Read for: Student teaching
Rating: 4
Gary Paulsen is such a diverse writer. Everything by him that I have read has been vastly different--different styles, story lines, characters, etc. Nightjohn is no exception. The story takes place during the height of slavery, right before the Civil War. Sarny, a slave on a southern plantation, is the narrator of the story. Nightjohn comes to the plantation and teaches Sarny how to read. Nightjohn's story is compelling: He escaped from slavery, but returned in order to teach other slaves how to read.
My cooperating teacher uses this story for two reasons: A) it coincides with the history teacher's unit on the Civil War, and B) she claims that it gets students talking about literacy and excited to be reading. I think that Nightjohn is the proof that a story can be written for young adults that is well written, has relateable characters, and can apply to the lives of young adults without being cliche or lacking in literary merit.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper
Read for: Student teaching in the fall
Rating: 3
Romiette and Julio is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, only in Draper's version Romiette is the girl and Julio is the boy. The story takes place in a Cincinnati high school that has a gang problem. Romiette is African American and Julio is Hispanic, and the "gang bangers" don't like their romance.
The plot is obviously predictable and I wouldn't say that this is particularly well-written, but I think that the junior high students I will be teaching this to in the fall will enjoy the characters. Ben, Julio's friend and the Mercutio counterpart, is the most entertaining character in the book. Draper's foreshadowing, particularly concerning a side-plot concerning Ben, I found to be painfully obvious. However, I think that the junior-high students who may not be as used to picking up on the subtleties of character development will enjoy how Ben's story unfolds.
My one concern is that students will brush this off as stupid and patronizing because of how the characters speak. The book was published in 1999, but I can't remember a time when teenagers ever truly spoke the way that Draper portrays, besides in cliche teen movies and magazines. For example, when did anyone ever use "phat" in a sentence besides in Teen Magazine? Well, the characters in Romiette and Julio do!
I am definitely of the more classical line of thought when it comes to teaching, but for the 7th and 8th graders that I will be teaching who may not be ready for Shakespeare, I think that this will be a good lead-in to Shakespeare's classic. There is definitely plenty of material for discussion from Romiette and Julio that is on the students' level, such as race, relationships, poverty, gangs, school, fate, etc. It should be interesting to teach this book!
Rating: 3
Romiette and Julio is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, only in Draper's version Romiette is the girl and Julio is the boy. The story takes place in a Cincinnati high school that has a gang problem. Romiette is African American and Julio is Hispanic, and the "gang bangers" don't like their romance.
The plot is obviously predictable and I wouldn't say that this is particularly well-written, but I think that the junior high students I will be teaching this to in the fall will enjoy the characters. Ben, Julio's friend and the Mercutio counterpart, is the most entertaining character in the book. Draper's foreshadowing, particularly concerning a side-plot concerning Ben, I found to be painfully obvious. However, I think that the junior-high students who may not be as used to picking up on the subtleties of character development will enjoy how Ben's story unfolds.
My one concern is that students will brush this off as stupid and patronizing because of how the characters speak. The book was published in 1999, but I can't remember a time when teenagers ever truly spoke the way that Draper portrays, besides in cliche teen movies and magazines. For example, when did anyone ever use "phat" in a sentence besides in Teen Magazine? Well, the characters in Romiette and Julio do!
I am definitely of the more classical line of thought when it comes to teaching, but for the 7th and 8th graders that I will be teaching who may not be ready for Shakespeare, I think that this will be a good lead-in to Shakespeare's classic. There is definitely plenty of material for discussion from Romiette and Julio that is on the students' level, such as race, relationships, poverty, gangs, school, fate, etc. It should be interesting to teach this book!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Read for: Leisure
Rating: 3.8
I have a love/hate relationship with Redeeming Love. I read it for the first time in October of last year and was deeply moved by it. The story is a fictional retelling of the book of Hosea from the Bible. In Hosea, the prohpet Hosea is told by God to marry a prostitute named Gomer. This real-life example is supposed to be a metaphor for God's unconditional love for Israel, who has been unfaithful to him. Redeeming Love takes place in California in the 1850s, during the Gold Rush. Farmer Michael Hosea is told by God to marry the prostitute Angel. Rivers does a good job of showing the inside of the relationship that Hosea and Gomer might have had. Angel's conversion throughout the book strikes a cord with many Christian women that I know, who identify with her wandering heart and doubt about unconditional love.
With all that good stuff, I have a hard time enjoying this book as much as I should, because Rivers' writing style is so terrible. The dialogue is cheesy and forced, as are the dramatic moments. What bothers me the most, however, is that Rivers only uses one description for smiles. Whenever a character smiles, Rivers makes sure to note it by saying the corners of his or her mouth "curved upward in a smile." Sometimes this even happens in consecutive sentences! On page 385, the last sentence of chapter 29 is "Duke stood before her, his mouth curved in a deadly smile." Turn the page, and the first sentence of chapter 30 is "Duke's mocking gaze swept Angel's soiled gingham dress, his mouth curving into a sardonic smile." There is a difference between repetition and redundancy, and I'm afraid this falls into the category of the latter.
Rating: 3.8
I have a love/hate relationship with Redeeming Love. I read it for the first time in October of last year and was deeply moved by it. The story is a fictional retelling of the book of Hosea from the Bible. In Hosea, the prohpet Hosea is told by God to marry a prostitute named Gomer. This real-life example is supposed to be a metaphor for God's unconditional love for Israel, who has been unfaithful to him. Redeeming Love takes place in California in the 1850s, during the Gold Rush. Farmer Michael Hosea is told by God to marry the prostitute Angel. Rivers does a good job of showing the inside of the relationship that Hosea and Gomer might have had. Angel's conversion throughout the book strikes a cord with many Christian women that I know, who identify with her wandering heart and doubt about unconditional love.
With all that good stuff, I have a hard time enjoying this book as much as I should, because Rivers' writing style is so terrible. The dialogue is cheesy and forced, as are the dramatic moments. What bothers me the most, however, is that Rivers only uses one description for smiles. Whenever a character smiles, Rivers makes sure to note it by saying the corners of his or her mouth "curved upward in a smile." Sometimes this even happens in consecutive sentences! On page 385, the last sentence of chapter 29 is "Duke stood before her, his mouth curved in a deadly smile." Turn the page, and the first sentence of chapter 30 is "Duke's mocking gaze swept Angel's soiled gingham dress, his mouth curving into a sardonic smile." There is a difference between repetition and redundancy, and I'm afraid this falls into the category of the latter.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Ecclesiastes by Solomon
Read for: Quiet Time
Rating: 4.5
Ecclesiastes is such a powerful book, that speaks directly to the heart of man. The overall theme of Ecclesiastes can be summed up in chapter 3 verses 9-14:
9What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
My interpretation is this: The reason that a man toils and works is because God has put a burden on the hearts of men: the knowledge of eternity (v. 11). A man works because he has the desire on his heart to leave a legacy, to make something that is eternal. BUT, man is unable to truly understand the nature of eternity. I love v. 14; only God can make something eternal and beautiful, and he does this so that "men will revere him." Basically, man toils to make something that will be eternal, but since everything that man does (without God) is folly, man must turn to Him who can make everything eternal: God. It is only through partnership with God that something meaningful can happen in our lives. It is a gift of God for us to enjoy our work that is partnered with Him, instead of despairing because our work without Him is meaningless.
This is basically the theme of Ecclesiastes: Everything man does is meaningless, unless God helps you do it.
Rating: 4.5
Ecclesiastes is such a powerful book, that speaks directly to the heart of man. The overall theme of Ecclesiastes can be summed up in chapter 3 verses 9-14:
9What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
My interpretation is this: The reason that a man toils and works is because God has put a burden on the hearts of men: the knowledge of eternity (v. 11). A man works because he has the desire on his heart to leave a legacy, to make something that is eternal. BUT, man is unable to truly understand the nature of eternity. I love v. 14; only God can make something eternal and beautiful, and he does this so that "men will revere him." Basically, man toils to make something that will be eternal, but since everything that man does (without God) is folly, man must turn to Him who can make everything eternal: God. It is only through partnership with God that something meaningful can happen in our lives. It is a gift of God for us to enjoy our work that is partnered with Him, instead of despairing because our work without Him is meaningless.
This is basically the theme of Ecclesiastes: Everything man does is meaningless, unless God helps you do it.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Read for: Leisure
Rating: 5+
I finished re-reading this a few weeks ago, but have been out of the country for awhile and unable to post, so I am catching up now. Ender's Game is ... pure genius. I love the character of Ender, and reading about his childhood in Battle School again makes me love him all the more.
Card's writing is poignant and precise. One thing I noticed in this re-reading is that Ender's Game is a lot simpler than the other books in the series. The moral and ethical dilemmas that are typical of Card are still present, but he doesn't spend pages and pages going into agonizing detail over them, as he does in some of the other books; Children of the Mind particularly. Rather, the dilemma is presented and left to Ender, and the reader, to solve. I used to think that this book would be suited for an upperclassmen-level English class, but after this realization I think that it would be perfect for the 10th grade level, maybe even the 9th.
Ender's Game remains one of those books that I simply can't put down, so I recommend it to everyone.
Rating: 5+
I finished re-reading this a few weeks ago, but have been out of the country for awhile and unable to post, so I am catching up now. Ender's Game is ... pure genius. I love the character of Ender, and reading about his childhood in Battle School again makes me love him all the more.
Card's writing is poignant and precise. One thing I noticed in this re-reading is that Ender's Game is a lot simpler than the other books in the series. The moral and ethical dilemmas that are typical of Card are still present, but he doesn't spend pages and pages going into agonizing detail over them, as he does in some of the other books; Children of the Mind particularly. Rather, the dilemma is presented and left to Ender, and the reader, to solve. I used to think that this book would be suited for an upperclassmen-level English class, but after this realization I think that it would be perfect for the 10th grade level, maybe even the 9th.
