The Fault in Our Stars

Over the last few months, I heard so much about this book that I just had to read it.  It's been one of those crossover titles, like The Hunger Games or books by Jodi Picault or Nicholas Sparks, that seems to appeal equally to adults and teens.  In this novel, sixteen year old Hazel is living with cancer; she is not cancer-free, but her cancer has stopped spreading since she began taking a new drug two years ago.  She knows that she is living on borrowed time, and she prides herself on taking each day as it comes, realistically and philosophically, without pinning too much hope on a future that she might never get to see.  Then one day in support group, she meets a cancer survivor named Augustus; she begins to discover that although it might be painful to risk hope and love when the future is uncertain, that risk makes living worthwhile.

Although this book is beautifully, beautifully written, I cannot confidently put it in the hands of my students.  If I taught high school, I might feel differently.  As it is, however, The Fault in Our Stars contains enough rough language and morally "muddy" subject matter that only a parent would know if it is appropriate for his or her own 12- or 13-year old.  After I finished the book, I gave it to my daughter, a sophomore in high school, with the understanding that she and I can discuss the trickier aspects of the plot if she chooses to read the book.  Beyond my disappointment that the book is truly "young adult" and therefore too mature for my classroom library, I really enjoyed the writing in The Fault in Our Stars and will probably seek out other books by John Green in the future.

Ender's Game

Ender Wiggin may be a child, but he cannot afford to act or think like a child.  Ender is a "third" whose entire reason for existing is to serve humanity by training to become a soldier in a possible Bugger War.  At the age of 6, he leaves his family and is taken to battle training school where he is to learn the art of warfare in hopes that he may someday be able to command Earth's starfleet as it responds to the alien threat of the Buggers,  a race of insect-like beings who had already invaded the Earth twice.

Each chapter begins with a conversation between two shadowy speakers, adults who are discussing Ender's progress and promise.  I was a little confused by these exchanges at first, but the text looks different in these parts than in the rest of the narrative so it became easier to understand them as I read.  Since the rest of each chapter focuses solely on Ender's thoughts and actions, the conversations that open the chapters help the reader see a bigger picture than Ender himself can see.

Ender's Game started a little slowly for me, perhaps because I was reading it while distracted by planning for the new school year.  By the time I was halfway through the book, though, I had to force myself to put it down.  I love Ender's empathy, his leadership, and even his self-doubt.  I cannot imagine a world in which children would have to go through what Ender and his friends do!  In that respect, Ender's Game reminded me of The Hunger Games; people who enjoy Suzanne Collins's trilogy should give Ender's Game a shot.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven describes the life, death, and afterlife of a carnival worker named Eddie who dies while trying to save a little girl from a malfunctioning ride.  He finds himself dropped into a series of strange but familiar scenes where he meets five people whose lives intersected with his in some way, and he learns something special from each of them about the meaning of life.  Eddie realizes eventually that all of humanity is connected and that everyone is important within the fabric of human history. 

This is a quick read, and it introduces some intriguing questions.  I found myself wondering whom I might meet in the heavenly anterooms imagined by Albom.

Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising

With the third book in the Alex Van Helsing series coming out this summer, I figured it was about time to give the original a re-read.  Confession: I have known the author, Jason Henderson, since we went to college together at the University of Dallas.  He was the first published author I ever knew in real life and was something of a celebrity on campus after getting his first novel published during his junior year.  In a campus full of people planning to write a "great American novel" someday, Jason proved to me what writing is really about: dedication, focus, organization, humility, unceasing work, and a probably unhealthy amount of caffeine.

Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising introduces Alex, a 14 year old boy who has just been sent to a boarding school in Switzerland.  There he encounters a mysterious teacher, menacing bullies, a few true friends... and vampires?!  All his life, his father has told him that the famous stories about the Van Helsing family being vampire hunters are pure fiction.  But when two of Alex's friends are captured by the fearsome vampire known as Icemaker, Alex has no choice but to embrace his dangerous destiny.

The Alex Van Helsing series mixes elements of classic literature (You'll never guess Icemaker's origin!), horror, adventure, suspense, and spy stories.  My favorite character is actually one of Alex's friends, Sid, whose encyclopedic knowledge of vampires and passion for manga make him an invaluable asset as Alex tries to learn more about his family's past and about the challenges in store for him.

The second book in the series is called Voice of the Undead (HarperCollins, 2011) and the third book, just out at the end of July, is The Triumph of Death. 

Wonder

You GUYS...  Read this book!  Not tomorrow, not next week.  Then let's talk about it afterward, because I'm dying to hear your thoughts.

For each of the past three summers, I have read one book that utterly slayed me with its incredible-osity.  Two summers ago, it was The Hunger Games, a stay-up-'til-all-hours-of-the-night-gasp-out-loud adventure.  Last year, it was Anything but Typical, a heartbreaking but hopeful journey into the thoughts and daily life of an autistic teenager who struggles with the pain and anxiety of growing up.  This summer, I was sure my far-and-away favorite would be Hatchet (because, well, it's awesome).  Then I read Wonder.

Wonder tells the story of Auggie Pullman's year at a new school.  Actually, it's his first year at any school, even though he's entering fifth grade; Auggie has been homeschooled his entire life because he was born with severe craniofacial deformities and has had to endure more than twenty reconstructive surgeries in his short life.  Auggie feels like an ordinary kid: he likes to play video games, he has a great sense of humor, and he wants friends just like anybody else would.  However, he looks far from ordinary.  How will Auggie deal with the precarious social world of middle school when he is such an easy target for bullying?

I loved the way that R.J. Palacio alternated narrators so that I could understand so many of the characters more fully.  The emotion of the book -- its glorious highs, its devastating lows, its knots-in-the-stomach suspense and its never-saw-them-coming surprises -- makes it really special.  So read it!  Tell me who emerged as your favorite character.  Which parts made you laugh?  Did any parts make you cry?  Let's discuss the wonder of Wonder.  :-)

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Recommended by a slew of teachers at the Scholastic Reading Conference last month, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda leapt to the top of my list of "books I must read this summer."  The first in a series (including Darth Paper Strikes Back and The Secret of the Fortune Wookie, which just came out this month), Origami Yoda begins with the central narrator, Tommy, explaining that he is collecting case studies from his fellow 6th graders in an attempt to understand a mystery: how Dwight, the class weird-o, can somehow speak great wisdom through the use of an origami finger-puppet shaped like Yoda from Star Wars.  The perspective shifts from chapter to chapter as different characters describe their experiences with Origami Yoda.

I really enjoyed this characters in this book, much in the way that I love the voice of Greg in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.  Thinking about reading ladders, I think this might be a step up in complexity from that series since the perspective changes from chapter to chapter.

Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?

I plucked this graphic novel from the YA reading section of my local library, and as soon as I finished I raced to Amazon.com to purchase a copy for the classroom.  Brian Fies traces the history of America's fascination with the future, moving from the 1939 New York World's Fair through the moon landing, the space race, and the shuttle program, finishing with a prediction about how technology will develop into a future we could hardly have imagined.  In addition to simple and appealing drawings, the author includes actual images from some of the historical events he describes.  The book even contains a few "Space Age Adventures" comic books that both fit into and illuminate the action in the rest of the story.  I can't wait to put this into the hands of my students!

Night

Elie Wiesel's Night is an incredibly powerful, affecting account of the author's experiences in Auschwitz during the final days of World War II.  It is astonishing that such a thin, sparse work can capture so completely the devastation suffered by one boy and his family. 

This is the second time I've read Night.  I first read the original translation a few years ago for a class that examined man's response to evil in the world; this newer translation, by Wiesel's wife, is the one that Wiesel himself prefers according to his introduction.  Whatever the translation, however, readers will always remember the power of Wiesel's voice as he struggles to hang onto his family and his faith during the longest and darkest night in modern history.

I cannot recommend this book strongly enough to mature readers.

Anya's Ghost

Anya thinks she has it tough.  Her little brother takes her things without asking, her best friend's sarcasm makes her angry, and her crush is going out with a perfect girl.  To make things worse, one afternoon she falls in a well!  There she discovers the skeleton and ghost of a girl her age who died from a similar fall during World War I.  The ghost seems friendly and helpful, aiding Anya as she finds a way out of the well and, later, helping her academically and socially.  But the ghost turns out to be a lot more dangerous than she first seems.

Anya's Ghost is spooky and funny, with well-rounded characters and an intriguing mystery.  The graphic design and artwork are clean and inviting.  It's a quick, fun read for teens.

Level Up

This graphic novel is written by Gene Luen Yang, the creator of American Born Chinese (on my to-read pile).  It follows a few years in the life of Dennis Ouyang, a young man whose passion for video games conflicts with his father's plan for him: get good grades, go to medical school, and become a successful gastroenterologist.  When his father dies, Dennis falls off this track and begins skipping class to spend hours upon hours gaming.  In fact, his grades suffer so much that he gets kicked out of college.  That night, he is visited by four little creatures who look like angels and who have a message from his father: gastroenterology is his destiny, and they have come to get him back on track.

