"Don't judge a book by its cover" may be my pick for the "old sayings that aren't worth a damn" hall of fame. Two examples I'd cite are 'old' titles Seventeenth Summer and Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, both sporting new covers that are fresh enough to pique the interest of today's tweens and teens. Of course, it's the story between the covers that holds their interest.
Lest I sound like I'm pining for the good old days (what? of the 1970s? please!) I have to ballyhoo a few teen titles I've enjoyed immensely this year.
Andrew Clements' Things Not Seen, Jerry Spinelli's The Library Card and Stargirl are on the list. Cynthia Lord's debut, Rules, is probably going to secure my favorite-book-of-the-year award. (That means it earns a permanent spot on my bookshelf. Not a spot with a lot of elbow room, I assure you, but a longtime resting spot, just the same.)
I've recently finished Joseph Bruchac's Darby Creek title The Way. I picked it up thinking it aimed at reluctant readers (judging by its cover, I'll admit) and I was right. Darby Creek, located in Central Ohio, is a press that focuses on books for reluctant readers, and The Way is a 2007 release that conforms to the style deemed appropriate: short (155 pages), with an action-packed plot and a likable, young narrator. In this case, the narrator is 15-year-old Cody LeBeau, who's been picked on in plenty of schools as his family has moved. Just as his family is falling apart, an uncle he didn't know he had appears to stay for awhile, and teach Cody some important techniques, and even more important philosophies, of martial arts. Cody uses them well - up to and including thwarting a planned act of terrible violence at his school.
It is a good story and it does keep up a nice, gotta-turn-to-the-next-page-pace, but - and I hate to cast stones at an author who has more than 100 books to his credit! - I felt Bruchac got way too didactic in several sections, particularly in the second half of the book. At those points, I didn't hear Cody's voice, I heard the author giving advice. Regardless, I'll keep it in mind for a few boys I know...
What do you like in Middle Grade or YA this year?
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