Wow! Ten of the best YA authors took on the challenge of writing a collaborative novel to support Amnesty International. This novel in ten successive stories is the result, and a gripping page turner it is. 

The book opens with a "jump story" by Linda Sue Park, easily the best of its kind I have ever read.  Maggie's grandfather, George Keane, known as "Gee," a famous international photojournalist, has died. He has left her and her brother enigmatic gifts that are to steer and inspire their lives. The chapter is rich with details of Gee's travels--the pictures he took, the stories he told his grandchildren--and best of all, is loaded with possibilities and puzzles. The next author must continue the narrative, but not necessarily from the same perspective, location, or even the same time frame.  All chapters are titled with a name.  They are portraits of people whose lives intersected with Gee's.  But they are also an additional layer of detail for our picture of the photographer's life.
What is most astonishing about this book is how tightly woven it is for such a schizophrenic project and how clearly each author's individual stylistic voice can be heard through the words. Click is especially exciting for anyone interested in, learning about, or teaching writing.

 

Royalties benefit Amnesty International.

 

Reviewed by Vivian

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
By Gabrielle Zevin

Imagine, if you will, having to rely on "strangers" to help you remember who you really are.  Who do you trust, them or your instincts?  What if you discover that the person you were isn't the person you want to be? Those are just a couple of questions that Naomi Porter has to find the answers to after she takes a nasty fall off the steps at her high school. (At least that is what everyone tells her has happened.)  A boy named James, who claims to be her boyfriend, accompanies her to the hospital where she quickly discovers that James isn't really who he said he was, her parents are divorced, she's no longer on speaking terms with her mother, and she can't remember the last four years of her life.
 
As she recovers physically, Naomi finds that her emotional recovery will be much more challenging.  After her surreal first day back at school she feels certain about two things.  The first is that the only person she feels she can trust to tell her the truth is her eccentric school yearbook co-editor Will.  The second is that the girl she was before is nothing like the girl she thinks she should be.
 
Zevin does a spectacular job of keeping the reader entranced with Naomi's story.  Since the reader knows just as much about Naomi's past as Naomi is able to remember, one takes the steps of recovery and discovery right along with her.  Its a creative premise that explores the idea of what happens when a person is forced to cope with the consequences of choices that they don't remember making.
 
Reviewed by Angela K.-G.
 

Spanking Shakespeare
By Jake Weiner

I confess--I love funny books and this had me giggling out loud. But Shakespeare Shapiro, a hilarious 17-year-old with an alcoholic father, a neurotic mother, and a brother who is cooler than he is, writes a bawdy memoir for his senior class English project that will have you crying with laughter. He only hopes it will win him girls. The scene at the baseball game is priceless, as is his visit to Rome, and his trip to the sex doctor with his bowel-obsessed best friend. It is also quite thoughtful and sentimental in parts and is simply a must read!