Bhsbookbuzz
Let's chat about your favorite books Burncoat! Tell us what you've read...the genres you enjoy and why...which authors you like...start a great discussion about your favorites. Help your fellow Patriots find the perfect novel..recommend one! Join the Blog!
2016-2017 Books
Sunday, June 10, 2018
WPL Summer Reading Kickoff Events!
Thursday, August 28, 2014
What to Read Next in Book Club?
Next Book Club Meeting is Friday, Oct 24 in room C9 right after school. We will be discussing The Raven Boys by Margaret Steifvater.
We need to take a vote on our next book to read. Here is my suggestion.
In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. Now a major motion picture starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.
Movie Trailer!
What do you think? This book or another one? Please post a suggestion you would like to have us vote on or....pick one you see on the Blog! The book with the most votes, wins!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Eleanor & Park...May/June Book
OMG...Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell was such a good book. It's a story about friendship, trust, domestic abuse, and most importantly LOVE! Eleanor and Park seem like the two most opposite people, but when they meet, and talk, and laugh together...It's LOVE. Here is the official summary.....
Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.
So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be, she says, we’re 16.
What about Romeo and Juliet?
Shallow, confused, then dead.
I love you, Park says.
Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.
This book is winning so many publishing and literary awards. It's on the BEST of 2014 Book Awards from the American Library Association. Teens across the country are loving it. Since I was high school in the 80's ....all the music and clothing references really made me laugh and think back to my high school days. What I liked most was how sweetly Eleanor and Park both described each other when the other wasn't around. Beyond CUTE!
What did you think of it?
Outliers...What do you think?
First Summer Book....Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
The first book I'm going to read is Outliers; The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. Some of the members of the BHS Book Club are taking AP Lit, and they were assigned this book. So....I decided to promote this book as our first book of the Summer. Here's a summary.....
Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?
His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.
Join us. I will keep you posted on my reading! Talk Soon!
Monday, June 9, 2014
Summer Reading Book Suggestions
Not sure what to read....try one of these!
Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. That life in the United States used to be different.Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow. That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.And don't miss Gayle's newest novel, JUST ONE DAY and the forthcoming companion, JUST ONE YEAR.In Don't Tell, Lauren knows that by returning to the town where her mother drowned seven years ago, she'll be reliving one of her most haunting memories. When she arrives, she is propelled into a series of mysterious events that mimic the days leading up to her mother's death. Maybe her mother's drowning wasn't an accident after all...and maybe Lauren is next.In The Deep End of Fear, Kate has tried to bury the horrible memories associated with the Westbrook estate. After her best friend Ashley drowned on the estate, Kate vowed never to return. But now, twelve years later, she is drawn back towards the house and that fatal icy pond. There, Kate still feels Ashley’s presence and the past seems to be pulling her back towards Ashley’s life-threatening dares.Today her time has run out.
Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy—until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save—or destroy—the Empire.Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature. If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human. When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone. Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade. Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.Basketball has always been an escape for Finley. He lives in broken-down Bellmont, a town ruled by the Irish mob, drugs, violence, and racially charged rivalries. At home, his dad works nights, and Finley is left to take care of his disabled grandfather alone. He's always dreamed of getting out someday, but until he can, putting on that number 21 jersey makes everything seem okay.Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure….One that will change both their lives forever.With breathtaking suspense, this book follows three teens who all become runaway Unwinds: Connor, a rebel whose parents have ordered his unwinding; Risa, a ward of the state who is to be unwound due to cost-cutting; and Lev, his parents' tenth child whose unwinding has been planned since birth as a religious tithing. As their paths intersect and lives hang in the balance, Shusterman examines serious moral issues in a way that will keep readers turning the pages to see if Connor, Risa, and Lev avoid meeting their untimely ends.Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating--a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned
home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962,
Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her
finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine,
the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell
Skeeter where she has gone.Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman
raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the
loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is
devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts
may be broken.Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat,
and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s
business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny
finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her
reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.Seemingly as different from one another as can
be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that
will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the
lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to
be crossed.In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett
creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of
their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters,
caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with
poignancy, humor, and hope, The
Help is a timeless and
universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.Since its publication, Stephen Chbosky’s
haunting debut novel has received critical acclaim, provoked discussion and
debate, grown into a cult phenomenon with over three million copies in print,
spent over one year at #1 on the New
York Times bestseller list,
and inspired a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson.The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about what it’s like to travel that strange
course through the uncharted territory of high school. The world of first
dates, family dramas, and new friends. Of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Of those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
The
Fault in Our Stars by John Green
At 16,
Hazel Grace Lancaster, a three-year stage IV–cancer survivor, is clinically
depressed. To help her deal with this, her doctor sends her to a weekly support
group where she meets Augustus Waters, a fellow cancer survivor, and the two
fall in love. Both kids are preternaturally intelligent, and Hazel is
fascinated with a novel about cancer called An Imperial Affliction. Most
particularly, she longs to know what happened to its characters after an
ambiguous ending. To find out, the enterprising Augustus makes it possible for
them to travel to Amsterdam, where Imperial’s author, an expatriate American,
lives. What happens when they meet him must be left to readers to discover.
Suffice it to say, it is significant. Writing about kids with cancer is an
invitation to sentimentality and pathos—or worse, in unskilled hands, bathos.
Happily, Green is able to transcend such pitfalls in his best and most
ambitious novel to date. Beautifully conceived and executed, this story
artfully examines the largest possible considerations—life, love, and
death—with sensitivity, intelligence, honesty, and integrity. In the process,
Green shows his readers what it is like to live with cancer, sometimes no more
than a breath or a heartbeat away from death. But it is life that Green
spiritedly celebrates here, even while acknowledging its pain. In its every
aspect, this novel is a triumph. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Green’s promotional
genius is a force of nature.
Divergent by Veronica Roth
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian
Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the
cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the
selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the
intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must
select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For
Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she
really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone,
including herself.
During the highly competitive
initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside
her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must
undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological
simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them
all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance
with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life
she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone
because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and
growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she
also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it
might destroy her.
Debut author Veronica Roth
bursts onto the YA scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian
thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning
consequences, and unexpected romance.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
It is 1939.
Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier,
and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside
of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when
she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her
accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books
with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden
in her basement. In superbly
crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak,
author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring
stories of our time.
13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Clay
Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it
lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by
Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush - who committed suicide two weeks
earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she
decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out
why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He
becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about
himself-a truth he never wanted to face.
Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
New York,
Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned. The Bill of Rights has
been revoked and replaced with the Moral Statutes. There are no more
police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad
behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get
arrested usually don't come back.
Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. That life in the United States used to be different.Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow. That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.And don't miss Gayle's newest novel, JUST ONE DAY and the forthcoming companion, JUST ONE YEAR.In Don't Tell, Lauren knows that by returning to the town where her mother drowned seven years ago, she'll be reliving one of her most haunting memories. When she arrives, she is propelled into a series of mysterious events that mimic the days leading up to her mother's death. Maybe her mother's drowning wasn't an accident after all...and maybe Lauren is next.In The Deep End of Fear, Kate has tried to bury the horrible memories associated with the Westbrook estate. After her best friend Ashley drowned on the estate, Kate vowed never to return. But now, twelve years later, she is drawn back towards the house and that fatal icy pond. There, Kate still feels Ashley’s presence and the past seems to be pulling her back towards Ashley’s life-threatening dares.Today her time has run out.
Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy—until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save—or destroy—the Empire.Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature. If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human. When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone. Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade. Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.Basketball has always been an escape for Finley. He lives in broken-down Bellmont, a town ruled by the Irish mob, drugs, violence, and racially charged rivalries. At home, his dad works nights, and Finley is left to take care of his disabled grandfather alone. He's always dreamed of getting out someday, but until he can, putting on that number 21 jersey makes everything seem okay.Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure….One that will change both their lives forever.With breathtaking suspense, this book follows three teens who all become runaway Unwinds: Connor, a rebel whose parents have ordered his unwinding; Risa, a ward of the state who is to be unwound due to cost-cutting; and Lev, his parents' tenth child whose unwinding has been planned since birth as a religious tithing. As their paths intersect and lives hang in the balance, Shusterman examines serious moral issues in a way that will keep readers turning the pages to see if Connor, Risa, and Lev avoid meeting their untimely ends.Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating--a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Picking
up several years after the dramatic conclusion of If I Stay, Where She Went continues the story of Adam and Mia,
from Adam's point of view. Ever since Mia's decision to stay - but not with him
- Adam's career has been on a wonderful trajectory. His album, borne from the
anguish and pain of their breakup, has made him a bona fide star. And Mia
herself has become a top-rate cellist, playing in some of the finest venues in
the world. When their respective paths put them both in New York City at the
same time, the result is a single night in which the two reunite - with wholly
satisfying results.
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black
Sixteen-year-old
Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city
with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her
childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop,
Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between
two rival faerie kingdoms -- a struggle that could very well mean her death.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetes
Fifteen-year-old
Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life--until Soviet officers invade
her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a
crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a
Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds
solace in her art, documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she
imbeds clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along,
hoping her drawings will make their way to her father's prison camp. But will
strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive?
Dark
Secrets 1: Legacies of Lies and Don’t Tell by Elizabeth
Chandler
In Legacy of Lies, Megan has to
stay with the uptight grandmother she wants nothing to do with. She's
determined to get through the visit without any drama, but when she falls into
a twisted love triangle with potentially fatal consequences, Megan may be
caught up in her family's legacy in more ways than she realizes.
Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die by Elizabeth Chandler
In No Time to Die, Jenny is
devastated by the recent death of her sister, Liza. Looking for a sense of
closure, she secretly signs up for the drama camp where Liza died. Jenny knows
that someone here holds the key to what really happened to Liza that night, but
if she doesn’t find out the truth soon, she may become the next victim.
Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Weiss
They
promised Meredith nine years of safety, but only gave her three. Her father was supposed to be locked
up until Meredith turned eighteen. She thought she had time to grow up, get
out, and start a new life. But Meredith is only fifteen, and today her father
is coming home from prison.
The Other Wes Moore; One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
Two kids named Wes Moore were born
blocks apart within a year of each other. Both grew up fatherless in similar
Baltimore neighborhoods and had difficult childhoods; both hung out on street
corners with their crews; both ran into trouble with the police. How, then, did
one grow up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated veteran, White House Fellow, and
business leader, while the other ended up a convicted murderer serving a life
sentence? Wes Moore, the author of this fascinating book, sets out to answer
this profound question. In alternating narratives that take readers from
heart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, The Other Wes Moore
tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile
world.
"The chilling truth is that his
story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been
his."
Eragon by Christopher
Paolini
Perfect
for fans of Lord of the Rings, the New York Times bestselling
Inheritance Cycle about the dragon rider Eragon has sold over 35 million
copies and is an international fantasy sensation.
American Born Chinese: A Graphic Novel by Gene Luen Yang
Jin Wang
starts at a new school where he’s the only Chinese-American student. When a boy
from Taiwan joins his class, Jin doesn’t want to be associated with an FOB like
him. Jin just wants to be an all-American boy, because he’s in love with an
all-American girl. Danny is an all-American boy: great at basketball, popular
with the girls. But his obnoxious Chinese cousin Chin-Kee’s annual visit is
such a disaster that it ruins Danny’s reputation at school, leaving him with no
choice but to transfer somewhere he can start all over again. The Monkey King
has lived for thousands of years and mastered the arts of kung fu and the
heavenly disciplines. He’s ready to join the ranks of the immortal gods in
heaven. But there’s no place in heaven for a monkey. Each of these characters
cannot help himself alone, but how can they possibly help each other? They’re
going to have to find a way—if they want fix the disasters their lives have
become.
Trafficked by Kim Purcell
Hannah
has struggled ever since her parents were killed and her beloved uncle
vanished. So when she's offered the chance to leave Moldova and become a nanny
for a family in Los Angeles, it seems like a dream come true-and at first it
is. But after weeks of working sixteen-hour days and not being able to leave
the house, she still hasn't been paid. As things go from bad to worse, Hannah
realizes that things are not at all what they seem and she finds herself doing
things she never imagined herself capable of. But as she begins uncovering the
family's crooked history, she may be exposing more than she bargained on-and
putting her life in danger.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The
unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of
conscience that rocked it, To
Kill A Mockingbird became
both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published
in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into
an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Kristin Cashore’s
best-selling, award-winning fantasy Graceling tells the story
of the vulnerable yet strong Katsa, a smart, beautiful teenager who lives in a
world where selected people are given a Grace, a special talent that can be
anything from dancing to swimming. Katsa’s is killing. As the king’s niece, she
is forced to use her extreme skills as his thug. Along the way, Katsa must
learn to decipher the true nature of her Grace . . . and how to put it to good
use. A thrilling, action-packed fantasy adventure (and steamy romance!) that
will resonate deeply with adolescents trying to find their way in the world.
Awards: Winner of the
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature, winner of the SIBA Book
Award/YA, Indies Choice Book Award Honor Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults,
2008 Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, 2008 School Library Journal Best
Book of the Year, Amazon.com’s Best Books of 2008, 2008 Booklist Editors’
Choice, Booklist’s 2008 Top Ten First Novels for Youth, 2009 Amelia Bloomer
List, BCCB 2009 Blue Ribbon List
Don’t miss the
sequel Fire, also a New York Times bestseller and ALA Best Book for
Young Adults, winner of the 2010 Cybil for YA Fantasy/Sci Fi and the Amelia
Elizabeth Walden Award.
Time
of Witches
by
Anna Myers
Orphaned at
the age of four, Drucilla finally has a place she can call home with her new
family, the Putnams, of Salem Village. But when a new reverend and his family
move into town with their servant Tituba, life takes a strange and dangerous
turn as accusations of witchcraft swirl. Dru is overwhelmed by the fervor of
lies and the power of groupthink among the other girls in town; reluctant to
turn her back on the Putnams, she utters her own accusations. Only her best
friend Gabe sees through the deceit, but it may be too late for Dru to protect
the truth, and innocent people will pay the ultimate price. Guiding readers
through the confusion of this frightening historical event, Anna Myers weaves a
compelling story that will captivate teen readers.
The Uglies by
Scott Westerfield
Youngblood
lives in a futuristic society that acculturates its citizens to believe that
they are ugly until age 16 when they'll undergo an operation that will change
them into pleasure-seeking "pretties." Anticipating this happy
transformation, Tally meets Shay, another female ugly, who shares her enjoyment
of hoverboarding and risky pranks. But Shay also disdains the false values and
programmed conformity of the society and urges Tally to defect with her to the
Smoke, a distant settlement of simple-living conscientious objectors. Tally
declines, yet when Shay is found missing by the authorities, Tally is coerced
by the cruel Dr. Cable to find her and her compatriots–or remain forever
"ugly." Tally's adventuresome spirit helps her locate Shay and the
Smoke. It also attracts the eye of David, the aptly named youthful rebel leader
to whose attentions Tally warms. However, she knows she is living a lie, for
she is a spy who wears an eye-activated locator pendant that threatens to blow
the rebels' cover. Ethical concerns will provide a good source of discussion as
honesty, justice, and free will are all oppressed in this well-conceived
dystopia. Characterization, which flirts so openly with the importance of teen
self-concept, is strong, and although lengthy, the novel is highly readable
with a convincing plot that incorporates futuristic technologies and a
disturbing commentary on our current public policies. Fortunately, the
cliff-hanger ending promises a sequel.
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Read the
first book in the New York
Times bestselling Maze Runner
series, perfect for fans ofThe Hunger Games and Divergent. The Maze Runner motion picture featuring the star of
MTV's Teen Wolf, Dylan
O’Brien; Kaya Scodelario; Thomas Brodie-Sangster; Will Poulter; and Aml Ameen,
and hits theaters September 19, 2014! Also look for James Dashner’s newest book The Eye of Minds, book one in
the Mortality Doctrine series.
The Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
He told me he loved me
and I believed him.
When
Alex falls for the charming new boy at school, Cole -- a handsome, funny sports
star who adores her -- she can't believe she's finally found her soul mate . .
. someone who truly loves and understands her. At first, Alex is blissfully happy. Sure, Cole seems a little
jealous of her relationship with her close friend Zack, but what guy would want
his girlfriend spending all her time with another boy? As the months pass,
though, Alex can no longer ignore Cole's small put-downs, pinches, and
increasingly violent threats. As Alex struggles to come to terms with the sweet
boyfriend she fell in love with and the boyfriend whose "love" she no
longer recognizes, she is forced to choose -- between her "true love"
and herself.
Boy
21
by Matthew Quick
You
can lose yourself in repetition--quiet your thoughts; I learned the value of
this at a very young age.
Russ has just moved to
the neighborhood, and the life of this teen basketball phenom has been turned
upside down by tragedy. Cut off from everyone he knows, he won't pick up a basketball,
but answers only to the name Boy21--taken from his former jersey number.
