58) Monte Carlo

Title:  Monte Carlo

Writer:  Kelly Bowe

Producers: Nicole Kidman, Denise Di Novi, Arnon Milchan; & Alison Greenspan

Director:  Thomas Bezucha

Year:  2011

Plot:  Texas senior, Grace and her friend Emma work as waitresses and have saved enough money for a trip to Paris after graduation.  Grace’s stepfather offers to pay for the trip if her stepsister, Meg, will also attend.  In Paris, the girls are left by their tour on top of the Eiffel Tower.  As they try to make their way back to the hotel, it begins to rain and they seek shelter in an upscale hotel.  At the hotel, Grace is mistaken for a British Heiress and flies off to Monte Carlo to take the heiress’s place.  The girls are able to fool the hosts in Monte Carlo and are find out more about who they really are.   

Review:  This is a movie that tween girls will fall in love with.  Grace, Emma and Meg get the chance to see a part of the world and explore their true identities through a small case of mistaken identity.  When the girls arrive in Paris they are disappointed by the rush of the tour and the state of the hotel they have taken.  Then the girls are left behind and their lives are changed forever.  The heiress, Cordelia, is a snob who decides to that she would rather spend time with her friends then help at a charity event for a school in Romania.  After a night in Cordelia’s hotel suite in Paris, the girls are flown on a private jet to Monte Carlo.  In Monte Carlo, the girls each meet someone that teaches them about what they really desire in life.  Emma realizes that her longtime boyfriend in Texas is the one for her, Meg meets Riley who helps her overcome the loss of her mother, and Grace meets Theo who shows her that people with money are willing to help those without money.  The storyline is great and the love stories are innocent.  Tween girls will love this movie and want to watch it over and over again.

Genre: Movie/Humor/Coming of Age

Interest Level: ages 9 and up

Related Shows: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; Bride Wars; Raise Your Voice.

Starring:

Selena Gomez as Grace Ann Bennett/Cordelia Winthrop Scott

Leighton Meester as Mary Margaret "Meg" Kelly

Katie Cassidy as Emma Danielle Perkins

Pierre Boulanger as Theo Marchand

Catherine Tate as Alicia Winthrop Scott

Luke Bracey as Riley

Cory Monteith as Owen Andrews

Andie MacDowell as Pamela Bennett-Kelly

Brett Cullen as Robert Kelly

Giulio Berruti as Prince Domenico Da Silvano

57) Faking Faith

Bibliography: Bloss, Josie; Faking Faith; Flux; New York; 2011; 240 pages; ISBN 978-0-73872-757-8.

Plot:  After a humiliating sexting incident and horrible breakup, Dylan has become an outcast at her high school.  Everyone ignores her and she has been abandoned by her two best friends.  Dylan’s only escape is reading the blogs of homeschooled fundamentalist Christian girls.  She figures she can pass as one of them and starts up her own blog as Faith.  She soon becomes very close to another girl, Abigail, and asks if Abigail’s family will host her for a couple weeks during summer vacation.  While staying with Abigail and her family, Dylan learns things about herself and learns the consequences of her actions as a false identity. 

Review:  This is such a great book.  I had tried reading Bloss' "Albatross" before, and was unable to get into it, but this book grabbed me.  It is told in first person narrative, giving the reader an inside look into Dylan's actions.  The story begins at a start of the year party where Dylan makes out with one of the popular boys.  Her actions lose are not supported by her two best friends and in the end Dylan alienates herself from them.  While her relationship with the popular boy does not last, her life is changed forever by dating him.  Her junior year of school ends in shambles.  Dylan is lonely and has been named the "school slut."  She has no friends and feels that the only thing worth value in her life is the internet.
Dylan stumbles upon the blogs of some homeschooled fundamentalist Christian girls.  She finds the life these girls’ leads fascinating and starts her own blog and a new identity.  Through her new identity, Dylan learns how to deal with the mistakes she made and is able to reconnect herself to the real world.

This book was so awesome!  Bloss shows the reader the importance of finding oneself.  This is a great book for young teens to read to inspire them.  The relationship that Dylan develops with Abigail is so interesting.  It gives Dylan the opportunity to re-evaluate her situation and come to realize her life isn't as bad as she believed it was.  The time that Dylan spends with the Dean family is so interesting.  Getting to learn a new viewpoint on the world is a great asset of the book.  While the book ends on a good note, I actually felt sad for Abigail and Asher.  I was hoping all through the book that Dylan would be able to influence Abigail into finding a different life.  Unfortunately, Abigail is devoted to her faith and the story ends with her devotion intact.  I would love to see what happens to Dylan and Asher in the future.  Bloss definitely left me wanting more on these two characters at the end of the book.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction/Coming of Age

Interest Level: age 12 and up

Related Books: Relative Strangers by Jean Ferris; Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden; Best Foot Forward by Joan Bauer

Reader’s Advisory:

When Dylan finds herself an outcast in her high school, she reaches out to find a new identity through blogging.  Blogging shows her a world she would have never experienced otherwise.

Author’s Website: http://josiebloss.com/

56) Dead End in Norvelt

Bibliography: Gantos, Jack; Dead End in Norvelt; Farrar Straus Giroux; New York; 2011; 341 pages; ISBN 978-0-374-37993-3.

Plot: Eleven year old Jack Gantos’ plans for an awesome summer are put on hold when he accidentally shoots his father’s Japanese sniper.  However, Jack has played with this rifle before and he knows all about gun safety, so how did a bullet get into the gun?  To get Jack out of the house, his mother loans him out to the neighbor, Mrs. Volker, who suffers from horrible arthritis and needs someone to pen the town obituaries.  Even though his mother thought working for Mrs. Volker will be even more punishment, Jack actually enjoys his job and gets to learn more about his favorite topic, history.  A gang of Hell’s Angels moves into town and before too long, it seems like someone is poisoning the original resident’s of Norvelt.  Surprisingly, this ends up being one of the most memorable summers of Jack’s life.

Review:  This novel is loosely based on true events that happened to Jack Gantos growing up in Norvelt, Pennsylvania.  Even though he is grounded for life, Jack is able to still experience some great changes that are happening in his town.  He is growing up in a town that was founded by Eleanor Roosevelt during the Great Depression.  However, the town is no longer prospering and is slowly being run into the ground.  There are a small few residents that were around when Mrs. Roosevelt first developed the town and are content to see it stay the way it is, including Mrs. Volker.  Mrs. Volker is determined to make sure that Norvelt will remain.  When the original members of the town start dying though it seems that her wishes will not last much longer. 

Jack is a very peculiar kid.  Since there are very few new members of Norvelt, he is one of a very small number of youngsters in the town.  He loves history and spends most of his time being grounded reading history books that his mother gets for free from the school.  He also has an issue with nose bleeds.  Anytime he gets scared or startled it starts flowing like a river down his face.

This is a very interesting novel.  Since it is loosely based on true events, the reader will be interested in guessing what is true and what is fiction.  The mystery part of this novel eluded me.  I kept waiting for more suspense, but I was let down.  I would actually suggest this novel to readers looking for humor.

Genre: Humor/Coming of Age/Historical/Mystery

Interest Level: age 9-12

Related Books: The Teacher’s Funeral by Richard Peck; Grounded by Kate Klise; Okay for Now by Gary D Schmidt.

Awards:

ALA Notable Children's Books - Older Readers Category: 2012

Newbery Medal: 2012

Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award

Author Information: http://www.jackgantos.com/

55) The Wednesday Wars

Bibliography: Schmidt, Gary D; The Wednesday Wars; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Boston/New York; 2007; 264 pages; ISBN 978-0-547-23760-2

Plot: Holling Hoodhood has just started seventh grade and his teacher, Mrs. Baker hates him.  On Wednesday afternoons Catholic students go to Catechism class and Jewish students go to Hebrew class.  Unfortunately, Holling is Presbyterian and will be the only remaining student for Mrs. Baker to look after. The first few Wednesdays Mrs. Baker makes Holling do classroom chores including cleaning erasers, cleaning the coat room, and cleaning out the rat cage.  Unfortunately, the rats get loose and Mrs. Baker realizes that Holling should learn something during the time they have together and assigns him Shakespeare plays.  Despite Holling’s first impression of Mrs. Baker, it doesn’t take long for the two to become close friends.  Taking place during the Vietnam War, readers will get a firsthand look at the issues that U.S citizens faced. 

Review:  This is a great story.  There is humor, drama, and a real life family dynamic.  Readers will be able to relate to Holling.  He is under the impression that his teacher hates him, just because of his inability to choose his religion.  When the story starts, Holling is forced to clean erasers and run various errands for Mrs. Baker.  It seems that he really is being tortured by Mrs. Baker when she makes him clean out the rat cage.  Despite his best efforts the rats escape and end up living in the ceiling tiles.  This is the first time readers see the vulnerability of Mrs. Baker.  It’s refreshing to see, since most teachers try to show they are infallible. 

Eventually, Mrs. Baker decides that the chores are doing nothing to break down Holling’s spirit and thinks that learning Shakespeare will help.  Holling is forced to read several plays by Shakespeare with Mrs. Baker instead of the chores, however, he ends up enjoying the various characters of the plays and he thinks that he has beat Mrs. Baker at her own game.  Through their Wednesday’s together, Mrs. Baker and Holling develop a deep kinship.  She helps him train for the cross country tryouts and he helps her get through the hardship of having a loved one away at war.  By the time the novel ends, readers will realize the impression a great teacher can make on a person’s life. 

This is a humorous novel, with glimpses into the impact the Vietnam War made on America.  Readers will be touched by the relationship between Holling and his friends, including Mrs. Baker.  They will also find themselves cheering for Holling as he fights to discover his true identity.

Genre: Coming of Age/Historical/Humor

Interest Level: age 9 to 12

Related Books: Where Have all the Flowers Gone? By Ellen Emerson White; The Agony of Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor; War & Watermelon by Rich Wallace.

Awards: 

Newberry Honor Book: 2008

ALA Notable Children's Books - Older Readers Category: 2008

Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Older Readers Category: 2007

Oprah's Kids' Reading Lists - New Releases: 12 Years and Up

Texas Lone Star Reading Lists: 2008

Author Information: http://www.hmhbooks.com/schmidt/

54) Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicholson

Bibliography: Rennison, Louise; Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicholson; Harper Tempest; London; 1999; 234 pages; ISBN 978-0-064-47227-2.

Plot: Georgia Nicolson has fourteen days left before summer holiday ends.  She has to figure out how she is going to wear “natural” looking makeup, fix her unibrow, correct her reputation from a costume party, and help her best friend get the boy of her dreams.  She ends up shaving off her eyebrows right before school starts and wonders if she will have to spend the term locked in her house for eternity.  Right before school starts her brows return and Georgia meets Robbie at a greengrocer.  However, Robbie has a girlfriend and Georgia begins her exploration in having a boyfriend through a couple of boys that only want to “snog.”  The book is told through Georgia’s journal entries, and readers will be laughing at the crazy predicaments that she finds herself in and her crazy family.

Review:  Georgia Nicolson is hilarious and the book reads like a young adult Bridget Jones.  Georgia’s family is enough to drive any tween or teen girl crazy.  Her Uncle and father think they are hilarious and try to include Georgia in their crazy ideas.  Her mother is trying very hard to keep her youth; however, she is only an embarrassment.  Georgia’s cat Angus is part wild and is constantly terrorizing the neighbor’s yappy dog.  Then there is Georgia’s baby sister Libby that is super cute but also a complete handful. 

