[R3librarians] Tuesday's Trash & Treasures

[Cindy Franklin]

Three treasures reviewed by Carolyn
Kolodziejczyk, Industrial Jr. High School:
(All
three of these titles are on the 06-07 Tayshas List)


    Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes
Reading
Level 4.8
Interest Level 5-9

    Invisible by Pete Hautman
Reading
Level 4.6
Interest Level 7-12

    Hitch by Jeanette Ingold
Reading
Level 5.1
Interest Level 7-12 




I would recommend Dark Sons for high
school students. The content deals with the biblical story of Ishmael's
and Isaac's feeling about each other and the feelings of a present day
teenager about his new step-brother. Very rich language and compeling
feelings are told of how it feels to be the son left out. I enjoyed this
book very much because it was written in poetry form making it a fast
read. 

Invisible is a story
about a young man named Doug who is trying to deal with a situation that
happened a few years back. Instead of spending time with people, he spends
all his time in his basement building an elaborate train station and
talking to his friend Andy. He is sometimes confused about the reality of
his friendship with Andy. Very poignant story with lots of emphasis on
having a lasting friendship that nothing could harm it. I would recommend
this for high school also and maybe 8th grade. Very powerful
story!!!! 

Hitch by Jeanette
Ingold is a great story about a young man struggling to make in the world
during the Depression. His mother is at home alone with the rest of her
children while the father is off looking for work. When the father doesn't
communicate with the family Moss goes looking for his father. When he
finds him and he and his father get arrested the judge tells Moss about
this work with the Civilian Conservation Corps. So he enlists and learns
the true value of hard work, caring about others, and taking
responsibility for his own future. A great read for guys---girls might
enjoy it also. 

Thanks,
Carolyn!


Trash or Treasure....you decide....... (contributed by
Cindy Franklin)

I just finished
Confessions of a Backup Dancer by Anonymous, as
told to Tucker Shaw.
Reading Level 6.2  
Interest Level
9-12

I came across this title on the 2005
YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list.

Confessions... received mixed reviews from
School Library Journal and Publisher's Weekly (as seen at www.flr.follett.com).  

I'm sure that teens would love this book, due not only to its
subject matter, but also to the way it is written....more
like writing an Instant Message (little to no punctuation,
captilization, etc.).

In fact, reviews contributed at
amazon.com by teens were overwhelmingly favorable.

However, the
language will likely make it objectionable to some communities.

So....you get to decide.  What is trash for some would be a
treasure for others.



Cindy Franklin 
Library
& Technology Specialist 
Region III ESC 
cfranklin at esc3.net

361-573-0731 ext 277 
www.esc3.net/mlib 



 

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