The Girl in the Red Coat: A Memoir

Bibliographic Information: Ligocka, R. (2002). The Girl in the Red Coat. New York, NY: Bantam Dell. ISBN: 038533740X

Plot Summary: Roma Ligocka tells her life story as a Polish Jew growing up in German occupied Poland. Years later, as an adult artist living in Germany, Roma recognizes herself as "the girl in the red coat" at a screening of Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. This inspires Roma to write her memoir of her harrowing journey into her past. The first years of Roma's life were spent in darkness and fear. Roma describes life in the ghetto and, in depth, the horror of her living conditions. Roma and her mother (Tosia) and father (David) are constantly moving and hiding. Under force, Roma's hair is died blonde so she would look more German, thus safer. The men in "shiny black boots with snarling dogs" were always raiding the ghetto; there was the endless waiting in lines and Jewish people were shot indiscriminately. Roma was very close to her grandmother who was seized by German officers as Roma hid under a table, terrified. Roma's father was taken away to Auschwitz.

Roma and her mother sneak out of the ghetto and, after a few homeless nights, are taken in by a Polish family. Roma's life with this family was better, but she always had to stay inside for fear of being seen. Roma and her mother were kicked out several times due to German raids, but returned because they had nowhere else to go. After the German occupation, Stalin and the communists took over Poland. In Krakow Roma is sent to a communist school where she is treated differently. Roma learns that her mother is having an affair with a married man after finding letters between the two of them. A girl at Roma's school tells her about the affair and Roma is humiliated.

The theater, staging plays, painting and writing are Roma's passions. Piotr, Roma's first love, is an art student who gives guided tours at museums. He happens to be married though. Later Roma meets Wieslaw who is from an aristocratic family. She falls in love and marries him despite her mother's warnings that there are scandalous rumors regarding his family. Wieslaw turns out to be a drunk. Roma divorces him at the ripe age of 21. She enrolls in an art academy for costume and stage design. Jan Biczyeki is the youngest and most talented artistic director in Poland. Roma meets Jan when she is designing costumes and he is directing a play in Austria. They marry and live a bohemian life, constantly moving. Roma gets pregnant with Jan's baby, but they don't have any money to raise a baby, let alone live a "normal" life. Abortion is illegal in Austria so Roma gets money from a poet friend to get an abortion in Hungary.

After moving to West Berlin, Jan gets a more stable teaching job with a steady income. Roma gets pregnant again and they have a beautiful blonde baby boy, Jakob. Jan buys a house in the suburbs that Roma instantly dislikes. She hates the suburbs and feels herself "slowly suffocating." Roma goes to a doctor and tells him of her symptoms of depression, inability to sleep and so on. The doctor prescribes pills to which Roma eventually becomes addicted. Meanwhile, a man named Slawo who is a writer and poet comes over and Roma falls in love with him. She leaves Jan and finds an apartment in Stuttgart, not too far from Paris where Slawo lives. Roma takes Jakob with her but Jan visits him often. Slawo ends up leaving Roma because he "wants to be alone." At the same time that Slawo leaves Roma, Roma's mother dies. She starts taking her pills more and more and ends up quitting them "cold turkey" after she realizes she has become a slave to them.

Critical Evaluation: When I was employed as a middle school librarian, an English teacher where I worked highly recommended The Girl in the Red Coat. I had never heard of it. After searching I was not able to order library-bound editions for the library, but I did get several copies in softcover. Besides The Diary of Anne Frank, The Girl in the Red Coat is one of the best and most insightful memoirs of the Holocaust I have ever read. It is full of so much history and insightful memories of the horror and beauty of daily life in Poland during World War II and after. Roma's life is rich and full of love, lost and she reveals in depth the psychological devastation that her experiences have had on her life.

About the Author: In addition to The Girl in the Red Coat and details of her life above, Roma Ligocka has written Znafoma z lustra, Kobeta w podrozy, Tylko jo sama and Wszystko z milosci. She currently resides in Munich, Germany.

