BOOK SUMMARIES AND REVIEWS
YOUNG ADULT TITLES READ IN
ILS 512
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn
J. Pierce
# -1- of 33 Date: January 26, 2003
Title:
The Chocolate War
Author:
Robert Cormier
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell (pb) (1974)
Genre: realism (Cormier req) The writing was
X good excellent ng
#pages: 191 p. The story was __good__excellent X ng
Recommended
by: MAE award
Censorship
problems?: Catholic schools might not like their portrayal in the book.
Parents might not like negative outcome
of taking a stand
Story
summary: The opening sentence is “They murdered
him.” Initially it turns out that a
football practice is the subject of discussion, but toward the end of the book
the reader wonders if it will not be more literally true. Jerry is a freshman at a prep school
inhabited by bullies and their victims.
The bullies, despite their differences, have banded into a secret
society called the Vigils. The give
“assignments” to nonmembers to assert their power, torment the victims, and
cause disruptive incidents in the school.
Brother Leon, currently in charge, exhibits sadistic behavior of his
own, and leaves the victims nowhere to turn.
Jerry is somewhat of a loner since his
mother died, and his father is well meaning, but disconnected. Jerry turns out for football, which offers
punishment of its own. He alone refuses
to sell chocolates in a school fundraiser.
It turns out that the initial refusal was a Vigil “assignment”, but he
later takes it on as his own statement, even when the bullies resort to
violence. He gets some admiration, but
little support from his fellow victims.
In the end, his football teammate Goober has moved toward a
non-participatory stance to oppose all the negative elements of the school, but
Jerry is no longer sure.
Comments: I know that this book is well thought of by many and
cited in Cormier’s MAE award. I simply
cannot agree. My main objection is that
Cormier seems to offer no hope. He is
in touch with adolescent feelings of isolation and confusion and fear, and
connects to readers, at least testosterone-filled ones, with football, vivid
descriptions of violence, suspense, and a spotlight on bullies. Perhaps in 1974, when this book was written,
it was an antidote to more idealistic depictions of high school years, but to
me, Jerry’s world is too awful to be believed.
There are so many bullies, including the truly evil Brother Leon. I realize it is standard to make the main
characters parents ineffectual in YA novels, but does every “good” adult in the
story have to be spineless? It does
not help that Jerry, the other characters, and the reader are unclear about his
motivations. If one is going to “dare
disturb the universe”, as the poster in his locker says, isn’t it important to
let your potential supporters know in what direction you wish to move it? The reader cannot even say that Jerry’s
character has matured a step in the story since at the end he is reversing his
position. It is also true that the mean
characters, and the dynamics between them are as well, or better developed than
their victims. Who exactly are we supposed
to be rooting for here? I do know that
some adolescents’ view of the world is this black, but I think it’s important
to show at least a glimmer of something beyond that view in YA literature.
_______________________
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn
J. Pierce
#_2_of
33 Date: January 27, 2003
Title:
Stotan!
Author:
Chris Crutcher
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell (pb) (1986)
Genre:
Realism (Crutcher req)
The writing was __good X
excellent__ng
#pages: 183 p. The story was X good_ _excellent__ng
Recommended
by: MAE Award
Censorship
problems?: I suppose that some could
object to the mentions of the possibility of
sex among teens, but there is nothing
beyond making out in this movie, and it is not described.
Story
summary: Five highschoolers who have
swum together since grade school form a tightly knit group. The four boys constitute the entire swim
team at their high school. Their friend
Elaine works out with them, but has given up competition. Walker, who narrates the story, wants to be
a writer, lives with detached and aging parents and tries to decide whether to
continue rescuing his drug-addicted brother.
Nortie’s father has driven one son to suicide, and still physically
abuses both his mother and Nortie.
Lion’s parent’s were killed in a boating accident and he lives on his
own. Only Elaine and Jeff seem to live
in fairly normal households, but their parents receive little mention, even
though Jeff’s leukemia plays a major part in the last half of the book.
The book opens with their somewhat
mysterious, but supportive Korean coach proposing the team volunteer for Stotan
Week during their first week of their Christmas vacation, without further
explanation. They all volunteer, and
their week consists of grueling morning workouts meant to push them beyond what
they think they can do, with the rest of the hours spent together at Lion’s
apartment recovering. Even more
connected, the group joins in opposition of some obnoxious guys at school who
distribute supremacist literature, and support each other with their various
family-related problems. Walker also
struggles with new feelings for Elaine complicated by a current relationship
with a girl he has no desire to hurt, although he does not share this with his
friends.
Though their swim team can never win
meets because it is too small, the boys cheer each other on in individual
improvement, and hope to win individual events and the 4-man relay at the state
championships. Their biggest challenge comes in dealing with Jeff’s sudden
illness and decline. The three continue
to improve, and do well at State for Jeff, but their focus by then has changed.
Comments: The characters are wonderfully developed, each
having strengths and weaknesses. Walker
even discovers that his beloved coach’s life is not perfect. The group’s friendship is delightful and
their banter unerringly rings true. Mr.
Crutcher gets high marks from me for allowing his male characters to have
empathy for others and emotions that they express, and for allowing the main
female character to be strong and self-reliant, although it is true that her
role in the book is very small, making her seem somewhat disposable. The individual themes are handled with veracity
and sensitivity, but what keeps this book from being excellent, in my opinion,
is the inclusion of too many of them within one story. Besides sports, friendship, and other fairly
universal concerns of the high school years, this book includes alcoholism,
drug addiction, physical abuse, racial hatred, an interracial relationship, a
teacher-student relationship, old parents, dead parents, suicide, illness,
impending death, and probably others I have failed to mention. Of course these are all a part of life, but
to have them all so intimately connected to this small group in such a short
period of time leaves this reader a little incredulous. Mr. Crutcher has a lot to say, and he says
it extremely well, but it need not all be said within one novel.
--------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_2_of
33
Date: January 31, 2003
Title:
Speak
Author:
Laurie Halse Anderson
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (1999)
Genre:
Realism (Speak req.) The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages: Peck, Disbrow, Newbery honor The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by:
Censorship
problems?: Very much so with the driving force of the story being a rape, with
another attack included as well.
Story
summary:
The story unfolds through short, self-contained, and often sarcastic and witty
thoughts of the main character, and her reports of other character’s
words. Melinda is entering high
school. During the preceding summer,
something happened at a party that prompted her to call the police. Although it is clear that they don’t know
why she called, and probably haven’t asked, absolutely all her peers have
ostracized her. At home Melinda feels her
parents ignore her. Over the course of
the story, she becomes clear about what happened, and as she does, the reader
is the first to know, for she has shared her secret with no one.
Each section of the book ends with her
grades for that marking period, making it clear that she, at least in that
regard, is spiraling downward. The only
exception is her art class, where Mr. Freeman seems less hypocritical than
most, and where she struggles to embody her
roiling
emotions in her varied renditions of her assigned subject: a tree. She makes some tenuous connections with her
outspoken male lab partner, and equally tenuous connections with former
girlfriends through art and gym, but it is not until another friend becomes
involved with the very boy who raped her, does Melinda begin to reconnect to
the world and voice her pain.
Comments: The main character in Speak is in a solitary world imposed
both from without and from within.
Whether or not they have suffered incidents that others recognizes as
traumatic, all adolescents will identify with the feelings of isolation expressed
here. Melinda’s withdrawal and struggle
to come to grips with her attack are, I think, true to the experience of
rape. Her guilt, her fear, and her
anger all ring true. There are so many
things to love about this book, not the least of which is the Melinda’s sense
of the absurd. It is hard to imagine, without having read the novel, how a book
about such a serious subject could be humorous as well, but Anderson has
managed it admirably. I would heartily
recommend this as an assigned book in high schools. The humor and the brief paragraphs separated by white space will
appeal to even the reluctant reader.
The story will inspire lively discussions, and the writer’s wonderful
style will allow themes and literary devices to be taught quite
painlessly. There is some danger that
factions will object to the subject matter, but this misguided protectionist
stance should be resisted.
-------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_4_of
33
Date: February 2, 2003
Title:
Kit’s Wilderness
Author:
David Almond
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Dell Laurel-Leaf (pb) (1999)
Genre: magical realism (Prinz award req) The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng)
#pages: 229 p. The story
was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Prinz Award
Censorship
problems?: I don’t think so.
Story
summary: A plot summary will only capture some of the
many layers of this narrative. Kit and
his parents arrive in Stonybrook, a very small town somewhere in Great Britain,
with a dramatic coal mining past. They have moved there to care for his
grandfather who has recently lost his wife.
The boy, who loves to write, connects very strongly to the old man who
shares his stories and memories. Among
other things, he relates that as children, he and his companions used to watch
for the ghosts of children long-buried in mining disasters. He also describes one particular comforting
ghost who would appear when he himself was trapped in the mine. One layer of the story is the old man’s
decline and its effect on those closest to him.
In the present, a group of children has
invented a game of their own called Death. In the game, following a ritual, one
child is left alone in a part of the mine. The leader of the group is John
Askew, a young man damaged by the verbal and physical abuse of his alcoholic
father. He draws intricate pictures of the things he sees in the dark. After seeing a story that Kit wrote, Askew
decides that they are alike in their strong connection to the past, and in
their ability to see more than others see.
He insists that Kit participate in the game. When it is his turn, Kit does experience a nothingness that is
like death, only awakening when a teacher intervenes. Soon after, Askew disappears.
Another member of the group is Allie, a
schoolmate who wants to be an actress. She is uncontainable, with opinions on
everything, readily shared. She tells
Kit that Askew is a caveman, and in his fertile imagination a new story is
born. The story is about Lak, a young
man in the time of cave dwellers, who rescues his sister from a bear, and
becomes lost in the process. The story
takes on a life of its own.
Askew sends a summons through another
classmate, asking Kit to meet him in the mine.
The boys share an experience in which the life of the hero in Kit’s
story becomes intertwined with Askew’s.
They are “rescued” by Allie, who has just stepped out of her role as the
Snow Queen, but is still in costume.
Comments: In the endnote, Almond states: “Writing can be difficult, but
sometimes it really does feel like a kind of magic. I think that stories are living things---among the most important
things in the world.” Kit’s Wilderness
does seem organic, with a rhythm like breathing, and intricacies impossible to
unravel in a single read. The
storytelling style is exquisite. What
is real and what isn’t is something each reader will have to decide, but since
as the story climaxes mystical events leave physical evidence, I think that
Almond means the reader to take the events and connections in the narrative
quite literally. Although I enjoyed
this book very much, I would only recommend it to very strong and eclectic teen
readers. The world of the novel is
somewhere between the concrete manifestation of day-to-day existence, and a
magic world in which none of the rules apply.
Many readers may be uncomfortable in this rather unique and ambiguous
territory.
--------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn
J. Pierce
#_5_of
33
Date: Feburary 4, 2003
Title:
True Believer
Author:
Virginia Euwer Wolff
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher:
Atheneum Books for Young Readers (2001)
Genre:
Realism (Prinz Honor Req) The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages:
264 p. The story
was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Prinz Honor
Censorship
problems?: More restrictive parents could object to a teenage unwed parent as a
side
character, or the main character’s
awakening sexuality, or her obsession with a boy who
turns out to be gay. In general though, I think it would pass
muster.
Story
summary: LaVaughn lives with her
hard-working widowed mother in an inner city apartment house, and has dreams of
going to college. Her high school is
not the best, but there are special classes for the best students, and her
guidance counselor has decided that she is one of them. She is transferred into a difficult Biology
class where she has to work very hard to keep up. After school she attends a grammar class designed to encourage
dreams and teach the teens the language skills they need to succeed in college
and beyond. She also works in a
hospital.
Her long time best friends Myrtle and
Annie have joined a religious group intent on keeping teens sexually
abstinent. The group discourages
fraternization with non-members, and because LaVaughn can’t bring herself to
join, their friendship is threatened.
As her orientation and speech change through the course of the book,
many around her feel that she is getting “uppity”, another isolating factor.
A new man comes into her mother’s life,
and LaVaughn struggles with the changes that he brings, and her conflicting
emotions about anyone replacing her father.
Her own obsessive interest is in a boy she knew as a young child who has
just moved back to the area. Now
gorgeous, Jody is also determined to go to college, and LaVaughn thinks they
are the perfect match. Jody is friendly
and takes her to a dance when she asks, but remains aloof for reasons LaVaughn
eventually discovers. Patrick, her
biology partner, is actually interested, but she pushes him away.
As her sixteenth birthday approaches,
LaVaughn struggles to find a way to be herself and still keep old friends and
new in her life.
Comments: This is a wonderful book written in unconventional
stanza’d prose. The voice is
LaVaughn’s, and her words proceed as her thoughts, unconfined by written
convention. Her emotions are so clearly
expressed that Wolff’s writing will unerringly transport adults, especially
women, back to the uncertainties of adolescents, and teens will recognize her
struggles as their own, no matter what their background. For youth more privileged than LaVaughn
there are also lessons of the added burden that low expectations and poverty
bring.
Especially moving in its accuracy is the
portrayal of the first romantic/sexual attraction. As with most girls, LaVaughn’s is all consuming. She identifies her very being with the
success of the connection, and the pain of its destruction seems
unbearable. Then suddenly she is on the
other side of the experience, quite amazed to find herself relatively
intact. Is there a woman alive who does
not recognize that place?
----------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#
6 of 33 Date: February 4, 2003
Title:
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America
Author:
Barbara Ehrenreich
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Metropolitan Books (2001)
Genre: Non-fiction (Alex req) The writing was _X_good__excellent__ng
#pages: 221 p. The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Seattle Times (Play was here.) Alex
awards
Censorship
problems?: The haves unhappy that the truth is out?
Story
summary: It is a commonly held
attitude in the U.S., even if unspoken, that many of those needing government
aid of one sort or another are just lazy; that all their problems would be
solved if they would “just get a job”.
In her book Ehrenreich exposes the fact that many of those living below
poverty level are in fact very industrious.
They have at least one job, and sometimes two or three, and they still
cannot make their funds stretch to cover even the basic necessities.
Ehrenreich, a journalist, set out to
experience trying to make ends meet working some of the large number of low
paid jobs in America. She first went to
Florida intending to get a job as a hotel maid, but found that as an English
speaking Caucasian woman she did not fit the “profile” and was shunted into
waitressing. Then she spent time with a
maid service in Maine, and finally got hired at a WalMart in Minnesota.
Ehrenreich started with a nest egg large
enough to get her into some kind of housing which many of the people she was
profiling do not have. She also called
her doctor and cheated to pay for expensive medicine when she developed a skin
infection. Psychologically, she of
course knew that she could quit if need be and return to her “real” life, which
was quite comfortable. Other than that,
her financial experience was that of her low paid peers. Sometimes there was no low cost housing to
be had, and she had to resort to a motel.
Then wages did not cover a place with cooking facilities, but she also
could not afford to eat fast food. If
the car quit, there was no money to fix it, and no transportation made it very
difficult to get to a job or the interviews beforehand. Her conclusion: one absolutely cannot make
it on the low salary that many Americans make.
Comments: Most adults, if they took the time to do the math,
would realize how impossible it is to live on the $7.00 an hour they paid
Ehrenreich at Walmart. However, her book
provides evidence to refute the idea that these people could “just get a better
job.” They are confined by lack of
education, housing issues, transportation issues, and the fact that they have
to work so many hours just to eat, and are so exhausted when they come home,
that they do not have the time or energy to find another job, assuming there
was actually a better paying one out there.
Remember too that Ehrenreich was single and could not make it. Many of the people she worked with had
children as well.
Ehrlichman goes beyond wages and
discusses the dehumanizing aspects of the jobs she had. In her experience, jobs were exhausting and
monotonous. People served were
wonderful or horrible in equal numbers.
Coworkers were very supportive for the most part, but were allowed
minimal time to interact by overbearing managers who treated them like
children. Corporations demanded an
almost religious adherence to rules. Working in corporate America myself, I would
agree.
Though I think teens would learn a lot
from this book, find it very readable, and perhaps even enjoy it, I doubt that
they would choose to read it on their own.
Therefore, I’m not sure I would have given it an Alex award, but I would
certainly encourage teachers to use it within curriculum.
-------------------------
.
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_7_of
33
Date February 5, 2003
Title:
Plainsong
Author:
Kent Haruf
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher: Random House (pb) (1999)
Genre:
Realsim (Alex req) The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages: 301 p. The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Washington Center for the Book,
Alex
Censorship
problem?: Those who object to subject
matter which includes teenage pregnancy,
allusions to human sex, and more explicit
descriptions of animal husbandry procedures will
not like this book for their teens.
Story
summary: Set in a small farming
community in Colorado, the book chronicles a nine-month span in the lives of
several residents. Other than two sets
of very close brothers, most of the characters are only tangentially connected
at the beginning, but by the end are celebrating Memorial Day as extended
family, mostly due to the vision and efforts of one woman. In third person narrative, each chapter
follows one of the paired brothers, or a single character, exposing mostly
through action or speech, feelings of loss and isolation in each.
Guthrie, a teacher, is frustrated at
work and at home, losing his wife to depression. Bobby and Ike, his young sons, feel connected only to each
other. Victoria, a pregnant teen whose
mother throws her out of the house, faces ridicule at school. The McPherons, two old men living on an isolated
farm, complete each other’s sentences. Maggie, another teacher, tries to take
Victoria into her home, but the plan fails because Victoria can’t cope with
Maggie’s senile father. Desperate or
inspired, Maggie asks the McPheron brothers to take Victoria in. Incredulous at
first, they agree, and soon their attachment to the girl and her baby on the
way enriches their lives.
Guthrie becomes less self-centered
through a relationship with Maggie who demands to be treated well. He is still unable to really nurture his
boys, and their salvation seems to depend on the connections made with Maggie,
the Mcpherons, Victoria, and the baby.
Comments: Somehow chronicling mundane events and everyday conversations,
Haruf manages to create the imperfect characters we recognize as
ourselves. Implicitly this slower paced
community illuminates the rushed and striving lives that most of us lead and
finds them lacking. Even there, community
is only created by intention, and meaning through simple acts of decency in
support of another. The book has a wonderful balance. Just when your heart is breaking for the young boys, Haruf turns
to the McPherons, who unintentionally are laugh-out-loud funny.
This book has the ability to touch the
reader’s heart, but I think to be effective, that reader really needs to be an
adult. In realistic novels, teens like
to see peers that successfully take on the world without significant help from
adults, and that is clearly not the case in this story. Though the pregnant teenager is a moving
force, her character is very weak. An adult can see her as fully formed, just
young, inexperienced, and in the habit of making bad choices. A teen, on the other hand, is likely to see
her as a cardboard character, created by an adult who views young people as
lacking depth and thought. At least
from this reader’s point of view, when the story follows Veronica as she
attempts to live with the father of her baby, the story becomes slow and
irritating. She is just not the center
of the novel. There is no question that
this is a wonderful work of fiction. It
is just not one created for young adults.
------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_8_of
33
Date February 8, 2003
Title:
The Pigman
Author:
Paul Zindel
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher:
Bantam Books (pb) (1968)
Genre: Realism (Zindel req) The writing was _X_good__excellent__ng
pages:
148 p. The story was _ good__excellent_X ng
Recommended
by: MAE Award
Censorship
problems?: Drinking and other bad behavior with no consequences ?– probably
not.
Story
summary: John and Lorraine have decided to write
about an experience they shared before they “mature and repress the whole
thing.” They take turns writing
chapters, first describing each other.
Next they launch into their tale.
When they are bored they sometimes phone strangers. This particular time they pretended to
represent a charity, trying to get the callers to agree to give them money. The randomly pick Mr. Pignati. The man is so lonely, having just lost his
wife, that he keeps Lorraine on the phone forever, so John decides to take it a
step further and actually visit the man to get the money. The quickly become attached to him, and
begin to visit and go on shopping excursions and trips to the zoo. At home Mr. Pignati has a collection of
ceramic and other types of pigs, hence the teens refer to him as the Pigman. At the zoo, Mr. Pignati is very attached to
the gorillas.
The Pigman related to John and Lorraine
like no adult ever had, and they loved it, but during one particularly wild
game of tag, Mr. Pignati had a heart attack.
The kids go to his house to clean it up the day before he is to come
home from the hospital, and end up having a dress-up dinner. Then John decides to invite a few friends
over for a drink, but a boy they know who steals comes too. Things get out of hand, the pig Mr. Pignati’s
wife gave him gets broken, he comes home unexpectedly and is very upset. Later they apologize, but things aren’t the
same. Though he is very frail, they
convince him to go to the zoo, and there they find out that his favorite
gorilla has died. That is just too much
for the Pigman who has another attack and dies.
Comments: This book got rave reviews when it was written, and still appears
on short lists of best young adult books, but I fail to see the appeal. It is perhaps, as with The Chocolate War,
somewhat a function of its place among the other books that were published at the
time. There are certainly truths in his characterizations. Every school has bright kids like John who
don’t want to be there, and come up with stunts to stave off boredom. There are also ones like Lorraine who really
have more sense, but are talked out of acting on it. The first part of the book
in which they describe themselves and each other is very strong. Some situations ring true as well. Teens love adult attention. They sometimes take advantage of a situation
if they can. Some of them drink and smoke.
Parties get out of hand. They
act thoughtlessly, not even imagining possible consequences. Sometimes meaning no harm, they actually
cause great harm, and then they have regrets.
I admit that my negative reaction may be
primarily just that I don’t happen to like the direction Mr. Zindel decided to
take the story, but I can also say that I find the behavior of Mr. Pignati
fairly unbelievable, the climaxing events overly dramatic, and the resolution
non-existent. For me the story just
trails off with the reader unclear that the teens have actually learned
anything from the experience.
----------------------
Book Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn
J. Pierce
#_9_of
33
Date: February 9, 2003
Title:
Ella Enchanted
Author:
Gail Carson Levine
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher: Harper Collins (1997)
Genre:
fantasy (Newbery req)
The writing was _X_good__excellent__ng
#pages:
232 p. The story
was _X_good__excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Newbery honor
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
summary: This is a retelling of Cinderella, with a
few interesting twists. Reminiscent of
Sleeping Beauty, there is a fairy who gifts Ella at birth. Actually meaning no harm, she declares
that
Ella will be an obedient child. The
result is, that if given a direct order, she must obey. Even those who love her sometimes
unthinkingly issue a command like “eat,” without realizing that she can not
stop without a counter command. Worse,
it puts her at the mercy of those who learn of it and use it to their
advantage.
She has a gift for languages, has
adventures with the ogres, dwarves and elves that inhabit her world, and
becomes friends with the young prince, and eventually discovers that their cook
is her fairy godmother. Her mother dies
when she is young and she is sent to finishing school with only a magic book
and tonic to console her. There she is
tormented by two sisters who find out her secret. She runs away to find the fairy who gave the gift that is a
curse, and has more adventures on the way.
The prince saves her in one instance, but her language skills play a
part as well. She eventually finds the
fairy, but the gift is not removed.
Her father goes broke and marries a woman
for her fortune. The woman happens to
be the mother of her finishing school tormentors. Her father is mostly absent so that the three of them can treat
her like a scullery maid, though the cook, her fairy godmother protects her to
some extent. Though the prince wants to
marry her, she believes it will put him in danger, and refuses.
There
are three balls, which she attends in disguise, and the prince falls in love
with her again.
The
glass slipper incident insues, but even commanded to marry him, she refuses,
breaking the curse, and they are free to wed.
Comments: The strength of this story is in the characterizations. Enchanted Ella is enchanting. She is stubborn, outspoken, and quick
witted. Her nature is far from
obedient, and if there is a way to aggravate the deliverer of an imprecise
order, she will find it. She delights in making the prince laugh, and the
reader will often be laughing as well.
Not dependent on a male savior like other heroines, she relies on her wits
and language skills to pull her through.
The off-handed fairy godmother refusing
to do “big magic” is also a joy, particularly when she tricks the gifting fairy
into experiencing the obedience gift herself.
Definitely a fun read.
--------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_10_of
33
Date: February 9, 2003
Title: Holes
Author: Louis Sachar
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher:
Dell Yearling (pb) (1998
Genre:
Tall tale (Newbery req)
The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages: 233 p. The story was X_good__excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Seattle city-wide Middle School
book, Newbery.
Censorship
problems?: No.
Story
summary: Stanley Yelnats is hit on the head by some
tennis shoes. They turn out to famous
and stolen shoes, and because they are found in his possession, he is punished
for the crime. The punishment is time
at a camp for bad boys. Camp Green Lake
is in the desert and the boys there each dig a 6X6 hole each day “to build
their character.” The work in the heat
is punishing enough, but they also suffer the abuse of sadistic guards. Stanley must also work his way into the
pecking order of the incarcerated boys. There are some benefits as he loses
excess poundage, gets tougher, and makes some friends.
The Yelnats family has stories of a great
great grandfather who was cursed by a gypsy for breaking a promise and then
came to America to make and lose a fortune.
The reader learns this from Stanley’s described thoughts, and also from
flashback chapters. Other flashback
chapters describe a romance between a white woman and a black man that ends
tragically. Eventually these turn out
to relate to another boy at the camp, Zero.
Eventually Zero gets fed up, and runs
into the desert, which the boys have been taught will lead to certain
death. Stanley goes after him, and
succeeds in saving them both with information and actual found objects from
long ago events. The parts of the puzzle and the connections made are too
complicated to delineate here. The boys go back to dig for the suitcase of
great great grandfather Yelnats, which the camp director has been searching for
all along.
Comments: If one tries to take this story literally, it can be
irritating, and there are certainly too many coincidences to be believed. If, on the other hand, one reads it as a
tall tale, it can actually be quite delightful to pick up puzzle pieces along
the way and fit them all together at the end.
The story is more than just fun, however, and includes lessons about
friendship and loyalty. I think many
readers will be forced to examine their own prejudices, when, having already
formed ideas about the various characters, Sacher suddenly provides information
about race halfway through the book.
Kathryn
J. Pierce
ILS
512-70 Book Summaries Unit 5
February
12, 2003
YOUNG ADULT ANNOTATED
READINGS
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#
11 of 33 Date: February 12, 2003
Title:
Joey Pigza Loses Control
Author:
Jack Gantos
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher:
Harper Trophy (pb) (2000)
Genre: Realism ((Newbery req) The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages:
196 p. The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Newbery Honor
Censorship
problems?: Parents who have chosen not to medicate their children might find
this book offensive.
Story
summary: Joey and his Chihuahua Pedro
are planning to spend the summer with his father, a man he essentially does not
know. His grandmother, who he remembers
as mean, lives in the same house. The
father, Carter Pigza, is an alcoholic, supposedly on the wagon. He is also hyperactive, just like Joey, who
now wears medicine patches to make him less wired. The only patches his dad wears are for nicotine addiction. Except for her insistence on smoking even
though she is ill with emphysema, Grandma turns out to be the only sensible one
in the household.
At the beginning of the story, Carter is
sneaking drinks, and by the end he is openly drinking heavily. Joey can see his father’s faults, but wants
to connect with him so badly, that even when Carter demands they both throw
away their patches and “be men,” Joey goes along. Throughout the story, Joey is conflicted because he loves his
mother very much and knows that she would want him to call her and come
home.
Joey struggles to make good decisions
even as he spirals back into the hyperactivity that leaves him so little
control. His position as pitcher on the
baseball team that his dad is coaching becomes pivotal in their relationship,
and the story comes to a climax as Joey’s lack of focus threatens the
championship game.
Comments: After a rather slow start, the book picks up
momentum, perhaps an intended reflection of the change in Joey’s inner life as
he goes off medication. Without being
an expert, I feel that Gantos’s portrayal of hyperactivity is excellent. Children with the problem will be able to
identify, and the others will better understand the difficulties some of their
classmates experience. I just hope that
children reading this book without having read others in the series will not
give up during the heavily descriptive opening before the plot engages them. I
also found myself wishing that Joey’s dog was not a Chihuahua, or that the book
had at least better supported their supposedly strong connection.
----------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_12_of
33
Date: February 14, 2003
Title:
The Tuesday Cafe
Author:
John Trembath
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher:
Orca (pb) (1996)
Genre:
Realism The writing
was _X_good__excellent__ng
#pages: 121 p. The story
was _X_good__excellent__ng
Recommended
by: personal browsing
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
summary: Harper is one of those smart, but bored kids
pigeonholed as a troublemaker. As the
book begins he is facing a hearing for starting a fire in a school wastebasket. The judge sentences him to community service
and demands he write an essay outlining how he intends to turn his life
around. Harper’s parents are social
climbers and are extremely focused on their work lives. His mother takes it upon herself to enroll
Harper in a writing class, unaware that “The Tuesday Café” is intended for the
disabled or other special needs individuals.
Harper is actually engaged by the class.
Far from bored, he is intrigued by the individual problems of his
classmates. In the rest of the world,
Harper feels defined by his past behavior, but at the Tuesday Café he feels
accepted. The writing he does in the
class is included in the book. He
reluctantly shares some of it with his parents at the suggestion of his
teacher. He is surprised by their
positive reaction and some tentative connections are established.
Comments: Many teens will connect to Harper’s view of the
world, and his first person narration is engaging and often funny. The differently-abled members of his writing
group are also engaging characters, and the Harper’s eventual acceptance of
them as a mix of irritating and endearing characteristics is a good lesson for
us all. That Harper could come to
understand himself better through his writing and his interactions with his
classmates is quite believeable. The
reconnection with his parents is less so, but perhaps if the reader takes into
account that the negative portrayal of them was always through Harper’s
perspective, that too can be accepted.
--------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_13_of
33
Date: February 15, 2003
Title:
Heaven (audio)
Author:
Angela Johnson, read by Andrea Johnson
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher:
Recorded Books, LLC (2000 of 1998 book)
Genre:
Realism The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages: 2.75 hour audio The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Coretta Scott King Award
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
summary:
Marley has lived in the town of Heaven with her parents and younger brother for
most of her life, and it has been a fairly idyllic spot. However, when she is fourteen she discovers
that her frequent trips to the Western Union counter at “Mom’s” store held some
significance of which she was unaware.
The family has always wired money to the itinerant Uncle Jack, but
Marley discovers that his wanderings began when he was unable to cope with his
wife’s sudden death in a car accident long ago, and that she is actually is the
abandoned child of that union.
The core of the story is Marley’s
struggle to forgive the only parents she has ever known, and whom she adored,
for telling her what seems to be an unforgivable lie. Her younger brother looks on with trepedation as her reaction
threatens to destroy the family bonds.
A counterpoint to Marley’s struggle is a wonderful characterization of a
fairly new friend who feels estranged from her “perfect” family because she
doesn’t fit. Both girls are aided by
their friend’s more objective view of her problem, and they both move toward
equilibrium.
Comment: Marley’s sudden identity
problem is understandable and one that will resonate with more than just
adoptees. Refreshingly, Marley’s
parents are unlike the horribly flawed ones that populate most young adult
novels. Hers are consistently loving
and accepting, giving her space to come to grips with the newly discovered
secret. It is also always clear that the story is being told from a future
point of acceptance. This allows the
book to proceed in storyteller fashion, never disconnecting from the calm
rhythmic descriptions of small town life and connections of friends and
family. The writing is only enhanced by
Andrea Johnson’s wonderful narration in.
this
audio version,
------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_14_of
33
Date: February 16, 2003
Title:
My Louisiana Sky (audio)
Author:
Kimberly Willis Holt, read by Judith Ivey
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher:
Listening Library (2000)
Genre:
Realism The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages:
3 hour audio (200 p.)
The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by:
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
Summary: The
main character describes her life in a small community in Louisiana. Tiger Ann is inexplicably an excellent
student because both her parents are extremely slow. Holt fully explores the
varied relationships she has with her neighbors and classmates, and with her
beloved grandmother who is the organizing force of the family. When the grandmother dies all the members of
the household are thrown into chaos.
Sophisticated Aunt Doreen who lives in Louisiana takes Tiger Ann there
for a visit and offers to make it permanent.
The new situation will give Tiger the interesting life she longs for,
but she must decide if she can deal with the guilt of leaving her parents. A key to understanding the family dynamics
is provided when Tiger learns that her mother was not always slow.
What may be her final summer in her
hometown is spent working at the flower farm where her father is employed. Among other things Tiger Ann is forced to
deal with the way others treat her father. Aunt Doreen has sent her maid to run
the household still paralyzed by grief, and the woman is instrumental in their
healing. A hurricane helps Tiger to clarify her feelings about the
important people in her life.
Comments: This novel takes place in 1950’s Louisiana and so
might be considered an historical novel.
However, I think any period details are fairly insignificant to the
overall plot and exploration of human connections. The story could fairly easily be read as contemporary, especially
since it occurs mostly in rural Louisiana which I do not believe has changed
that much in the last half century. I
think the primary intended audience of this novel is younger teenagers
struggling with maturation issues, and the print version will no doubt appeal
to at least some of them. However, I
fear this audio version is inaccessible to teens because the slow southern
speech patterns are hard to get used to and underline the rambling reflective
style of a story that contains few exciting events. As an adult, I found it
delightful
---------------------------------.
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_15_of
33
Date: February 18, 2003
Title:
Artemis Fowl
Author:
Eoin Colfer
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher: Hyperion (pb) (2001)
Genre: Fantasy The writing was __good
X_excellent__ng
#pages:
277 p. + epilogue & chap. sequel
The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: NY Times Bestseller
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
summary:
Artemis is a genius and heir to a fortune in a family that has always leaned
toward crime. He runs the show with
care taking and physical protection provided by the enormous Butler. Artemis’s father is missing and his mother
has completely withdrawn into her grief.
Artemis’s current plan for increasing the family fortune is to ransom a
captured fairy for a large amount of leprechaun gold, for he has discovered
that the people of Irish legends actually exist in an enormous subterranean
civilization.
Holly is the unfortunate target of
Artemis’s scheme. As the first female
member of LEPrecon, the organization that guards the separation of fairy and
human worlds, she had problems even before Artemis takes her captive. Her magic is weak and she struggles to
complete the rituals that will restore it even in her confinement.
The rest of LEPrecon is split into
squabbling factions, each pushing for a particular solution to the Artemis
problem that will keep the fairy world safe and still not violate their rules
for interaction with humans. Artemis
thinks he knows all their secrets and can use their restrictive rules of
conduct to his own advantage, but it turns out there are a few things he hasn’t
anticipated, including his own feelings.
Comments: The relationship between Artemis may remind adults
of Nero Wolf, and Foaly will be reminiscent of Q in the James Bond films The action sequences will bring to mind many
authors and movies, but Colfer has combined them into a marvelously unique and
engaging whole. The third person
narrative works well to keep the reader centered while exploring numerous
characters, and tell the tale with a high level of excitement. There are elements of the story that will
appeal to all age readers. Though the
main character leads one to believe the intended audience is younger teens,
even younger children will be attracted to the action and the fantasy
details. Adults, on the other hand,
will find the organizational squabbling very familiar.
Colfer has also taken care to engage both
boys, with a young male protagonist and talk of guns and fighting, and girls
with the strong character of Holly who struggles for respect in a
male-dominated milieu. The magic
overlaying everything appeals to all. This novel leaves the reader wanting more
adventures, which I’m sure the author is intending to provide.
------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_17_of
33
Date: February 24, 2003
Title:
Dealing With Dragons
Author:
Patricia C. Wrede
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Scholastic (pb) (1990)
Genre: Fantasy The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages:
291 The story
was X_good__excellent__ng
Recommended
by: ALA, SLJ best books
Censorship
problems?: Nothing beyond a few extremely obscure references to sex.
Story
summary: This novel is the first in a four book
series called The Enchanted Forest Chronicles.
Cimorene is a princess who chafes under the restrictions placed on women
in general and princess in particular in her society. She longs to do many things that “just aren’t done” and manages
to sneak in a few lessons in fencing, Latin, and cooking that serve her well
later. When she is being forced to
marry a particularly obnoxious prince, Cimorene opts to run away. Taking the cryptic advice of a talking frog,
she ends up in a confrontation with dragons.
One female dragon, Kazul, agrees to let her volunteer to be her
princess, although the rules would usually require such a princess to be unwillingly
captured.
Cimorene enjoys putting the dragon’s
kitchen, treasure, and library in order. She makes other acquaintances in the
Enchanted Forest besides a number of dragons.
One is a witch named Morwen.
Another is a prince who managed to interrupt a spell that was to turn
him into stone. He is composed of
granite, but can move about. Of a trio
of dragon princesses, one named Alianora becomes a good friend. The King of the Dragons is murdered. Cimorene and her friends reveal the murderer
and foil a plot by wizards to control the result of the process by which a new
king is chosen.
Comments: Wrede has created an amusing fantasy world in which
inhabitants allude to many fairy tales that the reader will recognize. Within the various kingdoms and the
enchanted forest, however, these events are historical and create a convention
of acceptable behavior that can be hard to break. Through the narrator and the character of Cimorene, Wrede makes exquisite wry commentary on the restrictions
imposed on women in general and princesses in particular in this fantasy
world. The reader will easily transfer
this line of thought to their own experience. In some cases the magical
elements that provide solutions to plot dilemmas seem a bit convenient, but the
story is very enjoyable nonetheless.
The themes will be most appealing to girls, although boys may also
appreciate the humor and the allusions to fairy tale literature. The book and the rest of the series will be
accessible to strong readers in the elementary grades, and will have wide
appeal for readers older than that. It
is wonderful for reading aloud.
--------------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_18_of
33
Date: February 25, 2003
Title:
Of Two Minds
Author:
Carol Matas and Perry Nodelman
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher:
Scholastic (pb) (1995)
Genre: Fantasy The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages: The story
was X_good___ excellent__ng
Recommended
by: SLJ Best Books
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
summary:
Princess Lenora is one of a society of people who can make real anything that
they can imagine. To avoid chaos,
society members have agreed on one particular world and for the most part do
not use their powers. Lenora, whose
powers are stronger than most, finds it impossible to avoid flexing them, since
she finds the agreed upon world incredibly boring. Hoping that marriage will settle her, Lenora’s parents arrange
one to Prince Coren. He is of a society
that can read minds, although he is uncomfortable with the power.
Lenora senses an invitation to a
completely different world not of her imagining, and desperate to avoid the
marriage, she jumps into it. Coren,
sensing danger, tries to stop her and is pulled along. The world is created and controlled by an
extremely powerful being, Hevek, who immediately sends Coren to limbo because
he was not among the invited guests.
Eventually Lenora is imprisoned because her mind can not be completely
controlled and she sees parts of the world that Hevak has banished. Lenora imagines Coren back into animated
life and with the help of the little people, trolls, fairies and dwarves that
constitute multiple banished layers of Havek’s world, they use their combined
powers to defeat the ruler. In doing so, they uncover his unexpected origins.
Comments: This novel has a fascinating plot and makes for an
exciting read. The development of the
relationship between Lenora and Coren, from initial dislike to a tight bond, is
deftly handled. The content both illustrates the powerful imaginations of the
authors, and enlivens those of its readers, who may often find themselves blown
away by plot twists Though I think most
readers will enjoy the wild ride provided by this book, some may be left with
at least a vague dissatisfaction in the integrity of the fabrication. The authors try to anticipate some of the
“buts”, and answer them in main character dialogue that is occasionally
awkward. They are by no means all
resolved however. For example, since it
is established in the beginning that Lenora is powerful enough to send her
elders into limbo while she imagines something, it would seem she could have
escaped an unwanted marriage on her own steam as opposed to jumping into an
unknown world. The writing is
accessible to older elementary children, though the complicated plot and
romantic themes make it most suitable for middle school readers.
------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_18_of
33
Date: February 16, 2003
Title:
Our Only May Amelia
Author:
Jennifer L. Holm
Illustrator:
various, map and archive photos
Publisher:
Harper Collins (1999)
Genre:
Historical Fiction The writing was __good_X excellent__ng
#pages:
252 p. The story was _X good__excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Alex Award
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
summary:
May Amelia lives in the geographically spread, but emotionally close Finnish
farming, fishing, and logging community in southwestern Washington State in the
late 1800’s. May is the only daughter
in a family of seven brothers, and she longs to do everything that they
do. Her father is critical of her
exploits, but it is also obvious, at least to the reader, that he loves her
very much. When the sister that she has
longed for finally arrives, May is responsible for much of her care because her
mother is slow to recover. As was
common in the time period, the infant does not survive her first months, and
Amelia’s guilt is reinforced by the words and actions of the incredibly cruel
grandmother who has recently come to live with the family.
Amelia flees to Astoria where several
relatives live, and one of her brothers follows her. They both quite enjoy city life.
This portion of the book explores life in a seaport, including the
treatment of the Chinese at the time.
The death of her grandmother paves the way for her to be reunited with
her family.
Comments: The book is based on a dairy written by the author’s
great aunt. Holm succeeds in
unobtrusively weaving much period detail into the adventurous life of one
particular girl. Given the large number
of characters in the book, it is quite an accomplishment to make them all come
alive on the page. Only the grandmother
seems a little unrealistic in her cruelty. Since she is based on a real
character, perhaps it is actually not an exaggeration. Girls closest to May’s
age of 12 will most heavily identify with this character whose struggle to
adjust to a male dominated society is recognizable. However, the language is certainly accessible to children even
younger, and the book is so historically interesting, at least to people in
Washington State, that it has appeal into the adult range. Because May is a tomboy and there are
abundant male characters as well, I believe many boys will enjoy the book as
well.
-----------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_19_of
33
Date: February 17, 2003
Title:
Things Fall Apart
Author:
Chinua Achebe
Illustrator: N/ A
Publisher:
Anchor Doubleday (1959) The writing
was __good_X excellent__ng
Genre: Historical Fiction The story was __good_X_excellent__ng #pages: 209 p.
Recommended
by: Pulitzer
Censorship
problems?: Many complain that this book is anti-caucasian, violence.
Story
summary:
The story is set in Nigeria during the time when Christian missionaries, and
the European government and law that backed them, first made inroads into the
existing culture. Obierika is a man
with problems that existed before the white men arrived. He is driven by the need to be unlike his
father, who was very poor and far from industrious. Even having achieved a measure of success, he is still not
secure. He is angered that most of his
children, and his oldest son in particular, seem to resemble their grandfather
in character. A member of the tribe is
murdered in a neighboring village and as part of the negotiations, a young male
hostage of stronger character is added to Obierika’s compound. The man is quite undone by the conflict
between his strong feelings for the boy and his drive to be a part of the tribal
ritual that condemns the young man.
The missionaries build a church in the
village and challenge one firmly held belief after another. Obierika’s son, and many other Nigerians
become active in the religion and the tribe is split apart. It is not a matter of blending of cultures,
but the obliteration of the native one.
The tribal leaders are unsuccessful in their attempts to stop the
encroachment. Finally, Obierika kills
one of the white men in anger. He
expects his peers to rally and violently eject the Europeans, but the others do
not believe such an action would succeed, and Obierika is doomed.
Comments: This novel is written in a style mindful of oral storytelling
traditions. It is full of information
about Nigerian culture and belief systems, and provides a uniquely native
viewpoint concerning European encroachment.
Although Obierika is certainly a flawed character, only the most
ethnocentric Caucasian readers will be unmoved by the larger ramifications of
his story. The book was written for
adults, but its historical and cultural focus in combination with its literary
merit make it one that is often required reading in high school courses. Though the age group would perhaps not
choose to read it on their own, they will be engaged in the content and find
much to discusss.
----------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_20_of
33
Date: February 24, 2003
Title:
The Color Purple
Author:
Alice Walker
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher:
Pocket Books (pb) (1982)
Genre: Historical Fiction The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages:
295 pages The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Pulitzer, American Book Award
Censorship
problems?: racial issues, sex including lesbian sex, adultery, violence
Story
summary: This
novel is a collection of letters. Celie, a young black girl in the pre-Civil
Rights
South, writes letters to God to express the anguish for which she has no other
outlet. Because the letters are filled with details about her life, the book
essentially reads like any other personal narrative. Physically, emotionally, and sexually abused by her father, she
bears two children who are taken from her at birth. At only 14 she is married to a man who would have preferred her
sister, and who continues an affair with a Shug, a singer. Albert only wants Celie because he needs
someone to keep house and tend his numerous children from a previous marriage. Still stuck in an abusive situation, Celie
chooses to be quiet and submissive except in her letters.
When Albert’s son Harpo is old enough to
marry, he chooses Sophia, a woman he loves, but who he tries to control because
that is the only kind of relationship he knows. Sophia is always ready to throw a punch, and becomes a
non-submissive example for Celie, but Sophia is beaten and jailed because she
also punched a white man. After several
years she is released to be a maid in that same man’s household, but her
service is not voluntary, and she still does not see her own children.
Celie finds the free lifestyle of
Albert’s mistress attractive, and when Shug comes to live with them to recover
from an illness, she becomes physically attracted as well. Shug boosts her
self-esteem and the two begin a lifelong affair, but Shug is continues to have
other lovers and even is married for awhile.
With Shug’s help Celie finds letters from her sister Nettie that Albert
has been hiding for years. This is the
last straw for Celie and she leaves with Shug.
The letters from Nettie, which describe
life in Africa, and the lives of the two children who were taken from Celie at
birth, also are a part of the novel.
And Celie begins to address her letters to her sister rather than
God. Eventually Celie begins to make a
living designing unique pants, inherits the house she grew up in, and becomes
friends with Albert who has changed. A
reunion with her sister and her children provides the final climax.
Comments:
Other than
the news of missionary activity that arrives in Nettie’s letters, the setting
of this novel is quite limited, and the story certainly focuses on the
relationships rather than events of the time.
As such it may be easier for contemporary readers to identify with the
characters. Still the story is anchored
by time and place enough to be considered an historical novel. Although, I rather doubt that Ms. Walker
wrote the book with older teens in mind, it is certainly a standard on young
adult shelves now. At least at the
beginning, the protaganist is the appropriate age, and the book focuses on
emotional growth and surviving abuse, which are viable topics for
adolescents. Celie writes in dialect
and the book covers multiple mature topics, so I really think it only
appropriate for strong readers in high school and beyond.
-----------------------------
Kathryn
J. Pierce
ILS
512-70 Book Summaries 21-33
March
13, 2003
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#21of
33
Date: March 13, 2003
Title:
Backwater
Author:
Joan Bauer
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher:
Puffin (1999)
Genre: Adventure The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages:
178 The story
was _X good___excellent__ng
Recommended
by: our text
Censorship
problems?:
Story
summary: Ivy Breedlove is a member of a large
extended family where everyone tends to be lawyers. She doesn’t want to follow the family tradition, being more
interested in history. An aging Aunt
Tib, who is supportive, has been doing a Breedlove family history, but has lost
her sight. She passes the job to Ivy,
although other members of the family think they are better equipped for the
job. The book contrasts Ivy’s careful
research with an aunt’s quickie video interviews. Through her detective work, Ivy discovers the location of another
aunt who disappeared long before. She
undertakes a journey to find and interview her aunt Jo, who she perhaps expects
to be more like herself than the rest of the family. This involves hiking into
a remote mountain region, which Ivy undertakes in still hazardous winter
conditions with the eccentric Mountain Mama as her guide. They meet a
contemplative ranger on their travels, and Ivy becomes romantically involved. For a time Ivy stays with her aunt, who runs
a bird sanctuary and has a wolf for a pet.
In learning her Aunt’s story, Ivy also is presented with details of her
father’s life that help her to view him in a more positive light. There is a
big storm in which her aunt is injured, and in an attempt to help her, Ivy is
endangered as well.
Comments: Although this book was recommended in Literature For Today’s
Young Adults, I found it a big disappointment, especially after thoroughly
enjoying the author’s Rules of the Road. Ms. Bauer shows the same mastery of snappy dialogue, especially
in the early conversations between Ivy and her blunt and insightful cousin
Egan. The interfamily relationships are
also handled well and believably.
However, in adding wilderness adventure and young romance to this story,
Ms. Bauer has evidently strayed out of her area of expertise. Many of the plot elements seem overly
coincidental and abrupt, and therefore unbelievable. It is unfortunate, because the core of the story, focusing on
family relationships and the search for identity, is very strong. The attempts to add drama to the story are
unnecessary and poorly done. I would
only recommend this book to diehard Bauer fans, directing all other readers to
her other titles.
---------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_22_of
33
Date: March 13, 2003
Title:
Julie of the Wolves
Author:
Jean Craighead George
Illustrator:
John Schoenherr
Publisher: HarperTrophy (pb) (1972)
Genre: Adventure The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages: 170 p. The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Newberry Award
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
summary: Julie is a native of Alaska, whose mother
died when she was very young. Her early
close relationship with her father was interrupted when he left her with an
aunt, and then disappeared, assumedly killed in a boating accident. Unhappy with her aunt, Julie takes the
opportunity afforded by an early-arranged marriage to the son of her father’s
best friend, who she has never met. It
turns out the boy developmentally slow and uncommunicative, and it is intended
to be a sham marriage whose purpose is to provide his family with free labor. Julie is actually fairly happy living with
the family, until Daniel, driven by his teasing peers, decides that he is
entitled to sex. At that point, Julie
runs away, headed toward the port of Point Barrow, the ultimate destination
being San Francisco, home of a pen pal.
However, all of the preceding plot
details are only slowly revealed. At the beginning of the book, the reader is
thrown into the middle of Julie’s adventure.
Without the directional aids she used to in the more familiar territory
of her younger life, and expected to find in this part of Alaska as well, Julie
has become lost in the Tundra, and has decided she must rely on the kindness of
nearby wolves to survive. She feels
this is a possibility based on stories her father used to tell her. He spoke of learning to “speak” to wolves,
so that they would share their food and knowledge. The only trouble is, her father did not share details of the
process, so Julie, already very hungry, must patiently observe the pack to
learn how they interact and communicate.
During her ordeal, Julie comes to have a
different view of her homeland, and the directions she wants to take in her
life. Through some surprises, her views of her father as a lost protector and
haven in her life also change.
Comments: This is an absolutely
wonderful book. It is amazing that Ms.
George has been able to tell such a detailed story in a mere 170 pages. If I were a high school English teacher, I
might very well require this book. The
language and formatting of the book make it look like it is intended for upper
elementary, so it would be accessible to the most reluctant reader, but the
story is unusual and captivating enough to satisfy the best readers. Even if most of the class had read the book
before, which is likely, it would lend itself to a discussion of its many fine
literary qualities.
---------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_23_
of 33
Date: March 17, 2003
Title:
The Natural
Author:
Bernard Malamud
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Perennial classic (pb)(2000) orig. pub
(1952)
Genre: Romance The writing was _X_good__excellent__ng
#pages: 228 p. The story was __good__excellent_X_ng
Recommended
by: our text
Censorship
problems?: Casual attitude toward sex, and belittling of women shown by the
characters.
Story
summary: Roy is a young small town pitcher who is
being escorted to a major league try-out by an older friend. A famous ballplayer and sportswriter are on
the train with them. A mysterious woman
boards the train and Roy is immediately smitten. A competition for her affection arises between the two ballplayers
that she encourages. By the time they
reach their destination, Roy has convinced her that he is the “best” man, but
this is to his detriment when she turns out to be a woman that has been
terrorizing sports heroes. She shoots
him, and although he doesn’t die, his career is put on hold indefinitely.
This complicated plot is only the very
beginning of the book, and told as a story in the past. Roy, the narrator, is explaining to the
reader how he came to be joining a major league team at an age when most
players would be considering retirement.
The reader is the only one that is privy to this story and Roy’s
feelings, however, as he prefers to maintain his distance from those around
him. The sportswriter that he met long
ago, doesn’t recognize him, but realizes there is a story in his reluctance to
reveal his past.
The unattainable woman in this part of
the tale is the wife of another player.
This player dies in an accident during the game, but the woman still
remains aloof, partly because she blames Roy somewhat for the death, and partly
because she always has an eye to the main chance, which is now offered by a
local high stakes bookie and gambler.
Another woman who shows support for Roy
during a slump becomes his lover, but he rejects her because she is not perfect
enough in looks, age, or background.
She later reveals that she is pregnant at another time when he needs
support, and at first he seems to realize her worth, but it later appears that
he will not be able to overcome his shallow attitudes.
Roy’s hopes to prove himself to be “the
best ball player that ever was” are fanned by his personal triumphs on the
field, which also rally his teammates.
In the end, however, everything falls apart when he develops physical
problems caused by his old wounds, his past is revealed by the reporter, and he
is suspected to be a part of a plot hatched by the team owner and the bookie to
throw the championship game.
Comments:
Though I
can see that this moral tale lends itself to endless discussions about thematic
elements, it is difficult to get past the unlikable characteristics of the main
character enough to care about his downfall.
Roy is entirely egocentric, focused on his desire to be the best. He remains aloof from everyone else in his
life. His only attempts at connection
are sexual ones, and he chooses his partners based on physical attributes
alone. People who would like to care
about him are treated badly. He says
things like, “Give us a kiss” and “When are you going to be nice to me?”
referring to sex, offending both the female characters and the female
readers. It is clear that the author
does not entirely share Roy’s views.
Malamud uses the female characters, even the conniving and psychotic
ones, to underline the shallow nature of Roy’s aspirations. Beyond this increased insight, however, the
females are either submissive, in the case of Iris, or manipulative and quite
mad. In addition, the plot turns on
some fairly bizarre occurrences. I
believe young adults especially would have trouble with the density of the
language as well. That Malamud may have some valid things to say about the
human condition is not enough to recommend this title.
----------------------------------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_24_
of 33
Date: March 17, 2003
Title: Frenchtown Summer
Author:
Robert Cormier
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Dell Laurel-Leaf (2001)
Genre: Poetry The writing was
__good_X_excellent__ng
#pages: 113 p. The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: MAE award
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
summary: Frenchtown
Summer is a
collection of free verse poetry. As a
whole, the collection provides a satisfying familiarity with the specifics of
one young life, and effectively immerses the reader in the uncertain world of
beginning adolescence, which has fairly universal resonance. Although the boy’s name is Eugene in the
book, the author has admitted that the poetry is highly biographical. Among the poems are ones that describe
childhood activities, but the overall focus of the book is the boy’s attempt to
find a reflection of his own identity in the characteristics of his parents and
extended family. The driving force in
Eugene’s life is his uncommunicative father who he adores, and the economic
force of their small town in 1938 is the comb factory where his father is
employed.
Comments: This poetry collection has
an entirely different tone than Cormier’s young adult novels. Although the novels have received critical
acclaim, they include an unrelenting dark quality that is unappealing to
some. The narrative of this collection
does include some unsatisfying family relationships and an uncle’s suicide, but
the overall message is uplifting. For
this reason, I believe that Frenchtown Summer will appeal to an entirely
different audience than the novels.
Although the poems are certainly accessible to young adults, I don’t
know that they would freely choose the book.
The poems reflective nature makes the collection more likely to appeal
to adults. However, the adolescent
themes along with the historical and literary elements would make it an
excellent addition to integrative studies of the time period.
-----------------------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn
J. Pierce
#_25_
of 33
Date: March 17, 2003
Title:
This Waiting for Love: Helene Johnson, Poet of the Harlem Renaissance
Author:
Verner D. Mitchell, editor
Illustrator: N/A (although there are 10 family
photos)
Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
(2000)
Genre: Poetry The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages: 135 p. The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: personal browsing
Censorship
problems?: Some poems could be thought to have and anti-white bias, and others
exhibit rather free attitudes about sex.
The latter element also shows up in the included letters.
Story
summary: I
did not find this poetry volume in a young adult collection, but I think it
should be recommended to high school students.
Ms. Johnson’s poems may not be as well known as those of other Harlem
Renaissance poets, but they are perhaps more accessible. The topics are far-ranging, from natural
phenomena to war to love to jazz to the small and large effects of racism on
the life of Black Americans in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Ms. Johnson was a
prolific poet, but had few venues in which to be published during her early
life, and refused to publish the work she did in the last 60 years of her life,
after her last published poem appeared in 1935. All of her 37 published poems are included in this book, and in
addition, her daughter provided 13 previously unpublished works.
Comments:
The poems
are vibrant and clearly convey Johnson’s point of view and a snapshot of the
times. Additional material provided
within the book, make it an excellent candidate for study. Ms. Johnson’s poetry is critically examined
in a forward by Cheryl Wall, and an introduction by the editor, both university
level professors of English. After the
poems, there are ten family photos, followed by an annotated chronology of Ms.
Johnson’s life, 17 letters, and a reflection on her life written by her
daughter. All but one of the letters
are correspondence between Ms. Johnson, her cousin with whom she was raised,
Dorothy West, and their friends Zora Neale Hurston and Wallace Thurman, written
in the 20’s and 30’s. All four were
Black writers who gained some reknown during the Harlem Renaissance. The final letter is from Johnson’s daughter
Abigail to West’s daughter Rachel. Also
helpful to the student are assorted editorial notes. Within the poetry section these explain poetic allusions made by
the obviously very well read Ms. Johnson.
In the letter section they explain family relationships and references
to events in the life of the four writers or the larger world around them that
are not entirely clear from the content of the letters. Besides illuminating the poetry, this wealth
of added material could be helpful in introducing students to the importance of
primary sources.
-----------------------------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_26_
of 33
Date: March 17, 2003
Title:
The Other Side: Shorter Poems
Author:
Angela Johnson
Illustrator:
N/A, but many family photos included
Publisher: Orchard Books (1998)
Genre: Poetry The writing was
__good_X_excellent__ng
#pages:
44 p. The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: our text
Censorship
problems?: Not unless people react to the descriptions of racism
Story
summary: This autobiographical collection of free
verse poetry does have a narrative. The
opening poems announce the family’s visit to Shorter, Alabama, just a year
after they moved away when Angela was fourteen. The reason for their visit is the town’s eminent demise, the
victim of development. Most poems
recollect events of Angela’s childhood and those experienced by the people of
her community, most of whom were relatives.
Even within these there is much content that examines her feelings about
the town, for that seems to be the overlaying purpose of the volume. As she says in one poem, “I loved and hated
the place. / Not enough room in the world / to tell my feelings about Shorter.
/ And now they’re pullin’ it all down.”
Comments: I loved this book, but I wouldn’t necessarily
recommend it as a consistently good example of poetry. A number of the free verse poems lack the
free-flowing quality and juxtaposed thoughts and images that separate free
verse from straight prose. With these, one gets the feeling that a prose
paragraph, well written and moving as it is, was artificially formatted in
stanzas. The volume could be used to
illustrate the difference, and it certainly could be enjoyed for its own sake,
for its illustrations of human connection to place, and for its illumination of
Ms. Johnson’s early life and the overlaying racism of the south. Readers of her novel Heaven will
appreciate the author all the more, for it is amazing that when poverty and
racism played such a large role in her own early life, her fictional heroine’s
challenges seem surmountable, grounded as she is in strong relationships. Racism is only a distant echo, and the
fictional small town has lost all the negative feelings the author has for her
own hometown, and retains only the wonderful qualities of safety, extended
support, and enjoyment that Johnson also associates with “home.”
------------------------------------------
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_27_
of 33
Date: March 17, 2003
Title:
Mark Twain
Author:
Clinton Cox
Illustrator:
various-photos and drawings
Publisher:
Scholastic (pb) 1995
Genre: Biography The writing was ___good__excellent_X_ng
#pages: 234 p. The story was _X_good__excellent___ng
Recommended
by:
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
summary: The biography covers the whole of Twain’s
life, from his birth in Missouri in 1835 to his death in Connecticut in 1910,
and all his adventures in-between. The
author particularly emphasizes the contradictions of the man. Twain was born into a family that owned
slaves, and spent his young life behaving in ways that he would later
condemn. In his writings he also
condemned the pursuit and ostentatious display of wealth, usually accomplished
through exploitation of the poor, and yet he himself was never satisfied with his
level of wealth and success, and often went into debt just to throw good
parties. As a young man he traveled
constantly, learning to pilot steamboats, mining gold in Nevada, and then
beginning to earn money writing newspaper stories that were a forum to
illuminate the weaknesses of those around him, or recount his own adventures,
or pass on stories he had heard. His
best-received writings were his humorous ones, but he himself was more intent
on the message he wanted to convey than on the humor itself. As his income increased he traveled farther
afield to such places as Hawaii, Nicaragua, and Europe. He finally found a reason to become somewhat
settled when he met Olivia (Livy) Langdon and doggedly pursued her until she
agreed to be his wife. He adored her
and the children they were to have, but that his family life also contributed
to his sadness and discontent. Their
son died very young, beloved Susie died at 22, Jean suffered from epilepsy, and
Clara from mental illness. The only one
of the family to outlive him was Clara.
Comments: In reviewing this book, I would have preferred to have a level of
“OK” in our rating scale. There is,
without a doubt, a lot of quality information about Twain included, and I do
not want to dismiss the book entirely, but I do find it amazing that Mr. Cox
manages to turn what would seemingly be quite a fascinating life into such dull
reading. I am sure that better
biographies of Twain have been written.
I would urge any reader to look farther than this one.
______________________________
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_28_
of 33
Date: March 17, 2003
Title:
Sacajawea
Author:
Joseph Bruchac
Illustrator:
N/A
Publisher:
Harcourt (2000)
Genre:
Fictionalized Biography
The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages:
199 p. The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Oyate.org
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
summary:
It
is a fact that Sacajawea and her husband brought their son, Jean Baptiste, to
Saint Lewis when he was fairly young.
The whole family was there for a time, and then the boy was left with
Captain William Clark to be educated.
The tale of Sacajawea’s life and the Lewis and Clark Expedition is told
as if the audience is this young boy, and the tellers are his mother and her
friend Captain Clark. In each chapter
one of their voices tells as much of the story as would be told in one sitting,
deftly handing off to the other teller a part of the story that they would be
better able to tell. Sacajawea was
taken from her village by another Native American tribe. After spending some time as a well-treated
servant, she was spotted by a French trader who connived to win her in a game
of chance. When Charbonneau was hired
to be a part of the Corps of Discovery, Sacajawea was allowed to come along
even though she already had an infant, because it was thought she might be
helpful as a translator. Bruchac
believably proposes that this is something that she would have pushed for,
given that it would give her a chance to see her family again. After months of arduous travel and dangerous
encounters, she finally is reunited with her people only to find that almost
everyone she knew is dead. However, her
brother is not only alive but leader of the group. The expedition travels on to finally spend a miserable winter on
the Washington coast, only to invite disaster by trying to return over the
mountains too early in the spring.
Remarkably all but one of the Expedition make it back to the Mandan area
where they go their separate ways.
Comments: Bruchac is a respected Native American author. As he explains in the endnote, he stuck
carefully to the facts of the Expedition as reported in various journals, even
to including any conversation that was reported. However, he fleshes out the rather sketchy factual information we
have about this woman by including thoughts and feelings he imagines she is
likely to have had during the events. Using what she would have known about her
own culture and those of the other tribes in the area, Bruchac gives us a
Native American viewpoint about the message of new leadership and enforced
peace that the members of the Expedition were charged with carrying to the
indigenous peoples. A nice touch is
provided by the very brief prologues beginning each chapter. Preceding Sacajawea’s voice are very short
Native American legends, and preceding Clark’s are excerpts from Meriwether
Lewis’s journals.
________________________________
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_29_
of 33
Date: March 17, 2003
Title:
I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings
Author:
Maya Angelou
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Bantam (pb) (1970)
Genre:
Autobiography The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages: 289 p. The story was
__good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: high school reading lists
Censorship
problems?: Explicit descriptions of
child rape, an acknowledgment of both pleasure and guilt on the part of the
child, unmarried sex and an illegitimate child. Supposed anti-white
bias.
Story
summary: The story of Maya Angelou, born Marguerite
Johnson, is one of triumph over adversity.
No matter what life threw in her path, and that was enough to overwhelm
anyone, she pushed forward, reaching for the joy and fullness of life. That is the overall message that she wants
to deliver through her writing. When
she was three and her brother Bailey four, her parents, seemingly
inconvenienced by the fact of children, sent them to Stamps, Arkansas to be raised
by their paternal Grandmother who they called Momma. She and her crippled son ran the general store there. In a series of vignettes, Maya underlines
the day-to-day indignities visited upon this wonderful woman merely because she
was black. Encouraged by her
grandmother, Maya was a good student, and learned to love the printed
word. Four years later, her father
arrived unannounced to take the children away.
They understood their destination to be California, where he was living,
but he actually dumped them with their maternal grandmother in Saint
Louis. This woman and her strange sons
were a power force in the city, but the household was hardly a nurturing one
for children. After six months the
children moved to a house where their mother and her new boyfriend were
living. Here too they got little
nurturing, for their beautiful mother lived to party and they saw little of
her. Worse, the boyfriend began to
molest Maya when the two of them were alone.
Eventually her brother found out and told her grandmother, who had the
man arrested. Trauma was piled upon trauma as Maya was forced to testify at a
trial, and then deal with the fact that her grandmother had the man killed
Maya retreated into silence for four
years and her life led back to Stamps where she considers that her soul was
saved by the ministrations of her aunt and the attentions of a single refined
black woman who owned a large library.
As she matured, Maya became more likely to express her true feelings,
and because of that, her first job as a maid was disastrous. After graduating
from high school, Maya and her brother headed for San Francisco where her
mother was living. For a time Maya also
lived with her father who enjoyed encouraged an unhealthy rivalry between his
girlfriend and his daughter. Maya
continued her schooling, but she began to worry that she was a lesbian. To prove otherwise she actively sought a
male partner, only to immediately become pregnant. This installment of her life story ends with the birth of the son
she is totally unprepared for, but who is destined to become the center of her
life.
Comments: It is said that Ms. Angelou began her autobiography on a
dare. It was thought that a biography
couldn’t be written in a manner that would allow its enjoyment as good
literature. Ms. Anjelou set out to
disprove this and without question she succeeded. In the best literary tradition, beautiful metaphors and more
straightforward description immerse the reader in scenes from her life without
becoming overwhelmingly detailed. The
storytelling style so completely captures the reader that it is easy to forget
that Maya is more than a character, and these are events in a real life. Horrendous as those events are, Ms. Angelou
relates them in a matter-of-fact manner that does not ask for sympathy. The effect is to turn the reader from any
tendency toward the role of victim.
Surely if Ms. Angelou did not indulge in that, the reader has no excuse
to either. It is an amazing and very
moving book. I think the book should be
read by those in Middle School and older, but many parents motivated by racial
issues or a mistaken belief that their children are still innocent will not
find the very frank nature of the book appropriate
_____________________________________
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_30_
of 33
Date: March 17, 2003
Title:
The Complete Maus
Author:
Art Spiegelman
Illustrator:
Art Spiegelman
Publisher:
Pantheon (pb) (1997)
Genre: Graphic Novel The writing was
__good_X_excellent_ ng
#pages: 296 p.
The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: Award
Censorship
problems?:
Story
summary:
This masterful tale moves smoothly back and forth between the author coping
with his father in the last part of his life, and the story of the man’s past
as a Jew and family man in Nazi Germany that the son has urged his father to
tell. In the pictures of this graphic
novel, all Jews are anthropomorphic mice, the Nazis cats, and finally, the
Allied forces dogs. Somehow this fact
does not lessen the story’s impact. The
reading experience is one of very gripping reality. Vladek Speigelman was a lady’s man who eventually settled on the
introspective Anja as his wife. He had
to court her for a long time. They are
briefly happy as a married couple, parents of a son, and members of her
closely-knit family. The fabric of
their lives begins to unravel with the ascendance of the Nazi Party. As friends
are killed or disappear around them, Vladek manages to keep his extended family
safe through his entrepreneurial spirit, his careful planning, including the
construction of hidden rooms, a strong instinct for survival, and a certain
amount of luck. As the war grinds on,
luck runs out, however. His wife and
her family ignored his early warnings to take an opportunity to send the young
children away. They avail themselves of
a less sure opportunity later and it ends disastrously. The extended family is
captured, but for a time Vladek manages to keep his wife safe with a life on
the run. Eventually they too are
captured and spend some time in different parts of Auschwitz. His survival instinct manages to triumph there
as well, although the final outcome is never clear to him at the time. When the Nazis abandon the camp, things are
chaotic, and as Vladek tries to get back to whatever family is left to him, he
is seemingly in almost as much danger as before.
Unbelievably, Anya is still alive as well
and the couple emigrates to America. They
have another child, who is the author and illustrator of the book, but things
are never the same, and Anya’s sadness eventually drives her to suicide. In the books present, Vladek is a
self-centered old man plagued with health problems, who fights with his
girlfriend and drives his son crazy.
Comments: It is amazing that Mr. Spiegelman even thought to
tell this emotional story in a comic book format, and even more amazing that it
works so well. Though many people focus
their praise on the book’s portrayal of the holocaust, I think the story that
happens in the book’s present is just as powerful. It is the story of a young man who has had to deal with the
fallout of the holocaust all his life.
His mother has killed herself and his father has destroyed the dairies
that he felt were his only connection to her.
He’s struggling to establish himself in a career and explore a
relationship with a live-in girlfriend.
He wants to know what happened to his father and write the book, but he
also does not want his father’s current demands to overwhelm his own life. Mr. Spiegelman’s book is painfully honest
about the mix of positive and negative emotions that occur in relationships
between adult children and their parents.
Given his father’s status as a victim, I think it took great courage to
do that.
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_31_
of 33
Date: March 17, 2003
Title:
Pedro and Me
Author:
Judd Winick
Illustrator:
Judd Winick
Publisher:
Henry Holt (pb) (1989)
Genre:
Graphic Novel The writing was __good_X_excellent__ng
#pages:
187 p. The story was __good_X_excellent__ng
Recommended
by: browsing
Censorship
problems?: Homosexuality
Story
summary: Judd, struggling as a cartoonist, is
inspired to attempt to become a member of the Real World San Francisco
television show. With realistically
drawn graphics and sarcastic dialog he describes this process. He is first confronted with his own
prejudices about Aids when he is asked if it will bother him if a cast member
is HIV positive. They become
inescapable when it turns out that this cast member will be his roommate. He quickly falls in love with Pedro, not in
a physical sense because he is not gay, but in an emotional connection. There is everything to admire about the
young man who pushes himself relentlessly to spread the word to others that
they are not invulnerable to a preventable disease that can steal their
possibilities. The novel includes a
description of how Pedro contracted the disease in his search for closeness
after his mother died.
During the run of the show Pedro both
falls in love and begins to get sicker.
In describing the downward spiral that follows, Winick focuses on the
anger and frustration that overwhelms Pedro as his body betrays him. An Aids-related brain tumor eventually robs
him of the ability to communicate that has become his reason for living. Winick, who begins to lecture in Pedro’s
place, outlines his own reactions and those of the multitude of other people
who also love Pedro. An afterward tells
the reader what is happening to Winick and other members of the cast in the
present.
Comments: Although I had been aware of the existence of Maus
for many years, I was not aware that there were other moving stories based on
real events in the graphic format. It
was a revelation to me. I strongly
recommend this tale of love, friendship, loss, and most of all, the danger of
Aids, as required reading for all teens.
The format is accessible and the multi-leveled message has the potential
to make a big difference in many lives.
One strong weakness should be mentioned. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate Judd from Pedro in the
drawings, which can lead to momentary confusion.
_____________________________________
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_32_
of 33
Date: March 17, 2003
Title:
Elfquest: Kings of the Broken Wheel, Parts 5-9
Author:
Wendy and Richard Pini
Illustrator:
Wendy Pini
Publisher:
Wrap Graphics, Inc Single issues
(1991-1992)
This hardbound collection (1994)
Genre:
Graphic Novel The writing was _X_good__excellent__ng
#pages: 156 p. The story was _X_good__excellent__ng
Recommended
by:
Censorship
problems?: Some nudity and references to sex and childbirth.
Story
summary: With the help of a magic castle as
conveyance, the elves, their wolf-related kin, and an assortment of trolls have
traveled to a place far away from their home.
They are attempting to answer a cry for help, but when they arrive they
cannot find those who call. Rayek, a
very powerful elf, is sure that his own agenda is the appropriate one and
seizes control when decisions are normally made by group consensus. He decides that the cry for help is an echo
through time, and that he needs to prevent a future event that has trapped “The
High Ones” in the body of wolves, and stolen immortality from the Wolfrider
elves by merging the castle with its future self. He initiates the time trip, taking with him all who happen to be
in the castle at the time, disregarding the fact that he is separating families
and dooming those left to nonexistence in his altered reality. The rest of the story alternates between the
castle’s inhabitants and those left behind.
Also part of the story is his ex-lover
who was left behind in the initial move, and chases him vowing revenge. The daughter that was born of their union
grows up during the tale and continues her mother’s quest to stop her father,
without the desire for revenge. Another
character is an evil female elf who has been banished to the bottom of the
sea. Rayek would like Leetah the Healer
to fix her mind and spirit and restore her to him, but Leetah thinks Rayek’s
actions are wrong and is devastated that her lover and some of her children
were left behind.
Comments: The comics, which were black and white in their
original single-issue format, are beautifully colored in this hardbound
collection. The imaginative
illustrations in this fantasy, depicting the interactions between the wide-eyed
and emotional characters are appealing.
Unfortunately, the story line is hard to follow. It is exacerbated if the reader has not read
the earlier issues. Even with this
added knowledge, the reader is left to supply many details about how and why
events occur. For example, characters
supposedly trapped in the past arrive to foil Rayek’s plan, but the reader is
not told how they managed to do that.
Steady readers of fantasy in this format will probably not be put off by
these shortcomings. I do think the
story, preferably in this colored and bound form, belongs in a graphic novel
collection, but all parts must be available. I do not think the story is
inappropriate for any reader sophisticated enough to make sense of the story,
but parents of Middle School students may not want their children exposed to
the implied nudity and sexual activity.
____________________________________
Book
Summary Sheet Student: Kathryn J. Pierce
#_33_
of 33
Date: March 17, 2003
Title:
Heartbeats and Other Stories
Author:
Peter D. Sieruta
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher:
Harper Keypoint (pb) (1986)
Genre:
Short Stories The writing was _X_good__excellent_X_ng
#pages:
216 p. The story was _ X_good__excellent_X_ng
Recommended
by: Honor list and our text
Censorship
problems?: No
Story
summaries:
In 25 Good Reasons for Hating My Brother Todd, Emery talks about a
typical morning at home, underlining numerous incidences in which his brother
criticizes him or acts inconsiderately.
These turn into the first twelve reasons for hating Todd. The thirteenth reason begins to address
Todd’s teenagae “perfection” and qualities of fitting in, which are so unlike
Emery’s own experience. In school Emery
is assigned to do a partnered project with a girl he admires. They just begin to work on the project after
school, when Todd comes home and attracts all of her attention. The two plan a
date. Reasons 14-25 are more litanies of Todd’s enviable qualities and
luck. In response to his mother’s
reaction to his list, “You don’t hate Todd,” reason 25 is “My mother always did
like him best.”
Room
for Improvement is a story about a family of thirteen children, focusing on the oldest
at home who always gets a room to themselves.
As Mitch inherits the room, he longs for privacy, but finds the reality
quite lonesome. Luckily, he notices a new girl next door, and he and Sara
become a couple. The other major character is Miriam, the next in line for the
private room. She too wants it badly,
but she also is very attached to Mitch who has to leave for her to get the
prized privacy.
Heartbeats tells the story of a
teenage love affair that grows out of a childhood friendship. Paul describes a
chain of interactions, starting with the time he met her at age four. With each incident he becomes more attached
to her, but it is finally clear as they approach high school graduation that
though Lisa believes they belong together too, she has a much lower opinion of
Paul’s characteristics and potential than he has. Paul is faced with a horrible choice. Either he must give up Lisa, who seems an integral part of his
being, or he must give up mastery of his life and the pursuit of his dreams.
Three
O’clock Midnight is another story of a love that seems irreplaceable. Sid thinks his life is ruined when Debbie’s
father is transferred. He mopes for
three months writing her every day.
She, on the other hand, seems faster to recover, and only contacts him a
few times. Sid also tries to adjust to
his widowed mother’s interest in a new man.
The older couple leaves for a New Year’s date and Sid waits at home for
Debbie’s call. In a random backyard
meeting, an elderly neighbor says something to jar him out of
self-centeredness, so he is prepared to act positively when his mother later
announces her engagement. He also
realizes that all evening he has been happily thinking about future activities
without Debbie, and is finally ready to let go.
In The
Substitute, Ann and James are a couple and similar in many ways. Both love poetry, both consider themselves
good writers, and both are headed for college, James particularly aiming for
Notre Dame. Their beloved English
teacher is killed in an accident and her male replacement is offended by an
early show of arrogance in James. The
teacher persists in heaping criticism on James in particular, but it is also
true that he runs a much more rigorous course than had their deceased teacher. Ann recognizes this and when she tries to
make James see it, he feels unsupported and they break up. Blaming everything on the teacher, James
does poorly in other classes as well, and looses his place on the basketball
team. As he continues his schooling in
a university other than the one he wanted, he continues to let Mr.
Trippman’s
opinion of him control his life. Later,
as he enters the classroom on his first day of teaching he is faced with a
student that reminds him of his earlier self, and he realizes he has become his
hated teacher.
Being
Alive tells
the story of a group of high school students.
Kenny is a paraplegic and Nance considers herself isolated and
plain. Addie is a natural runner. The very competitive Kathi can’t abide that
this black girl continually beats her.
In angry reaction one day she demands that Kenny be ejected from their
gym class that he enjoys observing.
Addie follows him out in protest, and ends up honoring his desire to
“fly” by pushing him around the track at top speed. It turns out he would also like to compete in a race, and Nance
who has become involved as an observer, becomes their timer. In an important race, Addie gives up her
chance to win in order to give Kenny his desire. Though she thought she ran for the pure joy of it, she is
surprised at how much losing bothers her.
Nance belatedly realizes that she could have been the pusher, and let
Addie shoot for the win. Addie acknowledges
that she had thought of this, and feels some resentment, but the three friends
move on, building on the friendship they have begun.
In
The Attack of the Jolly Green Giant, David is in high school. A short kid, with his mind constantly on the
sex he thinks he’s never going to get, he copes by making a joke about
everything. A new girl appears in his
driver’s education class, and though he is attracted to her, all he can do is
make jokes about her height, since she is five or six inches taller than he is.
It is obvious that he is making no points with this girl with his jokes, in
fact she is becoming increasingly irritated, but he can’t change his habitual
behavior. Finally after three weeks of
joking followed by lessons in the same car, the students earn the right to
drive solo around the school track.
David finds himself being chased by an angry Molly at the wheel, even
when he drives off the school grounds.
Tragedy is diverted, and David finds that he has been shocked out of his
usual behavior. Molly is gracious
enough to suggest they can start over.
In Mad,
Henry has finally discovered a school that he likes in the long list of
boarding schools he has attended. His
roommate is a slightly irritating, but harmless hypochondriac. Serious trouble arrives in the body of a
young woman who turns out to be the headmaster’s daughter. Joy has a tale of woe to tell, and Henry
believes every word, finally helping her to leave the school to return to a
supposed lover in Boston.
Only
too late, Henry learns that her name is actually Martha and she is
delusional. His involvement gets him
expelled, and as he heads to his next school he can only hope he will like it
as much as the last. A letter from his
old roommate warns of a possible complication.
“Joy’s” new focus of imagined love is Henry.
Walking
tells the
story of a boy who is in remedial classes in high school. Jackie is also short and has red hair. School is difficult for him and he is always
getting teased about one thing or another.
When he has had enough he just walks out. When he first started doing
it, the teachers tried to stop him, but they finally gave up and just let him
go. One of his walks puts him in a
small grocery store just as the owner and his teenage son are having an
argument. The man is taking citizenship
classes and often has to be out of the store.
The son, who is lazy anyway, is demanding he hire someone to help. Jackie seizes the opportunity and asks for
the job. Over the next few weeks, he
begins to feel better about himself, as the storeowner gives him more and more
responsibility, and praises the work he does. Even though the man’s son
harasses him every chance he gets, Jackie doesn’t walk out this time, and his
successes begin to affect the other parts of his life as well.
Comments: All but one of the stories in this collection are the first
person narratives of young men. That
viewpoint makes them fairly unique, especially when the subject is young love.
The voices all ring true. Most of the stories have something to recommend them. In two, the main purpose seems to be to
amuse the reader, although they also deal with issues like jealousy and masking
emotions with humor. Another of the
stories is about competition and friendship. In some of the tales, the
protagonist is moving in a positive direction at the end of the story. In others, the main character has given
someone too much control in their life, and is, in the end, quite stuck. In these, Sieruta creates a creepiness that
is reminiscent of Poe. The variation in
emotional tone in the various stories makes reading the collection straight
through quite a roller coaster ride. I
think teens will enjoy these stories, but they are best savored one at a time.