Novel – Page 71 – Unleashing Readers

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (Ricki’s Review)

July 27, 2015December 5, 2013 by Ricki

Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published: September 10th, 2013 by St. Martin’s Griffin

GoodReads Summary: A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Review: I can’t remember reading a book that felt so authentic to and aligned with my own experiences. I have this urge to buy hundreds of copies of this book and pass them out to college freshmen. Freshman year of college is an incredibly difficult time, and this book helped me remember it vividly. From Rowell’s descriptions of the domesticated squirrels to the awkwardness of roommate interactions to the feeling of entering the dining hall for the first time and not knowing where to go or where to sit (and feeling sure everyone is watching you), this book perfectly captures the minute details of college life–and all of the insecurities that come with it. I loved the parallels cast between Simon Snow’s story and Cather’s, and it inspired me to want to be a writer. This is a beautifully compelling story that will resonate with readers.

View Kellee’s review of Fangirl HERE.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: This would be a great book to teach along with a creative writing unit. It would inspire students to want to become stronger writers. Students could write their own fanfictions or alternate storytelling (like Nick and Cather did). Cather’s struggles as a writer are inspirational, and I am betting that most people, like me, close this book and want to get out their computers and start writing.

Very few authors are able to hone in on the minute details of humanity. I noticed Rowell’s incredible ability to do this in Eleanor & Park, and she certainly did not stop there. I would love to copy passages of this book for close readings. This would really help students understand good, powerful writing.

Discussion Questions: Cather finds it difficult to write about any world other than that of Simon Snow. Why do you think that might be?; How are Cather and Wren different? Do you think there are any underlying reasons for their differences?; What is Nick’s purpose in the novel? What does he show about Cather?

We Flagged:

“I feel sorry for you, and I’m going to be your friend.”
“I don’t want to be your friend,” Cath said as sternly as she could. “I like that we’re not friends.”
“Me, too. I’m sorry you ruined it by being so pathetic.”

“In new situations, all the trickiest rules are the ones nobody bothers to explain to you. (And the ones you can’t Google.)”

Read This If You Loved: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, Looking for Alaska by John Green, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian

Recommended For:

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

July 27, 2015November 28, 2013 by Ricki

If You Find Me
Author: Emily Murdoch
Published: March 26th, 2013 by St. Martin’s Griffin

GoodReads Summary: There are some things you can’t leave behind…

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

Review: It has been a while since I couldn’t put a book down. This gut-wrenching tale captivated me from the very beginning. When authors try to portray emotions, they can feel superficial for readers. But Murdoch’s writing feels effortless. I connected with Carey in a way that reminded me of how I understood Melinda in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. My hands shook with anger in response to her pain, and as she felt overwhelmed and scared, I cried along with her. The backwoodsy dialect made the story feel real and authentic. It constantly reminded me of where Carey was coming from. Murdoch expertly unfolds the plot for readers, which adds a level of complexity but also makes readers feel as if they are coming to terms with Carey’s life right along with her. This is a beautiful, compelling story that I won’t forget.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: One of the strengths of this book is the special bond between the siblings. Carey’s love for her 6-year-old sister, Jenessa, fills the reader with comfort and sureness. It would be interesting for students to consider this bond and what holds these two sisters together. I could also see students researching more about child abuse and neglect. Carey and Jenessa have to make a dramatic adjustment to life on the outside, and I imagine that students will want to learn more about this struggle and its potential difficulties.

Discussion Questions: Why does Carey keep secrets? Do you agree with her decisions?; Why does Carey have difficulty forming a relationship with her father? Do you think she has been brainwashed?; What are the long-term effects of abuse? What kinds of abuse are there? Will Carey ever heal?

We Flagged:

“I answer her with my silence, understanding the full power of it for the first time. Words are weapons. Weapons are powerful. So are unsaid words. So are unused weapons” (p. 24).

