The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars got bumped to the top of my to-read list because one of my students, a 5th grade boy who is a self-professed nerd and huge fan of Green’s work on Vlogbrothers (which I confess I haven’t yet spent much time looking at), declared so sweetly and intensely and repeatedly his love for it.  After saying to this young man three times, “I’m sorry, I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet,” I really couldn’t live with myself any longer.  So I picked it up at last this morning, and spent the day soaking it in.

First, let me say that it is a rare 5th grade boy who will appreciate this book (I am dying to hear more about what he loved about it), but oh my, I can think of many, many older middle schoolers and upper schoolers who will devour it and come back asking for more stuff just like it.  There is some sex (not explicit, but the main characters are 16 and 17 years old, and it is part of their world) and some language and some heavy-duty subject matter (love and death, in particular), but in my opinion, all of those things in this particular book add to the beauty and reality of the novel.   This is not an easy, light read, but at the same time, it drew me in quickly and I flew through it one day.  I laughed out loud at several points, and teared up at several others.  I think if I had read it at age 14, I would have loved it even more.  It’s cliche to say it, but the novel is heartbreakingly funny and sad.  Hazel (the narrator) would cringe at that description, but it’s the truth.

The basic plot:  the narrator, Hazel, has had terminal cancer since she was 13 and is (understandably) quite depressed about her situation.  She meets Augustus, who is in remission from the bone cancer that took his leg, at a support group meeting, and the friendship/romance that develops between them is the focus on the novel.  Both Hazel and Augustus are wicked smart, funny, quirky, and thoughtful, and as a reader I kind of fell in love with both of them as they fell in love with each other.

I don’t know what it’s like to have cancer as a young person, or even to know someone in that situation.  I do have a close friend with a terminal illness, and I thought of her a lot as I read this book.  She doesn’t like to read books about people dying, so I’ll never know if I’m right, but I had the thought many times that things Hazel said would probably ring true for my friend, and I felt like maybe I came away with a slightly better understanding of what it might be like to be in my friend’s shoes.  And isn’t that what great books do–shine a little light on the mysteries of life that we ourselves haven’t experienced, or make us feel a bit less lonely in the ones we have.

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

This morning, I read the first two chapters of Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (recent Newbery winner) to two classes of 6th grade boys.  In one class, once we hit the part where the narrator, Jack, says “cheeze-us crust” as a substitute for the swear “Jesus Christ,” the laugh-fest began and continued off and on for the rest of class.  When I set the boys free to look for books in the library, I heard many exclamations of “cheeze-us! cheeze-us crust!”  It’s funny to me how I can never predict what the kids will go crazy over.

This is a great book to read aloud, because the voice of young Jack is so strong and so genuine.  Jack is young boy living in the small town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania in 1962.  He has problems with nosebleeds that, in his own description, spurt out of his nose like water from an elephant’s trunk; some very humorous scenes in the book involve his unruly nose and its spewing of blood.  Jack has been grounded for the summer as punishment for firing his father’s Japanese sniper rifle without permission and then mowing down his mother’s cornfield (at his father’s insistence, but just try to get his mother to have sympathy for that!).  He is only allowed to leave the house to help his elderly neighbor, Miss Volker, type obituaries for the town newspaper (her arthritis has made it impossible for her to type them on her own).

There were several things I liked about this book.  As I said, I loved the voice of Jack.  The humor was great; I laughed out loud several times, and it was the sort of humor that middle school kids would appreciate.  I enjoyed learning a bit about the history of Norvelt and how it fit with the New Deal and a series of planned government communities.  Seeing the history and learning about it through Jack’s perspective, as well as through the conflicting opinions of his parents, made it interesting.

So, I liked the book, and I think it will appeal to kids who like humor mixed with history.  However, I do not think I would have picked this to win the Newbery.  There were parts that dragged a bit for me, and I just did not think this book had the emotional punch of something like A Monster Calls or the beauty of Breadcrumbs.  It’s a solid little book, though, and if the laughter in class this morning was any indication, it’s a book that knows its audience and hits the mark.

Update:  Here is a short audio clip of Gantos himself reading the beginning of the book.  Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the link!

Legend by Marie Lu

I picked up Legend by Marie Lu on Saturday night, read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and then picked it up again Sunday morning and read to the finish.  Yes, it’s one of those books where the action is so constant and fast-paced, and the plot so compelling, you just can’t put it down and can’t wait to find out what happens.  Kids are going to love this book.

The book takes place in a dystopian future, in Los Angeles.  The United States has dissolved to become two warring territories, the Republic and the Colonies.  The narration switches back and forth between June, a wealthy 15-year-old prodigy and member of the Republic military, and Day, also fifteen, who is from the slums and is the Republic’s most wanted criminal.  When June’s brother Metias is murdered, and Day is the prime suspect for the murder, she decides to hunt him down to get her revenge.  In the process, Day and June both discover disturbing things about the Republic and surprising things about each other.

