Rye Neck High School
Book Talk List
B., David Epileptic. David B.'s story is about the desperate attempts of his family to deal with his older brother's chronic epilepsy; The young narrator is obsessed with military history, and therefore the particulars of his brother's story are interwoven with the young artist's imaginings of the invasions of the Mongols, his grandfather's experiences in World War I, and tales of the Algerian war and the French Resistance. The story includes some disturbing dream sequences. Moreover, because David B.'s brother began to experience the symptoms of his seizure disorder in the late 60's, the family made use of the alternative therapies of the time in pursuit of relief for their afflicted son. So there are sad and hilarious passages in ''Epileptic.''
This selection is in the genre of graphic novel.
Brown, Eleanor. The Weird Sisters. Meet Rosalind, Bianca, and Cordelia, three sisters named for Shakespearean heroines by their eccentric and professorial father. These are women who look very much alike, maintain a common family bond, but if truth be told, don't like each other very much. With lively dialogue and witty collective narration, the sisters' untangling of their identities and relationships feels honest and wise, and the questions they raise about how we carry our childhood roles into our adult lives will resonate with all readers, especially those with their own weird sisters.
DeMille, Nelson Cathedral. St. Patrick's Day, New York City. Everyone is celebrating, but everyone is in for the shock of his life. Born into the heat and hatred of the Northern Ireland conflict, IRA man Brian Flynn has masterminded a brilliant terrorist act -- the seizure of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Among his hostages: the woman Brian Flynn once loved, a former terrorist turned peace activist. Among his enemies: an Irish-American police lieutenant fighting against a traitor inside his own ranks and a shadowy British intelligence officer pursuing his own cynical, bloody plan. The cops face a booby-trapped, perfectly laid out killing zone inside the church. The hostages face death. Flynn faces his own demons in an electrifying duel of nerves, honor, and betrayal.
Donnelly, Jennifer. Revolution. Two girls, two centuries apart—one never knows the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.
Follett, Ken. Fall of Giants. Welcome to the 20th century as you've never seen it. Fall of Giants delivers all the elements that fans of Ken Follett have come to treasure: historical accuracy, richly developed characters, and a sweeping yet intimate portrait of a past world that you'll fully inhabit before the first chapter is through. The story follows five families across the globe as their fates intertwine with the extraordinary events of World War I, the political struggles within their own countries, and the rise of the feminist movement. Intriguing stories of love and loyalty abound, from a forbidden romance between a German spy and a British aristocrat to a Russian soldier and his scandal-ridden brother in love with the same woman. Action-packed with blood on the battlefield and conspiracies behind closed doors, Fall of Giants brings the nuances of each character to life and shifts easily from dirty coal mines to sparkling palaces. There is so much to love here, and the good news is the end is just the beginning: Fall of Giants is the first in a planned trilogy.
Green, John. Will Grayson, Will Grayson. One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, Will Grayson crosses paths with . . . Will Grayson. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, and culminating in epic turns-of-heart and the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high school stage. Told in alternating voices from two YA superstars, this collaborative novel features a double helping of the heart and humor that have won them both legions of fans.
Gregory, Philippa. The Constant Princess. As the youngest daughter to the Spanish monarchs and crusaders King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Catalina, princess of Wales and of Spain, was promised to the English Prince Arthur when she was three. She leaves Spain at 15 to fulfill her destiny as queen of England, where she finds true love with Arthur (after some initial sourness) as they plot the future of their kingdom together. Arthur dies young, however, leaving Catalina a widow and ineligible for the throne. Before his death, he extracts a promise from his wife to marry his younger brother Henry in order to become queen anyway, have children and rule as they had planned, a situation that can only be if Catalina denies that her marriage to Arthur was consummated. By alternating tight third-person narration with Catalina's unguarded thoughts and gripping dialogue, the author presents a thorough, sympathetic portrait of her heroine and her transformation into Queen Katherine. Gregory's skill for creating suspense pulls the reader along despite the historical novel's foregone conclusion.
Harding, Paul. Tinkers. Harding's debut unfurls the history and final thoughts of a dying grandfather surrounded by his family in his New England home. George Washington Crosby repairs clocks for a living and on his deathbed revisits his turbulent childhood as the oldest son of an epileptic smalltime traveling salesman. The descriptions of the father's epilepsy and the cold halo of chemical electricity that encircled him immediately before he was struck by a full seizure are stunning, and the household's sadness permeates the narrative as George returns to more melancholy scenes. The real star is Harding's language, which dazzles whether he's describing the workings of clocks, sensory images of nature, the many engaging side characters who populate the book, or even a short passage on how to build a bird nest. This is an especially gorgeous example of novelistic craftsmanship.
Hirsi Ali, Ayaan. Infidel. Non-fiction. Ayaan Hirsi Ali came to the attention of the world in an extraordinary way. In 2004 a Muslim fanatic, after shooting the filmmaker Theo van Gogh dead on an Amsterdam street, pinned a letter to Mr. van Gogh’s chest with a knife. Addressed to Ms. Hirsi Ali, the letter called for holy war against the West and, more specifically, for her death. A Somali by birth and a recently elected member of the Dutch Parliament, Ms. Hirsi Ali has waged a personal crusade to improve the lot of Muslim women. The violence-filled path that led Ms. Hirsi Ali from Somalia to the Netherlands is the subject of “Infidel,” her brave, inspiring and beautifully written memoir. Narrated in clear, vigorous prose, it traces the author’s geographical journey from Mogadishu to Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, and her desperate flight to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage. At the same time, Ms. Hirsi Ali describes a journey “from the world of faith to the world of reason,” a long, often bitter struggle to come to terms with her religion and the clan-based traditional society that defined her world and that of millions of Muslims all over the world. Considered a female counterpart to Salmann Rushdie, she was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005.
WARNING: Mature subject matter. Juniors and Seniors only.
Horan, Nancy. Loving Frank. This fictionalization of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, best known as the woman who wrecked Frank Lloyd Wright's first marriage, is not a romance novel, but a portrayal of an independent, educated woman at odds with the restrictions of the early 20th century. Mamah leaves her husband and children to pursue her intellectual interests and love for Frank at great personal costs.
Johnson, Peter. What Happened. "Believe, believe," the unnamed young narrator of this extraordinary first novel tells himself. But in what? His mother is dead, his father has abandoned both him and his older brother, Kyle, and now the two have been involved, as passengers, in a hit-and-run accident. Should they go to the police? Or should they obey the wealthy father of the boy who was driving and remain silent? Peter Johnson, an award-winning poet, writes with unusual grace and tenderness about kids who are troubled--and occasionally baffled--by the necessity of moral choice when their lives seem to be nothing but a "combination of catastrophes and dumb decisions." The voice that Johnson has given this boy--also a poet--is breathtakingly good, each word . . . a haunting combination of sadness and fragile hope.
Warning: This book contains some mature content.
LeBlanc, Nicole. Random Family. Non-fiction. Journalist LeBlanc spent more than 10 years following two Latina women from the Bronx, and in this ambitious work, she tells their stories, beginning in the late 1980s with their young teen years. The two women chronicled find love, weather abuse, have babies, endure their own and their partners' prison terms, and struggle with health problems, social systems, motherhood, their own mothers, the violence of their communities, and the uncertain future. LeBlanc's prose is sprawling and dense with cinematic detail--what people wore, ate, drove, listened to; where they lived; what they said--and she studiously removes herself from the story, letting her characters' day-to-day lives unfold in scenes that are both gripping and mundane and, like life, defy easy organization. What emerges is an important, unvarnished portrait of people living in deep urban poverty, beyond the statistics, hip-hop glamour, and stereotypes.
Lethem, Jonathan. Fortress of Solitude. The Fortress of Solitude is the story of Dylan Ebdus growing up white and motherless in downtown Brooklyn in the 1970s. It’s a neighborhood where the entertainments include muggings along with games of stoopball. In that world, Dylan has one friend, a black teenager, also motherless, named Mingus Rude. As Lethem follows the knitting and unraveling of their friendship, he creates an overwhelmingly rich and emotionally gripping canvas of race and class, superheroes, gentrification, funk, hip-hop, graffiti tagging, loyalty, and memory. The Fortress of Solitude is the first great urban coming of age novel to appear in years.
Levitt, S. and Dubner, S. Superfreakonomics. Non-fiction.
**Mature Content***
From the authors of Freakonomics, Superfreakonomics mixes great story telling and smart thinking to explore both tough and unexpected questions. Such as: What's the best way to catch a terrorist? Did TV cause a rise in crime? What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common? Superfreakeconomics challenges the way we think, exploring these ideas in a bold humorous fashion.
Lewis, Michael. Moneyball. Non-fiction. Michael Lewis examines how in 2002 the Oakland Athletics achieved a spectacular winning record while having the smallest player payroll of any major league baseball team. Given the heavily publicized salaries of players for teams like the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees, baseball insiders and fans assume that the biggest talents deserve and get the biggest salaries. However, argues Lewis, little-known numbers and statistics matter more.
Maizel, Rebecca. Infinite Days. Lenah Beaudonte is an extremely powerful and ruthless vampire queen who is more than five centuries old. Unhappy with her vampire existence, she implores her vampire maker and lover Rhode to uncover an ancient ritual that can give her back her humanity. After hibernating for 100 years, Lenah wakes up as a human teenager enrolled at the exclusive Wickham Boarding School. Lenah seizes the chance to walk in the sunlight, have fun with friends, experience real emotions, and fall in love with a great guy. But Lenah knows that it is only a matter of time before her vicious coven opens her crypt and discovers her missing. Linked to her by dark magic, they will not rest until they find her, destroying the world she has come to love.
Moore, Rosemary Clement. The Splendor Falls. Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship. Moving from Manhattan to a cousin’s house in Alabama, Sylvie learns more about her family and becomes transfixed by both a Southern gentleman and a foreign guest of her cousin.
Mezrich, Ben. Bringing Down the House. "Shy, geeky, amiable" MIT grad Kevin Lewis was living a double life winning huge sums of cash in Las Vegas casinos. In 1993 when Lewis was 20 years old and feeling aimless, he was invited to join the MIT Blackjack Team, organized by a former math instructor, who said, "Blackjack is beatable." Backed by anonymous investors, team members checked into Vegas hotels under assumed names and, pretending not to know each other, communicated in casinos with gestures and code words. Taking advantage of the statistical nature of blackjack, the team raked in millions before casinos caught on and pursued them.
Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran. Non-fiction. In 1995, after resigning from her job as a professor at a university in Tehran due to repressive policies, Azar Nafisi invited seven of her best female students to attend a weekly study of great Western literature in her home. Since the books they read were officially banned by the government, the women were forced to meet in secret, often sharing photocopied pages of the illegal novels. For two years they met to talk, share, and "shed their mandatory veils and robes and burst into color."
Picoult, Jodi. House Rules. Jacob Hunt is a teenage boy with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject--in his case, forensic analysis. But then his town is rocked by a terrible murder and, for a change, the police come to Jacob with questions. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger's--not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, flat affect--can look a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel. Suddenly, Jacob and his family, who only want to fit in, feel the spotlight shining directly on them.
Pink, Daniel. Drive. Non-fiction. According to Pink (A Whole New Mind), everything we think we know about what motivates us is wrong. He pits the latest scientific discoveries about the mind against the outmoded wisdom that claims people can only be motivated by the hope of gain and the fear of loss. Pink cites a dizzying number of studies revealing that carrot and stick can actually significantly reduce the ability of workers to produce creative solutions to problems. What motivates us once our basic survival needs are met is the ability to grow and develop, to realize our fullest potential.
Pickard, Nancy. The Scent of Rain and Lightning. One stormy 1986 night in Rose, Kansas, someone shoots Hugh-Jay Linder dead, and Laurie, his discontented young wife, disappears. The authorities arrest Billy Crosby, a disgruntled ex-employee of Linder’s ranch, after they find Laurie’s bloodied sundress in his truck. 23 years later, Billy's lawyer son, Collin, who's certain of his dad's innocence, secures Billy's release from prison and a new trial. Father and son return to Rose, where 25-year-old Jody Linder, the victims' daughter, still lives and works. Collin's pursuit of justice will force Jody and other members of her family to finally confront what really happened on that long ago fatal night and deal with the consequences.
Quinonez, Ernesto. Bodega Dreams. Growing up in Spanish Harlem, Chino knew he needed three things to survive: a solid friend (his pana), a decent nickname--not some lame thing his parents had called him, like Tito or Googie--and a reputation that he would rather lose a tooth or get his ribs broken than back out of a fight. With the help of Sapo, "the meanest and ugliest kid on the block," Chino manages to make it as far as college before his life is endangered. He even attracts the attention of Nancy Saldivia, a beautiful Pentecostal girl so genuinely devout that she has earned the high school nickname "Blanca."
Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Non-fiction. A fascinating and moving story of medicine and family. Henrietta Lacks was a mother of five in Baltimore, a poor African American migrant from the tobacco farms of Virginia, who died from a cruelly aggressive cancer at the age of 30 in 1951. A sample of her cancerous tissue, taken without her knowledge or consent, as was the custom then, turned out to provide one of the holy grails of mid-century biology: human cells that could survive--even thrive--in the lab. Known as HeLa cells, their stunning potency gave scientists a building block for countless breakthroughs, beginning with the cure for polio. Meanwhile, Henrietta's family continued to live in poverty and frequently poor health, and their discovery decades later of her unknowing contribution--and her cells' strange survival--left them full of pride, anger, and suspicion.
Small, David. Stitches. David Small grows up sickly and is treated by his radiologist father with radiation while emotionally starved by his repressed and unhappy mother. A growth on his neck is diagnosed as benign at age 11, but his parents delay surgery for three years, stating expense as an excuse. Surgery at 14 reveals cancer that is kept secret from him; David loses his thyroid, vocal cord, and his voice. Anger at his parents increases when he finds his mother in bed with another woman and he begins to act out. His grandmother goes insane and tries to burn up his grandfather, his father admits his guilt in David's cancer, and the bad times just keep coming. Kicked out of boarding school, he finds his first supportive adult in his therapist, and a glimmer of hope that he can find a better life. This selection is in the genre of graphic novel.
Warning: There is some mature content in this story.
Zeppa, Janie. Beyond the Sky and the Earth. Jamie Zeppa made a life-altering decision at the age of 24 when she left an academic career to join a two-year teaching program for young Canadians in Bhutan. The unpronounceable language, bizarre local customs and basic living conditions all conspired to make her miserably home-sick but the young children she was supposedly teaching eventually took her in hand and taught her to cook on an antiquated gas stove: their grateful families gave her fresh fruit and vegetables and Jamie finally discovered that she was surrounded by friends in a beautiful location. Jamie Zeppa has written a book about the difficulties of living within an alien culture, far away from the security of "home". She tells, with humor, of the everyday prejudices she was forced to overcome as a white woman abroad and writes with genuine awe about the beauty of Bhutan.
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