The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl–by Barry Lyga

Lyga, Barry.  The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.

“Fanboy has never had it good, but lately his sophomore year is turning out to be its own special hell.  The bullies have made him their favorite target, his best (and only) friend seems headed for the dark side (sports and popularity), and his pregnant mother and the step-fascist are eagerly awaiting the birth of the alien life form known as Fanboy’s new little brother or sister.

Fanboy, though, has a secret: a graphic novel he’s been working on without telling anyone, a graphic novel that he is convinced will lead to publication, fame, and–most important of all–a way out of the crappy little town he lives in and away from all the people who make it hell for him.

When Fanboy meets Kyra, a.k.a. Goth girl, he finds an outrageous, cynical girl who shares his love of comics as well as his hatred for jocks and bullies.  Fanboy can’t resist someone who actually seems to understand him, and soon he finds himself willing to heed her advice–to ignore or crush anyone who stands in his way.

But Kyra has secrets, too.  And they could lead Fanboy to his dreams…or down a path into his own darkness.”

Mister Pip–by Lloyd Jones

Jones, Lloyd.  Mister Pip.  New York: The Dial Press, 2007.

“Everyone called him Pop Eye.  Even in those days, when I was a skinny thirteen-year-old, I thought he probably knew about his nickname but didn’t care.  His eyes were too interested in what lay up ahead to notice us barefoot kids.  He looked like someone who had seen or known great suffering and hadn’t been able to forget it.  His large eyes in his large head stuck out further than anyone else’s–like they wanted to leave the surface of his face.  They made you think of someone who can’t get out of the house quickly enough.  Pop Eye wore the same white linen suit every day.  His trousers snagged on his bony knees in the sloppy heat.  Some days he wore a clown’s nose.  His nose was already big.  He didn’t need that red lightbulb.  But for reasons we couldn’t think of he wore the red nose on certain days–which may have meant something to him.  We never saw him smile.  And on those days he wore the clown’s nose you found yourself looking away because you never saw such sadness.” (p. 1)

When the village freak–the only white man left on the island–becomes the kids’ teacher, life turns upside down.  And when war and rebellion hit the island, it all goes downhill from there.  Who do you trust?

The Higher Power of Lucky–by Susan Patron

Patron, Susan.  The Higher Power of Lucky.  New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006.

Lucky is a regular kid: she has one awesome friend who’s going to be president one day, one annoying little kid friend who survives entirely on cookies, a paying job cleaning up litter after the 12-step meetings, and an impressive collection of bug specimens for future scientific exhibits.  Her mom died when she was eight, but she’s got a pretty good life with her Guardian, Brigitte.  One day, though, Lucky finds something that changes everything…

“Heading into the wind turned out to be way, way harder, even without her backpack and supply sack.  Lucky had to scuttle along doubled over, like an old woman, keeping her squinted eyes on the road.  Without the mask or the dishcloth her face was completely exposed.  She couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead.  She almost tripped over HMS Beagle, who trotted up to her with her head low to the ground, he ears whipping forward.  She touched Lucky with her nose and then abruptly turned and bounded back toward the town.  Maybe HMS Beagle was right and they should go home.  Lucky stopped.  “Hey, Beag!” she yelled.  Then, faintly, she heard a cat or some other animal crying, and saw that HMS Beagle was nudging that pile of rags.  Very carefully Lucky approached the thing, which was huddled in a tight ball.  It looked like the thing was rolled up in an old tablecloth or sheet.  Sticking out of the roll was a small sneaker with a toe poking through a hole in the side…”  (p. 111)

Sold–by Patricia McCormick

McCormick, Patricia.  Sold.  New York: Hyperion, 2006.

You probably know that in many parts of the world, kids your age do not have the same kinds of freedoms and privileges you have.  Extreme poverty means a lot more than not getting to watch tv or join the soccer team; for 13-year-old Lakshmi in Nepal, poverty means surrendering everything to help her family survive.  When her step-father announces that she must leave their village to find work as a maid in the city, Lakshmi is unhappy but willing.  As she leaves the village with the woman who appears to have hired her, though, things start looking fishy, and they don’t get any better as she reaches the big city.

“Mumtaz studies me.  ‘Are you ready to go to work?’ she says in my language.  I nod and say yes, then nod again, although I do not understand how these city people do their chores in such fine clothes and uncomfortable shoes.  I follow Mumtaz down a hallway lined with tiny rooms.  We pass by girls sitting cross-legged on the floor.  Girls drawing on tiger eyes.  Girls spraying themselves with flower water.  Some of them stare at me.  Some take no notice.

“We go up some stairs, down another hallway, then into a room where an old man is lying on a bed.  His skin is yellow and he has tufts of hair poking out from his ears.  Mumtaz speaks kindly to him and I wonder if he is sick.  Across the hall, in another room, where a red cloth is hung across the doorway, I hear the sound of grunting.  It is a strange, animal sound that makes me shudder.  Mumtaz points to me and says something to the old man.  He licks his palm and smoothes down his hair.  They do not seem to notice the grunting.  Then it stops.  The red cloth is pulled back.  And a man stands in the hallway zipping his pants.  I look down at my red-painted nails and my new shoes.  Something is not right here.  I don’t know what is going on, but it is not right, not right at all.”  (p. 102-103)

And it’s not right.  Lakshmi has been sold into the illegal sex trade in India, and her only way out…well, it isn’t a way out at all…

An Abundance of Katherines–by John Green

Green, John.  An Abundance of Katherines.  New York: Dutton Books, 2006

“When it comes to girls (and in Colin’s case, it so often did), everyone has a type.  Colin Singleton’s type was not physical but linguistic: he liked Katherines.  And not Katies or Kats or Kitties or Cathys or Rynns or Trinas or Kays or Kates or, God forbid, Catherines.  K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E.  He had dated nineteen girls.  All of them had been named Katherine.  And all of them—every single solitary one—had dumped him.” (p. 15)

When his heart is broken by Katherine XIX right after he graduates from high school, Colin’s friend Hassan convinces him to go on a road trip to cheer him up.  The pair land summer jobs in Gutshot, Tennessee, a middle-of-nowhere town with boring tours to the grave of European Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a former reputation for illegal prize fighting, and Lindsey Lee Wells—a beautiful, funny, intelligent girl.  Who already has a boyfriend.

But Colin’s problems are not limited to his…shall we say, unique…love life.  He is also a former child prodigy who doesn’t understand why it’s not cool to talk about his pupillary sphincter.  (I’ll let you all read to find out about that one.)  Like many former child stars and prodigies, he is finding out exactly how painful that “former”-ness is.  And he is determined to leave his mark on the world by inventing a mathematical theorem to predict the success or failure of romantic relationships.  Care to find out how successful he is?

Story of a Girl–by Sara Zarr

Zarr, Sara.  Story of a Girl.  New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007.

“I was thirteen when my dad caught me with Tommy Webber in the back of Tommy’s Buick, parked next to the old Chart House down in Montara at eleven o’clock on a Tuesday night.  Tommy was seventeen and the supposed friend of my brother, Darren.  I didn’t love him.  I’m not sure I even liked him…My dad dragged him out of the car, then me.  He threw Tommy to the ground and pushed me into our old Tercel.  Right before we pulled out of the lot, I stole a look at my dad.  There might have been tears slipping down his cheek, or it might have been a trick of the headlights bouncing off the night fog.  I started to say something.  I don’t remember what.  ‘Don’t,’ he said.  That was almost three years ago.  My dad hasn’t looked me in the eye or talked to me, really talked to me, since.” (p. 1-2)

So now Deanna’s sixteen and the school slut…except she’s not.  She’s a girl who made a mistake three years ago, but once Tommy has spread it around their small town, she’ll never hear the end of it no matter what she does.  To make matters worse, her family is completely screwed up; her dad still won’t talk to her, her brother went and got his girlfriend pregnant, and her mother is way out of touch with reality.  Her only two friends have started dating, leaving her as a serious third wheel; and to top it all off, when she walks into her summer job, there stands her co-worker—Tommy.  That Tommy.

And you thought you had problems.