Remember: I can always bring you down, I don't care how big you are.

Dear Joshua,

I know you. You're an upstanding guy. But I also know you're a guy and probably could use some help in the romance department, not to mention the gender issue department. This is why you should read "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landaue-Banks" by E. Lockhart. This National Book Award finalist is a funny and engaging read that I read in about a day and a half. It's easy to get through, has some awesome pranking material, and offers a little lesson in love on top of that.

Frankie is a sophomore at a boarding school on the East Coast and she has "blossomed" from her freshmen year. "She gained four inches and twenty pounds all in the right places." So she's a hot tamale and now, all of a sudden, everyone is noticing her, including the super hot Senior Matthew Livingston.

She and Matthew start dating and he's kind of a jerk. Here's where gender roles come in: he likes it when she needs him, he likes to do things for her, he doesn't open up to her, etc. Frankie doesn't like this so she follows him one day after he's blown her off for his friends (again) and finds out he's in some secret all boy society that pulls lame pranks on the school. Long story short, she infiltrates the group and organizes a plethora of pranks worthy of getting certain people in deep trouble.

What I want to discuss with you, little brother, is the gender and romance stuff. You know me, I am independent and can fend for myself quite easily. This is what you need to know about most girls: we can do things on our own. Frankie is sick and tired of being looked at as a little girl, defenseless and in need of help. So she does something about it. I would have to say that if any girl you ever date acts the way Frankie does because of you, then you deserve it. Matthew leaves her all the time in favor of his friends. Every once in a while is fine. You know Les (Readers note: Les is my husband) goes off with his friends, that's cool. But he never blows me off to be with them. When you make plans, keep them. Unless of course you end up having knee surgery the day before Halloween and end up having to stay home by yourself (good luck with that!).

I say gender and romance together because they do go together. A man is expected to do certain things for his lady and the lady is expected to do other things for her man. Frankie does not like this. Hence infiltrating an all guys secret society without letting her identity be known. But it's ok to let down societies gender roles and do your own thing. For example, Les does more laundry than I do. Do I object? Haha. And one more important thing about gender that you cannot escape: when guys get even, they do it overtly. Girls, however, are covert. Always. Remember. That. It may save your face someday if you cross a girlfriend.

Your big sister,

Paige

Blargh!

Dear Joshua, Sometimes there comes a book that makes you want to throw it across the room. I have encountered this a few times for different reasons. I have wanted to throw a book because it was just plain terrible. I have wanted to throw one because it hit so close to home that I wasn't prepared for the blunt honesty and the vacant rooms of my soul opened up unexpectedly.

This time I wanted to throw a book because I just couldn't like it. I tried, I really did. I tried finding the literary merit but was blindsided with a truly bore of a book.

"The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing" was written by M.T. Anderson, the same guy who wrote "Feed," my first review. I raved about "Feed" so I thought for sure that I would love "Octavian." Alas, I did not.

"Octavian" is about an African boy and his mother who were brought into a household during the time of the American Revolution. The house contained a group of scholarly men who were apt to perform experiments on just about anything. Octavian and his mother were obviously part of an experiment. Octavian finds that he is being groomed as an intellectual under the presumption that he could never be one, given his race. He grapples with the concepts of logic and feeling, freedom and slavery. Is intellectual slavery worse than physical slavery?

My professor asked us what makes a book literary. Turns out the majority of students (being English savvy and much better at this sort of thing than I am) decided that there needs to be a good use of literary devices (you know, symbolism, metaphors, etc.) and an outstanding plot. My immediate mental reaction to the question was "It's a work of art." I was thinking about how some people really like Jackson Pollock, even though his stuff sucks so bad that no one can tell a counterfeit from an original. And some people find the Mona Lisa to be the symbol of beauty because of her smile (even though it was the fact that this was the very first depiction of a vanishing point that actually made this piece impressive as opposed to totally ordinary).

I want a book to *thunk* me over my heart and say “Wake up!” That’s what I find literary. Maybe it’s not literary as much as something else entirely, but that’s what makes a good book for me. When you look at the Sistine Chapel, you cannot help but be moved by it. The care, the craftsmanship, the fact that this was the culminating work of one of the greatest artists of all time (note: do not eat your lead paint, for crying out loud!) and everyone can respect it for what it is. You do not have to like art, you do not have to be Christian; you just look at it and another room to your soul opens that you never knew was there. That’s what a good book is. Literary? Maybe, maybe not. I’m not an English major, I don’t know these things. What I do know, is what a good book is.

