Last fall when I was preparing my presentations for Teen Read Week, I came across the book Catching Fire . I did not think much of it as I added it to the list of books to talk about in the schools I was visiting. Then Teen Read Week came and my visits started. In each classroom I showed the Catching...
Junior year is drawing to a close when Valerie's boyfriend, Nick, comes to school one morning and begins to shoot people in the Commons. At the end of the shooting spree, six people are dead and many are wounded, including Valerie. Within hours the police have searched Nick and Valerie's homes...
Being a teenager means having to deal with a lot of changes. Whether it is at home, in school, with friends, or a boyfriend/girlfriend, sometimes it is nice to come across a book that you can relate to and makes you feel like you're not alone in your problems. Recently, I have read three YA novels...
When I went home a little while back, I saw a copy of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in my little sister's room. Feeling a bit nostalgic, I went home and started reading the battered copy on my bookshelf. I don't know how many times I have read this book (almost as many as Harper Lee's To Kill...
How would you feel if your life was defined by a mistake you made over three years ago? Especially when three years ago, you did not fully comprehend the consequences of what you were doing or realize how long that mistake would follow you. Deanna's father caught her in the backseat of seventeen...
Okay; I admit it. I have never liked vampires. From a very young age, I have been really very scared of them. So when the Twilight books came out, I was reluctant to take them on. Sure, Harry Potter had his Dementors, but you could be pretty sure Harry would come out okay. With vampires, though, you...
At first glance, Arnold Spirit Jr. has nothing going for him. Born with a number of physical maladies, he's the son of alcoholic parents living in poverty on Washington's Spokane Indian Reservation. He's beaten up on a regular basis. Arnold has two saving graces, though: his friendship with...