Vibes by Amy Kathleen Ryan

          

Title:  Vibes   Author:  Amy Kathleen Ryan
ISBN: 9780618995301  Pages:  249
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 2008

Readers Annotation:
Even though Kristi's psychic abilities allow her to hear what people are thinking, she realizes that she still rarely gets to see the full picture.

Author Information:

Amy Kathleen Ryan attended The University of Wyoming, where she studied anthropology and Spanish. She is also a graduate of The New School, where she received her MFA. Amy is a young adult writer, with three novels credited to her name. Vibes, which is Ryan's second novel, took her four months to write. Her latest novel Glow is set to come out in September of 2011.

Amy was born in Jackson, Wyoming. Her hobbies include walking her dog and cooking, and she loves to read books and magazines. Amy currently lives in Colorado with her family. 

http://www.amykathleenryan.com/amy.php

Plot Summary:
Kristi first realized she was a psychic when she was in junior high. Kristi and her best friend Hilde Petersen used to play a game where Kristi would guess what Hilde was thinking. However, Kristi's abilities became a burden soon after, when she was the first to know that her father was unhappy and would be leaving her mother to live in Africa. By the time the girls reached high school, they were no longer friends, and Kristi became bitter as a result of feeling abandoned. Her relationship with her mother also became strained, as Kristi blamed her mother for her father's leaving.

When Kristi is grouped with Gusty Petersen for a school project, she figured her life couldn't get any worse. It didn't help that Gusty was the most handsome boy on campus, and she used to have a crush on him. All Kristi could pick up from her psychic observations of Gusty is that he thinks that she's 'sick'. However, things begin to change when Kristi and Gusty start working together, and Kristi begins to realize that although she can read people's minds, she may not really understand the whole story.

Critical Evaluation:
This realistic fiction piece, set in the present day, addresses the unique abilities of psychics. The author expertly conveys the thoughts of the main character through first person narrative. Therefore, the reader is given a unique insight into Kristi's adolescent difficulties. Kristi deals with the separation of her parents, a workaholic mother, and the idea that she is unattractive and strange. Adolescents will especially connect to her struggles as an unusual teenager. The characterization of the various personalities in the story are cleverly portrayed via Kristi's thoughts. At times, the narrative is written in italics in order to inform the reader of the main character's psychic moments. The writer utilizes excellent sensory images and descriptive prose, giving the reader a complete picture of the situation at hand. Despite the many subplots, the book concludes with a satisfying resolution, tying all the story lines together seamlessly. 

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Coming-of-age

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas: 
     1.  Kristi was born with psychic talents which she discovered in middle school. Do you have a talent that you only realized later in life?
     2.  Kristi's father left her and her mother for another woman. Do you know any parent who has abandoned their family to live with someone else?

Reading Level/Interest Age: 15+

Challenge Issue: Foul language
- Many teens use foul language, and therefore removing a book for that reason alone is not justifiable
- There are many great talking points for adolescents due to the realistic nature of the relationships in the book
- Compilation of teen reviews and the average reader reviews on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com
- Library policy

Why I chose this item: I found this book in the young adult section of my local library and thought that the plot would be a great contribution to my realistic fiction genre.

 
Vibes book trailer

 

Blushing compiled by Paul B Janeczko

        

Title:  Blushing,    Compiler:  Paul B Janeczko
ISBN: 0439530563  Pages:  95
Publisher:  Orchard Books, New York, 2004

Readers Annotation:
A comprehensive anthology of love poems written by international authors over many centuries. 

Compiler Information:

Paul B Janeczeko is a poet and collector of modern poetry. He has edited over twenty-five poetry anthologies, many of them geared to the young adult audience. Some of these complications include Very Best (Almost) Friends, Stone Beach in an Empty Park: A Collection of Urban Haiku, and A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems.

Janeczeko grew up in New Jersey. His first and favorite book as a child was the Hardy Boys. Presently, Paul lives in Maine with his wife and daughter.

http://www.paulbjaneczko.com/bio.htm

Content/Audience: 
The poems collected range from classic to modern, with poems picked specifically with a young adult in mind. However, the range is so diverse, that the poems can relate to readers of all ages. The book is divided into five chapters, each chapter beginning with a love letter that sets the tone and theme of that section of the book. "Beginning of Love" discusses the newness and excitement of love, and includes poems such as She Was a Phantom of Delight by William Wordsworth and Shall I Compare Thee to A Summer's Day by Shakespeare. "In Love" talks about a more mature love, and includes poems such as The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe and How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. "Alone in Love" discusses the regrets of love, and includes poems such as Separation by W.S. Merwin and Dream by Langston Hughes. "End of Love" is about the painful ending of love, and includes poems such as Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy and Heart! We Will Forget Him by Emily Dickinson. The last chapter "Remembering Love" talks about the hope and resilience of love, and includes poems such as When You Are Old by William Butler Yeats and Love in a Life by Robert Browning.  

