Disaster and Darkness

I’m not typically a fan of disaster stories, so Ashfall isn’t a book that I would typically choose.  Because author Mike Mullin was planning a reading at our school, though, I wanted to try his book.

During the first few chapters (when something crashes through the ceiling of 15-year-old Alex’s bedroom, setting the house on fire), I wasn’t sure that I would make it through this book.  But after the first 75 or 100 pages (after the supervolcano, as Alex begins his trek through ash and snow to find his family), I read the rest of the book in a day.

Ashfall reminded me a bit of a young adult take on The Road or The Pesthouse.  And it poses some important questions about how humans behave when confronted with the worst.  While I was content when I reached the final chapter, be forewarned:  Ashfall is just the first in a series.

 

A Star-Crossed Relationship

Because so many of my students are passionate about John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, I finally picked it up.

Even though the main character in the novel is living with cancer, I laughed out loud several times while reading.  And even though the main characters are teenagers, they display a sense of wit and intelligence missing from too many young adult novels.

Full disclosure:  I didn’t love this book as much as my students wanted me to.  But that may only be because my expectations were so high.

 

L is for the Way You Look at Me

The Lover’s Dictionary, by David Levithan, is a delightful little book.  Told in the form of dictionary definitions (most no longer than a page, but many only a few sentences in length), the book chronicles a two-year relationship between the narrator (“I”) and a woman (“you”) he meets through an online dating service.

Because the novel arranges its entries alphabetically, the story isn’t told in chronological order; nevertheless, it’s never hard to follow.  In fact, the lack of conventional structure allows for some nice suspense and surprises.

Some of Levithan’s “definitions” are incredibly poetic—they could stand alone as beautiful articulations of love.  Don’t miss this one!

 

History through a Young Girl’s Eyes

Young adult literature doesn’t have to mean high schools and love stories.  The genre can also transport student readers to unfamiliar worlds, which is the case with Ji-li Jiang’s Red Scarf Girl.

As a junior high student during China’s Cultural Revolution, Ji-li finds herself torn between loyalty to Chairman Mao and love for her family (which bears a black mark because Ji-li’s grandfather was a landowner).  Ji-li and her family endure humiliation, abuse, and punishment at the hands of friends, neighbors, and party officials.

Red Scarf Girl provides a personal introduction to an important chapter in Chinese history.