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December '07 Book Picks
All titles are available in the H.S. Library. Please see Mrs. Smith for assistance.
The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman
"When Anthony "Antsy"Bonano and his friends meet Calvin Schwa, they are impressed and puzzled by his ability to appear and disappear before their very eyes. Antsy concocts a moneymaking scheme based on the Schwa's invisibility that seems promising until he and his friends overreach and are caught by the town's legendary mean millionaire, Mr. Crawley. Their resulting community service project--walking the 7 virtues and 7 vices (Crawley's 14 afghan hounds) and going out with Crawley's granddaughter Lexie--cements and ultimately challenges friendships. Schwa is an average kid who hangs on the periphery of the crowd and longs to be noticed and included, not simply ignored." Booklist, September 7, 2003 |
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One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke
"Lily is sure that her family is freakish, "not freaks exactly, but getting there." And not one of them is particularly stable. Her mother keeps bringing home "lame ducks," old people from the senior day-care center where she works. Her brother, Lonnie, keeps changing his major at university because he's trying to find himself. Nan, Lily's grandmother, talks to an imaginary friend. And her husband threatens Lonnie with an axe if he drops another major. Lily feels like the only responsible, sensible one in the household-she does the cooking, the cleaning, the shopping, and all of the other chores. She smells of boiled cabbage and window cleaner and wonders if she's getting to be an old woman before her time. To counteract this notion, she decides to do something foolish and young-fall in love. This novel is told by all of the characters, whose lives start out disparate and distanced." School Library Journal, August 1, 2007 |
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Goddess of the Night by Lynne Ewing-- first in the series
"This fantasy novel kicks off the Daughters of the Moon series by the author of Drive-By and Party Girl. High school sophomore Vanessa and her best friend, Catty, have magical powers. But while Catty sees her ability to time travel as a gift, Vanessa hates her own ability to turn invisible: she "tried to control her molecules, but in times of intense emotion, her molecules had more power than her ability to restrain them and the light from a full moon seemed to fuel their charge." Vanessa wants to date the handsome, long-haired Michael and be like everyone else, but whenever he kisses her, her feet and hands start disappearing. Then Catty turns up missing, and Vanessa's new friend Serena (a mind reader) reveals that they are goddesses, Daughters of the Moon, who must battle the evil Atrox and its dissolute band of "Followers" (from whose souls Atrox has sucked all hope) who haunt the Los Angeles club scene." Pubisher's Weekly, October 23, 2000 |
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All-In by Pete Hautman
"Denn Doyle is not a gambler. Gamblers come to Vegas to throw their money at people like Denn, a prodigious investor in his own ability to read "tells"and calculate odds. Armed with a fake ID, the 17-year-old is up nearly a quarter million and almost unbeatable at the table. That is, until he falls for Cattie Hart, a troublesome redhead whose nimble bottom-dealingsoon lands Denn in dangerous financial and emotional straits. Can Denn stick it to his old enemy, Artie Kingston, in a million-dollar Texas Hold 'Em tournament, or will he have to skulk back home penniless? In this follow-up to No Limit (2005), Hautman nails the heady buzz of winning and the gut-shot numbness of losing it all on the last turn, calling the action with all the deftness of a dealer flipping cards: sharp, fast, and effortless. The love story has about as much drama and chemistry as a date with a video slot machine, making it clear that the real romance here is between Denn and the cards. A quick, slick read for wannabe sharks." Booklist, May 1, 2007 |
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A Stir of Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
After discovering the secrets that lie in an abandoned house, fourteen-year-old Susan Backstrom, with the help of some new friends, has the ability to make a safe, new life for herself. |
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