Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Her first novel. Tell the Wolves I'm Home is Carol Rifka Brunt's first novel. I've written before how I'm drawn to debut novels. I'm stunned by the quality of this one. It is simply THAT good!

Love - between sisters, siblings, niece and uncle, and gay men. Rivalries that occur when we wrongly perceive each other's lives. Secrets kept to protect others. So many intertwined themes that continually keep you, the reader, enthralled by Ms. Brunt's novel.

My heart strings were continually pulled as I read of the meanness between Greta and June, the two teen sisters. Yet there were glimpses of love wanting to be renewed between them. A diminished love was also present in the relationship between adult siblings Finn, a gay man and renowned artist, and his sister Danielle, the girls' mother. June and Finn, niece and uncle, shared a most special love intensified by the knowledge that he was dying of AIDS.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home takes place in 1987 as AIDS was beginning to be understood yet feared. Once contracted, there were no cures. People were blamed for infecting others because of the certain death. That scenario is the backdrop which the author uses to show the power of love to forgive and transform lives.

It is one of the 10 titles chosen for the 2013 Alex Award - books originally written for adult readers but suited for teens as well. I highly recommend that you set aside some of your summertime reading time for this debut novel. Beach reading? Yes it is!

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Having earned starred reviews and national booklist honors, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart caught my attention. As I read book reviews and articles about YA authors, this one was mentioned often - months after I had purchased it for our BHS library. I added it to my stack of books to read and off we went on Spring Break.

Her freshman year Frankie, as most freshmen, is finding her way at her exclusive boarding school high school, Alabaster Prep Academy. By her sophomore year she's being noticed by upperclassmen and she grows from geeky to beautiful, awkward to confident, then wants to be included in their friends circle.

Frankie has an interest in the quirky use of words. Shouldn't the opposite of disgruntled be gruntled? The opposite of inept be ept? What would those words mean? She uses these 'new' words baffling her friends. I delighted in the author's inclusion of this into Frankie's personality. If you enjoy word usage games, you'll also enjoy this quirky side of Frankie.

She also takes on the all boys, long-standing, secret society at Alabaster. Using a fake email address, she secretly directs the boys of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds (to which her father also belonged) to take on campus-wide pranks. Throw in a love interest, a distant sister, best friends, curfew violations, sneaking through the campus underground tunnels, and you'll find yourself captivated by Frankie's genius pranks and high school life.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Another masterpiece! Once again, author and illustrator Brian Selznick has delivered on a story that is both picture book and novel. Wonderstruck is his second book in this format having won the Caldecott Medal for his first, The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Wonderstruck follows two parallel stories - one told in words, the other in pictures. Ben is a deaf boy whose cherished mother has died in an accident leaving him to live with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. His story takes place in Minnesota in 1977. Rose is a lonely, deaf girl whose mother is a stage and silent movie star with no time for Rose. Her story, told in the illustrations, takes place in New Jersey in 1927.

How will their lives intertwine? Are Ben and Rose related? Will their stories come together in the end? As you follow this story you'll be drawn into their lives in unusual ways. A museum, wolves, New York City buildings, small cottages, new friendships, and sign language are a few. It's easy to finish this 637 page book in one day - there are so many dynamic illustrations!

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman

I've read many reviews for The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman. It has been included on several "Best of 2012" lists, including starred reviews, but I have to be honest in saying, I wasn't that impressed. I suppose it deserves kudos for not being an over-the-top teen romance. There are no explicit teen love scenes; there is no love at first sight moment. We simply follow Jen and Wes through their typical days, watch them become friends, feel their loneliness when Jen's family moves away. We also worry a bit about Wes as he saves and plots to drive to Jen's new home with a surprise visit. When they have their more tender moments when you think something more just might happen, it doesn't. Of course, that's how real life is. Only in movies and books do we see the love at first sight, highly romantic, sexually charged stories that we may think are real.

If you want to read about a young love as it unfolds naturally, as you and your friends may actually experience finding a boyfriend or girlfriend, becoming best friends, dating and sharing hopes and dreams with each other, than this is the book for you.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

What first impressed me about Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler were the reviews - so many positive reviews. Certainly it needed to be in the BHS Media Center. When it arrived, I couldn't believe how heavy it was. Flipping through the pages I discovered that it was printed on thick, glossy paper - and there were illustrations! The illustrator, Maira Kalman, has done a fine job representing all the reasons... wait, let me begin at the beginning.

Min and Ed, Ed and Min, an unlikely couple. She's "different" and he's a co-captain of their high school basketball team. Rarely do those two date in reality. Min is writing a letter to Ed explaining all the reasons they broke up but, more than that, she's returning to him all of the keepsakes she's saved from their short relationship. As the box fills she imagines the thud it will make when she drops it on the doorstep of his home. She recalls each keepsake and the event that it came from. Her anger builds as she fills the box yet she is saddened as well.

I imagine as you read this book, you'll either believe that they do break up in the end or that they actually do not, in spite of the title. You'll read with a preconceived notion of how likely a girl such as Min will fit in with the friends and lifestyle of a jock such as Ed. Can he really be falling in love with Min for being different than all the other girls he's dated? Can she convince him that enjoying the more artsy side of life can be enjoyable? Will they stay together? Will she dump the box as he dumped her?

Back to the illustrations - Remember Daniel Handler? The author's pseudonym is Lemony Snicket; the author of the Series of Unfortunate Events books. I'm wondering if Mr. Handler liked the idea of illustrating each keepsake going into the box because those illustrations kept him connected to his younger readers, the fans of Lemony Snicket. What do you think?

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

On the morning of January 23, 2012 in Dallas, Texas a room was filled with librarians, publishers, and interested folks, waiting in anticipation for the announcement of this year's American Library Association's Youth Media Awards. Teachers and school librarians unable to attend waited for the first announcements to reach us as we taught our students in schools around the U.S. One was the Michael L. Printz award.

The Michael L. Printz award is given each year to the book that exemplifies excellence in teen (YA) literature. This year the winner was Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley. Our 2012 Printz winner was also the recipient of another award - The William C. Morris award. This award is also for a YA book but by a debut author. John Corey Whaley is a debut author as this is his first published book. Congratulations to Mr. Whaley!

Winning the Printz award was reason enough for me to immediately begin reading it. Do NOT judge this book by it's cover. The cover would suggest that this book is about a woodpecker; yes, it is but it is much more than that.

Where Things Come Back has some bizarre twists and turns to the story. At times you may scratch your head and wonder what is going on. If you're an avid reader, you'll likely know that eventually the various threads that are woven will intertwine.

Cullen is a high school student living in a small town in Arkansas. The story opens with the death of his cousin. His aunt is devastated and Cullen has to identify the body. He manages that fine. Lily, AK is also a town in which a rare, thought-to-be extinct woodpecker, has been sighted. Bird watchers are descending on the town in hopes of seeing it. One morning Cullen awakes to find that his younger, fifteen year old brother is not home. Commotion ensues as his family tries to locate Gabriel but to no avail. Weeks pass, still no Gabriel. Cullen and his parents are frantic. The police have no leads. The case seems to be closed.

A parallel story also unfolds. Cabot Searcy is a college dropout seeking meaning to his life. He's a troubled young man seeking revenge for a lost love. That revenge takes him to Lily, AK where our two parallel stories begin to weave together.

A great read, a must read if you like to experience twisted tales with heartwarming endings.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Persuasion by Jane Austen

The classic novel Persuasion, Jane Austen's final novel, is one every Austen addict will love. Although Austen's most popular work may be Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion has the same funny satire, interesting and at times crazy characters, and the same endearing romance, but with a different sense, maturity and wisdom. Persuasion is the story of a young girl, Anne, who falls in love with a man whom her family believes is below her. This man, Captain Wentworth, has no money and is of no status, so Anne is pushed by her family to turn down his marriage proposal, and she does. This is a choice she regrets the rest of her life, because even though she was young, in Anne's mind, Wentworth was and always will be her true love. Persuasion describes what it is like to put your family's wishes and desires for your life above your own, but also the hope of second chances, and it is a classic novel I would recommend to everyone who enjoyed Pride and Prejudice.

Reviewed by BHS student E. Kerr

Native Son by Richard Wright

Not only is Richard Wright’s novel Native Son a classic that has been known to appear on the A.P. Literature Exam frequently, but I also found it to be a captivating, page-turning, overall fantastic book. Although its length is a little intimidating at first, as soon as you begin reading, it is nearly impossible to stop.

