I Wade In--Gender and Literature: Contemplating Issues Raised by Shannon Hale and Andrew Smith

So, within the last few weeks, for those of us who are passionate about YA and children's literature, the internet exploded.  A few times.

First, Shannon Hale started a conversation on Twitter and Tumblr about by discussing  some of her school visits and how some schools only dismissed the female students to see her speak.  As though only girls could benefit from hearing from her.   A summary of that discussion by School Library Journal can be found here.

Although I have read some of Shannon Hale's other books in the past, in light of all the discussion, I did use this as an excuse to finally pick up The Princess in Black.  I enjoyed this early chapter book. It's the story of Princess Magnolia, who despite her initial appearance of being the stereotypical princess in pink, must guard a secret from the Duchess Wigtower who has a taste for secrets.  Magnolia is also the Princess in Black, a hero who protects the realm from monsters.  While having tea with the Duchess, the princess is called away on one such mission to defeat a big blue monster.

I enjoyed The Princess in Black.  I think it does a marvelous job of challenging stereotypes within princess cultures.  I did, however, feel like the writing was weak.  It could have used some refining.

So, that was my initial plan for this blog post.  A simple book review.

Then, last night, Twitter started to respond to an interview on male societies that YA author Andrew Smith did.  Particularly, some people took issue with his reply to the question below:

"On the flip side, it sometimes seems like there isn't much of a way into your books for female readers. Where are all the women in your work? I was raised in a family with four boys, and I absolutely did not know anything about girls at all. I have a daughter now; she's 17. When she was born, that was the first girl I ever had in my life. I consider myself completely ignorant to all things woman and female. I'm trying to be better though.A lot of The Alex Crow is really about the failure of male societies. In all of the story threads, there are examples of male-dominated societies that make critical errors, whether it's the army that Ariel falls in with at the beginning, or the refugee camp, or Camp Merrie-Seymour for boys, or the doomed arctic expedition, they're all examples of male societies that think that they're doing some kind of noble mission, and they're failing miserably."

I highlighted the part that everyone is freaking out about.  The essence of the criticism that Smith had received is summed up well by Tessa Gratton on her tumblr.  She notes that despite Smith's impressive imagination, his comment implies that female experience is more foreign to him than the fantastic things he explores in his fiction.

What was I doing while all of this was going on?  Posting pictures of my cat, of course:

So, I plan to share about both of these issues with my multicultural literature class.  Instead of wading into the debate though, my hope is to focus on the following:

1. Gender is a socially constructed concept.  We make it what it is.  What it means to be male and female varies by time and culture.  In contrast, sex is a biological fact.  But even that is more complicated than just "man" and "woman."  *Glances at the definition of intersex.* (yes, that's right...I actually *did* just cite Wikipedia.  Don't tell my students.)
2. When we think of gender as a dichotomy (or in terms of extremes of what it is to "traditionally" or stereotypically be male or female) we ignore a wealth of experience and we tend to get this sense of alien-ness that Smith was probably hinting at.
3. It can be more beneficial for everyone to think of gender more fluidly.  To help demonstrate this, I show one of my favorite videos by John Green:

I show enough videos of John Green that a few of my students have accused me of being in love with him.  I must then remind those students that it is actually Markus Zusak who will always have my heart.

After showing this particular video, the conversation will most likely deteriorate into "in your pants" jokes.  But, I know my students will start to pay more attention to how gender is presented.

So, I'd like to leave you with one last quotation.  It was a bit of perfect timing that Andrew Solomon just happened to say what I think is the perfect comment for this situation in his New Yorker article, "The Middle of Things:  Advice for young writers": 

"We have equal things to teach each other. Life is most transfixing when you are awake to diversity, not only of ethnicity, ability, gender, belief, and sexuality but also of age and experience. The worst mistake anyone can make is to perceive anyone else as lesser. The deeper you look into other souls—and writing is primarily an exercise in doing just that—the clearer people’s inherent dignity becomes. So I would like to be young again—for the obvious dermatological advantages, and because I would like to recapture who I was before the clutter of experience made me a bit more sagacious and exhausted. What I’d really like, in fact, is to be young and middle-aged, and perhaps even very old, all at the same time—and to be dark- and fair-skinned, deaf and hearing, gay and straight, male and female. I can’t do that in life, but I can do it in writing, and so can you. Never forget that the truest luxury is imagination, and that being a writer gives you the leeway to exploit all of the imagination’s curious intricacies, to be what you were, what you are, what you will be, and what everyone else is or was or will be, too."

Well, I'm off to try to live in someone else's perspective for a while.

Rob Thomas (not the musician) Owns My Heart Forever

Mr. Kiss and Tell.  Someone whom Veronica hadn't been able to save during high school is brutally sexually assaulted.  Even though the survivor doesn't want Veronica on the case, she finds herself drawn in, pushing Veronica to the point in which she may have to break some of her own rules.

Unlike the first book, The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, that continues Veronica Mars's story post-movie, Mr. Kiss and Tell is not narrated by Kristen Bell.  This automatically made the audiobook a disappointment.

Mr. Kiss and Tell is narrated by Rebecca Lowman, who I know best for narrating several of the books by Rainbow Rowell, including Fangirl and Eleanor & Park.  She's a great reader.  She has a wonderful way of drawing out the emotional resonance of a story (which is why she's a great match for Rowell's audiobooks).  But, she couldn't really capture any of Veronica's toughness or sass.

*Vague spoiler*  It is also worth noting that the title of the book does come from a plot point in the story.  I like the title, but when the name was introduced into the story, I felt like a part of the mystery was lost...because it was obvious who the primary suspect would be.  *End vague spoiler*

Now begins the wait for the next book....

Tasty Rating:  !!!

Quick Review: Skip Girl Online and Stay Offline

I finished listening to the audiobook of Girl Online a couple of days ago and wanted to share some thoughts on the story.

First for those of you who haven't heard of Girl Online, the story is narrated by Penny who lives in Brighton, England and loves taking photos and anonymously posting to her blog, which eventually goes viral.  When her parents have the opportunity to go to New York City over Christmas, Penny leaves behind frienemies, a crush, and many recent embarrassments and stumbles into a potential new romance.

