Specials was originally supposed to be the final installation in an Uglies trilogy, but I can certainly see why people couldn’t help but write to Scott Westerfeld to explain the “secret definition of trilogy” and beg for another book! Somehow, although I was super-excited to get one more chance to read about the world of the Uglies, I managed to forget to post about this book when I finished… Please forgive my slacker ways!
There have been a whole lot of changes in the world since Tally Youngblood and her friends exposed the truth about the mind-alterations that routinely took place during surgery to make Pretties more complacent. Now, there are a lot of “tech heads” who get high-tech upgrades during surgery and “surge monkeys” who get extreme modifications to stand out and be different. In Japan, there is now a pretty strong “reputation economy” in which a person’s “face rank” (popularity/infamy) dictates his/her power and wealth — a throw-back to the old days when superstars had tons of power and influence just because they were famous. This story centers around a 15-year-old Japanese girl named Aya Fuse, whose goal is to become a famous “kicker” like her brother. She knows that finding a story big enough, and being the first one to kick the story to all the feeds, would boost her pathetically low face rank.
When Aya finds an amazingly kick story — a secret clique called the Sly Girls who enjoy extreme stunts like train surfing — she is torn between remaining loyal to her new friends and finally attaining the level of fame she has hungered for so long. But then, the Sly Girls stumble across something that could be weapons of mass destruction and Aya wonders if she even has the right to keep quiet anymore. Fame always seemed so cool, but kicking this story could put her in the sights of some very dangerous people. Will Aya have the nerve to follow in the tracks of Tally Youngblood and risk herself for the greater good, or is face rank really all that matters to her?
Happy Reading!
All Alli wanted was to get a new start in 7th grade. After spending a large portion of the 6th grade at home — sick and bed-ridden with a mysterious illness that turned out to be a serious ear infection which affected her balance and made her too dizzy to stand or walk — she gained a bunch of weight AND fell off the social radar.
Matt Pin is 12 years old, which is a difficult enough time for many tweens. But, he is also the son of a Vietnamese woman and an American soldier who is living with his adoptive parents [in America] in 1977. Matt’s birth mother handed him over to the soldiers who were air-lifting out children in the hope that he would have a better life, but he is both haunted by his past and bullied by his peers. Even though his adoptive parents and brother are very loving, and he has earned a place on the school baseball team, Matt has a hard time believing that he deserves to be happy when his birth mother and biological brother remain in Vietnam.
Zac Baxter has long been told about his royal African roots, the hidden treasure to which he is entitled, and the conspiracy that is keeping it all covered up. But, he has always thought that Pops (his grandfather) was making it all up. When his grandfather gets attacked and ends up dead, though, Zac starts to wonder if there might be some truth to all those stories. After all, the people who killed Pops stole the diaries that Pops always claimed to be the indisputable proof of both his royal lineage and the British government’s willful involvement in the enslavement of an African prince. Zac begins to investigate a few things, and then everything gets out of hand very quickly. Either Zac is getting truly paranoid, or there really ARE people coming after him and trying to kill him to keep this story under wraps. Before long, Zac is fighting for his life at a supposed mission in Ghana, and he has no idea in whom he can trust. A great mystery, packed with action and adventure, with a very interesting look into the history of slavery as well.
Auden was never a typical girl — or even a typical kid, for that matter. Having parents who worked in academia surely played a part in this development, but they never really pressured Auden to be so studious. She just kind of felt safer in that environment and gravitated toward being an overachiever. Instead of playing with dolls or riding bikes, she studied and joined the “geek” clubs that focused on math and science. It paid off, in a sense, by getting her into an prestigious college… but Auden knew she was missing something. The summer before college, Auden decides to spend some time with her father [and his new wife and baby]. And while she knew that life would be somewhat different than it had been at home with her mom, she had no idea how much a single summer could change her. What started as a part-time job keeping the books at her step-mom’s trendy clothing boutique eventually became a gateway to friendship with some “normal” teenagers. As soon as Auden learns to stop judging people based on how they look, she starts to catch up on a lot of the things she missed out on during her childhood — like learning to ride a bike. There’s so much more to this story that I just can’t put into words (at least, if I want to do them justice), so you just have to trust me. If you like Sarah Dessen, this is a book you need to read!
Since 
I think this book is more aimed at adult women, but it reflects back on their journeys through adolescence and the assistance they found by reading Judy Blume books, so it would probably resonate well enough with teen readers as well. There are 24 different essays, with some stories written by current YA authors like Meg Cabot, Megan McCafferty, and Lara M. Zeises. Each of the writers shares her own story of growing up and experiencing “Judy Blume moments” in her adolescence. The writers not only draw the parallels between their own lives and the lives of characters in Judy Blume’s books, but they go on to explain how sharing this connection with a literary character helped them to realize they were not alone — because it’s surely happened to other girls if there is a character in a book to whom it’s happened!
Kevin Roose grew up in a very liberal family — complete with gay aunts. His parents worked for Ralph Nader. He even attended Brown University… So, how did this guy end up attending one of the largest and most strict evangelical Christian universities in the US? He was curious. After visiting Liberty University for a journalism assignment, Kevin realized that he had a very difficult time relating to his evangelical Christian peers and wondered about ways he could get to know them better. After some self-reflection, he decided that spending a semester at Liberty (as a transfer student) would be the best way to immerse himself in Christian culture and to come away with a better understanding of what makes evangelical Christians “tick.”
This book houses three short stories — with extensions of characters we’ve met before — from teens in Mr. Nak’s “Angry Management” class. Fans have long been asking Crutcher why he hasn’t had sequels of books like 
I have absolutely no idea why it took me so long to read this book! It has been popular with kids at my library right from the start, and then it went on to get tons of attention from librarians and teachers, so I should have just picked it up and seen what all the fuss was about… but I didn’t. Now that there are four books in the series (with a 5th book expected in 2010) AND a movie in the works, it’s kinda hard to keep ignoring it! I just HAD to see why everyone loved this book so much, and it didn’t take long once I picked up a copy and started to read. The story has plenty for kids to relate to — like weird parents, a crazy older brother, and school bullies — and the cartoons were hilarious! Even though the story could have been told in strictly prose format, there is no doubt that the diary style writing and plentiful illustrations help to attract [and hook] a lot of reluctant readers. If you know anyone in 5th-7th grade who haven’t read this book, you should hand them a copy. While I try not to make sweeping generalizations, I can honestly say that I can’t imagine there are more than a handful of Tweens who wouldn’t like it.