Goddess, hero, teenaged girl

Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi

Scalzi, John. 2008. Zoe's Tale. New York: Tor. 9780765316981. $24.95. Hard Cover.

Annotation:
When Zoe Boutin Perry and her family travel across the galaxy to colonize the planet Roanoke they discover that they are pawns in the battle between the human Colonial Union and the alien Conclave.

Reviews:
Booklist Review (8-01-2008)
Publishers Weekly Review (6-23-2008)

Seventeen-year-old Zoe Boutin-Perry, her family, and a spaceship full of colonists have just jumped through hyperspace to arrive at their new home, the planet Roanoke. They are planning to work hard to make it into a hospitable place for settlements of humans to live. On the journey Zoe has made an awesome new best friend, and might have attracted a cute, poet boyfriend too. That is if her looming alien bodyguards don’t scare him off.

Only, Roanoke isn’t where it was supposed to be. Their government is hiding them from a coalition of alien races who don’t want humans to colonize planets. When they’re found, they’re going to be in serious trouble, maybe the wiped-off-the-face-of-the-planet kind. Zoe will have to use her bravery, cunning, and status as an idol to an alien race, to save the day.

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This day is all there is

Galax-Arena by Gillian Rubenstein

Rubinstein, Gillian. 1995. Galax-arena: a novel. New York: Simon & Schuster. 068980136X. $14.00. Hard Cover.

Annotation:
Three children are kidnapped from Earth and taken to the planet Vexak, where they are forced to perform life-threatening acrobatics for the entertainment of the alien beings called Vexa.

Awards and Reviews:
The Children's Book Council of Australia, Honor Book, 1993
Kirkus Review (9-15-1995)
Booklist *Starred Review* (10-15-1995)

Siblings Joella, Peter and Liane are kidnapped from Earth, forced into a rocket ship and transported to the planet Vexak. There is no hope of escape, the atmosphere of the planet is toxic outside the artificial environment where they are held captive. They will be taught to perform death-defying acrobatics, along with other kidnapped children, in the Galax-Arena. The Vexa are excited by their fear and even more thrilled by their deaths. Human children are not people to the Vexa, they are trained animals. They live day by day, forming fierce friendships or rivalries among themselves in order to survive. How long will they survive the Galax-Arena?

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The miracle girl

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Pearson, Mary. 2008. The adoration of Jenna Fox. New York: Henry Holt. 9780805076684, 0805076689. $16.95. Hard Cover.

Annotation:
After waking up from a coma with amnesia, Jenna Fox discoverers a startling secret about her existence.

Awards:
School Library Journal Best Books, 2008
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2009
Kirkus Reviews * Starred Review* (3-15-2008)

“I used to be someone.
Someone named Jenna Fox.
That’s what they tell me. But I am more than a name. More than they tell me. More than the facts and statistics they fill me with. More than the video clips they make me watch.
More. But I’m not sure what.”

Jenna wakes up after being in a coma for eighteen months. She can’t remember anything and her body feels wrong. Her parents are anxious for her to continue to be their precious daughter. When she does begin to remember, it is too much for a normal person’s memory: an entire history textbook, her baptism as a baby in perfect detail. But she doesn’t remember the accident. What happened to her? Is she even human anymore?

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Saved by a hologram

Shade’s Children by Gath Nix

Nix, Garth. 1997. Shade's children. New York: HarperCollins. 0064471969. $5.95. Paperback.

Annotation:
In a frightening future world where all of the adults have disappeared, four children fight terrifying creatures and their Overlord masters with the help of Shade, a holographic image of a man.

Awards and Reviews:
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 1998
Booklist Review (10-1-1997)
Kirkus Review (8-15-1997)

In the frightening future world of Shade’s Children, on your 14th birthday you literally lose your mind. The alien Overlords come to the dormitories where they keep children and take you away to harvest your brain and body parts. They will use them to create the inhuman creatures they use to wage ritual battles among themselves. Fifteen years ago everyone in the world over that age of fourteen disappeared, leaving the children who remained at the mercy of the Overlords.

But some children manage to escape the dormitories and this terrible fate. If they find their way to Shade, an intelligent holographic image of a man, he will protect them and teach them to fight the creatures. But is Shade really helping them or does he have his own cruel agenda to follow?

