Th1rteen R3asons Why - Jay Asher

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Thirteen-Reasons-Why/Jay-Asher/e/9781595141712/?itm=1&USRI=jay+asher

Asher, J. (2007). Th1rteen R3asons Why. USA: Razorbill/Penguin.

In Jay Asher's first young adult work, Th1rteen R3asons Why, Asher delivers a relevant, poignant YA novel that addresses the concepts of bullying, self-image, peer-pressure and first-and-foremost teenage SUICIDE.

According to Lexile.com, the book comes in at a readability of 550L, or ages 12 and up, but due to the suicide component and related content/context such as underage drinking, rape, sex, etc. I would definitely reserve it for 14 year olds, or high school freshmen and above.  For that age-group I think it would be a wonderfully appropriate, interesting piece as it adbecause it addresses bullying, the emotional and psychological development of teenagers, and feeling like anyone "gets" you or cares-- something every teenager can relate to.

Jay has a wonderful website - he monitors his his blog at http://www.jayasher.blogspot.com/ in order to keep in touch with readers.
HANNAH HAS A BLOG OF HER OWN TOO! http://hannahsreasons.blogspot.com/ This is a really amazing unique idea.  How many main characters, especially dead ones have their own blog to keep in touch with their loyal readers!?!?!  Imagine if Katniss from Hunger Games or Bella from Twilight had her own blog to share their innermost thoughts with their fans!

The format of this story is unique as well, inspired by the idea of tape-guided museum tours and a friend of Asher's who attempted suicide when they were young.  Before Hannah's suicide, she recorded a series of connected cassette tapes - 1 through 13, the significance of "th1rteen r3asons."  The box of tapes are mailed, from one person to another as they are connected by the story - sort of like in order of appearance.  In these tapes, Hannah reveals her inner-most thoughts, the things that have affected her and ultimately drove her to the decision to end her life.  She also reveals how each person contributed to her decision - starting rumors about her, raping her, a car accident that led to the a deadly car accident, etc.

The story is told through Hannah's tapes and "narrated"  through the thoughts/actions/dialogue/reactions of Clay, the latest to receive Hannah's tapes.  Unlike anyone else, Clay didnt have a specifically negative impact on Hannah - he cared, and she knew it, but he was too shy and uncertain to speak his mind and to intervene in her downward spiral.  When he did try to get close she pushed him away and unfortunately he failed to persist in his persuit of Hannah.  His tearful, heart-broken reaction is full of what-ifs, regret, and woulda/coulda/should-as.  Clay is a sympathetic character; Asher's readers are not meant to dislike him, in fact Hannah reveals that she has never ever found anything deficient in Clay.  He "doesnt belong" in this.

According to the book's website, Universal Pictures has purchased the rights to this book and has recently cast Selena Gomez in the lead role.  Even if it takes a main stream movie to do it, I think this subject material is that important that we need to make sure teens get the message by whatever means necessary.
Additional YA novels that would be appropriate for this subject matter are:

If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

I would love to connect this in a humanities, freshman english or freshman seminar course.  I think that students would find it relevant and by asking them to open up and to share their feelings on the subject matter, I think a teacher could also address issues like bullying, self-esteem, confidence, communication, etc.
"Change the voice in your head, make them like you instead" -- that's a lyric from "Pretty Pretty Please," a song by Pink.  Some of the lyrics are appropriate, some I would have LOVED for Hannah to have heard, some I think should/could have come from Clay...give it a listen, it's on the radio but I think it fits; it definitely reminded me of the book when I heard it after I had read the book - http://youtu.be/B7x85fv6BaY

"Same kind of different as me" due 4/5

Same kind of different as me
By Ron Hall & Denver Moore

Denver Moore, R. H. (2008). Same kind of different as me. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

http://www.amazon.com/Same-Kind-Different-Modern-Day-International/dp/084991910X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301330445&sr=1-1

How much do you think you could learn from a homeless black man?  What about a 1960 Louisiana sharecropper, who never owned “nothin,” doesn’t have a bank account and didn’t contemplate getting a driver’s license until well into his `50s? 
What about a millionaire art dealer, earning his keep supplying the rich with new and beautiful ways to display their affluence?  What about a millionaire’s well-to-do, well-kept, Land Cruiser driving, “supportive, stay at home wife?”
How do blacks and whites differ, how do they judge, how do they speak, how do they value life, love, friends?  Does class know color or is that something people do inorder to make sense out of an ever chaotic world?

Do you believe in God?  Do you think he speaks to people and through people?  Do you think your life is pre-ordained or that you choose your own course?

Is a man measured by what he does or what he gives?

In this amazing true-story, the reader is taken on a journey through the memoirs of two men, written in a series of flashbacks and personal accounts of the colliding worlds of two unlikely best-friends, Denver Moore and Ron Hall.

Denver, the son of black sharecroppers, who never went to school, never learned to read and write, who picked cotton well into his `30--, into the 1960’s, “well after Lincoln had freed the slaves,” who lived in a shotgun shack with no running water and no electricity even after America had put a man on the moon.

After growing tired of working for no one besides "the Man" and never owning anything of his own, Denver illegally hops a train and heads to Texas where he lives homelessly in several cities before seeking refuge at the Union Street Mission in Fort Worth, Texas.  There, he meets a philanthropic couple seeking to get closer to God by touching the lives of these unfortunate “dregs” of society.  Social-page, self-made millionaire art dealer, Ron Hall was previously content to attend fancy fundraisers, stroke a check or two a year and most certainly avoid any of the diseases and parasites crawling all over “those people” and his wife, Deborah, a southern debutant trying to make a difference, to get closer to God, to make a difference in this ugly world, and to rekindle an 11-year marriage just scarred by her husband's infidelity seeks out the mission after God speaks to her through a vision.

"She's the onlyest person that ever loved me enough not to give up on me, and I praise God that today I can sit here in your home a changed man -- a free man." -Denver's reflection on his relationship with Deborah Hall

Their "mission" at the mission, the friendship they form, and their lives together is the backdrop for this insightful and thoughtfully composed memoir.

Needless to say, I really enjoyed this book.  It makes you question your thoughts, commonly held beliefs, and unspoken prejudices.  I believe it would be well received by 11th or 12th grade students, the language isnt hard to follow, the voice alternating between Denver and Ron is the most confusing component.  This book could also guide some purposeful lessons on race, class and other social stereotypes.

Ron Hall has his own page on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Ron-Hall/e/B001JS4GHA/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

The memoir also contains pictures, a reader's guide and an additional Q&A from Denver.

He has also published a follow-up book, entitled "What Different Do It Make?"
http://www.amazon.com/What-Difference-Do-Make-Stories/dp/0849946190/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls has a lot of the same amazing qualities.  I coincidentally read this book right after same kind and really loved them both.

This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President, by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf may offer the reader an similarly uplifting piece.
http://www.amazon.com/This-Child-Will-Great-Remarkable/dp/0061353485/ref=pd_sim_b_4

Adoration of Jenna Fox, due 4/26

Pieces

A bit for someone here.

A bit there.

And sometimes they don’t add up to anything whole.

But you are so busy dancing.

Delivering.

You don’t have time to notice.

Or are afraid to notice.

And then one day you have to look.

And it’s  true.

All of your pieces fill up other people’s holes.

But they don’t fill

Your own.

-Mary Pearson, The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Pearson, M. (2008). The Adoration of Jenna Fox. New York: Henry Holt & Company.

Where do you end and someone else begins?  Whether it is our parents, children, extended family, friends, church or society as a whole, don’t we all seek out acceptance and a sense of belonging and unconditional love?  Do we have a soul?

In Mary Pearson’s fourth YA novel, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, she poses the question “how far would you go to save someone you love?”  Would you break the law, risk persecution, cheat death?  Would you…if you could?

This is an amazingly written books, giving insight into the world of a seventeen year old girl, awakening from a 18-month coma to discover that she is a medical miracle -a genetically engineered human-medical hybrid.  This novel, obviously written sometime in the future, poses questions about genetic engineering and the checks-and-balances of “modern” medicine underneath a story of a family struggling with loss and love.

I enjoyed Pearson’s prose, Jenna’s inner dialogue, the book’s method of character development and the relationship that Pearson describes between Jenna, her parents and Lily, Jenna’s sentimental but internally conflicted grandmother.  In terms of YA reader’s, I believe they could easily relate to Jenna’s inner conflict, ideas of “who” she really is, her desire to have friends, and her intrigue with Ethan, a new boy in her new life.  After reading this novel, I plan to read Pearson’s other YA works: David v. God, Scribbler of Dreams, and A Room on Lorelei Street.  You can read more about Pearson’s additional work at www.marypearson.com.

The question that presents itself throughout the book- the reason our protagonist, Jenna Fox, even exists is “just because medicine can do something, should they.”  Should they play God? Have they already crossed that line?  Do doctor’s need government intervention to keep their work in check?  Who determines when medicine has gone too far?  Who defines things like life, human, intervention, etc.?  Jenna would not have survived a horrific car crash without her father’s medical and technological savvy, limitless resources, and people putting their lives and careers on the line to save her by pushing the limits of governmentally-approved medicine.

Pearson also offers an interesting social commentary – the development of antibiotic resistant super epidemics that claim 20 million people across the globe.  The insinuation is that due to over prescribing of antibiotics now, we are condemning ourselves for generations to come.  Additionally, genetically engineered animals begin to wipe out native species and genetically-engineered crops and pollen destroy native ones.  These are actually very real issues, things we see in the news even today, so to have a writer incorporate those issues into a work of YA-focused literature is a bold move, one that hopefully forced students and teachers to push their thinking and to reflect on these issues.

The author, Mary Pearson has a beautifully composed website: http://www.whoisjennafox.com/ that includes an interesting video/teaser, like for a movie: Adoration "movie" teaser and also a Discussion Guide for teachers: http://www.whoisjennafox.com/discussion-guide.html.

On Amazon, this book was also tagged to the James Dashner trilogy, which I have recommended before, along with Hunger Games and Unwind, other novels I have read in this class.  Unique recommendations/read-alikes would include:

-Wintergirls by Laurie Anderson

http://www.amazon.com/Wintergirls-Laurie-Halse-Anderson/dp/B003VWC43K/ref=pd_sim_b_4

- Matched by Ally Condie (she has a series that connects to this)

http://www.amazon.com/Matched-Ally-Condie/dp/0525423648/ref=pd_sim_b_6

Pathfinder Author: Terry Pratchett

"It would seem that you have no useful skill or talent whatsoever," he said. "Have you thought of going into teaching?"

-- (Terry Pratchett, Mort)

---

Bibliography:
Terry Pratchett was born April 28, 1948 in Beaconsfield, England.  He was first published at age 13 - a short story entitled "The Hades Business." Pratchett had "The Carpet People" published in 1971  at age 23, then "The Carpet People," followed by "The Dark Side of the Sun" in 1976 and "Strata" in 1981.  
He finished the first of the Discworld novels "The Colour of Magic" in 1983.  "The Light Fantastic" was published in 1986.  In September 1987, soon after he had finished writing "Mort," Pratchett decided he could devote himself to writing full-time.

In total, Pratchett has published atleast 50 books, which fit into a wide variety of genres: adult non-fiction, young adult literature, childrens literature, short stories and graphic novels.  He has 37 Discworld novels detailing the world of Ankh-Morpork - from the University, to the Royal Mint to the post office.  He is able to be political without being preachy and his footnotes are hilarious and offer a humorous social commentary.

Also, interesting news....due to his acclaim in England, it appears Unseen Academicals (the latest Discworld novel) is going to make it to the tv screen, Pratchett's fourth such novel to do so:http://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/01/25/next-pratchett-tv-adaptation-announced/
Other stories have been turned into plays throughout England.

Awards/Distinctions:
Pratchett's first series of books for young readers, Truckers, known in the USA as the Bromeliad Trilogy, became the first children's book to appear in the British adult paperback fiction best-seller lists.

He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's 1998 Birthday Honours List, 'for services to literature' and received a knighthood for "services to literature" in 2009.

In 2003 Pratchett joined Charles Dickens as the two authors with five books in the BBC's Big Read 'Top 100' (four of which were Discworld novels). Pratchett was also the author with the most novels in the 'Top 200' (fifteen).  Three Discworld novels that centred on the character Tiffany Aching 'trainee witch' have each received the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book (in 2004, 2005 and 2007).

Pratchett was the recipient of NESFA's Skylark Award in 2009 and in 2010 he received a World Fantasy award for lifetime achievement. He is the 2011 recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the ALA, recognizing a significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.

British Book Awards' 'Fantasy and Science Fiction Author of the Year' for 1994; British Science Fiction Award in 1989 for his novel, Pyramids; Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2008 for Making Money; The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents won the 2001 Carnegie Medal for best children's novel; Night Watch won the 2003 Prometheus Award for best libertarian novel.

Connecting with the author/further research:
Professor Sir Terry Pratchett Inaugural Lecture "The Importance of Being Amazed about Absolutely Everything" on 4 November 2010 at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.  You can watch his speech here: http://youtu.be/n2FZ_0d3yEI (running time approximately 1:00, retreived May 1, 2011).

The BBC has a Meet the Author series.  Here is their episode on Terry, which includes an interview about his life's work: http://youtu.be/NhvUHI6WJcY

Teachervision.com has created a wonderful resource to help teachers spark discussion about three different Terry Pratchett novels: A Hat Full of Sky, The Wee Free Men, and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.  The free printable includes pre-reading activities and discussion questions: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/harpercollins/terry-pratchett_tg.pdf.  Covering three pieces would complete an interesting author study of Pratchett's body or work, which could be augmented with some of the aforementioned resources and videos.
 Check out Terry Pratchett's other novels on his website:
http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/
You can also try his author's page on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Terry-Pratchett/e/B000AQ0NN8/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1298399235

Graphic Novel blog Due 3/29

“After the war I’d like to publish a book called The Secret Annex.  It remains to be seen whether I’ll succeed, but my dairy can serve as the basis.”  - Anne Frank, May 11, 1944 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0836861965/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d1_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0A1T0NR2MRMS1RDTJ48H&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846



Hudson-Goff, E. (2005). The Diary of Anne Frank (Graphic Biographies/World Almanac). New York: Gareth Stevens Publishing.

According to Nilsen & Donelson, "graphic novels are comic books that have gone off to college and come back with a new sophistication and respect" (p. 176).  The subject matter and attitudes of creators towards their stories allow writers and illustrators to create a mood and write/draw in a tone that provides the reader with both a literary and visual appreciation for the piece.

In Anne Frank, from the Graphic Bibliographies collection from the World Almanac Library, the authors and illustrators are able to convey key elements of the life and experieces of Anne, her relationship with her parents, the social and political setting in Europe during World War II and the autrocities of Hitler and the German alies against the approximately 12 million people murdered during WWII.

Unlike in political cartoons, there was no judgment or commentary offered by the authors/illustrators of this book.  As a graphic biography, this is an interpretation of the facts offered in Anne's original diary and other details collected about her life.  This is NOT a graphic novel of the complete work The Diary of Anne Frank.

This novel provides a really nice timeline, the sequence of events in Anne's life - setting the stage for her story.  It starts with her early childhood, free of persecution, a childhood much like any other's.  The graphic novel depicts her home, the seaside, her outside playing games, time with her family. 

The "tone" of the book then changes to depict the Third Reich, burnings, persecution, etc.  I like how the book makes references to dates and countries, outlining where the war was taking place, and the countries that Anne and her family fled to to avoid capture.  In this way the book can be used to support a history lesson as well.

The book shows pictures of what we might have seen in the attic in which they lived for nearly two years.  It also explains labor camps, shows how people were hunted, abducted, and arrested by the Nazi police, and describes the fate of those unfortunate enough to be discovered.

After Anne's family is discovered and arrested, the story helps track how they are divided, the different labor camps they are sent to - women to some, men to others, some were work/labor camps, some were death camps.  The story does explain the gas chambers, the showers, the ovens, and even though the illustrator could have been MUCH more graphic, I think the illustrator and the writer kept their target audience in mind and were very effective with their combination of words and illustrations.

I think this book would be very effective with 4-8th graders studying World War II or The Diary of Anne Frank.  I think that it provides a nice back drop and a timeline that students could relate to.  I think that the fact that it comes in graphic novel form would help them relate to the fact that Anne is a child and this might have been a genre of book, comics that children her age would have read.  Reluctant readers might find this book more inviting because it looks like a lot less reading when it is constantly being broken up and separated by pictures - it's less intimidating then paragraph after paragraph of prose and, if you were using this as a guided or shared reading, then the breaks and the pictures could provide time for questings, making connections, drawing inferences, checking for understanding, etc.

For older students, the graphic novel "Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel," might offer more political commentary and satire to go along with the years, events, facts assosciated with the war.

http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Seuss-Goes-War-Editorial/dp/1565847040/ref=cm_cmu_pg_t

I think that graphic novels might be a helpful way to deliver material to reluctant or remedial readers because it definitely still delivers the grade-level appropriate material.

Geoffrey Canada, whose work with the Harlem Children's Guild has been all over the education reform wire offers his own gritty urban biography in graphic novel form:

http://www.amazon.com/Fist-Stick-Knife-Gun-Personal/dp/0807044490/ref=tag_stp_s2f_edpp_graphi13el
This piece would definitely better meet the needs of older readers since it discusses violence and offers alternatives.

The same WAL Graphic Biolgraphies collection also offers pieces on Nelson Mandela (http://www.biblio.com/details.php?dcx=309673891&aid=frg&utm_source=google&utm_medium=product&utm_campaign=feed-details), Harriet Tubman, Jackie Robinson, etc.

Bound To Stay Bound Books offers 6 pages of titles separated into literally dozens of sub-genres:

http://www.btsb.com/brochures/Graphic_Novels.pdf

Book 3: Non Western - Memoir/non-fiction

"When I was very little, my father used to say, "if you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen.  If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die."  I thought about these words during my journey, and they kept me moving even when I didn't know where I was going.  Those words became the vehicle that drove my spirit forward and made it stay alive." (Beah, p. 54)

Beah, I. (2007). a long way gone: memoir of a boy soldier. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Gone-Memoirs-Soldier/dp/B002N2XHXU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302647820&sr=1-1

In "a long way gone: Memoirs of a Boy soldier," Ishmael Beah relays his life to us chronologically, beginning in his home village. He and some friends took a several day trip to a neighboring village to show off their hip-hop skills at a talent show. Little did they know, that little trip probably saved their lives. For while they were away, the rebel army attacked their home village.   Beah reflects upon his childhood, walks us through the civil war that consumed his country of Sierra Leone and the role he played in it following his conscription into the army and eventual removal from the army and subsequent rehabilitiation through the intervention of UNICEF.  He was ultimately lucky to escape to the United States, where he lives now.

This is a powerful book filled with intense descriptions and accounts of the violence that are an integral part of the childhood of an entire generation.  At times, it is difficult to get through probably due to the common language the author uses in an almost numb, matter-of-fact style of prose, but the weight of each word is contemplative and the descriptions are purposeful as "he comes from a very storytelling-oriented culture (Baeh, p. 197)."

While the fighting and terror were experienced in different ways throughout the country, even in the capital of Freetown no one was able to escape the realities or brutality of the long-standing civil war.  It is amazing to believe that this occured during our life time, that it continues to occur even today in some parts of the world.  No where in his two-hundred twenty five pages does he ever offer what he believed to be the reason for the war - child soldiers had no idea what or for whom they were fighting for - none of the other forces they came into contact with had any idea with -- you were either loyal to the army or you were a rebel, though what divided the two was never relevant - kill or be killed, kill when you were told to, follow directions or be left to starve to death.

The memoir begins with Beah's young life, his upbringing in a somewhat more 'suburban' village, not having to work in the fields and because of his family, he was able to focus on his education, to enjoy western clothing and his love for rap and hip-hop music -- Run DMC and LL Cool J actually save Beah and his friends on more than one occassion. 

When the fighting begins, Beah is separated from his family but escapes along with several of his friends.  Together, they wander aimlessly through the forests and subsequent villages with no real idea of where they are going.  They search for food, struggle to avoid death at the hands of the RUF, rebel soldiers seeking to overthrow the country who use civilians - mainly women and children - as a shield against Leonean soldiers.

Eventually they are captured and conscripted into the army where they are fed a steady diet of cocaine, marijuana, brown-brown (concaine mixed with gun powder), hatred and anger.  They believe that the army is the only family that they have left.  They are tought to kill without thought or remorse, to seek retribution for the death of their loved ones and the loss of their homes and their childhood innocence.

In contrast to the violence and loss of innocence experienced by Beah's generation was the tireless work of UNICEF and the UN workers that stood in direct juxtaposition to the boy's anger - "It was as if they had made a pact not to give up on us.  Their smiles made us hate them all the more" (Beah, p. 140).

Because of Beah's demeanor, he is selected to represent his country in New York City and a UN Conference on the welfare of children.  It is many year later he is able to call on the friends and allies that he made at that conference in order to gain salvation in the United States.

Like post World War II Germany, the concept of "war lords" being put on trial still holds true.  Charles Taylor, whose Liberian forces played a role in the civil war in Sierra Leone, was eventually put on trial.  This article was posted the same time Beah's book was being published: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/warcrimes/liberia-child-soldiers.html.

Despite it's Lexile score of 920L, I would recommend a book of this nature for high school age students, with an emphasis on the lasting impressions left on children based upon seeing violence at a young age.  I think it would be really interesting to use a book like this in an urban setting such as Baltimore/Washington, DC, where gang violence, youth violence, gun violence, etc. are far to prevalent on news, television, etc.  I think it would spark interesting and relevant conversation for the population that we are serving.

Here are other selections concerning the conscription of child soldiers:

http://www.amazon.com/Wish-Inform-Tomorrow-Killed-Families/dp/B002PJ4I2K/ref=pd_sim_b_2#_



Also by Ishmael Beah: http://www.amazon.com/They-Fight-Like-Soldiers-Children/dp/0802779565/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1299633219&sr=8-2

D



The Hunger Games: The Ultimate in Reality TV

 

http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Suzanne-Collins/dp/0439023521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302648066&sr=1-1

Collins, S. (2010). The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press.

I considered skipping work to stay home and finish this book!!  I read two hundred pages in my first sitting and the second night, after finishing the book at 9:15pm, I seriously considered driving over to the 24-hour Wal-Mart to buy book #2.  That’s how much I enjoyed Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.

Our protagonist, Katniss is a responsible, admirable heroin.  At age 12, she takes over as her family's primary care-taker after the sudden death of her father and her mother's subsequent depression and mental breakdown.  Katniss slowly nurses her mother back to a more stable state but her relationship with her has been irrevocably damaged.  Katniss' ultimate goal is to love and protect Prim, her innocent younger sister from the harsh reality of Panem.  The heart-felt, authentic relationships and the mental images Collins' paints for the reader contribute to the level of audience engagement in story.  The external conflicts she experiences – with Panem, the government, society, authority, The Hunger Games, etc. and her internal conflict – feelings about her mother, herself, her overall emotions, and the boys that are coming into her life, are just some of the compelling story lines that got me so engrossed in this book.

In connecting The Hunger Games to other pieces the students are most assuredly familiar with, the website www.myhungergames.com offers some interesting parallels between our protagonist and Twilight’s Bella and her angst-filled internal conflict about Edward and Jacob.  Katniss experiences a similar conflict with Gale and Peeta.

I find the target audience, ages 12 and up (810L, courtesy of http://www.lexile.com/) to be reasonable as Collins' writing isn't overly verbose and although the overarching concept of The Hunger Games may be difficult to connect to, I think that most readers would understand that the book is very purposefully based in fantasy.  I really enjoy the imagery and purposeful description the author uses to help the reader visualize some of the details, such as the flaming costumes, the cornucopia that contains all the competitor's supplies, and especially the feelings, reactions, and emotions Katniss is experiencing throughout the games.

James’ Dashner’s Maze Runner trilogy appears to offer a comparable concept to a similar target audience (http://www.jamesdashner.com/).  What’s interesting about this series, and potentially useful to me in my classroom is that at least the first book of the series, Maze Runner, is rated as a HL770L, which according to Lexile.com indicates a “High-Low” book, which is designed specifically to match older reluctant or struggling readers (grade 7 and above) with age-appropriate topics and issues but are written at a more elementary reading  levels.

Cassandra Clare’s series The Mortal Instruments (http://www.mortalinstruments.com/books.php) contains titles such as “City of Bones,” “City of Ashes,” “City of Glass,” which remind me of the various products and economies of the twelve districts of Panem.  According to Lexile.com, they’re suited for a slightly older audience – ages 14-17, but with a lower lexile, between 720L and 760L depending on the book.  To me, this would suggest a difference between the actual readability of the text and the content of the story (more adult material perhaps).

Unfortunately, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, books 2 and 3 respectively in the Hunger Games series, are not yet available in paperback and I’m currently 46^th in the waiting queue at my local library system, so I think you might be fairly likely to find me hunkered down at Barnes & Noble with a couple large lattes for four to six hours in the very near future. Good Call Dr. Bull!