Just like any other fourteen year old girl, Georgia finds her first crush in Robbie.  Unfortunately, Robbie is older and in a relationship.  Georgia refers to Robbie’s girlfriend as a “wet wally.”  Some of the British terms will stop readers, but thankfully there is a dictionary included.  A “wet wally” is defined as a drippy, useless, nerdy idiot that has no clothes sense.  In order to get over Robbie, Georgia starts seeing Peter, who only wants to make out with Georgia.  After Peter, Georgia starts seeing Mark who is another boy interested in nothing more than kissing.  Just when Georgia realizes that boys aren’t all that they are cracked up to be, she starts having to deal with friend trouble. 

Readers will love this book and luckily the first novel ends quite abruptly, making readers anxious to see what happens next. 

Genre: Humor/Coming of Age

Interest Level: age 12 and up

Related Books: Truth or Diary by Catherine Clark; The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot; Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen by Dyan Sheldon.

Awards:

Printz Honor Book for 2001

Nestle’ Smarties Book Prize

Series Information: This is the first book in a ten book series about Georgia Nicolson.

Author Information: http://www.georgianicolson.com/meet.html

53) Fame

Title:  Fame

Writer:  Allison Burnett

Producers: Mark Canton, Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg & Richard Wright

Director:  Kevin Tancharoen

Year:  2009

Plot:  Based on Fame 1980 by Alan Parker, Fame follows the students of New York City High School of the Performing Arts.  Students are selected through auditions in music, theater, and dance.  Students come from all walks of life to spend four years becoming the best they can be at their performing art.  The movie focuses on students from each performing art as they learn to challenge themselves and put their talent to the test.  Viewers will see the students fall in and out of love, create new friendships, and find their true identities. 

Review:  I grew up watching the original and was very weary of the remake of such an awesome and original film.  The new version of Fame does not live up to expectations.  I found the storylines hard to follow.  The new movie tries to include too many different story lines, rather than focus on just a couple select few.  The issues that the characters have to deal with are also downplayed in the remake.  The dancing has been updated to follow more a contemporary flow.  The music department is barely covered in the new movie.  The focus of music is in the chorus and through two characters that are trying to get a record deal.  The theater scenes are very close to the original scenes.  However, the characters seem much younger than the original version.  Tweens will enjoy the concept of Fame and like the music; however, they will be lost with the continuous back and forth between characters.  This movie could have benefited from a bigger focus on select main characters.

Genre: Movie/Musical/Drama

Interest Level: ages 9 and up

Related Shows: High School Musical; Bandslam; The Princess Diaries

Starring:

Students

Kay Panabaker as Jenny Garrison

Collins Pennie as Malik Washburn

Asher Book as Marco

Paul Iacono as Neil Baczynsky

Naturi Naughton as Denise

Anna Maria Perez de Taglé as Joy Moy

Paul McGill as Kevin Barrett

Kherington Payne as Alice Ellerton

Walter Perez as Victor Tavares

Kristy Flores as Rosie Martinez

Teachers and staff

Debbie Allen as Principal Angela Simms

Charles S. Dutton as Mr. Alvin Dowd

Bebe Neuwirth as Ms. Lynn Kraft

Megan Mullally as Ms. Fran Rowan

Kelsey Grammer as Mr. Joel Cranston

Movie Website: http://www.mgm.com/view/Movie/630/Fame-(2009)/

52) Good Luck Charlie: Season 1

Bibliography: Baker, P & Vaupen, D (Creator); Baker, P, Staley, D & Vaupen, D (Producers); Good Luck Charlie; Disney Channel; Original Run Date April 4, 2010 to Present.

Plot:  The Duncan’s are a family living in Denver, Colorado.  They have four children, PJ the oldest, Teddy the only daughter, and Gabe the youngest son.  They have just added a fourth child to their family, Charlie a baby girl.  The show follows the family as they adjust to the addition of a fourth child.  The mother, Amy, is a bit of a showoff and often gets herself and Charlie in trouble with other mothers, Gabe is against the idea of having to help care for Charlie and often find himself in sticky situations, PJ finds that having a baby sister can benefit him for good, and Teddy is so happy to have a sister that she has created a video diary to show the situations that Charlie may find herself in as a teen.  The Duncan’s are very eccentric but at the end of the day they couldn’t be happier with the family they have.

Review:  The first season sets the stage for the various personalities that will be shown throughout the series in the Duncan family.  PJ is the oldest sibling and he is portrayed as not very smart.  The show often highlights PJ’s naivety and makes it seem like he is not mature enough to be the oldest sibling of the family.  Gabe is also shown as quite immature.  In most episodes, Gabe is up to something and finds himself in several sticky situations, like when he has his first crush and decides to tell her that his parents are also divorced.  Teddy is a good student and is trying her hardest to set a good example for Charlie. 

Overall, I think this is a good show for families to watch together.  It shows the different dynamics of a family system. 

Genre: Humor/Coming of Age

Interest Level: age 8 and up

Related Shows: iCarly; Victorious; Shake it Up; How to Rock

Characters:

Teddy Duncan – protagonist, big sister

PJ Duncan – oldest sibling, absent minded

Gabe Duncan – third child, a troublemaker and prankster

Charlie Duncan – the fourth child, baby

Amy Duncan – mother, works as a hospital nurse

Bob Duncan – father, works as a bug exterminator

Awards:

British Academy Children’s Awards for Best TV Show in 2011

Official Website: http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/goodluckcharlie/

51) VicTORIous: Season 3

Bibliography: Schneider, D. (Creator); Schneider, D., Bell, W., & Weiner, R. (Producers); VicTORIous; Nickelodeon; Original Run Date March 27, 2010 to Present.

Plot: Teenager, Tori Vega has recently been accepted to the Hollywood Arts High School, a high school for teens interested in the various performing arts fields.  The show follows Tori as she finds her place at Hollywood Arts.  The show shows Tori’s various crazy adventures and interactions with the different students at Hollywood Arts.  Tori’s friends include Andre, a musical prodigy, Robbie, a ventriloquist, Jade, a mean girl who has a love hate relationship with Tori, Cat, a naïve and sweet spirited girl, and Beck, a musician.  In season three, the friends have all found their place in their social group and they must also deal with the breakup of Jade and Beck’s relationship. 

Review:  In the third season, the group is older and has been friends for some time now.  Even though Jade and Beck breakup in the third episode, the group dynamic does not change or even shows that the breakup has any effect on them.  Tori is the leader of the group and I wonder if any of them would be friends if she had not come to Hollywood Arts.  The characters are all very different, which is refreshing to see teens being friends despite these differences, but there are still the stereotypes.  Jade is extremely mean spirited and even though she hangs around the group, she treats Tori and Cat as if they are no more than minions that she deals with regularly.  Cat is portrayed as nothing more than a dumb pretty girl.  I wish that producers would stop casting this character.  It does nothing to promote teen and tween girl’s self worth.

Tweens and teens love this show.  While it is humorous to see the different situations that the group gets into, I feel that the main pull of this show is the music.  Both Tori and Andre are very driven in their desire to be singers and the show highlights this in several episodes.  Otherwise, the show does nothing to inspire girls’ to be more than the popular one, the dumb one, or the mean one.

Genre: Humor/Coming of Age/Musical

Interest Level: age 10 and up

Related Shows: iCarly; Victorious; Shake it Up; How to Rock

Characters:

Victoria Justice as Tori Vega – the main character

Leon Thomas III as Andre Harris

Matt Bennett as Robbie Shapiro

Elizabeth Giles as Jade West

Ariana Grande as Cat Valentine

Avan Jogia as Beck Oliver

Daniella Monet as Trina Vega

Awards: Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite TV Show in 2012 

Official Website: http://www.nick.com/shows/victorious

45) Mercy Lily

Bibliography: Albert, Lisa; Mercy Lily; Flux; Woodbury, MN; 2011; 232 pages; ISBN 978-0-7387-2699-1.

