Mrs. K has a crush...

An author crush, that is.  John Green, mastermind behind YA novels such as An Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, and co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, has released his newest book:  The Fault in Our Stars.  Guess who just scored a signed copy of it at her local Barnes & Noble?  Me, me, me, me, me!

The thing about John Green is he's smart, funny, nerdy (in a good way) and writes about real people with real problems without moping around endlessly in life's dreary places.  He creates characters who can make you cry and laugh within the same paragraph. 

I heart him.

He also has a wonderfully entertaining video blog called Vlogbrothers which he co-hosts with his equally smart, funny, and nerdy brother Hank.  Check it out here and learn how to be a Nerdfighter (one who "tries to do awesome things, have a good time, and fight against World Suck").

Drive-Through Reviews: Will Grayson, Will Grayson & Glass

My good friend at Tattoos, Love, & Lunacy gave me a great idea when it comes to trying to keep up with your blog on a tiny time-budget.  I can't remember what she called it, but I'm going to call it the Drive-Through Review.  I've read quite a few YA books over the last few weeks but have had no time to tell anyone about them.  Without further ado, here are some super-fast-I've-got-to-go-grade-papers-and-get-to-bed-early-because-I'm-so-very-tired reviews of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and Glass.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson
by John Green and David Levithan

WHO: Will Grayson, Tiny Cooper, will grayson, and several other enjoyable characters
WHAT: Two very different teenage boys with the very same name meet when each is having the very same kind of terrible night.
WHERE: A suburb outside of Chicago...sometimes right in Chicago.
WHEN: In the present.
MY THOUGHTS: It was heart-warming, honest, and made me laugh out loud over and over again.  You will never forget Tiny Cooper.




Glass
by Ellen Hopkins

WHO: Kristina/Bree
WHAT: Kristina isn't able to kick her meth habit.  She tells herself that she'll be able to keep it under control  but, of course, she can't.
WHERE: Nevada
WHEN: In the present.
MY THOUGHTS: A definite page-turner...the book is intense and brings you with Kristina as she spirals deeper and deeper into addiction and crime.  Glass is a satisfying sequel to Crank, although I think Kristina's story would have been more powerful if it ended at the conclusion of the first book.

Reading, Writing, Reading, Writing, Reading, Writing...

 
Given that NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is keeping me super busy these days, I haven't been able to write much on Mrs. K's Bookshelf.  However, I have somehow managed to keep up with lots of reading.  Here are the books that I've got on deck for reviews: Will Grayson,Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, Cut by Patricia McCormick, and Glass by Ellen Hopkins.  

My students regularly ask me, "How do you do all of this and teach?" 
My answer?  I'm a complete maniac. 

Guts

I never thought I would pick up a book about hunting, fishing, dog sledding, and survival techniques.  Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the outdoors but by no means am I an "outdoorsy" person.  However, when three of my male students showed a strong interest in Gary Paulsen's book Guts, a book which describes Paulsen's real-life experiences that inspired the book Hatchet, I had to stop and pay attention.

The fact of the matter is, as a high school reading teacher, I've had a pretty tough time finding books that will grab the interest of the boys in my class, and it's no wonder considering the YA market is so heavily targeted toward the female adolescent audience. (All you need to do to see this for yourself is walk into any Barnes & Noble and inspect the book covers that fill the shelves of the teen section.) Is this because girls read more than boys?  Or do boys read less than girls because there is nothing out there for them to read?  This is something YA publishers and people in the field of adolescent literacy need to consider...NOW. 

Anyway, back to Guts.  I really enjoyed this book.  It taught me things I would never know if not for its existence (Which, kiddos, is one of the many awesome things about reading).  For example, don't be fooled by the goofy grin of a moose for it is capable of  true insanity and malice.  Also, if you're stuck in the woods and aren't properly prepared, you may just have to suck it up and eat some fish guts and eyeballs in order to survive.

Even though Guts is a book that caught the attention of the boys in my class, I would recommend it to both male and female readers (and both "indoorsy" and "outdoorsy" types for that matter) because while it has the ability to reflect one reader's own experience, it can also open up a whole new world to another.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

I put off reading Crank for a long time because I knew how heavy it was going to be.  And, hey, it's summer - I didn't want to read anything too grim during these beautiful months of freedom.  But one of my students from last year told me over and over how much she loved Crank and that she really wanted me to read it.  My philosophy:  When a teenager loves a book that much and wants to share it with a lame adult, it's time to stop and pay attention.

The words that come to my mind after having read Crank:

Stunning.  Excruciating.  Unforgettable. 

Here's a brief synopsis from the back of the book: Kristina is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble.  Then she meets the monster: crank.  And what begins as a wild ride turns into a struggle for her mind, her soul - her life.

Barrel of laughs, huh?  Not so much.  Painful as it was to read this story, I loved it from start to finish. Ellen Hopkins' character reached out from the pages of that book, grabbed me by the collar, and forced me to look at the very difficult and often ugly truths behind addiction and mental illness. Every brief chapter is written in verse, which I imagine was Hopkins' way of revealing the essence of each character, situation, and emotion in the story.

If I had to identify one weakness it would be that there were many elements in Crank that reminded me of Laurie Halse Anderson's Wintergirls.  But you know what? Whiskeytown reminds me a lot of Wilco, and I don't love either of those bands any less!  (Look them up on iTunes, kids.  You won't be sorry.)

To wrap it up, I give Ellen Hopkins and Crank five stars.  However, I'm not ready to move on to her other YA novels (Fallout, Glass, and Impulse to name a few) just yet.  I need a little fantasy or maybe a romance with a semi-happy ending before I do that.  But I will definitely return to Hopkins' work and share it with all of my students once the school year begins.

Challenge: Write For Fifteen Minutes A Day

Laurie Halse Anderson, notable author of young adult novels like Speak, Wintergirls, and Twisted, will host her annual 'Write For Fifteen Minutes A Day' (WFMAD) challenge this August.  For each day of the month, she will post on her blog tips, prompts, and general words of encouragement  for those of us who want to establish a daily writing practice yet find a bajillion reasons to avoid it.  Fifteen minutes a day is doable.  God, I must play Words With Friends and check Facebook for at least 30 minutes a day, so there is no excuse for me not to take part in this awesome writing challenge.  Day 1 of the challenge is also my birthday (August 1! Yippee!), so I'm looking at it as a sort of resolution to embrace writing the way I've always wanted to.  Who's with me?

Teeny tiny review: Shiver

I don't have a lot of time today, but I really want to post about Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver.  Here's the summary from http://maggiestiefvater.com/shiver/shiver/: 

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever. 

What I loved: 

1. Stiefvater's use of descriptive language to create a vivid other-wordly setting.
2. A strong, smart, and confident female protagonist in Grace.
3. An original spin on the werewolf myth (her werewolves transform as a result of temperature changes, not the phases of the moon.
4. The cover...tee hee...
5. Teenage characters that sound like teenagers (most of the time).
6. The ending...sorry, you'll have to read it to find out.


What left me wanting:

 1. The light blue font on some of the pages.  Maybe this was just a manufacturing issue?
 2. That's pretty much it!  I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the sequel, Linger.

You can listen to the author read the first two chapters of Shiver by clicking here.

Watch an interview with Maggie Stiefvater here:

Next up: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly