More Award Books -- Secondary

CONTEMPORARY FICTION
Bifocal, by Deborah Ellis and Eric Walters [CAN]
Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2007, 273 pages.
Jay, a rising football champ, and Haroon, a "Reach for the Top" challenger, are teenagers at a suburban high school. Racial tensions escalate in the wake of 911, and the boys are forced to question their own values, and grapple with issues of culture, identity, and social responsibility.
The novel is very readable, and makes discussion about racial stereotyping readily accessible. Secondary characters, especially in the storyline which deals with Haroon's situation, are vividly drawn, and the overall tone suggests the complication of contemporary identity politics. Alternating chapters offer first-person narratives from Jay and Haroon's perspectives. Classwork on the novel will easily lead to a variety of extension research activities.

Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta [AUS]
HarperTeen, 2006. 419 pages.
Teenaged tomboy Taylor Markham, abandoned by her mother, is the house captain at an independent school in the Australian countryside. Compelled by the "territory war" with the townspeople and neighbouring cadet camp, Taylor becomes part of an unfolding mystery which will explain her own origins and the brutal heritage of the place which surrounds her.
Taylor is an interesting character, who picques readers' interest. The story, however, is lengthy, and detail allusive at times. Despite engagement in the growing romantic relationship between Taylor, and Jonah, captain of the enemy cadets, less able readers will probably not follow the story to its denouement.

The Penalty, by Mal Peet [UK]
Candlewick Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-7636-4339-3 262 pages.
South American sportswriter Paul Faustino finds himself embroiled, against his will, in the voodoo kidnapping of a young soccer star. The journey to rescue El Brujito weaves in and out of the present time, and positions this black magic within the history of slaves on a sugar plantation. Shocking violence brings the action to a climax, and changes the face of the village landscape forever.
This is the second of Peet's Faustino books, and is much more complex than a simple sports story. Readers become involved in the mystery surrounding Brujito's disappearance, and Faustino's cynicism makes him a credible eyewitness. Details about the journey from Africa and plantation life are painfully vivid. The multiple plot structure may confuse some readers, and the novel, overall, is best suited to a mature reader.

FANTASY
The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness [UK]
Candlewick Press, 2008 ISBN: 978-0-7636-3931-0 479 pages
Todd Hewitt is a boy coming of age in a rural society, in which there are only males, all of whom possess the strange knack of hearing one another’s thoughts. After a chance meeting with a silent, alien girl in the swamp outside his home, Todd finds himself on the run from his former neighbours, who seem desperate to kill him so that he cannot recognize the awful truths of their history. Along with the stranger girl and his loyal dog, Todd flees across country on a dangerous journey to find help, and learns the extent of the brutality and darkness dwelling within himself.
This is a thoughtful, creative, but rather difficult book, and although there are many episodes of violence and suspense in the plot, the language and style make the book inaccessible in places, especially at the beginning. Todd is an interesting, developing character, and his story opens up discussions about the nature of civilization and progress. The excitement of the climatic battle at the end of the story is somewhat diminished by the very heavy-handed entrée into a sequel. Language is descriptive, and evocative, and a number of scenes are painful in their brutality.

Little (Grrl) Lost, by Charles De Lint [CAN]
Firebird, 2007 ISBN: 978-0-14-241301-2 271 pages
Mourning the countryside life her parents have taken her from, fourteen-year-old TJ makes an astonishing discovery in her suburban house: a race of tiny creatures are living in the walls. TJ develops a strange kinship with Elizabeth, the rebel teen of this family of littles, and when Elizabeth disappears, TJ sets out to find her, stumbling up an intricate fairy underworld in the process.
Some teenaged girls may identify with TJ’s sense of disconnection and loneliness, and she is a credible character whose day-to-day activities are familiar. However, more fantastic and slightly juvenile elements come to dominate the plot, as during the visit to the goblin market, and several readers may find themselves losing interest in the novel.

Skulluggery Pleasant: Scepter of the Ancients, by Derek Landy [UK]
Harper, 2007 ISBN: 978-0-06-123117-9
Teenaged Stephanie learns that she is the sole heir to her uncle's vast fortune -- and age-old secret battle with supernatural forces. Her ally in this war is an ageless skeleton adventurer, who agrees to help her the learn powerful magic she will need to keep evil at bay.
Lots of adventure, magic, and low-level suspense here. Stephanie is not a stereotypical teenaged female, and there is low-lying humour through the novel. Simple, linear plot, with many "screenplay" elements.

MYSTERY
Rat Life: A Mystery, by Tedd Arnold [US]
Dial, 2007 ISBN: 978-0-8037-3020-5 199 pages
Todd is a teenaged boy growing up in a small Midwestern town during the 1970s. His realization of his potential as a writer forces him to open his eyes, and ask questions about his friends, family and neighbours, especially the taciturn Rat, Todd’s co-worker at the drive-in. Todd’s pursuit of the truth about a local murder brings him to the point of disaster, and brings more than one secret to life.
The theme of Todd’s emergence as a writer/journalist neatly ties together disparate elements. The subplot about the American presence in Vietnam piques readers’ interest at points, and adds dimension to some of the characters. There are moments of suspense and action, such as the climatic flood scene, but Todd may not be a compelling enough character to retain reader interest throughout the novel.

HISTORICAL FICTION
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves, by M.T. Anderson [US]
Candlewick Press, 2008 ISBN: 978-0-7636-2950-2 561 pages
Joining the King’s army at the promise of freedom, teenaged slave Octavian finds himself embroiled in the horrors of the American Revolutionary War, this time fighting against the Yankee “rebels.” Life aboard Lord Dunmore’s floating kingdom tests former loyalties, and leads to new friendships and a growing confusion of identity.
The sequel to Anderson’s best-selling The Pox Party, this novel is fascinating in parts in its intricate imitation of 18th- Century language and style, but due to the somewhat esoteric nature of the content and extreme length of the novel, many readers may find themselves unable to stick with Octavian until his final reunion, with Gitney, the former master who is his Dr. Frankenstein.

Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography, by Chester Brown [CAN]
Drawn & Quarterly Publications, c1999
This is a lengthy, comic-book version of Riel's biography, separated into four "chunks." Brown succeeds in showing many facets of this complex historical figure, and reopens the constitutional controversy of 19th-century Canadian politics. Lots of meat here for consideration of issues such as the building of the CPR, the rights of First People and Metis to self-determination, confederation, religion & society, and cultural martyrdom. Recommended by ERAC for classroom use with students in Grades 10 - 11.

Maus 1: A Survivor's Tale -- My Father Bleeds History, by Art Spiegelman [US] (c1986)
Recommended by ERAC for classroom work with students in Grades 11 - 12.
An ideal complement to Social Studies 11 or History 12, this is the comic biography of Spiegelman's father, a Polish Jew who has survived the Holocaust. The very complex story is told in flashbacks, with Jewish and Nazi characters allegorically represented as mice and cats, respectively.

Nation, by Terry Pratchett [UK]
HarperCollins, 2008. 9780061433023 367 pages.
Pratchett is best known as a writer of fantasy, with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, and flair for elaborate detail. Here, in a charming story that blends fantasy with reality, he has created a 19th-century Pacific Island kingdom which has suffered a devastating tsunami. Mau, the sole survivor, must rebuild the nation alone, until he encounters Daphne, the English aristocrat whose ship has washed up on the island's shores. Gradually, survivors from nearby islands come to join the nation, which is threatened by European adventurers.
Not the novel for every teenager, but an interesting look at issues of colonization and society.

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi [Iran] (c2003)
Satrapi's comic autobiography works well as a counterpoint to discussions of mid-Eastern politics. She tells her own coming of age story, growing up in pre-Islamic revolution Iran. The story operates on many levels, and allows for consideration of issues of gender, religion, ethnicity, bias, etc.
Recommended by ERAC for classroom work with students in Grades 11 - 12.