Book:
Book 1: Where things come back John Corey Whaley (Atheneum Books for Young Readers July 24, 2012)
Plot
Cullen Witter lives in Lily, Arkansas which becomes host to a woodpecker sighting, but is it a hoax? A birdwatcher named John Barling believes he spots a species of woodpecker thought to be extinct since the 1940s near the town. During the subsequent bird induced chaos around town, Cullen’s fifteen year old younger brother Gabriel somehow mysteriously disappears. Thus Cullen must do what he can to keep himself, his family and his friendships together. While alternating chapters between third person narration between Cullen and a 18 year old missionary named Benton Sage. The story ends in an culminating and unexpectedly thrilling way. Whaley’s style of mixing humor with sadness and drama, a writing style which finds ways to discover beauty and hope in everyday situations makes this book into a wonderful novel filled with the juxtapositions and complexities of real life. Even if the situations are different then our realities, the descriptions, dialogue, and character development make everything seem very realistic. This story would go well on display with other multi layered and sophisticated books which directly involve and create a dialogue around the theme of the meaning of life like Looking For Alaska and Sophie’s World of all which are surreal or realistic fiction.
Book 2: Chares and Emma: The Darwin’s leap of faith By Deborah Heiligman 2009 Square fish publishers (Printz honor 2010)
This Heiligman book almost won three awards, the National Book Award Finalist, Printz award Honor book and it won the Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award. This book is thorough and beautifully written biographical expose about Charles and Emma Darwin focuses on their married life exploring everything about their marriage and life together. All aspect of their lives from the kids, to the big theological (Emma’s agnosticism) versus Charles’s scientific understandings is investigated. Emma’s and Charles love is displayed in all of its complexity and beauty. This tome is a great book that speaks so eloquently about one of the most important families in the history of science. The troubles and joys before their marriage are also carefully detailed, as is Charles Darwin’s troubled and demanding writing life. The death in their families including two of their children, and troubles with their health are well documented in this book. The dialogue, like all other details of the book, is period appropriate, and accurate and factually based. This book would go well alongside all Darwin related materials.
Book 3: Looking for Alaska: John Green
Miles Halter (a skinny 17 year old who is known for most of the book ironically as Pudge) is fascinated by all the famous last words he can possibly learn–and tired of his safe life at home and his comfortable High School in Florida. He escapes for boarding school in Alabama to seek what the poet Francois Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” The perhaps that awaits Miles at Culver Creek, includes drinking, smoking, pranks, tricks, religion class, and Alaska Young. Alaska is daring, hilarious, seriously troubled, and gorgeous. After a terrible tragedy Pudge blames himself for not preventing happens, Alaska’s presence never fully disappears from the book, and lessons abound in this Pritnz Award winner from 2006. The “great perhaps” the existential conundrum that this book focuses on, is a great philosophical idea repeated through out the book echoing a theme of existential angst that countless people must resolve for themselves. This book would do well alongside Where things come back and Sophies World due to its philosophical imperatives and lessons.
Book:
Book 1: Where things come back John Corey Whaley (Atheneum Books for Young Readers July 24, 2012)
Plot
Cullen Witter lives in Lily, Arkansas which becomes host to a woodpecker sighting, but is it a hoax? A birdwatcher named John Barling believes he spots a species of woodpecker thought to be extinct since the 1940s near the town. During the subsequent bird induced chaos around town, Cullen’s fifteen year old younger brother Gabriel somehow mysteriously disappears. Thus Cullen must do what he can to keep himself, his family and his friendships together. While alternating chapters between third person narration between Cullen and a 18 year old missionary named Benton Sage. The story ends in an culminating and unexpectedly thrilling way. Whaley’s style of mixing humor with sadness and drama, a writing style which finds ways to discover beauty and hope in everyday situations makes this book into a wonderful novel filled with the juxtapositions and complexities of real life. Even if the situations are different then our realities, the descriptions, dialogue, and character development make everything seem very realistic. This story would go well on display with other multi layered and sophisticated books which directly involve and create a dialogue around the theme of the meaning of life like Looking For Alaska and Sophie’s World of all which are surreal or realistic fiction.
Book 2: Chares and Emma: The Darwin’s leap of faith By Deborah Heiligman 2009 Square fish publishers (Printz honor 2010)
This Heiligman book almost won three awards, the National Book Award Finalist, Printz award Honor book and it won the Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award. This book is thorough and beautifully written biographical expose about Charles and Emma Darwin focuses on their married life exploring everything about their marriage and life together. All aspect of their lives from the kids, to the big theological (Emma’s agnosticism) versus Charles’s scientific understandings is investigated. Emma’s and Charles love is displayed in all of its complexity and beauty. This tome is a great book that speaks so eloquently about one of the most important families in the history of science. The troubles and joys before their marriage are also carefully detailed, as is Charles Darwin’s troubled and demanding writing life. The death in their families including two of their children, and troubles with their health are well documented in this book. The dialogue, like all other details of the book, is period appropriate, and accurate and factually based. This book would go well alongside all Darwin related materials.
Book 3: Looking for Alaska: John Green
Miles Halter (a skinny 17 year old who is known for most of the book ironically as Pudge) is fascinated by all the famous last words he can possibly learn–and tired of his safe life at home and his comfortable High School in Florida. He escapes for boarding school in Alabama to seek what the poet Francois Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” The perhaps that awaits Miles at Culver Creek, includes drinking, smoking, pranks, tricks, religion class, and Alaska Young. Alaska is daring, hilarious, seriously troubled, and gorgeous. After a terrible tragedy Pudge blames himself for not preventing happens, Alaska’s presence never fully disappears from the book, and lessons abound in this Pritnz Award winner from 2006. The “great perhaps” the existential conundrum that this book focuses on, is a great philosophical idea repeated through out the book echoing a theme of existential angst that countless people must resolve for themselves. This book would do well alongside Where things come back and Sophies World due to its philosophical imperatives and lessons.
Book 4: Why we broke up by Daniel Handler
Min Green is a bitter and hurt mismatched old movie obsessed ex girl friend of Varsity basketball team co-captain and total jock Ed Slaterton. Min (short for Minerva) is intent on showing her pain in her words and her symbolic sending of a box filled with many trinkets and curiosities of their wild high school love affair. The fun Min and Ed have together as well as their intimate moments and their miss matched personalities and odd sense of humor are all flushed out in detail. Through explorations of their joys, their confusion, while readers join them in their high school love escapades, and half planned adventures. The raw betrayal Min endures because of Slaterton’s ruthless cheating. The awkwardness of being intimate and steady with someone while having “friends” of the opposite gender, and still knowing your ex-lovers are both investigated in specific detail along with Min’s inner most feelings and pain. I think that this book would go well with other Young Adult break up books.
The “Why we broke up project” is a follow up by the author Daniel Handler, and it is an impressive resource to share break up stores and a great idea to help people who have recently broken up or need closure and healing from a break up through sharing and reading breakup stories. The project is located at http://whywebrokeupproject.tumblr.com/
