{1} The Foreshadowing: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Sedgwick. M. (2006). The foreshadowing. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books. ISBN: 0-385746466

Awards & Honors: ALA Best Book for Young Adults; NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies; Outstanding International Booklist; Recommended Reading-Junior Library Guild

Plot Summary: In 1915, as World War I starts, Sasha longs to be a nurse.  Her brother, Thomas, dreams of studying medicine and being a doctor. Their father, a prominent English doctor, opposes them both in their plans.  He believes Thomas should enlist and contribute to the war effort like his older brother Edgar has, rather than go to medical school, and he doesn’t think nursing is an appropriate pursuit for his daughter.  He is also alarmed by Sasha’s ability to clairvoyantly foresee death. The first of these visions came when she was five. She has learned since then not to speak of this ability to anyone in her family, but keeps with her a book of Greek myths, in which the story of Cassandra helps her understand the power she has.

Sasha does persuade her father to let her try her hand in the hospital as a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment), but is dismissed from her position when it is found out that she has been secretly communicating with a shell-shocked patient and that she has foreseen the death of patients.  Meanwhile, her older brother Edgar has gone missing, Sasha knows he is dead.  Thomas, in a fit of anger, does enlist and is sent to the war.  Sasha has recurring visions of Thomas standing in the path of an oncoming bullet.  She resolves to save him and steals a nurse’s uniform and papers, setting off to France in search of him.  On her journey, Sasha encounters an eccentric young soldier called Hoodoo Jack who appears to have clairvoyant abilities like hers.  He goes AWOL with her to find Thomas and when they do, there is an unexpected twist.

Critical Evaluation: The Foreshadowing is a well-developed novel that accurately reflects the attitudes and environment in England at the beginning of the first World War.  Sedgwick skillfully connects these young adults’ struggles for power and self-determination with the deepest questions about fate, will, and interpretations of patriotism.  Sedgwick uses a countdown device to effectively build suspense: the first chapter is titled, 101, and the count finishes at 1.  Some chapters are headed with numbers, but left blank, denoting lost time, shock, and grief.  The Foreshadowing is a finely crafted story that is a pleasure to read.  It is worth mentioning that Sedgwick is an engraver and that wood cut illustrations of his adorn the book to great effect.

Annotation: Sasha, a 17-year-old English girl, had her premonition of death when she was five years old and saw the impending demise of her little friend.  Now, as her brother goes off to fight in World War I, she has another vision and goes on a dangerous quest to save him.

About the Author: Marcus Sedgwick is a British author and winner of the Branford Boase Award for his debut novel, Floodland.  He has worked as a stone and wood engraver, book seller and illustrator.

Sedgwick has written more than a dozen books for children and young adults.  Many have dark themes and are based in historic events paired with paranormal elements (Anonymous, 2010).

Anonymous. (2010). Marcus Sedgwick (1968-) biography – personal, addresses, career, honors awards, writings, sidelights. Retrieved from http://biography.jrank.org

Genre: Paranormal, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Coming of Age

Curriculum Ties: English, History, World War I

Booktalking Ideas:  The Foreshadowing presents varied ideas about the meaning of patriotism.  Describe this from the perspectives of each of the siblings (Sasha, Edgar, and Thomas).

Interest Age: 12 and older

Challenge Issues: None are foreseen.

Reason for Inclusion:  Aside from being a work of good quality writing, The Foreshadowing is also a wonderful vehicle for understanding some of the experiences of young people in WWI and feelings about war in general.  The book also explores timeless young adult themes such as autonomy.

See an interview with Marcus Sedgwick:

{2} A Great and Terrible Beauty: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Bray. L. (2002). A great and terrible beauty. New York, NY: Delacorte Press. ISBN: 0-38590161-5

Awards & Honors: ALA Best Book for Young Adults; YALSA Best Books for YA; Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award

Plot Summary: It is 1895 and Gemma Doyle is determined to leave India for London and its social scene. On her sixteenth birthday, when Gemma and her mother are walking through Bombay, they encounter two mysterious men, one young and one older. The older man relays an unknown message to Gemma’s mother and Gemma’s mother worriedly sends Gemma home. On the way, Gemma has a vision of the deaths of her mother and of man who had spoken to her.  She later learns her vision foretold the event.

With her mother dead and her father developing an addiction to laudanum, Gemma is sent to the Spence Academy for Young Ladies, just east of London.  This is a bitter triumph for Gemma, as her dreams of returning to London are now tainted by the destruction of her family life.  She has a hard time fitting in at first and is treated cruelly by the girls. However, she soon devises a plan that succeeds in altering her social status at the school and she becomes friends with a group of girls.  The group is made up of Felicity, a witty and lovely girl from a wealthy family, Ann, Gemma’s roommate, who is an orphaned scholarship student destined to become a governess, and Pippa, a truly beautiful, but insecure girl.

Also at the school, living with a band of gypsies in the surrounding woods, is Kartik, the young man from Bombay and a member of an ancient group of men known as the Rakshana, who exist to protect the Order.  Gemma learns that the Order was a group of powerful women with magical powers and she and her friends decide to state their own Order in fun, not realizing that they are about to discover tremendous power that they can all use but is channeled through Gemma.  With this power, the girls cross into the spirit realm and see amazing sights, not least of which is Gemma’s dead mother, who spends time advising Gemma about her powers over the course of several visits.  On one visit to this spirit realm the girls are attacked by the creature that killed Gemma’s mother and they flee, leaving Pippa behind.  When they return to save her, she has eaten berries from the realm, which prevent her from returning.  Pippa chose to do this rather than marry the man her parents wished her to.  In the physical realm, Pippa is now dead, but the girls continued to visit her frequently in the spirit realm.

