Retro Reviews (more from 2003)
This is the second blog post with the mission of rescuing posts from the earlier iteration of Spicyreads. This one features my 13-year-old daughter (and I believe this picture is pretty close to that time period — Ella is now 28). I love that Fat Kid Rules the World is in this post — a debut and before it went on to win a Printz Honor! I still STILL point to Brook’s masterly setting in Lucas as an example for students who wish to write. Runaway Girl was, at the time, my introduction to Louise Bourgeois; I have read MUCH MORE about this amazing artist since then — if you haven’t read this book, CORRECT THAT. Same for the Printz winning, First Part Last by genius Angela Johnson (in fact, read Toning the Sweep too, one of my favorites not in this review). I am still one who believes that the Bartimaeus books are BETTER than Harry Potter (and it is interesting that this review welcomes the fifth book of HP). Joyce Maynard’s The Ususal Rules feels especially relevant NOW! And finally, God Went to Beauty School is STILL a gem (but with a new title and cover — see below) and now comes with Marla Frazee’s delightful artwork. This short book can be finished quickly and then you will go back and linger, linger, linger — still adore this one!
P.S. Note the excellent titles listed at the very end. There are some great books listed! And, as stated in my other retro post, I have not edited my reviews. Enjoy!
___________________________________________________________________
“My thirteen-year-old daughter, Penni, ambled cautiously to the door of the Best Books For Young Adults meeting room in Toronto this summer. She was convinced that two of the committee members would certainly come to blows. During the meeting, just before lunch, these two people were practically down each other’s throat passionately arguing that, yes, a book should be included on this year’s list, or no, the book does not belong. Neither member minced any words and both were very clear articulating reasons to support their vote. We could see veins in their necks; hear raw emotion in their voices. So when the two reached the door, Penni was braced for conflict. She was not disappointed, but she was shocked: The two argued about where they were going to eat lunch together as they walked out arm in arm, smiling.
In this spirit of heated, communal reading I invite disagreement, wild-eyed cheering, and passionate enthusiasm over another summer of great YA books for students of all ages. My election to the Printz Committee means that this will be the last time for a couple of years that I can second guess the committee and boldly predict winners of the best young adult book of the year. So please do argue. Please do disagree. We can even do lunch!
Of the many books I’ve read this summer, these eight books still have me talking. Watch for them this January, when the Young Adult Library Services Association announces the 2004 award winning books. In alphabetical order by author, the winners are:
Brooks, Kevin. Lucas, Scholastic, 2003, $16.95, (0–439–45698–3).
“Stories aren’t facts, Cait, they’re not details. Stories are feelings.” And so begins the allegorical journey into the life of Caitlin McCann as measured by Lucas. A story, as the cover tells us, filled with love and hate. Set among the mudflats on the small island of Hale whose access to the mainland is controlled by the tides, Brooks uses his setting to force attention to the tides of human behavior; the pull and counter pull of love and hate. Lucas sees color auras of people and places. He shows up waiting when characters need to see him. Dogs don’t bark at him. The island residents merely want to kill him. “People don’t like it when they don’t know what you are. They don’t like things that don’t fit. It frightens them. They’d rather have a monster they know than a mystery they don’t. In a place like this, the fear takes hold and spreads. It feeds on itself.” (167). We find ourselves sucked into this story bit by bit until all 423 pages seem not nearly long enough! Brooks weaves a nice blend of mood, whether describing the delicate bone-handled knife carving of Deef the dog or the encounter with evil Jamie and the same bone-handled knife. While this story is entitled Lucas, it is about Caitlin. It demonstrates how one intelligent young girl filters, sifts, and sorts the various truths of her life and grows. Teens will find PLENTY to discuss with this one, not the least of which is whether violence can solve problems.
Going, K.L. Fat Kid Rules the World, Putnam, 2003, $17.99, (0–399–23990–1).
What a thrill it is to read an author’s first novel and find yourself covered with goose bumps! One of the quotes on the back cover states that you haven’t read this one before. Believe me, you haven’t. The 296-pound sweating fat kid in tan pants doesn’t commit suicide. The book does not end with Troy happily on a diet. On the second to the last page Troy says, “I’m the poster boy for obese drummers.” (182). The book begins and ends with the 296-pound fat kid knowing that his very presence directs our vision. What will give you the goose bumps are the sights and sounds while witnessing this performance. The beat of this book is that Troy is fat. He does want to commit suicide. Troy plans to jump into the path of a subway train. Skinny Curt MacCrae, homeless punk rock guitar virtuoso thinks Troy is laughing at him just before Troy plans to jump — and an unlikely relationship begins. Curt gets it into his head that Troy will be his drummer for a new band he is forming. The only problem is that high-school-junior-Troy last played the drums in the eighth grade and he is a sweating 296-pound fat kid in tan pants. I’ll bang the drum on the bandwagon for this book!
