How to spend a sunny afternoon

This winter was an unusually mild one, and the unusual weather is continuing into the spring. The past couple of weeks have brought temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s – very odd for this part of Ohio!

Last weekend I took advantage of the unseasonably hot weather and sat outside on our new deck with a good book to read. Actually, two good books. I had been reading three books, and finished two of them that day.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King

Vera Dietz and Charlie Kahn were been the best of friends since they were preschoolers. Just when their relationship was going to the next level, Charlie’s new friends – a crowd of students most often found in detention – come between them. Even when Charlie acts out against Vera, believing the lies of the Detentionhead’s queen bee, Vera keeps his dark secrets. When Charlie dies under mysterious circumstances, Vera is haunted by Charlie while she comes to terms with his death, her possible part in it and how to expose the truth.

Likes

This is more than a novel about two friends, their growing relationship and the ruination of that relationship. It’s also about Vera coming to terms with her mother’s desertion, realizing that her father is doing the best that he can for her, and, ultimately, how to handle the demons that life always contains. There is just the right amount of snark, darkness, and sarcasm.

While mostly told from Vera’s first person viewpoint, there are short sections narrated by others: Charlie (after his death), Vera’s father, and – most humorously – the Pagoda, a town landmark. These sections do not distract from the story, but rather they enhance and add depth to it.

Dislikes

None

Other

2011 Printz honor

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

When the day after she kissed her best friend, twelve-year-old Cameron’s parents die in a car crash, she blames herself. Isn’t God punishing her for kissing a girl? When her aunt, a born again Christian, moves in as her guardian, Cameron’s mixed feelings about her sexuality and guilt over her parents’ deaths increase due to her aunt’s faith and their attendance at a local mega-church. Over the next few years Cameron acts out her frustrations with life by drinking and smoking pot with her friends, loses herself in movies, and experiencing a heavy duty crush on a fellow classmate. After finding out about Cameron’s homosexual activities, her aunt is prompted to send Cameron to a school whose purpose is to make her no longer gay.

Likes

This first part of the book – before Cameron is sent away – is well written. Cameron has a strong voice. Her confusion about her sexuality, coupled with the deaths of her parents and her aunt’s very strong religious faith, are illustrated through beautifully written prose. The relationships with her friends and family ebb and flow naturally. She’s real.

Dislikes

The second part of the book – when Cameron is sent away – falls flat in comparison with the previous portion. While I felt as if I was a part of Cameron’s life in the first part, in the second I felt almost as if Cameron wasn’t even a part of her life.

Other

This is the author’s debut book. If it is eligible, it might be a good one for the Morris award committee to consider.

Playing cards

I am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak

 

Ed Kennedy is what you might call a loser. Nineteen and working as a taxi driver; living alone with a smelly old dog; spending his free time playing cards with the same group of friends. When he stops a bank robbery, his life slowly begins to change. It starts with the arrival of a playing card in his mail. The only message is three addresses written on the card. Ed soon begins a series of missions – some dangerous, some benign – while trying to find out who is the mysterious messenger that is sending him the playing cards.

Likes

Told in first person, the reader only knows what Ed knows. Ed’s voice is clear and consistent.  

There were several phrases that I absolutely loved – so much that I am going to share them.

"I want words at my funeral.
But I guess that means you need life in your life."

"Sometimes people are beautiful.
Not in looks.
Not in what they say.
Just in what they are."

"He hugs me so hard that I can smell him and taste the joy that leaks from inside him."

"Usually, we walk around constantly believing ourselves. “I’m okay,” we say. “I’m all right.” But sometimes the truth arrives on you, and you can’t get it off. That’s when you realize that sometimes it isn’t even an answer – it’s a question."

Other

Read as an ebook using the Kindle app on a tablet.

2006 Printz Honor

Oh, no, they say he's got to go. Go go, Punkzilla!

Punkzilla by Adam Rapp

After going AWOL from military school, Jaime, aka Punkzilla, travels north ending up in Portland, Oregon. Once there he makes a life stealing iPods, scamming people and hanging around other street kids. When the fourteen-year-old learns that his older brother, Peter, has cancer, he makes the trip to Memphis, Tennessee to see him – hoping to arrive before Peter takes his last breath. Heading across the country on his purposeful road trip full of unusual twists in turns, he meets an exceptionally interesting cast of characters and chronicles the trip and other events in his life in animated, rambling letters to Peter. 

Likes

With his moral ambiguity, you wouldn’t think that Jaime is a character that one could like, yet, somewhere in his rambling writing style you find the good in him – and the troubled child that he still is, despite his “I’m grown up” demeanor. Along the journey, I found myself hoping that he would make it to Memphis in time.

Dislikes

At times the writing was so rambling that I started to get lost - but not very often. Plus, I could understand why it was written in such a way - that is how Jaime thinks (when he hasn’t been on his meds). 

Other

2010 Printz Honor

I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Sixteen-year-old Steve has been accused of aiding in a convenience store robbery that ended in murder. The prosecutor calls him a monster; his parents can barely look at him, and when they do, he can see their doubt. Every night is filled with cries of other inmates being beaten and abused by others, and Steve begins to spiral deeper into depression. To cope with the stress of being in jail and being on trial for murder, he composes a movie of his life during the traumatic period. Through the script and the interludes of Steve’s thoughts, the reader can decide: Was Steve involved in the crime, or was he in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Likes

Writing style. The majority of the book is written as a movie script, which is unusual in novels and gives a different viewpoint of the story.

Dislikes

Writing style. Because the book is written as a movie script, there are some terms and acronyms that were unfamiliar. A glossary would have been helpful.

Other

2000 Printz winner (first winner of this award)

Printz I have known…

As I mentioned before, I want to read more of the Printz winners and honors. The first Printz award was given in 2000, so there aren’t nearly as many books on the list as there are for Newbery. As I also already mentioned, I’ve read seventeen of the books. They are listed below:

• 2001 Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison, Honor
• 2001 Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman, Honor
• 2002 A Step from Heaven by An Na, Winner
• 2003 The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, Honor
• 2004 The First Part Last by Angela Johnson, Winner
• 2004 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler, Honor
• 2005 Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt, Honor
• 2006 Looking for Alaska by John Green, Winner
• 2007 American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, Winner
• 2007 An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, Honor
• 2007 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Honor
• 2008 Repossessed by A. M. Jenkins. Honor
• 2009 The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, Honor
• 2009 Nation by Terry Pratchett. Honor
• 2010 Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman, Honor
• 2010 Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973 by John Barnes, Honor
• 2011 Stolen by Lucy Christopher, Honor

Since the only year I am missing is 2000, I am going to start with the winner from that year: Monster by Walter Dean Myers.

In other news, I am trying out Pinterest. So far I am just using it for library/reading themed links. Click the link to check out my boards.

1. Make a list of things to do. 2. Do the things on the list. 3. Call it a day.

With the new year beginning, I've been thinking about goals.  Isn't everyone?  We make resolutions.  We break resolutions. We say we don't believe in resolutions. blah. blah. blah.   So, of course, they are on my mind.  With that being said, I came up with a list of Reading Resolutions for 2012. 

2012 Reading Resolutions

Reinstate the Newbery Challenge – A couple of years ago I challenged myself to read more Newbery winners and honors, including at least one from each decade of the award’s existence.  I want to challenge myself again to read more of the Newbery winners and honors. The goal?  To read twelve Newbery books this year.

Read more Printz winners and honors.  Granted, this is an easier goal to achieve, since the Printz award is much younger in comparison to the Newbery.  There are 57 winners/honors since the award was first given in 2000.  As of today I have read 17.  There are three more titles that I started and didn’t finish.  The goal?  To read twelve Printz books this year.

Once upon a time I belonged to two different book discussion groups.  One focused solely on YA/Teen literature.  The other focused on all youth literature. Due to scheduling conflicts (for the first group) and later increased hours of operation at our library (for the second group), I’m no longer involved in either one.  In fact, the second group doesn’t meet at all anymore.  This makes me sad.  The goal?  Join or start a new youth literature discussion group.  I would prefer for the group to meet face to face, but if it must be online, then that will do for now.

Using several methods, I keep track of the books I read.  I don’t, however, do a good job of keeping track of the picture books I read.  The goal? Keep track of picture books read!  Add them to GoodReads.com.  Write about them on the book blog.  Put the titles on the Books Read word document.

Social Media is, obviously, very popular.  I blog and tweet (and have both post to Facebook) about books and reading.  But do I blog and tweet enough?  What else can I be doing?  The goal?  Up my social media usage (in regards to books).

Every time I see that the 48-hour Reading Challenge is going to happen, I think, “This time I am going to participate.”  Then I promptly forget or end up too busy to devote that weekend to reading.  The goal?  Participate in at least one official 48-hour Reading Challenge in 2012.  

Keep up with the buzz in the business.  I subscribe to a bunch of blogs.  Do I actually read them?  Not nearly as much as I once did.  The same goes with trade journals.  The goal?  Take the time to read the blogs, journals, and other news sources to keep up with libraryland.  

In summary, these are my Reading Resolutions for 2012:

• Read twelve Newbery books this year
• Read twelve Printz books this year
• Join or start a new youth literature discussion group
• Keep track of picture books read
• Up my social media usage (in regards to books)
• Participate in at least one official 48-hour Reading Challenge in 2012
• Take the time to read the blogs, journals, and other news sources to keep up with libraryland