There's an article in the NYT about the Peter Pan sequel; the book comes out October 5th. Any thoughts? Does anyone plan on reading it?
I've seen the Dave Barry prequel books, but haven't read them. I'm pretty snobby about follow-ups that are NOT written by the original author.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Crossover
If you read Bookslut, you probably already saw this article about YA crossover books, but I thought I'd link to it anyways.
Do adults feel embarrassed looking at books in the children's section? I always figured they could pretend to look at something for a daughter/son or niece, etc. I never felt bad about it.
Do adults feel embarrassed looking at books in the children's section? I always figured they could pretend to look at something for a daughter/son or niece, etc. I never felt bad about it.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
For next month -
There were four votes for next month's book and, by the slightest of majorities, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is September's title.
Random House set up an impressive website with excerpts and downloads and links to both authors' websites.
I hope people are still reading Wrecked. Please add your comments to the discussion entry below or begin a new one. And add a couple titles to the Wish List if you have ideas. I'm going to try and find some paperbacks, which should be easier to track down.
Random House set up an impressive website with excerpts and downloads and links to both authors' websites.
I hope people are still reading Wrecked. Please add your comments to the discussion entry below or begin a new one. And add a couple titles to the Wish List if you have ideas. I'm going to try and find some paperbacks, which should be easier to track down.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Wrecked
NOTE: We are locked in a tie for next month's book! Please vote if you have not yet done so!
The only other E.R. Frank book I've read is America -- has anyone else read her other stuff? That was a harsh story. Wrecked struck me (ooh, bad pun) as incredibly sad. I cried a lot.
This blurb leans towards the Reader's Response form of criticism, with lots of personal info thrown in, just an FYI.
Anna's relationship with her parents is fragile. She has little to no meaningful interaction with her mother and her dad has anger/control/fear issues. The brother-sister relationship between Anna and Jack has had its ups and downs, as you do when you get older and just don't pick on each other all the time, instead seeing the other as a person. Frank shows these with lots of flashbacks; I thought they were done well and did not seem forced.
This was a hard book for me to read. I liked it, I liked Anna, I liked Ellen. The hospital scenes with Ellen freaked me out. Her collapsed lung and breathing tubes were too much like my mom's; even the name was the same.
And her father's anger -- his need to control; his insistence that his children recognize that they are wrong and he is right; his obsession that things be done his way, even when it is ridiculous, such as picking up leaves by hand. I know what it is like to be on the receiving end of that. Those parts of the book were disturbing to me and very real, even though my dad isn't quite like that anymore.
The family situation becomes unbearable when Anna has the accident. That's the tipping point, that throws it all out into the open and Anna starts to crumble.
Therapy was not a quick fix. Frank knows what she is doing with that; if you read the flap copy, it explains Frank is a clinical social worker and psychotherapist who focuses on trauma.
I don't know if this book resonated with me because of my mom's recent death and the similarities between my dad and Anna's. The final page did not satisfy me -- yes, we know there is still progress to be made, but it didn't fit. Seemed tacked on. I wanted the dad to leave.
The silence of the stopped scream -- poetic and terrifying.
The only other E.R. Frank book I've read is America -- has anyone else read her other stuff? That was a harsh story. Wrecked struck me (ooh, bad pun) as incredibly sad. I cried a lot.
This blurb leans towards the Reader's Response form of criticism, with lots of personal info thrown in, just an FYI.
Anna's relationship with her parents is fragile. She has little to no meaningful interaction with her mother and her dad has anger/control/fear issues. The brother-sister relationship between Anna and Jack has had its ups and downs, as you do when you get older and just don't pick on each other all the time, instead seeing the other as a person. Frank shows these with lots of flashbacks; I thought they were done well and did not seem forced.
This was a hard book for me to read. I liked it, I liked Anna, I liked Ellen. The hospital scenes with Ellen freaked me out. Her collapsed lung and breathing tubes were too much like my mom's; even the name was the same.
And her father's anger -- his need to control; his insistence that his children recognize that they are wrong and he is right; his obsession that things be done his way, even when it is ridiculous, such as picking up leaves by hand. I know what it is like to be on the receiving end of that. Those parts of the book were disturbing to me and very real, even though my dad isn't quite like that anymore.
The family situation becomes unbearable when Anna has the accident. That's the tipping point, that throws it all out into the open and Anna starts to crumble.
Therapy was not a quick fix. Frank knows what she is doing with that; if you read the flap copy, it explains Frank is a clinical social worker and psychotherapist who focuses on trauma.
I don't know if this book resonated with me because of my mom's recent death and the similarities between my dad and Anna's. The final page did not satisfy me -- yes, we know there is still progress to be made, but it didn't fit. Seemed tacked on. I wanted the dad to leave.
The silence of the stopped scream -- poetic and terrifying.
Friday, August 04, 2006
It is time!
I have a hunch where the poll results are going to fall...I really wish this book was better; it got great reviews in The Horn Book; that's why I recommended it.
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