Adult Books for High School Students

Adult/High School–Fans of Brooks, best known for his “Shannara” series (Del Rey), will be delighted by this novel. Set on Earth some 80 years from now, it is the first volume in an untitled pre-Shannara series that continues the story of the author’s “Word/Void” trilogy (Del Rey). The Earth has been ravished by ecological disasters and demons, and once-men and horrible mutated monsters roam the planet. Any remaining humans are holed up in fortresses, except for the outcasts and the unwanted street children, including a group called the Ghosts, who have formed tribes to survive. Logan Tom and Angel Peres, who are Knights of the Word, have been recruited by The Lady to save and protect the gypsy morph, the offspring of Nest Freegard, previously featured in the trilogy. Brooks has an easy and fluid style; he makes a complicated plot less difficult to understand. Teens new to his work will love this introduction to his best-selling fantasies. And there are enough characters (and some surprises) from the other books to make any fan happy. Be warned, however, that the ending is literally a cliff-hanger, and readers may find it difficult to wait patiently for the next volume of this sure-to-be popular series.–Jane Halsall, McHenry Public Library District, IL

Adult/High School–Like the book that it parodies, Mole is full of conspiracy and puzzles. When Eric San Leté (an anagram for “Secret Alien”), curator of New York City’s Whitney Museum, is found dead, modern-art professor Hank Thomas is called in to figure out the cryptic message hidden inside a reproduction of a Jackson Pollock painting that Leté left next to his body. Saphie Paradise, French exchange student and granddaughter of the deceased man, joins in the quest to decode the riddles that Leté left behind. The pseudonymous author has devised a suspenseful story that ties together Scientology, Karl Rove, W, aliens, Mars, and Proctor & Gamble. The book leaves readers wondering what is fact and what is fiction, and pokes fun at The Da Vinci Code, too. Black-and-white line drawings illustrate the puzzles and add dimension to characters.–Erin Dennington, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA

Adult/High School–Five years after the disappearance of their oldest son, Hugh, the Furey family is functioning, yet shattered. Parents Henry and Elizabeth live in the same house, but not in the same world. When Lena, 15, finds a cache of Hugh’s undeveloped film, she masquerades as a boy and begins to skip school and hang out with the dangerous older crowd she identifies from his photos, with the hope of discovering what happened to him. Meanwhile, Owen, 10, is dealing with severe bullying issues at school. He becomes fixated on guardian angels, a topic his theologian father researched before he lost his job. As Lena’s and Owen’s lives threaten to implode, the Fureys must finally deal with their grief and strained relationships in order to survive. Carey’s depiction of Lena’s obsession and guilt about her beloved brother, and her yearning for resolution and absolution, drives the story. She has an intense desire to know one brother while remaining unaware of the depth and violence of the other’s situation. Owen’s problems illustrate how difficult it is for victims to talk about what is happening, even if support is offered.–Charlotte Bradshaw, San Mateo County Library, CA

Adult/High School–Jackson Workman Pickens, or Work, has always lived in the shadow of his larger-than-life father, a respected attorney. His life as he knows it–the law practice he shares with his father, the beautiful home and socialite wife–is a tribute to Ezra Pickens’s ideas of success. When Ezra is found shot to death, Work is ambivalent about helping the police find the killer, afraid that the path will lead to his younger sister, Jean. Only he and Jean know how abusive their father was and how his actions ultimately led to their mother’s death. Work’s reticence only serves to reinforce the lead detective’s belief that he is the guilty party, especially since he stands to inherit over $15 million. As Work becomes more enmeshed in a web of circumstantial evidence, he learns that his sister’s partner, Alexandria, was convicted of killing her own abusive father, and he begins to fear for his sister’s safety as well as his own. Hart has crafted a mystery with fully developed characters and a fast-paced and intelligent plot. He not only gives readers plenty of action and suspense, but also delves unflinchingly into the dynamics of family relationships. Teens who enjoy Grisham and Turow will want to be among the first to read this exciting new voice in the mystery genre.–Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

Adult/High School–A tale of personal betrayal and corporate neglect. Nicholas Baran lives in a suburb where cancer is more common than car accidents. Hometown Chemical has a history of polluting the river and adjacent lands. Now that the plant is shut down, local developers are happy to forget the area’s toxic past in favor of building upscale housing developments. But the past will not be forgotten in the number of children stricken with cancer at the local school or in the numerous victims in the surrounding neighborhoods. Having recently survived leukemia himself, Nicky is willing to risk everything–marital strife, public scorn, even a relapse–to expose the truth about the facility. Marc Martineau, local real-estate developer and president of the homeowners’ association, is just as prepared to stop him. Their families and the local community are caught in the middle. This absorbing novel is as much about the price a family must pay for a man’s personal crusade as it is about environmental pollution. Readers are offered realistic truths that can lead to intense debate: Which is more important–responsibility to family or fidelity to a cause?–Brigeen Radoicich, Fresno County Office of Education, CA

Adult/High School–When Verga Bless shows up in Balona, CA, she draws the attention of bats, mice, and the town’s truly unusual inhabitants. In particular, Patella Sackworth, aspiring poet and journalism and criminal-justice student at the local community college, hopes that Verga can find her some “new career vectors.” When the mysterious young woman promises her wealth and fame from writing poetry, the hapless Patella falls under her spell–as does the rest of the town. But the residents start complaining of weakness, inexplicable cravings for red meat, liver, and spinach, and neck pimples–or are they bites? Patella puts her criminal-justice skills to use and realizes that Verga may be taking more from the town than its inhabitants are receiving, and in most unusual ways. Will the malapropism-prone Patella figure out the real story, and actually find enough news to make a newspaper column of it? Pearce, author of five other offbeat novels set in Balona, has written a vampire story that plays out like a “Far Side” cartoon. It should appeal to teens who have a taste for vampires, comedy, and mangled vocabulary.–Sallie Barringer, Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, OH

Adult/High School–When Muslim extremists outlaw the Persian tradition of bonfires in celebration of Norooz (New Year), the children in Nora and Jahan’s neighborhood build their own small fires in the street, jumping and playing until police chase them back into their houses. This is just one of many gemlike memories that, strung together like a series of Persian miniatures, relate Nora’s story of her life in a world fragmented by irreconcilable forces. As children, the privileged daughter and son of an American mother and an Iranian father create a magical world of their own within a larger doll’s house, the housing compound of the Iranian-American Oil Company. As they enter adolescence, they discover that Jahan was adopted, and their love takes an erotic and ambiguously incestuous turn. When political unrest forces the family to escape to America, they must build new lives; there, and finally in Iran, the now-mostly-American Nora and the now-mostly-Persian Jahan ultimately free themselves of their secret pasts and find very different paths to adulthood. Complexities of Iranian culture, recent history, and current events create a vivid background for a moving and suspenseful story. A deeply flawed family, and the people of many nationalities who touch their lives, is seen with a clear but forgiving eye; the heavy toll of intolerance is shown with an unsparing one. A discussion guide is provided, though it seems unlikely most groups would need one to spark a lively interchange of ideas inspired by this wise and timely novel.–Christine C. Menefee, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Adult/High School–In the poverty-stricken hills of the Ozarks, Rees Dolly, 17, struggles daily to care for her two brothers and an ill mother. When she learns that her absent father, a meth addict, has put up the family home as bond, she embarks on a dangerous search to find him and bring him home for an upcoming court date. Her relatives, many of whom are in the business of “cooking crank,” thwart her at every turn, but her fight to save the family finally succeeds. Rees is by turns tough and tender. She teaches her brothers how to shoot a shotgun, and even box, the way her father had taught her. Her hope is “that these boys would not be dead to wonder by age twelve, dulled to life, empty of kindness, boiling with mean.” A male friend feeds her hallucinogenic mushrooms and then assaults her. But, like Mattie Ross in Charles Portis’s True Grit (Penguin, 1995), Rees beats the odds with spunk and courage. In spare but evocative prose, Woodrell depicts a harsh world in which the responsibilities for survival ultimately give Rees meaning and direction. He depicts the landscape, people, and dialects with stunning realism. A compelling testament to how people survive in the worst of circumstances.–Pat Bangs, Fairfax County Public Library, Va

Adult/High School–Beaujon’s odyssey takes him from the Midwestern and Southern roots of Christian music to its place in and around the fringes of Seattle’s independent music industry. His analysis is a blend of the eclectic history of the Christian rock culture (where else would you find out that early star Martha Stevens came out as a lesbian and got written out of the official histories?), the current music scene, and interviews with Christian rock “lifers”: individuals whose work has fundamentally shaped the movement and industry. His portraits of the rebels, notably David Bazan of Pedro the Lion, and Tooth and Nail’s producer Brandon Ebel, are particularly engaging and compelling. Equally interesting are the insights that the author, a self-confessed agnostic, offers about evangelical Christian culture and what it represents about American life.–Sallie Barringer, Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, OH

Adult/High School–This exhaustive political and military history is well organized, with an excellent table of contents, 13 chapter titles that include dates, and each chapter divided into sections with headings for easy scanning. The chronological narrative covers familiar content, and Bennett writes in a conversational tone. In each chapter he sets the stage, relates events in detail, sprinkles in quotes from personages or literature of the time, and then shifts into editorial mode on such issues as slavery, the treatment of Native Americans, and child-labor practices. He humanizes the “main characters” with physical descriptions and anecdotes. This lively book acknowledges mistakes and shortcomings, yet patriotically asserts that the American experiment in democracy is still a success story.–Sondra VanderPloeg, Tracy Memorial Library, New London, NH

Adult/High School–This crash course in management covers the gamut in perky prose, from hiring to firing and everything in between. The authors provide examples of their principles with stories from their experiences as bosses and with reports of other female executives. Interviews with successful businesswomen add insight into techniques on which the chapter focuses. Other stories about bosses who were either “good witches” or “bad bitches” provide juicy anecdotes. Not all issues will apply to every teen in a leadership position, but young women will find this a handy guide. Whether student-body president or yearbook editor, or at work in another environment, teens will find tools, techniques, and advice that they can use to lead people more efficiently and effectively.–Jane S. Drabkin, Chinn Park Regional Library, Woodbridge, VA

Adult/High School–This sophisticated anthology is comprised of text and full-color reproductions of art submitted by an international group of women in their 20s and 30s in response to the question: “What defines your generation of women?” The respondents, each identified by a biographical sketch of only a few sentences, represent the diverse views of 105 artists, writers, political activists, and athletes from 57 countries. The result is an eclectic array of art, poetry, and prose, arranged in four broad categories: “Inside,” “Outside,” “Between,” and “Towards.” The content ranges from stories of personal relationships, spiritual pilgrimages, and physical abuse to political essays by Karenna Gore Schiff and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan. Part of a project sponsored by the International Museum of Women, the volume is visually appealing with varied layouts, print in different colors, and different typefaces. High school students who pick up this book to browse through the photographs will find themselves compelled to read the essays, stories, and poetry. They will find women who are strong, independent, and empowered.–Jane S. Drabkin, Chinn Park Regional Library, Woodbridge, VA

Adult/High School–When the author graduated from college, he tried out for the Cincinnati Reds. He failed to make the team, so he took what was to him the next logical step: he moved to New York City to become a writer. This memoir details the sometimes unsettling, frequently hilarious events in between. Goodwillie first worked as a private investigator and then as a copywriter for a sports auction house, which led to a prestigious job at Sotheby’s organizing and then auctioning a huge private baseball-memorabilia collection. The second half of the 1990s saw the rise of the dot-coms, and, though Goodwillie was reasonably happy and earning a steady and adequate paycheck, he was seduced by the glitz, mad creativity, and possibility of instant wealth of the Internet start-ups. He worked for a series of these companies, all of which failed to flourish. His personal relationships also lacked commitment, and it wasn’t until the horrifying events of September 11th that he began to reflect on the direction his life was taking. After six years of gathering material, he finally decided to write. Goodwillie’s pre-9/11 New York was a city of exuberance and seemingly endless possibility. This picaresque tale also tells of lean times between jobs, run-down apartments, nightlife, and superficial relationships. Short on analysis but with plenty of fresh experience, it provides a detailed view of life in the recent past.–Susanne Bardelson, Kitsap Regional Library, WA

Adult/High School–Native American viewpoints were rare among events celebrating the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark explorations. Yet during its trek from St. Louis to the Pacific coast (May 1804-December 1806) the Corps of Discovery made contact with many Indian nations, and the expedition’s success was dependent on contributions from Native people, most famously Sacagawea. These nine finely crafted essays, all by distinguished Native American writers and scholars descended from those tribes, probe the roles of Indians in the Lewis and Clark experience from a variety of perspectives. Mark N. Trahant’s “Who’s Your Daddy?” recounts research into family lore claiming direct descent from William Clark, and in “Frenchmen, Bears, and Sandbars,” Vine Deloria, Jr. wittily redefines the historical significance of Lewis and Clark’s achievement. Other contributors explore oral histories about the expedition, imagine the voices of Indians encountering Lewis and Clark, and explicate complex tribal legal, economic, and social systems and how they were affected by the expedition and its aftermath. This is an informative and moving collection, recommended for classroom and family discussions.–Starr E. Smith, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Adult/High School–In 1972, Parrado and his rugby teammates from Uruguay were flying to Chile to play a match against the national team. Crossing the Andes, the aircraft crashed on a remote, high-altitude, glaciated slope. This remarkable story of the survivors omits none of the raw intensity and brutality of their experience but is burnished by time, casting an analytical perspective on ways in which their subsequent lives were influenced by the ordeal. The many forms of courage exhibited and the sustaining power of love of family are the basis of the narrative as the group supported one another in a collective “refusal to surrender to the mountain.” Parrado credits their physical conditioning and the rigorous team ethic inherent in the sport as the foundation for the trust and allegiance that enabled the men to battle the odds. Reduced to the most elemental human needs and learning from a radio transmission that rescue efforts had been abandoned, they reluctantly realized that their only food source was the bodies of the victims. Parrado was respectful of the spiritual faith of those who clung to a belief in rescue, but put his energy into engineering a plan and acted as a leader of the “expeditionaries” who hiked through the perilous mountains to find help. A detailed chronicle of these events was presented in Piers Paul Read’s Alive (Avon, 1975), but Parrado’s memoir offers a reflective expansion of that work. Dramatic photographs are included.–Lynn Nutwell, Fairfax City Regional Library, VA

Adult/High School–Life is precious, and much of that preciousness lies in the details: the sights, the sounds, the scents we too often ignore in our busy lives. Prose makes a superb application of that concept for readers of fiction. To know how the great writers create their magic, one needs to engage in a close reading of the masters, for that is precisely what successful writers have done for thousands of years. College programs in creative writing and summer workshops serve a purpose, but they can never replace a careful reading of the likes of Austen, Dostoyevsky, Flaubert, Kafka, Salinger, Tolstoy, and Woolf. In this excellent guide, Prose explains exactly what she means by “close reading,” drawing attention to the brick and mortar of outstanding narratives: words, sentences, paragraphs, character, dialogue, details, and more. In the process, she does no less than escort readers to a heightened level of appreciation of great literature. Many will want to go to the shelves to read again, or for the first time, the books she discusses. And to aid them, she thoughtfully adds a list at the end: “Books to Be Read Immediately.”–Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Adult/High School–Just as the World Champion Boston Red Sox of 2004 had their “Curse of the Bambino” to overcome, the White Sox had not been able to win a Series since six or seven players of their 1919 team accepted payments to lose in favor of the Cincinnati Reds. The “Black Sox” scandal was as much of a stain on baseball as the steroids controversy of today. Roeper recounts the 2005 season like the recap of a single great game: he starts the story near the end of the season and then bounces back and forth from the beginning to the end again when the White Sox seem about to lose everything in historic fashion. He interweaves this with his personal history as a lifelong fan. White Sox fans may not be as legion as those of the Yankees or Red Sox, but Roeper gives a compelling account of their team’s first World Series Championship in almost 90 years that can prove enjoyable to anyone who loves a good story.–Will Marston, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Adult/High School–Shachtman expands his documentary film, The Devil’s Playground, in this study of a social rite of passage. The Old Order Amish, concentrated in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, but with communities in Wisconsin, Missouri, and even Colorado, eschew or deeply limit not only 20th-century technologies, but also modern consumerism, education, and any form of “worldly” activity. However, when Amish youth reach the age of about 16, they enter a months- to years-long period of “running around,” or rumspringa, during which there is the tacit acceptance and expectation that they will participate in such activities as drinking, sexual exploration, automobile driving, and living away from the community. The author examines the role rumspringa plays in the life of the community, the teens, and the teens’ families (who are better- or worse-prepared emotionally for their once-obedient children to flaunt not only home rules, but perhaps even to get arrested by state authorities). The author concisely but cogently describes Amish shunning, education, farming and other work, and gender politics. Some kids move out of state during the period, some become drug dealers; most, however, live out a more moderate form of “going away,” and between 80 and 90 percent return, are baptized, and become fully accepting members of the Amish world. While readers familiar with the Amish as neighbors will find much insight into the plain people’s whys and wherefores here, all teens will find accessible information about the psychology of late adolescence and the developmental work of independence.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Adult/High School–At the age of 30, the author, a former soldier and diplomat, speaker of Farsi but not of Arabic, was appointed as one of the leading Coalition civilian officials in Maysan, acting as deputy commander first there and then in Nasiriyah during the final nine months of the Coalition’s authority in Iraq. Stewart’s tale, even more than his complex identity, gives insight into the new and unexpected situation into which the United States and its allies were thrust after toppling Saddam Hussein. His story is one of relations: with his civilian and military counterparts from different nations in the provinces; with the leaders of the Coalition in Baghdad; and with the Iraqis with whom he was trying to build a new order and to whom he was to leave the provinces’ leadership in but a few months. He recounts all this in fascinating and stimulating detail. The knowledge and the ignorance, the past history and the present reality, and the effects that they have had and are having become better clarified for Americans at home from reading this book.–Ted Westervelt, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Adult/High School–A bout with mumps and typhoid left 11-year-old Vasishta deaf. In an India where the word for deaf in at least three languages means someone less than human, there was not much hope for his future. He was optimistic and bright, however, and at 20 years of age received a scholarship to a photography school for the deaf, in Delhi, where he discovered the deaf community and learned Indian Sign Language. He met a deaf American woman and learned of Gallaudet College, to which he applied and, against numerous odds, found scholarship money, a college education, and eventually life as an American professor. The author weaves stories, set in the India of the 1950s and early ’60s, of the holy men to whom his family turned for a cure for him, of his arranged marriage, and of the class system. Although he includes rich cultural details, Vasishta often states the obvious after giving readers many detailed cues. Black-and-white photographs of family members, friends, and colleagues are included. This book is a must for collections accessed by deaf teens, and it will appeal to young adults interested in Indian culture, multicultural studies, or disabilities.–Ellen Bell, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA

Adult/High School–When Williams was four years old, her mother died and she was sent to live with her Aunt Daisy, the last surviving widow of a Civil War soldier. This memoir focuses on turbulence of Williams’s turbulent relationship with her aunt during the 1960s and ’70s. The Daisy with whom she grew up was a manipulative, embittered woman who could never be comfortable with the white people around her. The disappointments of her own life led her to push Williams to succeed and yet begrudge those successes. The author is a gifted storyteller, and the pictures she paints of the Colorado of her youth are compelling. High school students will be fascinated by the glimpses into Perry Mansfield, the renowned summer art camp created by Charlotte Perry and Portia Mansfield. Williams spent several summers there, first as a maid with her aunt and later participating in classes. Her association with these two dynamic women helped shape a lifelong love of the performing arts and gave her a sense of her own identity that her aunt’s attempts at control could not destroy.–Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

Adult/High School–A fascinating introduction to the ruler and his world. Several features help readers navigate this complicated era. A genealogy of the Carolingian dynasty helps keep track of Charlemagne’s large family. A time line from his birth (742) to the division of his empire (843) lists significant events in Francia, the Byzantine Empire, Western Christendom, and the Islamic world. Nine maps trace the changes in the borders of the empires and the routes of invaders, and 16 pages of color pictures show how legends about Charlemagne captured the attention of artists and craftsmen through the ages. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, Wilson’s account reads like an adventure story. The author comments on the reliability of his sources even as he faithfully quotes them. Charlemagne’s intellectual pursuits, his ideas about faith, and his visions for his empires are also covered. Wilson shows how Charlemagne’s image changed after his death and over the centuries. Sometimes, he was revered as the world’s greatest warrior; at other times, as a saint or a philosopher king. Each age re-created him in a new light, and Wilson demonstrates how the empire he built led to the development of the European identity.–Kathy Tewell, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA

Adult/High School–There is no shortage of new titles assessing the character and contributions of America’s founders, but this excellent book is particularly well suited to high school students. Wood has selected eight remarkable men to profile: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Adams, Thomas Paine, and Aaron Burr. After describing how their reputations have undergone changes through the years, sometimes honored, sometimes reviled, the author discusses the men in terms of their own times. A chapter is devoted to each one, but these essays are not simple biographical sketches. Wood establishes his subjects’ social and economic backgrounds, but then focuses on their personalities and philosophies, revealed through their correspondence. Trying to establish a meritocracy during an age of aristocracy was a daunting process, and the founders often became one another’s adversaries. Their shrewd and sometimes caustic observations showed the difficulties involved in coming to a consensus on vital issues. Insecurities, humor, brilliance, and bewilderment abounded, all described in a flowing, lively style. Readers will gain a new understanding and appreciation of these men, and may even be inspired to read some of the comprehensive biographies recommended by the author.–Kathy Tewell, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA