Shattering Glass by Gail Giles

Simon Glass is a complete geek: greasy, doughy and clumsy, a perfectly classic computer nerd. Then Rob, a relative newcomer who vaulted to the top of the high school's popularity perch within weeks of his arrival, decides to make Simon a project. He's going to take him to the top, too.

It's pretty easy. For one, Simon is rich, so new clothes are not a problem. Two, Simon is a willing (if suspicious) co-conspirator.

Soon, Rob and his friends -- including the writerly rich-kid narrator Thaddeus R. Steward IV (aka Young) -- see their experiment with popularity and power go awry as Simon becomes the prototypical Frankenstein's monster.

A real page-turner, but full of well-trodden tropes about power, control, creation, and high school popularity.

Bibliotherapeutic value: There is a discussion of bullying and power tripping. Also, it's a lesson in looking beneath the surface. Cathartic, but not terribly deep.

Giles, Gail. Shattering Glass. New York: Simon Pulse, 2003.

ISBN: 0689858000. $7.99.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Collector's Edition) by Sherman Alexie

Arnold Spirit, Jr., was born with water on the brain, bad eyesight, and suffocating poverty. On his Native American reservation in Washington, he sees people trapped in their lives -- hungry, drunk, and stuck, and, when a teacher on the reservation tell him that his only hope is to go to a white school over twenty miles away from the reservation, he decides that doing this, the unthinkable, is his only hope.

Facing racism at school and perpetual tragedies at home, Junior’s path is an uphill battle – one that he often has to walk alone, 22 miles to his school.

Full of the kinds of risky and controversial behaviors that teens see every day, Arnold has to deal with the trouble all around him, from alcoholism to life-crushing recklessness, child abuse to gambling addictions. Hilarious all the way through, Junior faces life’s dangers with a searing sarcasm and true grit.

Bibliotherapeutic value: All around him, the narrator sees his friends and family trapped in a cycle of poverty and alcoholism. This is a book about facing life’s most difficult challenges head on.

Note: Details below are for the collector’s edition because this one’s a keeper!

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Collector’s Edition). New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009.

ISBN: 0316068209. $19.99.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

It’s Melinda Sordino’s first day of high school, and, from across the room, her best friend mouths to her, “I hate you.” Everyone seems to know who she is, and everyone seems to hate her, too.

Infamous for being the girl who ruined the best party of the summer, Melinda quickly retreats into her own world. All she wants is to be left alone, but she is keeping a terrible secret, a secret that, if told, would destroy the insular little cocoon that Melinda has wrapped around herself.

Dark and sarcastic, Melinda’s take on high school is smart and piercing. She watches from the outside – an angry ghost. But the truth of what happened that night needs to be told, eventually.

Bbliotherapeutic value: Writer Anderson emphasizes that victims must expose the victimizer to break the cycle of rape and abuse. An affecting tale of violence and healing.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. 2009.

ISBN: 0142414735. $11.99.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender is only a child, but he’s a brilliant kid, physically tough but mainly a master at strategy. Sweet and sensitive, but a born warrior, he’s plucked from his semi-normal life to begin another at a space station battle school. His adult instructors are watching all of the kids there, hoping to find the next great leader, a military commander who can help them vanquish the Buggers, aliens who are regrouping for another stab at Earth. This time, the Buggers will be different, stronger, smarter; a great Leader might be their only chance.

Even for those who don’t like war novels, Ender’s story is brilliant and addictive. The high-tech games – either computer or live action – are incredibly real-feeling. Ender battles the school’s bullies and tries to keep his own inner demons in check. He knows that he’s a smart strategist, but is he a killer? Can he control his own worst impulses, or is he just being controlled by reacting?

My husband and a friend (who is in the CIA) were discussing this book, which they had read as kids, and it seemed to have really stuck with them as one of the smartest and most morally complicated books they'd ever read. I’ve recently had a parent tell me to stop buying books in this series for his son; he felt that they were too violent and a bad influence.

Bibliotherapeutic value: Although many criticize this book for glorifying war and violence, it’s actually a philosophical meditation on the causes of war and violence. Ender is forced to contemplate whether it’s possible to face one’s bullies without becoming like them. He also has to figure out if, by playing his commanders games and doing well, is he controlling the game, or is he just a pawn?

Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game. New York: Tor Science Fiction. 1999.

 ISBN: 0812550706. $6.99.

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

Jerry Renault's life has just turned upside down; his mother has just died, and he has very little connection with his hard-working father. But he's tough -- even when pushed hard, he won't back down. When the controlling gang/secret society at his Catholic private school forces him to refuse to sell chocolates during their yearly fundraiser, the group begins a full-on war between Jerry and Brother Leon, one of the scariest teachers to ever grace the pages of a YA novel.

A harrowing book about power and authority, The Chocolate War definitely feels like it comes from a different era, a time when no student would dare defy a teacher. However, the well-drawn characters and tightrope-taut plot has a pull all their own. This is a world -- distant, strange, and old school -- that crawls into your veins. Explosive and heart-wrenching.

Bibliotherapeutic value:  Times have changed, but students will be able to relate to the power struggle. Anyone who has ever been forced into doing something by a parent, friend, or peer group will relate to Jerry's struggle and admire his guts. There's no clean message here, but it's a powerful meditation on power and control.

Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War. New York: Laurel Leaf, 1986.


ISBN: 978-0440944591. $7.99.