Catching Fire
Suzanne Collins
ISBN 978-0-439-02349-8
390 pages
Scholastic, 2009
Genre: Dystopia
Reader's Annotation:
Katniss' actions in the Hunger Games, an annual ritual in which 24 teenagers must fight to the death as televised entertainment, have made her an unintentional symbol of revolution and a target of an angry government.
Plot Summary:
Set in a dystopic future, where North America is divided into 12 Districts controlled by the almighty Capitol, Katniss deals with the fallout from her participation in the Hunger Games, an annual ritual in which 24 teenagers selected by lottery are sent as tributes to the Capitol and must fight to the death in a battle that's televised for the entertainment to the rest of the country. She tricked the gamemakers into letting her fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta, survive, too, but now the Capitol is furious with how she outsmarted them. She's torn between Peeta, who is in love with her, and Gale, her friend and possible love interest who is upset that Kat had to pretend to love Peeta to survive the game. More importantly, as Kat and Peeta travel the country on a victory tour, she learns that the Capitol is working overtime to suppress revolution, and that her actions in the Games have made her the symbol of this revolution. Katniss struggles with her desire to protect her family, her friendships, and her fury at the government which has trampled on the lives of so many people.
Series: Book two in a planned trilogy; the first book is The Hunger Games (2008).
Critical Summary:
The Hunger Games received so much positive attention that I simply had to read it earlier this year. I loved it and couldn't wait for the sequel, which I bought and devoured the day it came out. I'd had a lot of interesting conversations with people about the first book. Many of them disliked the ending of the first book, which they felt seemed a little pat and turned what was an interesting political or sociological story into a more hackneyed teen love story. I felt that this book completely addressed those complaints. While there is a bit of the love triangle, it's only in service of the book's greater message, which is completely about the impending revolution of all the Districts.
I really liked how characters from the first book grew and changed in this one. Cinna, her stylist, and Haymitch, her drunken mentor, both have more complex roles to play here and are serving their own motivations. Collins' writing style is taut, and the action is fast-paced; it's a page-turner, for sure, although at some times, it feels like the plot is chugging along so fast, there's not much room for any subtlety. There's not a lot of description here, and there were a few plot points that I found confusing, even after I read them several times.
As a standalone, I'm not sure if the book would work. While it's satisfying in its own right, it can't be fully appreciated without reading the first one, and the ending is very much unresolved, leading directly to the as-yet-to-be-published final book.
About the author:
Collins is now best known for the the wildly popular book The Hunger Games, the predecessor to Cathing Fire. In addition to this series, Collins has also written the bestselling Underland Chronicles series, fantasies about a strange world hidden under New York City. She started her career as a writer for children's television,
Curriculum Ties:
This book can't really be read on its own, but the first book could be used in discussions about the media and reality TV or societal problems and revolutions.
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Briefly explain the premise of the Hunger Games themselves.
2. For fans of the first book, give a hint of what faces Katniss at the start of this book.
3. Talk about Katniss as a symbol of revolution against the Capitol.
Reading Interest/Level:
While this book is completely appropriate for and interesting to older teens, it would also be enjoyed by 7th graders and up.
Challenge Issues:
Some of the descriptions of the Hunger Games are pretty bloody and violent.
Were it to be challenged, the librarian, along with explaining the selection policy to the challenger, could point out how immensely popular and well-reviewed the first book was, along with winning several Best Book the Year awards.
Selection Criteria:
This book was one of the most-anticipated young adult releases for 2009, so I had to read it!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Luna by Julie Anne Peters
Luna
Julie Anne Peters
ISBN 0-316-73369-5
248 pages
Little, Brown & Company, 2004
Genre: LGBT; Issue Novel
Reader's Annotation:
Regan's life has revolved around her brother Liam's struggles with his female identity, but lately she finds herself struggling to define her identity as a person separate from her brother.
Plot Summary:
High school senior Liam has known his whole life that he was born in the wrong body, and his younger sister Luna has known his secret her whole life. At night, Liam emerges as Luna, his female identity. Luna has kept her secret from everyone, but now feels ready to emerge from her cocoon. Regan adores and supports Luna, yet at the same time struggles with her own identity; her complicated family life has made having friends difficult, and at school she feels like an invisible loner. The possibility of romance with a new boy in school forces Regan to rethink her identity as more than just Luna's sister, while Luna struggles with the reality that her family, friends, and high school community may not be accepting of her true self.
Critical Evaluation:
I really enjoyed this book and was amazed during our class Elluminate session how deeply layered it was. There's a lot packed into its 248 pages! I was especially intrigued by the whole family's dysfunctional dynamic; the parents are struggling with their own identities and have a hard time seeing their teenage children as they really are. I would have loved to read a book just from the viewpoint of the mother, who seemed completely clueless throughout but obviously knew more than she chose to let on.
I thought the relationship between the teens were really believable. The friendship and then romance between Chris and Regan was funny and touching, and I liked how it helped Regan see herself in a new light; I also loved the dynamic of their war against their chemistry teacher. I also liked the friendship between Aly and Liam/Luna; the resolution of that seemed quite realistic to me. In general, I really liked how frank and honest Peters was about the relationships in the book. Regan's loss of her babysitting job and surrogate family was quite upsetting, yet exactly what would happen in reality, as was the treatment of Luna when she decided to appear in public as a woman.
About the author:
Peters has written a number of award-winning young adult and children's novels. Many of her YA works feature LGBT themes. Her most recent work, Rage, centers around domestic abuse in a lesbian relationship. Her work has been noted by LGBT organizations for her thoughtful and realistic portrayal of gay teens.
Curriculum ties:
LGBT issues, transgendered people, bullies
Booktalking ideas:
1. Talk about the sibling dynamic between Regan and Liam/Luna
2. Talk about Luna's identity as a transgendered woman
3. Talk about the relationship between Regan and Chris, how he helps her form an identity outside of her family
4. Talk in character as Regan, giving a quick summary of Luna and her parents
Reading/Interest Level:
9th grade and up
Challenge Issues:
Its LGBT subject matter may be challenged by some who find it morally problematic.
If challenged, the librarian should be aware of the library's selection policy and be able to explain and defend it to the challenger. He or she could provide the challenger with the number of positive reviews and awards that Luna has won, as well as some statistics on teens and transgender identity, or perhaps a clipping about Fred Martinez Jr., the murdered transgendered boy who inspired the story.
Selection Criteria:
This was an assigned reading for our class, but the long list of accolades it's received would also make a strong case for its worthiness of inclusion.
Julie Anne Peters
ISBN 0-316-73369-5
248 pages
Little, Brown & Company, 2004
Genre: LGBT; Issue Novel
Reader's Annotation:
Regan's life has revolved around her brother Liam's struggles with his female identity, but lately she finds herself struggling to define her identity as a person separate from her brother.
Plot Summary:
High school senior Liam has known his whole life that he was born in the wrong body, and his younger sister Luna has known his secret her whole life. At night, Liam emerges as Luna, his female identity. Luna has kept her secret from everyone, but now feels ready to emerge from her cocoon. Regan adores and supports Luna, yet at the same time struggles with her own identity; her complicated family life has made having friends difficult, and at school she feels like an invisible loner. The possibility of romance with a new boy in school forces Regan to rethink her identity as more than just Luna's sister, while Luna struggles with the reality that her family, friends, and high school community may not be accepting of her true self.
Critical Evaluation:
I really enjoyed this book and was amazed during our class Elluminate session how deeply layered it was. There's a lot packed into its 248 pages! I was especially intrigued by the whole family's dysfunctional dynamic; the parents are struggling with their own identities and have a hard time seeing their teenage children as they really are. I would have loved to read a book just from the viewpoint of the mother, who seemed completely clueless throughout but obviously knew more than she chose to let on.
