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:

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.

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.

Book List

I should have included this info with the course overview. D'oh! Here are the books I'll be using this semester:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
Forever by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Alice on Her Way by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky

I got the list from the ALA's list of most banned/challenged books. I went with top twenty books, and picked from the three lists they have. There was a lot of overlap, obviously. The only book(s) I didn't use from the top ten were Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories series.

Course Overview

Just to give an idea of how my class will go this semester, here is the course overview as printed on the syllabus:

This course aims to take a critical look at children’s and young adult literature that is frequently challenged and banned in public schools and libraries. While we will discuss issues of censorship throughout the semester, our primary concern will be with understanding these books first and foremost as works of literature. As such, we will consider the choices that authors make in composing these works, focusing on the functions of the literary elements contained within. Throughout our discussions, we will be able to determine how these “bannable” ideas or elements are or are not necessary for the books to function as cohesive narratives with specific themes. In the end, we should be able to determine if or when restrictions should be placed on novels intended for young people and who gets to make that decision.

It was a struggle coming up with a clear idea of how I wanted to approach the course. It is kind an intro survey, and I turned it to a special topic, but I also (always) want to give my students room to form their own opinions and ideas. I won't be doing a lot of outside reading--although I will refer to blogs and articles from time to time--instead focusing on approaching the books as literature that people find objectionable for whatever reasons. So our focus will mainly be on the literary elements (plot, pov, setting, character, form, theme) and how the "objectionable" stuff fits into those categories, specifically relating to how they emphasize/enhance the overall theme of the novel.

This is my first time teaching the course this way, so we'll see how it goes.

Blog reboot

After much thinking, I've decided to refocus the content of this blog. Instead of adding it to the pool of book review sites out there, I am instead going to focus on talking about what it is I do with books: teach.

I teach young adult books on the college level, and I'm going to use this as a place to talk about my approach as well as reflect on in-class discussions, ideas for lesson plans, and all other things related to teaching.

From time to time, I will also include book reviews because, well, how can I not?

Feedback encouraged!

Bindi Babes by Narinder Dhami (2004)

Everyone loves us. The teachers like us because we work hard, and we’re clever, polite and helpful. The other kids like us because we’re pretty and popular and funny and smart. They even have a name for us. The Bindi Babes. No one’s got more designer labels than we have. We’ve got everything we could ever want. Almost everything.

Remember what I said before? If people envy you, they’re not pitying you. If people envy you, they’re not looking at you and remembering what happened to your mum.

Our mum died.

It happens.

I think this quote sums up the book better than I ever could. The "us" in question are Amber, Jazz, and Geena, three Indian sisters living in England. The girls get everything they want from their dad because their mom has recently passed away, and not only that, but they've convinced themselves (as well as everyone around them) that they're fine, just fine, and nothing at all bothers them. They are loved by all, worshipped by boys, and even have a pesky friend underfoot.

Everything is wonderful! Until their father announces that their Auntie is coming to live with them. They plot mightily to get her to leave and the cracks start to show. The story is funny and sweet while delving into some pretty serious issues: grief, racism, domestic violence. Mostly, though, the book is concerned with happiness and grief and the lies we tell ourselves to pretend to be the former and not deal with the latter.

That makes the book sound dour, and I promise it isn't. The girls antics are really funny, and Dhami handles everything with a light touch. It's great as a beach or light weekend read.

Haters by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez (2006)

Words cannot express how much I loathe this book. I really cannot stand it. What makes it bad is that while I was reading I kept hoping things would get better or go somewhere interesting, and at the end, I just felt empty. What makes it worse is that the more I think about the book, the less I like it. I hate when that happens. When books make me think, I want it to be because they have done something right, not because they have done so much wrong.

The plot is basic Mean Girls fare. Paski moves from New Mexico to California and falls for the hot guy that is, of course, already going out with the school's queen bee. She has to deal with fitting in blah blah blah basic stuff you already know.

I thought the book was going to be way more interesting than it turned out to be because there are hints of magical realism in the book. Paski's grandmother is a psychic and Paski herself talks about her connection with nature and has this amulet that gives her vibes about who to trust and who not to trust. Also, Paski is a mountain biker and her dad is a cartoonist, which gives both of them something I haven't seen much of in lit before.

It's really too bad the book sucks so much.

Valdes-Rodriguez tries really hard to get at some fundamental truths. For example:

I smile at them, and they turn away. This is the weak spot in mean girls. They don’t know how to deal when you’re actually nice to them.

The problem is that Paski is never actually really nice to the "mean girls." There's nothing in the book whatsoever to show that her niceness unsettles Jessica (the queen bee) or her friends. Paski does befriend one of the girls, but as soon as she does, she drops the one true friend she had.

There are a ton of rushed/unexplained storylines in the story. There's something going on with the neighbors that's never fully explained. Paski just "knows" that Chris is awesome and that she should/could love him, but there's no reason for the reader to think that. She also "knows" that the one not-really mean girl is okay, even though all they do is go shopping together, like, once.

Jessica turns out to be a one-dimensional cartoon villain with no real depth, even as Chris says that there's more to her than it seems. No, really, there isn't. At the end, she is cutthroat and ruthless with no real reason to be. It's unrealistic and takes so much away from the story.

Paski is almost too perfect, even though she does have her moments:

How shallow, I know, but inside every deep, psychic girl, I would bet you there’s a shallow moron just waiting to come out.

Which is one of the reasons I kept reading. There are enough of these moments to make it seem like maybe, just maybe, everything is going somewhere.

Unfortunately, Paski is a bit too much of a Mary Sue. She's pretty but doesn't know it, but that's okay because every other character tells us! (She looks like Rachel Bilson, btw.) She does know she's a good bike rider, but, of course, she immediately catches on to motocross. She wins over Jessica's friends and boyfriends, her father becomes rich, her neighbors thinks she's fantastic, etc. Jessica is the only thorn in her side. However, since she's an unbelievably flat villain, in the end, she poses no real challenge.

Read it to see how ridiculous it is or skip it to avoid being annoyed at how ridiculous it is. I'd choose the latter.

Love Among the Walnuts by Jean Ferris (2001)

This book is kind of absurd. Basically, Sandy and his parents live a fairytale life, shut off from the outside world. Everything they could possibly want, they have. Sandy is of indeterminate age because his parents stop keeping track of time, and since he has never been to school, it's impossible to know what grade he should/would be in. You can imagine his surprise when something sinister happens to his parents! It's really quite unpleasant to say the least. Especially since Sandy has no social/real world skills whatsoever.

Just to give an idea of what kind of life Sandy leads, a quote:

Sandy was dismayed at the number of times he had to say “I don’t know” when she asked him what he thought. He was beginning to wonder if, for all his educational advantages, he actually had ever thought.

So, Sandy is smart as a whip--book smart, just not a good critical thinker or real life participant. The book tries to resolve that tension by involving him with a nurse, Sunny, and the patients at an asylum down the road.

I asked my students to pick quotes they felt were most significant to the book, and one chose the following, which summed up most of the classes feelings on the book:

“What a bunch of balderdash.”

It fits. The students who liked it appreciated that it was fantastical and far removed from real life. It provided a real escape. I appreciated what it was trying to do, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone I know--not even a teen reader.

It was okay.

Writing Magic by Gail Carson Levine (2006)

I really enjoyed this book. It's for young writers, but as an adult writer--or one who aspires to be a writer anyway--I found it really helpful. First, the book benefits by being aimed at children. There's no pretentiousness here; everything is very straightforward. She explains the importance of plot and character and really breaks down every element. Most importantly, there are exercises at the end of each chapter to jump start writing. I also love that she ends every chapter with "Save what you wrote," a callback to her rules for writers, #7 of which is:

Save everything you write, even if you don't like it, even if you hate it. Save it for a minimum of fifteen years. I'm serious. At that time, if you want to, you can throw it out, but even then don't discard your writing lightly.

My favorite passage from the book and the one that affected me most in that it completely encapsulated the problem I've been having with writing for the past couple of years is this:

Writing is deceptive. You know how to read. You know what you like in a book and in a story. You know how to write, how to make sentences and paragraphs. So why can’t you tell your story in the beautiful way it appears in your mind?

Yes, exactly. Why can't I? That's really what it boils down to, isn't it? That wanting to write beautifully, that wanting the words to come out exactly the way you want to is not as easy as just sitting down and writing. No! It takes practice. I've been in school since forever and I've studied creative writing even, and I know that I have to write more if I want to write well, but that the block comes when I want, need, and expect the words to just magically appear on the paper before me. And in a few sentences, Levine manages to completely explain what I'm feeling.

There's also a passage in the book where she says that part of the problem is that a lot of people don't treat writing as a craft. If we wanted to play an instrument, our parents would tell us to practice. If we wanted to be dancers, our parents would tell us to practice. But when we write something, we get praised for it and it gets admired and that's it. Our parents will say we're wonderful writers, but it's rare to have a parent say, "Great, now keep writing a lot for practice." No! They'd just admire the next thing we write.

That spoke to me. I have written a lot of things that have been good and praised, but I never felt that writing was something I needed to do every day. And, now, even though it makes perfect sense that it takes more writing to write well, I still haven't been able to make that transition. This book not only explains elements of crafts, but encourages writing and made me want to pick up a pen (or sit at a keyboard) and get to it.

I think this is an excellent book for young writers and older writers as well.