Book vs. Movie: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief is the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan.  The story centers around Percy Jackson, a 12 year old boy with ADHD and dyslexia who discovers that he is a demi-god when he is attacked by a fury at his school.  He finds out that his best friend, Grover, is actually a satyr sent to protect him from monsters and his teacher, Mr. Brunner, is actually a centaur who runs a special camp for demi-gods called Camp Half-Blood.  Percy's mother and Grover accompany him to Camp Half-Blood, but they are attacked by a minotaur just outside the camp.  Percy defeats the minotaur by ripping off its horn and stabbing it, but Percy's mom is lost during the fight and her soul winds up in the Underworld. Percy goes into the camp and soon learns that his father is the god Poseidon, one of the Big Three (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades). He also learns that the Big Three made a pact that they would not father anymore children because of a prophecy that a child of the Big Three would make a decision on his or her sixteen birthday that would either save the gods or destroy them.  Clearly, Poseidon broke the pact.  Percy meets new friends in Camp Half Blood: Annabeth, a daughter of Athena, and Luke, a son of Hermes.  Soon after, the oracle sends Percy on a quest to find Zeus's missing lightning bolt.  Annabeth and Grover join him on the quest, and they face a number of challenges, such as Medusa, the Lotus Casino, and even the god Hades, whose Helm of Darkness has also been stolen.  Percy learns that Hades has him mother's soul. Ultimately, Percy finds out that it was Ares who stole the bolt and the helm.  He and Percy battle, and Ares ends up leaving the bolt and helm with Percy, who then returns them to Zeus and Hades. In return, Hades returns Percy's mother.  Once back at Camp Half-Blood, however, Percy finds out that his friend Luke was actually involved in the theft of the two powerful items.  Luke tries to kill Percy but fails. When he recovers, Percy returns to live with his mother and reenroll in school.  He will return to camp in the summer.  His adventures are, of course, continued in the remaining books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

The film version of The Lightning Thief was released in February of 2010.  In general, I am hesitant of watching movies based on books, especially books I enjoyed, because I am terrified that the director will ruin the story.  Occasionally, I do find the movies enjoyable, though, despite the fact that I believe, with very few exceptions, that the book is always better. I watched The Lightning Thief with my husband and eight-year-old son, neither of whom had read the book.  That way I could get both perspectives on the movie.  Perhaps predictably, my husband and son both enjoyed the movie.  And, really, I enjoyed it as well, although I did keep sort of a running list of plot points that had been changed or left out completely.    The first change that I found interesting was the change in the ages of the characters.  In the books, Percy and Annabeth are 12; in the movie, they are much older teens, maybe 16 or 17. I suppose that the director felt that the characters actions in the story would be more believable for audiences if they were older.  I, however, felt that their younger age was important to the story: they are demigods--they should be able to do more than other children their age. I also felt that it may have been a poor choice to up their ages if the producer intends to make film versions of any of the other books in the series. Very quickly, the characters will be too older for the timeline in the books, as will the actors. I also found some of the changes and omissions in the film interesting.  For example, little is mentioned about Annabeth's past, how she came to Camp Half-Blood, or her relationship with Luke as presented in the book.  This, too, may cause issues in subsequent movies, as this information becomes increasingly important throughout the series.  Also, some important characters from the book are missing from the film or have a much smaller role: Clarisse, Dionysus, Ares, and Thalia, for example.  Some of the locations visited during the quest are also changes, as well as some of the monsters Percy, Annabeth, and Grover encounter.

Overall, while I believe the film could have been better had they stuck more strictly to the novel, I have to admit that the film was entertaining.  It certainly caught my son's attention and peaked his interest in reading the books in the series.  The elements I loved most about the book--the hero's quest and the use of Greek mythology--are still strong in the film, as are the themes of the novel: loyalty, trust, bravery, responsibility, friendship, and family. I certainly think the film could be used to give readers a visual for the various gods and goddesses and monsters mentioned in the novel and could provide for an interesting compare and contrast activity for students who have read the book and then watched the film.

References

 Barnathan, M., Columbus, C., Hammel, T. M., Harlacker, J. Morgan, M., Oseary, G., Radcliffe, M., 

     Rosenfelt, K, Swallow, K. (Producers) & Columbus, C. (Director). Percy Jackson and the 

     

     Olympians: The lightning thief. United States: Fox 2000 Pictures. 

Riordan, R. (2006). Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book one: The lightning thief. New York: 

     Disney-Hyperion.

Booktalk Theme: Modernizing Shakespeare

The theme I have chosen for my booktalks is Shakespeare retellings.  As an English teacher, I've done my share of teaching Shakespeare.  Over the years. I've taught Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth. Of course, part of the challenge with any of these texts is the language, as well as generating student interest.  I felt that some modern retellings of these plays might be a great way to go.  Students could read the original Shakespeare text as a common reading and then try a retelling either in literature circles or individually.  Comparing and contrasting the original and the update would then be an excellent analytical activity.  I have taken a similar approach to teaching The Great Gatsby in the past by pairing it with Gordon Korman's Jake, Reinvented, and it worked well, so I thought, why not try it with Shakespeare?

Chapter 9 Selection: An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy

Using a wealth of sources cited in the back of the book and including a number of primary sources, Jim Murphy details the outbreak of yellow fever that hit Philadelphia in 1793.  Murphy's account is very thorough; although the focus is on the disease and how it spread virulently through the city, Murphy also discusses the political, economic, social, and medical consequences of the plague. While acknowledging the medical professions lack of knowledge of bacteria and viruses at the time, Murphy explains the reasoning behind the common theories at the time and details the efforts of several doctors, most notably the very vocal Dr. Benjamin Rush.  He also explains the ensuing arguments among the medical professionals at the time about the causes and proper treatment of the fever.  In fact, there were many doctors who, at first, were not even convinced that the illness they were fighting was indeed the dreaded yellow fever. He also addresses the number of citizens who fled the city to avoid the disease, citizens that included doctors and politicians.  Primarily it was the wealthier citizens who had the option to flee, leaving the poor behind to suffer the worst of the illness. In fact, so many of the city's politician's left the city that the mayor, Matthew Clarkson, was forced to take control of the city in a way that was, technically, illegal, but entirely necessary under the circumstances.  Even the President of the United States, George Washington, left the city for his home at Mount Vernon, though he did not initially intend to stay away as long as he ultimately did.  In fact, he left without any of his important papers and documents, which caused a number of problems for the government and nearly brought it to a halt, as Congress could not safely convene in Philadelphia due to the plague, and many believed that it was unconstitutional for Congress to convene anywhere else. Murphy also highlights the contributions of the Free African Society, who organized many black nurses to help care for the sick.  He points out that initially the doctors were convinced that blacks were immune to the disease, but this theory was ultimately disproved as many of the nurses and other black citizens contracted the illness. Murphy also tells about Bush Hill, a residence that was taken over and converted into a hospital.  Murphy follows the plague to its end in Philadelphia but continues to follow its course through other outbreaks and, ultimately, the discovery of the source of the illness and the fact that it is spread by mosquitoes.

I chose to read this selection when I read about it in the textbook. The authors suggested using it as a companion text to Laurie Halse Anderson's Fever 1793, which I had previously read.  As our state begins to adopt the new Common Core standards, my job as an English teacher is going to change drastically.  The focus will turn from fiction to non-fiction, so I thought that this text might be a good example of a non-fiction that would pair well with a fiction.  Having now read both books, I could certainly see the two texts being used in an English course, but they actually might be more appropriate for use in a collaboration between the history and science departments--a collaboration not seen much at the high school level, but that could be quite powerful with the use of these texts.  The history classes could focus on the political, social, and economic implications of the plague on the early years of our nation, while the science classes could look at the changes in the medical profession over time and the knowledge gained about bacteria, viruses, and the spread of disease.  History teachers will also appreciate Murphy's use of primary sources in his text, and science teachers will enjoy lively class discussions about the ecological implications of using pesticides to control the mosquito population and the dangers of a yellow fever outbreak in the modern world.

References

Murphy, J. (2003). An American plague: The true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 

    1793. New York: Clarion Books.

Chapter 8 Selection: A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson

Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was lynched in 1955 while in Mississippi visiting relatives.  The impetus for his murder was that he allegedly whistled at a white woman.  He husband and brother-in-law then took Emmett from his uncle's home and brutally murdered him.  His mother held an open casket funeral for her son in his hometown of Chicago so that the world could see what the men had done to her son.  An all white, all male jury found then men not guilty, despite his uncle's eye witness identification. After the trial, one of the two acquitted men told a reporter how they had killed Emmett and identified three other men who were involved. This travesty of justice was a catalyst for the civil rights movement.

Marilyn Nelson was nine years old Emmett Till was lynched.  She wanted to write a about his lynching for young people, young people who were the same age Emmett was at the time of this murder. Nelson chose to write a heroic crown of sonnets to honor Till.  She chose to use the form of the Petrarchan sonnet, a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter with an abbacddcefgefg rhyme scheme. The crown of sonnets is made up of fifteen poems.  For the first fourteen poems, the last line of one poem becomes the first line of the next (although the lines are sometimes slightly altered).  The final poem of the crown is composed of the first lines of the previous fourteen sonnets.  The first letter of each line of this final poem also spells out the name Emmett Till.  This heroic crown of sonnets became the book A Wreath for Emmett Till, both a Coretta Scott King and a Michael Printz Award Honor book.  Nelson explains the format for the sonnets in an introduction to the book.

While the poems themselves tell much about Emmett Till's story, Nelson also includes additional information about his life and death in a section at the end of the book titled "Who Was Emmett Till?" Nelson also includes "Sonnet Notes" that provide details about allusions used in the poems, as well as explaining the meaning and intent in the poems.  This information would be invaluable for a teacher using the book in class or for a student reading the book independently.  Finally, the illustrator, Phillipe Lardy, includes an "Artist's Note," explaining his inspiration for the illustrations and symbolism used and its relationship to the poems.  Finally, the author includes a list of references for further information on Emmett Till's murder.

As an English teacher, I can easily see using this powerful set of poems in a unit on poetry.  The poems demonstrate a specific poetic form, but also offer examples of rhyme and rhyme scheme, rhythm, allusion, symbolism, simile, personification, and many more poetic devices.  The book could also be used in a US history class during a study of the civil rights movement.  In fact, the book could be used as a common text in a collaboration between an English class and a history class  The collaboration could also pull in an art class as well to look at the style of the illustrations, as well as the use of symbolism and the relation of the illustrations to the text.

References

Nelson, M. (2005). A wreath for Emmett Till. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Historical Fiction: Copper Sun by Sharon Draper

Copper Sun begins in an African village where a young girl named Amari is growing up peacefully and happily. Suddenly, however, that all changes when her village is attacked by slave traders, and she and hundreds of other Africans are marched across miles of desert to board the slave ships to America. Amari is sold to a plantation owner in South Carolina and becomes the property of the owners son, Clay.  Amari also meets another young girl, Polly, an indentured servant, who at first seems to be difficult and unpleasant, but later becomes Amari's friend.  The two dream of escaping the plantation for a better life. Ultimately, both girls are able to escape to Fort Mose in Florida where they can live in freedom with other runaways and former slaves.

I have taught Sharon Draper's Hazelwood trilogy for several years now and also had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Draper when she came as a guest author to the high school where I worked in South Carolina.  Because of my familiarity with her novels of realistic fiction, I was interested to see how Mrs. Draper would handle a historical fiction novel.  I heard rave reviews about Copper Sun, so I gave it a try.  The story of Amari is a powerful one.  When Draper tells of how the people in Amari's village welcomed the slave traders as guests only to be betrayed and attack, the effect on the reader is powerful.  To see Amari's future taken from her when she had so much to look forward to is heartbreaking.  The description of the deadly trek to the coast and the equally deadly oversea journey to America really brings the horrors of slavery to life for the reader.  Once in America, Amari's experience gives the reader a good look at what life was like for a slave on a Southern plantation.  I think it is interesting, also, that Draper chooses to present the story of an indentured servant, since many readers will not be as aware of this practice.  While I felt the story became a little tedious during the girls' escape to Fort Mose, I was fascinated by the fact that a place like Fort Mose even existed.  It is certainly a part of our nation's history of which I was previously unaware.  I think, too, that the girls' successful escape may not be a realistic ending, but perhaps Draper felt that a somewhat happy ending was necessary after the tragedy of Amari's experience.

One thing I love about Sharon Draper and her books is the wealth of information and teaching aids that she offers online.  As a former National Teacher of the Year, her materials are top notch, making any of her novels a great choice for school libraries.  I have used her materials in teaching the Hazelwood trilogy and been very pleased, and I looked over the materials offered for Copper Sun and found them to be very thorough.  She includes pre- and post-reading activities, discussion questions, ideas for research, and a variety of writing prompts, as well as an additional 19 page unit plan.  I felt that while an English teacher could certainly use the book and materials in class, the wealth of materials might also make a history teacher a bit less hesitant to attack teaching a novel in class and might open the door for some collaboration between history teachers and the media specialist in approaching the novel.

References

Draper, S. (2006). Copper sun. New York: Atheneum.

Draper, S. (n.d.) SharonDraper.com. Retrieved from http://sharondraper.com/index.asp 

Required Reading: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (Non-fiction)

Born to Run is a study in ultrarunning and the masters of this art, the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico.  Author Christopher McDougall began his intensive research of running for personal reasons: his feet hurt while running.  No matter what running shoes he bought, what expert he consulted, he couldn't seem to solve the problem.  His research led him to the Tarahumara, the Running People, who could run literally for days in the hot, treacherous canyons of Mexico in only handmade sandals. McDougall traveled to Mexico where he searched out the mysterious Caballo Blanco, an American who had moved to the Tarahumara region to learn the ways of the mysterious tribe.  McDougall learns that Caballo Blanco wants to set up the race of all races: a fifty mile race across the canyons pitting the Tarahumara against some of the best ultrarunners from  the US.  McDougall's involvement leads him into the world of ultrarunning and running research where he learns that, despite the common belief, humans were born to run and that modern advancements in running shoes have not helped but hindered our attempts.  McDougall begins Tarahumara style training and ultimately overcomes his foot pain and completes Caballo Blanco's fifty mile race.

I am not a non-fiction reader or a runner, so I wasn't overly excited about reading Born to Run.  However, when I started reading, it was actually much more intriguing than I would have ever thought.  The Tarahumara are a fascinating tribe, and there is much to be learned from their way of life that has nothing to do with running (well, perhaps, as McDougall would argue, it has everything to do with running).  The book almost made me want to become a runner--almost. It did make me rethink the whole idea of the expensive running shoes on the market.  The idea that all that cushioning that I have always thought was better for my feet is actually making my feet weaker really makes perfect sense.  Though I'm not a runner, I am a teacher, and I'm on my feet quite a bit.  I've always thought that the more cushioning in my shoes, the better my feet would feel after a long day, but perhaps, after reading Born to Run, I need to rethink that theory.  Apparently I also need to rethink my insistence that my husband by new tennis shoes for basketball rather than continuing to wear his favorite old, worn in pair.  I was interested, too, in the discussion of plantar fasciitis, a common runner's injury, because my mother is actually suffering from this painful problem right now.  She, too, always tries to buy shoes that are supportive and cushioned and, perhaps, that's part of her problem.  She has actually weakened her foot by doing so and made herself more prone to falls and to tears in her plantar fascia. It's all very interesting, and I may have to put some of the theories to the test.  The best part, though, is the fact that I gleaned so much useful information from the book despite the fact that I have no interest in running (unless I were being chased), let alone ultrarunning, which I truly think is rather insane.

Now, to be completely honest, there are parts of the book that I feel could be cut.  The book does get long and is time-consuming to read.  Personally, I was more interested in the story than the research.  I really felt that some of the research tangents McDougall went on could have been left out.  While they do provide support for argument for following the Tarahumara way of life, they sometimes become tedious to read and take away from the real story, and the real story is what will attract and keep readers who aren't avid runners. Still, the book was a national best-seller, so apparently not everyone would agree with my complaints.

References

McDougall, C. (2009).  Born to run. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Class Number Three

Tonight's class was a busy one.  We had some great full-class discussions about our readings, although I do enjoy the small group discussions as well.  I'm happy with a mix, I guess.  The best idea I got from the discussion was pairing Delirium with Romeo and Juliet. As a ninth grade English teacher, I think that is a great idea.  I believe the discussions the book would open up would be amazing.  I will have to talk to my media specialist about getting some copies of the book so I can give it a try. Anyway, we also had a great presentation from the fantasy group which confirmed some of the issues I had with choosing a book for that section--there's just so much overlap.  What's supernatural? What's fantasy? What's horror?  Some books are all three.  The lines are just gray, and I thought the triple Venn activity was a great way to show that.  We also had our poetry slam, which was a lot of fun.  Food makes any activity better, of course, but it was fun guessing who wrote each poem.  It was also interesting which poems we could identify right away and which ones took a few more guesses.  I liked, too, having everyone share an additional poem.  As an English teacher, it's always good to hear new poems that I could share with my students.  At my former school, we had a poetry festival every April that ended with a poetry slam.  It was a huge success every year, and I hope to do something similar when I'm in my own library.  Perhaps I can even work something out at my own school this year.  Sharing the comic strips was great, too.  That's a teaching tool that I rarely use, and it was a good reminder that I should pull some out occasionally, even if it's just for fun.

Required Reading: An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank by Elaine Marie Alphin (Non-fiction)

This non-fiction selection tells the story of the 1913 murder of thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan and the subsequent trial and lynching of Leo Frank.  Mary Phagan was one of many teenagers, both male and female, who worked for the National Pencil Company in Atlanta, Georgia.  Her body was found in the factory by an African American night watchman on the morning following Confederate Memorial Day. It was later determined that Mary came to the factory to collect her pay before joining the Confederate Memorial Day celebrations.  The circumstances of her death, at first, though, were a mystery.  Suspicion naturally fell first on the night watchman who reported finding the body, but the investigators, Detective Black, soon found another suspect: Leo Frank, the factory superintendent.  Black's eye turned to Frank due to the night watchman's statement that he could not reach Frank by phone to report the murder.  Leo Frank was a northern Jew, which made him just as easy a target, or perhaps an even better target, than the African  American night watchman.  The detectives in the case and Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey quickly became convinced that Leo Frank was the murdered and made sure through any means possible, including, but not limited to coercion, that the evidence showed as much.  Leo Frank was tried in a court of law in a farce of a trial, but he was also tried in the media, probably the more important of the two venues.  The people of Atlanta were quick to accept Leo Frank, the Jew, as the killer and needed little evidence, if any, to support the claim.  Even when another viable suspect, Jim Conley, was found, Hugh Dorsey simply made him out to be an accessory. Dorsey's style in the courtroom won the jury and, despite the fact that the case against Frank was based solely on circumstantial evidence, Leo Frank was convicted of murder and sentence to execution by hanging.  After several attempts at an appeal, the then governor of Georgia, John Slaton, commuted Frank's sentence to life imprisonment, giving him the opportunity to continue to pursue means of proving his innocence.  Frank was attacked in prison, his throat slashed, but he managed to survive, thanks to the quick actions of so fellow prisoners who happened to be doctors, only to be taken and hanged by a lynch mob, a lynch mob organized by and including politicians, police officers, and a judge.  None of the members of the mob were ever punished for their crime.  In 1982, a statement by Alonzo Mann, who had worked as the office boy at the factory at the time of the murder, appeared to at once prove the innocence of Leo Frank and the guilt of Jim Conley.  Mann stated that he saw Jim Conley holding the body of a young girl, possibly already dead, near the trapdoor that lead to the basement of the factory.  Conley threatened to kill Mann if he ever spoke of what he saw, and though Mann told his mother and father, they encouraged him to keep quiet, which he did until the age of 83.  In 1986, Leo Frank received a posthumous pardon for the murder, though the pardon did not acknowledge his innocence but rather the state's inability to protect him during his time as a prisoner.

The story of Leo Frank is captivating and terrifying.  I was shocked that the hatred of Jews in the 1913 South was more powerful than the hatred of African Americans at the time.  So often we focus on the racism against African Americans that we forget that there were other groups who suffered as well.  Leo Frank's story is a grim reminder of this.  The fact that the judicial system in American, though this occurred nearly 100 years ago, could fail a citizen so miserably is truly frightening.  Thankfully, I know that improvements have been made to the system to try to prevent such atrocities from happening again (for example, laws against coercion), but the truth is that the system still isn't perfect and not everyone follows the rules.  I was shocked, too, at the power the media had over the trial, even in 1913.  Today, it is common practice to try high profile criminals in the court of public opinion, just look at the recent trial of Casey Anthony, but I had no idea that the newspapers were so involved, and so influential, in trials in the early 20th century.  And the fact that the majority of citizens in Atlanta mindlessly accepted the facts as they were presented by the corrupt solicitor and the greedy newspapers just speaks to the rampant racism of the time.  The entire fiasco is a blemish on the history of our nation, our judicial system, and on the South.

An Unspeakable Crime would be an excellent choice for use in a US History or Civics class studying the time period or the history of the judicial system in the United States. History teachers will appreciate the use and inclusion of primary sources in the book.  I think the text could also work well as a companion text in a American Literature class studying the witchcraft hysteria presented in The Crucible and the related hysteria of McCarthyism in the 1950's, as the prosecution of Leo Frank was certainly another prime example of a witch hunt.  As the state of North Carolina adopts the new Common Core standards over the next couple of years, the emphasis in high schools English will shift from fiction to non-fiction, and a text like An Unspeakable Crime will be precisely what teachers are looking for to use in the classroom.

References

Alphin, E. M. (2010). An unspeakable crime: The prosecution and persecution of Leo Frank. 

     Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books. 

Friends and Society: Invisible by Pete Hautman

Doug Hanson is a nerd, an outcast, and a target for bullies due to his strange behavior, most specifically his stalking of his classmate Melissa. He is obsessed with building a matchstick town and railway in his basement.  Doug sees a psychiatrist  and is supposed to take medication (he doesn't always) to help him deal with his issues, particularly with a painful secret from his past, a secret he is really hiding from himself.  Still, Doug's life isn't all bad: he always has Andy. Andy is everything Doug is not: athletic, handsome, popular.  Despite their drastic differences, though, Doug and Andy are the best of friends.  Next door neighbors, the two boys talk every night.  The only thing they don't talk about is what happened at the Tuttle Place, although this incident is clearly the key to what's really wrong with Doug and why his parents are not pleased about his ongoing friendship with Andy.  It is clear Doug is headed for a catastrophe and eventually he must come face-to-face with what happened that night at the Tuttle Place.  The truth is that Doug and Andy were playing with matches at the Tuttle Place and accidentally started a fire, a fire that killed Andy.  Doug couldn't accept a reality without Andy, so he continued their friendship in his mind.  Finally forced to accept the truth about his friend, Doug is driven to a crisis point and sets fire to his matchstick creation.  The end of the novel is ambiguous: Doug finds himself a patient at the Madham Burn Unit, Madham being the name of his matchstick town.  It is up to the reader to decide whether Doug survived the fire and has simply created another false reality for himself to help him deal with the truth about his life or if Doug actually died in the fire.

I truly enjoyed Invisible.  While some readers may figure out the truth of the story long before it is revealed, I was able to wrap myself up in Doug's world and the twist ending totally worked on me.  Sure, I knew something was wrong and that the Tuttle Place was the key to the truth, but I let myself be carried along by Doug and his story.  The fact is that there are so many Dougs out there, students who are dealing with serious issues, who are bullied and treated as outcasts, who's reality is so dim they need an escape, whether that escape be a false reality as in Doug's case or whether it be an escape into books, video games, or drugs.  That's what really makes this book so powerful: that fact that it is so timely.  While this book was published in 2006, the topic of bullying brought up in the novel has really come to the forefront over the last year or so.  Teenagers have trouble dealing with and accepting those who, like Doug, are different, whose behavior seems bizarre, unexplainable, and maybe even dangerous. Doug's story shows, though, that there is always an explanation, if one is willing to dig deep enough.

References

Hautman, P. (2006). Invisible. New York: Simon and Schuster. 

Supernatural: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl is the first in a series by Eoin Colfer that follows the adventures (misadventures?) of twelve-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl.  The Fowls are a powerful and wealthy crime family, but since the disappearance of Artemis's father, things have been a bit shaky for the family: while still quite wealthy, they have gone from billionaire status to millionaire status, and Artemis's mother has had a mental breakdown and will not leave the attic of their mansion.  Genius that he is, Artemis concocts a plan to renew his family's wealth, plan that involves kidnapping a fairy for ransom.  With the help of his bodyguard, Artemis tracks down and translates a copy of the Book, the rule book for all fairy folk, who are known as the People.  The People include fairies, sprites, goblins, leprechauns (really LEPrecon, a sort of police force), dwarves, and trolls.  Their main objective is to keep their existence hidden from humans, or Mud People.  Artemis plans to use this to his advantage and collect a ransom of one ton of gold. Enter Holly Short, the first female LEPrecon officer.  After an encounter with a troll reveals that Holly is in desperate need of renewing her magic, she is ordered to complete the Ritual, collecting a seed in a special place and then returning it to the earth.  Using information in the Book, Artemis is able to capture Holly as she attempts to perform the Ritual, and his master plan begins.  Holly, however, is no pushover, and her Commander, Root, is determined to get her back alive.  The fairies perform a time-stop on Fowl Manor and are ultimately driven to send in a bio-bomb that should kill every living thing in Fowl Manor, including Artemis Fowl, thus allowing the fairies to enter the Manor and retrieve their gold.  For the first time in history, though, someone is able to escape the time-stop: the genius Artemis figures out that by simply falling asleep, he and his two partners can escape unharmed and keep the gold.  A brief attack of conscience leads Artemis to return part of the gold to the fairies, but he manages to get Holly to cure his mother and still comes away with approximately 15 million dollars worth of gold ingots. He has, however, made a formidable enemy is Holly Short and is far from satisfying his thirst for wealth and the reestablishment of his family's former glory, so there is no doubt that Colfer will share further adventures involving Fowl and the fairies in subsequent books.

I found Artemis Fowl to be a quick and enjoyable read.  Colfer laces humor throughout the novel and creates a cast compelling characters: Artemis, Butler, Holly, Root, Foaly, and Cudgeon.  His fairy world is also well-developed.  In the background, Colfer touches on environmental issues, but this isn't fully developed, at least not in this first book of the series.  He also addresses a number of themes, including friendship and loyalty, family, ambition, women's rights, and greed. With the title character being only twelve years old, the novel may appeal to a younger crowd, but the long chapters may be daunting for more reluctant readers.

References

Colfer, E. (2001). Artemis Fowl. New York: Scholastic.

Required Reading: Kick by Walter Dean Myers and Ross Workman

Kick is a typical Walter Dean Myers story about a teenage boy who makes some poor decisions and finds himself in trouble with the law.  In this case, the boy is thirteen-year-old Kevin Johnson, a soccer player who lives with his mother and abuela. Kevin's father was a police officer killed in the line of duty.  One night, Kevin finds himself in a situation where he wants to do the right thing and help a friend, but everything goes wrong, and he finds himself in juvenile detention for kidnapping, stealing a car, and a few other felony offenses after he crashes a car belonging to the father of his friend Christy. The judge, Judge Kelly, however, sees some potential in Kevin, and particularly since his father was an officer, wants to help him get on the right track.  He enlists the help of his friend, Sergeant Brown, who agrees to meet with Kevin and see what he can do.  Kevin is facing the possibility of serving time for his alleged crimes, but Sergeant Brown gets the feeling quickly that there is more to the story than Kevin wants to share, but he also sees that Kevin has a temper and needs to learn to control it.  Overtime, Kevin begins to trust Sergeant Brown and begins to take his advice to heart, learning to control his temper on and off the soccer field. He also tries to help Sergeant Brown with a case involving the exploitation of Hispanic workers, including Dolores, Christy's maid.  In the end, he opens up to Sergeant Brown about what really happened the night of his arrest: Christy called him, crying, because her father was abusing her depressed mother, and she couldn't take it any longer. It was Christy who initially took her father's car, but Kevin was driving it at the time of the accident, trying to get it home to Christy's father and keep her out of trouble.  Through the efforts of Sergeant Brown, Kevin avoids jail, and Christy's father agrees to seek help for his wife.  In the background of these events is the story of Kevin and his soccer team and their bid for a state title. This side story helps to further demonstrate Kevin's growing maturity throughout the novel.

I have enjoyed several of Walter Dean Myers's novels and regularly teach his novel Monster. While I wouldn't say that Kick is his best work, the idea behind the novel is what loved and would like to share with my students.  Myers co-wrote the novel with Ross Workman, a teenager he met through an email.  The two wrote the novel in alternating voices, Myers writing the voice of Sergeant Brown and Workman writing the voice of Kevin.  While Kevin's story is not as captivating as some I have read by Myers, I can certainly see its benefit in the classroom.  Reluctant readers will enjoy the easy but compelling read, and students will be impressed by the teen author.  I can see this novel inspiring some young writers and providing an opportunity for some writing exercises using two voices.  The novel also touches on some serious issues that could spark some meaningful class discussions: loss of a parent, immigration, friendship and loyalty, spousal abuse, depression, and suicide.

References

Myers, W. D. & Workman, R. (2011). Kick. New York: Harper Teen.

Required Reading: Girl: A Novel by Bart Bare

Girl is the story of Loren Creek, a fourteen-year-old girl who lives on the family farm with her mother in the mountains of Tennessee.  Due to her mother's battle with Huntington's Chorea, Loren has taken over running the house: maintaining the house, farm,  and livestock, cooking, cleaning, and paying bills. She also cares for her mother.  When Loren's mother becomes to sick to stay at home and is hospitalized, Loren is placed in foster care.  Her first two placements are a disaster, and she makes a case to her judge, Edythe Tilson, that she be allowed to care for herself and remain at her family home.  Because of her young age, the Judge, who in her heart knows that the girl could survive on her own, cannot agree, and upon her mother's death, Loren is placed in a third, and decidedly better, foster home.  At this point, though, the judge's two teenage daughters have become involved, and the three girls have made plans for Loren to run away from her foster family to Boone, North Carolina, where the older Tilson daughter will be attending Appalachian State in the fall.  Loren Creek will become Lorne Land and will avoid detection by living as a boy.

Loren successfully runs away and finds a friend and supporter in an old widower farmer named Fields Gragg.  Fields agrees to help Loren in her deception and allows her to rent his family home.  The two become fast friends, and Loren comes to call Fields "Grandpa," not just as part of the ruse, but as true testament of her love for him.  Faked documents allow Loren to enroll at High Country High as Lorne Land where she soon develops a close circle of friends and gains the respect of classmates and teachers alike.  Loren maintains her friendship with the Tilson daughters, spending every Sunday afternoon with them.  She runs for the cross country team and eventually joins the football team to fill the need for a kicker.  Loren struggles with the need to be boy and the desire to be a girl, but manages to stay successfully safe from detection by her determined social worker, Mr. Herms. Loren even manages to find Fields Gragg's first love, his teacher Miss Beverly, who he quickly marries.

Loren faces a number of serious challenges to her life as a boy, but two particular incidents lead to the eventual unraveling of her male persona.  First, she is brutally attacked by the jealous ex-boyfriend of Meredith Tilson.  The boy, Lance, is first jealous of the relationship he believes to exist between Meredith and "Lorne," but, just prior to his attack, he discovers that "Lorne" is actually a girl.  Drunk, he breaks into her home and attempts to rape her, but Loren defends herself and is rescued by Fields and his dog, Sugar, both of whom nearly kill Lance.  Trouble from Lance's wealthy father threatens the safety of Loren's identity, but determination and kindness from Fields leads to a friendship with Lance's parents and a second chance for Lance.  Second, Loren takes a bad hit in a football game after scoring a touchdown and winds up in the hospital.  Obviously, her pretended gender comes to light and soon everyone knows the truth.  After hearing her story, though, her friends, coach, and even teachers support her. Unfortunately, this isn't enough to keep her hidden from Mr. Herms, and Loren winds up in court again in front of Judge Tilson so that final decision can be made about her placement. When Mr. Herms shows up with Loren's biological father, Virgil Richards, whom she had never met and who never knew his daughter existed, a deal is struck: Loren will be the responsibility of her father who will allow her to continue living next to Fields and Beverly Gragg and finish high school at High Country High.  Loren learns over time that her mother's belief that her father was unfaithful was untrue, and that her father did not abandon them: her mother simply never told him Loren existed.  Virgil also begins a relationship with Judge Tilson that ultimately ends in marriage, making Loren and the two Tilson daughters true sisters.

Girl is a coming-of-age novel.  Loren has to learn about love and friendship and has to learn the difference between charity and kindness.  Her stubborn refusal of assistance at first acts to her detriment, but through her relationship with Meredith and Tara Tilson and Fields Gragg, she comes to understand the power of love and friendship and learns that leaning on others in not, in fact, a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.

Personally, I did not enjoy Girl.  While Loren Creek is a compelling character and the premise of her story is an interesting and moving on, I felt that the delivery of the story was weak at best.  Although I understand the concept of "suspension of disbelief" when reading fiction, there were a number of aspects of the story I found difficult to believe.  For example, I didn't understand why Mattie Hooks didn't simply take Loren on as her charge and move into Loren's house.  Mattie was living with her son, who had no children for her to care for, and was the executor of Sarah Creek's will, so it seemed reasonable to me that this would be a perfect solution to Loren's problem, one I would've expected Loren's mother to specify in her will. Also, although I really liked the character of Fields Gragg, the idea that an old man would rent his family home to a fourteen-year-old girl pretending to be a boy seemed like a stretch.  In most cases, such an arrangement would also seem quite suspicious.  I didn't find the complete turn around in Lance's father as a result of his relationship with Fields to be believable either.  Call me cynical, but Willard Van Ripper did not seem like the kind of person who would or could change, and his complete turn around seemed to good to believe. Furthermore, I didn't buy that the courts would let Loren or Fields Gragg off so easily, no matter how many letters people sent to the governor. There were also two cases in the novel that I thought a little too easy and obvious: the marriage of Fields and Beverly and the relationship between Virgil and Edythe.

Another problem I had with the novel was a number of loose ends.  The apparent attraction between Loren and Bryce early on, the more obvious attraction between Loren and Meredith later, and the Lance storyline.  None of these issues were successfully resolved in the novel, and I felt that the author either should have cut them out completely or given them the time needed for an adequate resolution. I also noted some discrepancies in the novel.  For example, Meredith's proclamation at one point that she would pursue the law like her mother and her later change to pre-med without explanation.  Obviously, people change majors all the time, but this change seemed out of place for this character, almost as if the author had simply forgotten what he wrote earlier.

Overall, I felt that the writing in Girl was weak, the editing was sloppy, and the publishing was unprofessional.  For me, the writing didn't flow, the story wasn't well organized or developed, and the use of dialect seemed unnatural at times. The author claims in the afterword that his editor corrected hundreds of mistakes, but unfortunately, she seemed to miss hundreds more.  As far as the publishing, I thought the formatting (i.e. font, layout) looked unprofessional at best, cheap at worst. The novel was locally published, and that fact is abundantly clear. I know that I'm giving the book a harsh criticism, but honestly, it was a hard novel for me to get through, and, had it not been required reading, I would've put it down.  The characters in the story have potential, but the authors never reaches that potential.  I understand the draw of a novel set in the local area, and perhaps my own unfamiliarity with Boone hindered my enjoyment of the novel, but I simply didn't feel that the setting saved the story.

References

Bare, B. (2010). Girl: A novel. Vilas, North Carolina: Canterbury House Publishing.

Eating Disorders: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Wintergirls are girls whose eating disorders have driven to the no man's land between alive and dead.  Anderson's novel tells the story of Lia, an anorexic and cutter, and her best friend Cassie, a bulimic. The novel begins with Cassie's death alone in a motel room. The night she dies, Cassie had called her estranged friend Lia thirty-three times.  Lia didn't answer.  Cassie had hurt her too deeply when she ended their friendship, blaming Cassie for all of her problems.  Lia couldn't have known what state Cassie was in, how desperate her situtaion, but she still suffers with guilt.  Lia has been hospitalized twice at New Seasons, a facility for those suffering with eating disorders.  Still Lia has not recovered from her disease, she has simply developed ways to fool her parents and stepmother into believing she's staying above the danger zone.  Lia is obsessed with calorie intake and calorie burn.  She can recite the calorie count of every bite of food she puts into her body.  At times she spends hours on the stair climber after her dad and stepmother are asleep.  One day, for example, she ends that day at a 1,500 calorie deficit.  Lia is losing a dangerous amount of weight but hides it from her stepmother's weekly weigh ins by drinking water prior to weighing and sewing quarters into the pockets of her robe. As Lia's weight slips lower and lower (99 pounds, 95 pounds, 89 pound), her mind becomes increasingly cloudy. Her parents and stepmother become concerned and try to talk to her, but each one is busy in his or her own way ( Dad with his book, Mom with her patients, Stepmom with her daughter), and they let the situation continue to spiral out of control for far too long.  Lia also begins cutting again, first, just small cuts on her hips, but later, as her disease hits its climax, she cuts her neck and between her ribs, requiring thirty-three stiches and a hospital stay to get her stabilized.  Her younger sister is the one who finds her covered in blood.  She forced to stay with her mother until a bed opens for her at New Seasons and will be watched constantly by her mother or a paid nurse.  Her intake and output will also be constantly monitored.  Her parents are finally taking her situation seriously, though her mother and father worry that New Seasons will not help Lia because Lia doesn't really want help.  Lia is also scheduled for an appointment with her psychiatrist.  When her stepmother takes her to the appointment and tells her the pain and problems she has caused her stepsister, as well as how she will likely no longer be allowed to live at her father's, Lia is driven to another crisis point.  She finally opens up to her psychiatrist and shares that she is seeing Cassie's ghost and that Cassie wants her to join her in death.  The psychiatrist feels that Lia has made an important breakthrough, but she her stepmother doesn't show up to pick her up on time, she runs, emptying her bank account and searching out the hotel where Cassie died and the young man who found her.  She is hoping to run away with him, to leave behind her family and the pain she has caused. When the boy ends up leaving Lia as she sleeps, she soon finds herself closer to death than she has ever been.  She also finds, though, that she isn't ready to die.  Amazingly, with direction from Cassie's ghost, she manages to call her mother for help, and she survives.  She returns to New Seasons for a third time, but perhaps the third time is a charm because on this trip Lia has learned that she wants to live, and she is listening to the doctors and her family and her body for the first time.

I have enjoyed every novel by Laurie Halse Anderson that I have read, and Wintergirls is no exception.  Like Ellen Hopkins's Crank, I feel that Wintergirls is a novel that all teens should read, particularly young women.  In today's world of fad diets, miraculous fat loss pills, bone thin models, and airbrushed magazines, it is no surprise that young men and women end up with a false self concept and are driven into the world of eating disorders.  The additional issues that all young people deal with, like divorce or absentee parents, as in Lia's case, on serves to worsen the problem.  These teens want control, and their bodies and what they eat are one thing they can control.  Wintergirls shows the truly ugly side of eating disorders--what they do not only to bodies but also what they do to family and friends.  The novel shows, without apology, that death is a possible result, but that life is also a choice. The novel is accurate and timely and powerful and should be a part of every high school library's collection.

References

Anderson, L. H. (2009). Wintergirls. New York: Viking. 

Adolescent Drug Use: Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Crank is an incredibly powerful novel, and the first in a series of novels by Ellen Hopkins dealing with a variety of young adult issues.  I was introduced to the book by a student, and I am so glad that I finally sat down to read it.  I was nearly in tears at the end, though much of that was probably pregnancy-induced, as you will see.  The novel is written as a series of poems that reveal the story of a teenage girl who becomes addicted to meth.

Crank is about a sixteen year old girl named Kristina Snow who lives with her mother, stepfather, and little brother in Reno, Nevada.  She also has an older sister is college who is a lesbian.  Kristina is a straight A student and model child, but she has some baggage from her past to deal with: her absentee father.  Kristina convinces her mother to let her visit her father for three weeks in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Kristina heads to the airport with an idealized view of her father and the visit that could not be farther from the truth:  the fact is that her dad is an addict who lives and works in a run-down apartment in a bad neighborhood.  Kristina has very little experience with boys, has never even kissed a boy, but all of this changes when she meets Adam on her first day at her dad's.  Adam seems to already have a girlfriend, but that doesn't get in the way of his pursuing Kristina.  Kristina is immediately taken with Adam, who clearly seems to be bad news, but this is the least of her problems.  Kristina is also developing a fearless alter ego, Bree, and Bree is getting stronger everyday.  Soon enough, Adam has introduce Kristina to meth, and Bree has accepted.  The downhill slide is fast, and Kristina is addicted to "the monster."  When she heads back home to Reno, she finds that she can't give up the meth, and she can't get rid of Bree. Kristina's new-found confidence as Bree leads her to two boys: the handsome Brendan, who seems like Mr. Right, and bad boy Chase, who seems like Mr. Wrong.  Both offer the promise of meth, so Kristina pursues them both.  Unfortunately she finds truth in the old adage "you can't judge a book by its cover."  Chase appears to truly care about Kristina, though he does take her farther into the world of addiction, while Brendan ends up date raping her after supplying her with meth and getting her high.  Kristina continues her downward spiral, losing her friends and her standing at school and ultimately catching the attention of her mother and stepfather due to her drastic change in behavior.  When Kristina overhears her mom and stepfather discussing the possibility that she is taking drugs and making plans to try to investigate further, Kristina sneaks out of the house only to be caught breaking curfew by a cop and taken to juvenile detention.  One might think this experience would scare Kristina straight, and maybe it would've scared Kristina straight, but Bree simply uses it as an opportunity to network, finding a new supplier through her roommate in the detention center and soon enough becoming a dealer as well as a user.  There seems to be no end in sight for Kristina's downfall until she finds out the unimaginable: she is pregnant.  At first, she assumes the baby belongs to Chase, but a visit to Planned Parenthood tells a terrible truth: the baby belongs to Brendan.  Chase, for all his faults, still declares his love for Kristina and vows to stand by her and the baby, even asking her to marry him.  Kristina briefly considers an abortion but changes her mind when she believes she feels the baby move.  She turns down Chase's proposal, allowing him to pursue his dreams by attending school at USC. She continues school herself and graduates six days before her son is born.  The pregnancy helps her put her addiction in perspective and gives her a reason to fight it, but it is an addiction, and one that she may not every fully recover from.  Despite some slip ups during pregnancy, her baby is born seemingly healthy, though she does note that he cries more and sleeps less than most babies, a possible sign of withdrawl.  Still, in the end, the desire for meth is ever present, and Kristina realizes it will never completely go away.

Crank is primarily devoted to drug addiction in teens, focusing on meth, but also touching on alcohol, tobacco, and ecstasy. The novel does, however, focus on other young adult issues, including divorce and blended families, parent issues, homosexuality, rape, sex, and pregnancy.  The author explains in the "Author's Note" that while the story is fictional,  it is loosely based on her own daughter's experience, as well as stories of other addicted teens.  She stresses to readers that "Nothing in this story is impossible."  The novel is the author's attempt to bring to light the horrors of addiction, and she does so in a deeply moving and powerful way.  I think this is an important novel for any teen to read, so that he or she can see that one bad decision, one moment of weakness or experimentation can lead to a lifetime of pain and suffering.

References

Hopkins, E. (2004). Crank. New York: Simon Pulse.

Required Reading: will grayson, will grayson by John Green and David Levithan

will grayson, will grayson is the story of two teenagers who share a name and also a problem: being themselves. Authors John Green and David Levithan tell the story of these two young men in alternating chapters that are further distinguished by the use of capitalization (or the lack thereof).  Central to the story, though, is the character of Tiny Cooper, the best friend of one Will Grayson and the short-time boyfriend of the other. 

The first Will Grayson lives by some very strict rules: shut up and don’t care.  These rules are making it impossible for Will Grayson to be himself and equally impossible for him to find a fulfilling romantic relationship.  The second will grayson suffers from very serious depression and has an extremely complicated relationship with Maura, a girl who seems to want to be will grayson’s girlfriend but who also suspects that will grayson may be gay.

will grayson is, in fact, gay and has met a boy, Isaac, online who seems to be everything he could want in a boyfriend.  Ultimately, will grayson and Isaac plan to meet, and this decision puts Will Grayson and will grayson on a collision course.  When Isaac doesn’t show up for their date, will grayson discovers that Isaac never existed—“Isaac” was really Maura.  will grayson is devastated, and, at first, the only person there to help pick up the pieces is Will Grayson.  Soon enough, however, Tiny Cooper comes along, and it isn’t long before will grayson and Tiny Cooper are a couple.  Their relationship gives will grayson the courage to come out to his mother and his small circle of friends and begin the process of becoming comfortable with himself.

