2008 Theme and Reading List

(
Connecting
Libraries,
Underserved teens and
Books)

Choices: Life is full of choices. One choice can lead to another. Some can take us down the wrong path, and others can lead us to glory. Our background leads us down a road that is chosen for us, but eventually we choose our own path.

The following titles that relate to the theme "Choices" have been selected for the 2008 Great Stories CLUB reading list:

Tyrell
by Coe Booth


Scholastic, Inc., 2007


Tyrell can't get a break. He is living in a shelter with his mom and little brother, his father is serving time in jail, and his girlfriend is supporting him. He is desperate to find a way to make money to get himself out of this slump.

Hole in My Life
by Jack Gantos


Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2002


The author tells how he was able to rise above an arrest for smuggling drugs and doing time in jail and become an acclaimed writer for teens and children.

Sold
by Patricia McCormick


Hyperion, 2006


Thirteen-year-old Lakshimi is sold into prostitution in Calcutta when her Nepal village is hit by a monsoon. Drugged, raped, and beaten, she must find a way to escape.