Archive for the 'For the Guys' Category
April 10th, 2014 by pdevito
Early Auden is referred to as the “strangest of boys” and at 13 years old he is rather special. He sees things 
and experiences things in a unique way that allows him to step out of the limitations of what is acceptable and “normal” behavior. Early takes his new friend Jack Baker on a fast paced adventure that will keep the reader thoroughly intrigued. Set at the end of World War II in a boarding school in Maine, the boys go on a quest of sorts traveling the land and sea looking to solve the puzzle of a mythical tale.
I love this book because it allows the reader to believe that which is unbelievable without taking the route of corny and sappy.
I recommend Navigating Early for grades 5-8.
Mrs. Sayan
YA Librarian
June 5th, 2013 by fjacksonem
I’m no
t a big fan of romances but I absolutely loved this book. It is a love story, but not a sunny one. The characters are not gorgeous, they are not perfect and they are not annoyingly rich and entitled. Without giving too much away, what I truly loved is the way the author allows you to slowly unravel the insecurities and deep dark troubles of the characters as they get to know one another. This book is in no way light hearted, yet it is full of hope for the possibilities that could unfold. Both Eleanor and Park have stayed with me long after I put down this book. I guarantee anyone who is a fan of quirky love stories will include Eleanor and Park amongst their favorites. This is a must read and is recommended for those in grades 9 and up.
Mrs. Sayan
Young Adult Librarian
August 28th, 2012 by fjacksonem
Imagine you and some classmates are trapped in a superstore during what seems like the end of the world. When a massive hailstorm diverts their schoolbuses into the local Greenway, that is exactly what happens to narrator Dean and 13 of his classmates. Trapped inside the store, the fourteen are cut off from the outside world. The hailstorm is followed by a giant earthquake and a chemical weapons spill at a nearby government facility. It is up to Dean and the other high schoolers to take charge and take care of the others – 2 middle schoolers and six “little kids”
Set in the not too distant future, Monument 14, is an unnerving realistic story about what seems like the end of the world. The students try to survive while making sense of the disasters surrounding them. Will they survive? Will they be able to get help? Will the students be able to co-exist even though they are all from different social groups?
Monument 14 is a great read for both boys and girls. I would recommend it to students grade 9 and up due to some violence and other mature situations.
Mrs. Rosenberg
YA Librarian
June 13th, 2012 by fjacksonem
Sixteen year old Ryan was just released from the hospital after treatment for a suicide attempt. He has few friends, except for the friends he made while hospitalized. Along comes Nicki, a local girl who talks to him about his depression and suicide attempt as a friend rather than viewing him as the “local loser” like most of the other neighborhood kids. Nicki’s father killed himself too, a fact Ryan finds out while accompanying Nicki to local psychics in an attempt to contact her father. What are Nicki’s motives in befriending Ryan? Is she being honest with him?
Ryan spends a lot of time standing under the local waterfall in order to feel alive. Others think it is strange and his mother would probably never let him out of her sight again if she knew about it. Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard is a well written story about a teen’s mental illness and his struggle to fit back in to the world he tried to escape from.
I recommend Try Not to Breathe to teens grade 9 and up.
Mrs. Rosenberg
YA Librarian
April 16th, 2012 by fjacksonem
Robyn Hunter has been assigned to do community service at an animal shelter as punishment for breaking a store window during an animal rights protest. The problem is, she is afraid of dogs. She arrives at the shelter to find that one of the other volunteers is Nick D’Angelo a boy that she had turned in for stealing money several years ago. Soon, Nick is arrested for a different crime, but Robyn doesn’t think he is guilty. She sets out to prove that Nick didn’t do it.
Last Chance by Norah McClintock is the story of how Robyn overcomes her fears – both of dogs and of Nick. She is a smart girl who gets to the bottom of the mystery of Nicks alleged crime faster than her police office father or her criminal defense attorney mother.
I recommend Last Chance for teens and tweens grade 6 and up.
Mrs. Rosenberg
YA Librarian
East Meadow Public Library
March 8th, 2012 by fjacksonem
Ben Bright, a promising high school senior, with a talent for singing and acting, a fiance, and a loving family suprises everyone when he enlists in the Army. He is shipped out to Iraq, where his convoy comes under attack and Ben suffers a traumatic brain injury. When he wakes up from his coma, he doesn’t know who he is or what happened. He doesn’t even recognize his family.
Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am is the powerful story of Ben’s journey to regain his life when he returns home. Although nothing will be the same as before, Ben struggles to remember his former life and put the pieces back together
Not just a war story, I recommend this book to all readers grade 8 and up.
Mrs. Rosenberg
YA Librarian
East Meadow Public Library
March 1st, 2012 by fjacksonem
“Everybody knows. Nobody’s talking,” runs the mantra among the Long Island high-school crowd that knows full well Jimmy beats up Latinos every Saturday night. LIE is a book about group mentality and how they protect their hero and deny their own moral touchstones to defend their friend.
LIE is told through the point of view of ten different voices. This is not a fun and easy book to read. Much of the book you will find yourself screaming at the characters wanting them to stand up and do what you believe they know to be right.
What makes LIE such an important book is that it depicts the thought process of everyday kids, kids who do well in school and who are involved in sports and after school activities. It is so scary because it reveals how they can so easily be convinced to go along with the crowd and do what they know to be wrong. The fact that LIE is a fictionalized story inspired by a brutal attack that took place in Suffolk County in 2008 makes this book all that more essential of a read for teens here. It is perhaps only Long Islanders who will get that LIE stands for our famous Long Island Expressway.
I recommend LIE for teens in grades 9-12.
Mrs. Sayan
Young Adult Librarian
East Meadow Public Library
February 23rd, 2012 by fjacksonem
The year is 1996 and the internet is pretty new to most teenagers. When 17 year old Josh gets a free AOL CD-Rom in the mail, he brings it to his best friend Emma’s house where they pop it into her computer. What comes up on the screen is not AOL, but a blue and white website they have never seen before. The site is Facebook and it won’t be invented for another 8 years. At first Emma and Josh think the website is some sort of prank, but they eventually realize they are getting a glimpse of their lives 15 years in the future. Josh is thrilled with the future he sees, but Emma’s future does not look so bright. When she realizes that the decisions she makes today can change her tomorrow, she is determined to change her future for the better.
The Future of Us is a funny book full of pop culture references and a look at life before the Internet, texting, and Facebook.
I recommend this book to students in grades 8 and up.
Ms. Cea
Head of Young Adult Services
East Meadow Public Library
February 8th, 2011 by fjacksonem
The book, ANYTHING BUT TYPICAL by Nora Raleigh Baskin, is about an autistic boy named Jason. Anywhere Jason goes there’s a problem but when he writes on the Storyboard website, he turns into a different person. When Jason posts one of his stories a girl reads it and really likes it. So, they start to talk and share their different stories with each other. Since Jason has talked to her, he hasn’t been having any problems in school.
Every year there is a Storyboard convention Jason always wanted to go. Because he’s been doing well in school, his parents decide to take him. The girl he shares his stories with is also going. The one thing going through Jason’s mind is will she hate me or will she like me?
I would recommend this book to middle school students, both boys and girls.
Lauren Moerler
Clarke Middle School
Grade 6
September 23rd, 2010 by fjacksonem
LOVE ME TENDER by Audrey Couloumbis is about families, and how they can come together in good times and bad. This book is about two girls with a pregnant mother and an Elvis impersonator daddy. When the Dad leaves and the mother gets a call from her sister that her mother is dying, The two daughters, Elvira and Kerri and their mother set out for Memphis to see their dying mother/grandmother. This book is all about families and how they are nothing like the familes on televions. They are actually better
.
I RECOMMEND THIS TITLE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO APRECIATE THEIR FAMILIES, ESPECIALLY SIXTH AND SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS.
Lauren Moerler
W. Tresper Clarke Middle School
Grade 6