"Out of My Mind" by Sharon Draper is a story of a brilliant girl who has no way to communicate with the rest of the world.
Melody, aged ten but nearly eleven, has millions of things she'd like to say, millions of ideas she wants to share, millions of conversations she wants to has, and millions of miles she wants to run, but only one thing stopping her. She has cerebral palsy. Confined to her pink wheelchair, Melody has to observe the world pass her by, learning her ABC's day after day, talking to the same kids year after year, doing the same things over and over again. She can't even tell people what she wants, because her vocabulary is limited to the few words she can point to on her "communication board." Wonderful opportunities are in store for Melody, though, if only the rest of the world can be kind enough to let her take them.
This is a wonderful story. Sharon Draper is a wonderful author, adept at bringing out the unseen and generally ignored sides of life, and she does nothing less with this novel. She paints a picture that's believable, understandable, and relateable, even if the reader has no disability whatsoever.
The main character, Melody, is a very sensible and sweet girl. You almost forget from what vantage point she is speaking from sometimes. Her thoughts are completely relateable, even if we function in two completely different realms of being. I worry about what the kids at school think of me: she does too, save in a greater capacity. She worries about being her best for her team and proving everyone wrong about her; I do to, in some cases.
Melody is surrounded by a cast of characters, as every protagonist is. These characters aren't as widely varied as the casts in my normal books--there is only one outrageously flamboyant personality in the whole thing-- but they are believable, and I think that might be the point of the whole endeavor. Their personalities are well developed, though, and rounded, so you know what's coming at you almost before it does, and if you don't understand an action then you can easily figure out based on what you know of real life and in-book situations.
I also like Melody's sense of humor. There's a mean girl, Claire (Why is it always a Claire?), who bullies Melody, but Melody comes back with some pretty snappy retorts. Melody makes me smile often during the book, be it with her comebacks or her common-sense approach to her situation.
The storyline is a good one, too. The best ending to a story is "surprising but inevitable," right? There are two very major plot twists near the end of the book. The first is something that effects Melody more than anyone else, and it's something that you'll shake your head at and say "I should've seen that one coming." The second is something that you figured out was going to happen earlier on in the book, if you payed close enough attention to all of the details in the text, but there's an added level to it. That one effects the whole family, and it was hinted at for ages prior to it.
I do have one complaint about the book, though. There are a whole ton of exclamation points. I really don't like exclamation points. I couldn't tell you why, but it's just a personal irk of mine. There are, like, four exclamation points per chapter, and they make me jump every time I read them. Other than that, there's nothing pressingly awful that comes to mind.
It's a wonderful book that can make you feel someone else's emotions, no matter what their circumstances, and this is a book that can do that. It did it for me.
Showing posts with label Middle School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Middle School. Show all posts
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
The Otherworldlies
This new series by Jennifer Anne Kogler gives yet another view of vampires--but one that doesn't involve 'vampires' in the traditional sense.
All Fern McAllister ever wanted to do was to be normal. Because her pale skin blisters easily, her stomach is not the most suitable for everyday living, her eyes hurt in direct sunlight, and she is dark-haired and skinny while the rest of her family is blond with a good build, she is the subject of a lot of torture at school. But then she learns something incredible: She isn't human. She is an Unusual, one of a group of eleven otherworldlies who were born all on the same day. The Unusual Eleven all have powers beyond most 'normal' otherworldlies comprehension, and Fern finds herself the subject of much desire among people who want to harm and potentially kill her, to one of her fellow Unusual who is trapped with no way to escape. Navigating seventh grade is hard enough when you're perfectly human, but Fern McAllister is quickly finding out that it's no breeze no matter what species you are.
Okay, so, as I've already said I'm going to major in Grim-Reaper-stuff, but I'm going to minor in Otherworldly-ness. So . . . I'll be an otherworldly Grim Reaper?
One of the really good things about this book is that it's set in middle school. I'm in middle school, and all you ever find is book after book about people in high school. Vladimir Tod, Billi SanGreal (I'll get to her story next post), Riley Blackthorne, Cassel Sharp, Lexington Bartleby . . . all the contemporaries are in high school. And others, Eragon and such, who are of high school age but don't go to high school because they're, like, olden-timey people. Oh, sure, there are middle school characters in other books, but they're lame. They just don't seem . . . like they could amount to anything. But Fern McAllister does. She could probably beat Vladimir Tod up. She probably would, too, if she needed to. And that is why I like her.