Retrieved May 13, 2010: at http://en.wikipedia/org/wiki/Roma Ligocka

Annotation: As a Jewish girl in German occupied Poland, Roma Ligocka writes an unforgettable fifty year memoir of survival after realizing she is "the girl in the red coat" during a screening of Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List.

Genre: Biography/Memoir, Holocaust, World War II, Survival

Curriculum Ties: Social Science: Holocaust, World War II.

Book Talking Ideas: How does a young child survive the horrors of being a Polish Jew during World War II in Poland occupied by the Nazi Germans? Will Roma survive having her beloved grandmother and father taken away by the Nazis? As an adult who has survived the holocaust as a Jew, what are the psychological repercussions?

Reading Level and Interest Age: 13 & older.

Challenge Issues: Abortion

Reason for Inclusion: Historical relevance, curriculum ties and it is an excellent memoir.

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Crutcher, C. (1993). Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Plot Summary: Eric Calhoune, also known as "Moby", had known Sarah Byrnes since grade school and they became "best friends". Eric was extremely fat and Sarah was severely scarred on her face and hands from an "accident" when she was a child. When Sarah was very little, all she remembered was a very volatile and abusive father who beat her mother regularly. It got to the point where, during one beating, Sarah felt her father, Virgil Byrnes, was going to kill her mother. Her mother got away, but poor Sarah got the aftermath of his anger. He scalded her face and hands in boiling water, disfiguring Sarah. He threatened Sarah with her life if she ever revealed the truth behind her scars. Sarah was terrified of her father. Consequently, Sarah became "hard", "smart" and "tough".

Sarah and Moby get picked on all the time because of their "conditions" as the novel goes back and forth between childhood memories and the present. The story mainly is set in Sarah and Moby's senior high school years. In high school, Sarah and Moby collaborate on writing an underground newspaper called Crispy Pork Rinds. The first edition of Crispy Pork Rinds focuses on the big, big bully of the school, Dale Thornton. Dale was so "big" because he was repeatedly held back and his father refused to have him promoted if he didn't pass his classes, despite his age and size.

Sarah ends up in a hospital because she has become catatonic and doesn't speak. Moby visits Sarah everyday and he knows deep inside that Sarah can talk, but she is scared. Moby has been swimming for the swim team and, as his physical condition gets better, he starts losing weight. Yet, due to Eric's friendship and caring for Sarah, he continues to eat excessively to stay fat so Sarah won't feel alone and "different". Through their daily visits Sarah starts communicating with Eric even though most days, Sarah's father, Virgil Byrnes, is watching. Sarah confides to Eric about her abusive past and swears him to secrecy.

Eric doesn't want to betray Sarah's trust but he can't stand the thought of doing nothing. He confides in his teacher and swim coach, Ms. Lemry. Ms. Lemry teaches CAT: Contemporary American Thought Class which explores many controversial subjects. In this class, while exploring topics such as abortion, suicide and religion... Eric develops a major crush on a classmate, Jody. It turns out that Jody had an abortion with her boyfriend, Mark Brittain, who promotes pro-life conservative religious values such as abstinence before marriage. Meanwhile, Ms. Lemry and Sarah head off to Vegas to try and find Sarah's mother who is the only witness to Virgil Byrnes' brutality. Sarah's mother backs down from supporting her only child. Virgil Byrnes hunts down Eric and stabs him in the back. Eric's mother's boyfriend, Carver, who is a former Vietnam Special Force Soldier, hides out in Virgil Byrnes house and captures him. Because of his service to his country and the atrocities that Virgil Byrnes committed, Carver receives a very light sentence. The Lemrys end up adopting Sarah Byrnes.

Critical Evaluation: Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes starts out a little slow, but as the story unfolds, it is one of the most engrossing, timeless and riveting novels I have ever read. Chris Crutcher's writing is remarkable for its humanity and reflection of human emotions. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes reflects Crutcher's background in psychology and his work with students as a teacher, especially his work with troubled students. Through his writing, Crutcher enables readers to really feel passion, sympathy, hatred, in essence, a wide range of emotions toward his characters.

About the Author: Chris Crutcher was born in 1946 in Dayton, Ohio. He has written many young adult novels and he is also a therapy consultant. Chris earned his BA in psychology and sociology from eastern Washington State College. Many of Crutcher's novels deal with teenage athletes who have personal problems.

Because of the controversial nature of many of Chris Crutcher's novels they have been frequently challenged or banned. On Mr. Crutcher's website (http://chriscrutcher.com/) it is very apparent that he is an ardent supporter and advocate of freedom of speech. His novels, Running Loose and Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories were on the 1990-2000 ALA's most frequently challenged books. Crutcher's writing "is noted for its wit and humor, and as a result of his propensity toward ribaldry (bawdy humor), is often considered to be the truest replication of adolescent thought patterns produced by someone over the age or 20".

Retrieved May 9, 2010 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/siki/Chris-Crutcher

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Domestic Abuse, Body Image, Suicide, Abortion, Teen Pregnancy, Mental Illness, Coming of Age.

Curriculum Ties: Health, Mental Health

Book Talking Ideas: What would it be like growing up different and uglier than everyone around you? Sarah Byrnes and Eric have been friends for years. Sarah is terribly scarred and Eric is terribly overweight. How do Sarah and Eric endure years of humiliation?

Reading Level & Interest Age: 14 and older

Challenge Issues: Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes has been frequently challenged. In 2005, Westmoreland, New York, a parent requested the novel be banned from the ninth-grade curriculum because of language. The request was denied by the school board. In 1995 Smithville Public School District, Missouri, a parent request that the book be removed from the ninth-grade curriculum was approved. In 2006 the Smithville School Board reversed its decision to ban Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes and, consequently, the National English Honors Society, Smithville High School Chapter is called "Sarah Byrnes Society".
Retrieved May 9, 2010 at: http://www.chriscrutcher.com/content/blogcategory/88/65/

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes has a lot of other controversial young adult issues, besides language, that would be ripe for challenges. A few examples are: Abortion, teen pregnancy and abuse.

Reason for Inclusion: Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes has won the California Young Reader Medal (1997), American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (1994), School Library Journal Best Book (1993) and other awards. It is part of many high school curriculums, not only because it is an excellent novel, but because it deals with so many pertinent teen issues.

Stoner and Spaz: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Koertge, R. (2002). Stoner & Spaz. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 0763616087

Plot Summary: Ben Bancroft is sixteen and in high school. Ben has cerebral palsy. He lives with his overprotective grandmother because his mother left him and he doesn't know who is father is. At school, Ben usually sits alone at lunch. His biggest form of entertainment is going to a local vintage theater called the Rialto.

Colleen Minou attends the same high school as Ben, but she lives quite a different life. Colleen is a drug addict. One day Ben is at the Rialto watching Bride of Frankenstein again. Colleen sits next to Ben and they strike up a friendship that soon leads to more. Ben is attracted to Colleen for several reasons. First of all, Colleen talks to Ben and she actually touches him. He is not used to anyone besides his grandmother touching him. They both share a love of movies. Because of her drug habits, Colleen ends up in the hospital and in rehab. She stays sober for awhile and depends on Ben for comfort.

Ben meets a friend through his grandmother, Marcie. Marcie takes an interest in Ben and mentors him in filmmaking. Marcie becomes somewhat of a mother figure to Ben. Ben becomes involved in making his own documentary called High School Confidential. Ben's documentary was accepted into the Centrist Gallery and it received very positive reviews. At the Centrist Gallery Show Ben came with Colleen, Marcie and his grandmother. When it is time to leave, Ben cannot find Colleen. Then Ben meets a nice girl, Amy, who also showed her documentary Roach Coach. Amy will be attending USC's film school and she gives Ben her email address. She encourages him to pursue film school and to keep in touch with her. At the end of the novel Ben finally finds Colleen in "the streets" getting loaded and taking off with another guy.

Critical Analysis: Stoner and Spaz is an excellent read. It is witty yet it deals with serious subjects: realities of living with a serious physical disability, drug addiction and abuse, and the lack of parental role models. As the story evolves, Ben comes out of his shell through Colleen's friendship. Colleen doesn't care what Ben looks like, how he walks or that he is a loner. Through Colleen (even if it is through her drug haze) Ben makes great strides in gaining self confidence and living up to his potential through filmmaking. Stoner and Spaz is an endearing and lovely coming-of-age novel.

Annotation: Ben and Colleen are both in high school but Ben has cerebral palsy and Colleen is a drug addict. Ben and Colleen develop a very unlikely friendship that leads to Ben living more to his potential and Colleen not changing her habits.

About the Author: Ron Koertge grew up in an old mining town in Illinois in an agricultural area. Ron says "he learned to drive a tractor and buck hay bales, which are clearly useful skills in Los Angeles." Ron taught English for over 35 years at Pasadena City College. He taught all kinds of English, from remedial English to Shakespeare. Ron has written several young adult novels, including The Brimstone Journals. The Brimstone Journals was written in free verse with fifteen teenage characters who write poems which are dispersed throughout the novel. Many of Ron's young adult novels are on the American Library Association choices for Best Books or Books for reluctant readers.

Ron's wife works with the disabled: learning disabled and physically disabled. The idea for Stoner & Spaz came to Ron after he had talked with a former student of his fresh out of drug rehab and his wife had told him about a male student of hers who had cerebral palsy. This student had a great sense of humor like Ben in Stoner & Spaz. Recently retired from teaching, Ron and his wife live in South Pasadena, California.

Retrieved on May 3, 2010 at: http://www.teenreads.com/features/2002-koertge-ron.asp

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/ Cerebral Palsy/ Physically Disabled/ Drug Abuse

Curriculum Ties: Health

Talking Points: What happens when two teenagers, one with cerebral palsy the other a druggie, become friends? After rehab, does Colleen stay sober/straight? Is Ben destined to live with his overprotective grandmother his whole life?

Reading Level & Interest Age: 13 & up.

Challenge Issues: Drugs/ sex/ language.

Reason for Inclusion: Stoner & Spaz is an excellent book for reluctant readers. It also addresses the hardships facing individuals with physical disabilities and it delves into the world of being addicted to drugs and the disturbing consequences of that world. In addition,
Stoner & Spaz, captures the lives of lonely teenagers and self acceptance.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: A Film

Production Information: Roberts, Kerry Kohansky. (Producer), & Sollet, Peter. (Director). (2008). Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. (DVD). USA: Columbia Pictures.

Plot Summary: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is based on Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's novel of the same name. Two teenagers Nick (played by Michael Cera) and Norah (played by Kat Dennings) meet each other at a club in New York City. Nick is a member of the band "The Jerk-Offs" and the other two members of the band are gay. Nick is heartbroken after his long term girlfriend, Tris, breaks up with him. Nick makes Tris "breakup" Cd's and after Tris throws the Cd's in the trash Norah retrieves them. She loves the music. After Nick gets done playing with the Jerk-Offs, Norah asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend and kiss her. Norah is trying to get rid of some guy that likes her. Norah and Tris go to the same school but they do not like each other. Tris sees Nick kissing Norah and she gets jealous.

Meanwhile, Norah's friend Caroline gets raging drunk and Thom (member of the Jerk-Offs) tells Nick he will drive her home so that Nick and Norah can find their favorite band, Where's Fluffy? and get to know each other. Caroline escapes the van and wanders drunkenly throughout the streets of New York City. Nick and Norah finally find Caroline on stage at a gay cabaret. Norah gets upset when she tells Nick it was so nice meeting him, but he doesn't respond. Tris decides she wants Nick back after seeing him with Norah. She tries to seduce him by dancing seductively. Nick comes to his senses and realizes how much he likes Norah. Nick and Norah go to the Electric Lady Studios and Nick plays bass while Norah sings. Norah's father owns the studio.

