Whatareyoureading

=What are you reading? =

Add the book that you are reading and what age group you would recommend this book? Any other comments are welcome.

// Wintergirls// by Laurie Halse Anderson

From the author of //Speak//, which incidentally is 10 years old, comes this powerful story of two best friends. On page 1 (so I am not giving anything away), Cassie is found dead, alone, in a hotel room, and Lia has to cope. What is unusual, though, is that the girls are both anorexics -- Cassie was also bulemic, and Lia is a cutter. So this is not a comfy read. Told by Lia, so you see/hear things from her point-of-view, this novel is dead-on. An important, powerful work and I expect it to be every bit as influential as //Speak// has been.

Melissa Moore, Union University

//Eight Grade Sucks// by Heather Brewer (//The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd, v. 1)// Vladimir Todd, a typical teen boy who happens to be a vampire, quenches his thirst for blood with the aid of His guardian, Aunt Nelly who is a nurse. His best friend, Henry, a human is quite aware Vlad is a vampire. Vlad bit Henry when they were eight years old. Vlad's search for answers to his parent's deaths leads him to the start of a journey of finding out just who he is; the last vampire? The mystery of his parent's deaths is intensified by the appearance of the mysterious sustitute teacher Mr. Otis and the disappearance of Vlad's favorite teacher, Mr. Craig. KInd of creepy with touches of humor, this may be the start of //Harry Potter// meets //Twilight.// Followers of either series may be grabbed by __this__ title, however I have put this on the 7th & 8th grade only YA shelf due to somewhat graphic references to blood. The next title in this series is //Ninth Grade Slays//. I look forward to the further adventures of Vlad. Tedra Gee, W. O. Inman Middle School, Paris

//Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmitt Till Case// By Chris Crowe

It's been an intense read, but //Getting Away With Murder// by Chris Crowe is unbelievable. Crowe does an amazing job of retelling the events of the murder and the subsequent trial (if it can be called that), and forces the reader to think about the prejudices black people faced only a few decades ago, when a young boy could be murdered and his murderers walk away free. This would be an excellent choice for middle or high school classes to read and discuss during Black History Month, or any time. Melissa Moore, Union University

I am currently reading //13 Reasons Why// by Jay Asher. As a high school librarian, I am hoping that the students will be able to see that the little things that they think are not so bad can mount up and become enough to precipitate a suicide. I just started it so I am still undecided about what it will be like in the library. What is your new favorite book? Dianne Anderson

I am reading Postcards from No Man's Land by Aidan Chambers. It won the Printz Award and a Carnegie Medal. It's a gripping WWII story set in the Netherlands, told in two distinct voices. One is the modern-day Jacob, who has come from Britain to honor his grandfather's grave on a Dutch battlefield, and the other is Geertrui, looking back from the end of her life to a time when she hid and cared for the British soldiers. It had me hooked from the first chapter. The characters are believable and three-dimensional, and they wrestle with contradictions and choices in the world around them. I would recommend this for high school due to depictions of war and some sexuality. This book heavily references the Diary of Anne Frank, and would probably be a good next read for anyone who enjoyed that classic. Julie Dahlhauser, Jackson Central-Merry High School.


 * NEEDS A PIX HERE!***

Right now I'm reading "Another Fine Myth", a 1978 fantasy novel. The book reads like the typical fantasy novel of the era. An apprentice magician, Skeeve, has the misfortune of watching his master die at the hands of an assassin, just after he'd summoned a "demon" in order to impress his youthful charge with the danger and strength of magic. The book has humorous notes through out, including many puns, such as the name of the demon, the wizard, Aahz. This book would definitely have a readership among the fantasy fanatics and might possibly attract the magic crowd recently created by the vampire phenomenon. JoJo Crenshaw, Ripley High School.