Girl Online first blipped on my radar when the book sold so many copies.  I hadn't previously seen any of the videos by the author who is a Youtube celebrity in England, Zoella.  The fact that there was then drama about the fact that Zoe had the help of a ghostwriter moved the book up to the top of my to-be-read mountain of books.  I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

I was not impressed with the story. It was wish fulfillment fluff.  Having said that though, even fluff has its time and place. It's a good recommendation for a young reader looking to escape reality. It kind of brings Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging into the present day...but with fewer laughs and even more awkwardly embarrassing moments for the protagonist.

Here's the book trailer for Girl Online.  Hope you like Taylor Swift.

I feel bad that both the author and ghostwriter have found themselves at the center of a hurricane of craziness.  I can't help but find it ironic though, given that both Zoe and her character Penny find themselves hiding from their online communities due to drama.  Best wishes to everyone involved!

I did enjoy the audio book interpretation though.  It did a good job of adding cell phone sound effects.  I felt that the reader, Hannah Tointon, did a good job of bringing Penny to life.


Tasty Rating:  !!

Quick Review: In Real Life

Doctorow, C., & Wang, J.  (2014).  In Real Life.  New York:  First Second.

175 pages.


Appetizer:  After a guest speaker visits her school and after her mom establishes some rules for her online life, Anda joins Coarsegold, a multiplayer online fantasy game in which participants go on quests, and begins to make money by going on missions for other players.  As she meets people through Coarsegold, she learns that not everyone has the advantages she does and that she may be in a unique position to help a teenager who goes by the name Raymond who is struggling to survive in his job in China.

Although a quick read, I struggled to get into In Real Life.  I think I wanted more elaboration into how Anda originally became a gamer (as opposed to how she specifically began playing Coarsegold).  I was a little confused about Anda's beginning situation at the start of the graphic novel.  She'd just moved and didn't seemed particularly happy about it, yet she already also seemed to have a group of friends (and maybe was in a club for gamers?).  This also left me confused as to why Liza McCombs, the guest speaker who originally encourages Anda and other female gamers to join her guild, was speaking to her class.  What class is this?!  (Eventually, these confusions were cleared up:  Anda is in the sci-fi club and her class seemed to be a computer programing one with the assignment that students had to create their own games.  This would have been nice exposition to have before pages 42 and 161 though.)

So, based upon the cover and title, my expectations were a little skewed going into In Real Life.  Instead of the girl making friends online and in real life at a new school narrative that I had been expecting, I got insights into the economics of gaming and insights about those who farm or cheat the system by buying the things that most gamers earn through a lot of work.  Which is also a good takeaway--one that has some uses for in the classroom.  Along with the exploration of economics--which is fleshed out more fully in Doctorow's introduction to the book--I also like the secondary issue of addressing gender in gaming and the encouragement for more empowerment among female gamers.

In Real Life did end up addressing the issues I'd assumed it would (noting that online life is real and economically relevant and showing that Anda can make friends both online and at school).  But, those themes took backseat to examining the economic realities of games and to showing the treatment of a teenaged employee in China.

I would definitely consider using In Real Life in a classroom.  It addresses important issues of economics and social justice in a unique way.  I do, however, think some concepts will need extra support if students are not already familiar with multiplayer online games.

For those interested, here's a link to Doctorow's original story that inspired In Real Life from Salon.com.

Also, for a lighter take on online gamer culture, I recommend watching Felicia Day's series The Guild.  It is fun.  (The series is also on Netflix.)


Dinner Conversation:

Tasty Rating:  !!!.  (3.5 explanation points)

Tis the Season: A Quick Review of My True Love Gave to Me

It's snowing outside and I'm about to make myself some hot chocolate.  So, it seemed like the perfect time to post this review.

Perkins, S.  (2014).  My True Love Gave to Me.   New York:  St. Martin's Griffin

Appetizer:  This anthology features twelve festive short stories by some of the most popular authors in YA literature.  The vast majority of the stories are realistic, but there is a touch or two of the fantastic (most notably in Holly Black's "Krampuslauf" and in Laini Taylor's "The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer").  There is a lot of inclusion in terms of the holidays/festivities covered (and quite a bit of cultural and LGBTQ representation...though, most of the writers representing those groups seem to be from white and middle class backgrounds--NOT ALL, but some).  A few of the experiences included are choosing a Christmas tree, celebrating Chanukah, welcoming the New Year, participating in a Nativity play (or trying to), dressing up as Santa, living in a place named Christmas, etc.  There's pretty much something for everyone among the stories--but most notably, there's romance.

This has been a fun book to go through during the holiday season.  I enjoyed reading each story and then trying to match it to the pairs of characters on the cover.

Although enjoyable, I found myself wishing there was less romance and focus on protagonists having revelations about their lives.  Call me cold-hearted (or, perhaps more appropriately, call me Scrooge), but several of the stories felt forced when they tried to wrap-up the ending with a festive kiss just as the protagonist has had an epiphany I'm particularly thinking of "What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth?" which features a big-city freshman stuck on her small-town campus for a few days after the semester has ended.  Another example occurs in "It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown" in which a young animator seeks out the help of an attractive Christmas tree salesperson with an amazing voice to add to her latest project.).

The emotional climax in Kiersten White's "Welcome to Christmas, CA" also felt forced, although that one was less focused on romance and more on a revelation about her family as the protagonist, who has always hated living in a place called Christmas, realizes she does have a sense of home.  Eh, bah humbug.  Stop forcing the feels and let me giggle over a character slipping on some ice or something.

I'd have to say, overall, my favorite story was "Midnights" by Rainbow Rowell.  It explored the friendship (and maybe more!) relationship between Mags and Noel over multiple New Year's parties.  The story featured the strong character development that Rowell is so gifted at giving her readers as well as a strong conclusion (where generally she struggles more).

P.S.  Be jealous--my copy of this book is autographed by both Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan.  Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal.


