Powerful, unpredictable, and page-turner, are all ways that I would describe Robert Cormier's "The Rag and Bone Shop." In this novel, a 12 year old boy, Jason, is accused of the brutal murder of 7 year old Alicia. When the police have to leads or suspects in this case, they turn to Jason, the last person to see her alive. Jason goes through a very intense interrogation with one of the best interrogators in the area, who always gets a confession. Will Jason confess? Was he capable of committing such a horrible crime? The ending to this novel is a shocker, very unpredictable and will leave you wanting to read more.
I enjoyed this novel because the story kept me turning the pages, I wanted to know if Jason murdered Alicia, I wanted to know if he would confess, I wanted to see what would happen to a 12 year old murder(if he did it). By the time I got the end of the book, I was shocked and in disbelief. How could Cormier end the novel that way?!?!? I wanted to keep reading more and more.
I highly recommend this book for YA readers. It is a quick read, and a really good read.
Find out what happens to Jason.........
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
You Must Find Alaska!
John Green's "Looking for Alaska" is a compelling, well written, well developed novel about friendships, decision making, responsibility, and journey. The main characters in this novel, Miles aka Pudge, Chip aka The Colonel, and Alaska, are beautifully developed and allows for the reader to dive into their stories.
Pudge, the main character, is an upper middle class young man fascinated by last words. He was always kind of a loner and upon moving to Culver Creek, he develops friendships that he will never forget. Pudge has many first experiences through out the novel, his first time smoking, drinking, first relationship, and his first sexual experience and readers have the ability to see into these first experiences right along with him.
The Colonel, is the trouble maker of the boys. He is attending Culver Creek on a scholarship and lives in a trainer park back home. He really enjoys attending Culver Creek and does not want to loose his scholarship, although he comes dangerously close at times. The Colonel is the mastermind behind pranks played on the Weekend Warriors (the wealthier crowd). His laid back personality really helps Pudge is loosen up and become more adventurous.
The young, sexy Alaska Young catches Pudge's eye right away. She is quite a feminist and can certainly stand on her own two feet. Alaska is The Colonel's partner in crime, always wanting to help out with pranks. She is also quite promiscuous and loves to walk the thin line of explosion at Culver Creek. There is never a dull moment around Alaska and little did she know, she would unite her group of friends in a way that she never thought possible.
Definitely a must read YA novel. The book is filled with humor and friendship, however, also filled with sorrow, and iffy behavior.
Pudge, the main character, is an upper middle class young man fascinated by last words. He was always kind of a loner and upon moving to Culver Creek, he develops friendships that he will never forget. Pudge has many first experiences through out the novel, his first time smoking, drinking, first relationship, and his first sexual experience and readers have the ability to see into these first experiences right along with him.
The Colonel, is the trouble maker of the boys. He is attending Culver Creek on a scholarship and lives in a trainer park back home. He really enjoys attending Culver Creek and does not want to loose his scholarship, although he comes dangerously close at times. The Colonel is the mastermind behind pranks played on the Weekend Warriors (the wealthier crowd). His laid back personality really helps Pudge is loosen up and become more adventurous.
The young, sexy Alaska Young catches Pudge's eye right away. She is quite a feminist and can certainly stand on her own two feet. Alaska is The Colonel's partner in crime, always wanting to help out with pranks. She is also quite promiscuous and loves to walk the thin line of explosion at Culver Creek. There is never a dull moment around Alaska and little did she know, she would unite her group of friends in a way that she never thought possible.
Definitely a must read YA novel. The book is filled with humor and friendship, however, also filled with sorrow, and iffy behavior.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Are You Afraid of the Weetzie Bat??
(http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Weetzie-Bat/Francesca-Lia-Block/e/9780060736255)
Francesca Lia Block published "Weetzie Bat," the story of a adolescent girl "duck hunting" to find her "Secret Agent Lover Man" in 1989. This is a very magical book with writing and a unique story that will easily win you over. The story begins with Weetzie's best friend, Dirk, telling Weetzie that he is homosexual. Weetzie thinks it is great because now they can go "duck hunting" (my guess is that is a code for boy hunting) together. Dirks grandmother becomes very close to Weetzie and Dirk and one day gives Weetzie an old dusty something. Weetzie takes it home and begins to clean it off when a genie appears and grants her three wishes. Her wishes here a duck for Dirk, her Secret Agent Lover Man, and a cottage for them all to live in. Weetzie then gets the news that Dirks grandmother has passed away and left Dirk and Weetzie her cottage, wish 1. Shortly after that, Dirk meets a duck, named Duck and they fall fastly in love, wish 2. Then shortly after that, Weetzie meets her duck, named Secret Agent Lover Man and they fall in love, wish 3. All three of Weetzie's wishes come true and she is satisfied for a little while until she decides she wants a baby. My Secret Agent Lover Man tells Weetzie that he does not want a baby, however Dirk and Duck do. After sleeping with My Secret Agent Lover Man, Weetzie then sleeps with Dirk and Duck. She has a baby, named Cherokee nine months later with three possible fathers. My Secret Agent Lover man gets very upset and leaves for a while. He finally comes back and one day a witch shows up demanding to speak to Max (My Secret Agent Lover Man). The witch and him slept together and she was now having his baby. Nine months later the baby is left on the cottage door step. Weetzie takes the baby into her home, wanting to name her Lily, however they end up calling her Witch Baby.
This story is written in almost a dream form. The story moves very quickly and has the fantasy storyline to it that it seems like a weird dream. This is an easy read that I recommend to anyone with a hour or so on their hands and would like to spend that hour reading this very entertaining story.
"Skim" by Mariko Tamaki
(http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/awards/canadian_lit_prize_snubs_graphic_novels_graphic_artist_100518.asp)
"Skim" is a great YA graphic novel. This book targets some of the main issues that young teens have to deal with. The main character, Skim, is a 16 year old high school student dealing with love, bullying, and peer death. Mariko Tamaki takes quite a risk with this novel, however. Skim begins to fall in love with a female teacher who appears to feel the same toward Skim at first, but then quickly resists. Skim is left heartbroken and quickly becomes depressed. While all of this is going on, a classmate commits suicide which get the entire school chattering about suicide and due to Skim's depressive state, rumors are started that Skin too, may be considering suicide. When Skin is invited to a classmates Halloween party she never expected to be the butt of a bullying joke that her classmates played on her and another "outcast" at school. This furthers Skim into depression.
I very much wish that this book had a happier story to tell, but then again, not all teens have a fairy tale, positive, happy-go-lucky story to tell. The graphs in this novel add great mystery to the story and also helps the reader to put names with faces. Graphic novels, however, can be very challenging too. I challenge future reader of this book to look not only at the message behind the text, but also at the underlying messages in the graphics. Graphic novels give the reader to to read beyond the text and maybe even get an entire different meaning out of a line of text with a graphic then a text without a graphic.
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