Huck How Huck Would Have Appreciated!

We all know Huckleberry Finn. He is the boy whose adventures, alongside Tom Sawyer, are read in almost every school in America. It is also the Mark Twain story that sparks racial controversy every time it is added to a curriculum. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a story we are all familiar with, but is it always accessible to students?

Huck's father comes and goes, but Huck doesn't mind when he is gone. It means he doesn't hit Huck. When Huck is taken in my a kind neighbor, he appreciates everything she is doing for him, but he struggles to remain proper. In particular, he struggles to remain confined inside four walls. When his dad returns to town, there is an adventure of epic proportions complete with a murder mystery, con men, Jim, the runaway slave, and treasure. 

The great thing about these Campfire stories is how they take a large, possibly dry story and abridge it into a fun, short, graphic novel. I don't usually like abridged versions, but more and more, I see the merit in these graphic shorts. They can inspire students to pick up the full story when they are ready for it, and even if they don't, they at least give them exposure to the story. Sometimes, because the story is heavily abridged, it feels a little choppy or disjointed, but that is the price you pay for this kind of adaptation! I like this series, and hope to pick up a few more. But one thing is for sure... this is the kind of fun, quick story a boy like Huck, who can't be in the same place for too long, would appreciate!

A Graphic Canon Collection, Volume I

I have been intrigued by this collection of the literary canon in one, graphic collection, but it is pretty expensive, so it took me a while to break down and buy them. Now that I have, I am really glad I did. Oddly, I was a little disappointed when they first came. Each story has its own style and adaption according to the creator/illustrator/author who adapted that story, either abridged, or in part. Some were incredibly minimalistic, and I wasn't sure I liked that, so it took me a while of pouring through them to see that this was pure genius. 

Volume one starts with Gilgamesh and ends with Dangerous Liaisons. This is the antiquities portion of this series. Some, like Gilgamesh, are written in cartoon-style graphics. Others, like The Odyssey are truly illustrated. Each story is presented differently. For instance, The Odyssey is the piece of the epic poem about Polyphemus. The Sappho entry is a poem within one illustration. Medea is more of your graphic novel kind of illustrations. Some, like Lysistrata or The Flea, contain the kind of illustrations necessary for a story with sexual content, which I have seen some people complain about. I am not sure why reading about the naughty bits is OK, but the minute they are illustrated people get all up in arms, but I didn't think it was anything egregious or gratuitous. It was just the story as it was told! Some entries were all beautiful artwork and no words, like Plato's Symposium. 

There were excerpts from the Hebrew Bible, Confucius, the Aeneid, The New Testament, Beowulf, etc. Beowulf is pretty amazing, and it does an amazing job at creepy without a single word used! I absolutely LOVED the illustrated poems by Rumi, and they were all so different, unique and beautiful. Some I just wasn't thrilled by, like The Divine Comedy or The Canterbury Tales, but overall, I loved the collection. 

Obviously I wasn't familiar with everything in the book (I am pathetically neglectful of my knowledge in ancient Asian text), but I was impressed with the breadth of the literature represented in this collection. You have everything from the usuals to the Popol Vuh. Some even made me want to seek out the originals I wasn't familiar with, like The Visions of St Teresa of Avila. Absolutely beautiful. There is Dante, Milton, Shakespeare, and everyone else who should represent this end of the chronological canon. 

The best part of this series is the little blurb before each excerpt. There is a brief explanation of the original text that might contain historical references, its discovery, the relevance of the excerpt, and the author's biographical information. Some contain the adaptor's reasons for their choices, which I also found fascinating. The coolest function for having this in a library or classroom would be to reach kids and encourage them to read literature they would never otherwise choose on their own. Maybe if they were intrigued by the graphic Lysistrata, they will do a little digging and find the story a tale they never thought would exist in the antiquities!

A Great, Graphic White Whale

Call me Ishmael. One of the most well known stories in all the canonized literature is now in an abridged graphic form that is accessible to any reader. 

The story of Captain Ahab and his nemesis, Moby Dick, the great, white whale, is one we know well, but how many of us have read it? When you think of canonized literature, sometimes you think boring, dry, huge tomes that might be more practical as door stops. Now, if you love literature like I do, you know there is a journey to travel in every book. And the mustier the better! But no matter what you tell your students, they are NOT picking up Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights or A Tale of Two Cities without a grade involved. I am not saying teens must pick their way through the canon to have a true appreciation of reading, but it also makes me sad when they have no familiarity with these stories at all. So why not take something like these Campfire versions, an abridged, graphic version of the story that they can easily read, understand, and digest. While, sure, it isn't the full impact of the story, it is a great snapshot! Then they are familiar with the story and maybe some day, they will remember that graphic adaptation and pick up the real Melville! You know know what kind of seeds a book can plant!

So I really liked this adaptation. The art was OK, not as great as some other graphic novels, obviously, but it was done pretty well. The story itself was abridged well so that you can understand the story with a fast-paced graphic version.  Overall, I would definitely encourage a kid to pick up another Campfire story, and in fact, I think I am going to look into a couple more myself!

Classic Tale of the Tripods

Sometimes when you are struggling to find the next book to read, it is good to just reread an old favorite. For me, The White Mountains by John Christopher was one of the first young adult stories I read as an adult, and it was the first story I enjoyed with a student. It had been well over a decade since I read it, so I thought I would pick it up again. And I am glad I did!

Will has always known his Capping Day was coming, but until now, it didn't seem like something to worry about. But as his day grows nearer, he gets more and more worried about the idea of allowing one of the tripods to put a metal cap in his head that would control his thoughts. Everyone in his village had it done and seems content, but there is something about the process that doesn't sit well with Will.

When a Vagrant (a person whose Capping didn't go well) approaches him about the Capping, he is interested in hearing the man's perspective. But it turns out the man wasn't Capped at all. He was masquerading as a Capped Vagrant, but in reality, he was a rebel recruiting unCapped young adults to bring to the White Mountains- a place where the rebels are safe from the Tripods and can plot to take the world back. Will decides to head to the White Mountains, and along the way he acquires two new friends, Henry and Beanpole. But the three boys have a long way to go to the White Mountains and between them and sanctuary are many many tripods. 

This story was written almost 50 years ago and still it is one our kids today could enjoy. I have seen a few comparisons to War of the Worlds, but this story takes place well after the tripods have taken over the world. No one really fights back and everyone accepts the Capping with a complacency that makes them even easier to manipulate and control. The idea of choosing the easier road because you don't want to make life harder with the fight for freedom is a universal theme especially relevant for today's children. Kids who are so far removed from wide-spread social protest don't really understand fighting for freedoms and rights, so this story could easily be related to the current events of our students' lives. 

While this is more of a middle reader, it is a great series for young adults who also like to read science fiction. The stories are easy to read, so they might be best for an older student who has a lower reading skill level. Christopher's stories are classic, and they will survive long after the tripods come to Cap us! So if you have a sci-fi junky who has burned through everything, pass this gem on. You won't be sorry!

It Always Comes Back to Mr. Darcy

 

  Pride and Prejudice

by Guest Blogger, Ari

      Jane Austen writes this book like a good nineteenth century romance over the crime of the social system and economic structure to human events. Austen's novels are simple works that make it worthwhile for the engrossing portraits of life. The satisfying plot makes it enjoyable to read and fun. What Pride and Prejudice is mainly about is the main character Elizabeth, who deals with issues of manners, upbringing, education, and marriage in the society of well classed people.
    The story is based on five sisters and their single minded, illiterate mother who is overly pushy about marrying somebody who can provide. Almost every sister is in distress because of their damaging actions that result in engagements that sometimes ruin their mindset. There are two sisters who are generally normal, have a good head on their shoulders, and do not engage in these actions. Elizabeth is the most levelheaded of them all. My favorite part of the story was when Elizabeth's future husband, Mr. Darcy, is at the church getting a lecture from the priest about general expectations when he marries her because there are very strict rules. The plot of the story is relatively simple; two characters stay the same on the first few pages and the last pages with complications in-between. There is some witty dialogue.
    Some things that I liked about this book were the action, learning a moral, and reading how they deal with their issue, since in today's society we are faced with the same problem of following through with commitment. The not so fond parts of the story were the great detail of the plot, slowness of the dialogue, and character interactions. My favorite character was Elizabeth because of her transformation and perseverance. This was a good book, but I would not recommend it for just anyone because of the complexity and slowness of the story at times. Readers who enjoy classic literature would like this book.

Tragedy in Paper

What constitutes a real tragedy? For a young adult, the answer to that question could be any number of things. For the students of this East Coast boarding school, the tragedy paper is their final goodbye and their biggest revelation. In Elizabeth Laban's The Tragedy Paper, traditions, a social hierarchy, and a literature assignment can change someone's life forever.

Duncan moves into his new dorm room for his senior year, and he finds his "treasure" left from the senior before him to be a bundle of CDs. Despite the crapshoot of a tradition, he had hoped for a better treasure and certainly a better room. But once he starts listening to the legacy Tim, last year's senior who happened to be albino, he has a hard time looking at everything the same way. After what happened last year during the tradition of the Senior Games, he has been different this year anyway. Now, hearing Tim's story about how it all happened, Duncan has a choice: either the tragedy changes who he is or he changes how the tragedy controls their lives.

Tim has always been an outcast. It is hard to hide your differences when you are albino- everyone notices. But starting a new school his senior year, across the country, and in a private school, is more than Tim really thought about when he agreed to give it a try. But on his journey out there, he was stranded in an airport hotel with a beautiful girl named Vanessa. And as luck would have it, Vanessa is headed to the very same school Tim is now a part of, traditions and all. After their whirlwind night building igloos and ordering room service, Tim feels a connection to Vanessa like he has never felt before. However, her boyfriend might not feel the same way about their connection. And now, in a school full of traditions he is completely oblivious to, Tim must find a way to finally find out who he is and how far he is willing to go.

As I started to read this, I immediately thought of Jay Asher's 13 Reasons Why. With the CD's and the story left as a legacy, it all sounded very familiar, but it was still really well written and the story was interesting, so I was excited to find out what happened. Add to that this layer of intrigue surrounding the traditions at the private school. This is one of those true East Coast boarding schools layered with generations of students, traditions, and mystery. But the traditions are actually kind of sweet. The idea of the senior before you leaving a treasure for your moving-in day or the seniors hosting an event each year to tap in the new junior committee. All of it is kind of quaint, actually. It wasn't the Skull and Bones stuff you might be thinking of. 

And the Tragedy Paper, a kind of thesis culminating in a Literature class's study of true tragedy, is brilliant! In fact, it gave me a lot of insight into my own senior class, and Laban's ideas surrounding this class and this teacher are brilliant. Then comes the adults in the book. Supportive, loving parents, and even a wonderful step-father Tim adores! The teachers? Let's put it this way, the headmaster picks Tim up at the airport after his flight is delayed! This really was a jackpot of stellar adult role models. And I really liked this! So many YA books have absentee parents and cruel, useless teachers. The adults in this book were truly great, and I appreciated that.

*SPOILER* My biggest struggle with this book was the "tragedy" at the end. I hate to even say this, but I wanted a bigger tragedy. Yes, I am sure the tragedy would have been life-altering for those involved, but as they all survived relatively unscathed, I am unsure how believable Duncan's traumatization would have been- it felt forced. Like Laban didn't want to kill anyone she liked, so she just banged them around a little bit. I think the build-up of Duncan's reactions and the tragedy paper needed a tragedy so devastating it would have shaken my world up. But I didn't get that. And sadly, it ruined the ending of a really good book for me. *END SPOILER*

So, I would definitely pass this onto my students, especially being part of a boarding school. It was a great, clean book and perfect for a younger student even though it is about seniors. I wish the ending was a little bit more powerful, but that doesn't detract from the really beautiful writing. And I can't wait to meet Laban at Oblong next month! I hope she has a lot to talk about!

Made My Heart Beat

Every now and then comes along a book that is so beautifully simplistic and complex at the same time. The story might seem simple at first, but the layers and layers of emotion and consequences make you feel as though you have been bulldozed. My Heartbeat by Garret Freyman-Weyr has a way of grabbing you by the heart and not letting you go.

Ellen loves her brother Link and his best friend James. She is only 14, but she knows she loves James. The three of them are always together, watching old movies, arguing, playing games, you name it. When she moves up to the high school, she gets to see how they are in the world outside their own little bubble. At first she sees them eating lunch on the fire escape and knows how special they are to each other and to her. Then, a classmate asks if they are a couple, and her entire perception of them changes. Are they a couple? What does it mean to her if they are?

After talking to her mother about James and Link's relationship (mom, by the way, was amazing), Ellen took her mother's advice and decided to ask Link and James herself. The answer she got was complicated, messy, and became the downfall of the life together the three of the shared. James answered that yes, they were in fact a couple, but Link immediately disagreed. He proclaimed he was not gay, like James, who had slept with men in the past. When Link left James' house, Ellen knew her question had opened a can of worms that would never be closed again.

Now Link refuses to see or even speak to James, and he starts acting very strange. He lies to his parents about going to Math camp, and instead takes up the piano (James' former piano instruction). He also gets a girlfriend named Polly. Ellen isn't sure what is happening to Link, but she knows she doesn't want to lose James because of it. Since Link starts avoiding her as well, she starts spending more and more time with James until they are finally dating. The relationship between Ellen and James is almost a way to compensate for the fact that they feel they have both lost Link and can fill the void with each other.

James is honest with Ellen about his mixed feelings toward men and women, and he explains he likes the person, not the gender. For Ellen, this time is confusing, and her way to compensate is to read everything she can find on what is confusing her- like what it means to be gay in today's society (all this mixed in with her reading classics her father keeps giving her). While she can't see it, her approach, the logical research, is very much like her father's approach to the possibility Link might be gay. Instead of understanding the emotions (although Ellen does experience those too), both choose to approach the topic with pragmatism. In the end, Ellen's life, as well as the lives of her parents, Link and James, have all been changed, for better or for worse.

This small novella (150 pages) was the most touching and heartbreaking story. Ellen loves her brother and James, and them being gay or not would never change that. Very often siblings are the ones people struggle to come out to (second only to parents) because they are afraid to lose their family, but very often siblings are the ones who would be most fine with the news. Being a sibling is all about unconditional love, and this story illustrates that beautifully. It also shows how two parents can struggle with differing philosophies. Ellen's mom would be fine with Link coming out, but she doesn't encourage it because she knows how her husband feels. Ellen's father is a stereotype-breaker. He is a well-educated and well-traveled man who may suspect his son is gay, but chooses to ignore it or influence him to be straight. He doesn't view "gay" as "normal" which is heartbreaking to bear witness to, especially when he essentially pays Link to date Polly (or at least encourages it monetarily). He loves his son, but if his son were to be gay, Link would somehow be "broken" to him.

The relationship between Ellen and James is the hardest to understand. Through her innocent questions and observation, she clearly knows James and Link love one another as more than friends. But somehow she is still able to have a romantic, and eventually intimate, relationship with James. She isn't even jealous of James' feelings for Link, just accepting. At times, especially in terms of intimacy, it seems as though James feels guilty about his relationship with Ellen, as though he knows he is almost using her as a substitute for Link. But it isn't even as simple as Ellen being a substitute for Link, because James truly seems to love her unconditionally.

This is a fast and short story, but it will leave a piece of itself in your heart by the time you reach the last page. It is written in language that makes it perfect for a low-skilled student. While the language is simple, the content is anything but. This story will give you hours of discussion time because it brings about so many questions with so many possible answers. I was blown away by this book and can't wait to share it with as many people as possible.