Also, you get enough of blood-sucking vampires. Sure, Suck it Up was cute, but it all amouts to the same thing--vampires who are trying not to suck blood. Yes, this problem does present itself in the world of the otherworldlies, in the faces of Blouts and Rollens (blood-drinkers and non-blood-drinkers), but it isn't that much of a temptation. Like, Fern never has some abstract desire to rip into a jugular. I appluad her, and Jennifer Anne Kogler, on that.
The characters are believable and realistically confusing. The only one we get a real good look at is Fern, but we have enough to look at through her. As I said before, she is strong in mind despite her weak body, savy and suspicious despite her relatively innocent upbringing, and you find yourself rooting for her. Sam, her brother, is empathetic and jealous, the perfect mix of emotions, what one would expect to be feeling in a situation like that. The Lins are the real confusing ones--what are their motives? They must want something from Fern, or at least, Lindsey wants something from her if her parents don't.
A lot of questions are left unanswered and unperfect. Like, do Sam and Fern really share the same birthday, March 10? If the Lins are great Hyperions, and their family has great renoun, then wouldn't only one have the great renoun because the other had to be married to them? And then, of course, there are the questions that you were meant to ask like, Who are the other Unusuals? Can the Vampire Alliance really be trusted? usual what not.
I just liked this praise-thing found on the back of the book, so I'll put it in. "Brimming with action and other colorful characters, The Otherworldlies brings you a gusty heroin who must learn to embrace her 'Unsusual' talents. You've never seen vampires like this before." Laura Ruby, the author of Bad Apple and The Chaos King, said this, and I agree with her quite throughly.
The series includes the titles The Otherworldlies and The Siren's Cry at the moment,or, at least, those are the only ones I've read as of right now. I will be keeping an eye out for more of her stuff. . .
Her website is: www.jenniferannekogler.com It has all of her updates on the latest books, and her old books too. Duh.
All Fern McAllister ever wanted to do was to be normal. Because her pale skin blisters easily, her stomach is not the most suitable for everyday living, her eyes hurt in direct sunlight, and she is dark-haired and skinny while the rest of her family is blond with a good build, she is the subject of a lot of torture at school. But then she learns something incredible: She isn't human. She is an Unusual, one of a group of eleven otherworldlies who were born all on the same day. The Unusual Eleven all have powers beyond most 'normal' otherworldlies comprehension, and Fern finds herself the subject of much desire among people who want to harm and potentially kill her, to one of her fellow Unusual who is trapped with no way to escape. Navigating seventh grade is hard enough when you're perfectly human, but Fern McAllister is quickly finding out that it's no breeze no matter what species you are.
Okay, so, as I've already said I'm going to major in Grim-Reaper-stuff, but I'm going to minor in Otherworldly-ness. So . . . I'll be an otherworldly Grim Reaper?
One of the really good things about this book is that it's set in middle school. I'm in middle school, and all you ever find is book after book about people in high school. Vladimir Tod, Billi SanGreal (I'll get to her story next post), Riley Blackthorne, Cassel Sharp, Lexington Bartleby . . . all the contemporaries are in high school. And others, Eragon and such, who are of high school age but don't go to high school because they're, like, olden-timey people. Oh, sure, there are middle school characters in other books, but they're lame. They just don't seem . . . like they could amount to anything. But Fern McAllister does. She could probably beat Vladimir Tod up. She probably would, too, if she needed to. And that is why I like her.
Also, you get enough of blood-sucking vampires. Sure, Suck it Up was cute, but it all amouts to the same thing--vampires who are trying not to suck blood. Yes, this problem does present itself in the world of the otherworldlies, in the faces of Blouts and Rollens (blood-drinkers and non-blood-drinkers), but it isn't that much of a temptation. Like, Fern never has some abstract desire to rip into a jugular. I appluad her, and Jennifer Anne Kogler, on that.
The characters are believable and realistically confusing. The only one we get a real good look at is Fern, but we have enough to look at through her. As I said before, she is strong in mind despite her weak body, savy and suspicious despite her relatively innocent upbringing, and you find yourself rooting for her. Sam, her brother, is empathetic and jealous, the perfect mix of emotions, what one would expect to be feeling in a situation like that. The Lins are the real confusing ones--what are their motives? They must want something from Fern, or at least, Lindsey wants something from her if her parents don't.
A lot of questions are left unanswered and unperfect. Like, do Sam and Fern really share the same birthday, March 10? If the Lins are great Hyperions, and their family has great renoun, then wouldn't only one have the great renoun because the other had to be married to them? And then, of course, there are the questions that you were meant to ask like, Who are the other Unusuals? Can the Vampire Alliance really be trusted? usual what not.
I just liked this praise-thing found on the back of the book, so I'll put it in. "Brimming with action and other colorful characters, The Otherworldlies brings you a gusty heroin who must learn to embrace her 'Unsusual' talents. You've never seen vampires like this before." Laura Ruby, the author of Bad Apple and The Chaos King, said this, and I agree with her quite throughly.
The series includes the titles The Otherworldlies and The Siren's Cry at the moment,or, at least, those are the only ones I've read as of right now. I will be keeping an eye out for more of her stuff. . .
Her website is: www.jenniferannekogler.com It has all of her updates on the latest books, and her old books too. Duh.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Wild Things
Wild Things, by Clay Carmichael, is a story about the human heart and finding a home and a family after a life of hardship and uncertainty.
Zoe Royster's mother has just died, and she's been sent to live with her half-uncle, a recluse who hasn't integrated with society after his wife's death. One of the US's top metal-working artists, he spends all day in his workshop, and Zoe fears that he will want to get rid of her too, just like all of her mother's boyfriends have over the years.
But with the help of a kindly old husband and wife, a preacher whose view of what he preaches is not as strong as one would think it would be, two arists from New York City, a lady who has blood connections to Zoe, and a cat who hasn't shown the tip of his nose since the tragedy happened so long ago, can Zoe save a wild boy and his snow-white deer from the lying mayor and his sons? And what will come of the family that Zoe wants so deperately she won't even admit it to herself?
This book was good. I picked it up thinking it was something by Patrick Carmen, because I was just looking at the first three letters of the author's last name, so I got a bit of a suprise when I got it home and looked in the front flap and read the description. It is a moving story, though, about courage and what it takes to stand up for what you love. I might've cried.
Zoe is a girl who is used to taking care of herself, and she tries to tell herself that she will always be able to take care of herself. Deprived of a childhood, her two loves are books and animals. The communtiy of people she meets has about the same affect on her as she has on them. And I believe that would constitute a lot of affecting going around on both sides. But there are still somethings haunting her about her past, two people in particular--her unknown father and her mother's last boyfriend.
Uncle Henry is harder to figure out. We don't know anything about his childhood, why he even wants Zoe with him, and until about the end of the book we don't even know how he knew she existed. I pretty much liked him after the scene at the grocery store, though it took a while for Zoe to warm up to him.
The wild boy she meets in the woods and his snow-white deer, and I won't say more, are my favorite characters. Personally, I would love to run wild and lawless through the woods for 17 years. They have had their own share of troubles, ones we learn as we observe the world through the cat's eyes, but we know very little else about them.
One thing I didn't like about this book was that it ended to soon. Or, that it ended at all. I want to know more of the story, more of what happened. I suppose you could sort of say it was a cliff-hanger, but it isn't at a point of dramatic tensions. It's one of those instances, where everything has just fallen into place, but then someone picks up a piece and hides it, leaving the story unfinished. the book can be very disappointing like that, but very much like real life in the same way: bittersweet and unfufilling.
Zoe Royster's mother has just died, and she's been sent to live with her half-uncle, a recluse who hasn't integrated with society after his wife's death. One of the US's top metal-working artists, he spends all day in his workshop, and Zoe fears that he will want to get rid of her too, just like all of her mother's boyfriends have over the years.
But with the help of a kindly old husband and wife, a preacher whose view of what he preaches is not as strong as one would think it would be, two arists from New York City, a lady who has blood connections to Zoe, and a cat who hasn't shown the tip of his nose since the tragedy happened so long ago, can Zoe save a wild boy and his snow-white deer from the lying mayor and his sons? And what will come of the family that Zoe wants so deperately she won't even admit it to herself?
This book was good. I picked it up thinking it was something by Patrick Carmen, because I was just looking at the first three letters of the author's last name, so I got a bit of a suprise when I got it home and looked in the front flap and read the description. It is a moving story, though, about courage and what it takes to stand up for what you love. I might've cried.
Zoe is a girl who is used to taking care of herself, and she tries to tell herself that she will always be able to take care of herself. Deprived of a childhood, her two loves are books and animals. The communtiy of people she meets has about the same affect on her as she has on them. And I believe that would constitute a lot of affecting going around on both sides. But there are still somethings haunting her about her past, two people in particular--her unknown father and her mother's last boyfriend.
Uncle Henry is harder to figure out. We don't know anything about his childhood, why he even wants Zoe with him, and until about the end of the book we don't even know how he knew she existed. I pretty much liked him after the scene at the grocery store, though it took a while for Zoe to warm up to him.
The wild boy she meets in the woods and his snow-white deer, and I won't say more, are my favorite characters. Personally, I would love to run wild and lawless through the woods for 17 years. They have had their own share of troubles, ones we learn as we observe the world through the cat's eyes, but we know very little else about them.
One thing I didn't like about this book was that it ended to soon. Or, that it ended at all. I want to know more of the story, more of what happened. I suppose you could sort of say it was a cliff-hanger, but it isn't at a point of dramatic tensions. It's one of those instances, where everything has just fallen into place, but then someone picks up a piece and hides it, leaving the story unfinished. the book can be very disappointing like that, but very much like real life in the same way: bittersweet and unfufilling.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Tangerine
A bit of realistic fiction for you: Tangerine by Edward Bloor.
The Fishers have just moved to Lake Windsor, Florida, in the county of Tangerine, from Houston, Texas. Erik Fisher is the family's star child and football perfectionist. He's been known to kick fifty yard field goals, and his father likes to brag about how his son never misses any extra points. The Erik Fisher Football Dream lives on in both father and son.
As told through Erik's little brother's, Paul's, eyes, this story spins a tale of a big-city family making a splash in a little-town pond. And though Paul plays the part of a second-string goalie for the best soccer team in the county, no one notices. Paul has been tossed into the shadows in favor of the Erik Fisher Football dream, but he can see what no one else can see. Will he be able to speak the truth after witnessing his frightening older brother come unhinged?
Yes, this story is a sports story, but it is not a story about sports. It's a story about a family struggling to pretend that everything's okay. It's a story about a boy who's trying to figure out where he fits in, even as his older brother scares him to death. It's also a story about finding your voice and telling the world the truth.
I like the character of Paul because he isn't dynamic. In the course of the story he doesn't change from a pathetic wimp who lets his brother push him around to a strong hero ready to take on the world. He always knows who he is, but he can't always find the words to show it. He isn't a scaredy-cat afraid to show his face who suddenly turns into someone who can face his fears. It suggests that anyone can do be brave like that. It suggests that anyone can be strong and close their eyes to the consequences.
Edward Bloor's story is most enjoyable because it can build up such a tension at times that you feel like you're running out onto the soccer fields with the War Eagles at your heels yourself.
The Fishers have just moved to Lake Windsor, Florida, in the county of Tangerine, from Houston, Texas. Erik Fisher is the family's star child and football perfectionist. He's been known to kick fifty yard field goals, and his father likes to brag about how his son never misses any extra points. The Erik Fisher Football Dream lives on in both father and son.
As told through Erik's little brother's, Paul's, eyes, this story spins a tale of a big-city family making a splash in a little-town pond. And though Paul plays the part of a second-string goalie for the best soccer team in the county, no one notices. Paul has been tossed into the shadows in favor of the Erik Fisher Football dream, but he can see what no one else can see. Will he be able to speak the truth after witnessing his frightening older brother come unhinged?
Yes, this story is a sports story, but it is not a story about sports. It's a story about a family struggling to pretend that everything's okay. It's a story about a boy who's trying to figure out where he fits in, even as his older brother scares him to death. It's also a story about finding your voice and telling the world the truth.
I like the character of Paul because he isn't dynamic. In the course of the story he doesn't change from a pathetic wimp who lets his brother push him around to a strong hero ready to take on the world. He always knows who he is, but he can't always find the words to show it. He isn't a scaredy-cat afraid to show his face who suddenly turns into someone who can face his fears. It suggests that anyone can do be brave like that. It suggests that anyone can be strong and close their eyes to the consequences.
Edward Bloor's story is most enjoyable because it can build up such a tension at times that you feel like you're running out onto the soccer fields with the War Eagles at your heels yourself.
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