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Monday, November 22, 2010
ISBN: 0060502517
In this meandering biography, Crutcher lays bare stories from his childhood. He grew up in a small town in Idaho, where it was impossible not to be noticed. He tells of being a mediocre athlete in a place where everyone was expected to participate in all sports. In between laughs, we learn of his inability to control himself when he is angry, and his theory behind why that is so. We learn of his experience with religion and God, his family, and of revelations he's had about his childhood now that he's grown and studied psychology, and his realization of what truly makes someone a hero.
Having never read a novel of Chris Crutcher's this reviewer is at a disadvantage to point out what childhood stories Crutcher drew upon for his novels or how much of himself is inserted into each of his stories. Judging from this biography, I'm certain that many of his characters share his acerbic wit and short temperament. That said, the stories of childhood that King of the Mild Frontier is filled with are both funny and insightful to the experiences, good and bad, that have formed this person Chris Crutcher.
The timeline of the story changes from chapter to chapter, placing the reader when Crutcher was 6 at one moment and in high school the next. I will not call this a disadvantage of the book because I'm sure some readers will enjoy the plotting, but I will say that at times it took me a moment to catch up to what was going on.
Teens will read this book because it is easy to identify with the trials of high school, athletics, girls, and family (especially older siblings). Each humiliating event after the other, from getting shot in the head with a BB gun to getting his teeth busted by a baseball bat will make teens cringe and laugh. They will keep reading because Crutcher's style makes each story hilarious. And when they finish they will have gleaned the wisdom that a hero is not simply some great athlete, but everyday people who manage to overcome a real problem and spend every day using all their strength to keep overcoming those obstacles. For a genre that is hard to persuade most teens to read, this book gives teachers and librarians something to work with. Recommended for readers in high school.
Image taken from: http://www.harpercollins.com/harperimages/isbn/large/2/9780060502492.jpg
ISBN: 9780547237602
As the only student in his class not to have religious instruction on Wednesday afternoons, Holling Hoodhood was all that stood between Mrs. Baker and an afternoon off. For that reason he knows that she's out to get him. Enlisting the help of his parents is impossible. His father places business over everything and expects Holling to not cause any trouble that may damage their reputation. It's 1967 and there's a war going on in Vietnam, on college campuses across America, and in the Hoodhood household between Hollings parents and his sister, Heather. After a few rough Wednesdays in which chalk dust ruins some dessert, and two killer rats are set loose, Holling and Mrs. Baker settle in to reading Shakespeare each week, ultimately creating a rapport that guides Holling through life's obstacles and gives Mrs. Baker, whose husband is away at war, something to focus on.
For people in America today who feel unaffected by what's going on in the world, this novel does of great job of showing how major world events can affect every family in even the smallest neighborhood. The Vietnam war has not only taken the husbands of women like Mrs. Baker, it has also brought children like Mai Thi, a Vietnamese orphan, to America where she periodically experiences prejudice and cruelty. The unrest in the country divided households like Holling's as his sister followed the 'flower child' political view despite the disapproval and disgust of their father. Essentially, Schmidt brings us to 1967 and makes us feel as though we've now lived through part of it.
Also well done in this story is the coming of age transformation of Holling. Each month, each play, each major event and decision he makes lead him to exchange between him and his father in which they debate what makes a man a man, and his father asks the question, "so who are you Holling?" The reply is that he doesn't know yet, but you can be sure that whoever he turns out to be, he will have chosen that path for himself.
Each chapter of this book represents the events of one month, giving readers not as strong as others good places to leave off. The story is continuous, but each month is dominated by a major theme or event, such as Holling's relationship with Meryl Lee, or Holling joining the track team. Each set of events in Holling's life also mimic the Shakespeare plays he is reading with Mrs. Baker, making this novel a better read for high school students who've been exposed to Shakespeare.
