SMC Reads!

SMC Reads!

Talk about books! Suggest good books!

Upcoming! In the next couple of weeks, student reviewers from Mrs. Paproski's MS Learning Lab class will be sharing booktalks of favorite books they have recently read.

Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? by Mel Glenn

Ever read a novel in poetry form?

Free-form poems tell the story of what happened to Mr. Chippendale, an English teacher at Tower High School. Early one morning, as Mr. Chippendale is preparing for his regular run on the track, he is shot and killed from behind by an unknown assailant.

By the us of alternating poems, the individuals share their opinions about Mr. Chippendale; some liked him, some hated him, and one person, the school counselor loved him. One person just thought it was cool he was shot---"will i make the nightly news?" Twins share diametrically opposed views of him—greatest teacher I ever had vs. the worst teacher ever. The police question individuals; eventually, the killer is discovered.

What will people remember about you when you are gone?

The epilogue tells where individuals are thirteen years later. Some successful, some retired and one out of prison after serving five years.

Double Helix by Nancy Werlin

This book's story could be taken from the headlines of just about any newspaper.

Eli’s mother is dying with Huntington’s chorea. This dreadful genetic disease causes progressive neural and muscular deterioration; there is no treatment or cure.

Does Elli have this defective gene? Worried about his mother and unable to communicate with his emotionally distant dad, he decides to take a "gap year" and work before attending college.
Aware of some mysterious family connection with Dr. Wyatt at Wyatt Transgenics, he applies and is hired as a lab assistant there. Eli’s girlfriend, Viv, is his one lifeline during this time. Bits and pieces of the mystery unfold as Eli discovers he is in fact not carrying this gene because his mother has participated in genetic engineering experimentation. At what cost?

Lots of ethical questions here in a powerful suspense story.

Click on the title to go to the author's website for information on her other books.

Bone Detective: the Story of Forensic Anthropologist Diane France

CIS and Bones fans will enjoy this book by Lorraine Jean Hopping about a real-life forensic anthropologist.

Diane France, daughter of a small-town doctor in Colorado, became interested in physical anthropology during her second semester at Colorado State University. She decided to further specialize and become a forensic anthropologist (one who analyzes bones as evidence in an investigation). In exciting though at times grisly cases, she has helped determine cause of death and identify victims. Some of her most famous cases involved identification of various remains: bodies of the assassinated Romanovs of Russia; Jesse James; and victims of the 9-11 attack in New York. She has organized NecroSearch, a volunteer group trained to find missing victims often buried in secreted graves.

Other related books:

Jackson, Donna M. (1996) The bone detectives: how forensic anthropologists solve crimes and uncover mysteries of the dead. New York: Little Brown & Co.
Explores the world of forensic anthropology and its applications in solving crimes.

Maples, William R. (1994) Dead men do tell tales. New York: Doubleday.
The memoirs of a noted forensic scientist who has helped to unravel numerous investigative mysteries

Extreme Sports: In search of the Utimate Thrill

Extreme sports by Joe Tomlinson

With incredible color photographs on almost every page, this book provides visual images of every extreme sport possible. Extreme sports are not just surfing, skateboarding and motor-cross anymore. According to this book, team sports are dying out in favor of individual sports which test the individual to the absolute level.

Divided into three categories of air, land and water sports, each sport has a description and photograph of participants. Some of the featured sports are: bungee jumping, hang gliding; high-wire tightrope walking over the Great Wall of China; sky flying; the Ironman contests in Hawaii; mountain-boarding; free-diving; and also the more well-known extreme sports of scuba diving and surfing. Forty-one extreme sports are listed in the table of contents.

Great browsing book; terrific photographs.

Heroes don't run by Harry Mazer

The first two books in this trilogy are “A Boy at War” and “A Boy No More.”

Adam Pelko has waited eagerly for his seventeenth birthday so he can enlist in the Marines in 1944. When his mother refuses to sign the necessary paperwork, he visits his grandfather on the East Coast and convinces him that it is the family thing to do: the grandfather had served in World War I, Adam’s father served until his death at Pearl Harbor and now it is Adam’s turn. Adam develops deep friendships while going through boot camp. Following training, he is sent with his unit to fight in Okinawa where he experiences the reality of harsh conditions, fierce battles and the loss of close comrades. Wounded, he survives and returns home a hero.

Clear and convincing portrayals of close family relationships and the camaraderie developed in boot camp and on the battlefield make this an interesting and meaningful book about the last days of the War in the Pacific.

The Rise and Fall of a 10th Grade Social Climber. Lauren Mechling and Laura Moser

Like ChickLit?
When Mimi Schulman goes to live with her dad in New York after her parents divorce, she tries to adjust to big city life again while attending an exclusive prep school. Looks are deceiving as the really popular crowd dress eccentrically and behave erratically also. Sam, a childhood friend, makes a bet with Mimi about whether she will be accepted to the “in group”, the Coolies. Mimi agrees to keep a diary and faithful records all the intrigues and secrets of her new friends while also becoming close to them.

When the diary gets posted to the Internet, Mimi suffers the shame and humiliation of having written those things but also real remorse for her actions. The teen experience is all here in this book: parties, clothes, language, and music presented with wit and humor.

Sequel “All Q, No A” is due out in June. Website at:
http://www.socialclimberbooks.com/index.html

Acceleration by Graham McNamee

A hot summer in Canada finds seventeen-year-old Duncan working in a boring job in the Lost and Found Toronto Transit Authority, deep below a subway line. Time really drags for him until he starts flipping through one of the lost items -- a leather journal with scary, startling descriptions: first of animal torture and abuse; then, arson of buildings; and finally the detailed plans of a serial killer stalking his prey. When the police aren’t interested in following up on trying to locate the killer, Duncan enlists the help of his two friends, Vinnie and Wayne in the manhunt.
Interwoven throughout this novel is the pain and grief felt by Duncan in not being able to save a drowning girl at the lake the previous year. The title, “Acceleration” refers the to the suspense speeding along in this novel and time running out to catch a killer.

The Exchange Student by Kate Gilmore

Do you like science fiction? What if stories? This is about a future time on earth when people are working on saving endangered animals. (Hey, sounds like what's going on now, but there is a twist.)

In the 21st century, 16-year-old Daria has a special license to breed endangered animals. She is busy enough caring for her own menagerie without have to cope with "an exchange student" that her mother has arranged to host during a cultural exchange project. Fey isn't like a typical exchange student of today, instead he can color shift and is 7 ft. tall and is from another planet. Besides these differences, there is also something very weird about the way this alien looks at animals.

Fey's quirky behavior and earth's conservation efforts made for an entertaining read and there is more to this story.

The Year of the Hangman by Gary Blackwood

Here's another book by the author of the series : The Shakespeare Stealer (Spy, Scribe -- series) This series has been very popular in Middle School being passed around.

This particular book is an alternative history of the American Revolutionary Period. It's an interesting perspective as the colonial rebels have been subdued by the British Army and are in hiding in New Orleans, La. (a Spanish colony) George Washington is under arrest in British held territory and the rebels in New Orleans are plotting to free him.

The story begins with Creighton Brown, spoiled son of a British officer supposedly killed in the war, being involuntarily dispatched there in hopes that his ruthless uncle, Hugh Gower, colonel in charge of the Charles Town garrison, can shape him up. The colonel, a thoroughly unpleasant individual has no intention of dealing with Creighton.

Captured by pirates led by dashing hothead Benedict Arnold, Creighton meets Ben Franklin and other exiles living in Spanish-held New Orleans, and finds himself playing both sides, forced to spy for Gower while becoming embroiled in a rebel plan to find and free Washington. The action is constant and the dialogue is clever; all the while, Creighton is finding out the meaning of honor and the value of war.

Real Time : a novel by Pnina Moed Kaas

This is one book you will continue to think about-long after you've finished it! Set in contemporary Israel, this story is narrated by many voices. Sixteen-year-old Thomas from Germany has come to volunteer at a kibbutz outside of Jerusalem. He has also come seeking answers to the questions he has about his grandfather, a Nazi soldier during World War II. Coming to get him at the airport is Vera, a Russian girl now living and working at the kibbutz. Sameh Lahm, a Palestinian, illegally working at a diner near the airport tells his story of hardship during the occupation. We hear other voices: a Holocaust survivor also working at the kibbutz who comes to be Thomas' friend. Sameh's boss at the Diner. Omah who convinces Sameh to be a shaheed---a suicide bomber.

Hour by hour, person by person, this story tells their lives and the many others that intersect in one violent moment on a highway outside Jerusalem. I enjoyed reading the different voices and perspectives but it was a chilling story of how someone could come to the decision to do this.

Why do age-old hatreds and violence continue? Can peace ever come to the Middle East? How can people come to be able to peacefully live together?

The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian

Josh is a bright, articulate, idealistic teenager in love with Beth, the girl next door and his best friend since sixth grade. He is reluctant to tell her-especially since she is so attracted to a socially connected but intellectually suspect football player. So he concentrates his energy into a Web site, through which his alter ego, Larry, advocates a more simplified life—anti-materialism, toleration and introspection. Beth and practically the whole world loves Larry. In this clever and humorous book, the writer explores the question of the ages:
"How much stuff does a person really need? How many things does a person have to possess before the things possess the person? Materialism and consumerism don’t make anyone happier or more content with life. And the costs of making all this stuff – what do the workers actually earn for making all this stuff?

All of Larry/Josh’s best intentions come to a rocky place as more and more people try to expose him and capitalize on his fame. Not the point in being anti-materialist.

