Book Review: Sense and Sensibility (New Media)

Bibliography

Austen, Jane, Nancy Butler, and Sonny Liew. Sense and Sensibility. New York: Marvel Illustrated, 2010. Print.

Summary

Sense and Sensibility is the story of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood who move across England with their mother and other sister after their father passes away. Their half brother and his wife all but force them out of their home and they must adjust to very different living circumstances. Elinor and Marianne face heartbreak and obstacles in love along the way, as well as cunning manipulations from family and friends.

Critical Analysis

This version of Sense and Sensibility is portrayed as a graphic novel, with illustrations that capture the events and emotions of the characters. The illustrations also set the time period and a location of the story as well as it gives the reader a fairly accurate portrayal of life during the Romantic period in England. For the most part, this version captures Jane Austen’s use of dialog in her original story, but due to the nature of graphic novels, much of the dialog had to be reduced, which at some times made the story confusing and unclear.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strength of the graphic version of Sense and Sensibility is that it takes a classic novel and makes it more accessible to the young adult audience.  The major weakness of this version is that because there is so much dialog in this version, it takes away from the illustrations. This also made it hard to follow along with the story at times. Another weakness is that on the front cover, there is a beautiful illustration of Marianne and Elinor, but inside of the book, the illustrations were much different, the characters were more cartoon-ish and not as lovely.

Book Review: The Teen's Guide to World Domination (Nonfiction)

Bibliography

Shipp, Josh. The Teen's Guide to World Domination: Advice on Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Awesomeness. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2010. Ebook.

Summary

“Now is the time to stop trying to dominate the whole world and start trying to live your own. That’s where we’re headed. That’s what this book is all about.” (Shipp 9)

Motivational speaker, Josh Shipp, uses his life experiences to provide teens with instructions on how to live their lives. Part 1 is about taking charge and dominating your own life. In Part 2, Shipp informs the reader of different types of people, and how to deal with them. Part 3 is about how to dominate your own world through finding your own identity, dealing with parents, friends, dating, and making future plans. In Part 4, Shipp concludes the book with how to dominate your future, and how it is an ongoing process.

Critical Analysis

Josh Shipp provides an engaging guide for teens on how to take control of their lives, and how to deal with the challenges of being a teenager. This book is written to appeal to teenagers, and the language and straight talk that Shipp uses throughout the book delivers a clear message without being condescending or without talking down to teens. He incorporates personal stories that are relevant to the readers and provides life experiences that serve as excellent examples for teens. Although Shipp says that the book can be read straight through, he also encourages readers to go back to certain topics, or skip around as needed throughout the text.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The major strength of The Teen’s Guide to World Domination: Advice on Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Awesomeness is the practical, straight-up advice for teens on how they should take control of their own lives. From dealing with friendships, to sex, to taking care of oneself, Shipp encourages teens to be in charge of themselves in a positive, encouraging manner. One useful section is on the types of people that will try to bring teens down, and ways to cope with them. This is a book that I would recommend to every teen. And even though this book was written for teens, adults can still feel inspired from this book to be a better person. One weakness of the book is that sometimes Shipp rattles on about topics and gives too many long, drawn out examples of behaviors. Shipp should also encourage teens to share the book with their parents to aid with relationship issues during the teen years.

Book Review: Between Shades of Gray (Historical Fiction)

Bibliography
Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. New York: Philomel, 2011. Ebook.

Summary

“We were taken.” (9)

It is 1941 in Lithuania, just after the Russian occupation, when suddenly the NKVD pounds on 15-year old Lina’s door. Within 20 minutes, Lina Vilkas, her mother Elena, and her younger brother Jonas are taken from their house for deportation. Lina’s father was not home at the time, and the family was separated. Through a long and painful journey, filled with horrible conditions, Lina, her mother, and Jonas were eventually sent to a camp located in the Arctic Circle. Lina’s father was sent to a Russian prison, and throughout her journey, artist Lina tries to send coded messages to her father.