I thought the relationship between the teens were really believable. The friendship and then romance between Chris and Regan was funny and touching, and I liked how it helped Regan see herself in a new light; I also loved the dynamic of their war against their chemistry teacher. I also liked the friendship between Aly and Liam/Luna; the resolution of that seemed quite realistic to me. In general, I really liked how frank and honest Peters was about the relationships in the book. Regan's loss of her babysitting job and surrogate family was quite upsetting, yet exactly what would happen in reality, as was the treatment of Luna when she decided to appear in public as a woman.
About the author:
Peters has written a number of award-winning young adult and children's novels. Many of her YA works feature LGBT themes. Her most recent work, Rage, centers around domestic abuse in a lesbian relationship. Her work has been noted by LGBT organizations for her thoughtful and realistic portrayal of gay teens.
Curriculum ties:
LGBT issues, transgendered people, bullies
Booktalking ideas:
1. Talk about the sibling dynamic between Regan and Liam/Luna
2. Talk about Luna's identity as a transgendered woman
3. Talk about the relationship between Regan and Chris, how he helps her form an identity outside of her family
4. Talk in character as Regan, giving a quick summary of Luna and her parents
Reading/Interest Level:
9th grade and up
Challenge Issues:
Its LGBT subject matter may be challenged by some who find it morally problematic.
If challenged, the librarian should be aware of the library's selection policy and be able to explain and defend it to the challenger. He or she could provide the challenger with the number of positive reviews and awards that Luna has won, as well as some statistics on teens and transgender identity, or perhaps a clipping about Fred Martinez Jr., the murdered transgendered boy who inspired the story.
Selection Criteria:
This was an assigned reading for our class, but the long list of accolades it's received would also make a strong case for its worthiness of inclusion.
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Marcelo in the Real World
Francisco X. Stork
ISBN 978-0-545-05474-4
312 pages
Arthur A. Levine, 2009
Genre: Coming of Age
Readers' Annotation:
Marcelo, who has Asperger's syndrome (an autism spectrum disorder), confronts the complexity of human relationships while working for his father's law firm the summer before his senior year of high school.
Plot Summary
Marcelo, an articulate 17-year-old, has a condition he describes as similar to Asperger's syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. People with Asperger's are generally intelligent and high-functioning and highly logical and have a hard time understanding the many nuances involved in a typical human relationship. Marcelo has spent his whole life as a student at Paterson, a school for special needs children, where he is comfortable and enjoys taking care of the horses they stable there for use in therapy. His mother is supportive, but his father believes Marcelo is ready to become more independent and needs to move out of his comfort zone; he wants him to attend the local public high school for his senior year. His father makes a deal with Marcelo; if he can survive the summer working in the real world, at the law firm where his father is a successful partner, Marcelo can choose to spend his senior year at the school of his choice.
Marcelo takes his job as a mailroom clerk seriously and works hard to fit in. He is befriended by Jasmine, his boss, as well as Wendell, the son of his father's partner. Though Marcelo has previously viewed the world mostly in terms of black and white, the summer provides him with a number of situations that are more gray. He must wade through some complicated moral issues and figure out what he thinks about them, and also learns that not everyone is trustworthy, perhaps not even his own father.
Critical Evaluation:
This was a wonderfully original book, unlike anything I'd ever read before. Some reviewers and critics compared it to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, which also features an autistic first-person narrator, but I actually thought this was much better. Marcelo is a little more accessible than the narrator of Dog, who really cannot understand the emotional significance of the events that occur. Marcelo, on the other hand, slowly picks up on some nuances in the interoffice relationships that have been clear to the reader all along. The reader decides that perhaps Marcelo's father does have a point; though Marcelo may find more intimate human interactions uncomfortable, he is certainly capable of them.
There are some really interesting comments on race and class in the novel, too. Marcelo and his family are Hispanic; though his father grew up poor, he graduated from Harvard Law School and is now a successful attorney. Jasmine, who works in the mail room with Marcelo, is a working-class Hispanic young woman, and Marcelo's father's partner and his college-aged son Wendell are well-connected wealthy WASPs. These characters all interact in ways that are affected by their race, education level, and socioeconomic class, though these subtleties are hard for Marcelo to grasp at first.
It's a beautifully written and thought-provoking book; Marcelo must make some pretty tough choices, choices that would be tough for anyone. It's wonderful to see how Marcelo grows and changes in the novel. The ending, where he truly has a vision for his future and his place in the world, is quite moving.
About the author:
Francisco X. Stork, an attorney, has written two previous young adult novels. Behind the Eyes, his second novel, was included on a list of New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age in 2007. His books feature Hispanic males as their protagonists.
Curriculum Ties:
This would be a great book for English teachers to use as an example of an unreliable narrator. Marcelo isn't unreliable, per se--he's truthful to a fault--but the reader may have a different take on early events in the book than Marcelo does. It could also be used to discuss autism.
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Try to do a booktalk in character as Marcelo, using his very definite and precise voice.
2. Talk about Asperger's/autism and explain how it may affect Marcelo's view of the world.
3. Explore the relationship between Marcelo and Jasmine.
4. Explore the relationship between Marcelo and his parents and their different views of his future.
Reading/Interest Levels: 9th grade and up
Challenge Issues: There's a fair bit of swearing in the book, as well as some frank sexual discussion.
Selection Criteria:
I was intrigued by a review of the book for the Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California, where it was rated outstanding. Other reviews I read agreed.
Francisco X. Stork
ISBN 978-0-545-05474-4
312 pages
Arthur A. Levine, 2009
Genre: Coming of Age
Readers' Annotation:
Marcelo, who has Asperger's syndrome (an autism spectrum disorder), confronts the complexity of human relationships while working for his father's law firm the summer before his senior year of high school.
Plot Summary
Marcelo, an articulate 17-year-old, has a condition he describes as similar to Asperger's syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. People with Asperger's are generally intelligent and high-functioning and highly logical and have a hard time understanding the many nuances involved in a typical human relationship. Marcelo has spent his whole life as a student at Paterson, a school for special needs children, where he is comfortable and enjoys taking care of the horses they stable there for use in therapy. His mother is supportive, but his father believes Marcelo is ready to become more independent and needs to move out of his comfort zone; he wants him to attend the local public high school for his senior year. His father makes a deal with Marcelo; if he can survive the summer working in the real world, at the law firm where his father is a successful partner, Marcelo can choose to spend his senior year at the school of his choice.
Marcelo takes his job as a mailroom clerk seriously and works hard to fit in. He is befriended by Jasmine, his boss, as well as Wendell, the son of his father's partner. Though Marcelo has previously viewed the world mostly in terms of black and white, the summer provides him with a number of situations that are more gray. He must wade through some complicated moral issues and figure out what he thinks about them, and also learns that not everyone is trustworthy, perhaps not even his own father.
Critical Evaluation:
This was a wonderfully original book, unlike anything I'd ever read before. Some reviewers and critics compared it to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, which also features an autistic first-person narrator, but I actually thought this was much better. Marcelo is a little more accessible than the narrator of Dog, who really cannot understand the emotional significance of the events that occur. Marcelo, on the other hand, slowly picks up on some nuances in the interoffice relationships that have been clear to the reader all along. The reader decides that perhaps Marcelo's father does have a point; though Marcelo may find more intimate human interactions uncomfortable, he is certainly capable of them.
There are some really interesting comments on race and class in the novel, too. Marcelo and his family are Hispanic; though his father grew up poor, he graduated from Harvard Law School and is now a successful attorney. Jasmine, who works in the mail room with Marcelo, is a working-class Hispanic young woman, and Marcelo's father's partner and his college-aged son Wendell are well-connected wealthy WASPs. These characters all interact in ways that are affected by their race, education level, and socioeconomic class, though these subtleties are hard for Marcelo to grasp at first.
It's a beautifully written and thought-provoking book; Marcelo must make some pretty tough choices, choices that would be tough for anyone. It's wonderful to see how Marcelo grows and changes in the novel. The ending, where he truly has a vision for his future and his place in the world, is quite moving.
About the author:
Francisco X. Stork, an attorney, has written two previous young adult novels. Behind the Eyes, his second novel, was included on a list of New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age in 2007. His books feature Hispanic males as their protagonists.
Curriculum Ties:
This would be a great book for English teachers to use as an example of an unreliable narrator. Marcelo isn't unreliable, per se--he's truthful to a fault--but the reader may have a different take on early events in the book than Marcelo does. It could also be used to discuss autism.
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Try to do a booktalk in character as Marcelo, using his very definite and precise voice.
2. Talk about Asperger's/autism and explain how it may affect Marcelo's view of the world.
3. Explore the relationship between Marcelo and Jasmine.
4. Explore the relationship between Marcelo and his parents and their different views of his future.
Reading/Interest Levels: 9th grade and up
Challenge Issues: There's a fair bit of swearing in the book, as well as some frank sexual discussion.
Selection Criteria:
I was intrigued by a review of the book for the Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California, where it was rated outstanding. Other reviews I read agreed.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Wintergirls
Laurie Halse Anderson
ISBN 978-0-670-01110-0
278 pages
Viking, 2009
Genre: Issue Novel
Reader's Annotation
Cassie and Lia were inseparable, though their eating disorders ended their friendship. After Cassie's death, Lia is haunted by visions of her friend and relapses into anorexia.
Plot Summary:
Lia and Cassie's friendship was both incredibly close and dysfunctional; they supported each other through the emotional pain caused by their family life, but they also encouraged each other in the eating disorders each used to cope with the pain. After Lia returns from treatment, Cassie ends their friendship, citing Lia as a bad influence. When Cassie dies, however, Lia spirals back into anorexia. On the night of her death, Cassie called Lia 33 times, but Lia didn't pick up the phone. Cassie's death haunts Lia both literally and figuratively; Cassie visits her at night and begs her to join her.
Lia hides her declining weight from her family and refuses to open up to the therapist her parents insist she sees. Her friends seem to have faded away, and her parents are largely absorbed with their work, leaving Lia with little to distract her from her increasing obsession with food, calories and exercise. She's largely a "wintergirl," starving, cold, frigid; the only real emotional contact she has is with her younger stepsister and a strange and fragile friendship with Elijah, who works at the motel where Cassie was found dead. Lia must literally choose between life and death, between joining Cassie or reentering the real world and addressing all the pain she's frozen away.
Laurie Halse Anderson
ISBN 978-0-670-01110-0
278 pages
Viking, 2009
Genre: Issue Novel
Reader's Annotation
Cassie and Lia were inseparable, though their eating disorders ended their friendship. After Cassie's death, Lia is haunted by visions of her friend and relapses into anorexia.
Plot Summary:
Lia and Cassie's friendship was both incredibly close and dysfunctional; they supported each other through the emotional pain caused by their family life, but they also encouraged each other in the eating disorders each used to cope with the pain. After Lia returns from treatment, Cassie ends their friendship, citing Lia as a bad influence. When Cassie dies, however, Lia spirals back into anorexia. On the night of her death, Cassie called Lia 33 times, but Lia didn't pick up the phone. Cassie's death haunts Lia both literally and figuratively; Cassie visits her at night and begs her to join her.
Lia hides her declining weight from her family and refuses to open up to the therapist her parents insist she sees. Her friends seem to have faded away, and her parents are largely absorbed with their work, leaving Lia with little to distract her from her increasing obsession with food, calories and exercise. She's largely a "wintergirl," starving, cold, frigid; the only real emotional contact she has is with her younger stepsister and a strange and fragile friendship with Elijah, who works at the motel where Cassie was found dead. Lia must literally choose between life and death, between joining Cassie or reentering the real world and addressing all the pain she's frozen away.
Critical Evaluation:
Anderson creates a very moving and intimate portrait of a teen girl struggling with so much emotional pain that she can only take it out on herself. The entire story is told by Lia, and the reader is given complete access to her inner thoughts and twisted logic. We see how Lia fools the adults around her into thinking she's OK, while all the time her weight dips lower and lower. Her thoughts are consumed by food and calories, as well as the pain she feels over Cassie's rejection and death and her guilt at ignoring what were Cassie's last pleas for help. Lia's voice is original, authentic, precise.
While the whole story is seen through Lia's skewed perspective, we do get a sense of her family life and why she has resorted to cutting and anorexia to express her internal pain. Her parents do care deeply for Lia, but are so preoccupied professionally that they are quick to accept Lia's excuses and not delve too deeply in the matter. Much of the day-to-day management of Lia's supposed recovery is handled by her stepmother, who's perhaps the only adult not entirely fooled by Lia, but doesn't feel she quite has the emotional authority to insist her husband and his ex-wife throw Lia back into treatment.
Anderson explains how anorexics use "pro-ana" websites and discussion boards to find the emotional support they need to continue starving themselves, much as Cassie and Lia supported each other in their diseases. And she explores how, despite the adults around her who are doing all the textbook right things, it's not until Lia truly wants to recover that she can.
About the author:
Anderson has written a number of books for children and young adults. Many of her young adult novels have been incredibly well-received critically, winning multiple awards. She often deals with themes of depression and death in her novels. Her works are equally contemporary and historical.
Curriculum Ties:
Anorexia, bulimia, cutting
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Talk about Cassie and Lia's supportive yet destructive friendship
2. Talk about Lia's pain and her ways of coping with it
Reading/Interest Level:
9th grade and up
Challenge Issues:
This book has many potential challenge issues: anorexia, bulimia, cutting, drug use, and suicide. This book may be challenged because of its subject matter. Librarians should be aware of their selection policy and be able to explain and defend it to challengers. They could point out the excellent reviews this book has already received and point to the many awards Anderson has received for her young adult as justification for its inclusion.
Selection Criteria:
Many of our readings in the class have held up Anderson's works as excellent young adult novels. I specifically read a review of Wintergirls in the Association for Children's Literature of Northern California's monthly newsletter that gave it a grade of "Outstanding," so I sought it out specifically.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky
ISBN 0-671-0273-4
213 pages
MTV Books/Pocket Books, 1999
Genre: Coming of Age, Epistolary
Reader's Annotation:
In a series of frank and funny letters to a virtual stranger, Charlie, a sad loner, details his sophomore year of high school and his struggle to participate in life more actively.
Plot Summary:
Charlie begins his sophomore year of high school by finding out that his one friend, Michael, has killed himself. He decides to write a series of letters about his feelings to an unnamed person (presumably a recent graduate of the high school) whom he does not personally know, but about whom he has heard other students say kind things. Through these extremely frank and funny letters, we learn about Charlie's past and home life. His beloved Aunt Helen, who came to live with his family after a tragedy, died unexpectedly on his 7th birthday, sending him into a spiral of depression and into psychiatric care. His parents are good and loving, though they both come from troubled backgrounds, and his older siblings are successful. His brother is a player on the Penn State football team and his sister is a top student at the high school.
Charlie's English teacher Bill recognizes his potential and assigns him a series of great books (The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye) to read outside of class; throughout the book, Charlie gives his reactions to these works. Music is also very important to Charlie, and throughout the book, he uses songs and music to express his emotions in a way he has trouble doing otherwise. Bill is concerned that Charlie is experiencing his life on the sidelines, so encourages him to "participate" more actively. Charlie befriends a brother and sister, Patrick and Sam, who include him in their circle of friends and expose him to a wider world that includes drug use, drinking, and homosexuality. Charlie also must deal with problems at home, including his sister's abusive relationship.
Throughout the novel, Charlie grows and becomes more involved in both his family and friends' emotional lives, but to truly participate in life, he must figure out why he put boundaries up in the first place.
Critical Evaluation:
What an excellent and moving book! I knew very little about this book before reading it, so it all unfolded for me naturally, without any spoilers or anticipation of major plot points. I think the epistolary format of this novel was a smart one; it lets us see into Charlie's mind and his thoughts on the day-to-day happenings of his life, but since we, like the unknown recipient of these letters, are not privy to his history, we slowly get filled in on Charlie's backstory as he realizes that for certain events to have context, he needs to fill in his reader on things that happened before. The reader becomes used to the conceit and accepts it, but later in the story, Chbosky reminds us, to great effect, that it's rather strange for Charlie to be opening up this frankly to a complete stranger and makes us wonder what it would be like to be the recipient of these letters.
