November 8th 2009
Who would like this book? Young women, 8th grade and older, looking for a love story enmeshed in family difficulties.
Why? This sad, moving, and ultimately triumphant story communicates the power of love through the lives of three generations of women. It has the feel of a saga, though it is just over 200 pages and the style of writing is spare. The main narrator is seventeen-year-old Odella, who is trying to come to terms with her troubled mother, Sally. When she was sixteen, Sally was the only survivor of a car accident in Mistik Lake, the family’s summer vacation spot in Manitoba, Canada. Sally cannot overcome her guilt, and she is dissatisfied with the choices that she has made in her life. Her troubles and subsequent actions have bad consequences for Odella and the rest of the family, but Odella gains insight from her beloved great-aunt Gloria, who shares in the narration. The story deepens with emotion and complications when Odella falls in love with Jimmy, the grandson of her parents’ old friends. The dreams, loves, and anguish of the generations intersect in Mistik Lake, the silent, pensive witness to it all. Brooks’ striking imagery and rich characterization makes this book a must-read for young women who are looking for a love story enmeshed in family problems.
The details: 224 p. 2007 Review by Samrarian
2009 YRCA nominee in the Senior Division
October 26th 2009
Who would like this book? Middle School age kids who want a new perspective on life from Death himself.
Why? In The Book Thief, a girl named Liesel is going to live with foster parents because she is poor. She lives in Nazi Germany. On the train ride to her foster parents her brother dies, so when she gets to the home she is very sad and will not take a bath. Then the father, Hans Hubermann, comes in and shows her how to roll cigarettes. Liesel likes her new father better than his wife, Rosa Hubermann, Rosa is very loud mouthed and likes to say bad words. If you read this book, you need to make sure you are not queasy. This is a very good story narrated by Death. I would recommend this book to everyone.
The details: 552 p. 2005 Submitted by Michael R.
September 27th 2009
Who would like this book? Readers 13 and up who like vampires and Twilight and are ready for a more complicated story.
Why? Clary Fray thinks she’s just having a fun night out when she goes to the Pandemonium Club with her friend Simon. Her thoughts tend toward the dark side, so it’s not a total surprise that she witnesses a violent crime. It is surprising that the victim disappears before she can report it, and she’s left with the “criminals.’ Clary’s life turns upside down when she discovers that she can see these beings – Shadowhunters – and normal “mundies” (humans) cannot. When her artist mother, Jocelyn, is kidnapped and implicated in the business of the Shadowhunters, Clary must stay with her new companions. The sparring between Clary and Jace, a Shadowhunter who is too aware of his own good looks and talents, helps the story, as does the welcome appearances by Clary’s tried-and-true mundie friend, Simon. The descriptions of the New York’s vampire underworld are great, but the plot gets bogged down in uneven side stories and tedious explication of the history of the Shadowhunters.
It’s a YRCA nominee for 2010 i the Senior Division.
The details: 496 pages, 2007 Submitted by Samrarian
September 16th 2009
Who would like this book? People who are interested in mythology, fantasy, and fast paced fights - Lightning Thief is for you.
Why? The Lightning Thief is about a boy named Percy (Perseus) Jackson. He goes to a school for people who have problems learning. He’s Dyslexic and he has a short temper. His friend Grover turns out to be a Satyr and he brings him to Camp Halfblood. Chaos has been going on among the gods, so Percy has to retrieve the master bolt and return it to Zeus with his friends Grover and Anabeth.
The details:377 p. 2005 Submitted by Michael
August 30th 2009
Who would like this book? Anyone, grades 3 and up, who talks a lot or goes to school with other kids who talk a lot. (In other words, everyone.) If you wonder what might happen if everyone went silent for 48 hours, read this book! Do you like books that make you laugh out loud? Read this book. If you’ve read Frindle, you will grab No Talking without a second thought.
