The Spectacular Now

The Spectacular Now 2008 Finalist for the National Book Award Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (November, 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 0375851798 ISBN-13: 978-0375851797

SUTTER KEELY. HE’S the guy you want at your party. He’ll get everyone dancing. He’ll get everyone in your parents’ pool. Okay, so he’s not exactly a shining academic star. He has no plans for college and will probably end up folding men’s shirts for a living. But there are plenty of ladies in town, and with the help of Dean Martin and Seagram’s V.O., life’s pretty fabuloso, actually.

Until the morning he wakes up on a random front lawn, and he meets Aimee. Aimee’s clueless. Aimee is a social disaster. Aimee needs help, and it’s up to the Sutterman to show Aimee a splendiferous time and then let her go forth and prosper. But Aimee’s not like other girls, and before long he’s in way over his head. For the first time in his life, he has the power to make a difference in someone else’s life—or ruin it forever.

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Mojo

 

 

All Dylan wants is mojo. What is mojo? It’s power. The ability to command respect. It’s everything Dylan doesn’t have. He gets no respect at school, and when he finds the dead body of a classmate, even the police push him around. All the thanks he gets for trying to help the investigation with his crime drama skills is a new nickname at school: Body Bag. So when Dylan hears about a missing rich girl from the other side of town, he jumps at the chance to dive into this mystery. Surely if he cracks a case involving a girl this beautiful and this rich, he’ll get not only a hefty cash reward, but the mojo he’s looking for. 

His investigation takes him into the world of an elite private high school and an underground club called Gangland. As Dylan—along with his loyal friends Audrey and Randy—falls down the rabbit hole, lured by the power of privilege, he begins to lose himself. And the stakes of the game keep getting higher.  

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BADD

Ceejay has never been pretty or popular, but she knows who she is: she’s younger sister to Bobby, the most charming bad boy in town. Bobby’s a bit wild, but with his big heart and sense of fun, everybody loves him. And nobody understands Ceejay like Bobby.

Now, Ceejay can’t wait for Bobby to return home from his tour in Iraq. But then he turns up unannounced and seems to be avoiding his family. And he’s so different. His wild streak has become reckless. His sense of fun has become desperate. And seeing this, Ceejay’s own tough shell begins to crack. How can she believe in being strong when her hero is broken?

As she tries to get Bobby back, Ceejay begins to reexamine her family, her community, and everyone in her life. What she finds is that true strength is not quite what she thought it was.

Falling Dark

Falling Dark Winner of the Milkweed National Fiction Prize Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Milkweed Editions (March, 2001) Language: English ISBN-10: 1571310347 ISBN-13: 978-1571310347

Falling Dark chronicles a cross-section of 1960s idealists and fallen dreamers. Still reeling from the violent death of her husband, Donna Bless is often too drunk to maintain the barest semblance of her former life, leaving her two boys to fend for themselves. She then takes up with Roy Dale, a boastful shell of a man who seems chivalrous but isn’t. Tim Tharp’s tale opens darkly, yet points to the possibility of redemption.

Knights of the Hill Country

Knights of the Hill Country Named to the American Library Association’s best books of the year list and winner of the Oklahoma Book Award Mass Market: 240 pages Publisher: Laurel Leaf; Reprint edition (August 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 0553495135 ISBN-13: 978-0553495133

In a small Oklahoma town, one star linebacker must decide what kind of man he wants to be—both on and off the field. Welcome to Kennisaw—where Friday night high school football ranks right up there with God and country, and sometimes even comes in first. This year, the Kennisaw Knights are going for their fifth straight undefeated season, and if they succeed, they’ll be more than the best high school team in the eastern Oklahoma hill country—they’ll be legends.

But the Knights’ legacy is a heavy weight to carry for Hampton, linebacker and star of the team. On the field, he’s so in control you’d think he was able to stop time. But his life off the field is a different story. His father walked out on him and his mom years ago, and now his mom has a new boyfriend every week. He’s drawn to a smart, quirky girl at school—the type a star athlete just isn’t supposed to associate with. And meanwhile, his best friend and teammate Blaine—the true friend who first introduced Hampton to football back when he had nothing else—is becoming uncomfortably competitive, and he’s demanding Hampton’s loyalty even as Hampton thinks he’s going too far.

This unforgettable novel is the story of a boy whose choices will decide the kind of man he becomes, and raises powerful questions about sportsmanship, loyalty, and the deceptiveness of legends. Knights of the Hill Country has been named to several state reading lists and to the American Library Association’s best books of the year list.