YAC Index - by Author
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YAC Index by Title

Yan, Ma Diary of Ma Yan: The Struggles and Hopes of a Chinese Schoolgirl
In May of 2001, the diary of a fourteen-year-old Chinese girl named Ma Yan was thrust into the hands of a foreign journalist by her desperate, illiterate mother. The family lived in a drought-stricken corner of rural China where education is the only hope for escaping a life of crushing poverty. Ma Yan was struggling to stay in school, but her family could not afford the fees.

Published in Europe, the diary produced an outpouring of support that led to the creation of an international fund for the education of Ma Yan and other poor children in her remote village...all due to one young girl's honest, accessible, heart-wrenching diary.
Student Rating: Student Review:
2
 This was really good. It was about a girl really struggling to get through school in China. I learned a lot about the culture. - BMS
2
 I liked reading about the Chinese culture. It was a quick read and I enjoyed every part of it. - BMS
2
 Very well written, interesting, and informative. I enjoyed this book! - G
2
 This was a great book. After reading this book, I would consider reading more diaries. - KMS
2
 This is a book more people should read. I really enjoyed it. - MNHS
2
 I knew of poverty in otehr places but I didn't know it was so severe. It wasn't until the end did I realize that it was just a couple of years ago. Wow. - MNHS
2
 The book was great and it showed me how Chinese people live in misery. I liked it mostly because Ma Yan wanted to study and wouldn't give up no matter what, because she wanted t good job to help people. - MNHS
2
 It was amazing how Ha Yan's mother would starve herself so Ma Yan and her brother could get a good education. - BMS
2
 I knew of poverty in other places, but I didn't know it was so severe. It wasn't until the end that I realized it was just a couple of years ago. - BMS
2
 The book was great and it showed how Chinese people can live in misery. I liked it mostly because Ma Yan wanted to study and wouldn't give up no matter what because she wanted a good job to help people. - BMS
0
 It didn't havemuch of a plot. All it talked about were struggles of life that didn't add up. I was a little lost; each diary entry was like a story in itself - KMS
1
 It was sad to read that she starved almost every day - KMS
2
 Knights and fast cars always adds adverture to a book - MNHS
Yancy, Rick The Extraordinary Adventues of Alfred Kropp
Through a series of dangerous and violent misadventures, teenage loser Alfred Kropp rescues King Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur from the forces of evil.
Student Rating: Student Review:
2
 Very interesting and action filled book - sword fighting, chases - great book. - MNHS
2
 I thought this was an excellent book. The plot was interesting and kept me turning the pages. - MNHS
2
 This is a great adventure book with lots of action and mystery - KMS
2
 This book is an excellent example of a young man struggling to do the right thing in a society where it seems impossible. Excellent read! - MNHS
2
 Full of excitement and mystery. A mix of every action movie ever made. If this sounds interesting, then read it - MWHS
2
 I really enjoyed this book because Alfie was basically a geek, but by the end of the story, he wasn't afraid of anything. His adventure actually changed him. - CMS
2
 It was a great book as Alfred discovers he's a descendent of King Arthur. After robbing his father of a million dollars, Alfred's million was stolen by a man who wants to take over the history - KMS
2
 This book leaves you on the edge of your seat and you don't want to stop reading. I'd recommend this to any type of reader - KMS
1
 The book was interesting but it got boring after a while. The plot was okay, but didn't really draw me into the story. - MNHS
1
 The book was good, but it went too fast for my taste. - KMS
2
 This is a very good book. It is a cliff ahnger. It is medieval mixed with today. - KMS
2
 This is a good book with a modern twist on a classic story. The characters were easy to relate to, and the writing style made the book seem half its size - CMS
2
 I am amazed that this is Yancey's first book. He captures the soul of true writing. His phrasing is elegant, and his masterful suspense will keep readers at all levels grasping for more. The idea this book is based on has been used before, but never in such a away. I feel proud just being a reader of such a wonderful novel. - CMS
2
 My favorite part is when Alfred saved the world. - BMS
1
 This book was just okay. - KMS
2
 I could not stop reading because it flowed so nicely. A perfect 10. - KMS
2
 I liked the part when they were in Stonehenge and when he saved the sword. - KMS
1

