Digital Booktalk

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank “Alas, Babylon.” Those fateful words heralded the end. When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness.

Chessie Bligh by Thora Gabriel Chessie Bligh is a parentally neglected fourteen year old girl whose only friend is her Shih Tzu puppy named Wugghert. Out of defiance towards her absentee parents, Chessie trades places with another girl named Aelyn whom she encounters when their airplane flights from Europe to America (to attend boarding schools) is delayed in New York. Chessie, taking the place of Aelyn, arrives in Sterntaler, where she discovers a hidden elf encampment at the north rim of the Grand Canyon which is hidden from discovery by humans through the use of magic. That’s also where Chessie discovers that she has magical powers and can change the course of history. But there is a fourteen year old series of elfin murders she must solve and a killer to bring to justice. Chessie also comes to realize that Sternfaler isn’t so much a place as it is a multidimensional world where shape shifting, spells, and magical creatures abound. Most of all, Sternfaler is where her elf destiny begins!

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau Ember… It is a city without knowledge of anything beyond its walls; no one knows what’s out there and everyone is afraid to find out. With the electricity generated by the ancient generator ready to fail at any moment, Ember’s light is about to be snuffed out; the street lamps are the only remaining light source they have. The supplies stocked centuries earlier by the “Builders” are running scarce. The domed city meant to protect the last remaining humans on Earth is now on its last living thread. Lina and Doon have lived in this world their entire lives. They know that there is something better out there for them; they just are not sure what it is yet. Centuries ago, a document entrusted to the first major of Ember was thought to be lost until Lina finds a mangled paper (believed to be from the “Builders”) with instructions on how to escape the city of eternal darkness. Lina and Doon believe that this ancient paper with the “Instructions for Egress” will lead them to another world that they have only seen in their dreams. These practically indecipherable instructions send them on a dangerous…

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a former student, lives in a tiny garret on the top floor of a run-down apartment building in St. Petersburg. He is sickly, dressed in rags, short on money, and talks to himself, but he is also handsome, proud, and intelligent. He is planning on committing a murder with a singular purpose – to reaffirm his belief that he is a kind of “Superman”, above mere mortals. After he goes through with his plans, Raskolnikov feels the guilt gnawing at his psyche.  Will he confess to the authorities, or will he be able to keep calm under fire?

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life by Rachel Renee Russell Fourteen-year-old Nikki J. Maxwell has been awarded a scholarship to a prestigious private middle school as a part of her father’s bug extermination contract. Her angst as she deals with the resident mean girl, her embarrassing parents, her crush on the hot boy, and making new friends are all recorded alongside numerous sketches of her life. Although occasionally amusing, Nikki is not a very likable character. She is shallow and self-centered and fails to show any growth in the book, even as she one-ups popular and cruel MacKenzie in the end. [spoiler title=”Click for More”]In fact, Nikki, who steals her neighbor’s hearing aid and plays pranks on her little sister, is somewhat of a mean girl herself. All the other characters are underdeveloped, including Nikki’s family and her new BFFs, Chloe and Zoey.

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters Phoebe Kendall is just your typical Goth girl with a crush. He’s strong and silent…and dead. All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring. Some teenagers who die aren’t staying dead. But when they come back to life, they are no longer the same. Feared and misunderstood, they are doing their best to blend into a society that doesn’t want them. The administration at Oakvale High attempts to be more welcoming of the “differently biotic.” But the students don’t want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn’t breathing. And there are no laws that exist to protect the “living impaired” from the people who want them to disappear–for good. When Phoebe falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids, no one can believe it; not her best friend, Margi, and especially not her neighbor, Adam, the star of the football team. Adam has feelings for Phoebe that run much deeper than just friendship; he would do anything for her. But what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy?

Gym Candy by Carl Deuker Having grown up in the shadow of his father’s failed NFL career, high-school football player Mick Johnson is determined not to make the same mistakes. But when he’s tackled just short of the goal in a pivotal game, he decides that vitamin supplements aren’t enough and begins purchasing “gym candy,” or steroids, from the trainer at his local gym. His performance starts breaking records and his father couldn’t be more proud, but along with gains in muscle, he suffers “‘roid rage,” depression, and unsightly acne. When his secret finally comes out, he attempts suicide. Even after therapy, Mick is left wondering if he’ll continue to be tempted by steroids.

Homeboyz by Alan Lawrence Sitomer When Teddy Anderson’s little sister Tina is gunned down randomly in a drive-by shooting, the gangstas who rule the streets in the Anderson family’s rapidly deteriorating neighborhood dismiss the incident as just another case of RP, RT-wrong place, wrong time. According to gangsta logic, Tina doesn’t even count as a statistic. Teddy’s family is devastated. Mrs. Anderson sinks into deep depression while Pops struggles to run both the household and his declining laundry business. The Andersons are shocked still further when Teddy is arrested and thrown in prison for attempted homicide after his elaborately laid plans for revenge against his sister’s killer are foiled by the cops. Teddy soon finds himself out of prison on house arrest, and in the capable hands of Officer Mariana Diaz, the smart, tough probation officer assigned to oversee his endless hours of community service. As part of the innovative rehabilitation program Diaz runs, Teddy is assigned to tutor Micah, a twelve-year-old orphan and would-be ‘gangsta’. As Teddy goes through the motions of complying with the terms of his probation, Diaz has no idea that he is using his genius-level computer hacker skills to plot his final vengeance and to…

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou After Maya Johnson, age five, is raped while visiting her mother in St. Louis, she and her older brother Bailey are returned to the loving care of Momma Henderson (the children’s grandmother) in Stamps, Arkansas. Because of her traumatic experience, Maya stops speaking – even five years after the incident. She becomes instead a keen observer of her surroundings, particularly with the racial politics and divisions in her town. Mrs. Bertha Flowers, an “aristocrat of Black Stamps,” helps Maya get back on her feet. She tells Maya: “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.” It is with these lines that Maya Johnson’s voice becomes alive. A historical autobiography that depicts one woman’s survival through adolescence, breaking down racial barriers, and becoming a mother; all the while showing the trials, motivations and triumphs that come along with being outcast from society.