There is definitely a fair amount of violence in this book, but of a milder variety than the Hunger Games trilogy.  There is romance, but aside from some “hard kissing,” there is nothing explicit.  I can tell you that, as a school librarian who loves to be able to recommend books freely to kids without having to worry a lot about content, I breathed many sighs of relief as I read this book.  There were places where other writers might have gotten more explicit when it really wasn’t needed, but Lu never did that.  The horror of the actions of government and the romantic tension are both completely evident without so many of the details that would be too much for the middle school readers who are drawn to this kind of story.  (Note: There are definitely many young middle school readers who would be upset by the violence in this book, but for ones who are not sensitive to it and are seeking it out, this is a better choice in my opinion than something like The Hunger Games.  We have been experiencing some high demand from 5th and 6th graders for these kinds of books, and within that genre, this is a relatively tame offering.  Emphasis on relatively, though, because there are a few scenes that are pretty brutal in terms of the violence, and I really would recommend this book more for the older middle schoolers and high schoolers.)

Another reason to be aware of this book: there’s going to be a movie, and if it’s at all good, it’s going to be popular.  This book is so visual and exhilarating, I really cannot wait to see it on the screen, assuming it is well done.  I don’t typically feel that way because I want to preserve my own internal vision of the book, but in this case, it’s just the right kind of book to be made into a film.  I also feel like the ending sets us up for more books, and I definitely look forward to seeing a next installment.

Update:  This went over very well in my classes this morning (I read the third chapter to them).  Two boys had already read the book and raved about it; it’s always nice to hear that actual kids have enjoyed the book!

The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce

What a funny little book The Unforgotten Coat is.

Two Mongolian refugees show up at sixth grader Julie’s school one day, and she becomes their guide to navigating life in Bootle, England.  The opening scene, when Chingis (the older brother) takes on a teacher in a battle of wills, had me literally laughing out loud, and those bursts of laughter continued throughout the book.  Frank Cottrell Boyce has a true grasp on middle school humor.  At the same time, there was an undercurrent of sadness and fear.  Nergui, the younger brother, worries about being taken away by a demon, and much of the story revolves around his and Chingis’ various tactics for avoiding this demon.  (Which might sound kind of silly, until you get to the end of the story, which I won’t spoil.)

I read a review that criticized this story for being insensitive and misrepresentative of Mongol culture.  I did not see what that reviewer saw.  I saw this experience of being confronted with difference, through the eyes of a young girl who does her best to understand and help these two boys, who become her friends.  But I’m curious to know more about what might be offensive or incorrect; this particular reviewer did not elaborate.

This book would be wonderful to read aloud to a class; I can’t wait to read part of it to my 5th and 6th graders.  It is short, and funny, and in the end, gives you a lot to talk about.  Be sure to read the Afterword, which describes the true story that inspired Cottrell Boyce to write this tale.  This book reads very much like nonfiction, with a series of Polaroid photos (including ones of the characters), so I wondered if it were actually true.  It is not, but the story behind the story made me feel like it kind of was true.

The only thing that bothered me about this book was the setting in terms of time.  The narrator is looking back maybe 20 years, but talks about doing searches on Wikipedia.  The present day bits read like they are in the true present (the narrator uses Facebook).  It wasn’t a huge deal, but it was a bit jarring to my former editor’s brain.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

I’m not going to be able to write intelligently about this book, so maybe I shouldn’t even try.  I just finished it, and I just want to go sob somewhere or something.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking, complex book.  Even the story behind the book is beautiful, heartbreaking, and complex: Siobhan Dowd had an idea, but passed away from cancer before she could write the story.  Patrick Ness was asked to write the book, and as he says in the Author’s Note, he knew he couldn’t write the story Dowd would have written.  He decided to try to write a story she would approve of.  I believe he succeeded.

Conor O’Malley’s mother is very sick, possibly dying.  One night at 12:07, the yew tree from a nearby graveyard forms itself into a giant, frightening monster and comes crashing into his room.  Thus begins a series of visitations from the monster, who, like everything and every character in this novel, is no simple creature.  Is he evil?  Is he kind?  Is he destructive?  Is he gentle?  Yes to all of these, and more.  He yells, he rages, he destroys, and he tells stories in which the bad guys seem to win.  But he also seems to be there to help Conor sort out his problems–with his mother’s illness, his father’s absence, his grandmother’s coldness, his classmates’ bullying.

