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.

808.899283 (Adolescent Literature) - Week Two

Yes, it's week eight of the semester. Yes, I'm JUST posting about week two. I'm unapologetic. Life is crazy, especially now that Oklahoma is officially opened at LaFollette High School.

Week Two's theme for YA Literature for week two was "Identity and Graphic Novels". For this week, we read two graphic novels: March: Book 1 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell and Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol.

March: Book One is a non-fiction graphic novel about Congressman John Lewis' life being a young adult during the Civil Rights era and what it was like to be a part of lunch counter sit-ins and non-violent marches. The graphic novel pops back and forth between Congressman Lewis preparing for President Obama's inauguration and what he experienced as a member of the Civil Rights Movement.

3 Delights for March: Book One

1. The illustration in this book is powerful and done in completely black and white. It really tells the story in a unique way that makes the book more powerful than it might have been as a non-graphic novel.

2. The book does a great job showing all sides of the Civil Rights Movement - not just Martin Luther King, Jr., but also some of the other leaders, how students participating in marches and sit-ins practiced terrorizing one another to learn how to not react when white community members might do similar things, and how to protect themselves in the face of violence. It's also a great way to tie history to the present, as John Lewis is a real-live Congressman.

3. March is part of a series focused on the Civil Rights Movement. I'm excited to see the next few graphic novels when they are released.

3 Defects for March: Book One

1. It's a positive-negative, folks. The illustrations really ask readers to practice some higher visual literacy skills - there are some pages that follow typical panel format, but there are others that blow the typical panel format out of the water. This might be harder for first time graphic novel readers to understand and follow.

2. I wonder what color would have done to the illustrations - I think that the "shades of grey" produced by black and white illustration is great, but I think this could have been really powerful in color, too.

3. There are depictions of violence in this book! It's the Civil Rights Era, and there was violence against African-American citizens, so it's only right. I think it's done tastefully, but it is something to consider when recommending this book.

Anya's Ghost is a supernatural fiction graphic novel, focused around Anya, a young Russian emigre student who is having a hard time fitting in at school. When Anya falls down a deep hole, she finds herself faced with a haunted girl's skeleton. The ghost girl, Emily, trapped in the hole for 90 years since her death, makes friends with Anya and travels home with her when Anya is rescued. Emily the ghost intially starts off as a blessing in disguise - she helps Anya with homework, talks about her secret crush with her, and even helps her learn how to dress better and talk to others. But Emily isn't all sweetness, and Anya soon discovers that she's befriended a spirit more sinister than she thought.

3 Delights for Anya's Ghost

1. This graphic novel deals well with the themes of fitting in and discovering your true identity. It's great to see the immigrant experience dealt with in a YA graphic novel.

2. The illustrations are FANTASTIC - they're all done in a blue/violet tinted grayscale, which for the suspense/horror side of this graphic novel works particularly well. It's also interesting to watch the changes that happen to Emily's character throughout the novel. 

3. Easy to follow panels, this is a great "first-timers" graphic novel. It's very easy to follow the layout and the pictures clearly express what is happening in the story.

3 Defects for Anya's Ghost

1. It's PRETTY girly. You might be hard pressed to get a boy to read this graphic novel. I mean, even the black and white images have a purple tint. Male fans of Babymouse! might pick this up, though.

2. The very easy, basic panel structure might get boring for a more advanced graphic novel reader. They'll fly through this one quickly.

3. I don't know if I love how body image is dealt with in this book. It's find overall, but I wonder if it couldn't be better.