The novel opens with an African-American twenty-year-old, Bigger Thomas, that has his priorities more than just a little mixed up. After committing many violent crimes, one good thing finally comes his way: he is given a job as a chauffeur for a well-off white family. On his very first day, instead of taking the daughter Mary to the university as he is told, she directs him to pick up her Communist boyfriend. They drink all night, and they make-out in the backseat of the car while Bigger drives and tries not to stare. When they finally come home late at night, Bigger has to carry her to her room because she is so drunk she cannot even stand, let alone walk. While he is setting her down in her bed, Mary’s blind mother comes in to check on her. To keep her quiet, Bigger holds a pillow over her head. This innocent act turns into one that Bigger will regret for the rest of his life, as he accidentally smothers Mary. In a state of panic, the only thing he can think to do is dispose of the body. From then on, he lives a life on the run. He runs from the law, from the truth, and from his own guilt.

If you have some time that you would like to spend reading a great book, do not waste your time searching for a book that may or may not be good. Read a book that I guarantee you is fantastic and study for the A.P. English Exam too while your heart pounds with the suspense and thrill of Native Son.

Reviewed by BHS student L. Gilbert

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Horror stories come in many different forms. There are the few that have to do with real life situations, and there are the few that are supernatural gems in the gothic genre. Most can appear to be corny and lame and while they exhibit somewhat terrifying happenings, they tend to overplay the usage of the forces of darkness. It is the stories with the subtlety of the black magic that can really paint a lovely picture (in a rather grotesque manner, but you get the idea).

This is especially true in the case of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Indeed a lovely picture is painted within the very context of art itself. The story does not have a specific main character, however it has its protagonist; obviously known as Dorian Gray. Dorian is an astonishingly beautiful young piano player who exhibits the ideals of picturesque beauty and youth. Basil Hallward, a painter creates a portrait of Dorian Gray which is a subject of envy to Dorian. He becomes depressed knowing that he will age and his beauty will fade while the picture will stay young forever. His wish to bask in the never aging world like the painting comes true, and the burden of the things going on in his life will take its toll upon the painting. The story holds some blandness because it was written in the 1800s, however there are many scenes that withhold an essence of pure drama. Most of the drama is created by a very emotional Dorian Gray, who makes the book a little bit of a page turner. With its flamboyancy and ornate detail and description, The Picture of Dorian Gray is an imaginary painting on its own; a dramatic masterpiece.

Reviewed by BHS student S. Meyers

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen is a heartwarming, summer-fun story which also deals with important issues. Auden West’s parents are brilliant scholars who forced their daughter to grow up too fast, and miss the important parts of anyone’s childhood. One summer, Auden decides to move in with her father’s family at their oceanfront home. Soon she meets Eli, a quiet boy who is still haunted by his past. As the summer carries on, they set out on a mission to give Auden the experiences she never got as a child. This story, like the rest of Sarah Dessen’s, includes a hero, family drama, a love interest, and easy-to-read adventures. I strongly suggest this novel to the fans of Sarah Dessen, or anyone looking for light-hearted, self-discovery story with a touch of romance.

Reviewed by BHS student M. Holper

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

One snowy night in 1964, Doctor David Henry is forced to deliver his twin children. The first, a boy named Paul, is born happy and healthy. As soon as David delivers the second one, a girl named Phoebe, he recognizes the signs of Down's and hands her to his nurse Caroline. To save his wife and son from the grief of losing her later, he tells them that she has died at birth. What he doesn't realize is that the decision he makes will cause much more bad than intended good. Over the years his family grows apart due to lifelong secrets and misery. As for Phoebe, she grows up with Caroline who loves her as she were her own. The relationship between them grows and Caroline changes into a confident, strong woman.

It is hard for us to understand why a father would ever want to give up his own daughter due to a disability. We have to remember that this was the 1960's and many people were less accepting of Down's not to mention less educated as well. David had good intentions of course, but never acknowledges what the real consequences could be. We learn that he was sheltering his family from experiencing the same pain he endured as a child after losing his sister to a heart condition. Many times he tries to reconnect with Phoebe but ends up realizing that there is no place for him in her life anymore. His own son grows up deprived of a loving family and Norah, his wife, is never the same.

This is a compelling novel overflowing with detail and emotion you can't even imagine. Kim Edwards is an amazing author who makes us feel angry and hopeful at the same time. She shows us; that you must have trust in yourself as well as your family in order to maintain a happy and healthy relationship. If you love a heart-wrenching story that is impossible to set down, then check this book out.

Reviewed by BHS student K. Gaiss

Two*Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

Who wants to go on a three day road trip with their ex? Seriously who does? I know I sure don't. Poor Courtney gets her heart broken by Jordan the jock, but what she doesn't know is that there's a different reason than the MySpace girlfriend she thought Jordan had. Jordan was told to keep this big secret but he just can't anymore so he breaks up with her instead. What Courtney doesn't know is that Jordan, too, is in love with her but this secret is just too much for him.

Lauren Barnholdt's Two*Way Street is an amazing book. It goes back and forth between the two main characters. It also shows you what happened before the trip as well as during, and then after the trip. This novel keeps you reading because you want to see what happens with the two of them. Will they remain in this big huge fight or will they get back together? You'll have to read it yourself to find out!

Reviewed by BHS student L. Rojowski

Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn: The NewSouth Edition

You may be aware that there is much brouhaha about a recently published edition of Huck Finn in which "nigger" and "injun" are replaced as well as other editorial changes. I was curious to get the publisher and editor's perspectives on this and thought you may like to know as well.

This article, Auburn-Montgomery Professor Alan Gribben Not Shocked His Editing or Twain Classics Drawing Fire, gives that perspective. It also links you to an excerpt from the introduction in this new edition which is most informative.

The new edition is worthy of discussion but the brouhaha may be unfounded when you're informed by the editor and publisher of their reasoning for presenting this new edition of Huck Finn. The editor, Gribben, is a Twain scholar and certainly there are rewrites all the time on the classics - condensed, children's versions, graphic novels, etc.

Watch for a copy of this New South edition in the BHS Media Center.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

One tool that school librarians use to select books for purchase is to watch the lists of 'Best' and 'Notable' titles. That's how I discovered Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork. The lists for Marcelo in the Real World include Best Books For Young Adults 2010, Best Books Of The Year 2009, Schneider Family Book Award: Teen 2010, and more. How can I go wrong buying this book for BHS? I'm not sure that it has found a teen reader yet. It seems to have been patiently waiting for someone to take it home for many months now. I've had my eye on it. I'm so glad that I picked it up to read.

Marcelo is a high-functioning autistic seventeen year old. Following his story taught me so much about Asperger's syndrome. Marcelo's father has decided that he should work one summer in the real world - the mailroom of his law firm. Although Marcelo resists, eventually he agrees to go to work with his father each day. The reward? He'll be able to attend his preferred high school in the fall if his father's plan proves to be a failure for Marcelo. In the real world Marcelo is forced to make tough decisions and realize that people and situations are not always perfect - including his father's business.

Give this one a try. I highly recommend it.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have by Allen Zadoff

I was so hoping to read a good book over the Christmas vacation. All those days off stretched before me and I imagined time to relax, be lazy, and just find time for reading. With a stack of books in my arms, I left my public library with so many choices. Not so fast!

The first two I tried were way too graphic. I like a good mystery but these were beyond being the simple "who dunnit" mysteries. I had to stop reading them because the images I created in my mind were just too gory.

Let me try a young adult fiction. How bad can that be? I usually find the authors of YA lit to be quite good with stories that keep me intrigued. So I opened Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have by Allen Zadoff. I knew this was going to be a story of a high school boy with very low self esteem - he was fat and bullied for it. What I didn't expect was a predictable story. You know what I mean - boy eats too much and feels depressed - boy gets bullied at school yet has a few friends who stand up for him - boy inadvertently connects with the captain of the football team - boy soon is a star player - boy discovers he was tricked into joining the team - boy stands up for himself and quits but not before the big game which he pulls off the big win - boy goes back to his original friends realizing the true meaning of life, family, and friendship.

Maybe I just wasn't looking for that kind of predictable story. Afterall, I did finish reading it and did not give up. What was I looking for? Maybe just a simple story that didn't task my brain. It was vacation.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Funny, this is a funny story. It's also very easy to read because it's so funny and personalized, much like a diary.

Poignant, this is also a poignant story. You will feel so connected to the personal struggles of Junior that you'll want to reach out and be his friend. It's rich with feelings.

Here's the story. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is exactly that. Junior, as he is known on the Indian reservation (the rez), is Native American but he is also attending a white high school off of the rez. For that reason he feels that he is just a part-time Indian. This is written as though Junior were speaking to us, like he would write in a diary. It's also complete with his drawings - he loves to draw cartoons!

Imagine being the only Indian at the high school in the reservation's nearby town. Yes, the rez has its own high school but Junior wanted out. He wanted more opportunities. He knew white people have more success in their lives than the struggles he witnessed all around him on the rez. So he left. He alone made the decision to attend Reardan High School.

He was ostracized by his rez friends as well as the white students at Reardan. But he was committed to improving his life through education. He saw that alcoholism was ruining too many families and lives of the Indians on his Spokane Indian reservation.

This is definely a guy book. The humor will be most appreciated by guys. Take time to read the word bubbles with the cartoon illustrations as well. This book's illustrator, Ellen Forney, has done a great job enhancing the character of Junior through the illustrations. We learn much about him by taking a closer look.

Mr. Alexie won The National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2007 for this book. You can read more about him from this National Book Foundation Web page. You'll learn, like I did, that he wrote from his own experiences - Junior may actually be Sherman Alexie.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Here is an author that is worthy of your time. Laurie Halse Anderson is Writer Lady - notice the URL of her website. Speak is her first published work (from 1999) and it won numerous awards. Can you imagine having your first book win national awards? Amazing! As a matter-of-fact, in the 10 years since its publication, all of the other books she's written are award winning at the national and state level. If you haven't delved into one, now is the time. She not only writes for teens but she has written award winning books for young children and tweens. This year she won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for three of her books for teens - “Catalyst”; “Fever 1793”; and “Speak”. Our BHS media center owns each of these so stop by and pick one up.

In Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson reveals the hidden story behind 9th grader Melinda Sordino's reclusiveness. She is an outcast at her high school. She is not motivated to do anything and she's lost her friends. They are all angry with her because she called the police at a summer party that was going out of control. Her friends don't know why she did that and she can't tell them. She's actually not talking to anyone, not even her parents. She has turned inward and struggles with life. Ms. Anderson has written a story that will draw you in and keep you in its clutches as she slowly reveals details, bit by bit, until you feel the frightening pain that Melinda endured. You won't want to put this book down and you may just be able to finish it in a day, or at least a weekend.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Skin and Other Stories by Roald Dahl

The whole book is filled with great short stories. I always loved reading books with short stories basically because the story keeps changing.

The first story in this is called Skin. Skin is about a greedy group of art dealers who will stop at nothing to separate a poor man from a valued picture tattooed on his back.

Another story in the book is Lamb to Slaughter. Lamb to Slaughter is about a married couple, the O'Mailey's. When Mr. O'Mailey brings bad news to Mrs. O'Mailey, she loses herself and ends up killing her husband with a lamb leg. After the incident she feeds the lamb leg to the police.

There are other stories in this book. Skin and Lamb to Slaughter are my favorites.

Reviewed by student M. Wood

Sight by Adrienne Maria Vrettos

I opened this book on a Saturday morning and could NOT put it down! The descriptive language and flow of the story hooked me instantly.

"It is a wide-sky darkness, made pale by a full moon rising, the desert sand reflecting its glow. We follow a dirt road, our headlights devouring the tracks we made just hours ago, when there was still daylight, and hope. In every direction the desert and the night sky are following in each other's footsteps, pushing farther and farther into the empty distance until their edges press together at the horizon."

When I read Adrienne Maria Vrettos' opening paragraph in Sight, she held my hand and took me on a literary ride that wouldn't end until Sunday evening. This is one suspenseful story!

Dylan is sixteen years old and she has psychic abilities - she can see children in the last moments before they are murdered. She has kept this ability secret from her friends, but they have secrets too. You will be on the edge of your seat until the end when all the pieces come together and you can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks

Sixteen year old Sally is involved in a car accident in which she is the only survivor. This accident sets into motion a chain of events and secrets that eventually haunt her own daughter, Odella.

Odella is left to wonder about many things - why doesn't her Great Aunt Gloria visit her family any longer? Why has her mother, Sally, abandoned her and her sisters and her father and moved far away? Only after her mother's death and meeting the grandson of her Aunt Gloria's long-ago boyfriend do the secrets begin to unravel. I was able to guess a few of the secrets, but there were some surprise twists in the story.

The story is told through three generations of women and how these secrets overshadowed their lives. Many families have secrets, and in some cases, it seems that the keeping of these secrets is more harmful than the truth.

Reviewed by Mrs. Dunaski