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I was so thrilled to read OSC's enthusiastic review of _Speak_. It's one of my favorite YA novels of all time, and I do my best to make sure all my seventh graders read it. (I don't assign it, but I do suggest they read it independently or as part of a book club.)
I've found that one of the best ways to "sell" that book to boy readers is to read the first page out loud. (Melinda, the protagonist, is bitter and funny from the very beginning.) Then I point out that reading a book from a girl's POV is a fabulous way of getting some insight into how girls think.
I always conclude my recommendation by telling the true story of when I read it: I checked it out during the day from our school library, read the first couple pages to get an idea of what it was about, and sat in my chair at my desk until I had completely finished it. I could NOT put it down, even to drive home (a 15-minute commute).
I think some of the best writing today is being done for teenagers, and _Speak_ is a classic example.
Anyone else have favorite YA books, or books you literally could *not* put down?
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I was just about to start a thread about this! It came as a surprise to me that this book isn't as well known as I thought. It is required reading for most freshman English classes in my high school. I loved it. Although, there was a theme of picking depressing books throughout that entire year, so there was a sort of damper on things.
Posts: 1401 | Registered: Jun 2004
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That was a really good book. It goes well with another book about a boy called "You don't Know me" and if I was a teacher I'd asign both together. Then there's a book called America about a boy who gets shunted out of his good foster home when he got kidnapped by his mother and then neglected. That was a great book. Then there's the Fire-us series, which is too freaky for children over the age of 14. I just hate it when bad things happen to children in books and in this one, some of the worse things ever happened to these children. Losing their parents to a virus was just part of it. Then there's another foster care story called Pictures of Hollis Woods appropiate for younger children. Stargirl is great, a great book about not caring what other people think of you. (Especially with a girl like that! What an idiot!) Then you have Smack, which is the sort of book where I want to crawl in and smack every single one of them with a copy of the book! It's a disturbing book, but if you want to see the effects of drugs through the eyes of drug addicts without someone just saying Drugz r BAD without explaining why, this is a great book to use. Very, very disturbing though. Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of my favourite books ever. I identify so much with the main character, also there's a good Smith reference. I love books that have fantastic songs in them.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Although, there was a theme of picking depressing books throughout that entire year, so there was a sort of damper on things.
I hear what you're saying about sad books. I worry sometimes that English teachers kill reading for kids by asking them to read so much tragedy in high school. I understand the book selections...books that are worth talking about/ studying are often tragic. But students should also be exposed to hopeful literature, even if it's only through a personal reading requirement. But that comes from my bias that English teachers should try to help students become life-long readers, not just critical readers of literature.
(SPEAK SPOILER AHEAD)
That said, though. I'd still pick Speak as ultimately a hopeful book. It's rough, true, but Melinda is really empowered at the end when she & her friends chase off the rapist. (Or am I misremembering? It's been 4-5 years since I read it.)
Thanks for the additional recommendations, Synesthesia. I've put "Perks of Being a Wallflower" on my list to read soon--I've also been hearing good things from the kids about it.
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Despite never having gone through the level of Melinda's pain, this book reminded me of how I felt in high school. I love the writing style and the theme of finding your own voice.
In fact, I enjoyed this book so much, I tried to get the Relief Society book club to read it a few months ago. Unfortunately, they didn't feel it was appropriate in a church sponsored group. I wasn't very happy with the decision because I think it is such a realistic portrayal of how painful high school can be for teenagers. I was hoping that maybe some of the women could read it and then pass on to their daughters. I thought maybe it could promote some discussions about some very important issues.
Posts: 3 | Registered: Oct 2006
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Tammy, create a book club with the best readers in the ward. You need 8 - 10 couples. My wife and others did that and they get the guys to attend 1 x month by having really great food. We eat and then talk about the book, and everyone enjoys it.
Rule: Each couple gets to sponsor a book, and they show up at the preceding book club meeting with 8 or so copies. We pay for them, except for David who always gets it in audio format from the library and listens to it while he designs houses.
You have to have already read the book you are sponsoring.
And the food should be good. That's why the guys came, but now they are discussing the books too and it is great. One member hadn't read a fiction book in >20 years. Now he reads one a month. Except when we have non-fiction, like when I sponsored _Alexander Hamilton_. Lynn
Posts: 121 | Registered: Jul 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Little_Doctor: I was just about to start a thread about this! It came as a surprise to me that this book isn't as well known as I thought. It is required reading for most freshman English classes in my high school. I loved it. Although, there was a theme of picking depressing books throughout that entire year, so there was a sort of damper on things.
I had to read this book as part of my English 9 class as well. I was a little disappointed in it, to be honest, which leads me to:
SPOILER: While in no way do I intend to suggest that the means of the ending to this book was unjust in a moral sense, it felt to me like it was cheapening the subject matter of the entire book by basically turning it out to be, "And we beat up the bad guy and lived happily ever after!" It was unjust in that it took all the power that this book could have had and turned it into a dime-a-dozen girl power book with the added sales bonus of "Oh, and she was a rape victim and persevered." It felt to me like it turned the horrible crime of rape into another pickpocketing.
Posts: 2 | Registered: Feb 2007
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