An Acceptable Time

L'Engle, M. (2007). An acceptable time. New York: Square Fish.

ISBN: 978-0312368586

Annotation: Polly O'Keefe finds herself in an ancient time in which two rival tribes fight for survival to the death.

Summary: While spending the fall at her grandparents house, Polly stumbles into a time gate that takes her thousands of years away. She has to help two enemy tribes reconcile without becoming a human sacrifice to bring rain. Bad boy Zachary Grey shows up in this book as well.

Evaluation: This book is more in the line with L'Engle's better known series with the Murray family in A Wrinkle in Time. Full of fantasy, Polly still is a classic teen, struggling with life, love, and the idea of death. A great recreational read for teen girls, Polly is a fabulous character to identify with.

Age Level: 12+

Truth is eternal, knowledge is changeable. It is disastrous to confuse them.

-An Acceptable Time

Nation

Pratchett, T. (2008). Nation. New York: HarperCollins.

ISBN: 978-0-06-143301-6

Annotation: A tsunami destroys the island that Mao lives on,along with his family, all of the villagers, and every aspect of society that he has ever known.

Summary: Mao is coming of age in an island culture in the early 1900s. He leaves the island on his quest to become a man, and gets caught in a tsunami that destroys his island and all of its inhabitants. He has to learn to be a chief and to help create a new island community for all the people who survived the giant wave-- including an English teen named Ermintrude (who promptly changes her name to Daphne).

Evaluation: This book is a fabulous story about an island teen learning to become a man. He loses his entire family, village, and way of life in one huge wave and he somehow has to pick up the pieces and move on. With help from Daphne, some sign language, and a bevy of other islanders coming for sanctuary from cannibals, Mao has to learn to stand up for what is right and trust himself.

Age Level: 12+

Little Brother

Doctorow, C. (2008). Little brother. New York: Doherty, Tom Associates.

ISBN: 9780765319852

Annotation: After terrorists bomb the Golden Gate Bridge, Marcus and his friends take on the federal government when San Francisco is turned into a police state.

Summary: In this fantastic book, Marcus and his friends get caught in a terrorist attack on San Francisco. They get picked up by officials connected to the U.S.'s Department of Homeland Security and brutally interrogated. After Marcus and two of his friends have been released (one has been kept in jail), they start lashing out against the new controls on the city.

Evaluation: A fabulous book for both girls and guys, this is completely life changing! It's a great read for anyone who is interested in computers and hacking... which is nearly everyone in the most recent teen generation. With social injustice abounding, these teens have to try and teach their parents, their teachers, and all adults that over-control and over-monitoring leads to a new sort of terrorist state.

Age Level: 15+

Never underestimate the determination of a kid who is time rich and cash poor.

-Little Brother

Good Omens

Gaiman, N. and Pratchett, T. (1990). New York: Workman.

ISBN: 9780060853976

God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of his own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.

-Good Omens

Annotation: An eleven year old Antichrist with the power to destroy the world? All apart of the ineffable plan!

Summary: Eleven year old Adam Young is the Antichrist. Only nobody knows because there was a mix-up at the hospital and the wrong child was raised up to be the Antichrist. However,with the help of an atypical angel and an unwicked demon, Adam is about to change the world...

Evaluation: This is one of the best recreational reads for any teenagers (for adults as well!). It is insanely funny and cleverly written. For example: the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appear as Hell's Angels on motorbikes.

Age Level: 15+

A House Like a Lotus

L'Engle, M. ( 1985). A house like a lotus. New York: Random House.

ISBN: 978-80440936855

Annotation: Polly is faced with the trials and tribulations of growing up as she falls in love, loses her virginity, and has to watch the slow death of her friend by cancer.

Summary: Polly O'Keefe is introduced to Max, a friend of her uncle's. Max is a wealthy woman, a lesbian who is dying of cancer. She gives Polly many gifts of wisdom and insight, but one night, she is drunk and tries to seduce Polly. Polly takes off, very upset and refuses to see her again. However, she agrees to still go on a trip to Greece that Max had arranged and learns all about forgiveness.

Evaluation: In typical L'Engle fashion, Polly is a heroine for all ages. Her moods and angst and confusion will be familiar to all teens as she struggles with friends, a boyfriend, and how to deal with Max's dying. This is a highly controversial book, dealing as it does with lesbianism, Polly losing her virginity, and Max's attempted seduction. It's a heavy, emotional book but reads as easily and well as an action story.

Age Level: 15+

Persepolis

Satrapi, M. (2007). The complete Persepolis. New York: Random House.

ISBN: 9780375714832

Annotation: Marjane grows up in the turbulence of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in this story of a life in comic strips.

Summary: Satrapi spends her childhood years living with her large family in Tehran during the social and political upheavals of the Islamic Revolution. She spends her high school years in Vienna, and learns to be herself.

Evaluation:In this graphic novel the author is a rather outspoken girl during the time of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. She is often challenged but continues to strive to be herself. It is a great message for teens of any age. Mainly older teen girls will like this, but some teen guys may as well.

Age Level: 15+

If you like this book, try Maus by Art Spiegelman.

Elsewhere

Zevin, G. (2007). Elsewhere. New York: Square Fish Publishing.

ISBN: 978-0307282415

Annotation: Fifteen year old Liz finds out exactly what happens when you die: you go to Elsewhere, where you grow younger as you age.

There's a strange sort of quiet when you're dying. It's as if you're in a glass room and the walls keep getting thicker and thicker.

-Gabrielle Zevin

Summary: After dying, Liz is met by her grandmother in another place, a place in which you grow younger as you age. Liz is obsessed with her former life on Earth and has to come to grips with maturing, letting go of the past and discovering who she is while growing younger.

Evaluation: A great look at death and what happens afterwards; this new perspective is a good way for teens to open up about fears and misgivings over death. A great recreational read for teen girls, this novel does bring up some questions about the process of life. Also a good read for teens who have dealt with death on a more personal basis.

Age Level: 15+