Review: Twisted

Anderson, Laurie Halse (2007). Twisted. New York: Viking, 250 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: Tyler was the kid in school who was constantly picked on until he did the "Foul Deed"--but after paying his debt to society through community service and enduring the punishment of working as a landscaper over the summer, Tyler returns to school stronger than the bullies and with the new reputation that comes from perpetrating the "Foul Deed." Soon Bethany Milbury, the hottest girl in school--and unluckily for Tyler, the sister to Tyler's tormentor and daughter to the boss of Tyler's father--takes notice of Tyler and starts to come onto him. But after a bacchanal party, pictures of a dead-drunk and nude Bethany Milbury surface on the internet, and Tyler finds that his new persona and the "Foul Deed" begins to haunt him again as doubt is cast on his self-proclaimed innocence.

I thought Saint Iggy was a heart breaker, but this book almost had me in tears by its end. Laurie Halse Anderson takes Tyler from his previously wimpy and pariah-like figure, builds him up into someone seen as mysterious and dangerous by his classmates and sought after by the hottest girl in the school (isn't that what every teenage boy wants?), and then drives him right back down into the mud--even lower than he was when he started, more dejected and faced with a situation that seems like there's no way out of. Adding on to the already perilous situation of being accused of another crime, Tyler is forced into confrontation with his father, who cares more about his work than he does his family. Halse Anderson uses this situation in expert fashion, examining the character of such a man and his impact on his maturing son--a son who is physically stronger than his father, and is struggling to become emotionally stronger.

Booktalk Hook: When I got to the part of the book where Tyler almost commits suicide, the book had me reading as quickly as I could--it was such a perfect crescendo to the plot line, and I had no idea how it would play out. Would he do it? He certainly had reason enough to. For the booktalk, I'd have a hard time not reading pages 209-210, where this monumental struggle begins.

Review: Re-Gifters

Carey, Mike; Liew, Sonny; Hempel, Marc (2007). Re-Gifters. New York: DC Comics, 148 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: Dik Seong Jen, known as Dixie to her friends and classmates, has two monumental events to get through in the next couple of weeks--one, her crush, Adam, has invited her to his birthday party; and, two, the upcoming Hapkido martial arts tournament, which she and Adam will be participating in. Thinking that she has found the perfect birthday gift for Adam, Dixie gives him an expensive Hwarang warrior statue (using her money intended for the entrance fee for the tournament)--but Adam, clueless as ever, re-gifts it to his crush. Just before facing Adam in the Hapkido final, and torn about whether to throw the fight or not, Dixie is re-gifted the Hwarang statue and realizes that Adam doesn't care about her, leading her to defeat him in the tournament finals and begin dating Dillinger, the bad boy character that gave her the statue.

DC Comics' minx imprint intends to create graphic novels that appeal to a younger female audience and so far they've done a pretty good job, offering a unique and varied line of graphic novels. Re-Gifters is less cutesy than their past releases, because Dixie is a very aggressive character (her best friend says she's "as spiky as a porcupine") and a bit of a tomboy, but having such a character in the story shows that minx is not willing to stick to the norm. The story was enjoyable and I think that the re-gifting idea worked really well, with the sequence of givers and receivers driving the plot--and how embarrassing is it to get someone what you think is the perfect gift, then to be re-gifted it yourself? Perfect way of describing the awkwardness that is adolescence.

Booktalk Hook: If I were to booktalk this, I'd do it alongside either other minx offerings, or with other books that describe a similar situation, of love spurned. Or if I were doing it as a stand-alone booktalk, I'd have to start off by asking if they've ever re-gifted something, or if they've been the recipient of a re-gifted item.

Review: Astro Boy

Tezuka, Osamu (2002). Astro Boy: Book One. Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse, 222 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: Astro Boy is the product of a mad (and brilliant) scientist, Dr. Tenma, who sought to replace his recently deceased son by creating a robot, one that resembles his son and is superior to any other robot. In this collection of Astro Boy stories Dr. Tenma is back at it again, having created an army of cybernetic robots that have a terrible secret--each robot contains the brain of a dog, so that they aren't inhibited like normal robots from killing human beings. After Astro Boy discovers the secret behind this robot army, he stops at nothing to defeat the evil masterminds who have created these monstrosities

Osamu Tezuka is considered to be the grandfather of Japanese manga and Astro Boy was his first effort, which became wildly popular in both Japan and the United States and is considered to be a manga classic. This collection, reprinted in an effort to collect all of the Astro Boy comics for American readers, is a perfect example of why Astro Boy became so popular. The story opens with a high-speed car chase where unknown villains kidnap the prize dog of Mr. Mustachio--the mentor to Astro Boy--and then takes the reader on the oddest journey, where aliens (the cybernetic dogs) with weird behaviors appear, who then attack space shuttles on their way to the moon and mysteriously disappear. Astro Boy is then sent in to deal with it, leading to a story packed with action, adventure and mystery.

Booktalk Hook: In order to booktalk this work, I think I would collect some of Tezuka's other works and booktalk them as an "introduction to the grandfather of manga." Tezuka had such an interesting and varied series of works--from sci-fi stories, such as Astro Boy, to historically-driven works such as Buddha and Adolf, to supernatural tales like Vampire.

Review: Not the End of the World

McCaughrean, Geraldine (2004). Not the End of the World. New York: Harper Collins, 244 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: Not the End of the World is a retelling of the Biblical Flood, told primarily from the perspective of Timna--a daughter of Noah, previously unmentioned in the Bible (no thanks to a patriarchally-centered society). The story follows Noah and his family as they are tossed about on the Flood's waters, forcing them to deal with the atrocities of the Flood on humanity (having to deny people floating in the waters safehaven because of God's perceived command), on the animals (what do you think a caged tiger does if a rabbit happens to wander into its cage?), and on the family itself. Unknown to her family, Timna rescues a young child and his baby sister, and then struggles with her father's view of the action as being wicked (and considering the children demons because of it) and her maternal instincts of protecting the child; eventually, because of this action, Timna is exiled from the ark (a trick played on the men by Ama, Noah's wife, who said she would kill Timna for smuggling the children aboard) but finds the dry land that has protected other survivors.

I found the story to be a feminist recasting of the story, where Noah's sons (minus Japheth, the youngest and, by virtue of this, the most caring and effeminate) are your atypical male--smelly, grunting, unthinking, reactionary, quick-to-kill and even quicker to fall for lies. Noah isn't spared from this perspective either, where he does not question God and the devastation that the Flood wreaks on the world, and is viewed critically because of this--but not as critically as his sons. The women of the story, meanwhile, are closer to perfection to the men, as they are constantly outwitting the men, are compassionate, and eventually gain a greater understanding of the Flood's meaning than do the men. Perhaps the highest praise I could give about this book is that the more I think about the story, the more I get out of it--because, at first, it seemed to be about living with stinky animals and how much that sucks but, as the story continues, it really becomes a story about how a young adult begins to realize that their parent isn't always right and the complex relationships of family, and, by extension, the complex relationship of mankind to their Higher Authority.

Booktalk Hook: I certainly wouldn't booktalk this at a Christian youth group, because it challenges the story of the Flood on so many levels (but how great is that?). But I'd love to booktalk it at the library--I'd start with asking people if they've ever gone on a long-distance car trip with their family. What would that be like if you had thousands of animals aboard? Do you think your family would come out of it intact?

Review: Spy Boy

David, Peter (1999). Spy Boy. Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse. 80 pages.



Summary & Evaluation: Peter David, who shaped a lot of the history of the Hulk during his long run as author for the Incredible Hulk, takes on the story of Alex Fleming, a teenage boy who discovers that his rightful place in life isn't as the wimp who's constantly bullied in the schoolyard but as the superhero known as "Spy Boy." His secret identity was buried beneath his psyche long ago by his father in order to protect him, but the appearance of his arch-enemy Gourmet (a villain who kills his victims in kitchen-related manners) brings Spy Boy out of hiding and into action. Aided by the mysterious and curvaceous Bombshell, Spy Boy defeats Gourmet and his cronies but his victory only leads to more questions about why his identity was hidden from him so long ago.

