In All Series-ousness

Monday, December 3, 2012

Adventures into the Unknown (Volume I)

Various

ISBN: 978-1595829306

Dark Horse Archives, 2012

Plot Summary: A nice, hardcover comic collection of the first four issues of the comic magazine, Adventures into the Unknown—a pre-Comics Code horror anthology collection that first appeared in 1948.

Critical Evaluation: Before the Cryptkeeper and his friends at EC, there was Adventures into the Unknown, a pre-code horror anthology. Dark Horse is now adding it to its Archive series. This first volume reprints the first four issues of the comic in full-color (including the original covers and advertisements). It features an introduction on the importance of pre-code horror comics to comic book history and scholarship. Each issue contained at least four stories along with some illustrated “true” ghost stories, tales of different cultural superstitions, and more. There is an important editorial note that the comics are a product of their time and many do contain culturally insensitive aspects. Dark Horse didn’t edit these stories in order to keep the historical accuracy of the tales. Most of the insensitive aspects in this volume are more geared towards gender roles for women and their “frail” natures (“Oh, Nancy! You didn’t see a ghost. You’re just under strain. Go lie down and you’ll stop hallucinating.”) It’s interesting for a magazine aimed at males more so than females that most of the ads or for figure sliming products (that teens will laugh their heads off at). The stories are by no means terrifying to today’s audiences but die hard comic fans and horror fans will find this collection intriguing with some laugh out load moments, some horror clichés, and some stories that are still chill-inducing.

Reader's Annotation: Craving some werewolves, vampires, and zombies in your graphic novels? Cuddle up with this collection of the first four issues of this classic pre-Comics Code Authority magazine for some good chills and to see what all the fuss was about in regards to horror and crime comics in the 1940s!

Author Information: Adventures into the Unknown was a horror and supernatural comic series from the Golden Age of comic books. The title was released in the fall of 1948 by B&I Publishing (later known as American Comics Group) and enjoyed a run of 174 issues for nearly two decades, ceasing publication in August 1967. Adventures into the Unknown was the first horror comic to enjoy regularly scheduled publication. Unlike many horror comics of the Golden Age, it weathered the public criticism of the early 1950s and survived the aftermath of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency hearings of April and June 1954 when the comics industry attempted self-regulation with a highly restrictive Comics Code Authority (Adventures, 2012).

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Curriculum Ties: Comic Code Authority history, race and gender issues and roles in society, censorship in literature

Booktalking Ideas: Read one of the short stories or a suspenseful piece of one.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 16+

Challenge Issues: Comics are “trash”, horrific elements

Challenge Defense: If this book were challenged, I would make sure the library has a Challenge Defense File ready for such a situation. Inside the Challenge Defense File, librarians and the public could find:

· A copy of the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. (Can be found and printed from ALA’s website at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill)

· A copy of the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Statement (Can be found and printed from ALA’s website at http://www.ala.org/offices/oif/statementspols/ftrstatement/freedomreadstatement)

· A copy of the library’s own selection policy (my library, the La Vista Public Library, has a policy but it is not online so I can’t link to it as an example).

· A copy of the library’s citizen’s complaint/reconsideration form (my library, the La Vista Public Library’s, form is called the City of La Vista Service Request form).

· Copies of reviews—both good and bad—from reputable library and publishing services to justify why a book was selected for inclusion in the collection. These include not only reviews from such journals as School Library Journal, VOYA, Horn Book, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist, but also any mention of books on YALSA lists and other copies of articles about any awards or nominations such books may have received.

· Include a short rationale file for other coworkers so if the librarian in charge of selecting materials is not available when a challenge occurs the other staff members have some information to go by (the rational would include such information as a short summary, what could be challenged, reviews, awards and nominations, etc.)

· Include for staff members a copy of “Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials,” a document written by the American Library Association. Make sure that staff reviews this document periodically so they are prepared and know how to face such situations. (Can be found and printed from ALA’s website at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips)

Reason for Inclusion: Classic horror stories from before the self-censorship of the comic industry. If first volume circulates well, purchase second volume out in 2013. This title would also be considered an adult crossover since many people who might remember it are adults.

