Beauty Queens

Title: Beauty Queens
Author: Libba Bray
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Copyright: 2011
ISBN: 9780439895989

Reading Level: Grades 9-12

Genre: Black comedy

Reader’s Annotation: Teen beauty queens crash-land on an island; they practice pageant routines and survival skills; chaos and occasional hilarity ensue.

Review
My enduring impression of Beauty Queens is one of frustration. The setup (teen beauty pageant contestants stranded on a desert island) is ripe for comedy, and as a sendup of Lord of the Flies the book is sometimes very clever. There are some nice girl-power moments. But the book is very sloppily written (lines attributed to characters who are not supposed to have arrived on the scene yet, inconsistencies in characters' backstories) and the author is more interested in hammering home messages than developing characters. The plot is pure silliness--dreamy boys playing at pirates for a reality show arrive on the scene; the drawn-out, frenetic ending, in which the girls rescue themselves from the clutches of an evil corporation, is almost impossible to follow.

More gripes: out of the ten or so beauty queens who are major characters, only one is in pageants because she actually likes them. All the others have ulterior motives, manipulative parents, and/or something to prove. Though a mix of motivations among contestants is realistic, this ratio seems ridiculous. And to elaborate on the character vs. message problem: each girl represents an issue. There's the transgender contestant, the lesbian, the handicapped (deaf) girl, the hyper-religious/emotionally abused/sexually repressed one, etc, etc. Way too many issues, no subtlety. And I found the author's treatment of teen sex frankly stupid. One character gets badly burned when she has sex with a guy she barely knows, but she doesn't take this as any kind of indication that in future it might be better to be more cautious. The hyper-religious/emotionally abused/sexually repressed character (why must YA authors insist on treating religiosity as an affliction? There's so little thoughtfulness around religion in the genre, as a rule) finally realizes the folly of her mother's teachings. When she has sex with a man she's just met, the encounter turns into an epic love story that lasts a lifetime. GIVE ME A BREAK.

I see that I've complained a lot. It may look like I hated the book. I did not hate it. What makes the book so frustrating is that it has a lot of potential. Bray is a talented, imaginative, funny writer. With more vigorous editing this book could have been great, but instead it was mostly irritating.    

Challenge Issues: Language, teen sex (not very graphic), death of teenage beauty queens treated flippantly, all adults portrayed as clueless, incompetent, and/or evil

The Wee Free Men

Title: The Wee Free Men
Author: Terry Pratchett
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 2003
ISBN: 9780060012380

Reading Level: Age 10 and up

Genre: Fantasy--Magic and Wizards

Reader’s Annotation: Tiffany sets off to rescue her little brother from the Queen of Fairyland with nothing but a frying pan and a clan of ugly little fairies.

Review
I got this book (and the second in the series, A Hatful of Sky) from my sister Julia for Christmas. Julia is 14 and the Wee Free Men series is one of her favorites. The Wee Free Men of the title, also called Nac Mac Feegle, are fairies--ugly, rude fairies. They're little men with blue skin, red hair, and broken noses. This last feature is due to one of their favorite pastimes: fighting. Their other favorites are drinking and stealing.

Our heroine, Tiffany Aching, encounters the Feegle when her world bumps up against the world of Fairyland. They warn her that the Queen of Fairyland, a very dangerous person, is heading toward the Chalk--Tiffany's home turf, where most people are shepherds and Tiffany's deceased granny is regarded nearly as a goddess. Tiffany already knows that she wants to be a witch when she grows up, though she's had no training as yet. But when the Queen makes off with Tiffany's obnoxious little brother, there's no one else to go after him. So Tiffany enlists the help of the Nac Mac Feegle, who know the Queen and how Fairyland works. (They used to live there, but were thrown out because of their favorite activities. They call themselves the Wee Free Men because they no longer allow anyone to rule over them. In fact, their favorite chant is "Nae King! Nae Quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna be fooled again!" As you can tell, the Feegle speak in an entertaining Scottish-like dialect. Other common exclamations include "Crivens!" and "Oh, waily, waily!")

Tiffany has a good voice. She's practical and stubborn, good-hearted but unsentimental. The magic is also well done. Fairyland is a place of dreams--they're how the Queen ensnares and controls people. (The way the dreams work is reminiscent of the movie Inception.) And witchcraft in Tiffany's world is mostly about taking practical, necessary action when action is required. There's a little magic, too, but it's limited and used sparingly. Pratchett can't resist slathering his message on a bit thick--subtlety is not his strong suit--and the escape from the Queen is a little too drawn-out. Overall, though, this is an entertaining read with great characters and an interesting world.

Challenge Issues: Frying-pan violence and drunken fairies

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Title: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Publisher: Nintendo
Copyright: 2006
ASIN: B00204AA0O

Description
In Twilight Princess, as in the many other Zelda games, it is up to Link to save the world from the powers of evil. This time the villain, Zant, is trying to transform the kingdom into a twilight world, stuck between night and day, where his power will reign supreme. As Link, the player must find the Master Sword and the lost pieces of both the Fused Shadow and the Mirror of Twilight. To do this, Link has to complete several major and side quests that take him to various settings: a forest dungeon, an underwater temple, a city in the sky, etc. In these different settings he needs different powers, tools, and skills, such as breathing under water and swinging through the air with grappling hooks. He is aided in his quests by Midna, a mysterious fairy-like creature. Throughout most of the game Link also has the power to transform into a wolf, and can only perform some of his tasks while in wolf form.

Critical Evaluation
Twilight Princess is too advanced a game for my meager video game skills, but I still found it exciting and fun. (It’s even fun to watch.) Playing it is a creative process—you can essentially go where you want and take on tasks in the order you choose (with some restrictions). (This is termed non-linear gameplay.) There are lots of puzzles to solve, and you often have to think fast. The fantasy world has many interesting places and creatures that are fun to discover. The eerie mood and the possibility of being attacked at almost any time contribute a sense of urgency.

The graphics are good, but not groundbreaking. The music has a nostalgic quality that goes well with the fantastic character of the world of the game. Play is controlled with a joystick and remote, which are pretty easy to use. The Wii platform allows you to select things on the screen simply by pointing and to engage in sword fights with just a flick of the wrist.

Why is this title included?
I included this title at least in part because my husband has been addicted to the Zelda games since he was a teenager. Twilight Princess is too advanced for kids, but still accessible to people who aren't necessarily hardcore gamers. The fantasy setting makes it particularly appealing to teens.

Life of Pi

Title: Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
Publisher: Mariner Books
Copyright: 2001
ISBN: 9780156027328

Reading Level: Adult
Interest Age: Grade 9 and up

Genre: Adventure/Thrillers--Survival Stories

Reader’s Annotation: Pi Patel survives 227 days at sea with a tiger in his lifeboat.

Plot Summary
Pi Patel had a happy childhood except for the small matter of his name. He grew up in Pondicherry, India, helping his parents and brother run the family zoo. He began life a devout Hindu and later became a devout Muslim and Christian, too. But his full name, Piscine Molitor Patel (after a swimming pool in Paris) earned him the nickname “Pissing Patel,” making his school life difficult.

At 16 Pi and his family set out for Canada, taking a few of their animals on the boat with them. A storm comes up only a few days out and the boats sinks, drowning everyone but Pi, an orangutan, a zebra, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. They all share the lifeboat for a few tense days. First the hyena eats the zebra (bit by bit) and the orangutan, then Richard Parker eats the hyena. Once the boy and the tiger are alone in the lifeboat, Pi decides that he would rather have Richard Parker than no company at all. So instead of trying to kill him, Pi trains the tiger to believe that he, Pi, is the alpha animal. When the lifeboat’s supplies run out, Pi uses the water desalination kits and learns to fish with the limited equipment he has. He and Richard Parker survive for months amid sharks, rain, and blistering sun, ever hoping for a sight of land.

Critical Evaluation
Pi’s voice has a distinctive blend of melodrama, pedantry, and humor. His first words to the reader are, “My suffering left me sad and gloomy.” Describing his academic career in Canada, he says, “I got every possible student award from the Department of Zoology. If I got none from the Department of Religious Studies, it is simply because there are no student awards in this department (the rewards of religious study are not in mortal hands, we all know that).” He recommends his training program for Richard Parker as a good way to deal with "major lifeboat pests."

The book is divided into three sections, the middle one comprising the bulk of the story—the lifeboat journey. This is ingeniously told. The details of how Pi managed to survive render the outrage premise almost plausible. The first and third sections describe Pi’s childhood (his naming, teasing, zoo experience, and various religious conversions) and the aftermath of his arrival in Mexico, respectively. Both feel a bit superfluous and go on too long. There is also a frame for Pi’s story—the “author’s notes”—that seem rather self-indulgent to me and don’t add much.

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas: Describe how Pi trains Richard Parker.

Challenge Issues: Some gore

In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll include glowing reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and The New Yorker.

About the Author
The award-winning author of four books, the most recent of which is What Is Stephen Harper Reading?, Yann Martel is one of this country's most interesting and surprising writers. Born in Spain in 1963, Yann grew up in various places as the son of diplomats. His parents now live in Montreal, where Yann visits regularly.

He won the Journey Prize for the title story in The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios. Life of Pi was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. It was the winner of the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction as well as the Man Booker Prize. Yann lives with writer Alice Kuipers and their son, Theo, in Saskatoon.

http://www.randomhouse.ca/newface/martel.php#about

Why is this title included?
Cart identifies Life of Pi as an adult book that is a crossover hit with teens. It's also received great critical acclaim, including winning the Man Booker Prize.

The Golden Compass

Title: The Golden Compass
Author: Philip Pullman
Publisher: Turtleback
Copyright: 2001
ISBN: 9780613961509

Reading Level: Grades 7-12
Interest Age: Grade 6 to adult

Genre: Fantasy--Alternate and Parallel Worlds

Reader’s Annotation: Lyra's odyssey takes from Oxford to the frozen north in the company of gyptians, a polar bear, witches, and, most frighteningly, her parents. Along the way she is guided by the enigmatic alethiometer (or golden compass) that tells the truth to those who can read it.

Plot Summary
Lyra has grown up in Oxford believing herself to be an orphan, playing with the street children and her daemon, Pantalaimon. (A daemon is a piece of the soul that lives outside the body in animal form.) When her supposed uncle, Lord Asriel, comes to visit, Lyra becomes inextricably entangled in an intrigue that involves the Gobblers (kidnappers of children) and another world in the sky. Soon Lord Asriel sets off on an expedition to the North, one of her friends from the street is taken by Gobblers, and the elegant Mrs. Coulter comes to take Lyra away with her. Before she leaves, Lyra receives an alethiometer, a rare and precious instrument that tells the truth—about past, present, and future—to those few who can read it.

When Lyra finds out that Mrs. Coulter is a Gobbler, she escapes aboard a gyptian boat, setting out on an odyssey that takes her to the frozen North in search of her friend. Along the way she learns to read the alethiometer and discovers that her parents are Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter. Lyra befriends an armored bear, Iorek Byrnison, who travels with her on his way back to his kingdom. Eventually they come to the land of the witch clans, who point them toward Mrs. Coulter’s research facility. When Lyra is captured and taken there she learns the terrible truth about what the Gobblers are up to—separating children from their daemons to unleash the energy of their bond.

Critical Evaluation
This highly imaginative work combines interesting characters, a credible alternate reality, beautiful writing, and an action-packed plot. The result is a complex yet gripping epic tale—and this is just the first book in a trilogy totaling over 1300 pages. The fascinating Mrs. Coulter is one of the scariest characters I’ve ever encountered. Iorek Byrnison is a fierce, honorable warrior with a deep tenderness for Lyra. The existence of daemons (who are really just externalized parts of the self) allows for a kind of relationship unlike any other. The reader observes several such relationships, but mostly intimately the one between Lyra and Pantalaimon. Pantalaimon’s caution complements Lyra’s impulsiveness; together they are a much more well rounded character than Lyra is alone. The bond between Lyra and Pantalaimon is well established by the time the narrative reaches the two most wrenching scenes in the book—Lyra’s encounter with a “ghost boy” who’s been separated from his daemon and Lyra and Pan’s own near separation. The emotion of these scenes is palpable, as the reader can by then well imagine the intense pain and loss of self such a separation would cause. The details of Lyra world—from the use of gas instead of electricity and zeppelins instead of airplanes to the existence of many and varied kinds of sentient beings—feel consistent. It’s easy to become immersed in this fully realized setting. Readers will be reluctant to leave it.

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas: Imagine if you had a pet you could talk to, who was in fact part of yourself. What would it look like? How would it affect your life?

Challenge Issues: Violence

In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll put in positive reviews from VOYA, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist, and mixed reviews from The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and School Library Journal.

About the Author
I was born in Norwich in 1946, and educated in England, Zimbabwe, and Australia, before my family settled in North Wales. I received my secondary education at the excellent Ysgol Ardudwy, Harlech, and then went to Exeter College, Oxford, to read English, though I never learned to read it very well.

I found my way into the teaching profession at the age of 25, and taught at various Oxford Middle Schools before moving to Westminster College in 1986, where I spent eight years involved in teaching students on the B.Ed. course. I have maintained a passionate interest in education, which leads me occasionally to make foolish and ill-considered remarks alleging that not everything is well in our schools. My main concern is that an over-emphasis on testing and league tables has led to a lack of time and freedom for a true, imaginative and humane engagement with literature.

My views on education are eccentric and unimportant, however. My only real claim to anyone's attention lies in my writing. I've published nearly twenty books, mostly of the sort that are read by children, though I'm happy to say that the natural audience for my work seems to be a mixed one - mixed in age, that is, though the more mixed in every other way as well, the better.

My first children's book was Count Karlstein (1982, republished in 2002). That was followed by The Ruby in the Smoke (1986), the first in a quartet of books featuring the young Victorian adventurer, Sally Lockhart. I did a great deal of research for the background of these stories, and I don't intend to let it lie unused, so there will almost certainly be more of them.

However, my most well-known work is the trilogy His Dark Materials, beginning with Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in the USA) in 1995, continuing with The Subtle Knife in 1997, and concluding with The Amber Spyglass in 2000. These books have been honoured by several prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Book Award, and (for The Amber Spyglass) the Whitbread Book of the Year Award - the first time in the history of that prize that it was given to a children's book.

And finally, The Book of Dust. My work on this has been interrupted over the past couple of years, but the book is growing slowly and before long I shall take it up again full-time. What can I tell you about it? Nothing, except that it’s by far the most important thing I’m doing, and I intend to do it as well as I possibly can. When it’s finished, you’ll hear about it, I guarantee.

http://www.philip-pullman.com/about.asp

Why is this title included?
This series has been one of my favorites for years. It stands up well to rereading and is as enjoyable for adult readers as it is for children. It's also on several best-of-the-best lists, including Amazon.com's Essential Books for Young Adults and YALSA's Best of the Best Revisited (100 Best Books for Teens 2001).

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Author: J. K. Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Copyright: 2000
ISBN: 9780439139595

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grade 4 and up

Genre: Fantasy--Magic and Wizards

Reader’s Annotation: Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts is enlivened by the Triwizard Tournament, in which he involuntarily competes as a superfluous champion.

Plot Summary
Like all of the Harry Potter books, this installment contains layer upon layer of subplots. The main events are as follows. Before school starts, Harry goes to the Quidditch World Cup with the Weasleys and Hermione. After the match, Death Eaters appear and cast the Dark Mark in the sky. Back at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are excited to learn that the Triwizard Tournament will take place this year. This contest tests young witches’ and wizards’ courage, knowledge, and magical skill. Students from two other schools of magic, Beauxbatons in France and Durmstrang in Eastern Europe, arrive to enter the tournament. Though there is supposed to be only one champion per school, and there is a strict age requirement of 17, Harry’s name emerges from the magical Goblet of Fire, making him an unprecedented fourth champion. In the first of the tournament’s challenges, champions must retrieve a golden egg protected by a dragon. The Yule Ball poses another kind of challenge for Harry and Ron—getting dates. For the second task, they must rescue a loved one held captive by the merfolk at the bottom of the lake. The final challenge is a maze, with the Triwizard Cup at its center. The first champion to grasp the cup wins. But Harry and Cedric arrive at the cup together and decide to take it at the same time. They are transported to a graveyard, where a new, dark chapter in the history of the wizarding world begins.

Critical Evaluation
The Harry Potter series reaches a major turning point in this book. For one thing, it is much longer than the previous installments, coming in at well over 700 pages. More importantly, though, it is much darker than the previous books. This is where Harry Potter becomes a young adult rather than a children’s series. Goblet of Fire also begins a story arc that continues through the end of the series. Though elements from the first three books are carried on in the later ones, each contains an essentially complete story. From Book 4 on, the action doesn’t let up. As the series grows up in this book, so do the characters. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all become interested in the opposite sex and turn into moody teenagers. (Harry and Ron spend the Yule Ball sulking because the girls they wanted to take to the dance went with other boys.)

Rowling is a master storyteller. Despite the novel’s great length, she manages to see each of the disparate story lines through to the end. She leaves clues and explanations along the way so that the climax is earned, not manufactured. (For example, she introduces the port key—the magical mode of transport that takes Harry and Cedric to the graveyard—at the beginning of the book.) For the impatient reader with a little background on the series, Goblet of Fire is the place to start reading Harry Potter in earnest.

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas: Describe the Triwizard Tournament.

Challenge Issues: Violence, occult content

In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll put in positive reviews from School Library Journal, Booklist, Kliatt, and The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews and a mixed one from Kirkus Reviews.

About the Author
After leaving university I worked in London; my longest job was with Amnesty International, the organisation that campaigns against human rights abuses all over the world. But in 1990, my then boyfriend and I decided to move up to Manchester together. It was after a weekend's flat-hunting, when I was travelling back to London on my own on a crowded train, that the idea for Harry Potter simply fell into my head.

I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. To my immense frustration, I didn't have a functioning pen with me, and I was too shy to ask anybody if I could borrow one. I think, now, that this was probably a good thing, because I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real to me. I think that perhaps if I had had to slow down the ideas so that I could capture them on paper I might have stifled some of them (although sometimes I do wonder, idly, how much of what I imagined on that journey I had forgotten by the time I actually got my hands on a pen).

Nine months later, desperate to get away for a while, I left for Portugal, where I had got a job teaching English in a language institute. I took with me the still-growing manuscript of Harry Potter, hopeful that my new working hours (I taught in the afternoon and evening) would lend themselves to pressing on with my novel, which had changed a lot since my mother had died. Now, Harry's feelings about his dead parents had become much deeper, much more real. In my first weeks in Portugal I wrote my favourite chapter in Philosopher's Stone, The Mirror of Erised.

I had hoped that when I returned from Portugal I would have a finished book under my arm. In fact, I had something even better: my daughter. I had met and married a Portuguese man, and although the marriage did not work out, it had given me the best thing in my life. Jessica and I arrived in Edinburgh, where my sister Di was living, just in time for Christmas 1993.

I intended to start teaching again and knew that unless I finished the book very soon, I might never finish it; I knew that full-time teaching, with all the marking and lesson planning, let alone with a small daughter to care for single-handedly, would leave me with absolutely no spare time at all. And so I set to work in a kind of frenzy, determined to finish the book and at least try and get it published. Whenever Jessica fell asleep in her pushchair I would dash to the nearest cafe and write like mad. I wrote nearly every evening. Then I had to type the whole thing out myself. Sometimes I actually hated the book, even while I loved it.

Finally it was done. I covered the first three chapters in a nice plastic folder and set them off to an agent, who returned them so fast they must have been sent back the same day they arrived. But the second agent I tried wrote back and asked to see the rest of the manuscript. It was far and away the best letter I had ever received in my life, and it was only two sentences long.

It took a year for my new agent, Christopher, to find a publisher. Lots of them turned it down. Then, finally, in August 1996, Christopher telephoned me and told me that Bloomsbury had 'made an offer.' I could not quite believe my ears. 'You mean it's going to be published?' I asked, rather stupidly. 'It's definitely going to be published?' After I had hung up, I screamed and jumped into the air; Jessica, who was sitting in her high-chair enjoying tea, looked thoroughly scared.

And you probably know what happened next.

www.jkrowling.com

Why is this title included?
The Harry Potter books are the most popular the world has ever seen. They're not likely to be forgotten any time soon. Though teens may have read the whole series as children, they may well want to reread it later. I chose to review Goblet of Fire because it is the turning point of the series (see above).

Trapped

Title: Trapped
Author: Michael Northrop
Publisher: Scholastic
Copyright: 2011
ISBN: 9780545210126

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grades 7-10

Genre: Adventure/Thrillers--Survival Stories

Reader’s Annotation: Seven teens trapped by a huge snowstorm must figure out how to survive inside their high school.

Plot Summary
When Scotty and his two friends decide to stay after school during a snowstorm to work on a shop project, they expect to be picked up by their parents within a couple of hours. But as the afternoon wears on, it becomes clear that this was a very bad plan. Cell phone service is knocked out, the snow is piling up, and no cars are getting through any more. The boys head down to wait by the front doors, where they find that two hot freshman girls, a weird guy, a bad kid, and one teacher are stranded, too. Seeing headlights, the teacher heads out into the snow in search of help, but does not return. The first night in the school is like a sleepover. The kids assume the snow will have stopped by morning, so the unusual situation (especially given the presence of the girls) is exciting. Over the next couple of days, though, as the snow fails to let up and the school’s power runs out, they begin hunkering down for survival. They break into the cafeteria for food, figure out how to start a fire, find a single radio frequency that’s still broadcasting, and try to keep the increasingly tense social dynamics under control. When the roof begins collapsing under the accumulated snow’s weight, they know they have to take desperate measures or die.

Critical Evaluation
Language is a problem in this book—not foul language, but the lack thereof. Though the story is about teenagers (one of them an established bad kid) stuck in a stressful situation, there is not a single swear word in the book. Parents will appreciate this, but it’s hardly realistic, and detracts somewhat from the authenticity of the narrator’s voice. The narration is also a little too literal. No instance of foreshadowing—such as the temperature dropping or the lights going out—is allowed to pass unremarked upon (or in fact without being exhaustively explained). Chapters frequently end with pronouncements of doom, such as “We thought that was as bad as it could get” or “We thought it would be the day the plows cleaned up the big storm, life went back to normal, and we went home. We weren’t even close.” Scotty notes in his introduction that “not all of us made it.” All this promises a blockbuster ending that Northrop doesn’t deliver. Instead the book ends abruptly, with lots of loose ends—including such basics as who survived the storm—left unresolved.

However, the details of setting and social dynamics are very well done. The kids discuss and negotiate some decisions, such as when to break into the cafeteria and how to set up their fire, but leave others unspoken, such when to have separate spaces for themselves and when it’s time to stay together to keep warm. Although the social situation is tense, Northrop doesn’t allow stereotypes to rein. I also appreciate that he focuses on the survival story rather than on the potential romances.

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas: Imagine being trapped in your high school. What would you eat? What would you do during the day? How would you stay warm after the heat went off?

Challenge Issues: N/A

About the Author
My name is Michael Northrop, and I am a writer living in New York City. I am the author of two YA novels: Gentlemen (2009), one of the American Library Association’s “Best Books for Young Adults,” and Trapped (2011), an Indie Next List selection and a Barnes & Noble “Must-Read for Teens.”

I am originally from Salisbury, Connecticut, a small town in the foothills of the Berkshire mountains. It was a great place to grow up (to the extent that I did), falling out of trees, shooting BB guns at soda cans (and my brother), and kicking field goals for my high school football team.

Since moving to New York to attend NYU, I have worked at The World Almanac and Sports Illustrated Kids, where I was a senior editor from 2000 to 2008. I have moonlighted as a standup comedian, earned a black belt, and taken up running. I’ve been to the Olympics, the Super Bowl, and spring training. And my writing has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, People Online, The Morning News, Notre Dame Review, McSweeney’s, Weird Tales, and many other places.

Three random facts about me:
1) I am, technically speaking, dyslexic.
2) I once stepped on a yellowjacket nest and was stung approx. 75 times.
3) I am distantly related to Jonathan Swift, who wrote Gulliver’s Travels.

Three of my favorite things:
1) Watership Down (book)
2) Deadliest Catch (TV show)
3) Spicy tuna hand rolls (food)

http://michaelnorthrop.net/?page_id=5

Why is this title included?
I read about this book in an NPR article that identified five recent YA releases with crossover appeal for adults (http://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/137456199/hooray-for-ya-teen-novels-for-readers-of-all-ages). Although the reading level is at the young end of our age range, Trapped is a good choice for reluctant readers, especially boys (because of its strong male narrator).

Sleeper Code

Title: Sleeper Code
Author: Tom Sniegoski
Publisher: Razorbill
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 9781595140524

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grades 6-10

Genre: Adventure/Thrillers--Action Adventure

Reader’s Annotation: Is Tom a mild-mannered invalid with a rare form of narcolepsy or highly-trained killing machine?

Plot Summary
Tom, 16, has lived a highly regimented life of doctor’s visits, pills, exercise, and sleep in an attempt to control his highly unpredictable illness. Tom has a rare form of narcolepsy that can send him to sleep for days at a time. He lives with his parents, is homeschooled, and has little contact with the outside world. Madison has just moved in next door to Tom—she is staying with her aunt and uncle while her parents work out their acrimonious divorce. She and Tom become interested in each other just as Tom is beginning to figure that there is more to his life than he knows. When Tom has narcoleptic episodes, his alter ego, Tyler, takes control of his body. Tyler is an assassin of unmatched skill and heartlessness, trained as part of a secret government program. It’s been taken over by the corrupt project leader, who plans to sell his weaponized children on the black market. When Tom learns the truth about his doppelgänger he must also come to terms with the fact that his entire life is a lie. Everyone around him, including his supposed parents, has been manipulating and using him. In order to save himself and Madison, he must figure how to use the skills that his body knows from its training as Tyler without letting Tyler’s monstrous personality take over.

Critical Evaluation
Sleeper Code’s greatest assets are its imaginative premise and action-packed plot. It is deficient in characterization, imagery, and language. The characters range from thin to cartoonish. Tom and Madison are typical teenagers—athletic good students who just want to have normal lives. In other words, they are as bland as can be. Brandon Kavanagh, the corrupt government agent, gleefully goes over to the dark side in an unintentionally humorous scene of self-reflection: "Kavanagh had always seen himself as one of the good guys but knew it wasn't a long journey to the other side. ... Wasn't evil all a matter of perception anyway? ... His desire to see the bad guys win had always been his own little secret" (p. 111-112). Tyler, Tom’s alter ego, is evil personified.

Throughout the novel the figurative language is childish to the point of being humorous. At one point Tom describes emotional pain at betrayal as feeling like being stabbed in the gut with “the world’s biggest knife.” Also problematic are the “scientific” details—attempts to explain what goes on in Tom’s brain invariably sound ridiculous. The worst instance of this is when Tom experiences a conversation with a dead scientist that has somehow been implanted in his brain and later activated by visiting a web page. The mechanics of this episode do not make sense. In spite of all this, Sleeper Code is a relatively inoffensive page-turner.

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas 
What if someone else lived inside your head—someone who scared you?
Describe what Tom experiences when he has a narcoleptic attack.

Challenge Issues: Violence (mild)
In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I will also include the positive reviews from School Library Journal and VOYA along with the fairly positive review from Kliatt. This last review notes that the book has little to no "literary merit" but its appeal to reluctant readers is strong.

About the Author
THOMAS E. SNIEGOSKI is the author of more than two dozen novels for adults, teens, and children. His YA fantasy series Fallen was adapted into a trilogy of monstrously successful TV movies by ABC Family Channel. His other books for teens include Sleeper Code, Sleeper Agenda, Legacy, and Force Majeure, as well as the series The Brimstone Network. The author's first adult novel, A Kiss Before the Apocalypse, developed into a series of novels about the character Remy Chandler, including Dancing on the Head of a Pin, Where Angels Fear to Tread, and A Hundred Words for Hate.

Sniegoski's work for younger readers includes the Billy Hooten: Owlboy series and the fantasy quartet OutCast, which he co-authored with Christopher Golden. OutCast is in development as a film at Universal. Sniegoski and Golden have also collaborated on the adult dark fantasy series The Menagerie, and multiple creator-owned comic book series, including The Sisterhood, which is being prepped for a feature film by InterMedia, and Talent, currently in development at Universal after a major bidding war.

As a comic book writer, Sniegoski's work includes Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails, a prequel miniseries to international hit Bone. Sniegoski has also written the Bone: Quest for the Spark novels. Sniegoski collaborated with Bone creator Jeff Smith on the prequel, making him the only writer Smith has ever asked to work on those characters. Sniegoski and Golden also wrote the graphic novel BPRD: Hollow Earth, a spinoff from Hellboy.

Sniegoski was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his wife LeeAnne and their dog, Kirby.

http://www.sniegoski.com/bio.html

Why is this title included?
Although this book's primary appeal is to middle school readers, it is engaging enough to draw in reluctant high school readers, as well, as its selection as a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers attests.