Lexacat's Booklists

Country Houses and Aristocrats

2012-01-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

Title	Author		Genre
The Head of the House of Coombe	Frances Hodgson	Burnett	adult fiction
Pride and Avarice	Nicholas	Coleridge	adult fiction
Palace Circle	Rebecca	Dean	adult fiction
Troubles	J.G.	Farrell	adult fiction
Snobs	Julian	Fellowes	adult fiction
Fall of Giants	Ken	Follett	adult fiction
Do try to speak as we do	Marilyn	Ford	adult fiction
Howard's End	E.M.	Forster	adult fiction
A Room With a View	E.M.	Forster	adult fiction
The Forsyte Saga	John	Galsworthy	adult fiction
Cold Comfort Farm	Stella	Gibbons	adult fiction
The American Heiress	Daisy	Goodwin	adult fiction
Gone With The Windsors	Laurie	Graham	adult fiction
The Observations	Jane	Harris	adult fiction
The Remains of the Day	Kazuo	Ishiguro	adult fiction
Fiennders Keepers	Jean	Marsh	adult fiction
The House of Elliot	Jean	Marsh	adult fiction
Love in a Cold Climate	Nancy	Mitford	adult fiction
The House at Riverton	Kate	Morton	adult fiction
The Granville Legacy	Una	Parker	adult fiction
Anything by Saki	Hector Hugh Munro	Saki	adult fiction
I capture the castle	Dodie	Smith	adult fiction
The House at Tyneford	Natasha	Solomons	adult fiction
The Little Stranger	Sarah	Waters	adult fiction
Brideshead Revisited	Evelyn	Waugh	adult fiction
Decline and Fall	Evelyn	Waugh	adult fiction
Bertie Wooster and Jeeves series	P.G.	Wodehouse	adult fiction
Wallis and Edward	Michael	Bloch	biography
The Duchess of Windsor	Michael	Bloch	biography
Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey	Countess of	Carvarvon	biography
Rose: My Life in Service to Lady Astor	Rosina	Harrison	biography
Saki	A.J.	Languth	biography
Wodehouse	Robert	McCrumb	biography
Wait for Me! Memoirs	Deborah	Mitford	biography
The Young Churchill	Celia Sandys	Sandys	biography
American Jennie	Anne	Sebba	biography
Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt	Amanda	Stuart	biography
The Disastrous Mrs Weldon	Brian	Thomoson	biography
King Edward VIII	Philip	Ziegler	biography
Atonement			DVD
Brideshead Revisited			DVD	2008
Brideshead Revisited			DVD	1981
Foyle's War			DVD
Gosford Park			DVD
The Buccaneers			DVD
The Duchess of Duke Street (pre-, during and after WWI)			DVD
The Forsyte Saga			DVD
The House of Elliot			DVD
Upstairs/Downstairs			DVD	1971
Upstairs/Downstairs			DVD	2010
Her Royal Spyness series	Rhys	Bowen	mystery
Edwardian Murder Mystery series	Marion	Chesney	mystery
many of Agatha Christie's	Agatha	Christie	mystery
Phrynne Fisher series	Kerry	Greenwood	mystery
country house mysteries by	Susan	Howatch	mystery
Mary Russell series	Laurie	King	mystery
country house mysteries by	Malcolm	MacDonald	mystery
Inspector Alleyn series	Ngaio	Marsh	mystery
Dandy Gilver series	Catriona	McPherson	mystery
The Red House	A.A.	Milne	mystery
A Weekend at Blenheim	J.P.	Morrissey	mystery
Anne Perry's WWI series	Anne	Perry	mystery
Country House crime series	R.T.	Raichev	mystery
Lord Wimsey series	Dorothy	Sayers	mystery
Ian Rutledge series	Charles	Todd	mystery
Maisie Dobbs series	Jacqueline	Winspear	mystery
A Social History of England	Asa	Briggs	non-fiction
At Home	Bill	Bryson	non-fiction
The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy	David	Cannadine	non-fiction
Counting my chickens	Duchess of	Devonshire	non-fiction
Fashion in the 20s and 30s	Jane	Dorner	non-fiction
The World of Downtown Abbey	Jessica	Fellows	non-fiction
Vita Sackville-West Garden Book	Robin	Fox	non-fiction
The English Country House	Michael	Hall	non-fiction
The Rise and Fall of the Victorian Servant	Pamela	Horn	non-fiction
The World Atlas of Wine	Hugh	Johnson	non-fiction
The Titled Americans	Elisabeth	Kehoe	non-fiction
The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family	Mary	Lovell	non-fiction
Hons and Rebels	Nancy	Mitford	non-fiction
Blenheim Revisited	Hugh	Montgomery-Massingberd	non-fiction
Great Houses of Scotland	Hugh	Montgomery-Massingberd	non-fiction
Letters between 6 sisters: The Mitfords	Charlotte	Mosley	non-fiction
Among the Bohemians	Virginia	Nicholson	non-fiction
The National Trust book of the Great Houses of Britain	Nigel	Nicholson	non-fiction
The Perfect Summer: England 1911	Juliet	Nicolson	non-fiction
Essential Manners for Men	Peter	Post	non-fiction
'Below Stairs: The classic kitchen maid's memoir that inspired Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey	Margaret	Powell	non-fiction
Cartier	Phillipe	Tretiack	non-fiction
The Amy Vanderbilt book of Ettiquette	Nancy	Tuckerman	non-fiction
A Shropshire Lad	A.E.	Housman	poetry
Complete Poems	A.E.	Housman	poetry
To Say Nothing of the Dog	Connie	Willis	scifi
A Brief History of Montmaray	Michelle	Cooper	YA
The FitzOsbornes in Exile	Michelle	Cooper	YA

Originally Published as Harry Potter and The Real Magic,

2012-01-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

At the Libraries: Harry Potter and The Real Magic, Providence Journal June 28, 2007

By Lexi Henshel

Special to the Journal

July 21, 2007. Whether you are counting down the days in anticipation or in dread, you know it’s coming. The juggernaut that has been the Harry Potter publishing phenomenon continues to shock and awe.

Nearly a month before the book’s release, Amazon.com has already sold more than a million pre-ordered copies, and hundreds of requests are entered into the Ocean State library system. Plot speculation is flooding the Internet, and a generation of readers raised on Harry will have to accept that J.K. Rowling is finished with the series.

It seems unlikely that any magic spell will compel Rowling to return to the fantasy world that made her a billionaire. Teens (and the adults who also followed Harry’s adventures) may be feeling at a loss — after Harry Potter, what else is there to read?

Readers are lucky. There has been a renaissance of a kind in young-adult publishing, largely attributable to Harry Potter’s supernatural popularity. Readers who grew up looking forward to the next installment in Harry’s travails developed a taste for the printed word, and canny authors jumped into writing series fiction, correctly assuming that, as with the Potter books and a certain brand of potato chips, “you can’t try just one.” When you finish that 784th page of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, know that there are some other great series well worth reading — all as addictive as Rowling’s saga.

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, with its gloomy steampunk Victoriana aesthetic, its fantastically ill-fated orphans and its delicate allusions to literary history (Snicket’s love for Beatrice cannot help but remind readers of another narrator with a passion that burned beyond the grave) certainly caught young readers’ attention; the 13 books in the series have sold more than 55 million copies, and this summer they will be released in paperback — “a much more flammable version,” as their sorrowful author put it in an interview recently. From A Bad Beginning to The End, the miserable stories about the wretched Baudelaire children are, paradoxically, a delight.

Another series that wrapped up this year is Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl — but don’t think for a second that you won’t be hearing that title anymore. The popular and occasionally controversial book series was often called Sex and the City for teens, and The CW is taking a chance on that; the television network is producing a series based on the novels, and slotting the program right after America’s Next Top Model, a ratings powerhouse. Starring Blake Lively (from the movie version of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) as Serena, and Veronica Mars’s Kristin Bell as the eponymous Gossip Girl, the show seems set to be a success. Before watching the series, though, give the books a read. They are delicious — fast, breezy, catty and fun — and von Zeigesar’s writing in the early books captures that ineffable New York vibe.

While critics as prominent as Naomi Wolf were troubled by the Gossip Girl series, calling it “corruption with a cute overlay,” nothing in these books would shock a teen in modern America, and the characters, while wealthy and slightly dissolute, are very focused on their futures, with college applications, interviews, and acceptances driving a significant portion of the plots. The characters do face repercussions for their actions, and bad decisions are followed by consequences — they live in a moral universe. The original set of characters — Blair, Serena, Nate, et al — move on in the final book, Don’t You Forget About Me, which was published in May. But von Zeigesar intends to continue both the Gossip Girl series (with a new crop of students) and the successful spin-off series, The It Girl, which is already up to title four, Unforgettable, published this June.

By contrast, another huge breakout young-adult series, The Clique, by Lisi Harrison, is set in a world apparently without interested adults or a moral center. These books are immensely popular, and are written for a slightly younger set than the Gossip Girl series. The characters Massie, Alicia, Claire and others — are not experimenting with intoxicants or with sex as do some older teen characters in Gossip Girl, but they are no more innocent for that; rather, these characters are the embodiment of the “mean girl” culture. Rather than practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty, the Clique girls are more likely to randomly cyberbully another student and spend senselessly on designer wear that young readers may be tricked into thinking is stylish. The Clique series is on a roll, however, with Harrison’s eighth book in the series, Sealed with a Diss, due to be released on July 2.

More mature readers, including adults, might turn to Scott Westerfeld’s fantastic trilogy, Uglies, Pretties and Specials. A fourth book, Extras, to be published in October, is set in the same dystopian world as the previous three.

Westerfeld jokes, “It’s set in the same future world as the Uglies trilogy. It’s Uglies Book 4, so to speak. But trilogies only have three books, the pedants among you declare!” No matter the semantics, this is a series worth reading.

These books have it all — fantastic character development and smart, clippy writing, and they address just about every major issue facing teens today, in an entirely non-preachy way. It is a tour de force. The heroine, Tally Youngblood, hurls herself across that line between safety and freedom, defies societal pressures and expectations to be conventionally beautiful, and tries to address the legacy of the environmental destruction left behind by the “Rusties” — us.

This unflinching series is impossible to put down, and impossible to forget, if only for scenes such as the one where Tally, on the run, encounters fields of genetically modified white orchids which have crowded out every other plant. The questions of what is beautiful and of what is natural and of what is right are worth thinking about.

Fans of the supernatural and of fantasy can also find solace in reading the Artemis Fowl series, by Eoin Colfer. These books about fairies, demons, time travel and a teenage criminal mastermind fly off the shelves, as do books from the Cirque du Freak series, by Darren Shan, a dark set of books about vampires, freak shows, werewolves and more.

Readers looking for frothier fare can follow Meg Cabot’s clumsy, funny Princess Mia through 11 Princess Diaries, and laugh and cry with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants through four well-crafted books by Ann Brashares.

Do not despair, as you finish that last page of Rowling’s finale, Deathly Hallows. Dumbledore tells Harry in 2005’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, “We must try not to sink beneath our anguish, Harry, but battle on.”

We librarians say: we must try not to sink beneath our anguish, but read on. Harry’s greatest wizardry may have been the creation of passionate readers, and no matter what happens to Harry, his legacy is as magical as his stories have been.

Lexi Henshel is young-adult librarian at the West Warwick Public Library.

For Advanced Young Readers "Afraid of the Dark"

2012-01-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

It can be so hard when you have a talented, curious, advanced new reader who is looking for challenging books that don't go into some of the "After School Special Issue" suburban/urban trauma drama things (rape- Speak, murder - Monster, cutting- Cut, suicide - 13 Reasons Why, school shootings - Hate List blah blah blah). Not that these books don't serve a purpose and find their readers, but just like adults want to read fun books, kids do too.
These titles are, to the best of my (usually pretty good!) recollection and sense of wholesomeness (no laughing, ok?) the ones I feel comfortable handing to a friend's very charming and smart 10 year old daughter who was nearly put off reading all together by having ventured into the YA section and got traumatised by a couple of books she chose at random.

In some cases, they are older titles that may seem obvious, but can often be forgotten, because they're not on the New Book shelf at your library, or on the endcaps at the bookstore. Also, if I can be a total judgmental PIA, I'll also list some that I would avoid giving a young reader, and explain why.

In no particular order:

Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild (1936)
(and the rest of the Shoes series- look for Dancing Shoes, Tennis Shoes, Skating Shoes, Theater Shoes, etc- although Circus Shoes was pretty bad.)
These are, I'd say, age appropriate from 8 on, but the London setting and distinctively English colloquialisms and rather challenging language compared to what is offered to children here today, make them satisfying and interesting reads. Ballet Shoes is, I have to admit, my favorite book, and has been since I was 8. The story of 3 orphans who learn to make their own careers on the stage gives fascinating insight into between the wars London, into the rarefied world of professional performers, and the fantastic characterizations make Pauline, Petrova, and Posy Fossil seem real and like people you would love to meet. Of especial interest to girls with an interest in the arts, the book was made into a 1997 film adaptation starring Emma Watson as Pauline, which was really well done until the very last scene, when it got a bit daft, sadly.

The Grimm Legacy, by Polly Shulman (2011)
Charming and absorbing young fantasy, set in the special collections are of the New York Public Library. The magical objects mentioned in the Grimm fairy tales are kept in the Grimm Collection, but evildoers are out to steal them. Elizabeth Lew, a student in a nearby high school, is one of a handful of workers allowed access to the special collections. The exceedingly far-fetched plot is one of the reasons I think this was more of a children's book than YA, but Shulman's special brand of clean and delightful characters made this a great read. She is an author I often recommend to young readers who are reading above their age level, but aren't ready for some of the darker actual YA out there.

Enthusiasm, by Polly Shulman (2007)
Jane Austen fanatic finds romance, but sweetly.
Now, I've read Jane Austen, but I've been baffled by the flood of Jane Austen based books lately- everything after Bridget Jones left me high and dry. But this was a blast- with teen female characters who I totally wanted to know, a clean romance that I wanted to work out, interesting characters and language, and it was so much fun. Yay!

.

Cheaper by The Dozen, (1948) and Belles on Their Toes, (1950) by Ernestine and Frank Gilbreth
When I was 12 or so I think I read Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes over and over and over. About a year ago I found a yard sale copy of Cheaper By The Dozen (with awful movie-tie-in cover- Hillary Duff- spare me) and it went into serious bath-reading rotation, so I was really pleased to get ahold of Belles On Their Toes, the sequel.
After Frank Gilbreth dies, his wife Lillian Moller Gilbreth steps into his shoes running their motion-study business, and their 11 children (Anne, at 18, is the eldest) have to run the household while she tours Europe giving speeches trying to convince the world that a woman can run an engineering consulting firm in the 1920s.
I love these books, the detail and the sense of time and place- the slang, the wet smacks and ukeleles, the flappers, and Martha's big scene at the beach where she refuses to wear a 2 piece bathing dress anymore- I love the way the boys coach Jane into being a bobby-soxer rather than a vamp, I love the warmth of these stories. I cried like a baby at the end- literally sitting there howling. It is so lovely to read something that was clearly written to tell people a good story- a real, loving story. Wonderful.

The Velvet Room, by Zilpha Keately Snyder (1965)
(and other books by her- still writing, incredibly!)
Just a lovely children's book. Migrant farm family has a car breaksdown near a farm with an abandoned mansion nearby. When her father finds work on the farm, Robin finds her way into the round, velvet curtained turret room, and finds an escape in books. This gave a lot of interesting information about circumstances of the Great Depression, and while not depressing, ha ha, may give a curious reader a lot to think about and look into.

Linnets and Valerians, by Elizabeth Goudge (1964)
(and others by the same author- notably, The White Horse)
Really lovely classic English childrens' classic. The Linnet children enter and change the lives of the aristocratic but troubled Valerian family, with hints of pagan magic and a great deal a old fashioned charm.

Scones and Sensibility, by Lindsay Eland (2010)
Well, as weary as I am of the Jane-Austen-tribute books, this was well done, and really cute. Some very funny bits- the main character, Polly Madassa, worships Anne of Green Gables, Elizabeth Bennet, and the whole classic crew, and tries so hard to speak like them, but it makes her almost incomprehensible to everyone around her. I would definitely recommend this to kids at the library who are looking to read up but aren't looking for heavy issue books.

The Mother-Daughter Book Club series, by Heather Vogel Frederick (2008-2011)
Review from the first of the series:
This was lovely. 4 girls, living in Concord, Mass., are forced by their mothers to spend a year reading Little Women in a book club that meets once a month. Of course, the 4 girls are all very different, mall-crazy Megan, hockey-happy Cassidy, bookish Emma and Goat-Girl Jess, but the book had a gentle, warm feel to it. I enjoyed it tremendously.

A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1905)
Obvious, but sometimes forgotten in the shadow of The Secret Garden. Slightly darker, but still beautifully written, and with language (as in Streatfeild) that will certainly challenge a contemporary reader. For girls who have read and loved A Little Princess, there was a surprisingly good sequel written that they may enjoy, below:
Wishing for Tomorrow, by Hilary McKay (2009)
Very sweet and well done sequel to A Little Princess. This was lovely, and I was so glad that even Lavinia and Miss Minchin were somehow redeemed.

The Haunting on Devil's Den Road, by Karen Chilton (2008)
Pretty fantastic children's/YA book! I'd say this is pretty firmly targeted to tweens, but it was really actually very good, and not just because of the Rhody-local stuff!
That said, it was great fun to read such a South County book- from the tow trucks from 'north of the towers' to the realtor called Lila, I loved all that.
Paige Parker is 13 (almost 14) when she and her mother, a professor who teaches about architectural history, move into the Hazard house, in Heather Hollow (Exeter crossed with Hope Valley, I think). They are both reeling from her father's death, and her mother thought that moving from Providence and their memories there, and taking on the project of restoring the Hazard house would bring them a new start.
Paige is reluctant about the move to start with, and her best friend Amanda adds to her unease by telling Paige about Mercy Brown, the local 'vampire'. As soon as Paige and her mother move in, strange things start happening, and well, I won't say more.
It was really good, though, and had a pretty cool intellectual and feminist flavor. I'll definitely be looking forward to book 2.

Millions, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (2005)
This was fantastic, bizarre, tear-making, hope-filling, funny, and so very very strange. It was a delight.
Damien is an English 11 year old obsessed with saints and his dead mother, and he finds a bag of cash, weeks before the pound switches to the euro. (Yeah, I know- but go with it!) He and his 14 year old brother try to spend it all, without their dad finding out. It was such an odd book, but I loved it.

The King of Mulberry Street, by Donna Jo Napoli (2005)
and other books by the same author
Wonderful book. It's childrens/YA, but I thought it had huge adult appeal- maybe even more appeal for adults than for kids. Dom is 9 years old when he comes, alone, to America from Naples. The story was based on the author's grandfather, and it left a major impression on me. It was harrowing, inspiring, and so so real.
From the book:
“Do you have people waiting for you in New York?”
“No.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.” He gave a brief whistle. “There are plenty of kids on their own in America but it’s hard. Harder than in Napoli. Head for Mulberry Street.”

The Railway Children, by E.Nesbit (1906)
Classic family story, set in an England of barges on canals, friendly station masters, Doctors who made housecalls, Russian exile writers, hawthorne flowers and buns with icing for special occasions. If there's a heaven, it will be that England, for me. I don't think it exists now, and maybe it never did, but should heaven be real, for me it will be a place with bunches of roses and tea and coal fired stoves and friendly bakers and parcels wrapped in newspaper.

The Saturdays, by Elizabeth Enright (1941)
Lovely, warm story of 4 children who pool their allowances so that every fouth Saturday, one of them can go do something splendid.
Randi goes to see an art exhibit, Mona gets her hair bobbed, Rush goes to see the opera, and Tim goes to the circus, in an episodical book- great for reading to a child, I imagine.
A lonely old neighbor turns out to be full of exciting stories and to serve tea with petit fours, and all in all it's kind of a lovely and dreamy book. Before I make it sound too dementedly sappy, let me say too that while reading it I was all lulled along, and thinking how much easier this world seemed, peaceful and trustworthy and safe, and then boom-
"What was it like when the world was peaceful, Cuffy?"
"Ah," said Cuffy, coming up again. "It seemed like a lovely world; anyway on top where it showed. But it didn't last long. First there was a long, bad, war, and then peace like the ham in a sandwich, and now a long, bad bad war again."

The Green Glass Sea, by Ellen Klages (2007)
Ellen Klages wrote a great book here- I found the story gripping and interesting from the start. Great cover, solid, fast writing, and as Dewey's story becomes more entwined with Suze's, I came to feel these characters were very real.
The setting (at Los Alamos before and immediately after the Trinity tests) was an immediate attention catcher, and the conflicts between the scientists over the ethics of their work seemed like it would make this book a great starting point to intense discussion. I also thought that the female scientists, like Suze's mom, were gracefully brought into the story and the differences between them and the female 'computers' could lead to a great group talk too. Suze's character growth didn't feel forced, and Dewey- what a protagonist!
I enjoyed this more than I can possibly express- I will be handing this book to everyone who comes up to me looking for 'something good to read'. This book made me want to reread every other book I've read that was set at Los Alamos, made me want to visit that area, reminded me that abstract ideas can lead to devastating consequences, oh, it was a good good read.

Reel Life Starring Us, by Lisa Grunwald (2011)
and
My Life in Pink and Green, by the same author (2009)
Both are charming and well done, clean and fun. Late middle school protagonists, but with a nice healthy attitude to the world.
Exerpt from reveiw of My Life in Pink And Green:
Lucy is worried that her mom's pharmacy is going out of business, and somehow decides that what they need is a local green grant to create an eco-friendly spa.

Ruby Red, by Kirsten Geir (2011)
International (originally written in German, set in London) sensation. A bit sci fi, a bit steampunk- hugely popular, and despite being written as YA, there's nothing that an advanced reader of 9 or 10 could be upset by, I think. I didn't love it, but a lot of people do, and it might make a great read for girls interested in ghost stories/time travel etc but who don't want to get too spooked out. A hint of romance, but nothing remotely graphic.

Shutout, by Brendan Haplin (2010)
(Some off-scene drinking in this one, not by the protagonist) Published as YA, but clean and healthy, with a focus on girls' soccer, which is nice.
Really wonderful, well done YA about girl's sports, friendship, sportsmanship, and so much more. Amanda and Lena have been inseparable friends for years, and partners on the soccer field, but when, as freshmen, Lena is chosen for the varsity team and Amanda feels sidelined onto the junior varsity, their friendship is challenged, and they grow apart. This was just so well written, the characters were real and believable, it was great YA without being manipulative or trauma drama.

Little Blog on the Prairie, by Catherine Devitt Bell (2010)
Really fun, sweet book. Genevieve's family goes to prairie camp to live out her mother's dream of experiencing life as it was for the settlers, but Genevieve's furtive and secret text messages to her friends at home gain a life of their own when her friend uses them to create a blog about the pleasures and perils of life in the 1880's. A dash of romance, a splash of 'finding oneself', and a really unusual and creative setting made this a really enjoyable read.

The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang, by Amy Ignatow (2010)
Very funny and well drawn young YA/older elementary level book. Lydia and Julie decide to observe what the popular girls at school do, to try to draw a blue print for social success. Field hockey, drama club, and secret keeping feature largely. This was really kind of charming, a girlie version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Running Out of Time, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (1997)
13 year old Jessie lives with her parents in 1840's Indiana, in a small frontier town. Children being dying of diphtheria, and her mother, the town midwife, tells Jessie that she needs to get help from outside- that it's really 1996, and that their entire world is a tourist attraction, and that all the adults had volunteered to 'live in the 1840's" for various reasons of their own. Jessie has to deal with that, and with the modern world, to try to find out why they are being denied modern medicine.

Interesting idea, and funnily enough though, when I watched that "Colonial House" show on PBS where the people volunteered to live like the Plymouth settlers I wondered about the ethics involved with the kids on that show, so I guess Haddix was on to something.

Catherine Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman (1995)
In 1290, Catherine, a 13 year old girl, the daughter of a knight, is keeping a diary of her life at her parents’ manor house. Hilarious, moving, and surprisingly vulgar and violent, Catherine’s diary is a glimpse into life 718 years ago.
From the book:
“12th DAY OF SEPTEMBER
I am commanded to write an account of my days: I am bit by fleas and plagued by family. That is all there is to say.”

City of Ember series, by Jeanne DuPrau (2007-2010)
MUCH better than the movie.
Excerpt from review of the first book, City of Ember
This book was fantastic all the way through. Lina and Doon live in an underground city with failing infrastructure and corrupt officials. They explore and have wild adventures and find an exit, escaping at last and saving most of the residents of Ember.
The plot was intriguing, and plausible, the writing was smooth and clean and the descriptions of Ember were chilling and conveyed the claustrophobia of the underground world. I loved the scenes set in the municipal greenhouses and the fact that farmers were so respected, I loved the appreciation of maintaining infrastructure, Lina and Doon were great characters- it was wonderful.

The Red Blazer Girls series, by Michael Biel (2009, 2010, 2011)
These are clever, math-y, puzzle based mysteries set in a New York Catholic school, with 4 female protagonists who are healthy, smart and proud of it, and not superficially obsessed with clothes etc- that makes them sound so dry and wholesome like ryevita toasts, but they are actually delicious and fun books.
Review from the first of the series:
This was so much fun! A quick, entertaining YA (6th or 7th grade target, I guess) about girls who work together to solve a puzzle that leads to the ring, and all the clues are set out in the book so one could solve them along with the characters, if only one remembered Algebra 1! It kind of reminded me of The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil Frankweiler, it had a lovely feel to it. Looking forward to the next.
The 39 Clues series, by various authors
Really fun, fast paced, and filled with interesting historical tidbits- action adventure, with equal boy/girl appeal. Young, but worthwhile, if your reader hasn't devoured them yet.
Excerpt from review of the first book, The Maze of Bones, by Rick Riordan:
The Cahill family, whose members have included just about every important historical figure, is divided into 4 branches, who are racing each other around the world to solve a set of 39 clues left by the family matriarch in her will. Excellent puzzles, history, setting- this one was Paris, and made me want to crawl around the Catacombs and climb Mont Martre on a stormy night- great (if briefly introduced) characters- this was a wonderful start to what I hope is a great series!

For a slightly older reader ready for some interesting speculation and slightly disturbing bioengineering:
The Adoration of Jenna Fox, by Mary Pearson
This was so good. Wonderfully done, and not just for sci-fi people. There were some things ( her sexuality, for one) that I wish had been addressed that weren't, but maybe that was deliberate, to keep it more all-ages or to keep the 'debate' focused on the point. Loved the image of the butterfly. Plot holes you could drive a truck through, but it didn't even matter. If I had read this book as a young teen, I would have LOVED it. I even kind of loved it now.

DO NOT RECOMMEND

Anything by Lisi Harrison. I think she is evil.
This is from a 2007 article I wrote:
(NOTE- NOT RECOMMENDING GOSSIP GIRL TO YOUNG READERS- THIS ARTICLE WAS ABOUT YA BOOKS)
"Another series that wrapped up this year is Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl — but don’t think for a second that you won’t be hearing that title anymore. The popular and occasionally controversial book series was often called Sex and the City for teens, and The CW is taking a chance on that; the television network is producing a series based on the novels, and slotting the program right after America’s Next Top Model, a ratings powerhouse. Starring Blake Lively (from the movie version of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) as Serena, and Veronica Mars’s Kristin Bell as the eponymous Gossip Girl, the show seems set to be a success. Before watching the series, though, give the books a read. They are delicious — fast, breezy, catty and fun — and von Zeigesar’s writing in the early books captures that ineffable New York vibe.

While critics as prominent as Naomi Wolf were troubled by the Gossip Girl series, calling it “corruption with a cute overlay,” nothing in these books would shock a teen in modern America, and the characters, while wealthy and slightly dissolute, are very focused on their futures, with college applications, interviews, and acceptances driving a significant portion of the plots. The characters do face repercussions for their actions, and bad decisions are followed by consequences — they live in a moral universe. The original set of characters — Blair, Serena, Nate, et al — move on in the final book, Don’t You Forget About Me, which was published in May. But von Zeigesar intends to continue both the Gossip Girl series (with a new crop of students) and the successful spin-off series, The It Girl, which is already up to title four, Unforgettable, published this June.

By contrast, another huge breakout young-adult series, The Clique, by Lisi Harrison, is set in a world apparently without interested adults or a moral center. These books are immensely popular, and are written for a slightly younger set than the Gossip Girl series. The characters Massie, Alicia, Claire and others — are not experimenting with intoxicants or with sex as do some older teen characters in Gossip Girl, but they are no more innocent for that; rather, these characters are the embodiment of the “mean girl” culture. Rather than practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty, the Clique girls are more likely to randomly cyberbully another student and spend senselessly on designer wear that young readers may be tricked into thinking is stylish. The Clique series is on a roll, however, with Harrison’s eighth book in the series, Sealed with a Diss, due to be released on July 2."

Excerpt from my review of book 1 of The Clique series:
This was one of the most horrific and revolting things I have ever read.

Claire's parents (improbably) move into Massie's parents' guest house. Massie is a dreadful little bitch who is senselessly cruel to Claire, because Claire's parents aren't as rich as Massie's, and because Claire is (at 13) still wearing jeans and keds. Massie makes her 'friends' be cruel to Claire as well. Claire is a cardboard character and a total masochist, so she keeps trying to befriend the sociopathic girls.
Everything about this book was heartbreaking. The fact that it was not only published but is such a huge best-seller is nauseating. It is completely sick.
The cruelty is astonishing, the lack of any kind of adult authority figure is disturbing, the consumerism makes Teen Vogue look wholesome, and the writing is nothing short of astoundingly bad.

Excerpt from my review of book 1 of The Alphas series:

This may have been the worst book ever. Lisi Harrison's manipulative and misogynistic tween writing has hit a new and exceptionally low low. I felt brain cells leaping off cliffs to get away from this drivel as I read it. Wildly depressing.

Anything by Meg Cabot- except maybe the Princess Diaries, which can be sweet, but her newer series Allie Finkel's Rules For Girls is APPALLING.
Excerpt from review:
Allie Finkle is a little bitch in training, her moral compass is broken, her parents should send her to boarding school in Liberia, and I can't believe anyone published this piece of shit.

The Willoughbys, by Lois Lowry
This is a shock, because she is usually so very very good, but this was AWFUL.
Excerpt from review:
It was totally Lemony Snicket-y, and that's been so overdone. Also, it gave away the ending to Little Women. Shame on you, Lois Lowry. You're better than this.
Sarah Dessen. I know, it's heresy, but she is definitely NOT for younger readers, and for older readers, I find her books to be manipulative, predictable, and Hallmarky.

Scandanavian Noir: Crime Fiction To Give You Chills

2010-08-04T10:36:00.001-07:00

Some authors to look for:

Denmark:
Peter Hoeg

Iceland:
Arnaldur Indridason
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Norway:
Karin Fossum
Jo Nesbø

Sweden:
Karin Alvtegen
Åke Edwardson
Kjell Eriksson
Camilla Läckberg
Asa Larsson
Steig Larsson
Henning Mankell
Liza Marklund
Håkan Nesser
Roslund / Hellström
Johan Theorin
Helene Tursten

Apocalypse and post-apocalyptic fiction

2010-01-27T15:11:00.000-08:00

Dystopias, Apocalypses, and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

It seems that every so often, our collective conscious turns to focus on the distressing topics of our own annihilation. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, understandably, many of our fears dealt with nuclear war, but there has been a resurgence in publishing of books about nuclear war, bio-warfare, asymmetrical warfare, and EMP bombs knocking out telecommunications.

Other key themes in this genre are plagues and pandemics, natural and manmade, and their impact on society. With the recent media frenzies over the last few years of flu strains, and SARS, etc, it is not surprising that speculative fiction pitting human spirit against human flesh and its frailties is on the rise again.
Climate change, and its impacts, too, are a daily news topic, and offer cinematic settings for any story, whether set in the melted tundra or sweltering Bangkok, and the guilt that characters often feel.

Most common though, is speculative looks at our own doom that involve combinations of factors- climate change leading to warfare, bio-warfare leading to pandemic, pandemics leading to migrations and migrations leading to war, in a terrible loop of lost hope and despair. Many (but certainly not all) of these titles do offer hints of possible redemption, of hope that it can all be fixed, that we will not be responsible for the loss of humanity, but they also take the reader to dark places where human responsibility for these possible grim fates must be accepted.

Adult Fiction

War

One Second After, by William Forstchen (2009)
Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank (1959)
The Execution Channel, by Ken MacLeod (2007)
A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter Miller (1960)
The War After Armageddon, by Ralph Peters (2009)
On The Beach, by Nevil Shute (1957)
A Gift Upon The Shore, by M.K. Wren (1990)

Plagues and Pandemics

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood (2003)
Clay's Ark, by Octavia Butler (1984)
The White Plague, by Frank Herbert (1982)
The Children of Men, by P.D. James (1992)
In a Perfect World, by Laura Kasischke (2009)
The Stand, by Stephen King (1978)
The Scarlet Plague, by Jack London (1912)
I Am Legend, by Richard Mattheson (1954)
Blindness, by Jose Saramago (1997)
Earth Abides, by George Stewart (1949)
Summer of the Apocalypse, by James Van Pelt (2006)

Climate Change/Environmental Disasters

The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood (2009)
The Drowned World, by J.G. Ballard (1965)
Flood, by Stephen Baxter (2009)
A Friend of the Earth, by T.C. Boyle (2000)
Ultimatum, By Matthew Glass (2009)
The Rapture, by Liz Jensen (2009)
The Book of Dave, by Will Self (2006)

Unspecified or Combination of Factors

Wastelands : stories of the Apocalypse , edited by John Joseph Adams (2008)
The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood (1985)
In the Country of Last Things, by Paul Auster (1987)
The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi (2009)
The Birth of the People's Republic of Antarctica, by John Calvin Batchelor (1983)
The Pesthouse, by Jim Crace (2007)
Pop Apocalypse, by Lee Konstantinou (2009)
World Made By Hand, by James Howard Kunstler (2008)
The Memoirs of a Survivor, by Doris Lessing (1974)
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (2006)
Far North, by Marcel Theroux (2009)
But Not for Long, by Michelle Wildgren (2009)
Julian Comstock : a story of 22nd-century America, by Robert Charles Wilson (2009)
Random Acts of Senseless Violence, by Jack Womack (1994)

Rapture/Faith Based Apocalypse

Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days, by Tim LeHaye (1995)
The End is Now, by Rob Stennett (2009)

YA

Climate Change/Environmental Disasters

Remembering Green, by Lesley Beake (2010)
Exodus, by Julie Bertagna (2008)
The Other Side of the Island, by Allegra Goodman (2008)
Carbon Diaries 2015, by Saci Lloyd (2009)
Life as We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeiffer (2006)

War

City of Ember series, by Jeanne DuPrau (2003)
How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff (2004)
Wolf of Shadows, by Whitley Streiber (1986)
Uglies series, by Scott Westerfeld (2005)

"A Year of..."

2009-12-21T13:01:00.000-08:00

Alter, Cathy Up for renewal : what magazines taught me about love, sex, and starting over
Anderson, Joan A year by the sea : thoughts of an unfinished woman
Beavan, Colin No impact man : the adventures of a guilty liberal who attempts to save the planet, and the discoveries he makes about himself and our way of life in the process
Beha, Chris The whole five feet : what the great books taught me about life, death, and pretty much everything else
Bongiorni, Sarah A year without "made in China" : one family's true life adventure in the global economy
Carlomagno, Mary Give it up : my year of learning to live better with less
Cheek, Lawrence The year of the boat : beauty, imperfection, and the art of doing it yourself
Cohen, David One year off : leaving it all behind for a round-the-world journey with our children
Denman, Jeffry A year with the Producers : one actor's exhausting (but worth it) journey from Cats to Mel Brooks' mega-hit
Didion, Joan The Year of Magical Thinking
Ehrenreich, Barbara Nickel and dimed : on (not) getting by in America
Gilbert, Elizabeth Eat, pray, love : one woman's search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia
Headley, Maria The year of yes : a memoir
Jacobs, A J The year of living biblically : one man's humble quest to follow the Bible as literally as possible
Jacobs, A J The know-it-all : one man's humble quest to become the smartest person in the world
Kingsolver, Barbara Animal, vegetable, miracle : a year of food life
Levine, Judith Not buying it : my year without shopping
Lisik, Beth Helping me help myself : one skeptic, twelve self-help programs, one whirlwind year of improvement
Mayle, Peter A Year in Provence
McDonald, Sam The Urban Hermit
Muller, Charla 365 Nights: A Memoir of Intimacy
Oxenhandler, Noelle The wishing year : a house, a man, my soul : a memoir of fulfilled desire
Powell, Julie Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen
Rees, Jasper A devil to play : one man's year-long quest to master the orchestra's most difficult instrument
Roose, Kevin The unlikely disciple : a sinner's semester at America's holiest university
Rose, Phyllis The year of reading Proust
Shea, Ammon Reading the OED : one man, one year, 21,730 pages
Spurlock, Morgan Supersize Me
Vincent, Norah Self made man : one woman's journey into manhood and back again
Vincent, Norah Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin
Wallace, Danny Yes Man

2009-12-04T07:14:00.001-08:00

Hilarious homicide?
Suggested titles and series that will have you laughing out loud while the bodies pile up!

Donna Andrews—Meg Langslow Series (Blacksmith in Virginia)
M.C. Beaton—Hamish Macbeth Series (Policeman in Scotland)
M.C. Beaton—Agatha Raisin Series (Detective in the English Midlands)
Dorothy Cannell—Ellie Haskel Series (British Interior decorator)
Harlan Coben—Myron Bolitar Series (Sports agent in New Jersey)
Diane Mott Davidson—Goldie Bear Series (Caterer in Colorado)
Janet Evanovich—Stephanie Plum Series (Bounty hunter in New Jersey)
Liz Evans—Grace Smith Series (English Private Detective
Joan Hess—Maggody Series (Policewoman in Arkansas)
Carl Hiassen—Very funny stand-alone books set in Florida.
Dorothy Howell—Haley Randolph Series (Fashionista sleuth in L.A.)

Read-Alikes for Kathy Reichs

2009-08-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

More forensic thriller authors- not for the squeamish!

Aaron J. Elkins - Gideon Oliver series
Lori Andrews - Dr. Alexandra Blake series
Sarah Andrews - Em Hansen series
Jefferson Bass - Body Farm series
Caleb Carr - Historical Forensics
Robin Cook - Stand-alone medical thrillers.
Patricia Cornwell - Kay Scarpetta series
Jeffrey Deaver - Lincoln Rhyme series
Tess Gerritsen - Jane Rizzoli series, stand-alone medical thrillers.
Iris Johansen - Eve Duncan series
Jonathan Kellerman - Alex Delaware series
Jeffrey Lindsay - Dexter series
Karin Slaughter - Grant County series
Stephen White - Alan Gregory series

Read-alikes for Jodi Picoult

2009-08-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

Some other authors who take timely looks at difficult topics, often told from many viewpoints, often about an ethically challenging or ambiguous domestic situation.

Elizabeth Berg
Chris Bohjalian
Barbara Delinsky
Jane Hamilton
Alice Hoffman
Ann Hood
Sue Miller
Jacqueline Mitchard
Anna Quindlen
Luanne Rice
Anita Shreve

Hurricane themed Adult Fiction, Adult Non-fiction, YA fiction, Children's books, Feature Films and Documentaries

2009-08-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Adult Fiction
Waveland by Frederick Barthelme
Babylon Rolling by Amanda Boyden
Floodmarkers by Nic Brown
Jesus Out to Sea by James Lee Burke
The Tin Roof Blow Down by James Lee Burke
Typhoon by Joseph Conrad
Hurricane Punch by Tim Dorsey
Second Wind by Dick Francis
Under The Eye of The Storm by John Hersey
Porgy by Du Bose Heyward
Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen
Acts of Nature by Jonathan King
Storm Track by Margaret Maron
The Hurricane by Charles Nordhoff
The Unknown Shore by Patrick O'Brian
Rough Weather by Robert B. Parker
City of Refuge by Tom Piazza
Rebel Island by Rick Riordan
40 Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson
One D.O.A., One on the Way by Mary Robison
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks
Moon Tide by Dawn Clifton Tripp
Logan's Storm by Ken Wells
The Winner of the National Book Award by Jincy Willet
The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

Hurricane Adult Non-Fiction
A wind to shake the world : the story of the 1938 hurricane by Everett Allen
The great deluge : Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the MississippiGulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley
The Great Hurricane- 1938 by Cherie Burns
The ship and the storm : Hurricane Mitch and the loss of the Fantome by Jim Carrier
Dark wind : a survivor's tale of love and loss by Gordon Chaplin
Natural disasters : hurricanes : a reference handbook by Patrick Fitzpatrick
The sea captain's wife : a true story of love, race, and war in thenineteenth century by Martha Hodes
Breach of faith : Hurricane Katrina and the near death of a great American city by Jed Horne
The perfect storm : a true story of men against the sea by Sebastian Junger
Isaac's storm : a man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history by Erik Larson
Death From The Sea : Our Greatest Natural Disaster, The Galveston Hurricane Of 1900 by Herbert Mason
1 Dead in Attic by Chris Rose
Sudden sea : the Great Hurricane of 1938 by R.A.Scotti
The storm : what went wrong and why during hurricane Katrina : the inside story from one Louisiana scientist by Ivor van Heerden andMike Bryan

Hurricane YA Fiction
What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale
Blown Away by Joan Hiatt Harlow
Sand Dollar Summer by Kimberly Jones
Stranded by Ben Mikaelseon
Taken By Storm by Angela
Hurricane by Terry Trueman
Stormwitch by Susan Vaught
Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi

Hurricane Children's Fiction
Ruby's Imagine by Kim Antieau
Hurricane : open seas, 1844 by K. Duey and K.A. Bale
Gifted by Beth Evangelista
The Silent Storm by Sherry Garland
My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis Holt
Hurricane by Faith McNulty
The hurricane mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Hurricane Picture Books
Radio Rescue by Lynne Barasch
Hurricane! by Patricia Laken
Hurricane by David Wiesner
Belinda's Hurricane by Elizabeth Winthrop

Hurricane Children's Nonfiction
Hurricane Watch by Franklyn Branley
Hurricanes by Joseph Brennan
The magic school bus inside a hurricane by Joanna Cole
Miracle : the true story of the wreck of the Sea Venture by Gail Karwoski
Hurricanes : Earth's mightiest storms by Patricia Lauber
Hurricanes by Seymour Simon
Hurricane force : in the path of America's deadliest storms by Joseph Treaster

Feature Films
Key Largo
Nights in Rodanthe
The Day After Tomorrow
The Perfect Storm

Documentaries
Hurricane Katrina : the storm that drowned a city
The hurricane of '38
When the levees broke: a requiem in four acts

Recent Award Winning Fiction

2009-06-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

2008 Man Booker Prize
The White Tiger, by Aravind Agida

2008 National Book Award
Shadow Country, by Peter Matthiessen

2008 National Book Critics Circle Award
2666, by Roberto Bolano

2008 Orange Prize
The Road Home, by Rose Tremain

2008 Pulitzer Prize
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

2009 Orange Prize
Home, by Marilynne Robinson

2009 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
Netherland, by Joseph O’Neill

2009 Pulitzer Prize
Olive Kittredge, by Elizabeth Strout

2008 Hugo Award—Science Fiction
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, by Michael Chabon

2009 Agatha Award—Traditional Mystery
The Cruelest Month, by Louise Penney

2009 Edgar Award—Mystery and Crime Fiction
Blue Heaven, by C. J. Box

The Other 8 Hours in a Day- Fiction That Features The Workplace

2009-06-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

Ms. Hempel Chronicles Sarah Sun-Lien Bynum (2008)
Nominated for a National Book Award, thiscollection of short stories focuses on Beatrice Hempel, a middle school English teacher.

Then We Came to The End Joshua Ferris (2007)
This National Book Award Finalist pulls off the almost impossible in fiction – an absolutelyengrossing novel told in 3rd person plural, about office life in Chicago.

Shopgirl Steve Martin (2000)
This novella about a bored department store worker captures turn-of-the-millennium ennui.

A Show of Hands Anthony McCarten (2009)
A struggling car dealer holds a contest – the person who holds their hand on a car the longest will win it. A motley cast of characters competes, vividly portraying different kinds of desperation.

Last Night at the Lobster Stewart O'Nan (2007)
This is a stunning short novel about the employees of a closing restaurant franchise.

Personal Days Ed Park (2008)
This is another novel told in 3rd person plural in a landscape dominated by Starbucks and haunted by downsizing.

Rhode Island Booklist

2009-01-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

Pieces of my sister's life / Elizabeth Joy Arnold
Block Island
2007
Fiction

Nasty Breaks / Charlotte Elkins
Block Island
1997
Mystery

She's not there : a Poppy Rice novel / Mary-Ann Tirone Smith.
Block Island
2003
Mystery

The Passions of Emma / Penelope Williamson
Bristol
1997
Historical Fiction

Rogue's Wager : a Michael Carolina mystery / by Thomas Gately Briody.
Cranston
1997
Mystery

The Memory of Running / Ron McLarty
East Providence
2004
Fiction

Traveler / Ron McLarty.
East Providence
2007
Fiction

Spartina / John Casey
Narragansett
1989
Fiction

London is the best city in America / Laura Dave
Narragansett
2006
Romance

The mayday : a Jack Merchant and Sarah Ballard novel / Bill Eidson.
Narragansett
2005
Thriller

Envious moon / Thomas Christopher Greene
Narragansett
2007
Fiction

Calm at sunset, calm at dawn / Paul Watkins
Narragansett
1989
Fiction

The House of Five Talents / Louis Auchincloss
Newport
1960
Fiction

Strange Wives / Shirley Barker
Newport
1963
Historical Fiction

Truant / Richmond B. Barrett
Newport
1944
Fiction

My favorite witch / Annette Blair
Newport
2006
Fiction

My New Found Land / Dean Brelis
Newport
1963
Historical Fiction

Rogue's Regatta : a Michael Carolina mystery / by Thomas Gately Briody. Newport
1999
Mystery

Moonlight becomes you: a novel / Mary Higgins Clark.
Newport
1996
Mystery

Hide Yourself Away / Mary Jane Clark
Newport
2004
Mystery

Trust me once / Jan Coffey
Newport
2001
Fiction

The Red Rover / James Fenimore Cooper
Newport
1852
Fiction

Strange Bedfellow / Janet Dailey
Newport
1979
Romance

Wind of time / John Dandola
Newport
1995

Historical Fiction
Newport / by Edward T. Duranty
Newport
2005
Fiction

The last season / Ronald Florence.
Newport
2000
Historical Fiction

Newport; a novel / Edwin Gilbert
Newport
1971
Fiction

The Gods of Newport / John Jakes
Newport
2006
Historical Fiction

The ivory tower / by Henry James
Newport
1917
Fiction

Siren's Lullaby / William Kennedy
Newport
1997
Thriller

Death on The Cliff Walk : A Gilded Age Mystery / Mary Kruger
Newport
1994
Mystery

Ask No Quarter / George Marsh
Newport
1945
Historical Fiction

Stars on the sea / F. van Wyck Mason
Newport
1940
Historical Fiction

Murder on the Cliff / Stefanie Matteson
Newport
1991
Mystery

The photograph upstairs / Anita McAndrews
Newport
2000
Fiction

Blood red / James A. Moore
Newport
2005
Vampires

The maidenstone lighthouse / Sally Smith O'Rourke
Newport
2007
Fiction

Dusk at the grove / Samuel Rogers
Newport
1934
Fiction

Spies / Richard Sapir
Newport
1984
Thriller

The challenge and the glory / Antoinette Stockenberg
Newport
1987
Fiction

Time after time / Antoinette Stockenberg
Newport
1995
Fiction

The minister's wooing / Harriet Beecher Stowe
Newport
1859
Fiction

Ariabella, the first / Nina Straight
Newport
1981
Fiction

Murder stalks a mansion : a Newport mystery / by Anne-Marie Sutton
Newport
2003
Mystery

Mansions of the Dead / Sarah Stewart Taylor
Newport
2004
Mystery

The reach / Sprague J. Theobald
Newport
1999
Fiction

Dragon Cove / Carter A. Vaughn
Newport
1964
Historical Fiction

One night in Newport / Elizabeth Villars
Newport
1981
Fiction

Newport woman / Delphine Washburn
Newport
1967
Fiction

Shadow of Innocence / Ric Wasley
Newport
2007
Fiction

The story of my disappearance / Paul Watkins
Newport
1998
Thriller

The voyage of the encounter / Sheldon Burton Webster.
Newport
1998
Fiction

Spindrift / Phyllis Whitney
Newport
1975
Mystery

Theophilus North / Thornton Wilder
Newport
1973
Historical Fiction

The Last waltz / Nancy Zaroulis
Newport
1984
Historical Fiction

Double Lives / Jane Barnes
North Kingstown - Saunderstown
1981
Fiction

The Catherine / Robert S. Macdonald. --
North Kingstown - Saunderstown
1982
Fiction

The witches of Eastwick / John Updike.
North Kingstown - Wickford
Fiction

The widows of Eastwick / John Updike.
North Kingstown - Wickford
Fiction

Outside Providence / Peter Farrelly
Pawtucket
1988
Fiction

Murfy's Men / Gerald Green
Portsmouth
1981
Historical Fiction

Gravewriter / Mark Arsenault.
Providence
2006
Mystery

The Golden Mistress / Basil Beyea
Providence
1975
Historical Fiction

Crows over the wheatfield / Adam Braver
Providence
2006
Fiction

Rogue's Isles: a Michael Carolina mystery / by Thomas Gately Briody.
Providence
1995
Mystery

Rogue's justice : a Michael Carolina mystery / by Thomas Gately Briody.
Providence
1996
Mystery

A confidential source / Jan Brogan.
Providence
2005
Mystery

Yesterday's fatal / Jan Brogan.
Providence
2007
Mystery

Teaser / Jan Brogan
Providence
2008
Mystery

A killing on church grounds / Barbara Cummings.
Providence
2006
Mystery

Shadows in the darkness / Elaine Cunningham.
Providence
2004
Urban Fantasy

Shadows in the starlight / Elaine Cunningham.
Providence
2006
Urban Fantasy

Benefit Street / by David Cornel De Jong
Providence
1942
Fiction

Heart of the night / Barbara Delinsky.
Providence
1989
Romance

The Survivors Club / Lisa Gardner.
Providence
2002
Thriller

The aberration / by Al Giannini
Providence
2000
Fiction

Keeper and kid / Edward Hardy.
Providence
2008
Fiction

The Knitting Circle / Ann Hood
Providence
2007
Fiction

Mill Stream / Hortense Lion
Providence
1941
Historical Fiction

The case of Charles Dexter Ward / H. P. Lovecraft
Providence
1927
Thriller

The dreams in the Witch House and other weird stories / H.P. Lovecraft
Providence
2005
Thriller

Defenceless / Celeste Marsella
Providence
2008
Thriller

Airs of Providence / Jean McGarry
Providence
1985
Short Stories

The house on Benefit Street / Donna Montalbano.
Providence
2003
Mystery

The probe / by Jack O'Rourke
Providence
2000
Mystery

Ceremony / Robert B. Parker
Providence
1982
Thriller

Straight pool / by J.J. Partridge
Providence
2008
Mystery

Carom shot / by J.J. Partridge
Providence
2005
Mystery

Every Sunday / Peter Pezzelli
Providence
2005
Fiction

Francesca's Kitchen / Peter Pezzelli
Providence
2006
Fiction

The Family / David Plante
Providence
1978
Fiction

Informed Consent / Neil Ravin
Providence
1983
Fiction

Rebecca of Providence, Rhode Island : 1605-1683 / Bonnie L. Schermer
Providence
2003
Fiction

To feel stuff / Andrea Seigel
Providence
2006
Fiction

An American killing : a novel / by Mary-Ann Tirone Smith
Providence
1998
Thriller

This Room Is Yours / Michael Stein
Providence
2004
Fiction

A miracle on Charles Street / Pasco Verducci
Providence
2006
Fiction

Providence / Geoffrey Wolff
Providence
1986
Fiction

Roberta's Woods / by Betty J. Cotter
Rhode Island
2008
Fiction

My story being this : details of the life of Mary Williams Magahee, lady of colour / Pamala-Suzette Deane.
Rhode Island
2004
Historical Fiction

New Bedlam : a novel / Bill Flanagan
Rhode Island
2007
Fiction

Keepers / Russell Greenan
Rhode Island
1978
Thriller

Pike's folly / Mike Heppner.
Rhode Island
2006
Fiction

Earthsound / Arthur Herzog
Rhode Island
1975
Thriller

Coming Home / Dee Holmes
Rhode Island
2003
Romance

The boy on the porch / Dee Holmes
Rhode Island
2003
Romance

The silver screen / Maureen Howard.
Rhode Island
2004
Fiction

The ghost and the dead man's library / Alice Kimberly
Rhode Island
2006
Mystery

The ghost and the femme fatale / by Cleo Coyle writing as Alice Kimberly
Rhode Island
2008
Mystery

The Ghost and Mrs. McClure / Alice Kimberly
Rhode Island
2004
Mystery

The Ghost and the Dead Deb / Alice Kimberly
Rhode Island
2005
Mystery

She's Come Undone / Wally Lamb
Rhode Island
1996
Fiction

Italian lessons / Peter Pezzelli
Rhode Island
2007
Fiction

My Sister's Keeper / Jodi Picoult
Rhode Island
2004
Fiction

The edge of winter / Luanne Rice
Rhode Island
2007
Fiction

Blue Moon / Luanne Rice
Rhode Island
1993
Romance

Dance with me / Luanne Rice.
Rhode Island
2004
Romance

Strike Three You're Dead : a Harvey Blissberg mystery / R.D. Rosen
Rhode Island
1984
Mystery

Dead ball : a Harvey Blissberg mystery / R.D. Rosen
Rhode Island
2001
Mystery

I, Roger Williams : a fragment of autobiography / by Mary Lee Settle.
Rhode Island
2001
Historical Fiction

Where or when : a novel / Anita Shreve
Rhode Island
1993
Fiction

Yankee Yorkshirewomen / Hedley Smith
Rhode Island
1978
Fiction

Fade to Black / Wendy Corsi Staub
Rhode Island
2002
Thriller

Escape from the mill / by Robert V. Sweet
Rhode Island
1994
Fiction

Passing Through Paradise / Susan Wiggs
Rhode Island
2002
Romance

Summer by the Sea / Susan Wiggs
Rhode Island
2002
Romance

Winner of the National Book Award / Jincy Willet
Rhode Island
2003
Fiction

The vineyard : a novel / Barbara Delinsky.
Rhode Island - Aquidneck Island
2000
Romance

February Hill / Victoria Lincoln
Rhode Island - Aquidneck Island
1934
Fiction

Celia Amberley / Victoria Lincoln
Rhode Island - Aquidneck Island
1949
Fiction

Snow Island / by Katherine Towler
Rhode Island - Aquidneck Island
2002
Historical Fiction

Strangers / Michael de Guzman
Rhode Island - South County
1979
Fiction

The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay / Michael de Guzman
Rhode Island - South County
1982
Fiction

Ruby / Ann Hood
Rhode Island - South County
1997
Fiction

The Snitch / Robert Leuci
Rhode Island - South County
1997
Fiction

Diligence in Love / Daisy Newman
Rhode Island - South County
1951
Fiction

The secret ingredient murders : a Eugenia Potter mystery / by Nancy Pickard based on the character created by Virginia Rich.
Rhode Island - South County
Mystery

The Human Shore / Harvena Richter
Rhode Island - South County
1959
Fiction

Rhode Island Blues / Fay Weldon
Rhode Island - South County
2000
Fiction

Interpreter of maladies : stories / Jhumpa Lahiri
South Kingstown
1999
Short Stories

Avery's Knot / Mary Cable
Tiverton
1981
Historical Fiction

The Tragedy at Tiverton / Raymond Paul
Tiverton
1984
Historical Fiction

Gaspee / by Alex Gabbard
Warwick
2007
Historical Fiction

Gift of armor : a romance of Warwick / Hedley Smith
Warwick
1968
Fiction

The properties of water / Ann Hood.
West Warwick
1995
Fiction

Waiting to Vanish / Ann Hood
West Warwick
1988
Fiction

The Summer They Came / William Storandt
Westerly
2002
Fiction

Children's Books

Cornelius Vandermouse : the pride of Newport / Peter Barnes
Newport
1997
Young Children

Puma goes to the Cliff Walk of Newport, Rhode Island / Muriel Barclay de Tolly
Newport
2005
Young Children

Puma goes to the Elms
Newport
2004
Young Children

Puma, Lost in Newport
Newport
2002
Young Children

Puma Sails The Harbor of Newport
Newport
2007
Young Children

Something Upstairs : A Tale of Ghosts / Avi
Providence
1988
Children's Fiction

The Man Who Was Poe / Avi
Providence
1989
Children's Fiction

Gray bonnets in the days of Roger Williams / Slater Brown
Providence
1954
Children's Fiction

