JUNE 26, 2008
Snow Falling in Spring by Moying Li
Using as a background the historical era of China's Cultural Revolution under Mao Tse-tung, this memoir of author, Moying Li, captures the essence of that discordant revolutionary time as it affected the coming-of-age of one young woman. Beginning with her earliest memories as a secure young member of a large and loving extended family and continuing through the failed "Great Leap Forward" and the ascendency of the Red Guard, she recounts the harsh measures adopted by the government to revolutionize Chinese life. Books are first forbidden and then destroyed; educated persons are sent to rural areas to be "re-educated" by peasants, leaders of all sorts are denounced by former associates as traitors and condemned to prisons or worse. Through all the years, Li is sustained by the devotion of her grandmother and by her determination as a lover of books and learning to be educated as her ancestors were. Fortunately, in 1980, as tensions ease somewhat, she earns the opportunity to study in the United States. This easily read autobiography will be appreciated by all who desire an insider's view of the rise of Communist China.
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JUNE 19, 2008
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
14-year-old Symmone travels from England to Antarctica with her uncle and a tourist group, presumably to see the penguins and other polar attractions. It's where she has always wanted to go and the trip could not be a more unexpected, but pleasant surprise for her. After all, hadn't her genius uncle Victor prepared her for this trip all her life? The books, the life skills...she knows everything there is to know about the south pole. Especially about the expedition made by Captain Robert Falcon Scott to be the first to reach it. Her hero, though, is Captain Lawrence Oates, the officer chosen to take charge of the needed ponies, and the imaginary friend in whom she confides. Sym begins as a clumsy, awkward, insecure and naive girl, but gains her confidence as the fight for her survival begins once realizing this trip is not at all what she expects. The conversations she has with Oates fill the story as she struggles to differentiate between truth and delusion. Twists and turns in the plot begin at page 1 and don't stop until the final page is read. This is the 2008 Prinz winner meaning that it was chosen as the best teen novel published in 2007. However, it was originally published in England in 2005. This is also one of the best books I have read this year. The name comes from the Antarctic nights that are forever light. Highly recommended to teens in grades 8 and up, and especially to those who enjoy survival or adventure stories.
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JUNE 15, 2008
One of Those Hideous Books Where Mother Dies By Sonya Sones
This book is about a girl who, used guessed it, has a mother that had passed away. She had temporarily lived with her Aunt Duffy who lived nearby Ruby's (the girl) Mom. Then out of the blue she is told that she must go live with her legendary movie star father who walked out on her Mom before Ruby was even born. What she doesn't know is that her Father, Whip, loves her very much. Things start out rough, and even though Whip is giving her everything and is trying to win her love, she is very nasty and mean to her father. IN the end she warms up to dad and they love eachother and everything is perfect for ruby!!!!!
Blog Written by WMPL Teen, Alex
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JUNE 13, 2008
Chanda's Wars by Allan Stratton
Chanda is having the same recurring nightmare about her mother’s recent death from AIDS. She now bears the sole responsibility of caring for her young sister and brother. She is invited to her grandparents place in the country to mend the rift in their family but discovers it is a scheme to marry her off to get the money from the property her mother left her in the city. She is outraged and says things which deepen the rift and leave her shunned. In the neighboring African country there is a war. Rebels terrorizing people and villages then hide in the mountains. The rebels cross the border and stage an attack on her grandparents’ village. They terrorize or kill many of the adults and kidnap the children, including Chanda’s young siblings. The children are branded and made child soldiers. Chanda must save her siblings or die trying. She finds an unlikely ally in the boy her grandparents want her to marry. Together they save the children, disrupt the rebels, and kill rebel’s leader. Chanda returns to the city with her siblings, but finds the horrors of their ordeal haunt them. She struggles to help them and to follow her dream to finish her education. The would-be fiancé looses all of his family to the rebels and comes to the city to live with Chanda.
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JUNE 13, 2008
Airhead by Meg Cabot
Meg Cabot fans will enjoy this book and look forward to its sequel, Being Nikki. At the grand opening of an electronics megastore, Emerson Watts is fatally wounded in a freak accident while supermodel Nikki Howard collapses from a fatal rare brain disease. Doctors decide to transplant Emerson’s functional brain inside Nikki’s functional body. The medical procedure is secret, controversial, and very expensive. The surgery is financed by the owner of Nikki’s contract who requires Emerson’s parents to sign legal paperwork stating Emerson will fulfill Nikki’s contract and all parties are sworn to secrecy about the surgery. Unfortunately for Emerson, she is not at all interested in the teen pop culture and supermodels. To make matters worse, her best friend Christopher (who she hopes will be her boyfriend) is devastated by her “death.” Emerson enrolls in her old High School as Nikki and finds the students treat her very differently. Emerson learns that being a supermodel is not as easy as it sounds. Her new body craves different food and activities from her old one and her new supermodel looks create issues Emerson had never considered. Emerson finds Nikki had many suitors and a reputation she doesn’t like. Emerson works to rectify her tarnished image and get Christopher to like her as Nikki.
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JUNE 10, 2008
Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen Levine
The author has collected first-hand accounts from those who were black children living in Alabama and Mississippi between 1955 and 1965 and played some role during the civil rights movement as they tried to fight segregation. This was a time of demonstrating for freedoms in a non-violent manner under the guidance of Dr. Martin Luther King. The young people participated in sit-in's at restaurants that only served whites. They participated as freedom riders, sitting wherever they chose on buses when they were only supposed to sit in the back . They marched to courthouses for the right to register to vote. They attempted to integrate the schools.They held mass meetings and prayer meetings, all with the intention of getting the same rights as whites. Participating many times against the wishes of their parents who were frightened of losing their jobs, these children fought for what they believed in. They were proud to be arrested multiple times knowing they would get news coverage and the nation could see how blacks were being treated in the south, all the while realizing they could be beaten or killed for demonstrating. This book is concise and an excellent summary to this span in time. Suitable for those students studying the civil rights movement or for those interested in historical events. Grades 9-12.
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JUNE 4, 2008
The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower by Lisa Graff
Bernetta loses her scholarship to her private school after being set up by her best friend Ashley. She will have to attend public school next year for seventh grade unless she can earn $9000 to pay her tuition. Gabe, a boy she met while performing a magic trick at her father’s magic show, offers her a solution; work with him to con people to get the money. Bernetta rationalizes that conning people out of their money is no different than performing magic tricks, like her father does at his club. Although Bernetta is grounded because of the trouble Ashley got her in to lose her scholarship, she manipulates her older sister to convince her parents to allow her to accept a babysitting job for the summer. Of course, there is no babysitting job; it is a cover for her daily scams. Bernetta and Gabe turn out to be pretty good con artists and make several thousand dollars each. Bernetta loses all of her money when Ashley and Gabe set her up again. Gabe feels bad and works with Bernetta to set up Ashley to get the money back in a successful sting operation. In the end, Bernetta decides going to the private school is not worth it if it requires her to cheat people and lie to her family. She resolves to tell her parents everything and come clean, even though she knows the consequences will be severe.
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JUNE 2, 2008
Fire From the Rock by Sharon M. Draper
The year is 1957, and town of Little Rock, Arkansas is in a state of confusion. The federal government has declared that all schools need to be integrated, by the beginning of the 1957-58 school year. However, the governor of Arkansas, Governor Faubus, is highly opposed to integration. He believes that black students are to stay in black schools and that white students are to stay in white schools. He believes there should be no integration at all. Sylvia Faye Patterson, is a 9th grade black girl, who is a typical teenager. She giggles with her girlfriends, she likes to look at and admire boys, especially Reggie Birmingham, and she likes to listen to rock 'n roll music, the kind of music her parents do not like to hear. She also has a white friend, Rachel Zucker, who is of a German-Jewish descent. Sylvia likes to share all of her deep secrets with Rachel. Sylvia is a generally happy girl, who loves her family, which includes her pastor father, her mother, her older brother, Gary, and her sister Donna Jean. Gary is an angry young man who wants to change the world through violence. Sylvia worries about him, and so when her teacher announces in class one day that Sylvia has made the list of students who might be able to attend Central High School, the white school, in the fall, Sylvia is stunned. Garry had originally wanted to be placed on the list. He is mad, but then realizes that Sylvia is the better choice. Sylvia is a good candidate for being selected. She has good grades, and she feels that this could be an opportunity to change the world. She doesn't like to act on violence, as does her brother, but she wants to do something good, something that will help people realize that she is just a typical teenager, who wants to go to school, and be offered the same opportunities as white children. Sylvia's parents are proud of her for being on the list, however, her friends, her boyfriend, and even people at church feel like she is leaving her own kind and being uppity. Sylvia is confused, and in a turmoil, and so she often writes in her diary to write down all of her feelings. During that summer of 1957, Sylvia and her family are subject to taunts, being slapped around,and a horrible fire. Sylvia really has to do a lot of soul searching after all of these events. Does she want to remain on the list? Does she really want to go to Central High School? Read the book to find out. Told in the first and third person, this is an excellent story about a very troubled time in our country. Recommended for grades 7-9.
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