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November '05 Book Picks
Take a look at the titles below for a good read. All are located in the H.S. library.
See Mrs. Smith if you need help locating them.
Acceleration by Graham McNamee
"Acceleration: escalation of increasingly destructive aberrant behavior,"the stuff that serial killers are made of. That's what teenage Duncan finds out after he begins investigating a shocking journal that turns up in the Toronto subway lost-and-found where he works. When the police refuse to take it seriously, Duncan enlists the aid of two very different friends to help him find out the identity of the diary's author, who has apparently graduated from eviscerating animals and setting fires to tracking human prey." -- Booklist September, 2003 |
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The Burn Journals By Brent Runyon
"This true story of a 14-year-old boy who tried to commit suicide by setting himself on fire certainly has the power to grab the attention of many readers. Formerly an excellent student, Brent suddenly begins to fail in school and pulls one too many pranks. Sure he'll be caught and expelled for impulsively setting a fire in a locker and unable to admit his guilt, he decides that it's best to die. The bulk of the narrative follows Brent through his treatment and recovery, his pain, pleasures, and frustrations, his family's love, and his relations with his friends. Rarely stated but always lurking below the surface is the question of why Brent set himself on fire, because he doesn't know himself." -- The Kirkus Review, July 2004 |
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So Yesterday by Scott Westerfield
"This clever, quirky romp through New York City tackles the question: "What makes something cool?" Seventeen-year-old Hunter works for a famous shoe company spotting trends and taking part in focus groups. Three years earlier, having moved from Minnesota to Manhattan and finding himself an outsider, Hunter began to analyze and write a blog about the "billion coded messages being sent every day with clothes, hair, music, slang," which led to his job. When a radical group, out to undermine corporations, apparently kidnaps his boss, Mandy, Hunter and his adventurous friend and romantic interest Jen embark on a fast-paced, sometimes dangerous quest to rescue her." -- The Kirkus Review August, 2004 |
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I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
"Nineteen-year-old Ed Kennedy slouches through life driving a taxi, playing poker with his buddies, and hanging out with his personable dog, Doorman. The girl he loves just wants to be friends, and his mother constantly insults him, both of which make Ed, an engaging, warm-hearted narrator, feel like a loser. But he starts to overcome his low self-esteem when he foils a bank robbery and then receives a series of messages that lead him to do good deeds. He buys Christmas lights for a poor family, helps a local priest, and forces a rapist out of town. With each act, he feels better about himself and builds a community of friends. "-- The Kirkus Review, January 2005 |
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Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
"Moose's world is turned upside down when his family moves to Alcatraz Island where his Dad has taken a job as a prison guard. Super-responsible Moose, big for 12, finds himself caught in the social interactions of this odd cut-off world. He cares for his sister who is older, yet acts much younger due to her autism and he finds his life alternating between frustration and growth. His mother focuses all of her attention on ways to cure the sister; his dad works two jobs and meekly accepts the mother's choices; his fellow island-dwellers are a funny mix of oddball characters and good friends. -- The Kirkus Review, August 2004 |
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