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!

Sparking a Transformation

When the people of Ember thought all was lost, a couple of young kids were able to find their way out of the underground, dying city. Now, in The People of the Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau, the people of Ember must find a way to survive in a whole new world.

Lina and Doon knew they couldn't stay in Ember any longer, but they didn't anticipate how life would be aboveground. It was beautiful, full of light and color like nothing the over 400 Ember refugees had ever seen. After three days, they stumbled upon a town called Sparks where life was hard, but people were living. In a world where multiple plagues and world wars had ravaged the land and left only a few survivors, the people of Sparks were survivors. But with only 300 or so residents of the small settlement, the addition of the 400+ ember refugees makes life tough on everyone. Barely able to feed themselves in rough winters, they have no idea what they are going to do now that they have more than doubled their population.

At first people are kind and supportive and even a little amused by the Emberites naivete. They forget the people from the underground city wouldn't know about seasons, mountains, birds, or flowers, but they enjoy teaching them new things. Soon, however, the wear and tear of taking care of people who don't know how to take care of themselves makes charity difficult, and the people of Sparks begin to resent their new arrivals. Doon and Lina know something must be done, but they have very different ideas of how to do it. How do you stop a war between two groups of people who are both right?

There is something magical about this series that when I read it, I feel like I am reading a fairy tale. I don't know how to explain it, and it isn't just the "youth" of the story, but it really does feel like reading a fairy tale full or moral and ethical lessons we all need to learn. It seems like a dark and heavy story for a middle reader, but it surprisingly isn't. It is told in a way that middle readers can relate to and never be overwhelmed by, which is the genius behind this series. 

This is a great second installment to the series, as it takes the people of Ember in a whole new direction. But more importantly are the central themes of outsiders, being different, tolerance, and helping people even when it makes things difficult for you. This is a beautiful series to read in your class with your students or at home together with your child as it has so much to offer as they grow and learn about the world. It should be a staple in every library as well. I am impressed by DuPrau, and can't wait to see where the story takes us!

The List Changes Everything

In high school there are the "hot" girls and the "not-so-hot" girls, but no one writes it down on paper. It is not something out in the open for everyone to see. In Siobhan Vivian's The List, those girls are labeled ugliest and hottest girl for each class, and the label will change them forever.


Every year the List comes out. There is an ugliest girl and a hottest girl in each grade. No one knows who makes the lists or how the official (stolen) school seal that marks the official list gets passed down from year to year, but they accept the list as a part of their high school lives. This year is no different from previous years for most people, but it is a life-changer for the 8 girls on the list. One has been on the list all 4 years of her high school career... as the ugliest girl in her grade. One only makes the list after her anorexia slims her down. One embraces her Ugly status by writing UGLY across her forehead and refusing to shower for the whole week leading up to the Homecoming game.


But one thing is for certain: the list affects every single girl it names. And while you might think it would help the lives of the Hottest girls, you would be miserably wrong. Being named Hottest only makes your friends jealous and guys think they have a right to hit on you or think you are a trophy to be won. Being on the list tests every relationship you have ever had, your values, and worst of all, what you think of yourself. The List has changed these girls... but you won't believe how.


This was a deceptively awesome book, I must say. I assumed it would be rife with cliches and stereotypes and full of pink plush morals and "typical", but it really wasn't. Instead, it surprised me. Time and time again, what happened to these girls REALLY surprised me. I thought I knew what was going to happen to the Ugly girls vs. the Hot girls, but I found myself flipping the pages time and time again with that "What the heck?!" shocked look on my face. It was a really refreshing read! But at the same time, it was a frighteningly accurate reveal into the world of high school culture. We, as adults, sit on the outside of the true happenings of our schools, and although we have lived through it, we have also outgrown it, making our opinions jaded. I mean, can you honestly remember what it felt like to live through high school? I can honestly say I have tried somewhat (un)successfully to block it from my mind, but every now and then I see something going on where I teach and all those memories come rushing back. 


This would be an excellent book for any high school aged girl through adult trying to understand the lives and roles of teenagers these days. And to try and pretend judgment and criticism are not a part of adolescence is simply ridiculous. Sometimes we, as adults, just need to immerse ourselves in their world, even through a story like this one, to see the truth of what they live through every day. It might make you a little more sympathetic as you give them detention or scold them for not finishing their work. We see the world through our adult eyes, but we forget that as teenagers, we didn't even know who we were at that point. Vivian did a great job with this story explaining the lives of teenagers and I am sure all adolescents would find at least one character to relate to. Even if they don't want to admit it!

Who are "Them" and "Us"?

Rachel has crossed into Away with the Others to bring medicine to save the son of the woman her mother works for. What she isn't letting on is that she hopes to find her father too. In a fallen United States, now the Unified States, something irrevocable happened- war and fear caused the country to tighten its borders with an impenetrable border that cut off a huge population of the country, leaving them to fend for themselves. In Teri Hall's sequel Away, we see the other side of this post-war dystopia- the people forgotten on the other side of the border.

Rachel feels safe with Pathik, Ms. Moore's grandson, but she isn't so sure about the rest of the Others. Some of them have developed gifts, such as Pathik's ability to read people's minds and moods. Some of the gifts aren't nice, like Jab who can give you pain without even touching you. But Rachel is willing to risk her own life to bring medicine to Malgam, Pathik's father, and to find information about her own father, Daniel. She brings with her to Away an ideal of who these Others are, but what she wasn't expecting was the fact that the Others don't trust the people from her side of the border either. These are the people who abandoned them, and they have never looked back.

Ms. Moore's medicine works, and Rachel finds out her father is alive... possibly. He has been taken by a group of very bad Others who want to trade him back to the government for supplies. When they rescue him, he can't believe he is seeing his daughter, his grown up daughter who risked her life to cross the border. Now all the group can think about is getting Rachel's mom and Ms. Moore to the right side of the line, the side with their families. Can they succeed, or will they lose everything?

With a dystopia like this, you always wonder about both sides and the first book, The Line, didn't have much information about the other side. This follow-up was a brilliant balance to that information. I loved the idea that both sides have misinformation about the other side, and neither trusts one another. It was a good example of propaganda, fear, and an oppressive government. This would be an excellent series to accompany a history lesson on divided Germany. You would be able to directly correlate sides of the book with sides of Germany and discuss the distrust and misinformation thanks to the government. This aid of a work of fiction could put real life situations into perspective for students who are 40-50 years removed from the events you are trying to teach them about.

The beauty of this story is that it is a very simply written story that is perfect for any middle reader, but the interest level would appeal to older students as well. It might not be the most sophisticated book for kids who read a lot of dystopian literature, but could be a good balance to a kid who is new to the genre but is low skilled. And since the books are relatively short, they can enjoy the success of reading two books with relative ease. I love this story both for its simplicity and its complexity- a great series for anyone and everyone!

Rage Against Preconceived Notions

Rarely do we read a book so raw with emotions that it leaves you speechless by the time you read the last page. Jackie Morse Kessler accomplishes this effortlessly. She knows how to bring a reader into the most painful lives of teens who are suffering from eating disorders, bullying, cutting, etc. With her second book in the Horsemen of the Apocalypse series, Rage, she has a cutter who has been bullied to the brink of sanity, become War, the Rider of the Red Horse.

Missy slept with Adam and he saw her for who she was- a cutter. He immediately dumped her and told everyone about her scars. Now she is tormented even worse than before. Now they all call her Cutterslut and other horrible names. Missy's only means of control over her own life is to cut. She can't control the pain she feels every day at home and at school, but she can control the blade. When Adam invites her to a party, Missy reluctantly agrees to go, but she goes to show them all they don't bother her. When Adam is uncharacteristically kind and kisses her, she forgets all her anger and pain. She follows him upstairs and takes off her clothes for him. Just as she does, he calls for everyone to come in. It is then, in a flurry of cell phones and cameras, that Missy's life changes forever. With her secret out and her picture and video all over the web, she chooses to accept Death's offer to become War... and her first stop is the party.

