Inspiration

My junior year of college I had something very tragic happen to my family. My 19 year old cousin, Brandon, passed away fighting for his country in Afghanistan. It wasn't fair for someone Brandon's age to be taken. Why did the Lord want to take him then? Many questions flew through my mind and at the time I did not know how I was going to make it through. One of my college professors showed me the importance of reading and how it can help you cope and get through these tragedies. As I read different Young Adult Literature books that involved death, it helped me cope and understand that it is okay to feel the way that I was feeling. It is okay to remember the memories that I had of Brandon. It is okay to cry. That is why I want to have these books available for each and every one of my students. If my students are going through a hard time, this is where they can come! An easy place with lots of options!

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

"Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that's what makes you strong" (327).

This book spoke to me! This was the first book that I read after Brandon had passed. Sarah Dessen is by far one of my favorite authors. In this novel, Dessen does a great job of balancing tragedy and humor. The book also embraces love. 

After Masy's dad has passed away, she does everything possible to have as much control over her life as possible. She focuses on things she can control such as her appearance, behavior, and how others view her. It takes her a catering business where the people are chaotic, fun-loving, and unorganized to realize that when her father passed, she stopped living. Read this book to see if Masy and Jason stay together, if Masy's mom lets her start working for the catering business, if Masy will every start to run again, if Masy's mother finally opens up to talk about her husband, and if whats going on between Masy and Wes escalades! It's a MUST read! 

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

'13 Reasons Why' shows how you can impact anyone, good or bad, any single day with any single action that you make. It makes you think about yourself and your motives for doing certain things. What it really makes you do is think, "Could this serious hurt someone? Is this going to cause bad repercussions?"

Clay, the narrator at the beginning of the book, sends a package to someone named Jenny. Shortly after, we learned that the package Clay sent contained a bunch of recorded suicide notes of Hannah Baker. Hannah committed suicide about two weeks earlier and Clay had a crush on her. So why did Clay get the tapes to begin with?

The package contained seven cassette tapes and thirteen stories. Hannah holds each listener responsible for her death in one way or another. After each person has listened to the tape, they are responsible to pass it to the next person on the list of the story will go public.

I found a website, www.thirteenreasonwhy.com, that had a bunch of neat things on it. The website has  things about the book and awards it's gotten (which are a TON), about the author, live recordings of the recordings called "The Tapes" (crazy to hear the voice live!), and another tab called "Hannah's Reasons". If you are interested in the book, or after you read the book, go check it out!

Skim's Journal by Mariko Tamaki

Have you ever read a graphic novel? If you haven't, no worries. Skim's Journal was my very first graphic novel. Graphic novels brings a whole new experience to reading. Some graphic novels have no words at all! They can be very quick and easy reads but you might not get as much out of it if you read though it quickly. While reading a graphic novel, take the time to look over the images, the page breaks, and all the details on the page.

Kimberly, mostly known by Skim, wouldn't be counted as one of the popular students in her school. At the beginning of the novel, the schools queen bee Katie Matthews is dumped by her boyfriend. Her boyfriend then killed himself. The school rumor is he did it because he was gay. Skim's school goes into mourning and a group of girls push for their club 'Girls Celebrating Life'. Since the school is mourning, it is a odd time for Skim to fall in love. She falls for her misfit English teacher Ms. Archer. Once Ms. Archer leaves school after a secret kiss, Skim is at a lose for words and doesn't know how to handle it. Skim chooses to isolate herself from her best friend Kim but was that the best decision?

                                                                           

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

“Maybe you can afford to wait. Maybe for you there's a tomorrow. Maybe for you there's one thousand tomorrows, or three thousand, or ten, so much time you can bathe in it, roll around it, let it slide like coins through you fingers. So much time you can waste it. But for some of us there's only today. And the truth is, you never really know.” 

The book begins with the death of Sam. As she dies, she has a flashback to the fourth grade where her and several others are making fun of a fat girl and then... nothing. 

The story flashes back to the beginning of Sam's day. We are taken through the day that Sam died. We see her popularity and all the people Sam and her friends hurt throughout the day. Sam and her friends go to a party later that night and get in a fight with Juliet Sykes.  After the girls leave the party, with Lyndsay driving the car, the crash happens. 

After the crash, Sam has a dream that she is falling and she wakes up to her alarm clock and the exact same day is played over again..and again..and again for seven days. The first day Sam find out that Juliet is trying to commit suicide. Sam  relives the same day with the same actions only with a little more reflection. 

Read to find out if Sam saves Juliet and what caused the car crash. Read to find out if Sam changes her actions towards others and saves herself. Read to find out what Sam will do to make a difference and read to find out if Sam can achieve her greatest achievement of all time.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

  
 “Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you” (169). 

If you want an out of body experience - literally - I suggest that you read 'If I Stay'. Mia, her younger brother Teddy, and her parents are on the way to visit their grandparents on a snowy day. The next thing that Mia remembers is the still hearing Beethoven's Cello Sonata no. 3 (the music she chose to listen to in the car) and she is standing in a ditch. She first sees her mom. Shortly after she sees her dad. It's a car wreck. They have been in a crash. Her mother and father have passed away. Teddy. Where is Teddy? Mia rushes over where his body it but it isn't his. It's hers.

Throughout the book, Mia is faced with the choice to stay or go. Does she leave her grandparents and her boyfriend Adam or does she go to be with her dad, mom, and possibly Teddy if he is gone too. Mia sits and watches as people arrive at the hospital to come visit her. She watches as emergency surgeries are done on her body. She sees the tears or her loved ones. Faced with the huge decision, can she even make it without her parents? She knows that her parents would want her to stay but is she strong enough to do it? Read and find out! 

Whirligig by Paul Fleischman

Have you ever been at a party and drank? Did that drinking lead to bad decisions such as getting behind the wheel of a car or letting a friend get behind the wheel? Have you ever been publicly humiliated by the girl or boy you have recently been crushing on? Did that humiliation lead you to make decisions that you would later regret? That is exactly what Brett did in Whirligig. 

Brett attends a party where his friend forget to mention that it is a chess themed party where you dress in all black or all white. At the party Brett gets publicly humiliated by the girl he has been crushing on. Drunk and unable to deal with the humiliation he will face again at school on Monday, Brett tries to kill himself on the way home by taking his hands off the wheel. Instead of killing himself, the car wreck leads to killing Lea - a senior in high school. In a meeting with Lea's mom, she requests that Brett makes four whirligigs of a girl that looks like Lea. The whirligigs will be set up in the four corners of the United States - Washington, California, Florida and Maine. Go on the journey with Brett to each corner of the United States and see the people that the whirligigs impact. 

This is a complex read because there are stories interwoven into Brett's. This book really shows the value of life and to never take that for granite. Do you think that Brett can turn his bad situation into a good one? Read and find out! 

   

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Would you believe me if I told you that 'The Fault in Our Stars' is a book about cancer that had me laughing out loud throughout the whole thing? No? That's okay because I didn't believe it either. This book is a 5 star book. Easily one of my favorites that I have ever read. So want to know more I'm guessing? Here you go..

Hazel is a sixteen-year-old girl with terminal cancer. She was pulled out of school at thirteen. After being diagnosed with clinical depression, hear mother makes her join a support group for kids with cancer. Trust me, Hazel does NOT want to attend the group. At support group she meets a handsome, fun-loving  Augustus who is in remission from osteosarcoma. He is there for the support of his buddy Isaac who is going blind. After meeting Augustus, also known as Gus, Hazel's world is turned upside down. Read this book to follow their adventures, their laughs and cries, their trip across the country, and much, much more. 

To learn more about the book or about John Green himself, check out www.johngreenbooks.com. There is live interaction with John Green and his readers, info about different books, and more. Check it out before or after you read this book. If you go on after, you can ask Mr. Green any questions you have about his book!