Hatori, B. (2003). Ouran High School Host Club #1. Tokyo, Japan: Hakusesha. United States: VizMedia.
ISBN-13: 9781591169154
•Plot Summary
In this first volume of a fifteen volume set, Haruhi has arrived at the Ouran High School, an elite academy only accessible to him due to his full scholarship. As a scholarship student he is ranked Class A, and when he accidentally wanders into the Host Club's meeting room, breaks an $80,000 vase. Rather than have Haruhi try to pay back the money, the club puts Haru to work as one of its hosts-young men of good family and wealth, with too much leisure time, that formed the club to amuse girls of similar backgrounds. While he at first believes that all the rich are the same, he soon comes to realize that some are leaders (like his chief antagonist, Tamaki), some do everything for show (like a set of deeply connected, nearly incestuous twins), and others are almost childlike (like Hunny Mori-who carries around a stuffed bunny). Everything is done for the amusement of the young women, but when Haruhi cleans up into a gorgeous young man, the club has more on its hands that it bargained for. Suddenly, Tamaki is having feelings for another boy, and Tamaki's primary patron is jealous, thrown out of the club patronage when she tries to undermine Haruhi's efforts. Picking up the possessions the Princess tried to destroy, Tamaki discovers that Haruhi is actually a girl, and all the boys want to know why she's been posing as a guy. Haruhi explains a neighbor put gum in her hair, so she cut it out, she'd lost her contact lenses, and she didn't see a difference between looking like a boy or a girl. The guys are fascinated, and throw her into the thick of things, Haruhi already having become quite popular with the girls. Tamaki constantly changes the rules of the debt, still very much interested in Haruhi, and tries to have her identity remain that of a girl through a series of cooking, dancing, and tricking her into meeting one of the male students so his girlfriend catches them together. Each of the plans fails, and when one of the female students asks Haruhi for a kiss, Tamaki rushes in with the intention of stopping them. He accidentally hits Haruhi the wrong way, and the result is a kiss after all.
•Critical Evaluation
A nice take on the fluid nature of gender, especially as portrayed in Japanese culture. The characters are amusing, but each in an individual way.
•Reader’s Annotation
The manga formulation of being read from right to left, and therefore what is by American standards back to front, may confuse some readers.
•Information about the author
Bisco Hatori was born in Sataima, Japan in August of 1975, and is a frequent contributor to LaLa Magazine. Ouran Host Club is her first multivolume set.
She received an Outstanding Debut in the 26th Hakusensha Newcomers’ Awards for her work on Millenium Snow, a two volume set about a sick girl, and the vampire that might be able to save her life.
•Genre
Manga
•Curriculum Ties
Social Science
•Booktalking Ideas
Japanese culture, manga, gender bending in pop culture
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 7-12-Ages 12-18
•Challenge Issues
N/A
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I had not selected anything in the genre yet, and liked the setting for this series. I also enjoyed the concept of Haruhi's continuing to work as a Host Club host, despite the group knowing she is a girl.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Whip It
Mendel, B. (Producer), & Barrymore, D. (Director). (Release date January 6, 1010). Whip It. [Motion picture]. United States: Fox Searchlight Pictures.
UPC 024543641964
•Plot Summary
Since she was a little girl, Bliss Cavendar has been in beauty pageants, primarily due to her mother's need to relive her youth in the same series of pageants. Bliss lives in Bodeen, TX, a fictitious town near Austin, where the most interesting thing to do is go to work-at the local B-B-Q stand. When Bliss goes to Austin to shop with her mother, she picks up a flier advertising an exhibition for the local roller derby team, the Hurl Scouts. Enthusiastic, Bliss and her best friend (Pash) convince their parents they are going to watch their school's football game, when in fact they take Pash's car into Austin. Maggie Mayhem, one of the Hurl Scouts, encourages Bliss to try out for the team. Bliss lies about her age in order to do so, and is soon part of a new life, which includes regularly lying her to her parents about her whereabouts. Meanwhile, Bliss has also started dating Oliver, a rocker she meets at one of the Hurl Scout parties. She's with him when Pash is arrested, her friend's dreams of attending an Ivy League school in order to get out of Bodeen, potentially up in smoke. When Bliss's mother finds out the truth of what Bliss has been doing, Bliss runs away, but Maggie gives her another piece of encouragement-to make up with her parents. Oliver goes away with his band on a small tour, and missing him, Bliss looks up the band's site on the Internet-allowing her to also see a picture of Oliver with a blonde, a blonde wearing the t-shirt Bliss gave to Oliver to take with him, a t-shirt that actually belongs to her mother. Bliss returns home, and tells her mother what happened with Oliver, and agrees to be in the major pageant that conflicts with the Hurl Scouts' final game. They never won before Bliss was on the team, despite their coach (Razor's) guidance, but Bliss is the faster HS ever and Razor has designed new plays. The Hurl Scouts finally have a shot at being in first place, and Bliss is literally the league's poster girl. It is seeing a clip of Bliss, and her poster, that finally results in her reticent father telling his wife that he thinks they ought to let Bliss have her chance with the roller derby. Bliss's mother gives in, her father takes she and the Hurl Scouts to the arena, and once more they lose. Still, her mother comes to watch Bliss, she has made up with Pash, and she has confronted Oliver, letting him know she won't be the girl that whines or puts up with the lying boyfriend. The Scouts lose, but there is always next year.
•Critical Evaluation
Humorous look at how a teenager comes into her own, despite small town life, and a controlling mother. Bliss is fallible, but has good intentions, and there is a certain proud moment when she tells Oliver she "won't be that girl", stating he has to return her mother's t-shirt.
•Reader’s Annotation
Suitable for tweens and teens. Bliss makes a few mistakes, but comes out as a viable role model for teen girls. Based on the novel Derby Girl.
•Genre
Motion Picture, Film, DVD, Movie
•Curriculum Ties
Sports
•Booktalking Ideas
Girls in competitive sports, small town life for teens, roller derby
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 6-12/Ages 11-19
•Challenge Issues
N/A
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I grew up in Texas, and wanted to see Drew Barrymore's directorial debut. This film received good reviews when it was released, and turned out to be even better than I had expected. I plan to read Derby Girl soon.
UPC 024543641964
•Plot Summary
Since she was a little girl, Bliss Cavendar has been in beauty pageants, primarily due to her mother's need to relive her youth in the same series of pageants. Bliss lives in Bodeen, TX, a fictitious town near Austin, where the most interesting thing to do is go to work-at the local B-B-Q stand. When Bliss goes to Austin to shop with her mother, she picks up a flier advertising an exhibition for the local roller derby team, the Hurl Scouts. Enthusiastic, Bliss and her best friend (Pash) convince their parents they are going to watch their school's football game, when in fact they take Pash's car into Austin. Maggie Mayhem, one of the Hurl Scouts, encourages Bliss to try out for the team. Bliss lies about her age in order to do so, and is soon part of a new life, which includes regularly lying her to her parents about her whereabouts. Meanwhile, Bliss has also started dating Oliver, a rocker she meets at one of the Hurl Scout parties. She's with him when Pash is arrested, her friend's dreams of attending an Ivy League school in order to get out of Bodeen, potentially up in smoke. When Bliss's mother finds out the truth of what Bliss has been doing, Bliss runs away, but Maggie gives her another piece of encouragement-to make up with her parents. Oliver goes away with his band on a small tour, and missing him, Bliss looks up the band's site on the Internet-allowing her to also see a picture of Oliver with a blonde, a blonde wearing the t-shirt Bliss gave to Oliver to take with him, a t-shirt that actually belongs to her mother. Bliss returns home, and tells her mother what happened with Oliver, and agrees to be in the major pageant that conflicts with the Hurl Scouts' final game. They never won before Bliss was on the team, despite their coach (Razor's) guidance, but Bliss is the faster HS ever and Razor has designed new plays. The Hurl Scouts finally have a shot at being in first place, and Bliss is literally the league's poster girl. It is seeing a clip of Bliss, and her poster, that finally results in her reticent father telling his wife that he thinks they ought to let Bliss have her chance with the roller derby. Bliss's mother gives in, her father takes she and the Hurl Scouts to the arena, and once more they lose. Still, her mother comes to watch Bliss, she has made up with Pash, and she has confronted Oliver, letting him know she won't be the girl that whines or puts up with the lying boyfriend. The Scouts lose, but there is always next year.
