Review 5: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Citation: Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown, 2007. Print.

Annotation: In this absolutely true diary, Junior gives his honest approach to the world- from death and alcoholism to basketball and boners. Through humor, realism and the occasional cartoon, Junior chronicles his transition from rez reject to suburban superstar.

Justification for Nomination:

The issues of identity, loneliness, belonging and acceptance that are addressed in Alexie's “Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian” are at the heart of many multicultural works, as well as adolescent discovery. Alexie uses the authentic and humorous voice of Junior, the part-time Indian, to convey these issues in an engaging and intriguing way. Junior's narrative voice is believable and raw. Alexie's honest exploration into normally taboo issues such as masturbation, death and alcoholism provide audience appeal. Readers do not feel that they are being “talked down to” by an adult, but rather that they are conversing with a peer, from whom they might glean advice, laughter, companionship or comfort on a nonjudgmental basis. Through this work, adolescents are given freedom to discover both the realities of the world and themselves.

In “Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, Alexie genuinely explores form. The book imitates a diary, complete with a first person perspective, fragmented memories and comics that add humor and enhance the reader's camaraderie with the characters. Alexie's experimentation with radical change is a successful one and the reader comes away with a holistic and natural understanding of Junior as a character. All of Alexie's characters read as authentic and believable. He does not intentionally avoid stereotypes or negative images of Junior and the other Spokane Indians, but instead speaks truthfully. Alexie presents characters who are flawed and entirely human. Any given character might fulfill a stereotype on one page (for instance, the drunken rez Indian) but contradict it on the very next page (say, the Indian father who never misses any of his son's basketball games). Alexie's characters are dynamic, they are unpredictable and they are real. He is not afraid of offending or shocking his readers. Instead he respects them, by presenting an authentic story while holding nothing back.

Genre: Multicultural, Coming of Age, Realistic/ Edgy Fiction, Censored or Challenged, Sports, Humor.

Review 4: Special Effects: in Film and Television

Citation: Hamilton, Jake. Special effects: in film and television. New York, NY: DK Pub., 1998. Print

Annotation: Monsters, explosions, high-speed chases and UFOS! See how these special effects and many more are brought to life on the silver screen.

Justification For Rejection:

     While Jake Hamilton's Special effects: in film and television comes packed with audience appeal, readable and flexible information, and complimentary graphics, it lacks the ultimate resonance with developmental issues that is necessary for the Printz Award nomination. This encyclopedic take on the nonfiction world of special effects perfectly befits the subject matter. Hamilton organizes the material into readable, nonlinear subjects that allow the reader to begin or end at any page of the book. There is a logical flow to Hamilton's organization, but it does not necessitate a “front-to-back” reading. This flexibility, as well as plethora of appropriate and frequent full color images makes this book a perfect choice for reluctant readers. The subject matter may spark an interest in a variety of careers, or simply a new-found interest in nonfiction reading for younger or reluctant readers, in this way, Special effects: in film and television does address some developmental issues, but not directly or powerfully enough to be nominated.

     Also, while Hamilton makes information accessible to readers via an index and acknowledgments on the final page of the book, the works lacks a certain amount of authority. More direct documentation or footnotes may have lent authority and provided a more obvious path of future reading choices to adolescents for whom this work may serve as a “gateway” book. Also, as an unfortunate side effect of our society's rapidly progressing technology, this book is slightly outdated. In the last dozen years or so since this book was published the jump from film to digital recording was made, so the information is not up to date. Although many of the other special effects discussed are still applicable and widely used. Even though this book excels in many ways, these technical elements and the lack of a strong developmental component leave Special effects: in film and television in the “good book” category instead of the “best book” category.  

Genre: General Nonfiction

Review 3: Hard Love

Citation:

Wittlinger, Ellen. Hard love . New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1999. Print.

Annotation: John meets a fellow zine writer, Marisol the self-proclaimed “rich spoiled lesbian private-school gifted-and-talented writer virgin” and becomes entangled in a friendship based on a their shared habit of “trusting no one”. While John's first love turns out to be a hard love, he admits, “It was the reason I was no longer comatose after an entire life of sleepwalking”.

Justification for Nomination:

     In a narrative that addresses a quintessential adolescent experience, first love, Ellen Wittlinger manages to tell a non-traditional story of a boy who has yet to consider his sexuality and self-proclaimed "lesbian virgin" in an authentic and engaging way. The story is told from the first person perspective of John (a.k.a. Gio) with pieces of his and other writers' zines grafted in to give the reading a true-to-life multimedia experience. Even the form of each chapter begins with a "shout out" to zines, the first few lines of each being slanted to imitate the off-center, photocopied pages of a zine. The pieces of writing that are included in the text appear on pages of ruled notebook paper, scrawled in the writing of a teenage boy, type-written, photocopied or layered in magazine cutouts and doodles. As a reader, I felt as if I was being handed the piece by a friend to give an opinion or picking the zine off of the shelf at Tower Records myself. Wittlinger's format is believable and dynamic.

     In Hard Love, the voice is that of a sixteen year old boy, but the story blurs the lines of gender and sexuality. This is not a novel that can be classified as "literature for young men" or "literature for young women". John calls himself a neuter and questions his sexuality, only due to his lack of interest in women, but finds himself entangled in a relationship with a lesbian. John and Marisol's relationship is hardly a traditional dating relationship, but it seems at times more than a traditional friendship. The ambiguity of John and Marisol's relationship so closely mirrored reality, that a vague sense of deja' vu followed me throughout the novel. Not that the details of either character applied to my own adolescence, but the experiences- of finding out who you are, what you believe, how you classify love- the developmental concepts at the heart of this story, all rang so true that I was transported back to my own seventeen year old self while voraciously and effortlessly consuming this novel. John's voice and his experience transcend the gender lines that are often drawn hard and fast in any type of romantic novel and makes the experience accessible to a myriad of readers rather than a single gender or sexual orientation.

     The artfully crafted plot of Hard Love extends it narrative's authenticity and audience appeal. Teen readers can easily identify with the scenes taking place at school, the prom, coffee shops, music stores and at the homes of both divorced parents. Wittlinger pays homage to a "founding father" of adolescent literature, J. D. Salinger in John's zine title, Bananafish, as well as the use of Nine Stories as the bible on which he takes an oath. In the last few chapters of Hard Love, the experiences of John and Marisol resonant with older teen audiences in particular as they prepare to depart from their families. The two leave for a zine writers conference in Cape Cod unbeknownst to their parents. John leaves scathing letters for both of his parents, reflecting the need of many adolescents to be brutally honest with their parents after a lifetime of acquiescence. Meanwhile Marisol makes plans to depart to New York city and find herself, explaining to John that she must leave now, because she is at “escape velocity” (coincidentally the name of her zine). John and Marisol's respective journeys into self-discovery and adulthood are left to the reader's imagination. We do not know whether she “makes it in the big city”, or if John reconciles with his father or maintains his new found relationships with fellow zine writers. Marisol leaves John with the words “I love you too, Gio... As much as I can” Then she disappears. Wittlinger respects her audience by giving them an ambiguous and realistic ending to an authentic story. She does not trivialize the adolescent experience by tacking on a “happy ending” so that everything looks nice and neat. Wittlinger acknowledges that life is messy, especially for teens- and I believe that makes her work not only accessible to real-life teens, but meaningful as well.

Genre: Coming of Age/ Printz/ Romance/ Multicultural

Review 2: Ayn Rand's Anthem: the graphic novel

Citation: Santino, Charles and Joe Staton. Ayn Rand's Anthem: the graphic novel. New York: New American Library, 2011. Print.

Annotation: In a society where uttering the word “I” is an offense punishable by death, one man breaks away to discover himself.

Justification for Rejection:

      This graphic adaptation of Ayn Rand's Anthem cuts to core of adolescent development- finding oneself. The protagonist in the story, Equality 7-2521 goes on a journey of self-discovery in a society that seeks to keep him in the strangle-hold of the status quo, a quest that resonates with adolescent readers. He succeeds in establishing a life for himself, complete with a wife and a new name, Prometheus, who “took the light of the gods and brought it to men...taught men to be gods”. The anthem sung in this narrative transitions from a worship of collective society to a respect for oneself as an individual. This narrative mirrors the journey many adolescents may be making, away from their home, their parent's religion or their educator's influence and into isolation, where only the individual is honored and obeyed.

     While Anthem, has at it's core a story that resonates with the struggle for identity that is so vital to adolescent life, I feel the adaptation lost audience appeal in translation. This particular form, while bursting with potential, failed to qualify as a “best book”. The first thing I noticed while reading was the panels. The size and placement was uniform throughout the book, each page had three equal-sized panels with zero variation. That stylistic element made for a monotonous read. The form did nothing to direct my eyes or set the pace of the novel. The potential for this type of adaptation lies in the graphic format and while the artwork was well done, the form felt incongruous and did little to enhance and support the text. I am adding the print version of Anthem to my reading list because the heart of this story is compelling, but the presentation in this graphic novel was missing too much technical cohesion to nominate for our award.

Genre: Graphic Novel, Coming of Age/ Search for Identity, Fantasy, Romance