This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

I was excited to read this book after it pulled #10 on Persnickety Snark's Top 100 YA Novels earlier this year. 

It was our YA Book Club selection last month, so I dutifully read it.  However, if it was not required reading, there's a good chance I would not have read past page 100.  Remy is our main character, and the girl likes to cuss, drink (illegally), have premarital sex, and use the Lord's Name in vain.  I knew that Remy changed in the novel, and we're supposed to see an improved version of her by the end, so I kept reading.

She did have some positive changes; I'll give her that.  In fact, my problem is less with Remy and more with Sarah Dessen.

Another blogger wrote that she "regularly recommends Dessen's novels to her middle school students."  Here is the response I left her:

"My hesitation for recommending Dessen to middle schoolers is her inclusion of under-age drinking/partying (in many of her books) and drug-use (in 'Lock and Key'). At least the drug-use is cast in a negative light, but the underage drinking is written about in a way that shows it to be a normal activity for teens. I personally feel that Dessen is condoning the behavior, and may even be encouraging or promoting it as well."

Now that I've read 'This Lullaby' I stand behind that comment even more. 

Heather

Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman

Synopsis: Julia Lefkowski's social life is defined by her enthusiastic (hence the title) best friend Ashleigh.  Ashleigh changes hobbies like she changes her underwear, and each hobby receives a full dose of her enthusiasm.  Best friend Julie is dragged along for each ride.  Next up: Jane Austen.  Ashleigh and Julie are learning to dance, dress, and speak (well at least Ashleigh!) like characters from an Austen novel.  While all dressed up, why not crash the dance at the all boys prep school?  Theatrics, drama, and love flow as consequences of their Austen-y night out.

Review:  It was...somewhere between fine and good.  It wasn't bad, and it wasn't great.  I'm always looking for good clean reads, so from that perspective, I'm happy.  However, from a literary perspective, I was disappointed.  Some moments were perfect!  For example, on Julie's birthday, she's sweet sixteen and never been kissed.  Her hot college freshman neighbor helps her out by letting her practice on him.  More conservative folks may balk at this scene, but I loved it!  Other parts of the book seemed like Shulman got lazy. 

I also have a big problem with the plot.  But first, some background for those who haven't read it.  Julie falls head-over-heels in love at first sight with a guy at the dance.  However, she's not sure if he feels the same way?  He seems interested in someone, but is it her, or Ashleigh?  And if it is Ashleigh, Julie surely shouldn't butt in.  Throughout the school year (yes, I said "year") Julie has these internal struggles all the while receiving love tokens from mystery men, man??? 

Problem #1: Really?  You "love" a guy who may or may not "love" your best friend, and you let all this continue over the course of an entire school year without anyone confronting said guy and asking for some clarification on his feelings?????  This would drive me crazy in real life.  It was grating on my nerves just reading about Julie. 

Maybe I should mention that I'm not a Jane Austen fan.  (Perhaps this kind of plot is par for the Austen novel course?)  I've tried.  Multiple times.  I've never even finished one of her novels.  I used to feel like such a failure... but no longer! Some people love Austen; I, alas, do not.  However, I do quite enjoy Shakespeare, and for that I feel qualified enough to proudly proclaim that I am an English major!  : )

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Check out the creepy cover!  It's perfect for the book, but it's so disturbing that I tried to hide it from my kids, and I avoided looking at it myself!


Summary from the front of the book:
In 1888, twelve-year-old Will Henry chronicles his apprenticeship with Dr. Warthrop, a scientist who hunts and studies real-life monsters, as they discover and attempt to destroy a pod of Anthropophagi.


First of all, I hate horror movies.  I don't watch them, period.  As you may have guessed, I'd never read a horror book either.  Until this one.  And it took me for a ride!  Whoa.  The reason I read it is because it was on the IWU Adolescent Literature syllabus that I read through.  This was the last one; I finished on time!

Many elements of the Gothic novel were present such as both psychological and physical terror, mystery, death, decay, madness, secrets, and hereditary curses. (click here for source.)  It was tough to get through because I generally dislike psychological terror, and I was unsure how the author would represent God in the context of the story. (more on that later) Not to mention that the physical terror is explained extremely graphically.  Yancey's imagery and details are so good that I can close my eyes and picture the scenes of horror after closing the pages yesterday.  He doesn't leave you wondering how much damage the monsters can do.  He shows you.

As for the religious aspect, Yancey has different types of characters.  There are the Christian townspeople, the scientist who does not bother himself with religion because it is hard to marry morals with science, and the evil hunter.  I think Yancey did a fair job at presenting the three types and letting the reader make his/her own judgments.  (I'm so tired of authors writing with an anti-Christian or anti-Christianity slant.)  Plus, readers of the novel have the advantage of knowing the work is fiction, as are the monsters know as Anthropophagi, so they don't have to wrestle with the characters' questions such as, "Are these monsters soulless beasts from hell or an animal God ordained to create?"

Overall, I liked the book!

P.S. This is the first in a monstrumology trilogy.  Book 2 sends Dr. Warthrop and Will Henry on a monster hunt in Canada.  It's release date is October 2010.

Heather

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty & the Beast by Robin McKinley

Beauty is the first novel by Robin McKinley, and the only one of hers that I've read.  I praise her ability to write, and I would read another novel of hers.  However, this one let me down.  The beginning was slow.  Not until around page 100 did it catch my attention.  However, once Beauty met the Beast, I couldn't put it down!  McKinley did a great job building up the rising action; however, the climax and falling action left me disappointed.  McKinley floods her story with intricate details: a page's worth description of paintings hanging in the hall, the color of each gown Beauty wears for dinner, the type of food Beauty's horse eats in his stable.  Her attention to detail transported me into the world of Beauty and her Beast.  She obviously has talent, and I have hope that it is better honed in her newer novels.

Heather

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

On the IWU course syllabus = required reading.  I would NOT have read this book otherwise. 

Reason #1) Court room novel
Reason #2) Premise: Did black teenager assist armed robbery of Harlem convenient store?  This topic is so far removed from my day-to-day life that I don't connect with it. 

The novel did manage to hold my attention, and I was on the edge of my seat awaiting the jury's decision at the end.  This could be a very useful teaching tool for freshman and sophomore students.  It brings up questions of morality, truthfulness, integrity, and friendships.  Expect ambiguity about the main character's role in the armed robbery.  It's a perfect ending for an essay topic, but a frustrating one for a lady who just wants to read a story.

Heather

Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli

This is a great book! 

Premise:
Italian boys including Roberto and Samuele are captured on their home soil by the Germans and forced to work for Nazi Germany by the sweat of their brow under inhumane conditions.  Donna Jo Napoli said she "wanted American readers to learn of the little-known story of boys in Italy, Hungary, Romania, and other Axis countries who--because they were considered dispensable--were indentured by the Nazis to work for the war effort under inhumane conditions."

The first half of the novel is about Roberto and his Jewish friend Samuele working for the Nazis.  The reader indeed learns the "little-known story of the boys."  Napoli's writing is emotional, powerful, and fast-paced.  The second half of the novel follows one of the boys on his escape from the Nazis.  His ultimate goal is to return to his beloved hometown of Venice, a long journey from his work station in Ukraine.  I did not enjoy the second half of the book as much as the first.  One reason is that it wasn't as interesting to me as the war stories. 

I recommend this book to young adults and adults.  I personally think it's important to be reminded of the evil that was the Holocaust.  This novel does just that.  It unveils the Holocaust enough that we recognize the face of evil, but it keeps parts covered that would give younger readers nightmares.

Plus, the characters retain their faith in God and never doubt his goodness, love, or relationship with them.

Heather

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang is another required reading book on the IWU Adolescent Literature syllabus.  For the full list click here.  I'm trying to read them all by the end of the summer.  Only 3 more to go!

American Born Chinese is the first graphic novel I have read.  I labeled it middle readers and YA.  I'm not familiar enough with graphic novels to know who reads them or which audience they are written for.  Please comment if you know.


From the front cover:

"...three apparently unrelated tales come together with an unexpected twist, in a modern fable that is hilarious, poignant, and action-packed.  American Born Chinese is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax--and confirms what a growing number of readers already know: Gene Yang is a major talent."

One of the tales is an adaptation of the famous Chinese tale about the Monkey King.  Yang explains the history of the tale and his reasoning for making some changes to the classic here.
Here are the highlights: 

At its heart, The Journey to the West is a Buddhist morality tale. In the original, the Monkey King raises havoc among the gods of all other traditional Chinese religions, and it is only the Buddha that is finally able to put him in his place. In American Born Chinese, I've replaced the story's Buddhist underpinnings with Christian ones, drawing from my own faith.

Christianity, you see, lies at the very center of my identity as an Asian-American.

