Table of Contents

I would be remiss to not add the fact that I added an introduction to this blog many months ago when I was starting the project.  As it is not a blog on a piece of teen information strictly speaking, I am not including it with the rest of the list of items.  However, I feel it is important to my understanding of the work, and so one might read it when beginning this blog...                 

Author - David Elliott

And now for the Table of Contents.  I am doing it once by Alphabetical Organization, and then re-organizing it again once by type.

Table of Contents - Alphabetical

1 - The Amazing Spider Man : Election Day

2 - Alison Rules

3 - Battle Royale

4 - Blood Roses

5 - Bone - Out from Boneville

6 - Bone - The Great Cow Race

7 - The Book Thief

8 - City of Bones

9 - The Clash

10 - Clueless

11- A Crack in the Line

12 - Crank

13 - Dark Flame

14 - The Devouring

15 - Dial L for Loser

16 - Encyclopedia Mythica

17 - Everybody Hurts :The Essential Guide to Emo Culture

18 - Fallout

19 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off

20 - Gale Opposing Viewpoints

21 - GamePro

22 - Girls Rock : Fifty Years of Women Making Music

23 - Go Ask Alice!

24 - Gossip Girl

25 - How to Ruin My Teenage Life

26 - The Hunger Games

27 - I Don't Need a Record Deal! : Your Survival Guide for the Indie Music Revolution

28 - Identical

29 - Just Listen

30 - Little Brother

31 - Nevermind

32 - Rogue Angel : Solomon's Jar

33 - Rolling Stone

34 - Serenity : Those Left Behind

35 - 17 Again!

36 - Shadow Kiss

37 - Small Eternities

38 - Sorry For Partyin'

39 - Splendor : A Luxe Novel

40 - Spy vs. Spy : Missions of Madness

41 - Stolen

42 - Student Resources in Context

43 - The Summoning

44 - Teach Me

45 - Teen Ink

46 - Ten Things I Hate About You

47 - Veronica Mars - Season 1

48 - The White Darkness

49 - Wintergirls

50 - A Year Without Rain

Table of Contents - By Item Type

Books

     Genre: Adventure

1 - Rogue Angel : Solomon's Jar

     Genre: Biography

2 - The Clash

     Genre: Chic Lit

3 - Alison Rules

4 - Dial L For Loser

5 - Gossip Girl

6 - How to Ruin My Teenage Life

7 - Splendor : A Luxe Novel

     Genre: Drama

8 - The Book Thief

9 - Crank

10 - Fallout

11 - Identical

12 - Just Listen

13 - Stolen

14 - Teach Me

15 - The White Darkness

16 - Wintergirls

     Genre: Fantasy

17 - Blood Roses

18 - Dark Flame

19 - Shadow Kiss

     Genre: Graphic Novel

20 - The Amazing Spiderman : Election Day

21 - Bone : Out of Boneville

22 - Bone : The Great Cow Race

23 - Serenity : Those Left Behind

24 - Spy vs. Spy : Missions of Madness

     Genre: Horror

25 - The Devouring

26 - The Summoning

     Genre: Non-Fiction

27 - Everybody Hurts : The Essential Guide to Emo Culture

28 - Girls Rock : Fifty Years of Women Making Music

29 - I Don't Need a Record Deal! : Your Survival Guide for the Indie Music Revolution

     Genre: Science Fiction

30 - Battle Royale

31 - City of Bones

32 - A Crack in the Line

33 - The Hunger Games

34 - Little Brother

35 - Small Eternities

CD

     Genre: Alternative

36 - Nevermind

     Genre: Pop

37 - A Year Without Rain

     Genre: Punk

38 - Sorry For Partyin'

Magazine

     Genre: Games

39 - GamePro

     Genre: Literature

40 - Teen Ink

     Genre: Music

41 - Rolling Stone

Movies

     Genre: Comedy

42 - Clueless

43 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off

44 - 17 Again!

45 - Ten Things I Hate About You

     Genre: Drama

46 - Veronica Mars - Season 1

Websites

     Genre: Educational

47 - Encyclopedia Mythica

48 - Gale Opposing Viewpoints

49 - Student Resources in Context

     Genre: Informational

50 - Go Ask Alice!

A Year Without Rain

Title - A Year Without Rain ( CD)
Artist - Selena Gomez and the Scene
Release Date - September 17, 2010

Plot -The second of the CD's released by Selena Gomez and the Scene is the followup album to Kiss and Tell.  The album is named after the title track as she wanted to make sure that the albums themes she wanted to be reflective of that one major song.  This means that much of the albums lyrics reflect joy, love and the freedom to express yourself in whatever ways you wish.  The music was specifically designed to have a largely techno-pop kind of feel, mixing sampling with an upbeat music and vocal styling.

Critical Review-  While this goes along with much of the tween pop genre that is prevalent today, Selena Gomez is attempting to shed a little bit of that mold by bringing a little of her own personality and styling to the music and lyrics.  The themes are often simplistic, but the lyrics as a reflection of the music can be at once beautiful, and haunting.  Disney, in bringing up its young stars has served them well.  Selena has been given a forum for her musical talents and they are pop as its simple, yet catchy, finest.

Reader's Annotation-

About the Author- Selena Gomez got her big start on Barney and Friends, opposite another rising star Demi Lovato.  She was on there for a few years before developing her acting talents in smaller roles, finally landing a show on the Disney Channel called "The Wizards of Waverly Place"  Opposite other young actors, Selena has been the major star on the show with her sassy attitude about the world around her.

From this Disney has given an opportunity to showcase her talents.  Singing the title track for the TV program gave people and opportunity to hear the voice that she was blessed with.  And her self effacing and humble attitude has ingratiated her into homes with her catchy tunes and innocent, yet soulful lyrics.

Genre- Music, Pop

Curriculum Ties - Discuss CD Lyrics as poetry - Literature

Booktalking Ideas - None

Reading Level/Interest Age -Grade 7+

Challenge Issues - None

Why Included - Because my daughter, who is four years old and loves Selena Gomez from the Wizards of Waverly Place, loves her music.  And as I have been forced to listen to the album quite often, and its target audience is primarily teens, I figured it was worth reviewing for my last review for the project.

Just Listen

Title - Just Listen
Author - Sarah Dessen
ISBN - 0670061050
Publication Date - April 2006

Plot - Annabel Greene should have it all.  She is intelligent, a model, and one of the most popular people around.  That is until her world comes crashing around her after she is raped by her best friend Sophie's boyfriend Will.  Sophie does not believe her and ends the friendship; her mother will not listen to her; and everyone at school ends up making her an outcast.  No one seems to want to listen to her. That is until she meets up with Owen Armstrong.  He is the prototypical emo boy.  He wears his emotions out on his sleeve, so much so that he seems to have anger management problems.  In an ironic twist, he runs a radio program called Anger Management, where he has a chance to blow off steam about any of the various issues he has with life.  Through this, Annabel ends up learning that telling the truth, and having people listen to you is more important than hiding the truth and trying to protect someone else's feelings.  By novels end, she has quit modeling; Owen and she have gotten together as a couple,; Owen has punched out Will for raping Annabel; and Will has landed himself in jail as he ends up raping someone else along the way and getting caught; and Sophie winds up alone.

Critical Review-  While the novel could have easily wound its way in a kind of a chic lit Fashion, Sarah Dressen makes sure that both the pace of the novel and the message do not resemble anything that would go on in a chic lit setting.  She focuses heavily on the message of communication.  Through openness, everyone is able to better themselves.  By Owen communicating with others, he is able to work out some of his anger management problems.  If Annabel had communicated with the police, someone else would have been spared a rape at the hands of Will.  And her communicating with her mother at the end of the novel, spares her needing to go back to modeling, and feeling like she has to live up to her mother's expectations.  If Annabel's sisters had communicated with their mother about the pressures and stresses of the job, maybe the mother would not have laid so much of her expectations on Annabel. 

Also the book does a good job of exploring the need to contribute in the other area of communication: listening.  As the book is entitled just listen, it is obvious that listening is a skill that is much needed.  Yes one does need to communicate verbally one's problems and not expect others to guess what they are.  But others need to be willing to listen to what other people have to say or they cause irreparable harm to others.  Sophie will not listen to Annabel about the rape, leaving Annabel out in the cold.  Her mother will not listen to her problems.  And the classmates will not listen to Annabel's side of the story.  If anyone would have taken the time to listen to begin with, it would have spared everyone a lot of harm.

Reader's Annotation- When the world comes crashing down around you. and life seems to be going against you in every conceivable way, sometimes you need someone to just listen.

About the Author- Born in Illinois, but raised in North Carolina, Sarah Dessen spent vast amounts of time connected to higher education.  Both her parents were university professors involved in the arts.  So her parents at an early age were exposing her to Shakespeare and mythology.

She loved to read from a very early age; and, she complains, that most of her early gifts were books when she might rather have been getting other kinds of present.  But at the age of around nine, they gave her a gift that would transform her for the rest of her life.  It was a manual typewriter.  She would begin to sit and type her first stories on that machine, developing a sense of humor and the ability to embellish.

She says her high school years were extremely important to her.  She developed a large social circle, out of which she has been able to create a lot of her young adult stories.  She never exactly intended to be a young adult writer, but her editors felt she seemed to have that kind of a voice that came out in her writing.

Genre - Drama

Curriculum Ties - Reading / Literature

Booktalking Ideas - Discuss the nature of keeping secrets and peer pressure.  How does it affect ones standing in a community?  Is the simple answer to always speak out?

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 9+

Challenge Issues - There is multiple rapes in the novel.

Overcoming challenges - Have brochures on rape at the library and how it is important that these people speak out.  Express that the message of the novel is for people to speak out about their issues.

Why Included - I have seen Sarah Dressen's books around my library, and the plot seemed interesting.  Plus there was a further connection as there was an "emo" type individual in the novel.

The Devouring

Title - The Devouring
Author - Simon Holt
ISBN - 0316035734
Publication Date - September 2008

Plot - Reggie is a teen whose life has been marred by many sad occurrences, including being abandoned by her mother.  She has a friend Aaron, and a brother Henry who are kind of her life.  She has an appreciation for all things that are considered horror, which is why its not a surprise that she is fascinated by a journal entry in a book store she works for about this evil called the "Vours." 

The "Vours," according to the journal, is supposed to come out every Winter Solstice and take over the bodies of the unsuspecting.  What Reggie starts off believing is simply a myth, starts to take whole new dimensions as she finds the personality of her brother changing in drastic ways after the Winter Solstice.  Her brother who was a picture of innocence now is developing a scary personality, where he is not beyond tearing up his stuffed animals, and drowning his pet hamster in the toilet.

Reggie and her friend then try to find out what is really going on with her brother.  She finds that with the Vours they devour the soul and the real soul is left floating in some kind of other reality called the fearscape.  Reggie then pursues him in there, finding all sorts of nightmarish realities that make a real impact on her.  She must face all of her fears, and the many fears of Henry to save her brother from this harrowing reality.

Critical Review-  Simon Holt has certainly created a fascinating concept in the genre of horror.  Everyone seems to have their own sets of fears in life, and some people seem to have more than others.  What happens if you have to face all of your fears and the many fears of another person in order to save them.  Many people might decide that it would be best to run away from it entirely, but not Reggie.  She goes after her brother and in the process must face some of her worst nightmares.  While I believe that this novel does a good job of bringing out the fears and terrors of its individuals, sometimes I think the characters seem like they are a little too simply drawn and almost caricatures of themselves.  Reggie is the tough older sister who is brave and protective of her younger brother.  The brother is an overly scared little child who seems to fear almost everything.  I think Holt would have created a far more interesting novel if she had made the characters themselves more complex with different strengths and weaknesses.

Reader's Annotation- There is nothing to fear but fear itself.  But when fear itself is after you, do you stick around, or do you run and hide?  Simon Holt explores this in his novel, the Devouring.

About the Author-  Simon Holt has been fascinated by all things horror from a young age.  In high school he began writing for a horror fanzine.  He is said to have developed it himself and overused the school copier to try to publish it.  Despite the detention he received, he kept up with his horror writing, eventually publishing books or which Devouring is the first in the series.

While I am writing this as what I could find on Simon Holt, I have to say that I cannot confirm or corroborate any of this as it was found as suspect information on a website.  When looking at wikipedia, the link to the author of The Devouring took me to a musician.  Some have speculated that the novel was produced by a team or writers, somewhat like the Harlequin Romance series.

Genre- Horror

Curriculum Ties - Discuss the nature of Myths.  What are some of the myths about the Solstice?  Compare the Winter Solstice with the spring Solstice.  (History and Literature)

Booktalking Ideas - Have everyone discuss what some of the things they fear are.  Discuss what makes each of those things scary.

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 10+

Challenge Issues - Killing of animals and nature of fears may have some parents afraid it will give kids nightmares. 

Overcoming Challenge - Have a list of phobias that parents can discuss with their teens, including ridiculous ones like triskaidekaphobia.  Encourage parents to discuss with their teens what things they are afraid of and show them that some fear is not based in reality.

Why Included - The cover and the hook on the book fascinated me.

Stolen

Title - Stolen
Author - Lucy Christopher
ISBN - 9780545170932
Publication Date - May 2010

Plot -  Told as a letter written towards her kidnapper, Stolen is the story of Gemma, a sixteen year old girl who is abducted at an airport and dragged off to Australia to start a new life.  From the moment her abductor makes contact with her at the airport, she feels that there is something significant and familiar about him, but she cannot place her finger on it.  He ends up drugging her at the airport in Thailand, and shuffling her off in a plane pretending that she is drunk and that they are celebrating.  Eventually she ends up in Australia, tied up in a small room.  When she is finally allowed some freedom she senses that there is not really any freedom for her, as she has no means of going anywhere, and would not know where to go anyway.  Eventually she develops a bond, and even a sort of love for her kidnapper.  She begins to have an understanding of who he is and why he did things.  Although he continues to maintain certain fictions about her parents so she will not keep trying to escape. 

