Winning the Michael L. Printz Award is the highest honor a writer for young adults can achieve. Some authors like John Green receive it for their first book (2006′s Looking for Alaska). I can’t speak for any of the winning authors and say that they aim for a Printz winner every time, but there have been a number of multiple winners in the relatively short time the award has been given since 2000. After winning a 2000 Printz Honor for Skellig, David Almond won it again in 2001 for Kit’s Wilderness. John Green followed his 2006 Printz win with a 2007 Printz Honor for An Abundance of Katherines. Even if they don’t win the award, all the winning authors have continued to publish an extraordinary body of work.

I just finished Adam Rapp’s newest, The Children and the Wolves. I feel like I always feel after I’ve finished one of his books: like I’ve been punched in the gut. Love him or hate him, his books illicit a strong response. Like 33 Snowfish and Punkzilla (a 2010 Printz Honor title) and Rapp’s other works, it’s a realistic, gritty story about kids who are marginalized by society–whether it’s because they are from broken families with parents just scraping by or too wealthy and self-centered with their own lives and careers to pay attention to their brilliant but troubled children.

Wealthy Carla (AKA Bounce), 14, is super-smart with a sociopathic love for violence (she loves extreme fighting, especially cage fighting) and a fascination with opening up animals’ innards to see what make them tick. She’s persuaded two 7th grade outcasts, Wiggins and Orange, who can’t resist her allure, and her prescription drugs, to kidnap a 3-year-old girl they call Frog and hold her hostage in Orange’s basement. Bounce was inspired to kidnap Frog after a local poet spoke to her Honors English class and railed against mass consumerism like TV, the internet, fast food, and the other evils that are imprisoning and limiting everyone’s freedom. Bounce likes mass consumerism, so she decides to kidnap Frog, then collect money on her behalf by using it to publicize the child’s disappearance and use it to buy a gun and make the author disappear.

The characters take turns narrating each chapter as the events unfold. Reading Rapp can be like watching a car wreck. You want to turn away, but you are compelled to keep reading. You keep hoping his troubled, immoral, and delusional characters will redeem themselves even as you know that, like life, there are no guarantees of a happy ending for any of his characters.

Dying to Know You by Aidan Chambers (who won the 2003 Printz Award), while it explores serious themes, is not nearly as bleak as Rapp’s book. Karl, 18, a sensitive and introspective plumber’s assistant in Great Britain, asks a 75-year-old local novelist, whose name is never revealed, to help him write answers to questions posed to him by his girlfriend Fiorella. She thinks that the best way to know someone is through their writing, but it’s not easy for Karl because he has dyslexia. The author understands Karl’s dilemma because he, too, had dyslexia and agrees to help–Cyrano de Bergerac style. The novelist becomes a friend and father figure for Karl since Karl’s father died when Karl was 12, and he never got over it. When Fiorella dumps Karl, he’s devastated and becomes so depressed that his mother fears the worst. With the author’s help, Karl discovers a reason to go on and an interest in sculpture. Despite the fact that the book is told in the first person from the novelist’s point-of-view and contains comments about his sciatica and other age related complaints, he and Karl find they both have much in common. Their shared experiences bring out the best in these two likable characters in this touching and beautifully written story.

We all know God spelled backwards is Dog. That’s the idea behind Meg Rosoff’s humorous and irreverent novel There Is No Dog. (She won the Printz in 2005.) Here, God’s named Bob and he’s a typical teenaged boy: a handsome slob obsessed with girls to the exclusion of everything he’s created in the world. Every time Bob falls in love, the earth erupts in natural disasters. His long-suffering assistant Mr. B is sick and tired of him and just wants to quit. Bob’s only friend is his penguiny thing, the last of its kind called Eck that his mother drunkenly gambled away in a poker game. When Bob falls for beautiful assistant zookeeper Lucy, humankind’s in trouble!

I’ve really been looking forward to reading Paolo Bacigalupi’s follow-up to his 2011 Printz-winning novel Ship Breaker. I wasn’t disappointed. In my opinion, The Drowned Cities is even darker and more gripping than Ship Breaker. Drowned Cities is set in the same world, but is not a sequel to Ship Breaker. In this future world, major cities, including Washington, DC, are flooded, and nature in the form of jungle-like vegetation is taking over. Warlords of various factions brutalize and murder everyone, forcing the young men they capture to become soldier boys. One-handed war orphan Mahlia and her friend Mouse are just trying to survive when they discover a hugely massive part-man, part bioengineered beast named Tool that’s wounded and are forced to try to help it survive. After Mouse is captured by a faction of soldier boys, Mahlia must decide whether to escape north with Tool or rescue Mouse. Although this novel is fiction, it parallels the atrocities occurring now in many African countries. It is a chilling, heart-wrenching, yet utterly compelling read.

Space limitations prevent me from mentioning John Green’s latest, The Fault in Our Stars; the newest by Walter Dean Myers (2000 Printz Winner for Monster), All the Right Stuff; or John Barnes’s (2010 Printz Honor Winner for Tales of the Madman Underground) current book, Losers in Space. I guess I’ll have to get to them in another post! Which Printz-winning author’s latest books are you most excited about?

– Sharon Rawlins, currently listening to Legend by Marie Lu

by flickr user o5com

Last week we asked which YA book that hadn’t already been optioned for a movie you most wanted to see on the big screen. It was a really close race the whole week, but the final victor was The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. E. Lockhart’s The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks came in second, and Stephanie Perkins’s Anna in the French Kiss was in third. You can see detailed results for all of our previous polls in the Polls Archive. Thanks to all of you who voted!

Since The Avengers had another great weekend at the box office, we’ve still got movies on our mind. This week, we want to know which upcoming movie based on a YA book you’re most excited about. Vote in the poll below and let us know why you chose what you did in the comments. Not seeing the movie you’re most anticipating? Let us know!

If you thought superheroes hit big in past summers, think again. Marvel’s latest comic book movie, The Avengers, broke box office records, making over 200 million dollars opening weekend, and is the number one movie again this weekend. Although many predicted a strong opening given the director (cult favorite Joss Whedon) and actors (Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, and Scarlett Johansson, just to name a few) and the success of previous Avengers-related films  (Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America), few expected the insane level of success. (If you’re wondering what Earth’s mightiest heroes prefer to read, check out Maria Kramer’s Avenger’s Reading List from last week.)

And this is just the beginning for Marvel. Want to find out more about The Avengers but don’t feel sure where to start? The A.V. Club (sister site to The Onion) put together a Gateway to Geekery article that highlights not-to-miss Avengers titles.

Marvel has more action later this summer as well. On July 3, the latest reboot of The Amazing Spider-Man opens with new stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone taking on the Peter Parker and Mary Jane roles.

DC is also looking forward to a busy summer. The Dark Knight Rises, the final movie in director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, opens July 20 with Christian Bale reprising his role as Bruce Wayne along with Michael Caine’s Alfred, Gary Oldman’s Jim Gordon, Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. Already buzz has started over whether The Dark Knight can beat The Avengers’ opening weekend take. After seeing the latest trailer, I’m thinking it might be very likely.

If that wasn’t enough excitement, DC will begin releasing graphic novel trade editions of The New 52 this month. Last September DC relaunched their most popular characters with new stories and started their single issues back at #1. Although reaction has been uneven to the new lines, interest has been high especially with fan favorites like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Justice League.

And if that still isn’t enough and you need more superheroes, check out YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens lists. Every year YALSA selects amazing graphic novels that include titles from Marvel and DC.

Here are some recommended superhero stories, both old and new.

• Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder, Jock, and others
• Thor: The Mighty Avenger v. 1.  & v. 2 by Roger Langridge, Chris Samnee, and others
• Scarlet by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev
• Permanent Record: Avengers Academy v. 1 by Christos Gage, Mike McKone, and others
• Superman: Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis
• Invincible Iron Man: The Five Nightmares by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
• Spider-Man Noir by David Hine and Carmine DeGiandomenico
• Green Lantern: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
• Superman: Brainiac by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank
• X-Men: Magneto Testament by Greg Pak and Carmine Di Giandomenico
• X-Men: Misfits by Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman and Anzu
• The Death of Captain America: The Death of the Dream, v. 1. and The Burden of Dreams, v. 2 by Ed Brubker and Steve Epting
• Green Arrow: Year One by Andy Diggle and Jock

– Amanda Margis, currently reading A Study in Sherlock, edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger and listening to Tempest by Julie Cross

Not signed up for YALSA’s 2012 Best of the Best Reading Challenge? Read the official rules and sign up on the original post. Anything you’ve read since April 1 counts, so sign up now!

The thing is, I didn’t really have any intention of tackling the Best of the Best Reading Challenge. It’s not that I didn’t love the idea–I did do. It’s not that I didn’t want to read the books on the list; before the challenge started in April I’d already read–and mostly loved–Hero, Matched, How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous, Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?, Chime, A Monster Calls, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and, of course all five Susan Cooper books (which I re-read almost every year). The problem definitely isn’t the books.

It’s me.

While the magnetic appeal of the Best of the Best challenge is undeniable, I’m struggling with the allure–still somewhat unbelievable after serving on two back-to-back book award committees–of being able to read whatever I want, whenever I want, in whatever order I want. You know how it is, right? As soon as I have to read a book, for school or work or book club or because your best friend is making you–as soon as that happens I start to rebel, just a little. The Best of the Best Reading Challenge is a fun and totally worthwhile challenge, and one I could conquer if I set my mind to it, but years of controlled reading (no matter how completely awesome) takes a toll, and each time I pick up a new title I revel in the simple freedom of choosing books that I want to read.

Of course, as soon as I start thinking about the books I read for committees, or in school, or because someone pleaded with me to do so, I instantly remember all the incredible books I’ve read–especially for the Printz Award–that I would never, ever have picked up were it not for the “burden” of assigned reading.  A good number of books I now count amongst my favorites happened that way.

So, I’ll be honest: I don’t know if my good intentions will rise above my current state of reading indulgence, but I’m halfway through The Girl of Fire and Thorns and since April 1st I’ve finished Best of the Best books Ready Player One and The Scorpio Races. I put Anya’s Ghost, Thor, Why We Broke Up, Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, and The Curse of the Wendigo on hold at my library yesterday. I’ll admit, most of those books were already on my Goodreads to-read list, but I’m moving them to the top.

It’s a start.

If you’ve finished the challenge by reading 25 books, fill out the following form to let us know. (The information you provide is what we’ll use to send you your Challenge Finisher badge, contact you about your reader’s response, and notify you if you win our grand prize drawing, so pick an email address you actually use!) Do not fill out this form until you have completed the challenge by reading 25 titles.

– Julie Bartel, currently reading The Girl of Fire and Thorns

Hello readers! I’ve posted a couple of times already about the opportunity you have to nominate books you read and enjoy this year for YALSA’s Readers’ Choice list. Each month the nominations are posted on YALSA’s site–check out the latest nominations.

So what do you think of these titles? Do you agree that they are worthy? Did The Fault in Our Stars move you to tears? Was Pandemonium a worthy sequel? Use the comments below to create a discussion about them! If you read one of these books, feel free to nominate it yourself (the more nominations a title receives, the more likely it is to appear on the final year end ballot.)

I haven’t read all of these nominations and am using them to build my to-read list. Under A Never Sky sounds great to me. Nominated for this year’s wild card category–Dystopia–the nominator says, “Rossi creates an unusally well-realized world with characters that live beyond the pages of this slim volume. While I’m often complaining about bloated books–I really wish this one went on much longer! I absolutely loved it, will recommend it highly and can’t wait for any future volumes.”

I love books about the afterlife, and The Catastrophic History of You and Me was described by the nominator thusly: “What a fresh take on the afterlife! Characters are realistic and emotions are true. Cried more over this book than any I have read in a long time.” This title was nominated for the Romance category.

Don’t forget that anyone can nominate a title (with few exceptions, such as the authors themselves–see our policy for details). This means teens can nominate too! Librarians, please encourage your teen readers to nominate the books they love. It’s as simple as read, enjoy, nominate. The updated, simple form can be found on YALSA’s website. I’ll be checking in next month to let you know about the latest round of nominations. Will one of the books you read be mentioned here? Tune in to find out!

– Sarah Debraski, currently reading Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard for the Best of the Best Reading Challenge

Image courtesy flickr user raselased

Have you guys ever looked at a copy of Chase’s Calendar of Events? If you haven’t, it’s a big book that’s put out every year with every sort of holiday, anniversary, and notable day you can ever imagine in it. (If you’re a total nerd like me and that sounds awesome to you, your local library probably has a copy hanging out somewhere.)

So, I was flipping through my Chase’s the other day when I noticed that May 12 is Stay Up All Night Night. Stay Up All Night Night is a celebration of how awesome it is to stay up late when you’re a kid, and it encourages people to stay up and relive some of that magic once they’re older. It’s celebrated annually on the second Saturday in May.

Thinking about Stay Up All Night Night got me thinking about books where most or all of the action takes place at night. Here are some of my favorites!

Paper Towns by John Green
Margo Roth Spiegelman is the girl Quentin Jacobsen can’t help dreaming about. She’s quirky and funny and smart and lives right next door. One night she knocks on his window in the middle of the night for a series of adventures that require, among other things, a fish, a bouquet of flowers, and a can of spray paint. Q thinks his dreams are finally coming true–until Margo disappears. Q knows something bad has happened, but can he find her in time?

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Leviathan
Nick and Nora didn’t plan to have their first date last an entire night. In fact, they didn’t plan to have a first date at all. But an emergency ex situation requires desperate measures, and one small kiss leads to one long night. This love letter to New York City was made in to a movie starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, but check out the original novel for a bit of a different story. Don’t worry–it’s short enough to read in one night!

Ditched by Robin Mellom
Justina Griffith wakes up in a ditch, in an iridescent blue dress that has a number of suspicious stains on it, with no memory of how she got there. She also has an oddly french-fry-shaped bruise on her shin. How did her prom night go from the night she was planning to finally kiss her best friend and make the leap to girlfriend status to … this? Billed as “The Hangover for teens,” this comedy of errors will make you laugh–and cringe–as you hear all about Justina’s prom night gone bad.

The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh
Jack Perdu (the French pun is, I am fairly certain, intended) is a bit of a caricature: he’s very smart, but very shy, and he spends his time wandering the Yale campus, where he lives with his father. Jack may be able to read classics with an understanding that is far beyond his fourteen years, but he simply cannot comprehend his mother’s death. When his father sends him to a mysterious doctor in NYC, where his mother died, Jack ends up making a trip to the New York Underworld to find her. He’s dedicated to his task–but will he be able to get back to the land of the living before his relocation to the land of the dead is permanent? More importantly, does he even want to?

 – Ariel Cummins, currently reading I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Here is a list of fun and informative tweets from some of your favorite people in YA Lit:

