–Bill Mollineaux, ALAN Past-President
AUGUST ENTRÉES
Aronson, Marc. WITCH-HUNT: MYSTERIES OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS. Atheneum Books, 2003. Challenging, thought-provoking, fascinating account and rethinking of the Salem witch trials of 1692 that explains what happened and discusses…
how and why this mass hysteria occurred, resulting in even more questions. (H) Whoever thinks that history is dead and has no relevance to the present will be surprised!
Balliett, Blue. CHASING VERMEER. Scholastic Press, 2004. When Petra and Calder’s unorthodox sixth-grade teacher asks her students to investigate the importance of letters, little do they realize that this is the first step in their piecing together a series of seemingly unrelated events as they locate Vermeer’s stolen painting, “A Lady Writing,” using clues received through dreams, pentominoes, and secret codes. (M) (RR) Simply put—nonstop fun, with puzzles within puzzles!
Bass, L. G. SIGN OF THE QIN. Book One, Outlaws of Moonshadow Marsh Trilogy. Hyperion Books for Children, 2004. In this mesmerizing, action-packed, complex tale filled with Chinese mythology and set in ancient China, Emperor Han is shocked when his son is born with the sign of the Qin on his cheek—marking him an outlaw—exiles his wife and later attempts to kill his son to protect his throne; however, the agents of the King of Heaven aid the prince, who could be the new Starlord destined to restore justice to the land, in his battles against the minions of the Lord of the Dead. (M/H) Spellbinding! One of the best fantasies I’ve read!
Dean, Zoey. *GIRLS ON FILM: AN A-LIST NOVEL. Little, Brown and Company, 2004. In this juicy, funny soap-opera sequel to THE A-LIST, 17-year-old Ana Percy moves from luxurious Manhattan to posh Beverly Hills, where she plans to drop her good-girl image, tries to get over her crush on Ben Birnbaum, and deals with a group of backbiting, scheming, gossiping, ultra-rich peers; however, her life becomes even more complicated with the arrival of her older sister, Susan, who was kicked out of rehab. (H) (RR) Readers of The Great Gatsby, which plays a prominent role in the story, may find it valuable.
Fox, Helen. EAGER. Wendy Lamb Books, 2004. In this page-turning, humorous, thought-provoking story set in the late twenty-first century, the Bell family’s robot butler, Grumps, is wearing out, so the family borrows an experimental EGR3, which they name Eager and who is programmed to learn as a child would, meaning that he has feelings and can exercise free will; when the ultra-tech BDC4 robots begin acting suspiciously, Gavin Bell, his teenage sister, and Eager are propelled into an exciting adventure. (M) (RR) A “sneaky" (high compliment) way to get readers to think about what being human is, the dangers of the misuse of technology, the abuse of power by large corporations, and the ills of a class-stratified society.
Koja, Kathe. THE BLUE MIRROR. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004. Maggy, a gifted 16-year-old artist and loner, spends hours in The Blue Mirror coffeehouse capturing passersby in her sketchbook of the same name; when she is entranced by Cole, a handsome runaway—a boy whom she is unable to draw . . . at first—her life spirals downward until she recognizes Cole for what he is. (H) (RR) Powerful, mesmerizing, beautifully written story about a first love gone awry.
Hayden, Patrick Nielsen, ed. *NEW SKIES: AN ANTHOLOGY OF TODAY’S SCIENCE FICTION. Tor Teen, 2003. An outstanding collection of 17 stories written over the last twenty years by Greg Bear, Terry Bisson, Orson Scott Card, Philip K. Dick, Steven Gould, Nancy, Kress, Kim Stanley Robinson, Spider Robinson, Will Shetterly, Jane Yolen, and other top writers in the field. (H) Unquestionably the finest collection of sci-fi stories published for teens! I’m still guffawing over Shetterly’s “Brian and the Aliens” and thinking about Bisson’s “They’re Made Out of Meat.”
Mikaelsen, Ben. TREE GIRL. Harper Tempest, 2004. Mayan Gabriela Flores’ simple, happy life in a remote Guatemalan cantón changes completely during her quinceañera, when her older brother is carried away by government troops—followed by the murder of her teacher and classmates, the destruction of her village and the murder of all but one sister, her witnessing the atrocities committed by Latino government soldiers in another village, and Gabi’s flight to a refugee camp in Mexico, where she sets up a school for Indio children and manages to overcome her survivor guilt. (M/H) (RR) A chilling and disturbing story based on a survivor’s accounts of the Guatemalan civil war, which ravaged the country during the 1980s. A powerful adventure/survival story that is a natural tie-in with social studies!
Tashjian, Janet. VOTE FOR LARRY. Henry Holt and Company, 2004. After faking
suicide in *THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LARRY, 17-year-old Josh Swenson is located and kidnapped by Beth, his unrequited love, who wants him to run for state representative; however, Josh decides to aim higher and run for president of the United States—taking on both political parties, challenging powerful corporations, trying to protect the planet, getting young people to vote, and dealing with a saboteur in his own camp. (H) (RR) What a wonderful, pertinent book for an election year!
Woodson, Jacqueline. *THE DEAR ONE. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004 (1991). In this
welcomed reissue of Woodson’s second novel, 12-year-old Afeni (Swahili for “dear one”)—who has suffered through her grandmother’s death, her parents’ divorce, and her mother’s alcoholism—once again has her world disrupted when her mother announces that the pregnant 15-year-old daughter of a school friend from Harlem will reside with them in their suburban Pennsylvania home until her baby is born. (M/H) Beautifully written story about friendship, family, love, understanding, teenage pregnancy, alternate lifestyles, and social classes.
M indicates appropriateness for middle school
H indicates appropriateness for high school
RR indicates appeal to a reluctant reader (My definition of reluctant reader is someone who can read but for whom reading is not important. I have known “honor” students who fit this definition.)
* indicates available in paperback
