I've been so incredibly busy, I have neglected updating my blog. Happens. I just finished reading Railsea, by China Meiville. What a literary genius! Mr. Mieville is a word-crafter. Some might say a wordsmith, but I have learned a thing or two by reading this book, and one of them is that I can make up whatever words I choose!

First, I have to give Mr. M. an incredible applause for writing this book. I must admit that even though I have been an English teacher for 22 years, I have not read more than a few excerpts of the great Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. I have not read Treasure Island nor Kidnapped for more years than I will admit. My next reads will be those three picks. Why, you might ask? From the other reviews I have read, as well as from China's own mouth, Railsea is loosely connected to all three. I am in the process of rereading Treasure Island, and have to admit that I am loving it. I have an affection for Pirates (thanks to Johnny Depp and the Buccaneers - I'm from Tampa), and it is just full of pirate life. Back to Railsea.

I have been given an Honors British Lit class for the upcoming school year. I wanted a book that would just rock these kids' boats. There was not a set list for summer reading, so I picked Railsea. I just thought maybe, just maybe, it would be a sort of catalyst to get these kids interested in what they have to read for school. Rather than the tired "classics," such as Brave New World or 1984, I wanted something fun, something new, and something that would just slam the front door on boring summer readings! I believe I have been successful. Well, I hope I am, anyway. I haven't heard from many of my students about this book. One asked if there was an alternate choice! But that just shows that no matter what you might pick, someone is going to be unhappy about the selection. So be it.

Ok, the above was written before school started. School has started and I'm sorry to report that my students just did not dig Railsea! I really cannot understand why. This read is chock full of monsters, pirates, and just plain weird stuff. I loved it. One of my juniors is reading 50 Shades of Gray, so there you are.

I will be back for a full review on Railsea.

Smashwords: your ebook, your way.

In a search conducted for ebooks, I found Smashwords! This is an ebook publishing and distribution platform. It offers DRM-free ebooks (without digital rights management) for sampling and purchase for any e-reader.

This is a very cool website! After free registration, users have access to tools for search, discovery and personal library stock. New features are added weekly. Authors who wish to publish but experience roadblocks with traditional publishing methods can market their work and retain complete control over the sampling and marketing (including price) of their written works. For those authors who wish to publish their works, including every imaginable genre, it’s FREE to publish and distribute!

They offer a style guide, which is their formatting bible, complete with FAQ. Additionally, low-cost formatters and cover designers are available for Smashwords authors, by Smashwords authors.

The founder, Mark Coker, along with his wife, attempted to get a book published. After repeated rejections, they revised the book and tried again. Continued rejections inspired them to create an alternate method for those seeking the publication of their written words, thus Smashwords was born. In just four years, Smashwords is the leading ebook distributor and serves authors, small presses, and literary agents around the world. Over 100,000 books have been published by over 35,000 authors through Smashwords. And they distribute ebooks to some of the major retail markets including Barnes & Noble and the Apple iBookstore to name a few.

Now the fine print for the reader:     

Readers can search under the multitude of tabs to find a plethora of reading materials. I went directly to check out the YA list. Filters can be set to narrow the search including genre and then newest, best sellers, units sold, most downloads, and highest rated. Price filters can be set and include FREE as well as varying increments from .99 cents or less up to $9.99. And for the readers who are on “word budgets,” length filters are also available. Checking out the free list, I found lots of interesting descriptions in the long list of titles.  

While there are books that might not be family-friendly, the site has value for the media center and classrooms. I’m not sure if this would be blocked by school internet security forces or not, but an amazing opportunity to find new authors and books is presented. But better, this site could offer the opportunity for budding YA authors to launch their books, plays, short stories, poems, etc. I can see usage of this site in the school media center and classrooms. 


*There is an “adult filtering” feature which prevents ebooks labeled as “adult” from appearing on the home page and in keyword searches (unless the reader so chooses). Books not intended for under age 18 are marked adult. I imagine this could be set on school computers with the capability for changing the filter out of the control of students.

Several years ago I taught a creative writing class, and this would have been the perfect vehicle for my students to use to get their products “out there.”

Here is just one sample that caught my eye from the YA list:

Short description

Zuri's biggest problem in life wasn't her mother's lesbian relationship or her mixed heritage, it was the hideous fat rolls that hung loosely from her body. Her issues with weight causes her to spiral down a destructive path that could destroy her both physically and emotionally.

By Brandy Martin

Rating: Not yet rated.

Published: March 30, 2012

Words: 35368 (approximate)

Language: English

Price: $2.99 USD

WOW! This is one of those books that offers just about everything a YA reader could ask for if in any sort of similar situation or who might just want a good read. It addresses body image to start, and then moves on to multi-racial and the whole gay/lesbian issues too, striding full force into the intellectual freedom arena. All for only $2.99!

Many of the books can be sampled for free, and some authors are willing to let the readers sift through up to half of their books before payment. What a treat – especially for the YA set who often get bored with books long before they are half-way through!

I registered for free and who knows? Maybe one of my future books will marketed and I will be an official “Smasher!”

And of course, you can follow them on Twitter and/or Facebook and become a fellow “Smasher.”


https://www.smashwords.com/

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is one of my favorite novels of all time, YA or not.

This historical fiction presents the timeless story of the sacrifices of true friendship set against the backdrop of the Great Depression. Lenny, a huge mentally deficient man with enormous physical strength, is paired with George, a smaller intelligent man. Between the two, they have the strength and brains necessary for surviving. The two depend upon each other to forge their survival working as “bindle stiffs” from one ranch to the next. Lenny usually gets the pair into some kind of trouble due to his childish, fetish-like desires to “touch soft things” and look at pretty girls. He is really a huge, harmless man with childlike qualities that eventually turn deadly, but more so out of an oblivious innocence rather than any sort of malice. The realization of his wrong doings are usually accompanied by his dull sense of knowing that George will be mad rather than any kind of sense of the awareness between right and wrong.

With the theme of The Great American Dream set against the backdrop of The Great Depression, the shared goal is to keep Lenny out of trouble long enough to save the money required to purchase their dream - a piece of land to call their own, farm, raise animals (especially rabbits for Lenny) and glean an independent existence during the worst of economic times. The depression sets the story in motion, expertly crafted to gently draw the reader into the timeframe without disrupting the storyline which is an integral cog in the wheel of the far reaching plot that leaves the reader in total sympathy for the actions George must take to protect his friend. 

Where can one even begin to respond to such a classic? The themes within this novel literally leap from the pages. True friendship is usually defined as the willingness to lay down your life for those you love. What about the opposite? Without spoiling the plot for any of you have not yet read this brilliant story, some questions to ask yourself might include the following:

Just how far would you go to protect your best friend?

*Is it ever acceptable to break the law of the land, as well as God’s law, if it is broken out of pure love?

*What should be done with people who commit crimes, yet due to mentally incapacity do not understand the implication of their actions?

*On another level, is the American Dream really attainable for every American or is it just propaganda introduced to sell America, the land of the free – home of the brave, as the land of opportunity?

Study guides abound for this classic. Usually introduced in the English classroom, it could be used in a variety of additional formats. It could be a great fiction to use alongside the teaching of the Great Depression. It could be used in psychology classes to present a study of the mentally handicapped as well as the study of co-dependent relationships. I see its use in government classes as well in which the study of crimes committed by the “innocent” can be examined. The 112 pages of this book are jammed full of themes, meaning, and the haunting story never to be forgotten once read.

Steinbeck, the master, is one of my all-time favorite authors. I don’t have enough thumbs to rate this book. Two simply are not enough.

Publisher: Penguin

ISBN-10: 0142000671

ISBN-13: 978-0142000670

Lists, sites and Events Continued... (backwards! Part 1 is below!)

Another Excellent Site:

VOYA - Voice of Youth Advocates  

This is a library journal dedicated to all things YA librarians could hope for – advocacy of young adults, promotion of YA literature and more. They offer regular columns and feature articles providing information on a wide variety of  topics. They claim the rights as one of the first to provide support and be strong advocates for the intellectual freedom for teens. They review over 2000 books per year and provide online reviews as well.

Take a cruise through this site. It’s informational and easy to linger for an extended visit. 

Lists, Sites, Events and Other Helpful Things

2012 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 

This is a great list to utilize for the YA readers who also  like to hear books. Additionally, it could be an avenue to get reluctant readers interested. Maybe a helpful list for school downloads too. Personally, I love the listen to books while I'm traveling. Maybe over the summer these titles could be offered to kids in transit! 

This is the YALSA list for their 2012 choices for audiobooks:

Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison, read by Stina Nielson. Recorded Books, 2010.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, read by Libba Bray. Scholastic Audio, 2011.

Carter’s Big Break by Brent Crawford, read by Nick Podehl. Brilliance Audio, 2011.

Chime by Franny Billingsley, read by Susan Duerden. Listening Library, 2011.

Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey, read by Steven Boyer. Recorded Books, 2010.

Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve, read by Philip Reeve. Scholastic Audio, 2011.

How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg, read by L.J. Ganser. Recorded Books, 2011.

Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith, read by Mark Boyett. Brilliance Audio, 2010.

Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud, read by Simon Jones. Listening Library, 2010.

Wake of the Lorelei Lee by L.A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren. Listen and Live Audio, 2010.

Check out this event!

This looks like the place to be November 2-4! The YALSA YA Symposium will be held in St. Louis, and promises to be an event not to be missed. I would love to attend, and if at all possible, I am going to try for it! You can try the QR or click on the link for more information directly from the site. (I'm not sure if I got the QR code inserted correctly, but the link works!)
 http://yalitsymposium12.ning.com/

In need of a book? A list of books? 

This is one of my favorite lists sources. It started back in 1996, and has grown to about 1000 lists. I don't think there is anything you cannot find here. Check it out! Originally, this began as part of a librarian collaborative project in which librarians could use and contribute to. Apparently, it has been extremely successful and is now a wiki. The original website is still accessible (second link). I use this frequently. If you need a book for a boy, a girl, one about a horse or a toad, then cruise on in. You can find a book on almost any topic in the whole world - ok, maybe that's hyperbolic, but I have never searched for something on here and NOT found it!

http://atn-reading-lists.wikispaces.com/

http://www.nancykeane.com

Taken at Dusk by C.C. Hunter

I received an ad/junk in my gmail this week for a nice selection of ibooks. I decided to check out some of the YA lit on the list. This one looks pretty good. I like the premise of the book as it is a series and that's so "in" right now with YA readers. I checked out C.C. Hunter's website and she offers a pretty cool book trailer as well as some other fun things that will surely attract readers. 

While this series sounds just a little familiar - Twilight - I think it might promise to be special in its own right. This book is the third in the series, so I want to go back to the first and read it and the second before I read this one. Vampires and the like are not my usual genre, but I have to admit, I'm intrigued. The Shadow Falls series is about kids with "special" talents. In this third novel, the kids go to camp. Sounds so innocent! But this isn't an ordinary camp. It's a camp to teach kids with supernatural powers how to use their powers, but one young man is going so he can learn how to lose his. The twist in this novel will find the young female torn between two loves. Yeah, I know, I know - Twilight. But I think this one is different. I think it sounds better than the previously mentioned series. 


I really like the author's website too. It's very avant garde and just cool to linger for a while. The author has written a short story to introduce the series and it is FREE to download - photo below. One of the hooks for the first book, Born at Midnight  sounds creepily enticing! I especially liked the line about Kylie's stalker - she wants to get rid of him because she's the only one who can see him! Yikes! I can't wait to get started - just as soon as I finish the yearbook....down to 40 pages. I don't think I will be doing another one. I have way too many books on my list to read! 

