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Explore the captivating worlds of The Hunger Games, Monster, Crank, Bone, Speak, The Gunslinger, Tears of a Tiger, Scott Pilgrim, My Sister's Keeper, and Go Ask Alice in this collection of popular books from last semester.
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Last Semester’s Most Popular Books Developed by: Mr. Scott Foley Bloomington High School
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins • In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed. • It is replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. • Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. • The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch.
Monster by Walter Dean Myers • "Monster" is what the prosecutor called 16-year-old Steve Harmon for his supposed role in the fatal shooting of a convenience-store owner. • But was Steve really the lookout, or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? • In this innovative novel by Walter Dean Myers, the reader becomes both juror and witness during the trial of Steve's life. • To calm his nerves as he sits in the courtroom, aspiring filmmaker Steve chronicles the proceedings in movie script format.
Crank by Ellen Hopkins • Seventeen-year-old Kristina Snow is introduced to crank on a trip to visit her wayward father. • Caught up in a fast-paced, frightening, and unfamiliar world, she morphs into "Bree" after she "shakes hands with the monster." • When Kristina goes home, things don't return to normal. • Although she tries to reconnect with her mother and her former life as a good student, her drug use soon takes over, leaving her "starving for speed" and for boys who will soon leave her scarred and pregnant.
Bone by Jeff Smith • Smith's epic concerns three blobby creatures who have stumbled into a valley full of monsters, magic, farmers, an exiled princess, and a huge, cynical dragon. • The story is hilarious and action-packed, but rarely loses track of its darker subtext about power and evil. • This is first-class kid lit: exciting, funny, scary and resonant enough that it will stick with readers for a long time.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson • Divided into the four marking periods of an academic year, the novel, narrated by Melinda Sordino, begins on her first day as a high school freshman. • No one will sit with Melinda on the bus. At school, students call her names and harass her; her best friends from junior high scatter to different cliques and abandon her. • A girl at a school pep rally confronts Melinda about calling the police at the summer party, resulting in several arrests. • But readers do not learn why Melinda made the call until much later.
The Gunslinger By Stephen King • The Gunslinger introduces protagonist Roland as he pursues the Man in Black through bleak and tired landscapes in a post-apocolyptic world. • Roland believes that the Man in Black can reveal the secrets of the Dark Tower, which is the ultimate goal of Roland's quest. • It is a blend of western, fantasy, and horror.
Tears of a Tiger by Sharon M. Draper • A hard-hitting story of the unraveling of a young man who was the drunk driver in an accident that killed his best friend. • The story is artfully told through English class assignments, including poetry, dialogues, police and newspaper reports, and letters. • This moving novel will leave a deep impression.
Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley • Scott Pilgrim is 23 years old, lives in a cold, unnamed Canadian town, plays bass in a band called Sex Bob-Omb and has a 17-year-old Chinese-Canadian girlfriend. • His life is unstructured, and he drifts, unemployed, between band practice and time spent with Knives. • But then he starts having dreams about Ramona Flowers, a mysterious, hipster chick on Rollerblades who delivers books for Amazon.com. • It's an alt-lit, rock 'n' roll graphic novel with wonderful manga-influenced drawing and a comically mystical plot that manages to capture both the genuine intimacies and serial dishonesties of young love.
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult • Thirteen-year-old Anna Fitzgerald walks into the office of lawyer Campbell Alexander and announces she wants to sue her parents for the rights to her own body. • Anna was conceived after her older sister, Kate, developed a rare form of leukemia at the age of two, and has donated bone marrow and blood to her sister. • Now she has been asked to donate a kidney, and she intends to refuse. • This is a beautiful, heartbreaking, controversial, and honest book.
Go Ask Alice by An Anonymous Author • The torture of adolescence has rarely been captured as clearly as it is in this classic diary by an anonymous, addicted teen. • Lonely, awkward, and under extreme pressure from her "perfect" parents, "Anonymous" swings madly between optimism and despair. • When one of her new friends spikes her drink with LSD, this diarist begins a frightening journey into darkness. • The drugs take the edge off her loneliness and self-hate, but they also turn her life into a nightmare of exalting highs and excruciating lows.
Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee • BATMAN: HUSH is a thrilling mystery of action, intrigue, and deception penned by Jeph Loeb (BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN) and illustrated by comics superstar Jim Lee (ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER) . • Batman sets out to discover the identity of a mysterious mastermind using the Joker, Riddler, Ra's al Ghul and the Dark Knight's other enemies - and allies - as pawns in a plan to wreak havoc. • In it, Batman must question his past actions and decide how to defeat a former Robin.
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks • Seventeen year old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. • Three years later, she remains angry and alienated from her parents, especially her father...until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. • Ronnie's father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church. • The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love and the many ways that love can break our hearts...and heal them.
World War Z by Max Brooks • Brooks documents the "first hand" experiences and testimonies of those who survived 10 years after the fictitious zombie war. • The "historical account" format gives Brooks room to explore the zombie plague from numerous different views and characters. • Brooks exhaustively details zombie incidents from isolated attacks to full-scale military combat. • Horror fans won't be disappointed: like George Romero's Dead trilogy, World War Z is another milestone in the zombie mythos.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan • Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. • Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. • And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. • Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus.
Persepolis by MarjaneSatrapi • Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age during the Islamic Revolution. • It details the contradictions between private life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval. • It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up. • Edgy, observant, and candid, Persepolis is a stunning work from one of the most highly regarded graphic artists at work today.
