Wintergirls

Wintergirls is by Laurie Halse Anderson. Halse Anderson is known for writing edgy books which deal with difficult issues for teens. This book is no different. The main character, Lia, suffers from anorexia, while her best friend Cassie deals with bulimia. The book follows the two girls during the beginning stages of the diseases through their competition to lose weight.

I didn't like the end very much. I thought it was too contrived and implausible. However, there was a lot of thought put into showing how someone could become caught up in the disease and feel that she owns it and has this one place of control in her life, as opposed to being controlled by it.

I find myself conflicted over whether to recommend this book or not. On one hand, I think it is something that a lot of teenagers can probably relate to. There are struggles with parents and friends and counselors, and a lot of anger and deception. On the other hand, some of the events in this are really graphic, and for someone who didn't have a very good self image to start with, it would not be a good choice of reading. The book does show a lot of the tricks that Lia uses in order to hide her anorexia, and it would be terrible for someone to try to use this as a guide.

I would suggest this book to upper high school students who have a healthy body image.

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie is by David Lubar. The story follows Scott as he enters high school, facing many common concerns and problems, such as getting the girl he likes to notice him and dealing with both old friends and new friends. To top it all off, his mom is going to have a baby. Scott has been an only child his entire life, but one of the techniques used in the book is Scott trying to connect with his unborn sibling by writing down his observations and advice to make going to high school easier for him or her.

I really liked this book. It was funny and insightful, and everyone I've loaned it to has enjoyed it, as well. Some of the situations are obvious, as when Scott is faced with choices between friends and making the right decision, but I thought it was a nice, easy read with a lot of feel-good scenarios. It was published in 2005.

I recommend this book for all ages, but lower high school will probably appreciate it the most.

Uglies Trilogy

The Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfield technically has a fourth, Extras, but it does not revolve around the main character Tally as the others do. The first three books follow Tally in a futuristic society where all children are forced to live in the outer rim of society until they turn 16, at which time they undergo surgical operations to become "pretty." Turning pretty means being able to join the party society in the city.


At first Tally is ready to join her older friends, but she ends up running away and finding a group that is determined to keep the looks they were born with. The rest of the series has Tally struggling to discover who she can trust, deciding who she wants to be, and finding out where she belongs.

I thought this was a really interesting book series. A lot of the things in the books were lessons and comparisons to what people today think is important, but the books didn't feel overly moralistic.  There was enough action and suspense to keep me interested and wanting to read the next book, and it was fun reading about the kind of party games going on.

I recommend these books to anyone interested in this combination of action and inner vs. outer beauty, but it will probably interest underclassmen in high school the most.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, was published in 1985, but don't make the mistake of thinking this book is dated. It is futuristic science fiction and as amazing today as it was back then. The book follows the main character, Ender, as he is sent to a (space station) training school for talented children. The goal is to learn how to beat the alien enemies, casually referred to as Buggers.

I have recently heard that this book will become a movie sometime in 2013, but I can't say that I'm that interested in watching. The book is so complex, switching between characters and introducing new plot twists with shocking revelations that reading it is an intense experience. I'm not sure the big screen can handle that.

There are some graphic violent passages, so I'll keep this recommendation to high school and above. There are also a few sequels to the book which I haven't read. This one was so good, I'm a little worried about being disappointed if the rest can't stack up.

Damned

This week I tried to read Damned by Chuck Palahniuk. He also wrote Fight Club, and I thought the movie was interesting, so I'd try this book. The main character is a 13-yr-old girl named Madison who ends up in Hell supposedly for smoking marijuana.

This book was so bad, I couldn't even finish it. I read the the beginning and then skipped to the end to see if it ever got better. It didn't.

It wasn't the concept of Hell that was portrayed, or the language, or the sometimes graphic images that I minded so much. I can deal with that if the book is good. No, it was Madison's really, really annoying internal dialogue that made me put this book down.

It was kind of whinny and just had a "Why do you think I'm stupid because I'm 13? I'm smarter than you" attitude. She uses big words, and then says things like, "I may be dead, but I know what X means!" Yeah, I never thought she was ignorant just because she was 13, and the author's constant use of this device got old, fast.

I do not recommend this book to anyone.

My Sister's Keeper

My Sister's Keeper is by Jodi Picoult. It was published in 2004 and later made into a movie, but I haven't seen the movie. The main premise is that a 13-yr-old girl, Anna, wants to get a medical emancipation from her parents, which means they don't get to make medical decisions for her. The reason is because Anna's sister has leukemia, and Anna was born so that she could provide her sister with bone marrow and other transfusions/transplants.

This is an absolutely amazing book written from multiple characters' perspectives. I love that Jodi Picoult's books really make you think about what's right and what's wrong, and there's always a twist at the end of her books that changes everything. This is no different. It is definitely the most emotional book I've read by her.

This is not officially a teen lit book, and it deals with a lot of different situations. I would recommend it to older readers.

Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hunger Games trilogy is an awesome book series by Suzanne Collins and includes The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. When I read the first one, I didn't realize it was the first of several, so when I got to the end, I was pretty surprised. I went straight to the library to get the others, but unfortunately the third wasn't being published for another six months. It was torture, especially because the end of the second has a huge cliffhanger.

The main premise of the trilogy is in a post-apocalyptic society divided into twelve districts (the thirteenth has supposedly been destroyed), each which produces or manufactures something different. Every year, each district has to send teenaged a boy and girl to the Hunger Games, a live-broadcast television event where the participants must kill or be killed. The winner basically gets a new house and food and money for life. The story follows Katniss Everdeen as she fights for survival both inside and out of the games.

This is a fabulous trilogy of books. For the most part, it is full of action and is quick-paced. It became even more suspenseful when I realized the author wasn't afraid to kill off characters I really liked. I read an article that said Collins began writing this because she thought students should be exposed to the realities of war, and she certainly succeeds here. There is a lot of death, and it is not for younger readers.