Also struggling with accepting his true self is the other Will Grayson.  His shut up and don’t care attitude is put to the test when he begins to develop an interest in Jane, a relationship fully approved and completely encouraged by Tiny Cooper.  In order to find happiness with Jane, Will Grayson must finally admit he does care and become willing not only to speak, but to speak the truth. 

The real center of this story of two Will Graysons, though, is Tiny Cooper. Tiny Cooper is far from tiny; in fact, he is a huge offensive lineman who just happens to also be openly gay.  Tiny is not only literally huge, but figuratively as well—he is the epitome of the phrase larger-than-life. Tiny is also a playwright: he has penned the autobiographical play Tiny Dancer and is in the process of bringing the story to the stage. Tiny loves love: he falls in “love” on a regular basis.  Unfortunately, the “love” never lasts very long, at least not until Tiny meets will grayson.  The two date for a month, a record for Tiny Cooper, before will grayson breaks Tiny’s heart.  The experience, though, teaches Tiny some truths about love and friendship, and he is driven to rewrite his play, now entitled Hold Me Closer, a play all about love. The play production brings both Will Graysons and Tiny together again.  Will Grayson realizes his critical place in Tiny’s life, and will grayson helps Tiny finally feel appreciated. 

In the end, will grayson, will grayson really isn’t about homosexuality; that is just a vehicle for a story about love, friendship, and acceptance.  Sure, acceptance and tolerance of homosexuality is part of the story, but this novel is less about accepting others than it is about accepting oneself. The three main characters, Will Grayson, will grayson, and Tiny Cooper, all have to learn to accept themselves for who they are before they can accept and appreciate one another.  So, while this novel deals with homosexuality, the themes and lessons are universal, and anyone, gay or straight, can enjoy this novel. The characters are engaging and entertaining, even though the subject matter is heavy.  There are some great parent examples in the novel, as well: Will Grayson’s parents and will grayson’s mother.  will grayon’s mother, for example, demonstrates how a parent should handle his or her child’s “coming out.”   The characters also show that everyone has a secret, and no one’s life is as simple as it may seem from the outside, an important lesson for teens.  Will Grayson pretends to shut up and not care, but he, in fact, cares very deeply.  will grayson seems heartless but actually suffers from serious depression and is struggling with his sexuality. Tiny Cooper seems to be full of life and confidence, but he actually struggles with his self-concept due to his size.  No one’s life is perfect; no one’s life is easy: that is the real lesson of will grayson, will grayson.  We are all struggling with something, and the only way to get through it to offer one another friendship, acceptance, and above all, love.

References

Green, J. & Levithan, D. (2010). will grayson, will grayson. New York: Dutton.

Fantasy: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

The Lost Hero is the first novel in Rick Riordan’s new The Heroes of Olympus series.  This new series picks up where Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series left off and deals with the Roman gods and goddesses, the counterparts of the Greek gods and goddesses in the Percy Jackson novels. The Lost Hero tells the story of demigod Jason, who wakes up on a school bus headed to the Grand Canyon with no memory of who he is or how he came to be there.  He is with his apparent girlfriend, Piper, and best friend, Leo, who, it turns out, are also demigods. Jason begins to uncover the truth when he and his friends are attacked at the Grand Canyon by venti, storm spirits, and he discovers that his teacher, Coach Hedge, is actually a satyr charged with protecting him.  Annabeth, from the Percy Jackson novels, shows up hoping to find out information about Percy, who is missing, but, of course, she only finds Jason, Piper, and Leo.  She takes the three of them to Camp Half Blood where it is discovered that Jason is a son of Zeus, Piper is a daughter of Aphrodite, and Leo is a son of Hephaestus.  The three new heroes are then sent on their first quest: to save Hera.  It soon becomes clear that the real enemy is Gaea, one of the Titans, and that she has captured Hera in order to raise her son, the giant Porphyrion.  The heroes must save Hera, and Piper’s father, from the giant Enceladus, and try to stop the Titans from destroying the Olympians and taking back their power. In the end, they successfully save Hera and Piper’s dad, but are unable to stop the real Gaea. Jason also remembers that he was raised in a camp somewhat like Camp Half-blood but in service to the Roman gods and goddesses. It becomes clear that Hera has switched Jason and Percy in an attempt to bring the Greek and Roman demigods together to defeat the Titans. This, of course, leaves the door open for Riordan’s next book in this new series. 

I am a fantasy lover, so this new series is right up my alley.  I really enjoyed the Percy Jackson series, and I’m happy that the stories of those characters are continuing in this new series.  As an English teacher, I am particularly fond of the both these series because of what they can teach students about Greek and Roman mythology under the guise of an enjoyable story.  I have found that my students who have read the Percy Jackson series are quite knowledgeable about the Greek gods and goddesses as a result and bring that prior knowledge to their study of such works as The Odyssey.  I am hopeful that the Heroes of Olympus series will become equally as popular and will provide students will additional knowledge about the Greek and Romans gods and their connection to one another, making it easier for students grasp these connections in a classroom setting.  This knowledge will be helpful, too, for students in World History who study Ancient Greece and Rome from a historical and cultural perspective. 

References

Riordan, R. (2010). The lost hero. New York: Disney-Hyperion Books.

Required Reading: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium is a dystopian novel set in Portland in the future after the United States has closed all of its borders.  Scientists have found a cure for a dreaded disease: amor deliria nervosa or love. Amor deliria nervosa has a number of unpleasant symptoms, but ultimately, it always ends in death. Thankfully, at eighteen, all US citizens are cured. Prior to the cure, each person is submitted to an evaluation and then given a list of five possible matches.  Those who score well can attend university; others go right to work.  Eventually, each person is married to one of the potential matches. Married couples are told how many children to have.  Portland, like all other cities, is surrounded by an electrified fence and guarded at all times so that the Invalids who live in the Wilds outside the cities cannot get in the cities. Really, all of the Wilds and the dangerous Invalids were destroyed in the Blitz, and the fences and guards are just an extra precaution. All citizens are required to carry identification that may be checked at any time. Uncureds have a curfew of 9 PM.  Regulators police the streets. Anyone caught out after curfew is subject to punishment.  Anyone suspected of being a sympathizer or rebel can be sent to the Crypts or executed.  The government holds random raids to check for sympathizers.  Only government approved music and reading is allowed.  Citizens are to mold their lives after the Safety, Health, and Happiness Handbook, or the Book of Shhh. All of these rules are for the protection of the people.  After the cure, there is no love and, therefore, no pain or regret.  Life is better.  One can be happy.

This is the world Lena is living in.  At seventeen and a senior in high school, Lena is preparing for her evaluations and eventual cure.  Lena knows in the danger of amor deliria nervosa.  It killed her mother who, after three attempts at the cure were unsuccessful, committed suicide.  Lena is terrified that she is like her mother and anxiously awaits the date of her cure.  She practices for her evaluation so that she can supply all of the correct answers and score well.  She is appalled by her best friend Hana's some what rebellious attitude about the evaluations and procedures.  Still, at the evaluation, some of Hana's practiced answers come out all wrong: she says her favorite color is gray and that Romeo and Juliet, a cautionary tale, is beautiful.  She knows that she is failing miserably at her evaluation, but she can't seem to stop herself.  As luck would have it, though, Lena's evaluation is interrupted by a stampede of cows, apparently arranged by a rebel groups of Invalids and sympathizers.  All of the evaluations will be repeated, and Lena will get a chance to redeem herself.

The only problem is that, after the stampede, everything has changed for Lena.  During the chaos, Lena caught sight of a handsome young man watching the bizarre incident and laughing.  Lena is immediately intrigued by this boy. At the same time, Lena's friend Hana is becoming involved in dangerous behavior, sneaking out after curfew to listen to forbidden music.  Lena, worried for her friend's safety, but also curious, attends one of the parties and meets the mystery boy. His name is Alex, and he is cured, but it isn't long before Lena clearly begins developing feelings for him.  Soon enough, the once frightened, obedient Lena is breaking all the rules to be with Alex.  As Lena travels down this dangerous path of rebellion, she begins to learn some truths that have long been hidden from her not only by the government, but by her own family as well.  Most importantly, though, she learns that Alex really isn't cured, nor is he a citizen of Portland.  Alex is an Invalid. His cure scars are faked, as is his identity.  The Wilds are real, as he shows Lena one night, and there are many more Invalids and sympathizers than the government would like anyone to know.  Quickly, everything Lena has been taught about the world she lives in begins to crumble, and she sees her world for what is really is: a prison.  As her cure moves ever closer, Lena decides to run away with Alex to the Wilds, but their plans go horribly wrong when they are caught by regulators before they can make their escape.  Alex escapes, but Lena is taken home where she will be kept hostage until her procedure.  In the end, Alex rescues her but ends up making the ultimate sacrifice for her safety and freedom and becoming a Christ-figure in the novel, a bringer of truth and salvation.

Delirium is my favorite of the required readings so far.  The story grabbed me from the start, but by the last half of the novel, I could not put it down.  I became quickly invested in Lena as a character and wanted desperately for she and Alex to make it.  I was also intrigued by other characters, such as Lena's best friend Hana and her cousin Grace. I found Hana's desire for rebellion and freedom contrasted to her ultimate acceptance of her fate and the cure intriguing as it symbolized the ultimate power of the society to control its citizens.  Grace's silent rebellion and amazing depth of understanding at a young age gave me, as it did Lena, a hope for the future.  The concept, too, like so many dystopian novels, is gripping in its believability.  How hard would it be for our world to turn into the world of Delirium?  Not nearly hard enough.  With the violence in our world today, wouldn't a cure for such pain and suffering really be  a blessing?  Sadly, it probably wouldn't take much to convince people of this lie.  A world with no war and very little violence and crime might be so tempting that giving up freedom wouldn't be too big a sacrifice. Because I became so invested in this world and its characters, I was bit disappointed at the end.  I wanted a happy ending, and I didn't get it.  But maybe that it for the best because it is real.  I'm hopeful, too, that Oliver will write a follow up to Delirium.  She left a number of loose ends that could lead into a sequel:  the fates of Lena, her mother, Grace, Hana, and maybe even Alex (isn't it ridiculous that I can't completely give up my hope for a happy ending for those two?  Even despite the references to Romeo and Juliet that foreshadowed a less than happy ending all along the way?).

References

Oliver, L. (2011). Delirium. New York: Harper. 

Class Number Two

Tonight was our second meeting for LIB 5160.  My group presented on comics and graphic novels and shared a number of different graphic novels for the class to check out.  Everyone also shared information about the banned books they read.  Several of the books mentioned were books I had already read: ttyl, Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, and The Kite Runner, for example. The variety of banned books was interesting: some were primarily for entertainment (like ttyl and Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging), while others were more thought-provoking (like Unwind and The Kite Runner). Regardless of the differences, however, all had been subject to censorship.  So often it seems, too, that people want to censor books that they haven't read, complaining about foul language or sex scenes that upon actually reading the text don't seem to exist or simply listening to what others have said or written about a particular text but never reading the book itself to make a personal judgement. To close the night, we met in groups to discuss our ya articles and award winners. I really enjoyed discussing these in small groups so that we were able to have a more in depth conversation than whole class discussions sometimes allow.  It was great, too, to hear about more books that I can read this summer for class and share with my students this fall.

Required Reading: The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams

The narrator of Katie William’s The Space Between Trees is Evie, a sometimes painfully awkward teen who delivers newspapers to the upper class subdivision Hokepe Woods on Sunday mornings.  Each week, she finds a way to meet up with Jonah, a young man whose job it is to remove dead animals from the woods so that the residents of the subdivision don’t have to encounter such sights on their leisurely walks. Evie clearly has a crush on Jonah and tries to catch his attention as more than a friend, but seemingly to no avail.  One Sunday morning, Jonah enters the woods to find much more that he bargained for: the body of a young, murdered girl.  Evie witnesses the recovery of the body and runs home unable to deal with what she’s seen.  Evie later finds out that the body is that of her childhood friend and classmate, Elizabeth “Zabet” McCabe.  When Evie runs into Zabet’s father at the funeral, she tells him that she and Zabet were best friends, a statement that hasn’t been true for many years.  Mr. McCabe then tries to connect with his deceased daughter through her friends: her true best friend Hadley and her childhood friend Evie. Hadley knows the truth and is angry with Evie for her lie, but she doesn’t reveal Evie’s secret to Mr. McCabe and the two eventually become friends in their own right.  Hadley becomes obsessed with finding Zabet’s murderer, and Evie is unwittingly taken along for the ride. When Hadley mistakenly thinks that Jonah has hurt Evie, she tricks the two into taking her to the space between trees where Jonah found Zabet’s body.  In a misguided attempt to protect Evie and find redemption for her failure to help Zabet, Hadley sets a literal trap for Jonah. In the end, the truth comes out: Hadley and Zabet were meeting guys in the woods, and one of Zabet’s meetings went horribly wrong.  The girls kept a list of the guys, but out of fear, Hadley destroyed the list after Zabet’s death.  Her obsession with finding Zabet’s killer and her attack on innocent Jonah were both motivated by her own guilt over Zabet’s murder. In the end, Jonah loses a leg, Hadley gets away with her crime, Zabet’s killer is caught, and Mr. McCabe begins to recover from his loss.  And Evie is left to carry the burden of the truth.

Personally, I didn’t care for The Space Between Trees.  As a teacher, I know there are awkward teens out there like Evie, and I understand the author’s attempt to capture the true character of one of those teens.  I, however, found it difficult to connect to Evie. In the end, I could empathize somewhat with the character of Hadley and her struggle with her own guilt over the death of her friend and the poor decisions they both made, but I was troubled by both Hadley and Evie’s (particularly Evie’s) decision to keep the truth about Jonah’s attack a secret.  I just felt that the story allowed a great opportunity for growth for both of these characters, but neither of them seemed to learn anything from their experiences, and there were seemingly no consequences for their actions.  I guess overall I felt that the author missed an opportunity at the end of the story to provide real meaning to the events, and it made me feel that the time I had devoted to the novel was, to a great extent, wasted. 

References

Williams, K. (2010). The space between trees. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

Required Reading: Playing with Matches by Brian Katcher

Brian Katcher’s Playing with Matches tells the story of high school junior Leon, a complete nerd with no shot at the girl of his dreams, Amy.  To add to his popularity issues, Leon finds himself locker neighbors with Melody.  Melody is burn victim whose face has been permanently disfigured.  She has no eyebrows and no ears.  Her eyes and smile are normal, but the contrast only worsens the effect of the disfigurement.  In school, Melody is treated like a pariah.  It’s just Leon’s luck that Melody’s locker is moved next to his.  But is it really bad luck, as Leon first assumes? A lame joke from Leon and a giggle from Melody starts the two on the path to friendship and eventually more.  Though Leon is hesitant to acknowledge the feelings he is developing for Melody, the more he gets to know the girl behind the scars, the more he realizes that she is just the kind of girl he has always wanted.  Melody, who has never experienced the attention of a boy before, is guarded at first, but overtime lets her feelings for Leon grow.  Leon finally finds himself in a great relationship, but his struggles to accept Melody’s appearance and his inability to move past his obsession with Amy, who is finally showing him some interest, lead Leon to a crisis point. Does he stay with Melody, who he has so much in common with, or does he give it a try with Amy, his long time dream girl?  Leon chooses Amy and breaks Melody’s heart only to find that a relationship with Amy is not everything he had thought it would be.  Too late, Leon realizes his mistake and tries to win Melody back.  Melody, though hurt by Leon’s actions, has also benefited from her time with him: she has a new found confidence, and she is no longer so desperate that she will run right back to his arms.  In the end, Melody and Leon take a very small step toward patching up their friendship. However, as Leon points out, she is holding his hand.

I really enjoyed Playing with Matches.  Leon is a total screw-up, but he’s a likable screw-up who struggles with some issues that would be tough for any teenager.  He makes some serious errors in judgment and hurts a true friend, but he accepts responsibility for his actions and learns from his mistakes.  I was particularly taken by Katcher’s decision to write a book of realistic fiction about a disabled teen.  It’s not an approach I have seen much in the young adult books I’ve read, but it certainly has a place there.  Learning how to treat those who are “different,” whether it be a disability, a disfigurement, or lifestyle, is something we all must learn as we grow into responsible, caring, adult members of society.  Leon’s struggle with this lesson is so honest, and teens can learn a lot from his experience.  The book could also appeal to those students who are “different,” and the character of Melody sets a great example of how to overcome the obstacle of being “different” and find that inner confidence and acceptance that will then lead to an outer confidence and acceptance by one’s peers. This novel would be a great choice for a school character education program and could spark some meaningful discussions about how we treat one another in today’s world.

References

Katcher, B. (2008). Playing with matches.  New York: Laurel-Leaf Books. 

The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid and The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

In Rick Riordan’s The Red Pyramid, brother and sister Carter and Sadie Kane find out that the gods of ancient Egypt are real, their father and uncle are powerful magicians, and they themselves are descended from two powerful lines of ancient Egyptian pharaohs, making Carter and Sadie the most powerful magicians in generations. The potential of the two is so powerful, in fact, that since the death of their mother, the have been raised separately: Carter by his father and Sadie by her maternal grandparents.  The two are brought together for Sadie’s birthday, but everything falls apart when their father, Julius, tries to summon the god Osiris using the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum.  Julius accidentally releases the evil god Set, along with a host of other gods, and Set confines Julius to a coffin. The children’s uncle, Amos, also a powerful magician, comes to their rescue and takes them to his safe house in Brooklyn where they begin to learn about the Egyptian gods and the world of magicians into which they were born.  The two are to be trained as magicians by the House of Light, but it soon becomes clear that Carter and Sadie have become hosts to two powerful gods, Horus and Isis.  Hosting gods is forbidden by the House of Light, and the two must flee. The ultimate goals of the two young magicians is to defeat Set and free their father, goals that lead them to the Red Pyramid where they battle and defeat Set. Set is then forced to help the children contain an even greater threat, Apophis, a snake who embodies chaos and whose release would upset the balance in the world. The two are unable to bring their father back to their world, but he instead goes to live in the Underworld as Osiris, where he is reunited with his wife.  The two children sever their connections to Horus and Isis and set out to find other children who have the Blood of the Pharaohs to train them in the Path of the Gods to defeat Apophis once and for all.

The Throne of Fire is the second in the Kane Chronicles.  In this sequel, Carter and Sadie have found a number of children with the Blood of the Pharaohs and have established a training school in the Path of the Gods at their uncle’s house in Brooklyn.   Carter and Sadie are facing two enemies now: the snake Apophis and the House of Light, led by the magician Desjardins, now Chief Lector. The children have mere days to find away to stop the rise of Apophis and determine that raising the sun god Ra is their only chance. The two begin a search for the three parts of the Book of Ra, all the while hounded by a host of dangerous gods as well as deadly magicians from the House of Light. Once they have the complete Book of Ra, the two enter the Duat to find and revive Ra.  Though the task is difficult, the two succeed only to find that Ra is in no condition at present to help them against Apophis.  The two must turn to their enemy Desjardins for help.  Desjardins is able to stop Apophis, at least temporarily, but loses his life in the process.  As a result,

The children’s uncle Amos becomes the new Chief Lector of the House of Light.

The Kane Chronicles is shaping up to be as great a series as Riordan’s Percy Jackson novels.  While I personally enjoy the Percy Jackson novels more, I believe this is simply due to the fact that I had much more background knowledge about the Greek gods and goddesses than I do about the Egyptian gods and goddesses, but luckily, in depth knowledge of Egyptian mythology is not a requirement for enjoying these novels.  I was also put off a little by Riordan’s choice to have both Carter and Sadie narrate the novels,  alternating between the two every couple of chapters.  The premise is that the novels are a text version of recordings the two children have made relating their adventures.  While he is certainly successful in his characterization of the two siblings and in creating an individual voice for each, I found the back-and-forth narration a bit trite.  Younger readers, however, may enjoy the change of perspective and will recognize the love-hate sibling relationship Riordan established between the two.  While these fantasy novels are mostly for entertainment, I can certainly see their benefit as a parallel reading in the social studies curriculum, particularly a world history class, where students are studying ancient Egypt and its mythology. These novels could bring those gods and goddesses to life for the students and increase student interest and engagement in the topic.

References

Riordan, R. (2010). The red pyramid. New York: Disney-Hyperion Books.

Riordan, R. (2011). The throne of fire. New York: Disney-Hyperion Books. 

The Hunger Games Series: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games is set in the future where the United States no longer exists. Instead, the Capitol is in charge of what is now called Panem and controls the twelve districts that exist supply the Capitol with goods.  For example. District 12, which is in what was once the Appalachia, supplies the Capitol with coal. Once, there was a 13^th district, but after a failed rebellion, District 13 was destroyed, and the Capitol created the Hunger Games to prevent any further unrest. Each year, the 12 districts must hold a reaping ceremony.  The name of each child, male or female, from ages 12 to 18 is entered for the reaping.  Children from poor families, like most of those in the districts, can enter their names multiple times in exchange for food and fuel for their families.  At the reaping, one male and one female are chosen to compete in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death meant to remind the districts of the power of the Capitol. The protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, has entered her name in the reaping multiple times for the benefit of her family.  Though this is her sister’s first year entering the reaping, Katniss has no fear that Prim’s name will be drawn: her name has only been entered one time, and Katniss’s name has been entered several. Still, the unthinkable happens, and Prim’s name is drawn.  Katniss immediately steps into to volunteer for the Games in her sister’s place, leaving behind her mother, sister, and closest friend (and maybe more), Gale.  Along with the male tribute from District 12, Peeta Mellark, Katniss travels to the Capitol where she sees first hand the luxury and excess the citizens there enjoy while the people of the districts suffer in poverty.  As they prepare for the games, Katniss and Peeta are mentored by former District 12 champion, Haymitch Abernethy, an alcoholic who, nonetheless, creates a winning strategy for the two tributes. As the two District 12 tributes enter the Arena to fight for their lives against the 22 other tributes, a romance develops between the two, partly as a strategy and partly as a result of a kindness Peeta showed Katniss many years before. In an amazing twist, Peeta and Katniss survive to be the final two tributes, and both refuse to kill the other and take the win.  In an act of defiance (or is it love? Or both?), Katniss changes the rules of the game, and the Gamemakers are forced to declare both tributes winners. It would seem at this point that Katniss can go home to a happy ending where she and her family are honored and will never want for anything again.  However, her act of rebellion, whatever the motivation, has caught the attention of President Snow, and she is now seen as a threat.

The second novel in this powerful trilogy is called Catching Fire, and the title is perfect.  Whatever the reason for Katniss act at the end of the Hunger Games, be it love or defiance or a little of both, it becomes clear on the Victory Tour that it was the spark that started a fire.  Katniss has the attention of President Snow, who sees her as a threat to the power of the Capitol.  In order to save her family from Snow, Katniss must convince the world that her act was not one of defiance, but one of love.  She and Peeta begin an awkward campaign to convince the world that they are in love, leading Peeta to publicly propose to Katniss, a proposal she accepts.  The tension of the situation is palpable: Peeta truly love Katniss and would gladly die for her, but Katniss is torn between her feelings for Peeta and her dear friend Gale.  Peeta is hurt that the feelings Katniss portrays aren’t fully real, but his devotion to her leads him to keep up appearances at all cost. Katniss also meets two runaways from District 8 that share with her their belief that District 13, thought to have been destroyed by the Capitol, actually still exists.  After a small, failed rebellion, the Capitol plans a new demonstration of power at the Quarter Quell.  The tributes for the Quarter Quell, for the first time, will be chosen from the former winners, who in the past had been forever free of entering the Arena a second time.  Peeta and Katniss end up in the Arena again with 22 other past winners fighting for their lives. Some of the tributes form alliances, and Katniss, without her knowledge, becomes part of a greater plan.  In the end, she destroys the force field around the Arena and finds herself being transported to District 13 along with Haymitch, Gale, and two of the other tributes, Finnick and Beetee. Peeta, however, has been left behind.  Gale lets her now that her family is safe, but that District 12, her home, has been destroyed.  So why was Katniss saved and Peeta left behind? Katniss, unwittingly, has become the face of the rebellion, and her safety is paramount to the rebellion’s ultimate success. 

The Hunger Games series ends with Mockingjay.  In her first Hunger Games, Katniss wore a mockingjay pin, a gift from a dear friend.  That mockingjay has now become the symbol of the rebellion, and Katniss is its living embodiment. Katniss finds herself in District 13, a harshly controlled environment under the leadership of President Coin.  Katniss agress to play her role as the Mockingjay in return for the safety of the other surviving tributes, the rescue of Peeta from the Capitol, and the right to kill President Snow.  Peeta is rescued, but his time in the Capitol has come at a cost: he has been brainwashed to see Katniss as an enemy and tries to kill her.  Eventually, the District 13 rebels plan an attack on the Capitol and send in a group of soldiers that includes Katniss and Peeta.  In the climax of this third novel, Katniss comes to President Snow’s mansion planning to find him and kill him, but Snow has opened his home to the Capitol’s children, not in an act of mercy but for his own protection.  Bombs sent in under the premise of care packages kill many of the children, as well as medics from District 13 sent in to help, medics that include Katniss’s sister Prim. In a twist, Katniss chooses not to kill President Snow, but instead shoots President Coin for her apparent involvement in using the children and medics as weapons.  Snow is killed in the aftermath, and Katniss, determined to have acted out of temporary insanity, is allowed to return to what is left of District 12.  In the end, she and Peeta end up together, raising two children in a world with no Hunger Games, thanks to the many sacrifices made in the name of freedom.

The first novel in this series, The Hunger Games, was excellent and caught my attention enough that I had to read the whole series.  However, as good as the first book was, Collins’s story gets better with each ensuing chapter.  The power of the novels to open a dialogue about the abuse of power and about freedom and responsibility and human’s rights is undeniable.  I truly believe that this trilogy has a place in the high school social studies curriculum where teachers could use these texts to parallel the study of our own American Revolution, as well as other revolutions throughout history, and to begin a conversation about the abuses of power seen throughout our world today. 

References

Collins, S. (2008). The hunger games. New York: Scholastic Press.

Collins, S. (2009). Catching fire. New York: Scholastic Press.

Collins, S. (2010). Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic Press.