Buddha Boy / Kathe Koja

Budda Boy by Kathe Koja is story about a persecuted new boy is school who does not fit into any of the established clichés. Martin has saved his head and goes around begging for lunch money and is mercilessly picked on by everyone and especially the cool kids. Justin gets partnered with Martin on an economics project and becomes the only one in school to befriend him. Justin finds out the Martin’s spiritual name is Jinsen and that he is also an incredible artist. Justin has a soft spot for artists, because his father is also an artist and he is very close to his father.

Budda Boy is a powerful novel about bullying, tolerance, self-discipline, religion, and friendship. Narrated from Justin’s point of view the listener gets a vivid sense of strong emotions that teenagers have regarding their friends, fairness and how much pressure they undergo to fit in to the established norms. Jinsen shows great self control in his determination to follow his Buddhist teachings and undergoes humiliation and physical abuse for it, but he also ends up influencing almost everyone in school for the better because of his attitude and his great artistic talent.

Koja, Kathe (Author), & Murphy, Spencer (Narrator). (2003). Buddha Boy [Sound recording]. [Syracuse, NY]: Full Cast Audio.

Graceling / Kristin Cashore

Katsa is an 18 year old Graceling who has a killing Grace…or does she? Katsa’s uncle, “ King Randa” manipulates her to threaten or hurt people who do not deal honestly with him or to those who do not bend to his will. Katsa is not a willing participant in her uncle’s schemes as she continuously tries to find ways not to hurt people and she has formed a “counsel” that goes around righting wrongs in the 7 kingdoms. There are many other Gracelings in Katsa’s world with differing Graces that range from swimming to mind reading. Katsa meets Po another Graceling from a different kingdom who seems have a fighting Grace and a powerful allure for Katsa. Katsa and Po spend the bulk of this story searching for the reason why Po’s grandfather was kidnapped in possibly the only place where their graces wouldn’t matter.

In this fantasy / romance audio book titled Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Katsa spends much time questioning her own Grace and the apparent fact that she is a brute killer. Katsa has to learn to trust those around her and more importantly she has to learn to trust herself. Katsa spends this novel learning that she is a kind person and that her grace may not actually be a killing grace.

Cashore, Kristin (Author) & Baker, David (Narrator), (2009). Graceling [Sound Recording]. [Syracuse, N.Y.]: Full Cast Audio.

Douglas Adams’s Starship Titanic / Terry Jones

Douglas Adams’s Starship Titanic is a science fiction / comedy novel written by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame). Jones flawlessly imitates Adams’s style by weaving a silly, unpredictable and exciting story of three earthlings that accidently get stranded on a gigantic alien starship with few other passengers and malfunctioning robots aplenty. The Starship Titanic almost broke the economy of the planet that built it and would be blown up if certain crooked officials have there way…and if the bomb ever gets to finish its countdown.

Jones has created a story faithfully in Adams’s style and if readers enjoyed The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy or any of the Monty Python works, should take a fancy to Starship Titanic. The earthling characters adapt to their respective roles with confusion and competence while the aliens are predictably unpredictable. Who would have thought that Yassaccan guards always shot over the heads of there combatants in a gunfight? The content of this book is a little bit violent, a little bit sexy, a little bit suspenseful and a lot of fun. It certainly a book that teens who enjoy science fiction would get a laugh from.

Jones, Terry (1997) Douglas Adams’s Starship Titanic, New York: Ballantine Books.

The Art of Keeping Cool / Janet Taylor Lisle

The Art of Keeping Cool by Janet Taylor Lisle is an intriguing piece of historical fiction from the point of view of a young teenaged boy. Robert moves with his mother to a small community on the eastern seaboard of the United States during the Second World War. Robert and his cousin Elliot spend their time listening to reports of the war, doing household chores and visiting a mysterious Germany artist who lives nearby. The family the boys live in also has to deal with the personal stresses of worrying about poverty, a father in the war and Germany subs bombing ships off the nearby coast.

Robert experiences concern over his fathers time flying bombing raids over Germany, his mother’s unwillingness to talk about his father, his Grandfathers dominate and often cruel nature and his suspicions about Abel the German artist who is widely thought to be a spy by almost everyone in the community except Elliot an artist himself. The story unveils the ugliness of human nature to be suspicious of what we don’t understand and to prey on the weaker members of our society. The story also deals with issues of family strife, abuse, and the lack of communication that often plagues dysfunctional families.

Lisle, Janet Taylor (2000) The Art Of Keeping Cool. New York: Athenum.

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ / Sue Townsend

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ is a funny diary of a young English boy who feels superior to most adults and schoolmates. Like many comedic YA books most of the adults are bizarre acting, irrational, simpletons, while the teens have to hold the family together and dealing with their own problems at the same time. In her simple short diary entries Sue Townsend has painted a picture of one clever, ambitious and nerdy boy who has to deal with a temporary family breakup, a newly unemployed father, poverty, school bullies, zany teachers and falling in love.

The story is woven so that we get daily snapshots of Adrian’s thoughts on all of the things that are happening to him along with some public events, his aspirations, fears, annoyances and desires. The story is funny although a bit dated and Anglo-centric which may make it less accessible to North American teens. On the other hand this story may be more interesting to those who have a fascination with all things English. The book is an easy read and appropriate for boys who may feel slightly out of touch with the average non-nerdy teens in their school.

Townsend, Sue (1982) The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾. Toronto: Penguin.

Ender's Game / Orson Scott Card

Ender’s Game is a fascinating tale of three siblings in a future that discourages families from having more than two children. This future also finds mankind preparing for a war with the enemy from a distant planet. Ender is the “Third” child who is chosen to go to battle-school and succeeds, because of his exceptional learning skills and creativity in battle. Ender’s brother and sister are equally talented and affect the course of earths’ history in a different manner.

Ender’s Game has proven to be one of the most popular science fiction titles for teens of all time. As the author comments his introduction to this book, it seems to resonate with many “gifted” children and I would also argue many not so gifted children who often feel isolated, or ostracized by their friends and manipulated by adults. I think this book is one that many children can relate to, not because they can put themselves in Ender’s shoes, but because they can relate Ender’s problems to their personal lives.

Card, Orson Scott (1977) Ender's Game. New York: Tor.

Spud / John van de Ruit

Spud by John van de Ruit is cleaver funny book based in an all boy’s school in South Africa. The premise of the book is that most of Spud’s schoolmates, teachers and his family are somewhat crazy and he is continuously surrounded by outrageous behavior on the part of everyone he knows. Spud has to then deal with all of the issues his life throws at him. Girls are part of the craziness that the 13 year old Spud is involved with along with brutal older schoolmates, friends that want to take unauthorized night swims, a school play and a drunken teacher / mentor who has regular lunches and discusses literature with Spud.

Spud is not one big joke - it is punctuated with serious issues of mental illness, bullying, family problems, post-apartheid South Africa, homosexuality, death, and many dysfunctional relationships. The author handles the many issues in the book in a very realistic manner. The brutality of practical jokes and teasing is often something that the boys simply have to deal with, and the fact that Spud finds himself with two “girlfriends” and a quandary of how to deal with that is a very realistic and sometimes instructive situation. I feel that Spud portrays the life of an adolescent boy in a humorous and accurate manner, filling his life with many of the issues that young boys have to deal with and providing entertainment and an example for readers to think about.

van de Ruit, J. (2007). Spud. New York: Razorbill.