This was the first time I read Catcher in the Rye. There were several different themes for it. In terms of the main character, he does strike you as whiny. However, his affection for his younger sister is sweet. The part where he bought the (vinyl) record and it broke and he felt really bad about it was really tender. It is his affection for his siblings that redeems him a little bit to me. He is also a storyteller, which is interesting. He does not want to hurt the feelings of a mother of a classmate of his because, in his opinion, the guy is a total jerk. So he lies to protect her feelings about how he really regards his classmate.
When I was reading this, I felt that the language was almost like a stream of consciousness. For those of you who may not know, a stream of consciousness is when you write what you are thinking without regard for punctuation or self-censorship. The swearing put me off a bit, but it is really quite tame in comparison to the language you would hear in any high school nowadays.
I really liked the setting because I was in New York recently and took the rail from Penn Station in NYC to another station on the line. Newark station connects, now anyway, to the airlink at Liberty Airport. I felt that it was really neat because I could imagine the places that he was travelling. It meant more to me than to someone who did not go on the train.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Winner is...
No, I'm not talking about the Oscars. Rather, I am talking about the Margaret A. Edwards award. This year one of my favourite authors won! Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Sir Terry Pratchett!
Follow the link below in order to find out a little more about him and the books for which he was nominated:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/margaretaedwards/margaretedwards.cfm#current
Interestingly enough, they included books that I've read, but never found in the Teen section of the library. Although, now that I think about it, I started reading Terry Pratchett in my late teens, so they could be considered crossover books for young adults.
Follow the link below in order to find out a little more about him and the books for which he was nominated:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/margaretaedwards/margaretedwards.cfm#current
Interestingly enough, they included books that I've read, but never found in the Teen section of the library. Although, now that I think about it, I started reading Terry Pratchett in my late teens, so they could be considered crossover books for young adults.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Library Visit
So late with this one! I meant to do it last week, but then I got distracted by my cousin's baby Friday night.
I did go to the library and have a look at the Teen Annex. My observations were that the collection was small, the shelves were low and they were also crowded because both paperbacks and hardcovers are together. There was a small collection of non-fiction, followed by Books on CD and these were then followed by DVDs. There was a separate display space from the adults for new books. The new books were both fiction and non-fiction. The books were separated from the children's area by a row of tables. Also, there were two bibliographies on top of the shelves which were specifically for teens. I can't remember exactly what the titles were.
On my initial visit it was not very active. There was only one teen at the table. Since my initial visit was in the morning on Tuesday, I thought it would be a good idea to go back later in the day and see what it was like when school was out. When I went again Thursday afternoon, there were more students at the tables working on homework. However, it did not appear that there were many teens who were reading for enjoyment.
I did go to the library and have a look at the Teen Annex. My observations were that the collection was small, the shelves were low and they were also crowded because both paperbacks and hardcovers are together. There was a small collection of non-fiction, followed by Books on CD and these were then followed by DVDs. There was a separate display space from the adults for new books. The new books were both fiction and non-fiction. The books were separated from the children's area by a row of tables. Also, there were two bibliographies on top of the shelves which were specifically for teens. I can't remember exactly what the titles were.
On my initial visit it was not very active. There was only one teen at the table. Since my initial visit was in the morning on Tuesday, I thought it would be a good idea to go back later in the day and see what it was like when school was out. When I went again Thursday afternoon, there were more students at the tables working on homework. However, it did not appear that there were many teens who were reading for enjoyment.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
New YA TV Shows
I went to TV Guide to look up the schedule for the evening and found an interesting article on a new TV show called Skins. Originally a British TV series, they have decided to do an American version. I have to admit it was the title of the article that caught my eye. The title is called "The Sins of 'Skins'". Here's the link to check it out: http://tvguide.ca/Interviews/Features/Articles/110117_skins_DW
I am also somewhat of a geek and I was watching Space when a commercial for a relatively new TV show called "Being Human" came up. When I was in New York city, I saw a number of posters for this show in the subway system. Again, it is a British series and while it is only starting in North America, they are on their third season in the UK (according to the BBC website). However, the one thing that caught my eye for this trailer was the Twilight reference. Like True Blood, it is marketing to adults, but it will probably draw in the YA crowd as well. Although I was able to find the commercial yesterday, I am having a difficult time tracking it down right now. I will post it when I am able to find it again.
I am also somewhat of a geek and I was watching Space when a commercial for a relatively new TV show called "Being Human" came up. When I was in New York city, I saw a number of posters for this show in the subway system. Again, it is a British series and while it is only starting in North America, they are on their third season in the UK (according to the BBC website). However, the one thing that caught my eye for this trailer was the Twilight reference. Like True Blood, it is marketing to adults, but it will probably draw in the YA crowd as well. Although I was able to find the commercial yesterday, I am having a difficult time tracking it down right now. I will post it when I am able to find it again.
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