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BOOK REVIEW - Kare Kano by Masami Tsuda

2006-03-09T06:33:00.000-08:00

Book review by Naomie Holloman (12/17/2005)

The second semester has begun and everyone's busy with tests, practices, and activities. They're trying to prepare for the cultural festival and Yukino has been asked to be a part of a play. THere is a lot of drama once an old friend comes back to school after 3 years. Everyone gets competitive and change with an attitude problem. Now it's time to start the festival and no one knows who will win in the end.

Octavia Butler Obituary

2006-03-03T04:16:00.000-08:00

obit
Octavia Butler
The outsider who changed science fiction.
By Tyler Cowen
Posted Thursday, March 2, 2006, at 12:18 PM ET

Octavia Butler (1947-2006) wrote about the psychology of how unusual creatures find their way in hostile worlds. Patternmaster concerns telepaths and mutant humans. Parable of the Sower is about an empath in a collapsing America. Fledgling tells the story of a black female v! ampire.

Early on in her Pasadena childhood, Butler herself stood out as different. Although she went on to win Hugo, Nebula, and MacArthur genius awards, she had been diagnosed with dyslexia and had a reputation for extreme introversion. She was black, lesbian, and conspicuously tall. Her father died young and her mother had completed only a few years of schooling. Butler did not drive and lived a fairly anonymous and solitary life in Seattle. She wrote slowly. She once described herself as "a pessimist, a feminist always, a Black, a quiet egoist, a former Baptist, and an oil-and-water combination of ambition, laziness, insecurity, certainty, and drive."

Entering into science fiction writing, a genre where black women are few, made Butler an outsider in yet another way. It is no surprise she understood alien perspectives. "People really need to think what it's like to have all of society arrayed against you," she once said. But her work went far beyond simply mourning! the victim. She showed us why repulsion cannot be avoided, why we often resemble what we hate, and why it is sometimes our best qualities that prevent us from accepting the differences of others. Her ability to both understand the outsider perspective better than others and then to invert it, places Butler above her science-fiction-writing peers. She is a disturbing and important writer who transcends the usual genre categories.

The Xenogenesis trilogy ("Dawn," "Adulthood Rites," and "Imago") is Butler's masterpiece. The Oankali, a nomadic alien species, have engineered themselves into genetic dead ends. They have refreshed themselves many times in the past through cross-planetary interbreeding. Now they are looking to take the best traits from humans by combining our genetic material with theirs, using an advanced race of tentacled breeder-beings called "ooloi." (They have a special love for our cancer genes, which they find creative.) From the Oankali ! point of view, humans, taken alone, are disastrously hierarchical and domineering; the new blend will be less fierce and less individualistic. When they arrive on Earth, humans have barely survived mutual destruction.

The reader, learning that human beings are to become more like plants, nonetheless feels an impending nausea. It does not matter that the Oankali are portrayed as no less ethical, noble, or happy than the human race, and arguably as more so. It is also no comfort to recall that the human race is the product of many accumulated genetic changes from the past. We react with a pro-species, pro-status-quo bigotry. We root desperately for the humans who prefer to die out rather than merge. We suddenly revel in the destructive side of our nature. Having been led down this path, we then wonder whether we are different than bigots of times past. Time and again, Butler shows us how the different really can be disgusting, whether we like it or not. Butler was deeply invested in the disadvantaged, but her work shows suspicions of tidy pieties and political correctness.

In her work, Butler asks just how far globalization and cultural integration should go. She labels the Oankali "traders," and in Imago we learn that the human-Oankali hybrids will consume and thereby incorporate the genetic material of all of the Earth's species, much as we might eat all the food at a sumptuous banquet. But it is of cosmopolitanism—in the sense of believing that all perspectives and interests can be intermingled without great tension—that Butler's works show the greatest suspicion. Most culture is a synthetic product of multiple influences, but Butler's fiction asks whether there is any point at which we should rebel against intermingling and embrace identity for its own sake.

Kindred, perhaps Butler's best-known novel, tackles her central issues without invoking much science fiction machinery. It concerns a modern African-American woman (Dana) who is, through time travel, repeatedly thrown back into the days of Southern slavery. Dana has to rescue a repugnant slave-owner who turns out to be one of her ancestors and thus holds the key to her future. Again, Butler nimbly presents the viewpoint of the victim but also goes beyond it, wreaking havoc on our intuitions. Dana survives only by causing the enslavement and later rape of another black woman. The heroine comes to understand how blacks of the time learned to accept or even embrace their humiliation; she makes a "worse slave" than they do and quickly falls into their bad habits. She begins to admire her owner and identify with him. In her mind her modern (white) husband blurs with her slave-master and ancestor. By the end we wonder whether we are not all complicit in the past that gave rise to us. Butler's mission in her writing was to make us feel sufficiently estranged to recognize that we don't really "know" ourselves and that w! ho we are is very much a product of our situation, in both good and bad ways.

Butler's vision of the future was never that of The Jetsons. It was about alienated human lives, but she distanced her fiction from polemic. Like so many other notable American writers, her radical insights, like her characters, have not yet been fully assimilated.

Tyler Cowen is professor of economics at George Mason University and general director of the Mercatus Center, and blogs at www.marginalrevolution.com.

Article URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2137269/

Oprah Announces Teen Essay Contest!

2006-01-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

Oprah Announces Teen Essay Contest!

"WHY IS ELIE WIESEL'S BOOK NIGHT RELEVANT TODAY?"If you are a high school student who has read, is reading, or will be reading Night—enter Oprah's National High School Essay Contest!

Enter Now!

The entry form contains your essay topic, guidelines for formatting your essay and the criteria it will be judged by. It must be completed and signed and included with your essay in order for you to be considered eligible for Oprah's National High School Essay Contest.Entries must be postmarked by Monday, February 6, 2006 and received by February 9, 2006—so start planning your essay today!

Be the New Face of Young Warriors! Contest

2005-12-18T11:03:00.000-08:00

For more information on this exciting opportunity, click here!

BOOK REVIEW - Kare Kano : His and her circumstances by Masumi Tsuda

2005-12-14T16:45:00.000-08:00

Kare Kano : His and her circumstances by Masumi Tsuda
(Reviewed by Naomie Holloman)

Yukino Miyazawa is the perfect model student -- kind, athletic, energetic, and very smart. She is not all you think she might be. She is the Queen of Vanity. Her main goal is to win th epraise and admiration of everyone. Therefore, she always looks and acts perfect during school and at home, however, she lets her guard down and lets her true self show.

When Yukino enters high school and she finally meets her match named Soichiro Arima, a handsome popular and very intelligent person. Yukino's spotlight was taken by him so now she's trying to take it back. Now they're finally going out as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Oprah's National High School Essay Contest

2005-12-14T16:38:00.000-08:00

Check it out right here! To choose the winning essays, "a panel of learned judges will select 50 high school students. Each finalist, along with one designated parent or guardian, will receive a trip to a special Oprah Show taping in late February."

BOOK REVIEW - Kare Kano by Masami Tsuda

2005-12-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

(Review by Naomie Holloman)

This ia a book about a pretty little girl named Tsubasa, an old friend from junior high. Tsubasa gets jealous when she sees another girl with another boy she likes. She tries hard to win him back.

Well, finally, the semester is over and they've all made good friends and now it's time to say good-bye until next time.

New December Titles

2005-12-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

For new December titles in the Young Adult Department, click here!

BOOK REVIEW - Gossip Times Three by Amy Goldman Koss

2005-12-01T06:53:00.000-08:00

(Review by Naomie Holloman)

Gossip, gossip, gossip. People say it's not a good thing to do but this book makes it seem so innocent. Three girls and another friend (who gossips the most) tell the story about two girls who fell in love over a stunningly cute boy who only wants one of them to love forever.

Upcoming events, December 2005!

2005-11-26T07:44:00.000-08:00

New November Titles

2005-11-26T07:40:00.000-08:00

Check out new November titles here!

BOOK REVIEW - I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader by Kieran Scott

2005-11-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

(Review by Naomie Holloman)

This book is so far good. The part I like about this book is the fact that the new girl from New Jersey, Annisa Gobrowski, is a believer and she has no problem with being who she is. Now she's trying to become a cheerleader once again, but it seems as though she has enemies who are trying to cut her dream short. Annisa may be just a little different but the cheerleader inside of her keeps her going so she is a non-blonde and she's there to stay.

Upcoming Events @ the Delray Beach Public Library

2005-10-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 17th @ 4pm: Reading Group – “The Color of Water” by James McBride “The Color of Water is James McBride’s tribute to his remarkable, eccentric, determined mother…” who was born in Poland and raised in the South by an Orthodox Jewish family. As an adult, she left her parents to marry a black man, live in Harlem, and found a Baptist church. This is an inspiring tale of a family that will move readers of all colors and faiths. Open to ages 13-17.

Saturday, October 22nd @ 3pm: DIY @ Your Library – Zine Party @ Your Library This is your chance to get published! Join other individuals from around Palm Beach County as we create a zine that is made entirely by you! Bring your art supplies – each participant will be given one sheet of white paper in which they can express themselves in any way they’re moved! Enjoy music and the company as others as we explore the limitless opportunities of what this zine can be? Don’t know what a zine is? Check out: http://www.madisonzinefest.org/zinebean.htm. Open to all ages.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 04:00 PM John Gorgan will be promoting Marley & Me at: BORDERS/Discussion and Signing 9887 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33434.

Saturday, October 29th @ 3pm: FEAR FACTOR - Get your Halloween on!
Rat fur special, blood milkshakes & chocolate sardines – Get your Halloween on with the Delray Beach Public Library as we find out who can stomach some of these delectable delights. Look for more info on these gross stunts and more in the future! Open to K-12.

October Titles

2005-10-13T06:19:00.000-07:00

Check out October titles here!

Another Youth Award -- Enter today!

2005-10-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

"The Do Something BRICK Awards honor youth who develop projects to improve thier communities, with up to $5,000 in scholarships and grants. Students aged eighteen and younger are eligible; the de for entry is November 1, 2005." VOYA 28:4

Enter contests to win!

2005-10-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Check out the Harperteen 13 Little Blue Envelopes contest!
One lucky grand-prize winner will receive a $250 Alloy Gift Certificate and TWO copies of 13 Little Blue Envelopes (one for a friend, of course!). Twenty-five first prize winners will also score a copy of 13 Little Blue Envelopes. Good luck!

Check out the Key to the Golden Firebird sweepstakes!
Now in paperback, THE KEY TO THE GOLDEN FIREBIRD is Maureen Johnson’s witty first novel about three teenaged sisters who realize that the key to coping with their father’s death, and the key to finding love, is right under their noses all along—it’s the key to their father’s Pontiac Firebird.

BOOK REVIEW - Flush by Carl Hiaasen

2005-10-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hiaasen, Carl. Flush. New York : Alfred A. Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 2005.
YA Hiaasen.

Flush is Hiaasen's second young adult novel -- both of which deal with kids becoming activists through struggles against corporate greed and environmental destruction in their Florida locale.

I was mesmerized by Hiaasen's first novel, Hoot, because of his use of Florida scenery and young characters who refused to give up in their search for justice. Flush uses a lot of the same elements - Florida scenery, young adult activists -- but I felt as though this novel was more predictable. There was an overabundance of foreshadowing, which made the ending somewhat less than desireable.

Still, the plot is amazing. Noah's father is an activist, and when the story opens, the reader finds him in jail for sinking a casino boat that's been polluting the surrounding waters. Unfortunately, in jail, Noah's father can't fight his cause as well as he can on the outside. So Noah and his little sister Abbey take matters into their own hand, and devise a plan to give the polluters what the deserve.

To Hiaasen's credit, this book is suspenseful at times. After all, fighting environmental crime can be a dangerous occupation -- especially for two young adults. Flush is quite a page-turner, and I still remain a loyal Hiaasen fan!

For those readers who have never read a Hiaasen book before, PLEASE pick this up at the library -- you won't regret it!

October YA Events!

2005-09-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 3rd @ 4pm: Reading Group – Graphic Novels “East vs. West” Kare Kano by Masami Tsuda & Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi What’s the difference between Japanese-style (a.k.a. manga) and Western graphic novels? Join us for a lively discussion on two very different formats & styles. From the East – Kare Kano is the story of a high school girl who’s perfect grades, looks, and admiration of her peers is in jeopardy by the new boy on campus. And from Europe, Persepolis promises to provide plenty of discussion around what is was like to grow up during the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Open to ages 13-17.

Monday, October 17th @ 4pm: Reading Group – “The Color of Water” by James McBride “The Color of Water is James McBride’s tribute to his remarkable, eccentric, determined mother…” who was born in Poland and raised in the South by an Orthodox Jewish family. As an adult, she left her parents to marry a black man, live in Harlem, and found a Baptist church. This is an inspiring tale of a family that will move readers of all colors and faiths. Open to ages 13-17.

Saturday, October 22nd @ 3pm: DIY @ Your Library – Zine Party @ Your Library This is your chance to get published! Join other individuals from around Palm Beach County as we create a zine that is made entirely by you! Bring your art supplies – each participant will be given one sheet of white paper in which they can express themselves in any way they’re moved! Enjoy music and the company as others as we explore the limitless opportunities of what this zine can be? Don’t know what a zine is? Check this out! Open to all ages.

Saturday, October 29th @ 3pm: FEAR FACTOR - Get your Halloween on!
Rat fur special, blood milkshakes & chocolate sardines – Get your Halloween on with the Delray Beach Public Library as we find out who can stomach some of these delectable delights. Look for more info on these gross stunts and more in the future! Open to K-12.

BOOK REVIEW - Speaker For the Dead by Orson Scott Card

2005-09-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

Card, Orson Scott. Speaker for the Dead. New York, NY : A Tor Book, c1986.

First and foremost, Hello again everyone! College=Good, and I just finished re-reading Speaker for the Dead, and thought I would post a review.

So... On to that review-y thing-y.

Speaker for the Dead is technically a sequal to Ender's Game, Card's first novel. While I personally love Ender's Game, it is less uniqe and stands out less from the SciFi crowd than Speaker. Also, Speaker takes place thousands of years later.... so....yeah.
The novel begins fairly slowly, and starts as very much a SciFi novel - but after the first couple of chapters, it becomes quite the page turner. It is a mystery and a character novel and a cautionary tale all rolled up into one big SciFi package.
In other words, definitely a book worth reading even if - especially if - you aren't a fan of SciFi. Actually, this book could open your eyes to the good SciFi that's out there (buried as it is underneth space opera Timothy Zahn crap (...I know, I read his books too, and they were fun... but crap)). You don't need to read Ender's Game to understand Speaker or to like it, although I just realized that my screen-name gives away my opinion of the whole series.

I guess it is important to note that Card's novels center around beliefs, decisions, and interaction. These are the threads that bind his works together despite their differences - Because, again, the sequal to Speaker, Xenocide, takes a different turn. There is much more metaphysical speculation amidst the mad dash for survival.

Anywho... read the series, but especially Speaker for the Dead. In my opinion, it's the best of a good lot.

BOOK REVIEW - Eldest & Eragon by Christopher Paolini

2005-09-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

Paolini, Christopher. Eragon. New York : Alfred A. Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 2005.
YA Paolini.

Paolini, Christopher. Eldest. New York : Alfred A. Knopf : Distributed by Random House, c2005.
YA Paolini.

I'm not a big fantasy fan. I know why people love fantasy novels so much, but I have a really hard time keeping track of so many characters and settings that I end up missing out on the magic of the novel. Eragon, however, changed this for me.

I picked up this novel for two reasons: 1) I needed a little magic in my life; and 2) It's the rage with all of the kids, and I gotta know what they're reading. Thus started my new literary adventure.

From the prologue I was hooked. Elves, shades, and Urgal attacks don't exist in non-fiction (which is what I'm used to reading), but they do in Eragon & Eldest. Both are part of the Inheritence Trilogy that takes place in a faraway land where dragons used to live, elves are in hiding, dwarves keep to themselves, and just about everyone lives under the rule of the evil Galbatorix.

The revolves around Eragon, an orphaned farmboy, who, on a hunting mission, finds a beautiful blue stone. After unsuccessfully trying to sell it off for much needed food for him and his family, Eragon lays it to rest in his room. Everything changes in the middle of the night, when the stone turns out to be a dragon's egg and Eragon learns that he's a dragon rider!

The adventures of Eragon and his dragon Saphira take the reader on a journey through cities, deserts, elf forests, and dwarf mountains. This is a great read for anybody -- young or old -- who needs a little magic in their life, and is prepared to take an adventure that they will never forget!

New in Young Adult - September, 2005

2005-09-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

Check here for hot new Young Adult titles at the Delray Beach Public Library

New in Young Adult - July, 2005

2005-07-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

Click here for new books in July 2005.

New in Young Adult - June, 2005

2005-06-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Check here for new books in June 2005.

New in Young Adult - May, 2005

2005-05-31T06:24:00.000-07:00

Check here for new books in May 2005.

BOOK REVIEW - The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

2005-05-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York, NY : Riverhead Books/Berkley Publishing Group, c2004.
FIC HOSSEINI
Reading Guide

This award-winning novel keeps the reader wanting more until the very end.... actually past the very end. The Kite Runner takes place in Afghanistan, before the Russians invaded through the end of the Taliban regime. The protagonist, Amir, is a selfish privileged individual who, by the end of the novel, still hasn't learned that he's not the center of the universe.

Even so, one can't help identifying with one or more of the characters, or at least the pain and suffering they live through -- losing family, losing friends, and dealing with bullies are all part of life. Hosseini, however, makes these everyday occurences seem extraordinary.

The plot is action-packed and full of emotion, and the characters are despicable, loving, honorable, and needy -- everything one could ask for in a novel, and more! Reading this novel is also a great way to learn more about the Afghan culture -- its food, language, politics, and never-ending turbulance. By the end, the reader is full of hope for the future -- in Afghanistan and in the United States.

I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in a growing up story chock full of lessons to learn, but also full of action. This is a fast-paced novel that has already turned millions of people into hardcore Hosseini fans. Look for this book in the fall (2005) as the Delray Beach Young Adult Discussion Group dealves headlong into an enlightening and educational discussion.

MOVIE REVIEW - Hitchhiker's Guide (Thanks For All the Fish)

2005-05-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

Nerdy as I am, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out that I am a Douglas Adams fan, and of course, have been looking forward to the movie-fication of Hitchhiker's Guide (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, I have no idea who the publisher is, but I know we have a copy at our library). I wound up going to see it without my towel (a grave mistake, I know) - but only because I went with my family and didn't want to embarrass them.

Get to the point, man.

...er, yes, of course. Anyway, "What is the verdict, oh most knowledgable one?" you ask? Well, the movie was cute. And funny. Not as funny as the book, but there were definitely some laugh out loud moments. Arthur was great, Ford was perfect (or Prefect), and although Adams didn't describe him as black, I will now always imagine Mos Def when reading the book. He was that good. Now for the downsides - one thing that was lacking was good beat comedy, which would have greatly enhanced some of the funny lines. Not a big deal, but enough that it bothered me a little. The only other major negativity-ness was that they left out the scene where Marvin makes a planetary computer system commit suicide just by talking to it.
So. They added some new stuff - effective, and in the same vein as Adams' humor, so it's all good; they couldn't possibly pack in as much stuff as the book - not their fault, it's the medium; they made me laugh out loud at least once.
It's doesn't rank with my favorite movies, but it was good and I might even consider watching it again (which I typically don't do) so.....

Verdict=Winner.

BOOK REVIEW - His Dark Materials (series) by Philip Pullman

2005-05-04T15:15:00.001-07:00

Pullman, Philip The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Dell Yearling, 2001. (I think)

Starting w/ The Golden Compass, originally called The Northern Lights when first published in England, The His Dark Materials series is a masterpiece. I have read each of the first two books multiple, multiple times, and the third one twice.
Although the books are billed as "YA" or "Children's literature," the series is actually a complex religious and social commentary.
There is so much on that level that I will leave it alone - you have to read it for yourself. Instead I'm going to talk about Will. Will is a young man (a boy in age, really, but prematurely matured - pun intended), and is, in my opinion at least, the most interesting/captivating/intense character in the series. I was trying to determine why, and a parallel popped into my head - Ender's Game. Ender and Will are very similar characters. They are both intense, young, precocious, and able. The most important characteristic they share, however, is less a character trait than a situation - and a similar method of dealing with it.
After all this build-up, I'm finally getting to it...
well, never mind.
See ya tommorow.

Ok, fine. The key is that they're both unwilling fighters. Neither one of them would fight at all if he could avoid it, but they are both forced to, and they are both good at it! Extremely good, in fact, so good that they are both able to accomplish monumental goals, although it is interesting to note that of the final accomplishments of the two, neither involves a direct fight, and Will's is about as far from fighting as you can get, in a sense.
So, have I piqued your curiosity? Good. Read the books (HDM, and Ender's Game, for that matter.)
Oh, and one last thing - If anyone knows any good books with the unwilling fighter archetype, let me know.

New in Young Adult - April, 2005

2005-04-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

Check here for new books in April, 2005.

MOVIE REVIEW - Dirk Pitt Saves the World...Again. (Stolen from a book review from somewhere long, long ago...)

2005-04-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

You want a movie with a deep message? A movie that makes you ponder about the greater meaning of life and the intricacies of human behavior?
Then you shouldn’t see Sahara.
Now, understand that I’m the last person to badmouth this movie (as I’ve been a Dirk Pitt Franchise fan since just about forever) but I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. This movie is wonderfully unashamed of it’s roots in the Ripping Yarn™ genre, and makes no effort to tone down what made the books so popular: the seat of your pants ‘oh how could it possibly get any worse…oh look here come the tanks’. Everything is a matter of life and death, and if Dirk and Al don’t win, then the whole world will eventually spin into a spiral of death and disease. Yeah, I mean everything.
For a fan of the books, this movie made me very happy. It was very close to the general feeling, although I must say the casting choices for Rudi Gunn and Al Giordano could have been better. But the movie clearly highlighted some of the tings that made the books so much fun to read, like the close, almost-married relationship of Dirk and Al. They’ve been a team since roughly kindergarten, and this movie does a very good job of showing that, with the bickering and the jokes and just the simple fact that either of them would throw themselves into a hail of bullets to save the other one…and then mock him for it for the rest of his life. There was also some stuff that was thrown in there just to make geeks like me happy, like the signature Doxa dive watch that Dirk always had, or Dirk’s complete fascination with classic cars, which he collects, like Clive Cussler himself. And Dirk’s bright green eyes, which make endless rows of fans wibble and drool. Or maybe that was just me. This inclusion of the little things may have been helped by Matthew McConaughey himself being a huge fan of the books (which this reviewer found out while she was writing this from www.filmforce.ign.com. This caused said reviewer to freak out in a very unbecoming fashion, because we all know how much better it is when the actor/actress knows who they‘re playing) . This, by the way, brings up the average of this review from about 8 to a 40587385765, just because it’s always better when you have a fan playing the role. Each and every character did a smashup job, and I have the dialoge was snappy and amusing thoughout the whold thing. The serious lines may have fallen a bit flat, but it wasn't bad enough to make you run out of the theater with your ears bleeding, so hey. And each and every thing that I notice was different from the book had a good reason for being so, so it was forgiven.
Ok, I’m going to cut off the babble here. But I have to say, if you like action movies with lots of explosions and guns and other things like that, you should go see this movie if you have some free time. Don’t rush out if you’re not a hopeless fan, but there are worse ways to spend you money.
And if you are a hopeless fan, well, the you’ve already seen it haven’t you?! That’s what I thought.

All in all, I'd say for a book->movie, it gets a 9.5, for a movie on a whole it gets a 7.5.

PS: I’d recommend the Dirk Pitt series to anyone who wants an easy, engaging story to read. It’s a perfect book for a rainy day, or a book to pick up at an airport bookshop.

BOOK REVIEW - Wicked by Gregory Maguire

2005-03-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

Maguire, Gregory Wicked, The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. New York: Harper Collins, c1995.

Wicked, By Gregory Maguire, is an entirely new twist on the Wicked Witch of the West. Known to all as a mere villain to the lovely and perfect Dorothy, in Wicked she’s a woman who had her own story years before that house fell on her sister.
The Wicked Witch of the West is Elphaba (a name that the author cleverly created from the initials of the author of the Wizard of Oz; L. Frank Baum.), a shy girl afflicted with a horrible skin condition that makes her green, and allergic to water. She’s smart and down to earth, made fun of because of her green skin, but still able to rise above that to be accepted into Shiz University for a “quality” education. She becomes friends with Galinda (fated as she is to become one of the Witches) and the story kicks off with Elphaba’s matter-of-fact observations and Galinda’s flighty, yet truly intelligent fancies.
Yes, we’ve all read the book or seen the Wizard of Oz, but Wicked prods us into realizing that even the Wicked Witch of the West had a childhood, a life; before the events that made her infamous. She’s loved and lost and fought as she grew into her destiny long before Dorothy touches down in Oz.
The layers of childhood fear and anger at the Witch for hindering Dorothy in her escape home fall away as the pages turn and you realize it’s all just a big misunderstanding, that the Witch is merely another persona that has been twisted by propaganda. It’s much like growing up and realizing that everything that your parents did that made you angry wasn’t merely an effort to make you angry, that they had reasons just as valid for you eating those lima beans as you had for tucking them in your napkin.
After all, has there ever been a time in the history of man that a person has been liked by everyone? That more than a small group of people could look at one and draw the same conclusions? I think not. As the great Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi said; “Everything is true; or in this case good…from a certain point of view.”

BOOK REVIEW - Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

2005-03-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

Levithan, David. Boy Meets Boy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
YA Levithan.

I haven't cried because of a book in a long time. But this all changed when I read Boy Meets Boy. I've heard librarians talking about this book since it came out -- that it was one of the best young adult books about LGBTQ teens they've ever. I have to agree.

I liked it on so many levels -- the author' s writing style, his ability to write so well from a teen's point of view, and for such imagination. I imagined this to simply be a book about two boys falling in love, but what I found was a world where drag queen football players are the norm and falling in love with someone of the same gender is no big deal.

I loved this book, because I was able to connect to many of the characters on so many levels, but also because I was transported to a world where bigotry doesn't exist. The main character, Paul, is very likeable for his (many) postive attributes, but more importantly, because he has faults, and through friendship and communication, is able to deal with those faults in meaningful ways.

For readers looking for a love story, a little bit of drama, and a world where bigotry has no place, pick this book up today!

New Young Adult Fiction -- get 'em while they're hot!

2005-03-16T12:08:00.000-08:00

Check here for new books in March, 2005.

BOOK REVIEW - Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

2005-03-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

Hiaasen, Carl. Hoot. New York : Knopf, c2002.
J Hiaasen & YA Hiaasen.

I decided to read this book as part of the Read Together, Florida literacy initiative, but as soon as I started Carl Hiaasen's first young adult novel, there was no stopping me! The plot of the book revolves around burrows of miniature owls, a large corporation bent on "developing" the nesting ground, and the kids who've made it their mission to save the endangered birds.

I could relate to the strong pro-environment, anti-development theme of the book, and was attracted also by Hiaasen's extensive knowledge of Florida's natural settings. Roy, one of the protagonists of the novel, was also a great draw for me, being that we are both recent transplants to the state of Florida.

Though this is the first novel I've read by Hiaasen (a Florida resident and native), it certainly won't be the last. I sat on the edge of my chair "hooting" for the owls, hoping that somehow a small group of young people would be able to overcome the money and power of a large corporation.

Enter the Unknown

2005-03-07T16:40:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Page 51. Here you will become acquainted with carefully shielded knowledge. If anything said here leaks into the outside world, we will be forced to kill you. Well, not really, but it sounds top-secret-ish.
Contrary to popular belief, Page 51 is not located in Arizona. We are located in sunny Delray Beach, Florida. I know it's not as cool and remote sounding - but we couldn't resist the beach.
Again, contrary to popular belief, our research is primarily on books, movies, music, and other media... not aliens - very much. Home of the Delray Beach Library Youth Council, you will find our expert (ahem) opinions on books and such - both new and old.
Check back for reviews de moi.