Books 17-25
Telgemeier, R. (2012). Smile. New York: Graphix.
Summary
Raina is a six-grade student who after racing with a friend,
falls and knocks out her two front teeth. This accident is followed by four and
half years of terrible trips to the dentist. Raina
must not only deal with surgeries, braces, fake teeth, and headgear but she
must also deal with her siblings and so-called friends continuous picking on
her. Through all this, she is struggling with normal preteen and teen issues
like first crushes, zits, and bullying from her “friends”. After many ups and
downs she discovers a new friend in gym class and begins to discover her talent
as an artist. Eventually, her dental problems end and she find true friendship.
Connections
This is a graphic novel
about Raina and her experiences when she was a growing up in her preteen years.
Through her words and graphics, we can visualize and see the moods that a young
girl goes through. Now based on some of her interest we can
tell that the setting of this book is in the 80’s because of her love for new kids
on the block. Themes related to this novel include friendship, bullying, and
being true to yourself. I believe that young readers will be able to connect to
these common struggles and that although at the time may seem very hard, that
is does get better. I would recommend this book for ages twelve and up.
Teacher
Guide: http://www.scholastic.com/graphix_teacher/pdf/Scholastic_GrphxWebCast_RTelgemeier.pdf
Book
Trailer
Other book by Raina Telgemeier
- · Sisters
- · Ghosts
- · Drama
Block, F. L. (1999). Weetzie Bat. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Summary
Bat doesn’t like high school and her classmate are not
interested in the same things as her. One day she meets and befriends Dirk, he
was the guy that all the girls liked and talked about. As their friendship strengths,
Dirk tells Weetzie that he is gay. She happily accepts him and they are inseparable.
They both want to meet their perfect match, which they use the term “duck”.
Dirks grandmother Fifi gives Weetzie a magical lamp, in the lamp is a genie.
Weetzie wished for their “duck” and for a house they can all live in together. All
of her wishes come true but with a price.
Connection
I have never read a book like this one before. This
novel is in the form of an urban fairy tale, which made this book even more interesting.
It
is told
from a third-person point of view, but not an omniscient point of view. Although
the book had magical elements, many of the challenges the teen protagonist face
are very real and are problems that young adults face including, finding and maintaining
healthy relationships, divorce, death of family, substance abuse and infidelity.
Now because this is an urban fairy tale there were some elements that she faced
that were not realistic like a witch’s curse and a witch baby. Francesca Lia Block
not only creates a story that is magical, dark, fun and bitter at times, she
does include the theme that with optimism
and compassion life can be good even when its hard. I would recommend this book
to older young adults because of sex and underage drinking. This was a very interesting
read. I look forward to reading more of Block’s novels.
Teacher
Guide: This teacher guide includes twelve question that a
teacher can use as a discussion guide.
Book
Trailer
Other
books by Francesca Lia Block
- The Frenzy
- Witch Baby
- Dangerous Angels
Green, J. (2017). Turtles all the way down. NY, NY: Dutton Books.
Summary
Aza Holmes is a sixteen-year-old who
suffers from extreme anxiety and ODD: obsessive-compulsive disorder. She
struggles with trying to manage her mental illness. She has many rational and
irrational fears including that she will die of this super-rare bacterial
infection. Aza tries hard at school, has
a good friend Daisy and loves her mom, who happens to be a teacher but while
dealing with her many issues she also is trying to find the
missing billionaire Russel Pickett in return for a cash reward of $100,000. Along the way she learns some important life lessons
and living with her mental illness.
Connections:
“I would always
be like this, always have this within me. There was no beating it. I would
never slay the dragon, because the dragon was also me. My self and the disease
were knotted together for life.” WOW! This quote from the novel hit having anxiety
like a nail on a board. As an adult I was truly able to relate to Aza the protagonist
in the story. I believe many young adults will be able to easy relate, maybe
not the OCD but I think many of them have experience anxiety at one point another
in their life. I think this would be great for young readers who are going
through mental illness to read because they are able to see that many of the
people in her lives did not demand that she change or were upset with her
because of her illness but it shows that they care because they see what it
does to her and it just makes them sad. I would recommend this book to children’s
fourteen and up due to some sexual content.
Other
books by the Author
- Looking for Alaska
- Paper Towns
- The Fault in our Stars
Lockhart,
E. (2014). We were liars. New York: Delacorte.
Summary
Summary
During, the
summer when Cadence was fifteen she was in an accident while with her family on
her grandparent’s private island. She now has amnesia and suffers from pain and
uses pain killers. Candance is trying to remember what happened in the accident,
but her family will not speak about it. Cadence, Gat, and her cousins call themselves
the liars, but after the accident they are nowhere to be found. Cadence
eventually find out the truth that she, Gat, and her cousins set fire to the
big house in order to end the family feud. Cadence accidentally locked her
cousins and Gat in the house and they burned to death. Realizing this helps her
accept the reality of what happened.
Connections:
We were
liars falls under modern Realistic Fiction. When evaluating a novel
to be realistic fiction the theme must naturally emerge throughout the story, which
it does in this case. Many of the issues in this novel are things that many teens
and young adults face, like greed, revenge, family, friendship, and love. Some of
the unrelatable issues to most in the books are amnesia, wealth and the plot
twist. Something interesting was the use of fairy tales style stories within
the book. These stories showed what cadence was going through and how she
reacted. I would recommend this book to ages thirteen and older, because while
it is an easy read it does deal with dark issues.
