Different does not even cover it...

The two books I am going to write about could not be any more different. They only have one thing in common, being used...

City of Light by Lauren Belfer takes place in Buffalo right before and during the Pan American Exposition in 1901. Louisa Barrett is the headmistress of a prestigious school for girls. Many of her girls go on to fill traditional roles of wife, mother and hostess, but her greatest hope is for them to break out of these roles and pass the bug on to their children. Belfer's language is beautiful and the book is a nice balance of fact and fiction. I learned (or relearned) a lot about the Niagara Falls power station. Threaded throughout this book are a couple mysteries. One is fairly obvious and can be guessed at as soon as the question comes up. The other is more elusive and surprised me even as the answer was being revealed. I truly believe that reading is more about the journey than the destination, so I enjoyed the book, but the ending wasn't what I had been hoping for. After talking to friends, I decided that the protagonist ended pretty much where she began and that's where our disappointed laid. I would like to read Belfer's second book, A Fierce Radiance, so I'll see if she's gotten better at endings! (I didn't tell you how being used had to do with this book, because it's a major plot twist and I'm not giving it away!)

The second book is ALL about being used. It is called Tricks by Ellen Hopkins. As the title suggests, the books is about turning tricks. More specifically it's about teenagers who end up in situations where they have to turn tricks to survive. It is about five teenagers from five very different families and walks of life. I think I've read all of Ellen Hopkins books and I think this was the hardest to read. I could feel these teenagers getting dragged down and making bad choices without even knowing it, believing in the people who should have their best interest at heart, but don't. All in all, the book left me with hope... and a serious case of NEVER wanting to go to Las Vegas! It is a subject that I have always pondered writing about, because there are so many kids that this really happens to. Eventually, I wanted to explore (in writing) how a teen might end up on this path. After reading this book, I'm not 100% sure I'll be able to, but it's still an idea!

I have one more book to read of those three books that were yanked off the top 100 feminist books for Young Adults. I think after that, I'm going to take a break from reading these tough subjects! Maybe I'll reread Harry Potter in anticipation of the last movie!

A sad return from Mexico....

I have to admit, returning home from Mexico is one of the more heartbreaking things I've done in a long time. It didn't help that we were leaving 80 degrees of sunny awesomeness and coming home to 20 degrees of cold, gray, snowyness! But I did it, and I'm back. I only finished one book and one play since my last post.

I started reading Ellen Hopkins a couple years ago and quickly ate up the majority of her books. They are all written in stark and visually stimulating poetry. They all tackle very tough subjects, from drug use to mental issues, disfunctional families to molestation. The book I finished this afternoon is called Fallout and is the third in a trilogy based on her own daughter's experiences. Now, these books are largely fictional, but many of the big events actually happened. The first two books, Crank and Glass follow Kristina into her addiction to crystal methamphetamine and how it destroys her life and her self and lands her in jail and with kids she can't support. Fallout introduces us to Kristina's oldest three children and tell their story. This book takes a look into their future, as she wrote them older than they really are, but her purpose was to give voice to the children of addicts. She does that amazingly well. I will continue to read her books as long as she writes them, no matter how tough the subject.

I also read The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare. I first read this play in tenth grade for English and remember it as the one I liked the best. I read it again to see if it still held the same appeal. I was highly amused by much of it, but there were definitely things that I didn't find as amusing... like the premise that a woman has to be tamed... or that a man governs when and what a woman eats and are at their beck and call. I understand that I have to take this in it's timeframe, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I still enjoyed reading it, as there are many funny parts, although the whole premise for the play is never finished! At the beginning, a lord has his men take a drunkard up to his room and has them treat him like the lord. Then he has players come in and perform the play. It never goes back to the drunkard!

Finally, I just want to say congratulations to Shaun Tan for his Oscar! I haven't seen the short, The Lost Thing, but I've read a couple of his graphic novels and they are AWESOME! The Arrival is a story in pictures, but it is beautiful and I've always wanted to use it with my students. Tales from Outer Suburbia tells short, odd and interesting tales. They are charming and fun to read. I'll be looking for his other books in the future!