Reading List #2

Sorry I’m a bit late with the second list.  I was on vacation and debating myself which books to include.  That wasn’t very productive so I waited until I returned to work to debate coworkers.

Please follow the links below to the book post to have discussion in the title’s comment thread. General comments about the list (including what should be on the next one) can go in the comments of this post.

Also, all book posts now have a star rating system at the end like the one you see below. I can’t make it appear on some posts but not others so just ignore it if it’s at the end of a post like this. The ratings will help when it comes to forming the reading lists so please enter your rating into everything you have read. Thanks!

1. Jumped – Rita Williams-Garcia
2. The Orange Houses – Paul Griffin
3. Crossing Stones – Helen Frost
4. Going Bovine – Libba Bray
5. The Rock and the River – Kekla Magoon

The Ask and the Answer

Reaching the end of their tense and desperate flight in THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, Todd and Viola did not find healing and hope in Haven. They found instead their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss, waiting to welcome them to New Prentisstown. There they are forced into separate lives: Todd to prison, and Viola to a house of healing where her wounds are treated. Soon Viola is swept into the ruthless activities of the Answer, aimed at overthrowing the tyrannical government. Todd, meanwhile, faces impossible choices when forced to join the mayor’s oppressive new regime. In alternating narratives — Todd’s gritty and volatile; Viola’s calmer but equally stubborn — the two struggle to reconcile their own dubious actions with their deepest beliefs. Torn by confusion and compromise, suspicion and betrayal, can their trust in each other possibly survive?

Title: The Ask and the Answer
Author: Patrick Ness
Publisher: Candlewick (September 8, 2009)
Pages: 528

The Rock and the River

The Time: 1968

The Place: Chicago

For thirteen-year-old Sam it’s not easy being the son of known civil rights activist Roland Childs. Especially when his older brother (and best friend), Stick, begins to drift away from him for no apparent reason. And then it happens: Sam finds something that changes everything forever. Sam has always had faith in his father, but when he finds literature about the Black Panthers under Stick’s bed, he’s not sure who to believe: his father or his best friend. Suddenly, nothing feels certain anymore.

Sam wants to believe that his father is right: You can effect change without using violence. But as time goes on, Sam grows weary of standing by and watching as his friends and family suffer at the hands of racism in their own community. Sam beings to explore the Panthers with Stick, but soon he’s involved in something far more serious — and more dangerous — than he could have ever predicted. Sam is faced with a difficult decision. Will he follow his father or his brother? His mind or his heart? The rock or the river?

Title: The Rock and the River
Author: Kekla Magoon
Publisher: Aladdin (January 6, 2009)
Pages: 304

Shiver

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf–her wolf–is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human–or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press (August 1, 2009)
Pages: 400

Need Input for Reading List!

I am back from a very long vacation and working on the next reading list. What titles should be on it? Leave your favorites in the comments. Remember we’re looking for literary titles for the Mock Printz discussion. However, I plan to do another post soon where we can discussion our general favorite reads of the year. Look for it.

Going Bovine

All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.

Title: Going Bovine
Author: Libba Bray
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (September 22, 2009)
Pages: 496

Jumping Off Swings

Ellie remembers how the boys kissed her. Touched her. How they begged for more. And when she gave it to them, she felt loved. For a while anyway. So when Josh, an eager virgin with a troubled home life, leads her from a party to the backseat of his van, Ellie follows. But their “one-time thing” is far from perfect: Ellie gets pregnant. Josh reacts with shame and heartbreak, while their confidantes, Caleb and Corinne, deal with their own complex swirl of emotions. No matter what Ellie chooses, all four teenagers will be forced to grow up a little faster as a result. Told alternately from each character’s point of view, this deeply insightful novel explores the aftershocks of the biggest decision of one fragile girl’s life — and the realities of leaving innocence behind.

Title: Jumping Off Swings
Author: Jo Knowles
Publisher: Candlewick (August 11, 2009)
Pages: 240

When You Reach Me

Four mysterious letters change Miranda’s world forever.

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner.

But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper:

I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.
I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.

The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late.

Title: When You Reach Me
Author: Rebecca Stead
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (July 14, 2009)
Pages: 208

The Orange Houses

Meet Tamika Sykes—Mik to her friends (if she had any). She’s hearing impaired and way too smart for her West Bronx high school. She copes by reading lips and selling homework answers, and looks forward to the time each day when she can be alone in her room drawing. She’s a tough girl who never gets close to anyone, until she meets Fatima, a teenage refugee who sells newspapers on Mik’s block. Both Mik and Fatima unite in their efforts to befriend Jimmi, a homeless vet who is shunned by the rest of the community.

The events that follow when these three outcasts converge will break open their close-knit community and change the lives of those living in the Orange Houses in explosive and unexpected ways.

Title: The Orange Houses
Author: Paul Griffin
Publisher: Dial (June 11, 2009)
Pages: 147

2010 Election Meeting Sign-Up (Revised)

The date for this year’s election is Friday January 8, 2010 from 5-8pm in Meeting Room B at the Main Library.  I had previously planned it on a Tuesday afternoon but changed to make it easier for teachers, school librarians and out of town-ers to attend.   I plan to have some sort of food (pizza?) available.  Feel free to bring in your own dinner as well.

If you would like to attend and cast your vote, sign-up in the comments. Just put your name and library/school. I’ll get your email address from the comment form so you don’t have to post it publicly.  Or you can email me directly.

Remember you are expected to have read a majority of the books from the final discussion list.  (That would be at least six books.  The final list will consist of ten books.)