Young Adult

I am not a Yankees fan at all, but even I will be bummed to see Derek Jeter leave. A class act baseball player for 20 years, I am thrilled to see him writing books geared toward upper elementary and middle school boys. They’ll devour this book.

I read a lot of books and often fail to mention some of today’s best authors because I enjoy everything they write. Gary Soto is one of today’s best young adult authors, and every parent needs to be aware that his books are extremely popular with reluctant boy readers. Take your pick of Soto’s work. I enjoy this tale of two Mexican-American boys who struggle to earn enough money to replace a gangster’s disc player that they broke. This is actually a sequel to The Pool Party, and I like both books because of Soto’s sense of humor and mastery of young adult dialogue sprinkled with Spanglish.

I teach a lot of African-American teenage girls who complain that there are not a lot of good things out there to read, so they challenged me to read a lot more African-American literature. I guess the great thing about discussing books is that I stumble upon sweet pieces I probably would have never discovered on my own. This wonderful second novel by Whittenberg is a very quick read that reminds me of an African-American version of Dead Poet’s Society (but I enjoy this book a lot more than I enjoyed that movie, and you can email me if you want to know why I am not a fan of that flick).

My kids adore Miyazaki’s movies, and I think this book should be in every classroom library to encourage kids to try their hands at illustrating in an education system that has become test-crazy.

Every student I have ever given this book to has gotten a kick out of it. This is Eager’s most popular tale as it follows the time-travel escapades of four children who encounter magical coins. The only problem is, you guessed it: the coins are only “half” magic, which leads to a series of funny, strange occurrences.

I have spoken at three school districts in the last month and a half that are discouraging students from reading this book. What “book banners” do not seem to comprehend is that banning books is precisely the way to make a book a bestseller. In fact, I pray that some day I may author a book that causes protests and boycotts. Why anyone would want to ban this book is beyond me. Boys love it, and – frankly – I rejoice whenever I can find a book that boys like that does not include graphic language or images. Kinney is hilarious, and this book should find its way off banned reading lists and on to recommended summer reading. I highly recommend this book (and its recently released sequel).

This book falls in the upper elementary category, but it is a tale that is loved by all. The author was a WWII pilot who died a year after the book’s release, and I discovered in the Lindbergh biography that Anne Morrow Lindbergh had a crush on Antoine. Incidentally, this is the best-selling non-religious book of the 20th century (worldwide).

This book is for all of my friends in Texas. Beautiful art and poetry that just might entice you to pay the Lone Star state a visit. As the book’s description says, “the state of mind has no borders…and the 140 Texans in this book…show you why.” Nice way to infuse a little bit of geography into a roomful of reluctant teenage readers.

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read to students (or adults). No matter what happens in life, there is nothing quite like friendship. This is one of the most touching stories ever written, in my opinion.

This book is what earned me a place in folklore with a bunch of fifth-grade girls in South Los Angeles, as they loved this book. The scary tale of a 12 year old who discovers a dollhouse in her attic that is an exact replica of her house. It turns out, the dolls in the dollhouse move on their own will. What’s more, the dolls are trying to say something. Interested yet? This one had a class begging for recess to end and read-aloud time to begin.

I don’t know how I missed this book. You have to grab a copy of this funny, intelligent page-turner. Twelve-year-old Livvie throws away a chain letter, only to be reprimanded by her superstitious friend, Joyce. Hilarity and suspense ensue.

To Kill a Mockingbird is arguably the most important American book of the last 50 years. McDonagh Murphy interviews a variety of writers and celebrities to find out what Harper Lee’s masterpiece has meant to them. A great way to get students excited about reading and writing.

While the book could be classified as an adult collection of short stories, I find the book to be a great way to encourage students to keep travelogues – one of my favorite genres. Roe’s dry British wit throughout his 18 stories take readers around the globe and got me yearning to travel abroad again.

I must feel some sort of obligation to promote at least one Gordon Korman book each year. I can’t help it, as he is a hit with teens (and I LOVE the way he writes). This book is cleverly written from various characters’ first-person accounts (reminding me of Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying), and it manages to do what all of Korman’s books do: it will make you laugh, cry and – most importantly – think. This one is sure to strike a chord, especially to start the school year.