Flipped

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen was one of my choices for the Young Adult Book Challenge. I kept seeing it in middle school libraries and it seemed popular with the students. Having now read it, I understand why!

Flipped is told from the perspective of two different characters alternating between chapters. As soon as you think you know what happened, everything is "flipped", and you see it from the other perspective. I enjoyed this technique because it kept the narration from becoming stale (not that that was a concern), but it also made me think about all those times I've had embarrassing run-ins, and wondering what the other perspective might have been.

The story is told by Juli Baker and Bryce Loski. Juli has a mega crush on Bryce, and has since the first moment she met him. Bryce did not feel the same. The book focuses on the romantic angles, but throws in other issues as well. As the events progress a nice compare and contrast between families appears. I have to say, one of my favorite elements is Juli's relationship with a tree. It's a special tree that makes her feel alive in a special way. Personally, I seem to have this connection with trees as well. I'll admit to crying when they cut down the trees at my elementary school... even the one we played Little House on the Prairie under. And I'll admit to having a slight panic attack when I couldn't remember if "Nathaniel's Tree" had been spared... it was! (In first grade our school planted a tree to remember a fourth grader, Nathaniel, who was hit by a car). So we can say I had a deep connection to Juli.

Talking about this book with a 4th or 5th grade student (multi-age class, you never really know!), I found it interesting that one of the aspects of the book that I liked so much (the changing perspective), was a point of confusion for her. "I could never figure out what was happening... I thought I'd know and then it would change." She solved the problem by rereading (nice strategy!) and in the end really enjoyed the book.

Recommendation: If you like the somewhat unique delivery and don't mind running through all of your own awkward adolescent encounters, Flipped is well worth a read.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

One of my selections for the Numbers Challenge is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gariel Garcia Marquez.

For some reason I had a really wrong impression of this book. It was recommended to me a few years ago by a boy I sat by in middle school band when I was bumped from first chair sax to second. (At least I think that happened, I definitely sat at first far longer than deserved.) At the time of the recommendation I assumed the book had an Indian theme. (In my defense, he didn't tell me the name of the author...) So I had a little misinformation. The next thing I knew, it was an Oprah's Book Club title. If you've read this post, you know how I feel about that.

Regardless, I gave it a try. I'll be honest. I'm still digesting this book.

As I started to read the first few chapters, I struggled to explain the mood, the casual tone of the narrator, despite the many mystifying events. When I read Marquez's explanation, of course it made perfect sense. I must quote.

"The tone I eventually used in One Hundred Years of Solitude was based on the way my grandmother used to tell stories. She told things that sounded supernatural and fantastic, but she told them with complete naturalness."

He goes on to describe his grandmother's facial expression during her stories. It didn't change. He realized he had to tell the story with a "brick face."

But what is the story? One Hundred Years of Solitude tells of the rise and fall of the village Macondo through the lives of the Buendia family. There's love, death, war, incest... and miracles. Not to mention a fairly complicated and difficult to follow family tree due to the recycling of names and aforementioned intrafamilial hook-ups.

I found myself looking forward to whatever new fantastic occurrence would happen next and the family's subdued reaction.

Recommendation: If you enjoy long meandering books and surrealism, One Hundred Years of Solitude is definitely worth a look.

I Am America (And So Can You!)

I was the 44th hold on I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert. It came relatively quickly. Probably because it's one of those books you can't put down. It went to the laundromat with me.

Hilarious. Read it.

Recommendation: If you love the show, you'll love the book. If you don't love the show and only watch it if it happens to be on in the same room, you'll love the book.

Oh, Hello Blog

I am way behind in reviews, and I swear I'll start reading grown-up books again... soon. I may have already started.

Bond Children's Literature Conference

Last Saturday was the 5th annual Bond Children's Literature Conference at Western Washington University. I went last year to hear Lois Lowry speak. It was fantastic. Did you know part of her childhood she grew up in Japan, living in a completely Americanized sector?

This year a far-off friend wanted to meet up for the conference. When I found out the speakers... I was more than happy to pay out my hard earned money. To put it bluntly, it was a sausage-fest of a conference.

Christoper Paul Curtis, Newbery Award winner
John Rocco, illustrator linked to Shrek (the movie)
Eric Rohmann, Caldecott Award winner
Chris Crutcher, banned book author extraordinaire.

As most conferences go... some speakers are good, others are great, and some you kinda wonder what they are talking about and why. That being the case, I'll focus on the highlights.

Christopher Paul Curtis:
Not only an incredible writer, but an incredible public speaker as well. He told his story of going from a factory worker to Newbery award winner, with humor and humility. To summarize a bit... right after high school he entered the factories of Flint, Michigan. During down time on the job he took up writing. When he fell in love with a girl several miles away and killed two cars visiting her, he took up writing. When that same girl told him to take a year off work to take up writing, he was in heaven. He also has extremely large hands. When he signed my book we shook. Just big hands, that's all. His works include: The Watson's Go to Birmingham 1963, Bud, Not Buddy, and Elijah of Buxton. Curtis was a real treat.

Chris Crutcher:
Now probably my main draw to the conference was Chris Crutcher. In high school my favorite teacher was highly distraught that the book Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes was being challenged or banned somewhere (I have no idea where). Now, I didn't have the slightest clue as to what this book was about, but I figured if it was being banned... I better read it. Crutcher has many many challenged and banned books. There's even a pamphlet for teachers about teaching banned books with his photograph on it! I was dying to know what he would say to defend/explain/justify/glorify his writing. Ok, so he didn't really do that. At all. But he did read excerpts from his autobiography, King of the Mild Frontier. Luckily, I'd purchased it that morning on a hunch because his reading was hilarious and all the copies sold out. Reading the book now I have Crutcher's voice in my head, making all the delightful bits that much more delightful...("I was working my sphincter muscles like a body-builder.") I also like how he explains moments in his life that later play into his writing. Plus, his unique background as a family therapist enriches the characters and situations he writes in his books. I love banned books. They only make adolescents want to read them all the more.

Other conference notes:
Next year, bring own lunch. Two years in a rough of tough eggplant and soggy bread sandwiches are enough for me. Plus, my sandwich was half the size of my friend's.
Next year, don't drink water at lunch. No matter how hard you try you can't get down to empty before the speakers come on... and hearing stories about someone nearly wetting their pants does not take the focus off your own situation.

My purchases: