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Booktalks

Sand Dollar Summer by Kimberly K. Jones: Twelve-year-old Lise watches her safe world fall apart when her strong, self-reliant mom is injured in a car accident.  To recuperate, Mom takes Lise and her little brother to live in a rattletrap house on the beach in Maine for the summer.  Although her mother grew up there, this is Lise's first experience with the ocean.  She's terrified by what may be lurking in the cold depths and confused by the ways that Maine is changing her mother.  As secrets from the past start spilling out, even the solid earth may not keep Lise safe any more.  Lise will have to learn to go with the flow--or risk falling apart--in this tender, funny, and wise novel ... the story of one family's unforgettable summer.
Zen and the Art of Faking it by Jordan Sonnenblick: Right off the bat, San Lee can sense trouble.  Once again he's in a new town attending a new school with new classmates.  He has the same old family problems to deal with and the same old inability to create his own identity -- or at least adhere to some well-worn teen stereotype that would help him fit in.  "I was sick of pretending to be like everyone else -- the artificial slang, the Internet research on sports I didn't care about, the endless watching of MTV so I could learn song lyrics, dance moves, cool clothing brands ... maybe it was time to pretend something completely different.  I didn't actually hear the beat of a different drummer, but maybe I could pretend to be unique."
Dear Jo by Christina Kilbourne: Maxine and her best friend Leah used to have so much fun chatting with boys online.  Their other friends were jealous of their new relationships, and their parents were oblivious to all the love notes being e-mailed back and forth.  So what if Max and Leah lied about their ages and where they lived?  It was just a Web site ... just for fun.  But when Leah disappeared, Max realized that they weren't the only ones telling lies online.  Through her daily journal entries, Max shares the crushing loss of Leah and her desperate efforts to move on after all that has happened.
The Night Wanderer by Drew Hayden Taylor: Sixteen-year-old Tiffany is busy with trouble in her family and with her new white boyfriend - too busy to pay much attention to the mysterious visitor to her Anishinabe reservation.  He avoids daylight, craves privacy, never eats, and has a strange knowledge of the area's past.  During the days we see Tiffany's struggles, and during the nights, Pierre relives the events that have led him back home.  As Tiffany's world constricts around her this creepy stranger may be the one person that can help her see her options.
Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock: Sherlock Holmes, just thirteen, is a misfit. His parents' marriage flouts tradition and makes them social outcasts in the London of the 1860s; and their son bears the burden of their rebellion.  Friendless, bullied at school, he belongs nowhere and has only his wits to help him make his way.  This is the first in a new series of Sherlock Holmes mysteries.
The Broken Thread by Linda Smith: Fifteen-year-old Alina comes from a long line of women who have gone to serve on the Isle of the Weavers, and she has always dreamed of doing the same. Her dreams come true and she is taken to the Isle of Weaving, where the destiny of the world is born.  When Aline is left along with the awesome tapestry she mends what she thinks is a broken thread.  Immediately, thousdands of other threads in the tapestry break.  What has she done?  The tapestry reflects what goes on in the world, as well as affecting events.  By reconnecting a thread that was meant to be broken, she has caused the end of thousands of other threads/lives.  She must undo what she has done and the adventure begins.
The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman: Three 15-year-old boys are plucked from American juvenile detention centres and planted in an experimental halfway house in New York City.  The halfway house affords the boys limited liberty, but if any one of them messes up, they all go back to jail.  When Terence tries to escape, their minder, the big-hearted Mr. healy, falls from a fire escape.  Healy is hospitalized as a comatose John Doe, and the boys realize they must work together to maintain the appearance that Healy is still at the helm, lest they be sent back to prison.
Tweaked by Katherine Holubitsky: Sixteen-year-old Gordie Jessup is a good kid but he's living a nightmare.  His eighteen-year-old brother Case's two-year addiction to crystal meth has left their family emotionally and financially drained.  And just when Gordie thinks he can no longer stand the manipulating, the lying and the stealing, things get even worse.  Chase is arrested for aggravated assault, released on bail and sent home to his family.  But his dealers are after him and Chase appeals to Gordie for help.  Gordie, disgusted with his brother and fully aware that it's a gamble, risks everything he has in the hope of bringing his family some peace.
War Brothers by Sharon E. McKay: Set in northern Uganda in 2002, the novel focuses on five boys and a girl whose lives become horrifically intertwined through their being unwillingly swept up in one of Africa's longest running internal conflicts.  In 1987, the Lord's Resistance Army began an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government.  Led by Joseph Kony, the LRA has abducted some 60,000 children from their villages, schools and homes with the children then being used as soldiers or slaves.  This is an intense book containing violent scenes.  Not recommended for everyone.
Power Plays by Maureen Ulrich: Jessie has started grade 9 in a new school in Estevan after moving from Saskatoon.  One of her classmates, Kim, dislikes her and sets her up as the target of another bully, Marsha.  On Halloween, Marsha and two boys appear at Jessie's door when her parents aren't home, leaving a path of destruction and taking her along for a night of mischief that lands her in a jail cell.  On the recommendation of the town constable, who is also the coach, Jessie begins playing girls' ice hockey.  The sport gives her an outlet and a fresh start, but her progress is put into question when Kim joins the team.
Alexandria of Africa by Eric Walters: For Alexandria Hyatt having a fabulous life is easy:  she knows what she wants and she knows how to get it.  Being glamorous and rich is simply what she was born to be.  When Alexandria is arrested for shoplifting, having to drag herself into court to face a judge just seems like a major inconvenience.  But Alexandria has been in trouble before, and this time she can't find a way to scheme out of the consequences.  Before she knows it, she's on a plane headed to Kenya where she has been ordered to work for an international charity at her own expense.
Egghead by Caroline Pignat: Will Reid is a gawky kid who wears fake turtlenecks, is obsessed by his ant farm project, and is lousy at gym.  In other words, he's the perfect target for Shane, the grade 9 bully.  Katie has been Will's friend in elementary school, but defending him in the high school environment comes at an unforeseen cost - she dreads the rumours that link them in a boyfriend/girlfriend way that she's never considered.  Devan has been part of Shane's bullyboy team until now, when he comes to realize that it's not so smart to mindlessly back up each nasty attack of Shanes's.  Together the three young teens are struggling to find their way out of one of the classic dilemmas of life:  how not to be a bystander to bullying, how to stand up for your friends, and how to deal with consuming rage.
Listen by Stephanie Tolan: For 12-year-old Charley, recovering from the accident that shattered her leg is nowhere near as difficult as facing the solitude of a summer without her best friend and with a father who does nothing, now, but work.  Solitude means time to think, time to hear for the first time the awful silence left in her world two years ago by her mother's death.  But the summer holds a surprise for Charley, in the form of a mysterious dog that appears in the woods across the lake from her home.  In order to connect with this wild spirit she names Coyote, Charley will have to do more than just walk.  She will have to follow Coyote into the heart of her memories:  the woods her mother loved so much.
Pop by Gordon Korman: When Marcus moves to a new town in the dead of summer, he doesn't know a soul.  While practicing football for the upcoming tryouts, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with an older man.  Charlie is a charismatic prankster - and the best football player Marcus has ever seen.  He can't believe his good luck when he finds out that Charlie is actually Charlie Popovich, or "The King of Pop," as he had been nicknamed during his career as an NFL linebacker.  But that's not all.  There is a secret about Charlie that his family is desperate to hide.
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson: As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom.  Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel.  When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion.  She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.  This is the first book in a new series.
The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas: In a city that runs on a dwindling supply of magic, a young boy is drawn into a life of wizardry and adventure.  Conn should have dropped dead the day he picked Nevery's pocket and touched the wizard's locus magicalicus, a stone used to focus magic and work spells.  But for some reason he did not.  Nevery finds that interesting, and he takes Conn as his apprentice on the provision that the boy find a locus stone of his own.  But Conn has little time to search for his stone between wizard lessons and helping Nevery discover who, or what, is stealing the city of Wellmet's magic.
The Lacemaker and the Princess by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley: Isabelle is a lacemaker in the town of Versailles in France.  As she is delivering lace to the palace one day, she is almost trampled by a crowd of courtiers, only to be rescued by Marie Antoinette, the queen.  Suddenly, Isabelle is transformed from commoner to companion of the queen's daughter, complete with a new name, wardrobe, and lavish lifestyle.  Isabelle is living a fairy-tale life, but soon she hears whispers of starvation and revolution.  Can these terrible rumours about the royal family be true?  And, which side is Isabelle on?
Z-Rex by Steve Cole: Adam's dad is always on the verge of success.  He's a computer programmer who has been working on the creation of an ultra-reality video game where the actions are created by sensors that detect the players' thoughts and commands.  He leaves his 13-year-old son for what he promises will only be a couple of days to meet with a company interested in backing his project.  When he doesn't return after 9 days, Adam begins to worry.  But nothing in his imagination could prepare him for what comes knocking at his door.  It's like a scenario from a movie or a video game:  men with guns, dark sedans, mysterious messages, and a man-eating dinosaur that destroys everything in its path, and can make itself invisible!
Secrets, Lies, and Algebra by Wendy Lichtman: Tess loves math because it's the one subject she can trust - there's always just one right answer, and it never changes.  But then she starts algebra and is introduced to those pesky and mysterious variables, which seem to be everywhere in eighth grade.  When even your friends and parents can be variables, how in the world do you find out the right answers to the really important questions, like what to do about a boy you like or whom to tell when someone's done something really bad?
The Dirt Eaters by Dennis Foon: It's a struggle to survive on post-apocalyptic earth.  In this first book in the trilogy of The Longlight Legacy, the wars have transformed the world, and 16-year-old Roan is about to discover a terrible truth.  When Roan's parents and the people of Longlight perish in a raid, Roan is filled with rage.  Torn between his desire for revenge and the legacy of peace he has inherited, he is taken in by a sect of warriers.  With them he learns he has exceptional talent as a fighter.  But Roan is haunted by visions he can't understand.  When he commits his first act of violence, he flees in disgust into the most wasted lands of all, the Devastation.  He meets friends and allies in unexpected places, as his enemies hunt him down.  But it is only when Roan meets Alandra that he begins to understand his life's purpose and why his village, Longlight, was destroyed.
Wounded by Eric Walters: Marcus and his sister and mother are counting the days until Marcus's father comes home from Afghanistan.  Waiting weeks for a phone call, and with only the occasional e-mail, has been difficult for the family, but they're ready to celebrate his return.  When the big day comes, they're overcome by happiness and relief that he's safe, but as the days pass, Marcus begins to feel that there's something different about his father.  He barely sleeps, he's obsessed with news from Afghanistan, and while at times he seems almost too happy, at other times he's erratic and aggressive.  Marcus knows that post-traumatic stress disorder affects many soldiers, but at first he finds it hard to believe his father needs help, and then when he does think he needs counseling, he just can't seem to convince his father.
The Great Plague by Pamela Oldfield: It's 1665 and Alice is looking forward to being back in London.  But the plague is spreading quickly, and as each day passes more red crosses appear on doors.  When her aunt is struck down with the plague, Alice is forced to make a decision that could change her life forever.  Written as a diary.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne: The main character is nine-year-old Bruno, who is constantly being harassed and belittled by his twelve-year-old sister, Gretel.  The two children live in a large, five-story house in Berlin with their mother and father, who is a high-ranking official in the German military.  Gretel and Bruno both have three best friends whom they see constantly and they cannot imagine a world without them.  However, this all changes one day when Bruno's father tells everyone that they are moving.  The family moves quickly to a small home near a camp which Bruno calls "Out-With".  Besides the house being smaller, there is a large, dusty, fenced-in area behind the home where there are thin people walking around in striped "pyjamas".  Bruno wonders how they are so lucky that they get to wear pyjamas all day and why the people are fenced in...
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt: This story takes place deep in a Southern bayou - a place full of mysticism and magic.  Home to a thousand-year-old shape-shifting snake and the biggest, oldest, smartest alligator there ever was.  There is a very bad man in this story.  There is an abandoned calico cat.  There is an abused hound dog, chained to a porch, fed sparingly and kicked often.  Later, there is a family made up of that abandoned calico cat, the abused hound dog, and two new kittens.  One of those kittens ventures out from the safety of the Underneath and sets into motion a chain of events that changes their lives.
Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson: Lonnie Collins Motion, the Locomotion of the title, is a New York City fifth grader with a gifted teacher who assigns her class to write different forms of poetry.  The house fire that killed Lonnie's parents and the four years of trauma and slow healing that follow are gradually revealed through his writings.  Lonnie's poems tell a complex story of loss and grief and create a gritty, urban environment.
The Roar by Emma Clayton: In a bleak future, humans use terrible chemicals to fight The Animal Plague that causes all of the world's animals to go rabid and makes most of the planet uninhabitable.  The population of the world now cowers in overcrowded walled cities.  Mika, 12, and his parents live in London in terrible conditions.  His twin, Ellie, supposedly drowned a year earlier, but Mika is convinced that she still lives.  He's right.  Lots of gaming action in this story.
Midnight Magic by Avi: On a stormy night in the Kingdom of Pergamontio, Mangus the Magician is summoned to the king's castle.  Because Mangus has been under house arrest for confessing to be a magician, he and his loyal servant boy, Fabrizio, cannot imagine why the king is calling for him.  But magic is exactly what the king needs.  Night after night, a terrifying ghost has been haunting the princess, and the king demands that Mangus free his daughter from its torment...or pay with his life.  Since Mangus doesn't believe in ghosts, his only hope is Fabrizio, who must solve the mystery using logic and reason, and a bit of magic of his own.
The Circle of Blood by alane Ferguson: Part of a forensic mystery series where brilliant high school student, Cameryn continues to find herself in the middle of dangerous situations that only she seems able to solve.  The reappearance of her long-lost mother is hard enough to deal with emotionally, but when her mother becomes involved in the murder of a Jane Doe, complications couldn't get any harder to handle.  Cameryn must find the truth about what happened to the Jane Doe and somehow balance her feelings and obligations to her split family.
Flygirg by Sherri L. Smith: We first meet 18-year-old Ida Mae Jones, a Louisiana girl who longs to be a pilot, in December 1941, on the eve of America's entrance into World War II.  She is pretty and smart, but she has two huge strikes against her.  She is black in an America where racism holds sway, and a competent pilot in an America in which she is denied her license because she is a woman.  Ida Mae is a likable character who is torn by the need to pass for white in order to fulfill her dream.