Pretties

Westerfeld, Scott. Pretties. ISBN-10: 0689865398, ISBN-13: 9780689865392. Simon Pulse. 2005.

Summary
Tally is now a Pretty… finally. Her face, her body, her life are all perfect, but in the back recesses of her mind she feels like she is forgetting something. When a message from her past arrives, she is reminded about the ugliness that hides beneath the perfect life of a Pretty. Again, she is at the mercy of the Specials and has to be make some dangerous decisions about her future

Critical Evaluation
In the second book of The Uglies series, readers will be happy to meet up with Tally as she has finally become a Pretty and is living her perfect life to the hilt—hot boyfriend, lots of friends and the best parties. But when her Ugly past catches up with her and reminds her of why she questioned becoming a Pretty, the plot thickens because any change in her behavior would cause the Specials to pay attention and watch her closely. The Specials don't want her to know what she already knows, and they will do whatever it takes to "help" her forget. Readers of the Uglies and Pretties will be ready to delve into the third book in the series—The Specials—to see where the action-packed story goes from here.

Reader's Annotation
Now Tally is a Pretty, and enjoying the Pretty lifestyle. But she is going to come to remember that being a Pretty is ugly business, especially when the Specials get involved. The thrilling second book in the series will only get readers even more excited for the next book.

About the Author
Texas native, Scott Westerfeld, is the author of short stories, five adult novels, and four different series for young adults: The Midnighters, The Peeps, The Leviathan and The Uglies. The Midnighters is about a town where for one hour a day—at midnight, of course—very dark things occur. The science fiction author says that The Peeps series isn't actually a series, but three stand-alone titles (So Yesterday, Peeps and The Last Days) all set in present day New York and deal with vampires, parasites and consumerism. The Leviathan series (Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath) is Westerfeld's newest series and falls in the steampunk genre with an alternate version of the events from World War I. The Uglies series began as a trilogy but now has ended with four books (The Uglies, The Pretties, The Specials and The Extras) and an insider's guide (Bogus to Bubbly).

The author, who chooses to live in perpetual summer, splits his time in New York City and Australia with his wife, author Justine Larbalestier. Westerfeld was educated at the Arts Magnet High School in Dallas, TX, Vassar College for a degree in Philosophy and did some graduate work in Performance Studies at New York University. Prior to writing his own novels, he spent time as a factory worker, substitute teacher, textbook editor, software designer and ghost writer for other novelists.

Genre
Science Fiction
Friendship

Challenges
n/a

Curriculum Ties
Sociology: futuristic societies

Booktalking Ideas
You have everything, the perfect boy/girlfriend, popularity, a closet of awesome clothes to wear to all of the parties you go to, would you risk all of it to know the truth about what being a perfect person actually means…

Awards
n/a

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
Like I said, I'm not a big fan of science fiction; but after reading The Uglies, I had to know what happened!!

Deadline

Crutcher, Chris. Deadline. ISBN-10: 0060850914, ISBN-13: 9780060850913. Greenwillow Books. 2010.

Summary
Ben is going to die. Not some day, but within the year. He's decided to keep that "little" secret to himself. Armed with this knowledge, he's decided that he's going to live the last months of his life to the absolute fullest—he's going to give up the safety of cross-country for the dangers and glory of football, he's going to speak up in class and press his opinions, and most importantly, he's going to ask the gorgeous Dallas Suzuki out on a date, rather than love her from afar. Unfortunately, not everything goes exactly to Ben's plans. He learns that keeping secrets isn't necessarily the best method to keep from hurting people.

Critical Evaluation
Deadline is a touching book that addresses the question of what would you do if you knew you had nothing to lose. Ben wants to make the most of his last days. While he enjoys the chances he's taking, he sees that withholding the truth to those he loves the most, hurts them just as much as the truth could. Young adults will like the idea Ben's philosophy of "having nothing to lose" during his last days, and will see how honesty improves Ben's short life. It's a book that could be very sad, and whereas it is sad, it's also got humor at work at the same time.