Book cover image from WorldCat
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What's a bird?

The Sky Inside by Claire Dunkle

Dunkle, Clare B. 2008. The sky inside. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 1416924221. $16.99. Trade Cloth.

Annotation:
With the help of a robot dog, Barney discovers the secrets of the domed suburb in which he lives and the lies upon which his society is structured.

Reviews:
Booklist *Starred Review* (05-15-2008)
School Library Journal Review (5-1-2008)
Kirkus Review (1-1-2008)

Martin lives in the domed suburb of HM1. He’s never seen a cloud or a bird because the air outside isn’t fit for humans to breathe anymore. Martin’s younger sister Cassie is a genetically enhanced “Wonder Baby.” Wonder Babies were all the rage when they first came out on the market. The television ads promised supersmart, charming kids, and parents were ecstatic when the “stork” railway cars delivered them to the suburbs. They read before they’re two and question their parents on their feeding schedules. That’s the problem with the Wonder Babies: they ask too many questions, questions that the suburb residents have learned that it’s in their good interest not to ask.

One day there is an announcement that the Wonder Babies have been recalled. A stranger comes to the suburb to take Cassie and the other little children away. Martin’s mother and father won’t discuss where she’s gone. Martin is determined to find her, he is her big brother after all. With the help of his modified robot dog, Martin will venture out of the suburb and discover what is beyond The Sky Inside.

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Capture the piggy

Interstellar Pig by William Sleator

Sleator, William. 1984. Interstellar pig. New York, N.Y.: E.P. Dutton. 0525440984.

Annotation:
Barney’s boring beach vacation turns exciting when three exotic strangers move into the cottage next door and teach him to play the space role playing game Interstellar Pig.

Awards:
California Young Reader Medal, Young Adult, 1985
ALA Notable Children's Books, 1985
Kirkus Reviews *Starred Review* (5-15-1984)

The game of Interstellar Pig is played on an amazing board showing outer space. Stars glitter on its darkest-black background. Unusual planets seem to hover in 3-D relief. Choose a character card and you might become a reptilian man from the planet Ja-Ja-Bee with an intelligent parasitic slug-tongue, or some semi-sapient lichen from Mbridlengile who devour everything in their path. The goal is to capture the Piggy card or your home planet blows up at the end of the game.

While on a boring beach vacation with his parents, Barney learns this game from three strangers staying at the cottage next door. Why do they seem to look different to whoever is looking at them and talk like they’re using a thesaurus? Why are they so interested in looking around the place where Barney is staying? A house formerly occupied by an insane sailor who strangled a shipwreck survivor because he thought the man turned into the devil. Why are they so obsessed with playing Interstellar Pig and what will happen now that Barney is involved in their game?

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Hoverboarding adventure

Uglies by Scott Westerfield

Westerfeld, Scott. 2005. Uglies. New York: Simon Pulse. 0689865384 $6.99. Paperback.

Annotation:
Tally waits impatiently for her 16th birthday and the operation that will make her beautiful. When her friend Shay runs away to a secret community outside of the city, Tally is forced to find her or she will never be allowed to become pretty.

Awards:
School Library Journal Best Books, 2005
School Library Journal Best Books, 2005
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2006

Sparkling eyes. A dazzling smile. Full lips in a symmetrical face. No fat, no scars, no acne.

In Tally’s world, all of this can be had with a standard surgical procedure. Everyone has it done on their 16th birthday and Tally can’t wait for hers. Afterwards she gets to move to new pretty town and spend all her time having fun in the party towers and pleasure gardens.

Tally is shocked when her new friend Shay tells her that she doesn’t want to become pretty. You become vapid and never have any adventures after the surgery Shay says. She plans to run away to a secret community outside of their city where people keep their unaltered faces for the rest of their lives.

Tally promises to keep Shay’s secret, but Special Circumstances, people altered to look scary and cruel, come to question Tally about Shay’s disappearance. They want Tally to track down Shay and lead them to the secret place she went, or they’ll never let her turn pretty. Will Tally betray her friend in order to become beautiful?