Spy Boy, in classic comic book fashion, skips the story of teenage angst and goes straight to the butt-kicking. When introducing the wimp formerly known as Spy Boy, the reader watches as Alex Fleming gets treated to a swirly in the bathroom at the hands of the school bully, Schweitzer, who's caught Alex saying "hello" to his girlfriend. After suffering the abuse, Alex daydreams a Jackie Chan-like reaction to the humiliation, where he flattens Schewitzer & his band of flunkies--and I think that this part was really great, where it would speak to a lot of young adults. Unfortunately (or, fortunately, for those who like action & adventure), Peter David doesn't let the story follow these more psychological lines and just lets the story unravel into a Mission Impossible-like tale (but with more of a teenage bent).

Booktalk Hook: I think for something like this I'd start out with a question, like "have you ever felt that your parents were keeping a secret from you? What if knowing that secret meant that you'd be fighting supervillains instead of doing homework?"

Review: How I Live Now

Rosoff, Meg (2004). how i live now. New York: Random House. 194 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: Sent to live in the English countryside with her maternal aunt's family because she can't get along with her stepmother, Daisy soon falls in love with her cousin Edmond (the aunt isn't around to stop this--she's stuck in Oslo and never returns home) and lives an idyllic lifestyle in the remote countryside. Soon "the war" sweeps in and divides the family--Daisy with her younger cousin Piper and Edmond with his brother Isaac--forcing them to confront the harsh realities of an occupied England. Eventually they reunite and live their lives together again, but the war has taken its toll and their innocence has been lost.

how i live now is a mix between Mad Max and Lord of the Flies with a little bit of The Blue Lagoon thrown in for a love story. Okay, maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but it's the best way I can describe it in under 30 words. There were two things that I really liked about this book: one, that the subjects it deals with were pretty off-the-wall; and, two, it employs a quirky narrative form, using the method of presenting Daisy's diary/confession writing (but she doesn't like to use quotation marks and creates so many run-on sentences that she'd have any writing teacher begging her to stop). All in all, it was just a really enjoyable read that grabbed my attention at the beginning (a chain-smoking, mind-reading cousin who drives on the wrong side of the road? cool . . .) and kept it throughout.

Booktalk Hook: Since a lot of the book's appeal is Daisy's voice, I'd have to read a selection of the book for the booktalk. So I'd read pages 3-4, where Daisy is picked up by Edmond at the airport--a passage that pretty well sets the scene for the rest of the book.

Review: The Beast

Myers, Walter Dean (2003). The Beast. New York: Scholastic. 170 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: Anthony "Spoon" Witherspoon has returned home to Harlem, after having his first semester in a prep school in Connecticut, eager to see his family but, most of all, his girlfriend Gabi. His return isn't as triumphant as he expected it to be, as he finds himself surrounded by friends whom he realizes will never escape the ghetto lifestyle --and he's met with the horrifying reality that Gabi has collapsed under the pressures of keeping her family together and started to use heroin. Torn between the two lives he has--that of prep school, with his new friends and a promising future, and his life in Harlem, which has quickly become alienating now that he's left--Anthony helps Gabi to overcome her addiction while committing himself to his new future.

At times this novel felt a little "light" because the subject matter was pretty dark and lonely (an adored girlfriend now a junkie, all past friends either street thugs or just unfriendly) but the mood didn't follow the subject--all too often Anthony was helped out by his family (they were understanding almost to a fault), his new friends (a girl from prep school that has the hots for Anthony helps find a dress for Gabi to borrow, because she doesn't have one for her mother's funeral), and total strangers (a teenage junkie helps Anthony find Gabi when she's disappeared into a crack house). Sure, life sucks a little for Anthony, but it gets difficult to feel bad for him when one of the biggest problems he has is whether or not he should feel bad for making out with his new prep school girlfriend while Gabi's strung out on junk. At times you just get the feeling that as long as Anthony goes back to prep school everything will be okay--but boy, oh boy, are those people stuck in Harlem in for a tough life.

Booktalk Hook: All its imperfections aside, The Beast is still an example of why Walter Dean Myers is considered an exemplary YA author--he can create a (somewhat) believable scenario, introduce characters that people care about, and do it in a succinct manner, without writing hundreds of pages. So, if I were to booktalk The Beast, I'd begin by asking the question of whether or not anyone had ever left their friends for a couple of months (perhaps while going to camp over the summer?) and returned to find that things have changed. What would happen if you came back to find out that they were addicted to drugs? Well, Walter Dean Myer's The Beast is all about how one person deals with returning home to find his girlfriend hooked on heroin . . . .

