The Princess Diaries

The Princess Diaries
Cabot, Meg

New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000

Annotation: Imagine feeling like freak every day of your life because your hair doesn't do what you want it to, or the only kind of bra you could wear were band aids? What if the prettiest, most popular girl in school would give you a hard time because you were such an easy target? And now to top it off, what if you woke up one morning and found yourself to be heir to the throne of a country named Genovia? Mia Thermopolis did not think she could handle anymore pressure and tried to figure out a way to juggle it all when given no other choice. The first book in the hit series that made Meg Cabot a classic, The Princess Diaries, was a great book that made readers laugh hysterically while Mia fumbled through high school like most other freshmen girls.

Reason for nomination: While the stories were hilarious and humorous, Mia's story had brought forth a lot of interesting observations. She was very open with discussing issues, like racism, the environment, or dysfunctional families, that most people only wrote about in Realistic/Edgy novels and made it so that you could laugh and learn at the same time. You can't help but cheer for her in her sudden bouts of confidence against her best friend, Lily, and Lana, the meanest girl in school. When she realizes how Josh Ritcher uses her for his few minutes of fame and puts him in his place, readers are assured that fictional character Mia is going to make a great Queen to an imaginary country someday.

Genre: Humor

Split Image

Split Image
Glenn, Mel

New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000

Annotation: Laura Li is the most perfect girl in school. She gets good grades, she's pretty, she's a great listener, popular, and the boys are crazy about her. But every now and then someone gets a glimpse at the pain that Laura tries to hide in her smile and a daunting thought occurs, maybe she's not as happy as she'd like everyone to believe. Laura Li goes home to her mother and brother-and sometimes her father, who is almost always away on business, to help care for the brother who cannot care for himself. She finds that she's unable to move on in any direction in her life, because of a very strict mother. The final and powerful result of this family structure is provocative and shocking.

Reason for nomination: The way the story is written is in poetry form and is an easy and fast read. The descriptions are vivid even though a lot of vernacular is used. Each character tells their story in whatever format they use and thus each character's writing style is unique. You can never mistake Alejandro Felix for Arthur Feldman, or Lana for her sister Yana. Each character is unique and you forget that one author wrote and compiled all of these works into a book. Laura's situation is not unique, even though the writing is, and presents a different side to traditional lifestyles.

Genre: Multicultural/Verse Novel (Extra Credit)

Dangerous Angels

Dangerous Angels
Block, Francesca Lia

New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998

Annotation: This is a set of stories which follows the lives of Weetzie Bat and her friends and family. The main theme that revolves around each story is finding love and keeping it. But there are other themes that creep into the stories, including homosexuality, L.A. and the old timers, family, food, faith, music, and writing. All of the characters in the stories are beautiful as are the scenes themselves and you find yourself lost in between the lines wistfully hoping that someday you could get a glimpse of Shangri-L.A. In Weetzie Bat's struggle, she wants to find "MySecretAgentLoverMan", who she then has a child with and continues living with him, her best friend-Dirk, and her best friend's lover-Duck. In the midst of living together, Weetzie and MySecretAgentLoverMan learn to resolve their issues regarding faithfulness and forgiveness and raise both of their daughters, Cherokee and Witch Baby (whose real name is Lily). Witch Baby's story is next as she tries to figure out who she is and where she comes from. She wears her cowboy skates and wanders the streets of L.A. to find that her mother is the leader of a Jane Mansfield Cult that watches Mansfields movies all day and chanting mantras to keep out the emotion of pain. In the midst of it all, Witch Baby falls in love with Angel Juan, who is then deported to Mexico. At the end of the story, Witch Baby learns a powerful lesson about family, love, and identity. Cherokee Bat's story is the teenage discovery of love and sexuality. Her boyfriend, Raphael, who is also her best friend is the lead guitarist in their band, The Goat Guys. Raphael, Cherokee, Witch Baby, and Angel Juan all lose sight of why they joined the band in the first place when fame gets to their heads. The result is that the lovers and friends must remember why they're together to combat the darker side of L.A.'s music industry. Witch Baby and Angel Juan then have another fallout when he decides he would like to create music without the band. Witch Baby panics and she forgets her own identity and feels lost without her other half. It takes the ghost of Charlie Bat, Weetzie's father, to help her remember. Finally, the story of Dirk and how he realized his sexuality is the final story. Dirk finds Pup, his first love, but is left broken hearted until a Genie comes along to make him see the destiny that awaits him.