Reader's Annotation
Deadline is a book about living one's life to the fullest, as Ben is faced with his death during his senior year of high school.

About the Author
Chris Crutcher one of those rarities: an Idaho author. He was raised near Boise, in a small logging town that is similar to the town of Trout that appears in some of his novels. He holds a degrees in psychology and sociology, and a teaching certificate. He's taught in California and Washington, where he ending his teaching career at an alternative school for at-risk kids. He then started another career as a therapist and child protection advocate while looking for a way to help support his writing habit in Spokane.

He's still in Spokane, and he relies heavily on the experiences as a teacher and family therapist to give his fiction life. His writing style brings reality to the forefront with amazing humor. He's written ten novels for young adults in the last three decades; as well as a small series called Stotan, a short story collection, Athletic Shorts and a memoir, King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography. He is also often challenged and/or banned due to the real subjects of which he writes and the real language of teens. His book Whale Talk (2001) deals with issues of child abuse and drug abuse, and was 41^st on the American Library Association of the Top 100 Banned/Challenged books for the last decade. Coming in at 44^th on the same list, is his collection of short stories (Athletic Shorts, 1991), and at 85 is Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes (1993).

Crutcher was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award for a lifetime contribution to young adult literature in 2000.

Genre
Death/Dying
Frienship
Boys/Men

Challeneges
Death
Sexual Abuse
Language

Curriculum Ties
no applications

Booktalking Ideas
If you knew you had a fatal condition, would you tell everyone or would you keep it to yourself…
If you knew you had one year to live, what would you do…

Awards
n/a

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
I heard Chris Crutcher speak at the Idaho Library conference, and couldn't believe I had never read his books.

More Information:
American Library Association. http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/2000_2009/index.cfm

The Pigman

Zindel, Paul. The Pigman. ISBN-10: 0553263218, ISBN-13: 9780553263213. Batnam Books. 1983.

Summary
Two pranksters, John and Lorraine, meet Mr. Pignati while trying to prank him out of ten dollars for the fictitious "L&J Fund." When they go to collect their money from the Pigman, a relationship is started as the teens realize that the old, bald fat man is all alone. Mr. Pignati is more than happy to take on the role as a father-figure to the jaded, bored and alienated teens. Sadly, he isn't well, and suffers a heart attack while skating with the teens. John and Lorraine betray him by having a party in his house and the man's prized possessions are destroyed. Learning that John and Lorraine are responsible for betrayal, Mr. Pignati has another heart attack, this time a fatal one.

Critical Evaluation
This novel was first published in 1968, and yet its story still stands true. John and Lorraine learn that life isn't meaningless when there is love. That is the legacy that was left to them by their friend Mr. Pignati. Unfortunately, they learned it too late and promise to tell the story of their friendship with the Pigman as honestly as they can. Mr. Pignati was a lonely old man they tried to con out of some money for a prank to entertain their bored lives. Quickly he embraced them as friends, and his love for life flows from him onto the teens. Yet, as teens can be, they are selfish and betrayed Mr. Pignati by having a party while housesitting his home. The party gets out of hand, and the Pigman's prized possessions are destroyed—his dead wife's collection of pigs. Realizing that his friends, John and Lorraine, betrayed him and learning of the coinciding death of his favorite zoo animal—a cantankerous baboon, he's pushed over the edge, and dies from another heart attack. Young adult readers will hopefully grasp on to this thought: Our life would be what we made of it—nothing more, nothing less. Adults will perhaps read this and think badly of the teens because they may have forgotten that being a teen is being selfish. All readers will love Mr. Pignati for his ability to love.

Reader's Annotation
John and Lorraine tell the story of how they meet and strike up a friendship with a bald, fat, old, lonely man, the Pigman. Contracted to tell only they facts, they talk about the Pigman's ability to love even the most difficult people/creatures and how the two of them betrayed that love and faith.

