This book was really good. I learned a lot about how horrible the refugees’ situations are in Africa. This book is really suspenseful and it kept me up reading at night. It is kind of scary but it is supposed to be so the story is good. I would recommend this book to anybody who wants to read an adventure, action, mystery book. The only reason it didn’t get 4 stars is because it’s kind of confusing at first. –Rayna S. (3 stars)
Interested in philosophy? You may enjoy this book translated from the original French.
Neither of the two main characters would normally be of interest to our teen readers (unless any of our teen readers are interested in ideas and philosophy and the meaning and purpose of life):
“Renée Michel is the dumpy, nondescript, 54-year-old concierge of a small and exclusive Paris apartment building. Its handful of tenants include a celebrated restaurant critic, high government officials and members of the old nobility. Every day these residents pass by the loge of Madame Michel and, unless they want something from her, scarcely notice that she is alive. As it happens, Renée Michel prefers it that way. There is far more to her than meets the eye.
Paloma Josse also lives in the building. Acutely intelligent, introspective and philosophical, this 12-year-old views the world as absurd and records her observations about it in her journal. She despises her coddled existence, her older sister Colombe (who is studying at the École normale supérieure), and her well-to-do parents, especially her plant-obsessed mother. After careful consideration of what life is like, Paloma has secretly decided to kill herself on her 13th birthday.”
- from a review by Michael Dirda in the Washington Post – Read the complete review at the Washington Post website.
Renée and Paloma eventually meet, and recognize each other as kindred spirits. This book was written for thoughtful adults, not teens, but if you plan on being a thoughtful adult some day give this book a try.
Join us for three fun “D” activities. We’ll create useful items from duct tape like wallets, purses and bookmarks. We’ll also “re-purpose” old clothes. Bring some of your old, boring clothes, take them apart and change them into something new and exciting. We’ll also have DDR and provide some snacks to celebrate the end of the teen Summer Reading program.
6th-grader Miranda is finding mysterious notes, addressed to her, apparently from someone who is watching her. Is someone spying on her, stalking her, is she in danger? Should she do what the notes ask her to do? Unfortunately Miranda is on her own with this decision. She has a sometimes uncomfortable relationship with her mother, her best friend has mysteriously started avoiding her, and some new friends don’t seem to be quite trustworthy yet. We often feel compelled to make important decisions on our own, without advice from others – are these the best decisions we make, or the worst?
Miranda’s favorite book, referred to frequently in the story, is A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle, another book which DBRLTeen highly recommends. And DBRLTeen found the story somewhat reminiscent of an extraordinarily moving book for adult readers: The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. Like those two books, there is some time travel involved in When You Reach Me, but its not a science-fictiony kind of book at all. The book is centered on Miranda, trying to figure out the mystery of the notes before its too late, trying to get along with her mother, and friends, all at the same time.
The book is shelved with our “J” books, with many others for middle school readers, but DBRLTeen finds it an intriguing read for both high schoolers and adults as well.
So DBRLTeen recommends When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, because although it often seems we don’t have time (or the wisdom) to prevent a tragedy from occuring, maybe, if the premise of the book is correct, we have all the time in the world.
17-year-old Zac Sunderland is the youngest to ever sail around the world solo – it took 13 months! He completed the trip this morning (Thursday July 16) in California. Too bad he had to miss so much school…
“Unfortunately for Sunderland, a Brit named Mike Perham, who is a few months younger, embarked on a similar quest last November and is expected to complete his solo-circumnavigation, aboard a 50-foot racing yacht, in about three weeks.”
Bring in your guitar or mandolin and stop by to refresh your knowledge on strings, tuning, chords, picking technique, basic maintenance, etc. Professional musician Thom Howard will guide you in this informal session, sharing tips and tricks and answering all those questions you never knew who to ask. Ages 12 and older, adults welcome. Please call the library at 443-3161 to register.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009 › 7-8:30 p.m.
Columbia Public Library, Program Room, Children’s Area
Girls growing up in Texas in 1899 weren’t expected to have careers. They were expected to get married. But Calpurnia Tate loves nature, and longs to be a scientist. Her grandfather, an amateur scientist himself, is the only one in her family who supports her.
from page 220 – “I had never thought my future would be like theirs. But now I knew this was untrue, and that I was exactly like other girls. I was expected to hand over my life to a house, a husband, children. It was intended that I give up my nature studies, my Notebook, my beloved river. There was a wicked point to all the sewing and cooking that they were trying to impress upon me, the tedious lessons I had been spurning and ducking. I went hot and cold all over. My life did not lie with the Plant after all. My life was forfeit. Why hadn’t I seen it? I was trapped. A coyote with her paw in the trap.”
As Mr. Darwin wrote, “It is most difficult to remember that the increase of every living being is constantly being checked by unperceived injurious agencies…” But you will have to read the book for yourself to find out if Calpurnia still feels trapped at the end.
So DBRLTeen recommends The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly. Although fiction, it illustrates the struggles so many young women went through in the past to achieve their goals, blazing the trails that young women today can follow so much more easily.
Go to http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/dbrlteen and double-click anywhere to leave a stickie on our Teen Comment Wall – suggestions, complaints, likes, dislikes? Just let us know!
