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Odds and sods
May. 5th, 2010 06:20 pmI've been reading YA literature recently - mostly award-winning books that I bought six copies at a time from Scholastic catalogues, using bonus coupons and Free Picks, for the purpose of running literature circles with them. The list includes:
A Corner of the Universe, by Ann M. Martin (better known for creating the Babysitter's Club)
Rules, by Cynthia Lord
Flying Solo, by Ralph Fletcher
Also recently read are the Penderwicks, recommended to me by <lj user=hannahmorgan>, and City of Ember, first in a YA SF series that I'm going to keep reading.
I'm enjoying the realistic YA genre in those first three books. The first two both involved characters with autism, though the first never came out and said as much. The character was written as having Asperger's, more or less, but set at a time when autism was much more narrowly defined than it is today. Both were from the perspective of family members who needed to find ways to deal with the differing abilities in their midst. They were engaging, quick reads, though I don't recommend A Corner of the Universe for those who don't like to cry at the end of books.
I read Flying Solo today. My class couldn't line up to get their hands on a copy fast enough, and this is the first copy that's been available for weeks. It's about a grade six class where the teacher is away and the substitute calls in sick - but nobody gets the message, and the class finds itself alone for the day. With a premise like that, it could so easily have been an updated Lord of the Flies, or I Want to Go Home. It was neither. It was deep and powerful and spoke to the need to deal with things directly - not let them get buried under a mountain of meaningless words. I'd recommend it for anyone with reluctant readers in their class, though plenty of non-reluctant readers have been unable to put it down. The kids in my class who complain that not one of the 800 books in the class library is "good" would not put it down. I had to remind a few of them that I'd done my fair share of reading with the book propped open in my lap, the top of the desk hiding it from the teacher's view, and knew what they were doing. (They asked if I got in trouble for it. I told them I was usually smart enough to do my work first, as they hadn't been, which was why I was making them put the book down even though I wished I didn't have to.)
Having now gotten two weeks ahead of my reading for the class Book Challenge (ten books in ten weeks - this was book six in four weeks) I'm going to read a grown-up book next. I've been meaning to read Dune for ages. Maybe now is my chance.
A Corner of the Universe, by Ann M. Martin (better known for creating the Babysitter's Club)
Rules, by Cynthia Lord
Flying Solo, by Ralph Fletcher
Also recently read are the Penderwicks, recommended to me by <lj user=hannahmorgan>, and City of Ember, first in a YA SF series that I'm going to keep reading.
I'm enjoying the realistic YA genre in those first three books. The first two both involved characters with autism, though the first never came out and said as much. The character was written as having Asperger's, more or less, but set at a time when autism was much more narrowly defined than it is today. Both were from the perspective of family members who needed to find ways to deal with the differing abilities in their midst. They were engaging, quick reads, though I don't recommend A Corner of the Universe for those who don't like to cry at the end of books.
I read Flying Solo today. My class couldn't line up to get their hands on a copy fast enough, and this is the first copy that's been available for weeks. It's about a grade six class where the teacher is away and the substitute calls in sick - but nobody gets the message, and the class finds itself alone for the day. With a premise like that, it could so easily have been an updated Lord of the Flies, or I Want to Go Home. It was neither. It was deep and powerful and spoke to the need to deal with things directly - not let them get buried under a mountain of meaningless words. I'd recommend it for anyone with reluctant readers in their class, though plenty of non-reluctant readers have been unable to put it down. The kids in my class who complain that not one of the 800 books in the class library is "good" would not put it down. I had to remind a few of them that I'd done my fair share of reading with the book propped open in my lap, the top of the desk hiding it from the teacher's view, and knew what they were doing. (They asked if I got in trouble for it. I told them I was usually smart enough to do my work first, as they hadn't been, which was why I was making them put the book down even though I wished I didn't have to.)
Having now gotten two weeks ahead of my reading for the class Book Challenge (ten books in ten weeks - this was book six in four weeks) I'm going to read a grown-up book next. I've been meaning to read Dune for ages. Maybe now is my chance.
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