Posted by: blogando on: September 1, 2009
Roth, Matthue. Losers. Scholastic Push, 2008. 9780545068932. $8.99. Grades 8 -10. Jupiter Glazer is a loser for too many reasons to list all of them here, but to summarize: he’s from another country, he has only one friend who’s a science geek, and he lives in a factory with his family in the warehouse district of […]
Posted by: John on: August 30, 2009
Hopkins, Ellen, Tricks. Margaret K. McElderry, 2009. 9781416950073. $18.99. Grades 8 to 12. Ellen Hopkins delivers another well-spun tale in verse with Tricks, the story of five teens led to prostitution through a series of internal and external factors. The characters are distinct and represent a broad sample of American family life. Some have struggled […]
Posted by: John on: August 11, 2009
Crutcher, Chris, Angry Management. Greenwillow, 2009. 9780060502478. $16.99. Grades 7 to 11. In this collection of three stories, assorted characters from an early morning counseling group in Eastern Washington come face to face with anger and rage. Sometimes it’s their own, as in the case of Montana West, the rebellious goth girl who channels the […]
Posted by: John on: August 7, 2009
Ryan, P. E. In Mike We Trust. HarperTeen, 2009. 978-0-06-085813-1. $16.99. Grades 7 to 10. Garth is scrawny, short, and closeted. Out only to his mother (who prefers he keep it that way) and his best friend Lisa, Garth is excited when his unconventional Uncle Mike comes for a visit. It quickly becomes apparent to […]
Posted by: John on: August 7, 2009
Fraiberg, Jordanna, In Your Room. Razorbill, October 2008. 978-1-59514-193-4. $8.99. Grades 7 to 9. The last thing Molly wants to do is spend the summer on her mother’s honeymoon in Boulder and Charlie could care less about Los Angeles. But, a fateful summer spent occupying each others’ rooms during their families’ house-swap brings the two […]
Posted by: Laurie on: July 26, 2009
Ginoli, Jon. Deflowered. 2009 (March). 300p. Cleis Press, $16.95. (978-1-57344-343-2). Gr. 12. Ginoli helps fill the yawning void on the history of gay rock and roll with his unfailing honest and entertaining memoir as a founding member of the Pansy Division, the first out punk band to make it on the national scene. From his […]
Posted by: blogando on: July 26, 2009
Going, K.L. King of the Screwups. Harcourt, 2009. 978-0-15-206258-3. $17.00. Grades 8 to 12. K.L. Going’s latest novel is a study in stereotypes, and how they really don’t necessarily apply to everyone. Liam is an extremely popular high school senior with a extremely successful executive dad and former supermodel for a mom. Liam is more […]
Posted by: blogando on: July 16, 2009
Uhlig, Richard. Boy Minus Girl. 2008 (December). 246p. Knopf, $15.99. (978-0-375-83968-9). Gr. 8-10. Fourteen-year-old Lester’s sole goal in life is to be successful with girls, but even the tips he reads in The Seductive Man can’t help him with his friend Charity, who reveals that she is a lesbian, and Regina, who uses him to get […]
Posted by: blogando on: July 16, 2009
Rapp, Adam. Punkzilla. 2009. 244p. Candlewick, $16.99. (978-0-7636-3031-7). Gr. 8-10. On his way from Portland to Tennessee, where his gay older brother is dying of cancer, 14-year-old Jamie (aka Punkzilla) writes a series of letters about his adventures and his feelings regarding their dysfunctional family. Jamie’s personality and background are revealed through his details and […]