“We make attachments to what’s familiar. We find the beauty, even in the lack. That’s human. We make the best of what we’re given” (p. 169).

Read This If You Loved: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Room by Emma Donoghue, A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer, The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (for the sibling bond and the woodsy setting), Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, White Oleander by Janet Fitch, Stolen: A Letter to My Captor by Lucy Christopher

Recommended For:

Dolphin Sky by Ginny Rorby

November 24, 2013 by Kellee

This week I am celebrating with my friend and author Ginny Rorby as she receives her award from the Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME) for winning the Sunshine State Young Readers Award (as voted by 6-8 grade students in Florida) for Lost in the River of Grass. To celebrate, I will be reviewing all of her books this week:

Dolphin Sky
Author: Ginny Rorby
Published July 29th, 2013 (first published 1996)

Goodreads Summary: When the captive dolphins that she has befriended are threatened, Buddy risks her father’s condemnation and the law to save their lives in this powerful story about a dyslexic child, trapped by the limitations of her learning disability, who discovers that real freedom comes from being true to your heart.

My Review: I know you have heard this from me all week, but Ginny Rorby just has a way of sucking me in and pulling on my heart strings. Dolphin Sky is Ginny’s first book which she has rereleased as an ebook, so I grabbed it as soon as she let me know. Once again, I cried, I cheered, I laughed. I loved every second of the book.

Ginny knows how to intertwine human issues and animal issues into a seemlessly touching story. Buddy, our young protagonist, is bullied at school and has a very tough time keeping up. A specific bully is relentless making her feel stupid specifically when she has to read outloud and cannot. The only time Buddy feels like she can be herself is around her grandfather, The Admiral, who, after an accident, is in a wheelchair. Even her father is very distant and her mother is dead. Buddy also finds relief when she is around nature and she specifically loves dolphins, so when she befriends Annie, a captive dolphin at a small roadside attraction, she knows she has found a friend for life.

One of the things that Ginny does so well is voice- unique per book, but also consistent between. Though this book is in 3rd person, the narrator has a specific voice throughout and they are different between every book (though I can always tell it is Ginny writing). She has a style to her descriptions and prose that is perfect for the books she writes. In this book, specifically the setting comes alive because of Ginny’s writing.

The other thing I think Ginny does well in all of her books is characterization of not only the human characters, but the animals as well. Annie the dolphin is as much a character as anyone else in this book. So is Osceola, the crab, who ended up being one of my favorite characters.

Lastly, again, Ginny pays homage to good teachers who can make a difference. Miss Conroy, the doctorate student who meets and mentors Buddy, as well as Miss Daniels, Buddy’s teacher, are great advocates for Buddy and really show how a good teacher or mentor can make a difference.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: Especially for those of us in Florida, there are many different sections of this book that would be great for read alouds to discuss some tough topics; however, it will find its home in students’ hands.

Discussion Questions: (Writing) Just as Buddy’s teacher assigns, research an animal native to your area and determine how humans are affecting its population and what we can do to help.

We Flagged: “She puts out her hand and Annie comes slowly toward her, but sinks away before Buddy touches her. The dolphin circles, and Buddy feels her pass, feels the pressure that the movement of her tail makes in the water. She turns, trying to keep track of where Annie is… Buddy lets herself bob to the surface, takes a breath, then dangles face down, making a slow circle, trying to find the dolphin. From directly beneath her, Annie looms up out of the murky water. That monstrous form moving slowly toward her floods Buddy with the same fear she felt when she first fell into the water. Panic wells in her, flattening her lungs against her ribs until her breath leaves her in a gasp. But she doesn’t move or scream and, in that moment, realizes that her fear exploded on the surface in that bubble of air. The emptiness in her chest fills with love.” (Location 1598-1591, 1608-1612)

Read This If You Loved: Carl Hiaasen novels Hoot, Scat, Chomp, and Flush; Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

Recommended For:

The Outside of a Horse by Ginny Rorby

November 23, 2013 by Kellee

The Outside of a Horse
Author: Ginny Rorby
Published May 13th, 2010 by Dial

Goodreads Summary: Hannah Gale starts volunteering at a horse stable because she needs a place to escape. Her father has returned from the Iraq war as an amputee with posttraumatic stress disorder, and his nightmares rock the household. At the stable, Hannah comes to love Jack, Super Dee, and Indy; helps bring a rescued mare back from the brink; and witnesses the birth of the filly who steals her heart. Hannah learns more than she ever imagined about horse training, abuse, and rescues, as well as her own capacity for hope. Physical therapy with horses could be the answer to her fatherÕs prayers, if only she can get him to try.

My Review: Ginny Rorby writes books about animal-human relationships and the healing power of these animals. This is animal fiction that falls into a completely different realm than others. She breathlessly intertwines human problems with animals. Her previous book, Hurt Go Happy, dealt with Joey, a deaf young girl, her mother’s inability to deal with her disability, and how Sukari, a young chimpanzee, helps Joey and her mother accept their life. Her newest book, The Outside of a Horse, deals with Hannah. Hannah Gale feels so alone. Her mother passed away from cancer a few years ago, her father is fighting in Iraq, her stepmother doesn’t really connect with her, and her brother, Jeffy, is just too young to be there for her. The only comfort to Hannah is when her school bus drives by the stables and she gets to see the horses. It is through these horses that Hannah finds comfort during this difficult time in her life that just keeps getting worse and worse.

It is through Ginny Rorby’s believable characters and realistic situations that the reader feels so connected to the animals and humans of her novels. Both The Outside of a Horse and Hurt Go Happy deal with not only a human issue, but an animal issue as well. The Outside of a Horse shows the reader the truth behind horse racing. What makes Rorby’s books different, though, is that she teaches about an animal issue, but does not preach. She lets you take in the truth and decide for yourself if it is an injustice or not.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: Outside of a Horse deals with some hard issues and is a book that many students won’t grab right away; however, read a couple of chapters to your classes and there will be a waiting list for it.

Discussion Questions: The Outside of a Horse shares an injustice with us that many people do not realize and is ignored. What is something that you believe is wrong that others enjoy?

Read This If You Loved: BADD by Tim Tharp, Another Kind of Cowboy by Susan Juby, Gabriel’s Horses by Alison Hart, Faithful Elephants by Yukio Tsuchiya

Recommended For:

Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby

August 2, 2015November 22, 2013 by Kellee

Hurt Go Happy
Author: Ginny Rorby
Published August 8th, 2006 by Starscape

Goodreads Summary: Thirteen-year-old Joey Willis is used to being left out of conversations. Though she’s been deaf since the age of six, Joey’s mother has never allowed her to learn sign language. She strains to read the lips of those around her, but often fails.

Everything changes when Joey meets Dr. Charles Mansell and his baby chimpanzee, Sukari. Her new friends use sign language to communicate, and Joey secretly begins to learn to sign. Spending time with Charlie and Sukari, Joey has never been happier. She even starts making friends at school for the first time. But as Joey’s world blooms with possibilities, Charlie’s and Sukari’s choices begin to narrow–until Sukari’s very survival is in doubt.

My Review and Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: This book is so important to me it is even hard to write this review. I have never written one because the book has become so personal to me that I didn’t know how to share my feelings. When I read Hurt Go Happy for the first time, I knew that it was the book that I wanted to share with every student I ever had. Hurt Go Happy shows the importance of empathy for animals, for children and for people with disabilities.

Hurt Go Happy has become the number one community builder in my classroom. After our state test and our Earth day activity with The Lorax we begin our read aloud of Hurt Go Happy. (One of the saddest things about not being in the classroom this year is that I will not be able to have this moment with students.) Not only does the book give me opportunities to work with setting, characterization, cause/effect, prediction, compare/contrast, sequence, and analogies, throughout the book my class participates in conversations about deafness, sign language, chimpanzees, abuse, research facilities, animal abuse, wild animals as pets, survival, parents, school, death, fear, and their future. The conversations are so deep and wonderful. But this is just the beginning. Following the reading of the novel, my students are lucky enough to be able to take part in an interview with the author of Hurt Go Happy, Ginny Rorby. The students generate the questions, vote on which ones to ask and even ask her the questions. Ginny even allows us to send her extra questions and answers them for my students.

The part that really makes students connect to the novel is the field trip that we go on. At the end of the book, the setting changes to a rehab facility called The Center for Great Apes (@CFGA) which, while in the book was in Miami, has moved to Wauchula, FL which is 90 minutes from my school. In the book, you even meet Noelle, a chimp who knows sign language, Kenya, another chimpanzee, and Christopher, an orangutan, who are actually at the center. It is an amazing experience to take the story and turn it into reality.

Hurt Go Happy is a book that I feel not only bring our class together but teaches my students some of the most important lessons for life: to care about every living thing.

Discussion Questions: I have many that would give spoilers, but here are my essential questions for the book: Do you think animal testing is necessary? Defend your answer.; How would being deaf affect your life? How does it affect Joey’s?

We Flagged: “Before she’d lost her hearing, she loved the whisper of wind through pines, and since she had no way of knowing how different it sounded in a redwood forest, the sight of branches swaying re-created the sound in her mind. Even after six and a half years of deafness, she sometimes awoke expecting her hearing to have returned, like her sight, with the dawn.” (p. 11)

Read This If You Loved: Endangered by Eliot Schrefer, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell, Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, El Deafo by Cece Bell, Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel, Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate

Lost in the River of Grass by Ginny Rorby

July 27, 2015November 20, 2013 by Kellee

Lost in the River of Grass
Author: Ginny Rorby
Published February 9th, 2011 by Carolrhoda Books

Goodreads Summary: “I don’t realize I’m crying until he glances at me. For a moment, I see the look of anguish in his eyes, then he blinks it away and slips off into the water. I immediately think of the gator. It’s still down there somewhere…”

A science-class field trip to the Everglades is supposed to be fun, but Sarah’s new at Glades Academy, and her fellow freshmen aren’t exactly making her feel welcome. When an opportunity for an unauthorized side trip on an airboat presents itself, it seems like a perfect escape—an afternoon without feeling like a sore thumb. But one simple oversight turns a joyride into a race for survival across the river of grass. They’re forced to walk out of the Everglades (they’ve got a knife, a small amount of Gatorade and some suspicious Spam). Sarah will have to count on her instincts—and a guy she barely knows—if they have any hope of making it back alive.

Lost in the River of Grass takes on the classic survival genre using one of the country’s most unique wild places as a backdrop. It is in the tradition of survival stories like Hatchet or My Side of the Mountain, where the young protagonist finds herself as she struggles to survive in an unforgiving wilderness. In this tense, character-driven thriller, Sarah must overcome prejudice and the unforgiving wilderness in a struggle to survive.

My Review: This is Ginny’s most human of a novel. It is about survival and finding the strength inside of yourself to stand up to anything- even something that has always terrified you. Throughout the novel, Sarah and Andy, who are lost in the Everglades, face things that are only in most of our nightmares. I learned, quite quickly, that I probably wouldn’t survive if I was lost in the river of grass. But Sarah, who is scared of EVERYTHING, grows up right in front of our eyes. This book made me gasp, cry, laugh- go through the cycle of emotions, but that is what makes a book so wonderful. Ginny Rorby knows how to write characters that the reader can connect with and this is no exception- Sarah is just a normal girl and Andy is just a normal boy, but through their journey they found out how extraordinary they are.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: This book is loved by students. I saw it when it was an SSYRA nominee—students devoured it and loved talking about the crazy survival moments and the surprise ending. Because of the love that students have for it, Lost in the River of Grass is perfect for classroom libraries and for read alouds.

Discussion Questions: Sarah is afraid of snakes. How does she overcome her fear? What are you afraid of? How could you overcome your fear?; What does Lost in the River of Grass teach us about prejudice?

We Flagged: “I onlly get a dozen feet ahead of him when my leg hits something hard and knobby. In a heart-stopping moment, I know it’s the gator, yet I can’t move. In my mind I see its pink throat and huge teeth coming up through the murky water. something brushes the back of my neck, and I scream.” (p. 72)

Read This If You Loved: Brian books by Gary Paulsen, My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, Trapped by Michael Northrop, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell, The Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong

Recommended For:

Congratulations again Ginny! You deserve it!

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

July 13, 2014November 14, 2013 by Ricki

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock
Author: Matthew Quick
Published: August 13th, 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

GoodReads Summary: In addition to the P-38, there are four gifts, one for each of my friends. I want to say good-bye to them properly. I want to give them each something to remember me by. To let them know I really cared about them and I’m sorry I couldn’t be more than I was—that I couldn’t stick around—and that what’s going to happen today isn’t their fault.

Today is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather’s P-38 pistol.

But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school’s class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

In this riveting book, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made—and the light in us all that never goes out.

Review: I have read every one of Matthew Quick’s books. He is a teacher, and I feel as if he understands teenagers in ways that many people don’t. Quick’s characters feel like real people, and while I read this one, I kept forgetting that I was even reading a book. To be cliché, I was lost in the story.

Leonard Peacock is a complex character. Even with his evil intention to murder a fellow classmate, the reader comes to understand that he is deeply troubled and not at all evil on the inside. His plan is to give three gifts to three individuals who have positively impacted his life, then kill his classmate, and then kill himself. I read this book with an uncomfortable stomach. I couldn’t put it down because I needed to know how the plot unraveled. Kids will be hooked. It teaches incredible messages of bullying and loneliness. Leonard’s mother is such a terrible parent that I think it will make many teens appreciate their own parents. I had the urge to scream at her at several points in the book. I have read many books that are somewhat similar to the themes of this text, yet it felt very different. I would urge teachers to read it because it sheds light on issues that are often difficult (or maybe even taboo) to discuss.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: My initial thought was that this would make an incredible read-aloud. I think all types of kids would appreciate it. My only hesitance are there are several references to awkward scenes (like masturbation), and even the most liberal teachers might feel a bit uncomfortable reading these aloud. That said, I think this would make an excellent whole-class text or literature circle book. Teachers would also find value in close readings of portions of this text to jumpstart difficult (but important) conversations with students about bullying, depression, and suicide. The book has over sixty footnotes, and it would be interesting to discuss this text feature and/or the experiments that Quick takes with the text structure. The book ends a bit abruptly, and I think students would love to write and discuss extended endings to the text. I would love to see this book bridged with classic texts like The Awakening by Kate Chopin or Hamlet by William Shakespeare. There are a plethora of Shakespeare references that will make teachers drool!

Discussion Questions: What leads a person to make rash, violent decisions? Can s/he be stopped?; How does our past influence our psyche?; Is revenge sweet? Can it ever be justified?; How do our parents shape our mental behavior?; What happens after the conclusion of this text?

We Flagged:

“I admire [Humphrey] Bogart because he does what’s right regardless of consequences—even when the consequences are stacked high against him—unlike just about everyone else in my life” (p. 23).

“How do you measure suffering?

I mean, the fact that I live in a democratic country doesn’t guarantee my life will be problem-free.

Far from it.

I understand that I am relatively privileged from a socio-economical viewpoint, but so was Hamlet—so are a lot of miserable people” (p. 94).

Read This If You Loved: Endgame by Nancy Garden, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick, Burn by Suzanne Phillips, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King, The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp, Inexcusable by Chris Lynch

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