Florida Teens Read 2009-10

This program is designed to entice teens to read.  In order to engage your interest and to provide a spur to critical thinking, the book selections include those that involve sensitive issues.  The content of some of the titles may be more mature than some of you may have previously encountered.  Please recognize that this is a voluntary reading program. Not every book selected will suit every student. In a democratic society, a variety of ideas must find voice.  As readers, you have the choice to read the more mature titles or to close the book.  Consider your family values and your own comfort level as you make your selections.

Copyright Little, Brown and Co; 2007

Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jump shot, spends his time lamenting life on the Spokane Indian reservation, and drawing cartoons.  When a teacher pleads with Arnold to want more, to escape the hopelessness of the rez, Arnold switches to a rich white school and immediately becomes as much an outcast in his own community as he is a curiosity in his new one.

To get you started…

1.  Arnold decides to switch schools and his community shuns him. Do you think he is turning his back on his community and ignoring his heritage by  attending the “white” high school?  Using examples from the book, explain why you feel this way.

2. By drawing cartoons, Junior feels safe.  How do Junior’s cartoons show his understanding of the ways that racism has deeply impacted his and his family’s lives? (Remember the cartoons: “Who my parents would have been if somebody had paid attention to their dreams” and “White/Indian.”)

3.  When Junior is in Reardan (the white town), he is “half Indian,” and when he is in his reservation, he is “half white.”  “It was like being Indian was my job,” he says, “but it was only a part-time job. And it didn’t pay well at all.”  At Reardan High, why does Junior pretend he has more money than he does?

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie

Hyperion Books for Children, 2008

In the summer between her freshman and sophomore years, Frankie Landau-Banks transforms from “a scrawny, awkward child” with frizzy hair to a curvy beauty. On her return to her elite boarding school, she attracts the attention of gorgeous Matthew, who draws her into his circle of popular seniors.  Then Frankie learns that Matthew is a member of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, an all-male secret society to which Frankie’s dad had once belonged. Excluded from belonging to or even discussing the Bassets, Frankie engineers her own guerilla membership by assuming a false online identity.

To get you started…

1. Frankie becomes obsessed with the Basset Hound society. She infiltrates them, she pulls off elaborate pranks, she becomes the secret all powerful puppet master. How would the ending of the book have changed if she had put her time and energy into creating her own all female secret society?

2. What was more important to Frankie, her relationship with Matthew or infiltrating the Basset Hound society?  With which activity was she more successful?

3. Why did Frankie become obsessed with the Basset Hound society? How did the membership of Frankie’s father in this elite secret club influence her decisions?

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
Dramarama by E. Lockhart

Hyperion Books for Children, 2008

In America, teens are coming back from the dead and going to school.  Goth-girl Phoebe, her best friend Margi, childhood buddy Adam, and few others face problems when they join an Undead Study to understand the zombies or differently biotic students who have begun attending their school.  When Phoebe begins to date one of the living impaired, the real trouble begins.

To get you started…

1.  In the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that separate schools for black and white students were unconstitutional.  Is Oakdale following the law for  the living impaired?  What should they do?

2.  Tommy was posting on his blog throughout the book. What type of comment would you want to post to Tommy?

3.  Are peoples’ fear of zombies legitimate?  How would you feel if this was happening at your school?

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Night Roads by  A. M. Jenkins
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Generation Dead: Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters

Houghton Mifflin, 2007

Mick Johnson lives and breathes football.  When lifting weights and taking vitamin supplements do not give him the edge he wants, he turns to steroids.  Along with becoming bigger, faster and stronger, Mick must deal with ‘roid rage, acne, and depression.  When he realizes he’s cheated his way to stardom, he tries to quit but with dangerous results.

To get you started…

1.  Why do you think Mick turns to steroids?  In what ways did his father influence him in this decision?

2. How do you feel about the prevalence of steroid use among professional athletes?  Do you feel this plays a role in the pressure that younger athletes feel to take steroids?

3.  Even with all the bad side effects why do you think so many athletes still continue to use them?  Do you think there is an argument to legalize steroid use? Give examples from the story to support your answer.

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Crackback by John Coy
Night Olympic Team: Fighting to keep Drugs out of the Games by Caroline Hatton
Knights of Hill Country by Tim Tharp
Runner by Carl Deuker

Hyperion Books for Children, 2007

[Mature Readers]  Instead of prison, Teddy Anderson, who was arrested while trying to avenge his sister’s accidental death from a gang-related drive-by shooting, is sentenced to community service where he must mentor Micah, a 12-year-old gangsta wannabe.  As Teddy goes through the motions of complying with his probation, he fails to see how Micah’s desperate need for love and trust just might have the power not only to pierce all Teddy’s defenses, but to save his family.

To get you started…

1.  Alan Sitomers saw a quote that really struck him as relevant to this story.  “In life, we play the cards we are dealt…and the worst hands often create the best players.”  How do you feel this quote fits with the story and its characters?

2. Discuss Teddy’s relationship with Micah, the twelve year old gangster, who Teddy must “save” in order to complete his probation program.  Do Teddy’s decisions affect Micah?  In what way?

3.  The Anderson family has to deal with the loss of their daughter to a gang related shooting.  Teddy goes out to avenge his sister’s death.  What does Teddy learn from this experience and about himself?  Explain the affects it has on his  relationship with his family.

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Tyrell by Coe Booth
Street Pharm by Allison Van Diepen
Hoopster by Alan Lawrence Sitomer
Hip-Hop High School by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Scholastic Press, 2008

In a futuristic America, two teenagers from each of twelve provinces are chosen lottery style each year to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised reality show.  The winner is the last person alive.  When 17-year-old Katniss’s beloved younger sister is selected as one of the “tributes,” Katniss volunteers to go in her place.  Will she survive?

To get you started…

1.  What do you think is the cruelest part of the Hunger Games?  What kind of people would devise this spectacle for the entertainment of their populace?  Can you see parallels between these Games and the society that condones  them, and other related events and cultures in the history of the world?

2. How does the fact that the tributes are always on camera affect their behavior from the time they are chosen?  Does it make it easier or harder for them to accept their fate?  How are the “career tributes” different from the others?

3.  When does Katniss first realize that Peeta does care for her and is trying to keep her alive?  When does she realize her own feelings for him?  Did Haymitch think all along that he could keep them both alive by stressing the love story?  Are they actually in love?

Read-Alikes

Black Potatoes by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
GemX by Nicki Singer
Feed by M.T. Anderson

Tor, 2008

Spiky-haired skater Ben Campbell moves with his gay dads to rural Montana, where he finds animal carcasses, trucks, a cute farm girl and a troubled kid next door. Ben’s life is turned up-side down and so his is attitude.  Miss Mae, Ben’s grisly Grandma, serves as a fantastic, country-fried foil to Ben’s snarky cynicism.  Predictably, Ben comes to like Montana, but this story takes funny twists and poignant turns through the backwoods.

To get you started…

1. When Ben learns his father is gay he begins a rough period in his life where he will always make a bad choice when given the chance. Do you think Ben is acting out at is father coming out, or do you think Ben just wants attention for all the wrong selfish reasons?

2. Ben has a short fuse where his father is concerned. How is his relationship with Edward, his Momdad, different than his relationship with his father?

3. Miss Mae is an important figure in this story. What does she do for Ben that hasn’t been done in the past? How does her relationship with Ben change as the story progresses?

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Rules by Cynthia Lord
Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Tor, 2008

While skipping school to play an ARG (Alternate Reality Game), Markus  is caught near the site of a terrorist attack in San Francisco and is intensely interrogated for six days.  After his release and the disappearance of his friend, Markus vows to use his tech skills to network teens and fight back against the government’s increasingly frightening surveillance system.

To get you started…

1. Marcus never gives his passwords to the DHS. What does that tell you about Marcus and why?  The importance of passwords is a theme throughout the book. Why do you think they are important?

2. What do you think about the way Marcus defies the government? What would you do and why?

3.  Marcus’s mother and father represent different points of view about government oversight of individuals? Which parent best represents your perspective?

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell
Rash by Pete Hauptman
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Carbon Diaries, 2015 by Saci Lloyd

Hyperion, 2008

When Kate Winthrop learns that she is ranked seventy-first out of 140 high school senior girls on a popularity scale called the Millbank Social Stock Market, she and her two best friends set out to change her from a “junk bond” to a “blue chip,” and win some money in the process.

To get you started…

1. How would this story have been different if Kate had realized she was being played by Will earlier and had explored her feelings for Jack instead?

2. Why was being popular so important to Kate? With only 6 weeks before graduation should she have had more important things on her mind?

3. Do you think Kate’s looks changed dramatically with the makeover, or do you think people started to notice her because she became more outgoing?

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott
How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler
Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Candlewick Press, 2007

Jane Arrowood wonders if she will forever be known as the “Shark Girl,” who survived a shark attack on a golden California June day.  A popular 15-year-old with true artistic talent and a strong circle of friends, Jane suddenly feels extraordinarily different with a prosthesis where her arm should be, and, worse, pain and itching where it used to be.

To get you started…

1. At the beginning of this story Jane wonders if she would have been better off if she hadn’t survived. Do you think she felt this way because of the loss of her arm and the challenges she faces? Do you think she felt overwhelmed with the media spotlight and the thousands of people who now want to be a part of her life?  Why?

