Slacker

Slacker by Gordon Korman
Published by Scholastic Press in 2016

Summary: Cameron Boxer is a hyper focused on preparing his skills for the video game challenge of Rule the World. He is to busy in his video game to follow through with a request his mother gives him. He fails to take food out of the oven and the fire department knocks the front door off to get to the smoking oven. Cam is in the basement oblivious to the happening up stairs. His parents do not approve of all the time he spends on his video games. Which he calls his "Lifestyle." His friend Pavil and Chuck help him create a fake club that Cam is the president of. To Cam's dismay the club becomes a real deal. The counselor takes the group on and lots of kids join. It takes on a life of it's own and Cam is not happy. The club begins to consume his time and he does not have time to play video games. One of the projects is to create a habitat for "Elvis" a beaver. The community is also about to lose is one exit off the highway for the expansion of the new mall. The high school club gets wind of all the press the Middle School club is getting and they start to sabotage the club. In the end Cam and his friends help save the community exit and Elvis.

Gordon Korman creates multiple characters in this story that a variety of readers can relate to. The story is humorous, but underneath the humor the message that one person can make a difference if they try.

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein
Published by: A Yearling Book in 2013

Summary: Kyle Keeley loves games of all kinds. He would prefer to play a game then to read a book. A competition essay contest is available to win access to the brand new library that is opening in the middle of town. Mr. Lemoncello is sponsoring the renovations on the library. Kyle briefly writes his essay which was only one sentence about balloons. He is disappointed about his procrastination and decides to write an email directly to Mr. Lemoncello hoping to still have a chance to win the lockin. 12 students won and Kyle was one of them. They all entered the library and were presented with challenge after challenge. Charles Chiltington was used to winning at any cost. He does not play the game fairly. Kyle and several others decide they have the best chance to team up and help each other. They are to solve the riddles and find the unofficial exit from the library in less than 24 hours.

Chris Grabenstein uses lots of descriptive language to describe the library and has excellent twists and turns. He is able to keep the reader engaged and wanting more. Mr. Lemoncello's sequel is out featuring Kyle and his teammates - Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics with even more puzzles to solve.

Magic Puppy - Classroom Princess

Magic Puppy: Classroom Princess by Sue Bentley
Illustrated by Angela Swan
Published by Scholastic Inc.

Summary: Kelsey is a shy girl who has trouble telling people how she feels. Her dad is dating a nice lady named Jo, but she does not care for Jo's twin daughters. Anna and Louise really love riding ponies and think that Kelsey should also. Kelsey discovers a little puppy that needs her help. The puppy's name is Storm and is magical. She can talk to Storm. Storm helps Kelsey and a boy named Ross get over their shyness. He uses magic to make them both the Wassail Apple Prince and Princess for the city festival. Eventually Storm must leave to stay safe from Shadow who is looking for him to harm him. Where will Storm go next to stay safe?

Magic Puppy Series is a wonderful series for early chapter book readers. Some illustrations are included with the story. Classroom Princesses is book #9 in the series. The reader does not have to read the books in order to understand and enjoy the story. a Prologue is at the beginning to help the reader grasp the concept of Storm's life. This series is great for 6 to 8 year olds.

Princess Ponies: A Magical Friend

Princess Ponies #1

A Magical Friend

By: Chloe Ryder

Chevalia is a magical island. Only people who love ponies can find the island. The island is in trouble the eight golden horse shoes that provide the island its magic have been stolen. Pippa went the beach with her family one day and the next thing she knew she was at Chevalia. She promises to help Princess Stardust find the missing golden horseshoes. They go on an adventure and find the first horseshoe returning it to it's rightful home. The book is an early chapter book perfect for readers in grades 1 to 3, the story includes some black line drawings to support the storyline. 

Owl Diaries "Eva's Treetop Festival"

Owl Diaries Series Book #1

Eva's Treetop Festival

By: Rebecca Elliott

Owl Diaries is a cute early chapter book. The book is written with pictures and small chunks of text on each page. Eva Wingdale is the main character who writes about the events in her life. In book #1 she wants to plan a festival because she is bored. She does not like to ask for help from others, but soon realizes that she needs others in order to create her vision for the festival. With the help of others the festival is a success. The book is a great introduction into personal journal writing. Students could create their own diary as an extension to reading this series.

The Trials of Apollo

The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle

by Rick Riordan

Summary: Rick Riordan has produced another great novel about Camp Half-Blood. Apollo is a great new character to explore and read about. He is humorous and very self centered. Zeus has banished him to the mortal world in a human vessel. Being banished is nothing new to Apollo, but being vulnerable is a different story. The campers at Camp Half-Blood have been vanishing from camp. Apollo comes to camp discovering the disappearances and the fact that the oracles are not working. He takes on the quest to solve the disappearances with the help of a friend. He comes to realize that Meg is not on his side completely and he is being played by her. His quest to find the Grove of Dodona is successful but at a price. People he thinks are friends turn out not have his back and the camp suffers a tremendous amount of destruction. By the end he is still mortal and has not proven himself to Zeus. He comes to realize his help is needed to defeat the former emperors and restore the Oracle of Delphi by facing his old enemy Python.

LSSL 5385 Text Book Chart

I have created a chart outlining key concepts, future applications in the library of the concepts and examples of the concepts in action through literature from 25 books in my blog. The textbook that is illustrated in this chart is Making the Match by Teri S. Lesesne.

Lesesne, T. (2003). Making the match. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

View Chart at this link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Qej3vD_6WL_7gbnaMUEbwsEVHjcdd5vJPB1Q6UWr3Q/edit?usp=sharing

When You Reach Me

Stead, R. (2009). When you reach me. New York: Wendy Lamb Books.

About the book: Miranda receives a few mysterious notes that predicts future events. The story starts out in current time for Miranda and then she remembers events that happen around the time she received the first note. She tells about her relationship with Sal and how he stopped being her friend. She becomes friends with Annmarie and Colin. Every day at lunch for almost two months they help the sandwich guy at his shop. She meets Marcus who beat up Sal the last time she remembers Sal talking to her. Marcus is lost in thought in his head a lot. Miranda and Marcus discuss the possibility of time travel. A Wrinkle in Time is Miranda’s favorite book. Eventually the sequence of events leads up to Sal being almost hit by a vehicle. The Laughing Guy that would stand on the corner and frighten her; kicked Sal out of the way and was hit instead. Miranda comes to the conclusion time travel is possible and the laughing guy came to the future to save Sal. He practiced everyday with kicking his leg out into the street. She also concluded that Marcus and the laughing guy are the same people.

Readers Response: In When You Reach Me, Miranda’s favorite book is A Wrinkle in Time. Her favorite book involves time travel. Miranda is trying to solve a mystery of who is leaving the notes and why. Her reflections on past events help her put the pieces together. An activity that could be done with this book is reading both books and talk about similarities and differences. Then pose some of Peck’s questions for the students to answer in reflection to one of the two books.

The Author's website: http://www.rebeccasteadbooks.com/

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Green, J. & Levithan, D. (2010). Will Grayson, Will Grayson. New York: Dutton Books. 

About the book: Will Grayson is best friends with Tiny – a very big, person and personality. They have been friends since elementary school. Tiny happens to be gay. Will Grayson meets Jane through Tiny. A girl with a great taste in music and is not afraid to say what she thinks. Will Grayson struggles to break out of his comfort zone and participate in life. He wavers back and forth about liking Jane. Finally, when she is not available he decides he does like her. Tiny of course pushes him towards Jane. One night they all go to a bar to hear a band play. Will Grayson’s fake i.d. does not work to get him in. The others leave him behind and he runs into another person named will grayson. The new Will Grayson is gay and has just found out his supposed friend set him up with an imaginary person in order to get him to own up to being gay. Tiny takes the new will grayson and distracts him from the issue. They start dating, Tiny throwing his whole self in as he always does in relationships. will grayson struggles with being needed by Tiny and struggles with his depression. Tiny has written a musical about his life and works on organizing the production of the musical. Will Grayson the best friend does not want him to use the character that portrays him, but Tiny does not relent just changes the character’s name. They have a few falling outs during this time period. The emotional struggles that occur help them to start to understand and begin to become more comfortable with who they are. Will Grayson and Jane become boyfriend and girlfriend, Tiny and Will Grayson break up, and finally everyone let’s Tiny know how much he is appreciated by them.

Readers Response: The text is told by two different characters with the same name. The text changes as the different Will Grayson tells his story. Regular use of capital letters in the text for the original Will Grayson and no capital letters for the other will grayson. The book Will Grayson, Will Grayson would be an excellent addition to a booktalk that was about books by the authors John Green and D. Levithan. If I used as this book as the opener I would read the conversation between will grayson and Tiny when they are breaking up. I think it would make a reader want to learn more about the characters and consider reading the book. Some other books I might include in the booktalk would be Every Day by Levithan, An Abundance of Katherines by Levithan, The Realm of Possibility by Levithan, The Lover’s Dictionary by Levithan, Let it Snow by Green, and The Fault in Our Stars by Green.

Questions about the book answered by the author: http://johngreenbooks.com/wg-questions/

More Happy Than Not

Silvera, A. (2015). More happy than not. New York: Soho Teen.

About the book: More Happy Than Not is on the 2016 Best Fiction for Young Adults list by YALSA. Aaron lives in a time that people can go to a clinic and forget painful memories in order to lead a happy life. At the beginning of the story Aaron is dealing with the aftermath of his dad’s suicide and his attempted suicide. He has a girlfriend and decides to have sex with her before she goes away for 3 weeks to art camp. Aaron plays games in his neighborhood with his neighborhood crew. One day he meets Thomas and they become fast best friends. Aaron believes himself to be straight and in love with Genevieve his girlfriend. He starts to develop feelings for Thomas, struggling to understand what that means. Thomas does not return his affections. The neighborhood crew realize he is gay and beat him up really badly. His brain starts to unwind and he realizes he had Leteo wipe his memory of being gay. He picks back up with his boyfriend Collin, but soon realizes something is not right. He develops memory problems and struggles to hold onto reality. He decides to cut all friendships so he can remember the happy past parts and so he does not cause hurt to his friends. His mother and brother support him and try to help him live a happy life. He hopes that one day Leteo will develop technology to help him fix the memory problems.

Readers Response: In Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, he states three levels; preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. In the book More Happy Than Not the moral decision of is it right or wrong for someone to wipe your memories can be contemplated while reading. After reading the class could have a debate about the pros and cons of the reality of Leteo existing on our society. After reading I pondered how many people would participate in Leteo if it was a service today. So many people who are hateful and refuse to accept others for who they are. By discussing a social issue that is not real it gives the students a safe place to work through their thinking and feelings about making choices in a safer climate.

