Our inadvertent theme this month seemed to be cultural identity struggles. Both of these books deal with main characters trying to find themselves among a split cultural identity.
While most everyone enjoyed CUBA 15 by Nancy Osa, there was a feeling that overall it lacked enough poignant moments that would lend itself for good discussion points regarding multiculturalism with younger readers. There were some feelings of frustration with the book, but we discussed whether this was intentional on the author's part wanting the reader to feel as frustrated as the main character, Violet Paz. We also discussed whether or not the author may have purposefully chosen to not focus on the real angst of the multi-cultural situations in the book and more on the actual coming of age of Violet. Was the author's intent to gloss over some of the racial and cultural situations or was she choosing to be "color blind" and not dwell on the possible tensions and issues? Again, final word on the book from the bookclub: Sweet, enjoyable, but not as poignant as expected.
AMERICAN BORN CHINESE by Gene Luen Yang seemed to capture and force people to think more about the struggle which many multicultural youth face whether American-born within a multicultural family or a new immigrant trying to understand a new culture. The three stories are intricately told through graphic novel. We felt this was an excellent way to tell these stories which are all inter-connected and deal with finding and accepting ones true self. This is a book that anyone can learn a lesson from and resonate with even if they are not specifically Chinese-American. We discussed this book's merit in receiving the 2007 Printz Award and felt that it has a broader resonance for readers than several of the others. Our thoughts: this is an intense, sometimes uncomfortable, but powerful and thought provoking book worthy of its award and honors.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
ALA announces literary award winners...
The news is out!
"Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village" by Laura Amy Schiltz is 2008's Newbery Award winner.
"The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick is 2008's Caldecott Medal winner.
See all the honors and other award winners at American Library Associations website:
http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2008/january2008/announce08.htm
We'll have to consider some of these for our 2008 reads!
"Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village" by Laura Amy Schiltz is 2008's Newbery Award winner.
"The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick is 2008's Caldecott Medal winner.
See all the honors and other award winners at American Library Associations website:
http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2008/january2008/announce08.htm
We'll have to consider some of these for our 2008 reads!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Recap CLAY and ERAGON...
In a nut shell we thought CLAY by David Almond "creepy". Some of us thought it was "creepy" good while others of us thought it was "creepy" bad. For those of us who didn't care for the book the main issue was the "bad child". In the end, we discussed who/what Clay really was - was he real? magic? or simply an alter ego to express what happen? Was the book using magic realism or playing on hypnotic games?
If you are expecting another SKELLIG this may be a bit disappointing. There's not really the warm sense that the magic of SKELLIG created in this tale. It's more along the lines of a Stephen King type book. As a matter of fact, if you enjoy Stephen King you will probably enjoy this book.
ERAGON by Christopher Paolini, on the other hand, was more widely well-liked by those who had read it. A typical hero journey, but with many twists and turns to keep the adventure exciting for any reader. Characters are well developed and well-used. For example, Brom's character tends to slow the learning of Eragon and keeps the story from moving too quickly. What more could you want, legends, dragons and a young adult who is key in saving his world!
If you are expecting another SKELLIG this may be a bit disappointing. There's not really the warm sense that the magic of SKELLIG created in this tale. It's more along the lines of a Stephen King type book. As a matter of fact, if you enjoy Stephen King you will probably enjoy this book.
ERAGON by Christopher Paolini, on the other hand, was more widely well-liked by those who had read it. A typical hero journey, but with many twists and turns to keep the adventure exciting for any reader. Characters are well developed and well-used. For example, Brom's character tends to slow the learning of Eragon and keeps the story from moving too quickly. What more could you want, legends, dragons and a young adult who is key in saving his world!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
ALA announces Teen's Top Ten 2007...
Making the list:
Interesting that the number one book picked is the sequel to TWILIGHT which our group all enjoyed! Of course, to complete the series one should continue on with ECLIPSE after NEW MOON.
Any of the other ones sound good for future book club choices?
- New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).
- Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (Viking Children's Books, 2006)
- How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles (Flux, 2006).
- Maximum Ride: School's Out - Forever by James Patterson (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).
- Firegirl by Tony Abbott (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).
- All Hallows Eve (13 Stories) by Vivian Vande Velde (Harcourt, 2006).
- Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Harcourt, 2006).
- River Secrets by Shannon Hale (Bloomsbury, 2006).
- Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe (HarperCollins, 2006).
- Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks (Chicken House, 2006).
Interesting that the number one book picked is the sequel to TWILIGHT which our group all enjoyed! Of course, to complete the series one should continue on with ECLIPSE after NEW MOON.
Any of the other ones sound good for future book club choices?
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
CC & Me...
Here's the photo that I mentioned in the comments section of STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNES.
