Athletic Shorts: 6 Short Stories by Chris Crutcher

Crutcher, Chris. (1991). Athletic Shorts: 6 Short Stories. NY: Greenwillow Books.
ISBN: 978-0688108168
Awards:ALA Best Books for Young Adults (1992)
Michigan Library Association's Thumbs Up! Award (1992)
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (2000)
ALA 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000
Bibliotherapuetic Usefulness: Homosexuality, Racism, Belonging
Genre: Fiction
Annotation: These short stories all revolve around teenage boys, sports, and the trials that come with being a teenager. Added to the mix are issues such as homophobia, sexism, racism, and more.
Summary: Athletic Shorts contains six short stories revolving around teenage boys, sports, and the trials of teenagedom. While sports create a common thread, the stories all have a coming of age theme in which the main character learns a vital life lesson. There is Angus, the fat boy; Johnny the wrestler, whose father seems to hate him; poor Petey who must wrestle a girl, and more. Many of the stories include taboo topics such as homosexuality, racism, and sexism. All but the first story are about characters that have appeared in other Crutcher novels.
Evaluation:Crutcher has a talent for capturing the lives of teens, and these stories are no exception. He uses a clear and simple approach to some very difficult, but very real, subjects and gives his characters a chance to learn, or as the case may be, redeem themselves.

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (Book 1) by Louise Rennison

Rennison, Louise. (2001). Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson. NY: HarperTeen
ISBN: 978-0064472272
Awards: BBC's Big Read (Best loved novel, 2003)
Printz Honor (2001)
Branford Boase Shortlist (2000)
Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Bronze Award, 1999)
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2001)
Garden State Book Award (Teen Fiction Grades 9-12, 2003)
Book Sense Book of the Year Honor Book (2002)
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (2003)
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers - Top Ten (2001)
Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award Nominee (2005)
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Growing up, Fitting in, Love, Friendship
Genre: Fiction, Chick Lit
Annotation: Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl, Georgia, who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.
Summary: This is the first of a ten book series in which 14 year old Georgia writes prolifically in her journal. Through her journal we learn about her parents, her little sister Libby, her best friends, enemies, life at a school, and of course, BOYS. Georgia has to deal with having a big nose, pimples that won't go away, parents who are dreadfully boring, a sister who pees the bed, and an obsession with boys. And we get to hear about it all.
Evaluation: Rennison manages to make the life of an average girl living in England ridiculously funny. At first I was fairly sure I wasn't going to enjoy the mundane and superficial qualities of a diary entry "Chick Lit" book, but was proven wrong. This is not about rich girls being mean to one another, but a real girl dealing with everyday boring life with creativity and humor.

Shattering Glass by Gail Giles

Giles, Gail (2003). Shattering Glass. NY: Simon Pulse.
ISBN: 978-0689858000
Awards: South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominee (2004-2005)
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2003)
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (2005)
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (2003)
Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award Nominee (2007)
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Bullying, Rape, Murder, Peer Pressure, Cliques
Genre: Fiction
Annotation: Rob and his cronies kill Simon Glass. We know this from the start because no one likes Simon Glass, not when he is a fat, bumbling nerd, and not after they turn him into being popular.
Summary: Simon Glass is overweight, a sniveler, and has the fashion sense of a four year old. When he catches the eye of Rob, the newest senior class top dog, Simon's life gets a makeover. Told from the perspective of one of Rob's cronies, readers get to follow along as Rob gets more and more intense and Simon raises in popularity. The players in Rob's game are vaguely aware that Rob is getting out of hand, but no one has the power to stop the progression. Added to this is that Simon isn't willing to stay under Rob's control. Building up to the final act of violence that readers know is coming, is a story of friends, power, and secret pasts.
Evaluation: I chose to read this book because it embraces the popularity power struggle of high school boys. We often see this in books for girls, but not so for boys. Overall, I think the characters are well written and the story moves along nicely. The narrator's voice is honest and his inner dialog emotionally balanced. However, I did have a hard time believing the actual murder scene. While Rob's character is complex, I do not see him capable of such an uncontrolled act.