References:

Adventures into the Unknown. (2012). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_into_the_Unknown

Ghost Flower

Michele Jaffe

ISBN: 978-1595143969

Razorbill, 2012

Plot Summary: Eve is a runaway with a sad and shady past. She’s living day by day barely making ends meet so when Bain and Bridgette show up at the Starbucks where she works and offer her a “job” she can’t refuse she jumps at the chance to get out of her stuck life. Being a dead ringer for their missing cousin, Aurora, the twins offer Eve $250,000 to impersonate Aurora until she comes off age and can claim her inheritance. Sounds crazy, right? Well, after a couple of weeks learning all about the family, Eve takes things into her own hands and stages her return earlier than planned. Luckily, she slides right into the role of Aurora easily until she begins to learn more and more about why Aurora may have disappeared. Her best friend, Liza, committed suicide . . . or was it actually murder? When Eve begins seeing Liza’s ghost telling her to seek the truth, Eve begin to suspect everyone around her of keeping secrets. Is she more “disposable” to Bain and Bridgette than she thought? Was Liza murdered? Why did Aurora run away? Is Eve safe with the family?

Critical Evaluation: For those astute mystery readers, the true identity of Eve is pretty obvious from the start but Jaffe clearly realized this possibility because even thought you think you know where the story is going she throws major curve balls and red herrings at you that makes you second guess your predictions on what will happen. Eve’s secret is truly shocking; however, there were some moments that seemed contrived or appeared and were never mentioned again, such as Bridgette’s experiments in lesbianism, Liza’s supposed lesbian relationship with Coralee, and Liza’s supposed past. It seems shocking that Aurora wouldn’t have known about these things. There is also an underwhelming “romance” between Eve and the main detective on the case which seems forced (Ah—all YA books must have romance! type of thing). The ghostly aspect is also never truly explained as to whether or not it is just Eve’s subconscious or a real ghost. Despite these few problems, the story is an excellent mystery that keeps you guessing even when you think you know the solution and it has the whole “rich brat” society feel to it. I recommend it to mystery buffs.

Reader's Annotation: How would you like to be down on your luck and be offered, by complete strangers, the chance at $250,000 to impersonate a missing girl for a few months? Would you do it?

Author Information: Michele Jaffe is the author of the Bad Kitty series of YA books as well as thrillers and romances for adults. After getting her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Harvard, she retired from academia and decided to become an FBI special agent or glamorous showgirl, but somehow instead ended up writing. A native of Los Angeles, California, Jaffe and her sparkly shoes currently reside in New York City (Jaffe, 2012).

Genre: Mystery

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas: Read the first appearance of Liza’s ghost.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 14+

Challenge Issues: Lesbianism

· A copy of the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. (Can be found and printed from ALA’s website at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill)

· A copy of the library’s own selection policy (my library, the La Vista Public Library, has a policy but it is not online so I can’t link to it as an example).

· A copy of the library’s citizen’s complaint/reconsideration form (my library, the La Vista Public Library’s, form is called the City of La Vista Service Request form).

Reason for Inclusion: A mystery that keeps you guessing.

References:

Jaffe, M. (2012). Bio. Retrieved from http://www.michelejaffe.com/about/

love & leftovers

Sarah Tregay

ISBN: 978-0062023582

Katherine Tegan, 2012

Plot Summary: Marcie’s mom dragged her from her home in Idaho to their summer home in New Hampshire for the summer to get away from her father who turns out to have a new 20-something year-old boyfriend, Danny. When a summer away turns into fall and it looks like they aren’t going back, Marcie has to face the facts that her mom has permanently run away from their former lives and she is forced to begin all over again at a new school leaving behind her emo boyfriend Linus and the Leftovers—her group of misfit toy friends. While struggling with her depressed mother and missing her boyfriend and best friends, Marcie makes some new friends, including J.D., a nice boy she’s just going to be friends with figuring she’ll be stuck in New Hampshire indefinitely. However, when she ends up doing some pretty physical stuff that makes it seem that she and J.D. are headed toward more than friends, she decides she needs to break up with Linus who, when she thinks about it, doesn’t seem to really love her anyway so it’s good for them to both move on. When her mother finds condoms in her room, she calls Marcie’s father and demands that he come and get Marcie and take her home. Soon she’s reunited with her friends and Linus, who she never got a chance to break up with. Loving Linus confesses his love for Marcie and she confesses what she did with J.D. causing Linus to break up with her which causes a huge rift in the Leftovers. Can Marcie get her relationship with her friends back on track? Can she show Linus he’s the one she truly loves?

Critical Evaluation: Honestly, I don’t usually go for free verse poetry books, but I read good reviews about this book and decided to give it a try. Marcie is one of those good intentioned girls that makes bad decision after bad decision after bad decision. Confused over Linus’s apparent lack of physical passion for her and the stress of a long distance relationship, she convinces herself that she and Linus aren’t meant for each other and cheats on him with J.D. and is too scared too break it off with Linus. Throughout the book she grows as a character. When she bares her heart to him and he realizes she didn’t actually sleep with J.D. they realize they can move on and fix their relationship. It is a well-written, romantic portrayal of high school love.

Reader's Annotation: When Marcie’s life gets turned upside down and she finds her summer vacation away turning into a permanent stay in a new town at a new school, she is faced with the tough decision of whether or not she and her boyfriend, Linus, are really meant for each other. Especially once J.D. starts noticing her.

Author Information: Raised without television, Tregay started writing her own middle grade novels after she had read all of the ones in the library. She later discovered YA books, but never did make it to the adult section. When she’s not jotting down poems at stoplights, she can be found hanging out with her "little sister" from Big Brothers Big Sisters or stressing over performance classes at a model horse show. She has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Fine Art in graphic design, and her obsession with typography and layout naturally translates into formatting poetry on the page. She lives in Eagle, Idaho, with her husband, two Boston Terriers, and an appaloosa named Mr. Pots (Tegay, n.d.).

Genre: Realistic Fiction (written in free verse poetry)

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas: Read portions of Marcie’s entries that deal with the isolation and nervousness felt when transferring schools or when starting a new relationship.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 14+

Challenge Issues: Gay parents, underage drinking, underage sexual relations, sexual acts described (orgasms, being “felt up”, getting a hard on, etc.)

· A copy of the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. (Can be found and printed from ALA’s website at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill)

· A copy of the library’s own selection policy (my library, the La Vista Public Library, has a policy but it is not online so I can’t link to it as an example).

· A copy of the library’s citizen’s complaint/reconsideration form (my library, the La Vista Public Library’s, form is called the City of La Vista Service Request form).

Reason for Inclusion: A quick, well-written and honest realistic novel written in free verse.

References:

Tregay, S. (n.d.). About Sarah Tregay. Retrieved from http://sarahtregay.com/aboutme.html

Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials

Stephanie Hemphill

ISBN: 978-0061853289

Balzer + Bray, 2010

Plot Summary: Wicked Girls tells the story of the Salem Witchcraft Trials in free verse poetry form. Told from the point of view of the main girls involved in accusing many people of witchcraft—Ann Putnam, Mercy Lewis, and Margaret Walcott. The story follows the girls from before they all became “afflicted” to their accusations of witchcraft to the end when it all finally stopped.

Critical Evaluation: Writing a fictional portrayal in free verse is an interesting way of introducing teens to the history of the trials and how a bunch of girls could literally condemn a number of people to death because of mass hysteria they caused. Hemphill includes a character list at the beginning of the story explaining each girl, her role in the story, her age, and how they got involved in the hysteria. The end also includes a note of what happened to those accused, what happened to the girls, and an author’s note. Hemphill focuses the story on the power the girls got from their actions of acting afflicted. This helps give a psychological reasoning for why they did what they did and let it go on for so long. Girls didn’t have much freedom or control over their lives in the 1600s and certainly no power in their communities. Acting afflicted got the girls attention and accusing people that were put to death gave them power they would get from no where else. All three girls have their intentions and they actions investigated—from Ann, 12, who goes from being in charge to following Mercy’s word, Mercy (the servant) who becomes the most powerful, and Margaret (the poor girl) who struggles with what is right and wrong. My only disappointment with the story was that no explanation was given for the fact that the afflicted actions actually began with two eight-year-old girls. Ann gets most of the attention historically but it was really Betty Paris and Abigail Williams who started it all.

Reader's Annotation: What can drive a group of young girls to cry witchcraft, killing dozens of their neighbors, and walk away not even feeling remorseful?

Author Information: Stephanie Hemphill's first novel in poems, Things Left Unsaid, was published by Hyperion in 2005 and was awarded the 2006 Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Excellence in Poetry by the Children's Literature Council of Southern California. Her second novel, a verse portrait of Sylvia Plath, Your Own, Sylvia, was published by Knopf in March 2007. A third novel in verse for teens, Wicked Girls, a verse story of the Salem witch trials, was released in 2009. Hemphill has been writing, studying and presenting poetry for adults and children for many years at UCLA, the University of Illinois, with Writers at Work and at conferences across the country. Hemphill lives in Los Angeles (Stephanie, n.d.).

Genre: Historical (written in free verse poetry form)

Curriculum Ties: Salem Witch Trials

Booktalking Ideas: Since the “chapters” are really free verse poetry vignettes, many good be picked to read as attention grabbing snippets. Especially of note including depictions of the girls being “afflicted” and the cries of innocent people when accused and sentenced to death.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 14+

Challenge Issues: Witches, black magic, underage sexual relations outside of marriage

· A copy of the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. (Can be found and printed from ALA’s website at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill)

· A copy of the library’s own selection policy (my library, the La Vista Public Library, has a policy but it is not online so I can’t link to it as an example).

· A copy of the library’s citizen’s complaint/reconsideration form (my library, the La Vista Public Library’s, form is called the City of La Vista Service Request form).

Reason for Inclusion: An excellent historical novel based on a topic that is of interest to teens.

References:

Stephanie Hemphill. (n.d.). Goodreads author profile. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/57242.Stephanie_Hemphill

Case Closed (Volume 1)

Gosho Aoyama

ISBN: 978-1591163275

Viz Media, 2011 (Originally published in Japan in 1994)

Plot Summary: Precocious high school junior, Jimmy Kudo, is obsessed with detective stories and uses his own powers of observation and intuition to solve mysteries that baffle the local law enforcement. After solving a murder on a roller coaster ride, Jimmy follows some suspicious men in black and discovers some illegal behavior—all to have his reputation be his downfall as the men drug him with a mysterious chemical. When Jimmy wakes up he discovers he is now trapped in the body of his six-year-old self. Taking on the pseudonym of Conon (after Conan Doyle) Edogama (after Edogawa Rampo) he moves in with his best friend and love interest, Rachel, and with use Rachel’s father’s connections as a former cop and private investigator to hopefully figure out who these men in black were. Until he can find a clue he’ll still try to help solve tough cases.

Critical Evaluation: A super popular manga (and anime) that began in Japan in 1994 and is coming up on its 45 volume, Case Closed is a classic series. It might surprise people that the series is actually for older tweens and teens because the covers of a cute elementary student are deceiving—Conan actually deals with some serious crimes that are gruesome (the boy who got killed on the roller coaster ride was decapitated with a piano wire—and we see it in all its gruesomeness—at least 1990s style). New readers might also find the manga art style a little jarring because it is really a solid, classic style—it’s dirty and gritty, there are no big boobed, wide eyed people here. It actually is a little refreshing to me because it reminds me of my favorite manga series by Ben Dunn called Ninja High School, which began in 1986. The stories are engaging and are broken up into one or two crimes a book all while Conan is trying to find clues to his condition. Give this to fans of Sherlock Holmes, mysteries in general, and graphic novels. Each volume also ends with a profile on a famous literary detective.

Reader's Annotation: Meet Jimmy Kudo, teenage detective extraordinaire. There isn’t a case he can’t solve until some mysterious men in black dose him with a mysterious liquid and Jimmy wakes up in the body of his former six-year-old self!

Author Information: Gosho Aoyama is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the creator of the manga series Detective Conan (known in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom as Case Closed). He has also designed the human characters for the children's anime series, Hamtaro. When Aoyama was in elementary school his painting of "Yukiai War" won a competition and was displayed at the Tottori Daimaru Department Store. Aoyama had to read manga secretly because his parents were strict and told him that "nothing good can come out of reading manga" and he almost gave up his dream of being a manga artist and decided to become a art teacher instead and enrolled in Nihon University College of Art. In 1986, Aoyama joined a comic contest for freshmen students. He won the contest, and it became a stepping-stone for his career as a manga artist and author. Case Closed started publication in 1994 and is currently up to 46 volumes (Gosho, 2012).

Genre: Mystery

Curriculum Ties: Literary ties with real detectives in literature that are profiled at the end of each volume (Sherlock Holmes, Lupin, Perry Mason, Hercule Poirot, etc.)

