If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Forman, Gayle. If I Stay. New York: Dutton, 2009. Print.

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Annotation:  Mia is in a coma after a car accident that kills her whole family, she can hear everything that goes on around her.  Mia has a choice to make should she stay here on earth or go and hopefully join her family wherever they are.

Booktalk:

"This cannot be happening. We are a family, going on a drive. This isn't real. I must have fallen asleep in the car."

I have a great life. I've been accepted to Juilliard to play the cello. I have the cool parents that everyone wants and a little brother I adore and a boyfriend who gets me.  But everything changed one February morning. On a family drive a semi-truck collided with our car.  They say I'm in a coma, I can see myself lying in the hospital bed, I can see and hear everyone who visits.  I have a choice to make.  What happens If I Stay?

"If I Say is one of my favorite books.  I got all my friends to read it."  Lyla S. age 15

Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls

Nicholls, Sally. Ways to Live Forever. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print. 

Annotation: Eleven year old Sam McQueen is dying.  He is writing a book of facts, stories and experiences before he dies. 

Booktalk:

I am writing a book.  A collection of lists, questions and facts. 

1. My name is Sam
2. I am eleven years old
3. I collect stories and fantastic facts
4. I have lukemia
5. By the time you read this, I will probably be dead

This book is the last thing I want to complete before I die.  Once you read it you will know me, Sam McQueen. This book is one of my Ways to Live Forever. 

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"Ways to Live Forever was really good.  I cried a lot."  Taylor P. age 12 

Waterstone Children's Book Prize

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick

Sonnenblick, Jordan. After Ever After. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print.

Annotation: Jeffrey Alper's is cancer free but not trouble free, his big brother is gone, his best friend is keeping secrets from him and he is struggling with prep for the state tests.

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Booktalk:
Ever wondered what comes after Happily Ever After? Jeffrey Alper is living After Ever After.  His cancer is in remission but he still suffers from "late effects", the wonderful things that chemotherapy and radiation do to a body besides kill the cancer.  His big brother who was always there when he was sick has gone off to Africa to join a drum circle and can't be reached.  Despite the bad stuff, (late effects and no brotherly advise) Jeffrey thinks that 8th grade will be his year to be normal, just one of the guys.  There is even a cute new girl who might like him.  But life doesn't always go the way we hope.
"Now I am not just Jeffrey Alper, struggling eighth grader.  Since all this stuff has hit the fan, for the second time in my life, I am Jeffrey Alper, Official Town Cause. Go, me."  Check out this book to discover what comes After Ever After.

Schneider Family Book Award 2011

"I recommend After Ever After because it is funny and sad at the same time."  -Cameron T.  age 13

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Green, John. Looking for Alaska.  New York: Dutton, 2005. Print.

Annotation:  Miles Halter is in his first year at Culver Creek Prep where he meets Alaska, a girl that is perfect in his mind.  Miles wants Alaska to be his girlfriend but that might not be what she wants.

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Booktalk:

Miles Halter is new to Culver Creek Prepatory School.  He is immediately drawn to Alaska Young.  Alaska is sexy, mysterious, funny and a bit crazy.  Miles is enamoured of Alaska. She has opened Miles's eyes and now that he has met her he sees the world in a wholly different way.  After Culver Creek and Alaska life will never be the same.  Will Miles be forever Looking for Alaska?

Winner of the 2006 Printz Award
Finalist, 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize
2006 Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults
2006 Teens’ Top 10 Award
2006 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
A Booklist Editor’s Choice Pick
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection
Borders Original Voices Selection 

Walking on Glass by Alma Fullerton

Fullerton, Alma.  Walking on Glass. New York: Harper, 2007. Print.

Annotation:  An unnamed teen is trying to come to terms with his mother's suicide attempt.

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Booktalk:

God, Forgive me
The thought of my own mother
dying
shouldn't leave the taste of
freedom
in my mouth

Murder
The unlawful killing of a human
being
with malice
afore thought
I'm thinking about it
Does that make it
murder?

I found her like that, I saved her but maybe it would have been better to let her go.  Dad thinks she will get better. Mom is gone but her body is still tied to the earth. Is setting her free murder or mercy? How do I decide?

"If you like books like Ellen Hopkins you'll like this one." -Jonathan S. age 15

By the Time You Read This I'll Be Dead by Julie Peters

Peters, Julie. By the Time You Read This I'll Be Dead. New York: Hyperion, 2010. Print.

Annotation:  Daelyn has been bullied so much that she is searching for a way to end her life, while she is waiting for the right time to kill herself she meets a guy who won't leave her alone.  She finds herself starting to care for him and maybe finding a reason to live.

Daelyn Rice is counting down the days until her Date of Determination.  She is a member of Through the Light a social network of people planning to commit suicide.  Daelyn has attempted to kill herself 12 times before, she is determined not to fail this tie.  There is only one thing standing in her way, a persistent boy who is starting to get to her.  He is starting to make her feel.  As her Date of Determination moves closer Daelyn has to choose: stay or go. What will she decide?

 An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2011

 Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best List 2010

An ALA Popular Paperback for YA: Sticks and Stones category

  An ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination, 2011

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"I liked how you didn't really know what happens at the end, you can decide"

-Jeanie Y.   age 17

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother. New York: Tor, 2008. Print.

Annotation:  The government is watching everyone, Marcus and his friends are determined to stop them no matter the cost.  Using his technology skills he tries to thwart all of their efforts.

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Booktalk:
17 year-old computer wizard Marcus and his friends ditched school to play a scavenger hunt game on the streets of San Francisco when terrorists strike.  In the confusion after the explosion Marcus and his friends are picked up and detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  In the aftermath of the attacks it turns out that the terrorist are not the greatest threat our own government is.  The DHS has turned San Francisco into a police state.  Marcus is determined bring them down and free the prisoners being held and tortured right in his backyard.  Sometimes paranoia is healthy.

White Pine Award Winner 2009
2009 Prometheus Award
2009 John W. Campbell Memorial Award
 CYBIL Award
Booklist Editors' Choice
 Kirkus Best Book of the Year
 School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
VOYA's Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

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Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. New York: Doubleday, 2003. Print.


Annotation:  Christopher Shields an autistic 15 year old is accused of killing his neighbor's dog leading him to try to solve the mystery.  He uncovers more than he expected in his search.


Booktalk: 
Fifteen year old Christopher finds his neighbor's dog Wellington dead on her front lawn at seven minutes after midnight. He decides he must find the killer because he liked Wellington and "when someone gets murdered you have to find out who did it so that they can be punished". Christopher is autistic. He is fascinated by prime numbers and is supremely logical but to him human emotion is utterly incomprehensible. The novel is a first person account of Christopher's investigation which will open old wounds and expose secrets. It offers a portrayal of a mind that experiences the world in pure logic, an engrossing tale of mystery, lies and the chaos of life among illogical beings.


2004 Boeke Prize Winer
2003 Whitebread Book of the Year

Haunted by Meg Cabot

Cabot, Meg. Haunted: A Tale of the Mediator. New York: Harper Collins, 2003. Print.

Annotation:  Susannah has a gift, she helps ghosts move on to whatever is next but her latest ghost is not co-operating. She has to help him to move on and fast so that she can deal with her boy drama and try to keep her curious friends in the dark about her talent for talking to the dead.

Booktalk:

Susannah Simon is a Mediator, she is a go-between for the living and the dead.  Her job is to help the dead move on to the next stage.  While dealing with the dead she is also juggling a major crush on Jesse the boy who haunts her house and a handsome, rich boy with an air of danger who has the hots for her.  On top of the boy drama she is stuck dealing with an angry ghost who won't leave,  a pair of too tight Jimmy Choo's, and bad hair.  Haunted by Meg Cabot, fabulous fashions, guys and ghosts.   

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Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis:The Story of a Childhood. New York: Pantheon, 2003. Print.


Annotation:  The semi-autobiographical graphic novel of Marjane Satrapi's childhood in Iran.  It shows all the good and the bad of being stuck in the middle of all the fighting.

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Booktalk:

Persepolis is the tale of one girl's childhood in Iran from 1980 until 1984.  In the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution Mari is a member of a wealthy and educated family living under Islamic rule.  Satrapi offers an insider's view of Iran in the early '80's.  This graphic novel is at once funny and heartbreaking.  It is a portrait of open rebellion and the small quiet rebellions that takes place under the guise of conformity. 

Winner of the Angouleme Coup de Coeur Award
Winner 2004 ALA Alex AwardWinner YALSA Best Books for Young AdultsWinner Booklist Editor's Choice for Young AdultsWinner New York Public Library Books for the Teen AgeWinner School Library Journal Adult Books for Young Adults 

Interview with the author about the movie made from both Persepolis books.  

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr

Coerr, Eleanor. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977. Print.
Annotation: Sadako Sasaki is sick with cancer, she is trying to fold a thousand paper cranes, if she does her wish to get well will come true.

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Booktalk:
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is the true story of Sadako Sasaki, hero of the children of Japan.  Sadako became a symbol of strength and peace because of her courage in facing death.  Sadako died of leukemia as an effect of radiation from the atomic bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima.  This short book is her story which serves as a story of all of the many children that died as a result of the bombing.

Breathless by Lurlene McDaniel

McDaniel, Lurlene. Breathless. New York: Delacorte Press, 2009. Print.

Annotation:  This story told from multiple points of view is about how far people will go someone they love.

Booktalk:
Travis has it all. He is a champion diver, popular at school, has a girlfriend, Darla, who he loves, a loyal best friend Cooper and a kid sister, Emily, who he likes to hang out with.  An accident sets in motion a chain of events that none of them could predict.  Loyalty, friendship and love will be tested.  Travis will ask all of them for the unthinkable.  The question will leave you Breathless.

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Rooftop by Paul Volponi

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Volponi, Paul. Rooftop. New York: Penguin Group, 2006. Print.

Annotation:  Clay is the only one who knows what really happened on the roof the night his cousin Addison was killed.  There are people all around who want Clay to tell it their way, he needs to decide if he should tell the truth or what people want to hear.

Booktalk:
Clay got caught smoking pot so his parents send him to Daytop, a drug treatment program that replaces school.  While there he meets back up with a cousin who he lost touch with. Clay and his cousin Addison bond instantly.  But tragedy strikes and Addison is shot dead by police on a rooftop with Clay next to him.  Clay is left with the pain of his cousin's death and the fire storm of politics that Addison's death triggers.  It is up to Clay to figure out what is right and to make the choice between truth and lies.

ALA Best Book Young Adult
ALA Quick Pick Award
New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.


Annotation:  Katness Everdeen has to fight for her life in a televised game she is forced to play.  She doesn't know who to trust and what plans her partner has.  


Booktalk:
Would you kill someone? Could you kill someone? Could you kill the person sitting next to you? The Hunger Games, twenty-four enter, one leaves. Countryman against countryman; neighbor against neighbor. Some enter for glory, most because they are poor and unlucky. Katness Everdeen enters out of love. What will it take for Katness to leave The Games? The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. May the odds be ever in your favor.


Winner of 2008 Cybils in the Young Adult Category
Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year 2008
New York Time Notable Children's Book of 2008
ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults
2009 Children's Choice Book Award
YALSA Teen's Top Ten 2009
New York Public Library "Stuff for the Teen Age" List 2009
Kirkus Best Book of 2008
Horn Book Fanfare
School Library Journal Best Books of 2008
Booklist Editors' Choice 2008

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Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Mayberry

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Maberry, Jonathan. Rot & Ruin. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. Print.

Annotation:  Benny Imura begins apprenticing with his brother in the family business, zombie killing.  He starts to realize that killing zombies is not all there is to the job.

Booktalk:
"Benny Imura couldn't hold a job, so he took to killing.  It was the family business."  Life is not what Benny Imura thought it was.  Sure there's zombies (zoms), survivors and bounty hunters, but when he begins apprenticing with his brother Tom he is taken beyond the fence into the Rot & Ruin.  Out there he begins to see the reality he never considered.  Bounty hunting is not what he thought it was, zoms aren't what he thought they were either, and Tom is most certainly not who Benny thought he was.  Can Benny and Tom survive the zombies and worse in the Rot & Ruin?

Winner of 2010 Cybils for Fantasy and Science Fiction Category

Listen to the 1st chapter
of Rot & Ruin.

Don't miss book two in the Bennt Imura series Dust & Decay. 

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

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Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Penguin, 2012. Print. 

Annotation:  Hazel and Augustus, two cancer patients fall in love and learn about loss.

Booktalk:
Hazel Grace Lancaster is dying.  The fact is undeniable, but while not in remission, an experimental drug has halted the progress of her cancer indefinitely.  At a support group for kids with cancer she meets Augustus Waters.  He is hansom, smart, funny and understands what it is to live with cancer.  Hazel Grace and Augustus visit the Netherlands searching for answers from the author of their favorite book.  Along the way they discover the love of their lives. 

"Almost everyone is obsessed with leaving a mark upon the world.  Bequeathing a legacy. Outlasting death.  We all want to be remembered. I do, too.  That's what bothers me most, is being another unremembered casualty in the ancient and inglorious war against disease.  I want to leave a mark.  But... The marks humans leave are too often scars.  You build a hideous minimall or start a coup or try to become a rock star and you think, "They'll remember me now," but (a) they don't remember you, and (b) all you leave behind are scars.  Your coup becomes a dictatorship. Your minimall becomes a lesion."

