Teen Scene
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Felton Reinstein is a 16-year-old “friendless squirrel nut” until a growth spirt during the spring suddenly makes him 7” taller and 40 pounds heavier, and he finds that he can run “stupid fast”. Immediately the coach and jocks from school take notice and want him to begin training for football. And, a beautiful African American girl, living with her father in his best friend Gus’s house while the family is in Venezuela, likes him! Things aren’t going so well on the home front, however. Felton’s mom, Jerri, is having a breakdown though he's not sure what set her off. Since his father committed suicide 10 years prior, Felton and his 13-year-old brother Andrew are left to fend for themselves during her bouts of extreme selfishness. It is obvious that Andrew suffers from his mother’s neglect. As well, she had made him stop playing piano, his most beloved hobby. As a result, Andrew becomes preoccupied with fire and dressing like a pirate. Staying away from home as much as possible, Felton throws himself into his workouts, while also performing Gus's paper route, and spending as much time with his girlfriend as possible, even though he knows he should probably call his grandmother for help. He has a memory, though, that prevents him from doing this. Readers will appreciate the satisfying conclusion for the boys. Recommended for readers in grades 9 and up who enjoy realistic fiction and a terrific male voice. This is not a sports story, but rather a story that mentions sports, so this probably isn't for the sports fanatic. It is humorous and it is serious, but don't let the cover fool you into believing it is about football. This is also really fun to listen to on audio. In fact, I think it works better as an audio due to the writing style and because the narrator is so animated. He immediately sucks the listener in, and it's so funny as well, I guarantee that it will be hard to turn off. 
This is the story of three teens: Nick, whose family is falling apart, the Scoot who’s dying from the rapid-aging disease progeria, and Jaycee, a mind-reading girl who dresses sort of goth and wears a troll doll on a string around her neck. This is a funny, quirky book—it begins with Nick having a fever that causes him to hallucinate and climb the town water tower while wearing his boxer shorts. But the core of the book begins when Jaycee, convinces Nick that the two of them need to find Scooter’s long lost father in another city. She wants to give him Scooter’s valuable first edition copy of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. The story incorporates text from Of Mice and Men as well as the sayings of Yoda to define the deeper themes, which center on how much of our life is or isn’t actually in our control. Unfortunately, I felt that the author set more in play than she was able to tie up in the end. Also, the cover shows a boy who looks about twelve, and while Nick is supposedly young-looking for almost fifteen, the cover makes it appear to be a book for middle school readers, when it’s actually more suited to high school readers. All that said, this book is well worth reading to spend time with these characters and to reach the unexpected ending. Grades 8 and up.
When 16-year-old Joey’s mother is killed by a bus in Chicago, he is sent to live with a father he’s never met in Iowa. The kids at his new school immediately begin to bully him, and the teachers wrongly assume he is a trouble-maker and poor student when they find out he is the “garbage man’s” son. Everything about his father and his cabin reeks. Joey is left alone for days with no food, no transportation to school, and no idea what his father really does during his trips away. He attempts to keep some semblance of his previous life in Chicago - maintaining his straight-A status and playing trumpet with the school band. But his best efforts are thwarted by an unaccepting community. He leaves frantic, pleading messages with his best friend in Chicago, who thinks Joey is over-reacting and eventually tells him to stop calling. Gradually he learns that his father is a grave robber, and eager for something and someone to fill the void of his now empty life, Joey is trained by his father how to steal valuables from graves while leaving the plot seemingly untouched. It turns out this requires a lot of skill involving strength, speed, stealthiness, and cleverness. Joey is introduced to a nationwide society of grave robbers, the last of their generation, as he and his father travel across the country stealing from the dead. This suspenseful and emotional tale will not only surprise you, but keep you wondering how anything good can come out of it. Awarded the 2012 Odyssey Award winner for best audio, this book is appropriate for readers in grades 9 and up who enjoy a complicated journey as everything a boy was is stripped away and filled with something so unexpected. Filled with multiple memorable characters, this is highly recommended (especially as an audio!).
When things leave, do we always notice? And when things come back, how are we affected? This book explores the comings and goings in the life of 17-year-old Cullen Witter, living in small-town Lily, Arkansas. He’s mostly a loner, except for his generous friend, Lucas, and his almost-too-good-to-be-true brother, 15-year-old Gabriel. Cullen likes to write, daydreams about zombies, and knows that he says the wrong thing pretty often. Everyone in Lily, except Cullen, is excited by the sighting of a supposedly extinct woodpecker, and hopes that the interest will bring some luck and prosperity to their town. Cullen’s story shifts dramatically with the sudden disappearance of Gabriel. The story of Cullen and the people of Lily alternate with the story of Benton Sage, a young, failing missionary in Ethiopia, and his discovery of the Book of Enoch, an addition to the bible of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. Part of the wonder and mystery of this book is waiting to see how the two disparate stories come together. This book is driven by well-drawn, quirky characters and a vivid setting. The writing is sophisticated and yet accessible, and even at times, hilarious. I was happy to spend time in the world of this book. Winner of both the 2012 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults, and the 2012 William C. Morris Award, which honors a book written for young adults by a previously unpublished author. Sexual references, not explicit. For grades 9 through adult.
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