Janet Fitch--White Oleander

Where do I start? 446 pages of the most negative text I have ever read—including the YA novels I am so fond of!!

But I don’t want to start with the bad. I am positive that my negative is purely personal, and that the positive and amazing qualities of the text far outweigh anything I have to say.

The language was amazing. Lyrical, thick, metaphorically charged. I haven’t read anything like it before—maybe weetzie bat comes close, but that was a blink of a text while this one took endless amounts of mulling over, thinking, processing, soaking up the words—time…

Fitch must have taken an eternity to come up with such a wide array of metaphors, similes and poetry. Not a page goes by without one it seems. It distracted me initially, but then as I got deeper entrenched, it was as if the language became mine as I was immersed in it…only to be forced back into reality when I had to put it down (life, it gets in the way sometimes).

I read for several reasons. Sometimes pleasure reading is the motive—and I can pick up Harry Potter and lose myself for a while. Sometimes I need more information—research on essay revision to help students with their writing, textbooks, my journals—the English Journal/ALAN, etc. Sometimes I read to keep myself engaged with young adults today—I hope that by my wide-array of knowledge of YA texts, I can help reluctant readers find some text they could enjoy. Sometimes I read off a suggestion—White Oleander was just that—Ms. Nelson has her AP students read it (as an option), and I wanted to read what they have to read, so I did. All through my reading, if a student who had Ms. Nelson last year saw me reading it, or saw it on her shelves would rant and rave about how awesome a book it was.

So I read.

It is a fast-paced text once you get used to the thick wordiness and endless horrific encounters the protagonist endures. If you resign yourself to the notion in no way is this text awesome because of the story, then you will be totally satisfied and amazed by this book.

If you can look past the negative portrayal of women throughout the text, you will love this book. Keep in mind, not every image of women is completely negative. But, if you were to do a character study of every single woman in the text, you'd be hard pressed to find one that you would want your sister, mother, daughter, self to be.

If you want to read a book unlike any other, one in which the author has more artful craft with her words than I have in my little toe, this is the book for you.

Really, I am glad I read this book. I feel like I have been allowed into a secret world of word-appreciation and supreme usage!

:) At least give a shot!

BabyMouse--Beach Babe & Rock Star--Jennifer & Matthew Holm

I needed some lighter reading this weekend for a moment, and finally read the most recent two BabyMouse Graphic Novels. Both of them were entertaining and fun to read, Beach Babe had a good lesson (sister/little brother related), and Rock Star is a good version of "practice makes perfect." While many readers won't enjoy a graphic novel about a spunky imaginative mouse, those who are open to it and take a chance with one will find the heroine to be extremely fun to read. *Book 5 comes out this December--I am pumped!!*

**Note**
While I have been absent for QUITE some time, it wasn't for lack of reading!!!
I am nearly done with The Golem's Eye (book two in the Bartimaeus series) and have started on Harry Potter 6 finally...So, I have my "hands" in several texts right now! :)

Jonathan Stroud: The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy Book One)

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. Professor Reid said he loved this book, loved the djinn and wasn't a fan of the boy. I totally didn't expect to feel the same--but I did.

Bartimaeus is hilarious, and the way in which Stroud uses his voice to break the monotonous/average tale really changes the dynamics of the story.

You have to root for the irritating boy, but only because of the link he shares with his summoned slave--who you really enjoy hearing from.

Action-packed, suspenseful, and entertaining to say the least--I can't wait to delve into the second book!!!

Philip Pullman:The Amber Spyglass

I have been avoiding finishing the series. I knew the inevitable sense of loss and sadness that would follow the completion of the series--and I was right.

I wasn't expecting to love Lyra's story as much as I did, nor was I expecting the twists and the ending. I am really glad I knocked out the trio, but am inwardly sad and hoping that Mr. Pulman is working on a fourth--because I'd LOVE to see a few more. It was left quite open, and the potential is there.

One can hope.

I dread the coming of the movie--any deep meaning/intention will be lost in the Hollywood--ization. And the beauty and imaginativeness will be lost to so many.

Lyra's journey is one for all ages. Action-packed with several amazing, quirky, powerful characters; exciting plot twists, and a conclusion that you won't see coming.

Definitely worth the read.

Philip Pullman: The Subtle Knife

DAMN.

I am going to be super pissed if who I think is dead is dead.

I will write the full entry as soon as I can. REALLY AWESOME series though.

Kim Antieau: Mercy, Unbound

Angels don't eat--they aren't human.

Seventeen year old Mercy is becoming an angel. She can feel her wings growing--they itch her shoulderblades.

Mercy can't/won't/doesn't eat and her parents decide to send her to an eating disorders institution to help Mercy face her illness.

Mercy and her family aren't like most of the YA characters depicting adolescent worlds. Mercy is highly intelligent, her mother is an extreme activist (environmental lawyer) and does not hide her feminist perspectives from her daughter, and Mercy is a wealth of knowledge and perspective uncommonly fresh and unique.

As I got towards the end I thought it was wrapped up rather too neatly, but then Antieau weaved a totally different storyline into the conclusion, I was just amazed as to how sucked in I was.

I am glad I stuck with it, and even though the book does have some moments of hard-to-believe. The manner in which Mercy finds a way to confront her eating disorder is really original and well-worth the read.

Philip Pullman: The Golden Compass

WOW.
Ok, for those of you who have only begun--KEEP GOING!!!
I was really unsure I would enjoy this book initially, but finally after about the fifth chapter I was totally hooked.

Action-packed, interesting, imaginative, and a great heroine make up an extremely creative story. Lyra's world is similar to ours, but every human has an animal daemon (almost like a soul that chats with, comforts, and protects its human). Children's daemons change form (mainly to emulate their human's emotion/climate), but when children reach adulthood, the daemon permanently chooses an animal form.

The "controversial" part of the text doesn't really hit until the end of the novel, and I see how some religious sects might take offense, but it really is a masterfully crafted text. The end is also slightly violent and graphic, but not overly done.

Lyra is destined to do things for her world, but what they are have yet to be realized.

I also like this version of the text's cover more than the trade paperbacks I have--they aren't as fun-looking, and look much more like "grown-up" books.

Cynthia Rylant: God Went To Beauty School

Ok, I got this on a whim--inexpensive, short...you never know when a short text may be called for.

I read the first poem and a little worry crossed my mind--what kind of religious book did I pick up??

Well, it is a great novella (all in verse) that spins a unique tale of God (however the reader sees that figure) and what he/she might be like.

I read it in the bathtub, the language is manageable, and it isn't very controversial--unless you are against different perspectives on deities. I am glad I have this for my shelves. It was fun to read, and it is always nice to think that a possibility exists that maybe some Omniscient thing never really wanted death/pain for the world, and there might just be a really good sense of humor and lonely being out there.

My FAVORITE:
God Got A Desk Job
Just to see what it
would be like.
Made his back hurt.
God's always had a
bad back anyway--
the weight of the world
and all that.
He thought His job was tough,
'til He sat at a desk all day.
It was torture.
He could feel the Light
inside Him grow
dimmer and dimmer
and He thought that
if He had to pick
up that phone
one more time,
He'd just start the
whole Armageddon thing
people keep talking about.
(Not His idea, not His plan,
but in a pinch, He's
sure He can come up
with something.)
The only thing that got
Him through to the
end of the day was
Snickers bars.
He ate thirty-seven.
Plus thinking about the Eagle Nebula
in the constellation Serpens.
That helped.
(Cynthia Rylant: God Went to Beauty School pgs. 39-40)

Adele Geras: Ithaka

Really a good read. For those who love stories about Ancient Greece, this is a different perspective of Odysseus & Penelope told through the eyes of a servant-girl who waits on Penelope--Klymene.

*I'll get my book talk up here as soon as I can.

Edith Pattou: East

An enormous white polar bear, a loving and protective brother and father, a troll queen, and an adventurous, brave, spirited and head-strong young woman—combine together in a fast-paced fun adventure/quest in East. The main character’s enthusiastic passion to find her destiny and the changing voices narrating the story’s chapters will keep you captivated for the long haul!