Between Shades of Gray

     I just finished a beautifully written book entitled Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. It tells the story of a Lithuanian girl named Lina who is forcibly removed from her home with her family and sent to work at labor camps in Russia during World War Two.  Based on true events, this book was an education for me because I had never heard of the Balkan Genocide in any history class I have ever taken.

     In this book Lina and her family are arrested by the Soviets and removed from their home in Lithuania.  Separated from her father, Lina, her mother, and brother Jonas are sent away.  Along with other Lithuanians, they are packed in boxcars and begin a long journey by rail.  During the trip Lina meets Andrius, and they help each other survive the journey.  Other passengers, however, are not so lucky, and many die or are killed en route.  The survivors are tired, dirty, and starving when they finally arrive at their destination, the Altai Labor Camp in central Russia.  There they are forced to work in horrible conditions for very little food, enduring lice, scurvy, and other illnesses.  Andrius continues to help Lina and her family by stealing food for them, passing on information about Lithuania, and taking care of Jonas when he gets scurvy as a result of malnutrition. 

     After six months at the Altai Labor Camp, Lina must say goodbye to Andrius when she, her family, and other captives are sent away yet again.  This time their destination is Trofimovsk, a small military settlement past the Arctic Circle and close to the North Pole.  Here the captives are forced to endure even worse conditions than those in Altai as they try to survive both the Arctic tundra and abuse from Soviet soldiers, who force the captives to forage for materials to build their own shelters and to provide heat so they can survive the Arctic winter.  Here even more die from dysentery, starvation, and the harsh conditions, including Lina's mother.  The only thing that keeps Lina and her brother going is their desire to live.

     While the theme of this book is not pleasant, readers will admire Lina's strength and perseverance as she tries to survive at the hands of the Soviets.  I think many will also feel the same shock and surprise to discover that such an atrocity occurred as I did.  In the United States, when students study World War Two they learn about the Holocaust and are told that the Soviets were US allies.  I don't think too many learn that our Soviet allies were simultaneously exterminating people while they were helping us defeat the Nazis.  This may be partially due to the fact that not too many people knew about it until fairly recently.  As the author explains in her Author's Note, those displaced during World War Two spent anywhere from 10 to 15 years in captivity before being released.  Upon their release, however, none spoke of what happened to them.  They couldn't, because they were still under Soviet rule and knew that they could end up back in prison in Siberia if they openly discussed their experiences.  According to the author, survivors did not begin to discuss this sad moment in Balkan history openly until 1990 after the Soviet Union dissolved.

     The author did extensive research in Lithuania before writing this book.  There she met with historians and government officials, and was even able to interview survivors.  The result is this powerful and moving novel that finally sheds light on what for many is a sad, forgotten moment in history.  5 stars.

What I've Been Reading Lately

Happy fall, everyone! School is in full swing and I've been busy with work and shuttling my children to and from their extra-curricular activities. Nevertheless, I have still found the time to squeeze in some YA reading. For me, reading is how I wind down at the end of a long day. When the book is really, good, however, I still end up going to bed late because I can't put down what I'm reading! 

In no particular order, here are the books that I have read this past month:

1. The Order of the Poison Oak by Brent Hartinger. I have now read three books by this author. The other two were The Geography Club and Project Sweet Life.  Hartinger is a gay man and is one of the few authors I know of who writes about gay teens.  I have already talked about Project Sweet Life in a previous post. The Geography Club is the story of a gay teen named Russ.  Together with his friends he forms a club for gay and bisexual teens and their straight allies. Not wanting to become the target of bullies, members give the club the pseudonym "Geography Club," which they hope will sound so boring to the student body that nobody will want to join it except for those student who know what the club is really about. 

The Order of the Poison Oak is a sequel to The Geography Club, where Russ and his two best friends take jobs as summer camp counselors.  The first group of campers come in, all of whom are burn victims who are coming to camp to have a chance to be with other children like them and temporarily forget their scars. Ultimately, it's a story about acceptance. 4 stars.

2. Art Geeks and Prom Queens by Alyson Noel.  New Yorker Rio moves with her well-off parents to Los Angeles, where Rio tries to fit in at her new school.  While at first she is befriended by the art geeks, she casts them aside when the popular girls invite her to join their inner circle.  Ultimately, however, she realizes that she doesn't belong with the popular kids and goes back to the art geeks.  

What a waste of time this book was. It was shallow, stupid, and full of clichés and one-dimensional characters. Plenty of good YA books about the concept of high school popularity exist, but this book is not one of them. 1 star.

3. See You At Harry's by Jo Knowles.  Fern and her family live in Vermont, where her father owns and operates a restaurant called Harry's.  Fern's biggest problems are feeling invisible, always being saddled with the responsibility of taking care of her annoying little brother Charlie, and dealing with bullies on the bus who have targeted her and her brother Holden as their main victims. All of these problems seem trivial after a family tradegy rocks the family, changing their lives forever.  

I never would have read this book if I had known exactly what the family tragedy was really about.  I read a lot of gritty, realistic fiction but certain topics just haunt me. I had a hard time sleeping after I read this book.  As far as quality of the book, however, I can say that it was pretty well written even though I felt that the conclusion seemed a bit rushed. 3 1/2 stars.

4. Curveball: The Year I Lost my Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick. Rising teen baseball star Peter's pitching career comes to a screeching halt after a devastating injury ends his days as an athlete for good. Now he's left trying to figure out his place in the world.  To make matters worse, his grandfather has started forgetting things and acting strangely.  The only person who seems to understand is Angelika, a girl in his photography class.

This is a nice story about coming of age and dealing with the physical and mental decline of grandparents, but at times I felt that it was trying too hard to educate the reader about dementia instead of moving the story along.  Still, it's a nice story about a boy trying to rebuild himself after his dreams are unexpectedly taken away.  4 stars.

5. Flash Burnout: A Novel by L. K. Madrigal.  Blake juggles having a girlfriend and helping out a female friend whose mother is a drug addict, all while trying to get a grade higher than a C in his photography class.  It's a novel about accepting responsibility for making mistakes and trying to do the right thing.

This book is a very sad portrait of what drug addiction can do to a family, and also very realistically describes how hard it is to balance a romantic relationship with a platonic one, although I was unhappy with the book's sad ending.  4 1/2 stars.

Enjoy the fall everyone and happy reading!

My Last Batch of Summer Books

     So as August came to a close I found that I was having a harder and harder time choosing books to read. After visiting three different libraries, however, I was finally able to compile five titles to read before summer vacation ended.  I spent my time with these titles:

     Here is how I ranked these books:

5. Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber.  A high school senior discovers that the foreign exchange student staying at his house is actually a trained operative intent on revenge, and Prom Night ends up being a crazy adventure through New York City as the foreign exchange student, Gobi, tries to complete her mission before the night is over. This book was fast-paced and well written but seemed to be missing depth.  3 1/2 stars.

4.  Project Sweet Life by Brent Hartinger.  Three friends spend the summer trying to earn enough money so they can fool their parents into thinking that they actually spent their time working at summer jobs. The book includes nice references to the history of Tacoma, but I had already figured out the ending when I was halfway done with the book.  As I was reading I kept thinking that the book would make the perfect Disney movie, but I doubt if Disney would keep the book's homosexual uncle and his partner as characters in the movie version.  3 1/2 stars.

3.  The Accidental Genius of Weasel High by Rick Detorie.   Half novel and half comic book, this book chronicles aspiring filmmaker Larkin's freshman year of high school.  This is a nice, quick and clever read. 4 stars.

2. Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina.  New student Piddy Sanchez becomes the target of a bully, who thinks that Piddy is after her boyfriend.  The bully makes Piddy's life a living hell, but luckily she has friends and family to watch her back. 4 1/2 stars.

1. I Am J by Cris Beam.  Born female, J is a transgender teen intent on becoming a boy, even though it may ruin relationships with friends and family. A heartfelt and realistic look at what it feels like to be trapped in the wrong body.  5 stars.

Now that I'm back at work I won't be reading or posting as much, but I'll still update when I can!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

     One of my all-time favorite books is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.  This book is about a young American Indian boy named Arnold who lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation, where he is surrounded by extreme poverty, rampant alcoholism, and a profound sense of hopelessness. Desperate for a better chance at a successful life, Arnold transfers from the high school on "the Rez" to the nearby all-white high school. Already a frequent victim of bullies, Arnold finds that this move causes him to be completely ostracized by his fellow Indians, but what hurts the most is being rejected by Rowdy, his best friend. And since he is the only Indian at the all-white high school, Arnold has difficulty fitting in with his classmates. Arnold drifts through two completely different societies but is not accepted by either one.

     I love this book! First of all, as a white, middle-class female I found this book to be eye-opening. I understand that I have lived a privileged life. I am lucky to have no knowledge of poverty. I knew that the US had many Indian reservations but had no idea how desperate and depressing life could be there. I therefore appreciate this book for what it taught me about how others are forced to live.

