Feb 2009 - YA Lit

Host Lisa
Book YA Lit Selection

Radical Chatter
- Thanks for hosting, Lisa! (of Hofmeister Haus, for those interested)
- We missed you, Janell and Theresa!
- Must mention that the treats we ate and drank were amazing: Apple Nut Cake (Lisa), Seasoned Walnuts (Lisa), Chai tea (Kristen), Trail mix (Jade), a Green Chili (was that it? Sarah!), Kettle corn (safeway!), Cullen red wine (Lisa – Twi-hards loved that touch), s’mores (Lisa)

Selections Read:
o Sarah - gosh too many to list, probably, but a few: Blue Shoe; How I Live Now, Rosoff which she said is just extremely well-written. Since YA lit can be so heavy, Sarah found comfort in a couple of the books, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and ???
o Lisa – Kira-Kira – about best-friends/sisters in the 50s who have to move, face discrimination as Japanese Americans, deal with older sister’s illness and the implications it has on the family struggling already. The older sister, Lynn, teaches Katie her first word, kira-kira, which means glittering. Katie used it to describe everything she liked, even Kleenex, and their mom says she’ll have to send the girls back to Japan to teach them how to be proper girls. Lisa said it was beautiful but heavy and sad. Interesting that reviews online from adults said maybe this is too heavy for kids, and then the teen respondents said, “who are these adults? We can deal with this.” Led to a discussion that we as parents want to protect our kids, shield them from the difficult stuff, knowing that they will encounter it regardless. In some ways, books are easier to use in dealing with hard subjects because if we’re reading with our kids, we can pause and discuss a disturbing scene or element, whereas in a movie the scene happens, disturbs, then continues on. We can’t reflect and discuss. Asked if this book does have a silver lining, Lisa said Yes! While life as the family knows it ends in a way, they still see the kira-kira in nature and all around us.
o Sarah? Mentioned Patricia Polacco’s Thundercake, in which the characters make a cake during a thunderstorm in order to pass the time, and be brave through the storm. Book includes recipe for the thunder cake, so readers can make it too.
o Kristen – Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! K says it’s similar to Canterbury Tales. Lisa said it was written by a librarian ? at a school because the students were studying the medieval times, and she wrote 17 plays so that each student in the class could have a starring role in his own story. Format is interesting. The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman excellent! (Theresa said so too, via email). Story of a boy whose parents are murdered, who escapes to grow up in the graveyard, with the ghosts as his new family. It’s “fantasy, right on the edge of reality”, Kristen’s favorite genre. The Invention of Hugo Cabret about a boy who lives in a train station in Paris. Kjirsten wondered if parents would by a 500 page book at $22 for their young kids. Sarah and others thought, definitely, even as a gift. Thought the story could be a little old for young kids, but Sarah thought 4th graders would love it. Features illustrations that start out far away, then zoom in on pages that follow. Also passages of text. American Born Chinese graphic novel that Sarah, Kristen both loved. Lisa too?
o Jade - The Book Thief, Zusak – almost done with it. Narrator is Death. Comments on the fact that Hitler began his crusade with words not weapons. Jade commented that the author’s technique of listing items, centered within the text broke up the flow. She wanted him to have good reason for going against the grain.
o Kjirsten - Kira-Kira, Kadohata beautiful story of two sisters. This author used the list format periodically as well. Here maybe it was to show the narrator’s attempts to have control over something in her life (I can list these things I know for sure), when everything else was spinning out of control. And The White Darkness, McCaughrean This book was a page-turner for me. Looking back, I don’t know if I’d say it’s a must-read, but I did love it while reading it. Sarah said if I loved the humor, I’d enjoy listening to her 2008 Printz award acceptance speech.

Also mentioned
Jellicoe Road, 2009 Printz winner – set in Australia, story of private school with secret societies, etc.
Emma, a manga novel, translated from Japanese, read from “back to front” and right to left. About a girl obsessed w/ Victorian England
Mists of Avalon – Arthurian legends told from the perspective of female characters
Valley of the Horses – Lisa, did you mention this series?
Not a Box Not a Stick - Sarah loves these books. Kids can make a cardboard box into anything.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie – Sarah was sad to hear no one had read this fantastic book
Ahab’s Wife – Story told from the perspective of Captain Ahab’s wife. Did Lisa mention this one? Centennial – James Michener focuses his stories on a place. This one is about CO. partial review from Amazon: The book's 900 pages cover 136 million years. Centennial is an epic novel of the history, land, and people of Colorado. It’s got a 4.5 star review. Lisa loves his work.
Bunnicula – bunny who sucks the juice out of the vegetables …oh, wait that was another conversation…vampire related…

Etc.
- How far do you give a book, before you give up and put it down?
Jade said, if it was a recommendation, she’ll read ½ the book. If just one she’s picked up, maybe 3-4 chapters.
- We talked about when we started reading. Kjirsten read through all of Nancy Drew, then Hardy Boys, then the two together in 2nd grade. Jade said she couldn’t read well until one day in 4th grade, overnight she could. Stunned her reading group instructor as she read a passage all the way through. Jade’s version was hilarious and amazing, and I can’t recreate the moment.
- The YA genre is relatively new as its own genre, the Printz award has only been around for a few years – there was no system in place to recognize YA greatness, but now books have YA on the spine.
- Sarah said she categorizes books as good 1) for things, 2) for ???, 3) for ??? (Sarah, can you fill these in? Your thought was great!) Asked if Speak was good, and Sarah said it was one of the books that was good for things in that it addresses rape, and might be an effective way to deal with that subject.
- Kristen and Jade were talking, one asked the other, “Did she get a nap in?” Lisa, party-hostess-extraordinaire brought out a napkin.
- Jade is hoping to do the Ironhorse ride in Durango in May. Somehow in there we had the burly / early confusion.
- Lisa mentioned that her niece had gotten a new T-shirt that had “Edward” or something on it, and maybe Edward’s picture. “I haven’t seen the guy who plays Edward, but he must be beautiful.” In the time it took Lisa to spit out those last couple of words, both Jade and Kristen had reached for their evidence to the fact…Jade winning the contest to whip out Edward’s photo fastest. Giggles and tears of laughter. Kjirsten had sent the photos to the Twilight fans as Valentines from Edward. Oh, boy. Jade said, “But just ask me if I have a picture of Lyle or Rylie…” too true! We had a few Twilight episodes, but not many. Lisa said she may or may not continue with the saga since there are so many good books out there. And Sarah mentioned, “Oh heck. I’ll read it.”
- We had the requested laptop on the scene, and it lead to some great rear-end shots as we took turns looking up books and things with the laptop on the floor. (So many of these things are probably funnier when you’re in the moment!)

Next Books
- Lisa mentioned The Good Earth but selected as her book: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Maguire. She said (who??) mentioned that he made Curious George his new motto because he wished he could just become more curious. If we were all more curious about all the things that we don’t agree with, we’d want to understand why they believe that (which we don’t believe), and maybe we could become more tolerant. (Did I get the gist of that, a little bit?) This book helps us understand why that wicked witch is wicked; she becomes sympathetic.We said it would be awesome to go see Wicked too. And it will be at the Buell in Oct/Nov! Though we could dream about a girls’ trip to NYC. Lisa also talked about
- Sarah mentioned Shadow of the Wind, but since the book club (Kristen, Theresa and Jade) have already read it, may look for another one. We tried to see what might be discussed at the Boulder Book Store, so we could read one of theirs and see the author read and meet there. Didn’t have much luck with their calendar, so Sarah’s still finalizing her selection.
- Jade mentioned the epistolary The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society but selected People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks instead.
- Kristen selected a Neil Gaiman novel, Neverwhere about a boy who joins a quest through the dark and dangerous London Below, a shadow city of lost and forgotten people, places, and times. (from Amazon)
- Kjirsten had chosen The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

The schedule, as it stands:
March
The Middle Place, by Corrigan
Picked by: Kjirsten
Hosted on April 3rd? By Janell?

April
The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss
Picked by Janell
Hosted TBD, or did we say Kjirsten would host?

May/June (long book, busy months, so thought we’d do a two-monther)
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Maguire
Picked by Lisa
Hosted by TBD

July
People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks
Picked by Jade
Hosted by Jade

August
Neverwhere, by Gaiman
Picked by Kristen
Hosted by Kristen

September
TBD
Picked by Sarah
Hosted by TBD

We’ll need Janell and Amber’s selections!