the first part last

Johnson, Angela, the first part last, Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2010, 131 pgs.

Summary: Bobby is a teenage single father in New York. The struggles of raising a baby through the eyes of a teenage boy are provided in this novel. Bobby is on his own and his mother refuses to help. Bobby must get his daughter to daycare before school, make it through school without falling asleep, go get his daughter, and help her through the night so he can do it again the next day. A newborn baby is hard to take care of when you are ready and Bobby is not ready. Where is the baby’s mother? Nia had difficulty giving birth to their daughter and is now brain dead on life support in a care facility. Bobby visits her when he can and seeks support from his friends. Through it all he knows he can do it because Feather is his and Nia’s creation and his life is for her.

Evaluation: The perspective through the eyes of a teenage boy is very unique. I felt like Johnson did a good job of showing the struggles of teenage parenthood without glorifying it. The book is a quick read, but won’t make an impact unless the reader is aware of what is being written about. This book can be a very well written tool for librarians, teachers, and parents to highlight to young adults potential consequences to teen parenthood.

Annotation: I can’t tell you want comes next, but I can tell you that my life is all about being a good father for my newborn daughter.

Significance of Book: Books about teenage pregnancy are not unique, but the perspective through the eyes of a teenage father raising a newborn on his own is unique and very well written in this novel. This book also won both the Michael Printz award and the Coretta Scott King Author Award.

Genre/subject: fiction, teenage parenthood

Awards:

National:

• ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2004
• Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2004
• Coretta Scott King Author Award: 2004
• Michael L. Printz Award: 2004

State:

• Georgia: Georgia Peach Award Nominees: 2004
• Indiana: Eliot Rosewater Award Nominees: 2006
• Iowa: Teen Award Nominees: 2007
• Kentucky: Bluegrass Award Nominees: 2005
• Michigan: Thumbs Up Award Nominees: 2004
• Missouri: Gateway Readers Award Nominees: 2006
• New Jersey: Garden State Teen Book Award Nominees: 2006
• Oklahoma: Sequoyah Award Nominees: 2006
• South Carolina: YA Book Award Nominees: 2006
• Tennessee: Volunteer State Book Award Nominees: 2006
• Texas: Tayshas Reading List: 2005
• Virginia: Readers' Choice Award Nominees: 2006

Why I selected the book: I was interested to see how the dynamic of a single teenage father would be portrayed.

Price: $7.99

Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (Maybe)

Pauley, Kimberly, Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (Maybe), Wizards of the Coast, 2008, 297 pgs.

Summary: Mina has parents who are vampires, this does not make her a vampire, but it does mean that Mina has to decide whether she is going to be a vampire or else she gets taken away from her parents. This is only the hilarious beginning to a very funny book about Mina and her journey to deciding whether she wants to be a vampire or not. Yet another take on a vampire book, this novel does a great job in putting a humors twist on the subject rather than the dramatic one so many of the other vampire novels have taken. As Mina attends Vampire school and learns more about her choice, we as the reader also begin to see the common themes of coming of age struggle that are so popular in so many young adult books. There are still the dramas of high school with the twist of vampire school and experiences with her mentor uncle.

Evaluation: Overall I enjoyed the humor in this novel and many times found myself laughing out loud as Mina said or did yet another funny thing. The lighthearted air of the book is a great break from so many problem novel teen books, but tough issues are still addressed in this novel. I think this a fun young adult book with an edge that will attract many teens and other young readers.

Annotation: My parents are vampires and now I have to choose. To be a vampire or not to be a vampire, that is the question.

Significance of Book: This is a new look at vampires and is the trend that some books are going in. Vampires living among us naturally.

Genre/subject: fiction, paranormal, high school, family

Awards:

National:

• ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2009

Why I selected the book: The catchy title urged me to grab this title. I was also interested to see how this take on vampires would look.

Price: $ 8.95

No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row

Kuklin, Susan, No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row, Holt, 2008, 212 pgs.

Summary: The realness behind this novel will touch those who read it. Susan Kuklin interviews and profiles four young adults who were either on death row or did in fact get executed. The differences between the cases are clear and the differences in the experiences while on death row are also very clear. The book strives to state only the facts of life on death row and besides the basics of the case; the reader is not forced to read through legalese, making the stories come to life. Because of the way that the book includes pictures, interviews, emails, and letters, the reader really feels like they are getting all points of the story. The back ground isn’t necessary and the way that prison is depicted is real, but still at a young adult understanding.

Evaluation: I found the book a great example of young adult nonfiction that relates to the audience. The topic is perfect to catch young adults’ attention and still provide them with information. The facts of the cases are explained thoroughly and without opinion which provides a good example for young adults of investigative writing.

Annotation: You are on death row at a maximum security prison and you are only 14 years old.

Significance of Book: This book provides the true stories of teen criminals. This is a first because minors can no longer be placed on death row and the author had to wait until the teens were no longer minors.

Genre/subject: nonfiction, teen crime

Awards:

National:

· ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2009

· Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2009

· Kirkus Best Young Adult Books: 2008

· SLJ Best Books for Children: 2008

State:

• Kentucky: Bluegrass Award Nominees: 2010
• New Jersey: Garden State Teen Book Award Nominees: 2011
• Oklahoma: Sequoyah Award Nominees: 2011
• Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominees: 2011
• Texas: Tayshas Reading List: 2010

Why I selected the book: I found the topic to be very attention grabbing and I was interested to find out how the cases were presented.

Price: $17.99

Wake

McMann, Lisa, Wake, Simon Pulse, 2008, 210 pgs.

Summary: The creative super power of spying on people through their dreams is introduced in this novel. Janie has been “falling” into other people’s dreams from a very young age, but until her junior year of high school, she never saw this as a very desirable gift. The novel takes a fun twist when Janie begins to help the police bust drug dealing in her town by reading fellow classmates dreams. The novel moves quickly as Janie gets closer and closer to finding out how her classmates are obtaining drugs and along the way Janie falls in love. The book is not all about using others to get information through their dreams; Janie also learns how to change dreams so that fears can be overcome.

Evaluation: The suspense in this novel is wonderful and the unexpected twists and turns will keep the pages flying until the very end. I found this novel to be very well written and a great example of taking what you are given and using it for good. The writing is not difficult to follow, but the topics and situations are more mature. Although it has a superhero feel to it, Janie is fitting real issues in the world, not superhero monsters. An intriguing read. Can’t wait to read the others in the series.

Annotation: Janie is falling through air and then bam she is sitting in a board room watching a man give a speech and he is naked…not again. Janie is in somebody else’s dream.

Significance of Book: This book is unique because it has a main character with a paranormal power placed in an ordinary world. Very much like superman or any other superhero. The huge difference is that it is set in a very modern time where nothing else has superheroes.

Genre/subject: dreams, superpowers, paranormal fiction

Awards:

National:

• ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2009

State:

• Arizona: Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominees: 2012
• Georgia: Georgia Peach Award Nominees: 2010
• Illinois: Lincoln Award Nominees: 2011
• Indiana: Eliot Rosewater Award Nominees: 2011
• Missouri: Gateway Readers Award Nominees: 2011
• Nevada: Young Readers' Award Nominees: 2010
• New Jersey: Garden State Teen Book Award Nominees: 2011
• South Carolina: YA Book Award Nominees: 2010
• Texas: Tayshas Reading List: 2011

Why I selected the book: I honestly selected this book because of the cover. Seeing as it is a reluctant readers booklist book, that seems like a fitting reasons.

Price: $8.99

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

Sones, Sonya, One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2004, 268 pgs.

Summary: Following the style of many of Sonya Sones books, this novel is completely in verse lending it to be a very quick and easy read. Don’t let this fool you, the topics and struggles that Ruby encounters are very real. Ruby’s mother has just passed away and she must move to Hollywood, CA where her father is a big movie star. Her father has never been a part of her life and now he is the only real family she has. The reader follows Ruby through living in a mansion and always having drivers, to going to a high school with celebrity’s children and figuring our if she wants to fit in and then how to do that. Many topics such as homosexuality, popularity, relationships, and expressing who you are line the pages of this simply written novel.

Evaluation: As with most of Sones’ books, this one is easy to follow and full of humor that you can’t help but laugh at. This book is edgy in its format as well as with the topics of stardom, fitting in at a new school, and homosexual parents. I enjoy reading novels in verse and really enjoyed this one in particular because of the unique view. Most girls would love getting to move to Hollywood, dream come true, but Sones adds the extra twists that I think are really relatable. I would recommend this to just about any young adult, but girls are more likely to grab this than boys.

Annotation: My mom died and now I am forced to live with my movie star dad. He really doesn’t know me at all.

Significance of Book: It is not as common to find young adult novels where the relationship is between a father and daughter and the mother has passed away. This book does an excellent job of highlighting this type of relationship.

Genre/subject: father/daughter relationships, realistic fiction, novels in verse

Awards:

National:

• ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2005
• Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2005

State:

• Arizona: Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominees: 2006
• Indiana: Eliot Rosewater Award Nominees: 2007
• Iowa: Teen Award Nominees: 2007
• Maine: Student Book Award Nominees: 2006
• Missouri: Gateway Readers Award Nominees: 2007
• New Hampshire: Isinglass Award Nominees: 2006
• Pennsylvania: Young Reader's Choice Award Nominees: 2006
• South Carolina: YA Book Award Nominees: 2007
• Texas: Tayshas Reading List: 2006

Why I selected the book: I enjoy books in verse and really started liking Sones after her book Stop Pretending. Thought I would give this a try thinking it might be a lighter read than her others.

Price: $ 16.95