This little book, with its dark illustrations (beautifully wrought by Jim Kay) and its suspenseful scenes and its quirky but compelling premise, grabbed me from the very beginning and did not let go.  The beauty of this novel for me is how accurately it portrays this messy business of being human.  We have thoughts we wish we didn’t have, do things we wish we hadn’t done, hurt and are hurt by the people we love and who love us.  Nothing is ever tied up quite as neatly as many novels for children would have us believe or hope.  How wonderful of Ness to take all of that complexity and deliver it in a tight, suspenseful novel that I expect kids and adults alike will be moved by.

Guest review: Bigger Than A Breadbox by Laurel Snyder

I’d like to sometimes change things up a bit on this blog and include reviews written by actual middle schoolers.  Here is the first of what I hope will be many guest reviews!

Guest Review by Claire H., 5th grader.

I loved Bigger Than A Breadbox by Laurel Snyder. It is one of my favorite books of all-time. The book is about a girl named Rebecca, whose mother decides to leave her father, taking Rebecca and her little brother, Lew, with her to stay at their Gran’s house. On her first day there, Rebecca goes into the attic to get away from her mother and while she is there, finds a collection of old breadboxes. There is one in particular that sticks out to her because it is clean, unlike the others. She soon realizes that the breadbox is magical, whatever she wishes for will appear inside the breadbox, as long as it can fit inside. Rebecca struggles to figure out the true meaning of life and the breadbox in this novel.

I liked this book because it is something that, because I am a kid, is nice to see from a kid’s perspective. I really like books about girls like Rebecca, who have a hard time, and this book really fit into that category. It is also really suspenseful, which I like in a book. I finished the book in only two days, I couldn’t stop reading. It is a real page-turner.

Buzz Books (aka, My To-Read List)

Part of my job is reading reviews of books and following the blog buzz about which books are favorites to win awards (like the Newbery Medal, the Sibert Medal for kids’ nonfiction, or the National Book Award).  I don’t have the time to read everything I want to read, but with two weeks of holiday break approaching, I am putting together my To-Read List, based in large part on the buzz surrounding these titles.  Anything here is pretty much guaranteed to be well-written.  It might not appeal to a particular kid’s taste, but you needn’t worry about any of these books being awful!

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai recently won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.  This one has been on my list for months, and I hope to read it soon and book talk it with kids.  It’s the story of a young Vietnamese girl’s journey to America, specifically Alabama, after the fall of Saigon, and her struggle to adjust to a very different world from the one she has known.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.   This is a novel about loss.  I am, I confess, a complete sucker for sad books.  Even the story behind the writing of this book is sad.  Siobhan Dowd (who wrote the wonderful and quirky London Eye Mystery) came up with the idea for this book, but died of cancer before she could write it.  Patrick Ness (author of the Chaos Walking trilogy, which I wrote about in my post about Hunger Games read-alikes) picked up the idea and wrote the story.  Many of the reviewers seem to be flummoxed in trying to describe this novel, because of its inventiveness and power, and that tells me I must read it.

Jefferson’s Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley tells the story of Thomas Jefferson’s children by his slave Sally Hemmings, from the perspectives of two of the children and another child close to the family.  I’m hearing that’s it’s uncomfortable, thought-provoking, engaging, and poignant.  A must-read, I suspect.

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy mixes fantasy and historical fiction, set in the early 1950s.  Janie’s family has been forced to move to London due to the “Red Scare” in America, and there she meets a boy named Benjamin, the son of a mysterious apothecary.  Everyone I’ve talked to who has read this has loved it (kids and adults!).

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick.  If you haven’t already seen Hugo (based on Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret), stop reading this and go immediately to a theater.  If you have, then you are probably already as excited to read another creation of Brian Selznick as I am.  ’Nuff said.

Bigger than a Breadbox by Laurel Snyder.  My own 5th grader read this last week.  She loved it, and I’m hoping she’ll write up a guest review of it for this blog, so I won’t say more.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.  This one is being described as “beautiful,” “unforgettable,” “magical.”  Reviewer Elizabeth Bird on Goodreads writes that it “walks up to the usual middle grade chapter book fantasy tropes and slaps ‘em right smack dab in the face.”  For kids and adults tired of derivative fantasy, this sounds like a viable option.

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming.  I have actually already read a good bit of this one, but a kid came looking for it, so I let it go before I was finished, and I am anxious to get it back and finish!  Very engaging and interesting, and it gives some interesting facts, particularly about Earhart’s self-promotion tactics.

Some other titles on my list:

Chime by Franny Billingsley.  Mary Kendall (co-worker) has read this and gives it a big thumbs up for 7th and 8th graders.

My Name Is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson.

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt.  A companion book to the wonderful Wednesday Wars.  Kids are giving me a lot of good feedback on this one.  Another good choice for 7th and 8th graders.