YA - Shine, Coconut Moon

by Neesha Meminger, 2010

"Sixteen-year-old Samar—aka Sam—is an Indian American teenager whose mom has kept her away from her old-fashioned family. It’s never bothered Sam, who is busy with school, friends, and a demanding boyfriend. But things change after 9/11. A guy in a turban shows up at Sam’s house—and turns out to be her uncle. He wants to reconcile the family and teach Sam about her Sikh heritage. She is eager to learn, but when boys attack her uncle, shouting "Go home Osama!" Sam realizes she could be in danger—and just how dangerous ignorance is." (from Amazon.com)

NF - The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope

by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, 2010

"William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was mystery. It was also a land withered by drought and hunger. But William had read about windmills, and he dreamed of building one that would bring to his small village a set of luxuries that only 2 percent of Malawians could enjoy: electricity and running water. His neighbors called him misala—crazy—but William refused to let go of his dreams. With a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks; some scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves; and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to forge an unlikely contraption and small miracle that would change the lives around him.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a remarkable true story about human inventiveness and its power to overcome crippling adversity. It will inspire anyone who doubts the power of one individual's ability to change his community and better the lives of those around him." (from Amazon.com)

Fifty Shades of Grey

by E.L. James, 2012

"When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time. Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever." (from Amazon.com)

Jeanne's note: This doesn't fit any of our LitWits categories, but one person included it in their list. Whether or not you decide to read what is being referred to as "Mommy porn" or not, this should be interesting to discuss.

NF - Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter

by Frank Deford, 2012

"Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter is as unconventional and wide-ranging as Frank Deford’s remarkable career, in which he has chronicled the heroes and the characters of just about every sport in nearly every medium. Deford joined Sports Illustrated in 1962, fresh, and fresh out of Princeton. In 1990, he was Editor-in-Chief of The National Sports Daily, one of the most ambitious—and ill-fated—projects in the history of American print journalism. But then, he’s endured: writing ten novels, winning an Emmy (not to mention being a fabled Lite Beer All-Star), and last week he read something like his fourteen-hundredth commentary on NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

From the Mad Men-like days of SI in the ‘60s, and the “bush” years of the early NBA, to Deford’s visit to apartheid South Africa with Arthur Ashe, and his friend’s brave and tragic death, Over Time is packed with intriguing people and stories. Interwoven through his personal history, Deford lovingly traces the entire arc of American sportswriting from the lurid early days of the Police Gazette, through Grantland Rice and Red Smith and on up to ESPN. This is a wonderful, inspired book—equal parts funny and touching—a treasure for sports fans. Just like Frank Deford." (from Amazon.com)

PROF - Developing Standards-Based Report Cards

by Thomas R. Guskey and Jane M. Bailey, 2009

"Providing a clear framework, this volume helps school leaders align assessment and reporting practices with standards-based education and develop more detailed reports of children’s learning and progress." (from Amazon.com)

YA - Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls

by Mary Downing Hahn, 2012

"Based on an actual crime in 1955, this YA novel is at once a mystery and a coming-of-age story. The brutal murder of two teenage girls on the last day of Nora Cunningham’s junior year in high school throws Nora into turmoil. Her certainties—friendships, religion, her prudence, her resolve to find a boyfriend taller than she is—are shaken or cast off altogether. Most people in Elmgrove, Maryland, share the comforting conviction that Buddy Novak, who had every reason to want his ex-girlfriend dead, is responsible for the killings. Nora agrees at first, then begins to doubt Buddy’s guilt, and finally comes to believe him innocent—the lone dissenting voice in Elmgrove. Told from several different perspectives, including that of the murderer, Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls is a suspenseful page-turner with a powerful human drama at its core." (from Amazon.com)

NF - Bedpan Commando: The Story of a Combat Nurse During WWII

by June Wandrey, 2010 (3rd edition)

originally published 1990?

