Three similar books

A Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness
The Silver Kiss
by Annette Curtis Klause
Skellig
by David Almond

Three books that are reminiscent of one another. Dark yet hopeful stories that explore a young person's encounter with a mysterious stranger. All three books read like dreams...or nightmares. Its hard to tell where the science fiction starts and the reality ends. The biggest common thread shared by these three books is the looming tragedy and grief shared by the protagonists. The strangers are the unexpected harbingers of peace, discovery, and acceptance. Definitely check out these books!

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A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
This is a powerful book about love, loss, fear, and discovery. Conceived by author Siobhan Dowd shortly before her premature death, Patrick Ness built the idea into a spooky, stick-with-you story. Jim Kay's nightmare-scape illustrations definitely help to create a sense of mystery and foreboding.

From the publisher: The Monster showed up after midnight. As they do. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming... This monster, though is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth.

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The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause
Paranormal romance meets action-adventure meets reality in this young adult classic. This book is a perennial favorite among teens at Ericson Public Library! Zoe is reeling from the realization that her mother is dying...and wary of the dark, brooding stranger she's running into everywhere. The stranger's cloudy, mysterious history makes this book read like a suspenseful thriller.

From the publisher: Zoe is wary when, in the dead of night, the eerily handsome yet frightening Simon comes to her house. Simon seems to understand the pain of loneliness and death and Zoe's brooding thoughts of her dying mother. When Simon reveals that he's of the undead, a vampire looking to avenge his mother's gruesome murder, Zoe must let her heart guide her through a tangle of fear and desire.

Read my previous review of this book.

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Skellig by David Almond

In addition to being a Printz Award book, Skellig was recognized as an Iowa High School Award Winner. Haunting, mysterious, and touching...everyone should give this very quick read a chance. Anxious and troubled by his baby sister's poor health, Michael discovers a man secretly living in the family's unused garage. Or at least he thinks he's found a man. More dreamlike and hopeful than nightmarish, Skellig is, in my opinion a Young Adult classic.

From the publisher: Michael was looking forward to moving into a new house. But now his baby sister is ill, his parents are frantic, and Doctor Death has come to call. Michael feels helpless. Then he steps into the crumbling garage and encounters a strange being who changes his world forever.

There is a companion book to Skellig called My Name is Mina. Also, the book was made into a loosely-translated movie in 2009. Watch the movie trailer!

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Butter

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Butter
by Erin Jade Lange

From the publisher:

A lonely obese boy everyone calls "Butter" is about to make history. He is going to eat himself to death-live on the Internet-and everyone is invited to watch. When he first makes the announcement online to his classmates, Butter expects pity, insults, and possibly sheer indifference. What he gets are morbid cheerleaders rallying around his deadly plan. Yet as their dark encouragement grows, it begins to feel a lot like popularity. And that feels good. But what happens when Butter reaches his suicide deadline? Can he live with the fallout if he doesn't go through with his plans? 

With a deft hand, E.J. Lange allows readers to identify with both the bullies and the bullied in this all-consuming look at one teen's battle with himself.

Watch the official book trailer!

Arielle's Recommendation: An anti-bullying story that's more heart-racing thriller than after school special. Butter's story will keep your attention til the very last page. Like an impending train wreck, you won't be able to look away. A powerful look into the psychological effects of, not just bullying, but neglect, shame, embarrassment, and high school. Most reassuring to me was that it all worked out in the end. This is a quick read, I'd recommend it to 9th through 12th graders who enjoy emotional, deeply personal stories with quirky, likable narrators.

Click here to see if this item is available at Ericson Library

Check out E.J. Lange's website at
www.butterslastmeal.com
October was Bullying Prevention Month. If you or someone you know is being bullied speak out, speak up...the library is a great place to do just that. If you're in Boone come talk to me (Arielle) at or an other of the caring librarians at Ericson Public Library.
If you're not in Boone, visit your local public library and ask for the Teen or Children's Librarian.
Speak out, speak up! We're here to help!

Lange, E. J. Butter. New York: Bloomsbury, 2012. Print. ISBN: 9781599907802 Hardcover. U.S. $16.99

Rats Saw God

Thomas, Rob. Rats Saw God. 1996. New York, NY: Simon Pulse 2007. Print. ISBN: 9781416938972 Pages: 202 Paperback US $6.99

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Awards

ALA Best Book for Young Adults 1997

Annotation: Dangerously close to flunking out, Steve has been given one last chance to save the day and graduate. Write a one-hundred-page paper that meets his guidance councilor’s expectations. How did Steve, who was happy, surrounded by friends, and boasting a 4.0 as a junior wind up in this situation? You’ll have to read his last-ditch-effort paper to find out.

Open-end:

Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas

Where did it all go wrong? Just last year Steve York was in love with life. He loved his awesome, don’t-give-a-crap, friends. He loved being part of a wacky, existential club at school. Most of all, he loved Dub, the girl that made his life worth living. Now, pot and being a jerk to his dad are the only things worth getting out of bed for. Where did everything he loved disappear to? Where exactly, did it all go wrong? What are the chances he can make things right?

Click here to see if this book is available at Ericson Public Library

Click here to see if this book is available at Ames Public Library

Praise for Rats Saw God:

"Funny, smart, tough..." Chris Cutcher

"Rob Thomas is like a house afire." Paul Zindel

Visit Rob Thomas' website....do you know what hit t.v. show he created? 

You'll have to follow the link to find out!

Arielle's Recommendation: This is the perfect book to recommend to the mature reader who enjoys stories about self discovery and loves characters that are real characters, because Steve York is something else!

The Chocolate War

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Cormier, Robert. 1974.  The Chocolate War. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Print. ISBN: 9780275829871Pages: 253 Paperback US $8.95

Awards!

ALA's Best Books for Young Adults

School Library Journal's Best Book of the Year

Kirkus Review's Choice

New York Times' Outstanding Books of the Year

Cormier recieved the Margaret A. Edwards Award (1991)

Annotation: A powerful, secretive organization called The Vigils controls the student body of Jerry Renault’s new school. He gets caught in the middle of a war of pride and power and winds up the victim of violence, fear tactics, and intense bullying.

Snap n' Read

The Chocolate War
by Robert Cormier

       Jerry Renault just wants to play football, go to school, come home, and play more football. When he doesn’t follow the understood school hierarchy his life becomes more complicated. A single choice has made him the target of powerful bullies and to get even with Jerry they’re throwing out all the stops.

“Jerry hunched his shoulders, cocked his fist. He had been waiting for this moment, ever since Archie’s voice had taunted him on the telephone. But he hesitated now. How could he hit anyone, even an animal like Janza, in cold blood? I’m not a fighter, he protested silently.” But fight he does. Violence, fear, and a battle of wills and pride culminate into The Chocolate War.

Click here to see if this book is available at Ericson Public Library!

Click here to see if this book is available at Ames Public Library!

Watch the trailer for the 1988 movie adaptation!

Look out for some totally awesome 80s hairstyles!

Video from youtube.com 

Click here to go to the movie's IMDb page!

The Chocolate War is one of the most controversial and most frequently censored books ever published! Does that make you want to read it even more?!?! 

Praise and Criticism for The Chocolate War!

“Masterfully structured and rich in theme; the action is well crafted, well timed, suspenseful.”—The New York Times Book Review

“The characterizations of all the boys are superb.”—School Library Journal, Starred

“Compellingly immediate. . . . Readers will respect the uncompromising ending.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred

Click here to read why one blogger thinks this book has been so controversial and sometimes considered "dangerous."

The First Part Last

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Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. New York: Simon & Shuster Books for Young Readers, 2003. Print.

Awards 

ALA Michael L. Printz Award

Coretta Scott King Award

Abraham Lincoln Book Award Master List (IL) 

ALA Best Books for Young Adults

Annotation: Bobby takes an emotional journey in this book as he balances his teenage life with his love for his infant daughter.

Open-ended:
The First Part Lastby Angela Johnson

      Am I ready to be a parent? That’s the question sixteen-year-old Bobby isn’t ready to answer until it’s too late. When he sees baby Feather he knows, whether he’s ready or not, he can’t let her go home with someone else. In this quick read Angela Johnson eloquently captures the realities of teenage pregnancy. Using short chapters and powerfully descriptive language The First Part Last captures your attention and keeps it to the very last page.

      Bobby and Nia are in love and they don’t let the news of Nia’s pregnancy get in the way of their future together. Through brief chapters alternating between the present and past we learn how this young, supportive couple became a single father raising Feather alone. The book explores Bobby’s internal struggle to be both the responsible, loving, father he wants so badly to be while still being a sixteen-year-old kid. This book will make you wonder; am I ready to be a parent?

Arielle's Recommendation: Fans of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant or Lifetime’s The Pregnancy Project will enjoy this realistic story of a teenage parent. This book definitely deserves a home on school and library shelves. Recommend The First Part Last to readers 8th grade and older that enjoy gritty and heart warming stories.

Annie On My Mind

Garden, Nancy. Annie On My Mind. 1982. New York: Ferrar Straus Giroux, 2007. Print. ISBN: 978-0374404147 Pages: 233 Hardcover U.S. $16.99

image from amespubliclibrary.com

Awards:
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
ALA/ YALSA Best of the Best
Booklist Best
Bookseller's Choice
ALA/ YALSA 100 Best Books for YA

Annotation: Annie and Liza discover their romantic feelings and how their feelings have the power to impact the world around them.

Annie On My Mind

by Nancy Garden

A revolutionary piece of GLBTQ literature, Annie On My Mind follows Liza as she realizes her feelings for Annie and how they impact her understanding of herself.