Author's Website: http://www.adamsilvera.com/

Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue!

Angleberger, Tom. (2014). Princess Labelmaker to the rescue!.New York: Amulet Books.

About the book: Book #5 in the Origami Yoda Book series. The students at McQuarrie Middle School continue their rebel alliance against the Fun Time tutoring program the school district is piloting to help raise standardized test scores. The students have lost all special area classes and must sit in the tutoring sessions watching a video of a dancing calculator Gizmo and Professor Fun Time. At first they are fighting the principal, but soon come to realize the battle is much bigger than her. Ms. Rabbiski is given the Princess Labelmaker puppet and is enlisted into the fight. She helps the students fight the school board and superintendent. Origami Yoda continues to give great advice to the rebels. At the end the special areas are returned and Fun Time is suspended. Unfortunately, the battle may not be over since Ms. Rabbiski resigns as the principal and plans to be a teacher the next school year. Who will the school district get to run the school? Will the rebels still need to battle for their rights to free will?

Readers Response: Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue is another installment in a series that focuses on the powers of Star Wars characters through origami puppets. Boy readers and fans of Star Wars will enjoy this series. The age range recommended for this series of books would be 8 to 12 year olds. A teacher can give a questionnaire to her students to gather information about reading levels, preferences, habits, interests, and pop culture likes. By the teacher would know right away who the fans of this series would be. Some other elements of the book that makes it a good choice for struggling readers are it includes some illustrations, it is written in short chapters that are called case files, the plot is engaging and the vocabulary is fairly simple.

Origami Yoda's website: http://origamiyoda.com/

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Black, H. (2013). The coldest girl in Coldtown. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 

About the book: Tana awakes after a party in a farm house. Everyone is dead. She struggles to escape and finds her ex-boyfriend Aidan. He is going cold and is chained up next to a vampire in a bedroom. She makes a plan to help them escape and get away. She is grazed by vampire teeth and may become infected herself. They go to coldtown with the help of Midnight and Winter, new friends. Tana makes several struggles to help her friends and herself. She becomes intrigued by Gavriel who is a very old vampire who is wanted by the Spider and Lucian Monroe. Tana struggles to move forward with the memory of her past. Her mother was infected and bit her when she was a child. She surprises herself with her determination and strength. She becomes infected and drinks vampire blood that accelerates the transformation. She does not want to go cold. After helping Gavriel kill Lucian, she celebrates with her friends. She is determined to wait out the infection and is locked away in a cellar. Gavreil enters the cellar to tell her he loves her and will support her in her decision. He sits with her as she begins the journey to see if she can become uncold. I really hope Holly Black does a second book about Tana.

Readers Response: Holly Black has a unique style in her writing. She writes about a very strong female character through Tana who is the heroine that won’t be kept down. Tana hopes for the best and continues to try no matter the struggles she comes upon. The quotes that Black puts at the beginning of each chapter and the relevance (symbolism) to the content of the chapter is uncanny.

Author's website with a book trailer: http://blackholly.com/books/coldtown/: 

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Satrapi, M. (2003). Persepolis. New York: Pantheon. 

About the book: The book is a graphic memoir that illustrates Marjane Satrapi’s understanding of her childhood in Iran during the 70’s and 80’s. She tells about the history of the leaderships of Iran over the centuries. She is the great granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors and her parents are Marxist revolutionaries. As she grows and goes to school she learns about things that are forbidden in public and the laws that are put into place for females. She struggles to understand the radical viewpoints. Her fascination with the changing social order and governmental leaders is shared. She has family and friends’ family members that are imprisoned for standing up for their beliefs against the Shah. She talks about living during bombings and missiles from Iraq being sent into her neighborhood. She learns that if she gets captured for her rebellion against the religious government of Iraq she would be married off and would have to have sex with the man before she could be executed. Her need to speak her mind and beliefs at school prompts her parents to send her to live with a family friend in Vienna, Austria for her safety.

Readers Response: I learned a lot about the history of Iran that I did not know from reading Persepolis memoir about her life. I struggled to understand parts of the book because of my lack of knowledge about the middle east. This book would be an excellent support for a unit on the middle east in Social Studies classes. Teacher would be able to bring the history to the students in a fun and informative way. Of course other materials or websites would need to be add to help in the full understanding of that region.

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund article about Using Graphic Novels in Education featuring Persepolis: http://cbldf.org/2013/06/using-graphic-novels-in-education-persepolis/

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

Crutcher, C. (1993). Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes. New York: HarperTempest.

About the book: Eric is a swimmer on the high school team. His best friend from Elementary and Middle school was Sarah Byrnes. He was a fat child who was tormented by others. Sarah Byrnes had burns over her face and hands. They were friends because nobody else wanted them. Once they went to high school Eric a.k.a Mobi joined the swim team. He struggled to deal with how to remain friends with Sarah Byrnes. He even tried to over eat to remain fat. They drift apart. Eric is in a class taught by his swim coach Mrs. Lemry that looks deeper into social issues. Sarah Byrnes enters a psych ward at the hospital detached from the world around her. Mobi visits her and tries to save her. At the same time, he is trying to juggle swim team, the girl of his dreams and his friends. He uncovers the truth about her scares and her father with the help of his middle school nemesis Dale Thornton. He also struggles with relationships with fellow swimmers and a girlfriend. He discovers the truth about true friendship. Unfortunately, in the process he tangles with Sarah Byrnes crazy father and gets stabbed in the shoulder. At the end Sarah Byrnes is learning how to feel safe and loved. Mobi is learning to stand up for what he thinks is right and about is feelings about the world around him.

