[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Teen Scene December 2008
- From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 06:30:33 -0500
Teen Scene December 2008
"Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own." ~
William Hazlitt (1778-1830), English essayist and literary critic
New and Recently Released!
Graceling - by Kristin Cashore
Publisher: Harcourt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/1/2008
ISBN: 9780152063962
ISBN-10: 015206396X
Fantasy. With her one blue eye and one green eye, young Lady Katsa is easy for
citizens of the Seven Kingdoms to recognize as a Graceling--a person born
with an extraordinary magical gift. Katsa's gift is supreme fighting ability,
and her uncle, tyrannical King Randa, has enlisted her to torture (and sometimes
kill) those who cross him. But she despises doing her uncle's dirty work and
has formed a council that works for justice in secret. Then she meets Po,
a prince with a Grace equal to her own, who may convince Katsa that she
can--and must--openly defy the King. This stirring tale of adventure and romance
is a great choice for fans of the Twilight novels.
First Chapter
The Hunger Games - by Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/1/2008
ISBN: 9780439023481
ISBN-10: 0439023483
Science Fiction. After North America was devastated, a new country called Panem
arose from its ashes. Every year the Capitol city of Panem requires each
of its districts to send two "tributes"--one boy and one girl--to participate
in the nationally televised Hunger Games, where competitors fight to the
death until only one tribute remains. This is the story of Katniss Everdeen,
who volunteers to take her younger sister's place as tribute. Katniss doesn't
want to die...will she be forced to kill? Trilogy opener The Hunger Games is a
fantastic, action-packed survival story with deep philosophical insight
(and a bit of romance) and is sure to keep you up late reading to the end.
Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances - by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and
Lauren Myracle
Publisher: Speak
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/2/2008
ISBN: 9780142412145
ISBN-10: 0142412147
Linked Novellas. A freak blizzard in a small Southern town brings the
characters in these three stories together on Christmas Eve, and several
romances
are sparked by a random chain of events. How random, you ask? Well: a train is
stuck on a snow-covered track; 14 cheerleaders are stranded at a Waffle
House; and a fracas over Christmas collectibles leads to jail time. The
authors' fans will love the ironic humor, creative plot shenanigans, and
lifelike
characters in Let it Snow--and even those who tend to steer clear of romance
novels can enjoy these honest, realistic love stories.
No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row - by Susan Kuklin
Publisher: Henry Holt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 8/5/2008
ISBN: 9780805079500
ISBN-10: 0805079505
Nonfiction. In this powerful and eye-opening book, three death-row inmates who
were sentenced as teenagers tell their stories--about how they ended up in
prison and what their lives have been like there--in their own words. In
addition to talking with these prisoners, author Susan Kuklin interviewed their
families and the families of their victims (some of whom are opposed to the
death penalty). Their thoughts are included along with those of anti-death
penalty attorney Bryan Stevenson. For another perspective on life behind bars,
check out novelist Jack Gantos' autobiographical Hole in My Life.
First Chapter
Table of Contents
Cybele's Secret - by Juliet Marillier
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 9/8/2008
ISBN: 9780375933653
ISBN-10: 0375933654
Fantasy. Six years after the events of Wildwood Dancing, scholarly 18-year-old
Paula and her merchant father journey from Transylvania to Istanbul to obtain
a mysterious ancient pagan artifact known as Cybele's Gift. But they aren't the
only ones who want the relic, and their competition in the race to find
it includes some dangerous people indeed. In the end it will be up to Paula,
with her keen intellect and her connection to the Other Kingdom, to find the
relic...all while managing the attentions of both her bodyguard and a
flirtatious pirate. Cybele's Secret will leave fans of romantic fantasy
breathless
for more!
First Chapter
If Only You Knew: A Hotlanta Novel - by Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller
Publisher: Point
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/1/2008
ISBN: 9780545003094
ISBN-10: 0545003091
Fiction. Twin sisters Sydney and Lauren Duke live a privileged life in
Atlanta's swankiest neighborhood and attend an exclusive, predominantly
African-American
private school. They're very different--prim and proper Sydney thinks that
Lauren is a "superficial, scandalous drama queen"--but as much as they may
bicker,
the sisters really need each other now. Details of an unsolved murder from
Hotlanta (the 1st book in this series) are coming out, and the Duke twins
realize
that they are connected to not only the victim, but possibly the murderer as
well. With boyfriend troubles, scandals, and fashion obsessions as its backdrop,
this lightning-fast read should appeal to fans of Gossip Girl or Honey Blonde
Chica.