As their final year of
high school brings these two boys together, a unique friendship may turn out to
be the answer they both need.
Leviathan by Scott Westerfield
It is the cusp of World War I. The
Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines
loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically
fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most
masterful beast in the British fleet.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar
Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a
thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy
sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of
Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for
Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it
becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have
been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good
reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.
A
spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography,Miss
Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will
delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.
The
Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
In
this stunning collectors' edition of The Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson's world
is brought to life with eight full-color plates by the series jacket artist
John Rocco. The edition comes in an elegant slipcase with a ribbon bookmark,
rough edges, and cloth cover--a perfect keepsake for fans of this truly epic
series. After getting expelled from yet another school for yet another
clash with mythological monsters only he can see, twelve-year-old Percy Jackson
is taken to Camp Half-Blood, where he finally learns the truth about his unique
abilities: He is a demigod, half human, half immortal. Even more stunning: His
father is the Greek god Poseidon, ruler of the sea, making Percy one of the
most powerful demigods alive. There's little time to process this news. All too
soon, a cryptic prophecy from the Oracle sends Percy on his first quest, a
mission to the Underworld to prevent a war among the gods of Olympus.
Unwind by Neil
Shusterman
In
America after the Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to
an agreement: The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from
the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen. Between the
ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, a parent may choose to retroactively
get rid of a child through a process called "unwinding." Unwinding
ensures that the child's life doesn’t “technically” end by transplanting all
the organs in the child's body to various recipients. Now a common and accepted
practice in society, troublesome or unwanted teens are able to easily be
unwound.
Bartholomew Fair by Mary Stolz
On an
August day in 1598 six people, including Queen Elizabeth, a wealthy cloth
merchant, a scullery maid, two schoolboys, and an overworked apprentice, attend
London's Bartholomew's Fair and come away with unforgettable experiences.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Sherman
Sherman
Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the
Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands,
Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town
high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking,
funny, and beautifully written, The
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the
author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings that reflect the
character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American
boy as he attempts to break away from the life he thought he was destined to
live.
Room by Emma Donoghue
To
five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. . . . It's where he was born, it's where
he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him
safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.
If I Stay
by Gayle Forman
In the
blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen year-old Mia has no memory of
the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own
damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put
together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and
the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will
change the way you look at life, love, and family. Now a major motion picture
starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long
time.
The Help
by Kathryn Stockett
Three
ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.
The
Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky
Standing
on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective…but there comes a time to
see what it looks like from the dance floor.
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Riley Giff
Artistically
talented Hollis Woods, age 12, has made a habit of running away from foster
homes, but she s found a place on Long Island where she wants to stay for a
while. She immediately bonds with Josie, her new guardian, who is a slightly
eccentric, retired art teacher. Yet Hollis is far from content. She worries
about Josie s increasing forgetfulness, and she sorely misses her last foster
family, the Regans, whom she left under tense circumstances that are only
gradually made clear. Giff intersperses tender scenes demonstrating Hollis s
growing affection for Josie with memories of the Regans, whose images Hollis
preserves in her sketchbook. Pictures of motherly Izzy Regan, her architect
husband and their mischievous yet compassionate son, Steven, sensitively
express the young artist s conception of a perfect family. As readers become
intimately acquainted with Hollis, they will come to understand her fears,
regrets and longings, and will root for her as she pursues her dream of finding
a home where she belongs.
Take a Bow by
Elizabeht Eulberg
From the
fantastic author of The Lonely Hearts Club and Prom & Prejudice comes a
story of all the drama and comedy of four friends who grow into themselves at a
performing arts high school. Chasing fame. Chasing love. Chasing a
future. Emme has long lived in
her best friend Sophie's shadow. She writes songs, and Sophie sings them. It's
always been like this, and feels like it always will be. Sophie will stop at nothing to be a star.
Even if it means using her best friend and picking up a trophy boyfriend,
Carter. Carter is a victim of a
particular Hollywood curse: He's a former child star. Now all he wants is a
normal life. But being normal is about as hard for him as being famous. Ethan has his own issues -- a darkness in his
head that he just can't shake. He's managed to sabotage every relationship he's
ever been in. Emme's the only girl he's ever really respected . . . but he's
not sure what to do about that.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Graceling...April Selection
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