review of books for young people

Posts Tagged ‘review of books for young people’

Gilly Hopkins and Queenie Peavy

Posted by: Allison on: January 21, 2013

In: Classic (Prior 1950) | Grades 3-5 | Grades 6-8 | Humor | Realistic | Social Issues | Teasers
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Let’s hear it for Gilly and Queenie! These two young ladies have a reputation for being troublemakers. Eleven-year-old Gilly has been bounced around the foster care system. Eighth-grader Queenie lives at home, but might be headed to jail like her dad. They’re also among the most famous anti-heroines in juvenile fiction.

Cover of The Great Gilly Hopkins

When we first meet Gilly Hopkins, we learn that in the past three years she’s already been in two different foster homes. When her caseworker Miss Elllis turns into the driveway of yet another home, she asks Gilly to get rid of her bubble gum before they get out. Gilly obliges–by spreading her gum “under the handle of the left-hand door as a surprise for the next person who might try to open it”. Seconds within her arrival at her new foster home, Gilly has sat herself down at a piano stool and is pounding out “Chopsticks”. Before you think Gilly is just acting out, listen to some of her thoughts about her new foster mom: “What an awful smile she had” and “Listening to that woman was like licking melted ice-cream off the carton.” Gilly is one angry girl! Yet underneath all the bravado and attitude, there’s a girl who wants to be liked. You see, no family has kept Gilly long enough for Gilly to consider it worth her time to unpack her suitcase at each new place. As for that suitcase, Gilly carries a photograph in it of her mom–and that photo is the only thing that remotely triggers tears. Unfortunately, just because Gilly has a heart that doesn’t mean Gilly is easy to like. Quite the opposite! Gilly is a porcupine with her quills always bared. If this were any other book, Gilly’s new guardian Maime Trotter might instantly win her over and the rest of the book would be about how love changed Gilly. But this is a realistic portrayal of a foster kid, inspired by Paterson’s own experience of being a foster mom, and so love doesn’t come easy to Gilly. In the process of learning to accept Maime Trotter, Gilly talks back to adults, tells the only girl at school who attempts to be friends with her that she makes Gilly sick, gets into fights, and steals from her neighbor. She also keeps writing her mom, telling her about how horrible life is, and asking to be rescued. The story takes an unexpected twist when Gilly receives a response to her letter. In The Great Gilly Hopkins, Katherine Paterson has created a brat whom we grow to love despite Gilly’s best attempts to antagonize everyone.

Cover of Queenie Peavy

When we first meet Queenie Peavy, we learn that she’s the only girl in Cotton Junction who could chew and spit tobacco. That however isn’t what lands Queenie in the principal’s office in the first chapter. Rather, her action of throwing rocks at the boiler room door does. If you expect Queenie to feel fear or remorse at being in trouble, she acts just the opposite. She boasts of her deadly aim. And when Mr. Handley recites a long list of misdemeanors, Queenie simply informs him that he’s left out a few. Until she’s told that the judge wants to see her, nothing fazes Queenie. Yet deep inside exists another side to Queenie, one that is sorry that Queenie told the principal that she didn’t care what happened to her. The problem is that Queenie has said “I don’t care” for so long that now sometimes she actually believed it. We soon learn other harsh realities about Queenie, such as that she doesn’t seem to feel bad for throwing rocks at kids who tease her or killing a squirrel for food. Life might have continued like this for Queenie if not for two incidents. One happens when she hurts a student in an act of revenge. The other happens when she’s accused of breaking the window in the church bell tower. Both of these land her one step closer to jail or towards following in her other’s footsteps, which Queenie initially thinks just might be fine by her. Except then her dad is released from jail, allowing Queenie to see an unexpected side to her dad. Then Queenie faces choices about who she will become. In Queenie Peavy, Robert Burch has created a troublemaker whom we grow to love despite Queenie’s penchant for making bad choices.

Why do I cheer for Gilly and Queenie? If I met them in real life, I’m sure neither would be easy to love. Yet I applaud their staunch determination to persevere against the odds. Especially because I know that inside both girls want to do the right thing. Sometimes though being good is hard. And these two anti-heroines are a testament to this truth.

My rating? Bag them: Carry them with you. Make them a top priority to read.

How would you rate these books?

What other juvenile books feature bad kids or anti-heroes? What do you think of them? What do you think of the ones I have featured?

bu-review for kids: the great gilly hopkins by katherine paterson

Tags: Allison's Book Bag, bad kids in juvenile books, Great Gilly Hopkins, Katherine Paterson, Queenie Peavy, review of books for young people, Robert Burch

Bad Kids in Picture Books

Posted by: Allison on: January 14, 2013

In: Caldecott | Classic (Prior 1950) | Grades K-2 | Humor | Teasers
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Earlier this month, I started writing about anti-heroes in books for young people. Bad kids aren’t necessarily anti-heroes, in that bad kids can change. All the same, this talk about anti-heroes did bring to my mind three picture books wherein the kids at least start out bad.

Cover of Where the Wild Things Are

First, let’s start with the boys. Remember Max from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak? One night he wears a wolf suit and makes mischief. We aren’t told in words but through the illustrations that Max hangs a clothesline in his room, which makes holes in his walls. He also chases the family dog. We are told in words, however, that Max is sent to his room without supper when he talks back to his mom. In the confines of his bedroom begins a wild adventure, where Max meets monsters who gnash their teeth, roll their eyes, and show their claws. There is no indication as they wave farewell to Max that the monsters ever change and so for all we know these wild beasts might still be scaring kids and threatening to eat them up. As for Max, he returns home where he finds his supper still waiting for him. Does he apologize to his mom? We’re never told. Sendak never moralised. Instead, Sendak graced children by writing about their dark fantasies.

How about Alexander from Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst? When Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair, trips on a skateboard while getting out of bed, and drops a sweater in the sink while the water is running, he could tell it was going to be a “terrible, no good, very bad day”. Don’t you just love that phrase? Just saying it makes my worst days feel just a little brighter. The rest of this picture book is about all the other misadventures that Alexander has, which make him want to move to Australia. As I reread Alexander now, I realize that in many ways he wasn’t all that bad. It’s not really Alexander’s fault if he sang too loud or left out the number sixteen when he counted. Yet if you pay attention, you’ll notice lines like “I hope you sit on a tack, Paul.” And you’ll also see that he punched Nick. He also refused to wear the plain old white shoes that he didn’t want but got stuck with because the blue ones were all sold out. Let’s also not forget the fact that due to all the bad stuff that was happening to him, he planned to run away. I love Alexander! He might not teach the grandest morals, but he says the things many of us feel inside when things don’t go our way.

Cover of Eloise (Eloise Series)

Next, let’s turn to a girl. Remember Eloise, a creation of Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight? I discovered Eloise as an adult, which is probably not the best time, because it makes me difficult to appreciate her the way I might have as a child. Or maybe I wouldn’t ever have fallen in love with her, due to her unusual lifestyle. Eloise is a six, lives in the Plaza, and spends a lot of time taking care of herself. Her routine involves checking in with the desk clerk to hear the latest gossip, going to the mail desk to buy stamps, and visiting the house calls to see if anybody is in. It also involves making mischief in the lobby, which Eloise herself admits she does. For example, she edges into the middle of a full elevator and loses her skate key. She also spends a lot of time going up and down elevators. One gets the sense that parents don’t play much of a role in Eloise’s life. Perhaps, that’s why my heart is torn when I read Eloise. Part of me feels sad and outraged that the hotel staff know Eloise better than her own mom. At the same time, another part of me laughs at all her pranks and imaginative ways to have fun. In that Eloise doesn’t fit into our norms of what make perfect girls, and stays firmly true to herself, I’d label Eloise an ideal anti-hero.

My rating? Bag them: Carry them with you. Make them a top priority to read.

How would you rate these books?

What other picture books feature bad kids or anti-heroes? What do you think of them? What do you think of the ones I have featured?

Tags: Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, Allison's Book Bag, bad kids in picture books, Eloise, Hilary Knight, Judith Viorst, Kay Thompson, Maurice Sendak, review of books for young people, Where the Wild Things Are

Interview with Mags Storey

Posted by: Allison on: July 24, 2011

In: Authors N-Z | Grades 6-8 | Grades 9-11 | Religious | Romance | Suspense | Teasers
17 Comments

Normally, I contact authors directly for interviews. With Mags Storey, I actually contacted her first through her publicity manager who graciously forwarded on my email. Despite her hectic schedule, Mags Storey gladly made time to answer my questions. She even rearranged her schedule to squeeze in time for an interview. So, I thank both Cat Hoort and Mags Storey for their time.

Allison: Why did you write for the Christian market?

Mags: I wrote If Only You Knew very much out of who I was and what I knew. There is a lot of me in both Lisa and Jo. It’s really an outpouring of my own life, set to fiction.

Allison: What has been some memorable reactions for you from the Christian community? From those outside the church?

Mags: The reaction outside the church has been amazing! So many people I know who have either left the church or are wary of church felt heard and represented in the story, and that really matters to me. In the same vein I heard from a lot of Christians on the edge of church-life who felt represented. It is very much a book about doubts and struggles, and some people really resonate with that.

Allison: How did you feel when you heard your book had won awards? What were highlights for you from the awards ceremony?

Mags: I never expected to win in a million years! Because the book breaks so many conventions of Christian fiction. It’s not a spiritually neat book. It’s very messy. And I found the awards very validating that there was a place for that kind of voice to exist in Christian fiction.

Allison: The mystery surrounding Nate really pulled me into your novel. How did you come up with the idea for it?

Mags: That’s a very hard question to answer without giving anything away! I will say that the final twist didn’t appear until the last draft I wrote. Actually the story there is not that different from things which can and do happen in real churches that reach out to those on their fringes.

Allison: The church group depicted in your novel were often open and honest about their struggles. Is it based on a real church or youth group experience?

Mags: Oh absolutely! I think it’s true for a lot of churches even if we don’t always have the courage to be honest about it.

Allison: Your novel explores doubts, even on the part of Christians. What advice would you offer to a young person wrestling with their own faith or is a spiritual misfit?

Mags: I’d say not to give up! God is so much bigger than one bad church, one lousy leader or one poor experience. There are so many other people out there who have gone through similar struggles. Find those people, and hang onto the faith that you’re worth fighting for.

Allison: You are a journalist. You also belong to writing communities, including Praxis where you are posting a brand new evolving romance. How do you balance a career in journalism, participation in writing communities, and work on a novel?

Mags: I’m very busy! I also have young kids too. I guess you just make time for the things that matter and surround yourself by supportive people.

Allison: You referred to Word Guild and ACFW on your blog. How have these groups helped you? What other supports did you find for working on your novel?

Mags: Surrounding yourself by supportive people, whether in your own profession or others, is incredibly important. And I really appreciate all the help I’ve received, especially from members of the World Guild in helping If Only You Knew become the book it is today.

Allison: On your blog, you asked for ideas of what to tell students about the editing process. Being a resource teacher who helps students with reading and writing, this post interested me. What did you end up telling the students? What other kind of invitations do you receive from schools or churches?

Mags: Normally I talked to groups about doubts, self-esteem and bullying. But in this particular case we wrote a short story together and then refined it over several drafts. It was really exciting for them to see how they could develop their ideas and imagination through the editing process.

Image via Wikipedia

Allison: What are your favorite activities outside of writing?

Mags: I love listening to live music. I enjoy dancing. I love being around the water. And I do a lot of travel.

Allison: What Christian novels (or about faith) do you recommend?

Mags: I love everything by Madeline L’Engle.

Allison: What are you working on next?

Mags: I have two new novels in the works, both darker and messier while having strong romantic elements.

Question/Poll (page 1) (hopeofglory.typepad.com)

Tags: Allison's Book Bag, author interviews, book reviews, Christian fiction, If Only You Knew, Mags Storey, postaday2011, review of books for young people, spiritual misfits

If Only You Knew by Mags Storey

Posted by: Allison on: July 23, 2011

In: Current (After 1999) | Grades 6-8 | Grades 9-11 | Realistic | Religious | Teasers
2 Comments

The award-winning book If Only You Knew by Mags Storey is your typical Christian romance … with, perhaps, a dead guy. The mystery of what really happened is my favorite part. The rest grew on me, because Mags Storey had the courage to confront how messy love and faith can be.

“Perhaps I should have read something into the fact that when I first laid eyes on Sam some girl was yelling at him, and when I first met Kevin he nearly killed me.” This opening hook instantly reeled me in. Even with teen romance being the dominant focus, the next few pages likewise baited me. As a former unpopular teen, I understand the fireworks-at-first-sight fantasy. However, when both Sam and Kevin take a serious interest in heroine Joanna MacKenzie, I rolled my eyes. While popular girls may indeed have a guy on each arm, Jo seems too insecure about herself to believe the same could happen to her. And if she were captivating enough to have two guys simultaneously become interested in her, this former wallflower would have no interest in reading about her.

To make matters worse, Sam is a little weird. What guy chooses to not only befriend a girl he just met, but to also go out of his way to encourage her to date his opposition? This guy has just broken up with his girlfriend in an unpleasant and loud quarrel on the beach, but now is showing up on Jo’s doorstep almost every day. One could think he is just a broken-hearted puppy in need of comfort. Yet he listens to her innermost thoughts and secrets, debates faith with her, encourages her to like herself, helps her fix up a store, and takes her to places where she can catch Kevin’s attention. No, he’s not gay; he’s just a very nice guy.

Thankfully, when the romance becomes a little too unrealistic, there is still the mystery of the dead guy. When Jo attends a concert on the beach, she recognizes one of the musicians; problem is, he’s supposed to be dead. Even when Jo discovers through her snooping that Nate had survived being struck by a car a year ago, the mystery only deepens. Two strange men keep showing up. Sam believes they are a threat; Kevin tries to convince Jo she is being paranoid. None of Kevin’s other friends, who also know Nate, seem to want to talk about the attack. Even when men threaten Jo in the presence of Kevin, everyone still acts as if the attack never happened. The mystery kept my heart racing because it felt real and scary, but also took me a long time to unravel.

If Only You Knew is a Christian conversion novel. As such, Jo starts out as an unbeliever, with lots of doubts about God. She is also insecure and in desperate need of acceptance and love. Another main character, Sam, is a former church member, with doubts but also lots of antagonism towards believers. Both struggle with questions about the gospel. So far, none of this will be news to anyone who has read a conversion novel. Moreover, in labeling If Only You Knew a conversion novel, you should be able to guess the ending. This, then, is the number two reason that I didn’t think I would like it; the first reason being the seemingly simplistic romance. I am not sure who the intended audience is for conversion novels. Most often these books are found in religious stores, where most patrons already have accepted the truth of the gospel. Why do Christian novels relegate doubts and criticisms to the unbelievers? Are Christians really so secure in their faith?

To make matters worse, the religious storyline felt convoluted. “So tell me honestly, were you terribly disappointed when you realized that I was the one jumping in after you and not blond-tufty-God-boy?” Sam asks this question of Jo, after he rescues her from her fall off a pier. Sam hasn’t found a God worth believing in, nor does church work for him, which is why he puts down Kevin. Why then does Sam check out the religious concert on the beach and then attend other events held by the same church group? Sam tells Jo that his sister is really into church, will soon marry, and that the concert is being held by her church. Fair enough, I guess; the first time. How though does this explain his continued interest?

Here’s the kicker: Although I knew the eventual fate of Jo’s soul, I kept reading If Only You Knew because I wanted to know how the romance and the conversion would be resolved, much as one watches certain murderer-revealed-upfront mysteries to see how the bad guy will be caught. And a huge reason I wanted to know is because of how openly and honestly Mags Storey explored the messiness of love and faith. In struggling to decide which guy she loved, Jo faced a dilemma that I readily identified with: she had to pick not on the basis of which guy was the most handsome or charming guy but rather was the right guy for her. As for the conversion storyline, it too turned out to be much more complex than I expected. Mags Storey has referred to herself as a spiritual misfit, identifying with Thomas who told Jesus: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” All of her main characters, perhaps even more so her Christian ones, fit that description. As such, they voiced many doubts and convictions that I feel on a daily basis.

In reading some of the criticisms of If Only You Knew, I admire that Mags Storey had the guts to depict the Christians in her book as being flawed despite their faith. I have met too many people who have dropped out of the church due to feeling that they needed to have a perfect faith to be Christian. In If Only You Knew, Nate outwardly maintains a strong church leadership, while inwardly harboring anger and resentment. Kevin manages to hold it together during church services, but slips into old bad habits during the week. Even peppy Lisa has her insecurities. The only difference between them and Jo is that they turn to God during their highs and lows; not because they have it all together, but because they are believers. Too many Christian novels I have read have been about how unbelievers find perfect peace in God, rather than portraying the true messiness of imperfect people trying to live for God. These latter novels may exist, but if so I am not aware of them. This spiritual misfit looks forward to a time when even more books feature Christians as the ones wrestling with spiritual questions.

My rating? Read it: Borrow from your library or a friend. It’s worth your time.

How would you rate this book?

Tags: Allison's Book Bag, book reviews, Christian fiction, If Only You Knew, Mags Storey, postaday2011, review of books for young people, spiritual misfits

Giveaway & Review of Christian Novel!

Posted by: Allison on: July 22, 2011

In: Religious | Teasers
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You won’t want to miss the exciting features this week on Allison’s Book Bag. Just this past weekend, I announced my first giveaway. This week, I will also post my first review of a Christian novel.

You can win a signed copy of two picture books by Newfoundland author Eva Keefe. Just post a comment to Review of Eva Keefe’s books or to an Interview with Eva Keefe to have your name entered into a draw for her two books. Be sure to include an email address with your comment, so that I can contact you. Your email address will not be published, but will simply be used to contact you.

I will also post teasers for the newest book I will review: If Only You Knew by Mags Storey. My family recommended it to me. I just recently finished reading my sister’s copy and will share reactions this weekend. Save the Date: July 24!

Awards: If Only You Knew by Mags Storey garnered three awards at the 2010 Canadian Christian Writing Awards! Of the hundreds of entries received, it was selected as the winner in both the “Novel – Romance” and “Book – Young Adult” categories. Mags Storey also received the new Grace Irwin Award. It celebrates the best book published in 2009 by an author from the Canadian Christian community. Check back on Sunday for my review!

Inspiration: According to Mags Story, a mix of inspirations came together to form her young adult Christian novel. The initial inspiration for the story (the “pier scene”) came to her in a dream. Each of the characters were based on four or five people including herself. Lots of bits from ex-boyfriends were also interwoven. Some of the conversations were based on real ones she had with people and questions friends have asked her that she had also struggled with. Many of what she considers the funniest and saddest parts came from real incidents in her past. Other parts she just invented.

Spiritual Misfit Defined: On Facebook, Mags Storey calls herself a spiritual misfit. She coined the term on the spur of the moment, when she realized that no matter how hard she tried to define herself, and her faith in God, there would always be someone who thought she didn’t quite ‘fit’ into their definition of what a Christian, or a person, or even a writer should be! At Interviews and Reviews, Mags Storey said that the concept of spiritual misfit is summed up in the contradiction found in Mark 9:24: “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!”

Spiritual Misfit Examples: Several spiritual misfits appear in If Only You Knew by Mags Story, including the main character Jo who is insecure and looking for someone to believe in her. The people she encounters, even the Christians whom she thinks have their act together, are also spiritual misfits in their own way. There is a Christian leader who struggles with anger and betrayal, a Christian musician who seems on the outside but hides inner brokenness, along with the Sunday Christian who wrestles with temptations during the week. I will review her book about misfits in just two days!

Tags: Allison's Book Bag, book reviews, giveaway, If Only You Knew, Mags Storey, postaweek2011, review of books for young people, spiritual misfits

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