Published in 1999. 213 pages.
A coming-of-age story in epistolary form, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an important book. But it is not a feel-good book - though it does end on a hopeful note.
At times I was reminded of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and of This Is What I Did.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower made the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2009.
For more extensive reviews of the book, visit these book bloggers:
Published in 2007. 335 pages.
Unwind is a Children's Literature Association of Utah 2010 Beehive Award Nominee in the Young Adults' Books category. It was also recently challenged (with six other books) in a high school in Kentucky, as reported by author Laurie Halse Anderson. This dichotomy of views made this science-fiction novel the perfect read for me during Banned Books Week!
First sentence: "There are places you can go," Ariana tells him, "and a guy as smart as you has a decent chance of surviving to eighteen."
Last sentence: At last, he allows himself the wonderful luxury of hope.
In my view, the best works of sci-fi provide commentary about our day and our society. Shusterman has written a book that challenges his readers' ideas about life - where it begins, where it ends, and what it means to be alive - and thereby comments primarily about the political debate between "right to life" and "right to choice," but also about organ donation, terrorism, medical advances, race, legalities, family, and doing the right thing.
Here are two favorite passages:
In a perfect world mothers would all want their babies, and strangers would open up their homes to the unloved. In a perfect world everything would be either black or white, right or wrong, and everyone would know the difference. But this isn't a perfect world. The problem is people who think it is. [page 75]
"Please ...," says the boy.
Please what? the teacher thinks. Please break the law? Please put myself and the school at risk? But, no that's not it at all. What he's really saying is: Please be a human being. With a life so full of rules and regiments, it's so easy to forget that's what they are. She knows - she sees - how often compassion takes a back seat to expediency. [page 83]
Ultimately, though, the power of the novel lies in what it doesn’t do: come down explicitly on one side or the other.
Originally published in 1977. 128 pages.
1978 Newbery Medal Winner.
I loved this one on my recent re-read just as much as I remember loving it when I read it in the 1970s. Now I want to watch the movie version.
Sadly, Bridge to Terabithia has been the subject of a number of book challenges. The American Library Association lists it as tenth of the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2003 and eighth of 2002. The reasons for the challenges are occult/satanism, offensive language, and violence.
I liked this discussion question at the back of my copy of the book:
In the past, some people have suggested that this book is inappropriate for children because it describes death, a topic that some children might not be able to handle. In your opinion, is Bridge to Terabithia an appropriate book for kids your age? How might reading about Jess's loss help students who have to face their own loss someday?
Originally published in 1974.
Unabridged audio book published in 1993;
narrated by George Guidall.
This book has been described as "a brilliant, unflinching portrait of vicious mob cruelty and conformity in an exclusive prep school."
I think my expectations of The Chocolate War were too high. Although I found parts of the novel to have been brilliantly conceived - particularly the idea that something as banal as chocolate could be the cause of so much violence - the whole thing just didn't come together for me. I wanted to go away with some new insight or having been changed in some way. That just didn't happen.
The book has been widely challenged over the years. The book is second on the American Library Association's list of the 10 most challenged books of 2007. The reasons given are as follows: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence.
While I didn't find The Chocolate War to be all I wanted it to be, I'm still glad I read it. First, I think it's worthwhile to read books that are considered to be "classics." Second, it's important to me that I be allowed to judge a book for myself and not let those who would decide what is "good" or "appropriate" for me - and the rest of us - to do that.
Other book bloggers' reviews of The Chocolate War: If you have read and reviewed this book, I would love to link your review here. Please leave me a comment or email me your link!
Originally published in 1966.
Co-winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966.
Audio book performed by Jeff Woodman.
Although I remember friends reading Flowers for Algernon in high school, for some reason, I never did. But earlier this year, I decided to put it on my What's in a Name? challenge list. Because I recently had to make a three-hour-plus drive to do some training, I decided to get the book on tape from the library so I'd have something to listen to while I drove. I ended up listening to the other six hours a little at a time while commuting, traveling to my dentist (about 30 miles from my home), and driving the "mom taxi" to pick up my kids.
If you are not familiar with the premise of the book, the plot is basically that a 32-year-old retarded man named Charlie Gordon undergoes a surgical experiment to increase his IQ, as it has for the lab mouse, Algernon. Charlie keeps a journal of progress reports to record the changes this experiment creates in my mind and in his life.
I'm very glad I've now "read" this book. I think it's an important one, and I would recommend that everyone read it. It made me incredibly sad, however. This was both because of the treatment Charlie receives from his family when he was a young boy and from his co-workers now that he is an adult and because of the difficulties his new-found intelligence brings and the ultimate outcome of the experiment. A review at amazon.com summarizes my response well: "Flowers for Algernon is a timeless tear-jerker with a terrific emotional impact."
Flowers for Algernon is on the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000. The most frequent reason for the challenges relates to Charlie's sexuality. For a thoughtful review of the book by a mom who recommended it to her twelve-year-old daughter despite the "distasteful sexual scenes" (in the words of some censors), click here; even the title of the review is terrific: "Flowers for Algernon, Stinkweeds for the Censors!"
2008.25
Published in 1999. 198 pages.
2000 Printz Honor Book.
First sentence: It is my first morning of high school.
Last sentence: "Let me tell you about it."
Basic storyline: A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.
Why I read this book: I put this book on my to-read list last year when I found out about Laurie Halse Anderson's work at The Hidden Side of a Leaf. (Here is Dewey's 2006 review of Speak.) I even picked the book up at the library, but other things took priority and I didn't get to it before I had to return it. As I was compiling 2008 challenge lists, I put Speak on my lists for the Cardathon, the Printz Award Challenge, Every Month is a Holiday, and the Young Adult Challenge. I was determined to read Speak at some point this year! Luckily for me, the host of my IRL book club choose Speak for our April group meeting - and the rest is history.
Why I loved this book: There are several reasons why I really loved this book. First, Melinda's voice is the perfect mix of sarcastic wit and honest pain. She is just so "real." Second, the subtle symbolism and literary references were so great. My favorite was a poster of Maya Angelou on the door of Melinda's secret hide-away; like Melinda, Angelou suffered a trauma as a child and stopped speaking for a time. Third, Anderson's writing is just so powerful. Here is a passage that my IRL book group host particularly liked:
Our frog lies on her back. Waiting for a prince to come and princessify her with a smooch? I stand over her with my knife. Ms. Keen's voice fades to a mosquito whine. My throat closes off. It is hard to breather. I put out my hand to steady myself against the table. David pins her froggy hands to the dissection tray. He spreads her froggy legs and pins her froggy feet. I have to slice open her belly. She doesn't say a word. She is already dead. A scream starts in my gut - I can feel the cut, smell the dirt, leaves in my hair.
Originally published in 1969. 281 pages.
To celebrate Martin Luther King Day for the Every Month is a Holiday Challenge, I chose to read this first volume of the autobiographical series of poet, educator, dancer, actress, civil rights activist Maya Angelou. This book also qualifies for the Back to History Challenge, the In Their Shoes Challenge, and my "Banned Books" and "In Their Shoes" categories of the 888 Challenge.
I was mesmerized by Angelou's lyrical presentation of the high and low points of the first eighteen years of her life. Poignant and meaningful, each chapter recounts part of the life experiences that made Angelou the adult she became. These experiences include being raped at age eight by her mother's boyfriend, learning to love books through the encouragement of an adult friend, being subjected to numerous acts of racism, and working as the first black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco.
First sentence: "What you looking at me for?"
Two favorite passages:
[Bailey, Maya's brother, in recounting the discovery of a black man's corpse and the pleasure a white man took in seeing it:] "The colored men backed off and I did too, but the white man stood there, looking down, and grinned. Uncle Willie, why do they hate us so much?"
Uncle Willie muttered, "They don't really hate us. They don't know us. How can they hate us? They mostly scared."
Oh, Black known and unknown poets, how often have your auctioned pains sustained us? Who will compute the lonely nights made less lonely by your songs, or the empty pots made less tragic by your tales?
If we were a people much given to revealing secrets, we might raise monuments and sacrifice to the memories of our poets, but slavery cured us of that weakness. It may be enough, however, to have it said that we survive in exact relationship to the dedication of our poets (include preachers, musicians and blues singers).
Since 1983 schools throughout the United States have tried to ban I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings even though it is celebrated for its elegant prose. Parents, schools, and related organizations have argued that the book encourages deviant behavior because of its references to lesbianism, premarital sex, cohabitation, pornography, and violence. The book's profanity has also caused its removal from school curriculum and library shelves. The Alabama State Textbook Committee accused it of encouraging "bitterness and hatred toward white people." Some schools have removed the book from their classes and libraries; however, many have decided to retain the book. Today the book is still among the most challenged books in American schools.
Published in 1993.
Awarded the Newbery Medal in 1994.
Audio book performed by Ron Rifkin.
This was actually a re-read for me - of a book that immediately became an all-time favorite when I read it several years ago on the recommendation of a friend. I planned to re-read The Giver this month for the Yahoo! Book Awards Group, as well as to refresh my memory of it before reading Gathering Blue, the second book in what Lowry's website calls simply "The Trilogy." (I have also heard the set of three books, which also includes Messenger, referred to as "companion books.")
Because I was looking for a book to listen to during my commute and because I have several times in the past gotten a new perspective and enhanced enjoyment from hearing a book after my initial read, I picked up the Book on CD version of The Giver when I was at the library last week. I found the book to be just as tremendous the second time through - and Ron Rifkin's performance was delightful.
The Giver is the kind of book that makes you think - and which continues to stimulate thought on a re-read. The themes of choice, freedom, and diversity are powerfully explored in the novel. I think my emotional reaction was even more profound on hearing the story of Jonas, the young protagonist of the book, than when I read it. The Giver will continue to be an all-time favorite of mine!
Sadly, The Giver is on the ALA's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Challenged Books of 1990-2000. Read more about the challenges faced by the book here.
2008.5
Michelle (or 3M) is hosting the quintessential challenge for 2008! In the Triple 8 Challenge (or 888), participants "read eight books in each of eight different categories in 2008." (Further details are available on the challenge blog.)
These are my eight categories:
