Another Column at MyShelf.Com

May and June are the wonder-months that we are all looking forward to....and the time when the teachers drag out the dreaded summer reading lists with lots of good-for-us, but dry as dust classics. Certainly we don't want our reading skills to drop during the summer. Don't get me wrong...most of the classics are great books with stories that will touch your hearts. Johnny Tremain, Where the Red Fern Grows, Old Yeller, and Lord of the Flies are disturbing stories that we will never forget...but they just aren't as much fun to read as the newest fantasy and teen series books.

Check out your local library for summer reading activities, and then get together with your friends for a book party...how about a fantasy camp out? Come dressed as your favorite character and discuss the stories with each other. Read your favorite passages to your friends, and everyone bring their favorite treats to share.

Here are some recommendations for new books that are hot off the presses:

All We Know of Heaven: A Novel (Hardcover)
by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Bridget Flannery and Maureen O'Malley have been BFFs since forever. Then a brief moment of inattention on an icy road leaves one girl dead and the other in a coma, battered beyond recognition. Family and friends mourn one friend's loss and pray for the other's recovery. Then the doctors discover they have made a terrible mistake. The girl who lived is the one who everyone thought had died.

Based on a true case of mistaken identity, All We Know of Heaven is a universal story that no one can read unmoved: a drama of ordinary people caught up in an unimaginable tragedy and of the healing power of hope and love.

The Brothers Torres (Hardcover)
by Coert Voorhees

Frankie has always looked up to his older brother, Steve, a popular senior who always gets what he wants: girls, a soccer scholarship, and - lately - street cred. Frankie, on the other hand, spends his time shooting off fireworks with his best friend Zach, working at his parents' restaurant, and obsessing about his longtime crush, Rebecca Sanchez.

Then when Frankie gets into a fist fight with John Dalton - the richest, in his New Mexican high school, Steve takes Frankie under his wing - and Frankie’s social currency begins to rise. The cholos who used to ignore him start to recognize him; he even lands a date to Homecoming with Rebecca.

The situation with Dalton continues to simmer, and after another incident Steve is bent on retaliating. Frankie starts to think that his brother is taking this respect thing too far. He may have to choose between respecting his brother and respecting himself. In an honest and humorous debut novel, Coert Voorhees uses a coming of age story to look at where loyalty ends and the self begins.

Trouble (Hardcover)
by Gary D. Schmidt

Henry Smith's father told him that if you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you.

But Trouble comes careening down the road one night in the form of a pickup truck that strikes Henry's older brother, Franklin. In the truck is Chay Chouan, a young Cambodian from Franklin's school, and the accident sparks racial tensions in the school - and in the well-established town where Henry's family has lived for generations.

Caught between anger and grief, Henry sets out to do the only thing he can think of: climb Mt. Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine, which he and Franklin were going to climb together. Along with Black Dog, whom Henry has rescued from drowning, and a friend, Henry leaves without his parents' knowledge. The journey, both exhilarating and dangerous, turns into an odyssey of discovery about himself, his older sister, Louisa, his ancestry, and why one can never escape from Trouble.

Me, the Missing, and the Dead (Hardcover)
by Jenny Valentine

Me: Lucas Swain - I'm nearly sixteen years old and live in London. I was fairly normal until the night I found Violet. Then everything changed.

The Missing: Dad. He disappeared five years ago. Nobody knows what happened to him, and nobody cares except me. It's enough to drive you crazy.

The Dead: That's Violet . . . in the urn. Speaking of crazy - I know she's trying to tell me something, and I think it's about my father. . .

A dead lady may not be much to go on, but my dad's out there somewhere, and it's up to me to find out where.

Shades of Gray: A Novel of the Civil War in Virginia (Paperback)
by Jessica James

While this outstanding novel was written primarily for adults, older teens would really love this historical novel of the Civil war and the clash of loyalties as Andrea and Alex question their beliefs, their honor and their love. See the review on Myshelf.com.

 

 

Sequels:

 

Hotlanta, No. 1 (Mass Market Paperback)
by Denene Millner (Author), Mitzi Miller (Author) April 1,2008, and

Hotlanta Novel (If Only You Knew)
by Denene Millner (Author), Mitzi Miller (Author) - the Sequel coming out in October

 

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Truesight Trilogy

 

THE SEER AND OTHERSPACE:
Books Two and Three of the Truesight Trilogy,
by David Stahler Jr. (Eos/HarperCollins)

 

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NOBODY'S PRINCESS and the sequel: NOBODY'S PRIZE:
by Esther Friesner (Random House)

 

 

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WICKED LOVELY and the sequel: INK EXCHANGE:
by Melissa Marr (HarperTeen)

 

 

New for younger children:

Legend of the Worst Boy in the World By Eoin Colfer Grade 2-4 - With four other complaining sons, Will Woodman's parents don't have time to listen when he needs to vent. Frustrated, he hopes that his Grandad will become his confidant. When he spends Saturdays working with the old man, who is the lighthouse keeper in a seaside village, the two strike a deal to listen to each other's "sob stories." Grandad, though, has a penchant for "one-upping." Poor Will can't seem to top any of his unbelievable stories, which involve shark bites on the head, badgers stealing schoolbags, and a bad run-in with tinfoil. Finally catching some time alone with his dad, Will learns a remarkable and amusing story about himself that he's sure can't be topped. In the end, Grandad helps Will to make a significant discovery about himself and his problems, making this a satisfying, funny, and engaging addition to the series. Quirky cartoon illustrations add to the fun, creating a perfect selection for reluctant readers

Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words: From Accessories to Zany Reading level 4-8 - From everyone's favorite fancy girl comes an alphabetical guide to enhancing vocabulary. Why say beautiful when there are fancy words like gorgeous and glamorous? Instead of hello, try bonjour, which is French and so much fancier. An umbrella will keep you dry, but a parasol will make you feel like a Hollywood movie star!

With this helpful A-to-Z guide, Fancy Nancy shows that making plain words into fancy ones is not only educational, it's fun!

Don't Bump the Glump!: And Other Fantasies Shel Silverstein's poems are pure magic, and now, after thirty years, here is a reprint of his very first poetry collection, and the only one that was illustrated in full color.

With this helpful A-to-Z guide, Fancy Nancy shows that making plain words into fancy ones is not only educational, it's fun!

It's a zoo in here!

Have you ever . . .
Seen a Gritchen in your kitchen?
Dared to dance with the One-Legged Zantz?
Declined to dine with the Glub-Toothed Sline?

You haven't? Well then, step inside - but only if you are ready to be amazed, tickled, astonished and entertained by this most unusual bestiary of silly and scary creatures.