Dinner Conversation:

"It was cold out on the patio, under the deck.  Frigid.  Dark.
Dark because Mags was outside at midnight, and dark because she was in the shadows.
This was the last place anyone would look for her--anyone, and especially Noel.  She'd miss all the excitement.
Thank God.  Mags should have thought of this years ago."  (p. 1)

"Marigold loved this Christmas tree lot.  It was brighter --and maybe even warmer--than her mother's apartment for one thing." (p. 99)

"It's hard not to feel just a little bit fat when your boyfriend asks you to be Santa Claus.
But I'm Jewish," I protest.  "It would be one thing if you were asking me to be Jesus--he, at least, was a member of my tribe, and looks good in a Speedo.  Plus, Santa requires you to be jolly, whereas Jesus only requires you to be born.'" (p. 133)

"The whole mess started when I lit the church on fire." (p. 203)

'"Also terrible?  'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.'"
"Santa as Big Brother.  Just imagine his posters, staring at you from every wall.  SANTA IS WATCHING."
"I love Christmas, but Santa is creepy."
"Thank you, yes!  No one understands.  If someone is watching me sleep, it had better be a hot vampire, otherwise I'm calling the cops." (p. 242)


Tasty Rating:  !!!


In tangential news, one of my own New Year's resolutions is to dust off this blog and write more regularly.  So, hopefully you'll be seeing more of me in the future.

Quick Review: The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry (Drink tea as you read this book...make make sure nobody is trying to poison you first...)

I just finished listening to the audiobook version of The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place  by Julie Berry.

Set in the Victorian era, after the seven girls at their finishing school realize that their headmistress and her brother have been murdered with poison, the girls decide to bury the bodies in the backyard.  Fearing that they would all have to return to their families if they summoned the police, the young women scheme to try to run the school for themselves and to find the murderer that may live among them.

This book was an enjoyable listen.  I was thankful that the girls were given epithets to help identify who they were.  I struggle with names as it is.....

Although, some of the epithets were troubling:  Pocked, Dour, Disgraceful.  But, that was part of the point.

Here's the book trailer:

I thought the ending was a little predictable, but the story was still enjoyable enough that it was good to confirm my suspicions.

The author's note at the end left me wanting to research more about Victorian poisons.    This is a good recommendation for students who love this era in history.

Tasty Rating:  !!!

Quick Review: The School for Good and Evil (Deconstructing )

I just finished listening to the audiobook of The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani.

I really enjoyed it.  The book gave me Harry Potter flashbacks.  It felt like a commentary on how characters from certain houses almost always turned out to be "good" or "evil."  The School for Good and Evil finds best friends, Sophie and Agatha, from a small town forced to attend a school in which the students are automatically sorted into the good side or evil side of the school.  Sophie, who landed in Evil, feels certain that she belongs in Good and Agatha isn't exactly certain that she belongs in Good either.  As the students are prepared to play roles in fairy tales, Agatha and Sophie are uncertain whether their friendship or they themselves can survive.

A former student recommended this book to me almost three years ago.  I certainly took my sweet time in reading the book.  I don't want to be *that* girl, but part of my delay was that the cover didn't impress me.  I know, I know.

I am glad I read it though.  I'll most likely continue with the series and will read A World without Princes at some point.

Quick Post: Every day by David Levithan

Levithan, D.  (2012).  every day.  New York:  Alfred A. Knopf.

322 pages.

Appetizer:  Each morning, A wakes up in the body of a new teenager, to live the life as him or
her for a single day.  One morning, he/she finds him/herself in the body of Jason and attracted to his girlfriend, Rhiannon, with strong feelings he's never really felt before.  Now, each morning, A wakes trying to get as close to her as A can, hoping to have his/her first real relationship despite the fact that every physical aspect of A's existence changes daily.  His/her persuit of getting to know Rhiannon will have unintended consequences.

I really love the concept of this novel:  Of someone with no physical presence experiencing all of these different lives.  It is a wonderful vehicle to explore some great issues.  One of the most notable moments is when A wakes up in the body of a girl with depression and he/she disccuses the cycle of depression:

"The body is working against you.  And because of this, you feel even more despair.  Which only amplifies the imbalance.  It takes uncommon strength to live with these things.  But I have seen that strength over and over again.  When I fall into the life of someone grappling, I have to mirror their strength, and sometimes surpass it...I have to keep reminding myself--this is not me.  It is chemistroy.  It is bilogy.  It is not who I am.  It is not who any of them are." (pp. 119-120.

Very powerful!

I found the ending to be a little disappointing.  The plot had finally increased the tension in a way that could have opened the door to a suspense series, then dismissed the conflict.  It was a little frustrating.  I know Levithan wasn't interested in writing a suspense thriller so much as he was interested in exploring some philisophical questions regarding gender and love, but it felt like a dropped possibility.


Dinner Conversation:

"I wake up.
Immediately I have to fiture out who I am.  It's not just the body--oeping my eyes and discovering whether the skin on my arm is light or dark, whether my hair is long or short, whether I'm fat or thin, boy or girl, scarred or smooth.  The body is the easiest thing to adjust to, if you're used to waking up in a new one each morning.  It's the life, the context of the body, that can be hard to grasp." (p. 1)

"As I take Justin's books out of his locker, I can feel someone hovering on the periphery.  I turn, and the girl standing there is transparent in her emotions--tentative and expectant, nervous and adoring.  I don't have to access Justin to know that this is his girlfriend.  No one else would have this reaction to him, so unsteady in his presence.  She's pretty, but she doesn't see it.  She's hiding behind her hair, happy to see me and unhappy to see me at the same time.
Her name is Rhiannon.  And for a moment--just the slightest beat--I think that, yes, this is the right name for her.  I don't know why.  I don't know her.  But it feels right." (p. 4)


Tasty Rating:  !!!!

Audio Book Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer

The third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cress, is a very enjoyable read.  I enjoyed it more than Scarlet, the second book in the series.

Like the fairy tale of Repunzel, Cress has been trapped in a satellite orbiting Earth.  Her path will soon collide with Cinder, Scarlet and the rest of their little band of rebels.

As a whole, this series has a bit of a Star Wars vibe:  the team forced to separate to go on various misadventures only to come together at just the right moment to help each other.

Overall, I am enjoying this sci-fi interweaving of various fairy tales.  I look forward to reading the next book.  Hopefully I won't have to wait too long!

Just One Year Audio Book --A quick and dirty review

So, for those of you not in the know, Just One Year by Gayle Forman overlaps with the events of her previous title, Just One Day (which I always struggled with the name of, because while must of the focus is on one day, a lot of the story was about the following year as well).

So, this book was kind of a do-over, title-wise.  And instead of following Lulu, this novel shows Willem's perspective on the events of Just One Day, beginning with the moment that he disappeared from Lulu's life after their momentous day together and then following his year-long search for Lulu and resolutions of his familial conflicts.

*Vague Spoiler*  The plot lacked tension for much of the story because, if the reader had picked up the companion book, then he or she knew that most of Willem's initial search wouldn't turn up Lulu.  The story did pick up speed, but I still found the ending to be dissatisfying because Lulu makes a choice to bring the story to a resolution.  Willem's a bit passive in the final exchange.  And since one of the main tensions of the book is whether or nor he will be more assertive over his choices, this ending left a lot to be desired.  *End vague spoiler*

Daniel May, the reader for the audio book, did an excellent job!  The various accents he had to take on throughout the story were done very well!

So, pick it up if you feel like a light romance that will take you around the world.  But be sure to have read Just One Day first!

REVIEW: a + e 4EVER

Mercy, I.  (2011).  a + e 4 EVER.  Maple Shade, NJ:  Lethe Press, Inc.

Appetizer:  Ash is the new kid at McMillan High.  He's attracting a lot of attention due to the fact that he looks very effeminate.  The only friend he manages to make initially is Eu, a fellow artist.  Any potential romantic relationship between the two is complicated by the fact that Ash fears being touched (aphenphosmphobia!) and also has a slightly too touchy-feelie relationship with his sister, Lena.  As Ash has his first sexual encounters, experiments with drugs, and starts acting in a play, it becomes uncertain whether his and Eu's friendship can survive.

I was really excited to read a + e 4EVER because of the beautiful art work, but when I actually sat down and did it, I was a little overwhelmed.  Generally, I consider myself to be very good at reading graphic novels, but some of the fonts were hard to decipher.  At times, I couldn't tell who was talking or thinking.  This was unfortunate, especially since a + e 4EVER is a little more text heavy than many other graphic novels.

I personally also had some trouble relating to the content.  The drug use and the fact that a character's first sexual encounter occurred while on drugs (and was essentially rape), were really hard for me to read.  I completely understand that these are the realities of some readers and I'm so glad they're depicted here, but it made the book difficult for me to read.  Even the consensual sex was more explicit than in most YA novels.  (It really made me wonder if this was more of a crossover book, intended for adults but picked-up by teens.)

So, my concerns with this book are kind of major, but I'm also passionate about some of a + e 4EVER's strengths:  It demonstrates the inadequacies of labeling people, it gives voice to many experiences that are ignored in most books, it's brutally honest and realistic, and as an extension of that, the graphic novel's ending is 100% believable.

So, yeah, I left the book with mixed feelings.  But it's a book that I'd love to hear others' thoughts about.

Dinner Conversation:

Tasty Rating:  !!

Review: The Catcher in the Rye

Salinger, J.D.  (1945).  The Catcher in the Rye.  Boston:  Little, Brown and Company.


Appetizer: 16-year-old Holden Caulfield is about to be kicked out of his prep school.  Rather than waiting for the letter to reach his parents' house in the dorm, he decides to take the train to New York City to spend several days in the city before arriving home to face his family's disappointment.

His trip is far from a lighthearted skip through town, rather he feels lonely and depressed as he contemplates his boardings school acquaintances, the girls he's almost slept with, and his siblings.  He seeks out people from his past, has a run-in with a young prostitute and her pimp, and seeks out his little sister, Phoebe.  His few days in New York won't quite be the vacation he'd been hoping to enjoy.

This is my third time reading The Catcher in the Rye (once as a high school sophomore or junior at my father's recommendation, once as required reading when I was in my MFA program, and now, for the first time, as a teacher.  I have joined The Catcher Cult!)  I absolutely hated this book both the first and second times that I read it.  This time around...I can't believe I'm typing this, but I enjoyed it more.  It's still a book that as I read, I quietly wonder when a plot will develop, and contemplate what exactly is Holden's damage.  But this time, his voice did feel honest as I read it.  So many contemporary YA novels try so hard to capture an angsty, quirky, YA voice.  The Catcher in the Rye just *is* that voice, with Holden's unwillingness to shy away from the darker aspects of his character.

During this reading, I was struck by all of the subtle ways Holden desires to help others maintain their innocence.

I was still far from crazy about the way all of the female characters were depicted.

But now I'm left to ponder if it's my ever advancing age that has changed my mind about The Catcher in the Rye.  All of my students, who range in age from about 19 to somewhere in their 40s, gave the book mixed reviews.  There was one person each at the extremes of loving and hating the book and a scattering of everyone else along the spectrum.

Also, just this past weekend NPR's Weekend Edition just reported on a new biography of Salinger.  Part of the broadcast focused on the creation of and the reception of The Catcher in the Rye.  It's a good listen.  I'd planned to show it to my students, along with John Green's comments about the book, to get the conversation going.  But, when it came time for my class to meet, it was the absolute *perfect* weather to have class outside.  So, we went "old school" and technology free to have an intense discussion of the book in the shade of a tree that sits beside a pond on campus.

