2009 Duxbury Free Library High School Summer Reading Recommendations

ACTION:

Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride book 1), James Patterson
Maximum Ride is the leader of a band of kids who have escaped the lab where they were bred as 98% human and 2% bird (wings being a key component) and developed a variety of other-worldly talents.

The Alchemist, (Book 1 of 3) Michael Scott
Sophie and Josh Newman take summer jobs in San Francisco across the street from one another: she at a coffee shop, he at a bookstore owned by Nick and Perry Fleming.

The Hunger Games (sequel coming in Sept.'09) by Suzanne Collins
A gripping story set in a post-apocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.

Revenge of the Shadow King (1 of 3 books) by Derek Benz
Max Sumner and his three best friends, Harley, Natalia, and Ernie, refer to themselves as the Grey Griffins. They enjoy sharing a fantasy role-play game called Round Table with elderly Iver Iverson, the proprietor of Avalon, Minnesota's Shoppe of Antiquities. It is played with odd-shaped dice and cards that depict a variety of fantastic creatures and characters-spriggans, garden faeries, goblins, and more. Iver takes the game very seriously, and the Grey Griffins learn they must do the same once Max accidentally releases a spriggan, a shape-shifting faerie, from a magical book he finds in his grandmother's attic.

H.I.V.E., (1 of 2 books) Mark Walden
H.I.V.E. is operated on a volcanic island in a distant ocean by G.L.O.V.E., a shadowy organization of worldwide wickedness. Otto Malpense soon discovers that here the slickest of young tricksters, thieves, and hackers have been brought against their will to be trained as the next generation of super villains. He’s determined NOT to be one of them.

REALITY:

Papertowns, John Green
Quentin—or “Q.” as everyone calls him—has known his neighbor, the fabulous Margo Roth Spiegelman, since they were two. Or has he? Q. can’t help but wonder, when, a month before high-school graduation, she vanishes. At first he worries that she might have committed suicide, but then he begins discovering clues that seem to have been left for him, which might reveal Margo’s whereabouts.

If I love you am I trapped forever? M.E. Kerr
Stein, the new boy at Cayuta High, is nicknamed "Doomed" by classmates who never guess he ll soon be the school star. He invents a newspaper called REMOTE, with ads everyone wants to imitate. Before long, Stein, the nerd who seemed like a loser, is most WANTED himself, particularly by the girl dating the school's star jock, star writer, star everything! Sometimes he who looks like a wimp is a winner -- big time!

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
Ruby hasn’t had much success with family. Her father left; her protective older sister, Cora, left; and her boozing mother finally leaves, too. Ruby is alone until Cora learns of her situation and swoops in. Suddenly, Ruby finds herself living with Cora and her wealthy brother-in-law, attending private school, and wondering just where she fits in.

Marcello in the Real World by Francisco Stork
Go inside the head of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autisim, while he processes life and deals with a summer job in the mail room of his father's law firm.

Trouble, Gary Schmidt
Trouble comes careening down the road one night in the form of a pickup truck that strikes Henry’s older brother, Franklin. In the truck is Chay Chouan, a young Cambodian from Franklin’s preparatory school, and the accident sparks racial tensions in the school—and in the well-established town where Henry’s family has lived for generations.

Surface Tension by Brett Runyon
Tracks the changes in an adolescent boy over four summers, from ages 13 to 16. The repetitive structure allows readers to see the drastic changes in Luke as he veers from an exuberant middle-schooler through early puberty to an alternately glowering and love-struck teenager finding expression in bad poetry and sullenness.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, Sherman Alexie
Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jumpshot, spends his time lamenting life on the Spokane Indian reservation, drawing cartoons and laughing those laughs over anything and nothing.. When a teacher pleads with Arnold to want more, to escape the hopelessness of the rez, Arnold switches to a rich white school and immediately becomes as much an outcast in his own community as he is a curiosity in his new one.

Antsy does time by Neal Shusterman
When classmate Gunnar Ümlaut announces that he is going to die in six months from a rare disease, Antsy Bonnano prints up a formal contract that signs over a month of his own life to his gloomy buddy. This impulsive gesture of comfort unexpectedly nets Antsy a series of dates with Gunnar’s hot older sister Kjersten—but also takes on a life of its own when everyone who finds out about the good deed wants to get into the act.

Disreputable history of Frankie Landau by E. Lockhart
Frankie Landau-Banks:
No longer the kind of girl to take "no" for an answer.
Especially when "no" means she's excluded from her boyfriend's all-male secret society.
Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she's smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew's lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.

Peaches (1st of 3 books) by Jodi Lynn Anderson
An intoxicating peach orchard that works its magic on three teens, brought together to pick fruit in the summer before their last year of high school. Shy, awkward Birdie, the homeschooled daughter of the Darlington Orchard's owners; Leeda, Birdie's gorgeous, wealthy, "kind of cold and uptight" cousin; and restless, rebellious Murphy discover in one another a strong, unlikely friendship that helps each girl move past her own limitations and open herself to thrilling possibilities.

ODD BITS OF THIS AND THAT:

Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick
Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity.

Nation by Terry Pratchett
A tidal wave wipes out the population of a small island—except for Mau, who was paddling his dugout canoe home after a month spent alone, preparing to become a man. The wave also sweeps a sailing ship carrying Daphne, an English girl, up onto the island and deposits it in the rain forest, where Mau finds her.

tales from outer suburbia by shaun tan
An exchange student who's really an alien, a secret room that becomes the perfect place for a quick escape, a typical tale of grandfatherly exaggeration that is actually even more bizarre than he says... These are the odd details of everyday life that grow and take on an incredible life of their own in tales and illustrations that Shaun Tan's many fans will love.

CHECK OUT THE COOL STUFF TO DO THROUGH THE DUXBURY FREE LIBRARY THIS SUMMER !
http://duxburyfreelibrary.org/teens/teen.htm