Luna

Title: Luna

Author: Julie Anne Peters

ISBN: 978-0-316-01127-3

Recommended Grade Level of Reader: 9th to 12th

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  2004

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation:  While Regan is battling to have her own life, Liam is struggling to become the woman he always wanted to be.  

 

Plot Summary:  Regan, the female protagonist, is a seemingly normal high school student.  Little does everyone know that she is dealing with a unique family life.  Her brother Liam has always felt like a girl.  Regan is the only one who knows Liam’s true feelings and identity.  Regan is the only one who knows Luna.  Luna, Liam’s female identity, has confided in Regan from an early age, snuck into her bedroom to play dress up, and almost revealed herself at one of Regan’s slumber parties.  Regan has spent so much of her life protecting her brother that she hardly has time for herself.  Luna captures the struggle of a girl trapped inside a boy’s body and the desire of another girl to have a life outside of her family.

Evaluation: (A)  Julie Ann Peters has created a captivating story of sibling connections, dysfunctional family relations, and quests for personal identity.  In particular, Luna’s character is unique, intriguing and convincing.  Although Luna’s story is told through Regan’s point-of-view, this method effectively delivers pertinent information the reader needs to know in order to understand and possibly empathize with Luna’s struggle.  Regan’s inner dialogue helps to highlight Luna’s journey from a young boy to a teen battling with gender identity issues.  Julie Ann Peters’ writing is so effective, descriptive, and suspenseful that on can’t help but to see the theatrical promise in this literary piece.  

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• Brothers and Sisters
• Out of the Closet

Scorpions

Title: Scorpions

Author: Walter Dean Myers

ISBN: 0-06-447066-0

Recommended Grade Level of Reader: 7th and Up

Publisher: HarperTrophy

Media Type: Book

Copyright: 1988

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation: Jamal’s brother has made a lot of bad choices and is now serving jail time. Will Jamal decide to follow in his big brother’s footsteps by joining the Scorpions?

Plot Summary: Scorpions is a novel about a street gang by the same name. Jamal, the twelve year old male protagonist, is being pressured into not only joining the gang, but also becoming the leader. His brother, the former leader of the gang, has been sentenced to jail for committing a violent crime. Jamal is uncomfortable with the idea of becoming a gang member, but is given a gun anyways by his brother’s friend. Eventually, a bully’s actions at school persuades Jamal into declaring himself a member of the Scorpions. While feeling powerful for a while, Jamal and his best friend Tito find that gang life and using weapons is cause for trouble.

Evaluation: (C) This would be a good book for reluctant readers. It is a short read and the writing is simplistic with the exception of a lot of slang language. Some teenagers may be able to identify with this, however. The plot and content of Scorpions highlight the importance of making good decisions. The reader will see many characters throughout the course of the novel, such as Jamal’s brother Randy, paying the consequence for making poor choices. With this, Scorpions may also be a good pick for freshman as teenagers at this stage of their lives will be faced with many difficult decisions throughout high school and beyond.

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• Urban Teen Fiction
• Gangs and Violence
• Discussion Questions

Skinny

Title: Skinny

Author: Ibi Kaslik

ISBN: 978-0-8027-9738-4

Recommended Grade Level of Reader:  9th and Up

Publisher: Walker and Company

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  2004

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation: A struggle to be thin. A story of family, perfection and dysfunction told from two different points-of-view.

Plot Summary:  Skinny tells the story of two sisters, Giselle and Holly.  Giselle, a former medical student, has been battling anorexia.  Holly, a high school athlete, has been struggling to deal with her older sister’s disease.  Being a top student and a perfectionist, Giselle has to discontinue her medical studies in order to deal with the disease that consumes her.  As such, she has to move back home with her mother and Holly.  Slowly, Giselle begins to uncover the reasons that led to her self-destruction.  Told from the point-of view of each sister, this novel documents the affect an eating disorder has not only on one individual, but also those that surround him or her. 

Evaluation:  (B)  While the idea of how one’s struggle with anorexia affects more than just the victim is interesting, Ibi Kaslik had difficulty setting up the story.  Skinny was not engaging in the beginning which made for a boring read.  A disconnect may have occurred as a result of the story being told from two people’s points-of-views.  The novel bounced around too much for the reader to become attached to or get to know either character in the first half of the book.  The author could have shown more character depth by telling the story from one character’s perspective instead of two.  Giselle’s story could have been told effectively through her point-of-view or by Holly a la Julie Anne Peters’ Regan in Luna.          