Great Books You May Have Missed
Life Sucks - by Jessica Abel and Gabe Soria with art by Warren Pleece
Publisher: First Second
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 4/29/2008
ISBN: 9781596433649
ISBN-10: 1596433647
Graphic Novel. Dave works the night shift at 24/7 convenience store the Last
Stop in L.A. But he's no ordinary minimum-wage slave--his boss, vampire Lord
Radu Arisztidescu, turned him into a vampire to make him a better employee. So,
Dave goes about his now-eternal drudgework (rotating the hot dogs, counting
out the register), drinks pilfered plasma from the blood bank (he was a
vegetarian before he was undead and refuses to kill humans), and longs for the
love of Goth-girl Rosa from afar. But when sleazy, psycho surfer-vamp Wes sets
his sights on Rosa, Dave realizes that he'll do anything to protect her.
This fresh and wickedly funny take on vampire lit is sure to hold readers in
its thrall.
A la Carte - by Tanita S. Davis
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 6/10/2008
ISBN: 9780375948152
ISBN-10: 0375948155
Fiction. High-school senior Lainey knows exactly what she wants to be: TV's
first female African-American chef with her own gourmet vegetarian cooking show.
And with help from her mom, a restaurant owner, and St. Julia (Child, of
course!), she just knows that she'll get there. But Lainey isn't so sure about
her relationship with her longtime best friend--and secret crush--Simeon. The
two of them used to be so close, but Sim has changed. While she tries to
decide what to do about him, Lainey finds solace in the kitchen--and readers
get the benefit of her recipes, which close each chapter. If you enjoy this
tasty read and want more fiction with a culinary focus, try Jessie Elliot's
Girls Dinner Club.
First Chapter
Suckerpunch - by David Hernandez
Publisher: HarperTeen
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 1/1/2008
ISBN: 9780061173318
ISBN-10: 0061173312
Fiction. "At the funeral for Oliver's father I daydreamed about killing my
own." So begins this story about 17-year-old Marcus and his younger brother
Enrique.
Their father beat Enrique mercilessly for years--and then took off. Floundering
in the wake of anger that their dad left behind, ladies' man Enrique picks
fights and dumps one girl after another, while shy, artistic Marcus heads
quickly toward being a full-time stoner. When the brothers learn that their
father
wants to come back home, they take a road trip to find him and let him know
that he's far less than welcome. Suckerpunch is a "hard-hitting and profane"
(Kirkus Reviews) novel that addresses the realities of abuse honestly--and
memorably.
First Chapter
The Starry Rift: Tales of New Tomorrows: An Anthology of Original Science
Fiction - edited by Jonathan Strahan
Publisher: Viking
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 4/17/2008
ISBN: 9780670060597
ISBN-10: 0670060593
Short Stories. In these gripping tales, well-known authors (such as Scott
Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, and Kelly Link) imagine
a wide variety of possible future worlds and situations. Covering everything
from the dangers of virtual-reality gaming to space pirates, possession by
aliens, interspecies love, and more, these stories also run the gamut in
tone--from action-oriented to thoughtful to merely mind-blowing. If you aren't
sure whether you even like science fiction, checking out a short story
collection like this one is a great way to test the waters; if you're a diehard
SF fan, don't miss The Starry Rift.
Table of Contents
Skim - by Mariko Tamaki; art by Jillian Tamaki
Publisher: Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 2/28/2008
ISBN: 9780888997531
ISBN-10: 0888997531
Graphic Novel. Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a.k.a. Skim, is a pudgy, would-be Wiccan
goth who attends a private girls' academy in 1990s Toronto, Canada--definitely
someone you'd want to cast as the brooding misfit in an angst-ridden teen
movie. When her one and only friendship goes sour, a classmate's boyfriend
commits
suicide, and the entire school freaks out, Skim sinks into a depression. Then
she realizes that she might have an obsessive crush on Ms. Archer, her English
teacher...which only makes things worse. Stunning artwork (Publishers Weekly
calls it "wondrous"), droll observations, and darkly ironic humor make Skim
a winner for fans of Daniel Clowes' Ghost World.
Climbing the Stairs - by Padma Venkatraman
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 5/1/2008
ISBN: 9780399247460
ISBN-10: 0399247467
Historical Fiction. It's 1941, and 15-year-old Vidya lives with her relatively
progressive parents and her brother in Bombay, India. She plans to attend
college; most of her girlfriends will soon marry men chosen for them by their
families. But after Vidya's father, a follower of Gandhi, is severely beaten
during a rally, Vidya and her family are forced to move into her grandfather's
traditional Brahmin household. There, Vidya's aunt viciously insults them,
all the women are treated like servants, and the possibility of a university
education for Vidya now seems remote. This brilliant portrayal of a young
woman's struggle for independence during a time of great social upheaval will
captivate readers with an interest in Indian history.
Table of Contents
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