Gentlemen: A Review

Title: Gentlemen
Author: Michael Northrop
Pages: 256
Recommended: With reservations
Age/Gender: 8th Grade and Up, Boys or Girls


I consumed Gentlemen, by Michael Northrop, in two big bites. The protagonist, Micheal (sic.), is a wounded, tough-talking teenager who hangs with a tough group of guys. One of the group goes missing, and the boys soon come to suspect their English teacher, who starts acting strangely while teaching the book Crime and Punishment in the boys' English class.

The only reservations I have about recommending this book stem from the fact that the protagonist never really steps up and becomes the hero of the story. Instead, he stands by while his friends behave badly, and only by chance does he avoid any great wrongdoing. Perhaps the author is writing his own version of a modern existentialist novel; I just hope young readers are sophisticated enough to understand that the hero's lack of action to stop wrongdoing makes him just as culpable as his fellows.

Barefoot Gen

Book Review: Barefoot Gen Volumes 1-4

Author: Keiji Nakazawa

Recommended for: Middle school and up (Younger with parental guidance)

Genre: Manga/Graphic Novel/Comic Book

Barefoot Gen is a 4 volume graphic novel (or comic book) about the effect of the Atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima and its inhabitants. The translations can sometimes feel a bit stiff, but the illustration is lively and vital. Out of the ashes of the atomic bomb, plucky protagonist Gen finds a way to carry on, even in the face of horror. This book shows that often children, more readily than adults, can push forward in the face of tragedy.

This 4-volume series is based on the real life experiences of author Keiji Nakazawa, who, like Gen, lost his father, brother, and sister on the day of the atomic bomb, and later lost his baby sister to radiation sickness. I found this series very revealing about how the Japanese people perceived the war and how they survived the horrors brought about by the atomic bomb.

I suggest this book with a few reservations. First of all, there are a lot of scenes in which grown-ups strike children across the face. It seems silly to trifle with that when the whole point of the book is to show how 150,000 people perished from the bomb, yet those scenes of parents and teachers smacking their children were in some ways more disturbing to me. Still, if you think your child can handle it, or if you think you can talk him/her through it, the benefits of reading the book make it quite worthwhile.

The Last Book in the Universe

Book Review: The Last Book in the Universe

Author: Rodman Philbrick

Highly recommended for: Boys and girls, middle school and up.

Genre: Sci-fi/cyberpunk/futuristic dystopia

If you liked: The Giver, Riddley Walker, The City of Ember, Fahrenheit 451, Feed

What's not to like about this story? It has all my favorite elements going for it: the setting is a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the protagonist is a disabled yet plucky misfit who must go on a quest to save the only person who has ever shown him any love (his adoptive sister), and one of the central tensions of the story is whether or not the last book in the universe will be destroyed.

Spaz, our boy hero, lives in a nightmarish future after the so-called "shake," a planetwide natural disaster that turns the world into a post apocalyptic wasteland. He encounters the idiosyncratic Ryter, an old dude who just so happens to be the last person in existence who knows how to write books. Ryter wants to complete his life story (in book form) before he dies. As the story progresses, the two must embark on a mutual quest that takes them to Eden, an enclave of priveleged supergenetically engineered humans.

This book is fun to read, and I believe it will be enjoyed equally by boys or girls.

Check out the more detailed summary on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Book_in_the_Universe

Evil Genius

Review: Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks

496 pages

Age suggestion: Middle school and up

Gender suggestion: Boys will like this more than girls

Recommendation: Mixed

I read this book back in October, but I haven't been sure what to say about it. It's definitely popular right now, and it is a good read. But here's my problem with it: there is not a single redeeming adult character in the whole book. Instead, the adults are corrupt, morally bankrupt, or absent. Sure, there are plenty of books out there in which adults are largely absent or ineffectual--that's okay--children feel that way about adults, no doubt. But books in which adults are actively evil and with no good counterpoint leave a bad taste in my mouth.

So, I will not fully endorse this book. However, I will admit it is well written and kids will probably enjoy reading it.

Peak

Review: Peak by Roland Smith
Age suggestion: Upper elementary and middle school
Gender suggestion: Both boys and girls will like this book
Recommended: Yes

Wow, it's been forever since I posted on this blog! Shame on me. Anyway, I just read a fun book, clearly geared toward boys, called Peak by Roland Smith. It's about a 14 year old boy who gets a chance to climb Mount Everest. I'm kind of a Mount Everest freak--I read John Krakauer's book Into Thin Air at least 3 times, and I've read several other books about that same disastrous climbing season. I've also seen all the movies and documentaries about it. This book, Peak, uses some very accurate climbing detail in the context of an engaging story with interesting characters, a likable protagonist, good writing. Suggested age group--middle school.