Fat Kid Rules The World

Title: Fat Kid Rules the World

Author: K.L. Going

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Difficulties Making and Keeping Friends, Substance abuse, parent-child relationships

Year of Publication: 2003

Publisher & Location: Penguin Putnam

ISBN#: 0-399-23990-1

Target Age Level: middle school, high school

# of Pages: 187

Quality of Illustrations: none

Brief Summary: Seventeen-year-old Troy Billings is six-foot-one and weights three hundred pounds. He has no friends. His dad is ashamed of him. His mom died. His brother is embarrassed by him. He sees no reason for living. Standing along the subway tracks, he is contemplating ending his life when a filthy, scrawny homeless person begins speaking to him. The homeless guy is none other than the legendary Curt McCrae, the best punk rock guitarist in the city. Curt saves Troy’s life; then, for reasons that Troy cannot possibly understand begins an unusual friendship. Curt insists that Troy become the new drummer in his band. There’s just one problem: Troy doesn’t play the drums.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book: Graphic language

Post Reading Activities: Discuss reasons that people stereotype and refuse to be friends with others. This book talks extensively about how Troy feels about being obese and how he feels others view him. This book could be used to discuss those stereotypes and the hardships it places on people dealing with the crisis of obesity. This book also highlights prescription drug abuse which could be discussed with a reader in an effort to understand the addition.

Crank

Title: Crank

Author: Ellen Hopkins

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Substance Abuse, Addiction, Drugs, Rape, Teen Pregnancy

Year of Publication: 2005Publisher & Location: Simon Pulse; New York

ISBN#:

• 689865198
• 978-0689865190

Target Age Level: high school, young adult

# of Pages: 537

Quality of Illustrations: none

Brief Summary: Eighth grader, Kristina Snow becomes instantly addicted to drugs after her first encounter with “the monster.” This novel is written in poem format and tells how a young girl’s life changed once she entered the fast-paced, controlling world of addiction.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book: This text uses many analogies, but also uses some explicit language. Readers should also be conscious of the graphic nature when describing the drug use and situations that the main character finds herself in.

Post Reading Activity: While reading this book, adults may want to guide a discussion to help teens understand the imagery and analogies used. It may also be helpful to facilitate discussions about peer-pressure, substance abuse, rape, teen pregnancy, and parent-teen relationships.

Beautiful Boy

Author: David Sheff

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Meth, Methamphetamines, Drug Abuse, Substance Abuse

Year of Publication: 2008

Publisher & Location: Houghton Mifflin Co

ISBN#:

• ISBN-10: 0618683356
• ISBN-13: 978-0618683352

Target Age Level: High Scool and Young Adult

# of Pages: 326

Quality of Illustrations: N/A

Brief Summary: Expanding on his New York Times Magazine article, Sheff chronicles his son's downward spiral into addiction and the impact on him and his family. A bright, capable teenager, Nic began trying mind- and mood-altering substances when he was 17. In months, use became abuse, then abuse became addiction. By the time Sheff knew of his son's condition, Nic was strung out on meth, the highly potent stimulant. While his son struggles to get clean, his second wife and two younger children are pulled helplessly into the drama. Sheff, as the parent of an addict, cycles through denial and acceptance and resistance. The author was already a journalist of considerable standing when this painful story began to unfold, and his impulse for detail serves him personally as well as professionally: there are hard, solid facts about meth and the kinds of havoc it wreaks on individuals, families and communities both urban and rural. His journey is long and harrowing, but Sheff does not spare himself or anyone else from keen professional scrutiny any more than he was himself spared the pains—and joys—of watching a loved one struggling with addiction and recovery. Real recovery creates—and can itself be—its own reward; this is an honest, hopeful book, coming at a propitious moment in the meth epidemic.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: The book does great at addressing current medical research related to meth addiction and recovery. Great for parents of children with substance abuse (particularly meth) issues.

Touching Spirit Bear

Author: Ben Mikaelsen

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: fighting, stealing, anger, violence

Year of Publication: 2001

Publisher & Location: HarperTeen, NYC, NY

ISBN#: 978-0-380-80560-0

Target Age Level: Junior High, High School

# of Pages: 240

Quality of Illustrations: none

Brief Summary: Cole Matthews is angry. Angry, defiant, smug--in short, a bully. His anger has taken him too far this time, though. After beating up a ninth-grade classmate to the point of brain damage, Cole is facing a prison sentence. But then a Tlingit Indian parole officer named Garvey enters his life, offering an alternative called Circle Justice, based on Native American traditions, in which victim, offender, and community all work together to find a healing solution. Privately, Cole sneers at the concept, but he's no fool--if it gets him out of prison, he'll do anything. Ultimately, Cole ends up banished for one year to a remote Alaskan island, where his arrogance sets him directly in the path of a mysterious, legendary white bear. Mauled almost to death, Cole awaits his fate and begins the transition from anger to humility. Ben Mikaelsen's depiction of a juvenile delinquent's metamorphosis into a caring, thinking individual is exciting and fascinating, if at times heavy-handed. Cole's nastiness and the vivid depictions of the lengths he must go to survive after the (equally vivid) attack by the bear are excruciating at times, but the concept of finding a way to heal a whole community when one individual wrongs another is compelling. (Ages 12 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: This book is useful for use with angry adolescents. Can be used for adolescents with substance abuse problems, aggression, guns/weapons, and any kind of anger problems.

Activity:
Typically discussions about the book are best for this type of book. Assign the adolescent to read only a certain number of chapters, then have them "finish the story" (what they think will happen next). Discuss it, then have them read on. You can do this at different parts in the book.