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

Punkzilla

Adam, Rapp, Punkzilla, Candlewick Press, 2009, 244 pgs.

Summary: Jamie aka ‘Punkzilla’, is a runaway teen living in Oregon. He ran away from military school where his father put him believing that the military will fix him. Jamie begins writing letters to his brother and decides to make a cross country trip to see his brother after he writes him a letter telling him that he is sick and Jamie should visit. Having very little money, Jamie buys a bus ticket and begins the trek from Oregon to Tennessee. At one stop he is knocked out and everything gets stolen. He begins hitchhiking across the country and writing a journal/letter to stay alert. Along the way Jamie meets some very interesting characters as usual on a cross country road trip. Will Jamie get to his brother in time or will the only member of his family that understands him leave him to walk the earth alone.

Evaluation: This is a very raw novel. The writing is very effective in making the experiences Jamie has feel real and yet not glorify life on the road. I had a difficult time reading some of the issues that Jamie is dealing with which is something that will speak to young adults. Homosexuality, acceptance, and family relationships are all strong threads throughout this novel. Although Jamie is only 14, this novel is mature and is one that younger readers may have a hard time grasping the lessons throughout the storyline.

Annotation: P, Please don’t die. I am on my way to you. Hang on till I get there. Love, Jamie

Significance of Book: This book highlights the prevalence of teen runaways in the United States which is difficult to write effectively about. The threads of homosexuality and tension in families are also effectively touched upon.

Genre/subject: fiction, drugs, runaway teens

Awards:

National:

• Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2010
• Booklist Editor's Choice: 2009
• Michael L. Printz Honor: 2010

Why I selected the book: The cover seemed very dark and I also saw that it was set in Oregon which is near Washington where I live.

Price: $16.99

All the Broken Pieces: a novel in verse

Burg, Ann E., All the Broken Pieces: a novel in verse, Scholastic Press, 2009, 218 pgs.

Summary: This novel in verse is full of a young boys struggle to find himself. Matt Pin was adopted from Vietnam. Now living in the United States, Matt must deal with the struggle of discrimination from those around him because of what Americans believe “his kind” did to American soldiers. Through baseball and the support of his parents, Matt slowly begins to understand himself and how he fits into his new life in America and to let go of the guilt of being one of the lucky ones saved from the war. Matt at first doesn’t understand why his father takes him to meetings with Vietnam war veterans, but through talking with them and hearing their stories and sharing his own, Matt begins to heal and find a place for himself in his new home and with his new family.

Evaluation: This novel is a quick read and a great example of the struggles some cultures experience when thrown into the mixed salad of American society. I found the choice of writing in verse to be very effective in illustrating the feelings and experiences Matt has. The cover is a little deceiving, but effective in grabbing the attention of young readers. I would encourage many to read this book, knowing that even though it is not completely about baseball, it will draw the reader in with the story that develops through the simple verse on each page.

Annotation: I left my mother, brother, and homeland..and a terrible secret that no one knows but me.

Significance of Book: This book highlights the difficulties that many Vietnamese Americans had after the Vietnam War. By writing through the eyes of a teenage boy, the author adds an innocence and pureness to a very tough case of racial discrimination.

Genre/subject: verse, Vietnam War, Vietnamese-Americans, adoption

Awards:

National:

• Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2010
• Booklist Editor's Choice: 2009
• Capitol Choices: 2010
• Notable Books for a Global Society: 2010

State:

• Arizona: Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominees: 2012
• Illinois: Rebecca Caudill Award Nominees: 2012
• Indiana: Young Hoosier Award Nominees: 2012
• Iowa: Teen Award Nominees: 2012
• Kansas: William Allen White Award Nominees: 2012
• Kentucky: Bluegrass Award Nominees: 2011
• Maine: Student Book Award Nominees: 2011
• Maryland: Black-eyed Susan Award Nominees: 2011
• Missouri: Truman Award Nominees: 2012
• Oklahoma: Sequoyah Award Nominees: 2012
• Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominees: 2011
• South Carolina: Junior Book Award Nominees: 2012
• Texas: Lone Star Reading List: 2011
• Vermont: Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominees: 2011

Why I selected the book: Truly I selected this book for its cover thinking it would be about sports, but really it was so much more than that.

Price: $16.99

Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy

Sones, Sonya, Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1999, 149 pgs.

Summary: Based on a real life experience, this novel in verse about what happened to the author when her sister was sent to a mental ward is raw and touches the hearts of anybody with a family secret. The simple text of verse is a veil for the hard material of having somebody you know go through a mental breakdown. The struggles that the main character goes through are at times so real the reader will want to reach through the pages and give her a hug. As the main character struggles to understand what a mental breakdown is and who her sister is now compared to who she use to be the reality of what is happening cannot be avoided. Why not hide from others what is not in view? Nobody needs to know her sister went crazy and as she visits less and less she begins to forget her big sister all together. Why are we all pretending anyways?

Evaluation: I felt this story was right up there with some of the classics and won’t be easily forgotten. Even if you don’t have a sister or haven’t seen someone go through a mental breakdown, the emotions will be those that most any young adult can connect with. How we all react to those things that can be hidden from view and others is a very difficult situation for anybody to deal with.

Annotation: My sister is crazy. I mean real crazy. Mental hospital and locked doors. And nobody knows.

Significance of Book: The use of verse to talk about such a difficult situation is a new way to help readers understand different issues they all encounter. It is always difficult to write about such topics as mental health and Sones does a very good job.

Genre/subject: fiction, mental health, family relationships, verse

Awards:

National:

• ALA Popular Paperbacks: 2002
• Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2000

State:

• New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age: 1999
• Tennessee: Volunteer State Book Award Nominees: 2004
• Texas: Lone Star Reading List: 2002
• Utah: Children's Book Award Nominees: 2002
• Washington: Evergreen Young Adult Book Award Nominees: 2002

Why I selected the book: I love verse books and this author. I was also really intrigued by the title.

Price: $8.99

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