Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book did a great job of telling Ryan's story and then viewing the mystery through Sarah's videos. There was just the right amount of tension to give you that creepy, scary feeling throughout the whole book. I didn't really like the ending, but I will want to read the other books to follow old Joe Bush's ghost and his leg that he drags...A great book for kids who like mysteries, horror and the reluctant reader will enjoy the length, Ryan's journal entries, his pictures and the notes he uses tape to show Sarah but then erase the entry so his parents can't spy on him. What does this all mean----READ the book to find out, you will enjoy the haunted feeling you have as you turn the pages.



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Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castellucci

Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castellucci

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I truly enjoyed this novel about a really sweet girl, Rose, who has had a tough time because she chose to continue her dance and ballet in high school. Her "best friend" Daisy dumps her (because she chose to go to another school and pursue dance). She has no friends, and Rose lives across from a real Russian dancer, who she has never met. Life is looking really bleak for Rose until one night, Vrena, the Russian dancer, breaks into her room and they begin a friendship. The great part of this story is how Cecil Castellucci can paint the beauty of New York City for their one night out together. Castellucci does an awesome job with the characters who become Rose's friends as they create meaning, acceptance, and support with Rose and Vrena. Since Rose was seeing and feeling "black, black, black," her night out with Vrena helps her to see "red" as in Vrena's Russian life (political and cultural differences), new friends: triplets Caleb, Caitlin and Callisto, boyfriends (Free and Caleb). New York City here they come:jamming, dancing, singing, American restaurant, Russian restaurant, sleepover and participating in a peace march. Even though Rose loves to dance, this time spent with her new friends and Vrena, helps her to see how much dancing is the part of her life that she loves. With all the action piled into one night, all these young teens witnessed a real moment together, bridging any cultural gap, with love, laughs, and abandon. I highly recommend this sincere look at feeling like a stranger, overcoming international barriers, to fitting in and feeling free.



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All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg

All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Another great first novel! This slim novel in verse uses spare words with such force. Little Matt Pin left Vietnam, been adopted by a loving family but he has nightmares and secrets he hides from everyone. He left behind a birth mother in Vietnam, an American soldier father he never knew and a little brother. In America, he continues to learn about his heritage, but he does not see the beauty and bright colors of Vietnam, only "choking dust, smoke and death"--and aching for his mother and brother left behind. He lives in a big home with parents and a little brother he loves very much, but he is still unsure if they will want to keep him once they know his secrets. His father has practiced throwing pitches with him and Matt wins one of the coveted spots on the team. Some of his team mates resent him because of his heritage. He is bullied and threatened, but he tells no one. Matt also likes to play the piano and his teacher, Jeff, is a friend of Matt's dad. It is Jeff and Matt's dad who bring him to Vietnam veterans meetings and Matt begins to realize many things he did not understand ad the soldiers tell their stories; that his mother loved him and that is why she saved him, that the soldiers made a difference by saving and transporting Vietnamese children to the United States. Once Matt tells his family about his fears, Matt comes to terms with his culture, himself and begins to look forward enjoying his new life, knowing he will one day look for his birth mother and brother with his family. A sad, hopeful novel that teaches us about the Vietname war and how it affected the soldiers, their families, and those left behind in Vietnam.



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Hold Still by Nina LaCour

Hold Still by Nina LaCour

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this first novel by Nina LaCour! Caitlin is devastated when her best friend Ingrid commits suicide. And Caitlin had no idea. She literally does nothing all summer, her funk is so huge. Ingrid had such a great personality, they were best friends, did everything together, yet Caitlin had no idea Ingrid was depressed! She finds her best friend's journal under her bed one night, when did Ingrid put it there? Did she want Caitlin to read it? As Caitlin reads the different entries--some are to Caitlin, some to Jayson (a boy she liked), hall monitors and rain clouds...Ingrid was a great artist and photographer who carried her camera everywhere and snapped pictures all the time. Ingrid begins to live and rejoice in life without Ingrid by reading Ingrid's journal, by loving a boy who provides sympathy, and friendship, making a new girl friend. It is her art teacher, Miss Delani, who tells Caitlin she is just as talented as Ingrid and helps renew Caitlin's purpose in life. LaCour was able to sustain the deep, aching sadness that paralyzes Caitlin throughout the first half of the novel and she does a superb job of slowly,reawakening her zest for life through her relationships with her friends and family. I really liked Caitlin's character (depressed, cranky, funny and anguished) but even more I liked so many of the supporting characters, gay Caitlin who knew who she was; Jayson and Taylor--nice boys, Miss Delani- who found it difficult to deal with Ingrid's death and seeing Caitlin everyday as a reminder of how she failed Ingrid, Caitlin's supportive mom and dad. This is a great honor choice for the Morris Debut Award, teens will love it!



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Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Schroeder's 3rd book in free verse is achingly poignant as Brooklyn and Nico still mourn the death of Lucca. Brooklyn was madly in love when Lucca was taken from her and she is still missing him, writing him letters and buying their favorite comic books. Her mother has left with her 2 brothers and Brooklyn remains with her father. Nico was Lucca's younger brother, but they were very close. Nico's best friend, Gabe dies and Both Brooklyn and Nico are stunned. They knew he was suffering, but they were in pain themselves. Now Brooklyn has nightmares about Gabe and Nico is being haunted by Lucca TO HELP BROOKLYN. That is easy for a ghost to say since Nico is still running away to handle the pain. To honor his dead brother's wishes, he encourages Brooklyn to change, start running with him and participate in a marathon. I was compelled to read this book, I felt so badly for Brooklyn and Nico, will they find that they can go on without their beloved Lucca? A must read! It has all the elements YA's will love--drama, suspense, fear, anger, loss and longing!



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Great interview between Cecil Castellucci, Siobhan Vivian and Natalie Standiford

http://castellucci.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/scholastic-asks-siobhan-vivian-natalie-standiford-and-me-5-questions/

Crossing Lines by Paul Volponi

Crossing Lines by Paul Volponi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What I really liked about Paul Volponi's novel, Crossing Lines, is the way he uses each character to further the confusion of the main character, Adonis. He's a guy's guy with a conscience and doesn't really say how he feels all the time. But Adonis has depth of character and he agonizes about his relationship with Melody, his body image, and his "rep" on the football team. Adonis has a strong family with an attentive firefighter dad, a mother who is a caring mother and teacher, gently admonishing Adonis to do the right thing. It is Adonis' sister, Jeannie (with lots of attitude), who becomes on of Alan's friends and Adonis' curse. Jeannie throws herself into the Fashion Club as VP and advocate of Alan's fashion choices. With the start of senior year, Adonis just wants to stay out of Alan's way, but that won't happen because Alan is his partner in a class project, at his house running Fashion Club meetings, and in the school halls or gymnasium causing chaos with his lipstick and dresses. It is Adonis' football teammates, his father, and Alan's father, a decorated officer in the Army recruiting office, who continue to drive home that Alan's choices are not welcome. Adonis agrees with everyone when he is with them, but he does silently hate the harshness of Alan's father toward his son; the constant, outright slander and bullying that Alan endures daily from the football team, and how he has to worry about keeping Melody and his buddies from finding out his true, conflicting thoughts. The tension Volponi creates for Adonis is palpable and increases as the guys on the team become more convinced that Alan needs to be dealt with once and for all. Teens and reluctant readers will be rooting for Adonis and Alan as events conspire to make Adonis realize he can't just stand on the sidelines; he needs to cross the lines of life and accept differences "in order to celebrate" himself.



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buildOn Jane Addams Place

http://studio.stupeflix.com/v/TykNC4zNVj/

Otter's endless summer 2010

Otter's endless summer 2010

A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd

A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Shell Talent has a tough life. Her mother has died, her father is an alcoholic who has become obsessed with religion and terrorizes his children. Shell must be mother, father and a teen in the south of Ireland in 1084. When she becomes pregnant by her classmate Declan who then runs away to American, Shell can't bear to get an abortion, she hides her pregnancy from her father, friends, & those in her village. But she cannot hide it from her brother and sister. So one night, she gives birth and falls in love with her baby girl. But unfortunately, the baby is still born and all three children go into their field and bury the baby with stones to mark the grave. Imagine Shell's surprise when the police come to her house to question her about a dead baby boy found in an inlet and her father has confessed. A spellbinding mystery unfolds with Shell at the center of a scandal, but she continues to show courage and honesty in the face of adversity. This is a Reading Olympic book this year, I am not sure this book will appeal to all students, but for those who persevere, they will learn alot about the pluck of a young Irish girl.

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Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpam

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I think all of these short stories about the dire circumstances of families, children and adults in the African countries of Gabon, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria as told by Uwem Akpan needs to be read by teens and adults the world over in order to feel their pain, their pride and their bitter, heartbreaking struggles in daily life and war.

