Feathered by Laura Kasischke.

Feathered by Laura Kasischke.
HarperTeen, 2008, 261p, $17.89, 978-0060813178.

There is a sense of foreboding from the start. Three senior girls from suburban Glendale, Illinois fly off to Cancun for Spring break. Terri gets into the bacchanal-like teen environment right away at the Hotel del Sol where the three are staying. Anne and Michelle are more cautious, delighting in the gorgeous sunsets and turquoise ocean. When they meet a friendly stranger in the tiki bar of the hotel and accept a ride with him to visit the ancient Mayan ruins, things start to shift. Anne is apprehensive but Michelle feels a connection to Mr. Anders. In alternating chapters, Anne tells the story from her first person perspective and Michelle’s chapters are in the third person. Although the reader knows something awful has already happened since the plot is a flashback, things are not always what they seem. This cautionary tale infuses suburban teen naiveté, Mayan myths, and the harsh realities of modern life. The writing is both lyrical and eerie. It makes the reader want to yell at the book as people sometimes do at movie screens, “DON'T GO THERE!” The book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it. This is an excellent selection for high school libraries and recommended for Tristate Books of Note.

Game. by Walter Dean Myers

Myers, Walter Dean. Game.
Harper Teen, 2008, $17.89, 218p, 978-0-06-058295-1
Realistic fiction

The Game by Walter Dean Myers is another hit for the award winning author. In this tile, Harlem High School senior Drew Lawson, a young black man, dreams of making it big in The National Basketball Association (NBA). Drew’s dreams of making it into the NBA, include him being scouted by a Division I university to play. Even though the odds of making it big in the NBA are slim, Drew’s determination and strong character keep him going. Since this is a big dream for him, Drew stays away from street gangs and the brutal streets of Harlem. Drew comes from a strong family and this stability helps him focus on what is important and that is him playing the game his way. Drew knows that since he is not the best student academically, he needs to focus on his athleticism to get him through to success. After seeing life on the streets in Harlem, Drew realizes that he must stay focused on his game in order to overcome what life would be like as a Harlem teenager on the streets.

Even though Drew is the star of his basketball team, his coach brings in a new white player for offense and he’s afraid that this new player will interfere with his chances of making it big and being seen by college scouts. Needing to overcome his fear and thoughts of his coach sabotaging his chances of making it big, Drew’s dedication paid off when DePaul University, a Division I school, offered him a full-scholarship to play basketball for them.

The author provides readers with basketball insight and game highlights and this makes one feel as if you are on the court. Since the author provides substantial game details, basketball and sports enthusiasts will appreciate this title and it will make them feel like they are a part of the game. Readers will cheer for Drew throughout the title. CFM

The jigsaw puzzle of life.

Ephron, Delia. Frannie in Pieces.
Harper Teen, 2007. 374p $17.89 978-0-06-074717-6
Realistic Fiction

Frannie in Pieces by Delia Ephron is the story of a fifteen-year old girl, Frannie, whose father has recently died. Her parents are divorced and Frannie had cherished her time with her dad and identified strongly with him. When she goes though her dad’s studio after his death, she finds a fancy wooden box with her own name on it hidden away. Inside it is a handmade jigsaw puzzle. She believes it is a present for her and keeping it hidden from her family, she begins putting the puzzle together. In the wee hours, sleep deprived after working on the puzzle for hours, Frannie finds herself in the puzzle. By the conclusion of the story, she has sorted out some things pertaining to the puzzle and to her life.
Ephron writes in a fairly realistic young teenage voice. The story holds the reader’s attention and entertains. The story contains humor, mystery, romance, and some magical realism. Lessons about relationships with family and friends are sensitively presented. It is a quick and easily read.
CFM

My Mother the Cheerleader.

Sharenow, Robert. My Mother the Cheerleader.
Harper Teen, 2007. $17.89 288p 978-0-06-114897-2 Realistic Fiction

The title of this gripping first novel has nothing to do with football or cheerleaders and everything to do with a young girl, an “almost never good mother” and “an unprecedented act of bravery.” Thirteen-year-old Louise Collins lives in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans in 1960, the year that six-year old Ruby Bridges becomes the first African-American student at the William Franz Elementary School. Louise’s mother, Pauline, has pulled her out of the school to protest the attempted integration and puts her to work in the run-down boardinghouse that she manages. The eyes of the nation are focused not only on Ruby, but on Pauline and a group of women known as The Cheerleaders, who taunt and threaten Ruby every morning on her way into school. Louise notes that her mother’s cheers were so foul that they could not be printed in the newspaper. Into this maelstrom comes Morgan Miller, a New York writer and editor and friend of John Steinbeck who has come back to his boyhood home to mend fences with an estranged brother and to witness the events at Franz Elementary. In the few days that Miller rents a room from Pauline, both Louise, and Pauline find themselves attracted to Miller, until Pauline discovers Miller’s background. This places him in danger with the good old boys who oppose integration. Miller’s probing questions unearth a secret that Pauline has been keeping and after his car has been found abandoned and burned, compels her to reexamine her association with The Cheerleaders and to sever all relationship with them, an act that, Louise notes, was “a true act of courage.” Louise is an honest narrator whose observant voice accurately captures the turmoil in both her life and in the Ninth Ward. This topic is one-of-a-kind and would appeal to many, but editorial decisions may limit its readership. The larger size font may not make this title a first choice for older students. They may consider it to be too juvenile, while brief sexually suggestive dialog may make this a questionable purchase for most middle school students. Realistic fiction
Recommended for high school students due to brief sexual innuendo. RZ