The Giver

The Giver

By Lois Lowry

Interest Level: Grades 5+

Reading Level: 5+

Jonas lives in the Community, where Sameness is valued above all else. In the Community, there is no pain or fear and there is little to worry about. Each child is given certain identical privileges as they progress from one year to the next, with all children celebrating their year at the same time. Children are not born to their parents, but are raised by married couples who are matched based on compatibility once they apply for children and every family is perfectly balanced with one boy and one girl child. Jonas, like all other Elevens who are about to become Twelves, is very curious about what job he'll be assigned at this year's Ceremony of Twelves. When he is passed over he experiences confusion and then shock when it is revealed that he will be the Community's next "Receiver of Memories." His days are vastly different than he expected as memories are passed on to him by the Giver- the previous Receiver of Memories. As he receives these memories he comes to realize that the peace and stability of the Community are because the residents have no memories of anything else. Jonas and the Giver decide that for the good of the Community Jonas must leave so that the memories will be released for all to experience while the Giver will remain behind to help the Community deal with this sudden influx of memories.

This is a complex book with complex themes. Readers will be asked to question the importance of memories, of individuality, and to look at the differences between right and wrong, good and bad. The discussion of what one would be willing to give up to eliminate pain, fear and conflict will come up as well as the idea of what it means to be human and to live life. I've read this book several times and each time am always stunned by the emotion it still elicits. Younger readers will likely take something completely different away from the book than will older readers, but both equally enjoy it. Readers will want to pick up Gathering Blue and Messenger when they are finished with this one.

Lowry, L. (1993). The Giver. Boston, MA. Houghton Mifflin.

The lions of Little Rock

The lions of Little Rock

By Kristin Levine

Interest level: Grades 5-8

It's 1958 in Little Rock Arkansas. This is the summer the governor has decided to ignore integration orders and to instead close Little Rock's high schools. Tensions are high and people, including those in the same family, do not always stand on the same side of the issues. Twelve-year old Marlee Nesbitt has one of those families. Her parents are both teachers- her dad at a junior high and her mom at a high school. Marlee prefers not to talk. It's not that she doesn't have plenty to say, it's that she prefers not to say them out loud. Then she meets Liz, the new girl at school who always seems to know the right thing to say at the right time. Liz decides she's going to help Marlee find her words, but then it comes out that Liz is a colored girl passing for white so that she can go to Marlee's all-white junior high.

The rest of the story follows not only the history and politics of the time, but also Marlee's growth as a person as she learns to fight for what she believes in. This story clearly and accurately portrays the struggles present in our nation at this painful time in history. Levine's characters on both sides of the segregation issue are well developed and believable.  Pair with Through my eyes by Ruby Bridges.

This advance copy was received from the publisher for review with no compensation. Publication date Jan. 2012.

Levine, K. (2012). The lions of Little Rock. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Epoch

 

Epoch  by Timothy Carter

Interest Level: Grades 6+

Reading Level: 4+

Fourteen-year old Vincent Drear is living in interesting times. Society as a whole has accepted that the world is at the End of Times and many religions have popped up claiming to be the true way to be Saved. Vincent's family are part of the fundamentalist Triumverates and spend their time protesting movies about boy wizards and handing out leaflets. Vincent doesn't believe quite as fervently as his parents or his older brother and because of this spends a lot of time locked in the family chapel. His latest offense is that he didn't preach the Triumverate word at his school's "End of World Science Fair" but being locked in the chapel isn't his biggest problem- it's the strange elf-like creature he spotted under one of the displays!


He soon finds that most humans don't see magical creatures and his ability to has captured the interest of the elves, who implant a ladybug creature in his nose to cause him pain if he doesn't do as they ask. Vincent soon finds out that the world will be ending in two days so that a new Epoch can be entered- complete with a new dominant species. It's up to him to find the portal out of this world or risk all humanity being eaten by demons. This is a funny, irreverent look at religion that will have readers laughing out loud at some of the antics- if they aren't offended.

Carter, T. (2007). Epoch. Woodbury, MN: Flux.

