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April 24, 2005
Teen Reads
Teen Reads is a group site with reviews, news about books for teens, interviews, author bios, and other fun stuff. Check it out!
Posted by Jenne at 03:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 23, 2005
Surviving the Applewhites
What happens when the bad kid from the city moves in with a homeschooling North Carolina family of artists? Jake starts to find out he's not who he thought he was, and non-artistic E.D. finds out her talents are just as valuable as those of her family. A cute, funny novel that kids under the age of about 13 will love.
Posted by Jenne at 06:52 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
April 22, 2005
I am the Cheese
Robert Cormier's masterpiece about a boy on a desperate journey to find his father and unlock his past. Things are not what they seem in this novel.
Posted by Jenne at 06:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 21, 2005
Ella Enchanted
Ella of Frell has been given the gift of obedience by a well-meaning fairy Godmother. She would like nothing more than to be rid of the gift, especially when her classmates learn they can tell her to do anything and she'll have to do it.
Posted by Jenne at 07:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 20, 2005
Alt Ed
Susan Callaway is the overweight daughter of the Wayne High School football coach. She is constantly harassed, especially by Kale Krasner, her main tormentor. When Blake, the quiet kid who works in the library, takes revenge against Kale for other wrongs, Susan ends up getting in trouble along with him. As part of her punishment, she must spend each Wednesday after school in a session with the school counselor, along with five other kids. Of course, those kids include Blake, Kale, a cute athlete, a popular girl, and a tough girl. Throughout the sessions, the kids grudgingly learn to respect each other as people.
Posted by Jenne at 07:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 19, 2005
Ender's Game
Ender was created to save the world. As a young child, he's selected for a coveted position in Battle School, where he trains to defeat an enemy that is not what he thinks it is.
Posted by Jenne at 07:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 18, 2005
Witch Child
by Celia Rees
Mary is a witch who escapes from England after her grandmother is hung for witchcraft. She hides among a group of pious Puritans coming to America to start a new life, but eventually her community begins to suspect her true nature.
Posted by Jenne at 12:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 17, 2005
Reading Rants
Reading Rants is a site by another Jen librarian. She's been doing this for a long time and has an impressive lists of reviews. Guys should check out her Boy Meets Book page, with reviews of books that would appeal specifically to boys.
Posted by Jenne at 04:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman
There is another city in the tunnels under London. Richard Mayhew stumbles into it by chance and finds himself in a world stranger and more dangerous than he imagined. This book wasn't written specifically for teens, but as the author of the Sandman series, Gaiman is popular with teens.
Posted by Jenne at 03:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 16, 2005
Heir Apparent
Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde was pretty good, even if Vande Velde did get a bit heavy with the anti-censorship Message of the book. I don't mind books with Messages, but I like for them to be subtle. All in all, it was pretty cute. In the book Giannine Bellasario gets a gift certificate from her absentee father to play a virtual reality game. Meanwhile, the gaming center is under seige by a censorship group that apparently took its cues from PETA and ELF. While Giannine is under, the protesters damage the game she was playing on. She must win the game or she might die. The game itself features interesting characters like a barbarian king who just wants his crown back and some half-brothers that want nothing more than to off Giannine's character. While playing the game, she learns about trust and forgiveness. Overall, an engrossing read. I would recommend it to middle school or high school girls who kind of like computers and fantasy, but aren't obsessed. It would also be a good book for kids with absentee dads.
Posted by Jenne at 04:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 11, 2005
Confessions of a Not It Girl
Jan (pronounced YAHN) Miller feels like she is the exact opposite of her best friend, who was named one of the ten New York "It Girls." Jan feels like everything is against her during her senior year of high school. Nothing is working out right, especially her latest crush.
Posted by Jenne at 01:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 10, 2005
Al Capone Does My Shirts
I'll admit, I was a bit reluctant to read Al Capone Does My Shirts. I don't like books that get a lot of hype, and I definitely don't like trendy books (this one includes the living on Alcatraz trend.) I wish I hadn't stalled for so long. This is an excellent book!
Moose Flanagan's life is uprooted when his electrician father takes a job as a prison guard on Alcatraz. His parents are trying to find a place that can help Moose's older sister, Natalie, who has what we would know as autism today. Although his parents are always telling him that everything is not as black and white as it seems, they seem to have a hard time remembering that fact themselves.
The book includes fascinating facts about life on Alcatraz, and shows what life is like for the sibling of an autistic person. Gennifer Choldenko knows what she's writing about. Her own sister had a severe form of autism.
Posted by Jenne at 08:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Year of Secret Assignments
The Year of Secret Assignments is a fun novel about tenth graders at rival schools who begin a pen pal assignment for school. Lydia, Emily, and Cassie are each paired with a boy from Brookfield High. They exchange letters that soon lead to pranks, mysteries, love, and a major fight. Will their friendships survive this assignment?
Posted by Jenne at 03:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Feed
Feed by MT Anderson looks at life in a frightening near future, where people have the Internet imbedded in their head, and the hottest new thing are oozing lesions caused by environmental toxins. Titus is comfortable with his life until he meets a girl who decided to fight the feed.
Posted by Jenne at 03:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Pirates!
Pirates! by Celia Rees is about a merchant's daughter and a plantation slave who escape on a pirate ship called Deliverance. Nancy Kington is escaping an arranged marriage to a brutal plantation owner, while Minerva Sharpe is escaping slavery. The lives of Nancy and Minerva are linked in more ways than they know. Kids who like adventure stories with a conscience will love this fast-moving and exciting story.
Posted by Jenne at 03:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 04, 2005
Olive's Ocean
In Olive's Ocean, by Kevin Henkes, 12-year-old Martha Boyle finds out she was mentioned in the diary of a classmate who died a month ago. Olive Barstow's mother brings her the page from the journal just as Martha and her family are preparing to leave for the coast. This coming-of-age novel is written in very short vignettes, making it a quick and easy to read, but ultimately, it's not a very satisfying read.
Posted by Jenne at 10:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 01, 2005
The Body of Christopher Creed
When school weirdo Christopher Creed disappears without a trace, he leaves behind a note mentioning several students by name. Privileged, happy Torey Adams is on the list. As Torey tries to figure out why Creed mentioned him and where Creed disappeared to, he starts to see a side of life he never imagined existed. He starts to notice the hypocrisy of his friends and wonder why he didn't treat Creed better. Author Carol Plum-Ucci does a very good job capturing a teenage boy's thoughts in her first novel. Although they're probably going to make a movie out of this one, do yourself a favor and read the book first.
REVIEWS BY ADULTS:
A review by a librarian in Chandler, Arizona
Short Review by Teenreads.com
Reviews by teens and adults at sff world
RELATED LINKS:
Carol Plum-Ucci's query letter (might be of interest to aspiring writers)
An article about Plum-Ucci in a New Jersey community paper
Young adult novels set in New Jersey (I include this link because my family is from New Jersey.)
Have you read this book? What do you think of it?
If you've reviewed this book, send me a trackback!
Posted by Jenne at 09:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack