Title Page

1. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
2. Animal Farm by George Orwell
3. Brand New Eyes by Paramore
4. The Breakfast Club by John Hughes
5. Castle in the Sky, Volume 1 by Hayao Miyazaki
6. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
7. Centerfield by Robert Lipsyte
8. Choose Your Own Adventure- Space and Beyond by R.A. Montgomery
9. Clueless by Amy Heckerling
10. Crank by Ellen Hopkins
11. Crazy For You by Best Coast
12. Cut by Patricia McCormick
13. The Duff by Kody Keplinger
14. EbscoHost via Buena Park Library District 
15. Ferris Bueller's Day Off by John Hughes
16. Forever by Judy Blume
17. Girl, Stolen by April Henry
18. Go Ask Alice
19. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
20. Halo by X-box
21. Heat by Mike Lupica
22. HelpNow! powered by Brainfuse
23. Hope in Patience by Beth Fehlbaum
24. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
25. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
26. Kick Me by Paul Fieg
27. LearningExpress Library Database
28. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan 
29. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Lorene Scafaria
30. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow 
31. Looking for Alaska by John Green
32. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
33. Mario Power Tennis on Nintendo Wii
34.  Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Lorene Scafaria 
35. The Outsiders H.E. Hinton
36. Peach Girl by Miwa Ueda
37. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
38. Rebound by Yuriko Nishiyama
39. Seventeen Magazine
40. Slam Magazine
41. Smashed by Koren Zailckas
42. Speak by Laurie Andersoon
43. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Cutcher
44. Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith
45. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
46. Trash by Andy Mulligan
47. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
48. Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend
49. Wintergirls by Laurie Anderson
50. Yu-Gi-Oh! Volume 4 by Naoyuki Kageyama & Kazuki Takahashi

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
Young Adult Classic Novel
ISBN: 0-684-80152-3
216 pp.
Suitable 14+

Readers Annotation: Wealthy Jay Gatsby is in love with already married, but beautiful Daisy Buchanan in this 1920s classic.

Plot Summary: Nick Carraway is a young veteran and bachelor that has moved to New York City, the wealthy West Egg, to be exact, in order to learn the bond business. His next door neighbor who throws lavish parties with hundreds of people attending is the mysterious and wealthy Jay Gatsby. Nick and Gatsby form an interesting friendship and through telling each other's pasts, they find out that they were in the army together and Gatsby has been in love with his cousin, Daisy for many years. Beautiful yet pampered and materialistic, Daisy lives with her wealthy husband Tom in East Egg. When Gatsby joins Nick at their mansion, drama ensues between Gatsby, Daisy and her husband. Egos clash, reputations are tarnished and Tom's mistress gets ran over in a confusion of events when Daisy leaves with Gatsby in Tom's roadster. Like Gatsby's parties, this event causes a chain reaction of memorable events and themes that makes this novel a classic.

Critical Evaluation: Though on the surface this book may seem like a simple love affair between Daisy and Gatsby. But it has become a symbol for the disintegrating American dream, which is replaced by materialistic excess such as Gatsby's lavish parties and jazz music. The West Egg represents the new money where excess replaces moral values. The East Egg represents old money and older American values. Greed and lust are shown in both Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. They both want something they can't have and believe it or not, money can't solve this issue but having a heart and values, both of which they all lack, could. Nick observes all this just like we, the reader, and serves his purpose well, being lost in the middle of it all. The pacing is very steady covering a few months time and the language is surprisingly timeless. Through all the glitzy glamour, inflated egos, and wealthy excess, it is in the end morally hollow, filled with hypocrisy and lacking values and something worthwhile; therefore excess can only go so far.

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in Minnesota in 1896. He attended the prestigious Princeton University and published his first novel, This Side of Paradise, in 1920. He married Zelda Sayre and entered the new stratosphere of wealthy celebrities. His other novels include The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby, and Tender is the Night.

Fitzgerald died in 1940 at the modest age of only 44 years old while working on The Love of the Last Tycoon. Fitzgerald will always be known for his sharp insight and social awareness. He stands out as one of the most important American writers of the 20th century.

Booktalking Ideas:

1) Money
2) Greed
3) Social circles
4) Love affairs
5) New versus old money
6) Death and suicide
7) Excess

Challenge Issues: Due to some sexual reference and language throughout the book there are some challenge issues.

A librarian should state that the ALA mission is "to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all," which is embodied in the Library Bill of Rights, the Association's basic policy on free access to libraries and library materials. Librarians must act as an extension, making sure that they educate the general public, and themselves, about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries.

Why Included: I read this in high school and its theme has always stayed with me. Money can not do everything.

Girl, Stolen by April Henry

Girl, Stolen by April Henry
Young Adult Action/Thriller Novel
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9005-5
213 pp.
Suitable 15+

Readers Annotation: A blind sixteen year old girl with pneumonia is kidnapped by accident-she's also the daughter of the president of Nike.

Plot Summary: Cheyenne is a blind sixteen year old girl. When her step-mom decides to leave her in the car with the keys in the ignition while she does some errands at the shopping mall, Griffin, an older teen decides to snag the car only to find Cheyenne sleeping in the backseat. Griffin decides to continue with the stolen car, taking her and the pricey Cadillac Escalade to the back woods where his father runs a dirty chop shop where they make money off stolen cars. His father and his two dim-witted colleagues don't know what to do with Cheyenne until they discover on television that she is the daughter of the President of Nike. That's when they decide to hold her for ransom...or else. The thing is that Griffin develops feelings for Cheyenne but the others just see dollar signs. As a deal gets reached, the stakes for all these characters are upped a notch in each of their own ways in this thriller.

Critical Evaluation: This book is a thriller from the first page. There is hardly any exposition at all feeling like your on the ride from the get-go. Only through later flashbacks and thoughts do we learn more about the two main character's back story. Interestingly enough, these two characters are both protagonists even one is good and the other technically bad; yet they are both likeable and the reader cheers for each of them to overcome their own obstacles. Even though these two have feelings for one another seems cliche, the fact that they each have their own unique battles, Cheyenne being blind for example, and the fact that there are some unpredictable twists and turns throughout definitely help compensate. The pacing is fast, just taking place over a couple of days with short chapters keeping scenes short and reluctant readers interested. The two main characters are developed and the reader gets a little taste from the very descriptive language throughout of what it feels to be blind and the thinking involved. The reader gets an appreciation from not only the plot but being able to use all five senses that show that you can overcome anything if you just stick it through.

Author: April Henry was born in 1959 in Oregon. Author Roald Dahl helped Henry make her first steps as an author when she submitted a short story about a frog who like peanut butter. Dahl met with an editor and published her story. She is the acclaimed author for her mysteries, thrillers, and young adult novels.

Her novel, Face of Betrayal, which she cowrote with Lis Wiehl, was a New York Times bestseller. Henry even found the blind girl whose brief kidnapping inspired her novel, Girl, Stolen. Henry continues to work with Wiehl for their collaboration the Triple Threat Mystery series. She currently lives in Oregon with her family.

Booktalking Ideas:
1) Blindness
2) Kidnapping
3) Ransom
4) Wealth versus poverty
5) Chop shops
6) Family
7) Death

Challenge Issues: Due to some depictions of graphic violence, deaths, and even attempted rape, there are challenge issues throughout.

A librarian should state that the ALA mission is "to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all," which is embodied in the Library Bill of Rights, the Association's basic policy on free access to libraries and library materials. Librarians must act as an extension, making sure that they educate the general public, and themselves, about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries.

Why Included: When I saw the description of this book on Amazon, I knew I had to read it. It's exactly as advertised.