Okay. I definitely slacked a bit on my blog posts. Once I got outta the groove, it was really hard to get back in it! And I have a lot of catching up to do.
So, my apologies.
In this post, I'm gonna talk about We Were Here by Matt de la Peña.
This one was a bit difficult for me to get into at first. But you know, I'm pretty easy to please. And I get rather sucked into books. So it didn't take too long for me to read, read, read and plow through the whole thing. No shocks there.
So QUICK SYNOPSIS.
A boy, Miguel, is in a group home because he did something bad. What? you might ask? Well, you find that out later. It gets juicy.
So he's in this group home with all these other boys and it's awful there. Not awful conditions, but just... awful. He has this counselor whose attitude is so positive, he might as well be vomiting rainbows and kittens all over poor Miguel. So Miguel generally hides away in his room reading. Because he finds that he loves reading (maybe he and I would get along swimmingly?).
Soon, though, he and two other boys escape and try and run down to Mexico to start a life of their own.
Tricky part is this- Miguel is half-Mexican. One of the boys (Mong) is Asian-American. Rondell (the third, who I love DEARLY) is black.
Tricky. Tricky.
It makes people FLIP OUT because since the three main characters are all minorities, this INSTANTLY becomes ALL ABOUT RACE. (Please hit your forehead against your keyboard... now.)
I hate, hate, hate when this happens. When books are GOOD BOOKS but all the focus is on is RACE. And okay, you may say that I hate this because I'm just a white girl. Sure. Go ahead and say that. I'm still gonna disagree with you.
I don't think de la Peña's intention when writing this book was to highlight race and racial differences and the injustice of being a minority. Sometimes, yes, that is the case of novels (such as Octavian Nothing, in my humble opinion). But that's NOT the case in We Were Here! Argh!
I'm not even discussing/arguing this with anyone and I'm already getting heated. Rawr.
The book is about growing up, about coming to terms with one's past, and about finding one's identity. It's as simple as that.
To ME... the whole race aspect of the book is totally secondary. I don't even know if that's the best way to describe it. I feel like de la Peña is trying to show that race DOESN'T matter. Kids of all races are in the group home. Rondell, Miguel, and Mong are of different races, but that doesn't hinder their friendship in any way. Yes, their skin is a different color. But it's not like that's stopping them from being friends. They accept one another EXACTLY HOW THEY ARE.
And isn't that how it should be? Shouldn't we follow the example of these "bad" kids?
Makes you think, doesn't it.
And I dunno... Maybe I'm crazy for thinking that the book isn't about race. Maybe I think that because I'm hopeful and optimistic.
Maybe I think that because I'm white.
Who knows?
Friday, November 27, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Cinderella Stories
I recently did a book talk for Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. So of course, I read it again.
AGAIN you say?
Yes. Again.
Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite books of all time. Hands down, no jokes. I read it for the first time when I was fourteen? Maybe thirteen. Or fifteen. Okay, between thirteen and fifteen.
REGARDLESS.
My family had gone on vacation over the summer to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. And I brought Ella Enchanted to read. You know, just for the time on the plane. I devoured it. And when I was done, I had nothing else to read. So I read it again. And again. I think I read this one book seven times over the whole trip.
So I've probably read it through about twenty times in my life. I just love it.
I've even had to get a second copy (and this time, I got a hardback!) because my paperback copy was starting to fall apart!
I love, love, love this book and I HIGHLY recommend it. It's a refreshing twist on the classic Cinderella story. And it explains everything about the Cinderella story. It's just GREAT.
AGAIN you say?
Yes. Again.
Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite books of all time. Hands down, no jokes. I read it for the first time when I was fourteen? Maybe thirteen. Or fifteen. Okay, between thirteen and fifteen.
REGARDLESS.
My family had gone on vacation over the summer to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. And I brought Ella Enchanted to read. You know, just for the time on the plane. I devoured it. And when I was done, I had nothing else to read. So I read it again. And again. I think I read this one book seven times over the whole trip.
So I've probably read it through about twenty times in my life. I just love it.
I've even had to get a second copy (and this time, I got a hardback!) because my paperback copy was starting to fall apart!
I love, love, love this book and I HIGHLY recommend it. It's a refreshing twist on the classic Cinderella story. And it explains everything about the Cinderella story. It's just GREAT.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Amazing Grace
Okay, so I thought Graceling by Kristin Cashore was super cool. I don't know why. I mean, yes, it's a fantasy book. I'm gonna be clear with that. And generally fantasy books are not thought of as being cool in any way. Generally, they are considered to be a little... well... nerdy?
I, however, have absolutely no shame when I say that I LOVE fantasy.
NO SHAME!
But I will have to say that Graceling was on the lighter end of the fantasy genre. Kinda like... fantasy for people who don't like fantasy. There are no elves. No wizards. No fairies.
Just people. People with really awesome powers. Really RIDICULOUSLY awesome powers! And you don't even have to refer to them as powers. You could call them... talents? Or graces, which is what they are actually called.
