Street Pharm
by Alison Van Diepen
2006

Tyrone Johnson is the drug dealing king of Brooklyn. And he's a 17 year old high school student. He inherited his convict father's business, partner, and reputation. Taking his philosophy from the Art of War, Ty thinks he's in control of his destiny.

Kicked out of his last high school, Tyrone finds himself trying to keep his rep a secret from a girl at his new school. When a new dealer tries to get in on his turf, Ty struggles to save his girl and family from the violence that is part of his life, while also trying to keep it secret.

The author description left a bad taste in my life before I started the book, referencing her three and a half years working in "one of New York City's most dangerous high schools". The book is over the top in a lot of ways, including Tyrone's quick attempt to redeem himself. Despite these misgivings, I am fairly confident that this would be very popular with teen readers.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
2007

Hugo Cabret lives alone in a secret apartment in the Paris train station, keeping the clocks running while his uncle, the drunk/the station's clock maintainer, is missing. Hugo has inherited his family's fascination with machines and spends his free time trying to reconstruct an automaton, hoping to discover a secret message. His plans are complicated after he is caught shoplifting by a toy salesman at the station. Hugo soon finds himself in a web of more secrets, surprisingly connected to his own secrets.

This is a fat, dense novel, but the page layouts are well done, with lots of white space helping the story breathe. The illustrations are two page spreads, quite different from a paneled graphic novel/comic look. Several sequences suggest motion effectively and help pull the reader through the book. This is a book that needs to be seen to be appreciated, but I imagine that most kid readers seeing this book would be interested enough to make a go of it.