Image taken from: http://www.melissacwalker.com/blog/wednesday%20wars.jpg
ISBN: 9780375831003
Three times death notices Liesel Meminger as he completes his never ending work of collecting the souls of the dead during World War II. The third time, he rescues from the garbage a hand written book titled The Book Thief; the writing of which saved Liesel's life. Liesel and her brother are sent to live with the Hubermanns as foster children. Her brother dies on the train ride there and is buried in the snow. One of the grave diggers drops a book, which Liesel takes even though she cannot yet read. In the Hubermanns she finds loving, if strange, parents. Rosa's words are often sharp, though the tone betrays her love. Hans is kind to a fault, which causes much difficulty under a Nazi regime. With Hans she learns to read the book she has stolen, a guide to grave digging, and soon hungers for more books to devour. Stealing books from the Mayor's wife with her best friend and cheering up the Jew hidden in the basement color Liesel's days until one day, as Death is not afraid to tell you, a lot of people die, though not Liesel because she was in the basement writing her book.
The narration of this story is the most excellently done aspect. Personifying death as someone who likes to notice colors and must perpetually take vacations in his mind to escape all the suffering he sees somehow makes humans bent on destruction and people living in pain seem more frightening than he is. Also well done are his frequent interjections with either: a note, or a definition, or explanation, or description of something in the story. Typically such exposition must be worked in by the main character or inferred in the description somewhere, but having death flat out explain that BDM stands for the Band of German Girls saves the reader some trouble.
Another thing excellently done and essential to the success of the book is that the author brings each and every character to life. Death makes very clear that most of these people are doomed to die but when it actually happens it is still surprisingly heartbreaking because the reader has come to care for the silly boy next door who only wants a kiss from Liesel. This is also important because it humanizes Germans living in Nazi Germany. Many times it is easy to believe that all Germans were inhuman automatons, and this book reminds us that there were real people with opposing view points just trying to survive and help their friends do the same.
This book is on the long side at 550 pages, but I think teens will remain hooked in the story as they read to find out the fate of Max, the Jew being hidden in the Hubermann's basement, or of Hans when he is sent off to war or to see if Liesel ever gives in and kisses Rudy. I would recommend this to readers 8th grade and up.
Image taken from: http://www.itsallwrite.net/aspbite_protect/imagemod/00000521_the%20book%20thief.jpg
Monday, November 8, 2010
ISBN 9780439023511
In the concluding novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss finds herself a refugee in District 13, previously thought to be devoid of all life. As a survivor of two Hunger Games and devastated by the capture of Peeta, Katniss is understandably troubled by nightmares and hallucinations commonly found in post traumatic stress patients. Across the districts all out war has commenced, with 13 doing everything in their power to prosecute the war all the way to the capital, including trying to recruit Katniss to film inspiring Mockingjay propaganda videos to spur on troops. Katniss is distrustful of 13, especially Alma Coin, the president. What follows in this book is an epic sized Hunger Games on a grand scale, with Katniss being used as a pawn by both sides of the fight. In the end Katniss' troubles all seem for naught, and as a woman with everything she loved stripped from her, makes the decision to kill the new President Coin to avoid a repeat of the same society she was fighting against.
Collins has already proven that she is not afraid of depictions of violence to children in this series and that trend continues here. Interestingly she does shy away from describing in detail the sexual perversions done to Finnick, and I wonder that she included it at all since the violence of the regime was quite enough to have me against President Snow.
This past September a Booklist reviewer said that this book shows, "that war mixes all the slogans and justifications, the deceptions and plans, the causes and ideals into an unsavory stew whose taste brings madness. That there is still a human spirit yearning for good is the book's primrose of hope." Dystopian novels work well for teens because they are supposedly not yet cynical about the world, that teens still have hope. That hope in this novel seems very obscure and hard to find for me. Or perhaps it is just that Katniss, after having hope for the whole series, seems to lose it after she kills Coin. By killing Coin she's expressing one last hope that their society can and will do better. She retreats to a simple life with Peeta and takes many years of convincing to bring children into the world. I guess frankly I was disappointed that the ending was so dismal. The ending did bring to mind the "cultivate your garden" message in Voltaire's Candide.
Each chapter is packed with either heart-rending or heart-stopping action that will have teens flying through the novel in no time. Due to the graphic violence of the novel though I'd only recommend it for mature teens in 9th grade and up.
