Archive for March, 2006
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Ayn Rand |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1957 |
Not well written, which is not exactly beside the point, given the topic. |
I am not opposed to high word counts, and I certainly find Rand's IDEAS powerful and she presents them using plots that are innovative and highlight her points nicely. (Unlike, for example, Nancy Kress' writing in Beggars in Spain.)
On the other hand, no one can claim that Atlas Shrugged is well written. Has she ever described any female heroine as being other than beautiful and thin? Is there a word for the right-wing equivalent of Socialist Realism? Do any of her heroes have flaws? Do any of her villains have any redeeming characteristics?
Rand really did need a good editor. Like, for example, those 60 or so pages of John Galt's harangue in Atlas Shrugged. Trees are sometimes better used for shade rather than pulp, don't you think?
Contrasts kind of nicely with books like Crime and Punishment and Brothers Karamazov, in which the ideas are actually extremely lame (but are considered not to be lame by most), but the plots are quite compelling AND the words are powerful and spare, even though Brothers K. is quite weighty.
Or, Ender's Game? There's a more well-rounded brilliant person for you, don't you think? And it IS so much more -- concise? Or Ender's Shadow, even better! |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Atlas Shrugged |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Lois Lowry |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1979 |
"Mom," my daughter said to me, in response to a very bad joke I told her. "Anastasia Krupnik is funny. Anastasia Again is funny too. That joke was not."
Life and loves of a ten year old aspiring poetess. |
Slighter than later Lois Lowry, but interesting to our nine year old. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Anastasia Krupnik |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Female protagonist, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Lois Lowry |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1979 |
Anastasia is now 12, has a 2 year old, precocious brother, and has moved to the suburbs. |
"Mom," my daughter said to me, in response to a very bad joke I told her. "Anastasia Krupnik is funny. Anastasia Again is funny too. That joke was not."
Slighter than later Lois Lowry, but hilarious to our nine year old.
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Anastasia Again |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Female protagonist, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Gennifer Choldenko |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, autism |
| Year of publication: | 2004 |
Some books are of their times. This book takes place at Alcatraz prison in the 1930s but is very much a reflection of contemporary culture.
The first-person narrator is a boy whose family moves to Alcatraz so that his sister may apply to a school for autistic children near San Francisco. |
The characters' understanding of the disease and of each other is no doubt very anachronistic.
My daughter enjoyed the local color and the family relationships seemed truthful, for a child of today at least.
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Al Capone Does My Shirts |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Fiction, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Elizabeth Gray Vining |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, historical, medieval |
| Year of publication: | 1942 |
Eleven year old boy walks the roads of medieval England searching for his father and his dog. Newbery award winner |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Adam of the Road |
Posted in Animals, Conceptual: 8 and up, Culture, Dickensian, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Christopher Paolini |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2003 |
Involving dungeons and dragons style story, with dragons of the Anne McCaffery model. (You know, the inhabitant of the egg becomes impressed on a single special human. They grow up together and have adventures.) |
Amazingly well-written by a 15 year old homeschooler. Grabs you right from the beginning and pulls you along.
My 11 year old is not sure she'll survive until we get the next book in the series.
And here is our review of Eldest, Book Two in this trilogy.
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Eragon |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fiction, Homeschool, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Monday, March 13th, 2006
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| Author: | Marianne Wiggins |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1999 |
Intense story about how ordinary people cope (or fail to cope) with witnessing horrors, both natural and man-made.
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Almost Heaven |
Posted in Conceptual: for grown ups, Death is a central theme, Fiction, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
Monday, March 13th, 2006
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| Branwen: |
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I have no idea what your powers might be, my son. I only know that God didn’t give them to you without expecting you to use them. … |
| Emrys: |
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But I didn’t ask for powers!
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| Branwen: |
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Nor did I. … But with every gift comes the risk that others may not understand it. …
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| Emrys: |
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Don’t you sometimes wish … [t]hat you didn’t have your gifts? That you weren’t so different? …
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| Branwen: |
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Of course. |
| — T.A. Baron, The Lost Years of Merlin
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Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Dealing with bullies, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Fiction, Gifted, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Monday, March 13th, 2006
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| Author: | Orson Scott Card |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | Science fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1977 |
Story of a boy who is raised (some would say, manipulated) to use his gifts to save humanity, and the thanks he gets. Easy to read, but not appropriate for young readers. |
Caution: Lots of violence, some racial stereotyping.
The only answer to bullying, per Orson Scott Card, is to beat the ringleader to a pulp, if not worse.
(It might not sound like it, but we did enjoy this book, when we were not wincing...)
Other books for about ages 12 and up
Other books about/for gifted children |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Ender's Game |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Dealing with bullies, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | 2 Comments »
