Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

I first heard of 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' when I started reading top ten book lists for 2011. In them, praises were sung, readers were encouraged and generally it was made out to be a very good thing. As I was doing ordering at the time, I added it to the list, along with 'Beauty Queens', 'Anna Dressed in Blood' and 'The Scorpio Races'. I've finally had a chance to read it and I have to say, it was worth the hype.

'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' is the story of Karou. She draws monsters that are dismissed by her art teacher as fantasy drawings, yet she knows they are real. She has been gifted - literally - several languages. Her hair is naturally a bright blue and remains that way. She is everything she wishes she could be -yet she does not know who she is. Suddenly, black handprints appear on doorways, burned there by winged strangers who have appeared. Karou finds her job - collecting teeth for her foster father- threatened by an otherworldly war, a war where some will learn who they are and others will learn who they can trust.

'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' is a gripping read. Karou is so very cool the reader, like her fellow art students, wants to continue to see her life. Her errands, which she accomplishes by traveling through portals, seem fantastical, even with the realization that she is gathering teeth from around the world. Her life, made better by a series of wishes that is her pay, seems perfect, if it were not for the sometimes abrupt times she is contacted to go on errands. Yet, her world begins to crumble, leaving her with a lack of self understanding and a lack of trust. While she is fantastically rich and able to provide all she wants, she still does not know anything about her self. She is alone and must learn who she is to be able to decide who she can trust.

At times the story is a little muddled. Part of that has to do with the fast pace of sections of the novel, which are imperative in maintaining the plot. To read this novel, one has to buy into the fantastical world completely - there is no relief from it, nor many characters who are not involved in it. The reader must also be able to comprehend the enormity of the world and the history that is presented by the characters. However, if the reader can cope with these points, they will find this novel  a fantastic read. My only major issue was that I did not know it was the start of a series and was looking forward to a resolution. Now, I'm looking forward to the next book!

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Book Review: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

"You're not dead, but you're not alive. You're a wintergirl....."

Continuing in her tradition of taking current realities for teenagers and weaving them into a narrative, Laurie Halse Anderson has tacked Eating Disorders in the novel 'Wintergirls'. In it we follow Lia, an anorexic and a cutter who has lost her best friend Cassie. Lia and Cassie were close, sharing almost anything, including their eating disorders and their constant competition to succeed at them. However, while Lia is able to tell us the story, Cassie is dead, having been found alone in a hotel room, having drank, binged and purged for two days until her esophagus ruptured. Lia feels guilty for her death, having ignored her phone, hiding it away due to the constant ringing, only to find out that it was her friend, calling from the motel, trying 33 times to reach her. Lia carries the shame of this through visions of Cassie following her around, encouraging and taunting her. As the book progresses, Lia and her disease progress to the point that she has to make a choice - is competing with a ghost worth losing everything she loves?

As a high school librarian, I see the impact that eating disorders have on students daily. I will admit, I hesitated putting this book in the library for that reason - the worry that it would teach how to bypass help offered and allow students to fall further into their disease, which for many, like Lia, is their life. However, any information and teaching presented in this novel is not done in a sensationalistic way or in a way that would differ from thousands of other sources. However, the gripping reality of Lias life - and Cassies death - will be more than instructive. There is a lot of literature that talks about how eating disorders can kill a person - this book - very graphically - shows how they can kill a person but more than that, kill everything around them. Watching Lia struggle with her relationships with her mother and her step-sister really shows the reader what an eating disorder can do, not just to those directly suffering from one, but also to those who care for them.

The novel is told from Lias point of view - we see her thoughts, her reactions, her story through her eyes. For most of the novel this is quite effective - her self destruction is beautifully documented, her downward spiral is very evident and her reactions to events are heartbreaking at times. Hearing the death of Cassie described to her was far more effective than having it described to us the reader. At times it would have been nice to see more than this point of view but overall it was a startling and strong choice for this novel. There were a few subplots - especially the one with  Elijah - are not always necessary, but are used, at times to show how much despair and damage has been done to her life. The lesson from the novel, about choices and how one life can impact all of those around them does not suffer from the large doses of gritty reality that help teach it, but instead are greatly enhanced - the sense of relief as a reader when you reach that point aids in teaching and growing.

'Wintergirls' is a strong offering and aptly titled. Readers who enjoy reality fiction and want to read about realistic situation faced by teens would be the target audience for this particular novel.

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21st Century Learning

Lately there has been lots of buzz around the term '21st Century Learning'. What is it, how does it apply and what does it mean to our schools and specifically, to our jobs? I feel as though I've joined a bandwagon late, but the more I read the more I go, gosh, what a great idea.
However, I don't think I'm joining late. I think I've been there all along without knowing it. Technology integration,  understanding of modern communication tools and working with students to develop learning plans sounds like what we've been saying - or at least what we've been saying in the conversations I've been having!
But what does it mean for me specifically as a teacher librarian? Talking with someone who is working with the topic, there are places that call the librarians 'Teacher-Cybrarians'. They put a focus on having current, hot topic teen literature and reading areas to enjoy it as well as technology capabilities and integrations, lead by the Teacher-Cybrarian in all subject areas. Looking at the web, specifically, bringing twitter, facebook, youtube, edmodo and all other such web 2.0 applications into teaching as well as getting kids to read - that's what they're doing. That works so much for my skill set that the idea that's where things going is exciting!
So, for me, what is the future is 21st Century learning? It's just like the past really. We are helping kids use the world around them to make sense of their world. Sounds about right.

Purpose

The purpose of this blog is to review books I read, focusing on the Young Adult selections that I read for work. There are so many books out there - some good, some fantastic - that I like to know about them. If I don't have an understanding of them, how can I recommend them to my students?
I'm in a good position - I read fast, I don't get large piles of books at one time and I can read while doing just about anything.
If you ever want to send me a book - a ARC or even just a regular copy, please email me!.