Judging a book by its cover

Hey everyone – this is Ms. Wilson, a student teacher in the fabulous library at RB. I have temporarily hijacked this blog from Mrs. Duell, but I promise to give it back to her at some point. Anyway, instead of giving all of you my life story, I should probably move on to the book review.



The old saying goes not to judge a book by its cover; however, covers can certainly draw you in. As I was browsing though a bookstore, I was immediately drawn to this book with a close-up picture of a stoic girl lying in the grass, her bright green eyes staring out and grabbing instant attention. I quickly read the synopsis on the book jacket and decided to buy it. I wasn’t disappointed. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver tells the story of Sam Kingston on the last day of her life. She wakes up in the morning convinced that it’s going to be a great day of fun with her friends, the most popular girls at the school, and she even has plans to lose her virginity with her “perfect” boyfriend that night. Things do not go according to plan and she dies in a horrible accident as she leaves a party. Instead of this being an end, it is really a beginning. Sam then wakes up on the morning of the accident, forcing her to live her last day again…and again…and again – a total of seven times. Even though the book could have become repetitive and boring, Oliver finds new ways to make the story interesting. After a few days spent living her last day with reckless abandon, Sam delves into the mystery surrounding her accident, learns how important her neglected family is to her, and realizes the perfect guy is not her boyfriend, but someone else who was right in front of her all along. I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel and will definitely be picking up more of Lauren Oliver’s books in the future.

Dream or Nightmare?

Janie is a high school student who, ever since she was eight years old, gets pulled into people's dreams if they are sleeping somewhere nearby. This often happens to her in the school library where she spends her study hall, since many students use it as an opportunity to catch up on some sleep. Most of the dreams she experiences involve falling, giving speeches while naked, and fantasies involving various love interests. When she gets pulled into Cabel's dreams, however, she faces a level of frightening violence unlike anything she's ever experienced. As the novel progresses, Janie learns how to control her participation in the dreams, which allows her to learn help the people in them. Although I think Wake's premise is fascinating, McMann's writing style made it difficult for me to enjoy the book. The chapters are very short, and are made up mostly of dialogue, which I felt robs the book of some depth and development. Possibly enjoyable as a very short, fun read, but don't count on much challenge. 1.5 out of 4 Bananas.

Best Sequel Ever!

What an awesome book! Catching Fire is the sequel to The Hunger Games, a semi-dystopian novel about an America divided into 13 Districts, run by the Capitol. The Capitol asserts its authority by forcing each District to send two teenage "tributes" to the annual Hunger Games, which are a Mad Max type of fight to the death. Catching Fire picks up where The Hunger Games left off: Katniss and Peeta have won the Hunger Games and are supposed to be enjoying their victory tour throughout the Districts. They gradually become aware, however, that some of the Districts are in revolt, and that Katniss is somehow connected to the uprisings. There is a sharp turn of events, and Katniss and Peeta find themselves back where they never thought they'd be: in the Hunger Games arena. Super fantastic sequel that I liked even better than the first book! 4 out of 4 Bananas!

Two Stories of Poland

Although it got off to a slow start for me, Brigid Pasulka's A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True ended up being an unforgettably beautiful, heartfelt, gorgeously written novel that I will be recommending to everyone I know. It's written as two stories told in alternating chapters which, of course, become interwoven and are really just two parts of one big story. The first story is set in the WWII Poland of a mountain village, and the second is set in modern day Krakow. I love stories that strongly evoke a place and culture (sort of like Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and anything by Lisa See), and Brigid Pasulka (an English teacher at Whitney Young Magnet High School in the Chicago Public School system!) is a master at bringing Poland and its culture, of which I knew nothing, to life. 4 out of 4 Bananas!

Boot Camp: Check Your Humanity at the Door

Boot Camp by Todd Strasser is a chilling look at real-life army-style bootcamps for troubled teens. I remember seeing old '90s talk shows such as "Jenny Jones" and "Maury" (which I actually just learned is still airing- good for you, Maury!), where desperate parents, with the help of the show, would ambush their out-of-control teenagers and have them carted off to a disciplinary boot camp. Todd Strasser's Boot Camp begins much the same, with main character Garrett on his way to Lake Harmony, a boot camp in upstate New York. Garrett's parents are sending him away because he has been skipping class and continuing a relationship with one of his teachers, who has since been fired from her job. Garrett argues that he does well in school without going every day, and that love knows no age, so why is his relationship wrong? As soon as Garrett arrives at Lake Harmony, however, he is barraged with messages about how worthless he is, how wrong he is to disobey his parents, and that before he can "graduate" from the boot camp, he must accept that he was wrong and be willing to submit fully to his parents. Methods of "education" employed by Lake Harmony include solitary confinement, lying face-down on a cement floor for hours and days at a time, emotional abuse from employees and other students, as well as student-on-student beatings. Although Boot Camp's main character is (I assume) unlike a typical boot camp resident and did not have problems with drugs, alcohol or violence, Strasser did his research on boot camps and paints a disturbing picture of a real-life phenomenon. 3 out of 4 Bananas

Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award 2011 Nominee

My Summer Reading List

In addition to several "candy bar" reads that I enjoyed this summer, I made a point to read as many Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award 2011 nominees as I could. Here is a visual tour of my reading list:

Sherman Alexie: Beloved RB Author

RUN, don't walk, to read this book. Seriously, you won't regret it. I personally can't believe that it's been out for so long and that I'm finally, just now, reading it. Sherman Alexie is a Native American author from Washington state who has written several novels that have been included in the curriculum at RB: Flight, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Flight is also this year's Summer Reading requirement for seniors not taking AP Lit.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is the heartbreakingly hilarious (hilariously heartbreaking?) story of Arnold Spirit, Jr., or "Junior" for short. Junior is a 14 year old Native American kid growing up on a reservation just outside of Spokane, WA (just like Alexie himself). The novel is told from Junior's perspective and is accompanied by cartoonist Ellen Forney's fantastic illustrations of characters or events that look like they could have come straight out of a diary:

Like many others on the reservation, several of Junior's family members are alcoholics, live in poverty, and struggle with depression and hopelessness. Junior, however, has managed to hold onto hope for a better life, and with that, he announces that he will no longer be attending the high school on the "rez" but will be transferring to Reardan, the rich, white high school in a nearby farm town. This leads to his ostracism from the tribe, as he is seen as rejecting his Indian family in favor of the white world. The white students, however, also don't fully accept him because he's not like them, either, so Junior ends up being caught between two worlds. He loses a best friend, gains a "translucent semi-girlfriend", and is hit with two family tragedies during his first year at Reardan.

What I loved about this novel is that the tragedies of Junior's life and the real problems faced by Native Americans today are not hidden; in fact, I feel like they are laid bare for all to witness and understand. Alexie's writing style is so witty, however, and and his observations are so poignant, that the story is NOT a downer. It is actually the perfect balance of humor and outrage, hope and despair. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has absolutely been one of the best books I've read this year. 4 out of 4 Bananas!

Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award 2011 Nominee