Walking to School

This book is really interesting, mostly because it dives into a current story line that I'm ashamed to say I know very little about. Using the cultural war between the Catholics and the Protestants in Ireland, the issues of race, prejudice, and unfair assumptions are explored with a vehicle that's different from our somewhat typical go-tos of America's black versus white and Germany's Holocaust. Those examples are extremely powerful and necessary, but the truth is that these issues exist elsewhere as well. I love that this unique picture book gives teachers or parents the avenue to discuss them with a brief plot that opens many doors for discussion. What's also interesting - and realistic, I think - is that the young protagonist is able to see so clearly what the adults around her cannot: both sides of this feud see themselves as wholly pure and righteous in their actions but scrutinize every action of the other side as foul and deserving of punishment. It's just simply not the case, and even this young girl is able to see that as she listens and observes. This would be a great introduction to a unit to get conversations started with kids, and to perhaps introduce a world of other examples of prejudice from all over the world.

Wintergirls

For all the intensity that Laurie Halse Anderson's famous book, Speak, provides, I have to say that Wintergirls provides more. Words that flashed through my mind while reading this book - which explores the world of teenage anorexia, cutting, and suicide - include heartbreaking, frustrating, haunting, and shocking. Anderson gives the reader a window into the mind of her main character Lia in a way that surpasses nearly every other fictional book that I've read. I know that's a bold statement, but let me put it this way: while reading this book, I caught myself turning down a muffin fresh out of the oven because I could be strong and resist. I am not exaggerating and I am not speaking lightly; this book gets inside your head as you get inside Lia's, and it's more than a little disturbing.

Lia and her best friend Cassie have been competing to be the thinnest for years; Lia's chosen method is anorexia while Cassie is bulimic. When Cassie kills herself, though, in the first few pages of the book, and Lia is left alone. Battling against her parents, doctors, teachers, and potential friends, Lia tries her hardest to cheat the systems set in place to protect her and continue spiraling downhill towards the "goals" she's set for herself, even though her best friend is no longer with her. Another small hiccup is that Lia and Cassie had abruptly gone their separate ways months before Cassie's death, creating a world of guilt and inner turmoil for Lia that she doesn't share with anyone but you are an eyewitness to. Just like Speak - and so many of Anderson's books, as I'm finally learning - this book immediately draws you in with its unique writing style, beautiful vocabulary choices, and heartbreaking honesty. I can't even begin to imagine the research that must have taken place in order to write from inside the mind of a girl struggling with anorexia and cutting, but it definitely paid off.

Despite its incredible positives, I am hesitant to bring it into my classroom, not because it's inappropriate but because it's so deeply disturbing and troublesome that I think it would be difficult for many 7th graders to read and appreciate fully. (By the way, I'll be teaching 7th grade this Fall...just found out!) There are definitely 7th graders who could handle it, but I wouldn't want to have it on a community shelf for anyone to pick up. It's deep, it's painful, and it seriously messes with you. I wasn't exaggerating at all about me starting to pay attention to what I ate and how often I was working out...I would never in a million years want an impressionable middle school girl to pick this book up and interpret the wrong message, leading to the development of an eating or exercise disorder. I may, however, consider having a "behind the teacher's desk" bookshelf, which contains books such as this that may be fine for some but not for all, and that, with teacher's and parent's approval, be specially checked out. I've seen 8th grade teachers do that and it worked well. That all being said, this book is excellent, and highly - if not cautiously - recommended by me.

Speak

There are some books that speak (no pun intended) to you so profoundly that you keep thinking about them long after you finish the last page. This is one of those books, as is the other Laurie Halse Anderson book that I've just finished and will be reviewed in the next post. Anderson's unique style of writing gives you a front-and-center vantage point to all the pain and inner thoughts of Speak's main character, Melinda, who is dealing with the aftershock of being raped as well as outcasted by her entire group of friends due to a misunderstanding. Anderson's choice of writing style, which feels like a stream of consciousness more so than a diary or a typical first-person narrative, allows the reader to see not only Melinda's actions but also her thoughts and motives behind those actions. Sarcastic wit and humor are sprinkled throughout the story to keep you laughing occasionally despite the majority of the plot's upsetting details. Melinda's coping mechanism of choice is to stop speaking almost entirely with the hope that she would just disappear. Shockingly, she almost succeeds. You get to witness her parents' indifference, her teachers' ignorance, and her friends hatred all from Melinda's honest perspective; this front row seat will break your heart.

Aside from the beautiful writing and heartwrenching plot, I love this book because Anderson manages to handle extremely difficult and graphic material in a completely appropriate way. With very little bad language and almost no sexual content (the description of Melinda's rape is handled with extreme grace), I would happily share this book with students. I will say, though, that I will be sharing it only with discernment and careful selection. This book probably won't be on my classroom bookshelf open to just anyone, only because I want the students who read this plot to be able to handle it maturely. Rape is an extremely sensitive issue, and I think students who open themselves up to this book should be sensitive enough to handle it. I'll get into that more with the review of Anderson's other book, Wintergirls, next.

The Last Song

I need to be clear: for most of my life now, I've been a Nicholas Sparks snob. I love the movie The Notebook, but I have quietly made fun of the other movies, seeing them as cheesy and predictable. I loved the book A Walk to Remember when I read it in high school, but I told no one and never mentioned it again. I can't really say where this snobbery came from, but it's been there and I need to confess it. When I dropped a copy of The Last Song into my shopping cart after it first appeared, I was confused by my own actions. Aside from this being a Nicholas Sparks book, it's also starring Miley Cyrus: the book was written FOR the movie and therefore the protagonist's role was written FOR Miley. As much as I haven't been a Sparks fan, I'm much less of a Miley fan. So I still really don't understand how I own it. Even though I bought it, I didn't read it for...what? A year? A year and a half? I started it once and couldn't get past the annoying Miley voice in my head so I put it down. But for whatever reason, I picked it up a couple days ago, and....I loved it. And I have some apologizing to do.

To be fair to myself, I need to comment on the fact that Sparks reuses themes and plot devices quite often, and that some of his dialogue is cheesy and weak, and that the Epilogue was a little bit too Band-Aidey. But with those criticisms said, I really did enjoy this book a lot. I got hooked almost immediately this second time around, and I only got more hooked the more I read. The romance was sweet and snagged me instantly (if you've read any of my other posts you know that I'm such an easy sell for an attractive male character, despite my best efforts), and I appreciated the lack of sexual content SO much. There were two almost-scenes that didn't amount to anything, which was refreshing. Foul language was also basically nonexistent. (If I sound a little bit like a prude, it's just because I don't ever want to be accused of supporting/recommending/promoting books that a parent would be offended by for their middle school student, and any book that I can peacefully choose to leave on my classroom shelf rather than take off of it is a book I appreciate.) The story of Ronnie's (aka Miley's) relationship with her estranged father and annoying little brother is wonderful, full of heartwarming and heartbreaking goodness. Contrary to what I expected, I also found lots of surprising plot twists scattered throughout that kept me guessing and wondering how it would all play out. The fact that chapters rotate narrator also provides a great opportunity to discuss voice and perspective between characters.

So...I'm sorry. I'm sorry Nicholas Sparks, and I'm sorry unnamed friend of mine whose favorite author is Nicholas Sparks. I never should have laughed/scoffed/turned up my prideful nose at either of you. Or the rest of the Sparks-loving world. I was wrong.

If I Stay

Before I get into my review/thoughts about this book, let me say this: I will not be putting it on my classroom shelf. With an - only slightly - graphic pre-sex scene and a healthy dose of f-words scattered throughout, I can't in good conscious put it on my classroom shelf. I would be happy to see my students reading it and will probably recommend it to specific students who I know don't have a problem with language or whose parents are okay with it, but I can't put it on my shelf and effectively endorse it for every student. I understand the reality of the language middle schoolers use and read and hear, but I've chosen to keep my classroom library as clean as possible for my own protection as much as for the protection of my students. That being said...

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. It's been on my list for years and so when I found a partially spent gift card in my purse I snatched the opportunity to get it. I wasn't disappointed (except for the f-words that will keep it off my classroom shelf...). Seventeen-year-old Mia has a semi-perfect life. She's an incredibly talented cellist who loves classical music despite her former rocker parents. She's dating a rockstar whose band is rising in popularity, has a great little brother, and she is relatively happy. When her family gets into a tragic snow day accident, however, and she is the only one who survives but is trapped in a coma, Mia has some choices to make. Will she stay and live her new life that barely resembles the one she loved, or leave to escape the pain of having lost everything?

This story was heartbreaking but sweet, emotional but joyful. I cried throughout the book, but not for the reasons I expected. The character development was phenomenal, the storytelling was fluid and endearing, and the twists and turns were so refreshing. I couldn't put it down, and I immediately passed it on to my sister who ate it up as well. We can't wait to get our hands on the sequel; the first chapter of Where She Went was in the back of my copy of If I Stay, and I have to say that I am already freaking out about the plot twists and unexpected direction that Gayle Forman is taking Mia's plot. Basically, read this book immediately (but maybe not if you're in middle school...unless your parent says it's okay or you're not bothered by repeated use of the f-word).

The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero

Anyone who has read this blog in the last nine months or so knows that I am in love with Percy Jackson. I'm a huge, huge fan. So when I heard that Rick Riordan had started a new series featuring new demigods I got excited; when dear friends gave me the first book of that series to me as a graduation present I got really excited. I believe it goes without saying that I was not disappointed. I loved this book, and zoomed through the 557 pages in a couple of days.

The Heroes of Olympus series surrounds three new characters: Jason, Piper, and Leo. Jason wakes up on the first page of the book with complete amnesia of his entire life, and yet he seems to have an incredible knowledge of all things Roman (the Latin language, the Roman names of the gods, an "SPQR" tattoo on his forearm, etc.). Piper's father is a famous movie star who doesn't always have time for her, to which she responds with an impressive rap sheet and an uncanny ability to convince anyone to give her whatever she wants. Leo, highly ADHD, is a bit of a screw up who has many secrets surrounding the death of his mother and a certain terrifying babysitter who tried to kill him several times in his childhood. All three of these teenagers, as you might guess, are the children of gods and end up at Camp Half-Blood under the guidance of our favorite centaur, Chiron. An epic quest follows with enough monsters, angry gods and goddesses, and flying spirits to keep any struggling reader interested. Add a plethora of explosions, destructive storms, and an all-gold, fire breathing dragon and pretty much any reader will be interested. I miss Percy - minor spoiler alert: this series starts out with Percy mysteriously missing - but many of my old faves make appearances throughout the book which I always appreciate. The new characters are immediately endearing, which I also appreciate. Bottom line: I loved it and am anxiously awaiting the second book this Fall.

Special note as far as teaching purposes go: the chapters rotate perspective between the three main characters, providing a great example for a study on voice and perspective.

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale

Like many of the books on my list, I've been waiting to read this book for a long time. After hearing about it in a class a couple of years ago, I put it on said list - and then soon after bought it - but haven't had an opportunity to read it until now. Also, I have so many books on this list that it's hard to choose sometimes. But all of that said, I knew I would love this book and I was not disappointed. Not only am I excited to add a graphic novel to my library, but I always appreciate a new perspective on World War II and on the Holocaust specifically. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale offers both of these. Gritty and painfully honest, Art Spiegelman's account of his father's experiences in Europe as a Jew during World War II and the rise of the Nazi Party takes place alongside Spiegelman's present-day relationship with his father. Both story lines captivate and endear the reader; you can't help but read for fear of what will happen to war-era Vladek but also for curiosity of what the next interaction between Art and current Vladek will look like. You sympathize with the characters - both in the past and in the present - and you become increasingly more horrified as the Nazis gain more control. One of the most interesting elements of this particular graphic novel, though, is the way Spiegelman chose to draw each of the characters. Jews are depicted as mice while the Germans/Nazis appear as cats. The image of these animals, who are timeless enemies, pitted as enemies in this real life piece of history will stick with struggling readers in an unforgettable way. I highly recommend this book for teachers of Language Arts and History who are trying to communicate the Holocaust from a unique perspective and a reader-friendly format. Stay tuned for my review of the sequel.

Tears of a Tiger

I'm back! It's been a while, but grad school's got to get finished somehow and jobs don't get applied to for you. Graduation is tonight and the interviews are finally starting, though, so I'm back to casually reading on occasion. And the first one I picked up was Tears of a Tiger, written by Sharon Draper. I'd heard about this series for the first time during student teaching in the fall; the English department had been given sets of the trilogy and my Cooperating Teacher used the second book in the series as a Read-Aloud. I only got to hear some of the second book during my time in her classroom, but I was hooked and knew that I would want to read all three books at some point. So...here we go:

Andy and his good friends - including his best friend Robbie - are out celebrating that night's basketball victory over a rival school. They're riding around in Andy's car - after many drinks each - when the car crashes and Robbie is killed almost immediately. The other three boys, including Andy, manage to escape much physical damage but the emotional damage is endless. This becomes especially true for Andy, who was driving the car the led to his best friend's untimely death. Although many characters remain focal points throughout the story, the bulk of the plot surrounds Andy and the rest of his school year.

I think what I really appreciated about Tears of a Tiger is that even though Draper deals with realistic and heartwrenchingly mature themes, she does so in a really classy and appropriate way. I've read "Young Adult" books that focus on the same issues and same subgroup of adolescents and they were virtually unreadable because of the profanity and sexual content. Even if those elements are realistic of true life, we don't always need that level of reality in our faces when we're reading books aimed at young audiences. It really bothers me and has completely eliminated books from my teaching arsenal because I can't support or recommend them. This one, though, deals with traumatic storylines such as underage drinking, accidental death, teenage relationships, abusive parents, and suicide but manages to remain profanity and sex-free. Sometimes the effect is a little similar to watching the movie Remember the Titans: you know that these boys yelling at each other would be cussing each other out like crazy, and the lack of cussing seems a little corny but you appreciate the fact that you're not having to hear it. I truly do appreciate that. Beyond that, though, the plot is also really interesting and engaging. The end is fairly traumatic - even more so than the beginning - and I will say that it wouldn't be a light and fun Read-Aloud, but it would definitely provide good conversations about deeper subject matter than most books. The fact that it's written in a unique prose-ish format makes it easy to zip through as well (I read it in one day. I know I'm not a middle school student, but still). I highly recommend this one, and I'm excited to see what happens next in Forged by Fire!

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

After becoming exceedingly frustrated with audiobooks in general and scratched ones specifically, I listened to the first half and read the second half of this book. Honestly, although it was really frustrating to have to switch up methods halfway through, it was kind of fun. The actress reading the audiobook did a great job and I believed her as Jenna, and when I switched to reading the hard copy I continued to hear her voice in my head reading. It added a nice touch. As far as the actual book goes, though, I mentioned a while ago during the whiny audiobook posts that I got quickly and easily hooked on this one, and it's so true. I stayed hooked until the audiobook wouldn't work and I had to switch to hard copy while I was in the middle of Matched. That caused problems because I have never been good at reading two books at once [see my "Currently Reading" tab where I have been listed as "reading" Forgotten God for the last four months. I'm averaging about a chapter every three weeks or so.] But once I finished Matched then I moved back to Jenna and remembered why I loved it to begin with.

Jenna, 17-year-old narrator and central character, has just woken up from a year-long coma. She doesn't remember anything at all before the coma but everyone keeps referencing an accident. With no memory, awkward social skills, and basic coordination only just returning to her limbs, Jenna moves into a new house in a new state with her mother and grandmother while her father remains in Boston. As the story progresses, she starts to notice strange things about herself and the world around her, as well as the pieces of information that her family seems determined to keep from her.

Seeing this story through Jenna's limited perspective creates an interesting situation for the reader. A good reader will most likely pick up on subtle details and things that are "off" quicker than Jenna does, but not so much that you figure things out. I won't tell you whether my robot predictions were accurate, but I will say that this futuristic setting is very different from those of other books I've read recently. I adore Hunger Games and I've just recently gushed about Matched, but I also shared that I saw a lot of commonalities between them - particularly their settings - and eventually attributed it to the genre. The Adoration of Jenna Fox, though, clearly takes place in the future, but America is very much the same. Science has taken over a great deal more than now, and there are references to a Second Great Depression and a major earthquake that haven't actually happened in our world, but the majority of American culture/geography/society is the same. Most of the differences take place in the world of science, where technology has allowed our norms to progress in some pretty advanced but believable ways. Extremely interesting debates surrounding science ethics are raised (which might give teachers a cool opportunity for a student debate in the classroom.) Once again, there's definitely a boy interest, and I definitely like him. Last week I realized my weakness for fictional male characters, and this one had a similar affect. It also doesn't help that he's a "bad boy," which I apprently prefer as a trait in my fictional crushes. (Although if that's true...then why do I love Peeta so much more than I love Gale? Hmm. I'm going to have to think about this. That, and why I relate everything I read back to The Hunger Games.)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

Set in post-World War II London and the British island Guernsey, this book is written entirely in the letters that are sent as correspondance between each of the characters. This somewhat unique approach - or at the very least, uncommon - brings the characters so much more to life than I had expected. Virtually no character or plot development is lost through this method, and I actually think that I grew to love the characters more because I got to know them through their letter-writing. (Also, it made me really want to write letters. And receive them. And immediately join a book club.) I know I have a tendency to be generous with my support and flowery adjectives and gushes of being in love with every new book I read, so I'll spare you from that this time and just simply say: this book is really good. It's special. The characters are immediately endearing and charming; the setting is unique to me as the 20-something American who has not recently survived a war fought in my own city; the insights and perspectives offered regarding the German occupation of the island of Guernsey during World War II are honestly far beyond what I'd ever seriously considered as true events that took place. It's good...it's really, really good. The friend who recommended it to me said that her mother had given it to her for Christmas, and that both of them had already read it several times because they missed the characters so much. At the time this sounded slightly silly, but now I understand. I dearly wish that Juliet was a real person in my life. I would write her a letter a day just so I could receive her hilarious and witty responses. I honestly would.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Well...I finally finished it. "Finally" not referring to the fact that it was hard to get through or that I wasn't able to plow through it out of excitement, but because life got busy and responsibilities piled up a little bit and I couldn't make enough time to read. I loved this book. I know I said just last week that The Westing Game is one of my new favorite books and I meant it, but Mockingbird is now my official new favorite. I am in love with this book. The story, the writing, the characters...I laughed out loud and yes, I did cry.

[For those of you who may be like me and have managed to go 20-something years of life without reading this classic...] Scout Finch narrates this book as an eight year old girl, telling the story of one of the most important moments in her childhood. Growing up with a single father, defense attorney Atticus Finch, and her big brother Jem, Scout is a rough-and-tough tomboy who is fully capable of keeping up with Jem's antics as well as having a political debate with her highly educated father. At the center of the plot, however, is a particular case in which Atticus defends a black man charged with rape and consequently puts his family in danger.

