The Dust of 100 Dogs by: A.S. King

King, A. (2009). The dust of 100 dogs. Woodbury, Minnesota: Flux.

Appropriate Ages: 10th grade and up

Summary: Saffron Adams is not your typical girl.  She is different because she was once Emer Morrisey, a seventeenth century pirate.  As Emer, she endured poverty, becoming an orphan, being beaten by her uncle, arranged marriage, rape, and others.  To survive, she became a feared pirate.  Once she was finally reunited with her long lost love, she was killed and cursed to live through 100 different dogs' lives.  Now that she is again human, she struggles with life as a twentieth century teen with 300 years of knowledge.  Saffron graduates and leaves her pathetic family (who put all their hopes and dreams on her).  She travels to Jamaica to reclaim treasure that she buried as Emer.  Once there, she has to face the Frenchman who was accidently cursed at the same time as Emer. This story switches points of view. The reader sees the story through Saffron, Emer, and a man named Fred Livingston (who turns out to be the Frenchman). 

This story was an exciting read.  I enjoyed the action/adventure and the love story as well.  There is some controversy as to whether this is a young adult novel or an adult novel.  Emer and Fred are adults and their stories contain adult content, while Saffron is a teenage struggling to find herself.

Author's Discussion Guide  found on http://as-king.com/

Reality Boy (Quick Picks)

King, A. (2013). Reality boy. NY: Little, Brown and Company.

Appropriate age: 9th grade +

Summary: Gerald Faust spent several years with a reality t.v. crew in his home.  The show was about a nanny trying to fix his family's behavior.  However, it only made things worse.  Gerald's oldest sister was psychotic and often physically harmed him and his middle sister to the point where they feared for their lives.  His mother felt she could only love one child; Tasha (the oldest).  She made sure the children were fed, but always favored Tasha.  Gerald acted out and was put into special ed classes.  Now at seventeen, Gerald is doing everything in his power to keep the rage in and to find himself.  He meets Hannah and slowly begins to realize that he is not messed up.  He sees the reality of his life and situation.  In the end Hannah and Gerald briefly run away together. When they return, Gerald is able to finally get through to his dad.  Together, they leave Tasha and his mother to move on with a more normal and healthy life.

This books is listed on the American Library Association's Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.  There is profanity throughout the book and the author alludes to sexual situations.

This book's strong points are that even with everything going wrong in his life Gerald is able to pull himself up and fight for a future.  Personally, I became emotionally involved in the characters in this story.  It was horrifying what he and his middle sister had to endure.  This book would be great to show character development and how to draw a reader into the story. It uses flashbacks as well.

http://as-king.com/  Author's website

http://media.hdp.hbgusa.com/titles/assets/reading_group_guide/9780316222709/EG_9780316222709.pdf

educator's guide

100 sideways miles - Andrew Smith

Smith, A. (2014). 100 sideways miles. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Recommended age: 9th grade and up

Summary: Finn Easton is a high school junior who nearly died when he was five. During a freak accident, he and his mother where injured when a dead horse fell from a truck and landed on them.  His mother died.  He survived with a scar and epileptic seizures. His father wrote a best selling book that has a cult following.  He used many details about his son in the book.  Finn feels trapped by his life and by the book his father wrote.  He measures his life by the miles the Earth has traveled in space instead of by minutes. With his best friend Cade and his girlfriend Julia, Finn begins to come out of his shell and find story of his own.  This book does have lots of inappropriate language and teenage boy sexual humor.  It is a quick read, mildly humorous.

http://www.authorandrewsmith.com/Author_Andrew_Smith/Home.html

I can see students enjoying reading this book.  However, I could not see using this in my classroom.  There are other books that have better qualities / storyline to use to teach any literary element. 

The knife of never letting go

Ness, P. (2008).  The knife of never letting go. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press.

Recommended Age: 4th grade and up

Summary: Todd Hewitt lives in a town called Prentisstown. This town is a settlement on another planet.  Here all of men's thoughts are visible for everyone to hear, and there are no women.  A month from his 13th birthday (when he becomes a man), his life is turned upside down.  His family tells him to run from Prentisstown.  He discovers a girl, Viola, in the swamp.  The entire town begins to chase him.  On his journey, he discovers that all the settlements on this planet hate Prentisstown, because they killed all the women.  The mayor and the preacher are trying to turn Todd into a killer and conquer all the other settlements.  Todd and Viola finally reach Haven, where they hope to be safe only to discover that the Mayor has beat them there.  The book ends on a cliff hanger. This book is part of the Chao Trilogy.

Resources

Book trailer
https://youtu.be/tj4fowWo7xM

Author's page
http://patrickness.com/

Teachers can use this book to show foreshadowing and voice. It has many misspellings that work to explain how character's speak. Flashbacks are also used to help tell the story.