Author Spotlight: Chris Crutcher

Chris Crutcher has been working with kids and writing about them for a really long time. He has been a teacher, school principal, a child and family therapist, and of course a writer, since the 1970's.

Most of the time his fiction has two common elements. Dudes with issues and sports. His main characters have had to deal with anger, abuse, racism, dying young and whole range of other seemingly impossible situations. Sports helps most of them deal with their issues.The stories are intense page turners that don't pull punches when talking about tough issues or portraying teenagers just like they are. But most of his writing has an element of humor as well.

In an interview with School Library Journal, Crutcher was asked why he writes about teenagers. His answer was:

"Adolescence is often the first time people see that they have some influence over their world.... And that's a natural place to tell the story because, in my own memory, the heat was really turned up then. One of the reasons I write about older teenagers is that they're on the edge of having to live their lives themselves. Those initial decisions they make are really important. In my history I was lied to about what came next. I heard too many fairy tales" (SLJ, 2000)

Crutcher is also a tireless champion in fighting against censorship, often speaking out about the issue.

His new book Period 8 is coming out at the end of March. In the meantime, here is a list of titles we currently have in the LRC.

Novels

F Crutcher,C Angry management : three novellas.
F Crutcher,C Chinese handcuffs.
F Crutcher,C The crazy horse electric game.
F Crutcher,C Deadline.
F Crutcher,C Ironman
F Crutcher,C Running loose.
F Crutcher,C The sledding hill.
F Crutcher,C Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes.
F Crutcher,C Stotan!
F Crutcher,C Whale talk.

Non-fiction

 B Crutcher,C  King of the mild frontier : an ill-advised autobiography.

Short Stories

F Crutcher,C   Athletic shorts : six short stories.

SC Connections    Connections : short stories by outstanding writers for young adults.  

SC Dirty    Dirty laundry : stories about family secrets.  

SC On   On the fringe.  

SC Owning     Owning it : stories about teens with disabilities.  

SC Sports Pages     The sports pages.  

SC Time  Time capsule : short stories about teenagers throughout the twentieth century.  

SC Ultimate    Ultimate sports : short stories by outstanding writers for young adults.  

5 Cool New Books (if you have the time)

You want to know the number one comment that most librarians get about their job? "Man, I wish my job was to read books all day." To which, I usually reply, "Yeah, me too." Reading is certainly part of the job of a school librarian, but like most jobs (including being a high school student), you don't always get to do the fun parts as much as you would like. My reading wish list could fill a book (yeah, I said it).

Here are five recent books that are on my list to read one day...when I have time. They sound awesome. Hope you like them too.


F Bray,L 
Bray, Libba. The Diviners.  
The year is 1926. Evie O'Neill gets kicked out of her small town in Ohio when she uses her psychic powers a little too often, but she is thrilled that she gets to move to New York to live. The only problem is that she has to live with her Uncle, a curator of the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult. She thought she was going to hang out in speakeasies and hang out with Ziegfield girls (look it up), but she soon finds herself working with her uncle on a rash of occult based murders.

F Hautman,P 
Hautman, Pete. The Obsidian Blade.
Soon after strange disks of shimmering air appear in air above his house one day, Tucker Feye’s parents start acting strange. Then one day both of his parents disappear. He suspects the disks are somehow involved and soon he embarks on a time-twisting journey that involves the death of an ancient prophet and a shadowy sect of priests.

F Rosoff,M 
Rosoff, Meg. There is No Dog. 
Here is an idea for you. What if God is actually a teenage boy named Bob? Yeah, he made the Earth and everything on it (including cute girls). But mostly, he just likes sitting around eating junk food, being moody (that's why we have natural disasters), pining after girls and ignoring Earth. That is, until the day he meets a beautiful and irresistible girl named Lucy.

F Stiefvater,M 
Stiefvater, Maggie. The Raven Boys.
Blue Sargent was born into a family of psychics, but she has no powers of her own, though her presence strengthens the abilities of people with the gift. When she meets Gansey, a Raven Boy, as the students at a nearby private school are called, she can’t get him out of her mind. Soon, he and his friends rope her into a dangerous scheme to unleash a long dormant supernatural power.

F Vizzini,N 
Vizzini, Ned. The Other Normals. 
Fifteen year old Peregrine “Perry” Eckert would spend every moment playing Creatures & Caverns (a Dungeons & Dragons like game) if he could because that is where he feels most at home. But his parents are worried about his game playing and, well, his lack of social skills. So they send him off to summer camp instead. He thinks he is in for the worst summer of his life until he gets to camp and stumbles into the World of the Other Normals. There he meets one of  the creators of Creatures & Caverns. Here the mythical creatures from game are real. Suddenly, Perry finds himself embarking on a real quest to save a princess. The only problem? He will have to deal with actually have to learn how to deal with people in his own world too. Yikes.

