Not for the faint-of-heart, but extremely well-written. The Fault in Our Stars by
John Green. In The Fault in Our Stars, John Green has created a soulful novel
that.
KEYSTONE TO READING SECONDARY ANNOTATED HIGH SCHOOL BOOK AWARD LIST 2013-2014
Pinned by Sharon G. Flake Autumn and Adonis have nothing in common and everything in common. Both have disabilities. Adonis is shy and not too eager to connect with other teens. Autumn has a learning disability, reading is a painful struggle that makes it hard for her to focus in class. Autumn is also her school’s most aggressive team wrestler; that’s where she shines. Adonis is confined to a wheelchair; he has no legs. He can’t walk or dance, but he’s a strong reader, who loves books and is successful in The classroom. How they help each other is both painful and realistic.
The Diviners by Libba Bray During the 1920’s, Evie, irrepressible at 17, is banished to her uncle’s care in Manhattan after she drunkenly embarrasses a peer in her Ohio hometown. She imagines glamour, flappers, and fun in the big city. Her Uncle Will is the curator of a museum of the occult; and he is asked to help solve a string of grisly murders. Evie, who has long hidden her ability to read people’s pasts while holding one of their possessions, is eager to assist. Other characters incluse the uncle’s assistant, a numbers runner, a Harlem poet, a beautiful and mysterious dancer, a slick-talking pickpocket, and Mabel, Evie’s sidekick. There are encounters with a vicious other- worldly serial killer—very terrifying to read. Not for the faint-of-heart, but extremely well-written.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green In The Fault in Our Stars, John Green has created a soulful novel that tackles big subjects--life, death, love--with the perfect blend of levity
and heart-swelling emotion. Hazel is sixteen, with terminal cancer, when she meets Augustus at her kids-with-cancer support group. The two are kindred spirits, sharing an irreverent sense of humor and immense charm, and watching them fall in love even as they face universal questions of the human condition--How will I be remembered? Does my life, and will my death, have meaning?—is honest and memorable. A trip to Amsterdam is significant for the characters as well as the readers. Dealing with such heavy content, the author lightens the mood with lots of genuine humor through intelligent characters.
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Shifting themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. The anniversary of the treaty between the two groups nears. Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. She is a gifted musician, who comes to court just as a member of the royal family is murdered. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation by the captain of the Queen’s Guard, While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to keep her own secret, one that could destroy her own life.
Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer Hubbard Just out of a mental hospital after attempting suicide, 16 year old Ryan, feels tension at home with his obsessive mother and distant father. At school he is known as the creepy kid who tried to kill himself and spent time in the looney bin. He communicates online with his only friends, Jake and Val, whom he bonded with at the hospital. Then he meets Nicki at his favorite spot, the waterfalls. She is
haunted by her father’s suicide, and she hopes Ryan can shed light on why her father did what he did. Can Ryan help Nicki as he confronts loneliness, guilt, confusion and the pain of being the local loser?
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains. Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic, they begin to know each other again. Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind are still very much present. Her former best friend is still there, as is her first boyfriend . . . and he’s much cuter at seventeen than when he was twelve. As the summer progresses, they become much more aware of battling a ticking clock. Will it allow enough time to get a second chance with family, friends, and love?
Curveball: The year I lost My Grip by Jordon Sonneblick Ignoring the shooting elbow pains that have plagued him all summer, star pitcher Pete Friedman throws everything he’s got into one final fastball to close out the league championship during the summer before his freshman year. He doesn’t get the out, and worse, he wrecks his arm and the hope of being a noted high school athlete. Pete’s camera skills, (learned from his grandfather) off the chance to stay close to sports as a sideline photographer, and to learn more about the cute girl in photography class. Meanwhile, his grandfather, who was always tack-sharp, is slipping from mildly forgetful into dangerous bouts of dementia. Pete is put into a tense situation because his parents are in denial of his grandfather’s failing health.
My Family for the War by Anne C. Voorhoeve First published in Germany, this story focuses on the “Kindertransport” of Jewish children to London during WWII. The heroine, Ziska, shares memories from her 11th birthday through her 19th. The book gives background to Judiasm as the narrator is labeled Jewish and sent to live with an Orthodox family in London. Given a new name upon her adoption, Ziska is now Frances. Frances’ real mother was extremely narcissistic and unstable, but her adopted mother is loving and kind. Frances finds herself attracted to her adopted brother; and increasingly upset by the news of the devastation to Jews in her former country.
Cracked by K.M. Walton This book is told in alternating voices by a bully and his victim. Bull’s home life is full of neglect and abuse. For many year’s Bull has bullied Victor, whose wealthy family is equally dysfunctional. When Victor’s dog dies, he decides to end the pain and take his own life. Bull decides to shoot his grandfather and end his constant torment. Both boys fail and end up as roommates in the psych ward. While the boys are in the hospital, they begin their introspective journeys and healing processes. The novel explores the facades worn by many teens.
Beneath the Meth Moon: An Elegy by Jacqueline Woodson Laurel Daneau has moved on to a new life, in a new town, but inside sshe is still reeling from the loss of her beloved mother and grandmother, after Hurricane Katrina washed away their home. Laurel’s new life is going well, with a new best friend, a place on the cheerleading squad, and T-Boom, co-captain of the basketball team, for a boyfriend. Yet Laurel is haunted by voices and memories form the past. When T-Boom
introduces Laurel to meth, she immediately falls under its spell, loving the way it erases, if only briefly, her past. As she becomes alienated from her family and friends, she is a shell of her former self, and longs to be whole again. With help from an artist named Moses and her friend, Kaylee, she begins to rewrite her story.
