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+

The Face on the Milk Carton

Cooney, C.B. (1996). The face on the milk carton. New York: Random House.

ISBN: 978-0385323284

Annotation: Janie Johnson's life was turned upside down when she saw a picture of herself as a missing child on a milk carton.

Summary: Fifteen year old Janie discovers a picture of herself as a missing child on the back of a milk carton. She is immediately catapulted into a nightmare in which she was kidnapped as a baby... which means her parents are not her biological parents.

Evaluation: All of the Janie Johnson books are thrillers. What a great premise for a book, to have a teen find out that her parents are not who she has always thought! There is no real problems with this story, although Janie does have a boyfriend.

Age Level: 12+

To Kill A Mockingbird

Lee, H. (1988). To kill a mockingbird. New York: Grand Central Publishing.

Annotation: Scout and Jem Finch encounter racism and lose their innocence in their little town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression.

Plot: Scout and Jem Finch's father Atticus is a lawyer who agrees to represent black community member Tom Robinson when he is accused of raping a white woman. Scout and Jem are then subjected to cruelties from the other white children.

Evaluation: This book is on ALA's list of Banned Classics due to racist remarks, discussion of the rape in explicit terms, and curse words. However, this book was voted by librarians as the Best Book of the Twentieth Century in 1999 (found from PBS's American Masters on December 4, 2009).

Age Level: 12+

The Great American Novel: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/timeline/tokillamockingbird.html

The Witches

Dahl, R. (2007). The witches. New York: Penguin Group.

ISBN: 9780142410110

Annotation: Grandmama tells Robert about the witches who hate children; little did he realize that he would face down hundreds of them at once!

Summary: This is another terrific work of Roald Dahl's imagination as Grandmama speaks of children that she knew who had been killed by witches.Her grandson Robert ends up in the middle of a witch convention and the two of them have to use all of their wiles to escape unscathed.

Evaluation: This book has been banned simply because it presents witches (and therefore women) in a negative light. One of the complaints from children about this book is that it's scary, so it's important to make sure they know it's a work of fantasy. The witches not only want to kill all of the children in the world, they are also extremely ugly, which

is emphasized in Quintin Blake's illustrations (shown to the right).

Age Level: 8+

Walk Two Moons

Creech, S. (1996). Walk two moons. New York: HarperCollins.

ISBN: 978006440517

Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins.

-Walk Two Moons

Annotation: Thirteen year old Sal takes off on a crazy road trip with her grandparents to find out the truth about her mother's disappearance years earlier.

Summary: Sal and her grandparents take a trip to retrace the route that Sal's mother took when she disappeared years earlier. During the long hours of driving, Sal tells the story of her friend Phoebe Winterbottom, whose mother has also left.

Evaluation: This book won the 1995 Newbery Award and is a quality read for young adults. Sal has to grapple with the meanings of love and family while reliving Phoebe's story with her grandparents.

Age Level: 12+

Bridge to Terabithia

Patterson, K. (1987). Bridge to Terabithia. New York: HarperCollins.

Annotation: Fifth grader Jess becomes friends with school outcast Leslie, who captivates him with her creativity and imagination; when disaster strikes, Jess has to grow up quickly.

Summary: Leslie creates a magical place in the woods called Terabithia, in which both she and Jess reign, away from school bullies and reality. When disaster strikes, Jess has to learn how to keep the magic of Leslie's world intact while he reigns alone in Terabithia.

Evaluation: This book has been challenged numerous times, mainly because of accusations of satanism within the ceremonies of the magical place, Terabithia. The story of the two friends against the world is one that all young adults should read; in fact many schools across the country use this book as required reading.

Age level: 10+

Bless Me, Ultima

Anaya, R. (1994). Bless me, Ultima. New York: Grand Central Publishing.

ISBN: 9780446600255

Annotation: When Tony Marez was six, the healer Ultima came to stay with his family; as he grows up she is ever present to help help him learn and discover himself.

Summary: The curandera (healer) Ultima lives with the Marez family and forms a special bond with young Tony. Tony struggles to discover who he is in regards to his mother's Catholic religion, his father's knowledge, and Ultima's paganism.

Evaluation: This has been a challenged book because of Ultima's pagan religion. However, this book cannot be reduced merely to a pagan read; rather it is a spiritual journey that Tony embarks on as he grows older.

Age level: 15+

There are so many dreams to be fulfilled, but Ultima says a man's destiny must unfold itself like a flower, with only the sun and the earth and water making it blossom, and no one else meddling in it.

-Bless Me, Ultima

Gossip Girl

Von Ziegasar, C. (2002). Gossip girl. New York: Little, Brown.

ISBN:978-0316910330

Annotation: Watch Serena, Blair and their back-stabbing, boyfriend-stealing frenemies scheme and plot their way to power.

Summary: This television series is a guilty pleasure! It involves the lives of several different teens who all (but one!) live in Manhattan's Upper East Side and are wealthy beyond belief. Sex, underage drinking, total manipulation and general bitchiness, this series is addictive.

Evaluation: Purely recreational, this series of books shows a bizarre world of privilege and scandal for the wealthy students who live on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Drugs, binge drinking, and sex are frequent in the storylines. Definiely for older teens only.

Age level: 15+

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Rowling, J.K. (2007). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Scholastic.

ISBN: 978-0545010221

Annotation: Harry Potter has to face down and finally destroy Voldemort and his Death Eaters with only a handful of other wizards.

Summary: In the last book of the series, Rowling goes above and beyond all of her other books. The story this time is tragic and melancholy, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione all leave Hogwarts in order to pursue Voldemort's Horcruxes full time. They have no idea where to go or whom to trust. Voldemort and the Death Eaters have taken over most of England and there are traitors at every turn. This book finally brings the epic story to an amazing end.

Evaluation: This story is captivating as usual, but is also extremely depressing and disheartening for at least the first half of the book. Harry, Ron, and Hermione must try and excel in nearly impossible circumstances without losing their sanity or their hopes. This book brought me to tears and it was ultimately very powerful and haunting.

Age Level: 10+

Twilight

Meyer, S. (2005). Twilight. New York: Little, Brown.

ISBN: 978-0316160179

Annotation: Bella Swan falls in love with a man who wants to kill her.

Oh, I'm with the vampires, of course.

-Twilight

Summary: This story begins with Bella Swan, who has just moved to Forks, Washington to live with her father. She meets the mysterious Edward and begins to fall in love with him. He's a vampire-- although a "vegetarian" one, which means he only drinks the blood of animals. This is a very exciting and action-packed story about teenage angst and true love.

Evaluation: Although some teenage boys like the series, these books are mainly popular with teen girls. This is a great recreational read, especially for reluctant readers. Although Meyer's writing is not fabulous she does tell a fabulous story. It's very easy to get caught up in the story and it reads quickly. Great for a traveling book, when you're stuck on a plane or in a car.

Age Level: 12+

The Golden Compass

Pullman, P. (2001). The golden compass. New York: Random House Children's Books.

Annotation: Eleven year old Lyra embarks on a precarious mission to rescue her friend and discovers a sinister plot in the process.

Summary: This movie is about Lyra, a precocious girl who goes off on a journey to rescue her friend Roger when he is taken by the Gobblers. She and her daemon, Pantalaimon (an animal manifestation of part of her soul) end up in the far North.

Evaluation: This book series is a spiritually meaningful journey for readers of all ages. In the last book, The Amber Spyglass, Lyra and Will begin a relationship together; sex is implied.

Age Level: 10+

There are many universes and many Earths parallel to each other. Worlds like yours, where people's souls live inside their bodies, and worlds like mine, where they walk beside us, as animal spirits we call daemons.

-The Golden Compass