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

Myers, Walter Dean. (1988). Fallen Angels. NY: Scholastic.
ISBN: 978-0590409438
Awards: Coretta Scott King Award (1989)
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (1988)
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (1989)
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (1998)
ALA 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: History, Reality of War, Racism, Human Capacity for Love and Evil
Genre: Historical Fiction
Annotation: Richie joins the army with the belief that battle is heroic and that he is going to be a part of a rational effort that depends on skill. What he finds in Vietnam; however, is chaos, violence, fear, and death.
Summary: Richie Perry is a seventeen-year-old black kid from Harlem who travels to Vietnam to fight in the U.S. Army. He joins the army to earn money to provide for his younger brother, Kenny, but also to escape from his hard life in Harlem. All of Richie's beliefs about war are challenged, and then shattered as he makes his way through the chaos, violence, death, and fear that are the realities of war.
Evaluation: While hard to read at times, the self reflection and honest (if not terrible) emotions depict war with a necessarily harsh truthfulness. Richie's struggles to deal with racism and to comprehend the craziness of war will stay with readers for a long time.

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Hopkins, Ellen. (2008). Identical. NY: Margaret K. McElderry.
ISBN: 978-1416950059
Awards: ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (2009)
Amazing Audio books for Young Adults (2010)
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Sexual Abuse, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Eating Disorders, Abusive Parents
Genre: Fiction
Annotation: Kaeleigh and Raeanne are 16 year old identical twins; their father is a court judge, and their mother a politician running for Congress. On the surface their lives seem perfect, but underneath are broken and full of terrible secrets.
Summary: Identical switches back and forth between the voices of twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne. Kaeleigh is the good girl to the world, but is being sexually abused by her alcoholic father and ignored by her mother. To fight this, she binges, cuts herself, and denies herself a boyfriend. Raeanne is her opposite. Raeanne hates that Kaeleigh gets all of daddy's attention and has her own way of rebelling. She forces herself to vomit, drinks, does drugs, and is promiscuous. As the girls tell their stories, readers slowly learn the truth about the past, and uncover terrible secrets.
Evaluation: I both loved and hated this book. I love it because it is fascinating and the characters are drawn up and developed incredibly well. It is full of self reflection, life lessons, and raw emotion. I hate it because it is so real. It is full of anguish, pain, and torment of the most human kind; and this is awful.

Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden

Garden, Nancy. (1992). Annie on my Mind. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
ISBN: 978-0374404147
Awards: ALA Best Books for Young Adults (1982)
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (1997)
ALA 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Homosexuality, Lesbians, Love
Genre: Fiction
Annotation: It is the 1970's when high school students Annie and Liza fall in love. Along with the excitement and wonder comes the extra challenge of being gay in a world not ready. They must decide how their choices will affect their lives.
Summary: This is a story of a middle class white girl, Eliza, making her way through a private high school. She is smart, popular, and class president. So, she is confused when she finds herself falling in love with free-natured Annie, a girl she meets at the museum. When the girls discover the love is mutual, they must contend with the many obstacles they face in life.
Evaluation: I had to keep in mind that the book was written in a time when it was much more difficult to be a gay teen. Liza and Annie's trials are one of the reasons our society has moved away from such prejudice, and it makes me thankful that our culture is more and more accepting of different ways of living.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Anderson, Laurie Halse. (1999) Speak. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
ISBN: 978-0141310886
Awards: New York Times bestseller (Children's Paperback, 2001)
ALA Outstanding Books for the College Bound (2004)
BCCB Blue Ribbon Book (1999)
Golden Kite Award (1999)
National Book Award finalist (Young People's Literature, 1999)
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year (1999)
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2000)
Edgar Award Nominee (Young Adult, 2000)
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (2000)
Printz Honor (2000)
Iowa Teen Award Nominee (2001-2002)
TASL Volunteer State Book Children's Choice Award (2001-2002)
Garden State Book Award (Teen Fiction Grades 9-12, 2002)
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (2003)
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (2000)
Sequoyah Children's Book Award (2002)
Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award Nominee (2005)
Bibliotheraputic Usefulness: Rape, Depression
Genre: Fiction
Annotation: Melinda falls deeper and deeper into herself as she tries to avoid talking about the one thing she must speak about.
Summary: Melinda is a teen girl starting her year at high school, only this year is different because of one fateful summer party. At first, we are not sure what happened at this party that made Melinda call the police, but we soon learn that she had been raped by a senior boy. No one else knows what really happened, and she is afraid to tell, even though they all hate her for ruining the party. The story evolves as Melinda's grades drop, she isolates herself, and becomes silent.
Evaluation: I thought this was done very respectfully and without unnecessary graphic language. I also really liked the metaphors about growth, the evolution of her tree art project, and the school assignment on the suffragette's speaking up.