Slick

Slick is the moniker that Liza gives to the name of her mother's new boyfriend because he works for an oil company.

Liza and her two younger brothers, Sila and Leland, are used to living with their mother now that their parents are divorced and their real father has moved to England.

Liza doesn't take kindly to Slick as she believes her mother is changing in ways she believes go against her principles to suit Slick. Liza is down right rude to Slick at times despite his attempts to please Liza and her brothers.

Liza starts a grassroots organization GRRR! (Girls for Renewable Resources, Really!) which targets the oil company that Slick works for.

This is a very short read. It is one of the titles in the Orca Currents series and is written by Sara Cassidy. I wasn't overly fond of this title but I am sure that some students might find it enjoyable.

Bruiser

I found the closeup on the cover of this book of one of the main characters, Brewster, to be very intriguing. Can you tell how mysterious he is just by looking at his profile? Can you see how shy and withdrawn he appears? Does he look like his life might be very interesting yet also troubled?
Tennyson and his twin sister Bronte are at odds with each other when Bronte befriends the shy and withdrawn classmate Brewster Rawlins known as "Bruiser". Tennyson is very protective of his sister and becomes very concerned when he spies on Bruiser changing in the locker room after P.E. and notices that his back is covered in scars and welts.
Bronte continues her relationship with Brew, drawing him closer to herself, Tennyson and even her family. What effect will this closeness have on her parents' troubled marriage?
Is he being abused as the scars and welts would indicate or his uncle telling the truth when he swears he has never touched Brewster. What role does Brewster's younger brother Cody play in this very interesting novel. What special powers to heal does Bruiser have?

Out of My Mind

Imagine being trapped inside your body which doesn't let you speak, walk, or control your movements in any meaningful way. Now continue to imagine that there is nothing wrong with your brain even though the physical part of your body doesn't function the way most people's bodies work. Now imagine that your brain actually has a photographic memory and that you are really, really smart, but to the rest of the world, you are perceived as a "retard".
In Sharon Draper's latest novel entitled Out of My Mind, that is the exact position that eleven-year-old Melody finds herself.
I really liked this book as I could begin to imagine the extreme frustration that Melody experiences. All of the normal adolescent issues of trying to fit in, trying to befriend someone you can trust, trying to communicate are so heightened. Even with the advancement of technology which allows severely disabled students to have a "computer voice", life is just so difficult. The cover image is a great one for this novel. Melody can't call her mom when her goldfish launches itself outside its bowl. The metaphor of a fish out of water fits Melody's whole existence.

The Lost Survivors Trilogy by Susan Pfeffer

I remember reading Life As We Knew It (Book One) three years ago on a bitter cold January weekend. I was surprised how rapidly I was drawn into the life of a typical teen named Miranda and her self-absorbed life in a small Pennsylvania town. Miranda's priorities undergo a radical change, however, when an asteriod hits the moon, throwing it out of its orbit and too close to the Earth. There is wild spread devastion such as violent earthquakes, massive tsunamis, millions of deaths due to crop failures and non delivery of goods.

Lucky for Miranda and her family, her mom is extremely resourceful. They are able to heat their home and make do while others are frantic for their survival.

What really stuck with me from this novel was the incredibly dire weather conditions caused by this event--the extreme bitter cold.

The Dead and The Gone (Book Two)was written by Pfeffer to try to answer the question of what it would have been like to have experienced the same devastation from Life As We Knew It, but to have the main character living in a completely different setting--Manhattan.
Seventeen-year-old Alex Morales, his 14-year-old sister Briana, and his 12-year-old sister Julie are home alone in their apartment when the crisis hits. Their mother is working at a hospital in Queens and their father is out of the country on a trip.
The responsibility for survival falls squarely on Alex's shoulders. How will they secure food? How can he protect his sisters from the bands of people who roam the streets looking for food or money. Who will remove the bodies of the dead lining the streets? Will they ever see either of their parents again?

I was surprised to see This World We Live In (Book Three). Told from the perspective of Miranda, the teen protagonists from Books One and Two are brought together when Miranda Evan's father and stepmother arrive with their new baby and a trio of strangers, including Alex Morales! 
Survival is still paramount on everyone's mind despite it being a year now that the asteriod hit the moon causing the devastation that they have all come to see as "this world we live in now."
The ending of Book Three has left wondering if Pfeffer will produce another book in this series.

Mao's Last Dancer

Can you imagine life as a young person under Chairman Mao in China? By reading Li Cunxin's autobiography entitled Mao's Last Dancer, the reader can begin to understand what life under Chairman Mao was like.
Li Cunxin was born and grew up in a loving but extremely poor family in a rural village in China's Shandong Province.  He was one of seven children. His parents toiled endlessly to feed their sons.
Li"s life changed forever at the age of eleven when his rural classroom received a visit from Madame Mao's representatives from Beijing. They were there to select talented students to study ballet in Beijing.
Despite fighting homesickness and adjusting to the Academy's rigorous demands, Li realizes that he can never return home. Seven years of punishing training taught Li discipline, determination and perseverance.
Learn about history, especially about living under the Communist philosophies of Chairman Mao and his "Little Read Book."

Watch the trailer for the movie that was made from this book: