School Stories

I chose to call the following books "school stories" because the primary setting in them is a school. However, many of them may deal with themes of friendship or violence or bullying or cliques or sports. When there is an overlap of themes, I cross-annotate and list the book on that page as well.

Adoff, Jaime	names will never hurt me Against the backdrop of the first anniversary of the shooting death of a student, four high school students try to get through the day. Ryan is at the top of the high school food chain. He has a football scholarship in hand. He has a girlfriend as well as any girl he wants. Tisha is bi-racial and relentlessly teased about it. Kurt, aka "Dirt" inhabits the bottom of the food chain and drowns himself in the loudness of heavy metal rock to get through a day of taunts and physical assault. Mark, aka "Floater" would be at or near the bottom of the social scene had he not turned principal's snitch and now yields a perverse sort of power. Although there is much that rings true in this free verse novel, there was enough that rang false for me not to love it. The media are on hand, much like vultures wanting to assess "how the kids are doing," but not really listening, which is apt. However, they had nearly unrestricted access to the students which would never happen. The character of Floater did not ring true for me. However, the climax was unexpected, reminding me that I should not have preconceived notions about who might be about to explode.
Alexi, Sherman	The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian Fourteen-year-old Arnold "Junior" Spirit, budding cartoonist and reservation punching bag is actually looking forward to high school until he realizes that the education he will receive at the reservation high school will be inferior to one off the reservation. So he makes the decision to attend school twenty-two miles away in an all white town in order to become better educated. Although his parents support his decision, they all face varying degrees of wrath from the reservation community. As the only Native American at his new high school, excepting the school mascot, Junior also girds himself to be on the receiving end of some hatred. At turns hiliarious and heartbreaking, this narrative is full of surprises and Junior Spirit is a unique and remarkable character. The story contains some profanity and frank discussion of masturbation, which though completely expected, normal and within context, might offend some.
Anderson, Laurie Halse	Speak Speak is a stunning novel. Melinda Sordino begins her freshman year not with all the hope that high school can bring, but as an outcast because she called the police at an end-of-summer party. She retreats into a world of silence to protect herself from the hypocrisy of high school. But the silence does not protect her well or for long. Melinda did not call the police to bust the party, but because she had been raped by a popular jock. Not only is she a complete outcast, without a friend in the world, but she gets to see her assailant's smug, leering face every day.
Anderson, Laurie Halse	{Catalyst The author of Speak has set another novel in high school. The same high school, in fact. Melinda makes a cameo appearance. But this is Kate Malone's story. She is an over-achieving senior, hoping to get into MIT, the only college she applied to and the alma mater of her dead mother. Kate has many responsibilities and a great deal of conflict as events she cannot control head on a collision course and she becomes very close to having a meltdown. Slightly unbelievable and a little too hip, but engaging with dialogue that rings true.
Anderson, Laurie Halse	Prom Prom is a hilarious romp that is very different than Speak or {Catalyst. Ashley Hannigan is 18, barely making it through high school, has no plans for college and vague plans about moving into an apartment with her hot, bad-boy, dropout boyfriend, TJ. Her best friend and next-door neighbor, Nat, is head of the prom committee. Ash could care less about the prom and has no intention of going. When the new math teacher is arrested for embezzling the prom money, it looks as though it has to be canceled. Nat drags Ashley to the meeting with the school administrators. When the committee is about to be bulldozed by Ash's arch-enemy, Vice-Principal Gilroy, she comes up with a plan to save the prom. There is plenty of madcap action, and humorous secondary characters like Nat's eccentric grandma who likes to dance in the sprinklers and Ashley's very pregnant bus-driving mother, testimony that her parents can't keep their hands off each other. There are some situations such as underage drinking, references to drug use and sexual activity, cutting classes and profanity; all of which makes the novel realistic but may offend some.
Atkins, Catherine	Alt Ed Alt Ed is the last resort for six students whose behavior warrants expulsion from school. Susan is obese and bullied. When she can't take it anymore, she joins someone in an act of vandalism and is caught. She does not wish to participate but has no choice as her father is the football coach at the same school and refuses to allow the alternative. She is joined each Wednesday by five other students, including her biggest tormenter.
Bechard, Margaret	Hanging on to Max I really liked this book. Seventeen-year-old Sam tells the story of how his life changed when he first held his infant son. Sam is an unwed father who gains custody of his son when his ex-girlfriend decides to give their baby up for adoption. Sam enrolls in an alternative high school for his senior year, gives up his friends, his basketball team and sleep to take responsibility for his son. The story is sad and Sam has some really tough choices to make. He takes great care of his son, but at great personal cost.
Bechard, Margaret	If It Doesn't Kill You I borrowed this book from the public library after reading Hanging on to Max. I did not like it as much. Ben is a freshman football player and has just completed a losing season. He has promise as a player, though, and the varsity team "adopts" him. While he is flattered, he is terrified that they will discover his secret - that his legendary father who also played football at Ben's high school is gay. Ben is angry and confused. At the same time, he is dealing with learning to drive and a fascinating but exasperating new neighbor named Chynna.
Blacker, Terence	Boy2Girl How to explain this hilarious, over-the-top novel from England? Thirteen-year-old Sam Lopez comes to England to live with an aunt whom he has never met before after his mother, Galaxy, is killed in a car accident. Sam's biological father was a heavy metal rock singer and not in the picture and his step-father is doing time in prison so Galaxy's final wishes dictated he live in a stable family with her long lost sister. Sam is, understandably, an angry kid. Matthew tries to be patient but after suffering increasingly vicious insults, views Sam as an "accident in human form." When he and his gang, the Sheds, turn against Sam, he begs to become part of the group and invites them to give him an initiation challenge to prove his loyalty. After trying to turn him down, they decide to challenge him to start his new school dressed as a girl for a week. How can they possibly get away with a prank like this?
Brian, Kate	The V Club Four best friends are seniors at Ardsmore High School and stressing about college admission and scholarship applications. Victoria Treemont, a rich eccentric, passes away and leaves a scholarship of $160, 000 for the individual who exemplifies "purity of soul, spirit and body." The story follows the four friends as each decides to vie for the scholarship. Eva seems a shoo-in as she has never even been kissed and will not attend college if she doesn't get a scholarship. Mandy has everything, rich parents, a loving boyfriend, grades, athletic ability; why does she need to apply? Debbie collects boys and keeps notes on how they kiss and though she has a reputation, she has a "tattoo rule." Newcomer Kai is athletic and mysterious, having moved around the world all her life, finds it difficult to make friends and get close. This is breezy and romantic and except for the "will you, won't you, do you?" talk and a couple of under-age drinking parties, totally harmless and perhaps even thought-provoking.
Capo, Nan Willard	Cheating Lessons The book jacket of this book asks the question, "Can honesty be the worst policy?" Academically driven, Bernadette Terrell is a very competitive debater. When her school's quiz bowl team gets into the state finals, everyone is shocked and delighted, including Bernadette, since there's nothing she'd like better than to crush the school's arch-rival. However, Bernadette begins to question how it was exactly, that their mediocre team scored high enough to qualify. Bernadette is not your typical heroine, she is cocky and arrogant and at times difficult to like. The story is funny and suspenseful. Recommended to students 12 and up.
Dessen, Sarah	Just Listen I have liked Dessen's books ever since an eighth grader loaned me her copy of Someone Like You. Just Listen will appeal to students who liked the book Speak. Annabel seems to have everything. She's a good student, a part-time model, lives in a beautiful house designed by her architect father. But all is not perfect in her life. Her best friend, Sophie, is not speaking to her since she caught her with Will and jumped to conclusions and has spread some vicious rumors that have effectively socially isolated Annabel. She is forced to sit alone on a wall each lunch time with another social outcast, Owen. She doesn't want to discuss what happened with Will or Sophie at home because her parents have enough on their plates with her severely anorexic older sister and she feels her mother too fragile to cope with anything more.
Flinn, Alex	Breaking Point This second novel for Flinn is as good or better than Breathing Underwater, which was great. It is the story of Paul who is desperately trying to fit into the private prep school he is entitled to go to since his newly divorced mother took a job there. Paul is shunned by his classmates at school until golden boy, Charlie, decides to make friends, but there is a price to pay.
Fredericks, Mariah	Crunch Time Four high school juniors form an SAT study group after they walk out on the SAT prep class their parents sent them to. The story is told through the alternating points-of-view of the four friends and seems to be an accurate portrayal of the high stakes, competitive and stressful time that junior year in high school can be. While the subject matter, SATs and all things junior, might be geared toward the high school reader, this book will have appeal to young fans of Fredericks earlier work, The True Meaning of Cleavage.
Gabel, Claudia	Loves Me, Loves Me Not Book #2 of the In or Out series picks up immediately after the first book - which teen readers will want to read, but I could live without. There are lots of references to events in the previous book but they are easily figured out. Marnie and Nola are now ex-bffs. Marnie is definitely in, hanging with Lizette, aka ”Z” and running for Student Council Treasurer. Nola is crushing on Matt, who has a long-distance girl friend, but who volunteers to be Nola’s bff. Lots of mean girl stuff, references to pop culture and fashion trends. There’s some mild cursing, a party with underage drinking, and some making out but mostly harmless compared with some teen romance novels around.
Giles, Gail	Shattering Glass Fast-paced, disturbing, dark, suspenseful are great words to describe this novel. Simon Glass is the senior class geek who experiences heartbreaking humiliation almost daily until Rob, a newly arrived student who displaced the former alpha-male rather quickly, decides to take Simon under his wing and turn him into a popular person. The transformation is amazing and Rob is orchestrating it all, but Simon begins to have some ideas of his own. This book has some very strong language and violence in it, but is so worth it.
Giles, Gail	Playing in Traffic This one is definitely for more mature readers due to language, drug use, drinking and sexual references. Matt flies under the social radar at his high school and likes his invisibility. He has two close buddies and is pinning his hopes and dreams on college where the social structure is not as strict as in high school. Skye is a "goth-girl" and is anything but invisible. For some reason, she has singled Matt out for attention. He's not sure why and doesn't think he likes it, but is intrigued. He soon finds that he is in way over his head. This novel is intense, at times outlandishly unbelievable, at times dead on target. Not in the same class as Shattering Glass, one of my all time favorites, but better than Dead Girls Don't Write Letters. Cool cover too.
Glenn, Mel	The Taking of Room 114 This book is subtitled A Hostage Drama in Poems. Mr. Wiedermeyer's senior history class has been taken hostage, not by an angry student but by an angry teacher near the last day of school and graduation. The series of poems reflect the thoughts of various players in this drama, the principal, police chief, various bystanders, the teacher and the students themselves as they reflect on their four years at the school and wonder if this will be the last day of their life.
Graham, Rosemary	Thou Shalt Not Dump the Skater Dude and Other Commandments I Have Broken This book was such fun to read. I felt like I was sitting and having cappuccino and catching up with an old friend who moved away. Kelsey Wilcox moves across the country from Boston to Berkley after her parents divorce so that her mother can attend law school, a lifelong dream. She endures a hideous eighth grade year at a snooty private school and knows that she cannot possibly stand four years at a snooty high school. She convinces her parents to allow her to attend the local public school where her blond good looks capture the attention of C.J., the "skater dude" and reigning alpha male at the high school. Kelsey's freshman year is a dream come true as being girlfriend of the famous C.J. definitely has its perks. Sometime towards the end of her freshman year, however, Kelsey realizes that the relationship is a little one-sided and decides that she would rather not be in it. Find out what happens when she dumps the skater dude.
Green, John	Looking for Alaska Miles Halter is beginning his junior year in Culver Creek, a private high school in Alabama which his father attended. He is bored with is uneventful adolescence, his most notable hobby is collection famous last words and he wants to experience what he calls "the great perhaps." Once he arrives at school, he meets his roommate, Chip Martin, aka "The Colonel," who has a large chip on his shoulder because he is brilliant and a scholarship student. He promptly nicknames Miles, "Pudge" and introduces him to his friends, most notably, Alaska Young. Together the Colonel and Alaska teach Pudge how to drink, smoke, play pranks and adhere to the school code, no ratting. The book is SAD, but very funny along the way. The characters are interesting, messed up but very likeable. There is some language and sexual situations which make for a mature read. The story is divided into before and after which confused me for awhile, but I won't spoil it for anyone wanting to read it. The book, Green's first, won the Printz Award this year (2006) and it is well deserved. I look forward to reading more from this fresh, young voice in YA literature.
Grimes, Nikki	Bronx Masquerade 18 students in Mr. W's English class begin participating in "Open Mike Fridays," where each writes and shares his or her rap or poem. Chapters about each student alternate with their poem in an interesting juxtaposition. Slowly, the students begin to get to know each other beyond the labels and boxes in which they have put each other. They begin bonding and soon other students are curious about "Open Mike Fridays."
Hautman, Pete	Sweetblood I can always count on Hautman to suck me into a slightly bizarre and thoroughly provocative world in his stories. Each book is so different, so true and so unpredictable. Sixteen-year-old Lucinda, aka sweetblood, has been a diabetic since age six. Since her diagnosis came shortly after an encounter with a bat and a series of rabies shots, she developed a theory about vampirism and diabetes as well as a preoccupation with all things vampire. This includes extensive Internet searches and chat room conversations. After being a straight A student for some three years, she decides to adopt the goth style without the lifestyle, fail a few classes, write a disturbing essay, oh and stop taking her insulin. Told in the first person in the present tense, Lucy is an engaging, angry, wry and funny character.
Kantor, Melissa	Confessions of a Not It Girl Jan Miller is a senior at a private NYC high school and best friends of an official "It Girl," Rebecca. Jan's a bit of a klutz, hopeless at French, feels that her butt is too big, and just can't handle boys the way Rebecca does. After a particularly humiliating experience playing Juliet to Josh's Romeo, Jan feels that the universe is out to get her.
Klass, David	You Don't Know Me John is the narrator of this harrowing novel. He is sarcastic, ironic and has a wicked sense of humor. He attends a school which is not a school, has a crush on a classmate he calls Glory Hallelujah and is being abused by his "father who is not my father." His real father named him after a toilet and left. Now his single mother has allowed her boyfriend to move in with the family and has no clue about what is going on as John tries to cope.
Klass, David	Home of the Braves While not as compelling as You Don't Know Me, it is a good sports novel. Joe is a likable narrator even if his story is a little predictable. There are scenes which are outright unbelievable and scenes which are dead-on. Joe is a high school senior and captain of his soccer and wrestling teams in a fictional high school in northern New Jersey which overlooks Overpeck Creek, has a Broad and Fort Lee Avenue, and a Boat Basin on the banks of the Hudson River.
Koertge, Ron	The Brimstone Journals This is a slim book of free verse told from the point of view of 15 high school seniors. Reading this book is like putting a puzzle together and it becomes quite suspenseful as we learn that an angry, racist student is stockpiling weapons and putting together a "hit list" of students and teachers.
Koja, Kathe	Straydog I loved this book. Angry, alienated Rachel hates almost everyone from her parents to the students in her high school, excepting her writing teacher. She adores writing and animals, dogs mostly and finds peace and fulfillment volunteering at the local animal shelter. Then several events happen, a feral collie is brought into the shelter and captures Rachel's heart even though she knows that the dog will most likely need to be put to sleep; her teacher suggests she enter a writing contest and she is paired with a new student, Griffen in her writing class. Sad but compelling read.
Koja, Kathe	Buddha Boy This book by Koja is a winner also. Justin is a high school sophomore and comfortably invisible in the food chain. When Michael, aka, Jinsen arrives new to school wearing oversize tee shirts, a peaceful smile, a shaved head and walks around the cafeteria begging at lunch, he is dubbed "Buddha Boy" and the alpha male sharks begin to circle. When Justin and another boy are paired with Jinsen on a project, the other student opts to take the zero rather than risk his reputation working with "B.B." Justin wants to do it quickly and return to his anonymity. He discovers that Jinsen is a talented artist during work on the project and slowly begins a friendship while Jinsen is baited and harassed until the harassment spirals out of control and someone has to do something.
Koja, Kathe	Talk I have loved Kathe Koja's quirky, intense writing style since reading her first YA novel, Straydog. I read Talk practically in one sitting and although I did regret rushing through it, I just couldn't wait to see what happened! Kit and Lindsay tell the story in alternating chapters with random pages from the script of their controversial high school play, "Talk," interspersed. Kit has a secret and feels deep down inside that he can act because he has been acting his whole life. Lindsay is the teen queen, drama queen, pampered, adored and so bored with the boys she is used to. While Lindsay is a bit of a stereotype and I wanted to know more about Carma, Kit is a real and complicated character. I was also intrigued by the idea of intellectual freedom being expressed at a high school level.
Korman, Gordon	jake, reinvented [sic] Jake showed up at F. Scott Fitzgerald High School and seems like a dream come true. He dresses to perfection, is a perfect "snapper" for the ailing football team and throws unbelievable parties every Friday night. Jake's story is told through Rick, a teammate and neighbor, as first he is impressed, then flattered to be chosen as a friend, then fearful of his new friend's safety as events spiral out of control. Descriptions of these Friday night binge-drinking, unsupervised parties are pretty intense.
Levithan, David	Boy Meets Boy In this lovely book, Paul tells us about himself. He is gay and lives with his supportive parents in a caring community and attends a high school which is accepting of differences. So accepting, in fact that the homecoming queen also happens to be the cross-dressing captain of the football team. He is also in love with Noah, a new boy at school. Complications begin to arise when Paul's old boyfriend tries to rekindle their romance. The book is a fantasy of course. I wish people could be more accepting of differences. Reality for most gay teens in high school can be quite harsh.
Lynch Chris	Freewill This book is not for everyone. It is told in the second person which I find difficult to read. It is the story of a high school boy, named Will, who is attempting to come to terms with his feelings. He is stuck in a special high school called Hopeless High. He is stuck in a wood shop class where he begins to create wood sculptures and installs them in various places around town. The book turns into a mystery when teenagers in the area begin to commit suicide at the spots where he has installed his works.
Mass, Wendy	Leap Day Sixteen-year-old Josie is a "leaper." She was born on leap day and so her sixteenth birthday is only the fourth time she celebrates her actual birthday and she is convinced the day is bound to be special. The book is rather cleverly constructed in that each chapter has a side "A" and a side "B." Josie relates the events of her day on side "A" and side "B" relates an omniscient parallel story which even relates future events that will impact certain characters.
Maxwell, Katie	The Year My Life Went Down the Loo Fans of Georgia Nicholson and the LBD will enjoy this series of books about a sixteen-year-old girl whose Medieval Scholar father, called "Brother" by everyone, moves the family to England for a year so that he can do research and teach. Needless to say, Emily is not pleased, especially when she finds that she will be repeating her sophomore years because the British and American school systems don't exactly mesh. This novel is told in e-mails from Emily to her BFF, Dru in Seattle. Emily is boy-crazy and self-centered but quite funny. There is a lot of talk about sex and condoms but no action, and Emily attends an under-age drinking party.
Maxwell, Katie	They Wear What Under Their Kilts? Emily and Holly are spending a term in Scotland on a sheep farm for W.E. or Work Experience. The farm is owned by Emily's Aunt Timandra and her husband Alec. Both Emily and Holly fall for Alec's helper, Ruaraidh, Scottish for Rory. He is a "Schottie," Scottish Hottie, and Emily and Holly decide they are both going to go for him and may the best GF win. Maxwell is due out with What's French for Ew? in May.
Minter, J.	Inside Girl Fans of Minter's The Insiders series may find this book, about Patch Flood's cool, younger sister, Flan, a bit tame; but it is that tameness that allows me to put this book on the shelf. Flan Flood is very excited about going to high school. She shocked her family and friends by insisting on attending a local public high school instead of an exclusive private high school. She wants to be accepted on her own terms instead of being the younger sister of New York's "hottest" prep school boy. But with A-list older friends which includes a major young movie star who happens to be crashing at Flan's house, how can she keep these two worlds apart?
Minter, J.	The Sweetest Thing (Inside Girl #2) Flan Flood is back - happy in her "normal" school with her "normal" friends and her "normal" boyfriend. She's even glad that they seem to get along with her "wild," rich, partygoing friends. Then Meredith and Judith fall for the same guy, the quarterback on the football team who seems to have eyes for Flan. But she's got a boyfriend, right? On top of everything, her parents go away yet again and February decides to become Mommy Dearest.
Moriarty, Jaclyn	The Year of Secret Assignments Best friends, Lydia, Emily and Cassie are tenth graders at Ashbury High School. Their English teacher has assigned each student a pen pal from rival Brookfield High School., Sebastian, Charlie and Matthew. The year-long assignment is to correspond with the assigned pen pal. The secret assignments are another matter. This novel, told through notebook and diary entries as well as the pen pal correspondence, e-mail and hearing transcripts, is humorous and clever.
Moriarty, Jaclyn	Feeling Sorry for Celia This is Moriarty's first book and is structured the same way as The Year of Secret Assignments, which I read first. Elizabeth Clarry is a long distance runner who is training for a marathon when her best friend, Celia disappears. This mildly worries Elizabeth because Celia has disappeared before. But it does not worry Celia's wacky mother in the least because she believes Celia is a free spirit who is best left un-tethered. The entire story is told through letters between Elizabeth and Christina, a student from another school with whom Elizabeth must correspond to fulfill an English assignment. Elizabeth receives other letters as well, unsolicited ones from an interested stranger and organizations such as "The Society of People Who Are Definitely Going to Fail High School (and Most Probably Life as Well)" and "The Association of Teenagers."
Myers, Walter Dean	Shooter Like Strasser's Give a Boy a Gun, Myers explores the events leading up to a school shooting. This time the events are reconstructed through the transcripts of four interviews six months after the fact as well as the shooter's diary, press clippings and medical examiner's reports. Myers subtly and skillfully shows us how events can be interpreted or misinterpreted to suit the agendas of the press, law enforcement and the school administration.
Myers, Walter Dean	The Beast Anthony Witherspoon has found a way out of Harlem by getting into a prep school in Connecticut. He leaves behind his poet girlfriend. When he returns for Christmas break, he has a little trouble finding the rhythm of Harlem and has made some friends at school who live downtown. He has also discovered that his beloved Gabi has become an addict.
Myracle, Lauren	ttyl ttyl, aka, talk to you later, is written entirely in instant message text. The pages even imitate a computer screen. Three bffs, Angela, Maddie and Zoe, begin tenth grade vowing that nothing will come between them. However, Angela has boy problems, Maddie has attitude problems and Zoe is about to get in over her head with a young and flirtatious teacher and everyone has an opinion. Will their friendship survive? Clevery and engaging, but one or more of the characters make some questionable choices. ttfn, published in March 2006, follows the girls into junior year where they face more mature problems as well as Angela's move clear across the country and is solidly a high school read.
Myracle, Lauren	Rhymes with Witches Only the title is coy, so if you are offended by the b-word, don't bother reading this book. If you are a fan of Myracle's and/ or wonder about that unspoken high school hierarchy, read it. Jane is a freshman, invisible, slightly nerdy with two best, slightly nerdy, invisible friends. The b_'s are a group of four girls, one from each grade who are the top of the high school social heap. At the beginning of each year, a likely freshman candidate is chosen and initiated - if she wants it badly enough. It seems Jane has been chosen. Does she want it? If so, how badly?
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds	Alice on her Way The Alice series contains seventeen books and is going strong mostly due to both the likability and ordinariness of Alice. In Alice on her Way, she is about to turn sixteen and when her friendship with Sam turns more serious, she doesn't mind at all. What she does mind is the fact that her father signed her up to take classes on sexuality at their church. She quickly and surprisingly likes the class, her classmates and the teachers but doesn't let on to her father. Her friends are still there for her, her father seems happy in his marriage to Sylvia and now all Alice needs to do is pass her driver's test.
Page, Katherine Hall	Club Meds When I read the first few pages of this book, I couldn't wait to finish it and let the principal and school nurse read it. But then the novel became way too "teachy" and the plot stretched a little too thin. The language in the book, while realistic, makes putting it in the school library general collection difficult. It is more suited for grades 7 & 8. There was a lot to like about the character and some of the descriptions and situations were heartbreaking. The bully, Chuck while painted a bit stereotypically presented a real dilemma for Jack who needs Ritalin to function. He was forced to turn over twenty of his Ritalin pills each week for Chuck to take and/ or sell. The "club meds" of the title is the name Jack's friend Mary gives the group of students who line up at the nurse's office a lunch for medication. Several of these students have become Jack's friend and together they come up with a solution to beat the bully.
Pixley, Marcella	Freak Do we really need yet another book depicting the middle-school outsider mercilessly picked on by predatory alpha girls? Yes, especially when the narrator, twelve-year-old Miriam Fisher is so engaging, self-aware and brutally honest about her outsider status. She embraces it, in fact. Until seventh grade, it never bothered her - much. But then, her sister, who used to celebrate her freakishness, entered high school turned beautiful, dumbed down and is now part of the in-crowd. In seventh grade, the rules change. Hormones rage and the pranks and cruelty seem to escalate. Miriam is the younger daughter of a college professor and artist, both self-absorbed and clueless, who loves Shakespeare, writes poetry and reads the Oxford English Dictionary for fun. Her nemesis is Jenny Clarke, head of the "watermelons," so named because of the ever-present flavored lip gloss she prefers. Her sister, Deborah is hurtful, finds her embarassing and joins her newfound friends in ridiculing Miriam. When the son of a family friend, hottie Thespian and senior, Artie Rosenberg moves in because his parents are on sabbatical, the mixture becomes volatile.
Prose, Francine	After Wow, a chilling, creepy novel about "for your own good" run amuck. Students in Central High, somewhere in New Hampshire are provided with a grief counselor after a school shooting fifty miles away. Within days, there are metal detectors and daily backpack searches and parents are inundated with night emails. There is zero-tolerance for any rule breaking and students are suspended at the slightest infraction. The story is told by fifteen-year-old Tom Bishop who becomes increasingly terrified as students begin disappearing and parents appear to become brainwashed zombies.
Selzer, Adam	How to Get Suspended and Influence People Fourteen-year-old Leon narrates the saga of his "gifted pool" assignment in which eighth grade students were to create videos on health education which would then be shown to younger students. Leon, unsurprisingly, chooses sex-ed as his topic hoping to legitimately show some body parts in the name of education. He also has an ax to grind about the way in which health issues, especially puberty are taught in middle school. He is inspired by Fellini to do an Avant-garde film and is collaborating with a classmate when Leon's nemesis overhears some of the documentary's narration, which includes commentary on masturbation. When the director of the "gifted pool," no fan of Leon's and a stereotypically rigid teacher hears about the film, she gets Leon suspended for producing "alleged smut." Leon stands his ground thinking that he will be battling the school administration alone and is surprised when his parents, some teachers and even his enemies stand behind him. I really wanted to love this book. It had all the ingredients for a humorous and thought-provoking read. The well-written last third of the book doesn't quite make up for the self-conscious narration in the beginning of the book where Leon's pseudo-sophisticated mannerisms and the odd use of mild cursing struck me as insincere. Leon comes off as a bit of a jerk and rather unsympathetic. Other characters are stereotypical and under-developed.
Sitomer, Alan Lawrence	Hip-Hop High School Life isn't always easy for the middle child in a family, especially when that child is a girl sandwiched in between two brilliant boys. As if that wasn't enough, Theresa Anderson, aka, Tee Ay, is trying to negotiate the murky waters of her inner city high school where the drop out rate is high and it is more likely that the girls will get pregnant and the boys will end up dead or in jail than graduate. Tee is bright and in honors classes but is careful to talk the language of her peers lest she appear too "white" and get jumped. The book is probably geared toward a more mature reader, grade 8 and up, and contains some language which is realistic within the context but the character is likable and the story is interesting. It is a sequel of sorts to an earlier work, Hoopster, which I haven't read (yet) but it seems to stand alone.
Tashjian, Janet	The Gospel According to Larry This is the story of Josh Swensen as sent to Janet Tashjian. Josh is a bright, nearly friendless high school senior. He starts a website which bashes popular culture and consumerism through sermons written by his alter-ego, Larry. The website becomes popular and soon everyone wants to know who Larry is. Josh has a dilemma since, if people knew he was Larry, he would be instantly famous and popular, but it would also complicate his life. The novel is suspenseful and fun.
Tashjian, Janet	Vote for Larry Josh, aka Larry, has been in hiding since his pseudocide the previous year, traveling around the country, traveling light and missing Beth. He fell off his anti-consumerism wagon when he met Janine in Boulder, Colorado. He was feeling guilty about how easy it was to sink into credit card debt when he was kidnapped and brought back to Boston, to face his step-father, Peter and his old life as Larry. Hysterical, biting satire and thoroughly enjoyable.

Realistic

YA Book List

Library Main

Home