Spud, John Van De Ruit

Hilarious. Freakin' hilarious. That's all I can really say. This was the first time in a while that I have actually laughed out loud this much over a book. If I had to try to otherwise describe this book it would be by calling it a more modern day version of The Power of One for a younger audience. Same type of coming of age story, same type of setting, same type of struggle (personal and national), just a little lighter and geared towards the younger set. It could really even be put in the same camp as Catcher and Perks, really. Yet another book that I wouldn't use as a class text, unfortunately, but one that I definitely intend to have in my classroom library. Probably even two copies of it.

The main character in the novel is Spud Milton, a young man in his first year at a private boarding school. He comes from a family that will make yours look painfully normal and boring, and his generally crummy attitude and snyde remarks work to create a lot of humor in the novel. Spud is a pretty outgoing kid, and his crew of cronies create an interesting cast of characters that make for a fun account of a crazy year through Spuds journal entries.

This book is awesome for boys, still pretty great for girls, and definitely good for anyone age 12 and up based on the difficulty of the text and the content, I would say. The text serves as a sort of history lesson in a way, too, because it takes place in South Africa during the time that Nelson Mandela was released from political prison and could easily serve as a great way to consider world events and the impact that a corrupt ruling system has on a nation.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963, Christopher Paul Curtis

This book tells the story of the Watson family (Daniel, Wilona, Kenny, Byron and Joey) who hail from Michigan but are taking a road trip to visit family in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. The Watsons are African American, and their trip to Alabama during this year develops suspense from the first page because of the connections between their destination, the year, and our knowledge of historical events that are not known by the characters we are following. As the family embarks on their journey we see not only problems within the family (mostly between older brother Byron, a bully, and his younger brother Kenny, our sort of nerdy narrator) but with the world: clearly segregation is still a problem in the South, and one that the Watson children aren't so familiar with because of their northern upbringing. The events that play out in the novel provide modern readers with an interesting insight into both the history of our country and the experience of a persecuted minority group.

I am typically very cautious in selecting literature that deals with diversity and social justice issues because their accurate representation is absolutely necessary in my opinion, and it seems that very seldom are books released that provide unbiased and accurate representations of such individuals and groups. I found that The Watsons is one of the few novels that I have read that deals with issues of segregation and oppression in a thoughtful and seemingly informed and accurate lens. I could see this book being used in literature circles or even as a class text as a gateway to consider current issues of social justice in our world, both domestic and international.

The People of Sparks, Jeanne DuPrau

This second book in the Ember series picks up pretty much exactly where the first book, The City of Ember, left off. Lina and her friend, Doon, have not only found a way out of Ember (through the Pipeworks), but have led the majority of Ember out of the underground and into the post-apocalyptic world above ground. The citizens of Ember are completely naïve to the new world around them, not sure about things as simple as natural light and certain plants, animals, and lifestyles. The Ember-ites come to a city called Sparks that offers to assist them until they are strong enough and knowledgeable enough about their new world to be sustain themselves. Ultimately the city is too populous with Ember relying on the resources of Sparks to survive, even though there is only enough for one to survive. Obviously conflict ensues because of the stress that develops as a result of scarce resources and a huge group of guests who have clearly overstayed their welcome, and it is up to the people of Ember and Sparks to either get along and work together to survive or go down as a collective.

I'm not typically a fan of sequels, but this one is pretty well done. It's an interesting look at the human condition and universal truths such as the inherent desire of a person to survive, and stands as almost a cautionary tale in some ways. The state of the world that the people of Sparks and Ember are living in is a direct result of the overuse of resources and neglect to care for the earth and its resources. This series would serve as an excellent platform upon which to consider world issues like global warming and the threats it poses, as well as what we can do to make changes and move towards becoming a sustainable nation ourselves.

The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

So this book is a throw back to a more classical, canonical text compared to the others I've posted on the blog so far. It's hard to find someone who hasn't read The Catcher in the Rye at some point in their academic career or adult life, and even harder to find someone who has never at least heard of it. The name Holden Caulfield seems to ring a bell with anyone.

To be honest, I hadn't read this novel until this year for this project. I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower several times in high school and now recently, and I was always told that “Perks is the new Catcher”, so I figured I better read the Catcher to not only be able to see what everyone was talking about in relation to Perks but also in general. It couldn't be that bad if it had stood the test of time so well, right?

The story chronicles the experience of Holden Caulfield, a seventeen year old who has just been booted out of yet another private school, this time the fictional Pencey Prep. Holden narrates the story for us, discussing his experiences at Pencey and then in New York City where Holden has several less-than-savory encounters and experiences. Holden is driven by his daydreams and his drunkenness, and his ramblings eventually expose to the reader the true experience of their guide in the novel, which, even at the end of the novel, is not completely clear but an explanation can at least be inferred.

Overall I liked the novel. I can definitely see the connections between the classic Catcher and the more modern Perks, in that they both deal with mental illness and are ultimately coming-of-age stories about young males. I wouldn't agree that Perks is the “new” Catcher per se, as I believe that there is a lot of value to be found in the latter that isn't necessary explored in the former, and it isn't fair to figuratively replace a canonical text with one that may be more appealing to our modern students because “similar” is not simply not equivalent to “same”. I think both texts have value, and so both should be read at some point by all adolescents.

Holes, Louis Sachar

Stanley Yelnats (that's a palindrome!) has been having a string of bad luck. All of the Yelnats men have been put under a curse because of a curse put on his great-great-grandfather by a Gypsy woman, Madame Zeroni. Stanley's bad luck lands him in a juvenile detention center called Camp Green Lake (which coincidentally is located on a desert area that used to be a lake) for a crime he did not commit. At Camp Green Lake it's no fun and games for the boys; every day each camper has to dig a hole that is five feet in diameter and five feet deep in the dry, hard dirt where the lake used to be. It turns out that the warden, a mean lady with a lot of attitude and a tough-as-nails work policy, is using the boys to try and find a treasure that is rumored to be somewhere on the land of the Camp. You'll have to read to find out what happens when the boys start finding things in the holes...

I really liked this book; it had a lot of voice and a really interesting story line with plenty of twists and turns that could keep any reader glued to its pages. The story has a ton of very unique and dynamic characters, with names like Armpit, Zero, X-Ray and Zig Zag. Sachar does a great job of using parallel plots to create foreshadowing without giving the ending away too early. I don't know if I would consider the narrative technique to be complex enough to use the book in the curriculum alone, but I think it would be a great pick for a series of literature circles, and I would recommend it to any student as an independent reading book.

Holes received the Newbery Medal in 1999, among several other awards and honors.