Jumped

Williams-Garcia, Rita. Jumped. New York: HarperTeen, 2009.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Realistic/Issues

Annotation:
This narrative about one violent day in an urban high school is told through the eyes of three girls.

Booktalk Review:
Experience bullying in a day in the life of an urban high school student. Read this narrative told from the points of view of three female students to feel the escalating tension over the course of a violent day. Seemingly inconspicuous acts can have serious consequences, like getting Jumped.

Author's Website:
http://www.ritawg.com/

Big Fat Manifesto

Vaught, Susan. Big Fat Manifesto. New York: Bloomsbury, 2008.

[Book cover credit: www.worldcat.org]

Genre: Realistic/Issues

Annotation:
This is a book about an overweight teenage girl who writes about what it is like to be overweight in a weekly column called Fat Girl in the high school newspaper.

Booktalk Review:
Jamie Carcaterra, is a bold, full of life, ambitious teenager who writes about the reality of being overweight in her weekly high school column, Fat Girl. Read what she has to say to her high school in the Back To School Special Edition:

I am so sick of reading books and article about fat girls written by skinny women. Or worse yet, skinny guys. Tell me, what in the name of all that's creamy and chocolate do skinny guys know about being a fat girl? [p.1]

Her tell-it-like-it-is frankness, in-your-face humor and wittiness make this book a page turner.

Awards, Recognitions, Honors, etc.:

• Featured on Oprah.com on the Kids Reading List (12 and up)
  

Author's Website:
http://www.susanvaught.com/

Bird

Johnson, Angela. Bird. New York: Dial Books, 2004.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Realistic/Issues

Annotation:
Bird, a thirteen year old girl, was crushed when she lost her stepfather. This is a story of her quest to convince him to come home and the relationships she makes along the way.

Booktalk Review:
Bird is devasted that her stepfather, Cecil, has left the family.

Cecil used to wake me up at about five o'clock in the morning to go out and run with him. He said he couldn't think of anybody else in the world who didn't mind getting up that early and had the energy of a hummingbird.
I guess that's why he always called me Bird.
When he left I began thinking that nobody else would ever call me that again, and my heart started to hurt. I remember that I sat out on the stoop and watched people go by for hours and hours without seeing any of their faces. I sat there till the sun started to go down and Mom finally came out and said, "He's not coming back, so you might as well come on in and get on with it."
I did get on with it. [p.9]

This beautifully written book will suck you into the life of the unforgettable Bird.

Check out this website for more information about the author:
http://www.visitingauthors.com/authors/johnson_angela/johnson_angela_bio.html

High School Hazing: When Rites Become Wrongs

Nuwer, Hank. High School Hazing: When Rites Become Wrongs. New York: F. Watts, 2000.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Realistic/Issues

Annotation:
This nonfiction book exposes the the often hidden world of hazing. It provides lots of information about hazing including definitions of the two different types, how to recognize it, it's relationship to alcohol, sports, and gangs, and 15 suggestions on how to end it.

Booktalk Review:
This book is a great resource for any teen or adult who is interested in learning more about hazing. Although hazing is not new, it seems as though it is becoming more destructive and even fatal. People who are victims of hazing are many times left with negative feelings. This is the perfect guide and reference book for anyone who thinks they, or someone they know, is a victim of hazing. If you think you or someone you know is a victim of hazing, please seek help from a trusted adult immediately.

Author's Website:
http://www.hanknuwer.com/

Monster

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Realistic/Issues

Annotation:
Steve Harmon is a 16 year old who is in jail and on trial for being an accomplice to murder. This fiction book is his account of his life at that time in screenplay and diary format.

Booktalk Review:
Steve Harmon is only 16 and is a prisoner in jail. While on trial for murder, he creates this oh so clever and witty screenplay, with a smattering of journal entries. He paints a colorful picture of the characters and events, and he does so in a way that adds comedy relief to this serious story. Truly, this is one of those fast reading books that you don't want to put down. Read it and find out the outcome of the trial. Who really is the Monster?

Awards, Recognitions, Honors, etc.:

• 1999 National Book Award Finalist for Yound People's Literature
• First-ever recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
• Coretta Scott King Award

Teen Review:
I read this for school. What a cool book! It made me want to write a screenplay about my life or something. Laura, 16

Author's Website:
http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/

A Field Guide To High School

Walsh, Marissa. A Field Guide to High School: A Novel. New York: Delacorte Press, 2007.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Realistic/Issues

Annotation:
This is a hilarious guide to high school. It covers anything from the cafeteria to the jocks.

