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Louisiana Young Reader's Choice | Teen Staff Picks

Louisiana Young Reader's Choice

• Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs -224 pages- Fifteen-year-old Victor has been trying to eke out an existence on his family farm ever since his father died.  When the devastating news comes that corn prices will not sustain them anymore, Victor decides to chance a dangerous trek and try to cross into the United States.  He jumps train cars, hikes high into the mountains, and tries hiding in the toolbox of a pickup truck.  Victor faces near-death situations and must decide whom to trust.
• Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale -240 pages- Seth's family has just moved to Galveston, Texas and things get off to a pretty good start.  His uncle finds him a summer job as a carpenter's helper, he meets a girl he likes, and Galveston is a fun place to live.  However, on September 8, 1900, everything changes when a deadly storm devastates the area.  Seth struggles to reach safety, works for his own survival and that of others, and comes to terms with change and loss.

• Escaping Into the Night by D. Dina Friedman -208 pages- Halina Rudowski is on the run.  When the Polish ghetto where she lives is evacuated, she narrowly escapes, but her mother is not as lucky.  Along with her friend Batya, Halina makes her way to a secret encampment in the woods where Jews survive by living underground.  As the group  struggles for food, handles infighting, and attempts to protect themselves from the advancing Germans, Halina must face the reality of life without her mother.

• Fairest by Gail Carson Levine -336 pages- In Ayortha beauty and singing are prized above anything.  Aza is bulky, awkward, and homely but she has a stunning singing voice.  She can also throw her voice so that it seems as if someone else is singing.  The king's bride, Ivi, blackmails Aza into making it seem that she can sing.  With Ayortha verging on rebellion, Aza realizes Ivi's magical mirror will transform her into the fairest of all, but at a terrible price.
• Grooves: A Kind of Mystery by Kevin Brockmeier -208 pages- Dwayne is a regular kid living in a regular town until evil Howard Thigpen shows up.  Thigpen seems to have the abilty to make people do whatever he wants, and sparks of light swirl around him wherever he goes.  Dwayne discovers that the grooves in his Thigpen-brand jeans and the ripples in his Thigpen-brand potato chips contain a secret message.  It's a race against time to solve the mystery, and figure out what that strange message means.

• Heat by Mike Lupica -220 pages- Michael Arroyo has a pitching arm that throws serious heat.  Newly orphaned after his father led the family's escape from Cuba, Michael's only family is his seventeen-year-old brother Carlos.  If Social Services finds out they will be separated or sent back to Cuba.  Then someone wonders how a twelve-year-old boy could possibly throw with that much power.  With no way to prove his age, no birth certificate, and no parent to fight for his cause, Michael's secret world is blown wide open.

• Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller -250 pages- White-haired, leprechaun-sized Kiki Strike is a new student at Atalanta School in New York City when she meets 12-year-old Ananka Fishbein.  They recruit a team of other 12-year-olds, whose skills include hacking, chemistry, lock picking, forging, making handmade explosives, and mechanical engineering.  Together they begin a detailed exploration of the Shadow City, the subterranean rooms and streets under New York's subway system.

• Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen -256 pages- Holly writes in a journal her teacher gave her in hopes of allowing her to work through her mother's overdose and stays in five different foster homes.  Running away again from an abusive foster family, she makes her way to Los Angeles.  She refuses to see herself as homeless, but as a gypsy, making a home where she can.  Her situation gets increasingly desperate as she longs to find a bath, a hot meal and someone to care for her.

• The Runaway Princess by Kate Coombs -288 pages- King Stromgard offers his 15-year-old daughter Meg's hand in marriage to the prince who can id the kingdom of a dragon, a witch, and some pesky bandits.  Meg firmly objects and instead, she sets out to win the contest herself by enlisting the help of her good friend, her loyal maid, an eager guardsman, a young wizard, and a tenacious witch.  Does Meg find her place in the kingdom, or is she doomed to fulfill her royal duties?

• Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita -256 pages- What if your picture was taped inside teenage boys' lockers across America, your closets were bursting with never-worn designer clothing, and the tabloids constantly asked whether you were losing your "good girl" status?  It's a glamorous life, but 16-year-old Kaitlin Burke, co-star of one of the hottest shows on TV, is exhausted from the pressures of her fame.  Because of this, she decides to spend two months undercover as an ordinary high school student.

• Shug by Jenny Han -256 pages- Tall, freckled, gawky 7th grader Annemarie Wilcox has a beautiful, popular older sister, a gorgeous, alcoholic mother, and a father who's always away on business.  She also has a huge crush on Mark, the neighborhood boy who has always been her best friend.  As the school year starts, she must deal with Mark's rejection, her parents' bitter fights, and a falling out with her closest girlfriend.

• Sparrow by Sherri L. Smith -192 pages- Family sticks with family.  That's the golden rule G'ma taught Kendall.  But once G'ma's gone, Kendall has no family left - except for an aunt who she barely remembers.  With child services on Kendall's case and just 10 days to get her apartment lease renewed, Kendall sets out for her aunt's home in New Orleans to get her life in order - and her questions answered.

• Storm Thief by Chris Wooding -320 pages- Orokos is a city of chaos, lashed by probability storms that re-order the world wherever they strike.  Rail and Moa, two ghetto brats with only each other to depend on, steal an artifact of ancient science that enables them to pass through walls, but their thief-master wants the artifact for herself.  Fleeing to Moa's former home they must first pass through a sector overrun by Revenants, wraiths that kill with a touch and then occupy the body.

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Teen Staff Picks

The Giver
By: Lois Lowry

Close your eyes. Visualize a new world. Imagine a place where there's no sickness, no disease, and no crime. There are no unwanted children, there's no neglect, and no abuse. There are no memories of war, famine, or strife...in fact; there are no conflicts at all. In The Giver, there are no picturesque scenes, no great sunsets, and no snow days. Everything is perfect. There is no hunger, poverty, or war.

In this society, twelve is the age when adulthood begins, and Jonas, the main character, has just turned twelve. Twelve is the age when one receives their occupation. Some become musicians, some become teachers, but Jonas is special. During the Ceremony of Twelve where Jonas receives his Assignment, he is shocked to find that he has been singled out to become the new Receiver. Jonas alone will receive private training from the Giver, who holds the memories of what ordinary life was like. The Giver has memories of life before "Perfection". A shocking discovery as "the giver" creates a desire within Jonas to bring the community back to reality.

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