Banned Books Week 2006

Banned Books Week

Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski

This book is a playground. The website for the book says it all www.onlyrevolutions.com

Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala

This is a difficult book to recommend in the usual sense, but one that I feel every teenager in America should read today. The narrator, Agu, is a child in an unnamed West African nation when war comes to town. He is separated from his family and taken into the "army", and before he can even comprehend what is happening to him, he is committing atrocities that almost completely erase his memories of his happy life with his family. The joy of this novel is in the narrative voice that Iweala ingeniously crafts to pull the reader into the innocence of Agu's mind. I read this book in one sitting and nearly wept many times. It is a must-read.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

This is the most amazinng book of my summer reading. Special Topics in Calamity Physics was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review last Sunday, but it was already on my pile of new books waiting to be read. I started it immediately and couldn't put it down. It I could teach AP English from this book alone - I would. The Table of Contents is set up as a Core Curriculum and lists titles of classic works of literature that are the chapter titles for the story of a high school senior named Blue Van Meer. She lives with her father, her mother is deceased, who moves her all over the country as he takes various teaching jobs. Although they average three addresses per year, he promises he will not move her during her senior year, and so she meets a band of misfit students who include Blue in their weekly dinners with their teacher, Hannah Schneider. Two thirds of the way through, the novel becomes a mystery. It ends with a Final Exam section for the reader. Pessl's "documentation" of sources makes the book a very literary read. The website is a gem, too - http://calamityphysics.com

Blue Angel by Francine Prose

This novel is set on an idyllic college campus where a previously highly moralled Creative Writing professor meets a young student in one of his workshops who lures him into a murky romantic relationship. I was reminded of Jane Smiley's Moo while reading this darkly comic satire of higher education. Particularly enjoyable were the chapters from the student writers' works that Prose includes.

JPod by Douglas Coupland

This is a laugh-out-loud funny book about pod mates at a computer game company whose last names all begin with the letter J. Their office antics reminded me of the movie Office Space, but Coupland's writing style is what gives the book a freshness. Every few pages or so are random lists, such as all of the three letter words that are allowable in Scrabble plus one that is not. It makes for a fun read and a pretty clear window into office behavior. Check out the very cool website for this book - www.jpod.info

Red Weather by Pauls Toutonghi

This book showed up in many summer publications as a new novel of interest. Main character Yuri Balodis is just a typical high school student trying to survive adolescence and the craziness of his immigrant parents. Then he meets Hannah Graham, daughter of a socialist activist, who is everything his parents wouldn't want for him in a girlfriend. Yuri begins sneaking out at night to peddle the activist paper with Hannah and things start to heat up. Much of the humor in this book comes from the twisted grammar of Yuri's father, who is trying to raise his son to be a good American. I've read reviews that call Red Weather a Latvian-American Catcher in the Rye.

A Changed Man by Francine Prose

After reading an excerpt in The Atlantic from a soon to be release book of essays titled Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and Those Who Want to Write Them, I started on a Prose kick to finish out my summer reading. A Changed Man is the story of a young, tattoed neo-Nazi named Vincent Nolan who walks into the office of a brotherhood organization run by a Holocaust survivor and volunteers to have his life changed through their organization. He becomes an unlikely poster child for tolerance and hope, but not without some humorous twists.

Don't Move by Margaret Mazzantini

This book won Italy's most prestigious literary prize, the Premio Strega and was made into a movie a few years back. The main character, a surgeon named Timoteo, recalls the regrets of his past as his only daughter is being operated on following an accident. Parts of the novel were very disturbing. Timoteo is not a character you feel sympathy for, but you want to continue reading to find out how the plot is resolved. It left a Lolita-like film on my brain.

White Ghost Girls by Alice Greenway

Set in Hong Kong during the summer of 1967, this is a coming-of-age story of two sisters - Frankie and Kate. Their father, a Vietnam war photographer is gone; their mother, a painter, is present but distant. The central figure in their lives is thier Chinese nanny, Ah Bing - and, of course, Hong Kong itself. Kate narrates the story, which is haunted by tragedy, and her voice is fresh and youthful and very poetic.

One Mississippi by Mark Childress

The protagonist of this novel is 16 year old Daniel Musgrove. His family moves from the Midwest to rural Mississippi during his junior year of high school. Rather than have no friends, he latches on to goof-ball Tim Cousins, whose motto is "Everything is funny all the time." And the book is hilariously funny almost until the end, when I was disappointed by the turn of events. Even so, I loved reading One Mississippi.

A Student of Living Things by Susan Richards Shreve

Set in Washington, D.C., this novel opens with the murder of a college student, Steven Frayn. His sister, Claire, is standing nearby when he is gunned down on the steps of a university library. Claire then meets a mysteriously charming student named Victor Duarte, who claims to know who killed her brother and convinces her to assume an alias and begin a correspondence with the assumed killer. Part mystery, part love story, this novel also addresses some political and ethical subjects.

To Feel Stuff by Andrea Seigel

This is a long awaited novel by the author of Like the Red Panda, which is one that my students have been passing around for the last few years. This time, Siegel's main character, Elodie, is a permanent resident at the Brown University infirmary. Her chronic illnesses range from chicken pox to tuberculosis, but all seem forerunners to her special powers which develop throughout the course of the novel. Told in three voices - Elodie's, her doctor's and her fellow inmate/lover Chess Hunter's - the book is a fun read but not as generally appealling as Like the Red Panda.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

This book kept me turing the pages. On a stormy winter's night, a doctor's wife gives birth to twins - one healthy and one with Downs. She is so disoriented by the delivery that her husband is able to give the Downs baby to the nurse to take away to an orphanage. He tells his wife that the baby boy survived, but the girl died. The nurse, unable to leave the girl at the rundown facility, takes it to another town to raise as her own. And as the years pass - - - The premise may be predictable but the plot is not. I enjoyed this into the wee hours of the night.

The Ride of Our Lives by Mike Leonard

Mike Leonard of the Today show documents his cross country RV trip with his aging parents and grown children. This hilarious, touching book reminds readers what it means to be part of a family. The book comes with a DVD of Today show segments that shared the Leonard family vacation with the nation.

LIteracy and Longing in L.A. by Jennifer Mack and Karen Kaufman

I had read a couple of reviews of this book which made me believe this was a book for me. Full of literary references and quotes from famous authors, it is still just a chick book about a down and out, lovelorn L.A. lady who goes on book binges when she gets depressed, taking books and wine and candles into the bathroom for a soak in the tub. The book has a website that recommends it as a great book for book club discussions. I think our bookclub will pass on this one.

As Simple as Snow by Gregory Calloway

One of my students brought this book over for me to read. It is "young adult" in subject matter, and won a 2006 Alex award for adult literature that appeals to teens. The book is narrated by a high school boy who falls in love with the mysterious new girl in town, Anastasia. She introduces him to Kerouac and Houdini and coded communication. To say anything more would spoil it, but it is the first book in a long while to remind my of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I will be recommending this one to my students next year. Check out the website for the book at www.assimpleassnow.com

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

This is a lovely book and my favorite of the summer so far. Gruen did research on Depression era travelling circuses by looking at collections of photographs from the day. Her story, narrated by 90 year old Jacob Jankowski, recalls the struggles and disasters often associated with travelling circuses. The elephant, Rosie, is a character in and of herself. I couldn't put this book down.

And the Word Was by Bruce Bauman

This novel is set in New York City and India. The main character, Neil Downs, is a physician who is on call when his son's body is brought into the hospital following an act of school violence. The outcome of the incident changes Downs forever and sends him on a search for life's purpose in New Dehli, where he takes a job as embassy physician. I especially liked the passages about the teachings of Levi Furstenblum, a Holocaust survivor and writer whose philosophy Bauman fabricates in such a way I found myself wondering whether Furstenblum wasn't some real person I had never heard of. This book is about race, inequality and the time it takes to mend damaged lives. I really enjoyed it.

The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead

The main characters in this novel are elevator inspectors that can be divided into two schools of thought - the Empiricists and the Intuitionists. The plot revolves around whether Lila Mae Watson, the first black female inspector, was set up to take the fall for an elevator that crashed after she had signed off on it. Politics, race and kooky elevator physics make this an interesting read.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

I started reading this book last summer and put it aside. This time I really enjoyed the mystery that unfolds through the pages of Murakami's novel. Kafka Tamura is a teenage runaway who randomly chooses to hideout in the one town which will connect him to his past. The chapters detailing Kafka's journey are alternated with chapters detailing the parallel story of Nakata, a simpleminded war veteran who communicates with cats and commits a serious crime that links him to Kafka. Confusing - yes! But the ending is very unique and makes the read worthwhile.

Adverbs by Dan Handler

This book is FUN to read. Handler is best known for his Lemony Snicket series, but this book of interrelated love stories uses adverbs as chapter titles. The composition, as a whole, is more like a work of jazz - variations and repetitions of words and phrases. It is a playground for a reader looking for a romp.

Girly by Elizabeth Merrick

This book took me a while to get through, but I'm glad that a read it. Racinda Hart, the main character, is an adolescent girl trying to find her own voice through first encounters with cultlike religion, sexuality, drugs and alcohol and generations of dysfuctional family life. Merrick is someone to watch. You can learn more about her mission as a writer from her website www.elizabethmerrick.com. Check it out.

The Warrior Heir by Cinda Chima

This is a great book for young adults and even adults looking for a page turner of the "Harry Potter" variety. My praise for this fantasy novel is particularly high because the author, Cinda Chima, is the parent of two great boys who have been AP English students of mine. Cinda came in to talk to my students this month about the process of writing a novel, finding a publisher and even finding the right cover art. This book is set in a fictional town modeled on Oberlin Ohio and she showed slides of some of the location that were inspirational to her. The greatest thing I can say about this book is that the sequel is on the way next fall. You will want to read more of this talented author's work!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This book is amazing!!! I read almost all of it on Easter Sunday and finished with tears in my eyes for the last 25 pages. The narrator of this story is death, but the protagonist is a child who steals books from Nazi book burnings. Her voice and heart-breaking story is so endearing. Zusak's book has been marketed to young adults in some countries, but was released as an adult novel in the United States. It reminded me a lot of Jonathan Safron Foer's style, especially with the graphic sections and switches in point of view. I highly recommend this amazing book. You will not be able to put it down.