Banned Book Week Two!
See Banned Books Week rant here!
Banned Book Week One.
Link of the week:
The Office of Intellectual Freedom has a map that illustrates censorship efforts across the United States. Here is the blog that explains the map and links to other projects and organization that want to stop censorship. Give the map a moment to load, then click on any of the blue tabs to get more information.
Banned Book of the Week:
Harris, Robie H. It‘s Perfectly Normal: A Book about Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health. Candlewick Pr. Retained in the Lewiston Maine Public Library (2008) after a person refused to return the book due to her objections to its content. Other patrons donated four copes of the book, which remains in circulation at the library. Source: Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom. Nov. 2008, p. 255.
On to the book reviews -
Book Review by libgirl
The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second by Drew Ferguson .
If you ask him, the life of Charles James Stewart II (aka Charlie the Second), leaves a lot to be desired. His parents are by turns embarrassed by him or embarrassing him, he's still hasn't passed his driver's test (he's 17), and, despite his vivid and varied fantasy life, he's still single.
Throughout the course of the novel, Charlie finds out that his parents aren't who he thought they were (mostly for the better), falls into his first real relationship, gets caught in the middle of a moral and ethical dilemma, and becomes an accidental soccer star.
Charlie is his own worst critic through much of the book; he's constantly denigrating his ears, his shape, the size of his penis, but he's not afraid to turn that critical eye unto the people around him. It's his scathing commentary on the world and people around him that provides much of the humor in this novel. The novel is told entirely through his journal, or more precisely, through his failed attempts at writing a college entry essay.
The novel is interesting, by turns funny and poignant, and handles the subject matter very well. There are several types of "otherness" in this book, and they're all handled pretty deftly. There are few books that are about gay youth that aren't about GAY YOUTH, and this one handles the topic very well. More than anything else, this book is about Charlie, being gay is just one more facet of who he is, not the topic of the novel.
On the other hand, his sexual identity and sexual fantasies are not ignored or even white-washed in this book. Readers who struggle with frank (and sometimes crude) discussions of sex and sexual fantasies will want to steer away from this book. Charlie is seventeen and, as he frequently remarks, always horny.
The book is interesting and worth a read, but it doesn't resolve all (or even most) of the issues of the narrative. While this is a realistic portrayal of life, I still wanted a little more closure. Also, I found some of the more pivotal plot points to be a bit overdone and even bordering on unrealistic. That said, it's a better-than-average read that handles the topic of homosexuality excellently.
Book Review by lena3
Love is the Higher Law is about three teenagers who are in New York on 9/11. It’s how they cope and how they change. Claire is a senior at a private school and lives within 10 blocks of Ground Zero and cannot get home for a week. Jasper is a sophomore at an out of state college, home for the summer, getting ready to go back to school. Peter is a senior at the same school Claire goes and he loves music.
Claire and Peter know each other through school and they meet Jasper at a party in the days before 9/11. Jasper and Peter were supposed to have a date but when 9/11 happens everything is turned upside down. Each chapter in turn tells the story of the perspective of each teenager; of their thoughts about 9/11 and of their growing friendship and relationships. There are stumbles on the way, as they navigate these things under the stress of their city falling apart and coming together.
It helps show how people relate, interconnect and how we can make good times through these bad times, such as compassion and helping our fellow citizens. Claire, Jasper, and Peter work through their emotions about their city and the event, though it takes all three different ways and lengths to get through. I liked how these teens were realistic and the fact that Jasper of them took longer to get through it with his gallows humor and anger. Peter used his music when he thought that maybe it was wrong to be happy about his favorite band not canceling their concert. And Claire feels like she must DO something and winds up at first helping in small ways.
It tells a story for young people that may not have been around yet, not realize the magnitude or think that 9/11 is the story of their parents and not of themselves and a city. The author wrote this book for this reason. To make sure young people don’t forget. David Levithan is from New York and was in NY during the event.
At crucial times in their lives, they change and for the better, really. The chapters progress over the next year to the first anniversary of 9/11, then one last chapter when the Iraq War started. Peter goes off to school in Boston, Jasper flies back to college out of state, and Claire becomes an activist. Yet, they remain close, still growing up and still learning about themselves, their fellow New Yorkers, life and love.
Banned Book Week One.
Link of the week:
The Office of Intellectual Freedom has a map that illustrates censorship efforts across the United States. Here is the blog that explains the map and links to other projects and organization that want to stop censorship. Give the map a moment to load, then click on any of the blue tabs to get more information.
Banned Book of the Week:
Harris, Robie H. It‘s Perfectly Normal: A Book about Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health. Candlewick Pr. Retained in the Lewiston Maine Public Library (2008) after a person refused to return the book due to her objections to its content. Other patrons donated four copes of the book, which remains in circulation at the library. Source: Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom. Nov. 2008, p. 255.
On to the book reviews -
Book Review by libgirl
The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second by Drew Ferguson .
If you ask him, the life of Charles James Stewart II (aka Charlie the Second), leaves a lot to be desired. His parents are by turns embarrassed by him or embarrassing him, he's still hasn't passed his driver's test (he's 17), and, despite his vivid and varied fantasy life, he's still single.
Throughout the course of the novel, Charlie finds out that his parents aren't who he thought they were (mostly for the better), falls into his first real relationship, gets caught in the middle of a moral and ethical dilemma, and becomes an accidental soccer star.
Charlie is his own worst critic through much of the book; he's constantly denigrating his ears, his shape, the size of his penis, but he's not afraid to turn that critical eye unto the people around him. It's his scathing commentary on the world and people around him that provides much of the humor in this novel. The novel is told entirely through his journal, or more precisely, through his failed attempts at writing a college entry essay.
The novel is interesting, by turns funny and poignant, and handles the subject matter very well. There are several types of "otherness" in this book, and they're all handled pretty deftly. There are few books that are about gay youth that aren't about GAY YOUTH, and this one handles the topic very well. More than anything else, this book is about Charlie, being gay is just one more facet of who he is, not the topic of the novel.
On the other hand, his sexual identity and sexual fantasies are not ignored or even white-washed in this book. Readers who struggle with frank (and sometimes crude) discussions of sex and sexual fantasies will want to steer away from this book. Charlie is seventeen and, as he frequently remarks, always horny.
The book is interesting and worth a read, but it doesn't resolve all (or even most) of the issues of the narrative. While this is a realistic portrayal of life, I still wanted a little more closure. Also, I found some of the more pivotal plot points to be a bit overdone and even bordering on unrealistic. That said, it's a better-than-average read that handles the topic of homosexuality excellently.
Book Review by lena3
Love is the Higher Law is about three teenagers who are in New York on 9/11. It’s how they cope and how they change. Claire is a senior at a private school and lives within 10 blocks of Ground Zero and cannot get home for a week. Jasper is a sophomore at an out of state college, home for the summer, getting ready to go back to school. Peter is a senior at the same school Claire goes and he loves music.
Claire and Peter know each other through school and they meet Jasper at a party in the days before 9/11. Jasper and Peter were supposed to have a date but when 9/11 happens everything is turned upside down. Each chapter in turn tells the story of the perspective of each teenager; of their thoughts about 9/11 and of their growing friendship and relationships. There are stumbles on the way, as they navigate these things under the stress of their city falling apart and coming together.
It helps show how people relate, interconnect and how we can make good times through these bad times, such as compassion and helping our fellow citizens. Claire, Jasper, and Peter work through their emotions about their city and the event, though it takes all three different ways and lengths to get through. I liked how these teens were realistic and the fact that Jasper of them took longer to get through it with his gallows humor and anger. Peter used his music when he thought that maybe it was wrong to be happy about his favorite band not canceling their concert. And Claire feels like she must DO something and winds up at first helping in small ways.
It tells a story for young people that may not have been around yet, not realize the magnitude or think that 9/11 is the story of their parents and not of themselves and a city. The author wrote this book for this reason. To make sure young people don’t forget. David Levithan is from New York and was in NY during the event.
At crucial times in their lives, they change and for the better, really. The chapters progress over the next year to the first anniversary of 9/11, then one last chapter when the Iraq War started. Peter goes off to school in Boston, Jasper flies back to college out of state, and Claire becomes an activist. Yet, they remain close, still growing up and still learning about themselves, their fellow New Yorkers, life and love.