Thursday, June 23, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Big Mouth & Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates. HarperTempest, 2002. 266 pages.
A wonderful tale of two unlikely friends told in two voices: Big Mouth-- a fairly popular boy, good student, make-em laugh type boy who impulsively jokes about a bombing his high school and finds himself in serious trouble and Ugly Girl-- the sharp witted, plain faced, big boned and friendless loner who stands up for a boy she barely knows because it is the right thing to do. Matt and Ursula become friends-not quickly or easily-- but when the entire town turns on Matt and his whole world collapses, Ursula, who is used to being ostracized and is very strong-- but not happy-- about it, becomes his only and his true friend. Two teens who struggle with friendships and family issues and social pressures and real danger. Oates is a master storyteller and her characters are well thought out and nuanced. we care about every imperfect one. i really liked the book, a quick read with lots of place for conversation about society, rumors, true friends, schools, police, families, and feelings. i will say that the end seemed a little rushed and too neatly tied up, but this is still a great book and a good choice for middle and high school aged.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. GP Putnam's Sons, 2010. 325 pages.
Lonely teenager and avid Grimm Fairy Tale enthusiast, Elizabeth, finds herself working at a special object repository-- library-- along with several other teens, including one of the coolest kids at school. The library has a mysterious and magical collection of Grimm Fairy Tale items that are being stolen and may be used for dark purposes. For me, the book started well and Schulman definitely paints a great physical setting -- NYC, the library and the different rooms, the gothic feel, etc. but the characters are the usual teen things-- and the story does not have enough to do with Grimm fairy tales to hold my interest-- while i thought Elizabeth had promise, the others were typical teen types-- and as for elizabeth, i found my self wondering how she went from hating to loving one teen and why she was attracted to him in the first place. started with promise but i lost intersest-- still, i am an adult and i will see if i have a 5th grader who might like it-- and , perhaps, give me a better perspective of what is appealing about it. Althought the premise was clever and the beginning had promise, i found myself disappointed and fought to finish it. Ah well -- you can't llike everything.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
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