Eventually she gets bitten by a snake in the outback and is in serious condition, in need of serious medical attention.  The kidnapper is not so heartless that he allows her to die and takes her to the hospital, making sure she lives, and staying with her through a plane ride to safety.  Through this they discover the situation and arrest him, notifying her parents and having them come to pick her up.  She then has to go through a lot of sorting in her mind through the rest of the novel, where she is informed of the idea of the Stockholm syndrome, where the person begins associating and eventually loving their kidnappers. She is being told by everyone else that what she is feeling for this person is wrong.  It takes a while for this message to sink in, and it eventually does, but Gemma never truly hates Ty, her kidnapper.  Some part of her wishes him well, and wants him to grow and live a normal happy life, when he does get out of prison for the crime of kidnapping her.

Critical Review - A fascinating tale, told in first person, as it is Gemma's letter to the kidnapper.  Of course no one really would want her to write this letter to him,  but her therapist felt like she would improve if she could write out her experiences.  By doing so, the readers get a good look into the mind of someone who is kidnapped.  They can see how a person can be transformed from desperation to hatred, from hatred to understanding, from understanding to appreciation, and from appreciation to a kind of love.  We see how the manipulations and lies slowly sink in to the character of Gemma, and before long she begins to appreciate and love this man, loving a part of what he has done for her.  And by the end, before Ty is arrested, she wants Ty with her at all times. 

I also think there is quite a beauty to the ending of the novel, which spends time showing Gemma with her conflicting emotions about the whole issue.  It also shows her growth in a large way about her surroundings, an an understanding and appreciation for her parents.  And I believe there is a beauty that Gemma can see in people through her experience that no one else can.  This is not to say that she negates the wrong done by her kidnapper, but can appreciate the complexities of the human soul.  I believe it is this wonderful complexity that makes the work done by Lucy Christopher an amazing tale, well worth reading.

Reader's Annotation- Gemma is kidnapped from an airport, and drug off to the vast area of the Australian outback.  There is no one around for miles.  Despite this kidnapping, she begins to develop a love for her kidnapper.  Is this really love, or merely Stockholm syndrome?

About the Author- Lucy Christopher was born and raised in Wales, and moved to Australia when she was nine years old.  It was a far away place for her where she was alone a great deal and did not understand what was around her, having to adjust to a whole new lifestyle.  She would eventually grow to love it and stay there until she was working on a MA in creative writing.

At 22 she would go back to the UK in Bath to get her masters degree.  She had several miss starts in various careers but had decided writing is where she wanted to be.  Stolen ended up being her first published novel, written while she was in her masters program.  While she has had no direct experience with kidnapping, Christopher discusses the fact that moving to Australia to nine was a kind of kidnapping for her in that it stole her away from everything that was familiar and forced her into a new place that she didn't understand that was wild and untamed.

Genre- Drama

Curriculum Ties - Discuss the novel as a letter.  How effective is it? - Literature
Discuss the nature of Stockholm syndrome.  Compare it to other famous cases such as Patty Hurst. - History

Booktalking Ideas - Have them discuss why someone would want to write a letter to a kidnapper?  What would the thinking behind the letter be?  Why is much of the letter a jumbled confusion of emotions coming from Gemma's character?

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 10+

Challenge Issues - None

Why Included - The story seemed fascinating and intense for a book that was directed for teens.

Battle Royale

Title - Battle Royale
Author - Koushun Takami
ISBN - 9784872334523
Publication Date - November 17, 2009

Plot - Developed as an alternative time line for Japan, where they have joined a block of nations under a totalitarian ruler, society has been forced to bend to the will of its government.  A group of innocent junior high kids is gassed on a bus and driven to a remote island setting to join a school and sign up for something known as "the program."  As a secret project one discovers it is meant to keep the population subjugated.  Every year, 50 third year high school students are separated and forced to fight for the death.  Only one person is to survive the whole ordeal.  They are given tracking collars around their necks.  Anyone who attempts to escape, dies.  Anyone who enters a forbidden zone, dies.  And if everyone decides that they are not going to kill anyone, at the end of 24 hours, all of their collars detonate, and they all die. 

Each person responds differently to their predicament.  Some become cold and sadistic killers, others try to find a way out.  Eventually there are four people left. Shuya Nanahara and Noriko Nakagawa are first time fighters who really do not want to have to kill anyone but live to fight.  Shogo Kawada has been in the program before and lived to tell the tale.  Kazua Kiriyama is brutal and sadistic and wishes to rid himself of the three and survive.  In a major battle they take out Kazuo and make their way to a big hill where they hope not to be spotted.  Since most of the tracking is through microphone attached to their collars, Shogo fakes the shooting of the other two and takes off their collars, drawing the people in charge of the program to pick up Shogo as the winner.  They all board the ship and overcome security.  Shogo ends up dying from his wounds, and the two others escape, trying to find solace in the freedom of America. 

Critical Review-  Fascinating take on the being placed in a no one situation.  It is a kind of combination of the Most Dangerous Game, with a lot of 1984 thrown in.  While succumbing to some problems that are bound to occur with the translation of any work, as the original story was told in Japanese, there is a power to the story involved.  There are some very important questions implied in the story.  What should a society do when its government seems to want to control every aspect of their lives?  Should a government have the power of life or death over its citizens?  What does it mean to be human and how can one live humanely when put under circumstances that are bound to test the most honorable of people?  There is such a beauty and simplicity to the tale, despite its complexities and nearly 600 pages in length.  It is no wonder that other artists have told such similar tales throughout time, including the Hunger Games.

Reader's Annotation- How does one live when you are forced to kill the people you love?  Can one truly be a friend in such a circumstance?  What does it mean to be human?  Takami explores all of those themes beautifully in Battle Royale.

About the Author- Koushun Takami was born and raised in Japan, near Osaka.  He grew up with a love of reading and literature and would eventually get a degree in literature.  Initially going to further his education through correspondence he dropped out.

Through this he found himself working for a news company.  They were involved in politics and world affairs. Through which he attained a good idea of government and politics and how the political system works.  While completed after he left the news company, Battle Royale has been Takami's signature work of literature thus far.  It allowed him to explore his ideas about politics and power structure through a powerful story about life and humanity.

Genre-Science fiction / Horror

Curriculum Ties - Compare and contrast Battle Royale with other like minded science fiction fare, from the movie Logan's Run, to the more recent futuristic novel the Hunger Games. - Literature

Booktalking Ideas - Have each person in the group discuss what it means for them to be human.  Keep a list and see how much they are willing to ignore if they consider their lives were on the line.

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 10 +

Challenge Issues - Death and destruction are leveled against teenage children.  There might be some objection to the level of violence, especially considering the age groups involved.

Overcoming challenges - Develop a work sheet that asks some of the thought provoking questions of the novel.  Be sure to have a worksheet available to parents so that they can work through some of the issues involved in the novel with their children.

Why Included - My wife ended up telling me about the movie while I was reading Hunger Games.  She surprised me with a similar story.  As I went to look it up I found that it was originally a novel, and I found it a must read as I liked the story of Hunger Games so much.

