Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Clay Jensen receives an unexpected package in the mail and finds that it contains several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, a classmate who committed suicide two weeks earlier. As Clay listens to the first tape, Hannah explains that there were thirteen reasons she decided to end her life, and if he was listening to the tapes, he was one of the reasons. Hannah ensured that each of the thirteen people involved will get to listen to the tapes by a carefully controlled threat. If the people involved don’t listen to the tapes and then pass them on to the next person, an outside person will go public with the tapes. Hannah has also provided each listener with a map of important places. Clay spends that night following Hannah’s voice and map as he learns the truth of her pain, and just how he was involved.

The book contains two main voices, Clay’s narration of the story, and Hannah’s recorded tapes. In order to differentiate, the text used italics to denote the recorded vocals. At times this was confusing to read, especially when Hannah’s voice was paired line for line with a thought from Clay. While this is probably a realistic depiction of Clay’s thought process as he listens to the tapes, it was difficult. I think the publisher would have been better off using a different font for Hannah rather than just italics. The other criticism I have for the text is that the main way the reader gets to know Clay is through Hannah’s story, which makes him feel a bit less than a main character. I also had trouble with the dialogue between Clay and Tony, the guy Hannah chose to hold her secret, even though he wasn’t one of the thirteen reasons. I felt that the conversations weren’t authentic; instead they seemed rather contrived. I wonder if the audiobook format might be more successful at telling the story. Have you listened to it? Would you recommend it? Let me know!

I really liked this book, in spite of the fact that the entire time you read, you know that there can’t be a happy ending. Hannah is dead, and that won’t change, regardless of what else happens in the story.

The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman

Sally Lockhart’s father has just died, and left behind a message that makes no sense. When she goes to his office in London to ask for help deciphering the message, a man dies of fear, just after hearing her words. Sally soon realizes that her father’s message has a sinister link, one that she must uncover before it hurts someone else, especially her. Sally finds herself pursued by villains she doesn’t even know, as she discovers two different, yet linked mysteries. One involves the deadly opium trade rampant in London’s seamier side, and the other mystery centers around a missing ruby of extraordinary value. Sally also finds some help along the way: a photographer, his actress sister, and their assistant take her in when she has no where else to go; an errand boy, Jim, devotes himself to helping her whenever he can; and an opium-addicted sailor and his curate brother aid her when the sailor’s health is restored. Sally helps her friends too; she is excellent with numbers and becomes an accountant of sorts for the photography shop, even creating a new product line. Sally finds clues along the way in the form of Mr. Marchbanks, a journal, and a mysterious reaction to the smoke of opium—visions of a past experience appear to her when she’s exposed to the smoke. After surviving threats on her life and on those around her, Sally eventually realizes that she must locate the valuable ruby before Mrs. Holland, an old woman who thinks the ruby should belong to her. In the end, Sally discovers that her father wasn’t the man she thought and this mysterious ruby has more power than she could have guessed. She must use the ruby to trick the Mrs. Holland, or she won't survive.

The book is beautifully written. Pullman is a master of very full descriptions and details, which can slow the pace of the book at times. The plot is complex and involves many twists, which also require the reader to slow down to appreciate the situations in which Sally Lockhart finds herself.

I read this book as a teen, and loved it. Rereading it as an adult, I can say that it hasn’t lost a bit of the intrigue that attracted me in the first place. I have recommended this book numerous times, and will continue to do so.

Note that this book is the first of the Sally Lockhart series by Pullman, which has four books.

A Step from Heaven by An Na

A Korean family emigrates to the United States in search of a better life. Told from the viewpoint of the daughter, the story follows her from age four to age sixteen. She and her family encounter language difficulties, feelings of isolation, a struggle for identity, and an abusive relationship with her father. Young Ju, the daughter, goes to school with no understanding of English, and develops into one of the top members of her class. Apa, the father, begins to resent her acquisition of English and her successful assimilation into American culture. He resents those who understand English, mistrusts the intentions of Americans, and becomes abusive with his family. Uhmma, the mother, adapts much more readily, is able to stay focused on the dream of becoming American and allowing her children to live a better life. She and the children join a church, in order to become more accepted and further assimilated into the culture. Apa; however, holds the family back, punishing them for their successes. Eventually, the struggle to fit in becomes too much for Apa, and he moves back to Korea. The rest of the family remains in America and is finally allowed to develop as Americans.

The book exhibits especially unique literary quality. It challenges the reader through Young Ju’s translation of English, particularly in the early chapters. The intermixing of Korean and the youth of the narrator also provide credibility to the story. Young Ju’s life experience, or lack thereof, pose additional challenges to both the reader’s and Young Ju’s understanding of various situations. In spite of the challenges, the story is engaging and clever. The division of chapters into small vignettes about the family’s experience helps the book flow without seeming too disjointed.

I really enjoyed this book. There were sections that were difficult to get through, such as the various abusive scenes with the father, but by that point in the story, I was so interested and vested in the story that I couldn’t stop. This book would appeal to young adults because of the format of short chapters, which makes is more accessible. Also, the fact that Young Ju doesn’t feel as though she is part of her own family is something that some teens might identify with fairly closely. The most interesting aspect of the book is the way the reader can see Young Ju’s literary and verbal growth and grasp of English as the story progresses. I would absolutely recommend this book to teens and adults.

Absolutely, Positively Not by David Larochelle

Steven is a typical teenager: he’s trying to get his drivers license, he feels disconnected from his parents, and he is trying hard to fit in at his high school. But in many ways he is not a typical teenager. He enjoys square-dancing with his mom, he finds himself thinking about his new teacher Mr. Bowman more often than he would like, and he keeps a men’s underwear catalog under his bed! He struggles to prove to himself, and the world that he is not gay by doing anything he can think of: buying Playboy, dating as many girls as possible, even eating lunch with the hockey team! Somehow these schemes go awry: he ends up purchasing a copy of a parenting magazine instead of Playboy, his dates, although numerous, never quite seem right, and the jocks at the hockey team table mostly ignore him. Next he tries wearing a rubber band on his wrist, as a punishment for thinking about Mr. Bowman, but that turns into a trend at his high school, and doesn’t seem to stop him from thinking about his teacher. As he begins to accept that he is gay, he agonizes over “coming out,” especially to his parents. In fact, to avoid telling them, he takes his friend Rachel’s dog Kelly to the prom! When he comes out to his best friend Rachel, he’s horrified to find out that she had guessed it all along. She becomes so supportive that she proposes forming a club. While Steven isn’t ready to broadcast his coming out by joining a club, he does seek out a support group in another town. Steven's next step will be telling his parents, but how will they react? And will he ever find love?

While the vocabulary, dialogue, and style of the writing are not especially distinctive, the topic of the book is timely and unique. The book merits discussion based on the clever way it deals with the topics of homosexuality and acceptance.

I enjoyed this book. There was a great deal of humor presented through the narrator, both in his use of metaphors and the situation in which he found himself. I think the inclusion of so much humor is a nice touch on the part of the author considering the depth and heaviness of this topic has the potential to bring to a book. I think young adults will definitely appreciate the humor in the story, and the way such a serious topic is made accessible to them without taking away any of the intellectual context of the topic. I would absolutely recommend this book.

On a side note, I think that the paperback cover, with the superhero, is way more fun than the hardcover.

Wordle Website

Here's a very cool website that allows you to create your own tag cloud! Check it out!

http://www.wordle.net


This is the site we used in our April SLAG meeting to illustrate our thoughts on The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Click on the image above to view in a larger format.

*Just remember to be careful! This website doesn't do any filtering so you might run into rather grown-up content.*