"Laughingly labeled a BEDPAN COMMANDO by the troops, June Wandrey recorded WWII from ambulance and tent as her mobile surgical unit followed the infantry. BEDPAN COMMANDO is a nurse’s story of a man’s war from Fort Custer to Dachau and all the bloody spots in between. Across North Africa and on to Sicily, Italy, France, Germany, Allach and Dachau, these women fought death, despair, and exhaustion with humor, tears and guts. 234 Pages from her diary and letters and illustrated with 70 never-before-published photographs, BEDPAN COMMANDO chronicles Wandrey’s coming-of-age while the world learned to capitalize the word Holocaust. Hysterical, historical, funny and sad. Young, confident and energetic, she climbed the gangplank on the SS Santa Elena bound for the battlefields of North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany. From her diary, notes and letters, live with her the life of a surgical nurse in a Field Hospital, often operating within the sounds of the guns. Feel with her the despair and infinite sadness as she cares for and comforts the wounded soldiers. Empathize with her agonized cry from the horrors of Allach and Dachau, “Where are you, God?”" (from Amazon.com)

NF - Zeitoun

by Dave Eggers, 2010

"The true story of one family, caught between America’s two biggest policy disasters: the war on terror and the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun run a house-painting business in New Orleans. In August of 2005, as Hurricane Katrina approaches, Kathy evacuates with their four young children, leaving Zeitoun to watch over the business. In the days following the storm he travels the city by canoe, feeding abandoned animals and helping elderly neighbors. Then, on September 6th, police officers armed with M-16s arrest Zeitoun in his home. Told with eloquence and compassion, Zeitoun is a riveting account of one family’s unthinkable struggle with forces beyond wind and water." (from Amazon.com)

NF - The Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medical Sleuthing

by Suzanne Jurmain, 2009

"Red oozes from the patient's gums. He has a rushing headache and the whites of his eyes look like lemons. He will likely die within days.

Here is the true story of how four Americans and one Cuban tracked down a killer, one of the word's most vicious plagues: yellow fever. Set in fever-stricken Cuba, the reader feels the heavy air, smell the stench of disease, hear the whine of mosquitoes biting human volunteers during the surreal experiments. Exploring themes of courage, cooperation, and the ethics of human experimentation, this gripping account is ultimately a story of the triumph of science." (from Amazon.com)

PROF - Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed-Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students

by Denise Clark Pope, 2003

"A revealing, and troubling, view of today's American high school students and the ways they pursue high grades and success. Veteran teacher Denise Pope follows five highly regarded students through a school year and discovers that these young people believe getting ahead requires manipulating the system, scheming, lying and cheating." (from Amazon.com)

PROF - Summarization in any Subject

by Rick Wormeli, 2004

"Educators agree that the ability to summarize--to identify salient information and structure it for meaning, long-term retention, and successful application--is an essential academic skill. Research affirms summarization’s reputation as a highly effective way to boost comprehension and achievement. We know summarization works. But isn't it, well, just a little dull?
It doesn't have to be.
Rick Wormeli, a teacher certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, makes the case that summarization is not only one of the most effective ways to improve student learning, it's also one of the most flexible, responsive, and engaging. Here, you'll find a classroom-tested collection of written, spoken, artistic, and kinesthetic summarization techniques for both individual assignments and group activities across the content areas. Suitable for students in grades 3-12, these techniques are easily adjustable to any curriculum and presented with ample directions and vivid, multidisciplinary examples. They are valuable additions to every teacher's repertoire.
Wormeli also clarifies the process of teaching students how to summarize and includes a special section on the key skill of paraphrasing. The book concludes with an assortment of original text excerpts and activity prompts--a great starting place for teachers ready to use summarization in their own classrooms." (from Amazon.com)

PROF - The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator's Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child

by Ron Clark, 2004

"The runaway bestseller that's a must-have for every parent and teacher. How many authors would travel coast to coast on a bus to get their book into as many hands as possible? Not many. But that's just what Ron Clark, author of The Essential 55, did to keep his book and message in the public eye. And it worked. After his Oprah appearance, sales skyrocketed: we've sold more than 850,000 copies in six months! The book sat tenaciously on the New York Times bestseller list for 11 weeks. Ron Clark was featured on the Today show, and in the Chicago Tribune, Good Housekeeping, and the New York Daily News -- not to mention the calls we've received from teachers and parents who want to get their hands on Ron's guidelines for teaching children.
Now in paperback, The Essential 55 will be the perfect book for parents and teachers to slip into their own backpacks, to read on the train or at lunch, and to highlight the sections that resonate for them. And with an author who is truly a partner in getting his message to the masses, we just can't lose." (from Amazon.com)

PROF - The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

by Nicholas Carr, 2011

"“Is Google making us stupid?” When Nicholas Carr posed that question, in a celebrated Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?

Now, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling exploration of the Internet’s intellectual and cultural consequences yet published. As he describes how human thought has been shaped through the centuries by “tools of the mind”—from the alphabet to maps, to the printing press, the clock, and the computer—Carr interweaves a fascinating account of recent discoveries in neuroscience by such pioneers as Michael Merzenich and Eric Kandel. Our brains, the historical and scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. The technologies we use to find, store, and share information can literally reroute our neural pathways.

Building on the insights of thinkers from Plato to McLuhan, Carr makes a convincing case that every information technology carries an intellectual ethic—a set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and intelligence. He explains how the printed book served to focus our attention, promoting deep and creative thought. In stark contrast, the Internet encourages the rapid, distracted sampling of small bits of information from many sources. Its ethic is that of the industrialist, an ethic of speed and efficiency, of optimized production and consumption—and now the Net is remaking us in its own image. We are becoming ever more adept at scanning and skimming, but what we are losing is our capacity for concentration, contemplation, and reflection.

Part intellectual history, part popular science, and part cultural criticism, The Shallows sparkles with memorable vignettes—Friedrich Nietzsche wrestling with a typewriter, Sigmund Freud dissecting the brains of sea creatures, Nathaniel Hawthorne contemplating the thunderous approach of a steam locomotive—even as it plumbs profound questions about the state of our modern psyche. This is a book that will forever alter the way we think about media and our minds." (from Amazon.com)

PROF - When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do

by Kylene Beers, 2002

"For Kylene Beers, the question of what to do when kids can't read surfaced abruptly in 1979 when she began teaching. That year, she discovered that some of the students in her seventh-grade language arts classes could pronounce all the words, but couldn't make any sense of the text. Others couldn't even pronounce the words. And that was the year she met a boy named George.
George couldn't read. When George's parents asked her to explain what their son's reading difficulties were and what she was going to do to help, Kylene, a secondary certified English teacher with no background in reading, realized she had little to offer the parents, even less to offer their son. That defining moment sent her on a twenty-three-year search for answers to that original question: how do we help middle and high schoolers who can't read?" (from Amazon.com)

PIC - Sparks: An Urban Fairytale

by Lawrence Marvit, 2002

"Dislillusioned by the drabness and difficulty of her life, Jo builds "the perfect man" out of old car parts. When this junk-man magically comes to life, it's up to Jo to teach him about the world. Sparks is the story of a girl trying to fit in and, with the help of a man made of junk, find her own identity." (from Amazon.com)

PIC - Wings

by Christopher Myers, 2000

"Ikarus Jackson, the new boy in school, is outcast because he has wings, but his resilient spirit inspires one girl to speak up for him." (from Amazon.com)

PIC - The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

by Jon Scieszka, 1996

A wonderful spoof on the classic fairy tale, told from the wolf's point of view as he defends his actions.

PIC - The Three Questions

by Jon Muth, 2002

"What is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do? Nikolai knows that he wants to be the best person he can be, but often he is unsure if he is doing the right thing. So he goes to ask Leo, the wise turtle. When he arrives, the turtle is struggling to dig in his garden, and Nikolai rushes to help him. As he finishes work, a violent storm rolls in. Nikolai runs for Leo's cottage, but on his way, he hears cries for help from an injured panda. Nikolai brings her in from the cold, and then rushes back outside to rescue her baby too."

PIC - Seriously, Cinderella Is SO Annoying!

subtitled "The Story of Cinderella as Told by the Wicked Stepmother (Other Side of the Story)
by Trisha Sue Speed Shaskan, 2011

"OF COURSE you think Cinderella was the sweetest belle of the ball. You don't know the other side of the story. Well, let me tell you..." (from Amazon.com)

YA - The Hunger Games series

by Suzanne Collins
(book one)
Catching Fire (book two)
Mockingjay (book three)

"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed." (from Amazon.com)

YA - The Maze Runner series

by James Dashner
(book one)
The Scorch Trials (book two)
The Death Cure (book three)
The Kill Order (prequel - due out August 14)

"When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls. Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind." (from Amazon.com)

YA - My Life as the Ugly Stepsister

by Jule Alexander, 2012

"When Ally's mother moves to Seattle to try out a relationship with an internet boyfriend, the fourteen-year-old has to live with her dad, her wicked stepmonster, and her way too beautiful stepsister. Ally's list of brutal teen truths is growing by the minute. Can change actually bring something good this time around, or is Ally doomed to live out her life as the ugly stepsister?" (from Amazon.com)

YA - The Knife of Never Letting Go

by Patrick Ness, 2009
(Chaos Walking, book 1)

"Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is."

YA - Battle Royale

by Koushun Takami, 2009 (graphic novel)

"In an alternative future Japan, junior high students are forced to fight to the death! L to R (Western Style). Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan--where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller--Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world. Made into a controversial hit movie of the same name, Battle Royale is already a contemporary Japanese pulp classic, now available for the first time in the English language. A group of high school students are taken to small isolated island and forced to fight each other until only one remains alive! If they break the rules a special collar blows their heads off. Koushun Takami's brutal, high-octane thriller is told in breathless. blow-by-blow fashion. Battle Royale is a contemporary Japanese pulp classic now available for the first time in English." (from Amazon.com)

YA - The Serpent's Shadow

by Rick Riordan, 2012
(book 3 in the Kane Chronicles)

"He's b-a-a-ack! Despite their best efforts, Carter and Sade Kane can't seem to keep Apophis, the chaos snake, down. Now Apophis is threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and the Kanes are faced with the impossible task of having to destroy him once and for all. Unfortunately, the magicians of the House of Life are on the brink of civil war, the gods are divided, and the young initiates of Brooklyn House stand almost alone against the forces of chaos. The Kanes' only hope is an ancient spell that might turn the serpent's own shadow into a weapon, but the magic has been lost for a millennia. To find the answer they need, the Kanes must rely on the murderous ghost of a powerful magician who might be able to lead them to the serpent's shadow . . . or might lead them to their deaths in the depths of the underworld. Nothing less than the mortal world is at stake when the Kane family fulfills its destiny in this thrilling conclusion to the Kane Chronicles." (from Amazon.com)

YA - The Hunger Pains: a Parody

by The Harvard Lampoon, 2012

"WINNING MEANS WEALTH, FAME, AND A LIFE OF THERAPY LOSING MEANS DEATH, BUT ALSO FAME! THIS IS THE HUNGER PAINS

When Kantkiss Neverclean replaces her sister as a contestant on the Hunger Games—the second-highest-rated reality TV show in Peaceland, behind Extreme Home Makeover—she has no idea what to expect. Having lived her entire life in the telemarketing district’s worst neighborhood, the Crack, Kantkiss feels unprepared to fight to the death while simultaneously winking and looking adorable for the cameras. But when her survival rests on choosing between the dreamy hunk from home, Carol Handsomestein, or the doughy klutz, Pita Malarkey, Kantkiss discovers that the toughest conflicts may not be found on the battlefield but in her own heart . . . which is unfortunately on a battlefield." (from Amazon.com)

YA - Birthmarked

by Caragh M. O'Brien, 2011

"In the future, in a world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the wall and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife, Gaia Stone, who live outside. Gaia has always believed it is her duty, with her mother, to hand over a small quota of babies to the Enclave. But when Gaia’s mother and father are arrested by the very people they so dutifully serve, Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught to believe. Gaia’s choice is now simple: enter the world of the Enclave to rescue her parents, or die trying." (from Amazon.com)