Fall Into Reading Update/Pre-Wrap-Up

I had listed fourteen books for this one. While I've read at least sixty (if not a hundred) books since September 23rd, I still haven't managed to finish all fourteen I listed. My number? 9 of the 14. I don't look at it as a failure however. How could I? I'm on the Cybils YA Nominating Panel, I've read over fifty books for that alone in these fall months. Not to mention the reading I've done for Librarians' Choices. So my original 14 were

Epic by Conor Kostick
Runemarks by Joanne Harris
The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It by Lisa Shanahan
Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes
The Silver Cup by Constance Leeds
Into the Woods by Lyn Gardner
Total Constant Order by Crissa Jean Chappell
Before, After, and Somebody In Between by Jeannine Garsee
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Leonardo’s Shadow by Christopher Grey
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
Memoirs of A Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
If A Tree Falls At Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko
Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor

You can see I've given links for the nine I've read. By far my favorite of the bunch is A Crooked Kind of Perfect. I love, love, love that book. I still plan on reading the others, but I'm realistic about it too. They'll get read when I come across them again in my boxes. And I'm not even going to start looking in my boxes for them until after the Cybils are over. And the Cybils won't be over, for me, until the first weekend of January. So since the challenge ends in the next week or two, I'm not going to get to anything else on the list.

The challenge is hosted by Callapidder Days. It runs from September 23rd through December 21rst.

Before, After, and Somebody In Between

Garsee, Jeannine. 2007. Before, After, and Somebody In Between.

This book is a good book. But it is essentially the story about a young teen girl with an identity crisis. Her name is Martha. Martha Kowalski. Never has a teen girl hated her life more. Her drunk and neglectful mother. Her mother's abusive boyfriend. Her equally impoverished neighbors living in the tenements. Her school. Her classmates. Nothing at all is going right in her life. She has one or two friends. But their lives are equally messed up. One has a mother dying of AIDS, one has been abandoned my a mother addicted to drugs. The last one also lives in an abusive environment where they beat a toddler. So who would want to be that girl if given another option. Certainly not Martha. When Martha is given--through dire circumstances--the opportunity to transform into Gina Brinkman, she jumps at the chance. Gina lives in a nice neighborhood. A rich neighborhood. Gina goes to an elite school. Gina has nice clothes and a bathroom all her own. (If I recall correctly.) Gina is a material girl. She can have a thousand luxuries that are new to her. And most of all, she feels like she's escaped the harsh realities of her life. But life is never that easy. Never that black and white. Never that clear cut. Who is she really deep down inside? What kind of girl is she?

This book has many ugly sides to it--the alcohol, the drugs, the physical and verbal abuse, sex, violence, etc. Martha is a character that doesn't really embrace the truth if she can get away with a lie. She lies. She lies a lot. Sometimes to other people. Sometimes only to herself. This is another book that shows that actions have consequences. Big consequences. And that life is full of hard choices. Choices you'll have to live with the rest of your life.

Overall, I liked it. It was well-written. This is a very human, very frail, sometimes cruel, sometimes naive narrator.

Fall Into Reading Challenge Update

The challenge is hosted by Callapidder Days. It runs from September 23rd through December 21rst. I've reviewed six so far, but read eight. Reviews of Before, After, and Somebody In Between and If A Tree Falls At Lunch Period will be coming relatively soon.

Epic by Conor Kostick
Runemarks by Joanne Harris
The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It by Lisa Shanahan
Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes
The Silver Cup by Constance Leeds
Into the Woods by Lyn Gardner
Total Constant Order by Crissa Jean Chappell
Before, After, and Somebody In Between by Jeannine Garsee
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Leonardo’s Shadow by Christopher Grey
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
Memoirs of A Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
If A Tree Falls At Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko
Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor

Epic

Kostick, Conor. 2007. Epic.

Looking for a fast-paced science-fiction novel set on a distant planet? Looking for a novel that explores the depths of the video world? The fun of video gaming and virtual realities? Looking for a great dystopic novel? Look no further for all your needs than Conor Kostick’s novel Epic.

Generations ago, violence was banned on New Earth. Society is governed and conflicts are resolved in the arena of a fantasy computer game Epic. Everyone plays, from teenagers to senior citizens. If you win, you have the chance to go to university, get more supplies for your community, and fulfill your dreams; if you lose; your life both in and out of the game is worth nothing.

