[LM_NET] HIT: High School Wish List (LONG!)

[Meagan Newberry <oldberry@GMAIL.COM>]

Thanks for your help! I just turned in my wish list of about 260 books
that I think will serve my kids well. Your suggestions were
invaluable. Thank you!!

Blue Bloods
Blood and Chocolate
Genesis Alpha --HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
The Shadow of the Wind
Daughter of fortune
Spy vs. Spy (graphic--from Mad magazine)
Bone (the comic)
Calvin and Hobbes--all
The Dreaming 1-3 (graphic)
Vampire Kisses (1-5)
The Adoration of Jenna fox
Joan Bauer(Hope was here, Backwater, Rules of the Road)
 Caroline Cooney
Cooney's Flash Fire, Driver's Ed, and Flight
SL Rottman (Stetson, Rough Water, Head above Water).
Lurleen McDaniels –
Blueford High
& Orca Surroundings
The True Color series by Melody Carlson
Neal Shusterman Schwa Was Here and Antsy Does Time, Unwind, Everlost

Wow!  Great assignment.  Rather than giving you individual titles, I'd
rather give you advice.  Call Follett and ask what's on their opening
day collection list for senior high schools.  And how much it costs.
If there is money left, you'll then want to fill in the blanks from
the BBYA lists (YALSA) for the last ten years.

This is stuff that's been popular at my urban high school:
Fiction
Must haves for guys:
Spanking Shakespeare -- Jake Wizner
The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Skate -  Michael Harmon
Fat kid rules the world --  Kelly Going
Road of the dead -- Kevin Brooks
Black and white -- Paul Volponi
everything by Scott Westerfeld  -- the Midnighters series (3 books --
secret hour, Touching darkness, blue noon); the Uglies series (uglies,
pretties, specials, extras), the Peeps series (Peeps, Last days)
Monster -- Walter Dean Myers and probably some other stuff by him as
well (Hoops, Slam, Shooter)

Must haves for girls:
Forever -- Judy Blume
some vampire romance -- the twilight books by Stephenie Meyer are
enormously popular (although I imagine a lot of girls have already
read them already) -- Blue bloods by Melissa de la Cruz and the follow
up, Masquerade
13 little blue envelopes -- Maureen Johnson

should haves :
A bad boy can be good for a girl -- Tanya Stone
Boyfriend List -- E. Lockhart
Something by Meg Cabot (she wrote princess diaries books, but also has
supernatural series (Mediator series), some stand-alones and some
adult books as well (size 12 is not fat and the follow-ups)  -- this
depends on what your girls have said they like
This Lullaby -- Sarah Dessen plus any or all of her other books  --
romance, issues, and more!
 The story of a girl -- Zarr
Harmless -- Reinhardt
Lessons from a dead girl -- Knowles
Tyrell -- Coe Booth  (good book for both boys and girls)
When it happens -- Colasanti
Take me there -- Colasanti
Breathing Underwater -- Alex Flinn  (good book for both boys and girls)
Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
Twisted - Laurie Halse Anderson (good book for boys)
Tenderness - Robert Cormier (good book for both boys and girls)
Perks of being a wallflower -- Chbosky
some Chris Crutcher -- although he has not been popular at my school
Tears of a Tiger, Forged by Fire, Darkness before dawn by Sharon Draper
Go Ask Alice -- by Anonymous
The outsiders -- S. E. Hinton
Cut - McCormick
Crank, Burned, Impulse, Burned (4 titles) by Ellen Hopkins
The disreputable history of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Life as we knew it -- Pfeiffer
Body of Christopher Creed -- Carol Plum-Ucci  -- good boy book
Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez and the next two (Rainbow High and
Rainbow road) -- about gay boys (which the girls will read but the
boys won't be caught dead with)
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Jude by K. Morgenroth (great boy book)
shattering glass -- gail giles (and her other books are great, too!)
-- good boy book
I am the Messenger -- M. Zusak

some series that girls like (you can decide whether you want to spend $ on this)
Gossip Girls  -- 11 books in original series  -- by C. Von Ziegasar
Dating Game -- 10 books in series -- by N Standiford
A-List -- by Z. Dean
Georgia Nicholson series -- 9 books -- by Louise Rennison

some adult books for teens
Leave Myself Behind -- Yates
I Know this much is True -- Lamb
Lovely Bones -- Sebold
Lucky -- Sebold (her memoir)  -- about rape in college and aftermath
Donor Boy by Brendan Halpin
Rule of the Bone -- Russell Banks
Diamond Dogs -- Alan Watt
My sister's keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Road -- McCarthy


some fun/non-serious-literature stuff:
early James Patterson (Along came a spider, etc)
Tell No One -- Harlan Coben
any Stephen King
Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice (Interview with the Vampire, Vampire
LeStat, Queen of the Damned)

edgy or more mature books that I would check out reviews for before
deciding whether to put them in your school:
Freak Show -- James St. James
Boy Toy -- Barry Lyga  -- excellent but graphic!
Teach me -- Nelson  -- mature subject (teacher-student affair)

the classics you should have really depends on your school but these
are some that students have read even though they haven't been
required to, and some others that teachers have required students to
read...
Flowers for Algernon -- Daniel Keyes
Pride and Prejudice -- Jane Austen
Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
The Lottery -- Jackson
Animal Farm and 1984 -- Orwell
Lord of the Flies -- Golding
Catcher in the Rye -- Salinger


you also want to get for non-fiction independent reading  -- some
suggestions (you know your students better than I do, but here
goes...)
some poetry  -- especially poems for and/or by teens  e.g., Angst! :
teen verses from the edge
some books about writing --
boys LOVE  Ripleys believe it or not books
girls LOVE astronomy  -- and everyone (including the staff) loves The
Secret Language of Birthdays (and its followup The Secret Language of
Relationships)
some popular memoirs -- not biographies -- I can't keep A child called
"it" on the shelf, even though I believe it's one of the worst-written
books EVER!

I would probably start by going back and looking  at ALA's site for
the Notable Children's Book Lists for the past few years and the
YALSA's Alex Award lists. And, of course, I would make sure the
students had a chance to give their suggestions.

Terri Lesesne is a YA guru.  Check out her lists on the links below.
Patrick Jones has a book called A Core Collection for Young Adults.
(He is a public librarian, so he gets a little edgier than I can in
the school.)  Both are great resources

http://www.professornana.com/
http://professornana.livejournal.com/

YOU LUCKY LUCKY GIRL!  I could spend that money in a heartbeat!  Have
you started a Graphic Novel section?  If not, I highly recommend doing
that.  We hardly ever have graphic novels actually on the shelf - they
check them out right from the drop box!
Recommended series:
InuYasha
Fruits Basket
Bleach
Orphen
Emily the Strange
I Luv Halloween
Persepolis series
Manga Shakespeare
30 Days of Night -- word of caution on this one, the kids will love
it, the parents will hate it.
I Am Legend
Beowulf
Fables-Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham

Young Adult Lit. that's really popular here:
any book written by Jody Picoult
any book written by Pete Hautman
any book written by William Kent Kruger
The Cirque du Freak series
The Maximum Ride series
The Eragon series
Gossip Girl series

13 Reasons Why - just finished it and LOVE LOVE LOVE this book - very powerful
Ghost girl
Freedom Writers Diary
Paranoid Park
Breathing Underwater
Please Stop Laughing at Me
I don't want to be crazy
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Speak, Prom, Twisted, and Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson (3 separate titles)
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (or anything by her)
Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature by Brande (one title)
Don't Call Me Ishmael by Michael Gerard Bauer
Friday Night Lights by Bissinger (non-fiction but very popular here)
Eragon series by Paolini
Halo books (4 or 5 in the series) by various authors (Nylund and Dietz
and Radcliffe)
Feed by M.T. Anderson
Lemony Snicket series (yes, I know they are for much younger students
but some of our readers are only at that level)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Kinney (and sequel) (again, younger but very popular)
R.L. Stine books
Harry Potter series by Rowling
Chicken Soup books (any, again, NF but really popular)
Inkheart, Inkspell, and Inkdeath by Funke
Sunrise over Fallujah by Myers (anything by Walter Dean Myers is good)
Tears of a Tiger or Copper Sun by Draper
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by Lubar
Looking for Alaska by Green
Airborn by Oppel
The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Schmidt
Hope was Here by Joan Bauer
Hard Love, or Sandpiper by Wittlinger
Blood and Chocolate or The Silver Kiss by Klause
books by Mike Lupica (sports fiction)
books by Chris Crutcher
books by Susan Beth Pfeffer (The Year without Michael, Life as we Knew
It, About David)
Just in Case, and How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie
books by Jerry Spinelli (Stargirl is really good)
books by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies series, Peeps)
books by Justine Larbalestier (Magic or Madness series)
books by Pete Hautman

I would suggest you search the lm net archives for humorous fiction,
sports fiction, chick lit, books like twilight, and use ala resources
like quick picks. I would also include printz award and national book
award for young adult.  I have found those award winners to be much
better than newberry and caldecott.

The first thing that came to mind when I read your request was anything
by Laurie Halse Anderson - author of Speak, Catalyst, etc.  I've enjoyed
everything I've picked up by her, and she has a great, tight writing
style that I think appeals to many teens.
HTH

If I had $5000 for YA fiction I would start with Cathy Johnson's HIT
about what to read after Twilight, then I would go to ALA website and
look over those recommended and award winning list.  I don't always
buy books BECAUSE of the award but it is a good place to begin.  Then
I would look through the new shelves at my public library because I
know they have great newly published books.  Finally I would go
through my carefully collected list of websites and see what is being
discussed.  I really like Judy Freeman's work so I would look over the
lists that she puts up on Titlewave and check the fiction she
recommends.  This list says it is for children but 9-12th grade books
often accomodate the titles I see recommended for children such as
Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series.

Any Darren Shan books, if you have vampire, sci fi lovers.

Check out Lonestar and Taysha award winners of Texas.  You can go to
Mackin's website and they have a book talk for these that you can access
without having to register.  I purchase anything that comes on this
list.

Also, Check out Naomi Bates' website at the Northwest ISD high school.
She is on the cutting edge of high school fiction.

I would go to one of the vendors like Mackin or Follett, ask them to put
together a list and pick over that.  I did that with HS
Science/Technology/Ecology earlier this year and was very pleased with
the results!

For the boys sports writers I suggest Wallace, Dygard and Deuker.
They both have multiple books that the boys like.
My girls love the Uglies series, the Clique series (I don't like this
one as much, but the girls sure eat it up) and Mates and Dates series.
 For authors they really like Sara Dessen and the Rennison's series.
Meg Cabot is hugely popular, as is the Artemis Fowl series.  Lois
Duncan is a great suspense writer, and Walter dean myers is very
popular with the boys, especially his Vietnam War books Fallen Angels.
The John Flannagan series with the Ranger's Apprentice books is great
too--five books are out so far, but there are 8 in the series.
I hope that helps you a bit.  At least it will be a fun order to put together!

Scott Westerfelds Uglies Pretties Specials & Extras, plus his Peeps &
The Last Days (sequel to Peeps)
Kenneth Oppel's books (Darkwing series, plus Airborn & Skybreaker)
Darren Shan books
Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell's "The Edge Chronicles"



I put together a similar wish list for a grant that I am writing. I
started by using the ALA Best Books for Young Adult list as well as
Picks for Reluctant Readers. Depending on how many of these titles you
already have in your collection you should be able to knock out close
to that amount.
The other thing I did was consult graphic novel bibliographies to get
a list together to add to the collection.

We had something like happen to us a few years ago.  I used the ALA
lists for HS top ten, best teen, best books for reluctant readers, etc.,
not only used the current year selections but also went back 4 or 5
years and included those lists, too.  They are wildly popular with my
students.

Some of my favorite YA and adult YA-appropriate books (tilted toward
the fantasy/sf end of the spectrum, because that's most of what I
read)

Wicked Lovely & Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You & Cross My
Heart And Hope To Spy by Ally Carter
The Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine (Glass Houses, Dead
Girls' Dance, Midnight Alley, Feast of Fools, and more to come)
The Dragonback series by Timothy Zahn
Enchanted, Inc., Once Upon Stilettos, Damsel Under Stress, Don't Hex
With Texas by Shanna Swendson
The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory (The
Outstretched Shadow, To Light a Candle, When Darkness Falls)
The Squire's Tale series by Gerald Morris
Temping Fate by Esther Friesner
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
The Discworld Novels by Terry Pratchett (particularly Guards, Guards,
Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, and Night Watch)
Major Crush by Jennifer Echols
The Blue Girl by Charles De Lint
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld
Company by Max Barry
Jennifer Government by Max Barry
The Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher (Furies of Calderon, Academ's
Fury, Cursor's Fury, Captain's Fury)
An Assembly Such as This, Duty and Desire, and These Three Remain by
Pamela Aidan
The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy by Clare Dunkle


-- 
Meagan Newberry, Librarian
West Yellowstone School
West Yellowstone, MT
oldberry@gmail.com

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