Thursday, March 19, 2015

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda


The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
Angleberger, T. (2010). The strange case of origami yoda. New York: Amulet Books.


In this cute book about a sixth-grade boy named Dwight, who uses an origami puppet named Yoda as a mouthpiece for giving others advice, readers are able to witness typical middle school behavior when the boys decide to collect different cases for the likelihood that Yoda does or does not really exist as Dwight says he does.  Tommy, the boy who instigated the investigation, is interested in a girl and wants to know if he can rely on Yoda to steer him in the right direction.  This is a great book for upper elementary students through middle grades because readers, especially boys, are able to identify with each of the characters, even Dwight, because, let’s face it, all middle school kids are a little odd; they can’t help it.  Tommy is nervous about asking a girl out but summons the courage to do so and Dwight has a hard time talking to people but eventually starts to overcome that and I think because of the social and emotional developmental stages for middle school readers, this book is right on target for them.  I would like to see this book used in a middle school art class as a lead-in to origami and of course, the sequel, Darth Paper Strikes Back is an excellent book to follow.

Pretty Dead


Pretty Dead
Block, F. (2009). Pretty dead. New York: Harper Collins.


Charlotte is a vampire living a lonely, idealistic human life, only she knows things are changing and she finds herself welcoming that.  When Charlotte’s best friend, Emily who had been raped and was depressed, supposedly commits suicide, Charlotte grieves the loss with Emily’s boyfriend, Jared, and finds herself falling in love with him.  Charlotte eventually finds out that the evil, possessive William, her maker, forced her to turn Emily into a vampire and has to defend Jared against them.  While reading Pretty Dead I couldn’t help but notice the simple vocabulary and short, easy to read sentences which, while they bored me, would make this novel a great choice for a struggling female reader and because of much of the subject matter, preferably one in high school.  Some aspects of the book that make it either “good” or “not so good” according to the qualities listed are things like specific references to designer names like Yves Saint Laurent and the closet full of “red-soled shoes” which eventually go out of style and are not really relevant to most of the intended audience anyway, but at the same time the use of figurative language helps beef up the simplicity of the novel.  While I realize many of the fashion references are intended to establish Charlotte’s “age”, many readers won’t be able to identify with them.  I must say, though, that I love the cover!

Everybody Sees Ants


Everybody Sees Ants
King, A.S. (2011). Everybody sees ants. New York: Little, Brown.


Lucky is an ironically named young man who finds himself at the end of his proverbial rope due to the bullying he’s been the victim of for years at the hands of a boy named Nadar, with no relief.  Lucky’s   parents are ill-equipped to help him because they are dealing with struggles of their own (his dad’s refusal to deal with his own father’s disappearance during the Vietnam War and his mother’s refusal to deal with their subsequent troubled marriage) and they just do not know how to help him so they basically just tell him to suck it up until it’s better.  As a method of escape, a very common theme in the novel, Lucky begins to dream of going to find his grandfather and also begins seeing the message-bearing ants.  After Lucky and his mother go to Arizona to visit even more dysfunctional family members, he meets someone who helps him gain the courage to stand up for himself when others can’t or won’t.  Because the reader must be able to suspend their belief in reality in order to fully appreciate this novel, Everybody Sees Ants would only be a good fit for readers who have reached that point in their mental development.  

Deadline


Deadline
Crutcher, C. (2007). Deadline. New York: Greenwillow Books.


Deadline, a modern fiction novel about a boy named Ben Wolf, is a mix of “Friday Night Lights”, The Fault in Our Stars, and The Chocolate Wars.  Ben, having gone to his family doctor for his cross country physical has discovered that he has a rare blood disease that will kill him within the year.  Choosing to forego treatment, Ben proceeds to “live like he is dying” without telling anyone he is sick, and as one of the smallest guys at school, tries out for the football team and not only makes it, but excels.  He brazenly pursues the girl of his dreams, Dallas Suzuki, and gets her.  And he begins to question his teachers with reckless abandon much to their chagrin—he becomes that kid teachers hate to see coming.  But, keeping his illness a secret is much harder than Ben thought it would be.  With a dysfunctional family, a girlfriend with heart-breaking secrets of her own, and a boss who is hiding a monstrous mental/legal issue himself, Ben feels the weight and guilt of the knowledge that he is dying in secret.  This novel is chock full of issues that young adult readers face today from abuse, mental illness, terminal illness, guilt, bullying, and just plain pressure of everyday life, so it is valid based not only on all the levels of Havighurst’s theory of development, but qualifies for almost every aspect of what makes a book good for young adults.  I would recommend this novel for high school readers based on the complexity of most of the emotional conflicts.