When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (2009)

Plot Summary:  Miranda and Sal are best friends.  Growing up in 1970’s New York City together, these 6^th graders know which route to take home from school, when to cross the street to avoid groups, and know to walk around the block one more time instead of entering their apartment building if they see a stranger lurking  around out front. They even stick together to elude the crazy man that hangs around in front of their building since he sometimes shouts things out to them.  Until that day—the day that Sal is suddenly punched in the stomach by one of the boys in front of the garage for no apparent reason.  Sal stops talking to Miranda, starts avoiding her and quickly ducks away whenever he sees her.  What’s going on? For as long as she can remember, it has always been Miranda and Sal—for sleepovers, homework time, and back and forth to school.  Miranda is not sure what she has done wrong to make Sal not want to be her friend anymore. 

During the story, Miranda often refers to her favorite book that she is reading for perhaps the hundredth time, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.  She often describes parts of the book as well as the characters.  Miranda admits that she identifies with Meg, the girl in the story, who is looking for her father probably because Miranda herself doesn’t know her father. 

One day, a mysterious slip of paper shows up in Miranda’s apartment—a letter that reads “I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. . . you must write me a letter.” Miranda receives several other letters and wonders who could be sending these messages?  And how does the letter writer know everything that goes on?  

Combine the mysterious letters, the crazy man on the corner, and Sal’s odd behavior, and there is quite a mystery to unravel.

Genre:              Mystery

Suggested age range:  10 through 14

Subjects/Themes:  Time Travel, Friendship, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle,

Awards:  Newbery Award 2009

Reviews: *Starred review* in Booklist, as well as a very positive review from School Library Journal.

Annotation:  Fans of A Wrinkle in Time and other books in The Time Quartet Series will really enjoy this story.  The stories have a connection that is intriguing.

Please watch this video of the author discussing her book!

Nancy Drew, Girl Detective #1, The Demon of River Heights (2005) by Stefan Petrucha

Plot Summary:  Nancy Drew, girl detective, knows that something is up when two boys filming in the woods suddenly disappear. Nancy, along with friends George and Bess, investigate and get stuck when Nancy's car runs out of gas.  Follow Nancy as she solves yet another mystery while being chased by a grizzly and seeing "monsters" in the woods.  Are the monsters real?  Read and find out.

Format:  Graphic Novel

Subject/Themes:  Ghosts, mines, iron

Genre:  Mystery

Age Group:  Grades 4 and up

Series:  So far, Papercutz has created 21 books in the series and recently started a new graphic novel series called the Nancy Drew New Case Files.  The first book is Nancy Drew Vampire Slayer.

High Interest Annotation:  This series by Papercutz has given Nancy Drew a makeover, bring her up to speed.  The pictures are nicely done and the storyline moves along quickly.  Great for reluctant readers.

The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton (2008) DVD

Plot Summary:

Jack the Pumpkin King is tired of doing the same thing year after year for Halloween.  He really wants to try something different.  Jack wanders off into the woods and comes upon trees with various doors.  One door in particular has a Christmas tree painted on it so Jack decides to go through it.  He finds himself in the magical town of Christmas.  Jack decides that he would like to take over Santa's duties this year, but can he pull it off?  Jack decides to kidnap Santa and take over Christmas.  A funny, yet dark representation of the story that will definitely appeal to tweens.  This movie is based on a poem also written Tim Burton.  The animation is fantastic, with a side storyline of an unhappy young woman named Sally.  Sally's creator wants to control her every move and Sally just wants to live her own life.  She also pines after Jack, although he is clueless about her feelings.  Watch this movie to enjoy two great holidays wrapped up in one-Halloween and Christmas!

Format:  DVD*

Subject/Themes: Halloween, Christmas, loneliness

Reviews:  The New Yorker

Age Group: older children/tweens

*The Nightmare before Christmas is the first full-length stop-motion animated film ever created. (*info. retrieved from Amazon.com)

Domo Nation Website-www.domonation.com

                                                    Description of Website:  The domo website is popular since tweens are able to create their own animated videos to share with others on the website, as well as to watch videos made by other members.  It's free to join, and the site is monitored.  If a member writes or creates anything that is deemed inappropriate because of language or content, they are removed, not to return as that user.  Of course, it would be simple to create another account with a different email address, but if they break the rules, they will be removed.  The site has many interesting videos on it, and some book trailers made by tweens.  The video process is fun, and it's obvious that tweens enjoy it by the number of videos that have been created by users.

Age Group:  Ages 9 and up

Teen cyberbullying investigated : where do your rights end and consequences begin? by Thomas A. Jacobs (2010)

Plot Summary:  What is interesting about this book is that Judge Jacobs presents numerous cases involving teens of all ages and discusses the initial situation, the reaction by school administration, the legal process that was taken, and the final outcome.  He also follows up by discussing what the teen is doing now and how the incident has affected their lives.  For example, several of the cases that he discusses are situations where teens created websites in order to heckle/badmouth teachers, administrators or fellow students.  Jacobs discusses whether or not rights of the people involved were violated and what can or cannot be done.  Did these individuals break the law?  Or are they simply exercising their first amendment rights of free speech?  It is a lot more technical than you think.  These cases clearly show how intricate and individual each situation is.  One of the questions asked is whether or not school was disrupted due to these websites?  That is one of the many deciding factors in whether or not the student can be charged with breaking the law.  Many of these cases are landmark, so pay close attention.

Genre:  Nonfiction

Subjects/Themes:  First amendment, cyberbullying, state and federal laws, court cases

Reviews:  School  Library Journal and Booklist

Age Group:  Grades 7 and up