[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Teen Scene April 2009
- From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 7 Apr 2009 08:38:35 -0400
Teen Scene April 2009
"And homeless near a thousand homes I stood,
And near a thousand tables pined and wanted food."
~ William Wordsworth (1770-1850), English poet
New and Recently Released!
Ten Things I Hate about Me - by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Publisher: Orchard Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 1/1/2009
ISBN-13: 9780545050555
ISBN-10: 0545050553
Fiction. Have you ever hidden something about yourself because of what people
might think? Sixteen-year-old Jamilah does it every day. She goes by "Jamie,"
wears blue-tinted contacts, and bleaches her hair so no one at her Australian
high school will guess her Lebanese heritage, or that she is Muslim. Why?
Mostly because the popular students are hateful to anyone they see as
different, and they make crazy assumptions--as if all Muslims "fly planes into
buildings
as a hobby." But living a double life is stressful, and "Jamie" isn't sure how
much longer she can keep it up. Read this funny, realistic novel if you
like stories about people who straddle different worlds.
1968 - by Michael T. Kaufman
Publisher: Flash Point
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 1/6/2009
ISBN-13: 9781596434288
ISBN-10: 1596434287
Nonfiction. 1968 was a watershed year in history, with unrest, turmoil, and
"political divisions and cultural clashes" across the globe. It was the year
when Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated; students
and workers were protesting around the world; and U.S. astronauts became
the first to journey to the far side of the moon. Author Michael T. Kaufman was
a staffer at The New York Times in 1968, and he pinpoints events of particular
importance and shares the personal perspective he gained from writing about
them as they happened. Anyone with an interest in history, political science,
social justice movements, or journalism should read this excellent book.
Wherever Nina Lies - by Lynn Weingarten
Publisher: Point
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 2/1/2009
ISBN-13: 9780545066310
ISBN-10: 054506631X
Fiction. Even though everyone else seems to have given up on finding Ellie
Wrigley's older sister, Nina, who disappeared two years ago, Ellie is always
searching for a clue to where she might be. Then Ellie stumbles across a
drawing of Nina's in a secondhand shop...and there's a phone number worked into
the design. When Sean, the handsome and impulsive guy whom Ellie has just met,
suggests that the two of them go on a road trip to find Nina, Ellie agrees.
Adventure, mystery, false leads, and even a bit of romance follow, and readers
will be as desperate as Ellie to reach the end of Nina's trail.
This Full House - by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Publisher: Bowen Press/HarperTeen
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 2/1/2009
ISBN-13: 9780061583049
ISBN-10: 0061583049
Novel in Verse. In this conclusion to the trilogy that started with Make
Lemonade, smart, hardworking LaVaughn is still determined to make it to college
and out of the projects. While continuing to babysit her friend Jolly's two
children, LaVaughn also attended summer science classes for two years running
and, as a result, lands a spot in the WIMS, or Women in Medical Science,
after-school program. A bright future looks more certain for LaVaughn than ever,
but when a shocking secret that touches the lives of people close to her is
revealed, she has to struggle to decide--and do--what's right.
Flygirl - by Sherri L. Smith
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 1/22/2009
ISBN-13: 9780399247095
ISBN-10: 0399247092
Historical Fiction. Ida Mae Jones has wanted to be a pilot ever since her daddy
taught her how to fly his Curtis JN-4 crop-duster. She's passed her written
exam and is saving money for a trip to Chicago to get her pilot's license (it's
1941, and she's been denied a license once, just because she's a woman).
When the U.S. enters World War II and institutes the Women Airforce Service
Pilots program, Ida Mae is determined to enlist, but as an African-American,
she's not allowed. Instead of giving up her dream, light-skinned Ida Mae makes
the excruciatingly difficult choice to pass as a white woman--it's the only
chance she has to serve her country, and to fly.
The Comet's Curse - by Dom Testa
Publisher: Tor
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 1/20/2009
ISBN-13: 9780765321077
ISBN-10: 0765321076
Science Fiction. Astronomers thought that passing through the tail of Comet
Bhaktul would merely provide Earth's residents a stunning lightshow, but the
toxic particles from Bhaktul's wake are now killing everyone over the age of
16. As most scientists race to find a cure, a renegade group sets a desperate
plan in motion, sending more than 200 teenagers into space aboard the ship
Galahad. Those on board must find a habitable planet if the human race is to
survive--but less than a week into their journey, the ship's sensors reveal a
potentially deadly stowaway. With mystery, suspense, and personal drama,
this 1st book in the Galahad series is positively breathtaking.
When You Can't Go Home
Sofi Mendoza's Guide to Getting Lost in Mexico - by Malín Alegría
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 5/22/2007
ISBN-13: 9780689878114
ISBN-10: 0689878117
Fiction. Sofi Mendoza knows that her strict parents would never allow her to go
to Tijuana with her friends for a weekend of partying, so she tells them
she'll be studying at a friend's house but heads for the Mexican border looking
for fun and romance. She and her friends have a wild time, but Sofi finds
herself eager to get back to Orange County. Then she gets stopped at the
border, is informed that her green card is fake, and is prohibited from
re-entering
the U.S. Now what will she do? Although born in Mexico, she can't even speak
Spanish--and who knows whether her parents, who are not legal U.S. citizens,
can find a way to bring her home?
Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir - by Janice Erlbaum
Publisher: Villard Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 3/14/2006
ISBN-13: 9781400064229
ISBN-10: 1400064228
Memoir. When 15-year-old Janice Erlbaum's mother takes her latest crazy,
abusive husband back for the umpteenth time, Janice makes good on the ultimatum
she gave her mom and leaves home--with nowhere else to go. Girlbomb is the
gut-wrenching story of her "halfway homeless" high school years living in first
a homeless shelter, then a draconian group home, and finally with a boyfriend
(with whom she becomes addicted to cocaine). Life on the streets of 1980s
New York City was not pretty, and Erlbaum does not flinch in telling her gritty
and often violent story, but reader, there is hope: she made it out of
her self-destructive cycle alive and is now a successful poet, author, and
teacher.
First Chapter
Ten Mile River - by Paul Griffin
Publisher: Dial Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 6/12/2008
ISBN-13: 9780803732841
ISBN-10: 0803732848
Fiction. "Friends to the end," 15-year-old José and 14-year-old Ray have
survived the foster care system and juvenile hall together, and now they are
squatters
in an abandoned NYC railway station, making their living through petty crime
and occasional semi-legitimate work. Six-foot-three, 260-pound Ray may look
intimidating, but it's streetwise charmer José who's in charge. That's why,
when Ray falls for a sweet and beautiful girl named Trini, he introduces her
to José...and the friends' loyalty to each other is sorely tested for the first
time. Fans of Adam Rapp's 33 Snowfish and The Buffalo Tree or K.L. Going's
Fat Kid Rules the World will not want to miss this story of friendship and life
on the streets.
Theories of Relativity - by Barbara Haworth-Attard
Publisher: Henry Holt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 9/1/2005
ISBN-13: 9780805077902
ISBN-10: 0805077901
Fiction. Kicked out by his no-good mom at 16, Dylan has developed some theories
from living on the streets in Canada. No one gives something without strings
attached. Every fourth person he panhandles will give him money. Shrugging just
may be the most effective means of communication. He even has his own theory
of relativity: "all relatives suck." Dylan's life is a daily struggle to stay
warm and fed, but something keeps him looking for a way out of his grim
existence.
Realistic characters and situations combined with beautiful writing make this
novel about a "throwaway kid" a real page-turner.
Becoming Chloe - by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 3/28/2006
ISBN-13: 9780375832581
ISBN-10: 0375832580
Fiction. Jordy, kicked out of his wealthy family's home for telling them he's
gay, is a squatter in an abandoned building in New York City. Life is rough
for him, but rougher still for others--like Chloe, a homeless waif he rescues
from a rapist one night. Jordy and Chloe decide to leave the city together
in search of safety, sanity, and even some of the beauty the world is supposed
to possess. This is the story of their trip across America--hitching, biking,
on buses, and in pickups--from Niagara Falls to Big Sur. For a similar but
grittier story about homeless L.A. teens who create their own kind of family,
read Almost Home by Jessica Blank.
First Chapter
Tomorrow, Maybe - by Brian James
Publisher: PUSH
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 2/1/2003
ISBN-13: 9780439490351
ISBN-10: 0439490359
Fiction. Chan has been living on the streets of New York City for two years
now, and it's sometimes hard for her to remember who she is and how she got
there. It seems ages since her father married the proverbial wicked stepmother
and Chan, whose real name is Gretchen, ran away from home. Now she survives
the same way all the other streetkids do, by stealing, begging, and taking
shelter in whatever smelly rathole she can find. Then a little girl named
Elizabeth,
only 11, shows up at Chan's latest squat, and Chan feels the need to protect
her--but a rough life only gets rougher when you have someone to care about.
Tomorrow, Maybe is an honest, heartbreaking story that you won't soon forget.
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