Reason for nomination: The stories are powerful, beautiful, and motivating. While the characters sometimes show the world through rose colored lenses, the ugliness still seeps through. With the characters you learn about so many of the issues that are wrong with society. They cover racism, disease, suicide, grief, drugs, faith, identity crisis, and so forth. But they always manage to get through each situation through the love and strength of their friends and family. As each character grows, they not only learn to forgive those who wronged them but also to love and accept themselves for who they are. The language, including some of her invented words like Lanka and slinkstrer cool, that Block uses is lyrical and you can almost hear the music playing in the background while the words move across the page. I've learned to love and cry with each character and found their stories inspiring.

Genre: Romance

In My Father's House

In My Father's House
Rinaldi, Ann

New York: Scholastic Inc., 1993

Annotation: The McLean family is a legendary story. This was the family in whose home the Civil War began and ended. Rinaldi takes a close look into their lives and tries to retell the story from Oscie's point of view as she grows from a skinny mischievous girl into a young woman. While the war surrounds her and her family she endures the loss of her first love (a married Southern gentleman) and learns at a young age her power over the slaves on her father's plantation. Her suspicion towards one of the slaves leads to great tragedy and she is unable to forget that even as a small child she can bring so much pain to another individual. While she butts heads with her step-father, the very same Mr. Roy McLean, throughout the book's progression she learns to understand and respect him as they form a companionship and become partners that try to save their family from the war and all its repercussions.

Reason for Rejection: While the book was able to present a solid picture of the problems with the Civil War and its effects on families all over the South, from starvation to deaths in the family to loss of property, it tried to paint a pretty picture of an event that was not so pretty. The neatly packaged situations that the McLeans endured seemed too unrealistic to be possible as this was a time frame that did not allow for ease and comfort.

Genre:
Historical Fiction (Extra Credit)

Killing Mr. Griffin

Killing Mr. Griffin
Duncan, Lois

New York: Bantam Double Day Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1978

Annotation:
Five students learn the true meaning of a snowball effect the hard way when they kidnap their teacher in hopes of getting him to change his mind about his grading scheme. In the downward spiral of events prior to the "accidental" death of their teacher, the lives of each teenager is explored as secrets trickle out about each character with the exception of Mark, who eventually is found to have the biggest secret of all. Although the book is written a few decades ago, the teenagers deal with a lot of the same issues that teenagers today face. This includes grades that could help them get into colleges, relationships, friendships, peer pressure, and parents. Throughout the book there were many sections during which I forgot I was reading a book that was set in the late seventies.

Reason for rejection:
While the snowball effect of the plot showed how dire a situation could get if people don't tell the truth, some of the lines and characters were scripted and two dimensional. I felt that they could give so much more to the story if they didn't present such a cliche. Mr. Griffin was so evil a character that it was hard to believe that he was actually a teacher. Even to the last moment the protagonists could not gain an ounce of sympathy from him; in fact, the only thing that makes Mr. Griffin seem human is his need for his pills due his condition, angina pectoris. The sociopath in the story is really the most interesting character, which was precisely the reason why I wished that the story would have been written in his perspective instead.

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Catherine, Called Birdy

Catherine, Called Birdy
Cushman, Catherine


New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc, 1994.

Annotation:
Catherine is a thirteen year old "lady" going onto fourteen living in Medieval England in 1290. As a reader, you will find that Catherine does not necessarily fit the profile thought of as a lady of the Medieval period. She has opinions about everything from Jews, to spinning, to farting, thus making her the stereotypical teenager that most young adults can relate to. In addition, Catherine doesn't get along with her father, whom she considers a beast and is in constant battle with him throughout the entire book while he tries to auction her off into marriage to the highest bidder. Catherine successfully fights off all the bidders in question until the richest of them all, Shaggy Beard of the north, comes along to win her hand. As the book draws nearer to the end Catherine starts to realize that she may indeed have to marry the "repulsive" Shaggy Beard and learns more about herself.

Reason for nomination:
Catherine's life is written so simply, but her opinions are deep and filled with wisdom. When she describe the Jews that seek shelter in her home, you can see that she is confused as to why they are being exiled considering that they are not Satanic. Unlike adults, she does not run in fear due to her innocence and comes to really enjoy the company of what the church considers "Devil worshipers". Another interesting moment that really struck me was when she thought that her life was over since she'd never seen an execution, but runs in fear the minute the opportunity comes up. She finds that the criminals being executed for theft are about twelve years old and terrified. From that point, Catherine never mentions executions, nor does she have anymore desire to see one.
In a lot of ways, Catherine embodies the life of the Medieval period, with spinning and hemming, but also the dirt and muck that you don't read about in most books containing knights and lords. She's only fourteen though, and so her opinions and beliefs are clearly that of a young teenager. She's silly, curious, and has temperamental moments like most young adults going through puberty. Her father is her enemy because they don't see eye to eye, and she has opinions about boys and running away to seek adventure.
She also tries to come up with new words to use so that she can have her own curses. Like young adults today that come up with different new forms of slang like "phat" and "caboose slag" she also comes up with her own saying, "God's Knees!" after days and days of trying to find something that fits.
At the end of the story, Catherine reaches the point of "adulthood" when she realizes that no matter where she goes, she'll never be able to run away from herself. She's always going to be Catherine and decides to resign to her future which leads to a happy twist in her life.
I really loved how Catherine's life is so much like the fourteen year olds I know today, even though the time frame is so different. I think it gives perspective to that time frame in ways that a textbook can't, but allow teenagers that are interested to look up the information later.

Genre:
Historical fiction.

Fever 1793

Fever 1793
Anderson, Laurie Halse

New York: Simon and Schuster Publication, 2000

Annotation: Matilda Cook doesn't get along with her mother, who expects her to work at the family Coffee House. She adores her grandfather, who gives her any chance to escape from the Coffee House. The Coffee House cook, Eliza, a free slave, attempts to reason and raise Matilda to love and respect her mother. And Nathaniel is the young man that Matilda adores and sneaks off to see from time to time. The story starts off with the Coffee House's maid dying from yellow fever. As the novel progresses, slowly Matilda is surrounded by death as she attempts to escape Philadelphia with her grandfather. Matilda's main goal is survival, which she accomplishes and loses so much, including her faith in humanity at one point. Eventually, as the epidemic clears and the city becomes a safe place to live, Matilda learns to become less skitterish and able to take charge. Her maturity brings her closeness to her mother and shows Nathaniel the kind of woman she is to be in a few years while she waits for him.

Reason for Nomination: The story presents a fairly accurate idea of a historical event. In addition, Matilda's voice reverberates that of teenagers of any time frame. I feel that I could relate to Matilda's strong dislike of chores, her inability to relate to her mother and the she steady crush on Nathaniel. In addition, as a reader I was exposed to the horrible conditions and the kind of people that took advantage of the fever. I cheered Matilda on from the start and new that as she changed in the novel for the better she would turn out to be a great partner of the Coffee House.

Genre: Historical/Extra Credit

America

America
Frank, E.R.
New York: Simon Pulse, 2002

Annotation:
America is a young boy who looks like every possible race and has just entered a mental institution, Applegate, to help him recover from his past of foster cares systems, sexual abuse, depression, and lacking his mother's love. America's sessions with his therapist start off with silence, but slowly as America learns what has happened to him was not his fault, he also learns to trust his therapist and find love from a childhood sweetheart.

Reason for nomination:
America's life and story come in sporadic moments. As he describes multiple times, he's trying to block out his past by not thinking, but somehow the memories (both good and bad) seep into his mind. He calls this going soft, and America's reasoning is that he has been at Applegate for too long. While his therapist, called Mr. B., tries to get America to talk about anything, he is sometimes fronted with hostility. But what is interesting is America's escape to Mount Everest, which is the first topic that America shares with Mr. B. It's the place he escapes to in his mind as he tries to block out the pain.
I love the way America comes to conclusions in his mind; like when he realizes after Mr. B.'s vacation, that his therapist actually does care about him and comes back to him. Around this time he also makes the realization that he doesn't want to stay at Applegate forever, but is scared of getting "lost in the system" as he puts it.
One of the most difficult things that America struggles with is his firm belief that he killed Browning and therefore is bad and unwanted. He suffers from being unwanted by everyone except Mrs. Harper, Clark Poignant, and Browning. He describes the beginning that his mother, a crack addict, gives him to a rich white family, who decide they don't want him once his skin begins to darken, and they give him to their nanny, Mrs. Harper. Yet, even though he was loved by these characters, it is Browning that causes him to suffer and lose his ability to trust anyone.
America also struggles with the separation from his brothers, and tries to build a bridge with Brooklyn, whom he finds at Applegate, as he was detained for substance abuse. While he tries to pretend that his brother's existence in his life once more is not important, you can see that America is very affected by Brooklyn's presence and wants badly to be thrown into his life once more.
With each memory being opened up, we find that America, who despises himself, is a wonder. His clever banter with Mr. B. and trying to sort out how to trust anyone that comes close and tries to help him leaves readers with tears in their eyes and lumps in their throats. His confusion over what he's feeling, his dreams, and trying to find out if Mrs. Harper still cares for him are questions the reader hold his or her breath while waiting for the answers.
The thing I loved the most about the story, and one of my reasons for nominating it, is that while at the end America learns to trust Mr. B., how he will turn up once his time with foster care is over is unknown. But you can hope that he will become someone more special than anticipated at the beginning of the story.
Another reason for the nomination is that even though America lacks the vocabulary and understanding to express what's happening to him as he suffers from depression, he finds some amazing and descriptive ways to show the reader how much pain he's in. E.R. Frank had done an amazing job in trying to embody the essence of the child of a crack addict, abused, and thrown to the system as he was lost between the invisible lines of placement. There were times that I forgot that this was not a real journal.
The only frustrating part of the book is being stone walled by Mr. B., who answers America's questions with more questions. But at the end, America realizes that these questions help him try to figure out what he's feeling inside and why.

Genre
Realistic/Edgy/Coming of Age

The Lost Boy

The Lost Boy
Pelzer, David
Florida:
Health Communications, Inc., 1997

Annotation: David Pelzer's story continues from A Boy Called It. His journey from an abusive household to the prejudice and difficulty of adjustment in the foster care system; David struggles to find himself between the ages of 12 and 18 before the system releases him.

Justification for rejection:
David's story was tragic and bleak, providing the reader with an inkling into how difficult the foster care system is for children who've been abused. At first, the plot seemed as if it would be interesting because the story could provide insight for something that most teenagers might not be familiar with. I was taken to the inside of the courtroom and allowed to see the meeting conducted between David and her social worker. I saw how powerless everyone trying to help David could be when he was not cooperating.
At the same time, there were a lot of questions that were not answered and seemed confusing, which was probably due to David's confusion at the time. Some examples include: Why did David's mother have so much control over the foster care that her abused son received, even though it was evident that she had actually burned him and starved him? Why did David's father not stand up for his son? Why were the other children not taken away from David's mother after her behavior evidently proved her mental instability? And where were the authorities when the foster kids decided to bolt the minute that one of their parents was accused of statutory rape? Wouldn't the social workers and probation officers immediately arrive to explain the situation; not to mention the foster parents? Because of the confusion and unanswered questions, I felt that this book didn't provide an appropriate account of why certain difficulties arose from the foster care system.
The only thing that was evident was that many families, workers, and neighbors did not approve of foster children.
Genre: Autobiographical/Memoir/Problematic Novel
Not nominated for the Printz Reward.