Koertge, Ronald. The Brimstone Journals. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2001
Annotation: Meet 15 teens from any town high school, the jock, the slut, the fat kid, the anorexic, the smart Asian, the dyke, the black girl from the ghetto and the angry boy with a grudge and a gun.
Justification for nomination: The Brimstone Journals is narrated by fifteen teenager characters from a suburban high school. They all have problems and issues that most high school young adults deal with everyday, but this book describes how one boy makes a hit list and plans a day of violence to end the lives of innocent kids. Anyone who has been through high school can relate and understand the individual characters that are given a voice to speak their inner most secrets. In this realistic, quick read, themes of freedom, fitting in, not fitting in, love, going green, being superior, body image, and abuse are voiced in a first person free verse poetic style. The author uses a lot of dialect, which makes the characters voice stand out. He knits his characters together providing a deep insight into the lives of American teens. Through these voices he exposes qualities of our society that many would like to ignore. Koertge achieves a very swift characterization through language used and the language that separates the characters, but also the rhythm of how they are speaking and general slang makes this a very realistic read. The book suggests that stereotypes are dangerous and in need of a closer examination, but he relies on these types to establish his characters. Although, this poignant poetic novel evokes familiar and terrifying reality, it also provides an ideal opportunity for young adults to discuss violence in their schools.
Genre: Poetic verse novel/fiction/coming of age/realistic noves/problem novels/edgy fiction
Sunday, June 28, 2009
In the Forest of The Night
Rhodes, Amelia Atwater. In the Forests of the Night. New York: Delacorte Press, 1999
Annotation: In the 18th century a 17 year old girl has been transformed against her will into a vampire, in the process she gets into a bitter dispute with another male vampire that lasts 300 years.
Nomination for Rejection: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes writes an average vampire tale for young adult readers. She creates a 17 year old girl from the 18th century who is transformed into a vampire against her will. While this book is fast paced and action packed, it has a vague plot. It is written in large font with lots of white space and forced transitions. I found the characters to be one dimensional and not developed enough. The author has a good sense of drama and uses elegant phrasing. She writes mostly in first person with a suspenseful tone. The setting shifts between 18th century and 20th century and is mostly organized around the forest and back alleys. The author does a good job of changing between the centuries listed making the story line play out very well. The main character Riska or Rachel is not very developed for being three hundred years old. I would think by now she should know more about herself and her nemesis. I never really got to know the characters and ended up not caring about them or what happened to them. I found the author to use more description than dialogue throughout the text. The most inspiring item about this book is that the author was fourteen years old when she wrote it. This will resonate with inspiring young adult writers. As this author matures, she should develop the skills worthy of an award winning author.
Genre: Supernatural/Horror/Vampire Fiction
Annotation: In the 18th century a 17 year old girl has been transformed against her will into a vampire, in the process she gets into a bitter dispute with another male vampire that lasts 300 years.
Nomination for Rejection: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes writes an average vampire tale for young adult readers. She creates a 17 year old girl from the 18th century who is transformed into a vampire against her will. While this book is fast paced and action packed, it has a vague plot. It is written in large font with lots of white space and forced transitions. I found the characters to be one dimensional and not developed enough. The author has a good sense of drama and uses elegant phrasing. She writes mostly in first person with a suspenseful tone. The setting shifts between 18th century and 20th century and is mostly organized around the forest and back alleys. The author does a good job of changing between the centuries listed making the story line play out very well. The main character Riska or Rachel is not very developed for being three hundred years old. I would think by now she should know more about herself and her nemesis. I never really got to know the characters and ended up not caring about them or what happened to them. I found the author to use more description than dialogue throughout the text. The most inspiring item about this book is that the author was fourteen years old when she wrote it. This will resonate with inspiring young adult writers. As this author matures, she should develop the skills worthy of an award winning author.
Genre: Supernatural/Horror/Vampire Fiction
Witch Hunt Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials
Aronson, Marc. Witch Hunt Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003
Annotation: It was mass hysteria. More than 100 people accused, by October 1692, 19 people were executed, one man tortured, and many died in prison for witchcraft.
Justification for rejection: Marc Aronson examines the events in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. A group of young teenage women accused many people of witchcraft. They claimed to have been assaulted by being bitten and pinched by invisible agents, their limbs wracked with pain, “taken dumb” or not being able to talk, uttering foolish remarks, and hiding under chairs. This was witnessed by their families and friends. Once in court upon seeing and hearing the accused try to defend themselves would scream in pain, contort their bodies, and hallucinate. The accused were often odd women who kept to themselves, although some were upstanding women and men of the community and church. It seemed that the same core group of girls made most of the accusations, but neighbors did turn against each other, but mostly as a revenge circumstance. Aronson delivers a brilliant introduction designed to speak directly to teens putting the history in context that sharp teens can grasp. Aronson encourages them to think about how the events connect to their lives and to contemporary culture. He draws parallels between Salem and post September 11th society, writing with an undiminished political bent. The author actively encourages the rethinking and past ideas of the events leading up to the accusations and trials. Some readers may get bogged down in the monotonous he said/she said dialogue, while others may feel that the direct quotes are just. While Aronson trusts the reader to form their own deduction about what happened and why he does caution that while the reader’s interpretation may be valid, a conclusion may not be possible. One of the reasons for my rejection is that this book does not represent all age groups within the young adult arena. It is definitely for the avid reader and would not appeal to the efferent reader. This is for teens who love to debate and dig into history. Aronson shows off his talent for historical interpretation and his purpose as a non-fiction writer as he rebuilds events surrounding the witch trials of 1692. He isn’t afraid to give his opinion throughout the text. To enrich and illustrate the history, he uses a wide array of documented sources and recorded testimonies of the accused and the accusers. The author produces a close view of the tragedy that assesses the theories from deceit and outright fraud to spoiled food that caused hallucinations. The avid reader will appreciate the time line of events, epilogue, and notes & comments section that deals with myths, legends, and misinterpretations. He offers the avid reader a series of questions to think about throughout the book, focusing not only on the accusers, but on the judges, witnesses, jury, skeptics, and other protagonists. Although, he sites contemporary 911 events as a means of encouraging readers to think about relevance in their own lives, but he didn’t develop the theories well enough to inform the reader of why he made the comparison. Another reason for rejection is the pictures accompanying the text have no captions and are often difficult to see. This book did win the School Library Best Book of the Year award, but in my opinion it is only going to stimulate a more mature teen reader.
Genre: Historical/ Non-Fiction/ Mystery/
Annotation: It was mass hysteria. More than 100 people accused, by October 1692, 19 people were executed, one man tortured, and many died in prison for witchcraft.
Justification for rejection: Marc Aronson examines the events in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. A group of young teenage women accused many people of witchcraft. They claimed to have been assaulted by being bitten and pinched by invisible agents, their limbs wracked with pain, “taken dumb” or not being able to talk, uttering foolish remarks, and hiding under chairs. This was witnessed by their families and friends. Once in court upon seeing and hearing the accused try to defend themselves would scream in pain, contort their bodies, and hallucinate. The accused were often odd women who kept to themselves, although some were upstanding women and men of the community and church. It seemed that the same core group of girls made most of the accusations, but neighbors did turn against each other, but mostly as a revenge circumstance. Aronson delivers a brilliant introduction designed to speak directly to teens putting the history in context that sharp teens can grasp. Aronson encourages them to think about how the events connect to their lives and to contemporary culture. He draws parallels between Salem and post September 11th society, writing with an undiminished political bent. The author actively encourages the rethinking and past ideas of the events leading up to the accusations and trials. Some readers may get bogged down in the monotonous he said/she said dialogue, while others may feel that the direct quotes are just. While Aronson trusts the reader to form their own deduction about what happened and why he does caution that while the reader’s interpretation may be valid, a conclusion may not be possible. One of the reasons for my rejection is that this book does not represent all age groups within the young adult arena. It is definitely for the avid reader and would not appeal to the efferent reader. This is for teens who love to debate and dig into history. Aronson shows off his talent for historical interpretation and his purpose as a non-fiction writer as he rebuilds events surrounding the witch trials of 1692. He isn’t afraid to give his opinion throughout the text. To enrich and illustrate the history, he uses a wide array of documented sources and recorded testimonies of the accused and the accusers. The author produces a close view of the tragedy that assesses the theories from deceit and outright fraud to spoiled food that caused hallucinations. The avid reader will appreciate the time line of events, epilogue, and notes & comments section that deals with myths, legends, and misinterpretations. He offers the avid reader a series of questions to think about throughout the book, focusing not only on the accusers, but on the judges, witnesses, jury, skeptics, and other protagonists. Although, he sites contemporary 911 events as a means of encouraging readers to think about relevance in their own lives, but he didn’t develop the theories well enough to inform the reader of why he made the comparison. Another reason for rejection is the pictures accompanying the text have no captions and are often difficult to see. This book did win the School Library Best Book of the Year award, but in my opinion it is only going to stimulate a more mature teen reader.
