Haven’t we all said “I wish I could be a fly on the wall …” For Gretchen Yee; these were more than just words. They became reality. Gretchen attends the Manhattan High School for the Arts, otherwise known as Ma-Ha, in New York City, where all the students are “different” and “special.” Gretchen feels she just doesn’t fit into these categories. She sits alone at lunch drawing pictures of Spider-Man so she can avoid talking with anyone else. She has a crush on Titus and only has one real friend, Katya.
Boys just don’t make any sense. What do they really talk about? What are they like behind closed doors? Are they just as disgusting as in class or is there more to them? If she could be a fly on the wall of the boys’ locker room, she could probably learn a lot about these vermin.
Gretchen’s parents are going through tough times and are most likely going to end up divorced. This particular week, her mother is off on vacation with a girlfriend and her dad is in China on business. All alone in her apartment Friday night, Gretchen eats dinner alone and reads a little of her school book, THE METAMORPHOSIS by Frank Kafka and finally falls asleep. The next morning she awakens to the strange sensation of having multiple legs and even wings on her back! How can this be? And how did she end up in the boy’s locker room? Not to mention, that the boys locker room is twice the size of the girls’ and even has big lockers to store their belongings. So unfair!
It sure is an eye-opener, especially with all those multiple bug eyes. Gretchen sees a lot more that than boys horsing around and talking about girls. She gets the bare-naked truth! She also learns that her BFF Katya has a boyfriend, how her crush really feels about her and even who are the school bullies.
A week later when Gretchen finally returns to her old self, she realizes that seeing life through someone (or something’s) eyes can put a whole new perspective on life and what really matters.
Recommended for 14+
SLB
Can you imagine being raised by a corporation? Technically speaking, a corporation is a person, so therefore should be able to adopt a child, right? When 14-year-old Jaiden Beale’s parents die in a freak accident, caused by a faulty stove valve manufactured by NECorp that is exactly what happens. In an effort to rectify their grave error, NECorp decides to adopt and raise Jaiden in their corporate offices. Jaiden has it all: a state-of-the-art plasma TV, a top-of-the-line personal computer, a countless number of video games, and his own bathroom located in this very own office suite. He has it all, except a family. A team of executives decide what school he will attend, who his friends should be, and even who the best choice for a date would be. Jaiden lives in an office building, must attend morning staff meetings, and eat his meals in the corporate cafeteria.
Nick just wants to impress his girlfriend, Jen. With very little money and barely any free time, Nick thinks he has found a way to keep his beautiful, wealthy, and talented athlete girlfriend. A cell phone is the answer! After months of saving up his hard-earned money, Nick goes to a phone store in a crummy part of town. Once there, he simply wants the cheapest and most basic phone. The phone Nick ends up with is definitely cheap, but is anything but basic! For starters, the phone has no caller id (that’s why it is so cheap!). You might think, “So what.” Well if you started getting very strange calls from someone claiming to be from hell, caller id becomes very important. Oh, did I forget to mention that the phone is also used. Day and night, Nick starts receiving calls from demanding, disturbing strangers. He knows he should get rid of this bizarre phone, but without it he will lose his girlfriend. Swiftly Nick gets sucked into an evil plot of murder and betrayal by Fleck, the man from hell on the other end of the phone. In the end, Nick assists this fiend in escaping from hell. With gruesome detail, William Sleator (the author), describes the condition Fleck arrives in from hell — not pretty! Once loose from hell, Fleck coerces Nick into assisting him in a plot to murder his cousin, Rusty, who is stealing his sister, Lola’s inheritance. How has such a good kid like Nick turned into a thief, con artist, and murderer? Will Nick be able to send these people back where they belong or will he be joining them in HELL! Part mystery, part adventure, part science fiction, Hell Phone will make you start wondering what devilish things could happen on your cell phone?
“We just choose a club that’s so boring, nobody in their right mind would ever in a million years join it. We could call it Geography Club!”Just then, someone knocked at the door to our classroom.“Oops,” Terese said, her eyes widening in mock horror. “Too loud.”We all stifled our smiles best as we could (and Kevin pulled away from me at last), and Min went to answer the door.“Yeah?” she said.It was a large black girl in a bright orange sweater with a matching orange headband in her hair. She was a junior and, a member of the orchestra which put her somewhere between the Computer Geeks and the Lefty Radicals in terms of popularity (closer to the Computer Geeks).“Is this the Geography Club?” she said.“Yeah,” said Min. “Sorry if we were a little loud.”“It’s not that,” said the girl.“Then what?”“Well, I wanted to know how I could go about joining.”Russel Middlebrook thought that he was the only gay guy at Goodkind High School. Boy was he ever wrong. When he discovers that many of his friends are just like him, Russel decides that they have to find a way of hanging out together. Maybe a school club would be good. Something boring like the Geography Club that no one would ever suspect. This “secret” group works out well until the great divide over allowing the school scapegoat into the group. He will take the fall for being outed and get the rest of the Geography Club off the hook. Russel has to make some tough decisions like choosing between old friends and a new boyfriend or what feels right and what makes him happy. There is still a lot of growing up that Russel needs to do. He discovers that peer pressure can either feed bullying and cruelty or help stop it in its tracks. It is the decision that Russel has to make for himself.
How many of you have ever moved and attended a new school? How many of you like rain? You may ask what this has to do with anything, but it is important to Isabella (Bella) Swan. She has chosen to move from bright, sunny Phoenix, Arizona to rainy, dreary Forks, Washington. Forks is where her dad, Charlie, lives. Bella’s parents are divorced and she decides to spend some time with her dad. The new school isn’t so bad and she has even made a few friends. Except for Edward Cullen, things seem to be moving along smoothly. For some very strange reason, Bella is attracted to this pale, black-eyed, gorgeous looking guy. Not having much dating experience, she is uncertain about this hot and cold behavior toward her. Bella and Edward seem to be attracted to each other as if by animal-like attraction. This couldn’t be closer to the truth! Beautiful Edward is a vampire and Bella knows it.
