YA Nonfiction Reviews: SPARE PARTS and NEARER MY FREEDOM

Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano By Himself by Monica Ediger and Lesley Younge

Zest Books, Minneapolis. 2023.

Target Audience: Grades 9-12.

Olaudah Equiano was born in an Igbo village in what is now southern Nigeria in 1745, captured and enslaved as a child and shipped to the Caribbean where he was sold to a Royal Navy officer. He was sold twice more before he was able to buy his own freedom in 1766. In the 1789 he wrote an autobiography about his life and experiences, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano. It was quite popular with the abolitionists in Britain and actually may have helped lead to the Slave Trade Act of 1807.

Using this narrative as a primary source text, authors Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge share Equiano's life story in "found verse," supplemented with annotations to give readers historical context. This poetic approach provides interesting analysis and synthesis, helping readers to better understand the original text. Follow Equiano from his life in Africa as a child to his enslavement at a young age, his travels across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, his liberation, and his life as a free man. (Publisher)

I've read several biographies-in-verse but never one written in found verse or poems before. According to the authors, a found poem is created using the words, phrases, and quotes from a source text that are then rearranged into verse. Here is an example of how it worked, the highlighted text is what is pulled out for the poem.

One day when none of the grown people were nigh
two men and a woman got over our walls,
seized my dear sister and me.
No time to cry out or make resistance.
They stopped our mouths,
and ran off with us into the woods.
They tied our hands and carried us
as far as they could, till night came.

It's pretty amazing what Ediger and Younge were able to do from the original text. They have created a book that is one that can open up Olaudah Equiano's story to a new generation of readers. I include myself in that statement. I'd never read his autobiography but now I know his story. Bravo!

Spare Parts (Young Reader's Edition): The True Story of Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and an Impossible Dream by Joshua Davis and Reyna Grande

Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, New York. 2023.

Target audience: Grades 8-12.

A riveting true story about dreams, dedication, and an amazing robot named Stinky, based on Joshua Davis' New York Times bestseller and now adapted for young readers by bestselling Mexican American author Reyna Grande.

In 2004, four undocumented Mexican teenagers arrived at the national underwater robotics championship at the University of California, Santa Barbara. No one had ever told Oscar, Cristian, Luis, or Lorenzo that they would amount to much―until two inspiring high school science teachers convinced the boys to enter the competition. Up against some of the best collegiate engineers in the country, this team of underdogs from Phoenix, Arizona, scraped together spare parts and a few small donations to astound not only the competition's judges but themselves, too.  (Publisher.) 

Spare Parts is both timely and empowering. It is an accessible introduction to STEM, immigration, and the reality of the American Dream. Four boys end up in the US because their parents left Mexico, believing a better life awaited them in America. But life didn't seem better to these boys as they found it difficult to fit in or even make plans for the future. They all stumbled into the robotics program as a place to make connection with others. What they found was camaraderie, hard work, high expectations, ingenuity, and creativity. When they decided to enter the NASA competition their goal was to not get last place. How could four high school boys with next-to-no resources, go up against older, more sophisticated college teams? 

Well, apparently when one is given very little except determination and ingenuity it is amazing what can be produced.

My only quibble with this book is the time lag. The boys won the competition in 2004. The adult book by Joshua Davis was published in 2014. A movie about the boys and their accomplishments was made in 2015. Why did it take twenty years to write a young readers version of the book, to tell the story to its proper audience?

 -Anne

YA/MG Nonfiction Review: THE MONA LISA VANISHES

Title: The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Brett Helquist

Opening quote from the first section: "A Star is Born: in which the Mona Lisa is painted, is stolen, and becomes an absolute legend."

Imagine a Palazzo -- a magnificent Renaissance building. It's Florence, 1503. There are a lot of palazzos around. Pick a good one. Now imagine a man: handsome, charming, gentle. Make him a painter. Imagine a woman: intriguing, unknown, beautiful. Make her a model. Do you see them? Neither of them should be there.

Friday56 quote: 

There is an eerie coincidence at work here. At the same time Leonardo receives this commission, a baby girl is born a short walk away. She is baptized Lisa Gherardini. She will become the Mona Lisa. She will change Leonardo's life. 

Summary: 

On a hot August day in Paris over 100 years ago, a desperate guard burst into the office of the director of the Louvre and shouted, "La Joconde, c'est partie!" "THE MONA LISA. SHE'S GONE!" Was it a spectacular joke or true? This is the wild improbable story of how the Mona Lisa was stolen and became the most famous painting in the world. (Book jacket)

In the pages of this YA/MG nonfiction book readers learn about the life and career of Leonardo Da Vinci, the birth and life of Lisa Gherardini, the model for the Mona Lisa, and the heist of the famous painting in the early 1900s which brought the painting and its artist to greater fame than had it remained safely in the Louvre in Paris the whole time.

Review:

Back in 1979 I visited the Louvre on a hot day in June. My friend and I had to stand in line to enter the famed museum in the heart of Paris. We had no internet in those days and so knew only what the guidebooks told us to do: enter, walk this way and that way in order to see the Mona Lisa. Well, we did it. We saw the Mona Lisa and I remember feeling underwhelmed. The painting was much smaller than I expected and, since the crowds were pressing in on all sides, we couldn't linger over the painting to appreciate all the fine details created by the famed artist and inventor, Leonardo Da Vinci.

Little did I know about the painting's history either. I had no idea that the painting had been stolen from the Louvre on August 21, 1911, and was not recovered for another five years. I had no idea that the investigators thought it was the work of a criminal mastermind and so they overlooked the common man who actually stole the painting. In fact, I had no idea why the famed painting was in France in the first place, since the artist was Italian.

Well, I learned all these details by reading this marvelous YA/MG book, The Mona Lisa Vanishes, by Nicholas Day. The book is "written at the pace of a thriller, and shot through with stories of crime and celebrity, genius, and beauty." It is a propulsive, twisting work of narrative nonfiction.

I learned about the book when it was nominated as a Cybils nonfiction finalist in the middle grades category. When I attempted to get a copy from my library system, I was thrilled to see that it had thirteen copies on file but all of them were checked out and I had to wait a month for my turn at the physical copy. What? Waiting for a MG nonfiction book? Isn't that unheard of? What does that say about it -- The Mona Lisa is so famous she is even an attractive subject to young readers! Amazing.

The book is illustrated, but not in a children's book sort of way, just one that makes the text even more inviting to young teen/preteen readers:

Sample illustration from the book The Mona Lisa Vanishes illustrated by Brett Helquist

I drank this book down in big gulps and enjoyed every moment of my reading experience. The author uses humor as a way to invite his readers to join him on this romp through history. 

This book won the Cybils Middle Grade Nonfiction Award, announced on Feb. 14th! Whether this book wins the 2023 Cybils for MG Nonfiction or not, read it! And leave it lying around the house so your kids will want to read it, too!

-Anne

A reread of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Just as good as the first time.

PART 2

On my recent vacation to Italy I didn't take enough books to satisfy my reading needs, so part way through the trip had to scrounge around to find something to read. My daughter had purchased a used copy of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon before she left and then nearly finished it on the plane ride to Italy. She handed if off to me when she was done so that I could have a back-up book. Luckily she did, too, since I needed it.

Like my other reread of the trip, Looking for Alaska, I first read The Curious Incident years ago when I was a new teen librarian. I even purchased multiple copies for the library for some project in Psychology class. When that class stopped using it, I kept the extra copies around because it was a reliable book to recommend to students who couldn't "find anything to read." I remembered it being a good solid book with a bit of a mystery and a lot about autism. On this reread I realized that my memory was intact. This time around, though, the voice of the autistic narrator, Christopher, really sang out to me in a way I don't recall it did last time.

When Christopher, a school-age autistic boy, discovers his neighbor's dog is murdered he decides to investigate it even though his father warns him not to. Christopher, whose favorite book is The Hound of the Baskervilles, decides to pattern his investigation after Sherlock Holmes. His detective work eventually takes him to London. This trip is a harrowing adventure full of terrifying events and scenes as seen through the eyes of a boy who doesn't process the world the way you or I do. The reader gets the rare opportunity, through Haddon's genius, to truly experience how frightening everyday events like taking a bus or a train can be for a person with autism.

Michiko Kakutani, writing for the New York Times, says this in a summary about the book:

...Christopher emerges as a wonderfully vivid individual. He never for a moment feels like a generic teenager or a composite portrait of someone with Asperger's syndrome (the form of autism that he presumably suffers from). At the same time, Mr. Haddon writes with such sympathy, such understanding of Christopher's interior life, that he makes all his obsessions and needs into a mirror of our own cravings for safety and order, while turning Christopher's ''detective story'' into a bildungsroman that's not about finding solutions and proofs but about coming to terms with the disorder and betrayals of grown-up life.---NYT Book Review Archives

Our school selected The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time as one of many books students can select for their summer reading this year.  After this reread, I couldn't be more delighted with this selection. In Christopher students may find a character that will actually help them to understand their classmates or themselves better.

As I was checking out the Internet for book reviews about curious Incident I stumbled upon this trailer for a play about the book. I can't wait until it comes to a theater in my town.  Have a look.

To reread or not to reread? I am glad I reread this book. What about you? Do you reread books? Why or why not?

30 books this Summer Reading Challenge

5 / 30 books. 16% done!

Review: The Death Cure

My. My. My.

The Death Cure by James Dashner is the final book in the Maze Runner trilogy and, as I said in an earlier blog post, I had a really tough time getting any traction reading it. After devouring both of its predecessors I could barely make myself read more than a few pages per sitting. That is until I reached the last 50 pages and then I tore through it at break-neck speed. Right up to the epilogue I had no idea how things were going to work out.  And there was that pesky book title: "The Death Cure."  Did it mean what I thought it meant? I was pondering this question all the way up to the last chapter.  Talk about stringing the reader along. Ha!

Hmmm.m.m.m.m.

So overall, what did I think of The Death Cure? In a lot of ways I think this book suffered in comparison to the first two books in the trilogy, like Mockingjay wasn't as good as the first two Hunger Games books.  It had moments of brilliance and the ending was powerful but the majority of the book didn't live up to the hype. But that doesn't mean that overall I didn't like it.  In fact, I think the flavorful taste I have in my mouth from the last bite of this book will stay with me longer than my memory of the slowness I experienced at the beginning. If you have read Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials, by all means grab this book and find out how it all works out.

And. And. And.....

The prequel to this series, The Kill Order, is due out in August.  You had better believe that I will be one of the first in line to get it.

Happy reading!

Review: Cloaked by Alex Flinn

My family and I listened to the audiobook of Cloaked by Alex Flinn on a recent holiday car trip and it was a joy to share the experience together. My husband was a bit skeptical that he wouldn't like the book since it a YA book and a fairy tale to boot. But the story sucked us all in and soon we were all laughing together and guessing what would happen next as we merrily drove along. In fact, at one point in the trip I was in another car, so my husband and daughters listened without me. When I rejoined them everyone was very excited to tell me what I had missed.

Alex Flinn, the author of the very popular book Beastly, said that he wanted to create a story using more obscure fairy tales, ones that didn't have a movie about them. Cloaked is set in modern times but it is also a mash-up of over five fairy tales, many I'd never even heard of before.  What fun!  It did make for zany scenes and magical events.  But that just increased the charm of this very family-friendly book.  I think this book will appeal to preteens through adults.

Check out the trailer and I think you'll get the idea of what a fun, different book Cloaked is:

Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

This is going to be a very schizophrenic book review. You'll see what I mean as you read on. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan is my first zombie (unconsecrated) novel. I've read a zombie graphic novel and a zombie short story but not a full length novel about these monsters. I, for one, am not a fan of zombie literature. That said, I did feel that the topic zombies was well-played in this book. There was not a lot of the blood and gore that I expected when I decided to read this book.

Mary, the novel's protagonist, believes that there is life beyond the walls of the fence that separate her village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth and the relentless Unconsecrated who constantly try to get through to attack the residents within. But few others believe that anyone else exists in the world. When a breech does occur and chaos rules the day, Mary, her betrothed, her brother, and a few friends, are forced to make a decision which could either save their lives or kill them. Mary is driven by dreams of life "beyond."

What I liked about the book is the tension that is written into the scenes of potential attacks, of what could possibly be around the next corner. I kept getting that horror-movie-feeling where I wanted to scream out, "Don't open that door!"

What I didn't like about the story was how I had a hard time connecting with the characters and their motivations. People sulked, were angry, professed love, disavowed friendship for unclear motives. The cover says that the book is a beautiful love story. But I had a hard time seeing the relationship as anything but passion or lust.

Even though I was critical of the book throughout, I do want to read the sequel, Dead Tossed Waves. Questions were raised right at the end of this book that I want to see resolved. (I told you that this review would be schizophrenic!) I should mention that I started listening to this on audiobooks. The gal who read it (Vane Millon) has a nice voice but she reads really, really slowly. It was almost torture listening to her. I had to switch to an actual book. Some novels are enhanced in the audio format. Others are made worse because of a poor reader.  This book suffered in the audio format which probably tainted my opinion of the book.

To be fair, a lot of reviewers really liked this book and I found it very exciting, at times.  It is worth the effort, especially if you like post-apocalyptic, zombie-type novels.

Review: The Five Flavors of Dumb by Anthony John

Five Flavors of Dumb by Anthony John was the Schneider Family Teen Book Award winner of 2011.  This award goes to a book which does a good job dealing with the topic of persons living with disabilities. In Five Flavors of Dumb the main character, Piper, is a high school senior who is also Deaf. She not only has to deal with normal teenage issues but she has to navigate through it all as a Deaf person in a hearing person's world.

The story opens with Piper standing in front of her school watching their local Rock band. As other students drift away Piper stands transfixed by what she just saw but couldn't hear. In the end she becomes the band's manager with one goal in mind---to get the band a paying gig. In the background of this story is what is going on for Piper at home. Her younger sister, Grace, who is also Deaf, just received a cochlear implant. Her parents paid for the implant with money set aside for Piper's college fund. Jealousy, frustration, and anger simmer under the radar as Piper tries to deal with all the changes in the family life. As she becomes more involved with managing the band, however, she finds that she has more leadership skills than she ever imagined and she also finds friends and love.

The book was a very satisfying read once I set my mind to actually read it. Initially I read around 60 pages and then set the book aside for some other project. Every time I would think about picking it back up I would opt for a different book instead and the Five Flavors languished on my bedside table for over five weeks. The ridiculous thing with putting it off was Five Flavors was the last book that I needed to read for my own challenge, Read the 2011 ALA Book Award Challenge. I am happy to report that I have completed that challenge now. I also want to encourage everyone to take a look at all the award winners, especially this one.  I think it is important to read books which teach us something about the way that other people live so that we can gain understanding and compassion.

Review: Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

In the recent National Book Award winning Inside Out and Back Again, Thanhha Lai chronicles her family's experience of immigrating to the United States from Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. It is told in verse and in present tense from the perspective of Hà, a ten-year old girl. The story begins on Feb. 11, the first day of the lunar new year, Tet, the year of the Cat, when food and work are becoming scarce and the family begins to consider leaving their home country. The story continues through their escape on a rickety ship where they are trapped for over a month with little food and water before being rescued. Eventually they relocate to the United States, finding a sponsor and a new beginning in Alabama. Here Hà struggles to learn English and is taunted by her classmates for being different and poor. At one point she understandably writes in her diary "At times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama."

As I read this sparse but delightful book I surprised myself by realizing how little I'd ever thought about the initial experiences that immigrant families have to endure as they begin the assimilation process into a new culture. The nuances of the English language are difficult for native-born speakers, imagine the difficulties of learning it in a crash-course in a 4th grade classroom. Also imagine what it would be like to be forced to eat a completely different diet, wear different clothes, and practice a foreign religion. If you can, then you will understand the struggles that Hà and her family experienced the first few months in the United States.

The library categorizes this as a "Junior" book, but I would say that it works for anyone age 9 and up, all the way to adults.  I am glad that I read this book, as it opened my eyes and helped me see life from a different perspective.  The 2011 National Book Award selection committee hit a home run when they selected  Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai. It deserves the award and I challenge all of you to read it.

Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

Let me say this at the outset-I am a huge John Green fan.  So it is rather shocking that I've had Let It Snow in my library for two years without reading it. It also explains why, when I finally did decide to read it, I would just naturally start with John Green's story, A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, the middle story of the three.  Big mistake! Though it says it right on the cover I somehow missed the memo that this isn't a book of three separate Christmas short stories. Rather, it is a book of three interconnected stories that build on the information and characters from the story before.  Ha!  Don't make my mistake.  Read this book like any other book from beginning to end.

The stories in Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances are all set in a small town in North Carolina on Christmas Eve.  The town has been hit by a huge blizzard which causes all kinds of transportation problems:  a stranded train, cars driven into snowbanks, and people being forced to walk in freezing temperatures.  Every story somehow weaves common threads -- the Waffle House, Starbucks, cheerleaders (named Amber and Madison) -- into the storyline.  Each main character finds love and kisses, together with quite a bit of hilarity along the way, making for fun and poignant Christmas memories.

I liked each of the stories, but I think I liked each one for different reasons.  The Jubilee Express, by Maureen Johnson, was the story that probably touched me the most and I enjoyed the author's gentle humor and writing style.  The Patron Saints of Pigs by Lauren Myracle reminded me a bit of the movie, It's a Wonderful Life, with its talk of angels and the need for emotional growth and acceptance.  John Green's A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle featured my least favorite characters including a bunch of stranded cheerleaders and a romance that didn't seem to work quite as well as in the other two. But, hey, I read it out of order and it was full of John Green humor, which I adore. 

High literature? No.  Fun, YA lit?  Yes. Will I recommend this book to my students this holiday season?  You bet. In fact, I already have.

(This blog post was originally submitted on Dec. 2, 2010)

Review: Entwined by Heather Dixon

 "In the half-magical world of Eathesbury, Azalea is the oldest of 12 daughters and heir to her father's throne. When the sisters' mother dies after a long illness, the siblings find a hidden passageway to an enchanted pavilion under the castle where they can dance all night, secretly breaking the rules of mourning. The mysterious and alluring Keeper makes this possible, but he also seems to have less-than-honorable plans for the girls, especially Azalea."  -Booklist

One book two perspectives. My daughter and I both just finished reading the book Entwined by Heather Dixon. Our reading experiences with the book were very different. I started out listening to the audio version which meant 10 CD's and over 12 hours of recordings.  I usually listen to around 50-60 minutes worth of story per day during my daily commute. If you do the math you'd know that this book would take me around two and half weeks to complete. I shortened up the time near the end because I would read the print version when I wasn't in the car. But it still took me over two weeks to complete. My daughter, on the other hand, picked up the print version of the book before I was even done with it and read the whole book in one day, cover to cover. One book two perspectives.

My perspective:  Entwined is based on the Grimm's Fairy Tale, "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", a fairy tale with which I am unfamiliar. There were many aspects of the story that I found quite fun and compelling. I especially liked the interaction between sisters and the descriptions of their many dances. I thought the dark, brooding atmosphere in of the castle and the plot line added suspense to this Gothic novel. What I didn't like, however, was how slowly the drama unfolded. The book seemed to plod along. The girls got up, ate porridge, had boring lessons, snuck off to dance in the basement where they'd wreck their shoes. Repeat. I also didn't like how Azelea repeatedly got angry, had a fit, and then fainted. At times it felt tedious and mundane, while other times the action was quite intense. That said, I'm guessing that the length of the audiobook contributed to my sense that the story crept along.

Rita's perspective: While the story began a bit slow, with a whiny princess as the "heroine," I quickly began to fall in love with the book. Princess Azalea and her mother both talk about the power of dancing, which is something I find compelling being a dancer myself. To top things off, the story is not all ballgowns and princesses, but full of dark, nightmare-inducing magic of the worst sort. I could not put the book down for fear that the princesses would not make it through to their happy ending. I will admit that I am a hopeless romantic, and grew up wishing that someday I could be a Disney princess, so this book was just up my alley. I have to say that the author is very clever for taking a simple fairy tale and turning it into a novel full of dark magic, interesting twists, and a satisfying ending.

Guess you'll have to read it yourself and then share your perspective below.

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

I am now officially a fan of A.S. King! Please Ignore Vera Dietz, her second YA novel that won a Printz Honor, was no fluke.  Ms. King can write as she proved again with this gem, Everybody Sees the Ants.

Admittedly, the book is designed in such a way that it really is confusing in the beginning. But I urge readers to stay with the story and all the pieces will come together in a very powerful way. Unfortunately this story is one that needs to be told.

Lucky Linderman is a teen who really has a "sucky" life. He has been harassed for years by the school bully. His mother spends all her time swimming like a squid. His father is a workaholic. All his friends dropped him after his Social Studies questionnaire on suicide which got him in trouble in school. And his grandmother charged Lucky to find his grandfather, a MIA/POW Vietnam veteran, right before she dies. Lucky seems powerless to take control of anything in his life and it seems like nothing will every get better.

Then things do change. Nolan, the big bully, goes one step too far and finally Lucky's mom is activated to do something...She takes Lucky to Arizona for a "time out." Finally Lucky seems to find his voice and in the process starts to like himself and his family. He does this with help from a local girl and those "odd" dreams of his grandfather.

Though this story sounds very depressing it has some very lighthearted moments, many of them humorous. It is also contains an important message...bullying has consequences and bullies must be stopped. It also shows the reader that help doesn't always come from where we think it should. We can help others just by listening and being present.

I found myself cheering for Lucky and for all kids who are the bottom of  the "food chain." As I read I thought of several kids and teachers who would benefit from reading Everybody Sees the Ants. You see, last year a student at my school committed suicide. Afterwards it came to light that the young man had been the recipient of severe harassment and bullying. Those of us in education know that we have to do what we can to make school a safe place for everybody, every day.

“It’s a smart, funny, and passionate novel that embodies the idea that “It Gets Better”—when you take action.” --Publishers Weekly (starred)

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making

I finished reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente on Monday. Since that time I have tried to figure out how to write this review. How does one write a word of criticism or evaluation of the most creative book that she has read in years? Think of a mash-up between The Wizard of Oz, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chronicles of Narnia, and His Dark Materials trilogy and you will get a little idea of what this book is like.

With the comparisons to those well-known books, it also begs the question, what makes a book into a classic? I suspect that it has something to do with cross-over appeal to all age groups. Marketed to middle-grade students, this book will delight all age groups. I'd also say that classics are those novels which prove to have an influence over novels to come.  Time will tell if Fairyland will influence future books, but I suspect that it will. Using my divination powers I predict, if it hasn't happened yet, teachers will be reading this book aloud to the delight of their students soon.  Here are a few other things you should know about The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making:

•  The author Catherynne M. Valente has a fabulous website. I really appreciate her FAQ sections where she answers questions about the writing/publishing process.
• Valente offered the first eight chapters of Fairyland FREE. Read them here.
• The winner of the 2010 Andre Norton Award (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America  for excellent Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy.) Fairyland won this award while it was only available in the e-book format.  That has to be a first!

Since you can read the first eight chapters right now, let me leave you with a very tantalizing quote from the end of the book which does a lovely job setting up a sequel:

 "All stories must end so, with the next tale winking out of the corners of the last pages, promising more, promising moonlight and dancing and revels, if only you will come back when spring comes again."

I'll be back which "spring comes again", will you?

Review: Karma by Cathy Ostlere

Set in Canada and India in 1984, Karma by Cathy Ostlere is a story very much grounded in time and place. Maya, an  immigrant child from India, lives in Canada with her parents on the windswept plains of Manitoba. Her mother, a Hindu, is very unhappy and lonely. Her father, a Sikh, refuses her a visit home to India because of the expense. Maya knows of her mother's deepening depression but cannot save her from committing suicide. Maya and her father return to India, with her mother's ashes, on October 31, 1984. It is the day that Indira Gandhi is shot and all "hell" breaks out around the country as Hindu's seek retribution for her murder against all Sikhs. Traumatized and separated from her father, Maya ends up with Sandeep's family. A sweet relationship develops between the two teens even as the country simmers and the village gossips.

The book is written in verse, which adds a sense of beauty to the story (and makes the 500+ pages much less scary.).  When asked why she wrote the book in verse Ostlere replied: "The best answer I have to this question is that Karma’s poetic form suits the emotional lives of Maya and Sandeep. Their feelings are intense, their insights into the world are sharp and critical, and their understanding of what it means to be human is fresh, ragged, not yet smoothed by maturity, not yet smoothed by conventional narrative. Poetry is the perfect medium for their age."

Here's an excerpt from Karma :

A brand-new diary
How to begin.
Click.
How. To. Begin.
Click. Click. Click.
I like the sound of a ballpoint pen.
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.
I’ll start with the date:
October 27, 1984.
Now the place:
Floating in air over ice.
Thirty-seven thousand feet, the pilot said.
But where exactly?
What latitude and longitude?
Is it Canada or Greenland
that fell away like a great sinking heart?
Is that a rising sun or a setting one?
The golden rays cut loose from India’s plains.
Where am I really?
Nowhere, I guess.
Somewhere between an old life and a new.

