New Books for Teens

The votes are in for Gayle Middle School's top teen picks. All of these titles are part of this year's Cafe Book program.

Top Picks:

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
In a post-apocalyptic world where fences and border patrols guard the few people left from the zombies that have overtaken civilization, fifteen-year-old Benny Imura is finally convinced that he must follow in his older brother's footsteps and become a bounty hunter.

Girl, Stolen by April Henry
When an impulsive carjacking turns into a kidnapping, Griffin, a high school dropout, finds himself more in sympathy with his wealthy, blind victim, sixteen-year-old Cheyenne, than with his greedy father.

Other Favorites:

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

Brain Jack by Brian Falkner

Hero by Mike Lupica

Human.4 by Mike Lancaster

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard

False Princess by Elis O'Neal

Trapped by Michael Northrop

End of the Line by Angela Cerrito

Interested? Click on a title to place a hold!

Here are the Top Teen Picks and Other Favorites selected by 7th and 8th grade Cafe Book teens at A. G. Wright Middle School:

Top Picks:

Girl, Stolen by April Henry
When an impulsive carjacking turns into a kidnapping, Griffin, a high school dropout, finds himself more in sympathy with his wealthy, blind victim, sixteen-year-old Cheyenne, than with his greedy father.

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
In a post-apocalyptic world where fences and border patrols guard the few people left from the zombies that have overtaken civilization, fifteen-year-old Benny Imura is finally convinced that he must follow in his older brother's footsteps and become a bounty hunter.

 

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz 
Follows Hansel and Gretel as they walk out of their own story and into eight more tales, encountering such wicked creatures as witches, along with kindly strangers and other helpful folk. Based in part on the Grimms' fairy tales Faithful Johannes, Hansel and Gretel, The seven ravens, Brother and sister, The robber bridegroom, and The devil and his three golden hairs.
 

Other Favorites:

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

The End of the Line by Angela Cerrito

The False Princess by Ellis O'Neal

Human.4 by Mike Lancaster

Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

Lost in the River of Grass by Ginny Rorby

Trapped by Michael Northrop

Cafe Book teens at Chancellor Middle School have spoken! Out of the 20 books they read throughout the fall (all published in 2011) Lost in the River of Grass by Ginny Rorby was their Top Pick.

Top Pick:

Lost in the River of Grass by Ginny Rorby

When two Florida teenagers become stranded on a tiny island in the Everglades, they attempt to walk ten miles through swampland to reach civilization.

Other Favorites:

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz came in 2nd place

and Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry came in 3rd

Brain Jack by Brian Falkner, Girl, Stolen by April Henry, and Trapped by Michael Northrop all tied for 4th place.

On a cold day in January, the 8^th graders at Freedom Middle School heard the voting results . . . their 2012 Cafe Book Top Teen Picks! After reading and discussing a selection of 20 of the best teen books published in 2011, they picked their favorites plus two stand-outs that topped them all. Here they are!

Top Teen Picks (a tie!):

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

In a post-apocalyptic world where fences and border patrols guard the few people left from the zombies that have overtaken civilization, fifteen-year-old Benny Imura is finally convinced that he must follow in his older brother's footsteps and become a bounty hunter.

and ....

Lost in the River of Grass by Ginny Rorby

When two Florida teenagers become stranded on a tiny island in the Everglades, they attempt to walk ten miles through swampland to reach civilization.

Favorites:

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Brain Jack by Brian Falkner

Girl, Stolen by April Henry

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Trapped by Michael Northrop

Seventh and eighth graders at Dixon-Smith Middle School have chosen their favorite titles from this year's Cafe Book program. Check 'em out!

Top Pick:

Trapped by Michael Northrop
Seven high school students are stranded at their New England high school during a week-long blizzard that shuts down the power and heat, freezes the pipes, and leaves them wondering if they will survive.

 

Other Favorites:

Brain Jack by Brian Falkner

Girl, Stolen by April Henry

Human.4 by Mike Lancaster

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard

Keep your eyes peeled for the top teen picks voted by students from Drew Middle School as part of their Cafe Book program.

Top Picks:

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

In a post-apocalyptic world where fences and border patrols guard the few people left from the zombies that have overtaken civilization, fifteen-year-old Benny Imura is finally convinced that he must follow in his older brother's footsteps and become a bounty hunter.

Brain Jack by Brian Falkner

In a near-future New York City, fourteen-year-old computer genius Sam Wilson manages to hack into the world's largest telecommunications company network and sets off a chain of events that have a profound effect on human activity throughout the world.

Other Favorites:

The votes are in and the students at Shirley Heim Middle School have chosen their favorite titles from this year's Cafe Book program. 

Top Picks:

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz 
Follows Hansel and Gretel as they walk out of their own story and into eight more tales, encountering such wicked creatures as witches, along with kindly strangers and other helpful folk. Based in part on the Grimms' fairy tales Faithful Johannes, Hansel and Gretel, The seven ravens, Brother and sister, The robber bridegroom, and The devil and his three golden hairs.



Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
In a post-apocalyptic world where fences and border patrols guard the few people left from the zombies that have overtaken civilization, fifteen-year-old Benny Imura is finally convinced that he must follow in his older brother's footsteps and become a bounty hunter.





Other Favorites:

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Brain Jack by Brian Falkner

The End of the Line by Angela Cerrito

The False Princess by Ellis O'Neal

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Trapped by Michael Northrop

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard

Just click on a title to place a hold!

Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of her family's SUV. She is sick and her stepmother has gone into the pharmacy to pick up her medicine.  She left the engine running because she was only going to be a minute. Griffin is in the parking lot of the shopping center looking for packages in cars that he can steal.  He sees the SUV with the engine running and he steals it. Cheyenne is still asleep in the back seat. She wakes up to find that she is in her car and it is being stolen. Griffin has no idea that Cheyenne is in the back. Oh yes, and one more thing....Cheyenne is blind in Girl, Stolen by April Henry.

In The Freak Observer, by Blythe Woolston, Loa Lindgren is not your typical 16-year-old and yet she is a quintessential one. Her life is certainly not the ideal. In the past year her family has fallen apart, having lost the one thing that their lives revolved around: her little sister, Asta, named for the stars. Born with Rett’s syndrome, she stopped growing after a few months and was destined to remain infantile her entire life, until she suddenly died. Without the constant need to care for Asta, Loa and her family are like planets without a star to revolve around, cut loose to wander the universe. They are, of course, also stricken with grief, each one reacting in their own way. Her father has fits of violence. Loa wakes screaming from nightmares--just one terrifying symptom of a case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Sam Wilson is 14 years old, lives in New York City, and is a computer genius.  It is not unusual for Sam and his friends to hack into computer systems and fool around.   In fact, computer gaming and use has reached a whole new level in Brain Jack, by Brian Falkner.  In Sam's world, being addicted to computer gaming has moved from the basement to gaming lounges.  There are individuals who spend their entire days hooked to gaming systems and do nothing else.  This book begs the question ...is this a possible future?

Sam likes to hack into systems for fun and to see if he can shut them down and then get out without his identity being detected.  One day he decides to disrupt the structure of one of the country's largest  telecommunications systems.  He is able to move through the system undetected for a while using his computer hacking skills.  However, unusual activity is noted by the web security team working for the large company.  Sam realizes that he has been spotted and decides to get out quickly.  There is a flurry of activity that follows as Sam scrambles to finish the job and remove any evidence that could link this security breach back to him.