From HarperTeen:

To celebrate the release of Up All Night [an anthology containing short stories by Peter Abrahams, Libba Bray, David Levithan, Patricia McCormick, Sarah Weeks, and Gene Luen Yang], HarperTeen is offering aspiring authors the chance to write their own story to be included in the paperback edition.

Submit an original short story about a charater that stays up all night. The story must take place in the course of a single life-changing night. All stories must be between 5,000 and 10,000 words (2 pt font, double spaced, one inch margins) and all contributing entrants must be between 14 and 19 years old as of April 2, 2008.

At first glance, one might think Claire has it all. She's a high school cheerleader with a devoted best friend, a sought-after boyfriend, and a group of elite buddies.

Now take a closer look, and give Claire a second thought. Not everything is as it seems. Claire's parents are divorced, and her mother is drinking alcohol frequently. Claire is in remission from leukemia, which took her out of school for a year.

Enter Lani Garver, the new kid at school. At first, due to his long hair, slight build and tendency to giggle, the other students assume that Lani's a girl. Even after he sets them straight, most of his peers regard him as a freak.

Claire's path crosses with Lani's a few times in as many days. She learns that he is a few years older and quite a bit wiser than his classmates. A whirlwind friendship between the outcast and the cheerleader, a friendship which defies the teenage laws of cliques and clashing in their small town. With Claire as the protagonist, it becomes not just Lani's story but hers as well. Once he opens her eyes, she begins to see both the beauty and the cruelty in the world.

What Happened to Lani Garver is an emotional experience. Note that the title is a statement, not a question. This book is a realistic anatomy of a hate crime that will make you consider society's standards - and maybe even your own. Highly recommended.

Related Booklist: Tough Issues for Teens

What if you learned that all of the fantastic tales your mother told you were true - including those with dark magic and danger? What if you knew that using magic could kill you, and not using magic would drive you to the brink of insanity? Which would you choose?

Australian author Justine Larbalestier's Magic or Madness trilogy challenged Reason - that is, to say, a teenage girl named Reason who spent her life with her cheery mother, until her lovely mother went a little mad.

When her mother fell apart, Reason finally realized that the stories her mom told her were true. Magic exists, and it runs through the veins of all of the women in her family. Either they use their magic and die young, or they repress it and go mad. One way or another, whatever path Reason chooses is bound to lead her to tragedy.

Her grandmother, who is depicted as a villain in all of her mother's stories, takes Reason in when she has no other place to go. Reason then meets her gran's neighbor, a boy her own age, and Jay-Tee, a girl who lives in New York - which magically appears outside of her grandmother's door.

( Read more... )

Read the trilogy in the proper order:
Magic or Madness
Magic Lessons
Magic's Child

Read my interview with Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier.

jenahville needed recommendations for her son. Here are some great books for ages eight to twelve.

FANTASY / SCIENCE FICTION
OutCast by Christopher Golden and Thomas Sniegoski - Everything and everyone in the world has magic . . . except for 12-year-old Timothy. A four book series, starting with The Un-Magician. Good guys (and girls), bad guys, dragons, warriors, inventions, and more. Give this to avid readers who enjoy action-packed fantasy series and to reluctant readers who like Star Wars.
The NeverEnding Story by Michael Ende - An imaginative, amazing book! Very long, very deep, so if it's too much for him on his own, read it aloud and trade off reading duty every few pages!

COMEDY
Henry Huggins series by Beverly Cleary - Start with the aforementioned title and prepare yourself for innocent hijinks with a boy and his dog. Ribsy is adorable. Companion to the Ramona Quimby series.
Otis Spofford by Beverly Cleary - Otis is a third-grade goof. Companion to the book Ellen Tebbits.
Ralph trilogy by Beverly Cleary - A mouse, a motorcycle, and many adventures.
I, Houdini by Lynne Reid Banks - An escape-artist hamster has plenty of stories to tell.
Wayside School books by Louis Sachar - Start with Sideways Stories for Wayside School. Great read-alouds.
Peter Hatcher series by Judy Blume - Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing kicks off Peter's stories of life with his parents, his pets, and his little brother Fudge, who seems to get all of the attention.
Sam books by Lois Lowry - Another little brother companion series. His big sis is Anastasia Krupnik.
Everyone Else's Parents Said Yes by Paula Danziger - and the other books about Matthew Martin
Judy Moody by Megan McDonald and Stink by Megan McDonald - Judy is in 3rd grade; Stink is in 2nd grade, so the books revolving around him are shorter and easier to read.

MYSTERY / HORROR
Every single book by John Bellairs - Start with The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt, and proceed!
Coraline by Neil Gaiman - creepy, twisted, good.
Selected titles from Goosebumps by R.L. Stine - The Girl Who Cried Monster, Welcome to Camp Nightmare, Let's Get Invisible and The Haunted Mask are recommended.

MYSTERY / ACTION
The Hardy Boys - Action. Adventure. Mystery. Need I say more?
Choose Your Own Adventure - This series lets readers make their own decisions with the turn of a page. (A quick, fake example: Want to go sledding down the hill with your wild uncle? Turn to page 14! OR Would you rather follow the treasure map and walk down the hill? Turn to page 37!) Readers may get a different ending with each re-read. This is a fantastic series for reluctant readers. I am so glad that it is finally back in print!

MODERN-DAY DRAMA
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli - I cannot recommend this book enough! It's about tolerance. It's about literacy. It's about family. It's about belonging. It's so powerful.

DRAMA WITH FANTASY
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks - A fantastic series in which a young boy gets a cupboard with a key - and discovers that if he puts his plastic little figures in the cupboard, twists the key, and re-opens the cupboard, the figures come to life.

SPORTS
Anything in juvenile fiction by Matt Christopher - stories about kids playing football, baseball, basketball, soccer, extreme sports, you name it! - as well as the biographies of big-name athletes by the same author.

I have many more sports-related books on my list entitled Hey There, Sports Fan!

CLASSICS
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
White Fang by Jack London
Call of the Wild by Jack London