Oddest of All: Stories

Oddest of All: Stories
by Bruce Coville

Short stories are an essential part of your summer gear bag!  For example, toss Bruce Coville’s “Oddest of All: Stories” in backpack for that camping trip and share a chilling ghost story (The Ghost Let Go) or freaky horror tale (The mask Eamonn Tiyad).  Looking for a little beach romance? This anthology will fit right in next to your beach towel and read What’s the worst that could happen?

Leaning toward the weird and fantastic, Bruce Coville will keep you entertained with his creative tales and terrific characters.  No two stories are alike, and all are enjoyable!

If you like this book/topic, try:

• Kissing Tennessee and other stories from the Stardust Dance
• Oddly Enough (also by Bruce Coville)
• Dude: Stories and Stuff for Boys
• Horowitz horror : stories you’ll wish you’d never read

Fat Cat

Fat Cat
by Robin Brande

Little does overweight Catherine realize that her high school science project will completely change her life – and a few other things along the way?  The science teacher, Mr. Pfizer, has a unique way of assisting students in choosing a project topic.  Each student is secretly given a magazine photo that their science fair project must be based upon.  Cat chooses a picture of hominims, the earliest ancestors of human beings,  Hominim woman is represented as a sleek, muscular warrior, ready for the hunt.  This gives Cat a great idea.  Why not try to emulate early woman and survive on an all-natural diet and give up all of modern life’s luxuries, including her cell phone.  The resulting research has completely reshaped Cat in more ways than one.  Who knew research could be so much fun!
Read by Kirsten Potter.

If you liked this book/topic, try:

• The Treasure Map of Boys : Noel, Jackson, Finn, Hutch, Gideon–and Me, Ruby Oliver
• Scarlett Fever
• Life in the Fat Lane

Smile

Smile
by Raina Telgemeier

This is a story about family, friends, boys and dental drama!  And it’s all true!  All Raina wanted was to be a normal average sixth grader.  But after Girl Scouts one evening, her friends challenge her to a race and along the way she trips, falls, and knocks out her two front teeth.  No problem.  The dentist just sticks them back in Raina’s gums and covers them with a cast-like material to aid in the healing process.  It could be worse, right? 

It is!! Much, much worse!  A very long, painful and frustrating journey lies ahead.  Braces go on and off a couple of times, surgery is required, dorky headgear and to top it all off, a retainer with fake teeth attached.  Along this bumpy journey, Raina also experiences a major earthquake, boy troubles, friends that turn out not to be, and the agony of middle school and onto high school. 

However, in the end, Raina emerges a stronger, more confident girl with an absolutely fantastic SMILE!!

If you liked this book/topic, try:

• Shug
• First Kiss (Then Tell)
• No Body’s Perfect : Stories by Teens About Body Image, Self-acceptance, and the Search for Identity

The Glass Cafe

The Glass Cafe OR, The Stripper and the State; How My Mother Started a War with the Systme That Made Us Kind of Rich and a Little Bit Famous 

by Gary Paulsen

Tony Henson tells this true story that happened to him and is all his.  Twelve-year old Tony’s mom, Al (short for Alice), is an exotic dancer at the Kitty Kat Club and she is terrific, according to Tony.  He and his mother have been on their own for a long time and are very happy with their family arrangement. 
That all changes when budding artist, Tony, decides to broaden his drawing experience and sketch the “girls” backstage at the club where his mother works.  When the drawings end up in an art show and draw the attention of Social Services, Tony’s world turns upside down.
A legal battle ensues and the media has a field day trying to discredit Al’s parenting.  She is not going down without a fight though!

If you liked this book/topic, try:

• 12 Again
• Confess-O-Rama
• The Juvie Three

The Espressologist

The Espressologist
by Kristina Springer

Grab a medium iced vanilla latte, cozy up in a comfy chair and dive into this wonderful book about coffee, love, friendship, and a great idea.  Seventeen-year-old barista Jane Turner (a person who makes and serves coffee to the public), has been keeping a notebook of what the regulars at Wired Joe’s drink.  It is her theory  that you can tell a lot about a person by what they drink including who there special someone might be.  It started out as just a fun way to pass the time and turned into Jane Turner, The Espressologist.

The theory put to practice actually worked for several of Jane’s friends.  When her boss finds out, he takes the idea and runs with it.  The Expressologist is in and ready to make some matches.  But can Jane make the perfect match for herself?

If you like this book/topic, try:

• Scones and Sensibility
• Breaking Up is Really, Really Hard to Do
• Girl, 15, Charming but Insane

Tales of the Cryptids

Tales of the Cryptids : Mysterious Creatures That May or May Not Exist 

by Halls, Spear and Young 

What is Cryptozoology?  

 (from Greek κρυπτός, kryptos, “hidden” + zoology; literally, “study of hidden animals”)  

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it is the study of legendary animals – cryptids – with the hope of proving they are real.  In other words, it is the study of mysterious animals people say they have seen, with no real evidence to prove it.

Occassionally, these legends are proven to be real, as in the cases of the giant squid, the prehistoric fish known as coelacanth, and the Orang-pendek, a five-foot mystery ape.

