August, September and October 2013 Books
July 28 seems like it was just a few days ago, but I know that is my mind playing tricks on me. Here we are working on October 28, and I'm just now getting to you all.
I've got a TON of books to tell you all about, so let's start with that.
1-3. Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue, and Emerald Green by Anthea Bell and Kerstin Gier-- This trilogy is about a girl named Gwen who discovers that she is a time traveler. This surprises her whole family, not because she can time travel, but because everyone thought her cousin was the going to be the 12th time traveler, the Ruby, that everyone was waiting for. When Gwen turns out to have the gene, and not her cousin, she is forced to learn quickly what her cousin had been groomed 14 years for. There is a mystery about why Gwen's mother lied about her birthday, who Gwen's real parents are, and if they boy who has been kissing her is truly her's or is just play acting. This would be a great series for middle school aged readers or older.
4. The List by Siobhan Vivian-- Not that high school is ever easy, but when your name turns up on the list, things will get very good or very bad for you. This story follows 8 girls through a week none will forget because they have been chosen the prettiest or the ugliest girl in each grade. For anyone who is a high school girl, or who has ever been a high school girl, this will bring up feelings that all of us have had about personal beauty, where we fit in the social hierarchy, and if there is anything we can do to change what others think of us. This book ends with a twist that I didn't see coming, and it was a really nice touch.
5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte-- This is a book that I should have read eons ago, but never did. I was expecting a great and powerful love story, but what I got was nearly 1000 pages of torment. Heathcliff and Catherine are a case study in dysfunctional relationships and they manage to pass their unique brand of crazy off on subsequent generations. Raised as brother and sister, Catherine is unable to marry him because he has nothing, no wealth and no name. She instead marries a perfectly nice man who she treats horribly as she is continually drawn back to Heathcliff. When she dies, her daughter takes her place as the focus of Heathcliff's intensity and she is all but kidnapped and becomes hostage to him. In the end, it was not a love story, but a lesson in what type of man to avoid.
6-8. The Selection, The Elite, and The Prince by Kiera Cass-- Who doesn't want to be a princess? This series takes that idea and asks what it would be like if a prince chose his princess by lottery. America Singer was perfectly fine in her caste, but then she becomes part of the selection and her life changes. The boy who she was in love with, Aspen, is below her in caste but she had decided that it did not matter to her. When she is chosen, Aspen breaks up with her and asks her to give it a chance because it would mean so much to her family. Heartbroken, she submits to the selection to get away from Aspen, fully aware that she will likely be sent home soon anyway. Prince Maxon surprises her by forging a friendship with her and she ends up in the elite 8 (NCAA Basketball brackets anyone?). The country is not as peaceful as the ruling class would have the commoners believe and attacks on the palace drive Maxon and America together and apart. "The Prince" is a novella told from Maxon's point of view.
9-10. The King's Guard and The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson-- These two books make up the conclusion of the "Girl of Fire and Thorns" series. The novella "The King's Guard" explains Hector's back story and how he became the man that Queen Elisa has fallen in love with. Rae Carson and Kiera Cass both seem to be reaching out for a broader audience as they use a male voice to tell a story that is otherwise in a female voice. I wonder if these little novellas are helping the readership... "The Bitter Kingdom" is Elisa's quest to unite three queens against the invading forces and internal rebellion that would destroy the nation. She is successful as a warrior even without the God Stone, which falls out after she accomplishes her task.
11. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card-- If you have never read this book, go get it, read it, and then come talk to me about it. What I thought for years was a book for kids has turned out to be one of the most provocative books I have read. The idea of using children to fight a war, of training them and exploiting them so that they never feel secure or loved in order to make better fighters, is mind blowing to me. The writing is beautiful, but it disappears as the story comes alive. You want to take Ender home and help him learn that things are not so bad, but you can't. Valentine and Peter, Ender's siblings, are also very interesting as elements of how powerful children can be and how adults should not underestimate the greed, hatred, or violence that children are capable of. As a movie based on this book comes out next month, go read it now and then we can have a movie viewing party after.
12. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp-- This is a story from the mind of the guy that everyone wants to have at their party. The cool guy that people love and hate at the same time. The guy that never seems to notice that he is ruining his life. You know David Wooderson from "Dazed and Confused", he's the character played by Mathew McConaughey, it's like this book is told from that guy's point of view and you get to see what is going on in that strange perspective of the world. The book was totally depressing at the end, but so realistic that you have to think about it for a while. This is not a happy book. It does not claim that the world will give you a happy ending. It does show what life is like for many, many people out there. I see why it was a National Book Award Finalist. It kind of punches you in the face with reality.
13. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley-- I reread this book because I'm reading it with my friend Jessica. She wanted something light and fun and this book immediately came to mind. I originally reviewed it in June of 2010 and I think I enjoyed the book even more the second time.
14. Engaging Teachers in Classroom Walkthroughs by Donald S. Karchur and others-- This is a book I've read for work, and it was interesting in that y school is thinking about changing it's evaluation model and this gave a perspective that shifted observations away from evaluation of teachers and toward the evaluation of learning. I'm not really sure that the idea will be taken on board by the staff here, but we can try.
I've got a TON of books to tell you all about, so let's start with that.
1-3. Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue, and Emerald Green by Anthea Bell and Kerstin Gier-- This trilogy is about a girl named Gwen who discovers that she is a time traveler. This surprises her whole family, not because she can time travel, but because everyone thought her cousin was the going to be the 12th time traveler, the Ruby, that everyone was waiting for. When Gwen turns out to have the gene, and not her cousin, she is forced to learn quickly what her cousin had been groomed 14 years for. There is a mystery about why Gwen's mother lied about her birthday, who Gwen's real parents are, and if they boy who has been kissing her is truly her's or is just play acting. This would be a great series for middle school aged readers or older.
4. The List by Siobhan Vivian-- Not that high school is ever easy, but when your name turns up on the list, things will get very good or very bad for you. This story follows 8 girls through a week none will forget because they have been chosen the prettiest or the ugliest girl in each grade. For anyone who is a high school girl, or who has ever been a high school girl, this will bring up feelings that all of us have had about personal beauty, where we fit in the social hierarchy, and if there is anything we can do to change what others think of us. This book ends with a twist that I didn't see coming, and it was a really nice touch.
5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte-- This is a book that I should have read eons ago, but never did. I was expecting a great and powerful love story, but what I got was nearly 1000 pages of torment. Heathcliff and Catherine are a case study in dysfunctional relationships and they manage to pass their unique brand of crazy off on subsequent generations. Raised as brother and sister, Catherine is unable to marry him because he has nothing, no wealth and no name. She instead marries a perfectly nice man who she treats horribly as she is continually drawn back to Heathcliff. When she dies, her daughter takes her place as the focus of Heathcliff's intensity and she is all but kidnapped and becomes hostage to him. In the end, it was not a love story, but a lesson in what type of man to avoid.
6-8. The Selection, The Elite, and The Prince by Kiera Cass-- Who doesn't want to be a princess? This series takes that idea and asks what it would be like if a prince chose his princess by lottery. America Singer was perfectly fine in her caste, but then she becomes part of the selection and her life changes. The boy who she was in love with, Aspen, is below her in caste but she had decided that it did not matter to her. When she is chosen, Aspen breaks up with her and asks her to give it a chance because it would mean so much to her family. Heartbroken, she submits to the selection to get away from Aspen, fully aware that she will likely be sent home soon anyway. Prince Maxon surprises her by forging a friendship with her and she ends up in the elite 8 (NCAA Basketball brackets anyone?). The country is not as peaceful as the ruling class would have the commoners believe and attacks on the palace drive Maxon and America together and apart. "The Prince" is a novella told from Maxon's point of view.
9-10. The King's Guard and The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson-- These two books make up the conclusion of the "Girl of Fire and Thorns" series. The novella "The King's Guard" explains Hector's back story and how he became the man that Queen Elisa has fallen in love with. Rae Carson and Kiera Cass both seem to be reaching out for a broader audience as they use a male voice to tell a story that is otherwise in a female voice. I wonder if these little novellas are helping the readership... "The Bitter Kingdom" is Elisa's quest to unite three queens against the invading forces and internal rebellion that would destroy the nation. She is successful as a warrior even without the God Stone, which falls out after she accomplishes her task.
11. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card-- If you have never read this book, go get it, read it, and then come talk to me about it. What I thought for years was a book for kids has turned out to be one of the most provocative books I have read. The idea of using children to fight a war, of training them and exploiting them so that they never feel secure or loved in order to make better fighters, is mind blowing to me. The writing is beautiful, but it disappears as the story comes alive. You want to take Ender home and help him learn that things are not so bad, but you can't. Valentine and Peter, Ender's siblings, are also very interesting as elements of how powerful children can be and how adults should not underestimate the greed, hatred, or violence that children are capable of. As a movie based on this book comes out next month, go read it now and then we can have a movie viewing party after.
12. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp-- This is a story from the mind of the guy that everyone wants to have at their party. The cool guy that people love and hate at the same time. The guy that never seems to notice that he is ruining his life. You know David Wooderson from "Dazed and Confused", he's the character played by Mathew McConaughey, it's like this book is told from that guy's point of view and you get to see what is going on in that strange perspective of the world. The book was totally depressing at the end, but so realistic that you have to think about it for a while. This is not a happy book. It does not claim that the world will give you a happy ending. It does show what life is like for many, many people out there. I see why it was a National Book Award Finalist. It kind of punches you in the face with reality.
13. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley-- I reread this book because I'm reading it with my friend Jessica. She wanted something light and fun and this book immediately came to mind. I originally reviewed it in June of 2010 and I think I enjoyed the book even more the second time.
14. Engaging Teachers in Classroom Walkthroughs by Donald S. Karchur and others-- This is a book I've read for work, and it was interesting in that y school is thinking about changing it's evaluation model and this gave a perspective that shifted observations away from evaluation of teachers and toward the evaluation of learning. I'm not really sure that the idea will be taken on board by the staff here, but we can try.
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