•Critical Evaluation
Humorous look at how a teenager comes into her own, despite small town life, and a controlling mother. Bliss is fallible, but has good intentions, and there is a certain proud moment when she tells Oliver she "won't be that girl", stating he has to return her mother's t-shirt.
•Reader’s Annotation
Suitable for tweens and teens. Bliss makes a few mistakes, but comes out as a viable role model for teen girls. Based on the novel Derby Girl.
•Genre
Motion Picture, Film, DVD, Movie
•Curriculum Ties
Sports
•Booktalking Ideas
Girls in competitive sports, small town life for teens, roller derby
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 6-12/Ages 11-19
•Challenge Issues
N/A
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I grew up in Texas, and wanted to see Drew Barrymore's directorial debut. This film received good reviews when it was released, and turned out to be even better than I had expected. I plan to read Derby Girl soon.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Hole in My Life
Gantos, J. (2002). Hole in My Life. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
ISBN-13: 9780374430894
•Plot Summary
Jack Gantos has been in prison for a year when this autobiography begins, and he details how he spends much of his time afraid of the violence around him. His life before he was in prison, did not prepare him for the brutality he sees daily, especially as he works as part of an emergency medical team. His father had told him stories about the violent lives of people in his hometown, but those stories had been nothing to him beyond reasons for wondering. At nineteen, he was still in high school, but his father moved the family from Florida to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Jack cannot speak Spanish, and therefore finish his Senior year, so his parents send him back to Florida to live with another family. The Bacons are poor, and glad of the money Jack will bring into the house, until he also brings loud music, friends, and his drinking habits into the house as well. When he becomes sick through several of the rooms, the Bacon kick him out, and Jack goes to live in a nearby hotel. He lives there for the entire school year, taken care of by the landlady, Davy. Jack manages to keep his job, although he begins smoking marijuana, and is accepted to the University of Florida in Gainesville. His father's company had not been doing well, so he moved the family again, this time to St.Croix in the Virgin Islands. Jack decides not to attend college for awhile, and tell his father he will come help him out with the company. In the meantime, his friend from high school (Tim Scanlon) gets together with Jack, and the two plan a scheme to sell hydroponically grown marijuana from Tallahassee. When Tim disappears, Jack decides to take a road trip like Jack Kerouac, and visits the homes of Earnest Hemingway, Tennessee William, and Elizabth Bishop. He is writing in his notebook again, a practice where he writes down details from books he has enjoyed, quotes, descriptions or even his own story ideas. Jack does not, however, write his own stories, and soon learns that Tim was taken by the police. He is with his parents, and the police have confiscated the weed. Jack then leaves for St. Croix, almost immediately a part of the drug culture. The police there are too busy inspecting oil tankers from the Middle East, to have time doing the same for boats that might be carrying drugs, so the culture is thriving. Or at least, this is true until rising racial tensions cause a shooting, and there is a mass exodus of whites from the island. With Jack's father no longer having any business, the two are only making palates for people use for shipping off the island, and Jack makes a deal with a drug dealer to accompany a shipment of marijuana from St. Croix to Manhattan, for $10k. Along with his shipmate, an insane Englishman named Hamilton, Jack tries to sail. Neither of them know how to sail a ship, and only after three days of practice are they able to leave the island behind, even then running aground at one point after the first day out to sea. Hamilton tries to humiliate Jack all the time, begins talking to himself, and walks around in the nude constantly. Jack has brought along books of famous ships and voyages, such as Treasure Island, Heart of Darkness, and the Mutiny on the Bounty trilogy. More than anything else though, the two get stoned, and Jack works on a journal in an old leather book he finds below deck. Small entries are included for each day, as well as explanations of how Jack and Hamilton continue to spend their time. After running low on fuel, the two encounter a Japanese fishing trawler, and Jack exchanges some of their rum for fuel. In return, the Japanese sailors send him back with sake, but Hamilton has let the boat drift away. Jack jumps into the water to catch up, and the height being more than he had expected, he has the air knocked out of him by the impact. He sinks, nearly drowning, but manages to swim to the surface. Several days pass in a storm, and the two end up accidentally in military waters, though they are escorted right back out again by the Coast Guard. They run aground at Cape May, NJ and attempt to contact Rik, without success. Finally, the two arrive at a marina in Queens, and Rik comes to move two hundred and fifty pounds of the hash from the boat, to "a guy named Jerome". Hamilton has become more paranoid, and thinks they are being followed, but nothing happens after two weeks of staying at the Chelsea Hotel. Jack, now paranoid as well, becomes obsessed with picking the acne that has developed under his skin. It isn't until then that the FBI arrive, and Hamilton points the finger, although Jack manages to escape, hide in a movie theatre, and eventually make it back to Davy's motel in Ft. Lauderdale. When Jack calls his father, he finds out that the FBI has had the family under surveillance, and his father insists that he contact a lawyer already found for him- Al E. Newman. Rik and Hamilton had already been taken into custody ahead of Jack, ratting him out, and the FBI have all the photos Jack took of the trip, the operation, and even one taken of him as evidence. Newman assures him that if he pleads guilty on one count of conspiracy to distribute, Jack will get off easy, maybe even just probation. Jack, not so sure, begins to read novels about prisons and follows the Attica Prison uprising on television. Once Jack is sentenced to a 5010B, he is put into prison. He's propositioned and warned the first night, and returns to his cell after a bathroom run to discover that his new fellow inmate was raped by multiple men the night before. Soon after, Jack is transferred to a federal prison in Ashland, KY, receiving a yellow cell in part of the hospital, because has gotten a case of head lice. He's safe from attack and rape, but tormented by the color, even in his sleep. After a week, Jack is given some paper, an unsharpened pencil, and a few discarded books to read. He picks up The Brothers Karamazov first, and begins writing his journal entries between the lines, including one about the trio of members from the Muslim Brotherhood who visit him to offer a way to prove his trust-prove he wants to improve race relations by meeting them in the bathroom during movie night, and drop his pants for them. As he is being released from the hospital, Jack asks if they need any additional aid, since he has experience as a hospital volunteer. The last X-ray technician had just tried to make an escape, so Jack is allowed to join the team, and keep his private cell. Among some of the more interesting things he encounters: an Elvis look-alike busted for selling fake Elvis memorabilia, a female administrative assistant who quits after her chest X-rays are stolen and recovered from the men's room, and a guy who needs an enema because his wife passed him hash that he hasn't passed. Finally, after serving one hundred and fifty days, Jack is able to speak to the parole board. They don't have all the facts straight, and his case worker (Mr. Wilcox) is the sort who falls asleep, so Jack must wait another two years to meet with them again. He uses the time to look out his call window, recalling events from his childhood, and writing them down in his journal. After a few more months, Jack receives a new case worker, Mr. Casey. The two fix on a plan, and Jack is accepted into Graham Junior College in New York. Fifteen months after being placed in prison, Jack is released. As conditions of his release, he had to have a stable residence in New York, and a job. His father arranges for him to live with a woman in Little Italy, and her son pays Jack to deliver Christmas trees. When the season was over, Jack started college, and ironically got a job as a campus security guard.
•Critical Evaluation
A basic, informative look into the lives of inmates in federal prison. Jack managed to have a better time of it than many do, however, mainly because of his hospital training. It's never entirely clear if he is sorry for that he did, and he unfortunately lost the Karamazov journal, because the novel was prison property.
