An Innocent Soldier - Josef Holub

Genres: Historical Fiction, Adventure, War
Recommended Grades: 8 Up

A good friend is priceless. Many of us would find it nearly impossible to make it through the trying times of our lives without the support of our friends. In fact, some would say that someone is not a true friend until they have been there with you through the tough times.

An Innocent Soldier is the story of an unlikely friendship between two young soldiers in Napoleon's Grand Armee. Adam is a simple-minded, sixteen-year-old farmhand unwittingly forced into the army by his farmer. Konrad is a sixteen-year-old lieutenant of aristocratic blood. Though the lines between officer and enlistmen and aristocrat and commoner are clear, the harrowing experiences these two boys face together forge a friendship that goes beyond social and economic boundaries.

While this is ultimately the story of two friends, the book does a great job of taking us into Napoleon's ill-fated invasion of Russian in 1812. The conditions these soldiers faced, the lack of supplies and ultimately the futility of Napoleon's plan are made crystal clear in this book.

This book would be a great read for anybody interested in wars. Also, this is a good "buddy book" for boys. Lastly, I think portions, if not all of this book could be a useful tool for teaching the Napoleonic Wars.

Shooter - Walter Dean Myers

Genres: Social Issues
Recommended Grades: 7 Up

In case you haven't noticed, it is a scary world we live in. As hard as we try to keep our schools safe, it is an unfortunate reality of our society that violence is occurring in our schools. There have been at least four incidents in the US since August in which someone was shot and killed in a school. It is sad and scary and definitely something that cannot be ignored.

In Shooter, Walter Dean Myers tackles the issue of school violence. The book takes the form of a threat assessment report that retrospectively examines a school shooting by interviewing the surviving participants. The book ends with the journal of the kid that commits the actual shooting. It is a very disturbing look into the mind of a kid that, for a variety of reasons is brought to the point where killing a classmate is a way out of the emotional pain he is dealing with.

This book is a must read, not because it is a great book, but because it does a good job looking at an issue that is unfortunately becoming an epidemic in US schools. Myers, as he did with Monster, presents us with an unbiased, nonjudgemental story of violence. It is up to the reader to determine where the ultimate blame for this tragedy lies - is it the kid that pulled the trigger? Or the friends that didn't say anything when he brought a gun to school? Is it the bully that caused this kid to go over the edge, or is it the parents, teachers and administrators that ignored his cries for help? Myers doesn't answer the question for us, he just puts it out there.

King Dork - Frank Portman

Genres: General Fiction, Mystery
Recommended Grades: 9 Up

Despite my good looks and charming personality I was never really a ladies man in high school. I know, I know, it's hard to believe but it's the truth. Despite that I still had a good time in high school. I played sports, I had friends - it is a time I look back on with fondness. Because of that, it is always hard for me to relate with people that found high school to be the worst time of their life.

Tom Henderson is one of those kids that may end up looking back on his high school experience as the worst time of his life. And rightfully so. When it comes to the ladies Tom makes me look like Don Juan. He only has one friend, Sam Hellerman, and their friendship is based on the fact that they have always been next to each other when arranged alphabetically. The worst thing Tom has to deal with is the constant bullying he faces at the hands of other students as well as teachers and administrators. Going into his sophomore year Tom doesn't expect much to change. But things do when Tom finds an old copy of The Catcher in the Rye - but this is not just any copy, it is the copy that belonged to his deceased dad. Inside the book Tom finds underlined passages, notes in the margins and cryptic messages that leads him on an investigation to find out what his dad's story is. Little does Tom know that his quest to answer questions about his dad will lead him to make out sessions, rock and roll stardom (or notoriety, depending on how you look at it) and completely shaking the foundation of everything at Hillmont High School.

Frank Portman really nails it with King Dork. This is a top three book for me in 2006. The writing style has almost a stream of consciousness thing going on - because of this it took me a little while to get into the book. I'm glad I did because this was a great book. As dorky as Tom Henderson is I would like to think that we would have been friends in high school. I would recommend this book for high school-aged kids due to some discussion of sex. I think this book would be particularly entertaining to boys that don't really fit in and those that dream of becoming rock stars.

Spacer and Rat - Margaret Bechard

Genres: Science Fiction
Recommended Grades: 6-10

I have never really considered myself a fan of science fiction. It is kind of strange because I really like the fantasy genre, which is like a cousin of sci-fi. I also like sci-fi movies - the Star Wars films are favorites of mine, and I have very fond childhood memories of movies like Short Circuit and Batteries not Included. My guess as to why I am not a fan of science fiction is because I have not read enough of it. I've come to this conclusion because when I think of the few science fiction books I have read, I usually love them. Spacer and Rat by Margaret Bechard is no different.

Due to pollution and lack of resources Earth has become almost uninhabitable. For generations humans have been fleeing Earth and have set up colonies on space stations created from hollowed out asteroids. Jack is a spacer, a space-born human, living on the space station Freedom. He is an apprentice barkeep at a tavern frequented by Earthie space toursists. Life for Jack isn't great but will soon get better when he leaves Freedom station and moves to Liberty station and starts a new job. In the meantime Jack just wants to stay out of trouble and celebrate Perehelion with his friends. But staying out of trouble becomes tough when Jack meets Kit. Kit is a rat, an Earthie child illegally stowing away on the space station. Jack knows he should turn Kit over to the authorities but for some reason he feels bad for her. Little does Jack know that Kit is carrying something rare, something that people want, something that people will try to take with force. Before Jack knows it he is caught up in a dangerous chase, one that will alter his life forever.

Spacer and Rat is a really good book. As I said before I am not a huge fan of sci-fi but this book was easy for me to get into. Believable characters in an easy-to-imagine setting with an action-packed plot make this book a page turner. I think this book is a good book for younger teens, particularly boys and those that enjoy science fiction.