Ghost

Reynolds, J (2016). Ghost. New York, NY; Simon and Schuster.

Summary
Castle "Ghost" Cranshaw has been running almost his whole life.  He has a lot to run from. His home life is less than desirable. His father is an alcoholic and he doesn't have much support at home. He dreams of having a better life preferably be become the best at something. He stumbles upon a track team at practice. He doesn't see the purpose because as he sees it running is just something you do. There is no need to practice at it.  Soon Ghost moves from survival mode to surviving mode.  He begins to see a future and develops relationships with his teammates and coach. His coach's life in particular help Ghost realize what potential is. He is a former addict who has turned his life around. He sees that there is a possibility to escape the ghetto by running but not literally running. Just using as a means to get ahead. By the end, Ghost realizes that they is a chance for something better and you can turn your life around.

Commentary
It is hopeful to see males as protagonist in books where they have positive role models. The image of Ghost running from his father when he tried to shoot him is heartbreaking.  It is because events like this are true for many kids in our schools today.  I understand this book is supposed to be the first in a serious. I can't wait to see more. Jason Reynolds saw a need for literature with characters that reflected people that he know or that were like him. Novels like Ghost are needed especilly to encourage young minority boys to read.

Connection
Author Interview

Reading group guide

Connections to text

Realistic fiction should include plot structure that could happen. Young Adult literature should include characters and situations that young people can identify with. Jason Reynolds purposely wrote a book with a young black male as the lead. He wanted characters that looked like him that were involved in situations that black males were familiar with. So the conflict in this book is character vs self and society and character. The main character changes due to the other characters and events. Growth and maturity is shown. This is common for young people at this age. 

An Abundance of Katherines

Green, J. (2006). An Abundance of Katherines. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Summary

Colin has just graduate from high school and was dumped by his girlfriend Katherine XIX. It seems Colin is rather peculiar and only dates girls named Katherine. No variation just Katherine. When he realizes he hasn't really lived life to the fullest because his relationships with others in school are rather superficial after spending so many years together, he decides to go on a road trip with his best friend Hassan. He feels he needs a eureka moment because he just right now feels like a genius, one who knows a lot of information, instead of a prodigy, one who discovers something new. They end up in Tennessee and get a job interviewing townspeople. Colin falls in love with Lindsey but she has a boyfriend whose name also happens to be Colin. Hassan also starts to like someone. The book shows how the relationships grow.  Colin develops a formula that shows how long a relationship will last.  When the other Coline (TOC) is caught cheating on Lindsey, it opens an opportunity for the original Colin to let his feelings be known. They eventually begin to like each other and Colin uses his formula to find out how long they will last which turns out to be four days.  That  proves to be incorrect as Lindsey lets it know she likes Colin and has no intention of breaking up with him. So in the end the boys have found young love and discovered something new about themselves. 

Commentary

I am not big on romance so I am glad his book had plenty of humor instead of just being a sappy romance novel.  John Green writing style develop the characters effortlessly and make it easy for the readers to fall in love with them. I thought Colin was going to turn out to be autistic. He had some many quirks like anagrams and only dating Katherines. But he was just a bit quirky.  The book is appropriate for high school students and would be enjoyed by both boys and girls.  

Connections

Connections 
If it's YA literature, there is going to be a message about love. This one is related to math.  The character discovers matters of the heart can not be calculated like a math equation. It random.  This realization is how the character Colin grows and changes. That is something else common in YA books. The characters go through a change of some sort as they begin to adjust to the adult world.

Grasshopper Jungle

Smith, A. (2014). Grasshopper Jungle. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Summary

Austin Szerba has written down his history for us maybe in hopes that we won't repeat his mistakes. this novel is his story. Austin and his best friend Robby are beaten up by some bullies. Their skateboards and shoes are thrown on the roof of a store. When they later return to go get the items, they sneak into a store where Austin works. They find a jar with a two-headed baby and a green glowing globe. When Grant and the bullies return, Austin and Robby hide. Grant ends up dropping the green globe in Robby's blood that had dripped when he was attacked. The bullies end up turning into 6 foot praying mantis. All they want to do is eat and have sex. A plague is released doing the same to the townspeople.  The boys go to Austin's girlfriend Shann's house. They receive a message telling them where shelter from the insect monsters is located. They find a way to fight and kill the monster but it is too late to save the town. It is hard to tell the boys from the the insects as they are both horny. In the future, Austin and Shann have started a family but he is also in a romantic relationship with Robby. 

Commentary

As literature goes, this seems to be a hodgepodge of  elements. Teen boys, sexuality, bullying, sex, the end of the world, and monsters. Science fiction lovers would probably really enjoy it.  And can how the elements are related. It took me awhile to see the relationship unless Mr. Smith was really trying to say that adolescent boys are really just a bunch of pestering insects that need to be eliminated until they can be cured or mature. But I am not sure that was his message.  I eventually came around to his theme of surviving adolescence and it is similar to surviving the end of the world.

Connections

Lily and Dunkin

Gephart, D. (2016). Lily and Dunkin. New York, NY: Random House.

Summary

 Timothy McGrother and Norbert Dorfman are getting ready to start the 8th grade. Tough for any child. Nortbert just moved to the town so he will be new. And Timothy plans to show up as Lily so in essence she will be a new student as well.  Timothy or Lily is transgender and Norbet has bipolor. Both of which is going to make it hard to get through middle school But is the catalyst for them to become friends. Both characters are outcasts and begin to go through life together as friends.But things change with Dunkin becomes part of the basketball team and gets accepted into a new social group that Lily isn't. Their friendship eventually brings them back together and they understand that acceptance starts with them.

Commentary

One controversial topic in a book for teen readers is normal. But two? That is rare. This book has a transgener character and another one who is bipolar. Both of these issues are hot in our society right now. There is debate on gender conformity and how others must come to terms with it and society's role in helping with mental illness. The books takes an honest look at how these characters begin their journey as the "go public" with their issues. It not only effects them, their family must come to terms with what is happening to them.  Some members are supportive and others are slow to accept it.  Students in middle and high school should not be shielded from these topics. Books like this are needed in circulation readers can understand people who have have similar issues. They must see that they are normal people who deserve to be respected. Lily and Dunkin is a book that can lead the way to conversation so that could happen.

Connections

Interview with Donna Gephart

Connections to the text

 YA realistic fiction to should be true to issues affection our youth today. And in 2017, gender identify is relevant. More and more children are identifying with a sex other than the one they were assigned at birth. Their voice deserves to be heard as well as any other minority.

Mental illness is also a topic that is afflicting children more and more.  Book are written to help certain populations feel less alone in the world. Dunkin's story would help those living with bipolar disorder. 

Drama

Telgemeir, R. (2012). Drama. New York, NY: Scholastic

Summary

Callie can't catch a break. The novel opens with her mistakenly assuming that Greg likes her. That is quickly crushed when he explains that he is getting back together with his girlfriend Bonnie.  The thearer class is putting on a production of Moon Over Mississippi. She will be the set designer. Her ideas are bigger than the production budget so she must come up with ways to create her "masterpiece" with little funds. The title Drama doesn't necessarily refer to what is happening on stage. There is plenty of drama behind the scenes as well. Callie's personal life is also a focus.  She has a crush on one of the new boys and is trying to find a way to let her feelings known. Turns out he is gay so her once again her feelings about a boy get crushed. In the end, Callie discovers that it is more important to make lifelong friends than worry about love.

Commentary

This book doesn't get too deep like other novels.  It's a graphic novel so moves quickly. It appears to be a book about middle school kids and their crushes with some slight kissing. Then a character reveals he is gay and he ends up going on stage in the role of the a female character and has to kiss a boy.  Some see this as inclusion of homosexual content. But I don't. He was playing a role in a play. It's not like it was to boys having a relationship. The gay character is included just like there are characters of different race. He is just part of the student body.  This book is appropriate for middle school grades. 

Connections

Interview with the author

Other books by Raina Telgemeier. 

    

Connections to text

This like other graphic novels has pictures that help the reader understand the story. Middle school girls can relate to the main character Callie. They have similar issues. Books for this age group should be appropriate in text and content for students in the intended age group and Drama is in both areas. 

Gabi, a Girl in Pieces

Quintero, I ( 2014). Gabi, a Girl in Pieces. El Paso, TX: Cinco Punto Press.

Summary

Any story that involves a stash of good beef jerky and a secret pile of KitKats in a drawer is a worth while read. Gabi lives in Santa Maria, California. This novel is her journal of her senior year.  She lives with her strict mother, younger brother, and sometimes her drug addicted father shows up. She has two incredible friends Cindy and Sebastian. Their year is going to take a turn for all of them. Cindy gets pregnant and Sebastian comes out as gay and gets kicked out by his family. Gabi suddenly finds herself attractive to the opposite sex whereas before she thought of herself as fat and invisible. Gabi relates many of the events that happen to her to the food she was eating at the time like hot cheetos. She gets through life with a wicked sense of humor. She is also is a talented writer. She is able to share her triumphs and pain in beautiful poetry. Her plan is it use her writing to get her to college and change her life. She wants out of her present situation. The story's tone turns dark when she must deal with her father's death from an overdose, an abortion of a classmate, and the fact that her friend was date raped.  In the end, Gabi gets her happy ending and a chance to start a new beginning.

Commentary
The novel written from Gabi's perspective is refreshing. Her observations of the hypocrisies around her are spot on. Her voice sounds like a typical flawed teen. Not a perfect size 2 character that gets everything she needs and deals with minor problems.  I know characters like Mrs Hernandez who are very strict with the daughters and lenient with their sons. They do not realize the cycle they are creating.  The other characters have valid stories on their own. Each one of them could have a novel written about them.

Connections

Teaching Guide

Vamos a Leer Teaching Latin America through Literacy

Connections to text

Books with a minority character should reflect customs, concerns, and or traditions of that minority group to be valid. Not only does this book include concepts of girl developing her own identity, it includes a girl struggling with weight and pressure to be someone else by family members. Dating is included.  The affects that addiction on other others is shown. Finally the Hispanic culture is included. From religion, to family structure, to male female relationships, Ms Quintero presents excellent novel with valid example of a  Latin American family.

Go A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design

Kidd, C. (2013). Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design. New York, NY: Workman Publishing.

Summary

 This is a nonfiction expository book that the main concepts of graphic design: form, typography or font, content, and concept. All of these put together should get a readers or viewers attention and send messages from your eyes to your brain to pay attention to the message. From includes the size, placement,white space, coloring, and appeal.  There should be thought into each of these pieces to make the project not only pleasing but functional. Typography includes font type, font size, letter position, and font color.  The audience and purpose must be considered. If it something that must be read easily, a fancy calligraphy font may not be best. Viewers need to be able to decipher letters and read quickily and move on.  The amount of text can also help determine what typography to use.  Some types are better for headings and titles. and others are more suited for the body of the text. Content dictates your design. The content will determine the purpose of the project.  Once that is known, a desginer will be better able to layout the design on paper. The purpose also helps determine the colors to use. Serious content needs subdued colors. Content that is brief and meant to stand out can be produced in bright colors. Finally the concept must be decided. Is it a magazine spread full of photographs or a report to present to professionals. Will it be paper and handed out or will it be shown on a projector? Book covers will look different based on the type of book, author's purpose, and intended audience.  All in all you want a design that is going to attract an audience

Commentary

The book was written to show different designs and since informing readers on how to produce material is the purpose showing different options is unique.  It did make it hard to read for a long period of time because my brain didn't receive it as text more like a series of posters.  But the authors intention was appreciated.

Conncections