The Clash

Title - The Clash
Author - David Quantick
ISBN - 1560252693
Publication Date - 2000

Plot - This is the story and background of the Band, the Clash.  It begins from the roots of the three major band members, taking it into how the band was able to form together.  The band was competing against several other more well known punk acts, such as the Sex Pistols, without the more self destructive leader in the band that the Sex Pistols had.  They began their band in a kind of backwards fashion, more interested in style than substance.  At first they wanted to develop a kind of a look for the band, which included pain spatters thrown across guitars and other haphazard artistic sentiments.  Then they wanted a name for the band.  According to them, it was drawn out of the frequency with which the word Clash was found in the local papers.  They then went about jamming together and creating musical  rhythms, which would be decidedly punk.  The lyrics were the last bit, and as accepted part of Clash lore, were born when two of the band members attended an event that broke out into a riot and was stopped by the police. 

The story then marks their rapid rise to fame, from their first showing in 1987, through their music, making a big impact on many of the musicians around them.  Eventually they would land in the US, able to tour stadiums as they had a large enough of a following.  But like many rockers during that time, they would split up because of two major reasons, drugs, and living the rock star life became more important than producing the music which gave them the life.  Eventually by 1985 the band had burned out, and broke up.

Critical Review- A short but interesting biography on the Band called the Clash.  Representative of the bands short life, the biography discusses how they came into being and how they flamed out.  What I really appreciate about the book is that it does a good job to present the lore and try to separate it from the reality of what was happening in the band, not taking anything they were told at face value.  Furthermore, it goes on to discuss the albums that were produced and gives opinion about what albums were worthy of the Clash name, and which efforts were less than stellar.  This is certainly a fascinating read about the early punk movement, and would be an excellent read for any teen interested in the roots of the music scene today.

Reader's Annotation- The Clash. Are they counterculture warriors, or musicians who wanted what every other musician wanted, fame and fortune?

About the Author- David Quantick's career is littered with his involvement in the music scene.  He began his writing in the music publication NME.  He was one of the humorists on the staff, writing witty observations about pop music and culture. Out of which he would later branch into writing for radio and television.

His branching into television would eventually launch his career as a writer for sketch comedy that would appear on different BBC stations.  However, his partnership with Chris Morris would mean that much of his comedy was so cutting edge that many of the censors on the network would ban programming before it was even seen.  Eventually this would lead to working on a show where rock star journalists would sit and chat about their experience with many of the musicians, recalling funny and often crass stories about these wild times.

Genre- Music, Biography

Curriculum Ties - Discuss the book as an example of a biography.  How is it similar to a biography of an individual?  How does it differ?

Booktalking Ideas - Compare the life of the band The Clash, with the life of many of the bands out there.  Is there something about being in a band that engenders division and eventual breakup?

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 10+

Challenge Issues - None obvious as it is a biography of a band without over dramatizing the sex or drugs that may have been involved in the bands rise to stardom.

Why Included - I included this ironically because of what I was reading on the back of the book.

A Crack in the Line

Title - A Crack in the Line
Author - Michael Lawrence
ISBN - 0060724781
Publication Date - 2004

Plot - Alaric is a teenage boy trying to recover from the death of his mother two years earlier.  As he has lived with his father since that time in mostly a joyless world, Alaric's world seems to be crumbling around him.  This is until he comes back to the home that was his family home and touches an item that seems to transport him to another world: a world rich and bright and colorful; a world that seems very familiar to him.
In this world we are introduced to the character of Naia.  When Alaric meets Naia, they discover that they look very familiar to one another.  They are practically identical. 

As they explore their situations further, they come to realize that there is something a bit more amazingly similar than their looks.  The houses they are living in look the same, except one being colorful and the other being colorless.  Both of them had mothers with near death experiences: although Alaric's mother died and Naia's lived.  They start to question the whole idea of the possible alternate universe.  And they both find they have an item that can transport them back and forth between the worlds that seems to be identical.  They begin to puzzle the mystery out together of the two worlds, and how their two worlds work.  Everything seems to be going well for them until the item that is transporting the two breaks.  And now each of them are trapped in the other one's world.

Critical Review-  This is a fascinating story of two different kids, whose lives seem to be mirroring one another in so many different ways, and they are thrust together by a kind of fate.  What the reader ends up finding is a twist on the nature of reality.  Is one bound together by all of the different ways that reality could change.  And if one little thing changed in a reality, how much of an impact would that have on any given reality?  Michael Lawrence creates this fascinating world where anything is possible, and everything has an infinity impact on everything else.  As a reader we get to explore the interesting intricate possibilities of both of these juxtaposed worlds.  And just at the moment the reader is getting content with those worlds, a brilliant twist is thrown in.  What happens when these two people whose lives are so different, and yet so similar, are thrust into the other world for good.  It will be interesting to see where Lawrence takes the reader from there.

Reader's Annotation-  What would you do if you ran into a person whose life so mysteriously mirrored your own? And what if you found out that person was from a different reality?  What would you do if you found your mother, who was dead, was alive in this other reality?  Would you fight to stay in this new reality, opposing this other person?  Lawrence explores every possibility in A Crack in the Line.

About the Author- Michael Lawrence is an English writer, born and raised in different sections of the country. He eventually would go to school for art and graphic design.  Despite this he had a love for writing and wanted to be a writer since he was a teenager.  The difficulty he found was in trying to make money in doing it.  As a result, he has had his hand in many different artistic endeavors that include photography, painting and sculpting. It took him about 40 years, according to Lawrence himself, to finally be able to earn a living doing the one thing that he does enjoy, writing.

Genre- Fantasy, Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties - Discussion of probabilities based upon different realities. - Mathematics
Discuss the nature of reality - philosophy

Booktalking Ideas - Have the kids discuss what they would have done if they were Alaric.  What reality would they choose to belong to, the one where there mother was still living, or the one in which their mother had passed?

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 9+

Challenge Issues -None

Why Included - I grew up a science fiction and fantasy fan.  Anything that deals with alternate realities and all of the possibilities has always grabbed my attention.

Small Eternities

Title - Small Eternitites
Author - Michael Lawrence
ISBN - 0060724811
Publication Date - 2005

Plot - Small Eternities is the sequel to a Crack in the Line, the previous story by Michael Lawrence.  It begins where the last story left off, with Alaric and Naia sitting in the worlds to which they do not belong.  What they begin to discover is that they are accepted in these new worlds without question, as if they had always belonged to them.  Alaric is happy that in this eternity his mother lives.  Naia is despondent that in this eternity her mother is no longer. 

To further complicate matters for the pair. the people around them are not always they same as they were in their own reality, and they have different memories than the ones that they were familiar with in their own world.  Then Lawrence adds a third complicating element to the plot.  Naia and Alaric are thrust into another world, to which they are related, but in a different time period.   In it, Alaric accidentally kills his grandfather.  Time begins to fracture; and they wonder if they are going to be able to piece it all back together again.  What they are left with are these "Small Eternities" where things could have been a certain way, but they are not. 

It would seem that Alaric and Naia are breaking apart the fabric of time through their own existence and the complications that they create in the other worlds.  Eventually to save Aldous life Alaric risks his own and dies, being thrust into another eternity.  And yet the eternity he had left to save Aldous has a shocking conclusion, a conclusion in which Alaric has gone away and died.  Somehow, Alaric experiences this grief in another reality and he swears to himself that he is going to find a way back there.

Critical Review- Any time story or dimension story always has to deal with its own plot inconsistencies and issues throughout the piece.  This story is no different.  Lawrence spends his time trying to resolve things back and forth between the two realities, all the while preparing them for a third one, and even more, for the pair to be thrust into.  As opposed to the first story, the complexities of this novel seems to tear the fabric of reality apart at its seems.  So the story becomes hard to follow. 

However, as this is the middle book of a trilogy, it is hard to criticize this fact.  As so often is the case with trilogies, the middle book has so much stuff going on in it that you cannot understand.  And yet, you hope, that the author has a way to tie all of the loose endings, even if not perfectly satisfactory.  My one major critique of this novel is that it seems like any given moment you barely have time to set yourself in one place, when you are violently thrust into the next.  So much jumping around from Alaric, to Naia to Aldous occurs that there is no way for the reader to be completely balanced.  Maybe, this was Lawrence point.  When thrust between realities, there is no longer any anchor to which your life is tied.  You are forever a drift.

Reader's Annotation- Thrust into a new reality seems to be an everyday occurrence for Alaric and Naia.  But how many different realities will they have to cross until they find the one they call home.

About the Author-  Michael Lawrence is an English writer, born and raised in different sections of the country. He eventually would go to school for art and graphic design.  Despite this he had a love for writing and wanted to be a writer since he was a teenager.  The difficulty he found was in trying to make money in doing it.  As a result, he has had his hand in many different artistic endeavors that include photography, painting and sculpting. It took him about 40 years, according to Lawrence himself, to finally be able to earn a living doing the one thing that he does enjoy, writing.

Genre- Science fiction / Fantasy

Curriculum Ties - Compare what life was like back in the 1940's versus today.  - History

Booktalking Ideas - Have the kids draw up their own family trees.  Ask them questions about what life would have been like if one major thing in it had been different.

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 9+

Challenge Issues - None

Why Included - After reading A Crack in the Line, I was fascinated by the story and wanted to continue on with it.

The Summoning

Title - The Summoning
Author - Kelley Armstrong
ISBN - 9780061662768
Publication Date - July 1, 2008

Plot -  The Summoning is the story of Chloe Saunders, who seems to have a special knack for talking to ghosts.  We are first introduced to Chloe when she is three years old and with a baby sitter who sends her down to get a soda, despite her fear of ghosts she believes to be down there.   She is troubled by the ghost of a Mrs. Hobbs who seems to have it out for her.

Later we meet Chloe when she is growing up and in school. Everything seems to be going well for her as she is invited to a dance, until she ends up experiencing her first period.  This period ends up causing her to have another experience with ghosts, with one particularly troubling one that seems to have their face melting off.  She goes wild and attacks a teacher, landing her in the "Lyle House."

It is at the Lyle house where she is supposed to be recovering from her "illness."  At this place she is introduced to several other characters, including Liz, Derek, Simon, Rae, Tori and Peter.  All of these people seem to have strange occurrences surrounding them.  Rae seems to have burned Tori.  Derek seems to have moments of unexpected strength, and Liz seems to have been able to move things with her mind.  Later, we find out that the situation is much more complicated.  Rae is a demon who can produce fire from her skin, and she accidentally burned Tori in the process.  Derek is actually a werewolf (which we officially learn near the end of the novel).  Liz has the ability to astral project.  And Chloe herself turns out to be a necromancer, someone who can bring ghosts back from beyond.

After complications they remove Liz from the house and Chloe later seems to be haunted by her, which confirms that she is dead.  Things are getting worse at the house and Chloe ends up bringing a ghost who talks about this house as a place where people with power are experimented on, as she herself was a witch.  Everyone decides that they need to escape and a desperate attempt to escape is hatched.   While carrying it out, Derek ends up transforming into a werewolf, which Chloe helps him as he is shifting and turning back into a human.  They escape and get to Chloe's aunt to bring them proof that the house is doing bad things to them, but find that Chloe's aunt is in on it with the doctor, and they are taken.  At the end of the novel, Chloe summons Liz to try to help her escape her captors.

Critical Review-  A creditable beginning to a series of novels by Kelly Armstrong, as she needs to introduce all of the different characters who are going to be important to the series, and all of the powers that they have.  Each of the characters and their personalities are drawn out including much of their likes and dislikes.  Each of the characters is engaging, and the Lyle House is aptly shrouded in a lot of mystery. One is never certain of what their ultimate aims are.  The hardest thing about the novel is that there are a series of questions that need to be answered, and leaving the hero in a bad predicament, especially after only one novel, can drive one to distraction.  Of course this works well when another novel or two are on the way, which is the case with this novel as another one was to come out only a year later.

Reader's Annotation- What if Ghosts were all around you and you didn't know what to do about it?  Well, if you are a necromancer, as Chloe Saunder's is, you should.  Find out what Chloe does about the Ghosts in her basement and of the basement of the Lyle House.

About the Author- Kelly Armstrong was the middle of three children born to a middle class family in Ontario Canada.  She began in college and got a degree in Psychology, and then when she was finished she started to pursue studies in computer programming, ostensibly so that she would have more time to write.

She has a great deal of fascination with otherworldly things, which is why most of the characters in her writing seem to have some sort of power that they are dealing with.  Ever since she was a child, she seemed to have a fascination with the dark and mysterious.  And her current writings reflect this fascination.

Genre- Horror

Curriculum Ties - Compare and Contrast The Summoning to classic horror novels.  - Literature

Booktalking Ideas - Discuss what it would be like to find out one day that you had a power.  What would you do?  Would you share it with friends?  Would you hide it for fear of being experimented on?

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 10+

Challenge Issues - Demonic people and people who can raise the undead might be ripe for religious people who might want to have it removed, especially in school libraries where it might be hard to find an educational reason for maintaining in the collection.  

Overcoming challenges - Have items on the nature of experiments done on animals.  Compare and contrast how these people doing tests on people is different than animals.  Make the parents understand that this is a good point to begin talking about animal experimentation and whether or not this is something society should allow.

Why Included - People at my work are always talking about ghosts and whether and how they exist.  This novel seemed to explore that concept.

Dial L For Loser

Title - Dial L for Loser
Author - Lisi Harrison
ISBN - 9780316115049
Publication Date - August 2006

Plot - Generated from the Clique series of novels, the story Dial L for Loser is a rather uncomplicated tale, despite the complications that the characters try to throw at each other.  The plot consists of the girls heading out to Los Angeles to audition for a part after being expelled from OCD.  Dylan's mother ends up getting them the opportunity to audition for the part after the lead of the films quit.  Claire ends up landing the lead role in the movie and the other two auditioned, Massie and Alicia,  pretend to be happy for her.  Claire works hard and does well but her "friends" have something special in story for her.  They end up ambushing her on a segment of Dial L for Loser, humiliating her on live TV.

Critical Review-  Complexity is not the name of the game when it comes to much of the Chic Lit genre.  Most of what is interesting about them is not about the major plots, but about the minor subplots and gossip that is being bantered about.  The curiosity comes from understanding what each character is thinking and how they are going to react to the other characters in the novel.  Although the reasons for doing certain things seem to not be all that complex after gaining an understanding for who each character is. Massie is the leader and gets upset when attention is drawn away from her. Alicia is the second in the group although she is the lead gossip and will go along for whatever Massie wants.  Claire is the one who is kind of the outsider as she is not one who has money, and yet she is beautiful and has a pleasant personality which ingratiates her to the rest of the group.  However she is also the one who is more innocent, and thus others have the ability to trick her more often.  While one can easily understand the novels by understanding the motives of the characters, it is a creditable enough entry in the series to be mildly amusing.

Reader's Annotation- Claire is going on an all expenses paid trip to Hollywood and has landed the lead in a picture.  Will everything go smoothly for her?  Not if Massie has anything to say about it.

About the Author- Lisi Harrison was born in Toronto Canada, and raised Jewish for much of her young life.  She continued in Hebrew school all the way til the ninth grade.  From there she went to a public high school.  Her education then continued as she went to be a fill major at a school in Montreal.  After being in there two years she was convinced she would be a better writer than a film maker and dropped out.  She would then pursue a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Writing.

From there she moved on to working for MTV in a casting position, eventually putting her writing degree to use writing for the network, finally becoming head of network development.  While working at MTV she developed the idea for the Clique series and began writing the novels.  Eventually she was able to quit and pursue her goal of being a full-time writer.

Genre- Chic Lit

Curriculum Ties - Compare and contrast to the novels of social manners by Jane Austen.  How are the themes different.  Would these people have ended up disgraced in a Jane Austen work?

Booktalking Ideas - How is the Clique Series and much of the Chic Lit works in general a more modern day novel about manners?

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 9+

Challenge Issues - Backbiting, gossip and just a little sex can get a novel banned.

Overcoming challenges - Have a comparison chart with a good Jane Austen novel.  Discuss the characters of ill repute and how they are impacted negatively, and compare to what happens in a novel like Dial L for Loser.

Why Included -  I just decided I would get a final chic lit novel, as I wanted to have a wide variety of Chic literature included.

Identical

Title - Identical
Author - Ellen Hopkins
ISBN - 1416950052
Publication Date - 2008

Plot - Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical twin sisters who seem to have the perfect family from the outside.  Their father is a very respectible judge in the community, and the mother is a prominent politician.  But what looks OK on the outside is dark and sinister when seen from within.

Kaeleigh is the daughter who is constantly being sexually molested by her father.  He seems to have replaced the missing love of his wife with that of the daughter he believes more resembles her.  The abuse is horrific and terrible and Kaeleigh tries to develop some coping mechanisms through it all.  Most frequently these mechanisms are in the area of overeating and in cutting.  Eventually she takes to drugs and alcohol as well.

Raeanne seems to have escaped the sexual abuse that her father gives to Kaeleigh, but she does not like this at all.  There is something dark in her that makes her want the kind of attention that her father seems to be giving to Kaeleigh.  She turns to alcohol and sex as a way to gain the love of the father that she feels like she is not getting at home.  She is also the more dominant and protective of the sisters.  She wants to protect Kaeleigh from all of the abuse that she is receiving and will do anything to protect her.

Each of them seems to go spiraling into a darker and darker whole, to which we realize that the grandparents are aware.  Not only that, they also sense the sexual abuse that is taking place at the hands of the father. The whole world of the two comes crashing down until we realize that the two worlds are really one world.  Kaeleigh is actually experiencing Disassociate Identity Disorder, or what some may refer to as Multiple Personality Disorder.  Raeanne was not unreal, but her actual twin who had died in a car accident years earlier.  Kaeleigh has developed this as a personality to try to protect herself from the abuse that her father gives her.  And the very end has Kaeleigh experiencing some level of healing, but she still holds onto the character of Raeanne on the inside, so that she can draw from her strength.

Critical Review-  Having an aunt who is a schizophrenic and a father-in-law who suffers from bipolar disorder, I am very sensitive to the needs of the people who are a part of that community.  By putting off the revelation about the mental illness to the end of the novel, it does kind of muddy the waters about what things were actually real and what things are just a vision of the character.  But there is a truth in that, anyone who would experience that disorder, there would be moments of unreal all the time.  I know that with the bipolar disorder, when my father-in-law is not taking the medication, he experiences times of euphoria, to which he leaves all sense of reality, and cannot even be counted on for what his perception of the world is. 

Aside from the areas of disorder, the novel does an excellent job of telling of the effects of sexual abuse in the family.  It does an amazing job of showing the dark contradicted feelings of the person experiencing the abuse.  It brings up the idea that the person desperately wants love from an individual, but the right kind of love.  And when the love is an abusive sexual one, it shows how it complicates feelings of self-worth.  After reading this novel, I am definitely going to re-read it to rethink all of the issues involved.

Reader's Annotation- Two twins are connected in every seeming way possible.  They are two parts of the same person.  What happens when the "love" of a father divides the two?  What happens when that love destroys everything it touches, including the psyche's of the two twins that it is meant to love and protect?

About the Author - Ellen Hopkins began her career in the non-fiction field, writing books for children.  But in 2002 she found out that her daughter had developed a severe meth-amphetamine addiction.  Keenly aware of all the damage that was being caused by her daughters use of the drug, and desiring to sense some connection and responsibility she might bear for her daughters condition, Hopkins set out to write a novel about the monster of crank.

This cathartic journey encouraged her to explore a wide range of subjects that might be effecting teens with a series of verse novels including Burned, Impulse, Identical and Glass.  Each of these explores the drama effecting teens and how their choices have a significant impact on the rest of their lives.
Booktalking Ideas - Discuss the plot twist at the end of the novel.  How effective is the plot twist in context with the rest of the novel.  Does it leave holes in the story that would be unresolved.

Genre- Drama, Free Verse Poetry

Curriculum Ties - What is the nature of DID?  - Science

Discuss the use of Free Verse to write an entire novel. - Literature

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 10+

Challenge Issues - Sexual abuse at the hands of a father might alarm some parents to want to remove it.

Overcoming challenges - Have information on sexual abuse on hand and make a pamphlet that shows how it explores the nature of sexual abuse and all of its horrors in the novel.  Encourage parents to read novel with teen so that they can discuss warning signals and making sure they understand that they should inform someone if they know it is occurring.  Provide numbers for sexual abuse hot lines.

Why Included - I was recommended to Ellen Hopkins by the teen librarian at the branch I was working at.  She said I would find very interesting controversial literature.

City of Bones

Title - City of Bones
Author - Cassandra Clare
ISBN - 1416914285
Publication Date - 2007

Plot -City of Bones is the opening book in the Mortal Instruments series.  As such it spends a good deal of its time trying to introduce many of the characters to the reader.  First, there is Clary Fray, she is the product of her mother, who seems to be hiding things from her  She is our main protagonist.  She is followed closely by Jace Wayland, who we find out that he is a shadowhunter a person who is a hunter of demons that kills these otherworldly creatures and cannot be seen.  Then there is Simon Lewis, Clary's best friend and confidant.  Then there is the bad guy, Valentine Morgenstern, who is the husband of Clary's mother and claims to be the father of both Clary and Jace.  He is out to steal a precious artifact from Clary's mother.  These characters comprise the mainstays of the series.

City of Bones begins as Clary sees what she thinks is a murder being committed by Jace.  After being brought aside, Jace informs her that he was not killing a human but killing a demon, of which he was sworn to do as a shadowhunter.  When Clary goes home after this confrontation she ends up finding that her home is trashed and her mother is in serious danger.  She goes back to Jace who explains to him a little more about the world he lives in and introduces him to the important people in her life.  When attacked in his stronghold they escape to another area and run into two men who are responsible for Jace's fathers death. 

Later on they try to find out why Clary was able to see things that she should not and they find some block on her powers.  Although they are not able to take away the block completely she finds that she can do certain things, including drawing runes that can make any picture real and allow one to transport things to the picture and back.  Realizing this power and knowing that her mother was hiding this cup from the demons they go back and assess that the cup was still in the apartment, and that they could not find it because of that power with the rune.  She and Jace find the cup and bring it back to the tutors, only to find themselves betrayed into the hands of Valentine.  They both find out that they are the offspring of Valentine and his children.  They do end up rescuing Clary's mother but are able unable to retrieve the cup.  We are left with the story unresolved, which is good for any opening book in a book series.

Critical Review-  A fascinating beginning to a book that seems to cross over into so many different genres.  There is the action adventure end of it, with people who are trying to maintain a magic cup and save a mother.  There is the unrequited romance aspect, with either Clary and Jace who are revealed to be brother and sister, or between Simon and Clary as Simon has feelings for her.  There is the fantasy aspect of it with magic and runes and other various things that can cast spells.  And finally there is the horror end of it, as the story deals with demons and werewolves, and all other manner of evil creatures.  With so much to fit into a story, it is no wonder that this became a series, allowing the author more time to go in depth to each of the characters, exploring their motivations and coming out with a full resolution on the end.  This is a beautifully told horror fantasy piece.

Reader's Annotation-

About the Author- Cassandra Clare was the product of flights of fancy.  She was an American born person in Tehran, in the middle east.  From there she flew to many destinations all over the map, finally settling down to go to Los Angeles for High school.  Given her well to do situation, she was able to split time between Los Angeles and New York upon graduation, working for many in the entertainment industry.

This lead her to work for different entertainment magazines and tabloids.  Eventually she would take up writing fiction.  This lead her to begin writing short stories in 2005.  And her first novel, City of Bones, was published in 2007.  It is obvious that her adventurous upbringing lead her to write about the amazing places and settings she has developed in this Mortal Instruments series.

Genre- Horror / Fantasy

Curriculum Ties - Discuss allusions in Literature.  Show how Claire makes use of allusion to allude to other works of her friends.  Discuss how other literary pieces have allusions in them as well.  - Literature

Booktalking Ideas - Have the teens plot a relationship chart to everyone in the series.  Especially if you are considering reading the sequels it might be interesting to draw the chart and then add to it with each successive book, showing how the characters relate to one another.

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 10 +

Challenge Issues - Demons and magic are always a good recipe for things to be challenged.

Overcoming Challenge- Have materials on hand about Dante's Inferno, a literary classic with elements of the demonic included. Discuss how the demons are the bad characters in the novel.

Why Included - While this may seem silly, I was struck by the cover of the book and have wanted to read it since I saw it come across the desk at the library.

Girls Rock : Fifty Years of Women Making Music

Title - Girls Rock : Fifty Years of Women Making Music
Author - Mina Julia Carson
ISBN - 0813123100
/Publication Date - 2004

Plot - The music industry for much of its existence has been a male dominated field.  When trying to come up with the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, only two women made the list.  And yet women have been an integral apart of the rock world for at least the last 50 years.  This book tries to rectify the discrepancy between what people think and how integral they have been a part of the scene.  The beginning of the book starts out trying to discuss the origins of the creativity of the women in the music scene.  As opposed to males, they were not trying to rebel against their family.  Frequently, women's families were integral to the development of their music.  Many of the women also began with learning a different instrument before they actually learned to play on the guitar.  The book then goes on to cover the issue of sexuality and race in the music industry.  Many of the Rhythm and Blues artists of the time were women.  And many of them had their starts playing gospel music.  But when they made it to the music scene they found that what people expected out of women was sex. 

Despite these expectations, women in the industry have found ways to deal with how men portray their sexuality and have found ways to take control of their musical careers and how they are portrayed.  They had to find ways to take control of the message.  Some of the women did this by coming out of the closet..  Others of them decided to make themselves blatantly sexual.  While others would decide to try to confuse sexuality by toning down the blatantly sexual images.  But with the rise of television, they had to fight the images that were imposed upon them.  MTV created world where musicians did not always have control over how they were viewed.

Finally, the book covered how women in rock had to survive and thrive in the industry.  The nature of music is that if you are going to last, you need to continue making successful music, worth people buying.  To last, a female musician must be as successful at selling their music as any man would.  Women need to find ways to connect with their fans in order for them to have any sustainability.  Current technology has aided them a lot in this endeavor, as many are taking to the Internet to keep an active conversation going with the people who purchase their music.

Critical Review - Girls Rock, told by Mina Carson, develops an interesting look at the music scene from a feminine perspective.  Mina Carson would probably argue that it was really a feminist perspective, as the thrust of the book is to tell how women have succeeded in rock, and much of that was due to a rise in the power of women.  Rock, according to Carson, was a vehicle whereby women could assert some sort of power in society.  Of course much of this power was muddled with other complications like how people viewed the musicians themselves.

While an interesting study of the music is going on, I feel that Carson sometimes gets lost in the sexualization of the music and the people.  Maybe the fault of this is that she is trying to discuss things from a woman's perspective, and from the beginning that is complicated by notions of sex.  But as she decried at the beginning of the novel that women guitarists are not as well regarded as their male counterparts, this might be because people end up focusing on the sex of the women, and not the music that they produce.  I think it might have been a more interesting examination if she had spent more time discussing the musical background and talents of the artists, and not their sex, whether that be a physical attribute, or their sexual orientation.

Reader's Annotation - While Girl power seems to have permeated the culture in all sorts of areas, sometimes society seems to forget one thing  Girls Rock!  And they rock as well as any man might do.

About the Author - Carson's beginnings started with her being a musician.  She spent a great deal of her time playing guitar from the time she was in junior high school.  She has been interested in music and its history from those early beginnings.

This would take her into research about social movements throughout history.  From which she has had an interest in progressive politics, the women's movement and gay and lesbian movements that have happened in society.  It is with this rich cultural background and appreciation for music that she approached her project for Girls Rock!

Genre - Music

Curriculum Ties - Discuss the representation of Women in the music industry.  How might ideas of women effect how we view them as musicians?  - Psychology, Social Science

Booktalking Ideas - Discuss some of the successful female artists who are out there.  How do we remember them?

Reading Level - Grade 9+

Challenge Issues - Some parents might complain about the excessive content about sexual orientation, and sex that permeates a good deal of the book.