Review: Notes for a War Story

Gipi (2007). Notes for a War Story. New York: First Second. 123 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: In war-torn Bosnia, Giuliano and his two friends, Christian and Stefano (also called "Little Killer" by his friends) make their way from petty theft, to collecting on debts for a local tough man, to joining a militia. Giuliano doesn't make it as far as his friends, however, as he hangs back while they do all the strong-arming (and, eventually, killing) and ends up deserting the militia shortly after they join. This doesn't come as a big surprise to the reader, however, as Giuliano's privileged background--namely, having parents who have some money--drives the friends apart as time passes.

This graphic novel is published by First Second, the same publishing house that released the acclaimed American Born Chinese and a graphic novel I previously reviewed, Robot Dreams. A relatively new publishing group, First Second is making its presence felt in the realm of graphic novel publishing--something that is certainly felt in this masterfully told Lord of the Flies-type story. Gipi not only examines the effects of war on the impressionable adolescent male mind, but also how the bonds of friendship can easily unravel in the midst of lawlessness.

Booktalk Hook: I'd have to admit that I can't imagine this book being a hard sell--c'mon, you'd just have to mention it was a graphic novel about teenagers participating in the seedy underbelly of war-torn Bosnia, and I think you'd have some takers. But, if I had a selection of other First Second graphic novels, I'd booktalk this one alongside the others, to give the YA pop. an idea of what their offerings are.

Review: The Last Universe

Sleator, William (2005). The Last Universe. New York: Amulet. 215 pages.

Summary & Evaluation: Susan's brother, Gary, used to ignore her all the time because he was too busy with sports and friends--but now he's forced to pay attention to her, because she pushes him around in a wheelchair, due to some mysterious illness that Gary's come down with. The illness isn't the only strange thing happening, however, as the haunting and palatial garden in their back yard begins to grow non-native lotuses and poppies overnight, birds appear from lotuses and garden paths lead to areas that they never lead to before--such as the hedge maze that can only be seen from the second story of the house, but the entrance could never be found. When Gary and Susan enter the maze, they realize that quantum physics is to blame for all of the strange happenings in the garden, and that the maze holds the chance that Gary's illness can be cured by finding an alternate universe made possible by quantum physics.

Some of the blurbs on the book's jacket refer to it as "creepy" and a "horror story" but I think this worked better as a sci-fi tale than as a horror story. That's because this book does what a really good sci-fi story should do--namely, involve actual science. The Last Universe uses quantum physics to drive the story's plot, where the teenage duo of brother and sister try to solve the mystery of the garden's maze and cure Gary's mysterious illness. While the book does have some haunting elements to it, such as the creepiness of the garden and the twist at the end (Susan comes back to the original universe to find that Gary has been cured but she now has the mysterious illness), the author works more on describing quantum physics than he does creating an eerie mood. All in all, it was a really fun read, especially for someone who likes more traditional sci-fi (or even quantum physics).

Booktalk Hook: If I were to booktalk this, I'd want to try and hook potential readers by asking them what they'd do if they could get to an alternate reality that was better than their current one, but in order to get there they'd have to run the risk of going to a reality that was worse than their current one. And what if they were dying, and knew it--would that increase the possibility they'd take the risk? Then I'd launch into a quick synopsis of the book.

Review: Robot Dreams

Varon, Sarah (2007). Robot Dreams. New York: First Second. 205 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: In this wordless graphic novel, a dog assembles a robot friend (brought to him by the postman in a box) and, after sharing some quality bonding time with him, carelessly allows his new robot friend to take a dip in the ocean during a trip to the beach. After sunning themselves, the dog realizes that his robot friend is rusted to the point of immobility and decides to leave the robot on the beach while he goes back home. The story then follows the two characters: the robot left naked to the elements and the meanness of strangers, ultimately being repaired by a raccoon and given a new lease on life; and the dog drifting from one friendship to the next, finally purchasing a new kit robot and acting more responsible towards it than the last.

This one was a really quick read but had me coming back for a second, and even third, read-through. While some wordless graphic novels allow for the reader to make up their own story, Robot Dreams tells the story in a much more direct way, so there's not much ability for the reader to construct a story--but that doesn't detract from the book at all. It's a really great tale, heavy on the morals but subtle in its telling. The dog's got big problems, he can't treat his robot friend right and it haunts him in his relationships until he builds another robot and treats it right. While that's going on the discarded robot, after visiting a series of dream-states while immobile under a blanket of snow, experiences the harsh realities of the world (being ripped apart for spare parts, sold to a scrap yard) but is reborn when he is discovered by the raccoon who rebuilds him. It's a great tale for young adults struggling through the crappy friendships that can take place during middle and high school and can serve to soothe the injured soul or teach the trespasser.

Booktalk Hook: I think I'd have to booktalk this with other graphic novels or other books about friendship because, while this book has a lot to teach, it's a really quick read. With that in mind, I'd give a quick rundown of the plot, possibly after starting with the question of whether anyone's felt like they were mistreated (or were the mistreater) in a friendship.

Review: The Golden Compass

Pullman, Philip (1995). The Golden Compass. New York: Random House. 399 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: Lyra Belacqua, an orphan, and her daemon Pantalaimon are confined to the stuffy halls of academia and scholarship at the Jordan College--but after hearing about a dangerous arctic expedition and its discovery of mysterious Dust from the terrifying Lord Asriel, Lyra's world begins to expand beyond the confines of the College. Danger begins to lurk around every corner as the malicious child-snatchers, known as the Gobblers, haunt the city and, unknowingly, Lyra enters into their company by becoming the assistant to their leader, the alluring Mrs. Coulter. Lyra escapes their clutches and begins a journey that takes her to the arctic, with her new-found friends--gypsies, witches, armored bears and a balloon pilot--who help her to free the abducted children.

I picked up The Golden Compass partly because of its upcoming movie release, but also because I told a friend of mine that I was looking for a good YA fantasy novel and he recommended it as his favorite. After reading it, I can certainly understand why it's being made into a movie, and why my friend liked it so much--when you have armored bears (with the awesome name of panserbjorn), witches and gypsies and the book is set in a Victorian-type England, how could it not be good? There are a lot of veiled (and unveiled) swipes at the Catholic Church throughout the novel, which might go over the heads of some readers or anger others (especially their parents, if they're onto it) but it doesn't really get in the way of the driving narrative, with Lyra running from college to Gobblers to gypsies to the arctic--and then on, to another universe.

Booktalk Hook: As mentioned, there's going to be a movie adaptation of this novel released soon (December 2007) so it wouldn't be hard to get interest up for this novel, especially since the series (His Dark Materials) is already so popular.

Review: Born Confused

Hidier, Tanuja Desai (2002). Born Confused. New York: Scholastic. 500 pages.

Summary & Evaluation: Dimple Lala's an Indian by birth and American by nature, and she's confused--but she won't stay that way for long. After Dimple's parents try to arrange for her to meet a "suitable" boy, Dimple begins the process of discovering her Indian heritage as she increasingly comes into contact with it through Karsh (the boy), Kavita (her Indian born-and-bred, college-aged cousin) and others in the "underground" Indian heritage scene in NYC. The "suitable" boy complicates matters, however, as Dimple's all-American friend--the always-at-the-center-of-attention Gwyn Sexton--begins to crush on Karsh and claims him for her own. In the end, Dimple not only comes to terms with her Indian culture but also learns to embrace her family and friends, taking the relationships to a new level.

Born Confused is, to date, the hippest YA novel I've read. The main characters live between New Jersey and NYC and, at the age of 17, have fake id's, are hanging out with college-aged men and women and have a language all of their own. It's perhaps the language that's the most appealing, however, as this secret language morphs somewhat as the story progresses. At the beginning, Dimple and Gwyn are speaking in cutesy American slang of half-curses ("frock" and "oh my Claude"s predominate)--but as Dimple (and Gwyn) begins to investigate her Indian heritage, the language of the novel integrates more Indian words, and Dimple engages her culture in a more positive manner. That said, the language of the novel was also also one of its biggest problems for me, in that there was no glossary of Indian words used (okay, not a big gripe, but I forgot what bhangra meant and people were being described left and right as being all "bhangrad up"). Also, the novel tended to drag in the middle as Dimple's complex relations with everyone and everything--her family, her friends, herself, her heritage--took a while to describe and even longer to solve. Regardless of its problems, however, Born Confused was fun to read in that it wasn't your typical "I hate my parents and I need a boyfriend" novel, and more of an "I want to discover my heritage and, by the way, I need a boyfriend" novel.

