Clueless

Heckerling, Amy. Clueless. Paramount Pictures, 1995. PG-13. DVD. 97mins. ASIN: B002A9X9DE

Plot Summary

In Beverly Hills, rich high school student Cher, played by Alicia Silverstone, gets everything she wants. In an attempt to renegotiate her report card grades, she plays matchmaker with two of her teachers so they will be happier and grade easier. It works, and the success goes to her head. Next, she sets her eyes on making over the unpopular new girl, Tai, played by Brittany Murphy. Meanwhile, she and her ex-stepbrother Josh verbally spar over what’s important. A series of high school relationship ups and downs, Tai’s brush with death, and Cher’s failed drivers test ensues, and Tai’s popularity seems to be surpassing Cher’s. When Tai tells Cher that she has a crush on Josh, Cher is confused about her own feelings for him. She finally realizes that she loves him when she goes shopping to clear her head. To impress Josh, Cher does volunteer work, and he is impressed by her new selflessness. In the end, everyone is with who they should be with.

Evaluation
The setting is Beverly Hills, which serves as the perfect backdrop for Cher who has always gotten everything she wants. She lives in a multi-million dollar mansion and goes to high school where she believes she can negotiate her grades. Cher’s narration throughout the movie represent the time and place. Valspeak, otherwise known as Valley girl speak, surfer slang, skateboarding slang, and California English, is a dialect that originated in the 1970’s and became widely heard in California. An example is during Cher’s narration when she says, “Okay, so you're probably going, ‘Is this like a Noxzema commercial or what?’ But seriously, I actually have a way normal life for a teenage girl.” Words such as “like,” “going,” “totally,” and “way” are common words in Valspeak, and Clueless does an excellent job using the dialect as a way to characterize Cher, Tai, Dionne, and the others. Josh’s “granola” persona balances out Cher’s Valley girl. While her outward appearance is superficial, the audience can relate to her inner intelligence. The plot loosely focuses on Cher’s attempt to make-over a “clueless” transfer student, but in the process, she realizes she needs a make-over of her own. She has been “clueless” herself, and she realizes the value of love and of caring for others.

Readers Annotation

Sweet, spoiled, Cher plays matchmaker and makeover artist at her Beverly Hills high school. Popular, yet seemingly vapid, Cher learns about what love is when she finally realizes how clueless she’s been.

Information about the Director
Please refer to the link for Fast Times at Ridgemont High for information about the director, Amy Heckerling.

Genre
Comedy; Drama; Romance; Teen movie

Curriculum Ties
English/ Language Arts; this film is loosely based on Jane Austen’s novel, Emma

Why Included?
The Valley girl talk is hilarious and makes the audience realize just how ridiculous is sounds to say “like” all the time. Because this movie has so many parallels to the novel Emma, it’s even more interesting. It makes the story and lessons of Emma more relatable to a younger generation. This is, like, a fun movie to watch.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Heckerling, Amy. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Universal Studios, 1982. R. DVD. 90mins. ASIN: B00029RTCG

Plot Summary

Fast Times at Ridgemont High tells the story of a group of high school students during the course of a school year. The lives of Stacy Hamilton, her older brother Brad, Linda Barrett, Mark “Rat” Ratner, Mike Damone, and surfer stoner Jeff Spicoli intertwine in adventures of love and hooking up, after-school jobs, football games, and pranks. Stacy and Linda are friends at the pizza place, and Stacy enlists her help and advice as she becomes sexually active and later becomes pregnant after having awkward sex in a pool changing room with a classmate, Mike Damone. Spicoli continually annoys his history teacher, Mr. Hand, who eventually gets back at him on prom night by arriving at his house and administering a surprise exam, the outcome of which will determine whether Spicoli, who is often high on marijuana, will graduate. Brad’s life seems to be crumbling as one job experience after another ends badly and his girlfriend breaks up with him to see other people before they go to college. Stacy and Brad develop a sibling bond when he talks to her after she has an abortion, which she and Damone agreed was the correct thing to do. He had promised to pay for half, but he was unable to obtain the money; Linda makes him pay in other ways. Eventually, Brad’s life turns around as he thwarts a robber’s attempt and becomes a local hero, and Stacy and Mark begin to develop a relationship. At the end of the movie, the credits begin rolling with the characters’ futures inscribed.

Evaluation
A classic high school movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High details the adventures of kids in a Southern California high school. In fact, writer Cameron Crowe spent a year undercover at a Southern California high school before writing the script. His characters can be found in any high school. Spicoli is the quintessential example of the surfer stoner dude, played by Sean Penn in one of his first roles. Innocent Stacy fumbles with love and sex as she begins dating, and her more sexually-experienced older friend tries mentors her. Dating, sex, jobs, cars, friends, football, and school provide the setting and conflicts these teens encounter. They face the traumas of being a teenager in high school with awkwardness and humiliation, and the audience can appreciate and relate to the experience. The end result is a very entertaining movie with unforgettable characters.

Readers Annotation

Students at Ridgemont High try to muddle through the school year as problems seem to occur left and right. After a series of unfortunate yet humorous events, they start summer older, if not wiser.

Information about the Director
Amy Heckerling was born May 7, 1954. She attended New York University, where she studied film and TV, and then received a Masters Degree in Film from The American Film Institute. It wasn’t until 1982 that she received attention. That was the year she made Fast Times at Ridgemont High. In 1987, she got the idea for another movie, Look Who’s Talking, when she was pregnant, and made that movie in 1989. Then, in 1994, she wrote the movie Clueless.

Amy has been married and divorced twice, and she has one daughter, Mollie Israel. She is an environmentalist and helps environmental charities whenever she can. Information about Amy Heckerling was found at imdb.com.

Genre
Comedy; Drama; Romance; Teen movie

Curriculum Ties
Sex education, teen pregnancy

Why Included?
Who can forget Spicoli ordering a pizza to be delivered during history class? When I was a kid, my parents did not let me see this movie. I understand why, now, and even when I did see it for the first time, I didn’t understand all of it. What was Spicoli doing in the van when it was all smoked up? I wanted to include this movie because it is one of the most famous high school movies and also my cousin is in it. He’s the guy at the cash register with the irate customer when Judge Reinhold’s character, Brad, gets in trouble and fired.

Juno

Reitman, Jason. Juno. 20^th Century Fox, 2007. PG. DVD. 96mins. ASIN: B000YABYLA 

Plot Summary

In Minnesota, sixteen-year-old Juno MacGuff and her best friend, Paulie Bleeker, have one sexual encounter in a chair in the Fall, when school starts. They like each other, but they don’t consider themselves exclusively in a relationship, much less parents. When Juno is at the abortion clinic, she decides she cannot go through with it and chooses to have the baby and give it up for adoption instead. When she tells her parents, they are supportive of her decision. Juno searches the local Pennysaver and finds an adoptive couple in the suburbs, Mark and Vanessa Loring. Mark and Juno become close as they bond over horror movies and music. Juno continues to attend high school as her belly continues to grow, and she takes it all in stride as she has always marched to the beat of her own drummer. Paulie is clearly in love with her, but is too passive to tell her while she maintains an indifferent toward him until he asks someone else to the prom. Meanwhile, as her friendship with Mark deepens, problems develop between Mark and Vanessa, who seems to want a baby more than he does. When the baby boy is born, he is ultimately in the hands of someone who loves him.

Evaluation
Juno received four 2008 Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress for Ellen Page, and Best Original Screenplay for Diablo Cody, which she won. There was much talk about the movie being pro-life and anti-abortion propaganda, while many others saw it as pro-choice. Ellen Page herself commented, “What I get most frustrated at is when people call it a pro-life movie, which is just absurd... The most important thing is the choice is there, and the film completely demonstrates that.” The character of Juno shows this throughout the movie in all her decisions. Likewise, Juno has been labeled feminist because of its portrayal of the main character as an intelligent and confident teenage girl. The dialogue and actions support this assertion, as Juno’s wit is sharp and original. The setting takes place over three seasons beginning at the beginning of high school, which mirrors the three trimesters of pregnancy. Furthermore, Juno’s struggle with adulthood provides the audience with an opportunity to question their own values and decisions in their lives.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_%28film%29)

Readers Annotation

Offbeat, sixteen-year-old Juno sleeps with her best friend, Paulie, only once but gets pregnant. When she decides to place the baby with an adoptive couple, she learns about true love and friendship.

Information about the Director
Director Jason Reitman, who also directed Up in the Air and Thank You For Smoking, is known for making comedy films that touch on serious subjects that have highly subjective narration by the main characters. His films usually contain a theme of some kind of generational gap between older and younger characters, and his films often center around characters who are self-confident but who also begin to rethink their lives.

He was born October 19, 1977 in Montreal, Quebec, he is the son of director Ivan Reitman. He graduated from Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood, CA in 1995 and then graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) with a major in English. He frequents STK, a steakhouse restaurant in Los Angeles.

Information for Jason Reitman was found at imdb.com.

Genre
Comedy; Drama; Romance; Teen movie

Curriculum Ties
Sex education, teen pregnancy

Why Included?
This movie is hilarious. Juno is such a strong female character who defies stereotypes. This movie is an example of how an unplanned teen pregnancy can be handled in a pragmatic way that ends with love all around.

A Walk to Remember

Shankman, Adam. A Walk to Remember. Warner Home Video, 2002. PG. DVD. 101mins. ASIN: B00005JKW0

Plot Summary
In a small town in North Carolina, a group of popular high school kids do a prank on another student, but it results with the boy severely injured and in the hospital. Landon Carter has no future plans, and when he is held responsible, his punishment is after-school community service, which includes starring in the school play. During this time, he meets Jamie Sullivan, the reverend’s daughter, and develops strong feelings for her despite their apparent differences. He is popular bad boy; she is shy good girl. As they spend more and more time together, they fall in love. However, when Jamie tells him she is ill, it breaks his heart. Determined to do everything he can for her and to love her as much as possible in her short time left, he helps her fulfill the dreams she has on her list of things she wants to do in her life. One of them is to get married in the small church where her parents were married. Jamie affects Landon’s life in such a positive way that his future path is made clear.

Evaluation
This film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’s novel of the same name is a classic bad boy meets good girl tale. Jamie is played by singer Mandy Moore, who brings emotion to scenes with her heart-filled lyrics and sweet voice. The character of Jamie is strong. She is an outsider at school, not fitting in because she is smart, nice, and wears out-dated clothes, and she’s often laughed at. However, she has self-esteem and confidence, and when she stands up for herself, she begins to earn Landon’s respect. Despite his mistreatment of her in the beginning, she is forgiving and kind. When Landon begins to change, we can’t help but think about the value of forgiveness. The romantic plot might be corny at times, but the effect is a sweet love story that also teaches valuable lessons. Live each day to its fullest because our time is limited. Be loving, patient, and kind. It’s never too late to change your live.

Readers Annotation

Bad boy Landon has no direction in life. That all changes when he meets good girl Jamie, who shows him more than just how to fulfill his community service requirement.

 
Information about the Director
Adam Shankman was born November 27, 1964 in Los Angeles, CA. He attended Palisades High School in Los Angeles. He is a film director, dancer, actor, and choreographer. Interestingly, he did not begin dancing until he was 18. He auditioned for dance programs all over the country and was accepted to NYU, North Carolina, and Julliard, which he attended but dropped out to dance in musical theater.

He has worked as a choreographer for the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and directed the movie musical Hairspray. He is currently a judge on the FOX reality show So You Think You Can Dance.

His movies often include dancing and singing and characters doing community service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Shankman

Genre

Teen Movie; Drama; Romance

Curriculum Ties
Illnesses and diseases, religion

Why did I include this movie?
This movie is such a sweet love story. I enjoy this example of the power of forgiveness, patience, and love. If I see it as I am scrolling through the channels on TV, it always sucks me in. Even though it is a love story, we don’t get the happily ever after ending we usually see. I like that reality.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Ryan, C. (2009). The forest of hands and teeth. New York: Delacorte Press.

ISBN-13: 978-0-385-73681-7

Plot Summary

Mary has listened to her mother tell stories about the ocean, and her hope is to see it. That would mean leaving her village, which sits secluded in the middle of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. The village is surrounded by a fence, and outside the fence is where the Unconsecrated live. They are zombies, but they infect their victim instead of eating flesh. The Sisterhood has rules and religion to keep the village alive. It’s a post apocalyptic story that takes place seven generations after a plague that kills people, but the people come back as zombie-like creatures. Mary’s father left the village never to return, taken by the unconsecrated, and Mary’s mother has been pining for him ever since until she is infected as well. When the protective fence is breached, Mary and her friends must fight to stay alive. Meanwhile, a love triangle develops between Mary and two brothers, Travis and Harry. Ultimately, one of them is infected, and Mary must put him out of his misery. Mary eventually does reach the ocean and learns a valuable message.

Critical Evaluation

The narrator of The Forest of Hands and Teeth is Mary, and through her first-person account, readers are drawn into a rich setting made clear through descriptive details. Readers are captivated by the first few lines: “My mother used to tell me about the ocean. She said there was a place where there was nothing but water as far as you could see and that it was always moving, rushing toward you and then away” (1). The suspense begins here and builds through the plot’s twists and turns. In some ways, The Forest of Hands and Teeth is reminiscent of Lois Lowry’s The Giver with their similar ruling societies and barriers. However, in this story, Mary is facing the Unconsecrated, which adds to it an element of horror. Also like The Giver is a sexual undertone. Much of the story is Mary’s thoughts rather than plot action. When the story reaches its conclusion and Mary is at the ocean, the frame created by the link to the beginning presents us with a satisfying conclusion and still leaves an opening for the next installment, The Dead-Tossed Waves (2010). Readers will be inspired that determination and hope can ultimately wash evil away.

 

Reader’s Annotation

 

Mary would love to see the ocean her mother has always talked about, but she cannot leave the watchful eyes of the Sisterhood and the fence keeps her protected from the zombies on the other side. When the barrier is breached, Mary and her friends must fight for survival while they are being challenged by conflicts of knowledge, friendship, and love.

 

Author Information

Carrie Ryan was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina. She was very active in sports and read on the weekends. She especially enjoyed Sweet Valley High and Christopher Pike. She went away to college to experience a different climate in Massachusetts, but ultimately she did not like how it was cold most of the year, so she moved Virginia. There she wrote books that agents did not like. She then tried her hand at chick lit, but she felt did not have the kind of life experience that would lend itself to this kind of writing.

 

Ryan made the life-altering decision to go to Duke Law School to pursue a career in law. It was there that she met her now-husband, JP. He took her to see the first horror movie she had seen since Poltergeist. She hated horror movies. Dawn of the Dead (the remake), fascinated her and she was intrigued by everything zombie. JP happily indulged her new obsession. Ryan wanted to know what happens after a zombie apocalypse generations later and so The Forest of Hands and Teeth was born.

 

More about Carrie Ryan and her books can be found at her website:

http://www.carrieryan.com/

Genre

Young Adult

Science Fiction

Horror

Survival

Zombies

Romance

Curriculum Ties

Geography, infectious diseases

Book Talking Ideas

Infectious diseases, epidemics

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Appropriate for ages 14 and up

Challenge Issues

Horror

Challenge Defense

If this book were challenged, I would cite these reviews as well as consult ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library  Materials.

Booklist 01/01/09

Publishers Weekly starred 02/02/09

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 04/01/09

School Library Journal starred 05/01/09

Horn Book 10/01/09

Kirkus Review 02/15/09

Why did I include this title?

 

Who doesn’t love zombies? They’re the new vampires. Mary’s story teaches us a good lesson: if you have hope and determination, you can get through anything.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Forman, G. (2009). If I stay. New York: Speak.

ISBN-13: 978-0-14-241543-6

Plot Summary

What begins as an enjoyable snow day outing in Oregon ends in tragedy for Mia and her family. Seventeen-year-old Mia just barely survives a terrible car crash. Her parents died in the collision, and her little brother, Teddy, is barely alive. Mia is in a coma in the ICU and is having out-of-body experiences as she remembers the past and thinks about the future. She aspires to be a famous cellist, and her boyfriend Adam is in a band that is finally enjoying some notoriety. As her family and best friend Kim rally around her in the ICU, Mia wonders what life would be like without her there. Mia must struggle to choose between surviving, which would mean facing the despair of losing her family, and dying, which would mean losing out on a life of love with her boyfriend and a talented music career.

Critical Evaluation

This first person narration told by Mia gives readers a unique perspective. Mia alternates between the past and the present. Through her eyes and her realistic narration, they experience the joys of life as she falls in love, the complexities of family and friend relationships, and the hopes and concerns about the future. Readers will be able to relate to Mia’s having to make life-altering choices. Readers will also feel Mia’s uncertainty and despair as she wonders what decision to make: to live or to die. Furthermore, readers, especially teens, will be able to connect with Mia’s feelings of doubt, uncertainty, and insecurity. The setting of the Oregon coast provides a realistic backdrop for the story and ultimately affects the plot; because snow is so rare, they are having a family outing. If not for this aspect of the setting, this tragic chain of events would not have happened. This story will make readers think about their own lives, what family means, and what makes life worth living. The end satisfies the readers and leaves the story open for the follow-up book, Where She Went (2011), which is told from Adam’s point of view.

 

Reader’s Annotation

 

Seventeen-year-old Mia has everything going for her: she is a talented musician, she is in a loving relationship with her boyfriend, and she has creative, supportive parents encouraging her every step of the way. When a tragic car crash leaves her comatose and an orphan, Mia must decide between living and dying, and in the process, she comes to understand what makes life worth living.

 

Author Information

 

Gayle Forman was born June 5, 1970. She began her career as a writer for Seventeen magazine. She later became a freelance writer for Elle, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and The Nation. Before becoming an author, she was a journalist who specialized in writing about social justice problems and young people. She spent a year traveling the world with her husband and as a result, many of her experiences have influenced her writing. Her first book is a travel memoir titled You Can’t Get There From Here: A Year On the Fringes of a Shrinking World (2005).

When she came back home from traveling the world, she realized that she could take amazing journeys in her head and write about them. The characters in these stories were all young adults ages 12-20. Her first young adult novel, Sisters in Sanity (2007), was based on a social injustice article she had written for Seventeen. If I Stay is her second novel and is based on true events she remembers from her childhood.

Gayle Forman currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

More information about Gayle Forman can be found at her website:

http://www.gayleforman.com/

Also, please visit the novel’s website:

http://ifistay.com/index.php

Genre

Young Adult

Realistic Fiction

Romance

Accidents

Friendship

Music

Out of body experiences

Curriculum Ties

N/A

Book Talking Ideas

What does family mean? How do you make difficult decisions?

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Protagonist is in high school; appropriate for grades 8 and up

Challenge Issues

N/A

Challenge Defense

I cannot think of why this book would be challenged, and I did not find any challenges to date. If it were challenged, I would consult ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library  Materials.

Why did I include this title?

A very bright student of mine recommended this book to me. I appreciated Mia’s internal conflict and questioned what is important to me in my own life. It is a good reminder that your life can change in an instant.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Collins, S. (2008). The hunger games. New York: Scholastic Press.

ISBN-13: 978-0-439-02348-1

Plot Summary

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen will do anything to protect the people she loves in District 12, a coal mining society and part of the Capitol’s far-reaching empire. Every year, the Capitol reaps two young adults from each district as tributes to compete in the Hunger Games as a way of keeping its citizens under its oppressive rule. The Hunger Games are televised for all to watch in entertainment and horror. This year, Katniss’s sister, Prim, has her name drawn. Katniss jumps to take her place, and she and Peeta, the boy who kindly gave her bread when she was a starving child long ago, must fight 22 other tributes in an evilly devised game field full of natural disasters and monstrous creatures. The winner of the Games will live a life of fame and luxury, but there can only be one winner. Katniss and Peeta create a love story that draws the attention and sympathy from people throughout the district, and when they outsmart the Hunger Games and the Capitol, their lives are about to change.

Critical Evaluation

Suzanne Collins creates a world where the Capitol of twelve districts manages every aspect of society. Through careful reading, we come to understand that the districts are areas of a post-apocalyptic America, and Katniss’s District 12 seems to be the coal mining areas of East Coast. Each District contributes in its own way to the Capitol creating a dependency that holds the districts together. Furthermore, when the children from each district meet each other, they see for the first time how each district is different and the comparisons between wealthy and desperate are obvious. The District itself serves as an obnoxious, glaring example of what happens to people in a world of vapid excessiveness. Vivid descriptions of the arena increase the game’s horrow. The plot is fast-paced and tension-filled as plot twists move from one problem to another as Katniss, Peeta, and the other tributes fight each other, the elements in the game, and their internal conflicts. Not all conflicts are resolved, however, leading the reader to the next book. Themes of individual freedom in a world of government control run throughout the novel. The characters’ holding up the berries for all to see show readers that one’s decisions are ultimately your own no matter what.

 

Reader’s Annotation

 

Katniss Everdeen would do anything for her family, even risking her life to compete in the Hunger Games. Katniss wants to win, but the Capitol and the other tributes have another idea.

 

Author Information

 

Born in 1962 in Connecticut, Suzanne Collins attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts and then earned her FMA from New York University in Dramatic Writing. In 1991, she began her career as a writer for children’s television shows including several shows for the children’s network, Nickelodeon. Her first books, five books of the Underland Chronicles, were published between 2003 and 2007. She attributes the inspiration of this series to when she realized that in New York City, people were more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole as in Alice in Wonderland. The Hunger Games, the first book in this series, was published September 2008 with great acclaim. Due to the popularity of this trilogy, Time named Collins as one of the 100 most influential people of 2010. Filming of The Hunger Games movie began in 2011, and Collins has adapted the novel for the film herself.

 

Collins currently lives in Connecticut with her husband, their two children, and an adopted family of feral cats that they found in their backyard. She says the idea for the Hunger Games came to her when she was flipping through the channels on her television between a reality show and news coverage of the Iraqi War.

 

More about Suzanne Collins can be found at her website:

http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/bio.htm

 

And:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games

Genre

Young Adult

Science Fiction

Survival

Romance

Dystopian Society

Post-Apocalyptic

Curriculum Ties

U.S. government, geography

Book Talking Ideas

What do dystopian society settings tell us about the world we live in? What sacrifices would you make for the people you love?

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Main character is 16; appropriate for grades 7 and up.

Challenge Issues

Violence

Challenge Defense

In defense of a challenge, I would cite these reviews as well as ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library  Materials.

Booklist starred 09/01/08

Publishers Weekly starred 11/03/08

Horn Book starred 09/01/08

School Library Journal starred 09/01/08

Library Media Connection starred 11/01/01

New York Times 11/09/08

Why did I include this title?

I had been meaning to read this for a few years. It is one of the most circulated books at my school. Many reluctant readers have changed their minds about reading when this book is put into their hands. Once I realized I had to read it for class, I sped through it this summer. I was hooked and immediately had to find the next two books. When I visited my friend in Philadelphia this summer, and I didn’t want to take multiple books, I bought a Kindle to download them because I couldn’t live without them. I feel it is an important discussion to have with students: how much control should a government have over its people’s individual rights?

Wanted: A Pretty Little Liars Novel by Sara Shepard

Shepard, S. (2010). Wanted: a pretty little liars novel. New York: HarperTeen.

ISBN-13: 978-0-06-156617-2

Plot Summary

In this final installment of Pretty Little Liars, Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Emily who go to Rosewood Day have grown apart after the leader of their clique, Ali, had disappeared years earlier. Ali was the most popular girl at school and everyone wanted for a friend in junior high. Now, three years later, this story wraps up the mystery of what happened to Ali, who Courtney is, and what really happened that night outside the barn in seventh grade. The girls believe that they can finally leave that horrible chapter of their lives behind them, but they have done terrible things and have been constantly taunted by a mysterious A who somehow knows their secrets. In a dramatic conclusion, the girls finally realize who is who, but not without some horror first.

Critical Evaluation

In the beginning of Wanted, readers are presented with a quote from George Bernard Shaw: “There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’s desire. The other is to gain it.” Readers may wonder what kind of clue this is as they begin reading and are taken back to the night Ali disappeared. The murder mystery plot is a fast-paced whirlwind and there is often confusion about who is who. Is it Ali? Is it Courtney? The girls are typical gossipy, label-loving teenagers. They wear Diane von Furstenberg wrap dresses and make snide comments when they are not the latest season: “Naomi and Kate were wearing DVF dresses from last season, and Riley’s slightly pilled wrap dress was from two seasons ago—horrors” (122). The swirl of labels continue in this specimen of privileged girls chick lit; Burberry, Kate Spade, and Marc Jacobs sprinkle the pages as almost an after-thought but create the tangible world in which these girls live. If readers cannot directly relate, most will at least be aware, possibly with their own envy and desire. Besides, it is the same feeling Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Emily had at the beginning, when they were on the social fringes and were plucked out and into popularity. Readers will be able to connect with the characters’ dysfunctional, broken homes and troubled relationships.

 

Reader’s Annotation

 

The Rosewood 4 are faced with a strange and confusing turn of events as the answer to what happened to Ali comes to a dramatic conclusion. It looks like they might get their happy ending, but things aren’t always as they seem.

 

Author Information

 

Sara Shepard was born in 1978 in Philadelphia, Pa. She grew up on Philadelphia’s Main line, a collection of affluent towns built along the old Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and which was the inspiration for the setting of Pretty Little Liars books. She had a vivid imagination as a child and wrote her first book, Quizzles, about friendly yellow creatures that live in the garden. She attended New York University beginning in 1995 and enjoyed the NYC club scene sporting purple vinyl pants. She then received her MFA from Brooklyn College.

 

She held a variety of jobs including interning at Elle magazine, filing documents at J.P. Morgan, and writing at Time Inc. During this time, she wrote whenever she had free time and kept the stories in separate folders on her computer’s desktop. She currently either lives in Philadelphia, PA or Tuscon, AZ with her three dogs.

Information was obtained at this site:

http://www.harpercollins.com/author/microsite/About.aspx?authorid=30521

Genre

Young Adult

Chick Lit

Mystery

Murder

Romance

Curriculum Ties

N/A

Book Talking Ideas

Mental illness, identical twins

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Characters are in high school; appropriate for grades 7 and up

Challenge Issues

N/A

Why did I include this title?

Who doesn’t love juicy good chick lit full of fancy labels? This book is the conclusion to the very popular Pretty Little Liars series, which has been made into a television show, and now I will be able to talk about it with my students.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Doctorow, C. (2008). Little brother. New York: Tor.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-1985-2

Plot Summary

One day, Marcus Yallow, a techno-geek high school senior in San Francisco whose Internet name is w1n5t0n (pronounced “Winston’), decides to ditch school to play Harajuku Fun Madness with his friends. Escaping the school’s high-tech security system proves easy compared to what he endures that day. When San Francisco is attacked by terrorists who blow up tunnels, the BART system, and the Bay Bridge, Marcus and his friends are captured by the Department of Homeland Security and held for interrogation for days. They believe he is part of Al Qaeda. Marcus is released, but not before he is tortured. When he realizes that the government has taken away people’s civil liberties and privacy and is tracking their every move in the name of security, Marcus creates a movement with the help of his technologically-gifted friends and the Internet to counter the DHS’s surveillance under the name of M1k13y. He is spurred on by the memory of Darryl, stabbed and bleeding, whom he believes might still live, the encouragement of his new girlfriend, Ange, and the resolve to wrought revenge on the people who did this to him and his city.

Critical Evaluation

Reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984, a theme of Little Brother is individual rights and privacy vs. national security in the name of unity. In fact, the main characters of both novels share the same name, Winston. The terrorist acts that set the plot in motion parallel 9/11 and set the stage for the mysterious Homeland Security’s arrival. The immediate future setting of this novel, San Francisco, is significant because this city is known to be a hot bed of free-thinking activists and technology, just the thing to get under the skin of the government. Doctorow brings the city to life with specific details such as real places; Marcus and Ange ride the Muni and the Bart, have a party at Sutro Baths, and attend a concert at Dolores Park. The first-person narration of Marcus is sometimes a blur of techno-speak and readers who do not understand things like crypto and private keys might get lost in the sometimes long-winded explanations, but the effect is powerful. While the reader might not understand, he will understand that there are hackers able to control the Internet to their advantage. The characters are well-developed as they not only show concern for their own friends, but are genuinely worried about the public in general and are willing to San Francisco’s next activists. The motto, “Don’t trust anyone over 25” will ring true with young adults who believe that those older are jaded conformists who do not fully understand the digital generation and who question the government. This book will make readers question their own stance on individual privacy vs. national security and never look at intersection cameras the same way again.

 

Reader’s Annotation

 

When Marcus is kidnapped and interrogated by Homeland Security after terrorist attacks on San Francisco, he does not take this encroachment on his individual rights lightly. With the help of his friends and the Internet, he rebels against authority and strives to regain his, and the city’s, personal liberty.

 

Author Information

 

Cory Doctorow, born July 17, 1971 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a blogger and science fiction author whose awards include the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, John W. Campbell Memorial Award, Prometheus Award, and Sunburst Award. Doctorow was a Greenpeace campaigner as a child and attended four universities but never received a degree. He began writing fiction when he was 17. In 2007, he received a Canadian Fulbright Chair for Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy and a professorship at USC included a one year writing and teaching residency. He returned to London, where he became a naturalized citizen in 2011, and continues to be a public speaker on copyright issues. His first novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (2003), was released in two ways. At the same time as its physical printing, it was released with a Creative Commons license, which allowed readers to circulate the electronic edition as long as they made no money off of it. After that, the license allowed derived works and all of his novels have been released the same way.

 

He is married to Alice Taylor and together they delight in their little girl born February 3, 2008, Poesy Emmeline Fibonacci Nautilus Taylor Doctorow (I had to include that wonderful name). He frequently does public speaking engagements, podcasts, and blogs on BoingBoing (http://boingboing.net/).

 

There is much more to know. Please enjoy yourself as you visit Cory Doctorow’s website:

 

http://craphound.com/

 

Genre

Young Adult Fiction

Science Fiction

Suspense

Romance

Curriculum Ties

9/11, First Amendment Rights, civil liberties and privacy vs. national security

Book Talking Ideas

How much personal freedom and privacy are we willing to give up in the name of national security?

Reading Level/ Interest Age

The protagonist is a senior in high school; appropriate for readers 14 and up.

Challenge Issues

None I can think of, except some people might disapprove of the characters’ irreverent attitudes towards the U.S. government. There is also some non-graphic, but palpable tension-filled sex that occurs off page.

Challenge Defense

In defense of a challenge, I would cite these reviews as well as ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.

Booklist starred 04/01/08

Publishers Weekly starred 04/14/08

Horn Book 10/01/08

School Library Journal starred 05/01/08

Horn Book starred 07/01/08

New York Times 09/14/08

Why did I include this title?

This book really made me think about my own personal liberties and privacy post 9/11. It is often seen as un-American to resist the government’s infringement on our own privacy. If we’re not doing anything wrong, why should we worry about that? Obviously, I disagree. However, I understand that this situation exists. All those intersection cameras, parking garage cameras, police vehicle cameras? Who is watching, and why? I’m not doing anything wrong, but I don’t like what’s going on. Unlike Marcus, though, I am in no place to change it. In fact, unfortunately, I don’t think it can be changed.

