Hero by S.L. Rottman

Sean is a 15 year old boy who has no parent support at home and is always getting in trouble at school. He lives with his mother who is always drunk. His father has been gone for two years. When he gets in trouble at school again, he is sent for community service to Mr. Hassler's farm. Mr. Hassler has a reputation for helping teenage boys who are in trouble. He takes Sean and with responsibility and caring gets him on the right track. The first night he is there, Manda, one of the mares, gives birth to a colt. Sean has to help with the delivery and becomes Knickers friend. Manda doesn't want her baby and even tries to harm him. Sean identifies with the colt and is angry with Manda, just as he is angry with his own mother for the abuse he has suffered at her hand. When his mother ends up in critical condition at the hospital because her liver is failing, Mr. Hassler agrees to keep Sean even though his father shows up and tries to take him. One of Sean's assignments at school is to write an essay, "My Hero Is.."
He and Mr. Hassler have several discussions about heroes. Mr. Hassler has received several medals from his WWII service. In the climax to the story, Sean's enemy, King shows up at the ranch and threatens to shoot Sean, Mr. Hassler, and Knickers, the colt. Sean is shot, but recovers. His essay expresses his frustration at the world he has to live in and the fact that in his life, he has no heroes, no one he can look up to, but he hopes one day to find one. Mrs. Walker, his English teacher, is another support that he realizes he has at school. James is a farm worker who is older than Sean. Mr. Hassler is an older man - grandfather age. Most of the setting is Mr. Hassler's farm, although the beginning of the book takes place at Sean's school.

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Seventeen year old Tess is dying from Leukemia. She has started a list of things she wants to do before she dies.
1. Have sex
2. Say “Yes” to everything
3. Do drugs
4. Break the law
5. Drive
6. Have fame
7. Travel the World - traded for Getting Mom and Dad back together again
8. Love
9. Adam moving in
10. Lauren Tessa Walker - Zoey’s baby
11. A cup of tea
12. Instructions to Dad
13. To hold my brother as dusk settles on the window ledge
14. A joke
15. To get out of bed and go downstairs and its all a joke
Tessa does get to do the things on her list. She meets the young man next door and they fall in love. She helps her friend Zoey who is pregnant and gets to hold her baby. Her parents get back together and she loves her brother. All but her last wish - it’s not a joke. She dies peacefully at the end of the story.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

In a science fiction novel that takes place in the future, Jenna Fox has been in a very severe car accident. She has just awakened from a coma and has no memory. Her parents start showing her movies of her life to help her remember. As her memory starts to return she learns that her body is not her own. She is a robot made of bio-gel, a substance created by her father. Only 10 percent of her brain remains. All the rest of her body is artificial. The bio-gel contains chemical neurotransmitters. They learn from her brain and become smarter. Her memories have all been uploaded from her brain. She and the other two teenagers who were in the car with her have all had their memories stored in computers for future use. The FSEB, which controls all medical procedures, has outlawed the overuse of antibiotics and human organ reproduction. Jenna is illegal. If anyone finds out that she exists, her parents and the scientists who have helped them will be in trouble. Jenna must remain hidden, but she wants her freedom. She wants to be human. She wants friends and the human part of being a terminal being.

This is a great thought provoking science fiction book. It could lead to discussions about what makes us human and how far scientists and doctors should go in saving human life. It would be good to compare to Jules Verne and other classic science fiction novels that were written about things that actually later came to pass, like submarines. Will medical science eventually be able to create human beings from very small particles of actual human beings and what will be the repercussions of these advances? Would you really want to live forever?

The Naming by Alison Croggon

Maerad, a slave in Gilman's Cot is found by Cadvan, a Bard and rescued. They escape and Cadvan discovers that Maerad is the daughter of Pellinor, a school of Bardom that was ransacked and burned. Cadvan believes that Maerad is the Foretold who is come to save the kingdoms. He must take her to Norloch to be trained in her magical powers. On their travels they meet terrible monsters from the Dark and are almost killed. Along the way, they find Hem, who turns out to be Maerad's brother. Although the First Circle of Bards won't accept her, Norloch makes her a Bard and Cadvan and Maerad escape just in time before the city is burned.
This is the first book in the series of The Books of Pellinor. Although it is long, it is a good story. Sometimes too much description, but it leaves you wanting to read the next book.
The books in the series are: The Naming, The Riddle, The Crow, The Singing.

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Three teenagers meet at a treatment center called Aspen Springs in Reno, Nevada. Each of them has attempted suicide. Vanessa cuts herself whenever she is stressed. Her mother is Bipolar and she has inherited her disease. She finds her mother on the floor after her mother has committed suicide. She cuts her wrist severely and almost dies. Connor is a preppie. His mother and father are wealthy, but his father has always been gone and his mother has never loved him. They have always pushed him to be the brightest, and the best. He has had an affair with his English teacher. When she confesses, he tries to shoot himself and is sent to Aspen Springs. Tony is a street kid. He thinks he is gay. He has been forced to have sex with his mother's lover and killed him. After six years in juvenile detention, he is taken in by Phillip, a gay man who is dying from AIDS. After Phillips death, Tony is devastated. He takes a half bottle of Valium. The three meet at Aspen Springs and become good friends. Vanessa and Tony fall in love. Connor ends up committing suicide.