Science Fiction: "Gateway"

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Shinn, Sharon. Gateway. New York: Viking, 2009.

Chinese American, Daiyu, is drawn into another world, an alternate version of the city she is from. As she passes through the Arch in St. Louis she finds herself at the center of a swirling mix of mystery, adventure, and romance.

When Daiyu leaves behind the city of St. Louis she finds herself in another version of the Gateway to the West. In this version almost everyone is Chinese like herself. She has been recruited to help stop a dangerous politician who threatens the very fabric of Shenglang. Daiyu must first get close to Chenglei which means she must attend the annual Presentation Ball. Thrown into a crash course of manners and dress and formal dances, Daiyu also finds herself in a crash course of love. As she partners with Kalen to learn the patterns of the traditional tiaowu dance she finds herself in a dizzying spin of emotions. When they are separated so that she can go to live with the woman convinced to take her in as her "niece", Daiyu finds ways to go behind Xiang's back and meet Kalen at the aviary where he works. As she draws close to Kalen she finds her old life may be slipping away. In a playful moment, Kalen laughed as he ask her to stay in Shenglang with him.

"There's a thought! You could stay in Shenglang. Then you wouldn't have to worry about me being lonely after all.

"Daiyu laughed. "I like the idea of staying in Shenglang with you, but I don't think I could stand to keep living with Xiang," she said. Belatedly she added, "Besides I couldn't leave my parents like that! They'd be so worried about me and I'd miss them too much."

As she said the words, it occurred to her with a sort of buried horror that she hadn't missed her parents at all in the last couple of days...She had been warned that her mind would not be able to retain memories of Shenglang once she returned to her own time and place. Maybe she could not retain memories of St. Louis if she was in Shenglang too long. The thought was terrifying."

In Diayu's story we learn learn about trust and power and the price a young girl must pay when she steps through a Gateway Arch into a world of intrigue and intense romance.

Classic: "Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones"

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Head, Ann. Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones. New York: Signet, 1968.

An honest account of an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent joining-together in marriage of two teenagers in the late 1960's.

When someone spikes the punch at the party, Trilby High's football star and his girlfriend July end up on the beach for a night that will change their lives forever. First comes regret, then comes pregnancy, and then a hasty marriage. All while two sets of parents push them in different directions. Will these two be driven apart by the sacrifices an unplanned pregnancy forces them to make? Can love grow between two teenagers who sway between being moody, loving, rigid, patient, and the other hundred emotions their situation provokes? For better or for worse, will July and BoJo find out what it really means to be Mr. and Mrs. BoJo Jones?

Historical: "The Luxe"

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Godbersen, Anna. The Luxe. New York: Harper Collins, 2007.

One longs for love, one longs for luxury, two long for Henry Schoonmaker, who will his truelove be?

Elizabeth, Penelope, Diana, and Lina swirl through mists of love and intrigue in 1899 New York. Wrapped in miles of antique shell pink satin, but with a modern heart, Elizabeth Holland is torn by the twin motivations of conscience and craving. As for her "best friend" Penelope, jealously fuels her every move. And poor Lina's feeling a little put out. Well, who wouldn't be a little put out when your childhood friend starts treating you like her maid? Which you are. And finally there's Diana...

"Diana was about to slip away quickly when she looked at Henry and decided that she wasn't done with him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the parlor on the east side of the house...When they were on the other side of the oak door, she reluctantly let go of his hand. She looked up at the great canvases above, with their dark, roiling seas. They seemed to Diana like an approximation of her own feelings at the moment."

This sumptuous novel of luxury and extravagance will bring to life the social scene of turn of the century New York exposing the naked hearts of four of it's most captivating residents.

YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Fame and Fortune (2009)

Verse Novel: "Street Love"

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Myers, Walter Dean. Street Love. New York: Amistad, 2006.

Two households both alike in dignity,
In urban Harlem, where we lay our scene,
Love holds all promise if she'll let him in,
our Junice Ambers and her Damian.

Two star-crossed lovers sigh in Harlem. What forces conspire to keep them apart? Rival gangs, rival mother's, their own rival imaginations? Imaginations that keep them at cross purposes?

Damian Battle is headed to Brown where he competed for and earned a spot at one of the most prestigious colleges in the country. Junice Ambers is headed to the Bedford Hills Prison where her mother has been sentenced to and earned (according to the courts) her place of despair.

This tale, breathtakingly told in elegant verse, is both tragedy and love story. Will the sadness of impoverished Harlem undue them? Or will love conquer all as Junice turns to Damian and their hearts become full and the darkness of the street is illuminated.

YALSA Best Book for Young Adults. YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.

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.

Classic: "Weetzie Bat"

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Block, Francesca Lia. Weetzie Bat. NY: Harper Collins, 1989.

A punk laced fairy tale set in the City of Angels. Weetzie may have the help of the genie of the lamp, but she'll need more than that to live happily ever after.

Tooling around Hollywood with her best friend Dirk in his slinkster-cool car, Weetzie Bat searches for love and dreams about living happily ever after. But ambitions change and ever afters are never guaranteed and just living happily for one moment takes a lot of assembling.

Will it all come together for Weetzie Bat and Dirk and the colorful cast of characters that populate this hipster genie in a bottle type tale? Follow them as they go "duck hunting"; each looking for their one true love. Witness Weetzie Bat as she tries to pull her father back from grey New York to the sunlit boulevards of Hollywood. Try to follow the logic when Dirk and Duck, her two gay friends, convince themselves and Weetzie that if they all sleep together and make a baby, Weetzie's Secret Agent Lover Man (who doesn't want to bring a child into this world) will come around.

This mythological melodrama is like jazz on a page. All syncopated rhythms, ensemble casting, and the spontaneity of Weetzie's improvisations. But for all its' complexity, there is the simple message of love hidden amongst the crazy swings of pitch and timbre.

YALSA 100 Best Books 1950-2000. Parents' Choice Award.

Classic: "Forever"

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Blume, Judy. Forever. NY: Pocket Books, 1975.

This is a story about love and promises and how time passing can change everything.

What events happen in this story? Katherine wonders what it would be like to do it. Katherine thinks about doing it with Michael. Katherine does it. Katherine thinks she will love Michael forever. Things change.

What I liked about this story when I read it in 1975 (at fourteen)? Details! Details! Details!

What I thought the second time around? Although the book is still a page turner, this time I got more of the book's theme. While Katherine's parents try to protect her, and her grandmother tries to inform her, I wanted to shake her and tell her 18 is not forever- it's an instant! A second. A mere moment of life. But try telling that to Romeo & Juliet or Bella & Edward or Katherine & Michael.

YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adults, Sex is... 2008.