I really like Karma. I like reading books about historical events and in settings where I have never been. The poetry of the book is magical and lyrical, almost transporting me to India where I could experience the sites and sounds myself. My one problem with the book is the cover.  What's with all that pink? Didn't the publisher think that one single guy would want to read this book? I guess not, with such a pink cover. Yes, the book will likely be more attractive to female readers but the storyline is interesting enough and there is enough action to hold the attention of most male readers, too. I hope you can ignore the pink, the book is definitely worth it. And I recommend that you visit Cathy Ostlere's homepage, too.  It is very informative about why she wrote the book Karma set in India.

Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard

Moby Dick, the whale, could be a symbol of a ghost or phantom. And his white color could, therefore, represent innocence.  Surely a regular-colored whale would represent no such thing. Captain Ahab's relentless chase then might be a symbol of an attempt to regain innocence.

I'm certainly no Melville expert. I haven't even read Moby Dick yet I reveled in all the literary allusions in Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard to the great masterpiece of American literature. It is a coming-of-age story about Alex who experiences a loss of innocence after the death of Thomas, a friend and classmate. No matter what he does, he cannot go back and regain it.  Alex describes loss of innocence as "the knowledge that your brain, no matter how much you cajole it, can never make your heart pure." (73) Alex, in an attempt to purge his soul, attempts to write the not-so-great-American-novel (journal). In the process he "falls in love" with his English teacher as she helps him find his gift of writing and the music of poetry which seems to just pour out of him.

Rarely have I found a YA book so full of symbolism, poetry, and literary allusions. This book begs to be taught right along side its inspiration, Moby Dick. But that does not mean that it is dry or stuffy. I think, rather, it is meant to be chewed on and savored. Even the title of this book is perfect. Named for the childhood game ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS it becomes clear that certain decisions trump others.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book which I think will give you for the a sense of the beauty of Hubbard's writing.  I hope you enjoy and savor them!

"After Thomas dies, everything seems outlined with electricity as if the school is at attention, poised for war. The boxwoods long the brick sidewalks appear taller, topped with a hundred little eyes. Even the lampposts look as if they are conspiring." -p.10

"In the days after Miss D-- read my poem in class, a whole new vista of knowledge spread out before me...I was learning how to float across the horizontal lines that I'd always thought were reasonable borders." -p. 29

"Writing is about making choices, Miss D-- says. One word or phrase or title over another. So many options that they're almost overwhelming. Which is why it is sometimes so easy to grab the cliché, to reach out to what is familiar. But don't."  -p. 72

"It is the time of day when the sun turns treetops into keepers of light.  After redoing my homework...I run through that light, up one side of the hill and down the other, imagining possiblities..."  -p. 93

"The brain is like a tree, and the tree has roots so deep that you have no idea what it is that grounds you." -p. 130

"Poetry is a language unto itself, where words carry more than their weight, where white space on the page is profound silence. Poetry is a way of seeing the world with your feelings." -p. 148

"I conjure Miss D--'s voice reciting my poems, the clip-clop of the lines carried her voice, her rocking voice, which is the rocking of the water, which is the rocking of my body as I lay me down to sleep."  -p. 161

"I want to pick up the words that have fallen out of her mouth and hide them away somewhere dark, somewhere deep." -p. 169

Hubbard, Jenny. Paper Covers Rock. New York: Delacorte, 2011. Print.

Review: Pick-up Game: a Full Day of Full Court edited by Marc Aronson and Charles R. Smith, Jr.

The Cage, a fenced-in basketball court on West 4th Street in NYC, is the setting for this collection of nine short stories by nine heavy hitters in YA lit. Imagine a summer day full of pick-up basketball game after game. Try to picture the characters who both come to play and those who came to watch. What mental images come to mind? I see sweaty guys and gals. I hear lots of smack-talk, the sounds of competition and teamwork. I picture girls who come to attract attention, photographers seeking shots, boys who have something to prove and those who just love to play the game. That is what is fun and real about this book, Pick-Up Game: a Full Day of Full Court, the way that each story comes alive in my mind.

The photography and poetry of Charles R. Smith serves to introduce and create a divider between each story. Characters in one story show up in the next with each successive story giving us a few more details of their lives. I spent a bit of time wondering how nine different authors pulled this off until I read somewhere that the first story was finished before the second was started.  In the Afterward Marc Aronson says, "When you walk out on a basketball court, you walk into a story: I win, you lose." This isn't just the story of the game itself, though, it is the stories that players bring with them to the game.

Admittedly, I am not the target audience for this book.  I am an old, non-basketball playing female who lives in suburbia in Washington State. Obviously kids who live and play in urban settings will be able to relate to these stories more than me. But I wonder if kids at my school will be able to relate to the stories from The Cage. My favorite story, "He's Gotta Have It" by Rita Williams-Garcia is about a kid who wants to get into the NYU film school and has decided to shoot a video about several characters playing games in The Cage. Another favorite, "Just Shane" by Adam Rapp, is about a runaway kid, Shane, who is living with Waco, one of the basketball stars of the day. He is making a living as a dog-walker. My two favorites are less about basketball and more about the characters.  Hmm...guess that says something about me.

I hope and suspect this book is one that reluctant readers and sports fans will want to read.

Review: Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher

 2011 Banned Books Week: Day 5---Banned Book Review

What better to read during Banned Books Week than a Chris Crutcher book? Chris Crutcher is a YA author whose books are frequently banned/challenged.  His books are poignant and smart yet they obviously hit a note of discord with parents and adults because they don't mince words and they tackle tough subjects that don't always fit in to polite little boxes. His books are so hard-hitting that they often find the censors flame. A poster announcing a Chris Crutcher event earlier this week has this tagline: Censored. Challenged. Controversial. Award-winning.  Crutcher's website has a whole page dedicated to censorship of his books. Check it out.

Here is a list of some of the reasons that Athletic Shorts has been banned or challenged in the past:

• homosexuality, language, disrespect for parents (1999)
• Challenger found the book objectionable and demanded it be removed from the library and from a list of required reading. {It was.} (2000)
• "If you do keep this book based on First Amendment rights, then you cannot discipline students for foul language, hair color, clothing, etc, as that is infringing on their rights to free speech." (2003)
• "The material directly contradicts and undermines the beliefs and teachings of our faith." (2004)
•  "Trash. It’s terrible." (2005)
• Teacher accused of saying "homosexuality is good.” (2005)
• “I do not want to have to explain to my [6-year-old] daughter what it means to be questioning one’s sexuality …" (2006)                                                                           -From Chris Crutcher's Page

With those little poison darts in mind let me tell you about the book. Athletic Shorts is a collection of six short stories where Crutcher reunites the readers with characters from previous books. Unfortunately for me, I haven't read any of those books, yet, but that didn't keep me from being profoundly touched by each of them. Every story just about screamed "I'm controversial" with topics covering weight problems, homosexuality, AIDS, racism, bigotry, forgiveness, death. Wow.  Where else does one find a collection of short stories that guarantees to offend and yet also teach, touch, and cause the reader to stop and think?

My favorite story of the collection, "A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune", the story of an overweight teenager whose parents are gay. He is voted in as Senior Ball King which means he will have to dance with Senior Ball Queen, Melissa LeFevre. He just wants to dance the dance without embarrassing himself. I think this is a theme that most teenagers can relate to...just wanting to get by without embarrassment.

Please join me in reading all of Chris Crutcher's books.  This challenge has no time-limit. The Chris Crutcher Challenge.

Review: The Queen of Water by Laura Resau

Born in an Andean village in Ecuador, Virginia lives with her large family in a small, earthen-walled dwelling. In her village of indígenas, it is not uncommon to work in the fields all day, even as a child, or to be called a longa tonta—stupid Indian—by members of the ruling class of mestizos, or Spanish descendants. When seven-year-old Virginia is taken from her village to be a servant to a mestizo couple, she has no idea what the future holds. ---from Goodreads

The Queen of Water was based on a true story. Author Laura Resau collaborated with Maria Virginia Farinango who was the Virginia of the story. When Virginia was taken from her home she essentially served the mestizos family as their slave, though that word is never used in the story. When she finally escaped "her captors" as a teenager she had been away from her family and her culture for so long that she could barely remember her first language.

Against all odds Virginia, who taught herself to read, actually thrives as she takes control of her own life and education.  The Queen of Water is an eye-opening yet inspirational story about a girl who grows up between two cultures but who ends up finding herself in the end.

The Queen of Water is an important book. It reveals much I did not know about the indigenous people of Ecuador and their racial problems. It was also a book full of hope and beauty.

Review: Blink and Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones

I finished up my summer reading with two really good books: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour and this one, Blink and Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones. Vastly different books but it is a virtual tie as to which one I liked the best.

This story is about two runaways, Brent (Blink) and Kitty (Caution), who end up together after Blink witnesses a crime while Kitty is running away from the drug dealers who are hunting her.  The two get tangled up in a plot that is way over their heads relying on street smarts as they make decisions to slip away from their captors. "Charged with suspense and intrigue, this taut novel trails two deeply compelling characters as they forge a blackmail scheme that is foolhardy at best, disastrous at worst - along with a fated, tender partnership that will offer them each a rare chance for redemption."(Goodreads)

This book has a lot to offer readers.  It has multifaceted and likable characters. I found myself really rooting for both Blink and Caution, even when they were involved in illegal/marginal activities. The book uses flashbacks appropriately as the back story is revealed. The plot is extremely suspenseful and exciting, yet aspects are poignant and moving.  I was on the edge of my seat one minute and then wiping tears out of the corner of my eyes the next. I couldn't consume the book fast enough.  I read it voraciously and when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it and wondering how the story would go.  That is very rare for me.

I have only one small criticism of the book. The ending wraps up so nice and neatly.  How often does that actually happen in real life?  I like books to end on a note of ambiguity so that my imagination can keep working after I close the cover on the book.  I know a lot of students disagree with me on this point so I predict that this book will be very popular with my readers.

One very interesting aspect of the book is that Blink's voice is written in second-person narrative. It has such a unique sound to it since this is a voice rarely used in novels.  Here is what Tim Wynne-Jones says about his decision to write the book this way:

This was the voice that came to me when I started writing Blink. I half dismissed it at first...Then I had a revelation: the story was in the second person because there was somebody talking to Blink! I wasn’t saying you meaning “dear reader.” I was using you to mean a persistent voice in Blink’s head, someone who cares for him and cannot really alter what happens to him but is there with him constantly. Someone who thinks about him all the time. When I realized this, there was no fixing to do; I just had to give myself over completely to the voice.

I don't think that my review is doing the book justice. Just read it for yourself.  I trust that you will like it, too.

A Hat Full of Sky by Sir Terry Pratchett

Something is coming after Tiffany ...Tiffany Aching is ready to begin her apprenticeship in magic. She expects spells and magic — not chores and ill-tempered nanny goats! Surely there must be more to witchcraft than this!
What Tiffany doesn't know is that an insidious, disembodied creature is pursuing her. This time, neither Mistress Weatherwax (the greatest witch in the world) nor the fierce, six-inch-high Wee Free Men can protect her. In the end, it will take all of Tiffany's inner strength to save herself ... if it can be done at all.---Goodreads

I'm in love!  I have just fallen in love with Sir Terry Pratchett and his writing.  A Hat Full of Sky is a nearly perfect story and I wanted it to go on and on so I could stay entangled in it's magical pages and the world that Pratchett created.  In fact, I think I'm experiencing a mild depression right now because, alas, the story did end, exquisitely, but it ended.

In my almost six years as high school librarian I have had exactly two students who adored Pratchett and have begged me to buy more of his books. The first was five years ago and I did.  I bought several more of Pratchett's books that have sat languishing on the shelves after that young man graduated until this year when another fan came along and once again begged for more books. Now I am going to actively work to increase the readership of these wonderful books.  No longer will I allow one Prachett fan per every five years!  Before I heard from this year's fan, I had already decided to read one of his books as part of my challenge to Read the ALA 2011 YA Winning Books  Sir Terry Pratchett won the Margaret A. Edwards Award which honors an author for significant and lasting contribution to YA Lit. 

I want to sing out hip-hip-horray! If anyone every deserved such an award it is Sir Pratchett, if, and I suspect it is, this book is representative of his writing style and his story-telling skills. I randomly selected A Hat Full of Sky because it was available at my public library in the audiobook format. This book is actually the second book in the series of Wee Free Men but it worked fine. I was never confused or felt like I had missed some critical piece of information from the earlier book.

So what was it that I liked about A Hat Full of Sky? First, the story is imaginative and clever. "By turns hilarious and achingly beautiful, this be just right." (Kirkus Review)  I listened to it on audiobooks read by Stephen Briggs, who adds to the whimsical, magical story with his wonderful Scottish brogue.  I could listen to him read forever.  (Can you tell I'm in love?)

Here are a few of my favorite quotes... or quotes I just wanted to remember:

The nose is a big thinker. It's good at memory---very good. So good that a smell can take you back in memory so hard it hurts. the brain can't stop it.--Ch. 8

Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there you see differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. --Ch. 15

The words ran through Tiffany's mind as she watched the sheep, and she found herself filling up with joy --- at the new lambs, at life, at everything.  Joy is to fun what the deep sea is to a puddle. it's a feeling inside that can hardly be contained.--Ch. 15

I just adore that quote: "Joy is to fun what the deep sea is to a puddle." I'm saving that one up for a rainy day!

Now, which of his books should I read next?

A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux

The Mildred H. Batchelder Book Award  goes to the best YA fiction translated into English from another language.  The 2011 winner of this award is A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux, translated from French by Y. Maudet.

In this extremely moving and exquisitely crafted story we are introduced to two refugees, Koumail and his guardian Gloria, who flee from war-torn the Caucasus area of the country of Georgia as the Soviet Union falls apart. Their destination is France, Koumail's birthplace. For five years the duo travel by foot mainly, with little more than the clothes on their back to reach their destination. Along the way we are treated to the delights of Gloria's story-telling and her admonishments to never give in to despair. But there is so much to despair over...little or no food, freezing temperature, disease, and separation. Somehow the two survive clinging to each other in love and with a great deal of hope.

This is a charming story with many parts written so beautifully that I felt like my soul was nourished just by reading it. I did find the geography of the story quite confusing though, as I'm no scholar of the land sandwiched between the Caspian and the Black Seas.  It wasn't until I started writing this review that I took a look at the front of the book again and was astonished to see three maps of Koumail's journey.  Silly me.  They really would have helped as I tried to imagine the trip. I will certainly point them out to my patrons when they check-out the book, as I hope they will.
 

'Hush, hush! I never lie, Mr. Blaise. I may embellish things a little from time to time, that's all.' Gloria strokes my hair. 'There's nothing wrong with making up stories to make life more bearable.'

Among all the things she gave me, I know there is a foolproof remedy against despair: hope. So as my tears run down my cheeks, I promise her that I will live my life the way she taught me to. I will always walk straight ahead toward new horizons.  -p. 180

Oh, to be able to read this in it's original language.  Ah well....

Exquisite!