Adolescent Literature

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Adolescent Literature

• Some Titles You Might Enjoy
• August 2001

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The Amah
By Lawrence Yep

• Twelve-year-old Amy Chin finds family
  responsibilities interfering with ballet practice
  after her mother gets a job. Soon Amys life
  becomes closer to that of the step-sister role
  she dances as her mother focuses on Stephanie,
  the beautiful Cinderella. Amy fears losing her
  role, her friends, and her mother before her
  mother's job is through.

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Because of Winn-Dixie
By Kate DiCamillo

• Ten-year-old Opal Buloni and her father, the
  Preacher, have just moved to Naomi, Florida, when
  Opal rescues an ugly dog at the Winn-Dixie store.
  Adopting the store name as the dogs name, Opal
  finds they need each other. She learns to love
  the dog as a replacement for her missing mother
  and a father who has become distant. The two of
  them collect an odd assortment of friends and
  learn to deal with life.

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Bud, Not Buddy
By Christopher Paul Curtis
Ten-year-old Bud Caldwell's mother died without
telling him his fathers identity. But Bud
thinks she left him a clue--a flier advertising
a performance by Herman E. Calloway, the bass
player for the Dusky Devastators of the
Depression. Bud decides to find this potential
father. His trip won't be easy during the
Depression. Following the Hooverville camps of
the 1930's, escaping a monster-infested
woodshed, stealing a vampire's car, Bud is
determined to know the truth and won't let
anything stop him, even Harmine E. Calloway
himself.
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Burning Up
By Caroline B. Cooney

• Fifteen-year-old Macey Clare goes with a service
  group to an inner city school where she is caught
  in a freak fire. Austin, who rescues her, becomes
  her boyfriend until his grandfather interferes
  because Macey will not stop her research about
  Mr. Sibley, the first black teacher who was
  burned from his home. Macey's own experience with
  fire, a death, and the town's reluctance to
  discuss the barn fire only spark her interest
  more. Macey knows she must find the truth, no
  matter who it might hurt.

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Carolina Autumn
By Carol Lynch Williams

• Fourteen-year-old Carolina McKinney faces a new
  school year with unresolved issues from the past.
  Her sister and father are gone forever, her
  mother doesn't connect with her anymore, and her
  best friend seems determined to steal Carolina's
  first boyfriend. She sees her anger, pain and
  loss through the lens of her father's camera and
  the letters she writes to her sister. Eventually,
  Carolina realizes she must save herself from the
  pain that will only lessen if she allows it to.

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Christmas in Heaven
By Carol Lynch Williams

• Honey De Loach lives in Heaven, Florida,
  population six, until movie-star Miriam Season
  arrives, bringing her daughters, Christmas and
  Easter. Honey hopes to find a friend in the town
  where Honey, her brother Willie-Bill, and Taylor
  Hiatt (who claims Honey is his true love) have
  been the only kids. Easters black clothes, nose
  ring, and non-conformist manners fascinate Honey,
  but not as much as they intrigue Willie-Bill.
  Honey turns to Christmas, who seems embarrassed
  by her family, is a talented singer, and wants to
  meet the Reverend Gaynor T. McKenna, Honey's
  grandfather. This new family will bring change,
  but will the change be for good?

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Esperanza Rising
By Pam Munoz Ryan

• Esperanza's father dies and her uncle wants to
  force her mother to marry him. When her mother
  refuses, she and Esperanza are forced to move
  from family wealth in Mexico to a farm labor camp
  in California. When her mother comes down with
  Valley Fever, Esperanza takes charge of their
  survival. A brooding labor strike and the
  Depression endanger her success. Esperanza must
  learn that life never deals the hand we expect.

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Holes
By Louis Sachar

• Stanley Yelnats, like his family throughout
  history, finds himself in the wrong place at the
  wrong time. A stroke of bad luck, lands him at
  Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention center for
  boys, where he is serving time for the theft of a
  pair of old tennis shoes. Stanley didnt do it,
  but he accepted the punishment, thinking going to
  camp might be fun. But this camp isnt anything
  like what Stanley expected.

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Hope Was Here
By Joan Bauer

• Sixteen-year-old Hope knows all there is to
  know about being a waitress, and shes good at
  it. When she and her Aunt Addie move to Madison,
  Wisconsin, from New York City, its the love of
  the diner that lets Hope make one more move. Soon
  she makes new friends, finds herself involved in
  running the local mayoral campaign, and getting
  to know Braverman a little better. Not bad for a
  girl once named Tulip who has never had a real
  home.

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Joey Pigza Loses Control
By Jack Gantos

• Now that Joey is on his meds, he finally has his
  ADHD under control. Life is a lot more steady
  with Mom and Joey feeling good. Then he visits
  his estranged father for the summer and learns
  what it would be like to be an adult out of
  control. Joey doesnt want to hurt his dads
  feelings, or grow up like him. Dad takes away
  Joeys meds, so Joey must make some grown-up
  choices.

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Redwall
By Brian Jacques

• Classic fantasy with a mix of humor takes you to
  the world of Redwall Abbey where mice and a
  variety of other animal friends defend their home
  from those who would claim the abbey as their
  own. Author Brian Jacques says, This is where it
  all begins.

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The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963
By Christopher Paul Curtis

• Fourth-grader Kenny Watson tells the story of his
  family in Flint, Michigan, in the 1960s.
  Harassed by his older brother, Byron, who is
  mother calls the juvenile delinquent, and
  responsible for his younger sister, Joetta, Kenny
  illustrates the everyday life of a black family
  living far away from the racial unrest of the
  south. But when Byron crosses the line, his
  parents decide to take him to Birmingham to be
  straightened out by his grandmother.

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Find These in the Library

• Presentation by Mrs. Staheli