Young Adult Literature without Apology

Amy's assessment of contemporary young adult literature, organized by author and title, censored by noone.

Realistic | Romance | Science Fiction | Historical Fiction | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

Lubar, David (2005). Sleeping Freshemen Never Lie. NY: Dutton Juvenile. ISBN: 0525473114. 160 pages.

In the tradition of Ellen Conford's Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Handbook of Rules and Regulations, Lubar delivers a funny take on the first year of high school. Scott and his three best friends resolve to stick together during their freshman year, but fate (in the form of girlfriends, sports teams and a transferred dad) intervenes to send their best-laid plans awry. Within the first few months, Scott finds himself the unwilling source of a bully's lunch money, an unlikely sports reporter and a lackey on the school play's stage crew. Told in the first person as a narrative and as a series of journal entries, Scott's voice is smart, funny and just a little sarcastic. While the first- high-school-experience narrative is one that speaks to a relatively limited number of YAs (once you survive freshman year, you don't really want to read about it anymore), this would be a good one to recommend to middle school readers.