Lego Batman

Lego Batman. Burbank, CA: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc., 2008. $19.99 ISBN 993929020720

Plot Summary: Batman and Robin must save Gotham City from the villains recently escaped from Arcane Asylum.

Critical Evaluation: This game was pretty fun, but after about thirty minutes I was confused about what I was supposed to accomplish. I couldn't figure out how to defeat Clayface and soon gave up. If I was a better video game player I may have kept going, or looked up what I was supposed to do. It would be a better game if playing with a friend, which it has the option of doing. I will probably give it another try.

Reader's Annotation: Legos and Batman come together for an action packed video game to follow Batman and Robin as they defeat the villains from Arcane Asylum.

Author Bio:

Genre: Science Fiction, Comic, Adventure

Curriculum Ties:

Booktalking Ideas: Show some legos, preferably Batman themed Legos, and a few Batman comic books and smash them together (carefully) to illustrate the fusion of Batman and Legos in the action packed video game.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 9 and up

Challenges: The violence may be an issue.

Reason for including: I love Batman and Legos, so this was a great combo. It says E (for everyone), but I felt that it best suited the tween group because it is in between the kid world of Legos and teen world of action packed comic books.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Westerfeld, Scott. Leviathan. New York: Simon Pulse, 2009. 440 pages. $19.99 ISBN 9781416971733

Plot Summary: In 1914, The Great War begins between the Darwinists and the Clankers. Aleksandar Ferdinand is prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, son of royalty and a commoner. He is disturbed one night by his tutor Otto Klopp and fencing master Count Volger. They take him out in a walker, a large walking machine, only to tell Alek that his parents were murdered. Deryn just wants to be an airman in the British Air Service. Unfortunately she's a girl and they only take on boys. However she is determined, and disguises as a boy in order to join. Alek and Deryn, from completely different worlds and different sides of The Great War, are forced together on board the great ship Leviathan.

Critical Evaluation: This is a fantastic book, full of crazy plotlines, interesting characters and beautiful illustrations. Westerfeld collaborated with illustrator Keith Thompson to move back to the time when all books were illustrated. The novel is perfectly accented by Thompson's detailed pen and ink illustrations. This alternate history is fascinating blend of steampunk, Eastern European history and adventure.

Reader's Annotation: In an alternate 1914, Alek and Beryn are forced into each others' lives by the great war and the magnificent Leviathan.

Author Bio: Scott Westerfeld is the author of many books for young adults and adults including the Uglies series, Midnighters series and now the Leviathan series. His wife is Australian, so he spends his time alternating between New York City and Sydney, Australia.

Genre: Fantasy

Curriculum Ties: Not sure if this would go well with modern Eastern-European history.

Booktalking Ideas: Show the book trailer. It is one of the most extravagant book trailers I have seen and sure to spark many tweens interests.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 11 and up

Challenges: None.

Reason for including: I read Uglies over the summer and loved it. As a fan of steampunk I was very excited to find out that Westerfeld was publishing a YA steampunk alternate history, with illustrations! I felt this book would appeal to tweens because of the action, sci-fi and illustrations.

Monsters vs. Aliens

Letterman, Rob and Conrad Vernon, directors. Monsters vs. Aliens. Dreamworks Pictures, 2008.

Plot Summary: After being hit by a meteor the day of her wedding, Susan's molecular structure explodes and she grows into an enormous woman. The government gets a hold on her and sends her to a secret prison where she meets other fugitive monsters B.O.B., The Missing Link, Dr. Cockroach and Insectosaurus. While Susan comes to terms with her size and being away from her family and fiance, she finds friendship in the other outcasts. The city of San Francisco needs the monsters help, however, when Gallaxhar sends a robot, and eventually comes himself to get the substance that transformed Susan. It is up to the monsters to save the world and for the world to respect the monsters.

Critical Evaluation: Monsters vs. Aliens was hilarious. I laughed from beginning to end. There was just enough "adult" humor throughout for this to be enjoyed by parents and kids together. There was so much going on throughout the movie, so many characters to follow, it seems like a better fit for older kids, like tweens. There were no sing-a-longs, which is rare in many cartoons and will appeal to the tween age-group. A cartoon, but not a baby cartoon.

Reader's Annotation: Shut away from the easily frightened populace, a group of monsters are called out of hiding to save the world from alien invasion.

Author Bio: The voices behind Monsters vs. Aliens come from an all-star cast. Reese Witherspoon is the voice of Susan, and has been in many starring roles including Legally Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama, and Vanity Fair. Hugh Laurie may be most popular in the states for his role on TV as House, MD and as Stuart Little's dad, but Laurie has been big in the British comedy scene since Blackadder and his many projects with Stephen Fry. Will Arnett may be most recognized for his roles in Arrested Development and Blades of Glory, but has also lent his voice for Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ratatouille, Horton Hears a Who, G-Force and the upcoming Despicable Me. Seth Rogen got his start as a laid back freak in the show Freaks and Geeks and has teamed up with the Judd Apatow team several times since. He's also been a voice in quite a few animated/semi-animated features including Shrek the Third, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Horton Hears a Who!, Kung Fu Panda and an upcoming Kung Fu Panda sequel. Other notable voices include Keifer Sutherland, Paul Rudd, Stephen Colbert, Rainn Wilson, and Amy Poehler.

Genre: Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties: Great for a half day movie day.

Booktalking Ideas: Talk about what super powers they would want if they were hit by a meteor. Then talk about Susan's growth spurt and the isolation she feels, and then her mind opening friendship with the other monsters.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 8 and up

Challenges: Some parents may have issues with some of the adult humor, however it isn't significant enough to be a major problem.

Reason for including: My niece and nephew were watching it one day after it came out on DVD. My nephew, age four, said he didn't like it and it was boring. My niece (9) was enjoying it. So, I thought, "Yay! A cartoon for older kids!"

Libyrinth by Pearl North

North, Pearl. Libyrinth.

Plot Summary: Haly is a Libyrarian and is in charge of of protecting the ancient books housed in the Libyrinth. She has a secret: books speak to her. The Eradicants hate the written word and force Haly out of her home. As a prisoner she learns more about her enemies and realize they aren't as evil as she once thought. It is up to her to forge peace between the Librarians and the Eradicants before it is too late.

Critical Evaluation: This was a very interesting look into what our world could come to with the advancement of technology and move away from books. It is a compelling story, and keeps the reader engaged the whole time. She includes quotes from books that give extra meaning to both the original quotes and to what is happening in the story.

Reader's Annotation: Haly can hear books. Imprisoned for her abilities, she is faced with the responsibility of reconciling two warring factions, the Libryrarians and the Eradicants.

Author Bio: Not much is available about Pearl North, except that it is a pseudonym. However, Anne Harris lives just outside Detroit, MI and is the author of several fantasy and sci-fi novels for adults.

Genre: Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties: None.

Booktalking Ideas: Talk about how the world could end up as a place without books and have them imagine what that would be like.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 11 and up

Challenges: None.

Reason for including: I found the imagined future where books are rare to be not as science fiction as it may seem. It seemed like it would be thought provoking and would appeal to tweens.

Sky High

Mitchell, Mike, director. Sky High. Burbank, CA: Walt Disney Pictures, 2005. 100 minutes. $14.99 ISBN 0788860275

Plot Summary: Will Stronghold is the song of two of the greatest superheros Commander and Jetstream, also known as Steve and Josie Stronghold. The time has come for Will and his best friend Layla, also daughter of a superhero, to start high school at Sky High. Sky High is the high school for superhero children, where you're labeled either a hero or sidekick. Will struggles with his lack of a super power until suddenly he has super human strength. Then he is forced to choose between his best friends who are sidekicks, and being popular as a hero.

Critical Evaluation: This movie was pretty silly, for lack of a better word. I enjoyed the film for that reason. The idea that superheros have a special high school to go to is interesting and believable. It is a classic good versus evil story, it just centers on teens with super powers. It is a movie that all tweens can relate to, even without the super powers.

Reader's Annotation: Being a superhero doesn't make high school any easier, it just makes it more complicated. Will Stronghold learns that being a popular hero isn't everything.

Author Bio: Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston are established actors, both starring in several movies and TV shows over the years. Michael Angarano was already a successful young star before starring in Sky High, with roles in Lords of Dogtown, Almost Famous and Seabiscuit. He recently starred in The Forbidden Kingdom and Gentlemen Broncos. Danielle Panabaker has starred in a few Disney and Lifetime movies but is currently breaking out into the horror movie genre and even a role as a girl working a local Renaissance Faire.

Genre: Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties: None

Booktalking Ideas: Talk about what superpowers they would want and if they'd rather be a hero or sidekick. Lead into the synopsis of the movie, and how it is like a comic book on film.

Reading Level/Interest Age: ages 12 and up

Challenges: Some parents may have issues with the love/dating topics.

Reason for including: This is a fun movie and stars a few young actors I've been following throughout their careers. Almost every teen loves some sort of superhero story and this is a movie they all can relate to in some way.

Airman by Eoin Colfer

Colfer, Eoin. Airman. New York: Puffin, 2008. 416 pages. $17.99 ISBN 9781423107507

Plot Summary: At the end of the 19th century, it was pure science fiction to thing of humans in flight. For Conor Broekhart, it will be a reality. Conor lives on the Saltee Islands off the coast of Ireland with his parents. He is best friends with the king's daughter, and he has the greatest Frenchman and scientist as his tutor. When the evil Hugo Bonvilain assassinates King Nicholas and Conor's tutor Victor Vigny, and catches Conor as the sole witness, Hugo fakes Conor's death and sends him to Little Saltee. Little Saltee is the prison island, and Conor spends his days there with a new name and a new life. Conor is set on escaping the island, not to go back home to his family, but to build his flying machine and start a new life. However an interesting, and unforeseen, turn of events sends Conor in a different direction.

Critical Evaluation: This book was amazing. I couldn't put it down. I was so fascinated with the history of the Saltee Islands, the strange government, the customs. I was convinced the small republic was real, and was duped out of learning about it in school. However, I looked up the Saltee Islands and they are real, albeit privately owned. No Great Saltee Republic. Eion created a very convincing world, that could have fit in perfectly with British and Irish history. Queen Victoria herself attends Princess Isabella's coronation. Apart from the interesting world and government Eoin created, the science of the flying machines was fascinating.

Reader's Annotation: In the late 1800s, humans figured they're leave flying to the birds. Conor Broekhart is determined to get into the sky.

Author Bio: Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer is the Irish author of the Artemis Fowl series as well as several other tween and teen novels. He grew up in Wexford, attended Dublin University, then returned to Wexford after graduation to work as a primary school teacher. He married his wife in 1991 and worked in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Italy until 1996. He wrote a few novels before the Artemis Fowl series, but with the publication of the first book in 2001 he was able to leave teaching and become a full time writer. Eoin and his wife live with their two children in Ireland.

Genre: Historical Fiction (I'm not sure whether to classify this as Science Fiction, since there is a great deal of science involved, but is not the typical science fiction work.)

Curriculum Ties: This would be an interesting read while learning about flying machines and airplanes, to get an understanding of the early view of human flight.

Booktalking Ideas: Show pictures of early planes and flying machines. Then ask them to imagine building something in a place little bigger than an average sized bathroom with only candlelight.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 9 to 17, grades 4 and up.

Challenges: None

Reason for including: The idea of creating an apparatus to enable humans to fly in the late Victorian era is mind boggling to me, which is partially why I wanted to read this book. I also just love that time period. I think this book would appeal to both boys and girls with its mixture of action, adventure and heartache.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. New York : Simon Pulse, 2005. 425 pages. $8.99
ISBN 0689865384
Readers Annotation: All Tally wants is to be like all the other kids over 16, Pretty. But when her new best friend Shay heads for The Smoke, she may not get her wish.
Plot Summary: In a distant future, Tally is one of the under-16-year-old Uglies. They are pre-operation humans, without the beautiful characteristics of the Pretties. Tally's best friend Peris leaves Uglyville for New Pretty Town and becomes a Pretty himself on his 16th birthday. Tally has to wait three months to join Peris and become a New Pretty. While she waits, she pulls some major pranks and becomes close friends with another prankster, Shay. Shay doesn't want to become Pretty. She may be tall and really skinny, but she likes the way she is. Some of Shay's friends left Uglyville, and avoided becoming Pretty, by running away to The Smoke. The Smoke is a settlement off the radar of modern cities that lives like the Rusties did, off the land without having the body sculpting surgery Pretties undergo. The day before their birthdays, Shay invites Tally to go with her to The Smoke, but Tally refuses. Just in case, Shay leaves encrypted directions for Tally on how to get there. The day of her birthday, Tally expects to get her Pretty-making surgery, but instead is blackmailed into finding Shay and telling the eerie Specials where to find The Smoke. Once Tally reaches The Smoke, and spends a month living in the old way, she appreciates the way the Smokies live. She even finds friendship in David, a boy "born in the wild." As Tally learns to love The Smoke she is faced with some very difficult decisions.
Critical Evaluation: In this futuristic novel, Westerfeld wonders what would happen in a world where everyone is the same. Everyone looks the same, thinks the same, parties all the time, and there is no war. Some of the Uglies, kids pre-operation, see how boring this way of life is and set off in search of the old ways of living. It is interesting to read Westerfeld's commentary at how we're currently treating the earth by eating animals, cutting down trees and using gasoline. It is also interesting to think about why there are so many conflicts. According to Uglies' history, wars occur often because people looked different from each other. In some ways this has been true, but I think wars have been more than that in the past. Westerfeld's writing style isn't terribly challenging, but the ideas he presents can be difficult, but essential, to process.
Information about the Author: Scott Westerfeld is an established young adult author, having published four different series including Uglies, Midnighters, Risen Empire, and Levithian. He also wrote three stand alone young adult novels and five science fiction novels for adults.
Genre: Science Fiction
Age Level: 14 and up, young adult
Curriculum Ties: A great choice to add when reading/discussing books like 1984 and Brave New World. Also an interesting tie in when discussing environmental biology or genetics.
Book talking ideas: Discuss how they think the world will be in the next hundred years. How would things be different if we all looked the same? Would life be boring? Read one of the passages that describes the reconstructive surgery.
Challenge Issues: There are some controversial ideas in Uglies, such as performing surgery to make everyone look the same and have the same skin color.
Why I included it: Up until recently I never wanted to read science fiction. However, I have now become obsessed with science fiction. I've realized that science fiction is just a more scientifically influenced world view as opposed to fantasy, which is a magically influence world view. They are more similar than I thought, and science and magic can sometimes overlap!

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother. New York: TOR, 2008. 382 pages. $17.95 ISBN 0765319853
Readers Annotation: When the government is the enemy, the only way to survive is to be a traitor.
Plot Summary: W1n5t0n and his friends love to hack computers and the web. It is what they do and what they are good at. They also love to play games. One of their games leads them into the wrong place at the wrong time. When terrorists strike San Fransisco everyone is held accountable. W1n5t0n, aka Marcus, and his friends are picked up by the Department of Homeland Security and held on Treasure Island for days. After Marcus is finally release he is told he cannot tell anyone where he has been, who had him or what he was doing. Worst of all, his best friend Darryl is missing. Marcus decides to create M1k3y, a hacker extraordinaire whose sole purpose in life is to defeat the DHS, find Darryl and expose the truth of what happened to so many missing people. Along the way he meets Ange, another hacker and computer geek who feels the same way he does. Together they try to expose the DHS for who they are and get the people to take back their city. If only it was that easy.
Critical Evaluation: Little Brother is an ingenious look at what terrorist attacks can do to a city, a country and a government. It is also an intriguing glimpse into the mind of a computer-whiz and adept hacker. I learned about the ins and outs of computers, servers, the Internet and freedom movements I never knew about. Doctorow's writing style is personable and engaging, and his computer lingo is daunting but not unattainable. Little Brother made me appreciate the unknown world of computers and cyberspace. And although it could be considered science fiction, I'm sure there is more truth behind the story than we know.
Information about the Author: Cory Doctorow is a computer genius, author of several fiction books as well as non-fiction about computers and the Internet. He is co-editor of boingboing.net and very active in the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other civil liberties campaigns.
Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller
Age Level: Ages 14 and up
Curriculum Ties: A great book to use in addition to 1984 and Brave New World, as a look into how totalitarian governments can become.
Book talking ideas: Discuss the wonders of computers and the Internet. Then discuss what would happen if our freedoms were taking away, such as how, why, when and where we use computers and the Internet.
Challenge Issues: Some people may have issues with the seemingly anti-government ideas in the novel.
Why I included it: I included Little Brother not just because we read it for class, but because it opened my eyes to the amazing world of computers and the Internet. I never knew any of the stuff I learned while reading the book. I also think there should be more civil liberties activism. Little Brother was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Sunburst and Locus awards in 2008.