The Brothers Torres by Coert Voorhees

Voorhees, Coert. The Brothers Torres.
Disney/Hyperion Books. 2008.
ISBN: 978-142310306-6.
$8.99. Paperback. 316 pages.

Reader’s Annotation
Frankie Towers has always admired his older brother Steve, but when Steve begins hanging out with the local cholos Frankie starts to think that maybe Steve is taking gaining respect a little too far.

Plot Summary 
Growing up in the town of Borges, New Mexico has its ups and downs. 16 year-old Frankie Towers has a crush on Rebecca Sanchez. He wants to ask her to the homecoming dance, but before he gets up the nerve, senior John Dalton has already asked. Frankie’s older brother Steve Towers is a star athlete, can get a date anytime, and has a college scholarship waiting for him. Yet, Steve wants to earn the respect of the neighborhood cholos too. He spends more time with his new friends than his family, trying to learn to be a man by demanding respect from his peers and fighting. Frankie doesn’t understand it and he never tells his parents when Steve begins to stay out all night. Frankie’s best friend, one-eyed Zach is on his case too. As Frankie and Rebecca become closer Zach feels left out until he begins dating. Frankie never expects to be drawn into the race and gang problems of his town, but when the bullying John Dalton and his buddies give him a beating, big brother Steve demands that Frankie retaliate. When Rebecca discovers that John beat Frankie, she snubs him, and decides to go to the homecoming dance with Frankie after all. It doesn’t help that the Dalton family is buying the local restaurants, including his Mom and Dad’s Los Torres restaurant. Meanwhile, Steve grows further from his family and deeper into gang life with dire consequences. Frankie discovers that family and friends are more important than respect and revenge.

Critical Evaluation
Voorhees’ characters are realistically presented. Frankie’s teenage voice and his problems are accurately portrayed. It is his brother, Steve’s increasing desire for respect amongst his peers that galvanizes Frankie’s growth in the novel, and Steve’s eventual failure. The additional characters: Zach, Rebecca and Flaco are clearly drawn and represent a more levelheaded aspect to the novel. It is the character of the bully John Dalton that is never fully developed. Just like the bad boy films of the 80s his rich jock character never grows beyond being a bully. It would have been nice to see this character becoming more, just as Frankie and Steve grow in understanding. The other bad guys in this book, the cholos, are generic gang members at best. We never read much about them beyond several scenes involving Steve and Flaco, but we understand just how bad these dudes are when Flaco refuses to become involved leaving his friendship with Steve behind for a time. Laced with mild swearing and Spanglish the novel is entertaining and worthwhile reading.

Information about the author
There is little bibliographic material available on this author. You can see a trailer for the book at http://coertvoorhees.blogspot.com/, and find out a little more about the author at http://coertvoorhees.com/CoertVoorhees.html.

Genre(s)
Contemporary life, Issues

Curriculum ties
Health and Sexuality, Anti-gang information

Challenge Issues
Sexuality, gangs, violence, underage drinking, race and class

Challenge defense ideas
· Become familiar with the book and its content.
· Refer to the collection development policy of the library.
· Refer to reviews from Booklist, School Library Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly available for viewing on amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Torres-Coert-Voorhees/dp/1423103068/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256763423&sr=8-1.
· Try to get reviews of the book from teens who have read it.

Booktalking Ideas
1.  Discuss how Frankie wants to take Rebecca to the homecoming dance, but has trouble asking her.
2.  Discuss the relationship between the brothers. Frankie and Steve are brothers but Steve seems to have more opportunities than Frankie. 
3.  Talk about gangs.  Steve wants the respect of the cholo gang, but he is unprepared for the cost.
4.   Talk about the highschool social hierarchy.  There is a definitely social hierarchy in Frankie’s high school. Is this a reflection of your school?

Reading Level/Age
Young adult. Ages 16 and up

Why you included this title
This book is a YALSA “Top 100 in 2009” book choice.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Chains.
Simon & Schuster. 2008.
ISBN-13: 9781416905851.
$16.99. Hardcover. 316 pages.

