H00t #38 Fruitloops and Dipsticks

What would you do if you're the new girl at school and the teacher mistakes you for a boy? Would you have the guts to go along with it? Simone is going through quite a transition, so you can understand her reasons for the deception. Her mother has a new partner and she and Simone have moved in with him. She has lost her dog and her grandfather has announced he would prefer to spend his last days living with them. Then of course there are the problems pretending to be a boy!

This is a lovely coming of age story. I particularly enjoyed the Scandinavian names and landscape. It is part of the Gecko Press collections of "Seriously good books from around the world."

Julia Marshall translates Ulf Stark's original text. He has written around 30 books for children and young adults. Also he has won many prizes in Sweden and internationally, including the German Youth Literature Prize, the Astrid Lindgren Award and the August Prize. Books by Ulf Stark have been translated into more than 20 languages and he has twice been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen prize.

Stark writes Simone's grandfather beautifully. He has some sage advice for her, but also for the reader:

We're all filled with forces we don't know about,' Grandpa said. 'Like the sea, which is full of fish and algae and currents and life and all kinds of strange things. The dipsticks carefully build thin, ugly bridges over these unknown waters. They're afraid of getting wet in case they ruin their shoes. We fruitloops like to crawl around amongst it all. We put ourselves in the path of the currents and let them carry us along. Even though it's risky; and even though the dipsticks may sometimes look at us with fear and loathing.' 'Be careful of the bad winds,' Grandpa whispered in my ear before he hobbled out into the dark and disappeared up the stairs.

 So if you're feeling a bit displaced, or just a bit fruit loopy, see if you can find a copy of Fruitloops and Dipsticks. I can promise you'll enjoy the ride.


Four hoots/ five.

Happy tales,
Barking Owl

Book H00t #37 Will Grayson, Will Grayson

I picked up Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan  earlier this year, while on a trip to Sydney, in the wonderful Kinokuniya bookstore. It sat and sat on my TBR pile for over six months, which is a shame! But, as it turns out the timing could not have been better;  it is a perfect antidote to 13 R3asons.

The blurb:

What if you were somewhere you never expected to be and met someone with your name? What if the girl you didn't think you were interested in started being interested in you? What if your best friend started writing a musical about your life... and it made you look lame?

What if you are depressed? What if you are in love with someone you have never met? And what is the story with the guy walking around with your name?

Told from the perspective of each of the Wills, this is a book about love- finding it, falling in it, falling out of it, love between friends, and parental love. Tying the two Wills together is larger than life Tiny Cooper. 

Tiny Cooper is not the world's gayest person, and he is not the world's largest person, but I believe he may be the world's largest person who is really, really gay, and also the world's gayest person who is really, really large.

Tiny is writing a musical about himself, featuring his many ex-boyfriends and his best friends. His character really made the book for me, he is witty and wise.

 While some of the characters are depressed, this is in no way a depressing book. It treats 'issues' and problems that teens face with sensitivity and is a gentle reminder that there are people out there who care and who are going through the same stuff as you. I liked the writing of the adults too, unlike 13 R3asons, they were moderate and sensitive. in particular, the parental reactions to these teen boys coming out were reasonable and caring.

Even though I am in no way the demographic for this book, it was so engaging. I really liked the dual narration. The authors used punctuation to define the voices for the readers which worked well. The lyrics for the musical were so funny, and the instant messaging also helped characterisation and narrative whiz along. It really is beautifully written:

Tiny Cooper has brought me to a Gay-Straight Alliance meeting to hook me up with a girl. Which is of course idiotic in the kind of profound and multivalent way that only an English teacher could fully elucidate.

 

Loved, loved, loved the uplifting ending.

Highly recommended, pop it in a Christmas stocking!

4 hoots out of five!

Happy tales,

Barking Owl

Book H00t #36 13 R3asons Why

The blurb:

Clay Jensen returns home from school one day to find a box sitting on his doorstep. Upon opening it, he discovers that it is a shoebox containing seven cassette tapes recorded by the late Hannah Baker, his classmate and  crush who recently committed suicide. The tapes were initially mailed to one classmate with instructions to pass them from one student to another. On the tapes, Hannah explains to thirteen people how they played a role in her death, by giving thirteen reasons to explain why she took her life. Curiosity and fear of exposure keep the people on the list listening to the tapes, and through the audio narrative Hannah reveals her pain, and her slide into depression that ultimately leads to her suicide.

Thirteen reasons why I didn't love this book:

1.  Stupid number/ letter title.

2.  The main character Clay, is on Hannah's list when he hasn't wronged her in any way- it's all a narrative ruse.

3. The premise that teenagers would pass on tapes- tapes!- to others thereby incriminating themselves and opening themselves up to derision. Would. not. happen.

4. Dark, dark theme. No likable characters, no sensible adults, only a glimmer of light at the end.

5. Suicide is represented as easy. I think this is dangerous- just last week I heard on radio that in Australia, every day, six people take their own lives.

6. The representation of school as being the worst possible place for Hannah, isn't realistic for me. Naive?

7. The narrative voices were annoying for me. I thought Clay's responses to Hannah's comments interrupted the flow and dragged the plot's heels.

8. I've read that some people find this book 'preachy'. It's just NOT preachy enough.

9. The English teacher acting as a 'substitute' counselor was a bit too neat in gathering the poetry and lack of sensible advice together.

