Luna - Julie Anne Peters

Genres: General Fiction, Social Issues
Recommended Grades: 8 Up

Regan O'Neill has your typical teenage girl problems: she kind of hates her parents, she definitely hates her chemistry teacher, and she totally has a crush on her lab partner. Her biggest problem is her older brother Liam. Liam is transgender - he is a boy on the outside, but trapped in this boy's body is a girl named Luna. Regan is the only one that knows Luna's secret. This secret is tearing Liam/Luna apart and in the process is bringing Regan down as well.

Julie Anne Peters has written a great story in Luna. Regan is a really great character - her family relationships, her disastrous dates, her problems with classmates - all are so easy to relate to. Liam's conflict with himself is extremely intense and left me felling really bad for his situation. This book is sure to provoke discussion, particularly on topics like gender expectations and what being transgender is all about. I could not bring myself to label this book as chick lit mainly because I think this book has so much to offer boys as well as girls, but I think this book would appeal mainly to girls. I would recommend this book to high school or older middle school kids because of some coarse language and a little bit of drug reference.

Absolutely Positively Not - David LaRochelle

Genres: General fiction, Social Issues
Recommended Grades: 6-10

Being a teenager isn’t easy. You’ve got all types of problems, all sorts of issues to deal with and not a lot of experience to guide you through them. Steven DeNarski has got plenty of problems. He can’t seem to pass his driver’s exam. His mom is a best-selling author of a book titled The clean teen: a how-to manual on raising tidy teenagers – she also happens to be a complete slob. He is also totally gay but in complete denial. Absolutely Positively Not is the hilarious account of a kid coming to grips with his sexuality while at the same time just trying to survive high school. David LaRochelle did a great job with this book. He seems to understand how the mind of a high school kid works. Steven is a great character – he is a little neurotic which shows up in the funniest ways. Despite the controversial nature of the topic of sexuality this book is suitable for middle school kids as well as high school kids. I would recommend it to any kid looking for a funny read. I would also recommend it to a kid grappling with their own sexual identity.

The Usual Rules - Joyce Maynard

Genres: General Fiction, Chick Lit
Recommended Grades: 9 Up

Sometimes, you just need to cry - that's right, I said it. You know, a lot of people think that a tough guy like me wouldn't cry, but to those people I would say "If crying is wrong, I don't wanna be right!" Don't get me wrong. I'm not walking around crying all day, everyday. In fact, I rarely cry. But sometimes, you just have to. The things that make me cry usually have to do with my family - thinking about the danger and sorrow my younger brother has faced during his three tours in Iraq, or the dream I had about my sister overdosing on drugs - those things will make me cry. Sometimes hearing or reading stories of people suffering can also give me that choked up feeling in my chest.

The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard is one of those stories that got me really choked up. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the first third of the book is the saddest piece of fiction I have ever read. Wendy is a thirteen-year-old girl with a thirteen-year-old girl's problems - trying to fit in at school, dealing with her dorky step dad - but her biggest problem is her mom. Wendy's real dad lives in California and he has invited Wendy to come out and visit. Wendy's mom won't let Wendy go because the school year has just started. One fateful morning Wendy leaves for school without saying goodbye to her mom - they had fought about the trip the night before. It turns out that that morning was September 11, 2001 and Wendy's mom worked in one of the towers at the World Trade Center. Now all of Wendy's problems seem like nothing when she thinks about what her life will be like without her mom. In the last two-thirds of the book Wendy deals with the loss of her mother while at the same time facing a whole new set of issues - moving to her dad's house, starting life at a new school. This part of the book is not sad at all - in fact, much of it is uplifting.

This was a good book. I liked it, but I think younger girls will enjoy it even more. Wendy is a great character - she has her flaws, but what thirteen-year-old girl doesn't. I would recommend this book to any girl looking for a good read. It is a rather long book and the writing is a bit more sophisticated than your standard teen novel, so it will probably be more appealing to advanced readers.

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.

