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September 2004 Book Picks  |
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The Body of Christopher Creed
by Carol Plum-Ucci
"Christopher was the weirdo everybody picked on, the troubled soul no one bothered to befriend. When Christopher disappeared, some pointed to evidence that he simply left town, but others decided he had been murdered. The mystery of Christopher's disappearance is never solved, but several lives are irrevocably damaged in the aftermath. "
-- Book Report, Nov./Dec., 2000 |
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Breathing Underwater
by Alex Flinn
"Key Biscayne High School sophomore Nick is rich, handsome, and a good athlete and scholar. He has finally found the girl of his dreams in Caitlin. Unfortunately, his father's physical and verbal abuse has shaped Nick's ideas of how to behave in a relationship: he bullies, tortures, and finally hits Caitlin. A restraining order and an anger management course result in the diary entries we read, with flashbacks that show how Nick got to this point. Noteworthy in this first novel is Nick's believable relationship with best friend Tom, full of awkward silences and shameful secrets."
--Booklist, August 2001 (Vol. 97, No. 22)
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Fat Kid Rules the World
by Kelly Going
"Overweight and friendless, high school senior Troy Billings is standing on the edge of the subway tracks contemplating suicide when a dirty and disheveled young man engages him in conversation and prevents him from taking the plunge. He's Curt MacCrae, a legend at Troy's school for being 'the only truly homeless, sometimes student, sometimes dropout, punk rock, artist god among us.' For reasons that Troy does not at first understand, Curt invites him to join his band as a drummer, even though Troy has only minimal experience with music. Both characters are strongly defined. Hyperactive and frustratingly enigmatic, iconoclastic Curt has the soul of an artist, as well as a self-destructive streak fed by incessant pill-popping. As the friendship between the boys develops, Troy explores New York's punk music scene (about to give his debut performance, he throws up on the stage; the audience loves it) and comes to a better understanding of both his brother and widowed father. But his emerging sense of self-worth also leads him to make a decision that could destroy his friendship with the increasingly troubled Curt. In this gritty and intense novel these two desperate teenagers attempt to save each other and, quite possibly, end up saving themselves as well."
--Horn Book, July/August, 2003
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The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Steven Chbosky
" Dear friend, I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand." In his letters to a never-identified person, 15-year-old Charlie's freshman high-school year (1991-92) and coming-of-age ring fresh and true. Charlie reveals his innermost thoughts while trying to discover who he is and whom he is to become. He switches between full involvement in the crazy course of his life and backing off completely. Eventually, he discovers that to be a whole person who knows how to be a real friend rather than a patsy, he must confront his past--and remember what his beloved, deceased Aunt Helen did to him. Charlie is a likable kid who has a story to tell. The story is set in Pittsburgh, and Mr. Chbosky is a Mount Lebanon graduate-- could he be writing about our school? Read and find out for yourself! |
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America: A Novel
by E. R. Frank
What makes a kid bad? America, an unidentifiable mixed-race teenage boy, has been lost in the system many times. Now, as he sits with a doctor in a mental health facility, he is trying to find out. Abandoned by his mother twice, America starts to act up because he wants an adult to notice and take him back to his foster mother, Mrs. Harper. But returning to Mrs. Harper leads him to be saved and lost once again when Browning, a man who helps America become a man, abuses the nine-year-old. As a teen, America resides in a treatment center after his suicide attempt. As America deals with his past, he begins to learn that he just may also have a future. | |
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