Plot: Sixteen year old, Lily has been taking care of her mother for the last four years.  Her father passed away when she was 12 and Lily, has been helping her mother deal with multiple sclerosis ever since.  Lily’s mother was not responsive to normal MS treatment, so Lily has been giving her bee venom therapy.  Her mother is currently up to twelve stings and it seems to not be helping at all.  On a beautiful spring morning, Lily’s mother asks her to sting her sixteen times and if she has a reaction to not resuscitate her.  Lily is scared, but knows that her mother is suffering.  Mercy Lily is the story of Lily’s quest to help her mother get through the horrible disease of multiple sclerosis.

Review:   I picked up this book to focus on older readers and readers that like to read about issues that could happen in their own life.  I was floored by the story line.  Lily is only sixteen and she is giving her mother bee sting therapy!  Then to make matters worse, her mother is giving up on life and asks Lily to help her!  This book handles a very heavy topic and should be read by older readers. 

When the story opens, the reader learns of Lily’s mothers request to end her life.  Immediately, Albert takes the reader deep into Lily’s world.  We also learn that Lily has no friends.  Ever since her father passed away, Lily has been the sole caregiver to her mother, which has made it hard for Lily to connect with teens her own age.  Lily is dealing with this huge request on her own.  Slowly, Lily starts to reconnect with her past friends and develops great friendships in Trent and Shauna.  Both of them are there for Lily and help her with the pressure she is feeling taking care of her mother and their farm. 

Even though I loved this book, I had an issue with the number of editing errors in the book.  At one point they were so often that I found myself focusing on the errors rather than the storyline.  This book would benefit from a good editor.  Otherwise, teens will fall in love with Lily and feel her pain as she goes through this difficult time.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction; Coming of Age; Problem Novel

Interest Level: age 12 and up

Related Books:  Bluefish by Pat Schmatz; The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth.

Characters: 

Lily – the protagonist, narrator

Sylvia – Lily’s mother

Jed – the bus driver and only adult that Lily trusts

Shauna – Lily’s old best friend that comes back around in the novel

Trent – Lily’s known him since they were 5 and he becomes a great support for Lily

Author Information: http://www.lisaalbert.com/

29) A.N.T Farm

Bibliography: Signer, D. (Creator); Signer, D. & Engel, S. (Producers); A.N.T Farm; Disney Channel; Original Run Date May 6, 2011 to Present.

Plot: A.N.T Farm tells the story of the newest member to the group, Chyna Parks.  A.N.T stands for Advanced Natural Talent.  Each member of the group has exceptional talent in different subjects.  Chyna is advanced in music, her friend Olive has an eidetic memory, and her friend Fletcher is an artistic genius.  The A.N.T group gets picked on due to their being younger and smaller than the other students at Webster High School.  The show features Chyna and her friends experiencing new things and using their special talents to the best of their abilities.

Review:

Episode “Ballet Danster”

In this episode a new girl joins the A.N.T group.  Violet is a sports prodigy and is quite violent.  Immediately, Violet causes a stir with the older kids and gets on Lexi’s bad side.  Lexi informs Chyna that it is her job to keep Violet as far away from her as possible.  The A.N.T group tries to mellow Violet out with their talents, but nothing seems to work.  When Violet decides to join ballet, Chyna and her friends must figure out a way for Violet and Lexi to be in the ballet together.

Episode “Some Enchanted Evening”

Olive convinces Chyna to lie to Fletcher and tell him she has a boyfriend.  Unfortunately, this has ill effects when Olive sets up Chyna and Fletcher on a double date.  Chyna and Fletcher must find a fake boyfriend and girlfriend or give up the truth. 

Elsewhere, Lexi and the cheerleaders get a new coach right before their big Pom Pom competition.  When it becomes apparent that the new coach has no experience in cheerleading, they fire the coach just in time to get a routine together for the competition.

This show is quite humorous and tweens will love the characters.  Luckily, Disney has created several different characters for tweens to relate to.  Unlike some other shows, Disney is highlighting the underdog, something that tweens will enjoy.

