Skinny by Donna Cooner

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Ever has been gaining wait since her mother passed away and now weighs 302 pounds. Skinny is the voice in her head that tries to hold her back but Ever is determined to lose the weight, get the man of her dreams, and sing the lead in the school play.

Cooner, Donna. Skinny. Point, 2012. 260 pages. Hardcover. $17.99, ISBN 978-0-545-42763-0

Ever is fifteen years old. Ever has a beautiful singing voice that no one ever gets to hear. Ever weighs 302 pounds. Ever has been gaining weight since her mother died. Skinny is the voice in her head that always tells her horrible things about herself, that tells her what horrible things others are thinking of her, that tells her she can’t do the things she wishes she could, that tells her she will never be loved.

The turning point for Ever is when her chair collapses on stage in front of the whole school while waiting to receive an award. After this, she decides to have gastric by-pass surgery. If she loses the weight, she can sing in the school play and she can have the love of her life, Jackson.

Follow Ever through the surgery and the year following as she learns some very important things about herself and her friends. Will she get the man of her dreams? Will she sing the lead in Cinderella? What about her best friend Rat? And what happens to Skinny?

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Available in:

Hardcover

Kindle Edition

Audiobook

Award:

YALSA 2013 Quick Pick Nominee

Book Trailer:

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The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

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Hazel has thyroid cancer currently controlled by an experimental drug. Augustus is in remission. A cancer support group meeting marks the beginning of their relationship that begins as friendship but proceeds to star-crossed lovers with an unexpected ending. 

Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. Dutton Books, 2012. 313 pages. Hardcover. $17.99, ISBN 978-0-525-47881-2

Hazel is a sixteen year-old girl with thyroid cancer and Mets in her lungs. She takes an experimental drug called Phalanxifor that keeps the tumors from getting bigger – for now. She rolls an oxygen tank with her everywhere she goes to help her breathe.

Augustus Waters is seventeen years old. He lost a leg to osteosarcoma. He has been cancer free for fourteen months.

Hazel meets Augustus at a support group meeting that he attends with another cancer victim, Isaac. Isaac is losing his sight to cancer.

Hazel Grace, as Augustus likes to call her, and Augustus start spending time together and talking and texting. Hazel introduces him to her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten. In this novel, the protagonist is dying of a rare blood cancer. The story ends mid sentence. Hazel is desperate to know what happens to all the characters in the book and Augustus is determined to help her get the author to tell them.

The Fault in Our Stars is a story of courage, and friendship, and love. The characters are smart. They use words like “hamartia”. They arrange prefunerals.

According to Aly P. age 15, “… this is one complaint that readers have about John Green, that his teens are depicted as too intelligent.”  This is what Aly loves about his books.

Read about these star-crossed lovers, you will laugh and cry with them as the story twists and unfolds.

Book Trailer:

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It’s going to be a movie! Click here to read all about it.

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Available in:

Hardcover

Kindle Edition

Collector’s Edition

Audiobook

Awards:

TIME Magazine #1 Fiction Book of 2012

#1 New York Times bestseller

#1 Wall Street Journal fiction list

#1 Children’s Indiebound Pick

New York Times Editor’s Choice

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“The Fault in Our Stars is actually my favorite realistic story of all time. I usually don’t like realistic fiction because usually they’re written by grown-ups who are disconnected from the world of teenagers, so the entire world comes out feeling cheap and fake, like they’re making fun of our lives. There are exceptions – John Green’s novels being most of them.”

Rebecca S. Age 15

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin set out on an adventure through time and space to rescue Meg’s father, Mr. Murry, and save the universe from the Dark Shadow.

L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. Square Fish, 1962. 232 pages. Paperback. $6.99, ISBN 978-0-312-36754-1

Current book cover art by Taeeun Yoo, showing the Mrs Ws (at the left) and the children at the CENTRAL Central Intelligence building (at the right) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Have you ever met someone that you knew right away you could trust? That’s how Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin felt about Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. That’s why they agreed to go on a dangerous adventure with them to find Meg and Charles Wallace’s father, Mr. Murry.  Mr. Murry is a physicist. He went away for work and has not come back. His family has not heard from him and does not know where he is.  That’s where Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which come in. They know something. They take the kids on a trip through time to another planet, Camazotz, where IT, the Dark Shadow that is trying to take over the universe, is holding Mr. Murry prisoner.  Will Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin be able to save Mr. Murry? Will they be able to resist the powers of IT? Will they make it back to Earth? Read to find out. And there’s more! If you love this book – you’re in luck – the story doesn’t end here. It continues with four more novels – A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. What are you waiting for? Get started now.

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Available in:

Hardcover – 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition

Paperback

Kindle Edition

A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel

 

Courtesy of madeleinelengle.com

 

Madeleine L’Engle Website

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Awards:

1963 – John Newbery Medal

1964 – runner up, Hans Christian Anderson Award

1965 – Sequoyah Award

1965 – Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

A Wrinkle in Time –  rated PG – 128 minutes  – starring Alfre Woodard and Gregory Smith

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