Category Archives: book

The Hobbit

Posted on December 10, 2012 | 1 comment

hobbit cover

Tolkien, J.R.R. (1966). The hobbit. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Print.

Reader’s Annotation

Enter the magical world of Middle Earth where little people, Hobbits, are just as common was dwarves, elves, shape shifters and giant spiders in the deep dark woods. This story is sure to capture your imagination as you join Bilbo and the 13 dwarves of Thorin Oakenshield’s company to rescue a long lost treasure from the clutches of the evil and foul wyrm Smaug.

Plot Summary

Bilbo Baggins enjoys a quite life in his home under the hill at Bag End in Hobbiton, he enjoys long walks, second breakfast, and tending to his poetry and garden. In short, he leads an ideal life for a Hobbit, full of good food and completely lacking in anything out of the ordinary. Until one day when Bilbo runs across a troublesome wizard, Gandalf, who introduces him to a group of even more troublesome fellows: thirteen dwarves bent on retrieving a pile of treasure buried in a mountain hundreds of miles away. What’s worse is that the treasure has been commandeered by a dragon and Gandalf has convinced the dwarves that Bilbo is just the fellow to get it back. In a very un-Hobbit like manner, Bilbo joins this company of dwarves on an adventure that changes his life forever.

Critical Evaluation

I’ve read this book more times than I can count and it never stops being excellent. The world that Tolkien created in The Hobbit, is a world that I would gladly live out my days in. From the rolling hills of the Shire, with its verdant farm lands and fields that produce the most excellent hops, as evident in the Hobbit’s fondness for beer. To the endless trails where countless adventures away. Elves are no more than a few days walk away with the stoicism and riddled way of speaking, languishing the days (or years) away in the company of Elrond in his beautiful home in the valley of Rivendell sounds like a fine pass time. If you prefer a bit of danger wander into the Misty Mountains or try adn treat with the sneaky elves in Mirkwood, just watch out for trolls and giant spiders.Yes, for me after all these years it’s really the world that Tolkien has created more than anything else.

Author Information

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in 1892 in South Africa, and moved to England at age 2 after his father died. His mother passed on when he was 12, leaving Tolkien and his brother orphans. The boys lived with their aunt, Beatrice Suffield, and later with another unrelated woman, Mrs Faulkner, and were provided for by their family priest Father Francis Morgan, until Tolkien entered Exeter College at Oxford in 1911.By the time he entered Oxford he had already mastered Greek and Latin, and went onto to study the Classics, Old English, Gothic and other Germanic Languages, as well as Welsh and Finnish. Around 1913 Tolkien dropped his study of the Classics turned his focus onto English Literature and Language.

In 1925 Tolkien returned to the college as a professor and there he befriended C.S. Lewis, who shared Tolkien’s love of myths, language and folklore. Lewis and Tolkien founded the Inklings in the 1930s where they gathered with several friends to share and critique their work. Tolkien is best known for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and the prequel to them both The Silmarillion. He also authored The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book; Smith of Wootton Major; Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth; The Book of Lost Tales, Part I and Part II, as well as several translations of ancient myths.

Genre

Adult, Young Adult, Juvenile, Cross Over, Fantasy

Curriculum Ties

n/a

Booktalk Ideas

Reading Level/Interest Age 

12+

Challenge Issues

The Hobbit has portions with violence and magic. This may offend some readers. As always the library urges readers to choose material that is right for them. We are supporters of the ALA Library Bill of Rights and thus do not support censorship of material. The library will reconsider items and reserves the right to make the finals decision after review by the board.

Reason for Inclusion

I included The Hobbit in this project because it is the book that made me the nerd I am today. I read it for the first time in the 6th grade, and hundreds of times since, and never looked back. It should be required reading for any fan of fantasy fiction ought to be in every young adult library.

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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Posted on December 10, 2012 | 1 comment

a tree grows in brooklyn cover art

Smith, B. (1943). A tree grows in Brooklyn. New York: Harper Collins. Audiobook.

Reader’s Annotation

A classic coming of age story at the turn of the century in Brooklyn. This is the story of Francie Nolan, a girl made up of all of the good and bad parts of her parents, Katie and Johnny Nolan, plus something that is all her own, that which makes her Francie. The smooth pace and rhythm of this novel transport the reader into Brooklyn’s immigrant slums, with all of the joy, sorrow and hope that first and second generation immigrants carried with them as they made their way in their new home.

Plot Summary

This story is broken into five parts, telling the story of the Rommely-Nolan family, with Francie Nolan, who is 11 at the start of the novel, as the main protagonist. Francie and her brother, Neely, collect scraps and bits of metal from the neighborhood in exchange for some pennies from the junk man, have the pennies go into the tin can bank in the closet and the other half are divided between the two children.

Francie and Neely’s parents are Johnny and Katie Nolan. Johnny is of Irish heritage and Katie German, and Francie is incredibly proud of the fact that her parents are some of the few that were born in the county. Johnny makes a living as a singing-waiter and Katie cleans the building that they live in exchange for rent, the family is incredibly poor and the neighbors whisper that Johnny is a good for nothing and a drunk, forcing his beautiful wife to work so hard to support his habit.

