Books Recommended on GNN

Facing the Lion  This is a firsthand look at growing up in Kenya as a member of a tribe of nomads whose livelihood centers on the raising and grazing of cattle. Readers share Lekuton's first encounter with a lion, the epitome of bravery in the warrior tradition. They follow his mischievous antics as a young Maasai cattle herder, coming-of-age initiation, boarding school escapades, soccer success, and journey to America for college. Lekuton's riveting text combines exotic details of nomadic life with the universal experience and emotions of a growing boy.

A Long Way Gone  This gripping story by a children's-rights advocate recounts his experiences as a boy growing up in Sierra Leone in the 1990s, during one of the most brutal and violent civil wars in recent history. Beah, a boy equally thrilled by causing mischief as by memorizing passages from Shakespeare and dance moves from hip-hop videos, was a typical precocious 12-year-old. But rebel forces destroyed his childhood innocence when they hit his village, driving him to leave his home and travel the arid deserts and jungles of Africa. After several months of struggle, he was recruited by the national army, made a full soldier and learned to shoot an AK-47, and hated everyone.

Three Cups of Tea  Some failures lead to phenomenal successes, and this American nurse's unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world's second tallest mountain, is one of them. Dangerously ill when he finished his climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town's first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.

How to Survive a Horror Movie  If you find yourself trapped in a horror movie, there's no need to be afraid. This book will teach you how to cope with every kind of horror movie obstacle, from ax-wielding psychopaths to haunted Japanese VHS tapes.  Including chapters on how to survive a night of babysitting, how to convince the skeptical local sheriff, how to perform an exorcism, how to tell if  you've been dead since the beginning of the movie, and how to vanquish a murderous doll.

The Graveyard Book  A toddler accidentally escapes his family's murder to the graveyard across the street.  Bod (short for Nobody) finds solace and safety with the inhabitants of the local graveyard, who grant him some of the privileges and powers of the dead—he can Fade and Dreamwalk, for instance, but he still needs to eat and breathe.

Dream Soul  In 1927, as Christmas approaches, fifteen-year-old Joan Lee hopes to get her parents' permission to celebrate the holiday, one of the problems of belonging to the only Chinese American family in her small West Virginia community.

Miracle on 49th Street  When 12-year-old Molly Parker returns to America from England following her mothers death from cancer, she harbors a secret: her father is the star point guard of the Boston Celtics, Josh Cameron. Molly confronts Josh, who reacts with ambivalence to the sudden news that he is a father, but as their relationship grows, he seems to want to make Molly part of his life. Still, he also seems worried about his good-guy, bachelor image.

What Child is This  A heart-tugging story with an upbeat ending, told in alternating chapters by the young people involved. Eight-year-old Katie, an emotionally starved foster child, writes a wish on a paper bell that will be hung on a Christmas tree in a local restaurant. There, members of the community can choose a request and give a gift to a needy child. However, Katie doesn't ask for toys or clothing--she wishes for a family.

Banner in the Sky  Recommended by our Lieutenant Governor, Sean Parnell,  when he visited Goldenview, this book is about a young boy who feels compelled to conquer the mountain that caused his father's death. Read it and see why it was one of his favorite books when he was a teenager!

Between a Rock and a Hard Place  From midday Saturday, April 26, 2003, until midday Thursday, May 1, Aron Ralston was pinned between a boulder and a canyon wall in a remote area of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. He had little food and water. No one would even wonder where he was until he didn't show up for work on Tuesday. Unable to sit, lie down, use his right arm (that was the part between the rock and the wall), or sleep, he knew right away that he was in for an excruciatingly difficult time. His eventual rescue led to international headlines, partially due to his dramatic means of escape: he severed his arm with a cheap, dull, dirty knife.

Into This Air  When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were in a desperate struggle for their lives.

All Hallow's Eve  These new tales are all set on Halloween, and readers hoping for eerie doings featuring a cast of ghosts and unwary young folk won't be disappointed. From a spectral serial killer who rises again in "Morgan Roehmar's Boys" to a helpful clan that rescues a terrified teen from a maniac during a "Cemetery Field Trip," most of the dead-but-not-gone characters are still tangible enough to work their wills on the living.

Skeleton Man  After her parents disappear and she is turned over to the care of a strange "great-uncle," Molly must rely on her dreams about an old Mohawk story for her safety and maybe even for her life.

How to Disappear Completely and Never be Found  With a swimming medal, the key to a mansion, and a comic book about a half-man/half-rat as her only clues, a twelve-year-old girl seeks the true story of her father's mysterious death four years earlier near an island in the Pacific Northwest.

Suck it Up  A teenage vampire sets out to prove that not all vampires are the same by demonstrating his non-violent attitude, his sensitive nature, and his desperate need for understanding as the soy-blood substitute drinking guy and Vampire Pride Parade participant that he is.
 

Red Kayak  Living near the water on Maryland's Eastern Shore, thirteen-year-old Brady and his best friends J.T. and Digger become entangled in a tragedy which tests their friendship and their ideas about right and wrong.

The True Meaning of Smekday  When her mother is abducted by aliens on Christmas Eve (or "Smekday" Eve since the Boov invasion), 11 year-old Tip hops in the family car and heads south to find her and meets an alien Boov mechanic who agrees to help her and save the planet from disaster.