Booktalking Ideas: Read the short intro case and how Jimmy solves it.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 16+

Challenge Issues: Occasional scenes of partial nudity, fan service elements seen commonly in manga (large breasts, upskirt views, etc.), brutal crime scenes depicted, etc.

· A copy of the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. (Can be found and printed from ALA’s website at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill)

· A copy of the library’s own selection policy (my library, the La Vista Public Library, has a policy but it is not online so I can’t link to it as an example).

· A copy of the library’s citizen’s complaint/reconsideration form (my library, the La Vista Public Library’s, form is called the City of La Vista Service Request form).

Reason for Inclusion: Case Closed is one of the long-running manga series (currently up to 46 volumes) that doesn’t get bogged down in repetitions. The best mystery manga out there. Stories are on par with the level of Holmes or Poirot. Would purchase entire series for manga collection.

References:

Gosho Aoyama. (2012). Retrieved from Detective Conan wiki: http://www.detectiveconanworld.com/wiki/Gosho_Aoyama

Bad Island

Doug TenNapel

ISBN: 978-0545314800

Graphix, 2011

Plot Summary: Reese isn’t too happy at the idea of a boating trip with his mom, dad, a little sister taking up his entire summer vacation. Try as he might, he can’t convince them that he’s mature and responsible enough to stay at home by himself. But none of them could have expected that their peaceful trip would wind up with them stranded on a deserted island after a bad storm destroys their boat. As they try to make a shelter, they discover that this island might not be 100 percent deserted—it appears to be the home to some very odd plants and animals that want to either maim them or eat them! When they stumble upon a mysterious artifact and a journal of a long dead explorer, they discover information about the island and become prey to the evil inhabitants that want the artifact. Turns out the artifact can awaken a peaceful alien who is the mortal enemy of the evil inhabitants. Will Reese’s family make it to safety or will they become Bad Island’s next victims?

Critical Evaluation: Bad Island unfortunately isn’t as great as TenNapel’s other graphic novels, especially his first, Ghostopolis, but it is still fun. However, it is an action-packed, fast-paced graphic novel that guy readers will especially latch on to. Reese is a sympathetic boy who wants to just prove he’s responsible but is constantly treated like a child (something a lot of teens can relate too). He finally gets a chance to show what he’s made of on the island when he takes charge. There is lot of humor in the story from the character of his younger sister, such as when she sneaks her pet snake aboard the ship and he doesn’t survive but she refuses to leave his body behind until she can properly bury him. Where the novel fails a bit is the alien island concept. We are lead to believe one thing for most of the story and then find out the history of the island and aren’t given enough of a background to truly appreciate it.

Reader's Annotation: Robot mecha warriors? A dead pet snake? Rock creatures? Trees that try to eat you? Bad Island isn’t your average vacation destination and Reese’s family is about to find out why!

Author Information: Doug TenNapel was born in Norwalk and raised in the town of Denair, California. TenNapel studied art at Point Loma Nazarene University. TenNapel began his career as an animator on Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series. He soon began working in the video game industry. In 1994, he created Earthworm Jim, the character that would star in Shiny Entertainment's video game, toy line, and cartoon series. He is best known in the YA world for his graphic novels Ghostpolis, Bad Island, Creature Tech, and Cardboard (Doug, 2012).

Genre: Mystery, Adventure

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas: “Read” the scene where Reese’s younger sister makes their father kiss her (unfortunately) dead pet snake and be friends with it. (It sounds morbid but is hilarious!)

Reading Level/Interest Age: 14+

Challenge Issues: N/A

Challenge Defense: N/A

Reason for Inclusion: A short, humorous action graphic novel that is stand alone.

References:

Doug TenNapel. (2012). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_TenNapel

The Future of Us

Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

ISBN: 978-1595144911

Razorbill, 2011

Plot Summary: The year is 1996 and Josh and Emma have been best friends and neighbors their whole lives. That is until last November when everything changed and Josh admitted his feelings toward Emma in an ill-timed kiss. Unfortunately, Josh's feelings were not reciprocated and everything has been awkward since. Josh tries to reopen communication when his family receives a free AOL disc in the mail. Since Josh does not have the Internet, he decides to take it to Emma to install on her new computer—a gift to her from her father before he left the family. When Emma creates an account she hops online only to find a website called Facebook bookmarked on her homepage. As they investigate profiles of themselves supposedly written 15 years in the future they go from believing it to be a massive prank to wondering if they are really viewing their potential future selves. Emma, not happy with what she reads, decides to try and change her future life by altering her present one which affects Josh’s pretty awesome prospects. With every refresh of the page, they soon have to work together and come to terms with the very real possibility that if they don’t their future they have to change who they are today starting by taking a real look at who they are and who they want to be.

