JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

Presentation by

Betsy Woods

OWP Young Adult Literature Workshop

Covers and descriptions courtesy of cincinnatilibrary.org, avdistrict.org, and amazon.com

Record the following about the covers:

• Your first reaction

• What you think the book is about

• Your favorite cover

JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

Writing Exercise

Take the next 15 minutes to develop a story/poem based on one of these covers.

Boy2Girl by Terence Blacker

Thirteen-year-old Sam Lopez is having a tough summer, what with losing a parent and being shipped across the pond to live with cousins. So accepting a dare seems like a good way to win new friends. When school starts, the other kids are smitten with Sam. Cute and sassy, she's the most popular new girl at Bradbury Hill School. There's just one catch: She's actually a boy.

StargirlBy Jerry Spinelli

Part fairy godmother, part outcast, part dream-come-true, the star of Spinelli's novel shares many of the mythical qualities as the protagonist of his Maniac Magee. Spinelli poses searching questions about loyalty to one's friends and oneself and leaves readers to form their own answers.

Help Wanted by Gary Soto

Michael Ortiz learns that playing dead makes him feel alive. Norma Lucero discovers her flute missing from her locker-and is thrilled. Daniel Rubio finds that being passionately kissed can be kind of a bummer. And Adan Islas realizes that he acts like more of a grown-up than his very own father. In ten original stories, teenagers cope with the small reversals of everyday life.

What Mr. Mattero Did by Priscilla Cummings

"Something happened in the music room . . . A teacher did something that we don't feel very good about." When Claire and her two best friends accuse their music teacher of sexual abuse, they don't realize how serious the allegation is, or how many people will be caught up in its wake-including Melody, Mr. Mattero's daughter, who also goes to their school. Chapters alternate between Claire and Melody's points of view as the investigation slowly reveals the truth.

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

In1935, Moose Flannagan moves with his family to Alcatraz so his dad can work as a prison guard and his sister, Natalie, can attend a special school. But Natalie has autism, and when she’s denied admittance to the school, the stark setting of Alcatraz begins to unravel the tenuous coping mechanisms Moose’s family has used for dealing with her disorder. When Moose meets Piper, the cute daughter of the Warden, he knows right off she’s trouble. But she’s also strangely irresistible. All Moose wants to do is protect Natalie, live up to his parents’ expectations, and stay out of trouble. But on Alcatraz, trouble is never very far away.

Friction by E.R. Frank

Alex knows that Simon is the coolest sixth grade teacher at Forest Alternative. She finds him easy to talk to and thinks of him as a good friend. Then a new girl named Stacy suggests that Alex and Simon's relationship is inappropriate. The more Stacy pesters Alex about it, the more Alex begins to doubt her own interpretation of Simon's behavior. The truth turns out to be more complicated than Alex ever imagined.

Harmony by Rita Murphy

Harmony McClean discovers shortly after her fourteenth birthday that she can move objects with her thoughts and sense a person's destiny just by holding his hand. She's uncomfortable with these new talents and keeps them a secret from the loving couple that adopted her, Felix and Nettie Mae. Then Harmony receives a psychic message from a dying woman who needs to talk to Nettie Mae.

Witch Child by Celia Rees

In a small town in England around 1659, Mary's grandmother is hanged as a witch, and Mary has fears about her own fate. A mysterious woman kidnaps Mary and offers her passage to America so that she might flee suspicion. Soon, however, Mary realizes that her unconventional ways are threatening to her new Puritan community. The story is presented as Mary's journal, found centuries later and transcribed for the modern reader.

Brothers in Valor by Michael O. Tunnell        In 1937 in Hamburg, Germany, eleven-year-old Rudi and his best friends, Helmuth and Karl, are troubled when they see their peers abuse Jews. But the boys keep quiet to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Then their Sunday school teacher is arrested for denouncing the Nazis and dies soon after being released from prison. Helmuth is motivated to start a resistance movement and asks Rudi and Karl to help. Based on a true story.

Flush by Carl Hiaasen

When Noah's father discovers that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat, is dumping sewage into the ocean, he takes the law into his own hands-and sinks the boat. The shady operator has connections, however, and is soon back in business. With Noah's father giving advice from jail, Noah continues to collect evidence. He comes up with "Operation Royal Flush," a risky plan to show just who's responsible for all that crud.

Four Things My Geeky-Jack-of-a-Best Friend Must Do in Europe by Jane Harrington

It's Brady's first trip to Europe, and she's been given a strict to-do list by her best friend. One: Write letters home every day. Two: Wear a bikini . . . Three: In public! Number Four is the most difficult assignment of all: "Meet a code-red Euro-hottie." Will shy and self-conscious Brady fulfill her duties? Does she even stand a chance with an itinerary-obsessed mom as a travel companion?

Heck Superhero by Martine Leavitt

"Question: How do you rescue your mom from hypertime? Answer: You have to be a superhero." Heck's mother has been evicted by their landlord and now she has disappeared. All of his belongings are locked in the apartment; he is hungry and has a toothache, and, if he asks for help, he is sure to be taken away to foster care. With nowhere to go, Heck wanders the mall performing Good Deeds for strangers, hoping he can set things right on his own.

On the Run by Michael Coleman

Fifteen-year-old Luke Reid already has a record when he is caught stealing from a parked Jeep and sentenced to four months in a juvenile detention center. Jodie, the daughter of the car's owner, insists on giving Luke a second chance and convinces her parents to intervene on his behalf. After Luke agrees to perform community service, he learns that Jodie is blind and needs him to be her partner in a marathon.

Chu Ju's House by Gloria Whelan

Fourteen-year-old Chu Ju lives in a small village in China where families are allowed only two children and girls are considered inferior. After Chu Ju's ma ma gives birth to a second girl, arrangements are made to put the baby up for adoption. Chu Ju decides to run away and leave her parents with only one daughter. She heads to the river and hides in a fishing boat.

Drita, My HomegirlJenny Lombard

Drita, a ten-year-old refugee from Kosovo, is teased at her New York City school. Maxine, a popular African American girl, is one of the main individuals responsible for making Drita feel uncomfortable in her new environment. So how does it get to the point that these two from very different backgrounds become homegirls?

Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War II by Joseph Bruchac

Ned Begay has been taught by his white teachers that the Navajo language is useless and should be forgotten. Now the U.S. Marines are specifically recruiting Navajos in the war against Japan. Though only sixteen, Ned claims he is old enough to enlist and breezes his way through boot camp. Suddenly, he finds himself sending and receiving top-secret messages in an unbreakable code based on his native language.

Gotta Get Some Bish Bash Bosh by M.E. Allen

"Do you know what she said? She said I'm not fun--in other words, I'm boring. She says I've got no bish-bash-bosh." When a high school student gets dumped by his girlfriend, he'll do anything--including getting a haircut, joining the rugby team, and enduring endless public humiliation--to prove that he has enough style, swagger, and self-confidence to win her back.

Bucking the Sarge by Christopher Paul Curtis

Luther T. Farrell's mother, aka the Sarge, owns real estate throughout Flint, Michigan. With the help of her boyfriend, Darnell Dixon, she strong-arms vulnerable residents out of money. As the Sarge schools fifteen-year-old Luther in her underhanded business practices, Luther struggles to escape her control and follow his dream to become "America's best-known, best-loved, best-paid philosopher."