“I went downstairs to Dad’s encyclopedia and looked up HOMOSEXUALITY, but that didn’t tell me much about any of the things I felt. What struck me most, though, was that, in the whole long article, the word ‘love’ wasn’t used even once. That made me mad; it was as if whoever wrote the article didn’t know that gay people actually love each other. The encyclopedia writers ought to talk to me, I though as I went back to bed; I could tell them something about love.”

Liza has everything going for her; she’s student body president and planning on pursuing her dreams of attending MIT and becoming an architect. When she meets Annie at the Metropolitan Museum of Art their friendly magnetism quickly becomes an intense passion that neither of them had expected. For the two lovers their senior year of high school is a fairy tale story until a teacher discovers them together and everything suddenly and devastatingly falls apart.

Liza’s powerful conflict keeps the drama going to the very last page. Join Liza and Annie as they discover the definition of “love.”

"The story of two young women who love each other. It is an honest portrayal of their love with an ending that is in keeping with, and worthy of, the rest of the book."--The Baltimore Sun

"Annie on My Mind was an eye-opener (maybe 'heartopener' is a better term)."--The Milwaukee Journal

"A tender, bittersweet love story."--Booklist

"Departs from the fact-packed preachiness of the problem novel to become instead a compelling story of two real and intriguing women. There have been many books for teenagers, fiction and nonfiction, that give lots of useful and accurate information about homosexuality; here's one that tells what it feels like, one that has, finally, romance."--School Library Journal

Boolist Reviewers' Choice, Gay Book Award nominee, Golden Kite Award, ALA Best Books 1982, ALA Best of the Best 1983, Booklist Best Books of the 1982, Booksellers' Choice List 1993, ALA Best Books for YAS for Past 25 Years 1994, Mock Printz Award 1982 in contest held at ALA's Midwinter in 2002

Check out  Nancy Garden's website for a list of her books, useful links, and information about school and library visits.

The Outsiders

see Credits tab please

Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders. 1967. New York: Viking Press, 1995. Print. ISBN: 978-0142407332 Paperback. U.S. $10.00

Awards:

New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Books List, 1967

Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book, 1967

Media and Methods Maxi Award, 1975

ALA Best Young Adult Books, 1975

Massachusetts Children’s Book Award, 1979

Annotation: Ponyboy and his friends discover their ability to see beyond their circumstances and create a future free of violence and competition.

Review

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

      A triumphant tale of growth and heartache, The Outsiders remains a relevant coming of age story forty years after its publication.  S.E. Hinton’s classic tale of a group of young men growing up amidst 1960s gang violence is full of action, emotion, and depth. This book certainly casts a new light on West Side Story’s Sharks and Jets. Orphaned, but cared for by his loving older brothers and his street-tough friends Ponyboy is the youngest of this unconventional family of “greasers.” The boys are used to daily battles with the “socs,” the greasers’ wealthy, violent enemies.  As far as Ponyboy is concerned, things are going fine, until a surprise attack goes very, very wrong and he and Johnny are on the run. The experience leaves Ponyboy full of confusion, contradiction, and concern. Suddenly, the life he had loved doesn’t feel as comfortable anymore. Johnny’s instruction for Ponyboy to “stay gold (p. 148)” leaves room for interpretation and discussion. Ponyboy speaks with an authentic voice that reflects both his youthful ignorance and the wisdom gained through years of rough living. The Outsiders has been considered revolutionary in the field of young adult literature partly because of its accurate representation of the teenage experience at the time.  The Outsiders is ideal for the teenage audience due to its length, pacing, and engrossing fusion of external action and internal struggle. The lack of profanity and sexual content and the fairly benign (by today’s standards) descriptions of violent encounters makes The Outsiders a good option for 6^th-10^th graders. While Ponyboy’s internal experience is still relevant, teenagers may have a difficult time relating to his situation, environment, and language. Teens interested in realistic fiction, action, and young men’s coming of age stories may enjoy this book.  More likely to appreciate this story, however, are individuals who work with teens and individuals who lived through this period of history.  

Hear what S.E. Hinton has to say about the book and movie! SPOILERS!

Destroy All Cars

Destroy All Cars by Blake Nelson      


     As if high school weren't bad enough, James Hoff knows that consumerist culture and "the lameness of people in general" is bringing the end of the world. While railing against exhaust emissions and wasteful spending, James is trying his best to bring about world change, so why can't he win back his ex-girlfriend, do-gooder, Sadie.








Praise for Destroy All Cars

"James' consideration of 'the lameness of people in general'—which he fairly applies also to himself—gives a nuanced look at why it's hard to change anything in the world but also why it's a noble cause worth striving for." — Los Angeles Times

"This sweet, satisfying read will appeal to fans of Nelson's previous books, and teens who want to change the world— even if the only world they change is their own." — Voice of Youth Advocates

"An elegant and bittersweet story of a teenager who is finding his voice and trying to make meaning in a world he often finds hopeless." — Publishers Weekly

Here is what 60secondrecap thinks....do you agree?

Nelson, Blake. Destroy All Cars. New York: Scholastic Inc, 2009. Print.