Duxbury Free Library Good Teen Reads for Summer 2004

HUMOR:

Going, K.L., Fat Kid Rules the World
Troy Billings is a 300-pound high school senior contemplating suicide when he meets Curt MacCrae, a homeless teenage musical genius who decides that Troy is just the drummer he's looking for to start a new band.

Hopkins, Cathy, Mates, Dates, and Sleepover Secrets (one of many in this series)
T.J. is having a crummy year, but when Lucy befriends her things start to look up. But will Lucy's best friends Nesta and Izzie accept her and let her into their world of sleepovers, secrets, laughter, and advice?

Korman, Gordon, Son of the Mob
The Sopranos (minus the vulgarity and violence) meets Leave It to Beaver in a brassy, comical caper. Clever and fast-paced.

Lederer, Richard, The Bride of Anguished English
A literary tour through gaffes of our oddball language. From headlines to menus, student papers to politicians' speeches, every embarrassing example is true-and wonderfully funny.

Rees, Doug, Vampire High
Cody Elliot's new school, Vlad Dracul, is a little weird. The principal is seven feet tall and has a pet wolf. The students are tall and silent and wear sunglasses in the winter. When he sees a kid's fangs, the truth sinks in: Cody's classmates are vampires.

SCIENCE FICTION / FANTASY:

Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia, Hawksong
Danica Shardae is an avian shape-shifter, and the golden hawk form in which she takes to the sky is as natural to her as the human one that graces her on land. The only thing more familiar to her is war

Hoeye, Michael, Time Stops for No Mouse
When watch maker, Hermux Tantamoq, tries to return the watch of a dazzling adventuress, he is caught in a mystery that lead him to a dangerous spa run by an eccentric plastic surgeon who has much to hide. A cat and mouse story full of mystery and adventure.

Lowry, Lois, The Messenger (companion book to The Giver and Gathering Blue)
Strange changes are taking place in Village. Once a utopian community that prided itself on its welcome to new strangers, Village will soon be closed to all outsiders. Does it sound like an allegory for 2004 America?

Nix, Garth, Mister Monday (“The Keys to the Kingdom” Series Book 1)
Seven days. Seven keys. Seven virtues. Seven sins. One mysterious house is the doorway to a very mysterious world -- where one boy is about to venture and unlock a number of fantastical secrets.

Pierce, Tamora, Trickster’s Choice (first in series)
Alianne is the daughter of the famed Alanna, the first lady knight in Tortall. When she is captured and sold as a slave to an exiled royal family in the faraway Copper Islands, it is her skill at spying that makes a difference in a world filled with political intrigue, murderous conspiracy, and warring gods.

Pratchett, Terry, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
Self-centered cat, Maurice runs a pied piper scam that is highly successful until the rats develop a conscience. Reluctantly, they agree to one final heist, but in the town of Bad Blintz things go horribly, hilariously wrong.

HISTORICAL FICTION:

Rees, Celia, Pirates!
For girls who like Pirates of the Caribbean; Nancy and Minerva are at least as exciting as heroes and pirates as the characters played by Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom!

Updale, Eleanor, Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman
Welcome to the newly built sewers of London, 1875. Our hero is determined to make the most of this new underworld to enhance his thievery as he constructs a dual identity as upper crust Montmorency and sewer rat, Scarper.

Yolen, Jane, Sword of the Rightful King
The newly crowned King Arthur is unsure of himself; worse, the people are unsure of him. Too many people want the throne, and treachery is everywhere. Merlin must do something before the king is betrayed, or murdered, or--worst of all--gets married.
REALISM:

Simmons, Michael, Pool Boy
Brett is the kind of kid you love to hate. He's smug, arrogant, rude, and filthy rich. When his dad is jailed for insider trading, his family loses everything and Brett has to face life without wealth.

Van Draanen, Wendelin, Flipped
The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down.

Weston, Martha, Act I, Act II, Act Normal
Follows the ups and downs of Topher Blakely’s play rehearsals in the 8th grade production with a touchy female lead and a defensive playwright. The play fits into Topher’s busy life as he copes with the illness and death of his elderly cat and challenges from a bully at school.

NOVELS IN POETRY FORMAT:

Koertge, Ron, Shakespeare bats cleanup
When baseball player, Kevin, catches mononucleosis, he discovers that keeping a journal and experimenting with poetry not only helps fill the time, it also helps him deal with life, love, and loss.

Wolff, Virginia Bauer, Make Lemonade
LaVaughn needed a part-time job. What she got was a baby-sitting gig with Jolly, an unwed teen mother. With two kids hanging in the balance, they need to make the best out of life -- and they can only do it for themselves and each other.

SUSPENSE:

Giles, Gail, Shattering Glass
"Simon Glass was easy to hate....I guess, really we each hated him for a different reason, but we didn't realize it until the day we killed him."

Hobbs, Will, Leaving Protection
Thinking he is crewing on a salmon fishing boat, Robbie finds out the skipper’s true intentions. Will he be allowed to live to tell about it? Action-packed outdoor adventure/thriller.

Horowitz, Anthony, Eagle Strike
Teen spy Alex Rider survives a bullfight, a high-speed bicycle chase through Amsterdam, and even being the target in a human video-game, only to face his most disturbing challenge yet: when the best of intentions are driven by insanity, how do you reason with a madman?

Nixon, Joan Lowry, Nightmare
The nightmare has haunted teenage Emily Wood since she was a child: a crumpled body lying half in and half out of the water; dead eyes in a pale, bloody face; a mouth open in a scream that no one can hear. Did it really happen? Whose body is it? Who was the killer? And who is now stalking Emily?