Critical Evaluation: This is a solid entry in YA fiction by two pretty established authors collaborating together. Each character is well drawn and relatable to both genders. Everyone will fall in love with Josh for his slightly nerdy portrayal as the guy who put his heart on his sleeve for love and gets rejected by Emma, the girl who is too oblivious to see love when it’s standing right in front of her. Due to Josh’s nerdy background it’s also pretty hilarious to see who he winds up married to in his future and readers can understand why he’s reluctant to try to change the course of his life. Of course, while Emma is trying to change everything about her future, Josh is trying to figure out what it is he does that gets him such a good one. Emma is a mixed-up girl—she clearly has feelings for Josh but is too scared to admit it and keeps going out of her way to date jerks. She can actually be quite bitchy at times, especially as she attempts to change her future and make it better and instead makes it worse and worse. Josh is the rational one who sees the consequences of messing with their futures—that they aren’t just affecting their own lives but the lives of other people too. The only downside to the book is that some references to things in the late 1990s will easily go over current readers’ heads but those should be forgiven as readers will get a kick out of Josh and Emma attempting to navigate Facebook and all the things it does. We all know the story will have a happy ending, but by the end there are a few questions that are left unanswered (such as the potential future of Emma’s best friend who is supposedly going to get pregnant very soon).

Reader's Annotation: It is 1996 and Josh takes a new AOL CD-ROM to his friend Emma (since she has a computer). When Emma installs it, she and Josh are met with an interesting website—Facebook. Problem is Facebook doesn’t get invented until 15 years later . . .

Author Information:

Jay Asher was born in Arcadia, California, on September 30^th, 1975. He grew up in a family that encouraged all of his interests, from playing the guitar to his writing. He attended Cuesta College right after graduating from high school. It was here where he wrote his first two children’s books for a class called Children’s Literature Appreciation. At this point in his life, he had decided he wanted to become an elementary school teacher. He then transferred to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where he left his senior year in order to pursue his career as a serious writer. Throughout his life he worked in various establishments, including as a salesman in a shoe store and in libraries and bookstores. Many of his work experiences had an impact on some aspect of his writing. He is the author of Thirteen Reasons Why and The Future of Us (Asher, n.d.).

Carolyn Mackler is the author of the popular teen novels, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (a Michael L. Printz Honor Book),Tangled, Guyaholic, Vegan Virgin Valentine, and Love and Other Four-Letter Words. Carolyn’s most recent novel, The Future of Us, co-written with bestselling author Jay Asher, has received starred reviews, and the film rights have been sold to Warner Brothers. Carolyn’s novels have been published in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, and Indonesia. Carolyn has contributed to anthologies for teens, including Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories. She has a short story in Thirteen, edited by James Howe, and in Sixteen, edited by Megan McCafferty. Carolyn regularly writes short stories for American Girl. Carolyn lives in New York City with her husband and two young sons (Mackler, n.d.).

Genre: Realistic, Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties: Technology (what would you want your future profile to look like?)

Booktalking Ideas: Discuss what it would be like to access your profile in 15 years? Read a quirky section about Emma and Josh accessing Facebook and not understanding the features.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 14+

Challenge Issues: Mild language, some sexual situations (getting to second base in public), some drinking

· A copy of the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. (Can be found and printed from ALA’s website at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill)

· A copy of the library’s own selection policy (my library, the La Vista Public Library, has a policy but it is not online so I can’t link to it as an example).

· A copy of the library’s citizen’s complaint/reconsideration form (my library, the La Vista Public Library’s, form is called the City of La Vista Service Request form).

Reason for Inclusion: Two great YA authors writing a realistic story that has a hint of sci-fi in it.

References:

Jay Asher. (n.d.). Goodreads author profile. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/569269.Jay_Asher

Mackler, C. (n.d.). Official bio. Retrieved from http://www.carolynmackler.com/about/