Below are three separate evaluations projects that I have submitted in the last year. For parents, educators, and librarians, I tried to create a varied and thorough suggested reading list that would prove a kind of glimpse into the young reader selections available. The titles were selected by me and, as are listed in the second and last series of evaluations, by way of some research into popular and acclaimed young reader websites and resources. I've made this available because people have shown interest in the past as I've been talking about my assignments and the books that I've been reading. Feel free to ask me questions about the books I've read or with any questions about the courses I've taken, the other papers I've written to do with young readers and youth library services and information literacy, and for additional resources.
Multicultural Young Adult Book Evaluations
Cristy Moran
1
Title: American Born Chinese
Author: Gene Luen Yang
Publisher: First Second
Copyright year:
Genre/Cultural Theme: Graphic novel, Memoir, Asian (Chinese) experience in the US
Recommended Age: 9+
Summary: American Born Chinese is a graphic memoir—closely autobiographical—about the Chinese American experience told through three stories. First is the experience of Jin Wang (a fictionalized version of a young Gene Luen Yang, the author) who is transplanted from San Francisco Chinatown
Yang presents a delightful discussion on the topic of social acceptance and self-identification that reaches out to young readers in particular with a sincere tone and anything but a condescending manner. Moreover, it feels personal. Yang expresses in a very relatable and novel way the very honest portrayal of what it feels like to be different and to be, perhaps worse, obviously different.
Evaluation: American Born Chinese has won accolades and awards from critics and audiences. It is a suitable read for all ages at all levels of reading ability—for children younger than ten or eleven years-old, parents or teachers can guide reading or read it to them. The story has a universal theme that is particularly powerful for young readers from children to YA: be yourself. It is a quintessentially contemporary American work that echoes the American independent spirit, yet acknowledges the desire of the individual to fit into society and to build community with peers.
Suggested extension activities: I would encourage parents or teachers to use the dual narrative format of the graphic novel to engage young readers’ artistic and creative abilities. A great activity would be to have students draw a comic strip of one aspect of their day—it can take place at home or at school or anywhere that they spend a majority of their time interacting with peers. This activity would be appropriate across all ages and grade levels. A second activity would focus on multicultural awareness and a discussion on stereotypes. American Born Chinese includes episodes of stereotyping and ethnic generalization that echo early television shows and entertainment and presents them to readers beside realistic portrayals of Chinese/Asian characters. Presenting students with images from television shows and films, magazines, and other entertainment media that depict gender and cultural stereotypes and having them compare those images to their own experience and to more current media portrayals of ethnicities and different cultures can encourage students to question what they see on TV.
2
Title: Cuba
Author: Inverna Lockpez (writer) and Dean Haspiel (artist)
Publisher: Vertigo/ DC Comics
Copyright year: 2010
Genre/Cultural Theme: Cuban Revolution, Graphic novel, Historical fiction, Memoir
Recommended Age: 16+ (brief nudity, non-sexual)
Summary: In 1959, Fidel Castro marched into Havana US
Evaluation: I think that the brief nudity for the couple of pages of a violent interrogation is the reason for my recommending an elder teenager to read this and, honestly, that alone would make it unacceptable for using in addendum to a class’s reading list. Otherwise, I think that this is a great novel for teaching Latin American politics or history, Women’s Studies, artistic or intellectual expression civil rights issues, etc. Because of the comic book-style graphic format, I think a lot of teens would be interested in the story which they may or may not have heard about short of the images of Che Guevara on t-shirts or the “Castro hats” that are hip and are fashioned in the guerrilla/ Fidel Castro model. It’s informative from the perspective of someone within a revolution, someone who is on both sides of the debate and who is, because of idealism and youth’s vigor, engaged in her own society which is captivating and honest, much like in Persepolis.
Suggested extension activities: Activism is an important element of a democratic society. Education in politics, the role of the individual’s role in his or her own government, and exercises in debate are important skills for students to learn. I think it’d be interesting for students to learn first-hand the difficulty of coming to a consensus on government. A great classroom activity for a civics, social studies, or history middle-to-high school class would be to create a class manifesto based on students’ ideas for the way they want their class to be governed. As a mediator, the teacher could transcribe the class’ ideas and then hand them back to the class on a different day. Then, the class can enter in a discussion or the teacher can create assignments that have the students discussing how the will of the class as dictated to the teacher may or may not serve the individuals of the class. They can do a separate creative project—either graphic or written—where they envision themselves, at their own age, living a day in the life under the government that the class had created for itself.
3
Title: First Star I See
Author: Jaye Caffrey (author), Lynne Adamson (illustrator)
Publisher: Central Recovery Press
Copyright year: 2010
Genre/Cultural Theme: Fiction, Strong female protagonist, ADHD awareness
Recommended Age: 9-12
Summary: Paige Bradley is a day-dreaming fourth grader who gets the chance of a lifetime when the lead actress of her favorite all-time television show, Star Warriors, comes to her school. Paige’s one chance to meet Renee Lastrapes who plays Dr. Kelsey Strongheart is winning a school essay contest, but Paige’s Achilles Heel is her ADHD—a learning disability that makes it difficult for her to pay attention to class and to stay on task. It is a seemingly monumental task for Paige, but she’s invested. After all, meeting Dr. Strongheart is her dream! With the support of her mom and the school principal, Mr. Rodriguez, Paige can try to overcome her disability and hone into those creative skills and that wild imagination so that she can turn in the best essay on stars in the school.
Evaluation: Caffrey wrote this novel for both adults and young people. Evidenced by the parent talking-points which she presents after the story, the intention is to enlighten families about what ADHD is and encourage positive interventions including discussion, therapies, and academic sensitivity on the subject of ADHD. For that reason, I think that, ideally, this book would be read by parents and teachers/educators in tandem with the young readers. It is interesting to see how Paige’s mind works because of the ADHD and to see how effective adult involvement can ease and even enrich her experience as a student and, certainly, at home.
Suggested extension activities: First Star I See is the perfect example of a tandem parent/teacher-and-student reading activity. At the very least, parents can use Caffrey’s discussion topic appendix to open dialogue with children about what ADHD is and what can be done about an ADHD diagnosis. Similarly, teachers—especially teachers working with special education or inclusion classes in the Language Arts or English subjects—can assign First Star I See as the class reading book and discuss with students the different ways that ADHD doesn’t hold Paige back from participating in the contest. With Paige—as with characters in other novels who struggle with their own personal obstacles—students can develop an understanding of what “multi-faceted” means. Teachers can ask students to draw up pros and cons charts or tables identifying strengths and weaknesses. Then, the students can write about ways that they can overcome challenges. Youth services librarians would do well by the community if they helped parents and families dealing with academic difficulties by setting up displays that identify books with themes appropriate to different kinds of special education needs: ADHD, autism, dyslexia, speech delay, etc. The books that are highlighted should give a broad selection of grade levels and genres. Librarians can also prepare and provide book lists for parents and children with more titles. Additional materials could include pamphlets from outreach organizations in the community, schedules for reading tutoring for children and adults at the branch/school, etc.