• Hey #yalit fans — Take a peek inside A CONFUSION OF PRINCES by@garthnix http://vsb.li/Q21SP3 - @harperteen (HarperTeen)
• You asked for it! Download the EXCLUSIVE excerpt of THE EVOLUTION OF MARA DYER by @michellehodkin on @goodreads now! http://bit.ly/JO1nXA - @simonschuster (Simon and Schuster)
• here is a A NEW VLOG! full of no-longer-secret, but still awesome things, re: Shatter Me & other books & such.http://youtu.be/qlPFWMmQt5g - @TaherehMafi (Tahereh Mafi - Shatter Me)
• CALLING ALL TEENS! NYC’s @mcnallyjackson is looking for tween/teen book reviewers. http://bit.ly/JtA7Pn / via @SarahNumber4  @DisneyHyperion (Disney Hyperion)
• Entertainment Weekly: First Photo from the Beautiful Creatures Movie Set http://tmblr.co/ZugGXyL6Rc-0 - @kamigarcia (Kami Garcia - Beautiful Chaos)
• You don’t need a degree to be a writer, just persistence and a pen. - @kamigarcia (Kami Garcia - Beautiful Chaos)
• Want to hear a sample from the audiobook of @mstiefvater‘s THE RAVEN BOYS? We thought you might. http://bit.ly/IVBevW - @Scholastic (Scholastic)
• Latest blog post: http://www.megcabot.com/2012/05/its-here/ - @megcabot (Meg Cabot - Underworld)
• I can’t wait to tell you guys more about my Jan. 2013 book, THE DEAD AND BURIED. For now, think…Mean Girls + Paranormal Activity. ;)  - @Kim_Harrington (Kim Harrington - Perception)
• YA Librarians! Need summer reading #giveaways? Enter to win a pack of signed Diabolical bookmarks: http://bit.ly/JSwy9W #txla #spot - @CynLeitichSmith (Cynthia Leitich Smith - Diabolical)
• Looking for some new #yalit? Check out our FREE Epic Reads Sampler…available now! http://vsb.li/yN6kd1 - @harperteen (HarperTeen)
• Months ago newspapers hated on “darkness” in YA. Today, Sendak is praised for being honest about the dark. This is a wild rumpus INDEED. - @JacksonPearce (Jackson Pearce - Purity)
• Novelist Jacquelyn Mitchard to lead YA imprint at F+W Media. Merit Press Books to release 5 titles this year: http://mbist.ro/IJhDsO - @GalleyCat (GalleyCat)
• Have you watched our EXCLUSIVE ‘Beautiful Creatures’ set visit yet? You should: http://ow.ly/aO216 - @hollywoodcrush (MTV Hollywood Crush)
• Will be posting a sneak peek first chapter of IMMORTAL HEARTS on my website. It should be up at the end of this…http://fb.me/1BQZ84834 - @ellenschreiber (Ellen Schreiber - Immortal Hearts)

– Faythe Arredondo, currently reading The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour and failing miserably at YALSA’s Best of the Best Reading Challenge!

I know I missed some tweets this week, so let me know which ones! @farre

By now you’re probably tired of every adult in your life asking you what you’re doing this summer. You’ve gone around to your favorite stores two or three times and are finally coming to the stark realization that all the best mall jobs were snatched up some time in April by kids who have more job experience than you. And there’s no way you’re babysitting again. So it’s time to get serious and take some much-needed advice from the most trustworthy source around: young adult fiction.

If a job sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Say you’re looking for fast cash the year before college and someone offers you $10,000 to help sail a boat from the Virgin Islands to New York City. What should you do? Just say no. The boat is clearly filled with drugs, and chances are you’ll end up in jail and won’t be lucky enough to turn yourself into a Newbery-Award-winning author later in life. —Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos

Jobs that seem like the worst are sometimes the best. Not everyone has their pick of jobs, so sometimes you have to take what you can get, even if it sounds like pure misery—like working in a women’s clothing boutique run by your Barbie-esque new stepmother. But how do you know you don’t like designer jeans, the color pink, and the 9 o’clock dance party unless you at least try them? —Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Jobs that seem like the best are sometimes the worst. If you take a job thinking it’s going to be easy money pretending to slave away at your grandfather’s golf course while really slacking off and riding around on golf carts, chances are you’re going to be in for a surprise when working actually does involve work. Sometimes the best ideas are the biggest disappointments. —The Big Game of Everything by Chris Lynch

Jobs that require a costume are never worth it. The summer is hot—much too hot to be outside all day wearing a thousand layers of petticoats and pretending to be a maiden from the Colonial era. If you’ve lived your life as the pretend blacksmith’s daughter, you should already know this. Wake up! Go work at the mall instead! —Past Perfect by Leila Sales

…Unless you get to dress up like a mermaid. The only jobs that get an exception to the no-costume rule are ones where you get to dress up like your childhood fantasy—you know, He-Man, Cinderella, or a mermaid. Extra points if the mermaid costume helps you uncover a deep, dark family secret. —Mermaid Park by Beth Mayall

Keep in mind that hard labor can lead to hard abs. Hours of backbreaking work in the hot sun digging holes, hauling dirt and rocks, and sweating like crazy probably isn’t your first choice (unless you’re sentenced to mandatory community service), but it can turn your nerd arms into manly muscles in time for senior year, basically guaranteeing instant popularity and a date with a hot girl. —Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Never turn down free labor from a hot guy. If you’re stuck with an unbelievable terrible job like, say, single-handedly running your parents’ dairy farm, accept any and all free help you can get—particularly if it comes in the form of a handsome and misunderstood quarterback who’s willing to help you train for football season when there’s downtime. —Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Working with your best friend may sound like the best idea ever, but it’s really not. You spend all year talking about how amazing it’s going to be to work together—she’s in the band and you’re her roadie—but one person is always going to disappoint the other and then you’re stuck for months in the same little tour bus with a whole lot of anger. In young adult novels, getting a gig together never works out. —The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Working for your best friend is even worse. Your friendship may survive working together, but it will never survive if one person is the boss—particularly if your best friend is a once-sweet, now backstabbing B-list celebrity trying to claw her way to the top while on location in the South of France. —Girl Stays in the Picture by Melissa de la Cruz

Remember that some jobs will allow you to escape far away from home. Some jobs offer something better than money: escape. If things are a bit rocky at home and you really need a few months away from the grating reality of what your life will look life after your father divorces your wonderful stepmother, consider working on volunteer project out of state for the summer. —How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt

— Annie Schutte, currently reading Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Classics–whether they are novels, plays, or epics–offer us great characters, interesting plots, and lots of things for discussion … but sometimes they can be a little tough to tackle. Sometimes we adore them, but sometimes we can’t get past page 3, let alone the requisite 50. That doesn’t mean that we should give up what they have to offer, though, does it? Many of today’s authors try to use these classic works as a starting-off point to write a more modern version. If done well, these contemporary versions can have a huge impact and impart the same wisdom that made the earlier story gain its classic status. Jessica Pryde and I decided to find and examine some great pairs of classics and their contemporary rewrites to see if they are successful … or maybe not.

The Classic: Homer’s The Iliad

The Iliad and its follow-up, The Odyssey, are epic poems that are known worldwide and have been reshaped into new stories, turned into mini-series and even filmed as full-length movies more times than I could easily recount here. Though scholars are still unsure as to whether or not these tales were written by one single man, credit is given to the Greek bard Homer, who lived sometime in the late eighth and early seventh centuries BCE. Though composed during Homer’s lifetime, The Iliad is set during the Bronze Age of Mycenaean Greece, around the twelfth century BCE. Within the Trojan War’s final cataclysmic year, the Greeks and Trojans unleash a plague, dream portents, duels, assassinations, and trickery upon one another. Desperate members of each side attempt victory through seduction, divine intervention, and deception. As the Greek King, Agamemnon, and Troy’s Princes, Hector and Paris, clash, death and destruction follow on both sides.

While there is no doubt that a lot of exciting battles and betrayals happen in The Iliad, sometimes actually understanding the historic events can be something of a chore. We’ve all heard friends, classmates, and even strangers complain about the difficulty of reading Shakespeare … I challenge these readers to tackle older translations of Homer’s epic poems! With over twenty-five centuries between our cultures, understanding Homer’s storytelling style can be quite arduous. Even some modern day translations can come across as dry, rather than reaching their full potential and captivating bloodthirsty audiences.

