The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm, by Christie Golden

This is one of a series of books that elaborates the narrative behind the MMORPG, World of WarCraft.  I was delightfully surprised by the quality of writing in the book.  Golden is a talented author, worthy of the awards and recognitions she has received.  In the past when I've read books associated with TV series, movies, and  now computer/video games  (although this is the first book of that sort I've attempted) I have been disappointed.  Often they are just commercial products to profit from the popularity of media phenomenon.  I'm delighted this is different!  It reads very well and is an engaging story.  I think that even if you were not a player in WoW you could read and enjoy the story.  It is about leadership, power, corruption, and good intentions; all universal themes in literature!

As a WoW play I found this affecting me in two ways--first, I have begun to observe and understand more as I am "in game."  Now much of the landscape and "decor" have significance that I was overlooking.  As a reader I was able to read the book with much greater depth--understanding the gaming experience upon which the story is built.  I found myself flying around Orgrimmar looking for the skull and armor of Mannoroth. 

As a teacher/reader I am convinced about the value of knowing about this body of literature and seeing out similar titles for other games.  The young people in our schools are passionate about their games.  We need to use this passion in helping them to develop advanced reading skills.  It is also likely that we can help them move into other literature, perhaps some more aligned with the accepted canon, if we prove ourselves trustworthy.  Having familiarity with these sorts of titles will provide those sorts of credentials.

I must note the experience I had in real life while reading this book.  I was in Pagosa Springs, Colorado relaxing in the hot springs (strongly recommend you plan some time here if you are in the area!) and had this book with me.  Multiple individuals and families initiated conversations with me because of the World of Warcraft logo on the front of the book.  Two teen-aged boys and their parents were the first to initiate a conversation.  They boys were elbowing their parents in the pool--I'm assuming because they saw me as an example of an adult sanctioning WoW.  We talked about their game play.  Both boys had fallen away from WoW and were now more interested in Minecraft and other games.  (I could only think that probably the problem here was related to not having a spectacular guild like mine!  Inevitable Betrayers--you're the best!)  In every pool I ran into others who wanted to talk about the WoW phenomenon.  This included a woman of my age (nearing retirement) who talked about her friend who played almost every moment outside of work.  The power of books!!!  It never occurred to me that simply carrying a book with a WoW logo would open the way to multiple conversations and entry into a rich community of human citizens as I moved casually through the world.

I recommend this as a good choice for anyone who has contact with gamers.  Grandparents--it will open the doors into understanding the virtual lives of your grandkids, teachers--it will help you in multiple ways as you try to encourage your charges in their literacy development, parents--it will help initiate lively conversations with otherwise reticent children, citizens--you'll develop casual conversations and be granted entry into a community that is astonishingly large!  At it's height there were approximately 12 million players.  Currently there are approximately 6.8 million (http://www.statista.com/statistics/276601/number-of-world-of-warcraft-subscribers-by-quarter/).  It still remains the most popular PC game in the world (also from statista).  There is real power here that all of us need to understand and appreciate.  This novel will help the non-players do so.

Flight, by Sherman Alexie

Once again Sherman Alexie has challenged me but ultimately delivered a profound reading experience.  The book addresses our foster care system in this country, contemporary and historical Native American/Indian issues, and the power of the individual to make decisions about their own life's journey. I read this as our world is being challenged by the conflict/genocides in Iraq/Syria and the Ukraine.  Flight offered a perspective for me to think about these events.

This is listed on NoveList as an adult/YA cross-over book.  I found the beginning of the book, as sometimes happens with Sherman Alexie's writing, a much too graphic/violent for my tastes.  I almost put the book down.  But, I'm glad I stuck with it.  Ultimately I think the book offers invaluable insights into violence and conflict.  Yes, it's very hard to read at times--but ultimately it helps us understand the causes of and actually offers a possible path to healing wounds and reducing  violence and conflict.

I'm not certain that I would use this as a book in a high school class, but it is certainly one I would want to have available in my classroom/school library.  It's also a book I would recommend to study groups who are trying to come to grips with violence, conflict, and the challenges of our foster care system. 

A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

I picked this up because of a review I heard on NPR. A Fatal Grace is second in a series about Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of the Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec.  The series is technically "detective fiction" or a "murder mystery" but the writing itself is literary.  I will be reading other titles in this series and hope to continue to be delighted with the artful weaving of the arts with mystery/detective work.  

