1) The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins.
a. This was a re-read book, but I still loved it just as much as I did the first time. The book is set in a futuristic USA, called Panem. The all-powerful Capitol hosts the dark and terrible Hunger Games each year – two “tributes” (children between the ages of twelve and eighteen) are randomly picked to battle to the death in a man-made nature arena. Katniss ends up going to the Hunger Games, along with a boy called Peeta. The book does a really, really good job of conveying the stress and sadness of these games, the strange, futuristic world of the Capitol, and Katniss’s tricky relationship with Peeta.
2) Just In Case – Meg Rosoff.
a. This book confused me at first. It seemed slow and really pointless. To my English 2H friends, it reminded me of a book version of The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock. It also tends to make you suspend belief in reality. It tells the story of this boy, Justin, who believes himself to be doomed. Comments from Fate are interspersed into the mix, and (despite being set in a realistic, believable world) it could never happen in real life. So maybe there’s a bit of magical realism in there, but it doesn’t seem quite the same. Odd read.
3) The Comedy of Errors – William Shakespeare.
a. Having performed this play in fourth grade (I was a narrator), I wanted to re-read the play for the fun of it. It’s basically the story of two separated-at-birth twin boys and their twin slaves. They end up in the same city, and massive confusion ensues. I was giggling at times (the language really isn’t super-hard to get through), because it is funny. I’ll add that Shakespeare had some very crude humor.
4) Beezus and Ramona – Beverly Cleary.
a. I picked this up because I was bored. It’s my five-year-old brother’s book. I can’t believe anybody would NOT have read Ramona as a kid. She’s basically this mischievous little four-year-old, and nine-year-old Beezus (her sister) has to deal with her.
5) Setting Limits with your Strong-Willed Child: Eliminating Conflict by Establishing CLEAR, Firm, and Respectful Boundaries – Robert J. MacKenzie, Ed.D.
a. Does Ed.D mean “Educational Doctor” or something? Anyway, this falls under the same category as the above: “I’m too lazy to go upstairs and get my own reading book, so I’m going to pick up my mother’s parenting book”. It entertained me – I am the “Strong-Willed Child”.
6) Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt.
a. This is a memoir about McCourt’s experiences growing up poor in Ireland, around the time of WWII. It’s very well-done in the sense that I though it captured the “child’s” perspective that a young McCourt would have. It’s a pretty long read, but I enjoyed it.
7) Enchantress From The Stars – Sylvia Engdahl.
a. I fear that I shall do a poor job of summarizing this book, but I’ll try. Teenage Elana is an agent-in-training for a supremely advanced interstellar civilization. Her job entails helping the “Youngling” planets, medieval societies which still believe in magic and have faith in everything, rebel against imperialist “adolescent” worlds, the more jaded planets, who have technology, but not the mentality to handle it. She ultimately ends up on the planet Andrecia, and is forced to help them despite difficult choices and limitations. Doctor Jarel, of the “adolescent” invaders, begins to realize that Andrecian natives are human…and he is not pleased with his Empire for not treating them as such. Wisdom-seeking Andrecian woodcutter Georyn wants to defeat a “dragon” on the other side of his enchanted forest, and Elana becomes his “Enchantress from the Stars”, who will help him achieve it. Sounds clichéd? Yes. Was it clichéd? No. This book has a lot of depth, more so than I could ever hope to express, in the way it connects Elana, Jarel, and Georyn, tells their stories, and allows the reader to meet the same difficult questions Elana faced. I couldn’t put it down.
8) Disgrace – J. M. Coetzee.
a. Here’s the summary from the book itself [it makes life easier for me to use an online or printed summary, and just concern myself with my opinions, so that’s what I’ll be doing]: “At 52, Professor David Lurie is divorced, filled with desire, but lacking in passion. An affair with one of his students leaves him jobless, shunned by his friends, and ridiculed by his ex-wife. He retreats to his daughter Lucy’s isolated smallholding, where a brief visit becomes an extended stay as he tries to find meaning from this one remaining relationship. David’s attempts to relate to Lucy and to a society with new racial complexities are disrupted by an afternoon of violence that shakes all his beliefs and threatens to destroy his daughter.”
b. My thoughts: This is an extremely read-between-the-lines sort of book. Coetzee never outwardly states, except through David’s thoughts, what he wants you to gather from a word, phrase, or sentence. You have to pick it up on your own. The despondent, desolate male protagonist and storyline reminded me of The Trial by Franz Kafka. It is in no way uplifting, but it is an interesting read.
9) Bad Girls – Jacqueline Wilson.
a. Summary from the book: “Mandy White is a good girl whom the bad girls like to pick on. She’s the perfect target, with her long yellow braids, which her mother refuses to let her wear in a more grown-up style, and her goofy glasses, which her mother thinks are too adorable to be replaced by a more fashionable pair. Life seems pretty bleak until a bigger, badder girl moves in across the street and takes a liking to Mandy. Tanya is fun, she’s tough, and she wears really cool clothes. Of course, Mandy’s mother wants her to have nothing to do with the new neighbor. But Mandy is growing up and learning a lot about herself and the real world. For starters, sometimes a bad girl is just lonely – and can make the best friend.”
b. This was a book I was re-reading, from an old box my mom found in the garage. I adored Jacqueline Wilson as a child. Now, at sixteen, I’m as old as bad girl Tanya, instead of ten-year-old Mandy. So it kind of shocked me, since I have a ten-year-old brother, to realize how grown up they really are. Beyond that, the book was fine – an easy read. Nothing stellar for somebody my age, but easy and fun.
10) Writing Magic by Gail Carson Levine.
a. Summary from the book: “This is a book about writing fiction. But it should help you write anything – e-mails, essays, greeting cards, love letters, skywriting. Do you want to write stories that catch your readers and never let go? Have you ever wondered how to create a book as magical as Ella Enchanted, as touching as Dave at Night, as captivating as Fairest? Well, now you can find out! In Writing Magic, Newberry Honor author Gail Carson Levine shares her secrets of great writing. She shows how you, too, can get terrific ideas for stories, invent great beginnings and endings, write sparkling dialogue, develop memorable characters – and much, much more. She advises you about what to do when you feel stuck – and how to use helpful criticism. Best of all, she offers writing exercises that will set your imagination on fire.”
b. This was another re-read book like Bad Girls. I ADORED Gail Carson Levine as a child. I do believe one of her books received the honor of being read right before surgery, the highest honor I can bestow upon a book (surgery is so stressful, it needs a good book to calm me down). Yet another read was donated as a “favorite book”, a book that I always donate along with others I don’t like, except that this one is a book I adore, that I choose to give up. This one gives good, albeit simple, advice on how to write. I don’t really need to say much about it.
11) Snow in August – Pete Hamill.
a. Summary from the book: “Set in a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood in 1947, this…tale revolves around…an eleven-year-old Irish Catholic boy named Michael Devlin and Rabbi Judah Hirsh, a refugee from Prague…their initial chance encounter in a swirling blizzard one Saturday morning…the mute awe they share at first setting eyes on the hallowed grounds of Ebbets Field…For Michael, the rabbi’s stories of ancient magic and wisdom capture his imagination and transport him to times and places even his beloved comic book heroes have never visited. For the rabbi, Michael’s patient instruction in the language of baseball and American culture opens up an equally strange and magical world. A band of anti-Semitic toughs, however, see no place in their neighborhood for Jews or the people who associate with them. The threats of these hooligans are not idle, and soon Michael and Rabbi Hirsch are trapped in a dangerous spiral of hate in which there is only one hope…a miracle.”
b. My thoughts: I really loved this book. The author does a good job of telling the story of the poor Irish family and the dynamics of life in their neighborhood, such as the “ethical code” of the Irish boys, which forbids you from being a “rat” (tattle-tale) – this poses significant problems for Michael. He gives you just enough story and just enough real life to keep you interested, and there were quite a few portions of the book that surprised me. It’s a bit intense, though.
12) Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney.
a. Summary from the book: “It’s summer vacation – the weather’s great, and all the kids are having fun outside. So where’s Greg Heffley? Inside his house, playing video games with the shades drawn. Greg, a self-confessed ‘indoor person’, is living out his ultimate summer fantasy: no responsibilities and no rules. But Greg’s mom as a different vision for an ideal summer…one packed without outdoor activities and ‘family togetherness.’ Whose vision will win out? Or will a new addition to the Heffley family change everything?”
b. My thoughts: This was another pick-it-up-because-I’m-bored book. It was conveniently right next to where I happened to be sitting. Greg is just the type of kid to annoy me (and make me wonder if there are any middle school boys actually like him, or any families like his). Easy read, don’t expect anything more than that.
13) Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire.
a. Summary from the book: “We have all heard the story of Cinderella, the beautiful child cast out to slave among the ashes. But what of her stepsisters, the homely pair exiled into ignominy by the fame of their lovely sibling? What fate befell those untouched by beauty…and what curses accompanied Cinderella’s looks? Set against the backdrop o seventeenth century Holland, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister tells the story of Iris, an unlikely heroine who finds herself swept away from the lowly streets of Haarlem to a strange world of wealth, artifice,a nd ambition. Iris’s path quickly becomes intertwined with that of Clara, the mysterious and unnaturally beautiful girl destined to become her sister. While Clara retreats to the cinders of the family hearth, Iris seeks out the shadowy secrets of her new household – and the treacherous truths of her former life.”
b. My thoughts: I loved this story. It manages to keep the traditional Cinderella fairy tale, with a bunch of twists and surprises. AP Euro people will appreciate understanding the context and historical time period of this story. Furthermore, it’s not a classic Cinderella parody, in which Cinderella becomes the spoiled brat, and her stepfamily a loving, caring unit. Really complex characters, surprising but well-done plot – I really enjoyed this book.
14) Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy.
a. Summary from the book: “At age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with a potentially terminal cancer. When she returned to school with a third of her jaw removed, she faced the cruel taunts of classmates. In this…memoir, Grealy tells her story of great suffering and remarkable strength…Portraying the pain of pear rejection and the guilty pleasures of wanting to be special, Grealy captures…what it feels like as a child and young adult to be torn between two warring impulses: to feel that more than anything else we want to be loved for who we are, while wishing desperately and secretly to be perfect.”
b. My thoughts: This was a very interesting book, as it doesn’t go into much detail about the physical aspects of all her treatments. She really only focuses on the mentality of being treated for cancer, of going through these surgeries, and of wondering how to handle the aftermath – all things that anybody who has their own plethora of medical experiences to recount can relate to, I think. [Example: she explains that, despite her understanding that it’s an illogical fear, she won’t close her eyes when being put to sleep for surgery because she worries that they’ll start operating right away. I have had this same fear since I was a small child, even though I’m an intelligent sixteen-year-old and am very aware of the many reasons it’s unfounded.] She tells her story without hiding anything or shying away from her mental responses to the extremely challenging situations she faced.
15) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.
a. Summary from the book: “Junior is a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian reservation. Born with a variety of medical problems, he is picked on by everyone but his best friend. Determined to receive a good education, Junior leaves the rez to attend an all-white school in the neighboring farm town where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Despite being condemned as a traitor to his people and enduring great tragedies, Junior attacks life with wit and humor and discovers a strength inside of himself that he never knew existed….The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian…chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one unlucky boy trying to rise above the life everyone expects him to live.”
b. My thoughts: I mainly picked this up because it seems like I’ve heard of it EVERYWHERE and I wanted to see for myself. Because of the subject matter, it’s better than your average fluffy teenage novel, but it’s no work of literary genius.
16) The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.
a. Summary from the book: “If you start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy named Bruno. (Though this isn’t a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter one.”
b. My thoughts: This book is set in an interesting context, and it takes you a little while to puzzle it out. But at a certain point, you do. I enjoyed it, especially the fact that it’s a book for older readers, but comes from the point of view and perspective of a little boy.
