Identical By Ellen Hopkins (Spoilers)

Identical written by Ellen Hopkins is the best book I have read this semester! I started reading this book because I desperately wanted to read a novel in verse this semester, but I did not want to read the same book everyone else in my class was reading. I chose Ellen Hopkins because, unfortunately, she was the only author I could find in the book store who wrote in verse.

This novel is about twin sisters who are connected not only because they are twins but also in the thoughts they have (as we see in the connection in words between chapters). Kaelaigh, the twin that is soft spoken and fairly innocent, is sexual, verbally, and physically abused by her father on a regular basis. Kaeleigh is constants battling with gorging on food, cutting herself and trying to find love from her mother.

Raeanne is the polar opposite of her twin. She is tough, trying to find love from many different men becuase she can not find love from her father, and she is very strong. No one can mess with Raeanne without being told off. SHe is constantly trying to look out for her sister and is the only one who knows the families dirty secrets.

This book is extremely graphic, going into details about the sexual abuse Kaeleigh experiences. This is the only thing that makes me question whether I would choose to use this book in a classroom Like Smack, I feel I would get a lot of angry phone calls from parents. However, I think this book would be great to use as a mentor text on how to write in verse. Each poem in this novel is connected and the last word of each chapter is connected to the last word of the first poem in the next chapter. The novel is beautifully written.

I would recommend this book to anyone with the disclaimer that it is almost unbearably graphic.

Ghostgirl By Tonya Hurley

The book Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley is the book I read after finishing Smack and it was the perfect book to read after such an intense book. Although the novel is about a girl, Charlotte, dropping dead while chasing her crush, Daemon, in her high school, the novel is not a tear jerker. It was hard for me to have very much sympathy for Charlotte while reading this book because I did not like her. She was completely self-centered and ridiculous for most of the book!

However, I feel this book would be perfect for a read-aloud book. It is an easy read and is funny. This novel also deals with teen death, being self-centered, and being lonely. These are conflicts most teenagers have to deal with.

One of the reasons I chose to read this book is because a classmate presented this book in class and the cover looked amazing. This book is a pretty book. The edges of the pages are silver, the cover is really creative and the pages in the book are white, pink and black. Also, this book has a website that is also very creative, including excerpts of the book, fun activities and horoscopes. Everyone should at least check out the link. -- http://www.ghostgirl.com/

Lastly, this book has a sequel, "Ghostgirl Homecoming". It is just as pretty as the first book and I have a very strong urge to read it!

Smack By Melvin Burgess (Spoilers)

The novel Smack written by Melvin Burgess is a story focused on two teenagers in England in the 1980's. The two main characters are named Tar and Gemma. The two are 14 years old and both run away from their parents, but for very different reasons. They meet others who have run away and learn how to squat abandoned houses in order for them to have places for them live. While living on the streets, both Gemma and Tar get hooked on the drug heroine and become "junkies". We learn about their constant battles with the drug and being on their own. The characters, although they feel like they are adults, show how childlike they really are throughout this depressing, yet informative novel.

This novel is extremely graphic. That is why I struggle with the thought about this book being taught in a classroom. I feel that if I tried to teach, i would get a lot of angry phone calls from parents. However, I still feel that this book should be taught. This text gives great examples of writing from many different perspectives because each chapter is from the point of view of a different character.

Another reason I feel that this book should be taught is because it is very informative about the risks of heroine, and drugs in general. We learn how hard it is for a person who gets hooked, to get clean. It is nearly impossible and none of the characters get completely clean in the end. Also, Melvin Burgess researched for this book. he interviewed people who lived on the streets, addicts and dedicated a lot of his time to researching this book. Although Melvin Burgess did not live on the streets himself, he worked hard to make this novel as accurate as possible.

I think it would be really hard to teach this book, but it needs to be done, because this novel is too great to be ignored.

Nothing But the Truth by AVI

Nothing But The Truth written by AVI is book that I would recommend to anyone, especially if you are looking for a quick read. I read the book in a about two hours. The one this that attracted me to this book is that when I flipped through it I noticed that it is a story written in document form. This book is compromised of letters, journals entries, newspaper article, school documents... basically it is filled with wide variety of genres.

The story in this book is about a boy, Philip, and his English teacher, Miss Narwin. Philip is transfered in Miss Narwin's homeroom, but conflict soon rises when Philip starts to hum the "Star-Spangled Banner" even though the rules when it plays over the intercom is to stay silent. Though the reader knows that the event gets blown out of proportion, we do not know who (if anyone) is in the wrong.

This book should be taught to middle school students, and it also should be read by aspiring teachers. I feel that this books give us the sense of what happens in schools with budget cuts, principle who care about how they look rather than their teachers and teachers getting caught up in following rules that may need to be changed.

The True Confessions Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie

This novel is amazing! I could not be happier that I read The True Confessions of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie because I have finally gotten it out of my system and it did not disappoint me.

This novel is about a young Indian boy name Arnold Spirit Jr. who lived on a reservation with his family. However, Arnold has big dreams and after a confrontation with a teacher on his reservation, he learns that he needs to leave the reservation. So, Arnold transfers to the best quality school in his area. Sometimes this means he has to hitchhike (because his parents do not have enough money for gas) but Arnold tries to adjust to the mostly white school.

Arnold winds up succeeding in his new school, making new friends, getting good grades, but he only does this after sacrificing the respect of his reservation, the loss of his best friend and a few family members.

I would definitely teach this book in a classroom because it is not too intense and I feel it is extremely appropriate for students in middle school. The language is from Arnold's metaphorical mouth, so he does not use very harsh language. Also, this book has a lot of pictures which is great for everyone to look at and makes it a quicker read.

Black-Eyed Suzie By Susan Shaw

The book Black-Eyed Suzie written by Susan shaw is about a young girl named Suzie who feels she has lost ability to talk. She sits in the same yellow chair in her house with her knees raised up to her face and tries to stay out of the way, especially when it comes to her mother.

Suzie gets institutionalized and deals with the struggles of depression, abuse and feeling unloved. Suzie is the narrator of the story, so we see everything from her eyes.

This is a sad, but in the end, inspirational story. The chapters are very short and are constantly interesting. Although the book is confusing in the beginning, (we aren't quite sure why Suzie acts the way she does) all the confusion gets cleared up.

Am I Blue? Edited by Marion Dane Bauer (many different authors)

The first book I read on my young adult literature reading list was Am I Blue edited by Marion Dane Bauer. I feel like this book was greta to start off my list because it was a book full of short stories written by various authors.

All of the stories focused on teens who were trying to find and define (or in some cases break down any definitions) of their sexuality. All of the stories were fictional, but most of them were inspired by true stories. Some of the stories in this book made me mad, some made me cry, but each story impacted me emotionally.

The thing I liked the most about this book is if I thought one story was not interesting (which rarely happened), I could easily move on to the next story because they were all very short.

I would recommend this book to any high school or middle school student. It helps teens facing sexuality and identity issues cope. It would also help other teens be more accepting.