Level Up is often funny (and sometimes a little gross), and it deals with the big questions that all young people have to ask themselves as they mature.  Who decides what my life will be?  What do I owe to myself, and what do I owe to others?  Is it enough to simply pursue my own happiness?  I really enjoyed watching Dennis answer these questions for himself in Level Up.

The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game

"Gamification" has been a hot topic in education for the last year or so, and a friend recommended this title to me when I mentioned that I was interested in learning more about it.  This textbook lays out how to set up classes using the principles behind popular multiplayer games by using the concepts of "Experience Points" and "leveling up" for assessing student learning, badges and other l00t as special rewards, "monsters" and "boss fights" (quizzes and tests) for passing from one level to the next, and avatars and guilds representing individual students and student groups.  Most of the examples given are college or high school courses, but a few junior high examples are included. 

I find the concept really intriguing, and I wonder if it might motivate students who don't seem to care about grades or other traditional markers of academic achievement.  However, I am not a gamer myself, so if I decide to use any of this theory in my classroom it will be in the form of a "toe dip" rather than a headlong dive.

Dead End in Norvelt

Jack Gantos is a one of a kind writer with such a distinctive storytelling voice that I feel like I could identify something that he has written without ever looking at the cover.  I'm a big fan of the Joey Pigza books because I feel like they capture the inner world of a kiddo struggling with ADHD, a boy who sometimes does things without knowing why he does them and is as surprised as everyone else around him when he acts out.  Above all, he wants to be good; he tries to be good; he fails to be good in some hilarious and heartbreaking ways.

The central character in Dead End in Norvelt, a boy named Jack Gantos (a particularly fun trick played on the reader by the author, Jack Gantos: blurring the lines between fiction and personal narrative) shares Joey Pigza's desire to be good as well as his inability to measure up to that standard.  This is the story of a summer when Jack is grounded for doing something that wasn't even his fault, and he becomes friends with his extremely eccentric, elderly neighbor -- a woman who knows a whole lot about the town's history and its residents and who puts that knowledge to use by writing the obituaries of the town's original inhabitants as they pass away.

This book is a remarkable, funny, and odd mix of mystery, history, comedy, and Hells Angels.  I gobbled it up!

Reading Ladders: Leading Students from Where They Are to Where We'd Like Them to Be

Teri Lesesne argues that it isn't enough just to start students reading.  Instead, teachers need to focus on helping students find the next book they'll love... and the next after that, and the next after that.  In addition, while there is plenty to love in books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or the Gossip Girls series, these are books that don't challenge and nourish readers as much as we teachers and parents wish they would.  Lesesne's solution is the development of reading ladders that gradually and mindfully lead students from one book to the next by focusing on readers' preferences while introducing more challenge or complexity with each selection.  In addition to some spectacular pre-made ladders/ book lists, this book also offers helplful advice for assessment of students' needs, interests, and comprehension.

Bad Boy: A Memoir

I was so excited after hearing Walter Dean Myers at the Scholastic Reading Summit that I knew my next book had to be his memoir, Bad Boy.  This book didn't disappoint.  Myers grew up in Harlem during an exciting time of change in America.  This memoir focuses on his young, struggling years as he tried to figure out who to be and how to be.  He loved reading, writing, and playing ball; he was smart enough to qualify for a gifted program in jr. high and to gain admittance to one of the best academic high schools in New York; however, he was also an emotional boy with a speech impediment who found it easier to communicate with his fists than his voice.  Luckily, he had parents who loved him even though they couldn't fully understand his complex inner universe, and he had a couple of teachers who had more faith in him than he had in himself.  In one important passage, he describes sitting in the principal's office of his high school on the brink of expulsion for truancy when his creative writing teacher walks past.  She pokes her head in, asks if he's in trouble, and whispers to him, "Whatever happens to you, keep on writing."  Thankfully for all of us readers, he followed her advice!

A Tale Dark and Grimm

A Tale Dark and Grimm gives modern readers an entry point into the truly gruesome and grisly universe of Grimm's Fairy Tales through the adventures of young Hansel and Gretel.  The narrative voice reminded me a little of Lemony Snicket -- probably due to the development of suspense through repeated warnings that children should stop reading the book -- but I prefer this story to the Series of Unfortunate Events.  I loved the allusions to the traditional Grimm tales, especially since author Adam Gidwitz draws upon lesser-known stories that I only ::kinda-sorta:: knew.

