Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

I reread this book for the umpteenth time because 1) last week was Banned Books Week and it's one of the most challenged young adult books of the past decade; and 2) I thought it was on "The List."  It wasn't.  But that doesn't matter, because this book is amazing. 

Spoiler (sorry): This follows ninth grader Melinda and how she deals with the aftermath of being raped at a party.  We find out what happened at the party about halfway through the novel, up until then we just know that she underwent something tragic, tragic enough for almost the entire freshman class to hate her and for her to choose selective mutism as a way to repress her pain.  Art class becomes the one place where she unknowingly learns how to express herself and gain the strength to speak the truth about what happened.  It's an incredibly powerful book because it gives a voice to those who suffer silently.  It's also twistedly funny.

I read this book for the first time in 2000 and every time I've reread the book since then, I've folded down a page corner of a quote I liked.  Almost every page has a crease now. I love this one because of my anti-cheerleader attitude (Sorry Mom!).  After the school votes on a new mascot: 

"Cheerleader on the way to my bus. They wrinkle their brows as they struggle to rhyme 'wombat.'  Democracy is a wonderful institution."

This next one kills me, not in an Uncle Joey "cut it out" way, but in a 'that's so depressing' way.  Melinda skips school and hides out in hospital waiting rooms:

 "I put the gown back.  There is nothing wrong with me.  These are really sick people, sick that you can see."

Melinda learns by the novel's conclusion that the invisibility of her illness doesn't detract from its reality.  What kills me is that there are so many people out there who don't realize this. 

Melinda's art teacher, Mr. Freeman, understands that emotion is the core, or should be the core, to everything:

"When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time.  You'd be shocked at how many adults are really dead inside-walking through their days with no idea who they are, just waiting for a heart attack or cancer or a Mack truck to come along and finish the job.  It's the saddest thing I know."

I love this partly because this quote reminds me of "Over the Moon" from Rent, but mostly because it's true.  Not just that adults lose sight of what matters, but that they just become so accepting of it.  For me, this ties into how victims start to accept what happened to them, but in the wrong way.  Acceptance is healthy, but when victims put the blame on themselves, they're only hurting more.  That's how I feel, at least.

I don't think anything I say could possibly do justice to how much this book has helped readers, and not just those who have been raped, but any of those who need help finding their voice.  The book doesn't shield readers from the horrors of the world.  I've never understood how people could be so against a book that teaches people to speak up for themselves, to say no, and to be true to themselves.  These problems don't go away just because you don't read about them.  Speak is an amazing piece of realistic fiction.  Read it. 

Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving

I tend to hate girly things.  Well, maybe hate is a strong word, but when given the option I tend to favor the non-girly choice.  On Thanksgiving, I do everything in my power to stay out of the kitchen and be near the designated football watching area.  And yet, I love to bake. I also love sparkly things and boybands so maybe I do like girly things.  I don't know.  Either way, romantic sappy chick lit is not my cup of tea. 

I picked up The Friday Night Knitting Club because I have a problem leaving a used bookstore without buying something (alright, I am a girl) and because my reference professor told us it was a smart move to acclimate ourselves to other genres.  I assumed I would have to struggle through it and that it would be all sappy and tear-inducing forced drama tied together with a weak attempt of using the knitting club as a mechanism for knitting the women's lives together.  I was right.

But I loved it and I have no idea why.  The whole time I was reading the book I was thinking YAY KNITTING!  It's like how watching "American Ninja Warrior" makes me want to be all athletic.  The book tries to overly force the idea of knitting being a pro-feminism hobby and throws in just about every cliched horrible thing that can happen to women in there, but it works somehow. 

Day 08 – Most overrated book

I know I'm part of the minority here, it being an international bestseller and all, but I think The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is just godawful.  In my reference class, we were told that reading recent and popular books across all genres will help us when we're put on the spot to help someone.  Naturally I figured it was a good idea to try this book out before America attempted its own film version.  I read it just in time.

Now I knew going in that the author had passed away before finishing what was supposed to be a ten part series and that the books lacked any significant editing, but uggghfhguhguhgug.  The first 200 pages felt like I was suffering through a business class without the reward of a high paying job after graduation.  The rest of the book felt like I was reading an episode of Law and Order SVU.  The marathons on USA already scare me enough that I want to develop agoraphobia and never go outside where the crazies are waiting, I don't need to read about them too.  

I can semi-see the appeal of these books, though I only read the first, and yeah, there's got to be some stuff lost in translation, but yeeeeeesh, when I think about this book I can just hear the call of BC Superfans chanting "Ov-er-ra-ted" to a team that will proceed to kick their butts. 

Day 07 – Most underrated book

Alright, ask any Harry Potter fan what their least favorite of the seven is and most likely s/he’ll respond with The Chamber of Secrets.  It’s my least favorite too, but I don’t...hate it.  When I read it I don’t feel any sort of negativity towards the book, but when I think about HP as a whole, this book just doesn't stand out.  

It’s crazy though because it's actually a fairly important book in the HP world.  It might not be the stand out book of the Harry Potters, but it doesn't deserve the hatred that it seems to get from most readers.  It doesn't make "The List," which is fairly rude because  even Twilight made it.   

The Chamber of Secrets really shouldn’t get the shaft (p.s. whole bunch of spoilers coming ahead, I guess).  The first horcrux is destroyed here, guys.  That's kind of a big deal.  Not only does 1/7 of Voldy’s soul go to pieces, but Harry’s destroying Riddle’s diary with the basilisk fang clues in the trio on how they can destroy the remaining six (or at least five of the remaining six).  

Peeves breaks the Vanishing Cabinet that ends up being an intricate plot point in The Half-Blood Prince, bringing the Death Eaters into Hogwarts from Borgin & Burke.   

The Chamber of Secrets also serves as an introduction to the dark world that exists within HP.  The first book really only contains a small introduction to Voldemort and the knowledge that he had/has followers, but in The Chamber of Secrets, Harry's accidental landing in Knockturn Alley really cements the fact that this dark world still exists.  Plus, while he's there he sees the Hand of Glory Malfoy uses while carrying out his plans and the necklace that almost kills Katie Bell in The Half-Blood Prince.  Aaaah foreshadowing.  

So yeah, this book serves to set up a lot that happens towards the end of the HP series.  And yet, it gets no love.   Maybe because it's followed by the book most fans consider their favorite (yay Sirius), I don't know, but it's an important book and shouldn't be discussed with such disdain. 

Day 06 – A book that makes you sad

Art Spiegelman's Maus was my first encounter with a graphic novel.  I had to read it for a Narrative Interpretation class and I remember thinking it would be a breeze to get through because c'mon, it was just a bunch of pictures.  It ended up taking me hours just to read the first half, and made me bawl like a baby.  I'm pretty sure Deathly Hallows is the only book I've read that made me cry more.  (That one was fun - my parents sent my brother and sister in to check on me to make sure I wasn't suicidal over the end of the Harry Potter books). 

Maus is Spiegelman's father's account of the Holocaust.  I probably don't need to go into detail as to why this book is so sad, unless you're one of those people who believe that the Holocaust never happened and if that's the case then please just go away.  You shouldn't be reading this anyway, my love for Harry Potter and banned books and gay rights could burn your eyes right out.  But anyway, there are instances where it really hits the reader how real and horrible these events were.  The characters in the novel are depicted as animals throughout, but there are two moments where Spiegelman inserts actual pictures of his father into the story.  The photos take you completely by surprise, jolting you out of the story and into the realization that this is the real person who experienced what you're reading.  It's crazy powerful.  I've read Maus twice so far for various classes and once on my own and each time I was shocked by these pictures, even when I knew they were coming. 

Read this book if you don't mind being sad, enjoy symbolism (graphic novels are a symbolism goldmine), love Yiddish phrases, liked The Book Thief, like graphic novels, want to get into graphic novels, have nothing to do on a rainy Saturday such as this one, want to be cultured, or because I say it's an amazing novel.   

Day 05 – A book that makes you happy

There are tons of books that make me happy.  Just seeing books generally makes me happy.  I tried to pick one I had never written about so as not to look like a copout, but a) this was the one I kept coming back to; and b) I have too much homework to do to write an extensive blog of praise to another book.  So, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus it is!  I mean, come on.  Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Day 04 - Your favorite coffee table book

Tracy Jordon of 30 Rock says it best: "A book hasn't caused this much trouble since Where's Waldo went to that barber pole factory." 

Some people try to impress houseguests with books that display their vast knowledge of art, history, or what have you.  Not me.  I put mine to the test.  They have to find Waldo. 

Day 03 – Your favorite series

The Baby-Sitters Club.  BAM, didn't even have to think on this one.  Now when I say the BSC is my favorite series, I'm including all of the series that branch off of this: Baby-Sitters Club Super Specials, Baby-sitters Little Sister, Babysitters Club Mysteries, California Diaries.   I love sooooo many different series, but this is by far my favorite (I don't really think of HP as a series...more of an entity.  Yeah). Really, I love them.  Here's why:

1) The baby block lettering used for the series titles.  There's really no explanation that I can give on why that makes it my favorite series.  Just accept it, I have. 

2) The babysitters (and their little sisters and their California counterparts) all have their own distinct personalities so that readers can identify with at least one.  Kind of like how those "American Girl" dolls worked when they realized that oh yeah, not everyone is white in America.  But every time I read one of the books, I would identify with a different girl: I'm like Claudia because I like to eat chocolate! I'm like Jessie because I dance! I'm like Mary Ann because I like to read! I'm like Kristy because I'm bossy! I could go on.  I never felt like Stacey though because I wasn't fashionable and didn't have diabetes.  Oh well. 

3) The book where they visit Stacey in NY taught me how filet mignon is not pronounced fill-it-mig-none.  All eight year olds need to learn this at some point.

SECRET PASSAGE!!

4) The Dawn focused books inspired me to search my house for secret passages.  I didn't find one, but every now and then I knock on walls to see if they're hollow.  If I do this near you, know that it's a lingering effect of my childhood reading habits and not a behavioral disorder. 

5) It's super easy to just grab one, open up to chapter 5 or so, and jump into the story.  As a result, I reread them so often that I caught all of the typos of Byron and Bryon and never really knew what that kid's name was supposed to be.    

6) I used to have two whole shelves devoted to these books.  I had (have?) slight OCD and needed to own them all in order, so I would try to fill in the gaps of my collection using my hard earned report card money during school book fairs.  My parents used to try to get me to buy books I hadn't read yet because they knew I trucked at least 10 of these bad boys home with me from the library on a weekly basis, but I just loved owning them. 

I have a confession that may cause at least 2 of my friends to experience severe pain in their heart region and for that, I apologize.  I've never seen the movie, but I did read the novelization of the movie.  Does that still count? No?

Banned Books Week

It's Banned Books Week!  There's far too much to say on this topic that can be fit into one blog post.  Basically, celebrate your freedom to read and please don't hinder someone else's freedom just because your beliefs clash.  Make decisions on what's appropriate for you, not others.

Click on the picture of the nifty robot (who is unplugged...get it?) to read more information on banned books from the ALA.  Some of the challenges over the past years are fascinating.  Disturbing, but fascinating.

Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times

Ok, a book I've read more than three times, that would be almost half of the books I've ever read.  How does one narrow that down?  I won't go the obvious route and use one of the Harry Potters. So Gallows Hill, by Lois Duncan it is.

I used to be obsessed with the Salem Witch Trials.  There was a time in the 4th grade where a group of girls in my class pretended we were actually witches.  Yeah...it led to some weird play that we  performed for other classrooms.  It was kind of awkward.  Moving on. 

This book is more effective if you actually have some knowledge about the specifics of what went on during the Salem Witch Trials.  Being from MA, I feel like I was privy to more of this information, but that might not have been the school system and could very easily have been the fact that I checked out and renewed nonfiction books enough to keep them to myself for a year.

I haven't read this in some time because my sister stole borrowed it from my oversized collection of young adult books.  Basically, a family moves to what is a fairly conservative town - it doesn't accept change all that well.  Sarah, the new girl in town, assumes the role of the fortune-teller at her school's Halloween fair and ends up seeing true visions.  Students start to turn on her and the events that transpire begin to mirror those of the Salem Witch Trials.  By the end, when the high schoolers attempt to hang her, it's clear that everyone in the Town is the reincarnation of either a famous victim or prosecutor/accuser from the Trials.  I vaguely recall that there's a fairly heavy male student whose fat is a stand-in for the heavy boulders that crushed Giles Corey to death in 1692 (yeah, I know my stuff). 

Wikipedia tells me that I've Been Waiting for You, a TV movie based on this novel, was released in 1998 and starred Punky Brewster and Stella from HIMYM.  I think I'm going to need to find and watch this now.