Critical Evaluation: A Great and Terrible Beauty is an enthralling gothic supernatural adventure.  One can see the influences of C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess and even touches of the Brontës.  The book stays true to its Victorian setting, but uses language that, while appropriate, is modern enough to not be an obstacle for unsophisticated readers.  Bray’s characters are clever, witty, and hilariously observant at times and the plot is exciting, keeping a reader engaged page by page.

Annotation: In 1895, after the murder of her mother, sixteen-year-old Gemma leaves India to attend a finishing school in England and discovers she has the ability to enter the realms of the spirits.

About the Author: Libba Bray is a Texas native who moved to New York City when she was 26 with $600 in her shoe and a punch bowl under her arm.  Bray wrote her first story in the sixth grade and has been at it ever since.  Bray eloped with her fiancée and was married in Florence, Italy.  She and her husband live in New York City with their son (Bray, n.d.).

Bray has authored many books for young adults including Going Bovine for which she was given the Michael Printz Award and the Gemma Doyle trilogy: A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing.

Bray, L. (n.d.). Biography: The straight-from-the-author-herself version. Retrieved from http://libbabray.com

Genre: Paranormal, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Romance, Coming of Age

Curriculum Ties: English

Booktalking Ideas: Describe the strength and weaknesses of Gemma and her friends a Spence Academy.  How do they complement each other?  How do the strengths of one offset the weaknesses of another?

Interest Age: 13 to 18 years old

Challenge Issues: Magic, supernaturalism, and death.  Magic and the supernatural traditionally have much appeal for young readers and may serve to entice them to the worthwhile pursuit of reading.  The deaths in the book are key to the plot as are the reactions to them.  It is likely that young adults will have the experience of deaths in their own lives and the characters’ dealings with their own emotions in this may be helpful in that case.

Challengers should be referred to the library’s challenge and selection policies and can be reminded that it is the responsibility of parents, not librarians, to decide which materials are ultimately suitable for their children.

They should also be referred to the American Library Association’s Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, which states, “Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that only parents and guardians have the right and the responsibility to determine their children’s—and only their children’s—access to library resources.”  (ALA 2008, pp.1-2)

Challengers can also be provided with information about the awards, honors, and critical acclaim the title in question has received.

American Library Association. (Adopted June 30, 1972; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991; June 30, 2004; July 2, 2008). Free access to libraries for minors: an interpretation of the library bill of rights. 1-2.

Reason for Inclusion:  A Great and Terrible Beauty is a very engaging book in its own right and may also serve as a bridge to other great Victorian era authors such as George Elliot, William Thackeray, Wilkie Collins, and the Brontë sisters.

Be amused by Libba Bray:

Be even more amused by Libba Bray:

{3} Rebel Angels: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Bray. L. (2005). Rebel angels. New York, NY: Delacorte Press. ISBN: 0-38573029-2

Awards & Honors: VOYA-The Perfect Tens; ALA Best Book for Young Adults; YALSA Top Ten

Plot Summary: Rebel Angels is the second book in Libba Bray’s fantasy trilogy. It is the sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty and continues the story of Gemma Doyle, a girl in Victorian England with magical powers.  The novel follows Gemma and her friends, Felicity and Ann, during their winter break from school.

The story begins as Kartik is brought before the Rakshana and told that by destroying the Runes, Gemma has released their magic, making it available to all the realms’ creatures including the evil Circe and her allies in the Winterlands.  Kartik is instructed to help Gemma find the Temple in the realms, where the magic can be bound and controlled by the Rakshana.  Kartik is ordered to kill Gemma after completion of this task.

At Christmas break, Gemma leaves Spence and goes to her grandmother’s home in London. Gemma’s brother, Tom, is late to pick her up at the train station and Gemma believes a member of the Rakshana is following her.  She runs up to a young man and pretends she knows him, under the pretense that the other man following her will go away. The young man turns out to be Simon Middleton, a young aristocrat who is immediately smitten with her.  Middleton invites Gemma and her family to dinner and he begins his courtship.

In London, Gemma becomes reacquainted with Miss Moore, her former art teacher at Spence.  A new teacher, Miss McCleethy, whom Gemma suspects is Circe, is hired at Gemma’s school.

At Bethlem Royal Hospital, a mental institution, where Tom works, one of his patients is a girl named Nell Hawkins, who is deemed insane, but has visions of the Temple.  Gemma visits her, and through Nell’s ramblings, she begins putting together clues as to the location of the Temple.  She also discovers that Nell was a student at a finishing school that Miss McCleethy had taught at before coming to Spence.  Together with Ann and Felicity, and the deceased Pippa, Gemma enters the realms in search of the Temple.

Ann has gone to stay with Felicity for the holidays, and with Felicity’s assistance, passes herself off as Russian nobility instead of the orphaned scholarship student she is.  Ann hopes this will impress Tom, with whom she has fallen in love.

Felicity’s mother returns from Paris, and London society is gossiping about her affair with a Parisian man. Felicity’s parents take in her orphaned cousin, Polly, as a ward, and Felicity tells Polly to lock her doors against Felicity’s father and not let him into her bedroom.  Gemma discovers that Felicity was molested by her father when she was a child.  Gemma’s father has descended into a full-blown addiction to opiates and is sent to a sanitarium.

When the book ends, the girls are back at Spence, Ann has written to Tom and confessed her lowly station and Gemma has refused Simon’s proposal.

Critical Evaluation: Rebel Angels continues the Gemma Doyle trilogy nicely.  It lacks some of the richness of the first book, A Great and Terrible Beauty, but it adds levels of intrigue that and mystery that move the story along in the same effortless style as book one.  Rebel Angels centers on the duplicity found virtually everywhere in Gemma’s world.  It exists in her family, friends, instructors, allies in the fight for the realms, certainly in London society, and it is interesting to see that even evil characters are multidimensional.  Bray presents nuanced characters and situations against a lush gothic landscape.

Annotation: Gemma’s adventures continue as she searches to destroy the villainous Circe and also break with the social conventions of turn-of-the-century London.

About the Author: Libba Bray is a Texas native who moved to New York City when she was 26 with $600 in her shoe and a punch bowl under her arm.  Bray wrote her first story in the sixth grade and has been at it ever since.  Bray eloped with her fiancée and was married in Florence, Italy.  She and her husband live in New York City with their son (Bray, n.d.).

Bray has authored many books for young adults including Going Bovine for which she was given the Michael Printz Award and the Gemma Doyle trilogy: A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing.

Bray, L. (n.d.). Biography: The straight-from-the-author-herself version. Retrieved from http://libbabray.com

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Romance, Coming of Age

Curriculum Ties: English

Booktalking Ideas: Describe Bray’s use of the corset as a metaphor.  Are there similarities between Gemma’s desire to unbind and share the magic and her desire to be unbound of the expectations of her family and the society she inhabits?

Interest Age: 13 to 18 years old

Challenge Issues: Magic, supernaturalism, and incest/molestation.  The revelation of the molestation Felicity experienced as a child serves to explain her relationship with her father.  Her desire to keep her cousin Polly from a similar fate is admirable.

Magic and the supernatural traditionally have much appeal for young readers and may serve to entice them to the worthwhile pursuit of reading.  The deaths in the book are key to the plot as are the reactions to them.  It is likely that young adults will have the experience of deaths in their own lives and the characters’ dealings with their own emotions in this may be helpful in that case.

Challengers should be referred to the library’s challenge and selection policies and can be reminded that it is the responsibility of parents, not librarians, to decide which materials are ultimately suitable for their children.

They should also be referred to the American Library Association’s Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, which states, “Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that only parents and guardians have the right and the responsibility to determine their children’s—and only their children’s—access to library resources.”  (ALA 2008, pp.1-2)

Challengers can also be provided with information about the awards, honors, and critical acclaim the title in question has received.

American Library Association. (Adopted June 30, 1972; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991; June 30, 2004; July 2, 2008). Free access to libraries for minors: an interpretation of the library bill of rights. 1-2.

Reason for Inclusion:  Rebel Angels continues the saga of Gemma Doyle.  The series is well-written, very entertaining, and provides an interesting look into English Victorian society, particularly into the role of women in that time, that would be interesting and informative to young readers.

{4} The Sweet Far Thing: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Bray. L. (2007). The sweet far thing. New York, NY: Delacorte Press. ISBN: 978-0-385-90295-3

Awards & Honors: Publishers Weekly Best Book; YALSA Top Ten

Plot Summary: The Sweet Far Thing concludes Libba Bray’s fantasy trilogy.  It follows A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels, resolving the story of Gemma Doyle and her quest to balance the magical forces in the realms.

The story begins three years in the past on a London river which two men are dragging as they search for things of value that they plan to sell.  What they dredge up is the corpse of a young woman in a lavender dress who wears an amulet that is a twin to the one Gemma’s mother gave her before she died.

Flash forward to Spence Academy, three years later, where Gemma finds she can no longer create a doorway to the realms.  After much struggling, Gemma finds that by touching a mysterious stone unearthed during the reconstruction of the Spence’s east wing (which was destroyed in a terrible fire years before), she and her friends once again have access to the realms.  There Gemma, Felicity, and Ann find Pippa among a group of girls she has saved from the Winterlands.  These girls are commoners who died in a factory fire in London.  Pippa is their leader and begins teaching them social graces, such as curtseying.

Kartik finds Gemma at Spence and tells her that they must no longer meet. He has enlisted as a sailor for the HMS Orlando to escape the Rakshana.  Gemma is upset that he’s leaving; she has begun to fall in love. While waiting for his boat to come in, Kartik lives with gypsies in the woods surrounding Spence and helps Gemma arrange a meeting with the Rakshana who are trying to recruit Gemma’s brother, Tom, to their society as a way to get to Gemma.  At this meeting an attempt is made to capture Gemma and Kartik and while the attempt is unsuccessful, it forces Gemma to reveal the fact that she does possess the magic she had sought to hide.

Gemma increasingly has mysterious visions of the drowned woman in the lavender dress. The visions give Gemma clues, which lead her to a washed-up illusionist who tells Gemma that the woman was a Spence student at the same time that Gemma’s mother was.  Gemma also discovers that there is a powerful place of magic in the Winterlands realm, it is the Tree of All Souls.  Gemma and her friends set out to find it.

Kartik asks Gemma to take him into the realms to see his brother, who was killed trying to protect Gemma’s mother in book one.  When they arrive, they go to into the Cave of Sighs and have a psychic erotic experience together.  After this, Kartik finds his brother and is horrified by the bloodthirsty creature he has become.

Gemma finds the realms unsafe as the creatures within them are discovering their powers and warring with one another.  She refuses to bring Ann and Felicity over, angering them.  However, they soon discover that they can now cross over without her help.  She follows them into the realms and finds them visiting Pippa whose power has grown and is turning into a dark creature with megalomaniacal plans.  Pippa attempts to kill Gemma and Felicity intervenes.  It is then revealed that Pippa and Felicity are lovers.  Pippa asks Felicity to eat the berries from the realm that will enable them to stay together forever.  Felicity tearfully declines to do so and then Pippa is destroyed when the castle she lives in collapses in on her.

The magic’s release has broken the barrier between the realms and the human world and creatures from the realms begin crossing over with malicious intentions.  They attempt to capture Gemma in order to sacrifice her to the Tree of Souls.  She and her friends travel into the realms, as war rages between its inhabitants. When they arrive at the Tree of Souls, Kartik’s brother, who means to sacrifice her and cement his power, stabs Gemma.  Kartik offers himself in her place and they kiss a final time before he is absorbed into the tree.

Gemma channels her magic back to the land and this reinstates the barrier between worlds.  Order restored, Gemma leaves the realms and travels to America to study at university, forgoing her debut and rejecting the role her family planned for her as a society woman.

Critical Evaluation: The Sweet Far Thing is ambitious, successfully tying up dozens of plot threads in its 819 pages.  While not as strong as the first book of the trilogy, A Great and Terrible Beauty, it still provides a satisfying conclusion to a fascinating story populated with a wide array of interesting characters of all sorts.  Bray not only has produced a very engaging and enjoyable series with the Gemma Doyle trilogy, she has also tied in many historical social issues such as the suffragist movement, working conditions of the poor, and the asphyxiating confines of English women at the turn of the century.

Annotation: As Gemma prepares for her debut into society, she struggles with controlling the forces of evil in the realms and protecting the man she loves.

About the Author: Libba Bray is a Texas native who moved to New York City when she was 26 with $600 in her shoe and a punch bowl under her arm.  Bray wrote her first story in the sixth grade and has been at it ever since.  Bray eloped with her fiancée and was married in Florence, Italy.  She and her husband live in New York City with their son (Bray, n.d.).

Bray has authored many books for young adults including Going Bovine for which she was given the Michael Printz Award and the Gemma Doyle trilogy: A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing.

Bray, L. (n.d.). Biography: The straight-from-the-author-herself version. Retrieved from http://libbabray.com

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Romance, Coming of Age

Curriculum Ties: English

Booktalking Ideas: Describe Gemma’s desire for personal liberation in the context of the time.   Do you believe that social change such as the suffragist movement was instrumental in helping Gemma find her way?

Interest Age: 13 to 18 years old

Challenge Issues: Allusion to sex, implied homosexuality, magic, supernaturalism, and death.  Gemma and Katik’s sexual encounter was mental and essentially chaste.  It is not unusual for young adults to have sexual feelings and Bray’s interpretation of these is not irresponsible.

Felicity and Pippa’s lesbian relationship also appears to be an emotional rather than a physical one.  There is no mention of consummation of their feelings aside from a kiss.  It is true that Bray discloses that Felicity was molested by her father in book two and then reveals her to be a lesbian in book three, which may position lesbianism as a reaction to abuse, a view which would be contested by many.

Magic and the supernatural traditionally have much appeal for young readers and may serve to entice them to the worthwhile pursuit of reading.  The deaths in the book are key to the plot as are the reactions to them.  It is likely that young adults will have the experience of deaths in their own lives and the characters’ dealings with their own emotions in this may be helpful in that case.

Challengers should be referred to the library’s challenge and selection policies and can be reminded that it is the responsibility of parents, not librarians, to decide which materials are ultimately suitable for their children.

They should also be referred to the American Library Association’s Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, which states, “Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that only parents and guardians have the right and the responsibility to determine their children’s—and only their children’s—access to library resources.”  (ALA 2008, pp.1-2)

Challengers can also be provided with information about the awards, honors, and critical acclaim the title in question has received.

American Library Association. (Adopted June 30, 1972; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991; June 30, 2004; July 2, 2008). Free access to libraries for minors: an interpretation of the library bill of rights. 1-2.

Reason for Inclusion: The Sweet Far Thing was included in this collection to complete the wonderful Gemma Doyle trilogy.  Aside from the classic fantasy and adventure elements that have timeless appeal for young readers, these books investigate life choices and identity politics that young women have always faced whether they lived in the late 1800′s or today.

{5} Sorceress: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Rees. C. (2002). Sorceress. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 0-763621838

Awards & Honors: Costa/Whitbread Children’s Award; New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age; YALSA Best Books for YA

Plot Summary: Sorceress, which is the sequel to Rees’s previous book, Witch Child, begins in the present day, introducing us to Agnes, an eighteen-year-old Mowhawk Indian girl.  Agnes is away studying at college and has just read Witch Child, which concludes with an appeal from the author, Allison Ellman, for more information about the book’s character, Mary. Agnes is convinced she knows something about what may have happened to Mary, she’s begun to have visions about her.  She wonders, however, if Allison will believe in this unorthodox method of discovery.

