Book Review: Solo

Solo

by Kwame Alexander

I LOVED The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. I first read it when I took over the Summer Reading program a few years ago. I fell in love with it and knew my students would love it. I couldn't wait for summer to get closer so I could finally introduce it to the students. I was right. The students who picked it for their summer reading devoured that book. Nothing made me more happy than seeing a group of boys who I usually had to cajole to do some reading during independent reading time ask me if they could sit in a circle and take turns reading aloud from the book because they were so excited to read it. I'm pretty sure at that moment, my heart was doing the snoopy dance.

Why did I know the kids would love it so much? First of all, it was so well written. It was, and probably still is, the only book written in verse I actually like. I'll admit it. I don't enjoy reading poetry and I don't prefer books in prose. But Kwame Alexander wrote this book with such rhythm. My students could hear the rap music in his words as they read. It also told a compelling story. All I knew going into it was that it was a "basketball book". It was so much more than that. It was about two twins, who yes are basketball stars, but they are also navigating life through middle school, finding their way, and dealing with some family problems. And it read real. My 6th grade (almost 7th grade) boys could related to the characters and it felt like it could have been someone they knew.

Okay, so why I have I spent so much of this book review talking about a different book? Because when I sat down to read Solo by Kwame Alexander, I was hoping for the same type of thing, but about music instead of basketball. In fact I was more excited because I personally love stories about music. However, this book just didn't live up to that. Maybe it's my fault comparing it to The Crossover, but I just didn't find the verse as compelling, the story as interesting, or the characters as relatable.

The author still keeps the book in verse, but it isn't as stylized as The Crossover. It also is very dialogue heavy which I felt doesn't need verse then. In fact, this book may have been better written in prose. The plot isn't bad -- a boy with a love of music, Blade, is born in a rock star family can't wait to get out if and go off to college. His drug and alcohol addicted father makes mistakes at every turn, even to the point where his girlfriend's father is so fed up and forbids the girlfriend from seeing Blade. Without spoiling too much, halfway through the novel Blade receives some information and ends up spending the other half of the novel in Africa. Originally presented to me as a love story, this is actually more of a "finding yourself" story. However, I just don't think Blade is as relatable to people as Josh and Jordan from The Crossover. Solo is probably fine when compare to itself, but unfortunately, I can't help comparing it to The Crossover, which in my heart will win every time.

FOUR Book Reviews

Wow, I've been a bit neglectful of this blog. Sorry for that! To make up for it, I will post FOUR book reviews in one post!

Heartless

by Marissa Meyer

I was so excited for this book. I loved Marisa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series. A prequel to Alice in Wonderland sounded like a fun route to go after the conclusion of her first series. However, I just didn't have the same reaction to this book as I did to the Lunar Chronicles. I can't put my finger on what it was about the book that just didn't sit in the same way with me. I didn't care for the characters as much, I couldn't imagine the world as much, and I didn't fall into the story as much. Maybe it's a perfectly fine book, but going into the reading of it with Lunar Chronicles in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but be let down a bit.

Wires and Nerve

by Marissa Meyer

After being let down by Heartless, this book brought my spirits back up. This is a graphic novel sequel to the Lunar Chronicles series. The story follows Iko  helping Earth with the aftermath of the series and dealing with being a unique android. All the main characters from the series have a feature in this book so you can see what happened to them and what they are up to. Some characters have more of a prominent role than others, so I would love to have seen more from some of the others, but there is a Part 2 coming out soon. As someone who isn't the biggest reader of graphic novels, I thought it was a fun and quick read. The characters weren't quite like I imagined in my head, but it wasn't distracting, and made it fun to see the story played out in pictures. Now I just have to countdown to Part 2!

By Your Side

by Kasie West

Kasie West is an author I always preorder her books once I see that there's a new one coming out. She writes fun, simple, clean YA stories. I feel comfortable having her books in my classroom library because even though she deals with high school characters, she keeps it clean enough that I don't have to worry about levels of appropriateness. This book is about a girl who gets locked into a library over a long weekend by accident and finds out she's not alone -- there's a boy with a bad reputation stuck in there too. This book was entertaining and I appreciated how, unlike some of her other books, this one gave the main male character development and his own arc. However, I can't say I loved this one. I just felt like some of the plot points and storylines didn't play out well. One of my best friends read this book too and we disagree on our opinions. I would rank this low on the list of Kasie West's books -- she would rank this up at the top as one of her bests. I guess you will have to read it and decide it for yourself.