Chbosky is very smart at depicting the role of adolescent friendships. While Patrick, Sam, and the rest of their friends open up to Charlie and give him a social network he's been missing, Chbosky is also very smart at portraying the ways in which Charlie does and does not reciprocate their friendship. Chbosky explores a lot of hot-button issues in this novel--homosexuality, molestation, teenage sex and pregnancy, teen drug use and drinking--but he wisely lets them be explored largely "off-screen" by Charlie's friends, forcing Charlie and the reader to make up their own mind about them.
The depiction of Charlie's nuclear and extended family is realistic and nuanced. While his extended family on both sides is quite dysfunctional, his parents are good and loving people who try to do the right thing. The sibling relationships in this book are smart, too: the brother off in college who still leaves a large and looming presence, and an older sibling who suddenly and unexpectedly becomes a close friend once you reach a certain age.
Chbosky also effectively uses culture--music, books, movies and television--to let us into Charlie's world. Music allows him a way to express himself to friends and family, especially ideas and emotions he does not yet have the ability to put into words, a trait many readers may relate to.
About the author:
Perks is the only novel Chbosky has written, though he has worked in film and television as a screenwriter and producer. After Perks, he is perhaps best known for his work as creator of the show Jericho.
Curriculum Ties:
Many people (including Chbosky himself) have commented that Wallflower explores many of the same issues of adolescence as does Catcher in the Rye. The book and the character of Charlie could definitely be explored in a high school English class--there's a lot going on here both structurally and emotionally that would be exciting for teens to discuss--but the controversial nature of the book (see below) may preclude its use in this fashion in many districts.
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Give the talk in the form of one of Charlie's letters.
2. Talk about the friendship between Charlie, Patrick and Sam
3. Talk about the role of books and music in the novel.
Reading Interest/Level:
9th and up
Challenge Issues:
Teen sex, teen pregnancy, homosexuality, violence, teen drinking, drug use, molestation, suicide
This book is often listed as one of the most challenged books of the year by ALA. Librarians facing a challenge should be aware of their library's selection policy and be able to explain and defend it to challengers. One could point to the many positive critical reviews it has received and its selection as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults as proof of its merits.
Selection Criteria:
I knew very little about this book, other than the fact that I had heard of it many times. When I saw it on the library shelf, I decided to pick it up. I was pleased to see so many classmates mention it during our discussion for Luna!
Stephen Chbosky
ISBN 0-671-0273-4
213 pages
MTV Books/Pocket Books, 1999
Genre: Coming of Age, Epistolary
Reader's Annotation:
In a series of frank and funny letters to a virtual stranger, Charlie, a sad loner, details his sophomore year of high school and his struggle to participate in life more actively.
Plot Summary:
Charlie begins his sophomore year of high school by finding out that his one friend, Michael, has killed himself. He decides to write a series of letters about his feelings to an unnamed person (presumably a recent graduate of the high school) whom he does not personally know, but about whom he has heard other students say kind things. Through these extremely frank and funny letters, we learn about Charlie's past and home life. His beloved Aunt Helen, who came to live with his family after a tragedy, died unexpectedly on his 7th birthday, sending him into a spiral of depression and into psychiatric care. His parents are good and loving, though they both come from troubled backgrounds, and his older siblings are successful. His brother is a player on the Penn State football team and his sister is a top student at the high school.
Charlie's English teacher Bill recognizes his potential and assigns him a series of great books (The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye) to read outside of class; throughout the book, Charlie gives his reactions to these works. Music is also very important to Charlie, and throughout the book, he uses songs and music to express his emotions in a way he has trouble doing otherwise. Bill is concerned that Charlie is experiencing his life on the sidelines, so encourages him to "participate" more actively. Charlie befriends a brother and sister, Patrick and Sam, who include him in their circle of friends and expose him to a wider world that includes drug use, drinking, and homosexuality. Charlie also must deal with problems at home, including his sister's abusive relationship.
Throughout the novel, Charlie grows and becomes more involved in both his family and friends' emotional lives, but to truly participate in life, he must figure out why he put boundaries up in the first place.
Critical Evaluation:
What an excellent and moving book! I knew very little about this book before reading it, so it all unfolded for me naturally, without any spoilers or anticipation of major plot points. I think the epistolary format of this novel was a smart one; it lets us see into Charlie's mind and his thoughts on the day-to-day happenings of his life, but since we, like the unknown recipient of these letters, are not privy to his history, we slowly get filled in on Charlie's backstory as he realizes that for certain events to have context, he needs to fill in his reader on things that happened before. The reader becomes used to the conceit and accepts it, but later in the story, Chbosky reminds us, to great effect, that it's rather strange for Charlie to be opening up this frankly to a complete stranger and makes us wonder what it would be like to be the recipient of these letters.
Chbosky is very smart at depicting the role of adolescent friendships. While Patrick, Sam, and the rest of their friends open up to Charlie and give him a social network he's been missing, Chbosky is also very smart at portraying the ways in which Charlie does and does not reciprocate their friendship. Chbosky explores a lot of hot-button issues in this novel--homosexuality, molestation, teenage sex and pregnancy, teen drug use and drinking--but he wisely lets them be explored largely "off-screen" by Charlie's friends, forcing Charlie and the reader to make up their own mind about them.
The depiction of Charlie's nuclear and extended family is realistic and nuanced. While his extended family on both sides is quite dysfunctional, his parents are good and loving people who try to do the right thing. The sibling relationships in this book are smart, too: the brother off in college who still leaves a large and looming presence, and an older sibling who suddenly and unexpectedly becomes a close friend once you reach a certain age.
Chbosky also effectively uses culture--music, books, movies and television--to let us into Charlie's world. Music allows him a way to express himself to friends and family, especially ideas and emotions he does not yet have the ability to put into words, a trait many readers may relate to.
About the author:
Perks is the only novel Chbosky has written, though he has worked in film and television as a screenwriter and producer. After Perks, he is perhaps best known for his work as creator of the show Jericho.
Curriculum Ties:
Many people (including Chbosky himself) have commented that Wallflower explores many of the same issues of adolescence as does Catcher in the Rye. The book and the character of Charlie could definitely be explored in a high school English class--there's a lot going on here both structurally and emotionally that would be exciting for teens to discuss--but the controversial nature of the book (see below) may preclude its use in this fashion in many districts.
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Give the talk in the form of one of Charlie's letters.
2. Talk about the friendship between Charlie, Patrick and Sam
3. Talk about the role of books and music in the novel.
Reading Interest/Level:
9th and up
Challenge Issues:
Teen sex, teen pregnancy, homosexuality, violence, teen drinking, drug use, molestation, suicide
This book is often listed as one of the most challenged books of the year by ALA. Librarians facing a challenge should be aware of their library's selection policy and be able to explain and defend it to challengers. One could point to the many positive critical reviews it has received and its selection as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults as proof of its merits.
Selection Criteria:
I knew very little about this book, other than the fact that I had heard of it many times. When I saw it on the library shelf, I decided to pick it up. I was pleased to see so many classmates mention it during our discussion for Luna!
Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
Someone Like You
Sarah Dessen
ISBN 978-0-14-240177-4
281 pages
Viking, 1998
Genre: Coming of Age, Issue Novel
Reader's Annotation:
Though Halley's life is falling apart, she knows she must stay strong for her best friend Scarlett, who found out she was pregnant after her boyfriend died.
Plot Summary:
Halley and Scarlett have been best friends ever since Scarlett and her mother moved in the house across the street. Scarlett's always been the brave one, helping Halley navigate the social waters of school. When Scarlett's boyfriend Michael is killed in a motorcycle accident just before the start of junior year and she realizes she's pregnant with his child, though, she must rely on Halley to help her get through.