As War, Missy creates havoc in the party, making everyone's aggression and anger seethe to the top. When she leaves, she is conflicted about what she has done and what she might have done if Adam had been there. She starts to go out into her world to do the job of War, but she sees her destruction doesn't just hurt adult soldiers- there are innocent women and children there too. She fights the will of War, but Famine and Death explain the balance to her. When there is no balance, like when Pestilence took some time off, the result can be like the Black Death- centuries of consequences. When she returns to school and feels the consequences of her own bullies, she is torn between wanting to punish everyone in the building to knowing there are innocent people who don't deserve to suffer her wrath. But can Missy keep War until control in order to restore the balance?

This is a very dark and important story. When we consider bullicide (suicide as a result of severe bullying) and school violence like Columbine, it is vital that we look at the emotions of the victim. The pain, the humiliation, and the rage they feel is overwhelming. The result is often violence, either towards themselves or others. While critics attacked this book for being "too violent" and "too graphic" about a cutter, I would like to know why they don't acknowledge the bullying. If they are so worried about the cutting, perhaps an honest conversation about the impetus for the cutting is where prevention should start. Yes, this was a dark book, but it is impossible to write a book about such vicious bullying without it being real, raw, emotional, and dark.

I am bowled over by these books, but I will admit they might be too much for a more sensitive young adult. As parents and teachers, we know the type of student who can handle a series like this one. The beauty of this author is she doesn't take prisoners. She doesn't hold back or "write in code" to protect delicate sensibilities. She lays it on the line. And if you don't like it, then perhaps you should do something about stopping the behaviors that cause this kind of situation. perhaps it is time to do something about the bullies in order to save the victims.

Everyone needs a Witch Once in a While!

Now, there are so many supernatural books out there these days, it almost gets hard to tell one from the other. We've got vampires all over the place, some twinkle, some burn, some are downright creepy. We have werewolves, were-lions, even were-eagles! Not to mention witches, warlocks, wiccans, and any number of other kinds of spellcasters. Then add in the fallen angels, ghouls, zombies, etc. and we are so full of the supernatural, we can't tell where one story ends and the next begins. So when you find one that stands out from the pack, like Once a Witch, by Carolyn McCullough, you get excited!

The story begins in a unique way for a family of witches, because the main character, Tamsin, is the only non-magical member of the family. To rub salt in the wound, when she was born, Tamsin's grandmother foretold that Tamsin would be the most powerful witch of them all. So Tamsin tries to live as normal of a life as possible away from her family, and when she is with her family, she must deal with the fact that she is literally powerless in a family full of the most powerful witches of that time.

When Tamsin is watching her grandmother's magic shop, a young man mistakes her for her very powerful sister and asks her help. Enjoying the feeling of someone thinking she was powerful, she doesn't correct him. In fact, she agrees to help him find a clock that was lost from his family long ago. So Tamsin enlists the help of her very talented and newly returned family friend, Gabriel, to find the clock. When they travel back in time, however, they find there is more to this clock than they originally thought. Now her sister is under a powerful love spell, her grandmother is in a coma, and Tamsin the Powerless must fix what she has done.

This is a really fun story with some new twists and powers that we haven't seen lately. Tamsin is a girl who feels like an outsider everywhere she goes- she is powerless in a family of very powerful people and out in the real world, she has to hide the truth of who her family really is. This "outsider" feeling is one that would really hit home with many teenagers. It is a time when so many feel like they don't belong anywhere, and it is nice to read that they are not alone with those feelings- with a supernatural twist of course! I also think Tamsin is a wonderful character full of spunk, frustration, and conflict between wanting her own life and wanting to fit in.

The book is a middle-of-the-road reading level that would be appropriate for high-skilled middle school students to low-skilled high school students. The story might be a bit too juvenile for a mature high school student, and might be best for 10th grade and under. The coolest thing was the author's website. It has a bunch of information about myths and history about witches, especially about witch trials. It also has a little quiz to test how well you know your witches, including questions about witches from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", Harry Potter, Salem, and even "Sabrina the Teenage Witch". So check out the book, and don't forget to look at the website! You won't be sorry!

http://www.onceawitch.com/