An Abundance of Katherines

John Green is kind of a big deal in the world of teen lit. In his Printz Honor-winning novel An Abundance of Katherines we are introduced to Colin Singleton, recent high school graduate and former child prodigy, who has just been dumped for the 19th time by a girl named Katherine. To help him get over this latest dating disaster, Colin's friend Hassan takes him on a road trip. The two end up in the tiny town of Gutshot, Tennessee where they meet and become friends with Lindsey Lee Wells, a girl who tries her hardest to become what other people expect in order to remain popular. Colin and Hassan stay with Lindsey and her mother for the summer, taking jobs collecting local oral history samples. During this time, Colin tries to come up with a mathematical formula to explain his terrible luck with girls and predict the outcome of any other future relationship, desperately hoping that this formula will finally allow him to truly matter to the world.

Yes, the premise of this story is a little wacky. But if you can get past the unlikelihood of a boy having dated so many girls all with the same name, the novel is absolutely amazing. Laugh-aloud hilarious at parts, but full of coming-of-age sincerity at others. This is really a story about love, heartbreak and how we all strive to make a difference and "matter" to the rest of the world.

I actually listened to this as an audiobook. Jeff Woodman narrates the story, and he does a great job to providing each of the main characters with different voices and narrating with honest enthusiasm. The final chapters of this book are particularly philosophical, however, and I do kind of wish that I had been able to read the end of the book to better absorb some of this philosophy instead of listening to it straight though. But overall, a highly enjoyable book to hear aloud.

Overall Grade: A+

Fever, 1793

I've been terribly inundated with my reading for this semester's classes, so I sadly haven't had much time to read anything just for my own amusement. But I have been reading some good things in my classes! Here's one of my favorites so far:

Laurie Halse Anderson is a great name to know in the realm of YA lit. Her novel Fever, 1793 tells the story of 14-year-old Mattie Cook. She, her mother, and grandfather live in Philadelphia where they run a thriving coffeeshop. Mattie has great plans to someday expand the shop and eventually travel to Paris, but spends much of her time disagreeing with her more practical mother. Tragedy strikes in the title year, however, when yellow fever spreads throughout the city. Mattie's mother falls ill early on, and Mattie and her grandfather are sent to the countryside to stay with friends in the hopes that they will be able to avoid the epidemic. The two fall sick along the way, however, and are left to rely on the kindness of strangers to nurse them back to health. When Mattie recovers and returns to Philadelphia, she finds her beloved city greatly changed. The fever rages on, many have fled and only the poorest and worst of society remain, her home has been ransacked by looters, and her mother is nowhere to be found. Now it is up to Mattie to find strength within herself to find what she needs to survive.

This is a great historical adventure. Anderson has clearly done her research about this time period and about the yellow fever epidemic in particular, and many historical notes can be found at the end of the book for those interested in learning more. The supporting characters are engaging and are certainly key for helping Mattie get back on her feet, but it is definitely her own strength that sees her though. The supporting characters are also an incredibly diverse bunch, which helps to show readers how people of different social classes and situations were affected by this terrible epidemic. I'd definitely recommend this book for anyone in the middle school crowd and up interested in historical fiction and/or survival and adventure stories.

Overall Grade: A+

The Graveyard Book

Here it finally is: This year's Newbery Medal winner, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.

Set in an unnamed English city, the story opens with a man named Jack breaking into a family's home. He has killed the parents and their daughter, and now only needs to track down the family's baby. The toddler has ideas of his own, however, as he escapes his crib unaware of the danger and goes for a walk through the neighborhood toward the graveyard. The ghosts who inhabit this ancient burial ground take the boy under their protection by giving him Freedom of the Graveyard, which allows him to see all of the inhabitants of the afterlife who reside here and the ability to learn a few of their tricks in order to keep himself safe. Named "Nobody" by his new parents ("Bod" for short), the boy grows up receiving an education that only ghosts who have been dead for hundreds of years can give him. Things grow more interesting for Bod as he grows older and begins to have an interest in the outside world. Bod suddenly feels the need to leave the safety of his graveyard to see how the living live their lives, which puts him in danger again as he begins to draw attention to himself - even the attentions of the man Jack, who still seems desperate to kill him.

This book was definitely a worthy Newbery winner. Neil Gaiman is a bit of an expert in prose, combining serious narration with witty and often snarky snide comments that flow perfectly together. One of my personal favorite lines, showing Gaiman's witt and Bod's tenacious character, is: "He decided not to tell them what he was planning, on the not entirely unreasonable basis that they would have told him not to do it." (113) Brilliant, I'd say. The writing will appeal to readers of all ages, both young and old, and this might be an enjoyable family read-aloud.

The Graveyard Book draws a lot of material from Kipling's The Jungle Book, and I am eager to reread this classic to see if I can pick up on more references than those I remembered the first time. What this similarity means is that the reader gets to watch Bod grow up in an environment that he was never intended to have access to and slowly begin to return to normal human life as he comes of age. He even has companions who fill the roles of Kipling's Baloo and Baghera as they act as his teachers and protectors. Bod's growing interest in the rest of humanity is well done as he discovers both the beauties and flaws in the world, but still wishes to explore it.

Bod's life in the graveyard is generally peaceful and somewhat idyllic, but the pockets of danger that the reader sees are intense. The first thirty pages or so of the story, as the man Jack chases Bod with a knife intent on killing him, are especially horrifying. Even if his motives are a bit weak (my only complaint about this book), Jack is a terrible villain and the threat of his return is always a cause for anxiety.

Overall Grade: A

Seeking Information on Crafts!

I just got back from a meeting sponsored by my library's system about programming for Summer Library Program. Overall, it was a great experience. We got to look at all sorts of cool crafts and got some great recommendations of books to look at for more information about these sometimes-elaborate projects.

My one complaint: Some of the books that were mentioned are no longer in print! I understand how this happens, as the two librarians running the program have been around for a long time so they naturally have some old tried and true favorites. But that doesn't really help the rest of us, who might have trouble finding the books they referenced. So now I'm on a mission to look for more current resources that might be helpful with book/paper-making projects. Anyone have any suggestions? Or know of any other super-cool crafts/craft books?

For those who haven't heard, this summer's theme is "Get Creative @ Your Library." Not a bad theme at all, as it leaves lots of room for librarians to really flex their artistic/musical/dramatic muscles. It will be interesting to see how different libraries approach this theme - after all, every library will be able to "get creative" in their own unique way!