Devour Books

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers

2012-02-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers is the kind of novel that you pick up to read the first few pages, and then it’s suddenly 2:00 a.m. and you missed dinner. Proof: I received this in the mail yesterday afternoon and am already dying to share it with you.
Lucy’s sophomore year does not begin as expected: she is unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend, Alex, before homeroom. As she weeps over where things went wrong, three glamorous older girls reach out to her with a beguiling promise. If she does what they say, they will teach her the magical skills to never have her heart broken again and let her join the ancient sisterhood of the title. Of course, promises and magic often have strings attached and Lucy must decide if the sisterhood is worth the high price of joining.

The absolute best thing about this novel is how deftly Lynn Weingarten describes heartbreak. Through a series of flashbacks, the reader learns that Alex was never really the right boy for Lucy, but she is so caught up in her infatuation that she can’t see it. In a particularly poignant scene, Lucy realizes she is jealous of everything that takes Alex’s attention away from her. Who hasn’t felt that way about someone that you like just a little bit more? Weingarten’s descriptions of Lucy’s sadness offer reassurances that other people feel similarly and that maybe some magic awaits on the other side of the misery.

There is an underlying theme of confidence to the novel, and Weingarten provides subtle tips on how readers can approach their love lives with the upper hand. I wish that when I was a teenager there had been a novel that said things like, “Giving a guy an easy opening line is often the difference between him standing, staring, wishing he could talk to you and actually being able to do it.” While it’s never quite clear if the sisterhood is actually trustworthy, the advice they give is spot-on.

I was frequently surprised by the twists in the novel, perhaps most of all by the ending. At times, I was reminded of “The Craft” and “Clueless”, which is definitely a good thing in my book. I was excited to learn that Weingarten is working on a sequel because I am eager to read more about what magic the future holds for Lucy.

Read this and more reviews at Young Adult Books Central.

Cybils 2011 Results

2012-02-14T07:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Cybils Results Day, everyone!

I was surprised and pleased to see the winning titles in the graphic novels category, in which I was a Round One Judge. If you haven't read Anya's Ghost or Zita the Spacegirl yet, check out my reviews by clicking on the titles. I think you'll enjoy them as much as I did.

Looking at the list, I have a few new books to add to my reading list, especially Nerd Camp and Stupid Fast.

Check out all the winners here. Happy reading!

Boy Meets Boy

2012-02-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

I'm currently slogging my way through A Feast for Crows, which is the slowest novel in the Game of Thrones series. I decided to take a break and enjoy Boy Meets Boy, a beautiful confection by David Levithan.

As the title suggests, the novel follows the classic romantic plot structure, this time with male characters. Levithan creates a world where sexual preferences are beside the point--it is a high school where a cross dressing football player can be the homecoming queen, the PFLAG group is as large as the PTA, and where any combination of sexes in a relationship is common. In this hopeful world, Paul has a great group of friends, a supportive family, and many opportunities. When he messes up his budding relationship with a new student, Paul must be creative to win him back.

There is so much to love about this novel. This world of acceptance is what I wish for everyone. Levithan's writing is appealing and so many of the details made me say, "I wish I had thought of that!" On his website, David Levithan addresses the question about if this book is unrealistic, “I’m often asked if the book is a work of fantasy or a work of reality, and the answer is right down the middle – it’s about where we’re going, and where we should be.”

I will be leading a discussion on this book for members of my graduate school cohort. In my southern, rural university, the views on homosexuality run the gamut. As an entry point to the discussion, I've gathered very broad quotes and will give each person one to consider how it connects to the characters, our future students, and themselves. I hope this exercise highlights the similarities between all people and encourages a thoughtful, sensitive discussion.

The quotes are included below:

“I am three notes in the middle of a song.” P.3
“What you feel is absolutely right for you. Always remember that.” P. 8
“It’s a mighty thin border between peer pressure and bravery.” P. 20
“My life is crazy, and there’s not a single thing I can do about it.” P.26
“Who am I to approve or disapprove? If she’s happy, then good for her.” P. 28
“…it’s clear he’s seeing her just as she wants to be seen. So few people do that.” P. 34

“I guess hurt is essentially a firsthand emotion.” P. 43
“I know people always talk about living in the middle of nowhere—there’s always another place (some city, some foreign country) they’d rather be. But it’s moments like this that I feel like I live in the middle of somewhere. My somewhere.” P.58
“Sometimes the space between knowing what to do and actually doing it is a very short walk. Other times it is an impossible expanse.” P.98

All These Things I've Done

2012-02-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

Imagine a world in which chocolate and coffee are illegal. For some, this is the premise for a horror story. Since I don't like either, it was going to take a little more to make this society dystopian. I needn't have worried, Gabrielle Zevin provided.

2083 is not a good year for Anya Balanchine. Her mobster family's chocolate company has floundered since the death of her parents, and she must take care of her younger sister and older, mentally disabled brother on her own. While she tries to do well in school and live a normal life, things get worse when her grandmother's health declines and the Balanchine chocolate supply is poisoned. The responsibility continues to fall on Anya's shoulders and eventually, something has to give.

It was jarring to begin reading this novel after The Scorpio Games, since Zevin's writing style is so different from Maggie Stiefvater's. At first, I thought I didn't like All These Things I've Done, but realized that I was carrying my kindle everywhere I went so I could sneak in a few more pages. Once I succumbed to Anya's voice, I ended up really enjoying the novel and looking forward to the following two novels in this trilogy.

One thing I really enjoyed was Anya's relationship with her flighty best friend, Scarlet. When a cute new boy comes to school and Scarlet sets her sights on him, I predicted the petty jealousy that often arises when novels take on this topic. Instead, Zevin shows that the girls' friendship is stronger than a crush, which was refreshing. I love that Scarlet supports her friend through dark times and fills a role that was vacated by many others in Anya's life.

The other part of All These Things I've Done that really impressed me was Zevin's exploration of Anya's Catholicism. Many young adult novels don't discuss religion, maybe out of fear of alienating readers. Anya attends Catholic school and struggles with morality. Yes, she has seen many people killed, but she still wants to remain a virgin until she is married. It is not an easy vow for her to keep, and the novel handles the subject in a realistic and sensitive way.

The next book in the series, Because It Is My Blood, will be released in September 2012, so it will be awhile before we will know what comes next for Anya. I look forward to finding out.

The Scorpio Races

2012-02-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

The Scorpio Races is a book as harsh and lonely as its setting, the fictional island of Thisby. Maggie Stiefvater sets a remarkable tone for the novel, so that the reader feels the November winds and the gnawing desires of the characters. There is a feeling of foreboding that hangs over The Scorpio Races, and strangely, I miss it now that it's gone.

Every November the capaille uisce, mythical water horses, rise from the sea. They are thirsty for blood and difficult to control, so there is no better test of manhood than to harness them and race them down the beach. The prize is also the best way to earn money on Thisby.

No one has won more races than Sean Kendrick, but this year, the stakes are higher. Likewise, Kate "Puck" Connolly is desperate to win, and as the first female to ever enter, the odds are stacked against her. I don't want to say anything more about the plot, because this is a novel that I insist everyone reads.

Sean and Puck are probably two of my favorite characters in a long time. They are both prickly outcasts and slow to warm up to, but once they are in your heart, they sit there and burn. Stiefvater alternates between their perspectives and I both loved and hated the switches, because I wanted more of each of them. Unlike in other novels (ahem, Across the Universe), we don't get both of their perspectives on a situation, so when I wasn't reading, I was thinking about how Sean might have seen things. To use a title from another Stiefvater novel, this one lingers.

Put down whatever you're doing and go get The Scorpio Races. Then call me so we can gush.

Drawing From Memory

2012-02-04T20:13:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite bloggers, Katie of Book Love, recently posted about the School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids’ Books. I love the idea of pitting some of the best books of the year against each other, as well as getting to read authors’ justifications of the winners.
I’ve read five of the books:
Inside Out and Back Again
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Anya’s Ghost
Wonderstruck
Drawing From Memory
I am currently reading Between Shades of Gray, and would like to read a few more of the novels before the competitions start on March 1st.

Drawing from Memory is a book that I read in consideration for the Cybils, but never reviewed. At first, it looks like a picture book, but it is so much more than that. This collection of photos, illustrations, sketches, and comics is Allen Say’s version of an autobiography, both heartwarming and informative.

It is a unique graphic novel, full of things to learn. Say’s drawings give a great feeling for life in Tokyo in the 1950s. His drawings of people on the street show so much of the fashion and jobs that people held, in a far more interesting way than reading an article on the subject.

My favorite part of the book detailed how Say moved into his own tiny apartment at age twelve to focus on his studies. Having lived for a year in Japan, I loved following his adventures as a child living on his own in Tokyo. Say’s apartment looked very similar to mine (read: minuscule) and his daily activities mirrored many of mine. I smiled to see him sitting in a restaurant like I did and exploring the city with wide eyes.

Drawing from Memory is not a typical graphic novel, and difficult to categorize. I think it would appeal most to young artists, who can pore over Say’s work to see how his art developed, and be inspired by how he finagled an internship with Japan's top cartoonist. The cover does it a disservice; almost any of the illustrations inside would be more likely to grab a young reader's interest. If I wanted one of my students to read it, I would hand it off, already opened to the first page.

The Unwanteds

2012-02-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

In Quill, thirteen-year-olds are categorized as Wanted, Necessary, and Unwanted. The Wanteds attend university, the Necessaries do manual labor, and the creative Unwanteds are sent to their death. When Alex Stowe is sorted into the Unwanteds, he must leave behind his Wanted twin brother Aaron. What Alex and the other Unwanteds find at the Death Farm is a secret world called Artimé, full of magical creatures and new outlets for their creativity – dancing, drawing, acting, and singing. With the two societies existing so closely, it is only a matter of time before there is a showdown between the magical weapons of Artimé and the military strength of Quill, with the brothers divided.
Lisa McMann’s first foray into middle grade books has many features that will appeal to younger readers. Alex and his Unwanted friends are well-developed and likable. I enjoyed that they were flawed and all of their choices had consequences. McMann strikes the right balance in portraying complicated family relationships, particularly with twins.

The highlight of The Unwanteds is the way that the arts are used as weapons, such as the imaginative “slash singing, slam poetry, and fire steps”. My favorite parts of the novel involved the students learning about the arts, such as discovering music or creating fire-breathing origami dragons. At 400 pages, it is not a short novel and I wish there had been more scenes with the students in their classes and developing their powers. I was also concerned that there seemed to be a message that creativity exists only in the arts, while the children who liked math and economics were not seen as creative. As an adult reader, I realized that the reason Aaron was a successful Wanted was because he was creative, but this point may not be clear to middle grade readers.

Kirkus called it “The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter,” which I believe does a disservice to The Unwanteds. Readers who pick up this novel expecting it to be The Hunger Games will feel manipulated by the lack of similarity between the two. Likewise, readers who want this to be a Harry Potter novel will be disappointed when it doesn’t measure up. The Unwanteds is an enjoyable introduction to dystopian novels on its own and when I recommend it, I won’t mention either of those other titles.

Read this and other reviews at Young Adult Books Central.

Delirium

2012-01-31T00:00:00.000-05:00

I'm so happy to finish my month of reviewing every day with a novel that I absolutely loved. Somehow, I read two Lauren Oliver novels in the first week of 2012, Delirium and Liesl and Po. These books couldn't be more different, although both feature fantastic writing and imaginative plots.

Delirium is a dystopian novel based on an interesting premise: what is life like in a society where love is illegal? In Lena's world, everyone receives an operation at age eighteen which prevents them from feeling love. They are paired with a spouse by the government and spend the rest of their lives in a sedated tranquility. Only a few months away from her surgery, Lena meets a mysterious stranger named Alex and begins to question everything around her.

Delirium was suspenseful and had me glued to my kindle (yay!), eager to learn what would happen next. Lauren Oliver's writing draws the reader in; she has the gift of being able to phrase everything beautifully. My favorite aspect of the book, though, were the small details that showed what a world would be like without love. Romeo and Juliet become a cautionary tale, indifferent parents are not attached to their children, and no one has heard of poetry. I loved that Oliver slid these details into the story and let them sit, tugging at my mind.

This is the first novel in a trilogy, with its sequel Pandemonium releasing in a few weeks. Sometimes it pays off to read a book so late; I hardly have to wait at all to learn what happens to the characters to whom I've grown attached.

PS. I apologize for any typing errors, my apartment is freezing right now!

Across the Universe

2012-01-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

Looking at an old planner, I realized it's been exactly one year that I have been waiting to read Across the Universe. When I saw it in my local used bookstore as I prepared to visit my old school in The Bahamas, I thought it would be the perfect novel to read on the beach and then leave behind for my students. The sexual references will earn it a slot on the "Grade 8 Only" shelf, but I think the students will enjoy Beth Revis' debut novel, probably more than I did.

Amy and her parents are being frozen aboard a spaceship headed towards a new planet; they will be thawed in three hundred years, after their arrival on Centauri Earth. When Amy is unthawed fifty years early, she is justifiably angry that she has lost her past, as well as her future with her parents. Then she realizes that by unplugging her, someone was trying to murder her and may strike again soon.

Perhaps I was expecting too much after a year of waiting, but Across the Universe dragged for me. The novel's narration is divided between Amy and Elder, one of the residents of the spaceship who happens to be the only person Amy's age and its future leader. At over 400 pages, too many of the scenes are told from both Amy and Elder's perspectives, which slowed the pace and made me feel like I was reading the same chapter twice. Although they came from different worlds, their interpretations of events were too similar to merit telling twice.

My other problem with the book was that the surprise twist was anything but. The hints were heavy-handed, yet it still took Revis until Chapter 70 to make the big reveal. Perhaps my students will be patient enough to wait that long, but I prefer my plot to move more quickly.

It wasn't a bad book; the plot idea is very interesting and, well, I can't really think of a second example to support that statement. So I leave the book behind in The Bahamas, shrugging and wishing it was better.

Liesl & Po

2012-01-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

Liesl spends her life locked away in an attic, mourning the death of her father. One day, a ghost named Po appears, asking Liesl to draw it a picture and passing along some words from her late father: “I should never have eaten the soup.” The pair escapes and set out on an adventure that would allow her father to rest in peace. Along the way they meet another orphan named Will who happens to be delivering the most powerful magic in the world for an evil alchemist. They join forces and spend their journey avoiding the various adults that are chasing them, using magic, friendship, and luck.

You know you are in for some sadness when the first sentence in a book is, “On the third night after the day her father died, Liesl saw the ghost.” Our heroes are mistreated orphans or ghosts, all but one adult is evil, and the sun has not come out in 1,728 days. Still, many of the best children’s books (The Graveyard Book, The Giving Tree, anything by Roald Dahl) mix darkness and light, and Liesl and Po is an example of how to share difficult subjects with a young audience. Liesl’s optimism, Po’s loyalty, and Will’s kind heart are the traits that everyone hopes to maintain in the face of loss. Author Lauren Oliver’s preface states that she wrote the novel in response to the death of her best friend. What was a lifeline for an author became a gift to the reader.

There is a timeless quality to Liesl & Po which brings to mind many of my favorite books from childhood. While some readers may dislike the familiarity of the characters and plot, I believe that those books are classics for a reason and one can never have enough beautifully written stories about friendship and love. With its vaguely Victorian setting and lack of details that place it in a particular time period, this is a novel with enduring appeal.

It was easy to predict the ending of the story, but I was happy to follow the twists and turns that Oliver takes to get us there. Her writing is beautiful, and the vivid descriptions would make this an excellent read aloud. The illustrations by Kei Acedera are dreamy and fit in with the magical atmosphere of the story. If I had any complaint, it would be that the evil characters did not receive harsh enough punishments, although that may be the vindictive adult in me.

While Liesl and Po is a standalone novel, I hope it is only the first of many middle grade novels by Lauren Oliver.

Read this and more reviews at Young Adult Books Central.

The Frenzy

2012-01-28T10:04:00.000-05:00

The Frenzy is not the Francesca Lia Block that I am used to reading. From the cover blurb, I was hoping to read about the slinkster cool world of Weetzie Bat, with some werewolves thrown in. Instead, I got a paranormal story that was lacking the whimsy that makes Block's work shine.

My mild disappointment might not be the fault of The Frenzy; I think it is time for me to take a break from paranormal novels. Since I know from the start that a character is going to become a vampire/werewolf/ghost, I grow impatient while waiting for the character to realize it. The process of becoming the creature is not what interests me, but rather what they do with their new powers. Protagonist Grace takes too long to discover the meaning of her desire for red meat, penchant for walking on her toes, and dreams about running in a pack. While I appreciated that Block wrote about the negative sides of being a mystical creature--being covered in downy red hair would be terrible, especially as a teenager--she left out the mystical element that is the best part of her writing.

Block devotees should read the novel, everyone else should just re-read Weetzie Bat.

Like Mandarin

2012-01-27T00:00:00.000-05:00

After finishing Imaginary Girls, I wasn't sure if I was ready for another "young girl admires wild girl" novel, which was what Like Mandarin promised to be. I'm very happy I decided that I didn't care, because Kirsten Hubbard's novel was completely different and, in my opinion, far more enjoyable.

