07. Skud

Foon, Dennis. Skud. Toronto: Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press, 2003. Kindle File.

Annotation: Three seniors in high school think they have their lives figured out. Can they find a new path when everything crumbles around them?

Justification for rejection:
Skud showcases three high school seniors who are certain they know what life has in store for them. One plans to be an actor, one will enter the air force, and one is going to be a pro hockey player. One by one, their plans unravel. Two of the characters have a fall from grace, and the third, Andy, is shown the harshness of the real world.

Though the story is told from many vantage points, Andy is clearly the protagonist of the book. He is an aspiring actor, who gets a shot at his big break. To make it, though, he must sell himself as a drug dealer. He befriends Shane, a very notorious gang member, to teach him how to have "It", the air of intimidation that Andy feels is required for the part. Andy's journey involves him seeing that the world is not as straightforward as he thought. He is able to gain "It", but ironically realizes how childish his initial goals were. In gaining "It", he loses the excitement in getting his acting job.

Skud is a very good novel, with a few key flaws. Like all great YA works, it is told from the adolescent perspective. Much of the book takes place in and around a high school, which is something that a YA reader will definitely identify with. It is an adventure novel, with Andy having a very clear quest that he is on, and this aspect of the story is very well done. The characters begin highly optimistic and naive, but by the end of the novel have matured and realized that the world is not as black and white as they thought. This journey is definitely relatable to the YA reader, and is well done in this work. The book is fast-paced, and reads much faster than it's page-count would imply.

Where Skud falls short is in emotionality, which is a requirement of excellent YA literature. Terrible things happen to the characters, but the reader does not have the sense of loss. The characterization is simply too black and white for the characters to feel like fully fleshed-out human beings, and thus the emotional impact is less than it should be.

While Skud is a very good YA novel, it does not rise to the level of recommendation.

Genre: Romance, Sports or Adventure

06. Double Helix

Werlin, Nancy. Double Helix. New York: Penguin Group, 2005. Kindle File.

Annotation: Eli's father insists that he not work for world-famous scientist Quincy Wyatt. What could his father possibly have against this man, who has done so much for the world?

Justification for nomination:
Double Helix follows Eli, a boy who just graduated high school, and decides to take a year off before college. He begins working for Wyatt Transgenics, a company specializing in transferring genes between species. His father is against the notion, and suggests that the founder, Dr. Quincy Wyatt, is not a man to be trusted. Throughout the novel, Eli works to untangle the reasons for his father's distrust, and discovers some very surprising truths about his own origin and the secret work that Dr. Wyatt has been doing.

This book is masterfully presented. The story is gripping, and will have readers charging through the novel very quickly. The characters are quite relatable, which is important in any great YA work. This is not just limited to the main character, Eli's girlfriend, Viv, presents the reader with a character who is just as fleshed out as Eli. She is also where much of the emotionality of the novel shines through, which is another hallmark of great YA literature.

The work respects the both the emotional and intellectual maturity of its readers. Eli's mother is dying of Huntington's Disease, and all of the conflicted emotions involved with a loss of this nature are explored completely. The story also includes some quite complex biological subjects, which are explained well, and dealt with in an elevated way. It is this attention to the real science of the story that allows the plot to develop without feeling contrived. A requirement of YA literature is that it respects the YA audience, and this work does so on several levels.

Though the story is certainly an optimistic one, it leaves the reader with a real open-ended moral question about genetic manipulation. It does so carefully, and does not preach one direction or the other.

Double Helix is incredibly exciting, fun, deep, and powerful. It is truly a great novel.

Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction

05. Heroes

Cormier, Robert. Heroes. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 1998. Kindle file.

Annotation: A teen with no face returns from the war, intent on exacting revenge. Can he possibly defeat the evil that had him running to the war in the first place?

Justification for rejection:
Heroes is a story of an adolescent boy, who returns from World War II with a horrible injury that leaves his face in shambles. He is happy for the injury, however, as this allows him to hide in plain sight while he seeks to kill the man that raped the girl he loves.

The novel is told from the adolescent perspective, which is important in a work of YA literature. It is engaging, and a reader will find themselves finishing it quickly. It helps that it is reasonably short, which is also good for engaging a reluctant reader. The historical setting is utilized well, and many aspects of the story simply would not make sense in another time. 

The adolescent reader is certainly respected. The horrors of war are driven home through discussions of the extent of the narrator's injuries, death, and the non-graphic description of the rape of Nicole.  Trusting an adolescent reader to handle "adult" themes is important in good YA literature, and Heroes does not disappoint from this standpoint.

The biggest issue with the novel, and the reason it is not receiving a recommendation, is that the characters are not relatable to the average person. They are not fleshed-out enough that the reader feels like they can understand their motivations. Even with the high level of emotional response that war, rape, and maiming should receive, the novel does not manage to accomplish the emotionality that is required in a great YA work. Though this is a good novel, it does not rise to the level of receiving a recommendation.

Genre: Historical fiction, Problem novel

04. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

Hoose, Phillip. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010. Kindle file.

Annotation: Before Rosa Parks, a teenager stood up to the injustice of Jim Crow by refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. Claudette Colvin was an unsung hero of the civil rights era, and her actions helped to unravel the oppressive Jim Crow regime.

Justification for nomination:
Most people know the story of Rosa Parks, though few realize that others stood up to the Jim Crow establishment before her. Claudette Colvin was one who did. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice is a biography of Claudette Colvin. At the age of 15, this brave girl refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This led to her arrest, and her ending up on probation for her actions. She went on to be the primary witness in Browder v. Gayle, a landmark case which began the unwinding of the Jim Crow laws of the south.

This book is everything a great YA work should be. Claudette is an adolescent herself. She is fighting against hundreds of years of oppression and custom. Claudette's personal accounts are used throughout, telling the story of her life directly from her perspective. She is not along for the ride, but is making decisions for herself that impact the course of history. The YA reader will certainly find themselves identifying with her and her plight. Nothing is sugarcoated, demonstrating respect for the adolescent reader. A full understanding is given of just how difficult life was for a black person living under the Jim Crow regime.

The story of Claudette Colvin is one that is intensely emotional. The reader cannot help but feel a deep sense of injustice when viewing the world through her eyes. While Claudette is a hugely inspirational figure, she certainly has her flaws. She is presented as a human being, complete with poor choices. Her pregnancy is neither praised or condemned, but is reported honestly. The emotional impact of a fully fleshed out individual dealing with a deeply troubling situation is one that the reader cannot help but feel personally, a hallmark of great YA literature.

Finally, the biography genre is one that is approachable and enjoyable for a wide cross-section of adolescent readers. Many adolescents who are turned off by fiction will enjoy a historically accurate, but deeply emotional story. This is YA literature at its finest.

Genre: Biography, Autobiography or Memoir

03. Inexcusable

Lynch, Chris. Inexcusable. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2008. Kindle file.
Annotation: If Keir can just get Gigi to listen to him, she'll realize that last night isn't the atrocity she insists it is.

Justification for nomination:
Inexcusable is a raw, gut-wrenching story of an adolescent reflecting on the events that led up to the previous night, a night where he raped the girl he loved. He insists that this night is not the way that she claims it is, and presents the events of the previous several months, and is insistent that this could never have happened because "I am a good guy. Good guys don't do bad things."

The book sets up a situation that leaves the reader condemning the narrator on the first page. It then steps back, and walks through the baby steps that the narrator takes down the path to this conclusion. The character is very carefully crafted. Even after the initial condemnation, a reader can't help but understand and even directly identify with each decision that is made.  The power of the writing cannot be overstated. This book is expertly crafted. By the end of the novel, the conclusion feels not only predetermined, but completely logical. The novel manages to do this in such a way as to have a huge emotional impact, a hallmark of great YA literature.

This novel offers the utmost respect to the YA reader. Drug use, rape, and pressure from the peer group  are all approached honestly. There are no exaggerations of the dangers of drugs. Though the actual rape occurs with both drugs and alcohol involved, these are not blamed for the situation.

One key element of great YA literature is a focus on optimism and hope. This book does not have any on the page. It is a great downward spiral to Keir's realization that he is directly responsible for the terrible act that he committed. That said, the message is one that is optimistic. There are many, many moments where Keir could alter his path. The reader is left with the feeling that there is no reason that they should fall into the same trap that Keir does. So, while the text itself is pessimistic as it relates to Keir, the theme is completely the opposite.

Lynch has crafted one of the most potent emotional experiences that literature has to offer.

Genre: Realistic/ “Edgy” / Problem Novel, Coming of Age