Even a boring narrator can make a pretty awesome book.

Dear Joshua, Looking for Alaska by John Green is an excellent book. I just want to put that out there. The narrator, Miles, is a high school student who's from Florida and is attending a bording school in Alabama. He is the most boring character ever. But this is what makes him so special. He comes from a normal family, had no friends in Florida, is an excellent student that doesn't need to try very hard, etc. He is a blank canvas. When he moves to Alabama, everything in new to him. All the emotional problems, the grudges, even difficult classes, amaze him. He is in constant awe at an age when most kids are sensitized. Miles is quickly taken in by his roommate, the Colonial and is given his own nickname, Pudge, because is anything but. He meets Alaska for the first time and is (surprise!) amazed by how beautiful she is. Alaska is an extremely strong female presence with a feminist attitude. In class we discussed how there are no macho characters in Looking for Alaska and how all of the boys seem to respect Alaska and her womanhood and are careful of what they say around her. If you want a book with some good pranks in it, this one would be pretty solid. Pudge and his friends like to prank, as it is the school tradition. The Weekday Warriors (those who are rich enough to go home every weekend) are the primary target and the WW try to call a truce after the pranks. But the main characters won't have any of it. They prank on principle, not because they are bored. I don't want to give away any more of the book, but I will say that Pudge is very fond of people's last words. The last words he uses the most are from Francois Rabelais, a poet: "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." This is the overall theme. What is this Great Perhaps? Are we looking for it in life or in death? Is it something we can see? Feel? Or simply understand? Read the book, you might find out.

Their eyes are all asking are you in or are you out?

Dear Joshua,

I know you’re straight, so am I. But have I got a book for you to read anyway! It’s Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden. It’s about Liza, a girl in her senior year of high school at a private school in New York City. She meets another girl, Annie, at a museum and she instantly feels a connection but is unaware of what kind of connection it is. During the evolution of their friendship she begins to understand their connection and they start a hesitant relationship. Liza is the narrator who is telling the story as a freshman at MIT. She often gets sidetracked in her studies and has Annie, well, on her mind. Their relationship strikes some controversy, but I am not going to go any further. You’ll just have to read the book.

The book was published in 1982 and I am amazed at how sheltered the characters were. There were a number of Gay Rights movements in the ‘70’s through the ‘80’s, but there was little social change. Even today, we can see that the LGBT community is denied rights that you and I have. Reading the book, I felt the story was a little dated, as things have progressed somewhat, but it was still effective. It is not a gay love story where the kids wake up one morning and feel they need to resolve themselves of their sins. It is more of a finding-out-what-these-feelings-are-and-dealing-with-them kind of story. If anything, it can shed some light on us straight people as to what the LGBT’s of our lives go through. I know a handful of gay people and never gave their gayness a whole lot of thought. I figured everything was pretty much the same as hetero couples, but I was wrong. After talking to some of my gay peers, I know that their culture is vastly different. With Annie on My Mind we get a little taste of the gay culture, but more importantly, we gain a sense of empathy for gays and their experiences. It’s a step in the right direction, that’s for sure.

*The title is borrowed from a song by Ani DiFranco. If you haven't heard her, you must seek her out!*

--Paige

Good idea, bad decision....

Dear Joshua,

The first book I read for class was a "chosen book." My professor gives us some slack every now and then and lets us choose our own book. She brought a bunch to class and I borrowed one called Feed by M.T. Anderson. The author's name was familiar and I read the summary in the front of the book where all the publication info can be found. (The library at my school takes off all the book jackets and occasionally you can find one perma-bound as long as it was paperback to begin with. I worked at that library for two years and I was still unable to convince these people that we need to take a look at the jacket. But in case you didn’t already know, flip to the publication page and you find a little summary near the bottom.)

Feed sounded pretty cool: Set in the future, everyone has computers in their heads, and (surprise, surprise) it turns out that those computers cause some problems. Titus, the main character, doesn’t really think too much about his Feed because it’s always there anyway. It tells him how much a pair of pants cost, he watches his favorite shows, finds out what the new styles are, etc. It’s all the same stuff we do on the internet know, only there’s no searching involved: the Feed does this automatically. So Titus and his buddies are on the Moon for Spring Break (the Moon is the 51^st state, by the way) and some hacker gets into all of their Feeds and they have to spend some time in a hospital while the doctors and IT dudes figure out what’s going on. During this time they have no Feed so their heads are actually quiet and they have to communicate using the voice instead of chatting (much like IMing). Titus ends up liking this girl who never really liked her Feed to begin with, but is quick to use it again once they all get better. Titus learns a lot from this girl, as she is home schooled by her father who is a throwback to the olden days where books were the main source of education. School has become trademarked and bought up by major companies so students are taught about how to be savvy shoppers instead of understanding current events. We occasionally get a little snippet of current events and things don’t look good: Forests are rare, the world hates the United States, the president is a bumbling idiot, etc. This is a book about a good idea (having a computer at the tip of our minds fingers) gone horribly wrong. People are no longer close and priorities are a little (ok, a lot) mixed up. It’s definitely worth a look.

--Paige

What's this YA stuff anyway?

Dear Joshua,

As I mentioned in my introductory post, I know you don't read YA literature. You really should, though. I enjoy it more than I thought I would. We have been discussing in class what exactly YA lit is, and we have not found a definitive answer. Some say it is a book written in a teenagers voice as the narrator. Others say there needs to be some sort of "coming of age" epiphany. But mostly, it's just up to the publisher.

We had an assignment to go to a bookstore and take a look at the YA section. I went to a local Borders and found it behind a huge wall (that ended up to be a Manga display), tucked off to the side. Remembering when I was a teenager, I know I would have appreciated the privacy of the giant wall. But then again, with that kind of set up, who knows it's even there? Everyone walks right into the adult section when they come in through the doors. Who's going to wander around looking for "age-appropriate" reads when they are a teen looking to grow up as quickly as possible? Wouldn't it be only logical for someone like you (mature, political, and socially conscious) to browse the adult section?

The answer is no, by the way.

But still, there are some books in the adult section that could have been YA had the publishers thought differently. I have a few on my own bookshelf that I feel should be found in the YA section of bookstores, and yet I found them in the adult fiction. More on those books later.

What I found at Borders was that obviously everyone is jumping on the Twilight bandwagon and writing books about vampires and other such nonsense. If that floats your boat, then go for it. But it drills a hole the size of Texas in mine. I also found that the only "boy books" were ones that had a sci-fi or fantasy theme. I'm not sure you'd really like any of it, even if you're a Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter fan. There was a display table with “Cool Reads” and I took a look through them. Again, I would have been able to find plenty of stuff to read as a girl, but nothing that you would have wanted to read. What are the chances that you would pick up a book that had a girl and guy making out on the cover that was not found in the 18 and over section? Pretty slim, I know.

There are books out there in the YA section that you would like. There are also books in the adult section that could find their home in the YA section. The decision is made by the publishers as to where the book will be placed. And unfortunately authors see a YA novel as a mark of shame; as if teens don’t read at all. It’s totally stupid, I know. So along with my posts on books deemed as YA by their publishers, I will try to occasionally add a book that I feel should be YA but is found in the adult section. I have four sitting on my desk right now, so I know I can offer at least that many.

--Paige

So the assignment is what...?

Dear Joshua, I mentioned to you about a week ago that I had to start a blog for my Adolescent in American Literature class (essentially Young Adult Lit). I also told you that you would be my focal point. Lucky you! I'm supposed to write reviews of books we read in class and I intend on completing my assignments. But in doing so, I plan on reading books that either you would enjoy or learn from. Yes, Josh, I plan on teaching you. I know you love Tolkien (as do I) and Chreighton (can't say the same for that one) but let me tell you a secret: Hobbits and wizards do not exist and dinosaurs no longer roam the earth (but if you ever get a chance to see their bones, I highly recommend it). What you do see is a lot of teenager crap. I'm talking about bad relationships, even worse breakups, exams, college applications, moody teachers, annoying big sisters (let's be honest here), and parents that can drive you nuts. What you could benefit from is some literature that you can relate to, take from and grow with. If you get a chance, email me what you think about the reviews and any cool books you read on your own, etc. and I'll post the emails here as well. Let's hope that mom and dad's computer can handle all of this. You know that thing is 12 years old, right? Your Annoying Big Sister, Paige