Erik and his friends are the up and coming in the game. When Erik takes a risk—makes a gamble—that no one else has ever made, then big things start to happen. The powers to be—Central Alliance—want to ensure that they remain in power for the duration. After all, a country hick shouldn’t be able to beat the system and change all the rules…

While Epic starts off a bit on the slow side, things begin to really pick up in chapter three when the game Epic is finally introduced and brought into focus. Erik, his friends, and their fantasy alter egos are great heroes and heroines, and the story is both interesting and enjoyable. I didn’t want to put this one down.

Here is how Kostick's idea/premise originated:

The growth of online gaming is extraordinary. In the Far East four million people subscribe to one game alone. In the US the two most popular online fantasy games have over 500,000 and 400,000 players respectively. And inevitably these huge virtual communities are having an impact on the real world, as players barter their powerful weapons, magic items, properties and even their long cherished characters themselves. One economist recently evaluated the entire real dollar activity of these virtual creations as being larger than the GNP of Bulgaria.

So the idea for Epic came about from wondering, what would it be like to live in a world entirely dominated by one game; where every human being had to log into the game and their wealth, their political voice, their future, was shaped by how well they were doing in the game? What would happen to those who became the games most powerful players, and thus the most wealth and powerful people in the world? Would they start to dominate the proceedings and protect themselves from challenges? And if you were born poor and had to make your way through the game from scratch, what chance would you have?

Teacher's Guide to Epic
Epic: Chapter One and Chapter Two

Thirteen Reasons Why

Asher, Jay. 2007. Thirteen Reasons Why.

Hello, boys and girls. Hannah Baker here. Live and in stereo...No return engagements. No encore. And this time absolutely no requests...I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why....I'm not saying which tape brings you into the story. But fear not, if you received this lovely little box, your name will pop up...I promise. (7)

Before Hannah Baker ended her life with an overdose of pills, she wanted to leave behind a message. She recorded seven tapes--thirteen sides--that revealed bit by bit her drama and why she, in the end, felt like she had no other options. Clay Jensen is one of the tape's recipients. He is our narrator or guide through this listening experience. We hear Hannah's words alongside his thoughts and words. Hers are italicized. His aren't. He came home from school one day to find this package--a shoebox wrapped in paper and mailed--on his front porch. And from the time he first hits play...his life will already never be the same.

I wish I'd never seen that box or the seven tapes inside it. Hitting play that first time was easy. A piece of cake. I had no idea what I was about to hear. But this time, it's one of the most frightening things I've ever done. I turn the volume down and hit play. (9)

Clay Jensen at first feels like it's some kind of mistake. He never did anything to Hannah. He worked side by side with her at the movies. They made small talk. And one night--at a party--they made out. That's it. Why would he be to blame for her death? He couldn't, could he?

As the story unfolds, the reader learns that some actions have unforeseen consequences. A bit of gossip here or there, a rude word there, etc. Some were quite malicious--like her first boyfriend whose imagination got carried away with him. He ruined her reputation after their very first date. And why? Because he liked to talk big with the guys. Or how about the guy who labeled her the hottest a** in class? From then on, guys who were practically strangers tried to get away with grabbing her butt. Or how about the peeping tom who stalked her outside her bedroom window? Some people on the tapes are evident creeps and jerks...others seem more shocking.

Thirteen Reasons Why is without a doubt one of the best books of the year. Why? It isn't because it's sad. It isn't because it's about suicide. It isn't because it's dramatic. It's because it's well-written; it's real. The characters--from Hannah and Clay through all of the minor characters that come up as "reasons" such as Justin and Brent and Jenny--are so real, so well-developed, so human. The story is haunting and it's easy to understand why Clay's life will never be the same. How Hannah's death and life have changed him. Clay couldn't stop until he'd heard the tapes; I couldn't stop from reading til her story was through. It was very gripping, very haunting.

Fall Into Reading 2007 Challenge--My List

The challenge is hosted by Callapidder Days. It runs from September 23rd through December 21rst.

Epic by Conor Kostick
Runemarks by Joanne Harris
The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It by Lisa Shanahan
Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes
The Silver Cup by Constance Leeds
Into the Woods by Lyn Gardner
Total Constant Order by Crissa Jean Chappell
Before, After, and Somebody In Between by Jeannine Garsee
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Leonardo’s Shadow by Christopher Grey
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
Memoirs of A Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
If A Tree Falls At Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko
Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor