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 American Born Chinese (Yang)
Call Number: FIC YAN
Special: This book was the winner of the 2007 Printz Award for Young Adult Literature
In this quick-moving graphic novel, young Chinese-American Jin Wang moves from his old home in San Fransisco's Chinatown to a new school, where his cruel classmates assume he came right from China, eats dogs, and is arranged to be married to another classmate of Asian descent. After tolerating this abuse for a while, another Chinese-American student arrives -- but Jin doesn't like him or want to be friends with him, for Jin has been taught to dislike himself.
This is just the beginning of Jin Wang's story -- one that deals with the development of his own self-image as he grows up around people who make assumptions about him before they try to know him -- and the comic book style and dialog makes this search for identity a highly entertaining journey. Interspersed with the story of Jin is a Chinese myth about a monkey king who does his best to not be a monkey, and a fake "TV episode" depicting twisted/exaggerated views of Asian-Americans as seen through Western eyes and prejudices.
Update: Read and hear an interview with the author/artist Gene Luen Yang at NPR.org.
Themes: racial prejudice, self-image and self-esteem, the search for identity
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 Estrella's Quinceañera (Alegría)
Call Number: FIC ALE
Fourteen-year-old Estrella's mother seems bound and determined to force Estrella to be the star of a traditional quinceañera, or fifteenth birthday party that marks a rite of passage toward adulthood. Can Estrella "be herself" in front of relatives who think she's a snob (because she attends a private school), her private school friends (who have been kept ignorant of Estrella's home life), and a mother who might not be ready to let her daughter grow up? If you've ever felt like you were caught between two worlds, this book may appeal to you -- or you may feel, as I did, that the situations don't ring entirely true and that the book's teenage characters act a bit like what a grown-up thinks teenagers might act like when no adults are around. It is still an interesting voyage into one Mexican-American girl's life.
Each chapter starts with a definition of a Spanish word or expression, with additional commentary about its practical use and how Estrella feels about that word and the events associated with it.
Themes: Search for identity; rites of passage; Mexican-American culture; mothers and daughters; friendship.
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 Whales on Stilts! (Anderson)
Call Number: FIC AND
I tried reading this while supervising a quiet study hall -- and couldn't because I was laughing too hard! This is a supremely silly book about a mad scientist named Larry who wants to destroy a small town. He employs lasers, flying manatees, and -- yes, you guessed it -- whales on great mechanical legs stomping through town. Three young people (Katie, Jasper and Lily) learn of the plot and scheme to save the day, but it hardly matters in a book that has chapter titles like, "Some of the Things You Can Learn from Larry's Teeth" and "Whale Control to Major Tom." Plus, check out the goofy illustrations, the fake advertisements for a series of books featuring "Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaut!", and the essay questions at the end of the book. Hilarious, and a very quick read!
Themes: Humor; silliness; adventure; science fiction.
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 Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna (Lekuton)
Call Number: 921 LEK
This true story of a boy growing up in Kenya is a biography, but it reads a bit like an adventure novel. You'll get to witness life as a member of a nomadic tribe, but you'll also read about what we all must experience -- the voyage from childhood to adulthood -- and you'll see that the author's life is not so different from your own.
Themes: Rites of passage; growing up; facing your fears.
Related Link: National Geographic
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 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Haddon)
Call Number: FIC HAD
Setting: England, modern day
Christopher, a 15-year-old boy from England, is accused of murdering his neighbor's dog, so he decides to track down the real killer. This would be a typical "murder mystery" except for one thing -- Christopher is autistic and the whole story is told from his point of view. He has a supremely logical mind and is a math whiz, but he is mostly unable to decode the emotions expressed on people's faces and he does not like to be touched. He doesn't understand jokes and other figures of speech, and he doesn't lie. All of this makes for a most unusual and compelling detective. This is the most inventive, creative book I have read in a long time.
Themes: Autism; the nature of communication and how the mind works; mystery & detective story; father and son relationships.
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 The Steps (Cohn)
Call Number: FIC COH
Setting: Australia, modern day
Annabel, an American seventh grader, inherits a sizable step-family and visits them and her father in Australia. She's jealous of her father's new family and yet wants to be a part of it. This is a light, funny read that moves quickly. You'll be impressed with how resilient Annabel is and how quickly she adapts to her complicated situation.
