The Chocolate War

Chocolate War

By Robert Cormier

New York : Knopf : Random House, 2004, c1974.
0375829873

9780375829871

$7.50

(Image Credit: Cape May County Library, Cape May Court House, NJ)

Annotation: Jerry Renault becomes involved in a face-off against the Vigils, when he refuses to sell chocolates for Trinity High School.

Book Talk:

Trinity High School has been run by The Vigils, a gang of students, for years. They control everything and everyone in the school through their intimidation, including all students and the staff. It isn't until a freshman, Jerry Renault, who challenges The Vigils, does their power come into question. Jerry refuses to sell the Trinity's fund-raising chocolates. Jerry's decision challenges faculty memebers, such as Brother Leon's quest to become Trinity's Headmaster, as well as the power of The Vigils. How much will Jerry's stance cost him, as well as those around him? Is being opposed to the powers of the school worth the price he has to pay in the end? Jerry has been inspired by the quote that decorates the back of his locker, "Do I dare disturb the universe?" How true will the quote describe the events occuring in Jerry's life?

Awards:

New York Times Outstanding Books of the Year

Kirkus Reviews Choice

ALA Best Books for Young Adults

School Library Journal Best Books of the Year

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

By: Gary D. Schmidt
New York : Clarion Books, c2004.
ISBN: 0618439293
$15.00
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library, Cape May Court House, NJ)

Annotation: Based on the true events of 19132, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminister Boy, describes the disgraceful events that caused the destruction of Malaga Island, and many of its inhabitants, as well as the interracial friendship between Turner and Lizzie.


Book Talk:
When Turner Buckminster is forced to move to Maine, he realizes that he doesn't fit in within the first six hours. He doesn't understand the other boys in town. He seems to find trouble everywhere he goes. On top of everything else, he definitely doesn't comprehend why so many people in town have a problem with him becoming friends with Lizzie Bright Griffin, the girl who inhabits Malaga Island. She the only person in town who seems to truly like Turner, but their friendship seems to offend everyone around them. In order to try and understand everything that is happening to Turner, he must remember the moment when he stared into the eyes of a whale. Only then can he begin to understand the world around him and why his friendship with Lizzie is so important.

Awards:

2007 Volunteer State (TN) Book Award Master Reading List
2005 ALA Notable Book for Children
2005 ALA Best Book for Young Adults
2005 Newbery Honor Book
2005 Michael L. Printz Honor Book
2005 Capitol Choices Selection
2005 Kansas State Reading Circle Recommendation
2005 New York Times Bestseller
2005 Thumbs Up! (MI) Honor Book
2004 School Library Journal, Best Books of the Year
2004 New York Public Library, 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
2004 Kirkus Editors’ Choice
2004 Booklinks Lasting Connections Selection
2004 VOYA Top Shelf Fiction List
2004 Lupine (ME) Honor Book

I am Scout

I Am Scout by Charles J. Shields.

Shields, Charles. I Am Scout. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2008.

ISBN-10: 0805083340

ISBN-13: 978-0805083347

$18.95

(Image Credit: Cape May County Library, Cape May Court House, NJ)

I Am Scout chronicles the life of Harper Lee, the author who penned the Pulitzer Prize winning book, To Kill a Mockingbird. The book describes how she was heavily influenced by the people and places in her childhood, and how she used them for the backdrop to her famous novel. Harper, whose real name was Nelle, was also a childhood friend of Truman Capote, another famous, and troubled, author. She was his “assistant” for most of his research about the Cutter family, who was brutally murdered in Kansas in 1959.

I Am Scout also explores many of the relationships Harper Lee had throughout her lifetime. Much of the book illustrates the Lee’s family dynamics, and how those relationships are found in To Kill a Mockingbird. The book also depicts how the book was later made into a movie in 1962, which won three Academy Awards.

Awards:

American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults

Best Books for Young Adults-2009

Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance for Best Nonfiction--2007

Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice--by Anonymous

Anonymous. Go Ask Alice. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1998.

Originally published by:

New York: Avon, 1971.

ISBN:

9780133571110

0133571114

$5.95
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library, Cape May Court House)

"Even now I'm not really sure which parts of myself are real and which parts are things I've gotten from books." (Anonymous, pg. 11)

Go Ask Alice reveals a diary of a fifteen-year-old girl who experiences many of the emotions, discomforts, and self-doubt that many young adults encounter during their adolescence. What sets Alice apart from some of her peers, is the fact that she, rather unexpectedly, discovers how drugs can help her cope with certain feelings. In the beginning of her story, Alice is at a point in her life where she wants to be liked by a boy, have closer friends, be pretty and popular, and be more in tune with her parents. When her family moves to a new town, Alice sees an opportunity to reinvent herself and transform her life. However, all too soon reality sets in and she is left feeling the same disappoints and awkwardness about who she is and her social life. She describes how she uses food to cope with her emotions, and perhaps, she is also predicting her tendency to use things outside of talking to friends or family to deal with her feelings.

Accidentally at a party, Alice soon discovers how drugs are a great outlet and she can cast her bad self-confidence aside. She becomes popular among her friends. She is no longer shy. Boys like her. Yet, the utopia she has found doesn’t last long and soon Alice finds herself far from home. She is habitually using drugs, and allowing others to use her as well. She will become strung-out, homeless, abused, and a victim of sexual assaults. She wants to get clean, but her self-doubt runs deep, and her drug addiction runs deeper.

Alice’s journey through drug abuse, and later trying to become clean, illustrates how her problem affects all that surround her. She descends down a painful spiral that hurts all who know her, as well as some who are only inadvertently affected by her actions. Her story describes how drugs allow her to temporarily escape reality, only to return to it with more pain and guilt than she has ever experienced. Will she be able to overcome or demons, or her drug-induced experiences haunt her to the point she will only continue to abuse drugs to try and escape them? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Awards:

ALA Best Books For Young Adults

ALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults

Christopher Award

Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults

School Library Journal Best Books of the Year

YALSA 100 Best Books (1950-2000)

The Outsiders-by S.E. Hinton

Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders. New York, Speak 2003.
ISBN: 014038572x
$7.99
(First Published: 1967 by: Puffin Books.)
(Image Credit: Cape May County Library, Cape May Court House)

"You still have a lot of time to make yourself be what you want. There's still lots of good in the world. Tell Dally. I don't think he knows" (Hinton, Chapter 12, pg. 177.)

The Outsiders is a classic work of young adult literature that depicts the life of Ponyboy Curtis. He is at a crucial point in his life, where circumstances force him to grow up and leave his childhood behind. Since the loss of his parents, Ponyboy is raised by his two older brothers, Darry and Sodapop, as well as a mix of rowdy and rebellious friends. His life inside and outside of school is dictated by the Socs, a west-side gang of rich kids that live across town. He spends most of his time with the east-side Greasers, a combination of his brothers and friends. Being a Greaser is not only a label for a hair style and way of dress, it also signifies the poorer side of town where teenagers are known for being a bunch of tough troublemakers.

After a murder, Ponyboy is forced to make decisions based on his loyalties to his friends and family, the differences between right and wrong, as well as discovering what exactly he wants for himself. He struggles through life as an endless amount of hardships and losses are thrown his way. In the end, he is left trying to live by the advice given to him by one of his closest friends, “Stay golden.” Ponyboy must decide if he can stay true to himself, or is he will succumb to the tragedy and violence that has weaved its way into his life.

The Outsiders has won the Virginia Readers' Choice Awards, for High School (9-12). It is an award sponsored by the Virginia State Reading Association, which encourages the state's students to become familiar with classic literature, as well as sponser the encouragement of creating a life-long apprecitaion for recreational reading. Students nominated books and later vote on a winner. (NoveList, 2009)

The Outsiders is also part of Oprah's Kids' Reading List, which is part of a joint effort between oprah Winfrey and the American Library Association (ALA), to encourage children and young adults to read. (NoveList, 2009)

Here are also some past awards:

New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Books List, 1967
Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book, 1967
Media and Methods Maxi Award, 1975
ALA Best Young Adult Books, 1975
Massachusetts Children’s Book Award, 1979
(http://www.sehinton.com/books/)

Check out more information about S.E.Hinton and learn about other books she has written at:
http://www.sehinton.com/

Hello! Welcome to my blog! Here is where I will discussing and reviewing literature for Young Adults. I hope you enjoy it and please, feel free to post your comments.