Readers Response: In Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Eric is a swimmer. I am not a swimmer so all the swimmer talk went over my head but it did not distract from the core of the story. This book would be a great read aloud through a “read and tease”. Parts of the story are suspenseful and thoughtful. The book could be discussed in a high school class over the following questions: how one’s actions affect the people around you, how friendships affect choices, or how to make life decisions. Almost like mirroring the class that Eric is taking from his swim coach.

Author's website: http://www.chriscrutcher.com/

Monster

Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 

About the book: Steve is accused of being an accomplice to murder, he sits on trial for the Murder. He tries to understand how he got to this point in his life. While in jail he begins to journal the events as a screen play. In the past he hung around the wrong people in the neighborhood. He found himself arrested and in jail accused of being the person who checked the drugstore before the crime was committed. He is being tried alongside a real thug from the neighborhood. Steve has spoken to the guy in the neighborhood and they know his name. His decision to associate with the wrong people lands him in this situation. He is terrified that he will have to spend his life in prison. Afraid the jury only sees him as another black guy, even though he has done nothing wrong. His attorney O’Brian works with him and tries to get him off. She uses the fact that he enjoys making screen plays and films, and has his teacher Mr. Sawicki come and speak on his behalf. His attorney is able to put probably doubt in the jury eyes, so he is found not guilty.

Readers Response: Monster would be a great book to utilize in a middle school language arts class. Since the book is written like a screen play; students could break the book apart and dramatize the story. After the exercise the students could be asked one of Peck’s reflection questions such as; How is the main character different from you? A great book to share about how your everyday harmless actions can be used against you. How the world sees you makes a difference as to what you can get away with or be held accountable for.

Walter D. Meyer's discusses his book Monster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtlkXnf3-vY

Ask the Passengers

King, A. S. (2012). Ask the passengers. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

About the book: Astrid is a deep thinker. She lives in small town Unity Valley where everyone knows your business or gossips about you. She is taking a philosophy class that is making her think about her feelings in a deep meaningful way. She feels unloved by her mother and ignored by her father and sister. She routinely lays on the picnic table she made with her father sending all her love away to the passengers flying overhead in the sky. She has a secret girlfriend at work that no one knows about not even her best friend. Her best friend Kristina is gay and asks her to keep her secret by pretending that Justin is her boyfriend. She is talked into going to a bar called Atlantis; which is a homosexual hangout. She begins to be able to process her feelings and believing she is gay. Once she gets busted at the bar the whole town knows and her best friend Kristina turns on her. Her mother Claire believes everyone else over Astrid. Astrid deals with feeling alone and unloved. She continues to get up each day and face the gossip and rumors head on. She has Socrates as an imaginary conscience that assists her in processing everything. She begins to feel love for her girlfriend and does not want to send it away anymore to the passengers flying by; realizing she needs it to be happy.

Readers Response: Ask the Passengers is very heavy with philosophical undertones. I find it very interesting how Astrid sends her love away to the passengers and they receive it. Can positive thoughts and actions can change the way people think? I think the ideal reader of this book needs to be making the transition in the abstract think in order to fully grasp the depth of the book. Giving a teen great insight into a life of a teen who is struggling with gaining independence in a world where she feels like everyone is telling her what to do and feel. The story does discuss Astrid contemplating if she is gay or not, but in a way that focuses on acceptance and inner happiness.

About the Author: http://www.as-king.com/html/author.php

Annie on My Mind

Garden, N. (2007). Annie on my mind. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. 

About the book: Liza attends a private school and it is her senior year. She is student council president. Her life changes the day she meets Annie at a museum in New York. They become fast friends and inseparable. The two girls come to realize they have intimate feelings for each other. They both struggle with what it means to be gay and their relationship. They have the opportunity to explore their relationship over spring break while Eliza is watching two teacher’s cats. The girls spend lots of time together and explore each other intimately. They also discover that the two teachers happen to be gay also. They are discovered by Ms. Baxter in the act of being intimate and a scandal at Foster’s Academy ensues. In the end both girls separate after the incident not realizing how to move forward or if they want to. They move their separate ways to college. At the end of the story Eliza discovers she loves Annie and does not care about what others think. She finally calls her after such a long isolation. Both girls are on the same page and cannot wait to move forward.

Readers Response: The theme of coming of age and exploring one’s sexuality is explored in Annie on My Mind. The story falls under the realistic fiction genre. The story allowed Liza to gradually make discoveries about herself. By the end of the story she is starting to make lasting decisions but she still has a lot of life to live. People may be opposed to this book because of their personal beliefs. I think it is a wonderful resource for young adults who are struggling with their place in the world and in relationships. The book was written from an innocent perspective. It does not push homosexuality on others. It just expresses how it was for two girls discovering themselves. I found the book very enlightening.

About the Author: http://www.nancygarden.com/index.html

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Ness, P. (2008). The knife of never letting go. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.

About the book: Todd lives on a planet that has two Moons. On this planet men and boys can hear each other’s thoughts, while women and girls can hear the males, but their thoughts are private. Todd is forced to run from the men of Prentisstown. He meets Viola who has crash landed in the swamp. He runs with her. He is confused and has been told a different version of reality. He is innocent and is being hunted by Mayor Prentiss and Aaron. In order to become a man a boy must murder another man in anger in Prentisstown. Aaron is the sacrifice that Todd is supposed to murder so he can become a man. Todd is unaware of this at first but as he picks up on more Noise as he travels toward Haven the city of hope for him and Viola. He has to overcome many hardships (Manchee his dog dying, illness that almost killed him, and killing a spackle) and deal with poor decision (not being able to kill Aaron or Mr. Prentiss Jr.) on the road to Haven. He slowly learns the truth about the people and the place he grew up. He comes to learn that Viola is his only family that is left and he cannot let anything happen to her. At the end Viola kills Aaron so Todd does not have to. They finally make it to Haven, but it is empty and Viola is dying from a gunshot. Mr. Prentiss is there and Todd is begging for his help to save her. The book leaves a cliff hanger, making the reader what to find out what will happen to Todd and Viola.

Readers Response: Ness created the character of Todd to be relate-able to readers in The Knife of Never Letting Go. He just wants to do what’s right, and nobody will tell him what is going on. Over the course of the book the reader builds a relationship with Todd and wants him to succeed and survive. The story is a world unfamiliar to the reader but the overall them of survival and relationships breaks through into the reader’s reality through this artfully written Fantasy and Science Fiction book.

The Author's website:
http://patrickness.com/

The next books in the series:

Book 2

Book 3

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Hachette Book Group USA.

About the book: Arnold Junior is a boy who was born on an Indian reservation very sick, with cerebral spinal fluid on his brain. He had a damaged brain from birth and seizures. He also was very smart in school. Junior wants to leave the reservation in search of something better. He does not want to be stuck in a dead-end cycle like his parents and grandparents before them. He becomes frustrated one day and threw a book at a teachers face, not on purpose. The Teacher Mr. P. visits him and convinces him to have hope and to get out while he can. So Junior decides to transfer schools. The reservation kids don’t respect him anymore and his best friend (Rowdy) has become his enemy. He becomes part of the Reardan community and begins to see hope. But then tragedy strikes his grandmother dies, his dad’s best friend and his sister also die. He blames the bad fortune on his choice to leave the reservation. He joins the basketball team and becomes a star player for the team. This gives him hope. He also has hope that Rowdy and him will become best friends again or at least friends that don’t punch each other.

Readers Response: Including an excerpt from the book The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian during a booktalk will help the reader get a glimpse into Junior’s life. The book is an excellent example of social dynamics between cultures. I might read the chapter where Junior and the Reardan Varsity basketball team go to the reservation for their first away game against his old school. The way his team is treated is shocking. Of course this book has lots of great parts that could be picked to share depending on the over all theme of your booktalk.

Book Trailer made by high school students:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXCSwsBlWZo

Gabi: A Girl in Pieces

Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi, a girl in pieces. El   Paso, Texas: Cinco Puntos 

About the book:The story is told through the main character’s personal journal. Gabi writes about her life the good, the bad and the ugly. The story begins at the beginning of her senior year of high school. She has never had a boyfriend or been kissed. She thinks she is fat, but really does not care. Her love of tacos, Mexican cuisine, beef jerky and chocolate is her weakness. She has to cope with a drug addicted father who OD’s and she was the person who found him. Her best friends are struggling also; one coming out gay and the other pregnant. She starts dating Martin. She struggles with her emotions of what is expected in a relationship. Her mother is old school and thinks she should be a “Good Mexican Girl,” but she wants to be an American teenager. She loves poetry and relates life’s hurdles in her poems. Ms. Abernard is her poetry teacher that becomes an adult role model/mentor for her. She dreams of going to Berkeley. Her and her boyfriend Martin have sex and she gets into Berkeley. She also makes a poor judgment call that could jeopardize her future. She bets up the boy who raped her best friend, even though it was not her place to intervene. In the end she graduates and eats tacos at her favorite restaurant.

Readers Response: I Loved this book! The realistic writing was hysterical, I found the use of curse words to flow with the text and helped make the character believable. Not everyone’s life is picture perfect and Gabi gives a reader a look into what a teenager reality. I could see this book being challenged because of the cursing and some of the social issues that arise in the book – like abortion. I do think the book gives a teen a glimpse of what another person their age deals with during high school, which could help them develop emotionally with the changes from adolescent to adulthood.

School Library Journal's book review with links about the social issues covered in the book:
http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2014/11/book-review-gabi-a-girl-in-pieces-by-isabel-quintero/

 

Speak

Anderson, L. H. (1999). Speak. Square Fish: New York. 

About the book: Melinda went to a party before school started, she wandered onto the woods and was raped by a senior. She lost her friends because of the way she handled the situation, by calling 911. Her freshman year is very lonely and she spends all her time reflecting about her situation in a deep depression. She struggles to function in daily life. She will not speak to adults or others. She wants to hide from the world and her problems. She finds an abandoned closet at her school that she cleans up and retreats too often. Her main motivation is an art project about drawing a tree with feeling. Throughout the school year as she contemplates how to draw the tree she reflects on her life and situation. Eventually she starts to turn a corner and slowly comes out of her withdrawal beginning to interact with the world/friends/family again. She reaches out to her old best friend because she is now dating the boy who assaulted her. The perpetrator attempts to assault Melinda again in her closet because she won’t stay quiet. She has become stronger and does not take it; she fights back this time.

