance staff all summer. Now that summer is drawing to a close, Tyler's senior year is about to start and he is being noticed in a number of new ways. With all the physical summer work, Tyler's newly developed muscular structure catches the eye of Bethany Milbury. She's a popular girl whose father is the CEO of Milbury Brothers Trust, the company where Tyler's father is employed. With the sudden attention from Bethany, Tyler finds himself in some awkward moments. Chip, Bethany's twin brother, is an unwelcome adversary each time Tyler and Chip cross paths. Furthermore, there are serious undercurrents of tension between Tyler and his father. Finally, Tyler is facing the intense realities and increasing pressures of alcohol, sex, identity, family, school, reputation, and life. Through his perspective and raw emotions, Tyler describes the deep issues and uncontrollable turmoil that he confronts as he moves toward adulthood. 2007, Viking/Penguin Group, $16.99. Ages 15 to 18. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780670061013
ISBN: 0670061018
Updated 10/18/09
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