Adolescent/Young Adult Fiction - Ideas??

One of my best friend's little boy is turning 1 next week and his parents have had a great idea to help celebrate his Birthday. All of the guests to his party are asked to bring along an item that will be placed in a time capsule for him to open on his 18th Birthday.
I have decided I would like to put a book in the time capsule - a book that an 18 year old young man might be enjoying in 2009 - so that when he opens it he can get an idea of what was being read by teenagers when he was just a bub.
So, that's where I need your help - what do you think would be a good book to place in the time capsule?

Envy - Anna Godbersen

Envy is the third book in The Luxe series by Anna Godbersen and after devouring the first two books fairly quickly it was inevitable that I was going to move on to this one too.

Envy continues the story of the wealthy socialite families the Hollands, Schoonmakers, Hayes etc... etc... The girls are still seeking that ultimate love affair - and ultimate prize that goes along with that affair - a rich, influential, and hopefully attractive, husband. Some win the prize and others - well, they don't do so well.

The author has moved much of this book from the familiar setting of New York to Florida as the group goes on holiday. I'm not sure this change of scenery did that much for me - I couldn't really see the purpose in it apart from change for changes sake (and to show the fact that these people have so much money they can do what they like when they like) and I would have preferred the comfortable, well established New York setting to continue.

But having said that, I'm well and truly hooked into this gossipy story now and I will be joining in to read the fourth book in the series when it arrives.

Twilight - Stephanie Meyer

I was so close to putting this book down and never picking it up again - so close and yet I kept on reading for reasons that are not really that clear to me! I knew I wasn't enjoying it, I felt the writing was predictable, dishonest, boring and painful and the main characters made me want to turn into a vampire simply so that I would have the power to destroy them!

You're probably getting the picture - this is far from a favourite read.

I had been tossing up whether to read this one for a while - I had heard rumblings of Stephanie Meyer being compared to J.K. Rowling - please!!! There is no comparison in my mind. I am trying to work out why this book, and the others in the series, are such big sellers and to be honest, I'm a little concerned that so many adolescent girls are reading these books and possibly somehow modelling themselves on the main female character, Bella.

As I had written in my previous post - I had come to a conclusion as to why I not only disliked this book - but also why it worried me enough to keep reading. The premise of Twilight is that 17 year old Bella moves to a small town in the USA to live with her father. The usual teenage plot follows - Bella doesn't really fit in, misses her life with her mum blah, blah, blah - and then she meets Edward. Dashingly handsome, beautifully brilliant Edward. All of Bella's worries are eased - until she discovers he is actually a vampire and could potentially be a fatal attraction. The "relationship" between Bella and Edward forms my main gripe with this book. Throughout the novel we hear Bella fawning over Edward only to hear Edward throw back lines such as ; "Bella, You'll be the death of me, I swear you will" following a look or a touch or a romantic word from Bella. Edward constantly gives Bella the message that it is difficult for him to control himself around her and he could very possibly do something to hurt her simply because of how enticing she is to him. As a social worker who has worked with women who have been victims of domestic violence and sexual assault I find this message consistent with what some of these women have been led to believe by the perpetrator of the violence - "you asked for it" or "you made me do it". Now, I might be reading too much into this - but this is how reading this book made me feel - angry that a young woman (even a fictional one) was being made to feel as though she was the tempation that a man (even a vampire) could not resist and that any harm that may come her way was actually her fault - simply for being an attractive female.

Needless to say, I will not be reading the other books in this series.

Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson

Our latest bookclub genre is adolescent fiction and the title that was picked out of the hat at our last meeting was Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson. I must admit I had never heard of the book or even the author but have since learnt that the book is on the required reading lists for many high schools - even in Australia. Having said that I still had to purchase the book through Amazon as I couldn't find it in any of our local bookshops which was a little frustrating.

Speak is an amazing story - for adolescents and adults.

The story is told from the point of view of Melinda - a 13 year old who is just starting high school as the story begins - don't we all remember (not always fondly) that time in out lives! A party has taken place just prior to the beginning of the school year and we learn more about the events that went on at that party as the story unfolds - it is enough to say that the events of the party lead to painful outcomes for Melinda as school begins.

The writing in this book is amazing - short, punchy, funny and lyrical at the same time. You feel Melinda's pain and you also feel her reaching out at times. The scenes with her art teacher and her lab partner are particularly beautiful.

Looking forward to sharing this book around.