[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Teen Scene March 2010
- From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 10:46:17 -0500
Teen Scene March 2010
"Sanity is very rare: every man almost, and every woman, has a dash of madness."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American essayist, philosopher, and poet
New and Recently Released!
Freefall - by Ariela Anhalt
Publisher: Harcourt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 01/18/2010
ISBN-13: 9780152065676
ISBN-10: 0152065679
Fiction. Three students at the prestigious Briar Academy boarding school
climbed the hill to the cliffs that night, but only two came back alive: Luke
Prescott
and his best friend, big-man-on-campus Hayden Applegate. Luke isn't really sure
whether obnoxious new student Russell fell off the cliff or Hayden pushed
him off, but he's going to have to get his story straight before he's called to
testify in Hayden's trial. If you liked the complex characters and riveting
psychological suspense of Blake Nelson's Paranoid Park, you'll want to dive
right into Freefall.
How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation - by Simone Elkeles
Publisher: Flux
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 11/01/2009
ISBN-13: 9780738718798
ISBN-10: 0738718793
Fiction. Spoiled-rotten American drama queen Amy Nelson-Barak is the last
person you'd expect to find on a bus heading toward an Israeli military boot
camp,
especially when participation in the training is completely voluntary. But
because her boyfriend Avi a) serves in the Israel Defense Force and b) is going
to be stationed at the very same military base where the summer volunteer
program is being held, Amy signed up in hopes of surprising him with a visit.
Too bad that Avi will be her team's equivalent of a drill sergeant and is thus
forbidden from socializing with her. Meg Cabot fans are sure to appreciate
Amy's uniquely funny narration and romantic misadventures, regardless of
whether they start with this 3rd book in the series or the 1st, How to Ruin a
Summer Vacation.
First Chapter
Freaks and Revelations: A Novel - by Davida Wills Hurwin
Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 11/01/2009
ISBN-13: 9780316049962
ISBN-10: 0316049964
Fiction. When 13-year-old Jason tells his mom that he's gay, she kicks him out
of the house (it's the late 1970s), but he manages to survive by turning
tricks on the streets of San Francisco. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, angry young
punk-rocker Doug is hanging out with skinheads and developing a taste for
fistfights. Then Jason moves to L.A., where his and Doug's violent meeting will
change both of their lives forever. Based on the real-life experiences
of Matthew Boger and Timothy Zaal, this tragic and powerful story ends on a
hopeful note but should nonetheless enthrall fans of similarly gritty tales
such as Jessica Blank's Almost Home or Adam Rapp's Punkzilla.
Sweet, Hereafter - by Angela Johnson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 01/05/2010
ISBN-13: 9780689873850
ISBN-10: 0689873859
Fiction. In this conclusion to the emotionally involving trilogy that began
with Heaven and continued in The First Part Last, Shoogy Maple (Marly's friend
from Heaven) is at the center of the story. Shoogy has left her parents' home
and moved into a cabin in the woods with Curtis, a young soldier who's back
from a tour of duty in Iraq and not at all eager to return there. Curtis and
Shoogy each have secrets, but while they deal with their private demons, they
might also be falling in love. Fans of unforgettable characters,
thought-provoking ideas, and "spare, gorgeous, realistically raw language"
(VOYA) will
love Sweet, Hereafter; start with Heaven to get the most out of the trilogy.
First Chapter
The World is Mine - by Lyah Beth LeFlore; illustrated by DL Warfield
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 12/01/2009
ISBN-13: 9781416979630
ISBN-10: 1416979638
Fiction. Blue Reynolds is on a mission to be the world's next music-business
mogul ("Diddy unlocked the door, and I'm gonna kick it in! It's time for
somebody
else to reign," he says). Blue's dad expects him to go to law school--and Blue
might--but first, he and his friend Collin want to take a shot at their
own dreams. And while he's working on becoming the hottest party promoter in
the D.C. area, Blue's setting another plan in motion: to win the affections
of "fly and sassy" Jade Taylor. Energetic dialogue "popping with slang"
(Booklist) and lots of drama among the characters of this 1st installment in the
Come Up series will have hip-hop fans begging for more.
First Chapter
After Ever After - by Jordan Sonnenblick
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 02/01/2010
ISBN-13: 9780439837064
ISBN-10: 0439837065
Fiction. In Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie, Jeffrey Alper's big brother, Steven,
stayed strong for him during Jeffrey's treatment for leukemia. Now, in After
Ever After, Jeffrey is in eighth grade and in remission--but the side effects
of his treatments go beyond physical and learning challenges; for much of
his life now, he's felt like "Jeffrey Alper, Official Town Cause." Worst of
all, Steven has taken off to Africa to join a drum circle and "find himself,"
so Jeffrey has to handle the stresses of school, friends, his physical
condition, and maybe even his first girlfriend by himself. If you like novels
that
are emotionally intense and yet very funny, don't miss After Ever After.
Inside People's Heads
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, one out of every ten teens suffers from
serious mental and emotional disorders that significantly impact their lives
(the website of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, offers more
information). In the novels listed below, characters deal with a variety
of mental illnesses--their own or those of their loved ones--such as anxiety,
depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), or schizophrenia.
Wild Roses - by Deb Caletti
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 08/30/2005
ISBN-13: 9780689867668
ISBN-10: 0689867662
Fiction. "Supposedly there's an actual, researched link between extreme
creativity and mental illness, and I believe it because I've seen it with my own
eyes." So says 17-year-old Cassie Morgan, whose stepfather, the famous
violinist Dino Cavalli, is brilliant--but also tends to be depressed, paranoid,
and delusional. Dino's erratic behavior is getting worse as the date of his big
comeback concert approaches, and when love-struck Cassie begins seeing
one of his violin students (despite Dino forbidding her to do so), things
quickly come to a boiling point. If you like quirky, well-drawn characters,
steadily
building tension, and witty first-person narration, pick Wild Roses.
First Chapter
Get Well Soon - by Julie Halpern
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/02/2007
ISBN-13: 9780312367954
ISBN-10: 0312367953
Realistic Fiction. Anna Bloom has skipped so many days of school due to panic
attacks and depression that her parents have committed her to a mental
institution.
Instructed to keep track of her thoughts and feelings in a journal, Anna
instead writes (but never mails) honest and snarkily funny letters to her best
friend, Tracy. At first, her letters are filled with complaints about
Lakeland's "booger green and vomit brown" decor, her fellow patients, and a
therapist
who seems obsessed with Anna's weight. But after a while, Anna starts to feel
better about herself and begins to make friends...including one who might
possibly be more-than-a-friend. For some slightly grittier tales of life in
what Anna calls "the loony bin," check out Susanna Kaysen's memoir Girl,
Interrupted
or Ellen Hopkins' Impulse.
First Chapter
Kissing Doorknobs - by Terry Spencer Hesser
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 12/01/1999
ISBN-13: 9780440413141
ISBN-10: 0440413141
Realistic Fiction. The last thing in the world that Tara Sullivan wants is to
"think the same thought over and over and over again, especially a thought
as uninteresting and stupid as Step on a crack, break your mother's back." But
ever since she heard that rhyme as an 11-year-old, she has felt compelled
to count every crack in every sidewalk, and her thoughts are plagued with worry
that only the repetition of bizarre rituals (such as kissing her fingers
and touching the doorknob 33 times before she exits the house) relieves.
Kissing Doorknobs shows, frankly and with wry humor, what life is like for those
who are afflicted with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
First Chapter
It's Kind of a Funny Story - by Ned Vizzini
Publisher: Miramax Books/Hyperion Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 04/01/2006
ISBN-13: 9780786851966
ISBN-10: 0786851961
Realistic Fiction. After working diligently to gain acceptance into New York
City's prestigious Executive Pre-Professional High School, Craig Gilner buckles
under the pressure once he's there. His strategy for dealing with his ensuing
depression--smoking pot and avoiding studying--only makes things worse, and
Craig finds himself dialing the number of a suicide hotline. He checks himself
into a psychiatric hospital, where he unexpectedly finds friendship, humor,
wisdom, and a possible romance among his quirky fellow patients. While
depression is realistically, vividly, and respectfully portrayed in this
ultimately
hopeful novel, it's actually more than just "kind of" a funny story--at points,
it's hilarious.
Breathless - by Jessica Warman
Publisher: Walker
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 08/18/2009
ISBN-13: 9780802798497
ISBN-10: 0802798497
Realistic Fiction. For Olympic-hopeful swimmer Katie Kitrell, sometimes the
water is the only place where she feels at home. Her father is distant; her
mother, an artist, has a problem with alcohol; and even though she is very
close to her schizophrenic brother, Will, his behavior has recently become
dangerous.
When Katie's father sends her off to an elite boarding school, she's surprised
by how quickly the in-crowd accepts her...and she tells her new friends
that her brother is dead to avoid dealing with the truth. If you like
Breathless' complex relationships, "achingly realistic" characters (Booklist),
and
its honest depiction of life with a mentally ill family member, you might also
want to read Ann Dee Ellis' Everything is Fine or Adele Griffin's Where
I Want to Be.
Lowboy - by John Wray
Publisher: Farrar Straus and Giroux
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 03/01/2009
ISBN-13: 9780374194161
ISBN-10: 0374194165
Fiction. Sixteen-year-old paranoid schizophrenic Will Heller believes that the
world is facing imminent destruction via global warming--and that he's the
only one who can prevent it. Off his meds, Will rides the Manhattan subway
system in a desperate search for his ex-girlfriend, who's a crucial component
of his plan. Narrating in addition to the brilliant if delusional teen are the
two adults searching for him--his troubled mother, Violet, and a missing-persons
detective named Ali Lateef. For their own reasons, none of the three is a
particularly reliable narrator, but together they create a story that is dark,
suspenseful, and gives readers a vivid picture of the unique way that Will's
mind works.
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