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The Bite of the Mango by Maraitu Kamara

The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Mariatu's story of life as an 11 year old child in Sierra Leone with a loving family is shattered immediately with the arrival of the civil war that brings rebels into villages to search and destroy. The rebels are as young as Mariatu, and they have guns, machetes, stones and boards for beating, killing, and maiming all of the people in a village. Mariatu is forced to watch 20 people, many she knows, be herded into a hut and then the hut is set on fire. Mariatu is then one of many that day who has her hands chopped off and then set free to show the President of Sierra Leone what the rebels are doing. Mariatu didn't even know what a president was. Mariatu goes on to tell what happens afterward, how she meets up with kind people, and also reunites with other family members who have also had their hands removed. She has journalists interview her and as her story spreads, Mariatu comes to England and Toronto to become educated and help her family back in Sierra Leone. This memoir is a testament to one girl's courage in spite of adversity and how she works on a daily basis to tell the world the horrors that are befalling children during war.

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Torched by April Henry

Torched by April Henry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ellie is sixteen and has parents who like to support environmental causes. Only problem is, one day her parents are arrested on marijuana charges and Ellie is forced to spy for the FBI and become involved in ecoterrorism or else--- Ellie will go into foster care and her parents would go to jail forever unless she goes undercover to help them. Ellie begins meeting with Mother Earth Defenders (MED); she has convinced them of her earnestness. She also begins to fall for Coyote, another member who has been involved with MED for a few years. The suspense is gripping, Ellie's fear is palpable, but she is determined to save her parents no matter what. She is resourceful and determined. Great for reluctant readers too.

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The Queen of Cool by Cecil Castellucci

The Queen of Cool by Cecil Castellucci

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I have read and loved all of Cecil Castellucci's books and graphic novels and this book is no exception. Castellucci's Libby Brin is the coolest, cutest girl in her school but she keeps feeling like she is bored, restless, and I thought, at times, depressed. She has potential, could get good grades but instead she decides to take an internship at a zoo and is partnered with a fellow classmate that she makes fun of with her friends in school. As she takes notes with Tina/Tiny and low talker, Sheldon, and makes mistake after mistake at the zoo, Libby starts to truly speak her mind, admit to her superficiality, and begin to be the queen of "uncool" and she realizes she likes her new friends and herself. A great YA book!!!

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The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Kathryn Stockett has woven a story of heartache, humiliation, friednship and servitude in this wonderful historical fiction novel taking place in Mississippi in 1962. The relationship that develops between Miss Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny has far reaching and final effects. I loved Miss Aibileen, she was such a strong, loving parent figure to Mae Mobly (Stockett does a great job showing how the maids all have their own families---but love these white children like their own) I was so sad to read over and over again of the many children who are eventually turned against these nannies because of the racism that existed and the lines that could not and would not be crossed. Minny endures physical abuse from her husband and still has the mouth to stand up for herself and her friends. Miss Skeeter's job of writing their stories takes many suspenseful twists and turns and she suffers from her maid Constantine's disappeareance, her parent's refusal to discuss it, and it is her enduring love and bond with Constantine that urge her on to write the stories, and finish Constantine's story. This book is so moving and sad, even Stockett's own words at the end show the conflict of getting the black woman's point of view across and examining the roles between the black maids and the white families who employed them. I will be thinking about this book, the characters and the time period for quite awhile. I know my students will love this Reading Olympic book!

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Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess

Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was so compelling, I couldn't put it down. Meredith is a teen who has been molested by her father while he has molested lots of other children, boys and girls alike. When her father gets a nine year sentence, Meredith feels safe even though she is a pariah in her town. Imagine her disgust and fear when he is released after only 3 years!!! And her mother can't wait to be one big happy family. Meredith has been spending time with Andy, a teen who is now paralyzed but was once one of her father's victims. She is also open and honest with Nigel, a police officer who lives in her apartment complex. Meredith feels she is the only one who can stop her father, even though she has tried by not taking baths, leaving her hair in her eyes, wearing clothes that cover her up and are filthy. I felt I was in a car careening out of control as I read this sickening book of a girl's despair and hatred for all the lives her father has shattered. She is a strong girl who perseveres in spite of her mother, her father and the justice system. A great read!

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The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A riveting look at a young girl who lives in a polygamist who call themselves the Chosen. Kyra is thirteen, has a mind of her own, a father with many wives and lots of brothers and sisters. You can see from the lst page of the book, that Kyra has her own mind, thoughts which she voices, and loves her extended family very much. But there is something very wrong with this sect and Prophet Childs has been told by God to marry Kyra to her UNCLE who is 50 years older! Even her mother and father are horrified! The parents urge the Prophet to rethingk this union --- he will not budge and it is then that we find he is sinister, evil, and controls all his members through fear, citing their loyalty to God, and if that doesn't work----then they might meet a fate worse than death, death itself, or just disappear. Unbeknownst to everyone,Kyra had also fallen in love with Joshua and reads books from a bookmobile that stops outside the compound once a week. I felt all kinds of revulsion and heartbreak at the same time, I cheered for Kyra to try to get away and survive, and I was sickened by her families' meekness and their begging for Kyra to bend to the Prophet's will. A book I will not soon forget, I couldn't put it down,and I think it has something to say to students who read it---there are teens like them living a horror in sects that denies them their rights and their families' safety all in the name of a twisted religion. The only thing I didn't like was the cover---after reading the book, Kyra and any other girl in the sect would NEVER dress like that!!!

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Perfect by Natasha Friend

Perfect by Natasha Friend

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is not recent but appeared on many lists as a recomended read and I finally got around to it---I love Natasha Friend's book! Isabelle, her sister, April and her mom have lost the most important thing in their lives--the sudden death of their father and husband. They are deeply hurting but each time Isabelle and April try to discuss their grief and loneliness with their mother, she refuses to deal with it--instead preferring to to cry by herself in her bedroom. As a result, Isabelle has become a binger and purger, and has been forced to attend group meetings ....Isabelle is such a great teen character, she hates herself, sees herself as a loser, and when "perfect" Ashley becomes part of the group, Isabelle longs to become perfect like Ashley. Isabelle's voice is sarcastic, lonely and filled with self-loathing, but she knows she wants to keep her father's memory alive with pictures and memories. This book explores family disintegration following the death of a beloved family member and does it just right with Isabelle and Ashley, group members, and her school friends. Reluctant readers will enjoy this

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Rules of Attraction bySimone Elkeles

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This multicultural YA book was so intriguing, I couldn't put it down. It involves a Mexican American teen, Carlos, who is taken out of his family home in Chicago, then Mexico, and placed under his brother Alex's watchful eye.
He is assigned a peer guide to help him the lst week of school and Carlos tears this girl, Kiara, up by snubbing her, being rude to her and mocking her every chance he can. But Carlos has a soft, vulnerable side and I really liked how he protects people, he has a strong sense of family loyalty and when he is interested in a girl, watch out! There is alot going on in this book, Carlos' brother got jumped out of the Latino Blood gang to be with his white girlfriend Carlos can't stand. Carlos is framed with drugs in his bookbag and then recruited to sell drugs and if he won't his family in Mexico and Kiara's family will be threatened. Kiara is a well adjusted girl from a wonderful family (imagine that???) who loves a challenge, loves to fix cars, got text-dumped by her boyfriend, has a gay best friend Tuck, and is falling for Carlos, despite his attitude, his Mexican ideas of macho and whatever he can do to turn her on and then turn her off. There are alternating chapters of Carlos and Kiara, this book will not disappoint and I think the reluctant readers and some urban readers will enjoy the drug/gang connection.

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Who Am I Without Him by Sharon Draper

Who Am I Without Him? by Sharon G. Flake

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I enjoyed each and every short story about the young teens and their forays into love and the issues they confront in their daily lives, in their family relationships and friendships. Reluctant readers will not be able to put this book down. Highly recommended!

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Reading Olympics 2010 video

Here is the Animoto for Abington Senior High Reading Olympics 2010--5 teams and tee shirts "Live Free Read Hard"

A good time was had by all!

http://animoto.com/play/mLDCt23Vp31AQZAAk6DlzQ

Ash by Malinda Lo

This is a breath-taking Cinderella story about a courageous girl named Ash, who loses her beloved mother to death but she has instilled in her daughter a love of fairy tales and a belief in magic. It is this belief in the fairy world that continues to sustain Ash as she becomes a stepsister to Anya and Clara,when her father remarries Lady Isobel. Soon after, her father becomes ill and dies. For a short while, Ash is part of this family but alas, things change when Lady Isobel finds that her husband died owing money and she makes Ash repay her father’s debts by becoming a servant in their home. Ash continues to wish for her mother, read her fairy tale book and walk to her mother’s grave. It is here that she meets Sidhean, a fairy who scares her, entrances her, and exerts an unnatural pull on Ash’s feelings. Ash also becomes friendly with Kaisa, the King’s Huntress and learns how to ride, hunt, and escape the desperation in her daily life. When Kaisa asks Ash to participate in the hunt and attend the Prince’s Ball, Ash strikes a deal with Sidhean’s magic knowing she will be in debt to him. Ash is such a strong female protagonist because she continues to search for love and acceptance, never doubts who she is, and is willing to risk everything for love. Lo’s story is enthralling, captivating and beautiful in the many different fairy tales woven throughout by each character.

Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr

Samara Taylor is the fifteen year old daughter of a pastor workaholic and a mother who has been drinking so much, that she has landed herself into New Beginnings Recovery Center; her father wants to “officially tell” the congregation when he feels it is right, which is never. Sam is at a point in her life that she is questioning everything; the air conditioning is broken in their house, her ceiling fan is not working, it is the middle of a heat wave, the outside of the house looks like a disaster, all the while her father plunges himself into his congregation while Sam’s world is falling apart. Sam has been the one who has seen her mother drink because of the stress of being a pastor’s wife. Since Sam is the pastor’s daughter, she is part of the youth group and she is afraid of sharing, thinks she might be depressed, and is questioning why now that she is in high school, she is not feeling the understanding, friendship and bonding that she grew up believing existed in her community. Just as Sam is at her lowest, Jody Shaw, a sweet thirteen year old, disappears and the whole town is rocked to the core. There are searches in fields, house to house, and suspicions about suspects begin to permeate throughout the town. As Sam worries about what once was lost, she is also determined to talk to her mother in rehab, bring her home, and faithfully work on a family unit. This is a story of a young teen able to weather an internal storm of doubt and emerge a more secure, stronger daughter and friend. Students will love Zarr’s masterful storytelling, she weaves an engrossing tale of love and the power to heal.

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

What a great debut novel by Jennifer Brown! Imagine you are madly in love with a brooding bad boy and you list the names of everyone you hate in a notebook. Valerie Leftman is this girl, a junior at Garvin High, who has loved Nick Levil for the last few years. They are outcasts and bullied by the popular teens in their school. Only problem is, Nick takes the hate list and begins shooting on May 2 of their junior year after one bully, Christy, breaks Val’s MP3 player. Val desperately tries to stop the shooting, only to be accidentally shot by Nick, who then turns the gun on himself. As Valerie recuperates in the hospital with her leg wound, and also in the in-patient psychiatric ward, she continually replays her relationship with Nick and how she didn’t see what he was planning. Nick had an unhappy home life and Val’s parent’s fights had become very bitter. Her mother is suffocating and distrustful after the shooting and her father is furious with her total lack of judgment. After spending her summer recuperating and seeing a shrink, Dr. Hieler, Valerie decides to return to her high school “to see what’s out there.” There are many students who hate her, but one student, Jessica (who Val dove in front of and saved) continually reaches out and gets Val involved in the senior time capsule project. Throughout her senior year, Val slowly lets go of her love for Nick, realizes her parent’s marriage will not survive, owns up to her role that tragic day, and how to move forward, forgive, apologize, and heal. This is a sad, depressing book with a truly redemptive ending.

The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon

5 STARS
The mesmerizing story of two close brothers who become torn apart by the civil rights tumult in 1968 Chicago. Roland Childs is a civil rights leader and father to Sam and Stick. For as long as they can remember, they have been involved in their father's demonstrations. Sam is the "good son" who always does the expected and Stick has the fiery temper and tests his father's oath of nonviolence. And it is this conflict between father and son that comes between the two brothers. Sam learns that Stick is a member of the Black Panthers Party and thinks he may want to join as well. But Sam is conflicted about many things and is not always definite about what kind of person he wants to be. He cares for Maxie, but she lives in a bad neighborhood and at one point, Sam lies and insults Maxie, and loses her caring and admiration. As Sam continues to question what kind of person he is, who he should give his allegiance to (his father or his brother), events conspire to make Sam question the mythological tale Stick would read to him over and over as a child. What kind of person would he be? Was he the rock or was he the river? A piercing coming of age story of a boy who struggles mightily to become the kind of person both his father and brother envision.

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The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/89640751