Heavy Metal and You - Chris Krovatin

Genres: General Fiction
Recommended Grades: 10 Up

I was a music fiend when I was high school - it was my thing. I loved to listen to it. I loved to talk about it. I loved to read about it. I even learned to play the guitar so that I could create it. In my mind, the music I listened to defined who I was.

Sammy Markus is very similar to a younger me. To say he likes heavy metal music is an understatement. He loves heavy metal. He breathes it. He is a heavy metal encyclopedia. Other than his obsession with the loud, angry genre and the spiked bracelets that he wears, Sammy is a fairly normal dude. Sammy meets a girl named Melissa. They hit it off immediately and they soon fall in love with each other. The only problem is that Sammy and Mellissa are very different. Sammy is a metalhead - Melissa is preppy. Sammy likes to party with his friends - Melissa is straightedge. Soon Sammy finds that his heavy metal persona and his girlfriend cannot coexist. Which one does he choose? Find out in Heavy Metal and You by Christopher Krovatin.

I've got to say that is probably one of the cheesiest reviews I have ever written, which is too bad because this is a really good book. Krovatin does a good job writing from and older teen's perspective - not suprising as he is only 21. This book is for older teens, definitely not for middle school kids. There are numerous references to drinking, drugs and sex plus plenty of coarse language. While it doesn't really promote those activities, kids experimenting with those things will find this book interesting and real. I recommend it to older boys and girls, particulalry those that like music.

The Highest Tide - Jim Lynch

Genres: General Fiction
Recommended Ages: 16+

This summer I was fortunate enough to get to spend a week in the Outer Banks. For those that have never been there, the Outer Banks are a series of barrier islands, basically gigantic sand bars, found of the coast of North Carolina. As beautiful as the Green Mountains of Vermont are, I sometimes find my mind drifting off to visions of the Outer Banks; the crashing waves, the endless beaches, but mostly the vast array of wildlife. Dozens of species of birds, crabs, fish, even dolphins and other sea mammals can be found swimming on the ocean and sound sides of the Outer Banks - an animal lover's paradise, particularly for someone that loves marine life.

I'm sure Miles O'Malley would find the Outer banks an exciting place. Miles is a thirteen year old boy living on Skookumchuck Bay, the southernmost bay of Puget Sound in Washington state. While Miles is small for his age, just 4'9", he is filled to the brim with knowledge of the animals and plants found in the ocean, particularly those found in his bay. Miles's life is fairly typical until he finds a giant squid was up on the local nudist beach. A giant squid is a rare find, but it is unheard of to find one that far north. Thus begins the first in a series of miraculous discoveries, actions and predictions that lead Miles to local stardom and even cult hero status. Throughout it all, Miles stays concerned with what matters; appreciating the ocean, keeping his friends safe and keeping his family together.

This was truly a great novel. Jim Lynch has created a landscape so vivid one can almost hear gulls flying by and smell the tide rolling out. This book would be a great read for boys and girls, teens and adults - anybody that is looking for a really good read. I wouldn't recommend it to younger readers because of the sophistication of the writing as well as some mature content discussed in the book. For everyone else I just gotta say check out this book.

Flush - Carl Hiaasen

Genres: General Fiction
Recommended Ages: 11-14

I recently found out some bad news - at one time this blog had as many as four readers. Alas, now there is just one, and it is I. But fear not, I will keep writing, and maybe one day, when school is back in session, or my wife isn't mad at me anymore, I will have two or three more readers. That's my comfort zone right there. Anyway…

Noah Underwood’s dad is behind bars. He is guilty of sinking the Coral Queen, a casino boat owned and operated by Dusty Muleman. You see Dusty – who, by the way, is not a very nice guy - has been dumping the Coral Queen’s holding tanks into the ocean, polluting the water and causing the local beach to close down. So Noah’s dad sunk the Coral Queen to stop the dumping. Problem is he couldn’t prove anything. That is where Noah and his kid sister Abbey come in. Together, with the help of a few unlikely friends, they will devise a scheme that will prove to everyone once and for all that Dusty is guilty.

I had a good time reading Flush by Carl Hiaasen. The pace of the book is really good – it gets right into the action and doesn’t let up until the end. I would recommend this book to any middle school aged kid, particularly to kids that like fishing and other outdoor activities. Hiaasen is the same guy that wrote Hoot, which has recently been made into a movie.

The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier

Genres: General Fiction
Recommended Ages: 14+
DRP: 56

Some may find it hard to believe that I was not a huge book reader during my teen years. As an elementary school student, and even a bit during my middle school years I was a voracious reader – I particularly enjoyed sports biographies and other nonfiction. By the time I was a teenager most of my reading was magazines. I really didn’t read any young adult fiction, but that just made me a typical teenage boy. So, with that in mind, I have begun to read some of the books that I probably should have read as a teen, particularly titles that are considered teen classics. The most recent book I took on was The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier.

The Chocolate War centers on the story of Jerry Renault, a freshman at Trinity High School, a small Catholic school in Massachusetts. Jerry is a typical freshman boy – he’s trying to make the football team, trying to figure out who he is, coming to grips with the changing relationship he has with his father. Trinity High School is essentially run by a secret society known as the Vigils. The Vigils, led by Archie Costello, hand out assignments to students that are designed to humiliate the kids that carry them out. The students carry out the assignments out of fear of the Vigils.

Each year, Trinity High School has a chocolate sale to raise money. Although not required, every student is expected to sell a certain amount of chocolates. Jerry is given the assignment of refusing to sell the chocolates. This infuriates the school's headmaster, Brother Leon, who sees Jerry’s refusal as an act of rebellion against everything Trinity stands for. After awhile, the Vigils order Jerry to start selling the chocolates but he continues to refuse. This is where the story starts to get interesting, as we see what can happen to a student that “dares to disturb the universe.”

I liked this book and can see why it is considered a classic. The struggle Jerry faces to stand alone in a sea of conformity is a struggle I think most teens face at one point or another. Cormier does a good job building the characters – you feel for Jerry’s plight; you easily grow to hate Archie Costello and Brother Leon. I would recommend this book to high school kids, particularly boys. There is a good deal of swearing and some talk about masturbation which makes it inappropriate for younger teens. All-in-all I say if you read The Chocolate War, you are not likely to be disappointed.

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

Genres: General Fiction
Recommended Ages: 15+
DRP: 49

I have a secret. As ridiculous as it may seem, I had never read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I somehow made it through high school, college, and even graduate school without even having someone recommend the book to me. Of course, I was aware that the book existed. I knew that it was controversial and was one of the most frequently challenged books in America, but I didn’t know why. Finally, the curiosity caught up with me, and last week I decided it was time to give the old Catcher in the Rye a try.

The story centers on Holden Caulfield, a sixteen year old kid that has just recently been expelled from prep school. Instead of returning straight home, Holden spends a couple of nights roaming around New York City. The story ends with Holden in a mental institution. The story, while interesting, is not what makes this book a classic. The character of Holden is what is classic.

Holden is an interesting kid. He is cynical. He is a bit paranoid. He is angry and scared. And despite the fact that this book is nearly sixty years old, Holden is still real. Kids of 2006 can still relate to Holden Caulfield. The dialogue in this book is realistic and does not sound dated. Holden’s approach to life, his view of the world around him, and his difficulty coping with growing up is real and still relevant. Holden’s extreme cynicism, while kind of sad at times, is not a foreign attitude amongst today’s kids, particularly in light of the current political climate in the US. It is Holden’s realness that makes this book a classic.

Now, this is not the best book I have ever read, but it may be the best sixty year old book I have ever read. It is definitely a good book. I would recommend it to any high school student, particularly one that feels alienated or outcast. I would not recommend this book to a middle school kid – not because of the book's controversial aspects (language and plot line), but because I don’t think most middle school kids will get it.