Posted on July 23, 2009 by agirlnamedsara
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So Not the Drama is a light easy read that still talks about some serious issues. Mina is entering high school along with 3 best friends (1 girl, 2 boys) and is very concerned with becoming one of the “popular” crowd. Throughout the novel Mina deals with keeping up her friendships, forming new ones, [...]
Filed under: Black, Bullying, First Love/Crushes, Fitting In, Latino/Latina, Multi-Racial, Multi/Alternative Genre, Poverty, Racism, Realistic Fiction, Teen Girls | Tagged: Paula Chase, YA Literature, Young Adult | 1 Comment »
Posted on May 29, 2009 by agirlnamedsara
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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, [...]
Filed under: ALA Awards, Alcohol, Black, Classroom Read, Coretta Scott King Award, First Love/Crushes, Grief, Individual Read, Multi/Alternative Genre, Racism, Realistic Fiction, Sharon Draper, Teen Boys, Teen Girls, YALSA Awards | Tagged: ALA Awards, Sharon Draper, YA Literature, Young Adult | 2 Comments »
Posted on May 25, 2009 by agirlnamedsara
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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 [...]
Filed under: ALA Awards, Boarding School, Classroom Read, First Love/Crushes, Grief, Individual Read, Poverty, Printz Award, Realistic Fiction, Sexuality, Teen Boys, Teen Girls | Tagged: ALA Awards, Melina Marchetta, Printz Award, YA Literature, Young Adult | 4 Comments »
Posted on May 12, 2009 by agirlnamedsara
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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 [...]
Filed under: ALA Awards, Bullying, Fitting In, Individual Read, Margaret A. Edwards Award, Realistic Fiction, Sexuality, Teen Boys | Tagged: ALA Awards, Robert Cormier, YA Literature, Young Adult | 2 Comments »
Posted on May 4, 2009 by agirlnamedsara
Posted on April 28, 2009 by agirlnamedsara
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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 [...]
Filed under: ALA Awards, Classroom Read, Fitting In, Grief, Individual Read, New Kid, Poverty, Pre/Early Teen, Printz Award, Realistic Fiction, Science-Fiction/Fantasy, Teen Boys, Teen Girls | Tagged: ALA Awards, David Almond, Printz Award, YA Literature, Young Adult | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 25, 2009 by agirlnamedsara
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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 [...]
Filed under: ALA Awards, Alcohol, Classroom Read, Fitting In, Individual Read, New Kid, Poverty, Printz Award, Realistic Fiction | Tagged: ALA Awards, An Na, Printz Award, YA Literature, Young Adult | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 22, 2009 by agirlnamedsara
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I am a fan of Sharon Draper. I love that her books are urban, but have subtle and not so subtle morals. When I’ve used some of her other novels in class the students really identify with the characters. She does it again with this book. The characters are all easy to identify [...]
Filed under: Black, Bullying, Classroom Read, Coretta Scott King Award, First Love/Crushes, Fitting In, Individual Read, Physical Disability, Realistic Fiction, Sharon Draper, Teen Boys, Teen Girls | Tagged: Sharon Draper, YA Literature, Young Adult | 2 Comments »
Posted on April 16, 2009 by agirlnamedsara
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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 [...]
Filed under: ALA Awards, Adventure, First Love/Crushes, Historical Fiction, Printz Award, Racism, Realistic Fiction, Religion, Teen Boys, Teen Girls | Tagged: ALA Awards, Printz Award, Terry Pratchett, YA Literature, Young Adult | 3 Comments »
Posted on March 29, 2009 by agirlnamedsara
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Confessions of a Not It Girl was a fun light novel that I think provides an alternate idea of what life is like in NYC to that which is presented in Gossip Girl. While it doesn’t deal with many MAJOR teen issues it deals well with all the little things that teens go [...]
Filed under: Alcohol, First Love/Crushes, Individual Read, Realistic Fiction, Sexuality, Teen Girls | Tagged: Melissa Kantor, YA Literature, Young Adult | 2 Comments »
