Book Reviews 21-25
A. Bibliography:
Stiefvater, M. (2008). Lament. Woodbury, MN: Flux. ISBN: 9780738713700.
B. Summary:
Lament is the first book in a dark fairy fantasy series (Book of Fairie #1). Dierdre (Dee) is an extremely shy and gifted harpist. While at a music festival, she becomes drawn to a mysterious, handsome boy named Luke who eases her nerves and joins her in a duet. Dee discovers that she has a new ability of seeing fairies, and her new love interest is a fairy assassin whose next mission from the Fairie Queen is to capture and kill Dee. Dee finds herself trapped in a love triangle and fairie war.
C. Strengths of the Book:
Lament was a recipient of 2010 ALA Best Books for Young Adults. Stiefvater excels at the vivid language in this story. I enjoyed learning about Celtic fairy folklore and found myself intrigued by the storytelling in the songs. I do wish the plot would have been more developed with more build up, backstory and suspense. James, Dee's only and best friend, provided comic relief and was a breath of fresh air throughout the story. I'd compare him to Jacob from Twilight: charming, funny and down to earth.The storytelling is fast paced, yet predictable.
D. Educational Connections:
As I read Lament, I thought a lot about Greek Mythology and how much I enjoyed the stories and lessons that tied with each one. Readers of Lament could do a study of Irish folklore and find similar stories between various cultural groups. Fans of this novel are able to continue the story in the next book of the Book of Fairie series, Ballad.
E. My Personal Connections:
While reading Lament, I instantly compared Dee and Luke's relationship to that of Bella and Edward in Twilight. The girls are both introverts who meet these handsome, magical men. This was my first dark fairy read, actually the first fairy book I've ever read. I enjoyed the music and storytelling in the novel.
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De La Pena, M. (2008). Mexican Whiteboy. New York, NY: Delacorte Press. ISBN: 9780385903295.
B. Summary:
Mexican Whiteboy features Danny Lopez as our protagonist, a 16 year old biracial teen (Mexican and White). His Mexican father left Danny and his mother, which leaves Danny struggling to find his identity. Danny lives in a wealthy suburb near San Diego. Since his mom is out of town with her boyfriend over the summer, Danny goes to Mexico to get to know his father's roots by spending time with his side of the family. Even though his dad is not there, he feels he will learn who his father was. He instantly feels out of place which complicates his sense of identity even more. There are many challenges that make him feel self-conscious around his family: his different, "preppy" clothing and lack of Spanish knowledge. Danny meets a enemy-turned-friend, Uno, who is going through the same issue as him: biracial teen (Black and Mexican) that stands out in his community. They also both have a love of baseball. The struggle the boys go through in baseball symbolize the struggles with their personal identity.
C. Strengths of the Book:
Matt De La Pena expertly portrays the Mexican culture through his vivid descriptions and storytelling. Mexican Whiteboy won an award for ALA- YALSA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults. The story's themes revolve around a sense of identity, friendship, acceptance, and the pressures of being biracial. There are some difficult issues that are brought up in the book, like rage and self-mutilation. Typically in young adult literature, females are the ones causing self harm by cutting themselves. De La Pena breaks the norm by having a strong, athletic protagonist go through this difficult and harmful experience. The reader learns that we, ourselves, are in charge of shaping our own future.
D. Educational Connections:
Students in inner-city schools can really connect to Danny's character: his passion for sports, having a strong father figure, coming from broken homes, drugs, underage drinking and violence.
E. My Personal Connections:
Growing up as an Indian American in a predominantly white neighborhood, I had many connections to the story. In my elementary school, I was the only student of Indian descent. I knew what it felt like to stand out and not have a sense of identity. I was teased and classmates would say, "How!" as if I were Native American. Wrong type of Indian, people! Although I can laugh about it now, the teasing and lack of self-identity affected my confidence around others.
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Shusterman, N.(2012). Full Tilt. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 9781439115251.
B. Summary:
Full Tilt is an adventurous thriller that incorporates elements of low fantasy. Blake, a responsible and hard working 16 year old, joins his friends and his daring, reckless 13 year old brother Quinn at the amusement park. Blake finds a mysterious invitation in a prize bear from our antagonist, Cassandra. She is the dangerous spirit of a phantom carnival that Blake, Quinn and his friends have been sucked into. In order to escape and survive, Blake has to survive seven dangerous carnival rides before dawn, or their souls will be trapped forever in the phantom carnival. Each ride represents one of Blake's deepest, personal fears. He is able to overcome them all, while reliving traumatic memories from his early childhood.
C. Strengths of the Book:
I love that Full Tilt was action packed from the first page. We learn of the opposite personalities of the two brothers, Blake and Quinn, on the first few pages as Quinn almost gets crushed by a roller coaster by being a daredevil. The novel was an easy read with characters that were easy to connect to. The overall theme of Full Tilt is overcoming your fears. The reader is left with the question of addressing your fears: will you let fear take over and become a roadblock in life, or will you face your fears and push through your obstacles?
D. Educational Connections:
When I finished the book, I immediately connected the book's theme of Never Giving Up/Determination with Growth Mindset lessons. It is crucial to have the growth mindset discussion with students throughout the school year to build perseverance in each kid. Neal Shusterman is an established award-winning young adult author. For students who enjoyed Full Tilt, I'd provide a list of his books with summaries for those students to explore.
E. My Personal Connections:
I instantly was taken back to my early teen years, when I discovered my favorite series of all time, The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith. As I read Full Tilt, I found so many similarities among the plot line between the two books. In The Forbidden Game, the protagonist Jenny, finds herself trapped in a game with a dangerous villain. She goes through many dangerous carnival games in book two of the series to save her friends and family. I thoroughly enjoyed Full Tilt, as it brought back so many teenage memories of me locked in my room rereading my favorite series, The Forbidden Game.
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Nelson, J. (2014). I'll Give You the Sun. New York, NY: Dial Books. ISBN: 9780803734968.
B. Summary:
I'll Give You the Sun is about twin siblings Noah and Jude and their emotional path to self-discovery. The two come from a stable family. The twins have been inseparable all of their lives, until the teenage years. Written in different perspectives, we learn both of their sides to the story. Both interested in art, their mom recommends that they apply for a competitive art school. Jude feels jealousy as Noah begins to receive more attention from his mom, and this starts the beginning of their fall out. The twins drift apart as they experience betrayal and major tragedy within their family and relationships. Noah and Jude later confess the truths about their mother, art and their relationships, which beautifully connects the characters and separate storytelling.
C. Strengths of the Book:
I'll Give You the Sun is the recipient of several awards, such as the 2015 Printz Award, Boston Globe Best Young Adult Book of 2014, and the Stonewall Honor Award for excellence in the writing of the LGBT experience. One of the strengths of this novel is how Jandy Nelson bounces between Noah and Jude's perspective writing at different points in their lives. In Noah's perspective, we learn of events three years in the past, but the book is written in present tense during Jude's perspective. The beauty of this is that the past events connect like a jigsaw puzzle to the present events that Jude discusses in her story. Some of the themes of the novel are art, betrayal, emotional growth, sibling rivalry, and guilt.
D. Educational Connections:
While reading the book, the biggest educational connection I found was art as a means of expression. A lot of campuses have done away with art classes, but this is a disservice to our students. I liked how Nelson took a risk to tell the story through perspective writing between the two main characters- one in the past, one in the future. I think this would be a great challenge for students: to come up with a story that features one character in the past, one in the present, yet the stories connect in some way.
I felt that Nelson really captured the essence of adolescence in this novel. As teens, the major goal is discovering who you are, and that is exactly the journey that Noah and Jude take us down. There are moments as teenagers where you think major tragedies are caused by you due to some superstitious belief or event. Just like the twins, we as teenagers, all have made dumb mistakes where we feel guilt. My teen self really connected to this novel.
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Kiely, B. (2005). The Last True Love Story. St. Louis, MO: Turtleback Books. ISBN: 9780606406222.
B. Summary:
Ted Hendrix, our 17 year old protagonist, deeply cares for his aging grandfather, Gpa, who helped raise him. His Gpa's health is declining and he suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Hendrix helps his grandfather by writing down his memories, but one of Gpa's requests inspires him significantly. "Let the disease kill me, Teddy, but don't let me forget her."(16) Hendrix honors his grandfather's wish by taking him on a road trip to New York to see his old home and treasure his memories of his wife, one last time. Hendrix brings along Corrina, a lost and lonely girl who wants to escape in search of a purpose. Along their trip, Hendrix and Corrina learn about each other, the world, and that love and family are what's truly important in life.
C. Strengths of the Book:
First of all, the artwork on the book cover is absolutely stunning and dreamlike. The vivid, sensory details in Kiely's writing helps the reader get lost in this beautiful story. You'd think that this "last true love story" would be between two teens, but no, it's deeper than that. Kiely tells of the close relationship between a grandfather and grandson. The overall themes of the story are family, lasting love, and history. One of the strong points is how accurately Kiely depicts Alzheimer disease throughout the novel.
D. Educational Connections:
The Last True Love Story is a multi-generational adventure novel which could inspire students to learn more about their family history. In writing, students could draft narratives about their favorite family memories.
E. My Personal Connections:
As I read this novel, I couldn't help but to compare it to one of my favorite Disney movies, Up, which tells of an older man trying to fulfill his late wife's lifetime dream of reaching Paradise Falls in South America. The romantic notion of lifelong love in these two stories is inspiring and makes you think about the true importance of life.
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