Sixteen-year-old Teddy is thrown into the foster care system when his parents are killed in a car crash. He and C.W., another teen who has been in nineteen homes in six years, are placed in a home with another boy, Astin, who at 18 will "age-out" and go his own way. Teddy's parent's owned a pet store and had lots of animals who lived with them. He was expected to help out and didn't have many friends so it is not too surprising to realize that Teddy has the ability to communicate with animals. Considered part of the "pack", Teddy can relay messages for animals and is considered a sort of "animal whisperer" by his classmates. But as he begins to make friends at his new school and become less of a social geek, Teddy also loses his ability to communicate with animals as he moves to join a new "pack". This is easy-to-read and quite humorous, and there is lots of realistic interaction between the three boys. Recommended for teens in grades 6-10.
These are 38 gritty poems from the point of view of young adolescent African-American boys growing up in sooty Gary, Indiana...the armpit of Chicago. Yearning for love, justice, safety, sex, and education, these are hard-hitting poems using sound, rhythm, and form to tell the story of angry poverty and innocent childhood.
we slog to library to do reports on satchmo in rustic brick-red afterschool afternoons. little brown-faced hood rats sneaking chocolate-covered donuts into library. don't got milk or red cream soda to stop-stick to roof of mouth. half in study - laughing, hungry amongst tart, stale smell of old books, cedar chairs --dead authors and miss library lady - she looks beyond her white, cat-framed glasses like we stink of piss.
I had the chance to meet and hear the author read from his book this past June. What I found incredibly interesting about his method is that he associates music with his poetry. Very articulate and fascinating, he was a show-stopper. This book is suitable for more mature teen readers interested in poetry.
The most anticipated Harry Potter book is out! The seventh and final book in the series wraps up the story we have followed with Harry, Ron, and Hermione for the past decade. Tell us what you think! Did you like it? Did it answer all your questions?
