Graphic Novel

To dance: a ballerina's graphic novel (Siena Cherson Siegel with artwork by her husband Mark Siegel) is a memoir of one girl's life in dance as she trained to be a professional. Siena attended the School of American Ballet in the 1970s when the great George Balanchine reigned. I loved the graphic novel format for this book. The joy and pain shine through the spare words and lively art. For such a little book (you can read it in 30 minutes) there is a lot of information about the world of ballet as well as a character who you can care about. I think it would be enjoyed by upper elementary through high school - mostly by girls.

Nation

This 2009 Printz Honor book is a terrific adventure story but much more. In an alternative universe in the age of the great sailing ships, a tsunami wipes out the people of a tiny island that proudly calls itself The Nation. Only Mau survives. Shipwrecked on the island is an English girl who is unknowingly in line to inherit the British throne. This book is a survival story - a story of culture class between native people and Europeans. It is also a story about religious belief as Mau struggles to align the beliefs of his people and the eternal question: why does God(s) allow bad things to happen to innocent people? Why did I survive?
Oh and did I mention there is a little romance? Teens should enjoy this one.

The Big Splash

The Big Splash (Ferraiolo) is a mystery that only a middle schooler could love. It's a tongue-in-cheek "tough guy" mystery. Matt Stevens is a private investigator who takes a job from Vinny who runs a 7th grade organized crime organization specializing in forged hall passes, test copying, and black market candy. Vinny's former partner, Nikki, helped him come to power by taking out the bullies with well-placed squirt gun shots causing such humiliation that the bullies become social outcasts. Nikki has retired - but then she is hit. Can Matt find out who did it?

Actually I really meant it when I said this is a mystery only a middle schooler could love. I had to force myself to finish it. But VOYA (Feb. 2009) named it one of the top five "Top Shelf Books for Middle School Students" and it is nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award in the YA category.

What I Saw and How I Lied

The most sophisticated mystery I read recently, by far, is this year's National Book Award winner for young adults: What I Saw and How I Lied (Blundell). The story takes place post-WWII. Evie is an insecure teen who is vacationing with her parents in a mostly deserted hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. The story revolves around a terrible secret somehow connected to her step-father and the handsome young ex-GI that Evie has been flirting with. This is a mystery but also a coming of age story that explores socioeconomic class and anti-Semitism. This book has a "noir" flavor and will be enjoyed by teen girls who would appreciate a stylish, atmospheric mystery that ends with some ambiguity.

2009 Edwards Winner

This year's Margaret Edwards winner is Laurie Halse Anderson. The award honors an author and specific titles for lasting contribution to young adult literature. “Laurie Halse Anderson masterfully gives voice to teen characters undergoing transformations in their lives through their honesty and perseverance while finding the courage to be true to themselves,” said Edwards Committee Chair David Mowery.

She is an interesting writer because she writes very emotionally involving contemporary realistic fiction (Speak, Wintergirls, Twisted, Catalyst, Prom), historical fiction (Fever 1793, Chains) and even nonfiction history (Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution). Usually YA authors seem to stick with one genre. In an interview in the journal, Teacher Librarian (Dec.2008, p.70-71), Halse Anderson says, "I write the stories that I can hear in my heart."

I've read several of her books. I have a reserve in with Dayton Metro Library to get an audio version of her latest title, Wintergirls.

You can learn more about this important author by visiting her website
or reading her blogs