Circ du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (DVD)

Miano, A. (Producer) & Weitz, P. (Director). (Released February 23, 2010). Circ du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Studios.
UPC 025195038393

•Plot Summary
Darren Shan is sixteen, and practically perfect. He's good looking, popular, has stellar grades, and a fantastic family. His best friend, Steve, is the complete opposite. When the two receive an invitation to attend a circus performance intended for adults only, and Steve recognizes the Ring Master as an ancient vampire he read about in a book, things begin to escalate. Steve wants immortality, to be special, but it's Darren that receives this "gift" when he is forced to make amends for his friend's behavior. The circus is filled with freaks of all kinds, the abilities Darren now possesses aren't always what they seem to be, but it turns out you can play on Gameboy consoles in a coffin. Steve is jealous of Darren's new existence, and is adopted by the vampire's main nemesis, the two friends are suddenly becoming sworn enemies.

•Critical Evaluation
Based on the novels by the same name, and suitable for both teens and tweens. Very tongue-in-cheek humor, but great performances by some considerable box office stars (like John C. Reilly-as the vampire, and Salma Hayek-as the bearded lady/seer).

•Reader’s Annotation
Humorous look at life as a near-vampire, from a teen's perspective.

•Information about the author
N/A

•Genre
Film, Movie, DVD, Motion Picture

•Curriculum Ties
History, Literature

•Booktalking Ideas
Halloween, historical accounts of vampires, circus performers/freak shows, tolerance

•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 6-12/Ages 11-19

•Challenge Issues
N/A

•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I missed this film in theaters, but since I have been intending to update my vampire blog (which began as part of a class on Vampirism in Literature-UCSB German 182), I wanted to see this film. Also, I thought my daughter would enjoy it, even if she didn't understand all of the references.

Vampire is Just Not That Into You, The

Mezrich, V. (2009). Vampire is Just Not that Into You, The. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN-13: 9780545202381
ISBN-10: 0545202388

· Plot Summary
Author Vlad presents an amusing collection of quizzes and questionnaires to help every teen find her dream vampire. There are Top Ten lists, and language analysis, testimonials from 'real' teen girls that have dated (or are dating a vampire now), and explanations of how to find survive as a live teen without your vampire after the break-up. Also includes instructions on how to survive (literally) meeting his family, and fantastic vampire related recipes.

· Critical Evaluation
Tongue-in-cheek humor that most teens will appreciate, even the most die-hard vampire enthusiasts. Great collection of things to do, providing not only food for thought, but also guaranteed to keep teens eager about reading.

· Reader’s Annotation
Suitable for teens that date or plan to in the near future, with some enlightening material about human males as potential dates.

· Information about the author
Vlad Mezrich is a notoriously underground author, supposedly a genuine vampire with secrets to tell. Presumably for publicity reasons, nothing else about this author was released to the public.

· Genre
Fiction, Humor

· Curriculum Ties
N/A

· Booktalking Ideas
Teaching teens about self examination and expression. Vampire fans. Halloween reads.

· Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 8-10/15-17

· Challenge Issues
Some parents that are worried about vampires being related to satanism or other such elements can be shown that this title is clearly written as humor, and nothing in it can be taken seriously as a means of finding a boyfriend among a collection of fictional creatures.

· Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I am drawn to anything red, black, and white. As strange as it sounds, those have been my signature colors since before I was a teen, and usually anything with that combination draws me in. I'm also a vampire enthusiast, so one day while looking for a birthday gift for a friend with the same interest, I ran across this. I bought it for fun, because my daughter is too young to date, but it had us both laughing.

Twilight

Meyers, S. (2005). Twilight. New York, NY: Little, Brown, and Company.
ISBN-10: 0316160172

· Plot Summary
When Bella Swan's mother remarries, this time choosing a minor league baseball player, Bella decides to move back in with her father so that her mother can go on the road with her new husband. A lover of sun, and having been living in Phoenix, Bella is ill prepared for the cold, rain, and snow of Forks, Washington. As the new girl, she becomes immediately popular, but is more interested in the local Cullen family than anything else. This is especially true of Edward Cullen, with whom Bella has a tumultuous relationship at the onset, but with whom she falls in love by the end of this first installment of the teen series. Edward's secret, and the reason he cannot stay away from Bella are intertwined, the Cullens being a family of vegetarian vampires. Bella's mother is supposedly kidnapped by the leader of a gang of non vegetarian vampires that come to the area, and when the Cullens kill the leader to save Bella, it sets off a chain of events that will go through into the next novel.

