Watership Down by Richard Adams

This is an older, long book about a bunch of rabbits (yes, rabbits) who need to find a new place to live. Sound boring and childish? It is most definitely not.

On the surface, Watership Down is an adventure story about a warren of rabbits who need to find a new home when their's is threatened by a land developer. The leader of the rabbits is Hazel. On their quest, Hazel and his compatriots encounter a Hitler-like rabbit, General Woundwart. General Woundwart captures some of the rabbits and one of the rabbits, Bigwig, masterminds a daring escape. (BTW, the book has nothing to do with ships or the sea. Watership Down is the name of the place where the rabbits find a safe haven.)

The main characters in the book ARE rabbits. These aren't cute, cuddly bunnies who speak English and walk on their hind legs like humans. These rabbits are very rabbit-like and yet, we human beings will have no trouble relating to the lives of the rabbits. That is part of the genius of this book. Richard Adams does a masterful job of making this book relevant to OUR lives. He is especially adept at conveying the importance of our role in nature, either to help or to destroy. Although this book was written over 30 years ago, the environmental themes are as relevant today as they were "back then".

Watership Down is on many people's lists of best books they've ever read. It's on mine. Try it some time and see if it might end up on your list.

Look here for the library's copy.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Tally can't wait to turn 16. Not because she can get a driver's license, but because she can become a Pretty. Tally is tired of being an Ugly. In Tally's world, an operation transforms all 16 year olds into beautiful, perfect people who get to live in Pretty Town and whose only job is to have fun.

Tally's friend Shay is not sure she wants to be Pretty. And when Shay runs away to "the outside", Tally learns a lot about what's really going on in the pretty world - and it isn't pretty.

Uglies is the first book in a trilogy. Pretties is the second book and Specials is the third. This is a very exciting and action-packed series that kept me up past my bedtime as I read it. It should appeal equally to boys and girls in grades 7-12. And even though it is set in a futuristic society, it is not a heavy science fiction book.

Find Uglies at the Adrian Public Library

Find Pretties at the Adrian Public Library

Find Specials at the Adrian Public Library

American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang is an interesting, award-winning, and unusual book.First, it's a stand-alone graphic novel. In other words, it's not part of a series and it's a novel written in "comic book" form.

Secondly, the author tells three seemingly unrelated stories: the first, about a Monkey King who can't accept being a monkey. The second is about a junior high Chinese-American who likes a non-Asian girl and is trying to fit in. In the third story, a popular "American" boy has to keep moving when his cousin Chin-Chu, the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, comes to visit from China. The author does a masterful job of tying all three stories together at the end.

American Born Chinese is also unusual in that it portrays a culture not commonly found in books for teens. Many readers are accustomed to the Japanese culture through Manga and Anime, but may shy away from this book because of the unfamiliar Chinese culture.

Despite its "unusuallness", this book is a winner - literally. For those who care about awards and such, American Born Chinese is the first graphic novel to win the Michael L. Printz Award for best teen book.

This book is also a winning read and should appeal to boys and girls in grades 7 - 12. It may require some readers to step out of their comfort zone of what they usually read, but this book is worth the risk.

Check library holdings for this book.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak has an unusual narrator: Death. Death tells the story of a young German girl, Leisel, who lives with a foster family during World War II. Leisel is the book thief in this story and the first book she steals is The Gravediggers Handbook. Her books and stories help sustain her family as they cope with hiding a Jewish man in their home. The Book Thief is an extraordinary book that will remain with you long after you finish it. Recommended for high school age and adult, The Book Thief is a 2007 Printz Honor Book. Look here for the library's copy.

Enter Three Witches by Caroline B. Cooney

"Double, double toil and trouble;/Fire burn and cauldron bubble"

Maybe you've heard this before. It's from the play Macbeth by Shakespeare and is spoken by three witches. The book Enter Three Witches is not Shakespeare, but it is Caroline B. Cooney's highly entertaining retelling of the story of Macbeth. Cooney takes some liberties with Shakespeare's work including adding new characters and making a few minor characters more important.

Enter Three Witches is told from the viewpoint of Lady Mary, the 14 year old ward of Lord and Lady Macbeth. Mary is being groomed to wed someone of importance and to be the head of her own castle. Mary's life drastically changes when her father is hanged as a traitor to King Duncan. Then King Duncan is murdered, his sons and heirs to the throne run away, and Lord Macbeth becomes King through suspicious means. Mary's life becomes perilous and her beloved Lady Macbeth seems to be losing her mind.

While Enter Three Witches is a good introduction to a classic Shakespeare play, it also a great story full of deception, murder, revenge, greed, violence, and yes - witches.

Look here for the library's copy

Rash

Rash by Pete Hautman is set in a futuristic society that has surrendered many freedoms to keep all its citizens safe from illness, disease, injury, natural disasters, etc. When sixteen year old Bo is sent to a prison labor camp in the tundra, he is introduced to playing the game of football. In Bo's world outside prison, playing football is illegal. So is running without wearing shin guards, kneepads and a helmet. At first, Bo can't catch, throw, run with or kick the football. But Bo is a gifted athlete and he soon learns to run with the ball. Playing football in prison gives Bo many privileges, but Bo doesn't like playing football at the whim of the prison warden and Bo wants desperately to leave prison. And Bo just might find a way to do this when the Artificial Intelligence program named Bork he created in high school suddenly contacts him in prison.

Rash should appeal to both boys and girls in grades 7 - 12. And although this book is set in the future, non sci-fi fans should enjoy it as well as fans of the genre.

Find the book here at the Adrian Public Library

Dairy Queen

No, we're not talking about the ice cream store. It's a book by Catherine Gilbert Murdock I've just finished reading. It's a wonderful story about a dairy farm, Wisconsin, football, a snotty quarterback, the athletic Schwenk family, a big Family Fight, not becoming a "cow", and the hardest working 15 year old girl in the middle of all of it. D.J. is having an enlightening summer to say the least and it all culminates in her decision to try out for the football team at her high school. Yes, this is a girl wanting to play football with the boys.

This book made me want to laugh and cry and I hated having to say goodbye to the characters when the book ended.

Both boys and girls in grades 7-12 should enjoy this book.