So, realizing he’d “rather be a flash than a slowly cooling ember”, Ben decides to skip the treatment, and live his last year of high school the best way he can.  Knowing of his impending death, he tries things he wouldn’t have dared to do before,  trying to live a whole lifetime in one year.

Why do his parents let him do this?  They don’t know.  Ben doesn’t tell them; in fact, he doesn’t tell anyone.  Is that a good idea?  Read and find out.

Don’t worry, we haven’t spoiled the book for you.  Chris finds out about his disease in chapter one, but there are lots of surprises to come.  So DBRLTeen recommends Deadline, by Chris Crutcher, because we all need to think about what we’d change in our lives, if we knew we weren’t going to live forever.

This book is one of the 2009-2010 nominees for the Missouri Gateway Readers Award.

See author Chris Crutcher’s website here.

So DBRLTeen recommends The Killer’s Cousin, by Nancy Yerlin, because we all need to learn to live with our mistakes, no matter how big they are (and you’ll have to read the book to understand what that means ).

Marcelo is constantly confronted by those who think he lacks intelligence because of his condition and the way in which he speaks, who think he can’t learn, or can’t understand what’s going on.  Marcelo proves them wrong!  Marcelo has to confront his father in the process, but he stays true to himself and his ethics and grows in the process.

So DBRLTeen recommends Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco X. Stork, because by seeing what is ugly inside of ourselves, we can learn, like Marcelo, to “forgive, love kindness, walk humbly.”

Read an interview with the author about this book here, and check out the author’s website.

So.  Eighth grade. Second semester. New state. Math was math – algebra, of course.  They always stick the Asian kid in the algebra class.  Science was science.  Fortunately I know how to roll a stupid little metal car down a ramp and use a stopwatch, so no problemo there.  In English, all I could figure out the first day was that the teacher was nuts – so again, same stuff, different time zone.  Gym, lunch – I honed my skills at standing and sitting in the corner.  I also continued my long-standing tradition of eating nothing but pasta and fruit in the cafeteria – I’d never been to a public school that knew how to cook actual meat.  Oh, I almost forgot home economics.  Brownies.  Made with applesauce.  No wonder America’s kids have lost their way.

Great writing, even though your English teacher may object to all the incomplete sentences!  But the author creates a really interesting character that you feel you know right away.  Unfortunately San falls victim to the greatest enemy 8th-grade boys face:  their inability to successfully relate to 8th-grade girls.  We all try to make ourselves look a little better than we are when we’re trying to impress someone, but San carries it to extremes, creating a whole new persona for himself as a Zen master to impress a girl.  Unfortunately San is NOT a zen master, so many hours in the library (Yea!) researching the subject is required.  (Please do not follow San’s example by lying to a librarian in order to use the library computers!)  Lots of library humour, school humour, and zen humour, too.

So DBRLTeen recommends Zen and the Art of Faking It, by Jordan Sonnenblick. You’ll learn a lot about zen.  More important, you’ll have a chance to think about the consequences of lying about yourself to impress others.

Visit the author’s website at http://www.jordansonnenblick.com/

“All I can tell you is that you better live each day like it was your last, because you never know.  Take a lesson from me, one minute I’m picking figs, the next minute I’m dead.”

Teens always want to be famous.  Now don’t try to deny it!  Mrs. D. knows you all hope to be famous performers or sports stars or writers or scientists or celebrities of every sort and description – it’s in your blood and you can’t help it.  It’s human nature to want recognition from others, and the more the better!

But what if you never become famous?  Aren’t there enough silly celebrities running around making fools of themselves in public?  What if you just live an ordinary life?  Is such a life even worth bothering with? 

That’s why Mrs. D. recommends Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven, by Fannie Flagg.  Elner Shimfissle, an elderly woman known only by her friends and family, is the center of this story (even though she is dead for much of it!), and if you thought it wouldn’t be fun to be old, think again!  Elner is the kind of person we all like to be around – friendly, funny, and still curious about life.   Although this book wasn’t written for teens, Mrs. D. thinks its a great way for teens to experience how wonderful life is, even when you’re old, and not famous at all. 

The problem is if you spend all your time dreaming about being famous in your future, you’re missing your present.  Are you living right today?

It is difficult to decide whether to recommend this book or not.  Although it is thought-provoking, our concern is that some readers may feel Hannah was justified in killing herself because of mistreatment by her classmates.  Was she? Or was she just trying to hurt the people who hurt her – understandable maybe, but not really very nice. Teenagers treat each other poorly all the time – is that because they’re mean, thoughtless, and uncaring, or just young and still learning how much unhappiness their actions can cause others?  Should Hannah have tried different ways of dealing with her situation, and would they have worked?  Are there really high schools where so many students are so bad?

This is a well-written, thought-provoking, “can’t put it down” kind of book, a great basis for discussion of this important issue.  But don’t forget it’s only fiction, and no one should base critical life decisions on fiction!

Know someone who needs to talk about feelings of sadness, loneliness, depression or suicide? Suggest they call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Their website is:
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

A personal favorite is the one by Jack Gantos, telling how in his childhood his friend’s older brother would launch them through the air with a home-made catapult.  Jack’s mother could not comprehend why the boys did this when the results were always painful.  Some things mothers never do understand…

Guys Read is actually a great website (www.guysread.com) started by Jon Scieszka, writer of the Time Warp Trio series.  It recommends books that boys of all ages enjoy reading.  No girl books allowed!

This book is a Young Adult nonfiction book, so its upstairs on the 2nd floor in the Columbia Public Library – YA 810.8092.  Click this sentence to see if we have any on the shelf.

I DID enjoy the review.  In fact, I loved it.  I was especially pleased to read your discussion of Dad’s coping problems and your comment that we all need to learn to forgive.  I enjoyed your comment about your own sailing misadventure.  You might be interested to know that when the cover of the book was first prepared, Chrysalis was portrayed as a ketch.  I explained that this was like writing a book about a thoroughbred and putting an Clydesdale on the cover.  You might also be interested to know that I know that the moment depicted on the cover is one that no sailor would allow himself to get into and that no one could survive.  Sails up in that kind of weather?!?  No way!  Sailing INTO that kind of wave?!?  Impossible!  Still it makes for an extremely dramatic painting.

Having relinquished Ben, Dylan, and Gerry to the world, it is wonderful to hear when they are well received.

- M. H. Herlong, in a private and personal email to Mrs. D.

Mrs. D. is grateful that M. H. Herlong (may we call you “M.”?) graciously declined to point out the error in Mrs. D.’s review, where she referred to the sailboat Chrysalis as a “yacht” – it was, of course, a sloop, as Mrs. D. just learned from the author’s website.  Mrs. D., wise and knowledgeable as she is, is not too old to learn new things, and neither, dear readers, are you.

To make matters worse (this is a young adult novel as Mrs. D. mentioned before so matters always get worse) their father suddenly disappears (yes, disappears, it’s quite surprising) from their yacht in the middle of the Carribean, leaving Ben and his brothers to face life-threatening situations on their own.  You’ll learn the things that can go wrong on a sailboat from this book, and goodness knows there are a lot of them!  Ask Mrs. D. to tell you sometime about when she was caught in a monsoon off the Seychelles in her 30-foot ketch - she hasn’t been quite as fond of mizzenmasts since!

Ben finds himself facing great danger because of the selfish decisions of his father.  How can Ben ever forgive him?  Mrs. D. recommends The Great Wide Sea, by M. H. Herlong, because we all need to learn how to forgive.

Check out the author’s website at www.thegreatwidesea.com!

“A rousing tale of techno-geek rebellion.”  That’s what it says on the cover, and goodness knows Mrs. D. is no techno-geek, but she did enjoy this book.  Teens who follow the news may be aware there are some who feel our country went too far in violating civil liberties after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and that’s the theme of this novel.  Terrorists have struck in San Francisco this time, and the response by the Department of Homeland Security is draconian (Mrs. D has helpfully supplied a link to the definition of draconian; perhaps she is a bit of a techno-geek after all).  A teen hacker named Marcus and his friends seem to be the only ones willing to challenge them.  Now some people think hackers are the bad guys, always breaking into computer systems, stealing identities and credit card numbers and military secrets, but actually hackers are just people who enjoy solving problems involving technology.  Click here to find a great description of hacking written by hackers.

An interesting sub-plot is how Marcus has to defy not only the authorities, who are trying to find and arrest him, but his own father, who believes the government’s response is appropriate.  Teens often find themselves opposing their parents’ views.  Mrs. D. remembers heated discussions with dear Papa about the League of Nations…

Cory Doctorow has written a well-researched novel – his descriptions of how to create xbox networks, encrypt communications, and disrupt security devices are accurate and Mrs. D. fears some of our teen readers may want to try some of his tricks – not at the library, please!  Find out more about Cory Doctorow on his website at craphound.com.

So Mrs. D. recommends Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, because although technology can be used to oppress us, it can also be used to set us free.