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 for "When You Reach Me”

Stead, Rebecca.  When You Reach Me.  Wendy Lamb Books, New York, 2009.  ISBN:  9780385906647

Miranda has read A Wrinkle In Time over and over.  Soon she starts talking to Marcus, a kid who punched her friend Sal.  He has read her book and disputes the idea of time travel.  Mysterious notes asking her to tell exactly what happened so that when her mysterious correspondent reaches her, they can do the right thing…again.  The book weaves the realistic in with the fantastical and the story of Miranda is an amazing adventure that you don’t realize you’re taking until you’re already into the book.  It’s wonderful;  a real masterpiece that any reader would enjoy.

Vardell states, “Fantasy is fantasy because it contains elements or events that cannot happen in the real world, as far as we know.  These may be magic, but not necessarily.  It may be technologically impossible, like time travel.  This element of the impossible, yet probable, is a big part of the appeal of modern fantasy literature.”  I have to agree with this statement.  The beauty of a story like this is, as I said, it’s mixed with the real and unreal.  While Miranda can be dealing with issues of racism, she’s also dealing with someone predicting her future in letters.  Plus, the fact that A Wrinkle in Time is the catalyst for why these kids believe time travel is possible is another beautiful element of the story.  It makes it believable to the kids in the book and, therefore, the reader buys the possibility as well.  I also applaud Stead for not having to go overboard in explanation about how and why the time travel occurs.  There’s enough information that the reader needs to buy the possibility because it is just one part of the whole story.

When You Reach Me has deservingly won the following awards:  Newberry Medal 2010, Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Books 2009, Book Sense Book of the Year 2010, IRA Children’s Book Awards 2010, Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards 2010 as well as being nominated for several others.  School Library Journal (July 1, 2009) reviewed this book by saying, “Discerning readers will realize the ties between Miranda's mystery and L'Engle's plot, but will enjoy hints of fantasy and descriptions of middle school dynamics. Stead's novel is as much about character as story. Miranda's voice rings true with its faltering attempts at maturity and observation. The story builds slowly, emerging naturally from a sturdy premise. As Miranda reminisces, the time sequencing is somewhat challenging, but in an intriguing way. The setting is consistently strong. The stores and even the streets-in Miranda's neighborhood act as physical entities and impact the plot in tangible ways. This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers.”  Again, I have to agree that this is appealing for various age groups and reading tastes.  I personally thought I didn’t like fantasy novels, but this one was incredible and I couldn’t put it down. 

I will go as far as to say this book could be used in a high school situation, especially for reluctant readers or lower level readers.  If permission would allow to show clips, I would show them some of Lost, especially the episode where Faraday and Desmond see one another in the past and the future and the audience realizes that they had made one another their “constant” or their “go-to person.”  I have heard librarians say that middle school students weren’t really into A Wrinkle in Time, so maybe for high school kids, some snippets here and there would work.  I suggest maybe assigning a chapter to a few groups in class to give presentations on what the story is about.  This will help get into reading When You Reach Me as a class.

I really can’t say enough good things about this book.  I’m saw it on the shelf at the library a handful of times and put it down because it has the whole Million Dollar Pyramid bit at the beginning.  Plus Miranda is supposed to be very young but you don’t get that idea when reading the book.  Again, I give this four stars and recommend it to everyone.  I even bought a copy on Amazon to keep in my book collection.