Shooting Star by Frederick McKissack Jr.

He wants to be the real deal…now.

Jomo Rodgers is a good football player, but his size hinders him from being great like his best friend and team mate, Jayson Caldwell. After losing the final game in a grueling season, his coach talks to him about his commitment to the game and encourages him to train during the off season so he can add muscle to his slight frame. With the help of a trainer, Jomo works hard at lifting weights and is making sure, steady progress. But he grows impatient. Jomo doesn’t want to wait to SEE the results of his hard work. Against his better judgment, he secretly begins to take illegal performance enhancing drugs - steroids. As his game improves and he gets favorable notice by his coaches and local sports writers, his life spirals out of control. He becomes a person that those closest to him do not recognize. He thinks he has a handle on things and can quit when he wants to, but can he? Teens that enjoy fast-past, action-filled stories will enjoy McKissack’s excellent work.

The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon

“As the river flows, it wonders what it would be like to be so still, to take a breath, to rest. But the rock will always wonder what lies around the bend in the stream.”

A compelling coming of age novel set in 1968 Chicago about thirteen-year-old Sam Childs, the son of a prominent Civil Rights leader. Sam was raised with the lesson that you can effect change without using violence. He and his older brother, Stick, have grown up making signs and marching in protest demonstrations with their parents and count the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. as a close family friend. As time goes on and Sam witnesses the injustice inflicted upon African Americans, he begins to question all that he has been taught. After finding literature from the Black Panther Party among Stick’s belongings, Sam becomes intrigued by their philosophies. He is especially impressed with the way they help the community by serving free breakfast to needy children and policing their own neighborhoods and documenting police harassment. Like many others, Sam is impatient for change and is growing weary with what he perceives as slow progress by the Civil Rights Movement. He finds himself faced with a dilemma: Will he continue to follow his father’s non-violent teachings or will he become a member of the Black Panther Party, the one group he feels is making strides towards equal rights for African American people.

This explosive debut novel by Kekla Magoon effectively captures the mood and sentiment of the time as well as the tension between the Black Panthers and the Civil Rights Movement. I highly recommend this important work to teens and adults alike, for it is not often that you find a fiction title that focuses on the Black Panthers. The author’s note at the conclusion gives additional historical facts on both groups.

2010 Coretta Scott King /John Steptoe New Talent Author Award winner.

The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd

“The world is vast and meant for wandering. There is always somewhere else to go.”

This beautifully written coming of age story chronicles eighteen-year-old Dade Hamilton’s last summer in Iowa before heading off to college. Dade is a lonely, insecure teen who will only admit to his ceiling fan that he is gay. He shares a secret relationship with popular jock, Pablo, who is in denial of his sexuality and has a beautiful girlfriend. Despite the many intimate moments they share together, Pablo often refuses to acknowledge Dade in public leaving him feeling forlorn and used. After coming to terms that he means nothing to Pablo, Dade moves on and eventually meets Alex Kincaid, his first true love. In the beautiful glow of this new relationship, Dade must contend with his parents’ unraveling marriage and the anxiety everyone in his hometown feels after the disappearance of nine-year-old Jenny Moore.

First time Young Adult author, Nick Bird, expertly captures the angst of all teens confused about their sexuality in the midst of dealing with everyday life problems. In Dade Hamilton, teens will identify with someone who learns how to become comfortable in his own skin and embrace the world outside of what is familiar to them. Due to some profanity and sexual situations, I recommend this book to older teens.

Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

“Yeah, I think Peace Can Happen.”

After his parents die in a house fire, twelve-year-old Lonnie, also known as Locomotion, is separated from his younger sister Lilli when they are placed in different foster homes. Although he loves his foster family and feels at home with them, he terribly misses Lilli. In an effort to remember the past, he deems himself the “rememberer” and writes letters to Lilli with memories of life when their parents were alive and what happens while they are growing up. His letters are poignant and insightful, especially when he talks about his foster brother, who lost his legs while fighting in the Iraq war. Locomotion ponders peace and love, family and loss. This book is sure to touch all who read it and clearly demonstrates why Jacqueline Woodson is an award-winner children and young adult author. She deftly tackles heavy issues without trivializing them and maintains genuineness and sensitivity. If you have not already done so, I highly recommend reading the companion novel, Locomotion.

That Bird Has My Wings: The Autobiography of an Innocent Man on DeathRow by Jarvis Jay Masters

No matter what their neighborhood, no matter what their race, every child matters.

When Jarvis is a young boy he and his four siblings are taken away from their drug addicted, neglectful mother and placed in separate foster homes. Jarvis was fortunate to be placed in a loving home with the Prockes, a caring elderly couple who loved and nurtured him. Things began to fall apart when he is removed from the home due to the Prockes age and declining health. He is then placed in an abusive home with foster parents who are in it only for the money. They torture and abuse him. Feeling hopeless when no one believes what is happening to him in the home, Jarvis runs away only to end up in one group home after the next. Eventually, he is reunited with his family, but that is not necessarily a good thing. At the age of nineteen he ends up in San Quentin State Prison for armed robbery. While serving his time he is implicated in the death of a guard and ends up on death row. I found this to be a compelling story about the foster care system. One cannot help but to feel sorry for young Jarvis and all the other children who are in a similar situation. I highly recommend this gripping account of one man’s journey to coming to terms with his life and finding freedom while behind bars.

The Orange House by Paul Griffin

Mik wants to keep the world at a distance by shutting off her hearing aids…but silence can’t make her happy. Or keep her safe.

Mik is a 15-year-old teenager who is hearing impaired. She likes to keep her hearing aids turned off so she can tune out the world. Jimmi is an 18 year-old veteran who refuses to take his anti-psychotic medication. While many in his Bronx, N.Y. neighborhood think he is a threat, Mik knows him to be caring and kind. It is through Jimmi that she meets Fatima, a 16 year-old illegal immigrant from Africa. Their gift of creating beautiful art helps them build a friendship that gives Mik the confidence and security she need to finally turn on her hearing aids and welcome the world around her. Unfortunately, neither Jimmi nor Fatima fare as well. What began as a promising storyline fell flat in the end. However, if you desire a quick read that lightly touches upon the issues of illegal immigrants and mental illness this is a good start.

Dope Sick by Walter Dean Myers

Life is full of choices. If you had it to do all over again, would you make different ones?

Lil J finds himself in trouble after he participates in a drug deal gone bad, which leaves a police officer clinging to life and Lil J holding the gun. As he tries to elude capture by the numerous cops on his trail, Lil J ends up in an abandoned building where he encounters a mysterious man who shows him episodes of his life on a television. In each instance Lil J relives a moment where a choice he made helped to land him in the position he now finds himself. Lil J is forced to come to terms with his choices by the mystery man who constantly asks the question: “If you could take back anything you did, what would it be?” Prolific Young Adult author Walter Dean Myers offers up a novel that is sure to get teens to think about the decisions they make and their consequences.

If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser

“When you grew up in the projects, there were no choices. No good one, at least.”

If I Grow Up offers a gritty, realistic view of growing up in the inner city where teens face touch circumstances and limited choices. Deshawn, unlike many of his peers, is a good student and obeys his grandmother. He knows that life in a gang or being a drug dealer is not for him, yet his options seem scarce as he struggles to take care of his family. Although at times a bit heavy-handed, the message in this book is clear. Strasser clearly illustrates that without positive role models, support and direction, even the best teen can get caught up in wrong situations. One cannot help but to root for Deshawn as he tries to do the right thing and feel heartbroken when he succumbs to his environment.

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

Sometimes what you don’t say means more than what you do.

What would you do if you overheard someone saying they were going to jump someone after school and that someone doesn’t have a clue? Would you let them know, or would you stay out of it and not say anything? This is the dilemma Leticia finds herself in when she overhears Dominique announce that afterschool she is going to beat up Trina because she “cut into” her space as she passed by in the hallway. Told in the alternating viewpoints of Leticia, Dominique and Trina, this novel gives readers a frightening and realistic look at teen angst and bullying. Williams-Garcia does a masterful job at showing how the lives of these very different girls connect and how choices can have serious consequences.

2009 National Book Award Finalist, Young People's Literature.