•Reader’s Annotation
Several instances of a graphic nature.
•Information about the author
Since his release from prison, Jack Gantos has written over ten novels. He developed the M.F.A. programs in Children’s Book Writing at both Emerson College and Vermont College. Interestingly, the biography page on his web site does not mention the events detailed in this autobiography.
•Genre
Autobiography
•Curriculum Ties
Social Science
Journaling
English
•Booktalking Ideas
Teens in prison, journaling to inspire creative writing, drugs and the court system
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 10-12/Ages 15-19
•Challenge Issues
The entire content of this book could be considered suitable for challenging, but Gantos account is real, not a work of fiction, and therefore good at showing teens what can happen by making the wrong choices when it comes to drugs.
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I enjoy biographies, and was interested in reading about how a teen that ends up in jail turns things around so that he can survive the ordeal, then go on to write.
ISBN-13: 9780374430894
•Plot Summary
Jack Gantos has been in prison for a year when this autobiography begins, and he details how he spends much of his time afraid of the violence around him. His life before he was in prison, did not prepare him for the brutality he sees daily, especially as he works as part of an emergency medical team. His father had told him stories about the violent lives of people in his hometown, but those stories had been nothing to him beyond reasons for wondering. At nineteen, he was still in high school, but his father moved the family from Florida to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Jack cannot speak Spanish, and therefore finish his Senior year, so his parents send him back to Florida to live with another family. The Bacons are poor, and glad of the money Jack will bring into the house, until he also brings loud music, friends, and his drinking habits into the house as well. When he becomes sick through several of the rooms, the Bacon kick him out, and Jack goes to live in a nearby hotel. He lives there for the entire school year, taken care of by the landlady, Davy. Jack manages to keep his job, although he begins smoking marijuana, and is accepted to the University of Florida in Gainesville. His father's company had not been doing well, so he moved the family again, this time to St.Croix in the Virgin Islands. Jack decides not to attend college for awhile, and tell his father he will come help him out with the company. In the meantime, his friend from high school (Tim Scanlon) gets together with Jack, and the two plan a scheme to sell hydroponically grown marijuana from Tallahassee. When Tim disappears, Jack decides to take a road trip like Jack Kerouac, and visits the homes of Earnest Hemingway, Tennessee William, and Elizabth Bishop. He is writing in his notebook again, a practice where he writes down details from books he has enjoyed, quotes, descriptions or even his own story ideas. Jack does not, however, write his own stories, and soon learns that Tim was taken by the police. He is with his parents, and the police have confiscated the weed. Jack then leaves for St. Croix, almost immediately a part of the drug culture. The police there are too busy inspecting oil tankers from the Middle East, to have time doing the same for boats that might be carrying drugs, so the culture is thriving. Or at least, this is true until rising racial tensions cause a shooting, and there is a mass exodus of whites from the island. With Jack's father no longer having any business, the two are only making palates for people use for shipping off the island, and Jack makes a deal with a drug dealer to accompany a shipment of marijuana from St. Croix to Manhattan, for $10k. Along with his shipmate, an insane Englishman named Hamilton, Jack tries to sail. Neither of them know how to sail a ship, and only after three days of practice are they able to leave the island behind, even then running aground at one point after the first day out to sea. Hamilton tries to humiliate Jack all the time, begins talking to himself, and walks around in the nude constantly. Jack has brought along books of famous ships and voyages, such as Treasure Island, Heart of Darkness, and the Mutiny on the Bounty trilogy. More than anything else though, the two get stoned, and Jack works on a journal in an old leather book he finds below deck. Small entries are included for each day, as well as explanations of how Jack and Hamilton continue to spend their time. After running low on fuel, the two encounter a Japanese fishing trawler, and Jack exchanges some of their rum for fuel. In return, the Japanese sailors send him back with sake, but Hamilton has let the boat drift away. Jack jumps into the water to catch up, and the height being more than he had expected, he has the air knocked out of him by the impact. He sinks, nearly drowning, but manages to swim to the surface. Several days pass in a storm, and the two end up accidentally in military waters, though they are escorted right back out again by the Coast Guard. They run aground at Cape May, NJ and attempt to contact Rik, without success. Finally, the two arrive at a marina in Queens, and Rik comes to move two hundred and fifty pounds of the hash from the boat, to "a guy named Jerome". Hamilton has become more paranoid, and thinks they are being followed, but nothing happens after two weeks of staying at the Chelsea Hotel. Jack, now paranoid as well, becomes obsessed with picking the acne that has developed under his skin. It isn't until then that the FBI arrive, and Hamilton points the finger, although Jack manages to escape, hide in a movie theatre, and eventually make it back to Davy's motel in Ft. Lauderdale. When Jack calls his father, he finds out that the FBI has had the family under surveillance, and his father insists that he contact a lawyer already found for him- Al E. Newman. Rik and Hamilton had already been taken into custody ahead of Jack, ratting him out, and the FBI have all the photos Jack took of the trip, the operation, and even one taken of him as evidence. Newman assures him that if he pleads guilty on one count of conspiracy to distribute, Jack will get off easy, maybe even just probation. Jack, not so sure, begins to read novels about prisons and follows the Attica Prison uprising on television. Once Jack is sentenced to a 5010B, he is put into prison. He's propositioned and warned the first night, and returns to his cell after a bathroom run to discover that his new fellow inmate was raped by multiple men the night before. Soon after, Jack is transferred to a federal prison in Ashland, KY, receiving a yellow cell in part of the hospital, because has gotten a case of head lice. He's safe from attack and rape, but tormented by the color, even in his sleep. After a week, Jack is given some paper, an unsharpened pencil, and a few discarded books to read. He picks up The Brothers Karamazov first, and begins writing his journal entries between the lines, including one about the trio of members from the Muslim Brotherhood who visit him to offer a way to prove his trust-prove he wants to improve race relations by meeting them in the bathroom during movie night, and drop his pants for them. As he is being released from the hospital, Jack asks if they need any additional aid, since he has experience as a hospital volunteer. The last X-ray technician had just tried to make an escape, so Jack is allowed to join the team, and keep his private cell. Among some of the more interesting things he encounters: an Elvis look-alike busted for selling fake Elvis memorabilia, a female administrative assistant who quits after her chest X-rays are stolen and recovered from the men's room, and a guy who needs an enema because his wife passed him hash that he hasn't passed. Finally, after serving one hundred and fifty days, Jack is able to speak to the parole board. They don't have all the facts straight, and his case worker (Mr. Wilcox) is the sort who falls asleep, so Jack must wait another two years to meet with them again. He uses the time to look out his call window, recalling events from his childhood, and writing them down in his journal. After a few more months, Jack receives a new case worker, Mr. Casey. The two fix on a plan, and Jack is accepted into Graham Junior College in New York. Fifteen months after being placed in prison, Jack is released. As conditions of his release, he had to have a stable residence in New York, and a job. His father arranges for him to live with a woman in Little Italy, and her son pays Jack to deliver Christmas trees. When the season was over, Jack started college, and ironically got a job as a campus security guard.
•Critical Evaluation
A basic, informative look into the lives of inmates in federal prison. Jack managed to have a better time of it than many do, however, mainly because of his hospital training. It's never entirely clear if he is sorry for that he did, and he unfortunately lost the Karamazov journal, because the novel was prison property.
•Reader’s Annotation
Several instances of a graphic nature.
•Information about the author
Since his release from prison, Jack Gantos has written over ten novels. He developed the M.F.A. programs in Children’s Book Writing at both Emerson College and Vermont College. Interestingly, the biography page on his web site does not mention the events detailed in this autobiography.
•Genre
Autobiography
•Curriculum Ties
Social Science
Journaling
English
•Booktalking Ideas
Teens in prison, journaling to inspire creative writing, drugs and the court system
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 10-12/Ages 15-19
•Challenge Issues
The entire content of this book could be considered suitable for challenging, but Gantos account is real, not a work of fiction, and therefore good at showing teens what can happen by making the wrong choices when it comes to drugs.