Genre: Historical/ Non-Fiction/ Mystery/
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Hilter's Youth Growing up in Hitler's Shadow
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth Growing up in Hitler’s Shadow. New York: Scholastic Inc, 2005.
Annotation: “I begin with the young. We older ones are used up…But my magnificent youngsters! Look at these men and boys! What material! With them, I can create a new world.” Adolf Hitler.
This was the beginning of a world changing event. Hitler built an army on the shoulders of average children and teenagers to carry out his mass murder of the Jewish people and many other groups deemed impure.
Justification for Nomination: Hitler preyed upon the vulnerability of Germany’s youth. His message of contributing to the well being of the people resonated with the youth, who grew up with World War One, poverty, and unemployment. They believed that Hitler could get them out of the mess they were in as a country. With Hitler in power, the Nazi’s took over the schools, rewrote all textbooks to promote the national party and added two new subjects. Racial Science taught that Aryans belonged to a superior master race that was intended to rule Europe. Eugenics taught that Aryans should only marry healthy Aryans and how to identify Jews by learning their physical traits. This class taught that Jews were “inferior” and were the cause of all of Germany’s misfortunes. Bartoletti begins the book with a neutral presentation of a dozen young Germans. Part of the allure for teen readers is the pictures that accompany the text. She uses black and white photography and thumbnail biographies to introduce the twelve people. These are the real characters she will follow throughout the war. The extraordinary photographs are vivid and candid. When placed with the text, they become chilling reminders of what brain washing looks like. I think this literary technique will draw in her intended audience and help spark deep discussion. A significant part of the text is told in the words of the focused on twelve, but she also offers details to help the reader understand how this could ever happen. Bartoletti lets many of the subjects' words, emotions, and deeds speak for themselves, offering realism and candor to the plot. The author researched this topic for two years and provided details of how the Hitler Youth became the back bone of the German army in a cool neutral tone to demonstarte the horror of the war in an unbiased manner. Through the use of interviewing, emails, phone calls, letters, research, visiting national and historic museums, traveling to the places in Germany mentioned in the book, reflection, and writing the author compiled a mass of historical and truthful information and attempted to make sense of a senseless period. She presented it in an easy to read engaging narrative that brought authenticity to the subject. She frequently quoted survivors, used dialogue from diaries, listened to personal accounts which can stimulate critical thinking skills in any reader. By using these tools, she was able to add “flesh & blood” to the facts and figures of World War One. The organization and lay out of the text was a mix of words, quotes, photographs, maps which provides visual stimulation so important to the YA reader. She also provides a glossary and index which is helpful when confronted with a word that may seem challenging to a new reader. The authenticity is further upheld by the Quote Source in the back of the book. The author also included a photography section that helped to explain where the pictures came from, whether from the National Archives, National Holocaust Museum, Soldiers pictures, or from Hitler’s personal photographer. She poured through millions of pictures before selecting the ones chosen for the book. Adding further to the authenticity, she provides websites where the reader can go to view more pictures. This will appeal to the technology driven YA, sparking imagination and indulging curiosity. This book gives the reader a chance to not only learn history through the eyes of a person the same age as the reader, but to also experience the horror of what war is really like. The author shows respect for the reader throughout the book by making the material easily understandable, intermediate pacing, factual tone, but also challenging the reader to think about what it must have been like to be a teen under Hitler’s control. She includes the message of hope by writing about the Hitler Youth that quit and began an underground anti-Nazi campaign to inform the German people about what was really happening to the Jewish people. This would be a great book to accompany a history lesson on WWl in any history class.
Genre: Historical Non-Fiction
Annotation: “I begin with the young. We older ones are used up…But my magnificent youngsters! Look at these men and boys! What material! With them, I can create a new world.” Adolf Hitler.
This was the beginning of a world changing event. Hitler built an army on the shoulders of average children and teenagers to carry out his mass murder of the Jewish people and many other groups deemed impure.
Justification for Nomination: Hitler preyed upon the vulnerability of Germany’s youth. His message of contributing to the well being of the people resonated with the youth, who grew up with World War One, poverty, and unemployment. They believed that Hitler could get them out of the mess they were in as a country. With Hitler in power, the Nazi’s took over the schools, rewrote all textbooks to promote the national party and added two new subjects. Racial Science taught that Aryans belonged to a superior master race that was intended to rule Europe. Eugenics taught that Aryans should only marry healthy Aryans and how to identify Jews by learning their physical traits. This class taught that Jews were “inferior” and were the cause of all of Germany’s misfortunes. Bartoletti begins the book with a neutral presentation of a dozen young Germans. Part of the allure for teen readers is the pictures that accompany the text. She uses black and white photography and thumbnail biographies to introduce the twelve people. These are the real characters she will follow throughout the war. The extraordinary photographs are vivid and candid. When placed with the text, they become chilling reminders of what brain washing looks like. I think this literary technique will draw in her intended audience and help spark deep discussion. A significant part of the text is told in the words of the focused on twelve, but she also offers details to help the reader understand how this could ever happen. Bartoletti lets many of the subjects' words, emotions, and deeds speak for themselves, offering realism and candor to the plot. The author researched this topic for two years and provided details of how the Hitler Youth became the back bone of the German army in a cool neutral tone to demonstarte the horror of the war in an unbiased manner. Through the use of interviewing, emails, phone calls, letters, research, visiting national and historic museums, traveling to the places in Germany mentioned in the book, reflection, and writing the author compiled a mass of historical and truthful information and attempted to make sense of a senseless period. She presented it in an easy to read engaging narrative that brought authenticity to the subject. She frequently quoted survivors, used dialogue from diaries, listened to personal accounts which can stimulate critical thinking skills in any reader. By using these tools, she was able to add “flesh & blood” to the facts and figures of World War One. The organization and lay out of the text was a mix of words, quotes, photographs, maps which provides visual stimulation so important to the YA reader. She also provides a glossary and index which is helpful when confronted with a word that may seem challenging to a new reader. The authenticity is further upheld by the Quote Source in the back of the book. The author also included a photography section that helped to explain where the pictures came from, whether from the National Archives, National Holocaust Museum, Soldiers pictures, or from Hitler’s personal photographer. She poured through millions of pictures before selecting the ones chosen for the book. Adding further to the authenticity, she provides websites where the reader can go to view more pictures. This will appeal to the technology driven YA, sparking imagination and indulging curiosity. This book gives the reader a chance to not only learn history through the eyes of a person the same age as the reader, but to also experience the horror of what war is really like. The author shows respect for the reader throughout the book by making the material easily understandable, intermediate pacing, factual tone, but also challenging the reader to think about what it must have been like to be a teen under Hitler’s control. She includes the message of hope by writing about the Hitler Youth that quit and began an underground anti-Nazi campaign to inform the German people about what was really happening to the Jewish people. This would be a great book to accompany a history lesson on WWl in any history class.
Genre: Historical Non-Fiction
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
extra credit
Trueman, Terry. Stuck in Neutral NewYork: HarperCollinsPublisher, 2000
Annotation: 14 year old Shawn McDaniel has Cerebral Palsy. Everyone around him thinks he has no brain function, in reality, he can see and hear everything. He has the amazing ability to remember anything he has ever heard. His mother, brother, and sister treat him like a baby, but take good care of him. His father can not accept Shawn’s condition and it ends up splitting the family. His father is also convinced that Shawn is suffering and thinks the best thing for him is to die.
