Adolescent Literature, friend or foe?!!!!

As I draw near to the end of this semester of Adolescent Literature, I have been reflecting back on all of the books we have read so far--and there are still more to join these on the list--and wondered if that if it had not been for this class would I have read any of these books on my own? Or even wanted to? So I decided to look back on each book individually and sort of give them a review and whether I would recommend them or if you should steer clear!!!

 So the first book of the semester was S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders. This book was about a group of young boys called Greasers and the life that they lived in their ghetto. There is actually a movie with Rob Lowe, and PATRICK SWAYZE! I've never seen the movie but the book was actually pretty good. Now it was entertaining, not life changing. It was slightly hard to believe that the story was about a 14 year old boy when it was written by a 16 year old girl...and at moments, you can tell that a 16 year old girl wrote this story...but for how old she was it was an interesting, entertaining story.

  The second book we read was Wendelin Van Draanen's Flipped. This book was cute, cute, cute! It was cleverly written and the characters are easy to like and follow. It was not a tough read and was not a deep, life questioning book. It was simple. It dealt with simple adolescent problems. It was extremely enjoyable. I recommend for a light read and just a bit of happiness :)

The next book was Angela Johnson's The First Part Last. This book was interesting. IT was a little more complicated. The story went from past to present to past to present and so on. It was a good book, not always believable at parts but it was an interesting take on teen pregnancy because it was not about a single teen mom, it was about a single teen father living in the ghetto and learning to take responsibility for his new baby girl. I would recommend this one.

Then we have An Na's A Step from Heaven. This novel is about a young girl's trip from living in Korea to the United States and the hardships she faced, especially in her own home with her family. It was an extremely good book. The story has you cringing in places at certain characters actions but it is a very strong, uplifting book about hard work and finding yourself.

  The next book is Cochrane's The Girl Who Threw Butterflies. Sort of a slow book. Not one of my personal favorites but it kept my interest. It was a good book for what it was. A book about a girl in love with her baseball and wanting to be on the baseball team. It sounds like a cliche underdog story but it is actually not what you expect. IT would be another light read.

  Issues of Identity in School, Community

 The first book in this category is Cormier's The Chocolate War. I absolutely hated this book. I could not even finish it. I got halfway through it and new there was just no way I would be able to keep going, so I skipped ahead to the end to read the last chapter and the end was just...well to speak bluntly, it was just stupid. I know we can't always expect to have a happy ending but this book just teaches teenagers to pretty much give up on yourself and on life and on humanity. There was no silver lining. I strongly do not recommend this book, but this is just my opinion, so you could read it to give it a chance but I did not particularly care for it.

The next book was Anderson's Speak. This book had quite the opposite effect on me that The Chocolate War did. I could not put this book down. It was a great read. It was a real issue that some young teens unfortunately have to deal with. It was full of symbolism and clever lines were drawn. It was a powerful book and I strongly recommend this book.  

  

Then there's Gail Giles' Shattering Glass. It was a weird read. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. It was strange, but very realistic and it was scary because it is something that could or probably has happened in real life before. I would recommend someone to read it just so they could form their own opinion about it. 

Next is Larson's Hattie Big Sky. I did enjoy this book. I did not get all the way through it but what I've read so far it was enjoyable. It starts very slow, like almost the first half of the book but it has good characters, and an interesting story. I need to finish the book before I give a strong recommendation for this one.

  

Last in this section is David Levithan's Realm of Possibilities. This was another strange one. I wasn't mad in love with it but I did not hate it either. It is a Prose novel, which means it is written in poetry and another cool part was that there were 20 different narrators! And they were all connected somehow. Also the poems were written in a way to match the character who was speaking. I would recommend this book. 

Issues of Identity in Society, Culture

  First in this section is Shusterman's Unwind. I actually really liked this book! It was a great dystopia and the concept was just so incredibly interesting! They are actually making it into a movie! I am looking forward to seeing it in film form! I STRONGLY recommend this book to anyone who likes dystopia's and science fiction!

  

Second was Yang's American Born Chinese. This was actually a graphic novel and I absolutely loved this novel! It was stupendous!!! It was an interesting take on identity and mixing culture and religion, and it was just done in such a magnificent way. It really was brilliant.

and the last one--up to date-- is China  Miéville's Un Lun Dun. So far I am really liking this book! It is a great fantasy book and not at all what you expect it to be! I have yet to read the ending--its due tuesday so ill know soon how it ends--but i have loved every minute of it so far! It's about an alternate London world where the broken things of the real London go to live and everything is turned on it's head! READ IT!!

So that is what we have read thus far in this class. We have one more book to read and also a book we get to choose for our final paper! I am glad I took this class and for the most part I am happy I took it because I probably would have never reached for most of these books on my own. I really like science fiction, so the ones that had to do with real life and everyday problems, I really would never have touched! It's a wonderful class but I am SOOO excited there are only a few weeks left before summer break!!!!