Themes: children of divorced parents, step-families, sibling rivalry.
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 Stetson (Rottman)
Call Number: FIC ROT
Setting: could be any town, modern day
Stetson, a troubled high school student from a broken home who has a gift for fixing cars, finds his life made that much more complicated when a sister he never knew he had shows up. This is a fast-moving story with lots of dialogue and realistic characters.
Themes: father and son conflict, school problems, alcoholism, different ways of "being smart".
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 Sabriel (Nix)
Call Number: FIC NIX
Setting: a fantasy land, and a mystical realm of the dead
Young Sabriel finds her magical talents pushed to the limit when she sets off on a quest into unknown territory to save rescue her father from an underworld realm of restless spirits and undead ghouls who want to escape into the world of the living. A dark, moody fantasy novel.
Themes: Death, magic, courage, duty.
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 Born Too Short: the Confessions of an Eighth-Grade Basket Case (Elish)
Call Number: FIC ELI
Setting: New York City, modern day
Matt is a short nerdy 8th-grader with a tall, good-looking, popular best friend named Keith. This funny, quick-paced story describes Matt's ups and downs as he tries to find a girlfriend and the happiness and success that seem to come naturally to Keith but elude Matt. A very lively, fun read.
Themes: Friendship, jealousy, humor, dating.
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 A Bone From a Dry Sea (Dickinson)
Call Number: FIC DIC
Settings: Prehistoric Africa and modern-day Africa
Li is an ape-like protohuman (sort of an evolutionary "missing link") living with her tribe in a coastal region of Africa millions of years ago. Vinny is a modern-day girl visiting her father at an archaeological dig in the same location millions of years later. Li and Vinny both learn that taking a leap forward can be a lonesome thing. The descriptions of Li's process of learning, predicting, and creating tools is fascinating, and you can really sense her isolation when she begins to realize that her intelligence sets her apart from the rest of her kind. Equally fascinating are the social parallels: Li's tribe is ruled by a male who is challenged by a stronger male for the leadership position, while the modern-day archaeologists also struggle to prove who is "in charge" of their expedition.
Themes: Evolution -- not just of the body, but of the mind and of society; communication among family members; role of females in male-dominated societies; giftedness.
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 Others See Us (Sleator)
Call Number: FIC SLE
Setting: Family reunion near a toxic waste dump, modern day
Jared's life becomes complicated after he gains the power to read the thoughts of others at his family reunion. It becomes even more complicated as others gain this power and they struggle not to reveal their thoughts while probing each other for secrets. A fast-moving book with a lot of plot twists.
Themes: Secrets; how we see ourselves vs. how others see us vs. how others act around us; deception and lies.
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 How to Be a Real Person (In Just One Day) (Warner)
Call Number: FIC WAR
Setting: California, modern day
Young Kara's life is falling apart, because she's living with a secret -- not a secret about her, but about her family. This story covers the events of one day, when it all falls apart for her and her family's secret is revealed. Kara learns her own limits and discovers that some things are beyond her control.
Themes: Divorce; mental illness.
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 A Year Down Yonder (Peck)
Call Number: FIC PEC
Setting: Rural Illinois during the Depression, 1937
Special: This book is the 2000 Newbery Award winner.
Fifteen-year-old Mary, a city-slicker from Chicago, is sent to live for a year with her grandmother in the sticks. Grandma is a "character" in the truest sense of the word -- eccentric, blunt, clever, self-sufficient, and none too affectionate with Mary. Together they get into (and out of) very funny situations. Mary at first is typically a fairly innocent bystander, while Grandma is the star of the show. It doesn't take long for Mary to adapt and undertake some shenanigans of her own. As it turns out, it's not so much that Grandma is weird -- pretty much everyone has their own quirks.
Themes: Town mouse/country mouse; haves vs. have-nots; stick up for yourself; it is human nature to adapt to the situation.
