Top 10 (ish) of 2011

My Top 10 (ish) of 2011 (or: books I loved for various reasons . . . and I think you should read them):

10. Pinkney, Andrea Davis Bird in a Box
9. Zevin, Gabrielle All These Things I've Done
8. Taylor, Laini Daughter of Smoke and Bone
7. Castle, Jennifer The Beginning of After
6. Flack, Sophie Bunheads and Martinez, Jessica Virtuosity
5. Resau, Laura and Maria Virginia Farinango Queen of Water
4. Johnson, Maureen The Name of the Star
3. Gantos, Jack Dead End in Norvelt and Schmidt, Gary Okay for Now
2. Handler, Daniel and Maira Kalman Why We Broke Up
1. Sloan, Holly Goldberg I'll Be There

You probably didn't even notice that my top ten is really a top twelve, right? I actually have a couple of honorable mentions as well (I know, sick, right?) I don't think you want to miss The Summer I Learned to Fly by Dana Reinhardt, Ashfall by Mike Mullin, or Ashes by Ilsa Bick. The first because I just love Reinhardt's writing. A-maz-ing. The last two because teens are going to be banging down your door for sequels, so you better know what they're talking about. Speaking of sequels . . . I need to do a post on that topic--so many good sequels coming in 2012! What are your top ten?

"It was dumb to move away for a fresh start if you didn't actually give yourself one."

Brooke Berlin seems to have it all--an LA mansion, amazing clothes and shoes, friends who worship her, and enemies who cower at her feet. However, she is unable to attain the one thing she really wants: attention from her superstar father Brick Berlin.

Molly Dix lives a quiet life in Indiana until her mother passes away. Her mother Laurel's dying wish is to have Molly live with her long-lost father, Brick Berlin. She is suddenly thrust into the spotlight--and she becomes Brooke's sister--or as Brooke sees it: her main competition.

In order to force Brooke and Molly to get along after Molly's disastrous introduction to Hollywood, Brick forces the girls to share a room and work on a play together. At the same time, they are torn apart by gossip and Brooke's arch-nemesis, Shelby Kendall.

Molly remembers great advice from Laurel throughout the book which helps her cope with her new circumstances. Whenever Molly thought about something her mom would have told her it reminded me of the stories I have heard about moms who are terminally ill, but take time to leave behind letters and videos to get their children through milestone events.

Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan is fun, but not as fluffy as the cover might suggest--there's a lot of work on relationships, friendships, and parenting going on throughout the book. Cocks and Morgan left the door open with several loose ends. The big question becomes: will there be a sequel? I'm sure readers will want to know more about Brooke and her mother, how Brick and Brooke repair their relationship with Molly, and a budding romance. Tell us more!

Spoiled, published by Little, Brown/Poppy, will be available in June 1, 2011. ARC from publisher.

PS: My favorite part? Molly and her boyfriend from Indiana have a ritual of telling each other how much they love one another:

"Just remember, I love you like Homer Simpson loves beer." "Like a mean kid loves dodgeball." "Like a dog loves a fire hydrant."

Reading this cracked me up. Can you think of some more awesome and endearing ways to love someone?

"Without forgiveness, we'd all be walking this Earth angry and alone, and I think that would suck."

Confession: I love collaborative books. I'd like to think that if I
write a book, it would be in alternating chapters with another author because the dynamic makes me so happy as a reader. Notes From The Blender by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin is no exception.

Declan and Neilly are only children of single parents. Declan's mom died when he was young and Neilly's parents are divorced. Both teens are comfortable and as happy as an angsty teens can be--until their parents turn their lives upside down with the announcement that they are getting married AND having a baby. They are about to become part of a blended family.

Both shocked and mortified, Declan (who has a crush on Neilly) has to face the fact that his father is moving on from mourning his mother. Neilly, whose thick skin has already weathered the revelation that her father is gay, can't believe that her mother is pregnant.

Notes From The Blender is hilarious and irreverent--a great combination. I giggled out loud while Declan suffered the reality of Neilly becoming more of a sister than a love interest. However, I also loved the serious parts where both Declan and Neilly came to terms with some of the big issues that had previously held them back.

Notes From The Blender is available at your local bookstore or library today. Happy Book Birthday, Trish and Brendan!

"But how had that happened? Was everything we had not really ours? And the life we'd led, was none of it real?"

What would happen if your father lost his job? For 13-year-old Irene, this becomes reality and she is forced to leave her posh Manhattan penthouse and live with her parents at her grandfather's farm in the country. At first Irene has a difficult time adjusting to being away from her friends and having her belongings in storage. Eventually she makes friends and learns that living with her grandfather is not as bad as she might have thought.

Everything I Was by Corinne Demas is a book that addresses the realities of the current economy and how a family's life can be changed overnight. I wonder, though, if it will reach its intended audience with the current cover (the version at left is shown on the ARC, on IndieBound.org, and on Corinne Demas' website). When I requested the galley from Net Galley, I had no idea that this was a middle-grade appropriate novel. I asked several students how old the girl on the cover was and no one guessed even close to Irene's age (13). A cover makeover would really improve the appeal of this book. Most teens who pick it up are going to have completely different expectations based upon the cover.

Everything I Was will be published by Lerner in April 2011. Read from Net Galley on my NOOKcolor.

"Even a bird in a box can get free if he uses his wits."

Living in Michigan, I often hear stories about Joe Louis. There is even a statue of his fist in downtown Detroit--a must-see if you ever visit. I was excited to read the author's note at the beginning of Bird in a Box by Andrea Davis Pinkney and find out that it is set against the backdrop of several famous Joe Louis boxing matches. Bird in a Box is the story of three children, Hibernia Lee Tyson, Willie, and Otis, and how their lives intersect throughout 1936-1937 in Elmira, New York.

Hibernia, who lives with her father, the Reverend at the True Vine Baptist Church, was born to sing. However, her mother has left the family to pursue a singing career and the Reverend is not interested in having Hibernia follow the same path. As Hibernia aptly explains, "Time and time again, I have tried to tell the reverend that to deny me the opportunity to present my vocal abilities to a dance-floor crowd is to trap my God-given gifts under a butterfly net."

Willie, an aspiring boxer himself, lives with his mother and father. His father, Sampson, is a violent drunk. After a terrible incident with Sampson, Willie's mother sends him to the safety of Mercy, an orphanage. At Mercy, Willie meets Lila, a caretaker who has recently begun attending True Vine Baptist Church and Otis, whose parents have been killed in a recent accident. The boys become fast friends and allies who also share a love of listening to Joe Louis fights on Otis' most prized possession, a Philco radio that belonged to his father.

When Lila invites the True Vine youth choir to sing for the children at Mercy during the holidays, Otis develops a crush on Hibernia. Both Lila and Willie help Otis as he offers Hibernia an important piece of himself. We also get to see Hibernia break through her father's concerns about singing and truly shine on a public stage and Willie work to overcome the tragic family events that landed him at Mercy.

I was interested to read about people gathering within the community to listen to the boxing matches on the radio. It's hard to imagine a time when media wasn't at our fingertips, but Pinkney's novel helps explain the radio my grandmother keeps on a shelf in her living room to this day. I also loved the voice of each character in the book. Lila is compassionate and kind, she cares for the children at Mercy as if they were her own. Willie and Otis are feisty boys who develop a strong and amazing friendship. Hibernia is sassy, smart, and interesting--my kind of girl!

There are some great historical notes at the end of the book about the real people and places mentioned within the text and a section of additional reading (one of my favorite things!)

And, as a side note, I LOVE this cover and can't wait to see the art in the finished copy!

Bird in a Box will be published by Little, Brown in April 2011. Read from Net Galley on my NOOKcolor.

"Don't go wastin' all those bright tomorrows you ain't even seen by hangin' onto what happened yesterday. Let go, child. Just breathe and let go."

It's easy to tell that there is something different about CeeCee's mother. No one else has a mom spends all her money on secondhand prom dresses . . . and then wanders all over town wearing them. CeeCee's father can't handle her mother's behavior, so he has largely disappeared from their lives. Fortunately for CeeCee, the next door neighbor, Mrs. O'dell, has always been there to take care of her. However, no one can protect CeeCee's mother from herself and, when an unfortunate accident occurs, her father decides that CeeCee will go live with her Great Aunt Tootie.

CeeCee does not know Aunt Tootie and is hesitant about leaving everything she has always known, but she discovers that leaving behind what she loves does not mean losing herself. Moving into Aunt Tootie's home and life connects CeeCee with an amazing group of women who guide, protect, and love her unconditionally, allowing her to reconcile with her mother's bizarre life and become her own person at the same time.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman first attracted me because of the cover. It's beautiful. Seriously. Even more lovely is the language Hoffman uses to describe CeeCee's life, the customs she encounters in the South, and the people she meets along the way. I kept reading passages over and over and marking places that I wanted to remember for later. I'm also a sucker for intergenerational relationships and CeeCee is fortunate enough to find people who transform her life throughout her story.

It was officially announced last week that Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is the first book Sam's Club is promoting for its new book club. This is a great first choice--it will be interesting to see where Sam's Club goes from here in terms of book choices and how their recommendation effects book sales.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt was published January 12, 2010. The ARC I read was sent to me by Beth Hoffman.

"I felt very emotional about segregation, about the way we were treated, and about the way we treated each other."

I had the good fortune of hearing Cindy Dobrez and Lynn Rutan of Bookends Book Blog speak at the 2009 Michigan Association for Media in Education Conference in October. Their session focused on nonfiction books and graphic novels. The book that really caught my attention was Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose. I was interested to read the story of the teenager who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama nine months before Rosa Parks' historic moment. I have always known about Rosa Parks--"her" bus is on exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn and my children love to get on the bus and hear the story. I had not, however, heard of Claudette Colvin and her place in history.

I was not disappointed when I finally had the chance to read this book. While Hoose tells the facts and fills in many interesting historical events that were taking place as Colvin's story unfolded, the most amazing words in this book are written by Colvin herself. She writes about her experiences, bringing them to life and demonstrating how courageous and frustrated she was. She gives a firsthand perspective of what it was like to be a teen living in a city that strongly enforced segregation.

As I read this book I thought about all the amazing pieces of history that we lose when stories are never told. Then, upon reading the Author's Note, I discovered that Claudette Colvin's story may never have been told in this amazing book. She did not seek out the spotlight. In fact, it took many years after his initial request for Colvin to agree to work with Hoose to tell her story.

Each time I talk about this book I have a student ask me where it is and if I have more copies--both reactions that any librarian could love! It's also wonderful to see this book get some award attention. It won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature (Claudette Colvin and Phillip Hoose accepted the award together--video included on the site) and is on the shortlist for the new YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults award (the winner will be announced at ALA Midwinter in Boston).

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose was published January 20, 2009. The copy I read was from my school library.

The Facts First! Nonfiction Monday round-up is hosted today at Picture Book of the Day.