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I enjoy biographies, and was interested in reading about how a teen that ends up in jail turns things around so that he can survive the ordeal, then go on to write.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens
Kiyosaki, R. (2004). Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens. New York, NY: Warner Books.
ISBN-10: 0446693219
•Plot Summary
School is important, but there are simply some forms of education that teens not will receive there, and one of them is an education in financial literacy. Kiyosaki learned important lessons about financial literacy from his father, and the father of his best friend, Mike. A person's IQ is not the sum total of what they can learn, every person has a different learning style, and knowing your style can help you effectively manage your finances-these are the initial steps in understanding Kiyosaki's language of financial literacy. In Part I, he encourages teens to learn their style, and to put it to use by creating a mindset of "I can be rich". In Part II, he describes his own initial experience with the relationship between work and money, how doing jobs that are repetitive can energize you and result in creative thinking-the key to financial success. Mike's father pays the boys to help out in one of his businesses, paying them less than they the feel they deserve, but young Robert catches on that if he ignores the need for money, it won't be a pressure against his drive. He and Mike begin a business of taking unsold comics, and making an in-house library, a flat fee for their friends to read comics in multiples, rather than having to but them individually at a higher cost. Lesson learned? Teens should keep their ears open for opportunities, and a secondary example is given of creating costumes as business during the Halloween rush. In Part III, the author gives the details on how to "create" money. As an entity, money can come from earnings from work, from passive sources (like real estate or businesses physically run by others) or from financial portfolios (stocks, mutual funds, etc). Perhaps one of the most important lessons of the book is also now revealed: acquire assets (something that generates income on a regular basis), not liabilities (items that don't generate money until they are sold-like televisions, skis, etc). Of interest primarily to teens, many technological gadgets are liabilities-cars, cell phones, computers, etc do not provide a means of generating money, and they require money to remain operational. It's at this point that teens also learn how to create a financial statement, so they can see what they have v what it's costing them. An inventive way to learn is explored in Chapter 7, playing games like Monopoly, and the author's own designed games CASHFLOW 101, CASHFLOW 202, CASHFLOW for KIDS and games at his site, Rich Kid Smart Kid. All of these games help teens explore the concepts of assets v liabilities, and how to accumulate only assets. By Part III, teens delve into how to find an earned income job, and what it will mean in terms of exchange, taxes, and searching for new opportunities. They also learn features of managing their assets, giving to charity, maintaining a savings account, making investments (and getting a return on them). It might seem counter intuitive, but teens learn that when they receive income, they pay themselves a percentage of that income before they do anything else toward paying on their liabilities. With this method, one has to think about how to make up the difference on those months where they fall short, without touching their savings. Finally, the topic of good debt v bad debt is explained, i.e. that paying more than the minimum balance each month on credit cards is good, while only paying that minimum will result in the debt stretching out must longer than the life of the object with which it was used to purchase.
•Critical Evaluation
Simple, but sensible methods for teens to learn about money, especially in a time when so many Americans are in serious debt due to educational costs or just overspending. Lessons they may not learn at home, teens can learn with this guide.
•Reader’s Annotation
Straightforward, but amusing anecdotes, interlaced with important financial information. See games and author's web sites for more insight and chances to test ideas.
•Information about the author
Robert Kiyosaki is Japanese-American, born and raised on the island of Hawaii. He attended college in New York, then served in Vietnam, before starting a company that sold velcro closure wallets to surfers. In 1985, he started the company to educate others in matters of business and investment, which he sold in 1985. He was able to retire at age 47.
His original book, Rich Dad Poor Dad sold 17 million copies, and was on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and USA Today. As mentioned in the book, he has also created several investment web sites to help his students better understand the principles set forth in his books and workshops.
•Genre
Non-Fiction
•Curriculum Ties
Economics
•Booktalking Ideas
Career building, money management, savings and investment for teens
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 10-12/Ages 15-19
•Challenge Issues
N/A
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
My daughter is soon going to at an age where she will need to really understand about money management. Due to the economic crunch now present in the United States, many individuals are scrambling to make ends meet, and I don't want her to be one of those people. In addition, I really think this book can aid all teens, because the ideas are simple, and his methods are sound.
ISBN-10: 0446693219
•Plot Summary
School is important, but there are simply some forms of education that teens not will receive there, and one of them is an education in financial literacy. Kiyosaki learned important lessons about financial literacy from his father, and the father of his best friend, Mike. A person's IQ is not the sum total of what they can learn, every person has a different learning style, and knowing your style can help you effectively manage your finances-these are the initial steps in understanding Kiyosaki's language of financial literacy. In Part I, he encourages teens to learn their style, and to put it to use by creating a mindset of "I can be rich". In Part II, he describes his own initial experience with the relationship between work and money, how doing jobs that are repetitive can energize you and result in creative thinking-the key to financial success. Mike's father pays the boys to help out in one of his businesses, paying them less than they the feel they deserve, but young Robert catches on that if he ignores the need for money, it won't be a pressure against his drive. He and Mike begin a business of taking unsold comics, and making an in-house library, a flat fee for their friends to read comics in multiples, rather than having to but them individually at a higher cost. Lesson learned? Teens should keep their ears open for opportunities, and a secondary example is given of creating costumes as business during the Halloween rush. In Part III, the author gives the details on how to "create" money. As an entity, money can come from earnings from work, from passive sources (like real estate or businesses physically run by others) or from financial portfolios (stocks, mutual funds, etc). Perhaps one of the most important lessons of the book is also now revealed: acquire assets (something that generates income on a regular basis), not liabilities (items that don't generate money until they are sold-like televisions, skis, etc). Of interest primarily to teens, many technological gadgets are liabilities-cars, cell phones, computers, etc do not provide a means of generating money, and they require money to remain operational. It's at this point that teens also learn how to create a financial statement, so they can see what they have v what it's costing them. An inventive way to learn is explored in Chapter 7, playing games like Monopoly, and the author's own designed games CASHFLOW 101, CASHFLOW 202, CASHFLOW for KIDS and games at his site, Rich Kid Smart Kid. All of these games help teens explore the concepts of assets v liabilities, and how to accumulate only assets. By Part III, teens delve into how to find an earned income job, and what it will mean in terms of exchange, taxes, and searching for new opportunities. They also learn features of managing their assets, giving to charity, maintaining a savings account, making investments (and getting a return on them). It might seem counter intuitive, but teens learn that when they receive income, they pay themselves a percentage of that income before they do anything else toward paying on their liabilities. With this method, one has to think about how to make up the difference on those months where they fall short, without touching their savings. Finally, the topic of good debt v bad debt is explained, i.e. that paying more than the minimum balance each month on credit cards is good, while only paying that minimum will result in the debt stretching out must longer than the life of the object with which it was used to purchase.
•Critical Evaluation
Simple, but sensible methods for teens to learn about money, especially in a time when so many Americans are in serious debt due to educational costs or just overspending. Lessons they may not learn at home, teens can learn with this guide.
•Reader’s Annotation
Straightforward, but amusing anecdotes, interlaced with important financial information. See games and author's web sites for more insight and chances to test ideas.
•Information about the author
Robert Kiyosaki is Japanese-American, born and raised on the island of Hawaii. He attended college in New York, then served in Vietnam, before starting a company that sold velcro closure wallets to surfers. In 1985, he started the company to educate others in matters of business and investment, which he sold in 1985. He was able to retire at age 47.
His original book, Rich Dad Poor Dad sold 17 million copies, and was on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and USA Today. As mentioned in the book, he has also created several investment web sites to help his students better understand the principles set forth in his books and workshops.
