WHAT YOU WISH FOR : STORIES AND POEMS FOR DARFUR

WHAT YOU WISH FOR : STORIES AND POEMS FOR DARFUR
New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2011
IL YA
ISBN  0399254544

What Your Wish For: A Book for Darfur is a collection of writing and art from an international
roster of some of the best authors and artists who are currently working.  Authors like Meg
Cabot and Alexander McCall Smith, Francisco Stork, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jeanne DuPrau, Joyce
Carol Oates, Nikki Giovanni, Karen Hesse, Cornelia Funke, Ann M Martin, Meg Cabot, R.L. Stine,
Jane Yolen, Gary Soto, Nate Powell, Cynthia Voigt -- have all donated their work to this
project.  Each piece explores wishes – some are funny, some are creepy, some are inspiring –
but all are linked by the universal power of a wish, the abstract things we wish for: home,
family, safety and love.

The book was created to raise awareness of the plight of the Darfuri refugees forced to live
in camps in eastern Chad.  And funds from sales of the books go toward granting the Darfuri’s
wishes – building libraries in the refugee camps.  Their wish is that children growing up in
refugee camps will become educated about good and evil and their history and their future,
and will therefore be less likely to be recruited as child soldiers.

What You Wish For is a thoughtful book that sheds light on an important international tragedy.
But readers will also become exposed to some very fine writing that will encourage them to
continue to read more of these authors’ works.   (NH Isinglass Teen Award
nominee, 2013)

Higson, Charlie. THE DEAD

Higson, Charlie. THE DEAD
New York : Hyperion, 2010
IL YA
ISBN 1423134125

The Dead is about zombies…perfectly suited for readers who couldn't get enough of The Enemy, Charlie Higson has written a prequel that throws an entirely different set of characters into jeopardy.

If you don't know or haven't read The Enemy, the zombie disease only affects people sixteen or older. It starts with the symptoms of a cold. Then the skin begins to itch, and spots appear--spots that soon turn into pus-filled boils.

Once the teachers at Rowhurst School in London go on the attack, Ed, Jack, Bam and the other students know it's time to escape and make their way to London. It's a bit easier to escape the adults - they're usually disoriented and wandering. But once on the move, the students run into teens, who are stronger and more energetic, and hide in the shadows for unsuspecting victims.

It's all a desperate journey to get to a fortified shelter - a journey that brings them to hitch a ride on a bus driven by the seeming last lone uninfected adult on the planet…unless…

The Dead is an exciting book. And it's gross. The descriptions of decaying zombies is vivid. But the other characters are fleshed out and well-rounded. We care about them, and we want them to get to safety (even the annoying girls on the bus) Higson doesn't pull any punches or favor one character over the other. The Dead will keep readers enthralled because you never know what might be waiting around the corner. (NH Isinglass Teen Award nominee, 2013)

Thompson, Holly. ORCHARDS

Thompson, Holly. ORCHARDS 
New York : Delacorte, 2011 
IL YA 
ISBN 038573977X 

Orchards is a novel in verse that deals with a difficult subject – bullying and teen suicide. 

Kanako Goldberg is half-Japanese and half-Jewish, and a member of the clique of girls whose teasing had something to do with a classmate’s suicide. The classmate was bipolar and had all these issues anyway, and besides, it’s not like Kana was the ringleader… but she didn’t do anything to stop it either. 

Hoping that Kana will reflect on her behavior and develop some sensitivity to the situation, her parents pack her off to her mother's ancestral home in Japan for the summer. Kana spends hours under the hot sun tending to her family's mikan orange groves. 

Kana's mixed heritage makes it hard to fit in at first, especially under the critical eye of her traditional grandmother, who has never accepted Kana's father. But Kana gets to know her relatives, and Japan, and village culture. Through imaginary conversations with Ruth, the classmate who killed herself, Kana begins to process the pain and guilt she feels about the tragedy back home. But news of another tragedy sends her world spinning out of control. 

Orchards is a contemplative, beautifully written book that will evoke important conversations about some very important topics. (NH Isinglass Teen Award nominee, 2013)

Sheehan, Anna. A LONG, LONG SLEEP

Sheehan, Anna.  A LONG, LONG SLEEP
Somerville, MA : Candlewick Press, 2011
IL YA
ISBN 0763652601

Rosalinda Fitzroy is awakened by a kiss. Bren, a handsome young man, was exploring the
basement of the apartment building where he lives with his parents, and found her stasis tube
and kissed her.  Biologically, Rose is 16 years old, but she learns that it’s been 62 years since
she went into stasis.  True, stasis protected her from the plague-ridden Dark Times, but she is
heartbroken to learn that everyone she knows is long dead -- particularly her beloved Xavier, a
childhood friend and first love.  Her waking also spurs a media frenzy: She’s the heir to her
father’s billionaire company that owns and operates most of the world of the future.

It’s expected that Rose will eventually take over the company – a task that she isn’t sure she’s
qualified to do.  She’s quiet and withdrawn.  Her guardians enroll her in the best intergalactic
high school but Rose struggles to keep up and fit in.  She picks up her art again and finds some
comfort in that.  She might be able to piece some kind of life together in this strange future,
except –

The media frenzy surrounding Rose’s awakening triggers another stasis sleeper – a dangerous,
virtually unstoppable killing machine called a Plastine who is programmed to assassinate her.
With the help of a few friends, and her own surprising strength, Rose must face reality –
finally – and defeat the Plastine.

This is a fast moving story, with both anticipated and surprising plot twists.  We move between
the present and the past; Rose is a complex girl whose heartbreaking past is eventually
revealed—we are constantly asking why she was in stasis at all…and the reason is really
disturbing.   ( NH Isinglass Teen Award nominee, 2013)

Ness, Patrick. A MONSTER CALLS

Ness, Patrick. A MONSTER CALLS 
Somerville, MA : Candlewick Press, 2011 
IL YA 
ISBN 0763655597 

Every night at seven minutes past midnight, a monster visits Conor. But it’s not the monster from his nightmare--the nightmare he’s been having every night since his mother started cancer treatments. The one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming. 

This monster is different. It’s ancient and wild. It’s from his backyard, a huge treelike form, with his uppermost branches twisted into a face with a huge, gaping mouth. Conor assumes it’s just his imagination, these nightly visits, only…only in the morning, there are leaves and branches on the floor. When this monster comes to visit him, Conor finds he’s not actually afraid of him. And he tells the monster so. Because “I’ve seen worse,” Conor tells him. But this monster assures him that he’ll be afraid of him soon enough. Before it’s over…the monster will get the truth out of him. 

A Monster Calls is a heart-wrenching story of loss, of love, and of growing up. Conor must face fears that no child should face – the slow, painful death of a parent. A feeling of displacement in your world, when your world turns upside down. When your dad’s living far away and involved with his new family. When your grandma comes to stay and you can’t seem to keep yourself tidy enough for her. 

Patrick Ness, the author of the Chaos Walking Trilogy for young adults, wrote A Monster Calls based on an idea and characters by Siobhan Dowd, who lost her battle with cancer. The book is filled with beautiful illustrations by Jim Kay. ( NH Isinglass Teen Award nominee, 2013)

Dashner, James. THE DEATH CURE

Dashner, James. THE DEATH CURE 
New York : Delecorte, 2011 
IL YA 
ISBN 0385738773 
In the conclusion to the Maze Runner trilogy, we find Thomas and the rest of the survivors of the Scorch Trials being held by WICKED (World in Catastophe, Killzone Experiment Department). WICKED has been formed by the governments of the surviving nations and now have combined forces. They have vowed to keep Flare at bay. Although many of the survivors believe that WICKED is in fact a good thing, Thomas and others do not agree. Together they plot an escape to join forces with The Right Arm who want to overthrow the new government.

Today's Book 06/19/2012

• Baratz-Logsted, Lauren. THE TWIN’S DAUGHTER

  Baratz-Logsted, Lauren. THE TWIN’S DAUGHTERNew York : Bloomsbury, 2010IL YAISBN 1599905132Lucy lives in England about 100 years ago. She has a very good life but she finds it rather boring. But that changes when a stranger knocks on the door. When Lucy opens the door, she sees a woman who looks exactly like her mother. It turns out that this is her mother’s identical twin sister! Helen Smythe is the long lost twin of her mother. They were separated at birth and grew up in very different homes. Aliese was raised in a wealthy home and Helen was raised in an orphanage. Helen is welcomed into the family and truly becomes Aliese’s double. When Lucy returns home one day to find the two women tied up, the mystery truly begins. One woman is dead. But which one? Is it Lucy’s mother – or her aunt?

  tags: podcasts blueduke ya

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