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

The Missing Girl

Mazer, Norma Fox, The Missing Girl, HarperTeen, 2008, 284 pgs.

Summary: The five Herbert girls have no idea that somebody is watching them. Their lives are consumed by being too poor, too hungry, and too jealous of each other to notice the man who watches them every day. Until one day one of the sisters, Autumn, goes missing. At first Autumn thinks everything will be fine, until the man locks the door and doesn’t let her out. He claims the room has a view. The tiny window is so high on the wall that escape is almost impossible. Or is it? As the days pass Autumn becomes more and more comfortable being a prisoner. Will Autumn ever escape? Does she still want to escape?

Evaluation: This story of predator and prey, of a kidnapped girl trying to escape from this seemingly ordinary house will keep you on the edge of your seat and make you second guess every house in your neighborhood. Full of creepy passages and finally a thrilling escape towards freedom, this novel by Norma Fox Mazer will be hard to put down. I am not one for creepy novels, but I found this story to be so real and well written that before I could stop myself I was almost done. The details of this story make you feel as if you are a fly on the wall in the room watching Autumn counting the hours between meals and wondering if anybody really misses her.

Annotation: The man watched his pretty one trying to open the door. He would be her guest. She would staying in the room with the view.

Significance of Book: This is a truly creepy psychological thriller. Very well written that suggests things such rape and pedophile kidnapping. These are tough things to write about and Norma Fox Mazer does an expert job of it.

Genre/subject: fiction, mystery, kidnapping

Awards:

National:

• ALA Popular Paperbacks: 2011
• Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2009

State:

• Delaware: Diamond Award Nominees: 2010
• Texas: Tayshas Reading List: 2010

Why I selected the book: I have always felt that Norma Fox Mazer is a classic author and I wanted to give this book a try.

Price: $17.89

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

An Abundance of Katherines

Green, John, An Abundance of Katherines, Dutton Books, 2006, 227pg.

Summary: The plot in this funny novel centers on Colin Singleton and his mission to develop and prove the Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability. Colin Singleton is a prodigy, but not a genius. Colin Singleton has had 19 relationships. All of them have been with girls named Katherine. All of the relationships have ended with Colin getting dumped, except for one. After the last relationship comes to an end, Colin’s best friend Hassan decides that the cure for Colin’s broken heart is a road trip. The road trip ends abruptly in Gutshot, TN when a sign announcing the final burial spot of Archduke Franz Ferdinand is located there. This seemingly short pit stop to check out a local landmark quickly changes into Colin and Hassan spending the summer. The owner of the local textile factory (which makes strings for Tampons, a great example of Green’s humor) hires Colin and Hassan to record local history from all the local residence of Gutshot, TN. All along the way Colin continues to work on his Theorem and convinces himself that he doesn’t like the factory owners daughter because well her name isn’t Katherine. As the summer progresses Colin, Hassan, and Lindsey (the daughter of the owner of the textile factory) transform themselves and figure out what it means to “matter”.

Evaluation: Like many of Green’s novels, this is a funny one. The fact that Colin finds it so serious that he only gets dumped by girls named Katherine cannot be overlooked as comical. This was my first book to read by Green and I really enjoyed it. I often found myself flipping to the appendix and reading the footnotes to learn more about how to solve the theorem. Even though all the silliness that Green writes, there is still a serious undertone that Colin is struggling with some issues of coming of age and becoming an adult. I would recommend this to most any young adult, boys and girls, and I can see why it was a Printz Honor book.

Annotation: If I was Colin I would stay far away from anybody named Katherine because he will fall in love with her and she will dump him. It is just science.

Significance of Book: This book is unique in the way that it uses science throughout with the creation of the theorem. The use of footnotes and bell curves add a real special aspect to this funny novel about young love.

Genre/subject: fiction, humorous, relationships, science

Awards:

National:

• ALA Popular Paperbacks: 2009
• Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2007
• Booklist Editor's Choice: 2006
• Horn Book Fanfare: 2006
• Michael L. Printz Honor: 2007

State:

· Illinois: Lincoln Award Nominees: 2010

· Indiana: Eliot Rosewater Award Nominees: 2010

Why I selected the book: I chose this book based upon some recommendations by a couple of young adult librarians. From that point forward I decided to read all of Green’s works for class.

Price: $16.99