Young Adult

Get your Daily Prophet here!

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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has opened in Universal Studios Orlando!! It looks like it an amazing experience for fans of the books (which would seem to include a great proportion of the world’s population). An interesting note is that althougth there are no doubt numerous opportunities to shop in the park, Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods is the only place to buy Rowling’s books. Fun, no?

I need to start planning my trip to Florida – do you think the Floo Network operates between Cleveland and Orlando?

— Julie

Some Favorites from 2009

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Compared to the voracious readers in this library, I complete a rather piddly number of books a year, especially since the recent addition of a couple little ones to my life. So this task of choosing my top books of the year had to be culled from a rather small population of choices. With that said, here you are – some favorite books of 2009:

Honestly Dearest, You’re Dead by Jack Fredrickson & September Society by Charles Finch

I list these two mysteries together because they are similarly well-written and interesting stories with engaging protaganists. The similarities end there as both the main characters (hard-boiled private detective vs. elegant amateur sleuth) and setting (modern day town near Chicago vs. Victorian era London and Oxford) couldn’t be more different.  But mystery lovers will enjoy giving both of them a try!      [Note: These are the second novels in series featuring both sleuths but are standalones.]

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

I’m not sure why, but I seem to be drawn toward novels that have a focus on the wonder and delight of good food. (New Year’s resolutions #1 and #2 – stop reading books about food and start working out…or maybe I should just read those books while working out…hmmm…) Anyway, it’s a treat of a novel about savoring life regardless of what life might dish out.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

After a horrible accident, Mia finds herself outside of her near lifeless body, able to see and hear those around her. As she watches the efforts of those trying to save her, she thinks back on her short but full life.  A life that will never be the same should she decide to stay in it. Don’t let the “young adult” label keep you from reading this thoughtful and moving book.

— Julie

S.E. Hinton’s Classic

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I was in 7th grade when I read The Outsiders for the first time. I had to read it for a class otherwise I probably wouldn’t have picked it up, and I would have missed out on something special.  It’s a realistic, and therefore not always pretty, look at life for “greasers” from the wrong side of the tracks. The desire to ban this book is usually because of that authenticity, with reasons such as drug and alcohol use and “virtually all the characters were from broken homes” cited. [See Novelist] 

The great books usually have someone or some theme that the reader can identify with in the story. I wasn’t from a broken home nor did I wear grease in my hair, but I could relate to some of what the characters were going through.  And what about the kids who do identify completely with it’s harsh reality? Is banning their stories the right message to send? As author Chris Crutcher said, “When we censor these stories, we censor the kids themselves.” (Read more in his excellent letter on this topic.)

But where books can really make a difference is in shedding light on something you had little or no idea about before. After reading this book, I understood more of what it was like to be an “outsider” and have a family so much different than my own. S.E. Hinton’s book gave me a more nuanced and balanced understanding of the world, and to many other teenagers before and after me.

−Julie