Ender's Game remains one of those books that I simply can't put down, so I recommend it to everyone.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Read for: Leisure
Rating: 4
Ender's Game has been one of my favorite books since I read it a few years ago in high school and ever since then I have slowly but surely been making my way through the rest of the books in the "Enderverse" series. Ender's Shadow tells pretty much the same story as Game, except from the perspective of the character Bean. It's nice to get a different perspective on Battle School, Ender, and the Bugger War. Also, it's nice to have another book devoted to kids, as the other books in the series that I have read have focused on Ender when he is an adult.
What concerns me most about this book is that through it I started to dislike Bean. I know exactly where it happened, too: page 217. Bean is quite the analytical Machiavellian character, which usually I enjoy--in a minor character. However, I felt that since this book is all about Bean, the Machiavellian concepts were overkill, instead of being a useful perspective on how the Bugger war could have turned out. I got a little bit sick of reading all about how Bean would do things differently if he were the commander and him comparing himself to Ender. Of course, I must admit that I have a bias because, like so many characters in the book, I nurse a fierce loyalty and devotion to Ender.
This novel is the first in the parallel "Shadow" series. For more information about the order of the books and timeline of events, I found this Wikipedia entry very useful. I'm excited to read the rest of the books in the "Shadow" series, but first I think I am going to go back and re-read Ender's Game, since it has been awhile. It's always nice to revisit a favorite, right?
Rating: 4
Ender's Game has been one of my favorite books since I read it a few years ago in high school and ever since then I have slowly but surely been making my way through the rest of the books in the "Enderverse" series. Ender's Shadow tells pretty much the same story as Game, except from the perspective of the character Bean. It's nice to get a different perspective on Battle School, Ender, and the Bugger War. Also, it's nice to have another book devoted to kids, as the other books in the series that I have read have focused on Ender when he is an adult.
What concerns me most about this book is that through it I started to dislike Bean. I know exactly where it happened, too: page 217. Bean is quite the analytical Machiavellian character, which usually I enjoy--in a minor character. However, I felt that since this book is all about Bean, the Machiavellian concepts were overkill, instead of being a useful perspective on how the Bugger war could have turned out. I got a little bit sick of reading all about how Bean would do things differently if he were the commander and him comparing himself to Ender. Of course, I must admit that I have a bias because, like so many characters in the book, I nurse a fierce loyalty and devotion to Ender.
This novel is the first in the parallel "Shadow" series. For more information about the order of the books and timeline of events, I found this Wikipedia entry very useful. I'm excited to read the rest of the books in the "Shadow" series, but first I think I am going to go back and re-read Ender's Game, since it has been awhile. It's always nice to revisit a favorite, right?
Friday, May 9, 2008
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
Read for: Leisure
Rating: 2.5
Fallen Angels is a Vietnam war story following Richard Perry, a young African American boy in the army. Myers is, of course, an excellent writer, but I just don't think this story was for me. It took me a lot longer to get through than a young adult novel usually would, mainly because whenever I took a break from reading I had to convince myself to pick it up again. Towards the end--the last 100 pages or so--the story became more interesting and held my attention better. There was a lot more action in the last 100 pages, which is what I think I liked better. In the first 200 pages, there was a lot of sitting around and talking, and when the talk is about war it just doesn't interest me that much.
I do, however, think that this novel is an apt representation of what soldiers had to face in Vietnam. I probably wouldn't use it in the classroom because there is a lot of violence and a lot of swearing, but if a student was looking for something about the Vietnam War, I might recommend it to them. The violence isn't gratuitous, and I think the swearing is suitable for what Myers is trying to portray. However, if I did use it in the classroom I would probably meet a lot of censorship problems, and the book just didn't interest me enough to be willing to fight for it.
Rating: 2.5
Fallen Angels is a Vietnam war story following Richard Perry, a young African American boy in the army. Myers is, of course, an excellent writer, but I just don't think this story was for me. It took me a lot longer to get through than a young adult novel usually would, mainly because whenever I took a break from reading I had to convince myself to pick it up again. Towards the end--the last 100 pages or so--the story became more interesting and held my attention better. There was a lot more action in the last 100 pages, which is what I think I liked better. In the first 200 pages, there was a lot of sitting around and talking, and when the talk is about war it just doesn't interest me that much.
I do, however, think that this novel is an apt representation of what soldiers had to face in Vietnam. I probably wouldn't use it in the classroom because there is a lot of violence and a lot of swearing, but if a student was looking for something about the Vietnam War, I might recommend it to them. The violence isn't gratuitous, and I think the swearing is suitable for what Myers is trying to portray. However, if I did use it in the classroom I would probably meet a lot of censorship problems, and the book just didn't interest me enough to be willing to fight for it.
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