The Contemporary: Shana Norris’s Troy High

Shana Norris takes Homer’s The Iliad and gives it a truly modern day twist. When town lines are redrawn, “Spartan” students are forced to transfer to Troy High. Everyone watches with heightened anticipation as head cheerleader, Elena, switches schools. Our narrator, Cassie, finds herself observing in apt fascination as Elena swans into her life and starts dating Cassie’s brother, Perry. Further complicating Cassie’s life, Elena’s ex-boyfriend, Lucas Mennon, decides that Perry has stolen Elena and incites a prank war between the schools. Cassie and Greg–her best friend/crush and coincidentally Lucas’ younger brother–attempt to keep the peace between factions, but as the year passes and the two schools’ football teams compete for a championship, the pranks and on-field battles become more elaborate and potentially dangerous. It will come as no surprise to those familiar with the original story that injuries ensue, though thankfully Norris shies away from any actual deaths.

With a more lighthearted touch, and the hope of a romance for our poor, doomed narrator Cassie, Norris creates a modern day version of The Iliad that can be read by those familiar with the original or those without a clue to its origins. While containing characters and elements of Homer’s story, Troy High succeeds well on its own merits. It is a romp of a high school rivalry with a surprise happy ending. While I cannot recommend this if you were looking for an easy way to learn the plotline of The Iliad, I can say that readers should be pleased with this blithely entertaining version of the world-reknowned war story.

For earlier posts about updated classics, check out Jessica Pryde’s From Classic to Contemporary: Lysistrata into Shut Out or have a look at Sharon’s Alternatives to the Classics.

Have more classics and their contemporary updates that you’d like us to compare and contrast? Let us know in the comments!

– Jessica Miller, currently reading Insurgent by Veronica Roth and 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

Yes, yes, they're saving the planet ... but what do they read?

The Hero: Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff)

The only female member of the movie’s Avengers, Black Widow is an exceptional spy and  infiltrator, skilled in disguise, intrigue, assassination and  hand-to-hand combat. In the comics, she began her career as a Soviet spy but became a valued member of S.H.I.E.L.D. Although she has pursued romantic relationships with many of her superhero colleagues during her comic-book history, including Iron Man and Daredevil, Black Widow remains staunchly independent–this lady is more than capable of taking care of herself.

The Book: Graceling by Kristin Cashore (2009 Best Books for Young Adults, 2009 Teens Top Ten, 2012 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults)

Like Black Widow, Katsa is a skilled fighter, who, at first, is used by an unscrupulous ruler for his own purposes. Over the course of the novel, Katsa discovers a great deal about herself, including the true nature of her abilities and the strength to stand up to those in power. At the end of the book, when Katsa has the emotional maturity to enter a romantic relationship without losing herself, I’m sure Natasha would cheer her on.

You would not believe how many shirtless pictures there were of this guy.

Committed to fighting the good fight in World War II, young, sickly Steve Rogers volunteered to undergo an experimental process that turned him into a supersoldier. As Captain America, Rogers kept the nefarious cabal HYDRA from using weapons of mass destruction–until he was lost in suspended animation in the Arctic, awakening 70 years later.

The Book: Nick of Time by Ted Bell

Young Nick McIver lives on an island in the English Channel, right before England enters World War II. Nick can tell something’s wrong–German U-boats and airplanes are appearing around his beloved island home–and he wants to do something about it. While he and his little sister are spying on the German planes and boats, they find a mysterious golden orb that takes Nick back in time to defend his home against another threat: the ruthless pirate Billy Blood and the French armada. Nick’s gumption and determination to do the right thing will certainly appeal to patriotic and courageous Steve Rogers, as will this book’s good old-fashioned swashbucking adventure. As an accidental time traveler himself, Steve Rogers will certainly relate to a story that takes place in two different centuries.

The Hero: Hawkeye (Clint Barton)

Hawkeye is an unusual hero. As a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., he doesn’t lack futuristic weapons to choose from, but he prefers to use a bow and arrows, achieving incredible results with what others would consider obsolete technology. In his comic-book continuity, Hawkeye was an enemy of the Avengers when he first appeared, but later grew to be a trusted member of the team. Over his long history with Marvel comics, Hawkeye has undergone several trying experiences, such as finding out his wife was actually a shapeshifting alien spy, and death (comics, everybody!), yet he still manages to pull through in a remarkably level-headed way.

The Book: Legend by Marie Lu (2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults)

In a future where America has become a war-torn autocracy called the Republic, June and Day have wildly different lives. June is a prodigy, preparing for a life in the military; Day is a criminal, hunted for his acts of rebellion against the government. Their paths cross when June’s brother is murdered, and Day is the prime suspect. In her efforts to find Day and avenge her brother, June finds out that her old conceptions of friend and foe may not be true. Archery prodigy Clint Barton will be able to relate to military prodigy June, and as a person who has had his worldview and allegiance shift dramatically more than once, he will certainly understand June’s confusion when the propaganda she was raised to believe is proven hollow.

HULK BROOD

Mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner was exposed to gamma radiation. Now, if he gets angry or afraid, he transforms into an unstoppable, ferocious, green giant. Despite the strength and power of his alter-ego, the peaceful Dr. Banner desperately seeks a way to either control his outbursts or cure himself completely.

The Book: This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel (2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults)

When his twin brother falls gravely ill, young Victor Frankenstein goes on a quest to create the Elixer of Life. What darkness will this obsession awaken in young Victor’s heart? Bruce Banner knows personally what effect scientific curiosity without limits can have on people–and has suffered its consequences. As a man whose own dark id has become an actual, physical being, Bruce Banner would sympathize with Victor’s growing inner darkness. (One caveat: this book conveys so much tension and gothic horror that I imagine Bruce would have to put it down frequently–or risk transforming while reading it!)

The Hero: Iron Man (Tony Stark)

A genius, playboy, billionaire, and egomaniac, Tony Stark’s life took a sudden turn when he was wounded in Afghanistan by weapons his own company sold to insurgents without his knowledge. Tougher and more cunning than most billionaires, Tony famously constructed a miniature arc reactor “in a cave, with a box of scraps” and used it to power his revolutionary full-body suit of armor. Then, to his own surprise as much as anyone else’s, he got his company out of the weapons business and became a superhero.

The Book: Bullet Point by Peter Abrahams

Wyatt has never met his biological father, who is serving a life sentence for murder. But then he ends up moving to the town where his father is imprisoned, and becoming involved with the sexy Greer, a girl whose own father is imprisoned. When Wyatt finally meets his charismatic father, he becomes convinced the man is innocent and is determined to help him–a decision that becomes the biggest mistake of Wyatt’s life. Booklist described this book as “edgy and sexy,” which is exactly the kind of book our favorite playboy would love. This book is also a page-turning mystery, perfect for hooking the inquiring mind of an ADD genius like Tony Stark.

Maybe he's born with it...

Hailing from Asgard, Thor is gifted with long life and godlike powers, but when his actions destroy the truce between the Frost Giants and the Asgardians, he is stripped of his powers and sent to Earth. There he learns humility, eventually returning to Asgard to protect his realm and Earth from the schemes of his younger brother, Loki.

The Book: Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta (2011 Best Fiction for Young Adults)

When Finnikin was nine, the royal family of his beloved homeland, Lumatere, were brutally murdered. The nation was cursed, and most of its citizens, including Finnikin, were driven into exile, unable to return or even communicate with their relatives due to the magic that isolates Lumatere. Ten years later, Finnikin meets a young woman named Evanjalin who claims that the heir to the throne of Lumatere is still alive and has chosen Finnikin to lead the exiles home. Can Finnikin trust Evanjalin? And does he have the strength to retake Lumatere? As a man who has himself experienced both betrayal and exile, Thor will be able to relate to Finnikin and his struggle. The passionate characters and epic plot will surely catch the heart of the son of Odin.

What do you think, readers? Do you have other suggestions for our heroes? What would Loki read? Tell us in the comments!

– Maria Kramer, currently reading Shine by Lauren Myracle