Teachers Guide
Teachers Guide
Book Trailer
Other
books by Author
- Genuine Fraud
- Fly on the wall
- The boyfriend quartet
Tash, S. (2016). The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love. New York: Simon & Schuster BFYR.
Summary
Graham and Roxana(Roxy) have been best friends since
they were children. They are both huge nerds. They have many things in common
like obsessing about Harry Potter, video games and comics. Now that they have
grown into teenager, Grahams feelings for Roxy have also changed. His feelings have
grown into love and he wants to tell her. There is a comic con convention that he
wants both of them to attend. Grahams feels like this is the perfect place to confess
his love for her. He wants to tell her with a grand gesture and what more
perfect way to tell than at the New York City Comic Con, but things don’t go as
planned.
Connections
The protagonist in this novel is Graham who refreshing
is the one who has the crush on the girl. Young readers will be able to identify
why Grahams need for a grand gesture to profess his love, especially because
with modern society, grand gestures are a huge deal, think promposal. If you
have never heard of promposal look it up, it’s actually a thing. Young readers
will also enjoy being a to understand how graham is feeling because the story
is told in first person point of view. I would recommend this book for ages
twelve and up and readers of comic books or graphic novels.
Other
books by author:
- Three Day Summer
Similar
Books:
- Cure for the Common Universe by Christian McKay Heidicker
- The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is Youby Lily Anderson
Jamieson,
J. (2015) Roller Girl. New York: Dial Books
for Young Readers.
Summary
Roller Girl is about a teenage girl
named Astrid. One evening, her mother drags her to a roller derby, where she
become instantly fascinated. Nicole is her best friend but unlike Astrid she is
not interested in Roller Derby. Astrid attends a roller derby camp and regardless
of her lack of natural ability she works very hard. Nicole attends dance camp with
Astrid’s rival, Rachel which During camp she makes a new friend named Zoe, and
in the end, renews her friendship with Nicole. In the final bout, Astrid sacrifices
herself in order to assist for the win. Nicole shows up to support her and
everyone is proud of her, including herself.
Connection
Roller
Girl is a graphic novel with one theme that many young readers can easily relate
too, friendship. Readers will be able to see how the protagonist in this story
only thinks about her self which ultimately hurts her friendship with her
friends. We are also able to see how the Astrid is able to self-reflect on their
behavior and take action to change her ways. These skills are very important for
young readers. Perseverance and determination are other themes that young
readers can learn from. This would be great for students who are going through issues
with friends and learning ways to help with those issues. I would recommend this book for young readers who read
graphic novels and even those who do not read graphic novels.
Similar Books
- Smile by Raina Telgemeier
- Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm
- Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova
Teacher
Guide
Book
Trailer
Zentner, J (2016). The serpent king. New York: Penguin
Random House
Summary
This novel rotates between three characters- Dill, Lydia
and Travis. Dill is the son of the local minister who also handles poisonous snakes.
Dill is also the target of bullies because of his father’s extreme faith and crimes
of possession of child pornography. Lydia can not wait to escape the small town
and spends most of the time working on her blog, which is her ticket out of the
small town. Travis, he is content because he escapes his small town by reading.
He also meets a girl on one of the message boards that dedicated to Bloodfall. He has a disturbing home life
after the lost of his brother matt who was killed while serving in the army,
his father has become more abusive. They are the outcast friends who lives are
going on different paths, which could mean the end of their friendship.
Connections
Many young readers
will be able to relate to this contemporary fiction because of the issues that all the teenagers
in this novel face. Issues from abuse, religion, poverty, and prejudice. Despite
the alternating third person points of view, young readers will still connect
to the character because of the wonderful development of the characters right
from the beginning. I would recommend this book for ages fourteen
in up due to occasional strong language and racial slurs.
Teacher Guide:
Book Trailer:
Similar Books:
Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina
All
American Boys by Jason Reynolds
Fifteen
Lanes by S.J. LaidlawSheinkin, S., Colvin, J. (2012). Bomb: The race to build--and steal--the world's most dangerous weapon. Roaring Brook Press, & R.R. Donnelley and Sons Company
Summary
A German Chemist in 1938 made an accidental
discovery: atomic fission. This accidental discovery sets many events in
motion. One of those events is the start of a scientific race between the United
states, the Soviet Union and Germany to finish constructing the first atomic bomb
in order to win the war. Bomb includes accounts of research by Robert
Oppenheimer and his team of scientists and spying by U.S. German and Russian
operatives. This is the story of the history of the atomic bomb.
Connection
This book truly brings historical
figures to life. This was an interesting read because if you have background knowledge
of the atomic bomb you know what is going to happen, but that didn’t make this book
in less interesting which I was surprised because usually if I know the ending the
book I usually get bored very easily. Not only will young readers learn a
wealth of knowledge about this topic but they will have fun while learning. Sheinkin’s
research and how much information he manages to condense into this small book
was very impressive. I would recommend this book for ages twelve and up.
Book Trailer
Teacher Guide
Other Books by this author
- · Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War
- · The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
- · Lincoln’s Grave Robbers
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