Halley wants to be strong for her best friend, but she also has her own demons to battle with. These days she can't even manage a civil conversation with her mother, a well-respected counselor who's famous for dispensing advice on how to get along with your teenage daughter. And jealous of the relationship Scarlett and Michael shared, Halley enters a relationship with Macon, Michael's best friend, a freewheeling bad boy. Halley finds Macon exciting and dangerous, but both Scarlett and Halley's mother worry about his influence and how he may be pressuring her.
Critical Evaluation:
Dessen creates very well-rounded and believable characters. She perfectly captures the age where all of a sudden, you can no longer get along with one or both of your parents, but nobody's quite sure what happened and how to fix it. She also captures how critically important one's friends are in this period when one may not be able to reach out to one's family for help. Both Scarlett and Halley are failed by their mothers, but they're able to nurture each other and help each other make positive decisions. And when Halley fails Scarlett, too, there's yet another friend there to provide support and pick up the pieces.
The story is a little slight; it's rather short, and of course, of course, Scarlett goes into labor on the night of the prom. On the other hand, it's very honest and well-observed. One can see exactly why Halley is attracted to Macon, even though it's clear to everyone but her what a bad influence he is.
About the author:
Dessen has written eight other young adult books, which have been critically well-reviewed and remain extremely popular among YA readers. She's known for her thoughtful brand of "chick lit," in which the power of female friendship is stressed. This book was merged with another book by Dessen, That Summer, and turned into a movie called How to Deal starring Mandy Moore.
Curriculum Ties:
Teen pregnancy, Parent/Teen relationship
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Focus on the friendship between Halley and Scarlett
2. Describe the troubled relationship between Halley and her mother, and Scarlett and her mother
3. Explain the relationship between Halley and Macon
Reading/Interest Level:
8th and up
Challenge Issues:
Teen sex and pregnancy, drug use, underage drinking
If this book is challenged, one should be aware of the library policy on selection and be able to explain it to the challenger. One could point out how highly acclaimed this book was, pointing to its many positive reviews and its being named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and Best Book of the Year by SLJ.
Selection Criteria:
Because I'd read several glowing reviews of Dessen's latest novel, Along for the Ride, I decided to try some of her novels. This one caught my eye because of the aforementioned "Best Book" awards.
Sarah Dessen
ISBN 978-0-14-240177-4
281 pages
Viking, 1998
Genre: Coming of Age, Issue Novel
Reader's Annotation:
Though Halley's life is falling apart, she knows she must stay strong for her best friend Scarlett, who found out she was pregnant after her boyfriend died.
Plot Summary:
Halley and Scarlett have been best friends ever since Scarlett and her mother moved in the house across the street. Scarlett's always been the brave one, helping Halley navigate the social waters of school. When Scarlett's boyfriend Michael is killed in a motorcycle accident just before the start of junior year and she realizes she's pregnant with his child, though, she must rely on Halley to help her get through.
Halley wants to be strong for her best friend, but she also has her own demons to battle with. These days she can't even manage a civil conversation with her mother, a well-respected counselor who's famous for dispensing advice on how to get along with your teenage daughter. And jealous of the relationship Scarlett and Michael shared, Halley enters a relationship with Macon, Michael's best friend, a freewheeling bad boy. Halley finds Macon exciting and dangerous, but both Scarlett and Halley's mother worry about his influence and how he may be pressuring her.
Critical Evaluation:
Dessen creates very well-rounded and believable characters. She perfectly captures the age where all of a sudden, you can no longer get along with one or both of your parents, but nobody's quite sure what happened and how to fix it. She also captures how critically important one's friends are in this period when one may not be able to reach out to one's family for help. Both Scarlett and Halley are failed by their mothers, but they're able to nurture each other and help each other make positive decisions. And when Halley fails Scarlett, too, there's yet another friend there to provide support and pick up the pieces.
The story is a little slight; it's rather short, and of course, of course, Scarlett goes into labor on the night of the prom. On the other hand, it's very honest and well-observed. One can see exactly why Halley is attracted to Macon, even though it's clear to everyone but her what a bad influence he is.
About the author:
Dessen has written eight other young adult books, which have been critically well-reviewed and remain extremely popular among YA readers. She's known for her thoughtful brand of "chick lit," in which the power of female friendship is stressed. This book was merged with another book by Dessen, That Summer, and turned into a movie called How to Deal starring Mandy Moore.
Curriculum Ties:
Teen pregnancy, Parent/Teen relationship
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Focus on the friendship between Halley and Scarlett
2. Describe the troubled relationship between Halley and her mother, and Scarlett and her mother
3. Explain the relationship between Halley and Macon
Reading/Interest Level:
8th and up
Challenge Issues:
Teen sex and pregnancy, drug use, underage drinking
If this book is challenged, one should be aware of the library policy on selection and be able to explain it to the challenger. One could point out how highly acclaimed this book was, pointing to its many positive reviews and its being named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and Best Book of the Year by SLJ.
Selection Criteria:
Because I'd read several glowing reviews of Dessen's latest novel, Along for the Ride, I decided to try some of her novels. This one caught my eye because of the aforementioned "Best Book" awards.
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
Lock and Key
Sarah Dessen
ISBN 978-0-14-241472-9
422 pages
Viking, 2008
Genre: Coming of Age
Reader's Annotation:
After being abandoned by her mother, 17-year-old Ruby is sent to live with her estranged sister and reexamines her life.
Plot Summary:
When 17-year-old Ruby's mother abandons her, she tries to keep things running the best she can. When her landlords discover her situation, she's immediately sent to live with her sister Cora, with whom she's been estranged for many years. It's a complete culture shock: Ruby and her mother barely made ends meet, while Cora lives in a beautiful home in a gated community in a nearby town. Ruby transfers from her crowded, underperforming high school to an amazing private school.
At first, Ruby's convinced she'll hate the school, the neighborhood, and both Cora and her husband, Jamie. She tries to run away and walks around with a giant chip on her shoulder, but as she develops a friendship with Nate, the cute boy next door, and gets to know Cora and Jamie better, she lowers her defenses and starts to reconsider events from her former life from a new perspective.
Critical Evaluation:
As I was typing up my plot summary, I kept on thinking, "Boy, this sounds so cliche," but it's a testament to Sarah Dessen that the book actually feels incredibly original and fresh. She steers away from turning the characters into stereotypes: they're all flawed and complicated and wonderful. Dessen did an especially good job with Nate, creating a funny, wise, cute and sensitive boy that will likely make teenage girls swoon... while still letting him be a fully realized character with a backstory of his own.
There are several great minor characters here, too; Olivia, another student at the private school who transferred from Ruby's old high school and is similarly ambivalent, and Harriet, the control-freak, caffeine-addict who becomes Ruby's boss at a mall kiosk.
The book covers the start of Ruby's senior year to the end, and Ruby's significant growth during that time is believable because it happens slowly and gradually. It's a very satisfying read.
About the author:
Dessen has written eight other young adult novels. She is known for her strong characterizations and a particularly thoughtful brand of "chick lit," in which the importance of female friendship is stressed. Her recent books have all been New York Times bestsellers, and her books have been critically well-received.
Curriculum Ties:
Not particularly well-suited for classroom use
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Speak in character as Ruby from the beginning of the book: just abandoned by her mother and forced to move in with a sister she barely knows, thinking she'll run away, but then rethinking that decision after a meeting with Nate from next door.
2. Talk about the different sorts of parental pressures and abuses experienced by Cora and Ruby.
3. Talk about the relationship between Nate and Ruby.
Reading/Interest Level:
8th grade and up.
Challenge Issues:
Ruby drinks, smokes pot, and has sex, though none of these are shown in a positive light and she regrets doing them.
If challenged, one should know the selection policy of the library and be able to provide it to the challenger. One could point the challenger to the numerous positive critical reviews this book received (including a starred review in Booklist), and also point out that Dessen does not glorify Ruby's behavior, and in fact uses it to show her as a flawed person making mistakes she later regrets.
Selection Criteria:
I wasn't familiar with any of Dessen's works, but I read several very positive reviews of her newest book, Along for the Ride, so when I saw this one at the local library, I decided to check it out.
Sarah Dessen
ISBN 978-0-14-241472-9
422 pages
Viking, 2008
Genre: Coming of Age
Reader's Annotation:
After being abandoned by her mother, 17-year-old Ruby is sent to live with her estranged sister and reexamines her life.
Plot Summary:
When 17-year-old Ruby's mother abandons her, she tries to keep things running the best she can. When her landlords discover her situation, she's immediately sent to live with her sister Cora, with whom she's been estranged for many years. It's a complete culture shock: Ruby and her mother barely made ends meet, while Cora lives in a beautiful home in a gated community in a nearby town. Ruby transfers from her crowded, underperforming high school to an amazing private school.
At first, Ruby's convinced she'll hate the school, the neighborhood, and both Cora and her husband, Jamie. She tries to run away and walks around with a giant chip on her shoulder, but as she develops a friendship with Nate, the cute boy next door, and gets to know Cora and Jamie better, she lowers her defenses and starts to reconsider events from her former life from a new perspective.
Critical Evaluation:
As I was typing up my plot summary, I kept on thinking, "Boy, this sounds so cliche," but it's a testament to Sarah Dessen that the book actually feels incredibly original and fresh. She steers away from turning the characters into stereotypes: they're all flawed and complicated and wonderful. Dessen did an especially good job with Nate, creating a funny, wise, cute and sensitive boy that will likely make teenage girls swoon... while still letting him be a fully realized character with a backstory of his own.
There are several great minor characters here, too; Olivia, another student at the private school who transferred from Ruby's old high school and is similarly ambivalent, and Harriet, the control-freak, caffeine-addict who becomes Ruby's boss at a mall kiosk.
The book covers the start of Ruby's senior year to the end, and Ruby's significant growth during that time is believable because it happens slowly and gradually. It's a very satisfying read.
About the author:
Dessen has written eight other young adult novels. She is known for her strong characterizations and a particularly thoughtful brand of "chick lit," in which the importance of female friendship is stressed. Her recent books have all been New York Times bestsellers, and her books have been critically well-received.
Curriculum Ties:
Not particularly well-suited for classroom use
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Speak in character as Ruby from the beginning of the book: just abandoned by her mother and forced to move in with a sister she barely knows, thinking she'll run away, but then rethinking that decision after a meeting with Nate from next door.
2. Talk about the different sorts of parental pressures and abuses experienced by Cora and Ruby.
3. Talk about the relationship between Nate and Ruby.
Reading/Interest Level:
8th grade and up.
Challenge Issues:
Ruby drinks, smokes pot, and has sex, though none of these are shown in a positive light and she regrets doing them.
If challenged, one should know the selection policy of the library and be able to provide it to the challenger. One could point the challenger to the numerous positive critical reviews this book received (including a starred review in Booklist), and also point out that Dessen does not glorify Ruby's behavior, and in fact uses it to show her as a flawed person making mistakes she later regrets.
Selection Criteria:
I wasn't familiar with any of Dessen's works, but I read several very positive reviews of her newest book, Along for the Ride, so when I saw this one at the local library, I decided to check it out.
Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
Flygirl
Sherri L. Smith
ISBN 978-0-399-24709-5
275 pages
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2008
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reader's Annotation:
In World War II, Ida Mae passes as a white woman to join an army program for female pilots.
Plot Summary:
It's 1943, and Ida Mae Jones' brother is serving as a doctor in WWII, while she's left behind in New Orleans to clean houses and look after her mother, grandfather, and younger brother. Ida's inherited a plane and a love of flying from her father, who taught her how to pilot a plane before dying in a plane crash. When Ida learns about a new army program, the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), she's convinced it's her opportunity to really contribute to the war effort. To join the WASP, though, she'll have to pass as white, which means abandoning her family at a time she needs them most.
Ida forms deep friendships with the other WASP recruits, who, despite coming from very different backgrounds, all share a certain sense of daring and adventure. They learn that though the women pilots are desperately needed, they'll have to work twice as hard to prove themselves to the many men who are ambivalent, at best, about letting girls into this boys' club.
Critical Evaluation:
What a fascinating piece of history--one I knew nothing about! Flygirl actually interweaves two historical stories together, the story of the WASP and the story of the African-American experience in WWII. While Ida's story is fictional--there's no evidence anyone ever passed as white to join the WASP--Smith researched the WASP and the factual details in the novel are all true.
Some of the racial facts are stunning and slyly incorporated; as a black military doctor, Ida's brother is only allowed to treat other black soldiers. Smith also includes a very moving scene, where Ida's mother visits her at training camp to inform her that her brother is missing in action and to beg her to use her military contacts to help find him. So that she doesn't blow Ida's cover, however, Ida's mother introduces herself as Ida's servant. Ida realizes for the first time what the hidden costs of her lie have been and what she may have to give up in order to continue as a pilot.
In addition to all these historical goodies, the book is fun to read from a young adult perspective. There's a minor romance element and a very strong sense of female friendship. I loved reading about Ida and her friends; they were all so spunky and vivacious and the friendships they formed were quite moving. When Ida returns home for a visit, Smith incorporates a moving scene where Ida realizes she has more in common with her new friends than with her best friend from home, who shares her personal history, but doesn't share her spirit of adventure.
About the author:
Sherri L. Smith became a young adult writer after starting her career in film animation. She has written three previous books for young adults, which often deal with issues of race and identity. One previous book, Lucy the Giant, features a teenage girl who passes an adult on a crab boat in Alaska. Another book, Hot Sour Salty Sweet, details the experiences of a multiracial modern girl.
Curriculum Ties:
Could be used either as a tie-in to a discussion about women's participation in the WWII war effort or about racial identity before the Civil Rights movement.
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Speak in character as Ida, trying to decide whether or not she should pass to join the WASP.
2. Speak about the WASP program and women's involvement in the WWII military.
3. Speak about the racial aspect of the book and the challenges Ida faces as a black woman in 1943.
Reading/Interest Level:
7th & up.
Challenge Issues:
None
Selection Criteria:
This was nominated by multiple people as a Distinguished Book at a recent meeting of the Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California, so, when I saw it on a shelf of new releases in the young adult area of my branch library, I decided to pick it up. It's also been recommended as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults in 2010.
Sherri L. Smith
ISBN 978-0-399-24709-5
275 pages
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2008
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reader's Annotation:
In World War II, Ida Mae passes as a white woman to join an army program for female pilots.
Plot Summary:
It's 1943, and Ida Mae Jones' brother is serving as a doctor in WWII, while she's left behind in New Orleans to clean houses and look after her mother, grandfather, and younger brother. Ida's inherited a plane and a love of flying from her father, who taught her how to pilot a plane before dying in a plane crash. When Ida learns about a new army program, the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), she's convinced it's her opportunity to really contribute to the war effort. To join the WASP, though, she'll have to pass as white, which means abandoning her family at a time she needs them most.
Ida forms deep friendships with the other WASP recruits, who, despite coming from very different backgrounds, all share a certain sense of daring and adventure. They learn that though the women pilots are desperately needed, they'll have to work twice as hard to prove themselves to the many men who are ambivalent, at best, about letting girls into this boys' club.
Critical Evaluation:
What a fascinating piece of history--one I knew nothing about! Flygirl actually interweaves two historical stories together, the story of the WASP and the story of the African-American experience in WWII. While Ida's story is fictional--there's no evidence anyone ever passed as white to join the WASP--Smith researched the WASP and the factual details in the novel are all true.
Some of the racial facts are stunning and slyly incorporated; as a black military doctor, Ida's brother is only allowed to treat other black soldiers. Smith also includes a very moving scene, where Ida's mother visits her at training camp to inform her that her brother is missing in action and to beg her to use her military contacts to help find him. So that she doesn't blow Ida's cover, however, Ida's mother introduces herself as Ida's servant. Ida realizes for the first time what the hidden costs of her lie have been and what she may have to give up in order to continue as a pilot.
In addition to all these historical goodies, the book is fun to read from a young adult perspective. There's a minor romance element and a very strong sense of female friendship. I loved reading about Ida and her friends; they were all so spunky and vivacious and the friendships they formed were quite moving. When Ida returns home for a visit, Smith incorporates a moving scene where Ida realizes she has more in common with her new friends than with her best friend from home, who shares her personal history, but doesn't share her spirit of adventure.
About the author:
Sherri L. Smith became a young adult writer after starting her career in film animation. She has written three previous books for young adults, which often deal with issues of race and identity. One previous book, Lucy the Giant, features a teenage girl who passes an adult on a crab boat in Alaska. Another book, Hot Sour Salty Sweet, details the experiences of a multiracial modern girl.
Curriculum Ties:
Could be used either as a tie-in to a discussion about women's participation in the WWII war effort or about racial identity before the Civil Rights movement.
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Speak in character as Ida, trying to decide whether or not she should pass to join the WASP.
2. Speak about the WASP program and women's involvement in the WWII military.
3. Speak about the racial aspect of the book and the challenges Ida faces as a black woman in 1943.
Reading/Interest Level:
7th & up.
Challenge Issues:
None
Selection Criteria:
This was nominated by multiple people as a Distinguished Book at a recent meeting of the Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California, so, when I saw it on a shelf of new releases in the young adult area of my branch library, I decided to pick it up. It's also been recommended as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults in 2010.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Intensely Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Intensely Alice
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
ISBN 978-1-4169-7551-9
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2009
269 pages
Genre: Contemporary Life
Reader's Annotation:
Alice spends the summer before her senior year hanging out with old friends and seeking out new experiences.
Plot Summary
Alice is worried she'll spend the summer before her senior year missing her boyfriend Patrick, who's already left for classes at University of Chicago, but she easily fills her time hanging out with "the gang" who have been friends since middle school. They goof off and hang out at the Stedmeister's pool, but they also spend a week volunteering at a soup kitchen and another week apartment-sitting for her brother Lester. Alice also has plenty of solo adventures: she serves as a bridesmaid at her cousin's wedding in Chicago (even getting to go to the slightly risque bachelorette party!) and combines that trip with an overnight visit to Patrick's dorm.
Life seems pretty charmed and full of possibilities, but everything changes when senseless tragedy strikes at the end of the summer. Alice is first comforted at how it unites her group of friends, but then upset and frustrated at the different way in which her friends express their grief.
Critical Evaluation
Intensely Alice is the 24th book Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written about Alice. I've read most of them, starting with The Agony of Alice (first published in 1986!). At their best, the Alice books combine frank, honest treatment about many hot-button issues (molestation, teen pregnancy, anorexia) with a tone that's funny and authentic. Sometimes they can seem a little didactic, but Intensely Alice largely stays away from this tendency. In this book, Naylor is really skilled at interweaving small experiences from the everyday into a larger picture. For much of the book, Alice anticipates the night she'll spend with Patrick in his dorm room. When the time comes, the evening is treated with honesty and respect, and thanks to the low hygiene standards of three guys sharing a college dorm room, some trademark Alice pratfalls.
Naylor weaves in a lot of discussion about religion in this book; she has a group of teens discuss the topic at the homeless shelter, and Alice has many conversations about religion with a co-worker who's about to enter seminary to become a priest. Alice stays away from jumping on board with any specific religion or denomination, or even a definite belief in God, but she has a strong moral compass, telling her father, "All I know is I want to be a part of everything that's good and true and real."
The tragedy that ends the book is genuinely unexpected and moving, especially for long-time readers of the series. Unlike some of the other Alice books, this one could stand on its own to a reader unfamiliar with the other books.
About the author:
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written over 130 books for children and young adults. She's written a large variety of styles, from picture books to young adult novels to mysteries. She won the Newbury Medal in 1992 for Shiloh, which has two sequels; all three Shiloh books were made into movies. She's written 24 books about Alice McKinley since 1986; Alice progressively gets older in each book, starting as a soon-to-be 6th grader and now a soon-to-be high school senior. Naylor plans 4 more books in the series: three for Alice's senior year of high school, and then one final book which will take Alice from age 18 to age 60.
Genre
Coming of Age/Comedy/Romance/Drama
Curriculum Ties
This books is not particularly suited for use in a curriculum.
Booktalking Ideas
1. Speak in character as Alice, catching the audience up on what her friends have been up to, and what she's looking forward to this summer.
2. Talk about the importance of friends and the many fun, silly, and serious things Alice's group of friends does throughout the book
3. Focus on a few of the really humorous incidents in the book, such as the bachelorette party
Reading Level/Interest Age
9th grade and up
Challenge Issues
Teenage sexuality; teen pregnancy; religious discussion
The Alice books are frequently included in ALA's list of most frequently challenged books for their frank discussions of teen sexuality and hot-button issues like homosexuality and molestation.
If challenged, one should be clearly aware of the selection policy at their library and be ready to explain that to the challenger. One could point out the positive reviews the series has received over the years from various professional reviewing journals.
Selection Criteria:
I've been reading the Alice books since I was in middle school, and I'm always curious to pick up the latest one.
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
ISBN 978-1-4169-7551-9
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2009
269 pages
Genre: Contemporary Life
Reader's Annotation:
Alice spends the summer before her senior year hanging out with old friends and seeking out new experiences.
Plot Summary
Alice is worried she'll spend the summer before her senior year missing her boyfriend Patrick, who's already left for classes at University of Chicago, but she easily fills her time hanging out with "the gang" who have been friends since middle school. They goof off and hang out at the Stedmeister's pool, but they also spend a week volunteering at a soup kitchen and another week apartment-sitting for her brother Lester. Alice also has plenty of solo adventures: she serves as a bridesmaid at her cousin's wedding in Chicago (even getting to go to the slightly risque bachelorette party!) and combines that trip with an overnight visit to Patrick's dorm.
Life seems pretty charmed and full of possibilities, but everything changes when senseless tragedy strikes at the end of the summer. Alice is first comforted at how it unites her group of friends, but then upset and frustrated at the different way in which her friends express their grief.
Critical Evaluation
Intensely Alice is the 24th book Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written about Alice. I've read most of them, starting with The Agony of Alice (first published in 1986!). At their best, the Alice books combine frank, honest treatment about many hot-button issues (molestation, teen pregnancy, anorexia) with a tone that's funny and authentic. Sometimes they can seem a little didactic, but Intensely Alice largely stays away from this tendency. In this book, Naylor is really skilled at interweaving small experiences from the everyday into a larger picture. For much of the book, Alice anticipates the night she'll spend with Patrick in his dorm room. When the time comes, the evening is treated with honesty and respect, and thanks to the low hygiene standards of three guys sharing a college dorm room, some trademark Alice pratfalls.
Naylor weaves in a lot of discussion about religion in this book; she has a group of teens discuss the topic at the homeless shelter, and Alice has many conversations about religion with a co-worker who's about to enter seminary to become a priest. Alice stays away from jumping on board with any specific religion or denomination, or even a definite belief in God, but she has a strong moral compass, telling her father, "All I know is I want to be a part of everything that's good and true and real."
The tragedy that ends the book is genuinely unexpected and moving, especially for long-time readers of the series. Unlike some of the other Alice books, this one could stand on its own to a reader unfamiliar with the other books.
About the author:
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written over 130 books for children and young adults. She's written a large variety of styles, from picture books to young adult novels to mysteries. She won the Newbury Medal in 1992 for Shiloh, which has two sequels; all three Shiloh books were made into movies. She's written 24 books about Alice McKinley since 1986; Alice progressively gets older in each book, starting as a soon-to-be 6th grader and now a soon-to-be high school senior. Naylor plans 4 more books in the series: three for Alice's senior year of high school, and then one final book which will take Alice from age 18 to age 60.
Genre
Coming of Age/Comedy/Romance/Drama
Curriculum Ties
This books is not particularly suited for use in a curriculum.
Booktalking Ideas
1. Speak in character as Alice, catching the audience up on what her friends have been up to, and what she's looking forward to this summer.
2. Talk about the importance of friends and the many fun, silly, and serious things Alice's group of friends does throughout the book
3. Focus on a few of the really humorous incidents in the book, such as the bachelorette party
Reading Level/Interest Age
9th grade and up
Challenge Issues
Teenage sexuality; teen pregnancy; religious discussion
The Alice books are frequently included in ALA's list of most frequently challenged books for their frank discussions of teen sexuality and hot-button issues like homosexuality and molestation.
If challenged, one should be clearly aware of the selection policy at their library and be ready to explain that to the challenger. One could point out the positive reviews the series has received over the years from various professional reviewing journals.
Selection Criteria:
I've been reading the Alice books since I was in middle school, and I'm always curious to pick up the latest one.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
If the Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney
If the Witness Lied
Caroline B. Cooney
ISBN 978-0-385-73448-6
213 pages
Delacorte Press, 2009
Genre: Mystery
Reader's Annotation:
Three estranged and orphaned siblings band together to stop their aunt from capitalizing on their family tragedy and turning their lives into a reality TV show.
Plot Summary:
The tragic deaths of Laura and Reed Fountain, two years apart, each captivated the attention of the national media and have left their teenage children, Madison, Jack, and Smith, reeling and alienated from each other. Madison and Smith both tried to escape their grief by assuming new lives; Madison has moved into her godparents' house and Smith enrolled herself in boarding school. Fifteen-year-old Jack is left behind to take care of their two-year-old brother Tris, with little help from their guardian Aunt Cheryl, who seems more interested in remodeling their parents' old house than in the emotional well-being of any of the children.
When Cheryl invites a camera crew into the home to turn their lives into one of the reality shows she loves, the siblings band together to stop her from exploiting Tris. In the process, they discover some unsettling information and, for the first time, start to question the circumstances surrounding their father's death.
Critical Evaluation:
The events of this book take place over the course of a single day, which stretches the reader's belief. Could the teenagers both mend a year's worth of resentment and fully investigate their father's death over the course of an afternoon? The story's third-person point of view alternates mostly between the three eldest Fountain children, but also through a teenage neighbor and people at Smith's boarding school. Cooney doesn't explain right away how Reed and Laura Fountain died; rather, from these variety of perspectives, as well as through flashbacks where the siblings remember their parents, the reader pieces together what happened. It's an effective technique that, along with the non-stop pace with its constant new developments, keeps the reader hooked.
Cooney's exploration of the way that the media exploits tragedy is intriguing and timely, though one wishes she had delved a little deeper into this aspect of the story. The television producer and Aunt Cheryl are both stereotypical, stock villains; delving into their motivations and fleshing them out would have given the story more emotional impact.
Still, it's a very readable thriller, and the circumstances surrounding Laura Fountain's death, which incites controversy and protest from the public at large, might provoke teenage readers to weigh in with their opinions.
About the author:
Caroline B. Cooney is the author of many books for children and young adults, several of which have been honored as ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults. Though she's written a few titles in the romance and contemporary life genre, she's best known for her mysteries. Her publisher characterizes her as "a master of mixing spellbinding suspense with thought-provoking insight into teenagers’ lives." Many readers will be familiar with her as the author of the popular Janie Johnson series, which starts with The Face on the Milk Carton.
Curriculum Ties:
It's possible that this book could be used as a jumping off point for an exploration of the current media culture, but it's better suited as a light pleasure read.
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Focus on the role of the media and its effect on the family
2. Talk about Smith and Madison's feelings that they have fundamentally failed as good family members by abandoning their brothers.
3. Talk about Jack's decision to shoulder the burden of raising his younger brother at the expense of his own teenage experience, and his feelings that there are no adults in his life that he can turn to for help or advice.
Reading/Interest Level:
Booklist suggests it for grades 7-10, which I agree with. Teens on the younger end of this course's 15-18 focus may relate to these characters and their high school environment, but more sophisticated readers at the upper end of the range may find some of its conclusions a little too pat.
Challenge Issues: None
Selection Criteria:
This book caught my eye in a display of new young adult books at my local public library. I remembered reading and enjoying some of Cooney's book when I was a young adult, and I was intrigued by the media issues mentioned on the book jacket. Since Cooney has been writing young adult books for three decades, and since her work is both popular and award-winning, it seems prudent to be familiar with her.
Caroline B. Cooney
ISBN 978-0-385-73448-6
213 pages
Delacorte Press, 2009
Genre: Mystery
Reader's Annotation:
Three estranged and orphaned siblings band together to stop their aunt from capitalizing on their family tragedy and turning their lives into a reality TV show.
Plot Summary:
The tragic deaths of Laura and Reed Fountain, two years apart, each captivated the attention of the national media and have left their teenage children, Madison, Jack, and Smith, reeling and alienated from each other. Madison and Smith both tried to escape their grief by assuming new lives; Madison has moved into her godparents' house and Smith enrolled herself in boarding school. Fifteen-year-old Jack is left behind to take care of their two-year-old brother Tris, with little help from their guardian Aunt Cheryl, who seems more interested in remodeling their parents' old house than in the emotional well-being of any of the children.
When Cheryl invites a camera crew into the home to turn their lives into one of the reality shows she loves, the siblings band together to stop her from exploiting Tris. In the process, they discover some unsettling information and, for the first time, start to question the circumstances surrounding their father's death.
Critical Evaluation:
The events of this book take place over the course of a single day, which stretches the reader's belief. Could the teenagers both mend a year's worth of resentment and fully investigate their father's death over the course of an afternoon? The story's third-person point of view alternates mostly between the three eldest Fountain children, but also through a teenage neighbor and people at Smith's boarding school. Cooney doesn't explain right away how Reed and Laura Fountain died; rather, from these variety of perspectives, as well as through flashbacks where the siblings remember their parents, the reader pieces together what happened. It's an effective technique that, along with the non-stop pace with its constant new developments, keeps the reader hooked.
Cooney's exploration of the way that the media exploits tragedy is intriguing and timely, though one wishes she had delved a little deeper into this aspect of the story. The television producer and Aunt Cheryl are both stereotypical, stock villains; delving into their motivations and fleshing them out would have given the story more emotional impact.
Still, it's a very readable thriller, and the circumstances surrounding Laura Fountain's death, which incites controversy and protest from the public at large, might provoke teenage readers to weigh in with their opinions.
About the author:
Caroline B. Cooney is the author of many books for children and young adults, several of which have been honored as ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults. Though she's written a few titles in the romance and contemporary life genre, she's best known for her mysteries. Her publisher characterizes her as "a master of mixing spellbinding suspense with thought-provoking insight into teenagers’ lives." Many readers will be familiar with her as the author of the popular Janie Johnson series, which starts with The Face on the Milk Carton.
Curriculum Ties:
It's possible that this book could be used as a jumping off point for an exploration of the current media culture, but it's better suited as a light pleasure read.
Booktalking Ideas:
1. Focus on the role of the media and its effect on the family
2. Talk about Smith and Madison's feelings that they have fundamentally failed as good family members by abandoning their brothers.
3. Talk about Jack's decision to shoulder the burden of raising his younger brother at the expense of his own teenage experience, and his feelings that there are no adults in his life that he can turn to for help or advice.
Reading/Interest Level:
Booklist suggests it for grades 7-10, which I agree with. Teens on the younger end of this course's 15-18 focus may relate to these characters and their high school environment, but more sophisticated readers at the upper end of the range may find some of its conclusions a little too pat.
Challenge Issues: None
Selection Criteria:
This book caught my eye in a display of new young adult books at my local public library. I remembered reading and enjoying some of Cooney's book when I was a young adult, and I was intrigued by the media issues mentioned on the book jacket. Since Cooney has been writing young adult books for three decades, and since her work is both popular and award-winning, it seems prudent to be familiar with her.
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