Dinner Conversation:

"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to now is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." (p 1)

"I forgot to tell you about that.  They kicked me out.  I wasn't supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all.  They gave me frequent warning[s] to start applying myself--especially around midterms, when my parents came up for a conference with old Thurmer--but I didn't do it.  So I got the ax.  They gave guys the ax quite frequently at Pencey.  It has a very good academic rating, Pencey.  It really does." (p. 4)

"All of a sudden, I decided what I'd really do, I'd get the hell out of Pencey--right that same night and all.  I mean not wait till Wednesday or anything.  I just didn't want to hang around any more.  It made me too sad and lonesome.  So what I decided to do, I decided I'd take a room in a hotel in New York--some very inexpensive hotel and all--and just take it easy till Wednesday.  Then, on Wednesday, I'd go home all rested up and feeling swell.  I figured my parents probably wouldn't get old Thurmer's letter saying I'd been given the ax till maybe Tuesday or Wednesday.  I didn't want to go home or anything till they got it and thoroughly digested it and all.  I didn't want to be around when they first got it  My mother gets very hysterical.  She's not too bad after she gets something thoroughly digested, though.  Besides, I sort of needed a a little vacation  My nerves were shot.  They really were." (p. 51)


Tasty Rating:  !!!

REVIEW: The Madness Underneath ("Never get stabbed--it makes everything awkward")

Johnson, M.  (2013).  The Madness Underneath.  New York:  G.P. Putnam's Sons.

290 pages.

Appetizer:  After the traumas she experienced at the end of The Name of the Star, Louisiana native, Rory, is recovering in Bristol and seeing a shrink several times each week.  She wants nothing more than to return to Wexford, her school in London, return to her kinda-sorta boyfriend, Jerome, and return to the secret government organization that hunts troublesome ghosts and that demanded her silence before disappearing.  But, Rory has to get into contact with that organization after confirming her dangerous new ability--the ability to destroy any ghost with a single touch.  Even after she gets her wish and returns to Wexford, adapting to her old routine will be far from easy, especially with new ghostly murders occurring and final exams for the winter semester approaching.

With many touches of humor and insights into London, The Madness Underneath is certainly an enjoyable read.  I got into just as easily as I did the first book and had a "welcome back" feeling.  I had flashbacks to my own time in London and was left wishing I could be there now.  Yayz!  I love a book that can do that.

There were aspects of The Madness Underneath that I did find disappointing though.  Mainly, I had an issue with this book's villain.  From the very first descriptions of the character, I knew this person was up to no good (and I believe, ideally, the reader wasn't supposed to be completely clued in to that fact).  Being a book and movie nerd, I often do suspect evil-doing characters long before they're revealed, but this villain was still a little too obvious, even for those usual suspicions.  So, with each conversation with this character and especially when Rory eventually makes choices that involve taking this villain's advice, the "No!  Don't open that door!" or the "He's right behind you holding the knife.  Turn around, you idiot!" feeling wasn't satisfying or empathetic.  It was more of a "You're an idiot.  You will regret this.  Such an idiot.  I told you so, idiot." moment.  Not quite on the level of throwing the book through a closed window a la Silver Linings Playbook, but close.

I missed some of the themes and issues that were in the first book, like the emphasis on seeing and being seen.  Although, the discussions of recovering from trauma and seeking empowerment were a nice touch.  I think Johnson did a wonderful job of presenting how Rory was dealing with this.  I also liked the attitude Rory eventually had towards her relationship with Jerome.  I was still left expecting and wanting a little bit more.


Dinner Conversation:

"Back at Wexford, where I went to school before all of this happened to me, they made me play hockey every day.  I had no idea how to play hockey,, so they covered me in padding and made me stand in the goal.  From the goal, I could watch my fellow players run around with sticks.  Occasionally they'd whack a small, very hard ball in my direction.  I would dive out of the way, every time.  Apparently, avoiding the ball isn't the point of hockey, and Claudia would scream, "No, Aurora, no!" from the sidelines, but I didn't care.  I take my best lessons from nature and nature says, "When something flies at your head--move."
I didn't think hockey had trained me for anything in life until I went to therapy." (p.9)

"I'd tried to make a new friend, and I had blown him up.
I'd been told to keep quiet, and I had.  But it wasn't going to work anymore.  I needed, Stephen, Callum, and Boo again.  I needed them to know what was going on with me.  I had bade a few efforts to find them in the last week.  Nothing serious--I'd just tried to find profiles on social networking sites.  No matches.  This much I expected.
Today I was going to try a bit harder." (p. 28)

"'In my opinion, I feel...very strongly...that Rory should be returned to Wexford.'
I seriously almost fell off the sofa.
"I'm sorry?" my mother said.  "You think she should go back?"
"I realize what I'm saying may run counter to all your instincts," Julia said, "But let me explain.  When someone survives a violent assault, a measure of control is taken away.  In therapy, we aim to give victims back their sense of control over their own lives.  Rory's been removed from her school, taken away from her friends, taken out of her routine, out of her academic life.  I believe she needs to return.  Her life belongs to her, and we can't let her attacker take that away." (p. 34)

"So you are the only terminus.  Then I saw what happened to you...I needed to show Thorpe that there was one terminus left.  I also needed a good reason to bring you back.  I was never comfortable with you being sent away like that, on your own, with no support.  This solved both problems.  We'll be allowed to keep going for a while now that he's seen." (p. 65)

"The room and I had been broken, and we had a similarly shaped reminder of what had happened to us.  And if the Ripper came back, which he wouldn't, I would blast him into a giant ball of white light and smoke.  One brush of my hand, and that was all it would take.  I was empowered, literally.  That's what I had to remember.  I was bigger and badder than any ghost that crossed my path.  That hadn't occurred to me before.  They needed to fear me.  I'd never been fearsome before." (p. 87)

"I just wanted to go back to bed and wake up when I was twenty-five." (p. 197)


Tasty Rating:  !!!

REVIEW: Drama

Telgemeier, R.  (2012).  Drama.  New York:  Scholastic.

233 pages.


So, after getting stranded in reading In Darkness for months and after going through getting the chance to act in a production of Five Women Wearing the Same Dress at my local community theater, Drama seemed like the perfect graphic novel for me to jump back into reading and blogging with, especially since I enjoyed Telgemeier's debut Smile so much.


Appetizer:  Callie and her friends work back stage in all of her school's drama productions at Eucalyptus Middle School.  As they prepare to put on Moon Over Mississippi, their final production of the year, just as much drama occurs backstage as on stage as crushes, in-likes, dislikes, realizations about sexual orientations, and fights unfold.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel.  The structure of the book mirrored that of a performance with an overture, acts and an intermission.  I also really liked that the focus was on the people who work behind the scenes of a musical instead of on the actors (which is what the audience usually focuses on).

