Jeri's Favorite and Least Favorite 2006 Books

Hi, all!

Here are some of my favorite and least favorite books published in 2006:

Favorites (in no particular order)

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
loved it! Nick and Norah meet at a club - he's in one of the bands. His old girlfriend walks in, and he asks Norah to be his girlfriend for 5 minutes. Five minutes lasts the night, and possibly longer.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Death tells this story – the story of “a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter and quite a lot of thievery. Death does his job, but is sympathetic to the human souls he collects, especially in this busy period of WWII. The girl is Leisel Meminger, foster child to a working class family in Molching, Germany. The accordionist is her beloved foster father, Hans Hubermann. Some fanatical Germans are the Nazis, including several of their neighbors. The Jewish fist fighter is hidden in the Hubermanns' basement. And thievery sometimes became necessary to survive as money became scarce. But Leisel, whose story Death takes the time to tell, stole books. She stole her first at her younger brother’s funeral. Another was taken from a Nazi book-burning. Others were taken from the mayor’s wife. The books were Leisel’s comfort, and the comfort of others as they tried to make sense of their world, and survive.

Sold by Patricia McCormick
Lakshmi is thirteen and lives in the hills of Nepal. Her father gambles away any money the family earns, and they are very poor. But Lakshmi is not unhappy with her life. She is top girl in her school class and has friends, a loving mother and a pet goat. Until her father sells her to a woman who delivers her to a brothel in India where she is held captive, seeing almost nothing of her earnings as a prostitute. Remembering her mother's words "Simple to endure is to triumph", Lakshmi survives as best she can, hoping one day to be free again.

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
I couldn't put this down! What happens when the moon is struck by an asteroid, and knocked off its orbit? In this book, the earth is racked by a series of natural disasters: tsunamis, storms, volcanic eruptions and more. How do people survive? What must they do to survive?

Incantation by Alice Hoffman
Estrella lives in a tiny Spanish village where her family has lived for over 500 years. Her family lives as Christians, although they do some things differently than their neighbors. Her life is happy, her best friend lives next door, and she meets a boy she likes - and then it all comes tumbling down, her family and home destroyed and her life forever changed when her friend turns against her.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Edward has left town, and Bella is desolate, sunk in depression for months. She becomes best friends with Jacob Black, the son of one of her father's friends. Jacob lives on the Quilite reservation, where Bella knows they don't like Edward and his family of vampires. But Bella doesn't know what extremities they go to in combatting vampires on their land. This sequel to Twilight starts a little slowly, but has several interesting twists, suspense and a new collection of supernatural beings.

Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury
After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans enlisted and were drafted like all other young men in the United States. The country was at war, and they were Americans. But many people suspected their loyalty. On the mainland United States, many Japanese-Americans were moved from their homes to internment camps. Eyes of the Emperor is based on the true story of a group of soldiers from Hawaii. The Japanese-Americans among them faced discrimination in many forms. Finally, with President Roosevelt’s approval, they were singled out for special duty – they were used as bait to train attack dogs.

Rash by Pete Hautman
Bo lives in the United Safer States of America. To be safe, you must wear protective gear even when out for a walk. It is a crime to injure anyone else, even slightly, even accidently. But the federal government no longer runs the prisons... they have contracted that out to major corporations who use the inmates as slave labor. When a school rival accuses Bo of spreading a rash at school, his future is sealed - he is sent to a work camp in the tundra.

Books I will NOT read again (my least favorites of the year)

King Dork by Frank Portman
The book is about Tom "Chi-Mo" Henderson, the self proclaimed "King Dork" who muddles through high school with his one best friend, Sam Hellerman. Tom is in a band and throughout the book, he and his friends are constantly changing the band's name. Tom also seems to have trouble with the opposite sex, as well as getting over his father's death, which may or may not have been a murder, or a suicide. This book can be funny, it can be serious, and it can be wordy. For books about teens and music, try Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (see above), Heavy Metal and You, Born to Rock or Fat Kid Rules the World.

Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
There are many good books about the holocaust for YAs. This book, the story of a 9-year-old named Bruno whose father is the commandant of a concentration camp, is overly simplified. The commandant's children are unbelieveably naive for their ages, calling the Fuhrer the Fury, and Auschwitz, out-with. It is marketed as YA, and the reading level is YA, but the language and characters are aimed younger. If you are looking for recently published YA books on the Holocaust, try The Book Thief (see above) or Daniel Half Human.

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
The main characters in this book are Gucci, Prada and other designers. The premise is that the Blue Blood families of New York City are actually clans of vampires. Their children all go to private school together and they all dress very well and attend fabulous parties. But there is something hunting the teenaged vampires...unfortunately, we never find out what. Read Twilight and New Moon for really good paranormal romance (see above). Sunshine, published for adults, or Peeps are also good. For fun, try Boys that Bite.