Booktalk Review:
Written as a guide from one college-bound sister to her younger sister about to enter high school, this read is sure to make anyone laugh. Here is an excerpt from the book that describes a certain type of girl:

SHREWS AND GILA MONSTERS
[HILTONS]

SIMILAR SPECIES: Mean girls. The plastics. The Heathers. Pretties. Princesses. Popular People. Cheerleaders. Beautiful people.
EXAMPLES: Heathers. Cher from Clueless. Kelly from Saved by the Bell.
BEHAVIOR: Frequent hair whipping, color/outfit coordinating, not eating.
IDENTIFICATION: Long hair. Evil eye. Little dog.
AS SEEN IN: Heathers. Mean Girls. Popular. Clueless.
HABITAT: Mall. Bathroom.
NOTE: Dig below the surface and they're just like everybody else. [p.104]

Her spot-on and sometimes vicious descriptions and mocking flavor make this gossip-worthy book an enjoyable read.

Teen Review:
Shut up! It was so funny how she made fun of everybody! I think some of the advice is crazy, but some of it is good. Laura, 16

Check out this website for a short bio of the auther (it doesn't have any info on this book, though):
http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Marissa-Walsh/37119608

Speak

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Penguin Group, 2006.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Realistic/Issues

Annotation:
This is an amazing story of a misunderstood teenager who was raped by an upperclassman at a party and lost all of her friends. Her world was devastated until something unexpected happens.

Booktalk Review:
Melinda was raped by an upperclassman at a party the summer before her freshman year. When she called the police, they only broke up the party and she never made sure they knew what had happened to her. As if this could not get any worse, when school started she was an outcast because she broke up the party. FYI...her home life was not much better. No one knew what had happened to her. She went through each school day as a silent, shunned, meek rat. Melinda even received harsh treatment from her teachers! Alone and miserable, her old best friend, Rachel, didn't even want to talk to her. Well, Rachel began dating the upperclassman who had raped Melinda, so what will Melinda do? Will she ever tell her story? Will she ever Speak?

Awards, Recognitions, Honors, etc.:

• A Michael L. Printz Honor Book
• A National Book Award Finalist
• An Edgar Allan Poe Award Finalist
• A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
• Winner of the SCBWI Golden Kite Award
• An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
  
• An ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults
• An ALA Quick Pick
• A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
• A Booklist Top Ten First Novel of 1999
• A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book
• A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
• An IRA Young Adult Choice
• A Junior Library Guild Selection
• A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
  
• A Horn Book Fanfare Title
  
• A New York Times Best Seller
• A Publishers Weekly Best Seller
• A winner of eight state book awards
• A finalist for eleven state book awards
  

Author's Website:
http://www.writerlady.com/

Pretty Face

Hogan, Mary. Pretty Face. New York: HarperTeen, 2008.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Realistic/Issues

Annotation:
Hayley is a frustrated, overweight girl living in Santa Monica. She feels out of place until she takes a trip to Italy.

Booktalk Review:
Hayley lives in sunny, beautiful Santa Monica and is always surrounded by equally as beautiful people. Not exactly the perfect place for a teenage girl! Hayley is constantly reminded that she is overweight, her mom nags her and she always feels uncomfortable. As the story develops, you are feeling her pain and laughing because of her self-deprecating wit. Hayley is always the funny girl and everybody's friend, but never anyone's girlfriend. As Hayley dips to new lows, she is given the opportunity to spend time in Italy. Will this experience help her to grow and learn that beauty is not just what you see in the mirror? Or will she always feel like just a Pretty Face?

Teen Review:
Hayley is so funny! It's weird that she feels the same way I do about not having a boyfriend and stuff. Julia, 14

Author's Website:
http://www.maryhogan.com/

Never Let Me Go

Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. New York: Vintage International, 2006.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Science Fiction

Annotation:
This is a narrative from the point of view of Kathy, a graduate of an exclusive boarding school in England. She questions her alma mater and later finds that her concerns grow deeper than she had ever imagined.

Booktalk Review:
As an adult, Kathy looks back on her childhood at an exclusive boarding school. She wonders what makes her and her friends, Ruth and Tommy, so special.

"If you believed yourself special, you should have at least asked. You should have gone to Madame and asked."
As soon as I said this--as soon as I mentioned Madame--I realised I'd made a mistake. Ruth looked up at me and I saw something like triumph flash across her face. You see it in films sometimes, when one person's pointing a gun at another person, and the one with the gun's making the other one do all kinds of things. Then suddenly there's a mistake, a tussle, and the gun's with the second person. And the second person looks at the first person with a gleam, a kind of can't-believe-my-luck expression that promises all kinds of vengeance. Well, that was how suddenly Ruth was looking at me, and though I'd said nothing about deferrals, I'd mentioned Madame, and I knew we'd stumbled into some new territory altogether. [p.231]

Read it to find out more about this mysterious circumstance and if she is on to something.

Awards, Recognitions, Honors, etc.:

• Shortlisted for the 2005 Booker Prize
• Shortlisted for the 2006 Arthur C. Clarke Award
• Shortlisted for the 2005 National Book Critics Circle Award
• A New York Times Notable Book
  
• Time magazine named it the best fiction novel of 2005
• One of TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005
• ALA Alex Award in 2006
  

Check out Kazuo Ishiguro speaking about Never Let Me Go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SmuYqKeTTs

The Professor's Daughter

Guibert, Emmanuel, and Joann Sfar. The professor's daughter. New York: First Second, 2007.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Graphic Novel

Annotation:
This is a graphic novel about a woman who falls in love with Imhotep IV, one of her father's most prized mummies. They take on quite the adventure in an effort to be together.

Booktalk Review:
Picture it...19th century England. You won't have any trouble doing that with these beautiful illustrations! Imhotep IV is a mummy who has not been awake in 30 centuries, but it sure does not take long for him to become smitten with the professor's daughter. As if being a mummy wouldn't complicate this affair enough, the professor happens to own Imhotep...and he is one of his most prized possesions! Imhotep and his new love travel through time, experience murder, kidnapping, jail and any number of adventures that will leave you wanting more. Will Imhotep ever find a place where he can share his love eternally for The Professor's Daughter?

Check out this website for more information about the book and the authors:
http://www.firstsecondbooks.com/professorsDaughter.html

Castlevania

Sasakura, Kou, Ray Yoshimoto, and Jeremy Black. Castlevania. Vol. 1, Curse of Darkness. Los Angeles, CA: Tokyopop, 2008.

[Book cover credit: www.worldcat.org]

Genre: Graphic Novel/Manga

Annotation:
In this manga, Ted, a young boy, becomes invloved in Dracula's war on humanity. It is based on the Castlevania video game.

Booktalk Review:
This manga truly takes you to a dark and scary place where Count Dracula has a demon army and bad guys have spindley, pointy fingers. The artistic style and detail in the pictures successfully evoke the characters' nature and feelings in the reader. Read it for a bone-chilling experience.

A Step From Heaven

Na, An. A Step from Heaven. Asheville, NC: Front Street, 2001.

[Book cover credit: www.worldcat.org]

Genre: Multicultural

Annotation:
This is a story of a Korean family who left their homeland for a better life in America. Told from the point of view of the daughter, Young Ju, this novel exposes the difficulty of making and sustaining a new life in a different country.

Booktalk Review:
Surrender yourself to this powerful story of a Korean family who is trying to make a better life in America and you will feel like you are living it with them. They make sacrifices and find it increasingly harder to assimilate into the culture and all of this takes a toll on the family. The father strikes the mother and makes many sexist comments that attempt to hold the females back. Find out if this new life in America is really only A Step From Heaven.

Awards, Recognitions, Honors, etc.:

• The 2002 Michael L. Printz Award
• Nominated for a 2001 National Book Award in the Young People's Literature category
• 2002 Children's Book Award in YA Fiction - International Reading Association
• 2005 California Collections Selection
• 2005 Asian American Booklist, Grades 9 and Up, Read Across America, National Educational Association
• 2001 - 2003 Asian Pacific American Award for Literature, Text in Children and Young Adult Fiction – Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association
• 2004 Reading List – Women's Division Reading Program Committee, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church
• 2003 - 2004 Gateway Readers Award Nominee, Missouri Association of School Libraries
• 2003 - 2004 William Allen White Children's Book Award master list
• 2002 Notable Books for a Global Society – International Reading Association
• 2002 Notable Children's Book – American Library Association
• 2002 Best Book for Young Adults – American Library Association
• 2002 Children's Books of Distinction Award – Riverbank Review
• 2002 Fanfare Book – The Horn Book Honor List
• 2002 Bay Area Book Reviewers Association Award
• 2002 CCBC Choices
• 2002 Children's Literature Choice List
• 2002 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Master List
• 2002 Amelia Bloomer Project List
• 2002 White Ravens – International Youth Library of Munich
• 2002 Notable Books for the Language Arts – NCTE
• 2002 Notable Books for a Global Society, Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest group of the IRA
• 2001 Editor's Choice – Booklist
• 2001 New York Times Book Review Notable Book
• 2001 Best Books – School Library Journal
• 2001 Kiriyama Prize Notable Book Shortlist
• 2001 Best Children's Books – Publishers Weekly
• 2001 Best Book – teenreads.com
• 2001 Book LInks Lasting Connections
• 2001 Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children
• 2001 Top 10 Youth First Novels – Booklist

Author's Website:
http://www.anwriting.com/

The Giver

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York, N.Y.: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1994.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Fantasy

Annotation:
Everyone has a place and everything seems so right, but when Jonas is assigned his role in his community, he receives training that makes him question his world as he knows it.

Booktalk Review:
How wonderful would it be? To live in a world where everything is under control and there is no fear and no pain. When children turn twelve, they are each assigned a role in their community. Jonas' role is very special and his training is unlike anyone else's. Find out what's in store for Jonas as he receives his special training from The Giver.

Awards, Recognitions, Honors, etc.:

• The 1994 Newberry Medal
• The 1996 William Allen White Award
• American Library Association listings for "Best Book for Young Adults", "Notable Children's Book," and "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000."
• A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book
• Winner of the Regina Medal
• Booklist Editors' Choice
• A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

Author's Website:
http://www.loislowry.com/

Silver Kiss

Klause, Annette Curtis. The Silver Kiss. New York: Delacorte Press, 2007.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Horror

Annotation:
Simon, a vampire, helps Zoe deal with her life as her mother loses her battle to a terminal illness.

Booktalk Review:
How do you handle your mother dying in a hospital and feeling ostracized from the family by your father? Zoe has a lot to deal with no one to understand how she feels, until she meets Simon. He is handsome, mysterious and kind of scary, which makes him all the more interesting. Simon totally gets Zoe and even helps her, but does he want anything in return?

Awards, Rocognitions, Honors, etc.:

• An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
• An ALA Quick Pick
• A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
• A Booklist Children’s Editors’ Choice
• Winner of the California Young Readers Medal
• A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
  

Check out this website for more information about the author:
http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/catalog/author.pperl?authorid=48104

The Dear One

Woodson, Jacqueline. The Dear One. Paw Prints, 2008.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: GLBTQ

Annotation:
This is a story of a girl, Feni, who was forced to welcome her mother's friend's pregnant teenage daughter into her life, all while dealing with her mother's alcoholism. Feni grows and matures as she faces many obstacles.

Booktalk Review:
Could you imagine sharing your room with a rude, pregnant stranger who is nothing like you, and doesn't even like you? Feni is faced with many challenging issues such as classism, teen pregnancy, etc., that arise when she learns, with the help of her mother, to be more understanding and sensitive. Who really is The Dear One?

Author's Website:
http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/

America

Frank, E. R. America: A Novel. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2002.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Realistic/Issues

Annotation:
This is a story of a lost boy, America, who was abandoned by his birth mother and separated by his foster mother. He has been through the the system and on the streets, but through it all may learn to find himself.

Booktalk Review:
Lost
Nowhere
Nobody
No one cares
I don't care
Runaway in New York City
Finding a self and a place in the world

Awards, Recognitions, Honors, etc.:

• Garden State Teen Book Award Nominee (NJ)
• German Youth Literature Award Nominee
• Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults

About the Author:
http://authors.simonandschuster.com/E-R-Frank

The Braid

Frost, Helen. The Braid. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Historical Fiction

Annotation:
During the Highland Clearances families were forced to leave Scotland and consequently, families were torn apart. This collection of narrative poems alternating from one sister to the other illuminates the powerful love and bond between sisters/best friends.

Booktalk Review:
Could you imagine living without your best friend? In The Braid, two Scottish sisters are forced to separate during the Highland Clearances as one leaves with the rest of their immediate family for Canada and the other stays behind hiding with their grandmother. Even though it takes place in the 19th century, this story of the bond of sisterhood and friendship transcends time. Similar to the locks of each other's hair that wear braided in their own, they remain close to each other's hearts. How strong is the bond of The Braid?

Awards, Recognitions, Honors, etc.:

• YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2007
• 2007 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book
• 2007 Honor Book: "Lion and the Unicorn" Award for Excellence in North American Poetry
• School Library Journal "Best Books of the Year, 2006"
• Kirkus Reviews "Editor's Choice, 2006"
• NCSS-CBC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
• Notable Book in Historical Fiction, 2007, for the Children's Literature Assembly (CLA), an affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
• Bank Street College of Education Children's Book Committee "Best Children's Books of the Year, 2007"
• Cooperative Children's Book Center "CCBC Choices 2007"
• Special Recognition: 2007 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People
• 2008-2009 Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Awards Master List
  

Author's Website:
http://www.helenfrost.net/

The Rose That Grew From Concrete

Shakur, Tupac. The Rose That Grew from Concrete. New York: Pocket Books, 1999.

[Book cover credit: www.alibris.com]

Genre: Biography/Non-Fiction

Annotation:
Compiled after his death, The Rose That Grew From Concrete is a collection of Tupac's poetry that uncovers his deep insight into the world, his honest sensitivity and life experiences.

Booktalk Review:
The Rose That Grew Form Concrete is a collection of cool and witty poems written by one of the most enigmatic, influential, controversial and enduring rappers of the 2oth century. Tupac's real take on life is there for you to read, and you can even see each of his poems in his own handwriting. Learn more about Tupac and the struggles of The Rose That Grew From Concrete.

For more information about Tupac, check out this website:
http://www.2paclegacy.com/