Telgemeier does an excellent job of bringing the experience of middle school to life (I remember being equally impressed with this in Smile).  There's the crushes, new relationships, and heartbreaks of realizing your crush is interested in someone else (so much unrequited love!).  There's the embarrassing family members who you still love dearly.  There's the commitment to a club and the ceaseless effort to get it right.

I liked Callie as a character and her commitment to set design.  I think it could really encourage readers to think about what they're passionate about.

As Callie makes new friends with twins Jesse and Justin, I found that keeping the twins straight was the biggest difficulty of reading this story.  They do have different hair styles, but I found myself wishing that they didn't both have names that began with J's.

I also struggled a little with the character of Bonnie, a mean girl who auditions for one of the main roles in the musical.  There is no redemption for her.  Since so much of the story was about revealing who you are and what you want, I was hoping that at some point there would be more insights or empathy for why Bonnie was the way she was.


Dinner Conversation:

Tasty Rating:  !!!!

REVIEW: In Darkness

Lake, N.  (2012).  In Darkness.  New York:  Bloomsbury.

337 pages.

I'm not gonna lie, ya'll.  I got stuck in this book.  Like crazy cartoon nightmare stuck:  The floor and walls all turned to sticky bubblegum and every time I tried to move or read I became more tangled and it turned into a suffocating mess that gets so complicated that you wake up screaming, "I'll never leave gum on the bottom of a desk again!"

Except in this case, it was having to read and not wanting to read and thinking of all the other things I should be doing.

It was bad.

Arguably, my struggles with In Darkness are not solely the book's fault.  I was adjusting to a first year in yet another new job, living in a new town, auditioning at the community theater and trying to act for the first time since middle school, etc.  But, now that it's summer vacation and given the fact that it still took me longer than it should have to finish this book, I let that stand as evidence of how little I cared for it.

Appetizer:  Switching back and forth between narratives of "Then" and "Now," In Darkness shares the stories of Shorty, who is trapped in the rubble of a hospital that has collapsed in the 2010 Haitian earthquake and how he got to be there, long ago separated from his twin sister with whom he thinks he shares a soul.  It also takes on retelling some of the biography of Toussaint l'Ouverture as he led a rebellion to free Haitian slaves.  The two protagonists dream of one another, impacting their choices in their own times.

Here's a dramatic retelling of my thoughts as I began each new chapter of this book:

A now chapter:  "Hmmm, he's stuck in the dark, I wonder when he'll get out."
A then chapter:  "I do not connect with this character.  Hopefully this chapter will be over soon and I'll be able to read about the present."
A now chapter:  "Huh, he's still in the dark.  Surely, something will happen soon and he'll get out.  Otherwise this might become boring, despite the flashbacks to when he was younger.
A then chapter:  Ugh.  Man, Toussaint was older when this is being depicted.  I can't even connect with him as being a young adult character."
A now chapter:  "I am so sick of him being in the dark.  This chapter feels like filler so that stuff can happen in the other chapters.  How much longer until this chapter is over and I can read about someone else?
A then chapter:  "I am so bored.  I would skim, but that goes against everything I believe in, especially when reading a Printz award book.  Plus, I'd hate to miss the moment when this story becomes engaging.  Is this chapter over yet?  I'd rather read about Shorty being stuck in the collapsed hospital.
A now chapter:  Jebus, he's still trapped.  Man, there's a lot of dark and serious stuff in this book.  I feel nothing for most of these characters and wish this book would be over already.
A then chapter:  I feel nothing.
A now chapter:  Lalala.  My eyes are scanning the page, but I aaam elsewheeeeeere.
A then chapter:  LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
A now chapter:  I'm sorry, the connection has failed.  Please, try again.  Please, try again.  Please, try again.  Please, try again.  Please, try again.  Please, try again.
And so forth.

I don't want you to think that the writing was bad or the story wasn't well told.  My reasons for not liking this book are all due to me instead of the story itself.  It just didn't speak to me.  And the fact that this book was, in part, depicting a recent tragedy in Haiti and won the Printz award somehow grated on me--like the book was awarded to draw attention to the Haitian earthquake instead of saying this was the best book of 2012.  It was a well-written book on an important topic, but it didn't win me over.

From what I could tell, Lake did his research.  Admittedly, I'm no expert.  But I was left with a deeper understanding of aspects of Haitian culture than any textbook or newspaper has evern given me.  Granted, I did find myself wishing for more English translations of some of the French and Kreyol phrases and songs.  But nonetheless, a student could learn a lot about Haiti from this book, beyond what is presented in the media.


Dinner Conversation:

"I am the voice in the dark, calling out for your help.
I am the quiet voice that you hope will not turn to silence, the voice you want to keep hearing cos it means someone is still alive.  I am the voice calling for you to come and dig me out.  I am the voice in the dark, asking you to unbury me, to bring me from the grave out into the light, like a zombi.
I am a killer and I have been killed, too, over and over; I am constantly being born.  I have lost more things than I have found; I have destroyed more things than I have built.  I have seen babies abandoned in the trast and I have seen the dead come back to life." (p. 1)

"I don't know what happened.  I was in bed minding my own zafe, then everything shook and I fell and the darkness started.  Or maybe everything else fell." (p. 3)

"On the night that rebellion caught like a flame in Haiti, the slave named Toussaint swung down from his horse.  It was a good horse--it had been a gift to him from his master, Bayou de Libertas, and despite its age it still served him well.  It was, Toussaint reflected, a fitting horse for him to ride.  He, like his horse, was old and had served his master well.
Soon, though, there would be no more masters, and no more slaves.  Or so Boukman hoped." (p. 37)

"I can see the whole of Port-au-Prince--the palace, the homes of the rich, the open-air prison of Site Soley.  It's all collapsed.  The palace is just dust and rubble, the homes are destroyed.  Only Site Soley looks the same, and that's cos Site Soley was a ruin to begin with." (p. 54-55).