4
Title: The Girl Who Helped Thunder and Other Native American Folktales
Author: James Bruchac and Joseph Bruchac (retold by), Stefano Vitale (illustrator)
Publisher: Sterling
Copyright year: 2008
Genre/Cultural Theme: Folk tales and legends, Native American (various)
Recommended Age: Reading level is appropriate for 10+, but content is ideal for all children
Summary: The Girl Who Helped Thunder and Other Native American Folktales presents the young reader to a rich history of folktales and legends of the Native American peoples throughout the various regions of the US
Evaluation: The Bruchacs are raconteurs by trade. It is evident by the way that they write the different stories that, on top of being good at storytellers, they are also well-versed in different Native American legends and mythologies. The experience of watching and listening storytelling is something that’s lost on the pages, even of such a lovely comprehensive book like The Girl Who Helped Thunder. Fortunately for the reader, the printed word allows for the dissemination of the stories and invites new opportunities for storytelling between parents or teachers and children. This book and the stories therein would make for great reads-aloud in a classroom or a group of children, either one at a time, or in groupings by region—as suggested by the Bruchacs in their presentation—or by types of characters or tales (creation stories, different lessons or themes, for examples).
Suggested extension activities: A school or other youth services library can celebrate Native American culture, traditions, and literature by setting up table displays or bulletin displays to highlight materials. I would encourage focusing on local tribes or peoples, historic and contemporary. Highlighting current reading materials (as well as movies) is important because it helps kids of non-native decent to understand that Native Americans are still viable parts of our community and that they’re not only historical figures, nor are they mere stereotypes. Though this is not a traditional “extension activity” for students, I believe it’s an essential, purposeful activity for youth services librarians. A student activity for could include grouping the class into different geographical areas of the US and having them enact one of the myths or stories of that region or present creative projects—individually or as groups—to the class. While they work on the presentations, students will learn about US
5
Title: I Heard the Owl Call My Name
Author: Margaret Craven
Publisher: Dell Publishing/ Random House
Copyright year: 1973
Genre/Cultural Theme: Fiction, Adventure, Native American (Kwakiutl peoples) experience
Recommended Age: 10-14
Summary: Mark is young priest who is assigned a vicarage in Kingcome, a small Native American village in the Pacific Northwest/ British Columbia
Evaluation: I find that it’s difficult for me to see how young readers can identify with much of the “historical” Native American narratives and the traditional myths of the different peoples. I Heard the Owl Call My Name is both a step forward and a step backward in terms of my interests for Native American themed literature for YA. Because it is set in the early 1970’s, it’s not particularly separate of the experiences of a contemporary reader. It’s about the way of life in a small, traditionally isolated community and how it is changed as society outside encroaches upon it. Normally, I would find that a priest protagonist through whose perceptions a narrative is experienced would interfere with a contemporary YA reader’s appreciation of the story because it’s so disconnected from his or her own experience, but Mark is an incredibly empathetic character whose compassion and faith is admirable to religious and nonreligious folks alike. Much of his education of Kwakiutl traditions is shared with the readers and as Mark learns, the readers learn too.
Suggested extension activities: A journaling exercise would be great as an extension activity for I Heard the Owl Call My Name since much of the narrative is presented in a kind of day-to-day and intimate fashion. The reader is made to feel very close to Mark through his candid and direct observations and reflections. The tone of the novel is reminiscent of memoir or journaling; therefore, a great way to connect young readers to this narrative is to encourage them to express their reflections on the novel by tying a reading journal exercise to the chapters that they are asked to read for class if being assigned to read the book incrementally. The reflections can be done in class and graded as class work or quizzes. Teachers can introduce this assignment (or series of assignments) by focusing on the subjective nature of the grading—based more on effort and individual assessment of the material rather than on regurgitating facts. This will encourage students to engage with the literature and read for themselves, rather than for the grade themselves. Obviously, students will be required to have read the sections/chapters when doing this assignment. Based on their writing, teachers will be able to figure out if students are completing their reading assignments. In keeping with the youth services library activity for The Girl Who Helped Thunder, youth services libraries and school libraries can include I Heard the Owl Call My Name among titles selected for highlighting Native American experience literature as a non-native experience of a white man integrating with the culture of the Kwakiutl.
6
Title: Kingfisher Treasury of Jewish Stories (Kingfisher Treasury of Stories Series #5)
Author: Adele Geras (compiled by), Jane Cope (illustrator)
Publisher: Kingfisher
Copyright year: 2003
Genre/Cultural Theme: Short fiction, Jewish theme
Recommended Age: 10-14
Summary: Like the other titles in the Kingfisher Treasury of…children’s stories series (including Animal Stories, Irish Stories, Magical Stories, Monster Stories, Stories for Six Year-olds, etc.), the Kingfisher Treasury of Jewish Stories is a collection of short stories is guided by one central theme. The stories in the Kingfisher collection vary in style, setting, and moral. Included are stories by the following authors: Lynne Reid Banks, Leila Berg, Ruth Craft, Phyllis Rose Eisenberg, Deborah Freeman, Sheila Front, Adéle Geras, Barbara Diamond Goldin, Marilyn Hirsch, Tamar Hodes, Miriam Hodgson, Judith Kerr, Michael Rosen, and Isaac Bashevis Singer. Some of the stories—like Hirsch’s “Captain Jiri and Rabbi Jacob,” Rosen’s “The Judgment,” and Geras’s “The Golden Shoes”—are fables that take the reader outside of the realm of the present day and present characters that are Jewish and that are obvious in their intent to teach a lesson or deliver a moral. Other stories—like Eisenberg’s “A Mensch is Someone Special,” Hodes’ “Special Fridays,” and Banks’ “Batata”—are more present-day based and more directly relative to the contemporary young reader. While not all of the stories present situations which can only be appreciated by Jewish readers, many of the stories involve Jewish holiday celebrations, Yiddish dialect, and Jewish history—a few of the stories (though only a handful) touch upon World War II.
Evaluation: I believe that young readers can appreciate many if not all of the lessons from the Jewish-themed stories in the Kingfisher collection. Moreover, appreciation for a major immigrant population and cultural/ethnic minority in the US
Suggested extension activities: Public schools across the country give days off for Jewish holidays as teacher work or vacation days. Any one of those Jewish holidays is an opportunity for teachers to foster both multicultural awareness and sensitivity. Moreover, using Jewish themed stories or stories by Jewish authors during those times for reading and comprehension assignments is a good way to include those materials without interrupting the general course of curricula. That being said, individual stories can be selected by teachers from the Kingfisher’s Treasury of Jewish Stories—even if the entire book isn’t assigned as mandatory reading for those purposes. Teachers can either read a story aloud to the students and conduct a short quiz on the facts and themes of the story, or hand out copies of the stories to students and follow with a quiz. Depending on the demographic of the school and the surrounding community, a school librarian can determine if a Jewish books and materials display is appropriate for religious holidays or during other times of the year like a multicultural awareness week. A great class activity would be to hold a holiday party where students and their families can cook or bake Jewish snacks and goodies along with other things that families might bring.
7
Title: Plain Truth
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Washington Square
Copyright year: 2000
Genre/Cultural Theme: Fiction, Legal drama, Strong female protagonist, Amish experience in the US
Recommended Age: 15+
Summary: Ellie Hathaway is a big-city defense attorney who, in the midst of a very successful career, finds that she has to disconnect in order to reevaluate her life and her priorities. For that, she flees Philadelphia Lancaster County
Evaluation: For a YA book on Amish culture, I may suggest other titles, particularly because this novel, at 405 pages isn’t exactly an immediately satisfying read. The level of the writing and the ease of understandability are appropriate for 15+ most definitely, but short of avid female readers, I don’t think this book would be very interesting for the YA readers. However, it is a good introduction to the discussion of differences between secularized urban life and more conservative religious traditions in more rural parts of the US
Suggested extension activities: This novel has great extension activities potential because of the legal drama aspect. A mock trial would be a wonderful exercise for this novel or any similar legal dramas or novels. I would divide a class up in two and act as the judge and jury. Half of the class would be assigned the part of the defense and the other half would be assigned the part of the prosecutor. Regardless on their personal stances on the “case,” I would have them act as researchers and use this exercise as a platform to teach information literacy and researching skills. Another activity could involve research on different American religious traditions, particularly those that look or live differently/ separately. Collecting photos and stories—both fiction and informational—from different American communities could be a wonderful exercise for students, educationally and creatively.
8
Title: Seedfolks
Author: Paul Fleischman (author), Judy Pederson (illustrator)
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Copyright year: 1999
Genre/Cultural Theme: Realistic fiction, Multiethnic/ multicultural
Recommended Age: 10-14
Summary: It is a vacant lot where trash is dumped and bottles collect, wherefrom passersby turn so as not to face the desolation of urban life, the disconnection the feel from nature, and the alienation they perpetrate from their neighbors. It is Cleveland
Evaluation: Seedfolks is a book expressly written for children and young readers as an effort to open discourse on multicultural awareness, according to the books author, Paul Fleischman, in the book’s epilogue. It is the perfect vehicle for young people to experience the perspectives of others—some like them and some vastly different. It offers a platform for discussing various themes including multiculturalism, immigration, various cultures and nationalities, the state of modern day US
Suggested extension activities: Involving students in community action is a great way of getting them interested in social activism and empowering them as individuals that can make a difference. Though Seedfolks focuses on a community garden bringing people together, there are many different kinds of services that students and young persons can participate in both rural and urban communities of varying economic levels. Offering extra credit for participation in extracurricular volunteer work and inviting families and friends to join in will encourage students to engage with the community. Starting a class vegetable and herb garden (container or ground) can teach kids about the value of nutrition, responsibility, and team work. Caring for and maintaining the garden can be a part of the class—either daily or weekly—and, even without giving grades or extra credit for the work that they do, teachers can use the exercise as a valuable lesson on working to achieve something—the literal and figurative fruits of labor—and teach them about the process of trial and error. Similarly, starting a kids’ garden at a local public library can foster appreciation for the environment and for general health and well-being.
9
Title: Skim
Author: Mariko Takami (writer) and Jillian Tamaki (artist)
Publisher: Groundwood Books/ House of Anansi Press
Copyright year: 2008
Genre/Cultural Theme: Graphic novel, Asian Experience, Teen depression/ suicide, LGBT coming of age
Recommended Age: 15+
Summary: Kim, “Skim,” is a teenager at an all-girls’ prep school on the outer fringes of the social scene. She’s a chubby Asian quasi-Goth/would-be-Wiccan outsider who spends most of her time with her best friend, Lisa, and being apathetic about home and school with the exception of her English class. When the most popular girl in school gets dumped by her perfect boyfriend just before he kills himself, the entire school population—students and faculty—become obsessed with teen depression and outreach to potential suicides. Skim takes place in the time of this heightened awareness in Skim’s school and follows Skim as she navigates between being herself and finding out who she really is.
Evaluation: The process of self-discovery is arduous, particularly for teenagers who, on top of their self-imposed pressures to figure out who they are and what their place in the world is, have the need to identify themselves to their peers, families, and adults around them. Skim’s experience in the novel borders on the mundane. There are no particularly outrageous or unbelievable or monumental events that occur personally to her. However, what she’s going through in those very “normal” days is some of the most difficult stuff that a teenager has to go through. The discussion on teen depression is poignant, mostly because of the way that it illustrates the disconnect between adults and the children over whom they loom as authority figures and responsible parties. Moreover, adolescence and teenage years are those during which—like Skim—most teenagers begin to discover not only who they are sexually but what they want in terms of all the meaningful relationships in their lives.
Suggested extension activities: I think it would be very hard to fit Skim into a curriculum. However, I definitely think that it would be a great amendment to discussions on teen depression or suicide in middle and high schools. One activity that I would suggest in keeping with Skim’s themes is to open up discourse between students of middle and high school ages about the potential issues that could cause or exacerbate teen depression. I think students don’t like to be put on the spot or made to feel like they’re revealing “too much” about themselves. Because of that, I would encourage them to draft situations that teens deal with that cause emotional stress for them and have them randomly draw them and discuss them and why those situations cause stress and what teenagers can do to manage that stress positively.
10
Title: Witness
Author: Karen Hesse
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Copyright year: 2003
Genre/Cultural Theme: Poetry (narrative), Historical fiction (1920s, US), Black American experience, Jewish American experience, Multiethnic/multicultural relations, Racism
Recommended Age: 12+
Summary: A 1924 Vermont Hesse Chicago
Evaluation: The experience of reading Witness, alone, is a valuable one. The narrative takes place through short poems told in the experience of individuals. It is a creative way of illustrating the experience of that 1920’s American racism that is so heavily drawn upon for other more straightforward narratives in literature and films. It’s almost like it’s presenting a Billie Holiday song or some slave song Spiritual on the page—not lacking musicality, necessarily, merely presented in verse. It is difficult to quantify or qualify the value that this kind of book would have on the young readers who are exposed to it. Suffice it to say, teachers can use Witness to present something personal, unconventional, and interesting to students who are either desensitized or apathetic about American history and American race relations.
Suggested extension activities: As a creative writer as well as an educator, I encourage educators to take advantage of teaching different themes in social studies subjects by introducing various literary forms of fiction and nonfiction. Hesse
Suggested YA Books and Materials: Reading
Cristy Moran
1. Annie on My Mind
Author: Nancy Garden
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Copyright date: 1982
Genre: LGBT Romance
Recommended Age: 14+
Rating: ***1/2
Page #: 233
Curricular Connections: Social Studies, Religion, Current Events (Gay Marriage)
Selection Source: Teenreads.com (Author Profile: Nancy Garden) from http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-garden-nancy.asp
Review: Liza is the stand-up seventeen year-old. She’s an aspiring architect attending a New York City
In the midst of all this, Liza and Annie agree to care after pair of teachers’ cats while the teachers vacation. This chance changes Liza’s life forever and helps her realize that she (and Annie) is not alone in this world and that her feelings aren’t “wrong,” just different. That is where the plot unfurls; when Liza has to face her fears of opening up her personal life—her struggles to identify herself and her sexuality, her commitment to her family and to her dreams of attending a prestigious university—and facing all of it in the public eye of her family and her school…when it’s no longer possible for Liza to be true to herself and to be happy with who she is and wants to be unless she can do so proudly.
Evaluation: This is a book that I hadn’t known existed until I came upon the title while looking for a “good” YA LGBT book to read. This is a book that, immediately upon reading, got me to call my best friend of fifteen years, the first openly gay lesbian at our Catholic high school—my best friend since before she outed herself to the school and to her family—and tell her, “Somewhere out there, this book had been around, existing for almost two decades when we were going through our crisis in being accepted in high school. When you were the lesbian and I was the straight girl friend and no one understood and everyone treated us badly.” It was amazing to me that it took me until I was twenty-eight years-old to find it and, when I did, I resolved to share the story of Liz and Annie with any adolescent I met—gay or straight—that struggled to find, accept, and share his or her own identity with the rest of the world. It is an important book. It is a book that should be read far more than it is. And I’m glad that it’s out there, for someone to find. Someone like me. Someone like my best friend, Ani. Yes, Ani.
2. Battle
Author: Koushun Takami
Publisher: VIZ Media
Copyright date: 2003
Genre: Popular Adult Fiction, Foreign (Japanese), Action/ Adventure
Recommended Age: 15+
Rating: ****
Page #: 624
Curricular Connections: Civics/ Government (Socialism, Nationalism, Fascism), Foreign Language (Japanese)
Selection Source: Personal collection
Review: Battle Japan
Battle Royale takes place in an alternate Japan
Evaluation: Takami's novel is more than just a standard Lord of the Flies YA fare, it offers an in depth look into Japan Japan
When I first read this, I was blown away at how richly Takami enters into a dialogue with the reader about the perils of staunch nationalism. I learned more about Japan
3. Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
Author: Chris Fuhrman
Publisher: University Georgia Press
Copyright date: 2001
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Recommended Age: 12+
Rating: ****1/2
Page #: 200
Curricular Connections: English Literature (Poetry), Religion
Selection Source: Teenreads.com Ultimate Reading List
Review: Comic books, William Blake, Catholic school uniforms, incest, crushes...Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys pretty much covers the gamut of coming of age. At its core, the novel is one about realizing that the world of boyhood and the world of adulthood are two different places. Francis Doyle, Tim Sullivan, and their friends go to Catholic school. They are a wildly imaginative group of adolescent boys who live vicariously through the comic books that they read and the comic books that they want to write. In their quasi-imaginary world, Sister Assumpta is their peg-legged super-villainous arch-nemesis head mistress. Francis—the novel’s protagonist—is a kind of cool-headed misfit on the verge of manhood getting his first feelings of lust and romance when he meets Margie Flynn, another classmate. Their friendship and blossoming romance is the kind that echoes those of the classic coming of age tales until Francis finds out a secret about Margie. Francis’s friendship with Tim is another central aspect of the novel. Tim is the resident genius of the group of boys. He is the emotionally mature, brooding, and speculative one of the group, a kind of misfit ring-leader of sorts, in spite of his small stature and physical frailty.
Evaluation: Fuhrman’s only novel was adapted into a film of the same name by producers Jodie Foster (who also plays Sister Assumpta) and Jay Shapiro, and director Peter Care in 2002, and was finalized just after Fuhrman died of cancer. The film, like the movie, is a poignant, sad, and moving picture into the lives of Francis, Tim, and Margie. Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys is truly a special work of fiction. The characters and the story are as real and relatable as they get. Particularly for the students who ask those Big Questions and for the ones who question what it is to live an authentic life at a time when everything is so uncertain, this is a must-read.
4. Hairstyles of the Damned
Author: Joe Meno
Publisher: Punk Planet Book Series, Akashic Books
Copyright date: 2004
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Recommended Age: 13+
Rating: ****
Page #: 290
Curricular Connections: Social Studies (Race Relations in the United States
Selection Source: Personal collection, and Teenreads.com Word of Mouth October 2006
Review: Published into a digest-sized/pocket-ready book by Punk Planet, Hairstyles of the Damned is literally the perfect fit for that YA reader—male or female—who doesn’t carry his or her book bag to school because, well, he or she just “doesn’t care.” Joe Meno tells a story that is so genuine in the reading that it’s hard to believe it’s actually fiction; it reads more like an autobiography of coming-of-age in the “wrong side of the tracks” Chicago of the 1990s. There is nothing phony about Brian Oswald’s story. Hairstyles of the Damned is the tale of Brian’s teenage years wherein nothing is more important than punk rock, girls, and making it through the day. He is a fictionalization of any kid who feels like the outside is the only place he or she would want to fit in. Making mix-tapes, hanging with his pink-haired girl best friend, making out with girls in his friend’s basement, smoking pot, and navigating through the cliques of punk rockers is pretty much all that Brian cares about. He has a rocky home life, struggles to fit into a mostly-black neighborhood in Chicago
Evaluation: Hairstyles of the Damned is a testament to living through angst-ridden adolescence through the school of hard knocks, even when the hard knocks sound more like the drumbeat of a Jawbreaker or Misfits song. It is about male-female friendships and where to draw the line. It is about race relations. It is about acceptance. It is about being a nonconformist. It is about growing up and figuring out exactly what that even means. It is a kind of High Fidelity for a YA reader except that, like adolescence, Hairstyles of the Damned takes itself a little more seriously.
5. Homeboyz
Author: Alan Lawrence Sitomer
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Copyright date: 2008
Genre: Black Experience in Fiction, Realistic Fiction
Recommended Age: 13+
Rating: ***1/2
Page #: 304
Curricular Connections: Current Events, Black History Month
Selection Source: FAME Florida
Review: Teddy Anderson is a teenager with everything going for him: He’s a computer genius in whom the NSA has shown recruiting interest. He’s a self-taught martial artist. He comes from a strong family who has always supported each other in good times and in bad. Everything changes for Teddy and his family when Teddy’s younger sister becomes the tragic victim of a gang-related drive-by shooting. After the loss of Tina, the youngest Anderson
Evaluation: I came to Homeboyz never having been a fan of straight-from-the-Hood culture, fiction/non-fiction, or music. However, the story of Teddy, Micha, and the Anderson Miami
6. Runaways (Comic Series)
Author: Brian K. Vaughn (creator), Joss Whedon, Michael Ryan, and Christina Strain, et al.
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Copyright date: 2003 (first issue)
Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction
Recommended Age: 12+
Rating: ****
Page #: n/a
Curricular Connections: English Literature
Selection Source: Teenreads.com (review for item of series “Dead End Kids” book)
Review: Runaways is a comic series by Brian K. Vaughn and published by Marvel Comics. The basic premise of Runaways surrounds six adolescents/teens whose parents annually meet, during which the kids aren't present. These kids end up becoming familiar with one another making them a band of loose friends. Little by little, the kids start suspecting that their parents are keeping secrets from them. One year, the kids spy on their parents and find them out to be...super villains of the supernatural/extraordinary variety. By and by the discoveries, the kids inherit their parents' powers (either naturally or by acquisition) and struggle to come into their own with these new identities.
Note: Brian K. Vaughn is no longer writing the series. He is the creator and worked on the first volume. Joss Whedon of TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly fame has also written for Runaways.
Evaluation: It's almost like the classic story of coming of age except that it's, well, comic book-y. It's got great graphics, dialogue, and story. The plot continues through the series which began in 2003 and is ongoing. It's a really great series. It ties in adolescent angst, kids' relationship/identity with their parents, and a lot of the things that make YA literature accessible to teens in with the comic book, superhero-esque format. Runaways is a really deserving member of any YA collection. And, let's hear it for good YA comic series!
7. Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Author: Marisha Pessl
Publisher: Penguin Group
Copyright date: 2006
Genre: Mystery/Suspense, Strong Female Character in Fiction, Popular Adult Fiction
Recommended Age: 15+
Rating: *****
Page #: 528
Curricular Connections: English Literature, Social Studies, US History (Counterculture Movement, Antiwar Movement of the 1960s-1970s, Domestic Terrorism), Civics/Government
Selection Source: Personal Collection, USAToday.com Best Selling Books Database
Review: When Special Topics in Calamity Physics opens up, Blue van Meer—the story’s protagonist—let’s you know that someone dies. She tells you that someone’s died and that, even in the present—long after it had happened, she’s still thinking about it. That’s when Blue starts telling the reader the story of her coming of age. A time when, after years of traveling between college towns wherein her dad, a political science professor, would find temporary teaching jobs, Blue and her dad finally seem to settle in one town. In this town, Blue is enrolled in a classy prep school. A particular professor at this school takes an interest in Blue—and, possibly, in her father. Hannah Schneider, a near middle-aged teacher at her school, woos Blue into joining a kind of intellectual elite hob-knob club of students. What is astonishing about the narrative is the way in which it’s told. Blue is an exceptionally brilliant girl who, in her narration, references everything from “Casablanca
As Blue’s life becomes more settled among the Blueblood in St. Gallway’s (her prep school), mysteries begin to take shape. Hannah and the students in her inner circle become suspects of intrigue. Blue’s dad, even, becomes a source of mystery and unspoken truths. Blue’s coming of age, then, takes place among a tension of suspense, a mystery of epic proportions.
Evaluation: Pessl presents such an intriguing story that the reader is immediately sucked into Blue’s world. Blue is an exemplary literary force. She is brilliant, perceptive, and curious. It takes a bright reader to follow along the path that Pessl has laid out in Blue’s narration. For that reason (and due to its page-length), my recommendation is that a reader be in the latter high school grades or beyond. However, the pay off for the reader comes in spades. Besides the engrossing story and unraveling mysteries of the plot, the book’s value exceeds entertainment. It is a story with links throughout classic literature, US
8. Stargirl
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Publisher: Random House
Copyright date: 2002
Genre: Romance, Realistic Fiction
Recommended Age: 12+
Rating: ***
Page #: 208
Curricular Connections:
Selection Source: 2005 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and Teen Reads Ultimate Reading
Review: Lee Borlock is an average kid in an average Arizona Mica Area High School
Evaluation: From the moment Stargirl dances her way into the cafeteria, she is in your heart forever. Like Lee, the reader becomes fascinated and a little in love with Stargirl. For those of us who’ve always felt like the outsider and wished to have the confidence to walk with our heads held high through the hallways of our high schools, Stargirl becomes a kind of hero. It is easy to see why Lee likes her and why he is fascinated by her. It is a truly sad moment when Stargirl succumbs to conformity for the sake of keeping Lee’s affection and, really, for the sake of making Lee feel at ease with himself.
9. Twilight Saga (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn)
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Copyright date: 2005-2008
Genre: Supernatural Romance
Recommended Age: 12+
Rating: ***
Page #: n/a
Curricular Connections: English Literature
Selection Source: Recommended by former student (Rebecca, college freshman)
Review: Any list of recommended YA books would be remiss to leave out Stephenie Meyers’ phenomenally popular urban fantasy series. Besides spawning a franchise of blockbuster movies, t-shirts and memorabilia, and fan clubs, Meyers’ books have reaffirmed that YA readers are eager for new, interesting material to read. Meyers has been able to successfully translate famed classical YA staples into a hip, modern series that appeals to a broad range of readers. Bella is a classic teen girl with her own idiosyncrasies of character, her own fears and insecurities, and her own willfulness. Edward Cullen and Bella’s best friend, Jacob Black, are set archetypes for romantic interests of both real and fictional teen girls alike.
Twilight, the series’ first book, is a take on Jane Austen’s seminal Pride and Prejudice wherein the characters of the sensible and comely Elizabeth Bennet and the proud and rich Mr. Darcy are transformed into the clumsy and plain Isabella Swan and the fabulous and undead Edward Cullen. New Moon, the series’ second novel, does for “Romeo and Juliet” in the present day what “West Side Story” did for the play in the world of staged musicals and 1960s cinema. Eclipse, the third novel in the series, is a reimagination of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Breaking Dawn, the series-ender of the Twilight Saga, is the only book of the series that is a singular work of fiction, basing its plot and themes entirely on those previous novels in the series which have set its foundation.
Evaluation: Above all, the Twilight Saga is an inspiring series for YA authors, educators, and parents who are looking for something to whet the appetite of young readers. Female YA readers, in particular, will look to this series as the perfect statement of wistful young love and the hopes for their own romantic lives. Reading the Twilight Saga as an adult is finding the aspirations and naiveté of young love. It is remembering why it was both hard and wonderful to be a teenage girl. Meyers’ writing, story conception, and originality are not what make the Twilight Saga important reads and recommendations. Valuing the series on those criteria would be a grave mistake since it they are not what makes the series neither viable nor valuable as assets to a collection. What does make the series an essential part of any YA collection is its value in contemporary literary society and popular culture.
10. What I Saw and How I Lied
Author: Judy Blundell
Publisher: Scholastic
Copyright date: 2008
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Recommended Age: 12+
Rating: ****1/2
Page #: 288
Curricular Connections: World History or US History (any history class studying WWII/post-WWII era)
Selection Source: 2008 National Book Award winner for Young People's Literature, and 2009 Best Books for Young Adults from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/09bbya.cfm
Review: Evie is a fifteen year-old growing up in post-WWII New York Palm Beach FL. All the promise of Paradise
Evaluation: There aren’t a lot of YA novels that grab me in and compel me to stay reading them. What I Saw and How I Lied is one of the few that has done that in my adulthood. What I loved about this book is the way that Blundell never panders to the ignorance of a YA reader. Rather than talk-down to her reader or rather than skip over the reasons that certain things are the way they are (there is a historical context that many YA readers won’t be familiar with), Blundell seamlessly integrates post-WWII history, social factors, etc. into the narrative so that, at once, entertains and educates the reader with just enough to pique his/her interest in the fiction and historical references made in the novel. The tone is supremely noir while remaining intelligible and relevant to a teenager. It is engrossing in its entirety. I have recommended this book to adult friends who like mystery and to ones that teach YA readers.
Suggested YA Books and Materials: Reading
Cristy Moran
13. A Northern Light
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.
Copyright date: 2003
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Strong Female Protagonist
Recommended Age: 13+
Rating: ****
Page #: 383
Curricular Connections: American History, English Literature, Language Arts/ Vocabulary, Women’s Studies
Selection Source: Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book (2004)
Review: Told as a fictional account of a young girl in the early 20th century, A Northern Light is the story of Mattie Gokey’s coming of age framed by the real-life murder of a young girl in Glenmore, a northern mountain lake resort. Mattie is a brilliant writer with bigger dreams than can possibly become a reality given her situation: after her mother's death from cancer, she is charged with being the caretaker and centralizing figure in her modest farm home. Donnelly presents us with a protagonist who is bright, yet innocent. Her insecurities about her talent, her brilliance, her strength, and her sexuality speak true to any girl or woman who has struggled to identify herself against a backdrop of life's hard-knock circumstances. Mattie’s friends and relations are a great bonus to the landscape that Donnelly creates for Mattie’s coming of age. Her best friend, Weaver, is a high-achieving black boy. Her childhood friend, Minnie, is newly married and pregnant. Her love interest, Royal, is the neighboring farm boy—a kind of beautiful simpleminded Adonis that suddenly shows interest in Mattie. Mattie’s family, too, is filled with important characters, each very real and each a kind of person that every reader can say he or she knows in his or her own life. Her father, brothers and sisters (particularly her tomboyish little sister, Lou), and her uncle grow to be their own characters full of life and vivacity despite being tied to the narrative of such a strong protagonist.
Interwoven with Mattie’s story is that of the suspicious drowning death of a young woman who was staying at the lodge wherein Mattie is employed. The woman’s traveling companion—her apparent lover—has gone missing and is presumed dead, as well. Mattie holds with her the last communication made by the young victim, Grace: letters that passed between her and the missing beau. A mystery unfolds as rumors that the names the guests had given aren’t their real names at all. Mattie indulges herself—quite guiltily, might I add—in the correspondences and in imaging the life that Grace left behind.
Evaluation: Having finished this novel, my eyes welled with tears for Mattie and for Grace and for me. It is a historical fiction that touches upon racism, platonic female-male friendships, women's liberation, censorship and intellectual freedom, and, most of all, what it's like to be...a girl. My heart swells with hope for Mattie and for the sadness of the loss of Grace's life. It is such a strong read and it totally deserves of the honors that it's received since having been first published. I do, however, want to relate that it is a difficult book to value immediately. At first, it reads slowly and the distinct timelines (the time after Grace’s body is discovered and the time leading up to Mattie’s arrangement to work at the lodge, Glenmore) are a bit cumbersome to get through. However, there are bits and pieces to interest readers that will keep them going. As an educator, I appreciate the way Donnelly ties the chapters together with new words that Mattie is learning and word games that she plays with her friend, Weaver. It certainly taught me some new words!
14. Blue is for Nightmares (Blue is for Nightmares Series, #1)
Author: Laurie Faria Stolarz
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
Copyright date: 2003
Genre: Supernatural Mystery/Suspense, Strong Female Protagonist
Recommended Age: 13+
Rating: ***
Page #: 283
Curricular Connections: Contemporary Fiction
Selection Source: Popular Teen Series in Barnes Noble Teen section
Review: Stacy is having nightmares. Mostly, it’s just one nightmare: She’s running in the forest, running away from a pursuer and running to save her best friend, Drea, screaming out for help from somewhere in the darkness. As this nightmare has persisted, Stacy has become more and more certain that it’s a prophecy of an impending terror. She knows this because she’s inherited the ability of precognitive dreams from her grandmother, a witch. But, more pressing than any nightmare predictions of danger are the trials and tribulations of being a teenager in her waking life. Stacy is in love with Drea’s on-again/off-again boyfriend, Chad
Evaluation: I was looking for a popular teen supernatural or horror series that I might read the first book of for this project. My only stipulation was that the series didn’t involve vampires, werewolves, or fairies. Since the Twilight phenomenon, countless of beautiful-but-misunderstood monster series have sprouted and, for the most part, they are little more than blatant attempts to take a bite from the Twilight golden apple. I was looking for something that harkened me back to the days when I was a YA reader, devouring book-after-book of R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike series—genre mysteries told through the teen perspective, plot-driven and hyper-realistic. Perhaps the only reason that I picked up the first of the Blue is for Nightmares series is because it was the closest thing I could find to Stine’s Fear Street books…literally, since it was the series closest to where Stine would have been on the bookshelf. Finding nothing new from Stine (and nothing more than a new Twilight-like series from Christopher Pike—all about teen vampires—ick!), I turned to the back cover of Blue is for Nightmares and, having found some interest in the summary, took a dip into the first chapter at the bookstore. What I ended up taking home that day was probably the closest thing I have come to, thus far, in my quest to matching the delight and suspense of the genre mysteries of my YA readership days. I started and finished the book in the same day that I bought it (on a Friday) and have already promised to give it to a friend’s thirteen year-old daughter, herself an avid reader. This book comes totally recommended by me, particularly for female early teen readers.
15. Charles and Emma: The Darwins
Author: Deborah Heiligman
Publisher: Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
Copyright date: 2009
Genre: Biography, Romance, Historical Non-fiction
Recommended Age: 12+
Rating: ***
Page #: 262 (including appendices: chronology, selected bibliography, etc.)
Curricular Connections: Science (Evolution studies)
Selection Source: YASLA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults (2010 Winner)
Review: Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species forever changed the face of science. Darwin Darwin Darwins
Evaluation: The first thing I want to say is that I have knocked off a star based solely on the difficulty that I have had “getting into” this book. As soon as I had read about it on the YASLA website, I knew that I would pick this book as one of my choices for non-fiction YA. Perhaps it is partly due to that excitement of getting immersed in the story that I am so disappointed in the pace at which it reads. I just could not, for the life of me, get into the narrative. Minus one star for that. Otherwise, I wasn’t too impressed with the story. The story itself is interesting and would make for a good selection for any YA into period romances because, in a way, that’s kind of what this book is like. However, I found it lacking in that regard too. Perhaps I found it dry or too slow-reading and that is why I had such difficulty really liking it. I’m not sure.
16. Gym Candy
Author: Carl Deuker
Publisher: Hougton Mifflin
Copyright date: 2007
Genre: Sports, Realistic Fiction
Recommended Age: 13+
Rating: ***
Page #: 313
Curricular Connections: Health
Selection Source: FAME Florida
Review: Mick Johnson knows football. His father having been a high school and college football record-holder and would-have-been NFL star, football and the aspirations to live up to his father’s glory days of yore are the only thing that Mick Johnson can truly say he knows and even loves. Even since starting school, Mick’s chronology has been mapped out according to the pursuit of NFL ambitions. There is no way to overestimate the way the sport consumes Mick’s life. It’s no surprise, then, that, upon entry into high school, the only thing that matters to Mick is making the football team, achieving starting line status, and performing to maximum ability in each game of the season. In one very telling statement Mick says of himself, “I don’t know if I can stand being ordinary.” It’s that very conflict which drives Mick to do things wherein Mick’s faith in his moral character is tested. In the quest of becoming the best player on the field, Mick begins training at a local gym where he meets a trainer that offers him the opportunity he’s always sought: to be the best, so above the rest that it’s an unnatural feat. That’s when Mick gets caught up in the use of “gym candy,” or steroids and hormones. What ensues is a rollercoaster of performance, emotions, and guilt. In the end, Mick has to make a choice between what really matters in life and what he’s willing to do in order to achieve it.
Evaluation: The good thing about Gym Candy is how I—and readers like me, who knows embarrassingly little to nothing about the game of football, can keep up with the momentum of the games without feeling left in the dust. Deuker’s narrative is quick and simple, particularly in the portions of the story wherein the games are involved. I could, literally, read them quickly and be engaged in Mick’s emotional investment in the game. In this way, the book read incredibly fast. For as much as I don’t get into sports, at all, I’m an avid viewer of sports dramas like Remember the Titans and TV’s “Friday Night Lights.” There is nothing like a straight-forward underdog story that builds momentum with quick dips into action-packed sports montages and evocative music. The catharsis that comes at the end through the success of victory on the field or some “greater win” is outrageously satisfying to me. I guess that’s why I gravitated toward this novel. In many ways, I guess that’s why I was able to give it a chance in spite of my disinterest in the sport or in characters like Mick with whom I have little prospect of relating.
Gym Candy is a great read for a reluctant reader and for any sports enthusiast male reader, in particular. It’s a morality tale that, in many ways, seems necessary to be told. There are many seemingly relatable aspects to Mick’s story: living up to his father’s aspirations for him, the changing natures of high school friendships, engagement in sports or hobbies that are all-consuming, the allure of peer pressure to use drugs, the struggle to fit in and be accepted by a team, and—with a very minor focus—the pursuit of intimate relationships with (in Mick’s case) girls. However, despite the relatively low reading level required to read and understand the book, I fear that the readers to whom this narrative is geared just simply wouldn’t want to read this or any book. I fear that’s a sad situation since, for kids in Mick’s shoes, the most important thing to find is a support system and a source of empathy and understanding. As with all teen real-life “issues” (i.e. drug use and addiction, physical and emotional abuse by adults, eating disorders, mental disorders, etc.), steroid use and obsessive need to succeed in sports seems to me to be pandemic particularly prevalent in communities wherein the only way “out” is seen as the big leagues, be it college ball or straight into professional sports careers. I think this is a novel which would work best in a middle school to high school set in those areas of the country—where it could really reach kids who are relating directly to Mick and his singular drive to making it as a sports star.
17. The Handmaid’s Tale (Format: CD Audiobook)
Author: Margaret Atwood
Publisher: Goose Lane
Copyright date: 2004 (audiobook), 1985 (hardcover first edition)
Genre: Dystopian, Strong female protagonist
Recommended Age: 16+
Rating: ***1/2
Page #: n/a
Curricular Connections: Contemporary American Fiction/Literature, Women’s Studies
Selection Source: Popular adult fiction
Review: In a dystopian America Republic Gilead
Evaluation: I wanted to find an audiobook that I could read and review for this project, nominally, because I’ve never “read” via audiobook. I also wanted to select a book that I’d never read and, for whatever reason, that it would be unlikely for me to read. Considering that I’d never read Atwood’s classic, The Handmaid’s Tale, but that I’ve read and enjoyed similar dystopian YA and adult fictions, I determined that this would be the right choice. My daily commute on work days (five days a week) is at least 45 minutes either way—to or from my office, so I’d have plenty of time to listen to the audiobook. Moreover, if I downloaded it on MP3 format, I could also listen to it at my office while working at my computer. Granted, this sort of seems counter-productive (certainly counter-intuitive, as well) since I would have to split my attention between two “tasks.” Then again, short of for the reading disabled or blind, I’m assuming that most audiobook audiences are splitting their attentions similarly. Long gone, in my mind, are the days of sitting silently by the radio focused solely on the story seeping through the speakers. Ergo, I would do it the way that other people do and evaluate the effectiveness of the format as well as the substance of the story.
Based on the language and sexual content of The Handmaid’s Tale, I decided on a recommended age that I felt would best be able to approach the material without making cheeky grimaces or jokes at the material. Also, listening to it, I had the experience of feeling like someone was telling me this story as though it had happened to her, in real life, as opposed to the distant awares that I would have had that I was reading fiction had I been holding a book and flipping the pages myself, forced to imagine a narrative voice. For however much as I, in the end, determined that audiobooks are not for me—as a reader—the experience of this book, in particular, made me realize the power of the human voice telling its own story.
18. I Wouldn’t Thank You for a Valentine: Poems for Young Feminists
Author: Various
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Copyright date: 1997
Genre: Poetry, Strong Female Protagonist(s)
Recommended Age: 12+
Rating: ***1/2
Page #: 112
Curricular Connections: Poetry, Literature, Women’s Studies
Selection Source: YASLA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
Review: I Wouldn’t Thank You for a Valentine is a collection of poems written by female poets. The subject matters of the poems vary as do the styles of writing. This is the kind of introductory poetry collection that would work for the preteen to teen girl just whetting her appetite in the world of poetry. Because a vast majority of the poems are short (under a page-length) and written in friendly-to-the-young-reader language, the collection makes for a quick read. The novice poetry reader, in particular, will appreciate the brevity and simplicity of the verses. However, with poems by well-established authors and writers like Alice Walker, Maura Dooley, and Maya Angelou, I Wouldn’t Thank You for a Valentine is also a solid choice for the reader who is seeking substance and theme and room for analysis in literature without being too dense with poetic conventions or heightened literary rhetoric.
Evaluation: My quest for finding substantive, varied poetry anthologies for young adults didn’t really boast too many favorable results, but that’s probably because I have high standards for poetry being a lifelong student of poetry and a poet myself. One of the first poetry collections that I remember reading was a required text for my seventh grade English class. That collection held mostly the classics, no more recent than perhaps a Walt Whitman or Robert Frost poem here or there. Unfortunately, that’s not what I was looking for now. I think that, given the way that students have moved away from classical literature and varied literary forms, the only kinds of poems that would really speak to young readers are those which directly reflect their voices with some sense of who they are as readers and as individuals in their own right. In this way, a collection like I Wouldn’t Thank You for a Valentine works for a specific subset of young readers, the independently intellectual, emotional, and spiritual woman or girl. It is not an intimidating read which makes it kind to YA readers new to poetry, and makes it a good example of something that the reader can attempt at doing on her (or his) own.
19. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Secrets behind What You Eat (Young Reader’s Edition)
Author: Michael Pollan and Richie Chevat
Publisher: Dial
Copyright date: 2009
Genre: Informational
Recommended Age: 12+[1]
Rating: *****
Page #: 298 (not included: glossary, reference source list)
Curricular Connections: Health, Food Nutritional Sciences, Agriscience
Selection Source: YASLA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults (2010 Nominee)
Review: Fact: There is corn in everything. Michael Pollan doesn’t think this is a good thing. He doesn’t hate corn or corn farmers or food industry workers…but, he knows that corn shouldn’t be everywhere…in everything. Omnivore’s Dilemma is about the current food industries: commercial industrial, organic industrial, local sustainable, and the hunter/gatherer variety of food production. In it, Pollan determines to follow the river of gold—corn, that is—from the various fields which yield the corn to the food lots where the corn is consumed by livestock to the drive-thru and supermarket aisles where we buy it. The book is a kind of overview of the food industry as it is known today: mostly commercial industrial and organic industrial. It is alarming how essential facts about how food is grown, raised, processed, manufactured, legislated, and, ultimately, sold and consumed are covertly concealed from us, the consumers of it. Pollan introduces his readers to real farmers, real food scientists and veterinarians, real industry specialists, and, most effectively, himself. Facts abound in Omnivore’s Dilemma. They are inarguable tidbits of data regarding what’s on nutrition labels, time tables and charts to help track changes in food production and consumption in the United States
Evaluation: Perhaps one of the most effective things about Dial’s Young Reader’s Edition of Omnivore’s Dilemma is how genuinely geared the language and presentation is to young readers without seeming to condescend to a lower intellect. Rather than patronize young readers, Pollan and Chevat discuss the same issues with less complex phrasing and with more conversational instructional side notes than, say, a science class textbook. The language never feels forced or pedantic; instead, it seems to read naturally as though the book had always been intended for young readers. Though I haven’t read the adult (original) version of Omnivore’s Dilemma, I have read and listened to Pollan speak on similar issues on talk shows, NPR interviews, and in magazines and blogs. Pollan seems naturally adept at discussing important issues with some scientific gravitas without making it jargon-heavy or boring with data. I think Omnivore’s Dilemma is a must-read for any children, teens, or parents. It provides essential facts on the different food industries and offers some interesting insight on historical significances of food, food culture, and the economics of food. It isn’t about converting the population into vegetarianism (Pollan is a meat-eater) or moving everyone into a local sustainable diet, it’s about educating people on what is in their food, why it’s in there, and hoping they can be a little more conscious about the things they put in their mouths.
For the record, this is probably the most important book I’ve read in years. Years. And I kind of already knew a lot about this anyway.
20. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Author: Jane Austen (original novel, Pride and Prejudice) and Seth Grahame-Smith
Publisher: Quirk Productions, Inc.
Copyright date: 2009
Genre: Horror, Humor, Historical Fiction—early 19th century
Recommended Age: 15+
Rating: ***
Page #: 317
Curricular Connections: English Literature
Selection Source: Book Club Selection (my book club is the Horror Book Club based out of Miami
Review: It begins, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” That is all that anyone needs to read in order to know what Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is going to be like. The title, alone, should tell any reader what the book is going to be about, but that first line tells the reader the kind of book that it is going to be. Grahame-Smith is going to retell Austen’s seminal classic romantic tale of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy as though zombies were populating Meryton and the world-at-large.
