Author: Judy Blume
Year: 1977
Genre: Novel/Romance
Reading Level: Young Adult
Plot Summary: Katherine meets Michael at a New Year's Eve party and the sparks start to fly. Basically they start dating and then they have sex and have sex a whole lot more and plan to be together forever (hence the title). Unfortunately then Kath goes to a tennis camp for the summer and realizes maybe she doesn't want to be with Michael forever. The end.
Red Flags: Lots of detailed sex. Strong language. People smoking "grass." Teen drinking. Oh did I mention all the sex?
My Rating: B-. I'm having a hard time rating this book. Judy Blume is known for her frank depictions of teenage life, but this was not my teenage life at all. So in that way, it doesn't appeal to me and I don't relate to it at all. Other people may feel differently. As for the writing, I think it was all right, but not her best. And I have to wonder: at what point is detail *too* much detail?
Showing posts with label coming of age. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coming of age. Show all posts
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Runaways, Vol. 1 (Hardcover)
Author: Brian K. Vaughan
Illustrators: Adrian Alphona, Takeshi Miyazawa
Year: 2006
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Reading Level: Young Adult
Series: Runaways ongoing title
Plot Summary: 5 teenagers and one tween discover their normal parents are really a group of super villains (called The Pride) working to overthrow the whole world. Confused, they run away and try to figure out how they can bring their parents to justice. Along the way, they discover unique abilities of their own as they go on the run, fight a hot vampire and, finally, confront their parents.
Red Flag/s: Character death, some language, action, teenage delinquency
Award/s: Eisner, Harvey
My Rating: B+. This started out more interesting than it ended up being. Midway through the characters started turning into cliches, and the story dragged a bit. The art and writing are both pretty solid, but neither are really fantastic. I got kind of tired of Vaughan sneaking in little bits of political agendas. Also, why were Gert's legs so very very short? Even more importantly, why did the raptor have a nose ring?
Illustrators: Adrian Alphona, Takeshi Miyazawa
Year: 2006
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Reading Level: Young Adult
Series: Runaways ongoing title
Plot Summary: 5 teenagers and one tween discover their normal parents are really a group of super villains (called The Pride) working to overthrow the whole world. Confused, they run away and try to figure out how they can bring their parents to justice. Along the way, they discover unique abilities of their own as they go on the run, fight a hot vampire and, finally, confront their parents.
Red Flag/s: Character death, some language, action, teenage delinquency
Award/s: Eisner, Harvey
My Rating: B+. This started out more interesting than it ended up being. Midway through the characters started turning into cliches, and the story dragged a bit. The art and writing are both pretty solid, but neither are really fantastic. I got kind of tired of Vaughan sneaking in little bits of political agendas. Also, why were Gert's legs so very very short? Even more importantly, why did the raptor have a nose ring?
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Ophelia
Author: Lisa Klein
Year: 2006
Genre: Novel
Reading Level: Young Adult
Plot Summary: This retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet focuses on Ophelia and her doomed romance with Hamlet. The story traces Ophelia's rambunctious childhood to her education and development at court and finally intersects with the events of Hamlet. Readers expecting the story to end with Ophelia's suicide will be surprised. Told from her own perspective, Ophelia offers a fresh take on a very familiar tale.
Red Flags: Character deaths, political intrigues, some men of a forceful persuasion
My Rating: B+. This is a good book. Klein is a good writer and her characters are fleshed out and interesting. I only have a few problems with this book. First, in an effort to make Ophelia a strong female character, Klein kind of turned her into a cliche. She's bookish! She's educated! She speaks her mind! Also, the romance element was not as strong as I expected. Besides a few scenes together there wasn't much interaction with Hamlet and Ophelia. Also, she spends half of the book thinking he never loved her, but hello, he totally did. Second, the last third of the book--SPOILER!--takes place at a French convent and it just seemed rather irrelevant. Or maybe that was just me. Third, I forget. Anyway, I liked it. It just got long and a little boring towards the end.
Year: 2006
Genre: Novel
Reading Level: Young Adult
Plot Summary: This retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet focuses on Ophelia and her doomed romance with Hamlet. The story traces Ophelia's rambunctious childhood to her education and development at court and finally intersects with the events of Hamlet. Readers expecting the story to end with Ophelia's suicide will be surprised. Told from her own perspective, Ophelia offers a fresh take on a very familiar tale.
Red Flags: Character deaths, political intrigues, some men of a forceful persuasion
My Rating: B+. This is a good book. Klein is a good writer and her characters are fleshed out and interesting. I only have a few problems with this book. First, in an effort to make Ophelia a strong female character, Klein kind of turned her into a cliche. She's bookish! She's educated! She speaks her mind! Also, the romance element was not as strong as I expected. Besides a few scenes together there wasn't much interaction with Hamlet and Ophelia. Also, she spends half of the book thinking he never loved her, but hello, he totally did. Second, the last third of the book--SPOILER!--takes place at a French convent and it just seemed rather irrelevant. Or maybe that was just me. Third, I forget. Anyway, I liked it. It just got long and a little boring towards the end.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The Outsiders
Author: S.E. Hinton
Year: 1967
Genre: novel/realistic fiction
Reading Level: Young Adult
Plot Summary: Fourteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis lives with his older brothers after their parents' deaths, the youngest member of the gang they've formed with their closest friends. Though their lives are rough and tumble, Ponyboy and his friend Johnny try to defy their hoodlum stereotype. After a violent encounter with a rival gang, however, Ponyboy and Johnny struggle to adjust to the drama and tragedy that follows.
Red Flags: teen drinking and smoking, some violence, character deaths
Movie Version: The Outsiders
My Rating: A-. I didn't love it, but I think it was a good book. It's just not really my genre or a time period that interests me. Besides that, though, the writing was solid and the characters rang true. The story was a little slow moving, but not to the point of frustration.
Year: 1967
Genre: novel/realistic fiction
Reading Level: Young Adult
Plot Summary: Fourteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis lives with his older brothers after their parents' deaths, the youngest member of the gang they've formed with their closest friends. Though their lives are rough and tumble, Ponyboy and his friend Johnny try to defy their hoodlum stereotype. After a violent encounter with a rival gang, however, Ponyboy and Johnny struggle to adjust to the drama and tragedy that follows.
Red Flags: teen drinking and smoking, some violence, character deaths
Movie Version: The Outsiders
My Rating: A-. I didn't love it, but I think it was a good book. It's just not really my genre or a time period that interests me. Besides that, though, the writing was solid and the characters rang true. The story was a little slow moving, but not to the point of frustration.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuck Everlasting
Author: Natalie Babbit
Year: 1975
Age Level: Young Adult?
Genre: Fantasy, coming of age
Plot Summary: Winnie Foster lives with her overprotective parents and grandmother, and she longs for something more interesting in life. Feeling bold, Winnie finally ventures into the mysterious woods surrounding the house and discoversEdward Cullen a handsome boy at a spring. What Winnie doesn't know is that this spring has given the entire Tuck family eternal life. When Winnie is offered the same, will she choose to live forever?
Red Flags: One scene of mild violence
Movie Version: Tuck Everlasting
Memorable Quotes: "'Know what that is, all around us, Winnie?' said Tuck, his voice low. 'Life. Moving, growing, changing, never the same two minutes together. This water, you look out at it every morning, and it looks the same, but it ain't. All night long it's been moving, coming in through the stream back there to the west, slipping out through the stream down east here, always quiet, always new, moving on. You can't hardly see the current, can you? And sometimes the wind makes it look like it's going the other way. But it's always there, the water's always moving on, and someday, after a long while, it comes to the ocean.'"
My Rating: A-. I enjoyed this book. It was a nice read, very summery, nice story. I wasn't blown away but I do like Babbitt's writing style and her descriptions. I think I missed the romance element from the movie a bit, and some of the character development for Jesse.
Year: 1975
Age Level: Young Adult?
Genre: Fantasy, coming of age
Plot Summary: Winnie Foster lives with her overprotective parents and grandmother, and she longs for something more interesting in life. Feeling bold, Winnie finally ventures into the mysterious woods surrounding the house and discovers
Red Flags: One scene of mild violence
Movie Version: Tuck Everlasting
Memorable Quotes: "'Know what that is, all around us, Winnie?' said Tuck, his voice low. 'Life. Moving, growing, changing, never the same two minutes together. This water, you look out at it every morning, and it looks the same, but it ain't. All night long it's been moving, coming in through the stream back there to the west, slipping out through the stream down east here, always quiet, always new, moving on. You can't hardly see the current, can you? And sometimes the wind makes it look like it's going the other way. But it's always there, the water's always moving on, and someday, after a long while, it comes to the ocean.'"
My Rating: A-. I enjoyed this book. It was a nice read, very summery, nice story. I wasn't blown away but I do like Babbitt's writing style and her descriptions. I think I missed the romance element from the movie a bit, and some of the character development for Jesse.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Author: Ann Brashares
Year: 2001
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Novel
Series: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Plot Summary: Four best friends, Lena, Bridget, Tibby and Carmen, are 15 and facing their first summer apart. The day before they separate they realize a pair of thrift-store jeans magically fit all of them perfectly. They go their separate ways to face their own trials over the summer, some with more success than others. Through it all, however, the Pants are shared and sent from one friend to another until they come together again.
Red Flags: Some mild language and mild sexual situations
Movie Version: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
My Rating: A. Good grief, this book sucked me like a Twilight book (sadly, no brain-breaking Jacobs involved). Maybe I liked it better because I had Gossip Girl to contrast it with, but I really, really liked this book. The girls had real personalities and read like actual people that could exist in real life. The adventures weren't too overblown or overdramatic, and the writing was good! Now, quick, give me the next one!
Year: 2001
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Novel
Series: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Plot Summary: Four best friends, Lena, Bridget, Tibby and Carmen, are 15 and facing their first summer apart. The day before they separate they realize a pair of thrift-store jeans magically fit all of them perfectly. They go their separate ways to face their own trials over the summer, some with more success than others. Through it all, however, the Pants are shared and sent from one friend to another until they come together again.
Red Flags: Some mild language and mild sexual situations
Movie Version: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
My Rating: A. Good grief, this book sucked me like a Twilight book (sadly, no brain-breaking Jacobs involved). Maybe I liked it better because I had Gossip Girl to contrast it with, but I really, really liked this book. The girls had real personalities and read like actual people that could exist in real life. The adventures weren't too overblown or overdramatic, and the writing was good! Now, quick, give me the next one!
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