Critical Evaluation: The casting of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is superb. Michael Cera as Nick is darling and lovable. Kat Dennings as Norah is sensual, sarcastic and smart. Alexis Dziena also does an excellent job at playing Tris. She comes across as bratty but she is very attractive. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is entertaining, romantic and brings back memories of the teenage years: good and bad. For viewers who love music, the soundtrack of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is mostly from indie bands in New York City. Much of the music was performed by unknowns which made the movie more interesting and authentic.

Annotation: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a delightful coming-of-age teen film that delivers laughs, love, friendship and presents the challenges of being a teenager.

About the Director: Peter Sollett was born in Brooklyn, New York, in an Italian Jewish neighborhood. In an interview Peter says as a teenager he was a little like Nick, quiet and reserved. In 1998 Peter graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. His short film Five Feet High and Rising won the Best Short Film Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival.

Sollett's first feature film, Raising Victor Vargas, premiered at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival where Samuel Goldwyn/Fireworks Films acquired it. Sollett describes Victor as a teen who he would have liked to be, much more self confident than he was as a teenager. Raising Victor Vargas earned Sollett numerous awards. Sollett is a member of the faculty at Columbia University School of the Arts.

Retrieved May 2, 2010 at: http://blog.spout.com/2008/09/18/peter-sollett-interview-nick-norahs-infinite-playlist-toronto-2008/

Genre: Film/ Coming-Of-Age/ Comedy/Romance

Curriculum Ties: Indie Music

Talking Points: Nick and Norah, two strangers, find themselves at a club kissing in order for Norah to "look like" she's in a relationship. Will they find love, by accident, in the heart of New York City as they are on a quest looking for their favorite band?

Rating and Interest Age: PG-13: 13 and older

Challenge Issues: Alcohol and reference to sex.

Reason for Inclusion: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist appeals to teens: friendship, alternative lifestyles, music, partying, relationships and romance.

The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Zindel, L. (2008). The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies. New York, NY: Penguin Group. ISBN: 9780670062171

Plot Summary: Maggie, the protagonist of The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies, moves from a small town in New Jersey to a new school before her senior year in high school. Maggie's grandfather, a retired accountant, offers to pay for her expensive year at an all-girls school - Berkeley Prep-in Manhattan, New York. Maggie's mother and father are recently separated. Maggie had found her father kissing a much younger woman but her mother didn't know about the incident.

The first day at Maggie's new school, Berkeley Prep, she makes a nice friend, Anne Marie, who is sweet and very smart. The powerful girls at Berkeley, Victoria, Lexi and Sydney, act as though Maggie doesn't exist. Maggie learns of an invitation-only party that Victoria is giving in one of her father's buildings that is unoccupied. Maggie crashes the party and meets a very hot boy, Connor. The police come to bust up the party and Maggie provides Victoria, Lexi and Sydney with a place to hide out- at her mother's friend's home. The next day Victoria, Lexi and Sydney ask Maggie to be a part of their club, the "Revelers". Maggie is flattered and is happy to be a part of the club until she finds out it is a secret society that collects personal information about people and the girls put the information on a wall in a hideout in Victoria's home. At another party, the "wall" is discovered and all the teens at the party are furious at the Revelers for collecting all of their personal or secret information.

Critical Analysis: The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies is an excellent read. Teenage girls would love this novel. It is intriguing and engrossing. The story of the new girl wanting to be a part of the popular girls is a common theme for teen books but Lizabeth Zindel writes with suspense and intrigue. The novel moves quickly and provides insight into the lives of teens who, unfortunately, use others to make themselves look better.

Annotation: Maggie moves from a small New Jersey town to start her senior year at the prestigious Berkeley Prep. Maggie finds herself involved in a secret society that is malicious and finds herself doing things that she normally wouldn't do.

About the Author: Lizabeth Zindel is the daughter of Paul Zindel, a famous young adult author. She was born in Manhattan, New York, and traveled frequently between New York and Los Angeles. Lizabeth aspired to be a singer, writer and actress as a child. She went to an exclusive school in Manhattan, similar to Berkeley Prep in The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies. Lizabeth went to Wesleyan University and she double majored in English and theatre. She studied abroad at London University for a semester.

Before becoming a published author, Zindel worked for Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood as an assistant to an agent. She sang in the chorus at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Zindel also appeared in a few rock videos and interned for Robert DeNiro's film company. In addition to The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies, Zindel has written Girl of the Moment (2007).

Retrieved May 2, 20101 at Penguin.com:

http://prod.cn.penguin.com/nf/Author/ArthorPage/0,,1000069525,00.html?sym=QUE

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Secret Societies

Curriculum Ties: None

Book Talking Ideas: How would you feel to be the "new" girl your senior year in high school and the popular girls acted like you didn't exist? What would you do if you were asked to become friends with the popular girls in high school and become involved in a malicious secret society?

Reading Level & Interest Age: 14 and older

Challenge Issues: Alcohol use/parties

Reason for Inclusion: The Secret Lives of Social Butterflies deals with many issues teenagers may have to deal with such as peer pressure, bullying and so forth.

The Night My Sister Went Missing: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Plum-Ucci, C. (2006). The Night My Sister Went Missing. New York, NY: Harcourt Books. ISBN: 0152047581

Plot Summary: The Night My Sister Went Missing is set on Mystic Dunes, an island, where a party with local teens took place. Kurt Carmody's parents are out of town, and being the older brother at 17, he is responsible for his 15 year old sister, Casey. Kurt and Casey break their parents' rules while away and they go to a party at Mystic Dunes, an abandoned pier, where teens hang out and party. During the party, Casey disappears. As the story unfolds, fingers are pointing toward different "suspects" to Casey's disappearance. Casey had an older boyfriend, Mark Stern, who had a history of trouble. Stacey Kearny is Mark Stern's ex-girlfriend. She has a troubled past: her mother is promiscuous, she is a victim of incest and supposedly pregnant. Stacey brings a small gun to the party which almost everyone handles.

During the story, Kurt listens to police interviews of suspects and tries to put the pieces together. Fingers are pointed at Stacey because of the gun and her tormented past, but Kurt sees beyond the obvious clues. Stacey's' father, Mr. Kearny, was blamed for molesting her because Stacey's grandfather found Mr. Kearny twice outside her room in the middle of the night. Kurt slowly realizes that Mr. Kearny had not molested Stacey, but her wealthy grandfather had been molesting Stacey and Stacey's mother for many years. At the end of the novel Casey is found alive. Casey was an expert swimmer and she had dived off the end of the pier and survived. Sadly, Stacey, who always had a crush on Kurt, commits suicide. Her life of abuse and mistreatment took a toll.

Critical Evaluation: The Night My Sister Went Missing was engaging, yet a little confusing. The novel involves many pertinent issues: teens, cliques, incest and family relationships. There are many characters involved in the storyline; that is where the confusion lies. The best part of The Night My Sister Went Missing is the assumption that Stacey's father had been molesting her and was a creep. In reality, her wealthy, supposedly wonderful loving grandfather had been molesting both Stacey and her mother for years. The devastating effects of incest on an individual's self esteem was written in a way that teens and anyone for that matter, can really relate to.

Annotation: Casey Carmody disappears one night at a teen party on the pier at Mystic Dunes. A gun is passed around the party and fingers are pointed at numerous suspects.

About the Author: Carol Plum-Ucci is a young adult novelist who was born in 1957 in New Jersey. In 1979 she graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor's degree in Communications. After receiving her degree she worked as a freelance writer in Chicago and then became the Assistant to the Producer of the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. She worked for the Pageant as a staff writer and director of publications for years.

The Body of Christopher Creed, which won the Printz Honor Book Award in 2002, was Plum-Ucci's first published novel. She has been praised for her way of relating to teens through her writing and interweaving mystery with the supernatural. Carol Plum-Ucci was nominated in 2007 for The Edgar Allan Poe Award for The Night My Sister Went Missing, and in 2003 she was nominated for the Michael L. Printz Award for What Happened to Lani Garver.