It’s difficult to give a synopsis on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies since it’s based on such a classic, known work. Suffice it to say, for the most part, the plot of the novel follows along the lines of the original work. Obviously, in this version, zombies are added throughout, as are discussions on zombies, recollections on the Bennett girls’ martial arts zombie-fighting training, zombie attacks en route to one place from another either by carriage or on foot, and the turning of some rather known major players in Austen’s original work into “plagued” zombie-folk. Moreover, the Elizabeth Bennett of this version is saucier, more biting, angry, and ready to launch into fisticuffs with even the not-so-dead and very much alive if they cross her (see: the Bingley sisters). There is, too, some more insight into the persuasions of Mr. Darcy, something that Austen never saw fit to do in a novel about ladies. The humor, too, in cleverly interwoven within the narrative. Suddenly, things that maybe didn’t seem so funny in the original work will find some “zing” in the retelling—even in the sans zombies parts.
Evaluation: I have something to confess: I didn’t read this book for my book club. At the time that the book was selected, I had begun to get really busy with work and the Spring semester had started and, quite frankly, I had better things to do. Cut to April 2010, after months of seeing this book on the YA shelves and seeing it come up on various teen/YA reading lists, I finally decided to pick up my copy already figuratively gathering a thick layer of dust from my pile of Books-not-yet-Read But Intending-to-be-Read and get to it…for homework. I should also state that I am a huge fan of Austen’s original novel which I’ve read over a dozen times since first reading it in high school (well before it was ever assigned to me in senior year English class). Similarly, I am as big—if not, bigger—a fan of the BBC “Wet T-Shirt Darcy” miniseries from the 1990’s. I own it on DVD (after having owned it on VHS) and watch it at least three times a year or more often, depending on my moods. Moreover, I am a huge fan of zombies. I love them. I mean, not like I’m in love with zombies, but, more like, I’m a horror film buff and have been since childhood. I watch zombie movies and read comics about zombies. I enjoy the entire zombie lore and look at it with a critical eye believing that it “says something” about contemporary society and humanity (something I learned from watching the father of zombie films, George Romero, speak on a documentary about his films). I guess the question is why it took me so long to get around to reading it. Regardless, that’s what I’ve done. Now, I’ve read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies…something I think anyone who hasn’t already should do because, to put it simply: It is fun.
Note: This book might be more suited for a reader with familiarity with Austen’s original novel and with the language of that era of literature. It is, to say the least, difficult for me to imagine teens without a real appreciation or without some linguistic dexterity truly enjoying this book or even really being able to.
21. The Teen Guide to Global Action: How to Connect With Others (Near and Far) to Create Social Change
Author: Barbara A. Lewis
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing
Copyright date: 2007
Genre: Informational
Recommended Age: 12+
Rating: ***
Page #: 125
Curricular Connections: Science (Environmental), Current Events, Civics, Leadership
Selection Source: YASLA Popular Paperbacks for Young Readers (2010, Change Your World or Live to Regret It title)
Review: The Teen Guide to Global Action is a sort of DIY handbook for teens and young adults interested in social responsibility and activism. The book starts off with a questionnaire/survey to help readers narrow down their areas of interest and potential activity. It goes on to break down into sections of social causes (education, environment, homelessness, etc.) and into further categories of local and global initiatives with which they can participate. The focus of The Teen Guide to Global Action is to offer outlets for readers to seek information on the world around them and the world in which they live. It shines the light on social issues that volunteers and activists can participate in advocating. Lewis and Free Spirit Publishing make it clear to readers that there are countless ways in which people can partake in activism. Their idea is that anyone and everyone can find a vehicle through which he or she can make social change. The book offers names of organizations and contact information, research strategy guides and suggestions, bios of successful teen activists, and tips for joining and/or starting advocacy groups.
Evaluation: This is a great starter book for adolescents and teens who are seeking out ways of making a difference in their local or global environments. The way that the material is presented resembles a kind of teen magazine format—columns of text vs. margin-to-margin page-fuls of text deliver the information, side bars with additional information (i.e. blurbs on web sites or groups), and mid-section bios of teens who’ve made a difference—making it easy to read and relatable to young readers. The information never seems overwhelming, at all. In fact, most of the data is written in short paragraphs. The book lists a lot of different outlets that teens can research (including information and URL regarding how to research effectively using the Internet) from their own desks. It is a great stepping-stone for the actively-minded teen. Later this week, I’ll be sharing it with my friend’s thirteen year-old step daughter who has voiced interest in environmental causes.
22. Wake (Wake Trilogy Series #1)
Author: Lisa McMann
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Copyright date: 2008
Genre: Supernatural fiction, Mystery/Suspense
Recommended Age: 13+
Rating: ****
Page #: 210
Curricular Connections: Literature
Selection Source: Popular Teen Series in Barnes Noble Teen section
Review: Janie doesn’t dream…at least, not her own dreams. Instead, Janie manages to fall into the dreams of anyone sleeping and dreaming in her near vicinity. It’s like she has grand mal seizures on the outside while being transported into the subconscious psyches of the people around her. To Janie, that’s not so cool. In fact, it’s ruining her life. Knowing people’s secrets is only a part of the problem. Mostly, it’s ruining her life because it interferes with every single day and every single aspect of her life. As kids fall asleep from boredom in class, Janie plummets into their dreamscapes. As the elderly in the nursing home she works at sleep, she’s thrust into the memories of their long lives—most of them memories of difficult emotional times and life struggles. Janie is a kind of slave to sleep and dreams, unwillingly sacrificing her own sleep, dreams, and sanity in the process. At seventeen and in the throws of her junior year, Janie’s life becomes complicated by a recent romantic interest and her burgeoning independence.
Evaluation: When I state that I devoured this book in less than a three-hour nonstop reading session on a Sunday morning-to-afternoon I am saying so in all honesty. Considering that I’d previously read Blue for Nightmares and that this book’s synopsis was remarkably similar (teen girls walking into other people’s dreams find a mystery that they need to solve), I wasn’t really looking forward to getting started on Wake. However, I was pleasantly surprised. First, the narrative is written in short, to-the-point sentences, with various breaks—sections divided into days, times, etc. This style helps the reader move swiftly through the text, a bonus for any YA book and for any suspense story, in general fiction. Second, Janie as the protagonist is completely relatable without having to be made out as some mousy, socially awkward imbecile—something I relate quite whole-heartedly and unabashedly to, say, Bella from the Twilight Saga books. Though Janie is the protagonist, the narrative isn’t told through her first person perspective. I’ve learned to find this refreshing since reading a lot of these YA books and in my own reading of [what I refer to as] urban fantasy pulp series, like Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Series, and Patricia Briggs’ series, and Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville books. I find that a third person narrator has a lot to offer the reader, even when it’s mostly limited to sticking alongside one singular character, as is the case in Wake. Third, the way the “dream catcher” idea is presented and later only-somewhat-developed in the story is refreshing. We, the readers, learn about Janie’s ability just as she learns about it. She doesn’t have the answers, nor do we. A nice relationship is developed between reader and protagonist for this reason. There is an element of mystery and suspense in that fact, too, which sets this novel apart from Blue is for Nightmares. Finally, Wake presents a character whom I’d like to continue following through her discoveries. I fully intend to read the following books in the series beginning with the sequel, Fade.
It seems like this is an easy series to get into and that, in turn, provides some refreshing escapist fiction without being too over-bearing on the supernatural tip. In fact, it’s barely “supernatural” at all—more preternatural, really. A part of me rues at even putting it in the genre of supernatural YA fictions involving magic or monsters. Though I would give the book 3 ½ stars for the story, alone, I add the ½ star because of the way that it gets me to want to read more about Janie and her adventures because I’m sure there are bound to be many more.
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