Meg Brag, Unit!

Feed

M.T. Anderson

New York: Candlewick Press, 2004

Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopia

Read if: You like dystopic fantasy that comments on our modern world

Best for: Older teens (16 +) who are thinking about the conflicts and hypocrisies of today's society.

If you like it, try:

How I Live Now by Meg Rossoff

Rating: 3/5

This is what the future looks like: information has been freed from its physical confines; computers no longer exist, because everyone has a feed implanted directly into their heads. These feeds send instant information to everyone at a rapid pace. Instant messages, entertainment, advertisements - it all appears instantly inside your head. 

Titus and his friends have all grown up with the feed (it gets implanted in infancy). They spend their time going to the moon, hanging out, experimenting with going "mal" (a drug like coma induced by certain programs from the feed) and consuming products introduced by the feed.

Everything changes for Titus when he meets home-schooled Violet. Violet got the feed late, and questions what the feed is doing to her and her peers. She sees the lesions growing on their skin as a bad omen rather than a fashion statement, and the consumeristic world around them as menacing rather than utopic. Through Violet, Titus begins to understand that life with the feed may be a threat to them all.

I could talk about the plot of Feed for many more paragraphs: this novel is complicated and surprising (what else would you expect from M.T. Anderson). Everywhere you think its going, it doesn't go.  But you'll have to read it to see.

There are two major things I think are important when talking about Feed  and its place as a resource for young adults: controversy and teen culture.

First, controversy. There are certain requirements I have to fufill for the parameters of this project, and one of them is to read a controversial young adult novel. Feed  was one of the novels on the list, and after reading it,  I had to clarify the reason with my professor. I was confused about Feed's status as a controversial book, because although it is difficult book, a challenging book, and a disturbing book in many ways, the content is not 'objectionable' in the way we usually think of that word. Don't get me wrong - Feed is devastating, but this is because it tells us things we already know - that we are not far from the vapidly consumeristic culture that is rotting the world of Feed. But upsetting as these ideas are, I would not call them particularly controversial.

The reason for Feed's status as a controversial book is a matter of language. In portraying his future youth, Anderson uses slang that is close, but not quite, that of our own (dude becomes unit, cool becomes brag, really becomes meg). He also uses quite a bit of swearing. In the very thoughtful interview "Hungry for M.T. Anderson" by Joel Shoemaker (VOYA, 2004), Anderson directly answers the question of some librarians being hesitant to shelve Feed because of the swearing. Anderson says the language was necessary to the plot, to show the degeneration of language in the world of the feed. 

My personal feeling about the language in Feed is that it is not extreme enough to warrant controversy. It is not gratuitous and is there to serve a very specific purpose. Teens will be discerning enough to understand exactly why Anderson wrote the way he did. And, the swearing isn't actually that prevalent. I have read several other young adult novels where the language was much more prominent. There is so much going on in Feed that the 'objectionable' language is, I would argue, not very objectionable at all. In the end, I think this controversy should not be a controversy at all: Feed should be on the bookshelves of school libraries.

On to the second point: teen culture. Anderson has written a scathing satire of modern culture, an the role that teens play/fight against in that culture. It's for this reason I found this book difficult to take at times. It definitely wasn't my favourite read for this project. There is something about Anderson's message that is at times heavy handed, and could be seen as criticizing or blaming teens for the way they live now. Teen culture is something to be reviled. This is not to say that teens (or any of us) should not be challenged on the way we live our lives. Its just that this book is at times so bleak and accusatory that it leaves the reader out completely. I never felt totally connected with this book, and I think it might be difficult for a teen audience to connect with it too. Feed is ultimately hollow; maybe that is the point Anderson seeks to make. The problem is, its hollowness alienates readers.

After reading the VOYA article, I felt I understood better just what Anderson was trying to say about teen culture.  Anderson is someone who is deeply concerned with the state of America and he talks about how angry he was as a teen that society expected him to be part of the teen culture machine. From this standpoint, the book seems less accusatory. 

All this aside, I think Feed is a book that will appeal to teens who are questioning the world around them (and who isn't?), although they may ultimately find it unsatisfying. Anderson is a very talented and versatile young adult author, and Feed deserves a place on library bookshelves.  Read it, unit, and see where you weigh in on the controversy.

Don't leave it behind

The Leaving

Budge Wilson

Toronto: Stoddart Publishing Co., 1993

Genre: Realistic Fiction/ Short Fiction

Read if: You like short fiction dealing with the small epiphanies of every day life.

Best for: Older high school students (16 +) who like character driven writing about the nuances of our lives. Most of the stories focus on the lives of adolescent girls, but the stories are universal enough to appeal to both genders.

Rating: 3/5

A daughter who spends every day of her fifteen year old life inventing stories about her handsome and heroic absent father; a best friend who is betrayed by a poetry contest; a young girl who's life is changed by an attractive strangers arrival on her doorstep; a wife takes her only daughter on a trip to Halifax that changes her marriage forever: these are the women who's stories are told in The Leaving, Budge Wilson's collection of short stories about being a Canadian teen.

The Leaving is different than any other item I have reviewed here, being the only short story collection for young adults. Short story collections in YA are unusual. The Leaving is a slightly older book than most I have looked at (published in 1993). Novels are much more popular than short fiction for teens today. This does not mean that its format disadvantages it; The Leaving is a quiet, clever and beautifully written book about  adolescent life.  Each story is sharply observed and rings true. These stories are honest, and I found myself more than once nodding my head while I read, feeling like I had lived the same experience as the stories' protagonist. Wilson writes such strong characters, it is hard not to think of them as ourselves.

Its also nice to read a book that is so unapologetically Canadian. Wilson writes about Haligonian springs and Lunenburg summers, about characters who come from the Prairies to live in the Maritimes, and characters who leave the Maritimes to seek other lives out west. Wilson adds an often missing Canadian context to the world of young adult fiction.

However, while I read I wondered whether the stories, which are mostly set in the 1950's and 1960's , would seem antiquated to teen readers. These stories are beautiful, and they are about teens, but I almost think they are better suited to adult readers looking back on their teen lives. There is something nostalgic about many of the stories that I am not sure would connect or appeal to teen readers. 

While I was reading, I was reminded of the time I was in grade seven and tried to read W.O. Mitchell's Who Has Seen the Wind. That book had a protagonist very close to my own age, and he lived very close to my own home, but I hated the book. Despite our similarities, I couldn't find anything to connect to in Brian O'Connals story. I have since re-read the book and loved it, but it took me twelve years. I think The Leaving could be a similar experience for teenagers, especially young ones. This doesn't mean that I don't think it has merit as a young adult novel  - it does. But I do not think it will connect with all teens, and I do not think it is suitable for younger teens. Older teens who love realistic fiction and want their own experiences and settings reflected in fiction will find this book appealing.

 One of The Leavings main characters: cold Nova Scotia winters

The Leaving is best suited to readers who are interested in small nuances and slow burns. The rewards of this book are subtle but substantial.

New Kid in Town

American Born Chinese

Gene Luen Yang

Henry Holt and Co., 2006

Genre: Graphic Novel

Read if: You've ever felt like an outsider.

Best for: This graphic novel will be enjoyed by a wide range of ages, from middle to high school students. 

If you like it try:

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Rating: 5/5

Jin Wang moves to a new school where he is the only Chinese-American student ;  the Monkey King thinks he is the best warrior in the land and spends hundreds of years locked under a mountain for his hubris ; Chin-Kee, the personification of the worst Asian stereotypes imaginable, comes from China to cause major embarrassment to his American cousin. American Born Chinese blends these three seemingly unrelated stories together using the graphic novel format to create an imaginative and powerful exploration of ethnicity and identity.

I have to admit that I had not read many graphic novels before I picked this one up. The ones I had read (mostly in the Alan Moore cannon) were enjoyable but dense, and while the drawing was beautiful, I often found it crowded and overwhelming. American Born Chinese is completely different than what traditionally comes to mind when you think of comics. The drawings are sparse and simplistic, and the layout is very clean looking, with only a few panels to each page. This does not mean that the story (or the art) is in any way "simple" or dumbed downed for teens. Yang tells a very complex and emotionally charged story in a clever and accessible way ; teens will connect to themes of isolation, identity, and acceptance. This book is beautiful to look at and beautiful to read, and it is the kind of story gains new meaning every time it is read. 

Yang won the Michael L. Printz award in 2007 over Octavian Nothing and The Book Thief , both stiff competition, which should give you an indication of how high quality this work is. American Born Chinese was the first graphic novel to win a Printz, and is a great illustration of the power and potential of this genre to tell great stories. 

Manga Madness

Shojo Beat

April 2009,volume 5, issue 4

VIZ Media, LLC

Genre: Magazine

Read if: You want to get into Manga or you already love it. If you like comics in lots of genres (sci fi, historical fiction) that focus on romance, this magazine is for you.

Best for: Middle school girls (12 -15) who want to follow several manga series in one go, and get some art and fashion tips too!

If you like it try:

Apple by Udon Entertainment

Rating: 4/5

I picked this magazine up not really knowing what to expect. It turns out this is a great resource for teens who love manga (japanese for comic), or for teens who want an introduction into manga. 

The magazine contains six different comics from ongoing series. Series in this issue included the new "Tail of the Moon" by Rinko Ueda ("can a lowly caretaker with amnesia find love with the dreamy castle guard?"); Crimson Hero by Mitsuba Takanashi ("Nobara and Yushin fight off a host of admirers. Must be nice"); Honey and Clover by Chica Umino ("Takemoto goes on a search for himself, and Morita sort of does the same"); and more! Each comic starts with a synopsis of the entire series, what happened last episode, a list of characters, and an author bio.

Besides the comics, the Shojo Beat also has a "Manga Update" with recent Manga news, a fashion and beauty section, culture and trends (the issue I read had a great article on how to create attractive food presentations), and how to draw manga. All the articles in the magazine have a clear artistic bent to them, and focus on aesthetics. The layout and subject matter of the magazine is clearly aimed at teen girls (Shojo is Japanese for "young girl"). 

I really enjoyed reading Shojo Beat. This magazine would be a great way to get into manga, as it allows you to follow several short comics in one go, from month to month. The other articles were also well written and fun, and would appeal to girls who are interested in art, aesthetics, and Japanese culture. This is a well made magazine that's well worth a look.

Get in line for the new issue of Shojo Beat

Interested? Check out their website where you can preview new issues, read about creators and download online manga.

He'll Always Be Alberta's Child

Bull Rider

Marilyn Halvorson

Orca Soundings

Victoria, British Colombia: Orca Book Publisher, 2003

Genre: Hi/Lo (part of the Orca Soundings series, level 3)

Read if: You are looking for a fast paced and action packed story about  a boy's rise in the rodeo.

Best for: Reluctant teen readers age 12+ who are looking for a fast and rewarding read.

If you like it, try:

Any of the other Orca Soundings books. Orca is a Canadian publisher that produces high quality hi/lo books in a wide range of subjects.

Bonus Features: Listen to an audio excerpt from Bull Rider here.

Rating: 5/5

Growing up on a ranch in southern Alberta, 15 year old Layne has one ambition: to enter the bull riding competition at the next town rodeo. There's just one problem - Layne's mother forbids it. His father, a bull riding champion, was killed in a riding accident two years prior. Since that time, his mother has done everything in her power to keep Layne away from danger, even threatening to kick him  out of the house if he goes anywhere near a bull pen. 

But Layne won't let anything stop his dream to be great the way his father was. With the help of his sister Tara (or Terror, as she is affectionately known), and his friend Jana, Layne goes up against angry bulls and angry mothers to make his dreams come true.

Bull Rider was my first hi/lo book, and it didn't disappoint. For those of you who aren't familiar with the genre, hi/lo refers to high interest, low reading level books published for reluctant readers. Generally, hi/lo books are written three levels below the intended age group. 

Canadian author Marilyn Halvorson has written a book that is definitely high interest.This book is short without seeming rushed; there is lots of action, and lots of real feeling (I almost cried in one chapter).  The characters are well developed and real.  Gripping from the start, and well and simply written, this book will definitely appeal to readers who are looking for a fast, good read.  

This is the way hi/lo should be done, and Orca has many quality titles that I'm excited to read. 

Romance on the High Seas

Girl At Sea

Maureen Johnson

HarperTeen, 2007

Genre: Romance/Adventure

Read if: You love adventures, fear jellyfish, and want a little romance in the mix.

Best for: High school students who want a fun, clever, fast paced read that ties romance, realism and travel together.

If you like it, try:

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Awards: 2008 Romance Writers of America RITA Young Adult Finalist

Rating: 4.5/5

Clio's summer is going to be perfect: she just got the the job of her dreams in an art store, where she'll be able to to get discount art supplies and get to know the gorgeous guy who works at the counter. 

But Clio's father has a way of ruining things. First, he left Clio and her mother when she was twelve. Now he's back, and he wants her to spend all summer on a boat with him, his new girlfriend and his crew. The purpose: to be part of a team looking for a buried treasure deep in the Mediterranean Sea. 

So, instead of selling art supplies and making her crush her boyfriend, Clio cooks for the crew, helps read maps, avoids Aidan, her father's surly research assistant, and begins to unravel a mystery. There are secrets in the sea and on the ship, and everything is not as it seems.

What do jellyfish have to do with love? This book answers all.

Girl At Sea is a smart and romantic adventure novel. Or maybe its an adventurous romance novel. Either way, Johnson skillfully blends a mystery with exotic settings, great action sequences and real emotions to create a fun and thoughtful novel about family, risks, and first love. 

I've thought a lot about the label "romance novel" this year in library school. Romance is a difficult genre in a lot of ways because for a lot of people it has immediate, and often negative, connotations. The implication is if it is romance, it is probably not a very good book. Girl at Sea is definitely a romance, and it is also definitely a good story. Like all genre's, there is a varying range of quality in romance writing. Girl At Sea is a very high quality romance, but it is also just a very high quality young adult novel that deals playfully but also sensitively with something on every teens mind: relationships.  

Unlike the previously reviewed Does My Head Look Big in This  and Twilight, Girl at Sea deals with a teen romance without reducing the characters to stereotypes. Clio is vividly depicted and easily relatable. While the romance is a main focus of the book, it grows out of a shared adventure, and that is what makes this read rich and exciting. Truly funny, sweet and fun, this is the romance you've been waiting for. 

One more thing:  Johnson also keeps a really entertaining blog that has a lot of interesting things to say about being a YA author.

Vampire Spectacular: Part Two

My Swordhand is Singing

Marcus Sedgwick

London: Orion Books, 2006

Genre: Horror/Folktale

Read if: You are interested in the origins of vampire stories, and like eerie mysteries.

Best for: Middle school students who are interested in dark, moody mysteries with a historic setting. Because the story is straightforward and gripping, this is a great book for many levels of reader.

If you like it, try:

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman

Rating: 3.5/5

"I was living in a devil town

Didn't know it was a devil town

Oh lord it really brings me down about the devil town

All my friends were vampires

Didn't know they were vampires

Turns out I was a vampire myself

in the devil town"

-Devil Town lyrics by Daniel Johnston

His whole life, Peter has lived like a nomad. Roaming the countryside with his father Tomas, taking odd jobs in small towns and never staying long, Peter has never found a place to call home.  Then Peter and Tomas come to Chust. Settling down on an island at the edge of the forest, Peter spends his days cutting wood for the villagers and nursing his often-drunk father. Slowly, Peter builds a life for himself in Chust, with a job and a sweetheart named Agnes.

But Peter's peace begins to break with the death of one of the villagers. Witnessing the burial himself, Peter does not know what to make of reports that Radu is being seen at night, apparently alive. 

