808.899283 (Adolescent Literature) - Week Six

Still trying to catch up to the current week (which would be 14, I think?), but we're getting there. Almost half way! I'd like to finish with my YA lit posts before I graduate (May 18th), but that might be pushing it... I'll have a new house as of May 15th! Anywhoo, onto the post!

This week's theme was Historical fiction and war novels and the two books that were on the syllabus were War Horse by Michael Morpurgo and Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys. As always, links take you out to the Goodreads page for the books.

War Horse isn't just a book. The novel has also been turned into a film (starring Benedict Cumberbatch AND Tom Hiddleston... in one movie) and a play, which I saw in workshop when I was in London at the National Theatre. Both adaptations of the novel are fantastic (HOW can you say no to life size horse puppets... or those two previously mentioned hotties?).

As far as books go, here's my quick delights/disdain points for War Horse.

3 Delights for War Horse

1. It is the best book you will ever read where the narrator is the horse... ever. This is a book about WWI, which was a war that changed the shape of wars to come. Having an animal narrator dampens the horrors of war a bit for a younger reader, while still having emotional turmoil over things like character deaths and keeping track of time/plot.
2. I love that this book is such an easy, quick read. The novel is written for a slightly younger audience and meets the ease of reading requirements nicely.
3. This novel is a great tie-in to a unit on WWI as readers will have the background knowledge they need to understand what is going on. An excellent fiction pair for a social studies classroom. This book is also a "must read" in British schools, which I think is completely understandable.

3 Defects for War Horse

1. The narrator is a horse? It's one of my delights, too, but I was never fond of the animal narrator. I do think it's well done though, but personally, I felt the book was a little "flat" because of it.
2. Readers will need a bit of a background in WWI history to fully appreciate the novel. 
3. I kept having All Quiet on the Western Front flashbacks... if you don't know what I mean or what I'm referencing, you've never experienced the psychological horrors that come with reading All Quiet on the Western Front and then reading about horses... A wikipedia summary should get you up to speed.

Between Shades of Gray was right up my alley of reading choices - it's a WWII novel about the Russian Gulag. Most people know a whole lot about the holocaust, but know nothing about Stalin killing his own people. It's a subject that isn't talked about in Russian history and there are a whole lot of deniers out there, even more so than the holocaust deniers. 

3 Delights for Between Shades of Gray

1. I loved the main character (Lina). She's tough, she's clever, and she's opinionated. She perseveres through some really horrible events and finds a way to make the best of everything. 
2. I loved Lina's mother. She was wonderfully 3-dimensional in the text and it's quite obvious where Lina got her brains. The fact that her mother knew how to build friendships and knew how to play the system the way she did was wonderful to. And her ability to instill in Lina the strength to carry on was fantastic.  
3. I felt that, on a whole, the novel was very well written and it gave you a clear understanding of the time period and the settings that the characters live in. From the trains to the Gulags, to tiny shacks that don't keep out the wind, all was described beautifully.

3 Defects for Between Shades of Gray

1. I really don't know how I felt about the ending. A part of me was pleased... and a part of me felt like it was stereotypical WWII novel fodder.
2. I wish that we knew more about some of the auxiliary characters' backgrounds. I think some of it would have made the novel a little more 'round', but overall, I was pleased.
3. The only real complaint I have about the novel is that sometimes it dragged on a little slower than I would have liked. Some of the exposition and description starts to kill the action happening in the novel, which makes the novel feel longer than it actually is. 

That wraps up week six of YA lit. Hopefully I'll post the next few weeks worth of reviews in the next couple of days and get myself caught up.

551.5271 (Solar radiation) - Sunshine in a Box

My best friends birthday is coming up this week and I wanted to send her something in the mail beyond just a birthday card. What did I do? I made her some sunshine... in a box!

I started my box of sunshine with a small priority mail/small flat rate box from the post office. These boxes are free, you just have to stop in and pick them up. I "prettified" the inside of the box with some scrapbook paper and double stick tape that I already had in with craft supplies.

I made sure to leave gaps where the box folded so there wasn't any issues with bubbling paper.

I used a little bit of the double stick tape to fold up one side of the box so I could begin loading it with the goodies I picked up. I wanted to find a healthy balance between things to eat and things to use in the box. What I decided to include is below:

In my "Sunshine" Box:

- Burt's Bees Baby Bee Lotion

- Snack size Lindt's Caramel Truffles

- 2 Burt's Bees Beewax Lip Balms (Original Recipe)

- Box of Crystal Light Lemonade Singles

- Travel Size Clorox Wipes (the microbiologist friend should approve)

- Eos Lip Balm (in Lemon Drop)

- M&Ms Peanut

- Raisinets

- Reese's Peanut Better Egg

- Chocolate Covered Peep

- Yellow Fingernail Polish

As you can see, everything just fit inside the box with enough room for me to shove in a funny birthday card and close it. Barely a bulge in the box when it was all closed, although I did have to remove some packaging and have a special "conversation" with one of the Lindt choclates... it's probably a little squished. Oops?   

I found a cute yellow polka dot address label that I bought from Target some years back that I hacked up and attached to the front of the box with packaging tape.

A part of me wishes I cold have fit a little more in the box or sent a larger box, but the grad student in me knows I have to be frugal for just a little while longer and I'm truly a believer in the old adage "it's the thought that counts". I hope it'll be a drop of sunshine in my best friend's week, especially with the rainy spring we've been having.

808.899283 (Adolescent Literature) - Week Five

Week five's theme for Adolescent Lit. was "Tough Stuff, Risk, and Crisis", which is always a really hard area to read. I chose to read the alternative books from List B this week. List A's books were Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, which I love, but read in undergrad, and Last Summer of the Dealth Warriors by Francisco X. Stork, which reads like an updated and modified Don Quixote - I mean, it has a character named Pancho for goodness' sake.

The books I chose to read were The Fault in Our Stars, which I love and reviewed earlier this year on its own (click HERE to link to my earlier review), and Boy 21 by Matthew Quick. I had read and reviewed another Matthew Quick book this summer (Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock) and had loved it, so I figured it was time for another novel by the same author.

         

As always before reviewing, a link to the Goodreads page for Boy 21 can be found HERE. Now let me jump into my Delights and Defects for Boy 21  by Matthew Quick.

3 Defects for Boy 21

1. If you don't like sports books at ALL, you're out of luck on this book. Yes, it's definitely about some tough stuff and about friendship, but it's also about basketball. The plot isn't all about basketball, though, and this isn't what I would call a sports book.
2. Some of this book is a little far out there. Would a teenager REALLY accept Boy 21's issues with the ease that Finley does? Irish kids in the hood? The Irish mafia in Belmont? The apparent ability of a kid to get over something SO quickly? Eh, I'll roll with it, but other's might not.
3. Yes, there is swearing. Yes, there is violence. Yes, there is talk about drugs and trafficking. Not the point, reall.

Delights for Boy 21

1. YAY! I finally get a truly happy ending, not a mixed feelings one! And I'll roll with it because I WANTED IT TO HAPPEN. If it hadn't, I don't think I'd feel the same about the book.
2. Seriously, the writing on this book is fantastic, just like Quick's other works that I've read. Quick really has a grasp on what it is to be a teen and think like a teen and act like a teen in a way that other adults writing for teens do not. He also handles really tough issues with humor (black though it might be) and solid emotional writing. Quick makes me believe all the things that are unbelievable and the characters balance each other out so nicely.
3. There are definitely interesting adults in this book that are fully fleshed characters with faults and all. It makes me happy! 

421.1 (Alphabets -- English language)

Edible book festival time has come and gone and there were some really fantastic entries this year, and quite a few more than last year, too. My entry this year was based on Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Billy Martin Jr., John Archambult and illustrated by Lois Ehlert. I thought my entry looked pretty stunning when I put it together in the morning...

But the room was SUPER warm (a warm spring days plus a still running heating system 'cuz we don't turn those off until summer in Wisconsin) and everything started melting. By the time the photographers and social media people for the library got there, it looked something more like this...

Photo from the Library News coverage of the event

See the not so hot top? The leaves kept falling out because the cake and frosting were too warm to hold them. One of my fellow librarians texted me each time a leaf fell and I did some emergency surgery a FEW times throughout the course of the day. I was bummed, I tell you! Thankfully, it didn't stop me from being one of the winners for Best Visual Presentation. The judges understood that cake disasters happen.

More coverage of the event and photos of ALL the entries can be found at the UW-Madison Libraries News & Events website. My personal favorite? The entry based on The Book Theif done by a co-worker at the library. I did quite a bit of giggling.

The head of my department at the library forced the winners to have their pictures taken with their entries before they were destroyed (mine fed the "boys" at my husband's weekly guy night and other parts ended up in the trash). So here I am smiling with my entry to end the post. Not to shabby if I do say so myself. Next year? I'm feeling a little Seuss-y. You'll just have to wait and see!

808.899283 (Adolescent Literature) - Week Four

Slowly but surely catching up - maybe I'll be all caught up before the semester ends... maybe not. Here's hoping. In the mean time, I'm going to be employed this school year, so that's a plus. Also, I'm going to be a home owner in a little over a month. Also a plus. So much going for me right now, it feels pretty ridiculous!

Anywhoo, books and theme for week four of YA Literature, right? Theme this week was Friendships and the books were Benjamin Alire Saenz's Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and Pinned by Sharon Flake. Links are to the Goodreads descriptions for the two books, as always.

3 Delights for Aristotle and Dante...

1. I love a good love story, especially one that seems so improbable (NOT impossible). I really can't help but cheer for both of the boys in this book. Yay, LOVE!
2. The writing is pretty solid! There's a great use of metaphor/simile and allusion(I mean, come on, the boys are named Aristotle and Dante, how could there NOT be?), and I can't help but smile at how the the author really makes the book a little "magical". No, reality isn't like this, but we wish it was.
3. The book deals with some pretty serious issues in really fantastic ways (including homosexuality, teenage relationships, hate crimes, and racial identity issues). And it's humorous and definitely doesn't take itself too seriously. I laughed with this book and held back tears with this book. It was fantastic.

3 Defects for Aristotle and Dante...

1. So maybe the way in which Aristotle figures out he's in love with Dante is a little "fake". It could really rip a person out of the story - it didn't bother me, though, but I could see how it might be a turn off for some readers. I just thought it was funny and as an adult who's seen kiddos in need of this guidance, I could relate with the parents.
2. No, real people don't talk to each other like that. Especially teenage boys, but we'll let it go because both boys are "readers" and "artists", right?
3. There are typos in this book, which KILL ME. Ugh. PROOFING needed to be better for this book, but I overlooked it because I was interested in the story more than I cared about typos.

3 Delights for Pinned

1. The book definitely has voice, I've got to give it that. Flake wrote a main character who definitely has spunk and an emotional background and her writing reflects the character's voice well.
2. A great high-low reader overall. Even though this wasn't the book for me, I could definitely see where the audience for this book is and who I could recommend this book to.
3. It's nice to see a female athlete in a male dominated sport portrayed in a novel for teens. This definitely isn't a subject that come up often in books with a romance story.

3 Defects for Pinned

1. Let me be honest. I didn't like this book much.I think the biggest issue I had with this book was the super aggressive way in which Autumn goes after Adonis. If the roles had been reversed and it had been boy chasing girl, I think quite a few people would say "woah, hold up. He's totally stalking her!" and they'd take issue. Some of my classmates tried to point out that the age of the characters is pretty young and so the relationship is going to be pretty immature, but I really hated it.
2. What was the point of some of the extra characters in this book? No, really. Why did we include some of the teachers or coaches or even parents in this book? They felt pretty one-dimensional and I didn't understand the point of some of them.
3. Maybe it's because I'm NOT the intended audience, but I definitely had a hard time connecting to the characters in this book. 

All said and done, that wraps up week four in YA Literature. More posts to come as time allows. 

808.899283 (Adolescent Literature) - Week Three

The theme for week three was "Family, health, sex", and the two books that were required reading for the week were Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park and Angela Johnson's The First Part Last. Both books were great picks for the topic of the week. I'll break into my Delights and Defects straight away and just provide links to the books' Goodreads pages so you can read the description for yourself.

3 Delights for Eleanor & Park

1. I love Rainbow Rowell's writing style. There's a nice balance of complexity and simplicity and while it does feel a little fanciful, it isn't any more or less believable than other stories I have read.
2. Parents in this book (especially Park's parents) aren't one dimensional. I LOVE Park's parents and how they treat the relationship between Park and Eleanor. There's something lovely about the family dynamics that really touch me. In the opposite fashion, Eleanor's parents aren't great human beings, but they also aren't completely flat and they play a pretty integral part of the story.
3. I'm thankful for a resolution that isn't resolved. Be prepared for a not quite happy but definitely touching ending to the book. Also realistic in a way, I suppose.

3 Defects for Eleanor & Park

1. The book deals with difficult topics, from abuse to bullying to racial identity to finding your way through difficult times. I personally didn't think it was defective, but I could see why some people may be offended by the book. I DON'T see why people could try and remove it from a library, though. Geez, folks. Censorship just ISN'T cool.
2. So parts of the story are a little "beautified". Normal teenagers do NOT talk or think like that. Not really. I don't think it detracts from the book in a big way, but it's definitely something to think about.
3. The ending. It's one of my delights too, but I wish there was a little more (for my very own, very selfish reasons). I love where Rowell ended the book, but I wouldn't have been upset if there had been more. :)

 3 Delights for The First Part Last

1. This book is a fantastic High-Low - high interest, low reading level. I personally struggle reading some high-lows because the author dumbs down the subject matter in order to achieve the easy readability. This book is definitely one that doesn't do that.
2. Thank you for a book from the teen FATHER'S point-of-view. So many times books about single teen parents are about single mothers. This one is from the male perspective, which I think is very interesting. Johnson does a great job writing from the character's point of view.
3. I can easily understand why this book won the awards it did. Writing is great, subject matter is great, the play with the timeline is interesting, it does a great job discussing a difficult topic, and I feel as if it's fairly authentic as far as urban lit goes.

3 Defects for The First Part Last

1. While it wasn't a problem for me, some of my group members during discussion felt that the book was a little "flat" when it came to character emotions. I could agree with that, but I think its more part of the lower reading level than it is the actually lack of emotion. After reading Eleanor & Park, this book does feel a little flat, but alone, it has the emotion it needs to.
2. I felt like the side story with the mother was dragged out a little too long. It could have been foreshadowed differently or handled a little differently to make the surprise more inpactful.
3. The out-of-order timeline might be difficult for some students (especially students struggling with reading) would have trouble following the story. While the book does use chapter titles like "Then" and "Now", it's sometimes tricky to keep track of where in the timeline a particular chapter falls.

So, we're currently in Week Ten and I have some definite catch up to do on blogging, but we're also purchasing our first home, which is taking up most of my free time! I'll try to get a few more posts up in the next week or two, but no promises. This blog might turn home improvement pretty quickly. Edible Book Festival is coming up next week, as well, so there will be posts about that particular activity as well. AH! So much going on in the next month or two!