Countdown

Deborah Wiles
Scholastic Press, 2010
377 pp. (Grades 5-8)

It's October of 1962 and eleven-year old Franny Chapman has a lot on her mind: her best friend isn't speaking to her, her older sister has left home, and the dreamy boy-next-door has moved back to town. Worse, at any minute the Soviets might drop the atomic bomb and kill them all. The First of an expected trilogy, Deborah Wiles' superb "documentary novel" of growing up during the Cold War splendidly captures the fear and innocence of the era in a brilliant combination of text and contemporary photographs. Readers of all ages will appreciate Franny's struggle to understand and balance the magnitude of what's happening in her own life and the world around her, as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the threat of the bomb loom large. Even better, its message of tolerance and the importance of communication for understanding reach beyond the pages of history. For readers eager to learn more, a historical note and book list follow the text.

The Odyssey: A Graphic Novel

Gareth Hinds
Candlewick Press, 2010
248 pp. (Grades 8 and up)

Gareth Hinds breathes new life into Homer's epic story of Odysseus' prolonged journey homeward from the Trojan War in a format that reaches out to non-traditional readers of the classics. Coupled with an abbreviated text that remains true to Homer's original, Hinds' art reflects the mood and energy of the story. He has a knack for expression, brilliantly conveying the emotions of his characters as they feel loss, anger, hopelessness, desperation, determination, and joy. Reluctant readers and lovers of the classics alike will revel in this new adaptation that reminds us why we keep reading this timeless tale of adventure and human perseverance.

Very LeFreak

Rachel Cohn
Alfred A. Knopf, 2010
305 pp. (Grades 10-12)

Veronica--"Very" for short--is the It-girl at Columbia. Constantly distracted by texting, chatting, creating playlists for every mood or occasion, and pursuing a steamy online relationship with her male equivalent, the mysterious El Virus, she finds herself on the verge of losing her scholarship and her friends. Her salvation lies in ESCAPE, a rehabilitation camp for technology addicts, where she will discover how to live, and who she really loves. Definitely a book for older teens, it offers a genuine commentary on the role technology plays in our lives, and a cautionary tale of what can happen when preferred online personas confront the real world.

As Easy as Falling Off the End of the Earth

Lynne Rae Perkins
New York: Greenwillow Books, 2010
353 pp. (Grades 6-10)

Ry steps off his train to make a phone call and strays too far. He watches, horrified, as it leaves him stranded in the middle of the Montana prairie. Thus begins Lynne Rae Perkins' novel of a haphazard journey across the United States and the Caribbean in search of home and family. With a plot that is constantly moving forward, turning, and catching the reader by surprise, the novel has great appeal for reluctant readers, while rich characterization will endear even the more sophisticated teen, boy or girl. Naysayers may criticize Ry's decision to put his faith in complete stranger, or find the ending on the impossible side of incredible, but young readers will delight in the novel's adventurous spirit and happily take the leap.