Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Geography Club by Brent Hartinger

Hartinger, Brent.
Geography Club
.
HarperCollins:
New York, 2003.

Russell operates under the belief that he is the only gay teenager at his entire high school. Until he finds out in an online chat room that one of the best looking jocks on the baseball team is too. Then, he learns that his best friend is bisexual and dating a soccer team lesbian who’s friends with the gay liberal activist. Bonding around their feelings of emotional rejection from their “normal” peers, they form the Geography Club, because no one else will join such a nerdy school group and that way, they don’t have to call it the Gay/Straight Alliance, outing themselves to the rest of the school. But just when things get comfortable, someone really does what to have fun with geography and rumors start flying about which boys like other boys and which players are batting for the “other team.”

Though Hartinger’s story plays hardball with social rejection and the emotional turmoil of adolescent sexuality, it feels like a “When are they gonna kiss already?” saga from the beginning. The sarcastic wit of the first person narrative makes the difficult subject matter easy to read and enjoyable, but the teenage logic follows a stereotypically predictable pattern. The average kid goes for the jock that rejects the nerd that yearns to sit with the popular kids that bully the loser that somehow saves the day. However, even with its formulaic plot, it’s a welcome addition to a common set of themes, but with a healthy gay twist. A great young adult read about how “normal” a gay teenager can be.

This review was originally written as coursework for a class on Young Adult literature.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Ranger’s Apprentice: Book One: The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan

Flanagan, John.
Ranger’s Apprentice: Book One: The Ruins of Gorlan.
Philomel Books:
New York City, 2005.

Fifteen year-old orphan Will has hopes of becoming a knight. Instead, however, he is assigned by the Baron to become an apprentice to a Ranger named Halt, one member of a mysterious corps that protects the kingdom from danger. Though local superstitions of the rangers’ craft leave Will reluctant to join this secretive militia, this first in a fantastical series of books follows the exciting journey of an ambitious young man learning the skills of a cunning and stealthy group of resourceful soldiers. As former enemies of the kingdom begin to cross back into its borders, Will must summon his courage to use his newly learned skills and save his village and the kingdom from harm. These perils are just a glimpse of the dangers soon to come as the series progresses.

Less about its fantastical elements and more about the characters, Will and his friends are brought into stark reality with vivid descriptions of their daily lives. Without losing momentum in the story, the reader learns as Will learns, getting to know more about him, his friends, and the world in which they live. Though each young character seems to learn and grow in maturity, there is a strange lesson about bullying in which the victim is allowed to seek a rather graphic revenge on his tormentors. It doesn’t exactly fit with the element of forgiveness propagated elsewhere in the book. The reader is brought into the ups and downs of their daily lives, as they overcome the difficulties of learning new skills. Excitement and anxiety about what lies ahead for Will are often present and bring the reader into the book’s atmosphere.

This review was originally written as coursework for a class on Young Adult literature.

Friday, June 23, 2006

A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson

Nelson, Marilyn.
Illustrated by Philippe Lardy.
A Wreath for Emmett Till
.
Houghton Mifflin
Company: Boston, 2005.

Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American boy from Chicago that was severely beaten and lynched while visiting family in the Mississippi Delta in the summer of 1955. Witness accounts state at least two white men brutally mutilated and beat the boy, eventually killing him and discarding the body in the Tallahatchie River. Mamie Till Mobley, Emmett’s mother, had an open casket funeral so everyone could see the violence committed against her son. When the two men indicted for the crime were acquitted by an all-white, male jury, it was one of the sparks that ignited the Civil Rights Movement. Months after the trial, one of the acquitted would admit murdering the child to the media. Marilyn Nelson’s work is a crown of sonnets for Emmett Till. A crown consists of fifteen Italian or Petrarchan sonnets with the last line of each sonnet becoming the first line of the next. The fifteenth sonnet consists of the first line of the previous fourteen. Nelson states in her prologue that this immensely structured form of poetry was her way of “protecting [herself] from the intense pain of the subject matter.”

However, the beauty of Nelson’s work does not protect the reader from the harsh realities of the event and the intense emotions it brings to all who hear about it. Accompanied by remarkably simple illustrations by Philippe Lardy, each poem strikes a chord of emotion. Though in picture book format, the material is not for younger readers. Nelson makes the poetry, both its form and meanings, accessible to the high school reader through a prologue discussing her reasons for writing and back matter that includes the story of Emmett Till and notes on each one of the sonnets. There is also a note by Lardy, detailing the artist's choices in the illustrations and some of their meanings.

This review was originally written as coursework for a class on Young Adult literature.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

McCloud, Scott.
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
.
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.:
New York City, 1993.