Protagonist Grace is an awkward, bony fourteen. She is too smart for her Wyoming town full of cowboys, beauty pageants, and dead-end futures. When Grace is paired up for a project with rebellious, beautiful Mandarin Ramey, she is swept up by the prospect of getting attention and finally living. When Grace discovers the roots of Mandarin's behavior, she has to decide if this is someone she wants to follow.

Hubbard's triumph is in her characterization of Grace. Every adolescent has an older girl who she wishes to emulate. I remember an older girl at camp who wore a Colby sweatshirt. For some reason, I thought that was her name (I wasn't brilliant), and thought it was the coolest name in the world. Grace's feelings for Mandarin are similar: she knows her class schedule, she practices sauntering like her, and she keeps tabs on the many men with whom Mandarin is rumored to have affairs. This kind of infatuation is difficult to describe, but Hubbard does it beautifully, making the reader cringe while understanding that this is a part of growing up. I particularly love that Grace's younger sister has the same feelings for her...we are all the cool older girl for someone else.

There are many affecting scenes in the novel, but the one that sticks with me is when Grace is invited into Mandarin's bedroom for the first time. It is described as having scuff marks all over the bottom third of the walls. As if I was a gossipy native of their small town, I immediately assumed it was something sex-related, as Mandarin doesn't deny being promiscuous. When she angrily kicks the wall, leaving another scuff mark, I realized that the truth was so much sadder: this lonely girl is so caged by her identity and the lack of possibilities in her town that she has to lash out. Mandarin's scuff marks on the wall are the residue that remains with me after finishing this novel.

One minor nitpick: While the cover of the novel is gorgeous, it doesn't seem to be a picture of either of the two girls. Mandarin is famous for her black hair, angular cheekbones, and tea-colored eyes. Grace is too young, awkward, and plain to be the girl on the cover. Read the first chapter here and decide who you think it is.

Imaginary Girls

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

Imaginary Girls has some major hype behind it. With rumors of magic realism and an incredible cover, I was excited to read Nova Ren Suma's debut novel. All of the buzz was well-deserved: this is a book that needs to be discussed to be understood. Not a breezy beach read, this is one for the book club.

Chloe has always lived in the shadow of her older sister, Ruby. Growing up with only each other to count on, Ruby takes on mythical status with her sister. But maybe it isn't just Chloe that sees the magic. When a local girl is found dead, Chloe leaves town for two years and Ruby will do whatever it takes to get her back.

Imaginary Girls belongs to Ruby, the mysterious center of the story. As I started reading, I thought that she was just another Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Like most people, I am drawn to these characters; Alaska Young and Weetzie Bat. Still I have never met one in real life because girls like that don't really exist. When I read about "The store where she got her signature shade of wine red lipstick, how they held her color behind the counter so no one else could wear it" and "Ruby’s way of doing dishes—leaving them piled in the sink and on the stove for a week at a time until there was no other option but to crate them over to the bathtub for a good soaking", I thought I was in for another MPDG. Suma surprised me, though. As the novel progressed, I realized that there was a much darker side to Ruby's charisma.

For me, this wasn't a comfortable read. None of the characters were very likable and I felt myself dreading when everything would inevitably fall apart in the world of Ruby's creation. Despite this, I was satisfied with the eerie ending and will most likely read the novel again, picking up more in my second reading.

Pink Smog: Becoming Weetzie

2012-01-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

For the past twenty years, Weetzie Bat has been an icon for outcasts who choose to see the world through rose-colored glasses (preferably cat-eyed and pink). Francesca Lia Block has returned with Pink Smog: Becoming Weetzie, an origin story that takes us back to 1970s Los Angeles, before Weetzie was slinkster-cool, when she was just awkward, thirteen-year-old Louise Bat.

Fans of the series know that Weetzie’s parents, Brandy-Lynn and Charlie, had a poolside fight that ended their marriage and shattered both adults forever. In Pink Smog, we get ringside seats to the collapse of their relationship and how Weetzie coped. While the novel is focused around this event, the plot is usually beside the point in Weetzie Bat novels. What we get is an escape into the glittering lives of the dangerous angels of Shangri-L.A. When it comes to magical realism, Block has got everyone beat. I wish that my brain worked like Block’s, churning out beautiful ideas like, “Once I was stung by a jellyfish and the pain felt just like the thing looked—gelatinous and cold and veined with hurt.” Block creates a mystical world of jacaranda blossoms and vintage cars that encourages readers to find the beauty in their own lives.

Pink Smog is more grounded than any of the others in the series and it suffers slightly for it. For the first time, the novel is written in the first person, so the reader knows Weetzie’s thoughts and feelings. While it might be reassuring to younger readers to know that such an amazing character has insecurities, part of the fairy tale fun of the novels is lost in the process. Another misstep is that too much time is spent in Weetzie’s high school, a setting that feels out of place and uncomfortable in Block’s world. It’s always risky to return to a beloved character, but Block has done it before with Necklace of Kisses (review), which takes Weetzie into her forties. That foray was more successful because she was still able to be the independent spirit that readers love, untethered to school and parents.

This slim volume could be read in an afternoon, but Block’s writing deserves to be savored. Her descriptions are gorgeous, particularly when describing the city that she and Weetzie love. If you haven’t read any of the books in the series, I recommend reading Weetzie Bat first, in order to understand the references at the end of Pink Smog. Once you are firmly entrenched in Weetzie’s world, you will enjoy this and the other novels in the series.

Read this and more reviews at Young Adult Books Central.

In Darkness

2012-01-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

The 2010 earthquake that struck Haiti has trapped fifteen-year-old gangster Shorty under the rubble in the hospital where he has been recovering from a gunshot. As his hope for survival slowly fades, he maintains his sanity by telling his life story to the darkness that surrounds him.

This plot would be enough to hook me, but author Nick Lake makes In Darkness more compelling by alternating Shorty's story with a third person account of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Haitian slave who led a successful revolution against the French in the late 18th century. It is a powerful juxtaposition to pair Toussaint's hope and love for his beautiful nation and Shorty's despair in the slums of Port au Prince. Touissant's life is fascinating; as an older, unattractive, and uneducated slave, he is not the typical hero. Yet he accomplishes the seemingly impossible with wisdom and grace.

As much as I enjoyed learning more about Toussaint L'Ouverture, I found myself looking forward to Shorty's chapters. His plot feels so immediate and vital. The transformation of the character of Shorty is very clever. Initially, he comes across as an innocent victim of the earthquake, then his story slowly unfolds and the reader learns about the terrible things he has done. Just when he borders on unsympathetic, Lake deftly reminds the reader that there are few options available to youths in the slums and that Shorty manages to keep his humanity. Shorty describes his best friend, saying, "Sometimes I'd look at him and it was like he'd forgotten to put the shutters over his eyes, and I'd see right down to his soul, and see how much he was hurting. He was unprotected, is the best way I can say it. His manman died when he was little, and there was nothing about him that could keep bad stuff out." At times it is difficult to remember that the characters are children, but that is the power of In Darkness; the reality hits the reader unexpectedly.

We need more young adult literature about Haiti. This is a country that is frequently in the news for tragedies, yet there is a dearth of narratives that encourage a personal connection with the people being affected. When teaching a unit on Haitian immigration to Bahamian students, we read Frances Temple's Taste of Salt, but that was the only fiction text that was available for middle school readers. In Darkness is for older readers; the violence is explicit and the dead-end lives of the residents of the Site Soley slums weigh heavily on the reader. The publication of Lake's novel will hopefully only be the beginning of a wave of novels informing readers about life in modern Haiti.

Read this and other reviews on Young Adult Books Central.

Mameshiba: On the Loose!

2012-01-23T16:41:00.000-05:00

I am predisposed to like Mameshiba: On the Loose! after living in Korea and Japan. After a few years in countries that idealize cuteness, one of the top ways to appeal to me is by anthropomorphizing objects. Put two cute eyes and a mouth on anything and I will buy it, sad but true. So I lit up when James Turner's graphic novel arrived in my mailbox.

"Mameshiba" comes from the Japanese words for "bean" and "dog", and the characters are basically beans with dog ears. Still, Turner manages to infuse the shapes with a lot of personality. The book begins with a guide to the mameshiba which introduces the reader to their characteristics. For example, our hero Edamame is "the brave, determined leader of the pack". It helps that artist Jorge Monlongo constantly has the mameshiba in action: running, jumping, and riding unicycles. The illustrations are detailed and colorful, which will appeal to the young readers who are the target audience.

Also appealing to young readers are the short plotlines. There are several stories in the book, involving adventures into the sewer, as well as outer space. They are interspersed with one-page "shorts" by Gemma Correll which are bizarrely random and cute. Best of all, it will be easy for readers to mimic the drawings and create their own mameshiba comics. There are enough characters and potential stories that this short book can lead to many afternoons of fun.

This graphic novel was provided by the publisher in consideration for The Cybils. This did not influence my review.

Luz Sees the Light

2012-01-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hey Kids,

Want to read a black/white/brown graphic novel that lectures you about climate change?

Yes, me neither.

I dislike when agendas are shoehorned into books, hidden in the guise of "It's a graphic novel, they'll like it." I am an environmentalist and an educator, but know that for a message to be effective, it has to be appealing. Multiple pages in Luz Sees the Light feature quotes like, "If we keep relying on imports, eventually we won't be able to afford the things we need. So we should buy from local farms and businesses and produce our own stuff." This is the ultimate in telling-not-showing, which turns off readers and prevents the message from being communicated.

From electricity blackouts to rising gas prices to vegetarianism to composting, there is just too much crammed into Luz Sees the Light. While environmental issues are interconnected, author Claudia Davila should have focused on just one aspect so that her target audience could better digest these important lessons.

Classics To Consider

2012-01-21T00:00:00.001-05:00

Does it get better than Number the Stars? Lois Lowry's novel is the gold standard for adolescent Holocaust literature. I can't think of any novel (and I have read a ton of them) that better introduces the tragedy in a gentle yet informative way. I am so happy that it continues to be read and cherished by students. I remember reading it when it was first published and my sixth graders currently list it as one of their favorite novels.

The story of Annemarie Johansen's family and their efforts to save their Jewish friends is a beautiful example of loyalty, courage, and friendship. If you haven't read Number the Stars since middle school, it is worth reading again. It definitely stands the test of time.

I would have loved The Egypt Game when I was growing up. I was fascinated by the chart of hieroglyphics on the wall of my social studies classroom, and spent way too much time trying to write my name using birds and other symbols. Protagonists April and Melanie do this, and more: they recreate Egypt in a vacant lot in their neighborhood, using research and their imaginations to make it as realistic as possible.

Published in 1967, the novel introduces readers to childhood before video games and television. While parts of the novel seemed to drag, at the same time there is so much story packed into this novel. It's interesting to note that a neighborhood child murderer was a casual plot point in the 60s, something that would be very controversial today. Still, I hope that today's readers are inspired to engage in more creative play after reading The Egypt Game.

Divergent

2012-01-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

Divergent is a novel that makes me jealous of the adolescents who get to grow up with this as their contemporary literature. The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins were fine, but if I came of age with Divergent and The Hunger Games, I feel like I might be the queen of a new planet by now. No pressure, kids.

In future Chicago, the society is divided into five factions designed to cultivate a specific virtue: Candor (honesty), Dauntless (bravery), Abnegation (selflessness), Erudite (knowledge), and Amity (the peaceful). When citizens turn sixteen, they may choose to continue in the faction of their birth, or disavow their upbringing and select a new faction. Born into Abnegation, Beatrice has never felt selfless or good enough for her faction, but fears leaving everything she knows behind. She thinks that selecting a faction other than Abnegation of Choosing Day will be the most difficult thing she has to do, not knowing that it is only the beginning of her troubles.

Debut author Veronica Roth took an incredible idea and managed to provide fully realized characters and suspense. There is ample time given to character development, but it never drags or feels unnecessary. These efforts on Roth’s part draw the reader in and bind them to Beatrice and her friends. I was genuinely concerned about the characters and stayed up until 2:00am because I could not wait to find out how things would resolve.

Divergent has gotten tons of publicity, and it deserves all the attention. There are two more novels planned in the trilogy and the movie rights have already been sold. Comparisons to The Hunger Games are easy to make, but aside from having a strong female protagonist and being dystopian novels, they are very different, which is great news for fans of the genre. What's better than having another series to hand off to new dystopian converts?

Page by Paige

2012-01-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

Quiet artist Paige moves to New York City with her parents and is quickly intimidated by how different life is from Virginia. She decides to be her own friend first, purchases a sketchbook, and follows her grandmother's rules for being an artist (check them out here). These rules serve as chapter titles and give a preview of the events that will occur in that section.

Page by Paige's coming of age story will be instantly relatable to introspective readers. Paige vacillates between the safety of keeping to herself and her desire to make friends. Every time she pushes herself beyond her comfort level, she is rewarded: with increased creativity, new friends, and more confidence.

The art is the true star of the novel. Laura Lee Gulledge's black and white illustrations beautifully express Paige's emotions. Many of the issues that Paige faces are common to middle and high school students, who will hopefully get strength from seeing them represented as true art. If I was a guidance counselor, I would buy one copy to keep

in my office and one copy to cut up and frame for my walls. One of my favorite drawings depicts the line, "I tell myself that everyone else feels alone, too." A small box shows the high school hallway and the rest of the page features each student in their own rowboat. Each page must have taken so much work that Page by Paige deserves a place of honor in everyone's classroom library.

My Boyfriend Is A Monster

2012-01-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

The new graphic novel series, My Boyfriend Is A Monster, explores teen relationships under the most trying circumstances: zombie invasions and monster attacks.

I Love Him to Pieces pairs up athletic Dicey Bell and budding scientist Jack Chen to co-parent an egg for health class. Their paths would not have normally crossed, but they find that they really enjoy each other. Jack's scientist parents are often travelling, and Dicey's exuberance fills the void in his life. Unfortunately, there is a zombie outbreak on their first date and Jack is bitten, causing them to spend the rest of the book trying to survive while searching for a cure.

I Love Him to Pieces is pure fun. Without feeling didactic, author Evonne Tsang presents the reader with protagonists who are fully realized and contrary to stereotypes. I always enjoy a story with an Asian male love interest, and the scene when Dicey ogles Jack mowing the lawn shirtless is particularly endearing.

With engrossing illustrations (Dicey's expressions are really sweet) and a plotline that ties up neatly, I recommend adding this quick read to your library.

I did not connect as much with the second book in the series, Made for Each Other. Paul D. Storrie's entry to the series is confusing and not nearly as charming.

Centered around Maria McBride, a shy orphan violinist, and the burly new student Tom B. Stone (yep), this strange take on Frankenstein lacks the quirky romance of the first book. Neither Maria nor Tom is a likable character, so when they fall for each other for no reason, the reader is not intrigued to learn more.

While any book in a series about monster boyfriends is expected to be campy, there are too many plot holes in Made for Each Other. I might use it as an example of "telling not showing" in writing; Storrie deliberately points out the humor in character names like Hedy Stone, rendering them unfunny and flat.

Skip this second entry to the series and check out books three and four; clearly the quality of the books varies greatly.

Fracture

2012-01-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

"What would you do if you only had one day left to live?" This is the question that haunts Delaney Maxwell after she spends eleven minutes under a winter lake. Her heart and brain stopped working; Fracture's protagonist dies in the first seven pages of the novel, but somehow she doesn't stay dead. Despite all medical reason, Delaney survives as good as new. Almost.

After drowning, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the dead and dying, and she's not alone. The mysterious Troy, an outsider who also came out of a coma, always seems to be around when someone is dying. Troy is the opposite of Delaney's lifelong best friend, Decker, who saved her from the lake and is suddenly unrelatable. The distance increases between Delaney and all her loved ones, but when Troy reveals himself to be less noble than he seems, she has nowhere to turn.

Wintertime in Maine is the perfect setting for this story about isolation, where Delaney is frozen out of the life she once had. Author Megan Miranda is skilled at creating a cold atmosphere in the local hospital and Delaney's home. Rather than giving her characters the warmth and celebration that should follow a near death experience, Miranda keeps her characters metaphorically trapped beneath ice.

Delaney can be a frustrating character. While she has been given a second chance at life and spends much of the novel asking others what they would do if they only had one day left to live, she does not live her words. She expresses herself poorly to Decker and her parents, and is paralyzed to act when she knows a situation is wrong.

Fracture is far darker than the plot synopsis implies. When I started reading, I expected a paranormal plotline, but it is more of a thriller than anything else. There are few bright spots for Delaney, so much of the narrative feels like a heavy weight on the reader's chest. Still, I could not stop reading, hoping that the ice would thaw for Delaney.

Read this view and more like it at Young Adult Books Central.

Sita: Daughter of the Earth

2012-01-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

I think I’m similar to my students in that if I’m going to learn about something new, I enjoy doing it via graphic novel. I was really excited to receive Sita: Daughter of the Earth, which tells about characters from Hindu mythology. This graphic novel is Saraswati Nagpal’s retelling of the Ramayana, focusing on Sita, Rama’s wife.

Sita’s mother is the goddess Bhudevi, but she is adopted by a king. Beautiful and intelligent, she has a happy life until it is time to marry. After hearing of the brave exploits of the warrior prince Rama, she decides to issue a challenge to claim her as a bride. The palace holds a great bow, which was magically built to be impossible for a mortal man to life. No surprise—the hero Rama breaks the bow, beginning their lives together.

Like any epic heroine, Sita faces many trials. Nagpal’s story has a feminist slant; Sita is courageous and loyal, plus she speaks up for herself and others. At the end of the book, she makes a choice that shows that she is a truly principled heroine.

Manikandan’s illustrations are lush and gorgeously detailed. Readers will pore over the gods and goddesses whose beauty will incite imaginations. Sita: Daughter of the Earth is an engrossing graphic novel and an excellent introduction to the Ramayana.

Text provided by the publisher for review for the Cybils.

Ten Things I Hate About Me

2012-01-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

Ten Things I Hate About Me is written from a perspective I've never encountered before--an Australian Lebanese-Muslim teen. Jamilah has a double identity. At home she lives a traditional and highly structured life with her strict father and older siblings. At school, she is Jamie, a blonde (thanks to hair dye) and blue-eyed (thanks to contact lenses) girl who will do anything to hide her ethnicity and become more popular.

This dual personality is a balancing act which prevents her from being truly comfortable with anyone. Enter her new email buddy, with whom she can finally be honest. You can probably guess how that storyline ends.

What I appreciated most about this novel was the insight into the life of a Lebanese-Australian family. Author Randa Abdel-Fattah sprinkles facts throughout the novel which broadened my knowledge of the culture. While obviously heightened to propel the plot, it was interesting to learn about the cultural tensions that could exist in an Australian high school. For example, people from New Zealand experienced a lot more prejudice than I expected.

There were a few instances of sloppy writing that took me out of the story. At one point, the descriptor "bottle green" was used twice in as many pages. Also, multiple scenes end with Jamilah storming from the room in tears. While this may be typical teenage behavior, it felt more like lazy writing and a lack of direction.

Minor complaints aside, Ten Things I Hate About Me is a novel that will appeal to many female readers and is worth checking out.

The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn

2012-01-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

I lived in Japan for a year so was thrilled to find The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn, a YA mystery set during the Tokugawa period. Even better that it's genuinely interesting and well-written. And what's more? It's the first in a series by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler.

Seikei is a tea merchant's son who idolizes samurai, but can never be one because they are born, not made. Still, he holds himself to the samurai ideals of honor, loyalty, honesty, courage, and respect. When Seikei witnesses the theft of a jewel and sees a girl unjustly accused, he risks his life to stand up for what is right. This action pairs him in solving the crime with a famous samurai, Judge Ooka. Suddenly, Seikei is surrounded by intrigue: kabuki actors, stolen gems, cowardly samurai, and the all-powerful shogun.

While the criminal is clear from the beginning, the motive is less obvious and truly educational. This is true historical fiction, yet it never felt too didactic. I love that Ooka is a real historical figure, known as the Sherlock Holmes of Japan. I would love to teach The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn, but know that I don't have to make it a class novel in order for it to be popular. Written for younger readers, this novel will entertain everyone who encounters it.

Graphic Novels for Younger Readers Part Two

2012-01-13T00:00:00.000-05:00

Read Part One of my graphic novel suggestions for younger readers here.

Freddie Pickle and the Mathematical Menace is a little gift to math teachers from author Eric Wight. This book, written in prose with many comic-style illustrations sprinkled throughout, cleverly shows how math is used in daily life.

Freddie is touted as the kid with the world's most amazing imagination, so a simple math quiz turns into a trip to a dragon's lair, battling number creatures. The illustrations are detailed and fun to examine. Developing chapter book readers will be happy for the frequent illustrations. (Plus, Frankie Pickle looks a lot like the author)

The story felt slightly didactic to me, or at least more moralizing than the books I usually read. Perhaps it is because its target audience is so young. It would be fun to read a chapter of this novel aloud in math class and let students take turns reading it.

Although Binky Under Pressure is the third book in the series, it was my introduction to Binky, a space cat who lives on Earth to protect 'his' humans, which amounts to lots of napping and occasional snuggling. Binky's goal is to rise in the ranks of F.U.R.S.T. (Felines of the Universe Ready for Space Travel), but he gets sidetracked when a new cat moves into his home. Gracie is cuter and better-behaved, so Binky must use all his Space Cat skills to compete with this interloper.

Ashley Spires' illustrations are clean, detailed, and appealing. It could be difficult to draw pictures of a cat who spends all day laying down and occasionally swatting at flies, but Spires' talent ensures that readers will examine each drawing for the slight differences that bring a giggle. Get all three of the books out of the library and watch your readers happily breeze through them.

Son of the Mob

2012-01-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

Gordon Korman is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. Son of the Mob is my second Korman novel and it couldn't be more different from Schooled. The fact that Schooled hippie Capricorn and Son's mob prince Vince Luca are so fundamentally different, yet so realistic, inspired me to create a new unit. I'd love to teach units where students read a variety of texts written by masters of each aspect of author's craft. For voice, I would definitely choose Gordon Korman.

Vince Luca's father is a criminal kingpin, which means Vince can have anything he wants: fancy cars, pretty girls, tons of money. The family business doesn't appeal to him, so Vince drives a busted Mazda and has no social life. Staying crime-free is a noble goal, but it becomes impossible when he meets Kendra, the daughter of the FBI agent who is investigating Vince's dad.

Korman's version of Romeo and Juliet is pure fun. Both Vince and Kendra are fairly typical; aside from their bizarre circumstances, they could be any teenager on the street. This relatability makes it easier to imagine yourself in Vince's situation, unable to play football because no one wants to tackle you, unable to run for homecoming king because it would draw attention to your family. Korman's gift is that he can take insane situations and make them totally believable.

I thought this book skewed a bit mature for my sixth grade students; it references call girls and hitmen, plus features lots of making out. I was surprised to have two of my students see me reading the book and telling me how much they had loved it. So there you go. It includes nothing that isn't on television at 8:00 and is good enough that fairly quiet boys get excited when I mention there is a sequel. I'll be reading that, and plenty more of Gordon Korman's works.

Crispin

2012-01-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

Crispin: The Cross of Lead is one of those classics that I missed along the way. Luckily and happily, I am currently taking a historical fiction class that will help me fill in the gaps. Get ready for lots of historical fiction reviews!

At the beginning of the novel, Crispin has a miserable life. He is a medieval serf, uneducated and penniless, who never knew his father. When his mother dies and he is unjustly accused of a crime, Crispin needs to flee his village in order to survive. While he dodges those who pursue him, he makes an unlikely friend and moves closer towards learning who he really is.

Avi's ability to convey complex historical information to a young audience is admirable. I don't know much about the medieval period, so I learned a lot about the era and lifestyle. One prominent theme is the role of religion in everyone's lives, which lends this book to a great cross-curricular unit with social studies.

One thing that irritated me was Crispin's complete lack of common sense. As an uneducated peasant, I did not expect him to know the ways of the world. But his inability to heed the advice of more knowledgeable people was frustrating. At times, I wanted to shake him and just say, "Whatever you think is right? Do the opposite!" I'm curious if this is the mature adult in me speaking or if students will feel the same. I'll be able to find out as some of my students will be reading this novel later in the year.

I can't help but compare Crispin to Avi's other Newbery honored novel, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Both novels feature a protagonist who is thrust into a world for which they are unprepared, who later become independent and heroic. I greatly prefer Charlotte, because the novel is more suspenseful, while Crispin's plot twist is fairly evident from the beginning. Still, the more the merrier when it comes to historical fiction that will hook young readers.

All the Broken Pieces

2012-01-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

There is a special nerdy joy that comes from finding the exact perfect pair of books for a literature circle. When I started reading All the Broken Pieces, I knew it would be an excellent 'boy book' to compliment Inside Out and Back Again. Both books are written in free verse and document the experiences of a Vietnamese child that moves to the US in the 1970s.

All the Broken Pieces is far darker, though. It focuses on Matt, a talented pianist and baseball player, who is adopted. His family has a younger biological son and Matt feels tentative, as if maybe his family would return him. Much of the novel occurs internally, as Matt processes the trauma he's survived. He carries a lot of guilt about the mother and brother he left behind. He also deals with bullying from classmates whose brothers were killed in the war.

My heart grieved for Matt, who just wants to keep everyone happy, while he is eaten up inside. Ann Burg's novel was affecting and could lead to profound class discussions about how Muslims are treated in the US today. Since both All the Broken Pieces and Inside Out and Back Again are such quick reads, I would have students read both books, to give a more well-rounded view of young Vietnamese immigrants.

Inconvenient

2012-01-09T05:39:00.000-05:00

This was a definite case of judging a book by its cover. I've had Inconvenient by Margie Gelbwasser on my bookshelf for months. The cover art did not appeal to me and the title is forgettable (I read it a few days ago and had to recheck before writing the review--was it Irreversible? Inconceivable? Ah, Inconvenient!) I am happy I finally picked it up because this is a debut novel worth reading.

Alyssa is a Russian-American teen living in a judgmental New Jersey town. She and her friend Lana are eager to fit in with the popular crowd at school, with Lana willing to go to ever-greater lengths for status. Gelbwasser beautifully describes the feelings of growing apart from a best friend, particularly the realization that you have been excluded.

The real focus of the novel is Alyssa's mother's increasing dependence on alcohol and how it is dealt with in a Russian Jewish community where alcohol is a part of the culture. Seen as "inconvenient" by Alyssa's workaholic father and normal by the other Russian adults, the responsibility of running a household and keeping the secret falls to Alyssa. The depiction of an alcoholic parent is extremely realistic and refreshingly unique with the added cultural element. I've never read a novel from this point of view before, and it was eye opening for me.

There is some sexual exploration and a few innuendos in the novel, which is disappointing because it limits the age range for the novel. Without those aspects, I'd consider it appropriate for most middle school students. As it is, I will be recommending it to alumni who love realistic fiction and are better than I am at ignoring lame covers!

The Clique

2012-01-08T00:00:00.001-05:00

It's not often that I start out disliking a book and change my mind by the end. The Clique by Lisi Harrison is the exception.

At first I thought The Clique was akin to Gossip Girl for seventh graders, full of stereotypical characters and flashy brands. I cringed to read about the mean girls who are held up in an aspirational manner, the clique of the title being Massie Block and her trio of popular followers. Would-be heroine Claire is middle class and living in Massie's guesthouse with her family, providing plenty of opportunities for social competition and mishaps. Midway through the book, things got interesting. Claire turns out to not be such an angel, some of her actions are underhanded and nasty. And I liked it! Too often, these formulaic novels show characters as one-sided: Massie is rich and bad, Claire is nerdy and good. Harrison ably shows that it is impossible to be one or the other.

Do I hope my students will be like any of the characters in this novel? Definitely not. But I would be curious to discuss the novel with them: what do they find realistic? Does any of it seem ridiculous to them? Sometimes reading fluff can be fun and lead to more in-depth conversations than expected.

Shrink to Fit

2012-01-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

Shrink to Fit reminds me of the problem novels I used to read when I was younger. There was always the "issue of the week" which taught me about abusive boyfriends, divorce, and alcohol use. The issue in Shrink to Fit is anorexia.

Leah is a star basketball player whose mother is a former model, hoping to reclaim her glory through her daughter. With increasing pressure to be thin from all sides, Leah slips into anorexia and manages to hit every symptom and side effect in 200 pages: hair loss, heart troubles, black-outs, and chills. While the writing felt a bit heavy handed and possibly inaccurate (how tall does a girl have to be to be a size 00 at 140 pounds?), the story moved along quickly and Leah's character was enjoyable. The writing isn't brilliant but it conveys the necessary information in a way that doesn't feel condescending.

I've been wanting to check out the Kimani Tru books for awhile. According to the imprint's website, their target audience is African Americans aged 14 - 20, older than my middle school students. I am dedicated to diversity in my classroom library, so will continue to read Kimani Tru books, looking for titles that are appropriate for my students. Shrink to Fit features "near-sex" and a few curses, but would be suitable for the older and more mature of my students.

Rapunzel's Revenge

2012-01-06T18:12:00.000-05:00

Rapunzel’s Revenge belongs in your library. This fairy tale is fractured in just the right way—rather than wasting away, waiting for a prince to rescue her, Dean and Shannon Hale’s heroine is feisty and in control.

Locked away by the evil Gothel, Rapunzel spends years growing her hair and getting strong. She rescues herself from an enchanted tower, promptly dispatches of a prince, and then teams off with the trouble-prone Jack to seek revenge.

I loved this book. The authors have constructed an interesting world full of action and diverse characters. The illustrations were excellent; I was not surprised to learn that artist Nathan Hale (no relation to the authors) spent a year working on Rapunzel’s Revenge. It was time well spent. The panels were laid out in various ways, which kept the reader’s interest and added to the story. The cartoon-style drawings brought the action of the plot to life.

I highly recommend this graphic novel and am eager to check out its sequel, Calamity Jack.

Al Capone Does My Shirts

2012-01-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

Set in 1935, Al Capone Does My Shirts tells the story of Moose, a boy whose family moves to Alcatraz so that his father can work as an electrician. Moose's older sister Natalie has autism (before this was an official diagnosis) and his mother is desperate to find a school that will help prepare her for adulthood. Unfortunately, the by-products of this desperation include the neglect of Moose and overworking herself and her husband.

Despite these heavy themes, this coming of age story includes plenty of humor. Moose is a likable character with whom most readers will be able to relate. The adventures that Moose and his friends get into are clever and take full advantage of the setting.

There was one thing that I disliked about this novel. It's very rare that I actively hate a character in young adult fiction, but Gennifer Choldenko's troublesome character Piper raised my ire like none other. The beautiful daughter of the warden, Piper is cruel and leads to constant trouble. One of the recommended literature circle questions provided at the end of the novel states, "If you could give Moose some advice about how to handle Piper, what would you say?" My best advice would be: run as fast as you can and don't look back.

Al Capone Does My Shirts was far more serious than I expected, but still enjoyable. There is a sequel, but the thought of reading any more about Piper deters me from picking it up.

Viola in Reel Life

2012-01-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

I really wanted to like Viola in Reel Life: I ordered it from a different library, gazed covetously at the cover in the bookstore, and avoided reviews so as not to be spoiled. Unfortunately, all that effort didn't pay off because I really did not enjoy this novel.

The story seemed so promising on the book jacket. Viola, the Brooklyn daughter of two filmmakers, is sent to boarding school in Indiana for the year while they film a documentary in Afghanistan. Viola dreads the move and does not want to get along with her optimistic roommates. Strangely, this conflict is wrapped up by page 60 and the rest of the novel flits between minor troubles and successes for the protagonist.

This is not to say that I don't like 'light' novels. My real issue with Viola in Reel Life was that it constantly felt like it was written by an adult, particularly one who wants to share her knowledge of film making and perhaps works for the New York tourism board. I was never able to lose myself in the story because I felt like the novel was constantly trying to teach me. There is an audience for this kind of book, but it's just not me.

Come Juneteenth

2012-01-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

I was unprepared for how serious Come Juneteenth was. For years, I've seen Ann Rinaldi's novels and assumed they were adolescent historical romances. I was completely wrong and look forward to reading more of her work, because she presented an interesting and educational story in an unexpected way.

The novel centers on one family's experiences leading up to Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when Texas slaves received their freedom, a full two years after the rest of the confederacy. The narrator, Luli Holcomb, is the daughter of slave owners and is raised alongside Sis Goose, a slave who has been adopted into the family. Although they love Sis Goose (particularly older brother Gabe), they keep her emancipation a secret. But when the union army arrives, the revelation of her freedom has devastating consequences.

It was a bold decision to tell the story from the perspective of the slaveowners, particularly in a sympathetic way. Luli knows it is wrong to hide the truth, but rationalizes it by citing potential financial ruin without people to work in the fields. As Luli said, "Did it matter? we asked ourselves. Who would be hurt with a couple of more months in bondage?" (89) The answer: everyone.

Come Juneteenth did not give me one thing I wanted: Sis Goose's point of view. While she is central to the story, she remains elusive. Rinaldi missed an opportunity to share how Sis Goose felt upon learning of her family's betrayal. Luli's moral issues are thoughtfully explained, I would have liked for Sis Goose to have the same chance.

I posted the two covers because I read the version on the right, but prefer the cover on the left. I think that Sis Goose on the left looks more like I imagined, and has the serious expression that the subject matter deserves.

The Unfinished Angel

2012-01-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

I'm a longtime admirer of Sharon Creech. I love her deceptively simple stories and charming characters. When I saw The Unfinished Angel at the library, I snagged it for the weekend. I was instantly plunged into the story of an angel who lives in a tower in Switzerland. He spends his directionless days watching the people of the village, thinking, "I am also not having a special assignment. I think I did not get all the training."

When an American man and his eccentric daughter, Zola, move into the tower, the angel's life is disrupted. Zola constantly beseeches him to "do something", which makes the angel feel unfinished. Zola soon finds a project for him in the shape of a group of needy children hiding in a chicken shed.

This is where the story breaks down. The plot wraps up quickly, yet the novel continues for many more chapters. These can be confusing and made me wonder who the novel's intended audience is. I'm a skilled reader and I still had trouble tracking the story. The narrator does not have a firm grasp on English, so he often combines and invents words, which would be a challenge for Creech's regular readers.

This would be an excellent mentor text to teach the use of voice in writing, but I don't think the novel is a necessary addition to the classroom library. A few photocopies of choice pages would be sufficient.

Blog Birthday

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Happy 2012 and Happy Two Years of Book Blogging!

The past few months have been really amazing for Devour Books. From being named a judge for the Cybils to joining the team at YA Books Central to actually telling people in my real life about the website, I am really proud of everything that has happened. To celebrate (and because I read far more than I am able to review), I will be posting a review each day in January. Thanks for joining me.

PS. The Cybils short lists are out, please check them out here.

2011 in Review

2011-12-31T00:00:00.000-05:00

2011 was one of the best years of my life as a reader. After eight years outside of the United States, I was overwhelmed by the amazing access to books that I have in South Carolina.
Here are a few of the numbers for the year:

125 books read

39 graphic novels

14 adult books (fiction and nonfiction)

5 books re-read

Reviewing the list of titles, I chose my favorite eleven (it’s my blog, that’s why) books of the year:

1. Divergent

2. Page By Paige

3. Daughter of Smoke and Bone

4. Wonderstruck

5. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

6. Meanwhile

7. A Storm of Swords

8. The Summer I Turned Pretty

9. You Don’t Even Know Me

10. Tender Morsels

11. Sahara Special

I have about seven more months in the US, so I plan to take advantage of the books at my disposal. My new Kindle should help in that department, as well!

Anything But Typical

2011-12-28T05:23:00.000-05:00

Books about autistic teens impact me like no others. I find them fascinating, heartbreaking, and incredibly important. When I saw Anything But Typical on the South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee List, I rushed to the school library to check it out. What a gift of a book.

Told from the perspective of twelve-year-old Jason Blake, we get an insight into what it's like for him in a neurotypical world. Written in short segments, Jason describes his family who love him but can't understand his way of expressing love in return. His mother particularly breaks my heart, full of worry and fragile hope. By the end of the book, I was ready to write some fan fiction in which Jason is able to tell her how much he loves her.

Feeling out of sync with his family and full of problems at school, Jason's release is writing online. Author Nora Raleigh Baskin deftly explains why this outlet is so essential. When Jason develops a crush on his online friend, his anxiety is something to which all readers can relate. This experience, nerve-wracking for anyone, is especially frightening for Jason, who has been rejected by his peers. By sharing this aspect of Jason's life, Baskin makes him more relatable and hopefully inspires some empathy in middle school readers.

Get this book, it's wonderful.

Wordless Books for ESL Students

2011-12-23T01:05:00.000-05:00

In one of the classes I'm observing while working towards my Master's degree, there is a student from Japan who speaks almost no English. I am really fortunate that my cooperating teacher is letting me spend the entire period working with him, trying to build his English skills. I always feel a special affinity for Japanese students, as it was the first country I taught in and Japanese people were amazingly kind to me. I will spend the rest of my life trying to repay that generosity.

One activity that the student and I are doing is reading wordless books together. Because he is so shy, I am still uncovering his vocabulary level. Asking him to tell me what he can about the story helps me make words lists for him and requires that he speaks as much as possible.

The first book we enjoyed was Zoom by Istvan Bavai. Named as one of the best children's books of 1995 by the New York Times, the story starts with close illustration of red spikes with yellow dots, reminiscent of a starfish. When you turn the page, you find that it is actually the top of a rooster's head, which then zooms out to children watching through a window, and so on until you are viewing the planet as a speck in the universe. It's a deep idea for a picture book, but also provides many opportunities for simple vocabulary practice. You can preview most of the illustrations on this website. Our school library does not have the sequel, Re-Zoom, so I will search that out at the local library. A funny note: there is a Spanish version of this wordless book. I guess the back cover is en espanol?

Robot Dreams by Sara Varon features more of a narrative that we can explore. It tells of a year in the life of a dog who builds a robot as a friend, then has to leave him behind at the beach when he rusts there. In the months that follow, they dream of each other while having their own humorous adventures with other animals. This book is packed with opportunities to review vocabulary and for the reader to add details to the story. Most of my job during Robot Dreams was to say, "And then what?"

In addition to having an interesting story, the illustrations in this book are fantastic. They are simple enough as to not distract, but very entertaining. I found the color palette to be soothing to the reader, and loved that wavy lines around the illustrations signalled that the character was dreaming. You can preview the first few pages of the book on this website. Robot Dreams is a book that I will definitely be adding to my own classroom library; this strangely wonderful book is essential.

We Could Be Brothers

2011-12-19T02:06:00.000-05:00

I'm eager to hear what my students think about this book, because I'm torn. Part of We Could Be Brothers is a classic high school story: Pacino and Robeson are boys from different worlds who meet in detention and discover they have a common enemy in Tariq.

The other side is a very clear message of empowerment by author Derrick Barnes. Every aspect of the novel is tailored to educate African American boys on their potential. The characters attend Alain Locke Middle School, Robeson's father runs Brand New Vision, an organization of powerful men who charge themselves with bettering the community, and Robeson is a champion martial artist. This is where my conflict lies. I completely believe in everything Barnes is trying to do, but wonder if the message is too heavy-handed. For me, it felt that way, but maybe it needs to be explicit for developing readers to get it. I'm excited for my students to read We Could Be Brothers so that we can have a frank discussion on Barnes' themes.

Am I being cynical? I'd prefer for my students to be inspired through a subtly well-written story, but anything that empowers them ultimately works for me.

Code Orange

2011-12-15T03:32:00.000-05:00

Code Orange features my least favorite type of character: an overprivileged New York prep student. I was hoping for a lot of character growth, because at first, Mitty Blake is obnoxious and proudly ignorant. While he never becomes a person I'd like for a friend, he does get more interesting.

Mitty coasts easily through life, slacking on his schoolwork until he realizes that his report on an infectious disease is due. While researching smallpox, he comes across an envelope with two scabs, which he accidentally inhales. He continues traipsing around the city while the virus grows in his system; Caroline B. Cooney cleverly ends each chapter with a description of how the infection has developed in Mitty. Once he decides to let people know he may have contracted smallpox, Mitty ends up involving the FBI, terrorists, and his overachieving crush.

I can tell how I felt about a book by how quickly I review it. If I start writing immediately, it was a book that struck a cord with me. I kept putting off reviewing Code Orange, because I really wanted it to be better. It's a gripping plot idea, but the novel never lives up to its promise. While I walked away having learned a lot about smallpox, the numerous nonfiction texts being quoted would not appeal to most readers in my class. If I knew a reader who was particularly interested in diseases or wanted to be a doctor, I would recommend Code Orange. Otherwise, there are plenty of other books I'd suggest first.

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

2011-12-11T22:19:00.000-05:00

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is the most original idea for a book that I've ever come across. Chris Van Allsburg's picture book is only thirty-two pages, but manages to be one of the most inspiring writing books I've seen.

It begins with a letter from Van Allsburg, telling the story of a children's book publisher who was visited by the mysterious Harris Burdick. He shares fourteen drawings, with a caption and a title for the accompanying story. Harris Burdick was never heard from again. This story is enough to hook any reader before even seeing the captivating illustrations.

The illustrations and titles vary from creepy, enchanting, and mystical. All are thought-provoking and beg the reader to put pen to paper in order to tell the stories. For "A Strange Day in July" (right), the reader gets the line, "He threw with all his might, but the third stone came skipping back." It is up to the reader to decide what would cause the stone to come back and where the story goes from there. Those familiar with Van Allsburg's books will be delighted by the artwork, which can almost seem like photographs in their intricate details.

I have had this book for one day and have already read through it three times, thinking of all the fun we will have in writing class with this masterpiece. There is a follow-up book, called The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, in which some of my favorite authors write their interpretations of the stories. I'd like to believe that I am able to hold out and rely on my imagination, but I've always been a sucker for spoilers, so I'll probably be on the hunt for this soon!

Tantalize

2011-12-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

They say there's a reader for every book, unfortunately this book just didn't work for me.

In his own words, Kieren Morales is an "Irish-Mexican American. Werewolf-human. Texan. Son, brother, friend. Murder suspect." All of these descriptors make him someone I'd like to read about, but unfortunately Tantalize just didn't work for me.

This graphic novel tells the male side of the love story between Kieren and Quincie, his best friend and the protagonist of the novel this book accompanies. People who have read the novel will probably be more invested in their relationship, but those who are starting the series here don't have enough happy times with the couple to care about the trials they face.

My real issue was with the illustrations. While I prefer color in my graphic novels, I don't mind when the illustrations are engrossing. Unfortunately, the drawings in Tantalize are too rough and almost scribbly for my taste. The characters looked unattractive and it detracted from the storyline.

Fans of Cynthia Leitich Smith's series will probably like this book; I recommend others look elsewhere to meet their werewolf needs.

The Landry News

2011-12-04T22:35:00.000-05:00

Andrew Clements knows what it's like to be a teacher. Having taught at elementary, middle, and high schools has given him rich fodder for his novels. Frindle and The Landry News show remarkable insight into daily school life, humanizing the most unlikeable teaches and exploring the myriad relationships that occur in a school. All this, while writing at a low enough level that all students can enjoy his books.

The Landry News tells the story of Cara Landry, a born reporter who observes everything, including the worst in everyone. Her 5th grade teacher is Mr. Larson, a once-great teacher teacher who has slipped into lazily reading the paper while his students teach themselves. I found the description of Mr. Larson's classroom fascinating, "Each square inch of wall space and a good portion of the ceiling were covered with maps, old report covers, newspaper clippings, diagrammed sentences, cartoons, Halloween decorations, a cursive handwriting chart, quotations from the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence, and the complete Bill of Rights--a dizzying assortment of historical, grammatical, and literary information" (5). I would have loved to learn in that classroom! Cara creates her own newspaper, complaining about Mr. Larson's lack of teaching, which spurs a journalism unit that teaches the students about bureaucracy and threatens Mr. Larson's career.

My favorite aspect of The Landry News is the respect with which Clements treats his audience. He knows that developing readers deserve (and need) plots that make them think. My mind is filled with ways to incorporate his novels into the classroom: as summer reading for students entering the sixth grade, as an author study, or with other books to discuss the portrayal of adults and teachers in literature. As his novels are such quick reads, I will be checking out the rest of his oeuvre in one large chunk. Read this now!

The Underdogs

2011-12-02T00:00:00.001-05:00

In the hipster romance “Garden State”, Natalie Portman talks about original moments in human history, and I’m pretty sure I lived one yesterday. I feel it is safe to say that no one else has ever spent four hours reading Mike Lupica’s The Underdogs while getting their hair straightened in a Korean salon in South Carolina. I’m not a sports fan, so I figured I would need to be strapped into a chair with chemicals on my brain to make me want to read a book about football. It turns out that wasn’t necessary; The Underdogs is fast-paced and spirited.

Twelve-year-old Will Tyler can fly when he’s playing football; he’s the fastest thing to ever take the field in Forbes, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, Forbes’ sneaker factory has closed and the town can no longer afford to sponsor a youth football league. Football is Will’s life, so he decides to take matters into his own hands and contact the CEO of New Balance to request sponsorship and regain some of the community’s pride. Once he has the money, he still has a long way to go in pulling together enough players, a coach, and his town.

The Underdogs is a feel-good story with a familiar and beloved plotline. The title tells the reader what they will get: lovable misfits who scrap together a team and make a play for the championship. There are very few plot twists that will surprise readers, but that does not make the novel any less fun. Sports fans will be taken with the action scenes, which set the reader in the middle of the field, running alongside Will and his friends.

The popularity of dystopian fiction and more novels that could be described as Recession Lit interests me. Books have always been a way for adolescents to cope with difficulties in their lives. The closing of the sneaker factory and Mr. Tyler’s underemployment will be relatable to many readers, making it an easy book to recommend to readers whose families are struggling economically.

One of the best things about The Underdogs is how it will appeal to developing readers. I know many adolescents who don’t consider themselves readers, but will devour this novel and then ask for more. The Underdogs is a gateway book that will hook kids and have them searching the shelves for more by Mike Lupica.

Read this and more of my reviews at Young Adult Books Central.

Warriors: Into the Woods

2011-11-29T05:14:00.045-05:00

I'm posting a graphic novel review every Tuesday in November.

You may notice a dearth of reviews of animal books on this site. Very observant of you...I can't stand them. Aside from Where The Red Fern Grows, I avoid them at all costs. Still, when I see tons of students carting around books from a series about wild cats, it's my job to check them out. I suffer for them.

Warriors is a series of novels that focus on the lives of four clans of feral cats. There seem to be a million different spin-off series, complete with mythologies and terminology. I didn't think I would be able to invest that much energy in a cat series, until I stumbled across a manga version. I randomly selected Into the Woods, which tells the love story of two felines, Sasha and Tigerstar. These star-crossed lovers (I am giggling to type this about cats) come from different worlds: Sasha is a housecat and Tigerstar is a rebellious clan leader. The majority of the story involves them catching prey and dropping it in front of each other. Not particularly gripping, but I think it would be fun for readers who are already engrossed in the series. This graphic novel is clearly the origin story of two favorite characters, and I can see where readers would be interested, as the cats' personalities are very appealing. Who doesn't love a rebel or a good girl gone bad?

The illustrations are fairly standard...they remind me of the comic books I used to read at my orthodontist's office when I was younger. Still, all of the characters are distinguishable (a feat when there are many cats on a page) and the text is easily followed. One detail I liked is that when humans are speaking, the font changes so readers know that the rest of the book is written in the cat language.

Would I add it to my classroom library? Yes, because there is a strong interest and I know that the book would not sit on the shelf for long. However, I would only add it if I could get it for a good price (the story itself is only 87 pages and the rest of the book is a preview of one of the novels) and if I could get the other two books in the series, as the story continues.

You Don't Even Know Me

2011-11-26T01:39:00.000-05:00

Sharon G. Flake tops the list of authors my students clamor to read. Who Am I Without Him?, her short stories from the point of view of girls, ranks among the most borrowed (and most "permanently borrowed") in our library. I finally got to read You Don't Even Know Me, Flake's companion from the male perspective.

Flake is unmatched when it comes to writing in the voice of unborn teens, probably from her past as a youth counselor. The short stories in this collection are captivating, and I'd like to read almost all of them as full-length novels. They tackle a plethora of issues, including teen pregnancy (and marriage), sexual abuse, HIV, difficult family relationships, and lots of growing up.

My favorite short story, "The Hood", chronicles a sweltering summer day in North Philly. I was particularly taken with a troubled character named Elliott. He is described as having sad eyes and proclaims that everything gets blamed on him. His uncontrollable desire to set things on fire foreshadows that there will be a lot more blame for him in the future. Even when I couldn't relate to the protagonists of all the stories, I was eager to learn more and I know it would be the same for my students.

In my opinion, the poems in this book were just filler. While some were thought provoking, most added nothing to my reading experience. For example, the entire text of "Sixteen" is "My ride/My boys/My game/My girl/My world." I would have preferred that those pages were used for another amazing short story. Now I've officially read all of Sharon G. Flake's books and can join the rest of the legions waiting for her next work.

Jellaby

2011-11-22T05:01:00.044-05:00

I'm posting a graphic novel review every Tuesday in November. Check out the rest here.

Something I love about graphic novels is their ability to delve into dark topics in few words, connecting with some of the readers who most need to explore these themes. An undercurrent of loneliness runs throughout Kean Soo's Jellaby. Portia is a brilliant child who is an outcast at school and lives alone with her workaholic mother, not knowing what happened to her absent father. It is in this isolation that she stumbles upon a purple monster who is at times needy, sweet, and protective. Namely, everything she needs in her life.

Jellaby inspires Portia to be more courageous and she tentatively moves towards a friendship with Jason, another bullied and solitary child. They unite to take Jellaby into Toronto, in order to bring him to the Halloween Fair from which he came. Unfortunately for readers, that's about as far as the plot extends in this first volume. Although the characterization is important, as soon as the story gets moving, the book is over. Since Jellaby is such a quick read, I would recommend having the second volume handy because readers will want to continue the story immediately. Sadly, the third volume will not be published, and in fact, the first volume has gone out of print. While the prices for used copies on amazon.com are astonishing ($9,924?!), the book itself was easy to find at my local library. It's worth seeking out.

Jellaby is adorable, all rounded edges and big eyes. In another world, he'd be a beloved character, available in plush and animated form. Instead, fans will have to content themselves with poring over Soo's wonderful illustrations. His color palette of purple, black, and white adds to the solitary mood, with more orange occurring as Jason and Portia become better friends. I am interested to hunt down the second volume, to learn if the colors get brighter as their friendship grows, if the allusions in the character names hold significant meaning, and what awaits the trio in Toronto.

