America-Genre Banned

Frank,E.R.,America,Simon and Schuster 2002.

Annotation: Meet America a boy struggling for a safe place in the world. His mother was a crack addicts and his adoptive parents disown him for being part black. He moves between his paternal mother and the woman that would love him forever. As she ages His uncle molests hum and as he gets older all he wants to do is die. Until he meets Dr B.

Nomination Validation: There are many conventions to this novel. This novel is a coming to age novel with a reality that almost makes it seem like non fiction. America is given a multitude of situation that occur in the social sphere. His mother did drugs, His uncle Molested him and he has depression and OCD. The author ties this together with the characters name to speak up for a variety of children "in the system". She also uses a style where she bounces back and forth in time to bring the make the Revelation far more emotional to the reader. The author takes to places in life that many try to shield us from and places where others may have experienced these problems that have had their story swept under the rug.

Science Fiction/Fantasy Black Juice

Lanagan,Margo. Black Juice. Harper Collins 2004.

Annotation: Take your imagination to the limits with the ten short stories in this collections. They are Gripping, dark and explore subjects from execution and murder to the cultural phenomena of marriage.

Nomination validation:

The stories in Black Juice, represent the bright side of the genre. Each tale uses imagination and story crafting to illuminate points that are outside of the writing. The author creates stories that combine coming of age themes with strong adolescent characters and imaginative plots. In one of the stories we see a family's struggle with the loss of a loved one by staging a execution that occurs by making her sink slowly into a tar pit. Other stories explore death in comically dark ways by having a clowns gunned down by hit men. Over all the imagination and style of the novel make it a good read.

Horror Novel: In the Forests of The Night

Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia. In The Forests of The Night.

New York: Delcorte Press, c1999.

Annotation: After three hundred years in the world, the vampire Risika begins to contemplate her life as, Rachel Weatere, the person she was before becoming a vampire. She begins a cat and mouse game with one of her mentors, Aubrey, that will bring her to a showdown that may end her existence.

Defence of Nomination:

Amelia Atwater-Rhoades, wrote this novel when she was fourteen years old. The work is clear and insightful for a girl of her age. The novel seems to borrow a variety of plot conventions from others in the genre. It appears loose and repetitive at times as well. The bright spots are the use of imagery and language contributing thick mood that she creates.

Ultimately The author does a good job of mixing YA topics. There are elements of horror, Coming of age and historical fiction. I will admit that this is not the best novel I have read so far but, the fact that she is 13 and will inspire YA readers .