When You Reach Me

Stead. R, (2009). When you reach me. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books.

12 year old Miranda lives in New York City, with her mom.  The mystery of the story begins from the start.  The story is told from Miranda's point of view and she seems to be telling someone, unknown to the reader, the story of the last year.  Miranda has been best friends with Sal since the beginning of time, and they've been pretty exclusive in their friendship.  They live in the same apartment building and always walk to and from school together- always avoiding the crazy guy who started living outside their apartment in the last year, and the mean boys outside the garage, a few blocks from their apartment.  When Sal gets punched in the stomach by Marcus, one of the kids outside the garage, on their way home from school one day, their friendship seems to take an abrupt turn and ceases. Miranda is left with her favorite book (A Wrinkle in Time) and opportunities to begin a few new friendships.  And then Miranda starts finding mysterious letters about a friend's life being saved.  Eventually things start to click and the mystery plays out.  There's just enough mystery to keep you turning the pages til the very end.  At the book's culmination, Sal is running from Marcus when a bus nearly hits him, but instead, the crazy guy outside Miranda and Sal's building kicks him out of the way and ends up dying.  When Miranda (and the reader) fits all the pieces together, she realizes the old man is actually Marcus, who time traveled to save Sal.  

This book has just enough suspense and intrigue to keep readers turning the pages.  With the short chapters, it's easy for short attention spans to read a little and take a break.  In addition, the characters are relatable for similar aged kids feeling the pangs of adolescence.  Readers who enjoyed this book should check out Rebecca Stead's other title, First Light.  Readers who haven't read Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time should check that book out as well.  When You Reach Me is on the Lone Star Reading List- which encourages readers in 6th-8th grades to explore a variety of books.
       

Pink Smog

Block, F. L. (2012). Pink smog: Becoming Weetzie. New York: HarperTeen

Thirteen-year-old Weetzie (Louisa) Bat loves her hometown of L.A. and her dad.  Her alcoholic ex-starlet mother and substance abusing ex-movie making father fight a lot.  One night, Weetzie's dad leaves Weetzie and her mother without a goodbye.  Weetzie is already having to navigate the awkwardness mean girls of 7th grade and then she's basically left alone.  Eventually she forms a tight bond with two other outcasts- Lily Chin and Bobby Castillo.  Weezie also crushes hard on a possible guardian angel/maybe imaginary neighbor, Winter Wiggins.  Winter comes to Weetzie's rescue more than a few times, because Charlie (Weetzie's father) has asked him to look after her.  In the end, Lily moves away, Bobby goes looking for his father, and Winter's scary family leaves.  Weetzie seems to grow into her own confident and independent person throughout the course of the book.

A kind of part fantasy part real coming of age story of a 7th grade girl.  This book is the prequel to Weetzie Bat, but I feel it probably makes more sense if it's read after reading the Weetzie Bat books.    Pink Smog seems to have a lot to read between the lines and leaves a lot for the reader to wonder about.  This book's characters could definitely resonate with some middle school aged young adults, and I suspect the Weetzie Bat series' characters resonate with the older ages of young adult literature.  Here is a book trailer for Pink Smog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4hDKjoXsbM

Doll Bones

Black, H. (2013).  Doll Bones. New York, NY: Scimon & Schuster 

Zach, Alice, and Poppy have been friends since they were young kids.  Now they are in middle school, but they are still playing pretend games with dolls.  When the game is forced to end because Zach's dad has thrown away his dolls, Poppy gets the threesome to go on a quest- almost as a last ditch effort to keep their game going, and hold off on the inevitable changes that middle school brings for kids.  The quest involves their queen doll... and the her not-so-made-up story.  They must make it to her hometown and bury her.  After a tense bus ride, sleeping in the woods, stealing a sail boat and sailing down the Ohio River, breaking into a library and escaping after being caught, the friends find the Queen's rightful burial spot and the hint of the game not actually ending keeps the reader dangling and perhaps hooked to Holly Black's writing and other titles.
Written for a middle school aged audience, this book plays with the idea of how old is too old to quit playing pretend?  It's a transitional time in a middle schooler's life and there are connections to be made in this fiction story.  Readers will relate to characters as well has get lost in turning the pages to find out the truth and if the quest will ultimately be completed.  If readers are interested in serial reading, other works by Holly Black include the following series: The Spiderwick Chronicles, Beyond the Spiderwich Chronicles, Modern Faerie Tales, The Curse Workers.

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Ness, P. (2008).  The knife of never letting go. Boston: MA: Candlewick Press

A month before Todd Hewitt officially becomes a man, he's forced to flee from the only place and the only people he has ever known, to a place he doesn't even know exists, with a girl from a foreign land.   In the world Todd has lived in for 12 years, men and women can hear men's every thought, while men cannot hear women's thoughts.  Todd has grown up in Prentisstown- a place where he was led to believe the native creatures, Spackle, have infected them with the "noise germ" that causes everyone to hear the thoughts.  Additionally, Todd has been told his whole life that the the noise germ killed all the women.  When Todd hears a silence in the woods, he discovers a girl and his parent-like figures send him off to escape to a different town and worn them of the Prentisstown army.  With the army close on their heals, Todd, is dog, and Viola (a girl explorer who crash landed on the planet) go through a series of close calls and hardships, all while Todd continues to learn of the lies he's been taught his whole life- the germ disease didn't kill the women, the women were killed.  Other towns do exist, but Prentisstown people are forbidden to enter.  Boys become men in Prentisstown by killing a man.  And ultimately, Todd learns, he will not escape, upon arriving at his final destination, where the noise mysteriously stops.

This fantasy fiction of another planet keeps the reader turning the pages, in order to keep unfolding the secrets of Prentisstown and Todd's past.  Young adults will find themselves getting lost in this new world where thoughts can be heard and secrets are hard to keep- and probably thanking their stars they don't actually live in a such a world.  The ending will make readers want to read the next book immediately.  Here is a book trailer for the Knife of Never Letting Go.

Annie On My Mind

Garden, N. (1982). Annie on my mind. NY: FSG

Told from the point of view of Eliza (Liza) Winthrop, a seventeen year old senior, planning on attending MIT upon graduation.  In the fall of her senior year at a struggling-to-remain-open private High School, Liza meets Annie.  Annie is from the other side of New York and attends a public high school, polar opposite of Liza's.  An instant bond is made between the girls.  From the beginning, Liza isn't sure what she's feeling, but knows it's different than any way she's felt about someone before.  Once both girls realized and disclose their feelings, a relationship buds.  As all first relationships, there are explorations and firsts- emotionally and physically.  But the girls' relationship remains a secret, as being opening gay was uncommon.  When the girls are caught scandalously alone by a school administrator, events unfold that cause Liza to confront who she truly is and unfortunately pay the consequences of ignorance of others.  It is clear that Liza struggles to be guilt-free of who she is, especially because it comes at a cost of those she loves and admires, including family and teachers.  In the end, she fully embraces who she is and Liza and Annie reconnect.

This young adult book chronicles the ups and downs of a girl's life as she discovers new truths about herself.  Since the subject of being gay is still not exactly a welcomed subject in many places, especially in schools and with teenagers, this book does many things.  It helps enlighten people who may not understand what it is like to be gay, as well as has the potential to be read autobiographically  by teenage readers who may be going through similar realizations and feelings.  Garden does a great job of not stereotyping homosexuals.  The tone of most of the book is pretty somber, and the author does a great job of portraying the emotions felt by the characters, so the reader can feel what they feel, regardless of sexual orientation.  Other books similar to Annie on My Mind :
Dare Truth or Promise  by Paula Boock
Kissing Kate by Lauren Myracle