The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This book is amazing. Once I started I could not stop until I finished it and now I need to get the second book in the series.
The Hunger Games takes place in North America in the future. There were 13 Districts, who held an uprising against the Capitol. The Capitol destroyed District 13 and as a reminder of the weakness in the remaining districts, they forced each of the other 12 Districts to send two tributes, one boy and one girl, to fight to the death in the Hunger Games. These 24 individuals are between ages of 12 and 18.
Katniss, the main character, lives in District 12, current Appalachia. District 12 is the coal mining area and Katniss and her family are pretty poor. When names are drawn for tributes to the Games, Katniss' little sister, Prim is called for the girls. Katniss volunteers to take her place. The male tribute is the son of a baker, Peeta. The two are sent to the Capitol to prepare for the Games. They meet their prep team and designers (who create the multiple costumes they need for interviews and such), as well as the fellow tributes.
In the second part, the Games begin. The 24 triutes are send to an area that seems like a forrest with a nearby lake. Alliances are formed and tributes are killed from the first minute. I don't want to give too much away, but there were numerous surprises in this text for me, up until the last page.
One of the biggest questions in The Hunger Games is that of government involvement. The Capitol rules over the Districts in a dictatorship-type manner. They even get involved in the Games when things may have become boring for the views (all the citizens throughout the 12 Districts). The tributes sometimes form their actions to manipulate the Capitol. I hope in future books of the series, Suzanne Collins lets the characters take down the Capitol.

Available in hard copy and digital edition from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The story was very interesting but took me a while to really get into. It's the story of Katsa, a girl "Graced" in killing. In the world of the Seven Kingdoms, some people (whose eyes are two different colors) have a special ability or Grace. Katsa meets Prince Po from the island state of Leneid and finds that he is also Graced. He originally tells Katsa that his Grace is fighting, but it turns out to be more complicated. Po can actually sense his surroundings and read minds in regards to himself. He is especially good as reading Katsa's thoughts of him or toward him.

The two Gracelings start out to the southern state of Monsea, where they investigate the King, Leck, his wife and their daughter, Po's cousin. As it turns out, Leck is also Graced, but he uses his in a despicable manner. I'm afraid I may have given too much away already, so I'll have to leave the summary at that.

The Graceling raises many relevant questions for young adults: What is your own special ability? How do you use it for personal gain and/or public service? What are your views of relationships, marriage and children? Do these views align with Katsa's?

I have heard there is a second book in the Graceling series. I'm excited to see what happens next, but I also have a full shelf of books to work on for now. Enjoy!

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Crane's classic war novel revolves around young Henry Fleming, an 18 year old farm boy fighting as a private in the 304th regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Henry/The Youth fights with emotions regarding war and battle. He has read about battles of the past but did not experience it first hand until his regiment marches into the Battle of Chancellorsville. Henry becomes frightened and deserts into a nearby forest. He overhears that his regiment won over the Confederates and is torn with shame and guilt.
Henry witnesses death, of men both known and unknown to him, and finally he returns to his battalion. In one of the following battles, Henry proves to be a very good fighter. He serves also as a flag carrier in one of the battles and somehow manages to not be hit by the Confederates.
There are many resources for this novel, published in 1894, 1895 and 1982, in different editions. It is still valuable today since it contains timeless lessons in war and battle, fear, bravery, courage and pride. It is available in hard copy as well as digital edition at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. There is also a 1951 film version of the text.

The Outsiders by S E Hinton (1967)

The Outsiders is perhaps the most quintessential book of young adult literature. I'm sure you know that S.E. Hinton wrote and published the book when she was 15 and 16. It is the tale of teenagers as told by teenagers.

Ponyboy Curtis is a likable character and one of the reasons the text has endured for so long, I believe. He is smart but full of angst. His family is more that his two brothers; it consists of the members of his gang of Greasers. But when one of his "brothers" kills a member of a rival gang, the socially elite, the two of them have to hide out for a while. When the dust clears, the two of them return to an all out war between the two gangs. The groups plan a brawl to determine a winner.

Although the text takes place over 40 years ago, the lessons and questions remain relevant. Who is a family? Who or what determines social classes? Are social classes set or can they be traversed?

If you have not read The Outsiders before, it's worth the time. If you haven't read it for a while, pick it up again!

