The Age of ______?

Sarah Palin To The Rescue!

2008-09-19T09:15:00.008-04:00

I believe everyone has a superpower. My friend Polly can name the designer, season, and price of any garment on any person (knockoffs too) with flawless accuracy. Roxy can eat more food faster than anyone I've ever seen, has a perfect sense of direction, and over one spring break she built a working TV out of an old toaster. And her twin brother Tom can imitate anyone's voice and pick any kind of lock. (1)

Maybe its just me, but I hear a lot of similarities in the voices of Sarah Palin and Jasmine, the lead character in Michele Jaffe's fun YA read Bad Kitty.

Part of the connection, I think, has to do with embracing contraries. I mean, both of these females take great pride in showing off their credentials as both "traditional" and "untraditional" women. Sarah Palin runs a state government, but idolizes her family. She has won a beauty contest, but also is a lifetime NRA member. She is committed to the Republican party (and the men who lead it), but is eager to shake things up in Washington.

Jasmine, too, embraces contradictions. She loves to sun bathe, but loves more solving crimes and mysteries. She is intimidated by her father, but fearless in the face of evil. She surrounds herself with friends like Polly and Roxy who are fellow fashionistas, but as interested in intellectual challenges as she is.

Another connection is that both Sarah Palin and Jasmine are unrelenting in their optimism about the future and their ability to meet any challenge. Both women have a can-do spirit that fits neatly with the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" ideology of American culture.

Even though these similarities exist, there are differences. Most important, Sarah Palin draws a line at embracing contraries that Jasmine does not. Subjects such as God, devotion to country, and free enterprise are NOT ones that Sarah Palin examines from different perspectives (although her track record suggests that she does say two different things, from time to time, about certain sensitive issues, such as pork barrel spending and teaching creationism in schools). Because Sarah Palin is running for elective office, she is much more calculating (and arguably superficial) in her choice of contraries to embrace.

So what might we learn from this comparison? One reasonable conclusion is that maybe John McCain is as aware as Michele Jaffe, the creator of Jasmine and Bad Kitty, that today's youth and the larger public are hungry for heroes who do not fit neatly into traditional categories. In a sense, his choice of Sarah Palin shows that he has learned the core lesson at the heart of Barack Obama's emergence as a player on the national stage: that people who do not look or behave like the figures on the American dollar bill are likely to play larger and larger roles in the social and political life of this nation in the future.

The other lesson is that we Americans need to be careful about accepting without question the labeling of John McCain as "maverick" and Sarah Palin as "bad kitty." Yes, there are some appealing qualities and backgrounds to each, and some positive efforts toward political change. But ultimately, this ticket is all about imitation. Imitating the idea of change at the core of the Obama campaign, and more importantly, imitating President Bush and the Republican party on the war in Iraq, oversight of Wall Street, and drilling for oil. If there is one thing that Michele Jaffe's book teaches, it's that we should beware of imitations. As Jasmine's friend Polly might advise, buy the real thing whenever possible.

Back In The Saddle Again

2008-09-18T08:20:00.008-04:00

"So in Macbeth, when [Shakespeare] wasn't trying to find names that sound alike, what did he want to express in words more beautiful than had ever yet been written?"

Mrs. Baker looked at me for a long moment. Then she went and sat back down at her desk. "That we are made for more than power," she said softly. "That we are made for more than our desires. That pride combined with stubbornness can be disaster. And that compared with love, malice is a small and petty thing."

The above words, from The Wednesday Wars, by Gary Schmidt, are as powerful a commentary on the current age, on the last eight years of the Bush administration, on Wall Street and the current presidential campaign, as I have read in the last year and a half or so that I have been reading young adult literature and making connections to the contemporary world. If you haven't read The Wednesday Wars, I highly recommend it--it's perfect for middle school history and language arts courses, or bedside reading by any parent with a child age 10-14.

The argument I have been making on this blog is that young adult literature--of which The Wednesday Wars is a terrific example--provides adults and teens and even tweens with useful perspective on the contemporary world. It's not just about the foibles of teen romance, parental relationships, and school culture. It's also about the world we live in today, its flaws and potential, the core principles and concerns we need to pay attention to if we are to move forward as a culture, a society.

In the coming months, I'm going to do my best to stay regular with this blog, writing at least once a week. Now that my research project is done, this blog is going to become a more open-ended site for writing about current events and the ways in which young adult literature can help all of us--adults and kids--to think better about contemporary politics and other aspects of human affairs. In particular, I'll give special attention to the ways in which insights derived from young adult literature and the contemporary world might help educators to meet new challenges and create new opportunities for teaching and learning.

So stay tuned for more about the current age. Starting tomorrow.

The Age of Avoidance

2008-04-28T09:24:00.003-04:00

Anyone who has turned to this blog in the last month or so knows that I have been derelict with my posting.

It's not that I have found more enjoyable things to do; it's just that, for reasons having to do with the weather and the hecticness of the time of year, I have found myself avoiding that which puts some unwanted stress on other parts of my life.

In this respect, I am in synch with the two protagonists at the center of the two 2007 Teens Top Ten novels that I read while on my extended vacation from this blog. Annabel Greene, a high school student in Sarah Dessen's Just Listen, seems to "have it all": a devoted mother, a promising modeling career, beautiful sisters, and wonderful friends. Over the course of this novel, however, we learn that all is not as it seems, as Annabel struggles to confront the pain and disappointment at the heart of her relationships to her mother, sisters, her modeling career, and especially friends. Confronting anger and talking about emotions is not something that Annabel does easily; it takes her the entire novel to come to terms with her situation. As a reader, I found myself practically yelling at her to do what she clearly needs to do at the very end of the novel. But Annabel's reluctance to change, and her avoidance of personal responsibility, appears to be the point: going against the grain is never easy, especially in an era where image is everything and so many advantages are being bestowed upon those who stay inside the lines.

Although the situation is very different in Firegirl, by Tony Abbott, the theme of avoidance again is front and center. In this instance, the main character, Tom, is a 7th grader grappling, along with his classmates, with the arrival of Jessica, a young girl who has been horribly scarred by a fire. Unlike his classmates, and especially his best friend Jeff, Tom reaches out to Jessica, and learns the truth about her tragedy. However, like his classmates and even Jessica's parents, Tom practices a good deal of avoidance, too. The narrative here is simpler than in Just Listen--Firegirl is ideally suited for fifth, sixth, and seventh graders, whereas Just Listen is more appropriate for teens in 8th grade and up--and much less frustrating in terms of character development and behavior. But again, we see a central character unevenly negotiating a way toward greater personal responsibility and awareness of the many options that exist out in the world for living a fulfilling life.

As I read these two novels, I found myself at a lost to create a connection to the contemporary world (which also perhaps explains my time away from this blog). But then I read a column by Frank Rich, in which he points out that Americans have been consistent in avoiding the reality of the Iraq war. Shortly thereafter, I read Bob Hebert's criticism of Barack Obama's "bitter" remark, in which he suggests that Obama has been avoiding the truth about why his campaign is failing to attract a plurality of lower income, white Americans. I also found myself paying attention to the many criticisms of the ABC presidential debate in Philadelphia, in which the moderators focused a good deal of attention on issues peripheral to the ones that are likely to consume the attention of the next president. We live, it seems, in an age of avoidance, at a time when we seem incapable of facing head-on the difficult challenges that we most need to address.

It is this feature of contemporary American life that both Just Listen and Firegirl illuminate. Given legitimate concerns about personal security and the advances in wealth and technology that have emerged over the last several years, it's easy to understand why people attempt to deal with complex social issues in much the same way that they work on dangers in driving (see the video clip below). But what both Just Listen and Firegirl suggest is that social issues are not obstacles or impediments that should be avoided; indeed, dealing with social issues head-on is critical to finding one's way in the world. It is this contribution to our national dialogue that these two books make, and that young adult novels in general are making today. Perhaps all we need to do to get ourselves out of our national predicament is listen.

New Moon, by Stephanie Meyer

2008-03-20T17:43:00.007-04:00

Here is a quote from a commentary a couple of Sundays ago by sports writer George Vecsey. He offers his own view on the popularity of Barack Obama among today's youth:

"The way I see it, the younger generation is much more cool about racial, religious and gender differences than the older generations were. There are a lot of jerks among athletes, but young voters follow sports enough to be familiar with Shaquille O’Neal’s goofy jokes and Tiki Barber’s burning ambition and Dontrelle Willis’s warm smile."

Vecsey's point is that this is a new age where traditional boundaries between white and black, sports and politics, men and women, are being blurred so that cultural differences basically don't mean as much as they once did. Vecsey credits athletes like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan for generating this new attitude among younger members of the American public.

It's an interesting interpretation. And it's useful, too, as an explanation for the popularity of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series, of which I have read merely one, New Moon, which was selected in 2007 as the top pick of the Teens Top Ten booklist, sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association. New Moon has very few explicit connections to the contemporary world; it is about as insular and isolated as a contemporary novel can be (curiously, exactly opposite the other vampire novel that I have read for this project, Blue Bloods, by Melissa De La Cruz). But one thing you can say about this novel is that it articulates very well the blurring of cultural boundaries that Obama's campaign also evokes, and that Vecsey identifies as a defining characteristic of the contemporary age.

The cover of New Moon represents the blurring or blending of cultural boundaries and differences that I am talking about here. The plot does as well. At the start of New Moon, Bella Swan, a sensitive yet strong teenage girl, goes into shock when her true love, the vampire Edward Cullen, breaks off his relationship with her (for more on this relationship, see the first novel in the series, Twilight). Eventually, however, Bella recovers, and forms a relationship with Jacob, a tall and handsome Native American with a hidden identity of his own. Essentially an extended re-thinking of Romeo and Juliet, New Moon explores the nature of love and the question of whether or not it is ever possible to recover from the loss of one's truest soulmate.

I found this second novel in the Twilight series a bit tedious in the beginning, as the somewhat implausible break up occurs between Edward and Bella, but I have to admit I found the romance and tension in the relationship between Bella and Jacob very believable and suspenseful. The high action at the end of this novel also works very well--it is easy to see why the Twilight series is so popular with teen readers, especially young women.

Part of the allure of New Moon, though, is not just the way vampires, humans, and other supernatural creatures all interact and blend with one another in relatively harmless ways; in addition, readers enjoy this storytelling, I suspect, because of the danger that always lies just beneath the cultural blending and "forbidden" interaction. Readers know that Bella is just a footstep away from becoming a vampire herself; readers enjoy watching Edward and other characters battle their more base instincts. New Moon reminds that full cultural integration and boundary erasure is not easily achieved, and is always frought with danger within a society that is still very Puritan and conservative, at its core. This is a lesson that Barack Obama has been learning on the campaign trail in recent weeks, as various conservative commentators have begun to question the influence of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright on his thinking and leadership skills (basically, casting Wright as a vampire, and Obama as Bella). It's a lesson that Eliot Spitzer, too, has learned the hard way (see the video below).

Body Type, by Ina Saltz

2008-02-21T09:21:00.006-05:00

Body Type, by Ina Saltz, raises the question of whether or not we are living in an age of tattoos (see this CBS video report for an investigation into this question). But at the heart of Body Type is a clear interest in and advocacy of not only tattoos but also words and word design, raising the additional, perhaps more subtle question of whether or not this is "the age of type."

Yesterday's story in the Chicago Tribune about the speculations of a web-based amateur researcher named Paul Payack,who has suggested (not for the first time) that English is on the verge of breaking through the million word barrier, reinforces the notion that Ina Saltz puts forth that words and type have a greater value and presence in American and international culture than at any other time in recent history. For evidence in support of this notion, Payack turns to the Internet, and various online sources of information. For her evidence, Saltz turns to the phenomenon of tattoos and especially people who have created "intimate messages etched in flesh."

Saltz's focus on tattoos that consist almost exclusively of words is what distinguishes her book and makes it so interesting to read, especially for those of us who love language and literature. Body Type is divided into different categories of word tattoos, organized according to the different motivations behind the etchings (for example, love, politics, religion, etc...). Saltz's analysis of the tattoos depicted is limited, but often provocative and always deeply appreciative; for the most part, she lets the pictures and her subjects do the talking. Saltz's commitment to exploring the artistry and emotions behind the body type she captures on camera is truly exemplary, and allows readers the freedom to explore or not explore the ethics, morality, and meaning of this phenomenon.

Body Type is recommended by librarians for reluctant young adult readers, and I definitely concur. The text is limited in actual words, but rich in commitment to language and personal expression. Body Type would be terrific for use in an art and design class, or in any class that seeks to invite teens and other readers to go out into the world to explore its richness and diversity.

So, is it fair to say that we are living in an "age of type"? It does seem clear--as the above video represents--that people are more and more open to the idea of expressing their commitment to words and language visibly through tattoos, through etchings on their bodies. This commitment to using the body to express a commitment to words parallels the increased use of other mediums or forms of communication such as the Internet, mobile phones, video, and even literature to do the same. Books that I have read as a part of this study, such as The Book Thief and The Thirteenth Tale (and others that I haven't yet commented on, such as The Invention of Hugo Cabret) celebrate the power of words and word design in the same way as the photographs in Body Type. Just as scientists are poised to explore new frontiers using new technologies, so too readers and writers seem motivated to explore new means of celebrating and communicating words and type, of putting words out in front of people for use in making sense of the world.

Blue Bloods, by Melissa De La Cruz

2008-02-07T14:52:00.000-05:00

Few young adult novels bring together as many of the themes percolating through the current age as Blue Bloods, by Melissa De La Cruz. Fragmentation, isolation, affluence, sexuality, exceptionality, fear--this book has it all.

This is appropriate given that the main characters in Blue Bloods also seem to have it all. A 2007 Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, Blue Bloods explores the emergence into adulthood of a unique clique of well-heeled descendants of the original Mayflower pilgrims. If you ever wondered what it is like (or what you hope it would be like) to be wealthy, young, and living on the upper east side of New York City, this is the book for you.

Although the book celebrates money and the advantages--even excesses--that wealth and social status bring, it also explores the downside of such things, as the above cover suggests. The social criticism comes in the form of a very creative integration of the vampire legend into the fabric of the story. Through this integration, affluence and exceptionality are highlighted, but also critiqued. There is something clearly repulsive about sucking blood and acting without regard for others, and it is this repulsion that adds complexity and depth to the novel and the depiction of a highly stratified social world.

Blue Bloods is the first book in a new series, and it does a very nice job of setting up the context for the story (one of the more amusing parts is the description of the changes that adolescents undergo as their vampire-ness begins to express itself). The writing is sharp and witty, although I personally found some of the background information about the history of vampires in America just a tad plodding. But the suspense that De La Cruz creates through the introduction of a rogue vampire is very well-done, and made we want to read the sequel.

In short, Blue Bloods is fun reading that touches on many themes and anxieties current in our world today: isolation, unfettered affluence, increased sexuality, fears about the future, and concerns that changes in the world that need to happen are not going to occur. It also captures the sense of terror that many people feel, the nagging fear that our worse nightmares lie just around the corner.

For more on vampires, check out the video below from National Geographic, or visit Elizabeth Miller's very helpful website.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

2008-02-01T09:05:00.000-05:00

Watching Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama debate last night reminds me of the surprising number of books I have read for this project that represent not only a divided, or fragmented, world but also divided or fragmented personalities. The Thirteenth Tale was one of the first books to catch my attention in this regard, with its depiction of disparate twins and parallel writers, but curiously all of my more recent reading, focused on the 2007 Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, seems to follow along this same path. The Sleeper Conspiracy, with its representation of a part-time assassin, part-time teenager, is the most obvious example, but other books such as Played, Street Pharm, and What Happened to Cass McBride? represent identity fragmentation as well.

For those of you who enjoy reading about fragmentation, I recommend Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Cohn and Levithan--both successful young adult authors in their own right--set in motion an unlikely relationship between two disparate teenagers, Nick, a budding musician and song writer of very modest means, and Norah, a music critic extraordinaire and the daughter of a wealthy music industry executive. Nick and Norah meet in a somewhat stressful situation: when Nick sees his former girlfriend walking toward him in a club, he turns to Norah--whom he doesn't know--and asks: "Will you be my girlfriend for the next five minutes?" This question sparks a relationship that takes all sorts of unexpected twists and turns over a period of about 12 hectic, fun-filled, and eventually exhausting hours.

In addition to exploring topics such as music, relationships, homosexuality, oral sex, and the advantages of sobriety, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist delves into tikkun olam, a concept integral to Judaism that more or less translates to the importance of making an effort to prevent social chaos and fragmentation. Cohn and Levithan's take on this idea is anything but corny, and they make a strong statement about the potential within every individual to affect change and create order out of clashing elements.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is definitely too edgy in language and sexual content for use in most classrooms. However, the writing is excellent, and the story develops at a nice pace. This is terrific outside of school reading for older adolescents, and especially perhaps ones living in urban areas. As an adult, I enjoyed the talk about bands that I recall hearing as a college student in the early '80s.

In a recent article, Nicholas Kristof terms the current era the "age of ambition." In support of this claim, Kristoff cites various examples of young people engaging in "social entrepreneurship," or concrete and sustainable efforts to address serious social problems. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist does not model any such efforts, but it does provide a philosophical framework for exerting agency in a world full of disharmony. In other words, Cohn and Levithan suggest that it is possible to unify disparate points of view and ways of being in the world--something I find myself increasingly yearning for, especially as I watched the presidential debate last night.

Maybe unification isn't such a bad thing to root for?

Street Pharm, by Allison van Diepen

2008-01-22T09:31:00.000-05:00

According to Thomas Friedman, the world is flat. But here is what I am thinking: the world is flat, but it's also straight. Of course, the world is not completely straight, just as the world isn’t entirely flat. But it is getting flatter and straighter all the time.

Or so I am thinking after reading Street Pharm, by Allison van Diepen.

This first novel, recommended by the Young Adult Library Services Association for reluctant young adult readers, chronicles the struggles and lifestyle of Ty Johnson, a sixteen year old African American teenager living in Brooklyn and attempting to keep solvent a drug empire established by his father. Keeping his father's illicit enterprise going is no easy task, given the kinds of characters who are drawn to it, the vigilance of New York's finest, and the repeated efforts of other drug lords and would-be king-pins to take it over (remember: it's a flat world out there, so challenges come from all directions, including outside of New York City).

One of the pleasant surprises of this novel is that it is so easy to root for Ty Johnson as he takes on these challenges. Even though Ty deals drugs, he doesn’t touch the stuff himself (the one time he does, he has an awful experience, which reinforces his commitment to straightness). He is determined not to get involved with women who are attracted to fame and easy money, because he fears that this will diminish his entrepreneurial focus and commitment. Most important, Ty is a pretty smart guy, who applies with creativity ideas drawn from bushido and Machiavelli (at one point, even using these ideas to critique the Iraq war). Like a young, promising, yet somewhat naive CEO, Ty Johnson is determined not to let anything distract him from his goal of making a lot of money quickly and eventually escaping to a better world--a goal that just about any person, adolescent or adult, can identify with.

Street Pharm is a terrific book, a lot of fun to read, both melodramatic and realistic at the same time. For sure, there is language and sexual situations that some adolescents may not be ready for; on the other hand, older adolescents--especially reluctant readers--are likely to enjoy the multiple references to street culture and urban conditions. Ultimately, though, Street Pharm is about more than the drug trade and the crazy lifestyle that people involved in it lead. It is about the advantages of keeping straight, of not smoking or drinking, of staying in school, and rejecting material and emotional imperatives in favor of what is right and in the best interest of all.

In this sense, Street Pharm--like Played--represents a current preoccupation with straightness: witness the recent moves of several states to institute smoking bans, as well as the increased attention to and rigorous accountability with regard to steriods and the Iraq war. The next thing to go should be caffeine. But, of course, caffeine helps to keep us straight, so this might be the one drug we will overlook in our quest for straightness.

In any case, check out Steet Pharm, by Allison van Diepen. And check out the video below, for another example of a recent text that both celebrates and critiques urban youth culture all at the same time (be forewarned, there is some explicit language in this text, too, that has sparked a bit of controversy).

The Sleeper Conspiracy, by Tom Sniegoski

2008-01-10T09:44:00.000-05:00

Post 9/11, the term sleeper cell became a part of the lexicon of 21st century America, popularized via a drama on Showtime, a Frontline report, and investigations in New York and Detroit. The "sleeper" phenomenon is a fitting emblem of the age of fear, an age in which terror can strike at any time, and from quarters totally unexpected.

Now, teen readers have available to them a new series, The Sleeper Conspiracy, by Tom Sniegoski, a 2007 Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. This two part series, which begins with The Sleeper Code, delivers an action packed narrative about a teenage boy, Tom Lovett, who suffers from a severe case of narcolepsy. Unbeknownst to Tom, he does not simply fall asleep when he has a narcoleptic attack; rather, he turns into a killing machine named Tyler Garrett, a secret agent created by the United States government to combat terrorism throughout the world.

The discovery of the truth of Tom's "sleeper" personality and how and why it is activated drives the action in Part 1 of this series. The interesting twist that Sniegoski pulls, perhaps influenced by real world developments at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and in Iraq (where it appears a minimum of 150,000 Iraqis died in the first three years after the US invasion to depose Saddam Hussein) is that Tyler Garrett and his handlers are depicted as just as dangerous as the foreign terrorists whom they are fighting. In other words, the book explores the limits of violence as a response to terrorism, and the advantages and disadvantages of non-violent behavior. A very interesting ethical dialogue takes place within the character of Tom Lovett (AKA Tyler Garrett), and consequently within the reader, too.

The second book in the series, The Sleeper Agenda, continues this ethical questioning, but the action becomes even more intense and suspenseful. Tom learns how his alter ego Tyler Garrett was created, and becomes an ally in the search to find and stop the US government official responsible for his creation (who, by this point, is now aiding and abetting terrorists throughout the world). Along the way, Tom also becomes involved with Madison, the young woman he meets in Part 1. There is more violence in this novel, as well as more psychological drama as a complex effort begins to bring a resolution to the two competing personalities of Tom and Tyler.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Sleeper Conspiracy--it reminds me a lot of The Gatekeepers, though I wouldn't say that it is in quite the same league. My 6th grade son picked up the first book, and enjoyed it, and my older adolescent read the entire series. Although I haven't encouraged my 6th grader to read the second book, I do think younger adolescents more comfortable with horror and suspense would enjoy both books. They are fun thrillers, even though sorting out the relationship between Tom and Tyler can be just a bit repetitive and confusing.

As for me, I continue to find popular fiction a very interesting lens on the contemporary world (for my previous thoughts on this, see my comments about Kidnapped, by Gordon Korman). Although I tend to side with those who see fear and terrorism as overblown by the media, I do think that we are living at a time where prior assumptions about the ability of diverse people and perspectives to co-exist relatively harmoniously need to be critically re-examined. Peace and security aren't so much facts of life as they are conditions that are earned, and earning them sometimes requires bold actions that run against the grain. The Sleeper Conspiracy does a nice job of pointing out the limits of how far we can run against the grain, in terms of the use of force in combatting terrorism, while at the same time pointing out the challenges inherent in adhering strictly to pacifist values and practices. It advocates a reasonable middle ground that I suspect is convincing to most readers, the only problem being that the focus is entirely on the use of force, as opposed to the political and social policies that are even more critical to the creation of a safe and secure world.

The other insight that I take away from The Sleeper Conspiracy is this idea of multiple personalities--something that Larry King touches on in his interview below with Stephen Colbert. In the current presidential campaigns, it is fascinating (and increasingly tiresome) to hear about the different "sides" of each of the candidates. Hillary has to prove that she is sensitive and feeling (like Tom Lovett), because she comes off as such a cold and calculated power-seeker (Tyler Garrett). Barack, on the other hand, needs to prove he can make the tough decisions and be Tyler Garrett because he is such an inspiring and sensitive speaker (Tom Lovett). Americans don't seem to know for sure which personality they want yet, nor are they sure which personalities are real and authentic to the candidates (for more on the dual personalities of these candidates, see this recent commentary by Stanley Fish). It's hard to tell for sure where the truth lies, and what is most needed--a fact that ought to drive most of us to remember that on the policy issues these two candidates aren't very different and either one would move this country in a much needed new direction.

Played, by Dana Davidson

2008-01-08T10:02:00.000-05:00

A little over fifteen years ago, I was a doctoral student at The University of Michigan teaching with a team of graduate students in a summer writing program for inner city kids in Detroit, MI. While I worked with a small group of elementary teachers and students at The Dewey Center for Urban Education, others worked at Northern High School. This experience changed my life, and set me on the road to a career as an urban teacher educator.

Over the duration of this unique summer program (documented in part in David Schaafsma's book Eating On The Street), I heard lots of discussion about the program at Northern High. In particular, I recall a good deal of debate among the teachers involved about the appropriateness of several highly provocative love poems that the high school students had produced.

Fast forward to today, and in particular to Played, by Dana Davidson, a 2007 Top Ten Quick Pick f0r Reluctant Young Adult Readers, and I see that the subject of love is still very much on the minds of teenagers in Detroit, MI. My guess is that the debate among teachers and parents about the appropriateness of reading and writing about teenage love--and yes, sex--is also alive and well, too. It doesn't surprise me that Dana Davidson is in the midst of this debate, since I recall her as an active participant when both she and I were students at The University of Michigan.

Played tells the story of a handsome young man, Ian, who accepts a challenge posed by his soon-to-be high school fraternity brothers to sleep with plain-faced Kylie Winship within a time period of three weeks. In addition, he takes on the task of getting her to fall in love with him, too. While Ian is prepared to meet these challenges, given his history of success with the ladies, he is totally unprepared for the changes in thinking and emotion that his relationship with Kylie eventually brings.

Just as Ian's relationship with Kylie produces changes in perspective for which he is unprepared, so too Davidson's narrative has the potential to spark unexpected changes in the mindsets of readers. Male readers, for example, will be challenged to look at fraternity games and sexual conquests from an alternative perspective--even as the novel highlights the advantages that come from such activities. Female readers will be challenged to stand up for themselves and cast a critical eye on the attitudes of the boys they love--even as they derive pleasure from reading about a girl who is unable to resist the superficial come-ons of a handsome young man. Last but not least, adult readers like myself will be challenged to appreciate the useful lessons about relationships and the importance of hard work that are conveyed in Played amid the more attention-grabbing representations of sexy, affluent teenagers living in the New Gilded Age (for a concrete example of teenagers living in the New Gilded Age, see this column by Clark Hoyt; it discusses a recent controversy regarding the use of a teenage model in a higly provocative photo shoot for a fashion magazine put out by The New York Times).

So, how should we older adults think about books like Played that put before readers a detailed and somewhat enticing portrait of teenagers enacting values not typically reinforced in church, home, or school? To be honest, Played and books like it are not ones I want my own younger adolescent reading; however, I don't have any issues with older (15+) or more mature adolescents reading this kind of literature, especially if the goal of the reading moves beyond the acquisition of social and sexual knowledge to using the texts to understand the nature of the contemporary world. The contemporary world is full of examples of how sex and fashion are being used by various people to make money, get attention, and derive short-term rewards. Undoubtedly, the Internet is fueling this trend, as can be seen in the example of Obama Girl.

Do I want teens to be aware and critical of this trend, of the way in which sex and sexiness is being used to play consumers and readers of all kinds and to shift their attention toward the interests and desires of others? Absolutely. The only way to do this, I believe, is to read the world--including television, YouTube, and books like Played--and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the sales pitches represented therein. This is certainly a discussion that many teens are ready and willing to have, but many adults continue to put obstacles in the way of such conversations, out of a fear of touching on topics that are still taboo within public domains. Dana Davidson is to be commended for challenging these anxieties, and attempting to draw more teenagers into a productive conversation about the complexities of sex and love and the contemporary world.

What Happened To Cass McBride?, by Gail Giles

2007-12-11T00:20:00.000-05:00

Gail Giles is a new author for me, and I'm very impressed. What Happened To Cass McBride? is a 2007 Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, but I personally would recommend it to any reader, highly motivated, disinterested, or noncommittal. I've given it to my wife and my teenage son to read. If I could, I would put it on the 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults list. Period.

What Happened to Cass McBride? tells the story of Cass McBride, a teenage girl who seemingly has it all. She is pretty, smart, and popular. But she harbors an unfortuate secret: just prior to a suicide committed by a classmate, she callously rejected his awkward attempt to ask her out on a date.

Is Cass responsible for the death of this young man, as his older brother believes? Or is she a victim of circumstances beyond her control? These are the questions that Gail Giles explores within the context of a thrilling mystery and detective story.

Although the mystery of Cass's role in the suicide of her classmate drives this novel, I myself attended just as much to the critique of contemporary culture that Giles inscribes (for more on Giles's take on contemporary society, see this posting on her blog). Like John Green, Giles pulls no punches in questioning the overemphasis on achievement and material outcomes one finds in contemporary America, and in particular in highly competitive suburban settings. Cass McBride is what her high school English teacher calls a "resume packer," in other words, a student determined "to pad out that high school file and show herself in every possible good light."

The limits of this approach to life--on the part of Cass McBride, her father, and others in her community--is exactly what Gail Giles suggests in this novel. What Happened To Cass McBride? is a wonderful addition to other recent young adult novels such as Twisted and An Abundance of Katherines that question the values of the new gilded age, and explore the problems inherent in not questioning the displacement of reciprocal human relations by material goals and objectives. Unlike The Rules of Survival, which suggests that irrationality lies behind disturbing and violent behavior, What Happened To Cass McBride? contends that disturbing and violent behavior is the rational outcome of a society overly obsessed with money and superficial appearances.

I recommend What Happened To Cass McBride? to readers in 7th grade and up. It is guaranteed to engage teens of all ages and abilities, and adults as well.

Here is a trailer for the book, developed by a librarian in Arizona.

Plea For Assistance

2007-11-29T17:04:00.000-05:00

I've had writer's block many times before, but rarely have I had reader's block.

Unfortunately, I find myself with a serious case of the latter after making little to no headway over the last couple of weeks on the last two books on the 2007 Alex Awards list, Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell, and The Whistling Season, by Ivan Doig.

So, following the advice I've given to many young adult readers over the years, I'm moving on to new material that I hope will be more stimulating, namely, the various books on the 2007 Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list put together by the Young Adult Library Services Association.

In the meantime, can anyone out there in the blogging universe help me to understand not only why Black Swan Green and The Whistling Season are on the Alex Awards list, but also what they have to say about the contemporary world?

The Book Of Lost Things, by John Connolly

2007-11-19T09:39:00.006-05:00

I finished reading John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things about two weeks ago. Since then, I've been trying to find a good text-to-world connection to this wonderful adult book that I strongly recommend to readers ages 12 and up.

Like The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak, The Book of Lost Things poses some challenges in terms of creating text-to-world connections. Like Zusak's novel, The Book of Lost Things is set during World War II. In addition, The Book of Lost Things consists in the main of a series of fairy tales re-worked in a very modern (some would say absurd or grotesque) way. At first glance, it doesn't appear especially relevant or contemporary.

This thoughtful report, by National Public Radio reporter Daniel Zwerdling, helped me to look at The Book of Lost Things with a more critical eye. In his report, Zwerdling describes the mental health challenges that American soldiers serving in Iraq have faced upon their return home to the United States. According to Zwerdling, who has been covering this issue for over a year now, more American soldiers than ever before are being kicked out of the army for behavior associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Book of Lost Things is clearly not about the war in Iraq, but the connections to Zwerdling's report are uncanny. At the beginning of the novel, readers are introduced to a young boy, David, who has just experienced the death of his mother. Shortly thereafter, David's father remarries, the family moves to a new home, and David acquires a new brother. Simultaneously, the Nazi's begin the bombing of London. All of this is too much for David: he begins to evidence symptoms of a mental disorder, and his father takes him to a psychiatrist. As the first section of the novel ends, a German plane falls out of the sky and into David's backyard. David witnesses this event, and suddenly finds himself transported to an entirely new and enchanted world (if you think this sounds just a little bit like The Wizard of Oz, you are correct).

Even though the new world that David confronts is enchanted, it is strikingly familiar--a landscape not unlike that of contemporary Iraq. Murderous wolves are attempting to seize control of the kingdom, led by a hideous wolf-man named Leroi; other insurgents and criminals are on the prowl. The ruling king appears unable or unwilling to exert control. This is a world where terror reigns supreme, and nothing appears capable of halting it.

The Book of Lost Things is remarkable because the account of David's adventures in this imaginary land is riveting and, albeit in an dark way, humorous. Readers who love fairy tales will especially enjoy the bizarre revisions of Grimm fairy tales such as Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, The Three Billy-Goats Gruff, and Sleeping Beauty. English teachers might find the parallel to The Most Dangerous Game interesting and amusing as well. There are lots of different text to text connections that readers of all ages can make using this book.

But what I find most intriguing about The Book of Lost Things is its evocation of an age of terror. Connolly uses fairy tales and children's literature not only to capture something very important about childhood and the current age, but also to suggest the sort of attitude or mindset that people might need to take in the future to combat terrors both real and imagined. For more about this mindset, read The Book of Lost Things. Or perhaps read Thomas Friedman's recent opinion column in the The Sunday New York Times.

The Age of Immigration

2007-10-30T21:09:00.000-05:00

On the front page of today's Chicago Tribune is an article about the New Americans Initiative in Illinois, an effort to A) assist immigrants in Illinois become U.S. citizens; B) encourage immigrants to independently initiate their naturalization process; and C) help new citizens participate fully in civic life in Illinois. According to the article, this initiative is part of "a quiet but mounting government push to encourage assimilation, the likes of which have not occurred since Theodore Roosevelt's Americanization programs of the early 20th century."

This focus on immigration and assimilation--which has been a part of mainstream news coverage all year--is consistent with the theme of cultural diversity that is embedded in the young adult literature that I am reading for this project. After the theme of fear and terrorism, this is the most pronounced theme; one finds it in books such as American Born Chinese, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, An Abundance of Katherines, Color of the Sea, and even Water for Elephants. These novels show the challenges that immigrants and their children face in the United States, and also the efforts of many in our country to make our nation a more welcoming home for new arrivals.

The article in the Tribune caught my eye because it calls attention to both efforts to provide greater opportunities and assistance to new immigrants and the recurring hurdles and challenges that immigrants face in many Illinois communities, including Carpentersville and Waukegan. Interestingly, the high school classroom that I observed about a year ago that catalyzed this project is located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, near Carpentersville. The older adolescents that I observed discussing various descriptors for the current age did not mention "immigration" as a possibility, despite the growing influx of new Americans to this area, and also the controversy in nearby communities about how to respond to this phenomenon. This goes to show that reading young adult literature to understand trends and issues in the contemporary world can be a useful alternative to relying soley on one's own experiences and perceptions.

It also suggests that creating a more hospitable environment for new arrivals to the United States is not going to be easily accomplished. According to the Tribune, the focus of government efforts is on providing information as opposed to more substantive efforts to increase dialogue and understanding. In addition, funds for even the most elemental of integration services were cut from the most recent state budget. For many Americans, immigration and issues of cultural diversity remain below the radar, despite the clear evidence that to survive in the current age we must become more attuned to the variety of people in the world and more focused in our efforts to create dialogue and understanding across cultures. One of the best ways to create dialogue and understanding is reading young adult literature--an activity that appears to be taking place outside of school to a greater degree than at any other point in American history, but yet remains a relatively uncommon occurence in school. Since the likelihood of the government stepping up to fund new initiatives in the reading of young adult literature is pretty slim, maybe teachers need to become more forceful in their advocacy of this creative approach to social justice?

The Age of Climate Change

2007-10-29T13:39:00.000-05:00

Reading Thomas Friedman's Op-Ed column in the Sunday New York Times this weekend reminds me that I have had the thought, in the course of this research project, that this is the age of climate change. Friedman's column suggests the ways in which an emerging knowledge of and debate about climate change is infiltrating the consciousness of everyday Americans. A couple of overly warm days here, a couple of forest fires and strong hurricanes there, and suddenly one becomes more attuned to the weather and the impact of human behavior on the environment.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, there are two books among the ones that I have read for this project set in Alaska; together, these books provide support for the notion that whatever the reasons, climate change is becoming a significant feature of the contemporary world. The Trap, by John Smelcer, references the changing patterns of hunting in rural Alaska, and the narrower and narrower seasons for trapping. Eagle Blue, by Michael D'Orso, suggests the same, and conveys well the native Alaskan perspective that the increased commercialization of Alaska, and the rest of the world, is undoubtedly behind the changes in temperature and season. As D'Orso points out, for native Alaskans, climate change is not a subject of debate; it is a fact of life.

It will be interesting to see, now that I am about halfway through my reading for this project, whether or not climate change emerges again as a subject of discussion. Other themes are clearly more prominent in contemporary young adult literature--fear and cultural diffusion, in particular--but climate change seems to be there as well, lurking in the background, making me wonder, on this incredibly balmy October day in Chicago, what the future will bring.

For more on climate change, view the video below, or go to Booklist Online to see a list of recent books for youth that discuss this subject.

The Chinese Century

2007-10-25T10:23:00.000-04:00

Today's letter in the Chicago Tribune from Huixun Zhang, Spokesman for the Consulate General, the People's Republic of China, protesting the awarding of the "so-called" Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama by President Bush a couple of weeks ago reminds me that along with The New Gilded Age, the phrase The Chinese Century has acquired a bit of currency among print and blog commentators as a descriptor of the contemporary period. According to these commentators, China is likely--or at the very least, has the potential--to dominate world affairs in the 21st century in the same way that the United States dominated the 20th century.

Within the young adult literature that I am reading for this project, the graphic novel American Born Chinese evidences some of the growing influence of Chinese culture, albeit in an indirect fashion. Now, there is a new graphic memoir called The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam that explores directly some of the history of China in the 20th century, and in particular the life of a very talented Chinese magician who made his living traveling the globe and offering vaudeville performances to a lot of people in the early 1900s.

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam recounts a story told in a film of the same name. Ann Fleming, the author and illustrator, sets out to uncover the story of her great grandfather, partly in response to her own questions about why she has such an internationalist background (Fleming is the daughter of a Chinese mother and an Australian father, was born in Okinawa, and has lived most of her life in Canada). When Fleming discovers that her great grandfather was a vaudeville performer in the early part of the 20th century, and that her great aunt was a part of the show, she decides to learn as much as she can about his life and the circumstances that led to the re-location of most of the family to Canada.

The story that Fleming uncovers is complicated, sometimes contradictory, and full of surprising twists and turns. In addition to describing how her great grandfather married an Austrian woman and owned homes in the United States, Australia, and Europe, Fleming details the larger changes that occured in world affairs over the duration of the first part of the 20th century. More importantly, she highlights the many challenges that Long Tack Sam and other internationalists faced as a result of the rise of fascism and communism--challenges that echo ones encountered today by internationalists as a result of concerns over terrorism.

All in all, this memoir is highly entertaining, extremely readable, and well-documented (via pictures, historical artifacts, and other means). I recommend it for use in middle school and high school classrooms, and in particular courses or units on world history, multiculturalism, and the writing of history. Since it just came out in print last month, you might find this memoir hard to find. However, I've just nominated it for a 2008 award from YALSA under the heading of Great Graphic Novels, and so I hope the book picks up steam and gets more publicity and greater distribution in the future.

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam doesn't fit neatly into this project here, but it is a nice change of pace and a reminder of the growing importance of China and Chinese culture in the contemporary world. Judging from both this memoir and the letter composed by the spokesman for the consul general of China, there is a good deal of work that needs to be done before the Chinese Century can become reality. But as the video below shows, it's not going to be easy to escape the influence of China in the future (is the woman in this video for real?).

The New Gilded Age

2007-10-24T09:19:00.000-04:00

During this research project, I have repeatedly encountered the phrase "the new gilded age" as a desciptor for the contemporary world. Paul Krugman, a Princeton professor and columnist for The New York Times, has used this term in various articles (most notably this one from October 20, 2002), in his most recent book, and in his new blog of the same name (The Conscience of a Liberal). Other pundits and commentators such as David Remnick of The New Yorker and Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz have used this term as well. Although the phrase is often associated with the period of the 1990s, Krugman and others make a persuasive case that rising economic inequality continues to be the defining characteristic of the contemporary era (in particular, see the introduction to Krugman's blog).

A somewhat overlooked but important footnote to this ongoing conversation on blogs and in the conventional print media is the fact that the phrase "the gilded age" originates in literature and, in particular, literature that speaks clearly to the contemporary world. According to Wikipedia, the term "Gilded Age" comes from Shakespeare's King John (1595): "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily... is wasteful and ridiculous excess." Subsequently, Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner re-worked this image in their satirical novel,The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today(1873). Historians subsequently borrowed this term to describe the latter quarter of the 19th century in the United States, situated between Reconstruction and The Progressive Era. The Gilded Age was an apt phrase for historians to use since showy displays of wealth and excessive opulence were characteristic of both this time period and Twain and Warner's novel.

I call attention to this footnote because it highlights the historic role that literature has played in providing people with useful insight on the contemporary world. Twain and Warner, in their typically satirical manner, embrace this notion that literature speaks tellingly to the contemporary world in the preface to The Gilded Age: "we do not write for a particular class or sect or nation, but to take in the whole world" (note the choice of language here; they knew that some people would be "taken in" by their writing and fail to see their humor and exaggeration). Underlying this research project here, then, is the notion that the historic connection between literature and the world ought to be made more visible to both young adult and adult readers.

Many people today--like Paul Krugman--are fascinated by charts and tables and statistics and data because they provide us with such useful perspective on the contemporary world; indeed, we might say that this is the age of the policy wonk, given the popularity of texts such as Freakonomics, The Tipping Point, and The World Is Flat. However, literature remains an enduring additional source of insight and perspective on current public policy debates and issues. In particular, young adult literature is an exceedingly useful resource for this kind of thinking since, by definition, it focuses on the contemporary world and responds directly to the questioning that adolescents as a group undertake with regard to moral, social, and political values. Given the focus on the contemporary world and the emphasis on social, moral, and political questioning, its not surprising that so many young adult writers follow directly in the footsteps of Louisa May Alcott, Joseph Heller, Ray Bradbury, and other American satirists and social commentators. Young adult literature is arguably the best medium for writers to remind readers of what the world looks like and what we might do to make it a more habitable place for all.

The Age of ....... Elephants?

2007-10-23T09:15:00.001-04:00

I have just finished reading Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, an Alex Award winner for 2007 (in other words, an adult novel published in 2006 and recommended for teen readers by the Young Adult Library Services Association). This novel is a raucous good read--a suspenseful mystery full of odd characters, strange events, and heartrendering plot developments. I wouldn't suggest using this novel in high school teaching, but I definitely would recommend it to a mature high school reader looking for something new and different to read.

I like the novel for many reasons. The tantalizing sexual energy and behind-the-scenes depiction of Depression-era circus life make this a novel to remember. In addition, like John Hamamura's Color of the Sea, Water for Elephants presents readers with tough moral questions: When is it necessary to say no to the personal and financial rewards that evil brings? How does one confront evil and not do harm to oneself and others? These questions underlie the suspense at the heart of Water For Elephants, and make it an intellectually engaging as well as immensely enjoyable read.

For the purpose of this research project, the obvious question to ask is what a story about elephants and a complex love triangle set in a circus in the 1930's has to do with the contemporary world. The answer to this question, I believe, lies in a scene early on in this novel. August, the man married to Marlena, the circus performer in love with August's employee, Jacob, sits down with Jacob to talk about the circus. August asks Jacob: "Tell me, do you honestly think this is the most spectacular show on earth?"

Jacob does not respond, so August answers for him: "No. It's nowhere near. It's probably not even the fiftieth most spectacular show on earth.....The whole thing's illusion, Jacob, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's what people want from us. It's what they expect"(103-104).

These are scary words, mainly because it is so easy to read this scene figuratively, and to insert a leading politician (you decide) in the role of August. Water for Elephants may be set in the past, but it sounds very contemporary, indeed, with its exploration of the differences between perception and reality, and the life-threatening dangers associated with belief in illusions. As I read this novel, it was impossible for me not to think of other kinds of illusions that have recently been in the news: the revelation, for example, that no weapons of mass destruction existed in Iraq prior to the US invasion, or the more recent finding that the attorney general's office was selecting justice officials based more upon party affiliation than professionalism. The question that I found myself asking in response to this novel was what I could do, like Jacob, to try to extricate myself from the illusions that have fueled death and violence, as well as numerous other decisions that I find repugnant.

Perhaps fueling my political reading of Water for Elephants is the image at the heart of the novel, the elephant. This is going out on an interpretive limb, but the story might be read as a parable about the contemporary Republican party, a party led by two well-intentioned but misguided leaders (Bush and Cheney) who, like August and the circus owner in Water for Elephants, cause many deaths in pursuit of their ambitions. You'll have to read the novel to understand this last comment, but perhaps the ending is a message from Gruen about what needs to happen in November of 2008?

In any case, this is a novel with lots of room for interpretation. History lovers will enjoy the pictures and details. Animal lovers will take satisfaction in the compassion evidenced toward a wide variety of species. Writers and readers alike will learn from the rich language and smart structure of the story. Like the subject it describes, Water For Elephants may not be the most spectacular show on earth, but it definitely entertains.

For more on the relationship between illusion and politics, see this video here, apparantly put together by a college student.

The Age of Fear

2007-10-22T09:21:00.000-04:00

A newspaper story in The New York Times caught my attention this weekend. Published in print on Friday, October 19th, this story shines light on the age of fear, and in particular the relationship between this concept and contemporary young adult literature.

Basically, the above report explains how Japanese
clothing designers are exploring new ways of creating outer wear that enables people to camouflage themselves in the event that they feel threatened by a perceived criminal. According to the report, these "elaborate defenses are coming at a time when crime rates are actually declining in Japan." However, according to the same report, the Japanese say "they feel growing anxiety about safety, fanned by sensationalist news media."

Like suicide rates, crime rates in Japan have increased significantly over the last decade or so. More recently, there has been a modest decline, mirroring declines that have been reported in the United States in recent years. Tracking crime and generating crime rates is a complicated endeavor; there are multiple kinds of crime, and numerous ways of generating statistics. I'll leave it to the criminologists to debate the exact specifics. What appears clear is that people today are highly sensitive to crime, perhaps because it is such a persistent problem, perhaps because the types of crimes committed and the reporting about them are so much more extreme than in the past, perhaps because significant populations of baby boomers are aging and therefore becoming more sensitive to crime in both the United States and Japan (according to more than one report, Japan is the most rapidly aging country in the world).

This rising tide of anxiety and fear that The New York Times is reporting (and taking advantage of or generating) is well represented in contemporary young adult literature. The novel Surrender, in particular, traces the contours of a fear of crime, and its impact on a community. Other novels look at fears having to do with cultural differences (American Born Chinese and The Trap), child abuse (The Rules of Survival), and war (Nightrise and Color of the Sea). Even though young adult writers are targeting a younger audience of readers than baby boomers, they appear to have a fascination with fear and the perception of fear, examining both causes and potential solutions to them.

As I have previously written, it is interesting that Japan is a country that is getting some attention these days, both in the press and in contemporary young adult literature, in relationship to this theme of fear. Its hard to say why this is happening; what we can infer from The New York Times article above is that the Japanese tend to have approaches to solving problems that are different from conventional American or Western approaches. So maybe Japan is getting attention because it provides readers and writers in the United States with creative and outside-of-the-box ways of thinking through persistent problems and their causes and solutions. And maybe this is why literature, too, is such a good resource for thinking about the contemporary world--it also provides a forum for entertaining ideas and concepts that might be hard to explore or give attention to in policy briefs or other nonfiction genres of writing and speaking.

James Watson and the Age of Arrogance

2007-10-19T09:21:00.001-04:00

Ok, so maybe I spoke too soon in my previous posting, in which I claimed that this is the age of humility, not arrogance.

This morning, I opened up my morning newspaper (the Chicago Tribune) and found a story on page one about the suspension of James Watson, co-founder of the structure of DNA and modern genetics, by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. Watson made comments in the October 14th London Times that were highly offensive in that they suggested unequivocally that black employees--and by extension the entire African race--are intellectually inferior compared to whites. Robert Sternberg, a prominent researcher on race and IQ at Tufts University, highlights the arrogance embedded in Watson's comments in the Tribune article that I read: "It is unfortunate that some people with great expertise in one area sometimes lose their sense of perspective and come to view themselves as expert in areas about which they know nothing."

For the purpose of this research project, it is interesting to note that Watson's arrogance parallels that of the scientists that M.T. Anderson depicts in his award-winning young adult novel The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. Like the racist scientists in this book, Watson has worked for years in a relatively secluded enclave much removed from the larger world. And, like these scientists, he appears to have an understanding of intelligence that is deeply flawed and narrow. Perhaps there is not as much distance between the 18th century world that Anderson depicts and the 21st century world that we inhabit as we might think.

Less obvious are the multiple connections to the young adult novel An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green. Like the exceptionally talented Colin in this book, James Watson was born in Chicago and appeared on a popular (radio) show exhibiting highly precocious kids (the show was called Quiz Kids). Furthermore, Watson clearly wanted to make an impact on the world at an early age (he enrolled at The University of Chicago at the age of 15, and determined to study genetics by age 16). Watson's story, then, is not just the story of a tragic fall due to age and limited interaction with the larger world; like Green's novel, it also is a story about the perils of exceptionality, not only for the person involved, but also for the society that chooses to celebrate high performance in its most specialized forms over and above the whole person.

The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield

2007-10-17T09:50:00.000-04:00

In a NY Times article published on Oct. 15th, a young American blogger, Samir Khan, is quoted as saying "America is known to be a people of arrogance." Khan is featured as an example of a new kind of blogger who is using the Internet to extend the reach of the jihadist message of Al Queda. This statement raises the question:

Are we living in an age of arrogance?

While I'd love to say yes to this claim, for reasons having to do with my personal dissatisfaction with the political leadership in the United States, I tend to think the current age is as much an age of humility as it is arrogance. For example, very few recordings of humiliation are as riveting as this one in which George Bush is pictured listening to Stephen Colbert at the 2006 White House Correspondents dinner. As this commentary by Troy Patterson makes clear, the performance delivered by Colbert exposed the lack of clothes on our current leader, as well as the questionable undergarments of the establishment around him. And there was absolutely nothing that the president could do to avoid the humilation, or punish Colbert for his audacity.

More refined evidence that America is a land of humility comes in the form of the incredibly postive response that American readers have had to The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. This first novel, written for an adult audience, takes on a different kind of arrogance than that exemplified by George Bush.

In The Thirteenth Tale, Setterfield explores the arrogance of storytellers, and fiction writers in particular. According to the main character, Vida Winter, "nothing is more telling than a story." However, Vida Winter's capacity to obtain happiness and a sense of completion as her life nears its end is complicated by the fact that she has never been entirely truthful or forthright about her own personal history. With the help of a shy and demure biographer, Winter sets aside her fears and arrogance, and tells her own story. In so doing, she inspires her biographer and other characters in the novel to undertake their own autobiographical explorations.

The reasons for the popularity of this novel in the United States are complicated, but due without a doubt to the riveting mystery that underlies Winter's story, the charm of reading about British characters who are still influenced by Victorian values and customs (such as humility and sipping tea), and the fine writing, which is simultaneously detailed, clever, and almost reverential with regard to the use of traditional literary elements and devices. In addition, The Thirteenth Tale has been helped immensely by the publicity that it has received on the Internet. Fans of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights and anything by Jane Austen will love this book, since it has many clear textual references and connections.

I strongly recommend The Thirteenth Tale to teenagers who enjoy reading and a good mystery, or who may want to explore 19th century literature set in a 21st century context. High school English teachers teaching British literature also should seek out this book if they are interested in exploring the enduring popularity of ideas, conventions, and values manifested in Victorian literature; the novel does have some edgy parts, but nothing that would prevent it from being taught in a typical sophomore or junior classroom.

For those of you still wondering about whether we live in an age of arrogance or humility, consider the excerpt below from another very popular and Victorian-influenced text in American culture: The Sound of Music. As this excerpt reminds, it is hard to say whether arrogance or humility is more pervasive and ultimately powerful in the contemporary world. Maybe we need a good dose of both? In that case, I'll cast my lot with Julie Andrews.

PS: Yes, there is a governess in The Thirteenth Tale, too.

Color of the Sea, by John Hamamura

2007-09-18T11:06:00.000-04:00

Although I knew the basic details of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, this book makes me realize how little I actually knew. John Hamamura takes readers inside the lives of many Japanese Americans growing up and living just before, during, and after the war, and makes more real than most history books the impact of this event on Japanese American families and the larger culture.

This novel, written for adults, tells the story of Sam Hamada, a young man who is born in Japan, grows up in Hawaii, and comes of age in California. Sam is an excellent student of both American and Japanese culture, and is a hero of epic proportions. Like the central character of Samurai Shortstop, he is trained in bushido, the way of the Samurai warrior. Sam uses his skills to survive in a modern world that no longer embraces this code, but yet is in much need of the best that it has to offer.

What Sam is most in need of is something that bushido does not easily convey or accept. Love, forgiveness, understanding, and compassion. He acquires these gifts from his first teacher, Fujiwara-san, his first love, Yuriko, and his California sweetheart, Keiko (who actually emerges as something of a co-protagonist over the middle of the novel). The lessons that Sam learns serve him exceedingly well when he joins the United States army and confronts face to face the horrors of war and in particular Hiroshima.

This is a book that I would recommend without reservation for use in high school classrooms except for the fact that there are several highly erotic scenes in the text that probably will scare away most high school teachers. The language is touching and entirely in keeping with the rest of the text, but this might be a book to recommend rather than teach directly. In any event, the story itself is very powerful. I was riveted by the final sections of the novel which deal directly with the invasion of Okinawa and the dropping of the atomic bomb.

Since this is the second novel that I have read for this project that explores bushido and Japanese culture, I can't help but question why this topic is so prominent in books recommended by the Young Adult Library Services Association. As I stated in my last posting, it seems that the search for organic relationships is a definite theme in current young adult literature, no doubt because of all of the fragmentation and turbulence in the world today. Color of the Sea reinforces this idea through its representation of an approach to life highly sensitive to the interconnectedness of all things.

But what strikes me most about this book is the way it presents various instances in which Sam Hamada faces no right or true choices; rather, at various moments, he is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and forced to choose between two equally compelling loyalties (a circumstance captured by the ancient Japanese quotation "Ko naran to hosseba chu naran;chu naran to hosseba ko naran"). This makes me think that perhaps we are seeing representations of the samurai warrior in young adult literature because people in the United States, too, seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of making decisions about the ongoing war in Iraq, immigration, and health care. Perhaps this book, with its emphasis on the mindset needed to make tough choices, has the potential to educate young and old Americans alike about what they need to do to move forward, what they need to do to learn from the past and think differently.

The Floor of the Sky, by Pamela Carter Joern

2007-09-05T13:49:00.000-04:00

Reading The Floor of the Sky makes me think that perhaps this is the Age of Organics. Not because this novel and the world are increasingly rich in organic foods, but because this novel and current norms seem increasingly focused on the creation of organic relationships, not only with food, but also with the land and other elements of the universe.

This adult novel, recommended for teen readers by the Young Adult Library Services Association, tells the story of a teenage girl, Lila, and her decision-making related to the baby she bears within her pregnant body. Because the novel was not conceived especially for teenage readers, the story focuses primarily on the complicated relationships Lila has to her rural Nebraskan family, and especially the uncovering of various secrets that swirl around Lila's benefactor and the family matriarch, Toby. Indeed, it is Toby's efforts to come to terms with her own past decision-making, and relationships to her neighbors, daughter, family, and region that are really at the heart of this novel.

Even though a central theme is the creation of organic relationships, there is little that is stereotypically organic about the characters in this text. There is a prayer wheel that Toby walks around, and some neighbors who are raising cattle in a more natural, "traditional" way. But Lila and her grandmother are rough and rugged individualists, who avoid for the most part following trends or easy paths. They live on a ranch, go to rodeos, and disparage weak thinking--something that has been going on in their family and their part of the world for many years.

In the background are some familiar challenges of modern life, and contemporary rural life in particular: teenage pregnancy, meth addiction, economic instability, divorce, and rigid family patriarchs. Toby and Lila face these problems without apparant fear, but with a good deal of uncertainty and moral resolve.

Given that The Floor of the Sky so clearly represents the importance of growing healthy, organic relationships among rural people and their environments, it's ironic that the novel as a whole doesn't cohere quite as well as one might hope. Pamela Joern tells her story from multiple perspectives, and each unit of description and insight is well planned, beautifully written, and entertaining within itself. Unfortunately, the pieces don't always come together seamlessly or satisfyingly. At the end, one remembers some really beautiful patches of writing about rural land and people, rather than a terrific storyline.

Despite this minor flaw, I'm looking forward to reading more by Pamela Joern, and I think older teenagers with an interest in feminism and/or rural life also will enjoy this novel very much. High school teachers looking for material to explore contemporary rural life and writing from different perspectives also might find this book interesting, perhaps in combination with The World Made Straight, another novel that explores the contemporary rural world with clarity and grace.

If you have a little time on your hands, and want to return to the topic of organic food, check out this satirical video below called "Store Wars."

Kidnapped: Book One: The Abduction, by Gordon Korman

2007-08-31T10:30:00.000-04:00

In the young adult literature business, and in the book business generally, books labeled as "popular fiction" have a hard time earning the respect of reviewers and critics. Fortunately for the authors, they usually do pretty well with consumers, who tend to purchase them at greater rates than other forms of literature.

The main complaint about these books is that they are mere "entertainment," with little redeeming social value.

Reading the first book in the Kidnapped adventure series, The Abduction, by Gordon Korman, reminds me of this recurring, dismissive response to popular literature. After finishing The Abduction, I noticed that even though I had been asked to review this book by Signal, a reputable journal in the field of young adult literature, this book is not listed anywhere on the 2007 YALSA book lists and awards that I am reading for this project.

I don't question leaving this book off of the YALSA booklists, even though it would be an excellent book to read with "reluctant" young adult readers, especially in grades 5-7. This is certainly the perogative of the YALSA reviewers. I do question, however, the notion that this book is mere entertainment. In addition to having some fine writing and action, the book supplies useful insight--as perhaps other adventure books do too--on the current age in which we live.

What I am thinking of in particular is the current deep distrust of authority that one finds in a variety of contexts in the United States and throughout the world. In The Abduction, the main characters, Meg and Aiden Falconer, are deeply distrustful of the FBI and other institutionalized authority (e.g., school authorities and mainstream news organizations) as a result of prior poor experiences. Consequently, they rely upon themselves to solve problems, and they align themselves with other unconventional authorities--in the example of this book, a successful blogger on the Internet.

It seems to me that there are numerous examples in the contemporary world of the distrustful attitude toward authority embodied in books such as the Kidnapped series (which details, as the title indicates, Aiden's efforts to find his sister Meg who has been kidnapped). Yesterday's newspaper headlines about the release of a report about the Virginia Tech shootings last April reminds me that people in general are skeptical about the capacity of government and other social institutions to respond smartly to social problems. In 2004, 4 out 5 Iraqi's had a negative attitude toward the US Occupation and the Iraqi government, a distrust that has changed little in subsequent years and that is largely shared by most Americans. And some bloggers suggest that there exists a deep distrust of science and medical authority in many parts of the United States and the world.

My point is that popular fiction like The Abduction is not simply entertainment for the middle school set. It also represents the current age in which we live of fear and distrust which has given rise to a deep (and perhaps quintessentially American) desire for more models of courageous and creative behavior on the part of individuals and organizations.

Perhaps like the sixth grader and school principal reported below?

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You, by Peter Cameron

2007-08-30T11:46:00.000-04:00

Reading up on the Larry Craig scandal this morning, I couldn't help but think to myself, "Someday, this pain will be useful to you, Senator."

You see, I just finished a new YA novel, a first YA novel, by the accomplished author Peter Cameron: Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You. It's a beautifully written book, due to appear in bookstores this October. Unfortunately, it's also a bit of a deviation from my research project, as it will be under consideration for a YALSA book award next year. But what the heck, I am going to write about it anyway, mainly because I just read it and it is so good and pertinent to what is going on in the world today.

At the center of this novel is James Sveck, an eighteen year old New Yorker headed to Brown University in the next month or so. James is a smart young man working in his mother's art gallery in Manhattan. He is the quintessential New York sophisticate, much like Holden Caulfield, with the exception that unlike Holden, he is clearly confused about the nature of his sexual orientation.

James's confusion leads him to behave in awkward, problematic, and ultimately stupid ways (though he does nothing quite so stupid as pleading guilty to a crime he claims in hindsight he never committed). James is not alone in his confusion and stupidity: his divorced parents are equally guilty, as are his sister, his therapist, and even the art gallery manager whom he secretly loves. The only sensible and mature character in the novel is James's grandmother, an engaging old lady with a penchant for rye and water.

Set in the context of post-9/11 New York, Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You explores the challenge of acting responsibly and productively in a world that seems nothing but a catalyst for pain and grief. Peter Cameron's wonderful prose, his eye for the complexities and paradoxes in contemporary society, and especially his ultimately hopeful attitude toward James and the other characters make this a very special novel to read.

My only complaint is that the first part of the novel is not structured or voiced in the most productive way. Early on, readers are likely to get at least a little confused as Cameron flips back and forth between the past and the present. More significantly, the narrator, James Sveck, uses language that is not repeated elsewhere in the novel and that is sure to prevent most English teachers from incorporating this book into their curriculums. Nevertheless, the second half of the novel is just about perfect, and gives me hope that Peter Cameron will produce other material in the future that teachers can use in their courses.

In the meantime, I recommend this book for reading by older teens and young adults, including Senator Craig. It might help him deal with the beating he is taking out on the web (see below), as well as some of the other personal issues that he is facing.

The Blind Side, by Michael Lewis

2007-08-21T14:36:00.000-04:00

Despite my best effort (ok, maybe not my best effort :), another family vacation has interrupted my development of The Age of _______? But I am back home now, refreshed from seeing various sights on the East Coast (for those of you who haven't been to Quebec City or Acadia National Park, I strongly recommend them). And I have several books to write about.

The first one is The Blind Side, by Michael Lewis, one of ten books that recieved the ALA's Alex Award this year as a recommended adult book for teen readers.

According to my wife, this book should definitely jump to the top of my "best of" list, since she claims I laughed out loud seemingly every 20 pages or so. And, indeed, this is one of my favorite books for young adults, perhaps my favorite book in the collection I have read so far for this project. The Blind Side has a terrific story, with some remarkable, true-to-life (its nonfiction) characters. If you like football, or want to know what could be behind the Michael Vick story, or simply like great survival tales, go out and get this book.

At the center (actually, left tackle) of The Blind Side is Michael Oher, a young African American teen living in inner city Memphis, Tennessee. Michael is delivered one day to Briarcrest Christian School (out in the white suburbs) by a man named "Big Tony," who promised his mother on her deathbed that he would enroll his son in a Christian school. Struck by Michael's impressive size (he is 6'4" as a sophomore, and weighs 340 lbs.), athletic ability, and his precarious perch among the living, Big Tony decides to enroll "Big Mike" as well. And thus begins a remarkable story of survival by a young teen who has never spent any time among white people with money (most of his new school family falls into this category) much less time at school learning to read and write.

What makes this narrative so much fun to read--beyond the compelling story of Michael's life, and especially the people at Briarcrest who love him and help him to achieve--is the way Lewis weaves the story of Michael Oher with the story of how it has come to be that any young person with his size and speed might become a highly prized commodity in the world of college and professional football. Michael's story fits into a larger narrative about how football changed through the efforts of Bill Walsh and Lawrence Taylor, among several others. It also fits into a less explicitly developed narrative about how American culture has changed over the last 25 years or so. Reading The Blind Side provides lots of useful insight into our national obsession with sports and high performance, as well as the complexities of living a Christian life, navigating racial and class divides, and providing opportunity and challenge through education.

My guess is that many teen boys would enjoy this book very much, but in truth, the strongest character is a woman and I think this book is accessible to most any reader (it truly would make a great movie). If I were teaching 9th grade, I would pair it up with a young adult novel like Make Lemonade, which explores in greater depth, perhaps, the circumstances that Michael Oher encountered as a youth. Using these two books would engage both male and female readers, and spark a vigorous debate about the impacts of poverty and a lack of education, as well as what our society needs to do to create stronger relationships among members of diverse communities.

This video here is not about football, but it is about the sort of challenges that Michael Oher faced in making his way through Briarcrest and on to the University of Mississippi. It is a tad long and starts slow, bit give it time--it is well worth your attention.

The World Made Straight, by Ron Rash

2007-07-26T13:00:00.000-04:00

Having just finished the 7th book in the Harry Potter series (review coming shortly), its fitting that I am now writing about The World Made Straight, by Ron Rash. This adult novel tells the story of a young 17 year old, grappling with evil in his own world, and in the recent past as well. Two of the main differences to the Harry Potter story, though, are that this narrative is realistic fiction, and the past that this young hero--Travis Shelton--confronts is the American Civil War.

I loved this novel. The writing is strong, poetic, and suspenseful. The evil that Travis Shelton faces is represented by a tough old coot named Carlton Toomey. Carlton is a stand in for the devil--he can transform himself effortlessly to solve any kind of rhetorical problem or situation--and he dishes out cruelty without remorse to those who challenge him. Toomey is after Travis because Travis has had the temerity to steal some marijuana plants and other "objects" that Toomey values from his hidden hideway up in the Appalachian mountains.

Like most young heros, Travis needs help and assistance. Typical of an adult novel, most of the help Travis gets is in the form of an adult, a drug dealer named Leonard Shuler, a onetime schoolteacher who lost his job and custody of his daughter when he was framed by a vindictive student. Leonard provides Travis with shelter and guidance, and helps him to understand the full complexity of the situation that he is in. In particular, Leonard shows Travis that his battle with Toomey mirrors conflicts that took place in his community during the civil war, information that helps Travis to think more deeply about the moral course of action he wishes to take in his own time.

I think many high school aged teens would enjoy this novel, especially if they have an interest in history and can connect to the rural landscape and ethos described so well by Rash. A lot of the learning and lessons in this book have to do with Leonard Shuler; many of the cultural references will be more familiar to adults in their 40's than to contemporary teens (music, drugs, etc...). However, if readers can negotiate these two times and cultures (as well as the Civil War era evoked by the text), then rewards will come. This is a startling beautiful and frank novel that provides enjoyment on many levels, and useful insight into the relationships among the different ages in which both teens and adults live.

Here is a goofy short commentary on the civil war. Be forewarned--it does have some potentially objectionable language (if you read The World Made Straight, you'll recognize Travis's best friend, Shank, in this video).

Eagle Blue, by Michael D'Orso

2007-07-21T18:45:00.001-04:00

After a bit of a vacation, I am returning to reading and writing, and devoting my attention to the 2007 Alex Award Winners, adult books selected by the Young Adult Library Services Association as especially recommended for teen readers.

The first book on my list is Michael D’Orso’s Eagle Blue. This is a terrific nonfiction text for anyone who likes sports, politics, and culture. It’s one of the best books that I have read in this whole project, mainly because it captures so well the perspectives of native Alaskans living in a small town in the interior of Alaska.

Because Eagle Blue is written for an adult audience (hence its classification as an Alex Award winner), the central character is not your typical young adult. Instead, the main character is Dave Bridges, the coach of the boys basketball team in Fort Yukon, Alaska. Dave is not your usual coach: he spends most of his time unloading planes at the local airport, in sub-freezing termperatures. Bridges is strong on passion, commitment, teamwork, and being in shape and playing tough defense; even though he isn’t by any means a wizard when it comes to the finer points of basketball, his program works, and he has had lots of success over the years, mainly because he cares for the kids, and is determined to help them achieve their potential as athletes and, more importantly, competitiors in the game of life. He is a riveting central character, though by no means perfect--which definitely adds to his appeal.

The young adult side of this narrative concerns the Fort Yukon boys basketball team, which historically has been among the strongest Class B schools in Alaska (schools with under 50 students total, K-12). The boys' situations are very compelling, and familiar to anyone who has grown up in a small rural town, though with the added complexity of creating an authentic identity within a land dominated by Euro-Americans (like Dave Bridges). But what really holds this narrative together is the quest by the team to win the state championship. Among the more memorable scenes: the long distance flying the team does on their way to the state championship, trying to surmount the coldest weather, and get out of town before the temperature goes lower than 40 degrees below zero; the battles against the larger Class A schools, as Bridges attempts to prepare his charges for the state tournament; and last but not least, the many roadtrips and shenanigans along the way. D'Orso is a fine writer, and the story he weaves is full of suspense, humor, and important lessons about achieving adulthood near the Arctic Circle. In this sense, Eagle Blue is a great compliment to The Trap, providing enhanced perspective on the culture of native Alaskans and the complexities of their interactions with people from other cultures.

I gave this book to my 15 year old son, and he read it quickly and with pleasure. I think any high school aged teen would enjoy the narrative as well, especially if they have an interest in sports and basketball. Younger adolescents aren’t likely to enjoy the book as much, but certainly advanced readers in 7th or 8th grade might take to this book as well. Teachers in grades 9-12 could use it as a way to explore multcultural issues, or current events such as the opening up of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration--a topic discussed briefly in the video clip below. For the real story on this topic, though, read Eagle Blue. There is a lot more involved than you likely have heard before.

Chat with Laurie Halse Anderson

2007-07-17T15:17:00.000-04:00

The next ALAN book chat will be on Wednesday, July 18 at 9:00pm Eastern Time. With C.J. Bott as moderator, Laurie Halse Anderson will discuss her new novel TWISTED. The following week, on June 25, Laurie will participate in an interview, also at 9:00 pm.

Sign on to the ALAN website to participate. If you haven't been to the site before, look at it today so you will be ready to join quickly on Wednesday. Membership is not required to chat!

Anahita's Woven Riddle, by Meghan Nuttall Sayres

2007-06-27T08:12:00.000-04:00

Consider yourself forewarned. This book--the last of the 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults that I am reading for this project--is hard to find. I looked for it at my public library, which is typically well-stocked with young adult literature, but I couldn't find it. Likewise, I couldn't locate it in independent and chain bookstores, either. I had to order it through a local bookseller to get it in my hands.

Anahita's Woven Riddle tells the story of a young nomadic tribeswoman, Anahita, and her quest to exert some influence over the process of selecting a husband in turn-of-the-century Iran. I say "exert some influence over" because in Anahita's culture women traditionally had little or no choice over whom they would marry. Typically, the family made all of the marriage decisions and arrangements.

Anahita, however, is an independent spirit--in part because she has been raised to be so by her father, the leader of her tribe--and so she rejects her father's first choice for her future husband. For mainly political reasons, Anahita's father wishes her to marry the local khan, a powerful, monied, elderly, but slightly odd figure--he has a cat fetish--with a checkered past (his first two wives died for reasons that are not entirely clear).

Anahita and her father have a tradition of trading riddles with one another; sensing that her father has some misgivings himself about the proposed marriage to the khan, Anahita requests that she be allowed to weave a riddle into her qali, or wedding carpet. Instead of having an arranged marriage, Anahita suggests that she be allowed to invite suitors to guess the answer to her riddle. The winner of the riddle contest will then win her hand in marriage.

Like Samurai Shortstop, Anahita's Woven Riddle presents a great deal of useful historical and cultural information about life at the turn into the 20th century. At times, Sayres's writing is just beautiful--much like the Persian carpets she describes in this book. Readers learn a great deal about the internal political, religious, and cultural systems in Iran, as well as the issues that were emerging as a result of increased economic development and interactions with Western cultures and customs. The insights into the complex negotiations of these issues is pertinent to any reader today with an interest in events in the Middle East--especially young women.

Teachers with an interest in exploring these issues and negotiations--perhaps in a middle school social studies course, or a unit on world cultures--will find this book of value. Because of its Cinderella-like qualities, the story itself is likely to appeal to younger teenage girls or even girls in 4th or 5th grade. Older adolescents may find the plot somewhat predictable and tedious. But the occassionally brilliant writing, and insights into Iranian culture make this a book well-worth reading.

If only you are lucky enough to find a copy.

Online Chats with YA Authors

2007-06-22T15:22:00.001-04:00

The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) is a sub-group within the National Council of Teachers of English. This group is devoted to young adult literature, and sponsors a two day workshop on young adult literature each year, the Mon. and Tues. just before Thanksgiving. ALAN is a great organization, and I highly recommend the group to any and all fans of young adult literature.

Recently, ALAN has begun to host online chats with young adult authors. The next chat will involve Carl Hiaasen, the author of HOOT and FLUSH. The chat will take place next Wednesday, 27 June at 9:00 pm Eastern time. Just sign on to the ALAN website and follow the directions to enter the chat room. You will be asked to provide a screen name but do not need a password. Please note that you do NOT have to be a member of ALAN in order to participate in the chat (though by all means, please go ahead and join--I am a member myself. They put out a great journal on young adult literature 4 times a year).

If you haven't read Hiassen's novels, for teen or for adults, I highly recommend them. They are great fun, contain lots of humor, and usually bold and audacious language and plot developments (especially the adult oriented novels). If you have ever wondered what makes Florida tick, and what the term "eco-terrorism" means, check out Hiassen's books. You'll probably find it hard to read only one.

Twisted, by Laurie Halse Anderson

2007-06-19T12:05:00.001-04:00

Like the main character in Twisted, Laurie Halse Anderson's new book, I have experienced a conflict lately between what I want to do, and what I need to do. Hence the delay in writing to this blog.

However, my sojourn as a summer school teacher has ended (at least for the moment), and so I am once again able to do what I want to do: write about young adult literature.

Like Nightrise, Twisted is a novel not on my self-selected list of literature for this project. It's a book published in 2007 that I saw recently in a bookstore and couldn't resist purchasing and reading. Laurie Halse Anderson is a terrific writer, best known for her now classic novel Speak. Anyone who has read anything before by her probably needs little encouragement to pick up this new work.

Fans of Speak and Laurie Halse Anderson will be pleased, for the most part, with Twisted. It tells the story of Tyler, a rising high school senior and his pursuit of Bethany Milbury, a very cute, very wealthy, very popular girl in his class. Unfortunately for Tyler, he is anything but popular; when we meet him, at the start of the novel, he is just finishing up a summer job working with the janitors at his public high school. Tyler did not choose this job; rather, he got stuck with it as a punishment for defacing school property at the end of his junior year.

Tyler has other issues to deal with, too: his father needs an anger management course and would benefit from a seminar by Stephen Covey; his mother has passivity issues and a strange affection for family photographs at Christmas; and his best friend Yoda, a happily un-self-conscious dork, is in love with his younger sister, Hannah. All of this--plus the fact that Tyler has always been extremely unpopular, unattractive, and the victim of various bullies--creates significant obstacles for him to surmount if he is to hook up with the exciting, vivacious, Bethany Milbury.

Anderson is the master of the problem novel, and she presents problems galor in this work. But the pacing of Twisted is uneven. The plot unravels without much clear direction through the first 2/3 of the book, and only turns toward the end into a focused and compelling cliff hanger. Nevertheless, Anderson offers surprising and important insights into the thinking of teenage males and especially the dynamics of suburban American culture. I expect Twisted to be named a Best Book for Young Adults in 2008, and maybe even a Printz Honor Book as well.

Eighth graders and high school students will love this book; however, parents of younger adolescents might want to advise their children to wait just a little bit before jumping in. The situations tend to be oriented toward older adolescents and topics such as drinking, driving, sex, and suicide. A note on the inside cover of the novel says "THIS IS NOT A BOOK FOR CHILDREN." While this is part marketing gimmick, it also is very true.

My guess is that teachers will not incorporate Twisted into their high school curricula in the same way that they have Speak. The flaws in the plot structure make it less appealing, and it gives voice to some very disturbing interior thoughts and subject matter. However, Twisted's insights on youth culture, family relationships, and communication issues make this an important book, one that ought to be read by young adults of all ages.

Suicide in Japan and Samurai Shortstop

2007-06-05T12:13:00.000-04:00

Last week, I wrote about a fine novel called Samurai Shortstop, by first time YA novelist Alan Gratz. Coincidentally, the day before I posted my review, a Japanese government official committed suicide. The same day that I got my review of Samurai Shortstop up on this blog, another Japanese executive did the same.

Samurai Shortstop begins with a shocking scene where a young boy named Toyo watches and assists his uncle, Uncle Koji, as he commits seppuku, a form of ritualized suicide. Toyo's family is a part of the samurai warrior tradition, and Uncle Koji enacts his seppuku as a way of obtaining honor for himself and his family after having opposed the authority of the emperor of Japan.

Although Uncle Koji's seppuku is represented within the historical context of late 19th century Japan, the scene has a lot of resonance today. On the one hand, the samurai tradition, upon being repressed by the Japanese monarchy, slowly evolved into a business and professional class that continues to produce many business and political leaders, like the ones discussed above (in fact, Toyo, in Samurai Shortstop, is very aware that a business or political career is in his future). On the other hand, the positive spin on suicide facilitated by the samurai warrior tradition continues to exert an influence on contemporary Japanese thinking and behavior. Many commentators suggest that the high rate of suicide among Japanese today is an outgrowth of the samurai tradition and other cultural influences.

As much as I was shocked by the seppuku depicted in Samurai Shortstop, I was even more surprised to discover that suicide is higher in Japan than in other developed countries throughout the world. In fact, Japan's suicide rate was at an all time high about four years ago, rising significantly from lower levels in the 1970's and 80's.

Though set over 100 years ago, Samurai Shortstop speaks clearly to the current age. It poses relevant questions such as: What complex cultural factors and forces produce suicide? What is the relationship between suicide and gender? Why is suicide rising suddenly in various parts of the world and among certain sub-groups? More importantly, what can we do to diminish the occurence of suicide, both in Japan and elsewhere in the world, including the United States? By no means will reading Samurai Shortstop end the suicide phenomenon; however, it might help both teens and adults to understand the complicated roots of and motivations for suicide, as well as the interventions necessary to help people contemplating suicide to move in new directions.

Nightrise, by Anthony Horowitz

2007-06-01T14:28:00.000-04:00

Forgive me, but this review is a little off the beaten track, in two ways:

1) Nightrise, by Anthony Horowitz, is not on the list of books that I am supposed to be reading for this project.

2) The content of Nightrise is pretty unusual; basically, the plot entails an encounter between two twin, telepathic brothers and an international corporation called Nightrise. This corporation seeks to spread chaos across the globe and restore to power hugely evil "Old Ones," conceived centuries and centuries ago, who promise to suck the life out of all humankind.

Pretty far out, huh?

Even though Nightrise is a little out there, it is an excellent book, by one of my favorite authors. When I saw it recently in a bookstore, I couldn't resist purchasing it, especially since both of my sons have read the first two books in the series (The Gatekeepers in the US, the Power of Five in the UK) and we are all nuts about it.

If you are looking for something beyond Harry Potter, something a little more edgy and sensational, Horowitz is a good choice. His compelling action plots, strong writing, and intermittent commentary on the contemporary world make his books a favorite with many teen and adult readers.

This is my favorite passage in the book. It involves an explanation of the political context in which the novel unfolds:

"'The current vice president and the chief of staff both used to work for Nightrise before they went into politics. When they leave the White House, whoever wins the next election, they'll go back on the board. Nightrise has about three hundred companies around the world and many of them do work for the U.S. government. There's one that manufactures bombs. The bombs are dropped. Then there's another one that's hired to rebuild the cities that the bombs destroyed. You see what I mean? Business and politics go hand in hand.'"

Does this sound like a U.S. vice president and larger political situation that you know?

My obvious political bias aside, this is a great thriller, one that teachers will abhor, but teens and early adolescents--especially boys--will adore. The book is only available in hardback right now, but expect to see it in paperbook soon, and on the list of best books for young adults next year.

Samurai Shortstop, by Alan Gratz

2007-05-29T12:28:00.000-04:00

The title of this book drew me in, before I ever saw or read it. I like baseball, and I found the juxtaposition of the words "samurai" and "shortstop" intriguing. I had no idea what the book would be about, but I wanted to know more.

By the end of the first chapter, I was pretty much hooked. The beginning is shocking (a character named Uncle Koji enacts seppuku), but a strong narrative voice and the detailed historical insight into samurai culture made this a novel impossible for me to put down. I had to keep reading, especially to discover the connection to baseball.

Basically, Samarurai Shortstop tells the story of Uncle Koji's nephew, Toyo. Toyo is coming of age just as Japan is officially renouncing much of samurai culture, and opening itself up to Western values and customs (including baseball). Toyo makes his high school baseball team (not surprisingly, he is the shortstop), and then leads his older teammates into competition against other Japanese teams, and eventually a team of Americans.

For the most part, this book really delivers. Samurai Shortstop is a first novel, and so the dialogue, from time to time, is a tad unrealistic. But this is due mainly to the fact that Alan Gratz has so much knowledge to convey to readers about samurai culture and Japanese society at the turn of the 19th century. The information that Gratz has to share is so interesting I was inclined to forgive him for writerly bumps in the road. Fortunately, Gratz's writing and insights on baseball, competition, and father and son relationships are so strong that I found myself rewarded many times for my patience. I especially appreciated the surprising series of events that conclude this novel.

Middle school teachers could suggest this novel as independent reading to sports minded readers and/or history buffs; they also might include it in units on Japan and cultural diversity or decision-making. Like American Born Chinese and The Trap, Samurai Shortstop has a lot to say about how to create relationships to mainstream American values and culture without sacrificing other voices, values, and models. It also raises some very provocative questions about traditional values and group decision-making that I think would inspire a lot of critical conversation in grades 6-8. Pairing this novel up with a novel by Chris Crutcher (perhaps Stotan) would open the door to weighing the relative value of independence versus being part of a group.

