Panthers are invited once again to take part in the Media Center’s Florida Teens Read/Paw Prints program for this year. Students who read one of the FTR or PP books may come to the media center to take a quiz. A passing score is 70%. Students who pass will be given a symbolic charm for that book and a quiz certificate. Extra credit may be earned if you show me your successful certificate! We only allow a student to retake a quiz if the teacher authorizes it. Students who pass the most quizzes will be invited to the teen literature celebration in May.
Barnes, Jennifer Lynn. The Naturals
At 17, Cassie is recruited by the FBI because they recognize that she is a natural profiler. She joins a team of extraordinary teens in Washington D. C. to undergo professional training, but she soon finds herself mixed up in a dangerous case that involves her missing mother. (crime fiction)
Bodeen, S. A. The Raft
Robie is fifteen and very independent. She frequently flies from her home on the Midway Atoll to visit her Aunt in Honolulu. When her plane goes down in the Pacific Ocean on her return trip, Robie has to deal with thirst, hunger, and other dangers as she struggles to survive the shark infested waters in a life raft. (survival fiction, environmental issues)
Busby, Cylin. Blink Once
West was a talented dirt-bike racer until a severe accident left him paralyzed and unable to speak. He learns to communicate to another patient, Olivia, through blinking and writing. West falls in love with Olivia, but as he begins to recover he discovers that Olivia may not be who he thought she was. (medical fiction)
Casella, Jody. Thin Space
Between world of the living and the world of the dead, there can be a thin space that makes travel between the two realms possible. If only Marsh can find a thin space, he can come to terms with his twin brother’s death, and lay his guilt to rest. It seems impossible so he looks for places in bare feet where someone may have died the same place they were born. Then he meets Maddie, who offers to help him in his search and a tragic mistake is revealed. (afterlife fiction)
de la Peña, Matt. The Living
Shy takes a job on a cruise ship to help his mother and sister pay the family bills. Sounds like a great job, right? Girls, free food, free room, and different passengers on every cruise. Then a massive earthquake happens, bigger than has ever been recorded and life for Shy is changed forever. Life becomes a battle to survive for those left alive. In addition, there is a disease that is killing people in Shy’s family and neighborhood. How is Shy’s job related to this? Can he save anyone? Will they believe the truth? (survival fiction)
Griffin, Paul. Burning Blue
Popular Nicole Castro is adored for her beauty—until the day a hooded assailant sprays burning acid on her face, scarring her forever. As Nicole attempts to heal, she and classmate Jay Nazzaro begin an unlikely friendship. Jay suffers from chronic seizures and understands what it’s like to be seen as different. As he develops feelings for Nicole, he becomes determined to use his computer hacking skills to catch her attacker. (fiction)
Harden, Blaine. Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
Shin was born in a North Korean prison camp in 1982 and endured a life of hunger, hard labor, and punishment. He memorized the ten camp laws including, “Anyone caught escaping will be shot immediately.” He knew nothing else until his escape in 2005. Shin is the only known person born inside a North Korean camp to escape to freedom. His incredible story of walking to China is told by journalist Blaine Harden who goes to great lengths to document the facts and relate them to what is known of North Korea’s people, politics, and government. (nonfiction)
Marriott, Zoë. Shadows on the Moon
Suzume’s life feels perfect and carefree until the day she witnesses her beloved father’s murder. Her mother quickly remarries her father’s best friend, and Suzume feels her old identity and life slipping away so she must be brave. As Suzume struggles to adapt, she discovers that she is a Shadow Weaver, a person who can magically weave illusions. Suzume can appear to be anyone, and as she hones her magical abilities, she becomes bent on revenge. Will a chance at love sway her dark plans? (fantasy fiction)
Rowell, Rainbow. Eleanor & Park
Two teen misfits, Eleanor, overweight, flamboyant and bullied, and Park, half-Korean, into comics and alternative music, living in Omaha, Nebraska in the 1980s forge an unlikely relationship that blossoms into first love. This is a smart, touching romance with an undercurrent of tension and darkness that will keep you in suspense until the very last page. (bullying, abuse, love fiction; mature language)
Sáenz, Benjamin Alire. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Set in the summer of 1987, two Hispanic boys, Aristotle, an angry loner, and, Dante, gregarious and outgoing, meet and form a deep and special friendship. Aristotle struggles with family issues including an older brother in prison and a father carrying baggage from his wartime experience. This is a beautifully told story of two young men trying to figure out who they are, who they will become, and where their friendship will take them. This is a coming of age story involving issues of homosexuality. (fiction)
Woodson, Jacqueline. Beneath a Meth Moon: An Elegy
Fifteen-year-old Laurel is the new girl in Galilee, Iowa. She makes a new best friend, easily earns a spot on the cheerleading team, and catches the attention of the star basketball player. She is unable to heal from the tragedy her family left behind in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina and escapes into a world of meth. She meets Moses while begging for change and he is concerned the drug will take her life like so many other young people he knows. (fiction)