October- NO REVIEWS!
Well, I’m ashamed. 10 reviews for the year. Last year in my “year in review” post I reported that I had reviewed 45 books and hoped to do more this year. BLOGGER FAIL. Though I will say that one of the ways I read so much that first year was by substitute teaching and having many many days off. It’s still no excuse and I plan on picking up the pace. But before I leave you I do want to pat myself on my back because there are some things that I’ve accomplished that I’m pretty proud of!
I have:
55 reviews, 132 Posts, 179 Comments, and 10, 447 hits!
In just two years.
I have no idea if this is really good or bad or anything, but I feel happy with this. People are coming across my site and hopefully finding it useful. I have gotten a lot of insightful comments throughout this journey and hope that you all continue to provide your thoughts. I see this blog evolving more as time goes on and becoming even more education and classroom based. I hope you stay along for the ride!
Banned Books Week started on September 25th. Due to this I decided to start looking at the most frequently challenged books from the past decade to see what I have read, what I haven’t read and if I agree or at least understand the challenging of any of them. I’m thinking I might get some good titles for my “to-read” list as well!!
Here’s the list:
Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 (from the ALA)
Bolded books I have read, links go to my reviews
1 Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2 Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 3 The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4 And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell 5 Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7 Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz 8 His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9 TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Myracle, Lauren
10 The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
11 Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
12 It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris 13 Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
14 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
15 The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
16 Forever, by Judy Blume
17 The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18 Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
19 Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
20 King and King, by Linda de Haan 21 To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
22 Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar 23 The Giver, by Lois Lowry
24 In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
25 Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan
26 Beloved, by Toni Morrison 27 My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier
28 Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
29 The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney
30 We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
32 Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
33 Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
34 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
35 Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
36 Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
37 It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris
38 Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles
39 Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
40 Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank 41 Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
42 The Fighting Ground, by Avi
43 Blubber, by Judy Blume
44 Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
45 Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly
46 Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, by George Beard
48 Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez
49 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
50 The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
51 Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan
52 The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
53 You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco
54 The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole 55 Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green
56 When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester
57 Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause
58 Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
59 Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes 60 Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
61 Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle
62 The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
63 The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney
64 Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park
65 The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
66 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
67 A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
68 Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
69 Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
70 Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen 71 Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park
72 Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
73 What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras
74 The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
75 Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry
76 A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
77 Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert
78 The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein
79 The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss 80 A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
81 Black Boy, by Richard Wright
82 Deal With It!, by Esther Drill
83 Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds
84 So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins 85 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
86 Cut, by Patricia McCormick
87 Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume 88 The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
89 Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger
90 A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
91 Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Graighead George
92 The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
93 Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
94 Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
95 Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix
96 Grendel, by John Gardner
97 The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende
98 I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte
99 Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
100 America: A Novel, by Frank, E.R.
I should note that this is not a list of YA books specifically, though you may notice that MANY of the titles are YA books.
None of the books I read are what I would consider controversial. I know why most of them were probably challenged, but all in all none of them offended me or gave me much pause! Take this last opportunity to vote in my Book Banning Poll.
I read this book back around Halloween and never sat down and wrote my review. I really enjoyed Sold. It was a super fast read for me and I polished it off in just a few hours. I thought that by writing it in a series of vignettes McCormick made it more accessible and readable for students of all ability levels. The story deals with a girl in Nepal who is sold into sexual slavery. The way that McCormick deals with the sexual side of the story is tasteful but still illustrates the horrors that were endured.
This book is definitely a high school level book. I think it would be appropriate for a high school class. I would also recommend it for use in a Human Rights class. It will appeal more to female v, male students but deals with a topic that I think everyone should learn about.
Awards:
ALA Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults 2007
National Book Award Finalist 2007
National Public Radio – Top 100 Books of the Year 2007
Well, despite a slow last couple of months, my blog has reached it’s one year anniversary. And I think the year has been rather successful. I experimented with different styles of reviews, having polls, and the types of YA lit that I’ve read. I have plenty more to do, and I am hoping to renew my efforts for year number 2.
For now, here’s a recap of all the books I’ve reviewed here on YA Lit, the Good, the Bad, the Ugly.
I thought that this book was pretty well written and would capture the interest of teen girls. It is realistic fiction. I would not recommend it as a book to be read as a class because I think there are other more intellectually challenging books available. That being said, I think it could be great for an independent read. It deals with the issue of cutting- and self-injurious students might be able to relate well to it. I would say that readers should be age 13 and older due to content.
YA Lit- The Good, The Bad, The Ugly 