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CODE TALKER: A NOVEL ABOUT THE NAVAJO MARINES OF WORLD WAR TWO
by Joseph Bruchac
After being taught in a boarding school run by whites that Navajo is a
useless language, Ned Begay and other Navajo men are recruited by the
Marines to become Code Talkers, sending messages during World War II in
their native tongue.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
by Peter Abrahams
My name is Ingrid Levin-Hill. I am sitting and waiting in the orthodontist’s
office. You know you are born cute. Babies are cute. You grow a little older
and then you hit 12 or thirteen and “Everything needs fixing.” You need
orthodontists, dermatologists, contact lens guy, hair tinting guy and nose
job guy. You look in the mirror, I mean really look in the mirror and what
do you see? Oh my Goodness.!!!! Well that is how my story starts in the
Orthodontist’s office. When I was finished I made my next appointment and
came out of the office, and I expected to see either my Mom or my Dad. But
neither one of them was there. It was already 4:10 and soccer practice was
at 4:30. If you miss a practice, you miss the game. That was Coach Ringer’s
number one rule. Is there anything more boring than sitting on the bench for
a whole game? It was now 4:15 and still no Mom or Dad. I had an inspiration!
I could walk to soccer practice, I had never actually walked to soccer, but
I had been driven millions of times. So I started running, I figured that I
could just about make the 4:30 practice. I ran for a while and then I
noticed the shabby old gingerbread houses, with their paint peeling, and
grimy windows and… Whoa! There was no soccer fields, no hill, no hospital,
and I think that I was lost!! The house nearest me was the worst of all. It
was actually crooked to the eye and out came a woman with a shopping bag in
her hand. She was tall even taller in the gold spike heels that she was
wearing. She was also wearing a red and black checked lumberjack’s coat. Her
hair had strips of foil stuck, like she was doing a coloring treatment. She
asked me if I was lost and I said, “Not really” and she replied that I
looked lost, like totally. She introduced herself as Katie, but I recognized
her as Cracked-up Katie. She collected cans from trash barrels and bought
stuff at the end of tag sales. Well, she invited me in to her house, decided
that I needed a cab to get home. We talked for a while and I showed her my
bright red Pumas with glittering red laces ordered especially for me. And
then I took the cab and went to soccer. I managed to keep my whereabouts a
secret from Mom and Dad, but then the front page of the paper announced that
Cracked–up Katie had been murdered and my red Pumas were at the scene of the
crime. And the police wanted to talk to anyone who had seen or spoken to
Katie in the last few days. I just had to get those pumas out of that house.
And that is the start of Ingrid’s adventures in playing detective.
LAST SHOT
by John Feinstein
Imagine you are an 8th grader and have entered a writing contest. Now
imagine you receive a letter informing you that you have won! Now, imagine
that the prize is a trip to the Final Four college basketball playoffs with
full journalist credentials! You will be able to meet the players and the
coaches. You'll be able to attend the practices and the games. You'll have
seat right up close to the court. What a great prize! And for Steven
Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson, it is a dream come true. What the two
don't anticipate is overhearing a conversation in the hall way. A
conversation about fixing the final outcome!
THE LIGHTNING THIEF
by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson was pegged as trouble almost from the moment he was born. Of
course, he never did anything intentionally, but that didn’t stop him from
getting blamed for things. Now, at the age of 12, Percy is trying his best
not to get thrown out of yet another private school. Unfortunately, it
isn’t long before school is the least of his worries. Odd things had been
happening to him throughout most of his life, but he never really tried
piecing any of it together. Then one day his class takes a field trip to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s there amidst the Greek artifacts that his
powers are finally released. He’s also forced to fight his first monster, a
winged hag, who, up until a few moments ago, was also his Pre-Algebra
teacher.
From that point on everyone seems to know more than they’re willing to tell
and it’s not until Percy’s attacked by yet another monster that the truth
finally comes out. The Greek gods are alive and well in the 21st century
and trouble is brewing on Mt. Olympus. Zeus’s most powerful weapon has been
stolen, everyone is blaming everyone else, and Percy is a prime suspect.
