A Harvest of Titles to Encourage Teens
Does school keep you busy with assigned reading? You're probably focused only on reading to write book reports, or to cover the required classics for college. If so, you may be missing out on a big benefit -- reading for pleasure and personal growth. Every October, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of the American Library Association sponsors Teen Read Week to encourage reading. You don't need to wait until October, though. A plentiful harvest of teen titles are available year-round, so youre sure to find something to meet individual tastes.		In 2003 Teen Read Week is October 19-25
	What teen doesn't wish for a guide to navigate the high school years? Chérie Carter-Scott, author of If Life is a Game, has finally created one. If High School is a Game, Here's How to Break the Rules, focuses on 10 truths related to the challenges and changes of the teen years. Real teens share their stories and Chérie offers some advice. Each truth serves as a chapter and is broken down to the bare theme, including ways to learn and grow regarding that truth, plus real-life examples and advice. For example, Truth #2 is: You will be presented with choices. The theme is: With each choice comes a consequence. Your choices will affect your future. Four teens tell their stories about making choices then learning and living with the consequences. Lists of questions and a chart, showing how various actions (ditching school, lying, drinking, having sex) have immediate results as well as secondary results, help readers learn from the experiences of others.
Navigating high school is a lot easier when you have friends to help get you through the tough times. For girls, Seventeen the Truth About Girlfriends by Amy Fishbein covers a variety of topics for developing friendships that last. Chapters include fun quizzes, in the flavor of Seventeen magazine, plus practical advice covering: finding and keeping friends, peer pressure, gossip, rumors and jealousy, fighting fair, and helping a friend in trouble. Suggestions for movies, quotes, and other helpful sidebars are sprinkled throughout the book. The chapter on crises includes where and when to seek professional help. Girls will like the trendy layout and boys may learn something to better understand sisters and girlfriends.
Also check out 33 Things Every Girl Should Know about History	Boys as well as girls may find the essays in Hands On! 33 More Things Every Girl Should Know edited by Suzanne Harper, helpful and interesting. Thirty-three authors offer personal views on a variety topics, from asking for advice to exploring all your options. The result is the confidence to sail smoothly through life. The contributors are strong women ranging from well-known authors to an Air Force Colonel to athletes. The knowledge gleaned will be invaluable as you learn to follow your dreams as well as prepare for the choices and challenges on the road ahead.
Want to offer confidence to a friend? Share the gift of Royal Dignity in The Twelve Gifts of Birth by Charlene Constanzo. This beautifully illustrated book begins as a fairy tale relating how royal children were blessed with special gifts at birth by wise women. Now every child is allowed to learn those 12 gifts. Each gift -- strength, beauty, hope, talent, wisdom, and so on -- is followed by a wish so readers may recognize their own unique gift. This book is a lovely gift to give and to share.
Nonfiction isn't the only way to learn the skills and truths needed to navigate the high school years. On the Fringe, edited by Donald R. Gallo, includes 11 short stories. The stories deal with issues teens face daily in the social boundaries dividing the terrain of adolescence. Written by 11 acclaimed authors of fiction for young adults, the stories offer insight into the thoughts and feelings of teens, whether they are the picked on and persecuted nonconformists or those whose popularity necessitates hating and persecuting the other half. Whether reading about Nia, who struggles with the suicide of her best friend Nick, or Sam, who recounts how Gene Taylor brings a gun to social studies to end the debate on the connection between guns and violence, readers will find plenty to relate with and to discuss with friends. Each story ends with a biography on the author, and the book concludes with a list of resources -- books, hotlines, and web sites -- for more information on the issues raised in the stories.		For more short stories, look for Time Capsule, also edited by Donald R. Gallo.
	If you prefer novels over short stories, there's plenty to choose from. In Waiting for Dolphins by Carole Crowe, Molly is dealing with the death of her father and the loss of the family house boat, Emerald Eyes. Vivid sensory description allows the reader to feel the sorrow and scheming Molly feels as her mother plans to sell Emerald Eyes. Plagued by guilt surrounding her fathers death, and battling the emotions of adolescence, intensified by a shaky relationship with her mother and the onset of Hurricane Hank, Molly faces plenty of exciting conflict. Becoming Mary Mehan, Shell House, Forgotten Fire, Heaven Eyes
BrianRobeson faces a different challenge -- making sense of high school in Brian's Return by Gary Paulsen. Whether readers met Brain in Hachet, The River, or Brian's Winter, they will recognize Brians confusion and feelings of isolation as he tries to navigate high school. Readers may not be able to relate to returning to the wilderness as Brian does, but they will connect with Brian as he searches for where he belongs. Guts, Paulsen's autobiography, offers a glimpse into the challenges he faced while growing up and his reliance on the wilderness to help him discover himself. Readers will recognize the traits and adventures Paulsen used to create his well-loved character, Brian Robeson. Brian's Return along with Guts will appeal to guys as well as anyone who wants to be inspired to persevere no matter the circumstances.
	Discussing a different sort of perseverence, Broken Chords by Barbara Snow Gilbert, tells the story of a teen pushed to perform. Clara Lorenzo is a musical prodigy. Her family and her boyfriend, Marshall, also a talented pianist, expect her to win a piano competition which will assure her scholarship to Juilliard. While her parents insist she must share her gift with the world, Clara knows her talent is more skill than the passion everyone assumes is part of her ability. Ballet is where her true passion lies, but her skill is plainly average. How will she explain to her family that her greatest desire is to live a normal teen life? And, what exactly is normal? Gilbert weaves lovely description into a coming-of-age tale with just enough romance to appeal to a wide variety of readers.
Macey Clare also faces a challenge that threatens to shake the foundations of her family. In Burning Up by Caroline B. Cooney, when Macey decides to research the 1959 burning of a barn in her hometown for a school project, she finds too many details missing. The more she digs, the more horrifying the facts she uncovers. The barn housed a small apartment that housed the town's first black teacher. As it becomes apparent the fire was meant to drive him out of town, she also begins to suspect her beloved grandparents played a role in the fire. As Macey struggles with the unacknowledged racism still lurking beneath the surface of her prosperous community, her own life is pulled into the chasm of hate between blacks and whites. While doing community service at an inner city church, Macey bonds with Venita, a teen from that church. When an arsonist sets fire to the church, Macey, Venita, and others in the group are nearly killed. This experience forces her to unravel the 1959 fire and face the damage racism his done to her community. As Macey questions her beliefs and family values, the reader will also face the reality of this book's powerful message.		If you're interested in changing centuries, you'll enjoy reading about Annie Lockwood in Both Sides of Time by Caroline B. Cooney.
	Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn holds a powerful message of another variety. It seems 16-year-old Nick Andreas has everything going for him. He's rich and he has Caitlin, his first serious love interest. When his temper gets out of control and he pushes a little too much, her family requests a restraining order. In addition to being sentenced to six months in counseling, he has to keep a journal -- 500 words a week -- to learn how wrong his thinking is. Beginning with his court sentencing, this story alternates between real-time present events and "handwritten" journal entries explaining Nick's past -- his stormy relationship with Caitlin and his abusive father. Flinn allows the reader into Nick's thoughts so he or she understands not only what caused Nick's violent behavior, but why it is so inappropriate. Both guys and girls will find this novel moving and highly relevant.
If you prefer adventure and suspense over love and relationships, read Heart of the Pharoah by Dave Wolverton. Based on the motion pictures The Mummy and The Mummy's Return, it's part of The Mummy Chronicles series. Alex O'Connell, son of an Egyptologist and a prominent adventurer, finds himself linked to the ghost of Cleopatra's handmaid. Helping her find peace causes Alex to cross paths with the latest archeological project his parents are working on. There are plenty of choices for self discovery, both through stories and through the advice of other teens. With this harvest of fall reading, it wont be hard to make reading and discovery a life-long habit.