Recommended Reading: Kicking It Old Ghoul: Classic Horror Stories

Halloween just happened. So check out stories that used to scare you great grandparents.

F James,H
James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw.
A young governess is hired to take of care of two seemingly perfect children whose parents have died.  Soon after, the evil ghosts of the children’s former governess and a servant appear and the children appear to be hiding something.

F Shelley,M
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein .
After studying natural philosophy, chemistry and alchemy, Victor Frankenstein decides to try to bring a body made up of parts of human corpses back to life. He succeeds, but the monster resents him for creating him and he seeks revenge.

F Stevenson,RL
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Dr. Jekyll, a respectable London doctor creates a potion that when he drinks it turns him into the evil and murderous Mr. Hyde.

F Stoker,B
Stoker, Bram.  Dracula.
A rich nobleman from Transylvania (Romania) named Count Dracula seeks the help of lawyer Jonathan Harker to help him purchase some real estate so that he can immigrate to England. Harker soon finds that he is trapped in Dracula’s castle. When he finally escapes to England, he doesn’t realize that Dracula has followed him.

F Wells,H
Wells, H. G. The Invisible Man.
A mysterious man arrives in a small town in England with his body completely covered in clothes, bandages and large goggles. The townspeople eventually find out that the man is invisible underneath all of the bandages and they chase him out of town. Driven insane by his inability to reverse the invisibility, he goes on a murderous rampage.

Recommended Reading: We Shouldn't Feel This Way, Should We?

Tales of forbidden romance, love triangles, friendship enders and other bad ideas.

F Cohn,R
Cohn, Rachel and David Levithan. Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List.
Naomi and Ely are best friends who have been inseparable since childhood.. They decide to create a No Kiss List of people neither is allowed to kiss to make sure nothing will come between them. There are only two problems. Naomi is in love with Ely and Ely has just kissed Naomi's boyfriend, Bruce. Will their friendship survive?

F Elkeles,S 
Elkeles, Simone. Perfect Chemistry. 
Brittany Ellis is popular and wealthy with a seemingly perfect life. Alex Fuentes is a gang member from the other side of town. When they are forced to be lab partners, their contempt for each other is undeniable. When Alex makes a bet with his friends that he can win her over, both of their worlds are turned upside down.

F Korman,G 
Korman, Gordon. Son of the Mob.
Vince Luca has a normal teenage life. He worries about high school, acne and getting a girlfriend. And of course run-ins with the police and FBI! His dad is a mob boss, and even though he tries to keep the family business out of his own, Vince sometimes has to deal with dead bodies in trunks and listening devices in the house. So it figures that when he finally finds a girl he really likes, she turns out to be the daughter of the FBI agent who is after his dad.

F Nelson,J 
Nelson, Jandy. The Sky is Everywhere. 
Lennie Walker, poet and band geek, has happily spent most of her life in her sister Bailey's shadow. But when Bailey dies suddenly, Lennie, her family and Bailey's boyfriend Toby are left to deal with their grief. Even though they feel guilty, Lennie and Toby find themselves powerfully attracted to each other. When a gorgeous new guitar player in town, Joe, starts to pursue her, she has to decide between a boy who understands her grief and one who understands her passion for music.

 F Perkins,S 
Perkins, Stephanie. Anna and the French Kiss.
Anna is not happy about shipped off to boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school. After all, her best friend and the cute guy she has been flirting with at her movie theater job are back in Atlanta. Then she meets Etienne St. Claire, a beautiful French speaking, English accented boy who is absolutely irresistible. They become fast friends, and potentially something more—if only he didn't have a girlfriend.

Recommended Reading: Your Video Game Future

These stories all imagine a future where video games or virtual reality have become an integral part how how we live, for good or bad.

F Card,O 
Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game.
In order to defend ourselves against an alien race that has been raging for over a hundred years, the military trains young soldiers in its Battle School using video game battle simulators. At 12, Ender Wiggins is selected to attend the school where he quickly becomes a leader in battle and possibly the only one who can save the human race.

F Cline,E 
Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One.
It is the year 2044 and the real world is not a nice place to  live in. So instead, most of humanity spends its time in the OASIS,  a virtual world where everyone goes to work, school or just to hang out. Upon the death of James Halliday, the billionaire 80s pop culture obsessed video game designer of the OASIS, an epic contest is announced. The winner must solve a series of pop culture related puzzles to inherit all of Halliday's money and gain control of his company. In 5 years  no one has even gotten close until teenager Wade Watts figures out the first puzzle. Now he is in a race to the end with the rest of the world either watching or trying to beat him to the end.

F Doctorow,C 
Doctorow, Cory. For the Win.
In the near future, millions of people are into multiplayer online games trying to win virtual gold, jewels and artifacts, which creates  a massive virtual economy. Some corporations decide to exploit this economy by setting up gold farming sweatshops in third world countries. These gamers collect the virtual wealth to sell to those in first world countries who want to skip the lower levels of game play. A group of teenagers around the world band together to take on these powerful corporations in a move that might even bring down the whole virtual economy.

F Falkner,B 
Falkner, Brian. Brain Jack.
After teenage hacker Sam Wilson manages to break into the near impenetrable AT&T network and takes out the world's infrastructure while trying to cover his tracks, he is recruited by Homeland Security, whose job it is to protect the internet. It is the near future and neuro-headsets have replaced keyboards.  People's brains are jacked right onto the network. It allows some very bad people to mess with user's heads—literally. It is up to Sam and his fellow hackers to stop them.

F Kostick.C Kostick, Conor. Epic.
Violence was banned many years ago on New Earth. All disputes are settled in the arena of a fantasy computer game called Epic. Everyone plays the game. If you win, you have the chance to go to college, fulfill your dreams, and get more supplies for your community. If you lose, your line online and off is not worth anything. In an attempt to get change the system and possible end the game, Erik and his friends find a way to challenge the masters of the game and rulers of New Earth, The Committee.

Recommended Reading: If you're done with the Twilight series...

Have you read all the Twilight books (twice) and seen all of the movies?   Or are you sick of vampire books? Either way, if you are looking for something new, you might like these series.

F Clare,C 
Clare, Cassandra. City of Bones. 
New Yorker Clary Fray just wanted to go have a good time at the Pandemonium club. She never expected to witness a murder committed by three other teenagers with strange tattoos and unusual weapons. Also, the three teenagers were invisible to everyone else and there was no body or even blood to report to the police. Clary later learns that the other teens were called Shadowhunters, a secret society dedicated to killing demons. In the next twenty-four hours, she is attacked by a demon herself and mother ends up missing. With the help of the gorgeous Shadowhunter Jace and his friends, she learns of a whole new world that has always co-existed with ours.

 F Marr,M 
Marr, Melissa. Wicked Lovely. 
Rules #1-3. Do not stare at invisible faeries, do not speak to them, and definitely don't draw their attention to you. Aislinn has always been able to see faeries, but these rules have always kept her safe, until now. Everything changes when Keenan, the Summer King, chooses her as his mate. She is now involved in the 900 year old struggle between Keenan and his mother, the Winter Queen. If Aislinn refuses him, summer will cease to exist and mortals and faeries will all die. If she accepts, she will lose her own humanity.

F Noel,A 
Noël, Alyson. Evermore.
 Since the car accident that killed her family but spared her, sixteen year old Ever can see other people's auras, hear their thoughts and know their life story by touching them. She goes out of her way to avoid contact with other people until she meets the mysterious. Damen Auguste. She feels an instant connection with him. When she is with him, the noise and chaos in her head subsides. He doesn't have an aura and he always seems to know what she is thinking. But she doesn't really know who, or what, he really is.

F Stiefvater,M 
Stiefvater, Maggie. Shiver.
Grace has watched the wolves outside of her window every winter for years, but she had always been drawn to the mysterious yellow eyed one who seemed to take an interest in here too. What she doesn't know is that these wolves turn into their human form during the summer months. When she meets a boy with the same yellow eyes, she knows somehow that it is him, her wolf. As they start fall for each other, she learns when winter comes again, and with it the change, this could be last year as a human. He will lose Grace and himself forever.

F Taylor,L 
Taylor, Laini. Daughter of Smoke and Bone.
 Karou is a beautiful young art student in a Prague boarding school. Her natural bright blue hair and her sketchbook is filled with pictures of horrible monsters, drawings of the only family she has ever known, the Chimaera, She speaks many languages, not all of them human. She occasionally runs errands for the devil Brimstone, a wishmonger and father figure who has her collect teeth from around the world, especially human ones. You can understand why she doesn't know who she really is or where she came from. One fateful day she meets the seraphim Akiva with whom she feels an instant connection, she finally starts to get the answers she seeks, even if it means the end of her life as she knows it.

Recommended Reading: Escape!

Stories about teenagers held against their wills trying to escape before it's too late.

F Bodeen,S 
Bodeen, S. A. The Compound.
When a nuclear war starts, Eli's billionaire father rushes his family in into their underground compound. They have everything they need to survive until it is safe to go above ground again. But when things start to go wrong, Eli realizes the real danger is not just on the surface but within his own family.

F Dashner,J
Dashner, James. The Maze Runner.
When Thomas wakes up on the lift, all he can remember is his first name. When the doors open, he finds himself in a huge maze with stone walls called the Glade. He is surrounded by a group of boys his own age who have a similar story. Every 30 days a new boy arrives, but no one has ever escaped the Glades.

F Henry,A
Henry, April. Shock Point.
When Cassie finds out that her psychiatrist stepfather Rick has been illegally prescribing an experimental drug to teen patients who have then committed suicide. To silence her, Rick commits her to a sadistic boot camp for troubled teen in Mexico called Peaceful Cove.  Even if she can escape the brutal camp, she has to get through the Mexican desert and get back to Oregon. And even then, who will believe her story?

F Smith,A
Smith, Alexander Gordon. Lockdown: Escape from Furnace.
Furnace Penitentiary is the world's most secure youth prison. It is a mile underground and its inmates are all serving life sentences. The guards and the other inmates are sadistic, but they aren't the worst things about the prison. Alex Sawyer is a criminal, but he has been falsely imprisoned for murder. Together, with a group of other innocent kids and some cold blooded killers, Alex plans a dangerous escape.

 F Strasser,T
Strasser, Todd. Boot Camp.
Harmony Lake is a boot camp for troubled teens and supposedly a godsend for desperate parents.  Like all kids at the camp, Garrett is taken in the middle of the night. He knows that some of the kids deserve there, but when he is beaten and subjected to psychological abuse, he knows he has to try to escape at all costs before it is too late.

Five Sites for Finding Cool Reads for Teens

Here are five of the best places on the web to find information about the coolest books written for teenagers. These sites are targeted for teenagers, but they are certainly adult friendly too.

Guys Lit Wire
http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/
Guys Lit Wire reviews and reccomends books for dudes, specifically teenage guy dudes. They explain their mission this way: "Guys Lit Wire exists solely to bring literary news and reviews to the attention of teenage boys and the people who care about them. We are more than happy to welcome female readers - but our main goal is to bring the attention of good books to guys who might have missed them." In addition to their reviews, you should also check out their Live Wires section for themed reading lists.

No Flying No Tights
http://noflyingnotights.com/
No Flying No tights reviews and reccomends graphic novels, manga and anime to all ages, but their main audience is teens. The creator of the site says " I decided to create a page devoted to graphic novel reviews specifically for those who read them the most — mainly teens — and for those who might be involved in distributing them to teens — namely teachers, librarians, and parents." For newbies, there is a Comics 101 section and a resource section for boring teacher and librarian types.

readergirlz
http://readergirlz.blogspot.com/
The readergirlz organization does more than just review books. Their mission includes being a "cutting-edge literacy and social media project for teens." They encourage reading and donate books too. Their blog, the place where they put their reviews,showcases "strong female protagonists while aiming to include: multicultural titles; various socioeconomic circumstances; the overlooked, quiet, literary works; and the commercial successes that everyone is excited about." They also help support Teen Lit Day with their Rock the Drop initiative.Good stuff.

Reading Rants
http://www.readingrants.org/
Reading Rants! Out of the Ordinary Booklists! is a collection of themed booklists from an awesome schoo librarian (yeah, I said it). She describes the purpose of the blog this way: "A group of booklists for teens out there who need a good read, but are wondering if there’s life after Judy Blume and Brian Jacques." The site is structured as a blog, so if you want to see all of the books in a category, click the tags at the bottom of the description or click on a list category on the left side under Reading Rants Lists.

Teenreads
http://www.teenreads.com/
Teenreads is part of the Book Report Network of websites. The site has reviews, feature articles, newsletters, interviews with authors and all kind of other information about books for teenagers.

Pictures of You: 5 Graphic Novels about the Lives of Teenagers

Don't like comic books and super hero movies? No problem. Here are 5 graphic novels that tell realistic stories about high school students trying to deal with life and all its complications.


G Anthony,J 
Anthony, Jessica. Chopsticks.
After her mother died, Glory's father raised her as a piano prodigy keeping her on a rigid practice schedule with big plans to sell out concert halls. Now a teenager, Glory has disappeared. The story flashes back to the events leading up to the disappearance and we see Glory falling for her next door neighbor Frank and her descent into madness.

G Castelluci,C 
Castellucci, Cecil. The Plain Janes.
After a bomb goes off in Metro City, Jane's parents decide to move to the suburbs. Jane thinks her life is over. But in the lunch room, she meets three outcasts named Jane. The girls decide to start a group called P.L.A.I.N. –People Loving Art In Neighborhoods. They pull a series of pranks that are meant to introduce art to the town (like putting wool caps on fire hydrants), but their plans backfire when the community gets in an uproar about the stunts.

G McKeever,S 
McKeever, Sean. The Waiting Place. Definitive ed.
High school senior Jeffry Dietz's parents move him from the suburbs to the podunk town of Northern Plains. It is a tiny, tourist trap town (population 972) where there is nothing to do. Jeffry struggles to make new friends and avoid new enemies as he and all the other teenagers try to escape the boredom and drama of high school in a small town.


G Novgorodoff,D 
Novgorodoff, Danica. Refresh Refresh : A Graphic Novel. 
Josh, Cody and Gordon are three best friends on the brink of graduating high school. Like many men in their small town, all three of their fathers have gone off to fight in Iraq. They worry about their fathers coming back home alive and about the big decisions facing them after graduation. They cope in different ways on their own, but together they form a type of fight club where they attempt to honor the sacrifices made by their fathers and to deal with their own unspoken pain.

G Thompson,C 
Thompson, Craig. Blankets : An Illustrated Novel. 
Blankets tells the artist's own story of growing up with a strict, evangelical family in a small town in Wisconsin. Life is tough for Craig and his younger brother. Their parents' behavior borders on abuse and their classmates bully them. As a teenager, Craig is a misfit and loner who mostly sticks to his art. Then he meets Raina and her friends at a church camp. Craig starts to question his parent's values and falls in love for the first time.

Abraham Lincoln Nominees: 5 Book Trailers

The nominees for the Abraham Lincoln Award for 2013 have been announced. So it's time to get down to business and start reading them. There are some great titles on the list--22 of them in fact. Information about the award and the title list can be found on our Abe Lincoln Award page. Here are book trailers for five of the nominees.


1. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld 



2.Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson



3. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey



4. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta



5. Matched by Ally Condie

If You Liked Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Part 2)

You just finished the Hunger Games books or you can't seem to get a copy or you just saw the movie (or plan to) and you want more just like it. A few months ago, we posted a list of books that might help quiet that (ahem) hunger. But that wasn't enough!  Here are five more books that you might like if you enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy (or the movie).

F Condie,A
Condie, Allyson Braithwaite. Matched.  The Society is there to make the right choices for you—what to read, what to watch, what to believe, who to date. At least that is what Cassia always thought. At her Matching ceremony where the Society picks your ideal mate, she expects only one face to appear on the screen and it does…until a second one flashes right before the screen goes black. The Society tells her it is a rare malfunction, but she starts to doubt what she has always believed. She now faces an impossible choice: do what she has always been told or make her own choice who to love.

F Hautman,P
Hautman, Pete. Rash.  It's 2074 and the U.S. has become the United Safer States of America (USSA), a nation obsessed with safety. Football, football, guns, large dogs, chainsaws and whole bunch of other things are illegal. 16 year old Bo Marsten is accused of causing a rash that spreads to his whole high school. When he loses his temper over the incident, he is shipped off to a manual labor prison camp in the Arctic Circle that is surrounded by polar bears. Bork, an artificial intelligence program he created for a science project tracks him down and offers to get his 5 year sentence reduced, but can he trust him?

F Oliver,L
Oliver, Lauren. Delirium. With only 95 days before her 18th birthday when she would undergo the procedure to prevent it, Lena Haloway develops a deadly strain of amor deliria nervosa, otherwise known as love. She has learned all her life that love causes suffering, pain, impulsiveness, anxiety and other problems. The procedure is a cure that will prevent the disease from taking hold. When she meets Alex, one of the fugitive Invalids, a tribe of people that is uncured and lives a life of passion and freedom, she has choose between Alex and the wishes of her family.

F Smith,A
Smith, Alexander Gordon. Lockdown : Escape From Furnace. Alex Sawyer is put in Furnace Penitentiary for a crime he didn't commit. Furnace is the most secure prison for young offenders in the world. It is buried a mile underground and is ruled by sadistic guards and brutal inmates who might drag you off in the middle of the night only to have you return weirdly altered. Alex faces life without parole unless he can escape with the help of a group of kids, some who have also been framed and others cold blooded killers.

F Stiefvater,M
Stiefvater, Maggie. The Scorpio Races.
Every November on the island of Thisby, the locals hold a deadly contest called the Scorpio Races. Contestants ride Capaill Uisce, man-eating water horses who rise from the autumn seas to terrorize the islanders. Some riders like Nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick race to win or just to survive; others never make it to the finish line. Puck Connolly is the first girl ever to ride in the annual races. She is not prepared for what will happen next.

Bad Romance: Stories about Guys Trying to Find Love and Failing Hilariously

Here are five stories about high school guys trying to find trying to get a girlfriend and avoid totally embarassing themselves at the same time--but failing miserably at both. Each one endures awkward momeents and  hilarious humiliations while trying to keep their cool.

