Each year the American Library Association gives out the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature and awards “Honor” status (like an honorable mention) to 3 or 4 other finalists for the award. I often feel conflicted about the books that get chosen and 2008’s selections are no exception. One of the honor books is Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins. It is the story of a demon (that’s right, demon, as in hell) who realizes after centuries on the job tormenting sinners in hell that the Creator isn’t going to notice if he slips away for a vacation. The demon, who is called many things, among which Kiriel is his favorite, jumps into the body of a slacker teenaged boy who is seconds away from dying in an accident. As Kiriel sees it, “the fact that he missed the last two seconds of his life didn’t really matter; I could see exactly what was going to happen.”

Kiriel sets out to experience all he can of life before he is caught and sent back. He revels in the details, the taste of ketchup, the feel of writing with a pencil, the sound of traffic. He wants to test all the 7 deadly sins to find out what the big deal is, and in the space of a couple days realizes why humans get so worked up with jealousy, lust, wrath and the rest.

The book is funny, poignant, and ultimately life-affirming as the demon makes your realize all you take for granted in your own life. So why do I feel conflicted about the book being honored by the Printz committee? Well I agree the book is very good, and asks a lot of interesting questions, but I’m not sure I agree it was one of the top 5 best YA books of the year. Still, I’m glad the book is getting recognition, because it is a fun read and one that will make you count your blessings.

This latest novel by Peter Cameron pulls off the difficult task of making a difficult, troubled, antisocial narrator completely sympathetic and lovable. James Sveck, an eighteen year-old outsider is intelligent, philosophical, and yes, even “charming” (as the front cover suggests) but he has problems showing all this to the outside world. James has been accepted to prestigious Brown College, but he has no desire to go, because people, particularly people his own age distress him. In his words, “I just don’t enjoy being with people. People, at least in my experience, rarely say anything interesting to each other. They always talk about their lives and they don’t have very interesting lives. So I get impatient.”

It would be easy to detest someone that brutally honest and snobbish. And yet I found myself continually cutting him slack, in part because I felt sorry for his obvious social anxiety and, also because his character flaws are interesting and complicated in the grand tradition of Holden Caufield. Like Holden, James rejects those who try to help him (his parents, his psychiatrist), believing them to be more interested their own wants than in listening to him. Like Holden, he has one family member who truly gets him, in his case, his grandmother. Like Holden, his few attempts to reach out to the world fail–often spectacularly as when he tries his hand at expressing his attraction to a coworker and when he is chosen to go to Washington D.C. to represent New York at a national student program about the government.

With beautiful metaphors and a true sense of “voice,” Peter Cameron tells a compelling story about a young man failing to thrive in the modern world. You may not know first hand the kind of anxiety and depression that James feels, but this story will help you identify with, understand, and empathize with him.

Just when you were asking yourself, “why aren’t there more teen books about roller derby?” along comes Derby Girl by Shauna Cross. The novel’s main character Bliss Cavendar, an “indie-rock-loving misfit” feels like she must be adopted. Her mother is a beauty-pageant loving former Miss Blubonnet with visions of a family dynasty. Her father is a quiet, football-loving man who does anything Bliss’s mom says. Bliss longs for city life, but is trapped in tiny Bodeen, Texas working at the Oink Joint with her best friend and fellow misfit, Pash Amini. While shopping in Austin (or, “civilization” as Bliss thinks of it), she finds an ad for a Roller Derby League. She convinces Pash to go in search of cool people and “real boys.” And that’s where the fun begins.

This is a really quick read with snappy dialogue and some very funny moments. While Bliss seems to be trying a little too hard to be a snarky hip-chick, she does sound authentic to me, like a teen trying desperately to be cool…for that I could forgive her. The book covers standard teenage fare of love and betrayal, but in a setting and scenario that is fresh. A great pick for something fun to read on the beach or a rainy day.

Sara Zarr’s debut novel is an emotional and realistic book about a girl whose life is not what she planned. In the novel’s opening lines, Deanna, the narrator, tells us: “I was thirteen when my dad caught me with Tommy Webber in the back of Tommy’s Buick, parked next to the old Chart House down in Montara at eleven o’clock on a Tuesday night. Tommy was seventeen and the supposed friend of my brother, Darren.”

Deanna is now sixteen and regretting the choices she has made. Her father hasn’t really spoken to her since that night, and Tommy has ruined her reputation by telling his friends what they did. At school her only protection from the slurs and inuendo are her best friends Jason and Lee, who are now dating because she set them up. This development has left her feeling jealous and even more isolated. Her consolation is her older brother, who still lives at home with his girlfriend and their baby April. When she is with them, Deanna feels needed and loved and she formulates a plan to earn money so they can all move out of their parents’ depressing, loveless home. Toward this end, she finds a job, but what she doesn’t count on is getting a job where she’ll have to see Tommy every day.

Going into this book, I expected it to be sort of a sappy, after-school special kind of story. But I am happy to report this novel is nothing of the sort; it is honest and moving and a compelling look at the effects of physical and emotional abuse on a young girl.

I read this book because I’m a Nerdfighter, and the Nerdfighters have started a Blurbing Book Club where we are to come up with a blurb for the book in 10 words or less–the winners will get prizes–yay prizes!

Maureen Johnson has actually written a lot of books for young adults (including the awesome Keys to the Golden Firebird) and this is one of her strongest. The main character is Ginny, a 17-year old with an artist aunt who is important to her but often absent. During her last disappearance to Europe, Ginny’s aunt is diagnosed with brain cancer and dies. But in a typical move, her adventure-loving aunt leaves her 13 envelopes with very specific instructions to open them in order and follow the instructions before opening the next one. These instructions send her on a merry chase through London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, and Greece. She finds herself tracing the steps her aunt took, finding the people her aunt met, and trying to piece together what it is her aunt wanted her to learn. While Ginny struggles to find answers, she starts to ask questions about herself and her own priorities.

All in all, it is a fun, fast read with lots of great travel descriptions. And in case you’re wondering, my blurb for the Nerdfighters was:
“An archetypal artist challenges her hesitating niece to seek adventure.”
To read more blurbs, go to: http://nerdfighters.ning.com/main/search/search?q=blurbing+book+club.