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. 

Challenged Books: Unwind by Neil Shushterman and Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

The novel Unwind by Neil Shusterman is set in the future where, in answer to the abortion debate, parents can choose to “unwind” their teenagers, sending the children to a harvest camp where their organs will be harvested for transplant.  The three main characters represent various reasons why a teen might be unwound: Conner, the trouble-maker, Risa, the ward of the state “storked” or abandoned by her parents as an infant, and Lev, a “tithe,” who, as the tenth child in his family, will be unwound as a tithe to the church.  When Conner decides to run away to avoid being unwound, he unwittingly involves Risa and Lev in his escape attempt.  All three characters must come to grips with their situation, a particularly difficult task for Lev, who is torn between his own will to survive and his dedication to his church.  His pastor, who is actually opposed to unwinding, further confuses him.  Lev’s indecision leads him to turn in Conner and Risa, and the trio is split up.  Conner and Risa wind up at a camp for escaped unwinds while Lev hooks up with CyFi, who it is later revealed was the recipient of a transplant from an unwind and who suffers with latent memories of the unwind’s life.  Eventually the three main characters meet up again at the harvest camp just as Conner is about to be unwould and a group called the Clappers are about to blow up the building.  All three survive, but with various levels of injury, both physical and emotional. 

Unwind was one of five books challenged in Montgomery County, Kentucky, in 2009.  The book was banned from classroom use but is still available in the school library and for use by the student book club. Parents complained that the novel contained foul language and dealt with topics, such as suicide and child abuse, that we “unsuitable for discussion in coed high school classes” (Doyle, 2010, p. 8). Additionally, parents complained that the novel did not provide rigor appropriate for the college prep classroom. The superintendent of Montgomery County schools removed the book because it was not on the approved reading list and could not be added by a teacher during the school year without permission (Doyle, 2010, p. 8).

Unwind is the winner of a number of awards, including the Boston Globe/ Horn Book Award, the Nevada Young Reader Award, the 2010 Washington Evergreen YA Book Award, the 2010 Oklahoma Intermediate Sequoyah Award, the 2010 Virginia Readers Choice Award, the 2009/2010 Missouri Gateway Readers Award, the 2009/2010 Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, the 2010-2011 One Book for Nebraska Teens award, the United Kingdom Coventry Inspiration “Simply the Book” Award, and the 2011 Nutmeg Book Award.  The novel was also a 2008 ALA Top Ten Picks for Reluctant Readers and a 2008 ALA Best Young Adult Book selection (“Neil Shushterman, n.d., “Awards and Honors” section).

Reviews of the book are positive.  The New York Times says that “the power of the novel lies in what it doesn’t do: come down explicitly on one side or the other” of the abortion/ unwinding debate, thus placing the responsibility for forming an opinion squarely on the readers (“Neil Shushterman,” n.d., “Reviews” section). A VOYA review argues that the novel poses two questions: “When does a life have value? Who determines whether it is worth keeping?” (“Neil Shushterman,” n.d., “Reviews” section). The reviewer is confident that the story of the three protagonists will “enjoy popularity with a  wide range of readers beyond its science-fiction base” (“Neil Shushterman,” n.d., “Reviews” section).  School Library Journal praises the novel in a starred review, arguing that the value of the novel is in its addressing of important issues, such as “when life starts, consciousness, religion, free will, trust and betrayal, suicide bombers, and hope” (“Neil Shusterman,” n.d., “Reviews” section).

Personally, I found the book to be a powerful read.  I can see where the issues of abortion, religion, and suicide could create controversy, but the power of the novel is in its ability to make the reader think about and address these issues personally. The fact is that Unwind is exactly the kind of novel teens today should be reading and discussing in the classroom.  These children will one day be in charge of our society, and they need the opportunity to confront these difficult issues and develop an informed opinion.  Novels like Unwind can help with this process by opening the discussion.

Another of the five books challenged in Montgomery County was Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson.  In Twisted, Anderson tells the story of Tyler Miller, a teen who goes from a nobody to a somebody after vandalizing the school and working a summer landscaping job, and his muscles, as part of his sentence.  Tyler’s new persona as “the bad boy” and his newly developed body get the attention of “it girl” Bethany Milbury. While it seems like this would be a change for the better in Tyler’s life, it isn’t. He is dealing with some pretty serious anger issues and a very difficult home life.  His father refuses to move past Tyler’s crime and can never be satisfied with anyone in the family.  His mother hides behind alcohol rather than dealing with the situation at hand. Tyler hides, instead, in his video game, a video game set, appropriately enough, in hell.  Tyler’s situation on gets more complicated when he attends a party where Bethany gets drunk, presenting him with a choice: take advantage of her or do the right thing.  Tyler does the right thing, but there is someone else who doesn’t make the same choice.  When naked photos of Bethany begin making the rounds, “bad guy” Tyler is easy to blame. The difficulty of this “twisted” situation drives Tyler to contemplate suicide but, ultimately, he decides to confront his problems and comes out on the other side. 

Like Unwind, Twisted was challenged by parents who felt that the foul language and issues of sex, suicide, drug use were inappropriate for discussion in high school classes and did not provide the proper rigor for college prep courses. Again, the superintendent of the school system pulled the book from the curriculum, though it is still available in the school library (Doyle, 2010, p. 8). Twisted  was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults selection, an ALA Quick Pick for Young Adults selection, an IRA Top Ten of 2007 selection, an IRA’s Young Adult’s Choice List selection, a New York Times Bestseller, a YALSA Teen Top Ten of 2008 selection, and was nominated to 12 state reading award lists (Anderson, n.d. “Reviews and Awards” section).

Twisted earned starred reviews from Kirkus and KLIATT. The Kirkus review compared Twisted  to Anderson’s earlier novel Speak in its addressing of serious issues facing today’s teens.  The review also praised the author for effectively creating a man narrator. The KLIATT review celebrated the novel’s ability to not only entertain but encourage serious discussion.  School Library Journal commended Anderson on her characterization of Tyler and his emotional instability as he contemplates suicide (Anderson, n.d., “Reviews and Awards section). 

I found Twisted to be a gripping novel, as are most of Anderson’s novels.  I thought her portrayal of Tyler was spot on, despite the fact that she was a female writer creating a male character.  The novel tackles issues that are real for teens today: strained family relationships, popularity, bullying, drinking and drugs, sex, and suicide.  I’m sure that these are the same issues that led parents to challenge the novel.  The truth is, though, that teens today are living this like Tyler is living, and worse, and reading books like Twisted can help them learn to cope and open up communication about these serious, and sometimes deadly, issues.  These types of novels have an important place in the school library and curriculum. I can see, though, where a realistic fiction novel like Twisted might be even more of a threat to parents or other adults than a science-fiction novel like Unwind simply because it is more realistic.  Still, parents and other adults need to realize that these books are simply a product of today’s world and that opening a dialogue about these issues is much more effective than hiding from them.  Interestingly enough, Anderson includes a sort of caveat at the beginning of Twisted: “Note: This is not a book for children” (Anderson, 2007). The author addresses her choice to include this warning on her blog, “Mad Woman in the Forest,” explaining that she did not foresee the controversy the statement would cause. Anderson explains that she has written a variety of novels for a variety of different age levels and simply wanted to clarify the intended audience for the novel.

References

Anderson, L. H. (n.d). Mad woman in the forest. [Web log]. Retrieved from

http://madwomanintheforest.com/

Anderson, L. H. (2007). Twisted. New York: Viking Juvenile.

Doyle, R. P. (2010). Think for yourself and let others do the same: Books challenged or

            banned in 2009-2010. Retrieved from http://www.ila.org/pdf/2010banned.pdf.

(n.d.). Neil Shushterman. Retrieved from http://www.storyman.com

Shusterman, N. (2007). Unwind. New York: Simon & Shuster.

Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft and Locke & Key: Head Games by Joe Hill (Graphic Novel Series

Both the first and second books in the Locke & Key series were chosen for the 2010 YALSA list of Best Graphic Novels for Teens.  In Volume I, Welcome to Lovecraft, Rendell Locke, a school counselor, is violently murdered by a seemingly deranged student named Sam Lesser.  Locke’s wife and three children, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode, move to the family home, Keyhouse, in Lovecraft, Massachusetts, to live with Rendell Locke’s brother Duncan. As all five members of the family struggle to cope with the tragedy, the youngest, Bode, begins to explore Keyhouse and soon finds out that this is no ordinary house. Bode finds a key that unlocks a certain door in Keyhouse.  Once he crosses the threshold of the door, he becomes a ghost and can travel over the grounds unseen while his true body lies dead at the doorway. It also becomes evident that Sam Lesser was not only deranged; he was also under the control of a mysterious entity who first began to communicate with him through pictures of Keyhouse in Rendell Locke’s office.  It was this entity that led Sam to murder Mr. Locke and that helps him escape from prison to hunt down the Locke family again, all in an attempt to locate the Anywhere Key.  There are a number of skeleton keys associated with Keyhouse, like the Anywhere Key and the Ghost Door Key, and each has a special power.  This entity, whoever she (or he?) may be, needs the Anywhere Key to escape.  Bode Locke discovers the entity on one of his ghost trips through the Ghost Door.  The entity, appearing in the form of a teenage girl, appears to be trapped in a well on the Keyhouse grounds. The situation comes to a head when Sam Lesser makes his way across country to Keyhouse and takes the Locke family hostage once again, demanding the Anywhere Key.  Bode finds the key and gives it to the entity in the well, who promises to stop Sam Lesser in return.  The family is saved and the entity escapes the well.  Now in his true form as a teenage boy once known as Lucas Caravaggio, the entity goes to live with Coach Whedon from the Locke children’s high school and begins to attend the school as Zack Wells, a new friend for the Locke teens. 

At the end of Volume I, Bode lock fishes a new key from the pool, and, thus, Volume II Head Games begins.  Readers find that Lucas Caravaggio, also known as Dodge, along with Coach Whedon, used to be friends with young Rendell Locke.  When Dodge begins attending school as Zack Wells, a teacher, Joe Ridgeway, recognizes him as a former student who disappeared twenty years earlier. When Ridgeway’s suspicion becomes too much for Dodge, he murders him, a tragedy difficult for the Locke children who are not yet past the loss of their father in an equally violent way. Ironically, the Tyler and Kinsey look to their new friend Zack for support during this difficult time. In the meantime, Bode discovers the Head Key’s power: it fits into the back on one’s neck and opens up the skull. Once opened, one can put in information or take out memories, both of which are inviting options for the Locke children for a variety of reasons. Duncan Locke draws the attention of the dangerous Dodge when he, too, recognizes Dodge’s familiar face, but it is Duncan’s boyfriend who pays the price. Ultimately, Dodge uses the Head Key to remove Duncan’s memory of Lucas Caravaggio and protect his identity.

The Locke & Key series is great for older teens or adults who love gothic horror and supernatural tales.  The stories are suspenseful, and the reader quickly becomes invested in the lives of the Locke family members.  The series also deals, at least minimally, with some serious issues, such as alcoholism and discrimination against homosexuals.  While I would not recommend or support censorship of these graphic novels from the school library, I would offer a caveat: there is a good bit or graphic violence in both volumes, and the Volume I also contains an oral sex scene between Sam Lesser and a male truck driver. While the scene is not graphically depicted, the act is clear.  The books, in my opinion, have no real connection to the school curriculum and would best serve the purpose of encouraging reading for pleasure.  They could perhaps be used in a unit on gothic literature, such as a study of Edgar Allan Poe works or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, to compare the gothic novels of the Romantic Era to the horror fiction of today.

References

Hill, J. (2008). Locke and key: Welcome to Lovecraft. San Diego: IDW Publishing.

Hill, J. (2009). Locke and key: Head games. San Diego: IDW Publishing.

Graphic Novel: Smile by Raina Telgemeier (Non-fiction)

Raina Telgemeier’s graphic novel Smile is a 2011 YALSA Top Ten Best Graphic Novels for Teens pick.  Smile is an autobiographical narrative of the author’s struggle with a common right of passage: braces.  Raina’s overbite makes it necessary for her to get braces, but a fall causes even more issues: Raina’s two front teeth are dislodged, but when the dentist puts them back in, damage to the bone causes them to recess higher in  her mouth.  Raina feels that she looks like a vampire as a result, a definite cause for embarrassment for any sixth grader.  To add to her grief, Raina still ends up with braces and head gear.  Through the physical and emotional pain of braces, Raina learns some hard, but important lessons about growning up, fitting in, appearances, boys, and true friendship.  In the backdrop, she also lives through the massive San Francisco earthquake that caused the Bay Bridge to collapse. By the end of the novel, Raina has grown from an awkward sixth graders to a confident high schooler who finally has a reason to smile.

Smile is an enjoyable novel for teens and even adults because we can all empathize with Raina and her struggles.  In a classroom setting, Smile could be used as a part of a unit on autobiographical writing to serve as a model as students write their own memoirs.  The novel could also be an excellent addition or parallel text to use in a unit on coming-of-age stories.  

References

Telgemeier, R. (2010). Smile. New York: Graphix.

Graphic Novel: Set to Sea by Drew Weing

Set to Sea is a YALSA Top Ten Graphic Novels for Teens choice for 2011. It is the story of a poor, big lug of a poet who is struggling to pen a poem he has entitled "I Set to Sea."  Once night, the poet is attacked and wakes up to find himself an unwilling sailor on a ship sailing for Hong Kong.  Still struggling to find the right words for his poem, the poet, over time, becomes a true sailor and, in the process, a true poet.


A school library media specialist could easily create a collaborative opportunity for English and art classes using Set to Sea. English teachers could use the poetry included in the novel to demonstrate various poetic terms and devices, such as rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, and theme.  Also, the poet models throughout the novel the process of editing and revising and the importance of diction.  In an art class students could examine and attempt to mimic the cross hatching the writer/artist uses to provide shading. In a culminating activity, the English students could demonstrate their understanding of poetic devices by writing their own poetry, and art students could apply their knowledge of cross hatching and shading to illustrate the poems. The school library media specialist would need to arrange the collaboration and provide the common text for both classes as well as provide a location in the library for the students to work together.  The media specialist could also guide the teachers in incorporating technology into the project by providing a way for the student poets to compose and edit their poems online and finding a way for art students to upload their illustrations.  For example, students could use a program like Mixbook to create their own graphic novel.  Students could then share their final products with one another, with other students in the school, or with students across the country or even world.

Weing, D. (2010). Set to sea. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books.

Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean by Sarah Stewart Taylor and Ben Towle (a non-fiction graphic novel)

Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean is a 2011 YALSA Best Graphic Novels for Teens selection.  The novel tells the story of Amelia Earhart from the perspective of a budding young female journalist named Grace who lives in Trepassey, Newfoundland, where Earhart, her pilot, and navigator begin their famous flight across the Atlantic.  Through this young reporters eyes, readers see Earhart's determination and perseverance through a number of failed attempts at taking off from Trepassey.  The changing role of women also becomes a strong theme in the novel not only through the character of Earhart, but through Grace and her struggle to obey her mother, who clearly represents the traditional roles of women, and follow her heart toward a career in journalism.  Grace's attachment to Earhart, who represents the power of women to create their own destiny, is easy to understand. The story follows Grace to adulthood, employed by the Halifax Herald, though not yet as a reporter.  Grace is still following the story of her mentor and hero Amelia Earhart continues to share that story with the reader up to its tragic end.  The introduction by Eileen Collins, the first female pilot of a Space Shuttle, and the panel discussions included at the back of the book, provide additional information about the life of Amelia Earhart as well as information about other famous female aviators of her time.

Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean would be an excellent text to use with a US History or English or perhaps in a collaboration between both.  Its presentation of the history of aviation and the changing role of women is both simple and profound. The additional information provided in the text through the introduction and panel discussions make it an excellent source for research.  A school library media specialist could provide students with texts on a variety of figures from the time period in variety of formats and include this graphic novel as one of the texts.  Students could then work together to create a final product that addresses the life and accomplishments of these key historical figures and their impact on the world at large.  To take the project beyond a simple biographical report, the school library media specialist could guide students in incorporating a variety of technology to organize and present their information.  Ultimately, the students could participate in a gallery walk activity where they learn about the time period and important historical figures by interacting with their classmates' final projects.  This gallery walk could, in fact, be opened to students in other classes or even from other schools.

Taylor, S. S., & Towle, B. (2010). Amelia Earhart: This broad ocean. New York: Disney-Hyperion Books.

The 2011 Michael L. Printz Award Winner: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

The Michael L. Printz Award recognizes a novel that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. The award is named for former school librarian Mike Printz who was an active member of YALSA and served on both the Best Books for Young Adults and the Margaret A. Edwards Award Committees. Mike Printz believed in the importance of “[f]inding the right book for the right student at the right time” (American Library Association, 2011) and saw the potential in connecting with young adult authors, like Chris Crutcher, who participated in Printz’s author-in-residence program. Michael Printz passed away in 1996, after retiring from teaching in 1994.  The Michael L. Printz Award is given annually to a novel that “exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature” (American Library Association, 2011).

The 2011 winner of the Michael L. Printz Award is Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.  This dystopian novel is set in the Gulf Coast in the distant future. The protagonist, Nailer, a young teen, small in stature, works the light crew scavenging copper wire from ancient oil tankers. Nailer’s mother is dead, and he lives with his father Richard Lopez, an abusive drug addict, in a hut on the beach. The closest thing Nailer has to family is his “boss girl,” Pima, and her mother Shadna, a heavy crew worker. Nailer, like everyone on Bright Sands Beach, dreams of finding a “lucky strike,” a find that will make him rich and take them away from the grueling work of the scavenge crews. Nailer knows his time on the crews is short: the bigger he grows, the less time he has left on the light crew, but his size and strength will never be enough to earn him a place on the heavy crews and secure his future. Nailer dreams of a life working on one of the clipper ships that speed, and sometime fly, across the ocean.  The clipper ships are owned by “swanks,” the rich business owners who purchase the oil, copper, and other scavenge lifted from the tankers by the crews. It is a life Nailer can hardly imagine.  When Pima and Nailer find a clipper wrecked by a city killer hurricane, they believe it may be their “lucky strike,” if only that can keep it a secret and carry the valuable scavenge away.  Their plan becomes complicated when a young swank they believed to be dead turns out to be the only survivor of the wreck.  Nita, or Lucky Girl, claims to be the daughter of a powerful business man and promises Pima and Nailer a great reward if they help her evade her father’s ememies and find her way home. The situation is further complicated, though, when  Nailer’s father finds the clipper and takes the three teens captive. Richard Lopez soon makes plans to sell Nita to her father’s enemies for a substantial profit. Nailer must decide whether to side with his father and save himself or risk his life to save the girl.

Ship Breaker is certainly deserving of the Michael L. Printz Award.  The story is captivating and suspenseful, and young adults will identify, and hopefully learn from, the tough moral decisions Nailer and many of the other characters in the novel face.  Many teens will also identify with the difficulty of Nailer’s family situation and his dream of a better life. The book would be a valuable addition to a school library media center simply for its ability to capture the young adult audience, but teachers, particularly in science and social studies, could also use the novel to promote discussion about a number of pertinent and timely topics ranging from water and air pollution to the use of oil and other fuels to global warming and changes in weather patterns caused by human misuse of the environment.  Discussion of the possibility of the future presented in Ship Breaker coming to fruition would be powerful in any classroom. The novel could also parallel a study of child labor and job safety during the Industrial Revolution.

References

American Library Association. (2011). Michael L. Printz award.

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Bacigalupi, P. (2010). Ship breaker. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

The 2009 William C. Morris Debut YA Award Winner: A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

The William C. Morris Debut YA Award originated in 2009, honoring William C. Morris for his work in promoting literature for children and young adults. The award is given annually to “a debut book by a first time author writing for teens and celebrating new voices in young adult literature” (American Library Association, 2011).  The winner of the William C. Morris Debut YA Award should “illuminate the teen experience and enrich the lives of its readers” (American Library Association, 2011).  The criteria for the award are as follows: strength of writing and/ or illustration, integrity of work, and proven or potential appeal.

The 2009 winner of the William C. Morris Debut YA Award was A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce.  The novel is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, set at a mill in a fictional village in the time just before the Industrial Revolution.  The narrator, a young miller’s daughter named Charlotte, has inherited the responsibility of her father’s mill, Stirwaters, upon his death.  She, along with her sister Rosie and their loyal mill workers, try to keep the mill afloat, but the discovery of substantial mortgage on the mill taken out by her father before his death, appears to be more than Charlotte and Rosie, the last of the Miller family, can afford to pay, and the fate of the mill is in serious doubt.  When Rosie turns to her father’s books for a spell for summoning fairies for help, Charlotte is appalled.  However, the mysterious Jack Spinner appears and offers a solution to their problem: he will weave straw into gold thread that the girls can sell to make the mortgage payment.  In return, he only asks for a pearl ring that belonged to Charlotte’s mother.  Desperate, Charlotte agrees, despite her reservations, and Jack Spinner comes through as promised.  The mill is saved.  This certainly, though, is not the end to the girls’ problems.  The mill appears to be plagued by bad luck, a curse many say, and a number of disasters, including a broken mill wheel and the destruction of valuable cloth, keep the mill on the constant verge of collapse.  To add to the trouble, Charlotte and Rosie’s Uncle Wheeler comes to live at the mill to help the orphaned girls, but his true motives are questionable. And always at the gate, waiting for Charlotte to fail, are the Pinchfields, the owners of an industrialized mill who want to buy out Stirwaters and will stop at nothing to make the mill fail.  In the end, Charlotte must decide how much she is willing to pay Jack Spinner to save the mill, for his final asking price is far higher than Charlotte ever imagined.  Ultimately, Charlotte must find the courage to face the curse that has plagued Stirwaters for generations and do what she must to end it before she loses more than the mill.

A Curse Dark as Gold is Elizabeth Bunce’s first novel.  The novel is well written and there is no question of the integrity of the work. Its creative retelling of the traditional Rumpelstiltskin story and reimagining of the world on the brink of the Industrial Revolution would fit well into a school library media program and could be utilized in both the English and social studies curriculum.  My only question as to the novel’s qualification for the William C. Morris Debut YA Award is its potential appeal to young adults.  While the heroine of the novel is a teen and she and her sister are certainly strong female characters and role models, the story is slow moving, which might be a deterrent for many young adult readers today.  The end of the novel is suspenseful and engaging; the difficulty is in getting to the end.  The long exposition may fail to keep the attention of many young readers.

References

American Library Association. (2011). William C. Morris debut ya award.

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Bunce, E. C. (2008). A curse dark as gold. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books.

Welcome to the LIB 5160 Adventure!

Tonight was the first meeting for my young adult media course. As a high school English teacher, I have been looking forward to this class so much because I love ya lit, and I want to be able to share some new titles with my students this fall. As part of the requirements for the class, I will be reading a minimum of 25 ya novels and blogging about them here. Hopefully this will develop into a ongoing blog that I can share with my students this fall. First up are award winners, series books, and challenged books, but I will also be reading some graphic novels in preparation for my group presentation. I plan to blog about a wide range of ya lit this summer. Feel free to join me on this reading adventure!