Overcoming Challenges - Make sure to compare some of the male musicians with the female ones.  Discuss the balanced portrayal the novel gives that relates to women.  As the women in the music scene are influenced by their families as much as anything else.

Why Included - Girl power is such a prevalent thing now that I wanted to read something that seemed to have a bit of that resonating in what I was reading.

Dark Flame

Title - Dark Flame
Author - Alyson Noel
ISBN - 9780312590970
Publication Date July 2010

Plot - Dark Flame is the fourth book in the immortals series of books.  To be able to understand the plot of Dark Flame you must begin back with the original book with Damien and Ever, and Drina.  Ever comes to a town in California, having her life upended by the death of her parents.  She ends up making a new start in a new school but fast finds that she has this super connection to the world that allows her to hear people's thoughts and see people's auras.  She ends up meeting Damien, who seems to possess no aura, and Ever cannot hear his thoughts. When she finally confronts Damien about this fact he ends up telling her a story.  They seem to have had a past, and every time they are about to get together, Drina, Damien's ex, gets in the way and eliminates Ever.  In her rebirth in a new life the cycle starts all over again.  By the end of the first book Ever has eliminated Drina for the time being.

The next few books introduce us to the character of Roman.  He seems to have had a past with Ever and Damien as well, and he wants to exact some kind of a revenge on them.  Through a series of circumstances, Damien ends up drinking a potion that does not allow him to touch Ever for the rest of this life, thereby sentencing him to death.  Ever attempts to get a formula from Roman to counteract this.

By the time the reader reaches the novel, Dark Flame, Ever has created a spell to bind herself to Roman.  She believes that by doing this she will somehow be able to extract the formula away from him.  She is also dealing with jealousies that her friend has, as she has been turned an immortal with some elixir in book three and is now in love with Roman.  She feels that Ever is trying to get Roman away from her.  She also is developing powers of her own.  By the time Ever is able to break free from her spell, she convinces herself the straightforward method of asking might be best.  And just within reach of getting the antidote, a friend bursts in killing Roman and destroying the antidote, leaving Damien and Ever seemingly in a no win situation.

Critical Review - Dark Flame is the fourth book in the Immortals series. It develops the ongoing relationships between Ever, Damien and the creatures who have been blessed or cursed with being immortal.  Certainly this is a creditable book in the series developing the ongoing relationships between the characters, while exploring the burgeoning powers of both Ever and her friend Haven.  With the two there is a dichotomy drawn between a healthy view of power and its limits that Ever seems to have, and Haven, who is seduced by the things one can get with it.  The hardest thing to swallow in this book is the ongoing plot line running into the third book with Roman trying to get this magic elixir to save Damien.  Maybe that is why the author decided to eliminate Roman by the end of the novel.

Reader's Annotation - The beauty of being immortal is that you can live forever with the one that you love. The curse is when the one you love, you are never able to touch again.  How is one to live?

About the Author-Alyson Noel was born and raised in Orange County California.  She would then further her views of the world by traveling to Greece after high school and then settling in New York for a time.  She was able to view all sorts of things in the world and explore as she would work as a flight attendant for a time. 

Despite her travels and her love for going all over the world, she found that she still loved home and moved back to California.  But she is still someone who loves to travel and does so constantly.  Her understanding and experience of Orange County led her to set the Immortals series in Orange County California.

Genre- Horror / Fantasy

Curriculum Ties - Compare to the classic Horror Novels of the 19th century.  Would the protagonists in the modern horror novel be the protagonist in the 19th century novel?  How has views of "monsters" changed since the 19th century?  Were they ever really the bad guys? - Literature

Booktalking Ideas - Compare the Immortals series with that of the Twilight series?  How is the relationships between humans and non-humans different?  Discuss whether the monsters envy the lives of the humans?  Why/Why not?

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 9 +

Challenge Issues - Demons and Monsters about in this series.

Overcoming Challenges - Focus on the morals being taught in the novel.  Discuss the nature of power and whether it has the tendency to help or corrupt.  Have comparisons with other novels who discuss the use of power and its tendency to corrupt. 

Why Included -  Wanted another non-Twilight horror fantasy novel for my list of items.

How to Ruin My Teenage Life

Title - How to Ruin My Teenage Life
Author - Simone Elkeles
ISBN - 0738710199
Publication Date - 2007

Plot - Amy Nelson-Bank is the product of unmarried parents, trying to figure out some way to make sense of her life.  She begins the novel moving to Chicago to live with her father, as a result of her mothers impending marriage.  She moved away at the beginning of high school and has stayed there to be able to develop some consistency in her life.  But as she is growing older, she is dealing with what it means to grow up, and how to have appropriate relationships with different people.  She goes through a series of struggles understanding this.  Various subplots include, using the cell phone too much so needing to repay her father by getting a job.  She has a friend who is in love with her that she kind of leads on, despite caring for someone else who fits more into the world of which she is a part.  She draws drama to herself by attempting to set her father up on a blind date through a service, neglecting to tell her dad that she was doing this.  And she has a best friend who seems to develop romantic attachments in every conceivable direction, even with a Muslim despite the fact that she is Jewish. 

Despite all of the travails of our lead character, she seems to make some semblance of sense out of her life.  She ends up getting the right Jewish boy, and convincing him that she is going to be OK while he fulfills his service to his country.  She and Nate come to some soft of an understanding about their friendship.  She no longer has to worry about his attraction towards her anymore.  And she has carved a niche for herself in Chicago with her dad, somewhere she feels she can call home.  Ah... if there just weren't plastic handcuffs in the back of her dad's car.

Critical Review - Simone Elkeles has written an inviting novel, focusing on the world of Amy Nelson-Bank.  The key to this novel is the engagement that you have with the person of Amy.  She is the narrator of the novel and its all told from her perspective.  To be successful she needs to be an engaging personality, and have an air of realness about her, which Elkeles writes very effectively.  Furthermore we get a good sense of the community to which she is a part.  This includes places to socialize, people they socialize with, and the religious institutions to which they are a part.  It is essential to convey this in a delicate manner and not a heavy handed way so that you feel for the characters plights, yet do not rebel against what the community standards are.  With her deft writing and wit, I believe Elkeles has accomplished just that.

Reader's Annotation - Amy Nelson-Bank is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime: love.  Please don't let her own foolishness get in her way.

About the Author - Simone Elkeles was a product of her Chicago upbringing.  She carries with her a deft sense of humor about life and those around her.  Her acerbic wit can be attributed to growing up in the 80s and seeing all of the "rad" things that were around her.  The punk era and boys with eye-shadow were all the rage.

Through this prism she had a unique perspective about what it meant to be growing up, and how to deal with the relationships around her, especially with members of the opposite sex.  She has thus become an author of teenage books.  She wants to be able to reflect a little humor and the teens around her.

Genre - Chic Lit, Drama

Curriculum Ties - Have an examination on the various types of literature that are included as a part of the Chic Lit genre.  What does it mean to be chic lit?

Booktalking Ideas - Have everyone describe a situation where they thought they had planned everything out to the last detail, and somehow it all unravels before them.

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 9+

Challenge Issues - None

Why Included - I wanted to include various types of Chic Lit as its hard to pinpoint exactly what is Chic Lit