The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, by Ann Brashares

Brashares, Ann (2003). The Second Summer of the Sisterhood. New York: Delacorte, 373 pages.

In this sequel to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, the four girls have waited until this summer to pull out the pants and let them work their magic. Bridget, normally impetuous and confident, has hidden herself under hair-dye and excess weight. Spontaneously she leaves for a summer in Alabama to reacquaint herself with her mother's mother. Lena finds out that last summer's Greek boyfriend Kostos has a new girlfriend, but he manages to surprise on her doorstep. Carmen again has troubles with her parents, this time her mom. Tibby heads of to a summer film program in Virginia and learns a few things about what is good film making.

I liked this book even though it's cheesy and didactic. Besides the quotations at chapter breaks the dialog is full of those cliche adages about life, friendship and family. I think this is one of the reasons the book is so popular. It's comforting to see friendships exist as only in dreams. A pair of pants that fits four different shaped girls isn't the only fantasy here. The fantasy of being free to roam from state to state, sneak in and our of dorm rooms undetected, and having friendships so unconditional don't actually exist for teenagers. But the idea is attractive. The pedantic messages are often comforting and provide an objective viewpoint for a teen reader.

This book is full of those writing issues for which I criticized Meyer. I hold Brashares under the same scrutiny. But to be honest the quick pace of the book and the movement between characters distracted me from the writing.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Meyer, Stephenie. (2005) Twilight. New York: Little Brown & Company 498 pages.

Bella, a clumsy and somewhat jaded teen, has just moved back to Forks, Washington to live with her dad. At school she is mystified by Edward who seems different from the rest and saves her life on multiple occasions. Edward is a vampire and before Bella knows it she's in love with him and the adventure begins.

So most people know that I struggled with this book. But it is my goal to write a fair and rational review. Thus, I'm going to start with what was good about it. Edward was attractive and at times downright sexy. I personally prefer men with a heart beat, but Meyer made him heroic in the most traditional sense. This made him easy to fall for. Second, although I had to wait almost 400 pages for it, I must say the climax was creative and exciting. That's all I'm going to say in case there are blog readers out there who haven't read the book yet.

Now for the critique. The writing left a little to be desired. In my opinion adverbs are the root of all evil and given Meyer's heavy use of them, she disagrees. The word "incredulous" was used multiple times in various contexts. It drove me nuts. To steal from The Princess Bride, "I do not think that means what she thinks it means." Second, probably over 100 pages of this book were spent with Edward explaining to Bella how dangerous he is. I kept thinking, "I know, I know - get over it! Less talking more action, Please!" Third, was the lack of a strong female character. I'm not used to reading books where the girl is constantly unable to take care of herself. I found this difficult to handle. Edward always had to be there to save her.

For the record, I did get sucked in. I think the only option is for Bella to become a vampire herself, and I'm proud of Stephenie Meyer for being so successful.

Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows

Barrows, Annie & Blackall, Sophie (2006). Ivy and Bean: Book One. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. 113 pages.

Mischievous Bean, formally known as Bernice, refuses to get to know Ivy, the new girl, because she is "nice," and nice equals boring. But when Ivy helps Bean escape the wrath of her older sister Nancy and shows Bean her secret spot, Bean starts to think that maybe she isn't so bad. Ivy even knows a couple witch spells to help keep Nancy in her place.

Ivy & Bean is a relatively recent transitional series to become very popular with good reason. The story line is fluid. simple and combines a lot of fun illustrations. The story is comical with a strong moral at the end which just makes the story fun. Bean and Ivy are both quirky in their own special ways making this a great team for a series of books.

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

Giff, Patricia Reilly. (2002). Pictures of Hollis Woods. New York: Scholastic, 166 pages.

Hollis Woods was abandoned as a child and since then has bounced from foster home to foster home from which she has a tendency to run. Now, she is 12 and at Josie's house, a lovely older woman who has the tendency to forget. Hollis brings her pictures to Josie's in which unfold her strong desire for a family and the story of how she almost had one once. When the social worker threatens to take Hollis away from Josie, she escapes with Josie to the place where she first found family.

I was so excited to read this book. I loved the title and the little silver medal on the cover. I must say I was disappointed. It was short, but slow and honestly just dull. It all seemed extremely melodramatic and unrealistic. I can see how a child would like it but I was left wanting.

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

Creech, Sharon. (2001). Love That Dog. New York: Harper Trophy, 86 pages.

At the beginning of the school year, Jack is not so sure about writing poetry and makes that very clear to his teacher in his poetry journal. First he starts by writing complaints broken into short lines. He discusses poems that his teacher presents to the class until finally he is able to share the love for his dog in a poem inspired by “Mr. Walter Dean Myers.”

I went into this book thinking 2 things:

1) This is going to be another pet story
2) There is going to be some really good poetry here

I was wrong on two accounts. More than a story about a boy and his dog is a story about a boy realizing that it is okay to be who he is. The poetry improves as Jack gains confidence in himself and his work. The story is told only in his words and we get the teacher’s perspective only through him. This is not another Because of Winn Dixie.

Second, the novel may be in verse but it is a child’s verse. Myer’s novel Street Love (see below) incorporates a more mature poetry with metaphor, rhythm and all other expected elements. This obviously reflects a child’s voice – an immature effort at poetry. This doesn’t make it bad. In fact, it makes it accessible to a younger audience than it would otherwise and will build confidence in understanding poetry.

The book incorporates both classic and contemporary poetry in a creative and not pushy manner, but focuses on Walter Dean Myers the most contemporary of the authors. This adds a personal touch and may motivate a reader to further exploration.

Remember, by Toni Morrison

Morrison, Toni (2004). Remember: the Journey to School Integration. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 78 pages.

Using high quality archival photographs, Morrison tells the story of school integration from a child's perspective. She begins with a brief yet informative explanation of the book followed by the series of photographs with a fictionalized commentary. Following the approximately 70 pages of photographs is a timeline of important events and descriptions of each photograph.

The photos make this book a success. Morrison used photo archives to find the photographs. Photos of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and pivotal days of integration are familiar to adults and may be recognizable to children. Other photos of children at school or trying to go to integrated schools are less famous. They were all high quality and representative of what children may have experienced. Each photo is clear, thought provoking, but not disturbing for children.

Honestly, I'm a little disappointed with how the information was handled. Rather than telling the story of the actual photograph, Morrison creates short fictionalized commentary for many of the photos. The real story of the photo is at the back of the book in an index. This made for a lot of flipping back and forth and was frustrating. This format would be tedious for a child using it independently. In a group setting the fictionalized commentary would probably work better because it is short and would hold students' interest. The whole purpose of this book is to document this difficult time and telling the real stories of the photos would have had more impact in my opinion.

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Yang, Gene Luen (2006). American Born Chinese. New York: First Second, 233 pages.

This graphic novel intertwines an ancient Chinese fable with two modern tales of young life as an Asian-American. The Monkey King is eager to be accepted as a god, but is not welcomed into the feast because he is a monkey with no shoes. Henceforth, he attempts to denounce his monkey-hood to be accepted as an equal to the gods. In California, Jin Wang is trying to be accepted as a Chinese-American in his middle school. With a little help from his friend, Wei-Chen, Jin even manages to ask the girl he likes out, but not without some challenges. Last, Danny, a blond kid, somehow has a cousin who is the Chinese stereotype. He visits every year and destroys Danny's social life. Cleverly, these stories converge revealing a lesson about accepting ourselves.

I've said this before but graphic novels really aren't my thing. I respect them. In fact, graphic novels often incorporate more difficult vocabulary than their traditional counterparts. Reading a graphic novel depends on different set of literacy skills. That said, I'm just not the most visually literate person in the world. So in judging the book I'm trying to divorce myself from a general dislike. In this case I enjoyed it, but I didn't think it was amazing. The telling of the modern school stories interested me more than the fable of the Monkey King. I find mythology in all its forms dull. But all sections incorporated some clever dialogue and humor which kept me going. The art was clear and not difficult for a novice like me to understand. The actions in the images were consistent with the text. This book has earned a lot of acclaim and while I enjoyed it I'm not sure it was worth all the accolade.