Image taken from: http://www.bookpage.com/the-book-case/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/mockingjay.jpg
ISBN 978-0689865381
In this futuristic world everyone is made pretty on their sixteenth birthday using extreme nip / tuck methods. Tally's birthday is at the end of the summer, leaving behind while all of her friends are having fun in New Pretty Town. Then she meets Shay, who has the same birthday as Tally. The week before their birthdays, Shay tells Tally she's running away to the Smoke and invites Tally. Tally refuses to give up becoming pretty. Then on Tally's birthday, Special Circumstances gives Tally a choice, find and spy on the runaway uglies or remain ugly forever. Tally reluctantly agrees and makes the long and dangerous voyage to the Smoke. There she finds that she can adapt to this sort of lifestyle, learns what really happens when someone is made pretty and decides to join the Smoke permanently. However, her symbolic act of destroying the pendant communicator given to her by Special Circumstances actually sets it off and the Smoke is raided. After the rescue of most of the captives, Tally volunteers to be a guinea pig for one of the Smoke's scientists in order to discover a way to fix what is done when one is made pretty.
I found the reasons behind the dystopian society in this novel a little obscure. It is mentioned a few times that the Rusties were wasteful and neglected resources, but no real explanation for making everyone pretty and stupid is forthcoming. I am hoping it is further expanded upon in later books in the series.
I thought that the twist to the coming of age story was interesting. Normally a rite of passage makes you more mature, wiser, and accepts the teen into adult society. Here the rite of passage accepts the teen into adult society, but it actually makes them dumber and therefore more compliant. Therefore in this story the teen has to reject the accepted rite of passage in order to become an intelligent adult.
One reviewer from VOYA in June of 2005 felt that the "story loses momentum describing Shay and Tally's lives as Uglies, Tally's wilderness trek, and the society in the Smoke, making the narrative frustratingly heavy with detail," and that "the book cuts off at a key point." I disagree with this reviewer. I think the details of the technology like the hover boards will keep interest and the details of the Pretties society is needed to give a good contrast to the rebel culture of the smoke. As for the book cutting off at a key point, I think that ending tied up all the plot points brought up by this novel and set up very well for the beginning of the second. The idea of testing an actual cure for the dumbed down pretty is not brought up during the course of the novel but only discussed at the end, therefore Tally's volunteering to become a pretty is a good cliff hanger for the next book.
The length of this novel may be daunting to reluctant readers or younger ones, so I'd recommend it to 8th grade and up.
Image taken from: http://readthisnow.pbworks.com/f/1196693274/uglies.jpg
ISBN 0689824750
In the not so distant future, food supply is such a dire problem that the government has limited families to two children per family. Luke was born at a time when the consequences of having a third child were not as steep. Before, he the woods around his home gave him the freedom to do chores and play outside. But now the government has developed that land into a suburb for Barons. Luke is confined to the attic to be sure that no one sees him or even suspects that he exists. His whole world limited to the attic, dinner on the stairs to the attic, a few books he's read over a hundred times, and an air vent that gives him a view of the Baron neighborhood. Once day he spies a child's face peering out of a window on a house he knows had two children already out for the day. Once he gathers up his courage, he goes over and meets Jen and learns that he's one of many shadow children in the world. When the rally for freedom planned by Jen ends in bloodshed, Luke gets the opportunity to get a fake I.D. and another life. But what will he do with this new found freedom?
Among the Hidden is the beginning of a series about shadow children, or children born after the second child. As a first book in the series, the story spends much of its time setting up the world in which it set. We learn through the hardships of Luke's family and through Luke's imprisonment that the government is a strict and often uncaring and unfair leadership. We learn though Jen's rather more relaxed form of imprisonment, (thought not by much) that the government isn't perfect in discovering shadow children and that some officials can be bribed.
What impressed me most about this book is the potential for the growth of Luke's character. In this book he is too frightened to join the rally but sees the sense in shadow children uniting and asserting their freedom. The death of his friend Jen and the opportunity to leave his family with a fake I.D. to get an education are going to be major catalysts in the reasons and ways he goes about taking up the cause for shadow children everywhere. As a reviewer for School Library Journal noted in September 1998, "the loss of free will is the fundamental theme of an exciting and compelling story of one young person defying authority and the odds to make a difference." Luke's journey to becoming that one person to defy authority and beat the odds is sure to be a fantastic read.
The book is easily read and the shorter chapters make it accessible to reluctant readers. Once kids finish this first novel they will be begging for the rest of the series to find out what happens to Luke. Recommended for Middle School readers.
Image taken from: http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n5/n25124.jpg
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