Aye yi yi Surrender is another one of those books that has been given an award because adults think it’s great writing for kids. I can’t imagine the average teenager enjoying this book or being drawn to reading this book or doing anything except griping about being forced to read this book.
Surely there are better ways to present schizophrenia to teenagers.
It finally happened. I have finally joined the John Green fan club. Not the real one (if there is such a thing) the metaphorically speaking one. I’ll never gush about him or even blog about him as often as sassymonkey does but every time she does it, I’ll be nodding my head. That’s the kind of John Green fan club I’ve joined. I’m going to nod my head a lot. And anytime someone wants a YA recommendation I will say “anything John Green has written”. The man is a YA genius.
Looking for Alaska was the book that put me over the edge and pushed me into joining the John Green fan club. Until then, I could admit that I liked some of his books and LOVED others (Abundance of Catherines anyone?) but I just wasn’t ready to declare him genius.
I’m ready now.
The man is a genius.
Looking for Alaska Read More »
I am not a huge graphic novel fan but I do appreciate them because they are quick reads. I read American Born Chinese in less than an hour. Liz read it last weekend – twice. It was good. I liked the lesson of the monkey king, so did Liz.
But then again, Liz IS a huge graphic novel fan. And that’s one of the reasons why I selected the Graphic Novel project from DonorsChoose. There’s a lot of value in getting kids hooked on a story through graphic novels. Not all kids are immediate readers. Some kids are visual. And, I have to say, having some visuals when trying to get kids to read Red Badge of Courage is probably a damn good idea. Go donate $1 to the project (or more if you can) – Red Badge of Courage is worth reading and if it takes some graphic novels to teach the story, then I can support that – can’t you?
American Born Chinese Read More »
Darn “Now Reading” plug in is not finding books automatically so I have to enter each one and it’s driving me nuts. Boo, I hate it when a plug in stops working.
Back to Octavian Nothing: Pox Party – MT Anderson is excellent, as usual. A little wordy for a YA novel but I think it’s important to BE wordy when you’re talking about these types of experiments. I was a wee bit depressed to have predicted the direction the experiment would take when the “College” landed in financial trouble. Blah.
Considering just how many books I’ve read about slavery… it’s refreshing to see something just a little new and a little different. Now to find time to read the next one.
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Pox Party Read More »
I finished The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, as part of my personal Prinz Award Challenge and of course, it’s been banned. Happy Banned Books Week.
Based on what I know about challenged and banned books, it makes sense.
This is a very difficult book to read – I’ve eaten non-stop while reading it. Every time Virginia eats a piece of lettuce or hurts herself, I feel the urge to eat. Weird.
Good book, but very difficult.
Loved the Ani references. The only thing I didn’t like was Virginia’s list at the end. It didn’t seem quite Virginia-like.
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So, the last book I read in Gainesville from the very excellent Gainesville library was John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth, a Photographic Biography and to tell you the truth, I didn’t quite finish it before we left town. I had two chapters to go. I might someday grab it from the shelf of a bookstore and finish the last two chapters, but probably not.
It was “OK” but I couldn’t figure out why it was even on the Printz award list. There wasn’t anything outstanding about it – it was just a kids biography of Lennon. Shrug. The photos were nice. The tidbits about Lennon’s childhood and how it all started was sort of interesting. Maybe if I was more of a Beatles fan…?
In other challenge notes, I’m reading Quatrocentro from my “from the stacks” challenge but I feel like maybe I’ve already read it. I’ll know for sure tonight, I think.
John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth, a Photographic Biography Read More »
I didn’t think I was going to enjoy The House of the Scorpion very much. We listened to it on audio and that first chapter was a little dry and the voice of the reader wasn’t very compelling. But, I got hooked and really enjoyed it.
What’s also interesting is Liz started listening to it on disk 8, in the car on the way to Lakewood on Friday and when we got in the car this morning to come home she asked if we could turn it back on. I’m sorry she missed the first 7 disks, but maybe she’ll listen to them in her room this week and catch the beginning of the story of Matt, the clone of the drug lord… it really was an interesting story.
The House of the Scorpion Read More »
I see why Postcards From No Man’s Land won the Printz. It started a little slow or was a little confusing, I’m not sure which, but it settled down and it was interesting. It also didn’t read like a YA book. Lots of tough topics to think about – war, infidelity, “love”, “marriage”, euthanasia, even a wee bit of polyamory tossed in. And, another look at Anne Frank. Interesting book.
Postcards From No Man’s Land Read More »
I had no idea a book about prison life could be written without horrible gang rapes and bloody fight scenes. Hole in My Life was almost refreshing because of its lack of these types of scenes. Who knew it was possible? And who knew I’d appreciate it this much?
Good thing I do appreciate a “light touch” on a prison book because otherwise I’d have been pretty bored. I’m not sure most teens would sit through a non-fiction piece like this. I’m also not really sure why it was on the Printz short list. Because the ex con writer is the author of the Joey Pigza books? Whatever. I was pretty bored with it all.
My Heartbeat is another YA book from the Printz Award Challenge and I picked it up on audio last week. When we started listening to it, I wasn’t impressed and pretty much quit listening after that first couple of chapters.
Yesterday, as we headed to south Florida for synchro, I turned it on again and pretty quickly got hooked. TW, not so much. She hated all of the characters accept “the Father”. I disliked the “Father” a lot and am troubled that he’s the only character that TW liked.
Anyway – I thought it was a good “gay” book. The whole “I’m not gay, I don’t know if I’m gay, but we’re a couple or maybe we aren’t a couple because that would mean we are gay” thing – awesome.