Good Books For Kids

Showing posts with label Young Adults. Show all posts

Coretta Scott King Book Awards -
Good Books for Kids

The American Library Association says of the Coretta Scott King book awards:

Designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience. Further, the Award encourages the artistic expression of the black experience via literature and the graphic arts in biographical, social, and historical treatments by African American authors and illustrators.

And here are the Winners...

2011 Winning Author

One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia

Other Awards and Mentions:
**starred review** Horn Book
**starred review** Booklist
**starred review** School Library Journal
**National Book Ward Finalist**

Description: Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past.

When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes them eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education.

Set during one of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, one crazy summer is the heartbreaking, funny tale of three girls in search of the mother who abandoned them—an unforgettable story told by a distinguished author of books for children and teens, Rita Williams-Garcia.

Reading level: Elementary/Middle-Grade
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Amistad (January 26, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0060760885
Look Inside
amazon

2011 Author Honors

Lockdown
by Walter Dean Myers

Other Awards and Mentions:
**starred review** Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Description: When I first got to Progress, it freaked me out to be locked in a room and unable to get out. But after a while, when you got to thinking about it, you knew nobody could get in, either.

It seems as if the only progress that's going on at Progress juvenile facility is moving from juvy jail to real jail. Reese wants out early, but is he supposed to just sit back and let his friend Toon get jumped? Then Reese gets a second chance when he's picked for the work program at a senior citizens' home. He doesn't mean to keep messing up, but it's not so easy, at Progress or in life. One of the residents, Mr. Hooft, gives him a particularly hard time. If he can convince Mr. Hooft that he's a decent person, not a criminal, maybe he'll be able to convince himself.

Acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers offers an honest story about finding a way to make it without getting lost in the shuffle.

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Amistad
ISBN-10: 0061214825
Look Inside
amazon

Technical Stuff
Word Count: 45,613
Reading Level: 4.7
Interest Level: Young Adult/some Middle-Graders
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 4.7 / points: 7.0 / quiz: 135792

Ninth Ward
by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Description: In New Orleans' Ninth Ward, twelve-year-old Lanesha, who can see spirits, and her adopted grandmother have no choice but to stay and weather the storm as Hurricane Katrina bears down upon them.

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0316043079
amazon

Technical Stuff
Word Count: 32,545
Reading Level: 3.3
Reading level: Tweens/Middle-Grade
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 3.3 / points: 4.0 / quiz: 139032

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty
Written by G. Neri
Illustrated by Randy DuBurke

Other Awards and Mentions:
**starred review** Kirkus
**starred review** Booklist
**starred review** Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Description: A graphic novel based on the true story of Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, an eleven-year old African American gang member from Chicago who shot a young girl and was then shot by his own gang members.

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 96 pages
Publisher: Lee & Low Books (July 30, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1584302674
Look Inside
amazon

2011 Illustrator Winner

Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave
Illustrated by Bryan Collier,
Written by Laban Carrick Hill

Description: Dave was an extraordinary artist, poet, and potter living in South Carolina in the 1800s. He combined his superb artistry with deeply observant poetry, carved onto his pots, transcending the limitations he faced as a slave. In this inspiring and lyrical portrayal, National Book Award nominee Laban Carrick Hill's elegantly simple text and award-winning artist Bryan Collier's resplendent, earth-toned illustrations tell Dave's story, a story rich in history, hope, and long-lasting beauty.

Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (September 7, 2010)
ISBN-10: 031610731X
amazon

Technical Stuff
Word Count: 1,736
Reading Level: 6.0
Reading level: Elementary
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 6.0 / points: 0.5 / quiz: 139661 /

2011 Illustrator Honoree

Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix
Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe
Written by Gary Golio

Other Awards and Mentions:
**starred review** Kirkus
**starred review** School Library Journal

Description: Jimi Hendrix was many things: a superstar, a rebel, a hero, an innovator. But first, he was a boy named Jimmy who loved to draw and paint and listen to records. A boy who played air guitar with a broomstick and longed for a real guitar of his own. A boy who asked himself a question: Could someone paint pictures with sound?

This a story of a talented child who learns to see, hear, and interpret the world around him in his own unique way. It is also a story of a determined kid with a vision, who worked hard to become a devoted and masterful artist. Jimi Hendrix--a groundbreaking performer whose music shook the very foundations of rock 'n' roll.

Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books (October 4, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0618852794
Look Inside
amazon

Technical Stuff
Word Count: 1,740
Reading Level: 5.6
Reading level: Elementary/Middle-Grade
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 5.6 / points: 0.5 / quiz: 140255 /

Shakespeare's Hamlet for Kids
by Brendan P. Kelso

I have long been a proponent of 'The Classics' for kids. Not that we haven't read all about The Pigeon, and Thomas & Percy, and Knufflebunny; but there's room too, I think, for Odysseus and the Greek gods, the Little House on the Prairie, and the poetry of Sandburg and Frost, amongst others.

Shakespeare was on my list too, but after re-reading the Richard plays, I realized that they would be a bit much for my two children, even though they are now 8 and 10. But not willing entirely to give up, I girded myself for battle with the internet and I started on a search for kid-friendly 'takes' on the bard's tales, which is how I discovered Mr. Kelso's "Hamlet".

Mr. Kelso writes that his entire purpose is to instill "the love of acting and Shakespeare into kids", and from my home experience I think his strategy works. He essentially sums up what Shakespeare says and puts those thoughts into terms that kids can understand. (Go see the sample at amazon.com to see for yourself.)

And the nice bit is that he includes quotes from the original, highlighting the words that appear in the 'adult' version of Hamlet. So that if your children are paying attention they will actually note the lines that we Americans are most familiar with. Lines like: "something is rotten in the state of Denmark", and "neither a borrower and lender be."

Now, for how the book is organized. The interesting thing about Brendan's Hamlet for Kids is that the book actually contains 3 versions of the play. All of the versions take about 10-15 minutes to read, but the number of speaking parts varies according to how many people you wish to have involved. It could be a reader of one, or a cast of nearly 2 dozen.

But let me give you an example of how this works.

Here are the characters with dialog in the first version of Hamlet for Kids:

Hamlet
Claudius
Gertrude
Polonius
Ophelia
Laertes
Ghost

**My daughter Laura and I read this version first and only had a little side-spliting confusion reading all the parts ourselves.

The Second version has all of the above characters plus:

Rosencrantz
Guildenstern
Horatio
--an unnamed actor
Osric
Forinbras
a Sailor

The final version adds Marcellus, Bernardo and the Grave Diggers, as well as a few other minor characters.

Having these different 'stagings' allows the adult(s) and child(ren) to pick the best version for them. Older children might prefer to read a longer version, younger children the shorter. Or vice-versa.

In any case, I'm excited by this series because it allows me to introduce Shakespeare to my children much earlier than I had thought possible. It allows us to discuss the plays on their level, and it introduces them to the Bard's best known lines so that when we hear them in other places, they will be reminded of where they come from.

THE SKINNY:::
Love this book. My daughter and I read it aloud together -- each taking parts -- and now we're in the process of re-reading it (acting it out?) with her little brother.

I really like that the grisly parts -- not to mention the 'adult' elements -- have been toned down and even made humorous, making Hamlet Totally Kid appropriate.

I also like that there are three different stagings of "Hamlet". By which I mean that there is a version that features just the 'basic characters', and then two others where the dialog is made more complicated, and where more characters are included. This allows you to adapt the reading to your child's age level. Or conversely, if you are a teacher or adult in charge of a large group of children, to include up to 20 of them in a production/reading.

Shakespeare's Hamlet for Kids:
3 Short Melodramatic Plays for 3 Group Sizes

Paperback: 62 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (September 20, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1453641548
Look Inside
amazon

OTHER Shakespeare for Kids books:

Julius Caeser for Kids | our review
Macbeth for Kids

See our Listmania list of Brendan's other books at Amazon

Got Holiday Money?
Six Great New Books to Buy in Early 2011

WOW! I have got to say that there are some tremendous books coming out in the next three months. I'm listing some that I feeling you strongly need to consider adding to your reading-pile.

First of all, for all of who adored "Name of the Wind", Patrick Rothfuss is FINALLY coming out with the follow-up book. Titled "Wise Man's Fear", you can pre-order it for a March 1st delivery.

Next, there are some great YA dystopias coming out. I've listed the ones I recommend below.

And finally, there are some great books for middle-graders and one book in the Kid-department which I recommend.

I've listed them in order of age category and added notes for the books that could be read by another age group. For example, Adults and Young Adults can certainly enjoy Brandon Mull's new book.

For Kids

The Trouble with Chickens
(A J.J. Tully Mystery)
by Doreen Cronin
Kevin Cornell (Illustrator)

Publisher Description: J.J. Tully is a former search-and-rescue dog who is trying to enjoy his retirement after years of performing daring missions saving lives. So he’s not terribly impressed when two chicks named Dirt and Sugar (who look like popcorn on legs), along with their chicken mom, show up demanding his help to track down their missing siblings.

Driven by the promise of a cheeseburger, J.J. begins to track down clues. But is everything really like it seems?

My take:
Wonderful book. Doreen Cronin -- of Diary of a Worm fame -- has once again done it right and written a story for the elementary-aged crowd that an adult can be satisfied with as well.

Kevin Cornell's illustrations are fabulous. The chicks are adorable little trouble makers, and if mom's eyes got any closer she'd be a cyclops--lol. This book is funny throughout and ought to be a great series (we want more!) for both boy and girl readers. Good read-aloud!

Reading Level: generic 4
Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
(March 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0061215325
amazon

For Middle-Graders

A World Without Heroes
(Beyonders)
by Brandon Mull

Publisher Description: Jason Walker has often wished his life could be less predictable—until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank into a strange, imperiled world. Lyrian holds dangers and challenges unlike anyplace Jason has ever known. The people all live in fear of their malicious wizard emperor, Maldor. The brave resistors who once opposed the emperor have been bought off or broken, leaving a realm where fear and suspicion prevail.

In his search for a way home, Jason meets Rachel, who was also mysteriously drawn to Lyrian from our world. With the help of a few scattered rebels, Jason and Rachel become entangled in a quest to piece together the word of power that can destroy the emperor and learn that their best hope to find a way home will be to save this world without heroes.

My take:
Brandon Mull already has a huge audience who love him because of his Fablehaven series. The Beyonder series is only going to add to the throng because this just a great non-stop action story. What I particularly like about Mull's writing is his creativeness and what he brings to the genre. There may be a cliche or two, but he matches them one for one with fantastic and novel ideas.

Suitable for adults and young adults looking for a lighter read.
Suitable for Tweeners who can stick with a longer book.

Reading Level: generic 5
Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Aladdin
(March 15, 2011)
ISBN-10: 141699792X
amazon

Eliza's Freedom Road
An Underground Railroad Diary
by Jerdine Nolen

Publisher Description: It is 1852 in Alexandria, Virginia. Eliza's mother has been sent away and it is Abbey, the cook, who looks after Eliza, when Eliza isn't taking care of the Mistress. Eliza has the quilt her mother left her and the memory of the stories she told to keep her close. When her Mistress's health begins to fail and Eliza overhears the Master talk of Eliza being traded, Eliza takes to the night. She follows the path and the words of the farmhand Old Joe, " … travel the night … sleep the day. Go East. Your back to the set of the sun until you come to the safe house where the candlelight lights the window." All the while, Eliza recites the stories her mother taught her along her Freedom Road from Maryland to St. Catherine's, Canada.

My Take:
A freaking brilliant book told in a first person diary format. Ms. Nolen doesn't delve into the age-inappropriate bad treatment slaves received, but rather tells the human side of this story so well that children aren't likely to fail to comprehend the great human cost of that abysmal institution. Simply an outstanding historical novel.

Reading Level: generic 4
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
(January 4, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1416958142
amazon

Suitable for any age.

For Young Adults

Wither
(The Chemical Garden Trilogy)
by Lauren DeStefano

Publisher Description: Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

My take:
These days it's not often that I'm pulled into a story from the first page, but Wither did it. DeStefano absolutely mastered the first person voice of her character Rhine and even better, gave the story, which could have been trite, real bite. The characters, all except for the father-in-law, were sympathic and complex. A great dystopia.

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
(March 22, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1442409053
amazon

excerpt:

I’ve heard of this happening. Where I come from girls have been disappearing for a long time. They disappear from their beds or from the side of the road. It happened to a girl in my neighborhood. Her whole family disappeared after that, moved away, either to find her or because they knew she would never be returned.

Now it’s my turn. I know girls disappear, but any number of things could come after that. Will I become a murdered reject? Sold into prostitution? These things have happened. There’s only one other option. I could become a bride. I’ve seen them on television, reluctant yet beautiful teenage brides, on the arm of a wealthy man who is approaching the lethal age of twenty-five.

Across the Universe
by Beth Revis

**Starred Review** Kirkus

Publisher Description: Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone--one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship--tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed's passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader, and Elder, his rebellious and brilliant teenage heir.

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she? All she knows is that she must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

My take:

Part scifi, part mystery. I was drawn into Amy's perspective right from the start, but truly it was the mystery that kept me up reading late into the night. Beth Revis did a good job keeping things twisting and turning.

Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Razorbill
(January 11, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1595143971
amazon

For ADULTS

The Wise Man's Fear
by Patrick Rothfuss
(Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 2)

Publisher Description: My name is Kvothe. I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me... So begins the tale of a hero told from his own point of view—a story unequaled in fantasy literature.

My Take:
Haven't read it. (Are you listening DAW?)

Hardcover: 1008 pages
Publisher: DAW Hardcover (March 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0756404738
amazon

Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss
(Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1)

**Starred Review** Publisher's Weekly

4.5 Stars with nearly 800 reviews on Amazon

My Take:
This is a very detailed fantasy story about a man who is more capable than the rest of us, so if such a premise isn't your cup of tea, keep alookin' for your next great read .

Description: Kvothe was brought up as an actor in his family's traveling troupe of magicians, jugglers and jesters. When they are murdered by mystical creatures he ends up as a feral child on the streets of a port. That doesn't keep him though from gaining entry into THE University where he soon excels over even his best instructors. It's unclear in the first book entirely what motivates Kvothe. He is certainly driven to acquire knowledge for his own sake. But in back of the reader's mind is that this must somehow relate to solving the riddle of why his family was massacred.

Paperback: 672 pages
Publisher: DAW
ISBN-10: 0756405890
Look Inside
amazon

Suitable for young adults looking for intricate fantasy read.

Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs

Excerpt Tueday

Some cheerful... and not
so cheerful fair today.

For Kids:

For Young Adults:

The Summer "IT" Books

Here's the books we think young folk will be 'buzzin' about by the water and on the beaches.

For YA:

	The Passage— An epic thriller that presents a chilling view of what can happen when a virus spreads vampire-like tendencies. Already pushed to #10 at Amazon, The Passage is great reading for those who want a long saga in a sort of Stephen King story style.
	The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner— Yeah. Stephenie Meyer takes a big bite out of summer reading. Her fans have already pushed this one up to #2 at Amazon.
	I Am Number Four— You'll have to wait until the end of August for this one, but the buzz will be BIG. Movie already in the works. Here's what the NYTimes had to say. ((click))

For Middle-Graders:

	Smells Like Dog is a brilliant and funny story that has 12 year-old Homer Pudding leaving the farm to try to figure out why his famous explorer uncle left him a gold coin and droopy dog as part of his will. There's zany adventure and humor here, and Smells Like Dog, like the Wimpy Kid series, ought to prove to be a great guys read.
	The Red Pyramid -- Rick Riordan mixes gods and humans once again. This time a brother and sister team aren't demi-gods, but the heirs of the throne of Egypt. Great fun.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Hers:::
The door was mildewed with age, the wood so soft it crumbled. Inside the dim room the windows had been blocked with ivy; as Jared lit lamps, Claudia stared around. "Just like home."

He had set up his electron microscope on a rickety table, unpacked a few boxes of instruments and books. He turned; in the flame light his face was haggard. "Claudia, you must look at this. It changes everything. Everything."

His anguish scared her. "Calm down," she said quietly. "Are you well?"

"Well enough." He leaned over the microscope, his long fingers adjust it deftly. "You remember that scrap of metal I took from the study? Take a look at it."

Puzzled she put her eye to the lens. The image was blurred; she refocused very slightly. And then she went very still, so rigid that Jared knew she had seen, and in that instant, had understood. He went and sat wearily on the floor, among the ivy and nettles, the Sapient robe wrapped around him, its hem trailing in the dirt. And he watched her as she stared.

His:::
It WAS the Wall at the End of the World. If Sapphique had truly fallen down it from top to bottom it must have taken years. As Finn gazed up he felt the wind rebound from it's immensity, making a slipstream that roared before them. Debris from the heart of Incarceron was blasted upward an then plummeted in an endless maelstrom; once trapped in that wind nothing could escape. "We need to turn" Gildas was staggering to the wheel; Finn scrambled after him. Together they squeezed beside Keiro, hauling, trying to make the ship veer before she struck the updraft. With the thunder, Lightsout came. In the blackness Finn heard Keiro swear, felt Gildas struggle around him, holding on tight. "Finn. Pull the lever! In the deck."

I've been putting off reviewing Incarceron basically because I needed to think about how I felt about it. Initially, I was very excited about getting my hands on the book, but I wasn’t too many pages into it before I realized that it wasn’t the dark-and-strange work that the book trailers had led me to believe Fisher had written.

So who to blame for my disappointment? Well obviously, in this case the media experts that led me to believe that this book was something that it wasn’t. The prison, after all, isn’t amazing or even particularly scary. It’s a futuristic prison—end of story. Something you might expect Kirk and Spock to stumble upon.

Now given that this site is ‘Good Books’ and not ‘Merely Adequate Books’ or ‘Just Okay Books’ you might be wondering why I’m even taking the time to talk about Incarceron. I’m doing so because of Catherine Fisher’s history of producing fine fiction, and because this series has so much potential. For while the prison might not be all-that – I didn’t even find Finn the man at the center of the action within Incarceron at all intriguing – the world outside of the prison makes up for it. It and the character of Claudia, the daughter of prison’s warden; they are fascinating.

Her world is one that is technologically advanced, but which isn’t allowed to show that. She and the rest of the citizens are forced by law to live an artificial existence in an environment which appears to all extensive purposes to have popped out of a Jane Austen novel; complete with badger baiting, long silk gowns, and candles. So essentially, inside and out, the two worlds are stagnant.

What isn’t stagnant is politics. Claudia’s father and the Queen have been busy setting plans for how the world will be run. They've assigned Claudia to the be the bride of the second son, a lout who will ‘need to be controlled’ once he becomes king. What they didn’t count on though was Claudia’s determination to free herself from that prospect of that loveless marriage, and her attachment to the first son, a boy who died under mysterious circumstances.

And for those of you who know Fisher’s work, you know that political shenanigans are her meat and potatoes. The stuff she deals with brilliantly. And it’s because of this, that Incarceron is being recommended and reviewed here now.

Talking Points:::
Interesting societies and concepts. The world outside of Incarceron was more interesting to me than the interior domains of the prison.

The prison itself is more or less standard sci-fi fair. Moving walls, little lights that spy; mechanical critters that spy; a computer that's getting out of hand. To be truthful the scenery inside the place is not all that well described. People tumble, for example, and hit things, but a sense of direction and place is never well developed.

The same is not true for the outside world. Ms. Fisher does a wonderful job of describing the stagnant, artificially stuffy world in which Claudia lives.

I'm interested in the follow up book, but for now I can only suggest Incarceron as a Library Find.

Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs

Incarceron

Accelerated Reading level : 4.6
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Dial (January 26, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0803733968

Truancy by Isamu Fukui

"It has nothing to do with intelligence," Zyid said sharply. "Some people are not meant for school. All kids are branded as a single faceless mass and herded through school like cattle. Some of them may be as smart as you want, and yet still recoil at their freedom and dignity being stolen from them by the Educators. The Educators will make them beg and sweat for an abstract grade just as a dog might perform tricks for a bone -- except that the dog might chew on the bone and taste something concrete while the student is left only with a bitter taste in his mouth."

Interestingly enough, this book got me thinking of John Taylor Gatto. Mr. Gatto was a teacher for 29 years before he became quite critical of 'The American Educational System'. One of his famous works, for example, is "Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (1992)." Another is "Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling (2008)".

As it turns out, young Mr. Fukui has more or less come to many of the same conclusions as Mr. Gatto. But rather than write a non-fiction book, Isamu has taken these systematic complaints, fictionalized them, and for our entertainment taken them a little further along the evolutionary path; so that what you find in Isamu's fictionalized "City" is an education system that's been fine tuned to develop just the sort of 'citizens' that don't have the energy or conviction to do any heavy thinking. Instead they listen to the authorities and are easily controlled. Students in particular are kept in a state of utter demoralization, while their parents are kept so busy at work that the "family unit" scarcely continues to exist.

The 'official' description follows:

In an alternate world, in a nameless totalitarian city, the autocratic Mayor rules the school system with an iron fist. Fighting against the Mayor and his repressive Educators is a group of former students called the Truancy, whose goal is to take down the system by any means possible—at any cost.

Fifteen-year-old Tack is just trying to survive. His days are filled with sadistic teachers, unrelenting schoolwork, and indifferent parents. Things start to look up when he meets Umasi, a mysterious boy who becomes Tack’s mentor.

Then someone close to Tack gets killed in the crossfire between the Educators and the Truants, and he swears vengeance. To achieve his purpose, he abandons his old life and joins the Truancy, looking for an opportunity to confront Zyid, its enigmatic leader. But Tack soon finds himself torn between his desire for revenge and his growing sympathy for the Truants…

My Thoughts:

I found TRUANCY to be thoughtful and interesting, and sometimes just plain funny; as when Isamu takes a punch at current events by having the Mayor's staff invent the deadly disease-of-the-week which is fed to The Media every time the Mayor has some problem he wants to hide from the populace.

The plotting was very good, and the story unfolds in layers as Tact finds himself first opposing The TRUANCY and then joining it. And I really enjoyed the secondary characters, like Tact's mentor, a boy with almost super-human martial arts abilities.

There's been some criticism of the violence in this book, and the abilities that the teens demonstrate. No less that the Library School Journal stumbles when it writes that "[T]he characters are amazingly skilled in a wide variety of unbelievable ways. Described as "kids" or "children," they are nonetheless portrayed as expert assassins, brilliant tacticians, even world-weary bartenders".

To which I can only say that the reviewer failed to understand the genre that this book falls into. When reading Truancy you need to realize that it is incorporating graphic novel-like elements.

Think old Kurosawa movies like "Seven Samurai", Clint Eastwood spagetti westerns, Kill Bill, or perhaps "Ghost in the Shell" or "Vampire Hunter D" and you'll have the right 'voice' in your head to appreciate Truancy.

All-in-all I found TRUANCY to be a fun read. It's not perfect --I thought it was too long-- but it's thought provoking and entertaining. I plan on picking up the prequel sometime later this summer. If you're uncertain try Amazon's look inside.

Considerations: Violence, language

Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs