The Reading Nook

First Literary Lab Post: 8th grade!

Mack Muldofsky — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:16:11 +0000

Today we had another official meeting of Literary Lab…Mrs. Feldman brought cookies so it was well worth it.

Deven started out by discussing the book “The Thirteenth Child.” The book is about the girl who’s the thirteenth child of her family (what a surprise). The girl’s family supposedly has to move to avoid “magical beasts” like mammoths and steam dragons…the girl feels like everything is her fault b/c she’s the 13th. Her proffesor, Jeffrey, tells her she’s the seventh daughter so she’s actually pretty lucky. The book’s about how you choose your own fate. it’s pretty boring. Wait, no, apparently these things called grubs get under the magic barrier and eat all their crops…and the family moves to a settlements of Rationalists who hate magic…who have something to do with the grubs…I’m not doing a very good job of paying attention…Deven says the book is like “Twilight.” One-tenth of it is actually action and nine tenths of it is plot. Not recommended.

James shared a creepy, creepy book named “Legend of the Seeker” which is part of a series. Interesting how the title reveals absolutely nothing…Mrs Feldman says that it is “very inappropriate.” James tells us how he practically stole it from the library. Apparently Ben Ginsberg’s brother forbade this book. Mrs Feldman: If you get past all the perverted sexual stuff, it’s actually pretty good. Mrs Feldman tells us how Dan Brown is a really bad writer, he’s just good at plot. Apparently being a novelist is really easy if you are an idiot. I probably shouldn’t write this down. Excerpt (paraphrased) from “Stone of Tears” (2nd of the Legend of the Seeker series by Goodkind.)
He howled with laughter.

He laughed with a howl.

His howl sounded like a mocking laugh. This is all in 1 page of the book, I kid you not.

We discuss watching Legend of the Seeker on Hulu. Ben: I’ll quit the club if we watch that. They’re good books but you might not like the style. Leighton: I haven’t read this book. Grant: Me neither. Mack: Me neither. We are all really confused.

Mrs Feldman (continued:) The writing is like, He was angry and stepped angrily into the room!!! THE BOOK IS TERRIBLE! *calm* Now I’d like to discuss the book Shiver.

Ben: It’s a very good book. It took my 3 days to read it and usually it only takes 2 hours. Some parts were boring..it was like, “I love you. x100″ There was too much loving. It’s about a girl tProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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t gets mauled by werewolves and a werewolf saves her and they become lovers. Everyone else: ….what the ….? Mrs. Feldman: Grant, stop stealing Mack’s stuff while he’s writing things down…I shouldn’t have wrProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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e that….

Mack: I’d like to review a thing I wrote…

Everyone: zzzz…..

Mack: I wrote this thing, it’s like horror short story…you all should read it…I’ll email it you. NO ONE CARES..

Mrs. Feldman: I’m reading this book called Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. It’s about hybrid animal machines which don’t pollute the earth. There’s this gigantic Leviathan which is an airship. It was made from the life-threads of a whale and millions of smaller creatures. (There’s this totally awesome picture of a pimped-out whale/machine/hybrid thing.) The plot is that the Archduke of Austria and his wife were assassinated and the prince of Austria is being escorted away from the enemies. There’s another story with a girl disguised as a boy so she can be an airship pilot. It’s a lot of fun to read and there’s a lot of technical details. It’s cool…Boys and girls would like it.

Now…I read you a ghost story…..

Mrs feldman read us a ghost story. Which was really spooky. It’s from “A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts” which is food-themed and makes your bones rattle. (Not my words)

Friction by E.R. Frank

Zach Gold — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:42:10 +0000

For my Young Adult literature assignment, I read the book Friction by E.R. Frank. There are many of factors in this book that make it qualify to be “Young Adult”. The main character, Alex, is a teenage girl. She tells the story from her point of view and the problems she faces relate to some things that a teenager might face. Alex is sensitive enough to realize what is going on in the story, and she is also mature as well. The book is short, being 193 pages long. Alex realizes the main problem in the book, dealing with sexuality, and takes it into her own hands. She is in a situation where she believes that her teacher, Simon, is not dealing with her nicely (in a sexual manner), and she has to deal with a new student who constantly lies, although she does not know it at the time and she is currently uncomfortable around her. Teenage colloquialisms are sparsely used during the book, and the author did not use a wide range of slang throughout the book. Frank limited his use exclusively to two or three different words. Because of the situation Alex faces in the book, I felt more uncomfortable than I did happy during the time I read it. By the time the book ends, Alex has matured during the book by realizing what had happened to her the year before, and because of it she decides to transfer to a new school in the area. Alex matures in Friction and she faces many different young adult situations in the book.

I thought this book was very well written and I liked it a lot. I thought the book related to many situations that could be difficult for young adults. Alex was able to face and eventually solve these problems in a good way, and the epilogue includes her writing a very long apology/thank you/”I really learned something from the situation we faced” that officially shows her maturity. Out of five stars, I would give this book four stars. It wasn’t the greatest book that I have ever read, but it was a quick and easy read and it truly introduced me to Young Adult fiction. I would recommend this book to all young adults, especially those that face a sexual problem in life and they need to find a solution.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Darius Safani — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:22:31 +0000

Recently I read the book Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This book definitely has many of the qualities that qualify it as a young adult book. The main character, for starters, is a teenager. The book deals with many adult themes that are too mature for younger readers. The book is told by the main teenagers point of view, but in an interesting graphic novel style that keeps the reader into the story. The main teenager is also very smart and mature. It was also a short book, only a couple hundred pages of the graphic novel style. There are MANY social and political issues in the book, something that would not be in a book aimed at younger audiences. The book also deals with death and political injustice. This is why Persepolis definitely qualifies as a book for young adults, and not quite a book for children, or adults. The themes and views are sophisticated for children but the graphic novel and child-like style is too silly for adults. That is why this book is a young adult book.
Let me just start by saying, I liked this book A LOT. I very much liked the way the book was presented, the characters were very likable, it was able to make the reader sad one moment and laughing the next, it was a great read. One of the main thing I liked, was how just like in The Boy With the Striped Pajamas, the book took a very adult issue into it and told it from the view of a child. I felt that this made it so the graphic novel style really fit. The plot was very good too, and it offered a lot of twists and turns that left me surprised. The language (like the book) felt like it really WAS written by someone that age. The writing was great, but the dialog of the main character was definitely that of a child. It was a great read, and I hope to find more books like it!

Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier

Anjali Raghunathan — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:42:19 +0000

Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier is about an Indian girl named Dimple who lives in New Jersey and goes through multiple problems. I believe this book is a YA book because Dimple goes through common problems that most teenagers do such as not being as close with her best friend anymore. She also goes through uncommon problems like how her parents are trying to set her up with someone. While it is not written in a diary form, it is in first person and from Dimple’s point of view. Dimple also feels inferior to her best friend, to which many kids can relate. She also has relationship problems. Break ups, blind dates and matchmaking are all parts of the romance aspect of the book. Many teenagers go through breakups and do not get over it easily, like Dimple. Dimple also struggles with her family’s beliefs and traditions. Dimple’s complicated problems are difficult to solve, but cannot tell her parents because they would not understand or would interfere. Dimple learns a lot by the end of the book and not only is her life different, but she has changed herself. This book has romance, friendship and maturing in it.
I liked this book for many reasons. One reason is because characters are relatable in it. Since Dimple is described as having many flaws and since the book is from her perspective you can connect with her. The characters also have different and interesting personalities. Also, some of the things Dimple thinks can be humorous, which also adds appeal to the book. One con, though, is that a lot of Indian language is included and often not described. While this is not a problem for me, others who read it may be a bit lost. While the author describes some of the important words she uses, she does not describe others. The plot is interesting, and starts off as one thing and turns into another. Overall, this was a good book and I would recommend it to others.

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

David Waltcher — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 21:11:06 +0000

12/18/08

Boy Meets Boy, a novel by David Levithan, is a book that deals with relationships and life as a teenager. The narrator is Paul, a sophomore at a high school where being gay is normal, and being heterosexual is equally normal. In the beginning, the book introduces you to Paul and his friends, and almost immediately after flipping the first page, the reader is sucked in to a situation in which Paul finds another boy cute, which is a classic example of a situation you would have in a YA book. The narration contains a plethora of relatable “teenager terms” or as you might say, slang terms. One of the main reasons Boy Meets Boy falls so easily into the YA category is because it is most relatable to teenagers and tweens. The novel keeps you turning its pages, each new scene acting as a new juicy piece of gossip, something a young adult always loves. But Boy Meets Boy also handles serious YA concepts. Like many other YA books, Boy Meets Boy’s protagonist deals with the concept of coming out of his comfort zone. Paul overcame his fear of getting rejected by the boy he liked, and went on to pursue the boy despite his fear. Paul also needs to come out of his comfort zone when telling his ex-boyfriend Kyle that he doesn’t like him anymore. By stepping away from his comfort zone, Paul matures throughout Boy Meets Boy.

I loved this book for various reasons. Because of Paul’s situation and personality, this book is very humorous. I learned so much from this book, but the biggest idea and concept I learned from it was acceptance. This high school defied the mainstream way of life, which was heterosexuality, and was unique. Every person at that school accepted people for what they were, and I think everyone could use a little more acceptance and a little less judgments. Overall, I would recommend this book to any young adult because it deals with everyday concepts, it is humorous, and it has good morals.

~David Waltcher
Class of ‘14

P.S. to Ms. Feldman: I didn’t know how to underline the title of the book on this site, so I didn’t.