Retrieved April 28, 2010 from Carol Plum-Ucci's Website at: http://carolplum-ucci.com/

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/ Incest/ Mystery

Curriculum Ties: None

Talking Points: What happens the night of a teen party at Mystic Dunes when Casey is missing and a gun has been passed around to the partygoers? When facts are revealed around the night of the party at Mystic Dunes, is Stacey really as awful as she has been made out to be or has her history of incest influenced who she really is?

Reading Level & Interest Age: 12 and older

Challenge Issues: Reference to sex/pregnancy/incest. Drug and alcohol usage.

Reason for Inclusion: The Night My Sister Went Missing is a suspenseful book that deals with subjects that teens are interested in: friendship, betrayal, sex, relationships, incest, mystery and the supernatural.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox: A Novel

Bibliographic Information: Pearson, M. (2008). The Adoration of Jenna Fox. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN: 9780805076684

Plot Summary: Jenna Fox has been in a coma for over a year and when she finally wakes up she can't remember anything. Slowly she starts putting the pieces of her life together. Claire, her mother, is distant and guarded. Her father is gone a lot but makes phone calls to her mother. Jenna's grandmother, Lily, is a little strange. Jenna watches movies of herself and slowly memories come back, like flickers. Memories, not from just watching old movies, but brief glimpses of her past come fleetingly. Jenna realizes that her family lived in Boston but moved to California after her tragic accident.

Jenna really wants to go to school, but Jenna's mother, Claire, is very hesitant. Claire finds a school near their new home, which Claire is remodeling. The new high school is an "alternative" school with few students who are "different". Ethan is a juvenile delinquent who almost killed someone. Ally has artificial limbs. Dane is angry at the world. Through the Internet, Jenna finds out that she was in a terrible accident because she took her father's car (didn't have her drivers license) with two friends and had a horrible accident. Jenna's two friends died. Jenna's father, a brilliant scientist and doctor, rebuilds Jenna's body and brain, thereby saving her from death. Jenna learns that only ten percent of her brain is her "original" brain and she has almost artificial everything. Jenna feels like a freak. At the end of the novel, Jenna is over two hundred and sixty years old. She reflects upon the death of her parents, her seventy years of marriage to Ethan, and her daughter.

Critical Evaluation: The Adoration of Jenna Fox is brilliant and fascinating. The reader is kept in suspense and wonderment throughout the book. Many questions cross the reader's mind. In the future where does science stop? How long will people live? Would you want to live hundreds of years? This novel is unforgettable and really makes you ponder. It is written beautifully and as the memories unfold, the reader is full of anticipation and suspense.

Annotation: How would you feel if you found out that ninety percent of your brain and body wasn't you? Would you want to live indefinitely if science and medicine allowed you to? What would you do if you woke up from a coma nd everyone is hiding the truth from you?

About the Author: Mary Pearson was born in 1955 and is a young adult California novelist. Mary went to California State University, Long Beach, and majored in art. On her website she says that being an artist was challenging but was nothing compared to being a mother. Later, Mary got her teaching credential from San Diego State University. Teaching second grade inspired Mary to write. She writes full time from her home in Carlsbad, California. Mary has written: The Miles Between, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, A Room on Lorelei Street, Scribbler of Dreams and David v. God. She is married and has two daughters, "one terrific son-in-law" and two golden retrievers.

Mary Pearson's website was retieved on April 25, 2010 at:

http://www.marypearson.com/

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/ Medical Ethics/ Bioethics/ Biotechnology

Curriculum Ties: Literature/ Ethics

Talking Points: What would it feel like to wake up after being in a coma for over a year and not remember anything, including who you are? How would you feel if you found out, after being in a coma for over a year, that only ten percent of your brain/body was you? How would you feel if you found out you might live indefinitely?

Reading Level & Interest Age: 15 and up

Challenge Issues: None

Reason for Inclusion: The Adoration of Jenna Fox would be an excellent novel for inspiring discussion, deep thinking and analysis and for exploring possible ethical consequences of medical science as it relates to prolonging life.