Report on Reading Rants!

Reading Rants! was founded by Jennifer Swan in 1998 with help from web designer Andrew Mutch. She is a Middle School Librarian in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. Her motivation behind the site was her love of teens, sharing literature that speaks to them, and the great respect she has for Young Adult literature. The blog is primarily made up of “out of the ordinary” booklists for teens.

The level of activity on this blog is high. Swan posts a new book and review approximately every week. This makes the blog a very rich resource because not only is there an upward of 350 books listed on the site, all the books are reviewed by a professional librarian and reviewer. Sawn also makes an annual list of her Top Ten books of the year and makes sure there is information about the blog and interesting facts about the people involved in the site. There is some user activity, but not as much as one would expect from a blog that reviews books so regularly.

The types of books that Jennifer Swan reviews are typically books that are not considered to be mainstream, but she does review prevalent and popular literature as well. Her choices of books are what reflect the issues and trends in YA Lit; Swan incorporates a wide variety of books to help reflect the diversity, even if she openly does not like the genre. She also makes the themes of the site very teen friendly and doesn’t shy away from topics, such as “druggie fiction”, that teens enjoy but aren’t necessarily approved of by their parents. She also tries to incorporate literature that reflects some of the issues teens face such as books about eating disorders or characters who are LGBTQ.

There is quite a lot of interactivity and networking on this blog in the form of links to other Young Adult blogs and author websites. Swan has made a list of top book review websites and blogs for teens where teens can look at other blogs specifically made for their audience. She has also listed the top kid and teen-lit blogs for adults, who are looking for other resources. There is a list of out of the ordinary authors that Swan has chosen and all are links to their websites. Reading Rants! also does presentations at libraries, schools, staff training days, and conferences. These presentations are on a wide variety of topics on Young Adult literature, including: Swan’s Top Ten titles of the year, trips for working with teens, YA programming that works, bootalking tips, how to talk to parents about YA fiction, collection development, and graphical novels for teens. From the date list it does not appear that Jennifer Swan has done a presentation in quite some time, but the option is available.

The evidence of teen participation varies but there are some threads that are quite active. The average number of comments for most books is approximately five; sometimes there are no comments, sometimes a few, and sometimes more than fifteen.  From the comment records, there is an average of one comment per day, sometimes more. There seems to be a group of core contributors that post on all of Swan’s reviews, but there are other teens participating as well. There is a comment feed for recent comments near the top of the page where you can see what teens have said, which can be useful if teens want to know quickly what teens have to say about the books on the blog. The only place for teens to contribute is through comments on books and the Top Ten picks. 

One thing that I didn’t particularly like about this blog was the ambiguity of topics in the Reading Rants booklist. For example, terms like “enquiring minds want to learn” and “home fries” don’t tell you a lot about the books that may be under this topic. In this form, it makes it hard to pick which booklist you may be interested in. However, when you click on one of the topics it does expand the definition, such as, “enquiring minds want to learn: unusual biographies/memoirs for teens”.  Although it adds quirkiness to the site, I think it makes searching for books you want harder to do. I also thought that it could have been slightly more interactive. I do appreciate that Jennifer Swan kept the blog primarily as a booklist so that books were easy to find, some blogs can be too cluttered and oversaturated, but I think that it would be more popular and fun if there were a couple more social elements to it. I did like the look of the blog. It is generated by wordpress.com and has a clean, sophisticated yet fun look that makes it easy to read and easy to navigate.

Since this was primarily a booklist blog I learnt a lot about what kinds of books teens are reading and how teens feel about them. It was interesting to see what books had comments from teens, and what books didn’t. There were a few books that had over forty comments and it was easy to tell that this book was really popular among teens. The books that didn’t have any comments a lot of teens may have been unfamiliar with, which shows that the site is attempting to introduce teens to new literature that doesn’t always make the top ten lists. I found the lists of blogs for both teens and adults to be a very useful resource. I looked at some of the ones I hadn’t heard of before and I got a broader idea of some of the current trends in YA literature. I also really liked the links to blogs that were by and for teens. There were some interesting reviews made by teens that gave a good insight into what teens value when it comes to reading. This blog is relatively simple, but it is a very useful resource for teens that are looking for books they may enjoy. I would recommend it to teens and I would also use it as a resource to see what out of the ordinary books are popular or of good quality. 

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

I really liked this novel. I really enjoyed the style that it was written it, the prose was fluid and the language was very appropriate to the character. There were a few times where I was unsure who was talking because the dialogue isn't in quotation marks, but it didn't take away from the novel at all.

