Under the Blood-Red Sun by Graham Salisbury
Posted at 10:29 pm | Filed Under Under the Blood-Red Sun
Wonder what it would have been like to have been a Japanese teenager living in Hawaii when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on September 7, 1941?Tomi is an American teenager who loves baseball, hangs out with his friends who call themselves the “Rats,” and loves his dog Lucky. He was born in Hawaii, but his […]
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Posted at 10:27 pm | Filed Under Uglies
We’re not just talking about a simple makeover here…Tally Youngblood is lonely: all of her friends have already turned 16 and had the operation to make them Pretty and have gone to Prettytown to party. As Tally amuses herself by hoverboarding (think skateboarding through the air) and doing “tricks,” the pasttime of Uglies, she meets […]
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
Posted at 10:24 pm | Filed Under Touching Spirit Bear
Interested in the healing power of the wilderness, the psychology of a bully, and alternatives to the juvenile justice system? Do you just want a good cliffhanger featuring a giant white bear?Touching Spirit Bear gives us the point of view of Cole Mathews, an angry young man who blames everyone else for his problems and […]
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Posted at 10:11 pm | Filed Under The Lightning Thief
Have you ever thought that someone reminded you of Posiedon? or Hermes? or Dionysus? The Lightning ThiefBattle of the Labyrinth may explain why…The premise of demigods - the offspring of a human and a god - is captivating. Taking this premise and setting it in contemporary New York makes for a fascinating combination, and […]
The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean
Posted at 10:08 pm | Filed Under The Kite Rider
Ready for a 13th century China version of extreme sports? How about flying by being strapped to a very large kite?It’s the 13th century, and China has just been conquered by the Mongol, Kublai Khan. The story opens at a port, where Haoyou, a bright and serious 12-year-old boy, witnesses his father plummet to his […]
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Posted at 10:04 pm | Filed Under Stargirl
How would Stargirl be received at our school?
Stargirl is the classic nonconformist, free spirit. When she shows up at Mica High with her long skirts and ukulele, students don’t know how to handle her. Leo Borlock, the book’s 16-year-old narrator, is fascinated by her pure, primitive approach to life and wants to get closer to […]
Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
Posted at 10:02 pm | Filed Under Shadow Spinner
What if, every night, night after night, your life depended on the story that you told?
Shahrazad, the Sultan’s newest wife, is saving her own life and the lives of the kingdom’s young women. She is holding the interest of the Sultan night after night with her stories. Before Shahrazad, the Sultan had been killing each […]
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Posted at 10:00 pm | Filed Under Princess Academy
Though this book is a fantasy, it has the feel of history. The setting, Mount Eskel, is viewed with disdain by the rest of the kingdom even though they mine the prize stone, linder. Mount Eskel’s prospects improve when it is chosen as the village from which the prince will choose his bride. The teen-aged […]
Flush by Carl Hiaasen
Posted at 9:57 pm | Filed Under Flush
Hiaasen’s story of the ecologically-oriented family, the Underwoods, opens with the dad in jail for trying to sink the floating casino that he believes is dumping raw sewage into the ocean near their Florida Keys home. The family has their problems related to their dad’s fanaticism, but his kids, Noah and Abbey, feel compelled to […]
Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany by Eleanor Ramrath Garner
Posted at 9:33 pm | Filed Under Eleanor's Story
It’s a good thing that Eleanor Ramrath Garner wrote this book because her story needs to be told. Their family, Germans who immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1930s, moved back to Germany on the eve of World War II because their father had been offered a job that he couldn’t resist. The book […]
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