Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Year Published: 2002
Publisher:
ISBN: 0061139378
Pages: 162
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Mystery, Fantasy
Interest Level:5-9
Reading Level: 5
Personal Rating: 4 Stars
Subjects: Family, ghost

Reader's Annotation: You see yourself in a reflection of a perfect life in your house. Will you be interested of entering it? What if there's no way out?

Summary: Coraline moves with her family to rainy Portland. She kept herself busy by having an adventure in her new house. She discovers a "mirror" life as she walks through a secret door. She finds similar mom and dad and enjoyed the change for a little bit. When she tried to leave, her "new" mom gets really possessive and threatens Coraline and the people that she loves. Coraline saves her family by playing a dangerous game with her "new mom" and eventually sets everyone free, including herself and her family.

Reviews and Awards: ALA Best Book For Young Adults, ALA Booklist, ALA Notable Book For Children, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, IRA Children's Choice Award, School Library Journal Starred Review, Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review for Publishers Weekly, Voice of Youth Advocates, Wilson's Children's Catalog, Wilson's Junior High Catalog

8 Seconds by Jean Ferris

Year Published: 2000
Publisher:Harcourt Inc.
ISBN: 0152023674
Pages: 186
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Drama
Interest Level: 9-12
Reading Level: 5
Subjects: Homosexuality, Prejudice, Rodeo,

Reader's Annotation: What if you find yourself strangely attracted to an older boy who is smart, tough, complicated, gorgeous, and gay? What will you do?

Summary: John Ritchie spends a week at rodeo school where he meets Kit, a handsome and graceful rodeo. After returning from the rodeo school, John finds out that Kit is gay. They meet often during summer and they become close. John realizes that he is develops deeper feelings for Kit and discovers that he is gay. John struggles about his sexuality. He beats up Kit to prove to his friends that he was not gay. John looses his friendship with Kit but accepts sexuality.

Author Information: Jean Ferris was born in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas on January 24, 1939. She received a Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree from Stanford University in speech pathology and audiology. She worked as a secretary and as a clinical audiologist. She and her husband have two grown daughters. She enjoys travel, long walks and author visits.She is best known for her young adult novels.

Awards: Nominee 2000 YALSA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Award Nominee 2000,ALA Michael Prinz Award,ALA Best Book For Young Adults 2002,New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age 2001 Winner, San Diego Book Award for Juvenile Fiction
Author Website: www.jeanferris.com

Giver by Lois Lowry

Year Published: 1993
Publisher: Dell Yearling
ISBN:0440237688
Pages: 179
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Reading Level: 5
Personal Rating: 3 Stars
Interest Level: 5-9
Subject: Utopian society

Reader's Annotation: Do you want to be chosen as the beholder of all the knowledge? What is you learn about everything including events, people and even feelings that pleasant and unpleasant? How will you live your life after learning everything?

Summary: Twelve-year old Jonas receives his assignment as the next Giver. Jonas lives in a perfect society where there is no war, poverty, or family turmoil. In their perfect society, there is no and fear, no hardship, no everyday discontent, no long-term terror. It is protected from all the possible harm and everything is in order.
As Jonas trains from the Giver, he learns of many things that do not exist in their society. The Giver gives him all the memories, both good and bad, and Jonas feels the weight and responsibility of holding all the information and the truth. Jonas also learns about Elsewhere and the Release of the baby in his family. Jonas and the baby escape the perfect society in search for Elsewhere. They face many struggles and difficulties in their journey – starvation, hypothermia and near death experiences. The story ends without really telling whether they survived but they have reached Elsewhere.

Evaluation: An interesting science fiction book about Utopian society where the hero is a typical teenage boy. The book touches on controversial topics such as euthanasia and suicide. Jonas' quest for the world outside his known,perfect society brings a tragic ending.

Awards: ALA Best Book For Young Adults, ALA Notable Book For Children, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, IRA Teacher's Choice Award, National Council For Social Studies Notable Children's Trade, Newbery Medal, NCTE Adventuring With Books, NCTE High Interest-Easy Reading, NCTE Your Reading, Voice of Youth Advocates, Wilson's Children's Catalog, Wilson's High School Catalog, Wilson's Junior High Catalog

Author website: www.loislowry.com

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Year Published: 2007
Publisher: Scholastic Book Service
ISBN: 0545010225
Pages: 759
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Interest Level: 5-9
Reading Level: 6
Personal Rating: 5 Stars
Subjects: School stories, Magic, Wizards,
Reader's Annotation: Where are the Horcruxes? Will Voldemort be defeated? What life awaits Harry Potter as he leaves Hogwarts?

Summary: This is the final book for the Harry Potter series. Harry finds out the truth about Dumbledore’s death and searches for the three objects from the legend of the Deathly Hallows. Voldemort gains more strength as more faithful followers join him to defeat the good wizards including Harry. Meanwhile Harry finds out more about his family and other characters mentioned on the other Harry Potter books. The final battle happens in Hogwarts where all the truth is revealed. Harry’s friends and professors join him to fight the evil Voldermort and his allies.

Evaluation: An interesting conclusion of the popular Harry Potter series. The battle of good and evil finally comes to an end. Reference to spells, wizardry and magic. Some may interpret that the characters and events in the story are promoting Wica and other cult practices.

Reviews and Awards:School Library Journal, Starred Review for Publishers Weekly, Starred Review ALA Booklist, Voice of Youth Advocates, Wilson's Children's Catalog, Wilson's Junior High Catalog

Author Information: J. K. Rowling was born on July 31, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, England. She was educated at Exeter University and has worked as a teacher. The author's full name is Joanne Kathleen Rowling. She is married to Dr. Neil Murray and has two children, a girl named Jessica and a boy named David. Rowling is best known for writing the Harry Potter series. She received an American Book Award in 1999. The first five books in the Harry Potter series have all been ALA Notable Children's Books.

Author website: www.jkrowling.com

Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Year Published: 1989
Viking Penguin
ISBN:0-14-303809-5
Pages: 288
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Drama
Interest Level: 9-12
Reading Level: 6
Personal Rating: 4 Stars
Subjects: Mother-daughter relationship, mothers, death, female friendship, Chinese American Women

Reader's Annotation: Reminiscing your life both the sweet and bitter parts of it. Will you share your story?

Summary: Four Chinese American immigrant families start a club known as “the Joy Luck Club.” They get together and have a feast, tell stories and play a Chinese game called Mahjong. Each of the character shares about their struggles in their lives in separate chapters with lessons to teach. Some of the stories include mother and daughter stories.

Evaluation: Great book about the life journey of Chinese American women. The book cleverly draws interesting characters that tells about the struggles of the Chinese women. Some topics such as rape, abortion, multiple partners and some other Chinese traditions may not be suitable to young readers.
Reviews and Awards: ALA Best Book For Young Adults, New York Times Book Review, Voice of Youth Advocates, Wilson's Fiction Catalog, Wilson's High School Catalog

Author Website: www.amytan.net

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Year Published: 2002
Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.
ISBN: 0316168815
Pages: 328
Price: $18.66 (Library Bound)
Classification: Fiction
Media Format : Book
Genre: Mystery, Romance, Adventure
Interest Level: 9-12
Reading Level: 6
Personal Rating: 5 Stars
Subjects: Murder victims families, Teenage girls, Crimes against, Rape

Reader's Annotation: Will you just watch and wait from heaven if you see your killer get away and your family fall apart because of your death?

Summary: Susie Salmon takes a shortcut home from school. She takes the cornfield route and meets George Harvey. He tricked her to go to the underground den, traps her, rapes her, kills her, dismembers her body and drops them in a sinkhole. Only Susie’s hat and elbow is found. Investigators did not find suspects for the death of Susie so they drop the case. Susie’s family falls apart. Her father goes through depression, her mother having an affair with one of the detectives and her sister feeling abandoned and confused with her sister’s disappearance. As years go by loved ones and friends find clues, sometimes with the help of Susie, from her personal heaven. It took years for them to figure out who killed Susie and by then Harvey is free to harm other girls. His final attempt to rape another lady in a bus depot lead to a freak accident. Harvey got knocked out by a fallen icicle and tumbled down on a ravine to his death.

Evaluation: A chilling book about a teenager's unsolved murder. The author gave some grotesque description of Susie's body being dismembered. A little rape scene was also described in the book.

Reviews and Awards: Library Journal, New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, Wilson's High School Catalog

Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper

Year Published: 1999
Publisher: Antheneum Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780689821806
Pages: 236
Price: $11.26 (Library Bound)
Genre: Romance, Suspense
Interest Level: 9-12
Reading Level: 6
Personal Rating: 3 Stars
Subjects: Internet, School stories, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Fiction

Reader's Annotation: Romiette, an African-American girl, and Julio, a Hispanic boy, discover that they attend the same high school after falling in love on the Internet.

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Julio Montague's parents have moved their family to Cincinnati, OH, in order to get their son out of his gang-ridden high school in Corpus Christi, TX. Romiette Cappelle, also 16, is the daughter of successful African-American parents and the granddaughter of college professors. When these two young people, both from proud heritages, begin a romance, they must deal not only with their parents' prejudices but also with the threats of a local gang called The Family. At times, Romiette and Julio effectively parallels and contemporizes the original story. The young couple meet, not at the Capulets' feast, but in an Internet chat room. Julio's friend, Ben Olsen (read Benvolio), who looks like a punk rocker, has an optimistic and irreverent attitude that balances Julio's passion and volatility. At other times, the allusions to the play are obvious and heavy-handed. Nonetheless, this novel is more than simply a carefully plotted teenage romance.

Review: School Library Journal - 09/01/1999
"A contemporary retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story with a happy, upbeat ending. Draper gives a realistic portrayal of the interactions among high school students as well as their relationships with their parents. The book also examines how gangs can gain power and take control. All of the characters have unique voices and the writing style shifts according to the action. Romiette and Julio would be a wonderful curriculum tie-in book, but it also stands alone as a first-rate novel about contemporary teens."

Evaluation: Interesting fiction book about teenage life. It contains how peer-pressure greatly affects how teens interact. There are sexual innuendo in the online conversations between Romiette and Julio.

Reviews and Awards: Kirkus Reviews (07/15/99), School Library Journal (09/99), Booklist (09/15/99)

Author Information: Sharon M. Draper was born in Ohio August 21, 1948. She earned a B.A. from Pepperdine University and a M.A. from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Ms. Draper taught junior high and high school students for more than thirty years. She is a public speaker who addresses educational and literary groups of all ages, both nationally and internationally. Ms. Draper was awarded the Coretta Scott King Award in 1998 for Forged By Fire and in 2007 for Copper Sun. She received the Coretta Scott King Author Honor in 2004 for Battle Of Jericho and in 2008 for November Blues.The author and her husband reside in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Website: sharondraper.com

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Publisher:Viking Penguin
Year Published: 2001
ISBN: 0142407321
Pages: 197
Price: $14.26
Genre: Drama
Interest Level: 7-12
Reading Level: 5
Personal Rating: 4 Stars
Subjects: High school, School stories, Rape

Reader's Annotation: A vow-of-silence as way to tell people about a tragic event that happened in your life. Will people finally listen to you when you tell them you've been raped? How will you tell your story?

Summary: Melinda Sordino becomes a selective mute as she enters high school. She has been ostracized by her friends for calling the police on one of the summer parties. She finds support and comfort in her art teacher and friend, David Petrakis. Melinda finds her voice to speak about her traumatic summer experience. She learns to cope after being raped.

Evaluation: A powerful book about rape and paints a realistic truth about how some teens deal with life after being raped.
Reviews and Awards: ALA Best Book For Young Adults, ALA Booklist, ALA/YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, Michael Printz Honor, Publishers Weekly, Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Wilson's High School Catalog, Wilson's Junior High Catalog

Author Information: www.laurieanderson.com