A Monster Calls

by Patrick Ness

Out of the four books in this post, this is the only one that's not "new". It came out in 2011. I never read it, but I am also one of those people who always wants to read the book before seeing the movie version. This book deliver exactly what it promised -- a gut wrenching tear jerker. The story is about a boy who's mother is sick with cancer. He is struggling to deal with it, and a Monster comes and tells him stories, that at the end deliver a message to him. Quick read that stays with you. I can't even imagine how it will play out on the screen. I knew there was a Monster that comes to the boy, but I didn't except so much of it to be stories told. It causes the book to feel a bit didactic at times and I fear can be a turn off for some students. But then again, this book is not for everyone. The other day a student told me she loved books that make her cry, so of course I had to recommend this book. You need to be ready for a book like this.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

I haven't done a book review for quite sometime, and I've had a few students ask about my opinion on this book, so I figured I would type up my thoughts on this *play* here (not a book!)

I feel like I need to include this disclaimer: I knew every plot point and twist in this play prior to reading. My close friends are all die-hard Harry Potter fans, so I knew that the next time we met, they would want to talk about the book. I didn't want to be confused, so I read a detailed summary of everything before I read the play about a month later. That might have affected by reading because I knew what was going to happen. That being said, my opinion of this story is that it is ..... okay.

You  have to go into your reading of The Cursed Child understanding that it is not a JK Rowling book. It is a play with her help in the writing. It doesn't have the intricate plot and wonderful language and details that readers have become accustomed to with Rowling's writing. It doesn't paint that beautiful, vivid image in your mind because it just a play. We get character dialogue, set descriptions, and some stage prompts. 

The plot is interesting to consider -- what would it be like to be the son of "The boy who lived"? What would it be like if he were a Slytherin and not a Gryffindor? What would it be like if a time turner still existed? It's got some fun ideas about how times could change by affecting one thing in the past. 

One thing I LOVED about this book: Scorpius Malfoy. Yes, the son of Draco Malfoy. He is by far the most interesting and relatable character in that book. He is not like Draco in the books. He is kind, and sweet, and charming, and admits to being "an enormous geek". He is self depricating in a way that brings so much humor to a relatively dark story. He is one of the best developed characters in this story, and I would definitely read a book just about him because I loved every scene he was in. 

However, the rest of the story is not as great as Scorpius. First of all, I thought the play did not depict Harry in a way that I imagine him to be as an adult. It didn't feel like Harry, based on what he does and says. Aside from Harry, the plot itself seems awkwardly paced and jumpy at times. Some plot twists seem so contrived; it's unclear whether you're reading a Harry Potter story or what seems almost like fan-fiction.

Overall, Harry Potter fans will not say no to reading this book. Who doesn't want to revisit that magical story? But I think all Harry Potter fans need to go into a reading of this by understanding it's not going to a Harry Potter book. It's just a supplement. I think that will help taper off any disappointment in the story.

Salt to the Sea

I'm in the midst of reading about 3 different books right now. But I do want to get a book review in March and this is the only one I've finished so far during break, so here we go:

Ruta Sepetys is making her way into the role of the dominant writer in YA Historical Fiction. She has a way of finding forgotten stories and making you question why no one knows about them. I was first introduced to her writing through the book Between Shades of Gray (an 8th grade summer reading choice). It was an excellent book and I was surprised to learn that I hadn't heard more about that book. Afterwards, I also read her story Out of the Easy, which focused more on a time period than a specific event. Now, her third story Salt to the Sea was released about a month ago

Salt to the Sea takes place during World War II and focuses on the journey four young people take to find their way to freedom from persecution, evacuation, etc. However, they find their way into the the greatest maritime disaster in history -- but an event most people, myself included, probably didn't know about. Sepetys has a poetic way of writing and a way to evoke so many emotions while reading. In my opinion, this book doesn't have the same emotional punch of Between Shades of Gray, but fans of that book will probably enjoy this one as well. One striking difference between the two is that Salt to the Sea is told through alternating points of view of the four characters. While this first bothered me because it made it different to learn about the characters, it does become cohesive and let you see different angles and sides to the stories. However, one of the characters I found grating, and while I understanding why she included this person, I still believe the story would work better without that fourth side. 

It does deal with some mature topics and the development of the historical background, and for that, I would side with the Amazon recommendation of Grades 8 and up for the book.

The Lunar Chronicles

I was hoping to keep this blog a bit more updated with junior high recommendations, but I've been doing some more personal reading instead. However, this past month, a great series released a collection of prequel stories and an epilogue, so I thought I'd talk a bit about this series.

The Lunar Chronicles

I first heard about this series two years ago from a student. She loved it and did a book report on it. I thought, "No, it's not my type of book." Then last year, another student read this series and couldn't stop raving about it. I still thought it wasn't my type but  I warmed up to it. The final push to read this series happened when I went to a workshop devoted to the Best Books for Grades 6-12 published that year. The presenter said this was a great series and her favorite part about it was that it includes strong female characters. Finally, I said, "Okay, I'll give it a shot."

I'll admit, it took me a little bit to get into it. The premise is that these are science fiction takes on classic fairy tale stories. The first is a cyborg Cinderella (now you can see why I felt it wasn't my "type of book"). I tried to get into it, and finally, I did. I finished the first and ran out to the library to get the next two. And then I preordered the final book because I had to get it the day it came out. Again, the premise is science fiction versions of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White. The thing I love about this series is the characters -- they are not perfect. They are flawed characters who show development over the course of the series. The females are not damsels in distress. They are strong women who can save the man too. They each have a unique voice and authentic conversations. They are ethnic -- the series features characters of multiple races and skin colors.

If you choose to read this series: it is a time commitment. Each book gets longer. The last book is 800 pages. (Surprsingly, I did not feel a single page there was unnecessary). It's not a series for everyone, but if you think it might be for you, come check it out of my classroom library! Also, I just learned recently, there will be a follow up to the series in graphic novel form!

(I also feel the need to warn: Fairest is a prequel story to the main villian. It is the most mature and dark book in the series. The series in general is clean, but does feature violence. This one has more mature tones. But guess what, it's not necessary to read Fairest to understand the series, as it just provides some insight into the villian. So if you or your parents want to stay away from those mature elements, no need to read Fairest)

Book Recommendations

Let me let you in on a fun secret: I run the summer reading blog!! I love doing it because right around summer, I get to add lots of book lists and review for students to check out. Here are the links if you haven't seen the page:

The blog: http://merchantvilleschoolreading.blogspot.com/

Books that will be movies soon: http://merchantvilleschoolreading.blogspot.com/2015/06/read-book-before-movie-2015.html

The hashtag recommendations from junior high students last year: http://merchantvilleschoolreading.blogspot.com/2015/06/what-can-you-recommend-junior-high.html

Junior High Book Lists: http://merchantvilleschoolreading.blogspot.com/2015/05/junior-high-book-suggestion-lists.html

Common Sense Media

Attention Parents!!

Have you ever wondered if a book was appropriate for your child? Even as a teacher sometimes I wonder about the content of a new book that I don't have time to read. Here's a secret: Sometimes I check a website called Common Sense Media

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Common Sense Media is a website devoted to educating parents and teachers about media content. Movies and books are reviewed for and rated on the amount of: Positive messages, Positive role models, Violence, Sex, Language, Consumerism, Drinking, drugs, & smoking. The website will tell you specifically what the book contains within those categories so you can make an educated decision. It gives recommended ages for the books or movies. It even has reviews from parents and kids who admit that the book might have been too mature or even that it was boring. Check out this website and see what it says about any YA books you might be interested in!

Here's a preview of what the Maniac Magee page looks like:

Book Review: Isle of the Lost

Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel

by Melissa de la Cruz

This book was the inspiration for the Descendants movie on the Disney Channel. BE AWARE! This book is NOT the movie -- it is a prequel (takes place before the events of the movie). It follows four famous Disney villain's children: the children of Maleficent, Jafar, Cruella De Vil, and The Evil Queen. Each chapter focuses on a different character as they deal with regular school issues, as well as parent issues. The book has great word choice and action. I enjoyed it and think lots of you will too. It's themes and content was a bit darker than the movie and definitely made the characters more empathetic than the movie, but I find that a perk. Check it out!

Camden County Library Link

Common Sense Media Information