Cathleen Hernandez

Professor Lancaster
July 4, 2015
Annotated Bibliography - Young Adult Literature

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston, Mass. HMH Books for Young Readers. 1993
Grade Level 5 and up. Science Fiction. A teenage boy named Jonas lives in a dystopian
society where everyone has a job assigned to them. Jonas learns that his job will be the
Receiver of memories. The Giver, who holds all the memories of the people before them,
including wars, deaths, and sadness, gives Jonas all of them by transferring them from his
mind to Jonas mind. In the current world, emotions and choices are not allowed so when
Jonas begins to realize that, though their lifestyle if safe and predetermined, choices are
what make people free, he has to choose whether or not to leave that lifestyle or be
controlled for the rest of his life. Readers learn to think about what their own life is
controlled by and whether it is better to be safe or better to be free.
Pearson, Mary E. The Adoration of Jenna Fox. New York, NY. Square Fish - Macmillan. 2009
Grade Level 7 and up. Science Fiction. A teenage girl named Jenna gets into a car
accident and is in a coma until she wakes up and doesnt remember anything. Jenna
eventually figures out that she is a cloned version of her original body and her mind has
been downloaded and saved on a hard drive. Once her parents come clean and tell her
what they did, she has to figure out if she wants to continue to live as a clone or not. First

book in a series of three. Readers can learn to question the ethics behind cloning in the
real world.
Palacio, R.J. Wonder. New York, NY. Knopf Books for Young Readers. 2012
Grade Level 3 - 7. Realistic Fiction. A young boy named August was born with a facial
deformity and he is sent to a public school for the first time after being homeschooled his
whole life. Augusts family has sheltered him and so when August faces bullying from
some students and struggles to make friends in the new school, he has to gather his
strength to overcome it all alone. As the school year progresses, August figures out who
is willing to stand by him and who he shouldnt trust. Bullying, friendship, and judgment
are explored and readers can learn to look past someones physical appearance and get to
know their personality.
Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia. New York, NY. Harper Teen, 2008
Grade Level 4 - 7. Realistic Fiction. Jesse is a 5th grader who lives with his parents and
four sisters in a rural community. A new girl named Leslie moves down the street from
his house and, at first, he doesnt want to be her friend but eventually he gives in when
she is persistent. Leslie and Jess both create an imaginary world in the forest, called
Terabithia, near their home as a place to hang out and escape to when they want to get
away from their home life. After their friendship grows, a tragedy happens when Leslie
goes into the forest alone and falls into the river and dies. Jesse is devastated and
struggles to deal with her death but uses their favorite place of Terabithia to remember
her. Readers can learn about friendship, death, and grieving from the text.

Tashis, Lauren. I Survived Series. New York, NY. Scholastic Paperbacks. 2010 - 2015
Grade Level - 4 and up. Historical Fiction. Various short chapter books focused on
different historical events such as World War II, the explosion of Pompeii, and 9/11. Each
book has a central male character that is about 12 years old and is stuck in the middle of
each historical event to figure out a problem that is presented. Readers are immersed in
the historically accurate details and made to feel like they are there during that time
period. Each text shows the struggle of living in that time period and event so readers can
learn humility and respect for history and the hardships of those that came before us.
Green, John. Fault in Our Stars. New York, NY. Penguin Young Readers Group. 2014.
Grade Level 7 and up. Realistic Fiction. A teenage girl named Hazel has cancer and is
going to group therapy sessions where she meets a teenage boy named Augustus. They
both struggle back and forth through having cancer and they support each others fight to
get better including going to chemotherapy and feeling ill most of the time. As they help
each other they also fall in love and learn what it means to truly love someone. In the
end, Augustus cancer returns and after battling for a long time, he dies. Hazel is left to
grieve him and figure out what she has left to offer the world. Readers explore love,
loyalty, death, and loss throughout the text.
Meyers, Stephanie. Twilight. New York, NY. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2006.
Grade Level 5 and up. Fiction - Fantasy. Bella is a teenage girl who meets a teenage boy
named Edward when she moves to a new town to live with her father. After getting to
know Edward, he tells her that he is a vampire but that he cant stay away from her. Bella
and Edward fall in love and they continue to keep Edward and his familys secret from

her family. Bella wants to become a vampire by the end of the book but Edward refuses
until she turns 18. Readers can enjoy a simple love story with a fantasy element.
Boyne, John. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Oxford, UK. David Fickling Books. 2007.
Grade Level 7 and up. Historical Fiction. Set during WWII and the Holocaust, a young
boy named Bruno learns that he and his family are moving to a new house because his
dad got a promotion. He finds that there is really nothing to do but explore the area
around his new house. Bruno discovers a tall fence that separates their house from an area
where other people are living and working outside every day. Bruno meets a young boy
from the other side of the fence who the reader later finds out is a Jewish boy living in a
concentration camp and Bruno is a son of a Nazi soldier. The boys become friends even
though they are almost literally from two different worlds.
Dashner, James. The Maze Runner. New York, NY. Delacorte Press, 2010.
Grade Level 6 and up. Science Fiction. Thomas wakes up in an unfamiliar place and
doesnt know how he got to be there. After learning that he was sent there by an unknown
power, Thomas begins to figure out that there is no escaping what is called The Glade.
Everyone - which happen to all be male- in the Glade has a certain job and Thomas wants
to become a maze runner. Maze runners go outside the Glade every day and look for a
way to escape - but they must run the whole time or possibly be killed by the monsters
that are outside the walls of the Glade. Eventually Thomas becomes a runner and tries to
save the people of the Glade. First book in a series of three.

Bodeen, S.A. The Compound. New York, NY. Square Fish. 2009.

Grade Level 7 and up. Realistic Fiction - Futuristic. Eli and his family are forced to go
into an underground bunker after there is a nuclear holocaust. Everyone has to stay
underground for at least 15 years until the radiation levels subside. However, over time,
Eli and his family wonder if they have been tricked into thinking that there was a nuclear
holocaust - when there may have never been one. Eli is challenged with figuring out if
they are living underground as a result of his fathers craziness or if it is really dangerous
to go outside the compound.
Applegate, Katherine. The One and Only Ivan. New York, NY. Harper Collins. 2015.
Grade Level 3 - 7. Fantasy. Ivan is a gorilla that has been held captive in a cage at a
shopping mall for 27 years. Ivan has two friends named Bob and Stella and to pass the
time, Ivan likes to paint. But when a baby elephant named Ruby is taken from the wild
and brought to live in captivity like Ivan, he begins to question his art and all of their
living situations. Ivan begins to realize that it isnt right to keep animals in captivity after
they have lived in the wild. Ivan enlists the help of Julia, a human who works at the
indoor zoo with her father. With Julias help, Ivan and Ruby are relocated to a zoo where
Ivan gets to be a real gorilla again.
Giff, Patricia Reilly. Pictures of Hollis Woods. New York, NY. Yearling. 2004
Grade Level 3 - 7. Realistic Fiction. Hollis Woods is a 12-year-old orphan who has lived
in several foster homes and just wants someone to understand her. Then she meets Josie
Cahill, her next foster mom, and they actually get along. As Hollis and Josie build their
relationship, Hollis realizes that Josie is starting to forget a lot of things, which could
mean that Hollis will have to leave to another foster home - something that she is not

willing to let happen. Throughout the book, Hollis has flashbacks to different pictures in
her head and the reader can see how her background leads up to her current situation.
Levin, Larry. Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love. New York, NY. Grand Central
Publishing. 2011.
Grade Level 7 and up. Non-fiction. Oogy is a dog that is taken in by a family despite his
looks. Oogy was used as a bait dog in a dog fighting ring and he lost an ear and half of
his face after being attacked by vicious dogs trained to fight. Miraculously, police rescued
Oogy from the brink of death and took him to an animal hospital. When the Levin family
went in to the same animal hospital to put down their sick cat, they met Oogy and
decided to take him home. Once Oogy is taken to the Levin home, he ends up teaching
the family about what true love is and looks truly dont matter when you love someone.
Hillenbrand, Lauren. Unbroken: An Olympians Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive.
New York, NY. DelaCorte Press. 2014.
Grade Level 7 and up. Historical Non-fiction. Louis Zamperini was an Olympic track
star in the 1930s who was set to go to the Olympics and compete when he is suddenly
drafted into the military to fight in World War II. Zamperini suffers the most impossible
circumstances - becoming stranded in the ocean after the military plane he is on goes
down, almost being eaten by sharks, the Japanese Navy capturing him as a prisoner of
war, and almost dying from starvation and dehydration. Zamperini eventually gets home,
gets married, and has a child, only to end up being divorced because of his drinking
problem. Finally, Zamperini gets to carry the Olympic torch and come full circle in his
life.

Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians. New York, NY. DisneyHyperion. 2006.
Grade Level 5 - 9. Fiction - Mythical Fantasy. Perseus Percy Jackson is the son of
Poseidon, the God of the Sea, and a human mother. When someone steals Zeus lightning
bolt, Percy and his friends Grover and Annabeth fight against monsters, gods, and all the
other mythical creatures available in order to figure out who stole the lightning bolt from
Zeus, Poseidons brother. In the end, Percy is also attempting to find his own path into
adulthood as he goes back to Camp Half-Blood where all the other half bloods go as well,
and he eventually goes home to live with his mom.