5) The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas

Boyne, John. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. New York: Random House, 2006

Annotation: In 1943, a nine year old German boy moves into a new house, missing the fun and friends he left behind, but finds a new companion on the other side of a fence. That fence encloses a very dark place, but it becomes a lens through which perspectives are challenged, and the question becomes who is really behind the fence.

Justification for Nomination: Emotional reactions to books do not automatically make for award winning books, but Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas delivers a deep emotional cut that will leave readers shocked and saddened, but understanding of the need for such drama. The book's poignant ending justifies an easy recommendation to nearly any reader, but the provocative look at the forces that guide (and misguide) the formation of ethics makes the book something very special for teens.

Bruno, the son of a Commandant in the Hitler's army, is forced to relocate just outside the fence of Auschwitz. The novel beings as a simple 'new kid in town missing the old neighborhood' story, but shortly becomes a novel about the role that perspective plays in creating friends and enemies. Shmuel, the boy on the "wrong" side of the fence, a gentle Polish Jew who is the literary representation of all holocaust victims, thus making the tragedy readily relatable. As the boys get to know each other and a friendship emerges, Boyne continues to use their naiveté to contrast the naive violent and antisemitism at the root of the conflict. Bruno, is unaware of his prejudices, those they do linger as foreboding premonitions of adult aggression. Nonetheless, the takeaway of the message is that young people were and are always less capable of hate for the sake of ideology.

While the main character is not a teen per se (he is nine) it still works very well as a young adult novel as he is in a place and time where children were forces to grow up very fast. Plus, the slightly removed age of the protagonist from the readers allows for a degree of parity with the historical reflections in the book - as we remember our youth, we begin to remember the beliefs that we didn't have yet. While the quality of the writing is indeed strong, and the characters well represented, the profound power of the novel is how the whole things works together an allegory for how the line between friends and enemies, and how ideology can destroy innocence.

Genre: Printz, Historical Fiction, Coming of Age/Search for Identity, Dark

4) This Boy's Life

Wolff, Tobias. This Boy's Life. New York: Grove Press, 1989

Annotation: In the late 1950's, young Toby and his mother move across the country searching for a fresh start. Toby changes his name to Jack, the first of many myths that Jack creates for himself. As men come in an out of his mother's life, Jack is forced to find a way to be come a man, without becoming the men he is surrounded by.

Justification for Rejection: Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life is a biographical novel so rich in detail and depth that it is difficult to know where to begin when discussing it. The book doesn't ask a lot, but has so much to say that a single reading is only the beginning of understanding the book. However, while the quality of the writing makes it a strong contender for nearly any adult book award, the main character and setting makes it difficult to recommend for contemporary teen readers who may find it difficult to relate to.

As Toby/Jack attempts relate to the men in his life, he is also attempting to create a version of himself that he can be satisfied with. The flexible nature of his character's truth makes for a highly compelling and complex study - but it's hard to imagine how appreciated his many layers are going to be by teens without the benefit of hindsight. Sadly, this character depth is the novels strongest selling point, and without it the teen reader might be left uninterested.

In many ways, the boy actually serves mostly as a foil for the older men in the novel, especially Dwight. The masculine role of the father figure is the central part of the discussion, and something a teen would have difficulty connecting to. An adult, however, would most likely get a lot more from this. Essentially, this book resonates more with the sensibilities of the adult male reflecting on his life, than it does of the teen.

I would have absolutely no problem recommending this book to almost any adult reader, but I would have a hard time saying that every teen should read the book. The most motivated teen readers will get a lot from it, especially on a second reading, but less focused readers will struggle to be engaged by some of the novels more esoteric commentaries.

Genre: Printz, Biography/Autobiography/Memoir, Coming of Age/Search for Identity

3) Suicide Notes

Ford, Michael Thomas. Suicide Notes. New York: Harper Teen, 2008

Annotation: 15 year old Jeff wakes up to find himself in a mental institution believing he doesn't belong there. At first the other patients appear plain "crazy," and the doctors and his family seem incapable of understanding him, but Jeff not only realizes the common thread that binds them together, but also why he was put there to begin with.

Justification for Rejection: Suicide Notes represents a very casual and approachable examination of the reasons why teens can feel the need to take their own lives, but more importantly the novel is about learning that there is really no such thing as normal. Where the book excels is the mostly authentic voice of the narrator, and the fearlessness with which it depicts the confusion over creating a satisfying self-concept as a young adult. Unfortunately, the novel falls short of justifying a nomination as it the quality of the writing does not rise up to it's subject matter.

The story is written in journal form, which certainly has an impact on the tenor of the writing by creating a highly believable 15 year old voice, most of the time. However, this is voice is not consistent, occasionally jumping into a much older sounding writer's voice, and other times sounding like a well-intentioned but not-quite-successful impersonation of a young man. These lapses, while not terribly frequent, reflect on the whole and end up creating an 'uncanny valley' effect - making the good hard to see over the bad.

Nonetheless, the content of the story is genuinely heartfelt and impacting. When we meet Jeff, he has bandages on his wrists and admits that he tried to commit suicide, but offers no details beyond that. Slowly, he begins to open up to the patients around him, including a cutter, pryo, mute and a girl with hallucinations. As he goes from first resenting being among them, to befriending them - he also starts to be more honest with himself about the origins of his actions. Ford pulls no punches in describing the events marking this character arc: from Jeff's first sexual encounters with a girl, to a nearly nonconsensual sex act with another boy in a bathroom (that leads to more graphically depicted experimentation) culminating in the suicide of Jeff's best friend on the inside and Jeff coming out to his parents. The courage in these depictions are instrumental in completing the overall theme that behavior that society calls non-normative doesn't make person bad or an outcast. This struggle to create a socially acceptable but personally satisfying self-image is so important to teen development and Ford captures the necessary ugliness of that process deftly.

On a personal note: I really did want to be able to nominate this book - it has some very important things to say to teens who feel outcast. I debated back and forth for some time, but decided that there are simply other novels that speak this same message with greater skill. Ultimately, Suicide Notes is a book that I hope any teen reads, especially one who has ever felt desperate to fit the perception of themselves into a narrow view that it may not want to accommodate it. However, it's lack of consistency of voice and occasional sloppy writing prevent it from being considered a classic.

2) Crank

Hopkins, Ellen. Crank. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004

Annotation: Good girl gone confused. In Reno, Nevada two girls are living in one body: Kristina the well-mannered innocent, and Bree, her more carefree alter-ego. While exploring a new modern life of rebellion, sex, and expectations they meet 'The Monster,' which threatens to unravel everything.

Justification for Rejection: Crank is an undoubtably important young adult novel about the risks of Meth abuse, and the challenge of fitting a new identity into an old one. However, the novel ends up feeling disjointed at times as the verse structure often does not match the tone of the plot.

Kristina's story starts when she is sent to visit her estranged father in Albuquerque and meets her first boyfriend - Adam. The plot advances very quickly as she goes from being an inexperienced wallflower, to being hooked on 'crank' and experimenting with sex - all in the course of the first chapter. The literary device used to accomplish this tradition is Kristina's suppressed alter-ego Bree, who acts without fear our regret (how many young girls wise they could act). But the dynamic between these to personalities is depicted in such black and white terms that it never quite feels fully realized.

The novel is written almost entirely in free verse, with the structure getting more abstracted when Meth is being used in the story. For describing drug use, this vehicle works masterfully - it is a truly vivid depiction of how destructive drug use can be on the mind. Unfortunately, the verse structure is not nearly as effective when Kristina is more sober minded and in some ways makes the drug-affected portions more interesting to the reader.

Hopkins does do a particularly sensitive job of showing a young woman coming to terms with her sexuality; the fear, lust, and the judgments associated with sex are heartbreaking and timeless. The issue of drug use, however, often comes across sounding more like a public service warning. Even with the excellent verse describing the addiction, it's hard to imagine how teens wouldn't see through this and feel a little lectured to.

Hopkins wrote Crank in response to her own daughter's drug use, and in many ways the novel might be more effective for parents than for teens. But it's for that reason that I cannot nominate Crank.

Genre: Printz, Poetry or Verse Novel, Realistic/Edgy/Problem Novel