Fables: Legends in Exile

Title: Fables: Legends in Exile
Author: Bill Willingham
Illustrator: Lan Medina
Publisher: Vertigo


Media Format: Graphic Novel
Genre: Graphic Novel, Mystery
Selection Source: The Lair
Reading Audience: 16+
Reading Recommendation: 3 ***
Curriculum Connection: none


Summary
Fables is a series of graphic novels that takes classic fairy tales and twists them. The first volume in that series is Legends in Exile. It introduces us to characters such as Snow White, the Big Bad Wolf (Bigby), Bluebeard, Jack (of beanstalk fame) and Prince Charming. Snow White's sister, Rose Red has been murdered, and Bigby is on the case.


The first volume in this series spends a lot of time introducing us to many of the characters, and explaining how they came to live in modern day Manhattan. Their lives have turned from a fairy tale into a soap opera. As Bigby goes from suspect to suspect, we find out these characters have had a lot of opportunities to make a lot of mistakes and enemies in the last couple of hundred years. Half the fun of the book is to recognize the allusions to various stories, some subtle and some obvious. It also does well as a mystery even poking fun at the genre as Bigby does his parlor scene where he outs the suspects and explains everything to the willing audience.


Evaluation
This is definitely a book for older teens. There's violence and sexual situations. It's a good book to introduce them to the adult comic. The plot is relatively straightforward and they will enjoy seeing Goody two shoes fairy tale characters in precarious positions. It's a good way to lift the veil of childhood illusions of innocence about the world.

Immersed in Verse: Allan Wolf

Title: Immersed in Verse

Author: Allan Wolf

Publisher: Lark Books

Media Format: Book

Genre: Poetry

Selection Source: Text Book p. 156

Reading Audience: Junior High+

Reading Recommendation: 3 ***

Curriculum Connection: Poetry

Summary

Immersed in Verse is an instruction manual. It attempts to take poetry out of a classroom setting and into the real world by showing teens that poetry is all around them waiting to be written. Mostly, the author is trying to show how poetry can be fun.

The book teaches how to read and write poetry. It gives the reader tips on how to understand poetry by defining some poetic techniques they can look out for like metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration, and onomatopoeia. He breaks down a number of poems so the young readers can see those poetic terms in action.

In addition to helping young adults read poems, Wolf also teaches them how to get into writing them. He suggests they write a little every day, and he gives them a lot of training suggestions to help them hone their poetic instincts. Finally, he teaches them how to craft their poem from the pre-poem idea, to the writing, to the revising, to the presentation.

Evaluation

This would be a great book to use in any junior high or high school poetry class, especially one that is going to spend at least a couple of weeks on poetry. It brings poetry to life in a way that most high school literature text books do not. It does a really good job of showing poetry as a lifestyle rather than just something students need to learn to pass a test. I think the primary use of this book would be a classroom environment, but advanced students who are interested in poetry might use it outside of the classroom setting.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian: Sherman Alexie

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Author: Sherman Alexie
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers


Media Format: Book
Genre: Ethnic experience in fiction
Selection Source: Linda Alexander
Reading Audience: Junior High +
Reading Recommendation: 4 ****
Curriculum Connection: Any class that deals with Native American Experience


Summary
Arnold (Junior) Spirit is a teenage American Indian who lives on a reservation in Washington state. He's frail of body (although he's a good basketball player), but he's bright of mind. This of course doesn't not prevent him from getting his ass kicked on a regular basis by the other Indians on the rez. Fighting is one of the biggest hobbies for the Indians on the rez, and unfortunately, Arnold's not too good at it. One of Arnold's teachers recognizes that Arnold is too smart to live on the rez. He'll never be able to fulfill his potential. Despite strong objections from his best friend, who feels like it's a personal betrayal, he decides to attend a school twenty miles away where he will be the only Indian (besides the mascot). After a rough beginning, Arnold actually gets on quite well at the new school. His new best friend is the smartest kid in the school, his new girlfriend is the prettiest, and he makes the varsity basketball team as a freshman. That does not stop the perpetual alcohol induced tragedies from affecting the rez and his family. He has to struggle with his new success, and the lack of progress of his friends and family.


Evaluation
This is an extremely enjoyable, readable book. The protagonist is likable and self-aware in an always self-deprecating fashion. I would recommend this book for anyone twelve and up. There is some feisty language, and multiple references to masturbation, but it's pretty PG-13. Despite multiple tragic moments, the book is humorous and optimistic.

Grave of the Fireflies

Title: Grave of the Fireflies Director: Isao Takahata
Publisher: Shinchosa Company


Media Format: DVD
Genre: Anime, Historical
Selection Source: The Librarian's Guide to Anime and Manga
Audience: Junior High +
Recommendation: 5 *****
Curriculum Connections: Any class dealing with WWII


Summary
Roger Ebert says, "It belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made." Grave of the Fireflies is about an orphaned boy of about 12 years and his toddler sister trying to survive on their own in WWII Japan. At first they were staying with an aunt of theirs, and while the aunt wasn't abusive, she wasn't exactly supportive either, and the kids felt they were being taken advantage of, so they took what little money and supplies they had and headed for an abandoned bomb shelter. At first they enjoyed their freedom, but their health was quickly deteriorating, and the brother was having a difficult time bartering for food, so he turned to theft, which worked for a while... Ultimately, the elements and the lack of support from their countrymen was too much for them to overcome.


Evaluation
Many people consider this the saddest movie they've ever seen. Watching the ridiculously adorable toddler waste away is tragic like a train wreck. You see it coming, and there's nothing you can do about it. It would be a great way to introduce an alternative perspective on WWII. It's probably best for students who are at least 13. There's not much objectionable material. Most of the violence is periphery, but younger students may not be able to get as much out of it.

The Handmaid's Tale: Margaret Atwood

Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Publisher: Random House

Media Format: Book
Genre: Speculative Fiction, Banned Book, Dystopian
Selection Source: ALA 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 1990-1999
Reading Audience: High School +
Reading Recommendation: 3 ***
Curriculum Connections: Social Sciences

Summary
The Handmaid's Tale was the 37th most challenged book of the 90s. Mostly it was challenged for being required/suggested reading in high school classrooms Common allegations against it are that it contains multiple sexual situations that are described in some detail. Various references to suicide being a legitimate alternative to life, and that it is a thinly veiled attack on the Christian Faith.

It's setting is America in the not too distant future. America is a country on lock down, and women have become second class citizens. For some unexplained reason, less children are being born, and some that are being born are deformed or stillborn. The upper class in this society have a harem of concubines that undergo physical evaluations to determine when they are most fertile, so they can lay with the man of the house in a bizarre ceremony that includes the husband, the wife, and the concubine. Women are no longer allowed to read, and are forced to dress in form concealing habits, complete with horse-like blinders to keep their eyes from wandering. This is a story about one woman who has the fading memory of her family life before, and is quickly understanding that there is more than meets the eye to her current oppressive society.

Evaluation
This 320 page book could be read in conjunction with any class that deals with women's studies, or utopian/dystopian societies. There are a lot of mature themes, and has been challenged as a result of that. Although I never condone censorship, I would only recommend this book for mature readers. This is a good story with some beautiful prose, but it didn't speak to me in the way Orwell's dystopian classics did. I think if I lived in Saudi Arabia it would probably have a bigger impact on me, but I tend to disagree with the author's major point that Christianity taken to extremes would lead to this society. Don't get me wrong, there is a Christian Dystopia novel that could be written to scare me, but it's not this one. Although, female readers are oftentimes more touched by the story.

The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation: Jacobson & Colon

Title: The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation

Authors: Ernie Colon & Sid Jacobson

Publisher: Hill and Wang (2006)

Media Format: Graphic Novel

Genre: Non-Fiction, Graphic Novel

Selection Source: YALSA: 2007 Best Books for Young Adults

Recommended Audience: High School

Reading Recommendation: 3 ***

Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, Political Science, History

Summary
This book is a graphic adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report. It is a condensed version of the report, but it keeps the most important elements, and turns it into a comic book that is digestible for young readers. The 9/11 report uses hindsight to shed light on the pre-9/11 environment, as well as the response to 9/11. It deals with the Clinton administration's response to the first WTC bombing and the rough transition between the Clinton and Bush administrations. It also reveals the steps taken by the suicide bombers that got them into those planes. It deals with how the major players in the Bush administration responded to the attacks. It offers a clear eyed, non-partisan review of the events surrounding the tragic defining moment of the young millenium.

Evaluation
I think this book is best used as part of a class, rather than for student leisure reading. It could be very useful in engaging reluctant readers to take on a serious subject. The most impressive part of the book to me is its capitalization on the graphic novel medium. It excels in the early parts of the book using fold out, graphic timelines of the morning of 9/11. It puts the events in perspective in a way print never could. I would highly recommend this book for any class that deals with the 9/11 events, American History, or American foreign policy.

Th1rteen R3asons Why: Jay Asher

Title: Th1rteen R3asons Why Author: Jay Asher
Publisher: Razorbill


Media Format: Book
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Selection Source: Cindy Stafford--Librarian at South Miami High School
Recommended Audience: All teens
Reading Recommendation: 5 *****
Curriculum Connections: Sociology


Review
When I told Cindy Stafford, Librarian at South Miami High School, that I was looking for some good YA books to read for a young adults materials class, she took me directly to Th1rteen R3asons Why. She gave it a glowing recommendation, and said that it got teens talking in their book discussion group like no book before or since. I couldn't pass up a recommendation like that, so I checked it out to find out why it did such a good job of stimulating discussion amongst teens.


Clay Jensen received a box of cassette tapes, and after listening to the contents within them, he'll never be the same. He had a crush on a girl named Hannah, and he had reasons to believe that she shared those feelings, until her sudden suicide a couple of weeks before. Within those tapes are the thirteen reasons why Hannah killed herself, and by possessing those tapes, Clay knows he is one of those reasons. He is afraid to hear how he may have contributed to the death of a girl he could have loved, but he's compelled to listen. He finds out how seemingly inconsequential and unrelated events add up to an unbearable burden for Hannah.


Evaluation
Th1rteen R3asons Why does something that is very important for YA books. It grabs readers' attention immediately, and stimulates their curiosity. Also it does a great job of synchronizing readers' minds with that of the protagonist. Even though this book fits the realistic fiction genre, early on it introduces an element of mystery that prods readers to move insatiably forward. Readers cannot help but share Clay's obsession with the contents of those tapes. As the relationship between Clay and Hannah becomes clearer, it only increases the mystery of the role Clay could have played in the girl's death. Along with the mystery, there are lessons to be learned in this book about unintended consequences, and the power we have to affect others through our interpersonal relations.

The Graveyard Book: Neil Gaiman

Title: The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Dave McKean
Publisher: Harper Collins


Media Format: Book
Genre: Supernatural, Coming of Age
Selection Source: Newbery Award 2009 Best Books for Young Adults
Recommended Audience: Tweens +
Reading Recommendation: 5


Review
It will be hard to follow Neil's own beautifully illustrated introduction to his own book, but I'll give it a go. The (beautifully, hauntingly illustrated) Graveyard Book won the Newbery Medal which is given to the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children, but at 300 pages and dealing with a brutal society of killers, The Graveyard Book is only suitable for the most mature of children, and is interesting enough for most YAs (and adults).


The novel begins when a killer dressed in black murders three fourths of a family, and is on his way to kill the most important and seemingly vulnerable member of that family. After finding the child's crib empty, the killer tracks the child to a Graveyard, where he meets the one figure in London scarier than he is, who then convinces him the child could not be found in the graveyard. After much debate, the deceased members of the graveyard decide to adopt the child, and name him Nobody Owens (Owens for the last name of the couple who fought the hardest to keep him).


Besides growing up in a graveyard, nobody leads a relatively linear life. He makes friends and loses them. He goes to school and has to deal with bullies. Although he does use some tricks taught to him buy his dead friends. He rebels against his caretakers, and goes on an adventure. He reunites with a long lost friend. Finally, he uses the skills he has accumulated to overcome a major obstacle, proving to his caretaker that he is capable of moving out of the graveyard and surviving on his own.


Evaluation
This book has the potential for very broad appeal. Neil Gaiman is the rare author who can right a book that a 10 year old can enjoy, as well as a 40 year old. It's primary appeal is that it has an edgy dangerousness that can pull readers in immediately, meanwhile offering lessons (or reminders) in growing up.