Book Gorge (20)

I'm still alive and blogging! Yesterday I went to the Phoenix Library which is five stories high and has an entire half a floor dedicated to teen books! Gaaa! I can't wait to go back and sign up for the summer reading program. I'll talk more about what I saw and did there on Reader Rally next Sunday. Didn't have too much time to put this post together so I randomly picked some reads that I just found to include. I don't know, maybe last minuet finds are even more exciting. What about you? See anything that you've never seen before?

The Healing Spell - Kimberley Griffiths Little (July 1, 2010)

Twelve-year-old Livie is living with a secret and it's crushing her. She knows she is responsible for her mother's coma, but she can't tell anyone. It's up to her to find a way to wake her momma up.

Stuck in the middle of three sisters, hiding a forbidden pet alligator, and afraid to disappoint her daddy, whom she loves more than anyone else, Livie struggles to find her place within her own family as she learns about the powers of faith and redemption. Livie's powerful, emotional, and sometimes humorous story will stay with readers long after the last line is read.

Set in the lush bayou of Louisiana, Kimberley Griffiths Little brings Livie's story to life with power and grace.

Blindsided - Priscilla Cummings (July 8, 2010)

[author of Red Kayak]

In many ways, Natalie O’Reilly is a typical fourteenyear- old girl. But a routine visit to the eye doctor produces devastating news: Natalie will lose her sight within a few short months.Suddenly her world is turned upside down. Natalie is sent to a school for the blind to learn skills such as Braille and how to use a cane. Outwardly, she does as she’s told; inwardly, she hopes for a miracle that will free her from a dreaded life of blindness. But the miracle does not come, and Natalie ultimately must confront every blind person’s dilemma. Will she go home to live scared? Or will she embrace the skills she needs to make it in a world without sight?

The Fool's Daughter - Celia Rees (July 20, 2010)

[author of Pirates!]

Young and beautiful Violetta may be of royal blood, but her kingdom is in shambles when she arrives in London on a mysterious mission. Her journey has been long and her adventures many, but it is not until she meets the playwright William Shakespeare that she gets to tell the entire story from beginning to end. Violetta and her comic companion, Feste, have come in search of an ancient holy relic that the evil Malvolio has stolen from their kingdom. But where will their remarkable quest—and their most unusual story—lead? In classic Celia Rees style, it is an engrossing journey, full of political intrigue, danger, and romance. This wholly original story is spun from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and includes both folly and suspense that would make the Bard proud.

Heart of a Samurai - Margi Preus (August 1, 2010)

In 1841, a Japanese fishing vessel sinks. Its crew is forced to swim to a small, unknown island, where they are rescued by a passing American ship. Japan’s borders remain closed to all Western nations, so the crew sets off to America, learning English on the way. 

Manjiro, a fourteen-year-old boy, is curious and eager to learn everything he can about this new culture. Eventually the captain adopts Manjiro and takes him to his home in New England. The boy lives for some time in New England, and then heads to San Francisco to pan for gold. After many years, he makes it back to Japan, only to be imprisoned as an outsider. With his hard-won knowledge of the West, Manjiro is in a unique position to persuade the shogun to ease open the boundaries around Japan; he may even achieve his unlikely dream of becoming a samurai.

Hothouse - Chris Lynch (August 24, 2010)

[author of Inexcusable]

Hundreds of YA books deal with the loss of a parent, but few situate that grief within a community as expertly as Lynch's latest. When we meet 17-year-old Russ, his dad is already dead. A member of the beloved local firehouse known as the Hothouse, he was one of two firefighters killed during an attempted rescue. The town opens its heart to the men's two sons: their money is no good anywhere, beers are handed to them at parties, and the word hero is applied not just to their fathers but to them as well. But did the town rush to lionize its fallen? As the truth of the fatal incident begins to eke out, Russ finds himself staring down a very different possibility. Lynch fully commits to the first-person voice, giving into Russ second-by-second conflicts and contradictions. The author also has a strong grasp of the garrulous slaps and punches that make up many male relationships Russ's friendships are so real they hurt. The story hurts, too, but that's how it should be.

Book Gorge is an original feature created by Books and Literature for Teens.