Readers Response: The book Speak is told in a humorous way even though the theme of the book is very serious. The author does a wonderful job illustrating the characters inner emotions through the text. Anderson keeps Melinda accessible to the reader by giving her inner dialogue sadness, but humor at other times. She does not take herself to seriously even though she does not feel safe and is scared. Throughout the book she is forced to deal with the experience that happened to her. Communication is very important and key to dealing with difficult situations. When trust to broken, ones life can change drastically and it can be hard to recover that feeling.

About the Author: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/laurie-halse-anderson

100 Sideways Miles

Smith, A. (2014). 100 sideways miles. New York: Simon & Schuster BFYR. 

About the book: Fin’s father wrote the book called the Lazarus Door.  Fin feels like he is trapped inside the story lines. One of the alien angels resembles him, with achromatic eyes, a scare up his back, and epilepsy. Fin was smashed by a dead horse when he was younger that broke his back and killed his mother. He thinks of time as passing in miles, each second is 20,000 miles. His best friend is Cade Hernandez. Cade is able to get Fin to do almost anything. Fin has seizures that come on out of nowhere. He is frustrated by the knackery of life. The void were all dead atoms go. He meets Julia Bishop and falls in love. He had never kissed a girl before her. Fin wants to break free of the hold his dad’s book has on him. He is tired of always being just fine and wants to be able to be real. Julia has to move away which crushes Fin. He goes on the road trip to Oklahoma with his best friend Cade just to get away from his life. On the trip the boys are put in a position to risk their lives to save another. The experience helps Fin to break free from the hold of the Lazarus Door and gives him strength to start making decisions for himself.

Readers Response: Andrew Smith twists a story of beauty with 100 Sideways Miles. He uses great descriptive language to help the read feel like they are experiencing Fin's life. He also intertwines the philosophy of time and space with Fin's thinking of seconds as miles and the knackery of space. When suggesting this book to YA take into consideration their mental age. A student who is at the abstract thinking stage will be able to fully follow this plot and ponder along side Fin.

Author Interview:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/an-interview-with-ya-author-andrew-smith/

Andrew Smith's website: 
http://www.authorandrewsmith.com/Author_Andrew_Smith/Home.html

Andre the Giant Life and Legend

Brown, B. (2014). Andre the giant life and legend. New York: First Second.

About this book: Box Brown created a comic / graphic novel about the life of Andre the Giant. Box loved wrestling as a kid and wanted to tell Andre's story the best he could. Andre the Giant grew to be 7 feet 4 inches and around 500 pounds. He had a rare disease called acromegaly, where he continues to grow at a rapid rate putting stress on his heart and other body parts. He worked as a mover and meet a lady in a bar who worked the Elysee Montmartre Matches in France. He had his first match wrestling and received the nickname The Giant. He spent most of his time in bars drinking or flying to new destinations to wrestle. He was not a man of many words, and called his agent/friends "Boss." He wrestled from 1970 to 1992. He was not a family man. Hulk Hogan and Andre had one of the most legendary fights of the Wrestlemania. The fight made Hogan a legend. Andre was seen by people as a monster and they were fearful of him due to his size. He also was in several movies like "The Princess Bride." He died in his sleep in 1993. The comic begins with a little background information from the author which informs the reader that he took creative liberties with the drawings in the story to make it entertaining. In the back of the book source notes are available, professional wrestling terms glossary, and a bibliography are available.

Readers Response: Andre the Giant was on the 2015 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list. This book would be a great book to share with a male student who is a reluctant reader. The text is fairly simple, and the story is entertaining. Be aware when considering the audience for this book, that the author does use some profanity / curse words in the dialogue and also alcoholism is illustrated in Andre's life.

Read Andre the Giant's Bio:
http://www.biography.com/people/andre-the-giant-9542226

Wonder

Palacio, R. J. (2012). Wonder. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com/books?id=utCk2EpUrqgC&source=gbs_slider_cls_metadata_7_mylibrary

About the book: The book Wonder is the story of August (Auggie) told from the point of view of several different characters. August begins the book were the reader finds out he is not a normal kid, he has a major facial deformity that he has had since birth. His life has not been easy, but he does have a good sense of humor. He has had to endure countless surgeries to help correct some of the deformities. He knows people see him differently and are scared of him, but he wants to be a normal kid. So his 5th grade year he demands to go to real school for the first time. His family is fearful for him; afraid of the way the other kids will treat him and make him feel. He attends Beecher Prep. He meets Jack Will and Summer who become his friends. His sister Via struggles with high school life and being in the shadows of Auggie. Auggie struggles with people accepting him at school, but does not run away. He goes to camp with the school trip and is cornered by some not nice kids from another school. Kids from his school stand up for him. He starts to feel more like a normal kid. The book is told from multiple peoples perspectives. In the end he makes it to the end of the year graduation ceremony and is awarded the "Henry Ward Beecher medal of honor" for his quiet strength.

Readers Response: Wonder is a very special story. The book can be used in so many different ways within the classroom. It can be used in understanding different peoples points of view, or it can be used in learning how to have empathy for people who are different from ourselves. Over all the character of the book Auggie is the heart and soul of the story. The author pays close attention to developing his character and gives a voice to the other characters in the story allowing them to help mold and shape him.

Author's website with a book trailer:
http://rjpalacio.com/

Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty

Heppermann, C. (2014). Poisoned apples: Poems for you, my pretty. New York: Greenwillow Books.

About the book: Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty is on the 2016 Pick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. The book is a collection of poems about parallel girls lives with fairy tales. In the author's notes you learn that fairy tales were believed to have been written or told as fantastic stories but under laying was some truth. Christine Heppermann decided to use the back drop of fairy tales to tell the stories of girls lives of today. Each poem is paired with a photograph that adds an interesting element to the poem. Some topics that the poems cover are anorexia, body image, popularity, girlfriends, relationships with boys, beauty, love and giving voice to possible inner thoughts that are not kind.  A list of photographs is at the end of the book giving credit to the photo and its name. Also an index of first lines is provided in the back of the book.

Readers Response: Finding poems that connect with YA's can be difficult. The collection of simple poems in Poisoned Apples is a wonderful resource to help bridge the path from childhood poetry to more classics. The way the author interweaves fairy tales and modern girls today creating a variant. For Example, "Blow Your House In" tells the story of a girl dealing with the grip that anorexia is taking on her life and the slow weak changes that happen, told through the three little pigs houses and the big bad wolf.

Book trailer:
https://youtu.be/sydAHt3jAYM

Humans of New York

Stanton, B. (2013). Humans of New York. New York: St. Martin's Press.

About the book: Humans of New York (HONY) is a 2015 quick picks for reluctant young adult readers. The book is a combination of pictures taken by photographer Brandon Stanton in New York. He set out on his journey of becoming a photographer in 2010. He wanted to take pictures of interesting things in cities. He published his pictures on Facebook and Tumblr. Soon he started interviewing his subjects and posting a blurb with the picture to tell their story. He does not post lots of words, sometimes quotes, sometimes just a few words and other times a brief story. The book HONY is a collection of 3 years of work, walking the streets of New York, taking portraits of people and finding out their story.

Readers Response: I can see how this book was on the 2015 Quick Picks list for Reluctant Readers. The book uses interesting photographs to tell short snap shots into people's lives. The book provides characteristics that YA readers enjoy - it is nonfiction, provides humor and it has an interesting cover. Also allowing for enjoyment with out the pressure of reading a long book. A reluctant reader can pick up the book and read a few pages even though it is several hundred pages long. Having the ability to come back to it another time and read some more with out being confused or lost in the story.

Learn more about Brandon Stanton's photos of people in different places at the HONY website:

http://www.humansofnewyork.com/

It's Perfectly Normal

Harris, R. (1994). It's perfectly normal. Cambridge, Massachusetts:Candlewick Press.

About the book: It's Perfectly Normal is an information book about growing up. The book touches on several important topics for adolescent boys and girls. The topic of sexuality is very sensitive in our culture. The "our body" part of the book has some graphic pictures, but important information to fully inform young people about their body and the opposite sex. I feel the author shares this very sensitive information in a non judgmental way. The book contains very pertinent information to help young people understand their changes and be more empathetic to people who are different from them. People struggle to share accurate information with young people about sex and sexual development. The books preface has an over whelming amount of respected people from the field of human development endorsing the content of the book. The preface also has two pages of respectable book review sources sharing positive reviews. The book also has a very detailed table of contents and an index. The author writes the information in a nonjudgmental, matter of fact manner, with out stereotypes. At times the book attempts to keep stereotypes from developing in young adolescent's mind sets.

Readers Response: The audience of the book is children who are curious about their changing bodies and about human sexuality. It's Perfectly Normal would be a great resource to add to a lesson in health class about human sexuality. Another way the book could be used is by informing parents about it when communicating during the puberty video/talks that happen in upper elementary and middle school. The topic of sexual decision making is very balanced providing postponement, abstinence and birth control options.

Enchanted Air Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir

Engle, M. (2015). Enchanted air two cultures, two wings: A memoir. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

About the book: Margarita Engle wrote a memoir about her childhood. She is part Cuban and American. During her early childhood she remembers visiting the beautiful island of Cuba that her mother's family lives. While in Cuba she felt adventurous and free. As she got older the visits to Cuba became fewer and fewer. The cold war was happening, and the US stopped all US citizens from traveling to Cuba. Margarita turned to books and literature to explore new places and their freedoms. She always felt torn between her two nationalities. She tells stories about family vacations to Mexico, in the US, and Europe during her childhood. The book also goes through a timeline of the Cuban and US conflict from the eyes of a child. 

Readers Response: In Enchanted Air the history of the Cold War and the conflict between Cuba and the US are shared from 1945 to 2014. In the back of the book the author has included a more formal timeline of this time period. The memoir is written in poetic verse which adds rhythm and great figurative language in her descriptions of events from her past. Enchanted Air was a finalist in the 2016 Excellence in Non-Fiction Award.

El Deafo

Bell, C. (2014). El deafo. New York: Amulet Books.

About the book: The graphic novel is about a little girl who gets sick at the age of 4 and becomes deaf. The little girl is the author, Cece Bell, and she tells her childhood story through a bunny cartoon. In the beginning her hearing aid hung around her neck and had cords that attached to her ears. Simple conversations could be frustrating because it sounded like being under water. She attended a school for the hearing impaired and started to be able to read lips, and gestures. People did not understand her disability and they would do things they thought were helping, but it only made her feel sad and left out. Over time she upgrades to newer versions of the hearing devices. Her favorite was the Phonic Ear. While wearing it at school the teacher had a microphone. Cece could hear the teacher anywhere in the building. Friendships and relationships are hard for her. She pretends in her head that she is El Deafo who is not a push over. Eventually she starts to use her uniqueness as something powerful that she is proud, learns to over come obstacles.