I've already said that I love this book and it is now at the very top of my favorites list, so I guess I shouldn't say it again [Oops. I guess I just did, huh?] What I haven't really said is why I love it so much. The witty dialogue and hilarious interchanges between Scout and...well...everyone, are endearing and bond the reader to the characters immediately. To see the world - such a Depression-era, racist, sometimes backwards world - solely through the eyes of a girl wiser and more vocal than her years is a priceless opportunity. Rather than being just another adult caught up in the silly gossip and judgments of this culture, you become acutely aware of the practicality of truth. Example? Okay. The biggest moment of clarity that hit me came about forty pages or so from the end, when Scout goes on a tirade about how her teacher and classmates hate Hitler for discriminating against the Jews just because of their race but they themselves hate black people and see them as second-class citizens just because of their race. Personally, I loathe every concept and inkling of racism or discrimination on the basis of race, and it's been a hot-button topic with me for a long time. But I'm not sure that I ever really connected those dots: how did the American public feel the way they did towards Hitler in the 1940s and yet have the cross burning, murder, and vicious violence of the 1960s? How on earth was that possible? It's so simple, and so indicative of human nature, and yet it had gone completely unnoticed by me until Scout pointed it out. [It should probably be said that the historical timeline seems to be slightly off-set here...Americans were not nearly as aware of Hitler's racial cleansing practices in the 1930s, when this book takes place, as we were during the 1940s, but the point is very well made.] There is so much that I love and appreciate about this book, and the tears did in fact flow in the final pages. I won't tell you what my absolute favorite scene is because it would spoil the entire book if you haven't read it, but I will say that it simultaneously broke my heart and made me sing for joy. If you've read the book, you probably know what scene I'm talking about. If you haven't...well...read it.

The Westing Game

After years and years of listening to my sister go on and on and ON about how great this book is, I had to finally admit that maybe I should read it too. So it entered my "list"...that ever-growing, impossible-to-catch-up-on list that haunts me and overwhelms me (aka: it wasn't ever read). But then this week I was assigned the task of planning an entire thematic unit with two other good friends of mine from class and we decided upon the theme of Mystery (could there be a cooler theme? I think not) and this book seemed to fit perfectly as the centerpiece for my English unit...except I should probably read the book before writing five lessons about it. So read it I did. And I couldn't put it down. Well...I did put it down at times, but only because I had to be doing big girl things like sleeping and eating and going to work. But I immediately became fully engrossed in the plot and the characters and the complex but extremely interesting mystery elements. There are so many twists and turns and vital pieces of information that the author has purposefully kept from you the reader just as she has kept them from the characters themselves. The basic, brief plot overview is this: sixteen hand-chosen people become the participants in a Clue-like game, the object of which is to determine who killed Sam Westing (the man running the game from the grave) and receive his millions. Needless to say...it's a good one. And highly, highly recommended by me (and...everyone else who's read it). I had to force myself to just simply read the book rather than take notes during the whole thing, though, about how I'm going to use it in my unit. Now that I'm done, let the note-taking commence. I'm pretty excited; stay tuned for an update on that.

Except If

Here's another great one for perspective and how one small change can lead to a multitude of changes. The reader starts out looking at an egg, and the obvious statement that an egg is a baby bird...except if it's actually a snake. The book continues in similar fashiong, leading the reader in one direction - that should so obviously be the truth - until it flips the tables every other page with an except if...It's a fun and quirky little book, with a range of possible applications. [Sidenote: that's what I love about ambiguous picture books. Sometimes picture books tell one clear and purposeful story, and they're great because that's the purpose you need them for. But other times picture books are completely vague and strange and openended, and you can use them as a discussion starter for almost anything you want. You control the spin and the application, which is quite empowering as the big adult holding a tiny children's book. Plus, clearly, they're super fun. But back to Except If...] This one's particularly good - off the top of my head - for perspective, dealing with changed circumstances, the curveballs of life, "everything is not what it seems"...etc. It's also fun because it can easily fit into any content area [except maybe Math. I'm bad at finding ways to relate things to Math.]

Zoom

Banyai's books are typically unique in the fact that they are wordless, and rely heavily on messing with your perspective on a situation. Zoom doesn't disappoint, starting with a very zoomed (ha) in drawing of something you're not quite sure what it is. Then with each page, you zoom (ha again) out a little bit more. You keep thinking that you have it all figured out but then there's another page and another and another. Basically, there are a lot of "aha" moments. And a lot of predicting. It's awesome :)

I would say that this book would be great for a million different instructional reasons, but the obvious ones that come to mind are: predicting, perspective, needing to see the whole picture/both sides, etc. etc. But it's flexible enough that you could morph it into lots of different things.