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November Blues by Sharon M. Draper

Published June 26, 2008 RAC , Realistic Fiction , Uncategorized 21 Comments
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Genre: Realistic Fiction

Age Level: 14 and up

# of Pages: 316 p.

RAC Book: Yes

In this sequel to The Battle of Jericho November Nelson is dealing with the death of her boyfriend after a hazing ritual went bad. To make matters worse, she discovers that she is pregnant. She was planning to spend the summer in an Ivy League summer program which would hopefully lead to a very productive senior year. When she tells her mother about her pregnancy she is understandably upset. November faces a lot of difficult decisions as she endures this pregnancy.

Meanwhile, Jericho, the cousin of the boy who died, is having an equally difficult time coping with his friend’s untimely death. He decides to try football in order to have something new to do instead of the band, which he previously loved but now feels is a painful reminder of his cousin. He tries to help November in any way he can, but is struggling with his own emotions as well.

This was a good story about teenage pregnancy and death, but addresses similar concepts to The First Part Last. The characters were complicated and interesting and were the strength of the story. Nothing these characters were dealing with was easy and was not portrayed that way. The ending took an unexpected turn, but was a little predictable nonetheless. Most readers will guess what November’s decision will be, but will enjoy it anyway.

 

Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings

Published May 29, 2008 Mystery , RAC , Realistic Fiction , Uncategorized 87 Comments
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Genre: Realistic Fiction

Age Level: 12 and up

# of Pages: 208 p.

RAC Book: Yes

2008 Iowa Teen Award Winner

Brady loves living so close to the Chesapeake Bay. His father is a crab and oyster fisherman and he has two best friends, Digger and J.T. One day Brady sees the neighbor’s red kayak out before the boys go to school. He debates whether to yell and tell them it’s too dangerous to be out, but his friends convince him they will be fine. Brady is pulled out of school by his father later that morning because the kayak never returned and it contained the neighbor and her son. Brady had babysat for Ben and wanted to help find him.

As the search and rescue teams start heading off down the river Brady learns that the woman was found but was in shock. By chance he finds Ben and tries to resuscitate him while driving the boat back to the ambulance. By the time he gets there they have a pulse and Brady is hailed as a hero for the rest of the day. Things begin to go terribly wrong, however, when he starts to suspect that the kayak sinking was no accident and wonders how he should proceed.

This book was captivating in the way the story was revealed and in how it was explained. Brady faces one difficult decision after another and must decide who he should protect and who he should hurt. His father helps him decide that finding the right decision is easy, it’s just hard to act on it. This book will be a hit with teen boys due to its short and to the point nature, as well as for its interesting content. It would be good for classroom discussions on responsibility and making choices that will affect the rest of your life and many other people’s lives as well.

Little Face by Sophie Hannah

Published May 6, 2008 Mystery , RAC , Realistic Fiction , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Genre: Suspense, Realistic Fiction

Age Level: 14 and up

# of pages: 310 p.

RAC Book: Yes

The story begins when Alice who has just left her two week old baby for the first time ventures out for two hours and comes home to find she does not know the baby in the crib. She believes that someone has come into her mother-in-law’s house, where her and her husband live, and snatched her baby only to replace it with another newborn. Her husband becomes angry with her as she refuses to accept that this is her baby and insists on calling the police. The police have a difficult time deciding how to proceed since no babies have been reported missing and there is a baby present at the house.

The story alternates between Alice and one of the police detectives. He is generally accepted to be a really good detective and feels that this case is not as innocent as it first appears. He does not know if he believes Alice about someone switching the babies, but believes something is amiss. His colleagues all believe Alice is crazy and suffering from depression and psychosis from her difficult delivery.

The mystery was intriguing all the way up until everything is explained.  The resolution is not as good as one would hope after such an intriguing mystery has been set up.  There are moments where Alice’s husband shows tortuous feelings toward her for casting doubt on their family. It is never fully explained why she allows him to do this to her. The ending is satisfying, but unbelievable. The details provided weave together to form a good pace and some surprises as details are revealed, but again the motivations of the characters in their actions is not always fully explained. Readers who enjoy mystery and suspense will enjoy this, but anyone who has difficulty with people undergoing very degrading and difficult situations will find it troubling.

Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa by Micol Ostow

Published September 27, 2007 Multicultural Fiction , RAC , Realistic Fiction , Uncategorized 1 Comment
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Genre:  Realistic Fiction/Multicultural Fiction

Age Level:  14 and up

# of pages:  200

RAC Book:  Yes

Emily Goldberg has been called to Puerto Rico for her grandmother’s funeral.  She has never met her grandmother or anyone else on her mother’s side of the family.  Her mother came to the U.S. to go to college, became a professor, married Emily’s father, and never went home.  Once they get to the funeral, her mother has a difficult time dealing with her estrangment from her family and asks Emily if she will stay with her in Puerto Rico for the summer, while Emily’s dad and brother go home.  Even though she was supposed to go on a road trip with her friends, Emily can’t refuse her mother in this time of need and chooses to stay. 

She finds that not everyone in the family is happy to see them and she learns more about her mother’s estrangement from her family.  Family, knowledge, tradition, and communication are all themes in this story as a family tries to come together after the death of a matriarch.  Emily learns a lot about her heritage and the strength of her mother to fight for what she believes in.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Published September 17, 2007 Historical Fiction , RAC , Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Genre:  Historical Fiction/WW II Germany

Reading Level:  Age 14 and up

# of Pages: 550

RAC book:  Yes

This story, narrated by Death, follows Liesel, a young girl during WWII in Germany who is sent by her mother to live with foster parents.  Her brother was supposed to go too, but died on the journey.  Liesel feels abandoned, but soon learns to love her new father.  He is kind and sits with her when she has nightmares.  He also plays the accordian for her.  Her new mother is harsh and uses poor language, but as time goes on Liesel comes to appreciate that times are hard and her new mother does indeed care about her. 

The story follows many different aspects of this time including Hitler Youth, concentration camps, rations, Kristallnacht, and the pressure to join the Nazi party.  Liesel’s family hides Max, a Jew, for awhile as a favor to a friend of her foster father’s who died in WWI.  When her father makes the mistake of showing compassion for Jews who are marched through town from a concentration camp he is punished by getting drafted into the war.  When her best friend, Rudy, is summoned to serve in the war, his father refuses and he is drafted as well.  Liesel tries her best to follow the rules, but she becomes bitter at what the party has done to her friends, family, and herself.  She begins to steal books so that she can learn new ideas different from those fed to her in Hitler Youth.  Her books help her survive many difficult times that lay ahead for her.

 The Book Thief is a wonderful story about a girl trying to survive Nazi Germany.  She never fully recovers from losing her mother and her brother, but nevertheless finds some happiness through her foster parents, best friend Rudy, new friend Max, and finally through her books.  The idea of knowledge and power are strong themes in this book and reflect how Hitler stripped his people of these in order to take control.  This story is powerful  and will stay with a reader long after he or she has finished it.

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

Published September 14, 2007 Fantasy , RAC , Uncategorized 3 Comments

Genre:  Fantasy

Age Level:  14 and up

# of pages:  302

RAC Book:  Yes

Schuyler comes from a well distinguished family, but they have lost their family wealth over time.  She does not feel the need to fit in at school and seems content to go through life as an outcast.  Bliss, on the other hand, is a new girl from Texas who has been given the opportunity to hang out with Mimi Force, one of the popular Force twins.  She belongs to the popular crowd of thin, beautiful, and rich young people.  When she meets a boy she likes she wonders if she can give up her popularity to be with him.  Both of these girls come to learn that they are Blue Bloods.

In this book, the Blue Bloods are vampires and the Red Bloods are humans.  Most people are not told they are a vampire until they are teenagers.  All of those beautiful, rich, thin people are vampires and as such cannot be killed…or so they thought.  When a classmate is murdered and all of her blood is drained, some of the teens begin to wonder if someone is out there killing vampires.

Vampire books are popular with my students right now.  This one was not as good as the series by Stephenie Meyer, but it was entertaining.  Each vampire book has a different set of rules for explaining their existence and this book is no exception.  Some of the details given about vampires in this story are interesting and thought provoking.  The characters do not have as much depth as the Meyers series, but for those students who like to read about the wealthy and powerful this will be a hit.

The Braid by Helen Frost

Published August 27, 2007 Historical Fiction , Poetry , Uncategorized Leave a Comment

   

Genre:  Poetry and Historical Fiction

Age Level:  Age 14 and up

# of pages: 88

RAC Book: No

The Braid is set in Scotland during the 1850s.  During this time, landowners in Scotland found out they could make more money by using their land for grazing than for renting it out.  Many families were told to evacuate overnight.  In this story, Sarah and Jeannie are the oldest two children in a family told to evacuate.  On their last night together, Sarah braided some of their hair together so that they will each have a piece when they start their separate journeys.  Jeannie evacuates with the family and Sarah stays with her grandmother.  The braid they each carry binds them through their difficult times ahead.  The story alternates between sisters and integrates the use of poetry.  Even though they are separated they will still influence each other’s lives over the years due to their connection with the braid of hair.

This story accurately portrayed the hardships of the times through its depiction of evacuation, sea travel, sickness, unwed mothers, and homeless families.  Through it all there is always a ray of hope as the two girls remain optimistic and strive to reach outside their comfort zones in order to stand up for what they feel is right.  Despite the hardships both girls endure, they never stop hoping that things will work out for themselves and their sister.

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