“Homer, Hero, and Zeus were strictly Outside Dogs. They all knew this, but it didn’t stop them from good-naturedly crowding the front door every time it opened, every single time, despite the fact that they were never – ever - let into the house. I loved this particularly fine thing about the dogs: Despite a lifetime of denied entrance, hope never died in their hearts.”
from The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly, page 52, which DBRLTeen hasn’t finished reading yet, but can already tell its a fabulous book (but its not about dogs).
Calpurnia is 11 years old, growing up in Texas in 1899. (But this isn’t a kid’s book – its in our Young Adult collection.) She is the only girl out of seven children in the family. She develops an interest in nature, and wants to read Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species, but the local librarian tells her “I wouldn’t keep such a thing in my library!” (Then, as now, evolution was controversial…) Calpurnia discovers her grandfather, who lives in the same house as her, but who has never spoken to her, has a copy of his own, and thus begins their friendship.
Granddaddy’s story of his encounter with a bat during the Civil War in Chapter 3 is very moving, although the chapter is titled “The Possum Wars”. Great writers can bring a tear to your eye even when they’re writing about bats!
What if you only had one year to live…and you knew it? That’s what happens to 18-year-old Ben Wolf. He finds out he has a blood disease that will almost certainly kill him in a year. The recommended treatment may extend his life by a short time, but will be debilitating and ruin his last year.
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 year’s Teen Reading Challenge is Express Yourself. Teens who sign up for the reading challenge will get a journal to write or sketch in. Complete the challenge by reading for 20 hours and doing six activities such as writing a book review. Finishers will get, beginning July 6, a t-shirt to decorate or personalize and be entered in a drawing for other rewards.
Sign up starting Monday June 15 (but you can always start reading before then…)
Not a new book (published in 1998), but this is a great mystery that shouldn’t be missed! David, a high school senior and the narrator of this story, has been accused of murdering his girlfriend. The jury found him not guilty, but did he do it? Do his parents really believe he is innocent? The reader can’t be sure, because David only slowly reveals the details of his past. He moves to a new town to escape the community that still has suspicions about him, and moves in with his uncle to finish high school. His aunt, however, is not happy that he is there, and neither is his eleven-year-old cousin Lily, who turns out to be much less innocent than she appears. To make matters more complicated, Lily’s older sister (and David’s cousin) Kathy died tragically three years ago, and she seems to be haunting her old home. Or is David just imagining things? This book will keep you guessing right up to the surprising ending. Which of the three cousins in the book is really the killer?
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 ).
Perhaps reflecting the unease in every society that something darker lurks beneath the veneer of civilization, a growing body of dystopian literature has recently dominated the YA science-fiction and fantasy genres. In the same spirit as Lois Lowry’s now-classic The Giver(1993), these books not only offer teens excellent escapist fare rife with survivalist adventure and grim imaginings of future worlds but also an opportunity to reflect on how the issues in their own lives and societies are mirrored in these worlds gone horribly wrong.
your ideas and comments about this blog and our library programs. Leave comments on postings here, or email us. Send us short book reviews too! Email teen@dbrl.org
By Caroline B. Cooney
Interested in philosophy? You may enjoy this book translated from the original French.
Join us for three fun “D” activities. We’ll create useful items from duct tape like wallets, purses and bookmarks. We’ll also “re-purpose” old clothes. Bring some of your old, boring clothes, take them apart and change them into something new and exciting. We’ll also have DDR and provide some snacks to celebrate the end of the teen Summer Reading program.
6th-grader Miranda is finding mysterious notes, addressed to her, apparently from someone who is watching her. Is someone spying on her, stalking her, is she in danger? Should she do what the notes ask her to do? Unfortunately Miranda is on her own with this decision. She has a sometimes uncomfortable relationship with her mother, her best friend has mysteriously started avoiding her, and some new friends don’t seem to be quite trustworthy yet. We often feel compelled to make important decisions on our own, without advice from others – are these the best decisions we make, or the worst?
17-year-old Zac Sunderland is the youngest to ever sail around the world solo – it took 13 months! He completed the trip this morning (Thursday July 16) in California. Too bad he had to miss so much school…
Bring in your guitar or mandolin and stop by to refresh your knowledge on strings, tuning, chords, picking technique, basic maintenance, etc. Professional musician Thom Howard will guide you in this informal session, sharing tips and tricks and answering all those questions you never knew who to ask. 
Girls growing up in Texas in 1899 weren’t expected to have careers. They were expected to get married. But Calpurnia Tate loves nature, and longs to be a scientist. Her grandfather, an amateur scientist himself, is the only one in her family who supports her.
“Homer, Hero, and Zeus were strictly Outside Dogs. They all knew this, but it didn’t stop them from good-naturedly crowding the front door every time it opened, every single time, despite the fact that they were never – ever - let into the house. I loved this particularly fine thing about the dogs: Despite a lifetime of denied entrance, hope never died in their hearts.”
What if you only had one year to live…and you knew it? That’s what happens to 18-year-old Ben Wolf. He finds out he has a blood disease that will almost certainly kill him in a year. The recommended treatment may extend his life by a short time, but will be 
This year’s Teen Reading Challenge is 
).