Readers Response: El Deafo is a Newberry Honor Winner and a Kirkus Prize Finalist. Her feelings about what it was like to grow up with a disability is portrayed in the book. CeCe pretends to be a super hero with super hearing powers, which puts a unique twist on this autobiographical novel. Her character as the bunny brings entertainment to her life story. 

George

Gino, A. (2015). George. New York: Scholastic Press.

About the book: George is a book that looks at a topic that is not widely discussed. The author Alex Gino presents the topic in a very innocent and tasteful manner. George is a transgender child in fourth grade. He is in love with the character Charlotte in Charlotte's Web. He dreams of playing the part of the glorious spider, but it is a part set aside for girls. George has a best friend Kelly who eventually discovers his secret and supports him/her. At the end of the story George is making small strides to become the girl that he feels he is. Kelly provides him/her the opportunity to spend the day as a girl. George or Melissa as he refers to himself, has one of the best days of her life at the end of the story.

Readers Response: According to Havighurst's theory of developmental tasks, George would be an excellent book to provide a YA who is working on the task of "defining their appropriate sex roles." To find out more information on transgender children and youth visit 

http://www.hrc.org/explore/topic/transgender-children-youth

Brown Girl Dreaming

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books.

About the book: Jacqueline Woodson tells the story of her childhood from her perspective during the Civil Rights movement. She tells about her time in Ohio, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York. Her mother moves the her and her siblings to South Carolina to live with her grandparents. While living with her grandparents she is brought up in the Jehovah Witness faith. She has a special relationship with her grandfather. Her mother leaves the kids and sets out to make them a life in New York. When her mother returns to take the kids to New York, Jacqueline is excited to be with her mother again but nervous about the change. Her mother has another baby and he becomes ill from eating lead paint. She tries to understand the ways of the world around her. Throughout the book you learn that she always wanted to be a writer of poetry, even though learning how to read was a struggle for her. She has written the book in poetic verse, which provides a different twist on the Biography format which tells the story in a fast passed entertaining way.

Readers Response: Brown Girl Dreaming is a unique book. The book can be used to reflect on history during the civil rights movement. The books is also written in poetic verse which can make it very useful during poetry units. The amount of culture that is shared in this book which includes single parents, living with grandparents without a parent, poverty, religion affiliation (Jehovah's Witness), strong African American female all lends this book to being a great book that could be recommended to YA to help in creating a lifetime reader through developing the stage of reading autobiographically. 

Steve Jobs: Insanely Great

Hartland, J. (2015). Steve Jobs: Insanely great. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.

About the book: Steve Jobs life story is told in this graphic biography. He grew up in what is now Silicon Valley, California. From an early age Steve enjoyed tinkering and exploring the way materials work. He was not a conventional learner. School was boring and not challenging. He preferred to do nontraditional learning on his own terms at home. He built the first Apple computer in 1976, and continued to want to make a better product over the next 3 decades. He had business partners throughout his life, they did not always see the same vision. Steve always stayed true to his vision (or followed his intuition) even if it was not the best business decision. Steve Jobs started the following companies - Apple, Next, and Pixar. He died of cancer in 2011. The last products from this visionaries imagination have changed the way we interact with the word: the iPhone and the iPad.

Readers Response: The biography is presented in a graphic novel format, which helps draw the reader to the story. The illustrations help in telling the story of the eccentric, genius Steve Jobs life. Readers will learn about the evolution of technology from the 1960's to the 2000's, adding some information text into the story. The author includes a table of contents, a bibliography and a notes section in the book. This book is also on the New York Times Bestseller List.

A Big Guy Took My Ball!

Willems, M. (2013). A big guy took my ball!. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

About the Book

Elephant and Piggie are great friends. Elephants name is Gerald. Piggie tells Gerald about a big ball he has found. Then he complains that someone took the ball from him. Piggie becomes very emotional. Gerald gets all worked up and sets out to stand up for his friend. Until he realizes the guy who took the ball is a "big guy." The whale has the ball and is sad because no one will play with him. Piggie and Gerald decide to make friends and have a fun time playing whale ball.

El Deafo

Bell, C. (2014). El deafo. New York: Abrams.

About the Book

El Deafo is a Newberry Honor Winner and a Kirkus Prize Finalist. The graphic novel is about a little girl who gets sick at the age of 4 and becomes deaf. The little girl is the author and she tells her childhood story through a bunny. Her feelings about what it was like to grow up with a disabilities is portrayed in the book. CeCe pretends to be a super hero with super hearing powers, which puts a unique twist on this autobiographical novel.. 

Similarities and Differences to Love That Dog, Brown Girl Dreaming, Wonderstruck

What makes El Deafo different? -  Autobiography about the author growing up deaf.
Written in the form of a graphic novel with a super hero bunny.

     What are some similarities between the 4 books? - All four books have won multiple literary awards. The audience for all the books is the middle grades, 3-8. Each books premise is based on real world issues (realistic fiction)

What might appeal to a reader in “your library”?

A reader in my library might like: That it is a graphic novel. That is an autobiography. That it incorporates a super hero rabbit. That it is about a child who is different from them, or similar to them (a deaf child). 

How would you sell these books?  I would make a display of graphic novels in the library and include this book. I would ask kids who have read it to write me a short blurb about how it made them feel or what it made them think about. Creating a book review board.