I should have included this book a long time ago, but as the pregnant chick said on the way to the shot-gun wedding, better late than never. If you were bored out of your skull reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in English class, than ditch that dusty classic and pick up Rule of the Bone. Russell Banks has basically re-written the Huck Finn epic and made it way, way hipper. Huck is now Chappie, a fourteen year old trailer-park punk who gets kicked out of his house, hangs with bikers, and gets a tattoo. It’s only when he meets I-Man, a pot-smoking enlightened Rastafarian (who makes a great contemporary Jim) and travels with him to Jamaica, that Chappie realizes the potential that his life has and the man he will become. So much stuff happens in this book, including fires, break-ins and homeless people living in abandoned school buses that now you HAVE to read it to find out how it all ties together! It’s hokey for me to say it, but this is really a gem of a boy book.
Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp by C.D. Payne
Nick Twisp is man with a plan–which is to ultimately drive his selfish divorced parents insane, keep his hapless friend Lucky out of trouble, and bed his beautiful long-distance girlfriend Sheeni Saunders as soon as possible. There are only a few roadblocks on his highway to heaven–he’s 14, car-less, job-less and broke. But with sheer will and a very silly sense of humor, Nick can and will conquer all. Not too terribly deep, this over-thick novel is good for a few laughs on those long car-trips with your parents.
Tenderness by Robert Cormier
Eric Poole may be a reformed teen serial killer. But when beautiful prey like Lori Cranston throws herself at him, what’s a murderous madman to do? The only one who can save Lori is old Lt. Proctor, one of the only people who doesn’t buy Eric’s cool line of bull. These three people will be drawn together into an ever tighter triangle of murder and mayhem. Who will get the axe in the end, if anyone? If ya wanna know, ya gotta read…
Tex by S.E. Hinton
Does that author look familiar? It should, since you’ve probably been assigned to read The Outsiders in about every English class since 6th grade. But did you also know that Hinton wrote other books about guys on the outs? Tex, our title hero, is just trying to get through life with as little conflict as possible, despite the fact that his dad is never around, he’s in love with his best friend’s sister, and his big brother just sold his horse. It may sound corny as a Garth Brooks song, but it’s not. There’s just enough rodeo grit in this story to make it real, and I promise you won’t fall off. (I could date myself by linking to the book cover with Matt Dillon on it, who starred in the cheesy but heartfelt Disney movie version, but I’ll save both you and me the humiliation!)
Blue-Eyed Son Series by Chris Lynch: Mick — Blood Relations — Dog Eat Dog
Where do you find the strength to get out of a bad neighborhood, a bad family, and a bad life, without losing your sense of humor? Well, if you’re Mick, a skinny Irish kid with an awakening conscience, you get “by with a little help from your friends,” but a lot of it has to come from within yourself. Follow Mick’s trials, in the three named books above, as he tries to make a clean break from his bigoted brother, his alcoholic parents and his narrow-minded neighborhood. But breaks like those are never clean, and Mick fights hard to resist the pull of his violent up-bringing to find a place where he can be himself. Don’t be scared off by the serious themes, because there’s a lot of laughs in between the fist fights and racial tension– just like life. These books are so real it’s scary.
Stotan! by Chris Crutcher
What’s a Stotan? Walker, Nortie, Lion and Jeff are about to find out as they undergo the hardest week of their lives. They agree to accept the Stotan Challenge — a series of difficult physical tests of endurance. Four best friends on the swim team in their senior year, they think they are ready to face anything as long as they face it together. Don’t be fooled–despite the plot this is not just a book for swim jocks. No matter what group you belong to or belonged to in high school, you will dive into this read and swim all the way to the end!
Christine by Stephen King
Yeah, yeah, you’ve seen The Shining and Children of the Corn half a dozen times at Halloween parties, and you know Stephen King supposed to be a really scary writer-dude. But what a lot of teens don’t realize is that what King writes are books about REAL people, people who are a lot like you and your friends. Then he just kind of adds a supernatural twist. Take Christine for instance. It’s just a book about a nerdy guy named Arnie who finds this great old car and decides to buy it and fix it up. How can he possibly predict that the old car that he affectionately calls Christine is POSSESSED BY AN EVIL SPIRIT THAT IS DETERMINED TO CRUSH OUT ALL THE POSITIVE THINGS IN ARNIE’S LIFE INCLUDING HIS CUTE GIRLFRIEND!!!! Whew! Not for the faint-hearted, this book packs a punch–between Christine’s playful antics(oh, just running over the bullies that make Arnie’s life hell) and the great characterization of teens, this is not a novel to be passed over like some used car on the lot! Take Christine for a test drive and I promise you’ll be hooked. This ain’t no Christopher Pike, baby!
Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
Steve’s got a problem. His famous astronaut dad is getting on his nerves, he’s flunking out of school, and he just lost his girlfriend. The answer?? His school counselor thinks he needs to write about the last year of his life so that he can figure out where it all went wrong. Steve isn’t crazy about the idea (would YOU want to write a 100 page paper all about your life??) but he starts to write and finds out a lot about himself–maybe more than he wanted to know, but enough to find out what happened in his life–and how to make it right. And what’s with that funky title? Well, as they say here in library land–check it out, baby, and find out!
Devilish by Maureen Johnson
Jane’s mousy best friend Ally makes a dangerous deal with beautiful and manipulative Lanalee, demon-in-training, in order to gain a little popularity and erase her Catholic high school’s memory of her unfortunate public projectile vomiting incident. But Jane isn’t about to let her best bud sell her eternal soul for some cool clothes and a few high quality hair extensions. When she challenges Lanalee (who she doesn’t believe is REALLY a demon) and offers her own soul in exchange for Ally’s, all hell (literally) breaks loose. How do you fight a cupcake-wielding she-devil? Why, with more sweets, of course, especially chocolate kisses! This sly, sarcastic supernatural story is both funnier and darker than Johnson’s other works, which are also all pretty great. If you like your chick-lit. flavored with a little smoke and brimstone, then Devilish will certainly light your fire!
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Though there is some buzz in the news about a meteor striking the moon, Miranda is too busy worrying about her stepmother’s new baby and final exams to really pay attention. But when the moon is struck so hard that it moved off its orbit, changing its gravitational pull, Miranda has no choice but to sit up and take notice. Because suddenly, the ocean’s tides are turning into tsunamis, earthquakes are leveling entire cites, and volcanoes are spouting deadly ash that is robbing the earth of it’s precious sunlight. In Miranda’s small town in Pennsylvania, the effects aren’t as immediate, but they are just as deadly. Grocery stores are emptied and not re-stocked, gas prices soar, and friendly neighbors turn hostile as each family stockpiles supplies to get them through the winter. Things Miranda has always taken for granted, like clean laundry, chocolate, and prom, have suddenly become things of the past. This is no sensationalistic “Day After Tomorrow,” in fact, what Miranda’s deeply felt, doubt-ridden, and utterly realistic journal entries most reminded me of was The Diary of Anne Frank – a thoughtful compilation of everyday details about what it is like to have your life whittled away bit by bit until one day you look around and realize that life as you knew it had vanished forever. This is a beautifully written, timeless, timely tale that will stay with you long after the cover is closed. My heart still hurts. Magnificent.
Rash by Pete Hautman
In the second half of the twenty first century, Bo Marsten lives in the United Safe States of America, where everything is so safe, it’s completely mind-numbing. To play any sports, you have to wear about 50 pounds of safety gear, and if you call someone a name or, god forbid, get in an actual fistfight; you’re looking at a minimum of two years jail time. The laws are so strict because in the future, the USSA runs on penal work. Everyone doing time works on road crews or food factories. When Bo, who has a few anger management issues, is accused of giving his classmates a psychosomatic rash (because they’re supposedly terrified of him) he is sentenced to several months of pepperoni shooting in a Canadian pizza factory. There, he is noticed by Hammer, the factory boss who also coaches a highly illegal tackle football team. Football is Bo’s first taste of freedom and danger, and he is surprised at how much he likes the rough game. But when his term is up, how can Bo return to the claustrophobic safety of regular society? Which is more important? Being safe, or feeling free? Riffing on everything from global commercialization to political correctness, the always brilliant and multifaceted Hautman is at the top of his game in Rash, a satirical, pointed comedy chock full of intelligent laughs.
Beating Heart by A.M. Jenkins
Cora’s a ghost who’s been haunting her house ever since she was accidentally murdered back in 1897. Evan is a flesh-and-blood boy, who just moved into Cora’s old house with his mom and little sis. While they haven’t formally met, they’re VERY interested in each other. Cora can’t keep her wispy hands off the first hottie she’s seen since the olden days, and Evan can’t stop dreaming about a beautiful fair-haired girl who comes to him at night and gets him all hepped up! But when Evan brings his real girlfriend Carrie over and things get a little hot and heavy, Cora reminds them both with a very real sign that a little kissing can sometimes lead to places you’d never choose to go. A great ghost story about how wrongs can be righted and the right message gotten — even if it’s a few centuries late!
Poison by Chris Wooding
Poison is a cynical girl who doesn’t believe in fairy tales. But when her little sister Azalea is stolen by the evil Scarecrow and replaced with a black-eyed changeling, Poison is willing to do whatever it takes – even travel to the world of Phaerie – to get her back. But the further into Phaerie she goes – past the Bone Witch, the Spider Queen, even the flame-haired, fickle-hearted Lord of Phaerie himself, the more she despairs of ever finding her sister. And then she discovers a plot so diabolical, so gruesome, that it will turn upside down and inside out everything she knew to be good and true – forever. Just the way author Chris Wooding takes everything YOU know about the tired fractured fairy take genre and turns into something so new and different, you’ll be imbibing Poison on a regular basis!
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
Stubborn red-headed Victorian heroine Gemma Doyle is back in this brilliant sequel to Libba Bray’s best-selling A Great and Terrible Beauty. The girls from Spence are looking forward to spending a nice, quiet Christmas at home, away from the terrors of the otherwordly Realms and the twisted magic they have inadvertently set free there. But the mysterious Raksana have something else in mind…they send Kartik to Gemma to persuade her to journey into the Realms again and bind the magic she loosed when she defeated Circe the first time. But do the Raksana have Gemma’s best interest at heart? Does Gemma have the strength to bring back the Order? And is Pippa REALLY dead? Have no idea what I’m talking about? The go right out to your nearest public library or bookstore and get caught up by reading A Great and Terrible Beauty (review on this list below) so that you’ll be all set to plunge into the pages of this steamy, dreamy sequel!
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
In Tally Youngblood’s futuristic world, pretty is everything. The government has decided that if everyone looks the same, wars over ethnic and cultural differences will die a natural death and everyone will be peaceful…and Pretty. Life is just a waiting room, until that magical 16th birthday when government sanctioned surgeons nip and tuck former adolescent Uglies into gorgeous, cookie-cutter Pretties, who get to party nonstop and never worry about tomorrow. Until Tally meets Shay, all she wants is to be pretty. But then Shay tells her about a far away phantom society called the Smoke where people actually choose to stay Ugly and don’t care about parties. When Shay suddenly disappears, the government wants to know why. They tell Tally she must lead them to Shay or risk being Ugly forever. How can Tally choose between her best friend and her future? And does she have any hope at all of finding Shay? Or the Smoke? Uglies is an edge of your seat thriller, strong social commentary and richly characterized story, all rolled into one. It will have you thinking twice about your addiction to Extreme Make-Over! And the cliff-hanging ending will have you racing back to the library to check out the next three books in the series:Pretties, 