I checked this title out as an ebook from my library, but I will definitely buy a copy (or two, or three) for my classroom library.  It should appeal to those interested in adventure, fairy tales, and humor; in a "reading ladder" I would put it between The Sisters Grimm series (Michael Buckley) and The Grimm Legacy (Polly Shulman).

Hatchet

How have I waited until now to read Hatchet?!?  I've been confidently recommending it for years because it is the first book that my little brother -- who swore that he hated reading -- actually finished on his own.  With the seal of approval of both Newbery AND my brother, I knew that I could put this book in the hands of avowed non-readers and that they would have a good chance of connecting with the story.  Somehow, though, I didn't think it would be my cup of tea.  Boy, was I wrong!

I started reading this book right before bed, figuring that I would read a couple of chapters before falling asleep.  HA!  Thank goodness I have a book light; I was up until 1:30 in the morning following Brian on his adventures in the wilderness, and my heart was beating so fast by the time that I read the final pages that I still couldn't get to sleep!  Hatchet is a tale of survival, of learning from mistakes, of living with regret, of growing up.  I cannot recommend it enough!

::Squee!::

I had the incredible privilege of spending today at the Scholastic Reading Summit surrounded by administrators, librarians, and teachers dedicated to lighting the spark that will allow young people to become lifelong readers. 
Best of all, the keynote speakers were two of my heroes: Donalyn Miller, whose blog The Book Whisperer inspired me as I worked to create a culture of reading in my classroom and who is a founding member of another of my favorite blogs, The Nerdy Book Club; and Walter Dean Myers.  Yes, you read that right, WALTER DEAN MYERS!!! (Go ahead, open them both.  Different links, all kinds of awesomeness.)  Walter Dean Myers has been one of my heroes ever since I did a research project about banned and challenged books for young people.  He's a fearless writer, and his life story -- which I just heard about today during his talk -- blows my mind.  In fact, I have a new book to add to my summer reading list: Bad Boy, his memoir.  Here's the man in action:

Walter Dean Myers, Scholastic Reading Summit
July 17, 2012
Photo credit C. Alaniz, @utalaniz

How to Grow Up and Rule the World

How to Grow Up and Rule the World is a fun, fast read with inviting illustrations and a narrator who is so haughty and insulting that he had me laughing on every page.  The book's dedication sets the tone: "Dedication: To me, without whom not a single one of my glorious accomplishments would have been possible."  The book's opening passage is equally arrogant: "Greetings, inferior one.  I am Vordak the Incomprehensible.  Who you are doesn't matter."  Vordak insults the reader throughout the book while offering extremely helpful advice about becoming the world's most evil and successful supervillain (after Vordak, of course).  Although I doubt that I have the chops to follow his advice -- in fact, according to my embarrassingly low score on the book's Evil Aptitude Exam, I will probably never rule the world, and even if I did, I would "waste all of [my] power on things like promoting world peace and improving the environment and . . . snuggling" -- I thoroughly enjoyed Vordak's twisted sense of humor and his impressive vocabulary.  Highly recommended!

How to Survive Middle School

How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart is the charming, engrossing tale of 13 year-old David Greenberg's first year in middle school.  Over the course of a single year, David loses his best friend, makes an unexpected new friend, endures heartbreak at home and at school, and experiences tremendous online popularity due to his funny video podcasts featuring his pet hamster, Hammy.  The story is told from the first-person point of view of David, whose narrative voice is so funny and honest that I found myself rooting for good things to happen to him from the very first page.  While some of the action is kind of unrealistic (and many of the teachers at David's school are shockingly clueless about the bullying that happens around them), I really enjoyed this book as a whole.

Maniac Magee

Jerry Spinelli's Newberry Award-winning Maniac Magee tells the story of an extraordinary boy who breaks down racial walls in a segregated town while he searches for a home of his own.  The story is framed as a "truth behind the legend," though some of Maniac's accomplishments are so implausible that they took me out of the story.  ("Frog baseball" made me particularly uncomfortable -- Poor frog!)  My favorite moments are the small, character-driven scenes when Maniac tries to feel at home in surprising places and with surprising family, and my favorite character by a mile is young Amanda, a fearless child who loves to read so much that she carries all of her books in a suitcase everywhere she goes so that her younger siblings won't destroy them. 

This book is funny, touching, and sad.  The only other Jerry Spinelli books that I have read are Stargirl and Eggs, and this is my favorite of the three.

Summer Reading 2012

Welcome, students and fellow readers!  This summer I intend to read at least 15 middle grade/YA titles and 4-5 professional titles, and I will post my responses here.  Stay tuned!