All the Cool Kids - and Grown Ups! - Are Doing It

I'm blaming my summer hiatus, but I just discovered the New York Times essay about how "the Harry Potter generation has grown up," and is still hooked on YA literature.

What's not to love? If you're one of the doubters who question why "grown ups" are spending so much time reading YA, please do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of The Hunger Games, Shiver, The Knife of Never Letting Go, or Jellicoe Road. You'll be sorry you waited so long to see what the hype's all about!

"book-case" image from here!

My New Love

...is Sherman Alexie. I just started The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and I am a little obsessed. Today I've pulled it out of my book bag four different times and recommended it to the people I was with.

In the words of Junior/Mr. Alexie...

"I grabbed my book and opened it up. I wanted to smell it. Heck, I wanted to kiss it. Yes, kiss it. That's right, I am a book kisser. Maybe that's kind of perverted or maybe it's just romantic and highly intelligent."

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure

Zan Gah by Allan Richard Shickman, Earthshaker Books, 2007, 160 pp, Realistic Fiction, ISBN: 0979035708


Zan is a young boy growing up in a land filled with danger, mystery, superstitions, and ancient traditions. He is given the name "Zan Gah" as a mark of honor by a tribal elder when he kills a lion. Not long after, the emboldened Zan Gah decides to leave his tribe and go in search of his twin brother, Dael, who went missing a year ago. Zan Gah's ensuing adventure takes place over the course of several years. During that time, he comes into contact with many other tribes, including the Hru, the Noi, and the fearsome wasp men. He invents a new weapon. He is held captive as a slave for a year, eventually earning his captors trust by posing as "an idiot." But when Zan Gah finally finds his twin, their reunion is not at all what he had been hoping for...

Now I need to just come right out and say, Zan Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure was not for me. I still feel like the basic plot has the capacity to be hugely entertaining, but for me, the writing got in the way. It often seemed like the author was trying to tell the story while using as many potential classroom vocabulary words as possible. Here is a brief example:

"[Zan] advanced toward the parched land below, assured that Dael had been sent there and secretly wishing to go there to seek him. The wasp men, with a final gesture of wrath and anathema, turned to go home." 

Ultimately, this style of writing is just a distraction for me as a reader. There were also numerous not-so-subtle attempts to teach a lesson. Here is another example:

"...but in a week's time, with constant effort, he was as good as Thal, or even better. It had been the same earlier, when he and Dael began to fish with their father's spears. Practice, only practice, made them good at it. It would be the same with the sling."

Of course, there's nothing wrong with a story having a moral. There were just so many "teachable moments" woven throughout the story that Zan seemed more like a parent than the teenaged narrator he was supposed to be. Even the more "typically YA" moments just didn't ring true for me. Take the moment that Zan fell in love:

"From behind Zan saw the bright sunlight strike her blowing orange hair, turning it for a moment into fire. He could not help himself. He was on fire too - he loved her!"

Because there was so little development of this story line either before or after the excerpted lines above, it seemed like the love story snippet had been inserted as an afterthought. It just didn't work for me.

Of course, all of this is only my opinion. If you check out the Zan Gah website, you will find many, many, many glowing reviews from a variety of sources. I'm interested to hear what you think, Book Lovers! Are you a Zan Gah fan? If yes, what I am missing?

**Zan Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure was generously provided for review by Earthshaker Books.

Wake, Fade, and Gone

I read quite a few books this summer that I didn't particularly care for (more on that to come!) but the Wake trilogy quickly climbed its way to the top of my favorites list! Note of caution: I really tried to keep the brief summaries below spoiler-free, but because I covered all three books, a few details might have crept in...

In Wake, high school student Janie is finally forced to confront the fact that she is a dream catcher. Whenever she finds herself in the same space as someone sleeping - at school in class, at home with her alcoholic mother, or even driving her car - she is immediately sucked into that person's dreams. As a dream catcher, she often finds herself learning more than anyone would want to know about the people around her. Terrified to reveal the secret she has kept for so many years, Janie finds answers and encouragement in extremely unlikely places.

In Fade, the second book in the trilogy, Janie is able to put her dream catching skills to work as an undercover agent for The Captain.   She agrees to act as "bait" in order to unmask a teacher/sexual predator in her high school. However, Janie might be in for even more danger than she bargained for...

In Gone, the final book in the series, Janie is forced to come to terms with the truth about her future if she chooses to continue to work as a dream catcher. But how could she possibly ever choose between her sight and the love of her life? On top of that, everything Janie thought she was sure of is called into question when she finally finds her father...

Just like the dreams that Janie finds herself helplessly drawn to, this series sucked me in and didn't let me go! The concept of "dream catching" was wholly new to me and the writing was quick-paced and compelling. Even the unique formatting of each chapter and the different fonts for dreams and reality added another layer of interest.

Janie was a thoroughly likeable, not at all stereotypical, protagonist. Between her mother's drinking, her own mountain of secrets, and the crippling effect of her dream catching, it's pretty much a miracle that she never got too whiny. I LOVED that the love story threaded throughout all three books was  not the sappy, trite, overly dramatic blah blah blah that I feel like I've read far too much of in YA lately. Janie and Cabe are really just good for each other, and they present a realistic, positive image of what high school relationships can be like (you know, except for the dream catching and undercover agenting...). Looking back, Fade was by far my favorite of the three books. It was certainly the most action packed, but I thought it also gave Janie the strongest sense of hope and purpose.

I am going to make a point of recommending the Wake series to all of my 8th grade and high school readers! 

PS: Lisa McMann (with Simon and Schuster) is offering a free download of Cabe's side of the story. Go check it out!

PPS: I'm pretty excited about the film version of the books. I don't have a problem with Miley Cyrus (who is rumored to play the lead) but wouldn't either Emma Watson or Keke Palmer make a fabulous Janie as well?! Who would your pick be?

Aaaaand... We're Back!

Holy cow, it has been a long time since I've written. Just in case you're a little bit curious about how the husband and I spent the summer...

and...

and...

It was pretty fabulous! In addition to the adventuring, I was able to read a LOT:

and Nick got hooked on YA too! In case you're wondering, the Chaos Walking triology, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Dead Tossed Waves, and The Maze Runner are his new favs. And that last one? He claims it's better than The Hunger Games. Blasphemy!

Of course, like all good things, summer is coming to end. But I can't complain... This will be my first year ever as a school librarian and that will be an adventure all on its own. I hope you all keep checking in as the new school year takes off!