Check it out

Summer can be a season of discovery for teenagers released from

classroom cares--a theme of young-adult fiction set in those months when

opportunities for adventure and introspection abound.

Here is a sampling of seasonal reads:

Summer camp is a nightmare for 13-year-old fat kid Elvin Bishop, who

describes with scathing sarcasm his painful attempts to find his athletic

niche in “Slot Machine.” In this humorous coming-of-age tale, there’s

sassy dialogue and well-drawn characters in a story about friendship,

self-acceptance and the difficulties of meeting the macho, male mold

expectations.

The 13th summer of a bookish boy is also the time frame of “Frenchtown

Summer,” an evocative memoir in blank verse that should appeal to

poetry-loving youths. Consummate young-adult author Robert Cormier

captures the angst of a lad with a distant father and a terrible secret

in this lyrical account about a vacation that includes a first job, first

love and a favorite uncle’s tragedy.

An end-of-summer drinking party cut short when the cops are called

launches Melinda Sordino’s painful freshman year in “Speak.” In this

stunning portrait of a teenage outcast, author Laurie Halse Anderson

takes a sobering look at the demand for conformity among teens and the

cruelty that can pervade the high school experience.

The dog days of late summer lend a sultry tone to “Two Moons in

August,” a poignant narrative about a girl who waits apprehensively for

her 16th birthday, a day that also marks the anniversary of her mother’s

death. When an angry stranger appears in town, Sidonie wonders whether

she can look beyond herself to befriend him, while reaching out to her

own troubled family.

An alarming secret propels “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” a

suspenseful story of four teens trying to conceal their responsibility

for a fatal hit-and-run accident. Even readers who’ve seen the movie

starring Jennifer Love Hewitt should relish a plot set in motion when a

mystery figure bent on revenge learns the truth about the summer

accident.

In “Rules of the Road,” it’s no accident that elderly Mrs. Gladstone,

president of Gladstone’s shoe stores, picks 16-year-old, too-tall Jenna

as chauffeur for a summerlong business trip. When Jenna accepts with

trepidation the task of driving the huge Cadillac and leaving her

alcoholic father behind, the smart, funny teen protagonist learns much

more than the rules of the road along the way.

And 14-year-old Claire takes a similar cross-country journey with her

mother in “Janey’s Girl,” knowing little at the start about her mom’s

troubled past. The insights she gains in this fast-paced novel help her

understand why her mother never returned to the farm where she grew up

until this trip.

Other summer reading suggestions compiled by young-adult librarians at

Newport libraries are listed on colorful bookmarks printed with funds

from a “TeenRead” grant. Look for recommended mysteries, fantasies,

biographies, sports stories, humor selections and chilling tales on these

jazzy markers.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams, in collaboration with

Terri Wiest.