I grab a quick meal / while skimming through the paper. / Death, death, death, comics (7).
Zombie Haiku is a journal composed almost entirely of haiku poems about the zombie apocolypse. It begins as a poetry journal with lovely haiku about dandelions and magic and romance, but quickly turns into something else... along with the author. As the journal progresses, more and more people turn into zombies, or are eaten by zombies, or are eaten by zombies then turn into zombies, and all of it is recorded in haiku.
All I think about / is how hungry I will be / once I eat this foot (72).
In addition to the zombie haiku, there are also polaroid photos of zombies and zombie attacks. The journal is also covered in blood, duct tape, hair and guts. The journal begins and ends with notes scrawled by a person who found the journal (or took it out of a zombie's hand after he broke it off by smashing it repeatedly with a door). The note-scrawler reads the journal while he's waiting for certain doom, then finally a zombie himself. It is a scary, fun, quick, creepy read, "a thoroughly unique and entertaining experience." Robert Kirkman, author of The Walking Dead and Marvel Zombies.
Mecum, Ryan. 2008. Zombie Haiku. Cincinnati: HOW Books. ISBN 9781600610707
Friday, December 2, 2011
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies
Ruby Milliken's mother just died and now she has to move across the country to live with her scum-bag moviestar father, Whip, who divorced her mother before she was even born. Ugh, what a hideous way to start a book. One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies is a novel written in verse by Sonya Sones. Ruby's poems and emails tell the story of what happens when she has to leave her aunt, best friend and boyfriend behind and move across the country to live with her father in his giant Hollywood mansion. She finds it difficult to fit in with the students of the L.A. school because they're used to having celebrities for parents. She's not used to it at all. She also finds it difficult to live in her father's shadow and to get used to his trainers and personal assistants and chefs and even him being around all the time, since he abandoned her and all....
Gillian Engberg (Booklist, May 1, 2004 (Vol. 100, No. 17)) says of One of Those Hideous Books... "It's Ruby's first-person voice--acrimonious, raw, and very funny--that pulls everything together, whether she is writing e-mails to her deceased mother, attending Dream Analysis class at a private L.A. high school, or finally learning to accept her father and embrace a new life. A satisfying, moving novel that will be a winner for both eager and reluctant readers."
Since this is a novel written in verse, it's great for reluctant readers and also those just looking for something quick to read. Sonya Sones has written several other books in verse, like What My Mother Doesn't Know, which would be great to share with teens who enjoyed this one. (I liked it so much that I accidentally read it in one night!)
Sones, Sonya. 2004. One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies. New York: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780689858208
(I wanted to share one of my favorite moments from the book, but since it's kind of long, I decided to place it here at the end.)
Grand Entrance
So much for trying to keep / my celebrity-daughter status a secret. / You should have seen the heads swivel / when we walked in here together. / It was like something out of The Exorcist. / And I bet you'd barf if you could see / how these women in the administration office / are falling all over themselves right now, / fluttering around Whip like a flock of butterflies on X. / They're telling him how grateful they are / for his generous donation / and how delighted they are that he's volunteered / to be the auctioneer at their second annual Noisy Auction . and how they're sure he'll draw / an even bigger crowd than Hanks did last year. / They're offering him mocha lattes / and Krispy Kreme doughnuts / and some kind of fruit that I've never even seen before. / And I'm sitting here right next to him, / crossing my eyes, sticking out my tongue, / and wiggling my ears. / But no one seems to be noticing me. / (Okay. So I'm not really doing any of that. / But they wouldn't be noticing. / Even if I was.) (69)
Metamorphosis: Junior Year
Metamorphosis: Junior Year is a quick read full of free-verse poetry and pen-and-ink drawings from Ovid, a junior high school teen, who has to be perfect to make up for the mistakes made by his meth-head older sister, Thena. If only his parents were as hopeful as they were when they named their kids, Ovid wouldn't have to try so hard to be perfect. He compares his life in high school to Roman mythology, comparing his friends to Icarus, Orpheus, Dalia, Cupid and Callisto among others. An artsy kid, Ovid is afraid to be himself around his parents, to show them his artwork and poetry, because he worries they'll think he's crazy and about to go off the deep end like his dear sister, which he may very well be close to doing.
Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Sep. 1, 2009 (Vol. 106, No. 1)) says of Metamorphosis, "Franco blends references to the classical canon with fast free verse and casual prose, and the wry combination of contemporary technology and archetypes will appeal to teens, even if they don’t get all the nods to the mythical stories."
A ForeWord review (Foreword Reviews, January/February 2010) says, "Like Ovid, famous for his epic poem, Metamorphoses, Franco's Ovid delivers a message of the transformative powers of experience and love."
The artwork shown in Metamorphosis is drawn by the author's son, Tom Franco, and if you happen to catch the audio version, it's performed by James and Dave Franco of movie and television fame. Who knew the Franco family would be so amazing?
Sharing this book with teens then asking them to write and draw their own poetry, or even asking for poems and drawings in response to the book, will be a sure way to grab and keep their attention.
France, Betsy. 2009. Metamorphosis: Junior Year. Ill. by Tom Franco. Somerville: Candlewick. ISBN 9780763637651
Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Sep. 1, 2009 (Vol. 106, No. 1)) says of Metamorphosis, "Franco blends references to the classical canon with fast free verse and casual prose, and the wry combination of contemporary technology and archetypes will appeal to teens, even if they don’t get all the nods to the mythical stories."
A ForeWord review (Foreword Reviews, January/February 2010) says, "Like Ovid, famous for his epic poem, Metamorphoses, Franco's Ovid delivers a message of the transformative powers of experience and love."
The artwork shown in Metamorphosis is drawn by the author's son, Tom Franco, and if you happen to catch the audio version, it's performed by James and Dave Franco of movie and television fame. Who knew the Franco family would be so amazing?
Sharing this book with teens then asking them to write and draw their own poetry, or even asking for poems and drawings in response to the book, will be a sure way to grab and keep their attention.
France, Betsy. 2009. Metamorphosis: Junior Year. Ill. by Tom Franco. Somerville: Candlewick. ISBN 9780763637651
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Bootleg
Spanning from the late 1800s to the 1930s and beyond, Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition tells chronologically what happened in America to lead to prohibition, and what happened before, during and after the years of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
From children drinking alcohol to them smuggling homebrewed bathtub gin to Mother's Against Drunk Driving, Bootleg tells the story of the wet and dry times in an informative, yet slightly humorous, way, which is easy for kids, teens and adults to understand and enjoy. A glossary contains terms used during prohibition, such as "hooch Slang for alcohol. Other slang words in the 1920s included 'apple-jack,' 'giggle water,' white lightening,' and 'whoopee'" and "ombibulous A term coined by the newspaper writer H.L. Mencken to describe his support of all kids of alcohol, despite prohibition. 'I'm ombibulous. I drink every known alcoholic drink and enjoy them all,' he said." Bootleg also contains many period photographs, an extensive bibliography and an index of terms.
Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2011 (Vol. 79, No. 8)) says, "Blumenthal acknowledges that Prohibition was successful in some notable ways: Arrests for public intoxication declined as did alcohol-related diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver. Whatever positive outcomes there were, however, were eclipsed by the widespread corruption and violence of bootlegging. An informative, insightful account of a fascinating period of American history."
Pairing this with an historical fiction book set around the time of prohibition, like Vixen and Ingenue by Jillian Larkin, would give the teen reader an insight into exactly what was going on during that period of history.
Blumenthal, Karen. 2011. Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition. New York: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 9781596434493
From children drinking alcohol to them smuggling homebrewed bathtub gin to Mother's Against Drunk Driving, Bootleg tells the story of the wet and dry times in an informative, yet slightly humorous, way, which is easy for kids, teens and adults to understand and enjoy. A glossary contains terms used during prohibition, such as "hooch Slang for alcohol. Other slang words in the 1920s included 'apple-jack,' 'giggle water,' white lightening,' and 'whoopee'" and "ombibulous A term coined by the newspaper writer H.L. Mencken to describe his support of all kids of alcohol, despite prohibition. 'I'm ombibulous. I drink every known alcoholic drink and enjoy them all,' he said." Bootleg also contains many period photographs, an extensive bibliography and an index of terms.
Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2011 (Vol. 79, No. 8)) says, "Blumenthal acknowledges that Prohibition was successful in some notable ways: Arrests for public intoxication declined as did alcohol-related diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver. Whatever positive outcomes there were, however, were eclipsed by the widespread corruption and violence of bootlegging. An informative, insightful account of a fascinating period of American history."
Pairing this with an historical fiction book set around the time of prohibition, like Vixen and Ingenue by Jillian Larkin, would give the teen reader an insight into exactly what was going on during that period of history.
Blumenthal, Karen. 2011. Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition. New York: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 9781596434493
Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow gives an excellently written, eye-opening view into Hitler's use and abuse of children in his rise to power and the Third Reich. While it is aimed at a juvenile or young adult audience, even adults can flip through the pages, looking at the photographs and reading about the lives of several of the children of the Hitler Youth and take something from it... the other side.
The 10 chapters of the book follow Hitler's rise to power, the organization and education of the Hitler Youth, what they were made to do before and during the war, and what happened to them after the resistance. Also included are a foreward and epilogue, timeline, author's notes, information about the photographs, a bibliography and an index. All of these make for an interesting and educational read, and a look into the other side of the Holocaust.
Stunning photographs mark nearly every page of the book, showing happy faces of families, child soldiers marching through the mud, Hitler's speeches, Jewish families in torment and the devastation of war. The book shares the back story of what happened during those gruesome years and how not everyone realized that what they were being asked to do was wrong. "'I can remember the feeling I had when he spoke,' said Sasha Schwarz, who was eleven when Hitler came to power. 'At last,' I said, 'here's somebody who can get us out of this mess'" (19). Was she ever wrong.
The CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, 2006) says of Hitler Youth, "Bartoletti’s carefully researched, fascinating narrative is a compelling work of non-fiction. She provides extensive documentation in a volume that not only informs but also inspires readers to ask difficult questions about choices they may face in their own lives."
That simple review leads to a good dicussion for teens. How does your life compare to the teens of the Hitler Youth? Does it at all? What would they think if they lived now?
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. 2005. Hitler Youth. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 9780439353793
The 10 chapters of the book follow Hitler's rise to power, the organization and education of the Hitler Youth, what they were made to do before and during the war, and what happened to them after the resistance. Also included are a foreward and epilogue, timeline, author's notes, information about the photographs, a bibliography and an index. All of these make for an interesting and educational read, and a look into the other side of the Holocaust.
Stunning photographs mark nearly every page of the book, showing happy faces of families, child soldiers marching through the mud, Hitler's speeches, Jewish families in torment and the devastation of war. The book shares the back story of what happened during those gruesome years and how not everyone realized that what they were being asked to do was wrong. "'I can remember the feeling I had when he spoke,' said Sasha Schwarz, who was eleven when Hitler came to power. 'At last,' I said, 'here's somebody who can get us out of this mess'" (19). Was she ever wrong.
The CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, 2006) says of Hitler Youth, "Bartoletti’s carefully researched, fascinating narrative is a compelling work of non-fiction. She provides extensive documentation in a volume that not only informs but also inspires readers to ask difficult questions about choices they may face in their own lives."
That simple review leads to a good dicussion for teens. How does your life compare to the teens of the Hitler Youth? Does it at all? What would they think if they lived now?
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. 2005. Hitler Youth. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 9780439353793
Fire from the Rock
Sylvia Patterson is about to finish middle school. She's, of course, concerned about what she'll wear on her first day of high school, if she'll have a boyfriend, what color her toenails should be, what her favorite song is, everything typical of a 15-year-old girl. There's something else she's worried about though. If she's strong enough to be one of the first black students to attend the all-white Central High School. She doesn't want to be a hero, she just wants to be normal!
Fire from the Rock is an historical fiction novel based on the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. The reader discovers along with Sylvia the trials and hardships of black students and families living in segregated times. She doesn't think they'll ever be black singers on TV or black leaders on the covers of magazines. She doesn't think black people will ever be allowed to do anything that white people can do, but when she's chosen to be one of the first students allowed to integrate in the all white school, she doesn't know if she can do it.
