Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

By:

Niki Burnham, Terri Clark, Ellen Hopkins and Lynda Sandoval

304p.

Graphia

ISBN-10: 0547014996
ISBN-13: 978-0547014999

Annotation:

An analogy of short stories that explore different break up scenarios written by top Young Adult authors.

Summary:

Four stories that explore different facets of a break-up. Each author has a very specific style, including a story in verse that takes a different perspective on what love is.

Our first story introduces us to Toby a band geek with a girlfriend he refers to as “stacked” who loves his girlfriend but has chosen to refrain from sex, his girlfriend however wants to prove their love by pressuring him into it, forcing a heated argument in the school’s parking lot and a broken heart. Who now must reconcile himself with the idea that he just turned down sex from the hottest girl in school. What is a guy to do?

Our second story has to do with a goth named Dee, who is “head over combat boots” for her football boyfriend until they get into a car accident and due to a bump on the head can now read his thoughts, and that he is cheating on her is only the first thing she learns. Don't mess with a mind reading Goth with a taste for vengance, it a guarantee for disaster.

Our third novel is told through verse form by the extremely talented Ellen Hopkins, author of the novels Burned and Crank. Sending a message of empowerment and comfort to anyone who has ever had someone break up with them.

Lastly, we are introduced to Mia a lesbian who over the summer happened to bag the hottest girl in school non-lesbian Paige. After three months of relationship bliss theirs is challenge when forced by the pressures of peers, Paige refuses to admit their relationship and goes on to imply that Mia is just a stalker. What sets this anthology apart is that the authors approach the idea of break-ups in a lighthearted manner and remind students that it is ok to stick to ones values.

Each of these stories is strong and enjoyable on their own, but extremely more powerful when they are read together. This book will have teens and parents alike racing to check it out, so that they can comfort that special person in their life going through that difficult time, and just think how much healthier it is than a carton of ice cream.

Nation

S
Nation

By: Terry Pratchett

304p

Double Day

ISBN-10: 0385613717
ISBN-13: 978-0385613712

Annotation:
After a giant wave sweeps his island village away, Mau my attempt to survival with the rituals that have been instilled in him.

Summary:
Pratchett tells the story of Mau a boy on the verge of manhood, who must travel an island alone and return to his home village in order to achieve the much desired rank of becoming a man. It is during this trial that a tidal wave crashes on his island and the surrounding ones causing death and destruction. Forcing Mau to abandon his trial and return to his home, which has also been ravaged. It is here that he must attempt to rebuild his home and routine all the while battling the voices of his ancestral Gods, and the miscommunications of the other survivors, including the young “proper” woman Daphne. As the “tribe” becomes larger and larger, Mau is forced to take more of the responsibilities of that of a leader.

Pratchett allows readers the ability to examine how life may be different if they were ever forced to survive with only their wits and minimal training. This is a much more difficult adventure than anything ever on survivor.
Mau and his tribe must adapt to not only the major changes such as survival but the every day ones as well, such as language difficulties, and birth issues, in a far more humorous manner than one would expect.

Readers of Pratchett's other works may be disappointed that this novel is not part of his Discworld series. Even though, this novel shares many similar aspects and may not be as much of a shock to his die hard fans.

Chameleon

Chameleon

By: Charles R. Smith Jr.

384p

Candlewick Press

ISBN-10: 0763630853
ISBN-13: 978-0763630850


Annotation:
The summer before starting highschool in inner city Los Angeles, fourteen year old Shawn grapples with his first experience of love, the complicated bonds of friends and family, and the reality of street gang violence.

Summary:

Shawn is an intelligent and athletically gifted teenager on the cusp of his high school career, who is enjoying his last days of summer. Living in Carson, and traveling to Compton every weekday to be watched over by his alcoholic aunt offers Shawn a lot of free time. Time that is spent playing basketball with his group of friends and maneuvering through the dangerous streets. His days are plagued with the quest for free food and constant “color checks” to make sure that neither he nor any of his friends are wearing any red or blue for fear of being attacked.

During his summer, he is forced to reconsider his future after he and his friends are beat-up by a group of Pirus (red) after being mistook for Crypts (blue), when he is offered the opportunity to go to his local high school that is free of gang activity and therefor free of the stresses, instead of the school in Compton, he has a decision to make. Spending the rest of the summer trying to make the decision that could affect the rest of his life and more importantly his love life with his crush Marisol.

This book is well written even if the main character is wise beyond his years. Smith does drop cultural slang and young adults may be interested in this novel because of the local setting. Teen readers who enjoy the writing styles of Walter Dean Myers will quickly fall in love with Smith's writing style. This novels with hip-hop slang and realness that is hard to find in many other teen novels.