13 Gifts

2011-11-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

Tara Brennan has always been an outsider, moving to different schools, blending into the background. The one time she tries to fit in with the popular crowd, she gets caught stealing a goat and is sent to live with her younger cousin’s family for the summer. For Tara, it’s just one more move that she needs to survive, but the residents of Willow Falls won’t let her slide by unnoticed. She quickly falls in with a crew of quirky friends and meets Angelina D’Angelo, a mysterious old woman who tasks Tara with collecting thirteen gifts before her thirteenth birthday, in order to protect her soul.
13 Gifts is the third novel in Wendy Mass’ series about Willow Falls. Having not read 11 Birthdays or Finally, I was initially overwhelmed by the eccentric cast of characters. Everyone has a quirk, from Rory (of Finally fame) who is dating a movie star, to Leo and Amanda (of 11 Birthdays) who can only communicate with each other via chalkboards that they wear around their necks. The temptation is to put 13 GIFTS aside in favor a book that is easier to follow. Don’t give up-- this sweet story is satisfying and will make readers want to catch up on the rest of the series.

Willow Falls is a special place, similar to Stars Hollow of The Gilmore Girls. All of the community members are connected and open, which is the perfect setting for Tara to gradually come out of her shell. Mass never hammers the theme of friendship; she shows how being included and accepting the help of others makes a huge difference in the life of a lonely girl. Tara’s insecurities will be instantly relatable to middle grade readers who will enjoy the innocence of a first crush and the satisfaction of pulling off a big project.

Wendy Mass’ books are extremely popular with my sixth grade students, who trade and recommend the titles to each other. I highly recommend reading the first two Willow Falls novels before starting 13 Gifts so you can fully appreciate Tara’s adventures in this strange but wonderful town.

This review was cross-posted at Young Adult Books Central.

The Dodgeball Chronicles (Knights of the Lunch Table)

2011-11-15T04:21:00.002-05:00

I'm reviewing a graphic novel every Tuesday in November. Check out the other reviews here.

Frank Cammuso's The Knights of the Lunch Table is a series that my students will wear down to nubs. I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon them because I can already imagine how they will look in a few months: pages falling out, scuffed edges, and full of other proofs of love. These graphic novels are a clever take on the tale of King Arthur, complete with a castle-shaped middle school, a locker that can only be opened by our hero Artie, and a science teacher named Mr. Merlin. What's best is that the allusions are not forced upon readers; if they don't get the references, they will still love the story. Plus, building background knowledge of the basic plot and characters of a classic is always useful.

In The Dodgeball Chronicles, when Artie transfers to Camelot Middle School, he instantly makes enemies of a group of bullies called "The Horde". Fortunately, he also makes a few tight friends (hooray for casual diversity!) and decide that the best way to resolve their conflicts is with a dodgeball match. Of course. There is a lot of action and laughs for readers with shorter attention spans.

Cammuso's illustrations are attractive and the lettering and layout are easy to follow. I was frequently reminded of the Bone series in the best possible way; those books are constantly being replaced because they are worn out or "lost". Personally, I found The Dodgeball Chronicles to be much smarter and funnier than the Bone series. Let's celebrate another excellent series of graphic novels for middle school students!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

2011-11-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

At several points while reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I thought to myself, “I am so grateful that there are people with brains like Laini Taylor. What a gift to have an imagination that can create such amazing characters and worlds.” Make sure you clear some room in your calendar when you pick up this novel, because you won’t be able to do anything until it’s completed.

Karou has always been a little bit odd: as a Prague art student, she draws monsters that she claims are real, she is always off on exotic and secretive errands, and her blue hair seems to grow naturally. Her smirk belies the fact that everything she says is true. She was raised by chimaera, monsters who are in an epic war against seraphim, also known as angels. The closest thing she has to a father is Brimstone, a disgruntled creature who hoards teeth and grants wishes. When Karou comes face to face with the handsome seraph Akiva, their history tells them to fight, but their instincts won’t let them.

While this may sound like a common paranormal romance plot, Taylor elevates these elements with her gorgeous prose. Daughter of Smoke and Bone gave me the impression that Taylor has traveled widely, for her descriptions of Prague, Morocco, and Boise are all accurate and gorgeous. On the other hand, the alternate world Elsewhere is just as beautifully written, so maybe Taylor is just an immensely gifted writer. Scratch that. It is obvious that Taylor is immensely gifted. Each sentence feels like it was polished lovingly before being handed to the reader. When I read lines like, “A trill of laughter, the scent of cinnamon and donkeys, and color, everywhere color”, I am beside Karou in the Marrakesh market. The lush and dark imagery in the novel make for a perfect autumn read.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is told in three parts and it is a testament to Taylor’s skill that while I wanted to find out what would happen next, I was always sad to leave part of the novel behind. While the final section of the book does not match the suspense and mystery of the earlier parts, it does answer many of my questions and sets the reader up for an agonizing wait for a sequel. As I eagerly await news on when it will be published, I will be busy reading everything else that Laini Taylor has ever written.

This novel was given to me for review by Young Adults Books Central. Read this and other reviews at http://www.yabookscentral.com/.

Feynman

2011-11-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

Feynman should be required reading in all physics classes. I realize I don't have much credibility in making this pronouncement, as the person who just had to ask, "Is physics math or science?" Anyway, I didn't know anything about Richard Feynman before reading this graphic novel and I was missing out.

Feynman was an incredible character: Nobel prize winner, physicist, safe cracker, drummer, and fortunately, a raconteur.
Jim Ottaviani did extensive research in order to write this book, as so much of the text comes from Feynman's own work and speeches. These efforts give the reader a well-rounded picture of Feynman the man, flaws and all. In addition to his genius, the authors show his womanizing and his internal debate over the consequences of his creations. Overall, he seems like a person with whom you would like to share a meal.

I appreciate that Ottaviani did not shy away from the mathematics involved in Feynman's work. Sometimes I followed along, occasionally I just enjoyed the illustrations. A challenge that Feynman took on in his later years was to simply explain his work to a friend, which evolved into The Feynman Lectures on Physics. For what it's worth, this is the most I've ever attempted to understand anything like this. Don't judge me.

As an illustrator, Leland Myrick faced the challenge that all of his characters are real people of whom photographs exist. His drawings are realistic, while still beautifully capturing the abstract depictions of Feynman's mind.

I wish this was the first in a series of graphic novels about historical figures because Ottaviani and Myrick are an incredible team. Older teens will enjoy Feynman and feel like I do, eager for more.

Meanwhile

2011-11-08T03:39:00.000-05:00

I'm reviewing a graphic novel every Tuesday in November. Check out the first review here.

Are you reading the blog Stacked yet? It is really fabulous and has been a gateway to so many new books this year. Among the gems is Meanwhile, a graphic novel by Jason Shiga. Part Choose Your Own Adventure, part "Sliding Doors" for kids, this book is all about making decisions.

On the first page, Jimmy has to choose between buying chocolate or vanilla ice cream. From there, the reader follows tubes and tabs which lead him through a variety of adventures with Professor K and his bizarre and destructive inventions. The cover promises 3,856 possible stories and I believe it. Meanwhile is the most inventive book I have ever read, and the best part is that although I spent a good amount of time exploring it, I did not even begin to crack the depth of it. This is a book that my students will devour.

Even more impressive than the book is the author: Jason Shiga has a degree in pure mathematics, has invented board games and card tricks, and written many comic books. I am so grateful that there are minds like this in the world, challenging what we think about how books should be read or how stories should go. I appreciate all the clever details of Meanwhile, like the laminated pages and the fact that you can't cheat and backtrack, like I always used to do in Choose Your Own Adventure books. In life, you don't get to keep your finger in the page and remake your choices, and in Shiga's world sometimes a chocolate ice cream cone can lead to the best or worst day ever.

Real Live Boyfriends

2011-11-05T05:04:00.000-04:00

Dear E. Lockhart,

I just finished Real Live Boyfriends and am so sad because I have now read all your books. Even worse, I have to deal with the fact that there will be no more Ruby Oliver books. I hate not being able to look forward to what the wonderfully neurotic Ruby will do once she reaches college. Would you consider writing a novel about a student who lives in the same dorm as Ruby? That way I could still get updates on her and know that she is transitioning to the real world smoothly.

I loved the increased maturity we saw in Ruby in this book. She's still loony, but shows a bit more judgment when dealing with Noel and Gideon and all the other boys in her life. I guess she'd have to be mature, with her parents absolutely falling to pieces (I am so grateful that my mother is nothing like Ruby's). I also like that it felt like Ruby already had one step outside of the Tate universe, not feeling so much angst about her former friends and her reputation. You beautifully captured the feeling of senior year and grappling with the future, while still remaining funny and brilliant.

Please write quickly...I am eagerly awaiting your next novel.
Thanks a bunch,
Miss K

Bad Island

2011-11-03T00:00:00.000-04:00

Bad Island is a graphic novel about a family vacation gone horribly awry. The father plans a boat trip, although no one is very excited by the prospect. While the mother is concerned with her prized orchids, teenage athlete Reese would rather play football, and daughter Janie is preoccupied with caring for her pet snake.

A storm strands them on an island full of dangerous creatures and secrets. The family takes this news far more calmly than I would. Rather than panicking, they try to work together and use their strengths to survive. The book belongs to Reese, who starts out wanting to run away from home, and ends up a hero. I wish I knew more about why he was planning to run away, whether it was typical teenage rebellion or something more. Still, I liked that Reese was able to use his existing skills, rather than suddenly developing new ones, in order to help his family.

Doug TenNapel's illustrations are engaging and convey action and emotion well. Especially impressive is the use of color, richly saturated and slightly menacing. The varying panel sizes also helped move the narrative along.

This is a graphic novel I would recommend to parents with an adolescent who is slightly driving them crazy. Are there any of those out there?! There is a message of gratitude and familial love, but it is never cloying.

Dork Diaries

2011-11-01T01:31:00.000-04:00

Even before being chosen to judge for the Cybils, I decided to post reviews of graphic novels on every Tuesday in November, starting with Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell.

This book was loaned to me by a 6th grade neighbor, and it's a book I've been eager to read for awhile. I put it on the Amazon wishlist for my former school, but it never got picked up. After having read it, I'm glad that other books were donated instead of this one. While the format and cover make it seem like a female version of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, the reality is that it's a pale imitation.

I think my disappointment lies in the fact that the Wimpy Kid books are genuinely funny, the illustrations look realistic to a (talented) young adult, and the series does not seem to pander to the audience. Dork Diaries contrasts in every way. It feels like it was written by an adult who feels that writing "OMG" and referring to Tyra Banks, "I just LOVE that girl!" will appeal to young girls. Judging by the popularity of the series, maybe it does. Still, I prefer to recommend books with stronger writing, that still contain all the fun slang and even more relevant pop culture references. The illustrations in Dork Diaries are beautiful, but unrealistic for the age level. They also vary in style greatly. I went to the author's website to see if there were multiple illustrators and found that there were. I also noticed that the protagonist's name was misspelled (Nicki instead of Nikki) in several publicity sections of the website. My readers deserve better.

I did enjoy the subplot with Nikki spray painting a found hearing aid to create a fake cell phone. This felt like the most authentic aspect of the story, something that probably happened to someone in the author's life. Unfortunately, the rest of the novel was a let-down. I'm leaving the sequel unread and removing it from the wishlist.

Wonderstruck

2011-10-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

How do you feel about spoilers? I can't stand them and often go to extreme lengths to avoid them. No joke -- I stayed away from the internet on the week Mockingjay was released. When I heard that Brian Selznick had a new book coming out, I wanted to be totally unspoiled, so I had no idea what Wonderstruck would be about. It was worth the effort, because when I sat down to read this book, I didn't get up again until I was finished. That's right, 608 pages later.

True, half of the story is told in illustrations. Continuing with the method he pioneered in The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Selznick's amazing black and white drawings tell of Rose, a deaf girl who loves silent films and wants to belong somewhere. Rose's life is interspersed with Ben's written narrative. Although his story is set fifty years later, the two have a lot in common. Ben is also deaf and trying to find his place in the world. Their two narratives are also similar, with the characters experiencing the same emotions at the same time.

I don't want to spoil the plot so instead I will marvel at the research that Selznick did to prepare for Wonderstruck. His study of diverse topics ranged from Minnesota to the American Museum of Natural History to Deaf culture. The details --both in the illustrations and the writing-- are what make Wonderstruck so satisfying. The more I read, the more I appreciate authors who respect their readers. Rather than churning out the same plot and characters, Selznick challenges the readers to expect more.

This should be the next book you read.

Anya's Ghost

2011-10-26T00:00:00.001-04:00

The Neil Gaiman quote on the cover of Anya's Ghost proclaims it "a masterpiece" and I am not going to argue with that. This is one of the best graphic novels I have ever read, and even better, teenage girls will instantly relate to the protagonist.

Anya is a Russian immigrant who has worked hard to lost her accent, some baby fat, and the disdain of her classmates. Still, she spends most of her time crushing on a popular boy from afar and getting teased by her only friend, who seems to be using her for cigarettes. After an embarrassing incident, Anya falls down a well that is inhabited by a skeleton and its ghost, a girl named Emily Reilly who was murdered in 1918. After recovering from her fear, Anya befriends Emily, who helps her escape, gives her answers on tests, and encourages her to talk to her crush. As in most ghost stories, all is not what it seems to be and Anya learns that Emily can be truly scary after all.

Anya's insecurities are realistic and awkward to witness. Vera Brosgol is such a talented storyteller that I actually didn't realize that the only colors are black, white, gray, and purple until after I finished the book. The story was so engrossing that I lived it in color as I read it. The illustrations are full of interesting details that merit a second reading, now that I know the plot.

I enjoy a good scare (although not as much now that I live alone on the first floor--please don't stalk me) and found that Anya's Ghost delivered. I frantically read the last thirty pages at school during lunch, wanting to know how the story would conclude. I was pleased with the ending and am now anxiously awaiting Vera Brosgol's next book.

Some of the situations in the novel are too mature for my current class, but young teens will love Anya's Ghost as much as I did. You can enjoy a seventeen-page preview here.

Joey Fly Private Eye 2: Big Hairy Drama

2011-10-22T00:00:00.000-04:00

Clever wordplay takes center stage in Joey Fly Private Eye 2: Big Hairy Drama. Joey Fly is a classic gumshoe, full of snappy retorts and puns. The only difference between this and other entries in the genre? All of the characters are insects. In the second book in the series, Joey Fly and his bumbling sidekick, Sammy Stingtail, are charged with finding the missing lead actress of a local theater. Investigating the crime gives plenty of opportunities to teach about theater vocabulary and idioms, while following the traditional narrative pattern of a mystery.

Big Hairy Drama would serve as a great first graphic novel for readers, as it is very easy to follow. Among the clues (heh) given: the narrative is written in typed boxes, while the dialogue is in a different font, and each setting has a different colored background. These aids not only assist the reader, but also add to the reading experience.

Author Aaron Reynolds and illustrator Neil Numberman have created a series that belong on the shelf in all elementary school classroom libraries.

Zita the Spacegirl

2011-10-18T00:00:00.000-04:00

Thank you to whomever nominated Zita the Spacegirl for a Cybil. This graphic novel was an absolute treat to read. It tells the story of Zita, who finds a mysterious button in the woods and accidentally zaps her friend Joseph and herself into another world. Joseph is quickly kidnapped because the locals mistakenly believe he can save their planet, which is about to be destroyed by an asteroid. Zita sets out on a quest to save him, collecting misfit friends along the way.

The story has wonderful messages of perseverance and friendship, but that takes a backseat to the gorgeous illustrations. Ben Hatke has a blast creating the inhabitants of this distant planet, going so far as to create guidebook entries about some of them. The illustrations are detailed and merit inspection.

Zita the Spacegirl is fairly long and is the first in a series, so it would be a worthwhile investment for your library. It will appeal to a variety of readers: lovers of fantasy, adventure, and graphic novels will all be clamoring to borrow it.

Hate List

2011-10-14T00:00:00.000-04:00

Incredible.

Hate List is one of the best books I've read this year. It tells the story of a school shooting from the perspective of Valerie, the shooter's girlfriend. The novel begins with Valerie and Nick as outcasts who jokingly (or so Val thinks) compile a Hate List of people and things that annoy them. When the tragedy occurs and Valerie is wounded, she must reconsider everything she thought she knew about her relationship. The novel details Valerie's return to the school and the reaction of the entire community to a crime that she didn't commit, but with which she is intricately connected.

Author Jennifer Brown does an amazing job of addressing the feelings of so many characters: victims' parents, Valerie's family, classmates, and teachers. She shows how this defining moment will resonate for all the characters for the rest of their lives. Brown's description of Valerie's survivor's guilt is so authentic and wrenching that it had me in tears several times. My whole body felt weighted down as I read the scene when Valerie goes back to school for the first time. I hope I never feel the dread that she experienced in that moment, but Brown was able to take me there at least partly.

The writing was able to do the seemingly impossible: make the perpetrator of a horrific crime sympathetic, if only for a few scenes. Nick was a victim of bullying and was humiliated on a date in front of his girlfriend. Brown writes, "His face, just a few minutes ago grinning, had totally fallen. Almost withered. His cheeks had bright red patches on them and his jaw was trembling. I could almost feel the embarrassment and disappointment radiating off of him, could almost see him crumple into defeat before my eyes." The fact that Brown was able to make my heart hurt for this character is a testament to her talent.

I highly recommend Hate List and will promptly be pressing everyone I know to read it.

2 Graphic Novels for Younger Readers

2011-10-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

The Cybils graphic novel reading has commenced! Expect lots of new graphic novel reviews over the next few months. Today I wanted to highlight two that would be great for elementary school readers.

The Ferret's a Foot is the third book in Colleen AF Venable's series about Detective Sasspants, a guinea pig private investigator that lives in a pet shop run by the scatterbrained Mr. Venezi. When a new pair of ferrets arrive at the shop and all the animals' signs get messed up, it's up to Detective Sasspants and his assistant, Hamisher, to solve the mystery.

The Ferret's a Foot is a very fun way for readers to learn about ferrets and play around with words. When the mixed-up labels turn the chinchillas into gorillas and the lizards into blizzards, young readers are challenged to create their own names for animals by adding a few letters. The layout is easy to read and is a nice bridge between a picture book and a graphic novel.

From the team that brought you Babymouse, Squish #1: Super Amoeba tells the story of your average grade-school student who happens to be an amoeba.

Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm manage to squeeze basic science information into a cute story about being brave enough to face a bully. The book features simple illustrations (with step-by-step instructions on how to draw one of the characters) and muted colors, which balance the many arrows that offer humorous insights. If I was a science teacher (even in middle or high school), I would photocopy some of the graphics to add to my worksheets; they are that clever.

Bad Taste in Boys

2011-10-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

Kate Grable is pulling it together. No longer as nerdy as she once was, she gets to play doctor as a trainer for her high school football team, which also gives her plenty of chances to ogle her crush, Aaron. When the secret medicine that the coach injects into the players produces strange side effects—like the desire to eat brains—Kate goes from reformed science geek to full-on zombie hunter.

Carrie Harris’ debut novel is a blast from start to finish. She manages to take the well-trodden paranormal lit path to fun, new places. One of the most refreshing aspects of Bad Taste in Boys is the characterization. Instead of being confined to stereotypes, the characters are more like people the reader would actually know. Kate is smart and highly motivated, but also self-deprecating and insecure. It was an interesting choice to give her epilepsy, which plays a minor role in advancing the plot, but is more appreciated for giving the character diversity. Aaron, the quarterback crush, is cute and popular, but also thoughtful and appreciative. The only thing that changes about Kate in the novel is that she becomes more confident (she still loves pop quizzes, wears glasses, and is pretty clueless about fashion), but she is increasingly attractive and powerful to those around her. What a great message.
There is plenty of gore and vomit for horror fans, but not so much that it would repel readers taking their first dip in the zombie pool. The descriptions of zombie attacks were brief and usually tempered with humor. Harris was clever to make the major zombie a football player whose natural personality was not very different from a brain-dead zombie. Lots of witty touches like this are peppered through the novel, making it an enjoyable and quick read.

Fans of paranormal lit and action should check out Bad Taste in Boys, while I eagerly await the November 2012 release of its sequel, Bad Hair Day (my money’s on a werewolf plot).

This is my first post for YABooksCentral.com. Check out my review on the website here.

Evermore

2011-10-02T01:33:00.042-04:00

We are living in a post-Twilight world. For better or worse, every paranormal romance that I read will always be compared with Twilight in my mind. A friend and I discussed this today, saying "I know what I'm reading, so please don't take five chapters of the protagonist trying to figure out why the hot new guy can move so quickly, read her mind, and know so much about history." For once, I would love for a novel from this genre to openly acknowledge Twilight and then change the game. Evermore is not the novel to do that.

The love story of Ever, the sole survivor of a car crash who can read minds and see her deceased sister, and Damen, a mysterious rebel with an endless supply of red tulips, is not about vampires. Alyson Noel very clearly states that Damen is an Immortal, not a vampire, but then never really explains what that means and what his red beverage of choice is if he isn't a vamp.

There are some aspects to the story which I enjoyed. Ever is able to see the auras of those around her, which tells her how they are feeling. I liked flipping back to the aura chart to see what each colors meant. I also thought it was interesting how Damen shared the symbolism behind different flowers, a subject which has always fascinated me. Unfortunately, I have been wracking my brain for a third thing that was good about Evermore and can't come up with one.

I found the writing to be lacking, particularly in explaining Damen's history and what he really is. When the author writes, "And no, I'm not going to explain all the hows and whys because that would take too long..." and begins multiple sentences with, "All you need to know is...", I find it insulting to the reader. Did Noel not think things through enough? I was really put off by this glaring weakness in the plot.

Evermore is the first in a trilogy, but I won't be reading the others in the series. Does the cover look familiar? Check my review for North of Beautiful from a week or so ago. The last thing I am going to say is that the sequel to Twilight is called New Moon. The sequel to Evermore is called Blue Moon. Really, Alyson Noel?

A Big Exciting Announcement

2011-09-27T02:00:00.000-04:00

For the past two years I have been following the Cybils (Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards) and hoping to one day serve on the judging panel. 2011 is my year because I will be spending the next few months reading a zillion books as one of the panelists in the Graphic Novels category! I jumped up and down when I got the news.

To celebrate, I read two graphic novels this weekend. The first, Big Nate: In a Class by Himself, will look familiar to any Diary of a Wimpy Kid fans. At first I was upset that the format was exactly the same as the Wimpy Kid books, but then I saw an approving quote from WK author Jeff Kinney on the cover and learned that Lincoln Peirce has been publishing this comic strip for twenty years, so I jumped off my high horse and enjoyed the book.

While the layout of the books may be identical--narrative prose mixed with fun illustrations--the protagonists are very different. Greg is a bit of a lovable loser with a mean streak. Big Nate, on the other hand, is an extremely confident rebel with a good-boy heart. He lives with his single dad (hooray for diverse families!) and older sister, but spends most of the book at school with his pals. When he receives a fortune cookie stating, "Today you will surpass all others", he imagines all the amazing glory the day holds for him. Unfortunately, he spends the rest of the day collecting detention slips from his teachers. You can see where this is going.

One thing I love about adolescent readers is that when they find something they like, they devour it (me too, check the title). My students are huge fans of Big Nate, with this book ranking #4 in our school library. Lucky for them, there are four other books in the series, with more to follow.

Aimed at a younger audience, Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute is the first in a series of graphic novels detailing the adventures of a lunch lady who is also a superhero. When evil robots begin invading her school in the guise of substitute teachers, Lunch Lady using every weapon at her disposal to take them out. Lucky for readers who may be getting their first taste (heh) of puns, those weapons are fish-stick nunchucks, a spatucopter, and cannoli-oculars.

The panels and illustrations in Jarret J. Krosoczka's book are easy to follow and the color palette is yellow, gray, and white. Young and developing readers will enjoy the funny plot and witty details, as well as the emphasis on action. Because it is such a quick read, I recommend checking this book (and the five that follow it) out of the library.

Dirty Little Secrets

2011-09-22T04:22:00.003-04:00

Dirty Little Secrets is a book that sits on your chest and feels heavy the entire time you are reading it, but in the best possible way. It's a strange description but exactly how I feel, having just finished the book a few minutes ago. This is a novel that will stay with me for a long time.

C.J. Omololu has written about a topic I've never seen covered in YA lit before: what it is like to grow up with a hoarder for a parent. Lucy's mom has filled their house with stacks of newspapers, clothing, old food, and garbage. While her older siblings managed to flee, Lucy is forced to lie and compartmentalize her life to hide her mother's secret. When Lucy begins to sift through the accumulated objects in their house, she has flashbacks to heartbreaking memories revolving around her life imprisoned by her mother's "stuff".

I loved the characterization in Dirty Little Secrets, particularly of Lucy and her mother. Parental addiction is a major theme in YA novels, but this particular addiction and Omololu's strong writing make it fresh. After becoming accustomed to Lucy's mother as a hoarder, I was shocked to learn that she was an oncology nurse. The fact that it wasn't just Lucy who was living a double life was poignant and shows that hoarding really is an addiction.

Lucy's efforts to maintain appearances hurt my heart. The work involved in hiding her mother's addiction is exhausting and gave me a lot to think about, as a teacher. After finishing the novel, I watched an episode of "Hoarders" online and saw that over three million people are afflicted with this disorder. At some point, I am going to have a student who is touched by hoarding and am so grateful that Dirty Little Secrets will be in my library.

North of Beautiful

2011-09-17T04:54:00.000-04:00

When I read that North of Beautiful was about a gorgeous girl with a port wine stain on her face, I was eager to read the novel. It's been on my "To Read" list for awhile, so I was happy to find it in our school library. I was even happier to find that this is a novel that far surpassed my already high expectations.

Terra's life is limited in a variety of ways: she is self conscious of her imperfect face, she works out constantly and excessively minds what she eats so that she can compensate for her face, and she and her family dodge the moods of her verbally abusive father. When she meets Jacob, a boy who doesn't fit any of the categories into which Terra has been boxed, her world expands, both literally and figuratively.

I was beyond thrilled that Jacob, the love interest in the novel, was Asian. It is a rare but welcome treat to have the caucasian protagonist fall in love with an Asian boy, especially one who is not stereotypical in any way, except that he is crushworthy. Bravo to author Justina Chen Headley for adding diversity to the YA world in an evenhanded and admirable way.

Headley's treatment of verbal abuse is among the most nuanced and sensitive I've ever encountered. I have read a lot of books about abusive parents, but few compare to the cold fear inspired by Mr. Cooper. As described by Headley, "...I could see how Karin had no idea how terrifying words spoken quietly could be. How words chosen precisely to wreak the maximum damage ticked like a bomb in your head, but exploded in your heart hours later, leaving you scarred and changed." This quote serves as a reminder to me that some throwaway comment that I make could resonate with a person (particularly a student) in a harmful way.

There are so many wonderful opportunities to think that are presented in this novel. There are not enough praise words for how I feel about it!

Please Ignore Vera Dietz

2011-09-12T01:11:00.000-04:00

I stayed up so late last night so I could finish A.S. King's Please Ignore Vera Dietz. It was totally worth the dark circles and exhaustion today; this book was excellent. The prologue states, "To say my friend died is one thing. To say my friend screwed me over and then died five months later is another." With that, I was hooked and couldn't stop reading.

The friendship between Vera and Charlie is so engrossing because they both want to fight their family histories (teenage pregnancy and alcoholism for the former, physical abuse for the latter) but feel that it is their fate. For this reason, they can't admit that they really love each other, which hurts to witness. King's beautiful writing keeps the themes of fate and responsibility in the reader's mind throughout the novel, as characters wrestle with who they want to be, who they are expected to be, and who they really are.

From the start, we know that Charlie will die, but don't get the details until the end of the novel. Instead, the author drops grim hints about his downfall that made me repeat, "Oh my, what happened to this kid?" The truth is heartbreaking, for Vera and the reader. There are a lot of dark elements to the story, but it never feels hopeless. The narrative occasionally switches from Vera to her father, Charlie, and the local pagoda, which lightens the mood and gives us more insight into the mystery of Charlie's death.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz would be a great 'next step' for readers who loved Chris Crutcher's Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. Both novels feature outcast teenagers who protect the secrets of their only friends. It's too mature for my middle school readers (a part with a townsperson who gives Charlie trinkets is going to haunt me), but I will definitely recommend it to former students who appreciate stories of redemption and struggle.

The Shakespeare Stealer

2011-09-07T05:05:00.003-04:00

The Shakespeare Stealer is not the type of book I would usually pick up, but I'm very happy I did. It tells the story of Widge, an orphan growing up in Elizabethan England. One of his masters is a clergyman who teaches him an original form of shorthand that allows him to take notes that are indistinguishable to others. Once his skill is known, Widge is purchased and forced to try to steal William Shakespeare's newly-written Hamlet. Of course, nothing works out as easily as planned.

I was most impressed by author Gary Blackwood's knowledge of the time period. The details about the era are accurate and the language feels particularly authentic. This is even more of a feat considering the reading level for which it was written (my 6th grade students could easily manage this text) and that it never feels didactic or condescending.

The Shakespeare Stealer would be a great introduction to a unit on the Bard. Blackwood’s story gives readers an idea of how a Shakespearean company functioned, as well as a description of the Globe Theatre, its patrons, and where they live. Blackwood achieves a balance between suspense, action, and humor (let’s just say nobody wants to fall into a ditch in London in 1601). I’m happy to learn that this novel is the first in a trilogy, because I know that my students will get hooked and want to know more about what happens to the unlikely hero, Widge.

Frindle

2011-09-02T04:06:00.002-04:00

It's the first week of school and I'm celebrating with a week of Middle Grade reviews.

Frindle is pure joy. What started as Nick Allen's attempt to stall his language arts class leads to the creation of the word "frindle" for "pen". Suddenly, the word grows in popularity and sweeps the nation, changing the lives of Nick and his teacher, Mrs. Granger.

I can't think of a better way to celebrate the end of the first week of school than with Nick and Mrs. Granger, both mischievous in their own ways. Nick is the class busybody and will be instantly relatable to similar students in my class. Hopefully, the superstrict Mrs. Granger won't be familiar to them! I really love stories about teachers that seem mean but are secretly benevolent. Mrs. Granger joins the ranks of my literary teacher heroes.

This would be a great book for a read-aloud but will also appeal to dormant readers. While the cover may skew younger, the plot would be enjoyable for readers through the eighth grade. I know that I will be very busy lending out Frindle this year.

Day of Tears

2011-09-01T05:08:00.000-04:00

It's the first week of school and I'm celebrating with a week of Middle Grade reviews.

Day of Tears is essential historical fiction. This account of the biggest slave auction in history is written in the voices of all the parties involved. Julius Lester is able to take the subject of slavery and make it simple and understandable for middle school readers, while still being reverent.

Lester's writing choices were engrossing. During the slave auction, the names, duties, and prices of slaves were listed. Truthfully, I would usually skim through a list, but this had me riveted with tears in my eyes. He also takes the narrative into the future to have characters look back on the consequences of events. Student writers could learn so much about craft from Day of Tears; I will definitely include it in future units on historical fiction. Sometimes students struggle to engage with this genre, but I would be confident recommending this book to any middle schooler.

Thirteen Plus One

2011-08-31T06:22:00.000-04:00

It's the first week of school and I am celebrating with a week of Middle Grade reviews.

Lauren Myracle, I can't quit you.

If I was ever going to write a YA novel, I'd have to pick a new plot because so many of the things I'd want to write about are included in Thirteen Plus One. I'd be bummed if Myracle wasn't such a great writer.

Winnie, our heroine since she was eleven years old, is finally fourteen and preparing for high school. Her sister is leaving for college, her relationship with Lars is evolving, and she and her friends are trying to figure out who they are. The only solution? Volunteer doing sea turtle rescue on Pawley's Island, SC. I've done turtle rescue with students in Costa Rica and the author really nailed the experience. The communal living, the strange hours, the rules about protecting the turtles were all included (the only things missing were the zillions of mosquitoes).

The reason I keep coming back to Lauren Myracle's novels is her gift for dialogue. Her characters speak exactly like my students. While I imagine the books won't age well, they are so completely current that it would be easy for a middle school reader to believe that Winnie and her friends were real people. The writing shows students that it is possible to be poignant and clever and thoughtful using the latest slang and vocabulary.

I'm curious about how many more installments there will be in the Winnie series. Part of the joy of the books is their innocence. I would be perfectly happy for this to be the close of the books on Winnie, as long as Lauren Myracle promises to write many more other novels for me to enjoy.

Inside Out and Back Again

2011-08-30T03:02:00.000-04:00

I'm celebrating going back to school with a week of Middle Grade novel reviews.

I admit it: I'm not much of a nonfiction reader. Unless it's a professional development book, nonfiction doesn't hold much sway for me. So, I am especially excited when I come across some YA fiction that teaches me. In the case of Inside Out and Back Again, it's about an Vietnamese immigrant's experience in 1975.

At ten years old, Kim Hà loves her life in Saigon with her three brothers, mother, and papaya tree. While she longs for her missing father, she is proud of her city and being a smart girl. Everything changes when The Vietnamese People's Army takes control of the city and Hà's family has to flee, first to a refugee camp in Guam, and then to Alabama. Having moved from The Bahamas to South Korea, I can appreciate some of Hà's trepidation and frustration in settling in.

My favorite aspect of the book (besides the stunning cover), is how Lai approaches bullying. This Vietnamese family was not embraced by its new community and each of the children deals with bullying in his or her own way. It is poignant that when Hà begins to learn English, she understands the cruelty of her schoolmates even more, stating,

"I understand
and wish
I could go back
to not understanding."

Written in verse, Inside Out and Back Again reminds me of Katherine Applegate's Home of the Brave. While the two protagonists are from different places, the themes of immigration, fitting in, and loneliness would be compatible in literature circles or class novels. Best of all, both novels make readers consider their behavior towards immigrants and hopefully increase the kindness that they show.

This novel is a must-read for fans of historical fiction and novels written in verse.

Loser

2011-08-29T04:07:00.001-04:00

I'm celebrating going back to school with a week of Middle Grade novel reviews. Hooray for teaching the sixth grade!

