If you’re at all involved with young adult literature you have probably already read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.  For those of you who haven’t, you need to.  It is one of the more important books in the genre and it deals with some very big teen issues.  You will get a brief idea of what the book is about from the book talk.  I can’t recommend this book enough to librarians.  While it may not be appropriate for every young adult, it can be very helpful to others and librarians need to be aware of it. If you like this book talk, please use it. For more info check out Amazon or Laurie’s website.

Laurie Halse Anderson:  Speak

Do you remember your first day of high school?  You probably felt small, scared, or insignificant.  Everybody was trying to find his or her way into a new clique.  Old friends are not nearly as close as they used to be and you don’t know many of the people around you.  These are just a few of the feelings that Melinda Sordino is feeling as she begins her first year of high school.  Only for her they are all much worse.  Over the summer something happened that caused everybody to hate her.  Her old friends won’t have anything to do with her and all the potential new friends have heard about the incident and wont talk to her.  If only she could talk to them, tell them what happened, then maybe everything would be ok, but she can’t, she won’t.

Her only refuge is found in an art class where she lets her frustration out into her art, and in an old, unused janitors closet where she has found a place to hide.  It seems like things could not get worse but they sure don’t show any signs of getting better.  What would you do in her situation I wonder?  Would you open up and let everything out thinking that life might get better, or would you keep everything bottled up until you cant take it anymore.  Melinda sure doesn’t know what to do; the only thing she knows is she can talk about it.  Anything is better then speaking.

Stotan Week,

Dec 17 to Dec. 21,

8 A.M. to Noon Daily,

Volunteers only,

Looking for a few good men,

SEE MAX.

This is the sign that greeted Walker, Jeff, Lionel, and Nortie after early morning workout on Nov 5^th.   Max Il Song is the Montana born and bread Korean Cowboy who coaches the Frost high school swim team.  Max won’t say anything about this stotan week, but the guys can already tell its going to be some week.  Knowing Max as they do they know that this week is going to push them to the utmost limits physically and it will probably be aimed at teaching them all some sort of lesson or another.  Despite their reservations they all decide to volunteer and to spend that week living in Lionel’s near condemned apartment for the week.  However this decision leaves them wondering what is a stotan, what is this week going to be all about, and will they come out of it in one piece.  For the answers to these questions and many more pick up Stotan, by Chris Crutcher.

Here is another one of my book talks. The book is Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy. It is, in my opinion, one of the best Young Adult Books that came out in 2004. It was both and Newbery and Printz honor book. The story is interesting, funny, and exciting, but it is also based on a true and quite horrifying history of Malaga Island. This island and its people was the site of a very sad story that happened almost a century ago and this book does a great job capturing the feel of event. While I don’t think this is one of my best book talks, it should give you a good idea for what the book is about.

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

By: Gary Schmidt

Just a few hours after moving to Phippsburg, Maine Turner Buckminster has already decided that he hates it there and that he wants to move back to Boston. He doesn’t get along with the children there. He wasted no time getting in trouble with the neighbors. Perhaps worst of all they don’t even play Baseball the right way in Phippsburg. He also hates being the minister’s son in this small town, which requires him to always wear a white shirt with an overly starched collar and to act more like a minister then a boy. Turner hates it more and more every moment until he meets Lizzie Bright when he is hanging out on the shore. She is the most interesting person he has every met and having her as a friend makes this town much more interesting.

However the real problem is this. The year is 1911 and the town is losing a lot of money as its once vital shipping business dies. They decide to start making money through tourism since it is a beautiful, costal city. However tourists won’t want to come if they have to look out at the ocean and see the shanty town which is Malaga Island. Malaga Island is inhabited by a handful of freed slaves and assorted other minorities. The people there have worked hard to create a life for themselves and have received no help from any one. Now the town of Phippsburg is trying to kick them off of their island and force them to leave even though they have nowhere to go.

If you haven’t already guessed, Lizzie Bright lives on that Island, where her grandfather is the preacher, and leader of all the people there. Turner and Lizzie try everything they can to stop this horrible thing from happening but they may not be strong enough to stop it.

Here is one of my favorite book talks on a book I thought was fantastic.  Ill let the book talk speak for itself.

Stuck in Neutral.

By: Terry Trueman

Shawn McDaniel is a lot like any other fourteen year old you might know.  He likes music, enjoys eating potato chips, and has discovered a new found appreciation for the female anatomy.  However there are two very distinctive things about Shawn’s life that lead him to say that his life is like one of those Good News, Bad News Jokes.  So which do you guys want first the good news or the bad news.

The good news is that you could probably consider Shawn to be a genius.  He has a photographic memory and has been able to learn and teach himself a lot of things because of this.  He can remember everything he has ever heard after the age of about four or so and is a pretty smart guy to boot.

The bad news.  Well, he has a very severe case of cerebral palsy.  When he was born a blood vessel burst in a bad spot within his brain and he lost all muscular control.  By all, I do mean all.  He can not control his mouth, tongue, eyes, feet, legs, or anything, which means he has no means to communicate.  Because of this his family and everyone around him thinks he is a complete vegetable with the mental capacity of baby. However they are wrong, he can understand everything they say and do around him just as you or I could.

Despite this fact he is a relatively happy person.  He enjoys his life and loves his family even though he has never been able to talk to them and probably never will.  He has never known anything else in life and while he is clearly smart enough to understand his position he has accepted it and has found joy where he can.

However there is just one more important part to the story which Shawn mentions early in the book.  (Read the last paragraph of Chp 2 page 12)

The section from the book describes the fact that the worst part about the whole thing is that Shawn is pretty sure his father is trying to kill him.

This book is one of the better young adult books I have ever read.  Trueman has a great understanding of the mind of 14 year old boy.  The story is both funny and touching.  I would recommend it to any child over the age of about 13.  What makes it even more touching is that Trueman was inspired to write this by his own son who has CP and is as far as they know brain-dead.   For more info about Terry Trueman or Stuck in Neutral check out Terry’s Website .