Hatchet: Gary Paulsen

Title: Hatchet
Author: Gary Paulsen
Publisher: Aladin (1996)

Media Format: Book
Genre: Adventure, Coming of Age
Selection Source: Newbery Honor Book
Reading Audience: Jr. High+
Reading Recommendation: 4 ****
Curriculum Connection: Boy Scouts, Hunter's Safety

Summary
This is a story about a boy who survives a plane crash, only to be stranded in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but the clothes on his back, and the hatchet his mother gave him. Brian uses his determination and his wits to survive in the wilderness. He overcomes swarming insects, large bears, no fire (until he figures it out), and no food. He gathers berries, and learns how to fish using a hand crafted boy and arrow made from a tree and his shoe laces. He eats turtle eggs, and stalks wild grouse. It's fascinating to read how Brian uses his resources to stay alive, and even thrive, while marooned in the harsh bosom of mother nature.

Evaluation
This works very well as an adventure story, and would be a good book for reluctant boy readers. The intensity of the plane crash grabs readers' attention right away, and the book is almost a mystery in the sense that the reader is always guessing and anticipating how Brian is going to solve the next inevitable obstacle that confronts him. It's an inspirational adventure story that readers won't want to set down.

The Giver: Lois Lowry

Title: The Giver

Author: Lois Lowry

Publisher: Laurel Leaf (2002)

Media Format: Book

Genre: Dystopian

Selection Source: Text p.24

Reading Audience: 12+

Reading Recommendation: 4 ****

Curriculum Connection: Social Studies

Summary

The Giver is a Dystopian novel for children and young adults. We are introduced to Jonas who lives in a seemingly idyllic society. Everyone gets along. There is no crime. People don't hurt each others' feelings. Families talk about their day at dinner, and discuss their dreams in the morning when they wake up. The reader always has the nagging feeling that the society is too good to be true. The society has many rules, and though the characters in the book don't mind obeying them, they seem silly, if not ominous to the modern, freedom loving, enlightened American. We slowly learn that the characters are not living in an overzealous country club society, but a bio-geo-engineered Dystopia. We find this out, because will has been selected as the receiver. This means that he is honored and burdened by being the one person in the society who holds the memories of the way society was before the "sameness." Will then discovers the horrors that lurk beneath the surface of his idyllic city. He can no longer live with his knowledge, and he is left with only one option.

Evaluation

Great book, easy read, and thought provoking, that's why The Giver is on all sorts of reading lists for young adults. I've reviewed two other Dystopian novels (I know, I'm pushing it), like Feed and unlike A Handmaid's Tale, The Giver does the most important thing a Dystopian novel needs to do, it shows us a terrible society, that we recognize as our own.

Bridge to Terabithia: Katherine Paterson

Title: Bride to Terabithia
Writer: Katherine Paterson (novel)
Director: Gabor Csupo
Produced by: Walt Disney (2007)


Media Format: Book
Genre: Realistic with elements of fantasy
Selection Source: Newbery Medal
Reading Audience: Older Children & Young YAs, but the book/movie deals with mature themes
Watching Recommendation: 3.5 ***
Curriculum Connection: Dealing with death/dying


Summary
I, like the person who reviews this movie in the video above, and many others, was surprised to find out, upon watching this movie that it was not a fantasy. It was really marketed as a fantasy like The Chronicles of Narnia. It didn't bother me as much as some people, but it was something I noticed when the movie was about three quarters of the way over. This is not a fantasy movie. It incorporates elements of fantasy into a realistic story about two junior high school students who form a deep friendship. The protagonist is a boy named Jess. At first, he was dismayed by the new girl, Leslie who beats him in a foot race. She's quite persistent in pursuing his friendship, and it turns out there is a lot he can learn from her. She learns from him too, but she is the one who brings the energy to the relationship, and opens his eyes to the world and to himself. Unfortunately, beautiful friendships to not always last as long as they could/should, and Jess has to figure out how to move on without forgetting the magic that Leslie brought into his life.


Evaluation
This story is primarily aimed at junior high students, but it's possible that mature children could watch it, as well as older YAs. It's an archetypal friendship story. It's about two people who recognize that life is better, because they can share it with each other. They work together to help the teacher, thwart bullies, do chores at home, and create a magical kingdom which they rule from an abandoned tree house.
----Spoiler Alert----
It's primary use is to teach young people about dealing with the death of a friend, and how to move on from that tragic situation without forgetting that person.

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.