F Crawford,B 
Crawford, Brent. Carter Finally Gets It Will Carter is obsessed with only two things during his freshman year—looking cool and getting a girlfriend. Unfortunately, neither comes easy as he hilariously screws up one chance after another to have either one.

F Doyle,L
Doyle, Larry. I love you, Beth Cooper. Denis Cooverman, graduating senior and captain of the debate team, declares his love for gorgeous head cheerleader Beth Cooper (who doesn't even know he exists) right in the middle of giving a graduation speech in front of the whole school. The craziest night of his life soon follows.

F Koertge,R
Koertge, Ronald. Where the Kissing Never StopsLife is already hard for 16 year old Walker. His dad has died and his girlfriend has moved away. To make matters worse, his mother decides to take a job as a stripper to support the family. There goes his social life—especially if the cute new girl in school who he has a crush on finds out..

F Korman,G
Korman, Gordon. Son of the MobViice Luca has the hardest time finding and keeping a girlfriend. What's the deal? He is a nice, good looking 17 year old guy, but he also the son of a powerful Mafia boss. After finally finding a girl with potential, it turns out she is the daughter of  an FBI agent investigating his family.

F Wizner,J
Wizner, Jake. Spanking Shakespeare. Shakespeare Shapiro's parents cursed him with a name that has caused him humiliation all through school. At least he's a good writer like his namesake. It is senior year and all students at his school have to write a memoir of their life so far as a final project. He hopes that his will win the prize for best memoir, and possibly get him a girlfriend (or at least a prom date).

Can You Spare Some Change?

According to the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness, every year between 2.5 and 3.5 million people will live on the streets or in a homeless shelter. On any one night, about 750,000 men, women, and children are part of that homeless population. The books below tell the story of 5 people who struggled and overcame homelessness, dysfunctional families, and sometimes drugs, to have a normal life.

362.5 SHE
Shepard, Adam. Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream.
When he graduated from college, Adam Shepard started an experiment. Could he drop himself in the middle of nowhere with just $25 in cash, an empty gym bag, a sleeping bag, a tarp and the clothes on his back, and one year later, obtain a car, a furnished apartment and $2500 in savings just by living and working on the road? He starts with a new identity, one that doesn't include his college education, financial history or anyone he knew in his previous life.

362.74 ERL
Erlbaum, Janice. Have You Found Her: A Memoir.
Twenty years after the author lived at a homeless shelter for teens, she went back to volunteer. She was now a successful writer and she wanted to help a girl who was in the same situation she was back then. She meets brilliant but troubled 19 year old junkie Sam. She has been living on the streets since she was 12. Erlbaum tries to help her, but she may be too late.

362.74 MUR
Murray, Liz. Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard.
At the age of 15, Liz Murray was born to drug-addicted parents in New York City. By fifteen, when her family falls apart, she ends up homeless. When her mother dies of AIDS, Liz decides to chart her own destiny by going back to high school, completing her homework in the school hallways and sleeping in subway stations. Against all odds, she eventually makes it to Harvard.

362.74 PAS 
S., Tina. Living at the Edge of the World: How I Survived the Tunnels of Grand Central Station.
When she met runaway teenager April, Tina S. left her dysfunctional family behind and lived for four years in the train tunnels underneath Grand Central Station in New York. Soon after she arrived, she became addicted to crack and did whatever she had to do to support her addiction. Finally, after several tragedies and arrests, she realizes she might not live through another day on the streets. With a team of caring adults in her life, she slowly straightened out her life.

B Gardner, C
Gardner, Chris. The Pursuit of Happyness.
At the age of 20, Chris Gardener had already had a hard life growing up in poverty in a dysfunctional home. With only a high school education, he applies and gets accepted to a training program for stockbrokers. Because of the low salary and a series of unfortunate events, he and his toddler son became homeless. They spent the next year sleeping in shelters. He eventually went on to become a successful stockbroker and multi-millionaire.

If You Liked Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

You just finished the Hunger Games books and you are itching for another cool story just like it. Well, you are in luck. Here are five books that you might like if you enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy.

F Roth,V  

Divergent by Veronica Roth

In the future, the world is divided into 5 groups, the members of which spend their lives cultivating a particular virtue--selflessness, honesty, intelligence, and peacefulness. Each 16 year old has to pick a group to which he or she will devote the rest of his or her life by enduring a series of extreme tests of physical endurance and intense psychological simulations. The system helps to create a "perfect" world for its inhabitants. For Beatrice Prior, it is her time to choose her path. She can choose to stay with her family or be true to who she really is--she can't do both.

