Alice on Her Way by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor: This book is part of a super popular series that I have never, ever read (and, honestly, only heard of because of research for my class). That said, I liked it quite a bit. The series does tackle lots of issues. In this book alone there was: sex (Alice goes to a church group, her friend gives a hand and blow job), an abusive relationship, interracial dating, a mention of molestation, etc. And even though the book stood well alone (we decided as a class that it did), you can tell that there were larger conversations about most of these issues ongoing in the series. I kind of want to read them all now, but there are a LOT of books. Maybe I'll just start with the high school years. That might be a fun summer project.
The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson: For a book that has such a clever premise (Disney characters come alive after dark; they're trying to take over the world--Maleficent is the villain in this one), I am sorely disappointed in how cliched it is. The one black kid is a tall, athletic, and angry male? The main girl is so mysterious with a secret and the main (average white) boy can't quite figure her out? The nerdy (white) boy has red hair and knows everything? The other two girls that are part of the team are completely useless, so much so that they disappear from the action at the end? There's a character named JEZEBEL who totally manipulates the black kid with her sexiness? I mean, SERIOUSLY? That is totally lame. I read the whole book because I wanted to figure out just where it was going, but I am so, so turned off by the lazy and lame characterization that I don't even know if I can comfortably give it three stars for being an interesting enough read. The more I think about it, the more I kind of hate it. It's like Hero in that way.
Princess Diaries 10: Forever Princess by Meg Cabot: I really, really enjoyed this book and thought it was a fitting end to the series. The characters were in fine form, and I loved all of the plot threads and how they came together. Also, I love Tina Hakim Baba and Michael Moscovitz forever and ever and ever. Plus also, Mia was really enjoyable in this book, which is great, because she's one of my favorite Cabot heroines. So that made me happy. Also again, I learn so much science and psychology reading these books that it's kind of ridiculous.
You Know Where to Find Me by Rachel Cohn: Oh, this book. I loathed it kind of a lot. First of all, it's a fat girl narrative, and I hate, hate, hate fat girl narratives. (A fat girl narrative, btw, is a story all about how the main character is fat and she hates herself for being fat and fat, fat, fat, fat, FAT.) By the time I realized I was never going to get that turnaround from it being a fat girl narrative to something more (like in The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things), it was too late, and I was kind of invested in the end of the story. The fat girl narrative is especially troubling because the main character's cousin is SEVERELY depressed and also skinny. So I really needed her to get over the fat girl thing and be about something else, but she never was! And I just wanted to punch her and the author in the face because it made me so angry.
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex: Hey, so this was super cute and fun, and the main character of the adventure was a BROWN GIRL. Yay, that made me happy! It is kind of absurd and strange because it's about what happens when aliens take over the Earth and then other aliens come to fight those aliens, but it had great, great commentary on race relations and Manifest Destiny and privilege and also family. Good times.
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott: This book will haunt me for the REST OF MY LIFE. It is so freaking disturbing, omg. I seriously couldn’t put it down, and I doubt I will ever, ever forget it. Ever.
Showing posts with label children's fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children's fiction. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
January books
The Road to Paris by Nikki Grimes: Very fast read about a young girl who gets separated from her brother while in foster care. I found the book lacking in detail where I wanted it, even as Grimes paints a clear, complete picture of everything that happens. Just a little too sparse for my tastes. Delightful read, though.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: Hey, so, I read this for my reading group (book club for grad students, basically), and you may have heard that it won the Newbery. WELL. Clearly, we are psychic. Anyway, while I was reading the book, I didn't think I would like it, but when I finished...I realized I did. Here's my favorite quote from the book:
Secret Spaces of Childhood by Elizabeth Goodenough: I had to read this for class, and some of the selections were an absolute chore to get through.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: Hey, so, I read this for my reading group (book club for grad students, basically), and you may have heard that it won the Newbery. WELL. Clearly, we are psychic. Anyway, while I was reading the book, I didn't think I would like it, but when I finished...I realized I did. Here's my favorite quote from the book:
You're alive [...]. That means you have infinite potential. You can do anything, make anything, dream anything. If you change the world, the world will change. Potential. Once you're dead, it's gone. Over. You've made what you've made, dreamed your dream, written your name. [...] [T]hat potential is finished.
