Annotated Bibliography of Choice Books

Alexie, Sherman. (2007). Flight. New York: Black Cat. 978-0-8021-7037-8

      This book is a science fiction novel that deals with time travel. The main character is a Native American teenager who struggles (in current day) mostly because of his parents’ death. Ever since his parents died, he has been in a countless amount of foster homes. One day, he finally decides to run away. When he does this, he finds himself suddenly waking up in the body of someone else. He does this four times and each time it is someone new and someone who has direct relation with Native American history. Meaning, he finds himself in the body of a white abusive FBI agent, someone on a battlefield, etc. This book speaks well to identity struggle among adolescents and it provides insight into the Native American struggle currently and throughout history.

Bartoletti, Susan C. (2010). The Called Themselves the K.K.K. New York: Houghton Mifflin. 978-0-618-44033-7.

This book is a non-fiction book about the most famous American terrorist group: the Ku Klux Klan. The book provides the history of the civil war and how its remnants created the development of this group. Additionally, it heavily discusses the politics of the time and the repercussions of what it meant to be on the side of the K.K.K and what it meant to not be on their side or what it meant to be a Democrat and what it meant to be a Republican. The book went into great deal about the gruesome acts of the group such as rape, lynching and downright terrorizing anybody or anything that got in the way of their ideals. The book follows the history of the group from the time it started to present day.

Hesse, Karen. (1997). Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic Inc. 0-590-37125-8.

     This novel is written entirely in verse, therefore falling under the genre of Poetry. The main character in this novel is Billie Jo, a young girl who lives in Oklahoma, trying to survive the Dust Bowl with her family. The theme of this novel is that love prevails in any circumstance. Billie Jo and her father never really got along but they somehow have to in order to survive the death of her mother and her baby brother. This novel successfully combined free verse and rhyme, telling a story of 80 years ago, by using strong imagery.

Lynch, Christopher. (2005). Inexcusable. New York: Ginee Seo Books. 978-0-689-84789-9.

    This novel is in the genre of Contemporary Realistic Fiction. The main character’s name is Keir, he is male and is a senior in high school. The theme of Inexcusable is that one’s mind can be deceiving and can manipulate one to believe things that are not true, so one should be aware of this manipulation and its consequences. The strongest element of this novel was its ability to effectively use a flashback narrative and circular plot type.

A Response to "The Arrival"

This graphic novel was much more difficult to read and understand because it was wordless. Reading this book reminded me a lot of going to an art museum. I have never been one to be able to accurately interpret paintings; I have never been able to deconstruct a painting to see all that it has to offer. Similarly, I was unsure how accurately I understood the images in this novel; therefore, I am unsure how well I understood the narrative. 

From what I was able to understand, the novel portrays an immigrant coming to a new country, perhaps America. I like how scary the novel portrays the land. It leaves one's imagination to wonder if it is actually a fantastical land or if the immigrant man just views the land this way because it is so incredibly foreign to him. 

I appreciated the "friend" he made who was a little white creature, it seemed to be his saving grace. However, I had a hard time figuring out what he was a metaphor for, or if he even was a metaphor. 

Overall, the visuals in this novel were overwhelmingly powerful. I liked that there was this unknown force throughout the novel and it's hard for the audience to decipher what that was. I can assume it is the government or officials constantly trying to keep tabs on the protagonist to make sure he is abiding by the law. 

             I think this novel would be very suitable for adolescents. It allows them to interpret without the limitations of text. I can envision many activities that could stem from this novel, including having students create dialogue for the novel. Additionally, I think this novel appeals greatly to visually learners. 

A Response to "American Born Chinese"

Reading this text was my first true encounter with graphic novels. I have read a few comic strips here and there, and I have read excerpts from graphic novels but that was it. My first encounter with this genre was a very positive one. One of the challenges of reading this novel was I had to return to my childhood roots. I am not used to reading words with constant pictures and then having to associate and combine these two things. However, once I got used to it, I truly enjoyed the novel. 

I appreciated the theme that I have encountered with most of the books I have read for this class: identity. Once again I like that this adolescent encounters being "different" yet being the similar. In other words, Jin, just like the rest of his classmates deals with his feelings for girls, not getting along with his parents, and trying to fit in. I appreciated that as a young adult graphic novel, there is something to be said about identity; however, I thought it was sad that there weren't any characters besides Wei-Chen that tried to connect with Jin's struggles; there weren't characters that attempted to understand his history or culture. Instead, most of them just laughed in ignorance. As sad as this was to me, this may be the reality of minority young adults. However, I think it is the job of the young adult novel to challenge what is considered "normal." I do not think this graphic novel did this well. 

However, to give the book some merit, considering it is a graphic novel, I think the graphics deserve some mentioning. I loved the way the graphics exaggerated the stereotypes. This, in turn, flipped these stereotypes on their sides and made them more visible, making it possible for the audience to see just how ridiculous and inaccurate these assumptions and ways of seeing people are. For instance, when the audience is introduced to the cousin, "chin-kee," the audience witnesses a lot of stereotypes. 

His luggages, for example, are take-out boxes from an Asian cuisine restaurant. He has buckteeth and spits as he talks. I found that within the realm of the graphic novel, this stereotype had the opportunity to make an even more powerful impression on its young readers both positively and negatively. 

Similar to fantasy and science fiction novels, I think this text and graphic novels alike, have the ability to offer adolescents a way into the bigger issues of society which can be more engaging than other genres. Additionally, the novel did a good job within this genre of bringing three seemingly different stories together at the end. Similar to The Underneath, this story offers the idea that we are all a lot more connected than we give ourselves credit for. 

A Response to "The Giver"

With an extremely rich and complex text such as the giver, it's hard to choose where to begin. This novel has such an intense message to send its young readers, yet it does so in an approachable manner by starting off with the basics. For instance, informing the audience of the norms of the society of the novel, such as what ages get what and when they get it. Then, it displays how norms are challenged and broken. Simple, but brilliant. I related to this novel on many levels. Including the feeling that Jonas has of isolation when no one else can relate to him.  


After reading this novel again after many years, I noticed something I did not before: the political statement this book is making. A comment on corrupt government, this book relates to the science fiction novel, The Hunger Games. I noticed several similarities between this novel and THG actually. I noticed the amount of control and power both novels talked about. In THG, the government controls the amount of food you can eat and the lives of your children (interestingly, not that far off from our government). Although the audience sees this happening in The Giver as well, The Giver shows a government that is much more powerful mostly because of its subtleness with its power. The people (save the giver and Jonas) don't truly know what they are missing (color, for example, or the fact that "being released" is actually quite a horrible thing called death) because their government does not inform them of such things. One last similarity I noticed between the two novels was the community assemblies. Both assemblies determine the rest of these humans' lives at such a young age. There is also the communal aspect, which we don't experience in our lives as much. 


I found this book to be somewhat of a comment on communism. I do not know if this was Lois Lowry's intention, but there are aspects of the novel that suggest so. For instance, the attempt to mostly eradicate class through the eradication of difference. The government went so far as to erase feelings and relationships amongst its citizens, this way, (ideally) everyone is equal and no one has an advantage. There is an exception to this however, which challenges the question of whether or not Lowry was making a comment about communism and its faults, and that is the different titles in the town. Such as the laborers and birthmothers who are frowned down upon. 


Additionally, there could be a comment about the postmodern society we live in. For example, she flips society on its side, or rather makes situations extreme, in order to make a comment about our current society. There is also this idea of the citizens constantly being watched and talked at, with the speakers and the planes that fly overhead. In turn, this makes the citizens well aware that they need to act a certain way because they are constantly being watched. 


The most powerful, yet tragic, part of this entire novel is when Jonas discovers love (126-127). He realizes what it is and then asks his parents if they love him. His parents dismiss this question and tell him it is inappropriate to ask such things. It was in this moment that I saw Lowry making a comment on our destiny. Similar to The Eye, The Ear and The Arm, which is comprised largely of computers, robots, and inanimate objects, Lowry seems to be saying that we are destined to be emotionless beings if we try to block out any sort of emotions as a way of dealing with our problems. 

A Response to "The Ear, The Eye and The Arm"

It is clear that General Matsika is protective of his children because he is aware of what the outside world has to offer and the ways in which it can harm his children. It is clear that family means a great amount to him and he even realizes after they run away his mistakes, stating, "why, why didn't I let them grow up?" (51). He realizes that in his attempt to protect them, he only hurt them. The idea of, "love makes us do crazy things" is prevalent in the way the author portrays the Father in the book. This emphasis on family was something that helped me relate to this book immensely. 


Although this is a science fiction novel (and beyond the importance of family I couldn't relate to much) I noticed that I could relate to the nostalgic feeling felt by those who developed the country of "Resthaven." I appreciated the sentiment of wanting to hold on to a piece of history because of its certainty. Meaning, there is no wonder of how things will change in the society or how others will influence this society because this type of society has already lived that out and knows the answers. They know and dream of a "simpler time." They also know that the outside world has very little effect on them. Although somewhat a source of denial, I was able to connect to this desire to maintain a moment in time. 