My guess is that Samurai Shortstop will appeal more to the middle school crowd than older adolescents (I also suspect it will appeal more to boys than girls, since female characters are in the background in this novel--though this could be an issue to discuss, too). Younger adolescents with a passion for baseball or reading might also be drawn to this novel, though parents should probably read the first chapter so that they can talk with younger readers about the different cultural norms that propel the violent action in the first chapter and ultimately the main decision-making in the book as a whole.

The King of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner

2007-05-18T11:46:00.000-04:00

I have to start by saying that I am not a big fan of "fantasy" type fiction, especially books like this that take place in the past, in a fictional land that is a combination of ancient Greece and medieval England. I must be getting old, because this is exactly the sort of book that I would have reached out for as a child.

Despite my bias, I found The King of Attolia to be a mostly enjoyable read. It has an entertaining plot that follows up on events and characters depicted in two novels that Turner wrote previously: The Thief (a Newbery Honor Book) and The Queen of Attolia. Readers of these previous books will definitely find this continuation of the series satisfying. It is on the 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults list put out by the American Library Association.

As a newcomer to Turner's work, I found it a bit difficult to work my way into this novel. Maybe this was due to my middle-aged pretensions. Or perhaps the structure of the novel--and therefore the relationship constructed between reader and characters--is not as tight as it could be.

The best part of the book is definitely the middle passage, where most of the important action takes place. The last part of the book appears designed to open the way to a continuation of the series; the action diminishes, and readers get insight on the larger regional conflicts that threaten the new king and his kingdom.

Even though The King of Attolia is set in the past, in an imaginary world, it does tap into some core ideas relevant to the contemporary world, for example, how to negotiate relationships to family and friends, and undesired roles and responsibilities. In addition, it contains an interesting message about the use of force in support of the establishment of authority. It could be me, but I read the book as an interesting commentary on political leadership today in the United States, and other parts of the world.

Teachers and parents shouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to readers in grades 6-10, and I would feel comfortable giving it to advanced readers in lower grades. Because the characters are adults and intrigue is what this novel is all about, there are several references to clandestine couplings involving men and women, but all of this is very subtle and only noticeable to those who already know or care about such things.

Sold, by Patricia McCormick

2007-05-07T15:14:00.000-04:00

Sold, by Patricia McCormick, is on the 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults list; it also was an American Book Award nominee last year. It explores the challenges and injustices that many young people--especially women--face in third world countries.

The format of this novel is very familiar: it consists of short, poetic vignettes, much like Virginia Euwer Wolff's Make Lemonade. The language flows and the action builds to a dramatic climax--though the ending is somewhat abrupt. In any case, I found the novel extremely powerful and eye-opening.

Teachers 8th grade and up might consider using this book to explore issues related to gender inequalities, economic development, and taking a stand in the face of injustice. The content is challenging because McCormick depicts in unflinching terms--in the final third of the novel--various sexual topics and issues. All of this is handled very maturely, in full support of the main storyline. A note home to parents explaining the relationship between the novel and prevailing curricular goals and objectives would probably do the trick, though teachers might want to provide other options for reading, too. The novel could definitely be used to organize powerful discussions and writing projects, as well as useful connections to health or sex education curriculum.

As a parent, I would have no trouble giving this book to my 6th grader, though this is a book I would prefer he read in 7th or 8th grade. Pre-adolescents with the ability to handle more adult subject matter would find the narrative engaging and educational, though parents should expect to read or least discuss the text with their child, if read independently.

The Rules of Survival, by Nancy Werlin

2007-05-02T21:55:00.000-04:00

The Rules of Survival, by Nancy Werlin, is a highly acclaimed mystery--it is on the 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults list, put out by the Young Adult Library Services Association--and it is one of the most horrifying and interesting novels that I have ever read. For insight into the current age of fear, and the dangers associated with taking a stand against terrorism, read this novel.

Middle school teachers and high school teachers might recommend this book to students who love mysteries and who have a tolerance for intense psychological drama. Nancy Werlin is not Stephen King by any means, but she is a very fine writer, and keeps her readers on edge throughout this narrative.

English teachers exploring the genre of mystery writing might use this book with small groups of students, or even an entire class. Adults will love this book too, and should feel comfortable giving it to middle school students who like horror or mystery writing, or just fine writing more generally speaking.

The Trap, by John Smelcer

2007-04-30T14:27:00.001-04:00

The Trap, by John Smelcer, is a true gem for readers interested in the Alaskan wilderness, and relationships between Indian and Euro-American cultures.

The Trap tells the story of an elderly Native man, Albert Least-Weasel, and his young grandson, Johnny Least-Weasel. When Albert does not return from a hunting trip in the wilderness, Johnny must decide whether or not to go out in search of his grandfather.

With its representation of two different traditional Native American myths, this book would pair up well with American Born Chinese, other Native American literature, or more naturalist writing (such as that by the ubiquitous Jack London).

The Trap is a quiet and reflective book, with a surprising amount of suspense and complexity. I recommend it for 6-9th graders, but it is relevant to readers of all ages (I found it in the adult section of my public library).

Reflection on 2007 Printz Award Winners, Part 2

2007-04-27T13:29:00.000-04:00

Readers of my first post analyzing what young adult literature has to say about the nature of the contemporary world perhaps noted that I did not refer to An Abundance of Katherines (AAK), by John Green. At first glance, AAK is unlike the other novels discussed below in that the focus of this text is love, and the challenges inherent in forming, sustaining, and ending romantic relationships. While this theme is an important and enduring one, it is not especially unique to the contemporary world.

This does not mean, however, that AAK does not connect to the two themes I previously highlighted: fear and cultural confusion. The two main characters in AAK—Colin Singleton and Lindsey Lee Wells—both have deeply rooted fears. Lindsey Lee is afraid to branch out into the wider world beyond Gutshot, Tennessee—perhaps because her father has left her, perhaps because she is content with being at the top of Gutshot’s social pyramid, or perhaps because her mother is such a singularly driven and successful figure. In any event, Lindsey Lee’s fear is related in no insignificant way to her confusion about whether her loyalties should be to herself and her talents and dreams, or to the small town and boyfriend that has embraced her and given her comfort over the years.

Colin Singleton, on the other hand, fears that what he has been told all his life—that he is exceptional—may in fact not be true. Brilliant with regard to all sorts of academic and trivial endeavors, Colin is stymied by social relationships and especially his inability to fully understand what makes some relationships last and others fall apart. In this regard, he is very much like everyone else—an insight that Colin suppresses since it strengthens rather than diminishes his suspicion that he is not nearly as unique as others perceive him to be. Part of what this novel is about is coming to terms with the fears and anxieties that drive some people to achieve all sorts of external rewards but see the world in simplistic and superficial ways; by learning to listen to others and see himself as having essential ties or connections to the aspirations and problems of others, Colin develops a more complex and healthy understanding of himself and the world in which he lives.

All of which is to say that at the heart of An Abundance of Katherines is a fascinating representation and critique of what I am calling the age of exceptionality. While the concept of exceptionality, or “giftedness” has been around for at least fifty years, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that the focus on high performance in schools, sports, and all aspects of American social life is more prominent than ever before (in particular, see this interesting commentary by Po Bronson). In the community in which I live, meetings are routinely held to discuss gifted and talented education programs, travel baseball, soccer, and basketball teams, and highly specialized arts and music camps. In education and business generally, we now identify some people as “highly qualified” and/or “nationally certified”—labels that we typically convey according to performance on “high stakes tests.” AAK represents well the obsession with high performance in contemporary American culture, at the same time that it explores the confusions that can occur when teens with two different orientations toward high performance intersect.

Just as AAK provides evidence of an age of fear and cultural confusion, so too other novels honored by the Printz Award committee provide evidence of an age of exceptionality. Octavian Nothing is a young African who has been selected from among his peers for advanced education classes and instruction; he is engaged in a very unique and somewhat horrifying program of high performance training. In American Born Chinese, we encounter a stereotype of a highly talented Chinese immigrant, and we see how this stereotype places pressures upon other students of Chinese heritage to succeed in school. On the whole, both of these novels join with AAK to portray a new kind of teen social class, one that is realized through intellectual merit and/or participation in high performance programs. What is unique or special about The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing and American Born Chinese is that they both explore the particular challenges that cultural minorities face in these contexts.

One last observation: it is clear that all of the novels recognized by the Printz Award committee are exceptional in at least one other way. They truly embody highly creative and even ground-breaking writing and artistry. John Green, for example, embeds footnotes, math formulas, and an appendix written by a mathematician into his narrative. Markus Zusak gives us Death as a narrator—a truly unique move in young adult literature--and embeds a picture book within his novel (in addition to telling us what is going to happen before events actually unfold). The graphic novel form of American Born Chinese, and especially the weaving together of three different narratives within this text, really is exceptional—perhaps even more exceptional than the plot of the main storyline itself. Surrender is a haunting and highly surprising depiction of isolation and terror. As Michael Cart and others have noted, this appears to be an age of exceptionality in the writing of young adult literature—a time of formulaic experimentation and thinking outside of the box in terms of what is appropriate and acceptable for teen readers. This has led to no small amount of controversy, but indicates that we are indeed fortunate to live in an age where we have more unique and interesting--even exceptional--voices and perspectives in young adult literature than ever before, despite the challenges of the world in which we live.

Reflection on 2007 Printz Award winners, Part 1

2007-04-24T13:19:00.000-04:00

Now is the perfect time to stop and reflect upon the nature of the contemporary world, using the five young adult novels below as a source of data and evidence for my claims. Unfortunately, this is the perfect time because of two singular—and terribly unfortunate—events in contemporary American culture: the Don Imus affair, and the murders at Virginia Tech University.

These two recent events link clearly to two compelling themes that I highlight in my digital booktalks below. The first idea or theme is that of fear, terrorism, and/or death (call it what you will—you get my drift). The second theme is that of cultural diffusion and confusion. Both themes loom large in the young adult novels below, and in the contemporary world—as evidenced not only by the events cited above, but also by other events such as the war in Iraq and Tim Hardaway’s disparaging comments about homosexuals made prior to this year’s NBA All-Star Game.

So, might we say that we live in an age of fear and death, or alternatively, an age of terrorism and cultural confusion? Given that the young adult novels Surrender, The Book Thief, The Amazing Life of Octavian Nothing, and American Born Chinese all represent and comment directly upon death and terrorism, and/or the fear and anger that arises when people from different cultures fail to understand and respect one another, I am inclined to say yes. There appears to be something at work in the world today—perhaps facilitated by the capacity of the popular media to distribute information quickly to large numbers of people—that is leading creative writers to make these themes a central focus of their storytelling.

In the process of preparing this commentary, I visited three websites that provide some useful perspective on the claim that I am making here about what recently published, highly acclaimed young adult literature is saying about the nature of the contemporary world.

According to a report of the Council of Economic Advisors, the United States is becoming an increasingly diverse nation, characterized by an unprecedented degree of social heterogeneity. However, the heterogeneity that increasingly defines American culture is not evenly distributed; gaps exist between regions and locales in terms of the quantity and degree of social diversity. In addition, some evidence exists that members of different ethnic and social groups have very different perceptions of and attitudes toward public policy issues. It seems fair to say that the representation of cultural diffusion and confusion in contemporary young adult literature mirrors the highly dynamic social environment of the United States, an environment that is increasingly multicultural, diverse, and self-aware with regard to issues of cultural diversity, yet also fraught with considerable challenges, misunderstandings, and conflicts.

Another website that I visited is one on death and dying, created by Mike Kearl at Trinity University, in San Antonio, Texas. According to a variety of data and reports, the quantity of death and dying occurring in the world today is actually decreasing, and has decreased substantially over the last 20 years. Correspondingly, individual life expectancy is increasing, and is expected to increase worldwide in the future. But it is also true that death rates are higher in countries characterized by social diversity and economic inequalities. So perhaps the novelistic fascination with death and dying, and this culture of fear that we have heard so much about over the last several years, is more a response to the persistence and unpredictability of violence and death worldwide than it is a response to some sort of increase in actual occurrence. In other words, perhaps death and dying are receiving so much attention from young adult novelists and the public at large because such acts are increasingly random and unpredictable, and indicate the limits and shortcomings of the economic and social world that we have thus far created.

Perhaps, too, we Americans are obsessed with death and terrorism because the majority social context in the United States—the suburb—is so very different from the contexts of death, dying, and violence that exist throughout the world today. Maybe it is this inherent inequality or tension that young adult writers want teens and others to think about for the purpose of questioning the isolation and stratifying social structures that foster fear, terrorism, and violence.

All of this writing about terrorism and fear and cultural conflict reminds me of a recent critique of teachers and young adult literature written by Barbara Feinberg. Essentially, Feinberg suggests that the focus on conflicts and negative behaviors in secondary classrooms and young adult literature is a disturbing trend. But does contemporary young adult literature have more to say about contemporary society than simply that we live in an age of fear and cultural confusion? I think so--stay tuned for Part 2 of my commentary.

American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang

2007-04-16T13:49:00.000-04:00

American Born Chinese is the big kahuna of the novels that I have read so far for this project. It is the 2007 Printz Award winner for literary excellence in young adult literature.

For a great review of this novel, visit A Fuse #8 Production: Review of the Day: American Born Chinese. BTW, I love Fuse #8's blog--it is a great resource for information about children's literature, and its a lot of fun to read. I hope one day to be as witty as this children's librarian.

