Seahawk Staff & Students Write about Books
Vampires are indeed all the rage these days. Here’s a list of blood-sucking titles for bitten students: http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/chiefsealth/library/lists/vamps.htm
And for the howling fans of werewolves, another list of CSHS Library books: http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/chiefsealth/library/lists/wolves.htm
In the last few years, Nick Hornby’s novels have had the “I couldn’t put it down and so I got nothing done this weekend” effect on me. I read my first Hornby novel, A Long Way Down, when I was living in Guatemala for 3 1/2 months (taking care of my new baby son, Diego…I didn’t have anything else to do!). I was drawn to its concept – four individuals who meet at the top of an infamous London rooftop, all of them ready to jump off for different reasons. I fell in love with Hornby’s witty prose and his uncanny ability to turn a subject so taboo into something funny and poignant. This quote from the Boston Globe captures the essence of this novel:
“A mordant, brilliant novel… A Long Way Down ought to be required reading for writing students who want to know how to evoke one set of circumstances with its opposite, how to capture unspeakable pain with humor, how to suggest camaraderie with trenchant, piss-all irony, how to turn a novel based on suicide into a cello suite about how to go on living.”
—The Boston Globe
Then, I read Fever Pitch, High Fidelity, About a Boy, and How To Be Good. I did watch the movies, Fever Pitch and About A Boy, and while I enjoyed the movies from an entertainment perspective, no movie could capture Hornby’s unique style or evoke the same kind of emotion as his writing can.
This summer, I was sitting in the library’s YA section and I noticed SLAM. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not typically drawn to YA fiction…but since Nick Hornby wrote it, I was definitely going to read it! It was excellent! And so I recommend it for youth and adults alike. It’s an easy read; a compelling and insightful story about a teenage couple that get pregnant and grow up quickly as they navigate parenthood and their changing relationship. The Miami Herald says this about it:
“Offers wry insights into the male psyche, making this book a good bet for Hornby fans, no matter their age.”
—Miami Herald
His latest novel, Juliet, Naked is next on my list.
Here’s his website if you want to preview any of his novels:
-Lauren
When I was in middle/high school in the ’80s, an enormous chasm yawned between the shelves of books written for kids and those meant for adults. There were a couple of books fit for teens (The Outsiders, for one), but not many – and not all that interesting. Certainly there were no titles that reflected life as I knew it. So I started reading adult books at a young age, struggling with vocabulary and themes not intended for a teenaged audience. I think there were benefits in this early exposure to difficult books – my vocabulary grew larger, I learned to re-read when I got confused, and my attention span and focus both became sharper.
In the past several years, the number of books written for teenagers has exploded – and as competition for publication and sales have increased, the quality has greatly improved. (One reason for the change has to be Harry Potter – the young wizard’s popularity completely changed publishers’ understanding of the money to be made in this market.)
And what I’m finding, as a librarian buying and reading books for teenagers, is that many of these books are every bit as complex, interesting, and compelling as titles written for someone my age. Not all of them are excellent, of course – so my purpose here is to get you started with some of the most wonderful books currently available.
The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger, both by Markus Zusak
The Book Thief is narrated by Death, and is set during WWII. This book has been chosen by adult book clubs across the country, and I’ve yet to encounter anyone who hasn’t been profoundly moved by it. I gave it to my 70-something mother (she’d love my advertising her age here, I’m sure) to read several months ago, and she reported being unable to put it down.
I Am the Messenger is a completely different kind of book, which illustrates (as if writing The Book Thief hadn’t adequately done the job) just how talented Zusak is. This story is set in contemporary Australia, and follows the misadventures of 19-year-old Ed Kennedy. The down-and-out cabdriver begins receiving playing cards marked with a time, date, and address – and he bemusedly shows up at these appointed moments to witness events whose outcomes, he comes to understand, he’s supposed to do something about. Who’s behind the cards, why and how is Ed the recipient? Amazing book.
I’ll be back every couple of weeks with more titles for your enjoyment. Read them yourselves, recommend them to the young people in your life (who’ve probably already read them!), and suggest them to your book-loving friends. I think you’ll find the world of YA fiction a wonderful surprise!
Jake Adelstein is the only Westerner to work as a regular newspaper reporter for the Yomiuri, Japan’s largest newspaper and the largest newspaper in the world. He wrote about the police beat, and he recently published his memoirs in English with a book called Tokyo Vice. I read it this weekend, and boy did he have an exciting life. His investigative reporting ended up being integral in bringing down one of Japan’s worst Yakuza mob bosses. I literally couldn’t put this book down, and read it cover to cover in an evening.
With using some more aggressive tactics for making time to read, I have discovered that time to read does exist…without eliminating showering. This means that I actually have finished books and am now on to others.
I finished Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Amazingly hilarious and sad. Nothing like a book that leaves you feeling like you’ve been taken advantage of. It’s a book where you know what is going to happen and the characters know what’s going to happen, but still you’re surprised when it does happen. If you haven’t read or heard of it, the main character is choroimpaired. He is unable to control his movements through time. He travels back and forward through time, forced to quickly acclimate.
I know there is a movie, and I’m not very excited to see it. Katie informed me that Niffenegger has a new book out, and that I’m excited about.
-Joshua
Our supercool librarian downloaded several books on my ipod and it has been the best thing for housework ever! Not only has our laundry basket not been oozing dirty socks from every pore, but I even cut back the monstrous ivy creeping onto our driveway. I must also say that I miss the snuggling down and turning pages. Which is why I am also reading if i told you once by judy budnitz. Thus far it reminds me of my favorite fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. I will keep you posted on whether or not anyone ends up in an oven.
I just finished Maeve Binchy’s Tara Road (I was attracted to it because it was on the Oprah’s Book Club list). It was a good read and I have it available here in my room should anyone want to take a look. The plot is about two women who swap houses for a couple of months between towns in the USA and Ireland. On Saturday I dropped by Barnes and Noble (intending to pick up a new CD) and was attracted to a display table of paperbacks. I noticed that my favorite book of all time, Atlas Shrugged, has come around again. I liked Ayn Rand back in the day. John, I did see (and almost bought) What The What….maybe I can get that from you when you are done. Actually there were a couple of books on that table that I have under my belt and that kind of surprised me since I am not a prolific reader. Water For Elephants and The Other Boleyn Girl were two books I have read. Several piqued my interest including two with a fictional plot about life as a Jew during the Nazi regime and at least one with a Chinese setting), but I decided to purchase another of Philippa Gregory’s genre books about 16th century English royalty and now am reading The Other Queen (Mary, Queen of Scots). Another book recommendation that comes to mind is House of Sand and Fog (Oprah Book Club). Anyone read that???? They followed that one up with a pretty good movie. That’s all for now.
Mz. C
I just finished reading a book by David Eggers entitled What is the What. The book is based on the true life story of a young Dinka boy, Achak Deng, who was forced to march thousands of miles with hundreds of other Sudanese boys after his village was attacked during the civil war. He encounters unimaginable hardships while on the journey from his village, to a refugee camp in Ethiopia, back into Sudan and onto the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya where he lives for many years waiting to immigrate to the United States.
The title “What is the What” refers to an ancient story told by his Dinka father about a deal that the first Dinka man made with God. According to this story, God asked the first Dinka man if he preferred to have cattle or to have “The What”. The Dinka man chose a life of cattle herding rather than the unknown, “What,” thinking that cattle would produce all that is needed for a satisfying life instead of the unknown and always feeling the need for something more. Mr. Kumaska left this book on my desk last year with a note saying, “I think you’ll like this.” He was correct. I was hooked after the first 50 pages and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is beautifully written and gives background information about Sudan, the historical events that led to the brutal civil war and the attitudes and beliefs of the Dinka people.
Other books that I recently read are, The Kite Runner, Three Cups of Tea and Sacred Hoops, Guns, Germs and Steel and Man’s Search for Meaning. I am currently reading a book recommended to me by Katie Hubert called The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
When I was in High School (actually I went to about 4 different programs, this particualr incident takes place at the continuation school I attended) I had a Language Arts teacher who would let us do our book reports on any book she had in her classroom. If we chose a book, but decided we didn’t like it, she would let us switch – she didn’t want to force anyone to read anything that they weren’t enjoying. We had a deadline, so you could only switch books so many times until you began to run out of time if you wanted to get the report done. She also had one rule about picking/switching books – it was that you had to read the first 25 pages of the book before you could decide that you wanted to switch. She believed that by reading at least the first 25 pages, you were giving the book a fair chance.
Often when I’m talking with students who tell me that they don’t like to read, I offer this suggestion. Some will heed my advice, most will not.
When I was in High School, I took this advice from my teacher (well, I had to, I couldn’t switch books until I did). If I had not read the fisrt 25 pages of the book that day, I would have missed out on what became one of my all-time favorites, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”.
Dear Sealth Reads Bloggers,
I love to read. I love being transported to other worlds, getting a little teary over super sappy sections, or laughing out loud in a library. But during the school year, I cannot find time to read. I can maybe get through one or two books from September to June. And once summer hits, I engorge myself. I guess I would call it binge reading.
This summer was a great summer for reading. I finished Crytonomicon (which I started in November). I read (and very highly recommend) The World to Come by Dara Horn. I even took some time out to read The Number One Ladies Detective Agency (cute). Now I’m trying to finish The Time Traveler’s Wife (so far…amazing book), but finding time is tough.
I’m frustrated, because while I was in Honduras reading was what I did. I read by candle light when the power went out. I read on the super bumpy bus rides where it was difficult to keep my eyes in the right place. I read between classes.
So, now to my question. As educators, professionals, people with families, and people who enjoy reading…how do I find time to read? I tried cutting out showering, but my students began to notice. I don’t watch TV except the occasional movie or show on Netflix. So where is the time to read?
I would appreciate any help on this matter.
-Joshua Cohen
Hosted by Edublogs.