About the Author
Paul Zindel was trained as a chemist at Wagner College in Staten Island, worked as a technical writer for about six months, and then moved to the role as a teacher. Inspired by with his time with mentor Edward Albee, Zindel began writing plays in college and continued to do so through the decade he taught high school chemistry and physics. His first staged play was "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds."* The play was seen by a book editor at Harper & Row, who encouraged Zindel to write his first book, The Pigman in 1968. In 1969, he quit teaching to write more books for young adults. With The Pigman, he used his own experiences as a teen to convey the way teens think and feel. That was the key to his success, and what he continued to do in his honest efforts to reach out young adult readers in ways the books being published for them at the time were not doing.

The Pigman started Zindel on a prolific career of writing. He published over 50 books for young adults and children. There are a couple series, The Freaky Facts Club and P.C. Hawke in addition to several novels, plays and a memoir. Notably, there is sequel to The Pigman, The Pigman's Legacy and The Pigman and Me, a memoir that recalls the material in Zindel's life experiences that fueled his writing for young adults; as well as other well known titles such as My Darling, My Hamburger, Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball and The Girl Who Wanted a Boy. The author died in 2003, ending a career that spanned over 30 years.

Genre
Friendship
Adolescence

Challenges
Teen Angst

Curriculum Ties
n/a

Booktalking Ideas
If you betrayed one of your dearest friends, would you be able to stand up and be honest about the betrayal…
What do you think your legacy will be when you leave this school? Or what do you want your legacy to be when you leave college? Or even later in life…

Awards
American Library Association's Notable Children's Books 1940-1970
American Library Association's Best of the Best Young Adult Books 1966-1968
The Horn Book's Fanfare Honor List (1969)
New York Times' Outstanding Children's Book (1968)

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
I was in eighth grade when my school librarian gave me The Pigman, and I remember liking it. I don't think it made as much of an impact on me then, as it did when I reread it now.

*The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds was made into a movie directed by Paul Newman and starring Joanne Woodward

Uglies

Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. ISBN-10: 0689865384, ISBN-13: 9780689865381. Simon Pulse. 2005.

Summary
There are "Uglies" and then there are "Pretties." Luckily, everybody gets to be a Pretty when they turn 16. Tally and Shay are about to turn 16, about to have their Pretty operation. But Shay has been telling Tally about people purposely who have run away to escape the Pretty operation. Shay tells her that she is going to runaway and wants Talley to come away too. Tally can't believe that anyone would not want to be a Pretty, says goodbye to Shay and looks forward to her birthday. But Shay's disappearance didn't go by unnoticed by the Specials, because it is the Specials who force Tally to find Shay outside the city and bring her back before they will make Tally a Pretty. The decision Tally makes doesn't just affect her, or her and Shay but all of the others who chose to not become a Pretty.

Critical Evaluation
Tally, an Ugly, has been waiting to be turned into a Pretty just like any Ugly. However in the last weeks prior to her birthday, she learns about people who have ran away to escape the operation to make them a Pretty. This concept is so foreign to Tally, she doesn't really give it any consideration. When her friend disappears the authorities manipulate Tally to make a decision: help them find the band of rebels or never become a Pretty. Tally must come to terms with betraying her friend, as well as the rest of the rebels who have resisted the Pretty operation. The decision becomes especially difficult for Tally when she is told that besides being altered on the outside, the operation alters people's brains. The betrayal becomes unthinkable when her feelings get in the way. Readers will be drawn into the partying Pretty lifestyle, but will quickly see that being a Pretty isn't as pretty as it looks.

Reader's Annotation
If everyone was pretty there would be no jealousy or hatred or war because there'd be nothing left to fight over. However, Tally learns that being a Pretty has some very real and very ugly repercussions.

About the Author
Texas native, Scott Westerfeld, is the author of short stories, five adult novels, and four different series for young adults: The Midnighters, The Peeps, the Leviathan and The Uglies series. The Midnighters is about a town where for one hour a day—at midnight, of course—very dark things occur. The science fiction author says that The Peeps series is actually not a series, but three stand-alone titles (So Yesterday, Peeps and The Last Days) that are all set in present day New York and deal with vampires, parasites and consumerism. The Leviathan series (Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath) is his newest series and falls in the steampunk genre with an alternate version of the events from World War I. The Uglies series began as a trilogy but now has ended with four books (The Uglies, The Pretties, The Specials and The Extras) and an insider's guide (Bogus to Bubbly).

The author, who chooses to live in perpetual summer, splits his time in New York City and Australia with his wife, author Justine Larbalestier. Westerfeld was educated at the Arts Magnet High School in Dallas, TX, Vassar College for a degree in Philosophy and has done some graduate work in Performance Studies at New York University. Prior to writing his own novels, he spent time as a factory worker, substitute teacher, textbook editor, software designer and ghost writer for other novelists.

Genre
Science Fiction
Friendship

Challenges
n/a

Curriculum Ties
n/a

Booktalking Ideas
If given the option to look like gorgeous and perfect like everyone else, or live in secret with your flaws—which would you chose…

Awards
n/a

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
I'm not a big fan of science fiction, but this series intrigued me and made me think of a quote from one of my favorite movies, The Incredibles: if everyone is a super… then no one is. Same thing here...

Before I Fall

Oliver, Lauren. Before I Fall. ISBN-10: 006172680x, ISBN-13: 9780061726804. HarperCollins. 2010.

Summary
Samantha is one of those popular girls, with perfect boyfriends and amazing friends, but she's also one of those girls so easy to hate because she is also very self-centered and ruthlessly mean. Unfortunately, she's dead. It seems her perfect life came to an abrupt end and she is given a chance—seven chances, actually—to change things in her life, to change the events that lead up to her death, and maybe to change her legacy for those she leaves behind.

Critical Evaluation
In the beginning of Before I Fall, Samantha is too perfect and too plastic. Most young adult readers will know someone like her, and will probably hate her. And that's why they should keep reading this book because, after her death, Samantha get a chance to become a better sister, better daughter, better person, as well as becoming a person that can die knowing she made better choices on the second, third… seventh time around. Readers will enjoy watching her mature and learn as her week progresses.

Reader's Annotation
Samantha is about to live the last day of her life again, and again. In one week, she will seduce a teacher, realize her dreamy boyfriend is less-than-dreamy, spend a ton of money using her parent's credit card, spend the day with her little sister and understand how actions and the reactions eventually lead-up to her death.

About the Author
Lauren Oliver is a person, and the actual writing of novels came after she received her Master's in Fine Arts from New York University. She worked in a major publishing house in New York before her debut novel, Before I Fall, was published in 2010. Oliver has written an second novel, Delirium, and it's slated to be released in early 2011.

Genre
Death/Dying
Girls/Women
Friendship

Challeneges
Alcohol Abuse
Sexual Content
Language

Curriculum Ties
n/a

Booktalking Ideas
How would you handle knowing you died, and had to live your last day over and over…
If you could one day over and over, what day would it be and what would you do different..

Awards
Silver Prize in the German Audiences Book Award (2010)

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
Before I Fall was "recommended" to me by a young adult reader.

Second Helpings

McCafferty, Megan. Second Helpings. Performers: ISBN-10 0609807919, ISBN-13 9780609807910. Three Rivers Press. 2003.

Summary
Second Helpings is obviously the second book in the Jessica Darling series. This sequel picks up with Jessica as a senior, but in addition to her problems with her parents, her sister and her annoying so-called friends, Jess is realizing that high school is almost over and is college looming in her future. Marcus is becoming more of a distracting reality that is becoming harder to ignore. But does he fit into Jess's future, or does she fit into his?

