EXTRA CREDIT 1. Speak

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. Douglas and McIntyre Ltd: Canada, 1999.

Annotation: Melinda Sordino: hated by everyone in school, utterly alone, has a dark and horrific secret.

Justification for Nomination: I have never read a book with so much intrigue in my life. I had originally checked this book out because I thought it was one of the nominated books from class. My mistake, I realized too late that it wasn't but was delighted to read it anyway.

"Speak," is the quintessential story of a depressed teen, plunked in the middle of social drama and mean teens. Who hasn't felt like an outcast or uncomfortable in certain high school situations? Laurie Halse Anderson fully deserved her Printz award for the colorful language and incredible characters. This book was fully of so much beauty, art, and sadness. I haven't been this intrigued since I read my own nominated book "Postcards From No Man's Land."

"Speak," is broken up into sections rather than chapters which I found incredibly easier to follow and tempting to continue on in the story. I didn't once feel like I was pushing myself to get through it. The book was wonderfully broken into sections and wasn't annoyingly narrated. I felt a lot of sympathy for Melinda and the gritty material presented made it authentic.

In each scene, the protagonist was always placed in a dramatic situation and kept her eyes to the floor. You could tell there was a reason for her being so "off," therefore it kept you gunning through the book until you hit the end. As a reader you were cheering for this girl to act out or blow up in the end because she suppresses all her emotions yet is so void. It isn't until the powerful climax that you learn why she is so unpopular and traumatized.

This story covers so many contemporary issues that young woman may be feeling. The character locks you into her raw emotions and rocks you from the core. I found "Speak" to be a very inspiring and uplifting story, even though it was depressing at times. I would highly recommend it to many people because it shows the importance of speaking up and having a voice. The author uses manipulation and guilt as conflict and cleverly interweaves it to create a truly clever yet sad story.

10. Twilight

Meyer, Stephenie. Read by Ilyana Kadushin. Twilight. Little Brown and Company: New York, 2005.

Annotation: Clumsy Bella is the new girl in town and has her eye on Edward. There's just one problem, he's a vampire.

Justification for Nomination: This was my first time listening to a book instead of reading it. I will admit that it was sort of relaxing and a new experience but I didn't seem to get as much out of the "Twilight" audio CD than I probably would have reading it.

One thing I noticed with this story was the massive amounts of descriptions and building sexual attraction our heroin Bella has toward Edward. I didn't mind all the description but there was something just "off" about the way things were pronounced by narrator Ilyana Kadushin. I tried with all my might to be open to this new experience but I could never fully become comfortable with the audio and no visual.

I struggled to get through the audio book because I found too many distractions around me. It would have been great if I was a good multi-tasker or kept myself busy while listening, but for a twenty five year old film student I was too antsy. I was waiting to hear the books speaking parts acted out with more intensity or flare. I'm so used to my own visualisations that the experience felt like I had lost one of my major senses. Instead all of the female parts came off tedious and droning. I definitely thought they could have used a younger narrator.

As for the books overall plot points and storyline, I was incredibly intrigued. I'm no stranger to vampire genre and will be the first to admit my interest in its mythology. I grew up an avid fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and of the film version of Anne Rice's "Interview With the Vampire." Like most YA readers I have an incredible hunger for all of its interpretations. I found Stephenie Meyers own vision distinct and mysterious. She definitely has a skill for keeping the reader (or in my case, listener) intrigued.

A negative critique I had towards the overall story was the lengthy descriptions that dragged a chapter or scene out. I think she has a knack for beautiful descriptions and capturing the "angsty" teenager, but at times it became too much. Maybe I only realized it because I was listening and not reading. Perhaps its an entirely different experience reading the text but the audio CD became too long.

Overall the characters were fully developed and I could see the pull of YA readers toward each one. I found it interesting how Meyer's incorporates mystery, horror and romance but sometimes each portion either came on too strong or not enough.

It took a while to get through some of the set up and reach the climax of the book, but once I was there I was completely satisfied and thirsting for more.

9. The Kite Runner

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. Berkley Publishing Group: New York, 2003.

Annotation: Two young boys face life in Afghanistan while dealing with political turmoils, the rise of the Taliban, and a betrayal that will forever lead to regret.

Justification for Nomination: At first read, I questioned whether I had picked the right Alex award winning book because of its graphic nature. The "Kite Runner" presented itself in a gritty and raw presentation that I found hard to believe for YA readers to attach themselves to it. If anything I would have labeled this a pure adult novel due to the sexual connotations, language and descriptions.

I took myself back to my YA years (which doesn't feel that long ago) and questioned whether or not I would have even attempted a book of this magnitude. As I read on I got used to the story, characters, and conflicts. The book was like a culture shock and the further you read in the book the easier the information became.

I found the book beautifully written and narrated. As stated in the "Crossing Over" article by Angelica Beneditti I reasoned on what I would tell a younger reader and it would be similar to what she had heard when she checked out the "The World According to Garp," that you should read this book when you're older. I never assume or doubt a young readers ability to understand such gritty material, but even I can admit to reading books at an older age and realizing that there were just some things that I didn't fully understand. "The Kite Runner" is full of adult material and depending on the readers self knowledge and grade level some subject matters may either confuse them or be simply glossed over.

"Kite Runner," does a phenomenal job blurring the lines between memoir and fiction. At times you felt that the author was telling a life story because of the fine sensory details you read. The emotion from conflict flows naturally and your heart breaks into a million pieces over and over again. It's like riding a bike for the first time. You seem to fall off, or step away from the book but keep coming back to learn more.

Another great aspect of this novel is that the information presented doesn't have an agenda. I often hate when films or books push the facts around so it becomes one sided. "The Kite Runner" shows the reader a different culture and line of events that happened naturally and weren't fudged to the authors transgression.

I was pleased that even though the conflict had dark moments that I didn't automatically turn away from the story because of its unfamiliar setting. It was brilliant because it's a culture some people know little about besides whats on the news and the author wasn't afraid to take you around dark corners or through a forbidden field.

Overall, I would highly recommend this story but I might warn younger readers about its adult conflict. If there were any books that followed almost every bullet point for a good adult book targeted towards YA readers "Kite Runner" would be it. This story develops new relationships with peers, has to accept physical changes of adolescence, prepares for a better life or education, acquires a new system of values/ethics and much more.