Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor was a National Book Award finalist in the Young People's Literature category in 2009. I had read and enjoyed Taylor's Blackbringer (Dreamdark), so I've been eager to read this latest, especially with the critical acclaim that it has received. It didn't disappoint me.

Taylor's book is actually three separate stories: "Goblin Fruit", "Spicy Little Curses Such as These" and "Hatchling." Each tale is preceded by illustrations by Jim Di Bartolo and each contains an important kiss. "Goblin Fruit" has its roots in Christina Rosetti's poem "Goblin Market," in which two sisters are tempted by the rare offerings of Goblin men, with near disastrous results. Taylor's story centers around the grandaughter of the more prudent of these sisters, who, like her elders, runs smack into some wicked temptation.

In "Spicy Little Curses..." We meet an elderly widow who has spent her life bargaining with a demon from a hell beyond the Judeo-Christian understanding, saving innocents from premature deaths. This insistent fellow jockeys to get his best deal, trading many lives for the demonic pleasure of a curse placed on one baby girl. She will have an incredibly lovely voice, but all those who hear it will die. This child's fate is the crux of this fairy tale and myth infused story.

The longest tale in the collection, "Hatchling," offers multiple points of view in a story of shapeshifting, souless Drujs (demons), their beautiful, blankly cruel queen, and the unfortunate humans whose lives she has roughly shaped. The Druj queen lives in a rocky domain surrounded by hungry, grasping beasts, and keeps a string of human girls for pets. It takes a Druj unlike any other to offer the possibility of a different future for the Druj race and the humans that they use for entertainment. This complex story explores abuse, betrayal, unwise choices and eventual healing.

Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominees

Meanwhile, back at the Clueless Ranch... I just learned that the BBYA list is now the BFYA list. Here are the most recent nominees (info. and book summaries from: Best Fiction for Young Adults ). The titles that I'm anxious to read are in red.

Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominations
Updated April 2, 2010

Almond, David. Raven Summer.
Being led by a raven to discover an abandoned baby and a jarful of money is just the beginning of Liam’s remarkable summer.

Avasthi, Swati. Split. Jace, 16, fights back against his abusive father and is thrown out of the house. He finds his older brother which begins a journey toward healing for both brothers.

Bacigalupi, Paolo. Ship Breaker. Nailer is a light crew scavenger tearing up old hulks of ships, living day to day, until a rich girl and her gleaming ship run ashore in a storm on the beach and his life gets more dangerous.

Christopher, Lucy. Stolen. Gemma, 16, writes to the young man who kidnapped her and held her captive in the Australian outback, revealing the complexity of her feelings for both Ty and the land.

Dashner, James. The Maze Runner. Thomas’ memories don’t serve him well when he wakes on an elevator, only to find himself in the Glade, trapped by monsters and a maze that changes daily.

Edwardson, Debby Dahl. Blessing’s Bead. This book is a beautifully written account of life in Alaska through the eyes of an Inupiaq family. One child is given a special bead which threads the generations together.

Erskine, Kathryn. Mockingbird. Ten-year-old Caitlin has to figure out how to make the world work now that her brother Devon has died.

Fisher, Catherine. Incarceron. Trapped in the massive prison world of Incarceron, Finn searches for his true identity; outside, Claudia searches for the truth about Incarceron and its warden, her father.

Koertge, Ron. Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs. Fourteen-year-old Kevin Boland’s biggest problem isn’t the baseball playoffs: it’s what to do when he’s dating one girl but emailing poems to another.

Marchetta, Melina. Finnikin of the Rock. Finnikin and his fellow exiles from Lumatere wish to return to their cursed homeland. Finnikin must go on an epic journey with a mute novice named Evanjalin to return home.

McCaughrean, Geraldine. The Death-Defying Pepper Roux. When Pepper Roux was born his aunt had a vision from Saint Constance that the boy would die on his fourteenth birthday, but Pepper Roux has other ideas.

Myers, Walter Dean. Lockdown. With a few months remaining on his sentence in a juvenile detention facility, Reese struggles to overcome racism, prejudice and his volatile personality to cope with life on the outside.

Nelson, Jandy. The Sky is Everywhere. When Lennie's beloved big sister suddenly dies, she gets help pushing past her grief from two very different boys.

Oliver, Lauren. Before I Fall. Sam’s seemingly perfect life has ended in a terrible crash. But, it turns out she has to relive the last day of her life seven times to get it right.

Paulsen, Gary. Woods Runner. In 1776, 13-year-old Samuel returns home from hunting in the woods to find the settlement burned and most of the settlers murdered.

Peters, Julie Anne. By the Time You Read This I’ll be Dead. Determined to get her death right this time, Daelyn Rice logs onto a website for “completers” and starts the countdown of the last 23 days of her life.

Saenz, Benjamin. Last Night I Sang to the Monster. Weeks in therapy go by and 18-year-old Zach is still unable to remember the monstrous events that left him alone and haunted by nightmares.

Scott, Elizabeth. The Unwritten Rule.
Sarah missed her chance with Ryan long ago, before he started dating her best friend Brianna – or did she? Guilt about an unexpected kiss threatens her friendship with both.

Simner, Janni Lee. Thief Eyes. On a trip to Iceland to discover what happened to her mother Haley runs away and disappears. She and new friend Ari are caught in the spell of an ancient curse.

Stork, Francisco X. The Last Summer of the Death Warriors. Seventeen-year-old Pancho grapples with the mysterious death of his sister while accompanying his new friend, D.Q, on his own quest to face down death.

Summers, Courtney. Some Girls Are. Regina used to be a member of the Fearless Five but is now being frozen out by her friends and must find acceptance among the peers she used to terrorize.

Ward, Rachel. Numbers. Jem, a British girl of 15, is on the run with her erstwhile boyfriend Spider, because of complications from her "talent" of seeing the date that people will die when she looks in their eyes.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Honestly, I'm weary of the vampire, werewolf, and zombie trend in books of late. I guess that they're just not my supernatural cup of tea, since I'm still interested in books about the faerie world, especially urban faerie stories. I wasn't sure about City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, because I saw that it's about demon hunters, but it came highly recommended from strangers whose reading taste I trust. Also, I loved The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding, which featured a "wych-hunter", so I wanted to give this a chance. And guess what, I really like it and I'm on to the next in the Mortal Instruments series, City of Ashes.

Every day I drive back and forth an hour each day to get to work, so I like to have an audio book to pass the time. When I find one that I especially like, it's a great pleasure. When it's a series, it's a bonus. I borrowed City of Bones, read by Ari Graynor, from my library and it's just fun! The enjoyment reminds me of when I listened to all of Libba Bray's series about Gemma Doyle, read by Josephine Bailey. Sometimes it's very satisfying to just glut yourself on certain characters' stories.

In City of Bones, fifteen year old Clary and her best friend Simon go out to a nightclub, and Clary experiences some weird goings on and meets some maddening but fascinating teens. When Clary returns to her home to find her mother missing, her apartment destroyed and a nasty demon creature hungry for her flesh, she learns some alarming information about her new friends and herself. This leads her to dealings with warlocks, fortune tellers, an enchanted rat, various night creatures and a sarcastic and appealing guy named Jace.

I found the story exciting, enjoyed the various surprises in the plot, and appreciated gutsy Clary.
Since I'm not on the cutting edge here, Clare has finished City of Ashes and City of Glass, and apparently will release one more book in the series, as well as a new series, the Infernal Devices, due in August, beginning with Clockwork Angel. Learn more at: http://cassandraclare.com/ .

Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher

To my knowledge, their are very few books written for teens with transgender characters. I have read Luna by Julie Anne Peters, told by the sister of a M to F girl and Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger, from the point of view of a F to M guy, and appreciated both, for their excellent writing and the authors' willingness to break new ground and tell the stories of people we haven't before met on the page. Brian Katcher continues this work, introducing us to high school senior Sage, a girl with a big secret, and Logan, her classmate and friend who falls for her.


This is Logan's story, as he struggles with his complicated relationship with Sage. Living in a small Missouri town, Logan has recently been betrayed and dumped after a three year relationship, and is wary of females. Then Sage shows up in his biology class. She is living as pretty, fun-filled girl, and no one, Logan included, has any idea that she was born biologically male. He likes her and then hopes to date her. After Sage reveals her secret to Logan, he struggles with the truth. What does his attraction to Sage say about him? Can he continue to be her friend and lend her support when her parents won't? Could Logan and Sage possibly still be more than friends? And what if her secret is discovered by others?

Katcher has created characters that you enjoy one minute and want to shake the next, but that you always care about. In Sage, he shows the courage that transgender people must have just to live their lives being true to who they are. Though Sage's road is rough and sometimes dangerous and Logan is shaken out his comfort zone, they continue to grow. They work through issues of trust, love, honesty and beginning anew in this bittersweet novel.

Gentleman, please!

In Michael Northrop's Gentlemen, Mr. Haberman's remedial English students are surprised when he brings in a barrel and asks them to whack it with a fish club and guess what's inside. Haberman does it as a teaching hook to get them thinking about Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and guesses range from a watermelon to a big slab of meat. This is not his usual teaching style, and he never tells what is inside.

Students Mixer, Bones and our protagonist Micheal (misspelling intended) think Haberman is a jackass, but when he asks them to help move the barrel to his car, what can they do? The bulky container won't fit in the teacher's small sports car, so they dump out the wrapped contents, which seem strangely jointed. Haberman still won't reveal what's inside, and as the days pass, he seems to be taunting the guys as he discusses murder in Crime and Punishment. Since Tommy, a student in his class, has gone missing, this seems suspicious and more than a little threatening.

The guys have been friends since grade school, and although Tommy has occasionally vanished, it has never been so long without word. Is Tommy off crashing with a friend, or has he met a worse fate? What game is Haberman playing? And what, if anything, can his friends do about it?

Keturah and Lord Death

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt, is a must for my Fairy Tale related book collection.

This was a National Book Award finalist ( in my opinion it should should have won the Young People's Literature category)and gives us an exciting, mysterious story with a brave and tenacious heroine.

Following a seemingly enchanted hart into the forest, Keturah soon becomes lost and, after several days, is close to death. Yet when she meets Lord Death, she is able to strike a bargain with him that may save her village from plague, give her friends and family their heart's desires and provide her with a chance to find her own true love. To accomplish these tasks, Keturah must deal with the village witch, hostile townsfolk, many possible loves, and her own uncertainty, not to mention the handsome and imposing figure of death.

Levine subtly references several tales, and I greatly enjoyed picking them out. I noticed :

• similarities to Scheherazade's suspenseful storytelling in One Thousand and One Nights
• a character with the sight to know if someone will live or die as in Grimms "Godfather Death"
• willful boasting spurring action such as in "Rumpelstiltskin," where the maiden's father brags that she can spin straw into gold
• a potential but frightening lover and the good woman as in "Beauty and the Beast."

There may be more. What can you find?

Best Books for Young Adults Nominations

In the delightful struggle that is trying to keep up with new teen books, I always keep tabs on the nominations in the Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) list, compiled by the ALA.Here are some of this year's choices that I'm anxious to read (descriptions come directly from the list :

• Anderson, Laure Halse. Wintergirls. Lia is haunted by her best friend's death from anorexia, as she struggles with the same eating disorder.
• Bray, Libba. Going Bovine. Cameron knew there was something wrong when he started seeing pillars of fire and angels, but he never imagined he had mad cow disease.
• Brooks, Laurie. Selkie Girl. Sixteen-year-old Elin Jean, ostracized because of her webbed fingers, discovers the reason for her mother's unhappiness after finding evidence of her own mysterious origins.
• Davies, Jacqueline. Lost. Essie, 16, sews all day for pennies at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to help feed her fatherless family and now to forget her little sister's death. Then the fire happens.
• George, Jessica Day. Princess of the Midnight Ball. When the decade long war ends, professional solider Galen finds work as a gardener in the king’s garden, only to help solve the puzzle involving twelve dancing princesses.
• Livingston, Leslie. Wondrous Strange. Faeries, pixies, Janus guards, and struggling actresses populate this fantasy that weaves Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream with a contemporary New York City setting.
• Meminger, Neesha. Shine, Coconut Moon. Samar (Sam) is a Sikh ostensibly Americanized, until her uncle shows up, igniting her interest in her culture and past in a post-9/11 world.
• Pike, Aprilynne. Wings. Laurel discovers she is a faerie when a beautiful flower blossoms out of her back, and she and her friend David seek to find out her place in the world.
• Rapp, Adam. Punkzilla. Jamie has run away from his family, military school, and his troubled past. He sets out via bus to visit his dying brother, writing letters along the way.
• Ryan, Carrie. The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Mary’s village is protected by a fence keeping out the Unconsecrated-who are undead craving human flesh-until a massive breach launches the teenage girl into a fight for survival.
• Simner, Janie Lee. Bones of Faerie. Liza is caught in a world where magic is deadly and her powers lead her on a quest to find her missing mother.
• Stiefvater, Maggie. Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception. Shy and ordinary Deirdre finds herself caught up in an ancient struggle in the faerie world when she meets Luke, a sexy musician with a very dark past.
• Stoffels, Karlijn. Heartsinger. Mee, the singer of sorrows, and Mitou, the merrymaker, are destined to meet and change the life of a princess. Can they change one another?
• Thompson, Kate. Creature of the Night. Juvenile delinquent Bobby resists his mother’s plan to move to the countryside, but his anger becomes fear as he learns about local history and the creatures who rule the fields.
• Whitcomb, Laura. The Fetch. Calder, a 350-year old "Fetch" that accompanies souls to heaven, breaks all his vows for a woman, wreaking havoc in the world of lost souls.

No Choirboy: Murder, Violence & Teenagers on Death Row

I have to confess that I didn't really want to read No Choirboy. It's dark subject matter, and I get plenty of that in the teen novels that I like to read. This is non-fiction, and I thought that it just might be too much, or else written with so much restraint that it would be dry and impersonal. But, it is on the reading list for a Minnesota reading camp that I'm counseling at this summer, so I took it home. I'm so glad that I did, because it is excellently done: compelling, heart wringing and ultimately hopeful.

The men in this book were accused of murder and sentenced to death when they were still teens. Each chapter gives voice to a different person. The focus is not on the crimes committed, but of life afterward. Three prisoners talk about their experiences, regrets and hopes for the future. One chapter is devoted to an executed man's family: the feelings of his mother and younger brother. Another is from the points of view of the siblings of a seventeen year old employee senselessly killed in a fast food restaurant robbery.

Overall, I found the stories interesting and moving. It put a human face on the issue. These people were not necessarily given fair trials. Some had no criminal records and were successful in school and life prior to their crimes. In prison they try to do more than just survive. I was especially impressed with prisoners Roy and Nanon trying to grow and improve themselves as much as the system allows.

Even if this is not your typically reading material please give it a look, especially if you work with teens. It's worth the time.

Amazing Read: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

I haven't been so shocked, sickened and fascinated by a vision of the near future since reading M. T. Anderson's gritty teen classic Feed. It's made me an instant fan of Shusterman, and I'm definitely going to catch up on his many other titles. Unwind will definitely grab your teens and get them thinking and discussing.

It's after the United State's second Civil War, and if you're a certain kind of teenager, you had better watch out. If you've broken your parents' hearts, or taxed the system's resources a little too long, or if your parents believe in tithing with all that they value, you might learn first hand about a new process called Unwinding. In this society, abortions may no longer happen, but unwanted teens are scrapped and put to a new use, as organ donors. Every piece of them is kept alive within other humans. This may have satisfied the warring factions of the Life Army and the Choice Brigade, but for runaways Connor, Risa and Lev, it is not just a political move that ended a war, it is their horrifying intended fate. Follow them through this thriller and witness storking, clappers and the eerie urban legend of Humphrey Dunfee, whose family had him Unwound... but, in spite of regrets, couldn't put Humphrey together again.

Meeting Chris Crutcher!

Yesterday, I was privileged to hear and meet the award winning teen author Chris Crutcher, author of Whale Talk, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, The Sledding Hill and many more. He spoke at the the Central Saint Paul Library for about an hour and a half. I've seen a fair amount of teen and children's authors, and, Crutcher is an exciting, relaxed presenter. He read to us from The King of the Mild Frontier, telling us childhood stories of the "neat times" he had with his persuasive (cough) older brother. I laughed so hard that I cried. Guess what book I checked out as soon as I returned to my own library?

He graciously signed my proof of Whale Talk and I floated away a giddy, thrilled fangirl.

Crutcher also spoke eloquently of the censorship of his books and told us about the children who he met when he worked as a therapist and how they made their ways into his stories. He can speak about himself much better than I can, so read up on him at:
http://www.chriscrutcher.com/ and if you haven't already, pick up his books!

Prom is fun!

I admit it. I loved the prom, and I love Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Many years ago, I went to the proms my sophomore-senior years. My favorite thing about them was putting together my outfits. Dates and the actual proms were secondary. :) For my senior prom, I wore a vintage white eyelet lingerie dress, a family heirloom. My mom made a pink satin sash to go with it and I wore a ring of pink rosebuds in my updo. I loved getting together an entire look, from gown to jewelry to shoes. I loved going out to a fancy restaurant on a double date with my best friend.

Unlike me, Ashley in Prom, doesn't want those things. She doesn't care about the foof and the sparkle and what she really wants is to get out of school and move in with her boyfriend, T.J., and out of her family's noisy house. But, when the school's budget for the dance disappears, Ashley's best friend Nat is desperate for help in scraping together some kind of prom, no matter what. Things get awfully busy for Ash as she works as a dancing rat in a pizza parlor, staves off T.J.'s alarming apartment choice, handles her crazy, loving family, worms her way out of her many detentions and plans for the year's biggest dance, which she may not even attend.

Prom is an enjoyable read whether you're attending your first prom, blowing it off, or waxing nostalgic like I am. For added pleasure, try listening to the audio version, read by Katherine Kellgren. She does a terrific job bringing the character's off the pages!

100 Teen Books: How many have you read? 50 for me.

Karen Brooks-Reese (Pittsburgh, PA) wrote:

With the help of some of my teen librarian friends, I've compiled a list of 100 Teen Books teens love and adults who serve teens should know about. Here it is! Feel free to gank it for your own purposes.

The following list of books teens love, books teens should read, and books adults who serve teens should know about was compiled IN ABSOLUTELY NO SCIENTIFIC MANNER and should be taken with a very large grain of salt.

Instructions:
Put an "X" next to the books you've read
Put a "+" next to the books you LOVE
Put a "*" next to the books you plan on reading
Tally your "X"s at the bottom
Share with your friends!

1. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy / Douglas Adams
2. Kit's Wilderness / David Almond *
3. Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian / Sherman Alexie X
4. Speak / Laurie Halse Anderson X+
5. Feed / M.T. Anderson X
6. Flowers in the Attic / V.C. Andrews X
7. 13 Reasons Why / Jay Asher X
8. Am I Blue? / Marion Dane Bauer (editor)X
9. Audrey Wait! / Robin Benway *
10. Weetzie Bat / Francesca Lia Block X
11. Tangerine / Edward Bloor X
12. Forever / Judy Blume
13. What I Saw and How I Lied / Judy Blundell *
14. Tyrell / Coe Booth *
15. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants / Ann Brashares X
16. A Great and Terrible Beauty / Libba Bray X+
17. The Princess Diaries / Meg Cabot
18. The Stranger / Albert Camus X
19. Ender's Game / Orson Scott Card
20. Postcards from No Man's Land / Aidan Chambers *
21. Perks of Being a Wallflower / Stephen Chbosky X+
22. And Then There Were None / Agatha Christie X
23. Gingerbread / Rachel Cohn
24. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist / Rachel Cohn and David Levithan X
25. Artemis Fowl (series) / Eoin Colfer
26. The Hunger Games / Suzanne Collins
27. The Midwife's Apprentice / Karen Cushman X
28. The Truth About Forever / Sarah Dessen
29. Little Brother / Cory Doctorow
30. A Northern Light / Jennifer Donnelly X+
31. Tears of a Tiger / Sharon Draper
32. The House of the Scorpion / Nancy Farmer X
33. Breathing Underwater / Alex Flinn X+
34. Stardust / Neil Gaiman
35. Annie on My Mind / Nancy Garden X+
36. What Happened to Cass McBride / Gail Giles X
37. Fat Kid Rules the World / K.L. Going X+
38. Lord of the Flies / William Golding X
39. Looking for Alaska / John Green X
40. Bronx Masquerade / Nikki Grimes
41. Out of the Dust / Karen Hesse
42. Hoot / Carl Hiaasen
43. The Outsiders / S.E. Hinton X
44. Crank / Ellen Hopkins
45 The First Part Last / Angela Johnson X
46. Blood and Chocolate / Annette Curtis Klause
47. Arrow's Flight / Mercedes Lackey
48. Hattie Big Sky / Kirby Larson
49. To Kill a Mockingbird / Harper Lee
50. Boy Meets Boy / David Levithan X
51. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks / E. Lockhart X
52. The Giver / Lois Lowry X
53. Number the Stars / Lois Lowry X
54. Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie / David Lubar X
55. Inexcusable / Chris Lynch X
56. The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things / Carolyn Mackler X
57. Dragonsong / Anne McCaffrey
58. White Darkness / Geraldine McCaughrean
59. Sold / Patricia McCormick *
60. Jellicoe Road / Melina Marchetta *
61. Wicked Lovely / Melissa Marr X
62. Twilight / Stephenie Meyer X
63. Dairy Queen / Catherine Murdock
64. Fallen Angels / Walter Dean Myers X
65. Monster / Walter Dean Myers X
66. Step From Heaven / An Na X
67. Mama Day / Gloria Naylor
68. The Keys to the Kingdom (series) / Garth Nix
69. Sabriel / Garth Nix *
70. Airborn / Kenneth Oppel X
71. Eragon / Christopher Paolin
72. Hatchet / Gary Paulsen
73. Life As We Knew It / Susan Beth Pfeffer X
74. The Golden Compass / Phillip Pullman X
75. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging / Louise Rennison
76. The Lightning Thief / Rick Riordan X
77. Always Running: La Vida Loca / Luis Rodriguez
78. how i live now / Meg Rosoff
79. Harry Potter (series) / J.K. Rowling X
80. Holes / Louis Sachar X
81. Catcher in the Rye / J. D. Salinger X
82. Push / Sapphire
83. Persepolis / Marjane Satrapi
84. Unwind / Neil Shusterman *
85. Coldest Winter Ever / Sister Souljah
86. Stargirl / Jerry Spinelli X
87. Chanda's Secrets / Allan Stratton
88. Tale of One Bad Rat / Brian Talbot
89. Rats Saw God / Rob Thomas X
90. Lord of the Rings / J.R.R. Tolkien X
91. Stuck in Neutral / Terry Trueman X
92. Gossip Girl / Cecily Von Ziegesar
93. Uglies / Scott Westerfeld X
94. Every Time a Rainbow Dies / Rita Williams-Garcia
95. Pedro and Me / Judd Winick
96. Hard Love / Ellen Wittlinger X
97. American Born Chinese / Gene Luen Yang
98. Elsewhere / Gabrielle Zevin
99. I am the Messenger / Markus Zusak X+
100. The Book Thief / Markus Zusak X+

= 50 books

That doesn't seem like very many. :(

Minnesota Book Awards Finalists Announced!

The finalists from the category near and dear to my heart, Young People's Literature:

• Black Box (Delacorte Press/Random House Children’s Books) by Julie Schumacher
• Julia Gillian (and the Art of Knowing) (Scholastic Press/Scholastic Inc.) by Alison McGhee
• Saturday Night Dirt: A Motor Novel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) by Will Weaver
• Twelve Long Months (Scholastic Press/Scholastic Inc.) by Brian Malloy

I am very excited to hear what will be chosen as the winner! My husband and I will be attending the April gala. If you are a Minnesotan, then you should too. It's fun!

To find the finalists in other categories: Click me

Ghost of Spirit Bear

I've finished listening to the audio book of Ghost of Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen. It is the sequel to the much lauded 2001 book Touching Spirit Bear.

Here is a review of Touching Spirit Bear:

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up-

Cole Matthews is a violent teen offender convicted of viciously beating a classmate, Peter, causing neurological and psychological problems. Cole elects to participate in Circle Justice, an alternative sentencing program based on traditional Native American practices that results in his being banished to a remote Alaskan Island where he is left to survive for a year. Cynical and street smart, he expects to fake his way through the preliminaries, escape by swimming off the island, and beat the system, again. But his encounter with the Spirit Bear of the title leaves him desperately wounded and gives him six months of hospitalization to reconsider his options. Mikaelsen's portrayal of this angry, manipulative, damaged teen is dead on. Cole's gradual transformation into a human kind of being happens in fits and starts. He realizes he must accept responsibility for what he has done, but his pride, pain, and conditioning continue to interfere. He learns that his anger may never be gone, but that he can learn to control it. The author concedes in a note that the culminating plot element, in which Peter joins Cole on the island so that both can learn to heal, is unlikely. But it sure works well as an adventure story with strong moral underpinnings. Gross details about Cole eating raw worms, a mouse, and worse will appeal to fans of the outdoor adventure/survival genre, while the truth of the Japanese proverb cited in the frontispiece, "Fall seven times, stand up eight" is fully and effectively realized.

Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


I personally thought that the first Spirit Bear book was unusual and fascinating. As a librarian, I've met many middle grade kids who love it. It has won numerous state book awards. But, before I talk about the current book, I need to be fair and mention objections to the book raised by Native Americans. This is troubling to me. Educator Debbie Reese, who teaches at UIUC's American Indian Studies program writes about them in her blog. You can read about them here and draw your own conclusions.

American Indians in Children's Literature

Ghost of Spirit Bear has Cole and Peter returning from the island, and facing new challenges at their Minneapolis High School. Can they apply what they learned when put back into their own routines? Can they fight bullies without resorting to blackmail and threats? Can they make a difference in a school filled with gangs, drugs and general disrespect and apathy?

I have read that some think that teens will be turned off by the book's earnestness and didacticism. I think that even if that is true, there's no harm in presenting teens with a different way to think about a difficult situation. As an adult reader and keeping the cautions over the presentation of the Tlingit people and their culture in mind, I feel this book still has much to offer. What do you think?

Black Box by Julie Schumacher

I loved this brief and important novel. If you or someone close to you has suffered from depression, you will be able to identify with Elena and her family as her sister Dora slides into mental illness.

In Elena's close knit family, she is the steady one, the level one, the one who never cries. Her older sister Dora is more fun and popular until her sudden change into an angry, apathetic and suicidal stranger. The family and especially Elena are left reeling. She knows that she must save Elena, but what does that mean? Why are her parents keeping secrets from her and refusing to listen to her opinions? With support from her "grandma therapist" and her new friend Jimmy, Elena will try to muddle through this dark and lonely experience.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

This book has certainly caused a lot of buzz. You've probably heard of it. Like 33 Snowfish by Adam Rapp, which puts us readers into the lives of abused, sexually exploited and damaged kids, or Doing It by Melvin Burgess, that delivers us teen sexual fantasies with more detail than any of Judy Blume's most censored material ever did, it expands the limits of Teen fiction. I feel that, like 33 Snowfish, it does so successfully and seriously.

Our 15 year old narrator, known as Alice, was abducted five years ago from a school field trip. Since then she has been raped, abused and completely controlled by Ray, who is unstable and certainly capable of murder. Alice's brightest hope is to die, but then one day Ray decides that she should help him pick her replacement, a sweet little girl who will never be allowed to grow up. Alice will accept any means to free herself from Ray. Or so she believes.

It is horrific stuff and Scott tells her story without flinching. She also completely gets inside her character. I kept wondering why I was subjecting myself to something so disturbing, but it seemed important that I finish. There was no bizarre plot twist (I'm think Breathe My Name by R.A. Nelson), no scenes of hyped up drama. The story itself is riveting enough, and although it's terrible to ingest, it's beautifully and straightforwardly told.

Final BBYA List: More I want to read!

The final list of the Best Books for Young Adults nominations has been released. Here are more that I'd like to read. Annotations are from the BBYA list.

Find the complete list here: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/titlesnominated.cfm

Ain, Beth Levine. The Revolution of Sabine. Candlewick. 2008.

Sabine Duraund lives in the 1776 French era of elaborate balls, beautiful dresses and the trappings of aristocratic society but childhood friend Michel exposes her to revolutionary ideas.

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. The Boy Who Dared. Scholastic. 2008.

Told through flashbacks, this is a fictionalized biography of German teenager Helmuth Hubener, who was imprisoned and executed in 1942 for openly resisting the Nazis.

George, Madeleine. Looks. Viking. 2008.

Meghan, the invisible fat girl, and Aimee, overlooked and anorexic, form an uneasy alliance to get revenge on a mutual enemy.

Halam, Ann. Snakehead. Random House/Wendy Lamb. 2008.

Perseus and Andromeda, caught up in the dealings of a jealous group of Supernaturals—the gods of Greek myths—embark on a quest to confront the monstrous Medusa.

Harmon, Michael. The Last Exit to Normal. Alfred A. Knopf. 2008.

To get him on the right track, Ben Campbell's dad and stepdad accompany him to Montana, where he encounters small town life, homophobia, an abused boy, and a special girl.

Harris, Joanne. Runemarks. Alfred A. Knopf. 2008.

Outcast Maddy has only the mysterious One-Eye as a friend. Magic, along with the Good Folk, cease to be important but what about the runemark on her palm?

Hearn, Julie. Ivy: A Novel. Simon and Schuster. 2008.

Ivy, a child of the streets, does not understand what is about to befall her when her ethereal beauty attracts an artist’s attention.

Horvath, Polly. My One Hundred Adventures. Random House/Schwartz & Wade. 2008.

Twelve-year-old Jane is restless and wishes for adventure. Beginning with the arrival of a man her mother calls “your father”, Jane’s summer is filled with surprises and complications.

Jocelyn, Marthe. Would You. Random House/Wendy Lamb. 2008.

The two sisters have always been unusually close, but after an accident that leaves Claire in a coma, Natalie is left with just her grief and too many unanswered questions.

Kadohata, Cynthia. Outside Beauty. Simon & Schuster. 2008.

Four close sisters must go live with their four respective fathers while their beauty-obsessed mother recovers from an accident that scarred her face.

Kluger, Steve. My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park. Penguin. 2008.

Augie, Alé and Anthony make unlikely friends, but with help from each other, the three high school freshmen survive heartbreak, find first loves and discover their callings.

Lanagan, Margo. Tender Morsels. Random House/Alfred A. Knopf. 2008.

Liga has suffered unspeakable assaults and creates a magic, safe haven for herself and her two daughters, but the real world intrudes and they cope with beauty mixed with brutality.

Lecesne, James. Absolute Brightness. HarperCollins. 2008.

$17.99Flamboyant, outrageous, fourteen-year-old cousin Leonard covers his own sorrows and brings hope and new beginnings to Phoebe's troubled family until the day of his mysterious disappearance.

Levithan, David. How They Met, And Other Stories. Alfred A. Knopf. 2008.

Levithan's eighteen short stories - written during high school and college - capture the humor, bliss, disappointment and magic of falling in love.

Marillier, Juliet. Cybele's Secret. Random House/Alfred A. Knopf. 2008.

Paula travels with her merchant father to Istanbul and discovers a world filled with eunuchs, pirates, dervishes, and an entrance into the Other Kingdom.

Marr, Melissa. Ink Exchange. HarperCollins/HarperTeen. 2008.

Choosing a dramatic tattoo as a consequence of being raped, Leslie doesn’t realize she’s inked with the blood of the faery Dark Lord and will be under his power.

McNish, Cliff. Angel. Lerner/Carolrhoda Books. 2008.

A friendship develops between Freya, who was hospitalized because of her obsession with angels, and social outcast Stephanie who also has visions of angels.

Murdock, Catherine. Princess Ben: Being a Wholly Truthful Account of Her Various Discoveries and Misadventures, Recounted to the Best of Her Recollection, in Four Parts. Houghton Mifflin. 2008.

When unexpectedly orphaned, 15-year-old Benevolence must live with her cold grandmother, Queen Sophia, who demands she shed her unrefined ways and assume the role of the throne’s next heir.

Noyes, Deborah. The Ghosts of Kerfol. Candlewick. 2008.

Five short stories center around the estate of Kerfol and ghosts of previous inhabitants, including a tyrannical lord who was savaged by a pack of dogs.

Owning It: Stories about Teens with Disabilities. Edited by Don Gallo. Candlewick. 2008.
Teenagers may deal with issues that are a combination of psychological and physical disabilities. This set of stories reassures disabled teens they are not alone.

Scott, Elizabeth. Living Dead Girl. Simon and Schuster/Simon Pulse. 2008.

Abducted at the age of ten, Alice has lived as a sex partner for Ray for 5 years until he informs her that she’s "too old" for his love.

Day 13: Read scary to me

On Friday, I finished the delightful book above. It is a great creepy read aloud. I love being read to. When I was in grade school, my mom would read to me every lunch hour. I haven't lost my enjoyment in being a listener and I also like to read to my loved ones. I tried some of these out on my husband, and he liked them too.

These are stories with folklore roots, meant to be shared aloud. Del Negro has some fine versions of "Mr Fox," "The Elfin Knight," and more. My only complaint is that the book is too short. But, it's now on my shopping list. You should seek it out quickly.

If you can't, try http://rickwalton.com/folktale/jacoba26.htm for another spiffy version of "Mr. Fox." Go ahead.

Be bold.

National Book Award Teen Finalists

The National Book Award Finalists in Young People's Literature have been announced:

• Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains (Simon & Schuster)
• Kathi Appelt, The Underneath (Atheneum)
• Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic)
• E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (Hyperion)
• Tim Tharp, The Spectacular Now (Alfred A. Knopf)

Young People’s Literature Judges: Daniel Handler (chair), Holly Black, Angela Johnson, Carolyn Mackler, Cynthia Voigt.

I'm sorry to say that I haven't read any of these, although I have read and enjoyed other books by Anderon and Lockhart. New worlds await. If you've read them, what did you thinks?

Ripped from Routine: Norma Fox Mazer's girls

As I've been wanting to since spring, I've finally read The Missing Girl. It did not disappoint. Now, I'm in my forties, but when I was a true tween/teen I read another Mazer book that had a big impact on me, Saturday the Twelfth of October.

In The Missing Girl, we meet the five Herbert sisters: Beauty, Mim, Stevie (formerly Faithful), Fancy and Autumn. They range in age from 18 to 11 and are already dealing with changes in the family when suddenly, one of them disappears. At this point you and your teen readers are probably already hooked. Mazer tells her tale from the viewpoints of three of the sisters, as well as the disturbing middle-aged kidnapper. The view into his world is truly chilling. The POV of the abducted girl is written in the second person, which further helps the reader to empathize

with her.

Saturday... was also fascinating to me those many years ago. This description is from memory, so please excuse any errors. Zan (Alexandra) is a city girl who somehow unintentionally travels back through time and finds herself among a "primitive" people. Unwillingly to be among them at first, she is taken in and learns their ways, including how to trust the feelings in her belly, rather than her brain. This book addresses changes in a girl's body and at the risk of sounding corny, helped me feel positive about physically becoming a woman. I remember the People have a myth about a maiden whose menstrual blood drops create scarlet flowers wherever they fall. It also seems to me that Zan has a dream where she swallows a stone and it moves inside her like a child. These were mysterious, beautiful and stirring images for me. Just what I needed at the time.