Unless he and his friends can get to California to find out what's really
happening, World War III may be just around the corner. However, it doesn’t
take Percy long to realize that things are not always what they seem in his
new myth-infested world and he’s going to need all of his wits to get past
the traps the gods have set for him. (Miranda J. Hawkins, Grapevine Public
Library)
THE MISADVENTURES OF MAUDE MARCH, OR, TROUBLE RIDES A FAST HORSE
by Audrey Couloumbis
Eleven-year-old Sallie March is a whip-smart tomboy and voracious reader of
Western adventure novels. When she and her sister, Maude, are orphaned for
the second time, they decide to escape their new self-serving guardians for
the wilds of the frontier and an adventure the likes of which Sallie has
only read about. This time, however, the wanted woman isn't a villain out of
a dime novel – it's Sallie's very own sister. Narrated by the irrepressible
Sallie, what follows is the rollicking story of what really happened out
there on the range. Not the lies the papers printed, but the honest-to-
goodness truth of how things went from bad to worse and how two very
different sisters went from being orphans to being outlaws-and lived to tell
the tale. (Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award 2008)
PRINCESS ACADEMY
by Shannon Hale
Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried
stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king's priests have
divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year's time,
the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of
the village. The king's ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and
every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess. Miri soon
finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition
among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the
heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to
kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a
power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.
(Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award 2008)
THE RUINS OF GORLAN
by John Flanagan
He had always wanted to be a warrior. The Rangers, with their dark cloaks
and shadowy ways, made him nervous. The villagers believe the Rangers
practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now fifteen
year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger’s
apprentice. What he doesn’t realize yet is that the Rangers are the
protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and
surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people.
And as Will is about to learn, there is a large battle brewing. The exiled
Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces
for an attack on the kingdom. This time, he will not be denied. (Rebecca
Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award 2008)
SLEEPING FRESHMEN NEVER LIE
by David Lubar
Welcome to Scott Hudson''s freshman year of high school.
• He isn't the handsomest or most popular guy around and he doesn't have a
clue as to how to talk to Julia, the girl who once shared his peanut butter
crackers and has morphed into the hot chick over the summer.
• Seniors smack him on the head on the bus.
• He doesn't have classes with his best friends.
• His Spanish teacher has a thick French accent.
• His gym teacher is seriously demented and is surely out to kill him.
• And his homework load? Enormous.
Then, in trying to get Julia’s attention, he finds himself covering sports
for the school newspaper, working on the school play and running for the
student council. And on top of all of this, his parents have announced that
they're having a baby. He's so in over his head—there aren't enough hours in
the day for everything!
Will Scott eventually find his place in the confusing world of high school?
Will he ever win Julia’s heart? And most importantly, will he ever get any
sleep?
(Booktalk by Amy Rodda, Booktalking Colorado for the Evergreen Young Adult
Book award, 2007-2008)
UGLIES
by Scott Westerfield
Tally Youngblood is a few weeks away from her 16th birthday, and she can’t
wait to become a “Pretty.” In Tally’s world, at age sixteen she can leave
Uglyville and join her best friend Peris, a “Pretty,” in New Pretty Town,
city of non-stop partying. But first, she has to undergo the surgery that
all sixteen-year-olds undergo. The problem is her new best friend, Shay, is
not sure she really wants to conform to the norm and become a “Pretty.” Shay
is quite happy with the way she looks and tries to convince Tally to sneak
away to a forbidden area where it is rumored people who have refused surgery
have formed a new community, remaining as “uglies.” When Tally’s long-
anticipated operation day arrives, she is confronted with the frightening
Special Circumstances team who want her to find Shay. Her life takes an
unexpected turn when she is told she must find Shay or she will not be
allowed to undergo her own surgery. Tally goes after Shay, and in the
process, finds out there is more to being a “pretty” than just having
surgery. (Prepared By: Mary M. Silgals, Trident Academy for SCASL Young
Adult Awards, 2008)
VAMPIRE HIGH
by Douglas Rees
Cody attempts to be a school failure in New Sodom, Massachusetts with hopes
of returning to California where he did well, but, these attempts come to
naught.His dad's new boss suggests that he transfer to ValdDraculMagnet
School. Cody notices that most of the students are tall, dark-haired, pale-
skinned, walk silently, and wear sunglasses.They attend classes and complete
difficult homework assignments.They call themselves jenti.All Cody really
needs to do is play water polo for the school.He does not need to go to
classes or do any homework to make straight "A's."When a classmate yawns,
Cody notices jentis have pointed teeth.Cody's actions cause quite a stir as
he strives to survive Vampire High. Black-eyed Susan Award nominee 2005-2006
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