Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Category: Historical Fiction
Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life--until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art, documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she imbeds clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along, hoping her drawings will make their way to her father's prison camp. But will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive?
Concerns: Based on a true Holocaust, there are some disturbing moments in this historical fiction.
Selling points: Multiple award winner. Very engaging read. Amazing story based on the authors' grandparents true story.
Price: $8.99 list.
$5.17 Amazon.
Common Sense Review: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/between-shades-of-gray
Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life--until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art, documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she imbeds clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along, hoping her drawings will make their way to her father's prison camp. But will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive?
Concerns: Based on a true Holocaust, there are some disturbing moments in this historical fiction.
Selling points: Multiple award winner. Very engaging read. Amazing story based on the authors' grandparents true story.
Price: $8.99 list.
$5.17 Amazon.
Common Sense Review: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/between-shades-of-gray
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Category: Realistic/Historical Fiction
Synopsis: Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.
When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.
As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?
A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called "a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel" inThe New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other.
Concerns: There are some uses of objectionable language; however, Common Sense Media notes, "swear words are used with well-targeted appropriateness in context -- it's wartime."
Selling points: The novel has won many awards and was recently featured in a piece on NPR chronicling women in war. A page-turner that will be popular with students and parents.
Price: $9.99 list.
$6.51 Amazon.
Common Sense Media Review: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/code-name-verity
Synopsis: Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.
When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.
As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?
A Michael L. Printz Award Honor book that was called "a fiendishly-plotted mind game of a novel" inThe New York Times, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other.
Concerns: There are some uses of objectionable language; however, Common Sense Media notes, "swear words are used with well-targeted appropriateness in context -- it's wartime."
Selling points: The novel has won many awards and was recently featured in a piece on NPR chronicling women in war. A page-turner that will be popular with students and parents.
Price: $9.99 list.
$6.51 Amazon.
Common Sense Media Review: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/code-name-verity
Hourglass by Myra McEntire
Category: Fantasy
Synopsis: One hour to rewrite the past . . .
For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.
So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.
Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?
Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.
Concerns: Questionable language, mostly the word "damn."
Selling points: The book is a part of a series, so hopefully students will choose to read additional books in the series.
Price: $9.99 list.
$8.75 Amazon.
Parents, Please note that as of June 9, 2015, this title is only available through Barnes & Noble as a Nook Book for $9.99. The publisher has gone out of business.
Update: As of July 6, 2015, this book does not appear to be available through any of the major outlets. The publisher has gone out business, and the electronic version appears to have been pulled. The book is currently still listed at abebooks.com and half.com. We are very sorry for the inconvenience. When we chose this book, we had no idea the publisher would go out of business.
Parent-Oriented Review: https://sites.google.com/site/parentalbookreviews//shadow/content-review-hourglass-by-myra-mcentire
Synopsis: One hour to rewrite the past . . .
For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.
So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.
Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?
Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.
Concerns: Questionable language, mostly the word "damn."
Selling points: The book is a part of a series, so hopefully students will choose to read additional books in the series.
Price: $9.99 list.
$8.75 Amazon.
Parents, Please note that as of June 9, 2015, this title is only available through Barnes & Noble as a Nook Book for $9.99. The publisher has gone out of business.
Update: As of July 6, 2015, this book does not appear to be available through any of the major outlets. The publisher has gone out business, and the electronic version appears to have been pulled. The book is currently still listed at abebooks.com and half.com. We are very sorry for the inconvenience. When we chose this book, we had no idea the publisher would go out of business.
Parent-Oriented Review: https://sites.google.com/site/parentalbookreviews//shadow/content-review-hourglass-by-myra-mcentire
Category: Classic
Synopsis: In this celebrated work, his only novel, Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind.
Concerns: No known concerns.
Selling points: A classic, this choice is short and appears frequently on AP English exams.
Price: $4.99 list.
$3.60 Amazon.
Free online: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/174/174-h/174-h.htm
Parent-Oriented Review:
https://sites.google.com/site/parentalbookreviews//shadow/the-picture-of-dorian-gray
Synopsis: In this celebrated work, his only novel, Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind.
Concerns: No known concerns.
Selling points: A classic, this choice is short and appears frequently on AP English exams.
Price: $4.99 list.
$3.60 Amazon.
Free online: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/174/174-h/174-h.htm
Parent-Oriented Review:
https://sites.google.com/site/parentalbookreviews//shadow/the-picture-of-dorian-gray
Somewhere in the Darkness by Walter Dean Myers
Category: Urban/Realistic Fiction
Synopsis: Jimmy hasn't seen his father in nine years. But one day he comes back -- on the run from the law. Together, the two of them travel across the country -- where Jimmy's dad will find the man who can exonerate him of the crime for which he was convicted. Along the way, Jimmy discovers a lot about his father and himself -- and that while things can't always be fixed, sometimes they can be understood and forgiven.
Concerns: Many characters in the book represent elements of society that are questionable (criminals). At the same time, the story is a coming of age tale of a teenage boy who decides that he does not want to fall into the life his father represents.
Selling points: Will appeal to boys and offers a very positive message.
Price: $7.99 list.
$6.53 Amazon.
Parent-Oriented Review: http://www.edb.utexas.edu/resources/booksR4teens/book_reviews/book_reviews.php?book_id=104
Synopsis: Jimmy hasn't seen his father in nine years. But one day he comes back -- on the run from the law. Together, the two of them travel across the country -- where Jimmy's dad will find the man who can exonerate him of the crime for which he was convicted. Along the way, Jimmy discovers a lot about his father and himself -- and that while things can't always be fixed, sometimes they can be understood and forgiven.
Concerns: Many characters in the book represent elements of society that are questionable (criminals). At the same time, the story is a coming of age tale of a teenage boy who decides that he does not want to fall into the life his father represents.
Selling points: Will appeal to boys and offers a very positive message.
Price: $7.99 list.
$6.53 Amazon.
Parent-Oriented Review: http://www.edb.utexas.edu/resources/booksR4teens/book_reviews/book_reviews.php?book_id=104