•Genre
Non-Fiction
•Curriculum Ties
Economics
•Booktalking Ideas
Career building, money management, savings and investment for teens
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 10-12/Ages 15-19
•Challenge Issues
N/A
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
My daughter is soon going to at an age where she will need to really understand about money management. Due to the economic crunch now present in the United States, many individuals are scrambling to make ends meet, and I don't want her to be one of those people. In addition, I really think this book can aid all teens, because the ideas are simple, and his methods are sound.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Summer of Fear
Duncan, L. (1976). Summer of Fear. New York, NY: Laurel-Leaf Books.
ISBN-10: 044098324X
•Plot Summary
When Rachael (Rae) loses her aunt and uncle in an auto accident, her parents immediately leave their home in New Mexico to pick up the remaining family member, Rae's cousin, Julia. Julia's father had moved the family to the Ozarks to live, a writer that didn't want interruptions, and so the family didn't even possess a phone. From the very beginning, however, there is something strange about this plain, oddly speaking girl. Julia's language goes back and forth between the rural dialect of the Ozarks, and the sophisticated phrasing of a the girl Rae knew Julia to be, one that attended boarding school in Boston. Not only that, but Julia seems to have a strange effect on the family dog (who bites her, then mysteriously dies), and most of Rae's friends and family, including Rae's sweetheart, Mike Gallagher. Through these strange circumstances, including Rae being struck by a case of hives that allows Julia to use Rae's dress for the Club dance, and a stroke inflicted on the one person that might have information on Julia's real behavior, Rae comes to realize she is a witch. Julia is not who she appears to be, and it in fact the adult maid that used to keep house for Julia's real parents. She arranged for their deaths, and the deaths of Julia, in the same auto accident. By claiming Julia's identity, she becomes inheritor of the family money and property, a legacy she is not willing to see given to Julia sometime in the future. Rae discovers Sarah (Julia) destroying rolls of film that might reveal she is a witch, and uncovers Sarah's plan to kill both Rae and her mother, so that Sarah can have Rae's father to herself. By convincing Mike to go find her mother on the road where Sarah plans to make her crash, and by not having gone with her mother on a trip to Sante Fe where she too might have died, they are able to save Rae's mother. By the time they return, Sarah has fled, and no one knows where she has gone. The only thing Rae finds...a new article in the newspaper about a family that has gone missing, and no evidence in the final picture they took on their trip, one that should have included the figure of an "unidentified" teenage girl, said to be the daughter's friend.
•Critical Evaluation
Two-hundred pages long, this novel isn't technically short, but it can easily be read in one sitting. Duncan knows her craft well, though the novel is dated due to the lack of cell phones, mention of flare leg jeans, and presence of the local swimming pool being the primary hangout for the teens of the Alberquerque area.
•Reader’s Annotation
Suitable for all teens, possibly slightly younger, although they might think it is rather campy. Reminiscent of the recent film called The Orphan.
•Information about the author
Lois Duncan was born in Florida, the daughter of prominent magazine photographers, and published her first article at the age of thirteen. Her teen years were spent with high school, and publishing in other magazines, like Seventeen. She moved to Alberquerque in 1962, and taught journalism at the University of New Mexico.
In total, she has written forty-eight novels, but is undoubtedly most famous for her teen mysteries, including I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was made into a film. Several of her books have won major awards, such as the American Library Association "Best Books for Young Adults" and Jr. Literary Guild Selections. Lois and her husband, Don, have four children, all of which are artists, composers or illustrators of children books.
•Genre
Mystery, Thriller
•Curriculum Ties
N/A
•Booktalking Ideas
Misconceptions about witchcraft in literature, creepy relative story lines, Lois Duncan novels
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 8-12/Ages 13-18
•Challenge Issues
N/A
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I'd never read anything by Lois Duncan or even seen I Saw What You Did Last Summer, which has become something of a cult classic, and been the topic of several spoof films since the 1990s. I was interested in making a comparison between mystery and thrillers for teens during the period when I was born v now, and I rarely read even adult fiction, but when I do, it is normally a mystery novel that I will pick up.
ISBN-10: 044098324X
•Plot Summary
When Rachael (Rae) loses her aunt and uncle in an auto accident, her parents immediately leave their home in New Mexico to pick up the remaining family member, Rae's cousin, Julia. Julia's father had moved the family to the Ozarks to live, a writer that didn't want interruptions, and so the family didn't even possess a phone. From the very beginning, however, there is something strange about this plain, oddly speaking girl. Julia's language goes back and forth between the rural dialect of the Ozarks, and the sophisticated phrasing of a the girl Rae knew Julia to be, one that attended boarding school in Boston. Not only that, but Julia seems to have a strange effect on the family dog (who bites her, then mysteriously dies), and most of Rae's friends and family, including Rae's sweetheart, Mike Gallagher. Through these strange circumstances, including Rae being struck by a case of hives that allows Julia to use Rae's dress for the Club dance, and a stroke inflicted on the one person that might have information on Julia's real behavior, Rae comes to realize she is a witch. Julia is not who she appears to be, and it in fact the adult maid that used to keep house for Julia's real parents. She arranged for their deaths, and the deaths of Julia, in the same auto accident. By claiming Julia's identity, she becomes inheritor of the family money and property, a legacy she is not willing to see given to Julia sometime in the future. Rae discovers Sarah (Julia) destroying rolls of film that might reveal she is a witch, and uncovers Sarah's plan to kill both Rae and her mother, so that Sarah can have Rae's father to herself. By convincing Mike to go find her mother on the road where Sarah plans to make her crash, and by not having gone with her mother on a trip to Sante Fe where she too might have died, they are able to save Rae's mother. By the time they return, Sarah has fled, and no one knows where she has gone. The only thing Rae finds...a new article in the newspaper about a family that has gone missing, and no evidence in the final picture they took on their trip, one that should have included the figure of an "unidentified" teenage girl, said to be the daughter's friend.
•Critical Evaluation
Two-hundred pages long, this novel isn't technically short, but it can easily be read in one sitting. Duncan knows her craft well, though the novel is dated due to the lack of cell phones, mention of flare leg jeans, and presence of the local swimming pool being the primary hangout for the teens of the Alberquerque area.
•Reader’s Annotation
Suitable for all teens, possibly slightly younger, although they might think it is rather campy. Reminiscent of the recent film called The Orphan.
•Information about the author
Lois Duncan was born in Florida, the daughter of prominent magazine photographers, and published her first article at the age of thirteen. Her teen years were spent with high school, and publishing in other magazines, like Seventeen. She moved to Alberquerque in 1962, and taught journalism at the University of New Mexico.
In total, she has written forty-eight novels, but is undoubtedly most famous for her teen mysteries, including I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was made into a film. Several of her books have won major awards, such as the American Library Association "Best Books for Young Adults" and Jr. Literary Guild Selections. Lois and her husband, Don, have four children, all of which are artists, composers or illustrators of children books.
•Genre
Mystery, Thriller
•Curriculum Ties
N/A
•Booktalking Ideas
Misconceptions about witchcraft in literature, creepy relative story lines, Lois Duncan novels
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 8-12/Ages 13-18
•Challenge Issues
N/A
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I'd never read anything by Lois Duncan or even seen I Saw What You Did Last Summer, which has become something of a cult classic, and been the topic of several spoof films since the 1990s. I was interested in making a comparison between mystery and thrillers for teens during the period when I was born v now, and I rarely read even adult fiction, but when I do, it is normally a mystery novel that I will pick up.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Speak
Anderson, L. (1999). Speak. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
ISBN-10: 014131088X
•Plot Summary
For two months, ninth grader Melinda Sordino has been ostracized by her peers, and even her former best friends, for calling the police during a party. It was Summer, she'd had too much to drink, and the best looking boy in school had been flirting with her all night. When she wakes up from a temporary blackout, IT (Andy Evans), is already zipping up his pants. Desperate for friendship, she seems to connect with the new girl in school, Heather. Only Heather is more interested in being a Martha, a series of clones that do good deeds, and grade Heather on her appearance/behavior. Melinda's unlikely rescuer from her dismal everyday life is a forgotten janitor's closet with a poster of Maya Angelou, and her art teacher's assignment that compels Melinda to try to create the perfect project about a tree.
•Critical Evaluation
Sad, but realistic account of what it's like as a young woman carrying a torturous secret. Telling the truth can be harder than keeping it inside, and the moment of the reveal may come in an unexpected way. Anderson's work is unassuming, but powerful, and doesn't overdramatize.
•Reader’s Annotation
Hard hitting enough for older teens, but lacking the graphic details that would prevent it being read by those younger. Character is only in ninth grade, reminding us that rape can happen to anyone.
•Information about the author
Laurie Halse Anderson was born in Postdam, NY in 1961. After years of believing that writing was only suitable as a hobby, she changed her tune, and began to work in freelance. After joining the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, people that offered helpful critiques, things began to come together for her writing career.
To date, Anderson has written five novels for young adults. Her books have become National Book Award finalists, been on the New York Times bestseller list, and garnered an American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults. In addition, she has received several awards for her two historical fiction novels.
She married her childhood sweetheart, and still lives in upstate New York. The couple have four children, and a dog. In her free time, Anderson hikes, gardens, and trains for marathons.
•Genre
Realistic Fiction
•Curriculum Ties
Social Science
•Booktalking Ideas
Rape, self esteem, teen drinking, art therapy
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 9-12/Ages 14-19
•Challenge Issues
For parents or administrators concerned about the content of the novel, it can be shown that turning a blind eye to teen drinking and what can come from it, won't change these situations for the better. As Anderson points out, the novel isn't just about rape, but also about the many stress factors that lead to teen depression.
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
My older sister was raped by someone she trusted, and kept it hidden for several years. Her experience was not in high school, but because she is developmentally challenged, her way of handling the situation took her down a road a lot like Melinda's.
ISBN-10: 014131088X
•Plot Summary
For two months, ninth grader Melinda Sordino has been ostracized by her peers, and even her former best friends, for calling the police during a party. It was Summer, she'd had too much to drink, and the best looking boy in school had been flirting with her all night. When she wakes up from a temporary blackout, IT (Andy Evans), is already zipping up his pants. Desperate for friendship, she seems to connect with the new girl in school, Heather. Only Heather is more interested in being a Martha, a series of clones that do good deeds, and grade Heather on her appearance/behavior. Melinda's unlikely rescuer from her dismal everyday life is a forgotten janitor's closet with a poster of Maya Angelou, and her art teacher's assignment that compels Melinda to try to create the perfect project about a tree.
•Critical Evaluation
Sad, but realistic account of what it's like as a young woman carrying a torturous secret. Telling the truth can be harder than keeping it inside, and the moment of the reveal may come in an unexpected way. Anderson's work is unassuming, but powerful, and doesn't overdramatize.
•Reader’s Annotation
Hard hitting enough for older teens, but lacking the graphic details that would prevent it being read by those younger. Character is only in ninth grade, reminding us that rape can happen to anyone.
•Information about the author
Laurie Halse Anderson was born in Postdam, NY in 1961. After years of believing that writing was only suitable as a hobby, she changed her tune, and began to work in freelance. After joining the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, people that offered helpful critiques, things began to come together for her writing career.
To date, Anderson has written five novels for young adults. Her books have become National Book Award finalists, been on the New York Times bestseller list, and garnered an American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults. In addition, she has received several awards for her two historical fiction novels.
She married her childhood sweetheart, and still lives in upstate New York. The couple have four children, and a dog. In her free time, Anderson hikes, gardens, and trains for marathons.
•Genre
Realistic Fiction
•Curriculum Ties
Social Science
•Booktalking Ideas
Rape, self esteem, teen drinking, art therapy
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 9-12/Ages 14-19
•Challenge Issues
For parents or administrators concerned about the content of the novel, it can be shown that turning a blind eye to teen drinking and what can come from it, won't change these situations for the better. As Anderson points out, the novel isn't just about rape, but also about the many stress factors that lead to teen depression.
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
My older sister was raped by someone she trusted, and kept it hidden for several years. Her experience was not in high school, but because she is developmentally challenged, her way of handling the situation took her down a road a lot like Melinda's.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Hound of the Baskerville (Graphic Novel)
Doyle, C., Edginton, I. (2009). The Hound of the Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novel.
New York, NY: Sterling.
ISBN-13: 9781402770005
•Plot Summary
London's most famous crime-fighting pair open the novel by discussing the elements that make up the man that visited the flat at 221B, the same man who left behind the cane they are analyzing. A few minutes later, the very same man rings the bell, a avid scientist who has come due to a strange death in his own neighborhood in Devonshire. Dr. Mortimer's friend (Charles Baskerville) and neighbor passed away after waiting some ten minutes at his own gate after dinner, a look of terror remaining on his features. Rumors have surrounded Baskerville Hall for decades, about a strange series of hounds that violently attack people out on the moor beyond the residence. Since the last surviving heir of the family is due to arrive in a few days, Mortimer hopes to find out the reason behind Charles's death and the hounds, if possible. What Watson and Holmes reveal is a plot by a previously unknown heir, who has established himself as Mr. Stapleton, and presented his own wife as his sister for the ruse. Knowing that Charles had been helping Laura Lyons, a woman undergoing a divorce, Stapleton let her believe he was going to marry her. The new heir, Henry, has developed an attachment to Stapleton's wife, but risks his life to walk across the property at night as Holmes and Watson lay their trap. Henry's butler and housekeeper have been protecting the woman's brother, an escaped convict with mental problems, and he is attacked by the hound right in front of the investigators' eyes. After giving the truth to Laura, and setting the trap via Henry, the men are joined by Lestrade from London, shooting the hound that Stapleton had been priming to keep control. Stapleton had intended to return to Costa Rica, and claimed his inheritance with the British officials there, wanting only the money. He'd brought the dog with him, intentionally finding one that was large and malicious, then contrived his plot to kill Charles and Henry.
•Critical Evaluation
A fine adaptation of the original novel, and while some of the artwork is simplistic, the moods are well set by the use of color (such as with the initial tale of the hound, and an instance of a cigar being lit at night), and the occasional subtle uses of pattern (as in the wallpaper design in Baskerville Hall).
•Reader’s Annotation
Good introduction to the Holmes and Watson series of stories, and recommended for reluctant readers in particular.
•Information about the author
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a physician and writer, born in Scotland in 1859. He attended a Roman Catholic prep school, but became an agnostic before even graduating from Stonyhurst College. He was married twice, the dying from tuberculosis, and the second being a childhood sweetheart. Between them, the wives gave Conan Doyle five children. He'd studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, was very much involved in trying to free the Congo from rule, and became interested in spiritualism due to the deaths of his wife and one son.
Ian Edginton has worked for Lucas Films, Paramount Pictures, and 20th Century Fox on comic adaptations of Star Wars, Alien, Predator, and Terminator. He has also done adaptations of works by H.G. Wells, D'Israeli, Edgar Allen Poe, and Steve Yeowell. At the Eisner Awards in 2007, his graphic novel Scarlet Traces was nominated for two awards: Best Limited Series and Best Writer.
•Genre
Graphic Novel
•Curriculum Ties
English Literature
•Booktalking Ideas
Sherlock Holmes, graphic novels, illustrations to encourage reading
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 10-12/Ages 15-19
•Challenge Issues
N/A
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I received this as a gift, because I have always been a Sherlock Holmes fan. I hadn't had the chance to read it though, so this seemed ideal.
New York, NY: Sterling.