Critical Analysis

Between Shades of Gray takes place during World War II when Russia occupied Lithuania and surrounding countries. The NKVD arrested and deported people that were suspected of going against Stalin and the Russian government. Lina’s father, who works at the university, was accused of helping others escape Lithuania; therefore the whole Vilkas family was arrested. Lina and her family faced cruelty and sadness throughout their imprisonment, and were forced to live in squalid conditions, with no thought for humanity. Despite the sadness of the book, a message of hope is delivered, and that kindness might come from the most unexpected places.

Strengths and Weaknesses

In Between Shades of Gray, Sepetys artfully combines the real events of the Soviet occupation with a fictional family. In the author’s note, she lets the reader know that she used information she gathered from survivors and their families. The strength of the novel is how real events are tied in to the fictional characters; the reader gets an incredible picture of how life was like for the deportees. One weakness of the story was the ending was a little confusing and rushed. The reader invests so much time and emotion on Lina and her family, and more detail in the ending would have been good.

Book Review: I'd Tell You I Love You, but Then I Would Have to Kill You (Mystery)

Bibliography

Carter, Ally. I'd Tell You I Love You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You. New York: Hyperion for Children, 2006. Ebook.

Summary

Cammie Morgan is just like any other 15-year old girl. She has best friends, she worries about what she wears, she has a crush on a boy named Josh, and she attends a school that trains girls to be spies. Due to the secretive nature of her all girls’ school, she is not allowed to tell Josh about what she studies, or that her parents are former spies themselves. She builds a relationship with Josh based on lies, and it is only a matter of time before the lies catch up to her.

Critical Analysis

I’d Tell You I Love You, but Then I’d Have to Kill You would not be classified as a traditional mystery, even though the story is about spies in training. The plot contains suspense, but never leads the reader through a journey of solving a mystery. The biggest mystery the book contains is whether or not Cammie will tell Josh the truth about her life as a spy in training, but this is more conflict resolution. Since this novel is the first in a seven part series, it is almost as if this first novel was all about setting up and giving the framework for future mysteries in the other novels. 

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strength of this novel is that it is the first part of a series. It does engage the readers with the characters and setting of the novel, and leaves some storylines unfinished so the reader wants to read more. Also, the novel is written is an easy-to-read conversational manner, which makes the story interesting and easy to follow. One of the biggest weaknesses of the novel is being able to relate to the main character. Cammie is extremely intelligent, but in a way that can be off-putting to the reader, and her friends are the same way. Honestly, I was more annoyed by the main characters than anything else, but I could easily see young adults enjoying this book.

Book Review: Divergent (Fantasy/SciFi/Supernatural)

Bibliography

Roth, Veronica. Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegen, 2011. Print.

Summary

In a dystopian society, sixteen year olds must take an aptitude test to determine which of five factions they will have to become a part of on “Choosing Day.” Through the process, Beatrice Prior, who was raised as Abnegation, the selfless faction, learns she does not fit into a specific faction, which makes her a Divergent. This is considered extremely dangerous and she is told to not tell anyone. When it comes time to align herself with a faction, Beatrice abandons her family and chooses the Dauntless, which are known for their fearlessness. Through the initiation process, Beatrice, who is now known as “Tris,” learns that the faction based society is not as perfect as it seems, and she has fight against what is taught to her and what she already knows to be right.

Critical Analysis

As a dystopian novel, Divergent shares characteristics of both science fiction and fantasy. (Nilsen 180) The novel takes place in a futuristic world where people are forced into factions based on a virtue. Young adult readers will relate to Tris as she struggles with fitting in to a faction and the role of the family in making decisions about the future. Technology plays a role in developing the storyline and adding to the science fiction nature of the novel. The characters emotionally evolve through the story, which lends itself to the fantasy nature of book. Divergent also shows the role the government can play in shaping futures, and how it takes the individual acts of courage to question practices and make changes.

Strengths and Weaknesses

One of the strengths of Divergent is how Roth created a whole world that is both believable and unbelievable, which captures the characteristics of the dystopian novels. Young readers will also indentify with Tris as she evolves as a character and faces challenges, not only physically, but emotionally as well. Tris finds her first love in Four, one of the instructors of the initiation, and the novel captures the fear that goes along with love. One of the weaknesses of the novel is that Tris was not always likable. She always seemed to struggle with fitting in, and through her divergent nature, she never truly does. Also, the Dauntless faction exaggerates the wild, fearlessness of young adults, but seems to forget about the consequences associated from that behavior.

 

Works Cited

Nilsen, Alleen Pace. Literature for Today's Young Adults. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.

Book Review: Why We Broke Up (Realistic Fiction)

Bibliography

Handler, Daniel, and Maira Kalman. Why We Broke Up. New York: Little, Brown, 2011. Ebook.

Summary

With a huge thunk, Min Green, who is described as “not-arty, but different,” delivers a box to basketball star Ed Slaterton’s house. Min has filled the box with artifacts from their relationship. Along with the box, Min chronicles how each object factored in to her growing love for Ed, and why they broke up.

Critical Analysis

Why We Broke Up delivers the story of high school student Min Green as she experiences her first true love. Ed is every girls dream boyfriend, he is popular and the co-captain of the basketball team, whereas Min relates life to old movies and dreams of being a movie director. Ed and Min are very different characters, but each one exposes the other to other sides of high school life. The theme of first love, and first true heartbreak, will resonate with the young adult audience because of the realistic nature of the story. Handler writes the story almost like a diary, with Min’s thoughts and feelings expressed through how each object in the box factored in to their relationship. Kalman’s artwork ties in the objects of the box to the story and adds to the delivery and suspense of why Min and Ed broke up.

Strengths and Weaknesses

One of the strengths of Why We Broke Up is the realistic nature of the story. Most girls in high school dream of being the girlfriend of one of the most popular boys in school. This becomes a reality for Min when she starts to date Ed, who even though the reader hates him for what he does to Min, he is actually a very likable character. One other strength of the novel is how the story unfolds. Due to the title of the book, the reader knows what is going to happen, but through the story and the artwork, the reader is taken through a journey of first love, and heartbreak. One of the weaknesses of the book is that Min is a very unique person, but at times it is hard for the reader to relate to her character. For example, she correlates her life experiences with scenes from old movies and is the “arty” type, even though she doesn’t see herself that way.  

Book Review: Where Things Come Back (Printz Award Winner)

Bibliography

Whaley, John Corey. Where Things Come Back. New York: Atheneum for Young Readers, 2011. Print.

Summary

Cullen Witter is a 17-year old boy that lives in the small town of Lily, Arkansas who typically sees the negative side of people. The only people he seems to genuinely like are his 15-year old brother, Gabriel, and his best friend, Lucas Cader. Despite the many struggles the people in Lily face, they find hope in the sighting of what was once an extinct woodpecker, but at the same time, Cullen is coping with the sudden and mysterious disappearance of his brother, which gives him an even more jaded and hopeless view of the world. In the end, do things, like brothers, and hope, come back?  

Critical Analysis

In Where Things Come Back, Whaley uses the overlying theme of finding hope to deliver a story that will appeal to the young adult audience. Cullen dreams of being the hero and getting girl, but he never wants to be the victim or have anybody feel pity for him. But he also is realistic about his life, even though he has a negative view of people. To contrast Cullen, Lucas and Gabriel are positive people that others want to be around, and when Gabriel disappears, Cullen is unsure if he will ever have hope again. When the extinct woodpecker is sighted nearby, Cullen has to decide if it is better to have no hope or false hope, and what, if anything is the true meaning of life.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Where Things Come Back is a Michael L. Printz Award Winner for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. The novel has strengths that make it a good literary choice. Cullen, the main character, in his pessimistic state is a relatable character for young adult audiences, especially boys. He has a very real worldview where he won’t always get the girl and bad things will happen in life. Even though the story was somewhat depressing, in the end, a glimmer of hope prevailed, which is something most readers want to believe. One of the weaknesses of the novel is that some young adult readers may not get the metaphors of the story, like the woodpecker. It is especially difficult to follow the Book of Enoch storyline, even though it was a crucial part of the story.