Blume, Judy, (1975). Forever. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN: 0671695304. 220 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Katherine's got a boyfriend. His name is Michael, and over their senior year they become inseperable. It's Katherine's first true love and involves more than just handholding. Katherine has her first real sexual experiences with Michael. Though they say it's forever (hence the title), the old adage "absence makes the heart grow fonder" doesn't work in their case. When seperated for the summer, Katherine develops feelings for someone else.

Now over thirty years old, Blume has added an author's note to the newest editions to inform her readers that pregnancy is no longer the only possible consequence of sex. This book is widely in print and widely debated. By some, the book is lauded for it's frank and informational discussion of teenage sexuality. By others, it is criticized and banned for these same reasons.

Like other books by Judy Blume, the writing is quick and straightforward. She goes after her topic of first love from its early beginning to its sad end. Weaving in the secondary narratives of Katherine's friend Erica who wants to go further with the ever-theatrical Artie, and promiscuous Sybils pregnancy, Blume offers her readers other types of teenage relationships.

Still, this book is about sex which is clear from the very first line of the book. I have a clear and vivid memory of reading that line over the shoulder of a friend in front of my house one day during junior high. I have a similar memory of reading V.C. Andrew's book Flowers in the Attic. Both books carry with them "forbidden" appeal. At the time, I never read more than that first line of Forever, but I did become much more interested in Blume's other books. Now, having finally read more than the first page, I can see why it remains in print.

Blume's subject matter could titillate, inspire, embarass, or repel a reader. But her characters and their situations feel real and believable, as are any of the responses that readers have toward a subject that we still struggle to address cohesively with young people.

Booktalk: I think I would introduce this book as a love story. And what's something that sets this book apart from some others? S-E-X.

Gantos, Jack, (2002). Hole in My Life. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. ISBN: 0374399883. 200 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Perhaps storytelling is the only profession that doesn't punish a person for being a criminal. Gantos, a well respected children's author pulls a lot of skeletons out of his closet in this memoir about his late teen years. Certainly this book is not aimed for his most young readers, but older readers will certainly enjoy it.

Gantos, an aspiring writer, spends his senior year miles from his family, living in a motel. He is a feverish reader and regular candy shop for small children at the motel. His new independence makes him a pretty regular drinker, and he picks up a pot smoking habit. When he joins his family in St. Croix, he finds a country is political upheaval, with little available in terms of jobs. His best bet out is to take a job smuggling drugs into the US.

Gantos does bad stuff. He drinks too much and does drugs. He smokes pot at Hemingway's house in Key West. He breaks the law--various laws, various times. A part of me wanted to shake him through and through for continuously making bad decisions. At the same time, Gantos writes with such clarity and honesty that he endears the reader to his character. He rarely makes judgment calls about his former self. Instead he explains his reasons in terms of his surroundings and situation. I rooted for him on more than one occasion, especially once he was in prison and found ways to stay out of the general population. There were elements of this section that were particularly graphic.

Through it all he's has the desire to write, but he isn't writing. This is perhaps the most frustrating aspect of reading about his teen life. He is reading great books, and keeps talking about wanting to write, but does nothing. Any writer will tell you that reading is a good start to writing, but a writer also needs to write. Only when he goes to prison does he finally begin to write. This becomes a strange but believable irony.

It might be nice to pair this book with Walter Dean Meyer's Monster, as both stories address teens that make poor decisions and then have to work with the consequences of these actions. This would also be an interesting pairing as one is a fiction and the other nonfiction.

Booktalk:I might begin by asking readers what they would do if they were offered $10,000 to help said a ship from St. Croix to New York City. I might then ask them if their decision would change if they knew the boat would have hash that then be smuggled into the country. I could then tell readers that this is a book about someone who was given this option, he said yes, and this is the true story of what happened.

Abbott, Hailey, (2004). Summer Boys. New York: Scholastic, Point. ISBN: 0439540208. 214 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Three cousins, Jamie, Ella, and Beth, spend their summers in Maine at the beach. While they live in different states during the rest of the year, all the families meet up for the summer at Pebble Beach. This is the story of meeting boys like Mr. Right, Mr. Right Now, Mr. Wrong, and Mr. Anybody.

Jamie aspires to be a writer, makes her own clothes and is otherwise very creative. While she starts the summer with a boyfriend, it takes her the entire summer to come to grips with the reality of that relationship. Ella is bombshell gorgeous and loves to have a good time. The only trouble is, she wants to have that good time with her sister Kelsi's summer boy Peter who is more than willing to oblige. Athletic Beth comes to the beach with her best friend George. It's only when another girls points out his hotness factor that Beth gains clarity of her own feelings.

Because Abbot spends a good amount of time creating three separate girls, and reinforces those differences from the various points of views of each girl, a reader can begin to identify with, if not all, at least one of the main characters. In addition as they are cousins, the characters weave in and out of each other's stories, which create nice links throughout. For each of these characters Abbott concocts a growing-up cocktail: some part happily ever after, some drunken hook-up, some self-awareness and confidence building, and some part poor decisions. All in all a packed summer drink.

This book made me nostalgic. I was reminded of the mystery and enticements of my own summers away from home. Each year I went away, I returned to school recharged. This is not an amazing or mind-blowing book, but it was good. The characters were believable, and they all seem to grow up a bit, which is what good summers are for, right?

Booktalk: I think I would do a character sketch of one of the three cousins, perhaps Beth. I would introduce her and sporty and athletic, who brings George along to the beach for company. How each of them is all set for their own separate summer flings until George meets Cara. Then I could explain that this is only one of the three stories in the book.

Wasserman, Robin, (2005). Lust (Seven Deadly Sins). New York: Simon Pulse. ISBN:068987782X. 229 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Sex, drugs, and a little bit of rock and roll. This book has all of that. Set in the humdrum town of Grace, California, six high school seniors vie for the "Behaving Badly" award. Harper Grace (related to the founders of the town) is the alpha girl in town who's set her sights on her childhood friend Adam. Trouble is, Adam's already taken by the good-girl and overachiever Beth. And when he's not with her, he's dreaming of the new girl Kaia. Funny how when things get rocky between Adam and Beth, because she's not ready to have sex, Kaia is right there. Kaia's really after the new French teacher who is much more interested in Beth. Strangely, Kaia and Beth seem to have a thing for the same men. When Harper isn't pining for Adam she's cutting class to drink and smoke with her best friend Miranda who adores the school player Kane, and is developing a bit of a bulimia problem. For his part, Kane likes being a player, but has his eyes on Beth--the same one who's dating his best friend, Adam.

So, the story's a bit twisted, very much like a soap opera. The only things important to these six are parties, status, and hooking up. Lucky readers have six more books after this one to follow these characters through their sexual exploits, deceptions, heartbreaks and all that other stuff that happens during a senior year in high school.

Each time I look at the book, I am more interested in the cover design than the contents. Is that the Da Vinci font they use for the title and chapter headings? By moving the narrative between all six characters, it's difficult to much of a sense of any of them as people. Even their "types" are, at times, difficult to distinguish or be concerned about. The best moments in the book are chapters 6 and 12 when the action moves from one character to another so that the interconnected web of the characters is distinctly clear. This web is far more interesting than the characters themselves.

Perhaps this is the point, and if so, than this type of book is just not my type of book. I for one will not be on the ride through the rest of sinville, but I could see that some would follow along as very little actually happens in this first installment. Maybe as the series progresses the characters will flesh themselves out and other readers will be tantalized and titillated. After book one, I have such little sympathy or empathy for any of them (except maybe Miranda--I do wonder if she really is bulimic) that I don't really care to find out what happens next.

Booktalk: I don't think I would booktalk this book. I might recommend it to people who have enjoyed the Gossip Girls, Clique, or A-List series, as it seems to fall into that category of book, but I wouldn't single it out for a group talk.

Cabot, Meg, (2000). The Princess Diaries. New York: Harper Trophy. ISBN:0380314021. 283 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: The first in the series (so far there are 7!) about Mia Thermopolis, a simple New York girl who suddenly finds out she's heir to the small country of Genovia. While other girls might be overjoyed with this news, Mia just wants to keep it secret since she's already seen as gawky and awkward within her school. Still, she makes a deal with her father that she will take "Princess Lessons" with her grandmother (a woman who's eyeliner is tattooed on and someone I imagined looked a bit like a female Yoda without the nice demeanor). These lessons force her to change her appearance, which puts a huge strain on her best friendship with Lilly, since she won't tell Lilly the truth about why she has begun to be driven around in a limo among other things.

On top of the Lilly drama and the Princess mayhem, Mia's love life is nonexistent. Meanwhile Mia's mother (her parents are not married or together) has been dating Mia's algebra teacher--the one subject Mia is failing. One of the best moments in the book is when Mia walks into the kitchen of her house only to find her mom in a bathrobe and algebra teacher in his boxers. With Lilly not speaking to her, the only person she can tell is Lilly's brother, Michael.

Told in diary format, Mia's voice is very humorous, and at times candid. Interspersed between entries are random To-Do lists, algebra problems and instant messages. While I was initially apprehensive of reading this book that spawned two Disney movies, this was a quick and fun read, and I had trouble putting it down. I've heard mixed reviews of the follow up books, so I am not sure I will pursue further books in the series (though I am curious if she and Michael get together), but I would certainly pass this book on to those in search of a romantic comedy.

Booktalk: Because of the movies, this book would be easy to link to those, especially making a comparative difference between the Grandmere in the book and the Julie Andrew's version. It would be nice to use a tiara during the talk, if I had one. Also, I could read have the audience try their luck at being a Princess by taking all or part of "Grandmere's Text" (pp. 167-169).

Bloor, Edward, (1997). Tangerine. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 0439286034. 294 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Paul Fisher and his family may have just moved to the strangest town in the United States: Tangerine, Florida. Weird things are always happening: muck fires burn behind the homes sending out smelly gasses, lightening strikes the same area every afternoon, and portable school buildings get sucked into sinkholes. Some of these events are linked to the history of the town. What was formerly filled with grove after grove of tangerine trees has turned into subdivisions and school buildings, and nature seems to rebel against all these new developments.

Paul can see this connection, but as he sees it, everyone else in his family is too absorbed in the "Erik Fisher Football Dream" to notice. For that matter, they're too focused on that dream to to really notice Paul. Their dad thinks Erik is a football star bound to get great scholarships at top colleges, but Paul sees Erik as a bully.

Paul's own soccer success is overshadowed his brother. Add to this the fact that Paul has a serious eye problem due to a mysterious accident that happened when he was a child. With the help of a new group of friends and a project on a new kind of tangerine, Paul begins to slowly come into his own. At the same time, he begins to remember events from his own past that shed much needed clarity for his whole family, whether they like it or not.

At times, this book is simultaneously mesmerizing and horrifying. It's amazing what people will overlook when singularly focused on one goal. Bloor's novel raises a lot of issues about the environment, social strata, and even family relations. There are times you want to shake his mother for her knee-jerk reactions or his father for his overzealous praise of Erik, but perhaps it's because these parents seem real and entirely fallible. Paul is a kid you can root for. While everyone else in town seems to have trouble seeing how astute he is, by letting him tell his own story, the reader is immediately convinced and follows him willingly.

Booktalk: I think this would be a good booktalk to do as a mood piece. To help it along, I think I could bring in a prop of goggles (like the ones he wears for sports) and/or a tangerine. Perhaps the tangerine could be especially useful as the outer skin is protecting a sweet fruit.

Garden, Nancy (1982). Annie on My Mind. Toronto: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. ISBN: 374404135?. 234 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Liza's final year of high school doesn't quite go the way she planned. She gets in trouble with the headmistress of her school (on more than one occasion), the school itself is financially unstable, but mostly, she's falling in love with Annie. The two are a perfect match. Annie doesn't go to Liza's school, but the two become inseparable, creating a strong bond of friendship before delving into something more. When their relationship does become physical, the two are able to live in a temporary utopia, until their love is exposed to others. How these others (including Liza's parents) respond effects more than just Liza and Annie.

The story is slightly dated in pacing, environment, and politics, but the primary content and subject matter are still current and valid. Farmer writes a love story that is honest and heartwarming. While some of the characters play out more like caricatures at times (the headmistress is named Mrs. Poindexter?), there is a lot within this book that feels genuine and true. It is easy to become emotionally tied to these characters as they come out to themselves and to their worlds. A young person struggling with issues of sexuality can find a lot within the story that is supportive and encouraging. I think many who come out to their parents would hope their parents respond like Liza's father.

