Review of The Future of Us

The Future of Us by Jay Ascher and Carolyn Mackler

Josh and Emma are about to discover themselves—fifteen years in the future.

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long—at least, up until last November, when everything changed. Things have been awkward ever since then, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD-ROM in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto Facebook. but Facebook hasn't been invented yet. Josh and Emma are looking at themselves fifteen years in the future. Their spouses, careers, homes, and status updates—it's all there. And every time they refresh their pages, their futures change. As they grapple with the ups and downs of their future, they're forced to confront what they're doing right—and wrong—in the present. - from Wikipedia

I have to give this a slightly less than perfect score of 4 & 1/2 stars for a specific reason - Dave Matthews.

Look, if Josh is a skater, he's not going to be into a girl who likes Dave Matthews. And no one in the 90s would make a mix tape of Alanis Morissette, Dave Matthews, and Pearl Jam! That's not even in the same category. The 90s were about breaking into new genres that was all "alternative," but that wishy-washy, radio-friendly stuff was not good. 1996 had so much more to offer than that, for crying out loud! Smashing Pumpkins had released 1979 as a single, for instance, and Rage Against the Machine had Bulls on Parade. That will always outshine Dave Matthews, I don’t care if some preppy misogynist character like Cody Grainger tries to convince us that a bootleg copy of Crash Into Me has some amazing guitar work. No, just no. Not even close.

Granted, not everyone's 90s experience or musical tastes are the same, but only middle of the road people at that time wouldn't have a strong connection to a ground breaking band. I can't like Emma because she likes Dave Matthews. A lot. It’s discussed way, way too much in the book. I’m guessing that one or both of the authors really, really like his music and may have never given Lollapalooza a try.

Plus, were we supposed to think that Emma was ironic or just plain boring for not liking Wayne’s World?

Some other reviewers said they didn't like Emma being such a spoiled brat who didn't change at all through the whole book. I quite agree. I didn't hate her, but she didn't seem good enough for Josh. The plot was predictable, but I still found it engaging. It took me a day & 1/2 to finish because it was easy to get in to. I think it speaks to a very certain age group. I graduated in 1994, so the book was pointing just past the Nirvana era. I think that's why I was a bit critical of the stereotypical push to discuss the 90s with the over-use of Dave Matthew-isms. It seems less authentic than if they had been all over the shop with 90s references instead of sticking with the same, boring thing.

My other main criticism that I also agree with from Goodreads, is just how the idea was executed. Would two kids really be able to accept the technology so easily? Would 16 year old care about their future that much? They'd have to be less angsty, focused on school, then aim for their future college, life, etc. I mean, the book references Back to the Future, but Marty was dealing with saving Doc, his family, and the whole town. Most 16 year olds wouldn't be that apt to plan out their future.

Unless they listen to Dave Matthews, I guess.

I liked Carolyn Mackler’s The Earth, My Butt…, but I didn’t dig Jay Ascher’s Thirteen Reasons Why because of the back and forth switch in narrative. (I hear it’s easier to listen to on audiobook, so I’ll try that later.) But both authors are older than me, so I’m going to assume that they’re taking researched information on a 16 year old’s 1996 experience, and making it mild because it will connect to a wider audience.

All in all, I liked the book, but I didn’t feel really emotionally moved by it. It was a quick read, which makes it good in its own right. Great book, it just had some glaring problems that I couldn’t get past. I’d still recommend it to teen readers (then I’d hand them a decent 90s mix tape.) I also appreciate the fact that I bought the print version of this, just to feel old school.

And one last thing:

Marvin the Martian on a skateboard is from Clueless, if no one else noticed.

Review of “Gossip Girl #1”

“Oh, don't be a spoilsport. Gossip is sexy. Gossip is good. Not everybody does it, but everybody should!"

von Ziegesar, Cecily. Gossip Girl #1: A Novel. Poppy, New York, 2002. ISBN: 978-0316910330

Teenager Blair Waldorf sneaks away from a party to have sex with her boyfriend Nate Archibald, however they are interrupted by the return of Blair's old friend Serena van der Woodsen, who was away at boarding school. When Serena was around, Blair felt as if she were lost in the blue, so she is not thrilled that Serena has returned. She is also unhappy to find out that Nate and Serena had sex the summer before Serena left. She tries to keep Serena out of the loop and encourages others to ignore her. Not understanding why she is getting the cold shoulder, Serena decides to try new activities and tries out for the school play, and is rejected. Later she tries out for Vanessa Abrams' short film being in Central Park, however Vanessa grows jealous over her best friend, and secret crush, Dan Humphrey's reaction to Serena and chooses someone else. Undeterred, Serena decides to make her own film and enlists the help of Jenny Humphrey, Dan's younger sister. Throughout the story, the various characters regularly visit "Gossip Girl," a popular, anonymous blog that spreads rumours and gossip about them. [Wikipedia]

What this book reminded me of, was a less edgy version of Less Than Zero. However, in Gossip Girl, all the kids are basically interested in doing the same things without any kind of reflection or remorse. The girls do discuss having to prepare to get into college, but being in a school play is not going to be a big deal if you’ve been kicked out of boarding school, would it? I don’t know.

This is just the poor little rich girl story retold. None of the kids are supervised so they run around New York City drinking and smoking pot and having parties. Because, you know, that’s fun! There’s a lot of mention of dancing in their underwear and partying that involved all the characters. It’s their way of life, which, as many people pointed out on Goodreads is just not something that young girls should aspire to.

But there are worse books out there and at least Serena isn’t planning her life around a boy. She’s an interesting character that I’m sure becomes a little more rounded as the series goes on. Anyway, the book is quick and easy to read but there’s not a lot of meat to it. I can see girls loving to read about a perfect girl (Serena) being admired and hated by the rest of her former friends. But that’s about it. I mean, the clash between Blair and Serena is good and I’m sure that’s going to be the main tension throughout the series and the rest of the characters will all develop more. I would go as far as to read the two GG novels that I own already but I’m into them like I was/am the Pretty Little Liars series.

My rating: (3/5)

Review of “The Lying Game”

“At least she had a clear picture of what the Lying Game was now: Girl Scouts for psychopaths.”

Emma has lived in foster homes her whole life, but when she finds a video online that depicts a girl who looks exactly like her being killed, she searches for her long-lost twin. After seemingly being lured to Tucson by her twin, Sutton Mercer, Emma finds out that she got the raw end of the deal. Sutton grew up with everything a girl could ask for: parents, a sister, popular friends, a boyfriend, and anything monetary her heart desired. Except Sutton is dead, so Emma assumes Sutton’s identity. When Emma tries to explain what is going on no one believes her. No one, that is, but Sutton’s killer. In order to keep herself from being the next, dead sister, Emma has to play along with The Lying Game until she can solve the mystery of what happened to Sutton.
First off, before anyone starts harassing me over a review (seriously, that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of – book bloggers shouldn’t have to deal with that stuff!) I seriously love Sara Shepard.  I read the first four books of Pretty Little Liars (which I still need to review here) and I was hooked immediately. When I picked this book up, I was really intrigued by the first page, so I was excited to begin reading it. However, like some of the other reviews I’ve read, I just didn’t get into it as much as I did with PLL.
Some people said they didn’t like the point of view that went between Emma in third person to Sutton in first person. I understood that Shepard was trying something new and that was fine but, I agree, I don’t think it did much for the story. If there had been small chapters here and there told in Sutton’s point of view (as does A. in PLL) we would have gotten the gist that Sutton is dead and she’s watching all of this as a ghost.
While the story line sounds innovative and interesting in theory, it just wasn’t. I got really bored of it quickly. It picked up in the middle when Emma was starting to figure things out and the killer had come back to threaten her. But there was just too much that I couldn’t believe about the whole situation to make me like any of the characters.
I agree with whomever said “Why couldn’t Emma just call someone from her hometown who would vouch for her?” I mean, technically, she is still not 18 so she’s under child protective custody until her birthday at the end of the book. Also, if Emma has been dirt poor and without a world of privilege, wouldn’t she be way more impressed with the gadgets and designer clothes she has? Plus, and I mentioned this on Twitter, how does she know to go to Trader Joe’s to buy Brie? And why would she be irritated with an old woman who holds up the line by paying with a check? If she’s getting into her diva role now that she’s assumed Sutton’s identity, I get that, but she wouldn’t just know these kind of things off-hand if she’s been in poverty the last 15+ years.
And Becky. So that’s their mother but Sutton never knew her but Emma lived with her? I guess that’s part of the mystery too.
One other small thing: Sutton? Is this a hip thing, to name kids after random London boroughs? I kept wanting to call her Mutton Surfer. I get that she’s a spoiled little rich girl who loves to pull deadly pranks on people. She gets her car impounded and she has a police record but she’s still living a charmed life. I can almost understand that but I’m not rich and I don’t shop for Brie at Trader Joe’s so I’m not sure.
Anyway, I doubt I’ll read anymore of the books, but I didn’t realize they’d made a TV show for it, so I can look for that next month.
All in all, it’s not a terrible book at all, I just wasn’t overall thrilled with it. If it weren’t for Shepard’s writing style, it wouldn’t have been interesting at all. Most teen readers would probably be into it since the mystery story is pretty intriguing. I’m just not sure they’ll love it as much a PLL. I do, however, give Shepard massive props for starting a totally different project though. As she said in the acknowledgements, it is really hard to start a new series.
My rating: (3/5)

Review of “The Help”

“All I'm saying is, kindness don't have no boundaries.”

Aibileen and Minny are two of the many African-American maids working in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s. Skeeter is a young white girl who wants to be a writer. When Skeeter hears that her friend wants to put in a separate toilet for her maid, she starts wondering how these maids feel about being treated this way. While it is extremely risky, the maids agree to tell Skeeter their story for a book that may be published. The problem is for Aibileen, Minny and the other maids – the consequences of their actions could be deadly.
I absolutely loved this book even though it took me so long to read it. Going through three main characters’ stories was time consuming but enjoyable just the same. I guess I didn’t want the book to end. There weren’t any dull parts or anything that wasn’t sincere about this book. The story was written in the best, most candid way a white female writer could have done. I appreciate Kathryn Stockett adding to the end of the book, her personal account, just as Skeeter did about Constantine. She addresses the criticism that comes from her writing from her perspective too:

What I am sure about it this: I don’t presume to think that I know what it really felt like to be a black woman in Mississippi, especially in the 1960s. I don’t think it is something any white woman on the other end of a black woman’s paycheck could ever truly understand. But trying to understand is vital to our humanity.

I think that is enough of an explanation to give the writer credit for trying to teach us something about our own human experience – and that is what makes for good literature. Reading for entertainment is fine but when you understand yourself and the world around you makes the experience that more impactful.
I’ve also heard someone say they hate narration written in dialogue, which makes me assume they don’t like many quality writers either. The big names such as Dickens, Twain, Hurston, and Faulkner write in dialect because it would be ineffective and unauthentic if they didn’t capture the voice of the characters. I’ve also heard that the book is funny which is true, in parts, but the overall tone of the book is so sad. But sad in a good way because you take something from that emotion – you feel for the characters, and, again, that’s what makes for a good book.
Anyway, I’ll have to watch the movie now and I did what I could to not think of the characters as the actresses I saw on the red carpet not long ago, but I assume the movie will be very good as well. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 76% which doesn’t mean much to me anymore since they gave Prometheus a 73% when it’s the biggest sci-fi film of the decade. But for students in class being able to compare and contrast with a novel like To Kill A Mockingbird would be a good idea for high school literature classes. It would especially be nice to tie in their history lessons on the Civil Rights Movement as well.

Review of “Goddess Test,” “Iron King,” and “Switched”

I decided to review these three books together as they were the last YA books I read recently. They also all have very similar plots.

Carter, Aimee. The Goddess Test. Ontario, Harlequin Teen, 2011. ISBN: 9780373210268
Kate’s mother is dying and her last wish is to return to her hometown. While Kate struggles to adjust, she finds new challenges. After having a run-in with a classmate over a boyfriend, Kate is approached by a dark character named Henry. He convinces her that he will save her classmate, and prolong her mother’s life, if she lives with him six months out of the year – just as his last wife, Persephone did. In order for Kate to become Henry’s new wife, she must pass the tests of the gods and goddesses in the Underworld where she calls home in the winter.
I read this entire book because it was pretty quick and easy to read. It was interesting to have a book try and use mythology for its paranormal themes too. I can’t say I’d read the rest in the series, however. I couldn’t connect to the situation at all – aside from it being ridiculous, I didn’t feel anything from Kate other than the heartbreak of losing her mother. Henry was only described as dark and young-looking until half way through the book she says he has black hair. I wasn’t interested in their relationship at all and I really felt bad for Kate to be tricked by her mother and being Diana in the end. The poor girl went through the loss of her mother as a test? Plus, having everyone she encountered all members of the Underworld was a bit convenient as well.
In every review I’ve read, no one seems to recall any other characters’ names for some reason. I guess it was all the same thing – girl is the chosen one of some powerful guy and she is “forced” to wear pretty clothes and live in a beautiful palace. That was the theme in Breaking Dawn, The Princess Diaries and that’s the theme for all these books in this review. It’s getting old.


Kagawa, Julie. The Iron King. Ontario, Harlequin Teen, 2010. ISBN: 9780373210084
Meghan’s father disappeared when she was a child, and she’s always had a hard time at school because she’s a “hick” who lives on a farm. She has one friend, a boy who is very mischievous, and a little brother who one day turns feral.  Meghan had no idea that she was a part of a magical world of fairies and she is the daughter of the king. She must travel with her best friend who turns out to be the literary historical Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and rescue her brother, and possibly her father.
I really liked this book at first because of the style and the normal day to day stuff then being transferred into a Narnia-type land was pretty cool. I loved her cat friend and I loved the action but half way through the action drove me crazy. There was always something going on to the point that I was exhausted. I didn’t finish the book because while I knew it would be interesting, I just couldn’t keep my attention up for that long to go through another fight or chase with some new creature that pops out of nowhere. By this time I was getting tired of Fairyland.
This book also had the same themes as the other two. Like The Goddess Test, there is the issue of having to wear pretty dresses and look fancy because the main female character is special. Like Switched, the family member is mysteriously gone and the evil mother doesn’t like the main character and they have to fight in the new, pretty palace that seems wonderful but it’s really terrible. Surely paranormal fiction can come up with something new soon.
Did Not Finish


Hocking, Amanda. Switched. New York, St. Martin’s, 2010. ISBN: 9781250006318
Wendy was always hated by her mother and when she was a child, her mother was institutionalized for trying to kill her. Now Wendy lives with her aunt and her brother but she still has a hard time fitting in at school. She has a power to make people do things if she thinks hard enough. Her friend, Finn, helps her escape when to goths try to attack her. She is forced to convince her brother that she is okay but that she needs to be away for a while. Finn takes her to find her real mother, a queen of the trolls who isn’t at all pleasant. Wendy has to keep her feelings for Finn at bay and try to adjust to not only being different but being the princess of this new world.
I was really excited to read Hocking’s work and I do think she’s  great writer. However, at this point of my three book stint, I was sick of the same plot lines. Not only does this also have the something happened when the heroine was a kid that hints to her being special, but it has the Princess Diaries plot line of having to live in this beautiful place with everything they get ever hope for, except it’s miserable. I didn’t mind the writing style or Wendy’s voice, it was just the troll thing that bothered me, especially since Wendy is short with crazy hair. I kept imagining a lawn gnome trying to put the moves on his fellow garden statue. I may go back to this book later but after reading three books in a row like this, I got tired of it.

Did Not Finish

Review of “Fahrenheit 451”

Guy Montag lives in a world without books. In fact, he burns them. But after meeting a strange young girl named Clarisse, she asks him if he is happy, and Montag begins wondering if being a fireman is worth it. His wife, Mildred overdoses on sleeping pills and nearly dies – something which she denies because she is so caught up in this world of watching interactive television. After Clarisse dies and Montag witnesses an old woman who would rather be burned alive with her books then part with them, he begins to revolt against the world without literature. He steals a book himself. Eventually after Mildred betrays her husband, Beatty, Montag’s boss, decides to burn Montag’s house due to his new-found love of books. As the mechanical house from the firehouse tries to capture Montag, he escapes and finds a group of men who have made themselves into books by memorizing whole texts.
This dystopian novel is astounding even for today with the idea of television over books. What makes the novel so lovely is the language of Bradbury: “The books leapt and danced like roasted birds, their wings ablaze with red and yellow feathers.” I liked the concept of the book very much and I appreciated that the whole thing was pretty quick. It was confusing at first, being in 2012 to get the idea of the family on television but then I understood it as a continuous reality show that Mildred watches around the clock. That isn’t very far from reality now, is it?
I would recommend this one as a good look at a classic dystopian novel. Since The Hunger Games are so popular now, students would be able to get the gist of this, I think. The idea of television rotting your brain so much that books are silly, ridiculous things is something I’m sure young adults can understand that idea.

Review of “A Moveable Feast”

“You belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil.”

Ernest Hemingway wrote of his time in Paris in the 1920s. This was a time of painters, writers and the Lost Generation between World War I and World War II. While Hemingway and his wife Hadley are poor at the time (as he claims in the memoir)  they enjoy good food and the kindness of others to get good books. Many of these creative minds are wonderful people personally, as Hemingway tells us of Ezra Pound, tiresome and unnerving as well. We get a look inside what these friends of his were really like in the way only Hemingway can do.
I wanted to re-read this after going through passages here and there over the years. The best part of Hemingway, to me, is his life. His style of writing is so interesting when he’s talking about himself and people he comes into contact with. His descriptions of physical features, conversations and the way he feels about these people is extraordinary. You don’t even have to know all of their works to get the idea of them as people who are intermingling in a play, of sorts, during this time in Paris.
For anyone who wants to read Hemingway in a quick and dirty way, I highly recommend this. I know some have been scarred by their high school assignment to read Old Man and the Sea but getting to know Hemingway is really rewarding. It’s all in his style that makes the reading so good. He doesn’t mess around with his readers – he tells you the story as straight as he can and it’s totally worth taking the time to read his short memoirs of Paris.
Best line of the whole book, when describing an Wyndham Lewis, "I do not think I had ever seen a nastier-looking man.... Under the black hat, when I had first seen them, the eyes had been those of an unsuccessful rapist.” Only Hemingway can explain things like this, bless him.

Review of “Pride and Prejudice”

Elizabeth Bennett is one of five daughters whom her parents hope to marry off to rich husbands. Lizzy, being the quick witted, sensible one does not accept any proposal easily, nor does she think her sisters should either. Her encounters with Mr. Darcy prove him to be a mean, unlovable man but he shocks her with his proposal of marriage and subsequent good deeds to help her family. While her sisters are marrying left and right, Lizzy ponders her choice and realizes in the end that Mr. Darcy is not the horrible wretch he thought he was and she agrees to become the wealthy Mrs. Darcy.
I’ve glossed over a lot of the main points to this book because I had to get my head around the plot during this first attempt at reading Austen. I’m sure I’m not the first to complain that the language is so overbearing that it is hard to get into it at first. So I admit, I went to the summary on Spark Notes and prepped myself for each chapter before reading it myself. Me, being a big literary nerd, I loved that. It made me feel like I was back in college and actually challenging myself again.
While many readers would be totally put off by needing help getting the key elements in the story, I loved it. It made me re-think how I read. I had to concentrate and take in the whole world that Austen had created.  I opted for classical music to listen to so my wandering thoughts wouldn’t get in the way. I appreciated each scene on its own and felt as if I were in the scene that I had watched on the Colin Firth film version of the book. It made me a Jane Austen fan even though I have to re-read this to get past the plot and into appreciating her good writing.
There is plenty of study on with this novel and the discussion questions in the back of the book would help even me from a teaching/student perspective. However, unlike Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre the language is much more dense and it wouldn’t be a book you could just throw at anyone and expect them to get caught up in the story very easily.

Five mini-reviews of YA books

I haven’t written a review for any of the books I’ve read since last November so I decided to do a quick catch-up entry. I’ve been on a role with my reading, thankfully, so now the “unfinished” side has changed from the lack chapters read to the incomplete reviews I’ve written. l need to write my reviews in a more timely manner, otherwise I forget that my initial reactions were.

Meyer, Stephenie. Breaking Dawn. Little, Brown and Co., London, 2008. ASIN: B004SIFYYW
Bella and Edward get married but there are complications with a human being in an adult relationship with a vampire. Bella get pregnant by a vampire-human baby that is killing her from the inside. After the child is born, Edward must change Bella into a vampire in order to save her. This creates concerns with the Volturi and the Cullens must build an army of vampires from across the globe to stand up to the ruling class of vampires.
This book took me forever to finish. The wedding was over in a second with no real description, the honeymoon was on “Island Esme” in Portugal where Edward just happened to speak Portuguese. Then after really awkward and brutal nights in the marital bed Bella ends up pregnant with a demon baby – okay, now this is interesting. The middle of the book is in Jacob’s perspective so most of the dialogue is in italicised thoughts between the werewolves. Finally as Bella gives birth in the most dramatic and gory way, she has to be turned into a vampire. But the martyr Bella doesn’t want poor, sweet Edward to know that she is in unspeakable pain so she never even screams as her whole body feels like it’s on fire. This is after she has bones break from giving birth to the demon spawn Renesemee (which is a name no one in the world can pronounce.) Then, of course, Jacob imprints on her (creepy) and then we have to sit for the whole rest of the book to hear about the possibility of a Volturi visit after the hope of cool new born vampire stuff can happen with Bella (because she didn’t want to be out of control so she wasn’t – of course she didn’t.) So there’s even an index with all the characters and clans of vampires who come to defend the Cullens – as if we care at this point because it’s the end of four books.
Anyway, I did like the end where Edward has a glimpse into how Bella felt about him. That was the one redeeming quality in the whole story. Otherwise it just dragged and was just not doing it for me. I think reading all four in a row made me just way too jilted to take the whole thing seriously.

Stiefvater, Maggie. Shiver. Scholastic, New York, 2009. ISBN: 9780545123273
Grace keeps seeing wolves in her back yard. When they become a danger to the town of Mercy Falls, the police take action and try to shoot the wolves. This is when Grace finally meets Sam who has very familiar yellow eyes. This year will be the last time when Sam will be human again and Grace is desperate to keep him with her.
I really liked the story and how it was written but it is a subtle novel – I don’t remember much about it, honestly. A lot of people have reviewed this as “boring” but I quite enjoyed it. I appreciated the language that didn’t exist in the Twilight books (this was listed as an alternative for such fans.) Grace was a character I actually was interested in and Sam played the werewolf boy who was in love with her. Using the two different point of views was a nice way to even out the story because Grace tried to save Sam while Sam was trying to survive. I appreciated that style of story-telling a lot and while I’m not really super eager about reading Stiefvater’s other books, I know I will get to Linger and the Ballad series eventually.

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic, New York, 2008. ISBN: 9780439023528
Katniss Everdene is a teenager from District 12 who has to volunteer for the annual Hunger Games in order to save her little sister Prim. Katniss is thrown into the Capitol where she is created to be a reality-show star for a deadly game. Her partner, Peeta, confesses his love for her and with the insistence by her mentor Haymich, she gives the audience the star-crossed lovers show that they want. Once in the arena she fights to the death before saving herself and Peeta – at least for this year.
Ah, our beloved Katniss! She is the heroine that we all cheer for these days. I made sure to read this before I saw the movies. I had bought the series before moving and I’m proud to say I own a hardcopy and an ebook copy of two of them now.
I know plenty of people have written better, more in-depth reviews about how great these books are. The fantasy, dystopian novel is so well done that you are on the side of Katniss from the first page. I appreciate how the first person point of view works so well and the reality mixed with the touches of science fiction make it that much better of a book.
No, it’s nothing like Twilight. This is amazing.

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. Scholastic, New York, 2009. ISBN: 9780439023498
Now that Katniss is back in District 12 as a winner of the Hunger Games, she has defied the Capitol with her cunning ability to save herself and Peeta. The government is tightening their grip on all of the Districts and after President Snow makes a personal visit to see, and warn Katniss that her actions are not forgotten, she finds herself going back into the arena in a special all-winners fight to the death. What Katniss doesn’t know is that she has now turned into the symbol of a revolt and her survival is eminent for the hope of every district who wants to overthrow President Snow.
Of course, I picked this book up immediately after reading the first but I dragged with it a bit. The impact of the first book was great because you were learning about the world that Katniss lives in and the Hunger Games themselves. With this book, however, there was a lot of “Where are they now” kind of description at the beginning. But Katniss’s life is still in turmoil and we still have to go through more pain with her.
I have not read Mockingjay yet and I’m holding off for a while. The subject matter of these books is awesome and intense and after two books in a row, I felt drained. I’ve heard plenty of reviews saying the last book isn’t as great and that Katniss isn’t the strong female heroine that we loved in the first book anymore. But I’ve also heard that people loved it, so I’ll read it soon but not just yet.

Bushnell, Candace. The Carrie Diaries. Harper Collins, New York, 2010. AISN: B005UVQE68
Our beloved Carrie Bradshaw was a girl once herself. She had best friends, gay men, unrequited love interests and a deep commitment to her writing from her teenage years.
After all the intensity of the Hunger Games books, I decided to pick something easy, fun and pink. Not having read all of the original Sex and the City novel, I can only assume that what kind of upbringing Carrie had in the television show was completely made up by HBO. While this book wasn’t jam-packed with excitement it really harkened to my love for a good, real-life first-person girl’s story. I saw Sebastian as an early Mr. Big and the betrayal by her best friend and the conflict with the over-popular bully are just hints at what Carrie will have to learn to live with in New York City.
By the way, Ms. Bushnell, awesome twist to Donna LaDonna’s secret family member. I cheered. I’m also super excited that they’re making a movie for this book now. Something else to cheer about!

Smith, L.J. The Secret Circle: The Initiation and The Captive, Part I. Harper Teen, New York, 1992. ISBN: 9780062119001
Cassie Blake and her mother move to New Salem where she meets a group of witches. She discovers that all of their families have been bonded together by the making of a new city, and the untimely deaths of their parents. Despite her acceptance into the group by Diana, the cruel Faye holds Cassie captive (hence the title) in lieu of blackmail. Cassie and Adam know they are destined to be together but the friendly and beautiful Diana already has been in love with Adam for years.
I read this book as an alternative to The Vampire Diaries popularity with the books and TV show. Unlike the Secret Circle show, the ideas that were brought forth in this first book were pulled together nicely to make a basic plot to work with for all of the episodes. I can only assume that the second book has more about the witch hunters and the other boys that Cassie has tried to be involved with but as far as the book goes, it was pretty bland.
What I did find interesting is that I felt like a teenager again as I read this because it reminded me so much of the Christopher Pike books I devoured in high school. After I just looked at the publishing date as 1992, this makes complete sense and it just goes to show that there may very well be a time for your book to hit it big – even if it takes twenty years.

Now that I’ve finished my stint of YA books, I am planning on a few classic books to get under my belt. More updates soon!

Technorati Tags: Bushnell,Meyer,Collins,Smith,Stiefvater,Breaking Dawn,Carrie Diaries,Hunger Games,Catching Fire,Secret Circle,Shiver

Review of “Eclipse”

Meyer, Stephenie. Eclipse. Little Brown, New York, 2007. ISBN: 9780316027656
Edward is now back in Bella’s life, much to her father and Jacob’s dismay.  Now Bella has to deal with a strange intruder in her room and the discord between the werewolves and the vampires.  Edward and Bella get engaged but she realizes that she loves Jacob as well.  What’s a girl to do? 
I’m starting my review of Eclipse before I finish it so I can keep tabs on the reactions I have throughout the book.  First I have a hard time with Bella.  She is in love with Edward but not for his money and beauty, as she claims, but because of him because of how caring he is.  Okay, fine.  So he never lets her out of his sight, never lets her visit Jacob, already made her father hate him for leaving her a mess, but yet she wants to become a vampire, marry him and leave everyone behind?  Rosalie already explained how awful the pain was and how much not having a normal life sucks.  And this girl is our heroine whom we want to see happy in the end?  Is what the heroine wants better than what we as the reader want though? 
Bella tells Jacob that, “I love him [Edward]. Not because he’s beautiful or because he’s rich” (110).  Oh, that’s a good one, Bella.  That’s the only reason you love him.  A couple hundred pages later she says, “I had so many more important things to think about, but his smile still knocked the breath out of me.  He was so beautiful that it made it hard sometimes to think about anything else…I was only human” (314-5).  That’s right, Bella, you’re a stupid human.
She was an emotional wreck when Edward left and Jacob was there to befriend her.  But now that Edward is back and gung-ho on this whole marriage thing, she’s mad at everyone who is standing in her way.  Oh no, my father doesn’t deserve how nice my boyfriend is to him.  Oh no, Jacob doesn’t like him and so I have to fight with him all the time.  And if I want to go see him I can’t anyway because my vampire cult soon-to-be in-laws are keeping me captive. Oh well, I’m only human.
I don’t like Bella.  I guess Meyer wants to write her abhorrence for marriage to be some testament to her problems of being a child of divorce.  But how does that work?  All she does is cook and clean for her father.  He tries to stick up for her but she’s not worried about leaving him forever as a vampire, she’s just worried about Alice being disappointed that she can’t do a wedding for her. Yes, I totally believe that this girl is this beloved that everyone would take the time to go out of their way to force her to be social.  She doesn’t do anything that gives her any personality except get depressed and ride motorcycles (hence why New Moon is the best book so far.)
I don’t like Edward.  He’s a pretty vampire.  Hooray.  He loves Bella and wants to “protect” her so he suffocates her.  She is never out of his sight or ever anywhere without his say-so.  In the real world we call this abuse.
But this is fiction and we understand that love is blind and dumb (very dumb) and things happen because of the intensity of a love relationship.  Honestly though, it didn’t need to go on this long.  Someone had said you can read the first book and the last and get the whole drift of the story.  I believe that.  This book was merely fluff.
I really don’t want to read the last book.  Eclipse was the dullest thing, albeit entertaining in a Snakes on a Plane kind of way, but still nothing happened except for some lovey drama and some dismembering towards the very end.  Wow.  I had to read through three back stories (snore) and then being told over and over that this book was based on Wuthering Heights because Lord knows I or any teenage reader would be too dumb to figure this out.  (And besides, Heathcliff had a deep, long-rooted love for Cathy that went way beyond a year of being stalked by a vampire and…you know what, never mind.)
I’ll go as far as to say that the idea is great, it just could have been done better.  And what was up with the epilogue being written in Jacob’s point of view?  Where the heck did that come from?  You have four books in a series and at the end of the third you decide to throw in a different narrator?  Meyer must have gotten as sick of Bella as we did. 
I was told that Jacob tells half of the story in the last book too.  No, just no.  I don’t want to read anything about how much he loves this little twit and how she is the “stubbornest” person in the world.  I also don’t care if Bella and Edward get married, have a wedding night, have a kid, turn into a vampire or anything.  I read other criticisms;  I know how disappointing it’s going to be even if it had a chance of being interesting. 
But, alas, I’ve made it this far.  I’ll take a hiatus and read Breaking Dawn at some point and put that under my belt of experiences.  I just don’t know when I can stomach it.  I’m afraid my own writing is going to suffer from the saturation of bad writing. (Sorry, Stephenie, I know you tried.) 

Review of “New Moon”

Meyer, Stephenie.  New Moon. Kindle. Hachette, London, 2009. ISBN: 1904233880
On Bella’s sixteenth birthday, the Cullens have thrown her a party.  Once there, she unwraps a present and cuts her finger, leaving Edward’s brother, Jasper, trying to attack her.  The Cullens decide to move and Edward tells Bella that they need to make “a clean break.”  Bella is shocked and hurt and is discovered in the woods by Sam Uley, one of Jacob Black’s friends.  For months Bella is depressed and there is no sign of Edward or his family.  Eventually Bella becomes closer to her friend Jacob Black, a match her father Charlie approves of.  Bella feels happy again with Jacob and starts riding motorcycles with him.  However, the memory of Edward lingers and each time she finds herself in the midst of danger, his voice is in her head.  Jacob suddenly stops calling her and after an incident where she had seen Laurent in the same woods where Edward had left her, she discovers that Jacob and his friends are all a pack of young werewolves.  In order to hear the “delusion” of Edward’s voice again she decides to go cliff jumping alone and nearly drowns until Jacob saves her.  In a vision Alice, Edward’s sister, comes back to see Bella only to find that she is only alive.  Edward, however, believes she is dead and goes to Italy to try and get the Volturi family to kill him.  Bella and Alice have to go and stop him where the Volturi family explain that Bella must become a vampire in order to appease them.
This book is young adult / teen romantic fantasy.  I liked this book immensely better than Twilight.  Without the blubbering over Edward, Bella had some kind of real personality.  She was heartbroken, depressed, interested in motorcycles, had new friends…she was a teenaged girl hanging out with a teenaged boy.  I liked the character of Jacob Black a lot and I hope that Meyer gives him more to do in Eclipse as well.  The detail that Bella gives Edward is just about his allure and his “perfect” insert-random-body-part-here.  The relationship with Jacob was much more enduring and much more connective.  I actually felt like Bella was a real human being.
However, it amazed me that while we were all pretty much guessing that Jacob was a werewolf in Twilight, poor Bella couldn’t figure it out even after Jacob’s persistence to remember exactly what he has told her.  (The treaty about the vampires and werewolves in Forks.)  I don’t like being two steps ahead of the narrator.  I also like the Native American legend of the werewolves too.  To me that’s very cool and it makes some kind of sense.  Native American oral legend would have tales of men turning into wolves - a creature they honour.  So Meyer did a good job on that, in my humble opinion.  I’m still not sure why they turn into wolves when they get mad instead of when the moon is full (*cough cough* Title of the novel. *cough cough*) but I can overlook that.  It’s also way more interesting to me, again, that these young wolves are just that – young.  It works well and I enjoyed the story of them.
But of course the vampires showed up again.  Now, the whole Volturi thing bugged me a bit but making them very creepy was a good way to go.  I haven’t even watched the stinking movie and I knew who Dakota Fanning’s character was the minute they described her.  The Volturi reminded me of Interview with the Vampire so it felt a little more like a traditional vampire story.  I still don’t understand how the “delusions” of hearing Edward’s voice was just the truth coming to the surface instead of some cool ability to speak to Bella when they are at such a distance (as opposed to when they’re always together.)  Seems kind of cheap to me.  And what’s with the hyphenating of words, Stephenie Meyer? “Too-big” and “too-warm” are not proper words.  Plus, everyone in this book is either chuckling or hissing.  Can’t they just talk?  Oh yeah, they’re monsters, so no?
Ultimately I do like this in some ways and in some ways I don’t.  I know Meyer said she didn’t like having to have Edward be gone for so long but I love that it gave Bella some depth and Jacob more purpose.  I don’t like that this is going to lead into “see ya, I’m off to be a bloodsucker now.”  I guess Meyer is trying to ease it more with Jacob being so angry (and potentially hurting Bella if this happens.)  But that will be for my review of Eclipse which I fumbled through the first 20% of already before writing this review.
I like that they have discussion questions in the back of the book too.  If books that are this engaging for young readers they need to know how to analyse the material in a way that they can transfer it to other school books.

Review of “Twilight”

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. Little, Brown Book Group, London, 2005. ISBN: 9781904233657
Isabella “Bella” Swan moves from her mother in Phoenix, AZ to live with her father in Forks, Washington.  At high school she sees the most beautiful creatures whom don’t seem that young to be 17.  Among them is Edward Cullen who doesn’t date despite his good looks and wealth that attracts attention.  Bella is scorned by Edward and is confused why he hates her so much.  When Jacob Black, a family friend tells her of the Indian legend that vampires have lived in that area, Bella begins wondering how much of the legend is true. Finally after almost being attacked by two thugs, Edward saves her and admits to Bella on the (fast) car ride home that he is what she thinks he is.  Edward and Bella get to know one another by him asking her all about her favourite things and sticking by her side day in and day out.  Eventually he shows her his true nature of sparkling in the sun as a vampiric Greek god and admits to her that she is “his type of heroine” so he loves her and wants to kill her all at the same time.  Bella meets the family, a bunch of other vampires who were turned by their father, Carslie who lived in London at the turn of the century.  During a baseball game outside, a vampire from another clan tracks Bella, convinces her to meet him alone in Phoenix in order to save her mother, and ultimately tries to kill her.  After being beaten severely, Edward’s family comes to save her and kill off the tracker vampire.  Bella sustains multiple injuries but is ultimately okay.  She wishes that Edward had turned her into a vampire too but Edward refuses.
Let me start my review by saying that like all readers picking up this book after the fact that the phenomenon that is Twilight is still in full fury, I wanted to have an open mind about this.  I tried to keep the images of the movie out of my head as I read but I did finally understand why they chose the two actors to play Bella and Edward.  Bella is boring and Edward looks bizarre in a frozen corpse kind of way.
While I give Meyer credit for creating an Indian legend that I can only assume she has fleshed out in later books because I’ve seen the Jacob character used in plenty of Twilight movie trailers and paraphernalia.  I also give her credit for creating the stories of the vampires but disregarding the other “myths” of vampires makes it feel like the author just couldn’t be bothered.  What gets me is that Meyer pretty much tells the reader how she created these characters through Bella.  Bella not only looks up vampires on Google but she reads Victorian novels that have the same romantic plots as Twilight.  Actually, with the big SAT words thrown in to show off Meyer’s English degree, it felt more of a fantasy played out on paper than a good story.  Meyer says that she dreamed up the idea of a pretty vampire in love with a mortal girl.  Her ability to run with a good idea for 434 pages is pretty good, so my hat’s off to Mrs. Meyer on that.
However, reading as a writer, the characters had nothing deep to figure out about them.  Meyer spoon feeds us every breathe, chuckle and gaze in so much dialogue that there’s nothing to try and figure out.  There is no ulterior motives, backstory or hints to how the plot will end for each character.  I can see why people like this book because they can feel as if they are Bella.  Bella has no redeeming characteristics at all.  She’s clumsy, trusting and cooks.  She never says anything witty, she doesn’t have a specific look or interests or even gives the reader any indication of why we should care about her. At least with Anne Rice’s novels, you had a story about the vampire characters and why we should care about their situation.
And the whole relationship with Edward is based on “he’s pretty, I love him.”  I’d need way more to convince me to root for a doomed relationship in a novel.  The descriptions of how perfect Edward is gets tiresome.  Is he funny?  Is he interesting?  Does he like The Beatles?  Why would she be in love with him especially when he is a murderer?  He wants to kill her yet she will leave her whole family to be with his serial killer family?  Bella is just dumb if that’s the case.
I read the book easily up until about 5 different stupid parts.  After knowing Edward could read minds, I put it down.  Dumb.  If there were scenes of him seducing people or him being able to read thoughts as a scene was taking place, that would be almost okay.  But when everything is revealed in dialogue?  Blah.  Not interesting at all.  Same goes for the baseball scene (vampires play baseball – everyone knows this), Bella needing to go home to get her things even though a tracking, stalking vampire would be following them and waiting to kill her and her father was like a Nightmare on Elm Street scene.  I’m surprised she didn’t find bodies in the kitchen, then proceed to take a shower because surely Freddy Kruger wouldn’t be still lurking around.
If the book had been written in 3rd person, which I don’t generally prefer, the whole essence of each character would be a little more empathetic.  I’ve read reviews saying that the minor characters were much more interesting than Bella and Edward.  Again, I can only assume Meyer would have delved into the material she had and created a better plot and a better catalyst for the scenes between the werewolves and other vampire clans (yes, I’ve seen the film trailer). 
All in all, this book proves that bestsellers aren’t quality books and it’s given me even more motivation to write.  J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien’s work is well written and they created a whole world of empathic characters that gives them every right to have world-round esteem.  If something like Twilight, however, can be this popular, I think any writer could take a stab at writing a young adult novel.  Heck, because of the Harlequin romance type descriptions (minus the obvious age appropriate details) we even have a “paranormal romance” genre now thanks to this novel!

Review of “Crank”

Hopkins, Ellen. Crank. First Simon Pulse, New York, 2004. ISBN: 9781416995135
Kristina Snow has found herself a new personality: Bree.  Bree does all the things Kristina would never do, including drugs.  After going away to visit her loser father, she is introduced to crank by her father’s neighbor.  Soon Kristina’s life back at home with her mother spirals out of control.  Skipping school, running away from home, being raped, getting arrested and being an all-around nightmare is all due to “the monster” of crystal meth.  Once Kristina learns she is pregnant, not by her boyfriend, but by her attacker, she decides to have the baby and clean up.
Unlike other novels in verse such as What My Mother Doesn’t Know, this book really deals with more gritty realistic issues like those of Go Ask Alice.  Like many novels now, the topic is something shocking.  However, knowing that Ellen Hopkins wrote this after dealing with her own daughter’s drug addiction, I felt more interested.  I wondered how Hopkins felt about the mother as she wrote her – does she think/know that her daughter felt the same way towards her during those times?
School Library Journal reviews this by saying, “The poems are masterpieces of word, shape, and pacing, compelling readers on to the next chapter in Kristina's spiraling world. This is a topical page-turner and a stunning portrayal of a teen's loss of direction and realistically uncertain future.”  The power of the poetry and the intense subject matter make this work very well.  What I love about these novels in verse is that you get straight to the heart of the issues and never have to wait for the author to get to the point. 
I now have the second book in the series, Glass.  I’m glad Hopkins is putting out an adult fiction novel too. I’d love to see how this style of writing can work for the genre. 

Review of “Wintergirls”

Anderson, Laurie Halse.  Wintergirls.  Viking, New York, 2009.  ISBN:  9780670011100

Lia’s best friend Cassie has just died alone in a hotel room.  Lia still doesn’t know what the cause for her death was.  What she does know is that Cassie called her 33 times the night she died.  Lia never answered.  They hadn’t been best friends anymore and now Cassie haunts Lia day and night.  They shared a pact, a competition, to become the skinniest girls in school.  Lia’s anorexia coupled with her parents’ divorce and the ghost of her ex-best friend put Lia in a strange fantasy land that only a Wintergirl can understand.

This book has a mixture of reality and fantasy.  Unlike Anderson’s Speak, this novel has much more vivid hallucinations, or, hauntings as the protagonists views them.  The same theme of a devastating circumstance is still present, however, and as in Speak, Anderson weaves the daily pain with a very traumatic event.  There’s a lot going on with this main character and you get pulled into her world.  With Lia, her troubles are more sinister and creepy.  Heck, they’re downright disturbing.  But you still want to be the reader who helps her through to the end where she can finally begin to thaw.

School Library Journal reviewed this book by stating, “As events play out, Lia's guilt, her need to be thin, and her fight for acceptance unravel in an almost poetic stream of consciousness in this startlingly crisp and pitch-perfect first-person narrative. The text is rich with words still legible but crossed out, the judicious use of italics, and tiny font-size refrains reflecting her distorted internal logic. All of the usual answers of specialized treatment centers, therapy, and monitoring of weight and food fail to prevail while Lia's cleverness holds sway. What happens to her in the end is much less the point than traveling with her on her agonizing journey of inexplicable pain and her attempt to make some sense of her life.”  I would use this book, as with Anderson’s other books, for a real-to-fiction project in a high school English class.  The students could choose Wintergirls and discuss the issues that the book address to the class as a group and/or in a visual presentation.

Review for “Lunch Lady”

Krosoczka, Jarrett J.  Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute.  Random House, New York, 2009.  ISBN: 9780375946837

The kids at school wonder what kind of life the Lunch Lady leads.  Soon after the new substitute seems a bit odd, the Lunch Lady begins her work and gets to the bottom of things.  She finds out that the odd substitute is a robot, created by the science teacher to get the kids to hate all other teachers for giving them extra robot-ordered homework.  Then the science teacher can be Teacher of the Year, or so he thinks.  The Lunch Lady and her sidekick figure out that the teacher is a robot and she fights the clan of evil robots away from the kids.  All seems well at the lunchroom again until we find that the evil cyborg substitute is at the jail, requesting new orders from the science teacher.