· Critical Evaluation
Even as a teen novel, this one could have been much better with small additions to the content, and had Meyer's writing style been more developed. Instead, her writing is simplistic, and her heroine goes from being her mother's self-proclaimed guardian and protector, to someone that can barely think for herself.

· Reader’s Annotation
Not recommended for teens that might have self esteem issues. Bella is not a strong central character, and Edward comes across as something of a control freak/emo.

· Information about the author
Stephenie Meyer was one of five children, and born two days before Christmas of 1974, in Hartford, CT. Like Bella, however, she grew up in AZ, and attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale. She received a B.A. in English from Brigham Young University in 1997, and is a member of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints. She and her husband, Christian, have three sons.

The Twilight series was the result of a dream Meyer had about a girl in love with a vampire that thirsted for her blood. The dream would become something more, when Meyer's sister insisted she submit the draft she'd written in just under three months, to literary agents. Before becoming an author, Meyer had only ever worked as a receptionist, but for 2008 and 2009 could claim to be the biggest selling author worldwide. Time magazine named Meyer one of its "Most Influential People of 2008". Currently, two of the Twilight series novels have been made into films.

· Genre
Fantasy, Fiction

· Curriculum Ties
Popular Reads

· Booktalking Ideas

· Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 8-9/Ages 15-16

· Challenge Issues
Some parents might have issues with the vampire content in the novel, as many of these types are deeply embedded with sex or sexual overtones. Meyers has intentionally stayed away from that type of material. I think more serious debate should be had over Bella as a heroine, a sixteen year old that loses her ability to think for herself, when a one hundred and seven year old vampire falls in love with her. Edward reads as more of a supplemental father figure to Bella's own father, Charlie, who is unused to having a teenage daughter in his house. This increases throughout the series, and problems such as actual mind control, possible near suicide attempts, teen pregnancy, etc enter into the books by the end.

· Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I included this novel, because a friend gave me a gift certificate to a local bookstore, and I wanted to know if these novels would be suitable for my daughter at a later age.

The Stalker

Nixon, J. (1985). The Stalker. New York, NY: Laurel Leaf Books
ISBN-10: 0440977533

•Plot Summary
Jennifer Lee Wilcox is only months away from her high school graduation, and her boyfriend (Mark) is convinced she is going to marry him as soon as she can. Jennifer, on the other hand, is having second and third thoughts about marrying anyone so soon. When her best friend, Bobbie Trax's mother is found dead, the police think that Bobbie is to blame. Jennifer, knowing where her friend may have hidden out, goes to check on her. Followed by the police, Jennifer is warned, and Bonnie is arraigned. Desperate to help her friend, and unable to get P.I. Mr Biddle or his colleagues to help, Jennifer asks Lucas Maldonaldo, a retired cop. In the meantime, someone is keeping eyes on Jennifer without her knowledge, and her father becomes engaged. Jennifer has been living with her father and grandmother since the death of her own mother, but it's clear that the new couple isn't pleased with the idea of Jennifer's grandmother continuing to live in the house. Together, Jennifer and Lucas unravel a series of credit card fraud cases that have been baffling even the FBI, and Jennifer reveals that it was in fact Mr.Biddle that murdered Stella Trax as part of the scam. Lucas suggests to Jennifer that after two years of college, she might be right for the police academy. To Jennifer, means not only the possibility for a brighter future, but will also provide her grandmother a new home.

•Critical Evaluation
A simplistic novel, although the identity of the murderer is reasonably well covered until the final moments. Despite being just under two hundred pages, it could be read in one sitting. Jennifer is often an annoying character, impatient, and prone to whining.

•Reader’s Annotation
Best for younger teens or possibly reluctant readers.

•Information about the author


•Genre
Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

•Curriculum Ties
N/A

•Booktalking Ideas
Stalkers, basic mystery plots

•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 9-11/Ages 14-16

•Challenge Issues
N/A

•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
This novel takes places in Corpus Christi, which is located only about four hours from where I grew up. I spent a few vacations in Corpus as a teenager.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Graphic Novel)

Edginton, I. (2008). The Picture of Dorian Gray: A Graphic Novel. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
ISBN-13: 9781411415935

•Plot Summary
Dorian Gray is a young man who fears growing old, of losing the adoration of those that love him for his appearance. When painter Basil creates a portrait of Dorian, the young man's wish of remaining young and beautiful becomes possible. The portrait ages, but he does not, and encouraged by the villainous (yet sardonically amusing) Lord Henry, Dorian immerses himself in a lifestyle of depravity. Disregarding the lives of those that come to care for him, and ruining those lives in the process, Dorian does not learn the error of his ways until it is too late. In an act meant to kill the painting, a sign of his inner evil, Dorian inadvertently kills himself.

•Critical Evaluation
Content of the dialogue and thoughts are the same as in Wilde's original work, but the graphics are half-heartedly rendered throughout most of the novel. The only exceptions are as we see the true version of the original painting, and what it slowly becomes. It is hard to see Dorian at the ultimate in beauty, when the pictorials of him are as unexciting and bland as the rest of the characters in the storyline.

•Reader’s Annotation
Graphic novel version of Wilde's classic about a narcissistic youth bent on a life of hedonism.

•Information about the author
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1854, and attended both Trinity College in Dublin, as well as Magdalen College in Oxford. After graduating, he became a member of the Aesthetic movement in London. He toured America using funds from operetta producer D'Oyly Carte. The Picture of Dorian Gray was his only published novel. He had also published three works of short stories and some poetry, but it was his social plays and his lifestyle for which he received the most attention. Following his trial for "gross indecency" (i.e. living as a homosexual and being extravagant), Wilde fled to Paris, where he died penniless three years later.

Ian Edginton has worked for Lucas Films, Paramount Pictures, and 20th Century Fox on comic adaptations of Star Wars, Alien, Predator, and Terminator. He has also done adaptations of works by H.G. Wells, D'Israeli, Edgar Allen Poe, and Steve Yeowell. At the Eisner Awards in 2007, his graphic novel Scarlet Traces was nominated for two awards: Best Limited Series and Best Writer.

•Genre
•Curriculum Ties, if any – if there aren’t any then put N/A by the header.
•Booktalking Ideas (compose in your own words)
•Reading Level/Interest Age
•Challenge Issues, if any and brief idea of how you would prepare, as the librarian, if the material were to be challenged.

What would you provide?
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
(Compose in your own words) and any selection tools that helped
you to select or support of your selection

The Heights

James, B. (2009). The Heights. New York, NY: Square Friends.
ISBN-13: 9780312607364

•Plot Summary
Henry was rescued on a rainy day in San Francisco, but Catherine's Earnshaw's father. Raised as brother and sister, the two are instead in love, and inseparable. At least, until the day Catherine's father dies, and her real brother, Hindley, takes over the household. Henry is taken from his known existence, placed in a violent public school, forced to live in the basement, and told to avoid Catherine unless he wants to become a ward of the state. As Catherine begins to make new friends, and falls for a boy of similar social standing (Edgar), Henry's feelings become more and more unpredictable. Trapped between the two worlds, and forced to take care of Hindley's pregnant/spoiled wife, Henry finally also resorts to terrorizing Edgar's sister (Isabella). By the end, Catherine is terrified of Henry, but falls to her death. Although there are no witnesses, Henry is placed in a juvenile detention center for two years.

•Critical Evaluation
A retelling, modernized version of Wuthering Heights. To rework such a beloved classic, for teen audiences, was a brave concept. Unfortunately, Henry's predicament, and therefore the troubles of those surrounding him, pales in comparison to the original. Not being in a posh private school, and not forced to flee the house as in the original, Henry's life is still better than most of his public school peers can claimed to having. The rationale behind some of the behaviors, especially by Catherine, are not comparable at all to the original. She just seems like a teen girl trapped in a bad situation, and neither seem like the tortured souls of Bronte's novel.

•Reader’s Annotation
Lackluster, contemporary account of the Bronte original.

•Information about the author
Brian James has authored almost twenty books for children and teens, and writes in a home office surrounded by action figures, stuffed animals, and his favorite CDs. He credits his creativity as originally coming from his setting up plays with his action figures, and fondly recalls that growing up in Philadelphia, he wanted to be a Jedi knight. His period as an author began when he moved to Manhattan, where he lived for almost ten years.

Currently, James lives with his wife and two cats in upstate New York. His favorite television shows tend to be from the comedy and science fiction genres, and if he could travel in time, he has stated he would go as far into the future as it is possible to go. If he ever ceases to write, he believes he'd probably become a teacher.

•Genre
Drama

•Curriculum Ties
Classic literature
English

•Booktalking Ideas
New slants on the classics, immigrant experience, teen violence

•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 9-12/Ages 14-18

•Challenge Issues
N/A

•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I've been a fan of Wuthering Heights since the sixth grade, and I was curious to see how a modern author, especially a man, would rework the material for teen audiences. Had I never read the original, this retelling would probably have been compelling enough to keep my interest, but I found it didn't really keep my attention until the chapter where Catherine dies, and then was lost again in the aftermath section.

Look for Alaska

Green, J. (2005). Look for Alaska. New York, NY: Speak Imprint, Penguin Group.
ISBN-13: 9780142402511

•Plot Summary
Miles Halter has decided that in his pursuit of the "Great Perhaps" (a message from a book), he is going to have his Senior year at the same boarding school is father attended, Culver Creek Boarding School. Soon after he arrives, his new roommate (Chip aka the Colonel), dubs him "Pudge" due to his being incredibly thin, and introduces Pudge to the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. Charismatic Alaska Young isn't just beautiful though, she's also self-named, brilliant at calculus, owns a library of books she plans to read during her lifetime, and suffers from tremendous mood swings for which no one can really account. Amid the pranks against the enemy (the Weekday Warriors), Pudge proving to everyone he may actually know the final last works of every president, and drunken parties, it is revealed that when Alaska was eight, her mother died from a seizure. Alaska's father blamed her, because she was home at the time, and never called for an ambulance. Alaska avoids going home on the holidays, is clinging to her boyfriend (Jake) as if he is the one thing keeping her from a life of sexual promiscuity, and kisses Pudge on the last night she is alive. Pudge and Coronel make it easy for her to escape the school grounds by lighting firecrackers to attract the dean's attention, and no is sure if Alaska was so drunk that she mistakenly hit a police car already stopped at an accident scene or if it was an act of suicide. The only evidence readily available could be taken either way, and it isn't until Pudge has battled through several chapter with the concepts in his religion class, and Alaska's death, that we find out Alaska had forgotten to put memorial flowers on the grave of her mother.

•Critical Evaluation
A believable look at the personalities that might populate a boarding school, with students both sent their for the elite education, and to avoid their lives at home. Pudge is convincing as a sort of lost soul after Alaska passes away, although in some respects it is hard to understand why he's in love with her. Several of the final chapters probably could have been condensed, as the story begins to be bogged down in the "why?" questions being volleyed between Pudge and Coronel.

•Reader’s Annotation
Despite the death of a main character, this book does not become overly dramatic, although it does tend to lose something of its grip. Arguably written this way to mirror the lost and confused feelings of the students.

•Information about the author
Like Pudge, John Green was raised in Florida until moving to Alabama to attend boarding school. In 2000, after graduating from college, he worked as a chaplain at a hospital for children. It was there that he first began to think about writing Looking for Alaska. Following his time as a chaplain, he worked in Chicago for Booklist Magazine. He has also written for National Public Radio's show All Things Considered.

He currently lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife, Sarah. John kept a year-long video blog with his brother, called Brotherhood 2.0, has his own self-titled blog, and is an editor for mental floss. Movie rights for Looking for Alaska was purchased by Paramount Studios, and the screenplay is currently being worked on. Green's second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a Michael L. Printz Honor Book and a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize.

•Genre
Realistic Fiction

•Curriculum Ties
N/A

•Booktalking Ideas
Teen suicide, teen drinking

•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 10-12/Ages 15-19

•Challenge Issues
Teen drinking, promiscuity, and suicide are certainly items that could be addressed as problematic. For each of these, however, it should be pointed out that having a parent being aware of their teen's behavior can counteract the hold these behaviors have. It cannot be proven if Alaska did commit suicide, but the list of signs reviewed by Coronel and Pudge are accurate, and could be followed with further research to see if an individual teen displays possible signs of suicidal thoughts.

•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I've known a few Alaska's in my time, we probably all have, and I wondered how things might work out between she and Pudge. Of course they don't in the end, because she had Jake, and passes away, but I liked the "what is" possibilities.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

Zevin, G. (2007). Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac. New York, NY: Ferrer, Straus, and Giroux.
ISBN-13: 9780374349462

•Plot Summary
What started out as a coin toss between two friends, leads to one of them being able to almost become a new person. Naomi Porter and Will Landsman are best friends, serve on the yearbook committee together, and it's his letter that she reads on awakening in the hospital with the last four years of her life missing from her memory. She does not remember that her parents got a divorce because her mother was having an affair, that the affair ended in a second marriage for her mother, and a little sister (Chloe). She does not remember that she plays tennis with her boyfriend, Ace, or what he looks like. She doesn't even remember what she looks like, only realizes that she isn't the twelve to fourteen year old she feels like, because her body is more mature. She vaguely recalls the boy that came with her in the ambulance, the one that found her at the bottom of the steps, James. She does remember that she was adopted by her parents from Russia, because it was believed her mother could not have children. She'd been found in a typewriter case in the pew of an Eastern Orthodox Church. The other pieces begin to come together again, due to help from Will, Naomi's father, and conversations overheard when she finally returns to school. With memory, also comes the realization that Naomi isn't interested in being who she was before. She breaks off her relationship with Ace, and stops playing tennis. Becoming friends again with one she had in middle school, Alice, she starts working on a theatre production instead of going to yearbook committee meetings and reviews. She gets enthusiastic about photography again, which she had planned to drop before the accident, and spends a great deal of her time thinking about her required final project-one that has to be of a personal nature. Perhaps most importantly to Naomi, at the time, she and James begin to connect. James has a past he cannot forget, an older brother that died of cancer, and what everyone else thought was an attempted suicide via pills. There was Sera, a girl he'd fallen in love with, then been forced away from when he was found her room with his wrist cut. Finally, from out of the blue, Naomi remembers all the things she'd forgotten, but doesn't tell anyone. James and Naomi fall in love, but his depression results in his asking her to fly to L.A. where he has gone to inspect the CSU campus he'd gotten into for college. Naomi's father, who'd covered up the fact he was getting married again, now has a daughter that lies to him. It isn't until James goes missing for several hours, and Naomi is able to access her cell phone in his car, that she realizes her father knows hers was no trip to San Diego for yearbook. She's grounded, although she doesn't seem to mind it so much, and James commits himself to a minor mental health care facility program. Ace and Will have both gotten new girlfriends, and yet Naomi agrees to be Ace's doubles-partner since his had an injury, an event that helps them resolve their problems on a friendly level. Naomi convinces Will to drive her to the house where James is staying, but the reception from her boyfriend is not warm, and soon after she receives a postcard from James, telling her to forget him. Will falls ill with pneumonia and cannot attend, but Naomi has come to like her father's fiancee, and she goes with the couple and Rosa Rivera's twin daughters to Martha's Vinyard, for the wedding. Naomi finally reaches a reconciliation with her mother, to whom she had not been speaking, despite meeting her step-father and sister in a theatre during a production at Christmas. Her mother helps her with a project idea, and Naomi produces a series of photos with a typewriter case in place of herself in each one. Over the phone, she and Will begin to speak again, although on the way back from the mental health facility, she had already confessed regaining her memory. Naomi takes over as Editor of the yearbook committee, and the two drift back toward one another, words of love not spoken-just understood.

•Critical Evaluation
Mediocre novel with an attempt at something deeper that never quite makes the mark, despite it's length. Topics that could have been explored more extensively, and despite Naomi's hopes to the contrary, she does seem to go from one boy to the next.

•Reader’s Annotation
Very basic exploration of what amnesia might be like, and how it could lead to great personal changes, even a chance to redo some things they regret.

•Information about the author
Gabrielle Zevin was born in October of 1977, in New York City, where she still lives. She graduated from Harvard University, and has received a Quill Award, a Border's Original Voices Award, and was nominated in 2007 for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay-Conversations with Women.

To date, she has authored four novels, two of which were created for young adults. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages. She loves dogs, and keeps a personal blog at: http://gabriellezevin.blogspot.com/.

•Genre
Realistic Fiction

•Curriculum Ties
N/A

•Booktalking Ideas
Regret, ability to redo certain things in life, becoming someone else

•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 10-11/Ages 15-16

•Challenge Issues
N/A

•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
This was recommended, and loaned to me, by a co-worker who really enjoys young adult literature. She gave this novel rave reviews, and I was enthusiastic about reading it. The concept was intriguing, mainly because it was from a teen's perspective, someone that presumably would not have many experiences, times, things to forget.