Dodger ( 353 Pages)

This is Terry Pratchett's latest book, and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. I've read other books he's written, but not for a long time. Now there are many "British words" in this text, and some of them were completely unfamiliar to me. But as I read, I came to understand almost all of them and that was partly because there is a terrific amount of humor in this book.  Speaking of humor,  the main character is a 17 year old boy by the nae of Dodger. He spends most of his time toshing. Now toshing means going down into the sewers of London and searching for money that has accidentally landed there. It doesn't sound like a great experience because of rats ever presence and because of sewage that accumulates in the sewers....not pleasant at all.  So Dodger is emerging from a sewer one evening during a horrible storm when he hears a coach ride by and a girl jumps out of it screaming. Of course he must save her. This is where the story takes off. It includes Dodger meeting up with Charlie Dickens, and Mr. Disraeli, among other well known characters. But will our students be able to connect with this book? Dodger is a great character. He lives with Solomon, a marvelous Jewish man who knows so much, and cares so much for Dodger. I am not doing the book justice. I giggled when Dodger said, "No Brit would ever say, " I think, therefore I am." However, he might say, "I think, therefore I am....I think." or how about this quote, " if you are going to be a successful urchin, you need to study how to urch."(p.78) Ha! I loved it. I'd really like some of you to get hold of this book and let me know what you think of it! PLEASE!!

The Girl Who Was On Fire (261 Pages)

This is a book that teachers might want to use as a series of discussions about the Hunger Games. 16 YA authors have contributed to this book, and they cover a wide territory of ideas. There is a chapter about the political messages in The Hunger Games; there is a chapter explaining  the importance and meaning of the characters' names in The Hunger Games; there is a chapter about the importance of fashion  in The Hunger Games; there is a chapter explaining "Game Theory" in The Hunger Games; and there is a chapter on the scientific information in The Hunger Games! SO, each chapter is an essay written by various writers about the ideas they formed from reading this series of books by Suzanne Collins. I leave it to each of you to decide whether your students can handle reading this book. It could really be fun to have different students each take a different chapter and bring it to the attention of the class as a panel discussion....You could do much with this book. I found it fascinating! The book is edited by Leah Wilson, and although I was only familiar with a few of the authors, their writing is wonderful. Wouldn't this make an interesting "cross curriculum" piece of work? Can you see a panel consisting of a science teacher, a social studies teacher, an English teacher, a math teacher, an art teacher, and a phys ed teacher- each taking a different section of the book to discuss with the students? WOW! Other teachers read for enjoyment??? Who knew?!

Reached (512 Pages)

Reached is the third book in Ally Condie's Matched,  and Crossed series. Those readers who met and loved Cassia, Xander, and Ky will find this book a wonderful conclusion to the trilogy. A plague has manifested itself throughout the Society and Rising communities. Cassia, as a talented sorter, and Xander as a talented physic, conspire to find a cure as the plague mutates, and Ki becomes a victim of the mutation. Those infected with the mutation are called "the still" which appears to be another name for a coma. They do not move; their eyes remain open, yet they don't appear to see; they don't talk; and the physics are not sure if they can hear, and then they begin to die. Cassia and Xander work feverishly to find a cure and to save Ky's life. But there are obstacles in their way. Readers will find themselves on the edge of their seats as they root for Cassia and Xander to succeed.

Pinned (228Pages)

Sharon Flake, author of The Skin I'm In and other wonderful reads (Including one of my favorites- Bang!), has written a text about a young, high school girl who is an outstanding wrestler, but unable to read. She falls in love with with a brilliant high school boy who was born without legs and as a result is wheel chair bound. Told in alternating chapters, Autumn and Adonis, relate the story of Autumn's success in wrestling and failure in reading. Adonis has rather rigid beliefs in what is right and what is wrong, but he is the manager of the wrestling team, and a volunteer in the school library. Autumn's difficulty in learning to read was made clearer when her parents acknowledged that they too could not read. But they knew how important reading is and how it effects every subject. As a result, they tell Autumn she must be off the wrestling team until she brings up her grades. They try to make her read with them every night. In spite of a major temper tantrum, Autumn is off the team. Now it is up to her to do something about her education. One thing to notice in this read is that Autumn's dialogue is spoken in the way many African Americans speak. This could be helpful for African American students. To see two black students and realize that one speaks flawlessly while the other speaks in what often sounds like slang, might be worth some discussion with kids.

Burning Blue (291 Pages)

I got this book, because I have loved so much of Paul Griffin's writing. Ten Mile River, and Stay With Me were both outstanding reads. In this book, Griffin takes a different path and focuses on the meaning of beauty. This was not my favorite read, although I think there are YA readers who will enjoy it. It does create some interesting characters, as well as conflicts, and emphasizes the idea of beauty being on the inside as well as the outside. Nicole Castro is the most beautiful, smartest, most popular girl in her high school. She's a great athlete, and if that's not enough; she's really nice.  One day while hurrying to a class, someone throws acid in her face. In addition to horribly burning her skin on one side, the acid also takes away her sight in one eye. Who would do such a thing? This is what Jay Nazzaro, a brilliant, if somewhat nerdy, student in her class decides to find out. Because he has incredible hacking skills (is that an oxymoron?) he slowly uncovers the person(s) responsible.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (213 Pages)

I decided to reread this book for two reasons: 1) it has just been made into a motion picture and 2) I hadn't read it since 1999. Charlie is probably a little nerdy; he's certainly naive. Author Stephen Chbosky introduces the reader to some of the many obstacles in a teen's introduction to the rough waters of high school. Charlie becomes friends with two people, Patrick and Sam, who are part of the "in crowd". They are step brother and step sister, and Charlie is infatuated with Sam- even knowing he hasn't got a prayer of the feeling being mutual. Through letters written to "Dear Friend" Charlie communicates his feelings about his family, his friends, about sex, drugs, and school. He learns that at least one teacher recognizes him as being brilliant, and throughout the book there are references to the many books the teacher gives him to read and discuss with him. It's an interesting book- one that I think many of our students will enjoy. Some parents may voice concern- it is one of the most contested books in the YA category. SO, teachers, remember to offer it as a "choice read" and that will not only protect you, if it becomes a contested topic, simply tell the student to choose a different book. (Of course, this will only make the book much more desirable to the student(s)!

The Kill Order (327 Pages + Top Secret Section)

This newest book by James Dashner is billed as the prequel to his book The Maze Runner. I didn't read that series, but found this book to be an oddly compelling read. The setting is the Eastern United States at some time in the future. Sun flares have caused death and destruction to much of the country, and if that was not enough, a group of adult "leaders" have decided that if the human race has even a slight chance of being saved then there needs to be an effective way for selected parts of the population to be eliminated! The solution is to shoot a powerful virus at those people, which is supposed to cause their brains to shut down as they quickly go crazy, unaware that they are dying.  But what happens if the mutates? What happens if some of the children are immune to it? And what happens if two teens, Mark and Trina, are convinced that they can save people from this horrible descent into mental hell? There is a prologue and an epilogue AND a "Secret Section" after the epilogue. Dashner lives in the Rocky Mountains and there were times as I read this book that I wondered if he had eaten one too many pot brownies! (Not that that's necessarily a bad thing!) You read it and decide!