Another gift for you.

It is that time of year.  My favorite time of the year.  "The Best of" lists start popping up everywhere.

This one is from The New York Times Sunday Book Review and it's all about Young Adult Lit (and other books for kids).  The picture accompanying the article is priceless (illustration done by Julia Rothman).

Get reading, everyone.  Let me know if you read a couple, and we will discuss!

-absk

Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick

I don't know if I can talk about this book yet.  It knocked the breath right out of me, and fear, sadness, and pain filled me up.  But this book is about so much more than sadness.  This book represents resilience and the power of the human experience, connection, and survivial.

The book is about a Cambodian boy, Arn Chorn-Pond, who lives through the Khmer Rouge revolt.  He really did...the author's story is a retelling of his life. It's like the movie "Killing Fields" but in YA literature.  I don't want to say much more about it because I'll never do it justice or the experience of reading it justice. 

I just know teenagers, by their nature, are drawn to stories of justice, survival, and resilience.  As I read this book, I couldn't stop thinking about my boys and my students and how much I yearn to protect them from this kind of injustice, violence, and hatred.  The truth is, I can't.  This violent hateful story represents how this world works too often, and if we don't share these experience in safe, artistic, and genuine ways, we risk being too far removed from them.  We need to live them...especially those of us who are safe, insulated, and privileged.  So, yes, I recommend this book to my 8th graders (and to both of my boys once it's timely), and I celebrate Arn's story.  I celebrate, with Arn, the power of tears, the power of music, and the power of embracing the past in order to live, alive and awake and aware, in the present.

Here is some of the buzz around this book:

Reading Rants (my most trusted book blog)
LA Times
NY Times
NPR
YouTube

Two Books from Neil Shusterman

I really think Neil Shusterman might be a middle school kid.  He just gets them so well, and his characters are so believable...even the ones who have supernatural powers and the ones who live in worlds so different from ours.  

Recently, I read two book by him.  The first one is called Unwind.  Anyone who liked Hunger Games, The Giver, or Matched will like this book.  Here's what the author's website says about it:

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.

Then, there's the book Bruiser.  A book about a couple of kids who learn that sometimes love can hurt, but only in ways that remind us how lucky we are to have it.  I thought the suspense in this book was going to make me burst.  I really enjoyed it.  This is from Neil Shusterman's website, too:

TENNYSON:  
Don’t get me started on The Bruiser.  He was voted “Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty” by the entire school. He’s the kid no one knows, no one talks to, and everyone hears disturbing rumors about.  So why is my sister, Brontë dating him?  One of these days she’s going to take in the wrong stray dog, and it’s not going to end well.

BRONTË:
My brother has no right to talk about Brewster that way – no right to threaten him.  There’s a reason why Brewster can’t have friends – why he can’t care about too many people.  Because when he cares about you, things start to happen.  Impossible things that can’t be explained.  I know, because they’re happening to me.

BREWSTER:
Stealer of screams and thief of anguish,  I am a criminal, but you can’t see it, blinded by your own relief as my body becomes a battlefield in a war that can’t be won.  Will I be the bullet that ends your pain, or will you end mine?

Award-winning author Neal Shusterman has crafted a chilling and unforgettable novel about the power of unconditional friendship, the complex gear work of a family, and the sacrifices we endure for the people we love.

Trust me, Neil Shusterman, is a heckuva an author.  I really think his books are for everyone.  Boys, girls, 6th graders, 8th graders, sci-fi and fantasy fans (try them both), Hunger Games fans (try Unwind), and realistic fiction fans (try Bruiser).

Enjoy, everyone.  And keep reading!

-absk

Autumn is a second spring...

Yay!  2012-2013 school year is right around the corner.  All sorts of YA books fall from the skies during the start of the school year, so get excited.  Here are two trusted ladies and the books they've previewed.  Can't wait.  I know SAMS will be ordering these, and I hope the library nearest you is doing the same.  Enjoy!

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Have you ever gotten really excited to read a book because all of the hype, and then when you read it, it's just not as good as you hoped.  I hate it when this happens, but it happens so easily! Darn.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray is full of great moments and great lessons for young adolescent girls.  But it's over the top and just on the other side of too forced and too silly.  The premise is a lot like Lord of the Flies, but with teenage beauty contestants.  It's supposed to be satirical and it's supposed to be fantastical, I know that...I just didn't like it.

My favorite line in the book represents what I did love, love, love about the book.  The slow realizations the girls have that they can be themselves with a bit more practice and a bit more dedication to the idea.  “Maybe girls need an island to find themselves,” Mary Lou says. “Maybe they need a place where no one’s watching them so they can be who they really are.”  I'm all about doing whatever it takes to help girls find the confidence it takes to be who they really are, including recommending this book for girls interested.  It's not that it's not good or funny, it just didn't live up to the hype.  Try it for yourself and see!

One year later.

A gift for you...


There are several reasons I haven't been posting about YA lit for the past year....
1.  I took a new job as a dean and that meant less books and more naughty kids.  But is a great gig, so if I can just figure out how to be a dean who reads lots of YA lit, I'm set!
2.  Along came Harold Clayton Kujawski.  Yep, that's right, I had a baby.  He was a tiny little piglet baby at first, but now he's a full-fledged infant with fuzzy hair, a nap schedule, and an exersaucer.   Like my new job, this role as a Hal's mom is a great gig, so if I can just figure out how to be a momma to Hal who also reads lots of YA lit, I'm set!
3.  Another year full of classes.  I am taking my last one at Hamline this summer, and I'll be done.  Whew.  I like learning, and the classes have been relevant to my work, so I don't mind.  I just gotta figure out how to be a student who takes class and reads lots of YA lit.

But here I am, back int he blogging saddle.  I don't have a specific book to tell you about but I have a good list.  It's the list of the Best YA Lit for 2011 from Publishers Weekly.  I stopped reading YA Lit in May 2011, so it's a perfect way for me to get caught up.  I hope you recognize some of the books and find a few others to put on your summer reading lists.  Enjoy!

-stenson