A Book to Hook Male Readers

Even the dead tell stories.

This is the first line in Marcus Sedgwick's Printz honor book Revolver. I was anxious to read this after reading the summary, and it didn't disappoint (I think I read it in less than two hours). Part history, part adventure, part mystery, the tale alternate between action in 1899, 1900, and 1910, and ultimately ends with a "closing" in 1967. Set in the Artic wilderness the novel tells the story of Sig and his family who, led by his father, settle in the cold north in search of gold. When the novel opens, Sig's father has just died having fallen through the ice on his way home.

Yet, how could the father, who knows the rules of traveling across the frozen lake make such a stupid mistake?

The reason for his blunder becomes evident less than a day after the father dies when a scary, mysterious stranger arrives calling for what he is owed by the father. And, he refuses to leave unless he gets what he wants. But, what is it?

The "it" is the purpose of the flashbacks to 1899-1900. The reader begins to trace the father and family's past and travels. Yet, Sedgwick is careful not to show his hand too much. We slowly begin to realize that Sig's father must have cheated his bosses during his job as an assay clerk (one who tests and measures the gold the prospectors find). But how? And how did Sig's father "cheat" the mystery man?

The answers to those questions are saved for the end of the book--and ending that boys will surely get to in order to find out!

Don't Ignore Vera Dietz!!

OMG is all I can say about A. S. King's Printz Honor book Please Ignore Vera Dietz. I bought it to read on a trip to Madison, WI, and had finished it by the time the plane landed. I could not put this book down!!!

The story--told from different perspectives, including a pagoda (yes, a pagoda)--is mainly about the complex relationship between teenagers Vera and Charlie who have been friends since childhood. It is one of those relationships where if everything was right, they would admit they loved each other, date, and then get married and be happy. But as we know in life, and YA fiction, things aren't so simple.

First, Vera's mom left when she was 12, running off with her podiatrist (and before all that she was a stripper). Vera's dad is trying, but he can't let go.

Charlie lives next door and the physical and emotional abuse his father dishes out to his mother can be heard by Vera and her father (and others) but no one does anything to intervene. Then, there's the creepy thing with Charlie's underwear (I am not going to spoil the book and tell all!).

Fast forward: Charlie finds a new crowd, turns against Vera, and dies under some "questionable" circumstances. Vera begins to see and hear thousands of Charlies at odd times.

There is, of course, much more!

I loved the change in perspectives and the wonderful balance of humor, playfulness, sadness, and seriousness. And, the flow charts provide a very interesting dicussion and instructional tool for teachers :)

Printz Award Winner and Honor Books

From year to year, the set of titles that make it to the top of the Printz award are interesting. Some years, I completely agree (like when John Green won for Looking for Alaska), while in other years I am surprised and left wondering (I won't name years for this).

In my YA lit class this summer, we read four of the five the final titles (I left Punkzilla off the reading list--no room).

The first book we read was Madman Underground. From there, we read The Monstrumologist, then Going Bovine. We finished the list with Charles and Emma this week.

Here are thoughts from some of my YA students:

And I thought And Then There Were None was an awesome horror novel! The Monstrumologist is incredible, though I was definitely scared out of my mind for half of the book! As far as teaching this novel goes, I think it would be fascinating to have it read aloud. There is so much action and suspense from beginning to end, and I think a class would fly through this book. If I was in high school and reading this book, I would LOVE my teacher for letting us read something so unique and engaging.
*****
As for the books, the winner in my mind is definitely Tales of the Madman Underground. Don’t get me wrong, I thought The Rock and the River was excellent. However I enjoyed “Madman” more because the characters are just so complex. Karl is so incredibly witty and I loved the jokes, the language, everything that kid thought or said worked for me. At the same time, he lives this difficult life and can be so dark and cold, but it all weaves in and out perfectly. The same thing goes for his mom, Beth. You have these scenes of her just being the worst mom and doing terrible things to Karl that had me hating her. Then you get these glimpses of her being “normal” and caring and really protecting her son. I don’t know about anyone else but as much as I wanted to hate her fully, I had moments where I just felt sorry for her and you kind of realize she’s just mixed up, too. Repeat everything I just wrote about Beth for Coach Gratz. We are painted a picture of this guy just being a real jerk, (I won’t call him what Karl does), but again there are moments where you see he is in fact human after all.
*****
I think my absolute favorite book so far (and possibly going on my list of favorite books in general) is Tales of the Madman Underground. The main character is so different, and so endearing. It reminds me a lot of Keesha’s House in that it is relaying the stories of all these different kids with troubled lives, who carry on as normal as they can. I know that this story is told extremely well because of the fact that I am a reader who cannot relate at all with the situations of these kids and yet I empathize with them and desire to know more of their stories. I feel like I know them the way any reader should know their characters.
****
I chose Barnes’ Tales of the Madman Underground, and I was glad I did. I am a pretty slow reader, but I read the book in about two or three sittings. I really liked it for a lot of reasons. The narrator was clever, and he was very personable. While reading, I really felt like this kid was opening up to me. It was like I was listening to a recording he made of each day.
While I was reading, I thought about how this book applied to so many different people: misfits, athletes, ‘socials’ as Barnes’ named them, parents, and teachers. It was interesting to see how many types of kids were in the Madman Underground. It gave several accounts of how people from seemingly different backgrounds had more in common than anyone would think. The story showed how students could be brought together through their individual struggles. One student may have problems with anything from just being sad and another may have a family member with boundary issues, but they all recognized how hard like could be for each other, and took care of one another. It was really kind of a cool way to show a bond between an eclectic group of friends.
****
The books we covered this week were Going Bovine (my new favorite), and Charles and Emma: The Darwin’s Leap of Faith. I cannot lie, I have not finished Charles and Emma yet, but it is promising and I am interested to see how the story unfolds. Going Bovine is, by far, one of my new favorite books of all time. I never stopped laughing from beginning to end. I was sitting in the library reading it and on more than one occasion, I laughed out loud to point of having to be “shushed” by my peers. I could not get enough of every part of this book. The characters were brilliant, for lack of a better word, and the development of the story was enthralling; I never wanted it to end. I instantly fell in love with Cameron. No seriously, I had a crush on him throughout the book! The thick sarcasm was perfect and accurately depicted the mind of a sixteen year old boy as I would imagine it. The author, Libba Bray, could not have written that story in a better way. It was creative and enticing, leaving the readers with a sense of self-fulfillment through Cameron’s journey of life and death. I think the intended audience ranges to every person with the ability to pick up a book and read the words on the page; this book is limitless and also an inspiration. Though the surface of the book is awesome, there is a deeper element present that made me realize how important it is to not let life pass you by until it is almost over. Cameron taught us that life is too precious for us to simply wait around until it happens. I believe that readers of all kinds and preferences, no matter their qualms with reading, would enjoy this book to the full. I will definitely keep a copy with me at all times and recommend it to everyone I meet.