The story of Hazel and Augustus is a tale of love, of dying, and of the scars we leave.

Watch author John Green read the entire first chapter of The Fault in Our Stars.

Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright

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Wright, Bill. Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print.

Annotation:  Fashion forward Carlos Duatre has landed his dream job and his is on his way but the road to fame is rocky.

Booktalk:

Carlos Duarte, fashionista and self proclaimed "big" guy, has dreamed of being a makeup artist to the stars for as long as he can remember.  Now he has his first break on the way to fame and fortune; he has landed a job at the Feature Face makeup counter in Macy's.  Carlos feels he is destined to be famous, but for now he is stuck navigating high school, a crush on a guy who keeps giving mixed signals, family issues and friend drama.  Can Carlos realize his dreams?  Read this novel about an unapologetically fabulous guy and see if all of his practice Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy has gotten him where he knows he belongs.

Winner of the Stonewall Award 2012

I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields

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Shields, Charles. I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee. New York: Henry Holt, 2008. Print.


Annotation:  The story of Harper Lee's life and how events of her childhood made effected her famous story, To Kill a Mockingbird.


Review:
I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee covers Lee's life thus far with a focus on the influences that went into the formation of Lee's novel. The biography is an adaptation of the author Charles J. Shields' adult biography of Lee. This fact is not evident when reading the book. The author extensively quotes from printed sources, along with letters he has received and interviews. Shields includes an exhaustive list of sources by chapter at the end of the book along with superscript reference numbers in the text. The book also contains a comprehensive index.
The text is well written and interesting, Shields uses direct quotations frequently. There are also photographs interspersed throughout the text. The author is balanced in his portrayal of Lee, he included negative statements made by others about Lee. What was missing from the book was contact with the subject. Shields did not correspond or interview Lee for the book. He makes a point to mention her reclusiveness leaving the reader to infer that his attempts were rejected. Overall a very well written biography.


2009 Bank Street- Best Children's Book of the Year

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

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Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders. New York: Penguin Group, 1967. Print. 

Annotation: A fight goes too far between the Socs and the Greasers one night and Ponyboy Curtis has to go one the run.   

Review:
     Ponyboy Curtis lives on the wrong side of town with his two older brothers and their gang of friends. They are greasers and proud of it, they smoke and drink, they are loud and wild, they grow their hair long and they stick together no matter what. Life is not easy for Ponyboy and the gang. Ponyboy shares the events of a week that changes his life forever. He shares his thoughts on life, social status and personality types. He is an astute judge of character and describes all of the players in terms of their inner selves as well as their outer appearance. 
     The Outsiders is a classic not just because it was one of the first teen novels, not because it caused controversy over its portrayal of gangs and teen violence but because it tells a story that transcends time and place. It fills a need for teens, it is an honest story of youth. 


ALA Best Young Adult Books, 1975
New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Books List, 1967
Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book, 1967
Media and Methods Maxi Award, 1975
ALA Best Young Adult Books, 1975
Massachusetts Children’s Book Award, 1979  

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

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Spinelli, Jerry. Milkweed. New York: Random House, 2003. Print. 


Annoation:  Misha is a thief who steals to survive, he doesn't understand what the war is all about or why the Jews all have to live in the ghetto he is just trying to survive.


Review:
"I am running. That's the first thing I remember.", thus begins Milkweed the tale of a homeless boy living on the streets of Poland in 1939. He is smuggler and a thief who lives through occupation, segregation, and deportation in Warsaw. This boy carries the reader along to view the best and worst of humanity through the eyes of a child who is at once too young and too old. The story continues through his emigration to America.

While this novel is an accurate portrayal of history it is not only about history. It is an exploration of the human experience and the search for identity. Milkweed is full of vivid descriptions of the horrors experienced by those living and dying in the ghetto. Readers are allowed to see the after effects of the experience and the scars both physical and mental that the boy carries into adulthood. The power of the story is heightened by Spinelli's deft avoidance of sentimentality. This is a fine piece of work worthy of attention but not suited for those with weak stomachs.


Winner of the Golden Kite Award for Fiction
A Notable Children's Book of the Association of Jewish Libraries
Winner of the Parent's Guide Children's Media Award
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
National Jewish Book Award Finalist
Booklist Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth Selection 
New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age