This is a really interesting book. It takes place on a colonized world that is called the New World. It is a coming of age story that takes place in a town called Prentisstown. There are no women, killed by what is known as the Noise. The Noise is a germ that is spread by the Spackles, the native aliens of the planet. When Todd finds a hole in the Noise, he freaks out. His parents help him run away and he runs into a girl, the only one he's ever seen in real life. The story looks mostly at how nothing is ever what it seems. The emotions in this book range, but the suspense is extremely well played out.
This is the first book in a series called Chaos Walking.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Fluency
I really did read the chapter. However, I was really tired, so I don't know if I retained that much. From what I understand, fluency relates to literacy across all kinds of media. Fluency is when or how people are able to "read" the media. It also looked at how people choose media to listen or read.
This got me to thinking that if, as librarians, we include other kinds of media that this will allow us to find something that appeals to everyone. For example, someone may look at Twilight and think that it is way too large a book to read. However, it would be interesting to see how the same person would choose the same book in an ebook format. They also might find the movie or audio book much more accessible. Another format that would make it more accessible is the Graphic Novel version of the book. There are several books that have been reformatted into graphic novels, so many more books may be more accessible than you think in this format.
This got me to thinking that if, as librarians, we include other kinds of media that this will allow us to find something that appeals to everyone. For example, someone may look at Twilight and think that it is way too large a book to read. However, it would be interesting to see how the same person would choose the same book in an ebook format. They also might find the movie or audio book much more accessible. Another format that would make it more accessible is the Graphic Novel version of the book. There are several books that have been reformatted into graphic novels, so many more books may be more accessible than you think in this format.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Book Review #2 - Dealing with Dragons
Book Review #2 - Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
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| Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Cover |
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| Scholastic Cover |
This book is the first in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles series. Although the language is easy to read for younger readers, the themes are more teen-oriented. Princess Cimorene hates being a princess and despises the lessons that she must take, such as etiquette. Consequently, she engages in some very unprincess-like lessons, such as fencing, cooking, Latin and magic. When her parents take her to a neighbouring kingdom and try to get her married to the prince, Cimorene, with some advice from a talking frog, decides to run away. She ends up working as a princess for the dragon Kazul and adventures ensue. With assistance from her fellow princess-in-captivity, Alianora, Kazul the dragon, Morwen the witch and the stone prince (who has a long story), she manages to defeat the villains. The book takes fairy tale conventions and turns them upside down, so it is best that the reader has been exposed to several fairy tale conventions in order to get the most from this book. From the very beginning to the very end, this book is about being true to oneself. This book is a fun read and is widely-appealing. There are two different covers available, one from the original publishing by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and the other from Scholastic. This book is available in audio format as well. Recommended for everyone.
All images taken from chapters.ca.
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
This is an excellent book. It is about a boy who lives on the Spokane reservation in the USA. After an incident where he throws a book and breaks a teacher's nose, he is encouraged to get off the reservation and go to school elsewhere by the aforementioned teacher. Since the closest school is in the nearby town and is populated by Caucasian people solely, it is a big adjustment for him. At the exact same time, he is regarded as a traitor by the other Aboriginal people who live on the reservation.
I initially decided to read it because I thought it was about a person who was of mixed heritage and I thought that I would relate to that. When I realized what the book was actually about, I decided to read it anyway because it sounded really interesting. I did relate to the main character in the book, just not in the same way that I thought I would. I also liked the cartoons that were drawn by the main character scattered throughout the book.
I initially decided to read it because I thought it was about a person who was of mixed heritage and I thought that I would relate to that. When I realized what the book was actually about, I decided to read it anyway because it sounded really interesting. I did relate to the main character in the book, just not in the same way that I thought I would. I also liked the cartoons that were drawn by the main character scattered throughout the book.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Graphic Novels
I have to say that I really believe in graphic novels for teenagers. There is so much variety that no matter what people are into, there exists a graphic novel for them, you just might have to hunt around to find it. There's so much available.
I know that in my family, my cousin didn't like reading. When we would go on vacations together, we would all bring our Archie comic books and then swap when we had read them. This got my cousin into reading and he is now a reader.
In one of our classes, we were discussing what constitutes reading. One of our classmates said that he did not believe that graphic novels did not count as reading. What do some of you think?
I know that in my family, my cousin didn't like reading. When we would go on vacations together, we would all bring our Archie comic books and then swap when we had read them. This got my cousin into reading and he is now a reader.
In one of our classes, we were discussing what constitutes reading. One of our classmates said that he did not believe that graphic novels did not count as reading. What do some of you think?
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Boys Reading Habits
There has been a lot of research done on what boys like or don't like to read. I think it is interesting that boys like to read non-fiction, but also enjoy books that are escapist and humour. It is also interesting that some boys consider reading as a female activity and will do what they have to in order to avoid reading. I think that this is an important point because as boys enter middle and high school, they tend to care about how others perceive them and so will go to great lengths to avoid something that is not good for their self-image. What needs to be done is to make reading appealing to everyone. To be honest, I don't know how to accomplish this.
My experience with teen sections has been somewhat limited. After the branch I was working at was renovated, we got a whole new teen section. There was enough room for all the materials, including graphic novels, magazines, BCDs and books. One of the best things was that we got a new non-fiction section. However, since it was new, it was difficult to see the direction it was heading in. The other thing that was good was that we also got enough room to make a display spot for the teen books. This allowed for the books to show their covers.
On an interesting note, we got into a really heated discussion in our collection development class on the idea of what constitutes "reading". I argued that science fiction and graphic novels count and that I don't care what people are reading so long as they are reading. The other person argued that he doesn't believe that graphic novels should count as reading and that science fiction and fantasy are part of the urinal of literature (he really ticked off some of us to put it mildly). The discussion then got onto the whole topic of freedom to read and intellectual freedom. So, I have to ask, how do you feel about graphic novels, science fiction and fantasy and other denigrated genres (romance as an example). One of my other profs mentioned that YA literature is considered a denigrated genre, not by her personally, but by others. How do you think that YA literature got this reputation?
My experience with teen sections has been somewhat limited. After the branch I was working at was renovated, we got a whole new teen section. There was enough room for all the materials, including graphic novels, magazines, BCDs and books. One of the best things was that we got a new non-fiction section. However, since it was new, it was difficult to see the direction it was heading in. The other thing that was good was that we also got enough room to make a display spot for the teen books. This allowed for the books to show their covers.
On an interesting note, we got into a really heated discussion in our collection development class on the idea of what constitutes "reading". I argued that science fiction and graphic novels count and that I don't care what people are reading so long as they are reading. The other person argued that he doesn't believe that graphic novels should count as reading and that science fiction and fantasy are part of the urinal of literature (he really ticked off some of us to put it mildly). The discussion then got onto the whole topic of freedom to read and intellectual freedom. So, I have to ask, how do you feel about graphic novels, science fiction and fantasy and other denigrated genres (romance as an example). One of my other profs mentioned that YA literature is considered a denigrated genre, not by her personally, but by others. How do you think that YA literature got this reputation?
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