Balls

It's been awhile (a long while) since I've written anything on this blog. Not that I haven't been writing because I have but that writing was (and still is) somewhat stressful and filled with potential for even more stress. So it's about time that I write something about what I've been reading because I've been reading a lot.

I honestly have a hard time remembering everything that I've read and I should keep a list or something like that, but I don't. I do have a Goodreads account which is very cool and every reader should join Goodreads. I especially like their Friday Facebook posting where they ask people what they are reading. I always add my current book so I suppose that's some kind of archive. At any rate, here's a partial listing of what I've read in the last three months (what I can remember):

Welcome to the Ark by Stephanie Tolan

Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman

(My daughter-in-law, Maria, gave me those 2 books for Christmas - how cool is that?)

Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter

Deliver Us from Evil by David Baldacci (my first Baldacci book - very good)

A bunch of Charlaine Harris vampire books (my kind of trashy, mindless novel):

Dead Until Dark

Living Dead in Dallas

Club Dead

Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card (love Card! What an author)

Ender in Exile (love Ender! What a guy)

And then, just recently, I read Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King. I got a huge box of free books when I went to the ALAN conference last November in Orlando. I took the books out of the box and they've been sitting in my study in a stack. One night when I had finished a book and needed something new, I picked up Vera Dietz. And I'm so glad that I did.

Here's the question - what do we do when we see someone being bullied? It's a very complex question that is not easy to answer. I would like to say that I jump right in and try to put a stop to it. But I don't always do that. Not for others and surely not when I'm being bullied. Which, as I hope people know, happens to adults all the time. Bullying is not restricted to school yards. Bullying can and does happen everywhere - in families, in workplaces, online, you name it and a bully lives and thrives there.

And bullying takes on many forms. Yes, it can be physical which is horrid - like the young man who was killed because he was gay (and that still happens far too many times). But bullying can be verbal, emotional, even cognitive - "you're really not a very good writer, are you?" or "wow, you really sucked on that test!" The purpose of all of that is to make me (or you) believe that somehow I am deficient. And the beauty of that kind of bullying is that it attacks that which I am particularly good at. Something professional. I've had fellow teachers attack my teaching ability as they wanted to undermine me. What a hoot!

But I ramble - back to Vera Dietz. This YA book was a surprise to me. I had no idea what I was in for but I'm glad I picked it up. The book is told in four voices: Vera Dietz (17 years old), Charlie (17 years old but dead), Vera's dad (old?? who also includes flow charts to explain life), and The Pagoda (a landmark in the town). Fascinating from the get go.

The book plays with time as Vera writes her memories - from childhood through yesterday - and then describes what's happening today. The book is mostly from Vera's perspective but the other voices pop in to give other perspectives. Charlie's voice is particularly a joy. But his life is not.

There's lots of stuff happening in this book. Some powerful quotes:

Dad: The trick is remembering that change is as easy as you make it. The trick is remembering that you are the boss of you.

Charlie: The thing you don't see while you're still there on Earth is how easy it is to change your mind.

Vera: Drink anyone?

Charlie: Why do people think there are clear answers for things anyway? There aren't. Why does my dad hit my mom?

The Pagoda: It's true. 47% of children in this town live below the poverty level.

Charlie: Please don't hate me.

It's a complicated story but since I don't want to have to do a Spoiler Alert here, let's just say:

The important thing about bullying is stopping it.

Stand up and do something,

Tell someone.

Tell someone something.

Believe the victim and do something.

But the important thing about bullying is stopping it.

My boys, both of whom I love dearly, would put it another way - Grow some balls. Step in and do something.

And I tell myself that everyday..."Allison, grow some balls and do something."

Three Books at Once!

I have three books piled up on my desk right now that I must return to the Kalamazoo Public Library soon as I've renewed them twice. So this blog will be about all three of them - talk about killing one stone with three books! In order of reading, here they are:

Book One - Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (you have no idea how I pronounce this name - comes out sounding like Paolo Backilagagaupi)

This book is a bit Mad Max meets the Exxon Valdez meets BP Oil. Life, as we know it, is gone. Oil, gone. Compassion, gone. Life is simple - survive or don't. Doesn't matter one way or the other. Especially if you're a ship breaker diving into the guts of an old oil rig pulling out the miles of copper wire to sell for scrap. And, of course, the only ones who can fit into those pipes in the ships? Small, thin children.

Nailer is great at finding stuff to recycle and other stuff, too, that will help keep his father happy and stop the beatings. Nailer's life is one giant SURVIVOR as safety is not a word he uses lightly. When he finds the ultimate scavenge opportunity, a new solar/wind powered vessel, he also finds a girl who could be worth more money than any pile of scrap. So begins the adventure....

But friendship and sacrifice and honesty and trust are all issues in this book. Things that, I think, are so essential to life - a good life. I enjoyed this book and will surely recommend it to people but I can't say that there was any moment when I found myself saying..."Oh, Wow. This is important." So enough about Ship Breaker. Read it. If you like dystopian societies with redemption (which I really do need in books), then you'll like it.

Book Two - Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

What the heck is Incarceron?? What the heck is going on in this book? Took me a while to figure it out but it was so worth it! Turns out Incarceron is a prison (get it - incarceration?) but it's ALIVE! It thinks, plans, moves, rumbles, shifts, breathes, watches, and talks. It talks!

So there's two worlds going on in this book - world one = Incarceron and world two = outside. Finn is inside Incarceron and Claudia is outside. Each trying to get to the other. Really weird stuff goes on in this book. Lots of adventure, interesting settings (it's a talking prison!), and the characters are fascinating. And just what is going on with Claudia's father, the Warden of Incarceron? And what's up with this odd world that's in the future but decides that it likes Medieval times better so switches the entire world back in time?

There's a lot going on in this book that I wanted to make some kind of graphic organizer to plot it all out - who goes where, who knows who, what's happening there, what time period is this, stuff like that. It actually would be quite fun to do that.

But nothing much that struck me personally on this one either but, again, it's a great read so go get it and read it. I think there might be a sequel to it but am not sure.

Book Three - Black Swan Green: A Novel by David Mitchell

Set in England, 1982. Each chapter is like a short story written by Jason Taylor, 13 years-old, as he talks about a year of his life. And the kid has a stammer - not a stutter - a stammer. Did you know they are different?

What a dull, yet fascinating, life. What can possibly happen to a 13 year-old kid in England? Lots. Here's a taste of his life using quotes from various chapters (can you figure out what's happening?):

"Now Tom Yew's body jerkjerked judderily jackknifed and a noise like a ripping cable tore out of him. Once more, like he'd been booted in the balls."

"So anyway, Arthur Evesham's kingdom'd uglified since his death. A Stature of Liberty lay like a dropped murder weapon. Pooh Bear looked like an acid attack victim. The world unmakes stuff faster than people can make it. Jimmy Carter's nose'd fallen off."

"Dad made his way to the bathroom like he was in zero gravity. I heard him undo his zip. he tried to piss quietly onto the porcelain. Piss drummed onto the bathroom floor. A wavery second later it chundered into the bog. The piss lasted forty-three seconds. (My record's fifty-two.)"

The language in this book is beautiful and confusing at the same time as it's British slang at it's best. And the writing is dense and elegant.

And then there's the bullies. Bullies. Bloody bullies. They do horrid things all in the name of "boys having fun." But they are, and always will be, bullies.

That is what got me in this book. The bullies. And more than what the bullies did, it's about what Jason did to stand up to them. This isn't really a spoiler because you can see it coming - but Jason actually does what I need to do - stand up to the bullies and call them out.

Bullies are everywhere - not just in the playground. They are in corporate offices, schools, stores, families, neighborhoods - they are everywhere. But Jason stood up and said, "No more." That makes all the difference. No more. No more.

Stand up. Say it with me, people....."No more."

Excellent. Now I can return these books and maybe begin the double, two-foot high stack of books on the floor next to my desk?? I am. Started one last night...