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Special Students

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Ishiguro, Kazuo. 2005. Never let me go. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1400043395, 9781400043392. $24.00. Trade Cloth.

Annotation:

Kathy H., a caretaker for organ donors, describes her adolescence at the secretive Halisham School and the consequences her time there had for her life.

Awards:
School Library Journal's Adult Books for High School Students, 2005
New York Times Notable Books, 2005
ALA Notable Books, 2006
Library Journal Best Books, 2005
Alex Award, 2006

What is the purpose of the Halisham School? It’s a peaceful boarding school in the English countryside, sheltered from the rest of the world. As Kathy H. grows up there her future life is only hinted at. She’s been told that she and the rest of her classmates are “special” and different from the teachers at the school, She knows that she has to take good care of herself, not smoke or damage her body. What are the “donations” she’s expected to make when she’s grown. Who is the strange woman who comes each year to collect the best of the students’art work for her gallery and why does she cringe when she comes near the Halisham students? Secrets and rumors make up a lot of what Kathy and her friends know. Kathy will discover the truth about Halisham and the purpose of her life in the startling conclusion of Never Let Me Go.

Downloaded straight to your brain

Feed by M.T. Anderson

Anderson, M. T. 2002. Feed. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. 0763617261. $16.99. Alkaline Paper.

Annotation:
In the future, people have chips in their heads that connect them to technology, knowledge, entertainment and advertising. A teenager named Titus meets a girl named Violet who makes him question the world he lives in.

Awards
Booklist Editors' Choice, Books for Youth: Older Readers Category, 2002
Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, Young Adult Fiction
New York Times Notable Books: Children's Books, 2002
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2003
YALSA Outstanding Books for the College Bound, 2004

What if your cell phone, computer, ipod, television, gaming system and GPS could all be implanted in your head. How convenient would that be? Wherever you go, you’d always be connected. You can chat with your friends, look up information and shop instantly and effortlessly. It’s called the Feed.

Great deals at Weatherbee and Crotch! We know you’ll love the latest trim shirts with pockets, on sale now! Colors available: persimmon, sand and vetch.

The drawback is that corporations and advertisers have figured out how to insert themselves into the Feed, right into your thoughts.

Titus has always had the Feed, it’s part of his existence. On Spring Break to the moon he meets a beautiful girl named Violet who is the most unique person he’s ever met. She’s got some funny ideas about the world they live in, like fighting the Feed, and she’s going to take Titus along for the ride. “We enter a time of calamity!”

Image from WorldCat.

Part-Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. 2007. The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown. 0316013684, 9780316013680. Hard cover. $16.99.

Annotation:
Arnold Spirit, Jr. leaves the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school. He finds success, but alienates his best friend and other members of his tribe.

Awards:
National Book Award for Young People's Literature
New York Times Notable Books, Children's Books, 2007
Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards

School Library Journal Best Books, 2007
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2008

Hi, I’m Arnold Spirit, Jr. and
I’m a poor-ass reservation kid living with his poor-ass family on the poor-ass Spokane Indian Reservation.
I draw cartoons and I’m pretty good at it. I’d like to become a rich and famous cartoonist someday.
But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances. Or choices. We’re just poor. That’s all we are.
I had just started high school (I admit, I like school and I was excited to start learning new things) when my teacher handed out our geometry textbooks and my copy had my mother’s name printed in it. That textbook was at least 30 years old! I was so angry and sad and horrified about what that textbook said about my tribe and our poverty that I took that book and hurled it! Too bad it hit my teacher, Mr. P and I got expelled.

Can you believe Mr. P. came to my house and apologized to me? He said all this stuff about how in his many years of teaching he had participated in oppressing the Indian people. He told me that I was the smartest kid in the school and that I refuse to give up (which is true because I get beat up all the time, but I just keep picking myself back up) but all they ever teach you on the reservation is how to give up. Mr. P begged me to leave the reservation and go somewhere where people have hope. I mean he cried, it was crazy! It blew my mind!

