ALAN Online

As the school year nears its end and you begin to think about what you’re going to read over this summer, I think you might find some superb choices for you and your students among this month’s recommendations.

Bill Mollineaux, ALAN Past-President

MAY ENTRÉES

Bova, Ben. CITY OF DARKNESS. Tor Teen, 2004 (1986). After 16-year-old Ron Morgan passes the National Exam with flying colors—guaranteeing him an excellent career—he becomes fed up with…

his father telling him what to do and flees to domed New York City, which is open only a few months of the year; instead of having fun, Ron loses his identity card, resulting in his being trapped in the City for the winter and at the mercy of gangs. (H) (RR)

Choldenko, Gennifer. AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004. When 12-year-old Moose Flanagan’s father accepts a job as a guard and electrician on Alcatraz Island so that his autistic daughter can attend a special school, Moose has to leave his friends, take care of his sister after school, and contend with the shenanigans of the pretty but spoiled warden’s daughter; however, when things really look hopeless, Moose receives help from Alcatraz’s most infamous inmate: Al Capone. (M)

Clements, Andrew. THE REPORT CARD. Simon & Schuster, 2004. When fifth-grader Nora Rowley, a genius who has managed to hide her intelligence in order to avoid being singled out, observes the devastating effect on her best friend for not doing well on his first standardized test, she devises a plan to do something about testing and the emphasis on grades. (M) (RR)

Frost, Helen. SPINNING THROUGH THE UNIVERSE. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004. Through 22 different poetic forms, Frost movingly reveals the thoughts and feelings of the students in a fifth-grade classroom about their lives; a final section, “Notes on Forms,” explains each form used. (M)

Gemmell, David. *WHITE WOLF: A NOVEL OF DRUSS THE LEGEND. Del Rey, 2003. Action-packed fantasy in which the warrior Skilgannon the Damned, trying to put his violent past behind him, enters a monastery for three years; however, civil unrest results in his taking up arms, forcing him to become a wandering warrior and team with Druss to face the werebeasts known as Joinings. (H)

High, Linda Oatman. SISTER SLAM AND THE POETIC MOTORMOUTH ROAD TRIP. Bloomsbury, 2004. Gripping, fun-filled, poignant, page-turning story told entirely in slam poetry in which overweight 17-year-old Laura Crapper changes her name to Sister Slam, enters a slam poetry contest in New Jersey with her best friend, winds up being a success in New York City, discovers her Prince Charming, and learns who she really is. (M/H) (RR)

Meyer, Carolyn. PATIENCE, PRINCESS CATHERINE. A Young Royals Book. Harcourt, Inc., 2004. In 1501, 15-year-old Catherine of Aragon left Spain to marry Arthur, the oldest son of King Henry VII of England; however, soon after their unconsummated union, Arthur died, resulting in seven years of uncertainty and deprivation for Catherine as her future becomes a bitter dispute between the two countries . . . until she becomes the bride of Henry VIII. (M)

Myers, Walter Dean. SHOOTER. HarperCollins, 2004. Told from multiple viewpoints through interviews, newspaper articles, police reports, and the killer’s journal, Myers explores why “outsider” Len Gray killed one of his high school’s scholar-athletes, who also was a bully, and then committed suicide. (H)

Paulsen, Gary. THE QUILT. Wendy Lamb Books, 2004. In this spellbinding companion volume to Alida’s Song and The Cookcamp, a 6-year-old boy spends the summer on a farm with his beloved grandmother Alida—while his mother works in a World War II munitions factory; when a neighbor goes into labor and women gather to help her and work on their ritual quilt, he listens to stories about family, love, pain, courage, happiness, strength, and loss. (M)

Philbrick, Rodman. THE YOUNG MAN AND THE SEA. Blue Sky Press, 2004. Action-packed, moving, page-turning tale in which 12-year-old Skiff Beaman, who lives in a small Maine town with his father—once a respected fisherman who has become a drunk after the his wife’s death—attempts to get their lives on an even keel by catching a giant bluefin tuna. (M) (RR)

M indicates appropriateness for middle school
H indicates appropriateness for high school
RR indicates appeal to a reluctant reader
* indicates available in paperback