Romance

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Publisher Info: Dutton Books, New York, NY, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-525-47881-2
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Romance
Awards: YALSA's Top Ten Teen Books Nominee (2012)
Author Info: John Green is an award winning and New York Times best selling author. He is runs several successful Youtube channels including the Vlogbrothers. The Vlogborthers is a videoblog between him and his younger brother Hank Green that they started back in 2007. It has lead to the development of the Nerdfighters, a group that celebrates all things nerdy and try to decrease world suck through charitable donations and activism. John also has an educational youtube channel called Crash Course that produces short educational videos on history. John is married with a son and is an extremely interactive author with his fans. He communicates with them through Twitter, Youtube, and his tumbler account. John tours the world talking about his books and his various side projects. Before John's career took off as a write he worked for the magazine Booklist. It was there that he started working on his debut novel and became friends with Irene Cooper, who John credits for his writing success. John's debut novel won him a Printz Award and critical acclaim. Since then John has released 7 books, 2 of those were collaborations with other authors. His most recent book has named by many critics as the best novel of 2012.
Plot Summary: Hazel Grace has terminal cancer and despite medicine that has shrunk her tumor Hazel is dying. For now the medicine has prolonged her life for the foreseeable future. Hazel spends her days attached to a breathing machine at home. She occasionally leaves to attend cancer meetings with other teens. But for Hazel she believes that it's best if she interacts with as few people as possible. She is afraid of hurting people with her death so she chooses not to interact. Then Hazel meets Augustus waters, or Gus as she calls him. Gus lost his leg to cancer but with his cancer currently in remission and and 80% survival rate Gus has a different outlook on life than Hazel. Soon, Hazel finds herself falling for Gus despite her attempts to not get attached to people. Hazel and Gus bond over Hazel's favorite book An Imperial Affliction which ends mid sentence. The two deal with falling in love and the problems that come with loving someone who is dying.
Critical Review: This book is on almost every Top Ten Book list for 2012 and it's easy to see why. John Green has written a touching, somber and at time humorous story on what it means to love  and lose. Like John Green's previous work, his teen characters are far more developed and insightful than most teens in YA fiction. He doesn't sugarcoat cancer or how it is to be sick, but rather he tells and honest and poignant story that leaves the reader heartbroken at the end. There are few books that could be compared to this one and the appeal of this book will reach beyond just teen readers. The parents in the story are also well developed and so human in their emotions. They aren't just one dimensional characters like some parents tend to be in YA fiction. Rather Hazel's parents show the heartbreak and struggles that parents of teens with caner go through. For a teen this might give them some insight into the view of a parent.
Book Talking Ideas: There is so many wonderful quotes in the book from Hazel and Augustus that I think using one of them to open up a book talk would be a great idea. Also, the book is about cancer but it truly is a love story and I think using that to appeal to teens would draw in a lot of readers.
Curriculum Ties: The book would be a wonderful addition to a high school English class. It has many  themes that could be discusses, like love and loss and how one lives their life when they know it will be short.
Reading/Interest Level: The reading level is high school. The interest level would probably be older high school and adult. Though, younger teens might be drawn to the book but there is a lot of heavy emotions in the book to deal with so it may be too mature in that sense for middle school readers.
Challenge Issues: The only real challenge issue may be the somewhat graphic nature of the cancer and it's treatments. Some people may find it too graphic.

Title: Lament
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publishing Info: Flux, Woodbury, Minn., 2008.
ISBN: 97897387000
Genre: Romance, Fantasy
Author Info: Maggie Stiefvater is a quirky writer who lives with her husband and two children in Virginia. Before becoming a fulltime write Maggie was a calligraphy artist, wedding musician, technical editor and equestrian artist. Maggie debuted with Lament and gained notariaty with her popular wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy. Her book the Scorpio Races gained critical acclaim, winning the Printz Honor award (2012). She recently release The Raven Boys which has already received praise for it's writing.
Plot Summary: Dierdre is a reserved teen girl who is a talented harp player. But one day Dierdre starts seeing clovers everywhere and a mysterious and handsome boy, Luke shows up in her life. Dierdre soon learns that she is a cloverhand, that basically she can see fairies and that fairies are drawn to her. Luke is a fairy assassin who has been sent by the fairy queen to kill Dierdre. The fairy queen fears Dierdre and is afraid that the fey will be drawn to Dierdre through her music and could then overthrow the queen and take the crown for herself. Dierdre has a best friend, James, who is secretly in love with Dierdre and is not too thrilled with Dierdre's new found attraction to the mysterious Luke.
Critical Review: Maggie Stiefvater does a great job of weaving celtic lore and music into a romantic story about fairies. As her debut novel is really show cases her ability to write great characters. At times the plot falls a bit flat, and it seems the reader is just suppose to accept certain parts of the plot without argument but her characters really carry the story.
Reader's Annotation: Dierdre's life is pretty normal, she spends her days working on her music. She loves to play the harp and spends most her time with her best friend James playing music together. Then Dierdre starts to see clovers everywhere and when a mysterious man shows ups Dierdre finds herself attracted to the handsome mysterious stranger. But the stranger turns out to be a fairy assassin sent to kill Dierdre and Dierdre finds herself in the strange world of fairies.
Book Talk Ideas: The love story is between Dierdre and her would be fairy assassin, which of course is a star crossed love story pairing. A book talk could center around this romance and the problems with falling in love with an assassin fairy sent to kill you.
Reading Level/Interest: middle school to high school
Curriculum Ties:  The book references celtic folklore and music and could tie in nicely with a history unit on celtic folklore.
Challenge Issues: The stories feature fairies and magic.
Why Include this book? Fairies are immensely popular and this story weaves a nice blend of traditional celtic folklore with modern day fairies. Maggie Stiefvater is an author growing in popularity and many teens have been seeking out her earlier works.