2008 Best Books for Young Adults (3)

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Sixteen year-old Tessa is in a hurry to fulfill her "to do list." She only has a couple of months left to live and she has two choices: stay in bed and get on with dying or finish her "to do list" and get on with living. She decides to accomplish everything that is on her list no matter how absurd or impossible it may seem. Tessa gets to do all ten items on her list from having sex, doing drugs, getting her parents back together, and falling in love. She lives her life to the fullest even though she struggles with the pain of knowing that she will no longer be there to share the moments with those she loves. This is a beautifully written novel that lets you feel the emotions and pain Tessa and her family are going through. As she is describing her last thoughts and memories, your heart gets wrenched open and you feel as if you are there with her. I would recommend this novel to upper grade students and it could be used in a book talk. I would not recommend it to struggling readers since the book has terminology that some students would not be familiar with (ex. lads, draught, fag).

2008 Best Books for Young Adults (2)

Peak by Roland Smith

Fourteen year-old Peak Marcello is fascinated with climbing. He is so gung-ho about it that he starts climbing and tagging the highest peak where he lives at, the skyscrapers in New York City. He gets caught, arrested, and sentenced to probation until his eighteenth birthday. He also needs to leave New York and live with his dad, Joshua, until things cool off there. The problem is that he hasn't seen his dad since he was seven and he lives in Thailand. Peak has no choice, either go off to a foreign country or spend time in jail. When they get to Thailand, Joshua has already made arrangements for Peak to be the youngest person to climb Mt. Everest. Peak is thrilled, but he also finds out his dad is using him for publicity. Joshua's adventure travel company, Peak Experience, is losing money and if Peak makes it to the summit, his company will get tremendous amount of business. At base camp, Peak gets to know fourteen year-old Sun-jo, and finds out he is also trying to reach the summit. If Sun-jo makes it, he will also be considered the youngest person by a one week age difference. Sun-jo's father passed away and the only way to secure his family's financial future is by reaching the summit before his fifteenth birthday. At first, Peak doesn't want to share the glory with Sun-jo, but when they get ten feet from reaching the summit Peak does something he had not planned on. He stands back, takes out his camera, and films Sun-jo reach the summit. Peak decides that it was more important for Sun-jo to secure his family's future than for him to reach the summit just for the glory of it. In the end, he decides family is more important and heads back to New York City. This is an amazing book about the moral struggles that one faces in life: family or glory. I would highly recommend this book to middle, upper grade students, and reluctant readers. Smith gives great detail about the difficulties and challenges one faces when attempting to climb Mt. Everest. The book will hook you from the very beginning and you will not want to put it down until you find out if Peak or Sun-jo made it to the summit alive.

2008 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (5)

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Freshman, Clay Jensen, just received seven audio cassettes through the mail. He has no idea who sent them since it has no return address. Each cassette has a number on each side, all the way up to thirteen. He pops in the first cassette and hears Hannah Baker's voice. He is surprised and confused since Hannah committed suicide two weeks ago. She explains that each side of the cassette will give a reason to why she killed herself. On each side she mentions a person and Clay is one of them. She mentions that their are rules to follow once they receive that cassettes. Rule one: They need to listen. Rule two: he has to pass it on to whoever is next on the cassettes. He listens to the cassettes: it is a chronology on how her life started going in a downward spiral that she was not able to control. He follows a map going to each place that she mentions on the cassettes. His name appears on cassette number nine. He realizes his part in her suicide is that he had walked away from her when she needed him most. Even though she was the one that was pushing him away, he did not try hard enough to stay with her. As he listens to her last cassette, he realizes that by then she had already given up on herself. In the end, Clay reaches out to Skye Miller, a loner, who may need someone to talk to just like Hannah did once. This is a powerful story about how a teenager was not able to pick herself up and not stand up to those that were causing her harm. She let her world collapse around her even though their were people that cared for her and would have helped her if she would have let them. I would highly recommend this book to upper grade students and to reluctant readers. The book could be used in a book talk to open up the topic of suicide, how one should never give up, and how you treat other people can have a "snowball affect."

2008 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (4)

TWISTED by Laurie Halse Anderson

Seventeen year-old Tyler, has always been known as a loser until now. He was tired of being invisible so in the end of his junior year, he committed the Foul Deed to get noticed. He got probation for six months, performed community service at school, and worked in landscaping for the summer. His body became muscular and he no longer was Nerd Boy, but Tyler the Amazing Hulk. With his new physique and new reputation of being a bad boy, he grabs the attention of George Washington High's queen bee Bethany Miller. Bethany invites Tyler to a house party and when Tyler gets their she is already drunk. She starts making out with him, but he wants to do the right thing and not take advantage of her. He stops her, but she gets mad at him for blowing her off. They both walk away from each other and at the end of the party he finds her passed out on the floor. He drives her, her passed out brother Chip, and Parker one of Chip's friends. While driving them over to their house, Bethany starts making out with Parker in the backseat. Tyler walks off and finds out later that someone had taken naked pictures of Bethany while she was passed out at the party. Everyone thinks that it was him and the police start questioning him. He starts getting harassed at school and the principal decides to isolate him from the rest of the student body for his "own safety." Tyler starts to obsess about suicide and he attempts to end his life, but he can't pull it through. He decides to stand up for himself and fights back. He takes control of his crazy school schedule, makes his dad finally understand that he is not a screw-up, and blows off Bethany for not standing up for him. In the end, the police clear him of the crime. I immensely enjoyed reading this novel and started to cheer Tyler on when I read he was going to fight back. I highly recommend this book to upper grade students and reluctant readers. I feel that students will be able to identify with Tyler's home environment and the harassment he receives at school.

2008 Coretta Scott King Award - Text

Elijah of Buxton by Cristopher Paul Curtis

Eleven year-old Elijah lives in Buxton, a settlement at Raleigh West in Canada. It is a safe haven for runaway slaves. His parents, both runaway slaves, have made a home and are always helping their neighbors out. Elijah was the first free born child in Buxton and his parents worry that he is too gullible, scares easily, and is a fragile child. Things are good in Buxton, until the Preacher does something unimaginable. He steals money from Mr. Leroy, a runaway slave that was trying to buy his family from their slave owners. Mr. Leroy and Elijah go in search of the Preacher and the money in Detroit. All of a sudden, Mr. Leroy dies and makes Elijah promise he will find the money and buy his family out of slavery. Elijah is not about to break his promise and he goes off in search of the Preacher and the money. He finds the Preacher dead and the money gone. He also finds five runaway slaves bound to chains and a baby. The woman slave wants Elijah to take the baby to Buxton so she could be free. Elijah feels guilty not being able to free the other slaves, but their is nothing he could do. He takes the baby home to be free and away from the future shackles of servitude. This is a wonderful novel that I would highly recommend to middle grades. The novel could be used in a literature or history class where students could learn about how former slaves were able to overcome their dark past and flourish. I enjoyed reading this story of a young boy that was blossoming into a fine young man, thanks to his parents and the community of Buxton.

2008 Best Books for Young Adults (1)

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

It is 1993 in Sierra Leone and 12 year old Ishmael is on his way to a talent show in a neighboring town, Mattru Jong, with his brother Junior. When they arrive at their destination, they find out rebel soldiers have taken control of their town, Mogbwemo, and killing off the people that live their. They both decide to go back to Mogbwemo to find their parents, but because it has become dangerous they have to return back. For a couple of days, they both stayed in Mattru Jong with friends, until the rebel forces invaded that town and they had to flee again. Ishmael got separated from his brother and after a couple of weeks of walking alone to the next village he gets together with a group of boys and head off to Yele. They believe the village to be a safe place for them since it is occupied by Sierra Leone Armed Forces. They had to go through many villages before getting their and most of the time they were run off. People were afraid of them, because they thought they were part of the rebels. They faced hunger, dehydration, and fatigue. At times, they would find a friendly face that would offer them shelter and food. Most of the times, they had to steal or face starvation. They walked for several weeks, until Ishmael sees a familiar face, Gasemu. He tells Ishmael that his family was living in the near by village and would be happy to know he is alive. The news lifts Ishmael spirits and they head off to the village. When they get near the village they start hearing gunshots and people screaming. They run into the city and find all the villagers dead. Ishmael couldn't believe he was so close to seeing his family again and now they were gone. Since the village was destroyed and their were still rebel forces there, they went to Yele. They felt safe in Yele and stayed at an orphanage for young boys that had lost their families to the war. The rebels tried to take over Yele and many soldier's lives were lost. Lieutenant Jabati recruited the young boys to fight against the rebels and take revenge for the loss of their families. They were given drugs and sent to kill the rebels and raid neighboring villages for food, gas, and drugs. Ishmael became a Junior Lieutenant, committed heinous crimes in the name of his new family, and was hooked on drugs. In January 1996, four men from UNICEF arrived at their village and spoke to the lieutenant. The lieutenant gathered all the young boys and told them they had to go with the men. The UNICEF men took them to Benin House in Freetown, a rehab compound where they were given food, counseling, and safe shelter. Ishmael and the rest of the boys were not happy. They fought amongst each other and were yearning for drugs. Ishmael went through withdrawal symptoms and was rebellious with the staff. Esther, a nurse befriended him and helped him through the withdrawal symptoms, nightmares of the war, and guilt for participating in it. At the end of the six month program, he went to live with his uncle Tommy and his family. Things were going well for Ishmael and he was chosen to represent Sierra Leon at the U.N. in New York. He met many wonderful people and was able to voice the situation affecting children in his country. He went back home and things were good for a while. The army he used to serve overthrew the government and took over Freetown. Ishmael escaped Freetown and fled to the capital of Guinea, Conarky. From there he flew to New York with the help of a Laura, a storyteller that had befriended him at the U.N. conference. She became his mother and he attended school there. This is a book I would recommend for upper grade students or political science classes. The book graphically describes the war in Sierra Leon and how the children are affected by the circumstances they have been pushed into. The book will help students better understand that wars are fought differently in other areas where children are exploited and forced to survive or be killed. It gives a first person account on a real war that is still waging on in that country.

2008 Notable Books for Children (5)

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Elise Broach

It's Friday and a little boy and his mom are going to run errands in town. As they go from place to place, people are giving out real dinosaurs for buying their services. From the bakery, to the doctor's office, and to the barbershop the boy is given free real dinosaurs. The boy is so ecstatic he wants to get as many dinosaurs as possible. Mom is not too happy about it and she decides it is time to go home. At home, the boy shows the dinosaurs how to behave and take care of themselves. Mom finds out they are a lot of help and decides to get some more. This picture book has wonderful illustrations that capture the different facial expressions of the not too happy mom and the excited boy. I would recommend this book to lower grades and to reluctant readers. This book would be of high interest to boys, because of the dinosaurs that are shown in the illustrations.