Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

91´«Ã½

NON-FICTION

Cosmo Girl Quiz Book: Discover Your Personality. Sterling, 2005. 1-58816-489-6.Are you obsessed with taking quizzes about yourself and your life? Here is a collection from Cosmo Girl magazine.

Happy Kitty Bunny Pony: A Saccharine Mouthful of Super Cute. Abrams, 2005. 0-8109-9200-0. Slightly sick, more than a little twisted…..Super cute pics paired with sarcastic wit.

Mad about the ‘90s: The Best of the Decade. DC Comics, 2005. 1-4012-0660-3. Mad funny from Mad magazine.

Seventeen Magazine’s Traumarama!: Real Girls Share their Most Embarrassing Moments. Hearst Books, 2005. 1-58816-517-5. Sooooooo funny…you’ll pee your pants!

Teen People Celebrity Beauty Guide: Star Secrets for Gorgeous Hair, Makeup, Skin and More! Time, Inc., 2005. 1-932273-39-5. Look like a star. The beauty buzz from Britney, Beyonce and more.

50 Cent. From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside, Queens. 0-7434-8644-7. Getting rich, dealing drugs, and trying not to die. Street life in 50 Cent’s words.

Arakawa, Hiromu. Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 1. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-920-8.

Volume 2. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-923-2.

Volume 3. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-925-9.

Volume 4. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-929-1.

Fullmetal trouble: Meet Cartoon Network stars Edward and Alphonse, piecing their lives and their bodies back together.

Baltin, Steve. From the Inside: Linkin Park’s Meteora. Bradson Press, 2004. 0-9603574-1-6. All-access pass to Linkin Park, with lots of oversized pictures of the band on the Meteora tour.

Benton, Jim. It’s Happy Bunny: Life. Get One. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-69346-2. “Always remember, your enemies are just friends that really, really bite.” Snarky philosophy from Happy Bunny.

Benton, Jim. It’s Happy Bunny: Love Bites. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-69345-4. Love hurts; share the pain with Happy Bunny.

Buckley, James Jr. Scholastic Book of Firsts: More than 1000 of the Coolest, Biggest and Most Exciting First Facts you’ll Ever Read. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-67607-X. Guinness Book meets Trivial Pursuit.

Caldwell, Ben. Fantasy! Cartooning. Sterling, 2005. 1-4027-1612-5. Draw heroes, villains, fairies, beasts and more.

Caprio, Robert. Are We There Yet? Tales from the Never-Ending Travels of WWE Superstars. Simon & Schuster, 2005. 0-7434-9041-X. Real life stories about road trips that make getting hit on the head with a folding chair look easy.

Carlson, Lori. Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States. Henry Holt, 2005. 0-8050-7616-6. “Taco Bell is not Mexican food.”

Clugston, Chynna. Queen Bee. Scholastic Graphix, 2005. 0-439-70987-3. Haley and Alexa duel for Queen Bee status in this graphic novel. Will they use their psychokinetic powers to help them?

Davis, James. Skateboarding is Not a Crime: 50 Years of Street Culture. Firefly, 2004. 1-55407-001-5. Culture, tricks, and hot color pics.

Edgar, Jim. Bad Cat. Workman, 2004. 0-7611-3619-3. Caught red pawed! Funny pictures, naughty captions, the lives of bad cats.

Finkel, Jon. Greatest Stars of the NBA: Jason Kidd. Tokyopop, 2005. 1-59532-183-7. Triple the hoop, double the scoop in Cine-Manga style. Jason Kidd drops all those sweet dimes!

Finkel, Jon. Greatest Stars of the NBA: Kevin Garnett. Tokyopop, 2005. 1-59532-184-5. Triple the hoop, double the scoop in Cine-Manga style. From high school straight to the NBA: he’s the Big Ticket.

Finkel, Jon. Greatest Stars of the NBA: Shaquille O’Neal. Tokyopop, 2004. 1-59532-181-0. Triple the hoop, double the scoop in Cine-Manga style. Can you fill Shaq’s shoes?

Finkel, Jon. Greatest Stars of the NBA: Tim Duncan. Tokyopop, 2004. 1-59532-182-9. Triple the hoop, double the scoop in Cine-Manga style. Duncan Dominates the low post.

Flaherty, Mike. American Chopper: At Full Throttle. Meredith Books, 2004. 0-696-22165-9. Meet the Discovery Channel’s Teutels . This is who they are. This is what they do.

Foxworthy, Jeff. Jeff Foxworthy’s Redneck Dictionary: Words You thought You Knew the Meaning of. Villard, 2005. 1-4000-6465-1. If you laugh at this book, you might be a redneck. Foxworthy brings us the funny definitions familiar to fans of Blue Collar Comedy.

Ganz, Nicholas. Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents. Harry N. Abrams, 2004. 0-8109-4979-2. Is it art? Graffiti artists from the around the world take over.

Grandberry, Omari. O. MTV Books, 2005. 1-4165-0328-5. He got served! The life and times of Omarion in his own words and pictures.

Haab, Sherri. The Hip Handbag Book : 25 Easy-to-make Totes, Purses and Bags. Watson-Guptill, 2004. 0-8230-2263-3.DIY: Pretty purses and cute carry-alls.

Hart, Christopher. Manhwa Mania: How to Draw Korean Comics. Watson-Guptill, 2004. 0-8230-2976-X. Expand your comics horizon.

Hee-Joon, Son. PHD: Phantasy Degree Tokyopop, 2005. In the manga world of Demon School Hades, girls just wanna be monsters.

Vol. 1, 1-59532-319-8. $9.99

Vol. 2, 1-59532-320-1. $9.99

Hess, Jared and Jerusha.Napoleon Dynamite: The Complete Quote Book. Simon Spotlight, 2005. 1-4169-1391-2. $7.95 Sweeeeeeet! Favorite quotes from the new cult classic.

Keys, Alicia. Tears for Water: Songbook of Poems and Lyrics. Penguin Putnam, 2004. 0-399-15257-1. Poems in the key of Alicia.

Kilpatrick, Nancy. The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined. St. Martin’s Press, 2004. 0-312-30696-2. Death, Doc Martens and the darker side of goth.

Kirkman, Robert. Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, Volume 1. Image Comics, 2005. 1-58240-500-X. Mark’s new superpowers bring a world of trouble to his life and his family in this graphic novel.

Lane, Billy. Chop Fiction: It’s Not a Motorcycle, Baby, It’s a Chopper. Motorbooks, International, 2004. 0-7603-2011-X. Easy Rider on the Discovery Channel. Billy Lane builds choppers, has a bad-ass rep, and this book and has plenty of both.

Lee, Lela. Angry Little Girls. Abrams, 2005. 0-8109-5868-6. What kind of angry are you? Comics: short, bitter and sweet.

Loeb, Jeph. Superman Batman : Public Enemies, Volume 1. DC Comics, 2005. 1-4012-0220-9. The 2 most famous super-heroes unite to clear Superman’s name.

Miller, Steve and Baugh, Bryan Scared! How to Draw Fantastic Horror Comic Characters. Watson-Guptill, 2004. 0-8230-1664-1. Truly horrifying creatures haunt this colorful drawing book.

Oh, Minya. Bling Bling: Hip Hop’s Crown Jewels. Wenner Books, 2005. 1-932958-02-9. Diamonds (and gold and platinum) are a rapper’s best friend. Hundreds of color pictures and uncensored interviews that show surprising depth.

Ohba, Tsugumi. Deathnote: Volume I: Boredom. Viz, 2005. 1-4215-0168-6. Light – killing who he wants when he wants. The darker side of manga.

Palmer, Chris. Streetball: All the Ballers, Moves, Slams and Shine. Harperresource, 2004. 0-06-072444-7. Ballers for life takin’ it to the rim.

Perel, David. Bat Boy Lives! The Weekly World News Guide to Politics, Culture, Celebrities, Alien Abductions, and the Mutant Freaks that Shape our World. Sterling, 2005. 1-4027-2823-9. The twisted world of tabloid news, from the checkout line to you.

Polhemus, Ted. Hot Bodies, Cool Styles. Thames and Hudson, 2004. 0-500-28500-4. Tats, body piercing, hair and paint. Maximum body adornment in full living color.

Powell, Michael. Superhero Handbook. Sterling, 2005. 1-4027-2991-X. Be the superhero you were born to be. It takes more than a flashy costume.

Riley, Andy. Return of the Bunny Suicides. Penguin/Plume, 2005. 0-452-28623-9. In this darkly funny comic, the bunnies are back and even more determined to die.

The RZA. The Wu Tang Manual. Riverhead, 2005. 1-59448-018-4. Drugs, money and music: mysteries, histories and mythologies of the Wu-Tang.

Steffans, Karine. Confessions of a Video Vixen. Amistad, 2005. 0-06-084242-3. Go under the covers to discover the ups, downs, ins and outs of making it in hip-hop video stardom. Steffans reveals all.

Sugiyama, Rika. Comics Artists-Asia: Manga Manhwa Manhua. Harper Design International, 2004. 0-06-058924-8. The who, how and what of 12 new Asian artists.

Wilson, Daniel H. How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion. Bloomsbury, 2005. 1-58234-592-9. First rule of robotics: know where the off switch is located.

FICTION

Adoff, Jaime. Jimi and Me. Hyperion/Jump at the Sun. 0-7868-5214-3. Keith, betrayed. The music lives on in this novel in verse.

Black, Holly. Valiant: a Modern Tale of Faerie. Simon & Schuster, 2005. 0-689-86822-7. Shooting up with the faeries: Runaway Val enters the dark and fantastic world of underground New York.

Bradley, Alex. 24 Girls in 7 Days. Dutton, 2005. 0-525-47369-6. The Bachelor goes to high school! One dork, two best friends, and 24 hilarious dates.

Brown, Tracy. Criminal Minded. St. Martin’s Griffin,2005. 0-312-33646-2. Lamin and Zion meet in church, but it’s the drug game that really seals their friendship. Raw, violent, sexed-up, and real.

Burke, Morgan. The Party Room Trilogy. Simon Pulse, 2005.

Get It Started 0-689-87225-9.

After Hours 0-689-87226-7.

Last Call 0-689-87227-5.

Rich party girls vs. a serial killer.

Cary, Kate. Bloodline. Razorbill, 2005. 1-59514-012-3. From the horrifying carnage of WWI trenches, the bloodline of Castle Dracul will arise.

Castellucci, Cecil. Boy Proof. Candlewick, 2005. 0-7636-2333-4. Science fiction freak Victoria has her tough boy proof persona challenged by Max.

Coy, John. Crackback. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-69733-6. Ya wanna be football champions or first losers?

Dean, Zoey. Blonde Ambition. Little, Brown, 2004. 0-316-73474-8. Anna starts working on a teen soap, but it’s her life that’s the real soap opera. The 3rd in the popular A-List series.

Delaney, Joseph. Revenge of the Witch: Book One: The Last Apprentice. Greenwillow, 2005. 0-06-076618-2. The seventh son of a seventh son vs. an evil witch.

De la Pena, Matt. Ball Don’t Lie. Delacorte, 2005. 0-385-73232-5. When playing the game, come strong or don’t come at all. Sticky Reichard rules the basketball court in this gritty novel.

Deuker, Carl. Runner. Houghton Mifflin, 2005. 0-618-54298-1. Chance’s love of running and desperate need for money draw him into the dangerous underworld of terrorism.

Flake, Sharon. Bang! Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, 2005. 0-7868-1844-1. Mann’s life has never been easy and the bad just keeps on coming.

Flanagan, John. Ranger’s Apprentice: Book One: The Ruins of Gorlan. 0-399-24454-9. Will joins the stealthy Rangers as they recon to protect their world.

Friedman, Aimee. South Beach. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-70678-5. Hot boys, hoochie girls: romance lost and found in sunny South Beach.

Goobie, Beth. Something Girl. Orca Soundings, 2005. 1-55143-347-8. Sophie has a terrible secret and an even more terrible father.

Grant, Vicki. Dead-End Job. Orca Soundings, 2005. 1-55143-378-8. Frances’ stalker makes the graveyard shift even creepier.

Green, John. Looking for Alaska. Dutton, 2005. 0-525-47506-0. A year of firsts – drinks, pranks, love, lust, loss.

Hiaasen, Carl. Flush. Random House, 2005. 0-375-92182-6. The poo hits the fan when Noah and his sister set out to prove the owner of a floating casino is dumping sewage.

Horowitz, Anthony. Raven’s Gate. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-67995-8. Out of the detention center….to the Gates of Hell? Alex Rider’s creator has a new series that is scarier than ever.

Horowitz, Anthony. Scorpia. Philomel, 2005. 0-399-24151-5. Rider. Alex Rider. He’s back with the most suspenseful adventure yet, battling his conscience as well as the bad guys – or is it the good guys?

Klass, David. Dark Angel. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2005. 0-374-39950-6. Released on a technicality, Jeff’s ex-con brother wreaks havoc.

Krovatin, Christopher. Heavy Metal and You. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-73648-X. His music or his girl?

Lockhart, E. The Boyfriend List : 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs, and me Ruby Oliver. Random House, 2005. 0-385-73206-6. Ruby’s life is a disaster after her breakup with boyfriend #13.

Mac, Carrie. Charmed. Orca Soundings, 2004. 1-55143-321-4. How can it be called The Game if the girl always loses- especially if the game is teenage prostitution.

Mayer, Melody. The Nannies. Delacorte, 2005. 0-385-73283-X. The missionary, the contestant, and the barrio girl - how will the material world of LA change them?

Meyer, Adam. The Last Domino. Penguin Putnam, 2005. 0-399-24332-1. Two guys plus one gun equals hell on earth.

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. Little Brown, 2005. 0-316-16017-2. Bella’s attraction to Edward does not diminish even when he admits to being a vampire.

Newman, Leslea. Jailbait. Delacorte, 2005. 0-385-90230-1. From loser to sexpot, Andi becomes jailbait.

Olin, Sean. Killing Britney. Simon Pulse, 2005. 0-689-87778-1. Slicing, dicing, and gore happens before killing Britney. No, not that Britney!

Patterson, James. Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment. Little, Brown, 2005. 0-316-15556-X.

Can Max save her band of winged mutants from the Erasers? Can she save the world?

Rose, Malcolm Traces:Framed! Kingfisher, 2005. 0-7534-5829-2

Traces: Lost Bullet. Kingfisher, 2005. 0-7534-5830-6.

Traces: Roll Call. Kingfisher, 2005. 0-7534-5923-X. Luke Harding, teen forensic investigator, solves crime with his robot sidekick, MALC.

Shan, Darren. Lord Loss. Little, Brown, 2005. 0-316-11499-5.. Blood and gore, we want more! Werewolves, demons and a death-defying chess match.

Shaw, Susan. The Boy from the Basement. Dutton, 2004. 0-525-47223-1. Escaping the dark confines of his abusive father, Charlie comes into the light. For those who crave more like A Child Called It.

Shusterman, Neal. Dread Locks: Dark Fusion, Book One. Dutton, 2005. 0-525-47554-0. There once was a girl with snakes in her curls - and when she was bad she was horrid.

Shusterman, Neal. Red Rider’s Hood: Dark Fusion, Book Two. Dutton, 2005. 0-525-47562-1. In Red’s neighborhood, the gangs will eat you – literally.

Sloan, Brian. A Really Nice Prom Mess. Simon & Schuster, 2005. 0-689-87438-3. Drunk dates, burnt hair, go-go dancers, and a hot Russian drug dealer. Perfect recipe for a hilarious prom disaster.

Sorrells, Walter. Fake ID: The Hunted: Book One. Dutton Sleuth, 2005. 0-525-47514-1. Chass has 6 days to figure out what her real name is, why her mom has disappeared, and what an old murder has to do with it all.

Standiford, Natalie. The Dating Game. Little Brown, 2005. 0-316-11040-X.

Breaking Up is Really, Really Hard to do. Little, Brown, 2005.

0-316-11041-8. Teen matchmakers help their friends find a love connection.

Stone, Jeff. The Five Ancestors: Monkey. Random House, 2005. 0-375-83073-1.

The Five Ancestors: Tiger. Random House, 2005. 0-375-83071-5. Five warrior monks. Five animals. Five fighting styles. One big martial arts adventure.

Tiernan, Cate. Balefire: A Chalice of Wind. Penguin Razorbill, 2005. 1-59514-045-X.,

Balefire: A Circle of Ashes. Penguin Razorbill, 2005. 1-59514-046-8. Twin witches, together at last, fighting ancient evil.

Volponi, Paul. Black and White. Penguin Viking, 2005. 0-670-06006-2. Marcus and Eddie, aka Black and White: who takes the rap when your best friend pulls the trigger?

Whyman, Matt. Boy Kills Man. Harper Tempest, 2005. 0-06-074664-5. 12-year old assassins trapped in a Colombian drug lord’s war.

Williams, Lori Aurelia. Broken China. Simon & Schuster, 2005. 0-689-86878-2. After her daughter dies, 14-year old China works in a strip club to repay her debts.

Members of the YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers committee are: Jamie Watson, Chair, Harford County (Maryland) Public Library; Sarah Couri, New York Public Library; Stacy L. Creel-Chavez, University of North Texas; Katherine H. Fitch, Rachel Carson Middle School (Virginia); Susan Y. Geye, Crowley Independent School District (Texas); MaryAnn Harlan, Arcata High School (Calif.); Sara Catherine Howard, Sam Houston State University (Texas); Teri S. Lesesne, Sam Houston State University (Texas); Hillias Jackson Martin, New York Public Library; Kimberly A. Patton, Lawrence (Kansas) Public Library; Rollie Welch, Cleveland (Ohio) Public Library; Jennifer Mattson, consultant Booklist, Chicago; Administrative Assistant Ty Burns, Cypress Springs High School (Texas).