Bog Child October 7, 2008

Title: Bog Child

Author: Siobhan Dowd

Summary: Fergus McCann is living in troubled times. At sixteen, he is preparing for his college entrance exams, which he hopes will take him from his small border village in Northern Ireland to Aberdeen for medical school. Life at home has become more and more stressful since his brother was sent to jail for working with the IRA. Fergus takes solace in his early morning runs through the mountains and conversations with his peaceful uncle Tally. It is when cutting turf for fuel one morning with Tally that Fergus makes an incredible discovery: A tiny body buried in the peat bog. Who is the bog child?

This pitch-perfect historical novel addresses not only the political turmoil of Northern Ireland in the 1980s, but also first love, loyalty, sacrifice and forgiveness. It opens a window to a not-so-distant time, and has moments of sparkling humor as well as tragedy. The troubled history of his land are magnified by the story of the bog child, revealed through flashbacks. In the end, Fergus must come to terms with the chaos all around him, decide what he wants his life to be, and discover his place in the world.

Who will like this book?: Anyone looking for a great historical novel, or coming of age story. I truly cannot think of anyone who would not enjoy this unforgettable book.

If you like this, try this: A Swift Pure Cry, also by Dowd. For more on Ireland in the Iron Age, read Hush by Donna Jo Napoli. For older teens looking for information about the hunger strikers, try Nothing But an Unfinished Song by Dennis O’Hearn.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

Identical October 2, 2008

Title: Identical

Author: Ellen Hopkins

Summary:Once there was a happy family with a loving Mom and Dad and two perfect identical twin daughters, Kaeleigh and Raeanne. Their perfect home was filled with love and laughter. Then the accident happened. Now only anger, fear, perversion, and self-destruction reside in that perfect house. The loving mom has become a politician who prefers the campaign trail to home. And the loving father, a tough, but respected district-court judge, becomes another man at home.  He’s a lonely man who seeks comfort from the bottle and in controlling his most pliant daughter Kaeleigh with perverse attention.  

While Kaeleigh silently struggles with her father’s abuse and the efforts to maintain her prim outer facade at school; Raeanne loudly bristles at the way her Dad ignores her and plays ‘favorites,’ rebelling against the loneliness by turning to drugs, alcohol, and sex.  Both girls are sprialing toward self-destruction, but it isn’t until the end of the story that everyone discovers the toll keeping such secrets has on a family. 

Who will like this book:  With its’ themes of sexual abuse, drug and alcohol use, cutting, and promiscuity this is definitely a book for mature teen audiences.  That being said, this is a well written book that will take the reader into the minds of its’ troubled characters in a way that few books do.  If you like a gritty, raw, emotional story, this is the book for you.   

If you like this, try this: Anything by Ellen Hopkins, Cut by Patricia McCormick, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Go Ask Alice by Anonymous,  Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Recommended by: Jen, Fairfield Woods Teen Librarian

Looking for Alaska June 25, 2008

Title: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green

Summer Reading List: Fairfield Warde High

Summary: Miles Halter is making a major change in his life: He is leaving his home in Florida to attend a boarding school in Alabama. When he arrives, skinny Miles is nicknamed ‘Pudge’ by his new roommate Chip (aka ’the Colonel’), who also introduces him to the girl of his dreams. Her name is Alaska. She is smart, gorgeous, and just a little crazy. Miles falls right into their social circle, sneaking drinks, experimenting with girls and pulling pranks on the school’s strict headmaster and snobby students. He also falls hard for Alaska, even though she has a boyfriend away at college.

But finally falling in love doesn’t make life any less complicated, especially when the person you fall for is Alaska. As the book goes from counting the ‘days before’ to the ‘days after,’ you realize something big is going to happen. When it does, Miles has to deal with the devastating aftermath. This Printz Award-winning book will leave you wondering, as Miles does, about ‘The Great Perhaps’ of your own life.

Who will like this book?: Mature readers who like realistic fiction. It is a funny book, but it is also quite sophisticated in the way it describes growing up, being a guy, and falling in love.

If you like this, try this: Green’s second novel, An Abundance of Katherines. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. King Dork by Frank Portman.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

Skin June 23, 2008

Title: Skin

Author: Adrienne Maria Vrettos

Summary:

These are the things you think when you come home to find that your sister has starved herself to death and you have dropped to your knees to revive her:
1. My sister is flat like a board.  There’s fat guys in the locker room with bigger boobs than she has.
2. When I scream my sister’s name into her face, I can hear my father’s voice in my own.
3. Where is it you’re supposed to press? In the middle, on the side? Left or right?

Fourteen-year-old Donnie has always relied on his older sister Karen to shield him from the harshness of life- be it lengthy and frequent parental fights or a miserable social life.  However, Karen is fading fast, wasting away from anorexia, leaving Donna to decide if he too will fade into the background via social isolation and bullying or challenge himself to carve out his own place of acceptance.

Who will like this book:  Fans of serious drama and family upheaval.  Told in the first person this book gives you the vantage point few anorexia stories do- that of a young male family member left behind. 

If you like this, try this:  Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Cut by Patricia McCormick, Skinny by Ibi Kaslik,  and Just Listen  by Sarah Dessen

Recommended by: Jen, Fairfield Woods Branch Teen Librarian

All We Know of Heaven June 17, 2008

Title: All We Know of Heaven

Author: Jacquelyn Mitchard

Summary: This is a stunningly good book. Right before Christmas, a horrific car accident shatters the lives of two families in a small Minnesota town. Best friends Bridget and Maureen are the victims - one lies in a coma for weeks, the other dies that day. In a tragic mistake, doctors tell the families that it is Bridget who has survived, but when the girl emerges from her coma, it is actually Maureen. One family’s shock and joy instantly becomes the other family’s misery. But that is only the beginning of this unforgettable story.

Under the sudden spotlight thrown on her family and community from all over the world, Maureen must learn to adjust to life with a significant brain injury that affects the way she communicates and weakens the right side of her body. People lend support and take advantage of her in both small and large ways as a town comes to grips with having to mourn one girl while celebrating the survival of another. This is realistic fiction at its best.

Who will like this book?: Fans of intense realistic fiction, and people who like reading about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. This is also an excellent choice for anyone looking for books with characters who are living with brain injury.

If you like this, try this: One of the stories that inspired this book is detailed in Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope by Don Van Ryn. Another good book about teens dealing with handicaps is Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

Madapple June 11, 2008

Title: Madapple

Author: Christina Meldrum

Summary: This book for mature readers packs in so much intensity, mystery and drama, it is really hard to explain why exactly it is such a terrific read. Aslaug lives alone with her brutal mother in a remote cottage in Maine, home schooled in science, mythology and the medicinal properties of the herbs and plants that grow all around them. But soon, events spiral out of control: Within the year, Aslaug will meet her extended family, become pregnant, and stand trial for murder. To say more would give away too much. The book alternates from the main story to transcripts from her trial, giving you clues to the mystery that is Aslaug’s past. Is she a cold-blooded killer? Is her pregnancy miraculous - or the product of something more sinister?

You have never, ever read a book like this. While it is a murder mystery, the book draws on themes as diverse as early Christian beliefs, Nordic mythology, herbal folklore, family dynamics, and miraculous occurences to become an original, unforgettable story. It might be slow going at first, but stick with it.

Who will like this book: Mature readers who like serious, intense, challenging stories. Be advised: Madapple discusses some controversial religious and social topics.

If you like this, try this: Another read that rewards you if you stick with it is The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian