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New Titles - books at the library

Skinny and Quick

Quick reads for the busy teen.

100ish pages

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
111 pages
Marlow voyages into the wildness and jungle of the Belgian Congo to meet Kurtz, a company agent, and having found him, realizes that Kurtz has won supremacy over the natives through unrestrained violence. The story explores the workings of the subconscious, and addresses political imperialism.

Frenchtown summer by Robert Cormier
113 pages
A series of vignettes in free verse in which the writer reminisces about his life as a twelve-year-old boy living in a small town during the hot summer of 1938.
won best fiction school library journal.

The braid  by  Helen Frost
95 pages
Two Scottish sisters, living on the western island of Barra in the 1850s, relate, in alternate voices and linked narrative poems, their experiences after their family is forcible evicted and separated with one sister accompanying their parents and younger siblings to Cape Breton, Canada, and the other staying behind with other family on the small island of Mingulay.

The boy and the sea by Kirsty Gunn
136 pages 
A coming-of-age novel by a New Zealander - a day in the life of young surfer, Ward. The tide changes and Ward is faced with a dramatic event that will change his life forever.   

Outsiders coverThe outsiders by S.E. Hinton
128 pages
Three brothers struggle to stay together after their parents' death, as they search for an identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society in which they find themselves "outsiders."

So much to tell you by John Marsden
109 pages
Sent to a hospital by her mother, Marina, a disfigured Australian girl who refuses to speak, reveals her thoughts and feelings in a diary.

The amazing life of birds: (the twenty-day puberty journal of Duane Homer Leech) by Gary Paulson
84 pages
As twelve-year-old Duane endures the confusing and humiliating aspects of puberty, he watches a newborn bird in a nest on his windowsill begin to grow and become more independent, all of which he records in his journal.

Inside out by Terry Trueman
117 pages
A sixteen-year-old with schizophrenia is caught up in the events surrounding an attempted robbery by two other teens who eventually hold him hostage.

Stuck in neutral by Terry Trueman
114 pages
Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel, who suffers from severe cerebral palsy and cannot function, relates his perceptions of his life, his family, and his condition, especially as he believes his father is planning to kill him.

The Pigman by Paul Zindel
126 pages
A teenage boy and girl, high school sophomores from unhappy homes, tell of their bizarre relationship with an old man.

150 - 200 pgs

Ask me no questions by Marina Budhos
176 pages
Nadira and her family are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and after the September 11th terrorist bombings her father is arrested. Discrimination and the difficulties of  bridging of two cultures are well handled.

A clockwork orange by Anthony Burgess
195 pages         
Presents Burgess' satire of the present inhumanity of man to man through a futuristic culture where teenagers rule with violence.

Queen of cool by Cecil Castellucci
173 pages
Libby Bin is the queen-bee of the popular kids, only interested in sex, drinking and outrageous behaviour. When she signs on as a volunteer at the zoo she meets some not-so-cool kids who turn out to be more interesting than she thought.

Nick and Norah’s infinite playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
183 pages
A alternative-points-of-view romance that is funny, romantic, and edgy. Of special interest to music-lovers as there’s lots of musical name-checking. Nick and Norah are believable and so is the story.

The rag and bone shop by Robert Cormier
154 pages
Trent, an ace interrogator from Vermont, works to procure a confession from an introverted twelve-year-old accused of murdering his seven-year-old friend in Monument, Massachusetts.

Where I want to be by Adele Griffin
192 pages
Jane and Lily are sisters and they tell this story from alternating points of view. Except Jane is dead, even though she seems to be interacting with the living.

Invisible by Pete Hautman
149 pages
Dougie and Andy are best friends, in fact Andy is Dougie’s only friend. He tells story of the tragedy that ensued when “Andy and I had some bad luck with fires when we were kids.” Great twist at the end.

Day of tears by Julius Lester
176 pages
Based on a true event that occurred when a plantation owner sold his slaves to cover his gambling debts, this story is told from the points of view of all the characters involved.

With lots of love from Georgia by Brigid Lowry
179 pages
Fifteen-year-old, red-haired Georgia, Philosopher Queen. Georgia writes her way through a bumpy year that includes part-time jobs, tricky mother stuff and a boy with a delicious smile.

Cut by Patricia McCormick
168 pages
While confined to a mental hospital, fifteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better.

The beet fields: Memories of a sixteenth summer by Gary Paulson
160 pages
The author recalls his experiences as a migrant labourer and carnival worker after he ran away from home at age sixteen.

First boy by Gary Schmidt
197 pages
Cooper Jewett is only 14 but he is running the family farm when strange things start happening. When he meets the famous couple who might be his biological parents he also meets an implacable and ambitious enemy. Suspenseful and well-paced this is a coming-of-age story that also addresses cultural divisions in society.

Of mice and men by John Steinbeck
163 pages
Tells the tragic story of George and Lennie, two displaced Anglo migrant farm workers in California during the Great Depression.  The story is set on a ranch a few miles from Soledad in the Salinas Valley.

Red sea by Diane Tullson
176 pages
Libby and her family are attacked by modern-day pirates as they attempt to pass through the Red Sea. Her step-father is killed, her mother injured and the boat is 100 miles off-course. Can Libby help her family to survive?

Cover: Boy Kills ManBoy kills man by Matt Whyman
151 pages
Too young to die - old enough to murder. When Shorty's friend, Alberto, disappears, his only option is to follow Alberto into the darkness of the Colombian underworld.