Jerry Spinelli creates subtle and amazing anti-bullying propaganda in Loser. I almost didn’t realize it was happening, so I am sure that my students wouldn’t either. Instead of diving in to Donald Zinkoff’s days as a middle school loser, Spinelli starts the story with Zinkoff’s first day of school. Over the course of 100 pages, the reader falls in love with Zinkoff—his sense of humor, optimism, kindness, and heart. Even though we know that he is the loser of the title, we wonder how it could be possible that everyone around him doesn’t feel the same way we do.

Loser is one of the best examples of “show, don’t tell” that I’ve come across. Sometimes the discussions of bullying that we have in school can fall on deaf ears. When literature is able to do some of the teaching for us, it is a gift. Maybe students will recognize Zinkoff’s uncontrollable laughter, poor penmanship, or clumsiness in a student they would be inclined to tease. Maybe they’ll see the desperation to be accepted in themselves. I’d like Zinkoff to become part of our school’s vernacular and integral to our campaign to ‘assume goodwill’. Spinelli’s loving characterization of Zinkoff makes the middle school bullies seem like the true losers.

It’s interesting that the Wikipedia page for Loser mentions that Zinkoff is autistic, yet I haven’t seen any other mentions of that anywhere else. I think not mentioning a reason for Zinkoff’s behavior is a better choice, so that he becomes more of an “everyman” who is more likely to be similar to someone in the reader’s community.

I always enjoy Jerry Spinelli’s novels. His simple sentences and short chapters encourage reluctant readers to get their eyes on more words and to press on to read one more chapter. His heroes are usually outcasts and his themes are clear, but not cloyingly moralizing. The cover and title of Loser had never appealed to me, but I am so happy that I finally decided to read it.

How I Made It to Eighteen

2011-08-23T02:25:00.000-04:00

Now that I have access to some great libraries, a new goal of mine is to always have a graphic novel going. They tell narratives differently, students love them, and they are usually pretty quick reads. Tracey White's How I Made It to Eighteen fits easily into all of these categories.

This story tells how the author's alter ego Stacey Black's self-destructive tendencies led to committing herself to a mental institution. Stacey has a variety of issues to contend with: bulimia, drug and alcohol use, a distant mother and deceased father, past sexual abuse, and an unhealthy relationship with her boyfriend. The author doesn't sugarcoat her past, nor does she finish the year with a happy ending. Still, I really wanted Stacey to have a chance to start over. Throughout the book there is a question put forth to Stacey's four closest friends; their answers show us the influences in her life. I hope that once she left the institution, she never spoke to any of them because they were so self-involved and negative. It was really clever of White to give us these glimpses of Stacey's previous life.

While they cover wildly different topics, How I Made It to Eighteen reminded me of Raina Telgemeier's Smile because they are graphic novels about girls coming of age. I like that these books are accessible to all students and present the girls in my classes with a different way to tell their stories. Still, I would probably recommend borrowing it from the local library rather than spending $16.99 on a book that will be breezed through so quickly.

We'll Always Have Summer

2011-08-18T06:33:00.000-04:00

I don't know how to feel about We'll Always Have Summer. I suppose that it does give me closure as a reader, and perhaps I am too attached to the characters after reading the trilogy in three days, but I was a little disappointed by this final installment. Perhaps it is because there is no way that Belly's story could have ended without at least one broken heart. If author Jenny Han wanted to break the readers' hearts a little as well, she did an admirable job. Note: I just checked her blog and she said that she loves breaking hearts. So there you go.

Set two years after the last novel, Belly is now in college and still dating Jeremiah. I really don't want to give too much of the plot away, but I will say that Han offers a lot of redemption in We'll Always Have Summer. Belly isn't childish anymore, Taylor proves herself to be a true friend, Belly's mom shows more of who she really is.

My favorite part of the book is that we finally get chapters from the perspective of Conrad. After being fiercely pro-Jeremiah for so long (three days, ha!), this peek into Conrad's mind shifts my opinion. It turns out Conrad isn't just a James Dean/Edward Cullen hybrid; learning his motives makes Belly's feelings for him more understandable.

I think my disappointment comes from the portrayal of Jeremiah. It's hard to tell if it is because Jenny Han wanted the readers to have doubts about the golden boy, or if the messy frat boy side of him never really came out during the summers at Cousins Beach. It's hard to say, but it let me down a bit. I didn't need Jeremiah to be bad in order to like Conrad, in fact, part of the appeal of this series is that readers can relate to Belly's love for both.

While I didn't adore this book as much as the first two, this is a series that I will be recommending to readers for years to come, always asking, "Conrad or Jeremiah?"

Ship Breaker

2011-08-13T05:31:00.041-04:00

Yay diversity!

The characters in Ship Breaker are casually diverse and it's probably the thing we have to look forward to most in Paolo Bacigalupi's vision of the future. In the post-apocalyptic Gulf Coast, there is nothing else positive. Nailer is a ship breaker, tearing apart wrecked oil rigs for the valuable copper they contain. It's a brutal life, made even worse by the unpredictability of his drug-addicted, violent father. When a storm strands a ship that could be Nailer's only chance for wealth, he needs to decide if he should try to appease his father with the discovery, or if he should align with the mysterious Nita, a swanky girl who survives the storm.

All of the characters have led difficult lives, displayed by their tattoos, identifying facial scars, and piercings. Their struggles would make for excellent classroom debates: in a world where it's scavenge or starve, why should Nailer help this lost stranger? Setting the novel in the area of Orleans II (the original is underwater) makes this future seem more possible and the consequences more frightening.

In addition to the ominous future it presents, Ship Breaker has some of the most intense action scenes I've encountered since The Hunger Games. Bacigalupi's inclusion of half-men--hybrids of humans, dogs, and hyenas--ups the science fiction quotient and makes the fights more lethal. I wish that there were better descriptions of how the half-men looked; I actually looked them up on google to see if any other fans had drawn them. No luck, but my interest was definitely piqued and I believe there will be a sequel to this novel.

This is not an uplifting novel, but it is addictive and the plot never lets up. I highly recommend it and believe that male students, in particular, are going to be competing to read it next.

It's Not Summer Without You

2011-08-08T18:54:00.000-04:00

When reading The Summer I Turned Pretty, I didn't cry until then end. Its sequel, It's Not Summer Without You, had me crying at page two. Early on, author Jenny Han writes, "You think you know love, you think you know real pain, but you don’t. You don’t know anything." She then proceeds to tell us a story of extreme love and pain.

Just like the first book, It's Not Summer sucked me in and kept me reading until I finished. It could be that I read both books in the span of two days, but I feel very emotionally invested in the characters of Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah. As they struggle with a great loss, the other characters and even the setting of the beach become less important. Everything is centered on the love triangle.

Rather than using flashbacks to their childhood again, Han writes brief chapters from Jeremiah's point of view. This serves to (1) make me love him, and (2) make Conrad seem even more aloof and mysterious. As I mentioned in my review of the first book, I think being older has led me to just want Belly to end up with Jeremiah, the nice guy. Unfortunately, her feelings for Conrad are like the tides, constantly ebbing and flowing. Han beautifully describes the agony of (believing to be) moving past a first love: "I loved him longer and truer than I had anyone in my whole life and I would probably never love anyone that way again. Which, to be honest, was almost a relief."

Should I even pretend that I am going to read another book before diving into the final book about Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah? You wouldn't believe me anyways. I will be so sad when this trilogy ends, but not enough to show any restraint.

Before I Fall

2011-08-03T04:54:00.030-04:00

Right from the start, we know Samantha Kingston is going to die. The prologue of Before I Fall tells of Sam's final moments, although in a YA novel there's always the hope for a happy ending. I spent most of the afternoon engrossed in the 470 pages of Lauren Oliver's novel, wanting Sam to survive and to get that happy ending.

The basic plot is very familiar--Sam relives the day of her death, trying to change minor details and find a way to make things work out in her favor. Settling into the novel, I reconciled myself to a combination of Our Town, Miracle on 34th Street, Groundhog Day, Sliding Doors, and Heathers. I was so happy to find that Before I Fall was so much more than that.

As we follow Sam through her last day, we see her interactions as a member of the most popular clique in school. The steal parking spaces, gossip, flirt with teachers, cheat, get drunk, call each other "slut", and intimidate younger students. Suddenly our heroine doesn't seem so heroic. This is the beauty of Before I Fall: the characterization makes you love and hate them all, like real people. No one is the straightforward villain, and almost everyone has a chance to be the hero. I applaud Lauren Oliver's writing, as she essentially wrote the same day over seven times, but managed to make the novel so gripping that I couldn't put it down.

Talking too much about the plot will spoil some of the surprises--of which there are many-- so I will just highly recommend that teen readers check out Before I Fall as soon as possible.

The Treasure Map of Boys

2011-07-29T03:01:00.000-04:00

First things first, I love everything E. Lockhart writes.

That said, I think she made some interesting choices with the third book in the Ruby Oliver series. The Treasure Map of Boys has Ruby facing challenges that aren't limited to the Tate Universe of her private school, and often, Ruby doesn't come out looking like a good person. At first I was disappointed by some of the choices she made, feeling like "Hey, you promised you weren't going to flirt with that boy your friend likes! What are you doing?" or "Of course your therapist has a life outside of your sessions! Start talking and stop wasting your parents' money!" I wanted Ruby to be the same character that I had enjoyed in the previous two books: someone who occasionally missteps but is headed in the right direction.

Then I realized that the more grave decisions that Ruby made in the novel were intentional on Lockhart's part. Ruby is older and her problems can't always be resolved with an apology. Ruby is impetuous, especially when it comes to boys, and the consequences are steeper when you are a junior in high school. If I liked Ruby less in this novel, it was just because she was even more realistic. I look forward to reading the fourth (and final?) book in the series, Real Live Boyfriends, as soon as I can track it down.

What Happened to Goodbye

2011-07-24T04:56:00.057-04:00

What Happened to Goodbye is the tenth of Sarah Dessen's novels about teenagers relating to parents, finding themselves, and falling in love. They all inhabit the same universe where they cross paths at the beach in Colby, eat at the Last Chance diner, and log on to Ume.com. Sticking to her typical formula, Dessen adds Mclean Sweet to this world.

After Mclean's parents' divorce, she and her father move around the country while he consults on restaurants. The pair thrive on reinvention, with Mclean choosing a new identity (and nickname) in each new town. When they land at the Luna Blu restaurant, suddenly Mclean finds herself unwillingly putting down roots by making quirky friends, getting involved in a community project, and (of course) meeting a cute boy.

The secondary characters in this novel interested me far more than Mclean and her embattled parents. Nearly all of them seemed to have more depth and fascinating backstories. I applaud Dessen for the friendship between Dave, Mclean's love interest, and Riley, another girl in the circle. Platonic friendship is rarely explored in YA novels and is such a rich source of material. By far, my favorite character was Deb, who was layered with so many surprising traits. I would love for a novel about her, but I doubt SD will do that because Deb is far too normal a name!

Sarah Dessen is a pro at what she does, but What Happened to Goodbye felt more like a 'paint by numbers' Dessen book than the real thing. I would love for her to write a novel with a male main character, a collection of short stories, or do something else that mixes things up for the reader and challenges her as a writer.

The Summer I Turned Pretty

2011-07-19T06:57:00.041-04:00

I know anger is not the appropriate response to not having read a book, but man! How could I have missed this one? The Summer I Turned Pretty has everything that I like in a YA book: the beach, a cool narrator, crushworthy guys, and sadness. I wish I could remember who recommended it to me so I could hug them.

Belly's life has always revolved around her summers at the beach with her brother and their family friends, Jeremiah and Conrad. Through flashbacks, the reader learns of Belly's lifelong love for Conrad, as well as her flirtatious and sweet friendship with Jeremiah. During her 16th summer, all of Belly's relationships change, and none of the changes is easy.

The characterization in the novel is wonderful, particularly the adults. Belly's mother breaks the mold of a typical YA mom; she is quietly devoted and mysterious. My favorite character was Jeremiah and Conrad's mother, Susannah. She is fun, thoughtful, and generous--the kind of woman that all teenagers wish they had in their lives. As a "mature" reader (ahem), I quickly tired of Conrad's moodiness, but can understand why that appealed to Belly. I also found Belly's desire to change her role to be realistic. She wanted to be accepted by the boys, but kept slipping into the position of "kid sister". At times, I wanted to shake her and say, "They are never going to like you if you keep sticking your tongue out at them!" Belly's flaws make her more dynamic and surprising.

Finally, how gorgeous is the cover? It looks like a book that has been left on the windowsill of a beach house, faded and welcoming. The plus side of reading a novel two years after it was published means that both sequels are already available. I am going to start It's Not Summer Without You as soon as I post this.

Beauty Queens

2011-07-14T03:55:00.000-04:00

When I heard Libba Bray's latest novel was about teenage beauty queens stranded on a deserted island, I hustled to get a copy. I love the idea of a female Lord of the Flies meets Lost meets Robinson Crusoe meets Drop Dead Gorgeous. I was not disappointed--this book is a delight.

Sprinkled with funny footnotes, fake commercials mocking consumerism, and surveys completed by the title characters, Bray packs a lot of material into the novel. There are layers of references that had me consulting google and appreciating the author's efforts. Beauty Queens tackles many social issues, which at times can feel similar to the platforms that pageant contestants have to choose. Each main character was fairly stereotypical, with her own issue to overcome. Those who don't have an internal battle are just lumped together (they're all named Caitlyn Ashley) and called by their respective state names.

Still, the issues that Beauty Queens confronts are important to teenagers and add to the feminist spirit of the book. It is a fascinating idea to consider what life would be like for these girls who have always been judged on their looks, when the constraints of boys, parents, and society are removed. Bray's view is optimistic; the girls bond and are able to accomplish amazing things.

While too mature for middle school students, Beauty Queens is a book that high school students (and beyond) will breeze through.

Nerd Girls

2011-07-09T05:57:00.047-04:00

Meet Maureen, a self-described baked potato. She's the reluctant leader of a trio of misfits, also known as the Nerd Girls, just trying to get through the eighth grade without further persecution by the ThreePees (for "pretty, popular, perfect"). After a humiliating youtube video of Maureen goes viral, the girls decide that the best revenge is to take on the ThreePees in the school's talent show. This would not have been my decision, but it makes for a fun plot.

Nerd Girls is author Alan Lawrence Sitomer's first foray into middle grade fiction. My students have loved everything he's ever written, so I am eager to share Nerd Girls with them, although this book will definitely appeal to a different demographic than Hip Hop High School. Still, as a teacher, Sitomer has a gift for adolescent language and common humiliations. My students will love Maureen's snarky sense of humor. At times, her sarcasm towards her new (and only) friends seems excessive, but ten minutes at a lunch table with eighth graders shows it to be realistic.

At 224 pages, Nerd Girls felt longer than necessary, with some repetitive dialogue. I'm interested to see how students feel about the novel's length--and I will see, as this is definitely a book I will add to my library. The first in a five-part series, I predict that it will be very popular with the sixth graders I'll be teaching this year.

Bumped

2011-07-04T03:57:00.061-04:00

This is a controversial one!

Bumped takes place in a future when everyone over eighteen has a virus that leaves them infertile. The result is that pregnant teenagers become the most important members of society, competing to "go pro" and get pregnant for cash. Perfect teen Melody has her contract arranged is awaiting her chosen partner, when her religious and estranged identical twin Harmony arrives and everything falls apart.

Clearly this isn't going to be going on the shelves at my middle school. Discussions of sexuality and religion dominate the novel, and early adolescents can't process the satire involved in Megan McCafferty's book. Despite its heavy topics, Bumped is actually quite funny and engrossing. The dystopia crafted by the author has incredible details, like cafeteria food rich in folic acid, and girls trying to raise the $250,000 for their first year of college. There are aspects of the technology and culture that seem very realistic, from the instant messaging to the multicultural character names.

Still, it is a satire and none of the characters come off very well. The Christians who live in "Goodside" are portrayed as fanatics and everyone else in "Otherside" is materialistic. Even the twins, who alternate chapters that detail their character growth, seem unrealistic. Naming them Harmony and Melody had me confused and wondering (even at page 300), "Which one is this again?" Also, I was unaware that this is the first book in a trilogy, so the ending seemed abrupt and unsatisfying.

Despite these quibbles, I really enjoyed Bumped and am eager to discuss it. Usually I can predict the plot of YA novels and this one held many genuine surprises for me. While I think that thirty more pages could have tied up the entire storyline pretty nicely, I am bought in enough to anticipate the next novel and what happens to the twins.

Black Juice

2011-06-29T06:18:00.078-04:00

I really love short story collections: the satisfaction of reading a tale in a short amount of time, the completeness of a world in a few pages, the feeling of "oh I wish this was a novel" when I finish a great story. When they are fantasy stories, it's even more exciting because anything could happen next. That's the way I felt while reading Margo Lanagan's excellent Black Juice.

There were many times when I had no idea what was happening, and I mean that in the most complimentary way. These ten stories merit many re-reads and discussions. After reading the stories, I would hop on the internet to see if I could find out more...I needed to know what was happening in these worlds. This is subtle fantasy; it could be in the future or in an alternate world. Lanagan never spells things out for the reader, she just slides in details that make the reader pause. For example, in "Perpetual Light", the family cat catches wild animals as most pets do, "But sometimes he lost his head and ate half, and brought us the rest, the light gone out of their eyes and the mechs and biosprings trailing." There is no more explanation given, even though the reader is desperate to know what this means.

As I mentioned in my review of Tender Morsels, Lanagan is a talented writer whose choice of words leave the reader aching. In the eerie "Yowlinin", the protagonist says, "Who did I think I was, all these months, following and watching him? This must be what they call lovesickness. But the love has fallen from my eyes now and left only the sickness." Lanagan takes the ordinary and shows it in a way that challenges, unsettles, and enchants her audience.

Younger readers could be frustrated by the lack of resolution to the stories, but I loved it. I look forward to one day further exploring these stories with my students, pondering how Lanagan can do so much in so few pages.

The Boy Book

2011-06-24T04:46:00.010-04:00

I forced myself to wait and read The Boy Book because E. Lockhart has a finite number of novels and I am coming to the end of them. Now that I've finished it, though, I just want to dig into the third book in the Ruby Oliver series.

Ruby Oliver is a girl after my own heart. In her own words, “I like to swim,” I said. “And read. And watch movies. But can you imagine a catalog description for that? ‘Exploring the Shallow Life: Students will enjoy a double feature of Love Actually and Bridget Jones’s Diary, wallowing in the hotness of Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, followed by thrift-store shopping, intensive reading of mystery novels, and a dip in the pool. Evenings will be spent consuming Popsicles and experimenting with cosmetics.’" This is almost the exact conversation I had with my mother when she asked what I wanted to do while visiting for Easter. I'm 31 and choose not to see myself as stunted, but rather that the character of Ruby is realistic and mature.

The Boy Book joins Ruby at the start of her junior year at Tate Academy. She's still a leper (but it's getting better), she still crushes on her ex-boyfriend (but it's getting better), and she's still trying to figure out who she really is (...). The plot is amazing and bittersweet, but any reader of E. Lockhart knows that's guaranteed. Ruby's growth is gradual, has its setbacks, and wrapped up in a satisfying final chapter.

What I love most about this book is Ruby's positive relationship with sexuality. Lockhart honestly explores what it feels like to have sexual feelings and be able to act on them. I really appreciated the scenes where Ruby fumbles through getting groped; I would have loved to read something so frank when I was in late middle school. When Ruby tries to figure out if she actually likes a boy, or if she just likes the way it feels to kiss him, I find it humorous and spot-on. Sister, let me know when you figure that one out!

E. Lockhart and Ruby Oliver are simply awesome.

Emako Blue

2011-06-19T05:38:00.035-04:00

Emako Blue is a gorgeous teen with a good heart and an amazing gift for singing. Unfortunately, this is not enough in her South Central neighborhood. The novel begins with Emako's funeral and then the various friends in her life flashback to what led to the sad event.

This is a novel that I know my students would love; they are wild for any urban tragedy, and if one of the main characters is aspirational, it's even better. I am always happy to add a book to the library if I know it is going to get shared through word of mouth. I have a great reputation when it comes to recommending books, but there is nothing better than when the students are handing them to each other.

Still, I am conflicted by the writing in Emako Blue. While I appreciate that the "tough guys" in Brenda Woods' novel show their softer side, I don't think the characters are fully fleshed out. Emako is whatever the narrator needs her to be, Monterey is the everygirl, Savannah is the bad girl who's hurting inside, Eddie is the boy with a future, and Jamal is the player who goes good for Emako. There isn't much complexity in how they relate to each other. I also feel like there were so many conversations that just consisted of greetings: "hey" and "hi". This is pretty realistic with adolescents, but is a truth that better YA authors don't include.

I won't be pressing this novel on students, but I won't need to. They'll do it themselves.

Seedfolks

2011-06-14T02:06:00.001-04:00

What a lovely little delight! I read Seedfolks in about twenty minutes before falling asleep and it was the perfect bedtime story. The seedfolks of the title are members of a Cleveland neighborhood that turn a vacant lot into a garden, while turning themselves into friends. I kept waiting for a major conflict to spring up, but the characters' troubles are mainly in the past, or at least begin to heal from their time in the garden. This lack of turmoil is refreshing.

In only 69 pages, Paul Fleischman is able to inhabit thirteen different characters from many different backgrounds. This would be an excellent novel to read with students who are struggling with characterization in their writing. It would partner really well with any unit on tolerance, as well as with the recently reviewed Vive La Paris. I love the idea of inundating students with books about community building and reaching out to neighbors.

Vive La Paris

2011-06-09T03:21:00.049-04:00

Esme Raji Codell's writing makes you feel good. She has the ear of a teacher who has sat in the back of the classroom and really listened to what matters to young people. She shows the heart in all of her characters, including the ones that you really want to write off.

Vive Le Paris is the companion novel to Sahara Special, which I loved so much. It's fun to check back in on the characters in Miss Pointy's class and see how they've grown under her care. For the most part, though, Paris' story takes place outside of the classroom. She's got a fun, loving family with four older brothers and takes piano lessons from Mrs. Rosen, an elderly Holocaust survivor. Over the course of a few months, she learns about bullying, ignorance, nonviolence, and seeing the world through 'rose-colored glasses'.

There is so much to love here, as a reader and as a teacher. At my middle school in The Bahamas, none of the students had heard about the Holocaust before we began a unit on it. I also remember that middle school was when we really delved into learning about World War II. Vive La Paris is geared towards a younger age group, so could be used as an introduction to the Holocaust. It could be read independently over the summer, and then referred back to during the year. This is a novel that kids will love to read, with lots of lessons tucked in.

Vive La Paris is also really funny. In describing her brother's friend, Paris says, "He wears button-down shirts and has glasses like Malcolm X, but he's white, and believe me, on a white boy those glasses got a whole different effect." At first I wanted to say that there are so many humorous throwaway lines, but the reality is that all of the lines are beautifully crafted and intentional.

Finally, I appreciate that the cover actually reflects what happens in the book. There are a lot of details that show the illustrator (whose name I couldn't find) read the novel. She probably loved it too!

Schooled

2011-06-04T05:00:00.044-04:00

I've read hundreds of young adult books over the years, but usually just donate them to whatever school I am working at when I read them. Now that I am attending graduate school in the US, I want to be able to lend books out to my own students. My personal YA library is pretty puny at 21 books. I am trying to add to my collection as cheaply as possible, so was thrilled when I found a new copy of Schooled in our library sale section. This is my first Gordon Korman novel and I enjoyed every page.

Written from the perspectives of multiple characters, Schooled tells what happens when Capricorn, a hippie raised by his grandmother in a commune of two, is suddenly thrust into a modern middle school. All of the expected bullying and adjustment misunderstandings occur, but they never feel trite or condescending. This is all due to the excellent characterization of Capricorn. He is the heart of the novel and quickly becomes the heart of the school. I love that his innocence and kindness never wavers, even when people are being cruel to him.

"Assume Goodwill" was a buzz phrase among the staff at my former school. I am now realizing that we should have made more effort to say it to students as well. What could be a more important lesson for middle schoolers who are learning how to communicate maturely? Schooled would be a great book for the entire community to read and discuss. I would love to talk in small groups about how Cap persevered, what students think of the somewhat strange ending, and how this applies to their lives. On a less formal level, I will be recommending it to any student who loved Stargirl. I am so happy to have this book in my little library.

Sahara Special

2011-05-29T09:42:00.000-04:00

Oooh, Sahara Special is a keeper.

I don't know what took me so long to read this, as I loved Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year, by the same author. While Sahara Special is fiction, it would be very easy to read it as a student's point of view of Esme Raji Codell as a teacher. I (happily) recognized many of Miss Pointy's quirks from Ms. Codell's teaching days.

Sahara Jones has been pegged by her school as "special", and not in the good way. Dealing with her parents' divorce, she has withdrawn into herself, been held back a year, and struggled to find her place in the classroom. Sahara also has a rich inner life, full of literary ambitions and charm. In her words, "...let me tell you, working in the hallway with the teacher is like being the street person of a school. People pass you by, and they act like they don't see you, but three steps away they've got a whole story in their heads about why you're out there instead of in the nice cozy classroom where you belong." The novel is full of gems like this which show true insight into children as people with the same feelings as adults.

I love all the characters in the book, but as a teacher, my favorite is Miss Pointy. She is eccentric and wise, but not perfect. There is a spiky quality to her and she makes teaching disciplines that could be questionable to the less imaginative. Still, I wish that all children could have a Miss Pointy every year, a teacher that sees them as the best versions of themselves. I'm going to try to incorporate more Miss Pointy into my teaching life, starting by recommending Sahara Special to everyone who will listen.

American Born Chinese

2011-05-23T02:49:00.062-04:00

People have been recommending American Born Chinese to me for years. Somehow it never seems to be around when I am able to read it. When I finally got it out of the library, I saved it as a "treat" for after the emotional wringing of Tender Morsels. Perhaps it is all the anticipation that <quiet voice> made me not enjoy it as much as I had hoped.

I wanted to love this book! I believe in the powers of the graphic novel and am desperate for more diversity in my bookshelves. Unfortunately, I was hoping for an Asian American The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (read it, read it, read it) but that is a lot to ask.

Gene Luen Yang's book tells three different narratives: the story of the mythical Monkey King, of Jin Wang, the son of Chinese immigrants that struggles to fit in, and of a sitcom-like teen whose visiting Chinese cousin exemplifies every stereotype of an Asian. Each of the stories has a different tone, but they work together nicely because of the beautiful illustrations and the intersection of all the narratives at the climax.

Despite not shattering my YA mind, it is a good book. I think there are many ways that it could be used creatively in a classroom. I've been searching for a scan of page 96 but haven't come across one. On this page, three teens of Asian descent are having fun and laughing in a park until two boys walk by and say a few racial slurs. The three teens sit quietly, their cheeks burning. These few panels would add so much to a discussion on tolerance, bullying, and ignorance. I love the book for that page.

This review is a bit wishy washy. I say that I was disappointed, but also that it is a good book. Would I add it to my classroom library? Yes. Am I still waiting for the book about the Asian-American experience that will blow me away? Heck yes.

Tender Morsels

2011-05-18T05:31:00.001-04:00

Two pages into Tender Morsels, I realized I would not be comfortable putting this on the shelf in my middle school classroom. I figured I should set it aside and focus on books for 6th graders. Then I was suddenly on page 20. Then I was on page 60. Then it was all over, I was hooked. (I also think it was brilliant to put material that readers might object to at the very beginning of the novel. If you don't like what you see, stop reading!)

Margo Lanagan's epic novel is like nothing I've ever read. She manages to blend magic realism, time travel, dreadful and wonderful family relationships, fairy tales, magical animals, and about a thousand other elements into an amazingly affecting story. At several points, I wondered if Lanagan had a plan when she started writing this novel, and I mean that as a compliment. The scope of Tender Morsels is overwhelming. In the briefest of summaries, Liga raises her two daughters in a fantasy world after suffering horrifically as a young woman. Gradually, the fantasy world and reality clash and the women need to adjust to a life where there is darkness as well as light.

Lanagan is a gifted writer and I have added Black Juice, her book of short stories, to my library list. Each of the characters is fully developed, often with their own dialect, and written gorgeously. One of my favorite lines describes Branza, who struggled to adapt to the real world, "She was full of wolf-teeth, wolf-love of herself, wolf-rage on her behalf". I am greedy for more young adult literature with writing of this quality.

I have been thinking about the fact that I have read so many YA books lately that tackle subject of incest. I'm curious if this is a subject we readers are more open to, if writers recognize a need to be addressed, or if it has always been common and I just happen to be coming across books on incest lately. There's no way to answer that, but I admire the way that Lanagan approaches the subject of incest and rape (in several permutations). I did not find it gratuitous and thought it was clever to front-load the novel with it, so that the plot centers more around healing and moving beyond tragedy. There is a powerful message for the reader: you can survive and grow to be a good person with a good life.

I felt very sad when I came to the end of Tender Morsels. While there are many fairy tale elements to the novel, it did not have the typical ending I was expecting (or hoping for). Still, the characters we love have grown and after reading the author's response on her blog, I am satisfied with the ending. This is a book I would have loved in high school; it's a book that I love today.

Foiled

2011-05-07T04:04:00.028-04:00

Jane Yolen's graphic novel, Foiled, starts out with such promise. It is the story of Aliera, a gifted fencer who doesn't fit in at her school and is happiest when she is fencing or role-playing with her cousin. I love the idea of a heroine who embraces two atypical hobbies and introduces them to the reader as options. While not popular, Aliera is definitely cool.

The plot starts to go downhill when Aliera develops a crush on her handsome lab partner. There are many hints that there is something "off" about him, but it takes far too many pages to find out what it is. The climax of Foiled comes far too late in the book; suddenly there are fairies and creatures everywhere, and then the book ends. I've read that there will be a sequel to Foiled, but it seems to make more sense to tell the entire story in one book (and maybe skip a few of the frog dissection scenes).

I was really impressed by Mike Cavallaro's art and thought it was brilliant to keep the illustrations colorless to emphasize Aliera's colorblindness. Rather than add Foiled to my library, I will be checking out other graphic novels that Cavallaro has illustrated.

Sisters Red

2011-05-02T03:10:00.044-04:00

I had to make the cover larger for this review because it really is one of the best that I have seen in a long time. At various points in my reading, I closed the book just to look at the cover again. It also jumped to the top of my reading list once that cover was in my house!

I just learned that I will be teaching 6th grade next year, which means I should focus on lower level books. But I can't help it! My favorite books are written for fourteen year olds who wish they were eighteen, also known as "racy books" by some former, hilarious students.

Jackson Pearce's novel has some racy elements, but is actually tamer than I expected. A modern retelling of Red Riding Hood, Sisters Red tells the story of Scarlett and Rosie March, orphaned girls who hunt the werewolves of Georgia with hatchets and knives. The novel centers around their sisterhood and how their childhood roles have defined them. Scarlett, who lost an eye and was covered in scars while defending her sister, is the Hunter who is brave, passionate, and obsessed. Rosie is the gentler sister, a skilled fighter but interested in life outside the hunt. The sisters are often described as two halfs of the same heart, which turns out to be very interesting when Rosie falls in love with Silas, Scarlett's hunting partner.

There is a lot of controversy over the idea of the sisters using themselves (with makeup, clothing, and perfume) as "bait". To be honest, I never thought of this as I was reading the book and doubt that my students would either. It would be an interesting conversation topic with advanced readers: is Jackson adding to the ridiculousness of "asking for it" or are her characters owning their sexuality? When viewing the novel with this lens, there are parts that are questionable. Still, I really enjoyed Sisters Red; the writing was tight, the action was gripping, and the characters were fascinating. I can't wait for someone I know to read this so we can discuss it!

Where She Went

2011-04-27T03:18:00.044-04:00

Gayle Forman's If I Stay was the novel that inspired me to start a blog. I needed a place to keep track of all the books I've read, so that when I had to build a classroom library, I'd know which books are essential. If I Stay, with its story about a girl in a coma who must decide between following her beloved deceased family and staying alive for her future, is at the top of that list.

I just learned about the sequel, Where She Went, and made it my mission to track it down and read it immediately. I loved the decisions that Forman made: to set the novel three years in the future, to change the narrator to Adam, to have the main characters beginning their promising musical careers. The reader can tell that Forman loves each of the characters because they are so beautifully crafted and real. I love that I was able to relate to this twenty-year-old male rocker as much as with the cello virtuoso.

I was reminded of how wonderful a plot device the "last night" is. Similar to the movie "Before Sunrise" and "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" (oops, I've only seen the movie), when Adam and Mia explore New York together to give themselves closure, their true feelings come out. I loved the small moments that they shared when they went bowling, and really hurt for them when they realized how much they have changed in such a short time period.

While Adam was depressed for most of the novel, I found it to be more upbeat than If I Stay. I don't expect a third book about these characters, but am so grateful that Forman wrote this sequel.

Rhymes With Witches

2011-04-21T04:34:00.043-04:00

I really like Lauren Myracle's writing. I think she excels at sharing the bittersweet aspects of growing up and her characters are realistic. Rhymes With Witches is a departure from her novels that I've read, this time with a creepy mystery about popularity.

The title clique suddenly adopts Jane, a nearly invisible freshman. As she spends more time with them, she realizes that their popularity isn't due to their sparkling personalities, but rather the witchcraft they are taught by their strange teacher. I love the movie "The Craft", so the mean girls as witches plotline really appealed to me. I appreciated that Myracle didn't shy away from the less desirable side of popularity--the peer pressure, insecurity, and the fact that a lot of the popular guys are actually not that cool.

Not everything about Witches worked for me. There was a plotline about feral cats that didn't really get explained and the conclusion was abrupt and unsatisfying. My main issue was that the characters were less developed than in Myracle's other novels. I wanted to like Jane more, but was turned off by how quickly she ditched her friends. I know witchcraft was involved, but it still didn't endear her to me! On the other hand, it seemed like she never really liked her original friends to begin with, and the reader can't blame her.

I know there is a prequel called Bliss, but I am going to skip it and search out other Lauren Myracle books like Thirteen.