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• Physical and Mental Diseases and Disabilities
• Body Image and Eating Disorders

Story of a Girl

Title: Story of a Girl

Author: Sara Zarr

ISBN: 978-0-316-01454-0

Recommended Grade Level of Reader:  9th and Up

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  2007

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation:  Some people make mistakes, but others make them with everyone looking. 

Plot Summary:  Deanna, the female protagonist, recounts an event from her past that earned her a bad reputation with her peers.  The story surrounds her dad catching her having sex at the tender age of thirteen.  He just so happened to find her during this escapade in the backseat of a boy’s car.  The boy, her brothers now ex-friend, bragged to his classmates and, as a result, Deanna got labeled as the school slut.  Story of a Girl begins on the last day of Deanna’s freshman year of high school.  Events unfold over the course of the summer concerning Deanna’s two best friends, Deanna’s brother, and a summer job that goes awry. 

Evaluation:  (A)  This story is based on the underlying theme of mistakes.  Specifically, one mistake can affect many facets of an individual’s life.  This is apparent in not only the plot concerning Deanna getting caught in the backseat, but also subplots pertaining to other characters such as Deanna’s brother.  Zarr does an excellent job at subtly incorporating this lesson into the novel without being too preachy.  Additionally, the character dialogue and Deanna’s inner thoughts are believable and could easily be attributed to a real life teenager. 

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• YALSA Selected Audiobooks      
  

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Title: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Director: Mark Herman
Based on a Novel by: John Boyne
ISBN: 0-7888-8402-6
Rating: PG-13
Suitable for Ages: Some Material May Be Inappropriate for Children Under 13
Production Company: Miramax Films
Media Type: DVD
Copyright: 2009
Genre: Drama



Reader's Annotation: Bruno just wants to make some new friends. So, why can’t he play with the boy in the striped pajamas?

Plot Summary: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is about a young boy named Bruno and his family. Bruno’s dad is a high ranking German solider who relocates his family from the city of Berlin to the German countryside during Work War II. Shortly after the move, the viewer realizes that Bruno’s dad moved his family in order to be near to a concentration camp. The camp is Bruno’s point of fascination throughout the movie as Bruno is in search of new friends. Bruno is only eight years old, however, and believes that the concentration camp is a farm. Bruno ends up making friends with Shmuel, an eight year old Jewish boy trapped inside the walls of the barbed wire fence. In an effort to help Shmuel find his father, Bruno digs a hole under the fence and joins Shmuel on the other side much to the horror of his family.

Evaluation: (B) This movie reminds me of Thomas Paine’s quote, “he that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition: for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” While Bruno’s dad was able to justify the mistreatment of the Jewish people in the concentration camp, perhaps he was able to see the inhumanity after Bruno’s expedition to the other side. Although not as emotionally charged as Schindler’s List or the Diary of Anne Frank until the end, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is sad and has a surprising outcome. I recommend seeing this movie and believe that it would be a good supplement to any lesson plan on the holocaust.

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• Parents Guide
• Discussion Guide
• Movie Tie-In Book

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Author:  Mark Haddon

ISBN:  978-0-099-45676-6

Recommended Grade Level of Reader:  7th and Up

Publisher:  Red Fox

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  2004

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation:  Wellington has been brutally murdered and Christopher is about to uncover the identity of the ruthless dog killer.   

Plot Summary:  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time centers on the main character’s quest to uncover the individual responsible for killing his neighbor’s dog.  Christopher, the male protagonist, finds the dog lifeless and takes on the responsibility of locating the murderer in order to remove the cloud of suspicion over his head.  While trying to solve the mystery, he uncovers information about his mother who he previously thought was dead.  After Christopher’s father confesses to killing Wellington the dog, Christopher sets out on a new adventure to find his mother.  The reader sees how his life is affected by the dog incident as well as his expedition to reunite with his mother. 