Secret Spaces of Childhood by Elizabeth Goodenough: I had to read this for class, and some of the selections were an absolute chore to get through.
Monday, January 19, 2009
trifecta of book reviews
Hell Week by Rosemary Clement-Moore: This is a sequel to Prom Nights from Hell, a book that I enjoyed very much, so I was excited to see that it seems to be an ongoing series. What I like about this book is that the characters are interesting, there's a complex female friendship, and Clement-Moore doesn't shy away from the concept of religion in her demon fighting. What's also really cool is that she tackles sororities as being an excellent site of evil because of the rituals and secrecy already inherent in them. (For the record: sororities are not bad in and of themselves, but the cloak of secrecy around them allows--in the book anyway--dirty dealings to go on kind of without question because of the secrecy. If that makes sense.) Reading the book, I was kind of on the fence about how I feel about it, but the more I think about it (and the fact that I think about it after reading!), the more I like it.
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan: I had actually tried to read this before and didn't really care for it so quit. Mostly I found the narrative really annoying. Like, REALLY annoying. However, after seeing the movie, which I liked a lot, I gave it another go. I still find the narrative annoying, but it was easier to get through because I kept picturing the movie in my head. I also still much prefer the movie to the book. (One of my favorite bits from the movie--the bit about holding hands--was lifted straight from the book.) But the book wasn't quite as obnoxious as I first found it. Don't get me wrong! It is still obnoxious. Just not so much that I couldn't get through it this time.
Also, I've read some of the reviews over on Goodreads that complain about the language, and I have to say that although I, too, was annoyed by the dropping of the f-bomb and the fact that the girls referred to each other as "bitch," I found that to be pretty realistic, so it didn't bug me as much as some of the other reviewers.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling: My favorite two tales are "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" and the "The Tale of the Three Brothers." Otherwise, I found the stories cute and/or horrific, depending. It's an easy breezy read made better by all of the anti-censorship comments and the fact that Dumbledore uses "simulacrum." I seriously got a kick out of that. Here's an anti-censorship bit:
Hahaha! I love that so much. I plan on using that excerpt when we get to Harry Potter in the class. How the authors respond to censorship is kind of a big deal and that she did it pretty explicitly in one of her books is fantastic.
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan: I had actually tried to read this before and didn't really care for it so quit. Mostly I found the narrative really annoying. Like, REALLY annoying. However, after seeing the movie, which I liked a lot, I gave it another go. I still find the narrative annoying, but it was easier to get through because I kept picturing the movie in my head. I also still much prefer the movie to the book. (One of my favorite bits from the movie--the bit about holding hands--was lifted straight from the book.) But the book wasn't quite as obnoxious as I first found it. Don't get me wrong! It is still obnoxious. Just not so much that I couldn't get through it this time.
Also, I've read some of the reviews over on Goodreads that complain about the language, and I have to say that although I, too, was annoyed by the dropping of the f-bomb and the fact that the girls referred to each other as "bitch," I found that to be pretty realistic, so it didn't bug me as much as some of the other reviewers.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling: My favorite two tales are "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" and the "The Tale of the Three Brothers." Otherwise, I found the stories cute and/or horrific, depending. It's an easy breezy read made better by all of the anti-censorship comments and the fact that Dumbledore uses "simulacrum." I seriously got a kick out of that. Here's an anti-censorship bit:
Mrs. Bluxam believed that The Tales of Beedle the Bard were damaging to children, because of what she called “their unhealthy preoccupation with the most horrid subjects, such as death, disease, bloodshed, wicked magic, unwholesome characters, and bodily effusions and eruptions of the most disgusting kind.” Mrs. Bloxam took a variety of old stories, including several of Beedle’s, and rewrote them according to her ideals, which she expressed as “filling the pure minds of our little angels with healthy, happy thoughts, keeping their sweet slumber free of wicked dreams, and protecting the precious flower of their innocence.” […] Mrs. Bloxam's tale has met the same response from generations of Wizarding children: uncontrollable retching, followed by an immediate demand to have the book taken from them and mashed into a pulp.
Hahaha! I love that so much. I plan on using that excerpt when we get to Harry Potter in the class. How the authors respond to censorship is kind of a big deal and that she did it pretty explicitly in one of her books is fantastic.
Bridge to Terabithia, Day 2 (spoilers)
One of my students said he wasn't upset by the end of the novel because "it's just a book." I couldn't even respond to that. My other students laughed.
We had an interesting discussion about (SPOILER ALERT!) why Leslie had to die in the novel. They actually gave pretty well-thought answers about character and lessons learned, etc. In the end, I was like, "Well, sometimes people just die, don't they?"
On Wednesday, I have to remember to tell them that that's a flat answer that's unacceptable in papers, but I wanted them to stop thinking so darn much. The whole point of the book is that sometimes these kinds of tragedies happen, and they are unexpected and just kind of suck. (I mean, there is more and it goes deeper, but that's basically it.)
One student did say that she was mad at Jess for not inviting Leslie along to the musuem, and that she wanted him to somehow prevent Leslie's death, so I thought that was an interesting response.
We did talk about why the book is banned (religion, death), and they seemed interested in that. I don't know. The first couple of weeks are always kind of weird discussion-wise because the students are just getting used to sharing their opinions with the class, so I'm hoping we can start getting a little more interesting/involved as the semester goes. So far, I have a good group. Almost all of them are participating and they have smart things to say, and that's always a plus. We'll see how it goes.
We had an interesting discussion about (SPOILER ALERT!) why Leslie had to die in the novel. They actually gave pretty well-thought answers about character and lessons learned, etc. In the end, I was like, "Well, sometimes people just die, don't they?"
On Wednesday, I have to remember to tell them that that's a flat answer that's unacceptable in papers, but I wanted them to stop thinking so darn much. The whole point of the book is that sometimes these kinds of tragedies happen, and they are unexpected and just kind of suck. (I mean, there is more and it goes deeper, but that's basically it.)
One student did say that she was mad at Jess for not inviting Leslie along to the musuem, and that she wanted him to somehow prevent Leslie's death, so I thought that was an interesting response.
We did talk about why the book is banned (religion, death), and they seemed interested in that. I don't know. The first couple of weeks are always kind of weird discussion-wise because the students are just getting used to sharing their opinions with the class, so I'm hoping we can start getting a little more interesting/involved as the semester goes. So far, I have a good group. Almost all of them are participating and they have smart things to say, and that's always a plus. We'll see how it goes.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Bridge to Terabithia, Day 1
Today we opened our discussion of Bridge to Terabithia. As usual, I had them start with telling me about the book, getting a feel for what's going on in it. We talked a lot about Jess, Leslie, and their relationship. None of that is very exciting or unusual, I guess.
Anyway, we talked about the "safe spaces" for Jess in the book, and identified them as Teribathia, Ms. Edmunds, and art. We also talked about the implications of them all being secret, and the necessity of them being secret AND safe. Mostly, it came down to an issue of freedom. Jess controls his art and can take it as far as he wants, he's able to dream freely in Terabithia, and Ms. Edmunds doesn't ridicule him about the things he loves, so with her, he's able to be himself whereas with his family he has to constantly try to be what they want.
I had my students preview the theme of the novel using the first half of the story. Unfortunately, quite a few of them missed the boat on the theme being a statement, so I'm hoping that fixes by Friday. If not, we'll have to do a writing exercise that turns their fragmented theme ideas into actual statements. Not my idea of fun.
A little less than half of the class has read the book before, so it'll be interesting to see how Friday's discussion goes as we talk about the ending.
Anyway, we talked about the "safe spaces" for Jess in the book, and identified them as Teribathia, Ms. Edmunds, and art. We also talked about the implications of them all being secret, and the necessity of them being secret AND safe. Mostly, it came down to an issue of freedom. Jess controls his art and can take it as far as he wants, he's able to dream freely in Terabithia, and Ms. Edmunds doesn't ridicule him about the things he loves, so with her, he's able to be himself whereas with his family he has to constantly try to be what they want.
I had my students preview the theme of the novel using the first half of the story. Unfortunately, quite a few of them missed the boat on the theme being a statement, so I'm hoping that fixes by Friday. If not, we'll have to do a writing exercise that turns their fragmented theme ideas into actual statements. Not my idea of fun.
A little less than half of the class has read the book before, so it'll be interesting to see how Friday's discussion goes as we talk about the ending.
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