Those are great recs! Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson.
How did your brain even learn human speech? I'm just so curious.
Wash ,'Objects In Space'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Strix - Nov 15, 2011 8:18:51 am PST #16828 of 28286
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Ginger - Nov 15, 2011 12:40:19 pm PST #16829 of 28286
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
I really like Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. It's a post disaster book and not exactly cheery, but it does a great job of showing a teenage girl's reactions, ranging from resentment to heroism.
Polter-Cow - Nov 15, 2011 12:48:52 pm PST #16830 of 28286
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
I originally read that as "from resentment to heroin."
Connie Neil - Nov 15, 2011 1:12:33 pm PST #16831 of 28286
brillig
Susan Beth Pfeffer
I remember reading one of her books in high school, can't remember the title. But the girl got into some sort of trouble and was made to apologize and said "I'm sorry for the trouble that this caused," and then she pointed out to her parents that she'd only apologized for the trouble, not for what she did. Her parents were upset at her hair-splitting, but she refused to feel bad for something she did out of moral outrage.
Oh, and there was a crush on a teacher that she managed to keep to herself that never involved her confessing all to the teacher and having the Sincere Conversation about, and I was quite grateful that the girl got to maintain some dignity through it all. These things always seem to require some public humiliation as a means to Growing and Learning An Important Lesson.
Kat - Nov 15, 2011 5:33:17 pm PST #16832 of 28286
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
'suela, there aren't really constraints. We're just trying to start a book club and keeping a book is the draw. One of the things I'd like to do is to get books in their hands that they HAVEN'T read yet -- the kids who will most likely show up have read Hunger Games. I'd like a nice mix, but paranormal is super popular at my school. Dystopian is fun. I'd love to read Blood Red Road with them, but the dialect is too hard.
I should also work to try to draw boys too.
Kat - Nov 15, 2011 5:34:12 pm PST #16833 of 28286
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Is the new Jay Asher/Carolyn Meckler book any good?
Rayne - Nov 15, 2011 5:35:30 pm PST #16834 of 28286
"Oh no! Has falling sky liquid once again caused you the sadness?" -Starfire
The Book Thief would be an amazing book for any book club. Oh, and The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett! Because everyone should read that book. Everyone! I also loved Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. Not so much the rest of the series though.
Kat - Nov 15, 2011 5:46:12 pm PST #16835 of 28286
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
It's being taught in 10th grade (and again at the local community college) at my school so I don't want to step on toes. I totally agree. I'm reading Zusak's new books Under Dogs to see if that is also workable.
I may also give every kid a copy of an Ayn Rand book (We the Living, I think) because I got them for free. But that seems more cruel.
Consuela - Nov 15, 2011 5:47:42 pm PST #16836 of 28286
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
Oh, yes, the Book Thief was really good. And so was The Messenger, although not as good.
How about John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Began? It's not SF but it is a very exciting story about young people caught up in a war when Australia is invaded by an unknown enemy.
Amy - Nov 15, 2011 5:49:22 pm PST #16837 of 28286
Because books.
I only read the first chapter of The Future of Us, Kat, but it does look good, yeah. Very different than Thirteen Reasons Why, of course.
Ooh, for boys, Robison Wells's Variant (another Harper author, full disclosure) is really good -- fast-paced, a lot of action, boy protagonist, dystopian but not as far in the future as something like The Hunger Games. (It's for girls, too, obviously, but the protagonist might draw boys in more easily.)