December 2006 Archives

Now that the Christmas season is almost over the next big religious holiday has to be EASTER with its prerequisite Lent. Justine's best friend, Mary Catherine, has given up chocolate for Lent, but Justine feels God wants something more of her. She gives up being Jewish, uses her closet for confessiion, and drinks grape juice and eats matzo for Communion, but when her Grandmother suffers a stroke, Justine blames her personal conversion. Now she must decide who she is?

CONFESSIONS OF A CLOSET CATHOLIC by Sarah Darer Littman is a hilarious tale of a young girl trying to fit in. It won the 2006 Sydney Taylor Book Award for older readers. This award recognizes the best in Jewish children's literature. THIS BOOK IS RECOMMENDED FOR GIRLS IN GRADES 5 TO 8.

Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services

According to YAHOO News You can visit J.K. Rowling's Web site and play a little game of hangman. You will learn the title of the seventh and final Harry Potter book.

Rowling has set up a test for her Potter fans.
If you go to jkrowling.com, click on the eraser and you will be taken to a room — you'll see a window, a door and a mirror.
In the mirror, you'll see a hallway. Click on the farthest doorknob and look for the Christmas tree. They click on the center of
the door next to the mirror and a wreath appears. Then click on the top of the mirror and you'll see a garland.
Look for a cobweb next to the door. Click on it, and it will disappear. Now, look at the chimes in the window. Click on the
second chime to the right, and hold it down. The chime will turn into the key, which opens the door. Click on the wrapped gift
behind the door, then click on it again and figure out the title yourself by playing a game of hangman.

Or you can take Scholastic's word for it: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

Patricia McCormick wrote SOLD, as a tribute to a young girl who not only survives but triumphs. Thirteen year old Lakshmi lives in the mountains of Nepal with mother, baby brother and step-father. Her family is so poor they cannot afford a tin roof like the other families in the village. Lakshmi wants to go to the city to work so that she can send money back to her family but her mother wants her to stay in school. After a horrible monsoon that washes away the crops and destroys the already tattered roof, Lakshmi's step-father says that she is to go to the city to work. Lakshmi is happy, proud that she will be able to help her family. She soon learns that her job in the city is not the maid job she thought it would be. Lakshmi's step-father has sold her into prostitution and now she is stuck in India forced to pay off the price that was paid for her. Lakshmi struggles to make it through the nightmare her life has become and dreams of the day she will be free again.

THIS BOOK IS RECOMMENDED FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN GRADES 10-12.

Miss Samuel
Young Adult Librarian
East Meadow Public Library

With vacation drawing near you may be ready for some real relaxation, nothing to deep, nothing to serious, so try these novels -- fast reading, and keeps your mind alert. This list was created by the Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Committee of the American Library Association in 2000. THESE BOOKS ARE RECOMMENDED FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

Baldacci, David. ABSOLUTE POWER
Murder, honor, loyalty, and betrayal reach all the way to the Oval Office.

Blume, Judy. SUMMER SISTERS
Caitlin and Vix have shared their deepest secrets, can their lifelong friendship withstand a betrayal?

Borchardt, Alice. THE SILVER WOLF
Regeane must decide how to survive as both woman and wolf in dangerous, decadent, decaying Rome.

Connelly, Michael. BLOOD WORK
Where did ex- FBI agent Terry McCaleb's new heart come from and why was he the one to get it?

Crichton, Michael. SPHERE
Discovery of a huge spaceship resting on the ocean floor is more than the scientists bargained for.

Deaver, Jeffery. THE BONE COLLECTOR
Can Lincoln Rhyme, a brilliant criminologist, stop the diabolical killer from committing more grisly crimes?

Finder, Joseph. HIGH CRIMES
A random burglary turns the lives of high-powered attorney Claire Chapman and her husband Tom upside down.

Friedman, Hal. OVER THE EDGE
Did Elaine Wilkens jump to her death or was she pushed by her students?

Gabaldon, Diana. OUTLANDER
Strong-willed Claire Randall leads a double life with a husband in one century and a lover in another.

Gerritsen, Tess. LIFE SUPPORT
Why are Dr. Harper's patients dying?

Gilstrap, John. NATHAN'S RUN
Can Nathan outwit both the police and a hitman in order to stay alive?

Grisham, John. THE CLIENT
Mark Sway is really in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Johansen, Iris. AND THEN YOU DIE
Bess Grady expected sunshine and balmy breezes, but got everyone's worst nightmare.

King, Stephen. ROSE MADDER
After 14 years of being beaten, Rose Daniels wakes up one morning and leaves her abusive husband, a psychopathic cop who obsessively trails her.

Lanier, Virginia. BLIND BLOODHOUND JUSTICE
Follow detective Jo Beth Sidden and her bloodhounds on the seemingly dead trail of a 30-year-old murder/kidnapping.

Patterson, James. ALONG CAME A SPIDER
Detective Alex Cross hunts a schizophrenic psychopathic kidnapper.

Pearson, Ridley. NO WITNESSES
This chicken soup may not be good for the soul.

Preston, Douglas and Lincoln Child. RELIC
A beast in New York's Museum of Natural History haunts the halls and preys on good and bad guys alike.

Rovin, Jeff. VESPERS
Why are killer bats on the loose in New York City?

Tan, Maureen. AKA JANE
A beautiful British spy aka detective writer is out for revenge in Savannah.

Wilhelm, Kate. THE GOOD CHILDREN
If your parents died, could you live on your own and pretend to the world that they were still alive?

Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services

Another possible PRINTZ contender is NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Cohn and Levithan write alternating chapters, so the readers hears both Norah's and Nick's wise and witty views of this new relationship. It starts off simple enough; Nick, the straight member of a gay band, is trying to avoid his ex-girlfriend, so he asks Norah, who happens to go to school with the ex-girlfriend, to be his new girlfriend for just five minutes. Norah, in need of a ride back to New Jersey, agrees to the five minutes romance, and thus, begins the courtship during a single night in Manhattan.

Not trying to sound prudish, I should warn readers there are a lot of four letter words. In this book they're necessary, since the tale begins in a punk rock night club. This heart tingling and kind of sexy romance is recommended for teens in grades 10 to 12.

Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services

Monty Python made a movie called, "And now for something completely different." Well, I have just finished a book that is something completely different. THE POET SLAVE OF CUBA: A BIOGRAPHY OF JUAN FRANCISCO MANZANO by Margarita Engle is a biography in verse. Juan, a slave, was born into the household a wealthy family in 1797. As a young child his extraordinary intellectual powers, made him and his family a favorite of the slaveowner's wife, but with her death his fortunes changed. His new mistress was cruel and revelled in his humiliations. Though beaten, locked in shackles and almost left for dead his voice was never silenced, and finally at nearly 16 he escaped from slavery.

The biography is told by several different people, Juan, his owners, his birth mother and a white boy living on the plantation. I wish more information was available, but as the author writes any material on slavey in Cuba was banned. It was only by chance Manzano biography found its way on a ship to England, but only the first half of his life discovered and published.

Even though the subject of slavery is an dark time for humanity, it is interesting to see how it was practiced in a country other than the US. This book is recommended for young people in grades 8 to 11.

Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services

THE 2002 WINNER

The 2002 Printz Award was A STEP FROM HEAVEN by An Na. It tells the tale of Young Ju as she grows from a toddler in Korea to a high-school graduate in California desperately trying to be a 'true' American while her immigrant parents try to make her stay close to her Korean heritage.

According to the author, this is and isn't autobiographical. There are some vignettes from childhood memories, but An Na strong family traditions prevented true assimilation into the American culture. An has told a reporter from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY that the parents in the book are extreme examples of the immigrant experience, which her father found gratifying. This story may be common to the immigrant teen experience, but this book is extraordinary and hard to put down once you open it. A STEP FROM HEAVEN is recommended for teens in Grades 9 to 12.

THE 2002 PRINT HONOR BOOKS

THE ROPEMAKER by Peter Dickinson is a compelling play between time and magic and a fantasy for teens in grades 7 to 12 will enjoy.

The heroine, LaVaughn, from Virginia Euwer Wolff MAKE LEMONADE returns in TRUE BELIEVER and suffers her first true crush. Teen girls in grades 7 to 12 will love meeting this truly independent young woman.

This next title breaks away from the idea good books have to be fiction. HEART TO HEART: NEW POEMS INSPIRED BY TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICAN ART by Jan Greeenberg is a book of poetry. Famous young adult authors team up with art work by famous American artists for a poetic response to painting. A very interesting book to read straight through or just select one or two items you are personally drawn too. So young people in grades six and up, pick up HEART TO HEART for a unique reading experience.

The last honor book for 2002 may be the most unusual. Chris Lynch's FREEWILL is told in the second person, because you are in the mind of 17-year-old Will, a very troubled teen. Since Will's parents died in an accident, he has not been able to adjust. Could this have something to do with his wood sculptures that begin to show up at the sites of teen sucides? For a most unusual and maybe disturbing read, pick up FREEWILL. This title is recommended for teens in grades 9 to 12.

Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services