Books for the Teen Age 2004

After
Francine Prose | Joanna Cotler, ©2003 | FIC P
After three students go on a deadly shooting spree at a nearby school, Tom's high school hires a crisis counselor and creepy changes begin. After a zero tolerance policy towards drugs and weapons is announced, kids who break the new rules begin to disappear, never to return.

Birdland
Tracy Mack | Scholastic, ©2003 | FIC M
Jed and his friend Flyer try to capture their East Village neighborhood on videotape for a city collage their class is doing. As Jed carries the camera, he also carries memories of his dead brother, and through a homeless girl who may have known his brother, Jed tries to understand his family and himself.

The City of Ember
Jeanne DuPrau | Random House, ©2003 | FIC D
The great lights of Ember are all that stand between the people and total darkness but now they are starting to flicker and fade. Lina and Doon stumble across a secret that could save their people if only they could get the city's leaders to listen.

King James
Ryan Jones | Griffin, ©2003 | B James J
Can the most-publicized rookie ever in the NBA, LeBron James, survive the hype and the pressure? With his physical traits and instinctive feel for the game, his contribution could be awesome.

Kissing Kate
Lauren Myracle | Dutton, ©2003 | FIC M
Kate and Lissa are best friends until one night when Kate kisses Lissa. Lissa kisses her back, and then refuses to forget the kiss. That's exactly why Kate will no longer talk to her.

The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini | Riverhead, ©2003 | FIC H
Two boys growing up in Afghanistan meet different fates when the Taliban changes their lives.

Maisie Dobbs
Jacqueline Winspear | Soho, ©2003 | FIC W
At age 13, Maisie became a maid in a grand British house where her employer recognized her special talents and arranged for schooling. She served in France as a nurse during WWI where she found and lost a great love then returned to London to begin a dangerous career as a private investigator.

Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi | Pantheon, ©2003 | FIC S
Born the great-granddaughter of one of the last Iranian emperors, a young artist using comic strip images recalls days of turmoil, terror, torture, resistance, love and devotion during a time of revolution.

Random Family
Adrian Nicole LeBlanc | Scribner, ©2003 | 974.7275 L
In the South Bronx in the '80s there were some rough days, some rough streets, some rough people. Here are a few of those real lives.

The She
Carol Plum-Ucci | Harcourt, ©2003 | FIC P
Evan's never been sure what happened the night his parents disappeared into the sea. They may have been eaten by a She-Devil of the Deep, or they may have sailed away, caught in their own drug-smuggling racket.

Singular Intimacies
Danielle Ofri | Beacon, ©2003 | 610.92 O
This is the story of becoming a doctor at the oldest public hospital in the united States--Bellevue Hospital. Author Danielle Ofri writes about the human connections between doctor and patient as she shares her growth from a green medical student into a trained and skilled physician.

The Tao of Maggie
Bill Stanton | Andrews McMeel, ©2003 | 636.7536 S
Light-hearted photos and quotes from philosophers and poets illustrate the life lessons learned by a New York City basset hound.

Wonder When You'll Miss Me
Amanda Davis | Morrow, ©2003 | FIC D
16 year old Faith takes bloody revenge on the boy who assaulted her then runs off and joins a circus.

A dozen select titles from the new books on the 2004 Books for the Teen Age List

2004