Dark Dude

Reader: Payton G
Age: 13
Title: Dark Dude
Author: Oscar Hijuelos
Publisher: Atheneum
Pub Date: 9/16/08
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Top10: No
Did the cover reflect the contents: The cover sort of interested me, but reading the back was what actually made me pick it up. The cover didn't really reflect the contents.
Recommend: No
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I think that the most compelling aspect was that it was a very real story. In that it didn't have the main character suddenly turn into a magical flying pony, although that would be awesome!
Did you finish: No
Were you disappointed with the book: I was sort of disappointed, because I thought that it was going to be really more of a fast-moving story, but was actually very slow. The characters were very dully written, and didn't interest me. A character should be able to really excite the readers. The characters in this book were un-exciting.
Age Range: 14-15
Quality: 2Q Needs more work
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal:
Annotation: Rico is a stranger in his own family. He has fair hair and light skin, unlike his thoroughly Cuban family. When his best friend Gilberto wins the lottery, though, Rico finds himself in Wisconsin. He no longer has to prove his Latino heritage, but because of this he almost loses it. He can't entirely shake it though, because some things can't be left behind.

Marcelo in the Real World

Reader: Luke M
Age: 15
Title: Marcelo in the Real World
Author: Francisco X Stork
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Pub Date: Mar 1, 2009
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens' Top10: Yes
Did the cover reflect the contents: The cover reflected the contents and the tree house was interesting. What made it look like the "real world" was the electric wires
Recommend: Yes. It was recommended to me by a friend.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: It seemed realistic and how everyone reacted all differently seemed how it really would be. Also, his desire to be a horse groom that kept him working seemed true. I like how his relationships with people, especially Jasmine changed and how he learned about the cruelty of the world.
Did you finish: Yes
Age Range: 12-15
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Comments: I believe this book could replace "the curious incident of the dog in the night" as required reading for high school.

Mousetraps

Reader: Megan W
Age: 16
Title: Mousetraps
Author: Pat Schmatz
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
Pub Date: 08/18/2008
Galley: Yes
Did the cover reflect the contents: The cover, which is really pretty simple, caught my attention right away. It is an orange cover with a kid about to get snapped by a mousetrap at the bottom of the cover. The cover most definitely reflected the contents of the book right away, in more ways than one
Recommend: Yes. This type of book isn't what I usually read, but I really enjoyed it. It's about a girl Maxie and her friend from elementary school Roddy (now known as Rick) It's the story of their days together in High School. Maxie hasn't seen Roddy in years, and when she sees him again he is very changed.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I loved the relationship between Roddy and Maxie. It was very cute, and it was written in a way that was a lot like real life; it was very believable. Although Roddy has his problems in life, he is such a loveable character, as is Maxie
Did you finish: Yes
Were you disappointed: I finished this book in one day. It was a cute, easy read that kept me flipping the pages
Age Range: 16-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Comments: Since this book is about the life and growth of two teenagers, I don't believe that most teens today would want to read it, although they should. Maxie's character grew throughout the book, as did Roddy's. I really enjoyed watching them grow, and I grew to love the very real characters. The book was an adorable story about growing up and finding who you really are.

The Crushes

Reader: Patong L

Age: 15

Title: The Crushes

Author: Pamela Wells

Publisher: Point

Galley: Yes

Nominate for Teens' Top10: No

Did the cover reflect the contents: The cover tempted me to pick up the date.

Recommend: Yes. I would say that this book is good and it has lots funny things about the book. Like how the four friends made up 41 rules for making a guy to crush on you.

Compelling Aspect of the Book: The most interesting aspect of the book for me was when Kelly liked Sydney's boyfriend.

Did you finish: Yes

Age Range: 14-15

Quality: 3Q Readable

Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

Hunger Games

Reader: Frances W

Age: 12

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Pub Date: 09/14/2008

Galley: Yes

Nominate for Teens' Top10: Yes

Did the cover reflect the contents: The cover was interesting and unique. Although it did not really reflect the contents, it did tempt me to read it.

Recommend: Yes. When you hear what it is about, it sounds depressing. It is a little bit sad, but it is really really really good.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I think the whole book is very compelling. It seems so real. The fact it is located in North America in the future is also very interesting. The good characters are so real and likable. The evil/mean characters are described perfectly.

Did you finish: Yes

Age Range: 12-18 and up

Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book

Popularity: 5P Everyone wants to read it

Comments: I love this book! It is now one of my all time favorites.

Annotation: When katniss is forced to fight to the death with people her own age if not younger, will she choose humanity or survival?

Living on Impulse

Reader: Chloe W

Age: 16

Title: Living on Impulse

Author: Cara Haycak

Publisher: Dutton Books

Pub Date: Aug 2009

Galley: Yes

Nominate for Teens' Top10: No

Did the cover reflect the contents: The cover accurately depictedthe basic plot of the novel. But even though it clearly showed a girlstealing a pair of sandals, the cover still seemed disconnected from thebook itself. While Mia's habitual thefts were a large part of the book,the novel focused on other themes. Aesthetically, the cover also seemedvery busy. The model in the photo had a busy print shirt, and her wristswere adorned with stacks and stacks of chunky bracelets. I was put offby the mess of colors to the point where I didn't focus on the title at all.

Recommend: No. I was enticed by the minor plot linebetween Mia's growing relationship with Clancy, the owner of the clubwhere her destructive behavior finally gets the best of her. However,much of the development of that storyline came from disjointed coincidences. Clancy shows up randomly in short spurts, and then all the sudden, he becomes a large part of the novel. His fragmented plot line had potential to be interesting, but Haycak decided to forgo adding compelling details to enrich the plot.

Compelling Aspect of the Book: Finkelstein, the scientist who hires Mia to breed flies, becomes a source of stability for Mia. His main love, science, influences him to spread his passion to others. The change he elicits in Mia is one of the more touching aspects of the book, but he so clearly fits the stereotype of an anti-social nerd that his message is bogged down by cliches. Even his name seems to add to the creation of the friendless geek, so his character is not much more than a caricature with a good message to send.

Did you finish: Yes

Reason why Disappointed with the book: As well, Haycak portrays Mia as much older than her age of fifteen, yet some of the themes contradicted this notion. Mia tries to transform herself into an older, more popular version of herself, and the book seems to support her acceptance of her youth. However, sometimes the messages sent are mixed as Mia grapples with her identity. Even though there could have been some truth to the themes presented, they get bogged down by inconsistencies between sections of the book.

Age Range: 12-15

Quality: 3Q Readable

Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal

Forest Born

Reader: Megan W
Age: 16
Title: Forest Born
Author: Shannon Hale
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pub Date: 09/15/09
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens' Top10: Yes
Did the cover reflect the contents: The cover, with its beautiful hues of purple, caught my eye right away, and when I saw that it was another Shannon Hale novel, I greedily snatched it up. Unfortunatley, I was a bit upset with the cover. I myself am a huge fan of the original covers of her previous books in the series, such as Goose Girl, or Enna Burning. Those covers were so pretty with their old china-looking pictures. While this cover is beautiful too, I couldn't help but be a bit disappointed that it was in a different style.
Recommend: Yes. This book is technically the fourth in the Books of Bayern, but you don't need to read the first 3 to understand this book. It follows the story of Rin, the little sister of a previous character in the third book. She has a very hard time finding herself and who she is, and she's always been known as her Ma's shadow. She goes to the big city with her brother hoping to find the missing part of herself. Along the way she runs into previous characters and together, they try to put down a resistance from a neighboring country.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: For me, my favorite part was how Shannon Hale incorporated previous characters into this book as well. Forest Born really starts when there is rumor of war in a neighboring country. Feeling she can help, Rin tags along with Isi, Dasha and Enna (all characters from books past) It was compelling and addicting and I couldn't put it down. Did you finish: Yes
Comments: Even with my end-of-the-year homework, I managed to gobble this book up in 2 days. I couldn't put it down. I even jokingly (Well, mostly jokingly) told my friends that I wouldn't do my homework until the book was done because I
wouldn't be able to concentrate otherwise. Throughout the entire book I was entertained with the beautiful world that Shannon Hale has created. She's done it again; this book was simply fantastic.
Age Range 3: 14-15
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 5P Everyone wants to read it
Annotation: "This is a heart-warming tale of friendship,
love, war, and, most importantly, finding who you are inside yourself."

April update

It's been a while since our last update.

As many of you know there were some shocking results for the top ten nominees such as various incarnations of "Twilight" and its many imitators. Hopefully some of the more original titles have a good shot at winning this year. Thanks to all of you for your nominations and continued passion for quality literature. It's safe to say you guys are way ahead of many adults when it comes to thinking about literature, keep it up!

And speaking of quality literature, many of you have commented on the trailer for "Perfect Chemistry." We watched it twice in class, and now you can view it here:
http://www.simoneelkeles.net/ apparently it has done its job as some of you have read it based on the trailer, I myself will read it as soon as I am able. Still no word on the cheerleader's belly button or lack thereof.

Be sure to send in names for the craptacular and spectacular lists!

March Update

Hello!

Since our relationship with SLJTeen is ending, we'll be putting some reviews on this blog. I'll put 3 here for now, and in a couple weeks we'll do a couple more. let us know what you think! Also be sure to give us some names for the craptacular list. If you agree or disagree with either list, just leave comments and you can argue online anytime, instead of just once a month in class!

Early Meeting

Hello all,

As you probably all know we are meeting at 6PM on 3/10 due to the University's Spring Break schedule. Please make sure to come early!

Also, Adela will be out as you know, but there will be plenty of others there, so be prepared to discuss books like crazy!

Also Brett is updating the blog little by little. We're putting all of the Top 10 nominees under Spectacular reads. Please be sure to share some titles for the craptacular list.

To suggest Craptacular reads you can:

* Email Adela/Brett
* Make a comment on this blog
* or request it during our monthly meetings.


That's all for now!