Reality TV Meets YA Fiction

I hate reality TV. I'm still in mourning over the writers' strike that brought the onslaught of shows devoted to creating a never ending parade of fame seeking people displaying all manner of, uh, eccentric qualities before us night after night after night. Bring back the writers!

Okay, so, as my students know, there is one reality show I can't flip past without becoming glued in the same way you can't turn away from a car wreck: Buried Alive. Extreme hoarding. The worst episodes feature minor children living in these homes, often explaining the ripple effect on their lives. And so when I read the review of this book I had to have it. Having finally wrested it from the student population, I got to read it this week.



Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu.

Told from the perspective of sixteen year old Lucy, whose mom is an extreme hoarder, Omololu paints a vivid and believable picture of what it's like to navigate adolescence while living in self imposed squalor. Her terror of a first best friend finding out (having been dubbed "garbage girl" after the last friend accidentally discovered the truth) and her inability to lead anything close to a normal life is laid out here with pitch perfect clarity, no whining involved. Lucy's intelligent, thoughtful reflections on her present dilemma and past experiences make clear why children in her circumstances would keep the secret. Her dilemma is horrible enough to keep you turning the pages to find out what might happen next while entertaining all the pitfalls and possibilities of each option.

BOB Reading Challenge

Come up with ten new books for 7th graders to read in a battle of the books taking into account reading levels, gender preferences in genres, quality of writing, length, availability in paper ....

Recently considered -



Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman

Read as a potential replacement for Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman?, Ruby in the Smoke is also a mystery that takes place in Victorian London. I love Pullman, but his intent was clearly to write a Victorian novel and I'm afraid his success means it isn't the best choice for us. I don't think the style would appeal to many of my students.



Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Fabulous. I've been wanting to read this one for awhile. An unusually tall seventh grader (with facial hair!) is often mistaken for being older than his twelve years and admonished for the kind of mistakes one expects of a twelve year old boy. When someone assumes his female friend is his daughter, the benefits of people's assumptions dawn on him and he and his friend Florida embark on a series of adventures. The somewhat unbelievable plot takes them to an experimental space program where he is selected to be the "dad" accompanying five children into space. His attempts to impersonate a dad and father his friend (by reading a self help book on talking to one's teen) lead to a deeper understanding of dadness. The story is written by an englishman and takes place in London. I wonder whether the britishisms would be too much?

And just for fun ...



A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve

The last in the Hungry City Chronicles. Thick, thank god, and wonderful.



Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger

The experiences of an Indian - American teenager in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Sometimes too preachy, but an interesting reflection on being brown in America, particularly when we were in a panic post 9/11. Being brought up by a single mom who has rejected her family and their traditions, the story is about a girl who desperately wants the big, messy, ethnic experience of her best friend who is thoroughly Irish - American. Her journey to discover her family and its roots teaches a lot about being Sikh.

Recently Read

Sapphique by Catherine Fisher.

Sequel to Incarceron. Not as thrilling as the first. The ending was twisted to make it as happy as possible, and there was a niggling sense that if I remembered every detail of both books I would find she had done things that were inconsistent. Still, a good read with some great characters and plenty of food for thought about what we value and why.







Infernal Devices by Philip Reeve.


Next after Predator's Gold, I could not put it down. Better written than it's predecessors, though perhaps not as good a story as the last. An impressive ending that has me scrambling to get hold of A Darkling Plain, last in the Hungry City Chronicles. Municipal Darwinism rolls on as Hester and Tom take an idyllic break in the now static city of Anchorage. But when their daughter leaves in search of adventure, they follow and catch up with the world.

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.


Newbery award winner. The book takes place during the Great Depression and is parts A Long Way from Chicago, Nowhere to Call Home, and The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate,  though not as good as Peck or Kelly. Although it was a pleasurable read, I could not get the title of the article, "Has the Newbery Lost Its Way?" out of my head as I read it. I can't see this appealing to many kids.





Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce.


I trudged through about half of this before abandoning it. It never drew me in or engaged me at all. The characters seemed stilted and unreal, the setting similar. And the plot? Yawn. So disappointing after that great cover.

Municipal Darwinism and the Usual Kind

Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles) by Philip Reeve.

The first in what is now a five part series, I read Fever Crumb (the newly released prequel) this summer, thereby unintentionally getting the order right. My expectations were high, given the complexity and style of Fever Crumb.  Although a rollicking good adventure featuring a boy who lives on London - the traction city that was once the United Kingdom - and a girl (of course) who is bent on avenging the death of her mother by hunting down the highly respected municipal darwinist - the book was somewhat disappointing when compared with its prequel. Nevertheless, the epic battle between the municipal darwinists and the anti-traction league make for both the kind of reading that is being wrapped up in an action adventure as well as that which comes from reading something that is trying to suggest other, deeper thoughts to you. Which side are you on? Why? Does that square with how you view your world in the 21st century? The last one is key, as this whole series is posited as the inevitable future of our technology driven world. Fever Crumb takes place around the 31st century, this first book takes place in the 35th century when the extreme weirdness of Fever Crumb is now quaint, poorly remembered history.

The progression of Reeve as a writer is apparent in this series. If I had to recommend just one, it would be the prequel, though admittedly only to those advanced enough to make all of the connections independently that the series would have made for them explicitly. For those who love Westerfield's Leviathan, it's a great series.




How Angel Peterson Got His Name by Gary Paulsen.

I came across this while shelf reading (insert great gnashing of teeth here) and pulled it because I remembered the title being tossed around in a class recently  and also because my 7th graders are doing a non-fiction reading project. A slim volume (always a plus as far as my students are concerned) I started reading it and could not put it down. Although taking place in Paulsen's childhood, circa 1955, when, as he points out from time to time, there was no television or internet or safety apparel, the central theme of the book - 13 year old boys do really dumb, dangerous stuff - is timeless. Hilarious. He does not bore with too much detail, appreciates that his audience merely needs him to set scenes, not babble on endlessly about his childhood. A must read for the boys who do these things - great ideas! - as well as anyone who comes into regular contact with the creature that is the 13 year old boy - why do they do these things?

Cohn and Levithan: In Sync

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.

There is something about the way these two write together that is so pitch perfect and in sync that it's easy to forget that they are two individuals writing alternate chapters. And yet one gets the sense that, with a male and female author, the characters are formed by perspectives from both genders and are definitely enriched by it.

The plot unfolds quickly leaving the reader to figure references out as you move along, which is a blessing after too many awkward YA novels that feel the need to spell every last thing out and end up using stilted, fake dialog to start - "'Hi Fluffy, " I said to my cat Fluffy." We meet Nick in a club on stage with his band (he's the bass guitarist) and quickly learn that he has just been dumped by Tris. When she enters the club he falls apart and - in an effort to avoid her and her new boyfriend - he turns to Norah, who happens to be standing next to him, and asks if she would be his girlfriend for the next five minutes. What follows is a night on the town in Manhattan, punk style, and the dawning realization that five minutes may not be enough.

Although both Nick and Norah have chosen to be 'straight-edge' - no drinking or drugs - and their unfolding romance is as sweet as an old Spencer Tracy/Katherine Hepburn movie, the language is enough to make me hesitate to add it to my collection. The F bomb is used liberally - noun, adjective, adverb, verb, etc. I know that this would make parents crazy. But isn't the upward trend of YA lit due in large part to the willingness of authors to write for and in the language of YAs? Isn't the underlying story and character of the characters the important thing?

I'm on the fence. But this is two in a row by this pair that is so intelligent and fun - see Dash and Lily's Book of Dares - that I am already on to Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List. How to justify keeping such great stuff from my students? Not to mention the cover art - fabulous!

They've Been Going In and Out of Style But Are Guaranteed to Raise a Smile

The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg.

Penny Lane Bloom, and her sisters Rita and Lucy, are the progeny of Beatles fans. Duh.

Penny's lifelong love, Nate, shatters her illusions of perfect love when she catches him with another girl on the night she planned to offer herself to him, albeit with doubts. She decides to swear off dating and boys for the remainder of her high school years since all of the boys are jerks, losers, and trouble. She ends up taking a large number of the girls at her high school along for the ride as they discover how different life is when they focus on school and friends rather than pleasing a boy. But wait, not all boys are losers ... A fun read. I especially loved how Eulberg blames Dav Pilkey for having written the book, promising good humor. And of course, for any Beatles fan, the continuous reference to lyrics and band is a bonus.

Extreme Sheep

Had to share this from Mark Mewes via my husband's Facebook page, since my kiddos can't see Facebook at school ....