Take Katsa (a name oddly similar to Katniss from the Hunger Games, which bothered me a little) for example. She has a fighting grace. She pretty much can kill anybody she wants to with very little effort. Sooooo naturally, the majority of people fear her.
She's a type character, in my opinion. She's a really strong female lead (strong physically, and later on becomes very strong in other respects). She doesn't want to get married or have children or be tied down in any manner. She just wants to be free.
And I found this to be really interesting...
BEGIN SPOILER ALERT!
Katsa constantly says how she doesn't want to be a mother and care for children. But she's actually super nurturing, in my opinion. And sure, you might be able to say that it's only towards those people who she loves (like Po), but what really struck me was when she and Bitterblue had to traverse the mountains alone.
Katsa displayed a lot of motherly qualities towards this frail, scared little girl who she had just met. I mean, yeah, she was supposed to be rescuing her, and maybe it had to do with the fact that Bitterblue is Po's cousin and maybe it had to do with her grace, but Katsa always made sure Bitterblue got everything first. She fed her first, she clothed her excessively before she even clothed herself, she carried her over the mountain even though she herself was freezing and hungry and absolutely exhausted.
And Katsa even insists on teaching Bitterblue how to defend herself instead of just doing all the work for her. She insisted on, well, "bettering" Bitterblue, something that she was never obligated to do. It seems like something a mother would do-- make sure her daughter can fend for herself when the time comes.
So yeah. It just seemed like despite all her complaints or whatever about not wanting to be a mother, Katsa seemed to show quite a bit of potential for doing a good job of it.
END SPOILER.
Graceling was well constructed in that manner of being a fantasy book but having all the "real world" problems weaving through it: feminism and marriage and first love and all that jazz. I think that's why fantasy is so great. Because it's not preachy. The main focus GENERALLY is the whole adventure and all the cool aspects of the world. And the real world problems are still there.
It kinda bothers me if somebody doesn't pick up a book just because it's fantasy. Be a little more open-minded, people! It's the same thing with YA lit and people who won't read it because it's YA. BE OPEN-MINDED. These books are GOOD! Ignore the classifications and take it for what it's worth. Ugh!
So yeah. Graceling= good. Not the best fantasy book I've read, I'd say, but I really liked it a lot. Recommended, especially for people who DON'T like fantasy!
I, however, have absolutely no shame when I say that I LOVE fantasy.
NO SHAME!
But I will have to say that Graceling was on the lighter end of the fantasy genre. Kinda like... fantasy for people who don't like fantasy. There are no elves. No wizards. No fairies.
Just people. People with really awesome powers. Really RIDICULOUSLY awesome powers! And you don't even have to refer to them as powers. You could call them... talents? Or graces, which is what they are actually called.
Take Katsa (a name oddly similar to Katniss from the Hunger Games, which bothered me a little) for example. She has a fighting grace. She pretty much can kill anybody she wants to with very little effort. Sooooo naturally, the majority of people fear her.
She's a type character, in my opinion. She's a really strong female lead (strong physically, and later on becomes very strong in other respects). She doesn't want to get married or have children or be tied down in any manner. She just wants to be free.
And I found this to be really interesting...
BEGIN SPOILER ALERT!
Katsa constantly says how she doesn't want to be a mother and care for children. But she's actually super nurturing, in my opinion. And sure, you might be able to say that it's only towards those people who she loves (like Po), but what really struck me was when she and Bitterblue had to traverse the mountains alone.
Katsa displayed a lot of motherly qualities towards this frail, scared little girl who she had just met. I mean, yeah, she was supposed to be rescuing her, and maybe it had to do with the fact that Bitterblue is Po's cousin and maybe it had to do with her grace, but Katsa always made sure Bitterblue got everything first. She fed her first, she clothed her excessively before she even clothed herself, she carried her over the mountain even though she herself was freezing and hungry and absolutely exhausted.
And Katsa even insists on teaching Bitterblue how to defend herself instead of just doing all the work for her. She insisted on, well, "bettering" Bitterblue, something that she was never obligated to do. It seems like something a mother would do-- make sure her daughter can fend for herself when the time comes.
So yeah. It just seemed like despite all her complaints or whatever about not wanting to be a mother, Katsa seemed to show quite a bit of potential for doing a good job of it.
END SPOILER.
Graceling was well constructed in that manner of being a fantasy book but having all the "real world" problems weaving through it: feminism and marriage and first love and all that jazz. I think that's why fantasy is so great. Because it's not preachy. The main focus GENERALLY is the whole adventure and all the cool aspects of the world. And the real world problems are still there.
It kinda bothers me if somebody doesn't pick up a book just because it's fantasy. Be a little more open-minded, people! It's the same thing with YA lit and people who won't read it because it's YA. BE OPEN-MINDED. These books are GOOD! Ignore the classifications and take it for what it's worth. Ugh!
So yeah. Graceling= good. Not the best fantasy book I've read, I'd say, but I really liked it a lot. Recommended, especially for people who DON'T like fantasy!
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