Paper Towns by John Green

In case you haven't noticed, I really like John Green's writing. I think he does an amazing job capturing the realities of friendship. In my opinion, John Green creates the most believable portraits of teenagers.

In Paper Town, Quentin has good friends, good grades, and a good relationship with his parents. The one things he's always longed for, though, is his next door neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman. One night, Margo knocks on Q's window and takes him on an adventure of a lifetime -- complete with revenge and breaking and entering. The next day, Margo disappears, leaving a few clues behind. Q decides it is his mission to find her.

Paper Towns combines elements of An Abundance of Katherines and Looking for Alaska, and it would be a great addition to a junior level curriculum or summer reading program.

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

According to the author, this book is inspired partially by the ballad "Scarborough Fair" and the recent vampire-romance craze. For me, this book was the perfect antidote for Twilight -- a fantasy story complete with an evil fairy king, a female character who fights for herself and has power in her own individuality, a male character who helps but does not "save" the heroine!

I read this book in two days, and I plan to encourage my female students to read it for SSR.

I also think this would be a nice companion piece to Wuthering Heights. It's got some similar themes (the Elfin King is obsessed with Lucy and all of her female ancestors).

Also, check out this post by the author on her inspiration for writing this book: http://www.nancywerlin.com/impossible.htm

Jennifer Government by Max Barry

Imagine a world owned by corporations . . . not so hard to imagine, is it? That's the concept behind Jennifer Government. Nike's hottest new shoe is selling for literary over $1000, and now they've decided to increase the appeal of their product by setting up a murder that appears to be over the shoes. This action snowballs into a struggle between what little of a government is left and the corporations who want to do away with law all together.

I loved the concept of this book, and as I've noted, it's not a reality that is too hard to imagine. There were some slow parts, and I wasn't crazy about how it ended, but I did like this book.

I think this book would work nicely with any other dystopian/futuristic literature. I am considering using it in E2H as another pairing with Brave New World, and I think it might also pair nicely with Fahrenheit.

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

I picked up this book after Crutcher's presentation here at Central; this was the book he mentioned that features a character based on the little girl he told us about. True to his word, Whale Talk had lots of colorful language and some graphic and upsetting images of child abuse. However, it was not gratuitous or overdone -- it definitely seemed true to life.

I liked this story of TJ, the only black student in an Idaho school, and his struggles to help all the misfits earn their athletic letter jackets. There were parts of the novel that made me laugh, and even more, there were parts that made me want to cry. I wasn't crazy about the ending -- I thought it could have ended 20 pages earlier, but the overall story was worth my time.

I am currently using this book in my freshmen literature circles. Of the three students in the group, two had finished the novel in less than a week! My impression is that they are really enjoying it. I also think this book could work as a companion to Lord of the Flies to show both sides of conformity/nonconformity.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

This novel explores two major questions -- What makes us human? and What does it mean to truly love someone?

When Jenna wakes up from a coma, she doesn't remember anything -- even whether or not she has a best friend. Suddenly, however, she can remember the entire text of Walden or all the statistics of the Civil War. She begins to question what really happened to her.

I figured out what had happened to Jenna pretty quickly, and I thought that was bad, until I realized that it wasn't really the point of the book.

I am planning to use this book as an introduction to Brave New World in English 2 H.

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

Ed Kennedy is a loser. He's twenty and he's accomplished basically nothing with his life; everything changes when he stops a bank robbery. He gets his 15 minutes of fame, but more importantly, he begins receiving playing cards (Aces to be specific) in the mail with cryptic messages. The messages lead him on a series of adventures in helping, and sometimes hurting, people to make their lives better.

This is one of those books that when I was reading, I wasn't sure how much I liked it. However, in the end, I can't stop thinking about it. In conversations, I want to quote this book. In class, I want to refer to this book.

I think this would be a great book for sophomores or juniors, and I think it would make a great addition/substition to the curriculum (it is not American Lit, so it might not work on the junior level in curriculum). Consider it! It's a well-written book with an interesting spin.

Thirsty by MT Anderson

Another vampire book, but much darker than the Twilight series. I really liked the fact that vampires exist in this book as an everyday, although horrifying and hated, occurence. Vampires are caught and "lynched" regularly. Chris begins to feel strangely thirsty. Guess what? He's becoming a vampire, and he really doesn't want anyone to know. And he really doesn't want to feed . . .

I read this book in a day. It has no vulgar language, yet it was one of the most graphic novels I've read in a while. An example: Jennifer casserole.

I read this book on David's recommendation. As he did last year, I am using it as an extra credit read while we are reading Macbeth in E2H.