After he left, I asked my parents “Who has the most hope?” and they said, “White people.”
So you know what I decided? To go to Reardon, the really good school in the white town 20 miles from the reservation.
The kids in Reardon are the smartest and most athletic kids anywhere. They are the best.
“You’ll be the first one to ever leave the rez this way,” Mom said. “The Indians around here are going to be angry with you.”
Even my best and only friend, Rowdy, punched me in the face when I told him I was going. And I’m afraid some of those huge jock boys at Reardon might kill me if they decide to pick a fight with the only Indian in school. But I’m going to do it. Because I want to become somebody. I want the world to pay attention to me and remember me. This is my story: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. My cartoons are in here. too, so take a look if you want.

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Mysteries of the Chinese Zodiac

Fruits Basket #1 by Natsuki Takaya

Takaya, Natsuki. 2004. Fruits basket. Volume 1. Los Angeles: Tokyopop. 1591826039. $9.99. Paperback.

Annotation:
Orphan Tohru Honda is taken in by the Sohma family and discovers their secret. They are possessed by the spirits of the animals in the Chinese Zodiac.

Awards:
YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2005

Library Journal Review (May 1, 2004)

Publishers Weekly Review (March 8, 2004)

Orphan Tohru Honda is on her own. After her mother died, her grandfather took her in, but he asked her to stay somewhere else while his house was being remodeled. She’s been living in a tent in the woods, yet still managing to make it to high school and her job every day. Tohru’s secret is discovered by Yuki Sohma, or “the Prince” as the girls at school call him, because he’s handsome, charming and aloof. Not to mention mysterious. Yuki and his cousin Shigure Sohma offer to let Tohru stay with them if she’ll take care of the household chores. They’re a couple of messy guys and can’t cook. Tohru agrees, but she’s about to discover that the Sohmas have a secret too. There’s an ancient curse on their family, one that changes them in bizarre ways.

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Upstate

Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon

Buckhanon, Kalisha. 2005. Upstate. New York: St. Martin's Press. 0312332688. $19.95. Trade Cloth.

Annotation:
After Antonio is sent to prison for murdering his father, he and his girlfriend Natasha write to each other about their lives and dreams for a ten year period.

Awards:
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2006

Alex Award, 2006

What if your true love with got sent away to prison for ten years? Would you try to stay with him and support him all that time? Sixteen year old, Harlem-resident Natasha is planning to. Her boyfriend Antonio has been locked up for murdering his abusive father. She knows that Antonio is a “wonderful, smart, beautiful, brave person” and that their love is something special, worth waiting for. Natasha’s letters to Antonio lift him up, help him get through the ordeal he has to face. She’s not going to let him fade into becoming the number stamped on his uniform. After Antonio gets into a bad argument with the teacher who comes to the prison, she writes to him:

Well, I’m telling you this, Antonio, I’ll stick with you and be your woman and support you and all that, but I ain’t marrying no bum… I’m going places with my life and I love you and want to be with you, but you gotta keep it together. Like everybody told me after my father died and I started acting up, this ain’t the time to be feeling sorry for yourself. Now the first thing you need to do is apologize to Ms. Harris. You need to write her a letter and see if you can come back. You need that GED Antonio, and anything else they gonna give you so when you get out we can both have our [stuff] together. Don’t write or call me until you write that letter to Ms. Harris. I mean it Antonio.

Upstate is Antonio and Natasha’s letters to each other over a period of ten years. Read it to see what the future holds for these two, and what happens to their love as they get hit by the harsh blows of circumstance.

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You know you love me!

Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar

Von Ziegesar, Cecily. 2002. Gossip girl. New York, NY: Warner Books. 0446613150. Paperback. $5.99.

Annotation:
An anonymous blogger details the scandalous lives of rich teenagers in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Awards:
YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2003
YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Fame and Fortune, 2009

Sneak into the world of the teens you wish you were: the rich, beautiful, smart, dressed in designer fashions, and left alone by their parents to do whatever they want, inhabitants of New York City’s Upper East Side. Gossip Girl blogs all of the saucy details. (Some of them might even be true!)

-beautiful, blonde, charming Serena back from boarding school
-best friend/biggest rival Blair, now queen bee of the social scene, threatened
-scandalous rumors, Serena loses her place
-boys still love her: Blair’s boyfriend for one
-Serena is an “it girl”, don’t count her out!

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The Giver by Lowis Lowry

Lowry, Lois. 1993. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 0395645662. $13.95. Trade cloth.