"Biggie, he was the general of Route 9, and before that he was the right-hand man of Dread Wilme and a big dog in the Site.  He did all the shit the government should have done in the slums.  He funded the schools, provided security.  He punished thieves and rapists.
He sold drugs and killed people.
He made me what I am today.
I have not forgiven him for that, not yet." (p. 71)


Tasty Rating:  !!

REVIEW: Boy 21 (A #Cybils Award Finalist!)

Quick, M.  (2011).  Boy 21.  New York:  Little, Brown and Company.

250 pages.

Appetizer:  Finley doesn't say much.  The two things he's passionate about are basketball and his girlfriend, Erin.  He and Erin live in Bellmont, PA.  Gang wars and the Irish mob impact all aspects of life there.  All Erin and Finley want to do is escape and a basketball scholarship would save them both.

When his coach asks Finley to help convince a new boy to try to join the basketball team, Finley will have to choose between the team and his own future as he finds his starting position in danger of going to Russ, the new boy.  Russ has experienced a trauma recently, one that has left him broken and believing that he is from space, with the name Boy21, and destined to leave the planet to soon.  Despite Russ's break with reality, Finley may have more in common with the new basketball player than he can imagine and their developing friendship may bring up memories he has long refused to speak of.

When I first started reading Boy21, I was a little worried.  I'm not a big sports novel person, but after Russ/Boy21 was introduced, the book appealed more.  I loved the tension that Finley felt about wanting to help Russ and maintain his spot on the team.  I also initially liked the gang tensions and how it impacted the daily lives of characters who wanted nothing to do with that lifestyle.

I liked Finley's voice.  There are a lot of wonderfully rich descriptions throughout the novel that I really liked.

There's also a Harry Potter sub-plot that amused me.

But having said that, about 2/3 or 3/4ths of the way through the story, the plot took a turn that I wasn't crazy about.  And from that point forward, the book pretty much lost me.

I am very excited to have a book recommendation for my students who play basketball.

Dinner Conversation:

"Sometimes I pretend that shooting hoops in my backyard is my earliest memory." (p. 1)

"And then one day a girl appeared in my backyard.  She had blond hair and a smile that seemed to last forever.
"I live down the street," she said.  "I'm in your class."
I kept shooting and hoped she'd go away.  Her name was Erin and she seemed really nice, but I didn't want to make friends with anyone.  I only wanted to shoot hoops alone for the rest of my life."  (pp. 2-3)

"In my memory, she hits dozens of shots before I get the ball back, but she doesn't ever leave my backyard--the two of us keep shooting for years and years." (p. 3)

"'My friend Russell and his wife were murdered last February.'  The word murdered gets stuck in my ear and suddenly it feels like someone is jabbing a finger into my throat.  I begin to cough a little, but Coach keeps talking.  It takes a few minutes for my mind to process the rest of his words.  "The details aren't important right now.  But the event has had a dramatic effect on Russell junior.  He's spent some time in a group home for kids who suffer from post-traumatic stress.  The Allens here in town are his closest relatives and even though they don't feel quite up to taking on a troubled teenage boy, because Russell requested it, they have agreed to care for him until he goes to college next year."
I suddenly realize that Russell will be eligible to play for our basketball team.  And even though Coach is talking about the aftereffects of a murder, I'm ashamed to admit that Immediately begin worrying about my starting position." (p. 27)

"'Russell isn't exactly going by the name Russell at this moment in his life.' Coach glances out the windshield with this vacant look on his face.  "Russell now likes to be called Boy21."  He nods a few times, as if to say he isn't joking.
"Why?" I say, noting that twenty-one is my basketball number.  Could this night possibly get any weirder?
"The people at his group home and his local therapist have both recommended that we all call him Boy21 out of respect for his wishes.  They say he now needs to exert control over his environment in some small way, or something like that.  I don't know anything about therapy, but I think after all that's happened the boy could sure use a kindhearted friend.  That's what this is about. We'll call him Boy21 tonight and work on getting him back to Russ before school starts." (pp. 30-31)

"'You are an Earthling?' Boy21 says to me.
I swallow and nod.
"I am programmed to treat all Earthlings with kindness.  Greetings.  I am Boy21 from the cosmos.  I am stranded here on Earth, but I will be leaving soon.  Enter into my domestic living pod." (p. 37)

"'You don't talk much, do you?' Boy21 asks, looking over his shoulder.
"No."
"Did something happen to you?" he asks.
Truth is, many things have happened to me, both good and bad, stuff that would take a lot of words to explain, too many words for me.
There's part of me that wants to discuss my past, why I don't talk much, outer space even, everything, but it's like my mind is a fist and it's always clenched tight, trying to keep the words in." (p. 41)


Tasty Rating:  !!!

REVIEW: The Theory of Everything (A #Cybils Award Finalist)

Johnson, J.J.  (2011).  The Theory of Everything.  Atlanta: Peachtree.


334 pages.

Appetizer:  To say sophomore Sarah Smith is going through a rough patch would be a understatement.  Left reeling from the death of her best friend, Jamie, in the school gymnasium, finding a deer in said gymnasium who needs to be put down, brings out many bad memories and emotions.  Sarah can't seem to turn off her snarkbox or openly share with her loved ones what she is going through.  She's worried she's going to love her long distance boyfriend, Sten, forever.  Her parents are running out of ideas of how to help her and all they can think to do now is prevent Sarah from getting her driver's license, take away her beloved wild dog, Rubie, or continue to ground her.  Jamie's twin brother want nothing more than to hear the story of how his sister died from Sarah's lips.  Sarah alone must find a way out of her tailspin.

The main aspects that drew me into this realistic YA novel was Sarah's voice and the various charts and graphs that were featured at the start of each chapter.  (The latter factor means I'm going to be recommending this book to my many mathematically-inclined students...even though Sarah herself never expresses any preference for the subject matter.  It was still interesting to see her represent her life experiences in such varied ways.)

Since the book is serious, and since Sarah spends much of the novel not expressing herself aloud, I was kind of reminded of Melinda from Anderson's Speak.  Although, the books' conflicts are very different.

