msjamgochian'sinfinitebooklist

"Okay," the teacher said, smiling just a little. "You might be J in your other classes, but this is photography, we strive for accuracy, for telling the truth in pictures. That's why we're not doing digital work here - so nothing can be altered. So in this class, I think it's important for you to be as honest as the subjects you're photographing. You'll be exactly who you are- no deception, no fooling. In my class, you'll be Jenifer. Roberto will be Roberto, Frances will be Frances. No changes, no alterations, no lies. It's an important part of the learning process. Understood?" J is a seventeen-year old boy trapped in a girl's body. His best friend, Melissa, has her own set of issues (cutting), and his parents only see him as their daughter. When the myriad motions he goes through every day to hide his unmatched pieces become unbearable, he leaves home in search of a solution. A poignant, captivating, and real portrait of a teen s

Ruby, along with her fellow congregants, has spent the last two hundred years enslaved to Darwin West and his Overseers while waiting for the return of her father and savior, Otto. Ruby and her fellow congregants spend their days in misery. Half-starved, beaten, and thirsty, they work from sunrise to sunset in the woods, harvesting water on their hands and knees with pewter cups and spoons that they dump into a cistern every night. Some of the congregants have a secret: the pewter is a cover-up for what really makes their water magic (Ruby's blood). When Ruby connects with a kind and handsome overseer named Ford, the desire to leave becomes unbearable, and she must make a choice. Bachorz' stark prose paired with Ruby's strong voice will appeal to fans of Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth series. An excellent addition to any Individual v Society list. Bachorz's website has plenty of extras. Grade 8+

There are two things you need to know about 17-year-old Michael. 1/He is a boxman: he can break into any safe any where any time. 2/He never speaks. Ever. When Michael was just 8, a traumatic event resulted in the death of his mother, his father, and his voice. Ten years later, Michael is imprisoned when his talent for lockpicking is discovered by some unsavory classmates and he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thankfully, a bought (the guilty classmates aren't charged) yet lenient judge sentences Michael to do community service at the home of the man whose house was broken into. There, he meets the man's daughter, Amelia. She is a fellow artist, lost girl, and muse. Is there anything as sadly sweet as two people falling in love via surreptitiously and strategically placed hand-drawn comics that tell their respective tragic histories? Although TLA is billed as a thriller, for me, it is ultimately a story about the redemptive power of first love. Don't m

Blink and Caution are two teens on the run from the past: one from a horrific accident and one from an equally nightmarish stepfather. Blink lives hand-to-mouth, and when he's lucky, he dons a Blessed Breakfast Uniform, heads for a posh Toronto hotel, and eats whatever leftovers he can find on room service trays left in the hallways. When he inadvertently witnesses the kidnapping of mogul Jack Niven, he thinks he has discovered a way out of his impoverished existence. Caution (aka Kitty Pettigrew)lives with drug-dealing super creep Merlin, one act in a series of self-destructive moves she makes to punish herself for her past. When these two broken wounded teens meet, the story kicks into high gear, and we discover their past as well as their future. The perfect companion book to Punkzilla by Adam Rapp, this book would also work well for Individual v Society units. Click here for the full Globe and Mail review and here for Wynne-Jones' website . Grade 8+

This is the new Hunger Games. Really. Read it.

It's been a year since Carly Ribelli was found murdered on a bridge in Northern California, supposedly at the hands of her uncle, but at least two people haven't gotten over it: her ex-boyfriend Neily and her cousin Audrey (daughter of the accused). The two of them join forces to find out what really happened, and the sordid details of Carly's demise rise to the surface, albeit rather slowly. Neily is the star of the show, and even though the tale is told via alternating chapters by Neily and Audrey, it is his voice that made me care about Carly and what happened to her. Give this to fans of Tim Wynne-Jones' The Uninvited. Don't miss Ms. Jarzab's website . Grade 9+