Mock Printz Report

On Saturday I attended the Mock Printz Award workshop at my library. I was the only person out of the 40 or so in attendance who was neither a teen or a librarian, but I tried to blend in. You know, by not shouting out "LOL!" every time somebody said something funny, and stuff like that.

Our task was to narrow eleven notable 2008 YA books down to one award winner and an honor book or two. After receiving instructions, we sequestered ourselves in groups of 6-7 for two hours of discussion. Our group had five adults and two bright and thoughtful teen girls. We had less than ten minutes to discuss each book and you wouldn't believe how much ground we covered in that time. We agreed on a lot, disagreed on a lot, and at the end of two hours we each cast our votes.

Then we reconvened in the large group, reported on our top three books, and then launched into a rather raucous discussion about the various contenders. There were very strong feelings on either side for MadApple and My Most Excellent Year, in particular. Where librarians got stereotyped as mild-mannered, I will never understand.

Librarian A: MadApple is a beautiful account of the descent into madness.
Librarian B: What's madness is that she didn't have an editor!
Teen A: Notice how all the people who loved this book are adults?
Teen B: I know, right?
Teen C: Can we talk about Little Brother now?

After the discussion we each got to vote on our top three again. I changed my #3 vote, but kept the first two the same.

The book that won was not everyone's favorite book by any stretch, but it had the distinction that nobody hated it. Even people who didn't love it acknowledged that it had an important and unique theme, a strong voice and setting, and characters that drew the reader in. Even those who loved it acknowledged that it wasn't perfect (unlike a couple of other books, which some had fallen for so hard that they seemed blind to their imperfections).

Our winner?

Yep, it's one of the two that I didn't get around to reviewing: Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow. This was my personal #3 in the final vote. I didn't expect to like this book and I did, mostly because the protagonist was a great narrator. Some people thought the large amounts of technical information were tucked in nicely, others thought there was too much explanation. Everyone who spoke felt that Doctorow made an imaginary situation very believable and made a strong statement about the very real anti-terrorism measures that have been happening in the U.S. since 9/11.

Here are the rest of the books, in order of the points they received.
2. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks This was my #2. This one sparked interesting discussions about feminism: what it is and isn't, and whether it's a useful concept to the up-and-coming generation. Most of the teens loved this, but those who didn't, felt that Frankie was hard to relate to and that there was too much emphasis on being accepted by the boys. One boy said, "I saw this as a feminist book, and our generation isn't about feminism, we're about equality."
3. My Most Excellent Year. Listening to people rave about this actually made me feel a little queasy. The teens said the characters (who I described in my review as "sit-com characters") were exactly like people they know at school; people loved the pop culture references and the fact that it was a happy book. Those of us who didn't love it agreed that we're looking forward to his next book. Just please don't make me ever read this one again.
4. Paper Towns. This was my #1. Nearly everyone loved this book and I'm surprised it didn't get more points. Some people said it was over-hyped because they and their friends had adored Green's other books so much. Others felt that his protagonists are too similar and he needs to branch out more (others vehemently disagreed).
5. Skim This graphic novel was popular among many, especially for its art work.
6. Black Box. This was my personal #3 in the initial vote. The main criticism others had was that the main character wasn't given enough emphasis. The focus was on her sister and then her boyfriend. I loved this book but found that when it came to discussing it, I couldn't remember precisely why, which in itself is telling, I think.
7. MadApple. The teens, who were intelligent and not at all frothy (one of the girls in our group said she prefers authors like Sinclair Lewis to YA books), were of one mind on this: not a teen book. The people who loved it were mostly over 50.
8. The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Some liked it, some didn't. Everyone hated the ending.
9. Last Exit to Normal. Most people liked this one a lot, but had criticisms of it. One of the male teens said it read like a Lifetime movie.
10. Missing Girl. I couldn't read this one, I put it down after page 50. The combination of creepiness with too many protagonists was more than I was willing to stomach, and I'd just put MadApple down at the time and needed to read something I could enjoy. Most people found it more palatable than I did.
11. Sunrise Over Fallujah. Everyone agreed this was good, and an important book--like historical fiction but contemporary. I think it was the lack of depth of the minor characters that kept it from rising to the top of people's lists.

This whole experience was great fun, and also there were cookies and fruit. My favorite part was talking to the teens about the books that were written for them. I hope I get to invite myself again next year!

Kid review: Skate, by Michael harmon

There’s not much keeping Ian McDermott in Spokane, but at least it’s home. He’s been raising Sammy practically on his own ever since their mom disappeared again on one of her binges. They get by, finding just enough to eat and plenty of time to skateboard. But at Morrison High, Ian is getting the distinct, chilling feeling that the administration wants him and his board and his punked hair gone. Simply gone. And when his temper finally blows–he actually takes a swing at Coach Florence and knocks him cold–Ian knows he’s got to grab Sammy and skate. Run. (Quoted from Michael Harmon's website)

I read Skate a while back and recently passed it along to my 11 1/2 year old son, Ben, who has only recently started branching out from a pretty steady diet of fantasy to more realistic fiction. Since he read the book most recently, I asked Ben to write the review with me. The end result is the following: Guest review by Ben

I wanted to read this book because it had skateboarding in it and I like skateboarding. There was plenty of skating in the beginning and that got me hooked into the story. After Ian and Sammy ran away there wasn't really any skating, but by then I already knew it was a book I was going to read.

Basically the only things that matter to Ian are skateboarding and his little brother Sammy, and he's always looking out for his little brother. He cares a lot about his family. It seemed like he cares about his brother more than I probably would, although maybe if my mom did drugs it'd be different because it said his mom wasn't there most of the time so he probably had to look out for him. The people around her were on drugs and were pretty mean, which was kind of confusing to me.

Sammy's in 4th grade, and in parts of the book he's trying to be bigger and cooler than he really is, but then there are lots of parts where you can tell he's still just a little kid, like he'll whine, "I'm hungry!" where Ian's more grown up, like, "We need some food."

My favorite scene was one where they're skating and then a security guard says, "You can't skate here." Ian said they'd leave but Sammy kept skating and the security guard said, "I said you can't skate here!" Ian was trying to stop Sammy but he kicked the security guard's shin and they both ran away. Later Sammy said no one can boss him around.

There was a court scene near the end that was kind of boring, it was just court talk and I couldn't really focus on it, I kind of just skipped through it.

I give this book 4 stars, and I'd recommend it to kid 11 or 12 and up, depending on the kid. I'd read another book by this author, depending on what it was about. I think he should write more books about skateboarding kids.

Ali: Thanks for the review, Ben! What song would you like to pick for the soundtrack?
Ben: Fat Lip, by Sum 41, because it makes me think of skating.
Ali: OK, here you go.

The Last Exit to Normal--Michael Harmon (Book Review)

In The Last Exit to Normal, a new twist on the classic "fish out of water" story, Ben Campbell's dad and his "mom-dad," Edward, hope to keep him out of trouble by moving from Spokane to a small Montana town. They move in with Edward's mother Miss Mae, who makes it clear she takes no guff from anyone and has no qualms about whacking Ben with a wooden spoon if guff even crosses his mind. Ben's varying attempts to reject his new home and to fit in pull the reader along on a journey that, like life, never seems to go in a straight line.

In addition to Ben and his family, Harmon populates his novel with intriguing characters who buck stereotypes: the small-town sheriff who's anything but rigid, the cute farm girl who's smarter than Ben is. The antagonists are no less unique: creepy neighbors who judge Ben based on his parents and his looks, the ex-boyfriend of the local girl he's smitten with...and the homophobia that plagues him from both inside and out, threatening to destroy his relationship with his fathers.

Near the end, I thought things took an odd turn as Harmon ramped up the action to a level that might tantalize thriller fans, but left this reader wondering if an editor had kidnapped (booknapped?) the last chapters, sending Harmon a ransom note:

Add moRe tHrilLs & acTioN oR U wiLL
nEveR seE youR prEttY litTLe booK aGaiN.

After reading Harmon's essay, Why I Write What I Write--which, by the way, I highly recommend, especially if you teach or love any boys between 10 and 18)--I'd say it was more likely Harmon himself, keeping his finger on the pulse of the guys he's writing for, knowing what keeps them reading. He's not writing for their moms, after all. Even if said moms happen to think he's an author worth following.

Harmon lives in Spokane, Washington, and is also the author of Skate, a book about a teen who runs away with his younger brother. I enjoyed this book last year and just approved for my going-on-twelve year old who's working on a story of his own with a similar theme.

For the soundtrack: Pearl Jam covering Bruce Springsteen; the song is titled Growin' Up. (Warning: this live recording has a brief r-rated moment as Eddie Vedder uses a colorful word near the end)