p. 1

genre realistic fiction multiple genres told in fresh voices the authors of these books tackle real-life issues in an honest and authentic manner by capitalizing on the language patterns young adults frequently use im/text talk teens relate easily to the characters and plots presented titles/year of publication ttyl 2004 ttfn 2006 l8r g8r 2007 author summary lauren myracle finding your place in the world is not always easy just ask maddie angela and zoe leaning on each other the winsome threesome survives high school learn about love and discover the real meaning of friendship anne frank and me 2001 cherie bennett jeff gottesfeld for tenth-grader nicole burns internet junkie and miss generation x the holocaust is ancient history life revolves around school friends boys and little else that is until nicole falls hits her head and awakes in occupied france during the 1940s avi presents us with a collection of evidence revolving around a high school student s desire to get under the skin of his english teacher school politics the star spangled banner and what happens when the media hears about it told through memos diary entries conversations excerpts from an exam newspaper articles telegrams speeches and a talk show transcript readers must weigh the preponderance of evidence and discover the truth for themselves nothing but the truth 1991 avi comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 2

the boy next boy meets every boy s door 2002 girl 2003 got one 2005 meg cabot told through diary entries emails ims notes and pda entries the angst of finding one s niche in life is explored in a humorous manner serafina67 urgently requires life 2008 susie day told entirely in a blog format 15 year old sara shares her life her worries concerns and search for happiness she even has a happiness deadline something to blog about 2008 shana norris libby fawcett is trying to make sense of the life she lives by blogging about her feelings frustrations and secret crushes told in both blog format and standard prose confessions of a boyfriend stealer 2005 robynn clairday gen is your average 16year-old she has friendship boy and family troubles told through blog postings and prose comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 3

my most excellent year a novel of love mary poppins fenway park 2008 steve kluger told from three main characters points-of-view tc ale augie the story unfolds via journal entries emails and ims things change 2004 patrick jones straight a superintelligent johanna adores paul so much so that she is willing to sacrifice family friends grades and personal safety told from both johanna s and paul s views via prose and letters this poignant story of dating violence unfolds winner of 20 awards and honors monster is a chilling story told in alternating journal and screenplay formats from steve s point of view steve is in prison and facing trial for murder but he s not sure if he s guilty or not myers takes the reader on a haunting journey of prison urban life and choices that linger long after the book is finished monster 1999 walter dean myers comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 4

tears of a tiger 1994 forged by fire 1997 and darkness before dawn 2002 sharon draper draper tackles a range of tough subjects like drunk-driving grief suicide mental illness child abuse poverty incest date rape anorexia and depression in her well known trilogy revolving around students at an urban high school told through newspaper articles locker room conversations phone calls police statements homework/essays/poems school paper letters counseling sessions diaries and prayer this series of books has been awarded more than 10 different awards with the first title being named one of the top 100 books for young adults for the millennium up the down staircase 1967 bel kaufman credited with being one of the first modern multigenre novels kaufman tells the story of sylvia barrett an idealistic novice teacher in an inner city school told through memos notes lesson plans student essays letters and comments from a suggestion box the work is also available as both a play and a movie comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 5

the year of secret assignments 2004 jaclyn moriarty best friends lydia emily and cassie are members of an exclusive private school that are assigned three male pen pals in a public high school nearby the girls soon find themselves in various fledgling romantic stages with their pen pals and when one gets her heart broken the other five characters decide to make him pay told through letters email memos postings from the principal a writing notebook and a journal this australian book will delight anyone who loved angus thongs and full frontal snogging written after the 1999 columbine shootings give a boy a gun is a chilling documentary novel about two bullied outcasts who go on a shooting rampage at a school dance told from the perspective of a journalism student that turns out to be related to one of the shooters it is written as collected interviews with students teachers and family members excerpts from suicide notes instant messages email media blurbs and statistics give a boy a gun 2000 todd strasser comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 6

cathy s book 2006 sean stewart jordan weisman cathy s key 2008 this stunning triology became one of the industry s first dynamic hybrid books although written as a traditional novel in journal format readers also analyze photographs review date book entries make phone calls and visit websites to collect additional clues in this part romance part thriller book all three books are also now available through an iphone or itouch app that allows the reader to hyperlink between all of the platforms simultaneously cathy s ring 2010 comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 7

the 39 clues series 2008-2010 rick riordan gordon korman peter lerangis jude watson patrick carman linda sue park margaret peterson haddix scholastic s groundbreaking multimodal adventure based on the premise that the world s most influential family has been given clues to find the source of their power readers follow fourteenyear-old amy and eleven-year old dan on a global adventure that combines historical fiction with problem solving each of the 10 books in the series comes with trading cards that contain clues when entered online where readers can become a part of an international gaming community racing to solve the mystery and claim real life prizes such as $100,000 and a family vacation readers can also choose to download the applications for iphone for each book to make it even more accessible heart on my sleeve 2004 ellen wittlinger after chloe and julian meet while visiting a college they start a long distance relationship that teeters between friendship and romance told through emails instant messages handwritten letters and postcards wittlinger presents a story of growing up becoming independent and finding ones place in the world through both the protagonists and minor characters such as older siblings comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 8