The integration of Central is not the only difficult task Sylvia has to face. Her best friend is a Jewish girl and her father's store is constantly vandalized with swastikas and even gets destroyed by homemade bombs while Sylvia is in the store. She and her younger sister, Donna Jean, are attacked after leaving their local library by a group of angry white teenagers. Simply walking down the street is something she fears to do, so will she be up to the task of integration? Will she make the right decision? Only she knows the answer to that.
Fire from the Rock is an historical fiction novel based on the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. The reader discovers along with Sylvia the trials and hardships of black students and families living in segregated times. She doesn't think they'll ever be black singers on TV or black leaders on the covers of magazines. She doesn't think black people will ever be allowed to do anything that white people can do, but when she's chosen to be one of the first students allowed to integrate in the all white school, she doesn't know if she can do it.
The integration of Central is not the only difficult task Sylvia has to face. Her best friend is a Jewish girl and her father's store is constantly vandalized with swastikas and even gets destroyed by homemade bombs while Sylvia is in the store. She and her younger sister, Donna Jean, are attacked after leaving their local library by a group of angry white teenagers. Simply walking down the street is something she fears to do, so will she be up to the task of integration? Will she make the right decision? Only she knows the answer to that.
Sylvia is not the only one chosen for this life-changing event. Several other students have been selected to enroll at Central as well, and with the help of their mentor, Daisy Bates, nine of these specially-chosen students successfully (and I use the term loosely) intergrate the high school. The governor, Orval Faubus, tries unsuccessfully to have the students removed from the school, but they attend anyway, becoming the most famous high school students in Arkansas' history. As Sylvia's brother says on page 205, "Yeah. Like something out of a history book," which is exactly what happens.
"Using the events that surrounded the black teens, now known as the Little Rock Nine, who were chosen to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, Draper offers an emotional tale about integrity, justice, and determination," says KaaVonia Hinton, Ph.D. of KLIATT Review (July 2007 (Vol. 41, No. 4)).
Ernie J. Cox (Library Media Connection, November/December 2007) says, "Sylvia faces one of the biggest questions of her life and generation-to accept the status quo or push for new rights. Through alternating third person narrative and Sylvia's diary entries, Draper populates this important historical event with convincing characters, flowing dialogue, and keen observations."
A fantastic historical fiction to read and share with teens, then ask them the question, "What would you do if you were in Sylvia's shoes?"Draper, Sharon. 2007. Fire from the Rock. New York: Dutton Children's Books. ISBN 9780525477204
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Among the Hidden
Luke is a 12 year old boy who likes helping his dad and older brothers, Matthew and Mark, out on their family farm. He likes reading with his mom. He also likes playing outside in the vast backyard... until the Government begins tearing down the woods behind the house and building a new neighborhood for the wealthy families - The Barons.
Barons have everything. Money, fancy cars, nice houses. Apparently, the also have the ability to break the law without penalty. The Government and the Population Police have outlawed having more than two children. Remember Luke's brothers? Yes, brothers. Matthew and Mark... and Luke. Luke is a hidden child, a shadow child, a third, confined to the house after the new neighborhood development, he now lives as a recluse in the attic of his family's farmhouse, never to step outside or darken a window again. Until he sees movement from one of the neighbor's houses. A Baron neighbor house who has two football jock sons that go to school and a mother and father that work in the city and leave the house every day. So why is there movement in the house?
Luke discovers Jen, another third, living in the Baron house. She has a computer, something Luke's only ever really heard about, since he's not allowed near the one in his house for fear that the Goverment is watching through the monitor. She also has chips, brown, fizzy drinks and cookies! There's something else Jen has that Luke doesn't, aside from luxurious foods and technology. She has doubts. Doubts that there isn't enough food for people to have third children. Doubts that the Government won't do anything to rid itself of thirds. Luke has something Jen doesn't have, though. Fear. Fear that the Government knows everything and will swoop in to kill them if they use the computer or watch TV. If only Jen had that fear...
After making friends online with other thirds, Jen decides to rally at the president's house. She wants to be free! She wants to live an actual life not cooped up indoors. Luke, of course, wants these things, too, but as he tells Jen before she leaves for the rally, "I still can't go. I'm sorry. It's something about having parents who are farmers, not lawyers. And not being a Baron. It's people like you who change history. People like me -- we just let things happen to us" (117).
