Paper Towns by John Green

Quentin Jacobson (Q to his friends) has lived next to the beautiful, energetic, and mysterious Margo Roth-Speigelman all his life.  When the were children they were best friends until junior high when they drifted apart (Margo is a cool kid and Q, tragically, is not).  So Q is very surprised when Margo shows up at midnight at his bedroom window dressed in all black with her face blacked out.   That night they embark on an 11 step night of revenge.  The next Margo ends up missing.  Her disappearing is not unusual, but the clues she left for Q to follow are.   Q takes it upon himself to follow Margo on her journey, but what he discovers along away may not be what he hoped to find.

John Green has proven himself an excellent writer.  His fiction is funny, smart, and observant.  However, if he writes one more novel about a obssessed boy and uniquely damaged girl that is a mystery to be figured out, I will scream.  Paper Towns could have been more aptly titled Looking for Alaska 3.  It could be that most people don’t care if he writes the same book over and over (I mean I love CSI but it is the same episode with differently named charactors every time and I don’t mind that).

Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos

Author Jack Gantos (Rotten Ralph, Joey Pigza) thought his life was uninteresting and not worth writing about and he needed to live more before he could fulfil his purpose.   A short while later, in jail, he had certainly found something to write about.  At 19 while working for his father in St. Croix he met a drug smuggler who offered him a job and when they were done Gantos would walk away with 10,000 dollars.   He couldn’t pass up the oppurtunity to get off the island which had come under racial unrest and a chance to live.  He was sailing up the Atlantic coast in rickety small ship with 2,000 lbs. of hash.

This book was funny, tragic, and compelling.  It’s highly recomended for high school readers looking for an adventure and redemption story.  Jack Gantos is now the very successful author of the Joey Pigza series.

Looking For Alaska by John Green

Miles, the newest face at an Alabama boarding school, has met the love of his life in the first few minutes.   Alaska Young; she moves at a 100 mph and is just what Miles needs to shake up his monotonous under-the-radar life.  Together with Miles’ roommate, chip, and counter parts Lara and Takumi, the five form a close knit clique, pull pranks, and make life tough for the weekday warriors (the rich students who don’t stay on campus for the weekends).    When a tragic accident takes the life of one group member the friends left behind must make sense of the life and all too sudden death of their compatriot.  This often funny an introspective novel will captivate young adults struggling to find their place in the world (who doesn’t fit that bill?).

Looking For Alaska was one the best reviewed books for young adults in 2005 and went on to win the 2006 printz award.  John Green has written two other books held in equal regard: An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda starts her Feshman year on the fringe because of one incident at a party.  Yes she called the cops, yes most of the party was busted, yes everyone hates her now, but it wasn’t her fault.  She was raped.  Coming to terms with this and making it through high school will be no easy task, but with her Art teacher (some she can talk to) she will be able to find her words, to speak.

Anderson tells the story of  highschool freshman whose world has come to an abrupt halt.  Through pitch perfect dialouge and realistic drama, Speak solidified its spot on every YA shelf in public libraries.  Don’t let the plot bog you down, this book is hilarious!

A must read for teen girls and parents alike.  For the alternate point of view (from the rapist perspective) try the creepy, skin crawling book,  Inexcusable by Chris Lynch.

Forever by Judy Blume

When you build up something in your mind — really imagine it, wish for it — sometimes, when it actually happens, it doesn’t live up to your expectations.

True love is nothing like that.

Especially not for Katherine and Michael, who can’t get enough of each other. Their relationship is unique: sincere, intense, and fun all at the same time. Although they haven’t been together all that long, they know it’s serious. A whole world opens up as young passion and sexuality bloom.

But it’s senior year of high school, and there are big changes ahead. Michael and Katherine are destined for another big “first”: a decision. Is this the love of a lifetime, or the very beginning of a lifetime of love?

Forever was one of those book that EVERY high school girl read in the seventies.  Don’t let that stop you though, this book is spot on.  Is your first love really going to last forever…

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen

James Loewen has written every American high school students dream: Everything your teacher taught you is wrong!

Americans have lost touch with their history, and in Lies My Teacher Told Me Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying eighteen leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past.

Winner of the American Book Award and the Oliver C. Cox Anti-Racism Award of The American Sociological Association

Game by Walter Dean Myers

Walter Dean Myers has done it again. People often describe reading as watching a movie in your head, but most of the time it is really just reading. Myers on the other hand does create images in your head that never seem to escape. Game is the story of an all star high school basketball player, Drew Larson. Eveyone knows Drew has game, especially Drew, but when Tomas a talented ball player from the Czech Republic begins to turn heads, Drew has his work cut out for him. Drew is used to being the star but now he must establish himself as a team player before he gets left behind. The book deals with issues of race and societal assumptions.

Walter Dean Myers is prolific author of teen and young adult novels. Game is his most recent book.

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

 

Macy is perfect. Perfect Mother, perfect boyfriend, perfect prospects for the future, but this summer would change all that. Life is going at quick pace for Macy at the end of her junior year in High School. Her boyfriend is off to “Brain Camp” (for smart kids) and her Mother, a real estate developer, is managing the new townhouse phase for their neighborhood and Macy is to start working at the library information desk. Slowly though her life is starting to fray: the library job is horrible, her boyfriend wants to take a break, and she and her mother have yet to grieve the loss of her father. When Macy takes on a new job with a chaotic catering business, she learns what is really important in life and catches the eye of Wes, an “extraordinary” boy (in the words of her new friend
Christy).

The Truth About Forever is a wonderful book for teens. Real characters and real emotions ooze from this incredible novel. Sarah Dessen is a great writer that captures the hardships and good times of teenage girl’s life.