Justification for nomination: This Printz award winner is brilliantly written from the point of view of the main character. Although, everyone around him thinks he is “retarded”, he has all of the brain function of a able bodied teenager. The text has a progressive pattern of action that builds towards a climax at the end. The reader has to make an assumption as to whether Shawn’s father really does kill him or not, leaving the reader in a cliffhanger situation. The main character tells his story in first person that fits the story because we know how he feels and where he is at emotionally throughout the book. The writer uses humor, imagery, descriptive words, and irony to engage and challenge the reader. The setting does not change much for the main character because he is confined either to a wheelchair or his bed, but we as readers get to leave his environment and travel with his family. Shawn’s quest is finding out whether his father is really trying to kill him or not and if he would be better off dead. Along the journey, he begins to learn things about himself, of who he is in the world and realizes he wants to live. The plot is excellent. It grabs the reader’s attention and holds on. It is hard to put the book down. The cover illustration is hard to walk by and not pick up. It makes you want to pick up the book and read it. It’s dark and haunting and leaves the reader with a picture of what Shawn looks like making the story personal. This is a must read book.
Genre: Printz award/realistic novel/problem novel/search for identity
Annotation: 14 year old Shawn McDaniel has Cerebral Palsy. Everyone around him thinks he has no brain function, in reality, he can see and hear everything. He has the amazing ability to remember anything he has ever heard. His mother, brother, and sister treat him like a baby, but take good care of him. His father can not accept Shawn’s condition and it ends up splitting the family. His father is also convinced that Shawn is suffering and thinks the best thing for him is to die.
Justification for nomination: This Printz award winner is brilliantly written from the point of view of the main character. Although, everyone around him thinks he is “retarded”, he has all of the brain function of a able bodied teenager. The text has a progressive pattern of action that builds towards a climax at the end. The reader has to make an assumption as to whether Shawn’s father really does kill him or not, leaving the reader in a cliffhanger situation. The main character tells his story in first person that fits the story because we know how he feels and where he is at emotionally throughout the book. The writer uses humor, imagery, descriptive words, and irony to engage and challenge the reader. The setting does not change much for the main character because he is confined either to a wheelchair or his bed, but we as readers get to leave his environment and travel with his family. Shawn’s quest is finding out whether his father is really trying to kill him or not and if he would be better off dead. Along the journey, he begins to learn things about himself, of who he is in the world and realizes he wants to live. The plot is excellent. It grabs the reader’s attention and holds on. It is hard to put the book down. The cover illustration is hard to walk by and not pick up. It makes you want to pick up the book and read it. It’s dark and haunting and leaves the reader with a picture of what Shawn looks like making the story personal. This is a must read book.
Genre: Printz award/realistic novel/problem novel/search for identity
My Heartbeat
Weyr-Freymann, Garrett. My Heartbeat. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.
Annotation: Ellen loves James and James loves Link, but Link is too confused to know who he loves. Garrett Freymann-Weyr writes a humor filled, coming of age portrait of a young girl becoming a woman. Ellen’s innocence and naivete are put to the test as she slowly realizes that the love of her life and her brother may be a couple.
Justification for rejection: My Heartbeat is story about a 14 year old girl trying to come to terms with her feelings for her older brother’s best friend. As she stumbles through this emotional journey, she begins to realize that the love of her life is love of her brother’s life, too. Unfortunately, her brother has internal demons that keep him from expressing any real emotion and hiding the fact that he may be gay. This book is a true depiction of a coming of age young adult novel. The main character, Ellen, is the innocent beginning her journey into adulthood. Her brother link is friend, her sage, but also becomes Ellen’s antagonist as she tries to break the traditional non-communication that absorbs her family. She wants to understand her brother’s conflicting emotional despair and try to help him embrace his sexual identity, whatever that ends up to be. At the same time, she is madly in love with James, her brother’s love. As her brother runs from his internal demons, Ellen and James become closer and begin to date. As James and Ellen get closer, Link goes deeper inside himself. This was a great book, but I don’t think it is worthy of a Prinz award nomination. There are many themes that run through the narrative. For example, homophobia, loss of innocence, who am I, defiance of authority, and finding the inner voice. Ellen metamorphosis from child to adult starts when she realizes that her brother Link may be gay. She learns through books about what homosexuality is and learns through James about how it feels. She also learns that her father is not as open minded as he thinks he is. Although Ellen is the main character, I think not enough attention was paid towards Link. I think his character should have been developed more. There were many insinuations as to what Link thought, valued or believed, but he was never given a voice to confirm or deny. It left me feeling at a loss and confused. I wanted more as a reader and this was frustrating to me. Although, I do think that the book will stimulate the reader to think about the themes presented in the text.
Genre: Coming of age/edgy/realistic
Annotation: Ellen loves James and James loves Link, but Link is too confused to know who he loves. Garrett Freymann-Weyr writes a humor filled, coming of age portrait of a young girl becoming a woman. Ellen’s innocence and naivete are put to the test as she slowly realizes that the love of her life and her brother may be a couple.
Justification for rejection: My Heartbeat is story about a 14 year old girl trying to come to terms with her feelings for her older brother’s best friend. As she stumbles through this emotional journey, she begins to realize that the love of her life is love of her brother’s life, too. Unfortunately, her brother has internal demons that keep him from expressing any real emotion and hiding the fact that he may be gay. This book is a true depiction of a coming of age young adult novel. The main character, Ellen, is the innocent beginning her journey into adulthood. Her brother link is friend, her sage, but also becomes Ellen’s antagonist as she tries to break the traditional non-communication that absorbs her family. She wants to understand her brother’s conflicting emotional despair and try to help him embrace his sexual identity, whatever that ends up to be. At the same time, she is madly in love with James, her brother’s love. As her brother runs from his internal demons, Ellen and James become closer and begin to date. As James and Ellen get closer, Link goes deeper inside himself. This was a great book, but I don’t think it is worthy of a Prinz award nomination. There are many themes that run through the narrative. For example, homophobia, loss of innocence, who am I, defiance of authority, and finding the inner voice. Ellen metamorphosis from child to adult starts when she realizes that her brother Link may be gay. She learns through books about what homosexuality is and learns through James about how it feels. She also learns that her father is not as open minded as he thinks he is. Although Ellen is the main character, I think not enough attention was paid towards Link. I think his character should have been developed more. There were many insinuations as to what Link thought, valued or believed, but he was never given a voice to confirm or deny. It left me feeling at a loss and confused. I wanted more as a reader and this was frustrating to me. Although, I do think that the book will stimulate the reader to think about the themes presented in the text.
Genre: Coming of age/edgy/realistic
Friday, June 5, 2009
The Sandman
Gaiman, Neil. The Sandman. New York: DC Comics, 1994
Annotation: This is not a bedtime story. World’s End is filled with bizarre characters, some barely human, each waiting to spill their dark fantasy and twisted tales of terror. Each tale is richly illustrated to scare even the most hardened reader.
Justification for Nomination: The Sandman is a graphic odyssey of stranded travelers waiting out a storm at the World’s End inn. To pass the time, while the storm rages around them, they take turns telling tales of horror and mystery. I have to be honest and say that I was not looking forward to reading a graphic novel. I did not think that this kind of literature would satisfy and keep my interest. Boy was I wrong. Once I picked it up I could not put it down and read it the whole way through. Gaimen’s rock solid story telling is awesome. It reminded me of a cross between Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. Each story is smart and frightening. The illustrations are classic comic book style with a wide spectrum of vivid colors to grab the reader’s attention. The drawings detail from the setting to the expression on the characters faces reach out and grab the reader. The square bound panels made it easier to follow for a first time graphic novel reader, like me. The Author uses word balloons in each panel that designated who the speaker was and bordered captions for transition and narration. The gutter spaces were very small which helped with the quick pacing throughout the novel. There were many different panel to panel transitions. Moment to moment, action to action, subject to subject, and scene to scene were all used throughout the text. The Sandman is the 8th installment in the series of graphic novels written by Gaimen. All publishing rights are reserved to DC Comics. I am excited to start at volume one and read through them all. I do agree with the author when he stated that it was intended for mature audiences. Some of the concepts would be hard for a younger YA to grasp. For example, a character named Jim is telling a tale and within the tale a different character begins to tell a tale and then the story reverses back Jim the original story teller. A more mature YA would be able to follow this type of dialogue without losing track of who is telling the story. I encourage anyone with a liking or as in my case a dislike for gothic graphic novels to read this book.
Genre: Graphic Novel/Horror/Mystery
Annotation: This is not a bedtime story. World’s End is filled with bizarre characters, some barely human, each waiting to spill their dark fantasy and twisted tales of terror. Each tale is richly illustrated to scare even the most hardened reader.
Justification for Nomination: The Sandman is a graphic odyssey of stranded travelers waiting out a storm at the World’s End inn. To pass the time, while the storm rages around them, they take turns telling tales of horror and mystery. I have to be honest and say that I was not looking forward to reading a graphic novel. I did not think that this kind of literature would satisfy and keep my interest. Boy was I wrong. Once I picked it up I could not put it down and read it the whole way through. Gaimen’s rock solid story telling is awesome. It reminded me of a cross between Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. Each story is smart and frightening. The illustrations are classic comic book style with a wide spectrum of vivid colors to grab the reader’s attention. The drawings detail from the setting to the expression on the characters faces reach out and grab the reader. The square bound panels made it easier to follow for a first time graphic novel reader, like me. The Author uses word balloons in each panel that designated who the speaker was and bordered captions for transition and narration. The gutter spaces were very small which helped with the quick pacing throughout the novel. There were many different panel to panel transitions. Moment to moment, action to action, subject to subject, and scene to scene were all used throughout the text. The Sandman is the 8th installment in the series of graphic novels written by Gaimen. All publishing rights are reserved to DC Comics. I am excited to start at volume one and read through them all. I do agree with the author when he stated that it was intended for mature audiences. Some of the concepts would be hard for a younger YA to grasp. For example, a character named Jim is telling a tale and within the tale a different character begins to tell a tale and then the story reverses back Jim the original story teller. A more mature YA would be able to follow this type of dialogue without losing track of who is telling the story. I encourage anyone with a liking or as in my case a dislike for gothic graphic novels to read this book.
Genre: Graphic Novel/Horror/Mystery
Monday, June 1, 2009
Sold
McCormick, Patricia, Sold. New York: Hyperion Books for Children 2006
Annotation: Sold into the sex slave industry by her gambling step father, Lakshmi must endure unspeakable horrors for a thirteen year old girl. Her only hope is work off her step father’s debt so she can return to her mountain village in Nepal and see her mother again.
Justification for nomination: This book is written in free verse by the main character, Lakshmi.. It is raw and real as the author Patricia McCormick details the horrific nightmare this young girl must endure. She is drugged and beaten into submission until she gives in and lives a life of a prostitute. McCormick traveled to India and Nepal, where she interviewed the women of Calcutta’s red light district. Sold is based on the reality of the lives of many young girls and women who are told they are going to the beautiful cities to work as maids in homes where they will be treated wonderfully. These women endure cruelty beyond words just to survive. McCormick depiction of the life and struggles of Lakshmi is creative and skillful. Her depth of detail makes the characters believable. Sold was also a National Book Award Finalist. I recommend everyone to read this book to get a sense of looking through a vivid window into the harsh, cruel existence suffered by so many in India.
Genre: Multicultural/Memoir
Annotation: Sold into the sex slave industry by her gambling step father, Lakshmi must endure unspeakable horrors for a thirteen year old girl. Her only hope is work off her step father’s debt so she can return to her mountain village in Nepal and see her mother again.
Justification for nomination: This book is written in free verse by the main character, Lakshmi.. It is raw and real as the author Patricia McCormick details the horrific nightmare this young girl must endure. She is drugged and beaten into submission until she gives in and lives a life of a prostitute. McCormick traveled to India and Nepal, where she interviewed the women of Calcutta’s red light district. Sold is based on the reality of the lives of many young girls and women who are told they are going to the beautiful cities to work as maids in homes where they will be treated wonderfully. These women endure cruelty beyond words just to survive. McCormick depiction of the life and struggles of Lakshmi is creative and skillful. Her depth of detail makes the characters believable. Sold was also a National Book Award Finalist. I recommend everyone to read this book to get a sense of looking through a vivid window into the harsh, cruel existence suffered by so many in India.
Genre: Multicultural/Memoir
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