Annotation:
Jonas lives in an ideal society. When he is assigned to become the receiver of memory for his community, he begins to understand what they have sacrificed in order to achieve peace and prosperity.

Awards:
WINNER 1994 - Newbery Medal Winner
WINNER 1994 - ALA Best Books for Young Adults
WINNER 1994 - ALA Notable Children's Book
WINNER 1996 - New Jersey Garden State Teen Book Award
WINNER 1995 - Virginia Young Readers Program Award
WINNER 1995 - Arkansas Charlie May Simon Master List
WINNER 1996 - Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award
WINNER 1996 - Kansas William White Award
WINNER 1995 - Kentucky Bluegrass Master List
WINNER 1994 - Maine Student Book Award

Jonas lives in a community where everyone is happy and satisfied with their lives. There aren’t rich or poor people, everyone has just what they need. No one knows what war or starvation or prejudice are. At the end of every day, young people can sort out their feelings openly with their parents and they won’t be judged or punished.

At a special ceremony, 12 year olds are assigned a career they are suited for by the community Elders. Jonas is shocked and frightened when he hears that he has been selected to be the next Receiver of Memory by the current Receiver. The Chief Elder tells him:

“…the training required of you involves pain. Physical pain.… You have never experienced that. Yes, you have scraped your knees in falls from your bicycle. Yes you crushed your finger in a door last year… But you will be faced now with pain of a magnitude that none of us here can comprehend because it is beyond our experience.”

Jonas discovers that the peace and happiness of the community comes with a price, and that terrible price must be paid by him.

Image from WorldCat.

I'm not guilty!

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. 1999. New York: Harper Collins. $21,Trade Cloth. 0060280778.

Annotation:
16 year old Steve Harmon is in prison and on trial for felony murder. He writes up his experience as a screenplay.

Awards:
Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2000

Michael L. Printz Award, 2000

Kentucky Bluegrass Award, 2002

Booklist Editors' Choice (Books for Youth: Older Readers Category), 1999

Imagine a movie is just beginning:
Behind the bars of a grim, gray prison cell sits a thin, brown skinned,16 year old boy wearing a prison uniform. His head is in his hands. There is a suit and tie next to him that he will wear to court tomorrow.

This is the movie of Steve Harmon’s life while he is on trial for felony murder. He’s a good kid whose passion is making movies in his film class. The State of New York aims to prove that he was involved in a drugstore store robbery where a man was killed. The other people involved say he was the lookout for them. If he’s convicted he will have to serve 25 years to life. The minimum sentence is longer than he’s ever even lived yet. Steve hates prison so much; he is afraid all of the time. To cope with this awful situation Steve writes it up as a screenplay. It gives him some distance; allows him to see things more clearly. Being in prison has a way of making you feel guilty even if you are innocent. But, did Steve do it? Like a good movie, it isn’t spelled out for you. See for yourself if you think Steve deserves to be called a Monster.

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Friendship insurance policy

Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.

Cohn, Rachel, and David Levithan. Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List. 2007. New York: Knopf, $16.99 Trade Paperback. 978-0-375-84440-9.

Annotation:
Naomi, a straight girl, and Ely, a gay guy, have grown up in the same apartment building and are best friends. Their friendship is broken after Ely begins a relationship with Naomi’s (former) boyfriend.

Awards:
ALA Rainbow Lists, 2009

Ely (who is a guy) kissed Naomi’s boyfriend Bruce! He violated the number one rule of their everlasting friendship, The No Kiss List,the list of people neither of them could kiss, started back in the 9th grade when they were both in love with Donnie Weisberg. It was was supposed to save them from breakup-by-jealousy, and now their friendship is OVER! (Although technically, Naomi never bothered to put Bruce on the list.)

You see, Naomi’s not really upset that Ely kissed Bruce, she’s more upset that Ely didn’t kiss her. Even though she’s known for a long time that Ely is gay, she’s never really accepted that it means they won’t be together and get married, just like they’ve planned all their years growing up together. It’s time for her to face reality. Can Naomi survive without her best friend? And can Ely get by without her? And then there’s kinda-dull Bruce, who didn’t know he liked boys until now. Will he be able to last with fabulous, center-of-attention Ely? Naomi, Ely, Bruce and a few of their friends will tell you all about it as they struggle with the craziness of friendship and love.

