The Barcode Tattoo

Weyn, S. (2004). The Barcode Tattoo. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc. Point Thriller imprint.

•Plot Summary
Kayla is on the verge of her seventeenth birthday when her world falls apart. Already advised that despite her artistic talent she will not be eligible for scholarships due to sub par grades in her computer classes, she is devastated when her father commits suicide for unknown reasons related to the tattoo almost everyone in the U.S. over the age of seventeen has begun to wear, tattoos that contain information about everything from blood type to life history. Her mother becomes an alcoholic drug user, but will not tell Kayla what she knows, not even after Kayla finds her mother reading the FBI file on her father. The file reports more than just bank information and salary details now as well, it also contains information about a person's genetic code, information that world technology leader Global-1 is using in order to weed out Undesireables. Suddenly, only those with the right genetic information can advance in their jobs, and others (like Kayla's father) are fired. Global-1 has been manipulating the world food supply since 2015, but now they are also placing microchips in healthy babies, while the ones that show genetic codes given to predispositions for heart disease or mental illness (again like Kayla's father-a potential schizophrenic) are simply left to die in cold rooms or given lethal injections. As part of a group of young people trying to fight back against the barcode trend, Kayla becomes involved with charismatic Zekeal, but he is working as part of a group for Global-1, finally convinced that a rebellion will never succeed. Ultimately, Kayla flees to the Adirondack Mountains, a place she has been having visions about since she first joined with the group. Led by the psychic energy of a woman named Eutonah, Kayla and others develop their mental abilities rapidly, no longer influenced by the dulling work of Global-1's tactics or the company's strategy of disallowing further human evolution without their intervention. Together with the boy she loves, Mfumbe, Kayla at last feels enough resolve and assurance in the cause to plan a meeting in Washington, D.C. in order to overthrow the work Global-1 has done.

•Critical Evaluation
This is a heart-pounding race for time sort of novel, in which it's easy to get lost. Kayla is not a superheroine, even after developing her psychic abilities well enough to revive a dead bird, but this makes the story seem more plausible. She and her friends are young people caught in a complex series of manipulations by adults, and this novel helps revive the concept of be careful who you believe, and why.

•Reader’s Annotation
Good read for those concerned about how technology is homogenizing society as a whole, and the implications of being too easily led down a certain path.

•Information about the author
Suzanne Weyn was born in Flushing, New York, in 1955. Her father, Theodore, was a pharmacist, her mother, Jacqueline, an artist. Like Kayla, Suzanne was interested in art, but also theatre and literature all through high school and college. She graduated from Binghamton University in 1977, and became an editor of teen magazines for Starlog Press.

She has written over fifty novels for children and teens, mainly from the science fiction and fantasy genres, and has worked as an editor for Scholastic, Inc. She also teaches classes on expository and business writing for City College of New York, and NYU. She and her husband, William Gonzalez, have been married since 1986, and have two daughters.

•Genre
Science Fiction, Thriller

•Curriculum Ties
Computers, Technology, Global Commerce

•Booktalking Ideas
Dystopian novels, global takeover by corporations, loss of identity, de-civilization

•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 9-12/Ages 14-19

•Challenge Issues
N/A/

•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I've always been interested in dystopian novels, and the concept of having to revert to a simpler lifestyle in order to avoid the "machine". When I picked up this novel, I thought it was only another sci fi thriller about the barcode, a concept discussed when I was in middle/high school, as a sort of "what if" concept. That Kayla and her friends ended up in the mountains, and regained some of what humanity might have lost or was slow in achieving due to too much tech, was just an added bonus.

What I Saw and How I Lied

Blundell, J. (2008). What I Saw and How I Lied. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.
ISBN-13: 9780439903486

•Plot Summary
Evie Spooner has always thought her mother (Bev) was beautiful, a woman with the looks of a movie star, and that her step-father, Joe, was just the sort of dad she'd wanted during a childhood of harsh living. It's 1947, and the lean years of WWII are over, rationing has ended, and Joe has started three appliance stores. Then, one night the phone rings, and the next morning Joe has Evie and her mother along for vacation in Palm Beach. It's the off season, and their hotel as very few guests, but it's at the pool that Evie meets Peter Coleridge, who served with Joe. As it turns out, the two made off with a small fortune in goods that had been confiscated first from the Jews by German soldiers, and then by Joe and Peter when the Nazi's surrendered. But Joe made it home first, and rather than save Peter's share as promised, he invests some, and keeps the rest. During this vacation, Joe meets Tom Grayson, and the two plan to buy/manage a hotel together, but Tom is thrown out of the existing hotel when it's discovered that he is Jewish. Evie falls in love with the handsome, sincere Peter, unaware that her mother has been carrying on an affair with him. It isn't until Joe, Bev, and Peter go out in a boat right before a hurricane hits Florida, that the truth begins to surface. Evie knows that what is described as an accident, may have been murder, and that her parents might have killed Peter in order to keep the remaining money. Following the inquest, during which Evie lies about having her own affair with Peter, she removes the remaining money from its home on a closet shelf. Joe had planned to use the money as a down payment on a dream house, but Evie gives it to Mrs. Grayson, knowing it means she will have to continue living with parents that might have lied to her, and Joe's mother, who while she paid for legal services, never even asked if Joe had killed Peter at all.

•Critical Evaluation
A smart read, it begins with an Evie that has managed to remain naive, despite the troubles she and her mother went through before Joe arrived in their lives. In the midst of falling in love, and knowing possible betrayal, Evie quickly matures into a woman.

•Reader’s Annotation
This book may initially come across as suitable for younger teens, but it quickly advances to what could be a wonderful film noire script. One could see this being a Hitchcock style film, especially with the late 40's setting.

•Information about the author
Judy Blundell was living in Palm Beach when she began thinking of the plot for this novel, so many of the street names are ones with which she is in fact familiar. Currently, she lives in Katonah, NY with her husband and daughter.

In 2004, her novel Premonitions became an ALA Reluctant Readers Best Picks and was also chosen by the New York Public Library as a 2004 Best Books for the Teen Age. She is working on the fourth book of the popular The 39 Clues series, and under the name Judy Watson, is working with Lucas Films by writing a journal for the Star Wars character Queen Amidala.

•Genre
Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

•Curriculum Ties
History

•Booktalking Ideas
Racism following WWII, teenagers in the courtroom

•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 11-12/Ages 16-19

•Challenge Issues
Evie is only fifteen, but she's in love with an older man, one her mother is having an affair with, and who is likely the target of her parents' homocide attempt. In combination, any of these factors could make this novel one to be challenged, but Blundell has set the entire novel in such a surreal way, that one almost overlooks the more reprehensible elements, even as they are pointed out.

•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I liked the cover on this one, it reminded me of Hollywood glamour, and I've always been a fan of movies from the 30's and 40's, especially the mysteries.

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.

Summer of Fear

Duncan, L. (1976). Summer of Fear. New York, NY: Laurel-Leaf Books.
ISBN-10: 044098324X

•Plot Summary
When Rachael (Rae) loses her aunt and uncle in an auto accident, her parents immediately leave their home in New Mexico to pick up the remaining family member, Rae's cousin, Julia. Julia's father had moved the family to the Ozarks to live, a writer that didn't want interruptions, and so the family didn't even possess a phone. From the very beginning, however, there is something strange about this plain, oddly speaking girl. Julia's language goes back and forth between the rural dialect of the Ozarks, and the sophisticated phrasing of a the girl Rae knew Julia to be, one that attended boarding school in Boston. Not only that, but Julia seems to have a strange effect on the family dog (who bites her, then mysteriously dies), and most of Rae's friends and family, including Rae's sweetheart, Mike Gallagher. Through these strange circumstances, including Rae being struck by a case of hives that allows Julia to use Rae's dress for the Club dance, and a stroke inflicted on the one person that might have information on Julia's real behavior, Rae comes to realize she is a witch. Julia is not who she appears to be, and it in fact the adult maid that used to keep house for Julia's real parents. She arranged for their deaths, and the deaths of Julia, in the same auto accident. By claiming Julia's identity, she becomes inheritor of the family money and property, a legacy she is not willing to see given to Julia sometime in the future. Rae discovers Sarah (Julia) destroying rolls of film that might reveal she is a witch, and uncovers Sarah's plan to kill both Rae and her mother, so that Sarah can have Rae's father to herself. By convincing Mike to go find her mother on the road where Sarah plans to make her crash, and by not having gone with her mother on a trip to Sante Fe where she too might have died, they are able to save Rae's mother. By the time they return, Sarah has fled, and no one knows where she has gone. The only thing Rae finds...a new article in the newspaper about a family that has gone missing, and no evidence in the final picture they took on their trip, one that should have included the figure of an "unidentified" teenage girl, said to be the daughter's friend.

•Critical Evaluation
Two-hundred pages long, this novel isn't technically short, but it can easily be read in one sitting. Duncan knows her craft well, though the novel is dated due to the lack of cell phones, mention of flare leg jeans, and presence of the local swimming pool being the primary hangout for the teens of the Alberquerque area.

•Reader’s Annotation
Suitable for all teens, possibly slightly younger, although they might think it is rather campy. Reminiscent of the recent film called The Orphan.

•Information about the author
Lois Duncan was born in Florida, the daughter of prominent magazine photographers, and published her first article at the age of thirteen. Her teen years were spent with high school, and publishing in other magazines, like Seventeen. She moved to Alberquerque in 1962, and taught journalism at the University of New Mexico.

In total, she has written forty-eight novels, but is undoubtedly most famous for her teen mysteries, including I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was made into a film. Several of her books have won major awards, such as the American Library Association "Best Books for Young Adults" and Jr. Literary Guild Selections. Lois and her husband, Don, have four children, all of which are artists, composers or illustrators of children books.

•Genre
Mystery, Thriller

•Curriculum Ties
N/A

•Booktalking Ideas
Misconceptions about witchcraft in literature, creepy relative story lines, Lois Duncan novels

•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 8-12/Ages 13-18

•Challenge Issues
N/A

•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I'd never read anything by Lois Duncan or even seen I Saw What You Did Last Summer, which has become something of a cult classic, and been the topic of several spoof films since the 1990s. I was interested in making a comparison between mystery and thrillers for teens during the period when I was born v now, and I rarely read even adult fiction, but when I do, it is normally a mystery novel that I will pick up.