06.07.07
So…What is FTR and how do I get in on it?
Teens in Florida read and Florida media specialists know it. They have put together this list of 15 books for you to read.
This blog site is here for you to comment on this year’s books as you read them. Tell other teens in Florida what you liked or didn’t like about these books. Come back to this site to see what others have said and to comment again. Read all 15 books–they’re great reads picked especially for you.
You can add your comments about these books by clicking on COMMENTS under each book summary. In the NAME BOX, be sure to use YOUR FIRST NAME ONLY, A SPACE, THEN THE INITIALS OF YOUR SCHOOL (ex: Harry RHS or Hermione CBHS). If your name already exists, use your name followed by a number, a space and the school initials (ex: Harry2 RHS or Hermione2 CBHS). If you are posting for class credit, be sure to ask your teacher for naming instructions.
Take a look at the PAGES (see the right sidebar) for each book title. Here you’ll find some thought-provoking questions to respond to. Again, click on COMMENTS at the bottom of each book summary to post your thoughts. Won’t it be interesting to read what others have to say!
In April of each year, we’ll direct you to a special website where you can vote for your favorite book from all the ones you’ve read. In early May, you can see the winning title.This year’s Florida Teens Read winner was Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Did you read it? What did you think?(See A Note and Blogging Netiquette Pages on Sidebar)
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Sixteen-year-old Brittany acts as a chauffeur for her grandmother and Gran’s three friends on their way to a college reunion. This adventure involves lies, theft, kidnapping and lessons that will soon not be forgotten.
Tom Ward, seventh son of a seventh son, is apprenticed to the Spook, whose job is to defend the living against ghosts, ghasts, boggarts, and witches. When Mother Malkin escapes her confinement while Spook is away, Tom is forced to use his wits and help his new friend Alice to fight the evil witch.
Annabel Greene seems to have it all. However, that is not the case. At school, she is shunned because she’s hiding secrets about an end of the year party. At home, family peace hangs in the balance because she’s hiding secrets about her sister’s anorexia. Her life is changed when she meets Owen Armstrong, the school’s loner who is obsessed with music and telling the truth.
Wow, Runner is fast and furious. Chance Taylor’s father, a Gulf War Veteran and alcoholic, is fired from his job and Chance worries about where they will get the money to pay for the moorage for the run-down sailboat they call home. At school, he’s a ghost walker, a real loner and only finds escape in long runs along the Seattle waterfront. When a marina employee offers to pay him $250 a week to pick up packages, Chance know it’s suspicious and soon finds himself in danger. REAL danger! He then gets a glimpse of the heroic man his father once was. An action packed story you must read!
Amari is a 15-year-old Ashanti girl who is happily anticipating her marriage to Besa. When slavers arrive in her village, her family is slaughtered and her world shattered. Shackled and frightened she is shipped to the Carolinas and forced into slavery. Amari develops friendships and struggles for freedom in this historical fiction novel.
The year is 2076. Verbal abuse, obesity and dangerous activities in the United States are against the law. Helmets and health food are in and sports are outlawed. Bo Marsten, 16, loses self control and hits another classmate. Sentenced to work at a pizza factory, Bo finds himself a candidate for the warden’s favorite past time, football.
Life is difficult for the Flores family. When Victor’s father dies, he tries to support his family on their farm in Mexico. When corn prices drop, Victor attempts a dangerous border crossing, jumping trains and fleeing thieves and border officials to make it to the United Stated to find work.
Jordy, homeless, gay, and abused, finds a kindred spirit when he rescues Chloe from a rape near the building where they live. When Jordy all but commits murder to protect Chloe, he realizes they must leave New York City for their safety and sanity. They crisscross America looking for evidence of beauty in what so far has been a grim existence.
When Ginny receives a pack of mysterious envelopes from her favorite aunt, she leaves New Jersey to journey through Europe on a scavenger hunt. She is given several destinations and instructions to open one envelope upon her arrival at each place. Throughout her adventures, she collects pieces of her aunt’s past and learns much about herself.
Lucy Norton is a Cinderella! When her father remarries and moves her from the West Coast to Long Island, Lucy is left with her stepmother and twin stepsisters. Living in the basement with no furniture and a long list of chores, her life is miserable. When she meets Connor, the cutest jock in school, she goes from friendless to popular. Will he be her prince?
Scott Hudson is small, lost and a Freshman. The seniors trap him and take his spare change. His honors homework keeps him up all night, and his gym teacher is trying to kill him. To top it off, his mother is pregnant. He starts a journal to the unborn baby, and with comical entries he begins to cope with his life.
Lakshmi, a thirteen-year-old from a mountain village in Nepal, thinks she is being hired as a maid when her stepfather “trades” her for 800 rupees. Instead, she is forced into prostitution in India.
Two Island City High School basketball stars known as “Black and White” turn to robbery to get easy money for shoes and senior fees. When the gun goes off during a robbery, Marcus and Eddie tell, in alternating chapters, what happens to them in the aftermath. Their friendship is challenged as they experience the justice system differently because of race.
Jeannette Walls, now a freelance writer, writes of the poverty, hunger, jokes, and bullying that she and her siblings endured while growing up. Her mother, unwilling to assume the responsibilities of parenting, and her father, an alcoholic, taught their children to fend for themselves.
In this futuristic society, young people believe they are ugly until, at age 16, they undergo an operation that changes them into “pretties.” Tally Youngblood looks forward to turning 16 until she meets another female named Shay who questions this way of life and urges Tally to defect to a distant settlement of simple living. When Shay disappears, Tally is coerced by cruel Dr. Cable to find Shay and her patriots or stay “ugly” forever.