Fantasy - Graceling (Cashore)

Some people in Cashore's fantasy world have special "graces" or superhuman powers. Lady Katsa's grace seems to be killing. From early childhood, she has been feared. Now she is in the service of her uncle, the King, discouraging unrest by killing or maiming disloyal subjects. But Katsa isn't happy with this life. She has secretly formed a Council that seeks to right wrongs. Katsa meets (and fights) Po, a foreign prince who has a special grace of his own. Together they embark on a quest  to rescue Po's cousin. Lots of action and romance. Katsa is a strong female character trying to figure out how to live with her grace. As the Booklist review notes "...from her first kill to her first experience of lovemaking, Katsa’s womanhood is integral to her character".

Graceling was Cashore's first published book. The prequel Fire came out this year. I really enjoyed Graceling and plan to read Fire this summer when I allow myself the luxury of reading related books (my general plan for trying to stay up with YA lit is to not read other books in a series, continually moving on to new authors, new series). Graceling is recommended for grades 8-12 and a good one to suggest to Tamora Pierce fans. It also reminds me of Megan Whalen Turner's Attolia books with their political intrigues.  I would introduce it to students by describing when Katsa's grace is first identified: at age 8, a man tried to grope her and she struck him dead.

Mystery/Survival Adventure- The White Darkness

Sym is obsessed with the Antarctic and the romantic figure of  Captain Oates from Scott's doomed expedition to the South Pole. But Uncle Victor is even more obsessed.

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean, a British writer, won the 2008 Printz Award. It is both a mystery and a survival story. Teenage Sym heads off on a weekend trip to Paris with her mum and her dead father's business partner who she calls Uncle Victor.  Somehow it turns into a trip to Antarctica while her mother is left in English searching for her passport - which Sym eventually finds in her Victor's raincoat pocket. Creepy hah? Other travelers on the luxury trip begin failing ill and dying and the rescue plane is blown up. Victor steals an all terrain vehicle and sets off across the frozen land with Sym, a filmmaker and his teenage son in search of the mythical Symmes's Hole. Soon Sym needs all her courage and survival skills.

Despite lots of action, this book is for better readers because of its sophisticated use of language and imagery.  I liked it - not sure how popular it is with students.

Historical Fiction: Storm in the Barn (Phelan)

This year's winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for historical fiction is Matt Phelan's first graphic novel, The Storm in the Barn. It is a story of the Dust Bowl but much more. It is interesting how a graphic novel can pack in action and emotions. Jack is an 11 year-old boy living in Kansas in 1937. He hasn't seen rain since he was 7 years old. The story is told in dust colors, tans and grays, with other colors only used to emphasis something - blood or memories of green fields. Jack is small for his age, tormented by bullies, and considered useless by his frustrated father. His sister is suffering from dust pneumonia. When he begins to see flashes coming from an empty barn, he worries that he may have dust dementia. Here the realistic story moves into the folktale realm - a "Jack" tale of a brave boy who saves his family by facing a monster with courage and ingenuity.
Hstorical fiction, fantasy, action and aspects of a problem novel work altogether in a book that you can read in an hour. I like it because the emotion in this book is very real. I think middle school and even high school students who read this book will be left with a very distinct idea what it was like to live in this time of history. I would pair it with Out of the Dust (Hesse), one of my favorite historical fiction titles. That book is also a different sort of historical fiction since it is written in free verse. Both books involve you and make you appreciate the suffering of people at this time.

Realistic fiction - Punkzilla

Punkzilla (Adam Rapp)
14 year-old runaway, Jamie (nicknamed Punkzilla because of his love of music), was living in a shelter in Portland, Oregon when he learned that his older brother was dying of cancer in Memphis. He sets off across country to be with his brother who had been exiled from the family after coming out of the closet. The story is told through stream-of-conscious letters that Jamie writes to his brother, interspersed with older letters from his family that he carries with him. Jamie has ADD and is physically immature for his age. He can't or won't live up to the expectations of his rigid, retired military father (the Major).

This is a very raw book to read. There is drug use, stealing, violence and sex. Jamie is living on the edge. The cover illustration is a good one - showing a vulnerable young person with a mask pushed up. The wearing of a mask happens in the story but it is also symbolic.

Punkzilla is a Printz Award honor book (2010). The author, Adam Rapp, is an accomplished playwright and screen writer. His young adult novels are bleak in their unflinching look at marginalized youth. Other titles are Under the Wolf, Under the Dog and 33 Blowfish.