Cures for Heartbreak

By Margo Rabb.

Published in 2007 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers, New York.

Reading the first pages of Margo Rabb's novel, Cures for Heartbreak, I had the thought: I didn't know death could be so funny. Mia is in the ninth grade, and her mother has just died. She is left with her older sister and father to navigate the terrain of heartbreak. Mia is sharp and witty, and her keen observations make even the process of planning a funeral somewhat amusing. I came across this book via an essay by Rabb, titled "I'm Y.A. and I'm O.K." in which she details the realization (via her agent) that her novel was, in fact, Young Adult fiction. After reading it, I'm slightly surprised that there was any question. While I, as an adult, enjoyed it, it definitely fits well with a teen audience. Teen books are no longer simplistic, clichéd explorations of prom night (although those are out there); instead, they are quite often literary. Intelligent. Unique. Funny. All words that perfectly describe Cures for Heartbreak.

8/10.
14+.

American Born Chinese

By Gene Luen Yang.

Published in 2006 by First Second, New York.

The Printz award winners I have read have consistently been outstanding, and American Born Chinese is no exception. This graphic novel weaves together three seemingly disparate storylines (a young Chinese-American boy moves to a new school, a white teenager is visited by his crushingly dorky Chinese cousin, and a Monkey King struggles with his form). The stories come together in the end to form a complex, fantastical story, at the heart of which lies the truth that everyone must embrace their true self in order to find happiness. It's at times uncomfortable (which I think is the point) but also funny, true, and touching. A quick read, but one with remarkable depth.

7.5/10.
Ages 11+.

The Wackness

Ahh 1994. I remember you well. I would go home after school to watch Rapcity on Much Music (yes, this is true). I was devastated by the death of Kurt Cobain (even though before it happened I didn't even know who he was). My favourite actress was Drew Barrymore (I still wish we were best friends). I wore ridiculous baggy jeans with giant plaid shirts and white face powder with revlon's Blackberry lipstick. I was 12.

It's the summer of 1994 and Luke Shapiro is is either the most popular of the unpopular kids or the most unpopular of the popular, but that doesn’t matter anymore because high school is over. Alone in sweltering New York City, during the no-man's-land between graduation and starting college, Luke is "mad depressed, yo." He spends the summer dealing pot to, among other people, his psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffrey Squires (Ben Kingsley - oh sorry, Sir Ben Kingsley), who imparts this wisdom: "Don't trust anyone who doesn't smoke pot and listen to Bob Dylan." Boundaries are shifting, and Luke finds himself in love with a girl who barely spoke to him in school. But the relationship between Luke and Dr. Squires, who is himself going through a bit of a breakdown, is the real heart of the story. The Wackness is about the things men do to become the men they need to be (you can replace the word men with people, but it's really nice to have a soulful, beautiful film about men and their relationships).

The Wackness is a beautiful portrait of a young man who exists in the same state as many others, disconnected from the world and from other people, and the process by which he makes a connection and starts really living his life. It's a masterpiece of time and place and mood, centred and steady and it spins with a perfect velocity through the pure and genuine moments it holds up for study and admiration. Plus it has a dope soundtrack.

This movie doesn't shy away from drugs, sex, or "bad" language, but it's message is so positive, and it is so honest and engaging that I think many teens would both enjoy and benefit from seeing this film.

10/10.
Ages 16+.

Crush

By Carrie Mac.

Published in 2006 by Orca Book Publishers, Victoria.

I've been sort of dreading the Hi/Lo category. I've always been a reader, and I assumed that the books for reluctant readers would be too simple, not very well written, or boring. I was surprised when I started reading Crush, which was actually quite engaging. Hope is the child of hippies, raised in a commune, who is spending the summer in Brooklyn with her older sister. 17 year old Hope has been having sex since she was 15 (virginity doesn't last long in a commune, she says), but is surprised to find herself attracted to a girl, Nat. The novel is dedicated to deciding what to do with those feelings, and what they mean for her sexual identity.

Crush is only 106 pages long, so the story unfolds quickly, with little extraneous detail. From the first page, each moment in the story is designed to build towards the final climax. It was definitely not boring, nor was it overly simplistic, and it was actually fairly well written. It's not great literature, but it is a nice story that deals with queer issues simply and honestly.

