From: Nancy Silverrod <nsilverrod>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:05:34 -0800

Interestingly, The Book Thief was originally marketed to adults in Australia, where the author is from. I happen to think it's a good crossover title, one that could be shared in an older teen/parent book club, or read simultaneously, and then discussed intergenerationally.

I also am waiting to read An Abundance of Katherines and American Born Chinese, but I have to disagree about the quality of publishing for young adults last year:

These are just a few that I read--

Acampora, Paul. Defining Dulcie. Sixteen-year-old Dulcie and her mother grieve very differently when Dulcie's father dies, and Dulcie must make her own choices.

Bennett, Holly. The Bonemender. Orca Book Publishers, 2005. $8.95. 1-55143-336-2. 203p. Ages 12-15: Adventure and romance follow Gabrielle, a healer who tries to save her royal father in war and falls in love with the "elf" which helps protect her country, a relationship that might be disastrous for her. Although the young men and women are impossibly handsome and beautiful in this fantasy, the story is compelling and the female characters are no doormats.

Budhos, Marina Tamar. Ask Me No Questions. A Bangladeshi family living illegally in the US after their Visa's expire, suffer terror, and doubt as to whom they can trust after Sept 11.

Cohn, Rachel. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. A love story built around a night of music.

Draper, Sharon. Copper Sun. Atheneum, 2006. 0689821816. Amari, a slave, Polly, an indentured servant, and Tidbit, a slave, run away after trying to cover up the fact that their mistress gave birth to a mulatto baby.

Durbin, William. El Lector. Random House/Wendy Lamb Books, 0385746512. 2/06. Ages 10-13. Bella wants more from life than working in the cigar factories and then getting married. She wants to go to high school and then become a lector (reader) in the factories like her grandfather, but her family needs the income she can bring in, especially when her grandfather loses his job. She takes charge and finds a solution. Bella definitely won't let being a girl stop her. Set during the depression, two of her heroes are Amelia Earhart, and Jackie Mitchell, a woman who pitched in the major leagues and struck out Babe Ruth. And she tells her brother that someday there will be a woman president.

Durrant, Lynda. My Last Skirt: The Story of Jennie Hodgers, Union Soldier. Clarion Books, 2006. Based on a true story of a young woman who started cross-dressing as a young child to earn a living, and continued to do so her entire life. A few too many battle scenes, but fascinating.


Hopkins, Ellen. Burned McElderry Books 1416903542 Pattyn is a sixteen-year-old Mormon girl, having a crisis of faith--in large part due to the role expected of her as a woman in the church. When her abusive father sends her away to stay her aunt for the summer, she realizes there are many more options for her-if she can only hold on long enough to leave home.

McCormick, Patricia. Sold. Hyperion, 9/2006. Thirteen-year old Lakshmi is sold into prostitution by her stepfather but she refuses to let horrific abuses smother her dreams of escape, and a better life.

Morgan, Robin. The Burning Time. 2006. 300p. Melville House, $15.00
(193363300X). The Inquisition comes to Ireland, and a woman landholder takes on the Church to protect her estates and her people. An adult book that will be enjoyed by older teens who like historical fiction.

Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. Dairy queen. Houghton Mifflin, pub. date 5/22/06. 288 p. ISBN 0618683070 $16.00
"Ages 12 up." D.J. is stuck running her family's Wisconsin dairy farm after her father injures his hip and her football-player brothers leave for college. When one of her dad's friends, the football coach of her school's arch-rivals, asks DJ to train a rival quarterback, she can hardly say no. In the process, she re-discovers her love of athletics and tries out for her own boys' high school football team.



Nancy Silverrod, Librarian San Francisco Public Library 100 Larkin St. San Francisco, CA 94102 415-557-4417 nsilverrod at sfpl.org
  Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind. -James Russell Lowell, poet, editor, and diplomat (1819-1891)
Received on Wed 21 Feb 2007 05:05:34 PM CST