Crossover Books

A Long Way Gone
Beah, Ishmael. (2007). A long way gone. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus &
Giroux. ISBN: 9781553653981

Plot Summary: The story of a 12 year old child in Sierra Leone and his tragic capture from his family’s village and transformation into a soldier, this book is a memoir of Ishmael Beah. His heart-wrenching story recounts the terrible events he was forced to take part in and his eventual release and placement in a UNICEF rehabilitation camp. His eventual return to a normal life was complicated by those he met in the camp and he was treated with fear and suspicion. In the end, the boy’s life provides a message of hope as Ishmael is rehabilitated and able to write his story.

Critical Evaluation: This memoir, told in the voice of Ishmael Beah, is a powerful look into the life of a child soldier. Drugs and abuse, violence and despair replace a happy life with his parents in a small African village, and the reader is horrified, as is the author, with his descent into the violent life that he is forced to lead. The character development is strong in this book, and the reader identifies with Ishmael and lives the terror with him.

Author Information: Ishmeal Beah was born in Sierra Leone in 1980. In 1998, he moved to the United States to attend a UN school. In 1994, he graduated with a BA in Political Science from Oberlin College. He is currently a writer and a speaker on human rights issues.
In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.

Reader's annotation: This book tells the story of a young man who is swept up into a situation he can't control. We feel his terror.

Genre: Non-fiction/memoir

Interest Age: Teen/Adult

Curriculum Ties: social justice, war

Challenge issues: violence

Book talking ideas: A book talk including this book could ask teens how they think they would feel if they were forced to be soldiers. An interesting discussion of war in general could develop.

Why is this book included in my list? This heart-wrenching story allows the reader to try on the life of a child soldier. A realistic and painful account of one boy’s descent and recovery from war, this is a powerful memoir.








The Catcher in the Rye

Salinger, J.D. (1951). The Catcher in the Rye .New York,NY: Bantam.
ISBN: 9780316769488

Plot Summary: Holden Caulfied is not enjoying school at Pencey. His unpleasant encounters with students and staff have left him feeling depressed and his poor grades finally get him expelled. Not wanting to go home, he decides to go to New York City for a few days to clear his head. He checks into the Edmont hotel where he spends his time drinking and dancing in the hotel bar – finally meeting a prostitute. His time in New York is mostly spent drinking and visiting museums – all of it lonely. He decides that he would like to visit his sister, Phoebe, and he secretly breaks into his parents’ apartment while they are out. He feels like Phoebe is the only person that he can talk to and after they spend some time together, he pays a visit to his old English teacher. In the end, he realizes that he misses his classmates and that he really would like to go back to school.

Critical Evaluation: This coming-of-age story is told in the first person, so that the reader feels like Holden is speaking directly to them. Through the examination of Holden’s thoughts and past experiences, the reader gains insight into his character and is able to grasp his struggle with growing up. The tone of the novel accurately reflects the mind of a teenager with its tendency to the dramatic.

Reader's annotation: This book is great. We can feel Holden's angst and confusion and his desire to shake things up.

Author Information: This is J.D. Salinger’s only novel – he was a prolific writer of short stories. Although it was originally written for an adult audience, this book has become a classic for high school and college students.

Genre: Fiction

Interest Age: Teen/Adult

Curriculum Ties: none

Challenge Issues: This book is often challenged. The encounter that Holden has with his old English teacher is full of homosexual tension, and his visit with the prostitute and her handler end badly, but, these are part of the learning process for Holden. The use of profanity in the book has also caused some concern, but again, this is the way that Holden talks and the dialogue rings true. Throughout the story we feel that he is having his eyes opened to elements of life that he didn’t have any idea of before and it is vital to the self-exploration of the character.

Book talking ideas: coming of age

Why is it included? : This book is a classic, and although its setting may make it seem irrelevant to youth today, the thoughts and ideas explored in Catcher in the Rye are those that are a perennial part of growing up. It is on Modern Library's list of the "100 Best English language books of the 20th Century."










Chanda’s Secrets
Stratton, Allan. (2004). Chanda’s Secrets. New York, NY: Firefly Books
ISBN: 9781550378344

Plot Summary: Sixteen-year-old Chanda loves school and dreams of a scholarship and a life beyond her family's poverty. As the story opens, she is helping her mother make funeral arrangements for her 18 month old sister. Death is a constant theme and their seem to be funerals daily in their community. Mama is tired all the time after her little sister's death and Chanda must fight to keep her dreams alive and conquer her fears in the face of the brutal reality of Africa's AIDS epidemic.

Critical Evaluation: This very personal story allows the reader a glimpse into the life of Chanda who struggles to help raise her younger brother and sister while concealing the AIDS of their mother. Suspense is evoked through the events of the story and the secret that Chanda tries to keep and the reader is acutely aware of the perilous position of Chanda and her siblings in war and AIDS ravaged Africa.

Reader's annotation: We just want to take Chanda home and take care of her.

Author information: Allan Stratton began his career acting at the Stratford Festival and at regional theaters across Canada.After many years as a playwright, he began to write fiction.

Genre: Fiction

Interest Age: Teen/Adult Crossover

Curriculum Ties: AIDS/HIV, Africa

Challenge issues: none

Book talking ideas: Have you ever had a secret? How did it make you feel?

Why is it included in my list? This story highlights a global issue from the perspective of a teenage girl and is a powerful testament to the human spirit in the face of adversity. It was the winner of ALAs Best Book for Young Adults, 2005 and many other prizes.Stephen Lewis, UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa says of the book, “Chanda’s Secrets is a novel with the lilt of Africa in its language and the urgency of adolescent struggle in every paragraph.”





Her Fearful Symmetry

Niffeneger, Audrey. (2009). Her Fearful Symmetry. Toronto: Random House.
ISBN:9780307397454

Plot Summary: In this modern day ghost story, 21-year-old twin sisters inherit the apartment of their deceased aunt Elspeth, who is their mother, Edie’s, twin. As the story unfolds, the reader learns that there are secrets in the family’s past and that their aunt may still be “living” in her apartment. The twins meet the other residents of the apartment complex and develop relationships that enable them to view life separately for the first time, with interesting consequences.

Critical Evaluation: This is a gently-written story that encourages the reader to become involved in the lives of the well-developed characters and the events that take place. The young female protagonists are written in such as way as to perfectly illustrate the relative shallowness of sheltered young women and their contrast with the older, more mature characters is clearly illustrated. The story is patiently and carefully crafted and allows the reader to inhabit the characters one-at- a -time, while empathizing with their situations. The backdrop of Highgate Cemetery offers an every-day look at an environment that some would consider macabre.

Information about the Author: Audrey Niffeneger is a visual artist and a volunteer guide at Highgate Cemetary. She currently lives in Chicago. Her first novel, The Time Traveller’s wife, was very successful.

Reader's annotation: This book stayed with me for days after I finished it.I kept looking into corners...

Genre: Fiction

Interest Age: Adult/teen Crossover

Curriculum Ties: none

Booktalking Ideas: This book would fit well in a ghost story book talk or the theme of sibling relationships or twins.

Challenge Issues: Although the subject of suicide is broached here, it is an unusual situation and would not necessarily be challenged. There is some sexuality explored - both sisters discuss potentially losing their virginity – but nothing graphic is portrayed.

Why is it included in my list? This is a new book by a celebrated author, and I read it because I enjoyed the author’s previous novel. I included it in the list because I think it is a perfect story for young women






The Historian
Kostova, M. (2005). The historian.New York, NY: Little Brown.ISBN: 9780316067942


Plot summary: This thrilling story is divided into 3 parts.
Part one is set in the 1970s and it involves the discovery of books and papers that indicate that Dracula is still alive. Most of the novel is set in the 1950s and part two involves the narrator's parents,their travels through Europe and their quest for information. They are pursued by a librarian, who is also a vampire, and they find out that both Helen and her mother are descendants of Vlad Tepes. Part three is the culmination of the adventure and an exciting finish awaits the reader.


Critical evaluation:Kostova uses alternating timelines and wonderfully descriptive text to create a world of suspense and tension. Books and their importance in history is highlighted through many descriptive passages and the feeling that the knowledge of history is power is implied.


Author information:Kostova's fascination with vampires began when she was a child and her family moved to Slovenia for a year while her father taught school. They travelled across Europe and her father told her many stories of Dracula and she was hooked!

Reader's annotation: So much better than Twilight because it has a deeper plot and more interesting locales.

Genre: Fiction-Thriller

Interest age: Adult/teen

Curriculum ties: none

Challenge issues: none

Book talking ideas:Another great vampire book - this one could lend itself to a talk about the historical references to vampires in European folklore.

Why is it included in my list? This wonderful crossover book is a more grown-up version of the new YA vampire fiction






www.Wake
Sawyer, R. (2009). WWW.Wake. Toronto: Penguin.


Plot Summary: This is the story of a fifteen year old blind girl named Caitlin. Caitlin is an excellent student and an avid surfer of the Web and she receives an email from a Japanese researcher who thinks that he has a method to cure the blindness that she has dealt with since birth. The procedure results in some unsettling results and Caitlin develops the ability to see into the web. The story is complicated by a Chinese computer whiz and a chimpanzee.

Critical Evaluation: The newest book from celebrated science-fiction author Robert J. Sawyer, this story is another masterpiece. It will appeal to both young adult and adult audiences as a crossover novel. As the first volume of a promised trilogy, WWW.Wake ‘s parallel storylines lay the groundwork for an excellent journey into communication between differing intelligences.

Reader's annotation: Robert Sawyer is a great writer and he makes his science-fiction so believable.

Author Information: Robert J. Sawyer is one of only 7 writers in history – and the only Canadian – to win all three of the world’s top science fiction awards for best novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.

Genre: Science Fiction

Interest Age: Teen/Adult Crossover

Curriculum Ties: This book could work in a discussion of ethics – especially as they relate to technology.

Challenge issues: none

Book talking ideas: science, the future, communication, science fiction

Why is it included in my list? I had the pleasure of meeting Robert Sawyer when he guest authored at an event that I organized last year. This is another award-winner in the making. It is already Amazon.com’s #1 Techno-thriller Bestseller and a Main Selection of the Science Fiction Book Club. Some of his other books include: Flashforward, Rollback, Mindscan and the Neanderthal Paralax.





Water for Elephants
Gruen, S.(2006). Water for Elephants. New York: Algonquin.ISBN:9780006391555



Plot Summary: Jacob Jankowski actually runs away and joins the circus in this story –set in the United States during the Depression era. We first meet him as an old man and are then led into the tale of his life – leaving veterinary college just before his final exams after the untimely death of both his parents, and falling in love with a beautiful , and married, equestrienne named Marlena. The story is complicated by his relationship with her psychotic husband, August, and Rosie the elephant. In the end, true love prevails!

Critical Evaluation: This story, told by Jacob Jankowski, is full of rich characters and description that give the reader a sense of immersion in the circus world of the 1930s. This very readable novel provides a glimpse into a life that few of us could know about and interesting tidbits abound. Gruen juxtaposes brutality and kindness, laughter and horror throughout the novel and this rhythm keeps the reader engrossed. Although this is ultimately a love story, Water for Elephants is an emotional rollercoaster that you wish didn’t have to end.

Reader's annotation: What a beautiful story! You just want it to keep going.

Author Information: Sara Gruen is a Canadian-born dual citizen who moved to the US in 1999 to pursue a technical writing position. Since being laid off, she has written 3 novels and is working on her fourth, Ape House. Her love of animals is apparent and prevalent in her work.

Interest Age: Adult/High School Crossover

Genre: Fiction

Curriculum Ties: could be used for a study of the Depression era – American History.

Challenge issues: none

Book talking ideas: Love stories, the circus

Why is it included in my list?: This lovely book was hard to put down and although it was not written for youth, the story would appeal to teens and adults.