Critical Evaluation
Jessica Darling is back and is as hilarious as ever, and yet is still struggling to cope with her life. Her parents aren't going to pay for college, her sister is newly married and newly pregnant, her so-called friends are still annoying her, she's still missing her best friend Hope… and she's still just as confused over her feelings for the new and improved Marcus. Again, Jess's truthful struggles will strike a chord with young adults who are facing their own high school days coming to an end, as well as those who lived through it and can look back and laugh.

Reader's Annotation
Angst-y Jessica Darling is finishing her high school days, still plagued with the ridiculousness of it, facing college life and still wondering what Marcus is thinking.

About the Author
Megan McCafferty worked for Cosmopolitan as the senior articles editor, and has written for Glamour, CosmoGIRL! and several others before setting down to write. McCafferty, like Jessica, lives in New Jersey.
The Jessica Darling series includes five books, all chronicling Jessica through high school, college and grad school. McCafferty is also working on another book that's set in a dystopian world where only teen girls can reproduce. She has worked as editor and/or contributor on several fiction and non-fiction anthologies, such as Everything I Learned About Being a Girl, I learned from Judy Blume.

Genre
Girls/Women
Dating/Sex

Curriculum Ties
n/a

Booktalking Ideas
Are you ready to leave high school for the unknown-land of college…
At the end of it all, would you change anything about your high school experience…

Challenges
Sexual Content
Language
Parental Angst

Awards
Booklist Editor's Pick for one of the best novels of 2003

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 14+

Why I included this title...
After Sloppy Firsts, I was hooked on the series.

Sloppy Firsts

McCafferty, Megan. Sloppy Firsts. Performers: ISBN-10 0609807900, ISBN-139780609807903. Three Rivers Press. 2001.

Summary
Sloppy Firsts is the first book in the Jessica Darling series, and we meet Jessica as she has been left to face her New Jersey high school without her best friend, Hope. Without Hope, {plenty of irony intended} Jessica has no one to discuss all of her issues like her parents, her sister's wedding, her track meets, stupid school stuff, her other so-called-friends and their boy-craziness… and Marcus Flutie.

Critical Evaluation
Jessica Darling is a hilarious every-girl type of a character because most readers will have had been in her shoes at some point in high school and wear the same battle scars. Watching Jess navigate her way through high school without her best friend, Hope, and her new found feelings for the puzzling and smart Marcus Flutie who worked his way into her thoughts endears her to you. She is full of clever and funny insight, and tells her story with poignant honesty. Young adults will immediately both sympathize and commiserate with this one of a kind heroine!

Reader's Annotation
Jessica Darling travels the perilous days of high school missing her best friend, hanging with her other so-called friends and crushing on one of the last boys she ever thought about.

About the Author
Megan McCafferty worked for Cosmopolitan as the senior articles editor, and has written for Glamour, CosmoGIRL! and several others before setting down to write. McCafferty, like Jessica, lives in New Jersey
The Jessica Darling series includes five books, all chronicling Jessica through high school, college and grad school. McCafferty is also working on another book that's set in a dystopian world where only teen girls can reproduce. She has worked as editor and/or contributor on several fiction and non-fiction anthologies, such as Everything I Learned About Being a Girl, I learned from Judy Blume.

Genre
Girls & Women
Coming of Age

Curriculum Ties
Music: Seattle's Grunge

Booktalking Ideas
How would you tell your best friend that you're crushing on one of the guys that was with her brother when he overdosed…

Challenges
Sexual Content
Language
Parental Angst

Awards
ALA Top 10 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 14+

Why I included this title...
In 2001, I picked this book up because of the lime green cover, and now I chose it because it's one of my favorite series.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Chbosky, Stephen. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. ISBN-10 0671027344, ISBN-13 9780671027346. MTV Books. 1999.

Summary
Charlie is a high school freshman who isn't a super-jock like his brother, or very popular like his sister, and is thought to be a little odd. When he starts high school, he finds himself on the fringe of a social circle. He isn't meant to be on the fringe with Patrick and his step sister, Sam, but hey are seniors, and they adopt Charlie into their lives. Charlie chronicles the escapades he experiences with Patrick, Sam and all of their friends in letters written to an unknown recipient. And through the letters, Charlie talks about his love for Sam, his concern for Patrick and his lover, the drugs and alcohol that help him cope. We also see his downward spiral into depression as the school year winds down, and as all Charlie's friends graduate, move on and leave him alone again.

Critical Evaluation
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age story that is written in an epistolary style. "Charlie" is the said letter writer who lurks in the shadows of his friends as they maneuver through their senior year of high school. As only a freshman, Charlie writes to an anonymous recipient about his friends as the all frequent the late night Rocky Horror Picture Shows, drink alcohol, take drugs, and explore both hetero- and homosexual relationships. Charlie gets caught up in the lives of his friends, and experiences a depressive breakdown as his friends all begin to fade out of his life after their graduation.

Reader's Annotation
Charlie shares what it is like to grow up in high school through a series of letters written from the point of view of the proverbial wallflower.

About the Author
As a native to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Stephen Chbosky graduated from the University of Southern California's Filmic Writing Program, and he's better known for his film and television writing. His film The Four Corners of Nowhere was accepted by the Sundance Film Festival. He's also worked as co-creator producer and writer for the short-lived television show Jericho.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is Stephen Chbosky's first and only novel to date, but he also edited Pieces, an anthology of short stories as well as a hard-to-find Sexaholic. It is said that Chbosky is working on a screenplay for The Perks
of Being a Wallflower.

Genre
Adolescence
Boys/Men
Friendship

Curriculum Ties
n/a

Booktalking Ideas
What would you think if one of your friends wrote about everything you and your friends did in a letter and sent it to someone else to read…

Awards
American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
This is an often challenged book, and I read it for my group presentation.

Parrotfish

Wittlinger, Ellen. Parrotfish. ISBN-10 1416916229, ISBN-13 978416916222. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 2007.

Summary
Angela Katz-McNair has just cut her hair, bought boys clothes and changed her name to Grady. The change to Grady—a guy—seemed very natural and comfortable to him, but Grady is now facing the criticism from his mom, his sister and his best friend. His solace in this world of critics comes from unlikely friends in the form of Sebastian who explains that this transgender change is normal especially in the parrotfish, Kita who might be Grady's first love, and his Dad who just keeps on loving him.

Critical Evaluation
Adolescence is a time for change. But deciding to change genders is less common, but in Parrotfish readers see Angela/Grady's feelings on his change. Readers may not be prepared for the idea of teens making a transgender decision, but will feel for Grady as he boldly defends himself for wanting to be more comfortable in his own skin.

Reader's Annotation
Angela has cut her hair, begun wearing boys' clothes and changed her name to Grady. He's ready for the change, but isn't prepared for other's reaction to him.

About the Author
Ellen Wittlinger was born in Illinois in 1948, and has lived and studied on both coasts as well as in the middle. With a Masters in Fine Arts from Iowa and two fellowship years in the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Wittlinger has produced a book of poetry (Breakers, 1979) and been a playwright, a newspaper write and a children's librarian.

It was as a children's librarian, that Wittlinger started reading young adult books. And after reading them, she thought she could write them too. Her first novel, Lombardo's Law was published in 1993, and she's still writing with her fourteenth book being published in 2010.

Genre
GLBTQ
Friendship

Curriculum Ties
n/a

Booktalking Ideas
How would you respond to your friend if they decided they'd be happier with themselves if they were the opposite sex…

Awards
American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15-19

Why I included this title...
I wouldn't have chosen this title myself, but am very glad to have read it as a requirement for this class.

Little Brother

Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother. ISBN-10 076531983, ISBN-13 9780765319852. Tor Teen. 2008.

Summary
San Francisco is attacked by terrorists, and Marcus and his friends are caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. All of the sudden, an afternoon of skipping school has turned sour for this group of high schooler hackers. They are arrested, detained and caught in a brutal struggle with the Department of Homeland Security, as the DHS has made San Fransico a police state where everyone is a suspect—especially anyone who is smart enough to see through the DHS online privacy invations. Marcus sees a way to expose the travesties of the DHS, but can he and a group of other teen hackers fight back against the government?

Critical Evaluation
Little Brother is George Orwell's 1984 for a new generation. A group of very savvy hackers are skipping school when their lives are changed forever. They are detained and viciously mistreated by the Department of Homeland Security in the name of keeping San Francisco safe from further terrorist attacks. But Marcus and his friends see that it's perhaps the zealots of DHS who are causing much of the panic. Young adult readers who understand the hacker technology will enjoy that aspect of the novel, but there is a strong story to keep other readers gripped until the end of the book.

Reader's Annotation
Marcus is smart, but is he smart enough to fight back against the government who think he's guilty of treason?

About the Author
Cory Doctorow is far more than a Canadian science fiction author. He's a co-founder of a company for software sharing, an activist, blogger, editor of a weblog BoingBoing as well as contributor to The Guardian, Wired and many other websites, magazines and newspapers. He's been nominated for several awards like the Hugo and Nebula, and has won the Locus and Sunburst Awards which celebrates excellence in Canadian Literature.

Maybe many of his post-scarcity ideas come from being raised by extremely motivated activist parents. That idea of practically free good for all and the common threads of digital rights management and file sharing flow through Doctorow's fiction and non-fiction work. He has served on several boards that support his passion, as well as serving in several visiting and virtual teaching positions.

Genre
Science Fiction
Young Men
Friendship

Curriculum Ties
History: Government

Booktalking Ideas
Would you fight back against the government if you felt they were wrong...

How would you rebel against your government if you felt you were wrongly accused…

Awards
American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults

Challenges

Anti-Governement issues

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
Again this is a book I might not have chosen on my own; but, as it was required, I read it and found myself enjoying the story.

More Information
Powells.com.http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780765319852-13

Leftovers

Wiess, Laura. Leftovers. ISBN-10 1416546626, ISBN-13 9781416546627. MTV Books. 2008.

Summary
During the course of a year, Ardith and Blair change from happy ninth-graders to bitter-justice-seeking sophomores. They each tell their side of this heartrending story that involves their parents, their classmates who tease and torment those who are a bit different, and the boys who take whatever they want without facing any real consequences. Blair and Ardith are voices from the growing group of today's teens who are written off and overlooked for not fitting into the norm, or those who are doing the overlooking.

Critical Evaluation
Leftovers is a heartbreaking tale of two girls who are trying to find their place in the world, but find it hard when their worlds are on shaky ground. Blair is a mere accessory to her mother's legal career ambitions, and Ardith is a prude in her parent's free and easy world. At school the girls are ridiculed, and over the course of a year, they seek to find justice in an unjust world. Although, they think they brought fairness, they are just pawns in the bigger picture. Many readers will identify with the feelings of isolation, betrayal and the need for justice.

Reader's Annotation
Blair and Ardith seek revenge and justice from the people in their lives that have betrayed and isolated them.

About the Author
Laura Wiess is a New Jersey native, who now lives in the Endless Mountain region of Pennsylvania. She is the author of critically acclaimed novels often deal with the silent voices of victimized adolescent girls, and their poignant, desperate need for revenge.

Over the years, Wiess has worked at several other jobs before becoming the author of three novels for young adults. It's the times as a bartender and waitress, to which she credits her gathering of customer's stories to add to her own writing material.

Genre
Girls/Women
Friendship

Curriculum Ties
no applications

Booktalking Ideas
What would you do to get back at someone who hurt you…
At what lengths would you go for justice…

Awards
American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults

Challenges
Sexual Content
Alcohol Usage

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
I like the books being published by MTV Books because they seem to be a little more gritty and hard-edged.

More Information
Laura Wiess/Simon & Schuster. http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Laura-Wiess/35363023/author_revealed

The House of Tomorrow

Bognanni, Peter. The House of Tomorrow. ISBN-10 0399156090, ISBN-13 9780399156090. Amy Einhorn Books. 2010.

Summary
After years of isolation with his grandmother in their geodome in the middle of Iowa, Sebastian Pendergast is about to break out. His unlikely liberators come in the form of punk-rock-wannabe Jared Whitcomb and his mom who come to tour the geodome. Sebastian’s eccentric grandmother has kept him in the dome for over eleven years on a steady diet of organic food and the teachings of Buckminster R. Fuller, but when she has a stroke, Sebastian must venture out and maneuver his own course in the real world with the help of Jared, his sister, his mom, punk rock, a stolen bass guitar and a church music competition.

Critical Evaluation
Sebastian and Jared are unlikely friends who have a common need to escape from the controlling women in their lives—Sebastian’s grandmother, and Jared’s mother and sister. They come together through Jared’s insistence that they start a punk rock band and that Sebastian needs to learn to play the {stolen from the church basement} bass guitar. But the music is just a cover for these scared boys to cling to each other as they emerge as young adults. Young adults reading this book will appreciate Jared and Sebastian’s desperate need to break away from parents/grandparents to create their own identity. As a crossover novel, adults will be reminded of the times in their own youth when breaking all of the rules seemed like the only way to survive.

Reader's Annotation
A beat-up mini-van, a stolen bass guitar and punk rock bring on a series of hilarious events bring sheltered Sebastian out to the real world after years of living with his grandmother in a geodome in the middle of Iowa.

About the Author
Peter Bognanni is the author of several short stories, and humor pieces in addition to his novel The House of Tomorrow. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and currently teaches Creative Writing at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN.

And he also played in a high school punk band

Genre
Young Men
Friendship
Death and Dying

Challenges
Parental Angst
Language
Sexual Content

Curriculum Ties
Philosophy: Fuller R. Buckminster

Booktalking Ideas
When you live in a glass geodome are you watching the world go around you from the dome, or is the world watching you in your dome…

Awards
n/a

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
I was given this book at a conference and met the author who made me laugh, so I figured his book would make me laugh too.

Whip It (DVD)

Whip It (DVD). Actors: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis. ASIN: B002VPTJOA. Studio: 20^th Century Fox. DVD release: 2010.

Summary

Whip It is a reference to one of the oldest moves in roller derby. One skater grabs the hand of another skater ahead of her, and that second skater whips the first around using the momentum to propel her to front of the pack for the point. And Whip It is a coming of age story for Texas small town girl, Bliss who needs a little help to propel her out of her small town life with her beauty pageant pushing mom and Texas Longhorns-fan dad.

Critical Evaluation
This movie is more than just roller derby, but it is still very much about roller derby. Bliss is stuck in a small town, in the small town beauty pageant circuit, stuck working at a bbq joint and stuck in the misery of living in a small Texas town. Bliss is smart and sees beyond of the confines of high school, which makes her an every-woman sort of anti-hero for young adults that also find them on the wrong side of the popular.

Drew Barrymore's "girls rule" signature is prevalent in her latest directorial effort. But girls will appreciate how Bliss grows stronger and more confident with the camaraderie of the roller derby; but also be thankful for how Bliss still loves and wants her mother's approval on her own terms, not her mother's.

Reader's Annotation

Small town Bliss finds herself in the world of roller derby in nearby Austin, TX.

Genre

Friendship
Girls/Women

Curriculum Ties
n/a

Booktalking Ideas

Roller derby or beauty pageants… which would you choose?

Awards

n/a

Reading Level/Interest Age

Ages 13+

Why I included this title...

I like Drew Barrymore's movies, and Ellen Page was great in Juno.

Graphic from blogomatic3000.com. Retrieved from http://www.blogomatic3000.com/2009/12/08/dvd-news-whip-it-usr1/ on December 14, 2010.