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.