Week #1 1/2: Girl, Stolen by April Henry

I'm ahead on my mission to read a young adult book every week for a year, learn some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tricks, and of course--don't forget--become famous in the process. Right.

Perhaps it's because I'm psyched to be starting this blog, or maybe it's because I'm going through one of those reading rampages I mentioned before, but regardless of my motivation, I just finished my second book: Girl, Stolen by April Henry.

I chose this book because it won Maryland's Black Eyed Susan Award in 2011. I lived in Maryland for four years, and one of my graduate school teachers at Towson University in Baltimore was on the Black Eyed Susan Committee. She inspired me to read the nominees, and that's when I fell in love with Priscilla Cummings' Red Kayak (a mystery that I highly recommend for grades 6-8). I got to know Priscilla in 2008, as this was the year she won the Black Eyed Susan Award, visited  my mom's Shenendehowa library (because I got my mom to read and love the book, too....and she got her English classes to read it...), and visited my Stevensville Middle School Library in Queen Anne's County, Maryland (because I also got the English teachers in my school to teach it). Ever since reading the awesome nominees that year and corresponding with Priscilla, I've highly regarded Black Eyed Susan titles. The  books usually don't let me down.

Until now. I was disappointed with Girl, Stolen. It's about a girl named Cheyenne who is very sick and laying in the back of her step-mom's car waiting for her to pick up a prescription to help with her pneumonia when someone gets in the car, starts it, and starts driving away. From the beginning, Cheyenne knows it isn't her step-mom, and she doesn't know exactly what's happening to her because, and here's the kicker, she's blind. The story unfolds into chapters told from Cheyenne's perspective, and then the kidnapper's, Griffin's. Griffin didn't know Cheyenne was in the car, and his dad (Roy) and some low-life followers are drawn into the mess. The plot thickens when the reader and Roy find out that Cheyenne's father is rich.

Griffin is a caring teenager with an awful home life. Cheyenne is a victim in more than one way. Roy is a money-hungry nut case after money. I think you can pretty much guess what happens.

I will give the author credit in making me want to keep reading, stringing me along with slightly cheesy chapter-ending cliffhangers. What can I say? I'm a sucker. At the same time, I was disappointed with the speed at which Griffin and Cheyenne opened up to each other. In reality, teenagers like them with so much baggage and so many issues would not open up to each other in an I-accidentally-kidnapped-you-and-my-dad-is-going-to-milk-your-dad-for-millions-and-then-kill-you sort of situation. I guess I just didn't like how unrealistic it was. Oh, and the whole blind thing....wasn't digging it. Yeah, it made the story more intense and unbelievable, but to the point where I was like, "How the hell is she going to realistically get herself out of this mess?!?" Going into details about life as a blind person took away from the thrill of the plot for me. Give me more guns! Swearing! Sex, drugs, and rock and roll!

Okay, that's the extreme, but hopefully you get the point.

Reminder: Alyssa, don't burn yourself out by reading too quickly. Bad.

Also, if you are SEO-savy with Google Blogger and want to give me a hand in making my posts more searchable, send me a message!

Themes: overcoming obstacles, perseverance, living with disabilities

Would interest: reluctant readers who don't like deep books but want a thrill, both boys and girls grades 7-11

My grade: A- (because it strung me along and I think it's good for reluctant readers)

Week #1: Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel

I just finished Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel. I listened to it in my car, and I have to admit, there were a few times that I sat in a parking lot or my garage waiting to see what happens. It's a very good sign when a plot is worth wasting a little gas, or risking draining the car's battery to sit there a little longer and see what happens.

The book is about a boy named Ben whose father takes a job in British Columbia and moves the family there to raise a chimp. (I have a "thing" for British Columbia, so I was drawn in to the book as soon as I found out that's where it was going to take place.) Before even listening to the first chapter, I predicted many of the issues that popped up in the book; I didn't however, predict that the family in the book was going to try to raise the chimp, "Zan," as a human. It completely freaked me out and made me cringe and twitch at the beginning when Zan first came home and Ben's mom let him nurse on her breast in order for him to mimick the bond a baby has with a mother. Chimp on boob? Ew. I thought, "What the heck kind of book is this going to be?!?" After I got over that, the story was amusing and fairly light, a coming of age book both male and female readers would enjoy. During the last quarter of the book, deeper isssues come to light and the plot moves too quickly.

A major issue brought to question in Half Brother is animal experimentation, and this book could trigger students to conduct some research on ethics. It's a good link to science class and made me generally think about some of the products I use on a daily basis and who/what they're tested on.

Themes: coming of age, animal experimentation and research, peer pressure, father-son relationships, human-animal bonds
Would interest: boys and girls, 8th-11th grade
My grade: A-

The Journey Begins

I used to read all the time. When I was in elementary school and my mom dragged me around on errands, I would beg her to buy me the latest Sweet Valley kids/twins/high books, Christopher Pike mysteries, or Bobsey Twins books. I would read every every night before I fell asleep, and my mom would bring books home for me to read from the middle school where she was librarian. I was even allowed to skip school on special occasions when there was a middle school author visit! A signed book on my bookshelf was a prized treasure....and still is. Dork.

I also used to write all the time in my journal, for the high school newspaper, and for my college literary magazine. I was an English major in college and loved the "homework" of reading a classic by the next class and writing a critique on it. My writing was good. It was unique. Clever. Witty. Now I've gotten sucked into the world of short, unimaginative emails and Facebook chat. (I am still holding out on text messages. I do see the value of a face-to-face conversation. That's a subject for a whole other blog though.)  

I am challenging myself to read at least one young adult book every week for a year. Why?
I am a high school librarian, and I see it as part of my job to stay on top of trends in the young adult literature world. During the past few years, I've gone on periodic reading rampages, reading book after book after book until I'm burned out and then don't want to read again for a couple of months. I've pretty much exhausted my public library's young adult books on cd, listening during my 35+ minute commute to and from school each day, and my heart beats a little faster each time new titles come in.

And so, here I am, challenging myself to do something I've never done before. I hope to walk away from this experience with my head held high, able to share new titles with my students and colleagues. This will give me an excuse to set a reading pace and not go through any lulls for a while. Maybe this will make me famous-- probably not. Maybe no one will even read this, but at least I will be intrinsically satisfied, and it can only strengthen my status as high school librarian extraordinaire!

My rules that I totally just made up:
1) Audio books count.
2) I can read plays, verse novels, and nonfiction.
3) Each book must be published in 2010 or later.
4) Aim to start and finish on Sundays.
5) I can read ahead (but I'll try not to).
6) Update blog within 3 days of finishing a book.
7) Highly consider student and teacher recommendations.
8) Books must be of young-adult interest.
9) I must read at least 5 sci-fi/fantasy and 5 historical fiction books.
10) I reserve the right to stop reading a book and start a new one if I still can't stand it after 40 pages.
11) I reserve the right to break my own rules.

The journey begins NOW! Read my next post.