F Dashner, J

Maze Runner by James Dashner

When Thomas wakes up in a giant dark elevator, he has no memory of his life before he woke up. He just knows his name is Thomas--or is it? The doors of the elevator suddenly open and he finds himself looking out on The Glade, a huge outdoor area surrounded by giant stone walls. A group of teenage boys just like him is waiting to greet him. The Glade is a giant maze from which nobody has escaped. Every 30 days a new boy arrives. When a girl arrives the next day, chaos ensues.

F Bacigalupi, P

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

In a world reeling from natural disasters and environmental destruction caused by human beings, we have almost run out of oil and the gap between the rich and poor has grown ever wider. In the Gulf Coast region, grounded oil tankers are taken apart by crews of dirt poor teenagers called Ship Breakers. Nailer, a member of the light crew, scavenges for copper and other valuable materials so that he and his abusive, alcoholic dad can survive. One day, a hurricane causes a luxury ship to wreck on the shore near where Nailer lives. He and a friend are able to rescue the lone survivor, a beautiful, wealthy girl. Protecting her and reuniting her with her family could mean a new life for Nailer or unseen dangers that could cost him his life.

F Westerfeld,S

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

How do you create a world where there is always peace and harmony? Make everyone beautiful, of course! Tally Youngblood is about to reach her 16th birthday and she will finally get the operation that transforms all of the kids in her world from an Ugly into a Pretty. The operation uses cosmetic surgery to change your appearance to conform to an ideal standard of beauty. Tally is looking forward to the operation (as is every teenager) until she meets Shay, a fellow female Ugly who tells her about The Smoke, a colony of outsiders who have chosen to live without technology and who have refused to get the operation.

F Shusterman,N

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

In the near future, a civil war has been fought between those who believe that abortion should be legal and those who think it should be illegal. The result? Abortion of newborns is illegal, but teenagers can be sent to Harvest Farms, where they can have their individual body parts taken and given to other people who need them--they are unwound. So if you get into trouble with the law, are an orphan, or are just unlucky enough, prepare for your unwinding.

Extra Credit Science

These five books bring tell the fascinating, and at times, scandalous or tragic, tales of scientific discoveries and people behind them. We can't give you extra credit for reading them, but you will be glad you did.

 

500 BRY  A Short History of Nearly Everything. By Bill Bryson

Bryson attempts to summarize all that we know from biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, and astronomy, from the Big Bang, the origins of life, the size of the Earth, and well, nearly everything.

537 BOD  Electric Universe : The Shocking True Story of Electricity by David Bodanis

In Electric Universe, David Bodanis gives a history of the discovery and development of electricity and how it has impacted our lives. He also offers fascinating lives and sometimes bad behavior of the scientists who helped shape our understanding of it.  

546 KEA. The Disappearing Spoon : And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean

Science Magazine writer Kean tells the sometimes sordid tales of scientists who contributed to the development of the periodic table. Find out why Gandhi hated iodine, how Marie Curie provoked jealousy in the colleague’s wives and why the Japanese used Cadmium missilesto kill Godzilla.

551.7 FOR Earth : An Intimate History. By Richard A. Fortey

Fortney takes us on the a global geologic tour across time, explaining how the earth has changed over millennia as land masses broke apart and mountains, volcanoes and other geologic phenomenon have shaped the world we live in today.  Did you know that Appalachian Mountains used to extend all the way to Scotland?

616.02774 SKL The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Henrietta Lacks was a poor African American Southern tobacco farmer and mother of five who was undergoing treatment for cancer in 1951. Doctors removed tissue samples from her without her knowledge or permission. The cells grown from that sample went on to become known as the famous HeLa line. They were vital in the development of a polio vaccine and helped to uncover secrets of cancer and viruses and countless other discoveries. Yet she lies in an unmarked grave and her family never saw a penny from the use of her cells.

A Girl in Trouble is a Dangerous Thing

Here are five stories about teenage girls who are dangerously close to being the next victim of a serial killer.

F Cormier,R     Tenderness by Robert Cormier

Eric is an 18 year old serial killer who has just been released from juvenile detention for killing his parents and is now on the hunt for young beautiful girls to kill. Lori is a 15 year old runaway girl who is fascinated with Eric. They are both looking for tenderness.

F Derting,K     The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

There is a serial killer on the loose in Violet Ambrose’s small town. Since she was a little girl, has she has been able to psychically sense murder victims and their killers, so she may be the only one who can find him. Or she might be the next victim.

F Ferguson,A     The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson

As the daughter of a small town medical examiner, Cameryn Mahoney has always been fascinated with forensic science. When a serial killer comes to her small town, she becomes involved in helping her dad find the killer before he strikes again.

F Qualey,M     Close to a Killer by Marsha Qualey

Barrie’s mother is a convicted killer who has paid for her crime. She now runs a hair salon called Killer Looks that employs other killer ex-cons. When people related to the salon start dying, suspicion falls on salon employees and Barrie gets involved in trying to solve the mystery. But will she be the next victim?

F Strasser,T     Wish You Were Dead by Todd Strasser

The popular kids at Soundview high school are disappearing one by one after an anonymous blogger starts posting a hit list on her blog. When Madison starts receiving anonymous notes, she thinks she may be next.  Is it the work of a serial killer or some elaborate prank?

Missing Harry: More Series to Read if You Liked Harry Potter

So, the last Harry Potter books and movies have been realeased and you have read them all too many times to count. Here are some other series that you might want to read next.

Series: Bartimaeus Triology
Author: Stroud, Jonathan.
First Book: F Stroud, J  The Amulet of Samarkand.
About the Series: In London, where Parliament is controlled by magicians, the rise of apprentice Nathaniel is told through his eyes and those of Bartimaeus, the powerful and irreverent djinn he summons to help him seek revenge and gain influence.

Series: His Dark Materials
Author: Pullman, Philip
First Book: F Pullman, P The Golden Compass.
About the Series: The His Dark Materials trilogy follows Lyra and Will, two kids living in Oxford, England.  Their England is in a parallel world, one with armored polar bears, winged demons, other fantastic creatures and dangerous magical objects. Mixing science, theology and magic, the three books take the kids on epic adventures saving kids in danger to saving the world.

Series: Inheritance Cycle
Author: Paolini, Christopher.
First Book: F Paolini,C Eragon.
About the Series: In the land of Alagaesia, the Dragon Riders kept peace among all of the countries.  One of them, Galbatorix, ends up going mad when his dragon is slain.  He is refused another dragon and starts a war to seek revenge and gain control of Alagaesia. Against him is Eragon, a boy whose family is killed and village terrorized when he finds a dragon egg and becomes a Dragon Rider.

Series: Keys to the Kingdom
Author: Nix, Garth
First Book: F Nix,G Mister Monday.
About the Series: Arthur Penhaligon was supposed to die at a young age from a deadly asthma attack but instead is saved by a magical key. This key opens the door to a mysterious house transporting him to the real world of Second Realms. With the keys help,  Arthur fights his way out but the Fetchers, dog faced creatures are never far behind.

Series: Pendragon
Author: MacHale, D. J
First Book: F MacHale,D  The Merchant of Death.
About the Series: Good verses evil struggles to win in this extensive series. Bobby Pendragon is a 14 year old boy that is transported through time and space by a gateway worm hole with his uncle. He writes to his closest friends Mark and Courtney on earth. As his friends read the letters Bobby’s incredible adventures unfold..

Introducing 5 (because 6 would be ridiculous)

Looking for something to read? Our new occasional feature 5 (because 6 would be ridiculous) is here to help. We are going to provide themed lists of books or websites on a semi-regular basis. But wait, that's not all! A printable list is attached that you can share with your class or your friends. Sweeeeet...

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Five Stories About Fighting Back.

F D637L Little Brother. Doctorow, Cory.

Immediately after being attacked by terrorists, San Francisco is turned into a police state run by the Department of Homeland Security. When a group of teenage hackers are falsely accused of aiding the terrorists, they fight to take back their city by creating a network called the Xnet, a movement that threatens to take down the Department of Homeland Security itself.

F M364t Tomorrow, when the war began. Marsden, John
Seven teenagers return from a camping trip to discover that their country has been invaded by a foreign power. Do they turn themselves in so they can be with their families? Go back to the woods and hide? Or do they stay and fight using guerilla warfare? Seven against an army seems like unlikely odds. Or are they?

F O79n 1984. Orwell, George.
1984 is set in an imaginary future world that is dominated by three nations that are constantly at war. Disagree with the government or have an independent thought and prepare to be re-educated by the Thought Police. Winston Smith decides to take on the government (otherwise known as Big Brother.) Will he survive or will he conform?

F P153f Fight Club. Palahniuk, Chuck.
Life is meaningless for the unhappy narrator until he meets Tyler Durden. Together they start a club designed to help its members relieve their frustration and disconnection by having bare fisted fights. Soon, similar clubs begin sprouting up around the nation. Tyler seems to have started a revolution and things are about to get a whole lot more dangerous.

F W526u Uglies. Westerfeld, Scott.
Want to have peace and harmony? Make everyone beautiful like movie stars. In this imagined future, when you reach the age of 16, you undergo plastic surgery to change your appearance so that you will match an ideal standard of beauty. Tally Youngblood can’t wait to turn 16 until she meets a group of people who refuse the operation. But would anyone not want to look perfect?

The Printable Handout Version (PDF)