Born At Midnight

Kylie Galen has had a lot of crap tossed in her lap lately. Her parents are getting a divorce for who the heck knows why. Her boyfriend broke up with her because she wouldn't put out. And her grandmother died because . . . well, older people do that. But now, Kylie's acquired a stalker and she hasn't a clue what he wants or how to get rid of him . . . and she really wants to get rid of him because apparently she's the only one who sees him. Thinking she may be losing it, her parents send her off to see a psychologist who gets Kylie sent to Shadow Falls Camp. Kylie and her parents think it's a camp for troubled teens.

(From the author's website) 


OK, I read the short story and I'm hooked. 
The short is free and is the first thing I downloaded to my brand new Kindle Touch! I  finally joined the digital book parade! I didn't believe it when others have told me that they read faster using their Kindles, but after my first read, I think I might have actually read a little faster. 


At first, I thought I was going to hate reading this writer's material. In the first paragraph, I found a grammatical goof and had there been too many more, I would have put my KT down and called it a night. As previously stated everywhere I write, vampires aren't really my thing (although as a kid, I was absolutely hooked on Dark Shadows and literally ran home from school to watch it - age revelation!). There were a few more grammatical "instances" in which better writing could have been instituted. It almost read like C.C. was in a hurry. Anyway, I stayed up way past midnight because I wanted to finish this short story. It does a nice job of introducing the characters and I did enjoy the dialogue between the characters. The story line is the basic story line that YA readers are soaking up - vampires, werewolves, and shape shifters. Another unforgivable, in my humble opinion, the female protagonist's name is Della - yes, and then there's is Bella! But, I did enjoy the short story and I can definitely see the use of the free short story dragging the readers into the series. Brilliant!


Downloading to school digital formats could be a very enticing way to get reluctant readers to just try  it. First, they have the digital format which is way cool to use, and second, it's short! It can be read very quickly offering a sense of accomplishment to those readers who just really do not want to read. I like it. 

http://www.cchunterbooks.com/news.html

ISBN-10: 0312624697

ISBN-13: 978-0312624699

St. Martin's Griffin

Cracker Queen, by Lauretta Hannon

Hannon grew up mostly in Warner Robins, Georgia, and presently lives in Powder Springs, Georgia. 

Some of the reviews I read prior to picking up my own copy included the following:
Lauretta's childhood experiences, growing up in Warner Robins, are told with a powerful original Southern voice with warmth and wit. Her mother and father, a jazz musician, lead by example as the perfect dysfunctional family. Through world class storytelling, Hannon relates that even through nervous breakdowns, infidelities, and alcoholism, she still felt loved and cherished. The dysfunctional family's stories such as ghost hunting, moonshine brewing, the famous Georgia Goat Man, and Crazy Aunt Carrie who gets arrested for assaulting a police dog are sure to set the record straight that nonfiction can be entertaining.  

Moving to Savannah finds the author living in an eccentric neighborhood surrounded by hellions, heroines, thugs, a woman who looks like a rutabaga, a lady who keeps Baby Jesus chained up in her front yard and a root doctor who performs a hoodoo on her. In the midst of the madness, she finds meaning and discovers joys. 

So, those are the "funny" highlights of the book. And I think reading the descriptions about her book is actually funnier than reading the book. Also claiming to be the book to move the Sweet Potato Queens on down the dirt road, I don't see that happening. In fact, I don't see any book about southern women replacing The Sweet Potato Queens, nor any chic lit, period. I’m also not quite sure why this was on the YA lit list in my county’s vertical meeting that I attended several months back. But, it intrigued me. Because the author is from Middle Georgia, and that’s where I presently reside, I wanted to check it out to see what she thought was so funny around here. I’m still wondering! One of her teachers is a county "staple" English teacher - very well respected with ions of experience. This particular vertical meeting was all about YA lit and was quite informative. There were book talks and round table talks, and this was one of the books suggested for our YA readers. So I wanted to read it. 

While parts of this book are funny, other parts are horribly sad as the author drops bombshell after bombshell of her highly dysfunctional family and her totally pitiful upbringing. This is one of those books that we could recommend to a student who is in need of connecting to something similar in life in order to make meaning or to at least know that someone else has experienced a painful childhood with unorthodox parents who also have drinking, cheating, breakdown-prone problems. Beyond that, it isn’t the “normal” YA book. It isn’t really normal anything. However, I will give it to her that she can tell stories - and that's what most of this book really sounds like, but it's supposed to all be true. 

Perhaps had I read this prior to the Sweet Potato Queens and even more, had it not been touted as the book to replace my beloved Sweet Potato Queens, I might have appreciated it more. But, I did read SPQ first. I adore Jill Conner Browne and was quite upset when I read that she was going to be in my neck of the woods, the day after she appeared. It was heart-breaking! While I’m on the subject of the SPQ, I have read all of those and have the work of fiction on an audio book and have finished about half. They claim the novel is a work of fiction about things that they didn’t do but could have and still might. The repertoire of SPQ books include The Sweet Potato Queen’s Book of Love, a cookbook, a financial instruction type book, a child rearing book, and one of my favorites – The Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men: Every Man I Love Is Either Married, Gay, or Dead, just to name a few. There is a website and the offer to become a SPQ with the opportunity to host a chapter in your very own area. If you have never read a "Queen" book, do yourself a favor and get one today! I recommend reading the first book, first. It will make better sense as Browne frequently refers to information in her prior books. 

Well, this was supposed to be about The Cracker Queen, but I veered off on a tangent about The Sweet Potato Queens. I am thinking it was because the gauntlet was tossed and I pursued. You just cannot compare cracker queens to sweet potato queens, especially in the face of she who is a sweet potato queen.

Love,

Tammy

(of course you can only understand the significance of my sign off if you have read any of the SPQ's books!)

And, while we are talking about the Sweet Potato Queens, I am not endorsing anything SPQ for YA.

ISBN-10: 1592404502

ISBN-13: 978-1592404506

Publisher: Gotham 

The Lovely Bones by Alice Seabold

This is one of my favorite YA books. The storyline is one that might cause you to first balk at reading it, but it truly is handled exceptionally well. 14-year-old Susie Salmon takes a shortcut through a cornfield on her way home from school and is lured into an underground den by her pedophile neighbor, Harvey. He rapes and murders her, a parent’s worst nightmare. He then disposes of her body in a way that will surely keep his secret forever. Well, maybe not.

Susie’s spirit goes on to her own personal heaven where she watches her family and friends who struggle to move on with their lives as she comes to terms with her own death. She meets up with a beloved dog as well as some of Harvey’s other victims. Lindsay, Susie’s sister, plays a crucial role in the pursuit of justice for her sister. Determined to prove that Harvey is her sister’s murderer, she sneaks into his house and finds a diagram of the underground den. Before she can get away without being caught, Harvey returns and a heart-stopping race ensues as Lindsey makes for an escape determined not to be his next victim.

Frustrations with local police will cause you to want to reach through the book to smack them into action. Unable to handle the events, Susie’s mother leaves her family for some odd quest to find herself causing much pain and suffering for the entire family, but mostly Buckley, Susie’s four-year-old brother. There is just enough supernaturalism to create an eerie suspense. Buckley sees Susie now and then as she watches over him from her heaven, and her friends sense her presence at the most opportune times.

The comic relief for the heavy subject comes in the form of Susie’s grandmother, Lynn. An eccentric alcoholic, she moves in with the Salmons when her daughter takes off for her self-discovery quest. She brings love and acceptance to Lindsay and provides the mother-figure Buckley so desperately requires.

This is truly an excellent read and will have your fingers ready to hit on the next-page-button on your ereader. A movie was released in 2009, and amazingly was very well-done. The director, Peter Jackson, did not want to lose the mood of the book and succeeded in creating one of the few movies that actually complements its book. He stated in an interview that the reader has “an  experience when you read the book that is unlike any other.” I totally agree and appreciate his efforts to keep the storyline intact in his movie version.

