Shiver NYT Best Seller

Stiefvater, M.  (2009). Shiver.  NY:  Scholastic.
Grace Brisbane is a teenage girl in love with Sam Roth, the wolf who saved her when she was eleven.  Sam takes on human form for three months in the summer and returns to a wolf the other nine months.  Sam shows up on Grace’s deck, shot, she nurses him while letting him stay in her room.  As Grace learns more about the wolf world, she is determined to find a cure for Sam before he becomes a wolf forever.  Later Olivia is bitten and in danger of turning into a wolf.  There may be a possible cure of a meningitis injection, but she refuses the cure because she is afraid of needles.   She wants to be a wolf with Sam. Sam attempts to take the injection, but half way through he turns back into a wolf and runs away. This first book of the trilogy ends when Grace and Isabel become close friends and Sam returning to Grace in human form.  

I think this would be ideal for teaching plot summary and conflict.  I would recommend this book for middle and high school students.  Follow up books, I would recommend is Linger and Forever also written by Maggie Stiefvater.
Image of  Shiver (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2016, from http://www.amazon.com

We Were Liars Best Fiction for Young Adults

Lockhart, E. (2014). We were liars. NY: Delecorte Press.

Candace Sinclair is a seventeen year old, protagonist in We Were Liars. She spends each summer with her extended family at her grandparents’ island in Massachusetts. Even though it appears that the family has everything they are broken. She spends most of her summer with Johnny, Mirren, and Gat. They refer to themselves as the Liars. When Candace was fifteen she had an accident and cannot remember what happened on her summer vacation. She suffers from crippling migraines. Two years later, Candace devotes herself to discovering what happened during her summer vacation. She begs everyone to help her remember, but they continuously tell her she must remember herself. The novel ends with Candace remembering what happened. The Liars decide to burn Candace’s family island house to stop the greedy family feud for wealth. Unfortunately, all the Liars except Candace die in the fire, and she realizes that she’s been hanging out with their ghosts. After they leave, Cadence is overwhelmed at the loss of the Liars, but realizes that perhaps in a sickening way it brought some peace to the family.

 The intended audience for We Were Liars might be for ages 13 and up. Recommendations for follow up reading include Before I die by J. Downham and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. This modern realistic fiction story serves as a lesson that money does not always buy happiness. 
Image of  We were liars (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2016, from http://www.amazon.com

Eleanor & Park Best Fiction for Young Adults

Rowell, R.  (2013).  Eleanor and Park.  NY:
Eleanor Douglas, a poor teenage girl with several little siblings and an abusive step-dad, meets and falls in love with Park, a middle class biracial (Asian/White) teenage boy with a little brother and a dad obsessed with TaeKwando. Park is more interested in alternative music and comics. They meet on a school bus on Eleanor's first day of school. Eleanor is a very smart teenager. In the beginning of the romance, they are too embarrassed to go public with their feelings, but this ends when Park attacks Steve who is bulling Eleanor. Their relationship grows as Eleanor tries to cope with her home and school life.  Eventually, it is unbearable and with the help of Park and his father, she runs away to live with her aunt and uncle at St. Paul.  Her aunt and uncle makes plans to remove her siblings from the abusive home as well.  In the end, Eleanor finally writes a postcard to Park to declares her love.

I would recommend this book for teenagers 14 to 16 years old.  One of the lessons I would teach with this book would be the use of dialogue. There is a great deal of dialogue which makes this a quick yet interesting read. Further reading I recommend Fangirl and Attachments both by Rainbow Rowell 
Image of  Eleanor and Park (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2016, from http://www.amazon.com

Going Bovine Printz Honor

Bray ,Libba, Going bovine,(2010)  Ember; Reissue Edition 

Cameron Smith is a 16 year old boy, described as lazy, unwilling and a typical forgetful teenager. Cameron just wants to sail through it all- school, work, even family.  But when the hallucinations begin and he is told he is soon to die.    Cameron is diagnosed with mad-cow disease and soon hospitalized. Cameron knowing that his days are short lived begins to hallucinate without knowing.  He is visited by a punk rock angel with spray painted wings, Dulcie, with news that he can beat the disease if he sets off to find Dr. X.  His journey begins in Texas and continues to Louisiana.  Cameron eventually earns his cure by defeating a wizard with a trumpet given to him by a jazz musician in New Orleans. On his journey Cameron begins with Gonzo and later meet up with Balder a garden gnome.  He ends up in Florida on the Small World ride. Cameron and Dulcie engage in conversation in which Cameron asks if any of his travels were real to which Dulcie replies "Who's to say what's real or not?" 

I recommended Going Bovine to grades 8 and up.  Alike books American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang and The Diviners by Libba Bray. 
Image of  Going bovine.(n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2016, from http://www.amazon.com

The House of the Scorpion Printz Award winner

Farmer, N. (2002). The house of the scorpion. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Matt is a clone of the infamous Matteo Alacran, the powerful drug lord and ruler of an opium farm. Matt struggles to find his belonging in the world. Although he is born into a mighty family the community does not accept him, but rather treat him as an animal because he is a clone. He is created for the sole purpose of keeping Matteo young and alive. Matt has few allies that help him feel loved. After the demise of the elder Matteo the community believes Matt no longer serves a purpose and should be destroyed. With help he is able to escape into the outside world where he reunites with his best friend Maria. They eventually return to the opium farms and his former home to learn those who were always against Matt have also perished. Matt is now the leader of the farm and makes it his quest to change it for the better which he does.

This science fiction novel will keep any 14 year old or older reader eager to learn Matt’s fate. The House of the Scorpion won the Printz Award.  Books that are like this one is  47. by M. Mosley and Mocking Jay by S. Collins.

Image of  The house of the scorpion.(n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2016, from http://www.amazon.com

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS New York Times Bestseller

Green, J. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Penguin Group.

Hazel is diagnosed with terminal cancer. After her doctor tells her mother she is suffering from depression and needs to go to a support group.  While at support group she meets a boy, Augustus, who also has cancer.  Augustus uses his wish to take Hazel to Amsterdam to meet the author of the book that started their friendship.  They discover a remarkable bond and fall in love. Hazel seems to have found lasting happiness, but is devastated when Augustus surrenders to his cancer. Hazel stays with him until the end.  At the end Hazel gets the eulogy Augustus wrote and sent to Peter Van Houten, which showed up at Gus’ funeral.  Although Hazel has lost Augustus, she knows at the end of the story that she has experienced a once in a lifetime true love.

A realistic romantic love story is intended for middle school and older. It provides a view of life as a young lady with cancer. Readers will empathize with Hazel and Augustus as teens who spend more time with doctors than with friends from school. More great reads like The Fault In Our Stars, Eleanor & Park by R. Rowell or The Perks of Being a Wallflower by S. Chbosky.

Image of  The fault in our stars.(n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2016, from http://www.amazon.com/

If I Stay NYT Best Seller

Forman, G. (2009). If I stay: A novel. New York: Dutton Books.

A seventeen year old girl named Mia is a very talented cellist. She has everything she could ever want, a loving family, an adoring boyfriend, an amazing best friend, and an amazing career ahead of her in music. All of that changes suddenly as she goes on a day trip with her family. As they are driving a truck hits the families’ car killing both parents and seriously injuring her and her brother, Teddy. Mia believes she is dead as she has an outer body experience observing the crash and everything around her. At the hospital Mia comes out of surgery and placed in the ICU where her grandparents, friends, and boyfriend Adam visit. As she watched everything around her she tried to determine whether she will stay in this world and suffer the pain of not having her family or go with her family who has died. Ultimately she realizes what could be ahead and decides to live. At the end of the story she decides to stay and it leads to the next story.

A fantastic follow up book to If I Stay would be Where She Went.  If you want to know what happens after Mia stays read Where She Went that is told from Mia's old boyfriend, Adam's, point of view on where they are now. Also another good book would be The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder a fiction about the collapse of a bridge in Peru. This book should be for high school students.
Image of  If I Stay.(n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://www.amazon.com/