| Best of 1998 Young Adult Books | |
JOEY PIGZA
SWALLOWED
THE KEY
ORDER: Hardcover |
Hyperactive Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription meds wear off and he starts feeling wired. "I’m a good kid! I just got dud meds!" When Joey gets worked up, all his good intentions and all the rules set by his mother and teachers go right out the window. Unable to effectively communicate his feelings, his standard remark would be "Can I get back to you on that?" Joey’s behavior takes him first from his regular classroom to special education classes and then to a special education school. "My spring would be wound so tight that I was more like a rat in a maze, without words, or any feelings…" Finally, with medication, counseling, and positive reinforcement, Joey triumphs, in this comic, compassionate, and compelling tale of a "really" loving and good kid! |
SOLDIER'S HEART
ORDER: Hardcover |
Thinking war to be an exciting adventure, 15-year-old Charley Goddard
lies to get into the Union Army. His first experience with battle brings
an immediate change of heart…"Make it stop now!"
Gary Paulsen spares no detail describing the physical horrors, mental anguish turmoil and each battle fought. Charley returns at the age of 20 an old man with a "Soldier’s Heart." |
WITH A HAMMER
FOR MY HEART
: A NOVEL
ORDER: Hardcover |
REVIEW |
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE 1998 by J. K. Rowlings |
You simply must read it. That's all we'll say. |
DANGEROUS ANGELS:
The Weetzie Bat Books
ORDER: Paperback |
Growing up, finding yourself, being true to yourself, finding inspiration, finding love, and letting go—all in one book ! A volume of Weetzie: WeetzieBat, Witch Baby, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys, Missing Angel Juan, and Baby Be-Bop. |
HOLES
ORDER: Hardcover |
Stanley Yelnats, innocent victim of a "wrong place, wrong time" scenario, has been sentenced to dig one giant hole every day in the hot sun at a juvenile rehabilitation center known as Camp Green Lake (where there is neither a camp nor a lake). "Holes," winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, is the hilarious, poignant, compelling, absurd, lovely tale of Stanley's bizarre incarceration, and his irreversible date with destiny. |
BLOOMABILITY
ORDER: Hardcover |
Thirteen-year-old Domenica Santolina Doone, "Dinnie" thinks she is accustomed to change and travel, but when she is plucked out of her troubled life by her aunt and uncle and enrolled in an American international school in Switzerland, she's shocked.. Dinnie finds herself embracing change, valuing friendships, discovering the beauty of nature, learning to ski, speak Italian and find her place in the world. Her temporary home unlocks dreams that are within her and the person she never knew she could be. |
SUMMER SISTERS
ORDER: Hardcover |
Judy Blume's coming-of-age books have helped countless teens through their most trying years. In "Summer Sisters," Blume again illustrates her remarkable understanding of adolescent emotions to chronicle the close yet troubling friendship of two very different girls [wild and outspoken Caitlin and shy and reserved Vix] from pre-adolescence to adulthood. |
STAY TRUE:
SHORT
STORIES
FOR GIRLS
|
A collection of stories devoted to finding the strength within. Remarkable talent and diverse topics from Rita Williams-Garcia, Andrea Davis Pinkney, and Norma Fox Mazer, about ethnic stereotyping, growing up fatherless, and battered women. A book that will give hope to those who require a boost of self-esteem. |
KISSING DOORKNOBS
ORDER: Hardcover |
Imagine what life would be like if you took the sidewalk game "Step on a crack, break your mother's back" literally. "Kissing Doorknobs" is the fascinating, fictional account of a teenage girl's struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder, told with humor, insight, and compassion. |
SNOWDROPS FOR COUSIN
RUTH
ORDER: Hardcover |
Johanna’s brother Johnny dies from a freak accident but she still hears his voice and feels him near. The loss is felt so deeply throughout the family they stop speaking to one another. It is not until 82-year-old spirited Cousin Ruth arrives that the family finds its way back to the happiness they once shared and allows them to heal. |
THE SECRET
LIFE
OF AMANDA
K.
WOODS
ORDER: Hardcover |
Amanda Woods knows things are going to be different now that her best friend has moved away. She is determined to change and begins with adding her middle initial to her name— Amanda K. Woods, a name that will "carve out a new and bigger identity for herself." There is more than meets the eye with Amanda and even more she doesn’t know about herself. |
SMACK
ORDER: Hardcover |
"If you don't mind not reaching twenty there's no argument against heroin, is there?'' A heroin habit never makes for a pretty picture, but the hooked teens portrayed in "Smack" brilliantly portray the gradual descent into drug addiction. Young adults will not be able to look away from these hard and cold facts. |
WHIRLIGIG
ORDER: Hardcover |
When 16-year-old Brent Bishop driving home drunk tries to kill himself, he inadvertently causes the death of a young woman. Handed a 45 day Greyhound bus pass, he is sent on an unusual journey of atonement, building wind toys across the land. This unique and powerful story traces Brent's healing pilgrimage from Washington State to California, Florida, and Maine, and describes the many lives set into new motion by the ingenious creations Brent leaves behind. |
P.S.
LONGER
LETTER
LATER:
A NOVEL
IN LETTERS
ORDER: Hardcover
|
Adolescents Tara*Starr and Elizabeth, despite their differences have a powerful friendship. When Tara*Starr moves to a new community, she and Elizabeth continue their friendship by letter. This well written emotionally rich novel is told in alternating voices through their correspondences. Their engaging letters document the changes in their lives and the tests of their friendship. |
BEE AND JACKY
ORDER: Hardcover |
The quietly haunting story of "Bee and Jacky" paints a portrait of a teenage girl facing intense family issues. Bee's recollected memory of an incestuous game from her childhood forms the center of this ethereal, surreal, exceptionally compelling novel. |
PARTY GIRL
ORDER: Hardcover |
Screech into the pulsing, harrowing world of gang life with "Party Girl," the mesmerizing story of a gang girl whose best friend is killed in a drive-by shooting. Readers will commiserate as teenage Kata is torn between vowing violent revenge or "facing out" and leading the straight life. |
MAKING UP
MEGABOY
|
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