Country girl, city girl

Country girl, city girl 

By Lisa Jahn-Clough

Interest Level: Grades 6+

Reading Level: 4+

It's the summer before eighth grade and Phoebe is a small town farm girl, being raised by her widower father. She's doesn't have a single friend her own age and she's okay with that- she has her goats, her books and her photography. Then comes the phone call from Gerelyn, Phoebe's mom's best friend and college roommate. She's recently tried to commit suicide, is going to be going away for a bit to seek help and needs someone to care for her daughter Melita. When Phoebe learns that Melita will be staying with their family for a bit she's not at all happy about the prospect of losing her solitude and especially from someone from New York with whom she's sure she'll have nothing in common.

Melita enters as a whirlwind, vastly more stylish than Phoebe,who gets her clothes from the Goodwill, and definitely more worldly. Phoebe is instantly entranced. When Melita finds out that Phoebe has never kissed a boy she offers to help her practice. The emotions that arise from their practice kissing sessions confuse Phoebe and come to a head when she later visits Melita in New York only to find that Melita has a boyfriend. This novel tackles the sensitive issue of budding sexuality in a way that rings very true. While budding lesbianism is definitely part of the story, it's not the only one nor necessarily the most important one and Jahn-Clough does a fantastic job of placing it within its proper context.

Jahn-Clough, L. (2004). Country girl, city girl. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Cinder

 

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Interest Level: Grades 7+

Reading Level: 5+

As is apparent by the title and cover art, this book is a retelling of the classic tale of Cinderella. Cinder is a gifted mechanic and a cyborg, living in New Beijing after World War IV with her mother and two stepsisters. She's an unwanted member of the family by all but her youngest stepsister, hated because she was being brought home by her stepfather for the first time when he was killed in an accident. But her talents bring home money so she's tolerated, but just barely.

Things really become interesting when Cinder meets Prince Kai, soon to be Emperor of New Beijing, who visits her stall in the market to have his tutor robot repaired. Although he shows interest in Cinder she rebuffs him because she's a cyborg and he doesn't know it. Add to the story a pandemic plague that both the Emperor and Cinder's young stepsister are struck with, Cinder's unusual immunity to the plague, inhabitants of the moon who can change people's will with their thoughts, and Cinder's mysterious past and you have a story that will keep readers interested and waiting for the next installment.

Advanced Reader copy received without compensation. Publication date January, 2012

Meyer, Marissa. (2012). Cinder. New York, NY: Feiwel & Friends. 

How I found the Strong

How I found the Strong  by Margaret McMullan

Interest Level: Grades 5-8

Reading Level: 4+

Ten-year old "Shanks" Russell is a Southerner, living in Mississippi at the start of the Civil War. His given name is Frank, but his he was given this nickname which he despises by his Pa because of his small skinny legs. Shanks wants nothing more than to be like his Pa and to have the closeness Pa shares with Henry, Shanks older brother. When the war is declared, Pa and Henry take up arms against the North leaving Shanks behind with Ma, Grandma, Grandpa, and Buck- their slave.

The story that follows is one of hard times, death both in the battlefield and at home, the unexpected birth of a baby sister, and hunger as livestock is taken to fuel the war. When Pa returns it's minus an arm, some toes and Henry. He finds his family has no money and is down to their last ham bone, no corn, and only the peels from potatoes to make him a homecoming feast. He also finds that other Confederates are intent on taking their anger at slowly losing the war out on the slaves that remain and Buck is now a target. This novel is based on a family memoir found by the author and is a powerful reminder of the brutality of war, particularly our nation's Civil War. 

McMullan, M. (2004). How I found the Strong. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

The Higher Power of Lucky

•  
• The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron 
• Interest Level: Grades 4-7
• Reading Level: 5+

Ten year old Lucky's mom has died in a freak accident. Her absent father has arranged for his French ex-wife, Brigette, to come to California so that she can act as Lucky's guardian. Lucky is worried that Brigette might leave at any time to return to France and this has Lucky's searching for her Higher Power, which she's learned of from listening on the twelve-step meetings she cleans up after and feeling that she's hit her rock bottom.

The story is set in Hard Pan (pop. 43), a town in the Mojave where many quirky characters live. Lucky decides to run away during a dust storm and while hiding in an old mining cave she finds 5-year old Miles- also motherless- and must save him from the storm. Here she learns what it means to care for another and to be cared for by those who love her. This is a gentle story that readers of Betty Birney's Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs will thoroughly enjoy.

Patron, S. (2006). The Higher Power of Lucky. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Unwind

 

Unwind  by Neal Shusterman

Interest Level: Grade 7+

Reading Level: 5+

This dystopian novel, set sometime in America's future takes place after the Heartland Wars. This second civil war was waged between Pro-life and Pro-choice armies, with the U.S. Army attempting to mediate. To end the war the "Bill of Life" was created, which allows parents to have their children "unwound" between the ages of 13 and 17. Unwinding is said not to end the teens life, but instead put them in a divided state. Unwinding is the harvesting of all the body parts of the child to be used as donor parts for sick or injured people.

The story is told in alternating chapters primarily by fifteen year old Connor whose parents have signed his Unwind orders, Risa an orphaned ward of the state who is deemed not a talented enough pianist to be supported any longer, and Levi who was raised in a religious family as a tithe. Their lives collide in an accident while all three are on their way the harvesting camps and the story that ensues is one that will be sure to bring up a lot of conversation about abortion, human rights, organ donation and more.

Shusterman, N. (2007). Unwind. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Eleven

 

Eleven 

By Lauren Myracle

Reading Level: 4.0+

Interest Level: 8-12

Winnie is a 5th grade girl on the brink of her 11th birthday. This story opens in March, as Winnie prepares for her 11th birthday party. She's happy with her life and content with the relationship that she and her best friend Amanda have. However, she's very aware that there are some shifts going on in with other girls around her. Where they all used to play make-believe, some of the girls now consider that too babyish. Even Amanda, who is happy to play when no one else is around, is embarrassed by Winnie's public silliness and instead wants to read the latest Seventeen magazine or try on perfume. When a new girl moves in and befriends Amanda, their friendship and those of the other girls in their grade, shift and change as is so common especially at this age.

Each chapter in this book chronicles a month in Winnie's life, spanning the end of 5th grade and moving in to 6th. This unique approach to telling the story is an effective one, providing a timeline that the reader can relate to by applying it to their own youth. Some things are funny and others are painful, but they all ring true. Many girls will see themselves in one of these characters and will be anxiously looking for the next installment in this series.

Myracle, L. (2004). Eleven. New York, NY: Dutton Children's Books.

The future of us

 The future of us

by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

IL: Grades 7and up

RL: 5+

**This book is scheduled to be released November, 2011** ARC provided by the publisher for review with no compensation.**

It's 1996 and Emma's dad has just sent her a computer. Her next door neighbor Josh- who was also her best friend until a recent awkward moment-visits Emma for the first time in a while to deliver an AOL CD-ROM on his mom's behalf so that she can load it to her computer and go online at home for the first time. When she loads the disc, rather than being greeted by the standard AOL homepage, Emma finds herself on Facebook. Unsure of what she's stumbled upon, she shows Josh the website and the two quickly realize that what they are seeing is their respective lives in 15 years. Both are married in this future- Josh to the hottest girl at school and Emma unhappily to someone unknown. When Emma makes a small change to her present life and sees that her Facebook page has changed, she and Josh realize that what they do now will affect their future lives. Emma becomes obsessed with doing things to make her future self happy. Unfortunately these changes also affect Josh's future self a development that makes him very unhappy.

This story addresses the very basic concept of how one's actions today affect their future life but adds the interesting platform of Facebook, which is almost universally known, making it more relevant to the young reader. Asher and Mackler did a fantastic job of alternating chapters and while there are no big surprises, it is an engaging read that will hold most readers' interest.

Asher, J. & Mackler, C. (2011). The future of us.  New York, NY: Razorbill.