Kazumi Reads

 

Plot Summary:
Min has decided to return all of the mementos and memories to her ex-boyfriend Ed. Along with these items, she has written a letter, telling Ed, exactly why they are breaking up. Although her best friend Ed and Lauren, don't understand why she has to put the time, or effort, into returning everything to Ed, they support and comfort her through the process. In her letter, Min explains why she has to return everything from the bottle caps, movie tickets, a cookbook, and a poster to show him that he never, ever considered her feelings and interests. Throughout this story, Min does not pull out the stops in this letter and tells him exactly why they broke up and how she made the mistake of not doing it sooner.

Critical Evaluation:
In this tale of heartache, a girl not only explains the faults in her relationship, but offers a real portrait of herself. Although this story was written by a man, Daniel Handler provides readers with an honest representation of a person falling in love and having their heart broken. Since Min is not the average teenage girl, her obsession with old time films and lack of filter, pose a challenge for the stereotypical teenage boy that is Ed. Clearly, when readers learn how different these two characters are, it's predictable that this relationship won't work. However, both Ed and Min provide readers with a type of hope that "opposites attract" when they allow each other to become vulnerable with one another. In fact, when they admit that they love each other, readers have the right to hope that it will work between them. However, when reality sets in, and Min learns about Annette, her world comes tumbling down and the pain of betrayal strikes every part of her being, which resonates with every reader. When we found the real reason as to why they broke up, readers will be crushed, but, like Min, we will get over it and move on with out lives. The point of this story is that we will all love and lose, but we always have the future and hope that we will find the other half of soul.


Information about the Author:
According to Barclay Agency, Daniel Handler was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. After graduating from Wesleyan University, he founded the magazine, American Chickens, with his future wife, Lisa Brown. After moving to New York City, he wrote, and sold his first novel, and worked as a film and book critic. Again, he returned, with his wife, to San Francisco where he now currently lives. Handler has worked in film and music, an accomplished accordian player, and well known Children's, Young Adult, and Adult novelist.  Why We Broke has earned him the 2012 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in Young Adult Literature.

Genre:
Teen Contemporary Fiction, Teen Romance

Reading Level/Interest:
Grades 9 & up

Books Similar to Why We Broke Up:

•  The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
•  Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Awards & Recognition:

•  2012 Michael L. Printz Honor Winner
• Booklist Starred Review (11/1/11)
• School Library Journal Starred Review (11/1/11)
• Kirkus Starred Review (11/15/11)
• Bulletin for the Center of  Children's Books (11/15/11)
• Horn Book Magazine Starred Review (1/1/12)

Plot Summary:
Miles Halter starts his first year at Culver Creek, Alabama, an elite boarding school, to pursue the "Great Perhaps" that he has been longing to fulfill. After meeting his roommate, Chip (aka. The Colonel), he meets a girl names Alaska Young. Although she is gorgeous, smart, and sassy, she bares a cross that can only be seen by those who are close to her. Along with Alaska, Miles (aka. Pudge) meets Takumi, the only Japanese person he has ever seen in Birmingham, Alabama. Since Miles is awkward, "gawky," and not use to having friends, this group of misfits creates a bond that no one could ever break. While trying to excel in his studies, his new friends are about to turn his boring and safe life completely upside down. The Colonel and Alaska are masters of pranks so when they are not reading classical literature, they are planning their revenge against the "Weekday Warriors" (the ultra rich students who can go home on the weekends). Unfortunately, Miles is initiated into Culver Creek by being abducted, duck taped, and thrown into the river. Despite his "brush with death," Pudge learns about an incident that fueled the fire between the misfits and the preps. Although Colonel and Alaska are brilliant, they tend to defy the system, which could lead them to disaster where Pudge slowly starts to realize that these amazing people are not who they seem. Unfortunately, a tragic accident shakes their worlds and kick starts a search for the "Great Perhaps" that Pudge has been looking for.

Critical Evaluation:
Honestly, I forgot how incredibly awesome this book is until I re-read it. Not only are these characters complex, their very talents and failures are what create this memorable tale of adolescence. First of all, it has, and never will be, easy to be a teenager. For Alaska, her life has been based upon an accident that has sent her fearing failure. Moreover, the pain she clings to not only cripples her, but it also provides her with a daring and infallible attitude. For Colonel, not having a father, and being poor, has pushed hiumself to not only excel in school, but forces him to do what is necessary to preserve his true identity by overcoming his poverty by keeping the rich in check. As for Takumi, of all characters, he is the antithesis of what others see; he is a sarcastic, rule-breaking, and a rapper who does what he wants and when he wants. As for the main character, Miles, he is the one character who changes the most. Known for building walls, he allows himself to take everything around him and let loose for once. As an adult, reading this, I sometimes lost sight of the fact that these teenagers are teenagers; based on their behaviors, and experiences, it seems like these teens seem older than they are. For example, there is no constant authority figure (other than "The Eagle"), they smoke, have sex, they cuss, have intense, often inappropriate, conversations, break the rules knowing they could get expelled, involved in compromising situations, and determined to succeed like any person my own age. However, the more that I read, the more I realized that despite their brains,whit, and experiences, they are still children who seek love, the need to fit in, and, ultimately, forgiveness. The ending of this story was hysterical, but, at the same time, redeeming and quite satisfying.

Information about the Author:
Again, check out his website, and become a Nerdfighter today!
http://johngreenbooks.com/bio-contact/

Genre:
Teen Contemporary Fiction, Teen Lit for Guys

Reading Level/Interest:
Grades 10 & up

Books Similar to Looking For Alaska:

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky
• Realm of the Possibility by David Leviathan
  

Awards & Recognition:

• Michael L. Printz Winner (2006)
• LA Times Book Prize Finalist (2005)
• ALA Best Book for Young Adults (2005)
• School Library Journal Best Book of The Year (2005)
• BookList Book Editor's Choice (2005)

Plot Summary:
Lily Arkansas is a small town where everyone aspires to leave the moment they turn eighteen years old. However, somehow, someway, those who swore they would never return always find their way back. For Cullen Witter, Lily has very little to offer him other than adding to his cynical point of view about life and people. Luckily, Cullen has a younger brother, Gabriel, not only keeps his cynicism in check, but provides him comfort and happiness even if he doesn't want to to be feel happy. However, Cullen's life has taken a tragic turn when their cousin, Oslo, dies of an overdose and Gabriel goes missing. What was supposed to be another year, turns into ten years where Cullen must press on despite the loss of his brother. With the help of his best friend, Lucas, and the town of Lily, they set out on a search, which is later bypassed when the sudden reappearance the once extinct Lazarus Woodpecker. Told in various point of views, this story intertwines the lives of four young men who are not only trying to meet the expectations of their families and peers, but find out, exactly, what their purpose on this earth is.

Critical Evaluation:
In this riveting and complex story, Whaley takes readers on an unexpected adventure where a variety of deep topics are discussed and dissected. One topic, which was totally out of left field, is the Book of Enoch. For those who are not familiar with Apocrypha, or apocryphal texts, will read about the Book of Enoch, which can only be found in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible. With the story of Benton, which ends up relating to Cullen and Gabriel, is his quest to determine if God loves unconditionally or he fears us ( i.e., The Left Hand of Gabriel, the Nephilim, and the Flood). Although readers won't quite see the similarities between Cullen and Benton, off the bat, they will eventually learn that their connection to Gabriel (the Archangel and Cullen's brother) who will determine their fates. Along with this component, Whaley integrates the usual teenager issues such as love, sex, anger, inadequacy, and angst, but does it in a way that makes all of us realize that we, as humans, have a reason to feel the way we do. For Cullen, being unable to cry over the death of his cousin, and dealing with the disappearance of his brother, convey how utterly confused and lost he is. For Benton and Cabot, the shared obsession with the "What If" will drive them to do things they never thought they would ever do. Although the ending will shock the heck out of readers, this is a gripping novel that both teens and adults will want to talk about.


Information about the Author:
According to his website, he grew up in a small town in Louisiana. He received a B.A. from Louisiana Tech University and an M.A. in Secondary Education. As a child, Whaley wrote stories about aliens and underwater civilizations, which later evolved to realistic fictions that might have a zombie character or two. He is a teacher and full-time writer who enjoys traveling, music, and movies. When asked about his first novel, Where Things Come Back, Whaley says:

What the novel is really about is a teenage boy who just so happens to have been raised in a place he absolutely hates with a town full of people he’d rather not know . [...] When the town he despises is flooded with strangers who are desperately searching for a lost species of woodpecker, Cullen’s world, which he barely understands in the first place, reaches its pinnacle of madness.  And Cullen is supposed to decide what to do with the rest of his life under these ridiculous circumstances? Now throw in a recently deceased cousin and a close younger brother whose sudden disappearance submerges Cullen and his family’s life into utter chaos.  With this novel, I set out to not only write a story about the possibility of second chances, but also about the people who crave them the most.

 Genre:
Teen Contemporary Fiction

Reading Level/Interest:
Grades 10 & up

Books Similar to Where Things Come Back:

•  Lucas by Kevin Brooks
• Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates

Awards & Recognition:

• 2012 Michael L. Printz Award Winner
• 2012 William C. Morris Debut Award
  

Plot Summary:
For Jack Holloway, Zara XXIII, or Zarathustra, is home sweet home. As an independent surveyor for the ZaraCorps, he spends his time mining, and exploiting, planets for precious minerals and materials. The thing about Jack is that he is a very selfish and self-serving man who sold out his ex-girlfriend to protect his reputation. Despite these unflattering characteristics, Jack stick to himself and does his job well with the help of his canine buddy, Carl, who knows how to detonate explosives. One day, while excavating, Jack and Carl end up blowing up part of a mountain to discover that this planet is rich in Sunstone, which means that Jack is now a millionaire. However, all of this changes when a cat-like creature breaks into his home. Known as the "Fuzzies," Papa, Mama, Grandpa, Pinto, and Baby not only take over his home, but they steal his heart. Although Jack sees these creatures as intelligent animals, they more he gets to know them, the more he realizes that his early retirement is in trouble--if these creatures are not intelligent animals, they are evidence of a species of sentient beings, which are protected by the Colonial Authority, which can shut down ZaraCorps plans to mine the planet. With the help of his Isabel, his former flame, he slowly starts to learn that these creatures can do bring down ZaraCorps, which results in a series of events, and trouble, that even Jack Holloway can escape.

Critical Evaluation:
Based on H. Beam Piper's "Little Fuzzy," Scalzi revitalizes the story for the reader's of today. Since I am new to Science Fiction, I did have a hard time digesting all of the Sci-Fi aspects where a lot of dialogue is dedicated to explaining the gadgets, history, and culture of this generation. However, in any story where the future is unknown, these elements are necessary in order for the reader to envision what this world is like and what the characters are facing. Once I realized that this is pretty much the foundation of the genre, I continued reading this story and fell head over heels in love with the "Fuzzy Family." Although Jack Holloway is the typical "bad boy" who only looks out for himself, the Fuzzy Family has an unlikely impact on him, which actually forces him to re-evaluate his entire character. However, the real stars of this novel are the Fuzzies because it is through their presence that molds and shapes the story. Along with the Fuzzies, the dialogue is hysterical; in fact, since Jack is supposed to be a middle-aged grump, Scalzi has re-vamped the character to sound more like a cynical young person who needs a real kick in the pants. Scalzi's rendition focuses on serious issues such as ethics and what it really means to be "human" that actually pose lots of questions for readers to grapple with, which, along with the humor, is what makes this story an excellent read.

Information about the Author:
According to his blog, John Scalzi was born on May 10, 1969 in Fairfield, California. Growing up he lived in the San Gabriel Valley in a town called Claremont. He attended school in Claremont and attended University of Chicago. After graduating college, he came back to California and worked at the Fresno Bee as a movie critic where he met his wife, Kristine. In 1996, he left Fresno to work for America Online and eventually went on to become a freelance writer. After the birth of his daughter, in 1998, he started writing nonfiction and his first title was published in 2000. He now currently lives in Ohio where he published his first novel, Old Man's War, which earned him the Hugo Award.

Genre:
Science Fiction



Reading Level/Interest:
Grades 11 & up

Books Similar to Fuzzy Nation:

• Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper
• I am Number 4 by Pittiacus Lore

Awards & Recognition:

• Publisher's Weekly Starred Review (3/21/2011)
• Kirkus Starred Review (5/1/2011)
  

Plot Summary:
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the President of the United States issued Executive Order 9066 stating that all person of Japanese Ancestry were to relocate to interment camps. In other words, Japanese Americans, along with their families, had less than three days to gather their belongings and take of their affairs before the government shipped them off to the unknown. For seven-year-old Jeanne Wakatsuki, she and her family were uprooted from the home in Long Beach and sent to live in ghettos and barracks for being Japanese. In this tale, Wakatsuki tells us about her experience in Manzanar, an internment camp, where she and her family had to start all over again in the barren desert, knowing that they have done nothing wrong. More importantly, Wakatsuki enlightens readers with accounts of daily life in the camp, the conditions they had to endure, the shame and anger that hung in the air, family dynamics, violence within the camp, and the sheer injustice of having their civil rights stripped.
 

Critical Evaluation:
In this riveting biography, readers will experience life during on the darkest times in American History. Not only were American citizens unlawfully imprisoned, this story shows the power of the human spirit during war time. Unfortunately, the Japanese Internment has yet to be fully covered in every curriculum across the country, this book is extremely important. As a young person, Jeanne Wakatsuki uncovers very heavy issues that most tween and teens will not experience, but provide readers with legitimate answers to difficult questions such as: "What does it mean to be an American" and "How could something like this happen?" Young people, today, are fortunate enough to live in an age where prejudice and fear, although they still does exist, cannot, whatsoever, strip them of their constitutional rights as American citizens. Although this happened almost 70 years ago, it still is an issue that activists and lawmakers will never, ever forget. As the granddaughter of an internee, I cannot express how angry this made me. When my grandmother would tell me her story, I was taken aback about the lack of anger that was in her tone. Ultimately, like Jeanne Wakatsuki, she and my family had no choice but to endure because it is not in our nature to just give up. The Japanese Americans are an extraordinarily group of people who don't roll over and die; they resumed their daily lives behind the barbed wire, which will impress readers and convey that even in the worst of times, there is always hope. This is a touching story and one that we should never, ever forget.   

Information about the Author:
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston was born on September 26, 1964 in Ingelwood California. She was the youngest of nine children. She and her family were evacuated from their Long Beach home in 1942 and were interned at the Manzanar Relocation Camp. According to a Wikipedia article:

Several years after leaving the camp in 1945, Jeanne went to San Jose St. College where she studied sociology and journalism. She met her husband James, there and they married in 1957. Jeanne later decided to tell her story about the time she spent in Manzanar in Farewell to Manzanar, co-authored with her husband, James D. Houston in 1972. Ten years later, in 1967, Jeanne gave birth to twins, Joshua and Gabriel. A third child was born years later. In an effort to educate Californians about the experiences of Japanese Americans who were imprisoned during World War II, the book and the movie were distributed in 2002 as a part of kit to approximately 8,500 public elementary and secondary schools and 1,500 public libraries in California.

Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston continues to write and speak about the Japanese American experience at Manzanar and Asian American issues.

Genre:
American History

Reading Level/Interest:
Grades 7 & up

Books Similar to Farewell to Manzanar:

• Dear Miss Breed:true stories of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II and a librarian who made a difference by Joann Oppenheim
• Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata
  

Awards & Recognition:
 "A poignant memoir from a Japanese American. . . . Told without bitterness, her story reflects the triumph of the human spirit during an extraordinary episode in American history." ~ Library Journal

"[Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston] describes vividly the life in the camp and the humiliations suffered by the detainees... A sober and moving personal account." ~Publishers Weekly