I don't know who actually took the photo or what credit I should give, but I thank whomever it was that took it as I am actually in it! The original photo (without my notation) can be viewed at http://www.chriscrutcher.com/content/blogcategory/117/96/
Just thought I'd share.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
What we've read so far (revisited & updated)...
What we've read so far...
2007
Jan. - Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare & Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
Feb. - Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Mar. - The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Apr. - Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David
Levithan
May - An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
June/July - Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
August - Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac
September - Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher
2006
June - Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
July - Hoot by Carl Hiassen
Aug - Luna by Julie Anne Peters
Sept. - Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Oct. - Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Nov. - Blankets by Craig Thompson
Dec. - NO MEETING
2007
Jan. - Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare & Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
Feb. - Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Mar. - The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Apr. - Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David
Levithan
May - An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
June/July - Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
August - Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac
September - Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher
2006
June - Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
July - Hoot by Carl Hiassen
Aug - Luna by Julie Anne Peters
Sept. - Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Oct. - Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Nov. - Blankets by Craig Thompson
Dec. - NO MEETING
Recap of STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNES
In honor of Banned Book Week we read Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher. Chris Crutcher is an author that has dealt with censorship and challenges with nearly all of his books. Writing realistic fiction, Crutcher bases many of his characters' experiences on real life scenarios that he has seen, but many adults find hard to believe. Our group had a good discussion of the book led by Heather. Some questions that we pondered were:
Did Lemry as a teacher overstep her bounds? The answer from our group was quite definitely "yes", but we also felt that she did the right thing and took the responsibility for her actions.
Did the timeshift in the story work or not? We felt that the timeshift built up the sense of how long Sarah Byrnes had lived in her environments and a it gave a sense of crescendo by not revealing too much at a time. We actually discussed how a lineal timeline would could have bogged the story down too much.
Who do you think it the prime audience for this book? High school for sure. This is one book we read that we felt was not on the younger end of the ya spectrum.
How did you feel about the characters? Out of all the characters, Jody was the one that several folks felt was a bit too contrived. Would someone really just blurt out the whole abortion issue right in class? Most of us saw it coming in the story line, but perhaps that's because of us all being adults. Teens may have an easier time seeing Jody as a full grown character. Some of us felt she may be a little too shallow to be 100% believable.
Our favorite parts? 1. Mark getting up and facing his classmates and Jody. We felt this was an important piece as it lets the ready sense that he'll really be ok. 2. Ellerby simply asks "Can I use the phone?" and then does. We loved the sensibility and the strength when faced by an intimidating situation. 3. We all cheered the vigilante heroism of Carver although we all understood the seriousness in reality of doing something like that. 4. Overall, we enjoyed the transformation of Eric from the grade school, over-weight scaredy-cat to an internally stong young adult who would "rather have Sarah Byrnes alive and not be my friend" than backing down from doing something about the situation.
Want to know more about Chris Crutcher? Check out his website at
http://www.chriscrutcher.com/
October's book will be Clay by David Almond.
We had interest in switching our November book and a request for something with dragons so our new November book will by Eragon by Christopher Paolini.
Did I miss something that you want to share about Sarah Byrnes? Members, please post your comments!
Did Lemry as a teacher overstep her bounds? The answer from our group was quite definitely "yes", but we also felt that she did the right thing and took the responsibility for her actions.
Did the timeshift in the story work or not? We felt that the timeshift built up the sense of how long Sarah Byrnes had lived in her environments and a it gave a sense of crescendo by not revealing too much at a time. We actually discussed how a lineal timeline would could have bogged the story down too much.
Who do you think it the prime audience for this book? High school for sure. This is one book we read that we felt was not on the younger end of the ya spectrum.
How did you feel about the characters? Out of all the characters, Jody was the one that several folks felt was a bit too contrived. Would someone really just blurt out the whole abortion issue right in class? Most of us saw it coming in the story line, but perhaps that's because of us all being adults. Teens may have an easier time seeing Jody as a full grown character. Some of us felt she may be a little too shallow to be 100% believable.
Our favorite parts? 1. Mark getting up and facing his classmates and Jody. We felt this was an important piece as it lets the ready sense that he'll really be ok. 2. Ellerby simply asks "Can I use the phone?" and then does. We loved the sensibility and the strength when faced by an intimidating situation. 3. We all cheered the vigilante heroism of Carver although we all understood the seriousness in reality of doing something like that. 4. Overall, we enjoyed the transformation of Eric from the grade school, over-weight scaredy-cat to an internally stong young adult who would "rather have Sarah Byrnes alive and not be my friend" than backing down from doing something about the situation.
Want to know more about Chris Crutcher? Check out his website at
http://www.chriscrutcher.com/
October's book will be Clay by David Almond.
We had interest in switching our November book and a request for something with dragons so our new November book will by Eragon by Christopher Paolini.
Did I miss something that you want to share about Sarah Byrnes? Members, please post your comments!
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