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Smith, C.L. (2007). Tantalize. New York: Candlewick Press.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7636-2791-1

Plot Summary

Quincie Morris is 17 and in charge of a restaurant in Austin, Texas that became hers when her parents died. She has been in the care of her Uncle Davidson, and together they have been planning a grand re-opening. Its new name is Sanguini’s, and its new theme is vampire. However, a month before opening night, their long-time chef, Vaggio, who was more family than employee, is brutally murdered by what people assume is a werewolf. The new chef, Bradley, sweeps in and completes the vampire vision, but things are not as they seem. Meanwhile, Kieren, Quincie’s hybrid werewolf boyfriend, is suspicious of Bradley and his motives. Their relationship becomes strained when Quincie does not heed his warnings and Kieren himself is planning on leaving Austin to become a member of the pack. As Kieren and Quincie drift apart, Bradley and Quincie become closer, and Quincie is enjoying his company and the wine he keeps pouring in her glass. When Quincie finally realizes what is happening, it is too late.

Critical Evaluation

Cynthia Leitich Smith creates a world in Austin, Texas, where vampires and werewolves co-exist among humans who are, if not completely accepting, at least tolerant. The suspense and tension of the plot builds as the chapters are divided into parts of a fine dining five course Italian dinner: antipasto, primo, secondo, dolce, and conforno. This set-up reinforces the book’s restaurant setting and motif. The text of the chapters is interspersed with advertisements, signs, and classified ads that draw the reader’s attention. Sanguini’s menu plays upon the horror and seduction associated with vampires as it has two parts, predator and prey. The dialogue is often quick-witted and humorous in an almost Buffy, The Vampire Slayer way: “I wish you could just turn into a bat. Like poof! Very dramatic. That would solve all of our problems” (149). One cannot discount the allusions to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Quincie Morris, in Dracula, is the Texan who killed the vampire. Smith’s story does not end the same way, however. The plot is fast-paced from beginning to end. Female young adult readers will relate to the palpable desire Quincie feels for her boyfriend, and this book will delight fans of vampire and werewolf fiction. All readers will appreciate the theme that things don’t always work out the way you planned. The conclusion of the book leaves an opening for the next book in the series, Eternal (2009).

 

Reader’s Annotation

 

Quincie’s new vampire restaurant is scheduled to open in a month when the chef is brutally murdered by what appears to be a werewolf. She must find a new chef, but doing so costs her more than she had anticipated.

 

Author Information

 

Cynthia Leitich Smith was born December 31, 1967 in Kansas City, Missouri. A mixed-blood tribal member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, her parents did not read literary fiction, but they did encourage her reading. She grew up loving comic books and wrote her first poem in the first grade. Writing continued to be an important part of her school life; she wrote an advice column in her school newspaper in grade six, and in junior and senior high school she edited the school newspaper. At the University of Kansas, she majored in English and journalism. Then, she graduated from Michigan Law School in 1994 with the intent to become a legal reporter. While working as a law clerk after graduation, she realized that writing was what she really wanted to do when she kept creating ideas for stories and scribbling them down. She quit law and became a children’s author with her first published book, Jingle Dancer (2000).

Leitich Smith infuses Native-American culture and traditions throughout her writing. Her varied employment experiences also influence her writing: she has been a waitress, a gas station attendant, a telephone operator, an English tutor, and a writing teacher. She currently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Greg (also an award-winning children’s book author) and four cats. She loves speaking, writing, and inspiring writers.

For more information about Cynthia Leitich Smith, please visit her website:

http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/

Cynthia also keeps an award-winning blog:

http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/

Genre

Young Adult

Gothic Fantasy

Vampires

Werewolves

Romance

Curriculum Ties

Allusions to Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Book Talking Ideas

What would the menu of a vampire’s restaurant have on it? How would you feel if the person you love was moving away?

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Protagonist is 17; appropriate for ages 14 and up.

Challenge Issues

Violence, horror, supernatural creatures

Challenge Defense

In defense of a challenge, I would cite these reviews as well as ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.

Booklist 03/01/07

Publishers Weekly 03/05/07

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 05/01/07

School Library Journal 05/01/07

Horn Book starred 10/01/07

Voice of Youth Advocates (V.O.Y.A.) 06/01/07

Kirkus Review 02/15/07

Why did I include this title?

We read this book for class and I enjoyed its take on vampires, werewolves, and shape shifters. I also find chefs very attractive and loved Chef Bradley's menu.