Before reading this book, the only YA book I had read with a same sex love relationship was M.E. Kerr's Deliver Us From Evie, which I found, like some other gay romance stories, moved too quickly from attraction to action. Perhaps one of the best things about Annie On My Mind is the careful way Farmer takes the reader through this budding first love. The story is believable, and I can see it as a touchstone for other authors who want to write similar love stories.

Booktalk: If I could find reproductions, I might talk about this book by introducing the two "symbolic" art pieces of each of them--the choir screen and the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan. I could bring images of these two works and describe the two main characters as they relate to this art.

Meyers, Walter Dean, (1999). Monster. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN:0060280778. 281 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: This novel is primarily written as a screenplay, with some shorter journal entries interspersed. Steve Harmon is a black 16 year old on trial for felony murder. He's also in the film club at his school, Stuyvesant. He's the one writing the screenplay. Through flashback scenes and scenes of others' testimony, the reader gets a glimpse into Steve's world and his situation. Is he guilty? Is he innocent? What has he learned during this trial?

Meyers does a lovely job creating a character who wants to be liked and loves to observe. At times this created distance makes you wonder how much of the whole experience Steve is internalizing. The journal entries help maintain a personal sympathy for the character. Because of these, I think this story might not translate well into a screenplay. While it is couched in this screenplay it is most immediately a novel. Meyers also sets up a community, and makes Steve's environment almost characters themselves. There is the character of his neighborhood and the character of the detention center where he is being housed.

As a reader, I was quick to sympathize with Steve, but it was also easy to see that his "screenplay" still omitted facts and elements that fully completed the story. Meyers alludes to this reliability question on p. 214 when Steve inserts a quick scene of his film teacher Sawicki giving advice. Sawicki says "When you see a filmmaker getting to fancy, you can bet he's worried either about his story or about his ability to tell it."

The novel raises large questions about fitting in, morality and the current justice system. I can easily see how a class could work as the jury in this case after the closing arguments. The book also raises some difficult questions about risk taking and rights. In the end, the jury does come to a verdict and another discussion could follow the jury's actual decision. Was it the right one?

Booktalk: Because this book is written as a screenplay, a possible book talk could use class students to read certain characters during a certain scene of the book--perhaps during Bobo's testimony. Or you could read the opening (or possibly the closing) arguments of one of the lawyers.

Stolarz, Laurie Faria, (2003). Blue is for Nightmares. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn. ISBN:0738703915. 283 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: What's worse that dreaming that your best friend is going to be murdered? Waking up, at 16, to find you've wet the bed. So begins Stacey's junior year at boarding school. She keeps having nightmares that her best friend and roommate, Drea, will die and then waking up to soiled sheets. Of course the two events are slightly linked and both get addressed through the course of the novel, but in the meantime, Drea keeps getting death lilies and people close to her keep getting cryptic notes in red block letters. It gets kinda creepy.

As Stolarz puts it at the end of the novel, Stacey is the "psychic friend"--a Wicca to be exact--and it takes all her skills in witchcraft to try to save her friend. Yes, that's right, the witch is the good kind. She uses the powers of magic and nature to help her answer questions about the mystery.

This book is fast paced and well plotted out. Stolarz has listened well to Chekov's advice (if you put a gun in the first act it has to go off in the third), making sure that many possible loose ends get tied. It's possible you can discover who the murderer is before Stacey does, but I didn't lose the thrill of watching her nab him nonetheless. I am not usually a fan of mystery novels but Stolarz has created such a fine group of characters that part of the fun of the read is just watching them interact inside the walls of their boarding school. I am curious to read the rest series White is for Magic, Silver is for Secrets, and Red is for Rememberance.

Booktalk: Because of the television show Medium, who also has visions that save lives and solve mysteries, I might talk about how Stacey is a bit like that character. Even if I didn't bring that television show into the picture, I think delving into a description of the main character might interest some readers.

Nelson, Marilyn. Philippe Lardy, ill., (2005). A Wreath for Emmett Till. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN:0618397523. 34 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: This is the first book I've read for this journal that I desperately feel the need to own. Nelson's written a heroic crown of sonnets to commemorate Emmett Till, a boy lynched while visiting family in Mississippi in the 1950's. That's right, a heroic crown. A crown of sonnets links poems by using the last line of one sonnet to be the first line of the next. A heroic crown makes a final 15th sonnet out of the first lines of each of the preceding 14 sonnets. Frankly, it's a pretty amazing form, and difficult to do well. Nelson does it well. Nelson's poems show how Emmett Till's life and death is still relevant. She relates this act to other acts of violence, meditating on the impact of violence, and rising to a crescendo of hope near the end of the book.

Philippe Lardy's illustrations add lovely touches to the book. None are overdone and work as a nice complement to the poems. In addition, both author and illustrator have included notes about creative decisions they made in writing this book.

There is also a clearer biography of Emmett Till's life at the end. Nelson also includes brief annotations of her sonnets so that readers can see other poems she referenced, other events in the world, or reasons why she depicted certain things as she did. With all this extra information included, it seems to me that this book could be a useful resource in many different arenas--poetry, history, social justice, interpretation, meditation...

Booktalk: I think there are two ways to talk about this book. One would be to introduce the form of the book, the sonnet and the heroic crown of sonnets. The other would be to introduce Emmett Till and discuss his life a little bit.

Hautman, Pete, (2004). Godless. Waterville, ME: Thorndike Press. 0786270705: 239 pages, large print edition.

Summary and Evaluation: Written in the first person, Jason Bock tells the story of how he and his best friend start their own religion, worshipping the town water tower. The two quickly gain new members, and the most exciting point in the book is when the group is swimming inside the water tower and can't find the way to get out of the tank. They do get out and Jason Bock describes how his new religion quickly spirals out of his own control and understanding.

With a title like Godless, it's pretty easy to see that this book is going to discuss religion and faith. I could find this interesting, especially when geared toward young adults. This book, however, was not interesting to me. The prose is choppy and often oversimplified. Perhaps some young adults would appreciate the simple prose style. Perhaps they would be interested enough in a book that deals with faith issues to dwell on that aspect. Perhaps it is the approach to faith that bothers me the most. Hautman's created a character that knows too much (Bock talks about Buddhists, and Hindus and Jews...for someone who's grown up Catholic he already has some well rounded religious knowledge) and believes too little. It doesn't so much seem that his character is taking a faith journey as Hautman is trying to prove his point. The book felt didactic and rather predictable. In the end, I don't think it took its characters, its subject or its readers seriously enough to actually approach an interesting or complex story. It was a disappointed as it seems to me that the topic of faith and questioning one's faith could actually make an interesting story. For me, though, this one did not do it.

I am still trying to discern if my dislike of this book comes from my adult perspective or from the book itself. Perhaps all of my claims against the book are ones young adults wouldn't like. Perhaps young adults would relish the simplicity or the fact that knowledge of faith doesn't make one faithful. I just think this book could be better than it is.

Honestly, I began to wonder if this book would have been more successful as a graphic novel. Hautman's main character is a fan of comic books and a major scene with Bock's best friend Shin includes several descriptions of pictures of water towers. I wonder if this other format would have made the premise less overly apparent and allowed the characters and situations to be more organic.

Booktalk: I wouldn't book talk this book. I do think there is a place for books on questioning faith in the realm of YA lit, but this book felt trite and easy. Isn't there something else out there that does a better job of this?

Block, Francesca Lia. (2000). The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold. New York: Joanna Colter Books. ISBN: 0064407454. 229 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: "Snow," "Tiny," "Glass," "Charm," "Wolf," "Rose," "Bones," "Beast," and "Ice." These are the nine stories Block tells in this collection. All are revisions of fairy tales, and they are primarily located in Los Angeles, California. These heroines aren't the passive dreamers of Perrault and the Brother's Grimm. Nor are they the powerful heroines of Robin McKinley or Gail Carson Levine or Terry Pratchett.

These are not stories for children, it is clear they are intended for young adults. Block's retold fairy tales are closer to the gritty, confessional nature of Anne Sexton's poetry collection Transformations. Block's characters are mix of drug addicts, dreamers, fighters, artists, and ingénues and range in age from teenage years to their twenties.

As a sucker for fairy tales, and their revisions, I ate this book up, and found myself satisfied. I was pleased to see "Rose," "Tiny," and "Ice" which are based on less familiar tales. There is enough in each story so that the reader recognizes its origins and enough new about them to bring a fresh perspective. "Snow" and "Glass" explore other options of love that could be found in "Snow White" and "Cinderella." Sometimes the stories remain too ethereal, leaving the stories confusing at the end. Sometimes the stories are overwrought in their poetics. Others, however, resonate with explorations on love and female empowerment. Many times, the skillful writing propels you forward into a magical world and you happily remain there, breathless, until the story is over.

Perhaps the most intriguing story to me was "Bones" with its modern-day "Bluebeard" completely aware of his murderous tendencies, self-proclaiming his name to be Blue. This story becomes a contemporary cautionary tale, in a way that is more effective than the original story. In addition its awareness of its revision of a fairy tale creates an exciting twist to the story. "I will rewrite the story of Bluebeard. The girl's brothers don't come to save her on horses," the narrator writes as she begins the story's conclusion. I love how it is suddenly meta.

While I enjoyed all of the stories, the book's presentation was a bit curious. I wondered a bit about the order as one of the weakest characters is found in the final story. More curious, though is the layout. The book's page margins are huge, and the text looks like the size of a cracker on each page. While the book was over 200 pages, in a different format, I don't think it would have been over 100. At times, this was problematic.

Booktalk: I could begin by asking for a show of hands of what fairy tales they remember or which was their favorite. Using this as a point of entry, I could retell one of these listed stories to the group, but tell it according to Block's version. I could then explain how Block takes the familiar stories and revises them.

Whitney, Kim Ablon. (2004). See You Down the Road. New York: Knopf. ISBN: 0375824677. 185 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Kim Ablon Whitney's first novel takes place in a family of Travelers, a clan of people who move like gypsies throughout the United States running and con-jobs to make their money. Though they may make their money in questionable ways, they have a cultural rules and expectations they are all bound to. Main character Bridget, 16, is arranged to be married to her brother's best friend, Patrick. Following tradition, Patrick happily helps Bridget's father with swindles. Her mother takes care of the finances, but her father makes all the decisions.

Bridget isn't sure she fits in with this normal Traveler lifestyle however. She likes school and reading, and wants to make her own decisions. She questions her family's way of life. Is it okay to make a living cheating other people? Does she want to be married? Is it fair that Traveler boys can mess around and Traveler girls have to stay "pure" until marriage? What would it be like if she lived in one place? Where is her life headed?

Whitney's created a collection of teenage characters that bring universal angst about individualism and freedom into an atypical situation. There are a few missteps, but for the most part it is an enjoyable read. The pace is quick and the plot remains exciting throughout. The novel ends a bit too quickly or too neatly, but it does remain consistent with the characters. In addition, it introduces the reader to a culture that was certainly foreign to me before reading this book.

Booktalk: This could be a good book to introduce by giving the group a secret fact about Travelers: Do you know some parents raise their children to be conartists? They are called "Travelers," and this story takes place with teenagers coming of age in this world.
You could also start this book by introducing a few of the Traveler terms like "kad" and "country." And explaining that with this group of people, they have their own language, and we get a peek of it in the book.

Green, Bette, (1973). Summer of My German Soldier. New York: Dial Press. ISBN: possibly 0803728697. 230 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: This novel flirts on the edge of YA literature. There is no sex (nor any subtext of it). The parents of the main character are central characters. And the main character, Patty, is a twelve year old. This is not the normal age for a YA heroine, nor the normal circumstances. But Patty is a smart and imaginative girl whose wit and curiosity don't fit well with her parents' ideals of daughters nor with growing up in the south during World War II. Add to this the simple love story between Patty, who is Jewish, and a Nazi prisoner of war, and a sophisticated narrative and what you have is a exciting and intriguing read.

What Patty craves is love from her parents. As it turns out, this is an impossible yearning, because her parents barely have love for themselves. What Patty gets is love from the black housekeeper, Ruth, and the escaped Nazi, Anton. Patty's isolation and attempts for love are moving as are the conversations she has with Anton. Though there is only a brief kiss when Anton departs, their honesty and care for each other demonstrate a mature type of relationship.

Greene's central characters bring issues of prejudice and violence to the forefront. Are all Nazi's Jew-haters or are they just staying quiet and passive in order to survive? Is violence perpetrated on your family more acceptable than violence toward a people because it is done behind closed doors? What makes someone "a person of value?" It is these ethical questions that complicate the book and make it one that an older reader could really enjoy.

Though there is rarely any rough language, the book does use racial slurs. As these words are foreign and offensive in 2006, hopefully an older reader could discern their purpose and usefulness within the context of the story.

It seems this book could slip through the cracks of many readers. I believe I owned this book as a teenager, but I am pretty sure I never read it. At 12, I might have been too young to fully understand the story, but at 14 I may have been put off by the young age of the main character and the fact there was no real action between Anton and Patty. It seems that those who find this book could be very fortunate.

Booktalk: This might be a good book to introduce as a diary or letter format. You could make up your own letter from Patty to the escaped Anton. This could allude to the issues within her family as well as the relationship Anton and Patty have. It could also introduce readers to the first person narration of the story.

Lynch, Chris (2001). Freewill. NY: HarperCollins. ISBN: 0060281766. 148 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Will is troubled. Orphaned by his parents and left to live with his father's parents. He sleepwalks through life, not even aware of the furniture and sculpture he makes in his woodshop class. He can't seem to stay in school and has no real friends. Matters get worse when teens start dying in his town, and he finds himself responsible, since at every location one of his strange carved monuments appears.

This book has two running themes. The first is water, because drowning seems to be the suicide of choice in this town and can be both a life giving and life taking force. The second is Christianity. The three sections are called Faith, Hope, and Charity, and Will is a carpenter of sorts with a bit of a cult following.

Told entirely in second person "You smile, but you don't half mean it" (p. 52). Lynch has difficulty sustaining an actual narrative within this voice. I was constantly curious and engaged, though I often had no idea what was ever happening.

Like Laurie Halse Anderson's novel Speak (another Printz Honor Book), it seems as though Lynch is attempting to take the reader down the spiral of depression that can occur after a major trauma, but he is only mildly successful. Using the second person never allows Will an independence of voice.

Lynch, unlike Anderson, never fully reveals the details that lead up to the tragedy nor the descriptions of the main character. Why did Will ever want to be a pilot anyway, or think he could be? Where was he when his parent's died? Is he schizophrenic, psychotic, just clinically depressed, or just really shy and moody? Too much remains a mystery.

In addition this direct address narrator never really becomes known: is it Will's internal voice? His therapist? Is it God? Is it the Devil? And without Will actually responding to the barrage of questions constantly thrown at him from this voice, it is difficult to know what conclusions to arrive at.

Booktalk: With this book, you could bring in a prop of a beautiful piece of turned wood or carved doll, and use the prop to introduce the character's skill at woodworking, and tout the piece as a mystery.

Daly, Maureen (1942). Seventeenth Summer. NY: Simon Pulse. ISBN:0671619314. 291 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Angie's spent her high school years at a private girl's school. In the summer before college, she meets local basketball star, Jack, and engages in her first romance. She's rather prim and proper, and her behavior could be seen by some readers as boring and passive. I credited it to era and upbringing. If you look past the fact she will barely touch Jack's hand for the half the novel, and freaks out when he clicks his ice cream spoon with his teeth, what you become witness to is an internal dialog about growing up. Throughout the novel, she struggles with what she feels and how to express it. There are some great moments in the book where she discusses the sudden transformation from child to adult: one moment she is happily catching pollywogs, and the next her thoughts are consumed by boys, and mortality, and her future.

This transitional dichotomy is made all the more clear and believable with the addition of her older and younger sisters. And the secondary storyline of her sister Lorraine is especially engaging.

Written when she herself was still a teenager, Daly's novel has beautiful descriptive moments, and I must admit that knowing her age at the time of authorship only makes me like the novel more. I could never have written about my own teenage years with such clarity and perspective and am still not sure I could. Damn.

Booktalk: I might introduce this book with reading a section from p. 203 - 205, "Growing up crowds your mind with new thoughts and new feelings so that you forget how you used to think and feel."