I just finished reading the sequel: Vote for Larry
The story continues with Larry running for President! An impossibility until teenagers take interest in the political process & register to VOTE! They lobby their Congressmen & women to change the law about age eligibility. Find out the ins/outs of a grassroots political campaign run by teenagers. The younger generation -- full of energy and wanting to make a difference is a powerful force. Makes an interesting read with lots to think about. Particularly how different the government could be if run by idealitist young people wanting to make the world a better place.

More, More Good Books !

Armageddon summer by Jane Yolen Realistic fiction

Reverend Beelson has called exactly 144 True Believers to gather on Mount Weeupcut in western Massachusetts to await the End of the World. Marina, her brothers and mother, and Jed and his father arrive on the mountain to be ready for Armageddon, which the Reverend says will occur in exactly three weeks on July 27, 2000. Told in alternating voices, this gripping tale gives a close look at people caught up in events over which they have little control. I could hardly put this one down—I wanted to know what was going to happen NEXT! I liked the characters of Jed and Marina—they seemed real and believable.

Good Reads!

Cut by Patrica McCormick Realistic Fiction
This compelling novel by Patricia McCormick is told in first-person account by Callie, who is confined to a mental health facility. Sea Pine (Sick Minds) is home to teenage "guests" with a variety of problems: substance abuse, anorexia, and behavior issues. Fifteen-year-old Callie cuts herself. While this account describes group therapy and Callie's fears, she sits silently during group and individual therapy sessions. The turning point occurs when she is gradually drawn into the lives of the other teen residents.
Talk about a gripping story, this is it. After a few pages, I cared about Callie and wanted to know more about what was happening to her and how to make her better.

Forbidden City by William Bell Historical fiction (recent history)
Seventeen-year-old Alex Jackson comes home from school to find that his father, a CBC news cameraman, wants to take him to China's capital, Beijing. Once there, Alex finds himself on his own in Tiananmen Square as desperate students fight the Chinese army for their freedom. Separated from his father and carrying illegal videotapes, Alex must trust the students to help him escape.
Closely based on eyewitness accounts of the massacre in Beijing, Forbidden City is a powerful and frightening story.
I felt like I was really there when the tanks came to drive the students out of Tiannmen Square in 1989. I gave this one ****

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card Science fiction
Aliens have attacked earth twice and almost destroyed the human species. To make sure humans win the next encounter, the world government has taken to breeding military geniuses -- and then training them to the arts of war ... The early training, not surprisingly, takes the form of "games" ... Ender Wiggin is a genius among geniuses; he wins all the games ... He is smart enough to know that time is running out. But is he smart enough to save the planet? Both my husband and my son recommended this book to me as "a great book!" So of course I had to read it and I agreed it really was a good book.

The Girls by Amy Goldman Koss Realistic fiction
When the other members of Maya's clique decide to ostracize her, the girl is shocked and devastated. She has no clue what she could have done wrong, and neither do Brianna, Rene, or Darcy. However, Candace is their leader, the self-assured one, the one who decides who's in and who's not, and, suddenly, Maya's not. Each girl speaks in her own voice.
Fast-paced and a topic familiar to middle school girls. A book to think about. What is friendship really about?

The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud

Just finished this one! The story begun in The Amulet of Samarkand continues with Nicholas, the young magician working in the government run by magicians in London. The government is plagued by a mysterious group of commoners known as The Resistance. One of the key members is Kitty who has some immunity to magical powers. Nicholas and his djinni, Bartimaeus, are involved in fights and chases all the while trying to determine what or who is destroying property at random throughout London. Does The Resistance have some new ally in the fight against the magicians? Bartimaeus continues to bring a dry humor and wit along with his servitude to Nicholas. I can't wait to read the third in this trilogy: Ptolemy's Gate. As a side note here, I read in an article that while working on another book, the author thought of this story line. Went home and penned the first four chapters franatically. Does true inspiration work that way? Here's a link to more about the books:
http://www.bartimaeustrilogy.com/about.html SPOILER WARNING: if you don't want the suspense spoiled don't go to this site.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libby Bray

After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, sixteen-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world. A Great and Terrible Beauty is a story about uneasy but necessary friendships and survival, aspiration versus duty, breaking away and falling apart, coming to terms with oneself and the past. It delves into morality where actions have consequences and power brings responsibility. The book also looks at dysfunctional families and the damage life inflicts, the terrible burden of carrying secrets, and how hope can live inside everyone.

-Amanda Rogde SFS grad '99 -
Guest Reviewer

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***F KOR Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
What a nightmare life for teenage Vince Luca! His family connections (think the Sopranos) & the mob, make his dating experiences difficult. Taking a girl out leads to all sorts of complications especially those "things" left in his car by mistake.

When Vince finally finds a girl worth pursuing, her father turns out to be the FBI agent whose life's goal is to take out Vince's dad.

I'm looking forward to reading the sequel: Son of the Mob: Hollywood hustle.