The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)

I know this text isn't terribly recent, but I would like to explore some of these texts that could easily become classics.
The Giver takes place in a time and place where children are grouped according to years and are treated collectively in these groups. At age 9, each child receives their first bike; at 12, each child is given their assignment, their job. At his 12 year ceremony, Jonas is chosen to become the new Receiver of Memories.
Jonas works with the current Receiver (who becomes the Giver) and learns of snow, sunshine, colors, love, etc. He has access to information he never knew existed; things that we take for granted in modern America. But when Jonas learns a fact about his father that makes him question the Community.
There are a number of questions raised by Lowry. What pain and sacrifice do we incur for knowledge and truth? What forms a family "unit"? How do we account for free will?
The Giver is a quick read and I'm sure the young and old will continue to read it (and re-read it) for years to come.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

Jenna Fox was in a car accident 18 months ago and has been in a coma since. She has awoken to a strange world where she does not remember her parents, her friends or most of her life. Her parents and maternal grandmother, Lily, have moved her to a small community in California while her father, founder of Fox BioSystems (the creator of BioGel), continues his work in Boston.
The text is a bit of a mystery in which the read can participate, where Jenna tries to figure out her past. She attends a small school where she meets Dane and Ethan, potential love interests, and a good friend, Allys, whose work is intertwined with the Federal Science Ethics Boards.
Jenna watches discs, seemingly like a DVD, to help her remember her life. The discs are chronologically organized around the years of her life. Her journey is like an amnesiac attempting to remember her former life.
But there is something strange about Jenna. Her life seems to be different after the accident. She feels like she never knew the girl in the videos. Her parents are secretive and cryptic. Will she find who she is and who she was? Who can she trust, her parents? Her distant grandmother?
The text deals with issues of humanity and identity, family and history. I found it very interesting, and I hope you will too!
http://www.whoisjennafox.com/
Published April 2008
ISBN # 978-0-8050-7668-4

Samurai Shortstop by Alan Gratz

This book takes place in the early years of the Meiji restoration in Japan (1890 or so) and centers on Toyo Shimada. In the first few pages of the text, Toyo serves as witness to his uncle, Koji's, seppuku. Toyo enters Ichiko high school shortly thereafter. He deals with his emotions involving his beloved uncle's death as well as the abuse/hazing at the hands of the upperclassmen of Ichiko. Toyo's father begins to teach him bushido, the way of the sword, in Toyo's precious little free time. The lessons are often harsh, but Toyo learns to apply them to his baseball practice.
The book deals with identity in Meiji society: being an individual vs. being a group; modernity vs. tradition; the West vs. the East.
I've spent some time in Japan, studying language, and from what I can tell, Gratz gives a good account of life there. He also transports the reader to a critical time in Japan: the Meiji Restoration. When Commodore Perry forced Japan to "reopen" after centuries of seclusion, the Japanese were forced to modernize very quickly. Gratz deals with this idea as well as the need to maintain Japanese traditions.
I really enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. I have a personal affinity for Japan and felt the text transported me there. Gratz also deals with an historically significant time and applies it to a fictional character. There are a number of people who, I believe would also enjoy this book: those interested in Japan, history, samurai and baseball; male and female alike.

Skim by Mariko Tamaki (words) and Jillian Tamaki (drawings)

Skim (aka. Kimberly Keiko Cameron) is many things. She is a student at an all-girls Catholic school. She is possibly depressed. She is at least half Asian (Japanese, perhaps) She is a practitioner of Wicca and possibly a lesbian. She has a broken arm for the majority of the book. Her nickname is because she is not wafer thin, but a little plump.
At the beginning of this story, Katie Matthews' ex-boyfriend, John Reddear, kills himself. This launches the school into efforts to "Celebrate Life". Skim doesn't want to participate in these events, to the dismay of the school counselor and some of the other students. As it turns out, Katie doesn't care for the efforts either.
Skim's relationships change a great deal through the book. At the begininng she is friends with Lisa (a fellow Wiccan), but they grow apart, for better or worse, throughout. Skim falls in love with her English/drama teacher, Ms. Archer, who then moves away. Strangely, Skim becomes friend with Katie, a popular type, because they bond over their hatred for the Girls Celebrate Life group and similar attempts to lift the spirits of the student body at their school.
Skim is a quick read (it took me maybe an hour) and is worth the time. It raises questions of love (heterosexual and homosexual) and death. Many of the characters grow in the 143 pages and handle death and love in different ways.