Contemporary Realistic Fiction - Edgy/ Controversial

 For this week, we read four books that deal with controversial issues.

In Looking for Alaska, we learn about a group of high school students that spend their days and nights smoking and drinking.  One of the main characters is killed in a drunk driving accident.  These students also freely discuss sex and sex acts.

In Whale Talk, the issue is race.  The main character, TJ, is of mixed races.  His mother lost custody of him when he was a baby because she was always on drugs.  TJ is one of only a few people belonging to the race of color in the mostly white community.  TJ still goes to see his child therapist who is a Black woman, Georgia Brown. She is now counseling another child of color, Heidi.  She is the "adopted" daughter of one of the community booster leaders, Rich Marshall.  Rich is not very pleased to have to take care of this child and verbally and physically abuses his girlfriend and her daughter, Heidi.

DUFF stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend.  In this book, the high school students are very promiscous and sexually active.  Bianca declares that she lost her virginity at the age of 14.  There is also the issue of alcohol abuse when Bianca's father falls off the wagon and gets drunk.  Her father gets so drunk that he accuses her of being a whore and slaps her.

Abuse is the subject of What Happened to Cass.  Kyle blames Cass for the death of his brother David, but we find out that David lived a hard life suffering through his mother's yelling and verbal abuse.  Once Kyle leaves for college the abuse gets even worse.  Kyle pushes David to ask a girl out, this would make his mom happy and leave him alone for a little while.  But David goes for the most popular, most beautiful girl in their class.  Cass denies him and makes fun of him behind his back.  When David finds out about Cass's note, he kills himself.

Contemporary Realistic Fiction (Issues)

 These four realistic fiction books all involve issues that adolescents deal with everyday.  In Speak and Inexcusable, young ladies are suffering through the trauma of being raped.  In Speak, we have the perspective of the girl, in this case her name is Melinda.  She has been outcasted at school because other students do not know why she called the police to the underage party.  The other party goers blame her for ruining their good time.  Melinda won't speak to anyone about what really happened.  In the story Inexcusable, we gain the perspective of the male.  In this book. Keir doesn't know what he did wrong.  He thought his friend Gigi was having a good time with him.  He was holding her down, but he didn't hear her say NO.  Sexual harrassment and sexual abuse is a very real issue that teens deal with.
The other two books deal with school bullying or school violence.  In both books, the main characters create a list of peers that pick on them and they wish they would die.  In Hate List, the school shooting has already happened and we learn about the aftermath of this violence and how the students can try to stop the hate.  In Astonishing Adventures of FanBoy and GothGirl we learn how FanBoy has dealt with bullies in the past.  Kira (GothGirl) tries to encourage FanBoy to stand up to his bullies.  Kira has her own problems, with the main obstacle being dealing with her mother's death.  These characters all need to go see a therapist, if they are not already going to see one.

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Summary - Scarlett and Rosie were attacked by a Fenris (werewolf) at their grandmother's house when they were young.  Scarlett received numerous scars trying to protect her younger sister.  The girls' lives changed forever as they now hunt these wolves to save the world.  The two girls, along with the woodcutter's son, Silas travel to Atlanta where there have been numerous attacks and disappearances that are unexplained by those that don't know about the Fenris.  These hunters soon learn that a potential new Fenris is being stalked by the different “gangs” of Fenris.  The Fenris must find this potential during the full moon cycle.  Silas tries to convince Rosie that there is more to life than hunting wolves.  Silas and Rosie develop a strong bond that the Fenris try to use to their advantage.

Personal Reaction - 4 out of 5 stars

I really was concerned about the age difference in the two lovers.  I never really got connected to the characters to make me feel empathy or sympathy for them.  I enjoyed the YA version of a fractured fairy tale.  I liked the cover and admit I didn't even see the wolf face until half-way through reading.

Classroom Connections - Compare/Contrast story of Little Red Riding Hood.  Have the students read other Grimm Fairy Tales and write their own fractured fairy tales.  Also suggest reading "Sweetly" by Jackson Pearce which is a variation of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale.

Skulduggery Pleasant

For those readers who have been waiting for the next book to fill the void of Harry Potter, this one's for you. This book is a combination of adventure and fantasy all in one.
Brief summary: Stephanie's Uncle has just died and leaves her his residence and all of it's belongings. The first night she is stuck there alone with someone tries to break in and kill her. Skulduggery Pleasant shows up to save her and there begins their partnership. But Skulduggery is no ordinary man, he is a talking skeleton that only survives by his magical powers. The pair go on to solve the mystery of who tried to kill Stephanie.
The pace of the story was excellent and hard to put down. There are some violent scenes that concern me for younger readers. I give the book 4 out of 5 stars simply because there were too many unanswered questions. The fantasy/magic was just a bit too unbelievable for me. Good to note that there have been sequels written for this story.
Kids will like Skulduggery for his humor. Kids will also like the fast paced storylines with mystery and adventure.
As I was reading this book, I compared it a lot to Harry Potter but I also thought it reminded me of the Alfred Kropp series and the Dark is Rising. Teachers could recommend these books to students if they liked Skulduggery Pleasant. Students could also learn more about the skeleton system and draw their own version of Skulduggery.