Please list your top 5-10 books to include on the 50 item, general booklist. Try to choose a variety of genres, age-levels, etc., including some adult books for teens. It might be helpful if you included your name or initials after your picks. If possible, also include an anotation. Don't worry about duplicates or having too many, for now. We'll weed it down once we have everyone's favorites.

 

Deadline: 1/10/07

 

1. Life as We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer. (kbr)

2. True Notebooks: a Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall, Mark Saltzman. (kbr) -- non-fiction, adult for teen

3. The Christopher Killer, Alane Ferguson (kbr)

4. Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary 'Jacky' Faber, Ship's Boy, L.A. Meyer. (kbr)

5. The Book Thief, Markus Zuzak (Ha)

6. Shug, Jenny Han (Ha)

7. Love in the Present Tense, Catherine Ryan Hyde(Ha)

8. Defining Dulcie, Paul Acampora (Ha)

9. Raider's Night, Robert Lipsyte (Ha)

 

Arielle's Picks

Barkley. Scrambled Eggs at Midnight. 2006

Calliope and Eliot, two fifteen-year-olds in Asheville, North Carolina, begin to acknowledge some unpleasant truths about their parents and form their own ideas about love.

11 copies available. Hardcover.

 

Cohn, Rachel and David Levithan. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. 2006

High school student Nick O'Leary, member of a rock band, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg and asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes in order to avoid his ex-sweetheart.

15 copies. Hardcover.

 

Gantos, Jack. The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs. 2006

In his third book for young adults, Gantos scripts a completely original drama. With gothic flavor and black humor, he depicts a group of people bound together by love, compulsion . . . and a passion for taxidermy.

10 copies. Hardcover. Audio available.

 

Geary. The Borden tragedy : a memoir of the infamous double murder at Fall River, Mass., 1892. 1997

10 copies available. Paperback. Graphic novel.

 

Haddon. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. 2003

Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.

Over 100 copies available. Paperback, hardcover, and audio.

 

Haddix. The House on the Gulf. 2004

A sixteen-year-old boy arranges a housesitting job for the summer, but he starts acting strangely after his family moves in, and his sister begins to suspect they are not supposed to be there.

26 hardcovers available. 2 paperbacks available.

 

Ishiguro. Never Let Me Go. 2005

A reunion with two childhood friends draws Kathy and her companions on a nostalgic odyssey into their lives at Hailsham, an isolated private school in the English countryside, and a confrontation with the truth about their childhoods.

34 copies available. Hardcover. Audio available.

 

Klause, Annette Curtis. Freaks: Alive, On the Inside! 2006

After leaving home in search of adventure, romance, and riches, seventeen-year-old Abel, the "normal" son of freak show entertainers, is haunted by a mysterious spirit.

16 copies available. Hardcover. Audio available.

 

Maccready. Buried. 2006

When her alcoholic mother goes missing, seventeen-year-old Claudine begins to spin out of control, despite her attempts to impose order on every aspect of her life.

9 copies available. Hardcover.

 

Meyer. Twilight. 2005

When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

45 copies available. Hardcover. Paperback is on order. Audio available.

 

 

Laurie's picks (there is duplication of above)

I listed # of copies and audio availability

 

Bray, Libba

A Great and Terrible Beauty

51 hard and paperback copies

Audio available

 

and sequel

Rebel Angels

35 hardback copies (paperback 12/06)

Audio available

 

Cohn, Rachel and Levithan, David

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

15 copies (paperback forthcoming 8/07)

 

Koertge, Ron

Margaux with an X

9 hardback copies

6 ppbk on order

 

Marchetta, Melina

Saving Francesca

20 copies

Audio available

 

Mass, Wendy

A Mango-Shaped Space

29 hard and paperback copies

 

Murdock, Catherine Gilbert

Dairy Queen

24 hardback copies (paperback forthcoming 6/07)

Audio available

 

Rossoff, Meg

How I Live Now

48 hard and paperback copies

Audio available

 

Zevin, Gabrielle

Elsewhere

40 hardback copies (paperback forthcoming 5/07)

Audio Available

 

Zusak, Marcus

The Book Thief

44 hardback copies (paperback forthcoming 9/07)

Audio available

 

"ADDED"

 

Klause, Annette Curtis

Blood and Chocolate

film being released end of Jan.

lots of copies

 

Ishiguro, Kazuo

Never Let Me Go

adult title--Alex Award 2006

 

Green, John

An Abundance of Katherines

28 copies

audio available

 

Taylor, Kim

Bowery Girl

only 8 copies

 

Shulman, Polly

Enthusiasm

19 copies

 

Geras, Adele

Ithaka

only 8 copies

 

 

Connie's Picks (All non-fiction)

 

Three Awesome Memoirs:

1. Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres

2. Miss American Pie by Margaret Sartor

3. The Only Girl in the Car by Kathy Dobie

 

Other things the may or may not have anything to do with the theme:

4. The Book of Lists for Teens by Sandra and Harry Choron

5. Don't Try This at Home by Hunter S. Fulghum

6. Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts: a History of Burial by Penny Colman

7. Left-Hand Turn Around the World by David Wolman (7 copies - but it's pretty cool)

8. The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht

9. Pick Me Up: Stuff You Need to Know... (New title, six so far in the system. Must have.)

10. Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt by Megan Nicolay

 

Booklist suggestions: Susan Swan

 

Another Kind of Monday by William Coles

When Mark discovers money and a note concealed in the pages of a copy of Dickens' Great Expectations, he undertakes a quest with his classmate Zeena that takes them all over the city of Pittsburgh, leads to more money, more clues to follow, and ultimately more knowledge of himself. (36 copies, local interest, and the quest is basically a scavenger hunt.)

 

Chop Shop: a Bug Man novel by Tim Downs

Intern forensic pathologist Dr. Riley Mckay has noticed irregularities in autopsies at the Allegheny County Coroner's lab. Suspecting foul play, she seeks help from Dr. Nick Polchak, the "bug man" renowned for his ability to solve murders by analyzing the insects on victim's bodies. Nick and Riley uncover a sinister link between the lab's director and PharmaGen, a start-up drug company specializing in genetic research. (10 copies—local interest)

 

Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman

When sixteen-year-old Blake goes to a mysterious, by-invitation-only carnival he somehow knows that it could save his comatose brother, but soon learns that much more is at stake if he fails to meet the challenge presented there by the beautiful Cassandra. (44 copies)

 

Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck

Fourteen-year-old Eleanor "Peewee" McGrath, a tomboy and automobile enthusiast, discovers new possibilities for her future after the 1914 arrival in her small Indiana town of four young librarians. (31 copies plus audios)

 

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. (22 copies plus audios)

 

Refugees by Catherine Stine

Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Dawn, a sixteen-year-old runaway from San Francisco, connects by phone and email with Johar, a gentle, fifteen-year-old Afghani who assists Dawn's foster mother, a doctor, at a Red Cross refugee camp in Peshawar. (11 copies in system)

 

Nonfiction

 

Based on a True Story: Fact and Fantasy in 100 Favorite Movies by Jonathan Vankin and John Whalen

Exposing the real stories behind 100 hit reality-based movies, this captivating resource offers interesting facts about some of the most well-respected and much-loved films. (in print—5 copies in system—worth considering for the list and recommending for purchase.)

 

Forensic Casebook by Ngaire Genge

The Forensic Casebook draws on interviews with police personnel and forensic scientists—including animal examiners, botanists, zoologists, firearms specialists, and autoposists—to uncover the vast and detailed underworkings of criminal investigation. (in print—7 copies in system—perfect for the theme—worth considering for the list and recommending for purchase.)

 

Meghann's Picks

I got my annotations from Novelist. If that's not ok for the Booklist, I'll create my own annotations. I just wanted to give a description of each book. I'll ask about that policy at the next meeting.

 

Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

21 Copies including Audio and On Order

At Spence Academy, sixteen-year-old Gemma Doyle continues preparing for her London debut while struggling to determine how best to use magic to resolve a power struggle in the enchanted world of the realms, and to protect her own world and loved ones.

 

Deadline by Chris Crutcher

39 Copies

Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos."

 

Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick

36 Copies

After being assigned to perform community service at a nursing home, sixteen-year-old Alex befriends a cantankerous old man who has some lessons to impart about jazz guitar playing, love, and forgiveness.

 

Just Listen: A Novel by Sarah Dessen

43 Copies

Isolated from friends who believe the worst because she has not been truthful with them, sixteen-year-old Annabel finds an ally in classmate Owen, whose honesty and passion for music help her to face and share what really happened at the end-of-the-year party that changed her life.

 

Jinx By Meg Cabot

27 Copies

Sixteen-year-old Jean "Jinx" Honeychurch, the descendant of a witch, must leave Iowa to live with relatives in Manhattan after the first spell she casts goes awry.

 

In Search of Mockingbird by Loretta Ellsworth

7 Copies

On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Erin receives her long-dead mother's diary, which reveals that she too revered Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" and wanted to be a writer, and Erin impulsively decides to take the Greyhound bus from St. Paul, Minnesota to Monroeville, Alabama, to visit the reclusive author.

 

The Decoding of Lana Morris by Laura and Tom McNeal

11 Copies

For sixteen-year-old Lana life is often difficult, with a flirtatious foster father, an ice queen foster mother, a houseful of special needs children to care for, and bullies harrassing her, until the day she ventures into an antique shop and buys a drawing set that may change her life.

 

Define "Normal": A Novel by Julie Anne Peters

28 Copies

When she agrees to meet with Jasmine as a peer counselor at their middle school, Antonia never dreams that this girl with the black lipstick and pierced eyebrow will end up helping her deal with the serious problems she faces at home and become a good friend.