I loved the modern King Arthur, the dark, bloody setting, and the good ending - KMS

Yee, Lisa Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time
After flunking sixth-grade English, basketball prodigy Stanford Wong must struggle to pass his summer-school class, keep his failure a secret from his friends, and satisy his academically demanding father.
Student Rating: Student Review:
2
 It was pretty funny. - KMS
2
 This book had a little of everything - KMS
2
 It was very upbeat! - KMS
2
 This was really good , and many people could relate to the characters. He is struggling with friends and basketball, and his father doesn't like that at all. - KMS
2
 This was a good book. I relate a lot. It was too bad that he had to go to summer school instead of basketball camp. - BMS
2
 It never got boring; it had some suspense - KMS
2
 This is one of the best books I've ever read; I like to read about schools, for some reason - KMS
2
 It was interesting because it made me want to work harder in school so I don't flunk - KMS
2
 It was a good book. It was also funny. It was cool when Stanford gets his hair cut and dyed purple. That was cool. - KMS
2
 I liked the part when he stood up for Millicent Min - KMS
2
 I liked the book. It kept me reading. - KMS
   
Yee, Paul The Bone Collector's Son
In 1907 Vancouver, Canada, after helping unearth a skeleton to be returned for burial in China, fourteen-year-old Bing experiences strange events that cause him to confront his fear of both ghosts and of his father
Student Rating: Student Review:
1
 It was just okay. - MNHS
1
 I enjoyed reading how Bing helped to get rid of the ghosts, but I didn't like how the story just ends and leaves the boxing thing open with not saying how it turns out. - MNHS
2
 Overall, the book was good because it basically gave a summary of an everyday kid's life - CMS
2
 This book was really good because it had a long enough story. - KMS
   
Yolen, Jane &
A. Stemple		 Apple for the Teacher
Apple for the teacher : thirty songs for singing while you work / collected and introduced by Jane Yolen ; music arranged by Adam Stemple ; art edited by Eileen Michaelis Smiles.
Student Rating: Student Review:
2
 I really enjoyed this book. - KMS
 
   
Yolen, Jane & A. Stemple Pay the Piper
   
When Callie interviews the band, Brass Rat, for her school newspaper, her feelings are ambivalent, but when all the children of Northampton begin to disappear on Halloween, she knows where the dangerous search must begin.
Student Rating: Student Review:
2
 I thought it was an awesome book because the way they explained the characters and the different settings was near perfect. I recommend it to everyone who likes myth-like fiction and fairy tales.
2
A brilliant fairy tale is mixed with moldern rock n roll. It is written so you get the plot in small doses which make you want to know more. - MNHS
1
 It wasn't the best, but it was OK because it was suspenseful - KMS
2
 Easy read and it kept my interest - MNHS
2
 It was a really easy read which kept my interest - MNHS
2
 It was a great book. I could really relate to Callie, and the band members were really cool - KMS
   
Youmans, Marly Ingledove
Several years after Fontana dam flooded the town where they were born, Ingledove and her brother Lang go wandering in the southern Appalachians, where they encounter their mother's peculiar people, the Adantan, and an evil being who charms Lang.
Student Rating: Student Review:
1
 I didn't understand it very well, but the Jarrett and Ingledove parts were okay. I didn't like it that much. The part of coming from another area was different. - BMS
Yourgrau, Barry Nastybook
Purposely bound upside down.;"Joanna Cotler books." Forty-three stories feature such characters as guardian angels who run away from their charges, witches who use the Internet to stalk their victims, and pandas who work as assassins.
Student Rating: Student Review:
2
 This book was really goofy and funny. When you finished one of the stories, you'd definitely be a bit confused or just think - "Haha...wait...what?" It was good. MNHS
1
 This book definitely had it ups and downs. The book was weird which I like, but it isn't really as funny as I thought it would be. - MNHS
2
 These short stories are mini-books. From start to finish, it gets wierder and more unpredicable - KMS
2
 This book was very funny and exciting to read because of the weird endings of every little story. - KMS
2
 I really liked it. It had a lot of weird and funny stories. I'm looking forward to the next one. - BMS
2
 It was pretty random. - MNHS
2
 It was funny. My favorite story is the one with the teddy bear when the robbers stole it, etc. - BMS
Yu, Chun Little Green: growing up during the Chinese revolution
Chun Yu, born in a small city in China, describes her childhood growing up in the middle of Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution.
Student Rating: Student Review:
1
 It was sort of interesting how the girl grew up - BMS
2
 A good non-fiction book - KMS
2
 I enjoyed this book because it taught me about the revolution. It was like reading a journal - MNHS
   
Zahn, Timothy Dragon and Slave
Fourteen-year-old Jack and the dragon warrior Draycos face a diabolical and ruthless intergalactic slavemaster when Jack attempts to penetrate secret computer files about the cold-blooded underworld while posing as a slave.
Student Rating: Student Review:
1
 I liked the excitement and how Jack is always having to decide what to do and not to do. - KMS
2
 It's really good. Jack is always trying to figure out what to do and not to do - BMS
2
 I liked the dragon that lives under his skin. I like that Jack and Draycus outsmart the whoe organization - KMS
2
 It's really good - read the first ones in the series, too. - KMS
   
Zenatti, Valerie When I was a Soldier
Presents the memoirs of Valerie Zenatti, who at eighteen, enlisted in the Israeli army, endured harsh conditions and surroundings, and participated in top secret missions for the Israeli Secret Service, and describes her French-Jewish heritage and personal struggles.
Student Rating: Student Review:
1
 It was OK, but it was more of a girl book - MWHS
1
 It was a little slow, not very much action. - MNHS
2
 This book was excellent. It really opens your eyes about the world outside America. It's an easy read and I know everyone will enjoy this book. - MNHS
2
 Excellent books. It gives a completely different point of view from a girl's perspecftive - MWHS
Zevin, Gabrielle Elsewhere

After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live."

 
Student Rating: Student Review:
2
 It was really cool to read about a different kind of heaven. It's really well written with a bittersweet ending. - MNHS
2
 The author has a really interesting view on where you go when you die. Her character was easy to understand and the book easy to get into. The author did a great job of getting Elsewhere to connect to every place that we hear about when we think about dying.
2
 This book gave me a different perspective on what happens after we die. I loved it. - KMS
2
 It was a great story about life after death.
1
 It had funny parts, but it was mostly dull - MWHS
2
 The author used great imagination to portray her storyline - KMS
2
 The starting of the book is really boring but once you get into it, the book is like you don't want to put it down. I suggest you read Elsewhere. - KMS
2
 The beginning of the book was a little boring, but you should keep on reading. The ending should have been better. - MNHS
2
 Reading about what happens after you die was different, but definitely entertaining.I enjoyed reading about Liz's death/life and how she's aging backwards in Elsewhere - KMS
2
 The book explains what people think it is like after you die. The author makes life sound like a circle - ex. you're born; you die; you age younger; and then you're born again. - KMS
2
 This book was very exciting - MNHS
2
 This book really teaches you to enjoy life even if the conditions are bad. - KMS
2
 It was a great adventureous book. I wanted to never stop reading this book. EXCELLENT!
Zusak, Markus I Am The Messenger
After capturing a bank robber, nineteen-year-old cab driver Ed Kennedy begins receiving mysterious messages that direct him to addresses where people need help, and he begins getting over his lifelong feeling of worthlessness.
Student Rating: Student Review:
1
 The book started off fast-paced and it was great until it mellowed out in the middle and end of the book. - MNHS
1
 The beginning and end were good, but the middle was boring. - MNHS
2
 I liked it because they talked fast like we do today. It also was never boring - MNHS
1
 I thought this would be a page-turner; it was kind of boring - MNHS
   

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Last Updated: 15 March, 2008