Jason Reynolds is National Ambassador

Young Adult author Jason Reynolds' list of awards and achievements is long and this January the list became even more illustrious when he was named our next (and 7th) National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Library of Congress,and it's two partners the Children’s Book Council, and Every Child a Reader. Previous Ambassadors were: Jacqueline Woodson, Gene Luen Yang, Kate DiCamillo, Walter Dean Myers, Katherine Paterson, and Jon Scieszka.

The National Ambassador program was established in 2008. During their two year term each ambassador travels to towns across America to talk with young people. Reynolds believes that everybody has a story, and so he is calling his platform as ambassador: “GRAB THE MIC: Tell Your Story.” The focus will be on empowering students to embrace and share their own personal stories. 

There are a lot of interviews with Jason Reynolds online. I encourage you to check them out, particularly the recording of the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Inauguration. It is long, so if you just want to get to know about Jason and his platform start the video at 35:10. Many of the interviews focus on Jason's journey from reluctant reader to award-winning author. I think the following short clip from a 2018 interview gets at the heart of his message on reading and writing:

Here is a description and recommendation of Reynolds' work from Ebsco's NoveList database: "Authentic characterization drives the work of award-winning author Jason Reynolds. Focusing mainly on African-American teens and kids in realistic urban settings, he crafts characters whose words, actions, and emotions ring true. Reynolds doesn't shy away from portraying painful and deeply moving situations, but presents them in an honest, accessible style that will appeal to all kinds of young readers. Start with Long Way Down (Teens); Ghost (Older Kids)."

Or you could start with Jason's own favorites: Boy in the Black Suit, 2015 (Teens), or As Brave As You, 2016 (Older Kids).

Jason Reynolds' website.

Jason Reynolds' books in our catalog.

King wins Printz

As a long time fan of A.S.(Amy Sarig) King's books, it was wonderful to hear last week's announcement from the American Library Association that she won the Michael L. Printz Award for 2020, for her latest book, Dig. Please see all of her books in the slider above. The book covers are linked to our catalog. Click here for the professional reviews of Dig(scroll down). Click here for the reader reviews on Goodreads.
I particularly recommend her books if you enjoy, as I do, character-driven offbeat stories that surprise you with magic realism. In addition to her novels you can find A. S. King in these two short story collections: Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories (The Boy Who Won't Leave Me Alone, by A. S. King, 2011); Dear Heartbreak: YA Authors on the Dark Side of Love (Own Your Heart, by A. S. King, 2018)  A.S. King only uses the initials of her first two names on her books and has said in interviews and on her blog at as-king.com, "If ever you've heard that I chose to write under the name A.S. King because it spells "asking" then you heard right.". On her writing journey, King said in an interview she gave in 2009: "It took me 7 novels and 15 years of writing to publish a book.". Like most authors who give advice on becoming a writer, King encourages people to read.

Get to know King a little though this fun reading pep talk she gave in 2016:

  

Printz 2020 Award Books

The American Library Association's Printz Award has been awarded every year since 2000, for a Young Adult book that exemplifies literary excellence.

Dig, by A.S. King,  2019. Five white teenage cousins who are struggling with the failures and racial ignorance of their dysfunctional parents and their wealthy grandparents, reunite for Easter. Genre: Magical realism. Listen to King read an excerpt from the beginning of Dig here.


The Printz committee also names up to 4 Printz Honor (the silver seals) books each year. (BTW- Please Ignore Vera Dietz, by A. S. King, was a 2011 Printz Honor book.) Here are the 2020 Printz Honor Books:

Beast Player, by Nahoko Uehashi, translated by Cathy Hirano, 2019. Nahoko Uehashi's The Beast Player is an epic YA fantasy about a girl with a special power to communicate with magical beasts and the warring kingdom only she can save.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, 2019. Upset about her on-again, off-again relationship with her girlfriend Laura Dean, Freddy Riley depends on her friends, a local mystic, and a relationship columnist for help in dealing with her situation. Graphic novel. Genre: Realistic; Romance.

Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir, by Nikki Grimes, 2019. The author recounts her traumatic childhood, with a mother suffering from mental illness, unfortunate experiences in a series of foster homes, and her discovery of her love of writing, which eventually helped her overcome the hazards of her life. Nonfiction. Memoir in Verse.

Where the World Ends, by Geraldine McCaughrean, 2019. In the summer of 1727, a group of men and boys are put ashore on a remote sea stac to harvest birds for food. No one returns to collect them. Why? Surely nothing but the end of the world can explain why they have been abandoned. And how can they survive, housed in stone and imprisoned on every side by the ocean? Genre: Historical fiction.

Want to know more about the Printz selection process? Click here for School Library Journal's articles on Pondering the Printz on Its 20th Anniversary.

A Carousel of Verse Novels

In celebration of our upcoming 2 part writing workshop and Meet the Author evening with Holly Thompson, the second Young Adult book list of the summer features 22 novels-in-verse.  Stories told in verse format, using fewer words to build a picture than prose novels, quickly bring a cinematic quality to the reading experience. Take one for a spin, --and don't miss these two great programs scheduled here this summer:
TELLING YOUR STORIES IN VERSE: A WRITING WORKSHOP 
for Teens and Adults with HOLLY THOMPSON

Join Holly Thompson, author of the Young Adult verse novel Orchards, for a two part creative writing workshop, for teens(ages 12-19) and adults, on writing your story in verse. She will introduce verse novels and some of the poetry tools used in narrative verse, and will then lead participants to writing a scene in verse.
Holly Thompson was raised in New England (a graduate of Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School), earned a B.A. in Biology from Mount Holyoke College and an M.A. from New York University's Creative Writing Program. Long-time resident of Japan, she is a lecturer at Yokohama City University, where she teaches creative and academic writing.

Workshop dates:

Tuesday, July 10, 6:30 PM to 8 PM

Thursday, July 19, 6:30 PM to 8 PM

Bring a writing notebook/paper, and pen or pencil to the workshop.

Reserve your place in this FREE 2 part workshop. There is a 20 student limit. Sign up at the Reference desk, or call 978-468-5577.

MEET the AUTHOR: HOLLY THOMPSON 

THURSDAY, JULY 12, 6:30 PM to 8 PM
Holly Thompson, is the author of Orchards, the picture book TheWakame Gatherers, and the novel Ash. She is also the editor of Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction—An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories, a Young Adult anthology of Japan related stories to benefit teens in quake/tsunami-hit areas of Japan. Holly's fiction is often set in Japan.
Ms. Thompson's novel-in-verse Orchards, received the 2012 APALA (Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature). In it, Kana, a half Japanese and half Jewish-American girl, is sent to spend the summer with Shizuoka relatives after the death of a classmate.
Ms. Thompson will give a presentation and slide show focusing on her book, Orchards. Following the presentation there will be time for questions, and book signing.

Here is an article from Hamilton-Wenham Patch by Helen Wetherall:
Japan-based local Award Winning Author Holly Thompson to Pay a Visit

Below is a selection of Young Adult verse novels. Descriptions are from EBSCO's NoveList database.  Clicking on a title takes you to the Library's online catalog.

A Bad Boy Can Be Good For a Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone, 2006.  When a handsome senior boy enters their mix, friends Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva soon find themselves in questionable situations where each girl must make the right decision before their personal sacrifices become too great. Awards: Texas Tayshas Reading Lists: 2007; YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2007.

Crank, by Ellen Hopkins, 2004.  Kristina Snow is the perfect daughter, but she meets a boy who introduces her to drugs and becomes a very different person, struggling to control her life and her mind.  Awards: Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award; Gateway Readers Award (Missouri); Soaring Eagle Book Award (Wyoming); YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2005.

CrashBoomLove, by Juan Felipe Herrera, 1999.  After his father leaves home, sixteen-year-old Cesar Garcia lives with his mother and struggles thorugh the painful experiences of growing up as a Mexican American high school student.  Awards:Americas Book Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature; YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2001.

Exposed, by Kimberly Marcus, 2011.  High school senior Liz, a gifted photographer, can no longer see things clearly after her best friend accuses Liz's older brother of a terrible crime.  Awards: YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2012; YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2012.

God Went to Beauty School, by Cynthia Rylant, 2003.  A novel in poems that reveal God's discovery of the wonders and pains in the world He has created.  Awards: YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2004;YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults - Religion: Relationship with the Divine (2007);YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2004.

Hard Hit, by Ann Turner, 2006. A rising high school baseball star faces his most difficult challenge when his father is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Hidden, by Helen Frost, 2011. (Crossing Stones, by Helen Frost, published in 2009, is a choice on the 8th grade summer reading list this year.)  When fourteen-year-olds Wren and Darra meet at a Michigan summer camp, both are overwhelmed by memories from six years earlier when Darra's father stole a car, unaware that Wren was hiding in the back.  Awards: ALA Notable Children's Books - Older Readers, 2012.

Jinx, by Margaret Wild, 2002.  With the help of her understanding mother and a close friend, Jen eventually outgrows her nickname, Jinx, and deals with the deaths of two boys with whom she had been involved.

Karma, by Cathy Ostlere, 2011.  In 1984, following her mother's suicide, 15-year-old Maya and her Sikh father travel to New Delhi from Canada to place her mother's ashes in their final resting place. On the night of their arrival, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated, Maya and her father are separated when the city erupts in chaos, and Maya must rely on Sandeep, a boy she has just met, for survival.  Awards: Booklist Editors' Choice-Youth-Older Readers Category: 2011; YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2012

Make Lemonade, by Virginia Euwer Wolff, 1993.  In order to earn money for college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn babysits for a teenage mother of two. Written in 66 chapters, with text lines that break at natural speaking phrases.  Awards:ALA Notable Children's Books: 1994;Golden Kite Award: Fiction; Josette Frank Award;Oregon Book Awards: Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Readers (1990-2002); Thumbs Up! Award (Michigan); YALSA 100 Best Books (1950-2000).

One Of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, by Sonya Sones, 2004. Fifteen-year-old Ruby Milliken leaves her best friend, her boyfriend, her aunt, and her mother's grave in Boston and reluctantly flies to Los Angeles to live with her father, a famous movie star who divorced her mother before Ruby was born.  Awards: Iowa Teen Award; Rhode Island Teen Book Award; YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2005; YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2005.

Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse, 1997.  In a series of poems, fourteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.  Awards: Winner of the 1998 Newbery Medal, and the 1998 Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction award.

Psyche in a Dress, by Francesca Lia Block, 2006.  A young woman, Psyche, searches for her lost love and questions her true self in a modern retelling of Greek myths.

Purple Daze, by Sherry Shahan, 2011.  Six high school students in Los Angeles cope with everyday life amid the turbulent events of 1965, as one girl gets involved with drugs and a boy gets drafted and sent to Vietnam, in a novel told in historical data, poetic prose, and free verse.

The Realm of Possibility, by David Levithan, 2004. A variety of students at the same high school describe their ideas, experiences, and relationships in a series of interconnected free verse stories.  Award: YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2005

Ringside, 1925: Views From the Scopes Trial, by Jen Bryant, 2008. Visitors, spectators, and residents of Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925 describe, in a series of free-verse poems, the Scopes "monkey trial" and its effects on that small town and its citizens.  Award: Oprah's Kids' Reading Lists - 12 Years and Up.

Sold, by Patricia McCormick, 2006. When she is tricked by her stepfather and sold into prostitution, thirteen-year-old Lakshmi becomes submerged in a nightmare where her only comfort is the friendship she forms with the other girls, which helps her survive and eventually escape.  Awards: Booklist Editors' Choice-Books for Youth-Older Readers Category, 2006; California Young Reader Medal: Young Adult; Quill Book Awards (2005-2007); Texas Tayshas Reading Lists: 2007; YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2007; YALSA Outstanding Books for the College Bound - Social Sciences: 2009.

Song of the Sparrow, by Lisa Ann Sandell, 2007.  In 5th-century Britain, nine years after the destruction of their home on the island of Shalott brings her to live with her father and brothers in the encampments of Arthur's army, 17-year-old Elaine describes her changing perceptions of war and the people around her as she becomes increasingly involved in the bitter struggle against the invading Saxons.  Award: Texas Tayshas Reading Lists: 2008

Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, by  Margarita Engle, 2009. Escaping from Nazi Germany to Cuba in 1939, a young Jewish refugee dreams of finding his parents again, befriends a local girl with painful secrets of her own, and discovers that the Nazi darkness is never far away.  Award: Sydney Taylor Book Awards: Teen Readers

The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices From the Titanic, by Allan Wolf, 2011.  Recreates the1912 sinking of the Titanic as observed by millionaire John Jacob Astor, a beautiful young Lebanese refugee finding first love, "Unsinkable" Molly Brown, Captain Smith, and others including the iceberg itself.  Awards: Booklist Editors' Choice-Books for Youth-Older Readers, 2011; YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2012

Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials, by Stephanie Hemphill, 2010. A fictionalized account, told in verse, of the Salem witch trials, told from the perspective of three of the real young women living in Salem in 1692--Mercy Lewis, Margaret Walcott, and Ann Putnam, Jr.  Award: School Library Journal Best Books: 2010

Featured Author: Tamora Pierce

Help, send me to Books Anonymous, I've been hooked on Tamora Pierce's books for the past month and can't stop.  I'd been meaning to try one of Pierce's books for several years, and finally picked up Terrier, the first book in the Beka Cooper series.  This is a medieval fantasy world with a detective heroine.  I couldn't put it down. I read through the rest of the series, and and then didn't want to leave the world of Tortall, so continued on with Alanna, The First Adventure.  Beware, if you like fantasy and adventure, with strong female and male characters, and animals that communicate with them, these books will have you reading deep into the night.

Terrier, by Tamora Pierce, 2006.  Beka Cooper Book 1.
"Sixteen-year-old Beka Cooper lives far removed from knights, palaces, and the nobility. Her world revolves around thieves, beggars, taverns, and the lowest of the low. She's a trainee for the Provost's Guard—a rookie cop, in a world where a cop makes her own name based on her personality, her attitude toward money, and her love of the law".--Tamora Pierce

Bloodhound, by Tamora Pierce, 2009.  Beka Cooper Book 2.
"Beka is finally a Dog—a full-fledged member of the Provost’s Guard, dedicated to keeping peace in Corus’s streets. But there’s unrest in Tortall’s capital. Counterfeit coins are turning up in shops all over the city, and merchants are raising prices to cover their losses. In Port Caynn, Beka delves deep into the gambling world".--publisher's description

Mastiff, by Tamora Pierce, 2011.  Beka Cooper Book 3.
"... a tasty blend of detective work, romance, magic, and treachery. A king's son has been kidnapped and Lord Gershom calls in the best team he has: Beka Cooper; her canine tracker, Achoo; Beka's partner Tunstall and his Lady Sabine; and a seemingly bumbling mage known as Farmer Cape".--Cindy Welch, Copyright 2010 Booklist

Tamora Pierce's series are listed below in the chronological order in which they take place.  My advice is to start with Alanna and proceed from there.  Click on the series title to go to the Library's online catalog:
The Song of the Lioness (4 in series)
The Immortals (4 in series)
The Circle of Magic (4 in series)
The Protector of the Small (4 in series)
The Circle Opens (4 in series)
The Will of the Empress
Melting Stones
Trickster (2 in series)
Beka Cooper (3 in series)

Short Stories
Audiobooks

Tamora Pierce website

Featured Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse (rhymes with waltz) Anderson has been publishing books since the mid 90's.  She writes both historical fiction and realistic contemporary fiction.  Regardless of genre, her stories are issue-oriented, serious with a small sprinkle of humor, and are hard wired to the heart and soul of a character.
Another author whose issue-oriented books tackle similar subjects such as family problems, emotional problems, death, anorexia, rape, step-families, and best friends, is Sarah Dessen. 
If you like Anderson's or Dessen's writing, you may also like:
Chris Crutcher, Sharon Draper, or Carol Plum-Ucci.

Forge, by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2010. (historical fiction)  Book 2 in the Seeds of America trilogy.  Catalog Summary: Separated from his friend Isabel after their daring escape from slavery, fifteen-year-old Curzon serves as a free man in the Continental Army at Valley Forge until he and Isabel are thrown together again, as slaves once more.

Chains: Seeds of America, by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2008. (historical fiction)  Book 1 in the Seeds of America trilogy.  Catalog Summary:  After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War.

Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2009. (realistic fiction)

My Review:  This is the story of two friends, Cassie and Lia.  Cassie is dead, and Lia now struggles with anorexia, and with the memories and the death of her friend Cassie.  Cassie's death was the end result of bulimia.  She called Lia 33 times on the night she died, and Lia did not answer.  I really did not want to read this book.  I was not in a frame of mind to read a story on the subject of eating disorders, so I kept passing this book up in favor of an adventurous fantasy or a humorous contemporary novel.  However, when it was voted onto the Teens' Top Ten for 2010 this past October, it was time to put my squeamish feelings aside and check it out.  Happily I discovered that although I felt the pain of the characters, I wasn't dragged down by the story.  Anderson incorporates just enough distance in this very interior story, so that you are moved to want to understand, but are not wrung out by the distressing feelings and events, i.e. this book is emotionally intense but not completely bleak.  It is a compelling story - a worthwhile and recommended read for anyone interested in these issues, or who enjoys realistic, character-driven, problem-solving, engrossing fiction.   My rating: 4 stars.

The following video is part of an AdLit.org interview with Laurie Halse Anderson talking about her book Wintergirls :

Twisted, by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2007.  (realistic fiction)  Catalog Summary: After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts.

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2006.  (realistic fiction)  Catalog Summary:  A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.



Prom, by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2005.  (realistic fiction)  Catalog Summary:  Eighteen-year-old Ash wants nothing to do with senior prom, but when disaster strikes and her desperate friend, Nat, needs her help to get it back on track, Ash's involvement transforms her life. 

Catalyst, by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2003.  (realistic fiction)  Catalog Summary:  Eighteen-year-old Kate, who sometimes chafes at being a preacher's daughter, finds herself losing control in her senior year as she faces difficult neighbors, the possibility that she may not be accepted by the college of her choice, and an unexpected death.

Fever, 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2000.  (historical fiction)  Catalog Summary:  In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.

Laurie Halse Anderson's website

Featured Author: Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel, by Cassandra Clare, 2010.  

Clockwork Angel is the beginning of a new series called The Infernal Devices, by Cassandra Clare.  It takes place 150 years before Clare's Mortal Instruments series:  City of Bones, City of Ashes, & City of Glass. The fourth book in the Mortal Instrument series: City of Fallen Angels is scheduled for publication in April 2011.  If you liked Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series you may also enjoy reading Cassandra Clare's books.  Personally I like The Mortal Instruments series more than the Twilight series.  Compared to the Twilight series the Mortal Instruments are similarly dark and romantic (with a love triangle), however, there are more twists, mystery, and magic in the Mortal Instruments, with a large cast of characters including vampires, warlocks, werewolves, shadowhunters, and demons.

Clockwork Angel is a supernatural urban fantasy, and since it is set in the Victorian era with futuristic technology, in this case automatons (robots), it also falls into the steampunk genre.  The story begins with 16 year old Tessa Gray, who has traveled from New York to London in search of her older brother.  As soon as she steps off the ship in London she is kidnapped by the Dark Sisters.  The Sisters force her to begin training to use a rare ability to shape shift; an ability of which she was previously unaware. Tessa is soon rescued from the Dark Sisters by the Shadowhunters.  Shadowhunters are warriors, half angel and half human, dedicated to ridding the world of demons.  Tessa is sheltered by the Shadowhunters in their hidden London Institute, where she continues the search for her brother, her own identity, and battles further abduction attempts. Clockwork Angel is like an excellent box of dark chocolates, with just the right amount of crunchy and smooth filling.  My rating 4 stars.

Cassandra Clare books and audiobooks available through the Library Consortium.
Cassandra Clare's website

Holly Black interviews Cassandra Clare. July 28, 2009:

Cassandra Clare answers questions from her fans. October 9, 2009:

Featured Author: Neal Shusterman

Mr. Shusterman's books reward the reader with a rich bounty of things to think or wonder about that are sometimes intense, sometimes humorous:

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman, 2010.
In Bruiser, Mr. Shusterman has taken an intriguing concept and built a supernatural story that may leave you thinking long after the final page is turned.  What happens when any pain, physical or emotional, is taken away?  While reading this book I kept thinking of the Bible phrase, "he taketh away the sins of the world."  And then wondering - Is there a flip side, a dark side, to salvation?  Brewster Rawlins aka Bruiser is described as a sasquatch, a hulking teenager of 16 years, with eyes that are an ugly pea green.  Voted by his classmates as "Most Likely to Receive the Death Penalty."  What no one knows, since Brewster keeps to himself, is that if he cares about you, he automatically takes away your injuries or pain as his own.  Bruiser is told from four points of view; Tennyson and Bronte who are twins, and Brewster and his brother Cody.  Tennyson and Bronte live with parents on the verge of divorce, and Brewster and Cody live with their abusive Uncle Hoyt.  Brewster's point of view is told in free verse.  The first chapter starts with Tennyson's point of view when Brewster asks his sister Bronte out on a date to play miniature golf.  Every book I've read by Neal Shusterman has been a thought-generating, and a gratifying read.  Bruiser is no exception.  My rating: 3 and a half stars

Everlost by Neal Shusterman published in 2006 is the first book in the Skinjacker Trilogy. Everfound, the third book in the Skinjacker Trilogy, is scheduled for publication in May 2011. Everlost begins with two cars that accidentally crash.  A passenger in each car dies; Nick and Allie. As they feel themselves moving through a tunnel towards a light, they bump each other off course and don't get to where they are going.  They wake up in Everlost, an in between place for lost souls where there are only children and teenagers.  Nick and Allie take different approaches to the people and circumstances of their new existence.  Will they choose complacency, choose to be in Everlost, or will they find the strength to get to where they are going?  Everlost is a terrific adventure-fantasy in an unpredictable setting.  My rating, so far, for this trilogy: 4 stars

Unwind by Neal Shusterman, 2007.  Unwind takes place in a dystopian society where organ harvesting of every part of the body is not viewed as death for the donor.  In this future society a war was fought between the Pro-life and the Pro-choice armies over reproductive rights, and now there is no abortion.  A "Bill of Life" was passed that ended the war.  The Bill of Life gives parents the right to choose, when their child is between the ages of 13 and 18, to have them "unwound".  Every part of the body is used to help someone else, including brain parts, skin, nerves, limbs, etc. so that technically the unwound person is still living.  One of the horrifying parts of this story is that that the person being unwound is awake and conscious (pain-free) during the whole procedure.  Sometimes the body parts retain a memory of skills, thoughts, or emotions, that the recipient then experiences.  This is a story of dismembering as well as remembering.  Three teens, Connor, Risa, and Lev, who do not want to be "unwound" try to escape. Unwind is a science fiction thriller that gives one serious moral issues to think about as we move out of the current infancy of organ harvesting.  My rating: 4 stars   Unwind movie website

Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman, 2008.
I have not read this - write your review in the comments section below.  Library Catalog Summary:  Fourteen-year-old Anthony "Antsy" Bonano learns about life, death, and a lot more when he tries to help a friend with a terminal illness feel hopeful about the future.

Darkness Creeping: Twenty Twisted Tales by Neal Shusterman, 2007.   A collection of horror tales. Tell your tale, write your review in the comments below!  Library Catalog Summary: Imagine being trapped forever in someone else's nightmare, with no means of escape. Or caught on one of the most terrifying roller coasters of all time, when suddenly the tracks ahead just disappear. Enter the world of Darkness Creeping, where hollow-eyed skulls arrive in the mail and nothing is as it seems... a collection of masterfully creepy stories so horrifying, you may have to read them twice to remind yourself they're not real.

The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman, 2004.
I have not yet had a chance to read this book.  It won the 2005 Boston Globe Horn Book Award.  Library Catalog Summary: A Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an "invisible-ish" boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by nearly everyone.  Write your review in the comments section below.

Neal Shusterman Books & Audiobooks in the Library Consortium
Neal Shusterman website

Neal Shusterman conducts a tour of his home including his awards, where he writes, art work, and home theater, May 15, 2009.