“’I’m taking that cat. I want the black one. You can’t talk me out of it, so don’t even try.’ I was already starting to understand him. To feel for him. Or maybe even to feel with him. He was scared. He was not cuddly. He was not beautiful. If I didn’t take him, he was as good as dead. He was about to be given the death penalty for not being beautiful. Someone had to come along and love him just the way he was. I was that someone.”

Elle’s mom has fallen for her new boyfriend Donald. He’s moving in and Elle’s moving out. Into her own apartment. Just before her sixteenth birthday. Because, after all, Donald doesn’t want her around. So, pretending that she is worried about Elle’s loneliness, her mom wants to buy her a cat. Elle decides to get one from a shelter instead. And then to pick one that’s been through some serious fighting—his eye, a piece of his ear and patches of his fur are missing. He’s broken.

Like Elle.

In a bit of grace, when Elle is moving in to her new apartment, she meets her neighbor Frank. He’s small for a man, but kind and good looking and Elle has an immediate crush on him although he’s living with a woman (also kind) named Molly.

I wouldn’t say that Elle’s lived a sheltered life—her mother is much too self-centered to be nurturing. But Elle is not entirely in tune with others because she hasn’t had that nurturing she needs. Her new friends at her new school—outcasts all—know immediately what Elle hasn’t seen. That Frank is transgendered.

This tightly-written novel is so sweet and compassionate, I want to recommend it to everyone. I know I harp on how much I hate it when young adult books have repetitive scenes or action; when they redescribe all the dialogue by adding tags with adverbs. (The last one I read had something like this: ‘I wish I really was a vampire because at least then I would be understood,’ Helen thought miserably, feeling totally misunderstood.” Really?) I’m trying to stop complaining, but it does bother me because I feel like the authors and editors are disrespecting teens, who they think are so clueless that everything must be repeated. And then repeated.

Catherine Ryan Hyde, the author of Jumpstart the World respects you. She’s a wonderful writer. (Adults will remember her bestseller of a decade ago—Pay It Forward—which was made into a movie.) The breathless pace of Jumpstart the World is perfect. As are Hyde’s protagonists and their respect for one another.

Sweet.

No Way Out by Peggy Kern

Harold is out of shape and self-conscious. When his grandma falls and breaks her legs, Harold knows he needs to help out, but he doesn’t know what he can do. The medical bills are mounting, and Harold thinks he can get a job, but the wage won’t begin to pay off the bills. And if the bills aren’t paid, Harold’s grandma will no long be considered able to care for him.

But when Londell, a neighborhood drug dealer, comes back from a year in prison, he keeps bullies from bothering Harold. And he has a job for him, too, at much better than minimum wage. Harold starts to feel that he respects Lonell, who reminds him than guys without parents have to stick together and do things other people wouldn’t think of.

The Test by Peggy Kern

It’s obvious from the book cover that ‘the test’ is a pregnancy test. But what you find as you read is that it’s also a test of life. Liselle becomes pregnant when she’s only sixteen, a student at Bluford High. For years later, at twenty, she comes back to talk to some of the toughest girls in the school about her story.

The Orca Soundings series books are really just books that are not connected to one another, but are all published by a company whose mission is to provide interesting books to teens who are improving their reading skills. I’ve enjoyed those that I’ve read,and they are pretty popular in our library, so we’ve got some new titles for you. Check these out from the 372.41 special collection:

Last Ride by Laura Langston

Tom Shields killed his best friend, Logan, in a street-racing accident a year ago. While he tries to make amends to Logan’s girlfriend and keep his promise to never race again, he’s haunted by his dead friend.

Fallout by Nikki Tate

After the death of her sister, Tara struggles to deal with her guilt through slam poetry.

Shattered by Sarah N. Harvey

After March shoves her boyfriend and he ends up in a coma, she tries to figure out what it means to have a perfect life.

B Negative by Vicki Grant

Paddy loves his family, all except for his annoying stepfather Anthony. When they have a discussion about his future, Paddy overreacts and threatens to join the army. Unable to back down, he finds he is alienating everyone around him. And when he takes the physical exam and learns his blood type, his world starts to crumble and he starts to question everything he thought he knew.

Breaking Point by Janice Greene

Alana, a new student at Oceanside High, decides it is time to take action when the sexual harassment of a group of boys nearly pushes a friend to commit suicide.

The Burning Time by Carol Matas

After her father’s sudden death, fourteen-year-old Rose Rives finds sixteenth-century France to be a dangerous place for women when her mother, a midwife and a healer, is arrested and accused of being a witch along with many other women in their village.

Breathless by Pam Withers

Beverly is in Hawaii, helping her uncle at his dive shop, learning how to dive and trying to lose weight and get a boyfriend. When Garth, an accomplished diver, shows an interest in her, Beverly is ecstatic, until it turns out Garth is only interested in one thing. Struggling with failing strength from her self-imposed starvation diet, Beverly finds herself in deep trouble when she has to fight Garth off underwater.

Bull Rider by Marilyn Halvorson

Layne is determined to be a bull rider like his father — who was killed by a bull.

Sticks and Stones by Beth Goobie (in YA fiction)

After developing an unearned reputation as a slut, Jujube finds a novel way to take on her tormentors and help a group of girls win back their self-esteem.

Big Guy by Robin Stevenson

Derek thinks he might be falling in love for the first time ever. The problem is, he hasn’t been entirely honest with his online boyfriend.

Battle of the Bands by K. L. Denman

The smell in the garage is lousy. Old bulbs coated with years of dust and cobwebs don’t cast the best light either. But when I pick up my guitar and my fingers find the strings, and that first riff comes screaming out of the amp, the only thing that matters is sound.

Crush by Carrie Mac

Are Hope’s feelings for Nat, who is a lesbian, just a crush or something more serious?

The Orca Soundings series books are really just books that are not connected to one another, but are all published by a company whose mission is to provide interesting books to teens who are improving their reading skills. I’ve enjoyed those that I’ve read, and they are pretty popular in our library, so we’ve got some new titles for you. Check these out from the 372.41 special collection:

Cellular by Ellen Schwartz

When Brendan is diagnosed with leukemia, his life is turned upside down. With a smothering family and distant friends, all seems hopeless until he meets Lark, terminally ill yet full of life.

Back by Nora McClintock

When Jojo is released from prison after serving time for beating a man into a coma, Ardell, the victim’s brother, makes plans to get revenge.

Outback by Robin Stevenson

Since his girlfriend dumped him, Jayden has been avoiding school-and life in general. When his eccentric uncle Mel invites him to help with his biology research at an Australian university, he figures he has nothing to lose. Once he arrives, he discovers Mel is obsessed with finding a new species of lizard and is determined to be the first to discover it. Unfortunately, this means an expedition into the scorching desert heat of the Australian outback…with the increasingly paranoid Mel and an unfriendly biology student named Natalie. Then disaster strikes, and Jayden and Nat find themselves many miles from civilization fighting for their survival.

High Interest Series

Check for these books in our new library section: 372.41

 Choices series:

The Choices series is for teens who are emerging readers. They are not complete stories. They set up situations that require teens to make a choice. The choice is one that teens might have had to make in the past or will make in the future.

 The books are about 50 pages long. They work best for teens who are learning English. If you can already read at the 4th grade level or above, you might find Choices too easy. It may bore you. If you are learning to read English, you might like the Choices series. You might enjoy thinking about what you would do in the same situation.

 Sample title:

 Friend or Foe?

Two friends are running for class president. A third friend (Jazz) tells one of them (Cory) that he will vote for Cory. But Jazz would make a better class president. Should he keep his promise or should he run for class president?

 Orca Soundings series

The books in Orca Soundings vary a lot. They cover a lot of situations. They are written for teens who read below grade level. Most of the books have a 2.5-6 grade level of reading, but they have a lot of action. The pace is really quick. The topic are sometimes for mature readers—teenage sexuality, underage drinking, bullying. These are not books for students in grades 2-6.

I found the Orca Soundings books that I read to be interesting. I wanted to know how things would turn out. They are the same number of pages as the shorter books in the Bluford series. (I discuss the Bluford series next—see below.) Still, Orca Soundings books are a little shorter than Bluford books. The print is bigger.

Since the books aren’t connected as they are in most series, I’ve got three sample titles to give you an idea:

Comeback

Ria is rich, pretty, popular, and has a great boyfriend. Her problem is that her parents are getting a divorce. She blames her mother because her mother wanted the divorce. Ria enjoys her father’s positive attitude about life. She enjoys how he is always doing something fun.

I liked this book because I wasn’t able to guess what would happen. When Ria’s father won’t take her on a plane trip, I thought Ria would find out that her father was having an affair—and that she had misjudged her mother. But Ria’s father is very bad in another way, one right out of today’s headlines. He’s bad in a way that affects a lot more people than just his family.

Charmed

Charmed is for the very mature student.

Izzy is embarrassed of her mom’s boyfriend, Rob the Slob. He’s a racist. In fact, he’s a jerk in a lot of ways. The man of Izzy’s dreams is Cody Dillon. Cody’s a good-looking high school dropout and he’s popular with some girls. But Izzy thinks the “bada#$” boys are the best ones. And even with Rob the Slob as proof that she’s wrong, Izzy won’t listen to anyone about Cody.

When Izzy’s mom chooses Rob the Slob over Izzy, Izzy thinks Cody Dillon is her ticket out of the mess of her life. Bad choice.

Chill

Although Chill has a disability, he doesn’t let it affect him. He’s a great artist and he works on his strengths. He stood up to bullies when he was a kid in elementary school, so by high school, people respect him. But then a new teacher comes to town. And he truly is a bully, not just to Chill, but also to all of the students in his class. He seems to want to break their spirits. But he acts like a completely different person around other teachers, so the staff has no clue.

Through his talent in painting, Chill is able to stand up to Mr. Sfinkter. (Yes, ha, ha. Great name.) His story s also the story of friendship and how to learn to forgive friends when they let you down.

The Bluford Series

The books in the Bluford series are connected. They all take place at Bluford High, and some of the same characters appear in various books. Some are sequels, but the series isn’t one continuous story. If you want to know which books are sequels, check the link here or look under “Readers’ Advisory” on Colony Library Lady. It has a list of all the books and a quick blurb about each one, which tells you which are sequels.

The Bluford books are a little longer—150-180 pages—so they are able to more fully develop the characters. You feel like you get to know some of them. They have very real high school problems. They have a subplot, or second story line so the world of Bluford High seems real, with multiple problems. If you read one, you may get hooked. (And that’s a good thing.)

Sample title:

Pretty Ugly

Jamee Wills feels like she can never live up to her parents’ expectations because her older sister, Darcy, is the smart one. Darcy studies hard and plans to get a scholarship to college next year when she is a senior.

Jamee loves cheerleading because she’s a talented athlete, good at jumps, dance steps and tumbling. But of she doesn’t keep up her grades, she’s going to fail math—and then it won’t matter if she makes the cheer squad. But in order to go to practice, she lies to her parents about staying after school to get help from her math teacher.

In cheer practice, it becomes obvious which girls are the school’s queen bees. Particularly awful is Vanessa Pierce. Vanessa makes fun of Angel, a shy girl who is trying out. She goes on to bully Angel. When Jamee stands up for Angel—and for what is right—she also becomes the target of Vanessa’s attacks. With all the girls afraid to stand up to Vanessa (or they will be next), the attacks become worse and include cyber-bullying.

I particularly liked Pretty Ugly because it shows how hard being an outsider in high school can be.

195 pp.

Brian’s parents have divorced and he is going to visit his father in Canada, flying in a small Cessna with a middle-age pilot whose name escapes him (Jim or Jake) The trip is alternately exciting and boring until the pilot has a heart attack and dies. Brian tries to call for help over the radio, but he does not know his flight number or location. Eventually his cries are not heard. When the plane runs out of gas, Brian has been preparing mentally to land as close to the edge of the lake as he can manage to steer.

Brian’s survival in the wilderness is never a certain bet. The book depicts the difficulty of his situation. The only useful tool he has is a hatchet his mother insisted he take. Things that work in the movies don’t work for him; whenever something does work, it is though patience and persistence. Lighting a fire or gathering food can take all day. Mosquitoes nearly eat Brian alive; he is sunburned and blistered and always hungry.

Some of Brian’s first food is raw snapping turtle eggs, and the details of his eating them provide a context for understanding what true hunger is. However, he learns new survival techniques each day and become more aware of his environment. Eventually he is able to spear fish and shoot ruffed grouse with a bow and arrow. When a tornado strikes, Brian’s “house” is ruined, and it’s easy to understand how basic live can become.

This is a good tale of maturing, of survival. It is a detailed description of all that Brian must do to continue to exist and seems very realistic. Many students read this one before they get to high school. If you haven’t read it, do so, just so that you have same experience in reading a good adventure book as the rest of your classmates. (It’s a ‘cultural literacy’ thing.) I don’t like when Paulsen seems to imitate Hemingway’s style, but it may appeal to others—and who knows? Maybe there’s a literary criticism essay on ‘style’ just waiting to be written.