10. It makes the reader into a voyeur.

11. I wanted it to be better, I wanted the suicide to be a ruse, another rumour and the revenge to be ramped up as a result.

12. Hannah is not nice. The revenge seems petty at times.

13.Hannah is a victim- weak right from the get go. Not someone I would want a teenage girl emulating, or even thinking about too much.

2 hoots/ 5

Happy tales, and happier books!

Barking Owl

Book H00T #35 Fly Girl

What a lovely little read this is. It ticks all my boxes: spunky female protagonist, a series of challenging episodes, lovely writing and some real issues for later discussion.

Ida May Jones is a twenty year old young woman who is desperate to take to the skies again. Her departed father taught her how to fly and she has experience crop dusting. But as a black maid she has to work hard to make this dream a reality. Ida May dreams of going to Chicago’s Coffey School of Aeronautics to obtain her license. Also, when her brother enlists and is sent to the Pacific, Ida Mae promises to stay and look after her family and the strawberry farm.

Temptation comes when Ida Mae hears about the WASP, Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, scheme. She wants to do her part for the war effort and as a woman, let alone an African American woman, it is going to take some swift moves and clever thinking. Ida's light skin and 'good hair' certainly helps her "pass" as white, but this also leads to some crises of conscience.

Based on the real WASP, to whom last year President Obama awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, this book teaches history and civil rights without ever feeling like a lesson. “. . .If you’re colored, you get the short end of the stick. If you’re a woman, you get the short end of the stick. So what do we get for being colored and women?”

 The characters are warm and well drawn, and the narrative is pacy.  You'll be itching to get airborne too!

Five hoots!

Until next time happy tales,
Barking Owl

H00t #34 The Rosie Black Chronicles: Book 1 Genesis

Great cover don't you think?

I'm not a fan of some science fiction, let's get that out of the way from the get go. But,  I do love dystopian fiction and Lara Morgan's  Rosie Black Chronicles looks to be a great series in this genre.

Book One is set in a futuristic Australia, Newperth to be precise, and being a Perth  native, this piqued my interest. Morgan devises an apocalyptic event which is frighteningly possible; the "Melt" has sunk coastal cities. In the author's notes, she credits Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers as her inspiration. I'll be honest here, I wanted much more to take place in this setting of futuristic Perth. The action moves "off-world" far too quickly for my liking. Perhaps Book Two might have the action closer to home?

The division of the people of Newperth into the "Centrals, Have-nots, Bankers and Ferals" is also realistic and credible for Western Australian readers. The division of our city into those who are North, those who are South, and those who live in Fremantle certainly rang true. I also found myself thinking about the geography of the setting; where would Central East Darling Grove be on current maps?

Rosie finds a mysterious box in the first few pages that sets the action of the narrative into motion. And the action and suspense is pretty relentless for much of the book. There's drama and romance in there too, but for the most part the reader is on a rocket-ride lurching from event to event.

Rosie is certainly clever, gutsy and likable. Teens, and YA fans who enjoyed dystopias such as Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking Trilogy, Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games books, Susan Beth Pfeffer's Moon Trilogy, or John Marsden’s Tomorrow When the War Began will love it. 

One final point to Morgan's credit, there's no forehead smacking cliff-hanging moment at the end. I know some readers hate that.

Three and a half hoots out of five.

Until next time,

Happy tales,

Barking Owl

Hoot #33 Mice Gordon Reece

This psychological thriller had me hooked very quickly. Shelly and her mum are both victims of abuse; Shelly is bullied my her previous 'friends' in some horrible ways. Her mother is bullied by her ex-husband in a messy divorce and she is also bullied in the workplace. The two little mice scurry off to the country to lick their wounds. But, their bad luck doesn't end there. 

The pace of this book is just right. It builds and builds until Shelly and her mum finally fight back.

Something that irked a little for me was the repetitive characterisation of the two of them as mice. It was a little heavy handed for my liking, but, is probably about right for the young adult readership.

The tone and tension reminded me a little of Beautiful Malice, a big hit with every teen girl I've recommended it to. However this has more depth I think. It will certainly make readers think about the ethics of fighting back and how far you would/ should go to protect yourself and your loved ones. It also has some lovely connections to Macbeth running through the story (Shelly is studying the play for her examinations.)

All the characters are well drawn. And if you have ever been bullied, which lets face it a lot of people have, then the scenes where poor Shelly is retreating further and further into herself because of horrible girls at her school will resonate with you. And no, I don't think the bullying is at all unrealistic or too violent.

Four hoots out of five

Happy tales,
Barking Owl

Book H00t #32 Pippi Longstocking

Happy Book Week to you all! As you can see from this post, Book Week is a particularly big one at my school, culminating in dress up day. Now we teachers always find this a source of much discussion, if not angst.

This year the theme is "Across The Story Bridge." What does that suggest to you? We went through characters that are associated with bridges but trolls and billy goats didn't really appeal. So we decided to choose characters that have crossed the bridge from print to film.

All this is leading up to my re-reading of Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking. For costume inspiration, I bought the lovely new edition illustrated by Lauren Child. And I am enjoying reading it so much. It reminded me how much I loved her sassiness.

Pippi is an excellent example of a strong girl who knows her mind, is independent and has fun at the same time. She also has a pet monkey!

If you haven't read Pippi Longstocking, or need a refresher, this edition is a lovely read.

5 Hoots out of 5

Happy tales,
Barking Owl