Embedded Files
** Rating Key **
Audience: A = Adult Audience | YA = YA Audience
Content: D = Death/Grief | L = Strong Language | MH = Mental Health |
P = Political/Social Issues | S = Sexual Content/Relationships | SU = Substance Use | V = Violence
Fiction
Fiction
Audience: YA
Content: MH, P, V
All Better Now by Neal Shusterman
From the Publisher
* An Instant New York Times Bestseller *
From New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman comes a "thought-provoking and grimly enjoyable" (Kirkus Reviews) "epic biological thriller" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) about a world where happiness is contagious but the risks of catching it may be just as dangerous as the cure.
A deadly and unprecedented virus is spreading. But those who survive it experience long-term effects no one has ever seen before: utter contentment. Soon after infection, people find the stress, depression, greed, and other negative feelings that used to weigh them down are gone.
More and more people begin to revel in the mass unburdening. But not everyone. People in power--who depend on malcontents and prey on the insecure to sell their products and convince others they need more, new, faster, better everything--know this new state of being is bad for business. Surely, without anger or jealousy as motivators, productivity will grind to a halt and the world will be thrown into chaos. Campaigns start up to convince people that being eternally happy is dangerous. The race to find a vaccine begins. Meanwhile, a growing movement of Recoverees plans ways to spread the virus as fast as they can, in the name of saving the world.
It's nearly impossible to determine the truth when everyone with a platform is pushing their agenda. Three teens from very different backgrounds who've had their lives upended in very different ways find themselves at the center of a power play that could change humanity forever.
Audience: YA
Content: D, MA, P, S, SU
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
From the Publisher
This #1 New York Times bestselling coming-of-age story with millions of copies in print takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory.
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
A #1 New York Times bestseller for more than a year . . . and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000), this novel for teen readers (or wallflowers of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
Audience: A
Content: D, P
Arthur : the dog who crossed the jungle to find a home by Mikael Lindnord
From the Publisher
The uplifting true story of an extreme athlete, a stray dog, and how they found each other. "Heroic and heartwarming" (Forbes), this unbelievable adventure will make readers laugh, gasp, cry, and see rescue dogs with a whole new perspective.
When you're racing 435 miles through the jungles and mountains of South America, the last thing you need is a stray dog tagging along. But that's exactly what happened to Mikael Lindnord, captain of a Swedish adventure racing team, when he threw a scruffy but dignified mongrel a meatball one afternoon.
When the team left the next day, the dog followed. Try as they might, they couldn't lose him--and soon Mikael realized that he didn't want to. Crossing rivers, battling illness and injury, and struggling through some of the toughest terrain on the planet, the team and the dog walked, kayaked, cycled, and climbed together toward the finish line, where Mikael decided he would save the dog, now named Arthur, and bring him back to his family in Sweden, whatever it took. Illustrated with candid photographs, Arthur provides a testament to the amazing bond between dogs and people.
-- GRAPHIC NOVEL--
Audience: YA
Content: P, V
Bad Boy : a graphic memoir by Walter Dean Myers; adapted by Guy A. Sims and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile
From the Publisher
A gripping graphic memoir adaptation of iconic, multi-award-winning author Walter Dean Myers's autobiography, telling the story of his coming-of-age in Harlem, adapted by Guy A. Sims and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile.
Legendary author Walter Dean Myers was once a troublemaker and a truant.
Just how bad was he? From instigating mischievous pranks at home to fighting in the classroom--especially when teased about his speech impediment--irrepressible Walter was more than a handful. Underneath it all, he had a tremendous love for books, and by high school he longed to become a writer. But financial troubles at home made him feel his options were so limited that he dropped out of school. Still, his desire to write was as irrepressible as Walter himself. If he could only be given the chance...
Walter recounts what growing up in Harlem was like in the 1940s and 1950s--when seeing Langston Hughes and Sugar Ray Robinson on the street was the norm and Jackie Robinson ruled the baseball field.
Gripping. Funny. Heartbreaking. Walter Dean Myers's memoir is unforgettable. This is the award-winning story of one of the strongest voices in children's and young adult literature.
Audience: YA
Content: MH
I'm Just a Kid with an IEP : my story by Jordan Toma
From the Publisher
Jordan Toma is A Motivational Speaker, Financial Advisor and a real estate investor.
"But it hasn't always been this easy. My life has been a roller-coaster with this 'Learning Disability' and I let it control my confidence and outlook on life for the first 18 years. I let it define me - it became a permanent label stuck to my shirt every day. I will give you an idea of what I mean. You know when you are attending a conference and they give you a name tag to pin to your shirt? As far as I was concerned I had a permanent name tag. But mine said "You're not as smart as everyone else. You can't do this". This happened to me because of my experience in school and it grew roots into everything I did. I would feel helpless in class. I struggled to understand why I couldn't just pick up information like everyone else. I remember sitting in class telling myself I am going to try really hard to understand everything in class today just like everyone else and be a normal student, but I just couldn't grasp it! I was made fun of because sometimes I had to have special lessons. Other students, even so called "friends" called me dumb.
I let this problem control me until I graduated in 2008. I was accepted into a life changing program called The Step Ahead. I remember moving in filled with fear and anxiety. I went into the bathroom looked at myself in the mirror and promised myself I was going to change. I knew I couldn't let this label last forever. After that I started building a foundation of confidence and belief in myself brick by brick. It has brought me to where I am today.
This journey has just started for me but now I believe it's time to help young students that can relate to my story. My objective is to create the foundations of the belief, the confidence, the work ethic and everything that you need to become the best you can be now and not let anything ever get in your way. Now it's time to make up for lost time."
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