Side note: there has been some religious criticism that claims Seabold has left Susie’s heaven “utterly devoid of any apparent religious aspect.” There is no apparent God, judgment nor any comment on the spiritualism of heaven. Seabold counters that her book was not meant to be religious in any way and that she was simply trying to create a heaven for Susie that was simple by design, with no intentions of depicting any religious ideas, and that would be a place of beauty and comfort for Susie. I am of the opinion that a parent should probably consider more carefully the actual subject of the book’s content, a young girl’s rape and murder, more so than the implied religious content. While God is seemingly absent in Susie’s heaven, it is up to the reader to make the religious connotations.

Seabold further commented that people take things and interpret in their own ways and that she cannot do anything about that; however, she believes her book “has faith and hope and giant universal themes in it, but it’s not meant to be.” This is one of those arguments that I present to my students – we can read a book and interpret it as to what we believe the messages are, but that does not necessarily mean those are the messages of the author? I love it.

I read a review about this book that is slightly weird, slightly unbelievable, and slightly helpful.
A mother lost her 13-year-old son, David, to a severe asthma attack. He died very quickly and unexpectedly. She bought this book to give to her 17-year-old daughter to "comfort" her in the wake of her brother's absence. Before she could give it to her daughter, she started reading it and could not put it down. The mother dreamed the family went to visit David in "his heaven" and found comfort knowing he was ok. That was the slightly helpful part. The slightly weird part, bordering on unbelievable, was that she said she "teared up" more reading the book than she did the loss of her own son. Hmmm. Alrighty then. All of that to say, this book might be helpful to YA readers who have lost a sibling. Or perhaps those who are experiencing "belief" issues. I know some students who read this book who thought they might not believe in God. Here's where intellectual freedom could be addressed, especially living in Middle Georgia in the middle of the "Bible Belt," where kids might not have the freedom to believe as they choose. For YA readers who feel threatened having to believe as their parents do, and thus rebel, this book could offer a softer side of "religion" and issues of the after life. That is my take and I grew up Baptist! I know many Baptists who would be offended in the offering of the above explanation in Seabold's spiritual criticism, however, Susie's "heaven" is at least a starting point to offer the explanation of an afterlife of some sort.

Publisher: Back Bay Books

ISBN-10: 0316044938

ISBN-13: 978-0316044936

God is in the Pancakes

My next YA read will be God is in the Pancakes, by Robin Epstein. I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Epstein a few months back and she is just as down to earth as you can imagine. She is also quite genteel, for someone from the north! Our media specialist invited her to speak about her book and she actually came to our little school in Middle Georgia and spoke to the students for FOUR periods. Then she was whisked off to speak at another school. She graciously answered questions and even told a joke. She was a stand-up comedienne before her success as an author. One of her books was co-authored by her lawyer sister, and is titled, So Sue Me Jackass.


I have checked this book out of our library several times, but when the kids see that I have a copy, I relinquish it so they can read it. We have multiple copies of it, but it's never on the shelves!


The opening of the book has a great hook:
"Here's what I've come to realize about perfect happiness: It's a fragile as the bubbles that form on the top of a pancake." 


God is in the Pancakes by Robin Epstein

Fifteen-year-old Grace, having turned her back on religion when her father left, now finds herself praying for help with her home and love life, and especially with whether she should help a beloved elderly friend die with dignity.

Here's the description from Amazon.com:

Fifteen-year-old Grace Manning is a candy striper in a nursing home, and Mr. Sands is the one patient who makes the job bearable. He keeps up with her sarcasm, teaches her to play poker . . . and one day cheerfully asks her to help him die. At first Grace says no way, but as Mr. Sands' disease progresses, she's not so sure. Grace tries to avoid the wrenching decision by praying for a miracle, stuffing herself with pancakes, and running away from all feelings, including the new ones she has for her best friend Eric. But Mr. Sands is getting worse, and she can?t avoid him forever.

So, yes, this is about assisted suicide. I've only read the first chapter due to giving my copy away, but I'm told by everyone who has read this book that Epstein handles the subject masterfully and with dignity. 

This book falls in a couple of genres. It is in the realistic genre and could also be considered a book that could challenge intellectual freedom due to the fact that it is about assisted suicide. Because the protagonist is asked by an elderly man to help him die, I think it could be of use in several ways, one of which would be in psychology classes. Young adults who have elderly family members could also benefit by seeing the alternative viewpoint of a senior citizen who wants to pass on. 

***UPDATE!

I finally got to read beyond the first chapter and finish this book, thanks to Spring Break and KT (my new best friend - Kindle Touch - I have an upcoming post on this soon!)

I now see why the kids at school had no reservations stripping me of my checked out copies! This main character, Grace, will no doubt tug at your heartstrings as you follow her course throughout the story. She will make you laugh and she will make you cry, but one thing is certain; she will make you care. One of my students told me that Grace was the kind of character she wished were real so they could be friends. That is how beautifully crafted Epstein's characters are. They actually could be real people. 84-year-old Frank Sands reminds of my own 85-year-old father, so for me, reading this was especially  poignant. My student was right - these characters do make you feel that they are real. 

I was surprised by the depth of  "religion" in the book - NOT that it is a "religion-ish" book that might turn kids off. Quite the contrary. Obviously, God is mentioned in the title, but I did not, for some odd reason, equate that to God being in the story! Not to give away too much, but the pancakes do equate with God, because that's where Grace finds her comfort. I suppose I may have been a little surprised because meeting the author gave me a different impression of her in a religious light. Don't ask me to explain that - it makes no sense. Usually, I delete things that make no sense! It is important to know that it is not a "religious" book with an author's agenda; it's just a story in which a young girl is faced with questions that she must take to God. While she receives no clear-cut answers, she does well in spite of the fact that it is an awesome request. 

While the topic of this novel rests on the ultimate decision Grace must face - assisting her dear friend with taking his life before he total loses out to ALS, it is not depressing. Grace is faced with so many other life-challenges at the same time, it's incredible to travel this journey with her. Does she assist him? I'm not telling. It truly will ruin the book should you decided to read it. I begged my students to just tell me. I assured them that I would be ok with the answer, but none would tell. And they were right. The reading would not have been the same going in with the answer. Smart kids!

This realistic work of fiction is as I thought, a book that could be read by students (and adults alike) who may be faced with the point that elderly loved ones may have a different viewpoint of living vs dying. This story made me think of my own mother who chose to die eight years ago rather than face another surgery just to die anyway, or worse in her opinion, live through it to face a diminished quality of life. 


I can see that it could also challenge intellectual freedom due to the choice that a young girl faces - to help her friend die. Only one of my students who read this said she was not surprised by Grace's choice. I will admit that I was. 

For an ex-stand-up comedienne and writer of video games, you will be surprised to find the author has created a book truly worthy to be considered a work of art.  

Publisher: Dial Books (Penguin)

ISBN-10: 0803733828

ISBN-13: 978-0803733824

Hunger Games Wrap

It’s a wrap! I sometimes hate to come to the ending of a book. It’s like the most perfect day you  could ever imagine, but then it’s midnight and you know it’s over. I’m glad this is one is over! Midnight couldn’t come fast enough. But, it was burning me to finish it. I probably should have chosen another book. This is the kind of book that is not easily forgotten. It’s haunting. It’s brutal. It’s riveting. In the beginning, it was so compelling, I couldn’t put it down. I had a love-hate relationship going on throughout. The futuristic gladiator thing isn’t my genre and neither is the whole theme of children killing children. I have to confess that it kept The Lord of the Flies flooding my mind, and I hate that book to the point of refusing to teach it the last time I taught sophomores. Instead, I opted to teach Fahrenheit 451 – another dystopian setting, yet much more agreeable than that of The Hunger Games.

While I understand the part of kill or be killed and I understand that rebelling is not an option in this society (or non-society), as a mother I cannot fathom just giving your child a hug and sending them to a death-fight in which they will most likely be killed. I hated the whole child killing child in the Lord of the Flies too. We strive to end bullying and to educate our students so that they can put an end to this, yet we encourage them to read and embrace books that idealize or rationalize the very thing that we strive to stamp out in real life.