Greenberg, Jan & Jordan, Sandra. Runaway Girl: The Artist Louise Bourgeois, Abrams, 2003, $19.95, (0–8109–4237–2).
“It takes a kind of fearlessness in your art making to cut your parents up into little pieces and put them down the drain. It is in a world of fantasy. But then you wake up, you are afraid of what you’ve done. But then comes the reparation and exorcism. All my work is that. I start with these incredible murderous scenes. But I won’t leave the studio until I’ve done something to exorcise the murder I’ve committed. Then I feel fine. “ (17). This book is an Abrams book. That translates into a beautifully bound, extremely well illustrated, high quality piece of art in its own right. I knew virtually nothing about Bourgeois before picking up this book; now I want to visit Bourgeois exhibits, collect Bourgeois replicas, and encourage people to read this superb book! Greenberg and Jordan include an introduction for looking at a piece of sculpture, a guide to galleries displaying Bourgeois’ art, glossary of terms, bibliography, and endnotes. Bourgeois was born in Paris. Runaway Girl reveals Bourgeois’s secret family life. It follows her through Paris until the time she meets, marries, and moves to New York City with her art historian husband. Bourgeois created and kept hundreds of pieces of art that ran counter to the prevailing, male dominated view of art at the time. While Bourgeois’ art is said to be “feminist,” her art really tells the personal story of who she is. Bourgeois states that she is reluctant to explain anything she created. She believes her art should speak for itself. Runaway Girl depicts a poignant personal story that has much broader implications for society as a whole. The authors should be commended for their three dimensional look at a fascinating artist. Those readers in the Grand Rapids area may want to travel to Meijer Gardens to see for themselves one extra large example of Louise Bourgeois’ work. One of her huge spiders, Maman, crawls around the garden. Read this book before you go see it!
Johnson, Angela. First Part Last, Simon & Schuster, 2003, $15.95 (0–689–84922–2).
It is an exceptionally rare book that travels through the straw vote and the final vote for Best Books for Young Adults without a single no vote. First Part Last is the only book to do that so far this year — with good reason. Bobby is a typical teenage boy, with the typical teenage boy interests: sex and girls topping the list. Like many urban tales, this one includes a young girl getting pregnant. When Nia gives Bobby the news of their pregnancy, Bobby is celebrating his sweet sixteenth birthday. Nia’s news changes Bobby’s life, but in a surprising, unique way. Fear not! Bobby does not stop being a knuckleheaded, impulsive teenager who does dumb things. Like many teenage boys, however, Bobby takes responsibility for his actions. Johnson has written a story about a young, Black man who becomes a single parent despite a society, a community, two families, and several friends that tell him he cannot. Told in then and now flashbacks, we see Bobby agonize with his decision to do what is right for his child. We see him struggle, make mistakes, and live past them, despite the fact that Johnson does not romanticize fatherhood and the hard work caring for babies. First Part Last is perhaps the only book featuring a young, black single father. This book should be ordered by every high school in the country; teachers and librarians should promote it every chance they get. This book also has the advantage of one of the very best covers to ever grace a young adult book.
Maynard, Joyce. The Usual Rules, St. Martin’s Press, 2003, $24.95 (0–312–24261–1).
Wendy wakes up one morning and visualizes the clothing that she will wear to her eighth grade class. She consulted with her mother Janet about her outfit yesterday but of course, mothers, as a rule will not be able to help teenage daughters with important things like looks. Her six-year-old brother Louie jumps into bed with her and cuddles until they both head downstairs to the smell of fresh French toast that stepfather Josh has made. Mom goes to work, Wendy goes to school, and Josh and Louie stay home. The day is September 11 and Mom is killed just a few short hours later in her office on the 84th floor of one of the twin towers. Without being maudlin, Maynard creates a family so real, a grief so real that readers virtually smell the French toast cooking, the towers burning. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Wendy untangles the broken shards of rules and convention. Her biological father, who deserted the family years ago, arrives to “save” Wendy and whisks her away to California. Even in California, however, the usual rules just don’t seem to have meaning anymore. Wendy thrashes about, sometimes gracefully, sometimes destructively, in her attempt to create a way to live with excruciating pain. The lack of quotation marks and the wandering back and forth in time add to the meaning without being too difficult to decipher. While Maynard, perhaps, creates more tragic stories to float in front of Wendy than reason dictates, the sensual feast, the lyrical writing, and the ambitious nature of the story more than make up for any shortcomings. “Some people might have gotten fed up with a person like Peter Pan. He was so irresponsible, but Wendy was patient. She loved him for the good parts and forgave the rest.” (4). Just imagine that someone asked you to write a novel that conveyed the sense of loss rendered by 9/11 and I think you too will find yourself loving those good parts so much that you forgive the rest. You will need Kleenex for this fine, fine book!
Rowling, JK. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Year 5), Scholastic, 2003, (0–439–56761–0 reinforced library binding).
Harry Potter is not eligible for the Printz award — a book must be able to stand on its own without need of previous volumes. A case can be made, however, suggesting that the events of the previous four books permeate our culture to the extent that anyone could pick this book up and enjoy it even without reading any of the other books. Perhaps some readers are wondering, “Why draw any more attention to Harry Potter?” The answer to this question can be answered in part with the following question. What other almost 900 page book attracts students who have better things to do than read? The rest of the answer stems from the fine creative writing, especially the way Rowling has aged Harry. This new, edgier, angrier Harry is all too believable by this reader (who lives in a house with four teens). Rowling also does an exquisite job of keeping the reader in doubt about foregone conclusions. The relationship between Harry and Professor Snape is not a surprise and, miraculously, yet again it is a surprise. There are a bevy of new beasts, great new characters, and surprising twists in the existing relationships (Harry’s Dad, Percy, and even Neville). Fans will not be disappointed. Teachers and librarians will smile as student after student plugs through all 870 pages!
Rylant, Cynthia. God Went to Beauty School, HarperCollins, 2003, $14.99 (0–06–009433–8). [Note: the new edition has a new title: God Got a Dog]
We go from the 870 page Harry Potter book to this mere wisp of a book. Weighing in at a mere 56 pages that are filled with acres of white space, the 23 poems in this book easily hold their own against any of the other heavy weight titles reviewed. God opens up a beauty store called “Nails by Jim,” God buys couches at Pottery Barn, He writes fan mail to country music singers, and He even wrote a book (“no not that one”) to a boy who later became an author. Rylant includes subtle Biblical references that ask readers to envision a God who knows what it means to be human and rejoices along with humanity. While some are sure to see sacrilege, I find this book to be totally irreverent without being at all disrespectful. Indeed if the reaction of the various clergy to whom I have been given this book is any indication, expect Churches to be among the best customers of this probing, poetic, delightful book. This book is a natural for a performing arts group. It is certain to provoke enthusiastic, wild-eyed discussion. Warning! Do not approach without a sense of humor!
Stroud, John. Amulet of Samarkand Bartimaeus Trilogy Book One, Simon & Schuster, 2003, $17.95, (0–7868–1859-X).
Note: This book is the only one reviewed from an advanced reader copy. A new fantasy series that rivals Harry Potter (and it will make an awesome movie too) is The Bartimaeus Trilogy. Bartimaeus is a djinni, not the one imprisoned in a lamp, but every bit as powerful, at least in his own mind. “I am Bartimaeus! I am Sakhr al-Jinni, N’gorso the Mighty, and the Serpent of Silver Plumes! I have rebuilt the walls of Uruk, Karnak, and Prague. I have spoken with Solomon. I have run with the buffalo fathers of the plains. I have watched over Old Zimbabwe till the stones fell and the jackals fed on its people. I recognize no master. So I charge you in your turn, boy. Who are you to summon me?” (7–8). Bartimaeus has an attitude. He works on several levels, sees on all seven of the essential plains. Humans can only see on one. To help the pathetic human reader Bartimaeus uses footnotes to give a taste of his multi-leveled world. Unfortunately for Bartimaeus a dumb, young magician has learned his name and summoned him. So far, Nathaniel has made no mistakes to exploit. Nathaniel has ordered Bartimaeus to steal the amulet of Samarkand. The magician Simon Lovelace has humiliated Nathaniel. Stealing the amulet is Nathaniel’s attempt at revenge. The only problems are that Simon Lovelace commands vastly greater powers, Bartimaeus will not willingly cooperate, and Nathaniel is not even a magician. Nathaniel is only an apprentice whose master thinks he is far too young and dumb to deal with a djinn. When Bartimaeus does steal the amulet, Nathaniel’s problems have only begun!
Other great 2003 books to watch, include:
• Alt Ed by Catherine Atkins
• Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe
• King of the Mild Frontier by Chris Crutcher
• Friction by ER Frank
• Target by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
• Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja
• The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
• Acceleration by Graham McNamee
• Bottled Up by Jaye Murray
• 33 Snowfish by Adam Rapp”