Just because you don’t see it, does it mean that it doesn’t exist?  Well, some cryptologists have spent a life-time trying to prove that these creatures may in fact exist.  Let’s take Bigfoot (or Sasquatch, Yeti, Yeren, Yowie) for example.  There have been sitings across the globe, from North America to Chna and New Zealnd.  How can a creature that is 7 to 9 feet tall and weighs between 200 and 300 pounds go unnoticed?  That ‘s the question cryptologists search for every day.  That glimmer of hope that will prove their theories correct.  What do you think?  Does the Loch Ness monster exsit?  Is there really a Dover Demon, a small, thin, hairless creature with huge paws and feel spotted in Dover, MA on the night of April 27, 1977?

See what you think.

If you like this book/topic, try:

• The Weiser Field Guide to Cryptozoology
• Monster Hunt : the Guide to Cryptozoology
• Beastly Tales : Yeti, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness Monster

Hunchback Assignments

The Hunchback Assignments
by Arthur Slade

Young Modo is an ugly abomination, an attraction at a freak show.  Rescued by the mysterious Mr. Socrates, Modo receives intense physical and mental training that develop and hone his mysterious shape shifting powers.  Finally, after years in isolation, Mr. Socrates reveals that he is part of the mysterious Permanent Association, whose mission is to protect Great Britain from subversive and evil plots.

Modo is  sent out on his first mission for the Association and quickly realizes he has much to learn about the real world.  When he meets up with fellow agent Octavia Milkweed, Modo life becomes even more complicated as they uncover a secret plot to bring down the British government.

This is a wonderful steampunk novel that combines the richness of the Victorian period with a complete re-imagining of the classic hunchback tale.

If you like this book/topic, try:

• Larklight
• Operation Red Jericho
• The New Policeman

Here Lies Arthur

Here Lies Arthur
by Philip Reeve

This is an inventive and refreshing retelling of the traditional Arthur story.  Gwyna is an orphan, on her own and on the run after her village has been destroyed and burned.  Arthur is not yet king, but rather an arrogant, thick-headed bully on his way up with the help of his bard and adviser, Myrrdin.  Myrrdin, a wise and cunning man, takes Gwyna finds Gwyna and uses her to help him build the legend of Arthur, ensuring his rise to fame, glory and, finally, to kingship.  Myrrdin has Gwyna pose as a boy, his servant, using her to pose as the Lady of the Lake and perpetuate other myths that we now all associate with great and noble King Arthur.

What if Arthur really was just another war mongering brute, a typical man of his day who was more interested in his sword and battle victories than the soul of chivalry?  What if it was all an elaborate ruse, manipulated by an ambitious confidence trickster? Gwyna’s story is a wonderful imagining and “what if” scenario that explains the mystical tales and impossibly heroic exploits that surround Arthur – tales and exploits that are still retold and handed down today.

If you like this book/topic, try:

• The Telling Pool
• Edge on the Sword
• King of Attolia

Cosmic

Cosmic
by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Liam Digby is tall – so tall that people of think he’s a grown up.  Even the principal at his new school mistakes him for the new teacher – not a new student.  That was probably the worst first day of school ever!

The plus side of being 12 and looking like your 30 is that you get to go on all the rides at the amusement park.  You might even convince the car salesman to let you a fancy sports car for a test drive.  However, Liam’s size doesn’t make him very popular with other kids his age.  Heck, he even feels invisible to his parents.    Out of nowhere, Liam is given the chance to be one of the “dads” on a super secret civilian space flight – it’s a once in a lifetime chance to rocket into space.  All he needs is a child and a way to get to China.  Liam’s adventures are just beginning and when things fall apart millions of miles away from earth, he realizes there’s a lot more to learn about life and growing up.

If you like this book/topic, try:

• The Death-defying Pepper Roux
• Millions
• Stoneheart

Leviathan

Leviathan
by Scott Westerfeld

A true steam punk adventure, Leviathan is a mashup of invented technology set in an impossible time.   Scott Westerfeld has created an alternative history of World War I.  Meet Aleksandar, prince and heir to the Austro Hungarian throne and representative of the Clankers.  On the run from a traitorous plot that has left him an orphan, Aleksandar has to use his skills in weaponry and the Clanker two legged  steam driven war machines  to escape assassination by his own people .

On the other side of the conflict are the Darwinists, creators of living impossibilities – airships that are actually breathing creatures, weapons that are bred and trained.  Derwyn Sharp has joined the British Darwinist army – only since girls aren’t allowed to be airmen, she has to lie her way into the ranks.  Her natural born talents and dauntless courage lands her position on Leviathan the biggest, most lethal battle beast in the skies.

When the two teens are forced into a uneasy alliance, it becomes clear that the ongoing war and politics are not as clear as they each originally assumed.  There are secrets and plots, amazing inventions and creations.  Additional black and white illustrations add to the fantastical creativity and imagination of this new history of the early twentieth century.

This is an exciting, fast-paced adventure that will capture your imagination and leave you anxiously awaiting a sequel.

If you like this book/topic, try

• Airman
• Mortal Engines
• Airborn