The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Mary is a young girl living in a small village in which there are simple rules and traditions which everyone must follow. The Sisterhood has put these rules in place to protect the village from what lies outside of the fence surrounding the village. The Forrest of Hands and Teeth that surrounds the village is full of The Unconsecrated, or as you may be more familiar with them, zombies.

The book presents some really interesting moral questions about compliance and rebellion. Is it enough to be provided for without having the choice for yourself? Since the village is controlled by The Sisterhood, a group of women who are a lot like Catholic nuns, there are underlying religious issues. There is a major issue in the book of people blindly accepting the rulings of a church or governing organization. While these questions are presented, Carrie Ryan does a good job at leaving the answer up for debate. This book does not bombard its readers with one point of view. For the romance lovers there is also some romance. Mary is caught in between two brothers and has to decide if it is enough to be content or if she is willing to risk being with the man she feels true passion for. I think the most important issue Mary faces is simply the question of “What is enough?” Is it enough to have comfort and contentment? What does it mean when you have those things and you are still yearning for something more?

The premise does sound a lot like the movie The Village, and the community reminded me a little bit of The Giver, but I think it definitely brings something special that is all its own. I enjoyed the mix of zombie horror with the usual teen girl fantasy novel. The balance between plot and character is spot on. I often find it difficult to get through a book that is purely character driven. On the other hand, I cannot read a book in which I do not like or in some way feel for the characters. This book does a beautiful job of examining the character of Mary and the internal struggles she is going through while at the same time delivering a suspenseful and exciting plot. It is a very exciting read. I had the problem of wanting to read “just one more chapter” over and over again. There is a distinct cinematic quality to the book. Author, Carrie Ryan, doesn’t pull any punches. The readers experience the terror of living among the undead from the very beginning of the book. It is refreshing when you find a book or a movie in which you aren’t sure about the safety of anyone. Often, as a reader, I can tell exactly who will make it through because, “They have to”. This book tells you from the very beginning that even those who are the closest to Mary are not safe. Like most zombie literature, there isn’t a concrete ending. There is really no ending to the infection of The Unconsecrated and therefore the danger is never fully defeated. This leaves the book with the feeling that there could still be more to come, and like so many YA novels, there is a sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I really enjoyed the adventure this book takes the reader on, and I highly recommend it.

Catwoman: When In Rome by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

Graphic Novel time! Disclaimer: I am not a highly experienced comic book/graphic novel reader, but I really enjoy them. I love super heroes, but I know my knowledge is very limited compared to the many people who follow them seriously.

Since I was a little girl and I saw Batman Returns, I have loved Catwoman. She’s a total tough chick, but she’s still gorgeous and feminine and the men love her. She’s also smart enough to keep the Batman on his toes. That’s why I was really excited when I heard about this book.

Selina Kyle(Catwoman) is on a trip to Rome to find out the secrets of her past and find out who her parents are. While there she has some dangerous encounters with the leaders of Italy’s most influential families along with a few of Gotham’s noted villains. Character-wise, Catwoman is amazing. She’s clever and sarcastic, and very sexy, but she can still be embarrassed and funny when the situation calls for it. The book was actually pretty good for readers who don’t have extensive knowledge of the Batman universe. I think if you are a fan of the Batman movies, you would know enough to get through the book. It helps that the story takes place outside of Gotham city and away from the stories and characters that require prior knowledge. Artist, Tim Sale, does a really good job of making sure you see how sexy Catwoman is without making it sleazy like some artists do. Sex appeal is a huge part of Selina Kyle, but it’s not the only thing you see. The art does a fantastic job of characterizing every character completely. The colors and uses of light and shadow are absolutely beautiful. The cover art was all based on the art of Rene Gruau, and they bring the air of class and sophistication to the story. I really enjoyed this reading and would recommend it to anyone! This is obviously not a book for the classroom, but I think a teacher could use the art, especially the cover art in an activity somewhere.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

I have to start this with an introduction. This was indeed the first and only time I have read this book. There are a lot of very strange gaps in my reading history. Yes, I got through high school literature. Yes I majored in English in college. However, for some reason there are a lot of books that I somehow missed. I think a lot of it was because when I was in college, the professors assumed a lot of these had been read in high school. Nope. I’ve been in at least four different classes that required the reading of Oedipus Rex, but not once have I read Hamlet. (WHAT???) This list also includes Pride and Prejudice, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Catcher in the Rye, and other books that are just part of the assumed knowledge of someone who is well-read. It’s always been odd to me that there are so many seemingly important books that I just seemed to have missed. So I try to read them on my own. That is what I am doing with this book. I am going to include them in my blog because I think they are an important part of my journey as a life-long reader. So this is not so much a review because it would not make sense to review a book that is more than 100 years old and an established part of the canon of English literature. It’s more of my impressions of reading a book. How I feel after reading a book that I assumed was an important read.

I enjoyed Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I was pleased that a story that is so rooted into our culture could still have some surprises for me. I really enjoy Victorian Literature and how often the stories are told by an outside observer rather than the person who the event is happening to. That was my first surprise. The reader learns the story through the experiences of Mr. Utterson, a friend of Dr. Jekyll. This was something I didn’t know going into the book, but now that I’ve read it, it makes a lot of sense. Where would the suspense and element of surprise be if Dr. Jekyll was the narrator? I actually love that the reader has to put the clues together along with Mr. Utterson, much like a detective book. The book really made me wonder what it would have been like for the original readers who had no idea that Jekyll and Hyde are one person. It must have been even more suspenseful and quite scary. However, even to a reader who knows the basic idea of Jekyll and Hyde, there is still suspense. There is a level of creepiness that hangs on every page. I didn’t even realize how fully creepy it was until my dog pushed open my door and the sound made me jump out of my seat (No, really. This actually happened). I was really that into the suspense of the book. Like most “classic” literature, the style takes a little more thought than your average pop lit book might, but it wasn’t heavy at all. I really found the story to be very straightforward. It was a really great way to spend a rainy Saturday morning. I’m always glad when one of these classics is actually enjoyable to read rather than just important to literature. As a teacher, I think it would be great to use in the classroom. There are so many different angles the book can be discussed from and since it is short, it won’t be as likely to scare off teen readers.

Please comment if you have read the book in or out of the classroom. I’d love to hear other people’s perspectives on it.

Also comment if there are other books that you feel may have been left out of your reading experiences. I’m really interested in this idea of the books that sort of fell between the cracks of our education.

Cindy Ella by Robin Palmer

I received this book as a gift from a friend a few years ago because I share a name (minus the spelling) with the title character. I thought it was cute and put it on my shelf to read later. I didn’t even think about this book until the other night I realized I was going to be spending the day in the hospital this week for my mom’s final chemo treatment. Hospital reading is a touchy thing. You want something that will keep you entertained while at the same time something you can easily put down and pick up multiple times. Also with the noise/distraction level of a waiting room, your book really can’t be anything too difficult to read. So I picked up this book and thought I’d finally give her a chance. I finished the book in a single day (a feat for someone who reads as slowly as I do!).

Cindy is an average girl. She is a lot like the main character of just about every other teen girl novel. She’s not ugly, but not pretty. She’s not popular, but she has a few really great friends. She’s smarter than average, but she’s no jeopardy contestant. The book starts when Cindy writes a letter to the editor of her school’s newspaper condemning the “prom mentality” of the school. She quickly becomes even more of an outcast than before. On top of the school drama, Cindy also has to worry about her stepmother and stepsisters who are the definition of LA materialism, a best guy friend she has only ever talked to over the internet, an SAT tutor who may or may not be the man of her dreams, and the most popular senior boy at the school she’s been crushing on for years Adam Silver. Cindy struggles between being herself and changing herself for a boy. I like that Cindy has her own ideals and tries to think for herself even when she’s feeling the negative effects of her activism. The characters can be a little flat in some cases. The stepmother and sisters aren’t evil, just shallow. Cindy’s best friends India and Malcom are each characterized by one thing. Malcom is a gay boy, and India is the hippy girl whose parents own a yoga studio. However, despite their flatness, the characters show true emotion and friendship towards each other. The book is absolutely chock-full of pop culture references from Miley Cyrus to John Hughes movies. But like a good John Hughes movie, you like the heroine, and want everything to turn out happily in the end. The twist is a little predictable, and more than a little improbable, but it is a fairy tale after all. I enjoyed the read. Definitely one of those books to read in a waiting room or on an airplane, but those books are important too! I’d definitely keep it on my shelf and recommend it for girls from junior high to early high school.

Blog Fail.

Yeah I failed at my summer reading goals.
Going Bovine was deadly slow and i could not bring myself to finish it. I got about halfway through and decided to stop punishing myself. It did bring up one of my biggest questions/dilemmas about YA/lit for young readers. I fully support characters who are real and relatable rather than idealized "good children". YA is not about setting examples and teaching young people a lesson like it was in the 70's. but here my question lies: does that make it ok for a main character to be a bad person? Cameron, the protagonist of Going Bovine is selfish, lazy, judgmental, and just kind of a jerk. granted, i didn't finish the book to see if he found a reason to change, but really? why am i supposed to care about this jerk? Also, he smokes pot. i get it, teenagers smoke and drink and take other illegal substances. but do we have to condone that in their literature? am i being judgmental? or is it totally a bad idea for that to be a character in a PRINTZ WINNING novel???? What do you think? am I wrong? I'm still not sure where i stand on the issue of non-likable characters for young adult readers. I know that I do NOT like to read about a character I don't like.

I read another book recently.
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd is an anthology of short stories and comic strips by popular YA authors about all things "Nerdy". If there is anything remotely nerdy about you, you will love at least something in this book! It's a beautiful collection from some of YALit's big names. It covers everything from Scifi nerds to theatre geeks. Every story feels absolutely sincere and the comics in between are a blast! If you're not a geek, you can learn a lot about people, and if you are, this book will speak to your heart. You may not love every single story, but I found the majority of them entertaining and enjoyable. This book would be great for young adults and some stories would fit well into the classroom. I am PROUD to be a geek and am grateful that these authors are telling young adults that being a geek means so much more than getting shoved into a locker by the football team. I also loved how after each story there was a short author bio that told the reader a little something about the geek inside of that author. loved it!

I also saw Scot Pilgrim vs the World this weekend. I haven't read the books, but I actually prefer to see a movie first(the book is always better and this way I am never disappointed). This movie was a lot of fun. The characters were just quirky enough to be highly entertaining but not so much that you felt it was quirk for the sake of just being quirky. It was definitely more of a video game concept than the super hero theme that I had guessed from the preview. However it still holds its appeal to a viewer like myself with little to no knowledge of video games. Michael Cera is as endearing as ever. I loved the message. Definitely an enjoyable day at the movies. Not one I need to own in my collection, but if made me want to read the books, and I would definitely watch it again!

not sure what is up next.
I'm trying to read Allan Moore's From Hell.
Jeph Loeb and Tim Sales Catwoman: When in Rome
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
and for the hospital waiting room read Robin Palmer's Cindy Ella

Any suggestions from the internet community?