Vardell states that, “there needs to be a clear and consistent point of view that encourages the reader to believe in this fantasy world and engage in the ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ for the length of the novel.”  This is the power of the Lunch Lady books.  These books are great graphic novels that are easy to read, full of unbelievable circumstances, but just such great fun that you don’t mind.  It really reminds me of the Captain Underpants series that my middle school students really enjoyed.

Booklist (Mar 1, 2009) reviewed this book by stating, “This tongue-in-cheek superheroine graphic novel will hit the spot for chapter-book readers. Lunch Lady and Betty, her assistant in both the cafeteria and her role of wrong-­righting supersleuth, investigate the strange case of an absent teacher, his creepy substitute, and a plan to grab the Teacher of the Year Award by truly foul means. Three little kids join in the action as Lunch Lady, equipped with a variety of high-tech kitchen gadgets like a spatu-copter and a lunch-tray laptop, tracks a cleverly disguised robot to his maker's lab, where a whole army of cyborgs require kicking, stomping, and the wielding of fish-stick nunchucks. Yellow-highlighted pen-and-ink cartoons are as energetic and smile-provoking as Lunch Lady's epithets of Cauliflower! and Betty's ultimate weapon, the hairnet. There is a nice twist in the surprise ending, and the kids' ability to stand up to the school bully shows off their newfound confidence in a credible manner. Little details invite and reward repeat readings with visual as well as verbal punning.” 

I agree that there is so much subtle detail in the pictures, the way the graphics are arranged, the little play on words here and there and, the movement of the story.  It works so well as a comic book style tale of a superhero.  This is just such a nice way to put the situation into a school with fantastical scenes that I think a lot of young readers, male or female, will really enjoy these.  I would suggest keeping such graphic novels available in my classroom or school library.  For those who are reluctant readers, this has the basic elements of character, plot, setting, theme and style so any kind of book report or presentation would be done well by using a Lunch Lady book.

Review for “Speak”

Anderson, Laurie Halse.  Speak.  Scholastic, New York, 2003.  ISBN: 0439640105

Melinda is a high school student who doesn’t talk much.  However, she does speak, just not about what’s really troubling her.  Over the summer she and her friend Rachel had attended a party.  Something happened and Melinda called the police.  Lots of people at her school, including Rachel, now shun Melinda who looks odd.  There’s something wrong with her lips and her attitude.  People got arrested at that party for drinking underage and it’s all her fault.  If they really knew what happened to her, that the popular boy at school, Andy Evans (Rachel’s new boyfriend) was a predator, they would be able to understand why Melinda is so withdrawn.

Vardell writes, “More unfamiliar problems that are increasingly common, though not necessarily universal, are coping with divorce, dealing with drugs or alcohol abuse, and the effects of violence, abuse, aging, disease, disability and death, even the death of a child.  This expanding rand of life experiences is part of our global society in the twenty-first century.  Good literature reflects these complexities and portrays children coping with them in realistic settings; great literature weaves these elements seamlessly throughout a compelling story.”  This is how Speak works.  On one hand the story is just of being a high school student, dealing with social class issues in an institution and unfair teachers.  The issues that Melinda has due to violence effects everything she does.  But you don’t know exactly what happened to her until further in the book.  That makes the story so good.  It’s not pushing any kind of anti-violence campaign on the reader, rather, it shows how the protagonist is effected by the violence.

School Library Journal (Oct 1, 1999) reviewed this book by stating, “As the school year goes on, her grades plummet and she withdraws into herself to the point that she's barely speaking. Her only refuge is her art class, where she learns to find ways to express some of her feelings. As her freshman year comes to an end, Melinda finally comes to terms with what happened to her-she was raped at that party by an upperclassman who is still taunting her at school. When he tries again, she finds her voice, and her classmates realize the truth. The healing process will take time, but Melinda no longer has to deal with it alone. Anderson expresses the emotions and the struggles of teenagers perfectly. Melinda's pain is palpable, and readers will totally empathize with her. This is a compelling book, with sharp, crisp writing that draws readers in, engulfing them in the story.”  The book won the Printz Honor 2000, Golden Kit Award, ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults, Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, Booklists Top Ten First Novel of 1999, BCCB Blue Ribbon Book Award, SLJ Best Book the Year and is a 1999 National Book Award Finalist.

This is a book that can stand to be used in high schools.  I would choose some other realistic fiction such as Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes and get a few small sets.  Then I would have students read excerpts and choose which book they want to read on their own.  Those who chose the same book are their group members.  They will read the book, give a basic story plot and demonstrate what the message is for the book.  For instance, in Speak there is an anti-violence and date rape awareness that students could report on.  They would make visuals such as posters that show images (appropriate for school) about the book and its message.

I really liked this book too and I’m glad I read it.  I look forward to reading more of Anderson’s books as well as similar YA contemporary realistic fiction.  I wasn’t aware that this was even a genre and I’m so glad to learn about it.  It’s very engaging for me because I love realistic stories with a 1st person point of view over fantasy for the most part.

Review of “The Wednesday Wars”

Schmidt, Gary D.  The Wednesday Wars.  Clarion, New York, 2007.  ISBN: 0618724834
Holling Hoodhood must stay in Mrs. Baker’s class in the year 1967.  The Vietnam War is going on and Mrs. Baker’s husband is a soldier there.  However, Holling doesn’t learn that, or that Mrs. Baker is an Olympiad, until later.  First he has to deal with Wednesdays when he stays in her class while the other kids go to Catechism or Hebrew school.  He is forced to clean chalkboards, clean the coat closet, then read Shakespeare.  Eventually he and Mrs. Baker form a bond but the Vietnam war still rages on.
Vardell states that, “Historical fiction definitely offers meaty content that has teachable value” (176).  There is plenty of historical reference for the 1960s that a student could gather from by using this book as a tool.  For a classroom lesson, I would read the book aloud and use any historical reference (Jesse Owen, Vietnam War, Mickey Mantle, etc.) and have students report back what information they learned about each subject.  This book is quite entertaining because it mixes unrealistic (the name Hoodhood and his fear of a teacher are my first notions of the absurd) but with the real theme of the Vietnam War. 
This book has won ALA’s Notable Books for Children award in 2008 as well as both Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Book award and Best Books of the Year in 2007.  Booklist (June 1, 2007) gave this book a starred review by saying, “On Wednesday afternoons, while his Catholic and Jewish schoolmates attend religious instruction, Holling Hoodhood, the only Presbyterian in his seventh grade, is alone in the classroom with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, who Holling is convinced hates his guts. He feels more certain after Mrs. Baker assigns Shakespeare's plays for Holling to discuss during their shared afternoons. Each month in Holling's tumultuous seventh-grade year is a chapter in this quietly powerful coming-of-age novel set in suburban Long Island during the late '60s. The slow start may deter some readers, and Mrs. Baker is too good to be true: she arranges a meeting between Holling and the New York Yankees, brokers a deal to save a student's father's architectural firm, and, after revealing her past as an Olympic runner, coaches Holling to the varsity cross-country team.”  It is definitely a book that has something that male readers could get into, especially with explanation of the historical references in the book.  I would also go as far as to suggest the class watches an episode of The Wonder Years, because it reminded me a lot of that television series.  I suggest Shooting the Moon as another comparable book if students are reading a novel in groups or choosing their own themes novel for a book report.

Review of “Catherine, called Birdy”

Cushman, Karen.  Catherine, called Birdy. Clarion, New York, 1994.  ISBN: 0395681863
Catherine is a “typical” girl living in 1200s England.  Her father wants to marry her off and her mother is teaching her to embroider cloth and act lady-like.  The story is told with a funny tone even though this girl is living in deplorable circumstances.  She is living with fleas, being “cracked” by her father, being sold off to “Shaggy Beard” and told to write an account of her life in order to become more mature.  Instead of hearing about princesses, as Cushman explains, this book is about the real life of a normal girl in medieval England.  Catherine has hopes and dreams to have a better life.  She is smart and talented but she has a kind heart towards animals.  Luckily, Shaggy Beard dies and she only has to marry his son, Stephen.
Vardell writes, “Cushman’s Newberry winning novel, The Midwife’s Apprentice…tells of a dirty, homeless girl in Medieval England who learns self-respect as well as midwifery in this short, excellent read aloud” (180).  This book is a bit more detailed to be a read-aloud I think, but the same premise is there.  By making this book show young readers (especially young female readers) there is an awareness of what kind of life young women had to endure.  I think readers will connect with the epistolary style.  Vardell states, “A well-written historical novel can give children a sense of participation in the past, a sense of continuity, of our place in the sweep of human destiny” (176).  This diary of a 13 year old girl really would give a reader a sense of participation in her world.
This book has won the Newberry Award  and the Golden Kite Award in 1994.  School Library Journal (June 1, 1994) reviews this book by saying, “This unusual book provides an insider's look at the life of Birdy, 14, the daughter of a minor English nobleman. The year is 1290 and the vehicle for storytelling is the girl's witty, irreverent diary. She looks with a clear and critical eye upon the world around her, telling of the people she knows and of the daily events in her small manor house. Much of Birdy's energy is consumed by avoiding the various suitors her father chooses for her to marry. She sends them all packing with assorted ruses until she is almost wed to an older, unattractive man she refers to as Shaggy Beard. In the process of telling the routines of her young life, Birdy lays before readers a feast of details about medieval England. The book is rich with information about the food, dress, religious beliefs, manners, health, medical practices, and sanitary habits (or lack thereof) of the people of her day.”  I would love to see young female readers use one of Cushman’s books for a historical novel book report.  I know the local library keeps the Dear America series on the top shelf because many students come in looking for a required historical fiction novel for a report.  Carolyn Meyer’s books would be of interest to young readers also.  I think most students would like to tell the class all about the ways of life that children of such time periods lived.

Review of “The Green Glass Sea”

Klagas, Ellen.  The Green Glass Sea: A Novel.  Viking, 2006.  ISBN: 0670061344
The Green Glass Sea is about Dewey Kerrigan who goes to Los Alamos to live with her father.  There he and many other scientists and mathematicians are creating “the gadget”, or, the atomic bomb during the 1940s.  She is an eccentric child who has a lame leg and an interest in radio building.  She encounters Suze who is a trouble maker and not accepted by the girls at school either.  They both have to live together in this closed off section of the world while their parents create something important for the Army.
Vardell states that, “Historical fiction may be one of the most difficult genres to promote.  Nearly all children respond to the immediacy of contemporary realistic fiction, and many avid, imaginative readers seek out fantasy novels that are hundreds of pages long” (175).  I understand this statement completely with The Green Glass Sea.  While this novel is based on something interesting for adults, the whole construct of the plot is quite flat.  There isn’t much going on and without the element of the Los Alamos backdrop, this book wouldn’t be terribly interesting.  Granted the characters like Dewey are different but they don’t do much.  I think this is the problem with creating a good historical fiction novel.  Vardell continues that, “the majority of historical fiction for young people is set in the United States prior to 1950”, which this novel is (179).   Using a touchy subject like the atomic bomb which most young readers wouldn’t know about (heck, they don’t understand why 9/11 was such an important day) this would need a whole lot of explanation before giving it to a classroom.
However,  this book did win the Scott O’Dell Historical Fiction Award in 2007 and School Library Journal (November 1, 2007) reviews it by saying, “Ellen Klages's impeccably researched novel (Viking, 2006) is set in Los Alamos, New Mexico, between 1943 and 1945. Dewey Kerrigan, age 11, has been bounced from her parents to her grandmother. When her grandmother can no longer care for her, the girl joins her father at a secret military location. Her father works with preeminent scientists in Los Alamos, racing to research, develop, and build the ultimate military weapon. Work at Los Alamos forces Dewey's father to travel and a colleague agrees to keep Dewey, who adapts to the new situation, the community, and the school.”  Therefore, using it in a cross-curriculum lesson would work well.  Apparently young readers like this book.  If there were lessons on WWII, the atom bomb and perhaps a book like The Boy in the Stripes Pajamas to give students a real sense of what kinds of impact the war had on people, especially children.  I’d suggest a YA book that discusses Japan during WWII as well, if there is one available.  I just wonder if students could really become interested in this period of history.  Again, since the book is well-received maybe it will be a good way to get them to learn about WWII.

Review of “Walt Whitman”

Kerley, Barbara and Brian Selznick.  Walt Whitman: Words for America.  Scholastic Press. 2004.  ISBN: 0439357918

America’s poet, Walt Whitman, began working as a printer’s apprentice.  Soon after surrounding himself with words through books at the library, plays and listening to famous speakers, he was writing and printing his own newspaper.  His assistant was his eight-year-old brother, George.  Walt went to Brooklyn and began writing poetry about “the common people” of the United States.  Walt travelled more to the South where he wondered what he could do to help his country during the time of slavery and the brink of a Civil War.  Walt read letters from his brother, George, who served in the Civil War.  Walt continued to write and spent his time caring for wounded soldiers – one of them being his own brother.  Walt often saw President Abraham Lincoln ride by.  His intense admiration for Lincoln was apparent when he wrote “O Captain, My Captain” for the fallen President.  Today Walt is still remembered as being a voice of the American people.

Vardell writes that, “Enticing children to read biographies got a little bit easier with the arrival of picture book biographies.  Here the presence of extensive illustrations adds visual interest along with details that enhance the authenticity of the time and place of the setting.  In addition, the art helps personalize the subject” (245).  This picture biography of Walt Whitman is full of beautiful illustrations that capture the facts about the poet.  While this is a book for children, the in depth poetic analysis would be too much for such an audience, so this book does a great job of sticking to important facts.  The big illustrations of Walt with his brother and seeing Lincoln on his horse, for example, give a connection to the information.  This being a book for grades 4 and up, I would use for middle school and even older students.  Poetry is something hard to grasp for many students so having a simple biography with visual queues can help them comprehend what the poetry is about when we get to that heavier material.

Booklist (November 15, 2004) reviews this book by saying, “The vicissitudes of a poet's life are of less inherent interest to young readers than dinosaur bones, and what whisper of excitement there is in Whitman's biography, Kerley downplays by focusing on his war-scarred twilight years rather than his reverberating "barbaric yawp" against starchy literary tradition. Like his collaborator's narrative, though, Selznick's contributions reflect a keen passion for research, right down to the subtle references to early editions of Leaves of Grass 0 in the book's typeface and design. Try this sophisticated offering on readers who won't quail at the lengthy text and who will be less likely to skip the dense, illuminating endnotes. Younger readers may profit more from the more straightforward presentation of Whitman's words in Loren Long's excellent When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer.”  Again, since Whitman’s poetry is a big hefty for young readers I would use a book like Long’s to couple with the lesson on Whitman.  I can see using this in an effort to tie a middle school class’s History lesson into their English curriculum (something public schools are really encouraged to do with the help of their school librarians.)