Fearless 3

I have to admit that I intended to read a different novel for my last book, but I was drawn into reading this one instead. I was obsessed with the Fearless series when I was younger and I wanted to revisit what was my favorite of the series. This is one of those really extended series, with over 15 books I believe. It's very much a trashy series, but I knew a lot of reluctant reader, including myself, who read these with enjoyment and always anticipated the next book. They are about a seventeen year old girl, Gaia, who is living in NYC without a fear gene. Okay, I know this sounds really lame, but it is actually a pretty catchy mystery that reveals itself slowly, book by book.

Gaia is being stalked throughout the series by an unknown person. Whoever it is causes turbulence in her life every time he appears and Gaia continues to use her lack of fear to uncover where her troubles are stemming from. She is strong and tough and stands up for herself, her friends, and her love interest at every bump in the road. In this particular book, she must complete the demanding tasks of the stalker in order to save her boyfriend from getting murdered.

It all sounds much cheesier than it is. I included the book here because it is SO different from the other books on my list. It is light, yet dark in substance and something I think kids could get hooked on. It's one of those books that has no place in the classroom, but could help get reluctant readers reading for reading's sake. I would recommend it to the right student as a means of inspiring interest in books.

Margaux with an X

This book really surprised me. I read it somewhat out of desperation for a short novel that I could get through quickly. However, it turned out to be a pretty awesome read. In a world where Margaux stands above everyone around her in looks, it seems she has quite a long way to come in terms of emotional stability. Her brain is racked with bad memories by which she becomes jaded and wary of life. What saves her is the friendship of a boys who acts as her equal, her friend rather than the royal treatment she's used to getting from other people. Through this down to earth relationship she learns to break out of her "pretty girl" mold and become the strong, independent person she's always longed to be.

The part of this novel that stood out the most to me is the strong sense of language that Koertge uses. She has instilled in Margaux a love of English and through that outlet comes a flood of wordplay and witty commentary. She exhibits a desire to discover new words and manipulate language to suit her needs. Besides the fact that this educational value sets her apart from her peer beauties, it also adds a real literary element to the novel. I enjoyed relating to a girl who I would have otherwise hated through her use of interesting words.

This book is also just morally refreshing. It has a protagonist that I haven't seen before, a kind of honesty and wit that allows her to have these serious problems without being a huge downer to the reader. She ends up being strong and admirable although she starts out seeming like that girl we all loved to hate back in High School. I was told that I would like this book because the main character is kind of a "bitch." And- I have to agree. Real people have attitudes and I love discovering new characters with unique attitudes that don't fit into any other literary mold.

I would definitely teach this book. It fits with others like Speak and Perks and could be really interesting for Young Adults to experience.

Miracle's Boys

This book is totally different from any of the others I've read this semester. It has a voice distinctly rooted in the urban culture and youthful insights of the narrator, Lafayette. He and his two brothers, Ty'ree and Charlie, are fighting to survive as a family without the pillars of a mother or father, both of whom have passed away before the novel begins. With Ty'ree taking on the responsibility of raising his two brothers, and Charlie dealing with the stress of being the trouble making middle child, Lafayette often imagines his mother is there and carries out conversations with her memory as a means of surviving his situation. It is through such memories that we, as readers, are able to piece together the picture of this family and how each character has come to be what they are now.

What ends up resolving the story, which takes place during a very short time, is Lafayette's ability to break down the barrier between himself and Charlie. He realizes how distanced he has been from the only family he has left, and decides to unite his brothers once again. We are left with a feeling of hope at the conclusion of the novel as the three brothers are pictured together, ready to try and build up a family if for no other reason than to make it in a really harsh world.

I was a little turned off of this book at first because it has such a young feel to it. However, it's message is strong and universal. I guess my initial dislike of it was very much a result of never having read "inner city" literature before. Which, in itself, is really kind of sad. I would hope that more and more books like this could be used in schools to create a greater feeling of connections for a bigger scope of students. It has something in it for those kids who aren't reached by books about the typical angsty white kid who just isn't satisfied with suburban living.

I ended up feeling really good about the book as something I could use in my classroom. I want to have a library that includes novels that reach beyond the kind of student I am, the only kind of student that I've experienced. I know I am going to encounter all sorts of students with a multitude of different problems and I feel better about it each time I read or experiences something that could act as a reference point. It has thematic value, things like family, survival, hardship, etc, that could make it really worthy of discussion and student response. In short, this one's going on the bookshelf.

Dairy Queen

This is a book that took me a while to get into. At first glance, I was a little turned off by the football based premise. I am totally anti-football and I wasn't sure I'd be able to stand it. However, once I got past that, I ended up reading most of the book in two days. It was actually way better than football...

The story follows DJ in her own coming of age tale. She has to overcome the silence that her family practices and learn to speak up for herself. One major way she does this is by befriending another town's QB and training him over the summer. As she becomes closer to him, she learns to speak and ends up trying out for her town's football team. This brave act of hers, while it immediately causes more trouble for her, ends up breaking the family silence, healing the wounds between DJ and her friends, and giving her the outlet she needed.

This is a really inspiring book. In some ways it reminded me a lot of Speak. It has a totally different plot, but the theme of speaking was so prevalent in both that I think students could easily tie the two together in discussion and writing. DJ has to learn to accept her family, her situation, and become comfortable enough with herself to have a voice. Once she does, everything seems to fall into place for her. There is just so much material in this book that is worthy of a classroom. If not for a whole class text I would definitely have this novel available for my students. DJ's voice is appealing to the YAL reader and her message is strong for anyone, not just the football playing farm girl. All in all, this is probably one of my favorite books this semester.

The Chosen

As pretty much my entire list of books has changed, this had now become my challenge book. The reason being, it is much more classic (canon worthy?). I must admit, however, that I loved loved loved it. It is the story of Danny, a Hassidic Jew, and Reuven, an Orthodox Jew. The novel follows these two boys (and even their two fathers) as they deal with their religious differences. As they first meet, these differences seem to be too much for them to overcome, but as the novel progresses, they find common ground and become good companions. This friendship is given the interesting backdrop of how differently their fathers raise them and this theme become very much the secondary plot of the novel.

Having done a bit of research on this novel, I've gathered that it is pretty commonly used in classrooms. It's over forty years old now but still has such a strong message for kids to grasp. It is a novel about tolerance, about differences, about friendship, about religion. It is a difficult read because it is so packed with details and religious references but if you can stick with it, it to SO worth the time. Potok has a great style, the writing is pretty outstanding. I would teach this novel in an upper level class. I would need motivated students who are willing to put forth the effort to read such a dense novel, but there is no doubt that this book is classroom worthy. It could actually be used at many different levels, I would say even into college classes.

For me, this was an eye opening experience. A lot of critics talk about how it is good for people of every religion because even if you aren't Jewish, the religious concepts are universal. However for me, as I am not religious at all, it had a meaning as well. I was so fascinated by the Jewish religion that it actually kind of shocked me how fast I got through the book. I got a good picture of both the Hassidic and the Orthodox Jewish traditions and even I could see how a friendship between boys of two such influences could be problematic. But what makes this novel truly poignant is getting to see how they work their differences out, how they learn to respect and love each other despite what their fathers have to say about it.

Rule of the Bone

Again, I find myself posting about a novel that I wouldn't ever teach. I actually might teach this book to a certain group of kids. This may sound horrible, but I think it would be better received at an alternative school than a mainstream one because of its content. It is about a teenager, Chappy, who leaves his home in order to escape a sexually abusive step father and an emotionally absent mother. He takes on a deviant behavior and the name Bone to match his new destructive personality. Bone becomes addicted to drugs, ends up staying with a gang, at a mall, with a pedophile, and finally, in Jamaica with a pot-dealing Rastafarian who teaches him his ways.

This is a coming of age story much like Perks, and Catcher in the Rye. It could easily be taught alongside those novels, but it does seems a bit more mature in its content, which is always something I consider as a future teacher. Its biggest success is the voice of Bone. He is an enjoyable narrator to read and he offers such a strong presence that I found myself soaring through 400 pages just to keep hearing his story. I haven't found such a strong example of voice in a while and I would definitely use at least excerpts from this novel to teach that literary concept. I may even frame it as the mentor text to a lesson on voice in a writer's workshop setting.

I really think that the content is not worth throwing out the book for students. So many kids would love reading it that I would have a hard time censoring their choice to. Yes, it does deal with abuse, drugs, sex, and violence, but so do teenagers on a day to day basis, and this is just too good a book to deny them the pleasure of reading it. I am such a sucker for the coming of age novel that I was pleased to find another recent "version" of Catcher in the Rye. I believe students would relate to Bone and find his story compelling. I definitely recommend this novel to anyone who liked Perks enough to read a much more extensive, intense story of a teenage boy discovering life.

The Things They Carried

I have to say I wasn't sure if I could count this as one of my fifteen, because I did a project on it for Content Lit. However, the reason I am posting anyways is because I have now finally read the whole thing as a novel. Previously, I've been assigned a short story from it in High School, and I've used parts of it for my own teacher education, but it was much better as a whole novel. I mean, it's a fabulous collection all the way around. It can be effectively broken into it's short stories and used that way, or it can be assigned as a book. I have said before that I am NOT AT ALL a history person. However, this book (collection of short stories) blends an account of the Vietname War with a strong literary presence and therefore appeals to me as a writer. The prose was beautiful and it attracted me instantly to a subject that would have otherwise gone right over my head.

I know this book is used a lot now in schools and I can see why. As I've said above, it has a high appeal for more students than just those who are into history. I would absolutely use this book in my classroom. I feel comfortable teaching it even though its historical and I really believe in its value for students. The themes, the plot, the literary elements, they all provide so much material for teaching and learning. I have read do many books this semester that I'd feel uncomfortable teaching, but this is inspiring to me that some novels are just built for the classroom and give me so many ideas for lessons, assignments, and discussions. I've said that I want to read more about the kinds of students I want to teach, but I also need to be reading more literature like this, that inspires my teaching self and gives me hope that I can find current novels that are just as important to teach as canonical texts.

I am so fascinated by O'Brien's ability to write to beautifully that I have ordered a few other of his books. I am just really excited to have found another author to add to my list.