One of the strongest characters in the novel was Rita. I truly enjoyed her strength as a young female. I appreciated that she had a strong female role model (her mom, having a good career and education) and the activities planned out for the children (such as martial arts) were not discriminatory towards her gender. I found that as the children went on the adventure they always wanted, they were able to truly see what the world was. The stories the Mellower had been sharing were that of fiction and only that. I thought the false pretenses through which the children entered the real world with ill-prepared them for the encounters they would make. I find this especially true with Rita, who was appalled at how she was treated because of her gender. In particular, Rita states: "It's alright for you...you're a boy . You get to lie around listening to stories. I have to scrub the floor, wash clothes...you may be in love with traditional life, but women and babies used to die in those wonderful old-fashioned villages" (126-128). I found that Rita was an extremely strong character. The irony of this story is that Rita, along with her brothers, is actually a really strong being and it is because of her upbringing that she were able to fight her way and survive. 

A Response to "The Underneath"

Next to The Book Thief, this was my favorite book so far. I connected to this book mostly because I am such a dog lover and a cat lover. This book reminded me a lot of The People Could Fly in that it read like folklore, mostly because of the talking and feeling animals. There were also clear morals in place. I therefore felt that adolescents would enjoy this book greatly because of its nature(pun intended). The moral that resonated with me the most was the paradoxical nature of humanity. Humans exist in a hostile world, yet, it is a world that is desirable. The snakes in the story wanted so badly to be apart of human nature, yet human nature is full of heartache, such as death. However, at the same time, the dog and cats experienced heartache, just as the humans did. I appreciated that it showed both the animals and the humans being cruel but what it really boiled down to was love. In the end (spoiler alert!) the snake sees love even though she is still miserable. This love causes her to not act on her bitterness and instead, to die, allowing others to live happily. This story seems extremely cheesy. A story about love, really? However, I would recommend this story for adolescents because of its storytelling abilities and the way it presents a story about love.


Although I found "love" to be the most prominent moral of this story, some other issues are here to study as well; issues such as class and race. The Underneath seems to be making a commentary on these issues and the ways the government deals with them (or doesn't).  


As I mentioned before, I am unfamiliar with the fantasy genre. I would not have placed The Underneath in this genre. Therefore, I was shocked when I started reading this book to find out that this was in the fantasy genre. Because of this book, I think I will explore this genre. To be honest, I assumed it to be filled with books that were only in the realm of The Lord of the Rings (not my cup of tea). 


Finally, another one of the merits of this book are the small chapters that bounce back and forth between the different situations or perspectives of the forest. Similar to the film, Crash (2004), the lives of these humans and creatures all find a way to merge in the end. I find this to be a very strong technique because it provides the message that we are all connected; we should help one another because we don't know when we'll need someone to return the favor. 

A Response to "Voices"

Voices had themes of resilience and resistance,these were themes I could appreciate and recognize. It was quite apparent that through this fantastical novel that Ursula K Le Guin was commenting on the oppressor and the oppressed. Similar to science fiction novels, such as The Hunger Games, there is a comment about corrupt government working within this novel. Fortunately, it becomes a tangible theme for students and adolescents because it is within the framework of the fantasy genre. In other words, put in a contemporary, realistic setting, some of these ideas or themes may not come across as easily to students. However, placed in an unknown or otherwise unimagined setting, students suddenly grasp the theme. 


I appreciated the idea that knowledge is power, which means knowledge is dangerous. The amount of control the Alds have just because they perceive something to be wrong is a frightening idea to explore with students. This was something that worked well with this novel and it is a theme I could potentially see myself using with adolescents. 


I was able to connect slightly to the female characters who were oppressed by the men in power in the novel. I could relate to Memer feeling the need to disguise her identity in fear that something unfavorable would happen should she choose not to. However, for the most part, this novel was extremely difficult to relate to my own life. 


Overall, I did not care for this book. As a newcomer to the fantasy genre (save Harry Potter) I was quite disappointed with my first encounter. I felt I did not understand a majority of the plot and I did not really find a point to it all. Yes, there are the themes I mentioned above. However, the plot was quite boring to me and it did not carry these themes well. After 341 pages, I was not really sure what I had just read. Although the names of the characters were interesting, I was unsure of how these characters truly related to one another. The character development was extremely weak in my opinion. Additionally, even after the government and the setting were explained, I was still confused about the motivations of the characters or why they were in the situations that they were in.