A Fatal Grace is set in a lovely village in the Canadian province of Quebec.  The cast of characters include a poet, two artists, and several other interesting folk.  The poetry included in the book is lovely and inspired me to return a volume of poetry to my "to read" stack.  Inspector Gamache is a particularly compelling main character.  He is intelligent, sensitive, and wise about people.  Unlike many other detectives he appears not be to plagued by major personality quirks or haunted by demons from his past. 

If I'm reading her home page correctly I have quite a bit of reading to do.  I appears there are 11 titles in this series to date. 

http://www.louisepenny.com/

Help for the Haunted by John Searles

This book was pretty compelling, right up to the end. 

Sylvie, a bright and motivated 14 year old, lives in a pretty discouraging home.  Her parents "heal" the haunted.  Her older sister is a rebel.  The book is a murder mystery.  Early in the story Sylvie's parents are murdered in a local church.  Sylvie may be the only one who has answers to the identity of the real murderer.

Over all I enjoyed the book.  The strands of the mystery are many and interwoven.  I would have personally chosen a different ending, but that is because I am always looking for cross-over books (adult books for young adults).  I will hesitate to recommend this book without forewarning (in my conservative state). 

One strength of the book is that there are many adults and a few young adults who actually support Sylvie and are actually somewhat helpful.  The main characters are relatively nuanced.  Generally I can recommend this as a summer read. 

Newsflesh Series by Mira Grant

Sorry for being so quiet this spring.  I've had my ear buds on, nose in my e-reader/books, and fingers on the keyboard!

One of the reading projects that distracted me from posting was the Newsflesh Series by Mira Grant.  The books in order are:

• Feed (2010) 
• Deadline (2011)
• Blackout  (2012)

Mira Grant is a pseudonym that Seanan McGuire uses for this series.   http://www.seananmcguire.com/

Zombies!!! (Again!) But, much much more!

Really, I think this series is more about the communication of news and opinion in the 21st century than it is about zombies.  Grant (McGuire) combines issues related to biomedical research, politics, and the media coverage of these two issues in this series.  If I wanted a book that helped secondary-aged students see the importance of learning to write well, this would be it.

The protagonists of the series, George (Georgia) and Shaun, are bloggers.  In the post-apocalyptic world of @2039) they are journalists (bloggers).  In this future traditional news sources (television network news, newspapers, magazines) no longer have the dominant presence as ways that citizens obtain information.  Instead bloggers are the primary sources for news.  Georgia and Shaun, with their friend Buffy are the CEOs of a blogging "company" that is trying to maintain high ratings in the extremely competitive blogosphere. In this world there are "newsies," "fictionals," and "Irwins."  These are obvious names for the types of blogs each writes, except for Irwins.  These are vloggers (video blogs) who capture video of zombies and zombie killing.  Yes, there is some violence, but no more than other popular zombie-based books/video.  

 WARNING!  There is a scene in Deadline that is sexually explicit, but not terribly salacious.  (Mira/Seanan--wish you'd left this out!)   I would use the first book of this series as a book-club choice for high schoolers.  I'd recommend the entire series to individual readers (just try and get them to stop after the first book!).  There is such great content in the series about politics, national health organizations, business, news, media, writing, and the market place (and self-protection) that it would actually be a good inter-disciplinary study book.

A third book under this pseudonym that I really enjoyed is Parasite (2013).  This is another biomedical "issues" book.  During the time that I was reading this series I also hear an NPR Science Friday program on stem-cell research.  The resonance of the surety of the scientists about how carefully they were safe-guarding the work they were doing made me immediately turn to a skeptical stance.  I wish that a someone more conservative yet authoritative voice had been available to offer a little more counterbalanced discussion of the risk factors.  http://sciencefriday.com/segment/02/14/2014/stem-cell-research-update.html

Of course some of the content of all three books in this series is alarming.  It could lead readers to a reactionary position about biomedical research.  My daughter has been a biology major and I am a strong supporter of science in all forms.  I do worry however that the majority of America does not pay much attention to the research underway.  Generally, I believe that our research has out-paced our ethics.  The current political debates about the "flash point" medical and genetic research is far behind the issues we should actually be exploring.  I believe these books are a great opening to get students more interested/involved.

The October List, Jeffery Deaver (2013)

I apologize for being so quiet.  I have been reading!  Some haven't been worth the blog space.  (I actually quit reading a book--good heavens!  I don't think I'll share the title, it was a great disappointment from a favorite author.  Just a hint--watch out for successful authors who begin to write co-authored books in which they are the second author!)

Back to The October List

I began composing (in my mind) a negative review of the book.  I thought Deaver had jumped into a writing experiment that spun out of control.  If you pick up the book--be warned.  At first you'll think Deaver has gone over the edge.  About one third of the way in you'll get hooked.  By the end you'll be breathless.

I got this as an audio book.  (Old age is not kind.  If you want to live to read all the books on your list you have to start walking while reading so that you can live long!)  For a bit of time I thought it was the audio format that was diminishing my enjoyment.  That turned out not to be true--but be warned.  There are photographs that accompany the book.  I could have looked at PDF files that were included in the audio book, but my library loan period expired before I got to opening that file.  A great reason to visit my local bookseller!

I can't say much about the book--it would spoil it.  The story starts and the end and then works backward.  Deaver will keep you reading!  I recommend planning to lose track of time (or walk a few extra miles like I did!)  The plot begins with a single mom whose daughter is kidnapped.  It sounds predictable--but is far from it.

I'd love to use this as a cross-over adult/YA book.  There are a couple of topics introduced that might make some students uncomfortable.  Make certain you read it first.  If you want to explore issues of narrative structure and text complexity this book is a great example of how limited CCSS and most "curriculum" is.  Authors are endlessly inventive!

Kudos Mr Deaver!

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly

2009
This books has received numerous awards including a Newberry Honor designation and an International Reading Association Book Award. It is historical fiction that explores life as experienced by an eleven year-old girl living in a small Texas town in 1899. (I may be over-generous with the historical fiction designation.  This may be realistic fiction set in an historical period.  But, it also has very nice connections to the history of science, so I'll be calling it historical fiction.) She does not easily fit into the expectations for a pre-teen girl in this time period.  She is something of a "tom-boy" and interested much more in exploring nature than working on her embroidery or tatting. 

Miraculously, her grandfather shares a passion for science with her.  They discover this shared interest when Calpurnia is "forced" to consult with him in an attempt to discover the difference between two types of grasshoppers that are plaguing the countryside in an unusually hot summer.  Once consulted, Grandfather helps Calpurnia on her path to learning scientific method and the research habits of a scientist. 

Much of the book details the research projects that Calpurnia and her grandfather undertake in this year.  It is a well crafted book that takes a broad look at life at the turn of the 20th century through the eyes of a preteen who doesn't quite fit in the role that society would dictate for her.  The International Reading Association calls this "intermediate fiction" but I think it may be better for older readers.  I shared information about this book with a friend who loved it so much she is now seeking out "used" copies to send to family member.  She suggested that it is really an adult book.  I do think that some "intermediate readers" would find the weight of this book a bit daunting.  It is not as "action packed" as other popular intermediate books.  However, with good teacher scaffolding it could come alive for this age group.  I can easily see this as a shared reading in an interdisciplinary unit looking at US History, biology, scientific method, and women's rights.

Gray Matter by Nick Pirog

I've been buying some inexpensive books recommended by a service called Book Bub--it sends me a daily list of "bargins."  Some of these have been really good reads, others I abandon.  This particular title is somewhere in between.  There were many flaws in the book, which made me a little agitated as I read, but overall I think Pirog is a promising author.  I finished the book in spite of the occasional lapses.  This is a "detective fiction" book with murder investigation as the primary plot. It is set primarily in the Northwest United States.

Pirog needs a good (and ruthless) editor.  The main character should be a relatively mature adult, certainly the life experiences that he has had would season someone of his intelligence and background.  However, he consistently behaves and thinks as a "semi-adult"--more like someone in their early twenties that the more early 40s that would be suggested by the book.  There are numerous technical errors in the book which should have been resolved through better research and editing.  One research lapse that I found particularly offensive was the extremely casual research about the wolf reintroduction programs in the Northwest and the habits of wolf packs.  I have a middle stand on wolf reintroduction, however this hot topic is not aided by inaccurate representations of the dangers of wolves.   Other irrelevant sub-plots should have been eliminated including the girl-friend at the beginning of the book and "Harold's story."

Still, the book shows that Pirog is a promising young author.  I have plenty of other options and still I was willing to keep reading.  I see from Internet searches that he has several other books out.  I think perhaps I'll give another one a try and see if he has worked on his author's craft since his first book.