Book+Choices

Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesn't like Holling — he's sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on their best behavior: the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? A bully demanding cream puffs; angry rats; and a baseball hero signing autographs the very same night Holling has to appear in a play in yellow tights. As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds Motivation — the Big M — in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself. ||
 * [[image:9780618724833_lg.jpg width="129" height="142" align="right" caption="Comedy; humor; Historical Fiction"]] || Gary D. Schmidt offers an unforgettable antihero in //The Wednesday Wars// — a wonderfully witty and compelling novel about a teenage boy's mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967–68 school year.
 * Perhaps no other Shakespearean drama so engulfs its readers in the ruinous journey of surrender to evil as does //Macbeth.// A timeless tragedy about the nature of ambition, conscience, and the human heart, the play holds a profound grip on the Western imagination . || [[image:41yiEsY3yyL__SS500_.jpg width="200" height="200" align="left" caption="fiction; drama"]] ||
 * [[image:wicked.jpg width="182" height="182" align="right" caption="Gothic Fantasy Fiction"]] || What if someone discovers your secret dream, that one great wish you would do anything for? And what if that someone suddenly makes your dream come true--before you learn the price you have to pay? //Something Wicked This Way Comes// is the story of two boys who encounter the sinister wonders of Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show. They will soon discover the show's awful mystery--a mystery that will change the life of every person it touches--in this stunning masterwork of dark fantasy by Ray Bradbury. ||
 * In the Pacific there is an island that looks like a big fish sunning itself in the sea. Around it, blue dolphins swim, otters play, and sea elephants and sea birds abound. Once, Indians also lived on the island. And when they left and sailed to the east, one young girl was left behind.

This is the story of Karana, the Indian girl who lived alone for years on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Year after year, she watched one season pass into another and waited for a ship to take her away. But while she waited, she kept herself alive by building a shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs. It is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery. || || As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patron's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacran Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect. || If only it was clear what the right thing was. ||
 * [[image:8925729.jpg width="115" height="193" align="right" caption="Historical Fiction"]] || The thread of a remarkable history runs through the heart of every member of the Lewis family. From slavery to freedom, from freedom to self-determination, they have played out their lives against the American landscape of adversity, opportunity, racism, and hope for a better future. This is a story of pride, struggle, love, and the plot of land that binds generations together. ||
 * When the downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm oust their drunken human master and take over management of the land, all are awash in collectivist zeal. Everyone willingly works overtime, productivity soars, and for one brief, glorious season, every belly is full. The animals' Seven Commandment credo is painted in big white letters on the barn. All animals are equal. Too soon, however, the pigs, who have styled themselves leaders by virtue of their intelligence, succumb to the temptations of privilege and power. || [[image:animal.jpg width="200" height="200" caption="Dystopia Fantasy Fiction"]] ||
 * [[image:feed.jpg width="105" height="180" align="right" caption="Science Fiction"]] || In this chilling novel, Anderson (Burger Wuss; Thirsty) imagines a society dominated by the feed a next-generation Internet/television hybrid that is directly hardwired into the brain. Teen narrator Titus never questions his world, in which parents select their babies' attributes in the conceptionarium, corporations dominate the information stream, and kids learn to employ the feed more efficiently in School. But everything changes when he and his pals travel to the moon for spring break. There Titus meets home-schooled Violet, who thinks for herself, searches out news and asserts that "Everything we've grown up with the stories on the feed, the games, all of that it's all streamlining our personalities so we're easier to sell to." Without exposition, Anderson deftly combines elements of today's teen scene, including parties and shopping malls, with imaginative and disturbing fantasy twists. "Chats" flow privately from mind to mind; Titus flies an "upcar"; people go "mal" (short for "malfunctioning") in contraband sites that intoxicate by scrambling the feed; and, after Titus and his friends develop lesions, banner ads and sit-coms dub the lesions the newest hot trend, causing one friend to commission a fake one and another to outdo her by getting cuts all over her body. Excerpts from the feed at the close of each chapter demonstrate the blinding barrage of entertainment and temptations for conspicuous consumption. Titus proves a believably flawed hero, and ultimately the novel's greatest strength lies in his denial of and uncomfortable awakening to the truth. This satire offers a thought-provoking and scathing indictment that may prod readers to examine the more sinister possibilities of corporate- and media-dominated culture. ||
 * Leanora Sutter. Esther Hirsh. Merlin Van Tornhout. Johnny Reeves . . . these characters are among the unforgettable cast inhabiting a small Vermont town in 1924. A town that turns against its own when the Ku Klux Klan moves in. No one is safe, especially the two youngest, 12-year-old Leanora, an African-American girl, and 6-year-old Esther, who is Jewish. In this story of a community on the brink of disaster, told through the haunting and impassioned voices of its inhabitants, Newbery Award winner Karen Hesse takes readers into the hearts and minds of those who bear witness. || [[image:7214074.jpg width="133" height="195" caption="Historical Fiction"]] ||
 * [[image:house.jpg width="200" height="200" align="right" caption="Science Fiction"]] || Matteo Alacran was not born; he was harvested. His DNA came from El Patron, lord of a country called Opium — a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster — except for El Patron. El Patron loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.
 * Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back. || [[image:8007492.jpg width="118" height="180" caption="Fantasy"]] ||
 * [[image:http://benjireid.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/firstpartlast.jpg?w=89&h=150 width="89" height="150" caption="realistic fiction"]] || Bobby's a classic urban teenager. He's restless. He's impulsive. But the thing that makes him different is this: He's going to be a father. His girlfriend, Nia, is pregnant, and their lives are about to change forever. Instead of spending time with friends, they'll be spending time with doctors, and next, diapers. They have options: keeping the baby, adoption. They want to do the right thing.