Booktalk Hook: The book's plot relies somewhat on Dimple's ever-present camera (named "Chica Tikka") and her growth as a photographer as a parallel to her relationship with others, so I think I'd want to read pages 200-201. I think it's a pretty good description of Dimple's journey of self-realization and involves the author's fascination with a lyrical narrative and fusing Indian words with English.

Review: Saint Iggy

Going, K.L. (2006). Saint Iggy. New York: Harcourt. 260 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: Iggy's life is pretty frustrating: he's soon to be expelled from high school for something he didn't do; nobody at the high school really even likes Iggy--they all think he's addicted to drugs because he doesn't do well in school and is constantly in an agitated state; his mother (who was pregnant with Iggy while addicted to drugs, which might explain his agitated state) has left the family without saying when she'll be back; and his father cares more about his drug habit than he does anything else, especially his son. So, taking the advice of his principle, Iggy sets out to make something of himself, to do something that will make people change their minds about him. Iggy ends up achieving this by helping his (only) friend, Mo, to get out of a drug deal gone wrong--thus giving Mo a second chance to reconnect with his estranged family.

Saint Iggy was a heartbreaking novel to read. While a lot of the other YA novels that I've read so far deal with kids getting themselves into tough positions and then extracting themselves from it, Saint Iggy is all about a kid whose in a situation created almost entirely by other peoples' bad decisions. I first picked this up because I was looking for a readalike to the novel for my booktalk, A hero ain't nothing but a sandwich, mistakenly thinking it was another story about a kid hooked on drugs. I'm still going to use it for the booktalk, because it's almost the reverse story of Hero--where Benji was the drug-addled kid with everyone willing to help him, Iggy is the straight one with (almost) everyone around him addicted to drugs and in need of help. It was all that more fantastic for it, though, because it's not always the kid's fault that they're in a bad situation.

Booktalk Hook: The start of this story is just awesome--it really grips you with Iggy talking about how he got kicked out of school and was planning on making amends. Since the story's in first-person, the intro of the story is Iggy going on this rant about how unfairly he was treated and it's just so believable, the way it's written. Because of that, I'd have to read the first two pages, and I really don't think it would take much more than that to get some people interested in this book.

Review: Smack

Burgess, Melvin (1996). Smack. New York: Avon. 293 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: Tar and Gemma are two fourteen-year-olds runaways who have left their troubles behind (Tar with his physically and verbally abusive parents; Gemma with her atypically authoritarian parents) and found a comfortable alternative by squatting in houses with some benevolent anarchists. But while Tar is just beginning to find himself, Gemma is agitated and unhappy with the situation--until she meets the mystically appealing Lily, a fellow runaway who introduces the two to heroin. Soon, Tar and Gemma have become addicts as their lives spiral out of control as their dependency upon smack increases--until a series of pregnancies snaps heroin's hold on Gemma and she takes drastic action to get them all straight.

Melvin Burgess' novel Smack is far from your typical teenage tale of "reefer madness." Released the same year that the movie adaptation of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, Smack tells a similar tale with some of the edge taken off--but not much. Smack does seem to glorify the life of a runaway somewhat at the beginning of the novel, when Tar and Gemma fall in with Richard, a college-aged anarchist who "liberates" empty houses for young squatters to live in. But Young Adults (and their parents) will be horrified as they watch Gemma, a loveable, somewhat erratic teenager make the move from being a grungy punk runaway to a junkie who supports her habit by working at the local massage parlor. Other subjects are explored as well, including family abuse, alcoholism, abortion, boy-girl relationships, and the bonds of friendship. Overall, a fantastic read for its stark portrayal of how the life of a junkie is frighteningly easy to fall in to.

Booktalk Hook: I don't really think that this novel would be much of a hard sell in that it got quite a bit of attention when it was released--but it has been over ten years since then, so perhaps it would need a little push. A reading from it would certainly suffice however, which is why I'd read pages 102-103, where Gemma first comes into contact with Lily at a party. It's a great intro into why Gemma was attracted to the life of a heroin addict and I'd want to keep away from the depictions of h0w her life goes downhill after that, which isn't that much of a surprise.