realistic fiction verse novels told in the powerful and engaging medium of poetry the authors of these books examine issues pertinent to young adults through verse format young adults are able to find themselves in the stories told stop pretending what happened when my big sister went crazy sonya sones told in a realistic manner readers follow this auto-biographical account of how the main character the author deals with her sister s break from reality what my mother doesn t know what my girlfriend doesn t know sophie and robin aka murphy explore their romantic feelings toward each other while learning to overcome what classmates think of their unlikely union one of the those hideous books where the mother dies losing one s mother is hideous just ask ruby but losing one s mother and being forced to move across the country to live with an egodriven actor for a father is even worse ruby realizes that life isn t what it always appears to be as she learns of longkept secrets and the importance of family karen hesse witness 2001 set in a small vermont town in 1924 a cast of 11 characters share their insights concerning the arrival of the ku kluz klan comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 9

aleutain sparrow 2003 it is 1942 and the world is at war pearl harbor has been attacked and the japanese navy has invaded alaska s aleutian islands as such the aleuts who have lived in the area for over 9000 years are evacuated to relocation centers vera a young aleut chronicles her journey and attempt to remember not only who she is and but also who the people of the aleutian islands were and are hesse poignantly tells the tale of war of survival and of resilience during a time of immense upheaval this 1997 newbery medal winner out of the dust details life during the oklahoma dust bowl main character billie jo loves apples and playing piano she also loves her mother and is faced with overcoming the pain of her death while focusing on survival during a bleak time in america s history zane guesswind is in trouble fleeing his grandfather s death he is running headlong into his own during his journey zane learns more about his family and discovers who he is out of the dust 1999 zane s trace 2007 allen wolfe comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 10

boris 2005 cynthia rylant boris is a cat a pet but he is so much more than that he is a faithful companion a wondering personality to be reckoned with boris is also a teacher as he instructs his owner in the art of unconditional love and the ability to recognize life s simple pleasures through poetry readers come to see that life is much better with a pet answering the question joan osborne asks in her song what if god were one of us cynthia rylant introduces readers to a god who among other things goes to beauty school makes spaghetti gets arrested and dies rylant paints a picture of god as someone experiencing human things told through poetic form readers are able to visualize god as an individual involved in the mundane things of the world god went to beauty school 2003 comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 11

heartbeat 2004 sharon creech annie loves to run barefoot the thumpthump-thump her feet make on the ground is reassuring and familiar in a time of uncertainty and change annie s mom is pregnant her grandfather sometimes recognizes her and sometimes doesn t and max her best friend is no longer so easy-going the beating of her feet has a certain rhythm that annie finds missing in her own life she soon realizes however that life has many cadences like running and that she can find her niche the last thing anke wants is to be noticed because to be noticed would mean that her father might turn the abuse he doles out on her sister and brother in her direction happy with being seen as nothing more than a piece of furniture anke goes through her life ignored but being ignored comes at a cost her father s abuse intensifies and she finds it difficult to be quiet and pretend that her world is okay when it very clearly is not finding her voice anke strives to put an end to the violence that sweeps her home because i am furniture 2009 thalia chaltas comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 12

shakespeare makes the playoffs 2010 ron koertge shakespeare bats cleanup 2003 kevin is your typical hormone-driven sportsminded secret-poet adolescent stranded in bed after a bout with mono kevin realizes that he loves to write free-verse villanelles quatrains and couplets almost as much as he loves being on the field and hitting a homerun kevin uses poetry as a way for dealing with personal issues the death of his mother problems with girlfriends and his dad s interest in another woman and learning about who he really is in this coming-of-age novel koertge s takes readers into the mind of kevin as he attempts to find his place in the world living in the before time lonnie collins motion aka locomotion learns to deal with a life without his parents or lili his sister death is never easy to deal with but it is especially difficult when you are seven and have lost your parents in a devastating fire writing his feelings in a journal given to him by a caring teacher locomotion is able to put into words what he has never been able to verbalize his sadness his dedication to lili and his fear that the memories will become so faded that he will forget his mom and dad completely so he writes poems to help him remember to help lili remember and to help him understand who he is locomotion 2003 jacqueline woodson comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]

p. 13

keesha s house 2003 helen frost meet stephie an unwed teen mother jason stephie s boyfriend a promising basketball player dontay a fostercare adolescent whose parents are in prison carmen a repeat dui offender harris a homeless teen who is renounced by his father when he reveals that he is gay and katie a survivor dealing with her mother s allegiance to an abusive stepfather told through their viewpoints and in traditional poetic forms readers are given rare glimpses into their lives their heartaches confusion and struggles while rejoicing with them for finding a safe haven at keesha s house comer/trent annotated novel list

[close]