How I Live Now

Rosoff, M. (2004). How I Live Now. United Kingdom: Puffin.

Image credit: Perrot Library

Annotation:

A young American girl is sent to England to live with estranged family at the onset of World War III.

Booktalk:

Then...

Daisy lived in Manhattan with her father. Her biggest concern was her evil stepmother who had recently revealed that she was pregnant. Daisy was sure the baby would be just as devilish as Davina.

Now...

Daisy lives with her four cousins in the remote English countryside. Her aunt has been stranded in Norway due to the outbreak of World War III. For a while things are idyllic without an adult around. But, as the war catches up to them, Daisy and her cousins must face a new reality that is violent, hostile, and deadly. Find out what happens to Daisy and see How She Lives Now.

Awards:

• Branford Boase Award, 2005
• Der Luchs des Jahres Book Prize, 2005
• Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, 2004
• Julia Ward Howe Prize (Boston Authors Club), 2005
• Michael L. Printz Award, 2005

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Pearson, Mary. (2008). The Adoration of Jenna Fox. New York: Henry Holt.

Image credit: Tower.com

Annotation:

 A seventeen year-old girl awakes from a coma with no memory of who she is or what happened to her. Jenna Fox struggles to find her identity and realize her purpose in life.

Booktalk: 

 “Tell me who I am.” 

Who is Jenna Fox? Imagine waking up one day with no memory of who you were or how to do simple things like walk or talk. This is the reality of Jenna Fox's new life. She's constantly looking up words to understand their meanings and watching excessive, almost creepy childhood videos. She remembers things that she shouldn't- couldn't and there are also the crystal-clear voices that visit every night. 

“The dictionary says my identity should be all about being separate or distinct, and yet it feels like it is so wrapped up in others.” 

Jenna's mother is obsessive, controlling, and secretive. Her grandmother avoids her like the plague and always seems mad. Her father always masks his emotions with a smile and a sweetly spoken "It's alright, Angel." Yet it is these people who hold the keys to the closet of secrets that is Jenna's life. She must discover her past to understand who she has become.

Follow in the new Jenna's footsteps and surrender yourself to the mysterious Adoration of Jenna Fox.

Quote:

One small changed family doesn’t calculate into a world that has been spinning for a billion years. But one small change makes the world spin differently in a billion ways for one family.

Awards:     

• ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2009
• Andre Norton Award Finalist, 2009
• Arkansas Teen Book Award, 2010
• Booklist 2009 Amazing Audiobooks
• Califonia Young Reader Medal nominee, 2010-2011
• Capitol Choices for Teens, 2009
• Cynsational Books of 2008
• Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award nominee, 2010-2011
• Evergreen Young Adult Book Award 2011 Master list, 201!
• Garden State Teen Book Award Finalist, 2011
• German Youth Literature Award Finalist, Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, 2010
• Golden Kite Honor Award, 2008
• Heartland Award Honor Award for Excellence in Young Adult Fiction, 2010
• IndieBound "Top Ten" Summer 2008 Pick 
• International Reading Association Young Adult Choice Book, 2010
• Iowa High School Book Award master list, 2010-2011
• Isinglass Teen Reads Award Nominee, 2010-2011
• Kentucky Book Award Master List, 2010
• Kirkus Best Young Adult Books of 2008
• Librarians' Choices 2008
• Locus Magazine 2008 Recommended Read
• Maine Student Book Award Master List, 2010
• Missouri Truman Readers Award nominee, 2010-2011
• Never Jam Today Best of 2008
• Not Your Mother's Faves, 2008
• NYPL Best Books, 2009
• Oregon Reader's Choice nominee, 2010-2011
• Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award Master List, 2011
• Rhode Island Teen Book Award Master List, 2010
• School Library Journal Best Books, 2008
• Sequoyah Book Awards Master list, 2011
• South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Master List, 2009
• Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award Master List, 2010
• Texas Lone Star Reading List, 2008
• Texas Tayshas High School Reading List, 2008
• VOYA Top Shelf Fiction, 2008
• Westchester Fiction Award, 2009
• Winner Distinguished Work of Fiction CLCSC, 2009
• YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2010

A Contract with God

Eisner, Will. (2006). A Contract With God. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Annotation:  

Four short stories give readers insight into the lives of residents living in Bronx tenements.

Booktalk:

Meet some of the tenement's most colorful characters: Frimme Hersch, Diva Marta Maria, Mr. Scuggs, and Goldie. Each resident has their own life experiences and expectations, and each is trying to realize their own "American Dream." Discover the tragic beauty that is alive in the Bronx tenements of 1930's-1950's New York.

Will Eisner, the godfather of graphic novels, creates images that convey just as much emotion and reality as the text [open book to random page to show the style of illustrations]. Find out how A Contract with God changed literature forever and inspired generations by being the original graphic novel.

Saving Francesca

Marchetta, Melina. (2003). Saving Francesca. New York: Alfred A. Knopf

Image Credit: Tower.com

Annotation:  

Seemingly all at once everything in Francesca's life changes from the school she attends to her family dynamics.

Booktalk:

Meet Francesca: a seventeen year-old sophomore at a all-boys high school that just recently became co-ed. But that's a joke according to Francesca, who suggests that the only thing about the school that's co-ed is the restrooms. One of about thirty girls at St. Sebastian's, Francesca feels lost in the crowd and uncertain about her group of friends. After Francesca's regularly perky and overbearing mother succumbs to a bout of depression, her family begins to fall apart. 

As things at home begin to fall apart, Francesca relies more and more on her friends and a new love interest. However, even things at school are not a perfect as they seem. Will Francesca be able to put the pieces of her life back together? Will Saving Francesca be possible, or will she fall victim to a life of depression like her mother?

Quote:

 The truth doesn’t set you free, you know. It makes you feel awkward and embarrassed and defense-less and red in the face and horrified and petrified and vulnerable. But free? I don’t feel free. I feel like shit.

Awards:

• Children's Book Council Book of the Year Award: Older Readers, 2004
• South Australia Premier's Awards, Children's Literature Award, 2004

The Coldest Winter Ever

Souljah, Sister. (1999). The Coldest Winter Ever. New York: Atria Books.

Image credit: Wikipedia

Annotation:  

Seventeen year-old Winter's kush lifestyle changes dramatically after a series of bad events. Winter must do what she can to hustle and survive on the streets of Brooklyn.

Booktalk:

Do you remember New York's Coldest Winter Ever? Out of it a young urban princess, Winter, was born into a lavish lifestyle supported by her drug-dealing father, Ricky Santiaga, Santiaga took care of everything and everyone; he and his crew ran Brooklyn. Everything in Winter's life is perfect, her biggest concern being which outfit to floss or which diamond necklace to rock. Once her father is busted and her mom abandons her for a life of drugs Winter finds herself on her own for the first time ever. As Winter's life changes she finds new friends and new enemies, she learns who to trust and who will rat her out. Winter learns new shocking truths that shake her world as she thought she knew everything. 

But really we women don’t have to do anything to be beautiful. It’s a gift from God. The woman is. Somewhere along the line many of us as women are led to believe that being pretty is enough. And while we rely on that, we forget to strengthen our minds so that we can learn how to think, how to build. How to survive. We forget how to live our lives to protect our spirit, to be clean and decent. We forget that everything we do matters so much.

Winter proves true the old adage that whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Her journey will change her and her life won't be what she expected. Will ever find someone who she can trust? Will her family ever be the same again? Will she survive another Coldest Winter Ever?

Awards:

•  YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, Hard Knock Life Category, 2010

Twilight

Meyer, Stephanie. (2005). Twilight. New York: Little, Brown, and Company.

Image credit: Wikipedia

Annotation:  

A young girl meets and vampire and falls passionately in love.

Booktalk:

Seventeen year-old Isabella is forced to move from Florida to the small, rainy town of Forks, WA. to live with her father. Bella's life is uneventful and high school is painful until she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen. The attraction is instantaneously and irresistible and is all the more complicated by the fact that Edward is a vampire.

Like any teenage girl Bella feels the strain of juggling school, family, friends, and a relationship. However the consequences of falling in love with a vampire are much more fatal than dating the boy next door. Will Bella survive this love or is this the Twilight of her human life?

Awards:

• ALA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2006
• Black-Eyed Susan Award, 2007-2008
• Isinglass Teen Read Award, 2006-2007
• Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of 2005 
• School Library Journal's Best Books of 2005 

Annie on My Mind

Garden, Nancy. (1992). Annie on My Mind. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.

Image Credit: MPPL.org

Annotation:  

Eliza Winthrop has her whole perfect life figured out. She is comes from a great family, she's class president, and she hopes to be accepted to MIT in the fall to study architecture. However, her plans are threatened when she beings a relationship with a new friend.

Booktalk:

What is on Eliza Winthrop's mind? Compared to most teenage girls who daydream about boys and obsess over fashion, popularity and Prom, Liza is different. She is a tomboy who aspires to be an architect and would rather hang out with boys than girls. In fact, she only has one girl friend until she meets Annie Kenyon. Annie is more original and unconventional than anyone in Liza's world. Annie is beautiful, talented, and completely understands Liza from the moment they meet.

As a friendship blossoms, Annie and Liza become inseparable, magnetically drawn to one another with great intensity. Are the girls simply friends, or is something more developing between them? One unexpected event will test their friendship and the girls in ways they never dreamed. The love and depth of their relationship will explain why Liza has Annie on Her Mind.

Awards: 

• ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 1982
• ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (Lesbian/Gay  Tales),  1997
• ALA 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000, #48
• ALA 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-1999, #44
• Booklist Reviewer's Choice, 1982
• Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award, 2000.