2008 in Books Part 2: Stuff I had to read for work
Just when you thought I was all read-out from all those other books I talked about, wait 'til you read this:
Mock Newbery at work:
In a completely different way, Law's book shows us a family of pseudo-superpower laden children who go on an unplanned adventure in an attempt to save their dying, non-superpower laden father. Here the superpowers are called savvies, or things that each individual can do better than anyone else, sort of. Even for this fantasy genre skeptic, I appreciated Law's ability to mesh the real and the fantastic into a believable story, kind of like Bewitched, or I Dream of Jeannie, but not at all like either of those. I'm almost always a sucker for a good road trip story, though. My favorite of the group.
And now for the nos. If you like flighty stories that remind you of air, with obtusely naive protaganists, then you'll love Horvath's book. Mom's a slut but the kid can't see it, the town's pastor uses her but the kid has no idea, and the white trash baby factory with the abusive husband tricks her into babysitting all summer but again she's being used. Few characters have any redeeming qualities. I was happy when it ended. Oh, and there were something like a dozen adventures, not a hundred. A big NO goes out to Lowry. She satirizes children's literature in an above-the-audience's-heads sort of way. "Hated it," as the movie reviewers on "In Living Color" would say.
I'm absolutely indifferent about Henkes. It was an easy afternoon read, it was well-written, and it takes place in southeastern Wisconsin. I don't know what else to say about it - there was a lake and a moon....
Mock Coretta Scott King Award:
After Tupac and D Foster (Jacqueline Woodson)
The Guardian (Julius Lester)
Sunrise over Fallujah (Walter Dean Myers)
Okay, so it's really hard to criticize three long-standing award-winning authors, so I won't. Not really. Each title had its merits and to blow any of these three off as fluff or useless would be wrong, not because of who they came from, but because they're genuinely good each in its own way. There's no question that each is well-written and personal opinion can only go so far in a critique. I give you the King books in order from least-favorite, to favorite:
Lester isn't known for lighthearted prose. In less than 150 pages he crams in so many of those dreaded "issues" I so fear to read about, but he does so in a way that they've passed before you know it. Such topics include racism, economic disparity, white supremacy, animal cruelty, anger management, domestic abuse, rape, incest, murder, lynching, dishonesty, depression, suicide, and disloyalty. I can see teachers using this in the classroom in a "pick your issue and support it with passages from the book" sort of assignment. Not a pleasure read, and not a mentally easy read either, but it accurately measures a part of our country's past. Can kids today relate? Perhaps.
My second-favorite from this list is Woodson's title. I'll admit I flashed back to the days of California Love and the Biggie-Tupac East-West gangsta rap wars of the 90s, and I could see some of my patrons in the characters, but aside from that I, as a 30-something white woman from a small town, couldn't quite "get" the importance of Tupac. Yes, I realize that he broke ground in bringing forth music that talked about tough city life, but the dude was just not the good god-like role model they make him out to be. But the book isn't about Tupac, his living music career merely sets the time for a story of two average black girls in a safe neighborhood who meet a wandering foster girl who hears her story in Tupac's music and longs for a life as normal as her two new friends. This should be huge amongst inner-city kids, but sadly the ones who could most benefit from it's message probably don't have the literacy skills necessary to read it.
And lastly, I loved Myers' novel. By far the longest title on my list and a much more mature title than any other I've reviewed thus far, Sunrise details one unit's tour of duty in Iraq during the onset of the most recent Iraq War. Myers develops his characters in a genuinely believable way; I could see my military friends and acquaintances in these situations, I recognized names and places from the news and it all seemed so real. Pro- or anti-war, you get a pretty non-partisan look at what went on in the war zone, but it leans in the anti-war direction. The main character struggles with his conscience as the war develops and as he tries to understand what's happening around him. Again, people die and we see lots of violence, but in the context of the story, it's all necessary. Read this. Just read this, but especially if you want to get some idea of what returning soldiers endured in Iraq.
I also read a few grown-up books, but I'll save those for yet another post.