Your opinionated sister,

Paige

Let's rewind

Dear Joshua,

For our week on dystopian literature, I chose to read a second book since I knew this would be a good genre for you. (Yes, I like it too...) My professor brought some books in for those of us who chose to read a second book for this week. Laying on her desk were a handful of books, one of which was M.T. Andersons Feed, the first book I reviewed for this blog. I picked up one that had a fuzzy human figure holding up their hand, pressed to what looks like a screen. I was instantly reminded of Requiem for a Dream, particularly when the mother is tripping on the speed she thinks are diet pills (which, I guess in some sick and twisted way, could be true). If you've never seen the movie, wait until mom and dad are gone, watch it on dads giant TV and try not to cry yourself to sleep that night. That scene at the end...*shudder*.

Task at hand! I chose that book with the cool cover (Unwind by Neal Shusterman) only after reading the first sentence on the inside flap: “In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would ‘unwind’ them.” I was hooked. So basically, in this futuristic world, no one is donating organs and the pro-lifers and pro-choicers are still at odds with each other. So to kill two birds with one stone, it is now common legal practice to retroactively abort a child once they are between the ages of 13 and 18. They are “unwound” and 100% of their body parts are distributed to other people. How does this satisfy the pro-lifers? The kids are still technically alive. Ever heard of muscle memory?

This book could have easily been made preachy. The author could have imposed his views but he chose not too. You only get the idea that chopping up body parts and distributing throughout the country (Need a left big toe? No problem!) while keeping these people alive is wrong. Duh. So we have to ask ourselves how on earth we would ever get to such a point. Here’s a link to an absolutely true report from 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6171083.stm

I’ll stop right here for now. I suggest you read the book and start tackling ethics on your own. The things you find in Unwind are issues that are going to be discussed, fought over, and voted on for a long, long time.

--Paige

Please Sir, I don't want any more.

Dear Joshua,

This week we started reading dystopian literature. You, Justin, and I are all cynics (Readers: Justin is our older brother) and we like to discuss our lack of faith in humanity. I was pleased to begin this genre, knowing I would like it and it would give me an opportunity to send some titles your way that I think you would like as well.

Let’s start with The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Katniss Everdeen, our female narrator and primary character, lives in a place called District 12 in the country of Panem, which used to be North America. It is a coal mining district with no respect from the Capital and its rulers. The Capital is brutal and keeps tabs on its citizens by choosing 24 kids (ages 12-18), two from each district, to play in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a terrifying fight to the death, 100 times worse than the old gladiatorial games. The kids need to kill of each other and face the elements in a ring controlled and manipulated by the Gamemakers. The games are aired on television for everyone to see. That means if things get boring and people stop watching, the Gamemakers make sure something happens to keep viewers.

The Hunger Games is a novel that beautifully describes our selfish desires to see others perish. In class we were talking about reality TV and how we are all guilty of taking pleasure in other people’s pain. One student even said that her whole family would sit and watch the first season of Survivor together. Remember how we did that too? The three of us kids would lie on the floor and mom and dad had the couch. We watched in amazement as people manipulated and tore each other apart. Granted, no one died, but it was still a terrible thing to watch. I thought we have evolved enough to grant each other respect? Am I wrong? In The Hunger Games the Capital keeps these games going as a way of saying “Hey! We’re in charge here! Do you see what we can do to you? Stay in line!” Are we really that far off, now?

--Paige

I'm waiting....

Dear Joshua,

This next review is for a book that I would never recommend for you in a million years. But alas, my assignment is to review all the books we read and since the majority of the class consists of women, I'm bound to have to read something that doesn't pertain to you.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen is a typical teen problem novel in first person narration. The narrator is our main character, Ruby. Ruby has lived with a drunken mother and absent father. Her sister left home ASAP and made a way for herself in the world, seeming to leave Ruby behind. When Ruby’s mother abandons her one day by just not coming home (and staying away for a while), she decides to fend for herself for a few months until she turns 18 and is a legal adult. She would have barely scraped by, but was found out and handed over to Children’s Services. She is reunited with her sister, who takes her in and sends her to a fancy private school. Ruby meets a neighbor boy who attends the same school and is forced into friendship through proximity. Things get complicated and predictable and Ruby finds out that this boy shares more in common with her than she thought.

Dessen is a New York Times best-selling author, but I found the book terribly scripted and predictable. I was felt like I was waiting for more (Something! Anything!) the entire time I was reading it. Maybe the problem teen novel is not my favorite thing, but I figured this could have been done a little better. Maybe not, I don’t know. I do know that there are surely some readers out there that would really love Lock and Key but I am not one of them. Give me something to bite into and mull over.

--Paige

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