Quick Picks for Detainees
Amy Cheney -- School Library Journal, 2/4/2009
Kudos to all the members of the YALSA Quick Picks committee for putting together such a terrific list for 2009. Since many librarians serving detention centers can’t all bring in hardbacks and purchase everything on the list, incoming committee chair Amy Chaney from Alameda County Library, Fremont, California, has created a subgroup of titles that will work best in juvenile detention centers, broken down by paperback and hardback. Titles marked with a star (or stars!) are her top picks. All of these titles are part of YALSA’s 2009 Quick Picks for Young Adult Reluctant Readers, and each features a brief annotation. Visit the YALSA Web site for the complete list of Quick Picks going back to 1996Paperback Fiction:
** Divine, L. Drama High (series). 2008. Dafina Books, $9.95. (978-0-7582-2536-8) Drama, drama, drama.
Golden, Christopher. Poison Ink. 2008. Random House, $8.99 (978-0-385-73483-7). Group tattoos gone bad.
*James, Brian. Thief. 2008. Push, $8.99 (978-0-545-03400-5). Foster kids forced to steal.
***Jordan, Dream. Hot Girl. 2008. St Martin’s, $9.95 (978-0-312-38284-1). Things you want sometimes cost you more than you want to pay.
***Kern, Peggy. No Way Out. 2008. Townsend Press, $4.95 (978-1-49194-176-7). Bluford High kid desperate for money.
Kropp, Paul. Behind the Door. 2008. HIP Edge, $10.95 (978-1-897039-26-7). Trapped without a door.
***Langan, Paul. Schooled. 2008. Townsend Press, $4.95 (978-1-49194-177-4). Bluford boy has NBA dreams.
Mac, Carrie. Pain & Wastings. Orca Soundings, $9.95 (978-1-55143-904-4). Facing life with death.
**Millner, Denene and Miller, Mitzi. Hotlanta (Series). 2008. Point, $8.99 (0-545-00308-3). Atlanta just got hotter.
**Scalin, Noah. Skulls. 2008. Lark, $14.95 (978-1600593758). From bread slices to garbage bags.
***Shiraz, Yasmin. Retaliation. 2008. Rolling Hills Press, $14.95 (978-0971817432). Everyone’s involved when one girl gets jumped.
***Smits, Kim and Maat, Matthijs. Custom Kicks. 2008. Laurence King Publisher, $19.95 (978-1-85669-542-8). Sneak peek at cool sneaks.
Paperback Nonfiction:
***Abel, Jessica, and Soria, Gabriel. Life Sucks. 2008. First Second, $19.95 (978-1-59643-107-2). Vegetarian vampire looks for love.
Badillo, Steve and Werner, Doug. Skateboarding: Legendary Tricks. 2008. Tracks Publishing, $12.95 (978-1884654305). Skateboarding, trick by trick.
***Carey, Percy and Wimberly, Ronald (Illus.). Sentences: The Life of M.F. Grimm. 2007. Vertigo, $19.99 (978-1-4-12-1046-5). Sesame Street to drug dealer to rap star.
***Franzini, Michael. One Hundred Young Americans. 2007. Harper Collins, $29.95 (978-0-06119200-5). Photos and true stories, state by state.
***Fulbeck, Kip. Permanence. 2008. Chronicle Books, $19.95 (978-0-8118-6131-1). Behind every tattoo there’s a story.
Garza, Mario. More Stuff on My Cat: 2x the Stuff +2x the Cats=4x the Awesome. 2008. Chronicle, $12.95 (978-0811862257). Feline hijinks.
Horowitz, Anthony and Johnston, Antony. Point Blank: The Graphic Novel. 2008. Philomel, $14.99 (978-0-399-25026-2). Alex Rider in full color.
Hudson, Noel. The Band Name Book. 2008. Boston Mills Press, $29.95 (978-1-55046-487-0). The good, the bad, and the shocking.
*Redd, Nancy Amanda. Body Drama. 2008. Penguin Group, $20. (978-1-592-40326-4). Real girls, real bodies, real issues, real answers.
Spears, Rick and BB, Chuck (Illus.) Black Metal, Vol. 1. 2007. Oni Press, $11.95 (978-1932664720). Death Metal misfits invade suburbia.
Hardback Fiction:
*Booth, Coe. Kendra. 2008. Scholastic, $16.99 (978-0439925365). Looking for love in all the wrong places.
Hernandez, David. Suckerpunch. 2008. Harper Collins, $16.99 (978-0-060117330-1). Road trip with gun.
Krovatin, Christopher and Yates, Kelly (Illus). Venomous. 2008. Ginee Seo Books, $16.99 (978-1-4169-2487-6). When rage is in your blood.
Neri, G. Chess Rumble. 2007. Lee and Low Books, $18.95, (978-1-58430-279-7). Real life battles, chess style.
*Scott, Elizabeth. Living Dead Girl. 2008. Simon Pulse, $17. (978-4169-6059-1). Painful to the end.
*Sitomer, Alan Lawrence. The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez. 2008. Hyperion Books for Children, $17.99 (978-1-4231-1072-9). Sonia is everything to everyone except herself.
Hardback Nonfiction:
***Bower, Crai S. and Millard, Travis (illus). Farts: A Spotter’s Guide. 2008. Chronicle, $12.95 (978-0811866095). SBD’s and more: full sound effects.
Bowman, Robin (photographer). It’s Complicated: The American Teenager. 2007. Umbrage Editions, $40. (978-1884167690). 414 intriguing portraits.
*Ecclesine, Patrick. Faces of Sunset Boulevard. Santa Monica Press, $39.95 (978-1595800404). LA comes alive.
Eminem. The Way I Am. 2008. Dutton, $40. (978-0525950325). In his own words.
**Fardon, John. Do Not Open: An Encyclopedia of the World’s Best-Kept Secrets. 2007. DK, $24.99 (0-7566-33205-6). South Park meets World Book.
Greenberg, Steve. Gadget Nation: A Journey Through the Eccentric World of Invention. 2008. Sterling, $19.95 (140273686X). Quirky innovations and inventions.
***Harrison, Ian. Take Me to Your Leader: Weird, Strange, and Totally Useless Information. 2007. DK, $25. (0-7566-3202-1). Trivia and pop culture, strange but true.
***Kuklin, Susan. No Choirboy: Murder, Violence and Teenagers on Death Row. 2008. Henry Holt, $17.95 (978-0805079500). Teen inmates: raw and uncensored.
*Sanchez, Reymundo and Rodriguez, Sonia. Lady Q: The Rise and Fall of a Latin Queen. 2008. Chicago Review Press, $24.95 (978-1556527227). The title says it all.
Shapiro, Bill. Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See. 2007. Crown Publishing Group, $22.50 (978-0-307-38264-1). Voyeuristic valentines.
***Willin, Melvyn. Ghosts: Caught on Film. 2007. David & Charles, $16.99 (0715327283). Believe it or not.
