Graphic Novels

American Born Chinese was short and sweet with multiple narratives which were charming and drove the theme home. The illustrations were nice, almost cartoonish like a lot of stuff younger people watch on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. Personally, I love graphic novels. They're a perfect combination of art and storytelling. Often the author is also the illustrator, which allows them to express their story in more than one way. The pictures can say just as much, sometimes more, than words on a page. Often the stories in graphic novels are very intense and the images compliment that. Perhaps its something about the way graphic novels are paced or maybe there's just a lot of really great graphic novelists, but I find that most graphic novels are very exciting and interesting. I can't say I've ever read one that I didn't enjoy. I feel that the graphic novel works well for young adult fiction because not only can it discuss serious issues that teens are interested in, as many graphic novels are gritty and serious, but it also has that fast paced, easy to consume reading which appeals to younger audiences. It especially appeals to those who don't like to read and prefer movies, because reading a graphic novel is a lot like watching a movie. I know I will personally continue to read graphic novels, but I've always like them so that's nothing new.

Novels in Verse

As I said in class, I read "What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know" which is a really fast paced verse novel through the perspective of a 14 year old boy. The article we read was really helpful to help me see the value in novels in verse because the one I read, along with Brown Girl Dreaming, didn't really show me that. I like the way the author showed the graph of a novel in verse surrounded by drama, poetry, and novels. When put that way, it starts to make more sense. The comparisons to drama throughout were also helpful to imagine the character as someone presenting a speech on stage or multiple characters having their chance in the spotlight to tell a story. I would have like to read a novel in verse with multiple perspectives because it does sound like a good use of that form. I have read a few young adult novels with multiple perspectives and I really enjoyed it. I think it was also helpful when the author of the article compared novels in verse to drama in that we need to set the stage in a way for ourselves and it's very based on character's voice. Although I still am not totally sold on novels in verse, I do see a lot more value in them after reading the article and I think if done well, it can be really successful and beautiful. Unfortunately, the one I read was not done well, the poems were simply broken up paragraphs, and it felt like lazy writing. I would like to give novels in verse another chance some day.

Brown Girl Dreaming

I was completely underwhelmed by this book and I think perhaps it had everything to do with the lyric style. I felt this was a very character driven piece in which the characters are not discussed as much as I would like. There was a lot more I wanted to know about her father, her younger brother's father, her mom, her grandparents, and her siblings. It moved so quickly that everything felt almost inconsequential. It was a memoir of her life, and as important as it might be to her, it was not important to me at all. My other issue with it is that I just wasn't convinced that the narrator was really a child. She wrote like an adult and didn't even try to give the impression that she was the age that she was trying to write as. It was hard to take it seriously. Overall, it was an easy read, but an incredibly forgettable one and I don't think that had to be the case. I certainly don't feel that this deserves a national book award, but that's just my opinion.

The House of the Scorpian

This was the second book that we've read that I really enjoyed reading and kept me interested the whole way through. The other one was, of course, The Book Thief. I think the reason I enjoyed those two the most is because they really got at a lot of deeper questions and I was able to empathize with the characters more. When I connect with a book on a deeper level, I tend to enjoy it more because I can get more out of it. The fact that it was science fiction really gave it more of an entertainment value for me as well. I had read this book in the past, but I only remembered it up to a certain point so the ending was just as much a surprise to me as it was for the rest of the class, though it wasn't exactly a surprising ending. I really enjoyed the subtle way that it touched on big issues because it gave the reader the ability to either leave it or dig deeper. I think personally it's hard not to dig deeper when given subjects like cloning and slavery, but I can see how other people would rather sit back and be taken on the ride that the book is offering them. All in all, I really appreciated this book not just for its plot, but for the amount of thought that went into it. It didn't feel like a simple story told simply for entertainment. It was not forgettable either despite having read other books about the same thing.

The Graveyard Book

I'm going to try to take into consideration that this book is meant for ten year olds and above. I have a little brother who just turned nine and I think about how immature he still is and how he wouldn't know a lot of the words in this book and I'm not sure if he would like it or not. The book starts out with a murder, with the description of a wet knife. Perhaps a young child wouldn't immediately understand how creepy and dark that is, but maybe they would be smart enough to piece it together and realize the knife is wet with blood.
Any way, regardless of whether or not a ten year old would like or even understand this book thoroughly, I personally did not really find it all that great. I was just bored by it. Luckily, it was a quick read so I can't complain too much. I think the reason I didn't enjoy it as much as the others is the same reason that I didn't enjoy Looking for Alaska. I just simply didn't feel connected to the characters. In this book, it was more because the book was very plot and setting centered, and less centered on the characters. I didn't really get to know the people in the book, like Bod's ghost parents or even Scarlet, so I didn't really care what was happening. I liked Bod a little bit, but he was kind of boring as a character. I wasn't really interested in the magic and supernatural things happening, but I can see why a kid would be entertained by it. Yet, this book isn't really for kids, it's for young adults (sort of, the earlier side of the spectrum).
This book to me seemed like a lot of other books which rely on supernatural elements to carry the story, but don't really have impressive writing or much that really sticks with the reader once it's finished. Overall, it's a pretty forgettable book for me. Sorry if I'm being too harsh and some of you loved this book.

Irony in YA Lit

I won't pretend like this critical reading wasn't a difficult one. I feel like I understand it to an extent, but perhaps it goes too deep down the rabbit hole for my comfort. It's true that there is irony in adult authors writing young adult literature in the voice (typically) of a young adult. An adult can't really take back all of the experiences and knowledge that they've gained since they were a young adult and therefore can't prevent their own voice from leaking onto the pages, no matter how hard they may try to stay true to the young adult voice. Maybe it was only me, but I remember realizing as a young adult reader that most of the books I was reading were written by adults who had already gone through all of the stuff in the book. It made me wonder why they continued to write young adult fiction or how they were even able to remember what it was truly like. For me, there was questioning, but maybe for most there wasn't. However, I think that the author of this critical reading assumes that young adults aren't capable of questioning the voice of the author and that they need some hints or clues to make them question the voice that they're reading either by making the narrator unreliable or by creating other characters and voices which offer a different perspective. I think that she is possibly underestimating the intelligence of young people or the adult-ness of young people and their ability to relate to the adult voice. Perhaps I'm steering away from the conversation in the article at this point.
I would say that Dante and Aristotle offered several voices in the book which would allow the reader to take form their own opinions. It might not be the perfect example of what the author of this article is looking for, but I think it counts. Looking for Alaska, however, seems to be exactly what the author is arguing against. There's definitely irony in the relationship between the author and the reader and the voice of the narrator is not very diverse. I'm not sure if Northern Light went with Bahktins theory, but I know it offered several different voices at least. It's difficult for me to tell, but I know that all books were written by adults. Not all were written in first person, though. Perhaps that allows for more double-voiced discourse in and of itself. Any way, for those of you who understand the article better, please leave you comments and throw me a bone here.

A Northern Light

This book was actually pretty refreshing after reading Looking for Alaska. There are a lot of issues in this book like abuse, sexism, racism, love vs independence. Using the time period was a great technique to bring these issues to light, but they are still very relevant today. Many young women are still asking the question, do I get married and have children or continue my education and further my career? I thought this would be a book about murder or even a book about a moment in history, but really it was a coming of age story about a girl who needed to figure out for herself what she truly wanted out of life. I especially enjoyed this book because it was our first book so far with a female protagonist and I felt like any girl can relate to what she's going through, even though our lives are so vastly different. My only complaint was that I had the expectation of it being a book surrounding a real life murder and so it often felt like it was moving very slowly and going on too long about things that didn't seem to matter. Of course, it all mattered in the end. Her life on the farm, her friends and family, her teachers and coworkers, all ended up playing their part and having significance. I think this book is great for teens because it gives us a story that is far enough from our own lives to enjoy the story, but close enough to take something from it.

Looking for Alaska

Warning: if you loved/love this book and you don't want to hear anything negative being said about it, then I suggest you don't read on (unless you have to because you're in my group).

It was no surprise to me that Alaska Young died. The book is titled Looking for Alaska and is split into before and after sections, the before ending just as Alaska leaves to drink and drive. This book centers itself around this one event, what life was before and what it was after for Pudge and the Colonel and the other students and faculty. Yet at the end of the book I found myself asking what the purpose was. Was it just to pull at the readers heart strings? To go with the assumption that if it makes you cry then it must be good? What does a reader take away from this?

I'm going to take a moment and talk about my personal experience and how it effected my reading of the book, since that is discussed in the article we had to read. I can relate to this book maybe more so than most of my classmates (though I don't know what they've been through so I can't say for sure). About three years ago, I lost one of my best friends. He was in a car accident and died shortly after. I had spoken to him just hours earlier. We were close, but hadn't been that close for that long. We had only been friends for a couple years and only became good friends within the last year before the accident. I even had feelings for him, which I tried to repress because I was in a relationship at the time and I knew my feelings for him weren't genuine. When he died, I went through everything Pudge went through. All the stages of grief. One difference was there was no question of suicide. He just died. These things happen. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but it's just the kind of person I am. So you'd think that because I can relate so much to the book that I'd really love it, but I don't. Let me try to explain why...

I said in class that this book is full of cliches and that's a big part of why I couldn't take it seriously. Although a cliche now and again is excusable or can go unnoticed, for me this was like every boarding school drama ever. I didn't feel invested in Alaska at all when she died, so it didn't shock me or break my heart. I barely even felt bad for Pudge because so much of his feelings were selfish. We don't get much of an idea of who Alaska really is and much of what she shows is clearly an act. Pudge falls for the girl who is acting, not for who she really is. When she dies he mourns for the girl who was acting because he didn't know who she really was. I don't think he ever REALLY wanted to know. Alaska was just a dream for him. It would have been different if we had Alaska's perspective, then maybe I could sympathize with her and understand her, but I just didn't care. She's quirky and hot and crazy and random and it's so overdone.

On a side note - some students were suggesting that she is bipolar or suffers from depression and I disagree. I definitely don't think she's bipolar. I can see how she might suffer from depression, but there's no serious clues. What's really her problem is she's still coping with a trauma or rather not coping with it. We should not be so quick to call a female character crazy or suffering from bipolar disorder simply because she cries a couple times in the book and makes dark jokes. There just isn't enough evidence to say that she is bipolar.

Any way, I've come to the conclusion that what this really does is help young adults cope with the concept of death and loss because more than likely when you're a young adult is when you'll have your first experience with the death of a loved one. It does explore some important ideas about letting go and moving on. It also gives a pretty decent depiction of the thought process and cycle a person goes through once they've lost someone. Ultimately, I was not impressed. The fact that it ended with a cheesy essay really put me off. But I've been through all of that so I didn't need this book.

I have two questions:
If you HAVE lost a best friend, did you have a different experience from me?
If you HAVEN'T lost a loved one in your life, was it perhaps more impactful?

Impactful Reading Paper

The Blue is for Nightmares Series

            I first read this series when I was about eleven or twelve years old. At that point, I was not quite a teenager, I was just hitting puberty, and a lot of things were changing in my life. I was experiencing all of the turmoil most teenagers go through and then some. I had a million questions and a million feelings running through me constantly. What this series offered me was both an escape and some answers to all those questions and feelings.

            Since the book is about older teenagers (16-18 years old), I felt like it was giving me an idea of what life would be like. True, I wouldn’t be having premonitions or practicing magic, but I’d hopefully be kissing boys and growing up. This book was not a challenging read, but it did open my eyes to what it is to be a teenager and put your childhood aside. It was the first book that I had read which involved dating, kissing, having sex, fighting with your friends, dealing with a complicated relationship with you parents, and so on. These were all things I later would go through, but had no idea about at the time. After reading this series, I read several other series that also contained more mature content and I think in a lot of ways they helped me to grow up.

            As an adult, I’ve experience everything that I was wondering about back when I was twelve. Now I know what it’s really like to date, to be a part of girl drama, to fight with your parents, to fall in love, to get your heart broken, etc. It’s hard to look back at my past self and not cringe. Which is why, re-reading the second book of the series made me cringe often. Once you’ve passed that awkward, drama filled portion of your life, you never really want to experience it again.

            This was the first book that I ever fell in love with. I cared deeply about the characters and, in the third or fourth book when the love of the main character’s life is possibly dead, I sobbed my eyes out. It’s safe to say that I became completely immersed in the story while reading the series. As an adult, that immersion was completely gone. I couldn’t get past the awful dialogue, the boring drama, and the outdated references. Although the plot was interesting enough, it wasn’t the fast paced, thrilling read that it used to be. One of my favorite characters, PJ, who I used to think was quirky and funny, now seemed completely unrealistic and ridiculous. Never in my life have I ever met a group of teenagers that were that quirky and “cool”. The main character was much more relatable, but suddenly now she seemed bland. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

            Disappointment is truly the best way I can describe my experience re-reading my then favorite series. All the magic it contained through my naïve eyes was lost to my adult perspective. I think a lot of it has to do with the quality of the writing and how, now that I’ve read so much more, I can see the difference between something well written and something that’s just okay. This series doesn’t really grasp at any big questions or make you think. Perhaps that’s something adults crave more than teenagers. That’s not to say that all young adult literature doesn’t get at bigger questions, but there’s something appealing in the soap opera format of a lot of young adult books. When I was young, drama was intriguing. Now that I’ve had my fill, it’s just obnoxious.

            This book was not terrible. It was not all that great, either. It simply couldn’t hold my interest like it used to. It’s been about ten years since I last read it and ten years is a long time. I’ve changed too much from the person I was. I still think this series could be great for a younger audience. I’m sure lots of young girls are still falling in love with this series. Maybe it’s time for me to pass these books on and leave them to those who still need to know what it’s like to grow up.

Dare Ari and Dante Disturb the Universe?

In relation to the Dare I Disturb the Universe? chapter, I've decide to discuss how Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe fits in the categories of postmodernism and Bildungsroman.

I say that this is postmodern work because it challenges a lot of the social constructs that exist today, especially the question of what a man should be. To me, Ari and his father are the more stereotypical man, keeping everything in side, getting physical instead of working through their problem, feeling the need to provide for others, etc. Dante and his father are going against the social norm by being opening affectionate and emotional, honest about their feelings, and choosing intelligence over physical strength. By the end of the novel, Ari realizes that he should be more open and sharing about his feelings. He seems to realize that both types of men are neither wrong nor right, that a man can be many things. This idea that a person can be many things and not be pigeonholed is very postmodern.

In my opinion, Ari has become an adult by the end of the novel, which is why I classify it as Bildungsroman. By stereotypical standards, he has a job and a car and is on track to graduate and perhaps go off to college. What is more important is that he learns to overcome his own emotional turmoil, to be open about what he feels, and comes to terms with his sexuality. I think becoming an adult means becoming the person that you're going to more or less be for the rest of your life. You've established certain values and finally understand who you are and who you want to be. This is such a huge question when going through adolescence and I think Ari answers it by the end.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

I really enjoyed this book as a coming of age story. I think Ari touches on so many points which not only were relevant when I was fifteen, but are still relevant at twenty one. I think that once we mature and become teenagers we never stop questioning things. As children we more or less accept what we're told and don't really wonder about our parents, our teachers, our friends, and so on. There is definitely a turning point in each person's life when we start to see everything around us differently. Ari was fifteen when this happened for him, but I think for me it was when I was about twelve or thirteen. When I was reading this I wondered if it was too mature for 12 and up aged people but I realized when looking back that I was exactly in Ari's place at that age. I was swearing and starting to really like boys and starting to really hate my parents. If anything I'm happy this book is recommended for that age because there's no use hiding reality from young people.

There was so much that really spoke to me and so I highlighted certain areas and wrote on post-it notes as I went through. I think what touched me the most was the relationship between Ari and his parents and the mystery of what happened to his brother. When you're at that age, you want control of your life, but you know you don't really have any. No matter how great or horrible your parents are, this is going to cause problems between you. Ari even felt hate towards his mom and dad. I remember going through the same thing. Suddenly you realize your parents are real people who had real lives before you were born. You realize they're just as imperfect as you are. This becomes more and more of a realization as you get older and it brought me closer to my family, but when I was living with them I felt the same as Ari, like I was being held down or held back or kept in the dark. One thing he explores is the expectations from other people of what kind of person he should become. This is something all teenagers have to deal with. Everyone around them is wanting something out of them. It's important to others what kind of adult we turn out to be. Then when you go against their expectations, the disappointment is very damaging. Ari is a good kid, but when he makes a mistake he feels like he's failed his family.

Ari also dealt with the moodiness all teenagers seem to struggle with. I know I certainly had a lot of depression when I was a teenager and although my case was probably more severe in a sense, it was essentially the same as Ari felt. It's this suffocating feeling of not knowing who you are or if you'll ever be good enough. You feel like you're trapped by your own misery and won't ever be happy. Yet you're still able to laugh and have good times with your friends. I think that when you have to start the transition from child to adult it's just so heartbreaking that the world is kind of hard and dark sometimes and it takes a while to cope with all of it.

Lastly, Ari dealt with intimacy, vulnerability, and insecurity for the first time. He was experimenting with becoming close with someone and all the ups and downs that comes with it. He let a lot of people into his heart throughout the book, not just Dante, but his parents and a few friends from school. I think this is something that never goes away. When you're dating or trying to make new friends, it's a very complicated time, no matter how old you are. You're always going to feel vulnerable and insecure, at least just a little, especially at first. Yet, it's important to keep trying and let people in and not to shut down which is what Ari learned by the end.

Although I loved all the questions that Ari explored throughout the book and watching him transition from a boy to a man, I didn't personally get the sense that he was exploring his sexuality in the book or questioning his feelings for Dante. It was obvious that he loved him and was very close with him, but with the amount he was openly (to the reader) questioning so much about life, I was surprised by the ending when it seemed like everyone else just told him he was gay and to be with Dante. Perhaps I wasn't picking up on as much subtext as I should have been. It seemed like Dante very suddenly began exploring his sexuality and questioning it. I thought Ari would too because Dante's questions might spark his own question. I understand why Ari would push them away and how denial could be a sign, but it still seemed a little forced at the end. I'd like to hear what everyone else thought.

White is for Magic

The books pacing is really quick which I like and seems to be a common element of Young Adult literature. Each chapter is only about 6-10 pages long though the book itself is a little over 300 pages. The narrator's voice is easy to read, but her friends have an unrealistic way of speaking. Their voices are almost a little too forcefully teen-y. They use way too much quirky language and innuendos. Though seniors in high school may be cocky and think they sound cool, they certainly aren't that perky or creative. It's entertaining to read, but not realistic and takes away from my immersion. I also find that some of the spells Stacey is practicing are a little hokey. She uses rhymes when she speaks aloud. At one point she used a lemon to heal a wound and all I could think was OW but she never says that it stings her. I've had lemon juice in a cut before. It does not feel good and the pain would certainly be worth mentioning. These little things stand out to me.
There's also a lot of boy drama and friend drama which, although totally appropriate for the age, is out of MY age range. I understand completely and have been there myself when I was seventeen. Now I'm twenty one and I don't really want to read about that kind of thing. However, I can't act like I'm totally above it. Even in my twenties I have drama with friends and boyfriends. I'm sure when I'm an adult I'll still have petty drama. It's like it's totally relatable and yet not at the same time.
Overall, I'm picturing everything in my head very clearly. The smells, the sounds, the sights are all described in a way that allows me to put myself right there with the narrator. Stacey is a likable character, and despite their distracting language, her friends are too. I know where the story is going because this series has a formula: dreams start, threats come in, Stacey has to rush to solve the mystery, it gets solved at the last possible moment, despite a few downfalls everything is okay in the end. Yet I don't know who the threats are coming from or what danger lies ahead and that's what keeps me reading. Plus, like I said before, the characters are likable and I really find myself rooting for Stacey.
So far, it's a fast read with an enjoyable plot, likable characters, and detailed descriptions.

Final consensus:
Reading this book again kind of ruined it for me. The references are dated and the language is forced. Sometimes the writing is good, but it's very fast paced and doesn't really exercise your brain at all. It is similar to watching a cheesy teen drama on television. You know it's bad, but you still love it and you keep going. When I was doing the math I realized that I was about 11-12 when I first started reading this series. It makes sense now that it being a little too old for me, without being a difficult read was right up my alley. I was a pretty mature kid who knew way too much about the adult world at a young age, so none of the "adult content" (not that there was a lot) bothered me. Though every once in a while I came across words or references I know I wouldn't have known at the time. It's clearly a book written by an adult, trying to sound like a teenager. It's sad because I was so in love with this series and thought the author was a genius. Now I realize that it's nothing special.

White is for Magic - Thoughts before reading

Since I don't have the first book and Barnes and Noble no longer carries the series, I was left to read the second book of the series: White is for Magic.

It takes place one year after the first book. The main character is seventeen years old, her name is Stacey Brown, and she's having nightmares again about people being murdered.

That's the premise of this book which is described in greater detail on the back cover. All I remember about this book is that she's dating one of the guys who used to date her best friend. Then a new guy shows up and she cheats on her current boyfriend with him. There's some mystery behind the new guy, but he ends up being just like Stacey and they're basically soulmates.

I can't actually remember what the mystery is, who is in trouble, how exactly everything unfolds. I only remember one key scene in which Stacey and Jacob paint each others bodies as they practice a spell together and it gets pretty steamy. I was a young girl, so of course that part stood out to me and stuck with me.

I'm excited to begin reading this book. I have a feeling that I'll still love it because of nostalgia, but I probably will be less impressed with the skill of the writing. Hopefully it lives up to how much I've held it in my heart all these years.

Blue is for Nightmares

Right around the start of junior high I discovered the Young Adult section at Barnes and Noble. A book titled Blue is for Nightmares caught my eye and I quickly fell in love with it.
It's a series written by Laura Faria Stolarz about a young woman that practices wicca and has dreams which give hints to disasters that are to come. In each book, her dreams start again out of the blue and she has to struggle to figure out what they mean before whatever horrible event is supposed to take place. She uses her witchcraft and her friends to help her solve the mystery of her dreams in the nick of time to save whomever or whatever from disaster. There's a mix of love and friendship as well as evil and supernatural.
I read the first book several times and loaned it to a friend who never ended up returning it. I don't have the first book any more but I still have all the others in the series. I'm interested to see if I would still have such high praise for it, if the relationships still seem authentic, and if the story is still able to keep me on the edge of my seat. It's been so long that I don't even remember what happens in each book any more which I guess just makes it even better.