A Little Piece of Ground

Laird and Nimr's novel follows 12 year old Karim as he deals with his life in a war torn Palestine. With frustrations with restrictive curfews that start to harm his father's business and sister's heath, Karim finds refuge in day dreaming about escaping the occupation and becoming a soccer star. With friends he defies curfew to play soccer in an abandoned lot. Despite the escape on the field Karim and friends he finds himself injured after a confrontation with Israeli forces and lands in the hospital. Through the struggles Karim's journey highlights the struggles and chaos of war and its affect on growing up and family. The authors don't avoid rough areas, and the book is a good read for those willing to listen and recognize the strength's Karim and friends develop together throughout the occupation.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Growing up on a Spokane Indian Reservation, Junior struggles with everything from thick glasses and extra teeth to awful clothes because of his family's lack of money. Even though he admits his brain is a bit muddled and confused, he takes through his life as he moves to a school of the reservation. From struggling with confronting the white students and explaining his decision to parents, Junior's cartoons and humor pull him through his transitions...

Weetzie Bat

Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat is an alternative novel starring Weetzie... she wears taffeta dresses and likes things that sparkle. She is strange and bizarre, but so is the company she meets. Hanging out with Dirk they travel around the town in Dirk's Pontiac and decide to find love. Coincidentally they do and all move into Dirk's grandmother's home and work to live "happily ever after..."

This book is a perfect read for anyone who ever a little "weird" maybe a little different. It's OK to listen to dream about Marilyn Monroe and fall in love in the strangest of ways. If you're looking for a normal Twilight-y teen romance then this book isn't for you... If you listen to 1970's punk and think the rockabilly life might be for you, you need to read this...

Pretty Dead

Francesca Lia Block's Pretty Dead takes the glamor and romance from Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga and turns the quest for eternal life as a vampire, to a desire toward humanity. Charlotte Emerson has everything from wealth to beauty, but wants nothing more than to be human. Decades of loneliness and suffering from the death of her twin brother have left her pining for death and the chance to once again feel love. Her creator and fellow vampire offers her a chance, but with a sacrifice that involves the death of those around her. Mixed with poetry, dialogue, and letters the book is a quick read that spins the ideas we have been forming about the lifestyles of vampires after the rise in Twilight's popularity.

Trouble with LGBTQ Literature...

It looked good from the outside...how do you approach someone you are attracted to if you're not sure of their orientation? However past that the novel lost its worth. Rather than addressing the angst, fear, and confusion that comes with being different than your peers when you are a teenager the book spends most of its time focusing on fashion and the shallow materialistic endeavors of a pair of rich New York socialites. Paige and Anthony are chasing the same boy and use Jimmy Choo shoes and designer clothing to lure him in. If you're looking for something with nothing more than pure drama and gossip this is it, if you'd like a reflective read that vaguely mirrors reality, I'd look elsewhere...

The Vast Fields of Ordinary

Nick Burd's debut novel follows Dade Hamilton through his final summer before he heads off from his home in the suburbs of Cedarville to college at Fairmount in Michigan. Dade's transition into freedom includes everything from coping with his parents divorce and extramarital affairs, to coming out about his own homosexuality. His secret relationship with the school's best looking Latino athlete, Pablo Soto, leaves both him and Pablo struggling to find themselves and comfort with their feelings for one another. When Dade meets Lucy and becomes confident in himself, his new found sense of bold exploration puts in the relationship he dreamed of.

The novel packs three months into 300 pages of struggle, hope, depression, love, and devastation. Taking a new twist on the normal teen novel, this addresses mature themes from the perspective so many young adults know so well.

Graphic Novels

Did you see The Watchmen? Are you planning on seeing Wolverine? Would you like the back story to the biggest movies of the past few years? Take a look online here at the library's graphic novel, manga and comic book collection. If you need recommendations or help picking out titles stop by the reference desk and speak with a librarian.

In the mean time if you liked The Watchmen I would recommend these titles:
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Batman, the Dark Knight Series by Frank Miller
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
Batman Hush by Jeph Loeb

Rules of Survival

Nancy Werlin's New book The Rules of Survival is a neat twist on the biography of a young boy, Matt, who takes on the responsibility of watching over both his sisters, Emmie and Callie, as they attempt to escape the strange behavior and abusive tendencies of their Mother Nikki. Touching on everything from drinking, drug abuse, relationships and paternity, the book is written in the form of a letter to Matt's youngest sister Emmie as he recollects their past together. You can place a hold on the title here with the library.