Mod 15: the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Summary:

The Hunger Games follows the perspective of a young woman named Katniss Everdeen as she struggles to survive life in a dystopian future.  The country of Panem consist of an affluent capital where the weathy and those with power reside and 12 (once 13) outer districts.  Life in the districts is hard and those who live there work to provide the capital with its much needed resources.  Katniss lives in District 12, where she often spends her time poaching with her friend Gabe to provide extra food to her family: younger sister Prim, and her mother. 

The Hunger Games are an annual event where two children from each of the outer districts are chosen to fight to the death with other children from the other districts.  The Event is orchestrated to keep the citizens of the districts in line and provide entertainment to the capital citizens.  The even where children are chosen are known as the Reaping.  At this years Reaping Katniss’ sister Prim is one of the children chosen to fight, which prompts Katnis to volunteer in her place.

Peeta is the other district 12 representative chose to fight in the hunger games.  Katniss and Peeta are then sent to the capital where they are paraded for the wealthy and quickly trained for combat by previous winner from the  Hunger Games, a drunk named Haymitch.  

When the games start the fighting is brutal and Peeta is split up from Katniss after he becomes injured.  Katniss forms an alliance with a little girl named Rue from District 7, whom reminds Katniss of her little sister.  Rue is eventually killed, and Katniss takes her first life when she shoots Rue’s killed with a bow and arrow.  The game nmakers then announce that teams consisting of two members of the same district will be allowed to win the match as a team for the first time in Hungergames History.  Katniss realizes she must reunite with the  very injured Peeta.  She then pretends to be in love with him to garner sympathy from the audience and get medicine sent her her in the games.  Peeta and Katniss manage to survive the games after a harrowing battle with some Mutts (genetically engineered creatures that look like a cross between the dead competitors and dogs).  Katniss and Peeta believe they will be allowed to leave the arena together when they are informed that the previous ruling about allowing competitors from the same district to work as a team as been repealed and they must now kill each other.  The decide they will instead commit suicide together with some poisonous berries instead, which forces the game makers to allow them both to live rather than end the games with no champion.  The book ends with Peeta and Katniss returning home, but an ominous threat from President Snow, ruler of Panem, tells us Katniss isn’t out of the fire yet.

Collins, S. (2008). The hunger games. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

My Impressions:

This is a great book, and I’m sad it took me so long to read it  I have already started reading the second book in the series and it is just as good as the first.  I know back when this first came out all my students loved this book and told me I should read it, and I really don’t know what took me so long, I will have to check out the movies now as well.

Reviews:

    Gr 7 Up-In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 14 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Collins's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing. This book will definitely resonate with the generation raised on reality shows like "Survivor" and "American Gladiator." Book one of a planned trilogy.

Baird, H. J. (2008). [Review of The hunger games by S. Collins]. School Library Journal, 54(9), 176-177. Retrieved from: https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:9443/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=518495691&scope=site

Usage in a Library Setting:

The Hunger Games could be used as part of challenged book display to  generate interest in those who like the “taboo” even though I feel that there is nothing wrong with the book.  Or it could be used along with the movie to compare and contrast the two versions in a book club type program.

Mod 14: A Kick in the Head An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms by Paul Janeczko

Summary:

A Kick in the Head is a book of poems collected by Paul Janeczeko featuring illustrations by Chris Raschka. The book begins with an introduction in which Janeczeko explains that the purpose of this book is to demonstrate 26 different poetic styles with examples and brief explanations of the rules for each style. The styles he covers are: Couplet, Tercet, Quatrain, Haiku, Senryu, Tanka, Cinquain, Clerihew, Limerick, Roundel, Double Dactyl, Triolet, Sonnet, Villanelle, Opposites, Riddle Poem, Ode, Acrostic, Concrete, Epitaph, Elegy, Found Poem, Persona Poem, Poem of Address, Ballad, Blues Poem, List Poem, Aubade, and Pantoum. He also includes a section with notes on each form. Each form includes one or two examples of each form along with some fine print notes and colorful illustrations.

Janeczko, P. (2005). A kick in the head. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

My Impressions:

A fun book with simple and easy to understand poems with notes about how they were created. I found the notes espeically helpful as I am not a big poetry person, and many of these forms I had never heard of. Before, such as a “Clerihew”.

Reviews:

Janeczko writes, "Knowing the rules makes poetry--like sports--more fun, for players and spectators alike." This smart new collection, assembled by the creators of A Poke in the I (rev. 7/01), beautifully introduces the rules of poetry on a variety of literary playing fields. The poems--ranging from light verse ("Kitchen crickets make a din, / sending taunts to chilly kin, / 'You're outside, but we got in'") to a Shakespearean sonnet (number twelve) and an accompanying parody--are arranged by form, with tercet, haiku, acrostic poem, limerick, roundel, double dactyl, epitaph, and aubade among the twenty-nine included. Each poem appears along with a small pictorial mnemonic (there's an urn for ode, a pair of birds for couplet) up in one corner of the page, an unobtrusive sentence describing the form, and a bright, full-color illustration that decorates but never dictates meaning. The back matter consists of expanded notes on and explanations of each form. The title poem (an example of concrete poetry, by Joan Bransfield Graham) proclaims that "poetry jumpstarts … imagination"; this book shows how that's done.

Carter, B. (2005). [A review of the book Kick in the Head by P. Janecczko]. Horn Book Magazine, 81(3), 337-338. retrived from https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:9443/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=518478637&scope=site

Usage in a Library Setting:

This book could be used as part of a poetry program to introduce different forms of poetry to the group. Obviously you couldn’t go through the whole thing, but maybe pick some of the shorter forms, introduce them and the rules with this book and then have the group create their own.

Mod 13: Amulet Book One: The Stone Keeper by Kazu Kibuishi

Summary:

This graphic novel by Kazu Kibuishi tells the story of Emily as she and her family move into a house once owned by their Grandfather Silas. Emily finds a strange amulet amoung Grandpa Silas's books. The first night in the house Emily and her family are awakened by a thumping noise in the basement. Emily's mother goes to investigate warning Emily and her brother Navin to stay away. After a few tense moments the mother screams and Emily and Navin run to see what is wrong, but find a strange world under their house, and a tenticled monster has just eaten their mother. After a struggle Navin and Emily escape the monster after Emily is able to call forth energy from the Amulet she found., Though they escape, they are unable to free their mom. They then find a dying Grandpa Silas and his robotic companions. Silas informs Emily that she is a Stonekeeper and has the power to use the amulet to control this strange world called Alledia. Silas dies and Emily then embarks on an adventure to save their mom with the help of Navin and Miskit, a pink bunny robot created by Silas. The trio ends up battling the tenticle monster to save their mother, but also face a mysterious elf who wants Emily's amulet for himself. Just when they think their ordeal is over they discover Emily's mother is now poisoned and they must head off on a new adventure to find the cure.

Kibuishi, K. (2008). Amulet: The stonekeeper. New York, NY: Scholastic.

My Impressions:

This is a great book, and I think the art style is simple yet fun. It is also just “manga” or “anime” looking enough to appeal to kids who are way into the japanese art styles while still being wstern enough to appeal to those audiences as well. The story is very fun and reading this makes me want to run out and pick book two!

Reviews:

Gr 4 Up-Hurrying to pick up her brother, Emily and her parents have a tragic accident, and her father dies. After this dark beginning, the story skips forward two years to when the remaining family members are forced to move to an ancestral house in a small town. Rumored to be haunted, it is unkempt and forbidding. The first night there, Emily's mother goes down to the basement to investigate a noise and doesn't return. The kids search for her and discover a doorway into another world, where their mother has been swallowed by a monster and is being taken away. An amulet that Emily found in the house tells her that together they can save her, but her brother isn't so sure that this voice can be trusted. Still, what other choice do they have in this strange place? Gorgeous illustrations with great color bring light to this gloomy tale. Filled with excitement, monsters, robots, and mysteries, this fantasy adventure will appeal to many readers, but it does have some truly nightmarish elements.-Dawn Rutherford, King County Library System, Bellevue, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

[Review of the graphic novel Amulet book one the stonekeeper by K. Kibuishi]. (2008). School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2929/DetailedView.aspx?hreciid=|19561129|27782455&mc=USA#

Usage in a Library Setting:

This book could be used as part of a push to promote Graphic Novels to struggling readers, and to show that the stories in graphic novels are not always about superheroes.