Prom & Prejudice

Eulberg, Elizabeth. Prom& Prejudice.

New York, NY: Scholastic, 2011. Print.

Annotation: For Lizzie Bennett, a music scholarship student at Connecticut's exclusive, girls-only Longbourn Academy, the commotion over prom is senseless, but even more puzzling is her attraction to the pompous Will Darcy, best friend of her roommate's boyfriend.

Booktalk: This is a classic Jane Austen tale written for our modern day but with some new twists. It is a clever, modern romance. Watch the video for the inside scoop with the author Elizabeth Eulberg.

 

Honors & Awards

Not yet but favorably reviews

image credit: bookblather.net

Princess in the Spotlight

Cabot, Meg. The Princess Diaries, Vol. II, Princess In the Spotlight.

New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2000. Print.

Annotation: Mia, the fourteen-year-old New York City-raised heir to the throne of the tiny European country of Genovia, manages to alienate her best friend, her family, and her soon-to-be-subjects in the space of one national primetime interview.

Booktalk: So I just couldn’t stop reading after starting the first Princess Diary book, seeing poor Mia suffering all the “princess lessons”. Not my idea of dreaming of being a princess for sure. Let’s look at what happens on

Monday October 20^th

As if I don’t have enough problems. As if my life isn’t over already. I just don’t see how much more I can be expected to take. I mean apparently, it is not enough that

1. I am the tallest girl in the freshman class.

2. I am also the least endowed in the chest area.

3. Last month, I found out my mother has been dating my Algebra teacher.

4. Also last month, I found out that I am the sole heir to the throne of a small European country.

5. I have to take princess lessons from my paternal grandmother. Every day.

6. In December, I am suppose to be introduced to my new countrymen and women on national television (in Genovia, population 50,000, but still).

7. I don’t have a boyfriend.

Do any of Mia problems sound like the ones you are having this week? Get comfy and read on to find how Mia prepares for her upcoming interview in Princess in the Spotlight.

Awards & Honors

· New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age

· ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

www.harperteen.com

image credit: openlibrary.org

All American Girl

Cabot, Meg. All American Girl.

New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2002. Print.

Annotation: Sophomore Samantha Madison unexpectedly stops a presidential assassination attempt while skipping art class. She becomes a national hero and is appointed teen ambassador to the United Nations. The best perk of being the hero is catching the eye of the very cute First Son.

Booktalk: Sam has been living in the shadow of the most popular girl in school, her sister Lucy. To make matters more complicated Sam is in love with Lucy’s boyfriend Jack. Wait, it does get worse when she is punished by her parents for selling celebrity portraits at school and now must attend art classes. Listen to this podcast to find out why Sam can’t believe that she could ever be and All American Girl.

Honors & Awards:

• A #1 New York Times Best Seller on its Children's Chapter Book List
• A Publishers Weekly Best Seller
• A Publishers Weekly and a BookSense Best Seller (paperback)
• Selected for the Texas Lone Star Reading List for the 2003-2004
• New York Public Library as a 2003 "Book for the Teen Age"
• ALA 2006 Popular Paperback for Young Adults: Books That Don't Make You Blush: No Dirty Laundry Here
• Won Washington State's 2005 Evergreen Young Adult Book Award
• Nominated for the 2007 Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award
• Nominated for the 2007 Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award

http://www.megcabot.com/allamericangirl/aag_allamericangirl.php

image credit: megcabot.com

YA voices: Casey, age 16

I like Chick Lit because I feel, as a teenage girl, that I relate and understand them on a level better than most other readers. Plus, most of the Chick Lit books include humor and jokes that I fine especially funny. Although the thing I love most about Chick Lit is how similar their conflicts are to the ones that my friends or I may face, such as relationship problems, friend problems, school problems, peer pressure.

My Boyfriends’ Dogs

Mackall, Dandi. My Boyfriends’ Dogs.

New York, NY: Dutton Children’s Books, 2010. Print.

Annotation: Bailey Daley is soaking wet and wearing a prom dress when she walks into an after-hours diner in St. Louis with three dogs in tow--Adam, Eve, and Shirley--and recounts how each of the dogs is the fruit of a failed relationship.

Booktalk: What if when you get a broken heart from a relationship isn’t really the only thing you end up with? Would you agree with Bailey the love stricken girl of this book - if only boys were more like dogs? Would you agree that she wants what every girl wants from her boyfriend: enthusiasm, loyalty, and unconditional love? From the boys, not just the dogs!

Honors & Awards

No awards but this is an award winning author of over 400 books for children of all ages, with sales of 4 million copies in 22 countries.

Amazon.com

image credit: onceuponaromance.com

Bras & Broomsticks

Mlynowski, Sarah. Bras & Broomsticks.

New York, NY: Delacorte Press, 2005. Print.

Annotation: Living in New York City with her mother and her younger sister, Miri, fourteen-year-old Rachel tries to persuade Miri, who has recently become a witch, to help her become popular at school and to try to stop their divorced father's wedding.

Booktalk: Rachel thinks that magic can be the answer to all her problems. Although she thinks that it is completely unfair that her young sister Miri got the powers she will just have to convince her to work on spells that will solve her problems like:

1. Making her popular and on the A-list crowd

2. Getting on the dance team for the most important event at her school.

3. Having a perfect complexion.

4. Getting a boyfriend and taking her to Spring Fling.

5. Canceling her father’s wedding

Yes, Rachel thinks this is going to be her year to shine. But what if magic doesn’t really fix problems just makes bigger messes?

Honors & Awards

· Summer Children’s Book Sense Picks

· Kentucky Bluegrass Master List

Randomhouse.com

image credit: fictiondb.com

YA voice: Pearl, age 12

I read "Chick Lit" because I find it entertaining occasionally, though it can get repetitive.
I like to read it because when you read a book for the first time you practically feel an adrenaline rush as the story unfolds and when you read the book the second or third time it feels like an old friend is welcoming you to read their story.

Angus, thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging

Rennison, Louise. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson.

New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2002. Print.

Annotation: The humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl, Georgia, who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighbor’s poodle, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.

Booktalk: Let’s see if American teens are anything like their counterparts in England. With the help from Georgia and her glossary we can compare:

Angus: Georgia’s mixed-breed cat, half domestic tabby, half Scottish wildcat. The size of a small Labrador, only mad. Likes to stalk Mr. & Mrs. Next Door’s poodle. I used to drag him around on a lead, but, as I explained to Mrs. Next Door, he ate it.

Thongs: Stupid underwear worn by old Swotty Knicker, Lindsay. What’s the point of them anyway? They just go up your bum, as far as I can tell.

Full-Frontal Snogging: Kissing with all the trimmings, lip-to-lip, open mouth, tongues… everything (apart from dribble, which is never acceptable).

Georgia through her daily, sometimes hourly accounts in her diary will take you on the ups and downs of being a teenager. Some of the words may be different but being a teenager can be a universal event.

Honors & Awards

• Not Just for Children Anymore! (Children's Book Council)
• Michael L. Printz Honor Book
• Book Sense 76 Pick
• IRA/CBC Young Adults’ Choice
• New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age
• ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults

Harpercollins.ca

image credit: ioffer.com

YA voices: Hannah, age 14

I do read chick lit books because I can relate to most of the things that happen in the books and some tell a good teenage girl story.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Brashares, Ann. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
New York : Delacorte, 2001. Print.

Annotation: Carmen, Tibby, Bridget, and Lena are the Septembers, a group of friends whose friendships started before they were born. Now fifteen-years-old they are spending their first summer apart from one another. They form the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a club of sorts where each girl wears the "magical" jeans for a period of time, and then sends the pants on to the next girl as the jeans collect the intimate story of each girl's individual summer.

Booktalk: Four teen girls shopping for clothes sounds pretty normal, don’t you think? But what if these four friends, who have been friends since before they were born, discover a pair of pants at a thrift that look great on each one of them, even though the girls are not alike in size, body type, style, or personality? These amazing pants make each girl feel confident, beautiful, and sexy! This discovery couldn’t have come at a better time. This will be the summer that their friendship will be tested as the four girls go different ways. Carmen is going away to South Carolina to be with her dad, Tibby is stuck at home working at Wallman’s drug store, Lena’s heading out to a tiny Greek Island with her sister, and Bridget’s attending an elite soccer camp in Baja California. On the eve of their departure, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is formed and the jeans will travel between the girls during the summer and carry their stories to each other. As each one of them heads their separate ways, will they be able to triumph a summer of their own obstacles and still stay together as a whole?

Honors & Awards:

• ALA Best Books for Young Adults
  
• Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award
  
• Book Sense Book of the Year
  
• Rhode Island Children's Book Award
  
• Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award
• Texas TAYSHAS High School Reading List
  
• Indiana Young Hoosier Award
  
• Iowa Teen Book Award
  
• New Jersey Garden State Teen Book Award
  
• Washington Evergreen Young Adult Book Award
  
• Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Award
  
• Missouri Gateway Readers Award

http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Sisterhood_Of_The_Traveling_Pants_Ann_Brashares/SisterhoodOfTheTravelingPants04.html

image credit: www.bookwormburrow.wordpress.com