We met on June 6th and shared our book-talks with one another. Each member shared a minimum of two books and here is a brief overview (read: sloppily typed word document) of our discussion. Soon each book will have a more in-depth entry :)
Between Shades of Gray
By Ruta Sepetys
o
Author did a good deal of research!
o
Fifteen year old Alena just got into art school;
o
Stalin’s Police knock on her door
o
Her and her brother and mother are taken away
and put into cable cars and ride for six weeks.
o
She sends messages to her father by drawing
pictures instead of writing for fear of being found out; she finds people who
are trustworthy and passes the pictures along
o Themes of heartbreak, death, and massacre.
o Character and plot development needed – too many questions left unanswered: did her father ever receive the letters or pictures?
o Beautiful language
Why We Broke Up
By
Daniel Handler
o “Word
Vomit”; stream of consciousness type of writing
o Min
= narrator
o Letter
to Ed; her ex-boyfriend
o Each
item is the reason they should have broken up earlier
o Novel
wraps up; conclusion includes hints from earlier in the text
o Kind
of book that will “bring you back” to high school days
o Female related
o Elements of visual literacy (pictures)
o Prince Honor Book
o 3-4 Stars on Goodreads
Exit Here
By Jason Myers
o
Male protagonist
o Bitter;
similar to Holden Caufield
o Rich
kid complex
o Social
dynamics
o
Drug Use
o
Cussing
o
Recommended for older teens
o
Shows the consequences of drug use
If I Stay
By Gayle
Forman
o
Story of a young female narrator who is in a
coma
o
Struggles with whether or not to stay alive or
let herself die
o
Metaphysical relationship between the narrator
and the world
o
Process of death
o
Quick read
o
Middle and High School
o Struggles with the choices she has made
o College, having sex, e.c.t….
o Discussion questions at the end of the book
City of Bones
By Cassandra Clare
o
Becoming a movie
o
“Addicting”
o
Prequel is Clockwork
Angel
o
Recommend the prequel first
o
Better feminine character – “not a [typical]
female idiot”
o
Not very appropriate for younger teens;
o Not well written; recommend for a summer-reading book
o Not something that Bri would “ever ever” teach J
o 3 perspectives
o “Shadow Hunters” – Keep the underworld protected
o Better than Twilight not as good as Hunger Games
The Golden Compass
By Phillip Pullman
o Middle
School-ers
o Fun
read for pre-teens
o
Difficult enough to challenge students
o Literary;
“beautifully written”
o Teachable
o
Teachers can choose which topics to teach and
which ones not to
o Parallels to Narnia Series
o Fantastical but deep [demon as sub-concious]
o Religious and political side if you choose to look at it that way
Love
and Obstacles
By Alexander
Hemon
o Bo"th
feet in one overlapping world"
o Collection
of fictional stories about day-to-day life
o No
plot; “this is how it is” type of stories
o Does
not deal with the more interesting sides of war
o Teach
it to twelfth graders; for more mature audiences
o
Teach excerpts
o Each
story jumps into the setting
o “Beautiful
Prose”
VietnaAmerica
By GBTran
o Graphic
Novel
o Written
and illustrated by
o Puzzle
pieces represent what makes up his life
o Illustrations
are “amazing”
o True
story based on Tran’s life
o First
generation Vietnamese born in America;
parents escaped before the fall of Saigon
parents escaped before the fall of Saigon
o Parents left half of their family back in Vietnam because they didn’t make it out
o The whole book is about his family telling him to go back to Vietnam
o When he gets there he finds out that he is the same age as his father was when he left Vietnam
o (parallel between his lfie and his father’s life)
o Book parallels narrator’s journey to Vietnam and his parents escape
o Difficult to keep up with
o Recommend for Juniors and Seniors
o Identity issues
o Discussion on traditions; how traditions are lost
o Book about finding history and finding his roots
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