Croak by Gina Damico

Damico, Gina. Croak. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print.  ISBN 978-0-547-60832-7; Paperback; $8.99.

Annotation: 

Lex is angry and out of control so she gets shipped to the country to live with her uncle Mort where she can put her skills to use, as a Grim Reaper.

Book Talk:

Lex Bartleby used to be a good girl but all that has changed.  Sarcastic, volatile, prone to smashing people in the face, Lex is on her last straw with school authorities when her parents send her off to visit her weird uncle Mort in the country to see if she can sort out her "anger issues."  Instead of chanting Kumbaya and churning butter, Lex quickly learns that Croak, the tiny town where Mort lives, is the home of reapers who haunt the dead and Lex is there to learn the family business.  Now that Lex has an explanation for her sudden fascination with death and endless anger, what will happen when she is turned loose with the power to take lives without seeming consequence?  Is Lex even a little too hardcore for the residents of Croak? 

Available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook. 

Teen quote:

"Anyone will love this book."

~Marie, 16.

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

King, A S. Everybody Sees the Ants. New York: Little, Brown, 2012. Print.  ISBN 978-0-316-12927-5; Paperback; $9.99.

Annotation: 
Lucky Linderman escapes from Nader, the Squid and the Turtle by visiting his grandfather in his dreams and imagining ants seek revenge on his behalf.

Book Talk: 
Lucky Linderman doesn't feel so lucky.  He has no real friends and no girlfriend.  He has been bullied by Nader McMillan for as long as he can remember, and it is getting worse.  But no one seems to care.  His granddad never came home from the Vietnam War and no one in his family has recovered.  His mother hides from her problems at the local public pool and his dad works too much.  After Nader's last attack leaves him disfigured, depressed and vengeful, Lucky begins hallucinating tiny ants to enact his revenge.  In order to escape oppressive reality Lucky travels into his dreams where he tries to rescue his grandfather from the jungle and rescue himself from Nader McMillan.  Read A.S. King's engaging and haunting novel to discover how Lucky, and everyone else who is suffering, sees the ants.

Available in paperback, hardcover, eBook and audio CD.

Awards: 2011 Cybils Award finalist
2011 Andre Norton Award finalist

Teen quote:
"I really like this book because it talked about how your (sic) the one who builds your own prisons so your (sic) the only one who can tear them down. I also liked that whenever he woke up from a dream he had an object from the dream. That was COOL."
~Jill, 15.

The Program by Suzanne Young

Young, Suzanne.  The Program.  New York: Simon Pulse, 2013.  Print.  ISBN 978-1-4424-4580-2; Hardcover; $16.99.

Annotation: Sloane can't reveal any emotions or she risks being taken away to have her memory erased and never being able to kiss her boyfriend James again, or remember him.

Book Talk:
What would you do if you weren't allowed to show any emotions?  Not even to your own family?  

Sloane and James are a normal high school couple, except it's the near future and an epidemic of teen suicide becomes a nation-wide crisis and the government implements a terrifying program where at-risk teens are whisked away by handlers to have their memories erased and their senses dulled.

Who would you trust?  Would you choose death too?

Available in eBook, paperback, hardcover, and digital audio book.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Co, 2009. Print.  ISBN 978-0-316-01368-0; Hardcover; $20.00.

Annotation: 
Junior leaves the reservation to attend the all-white high school 20 miles down the road.  Will he survive tragedy and illness to get the girl and graduate?

Book Talk:
Junior is a nerdy, sickly, reading and drawing obsessed Spokane Native who leaves his friends and family behind on the reservation to attend a racist all-white high school in the next town.  Despite meeting the girl of his dreams, Penelope, and making new friends, like Gordy, tragedy strikes and one horrible thing after another happens, until Junior isn't sure if he can go on.  Does being Native destine him to a life of drunken poverty, unhappiness and early death?  He says, 

"I used to think the world was broken down by tribes...By black and white.  By Indian and white.  But I know that isn't true.  The world is only broken into two tribes: The people who are assholes and the people who are not."

Read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to discover if Junior is willing to change everything in order to change his life.  When given the choice, which tribe will he choose?

Available in paperback, hardcover, eBook and audio CD. 

Awards:

2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature
2008 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Fiction and Poetry
2009 Odyssey Award as the year's "best audiobook for children or young adults"
2010 California Young Reader Medal, Young Adult Book

Rage: True Stories by Teens About Anger edited by Laura Longhine

Longhine, Laura. Rage: True Stories by Teens About Anger. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Pub, 2012. Print.  978-1-57542-414-9; Paperback; $11.99.

Annotation: 
Teens tell the truth about what it is like to feel intense, violent anger.

Book Review:

Rage: it’s more than anger.  You know that feeling, the one where your mind has lost all capacity for rational thought and you are left sobbing, shocked, and shaking, and so is everyone around you.  Despite your best efforts to stay calm, you hurl insults, scream, kick, bite, punch, smash things, and hurt people, including yourself.  What doesn’t bother one person can trigger Hulk-like mayhem in someone else.  Rage can be one of the most terrifying of human emotions, and yet it is something we all experience and have difficulty dealing with.  This amazing little collection of true stories told by teens that have experienced rage firsthand chronicles the raw emotions behind abuse, abandonment, poverty, racism, bullying, and feeling trapped and judged.  Watch Fred beat another guy to a bloody pulp and land in jail; Robin channel his fury into Karate kicks; and Natasha use the mask of perkiness and perfection to cover up her panic and isolation.  Brimming with courage, honesty, and real-life tips on how to handle the unimaginable, this is an essential read for any teen (or adult) who has ever felt overwhelmed by their own temper.

The Real Teen Voices series (which includes Rage, Pressure, and Vicious) come from a diverse selection of teen voices, showing that hatred and fury are not bound to certain social classes, but touch all people regardless of race, geographic location, economic situation, sexual orientation or gender.  The hard, uncomfortable edges in their writing are softened by moments of tenderness, clarity, and real love and affection, as well as hope for the future.  The book also includes an interview with therapist Toni Heineman offering practical advice on recognizing anger issues, staying calm, and removing yourself from volatile situations before you explode.  Recommended for ages 13+ due to mature content.  

Available in paperback and e-book.

You can watch a video about the struggle one of the teen authors, Natasha Santos, has with herself while writing "Bum-rushed by my past" by visiting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b74ly0qorQ8.  You can also read her story.  

Want more?  Check out this Youth Communication teen author talking about how writing saved him from his anger and bullying.  Three cheers for literacy!!!