I felt like most of the story was very natural and plausible, even if it was a utopia(in the beginning). Being the type of children they were, the fact that they lived almost parent-less didn't seen harsh or unreasonable. It fit their style, and the style of the novel. For most of it, excluding some of the occupation, the book was very young and fresh and green. There was so much romanticism at every turn, it was very beautiful and rich. Small elements of magic-realism added an even greater romantic depth to the story and to characters like Edmond and Isaac. Isaac kind of reminds me of Dickon Sowerby from The Secret Garden. They really did have their own little world free of societal pressures and biases; their love was pure even if it wasn't acceptable.

I was very sad near the end when Daisy had to shoot Ding in the head but I was very glad that none of the children died. The last few chapters with the description of the garden was beautiful and sad. I was happy though that the children were together again and they could resume their lives and heal together.

There were a few things that didn't seem to add up right, like how Piper started her long term relationship with Jonathan when she was ten or so. Even though Piper is very mature for her age, she's also very childlike and I don't know if this is realistic. I also don't really understand how Daisy's dad could get her so quickly out of England just because she "needed" to be hospitalized. I guess it was just an excuse, but it seemed unlikely that during a time of occupation that a girl like her would be such a priority. Other than that I really enjoyed the novel.

Review of Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

New York: Hyperion Paperbacks, 2006.

300 pages, paperback, 11.99 CAN

ISBN: 978-1-4231-0126-0

Recommended for: Grades 8-12

Star Rating: 2.5/4

Melissa de la Cruz was born in the Philippines but immigrated to San Francisco, CA when she was twelve. She attended Columbia University where she studied English Literature and Art History. She is known for her series The Au Pairs (2004) and The Ashleys (2008) and her handbooks on fashion and pop culture, How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less (2003) and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-Inch Heels and Faux Pas (2004). De la Cruz has also worked in the fashion industry writing for magazines such as Glamour, Marie Claire, and CosmoGirl!. Blue Bloods is the first novel in the hit series; there are five novels in the series to date.

The Blue Bloods are a rich and powerful group of vampires seeking to redeem themselves after being banished from Heaven. Their society is secret to the Red Bloods(humans), but they are the power behind some of the most influential organizations in New York City. When a young Blue Blood is found murdered some of her fellow students at their prep school begin to suspect the Silver Bloods, a mythical group of rouge vampires who feed off the blood of other Blue Bloods. But who among them is the Silver Blood? The story is told from the perspective of three powerful and unique young women: an outsider grunge girl with a powerful destiny, the most beautiful girl in school whose popularity trumps that of movie stars, and the new girl who is having a mysterious reaction to her vampire transformation.

Recommended: Although the overload of designer name-drops and the continuous acts of conspicuous consumption often get in the way, De la Cruz manages to spin an imaginative tale around the group of young, rich socialites. The story is original and the plot twists are far from predictable. The characters more accurately reflect an older age group; it seems unrealistic that 15 year olds frequent clubs, engage in highly sexualized acts of blood drinking, and have the social connections of a movie star. However the combination of mystery, vampire lore, romance, and fashion is sure to draw in teen readers and keep them reading well into the series. This series may be limited to female readers.

Reviewed by Davin Helkenberg

March 28, 2011

Please view this video for a plot summary of the first three books of the series!

Don't You...Forget About Me

Here the “book talk” that Gillian and I did for class! See Gillian's blog tiredstarlingyam for more details!

The Breakfast Club: A Movie Trailer

Friesen, G. (Producer), & Hughes, J. (Director). (1985). The breakfast club [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures.

Plot Summary
High school is a difficult time for most people. At Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois, where status and connections mean everything, five very different students are forced to spend a Saturday together in detention. Each student represents a different social group. Andrew is the jock, Brian is the brain, Claire is the popular one, John Bender is the criminal and Allison is the outsider. They begin the day with established prejudices and annoyance at having to spend an entire day together. The principal, Mr. Vernon assigns an essay to each student asking them to explain who they think they are. As the students spend time together and discuss their family lives, secrets and dreams, they realize that there is more to each other than their cliques and social standing. They have similarities that run deeper then the surface.

Notes on Character, Setting, Director
The movie focuses on five different teenagers representing five different cliques within their high school. As they become friends, the students realize that they all share similar pressures, mostly stemming from their parents. Andrew is an athlete/jock. He feels pressure from him father to be the best at all times. Claire is the most popular girl in school who is the target of John Bender’s insults. She believes that her divorced parents use her to get back at each other. Brian is the brain and he feels pressure from his family to do well academically. It is revealed that he is suicidal. Allison is the outsider, she thinks about running away from home to get attention. John Bender is the criminal/punk. He is an instigator and insults the other students and it is revealed that he is physically abused by his father. Thier principal, Mr. Vernon represents authority and by extension all adults in the student’s lives. The movie is set in Illinois at a high school. This high school is representative of any high school. It has a gym, a library, lockers and classrooms.  John Hughes is well known as the writer and director of classic films about teenagers in the 1980s. Most of his films are set in the Chicago area

Intended Audience
Although this movie was produced and is set in the 1980s, the theme about teenagers coming to terms with their differences and similarities to each other, are timeless. Each student realizes that although status was important to them, they are all the same with similar pressures from family, school and friends. This movie would be appealing to teenagers today.

Conspicuous Consumption

This article made a lot of sense to me because I recently read the first 3 novels of the Blue Bloods series. The novels are about the "Blue Bloods" a group of 400 vampires that are some of the most wealthy people in the world. They run the majority of prestigious social groups in New York, own the best real estate, and  are extremely consumeristic. It isn't abnormal for some of the characters to spend six figures on a dress, wear 20ct. diamond rings, and spend thousands of dollars when they go out to restaurants and clubs. Money is no object for most of them, it seems to be endless. Except for the underdog, Schuyler, who's family has lost its wealth and therefore its place as one of the most prominent Blue Blood families. The designer name dropping, the extravagant parties, and the continuous emphasis on wealth and consumerism can be very over the top sometimes.

I agree with what Glenn says about providing young adults with the skills to read critically instead of discouraging them to read these types of novels. The Blue Bloods novels, for example, have an interesting story line and I don't think that readers should necessarily be discouraged from reading them. Although the books portray that the wealthy, beautiful, and popular teens are the ones that are the most successful and often the happiest there are other characters, like Schuyler, who make the most out of being "unwealthy" and still manage to get good looking guys, modeling contracts, and compliments on their style and beauty! I think that Glenn has a lot of good ideas for how to get youth to view the literature they are buying more critically and I agree that it is important educators provide students with these skills.

Burger Wuss by M.T. Anderson

I just finished reading the book and I enjoyed reading it but I don't think it will make my list of favorites. The book started off very quirky, the writing style was diverse and I really liked the grammar vandals, they were great. Anthony's emotions and his romance with Diana was very real and sweet. There were so many details about their relationship and experiences that you could really understand why he was in love with her  and why he was so heartbroken. The fast food culture and the workplace were a perfect setting, just the right amount of shenanigans were introduced there.

But, I'm kind of disappointed in the Anthony character...I didn't feel like he was as funny/sarcastic/silly as was pointed out throughout the book. I found his type of humor very dry, or just not funny at all because it didn't seem like there was a joke there. Maybe I was disappointed because he really is a wuss? But, I don't think you can really blame Anthony for being a "wuss". Like he alluded to, he was caught between being gross and being a weenie (122). He just wasn't sure what to do because he didn't want to upset anyone. And I don't think that Diana left him because he couldn't make a move. Diana said near the end, "Tuner didn't steal me. I'm not a piece of furniture. I went to him...that was my choice" (183). Diana could also have made the choice to make a move on him like she did on Turner, but she didn't. Sometimes love just goes away, like in the case Rick and Jenn who were so in love but broke up over because they wanted to rent different movies.

I also feel bad for Anthony because he just couldn't win. I don't think anything ever really worked out for him, he just kept getting beat up or yelled at. Is this book trying to say that nice guys really do finish last? The post-prank scenes were so anti-climactic. He got beat up again(what else is new?), he felt really guilty for causing hurt(duh!), and he and Diana both called him an idiot(darn, that's it?). So, nice guys finish last, but so do jerks? I think that's fair. I think that it ends on a rather positive note though, despite the beatings, the final rejection from Diana, and the cold dismissal from work. Anthony purges himself of the situation and starts to feel better as he beings to think of the whole ordeal as in the past..."After all, there are other fish in the sea" (186)...

But wait, as the epilogue informs us, Anthony is still fitting into the nice guy stereotype. He and Rick talk about "the latest girl who'd told [him] she wanted to just be friends" (187). Hmmm...

Weetzie Bat

I think this book has become a new favorite around my place! It is so heartfelt, quirky, and the characters are so lovable that it's hard not to like it. I really enjoy how fast paced it is. I was never bored and even though the book was short I really felt like the characters were well developed. I think that Block really sums up the book in the last line when she writes, "I don't know about happily ever after...but I know about happily, Weetzie Bat thought". Even though Weetzie Bat and her friends aren't exactly the most conventional family they have found happiness anyway. This fits perfectly with the whole story because not much about any of them is very conventional but they are great people who aren't perfect but are loyal and care about each other. I really like all the weird names, I just love the name My Secret Agent Lover Man. It's just funny and cute. I think that a lot of teens would like this novel because it is fun and fast paced and even though it is an older book it really doesn't seem that dated. I am looking forward to the debate tomorrow to see what everyone else has to say about the book!