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For the month of October we read the book The Pact by Jodi Picoult. During November our book club members decided that we should read a book of our own personal choice! Our next book club meeting will be on November 11th!
Liar by Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury, $16.99, 9781599903057/1599903059, 388 pp., ages 14-up, October 2009)
High school senior Micah Wilkins is a liar. She begins her first-person narrative, “I was born with a light covering of fur.” As her story unfolds, she makes a case for why she has lied: No one would believe the truth. By page six, Micah reveals that her secret “after hours” boyfriend, Zach Rubin, is dead. She divides her story into alternating sections “before” and “after” the murder and splices in some “school history,” “family history” and “a history of me.” But she starts with a “promise”: “I will tell you my story and I will tell it straight. No lies, no omissions.” In each slightly adjusted version of the events, what remains consistent is Micah’s feeling that she is “stuck somewhere in between . . . half black, half white; half girl, half boy; coasting by on half a scholarship. I’m half of everything.” She speaks the truth when it comes to emotions (”The place is thick with grief and dust. And emptiness,” she observes from outside Zach’s window), and she’s keenly aware of the smells and sounds of her surroundings. Micah felt most alive and content during her clandestine late-night runs and rendezvous with Zach.
Can an unreliable narrator be trustworthy? And isn’t hypocrisy lying? As Micah says, “Chantal’s a hypocrite and every bit as big a liar as I am.” Using this clever premise of the fine line between truth and falsehood, Larbalestier mines the larger questions teens confront. How much do I reveal to my parents? How much do I omit in order to protect myself–and them? At what point do I begin to take responsibility for myself? The author also explores how alien one’s body becomes with puberty, and the wild hormonal impulses that take over–including rage and lust. These themes all tie together in a larger revelation halfway into the book. Considered a “freak” by her classmates and a suspect in Zach’s murder, Micah could easily give up. Instead she fights for what she wants for herself and for her own view of justice. This suspenseful and page-turning novel suggests that much of life’s experiences exists in the gray area, “somewhere in between” the masculine and feminine, human and animal instincts. There is no black or white.–Jennifer M. Brown
http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ar/theshelf/2009-10-14/childrens_review_liar_by_justine_larbalestier.html
I (Mrs. Nored) went to the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville yesterday and today. This is a yearly festival in Nashville sponsored by Humanities Tennessee. I got to meet the following authors and get books signed for the WCHS library:
I hoped that Scott Westerfeld (Uglies series) would also be there, but his wife said that he was on a book tour for his new book, Leviathan. Sara Zarr and Kathryn Williams presented together, and we had the chance to ask them questions. Melissa de la Cruz and Daniel Waters presented together, and their question and answer session was also interesting.
Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is an annual event sponsored by the American Library Association and several other groups. This week reminds Americans not to take the freedom to read for granted. In 2008 alone, the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom received reports of more than 513 book challenges. You can read more about it at: www.ala.org/bbooks.
Hello! I am Leigh Miller, the new librarian at Wilson Central High School. Glenda Davis retired at the end of May. I know she will be missed. I feel so lucky to be a part of such a great school. This is my 8th year to teach and my 3rd year as a librarian. However, this is my first real experience working with high school students!
Over the summer I tried to brush up on my YA reading. I read the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyers. I loved them. I was very hesitant about reading about vampires, however, it turned out to be a wonderful love story. I also enjoyed reading books by Ellen Hopkins. I read both Crank and Glass. These books are written in verse. Both books kept me wanting to read more! I am now in the process of reading Tricks by Ellen Hopkins. I will let you know more about Tricks when I finish it.
by Peter Hedges
reviewed by Crystal Pomeroy
A good book is filled with moments of joy that makes a person smile or sigh of relief as he or she reads it. It is also filled with sparks of pain or heartbreak that every soul can relate to. Every story has to have challenges or feelings that the characters try to conquer, but a good story takes the challenges and supports them with inspirational lessons or messages that one could use later in life. I have found only a couple of novels that share such qualities, and one has struck me as most effective. The name of the novel is somewhat of an understatement of the great story that lies inside of it. Yet, that seems to be the beauty of it; the story is defined by this modest title, but it is so much more. The name of the book is What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, a story of the coming-of-age of a young man who seems to be trapped by the overruling walls of his family, friends, and the society of Endora, a small town in Iowa. Yes, the story is told by Gilbert Grape, a twenty-four year old man who struggles with his life in ways that I could relate to. I think it is beautiful that I, a fifteen year old girl, can relate to this man-child. It is very different to see a man’s point of view of his small town life, but in some ways it is so similar. Living in the forever-growing town of Mt. Juliet, there are still hidden corners of the place where everyone knows my name. This can help a person out at times, but it could also haunt him or her, as if people may know too much about one’s life.
The book is based upon the Grape family, a very dysfunctional bunch that has its quirks and qualities about it. The family lives in an old, beaten house that seems a little more unstable as the story progresses. It holds five people: Gilbert, Amy (the cook of the family), Ellen (the typical teenage girl), Arnie (a mentally challenged eighteen year old), and Mama, the woman who looked so beautiful a few years back, until her husband committed suicide. After that tragic incident, Mama let herself go and gained more than four hundred pounds within years. Yes, I would say that the Grape family is quite unique, but that is what keeps them tugging at the heartstrings of many readers.
Gilbert’s ways of coping with problems was getting out of hand, until a new girl named Becky came to Endora and changed his life forever. Becky is one of my favorite characters because she is a gorgeous young girl who is inspirational with her ways of thinking. For example, she hates it when guys fall in love with her because of her looks. She wants to be more than a Barbie doll, and I admire her morals. Throughout the book, she always says, “Insides count,” implying that a person should not be defined by his/her outer beauty because a person’s inner soul is what really matters most. She is a deep, meaningful character who expresses herself openly, much different from Gilbert, who shies away from any feelings he has.
This novel let me escape the noisy classrooms and busy places and reminded me of the possibilities that could occur in my life. It has encouraged me to never give up hope, even when things are down-right ugly or intimidating. A book like What’s Eating Gilbert Grape shows more than a lesson learned, but a heart that has been lifted from an uneasy life. It brings pain as well as peace within readers, and an author who writes books like that should definitely receive recognition for his/her phenomenal piece of work. Thank you, Peter Hedges, for a wonderful adventure that I got to become a part of!
We sponsored a bookmark contest for Read Across America. The winner was Chance Howell. Jacob Hooper, Tony Copley and Oscar Caldera received Honorable Mention. Here is a link to our winners and their bookmarks:
http://www.wcschools.com/wch/Library/Bookmark%20Contest.html
Here is a link to some awesome book trailers created by Wilson Central students and teachers in honor of Teen Read Week. Student winners were Darren LaPorte and Rebekah Patton, and the teacher winner was Ms. Shannon Coble.
http://www.wcschools.com/wch/Library/Book%20Trailer%20Contest/Book%20Trailer.html
Thanks to Mrs. Shannon Carney, English teacher at Wilson Central, for introducing us to a great tool–Worldle.net. After helping many students print out their creations today, I was inspired to try it out for myself. Below is a link to what I created:
http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/225295/Vampire_Books_with_Bite
We are celebrating National Poetry Month by having a poetry contest which is open to all students, faculty, and staff at Wilson Central High School. The deadline to submit poetry is Friday, May 2. There will be prizes!!!
A cool website is http://www.magpo.com/magnet/. You can create magnetic poetry online!
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