Why? They are known as “The Unshushables”: the one hundred+ fifth graders at Laketon Elementary. Their principal, Mrs. Hiatt, needs a red plastic bullhorn to make herself heard above their roaring during lunch. Dave Packer and Lynsey Burgess are two of the biggest talkers in this group of motor mouths; they are also sworn enemies, representing the deep rivalry between the girls and the boys at their school. So, when Dave and Lynsey are assigned a report on India, they divide the work and proceed individually. As he prepares his part of the report, Dave learns that Mahatma Gandhi practiced silence one day a week as a way to bring order to his mind. Impressed by this idea, Dave decides to give it a try. His initial experiment is a springboard for him and Lynsey to expand the idea into a 48-hour no-talking contest pitting the 5th grade girls against the 5th grade boys. Each word spoken is a point against the team, except that a three-word response to a teacher’s question is allowed. Clements gets every entertaining and thought-provoking nuance that one could expect from this engaging premise. He includes the viewpoints and responses of not only Dave and Lynsey, but lots of other students as well as their teachers, parents, and the determined Mrs. Hiatt. The black-and-white ink illustrations by Mark Elliott add lots to this fun page-turner. It’s a 2010 Young Reader’s Choice nominee in the Junior Division and would be a good choice for a Literature Circle.
The details: 146 p. 2007 Review by Samraian
August 27th 2009
Who would like this book? Girls, grades 7 and up, who like books that make them laugh out loud, think about their identity and spirituality, and follow the ups and downs of a year in high school (friends, romance, bullying, parent problems, teacher problems…). If anyone is interested in what it would be like to be a Muslim in a predominantly non-Muslim school, don’t miss this book.
Why? The smart, feisty, funny narrator of Does My Head Look Big In This? is 17-year-old Amal Abdel-Hakim. Amal is wondering about her head because she is totally preoccupied with her looks and style, and she decides at the beginning of the book (inspired by Jennifer Aniston on a rerun of Friends) to wear the Muslim headscarf, the hijab, full time. In the book’s opening pages, her observations about this process and other aspects of her life made me laugh out loud and read passages aloud to my family. As her story grows more complex, laughter continues to lighten the load as she takes on many serious issues. Amal is an Australian-Palestinian-Muslim attending an elite private high school in Melbourne, Australia, making this book a window into both Australian teen life and Muslim culture. She sometimes uses Australian slang, which I loved since I went to Australia recently. (Tip: a “jumper” is a jacket) Amal’s story is both hilarious and deeply moving; she is a captivating, believable character attempting to live fully in the contemporary world without compromising her faith. I highly recommend that you follow her journey. I loved this book! It’s a Young Reader’s Choice nominee in the Senior Division for 2010.
The details: 360 p. 2007 Review by Samrarian
August 13th 2009
Who would like this book? Anyone ages 12 and up who like romance, fantasy, and magic. If you like other books by Shannon Hale (Princess Academy, The Goose Girl) or the books of Gail Carson Levine, definitely read this book.
Why? In Book of a Thousand Days, Shannon Hale expands the bare bones of a little-known Grimm’s fairy tale, “Maid Maleen,” into a captivating story that’s impossible to put down. Fifteen-year-old orphan Dashti, a “mucker,” narrates the story in simple, beautiful language. Poor and with no place in the nomadic mucker tribes, Dashti must seek work in the city after her beloved mother dies. Fortunately, her mother has taught her the healing songs and she has the healing touch. This ability opens the way for her to be trained as a lady’s maid in the city of Titor’s Garden, a training that includes learning to read and write. Unfortunately, she is assigned to sixteen-year-old Lady Saren, who has just been sentenced to seven years in a sealed tower for her refusal to wed her father’s choice, the brutal Lord Khaser. Instead, she loves Khan Tegu, ruler of a less powerful land and therefore disdained by her father. Dashti, in unquestioned loyalty to Lady Saren, goes with her to the tower and chronicles their experiences in daily diary entries. Their struggle to live, the romance with Khan Tegu, the threat of Lord Khaser, their escape, and the climactic events at Khan Tegu’s palace weave together into a powerful medieval romance filled with the enchantment and magic of the Asian steppes. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, though I did think that the change in Lady Saren’s character at the end of the book was not quite believable. Read it and see what you think. It’s a YRCA Nominee for 2010 in the Intermediate Division.
The details: 305 p. 2007 Review by Samrarian
July 26th 2009
Who would like this book? Both fans of graphic novels and students interested in the lives of quirky, artistic, intelligent kids on the “outside” of the in-crowd.
Why? This graphic novel starts out with a bang, literally. Jane is walking past a café in Metro City when a bomb goes off, sending her to the hospital along with a mysterious young man who does not regain consciousness. Jane’s parents decide to move to the safe suburb of Kent Waters, and Jane is bored and depressed over her new not-life at Buz Aldrin High School. She is drawn to three girls, all social misfits and each with a “Jane” name. At first they are withdrawn, but Jane hits on a creative, edgy plan to bring them to life. The result is PLAIN – People Loving Art in Neighborhoods – and a spurt of unique “art attacks.” Jane’s spunky efforts to work through the trauma of the bombing and to ignite creative thought in the complacent suburb are inspiring. The story gains focus through her letters to John Doe, the mysterious young man back at the hospital in Metro City. The graphic novel format is an excellent match for the plot and characters, and Rugg’s drawings are superb. It’s great to have a graphic novel as a YRCA nominee (2010) and as a selection for the 2009-2010 Battle of the Books.
The details: 176 p. 2007 Review by Samrarian
A Battle of the Books selection for 2009-2010 and a 2010 YRCA nominee
July 15th 2009
Who would like this book? Readers who like fantasy and mythology will not want to miss this series, especially if they like fantasies such as the Percy Jackson and Fablehaven series that combine fantasy settings with the real, contemporary world.
Why? Sophie and Josh Newman, 15-year-old twins, are settling into summer jobs in San Francisco, she at a coffee shop and he at a bookstore across the street. Josh likes his employers, Nick and Perry Fleming, but finds that all is not as normal as it seems when mysterious creatures (Golums, as it turns out) crash into the store to take Perry hostage and steal the ancient Book of Abraham the Mage or the Codex. In the fight, Josh manages to rip out two pages from the Codex. The twins quickly learn that Nick and Perry are actually Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, each over seven hundred years old. Nicholas, the greatest alchemist of his day, learned the secret of turning metal into gold as well as the spell for immortality from this most important of books. The Flamels’ longtime rival, Dr. John Dee, has now caught up with them and will stop at nothing to get the entire book. Dee’s mission drives the plot of The Alchemyst, for he must recover the two missing pages and destroy the twins. Flamel is equally motivated to stop Dee, for if Dee is successful the human race will be destroyed. This plot is not just one more fantasy in a growing list; it is a plot that combines thorough research into world mythology, captivating characters, vivid descriptions, and a style that effectively melds the modern and archaic worlds. Be ready to reach for the next book in the series, The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, because The Alchemyst, ends on a cliffhanger. It is a Young Readers’ Choice Nominee for 2010 as well as a 2009-2010 Battle of the Books selection.
More information is at the website:
http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/alchemyst/
The details: 375 p. 2007 Submitted by Samrarian
A Battle of the Books 2009-2010 selection and YRCA 2010 nominee
June 20th 2009
Who would like this book? Lovers of mystery, orphans charged with saving the world, and good quotes.
Why? Reynie, an 11-year-old orphan, hates the orphanage so much that he takes up the suggestion of his beloved tutor and answers an advertisement that asks, “Are you a gifted child looking for Special Opportunities?” As Reynie proceeds through a series of clever, convoluted tests, there is no doubt that he is gifted. Sticky, Kate, and Constance Contraire also pass the tests, demonstrating a wide range of fascinating talents. The four are instructed by the mysterious Mr. Benedict that they must work together to defeat the evil Mr. Curtain, who is plotting to take over the world using a type of mind control. Mr. Curtain’s place of operation is an isolated boarding school called The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened. The foursome go underground, posing as students in the school, while investigating Mr. Curtain’s plan. At the school the children must recite messages such as “You must work longer to have more time to relax” and “You must have war to have peace” as they navigate the bullying inherent in its system of “Messengers” and “Recruiters.” Their creative ingenuity, growing friendship, and Reynie’s reflections add depth to the page-turning plot that is filled with unexpected twists and wacky characters. It’s mainly a mystery that the reader is invited to help solve; explorations of mind control, bullying, and loyalty enrich the mystery, as do the many memorable quotes. This book is a 2010 Young Reader’s Choice Nominee in the Intermediate Division. Don’t miss it!
The details: 485 p. 2007 Submitted by Samrarian