Brown Bag Book Discussion - February 2002:

Young Adult Titles Adults Will Love, Too

New to Wisconsin via Brooklyn, Hope and her aunt get jobs at the Welcome Stairways diner and become involved in the diner owner’s political plans to oust the town’s corrupt mayor.

Cooney’s legions of fans will eat this one up. From the Amazon.com review, "When Rose was invited to spend the weekend at Angelica's beautiful summer home, she had plans to just enjoy the luxury -- the pool, the horses, the expensive cars. It didn't turn out that way, though: somebody ended up dead. That was four years ago, but now the police have reopened the case. They have Rose's diary -- and she has to get it back."

This creepy pseudo-psychological thriller was written just before the legendary Cormier died. It focuses on Trent, a private interrogator with political aspirations, who’s bent on getting confessions, regardless of the cost. When a seven-year-old girl is brutally murdered, Trent sets to work on a twelve-year-old boy named Jason, the last person to see her alive. Lots of ethical questions to consider here.

For a class assignment, high school senior Robert Radkovitz creates a "sound portrait" of his life: his mom’s favorite Spanish language soap operas, his grandparents talking, and the radio broadcasts of his father, a deejay who took off when Robert was a little kid. This book is for readers who like a challenge, and would be very effective performed as a "Reader’s Theater" in a classroom, with students acting out the various sounds and voices.

In the mid-eighteenth century, an unsavory character and his simpleton son become involved in the lives of a wealthy English family when that family’s eldest son is disinherited because of his love of music. In the tradition of Dickens.

We’ve mentioned this one before; it’s so good you won’t be able to put it down! In order to avoid a prison term for his violent behavior, Cole agrees to sentencing based on native American Circle Justice. He’s sent to a remote Alaskan island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.

Twelve-year-old Sade’s journalist father is a vocal critic of the corrupt military government in Nigeria. When Sade’s mother is murdered, Sade and her brother are smuggled to London for safety--only to be abandoned on the streets when they’re unable to locate their uncle. Their father, desperate to find them, lands in a British jail because he failed to immediately seek asylum when entering the country. As Sade tries to fit in to her adopted country and deal with school bullies, she also faces the understanding of the violent risks that come with exposing the truth. A 2002 ALA Best Book for Young Adults.

Sweet, light, but realistic prose poems chronicle almost-15-year-old Sophie’s search for Mr. Right. Remember your first love?

A hyperactive 17-year-old loner searching for the meaning of life develops an alter-ego named Larry whose anti-consumerism website attracts a huge following, a U2 tribute concert, and no end of trouble when he doesn’t tell his one and only friend Beth his true identity. Hilarious.

Shayla, an aspiring writer growing up in a poor section of Houston, can’t figure out the new girl next door, Kambia Elaine, who tells fantasticly wild stories but who clearly needs Shayla’s help. It’s refreshing to meet such a kind, naive character like Shayla, who only slowly realizes that Kambia’s mom is a prostitute, and that Kambia is in grave danger from the men who unscrupulously abuse her. Powerful, gripping fiction.

The latest novel of teen heartbreak by the author of Hard Love. Kenyon Baker’s family moves to Cape Cod to run a summer cottage colony. Kenyon agrees to paint all the cottages in exchange for getting one of his own for the summer, where he sets up his own darkroom where he can work on his favorite hobby. The first kid his age he meets is Razzle Penney, an offbeat girl who works at the Swap Shop at the town dump. Kenyon’s lust for the social climbing, gorgeous Harley threatens the growing friendship he has with Razzle, and it takes some advice from an older friend to set his priorities straight.

Like When Kambia Elaine... this is another novel with great heart. In the much-anticipated follow-up to Make Lemonade, LaVaughn is now 15, still living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty. Her friends Myrtle and Annie are not as smart, and don’t understand why LaVaughn wants to belong to an after-school grammar tutorial. When they join an extremely religious youth group, the friendship is strained further. This poignant novel, told in prose poetry, tells about LaVaughn’s first unrequited crush, and her plans to improve herself and her lot in life. Inspiring.

Return to Brown Bag Book Discussion Table of Contents.