     Second, Arnold is an open and honest character. He very matter-of-factly describes what it is like to be poor. He describes what it feels like not to receive Christmas presents, to go to bed hungry, and not to be able to pay when on a date. He also offers no apologies for the excessive drinking he witnesses, even in his own family, and the heartache it can cause. 

     Although many of the subjects of this book are gritty and somber, Arnold's inner strength is what saves him. He refuses to give up and succumb to the demons that surround him. As hard as things are, Arnold perseveres. 

    

     

Third Batch of Books Completed!

Here are the books I have recently finished:

All five books had female protagonists.  All were quite good but very different. Here is my ranking from least to most favorite read:

5. Born Blue by Han Nolan.  Abandoned by her drug addict mother, Janie is first exposed to "the ladies" (singers like Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday) in foster care. A gifted singer herself, Janie sets off on a self-destructive journey to become a famous singer. This is a gritty, sad, and disturbing but well-written book.  4 stars.

4. The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shan. Eleven-year-old basketball player Lucy is all set to have the best year ever when her sister goes off to college, leaving Lucy with her own room. She is convinced that her year is ruined, however, when her parents make her share her room with her great-aunt visiting from China and attend Chinese School on Saturdays, which conflicts with basketball. Intended for elementary students, this cute and engaging novel explores Chinese culture, basketball, and the importance of family.  4 stars.

3. Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande.  Members of Mena's über-religious church ostracize her after a letter she writes involves them in a nasty lawsuit. Things get worse when the same church targets her biology teacher after she begins teaching a unit on evolution. This book does get a little preachy and the ending is a bit rushed, but it provides interesting insight into the ongoing debate between evolutionists and creationists. 4 stars.

2.  Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.  After a bizarre car accident, popular high school girl Sam finds herself reliving the last day of her life over and over. A well written, realistic, and poignant picture of high school.  4 1/2 stars.

1. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler.  Fifteen-year-old Virginia is overweight and miserable, the only member of her family who isn't thin, gorgeous, and popular. While at first she obsesses to lose weight, it no longer seems to be important once a horrible scandal rocks the family to its core.  A marvelous story of self-discovery and empowerment. 4 1/2 stars.

I go back to work in two weeks but I am going to try my best to get through at least one more batch of books before school starts. To the library I go!

What I'm Reading Now

    This week I have chosen books with female protagonists. That's about the only thing they have in common. Here's my selection:

     Three of the books I chose (Born Blue by Han Nolan; The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler; Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande ) because they were nominated for awards. I chose Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall because of strong reviews and because I liked another book by the same author. And I chose The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shan because my 12-year-old, who usually only likes fantasy and science fiction, gave this realistic fiction title a good review.

     I'll let you know what I think after I'm done with them!

The Art of Racing in the Rain

     When I was a child, many of the books I read had an animal as a main character, most famously E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. I was not prepared, however, to encounter the same phenomenon when opening a book intended for young adults. Nevertheless, that is exactly what I found when I started reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. This book's main character is an elderly dog named Enzo who narrates in the first person. In this book Enzo is at the end of his life and starts to think back on his life with his human, Denny, an aspiring race car driver.  Enzo reminisces about the joys, sorrows, and challenges that he and Denny experienced, including marriage, the birth of a child, two lengthy court cases, and hours upon hours spent watching videos of famous car races.

     This book was required summer reading at my school this year. It was a rough year for us because one of our best and brightest students passed away before Thanksgiving at the age of 17. It was a horrible tragedy. I was not prepared to open The Art of Racing in the Rain and read about a character in the book fighting the same disease that took our girl. But that is a personal reaction to what went on in my life this past year, and it doesn't change the fact that the book is profound, sweet, and unique.

I very much recommend this book but dog lovers beware - you may find yourself choking up and even crying at the end! 4 1/2 stars.

Wonder is Wonderful

     So I know that the title is a lousy and tired play on words, but the sentiment is true. Of all the books  have read recently, R.J. Palacio's Wonder is one of, if not the best book I've read this year.

     Wonder tells the story of August "Auggie" Pullman, who was born with a severe facial deformity. He has been homeschooled up until now for health reasons but now is well enough that he can attend a regular school as a fifth grader. As you can imagine, the hardships of middle school are amplified because of August's appearance. Students are hesitant to befriend him, and when one of the popular kids decides that Auggie should be ostracized, he has an even more difficult time making friends. I'm not really giving anything away when I say that Auggie perseveres and ends the year on a positive note, as it is the year's journey and getting to know and empathize with Auggie that compel as much as the success he finds at year's end. 

     Reading this book will make anyone think twice about what life with a disability must be like, and I would hope that it would make people more understanding and compassionate and help them be, as the book says, "kinder than necessary." And, as I have said earlier, it is an excellent read. While reading this book I chuckled, smiled, and cried, and I'm pretty sure that anyone else who reads this book will too. 5 enthusiastic stars!

I've Got My Own Dystopia, Thanks

     Back in 2009 I picked up a copy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for a class I was taking, and I think it only took me two days to read it. This was the first book of a trilogy set in a dystopian, futuristic society, and it was a riveting page-turner. Most people probably know that this book - and subsequently the entire trilogy - became a major sensation.  And, just like the Harry Potter and Twilight books, The Hunger Games trilogy has spawned movie versions.

     Since reading The Hunger Games trilogy, I've read many other dystopian novels, including Ally Condie's Matched, Lauren Oliver's Delirium, and Veronica Roth's Divergent. I've noticed that these titles have a good deal in common:

1. The protagonist is always a young female, usually small for her age and underestimated as a result.

2. The protagonist has a love interest and often becomes involved in a love triangle.

3. The dystopian story is told in a trilogy.

4. The society in which the protagonist lives is oppressive, causing her to aid in the fight for freedom.

5. The protagonist loses at least one family member and/or a close friend.

     But I've decided that it is time for me to put the dystopia aside for a while. The similarities I see in these books have made me grow tired of the genre. I feel as if I am reading the same story over and over again. Additionally, I have been disappointed in the two trilogies I have read. The Hunger Games was great and the sequel, Catching Fire, was quite good, but I struggled to get through the last one, Mockingjay. Similarly, while Matched was quite good, the second book in the series, Crossed, was a stinker. I still read Reached, the third book, because I hoped that the trilogy would at least end strongly, but that one was pretty lousy too. I have not read the sequels to Delirium or Divergent because I am nervous that the other books in the trilogy will be disappointing, and I am not sure I want to devote that much time reading mediocre books.

     So that's it! I'm done with dystopia. The current society in which we live has enough malfunction and heartache anyway!

I Finished My Second Batch of Books!

     Here are the books I have recently read:

     Here is how I rank them, going from the one I liked the least to the one I liked the best:

5. Divergent by Veronica Roth.  In a dystopian world, a young girl named Beatrice makes a life decision, all the while hiding a secret that could get her killed.  I will say more about this book in a future posting. 3 1/2 stars.

4. The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey.  I have already talked about this book in a previous posting. In this book, three young people struggle to survive after an alien invasion. 4 stars.

3. Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman.  I have already posted about this book too, in which a young Indian girl must move in with her traditional family after an accident. Treated as a servant, she is forced to take care of the men in the household and fears that she may not get the chance to pursue a higher education. 4 1/2 stars.

2. House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer.  A young boy grows up on the estate of a powerful man called El Patrón. He is treated like an animal because he is a clone, and it is only as he gets older and El Patrón's health declines that the boy realizes why he was born in the first place. 5 stars.

1. Countdown by Deborah Wiles.  This is part fiction, part documentary. The fiction part tells the story of a young girl and her family growing up outside Washington, DC during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The narrative is interspersed with photos and text about the history of America at the beginning of the 1960s. 5 stars.

     I must confess that I had a really hard time deciding which book - Countdown or House of the Scorpion - to put in the Number One spot. Both were very well written and exciting to read. Ultimately I chose Countdown because of its originality. Calling this book "historical fiction" barely describes the fresh and visually pleasing way that it conveys information about the era. Although the narrative takes place during the Cuban Missile Crisis, it also includes additional historical information about the era, discussing topics such as the Civil Rights Movement and the election of John F. Kennedy. The author plans to turn Countdown into a trilogy, and I for one can't wait for the next installment!

Climbing the Stairs

     As I mentioned in my last post, I have taken a break from the science fiction for a little while and have turned to historical fiction. For a complete change of pace, I chose a book set in colonial India written about which I know very little. The book I read is Padma Venkatraman's Climbing the Stairs, and it tells the story of a young girl named Vidya growing up in India during World War II. At the time, Indians were beginning to protest against the British colonial government, which treated the Indians like second class citizens and exploited the county's resources. During one of these protests, Vidya's father is horribly injured and unable to work, thus forcing the family to move in with his very traditional family in the coastal town of Madras. In Madras Vidya's life is completely different. Instead of the relatively carefree lifestyle she enjoyed in Bombay, Vidya, like the other women, must assume a very traditional role. She and the other women must care for the men, do all the household cooking and cleaning, and have very little freedom. Vidya fears that she will be forced to marry instead of being able to go to college, and as the threat of a Japanese attack grows more and more real, she worries about her family and the fate of her country. 

     This book was both a quick and informative read. Told in the first person, the author effectively captures Vidya's fears, joys, and sorrows. The book is peppered with references to Indian history and culture, but done so in a way that is informative and nonthreatening instead of being intimidating. She also weaves historical references throughout the story, mentioning Gandhi's nonviolent protest movement and India's involvement in World War Two, which is frequently omitted from most Western textbooks.

     This is an empowering book for any young woman and I highly recommend it!

My Current Reads

     Here are the books I am currently in the process of reading:

     I have already posted about Rick Yancey's The Fifth Wave, which I recently finished for the second time. Yesterday I finished The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, which was quite good. I had wanted to read Veronica Roth's Divergent next but my teenage daughter is currently reading it. Besides, the last two books I read were both science fiction, so I'm looking to change genres. Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman and Countdown by Deborah Wiles are both historical fiction. So now the question is if I want to read about colonial India or the USA in the 1960s. Decisions, decisions!

I Finished The Fifth Wave!

     I finished Rick Yancey's The Fifth Wave yesterday. It was just as good the second time and freaked me out just as much as it did the first time.

     Let me correct a statement I made in my last post about this book. Originally I said that the narrator was a young girl named Cassie. In actuality she is one of three narrators. Cassie and Ben Parrish, another narrator, tell their story in the first person. The third narrator tells the story in the third person from the point of view of Cassie's younger brother Sammy. Cassie describes the alien invasion, the death of her parents, how she is separated from her brother, and surviving on her own after the separation. Ben Parrish describes his ordeal after the alien invasion and Sammy describes what happens to him after being separated from his sister.  

     The first 85 percent of the book is very good, although I think the author didn't really adequately explain why Cassie is rescued after being shot. What is it about her that made Evan want to take care of her? I'm not sure.  Also, the ending was a bit of a disappointment for me.  The last 15 percent of the book is Cassie's attempt to locate and rescue her brother and it is action packed. I would love to see this ending in film. But then when I finished the book I was left questioning whether the author will have a sequel. Is the story over for good or just for now? I honestly don't know.

     Have you read this book? If so, what did you think?

The Fifth Wave

     As a teacher, I am often too busy or tired to do that much reading for pleasure, but I forced myself to find the time this past spring after I picked up this book:

      This is The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey. This book sucked me in almost immediately. It is the story of the Earth after aliens have invaded and have begun to exterminate the human inhabitants of the planet.  The young narrator of this story, Cassie, believes that the only way she can stay alive is to be alone and trust nobody, but this idea begins to change when she meets a handsome stranger named Evan Walker.
     I read this book as quickly as possible.  Now that I know what happens at the end I have started reading it a second time, going much more slowly so I don't miss anything. I'll post again when I have finished it and will fill you in on my thoughts about this title.

Hey there

     Happy summer everybody! As a teacher, I love having the summer off, because it is a great time to catch up on my reading. My birthday is this Friday and I am going to be 44, but I read books for young adults and children almost exclusively. I'm keeping this blog so you can see what I've been readIng and my thoughts on those titles I've consumed recently.  I'll give each title a score ranging from 0 to 5 stars with 5 starts being the highest possible score.

     Here are the five books I read this week:

     They've certainly kept me busy! Here they are in order from the one I liked the least to the one I liked the best.

5. Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and illustrated by Maira Kalman. In this book, a girl returns her relationship souvenirs to her boyfriend after they break up and reminisces about their time together. It's well written but too dramatic, and the reason for the actual breakup is disappointing. 2 1/2 stars.

4. A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz.    A retelling of the story of Hansel and Gretel as it was first presented in its original form, which is much darker, more violent, and bloodier than the whitewashed version of today. 3 1/2 stars.

3. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.  A girl spends her senior year of high school at a school for Americans in Paris, where she meets and pines for a bilingual American with an English accent.  The title is rather stupid and the book is essentially the story of how two young people get together, but it is well written and surpirisingly complex, with subplots like dealing with the illness of a parent and maintaining long-distance relationships with family and friends. 3 1/2 stars.

2. Holes by Louis Sachar. This book won the Newbery and is totally deserving of it. In this story a boy named Stanley is sent to a work camp after being wrongly convicted of stealing a pair of running shoes belonging to a famous athlete. At this camp boys are required to dig a 5-foot hole everyday. The question is, why? Finding out the answer will keep you reading. 5 stars.

1. The Running Dream by Wendelion Van Draanen.  A track star's life is forever changed after she loses a leg in a bus accident. Wonderfully well-written and poignant, I found myself tearing up as I finished this fantastic, feel-good story. 5 stars.

     That's it for today! I'm off to the library for my next batch of books!