Together they embark on a journey to resolve Mary’s story, one which will lead Alison to Canada and Agnes home to her Native American settlement.  Through Agnes’s visions we learn of Mary’s escape, being saved from death and adopted by a native tribe, her life as a healer amongst the tribe and wars between the natives and settlers.

Critical Evaluation: Sorceress has the potential to be very interesting as it spans generations, connecting powerful women in a family history.  Unfortunately, it does not achieve this.  The book is rather dull, the characters feel one dimensional and the plot is contrived and stiff.  The story of Mary is told through the visions of her ancestor, Agnes, but there is little to or about Agnes.  Her inclusion in the story is superfluous and brings nothing to it. Despite this, the book does present some interesting Native American history and cultural traditions that are seldom seen in young adult fiction.  This does redeem an otherwise mediocre novel.

Annotation: Agnes is a Mohawk Indian with shamanic powers that she uses to uncover the story of her ancestor, Mary, the first in the long line of powerful women in Agnes’s family.

About the Author: Celia Rees is a British author who studied History and politics at Warwick University.  Rees credits an American History seminar as the inspiration for Witch Child and The Sorceress.

Rees taught at the secondary school level for over a decade before doing a creative writing exercise in grad school that uncovered her passion for writing young adult fiction.  Since then she has written dozens of books and short stories for children and young adults (Rees, n.d.).

Rees. C. (n.d.) About the author: Celia Rees’s biography. Retrieved from http://www.celiarees.com.

Genre: Multicultural Fiction, Issues, Contemporary Life, Coming of Age

Curriculum Ties: English

Booktalking Ideas: Why does Mary channel her life through Agnes?  Is there a purpose for this?  After receiving these visions, Agnes has essentially lived a part of Mary’s life.  Do you think that this will have an influence on Agnes?  Discuss what sort of impact it could have.

Interest Age: 14 to 18 years old

Challenge Issues: Sex, war, death, paranormal powers.  The majority of these take place in a historical context and it can be said that history is full of accounts of these (and other) “controversial” topics.

Challengers should be referred to the library’s challenge and selection policies and can be reminded that it is the responsibility of parents, not librarians, to decide which materials are ultimately suitable for their children.

They should also be referred to the American Library Association’s Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, which states, “Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that only parents and guardians have the right and the responsibility to determine their children’s—and only their children’s—access to library resources.”  (ALA 2008, pp.1-2)

Challengers can also be provided with information about the awards, honors, and critical acclaim the title in question has received.

American Library Association. (Adopted June 30, 1972; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991; June 30, 2004; July 2, 2008). Free access to libraries for minors: an interpretation of the library bill of rights. 1-2.

Reason for Inclusion: There is very little Native American fiction for young adults available.  Sorceress, as part of a collection, may serve to help familiarize young adult readers with Native American culture or to reflect back the culture of young adult Native American readers..

{6} Buddha Boy: A Novella

Bibliographic Information: Koja. K. (2003). Buddha boy. New York, NY: Frances Foster Books. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN: 0-347309981

Awards & Honors: NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies; ABA Teen Top Ten Book; BCCB Blue Ribbon Book; ALA Best Book for Young Adults; YALSA Best Books for YA

Plot Summary: Michael Martin goes by Jinsen, but the kids at Edward Rucher High School call him “Buddha Boy” or else just “freak.”  And Jinsen is different.  With his shaved head and ratty old clothes, he stands out.  When he starts begging for lunch money in the school cafeteria, his social status is cemented into place.

Enter Justin, a regular kid with friends and a normal high school life.  When he is paired with Jinsen to work on a class project, he plans to get done quickly and move on.  But as he gets to know Jinsen and his way of seeing the world he finds that he doesn’t want to.  Jinsen is a Buddhist and his ethical code and manner of living are foreign and intriguing to Justin.  That and his remarkable artistic talent bring the boys close and they form a friendship.  But Justin discovers that being Buddha Boy means being under constant attack by school bullies and as his friend, he bears some of that burden with him.

Critical Evaluation: Buddha Boy is a remarkable book about friendship, a moral code, self discovery, and facing adversity.  The characters of Jinsen and Justin are surprisingly well-developed for such a short book.  The story itself spans a brief, but pivotal time for both boys and at its end, it seems that they will part ways, not as a matter of choice, but of circumstance.  This leaves the reader with the feeling of having glimpsed into an important, formative period of their lives.

Koja’s descriptions of Buddhist beliefs and philosophy are casual and do not serve an agenda as so many writings about religion tend to and the character of Jinsen embodies the spirit of Buddhism rather poetically.

Annotation: Buddha Boy and Justin make an unlikely pair, but they find that their friendship brings out the best in both of them.

About the Author: Kathe Koja is a Detroit native who still lives in the area, along with her husband who is an artist.  She began her writing career with speculative fiction for adults before finding that she enjoyed writing for a young adult audience (Koja, n.d.).

Her first book for young adults, Straydog was very well received, winning many awards and honors including the KIND Children’s Book Award, ASPCA Henry Bergh Award, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and YALSA Best Books for YA.  Other young adult titles by Koja include The Blue Mirror, Headlong, Kissing the Bee, Going Under, Talk, and Buddha Boy (AR BookFinder, 2009).

Koja, K. (n.d.) Bio. Retrieved from http://www.kathekoja.com

AR BookFinder (2009). Kathe Koja. Retrieved from http://www.arbookfind.com

Genre: Multicultural Fiction, Issues, Contemporary Life, Coming of Age

Curriculum Ties: English

Booktalking Ideas: Do you think Jinsen’s methods for dealing with bullies is effective?  How so?  Why do you think he is picked on so much at school?  Do you think his experience at art school will be different?  Why or why not?

