Monday, February 29, 2016

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Dumplin is an easy read novel that addresses the issues that many teenage girls face as they transition through high school, while also challenging the idea of what society deems as "beauty pageant" beautiful. Set in a small town, where few people ever leave and stay away, WillowDean faces the usual teen angst (family issues, friendship trouble and a non-existent love life). Although she is dealing with weight issues, she is comfortable in her own skin, until the incident that throws her life into a tail spin and has her questioning everything she thought she knew about herself. 


I don't think this book would appeal to male readers, but I definitely think there is a place for it in junior high/senior high libraries, as many females would find the subject relatable.  The content is mature, but incredibly mild and I would compare it to a teenage soap opera.

Diamond Boy by Michael Williams

Patson Moyo is a typical teenage boy thrown into the incredible life of the Zimbabwe's Diamond mines. The story continues over the space of four months giving Patson a lifetime of adventure. Williams has an ability to slowly capture the attention of the reader and pull them into the African world and make the reader question humanity and the nature of greed.
The slip cover is not overly appealing and the write up on the cover might not capture the attention of a Sherwood Park teen allowing the audience to delve into the adventure of Payton Moyo.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Okay my post deals with two books:  Illuminae, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Illuminae is categorized as speculative fiction which is a fancy way of saying the story is not in the form of traditional narrative fiction.  It is 599 pages of "hacked documents" including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, shaped poetry, computer images . . . ^^ERROR^^.  I found the text language and the emoticons especially confusing :(? so this is not the book I would send on to round two.  On the positive side it has explosions, surprise attacks, a deadly plague (LOVE THAT!), a mad artificial intelligence, conspiracies, and a desperate fight for survival so it may appeal to highly motivated readers who are more than competent in computer literacy (hence my problem)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is in a more traditional narrative format including doodles/cartoons.  This 230 page book has as its first person narrator a self-deprecating male teenage Spokane Indian.  One of my favorite quotes from the book uses a simile for reading and momentum/rhythm.  "Reading is like riding a raft down a river" (you must pay attention to the currents!)  This book details some of the stereotypical images while pointing out individual differences.  I found this book to be more engaging to me as a reader and since I feel this will appeal to a greater number of students this is my choice to advance to round two.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff


Illuminae, the first book in a science fiction series, begins in the year 2575 on a tiny planet that is being invaded. The story follows Kady, a teenage girl, through their evacuation from the planet and space travel as they try to make it to safety. It was presented as a series of reports, transcripts, diary entries and visual poetry.

I found this story hard to get into, primarily because of the format. The multiple methods of telling the story felt disjointed and choppy. I guess I have a ‘words only’ preference while reading books. I also found the blacking out of ‘offensive’ words distracting. Early on in the book, it is explained that any profanity would be blacked out because the person reading the report didn’t want to see it. It would have been more effective to simply avoid using the offending words in the dialogue as in most cases they seemed to be added just for the sake of showing that they were being blacked out.

After completing the book, I found I did care about the characters and want to know how their story ends in subsequent books, but I’m hoping the format changes to flow more smoothly.

Overall, I’d give the story a 4/5, but the format a 2/5.

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


This is a story about Junior, a teen growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He decides to attend an all-white school in a neighboring town, apparently something that almost never happens. It is a story of someone actively choosing to make their life better against the odds.
The language was simple (grade 4 reading level) and in some ways this book would be appropriate for younger audiences, but the sexual references and profanity scattered throughout make it only appropriate for high school libraries. The story also includes themes of death and alcoholism, which may be hard for younger audiences to handle.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Calvin

A touching and moving story of a boy, Calvin, struggling with mental illness and the real?-ationship that grows between him and his friend girl, Susie.  The story is framed within a Calvin and Hobbes narrative, as part of a letter to the founder of Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson.

This novel dives into relevant and important issues for young adults – schizophrenia, school stress, peer relationships, bullying – using accessible dialogue and familiar references (eg. Calvin and Hobbes).  It is a quick read, mostly using dialogue to advance the story.        

True to the nature of the subject matter, it is difficult to determine how much of the story being told is real and how much is imagined by the protagonist.  This fine line between reality and imaginary is both intriguing and frustrating as a reader, especially since events in the story are hard to believe – finding a car in the middle of frozen Lake Erie, the hermit poet that offers the teens refuge, etc.  Also, I felt like schizophrenia was treated quite superficially in that it promoted the stereoptype of schizophrenia manifesting primarily as multiple personalities and talking to yourself.  

Both main characters are likeable.  However, they seemed to be knowledgeable and insightful beyond their years (or maybe I was not nearly as knowledgeable and insightful as a teen!).


Walking Read Grade: 4.5/5

Far Far Away by Tom McNeal


This is a quaint rendition of a standard fairy tale that will appeal to lovers of this genre.  The easy nature of the writing flows with the wistfulness of the ghost as the ghost tries to assist Jeremy Johnson Johnson through the troubles of small town living.  Jeremy’s troubled life is a bit farfetched but typical for this type of writing. 

The book is a quick read with a Grimm twist that may leave the reader wondering at the end.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Winger by Andrew Smith




A highly entertaining, witty novel that is extremely hard to put down. It is a highly addicting read that captures your attention about puberty and coming of age.  It is about a 14 year old junior attending a private boarding school.  Ryan Dean is forced to share a room in the dorm for troublemakers with the biggest jerk on the rugby team.  Ryan Dean struggles with learning about what is right, when nothing seems to be going his way. Ryan Dean learns a lot about himself as he faces teenage experiences and complications, he even finds some happiness with his best friend Annie. Ryan Dean has to figure out how to hold on to what important when he is forced to face the unthinkable.



Thursday, February 18, 2016

Lumberjanes

Graphic novels/comic books are not my favourite genre, however, I would highly recommend this books to students.  

The story is about a group of unlikely campers (lumberjanes) at a camp for girls.  These girls find their way in to lots of interesting and sometimes dangerous situations…Holy kitten!  They drive their cabin counsellor crazy right up until just before the end.  All through the book the common theme is that we all have our strengths and never to count anybody out based on appearance.  These girls become stronger as they rely on themselves and their friends to get them through the fear and danger and use ingenuity to get them out of some pretty tight spots.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King

Glory O'Brien is on the doorstep of graduation.  Standing in the way of her moving on to a 'normal' life is a devastating loss from her past and the great unknown of what her future will be.  To compound Glory's struggle is an event that gives her the power to glimpse into the past and future of those around her, while at the same time clouding her understanding of her own.  A unique coming of age story that finds the reader contemplating whether fate exists or not. 


I found the character of Glory O'Brien to be relatable, with her disdain for society's expectations of girls/women, but I also found the story line sometimes overly detailed. There was some degree of predictability to the story as well, but I guess that is part of the experience of reading, that as a reader I try to predict what will happen and when it does, I'm either glad that I was correct, or disappointed that the author didn't surprise me with more twists.  I can understand why this book is getting good critical reviews for the ability of the author to move several pieces of a story line along by alternating between realism and fantasy.



Tuesday, February 16, 2016

The Nest:  The first thing that struck me was that Steve called the baby "it" in the beginning and didn't use the baby's name until the wasp asked him about it.  He didn't seem to be connecting with his baby brother but by the end of the book he saved Theo and risked his own life to do so.  I was really interested in the social statement against genetic engineering that evolved as Steve wrestled with the idea of "fixing" his brother's genetics and in the end decided it was wrong.  Steve seemed to really be questioning what is "normal" or acceptable both within himself and his brother.  I thought there was an interesting connection between Steve's dreams of wasps and the realities of wasps which made it difficult for him to stay grounded in reality.  The wasp attack at the end wraps up the story but seems a little hard to believe because Steve survived even with his extreme allergies.

Bone Gap: This book was a little weird to me with the kidnapper being from another world.  Like the Nest, I thought the Bone Gap was questioning what is "normal" as Finn is described as strange and we later learn he has a face recognition problem and Petey is described as "ugly".  They fall in love but still struggle with whether the other person sees value in them. Of course love prevails and the message seems to be that you want to find someone to love who sees the real you.  Love extends beyond romantic love to include brotherly love when Finn is ready to save Roza on his brother's behalf.  Finn recognizes that his brother is stuck and that he needs to get Roza back to free himself and get his brother back.

Monday, February 8, 2016

The 2016 Mighty Smackdown Books!



Mighty-Smackdown Book montage

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Bone Gap
The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club
Calvin
Diamond Boy
Dumplin'
Exit Point
Far Far Away
Glory O'Brien's History of the Future
Illuminae
Lumberjanes #1
The Nest
Ready Player One
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
When I Was the Greatest
Winger


Tracey Shott's favorite books »