Book #10 Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park

Here's a copy of the cover for the UK version 

Want a feel-good romance to read during the semester break? Eleanor & Park is for you. Seriously, if you’re a child of the 80s, E&P will bring you back to the days of mixed tapes, comics, and school buses (ala John Hughes—the opening scene on the school bus, with it’s colorful use of cuss words seems quite realistic). Eleanor and Park are an unlikely pair thrown together through circumstance. This is the story of their love affair as sixteen year olds, and the type of friendship in which one will endure pain, triumph, and frustration just for a few moments to be with the one they love.

After reading this book, I wondered if the author set it in the 80s in part to appeal to readers like me. The New York Times reviewer of Rapture Practice made a similar case about that book, but my writer husband just says it’s probably the authors reliving their own childhood. I think I agree with him.

The theme of this book really seems to be captured by a comment Park makes about the lasting relevance of Romeo & Juliet “Because people want to remember what it’s like to be young[.] And in love[.]”  Rowell excels at this, and passages will make one remember what it was like really holding hands for the first time or the excitement of finding a moment to be alone together. And, there are the moments of embarrassment and cruelty we may or may not have experienced but were more than likely aware of. There are all sorts of parents in this book; and we find just as many loving, competent adults as we do incompetent, cruel ones.

Finally, thanks to Rowell for offering some hair tips for girls with curly hair (from the author picture on the jacket, it appears as if she has curly hair, too). As a teen who had hair that would never, could never, look like the other girls’, I think it’s important to encourage girls to embrace their individual looks.

Book #9 Aaron Hartlzer’s Rapture Practice and bonus parenting book

Rapture Practice is Hartlzer’s memoir of growing up on a conservative Christian family. He struggles with the strict rules his mother and father enforce mainly through guilt and tactics such as reminding him “God will know if you [insert sinful behavior here]. Hartzler endures a number of public apologies (sort of reminiscent of those religious leaders who publicly confess their sins) for his sins (ranging from listening to a soft rock radio station to drinking alcohol at a New Year’s party) and with each one, he resolves to hide his behavior better and looks to the day when he will be on his own.

Hartzler’s title is great—probably the best one out of the bunch I’ve read so far. It’s the kind of title that has several possible meanings and captures the themes in the book wonderfully.

Memoirs aren’t really my choice of book, but I have a graduate student who just earned her PhD whom I think will enjoy this book. Her dissertation was on using young adult memoirs with teachers in the hopes that they will use them with their students, and she was saddened by how many of them found the books to be too controversial to use in their classrooms. RP would probably have generated the same response.

I think my favorite parts of Hartlzer’s book are the moments he spends with his grandparents, especially his grandmother. We travel to Emery’s grandparents’ houses several times each year and I hope he is able to form a close relationship with them during these brief visits.  

And now for the bonus book.

I always feel the need for some self-help reading when I get overloaded on children’s and young adult books (I had just read Fako Mustache over the weekend after Emery asked me too—it’s a great, funny read for a boy or a girl and yes, it’s about a fake mustache). So, I was browsing my public library’s digital offerings on my Nook, when I came across Rosalind Wiseman’s Masterminds and Wingmen (she’s the author of Queen Bees and Wannabees).

Masterminds and Wingmen is a perfect companion to Rapture Practice. For example, every time Aaron gets in trouble for doing something “wrong” he vows not to get caught again. According to Wisemen, this is part of an adolescent boy’s behavior. In her chapter “Lying and Reconnaissance,” she writes:

"Don’t take your son’s lies personally. If you do take his lies personally, your anger, embarrassment, and frustration will stop you from teaching him that being truthful is worthwhile and you will teach him instead to hide and deceive more."

I think this statement, in part, explains what happens in Hartlzer’s family each time they catch him lying (apparently, I'm not the only one who noticed the lying part, here's a link to a New York Times review noticing the same thing--also contains a review of Openly Straight, which is also in my box). If you read the author’s blurb about him, you learn he goes onto being an actor and lives with his boyfriend (and I just checked Aaron's site and according to twiiter, they are engaged! Congrats!). At the end of the memoir, I can’t even imagine how he gets to that spot without a tremendous amount of hard work, perseverance, and tears. I would like to know that story too.

Do you have any recommendations for pairing children’s/ young adult books with books about parenting? 

Just another example of how nerdy my family is

For the third year in a row, I’ve helped host (along with my students) a book battle at a local library. It wasn’t my idea originally, but basically teens put together teams to answer questions about popular young adult books. It’s basically like one of those trivia nights you see in bars sometimes. In organizing the event, my students learn what teens are reading these days and just how motivated they are at answer questions about books for simple rewards like bragging rights and pizza.

This year I allowed my son to participate even though he’s technically one year away from being eligible (the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series were two of the five series chosen). He had a blast.

My husband apparently felt a little left out because the very next day, a Tech-Free Thursday (see earlier post), he made his own trivia questions on The Hobbit (which he and Emery saw tonight) and Lord of the Rings. Who on earth remembers the names of the ponies brought along on the trip or the tavern at which they first stop (The Prancing Pony, hmmm. .  . another pony question). Anway, the success and fun of that night led to Emery’s making his own Spongebob trivia quiz (equally as hard as Victor’s). Which led me to offer to make Harry Potter questions for a Harry Potter themed dinner next week. And that’s what happens in families in which both parents have masters in English, although shouldn’t we be writing questions about Shakespeare? Maybe we are just nerds.

Anyway, if you have suggestions for Harry Potter questions, I’ll take them. But, make them as hard as Emery’s question “What is the name of the crook Sandy dreams about during in hibernation?” (which prompted Victor to point out that she dreams about two crooks, sigh, I didn’t stand a chance.)

Book #8 Matthew Quick’s Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

As I sit down to write this entry, I just heard the story about the school shooting in Colorado—it’s so scary to be a parent and have to worry about school shootings in addition to all of the usual worries parents have (I’m terrified at the fact Emery will drive a car someday). I can’t imagine how those parents in Colorado, or anywhere else school shootings have happen, feel.

School shootings is a subject a few young adult authors have taken up; the last one I remember trying to read was Jennifer Brown’s Hate List, which I couldn’t finish, but I’m told is good.

Matthew Quick’s protagonist Leonard Peacock is a teenaged boy who brings a gun to school for the purpose of committing a murder/ suicide later that day. I think that’s all I’m going to say because I don’t want to give too much away. But, first, here are some things Quick’s book makes me think about:

1.   I despise parents who are absent in their teenagers’ lives. For example, the parents in Anderson’s Speak are atrocious. Are there really parents out there who are so pre-occupied with their lives that they ignore their children to such an extreme?

2.   Authors like Quick, Asher, Anderson, Walter Dean Myers, and Hopkins (not to mention Sapphire’s Push, which I couldn’t finish either) introduced me to characters who experienced horrific acts—ones I could have never imagined, and I so wish don’t exist. And, often they have no control over what happens to them.

3.   Which makes me want to cry. As with Gerald from Reality Boy, I grow to love these characters and I want things to go well for them—exceedingly well—I want their parents to “WAKE UP” or for them to win scholarships or something. But, these superb authors resist giving readers unrealistic contrived endings that makes one wonder what will happen to them.

I like Quick’s work and Boy 21 is one of my all-time favorite ya books. FM,LQ is great, yet I’ll probably suggest it to older readers. And, Mr. Quick, thank you for giving us yet another fabulous teacher.

I think I’m going to try to find a fantasy book to read next. 

Book #7 Alexander Gordon Smith’s The Fury

Here are the U.S. and U.K covers for The Fury. 

The Fury is the name three adolescents give to the unknown force behind the cause for everyone trying to kill them. Literally, these few adolescents are relentlessly attacked by huge mobs of people for no apparent reason, and they try to hide from those affected by The Fury. I don’t know if this book is the first in a series, but I’ve seen the #1 next to the title on some websites.

And, no, all humankind has not become zombies. In fact, the reason for The Fury is quite interesting as is how the heroes of the story battle it. I’m just not sure the story needed to be told in 681 pages. That’s not quite right; I don’t think the final battle scene needed to be as long as it is and while I did not skip pages, I did read through them rather quickly (especially since I wanted to see what happened to some of the characters). For me, the more interesting bits are the back stories of the adolescents who team up to fight (somewhat reluctantly) The Fury. But, I am probably not Smith’s intended audience.  

Alexander Gordon Smith is a successful UK author and has been compared to Stephen King and I might try reading Lockdown as it too sounds like an interesting premise. According to his website, he visits schools frequently and I can attest to his skills as a speaker—I heard him speak at ALAN.

Horror is not necessarily my favorite genre, but there are a few books I’ve enjoyed in this genre—Monstrumologist and The Thin Executioner are two of them.

What horror titles do you enjoy? 

ProfessorMom Volunteers

Emery doesn’t participate in many activities that require parental participation or even attendance. I suppose that’s good as I have a problem as a competitive mother/ person. I even interrupted his performance at master class last week.

But, as a teacher, I know how important volunteers are. Currently, I’m trying to make sure an event I have at a school library next week is successful—and that means recruiting my students and hoping they will be generous with their extra time.

So, when Playmakers need volunteers for productions, I always try to volunteer. In the past, it’s been mainly by donating money and chaperoning backstage, but this time, I thought I’d help out decorating the lobby.

Well, that was a mistake. As someone who hasn’t even decorated her own house for the holidays, I should not have volunteered to decorate the lobby. I’m not going to go into details, but I didn’t even last an hour and I think the group of moms stayed there to decorate for at least 5 hours.

I guess my guilt got the better of me, but I learned my lesson—don’t volunteer for something that you’re not suited too. Better to say no and offer to help in a way that you can. Which is why I offered to take tickets today.

Needless to say, Emery was awesome in Broadway Santa, which is a really cute holiday musical. If there’s a show near you—go see it.

Have you had any disastrous experiences volunteering? 

Book #7 Alexander Gordon Smith’s The Fury

The Fury is 681 pages long; I’m on page 366. I will probably finish and post my review tomorrow, but right now I have to get back to the scene where mobs of people are trying to kill our leading characters.

Book #5 Gene Luen Yang’s Boxers

As you can see I have quite a few books to read.

Now that the holidays are over, I’ll probably only be able to post a review every other day—time to wrap up the semester and attempt to finish a few of my own writing projects.

Finally, something unlike the other four books I’ve read so far. Boxers is set during the Boxer Rebellion in China and has a companion novel Saints. I was lucky enough to get copies of both and talk with the author about his work. As a fan of American Born Chinese, I couldn’t wait to read these books, and I think I like Saints just a little bit more than Boxers. But, first, Boxers is the first historical fiction graphic novel I’ve read. 

Set in the late 1800s, Boxers is Bao’s story, a Chinese boy whose village’s statue of their earth god, Tu Di Gong, is destroyed by a Catholic priest. When Bao’s father tries to seek compensation for the destruction, he is attacked by foreigners on the way and returns to the village broken. Angered by these experiences and guided by the spirits of the gods from the operas he so admires, Bao trains in kung fu and joins the Big Sword Society in order to rid his country of the “foreign devils” and their converts.  

I don’t claim to be a scholar of graphic novels, but color seems to play a large role in Boxers and Saints. Saints, for example, is noticeably less colorful than Boxers; in Boxers color comes through with the different gods, with the blood shed in battles, and with the items associated with religion—the building that serves as the Catholic Church and the statue of Tu Di Gong. (Lark Pien is the colorist). As Bao and his fellow soldiers battle, they are filled with the sprits of gods and those forms fill the battle pages, and now I understand how Yang associates them with superheroes—they float, they fill the pages, and next to the soldiers in their uniforms, Bao’s army represents the passion found in the stories he has grown up with.

I was sort of hoping that there would be author’s notes at the end of each book, as I love reading the “real” stories that inspired the author, but Yang instead provides a short list of further reading and his website provides some further background information as well as some interesting commentary, for example, how Chinese opera and American comics are alike.

The teacher in me hopes these books are used in the classroom. I know many teachers who use graphic novels in their classroom these days, and these two novels offer important insight into an historical period. Furthermore, the genre itself offers additional opportunities for teachers and students to discuss representation.  It would make a perfect addition for a 10^th grade world lit class or an interdisciplinary unit for 8^th graders. 

Book #6 Gene Luen Yang’s Saints

There’s a scene in Boxers where Bao sees a girl whose face resembles one of the masks found in the operas he loves.  Saints is the story of that girl. Four-Girl finds herself learning about Christianity and is visited by a spirit (see the cover of the novel) who inspires the role she wishes to take in the church. I don’t want to say more because I was pleasantly surprised by many of the events in this work.

Like Boxers, Saints uses color to emphasize certain aspects of the story. There are no colors other than shades of beige, white, and gray, and the occasional gold to represent the spirits. Even the blood is a muted shade, unlike its vibrancy in Boxers. 

While I like both books and like their pairing even better, I do like the story of Saints just a little bit more. Perhaps it’s the female protagonist or the special gift she gives Bao. Four-Girl never seems to be taken in by someone else’s wishes or doctrine, and her spiritual guide is more of a guide. And she is alone, unlike Bao who manages for a time to have a supportive group of brothers. Four-Girl must also deal with her society’s gender expectations—and her own. Or maybe it’s just because as a Catholic, I am painfully aware of my religion’s own shortcomings and its beauty. Yang straddles both worlds as he discusses in this New York Times interview. 

Emery's Review of Frozen

EMERY SPECIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My people , since my mom is too busy to write your stuck with me! And so let us begin.

The movie Frozen was really great.  The singing was stuependos the cast was swell there is

Just one problem witch is it was snowing everywere EXCEPT a place right next to… you will just have to find out. The graphicts are great in 3d . get a seat early trust me some people had a really hard time finding a seat.

Book #4 Emmy Laybourne’s Monument 14

I didn’t want to like this book because it’s yet another post-apocalyptic novel, but I finished it and I will probably read the sequel. Monument 14 is reminiscent of Gone and Alas, Babylon in that readers get some of the details behind the catastrophe(s) and daily survival strategies (unlike in How I Live Now which doesn’t seem like a fair comparison as M14 is longer).

Here’s the summary: Dean, his brother Alex, and 12 other children ranging from elementary to high school find themselves trapped in a supermarket after being caught in a deadly hail storm. They must work together to battle the dangers inside and outside of the supermarket.

What I liked about this book—Laybourne manages to make the reader familiar with a large cast and develops many of their personalities without relying on stock characterizations, she uses a lot of the “show, not tell” approach. I like that it’s told from Dean’s point of view (I think every novel I’ve read thus far is in first person). I like that it’s not told in a journal-type format. For a while there, it seemed like every novel I read was written as a diary and that might have been okay for this story, but I like that it’s not.

It must be hard to find a refreshing approach for a popular plot in young adult and adult fiction, and Monument 14 sort of reminds me of a Stephen King book for younger readers (but not as young as Emery). Or a plot for a television mini-series.

What’s your favorite post-apocalyptic novel?

Book #3 David Klass’ Grandmaster

I started this book right after I finished Reality Boy. It was a coincidence that Grandmaster also deals with repairing a father-son relationship, but in quite a different way. It doesn’t seem fair to compare the two books as Grandmaster is written for a younger audience, but I do like the focus on father-son relationships, and if you’re a dad, you might read this book and share it with your pre-teen son. There are also a few female characters who represent a variety of roles.  It’s a book that you can feel comfortable putting in your school library or classroom shelf and I look forward to giving this book to a middle school teacher I know.

Grandmaster is the story of freshman Daniel Pratzer. He has just begun attending an expensive private high school and joins the chess team after being unable to find another sports team to join. Daniel, who is the worst player on the team, is surprised one day when the two captains invite him and his dad to join their team which is set to compete at a weekend father-son chess tournament (which a large cash prize for the winners). The captains inform Daniel that his father is a chess grandmaster—a fact Daniel’s father has kept from his family.

The structure of the novel is straightforward (no flashbacks here) and the plot moves quickly and is captivating (I read it in a few hours). I was worried that there would be long complicated descriptions of chess moves, but there aren’t. The descriptions of chess are actually interesting with historical facts thrown in as well as what I imagine are real names for chess strategies. And, although I suspected what the ending might be, it was still a little suspenseful at times. My favorite bits were the moments when the father realizes how important it is for his son to see him excel at something and Klass writes as if he has experienced moments like the ones in the book when Daniel is proud of his father.

I would be interested in seeing who reads this book. I think if Emery were just a few years older, he’d enjoy it (he’s currently reading Wonder but has been reading Erin Hunter’s Warrior cat series, which is on target for the late elementary student who reads animal fantasies. 

Book #2 Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now

Full confession, I’m married to an author and I know how damaging a one-star review can be to someone’s ego. I do not like the star system  and am rethinking whether or not to use Goodreads for that very matter. How I Live Now is one reason why.

I was surprised to find this among the books we were given at ALAN because it was published several years ago. Then, I read the line on the cover “Now a major motion picture.” I sort of remember seeing the film on television a while ago, but after reading the description, deciding not to watch it. But, I also remember hearing from several people how much they liked the book. So, after talking with my son Emery, who told me to not say anything if it I wouldn’t want it said to me, we concluded I should say what I liked about the book—but I can’t help but say the new cover is completely misleading.

How I Live Now is a post-apocalyptic novel about a teenage girl who moves from America to live with her aunt and cousins in England. Her aunt leaves them soon after to travel to Oslo to try to negotiate a peace treaty. Then, an unknown and unidentified enemy soon occupies England and after a blissful love affair (which some people will take issue with), Daisy and her cousin find themselves separated from the rest of their family and must find their ways home.  

Okay, good parts (first, Ms. Rosoff has a neat blog, which hasn't been updated lately, but is entertaining). The lack of details about the conflict and the very few scenes of violence focus this novel on the relationships between characters. The writing at the end of the novel, especially the symbolism, makes up for the beginning. I guess if I were going to try to write a literary analysis of the novel, I might focus on the pastoral elements of the novel . . . and as a former English teacher, I could come up with several prompts on understatement, symbolism, and literary allusions (which I’m sure are there, but I’m not going back to look for them). There’s an interesting hint of the supernatural, and I wish Rosoff had explored that just a little bit more instead of just repeating what certain characters could sense. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but I’m not trying to include spoilers.

I think my problem is I just wanted more. A review on Amazon did call it a crossover book for adults and young adults, which might explain my reading—since I was reading through a young adult lens. Perhaps previous novels I’ve read in this genre have spoiled me. I like this type of plot; as a teenager I fell in love with Alas, Babylon and I admire the young adult novels, Ashfall and the Life as We Knew It.

Tomorrow, I will do the chess book--just didn't have it with me today when I had time to write my post while waiting for my flat tire to be fixed.  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-i-live-now-meg-rosoff/1100290701?ean=9780449819609

Book #1 A. S. King’s Reality Boy

Reality Boy by A. S. King (2013) 

I’ve read one other book by A. S. King and I loved it. Everybody Sees the Ants memorized me with its complex characters (and also features a male protagonist with family issues). Reality Boy is even better.

Here’s a quick summary.

Almost 17-year-old Gerald Faust, former star of the reality television show, Network Nanny is angry. Although the episodes, which captured his “crapping” on tables and in shoes, are 12 years old, his classmates still torment him with nicknames like “the Crapper” and his family is still dysfunctional—extremely dysfunctional. When a former viewer expresses sympathy for Gerald, he begins to open up to a girl and a boy who travels with a circus. 

One of my favorite parts of Reality Boy is the way King structures the novel. The chapters that are set in present day are interspersed with chapters set during the filming of Network Nanny. In fact, I found those chapters even more compelling than the present day chapters as they exposed the “behind the scenes” antics of Gerald’s psychopath sister and the inner workings of a “reality show.” Gerald’s relationship with his father is also a wonderful part to this book and King gives readers the hopeful (note, not happy ending) that makes a high-quality contribution to young adult literature.

Both books are perfect for a late high school/ early college crowd, and King’s style and content remind me a little of M. E. Kerr’s work, which was a hit with my tenth graders once upon a time.

Next up is a book about a boy who’s on a chess team who also has an interesting relationship with his father.  

A New Project for ProfessorMom

So, I’m at my fifth conference for this year. It’s my absolute favorite—The ALAN Conference. (ALAN stands for the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents with National Council of the Teachers of English). Basically, it’s two days of listening to authors speak on the books they’ve written for young adults (which Emery is not yet, but I can’t wait for him to be). One of the biggest draws for the conference are the books that publishers give to attendees. When I first started attending ALAN conferences in 1993, we used to get a bag of 10-15 books. Today, we get boxes with approximately 40 books. Usually, I keep a select few for myself (usually the Little, Brown ones) and give away the rest to my students and teachers.

I’ve never read every single book that I’ve been given at ALAN.

I’m going to this year.

And I will blog about each book.

Yes, I have a goodreads account and will probably duplicate my reviews there, but this project kind of feels like a Julie/ Julia blog project or The Daily Varnish, a blog on which two friends blog about a different type of nail polish each day. The books this year just look so good and so inventive, I want to read all of them, but I feel like I need to hold myself accountable somehow.

I’d like to be finished by the end of my semester break which I think is in early January.

The only rules I will follow are Daniel Pennac’s Reader’s Bill of Rights. I completely support these rights as I think they are essential to building life long readers:

They are

1. The right to not read 

2. The right to skip pages 

3. The right to not finish 

4. The right to reread 

5. The right to read anything 

6. The right to escapism 

7. The right to read anywhere 

8. The right to browse 

9. The right to read out loud 

10. The right to not defend your tastes

Look for my first post on A.S. King’s Reality Boy soon. I’m having trouble putting it down.