Reader’s Annotation
When Isabel and Ruth lose their opportunity to become free slaves they are forced to work for the Locktons. Isabel becomes a spy for the patriots in hope of gaining freedom for herself and her little sister.

Plot Summary
It is 1776, and Isabel’s owner has promised her freedom upon her death. Isabel’s parents are long dead leaving the girls alone. When their kindly owner, Miss Mary Finch dies, Isabel and her sister, Ruth, are sold away. Their new owners the Locktons, are traditional wealthy loyalist slave owners. The Lockton’s are bound for their home in colonial New York. New York is now a hotbed of revolutionary activities. Their arrival is inauspicious. Accosted by revolutionary soldiers at the docks, the Lockton's refuse to cooperate. It is here that Isabel meets a young African American boy, named Curzon. Curzon is a revolutionary soldier, and a slave who works for Captain Bellingham. He asks Isabel to spy on the Lockton household for the revolutionary army.

Isabel and Ruth are in a city they don’t know with a new mistress who is unkind. Isabel is tasked to work in the house. She assists the housekeeper Becky, while fair skinned Ruth is dressed up like a doll and kept at Madam Lockton’s side. While Isabel is serving the Lockton household she become privy to information about the British army. She agrees to help Curzon, and the revolutionary army to gain her freedom. Isabel also helps the British loyalists in turn searching for a way to freedom. Isabel has many adventures including escaping a fire, and freeing Curzon from a British prison, but her greatest adventure is escaping from her owners in order to find her missing sister, Ruth.

Critical Evaluation 
Chains is a story about struggles. The first struggle is that of Isabel attempting to gain her promised freedom. The second is the struggle for American Independence from British. While the Revolutionary War is often romanticized in history, this story brings to life the daily intrigue and battles that occurred. Anderson’s story allows the reader to process the perspective from both sides of the independence argument through Isabel’s eyes. This story is about the price of freedom and the choices one makes. Anderson examines the cost through Isabel’s eyes when the character chooses to help the American’s in their fight for freedom, and then the British in their attempt to hold back the inevitable war. The final price Isabel has to pay is not apparent in this novel, yet the reader knows that the loss of freedom is nothing compared to the loss of her sister. Isabel’s choice to finally escape from her loyalist owners comes only after she discovers where her sister is located. Isabel’s claim of freedom parallels the American fight without influencing either, for she comes to understand that she will remain a slave whatever side wins the battle.

Anderson’s chapters are short and easy to read. The story is a dynamic look at slavery from its earliest history. The choice to present a Revolutionary War historic novel, and not one placed during the Civil War is brilliant. Many people forget that slavery existed in this country for more than one hundred years before the onset of the Civil War. This novel brings history to life in a way that is complex and dramatic. Isabel, Ruth, and Curzon are not characters a reader will soon forget. This novel is the first of a set, and no date is available for publication of the second book. This book has the capability of becoming a classic in YA literature, and should be included in any discussion about slavery or the American Revolution.

Information about the author
Laurie Halse Anderson was born on October 23, 1961 in Potsdam, New York. Her novel Speak is a National Book Award finalist, Printz Honor book, and Booklist “Top 10 first novels in 1999.” Her novels are also featured on several ALA YALSA top 100 books lists.

Genre
Historic Fiction 

Curriculum ties
This book could be included in any discussion about slavery or the Revolutionary War.

Booktalking Ideas 
1.  Discuss the sale of Isabel and Ruth despite their free status.
2.  Talk about why Isabell is reluctant to become friends with Curzon.  Why does she change her mind?
3.  Discuss sister Ruth and her apparent disability. 

Challenge Issues
Violence

Challenge defense ideas
• Become familiar with the book and its content.
• Refer to the collection development policy of the library.
• Refer to reviews from Booklist, School Library Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly available for viewing on amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Chains-Laurie-Halse-Anderson/dp/1416905855/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0.
• Try to get reviews of the book from readers (including teens) that have read the work.

Reading Level/Age 
Young Adult.  Ages 14 and up.

Why I included this title:
This book is included on the YALSA “2009 Best Books for Young Adults.”

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

McKinley, Robin. Sunshine.
Berkley Books, 2003.
ISBN: 978-0-425-22401-4
407 pages

Reader's Annotation
Going to the lake alone was dumb, but there hadn’t been any trouble there in years. Until that day when Sunshine was abducted by vampires. 
 
Plot Summary
Sunshine (Rae) Seddon spends her time baking killer desserts until that day by the lake. Abducted by vampires she never expects to survive. Joining forces with a fellow captive, a vampire named Constantine (Con), Sunshine must use her dormant magical powers to help them both escape. First repelled by Cons, Sunshine finds herself increasingly drawn to him. When Sunshine kills a member of the vampire family that captured them with her bare hands, she becomes a target of authorities. Caught between the local cops (SOF) and the vampires, Sunshine must use all her powers to discover the location of the vampires in order to defeat them. If not, the vampires will continue to hunt for Sunshine and Con, and ultimately take over their city.
 
Critical Evaluation
Author Robin McKinley specializes in the fantasy genre, and many of her novels reflect her fairy tale sensibilities. McKinley’s favorite themes (a strong young female protagonist in a beauty and the beast situation) are predominant her novels. Her settings are usually far away and technologically deprived. For this novel, written in 2003, the author has created a post-apocalyptic world for Sunshine, which different from any other novel she has written. The apocalypse in McKinley’s world includes a world war between vampires (and other supernatural creatures) and humans. Told in the first person by “Sunshine” Rae Seddons, the story centers on her work in the family coffee shop as a baker. It is only after Sunshine is abducted that the world beyond the coffee shop begins to come into focus. Sunshine has an original voice with a unique viewpoint and dialect. While her voice is worth reading it is also sometimes very slow going. The reader is thrust into this exciting world with no background knowledge for the terminology or history. This contributes to becoming lost at times. While Sunshine’s language is often difficult to interpret, her vampire companion, Constantine is the opposite. Although very old, Constantine feels contemporary to the reader. Sunshine is snarky, comedic and insightful about her life, and her inherent magic. Constantine is her polar opposite. Together they are magnetic. Although the story is original it has not had the success of later books like Stephanie Meyers’ Twilight, in part due to the difficulty with the jargon, and the lack of background information. This book could be recommended to an older young adult reader who has read the Twilight series, or the Vampire Academy novels, and is ready for an outstanding stand alone vampire-themed novel. 
 
Author Information
Born on November 16, 1952, Jennifer Carolyn Robin Turrell McKinley spent much of her early life traveling the world as a Navy brat.  She currently resides in England.  McKinley won the Newbury Medal for The Hero and the Crown. You can follow her at: http://robinmckinleysblog.com or www.robinmckinley.com.
 
Genre(s)
Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal

Curriculum Ties
English/Reading: This book could be used as a tie in with other vampire fantasy novels like: Twilight, Vampire Academy, or Vampire Diaries.
 
Booktalking Ideas  
1.  Vampire Theme: Discuss how the relationship between Sunshine and Con is complicated. How can a human and vampire become allies?
2.  Baking Theme:  Discuss Sunshine's baking talent and how she creates incredible desserts.  Is cooking related to magic?

Challenge Issues 
Language and sexuality. 

Challenge Defense Ideas

• Become familiar with the book and its content.
• Refer to the collection development policy of the library. 
• Refer to reviews from Booklist, School Library Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly available for viewing on amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Robin-McKinley/dp/0425224015/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256704098&sr=8-1
• Try to get reviews from teens who have read the book. 
  

Reading Level/Age
Adult Crossover.  Ages 16 and above.
Why I included this title  
This selection was recommended by Nancy Pearl as a cross over for YA readers at a seminar I attended at the Santa Clara County Office of Education.  It is also included on the 2005 ALA Best Books for Young Adults.