by Alicia Rudnicki, Library Mix

I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets: Six Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure, edited by Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith, HarperTeen, 2009, ISBN 978-0-06-172684-2
Available at Powell's Books

Ask young adult, better known as YA, librarians about what memoirs teens like and they may draw a blank. However, ask teachers  about the subject and they will say  that students certainly like to tell their own life stories.

Smith Magazine
After creating the popular Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure, the editors of Smith Magazine decided to challenge teens to write their own life stories in six words.

What resulted is a book that Smith bills as having “600 authors.” It is a useful teaching tool for encouraging concise, colorful writing.

Lives in brief
The broad range of subjects in I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets includes frustrations with family, disappointment with achievements, identity and sexuality. Here are some examples:

• Jocelyn wrote that she was, “Defined by numbers: age, weight, SATs.”

• Writing a romance for our digital times, Chris recalled, “Met online; love before first sight.”

• Creating a metaphor for the struggle of her life, Amanda said, “I’m army boots. Ready for battle.”

• The reader can’t help but want to send a hug to Traci, who wrote, “Ripped open, sewn back up, healing.”

• Clever Nic commented, “I’m just a simple human. Being.”

• And Martha offered a caution to all who love print a bit too much: “Spent more time reading than living.”

A rare read
I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets is one of those rare books that reluctant readers are guaranteed to crack open during reading and writing classes.

 Here are six final words to consider: I found it at the library.

by Alicia Rudnicki, Library Mix

Perhaps you know someone like Ethan, Julius, Jake, Lizzie, Hannah, Amanda or Maggie. Perhaps after you read about them in Claudia Mills’ insightful tween-to-teen novels, they will seem like some of the kids on your block or at school.

They are the boys and girls next door worrying about problems including absentee dads, bad grades, cruel classmates, first love and intolerance.

Kids caught in the middle
Mills specializes in telling stories about children in the middle—kids from third grade through middle school and kids caught in the middle of the proverbial rock and a hard place.

Although Ethan doesn’t like Lizzie writing lovesick poetry about him, he doesn’t know how to make her stop without hurting her feelings in the worst way.

Julius has decided to define himself as a slacker. He has given up trying to do well in school, thinking that nothing he does will gain his parents’ approval.

Hannah wants to make friends, yet she fears that by fitting in she will lose herself.

Amanda is caught between two parents she loves but whose bickering has created civil war at home.

And Maggie knows she shouldn’t be falling for bad boy Jake, but fall she must into life-changing trouble.

Creating likable characters
In addition to having published more than 40 books, ranging from picture books to novels for young teens, Mills is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Philosophers excel at pondering problems about making choices.

Mills’ characters are good thinkers who strive to do the right thing, especially after they do what is wrong.  The author succeeds not only at tuning in to the concerns of young teens but also at creating likable characters who seem real and really nice. That is why Mills has won many awards, including the 2008 Colorado Book Award for The Totally Made-Up Civil War Diary of Amanda MacLeish. See Library Mix's May 8, 2010 Mix & Shake Blog for more about this powerful book.

Here are five quick peeks into the lives of some of Mills’ characters beginning with Ethan, Julius and Lizzie, all of whom live in the same neighborhood and inhabit three of the author’s novels. Mills classifies these novels as being among her "oldies," but they are certainly goodies.

Losers, Inc., by Claudia Mills, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997,
ISBN 978-07-8-681274-5
Ethan would like to be an academic and sports all-star similar to his older brother, but he never feels like he measures up in his accomplishments or his height. Peter always towers over him. So Ethan begins detailing his shortcomings in a book titled Life Isn’t Fair: A Proof. His best friend, Julius, suggests that they celebrate their mediocrity by forming a club called Losers, Inc. But Ethan disappoints Julius by deciding to become an excellent student when he develops a crush on his new student teacher. Then he dismays the ever-kind Julius by participating in a mean prank intended to get his lovesick classmate, Lizzie, to stop writing poems about him.

You’re A Brave Man, Julius Zimmerman, by Claudia Mills,
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999, ISBN 978-0-37-438708-2
There is no time for Julius to give in to the temptations of summer. His mother has developed an ambitious plan to improve him. It includes lots of reading, a summer job babysitting a difficult preschooler, and daily French lessons with the dreaded Madame Cowper who mortifies him by making everyone do “le Hokey Pokey.” Poor Julius can’t understand when to put his right foot in, take it out or shake it all about. It also really stinks that he has to potty train little Edison Blue or spend the summer changing diapers. Worse yet, he would like to appear manly to Edison’s beautiful and mysterious neighbor, Octavia, but she teases Julius for playing in the sandbox with Edison and his potty chair.

Lizzie at Last, by Claudia Mills, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000,
ISBN 978-0-37-434659-1
Lizzie loves school but dreads the beginning of seventh grade. She just doesn’t fit in. Classmates make fun of the romantic, old-fashioned dresses she loves and criticize her for being a brainiac in all her classes.  Lizzie’s Aunt Elspeth treats her to a shopping spree at The Gap to help Lizzie take the first step toward fitting in. Then Lizzie seeks advice from her nemesis, mean Marcia, about how to make Ethan like her. That’s when Lizzie learns how to giggle, flirt, and act like she doesn’t know all the answers in math. The only problem is that while Marcia’s boyfriend begins to like her, Ethan grows more distant.

Hannah On Her Way, by Claudia Mills, MacMillan Publishing Company, 1991, ISBN 0-689-71754-7
At ten years old, Hannah still loves to play dolls and wear her long, blonde hair in a braid. She enjoys building ice sculptures with her parents and spending long, solitary hours sketching her cat. Unlike the popular girls, Hannah isn’t interested in make-up or talking about boys. But she has no friends. It bothers her when the noisy, new girl, Caitlin, must sit next to her. What bothers her more is the ease with which Caitlin befriends the popular girls. Then Caitlin surprises Hannah by trying to become her friend. Of course, the surprises don’t stop there, and some are uncomfortable for Hannah.

Standing Up to Mr. O, Farrar, by Claudia Mills, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, paperback by Hyperion, 1998, ISBN 0-786-81404-7
Similar to Lizzie and Hannah, Maggie is an excellent student. Her favorite teacher is Mr. O., the biology instructor who always cracks corny jokes at the beginning of class. Normally the best student in his class, Maggie gets in trouble with him when she expresses her moral aversion to cutting open a live worm. Instead of participating in the dissection, she chooses to earn an “F” on her lab assignment. When the class tough guy, Jake, joins in the protest, things start getting ugly yet romantic at the same time.

Contacting the author
Claudia Mills is becoming  increasingly popular, so chances are good that you will find her books at your local library. Although she enjoys all the awards that she has won, Mills says the greatest reward is hearing from students who have enjoyed her books. To send her a note or learn more about how she became a writer, visit Mills homepage.

by Alicia Rudnicki, Library Mix

Teens who enjoy sharing their opinions about good books they have read, often can publish their views on public library websites. Many libraries nationwide now have teen blog pages where you can share your opinions.

Some libraries help edit the reviews before they are posted. Others post them exactly the way you write them.

When vampires dry up
Do you love all the vampire, werewolf, and zombie tales crowding library shelves these days or are you beginning to feel like “been there; done that” and want something new? Publishers are busy asking themselves what will happen when Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight fades.

 By offering your opinions on what’s hot and what stinks, you help to determine what gets published. Maybe you have discovered the next big publishing phenomenon. Will it be the futuristic teen gladiators of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins?

Teen blogs around the nation
If your local library doesn’t have a teen blog, maybe you can help it start one. Here are some examples to check out.

Teen Books & More
Carnegie Public Library, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Teen Book Blog
Cheshire Public Library, Cheshire, Connecticut

Book Reviews for Teens
Chicago Public Library, Chicago, Illinois

Evolver Teen Picks
Denver Public Library, Denver, Colorado

Read It! For Teens by Teens
Jefferson County Public Library, Colorado

For Teens Blog
Mead Public Library, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Your Reviews
Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon

Novi Teens Read
Novi Public Library, Novi, Michigan

Teenspace
Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

So read on, write on, and let publishers know what you like!

by Alicia Rudnicki, Library Mix

Click Here (to find out how I survived seventh grade), by Denise Vega, 2005,
ISBN 0-316-05899-8

It is the beginning of Erin Penelope Swift’s first year in middle school, and she is scared of the social challenges to come. In short, she isn’t feeling too swift.

Erin’s feet are way too big and present a great opportunity for teasing. Her body is straight as a yardstick and holds no promise of curves. Her best friend, the beautiful, theatrical Jilly, has been assigned to another “track” and only sees her before school and at lunch. Her worst elementary school enemy, Serena, is on her track and out to get her.

Finally, Mark (also known as “Cute Boy” in Erin’s private blog) is friendly, but doesn’t seem to think of her as “Cute Girl.” She is just one of his best friends in the computer club and on the basketball court.

 Welcome to Molly Brown Middle School. Welcome to Erin’s “Year of Humiliating Events.” Welcome to Denise Vega’s truly funny tween novel Click Here (to find out how i survived seventh grade).

Click Here won the 2005 Colorado Book Award for young adult fiction. Vega notes that it was the sixth novel she wrote and the first to get published. Four years later, she won the Colorado Book Award again for another teen novel, Fact of Life #31. This year, Vega’s vibrant picture book, Grandmother, Have the Angels Come, has been nominated for a Colorado Book Award for children’s literature.

In Click Here, 12-year-old Erin is confused about a lot of things. Does she really not have a mind of her own as Serena Worthington (a.k.a. Serena Poopendena) implies by calling her a “puppet?” Is it true that she always lets Jilly dress her and tell her what choices to make? Will she be kicked out of school for popping Serena Poopendena in the nose? Is Jilly really blind to Erin’s crush on cute Mark? Doesn’t Mark see that it is torture for her to discuss Jilly while shooting hoops one-on-one with him?

The messier her life gets, the funnier Erin’s story becomes. Fortunately, she befriends the philosophical school custodian, Mr. Foslowski, who advises her not to be too sad about not having a boyfriend.

“Friends are like a good Tootsie Pop,” Mr. Foslowski. “They last longer.” Mr. F encourages Erin to reach for a cherry Tootsie Pop whenever life gets tough.

 Like a Tootsie Pop, Vega’s novel is sweet and gives readers plenty to chew on. Readers who have just entered their teen years will likely also enjoy the novel’s sequel, Access Denied (and other eighth grade error messages), which is more bittersweet than sugary.