7/10.
Ages 12-16.

Library Websites for Teens

Internet Public Library Teenspace

What I like:

• The IPL Teenspace has a great selection of resources, is nicely laid out, and is fairly well designed. The choices of colour (the website is primarily white with turquoise and amber accents) are good, and create a space that is gender neutral and doesn't seem to be trying too hard to appeal to a young audience (no hot pink or slime green here).

• The website has good interactive content, including a poetry wiki where teens can post their own work, homework help, and then a dazzling array of links to a wide variety of information sources on the shelves and on the web. Links are divided into Clubs and Organizations, Health and Sexuality, Money and Work, Technology, Reading and Writing, School and Homework Help, and Sports, Entertainment and Arts.

What I don't like:

• While the layout and design are straightforward and usable, the site could do with a bit more flash - it's a great resource, but a tiny bit boring to look at.

7/10.


San Francisco Public Library Teens

What I like:

• The use of photographs from real events to illustrate the website.

• That the teen health and wellness link is central on the page and stands out (although the link is inaccessible to non-patrons.
  

• A prominent link to the library's teen blog.
  

• A prominent link to library events.
  

• The main page is well laid out and doesn't contribute to the information overload that can happen so easily when web designers and contributors get caught up in trying to put everything they can at the front end of a website.
  

What I don't like:

• The San Francisco Public Library Teens page is slightly garish. I, for one, think that readability is key to good web design, and the grape kool-aid purple background with white and blue text is hard for my (non-teen) brain to navigate.

7/10.

Speak

By Laurie Halse Anderson.

Published in 2006 by Puffin books, New York. Originally published in 1999.

I cried. I rarely cry when reading, but every so often a book is able to touch the emotional as much as the intellectual, and I am opened a bit. That happened today. Speak is about rape. But more than that, it is about what happens after trauma, when a person keeps it inside, and feels like they are breaking into pieces, are made up of different people - none of whom is the self they know. It is about being silent. It is about breaking silence.

Melinda is the narc who called the cops at a big high school party over the summer, and she starts ninth grade as an outcast because of it. What no one knows is that she dialed 911 because she had just been raped. She hasn't told anyone. She goes to school every day where IT (her rapist) is a senior. Her parents and teachers don't understand why her grades have plummeted. Melinda stays quiet, while she rages inside. Melinda is beautifully rendered and real; she is intelligent, insightful, pained. She is painful. She is glorious.

It surprised me to look at the back cover and see that this book is categorized for ages 10 and up. That said, I am glad. I think Speak will be a very healing book for many people, from children to adults. It is an important book. It is astoundingly well written (Anderson's world is so well wrought that I could feel myself in high school again). I loved it.

10/10.
Ages 10+.

Coraline

Released in 2009. Directed by Harry Selick. Produced by Laika, distributed by Focus Features.

This is what they mean by crossover appeal (well, among the many, many definitions, apparently). I saw Coraline in 3D with a group of friends, all of us in our 20s and 30s. Elsewhere in the dark theatre we could hear small kids making occasional comments. I'm pretty sure we all loved it.

Coraline is a young girl (I'm not sure how old she is supposed to be, but I would put her at 11 or 12) who has just moved with her busy, distant parents to a small Oregon town. When the constant rain keeps her inside, she discovers a small door that leads to an alternate reality, one in which her parents are charming and entirely devoted to her amusement. At first this other world is delightful, and provides for Coraline all of the things she feels she is missing at home (foremost being attention). Upon closer inspection the new reality is much darker than she is prepared for, and her wits are tested as she struggles to make her way back to her real parents.

Coraline is visually so new, appealing, and spellbinding, that I think even skeptical teenagers will be able to look past the fact that it is animated (and could thus potentially be relegated to the world of "kid stuff"). Young teens will definitely be drawn to the film's style and themes (Coraline's battles with her mother(s) are something I think most adolescent girls will relate to), and older teens will appreciate the film's mastery of form and its pedigree (originally born as a Neil Gaiman novella, then a graphic novel).

Seeing Coraline in 3D is something I highly recommend - it sort of felt like I was in the audience of a 1895 showing of the Lumiere Brothers's Arrival of A Train - the experience was so new and real. Even on DVD, however, I have no doubt that this film will wow audiences of all ages.

9/10.
Ages 10+ (rated PG).