Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz, 2000
Alex Rider series, bk. 1
They tell him that his banker uncle has died in a car crash: “He wasn’t wearing his seat belt.” But fourteen year old Alex knows his uncle would never do that. When he finds his uncle’s car riddled with bullets, almost gets smashed in a car compactor, karate kicks his way away from a man with a gun, and edges along a 15-story-high ledge to see inside his uncle’s office, he is recruited by the same people who really employed his uncle – the M I 6. He endures two weeks of intense training, then sent inside a compound where a supposed friend of England is building computers he is planning to give to schools throughout the country. Alex’s uncle was killed by these people, but the M I 6 don’t have anyone else they can send. It reads a lot like a teenage James Bond story.
Some memory-jogging tags: Spy thriller. Benefactor. Deception. Terrorism. Computers. Techno-thrillers. Orphans.
MS Rating: Great. Especially for relunctant readers.
Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe, 2006
Seventeen-year-old Jasmine, called Jas by her friends, is always getting into scrapes of one kind or another. But she aspires to be a detective and is usually in the middle of some investigative efforts when things are going awry. For instance, her father didn’t like it that she lifted her mom’s prints from all around the house after she died. She is currently in Las Vegas when her best friends arrive for some intervention. Roxy and Tom, twins, and Polly help her solve the mystery of the little boy Fred and his attaching three-legged cat, his mom Fiona, her supposedly murdering husband Red Earl, and a really cute bartender-slash-possible-bad guy. Jas’s cousin Alyson is embarrassed to be seen with her, but always ends up close by with her best friend Veronica, especially since Tom turned up. The teen slang is thick throughout. Footnotes with rambling asides are included, in case you want additional banter. Some of the references are a bit on the PG-13 side.
Some memory-jogging tags: Teenage detective. Missing persons. Mystery. Celebrities. Friendship. Interpersonal relations. Best friends. Cousins. Cats. Vacations. First-person narratives. Father daughter relationships. Humorous.
MS Rating: OK. For older students.
The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan 2005
Ranger’s Apprentice series, bk 1.
Five friends, all wards of the castle, have arrived at their day of choosing. Will wants to be invited to Battleschool, but he is small for his age – not the build they are looking for. All the others get their first choices: Harold to Battleschool, Jenny to the kitchens, George to the legal profession, Alyss to Diplomatic Service. Will is chosen to be an apprentice to Halt, the mysterious Ranger. They all end up thriving in their new positions, though Horace’s spirit is almost defeated by three bullies who make his life miserable. After a boar hunt where Will saves Horace, after Horace tries to save Will, Horace gets badly beaten by the bullies who then set off for Will. However, Horace manages to follow them and, with Halt’s intervention, finally gets a fair fight and soundly defeats them. The bullies are exposed and expelled from Battleschool. Will follows his master to the whistling Solitary Plains in an attempt to stop two horribly strong and evil Kalkara beasts working for Morgarath, an exiled Lord trying to regain control after 15 years. This book starts out feeling a lot like LOTR, but doesn’t sustain the comparison much past the first few chapters. The pacing was a little off for me.
Some memory-jogging tags: Fantasy. Tracking. Castle life. Adventure. Boy apprentices. Mentors. Protection. Good and evil. Imaginary kingdoms.
MS Rating: Great. Especially for relunctant readers. I had one student tell me this book turned him from a non-reader to a reader.
Flipped by Vendelin Van Draanen 2001
An independent, intelligent, full-of-spunk girl Julianna has had her eye on her neighbor Bryce ever since he moved into the house across the street when they were in the 3rd grade. Now they are middle schoolers and Bryce begins thinking that maybe there is something interesting about this girl. Julianna, however, is wondering why she had a soft spot for him in the first place. The chapters alternate between Bryce’s and Julianna’s voice. Bryce’s family has some suppressed anger and resentment that begins coming to a head by the end of the novel. His mom’s dad moved into their home two years earlier and is finally showing some interest in someone, but it is not Bryce but Julianna. Julianna’s family doesn’t have much money. Her artistic dad doesn’t want to spend anything fixing up the outside of their rental, but spends all he can spare, and more, on the care of his handicapped brother. When Julianna realizes that Bryce has been throwing away her weekly gift of free eggs for two years, she flips.
Some memory-jogging tags: Interpersonal relations. Conduct of life. Family life. Self-perception. Middle-school. Science fair projects. Chickens. Protesting to preserve an old tree. Being judgmental. Being yourself. Apologizing.
MS Rating: Great. Fun read. Nice moral about being yourself. I’ve heard one 20-something reader say this was her all-time favorite.
Don’t Call Me Ishmael by Michael Gerard Bauer 2006
The story is set in a middle school in Australia. Ishmael tells his story, starting with the curse of his name that causes him to be the target of Barry Bagsley, the class bully. Things start looking better when James Scobie moves in. Puny and full of twitches, James claims his sense of fear has been removed by an operation. Barry and his gang try to remind him how to be scared by planting a swarm of bugs and spiders in his desk, but the gag backfires, Barry and his friends get suspended, and James becomes a school hero. The second half of the book is about the debate team that Ishmael didn’t want to do but talked into by James with the promise that he won’t have to talk. Of course he ends up having to talk and his first attempt is as mortifying as he was afraid of. That scene had me laughing out loud. The book’s tone is humorous throughout. There are three or four swear words (s-).
Some memory-jogging tags: Bullies. Schools. Herman Melville. Debate team. Public speaking. Humorous.
MS Rating: OK. It’s better for older kids. The swear words may put some kids off.
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