2. Jane’s family is close knit and supportive of her and her recovery. Her brother was the one who pulled her from the water after the attack. What is his role in her recovery? How does he change throughout the book?

3. Jane receives thousands of letters from well wishers and from people who have survived amputations. She is upset by all these people who are invading her life. Why is she so upset by the inspirational stories and upbeat thoughts so many people are sending her way?

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Hero Type by Elizabeth Scott
Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton
Dragon’s Keep by Janet Lee Carey

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2008

For best friends Chris and Win, nothing could be more gratifying than a two-month-long cross-country bike trip following high school graduation.  But when Win suddenly disappears somewhere in Montana, and Chris, the narrator, returns home alone to Virginia with only a hunch where his friend might be, Chris’s once-firm grasp on reality slowly begins to weaken–especially when Win’s overprotective, blowhard father launches an FBI investigation to track down his son.

To get you started…

1. Do you think of Win as selfish, or a survivor? Why?

2. How did Win’s relationship with his parents shape the outcome of the bike trip?

3. How did Chris’ relationship with Win change over the course of the bike trip?

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Paper Towns by John Green
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten

Delacorte Press, 2008

Morning McCobb, a 16 year old vampire only drinks Blood Lite, a soy-based blood substitute. But when this skinny geek graduates from the International Vampire League, he reluctantly becomes a spokesvamp for vampires, telling the world they really do exist. He discovers that coming out isn’t easy as he tries to convince humans that blood-substitute drinking vampires can peacefully co-exist with humans.

To get you started…

1.  What super hero do you want Morning to become? Why?

2. Portia often refers to CNN reporter Christiane Amanpor when she needs to make a decision. Do you think Portia will realize her dream to become a video film? Why or why not and why does she use Christiane Amanpor as a role model?

3.  Why did Morning want to become a NYC firefighter?  What stood in his way?

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Vampire High by Douglas Rees
Evernight by Alyson Noel
Night Road by A. M. Jenkins

Point, 2008

As per family tradition, Scarlett Martin’s fifteenth birthday marks her ascension to full membership in the family business: she becomes responsible for the management of a suite in their run-down, occupancy-challenged Manhattan hotel.  When aging drama queen Mrs. Amberson moves into Scarlett’s suite, she takes a personal interest in Scarlett’s mishaps, hatching scheme after disastrous scheme to save the hotel, resolve Scarlett’s love life, and jump-start her older brother Spencer’s acting career.

To get you started…

1. Scarlett’s family treats Marlene differently because she is a cancer survivor. Do you think it is fair that she is treated so differently from all the other members of the family because of her history of cancer?

2. Spencer does not approve of Lola’s relationship with Chip. Why do you think he is so upset about Lola dating Chip?

3. Ms. Amberson is a unique character in Suite Scarlett. Do you see her as a fairy godmother or wicked witch to Scarlett?

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Scrambled Eggs at Midnight by Brad Barkley
Audrey Wait by Robin Benway
My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

Atheneum, 2008

Ashley was only three years old when she was taken from her irresponsible mother.  She is too young to understand why she couldn’t stay with the mother she adored or to realize that she was going to spend the next nine years shuffled between 13 state facilities and foster homes in Florida’s foster care system before being adopted by a loving family.

To get you started…

1.  What are the three little words of the title? Are these the words that you expected?  Why are they so significant to Ashely and to the story?  Do you think Ashley would change these three words if she could?

2. Were all of Ashley’s experiences with foster families bad?  Was there anything positive about her time in the system?  Who was looking out for her?  Who failed her?

3.  Toward the end of the book, Ashley seemed to reconnect with her extended biological family more quickly and easily than with her mother.  Why do you think this is?

4.  What was your favorite part of this story?  How did it make you reflect on your own life?

Read-Alikes

Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin
Returnable Girl by Pamela A. Lowell
Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison
Swallow the Ocean: A Memoir by Laura M. Flyn

A near-future America allows for unwanted teenagers to be “unwound,” or retroactively aborted, their body parts used for transplants, as part of the compromise that ended the Second Civil War (between Pro-life and Pro-choice armies). Life is sacred from the moment of conception until age thirteen, at which time one’s legal guardian holds the ultimate power. Three teens marked for unwinding narrowly escape this fate and search for a safe haven amid betrayal, political intrigue, and harrowing, nonstop flights and fights.

To get you started…

1. How do you think this story would have been different if children were given the authority to unwind parents once the children turned 18?

2. How did you feel when Risa refused a spinal transplant?  Do you think she might change her mind in the future?

3. Connor ended up with Roland’s arm. If he had a choice do you think he would have refused the transplant?

4. What was your favorite part of this story? How did it make you reflect on your life?

Read-Alikes

Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Wake by Lisa McMann
Everlost by Neal Shusterman