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 Sherwood: Original Stories from the World of Robin Hood
Call Number: 808.8 SHE
Setting: Medieval and Mythical England
Eight authors present eight short stories about Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest. They vary in style and tone, and some even contradict each other's "facts" about Robin's life. That's okay, though -- Robin Hood is a legend suitable for many different interpretations. In "Our Lady of the Greenwood," Jane Yolen describes how Robin Hood's birth was blessed by the faerie realm. "Marian" is a tale of the first time Robin and Maid Marian meet as kindred spirits when they were children. In "Under the Bending Yew," Robin purposely loses an archery contest wth his nephew Will Scarlet in order to win a date with Marian. "Know Your True Enemy" deals with a young member of Robin's Merry Men who learns that hurting his enemy's son isn't the right way to get revenge against his enemy. Part fable, part legend, part myth, part fantasy, part adventure -- this collection of tales make for an entertaining read.
Themes: The fine line between history, legend, myth, and fantasy; what it means to be a leader; law is not always good; the powerful vs. the common.
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 Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief (Van Draanen)
Call Number: FIC VAN
Setting: a modern-day city
Sammy Keyes is a seventh grade girl with a knack for solving mysteries. In this story, she witnesses a robbery in a hotel across the street from where her grandmother lives. Does she help solve the crime? You bet. But she's not really a "teen detective" -- she's more of an ordinary kid, dealing with ordinary things (like starting middle school) while having this extraordinary situation thrust upon her. Just as intriguing as the mystery of the hotel thief, though, is the mystery of Sammy herself. As she tells the story, she slowly reveals hints about her own past -- why she lives with her grandmother instead of her mother, for instance. Sammy is a clever, sassy heroine. She's featured in other Sammy Keyes mysteries in our library, including Sammy Keys and the Skeleton Man, Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary, and Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf.
Themes: Mystery; family; kids can be as clever as adults.
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 When Zachary Beaver Came to Town (Holt)
Call Number: FIC HOL
Setting: a small town in Texas, Viet Nam War era
What does a New Yorker dubbed the World's Fattest Boy have in common with the people of a rural Texas town? They've all suffered losses, and they're all essentially alone. Toby has lost his mother, who has chosen to follow her dreams rather than stay captive in a town where she could never be what she wanted to be. Toby's best friend has a brother in Viet Nam. Zachary Beaver, the World's Fattest Boy, has no family and lives in a mobile prison carted from town to town as part of a side-show act. Toby chooses to overcome abandonment and isolation and helps bring the people of the town and the huge stranger together and bond as a family.
Themes: identity; divorce; dealing with abandonment, isolation, denial, regrets; death in the family; father and son relationships.
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 Inside the Walls of Troy (McLaren)
Call Number: FIC MCL
Setting: Ancient Greece, Asia Minor, Trojan War
In a time when women had little say, even the most beautiful woman in the world is powerless when it comes to controlling her own destiny. The gods enjoy the struggles of humanity, and no struggle was greater than the battle over Helen of Troy. After leaving her Greek husband for one of the princes of Troy, she becomes the focus of a terrible war and befriends the prophetess Cassandra. But no matter how clear her visions of the future, Cassandra can neither change nor stop the downfall of Troy.
Themes: Destiny; choice; role of women in society; love; marriage; war.
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 Sword of the Samurai (Kimmel)
Call Number: FIC KIM
Setting: Feudal Japan
A collection of folktales, fables and tall tales dealing with samurai. A very "light" read -- large print, simple style and vocabulary.
Themes: The value of honor and cleverness; poetic justice; the cold nature of being a warrior; valuing different kinds of "courage."
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 Jazmin's Notebook (Grimes)
Call Number: FIC GRI
Setting: Harlem, 1960s
You will get to know Jazmin, a young African-American girl growing up in 1960s New York City, though her writing. Poems and journal entries that reveal her strong spirit despite the fact that her family is broken and she faces prejudice at school. A quick, lively, uplifting read.
Themes: Value of literacy; search for identity; need for a personal space to grow; value of home; how friends can be family when family is lacking; hope for tomorrow even when today brings trials.
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 A Hive for the Honeybee (Lally)
Call Number: FIC LAL
Setting: A beehive, summer and fall
Thora, Mo, Alfred and many other bees live in a strictly regimented society within their hive. Each has a role to play and a destiny to fulfill. When some of the bees become restless with their lot in life, they begin to wonder why things have to be the way they are. Can one bee make a difference? You'll learn a lot about how bees live but in a way that will have you questioning your own place in the world. A funny, thought-provoking story.
Themes: Destiny vs. free will; instinct vs. thought; individual vs. society.
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