Genre: Humor/Coming of Age

Interest Level: age 9 and up

Related Shows: iCarly; Victorious; Shake it Up; How to Rock

Characters: 

Chyna Parks is the main character of the show.  The show features her brother and family in several episodes.

Olive Doyle remembers everything she has ever read, heard, or seen. 

Fletcher Quimby is an artistic genius including sculpture, painting, and drawing.  He is in love with Chyna.

Lexi Reed is the most popular girl in school.  She is Chyna’s rival.

Cameron Parks is Chyna’s brother and pretends they are not related at school.

Official Website: http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/antfarm/

25) The Misfits

Bibliography: Howe, James; The Misfits; Aladdin Paperbacks; New York; 2001; 274 pages; ISBN 0-689-83956-1.

Plot: Bobby is sick of the names that everyone calls him at school.  When his friend Addie decides to start up a third political party for the school elections, he suggests that instead of fighting for freedom they fight to stop name calling.  Bobby and his three friends, also known as the Gang of Five, start a list of all the names they have been called ever since kindergarten.  This list contains 72 names.  Seeing this, the group decides to stand up against bullying and creates the No-Name Political Party.

 

Review:  I found this book so inspiring. Everyone can relate to being called a name at some time or another.  Maybe the name is as simple as “geek” or as cruel as “fatso.”  No matter the name, it starts to define that person’s character.  Bobby and his friends are sick of being called names and they decide to stand up for what they know is right.  This book should be used in every middle school to show students the effects of the words they say. 

Bobby is a great person to have narrate this novel.  Even though he has been affected by the names he has been called, he still has the right frame of mind to know how to deal with it properly.  If this book had been narrated by Addie, not as many students would find inspiration in the novel.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction/Coming of Age

Interest Level: age 10-14

Related Books: Rivals by Tim Green; Revenge of the Snob Squad by Julie Anne Peters; Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff.

Characters: 

Bobby – the narrator

Joe – Bobby’s friend.  He is gay.

Addie – Bobby’s friend since birth.  She wants to change the world starting with the middle school.

Skeezie – Bobby’s friend.

Author Information: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/james-howe

21) I, Emma Freke

Bibliography: Atkinson, Elizabeth; I, Emma Freke; Carolrhoda Books; Minneapolis; 2010; 233 pages; ISBN 978-0-7613-5604-2.

Plot: Emma Freke is a social outcast.  She had friends when she was younger, but one summer she grew taller than all of her classmates and her hair turned bright red.  She has become a recluse due to everyone at school making fun of her and thinking that she is a freak.  Emma has never met her father and her mother would rather run around dating men than be a mother to Emma.  Emma feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere.  When Emma tells her mother this, her mother shows her an invitation to a reunion of her father’s side of the family.  At the family reunion, Emma comes out of her shell and meets her place in the world.

Review:  Emma Freke is a different type of character.  She is smart and strong willed.  Even though she believes that her name is her identity, she is willing to find solace in anything.  I found myself empathizing with Emma.  She is close to six feet tall in the sixth grade.  The only place she fits in is in her mother’s bead shop, where she basically runs the business.  She has met her father, and her mother has always avoided the topic when Emma asks. 

Emma’s only friend is Penelope, an adopted child of two older women.  Penelope is the complete opposite of Emma.  She is outgoing and friendly and open to anything.  Emma always wonders how Penelope can be so open and friendly.  At times she gets embarrassed of Penelope’s openness.  Penelope is the perfect friend for Emma.

When Emma goes to her family reunion she finally finds her place in the world.  She finds people that look just like her.  She learns to be open and stand up for herself.  She also learns that they pronounce the last name Frecky instead of Freak.  By learning this new pronunciation, Emma realizes that a name is only a name and doesn’t define a person’s character.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction/Coming of Age

Interest Level: age 9-12

Related Books: Planet Middle School by Nikki Grimes; Little Divas by Philana Marie Boles; My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath

Awards:

Moonbeam Award: Gold Medal for Pre-teen Fiction

Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of 2011

Author Information: http://elizabethatkinson.com/?page_id=1010

20) Mallory's Guide to Boys, Brothers, Dads, and Dogs

Bibliography: .Friedman, Laurie; Mallory’s Guide to Boys, Brothers, Dads, and Dogs; Darby Creek; Minneapolis; 2011; 159 pages; ISBN 978-0-7613-5250-1.

