Valentine Princess

Valentine Princess

Meg Cabot

96 pgs

Harper Teen (2006)

Subject Matter: Princess Mia, Valentine's Day, misunderstanding, Princess Diaries, dating

It is Princess Mia's first Valentine's Day with a boyfriend and after talking the subject over with her best friends she is not sure if she should give him a valentine or not. He seems to think that it is just a Hallmark Holiday, made up to sell candy and cards, while to Mia it is something a little more special.

Review: A quick read of a Valentine's Day where everything is a twisted mess and seems to be going wrong until Mia just puts herself out there and things turn around and begin to go right.

No You Know: The 'B' word is used more than once, but not excessively. I was surprised.

Speak

Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson

240 pgs

Speak (2009)

Subject matter: silence, rape, parties, alcohol, drinking, high school, victim

Melinda starts school with a horrible secret. She had high hopes of entering high school as a brand new person and making an identity for herself, but at a party held the week before school starts all off that comes crashing down. She makes a phone call and everyone knows she did it, but they don't know why. She starts high school friendless and wouldn't really mind except for the rumors, all of which are not true. As the school year moves on she finds others who have had nearly the exact same experience she has and finally gives them all a voice as she speaks out about the truth.

Review: A touching story that reminds us that we all have secrets but that there are always people out there with the same secret. In order to stop the secret from happening to others it is important to Speak.

No You Know: A touchy subject dealt about in a delicate way

War Is...: Soldiers, Survivors and Storytellers Talk about War

Marc Aronson, Patty Campbell

288 pgs

Candlewick (2009)

Subject Matter: war, hurt, loss, death

This book is a compilation of many war stories, essays, interviews, poems and articles from many different perspectives. Not only are the stories from different perspectives, but they are also from different time eras, given a wide spectrum of war.

Review: A powerful book that should cause any person to think twice about the word war and what it means.

No You Know: controversial and loaded with emotion, this book may cause a person to feel attacked. Language - lots of it. It is a war story.

Hurricane Song

Hurricane Song

Paul Volponi

160 pgs

Speak (2009)

Subject Matter: hurricane, hurricane Katrina, super dome, crime, natural disaster

Miles had been living with his mother, but when she remarries and there is no room for him in the house he moves in with his Jazz musician father. They are evacuated from their home as Hurricane Katerina moves into New Orleans and must move with the rest of the city into the super dome. Here is where the story takes place, telling of the tragedies and hardships of living in such tight conditions that are not at all beneficial other than for immediate protection from the hurricane.

Review: Who knew? Who knew this happened? I wasn't really interested in the whole deal as it was happening, but looking back and reading this book makes me realizes how hard it really was for all the people who lost everything. The hardest thing for me to swallow was how our country could allow that to happen to its people. It seemed as if the whole situation was poorly taken care of.

Now You Know: language is prevalent

Diary of A Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Jeff Kinney

217 pgs

Amulet Books (2007)

Subject Matter: humor, comics, comedy

Greg has just entered his first year of middle school and while he has an average life, it is not told in an average way. A graphic novel that explains the forgotten everyday things of school. Greg goes through school and life as an average student. . . with a diary. Everyone that Greg does or that happens to him is recorded in this diary in a very humorous way that cannot help but make the reader laugh out-loud.

Review: Jeff Kinney does a very good job at taking the embarrassing moments of middle school life and finding humor in them. This would be a good book to give to someone who is anxious about starting middle school

Now You Know: This book may make you laugh out loud in public.

Paper Quake

Paper Quake

Kathryn Reiss

288 pgs

Harcourt Paperbacks (2002)

Subject Matter: earthquakes, triplets, detective, museums

Violet is delicate and plain compared to her two other sisters (the three of them form triplets). She is living in California and there has been a series of earthquakes that have sent terrifying shivers up her body. During each earthquake Violet uncovers a letter written during the time period of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. They are addressed to a girl named "V" and Violet begins to wonder if they are to her, as this girl seems to have the same situations are herself. Finally given confidence in that she has something special that her sisters do not Violet has a brave streak that allows her to try to figure out the mystery of who the letters are to and who they are from. The findings seem to be merely coincidental until Violet finds that they are being put in her path on purpose to warn others that the San Francisco bridge may collapse in the next current earthquake.

Review: An interesting idea that I am sure we all wish would happen to us. That we would find clues from the past that would lead us to save others in the present. Anyone who is interested in mysteries, science fiction or time travel would love this book.

Now You Know: This book is safe for anyone of any age

Deadline

Deadline

Chris Crutcher

320 pgs

HarperTeen (2007)

Subject Matter: death, meaning of life, dying, sexual abuse, self-perception, football, friendship, prejudice, depression

Ben is diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia and refuses to tell anyone. At the legal age of 18 he is not bound to disclose any medical information and decides to not tell anyone because he doesn't want to be treated any differently. He goes out with the attitude that he is going to live his whole life in a year and does his best to make sure he does all that he can to make a difference, including petitioning for a street to be named after Malcom X.

Review: A real life changer that causes you to think of each day as a gift rather than part of a whole. I would hand this book to anyone and hope that they got the same thing I did out of it, that life is precious and there is no time to waste.

Now You Know: there are subplots of sexual abuse that do not go into graphic detail but that may make a person squirm. Colorful language is used in choice spots.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why

Jay Asher

320 pgs

Razorbill (2007)

Subject Matter: death, suicide, high school, bullying, betrayal, drinking, rape, loss, love

Hannah has committed suicide and has left a set of tapes behind prescribed to go to a certain number and order of people who help tell the story as to why she killed herself. Clay Jensen is the classmate with the audiotapes who's perspective the story is told from. The book winds together the tapes (Hannah's voice) with memories and thoughts of Clay. Each person that receives the tapes has a tape dedicated specifically to them and how their story adds to the others on the thirteen reasons why Hannah committed suicide.

Review: Well done. It uses a different type of style of writing, a reflective style where it is necessary to bring both the past and the future onto the same page and intertwine them. This story of Hannah shows how every thing we do affects others, no matter how small. It is important that we take care as to how we treat people and what we say to them.

Now You Know: Some language, very controversial storyline--did Hannah really have the excuse to commit suicide, graphic scenes

Cut

Cut

Patricia McCormick

160 pgs

Push (2002)

Subject Matter: cutting, abuse, psychiatric hospital, self-injury, self-mutilation, emo, depression, body image

Callie has been submitted to a psychiatric clinic because she insists on cutting herself. Callie believes she is responsible for her brother's illness and tries to cut away her frustration and guilt. She explains the routines of the clinic and keeps tabs on everyone who is admitted and what their problems are. The anorexic girls who sometimes have to be fed through a tube and how the abused guests cope with their pasts. Callie refuses to speak to anyone and is caught in a twist as to what she wants to talk about and what she should talk about.

Review: This book described a psychiatric clinic very well but did not discuss the issue of cutting as thoroughly as I would have hoped. It was a very shallow introduction to self-mutilation and could have been a story of any body image problem.

You have been warned: Callie uses some language and there are some parts that are rather graphic, not for someone who is shy of blood.

Whale Talk

Whale Talk

Chris Crutcher

304 pgs

Greenwillow Books (2009)

Subject Matter: high school, swimming, emotional and physical abuse, emotions and feelings, racism

T.J. Jones is a high school student who is often racially discriminated against. When an upperclassman bullies a mentally handicapped student named Chris T.J. stands up for what is right. The consensus is that in order to wear a letterman's jacket the jacket must be earned, so T.J. starts up a swim team so that Chris can earn his own jacket. The swim team is made up of a handful of high school misfits who no one would think to put in a pool together. The small team bonds together as they practice in the local fitness center's pool and the long bus rides to and from swim meets, sharing their hurts and pains that have made them who they are.

Review: I loved this book. With more than one message entwined in a story of a team of misfits who seem to define high school, this book tells more than a story, it tells of characters who become close to a reader's heart. Chris Crutcher has a unique way of making his characters characterize themselves into stereotypes we all know in high school but never know what made these people the way they are. Crutcher gives an insider's view to what these kids go through to surface in high school and to be known the way they are.

Now You Know: There is a lot of colorful and strong language, scenes of violence, and a tear jerking ending.