Check out the playlist in the book as well!

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Strong boats upon a stormy sea

The Braid by Helen Frost

Frost, Helen. The Braid. New York: Frances Foster Books, 2006. 9780374309626. Trade cloth. $19.95.

Annotation:

Two sisters, in 1850, are separated when their family is forced to leave their home in Scotland. The sister's stories alternate with poems that bind together both of their experiences.

Awards:

School Library Journal Best Books, 2006

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2007

Texas Tayshas Reading Lists, 2008

In the days before airplanes and transatlantic phone cables, when you separated from your family for a journey across the ocean, you knew you might never see or hear from them again. In Scotland, in 1850, sisters Sarah, Jeannie, and the rest of their family are forced out of their home by their landlord. Their father decides they will sail to Canada and start over there. Grandma won’t be going.

Sarah, the oldest, can’t leave Grandma or the land that she feels tied to, but how can she bear to separate from her mother and father, her little brother and sisters, and her dearest sister Jeannie? The night before the journey, Sarah braids her hair with Jeannie’s before they go to bed. Jeannie wakes to find her hair cut and Sarah gone. Sarah left half of the braid on the pillow for Jeannie and took the other half with her.

Their intertwined hair is a token of their sisterhood as they begin their new lives apart from one another, Jeannie to Canada and Sarah to the Scottish island where her grandmother was born. The book alternates between Sarah and Jeannie’s stories. They experience their difficulties and triumphs alone, but like the braid that connects them in spirit, the book connects them through language. There are poems in between the sister’s turns at telling their stories and the imagery of the poems weaves the two girls’ experiences together.

Sarah is plucky and strong, not afraid to go against convention. Jeannie must take Sarah’s place as the oldest child and develops her own strength and resourcefulness. Apart, but parallel, they grow up, choose paths and create new lives for themselves. Each wondering about the sister she parted from, with nothing to connect them but The Braid.

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You reeked of sultry confidence

Shah, Tupac Aman. 1999. The Rose that Grew from Concrete. New York: Pocket Books.
0671028448. $21.95. Trade Cloth.

Annotation:
When he was 19, musician and actor Tupac Shakur (Tupac Aman Shah), was part of a weekly writing circle at his manager’s house. For this group, he created poetry about his life of overcoming obstacles, loves (many!), and views on injustice in the world. Tupac’s manager kept his hand-written poems and published them as The Rose That Grew from Concrete.

Awards:
2001 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
2004 YALSA Outstanding Books for the College Bound

Poetry is a good outlet for young adults to creatively express all of the emotions and new ideas that they are experiencing. In Exploding the Myths: The Truth about Teenagers and Reading Marc Aronson wrote that, “The popularity of rap music has made adolescents very conscious of the power of words, rhythm, and rhyme” (p.60). To have a book of poetry written by a famous rap star, when he was a young adult himself, could be a source of inspiration for aspiring young poets. Tupac’s poems have many themes that teenagers can relate to: the passion and heartbreak associated with new relationships, developing interests in social issues, and struggling to make something of yourself. Seeing the poems written in Tupac’s own handwriting, with scribbles and doodles, make them seem more accessible, like you’re reading a friend’s notebook. The Rose That Grew from Concrete is for fans of Tupac and rap music, and also for people who like poetry, especially poetry written by urban youth. The book also appeals as a tragedy because of Tupac’s untimely and horrible death. His last poem in the book, which forecasts an early end to his life, leaves the reader with the sad realization that Tupac, whose emotions, dreams and ambitions we’ve just been immersed in, is lost to us.

The Rose That Grew from Concrete should be included in a young adult collection because Tupac’s poems describe the young adult experience. His status as a modern cultural icon might make some teens feel that they can relate better to poetry. His style of language will appeal to teenagers who already like poetry.

The post title is a line from the poem 4 Irene (p.51).

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What does "happily ever after mean" anyway?

Weetzie Bat by Francesca Block

Block, Francesca. 1989. Weetzie Bat. New York: Harper & Row. 0060205369. $19.95. Trade Cloth.

Annotation:
In a modern fairy tale, a girl named Weetzie Bat makes three wishes on a genie and finds true love and happiness in the magical land of Los Angeles.

Awards:
One of YALSA’s 100 Best Books
Parent’s Choice Award, 1989
Phoenix Award from the Children’s Literature Association, 2009



When I read the summary of Weetzie Bat by Francesca La Block in my library’s catalog, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it because it sounded like a silly, frivolous story. I really did like it though. It is a book that contains serious issues, it’s just told in a simple, fun and quirky way. The language in Weetzie Bat almost reminds me of a children’s book with its short, straightforward sentences and juvenile-sounding descriptions. Like: “Grandma Fifi was a sweet, powdery old lady who baked tiny, white, sugar coated pastries for them, played them tunes on a music box with a little dancing monkey on top, had two canaries she sang to, and had hair Weetzie envied…” The magical language adds to its sense of being a fairy tale dealing with modern issues like homosexuality, divorce, infidelity, and AIDS.

I think Weetzie’s story is appealing to me because it matches one of the fantasies I had as a young adult of having an odd, happy-go-lucky, fun seeking life. Maybe this is why it is a classic. Weetzie is cool, finds all the things to enjoy in life, and she doesn’t have serious responsibilities. She arranges to live her life in her own original way. Even when she becomes a mother, it still seems like a party, with her best friends right there raising the kids with her. She experiences problems and grief, but she has people who love her to help her get through those times.

The elements of the book that still speak to contemporary teens are creating your own life and finding happiness, despite whatever kind of unhealthy or strange upbringing your parents gave you. With the importance of peers to adolescents, the fact that Weetzie sets up her own family unit with her friends and boyfriend probably also resonates with teenagers. Teens shouldn’t read this book expecting realistic treatment of the heavy topics it glosses over. However, Weetzie Bat’s positive message, that bad (sometimes even terrible) things happen, but with love, hope and joy can get you through them and have a good life, is appealing.

Image from Hapercollins Publishers.

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Greasers and Socs Rumble!

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Hinton, S.E. 1967. The Outsiders. New York: Penguin Group. 0670532576 . $17.99. Trade cloth.

Annotation:

Ponyboy and his borderline juvenile delinquent friends, the Greasers, get hassled by the privileged Socs. When his friend Johnny kills one of them in Ponyboy's defense, they all must deal with the consequences.

Awards:

New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Books List, 1967

Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book, 1967

American Library Association Best Young Adults Books, 1975

I can see why The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a classic young adult novel. The characters express many dimensions and have a lot of insight into their motivations and circumstances. Through the course of the book Ponyboy gains understanding about a lot of things in his world: the fact that even people who seem to have everything can be very unhappy, the reason behind why his oldest brother is so hard on him, and that the price of being “tough” and successfully surviving in the Greaser world is to lose your heart or “goldenness” and your chance of succeeding in the rest of society. The observations that he makes and the way that he grows during the book are an experience that, as a reader, is worth taking.

The title, “The Outsiders” refers to how Ponyboy’s social group, the “Greasers” are set apart from the rest of society. Maybe they were initially ostracized because of where they live and who their parents are, but they choose to band together, embrace the Greaser identity and rebel against the people who label them. In the scene where the gang is getting psyched up for the big rumble with the socs they actually chant statements that people have used to characterize them:
“Greaser…greaser…greaser” Steve singsonged. “O victim of environment, underprivileged, rotten, no-count hood!”
Through most of The Outsiders, Ponyboy sets himself apart from the other Greasers. He states that he doesn’t really like some of the people in his gang, the girls they associate with, or approve of their actions. He accepts the label and the Greaser look because of loyalty and rebellious pride. At the end of the book, circumstances overcome him and he starts to turn “tough” on the inside to match what he’s been trying to project on the outside. It is finding Johnny’s note, explaining Robert Frost’s poem that turns him back. “Stay gold” means to hope, to pay attention and notice the good in the world, and to let yourself feel. It means to not accept the limitations that society is trying to put on you and believe that you can do something fantastic one day.

Book cover image from the Aurora Public Library: http://www.library.aurora.on.ca/