Teens' Top Ten...REVEALED

More than 11,000 teen voters (a lot of them, evidently, were Nerdfighters) chose John Green's Paper Towns as their favorite book in the 2009 Teens' Top Ten! Here's the full list of the top ten.

• Paper Towns by John Green
  
• Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
  
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
  
• Identical by Ellen Hopkins
  
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  
• Wake by Lisa McMann
  
• Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast
  
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
  
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore
  

The Homewood Library owns all of these titles, so come check 'em out!

Book Review - Going Bovine by Libba Bray

It's one of those mad cow disease road trip books, you know?

Ummm.
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To say that Libba Bray's newest book, Going Bovine, is hard to categorize is an understatement. A meaty book, clocking in at just under 500 pages, it's the story of sixteen year old Cameron, an ordinary, kind of losery guy whose life has been pretty unremarkable ever since his near-drowning at the It's A Small World After All ride at Disney World when he was five. Unremarkable, that is, until he finds out he has mad cow disease. Mad cow disease, a.k.a. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, gives Cameron these crazy hallucinations that really weird him out. Once doctors diagnose him, he's hospitalized and given a short time to live.

But that's when things just start to get interesting. Before he knows it, he's breaking out of the hospital to find a Doctor X who can save the world, hanging out with a hot punky angel, and setting off on a roadtrip with a dwarf named Gonzo and a yard gnome come to life who might just be a Viking, named Balder. Cameron and his assortment of pals trek from Texas to New Orleans to Florida in one of the most entertaining and bizarre road trip novels I've ever read.

I finished it last night and I'm still not sure what else to say about it, except that it's hilarious, poignant at times, and reminiscent of the episodic odyssies you take in feverish dreams. Yeah, it's something like that.

RIYL: Libba Bray's other books, John Green, Don Quixote

Book Review - Stitches by David Small

People in the library and publishing worlds were pretty stunned last week when David Small's graphic novel Stitches was nominated for the National Book Award in the Young People's Literature category, stunned because the book was published by an adult imprint/press. You may remember David Small as the Caldecott-winning illustrator of such classics as Imogene's Antlers. Well, forget all about that because Stitches is not to be confused with children's picture books.

This graphic novel memoir tells the grim and harrowing story of David Small's childhood and young adulthood. He grew up in a dysfunctional family, with parents that didn't engage with their children, and a brother who could've cared less about him. His father was a doctor and since David was a sickly child, his father performed radiation on him for his sicknesses-- an accepted practice at the time, but something doctors wouldn't think of in a million years, today. As a result, David developed a growth on his vocal chord, a growth that his father knew much about, all of which he kept hidden from David. As a teenager, David went into the hospital for surgery thinking he was getting a malignant growth removed, only to come out to learn that he had cancer AND that he could no longer speak. One of his vocal chords was removed.

I had a chance to hear David Small discuss his memoir at the annual ALA conference in July, and I'll never forget it. His story, a perfect fit for the graphic novel form, is unforgettable. A grim tale that ends with a lot of hope. As Mr. Small shared with us at ALA, writing and publishing the book brought him back in touch with his estranged brother.

* * * * *
five out of five stars
RIYL: Art Spiegelman's Maus and Gipi

Book Review - Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

Everyone knows about Rosa Parks, but have you heard of Claudette Colvin? At age 15, Claudette refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. This happened nine months BEFORE Rosa Parks did the same. Philip Hoose's brilliant National Book Award-nominated nonfiction book Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice, shares the story of a lesser-known hero of the civil rights movement. For refusing to give up her seat, Claudette was handcuffed, forcibly removed from the bus, and arrested. Around the same time that Claudette was arrested and stood trial, the NAACP had been trying to plan the right time, place, and person, to test the bus segregation. However, Claudette wasn't quite the person they had in mind. She was from a lower-class family and soon after her arrest, became pregnant by an older man. While we all know from history classes that Rosa Parks became the symbol of ending bus segregation, Hoose sheds light on a teenager whose story and brave challenge preceded the more famous one, and who made further contributions to the civil rights movement in a lesser-known but important case.

* * * *
four out of five stars
RIYL: true stories about teens who stood up for their beliefs and made a difference

Book Review - Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

Three girls, one day, one fight, one book. Rita Williams-Garcia's National Book Award nominee, Jumped, is a short book with a lot of impact. Peek into one day in the life of three high school girls: one athlete, one struggling student, one artistic diva. Leticia busts her acrylic nail in gym class; Dominique would love to bust a nail on court, but she's gotta earn the grades before coach'll put her back in; Trina envisions eyes following her [butt's] every move, and all eyes will be on her by the end. Between the short chapters and changing views, and the fact that it's a slight 160 pages, you can read through this one in an afternoon.

* * *
three out of five stars

RIYL: Kimani Tru books, other titles from Rita Williams-Garcia, books by Coe Booth

and this year's nominees for the National Book Award are....

I'm a few days late at posting this, but this year's nominees for the National Book Award in the Young People's Literature category are:

Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
Stitches by David Small
Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

You can currently find all of them at the Homewood Library, except for Lips Touch, which should arrive shortly. Also, check back for reviews of all 5 titles!

The National Book awards will be announced at the 60th National Book Awards Benefit Dinner and Ceremony on November 18.

Book Review - Crash Into Me by Albert Borris

Owen. Frank. Audrey. Jin-Ae. Four teens that would not know each other if not for the one thing they have in common, the one thing they've all tried to do, the one thing that's bringing them together for a road trip across the country. Their common interest: ending their own lives. Brought together online by their sad and honest confessions, they set off on a road trip one summer to visit the resting places of celebrities who've committed suicide: Anne Sexton, Kurt Cobain, Ernest Hemingway, and more. Their final, final destination: Death Valley.

Narrated by Owen, whose depression stems from his older brother's death when he was just a kid, this is an exhilarating road trip novel that is hard to put down. Poignant, intensely sad, and amazingly revelatory, it's a book you won't soon forget.

* * * *
(four out of five stars)

RIYL: Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, Ellen Hopkins' books

Book Review - Andromeda Klein

Finally, punk musician Frank Portman's follow-up to his acclaimed first book King Dork has hit the shelves at the Homewood Library, and I've had the chance to read it. Andromeda Klein follows the titular character, a magic-obsessed high school junior, as she tries to understand her best friend's death, fight the "Friends of the Library" at the International House of Bookcakes (her nickname for the library where she works as a shelver), and navigates the sometimes treacherous terrain of high school, made even more treacherous because of her interest in the occult. This is the kind of book you might have to read carefully, as there's a lot of namedropping and nicknaming to keep up with, but it all comes together at the end. If you've ever belonged to a secret club, spent hours poring over tarot cards, or have been curious about either, this just might be the book for you.

* * * *
(four out of five stars)

RIYL: magic + magic history, King Dork

Also, Frank Portman is also releasing music to go along with the book!