In the second part of the novel we are acquainted with the story of Katie and Johnny’s courtship. When Katie was 17 and Johnny was 19 Katie worked in a factory with her best friend whose beau was Johnny. After a disastrous double-date in which Katie’s date was a slobbering oaf, Katie decides to steal Johnny away from her friend and makes a habit of getting out of work just a few minutes early to talk to Johnny alone before her friend Hildy can meet him. Eventually Johnny tells Hildy that Katie is his girl now and that they should go their separate ways. Hildy is heart broken, but four months later Katie and Johnny are married and little Francie soon follows. Neely is born a mere fourteen months after his sister, and Johnny turns to the bottle, feeling so young and trapped with his wife and two children.

Throughout the novel it is clear that Francie worships her father, making his discent into alcoholism especially painful to witness. The two share a special bond though, as demonstrated by his effort to get Francie into a better elementary school. When Francie start school she goes to the neighborhood school near her flat, but it’s a miserable place packed full of children, where the teachers play favorites and Francie has to share a desk in the back corner of the room. On a walk one day she discovered a beautiful school in an area of Brooklyn she’s never been to before. She takes her father to the school and he tells Francie that they can pick out a nice house to take down the street address of so that she can transfer to the new school, but that she must work very hard and always be a good girl so that she never gets any mail sent home and draws attention to their deceit.

As Francie grows older she becomes more and more aware of her father’s problem with alcohol. She keep a journal in which she refers to “papa coming home sick” for a several month strand, later sharing that Katie found her journal and made her cross out drunk and replace with it with sick. This is the begin of the end of Francie’s innocence. Awareness of her father’s drunkenness, combined with a terrifying assault in the stairwell of her flat usher Frannie firmly into adulthood. It is not too much longer before Francie and Neely have to obtain work to help Katie Nolan make ends meet. The family is so poor that one of the children has to work through the school year and Francie has to give up her dream of high school in order to help support the family.

Despite the rough times the Nolan’s have faced throughout, the book ends on a happy note. True love is found and dreams come true. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn tells the story of one immigrant family that worked themselves near to death, saw more misfortune and hungry nights than anyone ought to, but never stopped trying to work toward a better future, which is exactly what they got. 

Critical Evaluation

It was really hard for me to get into this novel. I’m ashamed, because A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is everyone’s favorite book, it’s a fine example of The Great American Novel and anyone who cares anything about literature ought to love it. The thing about that is that I know it’s good, I appreciate it for all that it’s done for the genre and love the Betty Smith, a woman, was able to publish this book, which handles some very difficult topics, in 1943. In fact that A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was published by a woman in 1943 to critical acclaim kind of blows my mind. All that said though, I do not think I could have made it through this book if I hadn’t been listening to it on audio book. There is something about the cadence of the language in the novel that I find incredibly boring, so much so that it was even really hard for me to write a plot summary, because even though a ton of stuff happened and some of it was even laugh out loud funny, I just couldn’t bear to go through all that dull stuff all over again. So beware! I’m a huge fan of classic literature, I loved Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Chrome Yellow and The House of Mirth, but I could barely make it through this beloved story.

Author Information

Betty Smith was a playwright and novelist from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the location of her first novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Smith was born to German immigrant parents and only educated through elementary school. She was married, but left her husband and raised their two children. When her kids were old enough Smith returned to school herself and studied at the University of Michigan where she began her career as a playwright. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was first published in 1943 to wild, country-wide, acclaim.

Genre

Young Adult Fiction, Coming of Age, Immigrant Families, Historical Fiction, New York

Curriculum Ties

Grades 11 and 12 literary response and analysis curriculum:

Analyze recognized works of American literature representing a variety of genres and traditions

Booktalk Ideas

How does A Tree Grows in Brooklyn compare to other great American novels? What are some of the similarities between Scout, from To Kill a Mockingbird, and Francie?

Reading Level/Interest Age 

13+

Challenge Issues

This novel is American classic. The life that the Nolan’s live is hard one, and it’s undeniable that Johnny Nolan’s demise is from the result of alcoholism, nor could you argue that Sissy didn’t work in factory making sex toys (or condoms, I’m not sure which). That doesn’t take away from this novel’s value though, this is a rare picture of what life looked like for so many of the Americans who immigrated through Ellis Island, and it’s value as a piece of American history far outweighs any arguements one may against it.

Reason for inclusion

I included this novel because it’s an important part of American heritage.

References

Smith, Betty (Wehner) (1904-1972). Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature. George B. Perkins, Barbara Perkins, and Phillip Leininger. Vol. 1. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 986. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.

Betty (Wehner) Smith. Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.

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Speak

Posted on December 7, 2012 | 1 comment

speak book cover

Anderson, L.H. (2001). Speak. Canada: MacMillian.

Reader’s Annotation

Something terrible happened at the end of the summer before Melinda started her freshman year of high school. Now her best friends in the world won’t speak to her and she can barely stand to speak herself. Will Melinda make it through the school year unscathed? Will bad memory from summer fade so she can get on with her life or will Melinda have to raise her voice and take a stand?

Plot Summary

At the end of the summer between eighth and ninth grade Melinda and her best friends went to a party that ended with Melinda calling the cops. Now the whole high school knows who she is and they all hate her. Friendless and in pain Melinda is trying to negotiate all of the regular high school traumas while negotiating her horrible secret. She stops talking to her parents, and barely makes a noise in the classroom. Art is the only subject she particularly cares about, but she’s working on a final project she thinks sucks. Everyday she is faced with the accusatory glares of her old friends at best or perhaps even worse their complete obliviousness. The safest place for Melinda is in the janitor’s closet that she has requisitioned and repurposed for her own, and yet even as Melinda starts to surface and find herself that place comes close to being violated. Walk through the halls of Merryweather High with Melinda as she uncovers the truth and lies you’re taught in school.

Critical Evaluation

Speak is an incredibly powerful novel and the main character Melinda an excellent study of a young girl in pain, suffocated by and weighed down by her own inaction. Melinda slowly stops talking because she doesn’t feel like anyone cares enough about her to believe what has happened to her. Her parents are often feuding and even more often upset with or ignoring her. Her best friends from the year before are furious with her because of the phone call to the police and she’s been labeled as a pariah by the majority of the class. It is terrifying to think that a young woman could fall through the cracks so easily, but unfortunately not unthought or unheard of. More and more frequently we hear news stories of kids being bullied and pushed toward unspeakable acts of self harm and abuse. Where are the adults who should be looking out for these kids? Melinda gets called into the principal’s office a few times, is visited by the guidance counselor, and stuck in in-class detention. No one actually reaches out to her, the one teacher who tries to make a connection is the misfit art instructor who has rejected the majority of the administration’s policies. In the end the lesson that we are left with is that only you can save yourself, which Melinda eventually does, with no little thanks to the adults in her life.

While Melinda’s story can serve as a powerful story to young people today struggling with the decision to speak out again injustice, it also demonstrates that adults are largely untrustworthy and unreliable. As a parent to a daughter this is particularly unsettling, but I think can also serve as a worthwhile reminder. Pay attention to your kids, this book seems to scream. Cultivate bonds of trust and don’t let your life get in the way of your most important job, the one you signed up for when your teen was nothing but a dream, protecting your child.

Author Information

Laurie Halse Anderson was born in 1961 in upstate New York. After her early introduction to writing  poetry, second grade, she spent a great deal of her time reading all the books in her elementary school library, “the books took me everywhere” she said. She began her career as a freelance reporter but was largely unsuccessful until she joined the critical support group, Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. Her published work varies largely, from picture books to young adult literature, to historical fiction as well as the popular American Girl Wild at Heart series, featuring Maggie and the happenings surrounding her grandmother’s veterinary office. Anderson lives in upstate New York with her second husband, their four children and a dog.

Genre

Young Adult Fiction, High School, Trauma, Abuse

Curriculum Ties

Supports reading curriculum goals for grades 9 and 10:

3.3 Analyze interactions between main and subordinate characters in a literary text (e.g., internal and external conflicts, motivations, relationships, influences) and explain the way those interactions affect the plot.

3.6 Analyze and trace an author’s development of time and sequence, including the use of complex literary devices (e.g., foreshadowing, flashbacks).

3.11 Evaluate the aesthetic qualities of style, including the impact of diction and figurative language on tone, mood, and theme, using the terminology of literary criticism.

Supports reading curriculum goals for grades 11 and 12:

3.3 Analyze the ways in which irony, tone, mood, the author’s style, and the “sound” of language achieve specific rhetorical or aesthetic purposes or both.

Booktalk Ideas

Anderson refers several times to the scabs on Melinda’s mouth. What are these scabs represent?

Why does Melinda stop talking?

Reading Level/Interest Age 

14-18

Challenge Issues

This books discusses several sensitive topics namely sexual abuse, bullying and underage drinking.

A clearly written collection development policy should offer readers and the library some protection. It is not the position of the library to police what children are reading, we trust that parents and their children have established guidelines for consumption. We support the ALA Bill of Rights and a child’s freedom to read. Forms for reconsideration are available for patron’s to fill out should they object to the material in the collection, all final decisions are made by the board after review.

Alternate suggested titles are: Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume, Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman

Reason for inclusion

Excellent title that handles realistic teen issues.

References

Anderson, S.H & Anderson, L.H. (2008). Laurie. Retrieved from: http://madwomanintheforest.com/laurie/.

Laurie Halse Anderson. (2010). In Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/

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Why We Broke Up

Posted on December 7, 2012 | 1 comment

why we broke up book cover

Handler, D. & Kalman, M. (2011). Why we broke up. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Kindle.

Reader’s Annotation

Min is an atypical high school girl, she likes old movies and is solidly grouped in her own circle of quirky friends. When she starts dating the co-captain of the basketball team, things begin to change, for her and those closest to her. Why We Broke Up is Min’s letter to her beau explaining all the reasons why, though it may have seemed so right at the time, they broke up.

Plot Summary

At a party one night Minerva, Min, Green watches Ed Slaterton and his basketball teammate drink beer in her best friend’s backyard. She feels drawn to him, though she can’t exactly explain why. Eventually she meets him for a date at her favorite second run movie house and their romance blossoms. The story is told in reverse though, so even as Min recaps in painful detail the highs and lows of their chance meeting and first date, you already know that she’s doing so to explain why she and Slaterton broke up.

The story continues with Min explaining the backstory surrounding each souvenir that she returns to him. The toy truck from the big jock party, the stolen sugar, the post card from the movie house. All are accompanied with their own heart wrenching tale and the reminder of why they broke up. 

Critical Evaluation

Min’s character is charming. She’s a punky kind of indie kid who is not into typical highschool bs. She has a passion for classic and cult films, loves coffee and seeks out the unusual. Plus, even though she’s totally oblivious to it, her supes adorbs best friend has a monster crush on her. That she falls for the dopey co-capitan of the basket-ball team seems completely out of character. All of her friends try and ask her what’s up with the new boyfriend, but she stone walls them. She sends up MAJOR warning signs, withdrawing from her old group and solidly encasing herself at the side of her jock boyfriend. Her character is so typical of a fictitious high school girl, it’s almost insulting. Another book about a girl who is so in love with her boyfriend that she totally loses sight of what makes her special is exactly what the world DOES not need. So yeah, she shows an awful lot of personal understanding in recounting the whole awful tale back to the boyfriend, apparently he’s so stupid he can’t figure it out for himself, but it doesn’t change the fact that Handler wrote a book about a girl who lost herself in love and got burned. She went against her own belief system multiple times, betrayed herself, in the long run was seriously burned by the dork who said he loved her so much. While this book burns with a heat very realistic to young romance, the story isn’t challenging to any major stereotypes. Of course the indie-kid and the jock can’t date. Of course two teenagers have a passionate love affair that they lose themselves in. Of course the jock is sexually promiscuous. It’s a fun book, with great illustrations, but there’s no piss or vinegar in it, all it does is cement the same old stereotypes and enforce the same old boring gender roles.

Author Information

David Handler was born in San Francisco in 1970. He is most well known for his series of children’s books penned under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. He’s also written a number of picture books, one of which was adapted into a play (The Composer is Dead), and adult novels. His first novel, The Basic Eight, was published in 1999 and Why We Broke Up published in 2011 is is most recent work.

Genre

Young Adult Fiction, High School, Romance.

Curriculum Ties

Supports the California Department of Education reading curriculum for grades 9 and 10 goals:

3.6 Analyze and trace an author’s development of time and sequence, including the use of complex literary devices (e.g., foreshadowing, flashbacks).

Supports the California Department of Education reading curriculum for grades 11 and 12 goals:

2.2 Analyze the way in which clarity of meaning is affected by the patterns of organization, hierarchical structures, repetition of the main ideas, syntax, and word choice in the text.

Booktalk Ideas

This books plays a lot with stereotypes. What are some of the stereotypical ways in which the characters act? What is unexpected?

Reading Level/Interest Age 

14-18

Challenge Issues

This book touches on sensitive topics like sex and teenage drinking. This is not at all new and many of the books in this collection include such topics. The protagonist rarely engages in drinking herself, indeed she comments that she “hates beer” on more than one occasion. The sex is not described in detail, and is a by product of the love that the main character and her beau have for one another, not a byproduct of some bacchanalian drinking-spree. This book clearly supports the department of education’s reading curriculum and the library has a strong policy of supporting every user’s right to read. We do not support censorship and operate under the guidelines developed by the ALA Library Bill of Rights.

Reason for inclusion

Daniel Handler is a seminal author of many well loved stories. Including this novel adds a popular title and author to the collection.

References

Lemony Snicket. (2012). In Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1000143627&v=2.1&u=csusj&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w

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Ender’s Game

Posted on December 5, 2012 | 1 comment

ender'sgame

Reader’s Annotation

When third son, Ender Wiggin, is chosen for elite training by the International Fleet it gets away from the torment of his evil older brother Peter, but it doesn’t guarantee his safety. Convinced that Ender is the only one who can rid the universe of Buggers, the alien race that threatens human existence, International Fleet commanders train Ender to become an elite super solider and defend the planet. Can IF control the weapon they’ve created?

Plot Summary

Ender is a third, and in a world where population is stringently controlled being a third is not a compliment. His parents had to get special permits to allow his birth, but that doesn’t give them anymore time to pay attention to him. When Ender gets chosen for training at the elite International Fleet (IF) Battle School in outer space he’s happy to get away from his evil older brother Peter, but leaving is sweet sister Valentine is harder.

The Battle School kids don’t make transition any less difficult. He’s going through grueling physical and mental training, and facing near constant, violent, torment by the likes of Bonzo de Madrid, a big bully who is outraged at Ender’s success in the classroom and in the mock battles between squads. Eventually Ender is forced to fight Bonzo, to the benefit of neither of them. Ender is terrified that he’s becoming as cruel as Peter and falls into a deep depression. Commander Graff promotes Ender to Command School to help distract him from his worries.

Though Command School is little different from Battle School, with mentally and physically exhausting demands, Ender throws himself into his work. He’s completing his trainings fast and with more ingenuity than ever before, wanting to show Commander Graff and his fellows that they can’t break him. Nearly too late Ender realizes that his been a pawn for the IF the whole time and makes a bold move to take control of his life and change the face of the universe.

Critical Evaluation

Author Information 

Orson Scott Card has written a ton of stories in the tradition of Ender’s Game. All told there are twenty stories and novels that make up the series. In addition to writing about Ender, Card also writes modern fantasy, novels inspired by the Bible, poetry, and American frontier fantasy.

He was born in Washington and grew up in California, Arizona and Utah. An active member of the LDS Church, Card did his mission in Brazil in the 70s. His most recent position is as a professor of writing and literature at Southern Virginia University. The film version of Ender’s Game is expected to release next year.

Genre

Science Fiction, War, Dystopia, Male Lead

Curriculum Ties

n/a

Booktalk Ideas

How is Ender like Peter? How is he different?

Reading Level/Interest Age 

13+

Challenge Issues

This is a violent book and that may make some users or their parents uncomfortable. We strongly encourage our users to choose books and items that are appropriate for them. As supporters of the ALA Library Bill of Rights we oppose censorship. We take requests for reconsideration very seriously and reserve the right to make the final decision after board review. Some alternate titles are: Foundation by Isaac Asimov or Spin by Robert Charles Wilson.

Reason for Inclusion

While many young women will enjoy this book I think it will also hold a strong appeal for young men and this collection needs more of that.

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My Sister’s Keeper

Posted on November 30, 2012 | 1 comment

Picoult, J. (2004). My sister’s keeper. New York: Washington Square Press. Audiobook.

Reader’s Annotation

Anna is suing her parents for medical emancipation. A so-called designer baby, her embryo was specifically selected because it was a genetic match to her sister, Kate, who was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia at age three. What happens when one sister refuses to be a donor for another? Will Kate survive long enough to find out?

Plot Summary

Anna Fitzgerald is not sick, but she has been hospitalized repeatedly from a young age. Her older sister, Kate, has a rare and aggressive form of leukemia and Anna is a perfect genetic match, a personal blood and marrow farm for her terminally ill sister. When Anna is 13 and Kate needs one more donation, a kidney, Ana puts her foot down. She hires the ornery attorney  Campbell Alexander to represent her case for medical emancipation, much to the shock of both her parents when they are served with papers in Kate’s hospital room.

As the family struggles to survive the book reads from the perspective of all the major characters: their mother, Sara Fitzgerald, tells the story of Kate’s cancer from diagnosis to present day. Jesse Fitzgerald is the eldest child of Sara and Brian, and his story is that of the forgotten son, misfit and trouble maker he struggles to find his place in the family that gave up on him in favor of Kate so long ago no one can really remember how it happened. Brian Fitzgerald is father to the three children and husband to Sara, his narrative takes place in the present day as he struggles to protect his children and keep his marriage whole. Julia Romano is the beautiful court appointed guardian ad litem and spurned high school lover of Campbell Alexander, the attorney with the mysterious service dog who keeps everyone at arms length.

My Sister’s Keeper is a beautiful coming of age story about a family discovering what it means to act autonomously in the face of death and betrayal.

Critical Evaluation

Normally Jodi Picoult isn’t the kind of author that I’m drawn to. I know that her books are high circulating and that she’s a best seller and that everyone loves her, but I generally don’t have any patience for this kind of story, what with its love and feelings (that was supposed to be funny). I read My Sister’s Keeper specifically to include it in this project and was pleasantly surprised by the contents. This is not a shallow-feel-good-family story. Picoult gives each character depth and personality, and as readers we become intimate with struggles and pains of all the players.

Jesse was one of my favorite characters. In the story Jesse and both of his parents say repeatedly that he’s the one everyone has given up on. This blew my mind. Is this a real thing? Your one kid gets cancer and you let the other one live above the garage and brew moonshine? The thing is that Jesse tries so hard to be nonchalant about his parents disappointment, or I guess non-responsiveness, but he desperately wants to be a member of the family that matters: he asks Kate’s doctor, with tears in his eyes, if he could be a donor for her when her death seems all but imminent; he sets these outrageous fires which his dad, capitan of the fire department, has to come to put out. If anyone could ever wave a flag that said “here I am, notice me!” this kid is doing it.

Author Information

Jodi Picoult was born and raised in Long Island, New York. She began writing a very young age, 5, and her first story was called The Lobster Which Misunderstood. She went on to study creative writing at Princeton and is the author of eighteen best-selling novels. Some her first work was published by 17 Magazine while she was still a student. Before becoming a full time novelist she held several other positions in writing and education: technical writer for a brokerage firm, copywriter at an ad agency, editor at a textbook publisher, and teaching 8th grade English. Eventually she returned to school and obtained a Master’s in Education.

She’s won a ton of awards for her work, an Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association and a New England Bookseller Award for Fiction, just to name a couple. In addition to her 18 novels she also penned 5 issues of Wonder Woman for DC Comics and he work has been published in 35 countries, and several novels were produced as television movies, and of course My Sister’s Keeper her first big screen movie. In short, Picoult is a well loved American author who’s work appeals to all kinds of readers.

Genre

Young Adult Fiction, Cancer, Families, Adult Fiction

Curriculum Ties

n/a

Booktalk Ideas

Do think Brian and Sara have a happy marriage?

What is Jesse trying to accomplish with his fires?

Reading Level/Interest Age 

14+

Challenge Issues

This novel is pretty clean, though it is obviously about cancer and death, it’s hard to imagine what a parent/patron would object to. As with all the items in this collection a strong collection development policy, along side our clear support of every reader’s right to read and protection from censorship, backed by the ALAs Library Bill of Rights, should offer some protection. We trust that parents and their children have agreed amongst themselves what is appropriate reading material.

Reason for inclusion

This is a touching coming of age novel written for adults that will appeal to YA readers, included as a crossover novel.

References

Picoult, J. (2012). About Jodi Picoult. Retrieved from: http://www.jodipicoult.com/

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Temptation (Secret Diaries #1)

Posted on November 28, 2012 | 1 comment

temptation

 

Harrell, J. (1994). Temptation. New York: Scholastic. Print.

Only the first book from this series is included in the collection.

Reader’s Annotation

Joanna is new in town, deciding to move in with her father in the middle of the school year, and she doesn’t know anyone in her high school. She notices Penn and his group right away though, and knows that she’s got to be part of their group, no matter what it takes.

Plot Summary

Joanna is attracted to Penn from the very first moment she lays eyes on him, but she can’t figure out how to get to know him better. He and his group of friends seem so close and mysterious, it’s hard to break in. After Penn invites her to coffee with the gang Joanna feels even less sure of her ability to assimilate into the group, they all seem to be grieving over the disappearance of their friend Laurie and she while she is curious about the missing girl she’d much rather focus her attention on Penn.

As Joanna and Penn become more intimate warning signs begin to flare up. Super smart Casey is going out of his way to be extra annoying, while quite and sensitive Stephen starts have angry outbursts that frighten Joanna. One night she runs across Stephen and Tessa watching their car as it burns up. Joanna doesn’t know what to make of all this, and what she suspects is too terrible to take seriously. Surely this group of close knit friends couldn’t be responsible for the disappearance of one of their own, could they? Is Joanna in danger too?

Critical Evaluation

This is another one of those purely campy novels. It’s terrible, really. The story line is crystal clear, and the Joanna, the lead, has as much depth as a kiddie-pool, her main concern is getting (and holding) the attention of Penn, who drives his red Corvette too fast all over town. I have to admit that when I first read this book 15 or 16 years ago I was totally ga-ga over Penn too, so I guess I can’t fault Joanna that.

Author Information

There’s not a lot of information available about Janice Harrell out there, she isn’t a current author, has no Goodreads or Amazon page and no one has written anything about her in any of the literary review databases. It looks like she published a number of horror and suspense books in the mid-80s to the mid-90s and then completely fell off the radar.

Genre

YA Fic, horror, suspense

Curriculum Ties

n/a

Booktalk Ideas

What would you do in Joanna’s shoes? Would you keep the groups secret or go to the police?

Reading Level/Interest Age 

14+

Challenge Issues

This is a suspenseful horror novel and some parents/patrons may object to some of the material contained within. This library encourages ever reader’s right to read, and strongly urges parents and teens to discuss and decide what is right for them to read. We do not support censorship, in accordance with the ALA Library Bill of Rights.

Reason for Inclusion

I really liked this novel when I was a teenager and included it for that reason alone.

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Tweak

Posted on November 22, 2012 | 1 comment

tweak

Sheff, N. (2008). Tweak: Growing up on methanphetamines. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Print.

Reader’s Annotation

Nic Sheff has it all: a supportive family life, acceptance into a top tier university, is a published author before he even graduates high school. After meth though, nothing is the same for Nic, all he thinks about is his next score. Read along as Nic struggles to get clean and beat meth once and for all.

Plot Summary

After 18 months sober Nic skips out on his job and apartment in LA and drives to San Francisco. Almost immediately he meets up with a girl, Lauren, he hung around with briefly in high school. She’s got 4 months sober and together the two of them score some meth and delve deep into the depths of depravity. Nic has got about three thousand dollars to his name and he knows that it won’t last long when he’s supporting the meth habits of three people along with a little heroin abuse on the side for good measure. The only reasonable thing to do, Nic reasons, is to start selling meth himself, and thus Nic enters into a plan with his dealer, Gack, to buy and distribute meth.

It isn’t too long before Nic hits rock bottom and manages to drag himself back to LA, where his sponsor, Spencer, is waiting to help him get back on his feet. As Nic begins to work his way through the twelve steps with Spenser he feels confident in his ability to stay clean, but still longs for a deep and meaningful connection with someone. Enter Zelda, the older woman who Nic was having an affair with previous to his relapse. As Nic and Zelda become more and more involved Nic finds himself falling into old destructive patterns, but he is so in love that he doesn’t care. What will become of Nic once he discovers that Zelda is using again? Will Nic ever find the courage to stay sober in the face of all of his pain?

Critical Evaluation

This book has received a lot of criticism, especially in the face of Nic’s dad’s book Beautiful Boy, which tells David Sheff’s version of the same story. Critics complain that Tweak is told from the perspective of a privileged, whiny, white kid and that his obsession with fame and tendency to name drop is a display of immaturity. They are all correct. Nic Sheff was 22 when he wrote this book and it is apparent in the tone of memoir. It’s good though, he doesn’t hold anything back, not so far as it is obvious anyhow, and his story is easily read (though perhaps not for the squeamish). Part of what is good about this novel is how young Nic is, how the language that he uses allows the book to be accessible for the population that it will most benefit: young adults.

Author Information

Nic Sheff was born in 1982 and raised in Marin County California. His first published material appeared in Newsweek in 1999 and was about being raised as a kid who had to split his time between two families, as per his parent’s divorce agreement.

Nic states that he began experimenting with drugs and alcohol when he was around 12 years old and did meth for the first time around the time he was 17, and did his first stint in rehab at 19. Since Tweak was published he has struggled with relapse several times, but has a current sober date of November 2008. His most current book We All Fall Down picks up where Tweak  left off and claims to tell a more mature tale of sobriety.

Genre

Non-Fiction, Drug Memoir, Methanphetamine

Curriculum Ties

drugs(?)

Booktalk Ideas

Nic says several times that he uses to escape his bad feelings. Where do you think these feelings originated from?

Reading Level/Interest Age

17+

Challenge Issues

This book is chalk full of sex, bad language and drug use. It is certain to offend some readers or their parents. As with all of our books we encourage readers to choose what is right for them. We support the ALA Library Bill of Rights and avoid censorship of materials. We will reconsider books, but reserve the right to make final decision after review by the board. Alternate titles that handle the same subject are: Blackout Girl: Growing Up and Drying Out in America by Jennifer Storm and Come Back: A Mother and Daughter’s Journey Through Hell and Back by Claire Fontaine and Mia Fontaine.

Reason for Inclusion

Opens up an important discussion of drug abuse/depression. Realistic portrayal of the life of an addict.

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Clockwork Angel

Posted on November 21, 2012 | 2 comments

clockwork angel

Clarke, C. (2010). Clockwork angel. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. Print.

Reader’s Annotation

When Tessa Gray sets out across the Atlantic to join her brother in London she expects a grand adventure and a new life. What she ends up discovering is a world rife with demons, vampires and other creatures that go bump in the night. Under the protection and guidance of the Shadow Hunters, an underground organization dedicated to fighting the monsters, Tess must work against the clock to save her brother and protect all she knows and loves.

Plot Summary

Tessa Gray is all alone in the world: the aunt who raised her has died and her brother is overseas trying to make his fortune. When he sends for her she is overjoyed at the thought of being reunited with him. Only she is kidnapped by the evil Dark Sisters and forced to do acts of magic that she barely understands.

After a daring rescue by the mysterious Shadow Hunters, Tessa takes up residence at their London Institute: headquarters and training grounds for the group. Tessa agrees to use her power to help the Shadow Hunters in exchange for their help finding her brother. That is if she can avoid the distraction of the two devilishly handsome Shadow Hunters Will and James, who both have an undeniable allure and their own secrets.

She soon finds that she may have to choose between the task she set out to complete and the promises she’s made. Unsure of who to trust and which are the right decisions Tessa must look within herself for the answers the strength to move on.

Critical Evaluation

Some of this novel is a little ridiculous. The teen boys, James and Will, take themselves a little too seriously and buy into their own hype a little too much for my taste. Will knows how dashingly handsome and mysterious he is and totally plays into it. It’s obnoxious. The efforts that James goes to to hide his illness is ridiculous, in not wanting to make a big deal about it or have people pass judgement on him because of it, he manages to come off and a whiny idiot and indeed does exactly what he’s trying to avoid. Overall though? It’s a fun novel if you can look past the self involved characters (and really, what teenager isn’t self involved) and just enjoy the novel for what it is: a mechanized novel that takes place in Victorian England (am I the only one who thinks that the inclusion of cogs = steam punk is hilarious?).

Author Information

Cassandra Clare was born overseas, in Tehran, Iran. She spent her formative years travelling the world with her family, living in locations all over Europe before her tenth birthday. She published her first work in 2004, a short story called The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord  which is included in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. City of Bones was her first novel, and exists in the same world, though present day, of the Clockwork Angles world. She’s published 18 books, five of which are co-authored with Holly Black. Most recently she published the sequel to Clockwork Angels, titled Clockwork Prince and Yen Press is due to release a manga version of Infernal Devices this winter.

Genre

Steam Punk, YA Fiction

Curriculum Ties

n/a

Booktalk Ideas

In Tessa’s position would you have gone with the Dark Sisters?

Reading Level/Interest Age 

15+

Challenge Issues

There is violence and some smooching in this novel and some patrons may feel uncomfortable with that. As ever the library urges that readers and their parents choose for themselves what is appropriate for them to read. Should you wish to challenge a book forms for reconsideration are available, though the library reserves the right to make a final decision after review by the board. Alternate titles to consider in lieu of this novel are Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough and Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.

Reason for Inclusion

A fun read that will appeal to those who enjoy steampunk culture.

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Posted on November 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

Book Cover

Chbosky, S. (1999). The perks of being a wallflower. New York: Gallery Books. Print.

Reader’s Annotation

Depressed high school freshman Charlie narrates a series of letters to a friend he’s never met. His letters reflect the confusing world around him as he negotiates this strange new world where people die, get high, have sex and experience all kinds of new feelings and ordeals.

Plot Summary

Charlie is depressed. His best friend committed suicide over summer and he doesn’t feel especially close to his parents or his older sister. He had an aunt Helen once, whom he adored and trusted, but she’s dead too. Things start to get better for Charlie when he befriends Sam and Patrick, an older step-sister and brother duo that take Charlie under their wing.

Charlie is still a teenager though, and still confused about his place in the world. Charlie has romantic feelings for Sam, despite the fact that they both agree that she’s too old for him. Even so he struggles with his affection, especially after Sam begins dating Craig, a “hunky” boy her own age. Charlie eventually begins dating a girl his own age, Mary Elizabeth, but that relationship ends when his preference for Sam becomes undeniably clear. Additionally Charlie appears to be suffering from something more than a mild depression as result from his friend’s death. This is especially telling as his favorite song is “Asleep” by The Smiths, a song rife with allusions of death and suicide, as well as his return to Catcher in the Rye, a book that is narrated by another troubled young man. He also confesses to memory loss and hallucinations, definite signs of more troubling mental problems.

There are several other important relationships explored in Charlie’s narrative. Sam’s stepbrother Patrick is in a relationship with Brad, high school football quarterback, who is still in the closet. After a series of close calls, the couple is caught in the act and a series of traumatizing events follow, ending with a gang of jocks attacking Patrick and Charlie rushing to his defense. Charlie’s English teacher, who allows Charlie to call him Bill outside of class, takes a special interest in Charlie and encourages him to take participate in the high school experience.

As the book comes to a close Charlie confront his desire for Sam and begins to resolve his emotional problems.

Critical Evaluation

Perks is a really great novel. Chbosky does an excellent job of creating a character that I believe many teens, and adults for that matter, can relate to. I read it for the first time when I was twenty and now eleven years later I appreciate it on a whole other level. As Charlie stumbled and tripped his way through his first year of high school I sometimes cringed at his innocence and other times railed at the way he had been manipulated and abused by other characters in the novel. Still other times I wanted to shake him for being so self-centered, in particular the truth or dare scene when he kisses Sam– that is such a crappy and passive aggressive way to end a relationship, way to be a dick, Charlie. Overwhelmingly though, my impression of Charlie was someone who really needed a hug and someone to help him through some really rough times. The question I keep asking myself, and it seems a common thread in this kind of novel, is where the hell were his parents? Why didn’t they know something was wrong, that he was suffering so? As a mom I have a really hard time understanding how you just wouldn’t know something was wrong with your child and in Perks (Speak too, for that matter), I just don’t get why Charlie folks were so checked out.

Author Information

Stephen Chbosky was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in 1970. He achieved a BFA from USC in 1992 and wrote, acted and directed his first piece Four Corners of Nowhere in 1995. MTV Books published Perks in 1999 and it quickly become their best selling novel. Chbosky has written a number of other screen plays and movies, including the 2005 movie adaptation of Rent and most recently has directed the movie version of Perks. 

Genre

Young Adult Fiction, High School, Coming of Age.

Curriculum Ties

n/a

Booktalk Ideas

Charlie reads Catcher in the Rye several times in the course of this novel. How does his character compare to Holden Caulfield?

Reading Level/Interest Age 

14 and up

Challenge Issues

Sex, drugs, suicide, homosexuality, violence, abortion.

Reason for inclusion

Modern great American novel. Deals with very real issues that high schoolers face on the day to day.

References

Beisch, A. (2001). Interview with Stephen Chbosky, the author of the perks of being a wallflower. LA Youth. Retrieved from: http://www.layouth.com/interview-with-stephen-chbosky-author-of-the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower/

Bing, J. (2000). ‘Perks’ guy in pics; Nerve wracking up deals. Variety. Retrieved from: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117787257?refCatId=1007

Stax. (2005). 10 questions: Stephen Chbosky. ING. Retrieved from: http://www.ign.com/articles/2005/12/01/10-questions-stephen-chbosky

Stephen Chbosky. (2006). In Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1000161510&v=2.1&u=csusj&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w

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