Trisha’s April Roundup May 8, 2008

If I were better organized, I would have finished reviewing these books earlier (because I do think they all deserve long reviews), before giving the ARCs to teens or returning the books to the library. But all I did was make really brief notes about them, and it’s been a few weeks since I read some of them, so…

Airman by Eoin Colfer
When Conor Broekhart is unjustly thrown into prison, his thoughts naturally turn to escape. But his jail is Little Saltee Island. It’s a miserable place, where prisoners are forced to mine for diamonds in brutal conditions, and the only way he can escape is to construct a flying machine. Simply surviving is difficult, so how can Conor even hope to build his machine?

To compare Airman to some of Colfer’s previous books (and for the record, I am a huge Artemis Fowl fan), although it’s not as funny as the Artemis Fowl books or Half-Moon Investigations, it still has moments of humor and wit, as well as their fast pace and excellent plotting. What I loved most about Airman is the characterization of Conor. Here’s a kid who has everything going for him—a place in society, brains, ability, etc.—when the book starts, and he’s still likable. When he’s thrown into prison, Conor gets darker, realistically so, but never crosses the line that makes us stop rooting for him. A fantastic book.

Among the reviews: A Fuse #8 Production, Shelf Elf

Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling
Abby Savage doesn’t want to end up like her mother and older sisters, none of whom have made it to their high school graduation without becoming pregnant, all of whom have made disastrous choices in love. So Abby created rules, the One True Love Plan (based on knowledge gleaned from soap operas), which she thinks will enable her to break free from the romantic/procreative history of the women in her family. She wants her life, and potential boyfriends, to be safe.

Abby’s thoughtful narration grounds the book, turning Fancy White Trash from what could have been a print version of The Jerry Springer Show into an examination of the family and friendships that have shaped a young woman’s life. Reminded me somehow of Carolyn Mackler, though I can’t say exactly why.

Also reviewed by: Flamingnet Book Blog, Once Upon a Bookshelf

Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
I liked Wicked Lovely but was enthralled by Ink Exchange. It’s darker, more intense than Wicked Lovely, terrible in the “exciting terror, awe, or great fear” sense of the word. The age recommendation on the ARC was for ages 12 and up, but I think I’d feel more comfortable saying 14 and up.

As much as she wants a tattoo, Leslie has not found the design that was meant to be applied to her body. Then she sees a design that calls to her, but she has no way of knowing that the tattoo she gets will draw her into the faerie world. Leslie was ignorant of faeries despite being a friend of Aislinn. Just as Leslie had been keeping secrets from Aislinn, not admitting to anyone the truth about her home life or the extent to which her junkie brother would go to get a fix, Aislinn has been determined to keep Leslie from finding about the fey and Aislinn’s place with them. But the tattoo Leslie gets connects her to Irial, the ruler of the Dark Court, because he needs Leslie—or rather, the sustenance Irial has planned for the tattoo-bearer to provide—for the Dark Court to survive.

Among the reviews: Angieville, Teen Book Review, Urban Fantasy Land

Wake by Lisa McMann
Another book I would have adored as a teen.

Ever since she was a kid, Janie Hannagan has been falling into other people’s dreams. It’s turned her life practically into a nightmare. At work and at home, Janie can often isolate herself enough to lessen the effects of other people’s dreams, but that’s not the case at school. When people fall asleep and dream in school, Janie experiences the dream with them, even though the dreamer has no idea that Janie’s in their dream, observing what they see (and even though I’m not sure how exciting the dreams of students who fall asleep in school would be, since most vivid and memorable dreams occur during REM sleep, and REM sleep doesn’t occur until we’ve been asleep for about 90 minutes. Although I suppose you could make the argument that most teens are sleep deprived and hence would fall into REM a lot sooner when they fall asleep in school.).

In any case, my one question about sleep science aside (which didn’t actually occur to me until after I finished the book), Wake is a compelling book that grabs the reader from the very first page, when Janie falls into a classmate’s dream. I am definitely looking forward to the sequel, Fade.

Among the reviews: The Book Muncher, A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Ancient India by Anita Dalal (non-fiction)
Very attractively designed and includes everything librarians love to see in children’s and YA non-fiction, like a map, timeline, bibliography, further reading section, glossary, and an index. There’s even an interview with an archaeologist! But with all of that, not to mention all the photos, there wasn’t very much space for actual information. I hope this will get some readers interested in archaeology/ancient India, but anyone looking for specific info besides dates and locations, particularly past 7th grade, will probably be better off getting one of the books listed in the further reading section.

Blogs, Wikis, MySpace, and More April 2, 2008

Blogs, Wikis, MySpace, and More: Everything you want to know about using 2.0 but were afraid to ask. (Burrows, Terry)

Burrows gives an excellent beginners guide to the World Wide Web. The book is separated by these subject areas: Blogging, Bookmarks and Tagging, Communications, Design, e-commerce, Education and Knowledge, Games and Virtual Worlds, Hosting, Mapping, Music, News, Peer-to-Peer Sharing, Personal Management Tools, and Photographs and Videos.  Each chapter gives a brief history of the topic, detailed instructions on how to use site features, and a listing of additional websites.

However some of the sites in the Education and Knowledge section were not reference related and were mostly brainstorming sites. And some of the sites were obsolete like Findroy.com.  I would have liked to see more useful websites like the Internet Library, Bartleby.com, or Census bureau listed in the reference section.

Ideal Non-Fiction Criterion March 8, 2008

I like to make lists.  In my life I have many lists that I won’t go into on this blog, but you can see my ideal non-fiction list. 

 Ideal Non-Fiction:

1) Easy to read-clear with few questionable sentences. When I finish a paragraph I don’t want to wonder what the author meant.

2) Well organized. Organization lends itself to readability.

3) Includes diagrams and pictures to help illustrate concepts and ideas. Illustrations are sometimes key to explaining hard to understand concepts.

4) Well indexed. Sometimes the indexing of a book will determine whether or not a student doing a report will borrow it or not. People, places, times, events are key to a good index.

5) Accurate. Misinformation is worse than no information.

6) Entertaining but not confusing. Humor in non-fiction is great as long as it isn’t confusing. Humor in writing takes great skill. Very few writers are able to pull it off.

Common Pitfalls:

1) Tries to cover too much and oversimplifies leaving out important facts and information.

2) Series books sometimes gloss over research with broad statements and use a cookie cutter formula to crank out titles. (Writing a book is not like taking a written test in school, you don’t get partial points for semi-accurate information. If you are an author, you should be professional about it and thoroughly research your facts.)

3) Don’t editorialize. Non-fiction should stay factual. There are exceptions to this of course but for the most part, it’s hard enough for young readers to distinguish between objectiveness and subjectiveness.

4) References are necessary. If students have to put in all their reference sources so should authors.

Teen Cookbooks March 5, 2008

I like to think of myself as a foodie. I really enjoy good food. As a teen in the pre-Food Network world, I remember watching Yan Can Cook with Martin Yan and the Frugal Gourmet with Jeff Smith. These shows on PBS were interesting and informative. Yet, I never ventured into the kitchen except to heat up some instant ramen or to slap together a tuna sandwich. Cookbooks were those spiral bound things that my mom kept in the closet along with the ant bait and Combat. The recipes contained in them were collected from school church fundraisers, utility companies and politicians, in other words, they did not appeal to me as a teen.

In the past teens were expected to use general cookbooks, which in general isn’t a bad option, but a little intimidating at times. In recent years there’s been a market awakening in the teen cookbook arena. The following is a list of some of the teen cookbooks I’ve come across and had a chance to take a look at:

Authored by Megan and Jill Carle

Teens Cook: How To Cook What You Want To Eat

Teens Cook Dessert

College Cooking: Feed Yourself and Your Friends

Authored by Carole Raymond

Student’s Vegetarian Cookbook

Student’s Go Vegan Cookbook: Over 135 Quick, Easy, Cheap, and Tasty Vegan Recipes

Authored by Sam Stern

Cooking Up a Storm: The Teen Survival Cookbook

Real Food, Real Fast

And some other stand alones that shouldn’t be forgotten:

Look Dude I Can Cook by Amy Madden

Healthy College Cookbook by Alexandra Nimetz

The Dorm Room Diet by Daphne Oz

The Manga Cookbook by the Manga University Culinary Institute

There are other cookbooks by more famous chefs, but I’ll let you readers find the Rachel Ray’s and Emeril’s on your own. Also don’t forget the vast array of cookbooks aimed at children. One last thing, check out Little Willow’s post: Cooking Up a Storm.

Happy reading and happy cooking!

Trisha’s February non-fiction reading March 1, 2008

Even when I was a teen, I’m not sure I read any YA non-fiction, preferring adult non-fiction instead. Since one of my reading resolutions for this year was to read more non-fiction, I thought I should also make an effort to read more YA non-fiction. So I borrowed a couple of acclaimed YA non-fiction books, Invisible Allies and the second edition of Invisible Enemies, both by Jeanette Farrell, and An American Plague by Jim Murphy. I also borrowed two adult books, The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman, that I had long been meaning to read. While all five books have their merits individually, I think I got more out of each book by reading them as a group. I’m not sure if I consciously chose to borrow these books as a group because I suspected they’d work so well together or simply because they were the first non-fiction books that came to mind. In any case, the first four books all deal with the effects of culture and the movement of people around the world on medical issues, particularly those related to public health, some more explicitly than others.

~really long, so click below to read the rest~

Jolene’s January Roundup February 3, 2008

Getting It by Alex Sanchez

Carlos is a fifteen year old virgin who feels the pressure to get laid after his three best friends score. He wants to hook up with Roxy the prettiest girl in school, but bombs every-time they meet. After watching Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Carlos asks Sal a gay guy at his school to make him over and give him girl lessons. Sal agrees to help Carlos on two conditions 1.) Carlos pays him. 2.) Carlos helps him start a Gay Straight Alliance. Carlos agrees to the terms not realizing that Sal will change more than his appearance, but his whole outlook on life. Sanchez does a great of job of teaching acceptance through humor and developing characters that are believable.

The SpellBook of Listen Taylor by Jaclyn Moriarty

First of all I was confused as to whether this book should’ve been an Adult novel rather than YA. Then I found out my suspicions were right after reading a NY times review of the book. Most of the story revolves around the adult characters in the book, and there is only one main teen character Listen Taylor. Also the intertwining plot-lines revolve mainly around the infidelity between the adults. At first I was intrigued with the plotline which started off with Listen finding a spell book containing quirky spells, like how to make someone take a taxi or eat chocolate cake. However, I often found myself lost and bored with the senseless meandering between the 4 main characters. I thought the story would get more interesting, but for me it didn’t, and so I stopped midway through the book.

Vegan with a Vengeanceby Isa Chandra Moskowitz

I think most non-vegetarians have a preconceived notion that vegetarian cuisine mainly consists of granola and grass, but this is not the case when it comes to Vegan with a Vengeance. This book transforms everyday foods like pancakes, eggs, and bacon into vegalicious delights.  Moskowitz who hosts a cooking show via the internet has a knack for making vegan cooking simple, cheap, and accessible.  I am no domestic goddess so this book was perfect for me, and some of the recipes were so easy that even kids could do it.  In addition, the ingredients were easy to find and I could find them in any supermarket. I highly recommend this book if you’re considering becoming a vegetarian or just want to eat more healthy.  Some of my favorite recipes included the Lemon Cupcakes, Faux Hostess Cupcakes, and Corn Chowder. (Pictured below the tasty cupcakes I made!)

Meth January 23, 2008

Meth is one of those drugs that you hear about and it immediately has a name and face. My cousin was a meth dealer in high school. No one realized she had a drug problem until the police arrested her. That was almost ten years ago, but it seems like yesterday. Meth continues to reappear too close to home on many occasions in my life, whether it’s finding drug paraphernalia outside the library or a tweaker coming up to me on the street. I don’t want to dismiss meth as somebody’s else’s problem and I think there are ways in which we can combat it. For me knowledge is power. I empower myself by learning. I felt empowered after reading Elaine Landau’s Meth and Ellen Hopkins’ Crank. I’m hoping to empower more teens by encouraging them to learn about meth. There’s a hope in the back of my mind that a teen will pick up one of these books before experimenting with the drug and then maybe, they’ll think twice.

Ellen Hopkins’ Crank is an account of her own daughter’s experience with methamphetamine. Kristina has a bold alter ego who she calls Bree. Bree does all the things that Kristina is too shy to do. The monster aka meth takes over Kristina’s life after a date with a gorgeous guy who falls in love with Bree.  The gorgeous guy turns Kristina’s life upside down as she falls head over heels in love.  It doesn’t help that Kristina’s estranged father who she’s staying with for a couple weeks during the summer is a druggie.  Crank is an all too personal account of how meth can destroy a life in the blink of an eye.  Crank is also a hopeful story that ends with recovery.  Told in verse, it’s a quick read that will appeal to reluctant readers as well as those who are curious.

Another book that I had a chance to read is Meth: America’s Drug Epidemic by Elaine Landau.  This long overdue non-fiction title came out last year and gives factual information about meth that goes beyond “just say no!”  (I personally hate all those preachy drug books that basically tell you “drugs are bad, people who do drugs are bad.”)  Interesting facts that I gleaned from Meth is that it was used by Japanese soldiers toward the end of World War II and it was once prescribed by doctors.  Eye-opening information since I thought it was just cooked up illegally.  Interesting to find it had a “legitimate” past.  Another interesting aspect of Meth is that is also goes into the social implications of this increasing problem.  Landau talks about how burn units in hospitals are being overwhelmed by botched meth production.  Landau presents a lot of information in an easy to read non-condescending format.  I learned a thing or two about meth and I thought I’d heard it all.  (Admittedly, I’m one of those people who watch sensational news shows and recreations of deaths/tragedies.)

Meth is a serious topic for discussion.  It is a problem that effects all of our lives.  The aforementioned books are only a few of the resources available out there about the drug.  If you would like to contribute a useful resource in the comments section of this blog entry, I’d love to compile it into an annotated bibliography in the future.

Fantasy Crafts January 18, 2008

I’ve always fantasized about being a great crafter. However if the craft involves any real skill, I’m not your go to person.  I fancy myself to have found a few fun crafting books for teens and young adults.  Here’s the short list:

Plush You!: Loveable Misfit Toys to Sew & Stuff by Kristen Rask

Plush-O-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults by Linda Kopp

Super Crafty: Over 75 Amazing Craft Projects

Alternacrafts: Hi-Style Low Budget Crafts to Make by Jessica Vitkus

Amigurumi: Super Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth Doherty

Mr. Funky’s Super Crochet Wonderful by Narumi Ogawa

When assessing the quality of these titles I was judging them from an aesthetic point of view.  If the pictures were nice and the projects looked cool they made the list.  Some of these books got pretty bad reviews by serious crafters.  

Non-Fic for Booktalks December 27, 2007

Here are a couple of newly published titles which might interest young readers at your next booktalk. 

100 Marvels of the Modern World by Various

It’s kind of a hefty volume, but worth it’s weight in picturesque photos and fascinating facts about the world’s most amazing engineering marvels. From bridges, buildings, tunnels,  to dams every man made engineering feat from around the world is covered in this fascinating book.  Some of my personal favorites were Egypt’s Alexandria Library, The Ice Hotel In Sweden (you can connect this to Missy Elliot’s/Tweet video), and the Asahi Super Dry Hall in Japan.  

99 Ways to Cut, Sew, Trim, and Tie your Shirt into Something Special by Faith Blackney et al.

I’m a Project Runway addict and thought this book would be fun for aspiring designers. And you know what? It totally is.  Like the title states, it’s 99 projects and patterns to turn a mundane t-shirt into a fabulous skirt or any other clothing article. You could also pair this book with Generation T: 108 ways to transform a T-Shirt by Megan Nicolay.

                     

 

(Shepard Fairy’s Obey)

Sticker City: Paper Graffiti Art by Claudia Walde.

Ever notice that random sticker placed on the exit sign on the freeway? Well this book chronicles the artists who create the graffiti sticker art you may see all over your urban jungle. 

 

What if..? 75 Fascinating Questions and Answers by HowStuffWorks.com.

This book is an easy crowd pleaser for boys and girls from 7th to 12th grade. Brought to you by HowStuffWorks.com it is a plethora of interesting and fascinating questions and their scientific answers.  For my booktalk I started off with the question “What if the Hoover Dam Broke?” and related it to the movie Transformers, where in the finale the evil robots threaten to blow up the Hoover Dam.   Other questions that tickled their fancy were “What if we had no eyebrows?” and “How would you un superglue yourself?”

 

Villainology: Fabolous Lives of the Big, the Bad, and the Wicked by Arthur Slade

A great book to bring along if you’re doing a booktalk around Halloween.  Slade takes a humorous look at some of the most meanest and creepiest Villains in history. (Real and fictional.)  Personal favorites included The Invisible Man(who apparently tried to date the Invisible women, but they were never able to find eachother), The Headless Horseman, and Mephastopheles.   You could also pair this book with How to Be a Villian: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans, and More!! by Neil Zawacki, which shows you how to formulate your own villainous name, I’m Mistress DoomHeart.

Early New Year’s Resolution: Read more YA non-fiction December 8, 2007

At the Nonfiction Matters blog, Marc Aronson asked why people weren’t listing non-fiction among their favorites of this year, and if they even notice the omission. So, here’s why there is no non-fiction on my favorites list right now.

But first, a little background. I used to read a lot more non-fiction than I do now. The decline started pretty much ever since I stopped going to the main library, which has a lot more of the non-fiction I’m interested in than the branch library I work at. And especially since starting this blog, which is my own fault, because I’m the one who didn’t want to write about adult books here. Even then, though, I read mostly adult non-fiction, so even if I still was reading a lot of non-fiction, I’m not sure how many titles would go on a list of favorite YA books.

Getting back to the original question, most of the YA non-fiction I’ve read this year are rather lacking in the narrative department. I could be like Gayle and put Aranzi Aronzo’s The Cute Book on my list, but… Nothing against Quick Pick-type non-fiction, and maybe my standards are too high, but I personally need some sort of narrative to call a book a favorite. Arbitrary, perhaps, but hey, it’s my list so I can follow my own criteria. The Cute Book is definitely, well, cute, but do I like it as much and does it matter as much to me as the fiction that I comfortably call favorites? At this point, no. In a few years, maybe it will be elevated to favorite status. But right now, I can’t say I’ll be as enamored with it in the future as I currently am. All the fiction on my list, on the other hand, have had a larger impact on me than the creation of a few felt mascots, whether by broadening my literary horizons or having something that simply blew my mind or simply by being a book I know I’ll read again because I loved the writing and/or characters. Non-fiction is capable of doing this as well, but not when a book consists solely of instructions, anecdotes, etc. There is a place for Quick Pick-type non-fiction on some lists, but they don’t measure up to the fiction and narrative non-fiction books I love best, and hence don’t make my favorites list.

The second factor is simply that I don’t have the opportunity to read all the non-fiction I want to. I want to read books like Who Was First: Discovering the Americas by Russell Freedman and Muckrakers: How Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, and Lincoln Steffens Helped Expose Scandal, Inspire Reform, and Invent Investigative Journalism by Ann Bausum. But considering that these type of books barely circulate at my library, not like those Chicken Soup for the Soul or getting into college books, or the majority of the fiction and graphic novels we have, it’s hard to justify buying a book that will likely only get borrowed by me. Yeah, I do have books like With Courage and Cloth: Winning the Fight for a Woman’s Right to Vote, Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America, and Dear Miss Breed in my collection, but I can hardly make an exception for every book I’d like to purchase. I therefore don’t have all the non-fiction I want in my collection, and because I don’t have it, I can’t read it and put it on my favorites list.

Now, as to whether people in general making favorites list notice the omission and what they think about it if they do, I’m not exactly sure. I wonder if part of the answer is the amount of quality non-fiction that’s published for adults and how many of us bypass YA non-fiction in favor of the adult stuff. And I do think that most YA non-fiction is tarnished by a school taint. If it looks anything remotely like a book you’d have read to write a report when you were in school, it would have to be a pretty amazing book to get you to overlook the association with school and make it on to a favorites list (though maybe not a Best of list). Given the choice, I would always pick the adult stuff, even back when I was a teen and borrowing books for school assignments. Plus, I’m not sure all the adult non-fiction I’m interested has YA equivalents. I mean, can you imagine Cocaine: An Unauthorized Biography, which is one of my favorite adult non-fiction books, as a YA book? And there is a children’s version of Salt: A World History (can you tell I’m a sucker for microhistories?), but no YA version. I do have high hopes for the Groundwork Guides series, though, so once Cybils season is over, and the books are finally cataloged, maybe I will have some YA non-fiction to add to my favorites list.