My one concern with Sarah's voice was the fact that she made a lot of references and allusions to Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica,  and some movies from the 1980s.  As a mmpha-year-old adult, I can appreciate and enjoy all of these references, but I'm not so certain they'll appeal to some of the teenager readers, who will at best maybe be familiar with two of the shows or movies.  (I know, I know, that gives them a reason to try and see the other shows and movies mentioned.)  I just felt it made the book a little dated...it's not the 14 to 16-year-old crowd I hear running around still saying 'frak.'  (Let's be honest it's my group of friends.)

I also wasn't initially crazy about the character Captain Possum/Roy.  Sarah's multiple interactions with him early in the novel seemed a little too convenient to be a coincidence in realistic fiction.  Eventually, his story line won me over.

Aspects of the ending of The Theory of Everything left me unsatisfied, although, one of the scenes (Sarah's prank!) was my favorite in the book and made me laugh out loud.

Overall, I enjoyed The Theory of Everything, but I didn't *love* it.  It was the kind of book I could put down and didn't mind coming back to several days later.


Dinner Conversation:

"Eight years ago, when we were seven, my best friend Jamie gave me a kaleidoscope.  It sounds lame, but I loved that thing.  So did Jamie.  The girl kept stealing it back until I gave her one of her own.  We would just lie there in my backyard, staring up at the sky through them.  Prisms turning, colors changing.  White cloud crystals, blue sky fractals.
Trippy, in a wholesome, Hugs Not Drugs way.
Well.  My whole life is like that now--it's trippy and turny and there are no drugs involved, unless Zoloft counts." (p. 2)

"I sigh.  I'm not really a badass, I'm just pissed off.  I hate Mrs. Cleary being sad and the deer being hurt.  Not to mention that the last time a cop asked me questions like this, my best friend had just died right in front of me." (p. 10)

"Sarah,
I want to know what happened.  How Jamie died.
Please.
--E.
Well.  I have two responses to that.
1.  Holy.
2.  Crap.
Actually, three.
3.  No, frigging way.
Sub-divided into
    A.)  No way could he still not know.
    B.)  No way am I going to tell him.
    C.)  No way is this happening." (p. 18)

"'Mom and Dad were talking about how you're becoming such a deadbeat in school.  You don't care about anything anymore, so they don't have any leverage.'
"Leverage?"  What does that mean?
"Anything to bargain with.  Convince you to turn your crap around."
"You mean like, to threaten me with?"
"I guess you could call it that."  He shrugs.
"But Ruby, and Stenn..." My heart freezes.  "And driving.  They wouldn't take them away from me?  They can't."
"Calm down, Freak Show.  I don't think they're planning on it tomorrow.  And I bet they'd start with driver's ed before moving on to the big guns." (p. 37)


Tasty Rating:  !!!.

REVIEW: Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl (A #Cybils Award Finalist!) "I am like the Joseph Stalin of narrators"

Andrews, J.  (2012).  Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl.  New York:  Abrams.

295 pages.

Appetizer:  Greg Gaines has a difficult goal of surviving high school without any confrontations, enemies, or a group of friends.  He and his friend Earl make videos that they won't allow anyone to see.

This goal is complicated when Greg's mom informs him that a girl Greg has some history with has been diagnosed with Leukemia and that Greg has been recruited to re-befriend her.  This could cause trouble for Greg and Earl's future as filmmakers.

From the first page, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl amused me.  It opens with Greg contemplating how difficult it is to write a good first sentence for a book.  It's a passage I already plan to share with my future "Teaching of Writing" classes.  I love meta-narratives.  I could eat self-aware narratives for breakfast every morning for FOREVER.  So, the book had me amused from the get-go.

Then, THEN, a few more pages in, I realized that the book was set in the area around the Shadyside and Squirrel Hill districts of Pittsburgh.  I spent two years in that area while working on my MFA.  The familiar places and memories were also a nice introduction to the book.

I really enjoyed Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.  It was a "stay up late and read just one more chapter...one more chapter...one more...laugh out loud...read one more chapter" kind of book for me. 

I also liked the characterizations of Greg's family.  The conflicts within the family were some of the most amusing moments for me.

I also liked the many forms that were included (screenplay, texts, lists of people's comments, etc.)

I did wonder what everyone thought about the way race was depicted.  I did feel like Earl was an original character, but I worried that the way his family was presented could be seen as stereotypical (an angry family...absent step-father...Earl being in a special needs classroom).  I'm still not certain how I feel about these characterizations.

Dinner Conversation:

"I have no idea how to write this stupid book.
Can I just be honest with you for one second?  This is the literal truth.  When I first started writing this book, I tired to start it with the sentence "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times."  I genuinely thought that I could start this book that way.  I just figured, it's a classic book-starting sentence.  But then I couldn't even figure out how you were supposed to follow that up." (p. 1)

"I do actually want to say one other thing before we got started with this horrifyingly inane book. You may have already figured out that it's about a girl who had cancer.  So there's a chance you're thinking, "Awesome!  This is going to be a wise and insightful story about love and death and growing up.  It is probably going to make me cry literally the entire time.  I am so fired up right now."  If that is an accurate representation of your thoughts, you should probably try to smush this book into a garbage disposal and then run away.  Because here's the thing:  I learned absolutely nothing from Rachel's leukemia.  In fact, I probably became stupider about life because of the whole thing." (pp. 2-3)

"So in order to understand everything that happened, you have to start from the premise that high school sucks.  Do you accept that premise?  OF course you do.  It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks.  In fact, high school is where we are first introduced to the basic existential question of life:  How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad?" (p. 5)

"This was the second brain-punchingly insensitive thing I had said in about thirty seconds, and again I considered closing my cell phone and eating it." (p. 45)

"Earl and I are friends.  Sort of.  Actually, Earl and I are more like coworkers.
The first thing to know about Earl Jackson is that if you mention his height, he will windmill-kick you in the head.  Short people are often extremely athletic.  Earl is technically the size of a ten-year-old, but he can kick any object within seven feet of the ground.  Additionally, Earl's default mood is Pissed, and his backup default mood is Mega-Pissed." (pp. 61-62)


Tasty Rating:  !!!!