Mock Newbery at work:
- Bird Lake Moon (Kevin Henkes)
- Chains (Laurie Halse Anderson)
- My One Hundred Adventures (Polly Horvath)
- Savvy (Ingrid Law)
- The Willoughbys (Lois Lowry)
In a completely different way, Law's book shows us a family of pseudo-superpower laden children who go on an unplanned adventure in an attempt to save their dying, non-superpower laden father. Here the superpowers are called savvies, or things that each individual can do better than anyone else, sort of. Even for this fantasy genre skeptic, I appreciated Law's ability to mesh the real and the fantastic into a believable story, kind of like Bewitched, or I Dream of Jeannie, but not at all like either of those. I'm almost always a sucker for a good road trip story, though. My favorite of the group.
And now for the nos. If you like flighty stories that remind you of air, with obtusely naive protaganists, then you'll love Horvath's book. Mom's a slut but the kid can't see it, the town's pastor uses her but the kid has no idea, and the white trash baby factory with the abusive husband tricks her into babysitting all summer but again she's being used. Few characters have any redeeming qualities. I was happy when it ended. Oh, and there were something like a dozen adventures, not a hundred. A big NO goes out to Lowry. She satirizes children's literature in an above-the-audience's-heads sort of way. "Hated it," as the movie reviewers on "In Living Color" would say.
I'm absolutely indifferent about Henkes. It was an easy afternoon read, it was well-written, and it takes place in southeastern Wisconsin. I don't know what else to say about it - there was a lake and a moon....
Mock Coretta Scott King Award:
After Tupac and D Foster (Jacqueline Woodson)
The Guardian (Julius Lester)
Sunrise over Fallujah (Walter Dean Myers)
Okay, so it's really hard to criticize three long-standing award-winning authors, so I won't. Not really. Each title had its merits and to blow any of these three off as fluff or useless would be wrong, not because of who they came from, but because they're genuinely good each in its own way. There's no question that each is well-written and personal opinion can only go so far in a critique. I give you the King books in order from least-favorite, to favorite:
Lester isn't known for lighthearted prose. In less than 150 pages he crams in so many of those dreaded "issues" I so fear to read about, but he does so in a way that they've passed before you know it. Such topics include racism, economic disparity, white supremacy, animal cruelty, anger management, domestic abuse, rape, incest, murder, lynching, dishonesty, depression, suicide, and disloyalty. I can see teachers using this in the classroom in a "pick your issue and support it with passages from the book" sort of assignment. Not a pleasure read, and not a mentally easy read either, but it accurately measures a part of our country's past. Can kids today relate? Perhaps.
My second-favorite from this list is Woodson's title. I'll admit I flashed back to the days of California Love and the Biggie-Tupac East-West gangsta rap wars of the 90s, and I could see some of my patrons in the characters, but aside from that I, as a 30-something white woman from a small town, couldn't quite "get" the importance of Tupac. Yes, I realize that he broke ground in bringing forth music that talked about tough city life, but the dude was just not the good god-like role model they make him out to be. But the book isn't about Tupac, his living music career merely sets the time for a story of two average black girls in a safe neighborhood who meet a wandering foster girl who hears her story in Tupac's music and longs for a life as normal as her two new friends. This should be huge amongst inner-city kids, but sadly the ones who could most benefit from it's message probably don't have the literacy skills necessary to read it.
And lastly, I loved Myers' novel. By far the longest title on my list and a much more mature title than any other I've reviewed thus far, Sunrise details one unit's tour of duty in Iraq during the onset of the most recent Iraq War. Myers develops his characters in a genuinely believable way; I could see my military friends and acquaintances in these situations, I recognized names and places from the news and it all seemed so real. Pro- or anti-war, you get a pretty non-partisan look at what went on in the war zone, but it leans in the anti-war direction. The main character struggles with his conscience as the war develops and as he tries to understand what's happening around him. Again, people die and we see lots of violence, but in the context of the story, it's all necessary. Read this. Just read this, but especially if you want to get some idea of what returning soldiers endured in Iraq.
I also read a few grown-up books, but I'll save those for yet another post.