Teen Scene
Visit the Wright Library Teen MySpace. Give us feedback.
"Nothing matters.
13-year-old Drew “Birdie” has no plans for the summer before she enters 8th grade other than working in her mother’s cheese shop alongside good looking, surf dude Nick, who works part-time making pasta noodles. She has few friends (her best friend is in Europe for the summer) and no hobbies other than her pet Rat, Hum. But one night, she discovers a boy outside in the alley eating the thrown-away cheese, and her life begins to change. Emmett Crane, she slowly learns, is a runaway, and he has a particular goal to fulfill before he returns home. That summer is when other things start to change for Birdie as well. She discovers her father’s book of lists he created before he died. And she discovers that her mother has begun dating someone in a silver car, and is lying to her about it. She feels utterly betrayed by this since they have always shared everything with each other. In retaliation, she decides to do something without telling her mother...help Emmett. This is a quiet story, without a lot of action, and will appeal to readers in grades 6-8 who appreciate character development. Issues of single parenthood, loss of a parent, homelessness, and becoming more independent are interwoven throughout, and there is also a bit of magic that Emmett introduces to the story. 
It's 1976 in Kentucky. For ten-year-old Eli Book and his best friend Edie, it is a summer of change. Edie's parents are divorcing and her mother has up and moved to Georgia. It is more complicated for Eli. His Aunt Nell has suddenly and unexplicably left her job in Washington D.C. and moved in with them. Eli adores her and wishes she would stay forever. Around town she's got a reputation as a Vietnam war protestor and is even in a very famous photograph that appears in his history book. This causes a riff between her and Eli's father, Stanton, who is a Vietnam vet. He believes his sister is a traitor, no matter how many times she tries to explain that she did it for him. Eli would like to know more about what his father experienced that has left him with night terrors. They've gotten so bad that he almost strangled his mother Loretta. Eli is a known snoop and secretly reads the letters his father wrote to her from Vietnam, and slowly uncovers the truth. This is a "quiet" story in terms of there not being a lot of action. The reminiscent tone of the book (much like "The Waltons") left me concluding that this book is better suited for older teens and adults, even though the main character is only ten. Mature themes include premarital sex, suicide, and drinking. The location and setting are primary, and the southern accent and coloquialisms are evident. It is full of period details and will appeal to readers interested in the Vietnam era and typical southern life during our country's Bicentenial. 
Clean follows five teens as they go through grueling detox and therapy in a residential drug and alcohol rehab center. One of the addicted teens is a perfect, straight-A student, another is a sheltered homeschooled boy, two are teens from intact families, and one is a girl whose mother died recently. The book switches between their first person voices, sometimes as a straight chapter telling about a rehab incident, but other times it’s in the form of a required essay, or as answers to a questionnaire, or as a script from a group therapy session. The teens move from lost and stubborn to learning new truths about themselves, from hating rehab to being afraid to leave the refuge and safety of it. As the book unfolds, the reader learns the desperate secrets of each character, and watches their struggles to overcome their emotional pain. The outcomes aren’t rosy, but by the time the book comes to a close, there is a sense of hope. This book is realistic and gritty, and represents complex teens caught in disturbing situations. Recommended for teens in grades 9 and up.
Assuming a false identity, and getting away with it, is the subject of this non-fiction book. Using the stories of ten different people from the 1800s to the present, Barton tells amazing stories of people who convinced others that they were doctors (no medical training at all), a Civil War soldier (actually a seventeen-year-old woman), a Nazi youth (a Jewish boy), a male slave owner (a black woman), and more. Each story is written in second person, which felt awkward at first, but added to the urgency of the tale. The suspense is consistent throughout—will they get caught? At the end of each is a short “What happened next?” paragraph, which briefly tells the rest of the story. The book finishes with an afterword explaining how to get away with a false identity, as well as a comprehensive bibliography. This book is a compelling read, and would likely work well for reluctant readers. Certain chapters would also be good a resource for social studies or history classes. Grades 6 and up. Highly recommended.
Search
Recent Posts
Archive
 | Powered by engagedpatrons.org |
Upcoming events
- Tween CCG: Winter Layers Dessert(4 hours)
- Preschool Storytime(1 day)
- Teen Zone: TAB(1 day)
- Digital Download Demonstration(1 day)
- Digital Download Demonstration(2 days)
- Family Storytime(2 days)
Subscribe (RSS)
Library Hours
Monday - Thursday
10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Friday
10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday
1-5 p.m.
