5 BBYA OR Quick Picks

THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins


Katniss Everdeen lives in the futuristic ruins of American called Panem. Life is very difficult here in District 12 where she calls home because the people are impoverished coal workers and many cannot afford to even feed their families. The extremely powerful Capitol has created the ultimate way to control its citizens: The Hunger Games, a fight to the death where a female and male between the ages of 12-18 are chosen to represent each district. Katniss must enter the games when her sister’s name is drawn as the female contestant from her district and she knows she must go for Prim could never survive. Her skill with a bow, hunting, and knowledge of plants will be her strength as she battles those from much richer districts who are prepared and trained illegally for the event. Matters are complicated when a boy she knows well, Peeta, is chosen as the other candidate at the Reaping. The games are a harrowing adventure full of violence, suspense, and survival for the twenty-four young people who wish to win and bring the glory to their district.

THE BROTHERS TORRES by Coert Voorhees

Francisco “Frankie” Torres is a New Mexican “half breed”. In his sophomore year he is faced with tough decisions. His brother Steven who seems to be the golden child: perfect looks, ace soccer player, ladies man, begins to mix his dangerous lifestyle up in his brother’s mostly innocent life. His normal idea of fun is blowing things up with his best friend whose not-so-loved nickname is “Cyclops” because he has one glass eye and has a nasty habit of popping it out and sucking on it. Frankie is having enough trouble as he tries to get the courage to ask his crush to the homecoming dance with his obvious lack of skills with the ladies, but the family’s financial troubles begin to take center stage as he learns the fate of the family restaurant. The drama comes to a crescendo at the homecoming dance when his brother finds out who his true friends are. Family ties, love, money, social standing, and young relationships make for a swirling story of young New Mexican life for these teens.

KENDRA by Coe Booth

Kendra is fourteen; the age her mother was when Kendra was born. Nana, her grandmother, has done her best to shelter Kendra from the evils of the projects where she is raising her, but Adonna, her aunt who is only a year her senior and the major influence of all things bad in her life, become too much for her to rise above. After her dreams of moving in with her mother die when her mom finishes her doctorate program, Kendra begins to experiment sexually which is something she’s never done. More disappointment comes when her mother doesn’t come see her work on the play where she designed the set, and a big bomb is dropped that actually ends up fixing most of the ills in her life. Nana forces her mother to take responsibility of Kendra when her misbehavior becomes such a disappointment to Nana that she must send her away; this move, however, seems to bh e the one thing that really fixes Kendra’s life in many ways- she finally gets a relationship with her mother and an appropriate relationship with her grandmother.

MEXICAN WHITEBOY by Matt de la Pena

Danny Lopez has a problem: he is too white to be Mexican and too Mexican to be white. He doesn’t fit at the fancy prep school he attends, and he certainly is an outsider with his dad’s Mexican family. He has had virtually no contact with his dad for several years since his parent’s divorce. His love is baseball, but he has not been able to make the team because although his pitches have clocked at upwards of 90 miles per hour he can’t seem to hit the glove at try-outs. When his mother announces her desire to move the family to her boyfriend’s upscale neighborhood for a trial run over the summer, Danny opts for the place he really wants to be accepted- his dad’s family’s apartment in VERY Mexican National City. Over the summer his life changes drastically: he finally gains real friends, begins to bond with others including another outsider named Uno who is also half Mexican but the other half is black. Uno’s split up family shows another parallel to the issues of kids who are in separated families. Danny’s summer ends with surprises as he finds out the truth about the mystery of his father’s absence.

SKIM by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

Kimberly Keiko Cameron is the star of this upper grades graphic novel set in the 90’s. Her mixed-race has caused her to feel disconnected from those around her, and her Goth style and Wicca come to replace holes in her after her parent’s divorce. Her confusion only grows as she pursues an odd relationship with her teacher, Ms. Archer, who seems to be the first person that understands Skim. As the school mourns over miss perfect, Katie’s, ex-boyfriend’s suicide the reader is entertained by Katie’s half-hearted attempts to take her own life, but then we realize that things were more complicated than first thought when light is shed on the fact that he killed himself because of his unaccepted homosexuality. Skim and Katie find each other during this awkward and sad time in their lives where being in the in-crowd can sometimes be the worst place to fall. The vulgar language and reality of the behavior of the characters speaks to those who have been through this awful time in their life.