Graphic Novel: "Green Arrow: Year One"

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Diggle, Andy, and Jock. Green Arrow: Year One. New York: DC Comics, 2008.

Double crossed and assumed dead, Oliver Queen drags himself up onto the beach of a deserted island. It turns out he is not alone and both friend and foe will cross paths on this jungle island of misery and intrigue.

Oliver Queen is a man on the move. Looking for adventure, a rendezvous with the latest supermodel, and his next bottle of booze. Will he never tire of trying to make it happen (whatever it is)? Or will he risk everything for those who have nothing?

Our millionaire playboy needs to get out of town fast when he creates a scene at a fundraiser for a drug rehab. It is there that he throws out the winning bid for a longbow once owned by the legendary archer Howard Hill. Leaving with the bow in his hand and his tail between his legs, he decides to travel with his assistant to Fiji where a sketchy business deal is going down. Or so he thinks.

That boat's not heading to Fiji! And Oliver Queen is in for the fight of his life. A fight brought to life in action packed living color. Marooned on a jungle island, will Queen go down in a blaze of glory? Or will our chartreuse hooded hero be a match for the evil China White? Read this compilation to see an ex-playboy with a thirst for justice take on a small army of drug dealers for a target. A fitting target as the legend begins; the legend of the Green Arrow.

YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens.

Manga: "Chibi Vampire"

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Kagesaki, Yuna. Chibi Vampire. Los Angeles: TOKYOPOP, 2003.

Karen is from an ancient line of vampires and is actually a vampire in reverse. As if gushing with extra blood every month isn't enough, a new boy arrives at school and the effect he has on her makes things even more complicated.

Who is Chibi Vampire and why is she feeling so drained? This manga, first in a series, will introduce you to the Maaka family whose middle child is a little vampire with some big problems.

Karin Maaka comes from a family of vampires including a "sexy creature of the night" older brother Ren and her bat controlling little sister Anju. Karin was not born a normal vampire like the rest of her family- she doesn't suck the blood of her victims, she deposits her blood into them. Each month she fills up like a tick and worries she might have one of her niagra nosebleeds at school if she doesn't get rid of some blood fast. Life gets even more complicated when a new boy arrives at her high school and she finds herself inexplicably blood bloated every time he comes near her.

You will be drawn into this pop-gothic world of vampires dealing with the comedy and horrors of adolescent development. The manga artwork is a perfect backdrop for this dark comedy of errors. It could get very interesting for you finding out: who is Chibi Vampire and why is she feeling so drained?

Multicultural: "A Step from Heaven"

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Na, An. A Step from Heaven. Asheville, NC: Front Street, 2001.

Young Ju Park moves from Korea to the United States when she is five. The road to a better life is long with many challenges, sadness's, and joys.

Young Ju Park, like the rose of sharon she left behind in Korea, is a delicate flower able to withstand heat, humidity, drought and poor soils. A flower so easily broken that it is hard to imagine what makes it stand through the urban heat and still find the will to bloom.

Young Ju and her parents move from Korea with the hope of finding a better life in America. As Young Ju struggles to learn the language, and her mother finds strength in faith and friendship, her father falls into the abyss of alcoholism. And so unfolds this story of an immigrant family from Young Ju's preschool years to her graduation from high school and hopes for the future.

Will her father's descent into alcohol undue them all? Or will Young Ju and her mother and brother be able to keep their footing, secure in the knowledge that they are only A Step from Heaven?

Booklist Editors' Choice. International Reading Association Children's Book Award. Michael L. Printz Award. New York Times Notable Books. YALSA Best Books for Young Adults. ALA Notable Children's Books. School Library Journal Best Books.

Fantasy: "Skellig"

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Almond, David. Skellig. NY: Dell Yearling, 1998.

Lying among the dead bluebottles and dust, Skellig inhabits the garage of Michael's new house. With the help of Mina, Michael will try to help this sorrowful creature recover.

Well: who is Skelling? This story takes us into a crumbling garage where bluebottles and spiders drop unexpectedly, and unknown things scuttle about. Where also a retched creature in a dusty black suit slowly deteriorates...

This story is set in a small town in England where David and his family have moved with the new baby who is very sick. As his parent's tend to his sister, David is full of tension and resentment. Why did they have to move? Why doesn't his sister get well? Why all this change?

David finds Skellig in the garage and sets about trying to help him. Together with Mina, his new friend and neighbor, they embark upon a course of action that they hope will bring about recovery. It is in that healing they will find out who they are and who exactly is Skellig.

Carnegie Medal. Garden State Teen Book Award. New York Times Notable Book. ALA Notable Children's Book. Booklist Editors' Choice. School Library Journal Best Book. Costa Book Award. Michael L. Printz Honor Book. Parents' Choice Award.

Horror: "Vampire Kisses"

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Schreiber, Ellen. Vampire Kisses. NY: Harper Collins, 2003.

Raven Madison dreams of vampire love. Could Alexander Sterling be the one she's been dreaming of?

Raven resides in Dullsville, a modern day town without pity. Rumors fly, like bats in a belfry, circling the new family living in the mysterious mansion on the hill. Although Raven is excited about the prospect of having her first vampire kiss, she also worries about what a town without pity can do...

Raven is the number-one outcast in her highly conformist high school, she finds solace engaging in her number one, two, and three passions- watching vampire movies, dreaming about vampires, and plotting the fall of her nemeses Trevor. Her fantasies of vampire love seem about to come true when she finally meets Alexander Sterling. The boy on the hill.

"I had waited for a moment like this all my life. To see, to meet, to befriend someone who was very different from everyone else, and just like me. Suddenly the reality of the situation hit me. I had been caught."

It's the height of the high school social season and the Snow Ball is approaching. Will Raven be caught in the tangled web of her own deceit or will she be the willing victim of Vampire Kisses?

YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.

Realistic: "Monster"

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Myers, Walter D. Monster. NY: Harper Collins, 1999.

A young man sits in jail awaiting trial for a robbery in which a shopkeeper was killed. This is a film script of the events leading up to the trial, the trial itself, and the verdict.

The events of Steve Harmon's life have created an eddy of nightmarish possibilities for punishment of a crime. A crime he may or may not have committed. As the facts and fictions of the crime swirl through his head, he tries to calm his growing panic by recording the terrifying events of his recent life as a film script.

Steve is a good kid from a good family from a good home in a bad part of town. He has no record of prior arrests, but an array of bad characters has fingered him as the lookout for a recent robbery. A robbery-gone-bad where a shopkeeper was killed. Are the bad guys pointing at him so they can cut a deal for themselves? Or was Steve sucked into the crime with the promise of some fast cash. Is this all really nothing more than a film script? A mere figment of Steve Harmon's imagination?

Monster? You be the judge.

Booklist Editors' Choice. Coretta Scott King Honor Book. Michael L. Prinz Award. New York Times Notable Book. YALSA Best Book for Young Adults. YALSA Outstanding Books for the College Bound. YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Kentucky Bluegrass Award.

GLBTQ: "Keesha's House"

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Frost, Helen. Keesha's House. Waterville, Maine: Thorndike Press, 2005.

Seven teens on the run find shelter at Keesha's house.

The stories are nothin' new: Stephie and Jason get pregnant, Dontay runs from foster care, Carmen is in for DUI, Harris's father can't accept he's gay, and Katie's mother can't see her abusive stepfather for the piece of crap he is.

The stories are nothin' new, but this time they have a place to go...Keesha's house. The house actually belongs to Joe, and while he is the heart it, Keesha is the heart and soul of this house.

It used to be when kids showed up they'd say,
I'm lookin' for Joe's house. Somebody sent me
here
and said to ask you for a place to stay
tonight. They'd stay a week, a month,
a year...
It's still like that, 'cept now they look at
me
like, where'd you come from? Ain't this
Keesha's house?

This story is told in the first person using a hybrid of traditional and non-traditional sestinas and sonnets. Some of the seven teenagers will find their way back home and some of the seven will make their home in a house that's both beautiful and durable- Keesha's house.

Michael L. Printz Honor Book. YALSA Best Books for Young Adults. YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, What Makes a Family?

Historical: "Wolf by the Ears"

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Rinaldi, Ann. Wolf by the Ears. NY: Scholastic, 1991.

Time is running out for Harriet Hemmings, rumored to be the daughter of Thomas Jefferson, who must choose between a life at Monticello and a life of freedom. This historical novel is told in the form of a diary.

Harriet will be turning twenty-one soon and will be forced to choose between the only home she's ever known and true freedom. The kind of freedom which can only be bought through secrets and disguise.

Well dressed, well schooled, well fed, and well loved. Harriet Hemmings has it all. Or does she? Raised at Monticello, the daughter of Sally Hemmings, she is also rumored to be the daughter of Thomas Jefferson. Thus she is held in high esteem by the man himself and feels in her heart that he will protect her. But he is getting old and losing his money. If something happens to him, what will happen to her? Would she be sold with the place? Or will the slaves in Virginia be set free? When the Governor of Virginia pleads with her to take her freedom she is hesitant and says, "But you're going to free Virginia's slaves."

He replies, "The pro-slavery people in this state are too strong. Look at my father-in-law. He can't make his mind up about slavery. Hates it, yes. Says it's a wolf America has by the ears. And that we can no longer hold onto it. But neither can we let it go."

If Harriet doesn't take her chance when her time comes, can she count on continuing to be treated well? Or will she too be caught like a wolf by the ears?

Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award.

Biography: "The Rose that Grew from Concrete"

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Shakur, Tupac. The Rose That Grew From Concrete. NY: MTV/Pocket Books, 1999.

Recording artist, Tupac Shakur, died young and tragically. These poems written at 19 foreshadow his great talent.

Before he recorded his albums and became a shining star, Tupac was once 19 and feeling like the rose that grew from the concrete.

Who was Tupac Shakur? The legends will tell you one thing and anecdotes will tell you another. This journal kept when he was 19 may be closer to the truth. It's all here: love and miscarriages, Marilyn Monroe, heroes, times of love, times of anger, and times of quiet faith.

Open the book and decide for yourself. Who was Tupac Shakur?

YALSA Outstanding Book for the College Bound. YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.