ISBN-13: 9781402770005
•Plot Summary
London's most famous crime-fighting pair open the novel by discussing the elements that make up the man that visited the flat at 221B, the same man who left behind the cane they are analyzing. A few minutes later, the very same man rings the bell, a avid scientist who has come due to a strange death in his own neighborhood in Devonshire. Dr. Mortimer's friend (Charles Baskerville) and neighbor passed away after waiting some ten minutes at his own gate after dinner, a look of terror remaining on his features. Rumors have surrounded Baskerville Hall for decades, about a strange series of hounds that violently attack people out on the moor beyond the residence. Since the last surviving heir of the family is due to arrive in a few days, Mortimer hopes to find out the reason behind Charles's death and the hounds, if possible. What Watson and Holmes reveal is a plot by a previously unknown heir, who has established himself as Mr. Stapleton, and presented his own wife as his sister for the ruse. Knowing that Charles had been helping Laura Lyons, a woman undergoing a divorce, Stapleton let her believe he was going to marry her. The new heir, Henry, has developed an attachment to Stapleton's wife, but risks his life to walk across the property at night as Holmes and Watson lay their trap. Henry's butler and housekeeper have been protecting the woman's brother, an escaped convict with mental problems, and he is attacked by the hound right in front of the investigators' eyes. After giving the truth to Laura, and setting the trap via Henry, the men are joined by Lestrade from London, shooting the hound that Stapleton had been priming to keep control. Stapleton had intended to return to Costa Rica, and claimed his inheritance with the British officials there, wanting only the money. He'd brought the dog with him, intentionally finding one that was large and malicious, then contrived his plot to kill Charles and Henry.
•Critical Evaluation
A fine adaptation of the original novel, and while some of the artwork is simplistic, the moods are well set by the use of color (such as with the initial tale of the hound, and an instance of a cigar being lit at night), and the occasional subtle uses of pattern (as in the wallpaper design in Baskerville Hall).
•Reader’s Annotation
Good introduction to the Holmes and Watson series of stories, and recommended for reluctant readers in particular.
•Information about the author
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a physician and writer, born in Scotland in 1859. He attended a Roman Catholic prep school, but became an agnostic before even graduating from Stonyhurst College. He was married twice, the dying from tuberculosis, and the second being a childhood sweetheart. Between them, the wives gave Conan Doyle five children. He'd studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, was very much involved in trying to free the Congo from rule, and became interested in spiritualism due to the deaths of his wife and one son.
Ian Edginton has worked for Lucas Films, Paramount Pictures, and 20th Century Fox on comic adaptations of Star Wars, Alien, Predator, and Terminator. He has also done adaptations of works by H.G. Wells, D'Israeli, Edgar Allen Poe, and Steve Yeowell. At the Eisner Awards in 2007, his graphic novel Scarlet Traces was nominated for two awards: Best Limited Series and Best Writer.
•Genre
Graphic Novel
•Curriculum Ties
English Literature
•Booktalking Ideas
Sherlock Holmes, graphic novels, illustrations to encourage reading
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 10-12/Ages 15-19
•Challenge Issues
N/A
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I received this as a gift, because I have always been a Sherlock Holmes fan. I hadn't had the chance to read it though, so this seemed ideal.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Heyman, D., Barron, D. (Producers) & Yates, D. (Director). (2009). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: Heydey Films. United States: Warner Brothers Pictures.
UPC 085391200390
•Plot Summary
In this sixth of the seven films to be produced based on the popular series of novels, we find Harry at the subway station reading a newspaper, and flirting with the waitress in the diner where he's reading. Looking up, he sees a train pass by, and Professor Dumbledore is standing on the other side once it's gone. When Harry goes to meet his professor, Dumbledore explains that he and Harry have somewhere to go, and that Harry's things will be waiting for him at the Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when he arrives. Transporting Harry along with him, the two arrive at a dilapidated ruin of a house, and Dumbledore reveals that an old arm chair is in fact a professor he wants to have return to the school, Slughorn. Harry doesn't know why, only that it's connected to Lord Voldemort, who used to be one of Slughorn's students. The Dark Lord's activities have been escalating, with not even muggles safe any longer, and Slughorn begrudgingly agrees to return to the school. While still in London, and after visiting George and Fred's new joke shop, Harry, Hermoine, and Ron notice Draco Malfoy skulking about. He enters Borgin and Burkes shop, a place selling antiques, and meets with several of the known Death Eaters. On board the train bound for Hogwart's, Harry begins to eavesdrop on Draco's conversation with his friends, but Draco knows he is there. Casting a spell on Harry that renders him unable to move, Draco leaves him on the train, and Luna Lovegood locates Harry via her special glasses. Late in arriving on campus, Harry and Ron are also late to attend Potions glass with Slughorn. Not having books for the class yet, Slughorn tells the boys to use ones from the cabinet. The both dive for the new one, but Harry is too slow (curious for the Quidditch Seeker), and ends up with the older of the two books. What he finds inside, carefully scripted notes, launches him to the top of the class. Harry receives a potion for Liquid Luck, one that makes all his work successful, until the effects wear off. Later, Ron and Hermione think that Harry has placed some in Ron's drink so he will succeed at his first Quidditch match, but Harry later shows Hermione the untouched vial-Ron succeeded on his own. The former owner of the book is someone known only as The Half-Blood Prince. Hermoine attempts to research this person in the library, but finds nothing, and her level of tension mounts. Used to being the best in almost every class, she doesn't trust the information Harry is finding in the book, and is also having trouble of her own. Ron has been receiving attention from Lavender Brown, and the two begin snogging all over the school. She asks Harry what it's like he sees Ginny Weasley snogging Dean, her boyfriend, and he explains it's the same as when she must watch Ron and Lavender. Meanwhile, Dumbledore has shown Harry a fake memory, one between Slughorn and young Tom Riddle. He also requests that Harry allow himself to be "collected" by Slughorn, who has a habit of liking to have only the best, and brightest, students around him. After a failed attempt by someone to kill Dumbledore results in one student being nearly killed (as she was to have been messenger), Dumbledore and Harry know they are running out of time. He drinks the Liquid Luck potion, and goes to visit Hagrid, only knowing that he should. On his way, he comes across Professor Slughorn, who accompanies him. They find Hagrid mourning the death of his friend, the large arachnid, Aragorn. Eventually, the trio end up back at Hagrid's, the two men drunk. Hagrid passes out, and Slughorn explains about a flower he once received that turned into a fish. It was from Harry's mother, and Harry explains how her love saved him, but that it would have been for nothing without the knowledge Harry has been trying, unsuccessfully, to get the Professor to reveal. Slughorn relents, and gives Harry the memory, who then shares it with Dumbledore. Tom Riddle asked about a piece of magic that would allow him to store pieces of his soul away, and in so doing, keep him from ever being able to die. Dumbledore and Harry realize Tom killed seven people in order to store his soul away in seven artifacts. The diary Harry punctured using a basilisk horn was the first, a ring from Tom's family, was the second. He and Dumbledore go to retrieve what his Professor to believe to be another. Harry must agree to do what Dumbledore says, and the two retrieve a locket, which ends up being a fake. While this all goes on, Draco Malfoy has been given the task of killing Dumbledore, and is only saved by Snape when he and Harry engage in a pitched dual. He's been practicing in the use of a cabinet that will enable him to be transported to any location he wants, and Snape has made an Unbreakable Vow with Draco's mother, to keep her son safe. As Draco finally locates Dumbledore alone, he cannot kill the Professor, and the other Death Eaters arrive to urge him to action. Dumbledore looks to Snape, who has passed Harry with a finger-to-lips motion for silence, and asks only, "Please". Not trying to defend himself, Dumbledore is struck by Snape's magic, and falls from the castle wall-dead. Harry gives chase, and Snape keeps repelling his magic, finally explaining over Harry's exhausted body that the young man should not use his own spells against him. They are spells from the book, and Snape is the Half-Blood Prince. After Dumbledore's death, Harry knows he has to get rid of the book, but cannot bring himself to do it. Ginny takes him to the Room of Requirement, tells him to close his eyes, and hides the book in the room. The two have their first kiss, but there is more to be done. The search to find the third horcrux had been for nothing, but Harry knows he must go on, and Hermione explains to her friend that she and Ron will go with him on his quest.
•Critical Evaluation
Shortest of the films, although the book was the longest of the series, except for the last. Order of the Phoenix members are barely seen, and the search to find out about the identity of the Half Blood Prince is limited to the one mention where Hermoine looks for intel in the library's collection. Much of the film adaptation is given up to scenes of Harry and Ginny's shy interactions, and Ron snogging Lavender, until they break-up. Without certain elements from the novel, such as the muggle attacks, the relationships between older characters being developed (such as Tonks and Lupin), and the search for the rightful owner of the book, Snape, the ending does not make a great deal of sense.
•Reader’s Annotation
Adequate as a stand-alone film, but misses some of the elements that made the novel arguably the best in the series.
•Genre
DVD, Motion Picture, Film
•Curriculum Ties
N/A
•Booktalking Ideas
Harry Potter, witchcraft and wizardry in pop culture
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 6-12/Ages 11-19
•Challenge Issues
As with all the Harry Potter-related books and films, there is the possibility of a challenge based on the angle of supposed real witchcraft and spells. Recommendations include asking the challenger to read the book, with the purpose of finding actual instances of material that might lead young adults into dubious behavior, as well as pointing out that these are just works of fiction, and that spells used in the book are likewise imaginary.
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I was a huge fan of the novel, and wanted to see how the two compared. With my daughter away for the Summer when this came out, and mixed reviews, the DVD viewing seemed the best idea.
UPC 085391200390
•Plot Summary
In this sixth of the seven films to be produced based on the popular series of novels, we find Harry at the subway station reading a newspaper, and flirting with the waitress in the diner where he's reading. Looking up, he sees a train pass by, and Professor Dumbledore is standing on the other side once it's gone. When Harry goes to meet his professor, Dumbledore explains that he and Harry have somewhere to go, and that Harry's things will be waiting for him at the Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when he arrives. Transporting Harry along with him, the two arrive at a dilapidated ruin of a house, and Dumbledore reveals that an old arm chair is in fact a professor he wants to have return to the school, Slughorn. Harry doesn't know why, only that it's connected to Lord Voldemort, who used to be one of Slughorn's students. The Dark Lord's activities have been escalating, with not even muggles safe any longer, and Slughorn begrudgingly agrees to return to the school. While still in London, and after visiting George and Fred's new joke shop, Harry, Hermoine, and Ron notice Draco Malfoy skulking about. He enters Borgin and Burkes shop, a place selling antiques, and meets with several of the known Death Eaters. On board the train bound for Hogwart's, Harry begins to eavesdrop on Draco's conversation with his friends, but Draco knows he is there. Casting a spell on Harry that renders him unable to move, Draco leaves him on the train, and Luna Lovegood locates Harry via her special glasses. Late in arriving on campus, Harry and Ron are also late to attend Potions glass with Slughorn. Not having books for the class yet, Slughorn tells the boys to use ones from the cabinet. The both dive for the new one, but Harry is too slow (curious for the Quidditch Seeker), and ends up with the older of the two books. What he finds inside, carefully scripted notes, launches him to the top of the class. Harry receives a potion for Liquid Luck, one that makes all his work successful, until the effects wear off. Later, Ron and Hermione think that Harry has placed some in Ron's drink so he will succeed at his first Quidditch match, but Harry later shows Hermione the untouched vial-Ron succeeded on his own. The former owner of the book is someone known only as The Half-Blood Prince. Hermoine attempts to research this person in the library, but finds nothing, and her level of tension mounts. Used to being the best in almost every class, she doesn't trust the information Harry is finding in the book, and is also having trouble of her own. Ron has been receiving attention from Lavender Brown, and the two begin snogging all over the school. She asks Harry what it's like he sees Ginny Weasley snogging Dean, her boyfriend, and he explains it's the same as when she must watch Ron and Lavender. Meanwhile, Dumbledore has shown Harry a fake memory, one between Slughorn and young Tom Riddle. He also requests that Harry allow himself to be "collected" by Slughorn, who has a habit of liking to have only the best, and brightest, students around him. After a failed attempt by someone to kill Dumbledore results in one student being nearly killed (as she was to have been messenger), Dumbledore and Harry know they are running out of time. He drinks the Liquid Luck potion, and goes to visit Hagrid, only knowing that he should. On his way, he comes across Professor Slughorn, who accompanies him. They find Hagrid mourning the death of his friend, the large arachnid, Aragorn. Eventually, the trio end up back at Hagrid's, the two men drunk. Hagrid passes out, and Slughorn explains about a flower he once received that turned into a fish. It was from Harry's mother, and Harry explains how her love saved him, but that it would have been for nothing without the knowledge Harry has been trying, unsuccessfully, to get the Professor to reveal. Slughorn relents, and gives Harry the memory, who then shares it with Dumbledore. Tom Riddle asked about a piece of magic that would allow him to store pieces of his soul away, and in so doing, keep him from ever being able to die. Dumbledore and Harry realize Tom killed seven people in order to store his soul away in seven artifacts. The diary Harry punctured using a basilisk horn was the first, a ring from Tom's family, was the second. He and Dumbledore go to retrieve what his Professor to believe to be another. Harry must agree to do what Dumbledore says, and the two retrieve a locket, which ends up being a fake. While this all goes on, Draco Malfoy has been given the task of killing Dumbledore, and is only saved by Snape when he and Harry engage in a pitched dual. He's been practicing in the use of a cabinet that will enable him to be transported to any location he wants, and Snape has made an Unbreakable Vow with Draco's mother, to keep her son safe. As Draco finally locates Dumbledore alone, he cannot kill the Professor, and the other Death Eaters arrive to urge him to action. Dumbledore looks to Snape, who has passed Harry with a finger-to-lips motion for silence, and asks only, "Please". Not trying to defend himself, Dumbledore is struck by Snape's magic, and falls from the castle wall-dead. Harry gives chase, and Snape keeps repelling his magic, finally explaining over Harry's exhausted body that the young man should not use his own spells against him. They are spells from the book, and Snape is the Half-Blood Prince. After Dumbledore's death, Harry knows he has to get rid of the book, but cannot bring himself to do it. Ginny takes him to the Room of Requirement, tells him to close his eyes, and hides the book in the room. The two have their first kiss, but there is more to be done. The search to find the third horcrux had been for nothing, but Harry knows he must go on, and Hermione explains to her friend that she and Ron will go with him on his quest.
•Critical Evaluation
Shortest of the films, although the book was the longest of the series, except for the last. Order of the Phoenix members are barely seen, and the search to find out about the identity of the Half Blood Prince is limited to the one mention where Hermoine looks for intel in the library's collection. Much of the film adaptation is given up to scenes of Harry and Ginny's shy interactions, and Ron snogging Lavender, until they break-up. Without certain elements from the novel, such as the muggle attacks, the relationships between older characters being developed (such as Tonks and Lupin), and the search for the rightful owner of the book, Snape, the ending does not make a great deal of sense.
•Reader’s Annotation
Adequate as a stand-alone film, but misses some of the elements that made the novel arguably the best in the series.
•Genre
DVD, Motion Picture, Film
•Curriculum Ties
N/A
•Booktalking Ideas
Harry Potter, witchcraft and wizardry in pop culture
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 6-12/Ages 11-19
•Challenge Issues
As with all the Harry Potter-related books and films, there is the possibility of a challenge based on the angle of supposed real witchcraft and spells. Recommendations include asking the challenger to read the book, with the purpose of finding actual instances of material that might lead young adults into dubious behavior, as well as pointing out that these are just works of fiction, and that spells used in the book are likewise imaginary.
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
I was a huge fan of the novel, and wanted to see how the two compared. With my daughter away for the Summer when this came out, and mixed reviews, the DVD viewing seemed the best idea.
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