Creating a work that will be loved by those who already hold comics in high esteem and understood and enjoyed by readers that have never seen anything but the Sunday strips, Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art is an introduction to a medium that is seldom given its due credit. By using a graphic presentation to familiarize the reader with the intricacies of comics, McCloud takes his readers on an in-depth trip through his “comprehensive theory of the creative process.” Using examples from across history and from a wide spectrum of artists that came before him, McCloud discusses the use of line and color, words and vocabulary, the relationship of time and space, symbols and shapes, and the endless possibilities that arise from pen and paper.

At first glance, Understanding Comics is deceptively simple. However, its content covers a wide range of topics in terminology most will easily comprehend and enjoy. McCloud’s talent as both storyteller and artist are evident in this non-fiction work. The theories explained are picked apart in the most adept way, helping the reading along with examples and recurring themes for an overall grasp of topics as part of the whole. While sometimes getting a little wordy for the casual comics reader, an enthusiast will appreciate the explanations of the more subtle nuances that make comics an art form all its own. Though some younger children (5th grade and below) may not be able to grasp all the concepts discussed, the book will be appreciated by anyone of any age that has an interest in this varied art form.

This review was originally written as coursework for a class on Young Adult literature.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

The books for now.

I am currently getting my Masters in Library Science (MLS). My course of study is centered around becoming a school media specialist, probably in middle school. Whether that actually happens is up for debate, as it seems everyday the public library atmosphere looks more and more appealing. But I digress.

This summer, I'm taking a class on Young Adult (YA) literature. It's being taught by Deborah Taylor, whom I now consider to be a genius in the field. She has been on the selection team for numerous awards committees for YA lit, including (among others) the Best Books for Young Adults, the Michael L. Printz Award, Capitol Choices, and the Coretta Scott King Award. Basically, she's a rock star and the class is fantastic.

This blog is essentially starting because of the work I have to do for this class. We are required to read more than a dozen YA works over the course of six weeks or so. Most of them are for a final project on a theme of our choice. The rest are assigned to help us get a sampling of some of the different types of material out there.

All this is by means of saying that for the next few weeks, the only things I'll be reading are going to be YA lit, and I absolutely love it. One of my roommates and I were talking about it, and YA books are freakin' awesome. It's kind of like watching an hour long television show. You get something better than your typical sitcom, but it's not as involved or as lengthy as a feature length film. Plus, if you have a DVD and you get to take out the commercials (which is like adding pictures instead of more text in a YA book) it's even shorter and more enjoyable.

The theme I've decided on for my project is biographies and autobiographies in graphic format. I'm completely psyched and can't wait to do some writing on it. Having never read a graphic novel in my life, it will be an interesting experience. I had no idea there was such a broad field with so many variants. Though I knew graphic novels existed (The Sandman being the only one I had ever really seen), I certainly didn't realize there are people's life stories floating around in comics. Some of them really are incredible. It goes far beyond the boundaries of superheroes and villains.

Later, once class is over and I have my summer of pure pleasure reading back, I'll maybe delve into some other stuff. I've been thinking about retrospectively reviewing some of the books I recently read before starting this blog. At least, some of the ones I've hated and loved most. I have a feeling though, that YA lit might dominate my reviewing for a little while. I'm really getting a kick out of the field and there's just so much new, great stuff to get into. However, I usually require as much variety as possible, so we'll see how it goes. Some time in the future, I might make an attempt to separate out genres, formats, or reading levels, but for now it's all going to stay in one place.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Why am I doing this?

Because I feel like it. I admit, there's a lot of selfishness involved in this one. But at the same time, anyone who stops by more than a few times and gets to know my taste in literature might benefit from this blog as well. You never know.

Mostly though, the more I read, the more I want some way to really remember the things that I've read. A good friend told me that I should write in my books. While reading, write in the margins, underline words, and throw out exclamation points when something screams at you and makes you feel (sidenote: I hate exclamation points). This seemed like a great idea. I tried it in one book, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. I failed miserably. By page 50, the pen was gone and I no longer cared, I just wanted to read. I just didn't enjoy it. I'm in grad school and there is an abundance of reading I have to do for class every week. The highlighters and pens sit by my side as I go through all that grossly academic material. Writing in books that I read for fun suddenly felt like homework and I almost immediately stopped feeling the pleasure in pleasure reading.

I'm going to try this for a little while and see how it goes. It was going to be a journal on my computer, but I thought, why keep it to myself when I can publish it in glorious splendor? Becuase, you know, everyone that blogs eventually gets a book deal or becomes a highly demanded freelancer for The New Yorker. I also figured that creating a blog might help to keep me going. Readers or not, it requires a certain amount of effort and maintenance that I might not put forth as readily if it were just my own thing. And hell, someone else might enjoy it along the way.

So press on my fellow readers. Let me know your thoughts about what I've said and give me some recommendations in return. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.