 Hooray!  Finding out this information straight from the horse's mouth made my day!  As I was reading the book I really struggled, wondering, "Is Yang making fun of the One True God?"  I was so glad to find out he is not using the character Tze-Yo-Tzuh as a mockery of God!

I mentioned in another post that I'm not fond of immigration literature.  However, this book breaks the mold of the traditional immigration story.  Boys and girls will enjoy it due to the comic book style, humor, and fast pace of the story.  I recommend it for those who "don't like to read."
Heather

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

What do you think of the two very different covers for this book?

My YA book club discussed this book last night, and we had a great meeting.  We used this helpful discussion guide.  From the title alone, two of the ladies expected the book's topic to be "Should I stay with my boyfriend or not?"  Boy, were they surprised!  The actual topic is: "Should I stay alive or die?"  High school senior Mia and her family are involved in a horrific car accident that leaves Mia's body in a catatonic state.  However, Mia is able to view her own body and learns that she holds the key to life or death.  What will she decide?

The reason I chose this book is because of Natasha's review.at Maw Books Blog.  She specifically pointed out that Mia really loves her family and that is rare is YA literature.  Mia does love her parents and her brother.  In fact, she'd rather spend time with her family than go to some party.  (Parents of teenagers rejoice!)  Mia also loves her boyfriend, Adam, with a mature love that transcends their differences.  Great examples of love.

Religion is not a part of Mia's decision-making process.  When she considers "leaving" it is to reunite with family members.  No mention of heaven or hell.  I'm just saying, you might want to think about that stuff before making that kind of decision.

Interestingly enough, the book includes a detailed flashback about an atheist (a family friend) and his funeral.  LSS: Man is atheist. Dies. His family gives him a Christian funeral.  Mia's mother vocally complains about the absurdity of the funeral and the denial of man's family to accept the kind of person he was.

Really?? 


Clearly, the book is not written from a biblical world view.

Heather

A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker

Summary: Fiona and the rest of the senior class must survive the mandatory Marriage Preparation Course in order to graduate.  Oh yeah, and Fiona is matched with the biggest jerk in the school.

I read A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker because Melanie gave it such a great review.  It wasn't what I expected (a good clean read), but it was an enjoyable, laugh-out-loud funny book.  And that about sums it up.

Best Part of the Book: the Hamlet quotes!
Worst Part of the Book: the promotion of homosexuality.

Heather

Girl Coming in for a Landing by April Halprin Wayland

Girl Coming in for a Landing is a novel in poems by April Halprin Wayland.  It's a sweet, sweet book for teenage girls.  The protagonist tell us about her life through her poems.  Poems about her crush, her classes, her friends, her sister, her family.

What I liked about this book:

• a character I could easily connect with
• her love for her family
• the poem "Why I Am a Lot Like a Horse"  Funny name, but seriously I like this poem!  (I would print it here for you, but I'm afraid I'd be banished to copyright jail, so please grab the book and read it yourself.) 
• It is the FIRST book I've read in one day--woo-hoo!  (Yes, I'm a slow reader.)
• April Halprin Wayland's writing tips at the end of her novel

What I didn't like about this book:

• the ouija board
• the drawn picture of a topless girl...with nipples.  I'm just saying, it was unnecessary.

Overall, a great book! 

Heather

Adolescent Literature Course at IWU

I graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University, a Christian school in Marion, Indiana.  While there, I took the course Adolescent Literature with Dr. McCracken.  I loved it!  Throughout the years, I've kept touch with him through emails asking him to send me the titles on his new syllabus.

Here is the list he sent me in the spring. My goal is to finish the list by the end of the summer.

1. A Step from Heaven by An Na
2. Girl Coming in for a Landing by April Halprin Wayland
3. Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
4. Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
5. Monster by Walter Dean Myers
6. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
7. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
8. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
9. Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli
10. True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff
11. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
12. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

If you'd like to join me, feel free!  I love feeling like a college student again!  Instead of reading the book and writing an essay on it, I read the book and write about it on my blog!

The down side is that I miss out on the classroom time with my professor.  I am anxiously awaiting his response to my email asking why he chose some of these books for a course at a Christian university.  A Step from Heaven, True Believer, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian--all of which I've reviewed on this blog-- are troublesome.
 
Heather

True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff

Short and sweet review:
A poor high school girl experiences the overtaking emotions of first love, has a fall-out with her best friends over religion, and watches her mom date a new man all while trying to better herself in the attempt to go to college.  It is the second book in the Make Lemonade Trilogy, but it works as a stand-alone novel as well.

Longer review:
A poor high school girl experiences the overtaking emotions of first love, has a fall-out with her best friends over religion, and watches her mom date a new man all while trying to better herself in the attempt to go to college.  It is the second book in the Make Lemonade Trilogy, but it works as a stand-alone novel as well.

Positives: Written in free verse, it is a very fast read.  It is engrossing, and the characters are developed well.  I easily  related to LaVaughn's feelings of her head-over-heals crush on Jody. Which girl can't relate to this strong emotion?  LaVaughn is a forgiving character, and one who values her friendships.  There are a couple of instances when she is rude to her friends, but she comes to them and apologizes.  I liked that a lot.

Negatives: This book shows a distorted view of Christianity. LaVaughn's best girl friends have joined a Christian club to specifically help them keep their virginity.  As the book progresses, the reader learns more and more about the club which amazon.com calls "hyper religious."  LaVaughn (and the author) see the very conservative side of Christianity (eg. They believe in Creation as opposed to evolution) as negative, something that is ruining her friends.  LaVaughn herself does some research on Christianity and makes her own decisions on what it means to be "true believer."  Here's a clue: her decision has nothing to do with accepting the divinity of Jesus Christ.  As a conservative Christian, I strongly disliked this thread of the plot and would not recommend the book to anyone. 

Heather

The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Words that come to mind about this book:

yuck

avoid

blasphemous

Does it have some good things to offer the world?  Yes.  There are good messages of overcoming obstacles and chasing hope when there's none around you.  It also gives a good account of what life on Alexie's reservation was like.  (Don't let the title fool you; it's partly autobiographical.) People should know the hardships that Indians have encountered due to our country's poor treatment of them.  I support youth learning all these lessons, but I cannot support this book because these lessons are mixed in with irreverent and profane statements about the One True God. 

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Fabulous.

If you haven't read it, go get it today!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I picked it and Catching Fire up from the library to skim and scan as a review before Mockingjay is released. And then I was hooked...again.

Suzanne Collins is doing an amazing job with this series! The suspense is superb. The romance is precious... and confusing. (I don't want to spoil anything for newbies.) This dystopian series is fabulous. You will not be able to stop reading this one. Even the second time around, I was up past midnight twice, unable to put it down. Did I mention I like it???

Connection Time: Have you seen the movie Gladiator? The similarities between that movie and this book are incredible. I read The Hunger Games before I saw Gladiator (I know, I know, it's an old movie), and as I watched the movie, I was shocked as I compared the two "arenas." Wow.

Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles

Jumping Off Swings tells a story of a teenage pregnancy from four different character's perspectives. We hear from the pregnant Ellie, the father Josh, and their best friends Corinne and Caleb. It's a good book for an adult book club because it can foster much discussion on topics from pregnancy to parenting. (Some of the parenting in this book is awful.)

The worst thing about this book is the language. Wow. Inappropriate language is used throughout the book. Everything from the F-bomb (multiple, multiple times) to sexual innuendos are present. I had chosen this book for my YA Book Club, but changed it since there is an actual young adult in our group, and I don't think it's an appropriate read.

It's another melancholy read. I wish Ellie had had more love and support around her through her crisis.

Heather

Undercover by Beth Kephart

I recently read Beth Kephart's first young adult novel Undercover. It is a story about a young high school girl, Elisa. She is gifted poetically, a talent that boys notice and use to their advantage. Elisa writes notes for them to use in courting the girl of their choice. (I found it interesting that there was no mention of payment for these poetic love notes. Are we supposed to believe that Elisa helped all these lovesick boys for free?) Along the way she falls for a boy that she is helping. She spends the winter pining after this boy, teaching herself to ice skate, observing nature, and lamenting her parents' failing marriage.

As I have seen mentioned on other blogs, and I will post it as well: do not read the inside jacket summary. It gives away too much of the story.

This book contains a beautiful passage that I will share with you:
And he said that there were two kinds of chances you take in life, and that I had chosen one. You can love not enough, he said, or you can love too much, and when you love too much, you risk everything, but you also enter into a thing called beauty. (Kephart, Beth. Undercover. New York: HarperTeen, 2007.)
This passage struck me personally, and I am thankful for it.

However, the book as a whole let me down. It was too melancholy for my taste. Elisa has no friends, her parent's marriage is failing, her sister doesn't acknowledge her at school, her mom is distanced, etc. etc. Maybe it's because I just read Thirteen Reasons Why, but I thought, This girl could be suicidal. But don't worry, she's not!

I was disappointed to see Elisa judge her classmate on his large nose. She really dislikes this boy because of his large nose and obnoxious behavior. Maybe she should wonder if he is using his behavior to distract from his nose. Like Cyrano de Bergerac used humor to distract from his large nose (an important part of the story). Also, Elisa has a deformed earlobe that she is embarrassed of and hides under her hair. Her classmate can't hide his nose as easily, so why is she so hypocritical?

I have written a novel, I see. Here is one last thought about the book's content. I was disappointed at the use and heavy implication of Mary Oliver's poem "Wild Geese." The author (and hence Elisa's teacher who gives it to Elisa) advises the reader to forget religion and become like an animal to be able to fully engage in and enjoy life.

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

Princess of the Midnight Ball is a retelling of the Grimm's fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." It is my first Jessica Day George novel, but probably not my last!

The widowed king is left with his twelve daughters who harbor a secret they can tell no one. Every morning he discovers his daughters' worn out dancing shoes beside their beds. No matter how many guards keep watch, the girls are never caught sneaking out to dance. Finally their father issues a decree that the first prince to discover their secret will win a marriage to the daughter of his choosing and succession to his royal throne. Thankfully there is a handsome soldier, just home from the war, who happens to be in the right place at the right time. Galen also knows how to knit. That just may help him solve this mystery.

I really enjoyed this book! It's a fairy tale with a lovely romance. It captured the ambiance of life in a royal castle without an immense amount of details. (I'm thinking of how The Goose Girl is similar but is much more detailed. Princess of the Midnight Ball is a much shorter read and more fun!) I really enjoyed a modern retelling of a fairy tale that portrayed the man as the hero. Girl power has its place, but it has been overdone.

Beliefs: Catholicism. The setting is Germany is the early 1800s. Catholic terms such as last rites and archbishop are not only used, but are important to the story. Readers will not fully appreciate the plot unless they have some knowledge of Catholicism.

This book was fabulous! I highly recommend it!

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Wow. I loved this book.

Clay Jensen receives a package of cassette tapes in the mail. He inserts the first tape and hears a voice that has been silent for two weeks: Hannah Baker's. Hannah Baker committed suicide. Before she died, she recorded, in detail, the thirteen reasons why she decided to kill herself. Her directions are clear. If you receive the package of tapes in the mail, then you are one of the reasons. Listen to them all, and then pass them on to the next person in line.

Hannah's tapes take Clay on a tour of their city, a tour of their schoolmates' cruelty, and a tour of a suicidal girl's breaking heart.

Author Chris Crutcher's critique is on the front cover: "Very clever premise, strong voice, perfect suspense. This one will keep you reading. Jay Asher is a fine storyteller."

Ditto.

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

The Sea of Monsters is Book 2 in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. To review this book, I need to refer to the first book in the series: The Lightning Thief.

In this series, Rick Riordan takes gods, demigods, and monsters from Greek mythology and places them in a completely different setting than we're used to finding them: the United States of America in modern time.

What I like about the books: I am learning Greek mythology. What I don't like about the books: 1) As an English teacher, I disprove of the grammar use. Percy tells us the stories, and he speaks incorrectly (e.g. Annabeth and me hopped on the chariot), 2) They have so much potential to be good literature, but they fall short, 3) They are slow reads. I kept checking to see how much more I had to read. Reading them felt more like an assignment than an enjoyable experience. However, mythology is not a favorite genre of mine, I admit!

Beliefs in the story include: 1) The Greek gods are real. They are alive. And by the way, they procreate with humans to create demigods such as the main character, Percy Jackson. 2) The entrance to Hades is in a recording studio in Hollywood. 3) There is a camp in NYC for demigod children, a place where they train to fight monsters and worse enemies. 4) A "mist" keeps humans from understanding what they see when it comes to encounters with these supernaturals.

On Riordan's website he addresses the issue of learning about Greek mythology. Here is a quote from his interview:

In Western Civilization, we’ve always had an uneasy mix between Classical mythology and Judeo-Christian values. As a culture, we tend to believe in one God, but we also grow up steeped in these wonderful old stories about the Olympians. As long as we recognize them as stories that are part of our heritage and long-since stopped being any kind of serious religion, I don’t see the harm in learning mythology (emphasis mine). If fact, I think you have to know Greek myths to understand where our modern culture came from. It’s part of being an educated member of society.

Click here for the rest of what he had to say.