The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins

Shop Indie Bookstores
The Hunger Games had been on my reserve list at the library for several weeks before it finally came.  It was worth the wait.  I would not classify myself as being a lover of sci-fi or fantasy, but I really liked this book.  In this book 24 teens are forced to compete to the [...]

Tears of A Tiger- Sharon Draper

Shop Indie Bookstores
 
Written in 1994 Tears of A Tiger will still resonate with students now, 15 years later.  This story deals with the aftermath of a drunk driving accident that kills a high school student.  The relationships between friends, children and parents, teachers, and counselors are all discussed through transcripts of discussions, newspaper articles, diary entries, [...]

Jellicoe Road- Melina Marchetta

Shop Indie Bookstores
This Printz winner took me a while to get into. I’d say I was a third, to half of the way into it before I really became intrigued, but then I didn’t put it down.  There are numerous interesting characters whom I loved, but at the same time had some difficulty keeping everything [...]

Dead is the New Black- Marlene Perez

Shop Indie Bookstores
 
I do not usually pick up books about vampires, but this one jumped out at me from the shelf in the library and I figured I’d give it a try. It is the first in a newer series, and is relatively light with some dark moments, and looks at a different type of [...]

The Chocolate War- Robert Cormier

Shop Indie Bookstores

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier is a story about a boy at an all boys Catholic high school who decides to rebel against a school tradition.  He also gets involved with a secret high school society.  The book addresses friendship, bullying, and teacher student relationships.  I enjoyed this book, and I think that [...]

Kit’s Wilderness- David Almond

Shop Indie Bookstores
Kit’s Wilderness is a novel that is very realistic but includes fantastical elements.  Kit is a 13 year old boy whose family has recently moved back to the town in which is grandfather grew up.  Part of the story revolves around Kit’s grandfather’s declining health and mental state.  I identified with this aspect [...]

A Step From Heaven- An Na

Shop Indie Bookstores
 
This book reminded me of Kira Kira, as they both tell stories of Asian immigrants in America.  I found this book a little hard to get into, perhaps because it doesn’t focus on one time in her life but rather goes from Kindergarten through beginning college.  The story follows a Korean girl from [...]

Persepolis- Marjane Satrapi

Shop Indie Bookstores
This was my second foray into graphic novels, and I think I’m becoming a fan.  While completely different than American Born Chinese, this graphic novel still held my attention.  I feel like “recent” history isn’t taught or talked about enough, so reading about the revolution in Iran was extremely interesting and informative.  I [...]

Nation- Terry Pratchett

Shop Indie Bookstores
 
This Printz honor book has historical and fantastical elements to it.  With both male and female teens being central to the story it will appeal to both sexes.  As the characters are on an isolated island there is a lot of adventure, science, and discussion of faith.  Some parts of the story seemed [...]

American Born Chinese- Gene Luen Yang

Shop Indie Bookstores
 
American Born Chinese might be my favorite book of 2009.  It was so much FUN to read.  I laughed out loud several times, from the dialogue and the illustrations.  Written in the format of a graphic novel it follows three story lines that come together at the end.  It took me a minute to [...]