We All Fall Down by Eric Walters

This book was published (and read by me) a few years ago. It is another Walters hit.

This story starts on September 10, 2001 in New York City. Will is a grade 9 student who will be spending the day at work with his father as part of the "bring your child to work" day. His dad works in the south building of the World Trade Centre in Manhattan. What starts out to be a boring way to spend a day turns into a day Will and most of us will never forget.

Told as only Eric Walters can, this story examines the horror of that terrible day in a way that is appropriate for students to understand.

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

This hard-to-find book(although I saw another copy at Titles the other day when I was there) would be a great follow up to teenagers looking for the next book after Twilight. This is the classic story of a boy and girl on opposite sides falling in love. Except there is a twist.

In Noughts and Crosses, the opposite sides are black and white. In this world, the Crosses have all the power. They control the government, police, schools, media- everything. The Noughts have to live by the Crosses rules. They are their gardeners, their housekeepers, basically any menial job, the Noughts fill. It is the classic case of the rich getting richer.

In this world, we meet Callum -a nought boy and Sephy a Cross girl. They have been friends their whole life. Callum's mother was Sephy's nanny and they grew up together. Now that they are 15, their feelings for each other are starting to change. But it is very difficult for these two young people. Sephy's father is one of the most powerful men in the government, and he is very vocal about his views on the noughts and how they are worth less than the Crosses. Then there is Callum's family. Callum suspects his older brother and father of belonging to a group using violent means to bring attention to the inequality of the two races.

Sephy and Callum try to navigate their friendship through many many obstacles put in their path both from outside their families and within their families. This is a great read. There are also 3 other books in the series.

There is one scene that is a bit questionable, but it is very tame. I would suggest reading it first before giving to anyone younger than grade 7.

Thaw by Monica M. Roe

First off- a warning- this book is for mature readers. I'm not sure I will give it to any grade 7 or 8 kids- there is some swearing and some sexual references in it too.

Having said that- I loved this book. It is the story of Dane- a 17 year old. He is very intelligent and a gifted adult. The only thing he isn't good at is sharing, expressing or showing any emotion. He is a very egocentric young man.

We meet Dane in a rehabilitation center where he is undergoing treatment for Guillain-Barre Syndrome. A disease that left him paralyzed and fighting to get back what he once had. The story alternates between his present life in the rehab center to the previous winter. His life back home, looked good on the outside, but his emotionless state has left him confused now that he has lost everything he thought was important.

I loved the character of Dane. His character is a strong male who is afraid to share what is in his heart. I also loved how he wasn't ever afraid to share what was in his mind as well. I think this book would really grab high school boys and the discussion that could come out of it would be amazing. I just wish there wasn't quite so much swearing!

Posing as Ashley by Kimberly Joy Peters

For all purposes, it seems that Ashely has everything. She is doing well in high school, has an amazing boyfriend and is absolutely beautiful! Yet things start to fall apart in her well orchestrated life. Ashely is someone who doesn't want to disappoint anyone. It is difficult to keep her family happy, especially when they seem to want her to succeed in everything she does.

When Ashely is approached to audition for a modelling agency, it seems that her perfect life will continue. But as Ashely quickly learns, the modelling world isn't an easy one. Beautiful people turn out to be not so beautiful on the inside. Ashely's true beliefs are often challenged and when she is forced to make a decision, she is worried about letting her family down.

This is a nice simple book about being true to yourself, believing in yourself and trusting yourself.

The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau

I've just finished reading the last of the City of Ember books- thank goodness! Having read the first two a few years ago, I remember really liking them. These last two, not so much! The Diamond of Darkhold at least dealt with the main characters Lina and Doon- which was something the Prophet didn't do at all.

In the fourth book, Lina and Doon are once more faced with saving their town from disaster. This time, it isn't the lack of light, but the lack of food. The people of Ember are having a hard time living above ground and surviving on what they can grow or catch. In this, the story is a good one. Lina and Doon, with the best of intentions set out to help their friends and family by going back into The City of Ember. Once they decide to do that, the story falls very flat, very quickly. We are introduced to characters that seem to really have no point to the story, they are just introduced and then fade away. Then, there are some really interesting issues such as Doon's quest to figure out electricity that seems very fake and not satisfying at all.

At the end of the book, DuPrau tries to tie the Prophet of Yonwood to this one and fails. The last few chapters seem to rush by as she tries to wrap up the stories on all of the characters we loved from the first two books. I was greatly disappointed with these books after such a promising start to the series.

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

This is the sequel to Stargirl- a great book about a free spirited girl who learns just how difficult it is to be different from everybody else.

In this story, Stargirl is back. She has moved from Arizona to another state and is writing a very long letter to Leo- her ex(or future) boyfriend from back home. Through a series of letters, Stargirl pours her heart out to Leo. There are times she is still very hurt by him and times when she knows she still loves him. All the while Stargirl is collecting a series of friends who are as unique as she is. Getting to know these friends through Stargirl's eyes is an amazing experience. As a reader we come to know what is in Stargirl's heart and mind as she struggles to live without Leo and move on with her life.

You have to read Stargirl first to really understand these characters. This is definitely a book for girls!

I loved this story. Stargirl is one of the strangest most memorable characters I have read- I love all of her quirks and her way of looking at the world.

The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne DuPrau

This book, is the prequel to The City of Ember series. It has been a few years since I read City of Ember and The People of Sparks, but I do remember enjoying both books. I wasn't as thrilled with Prophet of Yonwood.

The story itself is a good one. A little bit of a mystery with some believable characters. Nickie is an 11 year old girl who has set herself 3 goals: 1. Keep Greenhaven (the family home) 2. Fall in love 3. Help the World. Not bad goals for her to work towards. However, along the way to meeting these goals, Nickie runs into lots of problems.

First of all, her aunt is determined to sell Greenhaven, a house that Nickie is growing to love. Then, all the boys she is meeting are not the kind of boy she wants to fall in love with. The final goal- to Help the World seems easy at first. In Yonwood, the Prophet mumbles strange things and it is up to some select people in town to interpret her thoughts and pass the message on. Nickie finds helping the world to be easy when she follows the Prophet's message. As the story goes on though, the Prophet's messages get stranger and stranger. Suddenly for Nickie, helping the world isn't quite as easy as she once thought.

The part I did have trouble with in this book was making the connection between this story and the City of Ember, the relationship was distant at best. It isn't until the end that any connection is made between the two books. I feel that DuPrau was really reaching with this one.

I'm going to start the fourth book in the series and see where that takes me next.