Adolescent Literature

Some Titles You Might EnjoyAugust 2001

The Amah

• Twelve-year-old Amy Chin finds family responsibilities interfering with ballet practice after her mother gets a job. Soon Amy’s life becomes closer to that of the step-sister role she dances as her mother focuses on Stephanie, the beautiful Cinderella. Amy fears losing her role, her friends, and her mother before her mother's job is through.

By Lawrence Yep

Because of Winn-Dixie

• Ten-year-old Opal Buloni and her father, the Preacher, have just moved to Naomi, Florida, when Opal rescues an ugly dog at the Winn-Dixie store. Adopting the store name as the dog’s name, Opal finds they need each other. She learns to love the dog as a replacement for her missing mother and a father who has become distant. The two of them collect an odd assortment of friends and learn to deal with life.

By Kate DiCamillo

Bud, Not BuddyBy Christopher Paul Curtis

Ten-year-old Bud Caldwell's mother died without telling him his father’s identity. But Bud thinks she left him a clue--a flier advertising a performance by Herman E. Calloway, the bass player for the Dusky Devastators of the Depression. Bud decides to find this potential father. His trip won't be easy during the Depression. Following the Hooverville camps of the 1930's, escaping a monster‑infested woodshed, stealing a vampire's car, Bud is determined to know the truth and won't let anything stop him, even Harmine E. Calloway himself.

Burning Up

• Fifteen-year-old Macey Clare goes with a service group to an inner city school where she is caught in a freak fire. Austin, who rescues her, becomes her boyfriend until his grandfather interferes because Macey will not stop her research about Mr. Sibley, the first black teacher who was burned from his home. Macey's own experience with fire, a death, and the town's reluctance to discuss the barn fire only spark her interest more. Macey knows she must find the truth, no matter who it might hurt.

By Caroline B. Cooney

Carolina Autumn

• Fourteen-year-old Carolina McKinney faces a new school year with unresolved issues from the past. Her sister and father are gone forever, her mother doesn't connect with her anymore, and her best friend seems determined to steal Carolina's first boyfriend. She sees her anger, pain and loss through the lens of her father's camera and the letters she writes to her sister. Eventually, Carolina realizes she must save herself from the pain that will only lessen if she allows it to.

By Carol Lynch Williams

Christmas in Heaven

• Honey De Loach lives in Heaven, Florida, population six, until movie-star Miriam Season arrives, bringing her daughters, Christmas and Easter. Honey hopes to find a friend in the town where Honey, her brother Willie-Bill, and Taylor Hiatt (who claims Honey is his true love) have been the only kids. Easter’s black clothes, nose ring, and non-conformist manners fascinate Honey, but not as much as they intrigue Willie-Bill. Honey turns to Christmas, who seems embarrassed by her family, is a talented singer, and wants to meet the Reverend Gaynor T. McKenna, Honey's grandfather. This new family will bring change, but will the change be for good?

By Carol Lynch Williams

Esperanza Rising

• Esperanza's father dies and her uncle wants to force her mother to marry him. When her mother refuses, she and Esperanza are forced to move from family wealth in Mexico to a farm labor camp in California. When her mother comes down with Valley Fever, Esperanza takes charge of their survival. A brooding labor strike and the Depression endanger her success. Esperanza must learn that life never deals the hand we expect.

By Pam Munoz Ryan

Holes

Stanley Yelnats, like his family throughout history, finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. A stroke of bad luck, lands him at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention center for boys, where he is serving time for the theft of a pair of old tennis shoes. Stanley didn’t do it, but he accepted the punishment, thinking going to camp might be fun. But this camp isn’t anything like what Stanley expected.

By Louis Sachar

Hope Was Here

Sixteen-year-old Hope knows all there is to know about being a waitress, and she’s good at it. When she and her Aunt Addie move to Madison, Wisconsin, from New York City, it’s the love of the diner that lets Hope make one more move. Soon she makes new friends, finds herself involved in running the local mayoral campaign, and getting to know Braverman a little better. Not bad for a girl once named Tulip who has never had a real home.

By Joan Bauer

Joey Pigza Loses Control

• Now that Joey is on his meds, he finally has his ADHD under control. Life is a lot more steady with Mom and Joey feeling good. Then he visits his estranged father for the summer and learns what it would be like to be an adult out of control. Joey doesn’t want to hurt his dad’s feelings, or grow up like him. Dad takes away Joey’s meds, so Joey must make some grown-up choices.

By Jack Gantos

Redwall

• Classic fantasy with a mix of humor takes you to the world of Redwall Abbey where mice and a variety of other animal friends defend their home from those who would claim the abbey as their own. Author Brian Jacques says, “This is where it all begins.”

By Brian Jacques

The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963

• Fourth-grader Kenny Watson tells the story of his family in Flint, Michigan, in the 1960’s. Harassed by his older brother, Byron, who is mother calls the “juvenile delinquent,” and responsible for his younger sister, Joetta, Kenny illustrates the everyday life of a black family living far away from the racial unrest of the south. But when Byron crosses the line, his parents decide to take him to Birmingham to be straightened out by his grandmother.

By Christopher Paul Curtis

Presentation by Mrs. Staheli

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