Whisper in the dark / Joseph Bruchac
Providence
2005
Children's Fiction

A Little maid of Newport / Alice Turner Curtis
Newport
1915
Children's Fiction

A little maid of Narragansett Bay / Alice Turner Curtis
Warwick
1915
Children's Fiction

Melonhead / Michael de Guzman
Rhode Island
2002
Children's Fiction

Secret in the moonlight / by E.L. Flood
Rhode Island
1994
Children's Fiction

How I saved my father's life (and ruined everything else) / Ann Hood
Providence
2008
Children's Fiction

The Governor's ship / A. John Kennelly
Rhode Island
1995
Children's Fiction

Meg Mackintosh Mysteries / Lucinda Landon
Rhode Island
Children's Fiction

Some of the adventures of Rhode Island Red / by Stephen Manes
Rhode Island
1990
Children's Fiction

The case of the mysterious codes / by John F. Warner
Newport
1995
Children's Fiction

Young Adult Fiction

Where I want to be / Adele Griffin
South Kingstown
2005
YA

I am the wallpaper / Mark Peter Hughes
Rhode Island
2005
YA

Lemonade Mouth / Mark Peter Hughes
Rhode Island
2007
YA

Devilish / by Maureen Johnson
Providence
2007
YA

The Art of Keeping Cool / Janet Taylor Lisle
Rhode Island
2000
YA

Black Duck / Janet Taylor Lisle
Newport
2006
YA

The crying rocks / Janet Taylor Lisle
Rhode Island
2003
YA

'38 : the Great Hurricane in Quonochontaug Rhode Island : a novel / by John Livsey
Westerly
2004
YA

A circle of two : book of Newport / A. Valentine Smith
Newport
2001
YA

The Possibilities of Sainthood / Donna Freitas
Providence
2008
YA

Issues? A Child Called It, and Issue-driven fiction for Teens

2009-01-15T20:00:00.001-08:00

Dave and Richard Pelzer's books

A Child Called It:: One Child's Courage to Survive Dave Pelzer
The Lost boy : A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family Dave Pelzer
The Privilege of Youth : A Teenager's Story of Longing for Acceptance and Friendship Dave Pelzer
A Man Named Dave : A Story of Triumph and Forgiveness Dave Pelzer
A Brother's Journey : Surviving a Childhood of AbuseRichard Pelzer
A Teenager's Journey : Overcoming a Childhood of Abuse Richard Pelzer

Twisted Laurie Halse Anderson 17 year old Tyler enjoys his tough reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts.

Speak Laurie Halse Anderson Melinda stops speaking after speaking up and calling the police at a party.

Alt Ed Catherine Atkins Susan and Brendan have to participate in a 12 week after-school group therapy session- or be expelled.

Candy Kevin Brooks Joe desperately wants to save beautiful Candy from a life of drug use and prostitution.

Smack Melvin Burgess Gemma and Tar run away from home, only to fall into the trap of heroin addiction.

The facts speak for themselves Brock Cole At the request of her social worker, thirteen-year-old Linda gradually reveals how her life with her unstable mother and her younger brother led to her rape and the murder she witnessed.

Just Listen Sarah Dessen Annabelle's reluctance to deal with confrontation has devastating results.

Party Girl Lynne Ewing Ana and Kata have always played together, and then they partied together. What will Ana do without her?

I Am an Artichoke Lucy Frank 15 year old Sarah is caught between a mother and her anorexic daughter.

Perfect Natasha Friend Isabelle's need to be perfect drives her to bulimia.

Fat Kid Rules the World K.L. Going 17-year old Troy gets a chance to play drums in a band with a homeless guitar genius.

Stone Cold Pete Hautman Sixteen-year-old Denn finds himself alienating both friends and family when he becomes obsessed with playing high-stakes poker with adult gamblers.

Second Star to the Right Deborah Hautzig Leslie can never be thin enough. Written by an author who suffered from anorexia.

Kissing Doorknobs Terry Spencer Hesser Fourteen-year-old Tara describes how her increasingly strange compulsions begin to take over her life and affect her relationships with her family and friends.

Crank Ellen Hopkins Kristina, the perfect daughter, has an alter-ego she calls Bree- and Bree is into crank.

You Don't Know Me David Klass John suffers abuse from his violent step-father.

Stoner and Spaz Ron Koertge Ben and Colleen are unlikely friends.

The Loser's Club John LeKich Alex has a way to deal with Jerry, the school bully.

Inexcusable Chris Lynch High school senior and football player Keir sets out to enjoy himself on graduation night, but when he attempts to comfort a friend whose date has left her stranded, things go terribly wrong.

RX Tracy Lynn Thyme is an honors student, popular, on student council, and a drug dealer.

Cut Patricia McCormick Callie is sent to Sea Pines, a therapy facility, to deal with her self-mutilation issues.

Anything to win Gloria Miklowitz To increase his chances of winning a college scholarship, a talented high school quarterback risks his health by taking anabolic steroids to gain weight

Past forgiving Gloria Miklowitz Fifteen-year-old Alexandra finds that her boyfriend Cliff demands all her time, isolates her by his jealousy, and finally becomes physically abusive.

Bottled up : a novel Jaye MurrayA high school boy comes to terms with his drug addiction, life with an alcoholic father, and a younger brother who looks up to him.

The Beast Walter Dean MyersA visit to his Harlem neighborhood and the discovery that the girl he loves is using drugs give sixteen-year-old Anthony Witherspoon a new perspective both on his home and on his life at a Connecticut prep school.

The Keeper Phyllis Reynolds NaylorJunior high school student Nick must face the fact that his father is plunging fast into serious mental illness.

Lisa Bright and Dark John Neufeld Lisa's family and teachers won't face her deep depression.

The Body of Christopher Creed Carol Plum-Ucci When Christopher Creed, class loser, disappears, why does everyone want to blame Bo Richardson?

The Night My Sister Went Missing Carol Plum-Ucci Kurt doesn't understand what happened at first- but as the night goes on, horrible secrets are uncovered.

The boy from the basement Susan Shaw A twelve-year-old boy is confined to his basement without food or clothing

Project X Jim Shepard Edwin and Flake can't take any more- and they have a plan to put a stop to it.

Go Ask Alice Beatrice Sparks Alice's diary describes her slide into heavy drug use.

Kim: Empty Inside Beatrice Sparks Seventeen-year-old Kim, feeling the pressure of maintaining an A average to stay on her college gymnastics team, becomes obsessive about her weight and develops anorexia.

Give A Boy A Gun Todd Strasser Gary and Brendan are sick of being bullied, and they have a terrible plan to put an end to it.

Fair Game Erika Tamar High school senior Laura Jean is shocked when the school jocks are accused of gang-raping a retarded girl and her boyfriend Scott appears to be involved.

The Game Teresa Toten Dani and Kelly were always there for each other, like sisters should be. So why is Danni alone at Riverwood Clinic?

Inside Out Terry Trueman A sixteen-year-old with schizophrenia is caught up in the events surrounding an attempted robbery by two other teens who eventually hold him hostage.

The Rules of Survival Nancy Werlin Matt addresses the abuse he and his siblings suffered from their bipolar mother.

Memories of Summer Ruth White Lyric and her sister Summer have a hard time adjusting to the move from Glory Bottom, Virginia to Flint, Michigan.

NONFICTION

Please Stop Laughing at Me… Jodee Blanco A shocking, disturbing look at bullying and social torture, and an inspiring story of resilience and survival.

The Basketball DiariesJim CarrollThe rock singer's account of losing his chances at being a pro-basketball player because of drug use is searing.

Stick Figure: A diary of my former selfLori GottliebLori’s high school diary records her battles with bulimia.

Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy ChildhoodJulie GregoryJulie tells her disturbing story about growing up suffering a rare form of child abuse, and her eventual, against-all-odds recovery.

SybilFlora Rheta SchrieberSybil is a true story based on one of the most severe cases of Multiple Personality Disorder and child abuse known.

Katie.com: My StoryKatherine TarboxKatie was 13 when she met Mark on the internet- it wasn't till they met in person that she found out that "Mark" was a pedophile in his 40s named Frank.

More Resources

Surviving the Roller Coaster: A Teen's Guide To Coping With Moods Jean Ford

Nothing to Be Ashamed Of: Growing Up With Mental Illness in Your FamilySherry Dinner

Respect: A Girl’s Guide to Getting Respect and Dealing When Your Line Is CrossedCourtney Macavinta and Andrea Vander Pluym

The Teenage Guy's Survival Guide Jeffrey Dandry

When Nothing Matters Anymore: A Survival Guide For Depressed Teens Bev Cobain

Teen Addiction Edited by Paul Winters

Read-alikes for The Clique, or Gossip Girl

2009-01-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

You might also enjoy these other stories about popularity and social status.
Private by Kate Brian
Private: A Novel (2006)
Invitation Only (2006)
Untouchable (2006)
Confessions (2007)
Inner Circle (2007)

Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita
Secrets of My Hollwood Life: A Novel (2006)
Secrets of My Hollwood Life: On Location (2007)

Au Pairs by Melissa de la Cruz
The Au Pairs (2004)
Skinnydipping (2005)
Sun-Kissed (2006)
Crazy Hot (2007)

The A-List by Zoey Dean
The A-List (2003)
Girls on Film (2004)
Blonde Ambition (2004)
Tall Cool One (2005)
Back in Black (2005)
Some Like it Hot (2006)
American Beauty (2006)
Heart of Glass (2007)
Beautiful Stranger (2007)
California Dreaming (2008)

The Clique by Lisi Harrison
The Clique (2004)
Best Friends for Never (2004)
Revenge of the Wannabes (2005)
Invasion of the Boy Snatchers (2005)
The Pretty Committee Strikes Back (2006)
Dial L for Loser (2006)
It's Not Easy Being Mean (2007)
Sealed with a Diss (2007)
Bratfest at Tiffany’s (2008)

Poseur by Rachel Maude

The Rise and Fall of a 10th Grade Social Climber by Lauren Meekling and Laura Moser

The Insiders by J. Minter
The Insiders (2004)
Pass It On (2004)
Take It Off (2005)
Break Every Rule (2005)
Hold on Tight (2006)
Girls We Love (2006)
Inside Girl (2007)

Confessions series by Dyan Sheldon
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
My Perfect Life-Confessions of a Hollywood Star

The It Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar
The It Girl (2005)
Notorious (2006)
Reckless (2006)
Unforgettable (2007)
Lucky (2007)
Tempted (2008)

Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar
Gossip Girl (2002)
You Know You Love Me (2002)
All I Want Is Everything (2003)
Because I'm Worth It (2003)
I Like It Like That (2004)
You're the One I Want (2004)
Nobody Does It Better (2005)
Nothing Can Keep Us Together (2005)
Only In Your Dreams (2006)
Would I Lie To You (2006)
Don't You Forget about Me (2007)
It Had to Be You: The Gossip Girl Prequel (2007)

Guitar Heroes and more

2009-01-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

So you wanna be a superstar?
Live large, big house and five cars?

Check out these books about fortune and fame through music and acting .

Audrey, Wait!
Robin Benway
While trying to score a date with her cute co-worker at the Scooper Dooper, sixteen-year-old Audrey gains unwanted fame and celebrity status when her ex-boyfriend, a rock musician, records a breakup song about her that soars to the top of the Billboard charts.

Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys
Francesca Lia Block
With their parents away, four young people form a rock band that becomes wildly popular, carrying them into a "freer" life than they can cope with.

Teen Idol
Meg Cabot
When teenage heartthrob Luke Stryker shows up at a small-town Indiana high school to do research for a movie role, he persuades junior Jenny Greenley to use her considerable talents to try to change things at school for the better.

Secrets of My Hollwood Life: A Novel
Jen Calonita
Longing to experience the life of a "normal" teenager, sixteen-year-old actress Kaitlin Burke assumes a false identity to attend a local high school.

Beige
Cecil Castelucci
Katy, a quiet French Canadian teenager, reluctantly leaves Montréal to spend time with her estranged father, an aging Los Angeles punk rock legend.

Pop Princess
Rachel Cohn
Yearning to escape the small Massachusetts town where her family retreated after her sister's death, Wonder Blake gets her chance when her sister's manager offers Wonder a record contract on her sixteenth birthday.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
High school student Nick O'Leary, member of a rock band, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg and asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes in order to avoid his ex-sweetheart.

LBD : it's a girl thing
Grace Dent
Barred by their overprotective parents from attending a rock music festival, fourteen-year-olds Ronnie, Fleur, and Claude, also known as "Les Bambinos Dangereuses," decide to stage their own music festival at Blackwell School.

This Lullabye
Sarah Dessen
Raised by a mother who's had five husbands, eighteen-year-old Remy believes in short-term, no-commitment relationships until she meets Dexter, a rock band musician.

Fat kid rules the world
K.L. Going
Seventeen-year-old Troy, depressed, suicidal, and weighing nearly 300 pounds, gets a new perspective on life when a homeless teenager who is a genius on guitar wants Troy to be the drummer in his rock band.

Lemonade Mouth
Mark Peter Hughes
A disparate group of Rhode Island high school students thrown together in detention form a band to play at a school talent show and end up competing with a wildly popular local rock band.

Heavy metal and you
Christopher
KrovatinHigh schooler Sam begins losing himself when he falls for a preppy girl who wants him to give up getting wasted with his best friends and even his passion for heavy metal music in order to become a better person.

Carbon Diaries 2015
Saci Lloyd
In 2015, when England becomes the first nation to introduce carbon dioxide rationing in a drastic bid to combat climate change, sixteen-year-old rock musicial Laura documents the first year of rationing as her family spirals out of control.

Guitar Girl Sarah ManningMolly, 17, never planned to reach pop stardom. She just enjoyed writing songs and playing music with her friends, Jane and Tara.

Rock star superstar Blake NelsonWhen Pete, a talented bass player, moves from playing in the high school jazz band to playing in a popular rock group, he finds the experience exhilarating even as his new fame jeopardizes his relationship with girlfriend Margaret.

Confessions of a backup dancer Tucker ShawKelly Kimball spent a summer as a backup dancer for Darcy Barnes, the biggest pop star in the world. Kelly's got the real story on Darcy, her life, her family, and her entourage -- and she's spilling it here for the first time. Glamour. Access. Scandal. Ever wonder what your favorite pop divas are like after the cameras stop rolling?

Drums, girls, & dangerous pie Jordan SonnenblickWhen his younger brother is diagnosed with leukemia, thirteen-year-old jazz drummer Steven tries to deal with his complicated emotions, his school life, and his desire to support his family.

Nobody Does it Better: A Gossip Girl novel Cecily von ZiegesarScandal abounds as the uptown girls take "time to shop, drink, eat, and make merry," winding up their days as Constance Billard students with a Senior Spa Day that is crashed by The Raves rock group and assorted other guys.

Beautiful city of the dead Leander WattsAfter joining a heavy metal band, high school student Zee learns that she is a god of water and is called upon to fight sinister forces that want her powers for their own.

The last days : a novel Scott WesterfeldAs an ancient evil stirs beneath the streets of New York City, infecting rats and people like a plague, five quirky teens come together to form a "New Sound" band whose music seems to have paranormal power.

Pay The Piper Jane YolenWhen Callie interviews the band, Brass Rat, for her school newspaper, her feelings are ambivalent, but when all the children of Northampton begin to disappear on Halloween, she knows where the dangerous search must begin.

Gangsta rap Benjamin ZephaniahWhen teenage Ray and his two friends, Prem and Tyronne, form a successful rap band in the London's East End where they live, they soon find themselves embroiled in increasingly violent gang warfare.

Fantasy After Harry

2009-01-15T19:51:00.000-08:00

What to read next

The Lost Years of Merlin by T.A. Barron
This series for fans of myths, legends, magic, heroes, dragons, and ancient history. Lost in the mists of time, the series covers the adventures of the young wizard Merlin as he grows his power and wisdom in the years before he becomes chief advisor to King Arthur.
The Lost Years of Merlin (1996)
The Seven Songs of Merlin (1997)
The Fires of Merlin (1998)
The Mirror of Merlin (1999)
The Wings of Merlin (2000)

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl is a notorious young criminal genius. Greed and sheer criminality lead Artemis and his friends, enemies, and in-betweens into conflict and trouble with fairies, goblins, and the like, with non-stop action the whole time. “Die Hard” with fairies.
Artemis Fowl (2001)
Artemis Fowl : The Arctic Incident (2002)
Artemis Fowl : The Eternity Code (2003)
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception (2005)
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony (2006)

The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins

This series follows 11 year old Gregor’s prophesied adventures underground New York City, amongst groups of humans, bats, moles, and the strange creatures that live in the Underland. .
Gregor the Overlander (2003)
Gregor and The Prophesy of Bane (2004)
Gregor and The Curse of The Warmbloods (2005)
Gregor and The Marks of Secret(2006)
Gregor and the Code of Claw (2007)

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
This excellent and thought provoking series starts in a post-apocalyptic society, where a small group of citizens make up the underground City of Ember– but the last resources are dwindling, and the infrastructure is crumbling. Lina and her friend Doon have to find a way to save their world– or a way to leave it.
The City Of Ember (2003)
The People of Sparks (2004)
The Prophet of Yonwood (2006)

Shadow Children by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Set in an overpopulated and resource deprived future, these books follow the saga of Luke Garner, a Shadow Child– a child born without official approval. Luke has to hide his true identity in order to survive, and to fight the oppressive government.
Among the Hidden (1998)
Among the Impostors (2001)
Among the Betrayed (2002)
Among the Barons (2003)
Among the Brave (2004)
Among the Enemy (2005)
Among the Free (2006)

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
This classic series follows the adventures of children who discover a way through space and time to a hidden world– Narnia, where magic, talking animals, and epic battles between good and evil take place.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (1951)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
The Silver Chair (1953)
The Horse and His Boy (1954)
The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
The Last Battle (1956)

Twilight by Stephanie MeyerFantasy/horror/gothic romance? All of the above. Bella Swan’s new life in Washington becomes complicated when her brooding new boyfriend turns out to be a vampire.
Twilight (2005)
New Moon (2006)
Eclipse (2007)

Charlie Bone, or The Red King Series by Jenny Nimmo
These books are for readers who love the magical boarding school idea. Admittedly similar in general plot premise to the Harry Potter books, Charlie’s skills and challenges are unique, and the series appeals those with a taste for the English-boarding-school flavor of fantasy..
Charlie Bone and The Wizard’s Rock (2002)
Charlie Bone and The Time Twister (2003)
Charlie Bone and The Invisible Boy (2004)
Charlie Bone and The Castle of Mirrors (2005)
Charlie Bone and The Council of the Firebird (2006)
Charlie Bone and The Beast (2007)

Immortals by Tamora Pierce
This series is for true lovers of fantasy. Set in the Kingdom of Tortall, which readers may recognize from Pierce’s other series, Song of the Lioness, heroine Daine’s “wild magic” enables her to communicate with animals. As her skills as a Mage develop, political intrigue and epic battles take place over the course of the series.
Wild Magic (1992)
Wolf-Speaker (1994)
The Emperor Mage (1995)
The Realms of the Gods (1996)

Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan
This series is for those who like the darker side of things– the main character, Darren, becomes a half-vampire after a visit to a bizarre freak-show, and the saga follows his adventures as he tries to adjust to his new life and fights evil.
Cirque du Freak (2001)
The Vampire's Assistant (2001)
Tunnels of Blood (2002)
Vampire Mountain (2002)
Trials of Death (2003)
The Vampire Prince (2004)
Hunters of the Dusk (2004)
Allies of the Night (2004)
Killers of the Dawn (2005)
The Lake of Souls (2005)
Lord of the Shadows (2006)
Sons of Destiny ((2006)

The Lord of The Rings by J.R. Tolkein
Classic high fantasy, done right. Hobbits, Elves, Orcs, Fairies, Dwarves, a vital quest, a heroic journey– the reason it might sound familiar is that this is the original. If you have any interest in fantasy at all, give this a try. Companion book: The Hobbit.
The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
The Two Towers (1954)
The Return of The King (1955)

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
This fantastic series is exciting, thought provoking, and fun to read. Set in the not-too-distant future, the heroine Tally Youngblood must face societal pressure to become a “Pretty”- an adult who has had mandated plastic surgery to become both ‘beautiful’ and partially lobotomized. Tally’s struggle to maintain control over her life turns into a thrilling action-adventure.
Uglies (2005)
Pretties (2005)
Specials (2006)
Extras (2007)

Historical Fiction for Teens

2009-01-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

Historical Fiction

Time travel is possible with books .

Little Women Louisa May Alcott (1868) During the Civil War, 4 Massachusetts sisters become women.

Fever, 1793 Laurie Halse Anderson. (2000) Mattie must survive Philadelphia’s yellow fever epidemic.

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austin (1813) The first romantic comedy! Elizabeth Bennet can’t stand Mr. Darcy– right?

Crispin: The Cross of Lead Avi (2002)13 year old Crispin must escape bounty hunters in 14th century England.

Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte (1847)Cathy and Heathcliff’s love destroys them both, and many around them.

A Northern Light Jennifer Donnelly (2003)Mattie’s life changes when a young woman drowning near the hotel where Mattie works turns out to be murder. Based on a true story, the murder took place in 1906.

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman Ernest Gaines (1971)This novel covers a hundred years of history, as Miss Jane reminisces about her life from just after the civil war to the beginning of the civil rights movement.

The Summer of My German Soldier. Bette Greene. When a WWII prison camp is built near her home in Arkansas, the last thing that Jewish Patty expects is to fall in love with Anton, an escapee.

Earthquake at Dawn Kristiana Gregory (1992)Edith and her maid Daisy get caught in the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and Edith discovers her passion for journalistic photography. Based on a true story.

Out of the Dust Karen Hesse (1997)A novel in verse, this book tells the story of Billie Jo, trying to overcome family tragedy during the gritty Dust Bowl years of the 1930s.

Soldier Boys Dean Hughes (2001)Dieter and Spence are both eager to join the military during WWII. What they experience in war will change them both.

Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers (1989)Perry leaves Harlem to head to Vietnam in this excellent book about race, war, honor, and friendship.

Amistad David Pesci (1997)A group of Africans take over their slave ship, but then are captured and put on trial in 1839.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith (1943)Francie Nolan grows up in a family that is struggling to support themselves in pre-WWI New York in this wonderful, must-read classic.

The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath (1963)Pressure to succeed leads Esther into a nervous breakdown in 1950’s America.

An Acquaintance With Darkness Ann Rinaldi (1997)When her mother dies and her best friend’s family is implicated in the assassination of President Lincoln, 14 year old Emily must go live with an uncle she suspects of immoral medical research.

Teen Vampire Booklist

2009-01-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

Thirsty. M.T. Anderson. (1997). From the moment he knows that he is destined to be a vampire, Chris thirsts for the blood of people around him while also struggling to remain human.

Demon In My View. Amelia-Atwater Rhodes. (2001). Teenage writer Jessica becomes entangled with her own ghoulish characters.

In The Forests Of The Night .Amelia-Atwater Rhodes. (1999). 300 year old vampire Risika still looks 17– the age she was when she became immortal– and she is involved in a frightening mystery. Written when the author was 13 (!) this is a great introduction to her writing.

Shattered Mirror. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. (2001).As seventeen-year-old Sarah, daughter of a powerful line of vampire-hunting witches, continues to pursue the ancient bloodsucker Nikolas, she finds herself in a dangerous friendship with two vampire siblings in her high school.

Glass Houses: The Morganville Vampires. Rachel Caine. (2006).When Claire decided to attend college early, she had no idea what she was going to learn. (Sequel: The Dead Girls’ Dance)

High School Bites. Liza Conrad. (2006). Having learned on her sixteenth birthday that Count Dracula exists and lives in her hometown of Seattle, Lucy tries to save herself and her friends while wondering whether her boyfriend is also a vampire.

The Vampire’s Promise. Caroline B. Cooney. (1993) A vampire holds a group of teenagers prisoners in his house. In order to be released, one must volunteer to stay behind.

Blue Bloods. Melissa de la Cruz. (2006). Select teenagers from some of New York City's wealthiest and most socially prominent families learn a startling secret about their bloodlines. (Sequel: Masquerade)

The Silver Kiss. Annette Curtis Klause. (1990).A mysterious teenage boy harboring a dark secret helps Zoe come to terms with her mother's terminal illness.

Gil’s All Fright Diner. A. Lee Martinez. (2005).Duke and Earl are just passing through Rockwood County in their pickup truck when they stop at the Diner for a quick bite to eat. They aren't planning to stick around-until Loretta, the eatery's owner, offers them $100 to take care of her zombie problem. Given that Duke is a werewolf and Earl's a vampire, this looks to be right up their alley.

Twilight, (2005) New Moon, (2006) and Eclipse (2007). Stephenie Meyer. When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

Vampire High. Douglas Rees. (2003). When his family moves from California to New Sodom, Massachusetts and Cody enters Vlad Dracul Magnet School, many things seem strange, from the dark-haired, pale-skinned, supernaturally strong students to Charon, the wolf who guides him around campus on the first day.

Braced 2 Bite. Serena Robar. (2006). When Colby Blanchard is attacked and turned into a half-vampire, her senior year of high school becomes surreal as she vacillates between trying to save her life and worrying about losing her place on the cheerleading squad.

Vampire Kisses. Ellen Schreiber. (2003). Sixteen-year-old Raven, an outcast who always wears black and hopes to become a vampire some day, falls in love with the mysterious new boy in town, eager to find out if he can make her dreams come true. (Sequel: Kissing Coffins)

Cirque du Freak series. Darren Shan. (2001)Darren becomes a half-vampire after a visit to a bizarre freak-show, and the saga follows his adventures as he tries to adjust to his new life and fights evil.

The Awakening. L.J. Smith. (1999). Elena is torn between two brothers- and it only further complicates things that they are vampires.

Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean. Justin Somper. (2005) When twins Connor and Grace's ship is wrecked in a storm and Connor is rescued by pirates, he believes that Grace has been taken aboard the mythical Vampirate's ship, and he is determined to find her.

Dracula. Bram Stoker. (1897). Jonathan Harker must try to defend his fiance Mina and her friend Lucy from the decadant Count Dracula.

Peeps. Scott Westerfeld. (2005). Cal Thompson is a carrier of a parasite that causes vampirism, and must hunt down all of the girlfriends he has unknowingly infected.

For older readers (Graphic elements)

Covenant with the Vampire. Jeanne Kalogridis. (1995). The first in a series of diaries of the family of Dracul.

‘Salem’s Lot. Stephen King. (1975). Ben and Susan don’t know exactly what is going on in their small town- but they know it feels evil.

Interview With the Vampire. Anne Rice. (1976). Louis, a vampire for 200 years, tells his story to a reporter in San Francisco.

Graphic novels with Vampire Themes

Vampire Knight. Matsui Hino. (2007). Cross Academy is attended by two groups of students: the day class and the night class. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the guardians of the school, protecting the day class from the Academy's dark secret: the night class is full of vampires!

Vampire Game. Jason Judal. (2003). In this manga series, reincarnated vampires search for each other.

Vampire Loves. Joann Sfar. (2006). Ferdinand is a vampire- but he is too polite!

Tales of the Vampires. Joss Wheedon. (2004). This is based on the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Teens Sports Booklist

2009-01-15T19:34:00.000-08:00

Baseball and Softball

Bull Catcher Alden Carter Pete and Jeff continue their friendship and love of baseball as they progress from ninth grade through high school in their small Wisconsin town.

Summerland Michael Chabon Ethan Feld, the worst baseball player in the history of the game, finds himself recruited by a 100-year-old scout to help a band of fairies triumph over an ancient enemy.

CPainting the Black Carl Deuker When star athlete Josh Daniels moves in across the street, Remy Ward doesn't realize how much his life will change during his senior year at Seattle's Crown Hill High.

Dean Duffy Randy Powell Eighteen-year-old Dean, a former high school baseball star whose future has been ruined by a batting slump and a bad arm, is offered a college baseball scholarship and finds himself uncertain of whether to take it.

Farm Team Will Weaver With his father in jail and his mother working full-time, 14-year-old Billy Baggs finds himself in charge of running the family farm in northern Minnesota and having to give up the thing he loves most--baseball.

Bat 6 Virginia Euwer Wolfe In small town, post-World War Oregon, twenty-one 6th grade girls recount the story of an annual softball game, during which one girl's bigotry comes to the surface.

Basketball

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Sherman Alexie Budding cartoonist and basketball player Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Ball, Don't Lie Matt de la Pena Seventeen-year-old Sticky lives to play basketball at school and at Lincoln Rec Center in Los Angeles and is headed for the pros, but he is unaware of the many dangers--including his own past--that threaten his dream.

Night Hoops Carl Deuker While trying to prove that he is good enough to be on his high school's varsity basketball team, Nick must also deal with his parents' divorce and erratic behavior of a troubled classmate who lives across the street.

On The Devil's Court Carl Deuker Struggling with his feelings of inadequacy and his failure to make the basketball team in his new school, seventeen-year-old Joe Faust finds himself willing to trade his soul for one perfect season of basketball.

Danger Zone David Klass When he joins a predominantly black "Teen Dream Team" that will be representing the United States in an international basketball tournament in Rome, Jimmy Doyle makes some unexpected discoveries about prejudice, racism, and politics.

Hoops Walter Dean Myers A teenage basketball player from Harlem is befriended by a former professional player who, after being forced to quit because of a point shaving scandal, hopes to prevent other young athletes from repeating his mistake.

Slam! Walter Dean Myers Sixteen-year-old "Slam" Harris is counting on his noteworthy basketball talents to get him out of the inner city and give him a chance to succeed in life, but his coach sees things differently.

Life, Love, and The Pursuit of Free Throws Jeanette Rallison High school freshmen Josie and Cami try to remain best friends as they compete for basketball awards and boys.

Black and White Paul Volponi Two star high school basketball players, one black and one white, experience the justice system differently after committing a crime together and getting caught.

BoxingThe Brave Robert Lipsyte Having left the Indian reservation for the streets of New York, seventeen-year-old boxer Sonny Bear tries to harness his inner rage by training with Alfred Brooks, who has left the sport to become a policeman.

Fighting Ruben Wolfe Marcus Zusak Partly because of their family's poor finances and partly to prove themselves, brothers Ruben and Cameron take jobs as fighters and find themselves reacting very differently in the boxing ring.

Dance and Ballet

On Pointe Lorie Ann Grover In this novel written in free verse, Clare and her grandfather must deal with changes in their lives when Clare's summer growth spurt threatens to end her dream of becoming a ballet dancer and her grandfather suffers a stroke.

Marie, Dancing Carolyn Meyer A fictionalized autobiography of Marie Van Goethem, the impoverished student from the Paris Opéra ballet school who became the model for Edgar Degas's famous sculpture, "The Little Dancer."

Another Way to Dance Martha Southgate Vicki's dream has been to attend the summer program at the School of American Ballet, and she is ready. What she wasn't ready for, though, was to be one of only two African American students in the entire program.

FootballImitate the Tiger Jan Cheripko A high school football player struggles with alcohol dependency and ends up at a rehab school for teenagers.

Roughnecks Thomas Cochran Travis Cody prepares for the final game of his high school football career, a rematch with his school's chief rival.

Running Loose Chris Crutcher A boy's senior year in high school goes awry when he's kicked off the football team for taking a stand against the coach, and his girlfriend is killed in a car accident.

Invisible Pete Hautman Doug and Andy are unlikely best friends--one a loner obsessed by his model trains, the other a popular student involved in football and theater--who grew up together and share a bond that nothing can sever.

Rash Pete Hautman In the year 2074, French fries are illegal, football has been banned, and running isn't just for your health anymore....

Necessary Roughness Marie Lee Sixteen-year-old Korean American Chan moves from Los Angeles to a small town in Minnesota, where he must cope not only with racism on the football team but also with the tensions in his relationship with his strict father.

Anything to Win Gloria Miklowitz To increase his chances of winning a college scholarship, a talented high school quarterback risks his health by taking anabolic steroids to gain weight.

Dairy Queen Catherine Murdock After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.. (Sequel: The Off Season)

Three Clams and an Oyster Randy Powell During their humorous search to find a fourth player for their flag football team, three high school juniors are forced to examine their long friendship, their individual flaws, and their inability to try new experiences.

Crash Jerry Spinelli Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family.

Hockey

Iceman Chris Lynch Fourteen-year-old Eric, a ruthless hockey player prone to violence on the ice, tries to reconcile his own needs with those of his parents.

RunningHeartbeat Sharon Creech Annie ponders the many rhythms of life the year that her mother becomes pregnant, her grandfather begins faltering, and her best friend (and running partner) becomes distant.

Rash Pete Hautman In the year 2074, French fries are illegal, football has been banned, and running isn't just for your health anymore....

SkiingThe Prince and the Snowgirl Simon Cheshire Tom Miller has been performing as a look-alike of Prince George of England for several years, but he finally decides to change his appearance and try to figure out who he really is when the real prince makes a surprise appearance while Tom is competing at the UK Inter-Schools Ski Championships in Scotland.

Bloomability Sharon Creech When her aunt and uncle take her from New Mexico to Lugano, Switzerland, to attend an international school, thirteen-year-old Dinnie discovers her world expanding.

SurfingGingerbread Rachel Cohn After being expelled from a fancy boarding school, Cyd Charisse's problems with her mother escalate after Cyd falls in love with a sensitive surfer and is subsequently sent from San Francisco to New York City to spend time with her biological father. (Sequel: Shrimp)

Amaryllis Craig Crist-Evans Jimmy and his older brother Frank share a love of surfing and their problems with a drunken father, until Frank turns eighteen and goes to Vietnam.

After Summer Nick Earls An Australian teen surfer feels bored while vacationing at his mother's beach house and is worried about passing his final examinations until he meets an attractive local girl.

Swimming

Whale Talk Chris Crutcher TJ shuns organized sports and the gung-ho athletes at his high school until he agrees to form a swimming team and recruits some of the school's less popular students.

These Are The Rules Paul Many Having quit his school's swim team, Colm tries to swim the lake at his family's summer home, at the same time working on his difficult relationship with his father and pondering the mystery of girls.

Tennis

Skeleton Key Anthony Horowitz Reluctant teenage-spy Alex Rider, on a routine mission at the Wimbledon tennis championships, gets caught up in Chinese gangs, illegal nuclear weapons, and the suspect plans of his Russian host, General Sarov.

The Whistling Toilets Randy Powell While coaching tennis for a group of inner city "runts" as well as for his friend Ginny, a star player, sixteen-year-old Stan grows in understanding himself and others.

Amazing Grace Megan Shull Grace “Ace” Kincaid, international teen tennis star, can’t take it any more.

Writing Without Rules Stories told in verse, IM’s, through emails and letters

2009-01-15T19:31:00.000-08:00

Writing Without Rules

Stories told in verse, IM’s, through emails and letters…in writing,there areNO RULES.

NuGrl 90 : Sadie Cheryl Dellasega
Fifteen-year-old Sadie writes on her blog about having to move to a new high school at the beginning of sophomore year due to her parents' divorce, finding and losing a true love and a best friend, and being in therapy and taking antidepressants.

Who Killed Mr. Chippendale Mel Glenn Free verse poems describe the reactions of students, colleagues, and others when a high school teacher is shot to death as the school day begins.

Jazmin's Notebook Nikki Grimes Jazmin, an Afro-American teenager who lives with her older sister in a small Harlem apartment in the 1960s, finds strength in writing poetry and keeping a record of the events in her sometimes difficult life.

On Pointe Lorie Ann Grover In this novel written in free verse, Clare and her grandfather must deal with changes in their lives when Clare's summer growth spurt threatens to end her dream of becoming a ballet dancer and her grandfather suffers a stroke.

CrashBoomLove Juan Felipe Herrera After his father leaves home, sixteen-year-old Cesar Garcia lives with his mother and struggles through the painful experiences of growing up as a Mexican American high school student.

Love, Ghosts, and Facial Hair Steven Herrick Jack's got a lot on his mind: He's trying to figure out the mystery of the opposite sex, he can't stop wondering about facial hair, and he won't let go of his mother's ghost, even though she died seven years ago. Jack knows he can't hang on to the past forever, but what he doesn't know is how to let go.

Out of the Dust Karen Hesse In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.

Witness Karen Hesse A series of poems express the views of various people in a small Vermont town, including a young black girl and a young Jewish girl, during the early 1920s when the Ku Klux Klan is trying to infiltrate the town.

Crank Ellen Hopkins Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter, gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina. Through a boy, Bree meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul - her life.

Burned Ellen HopkinsSeventeen-year-old Pattyn, the eldest daughter in a large Mormon family, is sent to her aunt's Nevada ranch for the summer, where she temporarily escapes her alcoholic, abusive father and finds love and acceptance, only to lose everything when she returns home.

Monster Walter Dean MyersWhile on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.

TTYL Lauren Myracle Chronicles, in "instant message" format, the day-to-day experiences, feelings, and plans of three friends, Zoe, Maddie, and Angela, as they begin tenth grade. (Sequel: TTFN)

TTFN Lauren Myracle Now high school juniors, Zoe, Maddie, and Angela continue to share "instant messages" with one another as one of them experiments with marijuana, another gets her first boyfriend, and the third moves three thousand miles away. (Sequel: L8R G8R)

An Order of Amelie, Hold the Fries Nina Schindler This story is told in a series of notes, text messages, letters, and emails, mostly between Tim and Amelie. Tim is walking on the street one day, watching a beautiful girl, when, miraculously, a scrap of paper falls out of her bag--with a name and address on it!

What My Mother Doesn’t Know Sonya SonesSophie describes her relationships with a series of boys as she searches for Mr. Right.

One of Those Hideous Books Where The Mother Dies Sonya Sones Fifteen-year-old Ruby Milliken leaves her best friend, her boyfriend, her aunt, and her mother's grave in Boston and reluctantly flies to Los Angeles to live with her father, a famous movie star who divorced her mother before Ruby was born.

Jinx Margaret Wild With the help of her understanding mother and a close friend, Jen eventually outgrows her nickname, Jinx, and deals with the deaths of two boys with whom she had been involved.

Make Lemonade Virginia Ewer Wolff In order to earn money for college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn babysits for a teenage mother.

True Believer Virginia Ewer Wolff Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it--an occasion to rise to.

Sticks and Stones: FICTION ABOUT FITTING IN, BEING DIFFERENT AND FINDING YOUR IDENTITY

2009-01-15T19:29:00.000-08:00

Sticks and Stones...
FICTION ABOUT FITTING IN, BEING DIFFERENT AND FINDING YOUR IDENTITY

Speak Laurie Halse Anderson A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect of Melinda's freshman year in high school.

Alt Ed Catherine Atkins Participating in a special after-school counseling class with other troubled students, including a sensitive gay classmate, helps Susan, an overweight tenth grader, develop a better sense of herself.

Stand tall Joan Bauer Tree, a six-foot-three-inch twelve-year-old, copes with his parents' recent divorce and his failure as an athlete by helping his grandfather, a Vietnam vet and recent amputee, and Sophie, a new girl at school.

Life in the Fat Lane Cherie Bennett Sixteen-year-old Lara, winner of beauty pageants and Homecoming Queen, is distressed and bewildered when she starts gaining weight and becomes a fat girl.

Runt V.M. Caldwell Although he tries to make a home with his older sister and her boyfriend after his mother's death, twelve-year-old Runt feels like an outsider until a young cancer patient and his family show him how life can become more meaningful.

Whale Talk Chris Cutcher J.T. Jones is stuck with the task of creating a swim team made up of all the geeks from his high school, including him. Can he make the team a success?

Geography Club Brent Hartinger A group of gay and lesbian teenagers form the “Geography Club” after school, the only place they can be themselves.

Invisible Pete Hautman Doug and Andy are unlikely best friends--one a loner obsessed by his model trains, the other a popular student involved in football and theater--who grew up together and share a bond that nothing can sever.

The Misfits James Howe Four students who do not fit in at their small-town middle school decide to create a third party for the student council elections to represent all students who have ever been called names.

Alice, I Think Susan Juby Fifteen-year-old Alice keeps a diary as she struggles to cope with the embarrassments and trials of family, dating, school, work, small town life, and a serious case of "outcastitis."

Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes The experimental operation to increase Charly's intelligence works, and he suddenly understands that people have been laughing at him instead of with him all along.

Carrie Stephen King A high school girl who has been bullied and tormented by her peers deals out a deadly revenge.

Losers’ Club John Lekich All the school losers turn to Alex "Savior" Sherwood to protect them from Jerry Whitman and his extortion ring. But what is a loser, really? This funny, feisty novel delivers some surprises and poses big questions about being true to yourself.

What Happened to Lani Garver Carol Plum-Ucci The close-knit residents of Hackett Island have never seen anyone quite like Lani Garver. Everything about this new kid is a mystery: Where does Lani come from? How old is Lani? And most disturbing of all, is Lani a boy or a girl?

The Body of Christopher Creed Carol Plum-Ucci Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.

Project X Jim Shepard Two high school loners create a terrible plan for revenge on those who bullied them.

Loser Jerry Spinelli Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Daniel Zinkoff's optimism and exuberance and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself.

Stargirl Jerry Spinelli In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.

Crash Jerry Spinelli Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family.

The Gospel According to Larry Janet Tashjian Seventeen-year-old Josh, a loner-philosopher who wants to make a difference in the world, tries to maintain his secret identity as the author of a web site that is receiving national attention.

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town Kimberly Holt Willis During the summer of 1971 in a small Texas town, thirteen-year-old Toby and his best friend Cal meet the star of a sideshow act, 600-pound Zachary, the fattest boy in the world.

Probably Still Nick Swansen Virginia Euwer Wolff
Sixteen-year-old learning-disabled Nick struggles to endure a life in which the other kids make fun of him, he has to take special classes, his date for the prom makes an excuse not to go with him, and he is haunted by the memory of his older sister who drowned while he was watching.

Love Stories for Teens

2009-01-15T19:26:00.000-08:00

Fiction

Summer Boys Hailey Abbot
Three cousins embrace summer while vacationing in Maine.

Squashed Joan Bauer
A 16-year-old pursues her two goals--growing the biggest pumpkin in Iowa and losing twenty pounds herself while strengthening her relationship with her father and meets a young man with interests similar to her own.

24 Girls in 7 Days Alex Bradley
Jack Grammar, average American senior, has no date to the prom. Or so he thinks.

Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
The tale of the passionate yet thwarted love between Heathcliff and Catherine, and how their doomed romance eventually destroys both themselves and many around them.

Honey, Baby, Sweetheart Deb Caletti
In the summer of her junior year, 16-year-old Ruby McQueen and her mother, both nursing broken hearts, set out on a journey to reunite an elderly woman with her long-lost love.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky
A tale of adolescence whose hero is Charlie, a high school freshman in Pennsylvania. The novel follows Charlie as he is introduced to love, literature and more.

Truth or Dairy Catherine Clark
17-year-old Courtney Von Dragen Smith, who finds solace in a diary after being dumped by her college-bound boyfriend, Dave, at the beginning o f senior year.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist Rachel Cohn
High school student Nick O'Leary, member of a rock band, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg and asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes in order to avoid his ex-sweetheart.

The Truth About Forever Sarah Dessen
The summer following her father's death, Macy plans to work at the library and wait for her brainy boyfriend to return from camp, but instead she goes to work at a catering business where she makes new friends and finally faces her grief.

Someone Like You Sarah Dessen
Halley's junior year of high school includes the death of her best friend Scarlett's boyfriend, the discovery that Scarlett is pregnant, and Halley's own first serious relationship.

this lullaby Sarah Dessen
Raised by a mother who's had five husbands, eighteen-year-old Remy believes in short-term, no-commitment relationships until she meets Dexter, a rock band musician.

After Summer Nick Earls
An Australian teenager feels bored while vacationing at his mother's beach house and is worried about passing his final examinations until he meets an attractive local girl.

Will You Be My Brussels Sprout? Lucy Frank
An aspiring 16-year-old cellist falls in love with her friend's older brother and finds that the relationship is moving too quickly.

A Girl Named Summer Julie Garwood
15-year-old Summer falls hard for athletic, preppy David; loses him to an unworthy, manipulative
female foe; and then wins him back.

Koertge- The Arizona Kid
16-year-old Billy comes to terms with his own values when he is sent to live with his gay uncle in Tucson and is introduced to the world of rodeos where he falls in love with an outspoken racehorse rider named Cara.

Korman- Son of the Mob
17-year-old Vince's life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of an FBI agent.

Levithan- Boy Meets Boy
Paul is smitten with Noah, and they are beginning a serious relationship when Kyle, Paul’s ex, begins to complicate things.

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things Carolyn Mackler
Fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her.

Sloppy Firsts Megan McCafferty
When her best friend, Hope, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, 16-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. How is she supposed to deal with the boy-and-shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad's
obsession with her track meets, and her nonexistent love life?

rob&sara.com P.J. Peterson and Ivy Ruckman
Rob, who lives at a school for troubled teenagers, and Sara, the sixteen-year-old daughter of an army colonel, meet in a poetry chat-room and develop a close relationship via email.

The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman Louise Plummer
17-year-old Kate hopes for romance when her older brother's friend Richard comes to stay at their house during Christmas vacation.

Enthusiasm Polly Shulman
Julie and Ashleigh, high school sophomores and Jane Austen fans, seem to fall for the same Mr. Darcy-like boy and struggle to hide their true feelings from one another while rehearsing for a school musical.

What My Mother Doesn’t Know Sonya Sones
In this free verse novel, Sophie describes her relationships with a series of boys as she searches for Mr. Right.

Stargirl Jerry Spinelli
In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.

How I Created My Perfect Prom Date Todd Strasser
When Brad asks someone else to the senior prom, Nicole resorts to a desperate measure-- she decides to make her next-door neighbor over into a dream date.

Hard Love Ellen Wittlinger After starting to publish a zine in which he writes his secret feelings about his lonely life and his parents' divorce, 16-year-old John meets an unusual girl.

Heart on my Sleeve Ellen Wittlinger
From the end of high school to the beginning of college, Chloe and Julian deal with major changes in their families and friendships and explore their feelings for each other through emails, letters, and a visit.

My Darling, My Hamburger Paul Zindel
Four high school seniors struggle with the responsibilities of growing up, particularly the problems of an intimate relationship.

Nonfiction

Can you relate? : real-world advice for teens on guys, girls, growing up, and getting along Annie Fox Answers letters received by Talk City's "The InSite" and provides advice about dealing with authority figures, handling problems with parents and siblings, making a relationship work, finding and keeping real friends, sex, and more topics important to teens.

Respect : a girl's guide to getting respect and dealing when your line is crossed Courtney Macavinta and Andrea Vander Pluym This smart, savvy book helps teen girls get respect and hold on to it no matter what. It covers topics they deal with daily, like body image, family, friends, the media, school, relationships, and rumors. It confronts tough issues like sexual harassment, date rape, sex, drugs, and alcohol.

…Any Advice? Tucker Shaw and Fiona Gibb
All your questions about life, love, friendship, dating, self-image, and more are in this book--with answers and advice on how to deal with them.

Adult Books for Young Adult Readers

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Adult Books for Young Adult Readers

Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe (1958) Okonkwo's village life in Nigeria is disrupted by British colonialism.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Anita Loos (1925) A blonde and a brunette set sail to Europe in this hilarious satire.

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austin (1813) The first romantic comedy! Elizabeth Bennet's mother is determined that her daughters marry well.

A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess (1962) Alex's ultraviolence is socially unacceptable, and while in prison, he agrees to test the controversial Ludovic treatment.

The Stranger Albert Camus (1942) Meursault feels no emotions- he can't grieve at his mother's funeral, and feels no remorse after killing a man.

My Ántonia Willa Cather (1918) Jim remembers his first love for immigrant farmgirl Antonia.

Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad (1902) Charles Marlow becomes obsessed with finding Mr. Kurtz as he sails down the Congo river.

Great Expectations Charles Dickens (1861) Pip's life is derailed by aristocratic Miss Havisham and her beautiful niece Estella.

An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser (1925)Clyde's blind ambition leads him to tragedy.

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) Nick tells the story of his neighbor's desperate love for his cousin, Daisy.

Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert (1857) Emma is bored with her quiet life as a doctor's wife, and turns to affairs for excitement.

Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden (1997) Sayuri recalls her training as a geisha in the years before WWII.

Lord of the Flies William Golding (1954) Without laws, children on a deserted island quickly turn to mob rule.

Jude The Obscure Thomas Hardy (1895) Jude has dreams of a better life but rigid class structures hold him back.

Stranger in a Strange Land Robert Heinlein (1961) Valentine Smith is the first human raised on Mars and is unable to fit in with Earthlings.

Catch-22 Joseph Heller (1961) Yossarian can't catch a break in this satirical WWII novel.

A Separate Peace John Knowles (1959) Gene and Phineas are friends at school during WWII.

To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee (1960) Scout and Jem suffer when their father is appointed public defender of a black man accused of rape in the deep south.

Main Street Sinclair Lewis (1920) Carol feels trapped by the conventions of small town life.

Bright Lights Big City Jay McInerney (1984) He hates his job, his wife has left him- what else is there to do but party?

1984 George Orwell (1949) Winston breaks the law by questioning the rights of the government.

The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath (1963)Pressure to succeed drives Esther to a breakdown.

The Fountainhead Ayn Rand (1943) Architect Howard refuses to compromise his beliefs to get work.

Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger (1951) Holden is expelled from school and hides out in New York for a few days before telling his parents.

Hamlet William Shakespeare (1602) Hamlet in unable to get over his mother's remarriage after his father dies.

Frankenstein Mary Shelly (1818) Victor creates a monster, and must deal with the repurcussions of playing God.

On the Beach Nevil Shute (1957) Nuclear war has obliterated the Northern Hemisphere, and Australians are waiting for the fallout clouds.

A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh (1934) After Tony's marriage falls apart, he sets off on an Amazon expedition.

The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton (1920) Newland is married to ladylike May, but is attracted to her wild cousin Ellen.

Great Reads for High School

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Great Reads For High School

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams (1979) Hapless Arthur Dent is one of only 2 survivors when Earth is demolished to make room for an intergalactic highway.

Little Women Louisa May Alcott (1868)During the Civil War, 4 Massachusetts girls become women.

Speak Laurie Halse Anderson (1999)Melinda called the cops after a party got way out of control, and now no one will talk to her, and she can not speak about why she made that call.

Go Ask Alice (Beatrice Sparks) Anonymous (1971) Alice's diary records her fall into heavy drug use.

Rules of the Road Joan Bauer (1998)Jenna's road trip teaches her a lot about sales, and much more about herself.

Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury (1953)In the future, firemen don't put out fires- they start them to burn books.

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants Ann Brashares (2001) Lena, Bridget, Tibby and Carmen are about to spend their first summer apart.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower Stephen Chbosky (1999) Charlie's life in high school has been on the quiet, observing side- when will he move to the middle?

A Northern Light Jennifer Donnelly (2003) 16 year old Mattie discovers the reason a murder was committed at the hotel she works at.

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)Nick tells the story of his neighbor's desperate love for his cousin, Daisy.

Lord of the Flies William Golding (1954)Without laws, children on a deserted island quickly turn to mob rule.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time Mark Haddon (2003) 15 year-old Christopher John Francis Boone has Asperger's Syndrome, hates the color yellow, and is determined to find out who killed his neighbor's dog.

Brave New World Aldous Huxley (1932)Bio-engineering is taken to terrifying lengths in the future.

A Separate Peace John Knowles (1959)Gene and Phineas are friends at school during WWII.

To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee (1960)Scout and Jem have to grow up when their father is appointed public defender of a black man accused of rape in the deep south.

Twilight Stephenie Meyer (2005) Bella moves to gloomy Washington state, and falls in love with mysterious Edward.

Monster Walter Dean Myers (1999)While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script.

Ttyl Lauren Myracle (2005) Angela, Zoe, and Madigan support each other through issues ranging from clothing decisions to peer pressure. Told entirely in texts and IMs.

Monsoon Summer Mitali Perkins (2004) Jazz doesn't want to go to India to volunteer- but she has no choice.

Life as We Knew It Susan Beth Pfeiffer(2006) When Miranda heard that a comet would strike the moon, she couldn't possibly have known how her life would be affected.

Great Non-Fiction

In Cold Blood. Truman Capote. (1965)The true story of a mass murder and the resulting arrests.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Barbara Ehrenreich. (2001)Undercover reporter tries to eat, buy clothes, and pay rent on minimum wage.

Girl, Interrupted. Susanna Kaysen. (1993) The author’s memoirs of being a patient in a psychiatric hospital, diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder.

High Tide: The truth about our climate crisis. Mark Lynas. (2004)An account of traveling to some of the world’s most vulnerable areas to see how climate change is already changing them.

The Hot Zone. Richard Preston. (1994)Thrilling, terrifying account of working with and hunting for some of the most deadly viruses in the world.

The Right Stuff. Tom Wolfe. (1979)A gonzo journalist’s take on the first seven astronauts selected to participate in the NASA space program.

Great Reads for Middle School

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Great Reads For Middle School

Fever, 1793. Laurie Halse Anderson. Mattie must survive Philadelphia’s yellow fever epidemic.

Feed. M.T. Anderson. Titus never questioned the Feed- the constant stream of media wired right into his brain- until he met Violet.

A Place Called Ugly . Avi. 14 year old Owen refuses to leave his family’s summer rental.

Nothing But The Truth. Avi. Phillip wants to hum “The Star Spangled Banner.” His teacher wants him not to. How does this become a national incident?

Tuck Everlasting. Natalie Babbit. In the woods, 10 year-oldWinnie meets the Tuck family- and learns their haunting secret.

Code Orange. Carolyn Cooney. Mitty would rather flirt with Olivia than do homework– until his science class research leads him into a life-or-death bioterrorism scare.

The Chocolate War. Robert Cormier. Jerry’s refusal to sell fundraising chocolates turns into so, so much more.

Bloomability. Sharon Creech. Dinnie is 13 when her aunt and uncle ‘kidnap’ her from her unraveling family and take her to Switzerland, where she learns that life is, in fact, full of bloomability.

Romiette and Julio. Sharon Draper. This modern retelling of Romeo and Juliette has Romiette’s African-American friends and family objecting to her relationship with Hispanic Julio.

City of Ember. Jeanne DuPrau. In the underground city of Ember, the food is running out and the power is flickering. Lina and her friend Doon have to save their city- but they’re running out of time!

In Search of Mockingbird. Loretta Ellsworth. 16 year old Erin is on a quest to understand her long-dead mother, and to meet her favorite writer, Harper Lee.

The Summer of My German Soldier. Bette Greene. When a WWII prison camp is built near her home in Arkansas, the last thing that Jewish Patty expects is to fall in love with Anton, an escapee.

Stormbreaker. Anthony Horowitz. Alex is 14 when he discovers his uncle Ian had a secret life as a spy for the British government- and that he needs to take over a vital mission.

The Giver. Lois Lowry. 12 year old Jonas is singled out to receive training from “The Giver”- the society’s keeper of memories.

Cut. Patricia McCormick. Callie is at Sea Pines , or as the other ‘guests’ call it, “Sick Minds” for treatment after her parents find out that she cuts herself.

Hoops. Walter Dean Meyers. Lonnie is under serious pressure- big bucks are being bet on his game, and his coach is reliving his own nightmare.

Anne of Green Gables. L.M. Montgomery. Anne Shirley, an orphan, was sent to Marilla and Matthew by mistake- what can she do to make them want to keep her at Green Gables?

Eleven. Lauren Myracle. Winnie isn’t sure why her best friend Amanda is changing- or is it Winnie who is changing?

April and the Dragon Lady. Lensey Namioka. 16 year old April is caught between her life as an American teenager and her family’s Chinese-American heritage and their expectations for and of her.

Shiloh. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Marty knows what he has to do to save Shiloh, an abused dog, from a violent neighbor. But can it be right to do wrong to do right?

All Alone in the Universe. Lynne Rae Perkins. Debbie learns how it is to be 13 and to feel friendless.

The Body of Christopher Creed. Carol Plum-Ucci. When class ‘loser’ Chris Creed disappears, why is it so easy for people to blame Bo Richardson?

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Betty Smith. Francie grows up during the Great Depression, telling her story from age 11 to becoming a young woman.

Stargirl. Jerry Spinelli. As fascinating as Leo finds Stargirl, she drives him crazy too. Why can’t she just, well, be normal and fit in like everyone else? What would happen if she tried?

Uglies. Scott Westerfeld. Tally Youngblood has waited all her Ugly life to turn 16- to get the surgery that will make her a Pretty. Well, now she’s 16- what is she waiting for?

The Bar Code Tattoo. Suzanne Weyn. The tattoo makes your life so much easier- and now it’s the law. When Kayla decides she doesn’t want to get it, she’s forced to go on the run.

Armageddon Summer. Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville. Marina and Jed meet on Mount Weeupcutt, where their parents are camping- to wait for the Apocalypse.

NON-FICTION

Diary of a Young Girl. Anne Frank. Anne’s diary, kept while in hiding from Nazis, is must-read.

Stick Figure: A diary of my former self. Lori Gottlieb. Gottlieb’s own diaries, beginning at age 11, tell of her battle with anorexia.

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. Jim Murphy. A great companion book to Fever 1793, this is a well-told history of the epidemic that swept through the brand new nation.