Mrs. Hall

Mrs. Hall

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Week 8 Sci Fi

Sue- If you only have time to read one entry, go ahead and skip this one and read my Houdini blog entry (Sci Fi is not your favorite anyway).



For everyone else, science fiction and fantasy:

In my autobiographical blog entry I revealed that I met my husband in a science fiction class. Pam Cole wrote on page 380, "Science fiction and fantasy require a great deal of mental energy for understanding." I have always liked to visualize the other worlds that authors create, and I enjoy the complexity. My friend Christy just had her first YA book published, and I went to her book signing party last week. Her book is titled Prophecy of Days. If you look on the blogs I follow that are not from this class, you can find her blog, Juvanescence. In her book you will find a mixture of science fiction and magical elements. She even has a monkey named Mr. Papers in the book, that does Origami. She leans heavily on New Age symbols and includes a mystery. My point is that more and more of this genre has blurred lines.
I recommended a book titled Wings by Aprilynne Pike to some of the girls in my library that had finished the Twilight series. Wings is an urban fairy fantasy about a home schooled girl who decides this is the year she will attend public school. The trouble is that during her first year there, she begins to grown bumps on her back that turn out to be wings. The girls I recommended it to, loved it! And for those who want a guy's science fiction and are mature readers, I recommend The House Of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. In its future setting, a boy is born who is a clone of a powerful drug lord. The boy, Matt, does not know that clones are used for replacement body parts for wealthy, old people. This is an action book that makes readers think about the ethics of science. I was surprised that it was not in the box page 363 Genetic, DNA, and Cloning. I was also surprised that I didn't see The Hunger Games by Collins because it was very popular.
One last thing to note (because I could go on too long) is that many authors of sci fi/fantasy for YA now have facinating websites. Take a look at this one http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/athertonseries/index.html

Saturday, May 22, 2010

ESCAPE! The Story of the Great Houdini

I met Sid Fleischman during my last year at the middle school library. He performed magic for the younger students and talked about writing books with everyone. His hearing wasn't good, so the teachers had to repeat each question that the students asked him. That night some of the librarians took Sid out to Beezy's on the Creek for dinner. I sat right next to him as he told me about his son who is also a writer. Sid was patient and funny, and I was sad to see this on his official website:
Sid Fleischman died peacefully on March 17, 2010,a day after his 90th birthday.
Visit Sid Fleischman's Memorial Page

Anyway, I knew this book was in the library, but had not read it. It starts with an auction in New York of a monogrammed pocket from Houdini's pajamas. The fact that this pocket sold for $3,910 would capture the attention of a YA reader who just happened to pick up this book from the non-fiction section. The type is large and the book is illustrated with pictures of Houdini locked in chains, dangling upside-down in a tank of water while handcuffed, etc.
Sid Fleischman easily draws you in with his storytelling. He tells of Houdini's birth in Budapest, Hungary to a Jewish family. He then tells how Houdini erased the parts of his life that he felt held him back, and reinvented himself. Sid Fleischman lets his readers know that Houdini had many failures at first and learned by hours of practice and reading about magic. I liked the part about Houdini's wife Bess. They travelled and performed together in many European countries. Russia was one place that Sid Fleischman was surprised Houdini was able to escape. He writes, "No foreign Jews were allowed into Russia." the author makes a guess and says that Houdini's wife was a Catholic and "converted Harry on the spot."
I have not finished the book yet, and I am interested to read how the other Y Book Group members are enjoying it.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Y Book Group Check In

I'm creating a place for the group (Kristina, Kim, Sarah, Rebecca and Orchid) to choose a non- fiction book. Please reply to this post with your choice or comments.
I would rather not read another Nazi book, but will bend to peer pressure if that is what all of you want. Sid Fleischman's Escape: The story of the Great Houdini is one I'm interested in. I would be happy to read Freedom Writers, but I see Artist to Artist on the list page 481 and I am also wanting to read that book. What interests you?

-Orchid

Monday, May 10, 2010

Historical Fiction

Over the weekend I read The River Between Us by Richard Peck. This book not only gave me shivers, but also taught me something new about the female Civil War experience. It starts with a 15-year-old boy and his family driving in a Model T Ford to visit the boy's grandparents in Southern Illinois. Chapter two is set in 1861, so there is a jump back in time, and the boy's grandmother Tilly tells the story of her growing up right as the Civil War was starting. She lived by the river, and the steamboats carried people but sometimes blew up. "Bodies boiled alive would wash ashore for days after. But we'd all seen that." The book tells of a rich woman and her black servant arriving in town, but not being able to go any further because all boats had been drafted to carry soldiers. These two women pay to board with Tilly's family, and they change her life. The secret is that one of them is part black, but passing for a white lady from New Orleans, and the other is her much darker-skinned sister. They help Tilly when her brother gets sick fighting the war.
This book is about the feelings women had when their brothers and husbands went to war. It is also about some of the things they did to keep the towns and families going. The author's note at the end gives more details about the Civil War. "The custom of placage, of white men fathering families with their mistresses who were free women of color, shook the American newcomers to their shoes." He talks about how the custom ended after the war. Then he says that hundreds of the women who could pass for white went North and those who appeared Spanish went to California.

Topics For YA Readers

Here are a couple more YA picture books and graphic novels I read last week:
A Midsummer Night's Dream retold by Bruce Coville--There are young adults who can not understand Shakespeare. The book jacket reveals, "Like a classic fairy tale, this retelling is ideal for older readers who will find much to savor." I would use this to introduce the play before having the students read it or see it. In it Hermia is in love with Lysander, but her father wants to give her to Demetrius instead. She will be put to death if she refuses. Lysander comes up with a plan to run away with Hermia to his aunt's house. They will meet in the forest at night. I'm sure you all know this famous Shakespeare play, so I will not retell the whole thing. Bruce Coville does a great job of making the four lead character distinguishable from on another. He also cuts short the retelling of the last part of the play when Bottom acts in "Pyramus and Thisby."

The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman--A boy is visited by four magic strangers who decide to teach him the ways of magic power and see if he wants to use his talent. The first stranger takes him back to the beginning where we see Lucifer's fall, the demons that inhabited Earth for millions of years after, the Mage-lords of millions more years who watched civilizations come and go, more recent Greek and other cultures, and finally those who are magic in the present world. The book is illustrated in a dark, graphic novel style.