Plot: Mallory has a problem.  She likes a boy, but that boy doesn’t know who she is and he is also older than her.  It doesn’t take long for her obsession with her crush, JT, to monopolize her mind.  This causes even more trouble for Mallory.  Pretty soon she’s failing math and has to have a parent teacher conference.  She gets grounded and then finds herself in even more trouble.  Mallory must learn how to manage her school work, her crush, her brother, her dad and her brother’s dog. 

Review:  This is a great book for grade school girls.  So many times young girls get caught up in having a crush on a boy, and then that crush monopolizes their mind.  Many tween girls will see themselves in Mallory’s character.  They will be able to relate to the issues that arise in Mallory’s life.  This book is number fifteen in the series.  Since tweens enjoy series, this is a great one to suggest to new readers.  Mallory is a great narrator and tweens will love her antics, as well as, learn a great lesson for the future.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction/Coming of Age

Interest Level: age 9-12

Related Books: Starting with Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor; Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson; Say What? By Margaret Peterson Haddix

Characters: 

Mallory – the protagonist

JT – Mallory’s crush

Max – Mallory’s brother

Maryann – Mallory’s best friend

Cheeseburger – the cat

Chomp – the dog

Author Information: http://www.mallorymcdonald.com/

18) The Future of Us

Bibliography: Asher, Jay & Mackler, Carolyn; The Future of Us; Razorbill; New York; 2011; 356 pages; ISBN 978-1595144911.

Plot: It’s 1996 and Emma has just received her first computer from her father.  Her neighbor, Josh, gives her a free AOL CD his family received in the mail.  After Emma signs up for AOL, things turn a bit weird.  Emma is sent to a page called Facebook, and the profile is of her fifteen years in the future.  While exploring this new website, Emma learns things about her future, such as her husband, her career, and her friends. Soon Emma and Josh set out to try to set into motion what they see on their future Facebook pages, but it doesn’t take long for them to realize even the smallest thing can change their whole future. 

Review:  This book brought back so many memories for me.  I would have been the same age as Josh during this novel.  The authors stayed true to the time.  I can remember how into Looney Tunes everyone was during the 90s.  So many people walked around with stickers or drawings of the characters on their binders and notebooks.  I also remember the countries obsession with Seinfeld.  My parents would have thrown a fit if I had messed up their recording.  This book was so much fun to read just to remember all of these things from my high school days.

I really liked the main characters.  Emma was uptight and totally what most high school girls are like at that age.  They want to be able to end up with the hottest guy in school, even though most have never even talked to him.  I liked how unlike many high school girls, Emma took matters into her own hands and tried to make a relationship out of her crush.  Even though she changed who she was to make herself more attractive to him, she did what most girls that age would do.  At that age all that matters is being seen and she wanted to be seen.  High school girls change so much throughout their time in high school, that I wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed for Emma.  I actually understood what she was going through.  It’s tough trying to find your place in the world.

Josh was also a great character.  He was a great foil for Emma.  While he also tried to take things into his own hands, he realized who he really was.  He truly loved Emma and nothing was going to change that.

This was a great book, and I hope that many read it just to see that even though the technology has changed, the characters remain the same.  Everyone in high school is trying to find themselves, and this book shows that even though it may be hard, no one is doing it alone.

Genre: Science Fiction/Coming of Age

Interest Level: age 12 and up

Related Books: Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski; Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver; The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty

Characters: 

Emma & Josh – the protagonists

Kellen – Emma’s best friend

Tyson – Josh’s best friend

Author Information: http://jayasher.blogspot.com/p/author-info.html & http://carolynmackler.com/Carolyn-Mackler-Story.asp