Fabulous Finds: The Hunger Games

Okay so technically this is not a Fabulous Find. It's actually a Fabulous Reread but still it's incredible enough to get a post on my blog. The Hunger Games is written by Suzanne Collins who also wrote an awesome series for children known as Gregor the Overlander. It's a good one too! (Tidbit of information: I recently found out that Suzanne Collins also wrote for the television show "Little Bear". What!? Crazy.)

Amazon.com gives the following description for Suzanne's fabulous book:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.

This is my book review for The Hunger Games:

The story details the life of a teenage girl named Katniss. She lives in a desolate community known simply as District 12. The day she fears every year has come, The Reaping which is a time when the people of each district come together to watch as one teenage girl and one teenage boy is chosen to fight to the death in an annual "festival" called The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a direct result of a war fought many years ago between the districts and the Capitol. When the districts lost the war, The Hunger Games was born as punishment for their rebellion. During this particular reaping, Katniss' worst fear is confirmed as her little sister is chosen as tribute. Bravely Katniss volunteers to take her place.
Katniss and Peeta (the boy tribute) are whisked away to the Captiol where they train before being placed in the arena where they will be expected to fight 22 other tributes from Districts 1-11. The storyline follows Katniss very closely and we get to see how suspicious she is of other people and how she comes to protect and love others.

The Hunger Games and another fabulous find of mine are very closely related, Divergent. Both of these books are very near and dear to my heart and I was thrilled to see The Hunger Games on the big screen. I'm equally excited to know that Divergent is also being made into a movie! As a classroom teacher, I can see Language Arts classes reading both books and comparing the two. Since they are both (soon-to-be) motion pictures, that could be another type of comparison as well. I highly recommend this series to almost everyone I come across. LOVE IT!!!!

Happy Reading!!
-CM (just purchased "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks" by E. Lockhart)

Fabulous Finds: The Giver

This week's Fabulous Find is The Giver. I've read The Giver before but it was a really long time ago. I think at least 15 years as I was in high school at the time. However, I had this on my bookshelf and decided to give it another go when I saw it on the book list given by my professor. The Giver is the first of a trilogy (soon to be quartet as the author has finished a fourth book recently!) by Lois Lowry.

This is the book description of The Giver found on Amazon.com:

Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

Short, sweet, and mysterious. Love it! This is the review given by me:

Jonas is not your typical soon-to-be 12 year old. He tries very hard to excel at everything he does. He chooses his vocabulary wisely, doesn't get into trouble, and wants very much to fit into his perfect community harmoniously. When he turns 12, he goes through a ceremony held by the entire community to assign Jonas to a specific job. He receives a job that is held to the highest honor and Jonas seems to be perfect to work closely with a man known as The Giver.
During his training, The Giver puts Jonas through a lot and introduces him to many wonders of a world Jonas knew nothing about. However, in addition to wonderful experiences, The Giver also introduces Jonas to turmoil and tragedy.
Jonas knows now that his world will never be the same. The way he sees his community, his friends, and even his family has forever changed.

I loved reading The Giver. Currently you can throw a stone and find at least 3 dystopian/utopian type novels at your reach but The Giver stands alone. In a way, The Giver paved the way for books such as Divergent, The Hunger Games, and Unwind.

Now my only complaint is the ending. There isn't really one. It leaves you hanging suddenly with a thousand questions on your mind. Now a friend mentioned that during high school, their assignment after reading this novel was to write their own continuation. If I was a high school teacher, that assignment would be perfect. Also, this book reminds me very strongly of a book called, Matched. That book also has a utopian society where everything is chosen for you. It would be interesting to have junior high or high school classes read both and do a comparison.

Until next week...Happy Reading!!
-CM (reading "The Hunger Games" by S. Collins....for the millionth time)

Fabulous Finds: Al Capone Does My Shirts

About three years ago, my university professor mentioned this book during class. She said it was a great book and that she enjoyed it very much. I remember jotting the title down and not thinking much more about it. Later, I remember coming across the cover page on Amazon.com and thinking, "Really? That doesn't really seem like something I would like." So I dismissed the book entirely based solely on the title and the cover page. See below:

At the time, I didn't like stories about gangsters. I wasn't into the historical fiction genre. I didn't care what was going on in Alcatraz. Last year, I came across this very same book at a garage sale for $.50 and figured it was at least worth that.
With all that being said, I have the priviledge of having that same professor this summer in my Masters course. In the list of YA books for us to choose from to read and review was the above title. I picked through my personal library and found it. You know what I found? It's captivating and really interesting.

This is the book description from Amazon.com:

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Today I moved to a twelve-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turd and surrounded by water. I'm not the only kid who lives here. There's my sister, Natalie, except she doesn't count. And there are twenty-three other kids who live on the island because their dads work as guards or cook's or doctors or electricians for the prison, like my dad does. Plus, there are a ton of murderers, rapists, hit men, con men, stickup men, embezzlers, connivers, burglars, kidnappers and maybe even an innocent man or two, though I doubt it. The convicts we have are the kind other prisons don't want. I never knew prisons could be picky, but I guess they can. You get to Alcatraz by being the worst of the worst. Unless you're me. I came here because my mother said I had to.

 

The following is my review:

 

This book was truly fabulous! It's not at all what I was expecting. It is a historical fiction tale set in the 1930s about a 7th grade boy named Moose who lives on Alcatraz Island with his family. He's not thrilled about the move but knows deep down that it is the best chance his older sister, Natalie (who has undiagnosed autism) has at attending a school designed to help her. Over time, Moose meets other kids on the island, gets into a little bit of trouble without intending to, and develops a closer relationship with his sister. Now while this book covers an adolescent coming of age, historical events, and details about a disability unknown at that time, the relationship between Moose and Natalie is what really carries the story in my opinion.

 

I highly recommend this book to anyone around 5th grade and older. My third graders may find it a little hard to get into. In addition, a possible lesson could include a Alcatraz project to go with the book.

Happy Reading!
-CM (reading "The Giver" by L. Lowry)

Fabulous Finds: Unwind

I have just finished an amazing book thanks to my professor for my Adolescent Literature class. She gave us a list of books to read and discuss and this book, Unwind is one of them. I ordered it on my Kindle because let's face it, technology rules our lives lately. Unwind is the first of a dystopian trilogy written by Neal Shusterman (click on his name to go directly to his website). I honestly hadn't heard of this book and being such a huge dystopian fan, I was surprised. Anyways, forward onto the book review for Unwind.

Here is the description given by Amazon.com

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them
Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.

This gives a pretty decent description of the book. Below is a review given by yours truly:

Unwind is a fantastic thrill ride that is guaranteed to get you thinking about your own beliefs. It's a story of three totally different teens thrown together by one common goal, to live when the law is telling them otherwise. This setting takes place after a war between those believing in Pro-Life and those believing in Pro-Choice. The ending of this war results in what is called Unwinding, where teens between the ages of 13 and 18 can be written off by their parents or guardians and "unwound". It is a common idea that these teens don't die, but are living in a divided state as 100% of their bodies are harvested and used as transplants. It's truly a horrifying thought.

This book really made me think about how I viewed this current debate. While I do have my own beliefs and lean strongly toward one side rather than the other, the idea of unwinding another human being is revolting. This subject helps connect us to a very real debate in our world. It's nearly impossible not to question your ideas or the ideas of those that oppose you after reading such an interesting novel.

This dystopian reminds me greatly of another series that I was thoroughly hooked on called "The Uglies". (I'll need to place a review for that book on here soon. It was fabulous!!) That series dove deeply into current issues as well but rather than address the Pro-Life/Choice issue, it involved the issue of cosmetic surgery and self-confidence issues. The writing style and how the author addresses these hot topics are very similar. I do think I need to mention that the story's POV jumps through several characters and that can be a little confusing if you aren't paying attention.

As a teacher of third grade, this is not a book I would have in my classroom library. However, I will be recommending it to fellow educators teaching late junior high or high school. It would be great as a class set to read aloud and discuss this sensitive issue. Perhaps even bring about a class debate.

Anyways, I need to thank my professor, Dr. White for introducing this wonderful book to my personal library!

Happy Reading!!!
-CM (browsing the cover of "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by G. Choldenko)