Book+Club+Choices+Eighth+Grade+English+2013

** What grabs you? Star it. ** The Replacement, by Brenda Yavonoff
 * First Lines of Each Book **
 * “I don’t remember any of the true, important parts, but there’s this dream I have. Everything is cold and branches scrape the window screen.”

“The monster showed up at midnight. As they do.” A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

“Patrick’s house was a ghost. Dust coated the windows, the petunias in the flower boxes bowed their heads, and spiderwebs clotted the eaves of the porch.” Shine by Lauren Myracle

“So. Eighth grade. Second semester. New state. Math was math - algebra, of course. They always stick the Asian kid in the algebra class.” Zen and the Art of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick

“They were taking Jonas. My beautiful, sweet brother who shooed bugs out of the house instead of stepping on them, who gave his little ruler to splint a crotchety old man’s leg.” Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys ||


 * The Replacement by Rebecca Yavonoff **


 * Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world. **


 * Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs. **


 * Edward Scissorhands meets The Catcher in the Rye in this wildly imaginative and frighteningly beautiful horror novel about an unusual boy and his search for a place to belong. **


 * Click [|__here__] for book cover and more info **
 * A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness **


 * There's no denying it: this is one profoundly sad story. But it's also wise, darkly funny and brave, told in spare sentences, punctuated with fantastic images and stirring silences. Past his sorrow, fright and rage, Conor ultimately lands in a place - an imperfect one, of course - where healing can begin. A MONSTER CALLS is a gift from a generous story­teller and a potent piece of art. **
 * —The New York Times **


 * A nuanced tale that draws on elements of classic horror stories to delve into the terrifying terrain of loss. . . . Ness brilliantly captures Conor's horrifying emotional ride as his mother's inevitable death approaches. In an ideal pairing of text and illustration, the novel is liberally laced with Kay's evocatively textured pen-and-ink artwork, which surrounds the text, softly caressing it in quiet moments and in others rushing toward the viewer with a nightmarish intensity.A poignant tribute to the life and talent of Siobhan Dowd and an astonishing exploration of fear. **
 * —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) **


 * Profoundly moving, expertly crafted tale... a singular masterpiece, exceptionally well-served by Kay's atmospheric and ominous illustrations... tackles the toughest of subjects by refusing to flinch, meeting the ugly truth about life head-on with compassion, bravery, and insight. **


 * —Publishers Weekly (starred review) **


 * A brilliantly executed, powerful tale. **
 * —School Library Journal (starred review) **


 * Ness twists out a resolution that is revelatory in its obviousness, beautiful in its execution, and fearless in its honesty. Kays artwork keeps the pace, gnawing at the edges of the pages with thundercloud shadows and keeping the monster just barely, terribly seeable. **
 * —Booklist (starred review) **


 * Click [|__here__] to see the front cover and more info **


 * Shine by Lauren Myracle **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">When her best guy friend falls victim to what seems like a vicious hate crime, 16-year-old Cat sets out to discover who in her small town did it. Richly atmospheric, this daring mystery mines the secrets of a tightly knit Southern community and examines the strength of will it takes to go against everyone you know in the name of justice. **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Against a backdrop of poverty, clannishness, drugs, and intolerance, Myracle has crafted a harrowing coming-of-age tale couched in a deeply intelligent mystery. Smart, fearless, and compassionate, this is an unforgettable work from a beloved author. (Amazon.com) **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">When her gay best friend is brutally beaten in contemporary Black Creek, N.C., a withdrawn teen tracks his assailant. Different from other kids in their ignorant, poverty-stricken, backwoods community, 16-year-old Cat and 17-year-old Patrick have been “kindred spirits” since childhood. Growing up with a drunken father, a well-meaning aunt and an older brother she no longer trusts, Cat was “full of light and life” until one of her brother’s “gay-bashing redneck” friends “messed” with her. For three years, Cat has blinded herself to everyone, including Patrick, convinced her “entire existence meant nothing.” But when Patrick’s beaten and left for dead at the convenience store where he works, a gasoline nozzle protruding from his mouth, an angry, guilt-ridden Cat knows she must open her eyes and “look straight into the ugliness and find out who hurt him.” Cat describes her relentless, determined investigation in the first person, proceeding day by day over a period of two and a half weeks, allowing readers to gradually absorb the complex, twisted relationships, shocking evidence, disturbing memories and gritty atmosphere. Motivated to solve the horrific hate crime, Cat eventually uncovers the truth in a cliffhanging climax in which she confronts fear, discovers that love is stronger than hate and truly “shines.” Raw, realistic and compelling.(Fiction. 14 & up) **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Click [|__here__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> for more info **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Front Cover: **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys **

** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">From [|__Booklist -__] **

 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">*Starred Review* Sepetys' first novel offers a harrowing and horrifying account of the forcible relocation of countless Lithuanians in the wake of the Russian invasion of their country in 1939. In the case of 16-year-old Lina, her mother, and her younger brother, this means deportation to a forced-labor camp in Siberia, where conditions are all too painfully similar to those of Nazi concentration camps. Lina's great hope is that somehow her father, who has already been arrested by the Soviet secret police, might find and rescue them. A gifted artist, she begins secretly creating pictures that can--she hopes--be surreptitiously sent to him in his own prison camp. Whether or not this will be possible, it is her art that will be her salvation, helping her to retain her identity, her dignity, and her increasingly tenuous hold on hope for the future. Many others are not so fortunate. Sepetys, the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee, estimates that the Baltic States lost more than one-third of their populations during the Russian genocide. Though many continue to deny this happened, Sepetys' beautifully written and deeply felt novel proves the reality is otherwise. Hers is an important book that deserves the widest possible readership. Grades 7-12. --Michael Cart **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Click [|__here__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> for front cover and more info **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Zen and the Art of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Author Jordan Sonnenblick has done it again. ZEN AND THE ART OF FAKING IT gets the up and downs and total frustration of being a teen just right. **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">San Lee's life has been full of new towns and new schools, but this one upsets him more than all of the others combined. This time, instead of having his dad uproot the family in search of his latest scheme, it is just San and his mother because his dad is in prison. **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Not particularly successful at anything in the past, San has frequently used negative behavior to get attention. Being Oriental and adopted by a white couple has not always made things easy. Now with his father serving time for his shady business dealings, San finds himself feeling the need to get things right this time. **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Faced with not only a new school and trying to fit in, but also with Wednesday night phone calls from a convict father he never wants to talk to again, San is ready to try just about anything. With his mother working long hours to make ends meet, he decides he needs a gimmick to win some friends and positively influence some people. Thanks to his new social studies teacher, the door to Zen Buddhism opens wide. **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">San's well-worn clothes and tattered sandals become a great disguise as he steps into his role as the Zen expert of the eighth grade. With help from the local library, the perfect "meditation" rock right outside school, and his new friend, Woody, San fools everyone into believing his Buddhist philosophy. Although he seems to be fitting in and gaining popularity, he worries that faking it may make him like the father he has learned to detest. **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sonnenblick uses his humorous, straight-forward style to grab readers on page one, and whisk them into San's world. There are crazy antics, a touch of romance, family frustrations, and quite a bit of Buddhist information packed into this fast-paced read. If you haven't read Sonnenblick's other books, be sure to check out [|Drums, Girls, And Dangerous Pie] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> and [|Notes From The Midnight Driver] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">. **


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Click [|__here__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Droid Serif'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> for cover and more info **