When other deaths follow, Peter finds himself caught in a mystery involving gypsies, his father's past, a sword, and a legend of the deadly Shadow Queen. The undead are haunting Chust, and it is up to Peter protect the only place he knows as home.

My Swordhand Is Singing is a contemporary vampire folk tale. Drawing on sixteenth and seventeenth century vampire traditions, Sedgwick writes in his Author's Note at the back of the novel that he "sought to capture the flavour of the early reports of vampirism." Sedgwick goes on to say that "the suave, sometimes overtly attractive vampire of modern myth is very far from the original revenants of the folklore where these creatures originated." 

With My Swordhand is Singing, Sedgwick de-Cullenizes the vampire tale. The vampires of Chust are frightening, unglamorous and unstoppable. Almost zombie-like in their pursuit of prey, the nosferatu, vrykolakoi, or hostages, as they are alternately called (the word vampire never actually appears in the novel), are possessed of a disease that causes their state. Death, and the acceptance of its presence in our lives, is a running thread in this cleverly constructed vampire story.

The biggest strength of this novel is the setting and tone Sedgewick establishes. Using the folklore framework, Sedgwick is able to create a moody, gripping world very quickly. The deep Transalvanian winter is so clearly depicted readers will find themselves immediately immersed in the novels world. 

The story itself is simple and straightforward. More hesitant readers will find it  easily accessible. Although the book is a return to vampire-tale roots, it contains very light horror. Readers looking for a true scare won't find one here. There is also more mystery than action, so some readers looking for violent vampire fight sequences may be dissapointed (that's not to say there's NO vampire fighting though, because there definitely is). This book will probably appeal most to early junior high students (ages 11-13), although older readers may find the folk tale angle interesting and appealing.

My Swordhand is Singing is a well written book that takes the vampire back to where it started. If you're looking for a different kind of vampire novel, this book is a great start.

Vampire Spectacular: Part the First

Twilight and New Moon

Stephanie Meyer

Little, Brown Young Readers, 2005, 2006

Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Romance

Read if: You like light horror, fantasy and especially romance

Best for: A wide age range from early middle school to late high school. 

If you like it, try: The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Rating: 2.5/5

What happens when you have a very vivid dream about a boy and a girl talking about how they are falling in love, and about how their love is impossible, because the boy isn't really a boy at all: he's a vampire. If you're Stephanie Meyer, you take that dream and write your first novel that then spawns  one of the most successful series for young adults in recent memory.

Unless you have been living in a crypt, you probably already know at least some of the plot. Twilight is the tale of Bella Swan, a gawky seventeen year-old who moves from the bright sunshine of Pheonix, Arizona to the rainy gloom of Forks, Washington to live with her father. Life in Forks is dull until Bella meets Edward Cullen, a beautiful, mysterious boy with a secret. When Bella uncovers the truth about Edward and his family she must decide: put herself in  certain danger, or walk away from the only person she's ever loved. 

In New Moon, the series' second installment, Bella must deal with heartbreak in the face of Edward's sudden absence. Unable to handle the pain, Bella finds peace in her growing friendship with Jacob Black. Sweet and understanding, Jacob helps Bella to become herself again. But like Edward, Jacob is more than he appears, and his dark secret will force Bella to choose between the two people she cares about most. Obsession and desire, friendship and the lengths we'll go for love are the essence of this series.

I read Twilight and its sequel New Moon over the Christmas break, but I have been hesitant to write this post. The reason: I have talked to a lot of people about the Twilight phenomena, and the violence of the reactions to it has made a little nervous to add my voice to the mix. People either love them or hate them. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. I however, feel like I am of two-minds about the series. 

Edward is not impressed that I can't make my mind up about Twilight

First, its strengths: Twilight is engrossing. Told in the first person, the reader is immediately drawn into Bella's world. From the loneliness of being a stranger in a strange town to the first pangs of love, you feel it all with Bella. Through a vampire story, Meyer is able to speak of the intensity and often forbidden nature of first love and first passion. 

Just as engrossing as Twilight, New Moon is in many ways the mirror of its predecessor. About heartbreak instead of love and friendship instead of romantic relationships, New Moon is in ways superior to Twilight because the characters become more real and three dimensional. In New Moon Bella grows up through the pain of her first heart break.

Now for the weaknesses: this series is not particularly well written. Although it succeeds in depicting an intensity of emotion that is felt by the reader, the writing itself is weak. Too much needless description and wordiness bog the books down. New Moon shows definite improvement from Twilight in the narrative, but both books suffer from their style. 

The characterization is also worrisome. Bella is eternally clumsy and needs Edward to save her; her desire for Edward must be controlled because if they succumb to it she will die. The characters, especially Edward, are sometimes one-dimensional, and this takes away from the story's power. 

Whether you love them or hate them, there's no getting away from Twilight. What this series has done for YA is get people talking about the genre, and looking for more, and that is perhaps its greatest strength. 

Vampire Spectacular: The Intro

As I mentioned in my very first post, I am keeping this blog for a Young Adult resources and services class I am taking at library school. The class is preparing us, Future Librarians, for the topics and issues we'll face in Young Adult services. There is one topic that is so pressing right now in YA services that it comes up at least once, no fail, every class. That issue? Vampires. 

The YA world is crawling with vampires. They are everywhere, and appear in a variety of  forms, from sparkly century-old teenagers to hungry undead villagers in Easter Europe. They'll suck your blood and steal your heart and leave you looking for another novel. 

You'll find him in the YA section of your public library

There's no denying that the current trend in vamp fiction owes a lot to a certain now ubiquitous, highly popular series that has just been made into a ubiquitous and highly popular movie franchise. I read Twilight and New Moon for this project, and for my own interest, because I wanted to know what it was all about. 

For comparison, I also read two other vampire novels: one that was written pre-Twilight  but has several similarities (Look for Me by Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn, 1997), and one that is a contemporary of Twilight, and an altogether different kind of vampire novel (My Sword Hand is Singing by Marcus Sedgwick, 2007).

So the next three posts are going to be part of a Vampire Spectacular, to give you an idea of what has happened, and what is currently happening, in the crypts of YA fiction today.

Mozart Musings

The Mozart Season

Virginia Euwer Wolff

U.S.A.: Scholastic, 1991

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Read if: You're a tween or young teen with an intense passion or hobby.

Best for: Early middle schoolers who like reading about real life situations.

If you like it try: 

Johnny Kellock Died Today by Hadley Dyer

Rating: 3/5

Twelve year old Allegra Shapiro is looking forward to the summer: no school, no softball, only freedom. But her lazy days are cut short when she finds out she's made the finals in the Bloch Competition, a violin contest for young adults.  Allegra loves the violin, but she isn't sure if she's ready to play Mozart for  a judge.  

Through outdoor concerts and gigs as a page-turner, visits from an eccentric opera singer, a mystery with a dancing man and endless practicing, Allegra learns what following your passion really means.

The Mozart Season is a quiet, introspective little book about music and growing up. It isn't about a major issue or event, and it isn't stylistically sophisticated or experimental like much YA today. That is not to say that the writing isn't stellar, because it is: Euwer Wolff's prose are simple and clean and very readable.

The book is composed of a number of vignettes about every day life in Portland, Oregon, and how small things change Allegra's twelve year old life. Depicting what it is like to devote your life to one dream  in a realistic and sensitive way, this book succeeds in portraying the simple truths in our lives. Last year I had the chance to hear Canadian YA/children's author Hadley Dyer speak. Her latest book, Johnny Kellock Died Today is very similar in tone to this novel. Dyer said that if her book could have another title, it would be called "The Summer Rosalie (the twelve year old main character) Learned to Love her Mother". If this book had an alternative title, it would probably be called "The Summer Allegra learned Why she Loves the Violin (and everything else in her life)". 

The gentle and realistic tone of this book may not appeal to all readers; there is very little action, and there are long detailed descriptions about playing the violin. It will connect most with a young audience (early middle school, the age I was when I first read this book) who are thinking about the world around them and how it really works. 

Much Ado About Nothing

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Traitor to the Nation Volume I: The Pox Party

M.T. Anderson

Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2006

Genre: Historical Fiction

Awards and Recognition: 2007 Michael L. Printz Honor

Read if: You want to find out what a Pox Party is.

Best for: High School students who are interested in history, post-colonialism and really good storytelling. This book contains mature themes of violence and oppression. 

If you like it try: 

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Traitor to the Nation Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Rating: 5/5

In a sprawling house in Massachusetts, a clandestine group of academics known as the Novanglian College of Lucidity are undertaking experiments to prove the truths of the world. Growing up in their midst is a boy named Octavian, who spends his days being tutored in Latin and Greek, learning the classics, playing the violin, and being doted on by his mother Cassiopeia, an African Princess far from home. Octavian  leads an odd but peaceful existence inside the College walls, until the day he wanders through a forbidden door and learns a sinister secret about the College's experiments. As Octavian learns more about his past and his intended future, he begins a journey that will take him from the safe walls of the College into the changing world of late 18th Century America. 

I have never read anything quite like this book. Octavian Nothing is a difficult book to describe in a lot of ways, because it is so unique. It fits most readily into the category of historical fiction, although it goes much beyond that description. Drawing strongly on 18th century literary traditions (even going so far as having the first and last pages of the novel look like an 18th century folio), the novel is written in the prose of the time. This may make it challenging at first if you are unused to the language, although Anderson's writing is so skilled that I easily fell into the rhythm of the writing. Told in a multi-media format, through letters, notices and first person accounts, Octavian's story is woven together from a complex array of voices.Anderson has said that he wanted the novel to have a gothic feel

and it certainly does. Octavian's trials are dark and harrowing; Anderson uses each episode  to explore what it means to be free. 

The teenage years are often filled with searching for truths and questioning the meaning of the the status quo ( I know mine were). Octavian Nothing goes right to the heart of that search, and that is perhaps its greatest strength; readers will connect with Octavian's struggle against the world he was born into, as he seeks to find his own identity. 

This novel is rich in ideas; it challenges and expects much from the reader. There has been discussion since itl came out about whether it is too challenging for a teen audience

Others argue that the novel defines the best of contemporary teen fiction

This novel certainly is challenging, and it could definitely be considered cross-over fiction. My hope is that this book, and its sequel (see above), fall into the hands of many readers, so that they can experience this unique and astonishing book for themselves. 

Tale As Old As Time

Beast

Donna Jo Napoli

New York: Antheum Books for Young Readers. 2000.

Genre: Fractured Fairy Tale

Read it if: You like re-tellings of well known stories.

Best for: Late Middle School and High School students looking for a thought-provoking take on a classic tale.

If you like it try: 

Bound by Donna Jo Napoli

Beauty by Robin McKinley

Rating: 3.5/5

Born to the Royal Family of Persia,  Prince Orasmyn lives a life of wealth and privilege inside the walls of the Shah's palace. But on a day of celebration, Orasmyn makes a decision that brings on the wrath of a pari, a fairy who's curse instantly changes the course of Orasmyn's life. In his beastly form, Orasmyn struggles to survive and to find the love that will break the curse.

Drawing on Charles Lamb's 1811 poem Beauty and the Beast, which names the beast Orasmyn and notes his Persian origins, Donna Jo Napoli brings a new perspective on this well known fairy tale, making the beast a fully real character.  Using the plight of Beast, Napoli writes frankly of desire versus control, and the struggle of the animal versus the human in us all. Orasmyn's journey to understand what it means to love is a coming-of-age tale that is easy to identify with. In many ways, Beast is the story of struggling to move from the child to the adult world.

Illustration from Charles Lamb's Beauty and the Beast

This novel is unusual in it's focus on Beast's perspective; other re-tellings of Beauty and the Beast (there are several, see above), are from Belle's point of view. This may cause more male readers to identify with this book, although I would argue that the story is universal enough to appeal across gender and age lines. Both late middle school and  high school students will enjoy this read. 

This isn't your grandmother's Beast

A thoughtful and provoking novel, Beast is an old tale transformed.