For insight on Gene Luen Yang's creative process, visit A Fuse #8 Production: Monkey King Mana and follow the links to Yang's own article about his book. The commentary on the relationship between the Monkey King fable, Buddhism, and Christianity is really fascinating.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this novel, and have already recommended it to many teachers. I think middle school students (7th and 8th graders especially), and 9th and 10th graders, would especially enjoy this book. The artistry is powerful, and the interweaving of three different stories provides a lot to talk about, in addition to the issues of cultural identity and interrelationships. If you are using themes like diversity, stereotypes, and overcoming adversity to structure your curriculum, this might be a great book for you. History teachers discussing immigration in their courses also might use this book to examine some of the impacts of making a transition to life in the United States, not only for new arrivals, but also for the second generation.

My rising 6th grader picked up this book and thought it was a little strange (mainly because the issues it raises are more adolescent than pre-adolescent). It is probably better suited to 7th grade and up, but there is no reason younger adolescents can't read it and enjoy it too.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, by M.T. Anderson

2007-03-20T12:57:00.000-04:00

I imagine that it is pretty rare for a book with the word "astonishing" in the title to actually be astonishing. I am glad to report that The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, by M.T. Anderson, lives up to its promise. This is an extremely powerful novel, well deserving of the 2006 National Book Award for young adult literature, as well as inclusion on the 2007 Printz Award Honor Books list.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing is a fictional slave narrative about a young African boy growing up in pre-revolutionary Massachusetts. Two things are distinctive about this narrative: the sophisticated voice of the narrator, and the way in which other fictional accounts of his life are interwoven into the story. I probably also should add that the events that this boy experiences are quite bizarre, but also plausible. Its this combination that makes the book such a good read.

History teachers in particular will enjoy this book, and perhaps want to include it in a study of colonial America. At the end of the novel, there is a very interesting commentary by the author about his use of historical documents and materials. I was most taken by the depiction of the revolutionary army at the start of the American Revolutionary War, as well as the motivations presented for independence. I couldn't help but think of the way the insurgency in Iraq is depicted in today's press, and I wonder if this would be something that middle school and especially high school teachers might make connections to as they discuss this novel.

American literature teachers who are teaching or using slave narratives might also want to incorporate this novel as a way to flesh out some of the issues and complexities surrounding the African experience in the Americas in the 1700's. The language in this book is quite sophisticated, but I think that it could be used with more struggling readers or in more general curriculums as a text that provides challenge but content that is engaging.

Run out and get The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. This is the first book in a series, so you'll want to be prepared for what comes next.

An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green

2007-03-14T14:13:00.000-04:00

My third stop on the 2007 Printz Award Honor Books list is An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green. Don't be fooled by the cover, nor my booktalk below. This is a serious book written for advanced readers and other exceptional youth. It explores the challenges of falling in love and maintaining relationships, but also larger questions having to do with constructing an identity and the purposes of life.

Like Looking for Alaska, Green's previous award-winning book, An Abundance of Katherines pushes the limits of "acceptability" in young adult literature. In this novel, math formulas, footnotes, and words like "fug" are sprinkled throughout; nothing terribily offensive is ever done or said, but the dialogue is realistic and the issues raised are ones that people, and young adults in particular, think about all the time, but rarely get the chance to talk about seriously in school or most other settings.

English teachers might enjoy reading An Abundance of Katherines, but I suspect most will choose not to teach it in their regular curriculums because it is just too "edgy" and unconventional. Because of this, and because the novel revolves around a road trip that takes place immediately after graduation from high school, I recommend teaching the book in an elective English course with high school seniors. High school seniors would likely love the book, and enjoy discussing all of the various issues that it raises.

Even though the book might be a challenge to teach (woops--I forgot to mention that math teachers working with exceptionally talented math students also might find this book a useful one to incorporate into their curriculums), I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to adolescents in grades 8-12 for independent reading. Younger, advanced readers might also enjoy the book, though they might have more questions, or parents might feel a need for conversation about some of the content.

Last but not least, adults who were big fans of Judy Blume's Forever, one of the biggest young adult novels from the 1970's, might also pick up An Abundance of Katherines. This book twists Blume's plot inside out by having the break-up between a Katherine and her "lover" occur at the beginning of the novel, instead of at the end (as well as 18 other times in the novel!). Its a great twist on that previous account of teenage love, and provides today's teens with a much more hip and relevant depiction of the vagaries of adolescent romance.

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

2007-03-08T11:17:00.000-05:00

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, has leaped to the top of my list of favorite young adult books. This is a great one for both adults and adolescents. It is even published in two different versions, one for adults and one for adolescents, in the United Kingdom.

Like Sonya Hartnett, the author of Surrender, Zusak is from Australia. But he has written a timeless book that is sure to generate big audiences everywhere (The Book Thief even was on the NY Times bestseller list not too long ago, among other bestseller lists).

What captures my imagination the most is the narrative perspective we get on Nazi Germany in this book. Zusak uses Death as a narrator to tell the story of a young girl named Liesel and her community; the attitude and language of this narrator is unmatched in the history of young adult literature, and always keeps the reader guessing and intrigued.

Both history and English teachers should consider incorporating The Book Thief into their curriculums; in particular, it would pair nicely with The Diary of Ann Frank, or provide a useful substitute for those teachers experiencing Ann Frank-fatigue. Another great pairing would be with Maus, by Art Spiegelman. Students in grades 8 and up would learn a lot from The Book Thief about the ideologies that prevent human beings from acting with kindness and integrity; they also would learn about the power of words and stories to break through these ideologies and create more generous worlds.

My rising 6th grader is in the middle of reading this book, and he says it is terrific so far. The Book Thief is an ambitious read for someone this young (its a long book), but the short chapters, compelling action, and creative storytelling (a picture book is contained within the larger narrative) makes this a tough one to put down, no matter what the age.

Like the other books I am reading right now, The Book Thief is a 2007 Printz Award Honor Book, recognizing outstanding writing in young adult literature. I'm surprised this one didn't win the actual award; there must be a lot of good young adult novels out there.

Surrender, by Sonya Hartnett

2007-03-08T11:05:00.000-05:00

The first book on my journey to understand the contemporary world is the 2007 Printz Award Honor Book Surrender, by Sonya Hartnett. Surrender was a great selection. It is one of the most frightening and compelling books that I have ever read (reassuringly, this is an instance of the cover being a very good indicator of the type of narrative contained inside).

My booktalk below gives some of the details related to the scene or situation that generates much of the action and suspense in this novel. However, what is really provocative about Surrender is the plot that follows from this situation. Basically, Hartnett creates a complex relationship between the main character, Anwell, and a "friend" named Finnegan. Through this relationship, Hartnett explores the meaning of isolation and friendship, and what it means to live in a world full of ghosts and terror (interestingly, the setting is Australia--Hartnett is Australian--but the setting for Surrender could be any rural environment in the developed world).

Surrender would be a terrific book to teach in 9th or 10th grade, and maybe even 8th grade, in juxtaposition with other suspenseful narratives such as ones written by Edgar Alan Poe. But the book also stands on its own; it is beautifully written, has lots of religious imagery, and contains subtle commentary on social problems in the contemporary world. The ending is guaranteed to produce energetic debate and discussion. This is a rare novel that will be read and enjoyed by both struggling and advanced readers.

I personally would think carefully about giving this book to a younger middle school student, especially ones who may not be comfortable with psychological suspense and horror. There are some violent incidents--nothing terribly bloody--but the telling is relentless in its darkness and gravity. Young adolescents and pre-adolescents will be drawn to the book; if this happens, I suggest asking them to postpone their reading, or engaging them in conversation about it. There is a lot to talk about.

How Can I Get Involved?

2007-02-28T10:30:00.003-05:00

There are five ways to get involved:

Share your comments with me and others using the "comments" link at the bottom of every post on this blog.
Participate in the surveys sometimes located on the right sidebar.
Visit RU LIFT, a blog that I have created for teachers to acquire up-to-date information and commentary about young adult literature.
Consider enrolling in my online course on young adult literature, at Roosevelt University. If you are interested in learning more about this online course, offered every fall semester, contact me at tphilion@roosevelt.edu.
Go to Nashville in November of 2008 and hear me talk about this blog at the first ever Young Adult Literature Symposium, sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Who Is The Audience For This Project?

2007-02-23T09:56:00.000-05:00

The general audience for this project is anyone who loves or is interested in young adult literature. This project also is intended for people interested in thinking and talking about the contemporary world, and re-examining the nature of human behavior and decision-making within it.

The reviews and digital videos and booktalks are especially designed for viewing by teens and others looking for good books to read independently or for school. The goal of the digital video or booktalk is to provide a satisfying, hopefully compelling "hook" for future reading. They also are meant to supply a creative link between the text being discussed and the world at large.

The written commentary around each booktalk is aimed more toward teachers, critics, and parents, though teens may be interested in the assessments of the literature that I provide. I hope that parents and teachers will use the digital booktalks and especially the written commentary to make book recommendations or purchases for teenagers; ideally, the commentaries will enable and enhance appreciation of the wide range of high quality texts available of consumption by a teenage audience.

Readers who wish to read and respond to my draft thoughts related to the relationship between young adult literature and the contemporary world may consult the various links listed under the heading COMMENTARY ON THE RELATIONSHIP TO THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD, on the right hand side of this screen. This commentary is meant to serve as a basis for future writing and discussion.

How Did You Get Started?

2007-02-23T09:43:00.001-05:00

The inspiration for this blog comes from a lesson that I observed a student teacher lead in a course on British literature at a suburban Chicago public high school in October, 2006. At the start of the lesson, the student teacher placed a writing prompt up on the blackboard: “If you had to choose a word to complete the phrase ‘the Age of _________’ to describe the time in which we live, what word would you choose, and why?” After about twenty minutes of writing and discussion, in which students shared all sorts of responses to this prompt--fear, sexuality, technology, and struggle, among others--the student teacher transitioned to a lecture on the Age of Reason, and an in-depth examination of two literary artifacts from this era. The entire lesson lasted about ninety minutes.

Even though, on the surface, nothing remarkable happened in this lesson, I found myself repeatedly thinking about it in the months that followed. At the core of my reflection was my awareness that the lesson embodied an enduring and well-documented tension that English teachers face, especially in middle school and high school settings. This tension might be described as a pull between the past and the present, or the desire to engage teenagers in “great books” and significant literary movements, on the one hand, and critical thinking about the contemporary world, on the other. Like many tensions inherent in the act of teaching, this one is not irreconcilable; good teachers know how to explore both past and present, and satisfy paradoxical needs and interests. However, empirical evidence suggests that most secondary English teachers give short shrift to critical thinking about the contemporary world in comparison to engaging teens in great books and the traditional skills of literacy education (see Yagelski, 2005, p. 265).

In early March 2007, I decided to start this blog as a way to explore and model how English teachers might use young adult literature to encourage deeper and richer critical thinking about the contemporary world in middle school and high school English and history classrooms. For about one year, I read about 40 recently published books that the Young Adult Library Services Association had recognized in 2007 as exemplary books for teenage readers. My commentaries about these books are accessible via the links on the right hand side of your screen. In general, I wrote traditional book reviews, with claims about connections to the contemporary world, and links to digital videos and other resources on the web.

Since the end of this research project, I have changed this blog to focus in a more open-ended way on political and social affairs in the United States and the world, and how young adult literature can help all of us to think critically about these affairs. My interpretations of young adult literature and my claims about connections to world affairs are solely my own; they reflect my own inclinations and thinking. My goal is not to control or limit the diversity of messages that might be derived from young adult literature; rather, I mean to show how all readers have the capacity to use their reading of literature to create useful insights and commentary on the contemporary world. Hopefully, some enjoyable conversation and maybe even argument will evolve from my efforts.

What Is This Blog All About?

2007-02-23T09:23:00.004-05:00

This blog is all about the connections that exist among contemporary politics, young adult literature, and the world.

I contend that young adult literature provides a unique and powerful lens through which to think about contemporary politics and international affairs. The ability of young adult literature to speak powerfully to political matters and the world is a function of its primary audience, teenagers, a group of readers that yes, like most readers, seek escape and entertainment, but also critical perspective with regard to existing social norms and structures.

If you haven't noticed already, check out your local bookstore or library, and the significant space alloted to young adult literature. It's not just for teens anymore.

And socio-political analysis isn't just for pundits, business people, and social scientists (think Thomas Friedman, Malcolm Gladwell, and Stephen Levitt). It's also for teens, teachers, librarians, and other advocates of young adult literature.

So, get involved. Read some books. Make a comment on this blog. Vote. Take a stand. Talk to others about young adult literature, politics, and the world.

Mark Twain--a key figure in the history of young adult literature--once said that his goal as a writer was "to take in the whole world" (see his preface to The Gilded Age). Most young adult literature aims to do the same. Don't be misled by the covers.

Click on The Age of _____? at the top of this page to return to the home page for this blog.

How Do I Navigate This Blog?

2007-02-23T09:06:00.000-05:00

Welcome to The Age of ________? To navigate your way through this site, please use the links on the right hand side of your screen.

Clicking on the links under BOOKS READ TO-DATE FOR THIS PROJECT will direct you to other websites containing short reviews and digital videos or booktalks about recently published texts in young adult literature. In addition to a review and digital video or booktalk, each website contains commentary for teachers and parents about whether or not the book is useful for classroom teaching and independent reading. Readers are encouraged to post their own comments and evaluations. My three most recent booktalks and commentary are published on the home page of this blog.

To get back to the home page from any other website or page, just click on the header The Age of ______? at the top of your screen.

This blog explores the relationship between young adult literature and the contemporary world. Click on the links under COMMENTARY ON THE RELATIONSHIP TO THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD, on the right hand side of this screen, to read more extended commentary about this topic.

Readers who prefer to explore websites in chronological order of publication may use the links within the Blog Archive to achieve this end.

Thanks for visiting The Age of ________?