American Born Chinese - Gene Luen Yang

Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. New York: First Second, 2006. $19.95. Hardcover. ISBN: 9781415688786.
Recommended for Grades 6 and up.

Do you enjoy graphic novels? Do you like funny stories with lots of action? Then American Born Chinese is for you!

This quick paced novel includes three separate tales. The first is the Chinese folklore of a monkey king who wishes to be powerful and in control of his destiny. The second is about a middle school Chinese boy who often finds himself the butt of his school mates' racial jokes. The third tale uses cultural stereotypes as one boy attempts to fit in at high school only to have his cousin from China come visit and embarrass him in front of his new friends. In the end these three stories are weaved together for a startling conclusion. A mixture of fantasy and realism, packed full of humor and action, American Born Chinese will not disappoint!


Awards/Honors
Young People's Literature National Book Award Finalist - 2006
Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album - 2007
Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year - 2007
ALA Michael L. Printz Award Winner - 2007
NPR Young Adult Fiction Finalist - 2012

Picture from The New York Times

Teen Talk with Rebekah

"I have read the Hunger Games. I like the adventure and the strategy. And the Danger." ~ Rebekah S., age 14

Rebekah is currently reading...

Cover art from indiebound.com

For the full interview with Rebekah and other teens visit the Teen Talk Page.

Upstate - Kalisha Buckhanon

Cover art from Goodreads.com

Buckhanon, Kalisha. Upstate. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2005. $19.95 Hardback (247p) ISBN:9780312332686.

Recommended for ages 14+.

Upstate is told through letters. The letters of seventeen-year-old Antonio from jail, the boy who has been accused of a violent crime that could potentially lead to a lifetime behind bars. And the letters of sixteen-year-old Natasha from her home in the Harlem hood, the girl who loves Antonio and promises to stick by him no matter what. The letters tell of the passionate relationship these two share and provide background into life in the hood.  Though the couple’s writing the reader is given an intimate view into the hopes and dreams of both Antonio and Natasha. These letters cover a span of nine years and detail the growth of each character. The result is a heartbreaking and utterly unforgettable tale.

Awards/Honors

ALA Alex Award Winner - 2006
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults - 2006
Audie Award Winner Literary Fiction - 2006
YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Hard Knock Life - 2010

Here is an excerpt from the audiobook:

Airhead - Meg Cabot

Cover art from megcabot.com

"I honestly don't think you have a right to complain. You went into my surgery a grievously injured girl and came out a supermodel! Millions of girls would die -- literally -- to be in your shoes right now!" (p.165)


Cabot, Meg. Airhead. New York: Point, 2008. $16.99 Hardback (340p) ISBN:9780545040525.
Recommended for ages 12-16.


Em Watts is a brainy, t-shirt and jeans wearing, video game-loving seventeen year old girl. She has little interest in the latest trends, preferring to spend her spare time gaming with her best friend, Christopher – the boy she secretly has a crush on. All this changes when a freak accident causes Em’s brain to wind up in supermodel Nikki Howard’s body. To all except her immediate family Em Watts is dead. Now instead of studying and gaming, Em is busy modeling for magazine covers and signing autographs as Nikki Howard. She has all the clothes, shoes, and accessories a girl could want but she no longer has Christopher in her life. She can’t disclose her secret so her only choice is to convince Christopher that Nikki Howard is not just another pretty Airhead.


Awards/Honors
YALSA Popular Paperback nominee - 2010

The rest of the Airhead series:

Watersmeet- Ellen Jensen Abbott

Cover art from indiebound.org

Abbott, Ellen Jensen. Watersmeet. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish, 2009.  $8.99 Paperback (341p) ISBN:978076145997. Recommended for ages 12 and up.

Her only hope of survival lies in Watersmeet but getting there will mean overcoming her own deeply engraved prejudices and trusting those whom she once despised.

With her dark hair and green eyes, Abisina has been an outcast since birth. Never allowed to talk or merely make eye contact with the blonde, blue-eyed, fair skinned villagers. Only her mother's (Sina) status as the village's sole healer has kept Abisina alive for this long, living in Vranille behind tall walls to keep out the beasts - the dwarfs, the centaurs. When the annual Ritual takes place this year not even Sina's status can keep her daughter safe within the village. With her mother's prized necklace Abisina sets off to find her father at Watersmeet. Getting there will require trusting those she previously had intolerance for. Getting there will mean confronting her deepest fears. Getting there will require Abisina to look deep into herself and discover her own power. In this dark world full of hatred and violence there lies a land full of love and acceptance. Will Abisina find it in time?


Awards/Honors
IRA Young Adult Award Notable Book
YALSA Teens' Top Ten Nominee
Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award - 2011

This is a trilogy. The next title is The Centaur's Daughter.

Cover art from indiebound.org

The last book is currently being called The Keeper and will be released fall 2013. 

Visit the author's blog for up-to-date information on this series.

Teen Talk with Wendy

"I love to read! It's like I go to another land and relax."              

~ Wendy L., age 16       

Wendy recommends The Golden Compass Trilogy by Philip Pullman.

"It's amazingly catchy and it's well written."

Cover art from goodreads.com

For the full interview with Wendy and other teens visit the Teen Talk Page.

The Frenzy - Francesca Lia Block

Cover art from Goodreads.com

“At some point in everyone’s life they ask the question, “Who am I?”

Four years ago when I turned thirteen I asked the question, “What am I?”

I had changed.

But I didn’t know how or why, or what I had become.” (p.1)

Block, Francesca Lia. The Frenzy. New York: HarperTeen, 2010.  $16.99 Hardback (258p) ISBN:9780061926662.

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

Liv is living in a small town where different is not accepted. It’s bad enough that she has to hide her interracial relationship with her boyfriend, Corey, and a secret for her best friend, Pace. Now she also must hide who she truly is. But who is she? Or maybe the question is what is she? This is the question she has been asking herself the last four years since the frenzy took hold. The frenzy occurs anytime Liv begins to lose her temper. In these times a great anger overtakes her and she becomes someone she cannot recognize. As Liv tries to keep her emotions under control, her father, the chief of police, is trying to solve a string of murders that have taken place behind her home. Are these events connected? As Liv draws closer to the truth, a mysterious woman is watching her from afar. What does this woman know? As Liv begins to unravel her true identity, both Pace and Corey seem to grow more distant. Can her relationship with Corey and her friendship with Pace survive The Frenzy? 


Awards/Honors
Margaret A. Edwards Award Winner - 2005

Hear Francesca Lia Block read the first chapter of this book.