On a positive note, the storyline is addicting. Normally, I would put such a book down and refuse to finish reading. This book demands to be finished. Collins creates characters so believable, you will root for them even though you hate what they are doing. You will find yourself thinking about them – constantly. Katniss, the main character, is a strong teenage female who sacrifices herself to save her sister from the game by going in her place. Other than that act, I found her to be totally self-centered until she beats the system by feigning the attempt to commit a suicide pact with Peeta in order to save him when the rules of the game change and the two from the same district are ordered to compete. Everyone knows she would have slaughtered him.

The fact that I completed this book, while hating it, attests to the quality of the writing, the believability of the characters, and ever driving quest to just get it finished to find out what happens in the end. I don’t think I will finish the trilogy.


Update: My "Older" YA Lit reading daughter just finished the series and thinks I'm "nuts" because I didn't care for this book. She cannot believe that I am not compelled to read the other two! Just not in it!

Publisher: Scholastic Press

(Trilogy Box Set)

ISBN-10: 0545265355

ISBN-13: 978-0545265355

Parallels with Present Day Society!

As I was conducting a search for a lesson on something entirely different, I was hanging out at teenreads.com and wandered into a reading groups site, kind of by accident. Because I suffer from ADD and stop to look at shiny things and all that glitters, I clicked on the guide for The Hunger Games. One of the questions just stopped me in the tracks of my keyboard. It was something like this - Since the beginning of TV, there have been reality shows like "Candid Camera" and the "Miss America Pageant," but today reality TV has morphed into competitive and survival type shows. "Discuss this phenomenon with respect to The Hunger Games. What other aspects of our popular culture do you see reflected in this story?"  

I am still reading this book, and so far, loving it! But oddly enough, I am NOT a reality TV fan. How can you not draw some parallels? Our society feeds on these reality shows! I watched the first season of "Survival" and have no desire to watch another. I loathe "Fear Factor!" I have only seen a couple of the shows, and none in their entirety, because I was not "seeing" the FEAR, I was seeing things that were disgusting. It's not fearsome to eat insects. It IS fearsome to be in the dark, or on the edge of a tall building, etc. if those are your fears. 

So anyone have any comments about the relationship between The Hunger Games and our modern reality TV shows? 

I can read it if I want to!

Finally, I have something to read! Actually, I have a whole lot to read, but not for this blog! I am reading two books for other classes. One is Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, and the other is Translated Woman. Cocktail Hour is about a Scottish girl who grows up in Africa. Translated Woman is about a Jewish/Cuban anthropologist who goes to Mexico and takes Esperanza's story about being a woman, wife, mother, and daughter-in-law in Mexico and how it is not a Sunday school picnic.


Now, for the young adult literature I get to read! I admit that I have not read a great deal of YA lit lately, but that's because I have been taking grad classes which greatly occupy the majority of my time. I have watched my students for quite some time now traipse in and out of my classes with a book they just love, The Hunger Games. 


Divine providence! Last week, a copy of The Hunger Games just happened to get left in my classroom. I have no idea whose it is, where it came from, or how to return it as it is not a library book. I held it up for each of my classes for two days and nobody claimed it. So, I decided that it was meant to be. I will have to read this book.  


When I asked my student, Kayla, about the series, she sat right down on the floor next to my desk and gave me her "thumbs up" review! I didn't think I was going to be able to teach that day! Her enthusiasm was contagious. When I told her I wanted to read The Hunger Games, a comical thing happened. She exclaimed, "Ms. P., they are really books for teenagers!"


Pursuing the conversation, I asked her if she thought I would like the book, even though I am "old." Again, she insisted...."They're books for teenagers." 


Again, I told her I was interested and would just like to read the book to see why my students, and she especially, are so "into" this series. 


"Well, you will probably like it," she relented.


Finally, I was getting somewhere. I just felt like she thought she had to give me her approval before I could read it, because it was for teens!


I have started reading it, and while I am not in very far, I think I am going to love this book! I will let you know.......