Uglies ~ Scott Westerfeld

Title: Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse, 448 pages
Copyright: 2005

School Library Journal Review:
Gr 6 Up-Tally Youngblood lives in a futuristic society that acculturates its citizens to believe that they are ugly until age 16 when they'll undergo an operation that will change them into pleasure-seeking "pretties." Anticipating this happy transformation, Tally meets Shay, another female ugly, who shares her enjoyment of hoverboarding and risky pranks. But Shay also disdains the false values and programmed conformity of the society and urges Tally to defect with her to the Smoke, a distant settlement of simple-living conscientious objectors. Tally declines, yet when Shay is found missing by the authorities, Tally is coerced by the cruel Dr. Cable to find her and her compatriots-or remain forever "ugly." Tally's adventuresome spirit helps her locate Shay and the Smoke. It also attracts the eye of David, the aptly named youthful rebel leader to whose attentions Tally warms. However, she knows she is living a lie, for she is a spy who wears an eye-activated locator pendant that threatens to blow the rebels' cover. Ethical concerns will provide a good source of discussion as honesty, justice, and free will are all oppressed in this well-conceived dystopia. Characterization, which flirts so openly with the importance of teen self-concept, is strong, and although lengthy, the novel is highly readable with a convincing plot that incorporates futuristic technologies and a disturbing commentary on our current public policies. Fortunately, the cliff-hanger ending promises a sequel.-Susan W. Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.


Review:
Tally is an Ugly. She is almost 16 and will soon have the operation that will turn her into a Pretty. It is many hundreds of years in the future and the world now operates like this: from the time you are born until the time you turn twelve, you are a Littlie, and live at home with your parents. At 12, you go to school with other Uglies until you turn 16. Then you have the "operation." Your face is reconstructed, your skin sanded down, and your bones reset to be of uniform height. Everyone becomes pretty. Everyone is about the same height, and has the same skin color. There is very little conflict. 

Tally wants more than anything to be Pretty. Her best friend Peris turned 2 months ago, and she is one of the last in her age group. But then she meets Shay. Shay has the same birthday as Tally, and the get into all sorts of mischief before their birthdays, including visiting the ruins of the "Rusties". Shay tells Tally about The Smoke, a secret place where Uglies sometimes run away so they don't have to be Pretty. Tally can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to be Pretty. But when Shay disappears right before their birthday, she leaves behind directions for Tally to follow. When Tally gets hauled in for questioning about the disappearance of her friend, she doesn't tell them anything. But the authorities find the directions and give Tally an ultimatum: lead them to the Smoke, or stay Ugly forever.

This futuristic story was engrossing and teens will be entranced, and I can guarantee that the cliffhanger ending will leave them gasping for the sequel. 


Reading Level: Intermediate
Suggested Audience: Readers 13 and up

Can't Get There From Here ~ Todd Strasser

Title: Can't Get There From Here 
Author: Todd Strasser
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers  
Copyright: 2004


VOYA Review:
This novel about runaway teens on the streets of New York, a group ignored by society, does not hold anything back. As the loosely knit band struggles to survive, a girl with the street name "Maybe" narrates the cruel realities of hunger, drug abuse, HIV, prostitution, and death. Displaying distinct personalities but dependent on one another for food, shelter, and money, each teen has fled intolerable abuse at home, evoking sympathy from readers. Throughout the book, scenes of begging, abuse, despair, and oddly, the freedom of life on the streets will grab readers and not let go. Maybe refuses help from adult authority but is drawn to the kindness of a public librarian, perhaps because they both have a splotchy skin disorder called vitiligo. News articles of anonymous teens found dead (readers are aware of the circumstances behind each death) expound the book's powerful message. Each runaway vehemently guards his or her identity, but tough postures are slowly peeled away, revealing the hurt of the child. Many adult characters are depicted as either overly helpful or extremely brutal. Librarian Anthony in particular rushes too fast to protect the teens, offering food and use of his office without logically reporting the situation to professionals. That aside, the book is gritty and harsh, and urban teens will love it, being drawn into the story from early on when a cop warns members of the tribe, "You don't have a chance." VOYA Codes 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Simon & Schuster, 208p., Ages 12 to 18


Review: 
This story is about homeless teenagers who are left with no choice but to wander the streets of New York City running into violent criminals, drugs, and abuse. Their stories are different and their reasons for being out in the streets are varied, but they create their own family and protect each other from the harsh reality they face each day. 


When it comes to books about heart-wrenching subjects such as drug abuse, poverty, homelessness, and mental illness, I pften worry that in the quest to be shocking, that it may be too easy for readers to discount the realities presented by the stories. Strasser's Can't Get There from Here tells the story of a gang of young street kids doing what they can to survive in New York City. They each have their own story of families that couldn't take care of them, didn't want them, or otherwise mistreated them. Their home lives are so terrible, that digging through garbage cans for food and risking sexual and physical assault looking for a place to sleep, is safer than going back to their parents. This short book is filled with so much tragic sadness, it's hard to believe that there are children out there actually living these lives. And that's my only problem with this book - that when one bad thing after another happens, it becomes too easy to say, "well, it's just fiction." But, to the extent this novel opens the eyes of young adults and shows them that there are people their own age living out there on the streets, and more importantly, that there are organizations that hopefully can actually help, I think it's definitely a good thing.

Maggot says that living on the streets is the only way to maintain your freedom. Country Club is the first of the group to leave. He dies of liver failure at 22. OG has a constant, hacking cough, but refuses to seek medical attention. He adopts an abandoned dog (Pest) after Country Club's death. 2Moro is beautiful and HIV-positive. Prostitution helps her survive, but for how long? Jewel is a male prostitute who dresses up as a woman and goes clubbing with 2Moro. Rainbow, Maybe's closest friend, does drugs to keep herself numb. Tears is only 12 and is the newest member of the group.

This is a very powerful and realistic glimpse into street life. Very highly recommended for mature readers who will be able to take away as much as they can from this astounding book. 

Reading Level: Intermediate
Suggested Audience: Recommended for readers ages 16 and up

The Maze Runner ~ James Dashner

Title: The Maze Runner
Author: James Dashner
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 374 pages
Copyright: 2009

VOYA Review:
Thomas wakes up in a box with no memory of who he is or where he comes from beyond his name. When the doors open, he is tossed into the disorienting world of the glade, a place built by the mysterious Creators with unknown intentions, where survival and escape are the goal and no one can remember how they got there. Surrounding the glade is the maze, into which runners race everyday searching for an exit, and where horrible creatures called grievers roam to hunt the boys. As he learns the ropes of life in the glade, Thomas finds himself drawn toward the maze and being a runner, while he tries to remember anything he can about his past, certain that the answers are locked away in his head. When a girl arrives in the glade, everything changes and a desperate end game begins for everyone. Dashner creates a dangerously captivating world filled with riveting action and suspense, leaving the reader anxious for more. Thrilling twists and turns make this superb plot even better as it moves at a steady but enticing pace. The various clues hidden in the maze and glade will pique readers' curiosity as they search alongside the characters for the answers to the many questions of the glade. The dynamic characters Dashner creates round off this incredible story, making it as bright as the trilogy it has begun. Reviewer: Susan Hampe


Review: 
Thomas is brought up to the Glade in an elevator with only his name and no memory at all. He finds himself with a group of boys like himself. They all have no memory of an outside world. All they know is that there is a maze and they will try to find a way out -but every night the doors to the maze are shut tight. The day after Thomas arrives, a girl, the first ever in the Glade, arrives with a note that she is the last. Thomas is determined to figure out what is happening in the Glade and unlock the secrets that are buried. 


This fantasy/sci-fi novel is the start to a thrilling new trilogy. If you are a fan of dystopian science fiction, then this title needs to be added to your must-read pile. Dashner has a brilliant start to the book; the Gladers use different slang, which takes some time to get used to. I'm warning you - there are lots of cliffhangers and heart-stopping adventure, and you'll want to stay up late turning pages to find out what happens next.


Reading Level: Intermediate
Suggested Audience: Recommended for readers ages 16 and up

Geography Club ~ Brent Hartinger

Title: Geography Club
Author: Brent Hartinger
Publisher: HarperTempest, 240 pages
Copyright: 2003


School Library Journal Review: 
"Russel Middlebrook is a sophomore at Goodkind High School. He has a secret crush on a baseball jock, Kevin Land, and soon discovers that Kevin is also gay. The boys become friendly outside of school and set up the "Geography Club" with three other gay students, one of whom is Russel's closest friend, Min. The club members relish the opportunity to discuss their lives and to relate to one another openly and honestly. Eventually, however, intense peer pressure and insecurity take their toll. [....] Hartinger has written a compelling look at the high school scene and the serious consequences of being "different." The plot never falters. Dialogue flows smoothly and is always completely believable, and the occasional use of profanity adds to the realism of the story. Characterization is excellent, with all of the teens emerging as likable but flawed individuals caught in a situation that few young adults could handle with maturity. This author has something to say here, and his message is potent and effective in its delivery. Many teens, both gay and straight, should find this novel intriguing."

Review:
Russel Middlebrook is pretty sure that he's gay. After all, he's not attracted to girls, and he spends every day after gym class studiously avoiding the other half-naked guys in the locker room. He's never had an actual experience with another guy, though, so maybe the attraction he feels toward them is something he'll outgrow--or maybe not.

While surfing the Internet one night, he finds chat rooms for different towns and cities, where you can talk to other people who are also gay. And amazingly enough, there's a boy he meets with the name GayTeen-- who not only lives in his town, but also attends his high school. Another gay boy, in his very own school? There's no way that could be true-- especially when he finds out that the kid with the handle GayTeen is none other than Kevin Land, star of the baseball team, one of the most popular guys in school.

As Kevin and Russel get to know one another, outside of school and hidden away from prying eyes, they realize that there's no way for them to be together inside school walls. The same is true for Russel's friends Min and Terese, who although they claim to just be really close friends, are actually in love. So along with a few others, including Gunnar, who is straight, and Brian Bund, the loser of Goodkind High School, the boys form The Geography Club. After all, no one else is going to want to join such a boring club--especially if they knew it was just a front for a gay/ lesbian school group.

As events at school heat up, with Brian eventually being outed as gay even though he's not, Russel, Kevin, and their friends will have to learn what's most important in life. And that sometimes, no matter how much you might wish for things to be out in the open, you're just not ready.

Geography Club is a great, quick read about the ups and downs of daily high school life, and the struggle to find ones identity. Recommended for reluctant readers and readers who enjoy humor, gay fiction, and quick reads. 


Reading Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Suggested Audience: Recommended for readers ages 14 and up

The City of Ember ~ Jeanne DuPrau

Title: The City of Ember
Author: Jeanne DuPrau
Publisher: Random House, 288 pages
Copyright: 2003


VOYA Review:
When the builders of Ember planned the underground city, they provided a storehouse of goods for the residents' survival and a power plant to supply light to the town. Now, generations later, the supplies are dangerously low, and the lights are beginning to flicker. Ember is a socialist society, where even jobs are randomly assigned to residents. Nobody knows what lies without the walls, and everyone is too frightened to find out. Although directions on how to exit the city were entrusted to the first mayor of Ember, they were misplaced until Lina, an orphan and descendant of that mayor, finds a torn and mangled paper. Lina enlists fellow twelve-year-old Doon to aid in putting together the pieces. They are surprised to discover the missing instructions. After the teens are falsely accused of illegal activities and hunted by the police, they decide to elude capture by following the directions and leaving Ember. It will not take readers long to discover that Ember is a city-size bomb shelter and that a whole other world exists outside its walls. While Ember is colorless and dark, the book itself is rich with description. DuPrau uses the puzzle, suspenseful action, and lots of evil characters to entice readers into the story. They will find the teen characters believable and gutsy. Part mystery, part adventure story, this novel provides science fiction for those who do not like science fiction. The end of the book hints at a possible sequel. PLB


Review:
The city of Ember is in trouble, but the complacent citizens seem to ignore the food shortages and frequent blackouts. The Builders, when they created the city some 241 years ago, made provisions for its citizens in the form of a note called "The Instructions." Unfortunately, "The Instructions" were not handed down through the generations as they were supposed to be, and suddenly 12-year old Lina, a city Messenger, has discovered them. After trying to tell her friends and even the Mayor about the discovery of the partially destroyed Instructions, Lina turns to a one-time school friend, Doon, a worker in the underground Pipeworks, whom she believes will understand their importance. But what can two children do with such important information, and who would even believe them?


The City of Ember is a spectacular novel which tells the unique story of two unintentional heroes who fight the status quo in order to bring hope to their city. The descriptions of the world of Ember are fascinating, leaving the reader to appreciate the incredible imagination of Jeanne DuPrau. The deaths of Lina's parents and grandmother create a sense of sympathy for her that causes readers to, all the more, wish for her triumph. It is the curiosity of Lina and Doon that drive this narrative, and it is the nice balance between primary and secondary characters that keeps the reader on his/her toes. While we expect a happy ending, it's not until the final pages of the novel that we understand what has happened and why. 


Highly recommended for fans of fantasy, adventure, and even suspense/mystery. 

Reading Level: Intermediate 
Suggested Audience: Recommended for mature readers, ages 15 and up

Annie on My Mind ~ Nancy Garden

Title: Annie on My Mind
Author: Nancy Garden
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 272 pages
Copyright: 1982


School Library Journal Review:

Gr 9 Up

Published more than 25 years ago, Nancy Garden's moving and poignant love story (Farrar, 1982) still rings true today. Liza and Annie, both 17 and attending different high schools, meet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and fall in love. Narrator Rebecca Lowman touchingly brings their story to life as they discover each other and the harsh and confusing realities that surround them. The teens face uncertain feelings and questions about their emotional and physical relationship. Told in the third person and through letters Liza is trying to write to Annie after they both are at college, Lowman does a fine job portraying the girls' emotions as well as the stark reactions that the other characters have toward them when their relationship is discovered. With quietly distinct voices and subtle pacing that matches perfectly the unfolding of the young romance, this audiobook will stand the test of time. Listeners will be swept up by and find themselves fully immersed in the story. Margaret Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award winner Nancy Garden is featured in an interview at the end of the book. A must-have for all GLBTQ collections.-Stephanie A. Squicciarini, Fairport Public Library, NY

Review: 
Annie on My Mind is is a gentle love story told by Nancy Garden. Liza and Annie are two 17-year-old New Yorkers who meet, become friends, and slowly realize that their feelings are stronger than those reserved for friendship. They are confused, curious, tentative and intense with each other. They have no road map to guide their emotions and behavior, no understanding friends or adults to reassure them or to celebrate their relationship. Their love for each other feels so natural and good that neither is ashamed of the relationship, but they still keep it a secret from everyone in their lives.



While many young adult novels feature characters that are smart, socially savvy, blasé about sex and drugs, Liza and Annie are almost implausibly innocent and naïve. When the two girls initially meet by chance in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Annie is unselfconsciously singing to a painting in the American Wing. Soon after, they sword fight as imaginary knights in the Arms and Armor room. 

The real point of this book is the relationship between Liza and Annie, how they dance around each other for months before the first tentative kiss, how they both fear and long for more than kissing and holding hands, how they learn to trust each other, and finally, how they learn to trust their love in the face of narrow-minded schoolmates, teachers and family.


Recommended. 



Reading Level: Intermediate
Notes about Audience: Recommended for readers ages 15 and up

After ~ Amy Efaw

Title: After
Author: Amy Efaw
Publisher: Viking Juvenile, 350 pages
Copyright: 2009


School Library Journal:
Grade 8 Up—Through flashbacks, listeners learn that 15-year-old Devon has been a good student and an outstanding soccer player, and her life is all about control and not messing up. But as the story (Viking, 2009) by Amy Efaw opens, Devon is found by the police lying on her family sofa, bloody after giving birth to a baby which was found in the dumpster by a passerby. The story moves through Devon's arrest, her confusion about what is happening to her, and the preliminary court proceedings to determine whether she will be tried as an adult for attempted murder or in juvenile court. Rebecca Soler does a fine job of varying her voice to reflect Devon's various states of consciousness and conscience. Most prominent is the flatness of Devon's voice as she responds to the demands and interactions of those around her, such as her lawyer, who loses patience at Devon's resistance to assist in her defense. Soler also captures the teen's softness as Devon recollects the romantic encounter that led to her pregnancy and then quickly switches to a harsher tone as Devon reflects that she doesn't want to be like her own irresponsible mother. This is an emotional, compelling listen, as the details of the birth are told in great detail and Devon often seems like an observer rather than a participant.—Edith Ching, Washington Latin Public Charter School, DC 


Review:
Devon Davenport had a lot of good things going for her. In school, she was a straight A student and a gifted soccer player. Growing up with a mom that was rarely there for her, she became self-reliant and responsible for her own well-being. It comes as a big surprise when Devon finds herself being admitted into the Tacoma Juvenile Detention Center. 


One dreary morning, Devon's neighbor finds a newborn baby thrown in a garbage bag and tossed in the trash. The police become involved and canvass Devon's neighborhood for clues and eventually interview Devon about the baby in the trash can. After a sudden and unexpected discovery in Devon's apartment, Devon is arrested for attempted murder, assigned an attorney, Dom, and entered into a Juvenile Corrections Center where she must learn how to interact and live with a population of juvenile criminals. 


The rest of the book is an exploration of how this could happen to a girl such as Devon.  Efaw takes her readers on an emotional journey as Devon is arrested and incarcerated in a juvenile facility. Constantly thinking that the nightmare is going to end and she'll go home, Devon has difficulty accepting what she has done. Efaw peels back the layers of Devon's story as Devon's lawyer fights and works with her to save her from being tried as an adult. 

Reading Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Suggested Audience: Recommended for readers ages 15/16 and up