Genre:  Poetry - Love and Romance

Curriculum Ties:  English - Poetry

Booktalking Ideas: 
     1.  Janeczeko has collected a vast amount of love related poems, many of which are directed at his own love interest.  Have you ever written a love poem for someone else?
     2.  There are some famous Shakespeare poems included in this work, such as "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day". Do you enjoy reading Shakespeare, and do you appreciate his style of writing?

Reading Level/Interest Age:  13+

Challenge Issue:  none

Why I chose this item:  I wanted to include an anthology of poems for adolescent poetry readers. Additionally, the author is critically acclaimed, and thereby a great addition to my collection.

Pride of Baghdad by Brian K Vaughan

          

Title:  Pride of Baghdad   Author:  Brian K Vaughan     Illustrator: Niko Henricshon  
ISBN: 9781401203146   Pages:  Not paged
Publisher:  DC Comics, New York, 2006

Readers Annotation:
A pride of lions from the Baghdad Zoo are suddenly given the gift of freedom after an American air raid. Safa, Noor, Zill, and Ali encounter a new world that they find both dangerous and beautiful.

Author Information:
Brian Keller Vaughan was born in 1976, and is an American comic book and television writer. In order to do research for Pride of Baghdad, Brian joined an emergency relief team at the Baghdad Zoo in Iraq. He also visited and studied the animals at the San Diego Zoo in California. Brian has won an Eisner Award for his works Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina. Presently, Brian lives in California with his wife Ruth McKee. 

Illustrator Information: 

Niko Henrichson is a Canadian comic book artist. Henrichson did research for Pride of Baghdad by interviewing citizens, reporters, and soldiers that were involved in the Iraq War. Henrichson's debut work is a graphic novel called Barnum! He also regularly provides cover art for Marvel Comics and DC Comics. Currently, Henrichson lives in Quebec City with his wife and cat.

Plot Summary: 
The Baghdad Zoo houses over 650 animals, among them a lion habitat with a pride of four lions. The pride includes Zill, the alpha male, Safa, the elder lioness, Noor, the younger lioness, and the male cub Ali. Noor dreams of being free, with space to roam and hunt. Ali is enamored with the idea of freedom, and constantly begs Safa, who was once free, to describe a sunset in the wild.

Suddenly, their zoo is heavily hit during the American bombing of Baghdad at the start of the Iraq War, and the pride of lions are free. Immediately, the foursome discovers how difficult freedom can really be. As they search the foreign city for food, they stumble into a deadly adventure. However, throughout their difficulties, the pride is still able to find beauty and joy in their freedom.

Critical Evaluation:
Based on a true story, this graphic novel follows a pride of lions that had escaped the Baghdad Zoo during an American air raid and subsequently found and shot by American soldiers. The novel is written in English, interspersed with Arabic to lend a sense of realism to the story. To further add to the authenticity of the novel, the lions are appropriately given African names. The range of colors painted in the story portray the circumstances beautifully. Therefore, when Safa talks about her rape, the illustrator paints the pages in depressing blues and grays. Additionally, when the pride is traveling through war-torn Baghdad, the pictures take on fiery reds and oranges. Despite the fact that the main characters are animals, the illustrator effectively depicts their expressions and emotions, giving them personalities and bringing them to life. Through the stunning array of color illustrations and the straightforward narrative of the author, the reader will enjoy this compelling and heartbreaking tale.

Genre:  Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction

Curriculum Ties:  American History - Iraq War

Booktalking Ideas: 
    1.  The story of the lion's escape takes place during the recent Iraq War, which is still ongoing. Do you know any soldiers deployed in Iraq?
    2.  At the beginning of the story, Noor longs for freedom. When actually free, however, she realizes that freedom is not all that she thought it would be. Did you ever really want something, but when you got it became disappointed in what you found?

Reading Level/Interest Age: 14+

Challenge Issue: Suggestive war themes, Sexually explicit
- This graphic novel won the 2006 IGN award for best original graphic novel
- Compilation of teen reviews and the average reader reviews on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com
- Library policy

Why I chose this item:  This was an intense graphic novel, but also on the shorter side, thus appealing to teenage reluctant readers and graphic novel readers.