This is a novel about obsession. I often like to approach novels I am unfamiliar with by just plunging into the first page, rather than read the dusk jacket. I am so glad I did with this one. I was pleasantly surprised when my predictions as I read turned out all wrong. I like being fooled and outwitted by a good book. Never did I expect the twists and turns in this book!

Sym is an awkward teenager. She doesn’t fit in at school. The other girls think she is a prude because she hasn’t had a boyfriend, a first kiss and especially not sex. Sym is okay with all this. She knows she is not ready and doesn’t rush to do anything just to fit in. She is also going deaf. To make things worse her father is dead. He lost his mind and the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. Poor Sym was there through it all. Even when he forgot who she was. She develops an imaginary friend to help her cope with her loneliness (”Titus” Oates a famous explorer of the Antarctic.)

Thank heavens for Uncle Victor, though. He pays for the funeral and moves in with Sym and her mom. He has always been someone Sym has looked up to. A very smart man, he encourages Sym’s fascination in Antartica. He invites Sym and her mom on a trip to Paris, but at the last minute Sym’s mom can’t find her passport and must stay behind. Uncle Victor says it will be even better this way. At this point I started worrying that this book may be a Lolita spinoff. Older man likes younger girl and buys her affection with material objects and attention. After a few days in Paris, Uncle Victor begins to reveal bigger plans. They are going on a two week trip to Antarctica. Sym wants to call home, but Victor has destroyed the cell phone. To be honest, I don’t quite understand why she stays with him instead of seeking help. I suppose a naive teenager in another country with no one to turn to…maybe staying with Victor was the only option she thought was available to her.

After arriving in Antarctica, Sym starts to see Uncle Victor for what he really is: an obsessed mad man. He secretly starts poisoning all the other people on the tour so he can be left alone with his accomplices to find Symme’s hole. He believes this undiscovered hole leads to a hollow inner world filled with people and animals inside the Earth. Sym is to be sacrificed to the hole to start a new community while Victor goes back to report his findings to the world. Absurd as it is, Uncle Victor has been planning this adventure for some time. In fact, we soon see that it was Uncle Victor who poisoned Sym’s father when he didn’t agree with letting Sym be sacrificed. It was Victor who caused Sym to become deaf by giving her too many antibiotics in preparation for life inside Symme’s hole.

In the end, they reach “Symme’s hole.” Victor is so ecstatic that he climbs into an opening in the ice. Sym tries to convince him it’s a bad idea, but he thinks she is crazy and jumps right in. It is pitch black inside and so deep that Sym doesn’t even hear a thunk when he hits the bottom. She is left alone with her imaginary friend to make it back to civilization. Without Titus to turn to, she never would have made it. He guides her and she eventually finds rescue. After her rescue, we can see that Sym is a whole new person. Mature. Self-reliant. Hopeful. Free from the bonds that held her.

I just loved this book. In fact I got all my kids to read it, a 7 year old, 10 year old, and 12 year old. Each said they really liked it. My 12 year old asked why there are more books like this for her to read. Sara Varon did an outstanding job with her wordless graphic novel Robot Dreams. The main character, Dog, is lonely and sends off for a kit to make his own robot. Robot becomes his best friend. They watch movies and hang out together. Problems start when they go to the beach. Both Dog and Robot have fun in the water. It isn’t until Robot lays down to rest that they both realize something is terribly wrong. Robot cannot move! He is rusted over and Dog is not strong enough to move him. While Dog sets off to figure out how to rescue Robot, we see Robot’s dreams. By the time Dog returns, the beach has been closed for the season and the only thing Dog can think to do is wait. Meanwhile, Rabbits have discovered Robot and start taking some of his parts. Alone and lonely, Dog tries to make new friends while Robot is left to dream about the future and the past. One day, Monkey finds Robot and takes him to the junkyard. Raccoon the owner of the junkyard takes a liking to Robot and repairs him, turning him into a musical robot. When the beach is finally opened, Dog rushes back to save Robot, but it is too late and he can’t find him anywhere. Dog decides to make a new robot, but things are not the same until their paths cross once again. This was a fun feel good story about friendship. I like that the book was wordless, making it up to me how I decide to word the story.

Fanboy is your typical “bored with life” teenager.  He is a loner.  He has a list that he keeps of people who piss him off.  His only friend is Cal, an athlete with a closet enjoyment of comic books he shares with Fanboy. His mother is remarried to the “Step-fascist.”  And pregnant (oh the horror.)  He hates being around his parents, he hates school.  The only thing he doesn’t hate is his computer and comics until he meets Goth Girl.  She sees some of the jocks picking on him at school and that night IMs him.  He thinks it is a prank at first, until she sends him pictures from her cell phone taken during the beating.  After arranging a meeting, they decide they have a lot in common and start hanging out.  Goth Girl is full of complexities.  She is usually not very honest with him, more out of self preservation rather than actually trying to be cruel to him.  At the same time his best friend Cal is absorbed with sports and is hanging out with the jocks more and more.  He shares his dream of publishing his own graphic novel.  She supports him and stands up for him when he goes to meet his idol and things don’t turn out how he had planned.  This book reminds me a little of what happened at Columbine.  It looks at how badly some kids are treated while other students and adults turn a blind eye and ignore it hoping it will go away.  Along the way he realizes how much he liked Kyra (aka Goth Girl) as more than just a friend, but she is moody and emotional and tries to push him away.  Will they end up together?  What about Cal…has he decided it is better to be a jock than be friends with Fanboy?

This book is a collection of descriptions of women suffering from eating disorders. Based on another book, Girl Power, and an artwork exhibit by Lauren Greenfield, this work focuses on an issue many American teens are facing: being THIN. Based on the response Greenfield got from her first book and artwork, she decided to explore more deeply into the world of anorexia and bulimia. Girls and women seeking treatment at Renfrew Treatment Facility were photographed. These large colorful photographs are dispersed throughout the book documenting their physical appearance. Shocking images of girls weighing around 70 pounds as well as images of self-mutilation are present. Accompanying most pictures is a description of how each girl developed an eating disorder. Many were sexually abused, most had someone close to them criticize them for being fat. I had this book out and immediately my teenage daughter was drawn to the book and picked it up and started reading it. I think books like this need to be available to teenagers, so they know they are not alone. So many people have issues with eating and sometimes only through professional help are they able to recover. I liked the fact that older ladies (in their 40s+) were included to show this is not just an issue of being a teen. It is a serious problem, even adults struggle with. It was also very realistic. As patients are released back into mainstream society, we see how they are coping with their eating disorder. The last image we are left with is of Shelly. It is sad to see. She has gone from being admitted into the clinic with a feeding tube surgically implanted in her stomach and weighing 56 lbs to being over 100 lbs at the clinic to being home again and need a feeding tube due to her drastic weight loss. I think readers will walk away from this book thinking, I can never let this happen to me. And…is there anyone I know who is exhibiting the signs of an eating disorder who needs my help?

It had been a while since I had read the tale of Beowulf back in English 4 my junior year of high school. I remembered the basics, but I also remembered reading them dryly from the page. That certainly was not the case with Gareth Hinds’ graphic novel version of Beowulf. The format of this book will appeal to teens, making this old tale a new found story of heroism for many. I am not a big graphic novel reader and at times I found it hard to follow the pictures. Not quite sure how to follow them across the pages. The text boxes and graphics boxes were often irregularly shaped and it was hard to determine which went first. I was also overwhelmed by the fight scenes which went on for many frames. That being said, today’s teens are used to a huge amount of stimulating material thrown at them at the same time. I think they will love the fast pace of the story line. I thoroughly enjoyed this illustrated version of Beowulf. I found it easy to read with just the right amount of traditional language. Hinds did a wonderful job with the illustrations for this book. Beowulf’s bravery, courage and valor show readers what a true superhero is.

When Stephanie’s uncle suddenly dies, she is transported into a world she never knew existed.  After his funeral she is alone in the her uncle’s house when something comes knocking on the door.  She is scared and doesn’t know what she will do when it breaks the glass and comes intruding in.  But then, Skullduggery is there…getting rid of this intruder for her.  The first time she saw him was at her uncle’s funeral.  He was odd- dressed in a full length trench coat , hat, scarf, sunglasses and gloves despite the hot weather.  In the scuffle, Skullduggery loses his had and immediately Stephanie realizes why he was so covered up.  He is a walking, talking skeleton!  He introduces himself as a detective and friend of her uncles.  Regardless of his strange appearance, Stephanie likes him and decides to trust what he tells her.  There is a war raging between good and evil and Skullduggery tells Stephanie he thinks her uncle’s death was not an accident.  It turns out he was involved in magic and was hiding something very important…the scepter.  Skullduggery tries to talk Stephanie out of accompanying him on this mission, but she is stubborn and adventurous.  As she becomes more involved in this parallel world, she uncovers the fact that magic runs in her family.  In the midst of everything, Skullduggery Pleasant is kidnapped.  Working together with Tanith, Gastly and two Cleavers, Stephanie and the others storm Serpine’s house.  In the end, they must go to the caves to use the secret key to reveal the scepter.  It is a race against time as good versus evil both try to reach the caves first.  She finds herself separated from Skullduggery, but this leads to an advantage.  She is able to approach Serpine from behind and distract him long enough for Skullduggery to grab the scepter and use it on Serpine.  At the end Stephanie is recovering from attack and we see she is also honing her magic skills.  The teaser at the end of the novel, had me ready to race out and get book two: Skullduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire.

This books was funny and fast paced.  It reminds me of The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.  However this book was more fun.  Both have teenager main characters on adventure that will ultimately save the world.  The dry humor, British accents, hilarious mentor (Skullduggery) set this book at the top of my list for must reads.  I heard from my professor Dr. Lesesne that the audio for this book was outstanding.  While I did not purchase the audio for this book, I did go online and listen to a free sample of the audio from www.skullduggerypleasant.com/us .  I immediately considered buying the audio and listening to it all over again.

Sophie and Josh are your ordinary twins, until one day a strange car pulls up outside of the shops they work at. Immediately they know something is wrong. The smell of rotten eggs fills the air as strange gray “men” get out of the car. These men go into to Nicholas Flemming’s store and Josh is stunned to see magic flowing from the fingers of Dr. Dee as he attacks Nicholas. It turns out, both Dee and Flemming (aka Flamel) are immortal. The twins come to the rescue of Flamel and he sweeps them off to safety, however Flamel’s wife Perenelle is not so lucky. Dee kidnaps her along with the most powerful book in the world…The Codex. Flamel quickly explains that he has been the guardian of the book and since the kids are too involved to go back to their ordinary lives, they must stay with him until things have settled down. Before long another motive is revealed. The Codex, prophesized that twins would save the world or destroy it. Flamel works as their guide and teacher and takes them to Awaken their magical powers. Dee keeps interfering and Flamel, the twins, and their friend Scatty must battle against all kinds of Elders, undead, and mythological animals. I enjoyed reading so many familiar names of gods and goddesses and mythological creatures. I was surprised by the author’s footnotes about just how much of the book is based on fact. Teens will enjoy reading about their favorite mythological characters such as vampires, werewolves, and the sphinx. In the end, the reader is left anxiously awaiting book two: The Magician. 

Any girl can relate to this funny well written book about love and heartache and starting over again. Jennifer Lewis has the perfect life, until her boyfriend dumps her without any warning. She is heart broken and depressed about losing the love of her life. Since she can’t think of a reason why Max left her, she starts to find fault in her self. That’s when Nana comes to the rescue. After hearing a talk radio program about a new self help book called The Breakup Bible, Nana buys it to help Jen get over Max. At first Jen finds the book

ridiculous, but the more depressed she becomes the more she realizes maybe there is something good in this book. To distract herself from thinking about Max, she pours all her energy into an article she is writing about race relations at her high school. Her school sponsor is so impressed with her that he recommends her for an internship at The New York Times. Things start to look up for her when her father sets her up on a blind date. Gene is sweet and funny and Jen really hits it off with him…until he kisses her and all she can think about is Max. She begins to fear that she will never get over Max, when all of a sudden she realizes she never really knew him at all. After taking some heat over the controversial article she has written for the paper, Max approaches Jen and accuses her of retaliation for dumping her. Shocked, she can’t believe that he could ever think she would be so cruel. At that point, a switch turns off and Jen decides Max was never right for her after all. The novel ends, full of hope. Will Jennifer get the internship? What happens with Gene? Is Max out of her life for good? Readers will be joining “Team Jennifer,” and cheering her on right up until the last page.

The format of this book is incredibly appealing. At over 500 pages, it might be intimidating to a young reader until they pick it up and flip through the pages. Selznick’s book is a graphic novel told in pages of words alternating with pages of black and white drawings. It was a quick read, despite the length and I highly enjoyed reading it.

Hugo is an orphan. After his father died he has been hiding in a train station, maintaining the clocks in the building. The only thing he has left from his father is a broken automaton and the dream of repairing it. Hugo tries his best to fend for himself. He often has to steal food and parts for his repairs from a local toyshop. One day Hugo befriends the toyshop owner’s goddaughter at the movie theater. Later, he is caught stealing by Georges Melies, the shop owner. Georges takes Hugo’s sketch book as a penance for the theft. More than anything Hugo wants his sketch book back, so he begins to work for the shopkeeper to earn it back. Through the help of his new friend, Hugo is able to get his sketch book and repair the automaton. Once they turn on the automaton, it begins to draw a picture and write out a message. Hugo can’t wait to see what it creates. He is shocked to find at the bottom of the picture the automaton has signed Georges Melies’ name. A mystery is to be uncovered. What role did Georges play in the creation of the automaton? Why did it draw a scene from Hugo’s father’s favorite movie? The fast paced ending had me glued to my seat, eager to find out what would become of Hugo Cabret.