**This originally appeared on a YA Realistic Fiction discussion board for my Children's Literature class**
Title: Looking for Alaska
Author; John Green
Genre: young adult, realistic fiction, award winner
Looking for Alaska is the
second John Green book I have ever read. (the first was The Fault in Our Stars). When I began this book, I thought to
myself, “I wonder if John Green is going to kill off a character in this book?”
Well, so far, we are two for two. While Looking
isn’t as emotionally gut-wrenching as Fault,
it’s still a pretty sad book. The book itself is divided into two sections:
Before and After and the reader doesn’t find out what exactly Before and After
are referencing until the beginning of the second half of the book. I thought
the book was divided this way because the massive prank the Colonel and Alaska
were plotting against their frenemies. Now that I am a veteran of two John
Green books, I know Before and After mark a great tragedy in the life of Miles
Halter and his boarding school buddies.
When the novel opens, Miles Halter
leaves his boring life behind in Central Florida to attend the Culver Creek
boarding school in Alabama, his dad’s alma mater. He quickly befriends his
roommate The Colonel (birth name: Chip Martin), Takumi, Lara, and the beautiful
Alaska Young: “I stared, stunned partly by the force of the voice emanating
from the petite (but God, curvy) girl and partly by the gigantic stacks of
books that lined her walls…If just one them moved, I thought, the domino effect
could engulf the three of us in an asphyxiating mass of literature” (Green,
2005, p.15). Miles soon earns the ironic nickname of Pudge from The Colonel and
then proceeds to navigate multiple illicit adventures of all kinds with his
friends while keeping up with his studies: smoking, the secret drinking spot,
pre-calc tutoring sessions with Alaska, playing pranks on the weekend kids,
kissing a girl (and other things) for the first time, and pining away for the
girl he could never have- Alaska.
The first half of the book has its
mixture of humorous, snarky, and serious moments. Miles learns that Alaska’s
mother died of aneurism, the Colonel is fiercely protective of his mother who
lives in poverty, Lara is an immigrant from Romania whose parents never took
her seriously until they moved to the United States, and Takumi misses his
grandmother whom he never met. All four of them came to Culver Creek to leave a
dead-end situation (Darius & Twig
feature characters that also dream of leaving their current environment).
The second half of the book
understandably gets darker in tone as Miles and his friends grieve over
Alaska’s senseless death and undergo the grieving process. The Colonel and
Miles take it upon themselves to investigate the last hours of Alaska’s life as
a form of grief therapy. They also want to know if Alaska killed herself
deliberately or if it was, indeed, a freak accident. Unfortunately, the boys
(and the reader) never come up with solid evidence either way. Throughout the
novel, Miles and Alaska had been researching the meaning of the “labyrinth of
suffering” referenced in a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel (supposedly Simon
Bolivar’s last words). This search intermingles with the religion class Miles
and crew attend and Miles’ affinity for memorizing the last words of famous
people: “People die how they live. And so last words tell me a lot about who
people were, and why they became the sort of people biographies get written
about” (Green, 2005, p.128).
This book could fit into so many
subcategories of realistic fiction as listed in our lecture notes: humor (for
the first half of the book at least), contemporary realism, school and friends,
coming of age, and social problem (Alaska dies due to drunken driving)
(Carruth, 2018). This book was “challenged but retained at the Marion County
High School in Lebanon, Ky. Planning to use the novel in her senior English
class, the teacher sent home permission slips, so parents would have the option
to keep their child from reading the book. One parent accepted the offer for
her child to leave the room during those lessons. That parent, however, didn’t
want other children discussing it either and filed a challenge against Green’s
novel, igniting an overwhelming show of support for the book from students,
alumni, community members—and even Green himself” (Doyle, 2016).
My readalike recommendations
(disclaimer: I have not personally read these):
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider (synopsis courtesy of Goodreads): “Varsity tennis captain Ezra Faulkner was supposed to be
homecoming king, but that was before—before his girlfriend cheated on him,
before a car accident shattered his leg, and before he fell in love with
unpredictable new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Funny, smart, and including everything from flash mobs to blanket forts
to a poodle who just might be the reincarnation of Jay Gatsby, The Beginning
of Everything is a refreshing contemporary twist on the
classic coming-of-age novel—a heart-wrenching story about how difficult it is
to play the part that people expect, and how new beginnings can stem from
abrupt and tragic endings.”
How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford (synopsis courtesy of Goodreads): “An
amazing, touching story of two friends navigating the dark waters of their
senior year. New to town, Beatrice is expecting her new best friend to be one
of the girls she meets on the first day. But instead, the alphabet conspires to
seat her next to Jonah, aka Ghost Boy, a quiet loner who hasn't made a new
friend since third grade. Something about him, though, gets to Bea, and soon
they form an unexpected friendship. It's not romance, exactly - but it's
definitely love. Still, Bea can't quite dispel Jonah's gloom and doom - and as
she finds out his family history, she understands why. Can Bea help Jonah? Or
is he destined to vanish?”
Citations:
Carruth, D. (2018) Realistic
fiction [Word document] Retrieved from https://vsu.view.usg.edu/d2l/le/content/1710195/viewContent/27687980/View?ou=1710195
Doyle, R.P. (2016). Books
challenged or banned in 2016. Retrieved from https://www.ila.org/initiatives/banned-books-week/books-challenged-or-banned-in-2016-by-ro
Green, J. (2005). Looking for Alaska. New York: Dutton
Books.
Schneider, R. (2013). The beginning of everything. New York:
HarperCollins.
Standiford, N. (2009). How to say goodbye in robot. New York:
Scholastic Press.
Title: Darius & Twig
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Genres: young adult, realistic fiction, award winner, sports fiction
Darius & Twig
chronicles the everyday life of best friends Darius Austin and Manuel “Twig”
Fernandez. Darius dreams of being a writer that changes the world while Twig aspires
to be a great runner. Unfortunately, their environment tries to work against
their dreams- they live in the poor section of Harlem where violence and other
crimes are an everyday occurrence. Darius and Twig also have two nemeses at
their school- Midnight and Tall Boy, opposites to Darius and Twig in almost
every way. Throughout this novel, Darius is struggling with the suggested edits
from the editor of the Delta Review.
As Darius changes throughout the novel, he uses his growing emotional maturity
and awareness of the world to flesh out his short story in more vivid detail.
Darius views this essay as his ticket out of Harlem but his guidance counselor
(and I use that term loosely here. I personally thought his guidance counselor
was too negative) thinks otherwise: “He got right to the bottom line, He said
that right now I wasn’t scholarship material… He said maybe I should drop put
and do my junior year over again” (Myers, 2013, p.4). Darius does not accept
this less-than-encouraging news; with an absent brother, and overworked mother,
and a little brother to care for, Darius wants to change his life for the
better: “The thing was that I needed a scholarship that would get me out of my
house, away from my mom, away from the hood, and most of all, away from the
crap that was going on in my head everyday” (Myers, 2013, p. 6).
To mentally escape his environment, Darius
envisions himself as a falcon named Fury and some of the chapters open with
segments about Fury’s sky-high view of the world and his hunting escapades. The
little vignettes mirror the emotions Darius experiences within the corresponding
chapter. Between Fury’s “flights” and his own walks around the neighborhood,
Darius knows that he needs to leave Harlem and attend college to better
himself. His greatest fear (and this mentioned multiple times in the novel) is
that “if I didn’t get a scholarship, it would mean taking my place with all the
other guys on the block who look like me. Young, black, dangerous, unless
proven otherwise (Myers, 2013, p. 12).
While the novel is told from Darius’
point of view, we also learn about Twig’s situation. His family is ruled by his
sleazy uncle who wants to leave the family store to Twig. Twig, like Darius,
does not want to stay in Harlem for the rest of his life. As his best friend, Darius
assists Twig with his training regimen and lives vicariously through Twig’s races:
“Twig had found a real joy in running, had found a pleasure and a freedom that
he didn’t have anywhere else in his life. It was something he could do, a
statement that his body could make to the world” (Myers, 2013, p. 109).
In our “Realistic Fiction” lecture
notes, we are encouraged to review realistic fiction novels with the following
criteria in mind:
·
the plot involves
a common problem that most teens can relate to as part of “an interesting and
believable plot” (Carruth, 2018).
·
The characters in
realistic fiction should not be perfect children who make no mistakes.
·
The setting
should contribute to the story and written vividly to transport the reader to
another place.
·
The themes of the
novel should not come across as preachy.
·
The dialogue
between characters needs to sound as natural as possible.
Although the ending was more positive
than I expected and wrapped their problems a little too neatly (while reading
this book I had a sense of mild dread that Darius or Twig were going to get
into some kind of trouble with huge consequences), I believe that this book
meets the requirements listed above. Most teens can relate to wanting to leave
a stifling environment and receiving no help for this goal with the adults in
their life. Teens also have best friends that they can share secrets with and
go to bat for, like Darius did when he convinced Twig’s uncle to watch Twig
race. Despite their circumstances, Darius and Twig are considered “good kids”
but they are not perfect- they do end up in a fist fight against Midnight and
his cronies. The negative conditions in Harlem are written vividly but do not
overtake the plot; the boys are never completely hopeless about their
situation, although they sometimes waver about their future choices. I think
perseverance and friendship are the themes of this novel and they are presented
in a believable manner throughout the novel. Once again, because Darius and
Twig are not perfect, their dialogue isn’t perfect either- there is some
swearing (some readers might cringe over the few F-bombs sprinkled throughout
the book). This book also fits into the subgenres of coming of age and sports
novel (I’m still trying to decide whether this book fits into the social
problem novel. What do you guys think?).
Readalikes disclaimer: Since I am not
familiar with YA sports novels, I consulted Listopia on Goodreads for the
following recommendations:
Gym Candy by Carl Deuker (synopsis
from Goodreads):”Runningback Mick Johnson has
dreams: dreams of cutting back, finding the hole, breaking into the open, and
running free with nothing but green grass ahead. He has dreams of winning and
of being the best. But football is a cruel sport. It requires power, grace,
speed, quickness, and knowledge of the game. It takes luck, too. One crazy
bounce can turn a likely victory into sudden defeat. What elite athlete
wouldn’t look for an edge? A way to make him bigger, stronger, faster?
This novel explores the dark corners of the heart of a young football player as he struggles for success under the always glaring—and often unforgiving—stadium lights.”
This novel explores the dark corners of the heart of a young football player as he struggles for success under the always glaring—and often unforgiving—stadium lights.”
The Contender by Robert Lipsyte (synopsis from
Goodreads): “This is a sports fiction novel that
tells a story of Alfred Brooks, a seventeen-year-old high school drop-out,
living in Harlem, finding his way in the world and in boxing. Alfred learns
that getting to the top is not as important as how you get there, and that
before you can be a champion, you have to be a contender with the will to get
back on your feet after you have been knocked down.”
Citations:
Carruth, D. (2018) Realistic
fiction [Word document] Retrieved from https://vsu.view.usg.edu/d2l/le/content/1710195/viewContent/27687980/View?ou=1710195
Deuker, C. (2007). Gym
candy. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
Lipsyte, R. (1996). The
contender. New York: HarperCollins.
Myers, W.D. (2013). Darius & twig. New York: Amistad.