If only Jen didn't have her doubts that the Government wouldn't do anything to a large group of rallying thirds.
They would.
And they did.
Jen and all her rallying buddies were shot on the steps of the president's house without a second thought. Luke goes to Jen's house a few days after the rally to see if she's made it home yet when he's greeted by someone else, Jen's father, who has a gun. Instead of killing the boy (as he should because he's a member of the Population Police) Jen's father gives Luke a fake ID and sends him to a boarding school. He gives Luke a chance to live. A chance to live outside of his attic room, to go to school, to change the world.
Will he? We'll see....
Betty Carter (The ALAN Review, Winter 1999 (Vol. 26, No. 2)) says of Among the Hidden, "Luke, mirroring his disenfranchised family, fears the totalitarian government; Jen using all the resources of her privileged background, challenges it. Although the denouement is swift and tidy, the fully realized setting, honest characters, and fast paced plot combine for a suspenseful tale of two youngsters fighting for their very existence."
Debbie Earl (VOYA, October 1998 (Vol. 21, No. 4)) says, "This is an easily understood, younger reader's 1984 or Brave New World, presenting a chilling vision of a possibly not-too-distant future."
Much like the VOYA review says, sharing this story along with 1984 or Brave New World or even The Hunger Games would be a great way to discuss the future and dystopian novels with tweens and teens.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Hidden. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780689817007
Barons have everything. Money, fancy cars, nice houses. Apparently, the also have the ability to break the law without penalty. The Government and the Population Police have outlawed having more than two children. Remember Luke's brothers? Yes, brothers. Matthew and Mark... and Luke. Luke is a hidden child, a shadow child, a third, confined to the house after the new neighborhood development, he now lives as a recluse in the attic of his family's farmhouse, never to step outside or darken a window again. Until he sees movement from one of the neighbor's houses. A Baron neighbor house who has two football jock sons that go to school and a mother and father that work in the city and leave the house every day. So why is there movement in the house?
Luke discovers Jen, another third, living in the Baron house. She has a computer, something Luke's only ever really heard about, since he's not allowed near the one in his house for fear that the Goverment is watching through the monitor. She also has chips, brown, fizzy drinks and cookies! There's something else Jen has that Luke doesn't, aside from luxurious foods and technology. She has doubts. Doubts that there isn't enough food for people to have third children. Doubts that the Government won't do anything to rid itself of thirds. Luke has something Jen doesn't have, though. Fear. Fear that the Government knows everything and will swoop in to kill them if they use the computer or watch TV. If only Jen had that fear...
After making friends online with other thirds, Jen decides to rally at the president's house. She wants to be free! She wants to live an actual life not cooped up indoors. Luke, of course, wants these things, too, but as he tells Jen before she leaves for the rally, "I still can't go. I'm sorry. It's something about having parents who are farmers, not lawyers. And not being a Baron. It's people like you who change history. People like me -- we just let things happen to us" (117).
If only Jen didn't have her doubts that the Government wouldn't do anything to a large group of rallying thirds.
They would.
And they did.
Jen and all her rallying buddies were shot on the steps of the president's house without a second thought. Luke goes to Jen's house a few days after the rally to see if she's made it home yet when he's greeted by someone else, Jen's father, who has a gun. Instead of killing the boy (as he should because he's a member of the Population Police) Jen's father gives Luke a fake ID and sends him to a boarding school. He gives Luke a chance to live. A chance to live outside of his attic room, to go to school, to change the world.
Will he? We'll see....
Betty Carter (The ALAN Review, Winter 1999 (Vol. 26, No. 2)) says of Among the Hidden, "Luke, mirroring his disenfranchised family, fears the totalitarian government; Jen using all the resources of her privileged background, challenges it. Although the denouement is swift and tidy, the fully realized setting, honest characters, and fast paced plot combine for a suspenseful tale of two youngsters fighting for their very existence."
Debbie Earl (VOYA, October 1998 (Vol. 21, No. 4)) says, "This is an easily understood, younger reader's 1984 or Brave New World, presenting a chilling vision of a possibly not-too-distant future."
Much like the VOYA review says, sharing this story along with 1984 or Brave New World or even The Hunger Games would be a great way to discuss the future and dystopian novels with tweens and teens.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Hidden. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780689817007
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