Review: Troy

Geras, Adele (2000). Troy. New York: Harcourt. 340 pages.


Summary & Evaluation: In this work of historical fiction, Adele Geras creates a story where the gods of Ancient Greece not only concern themselves with the famous events of the Illiad, but also with the unknown citizens of Troy. The story focuses on five adolescents--three girls and two boys--entwined in the intrigues of love, as Aphrodite and Eros guide their affections to create conflict and disarray. As Troy begins to fall to the Greeks, the youth begin to understand that love, like war, has very real consequences in that it can rend the bonds of friendship and family and injure in lasting ways.

While Adele Geras found fertile ground for an exciting tale--what better excuse to feature the horrors and heroes of battle alongside the high passion of youth lovemaking than by setting the tale in Homer's Illiad?--her execution of the story is close to one-dimensional. The heroines' voices are not unique and so they begin to blend together, meaning that their first experiences with love becomes a shared reality to the reader. It's a bit unfortunate that this happens, as Adele Geras examines three very real modes of love--those being unrequited, spurned and fulfilled--that are important when examined individually. Adele Geras also tends to rely on a literary technique that becomes a bit tiresome as the Greek gods appear to the characters to impart crucial knowledge (driving the plot) but the characters--save one of the youths--always tend to forget, as the experience becomes dreamlike, and ultimately forgotten, a few seconds after it happens. Aside from these faults, the story captures the fervor of the youth's love stories while Troy teeters on the brink of destruction.

Booktalk Hook: If I were going to booktalk Troy, I would pull Frank Miller's graphic novel 300 in with the talk. Since 300's movie adaptation did so well in the theaters recently, I think it would be successful to offer Troy as an alternative for young adults interested in the theme of Ancient Greece and its wars.

Review: Alan Mendelsohn, The Boy From Mars

Pinkwater, Daniel (1979). Alan Mendelsohn, the boy from Mars. New York: E.P. Dutton. 248 pages.



Summary & Evaluation: Not only is Leonard Neeble the new kid at Bat Masterson High School but he's also the least popular. After befriending Alan Mendelsohn, an equally unpopular kid who claims he's from Mars, the two begin to have strange adventures as they discover the strange Samuel Klugarsh and his patented Klugarsh Mind Control course. Quickly achieving the right level of omega brain waves, Leonard and Alan achieve "state twenty-six" and begin to realize the untapped potentials of their mind as they discover extra-dimensional worlds--culminating in the two saving the "lost" land of Waka Waka while creating a lasting friendship.

Never having read Daniel Pinkwater before, I'll admit that I picked this book up because Daniel Pinkwater seemed to be popular in YA lit (there were tons of his books on the shelf) and because the cover was so off-the-wall (with a painting of two children in robes, surrounded by motorcyclists and topped off with a bizarre, flat-faced dragon). The cover fits perfectly with Pinkwater's eclectic subjects, as the story quickly progresses from being a story about poor, unpopular Leonard Neeble to revealing a sci-fi laden world where Leonard and Alan can do all sorts of wonderful things with the power of their minds. The book is less of a morality tale than it is a pulpy sci-fi tale, but that keeps it from getting bogged down in the moral of the story and allows the reader to just have a good time.

Booktalk Hook: A lot of really great sci-fi stories rely heavily on a new set of created terminology, and this story's no different. Of course, that can make it impossible to read from the middle of a story and have anyone understand you, so I wouldn't be reading from this book. Rather, I'd probably go into a description of this book, dropping some terminology along the way to keep the interest up ("so these two students walk into a dingy old bookstore, not knowing that they're about to understand how to control people by studying the patented Klugarsh Mind Control course and attaining state twenty-six!").

future posts: young adult literature

So that nobody gets confused, I wanted to let you know that I'll be posting reviews of young adult (YA) books that I've read. Keeping a journal of reviews is part of the requirement for a YA lit course I'm taking this semester and I thought that, given my lack of recent posts to the blog, that this would be a good way to keep me posting. Perhaps this will get some of you interested in reading Ya lit (it's not just for kids!). If it does, enjoy, because I've been having a blast with it so far.