Kit's Wilderness / David Almond

Kit's Wilderness is the story of a group of children in the small town of Stoneygate. Kit's story has him involved with his friend John Askew in a mysterious game called death. Kit begins seeing mystical visions of past generations and doing rituals that draw the condemnation of his community. Kit sees visions of children who once worked and died in the pit mines of Stoneygate in the recent past and he dreams and writes a story of Lak, a boy from his distant past.

Kit's Wilderness was the 2001 YALSA Michael L. Printz Award winner. Kit's Wilderness is a mystical magical story that may prove to be controversial with some readers. Rituals, visions, abuse and run-a-ways, are main themes in this book, which may prove to be too intense for some readers. The various stories told in this book work together to weave a powerful story linking past and present, but may prove to be difficult for some readers to follow.

Almond, D. (2001). Kit's Wilderness. Toronto: Random House of Canada.

Anne of Green Gables / L. M. Montgomery

Anne of Green Gables is a classic tale of a young orphan girl who is adopted by a brother and sister who live in rural Prince Edward Island sometime in the late19th century. Anne is a precocious, troublesome, talkative and well-meaning 11 year old who does her best to be a “good girl,” but has a knack of saying and doing just the wrong thing. Anne matures throughout the course of the story as she plays with her friends, attends and succeeds at school and as she develops a close relationship with her new guardians, Matthew and Marila Cuthbert.

Even today I think Anne of Green Gables teaches lessons of imagination, enthusiasm, tolerance, and self discipline to readers. The enduring nature of this book certainly attests to the power of the story and the character of Anne and her fellow citizens of Avonlea. The book is beautifully written yet easy to read for those with lower reading skills. Young adults of today may have difficulty associating with the values espoused in this book, but they can associate with the friendships and relationships which are an important part of the whole story.

Montgomery, L. M. (2006) Anne of Green Gables. Toronto: Scholastic Canada, Limited.

Saving the world and other extreme sports / James Patterson

Saving the world is a science fiction novel about a group of genetically altered youth who have wings and various characteristics of birds as well as “other” interesting abilities. Max, the leader of the group guides the flock though the adventure of defeating a group a mad scientists who created her and her friends. The scientists have a plan to extinguish half of the population on the earth by eliminated anyone who is sick, disabled, or somehow defective. Most of the time Max and her followers have to overcome insurmountable odds and they are always on the edge of being killed themselves.

The chapters of Saving the world are very short, averaging less than three pages and it reads easy and moves along quickly. Occasionally, Max speaks directly to the reader which may prove confusing or enticing to some readers. Max is extremely sarcastic when dealing with the enemy (adults) and she often gets the better of the bad guy in any verbal joust. The story is very much like a super-hero story and the fact that the heroes are teens and children, make this story one which young adults probably will like very much.

Patterson, J. (2008). Saving the world and other extreme sports. New York: Grand Central Publishing.

The 7 habits of highly effective teens / Sean Covey

The 7 habits of highly effective teens (7 habits) is a self help book for young adults. It is clearly based of the bestselling book by Stephen Covey called The 7 habits of highly effective people. 7 habits outlines a set of strategies or “habits” which teens can follow to become more successful and content with their lives. Strategies endorsed in this book include creating private and public victories for oneself by considering one’s; personal actions, controlling one’s future, will power, thinking win-win, listening then speaking, keeping a balance between one’s body, brain, heart and soul and more.

There is a great deal of good advice in this book that if taken seriously could lead teens to live more fully and completely without some of the angst that they typically have to navigate. Following some of the advice offered in this book would be helpful in guiding teens though some of the plentiful and sometimes dangerous peer pressure that they feel in their lives. 7 habits is easy to read and has lots of examples relevant to the lives of teens, so I think this book would not seem preachy and be a turn off to teens. This book could prove to be a life-altering read in the lives of young adults who are looking for some direction in their lives.

Covey, S. (1998). The 7 habits of highly effective teens. New York: Simon & Schuster.

101 ways to dance / Kathy Stinson

101 ways to dance is about young adults and sex. There are no actual sex scenes in this set of short stories, but many sexual topics are examined such as; homosexuality, teen pregnancy, and restricting contact between two teens showing “interest” in each other. The young adults in all of these stories have sexual thoughts and desires and are learning to deal with the feelings they have in these situations.

If any book has a chance to be controversial, it is this one. Some adults like to think that restricting their children access to materials about sex will somehow make them better able to deal with the issue. It may be more accurate to say that those adults hope that their teens will then not have wrong or inappropriate thoughts about sex. The stories in this book examine sex in a very accurate and level headed way: Two boys trying to “get lucky” are exposed to the results of what reckless sex can cause. Girls wonder if they read and book about lesbians and they “like” the book, if that means they are gay. A dying young adult has an experience which he will remember for the rest of his short life. I think this book would be valuable for most all young adults to read and even discuss with their friends and if possible with their parents.

Stinson, K. (2006). 101 ways to dance. Toronto, ON: Second Story Press.

Inexcusable / Chris Lynch

Inexcusable is the story of Keir a high school boy who is having trouble figuring some things out. First of all he feels he is in love with his long time friend Gigi, but Gigi has a boyfriend. Keir also figures some things other people do are inexcusable. His sisters for example acting in a reprehensible fashion when they refuse to come to his graduation and Gigi’s boyfriend is a heel because he refuses to come to her graduation.

This is a character driven story told completely from Keir’s point of view with his thoughts of events dominating every chapter of the book. Keir sees his relationship with his father, the high school football game where he accidentally kills another player, and the antics of his football team off the field through a distorted personal lens.

Inexcusable portrays the thoughts of a boy in trouble, who thinks various people around him who challenge him act in an inexcusable manner and he fails to evaluate his own actions with the same scrutiny even when he does something inexcusable to the girl he loves.

This is a powerful story that examines how a teenaged boy can have a distorted view of his own actions to the point that he doesn’t take responsibility for some very inexcusable actions on his own behalf.

Lynch, C. (2007). Inexcusable. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Services and Resources for Young Adults

This is the point where I have completed my journal for Services and Resources for Children, and I start journal entries for Services and Resources for Young Adults.