Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Title: Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Author: Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Publication Date: 2006
Number of Pages: 183
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Geographical Setting: New York City
Time Period: late 2000s
Series: N/A

Plot: Nick meets Norah at the club where his band is playing. He asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes to avoid the girl who broke his heart. These five minutes turn into a night-long first date full of moments of passion, awkward silences and some great music.

Subject Headings: music scene, boy meets girl, bands, New York City, broken hearts, true love, straight edge

Appeal: story is told by both title characters in alternating chapters, nice guy doesn’t “finish last” message, music and pop culture references, popular movie adaptation, Nick is a bassist for a queercore band but he is not gay, both characters are straight edge, Norah is Jewish and some talk of concepts of Judaism, coarse language and descriptions of sexual experiences

If you liked Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, you might enjoy: Robin Benway’s Audrey, Wait! Susane Colasanti’s When it Happens.

Gender Blender

Title: Gender Blender
Author: Blake Nelson
Publication Date: 2006
Number of Pages: 182
Genre: Young Adult Fiction (age 10 &up)
Geographical Setting: Seattle, Washington
Time period: mid-late 2000s
Series: N/A

Plot: At George Wilson Middle School something very unlikely and very inconvenient has happened. Tom Witherspoon and Emma Baker have switched bodies! And now they are about to learn how hard it is to be a girl and to be a boy.

Subject Headings: gender roles, middle school

Appeal: Balanced perspective of the trials and tribulations of both boys and girls experiences in the middle school years. Events of puberty and physical development are presented.

If you liked Gender Blender, you might enjoy: Terence Blacker’s Boy2Girl. James Howe’s The Misfits.

Looking for Alaska

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Publication Date: 2005
Number of Pages: 221
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Geographical Setting: boarding school in Alabama
Time period: mid 2000s
Series: N/A

Plot: Sixteen year old Miles “Pudge” Halter has left his uneventful life in Florida to attend Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama. Immediately there is a promise of adventure as he makes friends with his prank-planning roommate, the Colonel, and the fascinating Alaska Young. Pudge falls for Alaska and is drawn into her world of danger, literature, sadness and self-destruction.

Subject Headings: boarding school, drunk driving, pranks, friendship

Appeal: Awarded the Michael L. Printz Award from the ALA. Death of a parent. Teens without parental supervision. Teen involvement with drinking, smoking, some drug use, sex. Famous last words play a prominent role. Battles between the have and have nots. Loyalty and friendship.

If you liked Looking for Alaska, you might enjoy: Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why. Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep. Gregory Galloway’s As Simple as Snow.

The Lovely Bones

Title: The Lovely Bones
Author: Alice Sebold
Publication Date: 2002
Number of Pages: 328
Genre: Fiction
Geographical Setting: suburban Pennsylvania (outside of Philadelphia)
Time period: 1970s
Series: N/A

Plot: Fourteen year old Susie is raped and murdered by a neighborhood man. From her heaven, she watches her family, friends, the community and her murderer throughout the years.

Subject Headings: murder, rape, crimes against teens, murder victim’s family, heaven

Appeal: Sebold’s heaven is one where wishes are granted, a personalized heaven that may be shared with others there when wants overlap—this is not a religious heaven. The description of the rape and murder is chilling but not salacious or exploitive. Family dynamics—mother/daughter, father/daughter, husband/wife, older sister/younger sister. Life of a mother who still desires her life as a woman first (her freedoms, her intellectual life). Families of murder victims and their lives after the event, the search for the killer, the search for closure.

If you liked The Lovely Bones, you might enjoy: Russell Banks’ The Sweet Hereafter. Anne Ursu’s Spilling Clarence. Laura Moriarty’s The Center of Everything.

the first part last

Title: the first part last
Author: Angela Johnson
Publication Date: 2003
Number of Pages: 131
Genre: Young Adult fiction
Geographical Setting: New York City, Brooklyn
Time Period: early 2000s
Series: N/A

Plot: Bobby is enjoying his teenage life of friends, parties and his girlfriend, Nia. On his sixteenth birthday, Nia tells him that she is pregnant. Now everything is changing and Bobby has to grow up fast. Both their parents and the social worker try to convince the two teens that the only way they will have a normal life again is to give the baby up for adoption.

Subject Headings: teen parents, teen father, teen pregnancy, African-American

Appeal: ALA Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, Coretta Scott King Award Winner, the story unfolds by going back and forth between “then” and “now,” empowering story of young African-American male taking responsibility for his baby daughter, grandparents experience of helping to raise grandchild, teens making decisions about their reproductive options including adoption

If you liked the first part last, you might enjoy: Sharon G. Flake’s Who Am I Without Him? Sharon M. Draper’s November Blues.

Tyrell

Title: Tyrell
Author: Coe Booth
Publication Date: 2006
Number of Pages: 310
Genre: Young Adult fiction
Geographical Setting: Bronx, New York
Time Period: mid 2000s
Series: N/A

Plot: Tyrell has a lot to worry about even though he is only fifteen. He stopped going to school and has to live in a homeless shelter with his irresponsible mother and younger brother. All he wants is to be able to take care of his girl but how can he with no job or money? He has a plan but he doesn’t want to end up in jail, like his dad.

Subject Headings: inner city teens, poverty, homelessness, homeless shelter, jail, DJ, African-American

Appeal: parent in jail, temptations of quick money by selling drugs, the realities of living in roach-infested homeless shelters/hotels, use of street lingo but not so much as to alienate readers, some descriptions of sexual acts, writer once worked with teenagers and families in crisis in the Bronx

If you liked Tyrell, you might enjoy: E.R Frank’s Life is Funny. Walter Dean Myer’s Street Verse. Allison Van Diepen’s Street Pharm. Kate Morgenroth's Jude.

Whale Talk

Title: Whale Talk
Author: Chris Crutcher
Publication Date: 2001
Number of Pages: 220
Genre: Young Adult fiction
Geographical Setting: Pacific Northwest (small town outside of Spokane, Washington)
Time Period: early 2000s
Series: N/A

Plot: Multi-racial teen, T.J. Jones, has quite a bit of athletic ability but he chooses not to participate in high school team sports. You see, he has little problem with being told what to do and has had some problems since his biological mom had to give him up. He has two supportive parents now but the Cutter Athletic Department and the Wolverines Too (a booster club of high school grads who can’t let go of their glory days) don’t make life too easy for him or some of the other “misfits” of the school. So T.J. has a plan to take them all on and it starts with the assembling of the first Cutter swim team—the All-Night Mermen—and the goal of attaining the symbol of what is so screwed up with Cutter High—the varsity letterman’s jacket.

Subject Headings: high school, sports, bullying, abuse, swim team, adoption, multi-racial

Appeal: Protagonist is multi-racial: African American, Japanese and White. Protagonist sticks to his ideals and beliefs in the face of harassment and bullying and is even cocky. Incidents of bullying. Child of adoption, mother abused drugs. Protagonist participates in therapy and also helps with younger children who are in therapy. Literature for boys. Athleticism is important to many of the boys and the sense of being a part of a team is emphasized.

If you liked Whale Talk, you might enjoy: Chris Lynch’s Slot Machine. Rich Wallace’s Wrestling Sturbridge. Terry Davis’s Vision Quest

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl

Title: The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl

Author: Barry Lyga

Publication date: 2007

Number of pages: 311

Genre: Young Adult fiction

Geographical Setting: small town/suburban America

Time Period: mid 2000s

Series: planned sequel for fall 2009 titled Goth Girl Rising

Plot Summary: Fanboy is a really smart high school sophomore who is considered a geek by many or a punching bag or just invisible. His parents are divorced and he lives with his pregnant mom and her new husband, the “step-fascist.” Keeping him going is the most important thing in his life—his own (secret) graphic novel that he has been creating with his ancient and constantly crashing computer. He soon meets Kyra, a.k.a. Goth Girl, whose shares his love of comics and disdain for pretty much everybody at school. Finally he has met someone who just might understand him but women can be complicated.

Subject Headings: friendship, comic books, graphic novels, high school, geeks, bullying, suicide, jocks

Appeal: Mentions of comic books/graphic novels and their authors will appeal to fans of this genre however, there is not so much insider information that would exclude other readers, death of a parent by cancer, teens coping with bullies, teens coping with their own rage/anger, teens coping with stepfamilies, there is some toying with ideas of school shootings and the outcast student creating a “hit list”, but there is never a real threat for this level of violence, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

If you liked The Astonishing Adventures…., you might enjoy: John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines. Gail Giles’ Playing in Traffic. K.L. Going’s Fat Kid Rules the World.

The Misfits

Title: The Misfits
Author: James Howe
Publication date: 2001
Number of pages: 274
Genre: Young Adult fiction
Geographical Setting: Upstate New York

Time Period: 2000s
Series: sequel is Totally Joe

Plot Summary: Four best friends are misfits in their Upstate New York town for various reasons: being overweight, being a too-tall know-it-all, being a hooligan and being gay. They decide to create a third party for their middle school election to represent everyone who has ever been called a name.

Subject Headings: best friends, bullying, name-calling, middle school, student council elections

Appeal: Howe wrote novel in response to his own daughter’s difficult time in seventh grade, shows that mean names are not just words to many kids, heroes of the book are unconventional but still relatable by many readers, middle school expereince including first crushes, death of parent by cancer

If you liked The Misfits, you might enjoy: 13: Thirteen Stories that Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen, edited by Howe. Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower. S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

forever...

Title: forever...
Author: Judy Blume
Publication date: 1975
Number of pages: 192
Genre: Young Adult fiction
Geographical Setting: suburban New Jersey
Time Period: mid 1970s
Series: N/A

Plot Summary: Katherine meets Michael at a New Year’s party. There is an instant attraction between them and they soon begin dating each other exclusively. Katherine comes from a very open family without many rules including no curfew and a grandmother who sends her information from Planned Parenthood. She isn’t very wild though, gets decent grades, plays tennis very well and is still a virgin. Michael wants to have sex with Katherine but is understanding of her hesitance and takes things slow (as much as he can and as much as Katherine insists). As they negotiate and explore their romantic and sexual relationship, Katherine learns more about her own responsibilities that come with having sex. As their senior year is coming to an end, they have professed their love to one another and make plans for their summer together and their future afterwards.

Subject Headings: first love, high school graduation, first sexual experiences, teen sex, teen pregnancy, homosexuality, 1970s, birth control, Planned Parenthood

Appeal: written by one of America’s #1 children’s and young adult authors, frequently challenged book, candid discussion of sex and sexuality, colloquial language, sex in the 1970s before HIV/AIDS, experience of first love as a teen and belief it will last “forever,” giving a baby up for adoption as a teen, self responsibility to obtain birth control and use birth control, dilemma of the realization of sexual desires for someone other than one’s boyfriend

If you like forever..., you might enjoy: Judy Blume’s Deenie. Louise Rennison’s Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging. Sarah Dessen’s Someone Like You. Stephie Davis’ Smart Boys and Fast Girls.

Eagle Blue

Title: Eagle Blue. A Team, A Tribe, And a High School Basketball Season in Arctic Alaska
Author: Michael D’Orso
Publication date: 2006
Number of pages: 323
Genre: Nonfiction, biography
Geographical Setting: village of Fort Yukon, Arctic Alaska
Time Period: 2004-05
Series: N/A

Plot Summary: Writer D’Orso spent a winter with the high school boys’ basketball team, the Fort Yukon Eagles. The remote village of Fort Yukon is eight miles above the Arctic Circle and is home to around 600 people—mainly Athabascan Gwich’in Natives. D’Orso invites the reader into the lives of the boys and their coach as he follows along with him as they play their home games and fly to many of the away games. D’Orso also reveals the history and lives of many of the people of Fort Yukon including the high incidents of alcoholism, domestic violence and school dropouts but also their native pride and pride for their basketball team.

Subject Headings: basketball, high school sports, Native Alaskans, family, community, isolation, alcoholism, survival, tradition, ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge), ANCSA (Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act), Athabascan Gwich’in

Appeal: Native Alaskan history and modern struggles including clashes with tradition, dealing with suicide, teen pregnancy, domestic violence and alcoholism in families, boys’ experiences in team sports, life above the Arctic Circle including -50 degree winters and near-continual darkness, small close-knit community, the school attempting to survive on very little money and resources, non-Native peoples’ experiences living in the Athabascan Gwich’in community, Arctic Alaskan experience of natives as opposed to the life of an inexperienced backpacker like Christopher McCandless (see Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild)

If you liked Eagle Blue, you might enjoy: Buzz Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights. Peter Jenkin’s Looking for Alaska. Velma Wallis’ Raising Ourselves: A Gwich'in: Coming of Age Story from the Yukon River.

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

Title: The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

Author: Ann Brashares

Publication date: 2001

Number of pages: 376

Genre: Young Adult fiction
Geographical Setting: Washington DC/Maryland, Greece, Baja California, Charleston, SC

Time Period: early 2000s

Series: yes, first of the series

Plot Summary: Four teen girls are all very different from one another. If their mothers had not taken aerobic classes together when they were pregnant, they probably wouldn’t be the best friends they are today. They are about to face their first summer apart from one another. They plan to write letters but most importantly to share the Pants. Carmen didn’t think much about this pair of cheap thrift store jeans she bought until she and each of her friends tried them on. “Magically,” they fit each of their very different body types beautifully. They make their pact to share the jeans equally all summer and to share the experiences they have wearing them. The beautiful Lena travels to Greece to spend the summer with her grandparents. Athletic Bridget is off to an elite soccer camp in Baja California. Hot-headed Carmen, whose parents are divorced, is visiting her dad in South Carolina and rebellious Tibby is staying home to work for minimum wage at Wallman’s and film her documentary.

Subject Headings: friendship, best friends, teen girls, first love, travel, cancer, childhood leukemia, divorce, coming of age, summer

Appeal: best friends coming of age together and through separate experiences, successful film adaptation in 2005, divorced parents, remarriage of parents and new stepfamily, characters display different “types” of teen girls for a wide range of readers to relate to—the misunderstood beauty, the jock, the artsy girl, the bi-racial teen of divorced parents with a Puerto Rican mother and father starting a new “All-American” family, first sexual experiences touched on but are not explicit, death of a young girl from leukemia, death of a parent by suicide

If you liked The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, you might enjoy: Susan McBride’s The Debs. Caroline B. Cooney’s Family Reunion. Rebecca Wells’ The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. More for male readers, Randy Powell’s Three Clams and an Oyster.

Monster

Title: Monster
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Publication date: 1999
Number of pages: 281
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Geographical Setting: Harlem, Manhattan Detention Center
Time Period: late 1990s
Series: N/A

Plot Summary: Steve Harmon is an amateur filmmaker on trial for murder. He is accused of being a lookout for a drugstore robbery where the owner of the store was killed. Steve tells his story of his incarceration and trial and some of his life before being arrested through the medium of a screenplay he is writing. Was he the lookout or just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Throughout his screenplay and diary entries, Steve reveals the frightening conditions of a prison and the nightmare of spending most of his life behind bars.

Subject Headings: racism, prejudice, African American experience, jail, prison, violence, American legal system, teens in jail, screenplay

Appeal: use of illustrations, diary-like entries in handwriting typeface combined with protagonist’s screenplay, literature for young men, teens surviving in an adult world, challenging and thought-provoking subject and dilemmas to open up discussion and dialogue by readers, African American inner city lives and realities, Coretta Scott King Honor, ALA Best Book for Young Adults and Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers

If you liked Monster, you might enjoy: Walter Dean Myer’s Shooter. Virginia Walter's Making Up Megaboy.

The City of Ember

Title: The City of Ember
Author: Jeanne DuPrau
Publication date: 2004
Number of pages: 270
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, grades 4-7
Geographical Setting: fictional city of Ember
Time Period: unknown, far into the future
Series: yes, first of the Books of Ember

Plot Summary: When you turn 12 in the City of Ember, you are assigned your life job. Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow are not very happy with their luck and decide to trade jobs-Lina gets to be a Messenger, running all through Ember’s streets and Doon will get to explore the underground as a Pipeworker (and get a good look at that generator). The people of Ember have lived just fine for the last 250 years or so. “Daytime” is regulated and there is no sunlight or moonlight but rather the yellowish glow from flood lamps throughout the city. Light bulbs are becoming more precious as it seems the supplies are getting low. Blackouts are happening more frequently and are lasting longer. Beyond the town limits are the pitch-black Unknown Regions. Without “movable light,” venturing here is nearly impossible. That is until Lina and Doon make an exciting and puzzling discovery.

Subject Headings: the future, survival, fantasy, science fiction, dystopia

Appeal: an ALA notable book, movie adaptation in 2008, moral dilemmas dealing with stealing and lying, death of parents due to illness, children with adult responsibilities, children as heroes, often characterized as “science fiction for people who don’t like science fiction,” suspenseful first book of a series, a dystopian view of a future for humanity

If you liked The City of Ember, you might enjoy: Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. Margaret Peterson Haddix’s The Shadow Children series. Philip Reeve’s The Hungry City Chronicles.