Evaluation:  (A)  This is a truly unique story with a very clever premise.  Additionally, it was a brilliant choice to make the main character autistic.  Christopher's outlook provides for a refreshingly innocent perspective on life.  He takes things very literally and with that in conjunction with his innocence the story is unsuspectingly funny.      

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• YALSA Literature and Language Arts Booklist
• Discussion Questions
• Physical and Mental Diseases and Disabilities

The Glass Castle

Title: The Glass Castle

Author: Jeannette Walls

ISBN: 978-0-7432-4754-2

Recommended Grade Level of User:  9th and Up

Publisher: Scribner

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  2005

Genre:  Memoir

Reader's Annotation:  With non-conformist parents, Jeannette and her siblings are forced to raise themselves.  Through it all, the family manages to maintain a strong bond and fierce loyalty showing that there is always a light at the end of every tunnel.

Plot Summary:  The Glass Castle is a memoir of an award winning writer and journalist. Walls' story begins as a young girl and follows her life with a particular focus on her childhood. Her father, an alcoholic, and her mother, a free spirit, lack serious parenting skills or, at the very least, a desire to parent.  Walls and her parents along with her three siblings move from Phoenix to California and then to West Virginia throughout the course of the book.  Each move brings new hardships and experiences.  All the while, the children maintain a close bond and enjoy each others' company which helps to explain the absence of pity or sorrow from Walls' writing.  

Evaluation:  (A+)  The author takes a story that is serious and finds humor in it.  For example, one might argues that toddlers should not be cooking hot dogs at the stove by themselves, but somehow this scenario works with Walls' narration.  Additionally, the author effectively portrays the love within her family despite the hardships she and her siblings faced.  Furthermore, Walls does not villanize her parents for their neglect and life choices, which may be surprising for some, and this further reinforces the love and loyalty within the family.           

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• YALSA Social Sciences Booklist
• My Life: Memoirs for Teens
• Discussion Questions

The Good Earth

Title: The Good Earth

Author:  Pearl S. Buck

ISBN:  978-0-743-27293-3

Recommended Grade Level of Reader:  10th and Up (Adult Crossover)

Publisher:  Washington Square Press

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  1931

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation:  Wang Lung, stripped of his belongings, must give up his home to take care of his family.  When good fortune finds him, he returns home with much more than he left with and more problems than he ever anticipated.     

Plot Summary:  Wang Lung and his wife O-lan live a productive life in China.  Caring for a farm and their children, the two are hard working and honest individuals.  When a drought forces them off of their land, they flee to the south to find work and food.  Although unhappy, the family survives and are able to return to their land after a riot and deal Wang Lung strikes with another man.  As a result of the deal, Wang Lung and O-lan return to their home more prosperous than before.  While enjoying their new found prosperity, the reader can see the money causing problems for Wang Lung and his family.     

Evaluation:  (A+)  Wang Lung's story will captivate readers.  The plot is rich and suspenseful.  Greed is an underlying theme and it is interesting to see how money changed honest, hard working Wang Lung.  This would be a good addition to a multicultural book list or a book list for adult crossovers.     

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• Discussion Guide

The House on Mango Street

Title: The House on Mango Street

Author: Sandra Cisneros

ISBN: 0-679-73477-5

Recommended Grade Level of Reader: 9th and Up

Publisher: Vintage Books

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  1984

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation:  Growing up Latino, no one had high expectations for Esperanza, but she knew who she was and what she wanted to be and her dreams were going to take her away from the neighborhood. 

Plot Summary:  The House on Mango Street is a series of short stories told from the perspective of a young Hispanic girl.  Esperanza, the female protagonist, lives in a diverse neighborhood in Chicago.  Her stories tell about her life growing up as a minority in a unique community.  By dealing with her different name, characters in her neighborhood, and her ethnicity, among other funny and insightful chapters in her life, the readers sees Esperanza grow and mature.            

Evaluation:  (B)  Cisneros' writing is simple and to the point.  This provides for belivability since Esperanza is young and honest about her emotions and therefore, straightforward.  Although lacking rich description, once can still picture the sights and hear the sounds in Esperanza's neighborhood.  The brevity of the stories is appealing as it leaves the readers wanting to know more.    

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• Teaching Ideas and Other Resources
• Short Takes: Short Stories for Teens
• Multicultural Book Collage