"Guys Write for Guys Read" by Jon Scieszka (Ed.)

“Guys burp,” “Guys scratch,” “Guys always eat with their mouths open,” “Guys bite their toenails [and] chew [them] into little pieces and swallow them!" If you’re one of those guys, this book is for you! Darren Shan, and other well-known male authors like Avi, Gary Paulsen, Stephen King, Brian Jacques, Jon Scieszka, and Dav Pilkey make bold proclamations such as these in Guys Write for Guys Read, a collection of short stories, cartoons, and illustrations for young adults, edited by Jon Scieszka. These authors share their most embarrassing and humorous tales about growing up and being a boy. They cover subjects that all young guys can relate to, such as sports, girls, puberty, being different, embarrassing moments, dealing with bullies, and family.

Are you artistic? There’s something in here for you too. Illustrators and cartoonists have added color to the book with artwork dating back to their early childhood and adolescence. Jarrett J. Krosoczka shows his perpetual dedication to his childhood creation “Lightning Man,” a comic strip he created at the age of nine and revised seventeen years later after becoming a professional illustrator.

Even the Simpsons creator, Matt Groening also includes a comic strip about how much of an unnecessary pain school can be, and Jon Scieszka writes an ironically humorous memoir about the ups and downs of brotherhood and owning a cat.

Guys Write for Guys Read will appeal to and keep the attention of all sorts of male readers with its humorous, serious, witty, informative, and visually appealing short stories.

Age 13- If it can go wrong, it will

"If thirteen is supposed to be an unlucky number, what does it mean that we are forced to go through an entire year with that as our age? I mean, you would think a civilized society could just come up with a way for us to skip it.

Of course, good luck and I have rarely shared the same park bench. Sometime I think Murphy’s Law- you know, ‘If something can go wrong, it will’- was invented just for me. I suppose the fact that my name is Murphy Murphy might have something to do with that feeling.”

Murphy Murphy? With a name like that, life is bound to be a little tough. Add to it the age 13, and things are definitely looking down. Throw in a middle school crush? It’s a recipe for disaster. For Murphy Murphy, life just keeps knocking him down. Once it is brought to his attention that he has a crush on Tiffany, he just can’t stop thinking about her. (Don’t you hate how your friends can make you realize you have a crush, therefore causing you to blush every time you now see that person?) When Murphy’s asked to be in a play with Tiffany he jumps at the chance to impress her. There’s just one tiny glitch… Murphy has stage fright. Bad.

“Mikey looks even more surprised. ‘Murphy, you can’t go onstage with her. You can’t even move when you get onstage. Don’t you remember what happened in the fifth grade?’

As if I could forget. Not only was it one of the three most humiliating moments of my life, but according to my little brother, it has become legendary at Westcott Elementary. Here’s the short version: Mrs. Carmichael had cast me as George Washington in our class play, and I was, I want to tell you, pretty good during rehearsals. But when they opened the curtain and I saw the audience… well, let’s just say that when my mother saw the look on my face, she actually let out a scream. She told me later she thought I was having a heart attack. As for me, my mouth went drier than day-old toast, some mysterious object wedged itself in my throat, and the only reason I didn’t bolt from the stage was that I couldn’t move my arms or legs. Heck, I couldn’t even move my fingers.

I couldn’t even squeak!

Finally, they had to cancel the performance. Even after the curtains closed, it took two teachers and a janitor to carry me back to the classroom.”

James Howe’s 13: Thirteen stories that capture the agony and ecstasy of being thirteen gets down and dirty on the reality of being thirteen. New crushes, facing bullies, trying to fit in; it’s all in this one book.

So can Murphy make it through the skit and get the girl? Or will his stage fright combined with his inevitable bad luck get the best of him? Join Murphy, and others as they tell the adventures and misadventures of being 13.

Connecting to Reluctant Readers and Graphic Novels

Read the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award by Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese and choose two more graphic novels from this link: http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/greatgraphicnovelsforteens/07GGNT.htm

Pick two Quick Picks to read for Reluctant Readers:
http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/quickpicks/quickpick.htm

Out of This World & Totally Made Up: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Here are some possible Science Fiction choices...
M.T. Anderson, Feed
M.T. Anderson, Whales on Stilts
Jennifer Armstrong, Fire Us Trilogy (includes The Kiln, The Kindling, and Keepers of the Flame)
Andrew Clement, Things Not Seen
Nancy Farmer, House of Scorpion
Madeline L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
Lois Lowry, The Messenger
Blake Nelson, They Came From Below

Here are some possible Fantasy choices...
Dave Barry, Peter and the Starcatchers
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Conch Bearer
Nancy Farmer, Sea of Trolls
Cornelia Funke, The Thief Lord
D.J. MacHale, Pendragon series: Merchant of Death, The Lost City of Faar, The Never War and Reality Bug
Eoin McNamee, The Navigator
Kenneth Oppel, Airborne

It's Tough Out There: Realistic Fiction

Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak
Bruce Brooks, All that Remains
Kevin Brooks, Lucas
Edwidge Danticat, Behind the Mountains
James Deem, 3 NB’s of Julian Drew
Alex Flinn, Breathing Underwater
John Green, Looking For Alaska
Margaret Haddix, Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey
John Halliday, Shooting Monarchs
Kevin Henkes, Olive’s Ocean
Francisco Jimenez, Breaking Through
Angela Johnson, The First Part Last
David Klass, You Don't Know Me
Louisa Luna, Brave New Girl
Carolyn Mackler, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things
Patricia McCormick, Cut
Kelly McWilliams, Doormat
Walter Dean Myers, Monster
Blake Nelson, Rock Star Superstar
Linda Sue Park, When My Name Was Keoko: A Novel of Korea in World War II
Randy Powell, Three Clams and an Oyster
Karen Rivers, The Healing Time of Hickeys
Meg Rosoff, how i live now
Sonya Sones, One of Those Hideous Books where the Mother Dies
Allan Stratton, Leslie’s Journal
Allan Stratton, Chanda's Secrets
Terry Truman, Inside Out
Ellen Emerson White, The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, United States Marine Corps

Looking Back: Historical Fiction

Laurie Halse Anderson, Fever, 1793
Joseph Bruchac, Code Talker: a Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two
Karen Cushman, The Loud Silence of Francine Green
Sharon Draper, Copper Sun
Suzanne Freeman, The Cuckoos’s Child
Julian Houston, New Boy
Jeanette Ingold, Big Burn
Sonia Levitin, Room in the Heart
Graham Salisbury, Eyes of the Emperor
Gloria Whelan, Listening for Lions
Don Wulffson, Soldier X
Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

LOL - Celebrate Teen Read Week

Celebrate Teen Read Week! Books to make you LOL @ your local library...

http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/teenreading/trw/trw2007/booklists07.htm

Awards: Newbery, Printz and Nutmeg

The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

2007 Newbery Medal Winner
Susan Patron, The Higher Power of Lucky
2007 Newbery Honor Books
Jennifer L. Holm, Penny From Heaven
Kirby Larson, Hattie Big Sky
Cynthia Lord, Rules
2006 Newbery Medal Winner
Lynne Rae Perkins, Criss Cross
2006 Newbery Honor Books
Alan Armstrong, Whittington
Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Hilter Youth: Growing Up in Hilter’s Shadow
Shannon Hale, Princess Academy
Jacqueline Woodson, Show Way

The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association. The award is sponsored by Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association.

2007 Michael L. Printz Winner
Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese
2007 Printz Honor Books
M. T. Anderson, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing
John Green, An Abundance of Katherines
Sonya Hartnett, Surrender
Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
2006 Michael L. Printz Winner
John Green, Looking for Alaska
2006 Printz Honor Books
Margo Lanagan, Black Juice
Markus Zusak, I Am the Messenger
Elizabeth Partridge, John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth, a Photographic Biography
Marilyn Nelson, A Wreath for Emmett Till

The Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 4-8 to read quality literature and to choose their favorite from a list of ten nominated titles. Jointly sponsored by the Connecticut Library Association (CLA) and the Connecticut Educational Media Association (CEMA), the Nutmeg Committee is comprised of children's librarians and school library media specialists who are members of our sponsoring organizations.

All books nominated for the award must be:

1. A work of fiction, with appeal for readers in grades 4-6; 7-8 respectively.
2. Copyrighted in the United States, and first published no more than five years from date of selection;
3. Currently in print, and available in paper back as well as hard cover (for the 2008 nominees; thereafter, required to be in print only in paperback);
4. Well-written, with strong characterization, a vivid setting, striking language, a well-constructed plot, and a plausible conclusion.

2008 Nutmeg Award Nominees
Christopher Paul Curtis, Bucking the Sarge
Peter Abrahams, Down the Rabbit Hole
Brenda Woods, Emako Blue
Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler, In Darkness, Death
Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
Jacquelin Woodson, Locomotion
Joseph Delaney, Revenge of the Witch
Richard Peck, The River Between Us
Nancy Farmer, The Sea of Trolls
Victoria McKernan, Shackleton’s Stowaway

Author Study - Sharon Creech

Sharon Creech is a must read for any young adolescent! Here are the titles to her books...

Absolutely Normal Chaos
Bloomability
Chasing Red Bird
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup
Heartbeat
Love that Dog
Pleasing the Ghost
Replay
Ruby Holler
Walk Two Moons
The Wanderer

Holden Caulfield in a New Age

Who is Holden Caulfield? What does he represent and why is The Cather in Rye still popular today? Here's a list of some new "Holden Caulfield" characters that will help today's students understand the "new age" Holden...

Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak
Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Lousie Luna, Brave New Girl
Adam Rapp, Under the Wolf, Under the Dog

Going Back in Time: Remembering What it’s Like to be a Teenager

Here's a sample of books that we've read that help you go back in time...

Amy Ehrilch (Ed.), When I Was Your Age
Betsy Franco, Things I Have to Tell You: Poems and Writings by Teenage Girls and You Hear Me? Poems and Writings by Teenage Boys
Donald R. Gallo (Ed.), On the Fringe
Kristine O’Connell George, Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems
James Howe (Ed.), 13: Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen
Conn and Hal Iggulden, The Dangerous Book for Boys
Jon Scieszka (Ed.), Guys Write for Guys Read