Interest Age: 12 to 18 years old

Challenge Issues: None.

Reason for Inclusion: Buddha Boy presents alternative religious and lifestyle philosophies that would serve to expand a reader’s world view as well as being a well written and charming story of friendship and personal growth.

See an interview with Kathe Koja:

{7} Repossessed: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Jenkins. A. M. (2007). Repossessed. New York, NY: HarperTeen. ISBN: 978-0060835699

Awards & Honors: Michael Printz Award; YALSA Best Books for YA; IRA Young Adults’ Choice

Plot Summary: Finding his job of torturing damned souls for all eternity dull and unfulfilling, Kiriel hatches a plan to take control of 17-year-old Shaun’s body seconds before Shaun steps in front of a truck and is killed.  Kiriel is successful in his “repossession” and begins experiencing human life through the vessel that was once Shaun.  He finds it glorious and sets out to experience all he can through Shaun’s five senses.  Kiriel rushes to smell, touch, taste, hear, and see everything he can; he knows his time on earth is limited and someone will be coming to reclaim him soon and send him back to the bowels of hell.  He hopes that he has captured the attention of “The Creator” (God) with his daring escape, even though he is sure to be punished.

Meanwhile, Kiriel spends his short time on earth forging a friendship with Shaun’s taciturn younger brother, being kind to his mother, wooing Lana, the object of his desire, practicing behavior modification on the school bully, and eating as much ketchup as he can get his hands on.  Despite all this activity, the luster of Kiriel’s adopted life begins to fade; his pleasure in sensory experiences lessens.  As if on cue, Kiriel receives an IM from one of hell’s middle managers, Anius, whom Kiriel refers to as Anus (to the chagrin of the former).  Anius is demanding Kiriel’s return to his duties in hell.  Kiriel tries to put him off, but he knows his time in earth is coming to a close.  If only The Creator were the one who noticed his absence.  Instead, one of God’s lieutenants, an angel, comes for Kiriel.  Kiriel is ordered to step in front of a truck in Shaun’s body, thereby releasing Kiriel from it and returning the natural order of things into being.

Critical Evaluation: Repossessed is a clever and darkly humorous little novel.  Jenkins uses an unusual protagonist, a demon, to explore a variety of issues ranging from the existence of the soul, to self worth, love, sex and redemption.  The writing is fluid and witty, the pacing is very good, and this book would appeal to many teens as the character Kiriel explores themes that are relevant to young adults with wit and aplomb.

Annotation: Kiriel is a demon (although he prefers the term “fallen angel”), which is not as fun as it sounds.  What he wants to do is explore the gamut of the human experience, so he escapes from hell and takes over a 17-year-old’s body.

About the Author: A. M. Jenkins is the award-winning author of Damage, Beating heart: A Ghost Story, and the Printz Honor Book Repossessed.  Jenkins is a native Texan and lives in Benbrook, Texas, with three sons, two cats, and two dogs. Jenkins received the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship for night road (Anonymous, 2010).  Before her life as an award-winning author, Jenkins worked as a pizza maker, ice cream dipper, day care worker, bookstore manager, aerobics instructor, high school math teacher, elementary reading tutor, and freelance writer (Jenkins, 2008).

Anonymous. (2010). Author: A. M. Jenkins.  Retrieved from http://www.harperteen.com

Jankins, A. M. (2008). About me. Retrieved from http://amjenkinsbooks.blogspot.com/

Genre: Paranormal, Contemporary Life, Coming of Age, Reluctant Reader

Curriculum Ties: English

Booktalking Ideas: How is Kiriel different than other demons portrayed in literature?  Describe some of the good he does on earth.  Do you feel these acts of good should mitigate his sentence in hell?  If so, how?

Interest Age: 12 to 18 years old

Challenge Issues: Religious ideas, bullying, death, sexual thoughts.  These themes are not out of the realm of the experience of young adulthood and Jenkins’ protagonist reaches an understanding of himself and of humanity by exploring them.

Challengers should be referred to the library’s challenge and selection policies and can be reminded that it is the responsibility of parents, not librarians, to decide which materials are ultimately suitable for their children.

They should also be referred to the American Library Association’s Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, which states, “Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that only parents and guardians have the right and the responsibility to determine their children’s—and only their children’s—access to library resources.”  (ALA 2008, pp.1-2)

Challengers can also be provided with information about the awards, honors, and critical acclaim the title in question has received.

American Library Association. (Adopted June 30, 1972; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991; June 30, 2004; July 2, 2008). Free access to libraries for minors: an interpretation of the library bill of rights. 1-2.

Reason for Inclusion: Repossessed is a very well written book.  It explores interesting ideas with levity and wit and would appeal to a wide audience at many levels of sophistication.

{8} Fake ID: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Sorrells. W. (2005). Fake ID. New York, NY: Dutton Children’s Books. ISBN: 0-525475141

Awards & Honors: YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant YA

Plot Summary: 16-year-old Chastity and her mother have been on the run since Chass was a baby, assuming new identities in every town. She doesn’t know why they are running, who her father is, or even her real name. They go from town to town, and pick their new names out of random library books when they arrive in a new place.  This time, it’s High Hopes, Alabama and things are looking good—until the night of Chass’s sixteenth birthday, when her mother disappears. The cops find her abandoned car, blood matching her DNA, and her purse, which is full of all manner of fake identification. Chass doesn’t believe that her mother is dead, but she only has six days to find her before the state puts her in a foster home.  Chass, along with the unlikely ally she finds in the sheriff’s daughter and Chass’s best friend Ben, begin the hunt for her mother, but they quickly learn that Chass is also being hunted.  And the hunter is looking for something valuable that may cost Chass her life.

Critical Evaluation: Fake ID is deeply rooted in the traditional mystery genre and reads like a rough and tumble Nancy Drew tale with some Scooby Doo thrown in for good measure.  The pacing is good, but the plot strains quite a bit to fit into its designated boxes.  The characters are not fully dimensional, particularly those that are authority figures and are portrayed by Sorrell as quite cartoonish (“I’ll get those meddling kids!”).  Despite all this, the book has a certain charm.  It’s a good summer on the beach light read.  And while the language is accessible to a wide range of young adult readers, its lack of sophistication may not make it attractive to the many.

Annotation:  Chastity has been on the run with her mom since before she can remember.  But now her mother’s missing and someone’s after her.  She has six days to solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance, along the way she’s going to solve a lot of other mysteries, too.

About the Author: Walter Sorrells is the author of more than 25 mystery titles for adults and young adults.  Sorrrells has also written under the pseudonyms Lynn Abercrombie and Ruth Birmingham.  In addition to this, Sorrells has published journalistic work in a variety of publications and has written several scripts for National Public Radio.

Sorrells is interested in martial arts and holds a 3rd degree black belt in Japanese Shito-ryu karate.  He is also a swordsmith who hand forges Japanese inspired swords part time.  He lives in Atlanta with his wife and son.

Anonymous (n.d). Walter Sorrells Bio. Retrieved from http://www.waltersorrells.com

Genre: Mystery & Suspense, Coming of Age, Reluctant Reader

Curriculum Ties: English

Booktalking Ideas: Chass has music in her DNA.  Do you have any traits that you can trace back to your family?

Interest Age: 13-16

Challenge Issues: Some violence, a murder.  The murder is at the heart of the mystery and is intrinsic to the story’s plot.  If this is objectionable to parents, there are many other young adult mysteries that are available and may be better suited for their children.

Challengers should be referred to the library’s challenge and selection policies and can be reminded that it is the responsibility of parents, not librarians, to decide which materials are ultimately suitable for their children.

They should also be referred to the American Library Association’s Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, which states, “Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that only parents and guardians have the right and the responsibility to determine their children’s—and only their children’s—access to library resources.”  (ALA 2008, pp.1-2)

Challengers can also be provided with information about the awards, honors, and critical acclaim the title in question has received.

American Library Association. (Adopted June 30, 1972; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991; June 30, 2004; July 2, 2008). Free access to libraries for minors: an interpretation of the library bill of rights. 1-2.

Reason for Inclusion:  Fake ID is a story in the classic mystery tradition and would appeal to fans of the genre albeit most likely best suited for a younger or less sophisticated reader.

{9} Star Split: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Lasky, K. (1999). Star split. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN: 0-786824018

Awards & Honors: Recommended Reading-YALSA Popular Paperbacks; Recommended Reading-California Recommended Lit.

Plot Summary: In the year 3028, 13-year-old Darci lives in a future of genetic perfection.  Gene research has reached such heights that terminal diseases no longer exist and celebrated scientists and artists are chosen for “umbellation,” or cloning, so that their great brains can live on forever. In Darci’s society, genetic laws are made by the Bio Union, a governmental agency that closely tracks all genetic research and severely punishes those who dare to commit the worst crime of all: illegal umbellation. Despite all this, Darci’s life is a normal one, if not somewhat boring. After all, she knows all of her traits intimately–she has extensively studied her own DNA and that of her family. What fascinates her is the past, when life wasn’t so predictable, “a time of cripples and geniuses … a time of grace and mystery when not all could be controlled and not all known.” One day, when Darci climbs to a mountain top, she finds herself looking into her own face on another girl—she herself has been illegally cloned. It’s not long before the authorities discover this trespass and begin pursuit of Darci and her parents.  The punishment for unauthorized umbellation is a publicly broadcast death by fire.

Critical Evaluation:  Star Split is turgid and belabored.  It spends a lot of time describing future government and customs, but there are so many references that it’s difficult to keep them straight.  In contrast, the writing is simple to the extreme, rendering the reading experience flat and lifeless.  Lasky’s point is that genetic engineering is wrong, and while that is certainly a valid opinion to have and express, there’s very little art used to get that point across.  At times the book reads like a case study and Lasky’s attempts at dynamism and symbolism, as in when the Primas sacrifice themselves in place of Darci and her family, are highly implausible.

Annotation:  It is the year 3038 and thirteen-year-old Darci has just discovered that she has an illegal clone.  This discovery puts her life at risk, and compels her to rebel against the government that seeks to kill her for it.

About the Author: Kathryn Lasky was raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, and received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a master’s degree in early childhood education from Wheelock College. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband, Christopher Knight, and their two children, Max and Meribah.

Lasky has written award-wining fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults.  Among her achievements are Sugaring Time, a Newbery Honor Book, The Weaver’s Gift, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for nonfiction, and Think Like an Eagle.  In recognition of the body of her nonfiction work, Kathryn Lasky received the Washington Post-Children’s Book Guild Award in 1986.

Anonymous. (n.d.). Kathryn Lasky. Through The Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews . Retrieved from http://lookingglassreview.com

Genre: Science Fiction, Sports

Curriculum Ties: English, Ethics

Booktalking Ideas:  Much is made in Star Split about the existence of a soul in a genetically engineered setting.  What do you think a soul is?  Do you think a soul can live in an altered body?  Why or why not?  Where do you think the line should be drawn in genetic engineering?

Interest Age: 12-16

Challenge Issues: Sex, genetic engineering.  The sex is not explicit and is used as a point of rebellion against the totalitarian government portrayed in this book.

Challengers should be referred to the library’s challenge and selection policies and can be reminded that it is the responsibility of parents, not librarians, to decide which materials are ultimately suitable for their children.

They should also be referred to the American Library Association’s Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, which states, “Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that only parents and guardians have the right and the responsibility to determine their children’s—and only their children’s—access to library resources.”  (ALA 2008, pp.1-2)

Challengers can also be provided with information about the awards, honors, and critical acclaim the title in question has received.

American Library Association. (Adopted June 30, 1972; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991; June 30, 2004; July 2, 2008). Free access to libraries for minors: an interpretation of the library bill of rights. 1-2.

Reason for Inclusion:  A book that explores the ethics and implications of genetic engineering is a good addition to a library collection as it is and will continue to be a relevant issue.

{10} Deadline: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Crutcher, C. (2007). Deadline. New York, NY: HarperCollins Children’s Books. ISBN: 789-0060850906

Awards & Honors: YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant YA

Plot Summary: After being diagnosed with an aggressive terminal illness, 18-year-old Ben Wolf decides not have treatment and keeps his illness secret from his family and friends.  Ben wants his last year of life, his senior year of high school in a small town outside of Boise, Idaho, to be “normal.”

As Ben is truly living in the here and now and doesn’t fear consequences anymore, he sets out to live as much as he can in the time left him.  He pursues (and gets) the girl he’s had a secret crush on, he joins the football team, he challenges his bigoted and ultra-conservative U.S. Government teacher, tries to get his brother Cody, ready for life without him, and seeks the meaning of life through a series of conversations with a spiritual being named Hey-Soos and another with an ex-priest alcoholic pedophile.

As Ben’s illness begins to present itself and he starts feeling its effects, he begins to realize that keeping his imminent passing from those he loves and who love him is unfair.  When he does reveal his secret, some are broken, some understand, some leave him (and come back), and some stick it out.  Ultimately Ben realizes that while the truth does not make things easier, it does make things clearer and the pursuit of truth is a noble one.

Critical Evaluation: Chris Crutcher is not afraid to look into the abyss.  In Deadline, he examines a wide range of topics and brings them together illustrating a cosmic link between all things.  The book is very well constructed, it is intelligent and thoughtful while pondering controversial philosophical and social ideas.  Within the story are several spirited debates between the protagonist and a variety of foils (a Jesus-like being, a conservative high school teacher, a wise coach, a broken ex-priest).  These settings allow for the exploration of ideas from several points of view and promote critical thinking.  In addition, the story is well-paced, the characters are full and interesting, and the writing is clear, honest, and authentic.

Annotation: High school senior Ben Wolf has one year to live.  That means he has one year to win the girl he loves, fight bigotry in his small hometown, be a football hero, and save the world.

About the Author: Chris Crutcher was born in Cascade, Idaho and claims he only read one classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, while in high school. He holds a BA in Sociology and Psychology from Eastern Washington State College and has used his degrees as a family therapist in California.  His work as a family therapist has served to inspire his writing.

Now living in Spokane Washington, Crutcher works full time as a writer. Crutcher also volunteers on the Spokane Child protection team and is an avid runner, basketball player, and swimmer. Crutcher was awarded winner of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for his lifetime achievement in writing books for young adults.

Carter, B. (2000). Eyes wide open. School Library Journal, 45(6), 42-45.

No Author (n.d.). Who is Chris Crutcher? Retrieved from http://www.chriscrutcher.com

Genre: Issues, Sports, Contemporary Life, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age, Reluctant Reader

Curriculum Ties: English

Booktalking Ideas: Do you think that Ben left the legacy he hoped to?  Where can you see his legacy in the town and its people?  Do you think Hey-Soos was really Ben or something outside of Ben?  Do you think, if all things are connected, that Hey-Soos could be both things?  What would you do if you knew you had one year to live?

Interest Age: 15-18

Challenge Issues: Abuse, rape, incest, pedophilia, racism.  These are adult themes that teens sometimes have to deal with.  This book may not be appropriate for all teens, but it certainly has much intellectual and literary value for young adults who have the maturity level required.

Challengers should be referred to the library’s challenge and selection policies and can be reminded that it is the responsibility of parents, not librarians, to decide which materials are ultimately suitable for their children.

They should also be referred to the American Library Association’s Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, which states, “Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that only parents and guardians have the right and the responsibility to determine their children’s—and only their children’s—access to library resources.”  (ALA 2008, pp.1-2)

Challengers can also be provided with information about the awards, honors, and critical acclaim the title in question has received.

American Library Association. (Adopted June 30, 1972; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991; June 30, 2004; July 2, 2008). Free access to libraries for minors: an interpretation of the library bill of rights. 1-2.

Reason for Inclusion:  Deadline is a book rich with ideas and complex relationships.  It is well written, honest, and intelligent.

See Chris Crutcher talk about Deadline at San Mateo High School: