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Here are some summer reading suggestions - but remember, these are just suggestions. If you don't like the book, just put it down! Also, some of these books might have language or themes that upset people, like swearing or drinking. SmartGirl isn't about passing judgment on other people so that means that we neither condone nor condemn the characters and behaviors in these books. If there's something that you don't like, books are a good way to think about what it is that you don't like and why. Talk to your family to explore what might be some positive or negative aspects of the book, and what you think could be a better way to go.
On this page, you'll find:
I'm not a big reader, usually...
| Class Pictures by Dawoud Bey, Jock Reynolds, Taro Nettleton, Carrie Mae Weems, (Aperature) 2007 |
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Portrait photographer Dawoud Bey has been taking pictures of American high school students for the past 15 years. Included in his book are autobiographical messages from the kids themselves. This book paints a picture of the American youth landscape with humor, honesty, and respect.
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| Tupac Shakur Legacy by Jamal Joseph, Gloria Cox, Molly Monjauze, (Simon & Schuster) 2006 | | | In this book, Shakur's old friend Jamal Joseph tells the story of the man he knew. Included are song lyrics and notebook pages, pieces of the man's history and craft. |
| Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, (Random House) 2007 |
| | Told alternatively through Nick and Norah's eyes, this is the story of two kids finding each other one night in NYC. After a random meeting in a music club, they nurse each other's broken hearts, explore the Manhattan music scene, and spend the night seeing something special in each other while they zip around the city. Currently being made into a movie starring Michael Cera, read it before you watch it in the theaters this fall! |
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, (Abrams Books for Young Readers) 2007 |
| | Available as a regular book or online at www.funbrain.com, this is the story of middle child, middle school student Greg. Greg narrates his story by writing in his journal and drawing pictures to go along with each scene. While his tale has something everyone can relate to - seating chart frustrations, a friend's new popularity - the cartoons he draws to illustrate his points are hilarious. Whether you're in or out of the seventh grade, you'll enjoy watching Greg figure it all out. |
| PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives by Frank Warren, (Regan Books) 2005 |
| | What started out as a community art project has evolved into a series of books and a website at http://postsecret.blogspot.com. People from all over the world have put together handmade postcards to send to Frank Warren anonymously. On them, they've written their darkest secrets, sometimes funny and sometimes incredibly moving. |
I feel pretty, oh so pretty...
| The Luxe by Anna Godberson, (HarperCollins) 2007 |
| | The story of wealth and well-dressed intrigue a Gossip Girl could love, set in 1899! This tale of Old New York drama and romance follows the Holland sisters, Elizabeth and Diana. The delicate social dance is as exciting and glib as fans of Cecily Von Ziegesar can handle. |
| South Beach by Aimee Friedman, (Scholastic) 2005 |
| | Teen intrigue goes on vacation to Miami's South Beach area. Popular and chic Alexa breaks up with her boyfriend right before Spring Break. She decides to head to South Beach with a former and less-than-hip friend, Holly. While there, a new guy comes into the picture and the girls find that might have more in common again than they realized. |
| First Kiss (Then Tell): A Collection of True Lip-Locked Moments by Cylin Busby, (Bloomsbury USA) 2007 |
| | Authors recount the stories of their first kisses, or at least the ones they remember! Some are funny, some are exciting, and all are worth reading. The book also includes quotes, advice, and cool lists for things like quality cinematic make-outs. |
| Drama High: The Fight by L. Divine, (Tandem Library Books) 2002 |
| | For fans of The A-List series by Zoey Dean, or those who enjoy reading about high school drama but want to explore something outside of blue-blooded Westchester, this could be the series for you! Jayd Jackson lives in Compton with her mystical grandmother, mother, and assorted relatives. She's one of a busload of Black students sent to a wealthy, white high school in LA everyday. Smart and caring, she puts her own spin on the gossip, friendships, and romance you know you want! |
| 30 Days to Getting Over the Dork You Used to Call Your Boyfriend: A Heartbreak Handbook by Clea Hantman, (Random House) 2008 |
| | A nonfiction book to help those who've been hurt before. Breakups happen to everyone, even SmartGirls! By following this book's advice for a month, you'll find that moving on, though painful, is more possible than you might think. |
My Gay-Straight Alliance rocks!
| Luna by Julie Anne Peters, (Little, Brown Young Readers) 2004 |
| | Regan's sister Luna was born her brother Liam. At night, Regan helps Luna transform herself into the young woman she knows is inside. But things change when Luna opens up to everyone else about being transgendered. Regan wants her sister to be who she is, but worries what the consequences of Luna's transition will be. |
| The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson, (Penguin USA) 2005 |
| | Nina Bermudez has always, always been friends with Mel and Avery. Her ambition takes to her to a Stanford leadership camp for the summer before their senior year of high school, while Mel and Avery stay in Saratoga, NY. When Nina returns she wants to tell her best friends about her new West Coast boyfriend, but discovers that they've found romance too - with each other! Though she's happy for her friends and accepting of their love, Nina wonders where this leaves her in their circle. |
| Empress of the World by Sara Ryan, (Viking) 2001 |
| | Nicola Lancaster is spending her summer at a camp for gifted students. There she meets friends interested in different subjects and with different backgrounds including Battle Hall Davies. The two girls realize their attractions for each other and explore both their relationship with each other and the meaning of identity for themselves. Clever, witty, and touching, the book has won several awards for young adult fiction. |
| Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws by Kate Bornstein, (Seven Stories Press) 2006 |
| | This nonfiction book written by witty transgender activist Kate Bornstein isn't self-help in the typical sense. The author encourages her readers to be who and what they are to stay alive, as long as they follow one simple rule: do not be mean. If you're not mean, says Bornstein, you just have to do what you have to do. Other people's judgments, values, and ideas don't matter when you're simply a good person trying to get by. |
| The Geography Club by Brent Hartinger, (HarperCollins) 2004 |
| | Russel Middlebrook is a smart, caring, funny, not-terribly-popular high school kid. He knows he's gay, but not even his two closest friends, Min and Gunnar do. When it turns out that his online chat buddy wants to meet, he finds out that a popular athlete at his very own high school is gay too! They decide to form a group for themselves. Along with a handful of other gay students, their group calls themselves the Geography Club to make sure that no one will want to join something they believe is so dull. The members assume that their secret is safe, for a while. But eventually, Russel has to reconcile what other people think, with what he thinks for himself. |
I want my nose buried in a book!
| The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick, (Scholastic Press) 2007 |
| | Hugo Cabret is orphaned, living in a Paris train station in 1931. His father had been a clockmaker interested in robotic machines, or automatons. Hugo finds one of these machines in the garbage and goes to work on it himself, hoping that somehow this machine will help him find out what happened to his family. He befriends Isabelle and her godfather Georges, who also have parts to play in the mysteries surrounding Hugo. Importantly, this book is heavily influenced and inspired by the life and work of seminal filmmaker Georges Melies. The book seems long but is full of drawings to help imagine the scenes - drawings that look just like a cinematic storyboard. For anyone wondering who Georges Melies was, just watch the Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight" music video, homage to the silent filmmaker's A Trip to the Moon, made in 1902. |
| Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman, (Random House Children's Books) 2006 |
| | The title is the British term for Tic Tac Toe, which the author likens to racism: a game no won can win. In the series beginning, Sephy is a member of the black ruling class, the Crosses, while her childhood friend Callum is of the white minority, or Noughts. As they grow up, their feelings for each other are growing as well - but in their world, a relationship between them is impossible. Prejudice and resentment increasingly brim over into terrorism and violence, and Sephy and Callum are at the epicenter of a struggle much larger than themselves. |
| The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, (Little, Brown Young Readers) 2007 |
| | Junior lives on an Indian reservation with his family. His family is poor. Everyone he knows is poor. Being poor on the rez, he says, teaches you nothing but how to be poor. A social outcast, he spends most of his time reading and drawing cartoons in his bedroom. When he gets the chance to attend school in the nearby white farming community, he takes it, but doing so changes more than just his school mascot. Suddenly he's befriending people in his new school and even joining the basketball team. But it means leaving his best friend, Rowdy, behind on the rez - along with poverty, broken dreams, and everyone he has known and loved. |
| The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson, (Candlewick Press) 2006 |
| | The novel is about the life of Octavian from childhood till age 16 in Boston during the prelude to the American Revolution. Octavian and his mother, Cassiopeia, live at a college where they play musical instruments, dress well, and are taught to articulate their ideas. However, Octavian and Cassiopeia are Black - and the college is not what it appears to be. The scholars at the college see the pair as a grand experiment measuring whether or not they are part of the same species as the men who study them. While Americans are restless for their freedom from Great Britain, there remain those content with denying Octavian his own. |
| How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself against the Coming Rebellion by Daniel H. Wilson, (Bloomsbury) 2005 |
| | This hysterical book is everything you'd need to know about fending off the robots that might be attacking you in the near future. From a wayward vacuum cleaner to a disgruntled servant robot - you'll be prepared. Chapters include: How to Survive a Car Chase with an Unmanned Ground Vehicle and How to Thwart Robot Spies. A must-read for every savvy Smartgirl. |
You don't have to be a lonely reader!
| Start a book club! |
| | This can be whatever you want it to be! Read a book and then go see the movie together or do something inspired by a book, like having tea with your friends if you read Jane Austen. For more information, see: http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/teens_reading_index.aspx |
| Visit your local library |
| | Many libraries have summer programs going on to get people interested! Go see what they're up to. The books are free and the reading is air-conditioned. What more could you want? |
| Check out a book blog |
| | The internet has all kinds of blogs for readers these days. Some of the links above are linked to other blogs you might like. See what other people think of a book, or start a blog of your own! Reading is all about what you find in a story, and what you think of what the author has to say and how they say it. |
These sites can help scope out a new book, or help you enjoy reading more!
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