Name Me Nobody

Author: Lois-Ann Yamanaka

First line: I have a feeling that my obsession with names started with my mother, Roxanne Kaya.

Why you should read this book: A powerhouse of a novel. Emi-lou and Yvonne have been best friends since infancy, but the summer before their freshman year, the girls begin to drift apart as they stockpile painful secrets. Full of honest revelation and relationships, along with lots of Hawaiian dialect.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think teenagers should be kept in dark rooms until they finish puberty and should under no circumstances receive information about the real world or anything that deviates from a mainstream conservative view of normality.

A Good Night for Freedom

Author: Barbara Olenyik Morrow

Quote: "I don't like slavery. But there's a law against helpin' runaways. A judge could fine me $500. Or we could find our barn in flames."

Why you should read this book: When Hallie discovers her Quaker neighbors (real life abolitionists Levi and Catherine Coffin) helping runaway slaves, she needs to understand their decisions and make her own.

Why you should't read this book: You believe so strongly in adherence to the law you don't care how unfair or unconstitutional it is.

Max's Dragon Shirt

Author: Rosemary Wells

First line: Max loved his old blue pants more than anything. "Those pants are disgusting, Max," said Max's sister Ruby.

Why you should read this book: Max and his incredibly bossy sister Ruby go shopping for new pants, but Ruby proves easily distracted while Max's single-minded pursuit of the elusive dragon shirt pays off.

Why you shouldn't read this book: The thought of a world populated entirely by fuzzy bunnies disturbs you.

The Lost Thing

Author: Shaun Tan

First line: So you want to hear a story?

Why you should read this book: An extremely surreal picture book with extremely surreal pictures. When the narrator finds a lost thing (it resembles a red teakettle, if a teakettle were twenty feet high, with spikes, wings, tentacles, and doors) at the beach, he becomes obsessed with figuring out where such an object belongs. Thoughtful commentary on how easy it is not to notice things we don't want to see.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're only into reality.

Tabitha the Fabulous Flying Feline

Author: Carol Ann Timel

First Line: Tabitha was a city cat.

Why you should read this book: In 1994, the real-life Tabitha escaped her cat-carrier in the cargo bay of a 747 and spent 13 days hiding within the aircraft's body before the real-life Carol Ann was able (with media pressure) to persuade the airline to ground the plane, turn off the engine, and let her call her wayward kitty. This book is a faithful reconstruction of the adventures of woman and cat.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You've never loved an animal so much that you were willing to make yourself look ridiculous for the creature's sake.

Cinnamon, Mint, & Mothballs: A Visit to Grandmother's House

Author: Ruth Tiller

First line: Last fall, just as leaves traded green for gold, we went to Grandmother's house.

Why you should read this book: Accompanied by bold cut-paper illustrations resembling stained-glass, this book uses a poetic voice to describe a young girl's perception of a day and night at her grandmother's cozy farmhouse. A perfect bedtime book.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You are trying to stay awake.

Me!

Author: Philip Waechter

First line: Me. I like myself.

Why you should read this book: A tight and tidy collection of self-affirmations for very small people, expressed by a large, comically-illustrated brown bear.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't want to like yourself.

Piratica: Being a Daring Tale of a Singular Girl's Adventure upon the High Seas

Author: Tanith Lee

First line: One day when she was sixteen, Art remembered her mother.

Why you should read this book: After a nasty fall down the stairs at the Angels Academy for Young Maidens, Miss Artemesia Fitz-Willoughby Weatherhouse recovers repressed memories of her mother, Piratica, and escapes through the chimney to seek her fortune as Art Blastside, pistol proof Pirate Queen.

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you don't like piracy or the theater, you're not going to find much here.

A Man without a Country

Author: Kurt Vonnegut

First line: As a kid I was the youngest member of my family, and the youngest child in any family is always a jokemaker, because a joke is the only way he can enter into an adult conversation.

Why you should read this book: In his own inimitable, bitingly cynical way, Vonnegut philosophizes on the state of the planet and his own alienation from a place to which he is inextricably connected. There is humor in the book, but it is not a comedy, and the author reminds us repeatedly that the naivete of his youth is gone and his prognosis for the human race is utterly pessimistic. At the same time, he illustrates what it means to be human with examples of the best (and worst) ideas humanity has to offer and the simple, basic information that anyone can utilize to make the world a better place. Short and deep and honest.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You've never cared for Vonnegut, but you think George W. Bush is a hell of a guy. As with all of Vonnegut's work, this book should also be avoided if you're feeling despondent and suicidal.

The True Story of Stellina

Author: Matteo Pericoli

Quote: And then, another day, Stellina learned how to fly, all by herself, and Holly was so excited, because Holly, my wife, doesn't know how to fly. She knows how to dance, but not how to fly.

Why you should read this book: The author's wife really found a baby bird at the corner of 46th and Third in Manhattan, took it home, and cared for it for the next eight years. The drawing are warm, the prose poetic, and the story sweet and engaging.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think wild animals ought to stay in the wild, even if that means a gutter in Manhattan.