We haven't started discussion on our January text (how academic sounding!) but it would be good to decide on February so we have time to track it down. Here are a few suggestions I came up with; they are linked to Amazon so you can read about them if you've never heard of them before.
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
House of Stairs by William Sleator
Stand Tall by Joan Bauer
Please post or comment in support of/crapping on these or with other suggestions by Friday. I'll set up a poll this weekend and we can vote on what we want.
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5 comments:
Yeah, the Stairs book sounds super creepy. The other two sound good, too. Which one would be furthest from Hoot? It might be neat to read something totally different. I guess it would depend on the consensus of opinion on Hoot. I'm on page 40, so, um, don't ask me yet.
I wouldn't mind reading Sharon Creech sometime. I haven't read anything since Walk Two Moons. I know a lot of you have already read Love That Dog, but she has some other fairly new stuff out. I wonder if it's any good? Or did she blow her wad on Walk Two Moons?
Wait, is that an offensive phrase? Is it about "self-stimulation"? Ewww. If so, that's totally not what I meant.
I read the first chapter of "Pictures of Hollis Woods" in the New England Mobile Bookstore (a place which I can't decide if I love or hate) a few months ago and really loved it; it seemed clever and lyrical. On the other hand, the card catalogue description for "House of Stairs" cracks me the hell up, which in my current state of mind might be more important than clever and lyrical.
Jo and I have also been wanting to pick up The City of Ember. Has anyone read it yet?
I read City of Ember and thought it was alright. A typical Escape from Utopia/Dystopia book. I think I classified it as a "good classroom library book but not one for my own personal collection," if that makes sense. But I could read it again.
The sequel, The City of Sparks, came out just this fall and I couldn't get past the first few chapters - part of the reason being I couldn't stand the narrator (book on CD). I think there will be a third book.
Ever since fantasy class, when we were warned of dire consequences if we read the flap copy of The Magic Circle, I have been wary of reading up on books before delving in. Therefore, I'll have to trust you people to your decision-making skills. Is that wise? We'll see...
Oh, and Sarah, we can rule out City of Ember. Just say no to mediocrity, as I always say. Or perhaps just said for the first time. Anyway, if it didn't blow your socks off (noticed I don't mention WADS - gross), then we can spare ourselves.
That's too bad about City of Ember. Why, God, why can't the ones with the pretty covers just always be good on the inside, too?
My vote goes to either House of Stairs, then, or my boyfriend Chris Lynch's new book, The Gravedigger's Cottage.
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