Name | Heather Waters |
Title | Hitler's Last Days |
Author | Bill O'Reilly |
ISBN | 9781627793964 |
Publisher | Henry Holt |
Classification | Nonfiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 5 |
Summary | This book tells of the last days that Adolf Hitler was alive. The story tells how he had survived an assassin's bomb only to see the end of his dreams of world domination and the end of the Jewish people. It shows how he sank into a deep black depression and how he and his new wife took their own lives. |
Would you recommend? Why or why not? | Yes.
This book show us important historical facts about a world leader. |
Name | April Haupt |
Title | World War I Aftermath |
Author | Tom Streissguth |
ISBN | 9781624039263 |
Publisher | ABDO |
Classification | Non Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 3 |
Summary | The aftermath of World War I would seem to be a very specific topic but is actually quite complex. The beginning of the book does a good job of explaining the end of the war and the impacts of the armistice on the German people. The author then attempts to show how the end of the war brought an end to most major dynasties, the impact of the economy of the countries involved in the war, and events that eventually led to World War II. However, this is done in a disjointed manner that is hard to follow. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | No. This organization of this book is not chronological or even in order of significance. Very difficult to understand the big picture it is trying to communicate. |
Name | Debbie Martin |
Title | Words on bathroom walls |
Author | Julia Walton |
ISBN | 9780399550881 |
Publisher | Random House |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 4 |
Summary | Adam is a likeable, funny teenager who is dealing with hallucinations. After a schizophrenia diagnosis and some trouble at school, he is trying out a new drug to help him separate his fantasy characters from reality. He starts over at a new school and meets a girl – he is determined to hide his condition until the drug begins to fail. The book is a diary to his Adam’s therapist in which he discusses how the drug is affecting him, his hallucinations, and what he is experiencing in life. Readers will view people with mental illness with empathy and will understand that those who suffer want to be treated just like others. The book offers a message of hope along with a strong dose of reality. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. Teens will relate to the character and will develop empathy for those who have mental health challenges. |
Name | Debbie Martin |
Title | I believe in a thing called love |
Author | Maurene Goo |
ISBN | 9780374304041 |
Publisher | Farrar Straus Giroux |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 4 |
Summary | A funny, endearing romance sprinkled with Korean-American family life and many high school antics. Desi Lee is an overachieving high school senior who is successful in everything aspect of her life except romance. When a new guy, Luca, transfers to her school, she devises a plan to finally land a boyfriend. Her approach is typically academic; she creates a step-by-step approach to woo Luca based on the Korean dramas that she watches with her dad. Will she finally find success at romance, or is she destined to fail once again? With the help of her friends and her plan in-hand, she is determined to give it her best effort. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. This is a fun romance and should be very appealing - especially to those high-achieving, type-A teens who will relate to Desi. |
Name | Gwen Wethington |
Title | These shallow graves |
Author | Jennifer Donnelly |
ISBN | 9780385737661 |
Publisher | Ember |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 5 |
Summary | A young woman in nineteenth-century New York City must struggle against gender and class boundaries when her father is found dead of a supposed suicide, and she believes there is more than meets the eye, so in order to uncover the truth she will have to decide how much she is willing to risk and lose. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. I wasn't in LOVE with the book, but over all it's not that bad. One thing I really love about it is how the more the main character, Jo, discovers about her dad's death, the more secrets get revealed and the more information she finds out about the town she lives in. |
Name | Gwen Wethington |
Title | Die for you |
Author | Amy Feller Dominy |
ISBN | 9781101936191 |
Publisher | Delacorte Press |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 5 |
Summary | Eighteen-year-old Emma Lorde thought her gorgeous, good guy boyfriend, Dillon, had saved her life, but senior year has brought about many changes and challenges to their picture perfect future. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. I fell in love with this book. I really loved Dillon's love and compassion towards Emma. It starts off like any other love story but I really love how it takes a turn when Emma tells Dillion about how she is leaving. I love how he does everything he can to make her stay. Overall it is a great book. |
Name | Gwen Wethington |
Title | Somebody's baby |
Author | Lurlene McDaniel |
ISBN | 9780385744232 |
Publisher | Delacorte Press |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 5 |
Summary | A young woman who has skyrocketed to fame is guarded but hopeful when she receives an email from a stranger who claims not only to have information about the father she never knew but also to be her half sister |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. |
Name | Gwen Wethington |
Title | Serendipity's Footsteps |
Author | Suzanne Nelson |
ISBN | 9780385392136 |
Publisher | Knopf Books for Young Readers |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 5 |
Summary | From Nazi Germany to a modern-day orphanage in the American South, three girls separated by decades and thousands of miles are about to give up when a single pair of shoes binds them all together. Dalya is the daughter of a cobbler in 1930s Berlin, and though she is only fifteen, she knows she will follow in her father's footsteps. When she is forced into a concentration camp one violent November night, she must leave behind everything she knew and loved. Ray is a modern-day orphan, jagged around the edges in every possible way. She sees an impulsive escape to New York as her only chance at happiness; there, she knows she'll be able to convert her sorrows into songs. Pinny is an unwavering optimist and Ray's unintended travel companion on her passage to a new life. She inherited from her eccentric mother a fascination with shoes as a means of transformation and expression. A single pair of shoes entwines these lives. How these women connect across different times and places is an unforgettable story of strength, love, bravery, memory, and the serendipity that binds us all together. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. Wonderful story about three girls in three very different time periods, that are intertwined together by a single pair of shoes. Through these three girls, the reader can see what is happening in that time period, what hardships each girl must face and how even through adversity, these young girls can overcome and find their place in the world. |
Name | Gwen Wethington |
Title | A week of Mondays |
Author | Jessica Brody |
ISBN | 9780374382704 |
Publisher | Farrar, Struas, Giroux |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 5 |
Summary | Sixteen-year-old Ellison Sparks keeps reliving the terrible Monday on which her boyfriend, Tristan, breaks up with her and no matter how hard she tries, she cannot seem to set things right. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. Funny, fast paced read that students would enjoy. |
Name | Gwen Wethington |
Title | Aim |
Author | Joyce Moyer Hostetter |
ISBN | 9781629796734 |
Publisher | Calkins Creek |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 5 |
Summary | Set in WW II, this story tells of a young boy adjusting to a world filled with war and the death of his father. Many life changing decisions and unlikely friendships help to shape the young boy into a man as the novel progresses. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. |
Name | Gwen Wethington |
Title | Lucky strikes |
Author | Louis Baynard |
ISBN | 9781627793902 |
Publisher | Henry Holt and Company |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 5 |
Summary | A young girl, without a mother or a father, is in charge of raising her siblings and running the family gas station. With the threat of child services coming to remove them all and place them in foster care, the young girl must find a "parent" and fast! She finally decided to ask the local hobo if he will help her out. Not only can he help keep social services from taking them all away but he can help her fight the rich oil tycoon that is threatening to buy her gas station. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. |
Name | Gwen Wethington |
Title | Concentr8 |
Author | William Sutcliffe |
ISBN | 9781619639195 |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Children's Books |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 5 |
Summary | A young boy comes of age in a time period of military rule and social unrest. Very thought provoking about what could/would happen in our society if our government was replaced with strict military power |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. |
Name | Gwen Wethington |
Title | Shattered warrior |
Author | Molly Know Ostertag |
ISBN | 9781626720893 |
Publisher | First Second |
Classification | Graphic Novel |
Recommended level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 5 |
Summary | It is eight years after Colleen Cavanaugh's home world was invaded by the Derichets, a tyrannical alien race bent on exploiting the planet's mineral resources. Most of her family died in the war, and she now lives alone in the city. Aside from her acquaintances at the factory where she toils for the Derichets, Colleen makes a single friend in Jann, a member of the violent group of rebels known as the Chromatti. One day Colleen receives shocking news: her niece Lucy is alive and in need of her help. Together, Colleen, Jann, and Lucy create their own tenuous family. But Colleen must decide if it's worth risking all of their survival to join a growing underground revolution against the Derichets |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. This was a great graphic novel with not only excellent graphics but a very heart warming story as well. The main character, Colleen, proved to be a very brave and courageous young lady who fought for her family and to protect those around her. I enjoyed this book very much!! |
Name | Debbie Martin |
Title | Drowning is inevitable |
Author | Shalanda Stanley |
ISBN | 9780553508284 |
Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 5 |
Summary | Seventeen-year-old Olivia is tied to her surroundings: the town, river, friends and the memory of her mother. Olivia’s lives in the shadow of her mother whose death, occurring when Olivia was 3 days old, shook the entire town. Olivia can feel invisible as her grandmother calls her by her mother’s name and her father looks at her with pain because she is a constant reminder. Olivia looks like her mother, sleeps in her mother’s childhood room surrounded by her mother’s pictures, and wears her mother’s clothes. Olivia loves two boys: Jamie is her best friend and the two have an unbreakable connection; Max is her boyfriend who loves her deeply and does his best to understand Olivia’s connection to Jamie. She and her friends are navigating life in their small, southern town when something goes terribly wrong and they find themselves on the run, landing in New Orleans. As the title suggests, events are inevitable, and Olivia finds herself in the position of having to move on after tragedy. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. This is a moving, beautifully written book with a strong sense of place. This is a really good coming of age book. |
Name | Rebecca Ansari |
Title | This raging light |
Author | Estelle Laure |
ISBN | 9780544534292 |
Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5 wth 5 being the highest) | 4 |
Summary | Following the lives that many children/students have to live, especially in low-income communities, you have babies raising babies. A young woman, 17-years-old in this case, finding herself having to be the parent of her younger, 10-year-old, sister while still having the feelings of a typical 17-year-old, that first crush. Lucille has found herself having to be an adult when she very much still needs and wants to be a teenager. The story is one that will keep you cheering for Lucille as she makes it through the hard life she was handed by the people that should care for her the most, her parents. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. Relates to a lot of challenges my students have to face. |
Name | Susan Gasaway |
Title | The girl I used to be |
Author | April Henry |
ISBN | 9781627793322 |
Publisher | Henry Holt and Company |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 5 |
Summary | Olivia's parents were killed 14 years ago. New evidence has surfaced and Olivia finds herself in the middle of the new investigation. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. This is a fast-paced mystery that grabs you from the beginning. It has a likable main character you will want to root for. Many surprising twists and turns with a very unexpected ending. |
Name | Susan Gasaway |
Title | Nine Months: Jasmine |
Author | Maggie Wells |
ISBN | 9781680761924 |
Publisher | EPIC Press |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5 with 5 being the highest) | 3 |
Summary | Nine Months is a 6 book series where each book focuses on on young female facing an unwanted pregnancy. The book Jasmine followings the story of a college freshman in Las Vegas who becomes a professional dancer on the Strip. When she becomes pregnant, she has to face some tough decisions about how to juggle school, dancing, and motherhood. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. This is a hi-lo reading selection that will appeal to high school students. Many students will appreciate its "edgy" content. |
Name | |
Title | Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned From a Little Golden Book |
Author | Diane Muldrow |
ISBN | 9780553508758 |
Publisher | Random House |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 5 |
Summary | This book includes witty observations about love and relationships paired with images from classic Little Golden Books. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | This is a quick read that will engage readers with its humorous take on a variety of relationships. The pictures are fun and compliment the observations in the text. |
Name | Susan Gasaway |
Title | Macbeth #killingit |
Author | William Shakespeare/Courtney Carbone |
ISBN | 9780553538809 |
Publisher | Penguin Random House |
Classification | Graphic Novel |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 5 |
Summary | Macbeth #killingit is the retelling of Shakespeare's tragedy of Macbeth using texts, emojis, tweets, and status posts. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. This book speaks to students in their own language and they will enjoy the humor of this interpretation. I could also see this book used by teachers while teaching Shakespeare to bring the text into the 21st century. It is a relatively easy read so it would appeal to struggling readers as well. |
Name | Susan Gasaway |
Title | The divine |
Author | Asaf Hanuka |
ISBN | 9781596436749 |
Publisher | Roaring Brook Press |
Classification | Graphic Novel |
Recommended Level | High School |
Rating (1-5) | 4 |
Summary | Mark, an explosives expert in need of money takes a job with an old army buddy in the fictional Southeast Asian country of Quanlom. In Quanlom, Mark is lured by a group of child-soldiers, led by a set of twins known as "The Divine", to help them fight ancient forces with the modern technology Mark knows well. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. The beautiful artwork, along with the unique adventure story makes The Divine a good selection for a high school library. Students who enjoy the dystopian genre will love this graphic novel. The action will keep them engaged and the graphic nature of the artwork will capture their interest. |
Name | Susan Gasaway |
Title | Stay in the game |
Author | Megan Atwood |
ISBN | 9781467775069 |
Publisher | Lerner |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 4 |
Summary | Stay in the Game is book 1 of The Contest Series, a Hi-Lo book series. James enters "The Contest" to win $10 million in order to pay for his grandfather's experimental medical treatment that will save his life. In "The Contest", he has to be the first to complete assigned tasks, with no questions asked. James completes tasks 1-8 in the first volume of this series. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. This is a high-interest adventure/mystery with a Lexile of 520. It will appeal to students who enjoy a quick read as well as those who are struggling readers. It is a fast-paced adventure with a likable protagonist that students will root for and want to see succeed in subsequent volumes. |
Name | Debbie Martin |
Title | The love interest |
Author | Cale Dietrich |
ISBN | 9781250107138 |
Publisher | Feiwel and Friends |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1 to 5 ) | 4 |
Summary | Caden and Dylan are in a high-stakes competition to win the girl – the winner spends the rest of his life with her and the loser dies. This is a dystopian world where kids are divided into “Nice” and “Bad” categories, are surgically altered, given identities and are trained to pursue mates with special gifts. “Nice” Caden is full of uncertainty about his place and his role. His mission is to win the love of Juliet over his rival “Bad” Dylan. Breaking the rules, these rivals become friends as they pursue the same girl. Along the way, something else emerges between the two of them. But what will happen after Juliet has made her choice? Will one boy live while the other dies, or is there another way out? Coming of age story, dystopian, romance with an LGBT twist. |
Would you recommend this title? Why or why not? | Yes. This book has compelling teen elements along with dystopian concepts that make the reader question what it means to be truthful to others and oneself. |
Name | Rebecca Ansari | |||
Title | The Librarian of Auschwitz | |||
Author | Antonio Iturbe | |||
ISBN | 9781627796187 | |||
Publisher | Godwin Books | |||
Classification | Fiction | |||
Recommended Level | High | |||
Rating (1 to 5) | 5 | |||
Summary |
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Would you recommended this book? Why or why not? | Yes. Helps those see how much they have to be thankful for though they may believe they have nothing in their lives to be thankful for. |
Name | Rebecca Ansari |
Title | You're welcome, universe |
Author | Whitney Gardner |
ISBN | 9780399551413 |
Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1 to 5) | 3 |
Summary | A nice break from teen romance or a teen with a supernatural or superpower, one kind find oneself relating to a girl, Julia, who has a disability, being deaf. Despite her differences, Julia finds a way to express herself through her art, though many may call her art vandalism, graffiti. This is a story about finding oneself through expression while finding a friend that builds you up and challenges you instead of bringing you |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. Students can relate for longing to want to fit in despite their differences. |
Name | Rebecca Ansari | ||
TItle | The lost and the found | ||
Author | Cat Clarke | ||
ISBN | 9781101932049 | ||
Publisher | Crown | ||
Classification | Fiction | ||
Recommended Level |
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Rating (1 to 5) | 4 | ||
Summary |
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Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. A book that is sure to entertain and keep a student wanting to read more. |
Name | Rebecca Ansari | ||
Title | The girl in the picture | ||
Author | Alexandra Monir | ||
ISBN | 9780385743907 | ||
Publisher | Delacorte Press | ||
Classification | Fiction | ||
Recommended Level | High | ||
Rating (1 to 5) | 3 | ||
Summary |
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Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. For those searching for a modern mystery, this book will fulfill their need to read. |
Name | Debbie Martin |
Title | Reawakened |
Author | Colleen Houck |
ISBN | 9780385376563 |
Publisher | Delacorte Press |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1 to 5)` | 3 |
Summary | Lily is an affluent Manhatttan teen living a safe and scripted existence. She heads to the Egyptian exhibit at the museum where she encounters a man who turns out to be the risen mummy of Amon, an Egyptian demi-god. He is on a quest to find his brothers so they can defeat an evil power, but he needs Lily’s help; he casts a spell binding them together and Lily finds herself strangely drawn to him. After some adventures navigating New York, they head to Egypt and things become much more dangerous. As the adventures ensue the attraction between the two grows, but a relationship is forbidden. Will Amon and his brothers succeed in their goal to quash the rising evil force? WIll Lily and Amon fall in love? Will either of them survive the danger they encounter? |
Would you recommended this book? Why or why not? | Yes. For readers who enjoy adventure and mythology splashed with romance. |
Name | Heather Waters |
Title | Teens Take it to Court: Young People Who Challenged the Law and Changed Your Life |
Author | Judge Tom Jacobs |
ISBN | 9781575421995 |
Publisher | Free Spirit Publishing |
Classification | Non Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 5 |
Summary | Understanding the Law. How the Supreme Court works, facts you should know about the Constitution. How to do legal research and 21 cases that explored legal issues teens are facing today. Do school officials have the right to discipline you? Do your parents? Can you school newspaper be censored? |
Would you recommend this title? Why or why not? | Yes.
These are legal issues that face our students today. They have rights and need to know them |
Name | Heather Waters |
Title | Mike's Place: A True Story of Love, Blues and Terror in Tel Aviv |
Author (s) | Jack Baxter, Joshua Faudem, Koren Shadmi |
ISBN | 9781596438576 |
Publisher | First Second |
Classification | Graphic Novel |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 4 |
Summary | Based on the true story of the bombing of a bar called Mike's Place in Tel Aviv. The author Jack Baxter and Joshua Faudem were present at the bombing while filming a documentary. Great graphics, great story. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. It is important that history not repeat itself. |
Name | Heather Waters |
Title | A Song for Ella Grey |
Author | David Almond |
ISBN | 9780553533590 |
Publisher | Delacorte Press |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 4 |
Summary | Based on the sad story of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology, A Song for Ella Grey tells the story of modern day young lover Orpheus and Ella. Their love is magical and as ill-fated as that of Orpheus and Eurydice, told through the eyes of Ella's friend Claire, David Almond brings the story to life with the use of beauty and love. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? |
Yes. This book is so beautifully written, the words paint pictures of young love and heartache. |
Name | Heather Waters |
Title | Down Cut Shin Creek: The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky |
Author (s) | Kathi Appelt and Jeanne Cannella schmitzer |
ISBN | 0060291354 |
Publsiher | HarperCollins Children's Books |
Classification | Non Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 5 |
Summary | In the 1930's with the Great Depression settled on the nation leaving many without resourses and no way to find help, Roosevelt found a way to help those who were hardest hit. Women heading up households and living on government assisstance. He created the WPA Work Projects Asministration to create jobs for these woman and one of those jobs was to help the poorest in the eastern half of Kentucky, coal mining families who'se men were no longer working. The Pack Horse Librarians were able to reach these people and offer them the opportunity to learn to read and get written resources into their hands. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? |
Yes. Kentucky history is rich with these stories and they should be know by all. |
Name | Heather Waters |
Title | Hana's Suitcase: The quest to Solve a Holocaust mystery |
Author | Karen Levine |
ISBN | 9781101933497 |
Publisher | Random House Children's Books |
Classification | Biography |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 5 |
Summary | Children in Tokyo Japan are sent a battered suitcase with the name of a girl from Czechoslovakia, the suitcase was sent from Auschwitz Museum for the Holocause Center in Japan. It was empty, but the students wanted to Know who Hana Brady was and so their teacher Fumiko Ishioka set out to find Hana and her story. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. This book brings together students in Japan with a young girl from the Holocaust and her elder brother in Canada. Important insight into how the Holocaust is being remembered and athose who died should never be forgotten. |
Name | Angie Moore |
Title | The sun is also a star |
Author | Nicola Yoon |
ISBN | 9780553496680 |
Publisher | Delacorte Press |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating | 5 |
Summary | The Sun is also a Star interweaves the story of two characters, Natasha and Daniel, whose worlds collide in one day that changes them both forever. Both children of immigrant parents, Natasha and Daniel face unique challenges due to their family situation. Natasha struggles to resist deportation at the end of the day while Daniel struggles to resist the pressure his parents place on him to ignore his dream and be who they want him to be. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. Nicola Yoon creates two characters that readers want to cheer for and want to find happiness. The chapters dance back and forth between the perspective of each character. The novel spotlights how one person and one day, both seemingly small things, can change someone’s life forever. They find each other at exactly the right moment and create a powerful story that leaves the reader moved in the end. |
Name | Angie Moore |
Title | They broke the law---you be the judge |
Author | Judge Tom Jacobs |
ISBN | 9781575421346 |
Publisher | Free Spirit Publishing |
Classification | Non Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 5 |
Summary | Examining 21 cases of teens and crimes, this book puts teen readers in the role of judge. Each true story of a teen’s experience with the legal system contains information about the teen’s background, the crime that was committed, your concerns as a judge, sentencing options, questions to consider, what actually happened, and what the teen is doing today. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. The cases presented are engaging and the factual information provided by the author is presented in graphic format to appeal to a variety of readers. They Broke the Law -- You Be the Judge uses an engaging, highly-visual format to appeal to teens who are interested in pursuing a career in the legal system. |
Name | Angie Moore |
Title | Are social networking sites harmful? |
Author | Stefan Kiesbye |
ISBN | 9780737751321 |
Publisher | Greenhaven Press |
Classification | Non Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 4 |
Summary | Are Social Networking Sites Harmful? contains 15 articles written by experts in social media exploring topics including cyberbullying, cyberpredators, addiction to social media, and social spam. The articles cover a range of opinions on social media, some advocating for its usefulness, and others that stand strongly against it and argue it has negative effects on youth. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. Although the book is not visually engaging for teens, it does contain well-written research that could be beneficial for students who are studying the effects of social media on teens. Likewise, the editor has curated a collection of articles that present opposing viewpoints that might prove helpful in constructing an argument for a presentation, speech, or project for class. |
Name | Angie Moore |
Title | Last seen leaving |
Author | Caleb Roehrig |
ISBN | 9781250085634 |
Publisher | Feiwel and Friends |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 3 |
Summary | Flynn’s girlfriend, January, is missing. Her mysterious disappearance forces Flynn to confront terrifying circumstances, including coming out as gay to his family and friends. |
Would you recommend this book? Why or why not? | Yes. This book would be a strong addition to a school library’s culturally-responsive collection. Young adults who are struggling with their own sexual identity might find Flynn’s strength and bravery an inspiration. |
Name | Kay-o Wicks |
Title | The story of seeds |
Author | Nancy Castaldo |
ISBN | 9780544320239 |
Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
Classification | Non-Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 5 |
Summary | Covers the history of the study of seed, from Mendel to the present. The author believes there is a crisis in the loss of seed species and habitats. In this book she provides evidence to support her theory. |
Would you recommend this title? Why or why not? | Yes. |
Name | Sarah M. Robinson |
Title | Notes from the blender |
Author | Trish Cook and Brandon Halpin |
ISBN | 9781606841402 |
Publisher | Egmont USA |
Classification | Fiction |
Recommended Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 3 |
Summary | Declan, an outsider with a love of heavy metal music and violent video games, has never come to terms with the loss of his mother who died in a car accident when he was nine. Neilly, the popular, pretty girl who seems to have it all, has just been dumped by her boyfriend. The two become unexpected friends when they learn their parents are getting married. |
Would you recommend this title? Why or why not? | Yes. Students will enjoy the sarcastic humor often expressed by both characters and the social drama throughout the story. |
Name | Kayo Wicks |
Title | The franchise |
Author | Patrick Jones |
ISBN | 9781467713757 |
Publisher | Darbycreek |
Classification | FIction |
Suggested Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 4 |
Summary | When a billionaire with roots in his high school offers Latrell Baker an internship with the LA Stars football team, Latrell finds that he will have to find a way to deal with secrecy and politics if he wants to make the most of his opportunity. |
Would you suggest this title? Why or why not? | No. Hi/Lo book are very important in my school. It is a little disturbing to see a dedication quote from Bill Cosby considering his recent history. Because of that, I cannot recommend this book. |
Name | Kayo Wicks |
Title | Give it up (The Swoop List) |
Author | Stephanie Perry Moore |
ISBN | 9781467758048 |
Publisher | Darby Creek |
Classification | Fiction |
Suggested Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 4 |
Summary | Five diverse girls at a Jackson, Georgia, high school come together to give each other support after learning that their names have been placed on a mysterious list of girls with bad reputations, some for legitimate reasons and others through no fault of their own. Contains mature material. |
Would you suggest this book? Why or why not? | Yes. Hi/lo book are very important at my school. In high school, students' reputations are important. A timely topic. |
Name | Angie Moore |
Title | The fixer |
Author | Jennifer Lynn Barnes |
ISBN | 9781619635944 |
Publisher | Bloomsbury |
Classification | Fiction |
Suggested Level | High |
Rating (1-5) | 3 |
Summary | Tess, a sixteen-year old, lost her parents and live with her beloved grandfather. As her family discovers her grandfather's dementia that Tess had tried to hide, her older sister moves her to Washington, D.C., and introduces her into a life of political intrigue and mystery. |
Would you suggest this book? Why or why not? | Yes. An engaging young adult read, this book will appeal to students who like books that take teenagers away from their traditional life and puts them into adventurous and dangerous situations. The family relationships are emotional and realistic, and most young readers will connect with Tess and her struggle to create her own identity in the shadow of her older sibling. |