Module 5: King of the Mild Frontier

Crutcher, Chris. 2003. KING OF THE MILD FRONTIER. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN: 0-06-050250-9.

Fans of Chris Crutcher, and even those who have never read his novels, will enjoy this entertaining, creative, funny (at times) and difficult (at other times) autobiography. Writing about growing up in Cascade, Idaho, Crutcher populates this straightforward, unapologetic book with a well-described cast of characters who were instrumental in honing his powers of observation. This is not an autobiography where the author merely describes others; what makes this work compelling is that Crutcher illustrates how his interactions with people and events gave him new insights into himself and life and spurred him to become not only an author but also a better or different human being.

Readers get the sense that he almost had no choice of career besides that of a writer and storyteller. Every chapter is a story, and, in nearly every chapter, Crutcher learns something about himself and communicates that learning honestly to his audience. From his older brother John, he learns that no matter what, he will always be gullible, an easy target for whatever scheme John concocts. When Crutcher relates the stories about the BB gun, “Esus,” urinating in the heating grate, and stealing his brother’s book reports for English class, he seems to have two aims. The first is to show (hilariously, most of the time) the sibling relationship and how the younger brother keeps coming back for more, even if he always gets in trouble. The second is a deeper theme that runs throughout this work, demonstrating that naïve or innocent people are always at the mercy of others.

His chapter “Why Things Happen” takes up this concept and brings it to the center. Here, Crutcher is at his best when he discusses how death has shaped his life and how it has entered his novels. Discussing the death of a student at the school where he taught and the loss of his father and mother, he reflects on the words of a reverend, the “rhetorical question” of “Why do bad things happen to good people?” (163) He does not provide a final answer. Instead, he uses it as a means of showing his viewpoint as an author: “the best lessons about death come from the best lessons of life” and “Just because” (166-167). As an author, and as he has done in this piece, he will write about what he has seen and experienced, without having to ask for permission from anyone.

He returns to this simple idea later, in the chapter entitled “Becoming a Storyteller.” The chapter begins benignly and innocently: a high school-aged Crutcher has decided he wants to get As in English by doing very little, rather than settling for his usual C grades (for doing nothing). He hits upon a scheme to steal his brother’s collected book reports and relates how close he comes to getting caught. He could have stopped right there, and readers would have learned more about the author as a young man and maybe snickered at how ridiculous it all was.

However, true to Crutcher and the way his chapters unfold in this book, he adds more critical events. First, he meets a real writer and begins to understand and appreciate the act of writing, and he eventually publishes his first novel. Second, while discussing his first book, he describes a conversation with his literary agent about his use of profanity. Though these two events would be enough for others’ autobiographies, they are not sufficient here. Crutcher uses the final few pages of the chapter to help his audience understand why he chooses to use the language he does, relating an anecdote from his time as a therapist. Keeping with the theme of things happening to people, he uses the anecdote to show something important about his work: his “respect” makes his characters real and his storytelling is a “spot where language and circumstance and character merge to tell some tough truth” (226). Getting readers to understand his use of rough language took awhile, but, like his other stories in the book, was well worth the trip.

The title understates the intensity of this work and shows the humility that marks his writing, as he “portrays himself as a young crybaby, academic misfit, and athletic klutz, utterly without self-aggrandizement” (Shoemaker). His views of his town, his family, his friends, the pretty girls always beyond his reach, his participation in sports, and his brilliant ideas gone awry will increase reader understanding of who he is, how he approaches the world, and why he writes the way he does. If honesty and sincerity are “ill-advised,” then Crutcher seems to be saying the world needs more of it.

Reference List
Shoemaker, Joel. 2003. Review of King of the Mild Frontier by Chris Crutcher. School Library Journal 49(4): 176. Library, Information Science & Technology (LISTA) database through TWU Library. Accessed 16 November 2011.

Highly Recommended (Grades 8 & older)
Some of the material may be too difficult for some 8th graders, but it’s a wonderful read for those who can handle its content.

Review Excerpts
This is a good read and a deeply moral and philosophical work with important messages about life, death, relativity, heroism, and why bad things sometimes happen to good people. (Kirkus Reviews)

Tough and tender reminiscences focus primarily on family, social, and school conflicts, but lessons derived from his career as a teacher, therapist, and writer are also described… the narrative holds undeniable appeal for the author's fans and demonstrates the power of writing to help both reader and writer heal emotional/psychic wounds. (School Library Journal, April 1, 2003)

Nothing tops his misadventures in small-town sports ("If you didn't show up for football practice on the first day of your freshman year, they simply came and got you"), including his days as a terrified 123-pound freshman ("with all the muscle definition of a chalk outline") and his initiation as a letterman (involving oysters, an olive and a large dose of humiliation). (Publishers Weekly, March 3, 2003)

Through a series of vignettes, Crutcher lays bare many painful memories of his childhood, and readers see the source of some of his best stories and characters…In telling his own story, Crutcher entertains readers, challenges them, and touches their hearts. This is a biography that will be read--not skimmed--and loved. (Voice of Youth Advocates, June 1, 2003)

This honest, insightful, revealing autobiography is a joy to read. Crutcher's fans will relish this intimate glimpse of the author, and the book may win some new readers for his fiction. (Booklist, April 15, 2003)

Review excerpts from Books in Print database, TWU Libraries.

Module 4: Uglies

Westerfield, Scott. 2005. UGLIES. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 0-439-80611-9.

Tally Youngblood has only a few days remaining before her 16th birthday and the operation that will make her become pretty. Living in the darkness of Uglyville, she is not welcome in gleaming, torch-lit New Pretty Town across the river until she has the operation. Her good friend Peris is there, living in the Garbo Mansion with other new pretties, and much of her fun is to sneak across the river and visit him. Though the river is patrolled well to prevent the uglies from crossing, Tally knows of a secret way. Bolstering her confidence is the idea that new pretties are so inanely self-absorbed and “having so much fun to notice little things out of place” (8)

Tally will get the same basic beautification package as everyone else in this dystopic science fiction novel set in a distant, post-industrial future. That idea pleases her, but then she meets Shay, who happens to have the same birthday as she does. Adept with a hoverboard (a flying skateboard relying on solar power and metal?) and not at all interested in becoming a pretty and letting the river confine her experience, Shay begins educating Tally on the need to be herself and not to become a pretty simply because that’s what everyone else does. She also pushes Tally beyond her limited experience of sneaking across the river and jealously admiring the pretties.

Through Shay, Westerfield plants the concept of something different in Tally. When she talks with Tally and later takes her to the abandoned town, readers are able to see social commentary on a number of levels. Shay does not want to be pretty and seems to prefer a time when people looked different from each other, even if there were different forms of discrimination. Later, the setting changes to contrast the clean, crisp and manmade New Pretty Town with the shattered buildings and rusted cars left behind long ago by the Rusties. Instead of blindly accepting what society presents, Shay longs for something more and is able to create questions for Tally.

When Shay points to the distant Smoke and tells of mysterious characters there led by the elusive David, Tally is hooked. If New Pretty Town symbolizes conformity, the ruins of the roller coaster represent the pages of history. The Smoke means rejecting all that she has been taught. At this early stage of the novel, Tally understands there is something beyond her experience. The only question is if she will turn her back on being pretty and go look for it. Will she have the nerve to explore a completely new way of being?

Dr. Cable, the middle pretty face of the government, answers the question for Tally. Once Shay disappears, the doctor is the evil antagonist who blackmails Tally into cooperating to find her friend. Tally must balance the difficult choice of being ugly forever if she does not cooperate with Dr. Cable with betraying her friend and allowing Special Circumstances the opportunity to destroy the Smoke and its inhabitants. Tally chooses betrayal. In the “victory” for Dr. Cable and the society she represents, Westerfield reminds readers that there is little room for individual thinking and that any rebellion must be stamped out, even if it is distant and isolated.

Tally’s dual personality drives the remainder of the story. She journeys to the Smoke, meets David, and learns the secret of the surgery to make people pretty from David’s parents, escaped plastic surgeons who performed many early operations and conducted research on them. In addition to being a love interest, David and those living in the Smoke complete Tally’s education. Where Westerfield described New Pretty Town as full of manmade people and buildings, the people in the Smoke must find and grow their own food and manufacture their own clothes. Tally learns about another part of life, another way of being and, betrayal or not, begins to understand it and become repulsed by the life she left.

At this point of the novel, the plot and characterization become predictable. Tally regrets what she has done and attempts to tell David a number of times of her betrayal. He seems to be so blinded by their budding love that he cannot listen, and whenever she tries to say something, she gets interrupted. Shay, naturally, gets jealous of Tally. Also, with paranoia rife in the Smoke, an outlaw society, how is it that people such as Croy and even David can suspect that Tally is not all she seems and still not do anything about it? How does Tally get so close to David so quickly? Finally, what about that remarkable luck she has in getting to the Smoke in the first place? Enough was made of the tracking device given to her earlier in the novel that her setting it off and bringing in the Special Circumstances thugs should surprise no one.

Once Tally has contributed to the demise of the Smoke, readers know that she will make things right by revealing her duplicity to David and emerging as a stronger character. Predictability aside, her eyes are open to new possibilities, and she sees that in order to change and stay true to herself, she must be willing to take action. Although her story does not end with a resolution, it “is highly readable with a convincing plot that incorporates futuristic technologies and a disturbing commentary on our current public policies” (Hunter). Through Tally, Westerfield reminds all readers of the need to think as individuals, be true to themselves, and keep their eyes open to the possibilities around them.

Reference List
Hunter, Susan W. 2005. Review of Uglies by Scott Westerfield. School Library Journal 51(3): 221. Library, Information Science & Technology (LISTA) database through TWU Library. Accessed 28 October 2011.

Review Excerpts
As in his So Yesterday, Westerfeld introduces thought-provoking issues, but readers may lose track of the plot while sorting the many messages about how the "Rusties" nearly destroyed the planet. (Publishers Weekly, March 21, 2005)

Teens will sink their teeth into the provocative questions about invasive technology, image-obsessed society, and the ethical quandaries of a mole-turned-ally. These elements, along with the obvious connections to reality programs such as Miami Slice, will surely cause this ingenious series debut to cement Westerfeld's reputation for high-concept YA fiction that has wide appeal. (Booklist, March 15, 2005)

Tally inflicts betrayal after betrayal, which dominates the theme for the midsection; by the end, the nature of this dystopia is front and center and Tally—trying to set things right—takes a stunning leap of faith. Some heavy-handedness, but the awesome ending thrills with potential. (Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2005)

Awards & Recognition
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2006
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, 2005

Module 4: Tithe

Black, Holly. 2002. TITHE: A MODERN FAERIE TALE. New York: Simon and Schuster (Simon Pulse). ISBN: 978—0-689-86704-0.

For those who enjoy fantasy stories of fairies existing in worlds parallel to our own, Holly Black’s Tithe will certainly be enjoyable. It is the story of Kaye Fierch, a 16-year-old girl who seems to be just another teenager attempting to figure out her place in the world. At the beginning of this story, Kaye’s world is bleak. The novel opens with her in a bar watching her mother’s rock and roll band as they attempt to make it big. They don’t. Kaye and her hard-drinking, cigarette-smoking mother, Ellen, have to move back to New Jersey to live with Kaye’s grandmother. Ellen and her mother spend most of their time yelling at each other, with the grandmother implying that Kaye is on the verge of ending up just like Ellen. Their language to each other is rough and realistic, and this reality is not the best place for Kaye.

Kaye has friends in New Jersey, but they do not add too much in the way of brightness to the novel. Janet, her best friend, lives in a trailer park with her homosexual brother, Corny, who works at a gas station and reads pornographic comic books. Their trailer is stuffed with junk their divorced mother picks up at flea markets, and each is as dissatisfied as Kaye. Through Janet, Kaye meets a group of young people who seem to be interested mostly in drinking or, in Kenny’s case, cheating on his girlfriend, who happens to be Janet. True to form, Kenny goes for Kaye, Janet sees the exchange, and everything blows up. With both her mother and her friends, Kaye seems to be passive, a victim of others’ actions.

Early in the novel, while establishing Kaye as a teenage girl who goes in for petty shoplifting and getting caught in uncomfortable situations with her friend’s boyfriend, Black also introduces the “faerie” aspect to her life. Kaye is afraid that her mother and Janet will joke with her about Lutie, Spike and the now-deceased Gristle, the three “fey” she’s known since her childhood. Are they real, as she thinks they are? Or does she simply have an overactive imagination, as the others think? Later, Kenny catches Kaye bringing a merry-go-round pony to life, even though she thinks she only imagines doing so. He “sees” it, and readers begin to suspect that Kaye is something more than a young girl going through a bad time, or a girl whose imagination blurs the distinction between the “normal’ and the faerie worlds.

When she meets Roiben, readers are sure. He is a knight who serves the queen of the Unseelie Court, Nicnevin. She helps him out of a rough spot, and his note to her inside of an acorn sets in motion a chain of events that allow her to acknowledge herself as a full-fledged faerie but not until she becomes part of a plot hatched by the Thistlewitch. The essence of the plot is simple: a “mortal” must be sacrificed so that the “solitary fey” (Lutie, Spike and others represented by the Thistlewitch) can become free for seven years. The upshot of all this is that Kaye learns the truth about her “real” self and that she must set off on a quest to help Roiben and the solitary fey and to find the original Kaye Fierch. The quest does not take her far from her grandmother’s house.

As Kaye’s original “glamor” begins to emerge, Black chooses Corny as the human character to whom Kaye goes and asks for assistance. He accompanies her to the Unseelie Court, entered through a discolored patch of grass in the hill. When they arrive there, Black’s writing is at its best and most lavish. Though she does an excellent job of showing the peeling paint and tattered human world, her descriptions of the colors, character and scenes in the faerie world are vivid and cinematic, comprising “the greatest strength of the story” (Wright).

In this world, her faeries are anthropomorphic and seem to enjoy debauchery and good times as much as any humans do. In addition to fostering impending violence, they are also extremely adept at political intrigue and infighting. Nicnevin is the all-powerful leader who demands subservience, and Nephamael is a villain who enjoys Corny’s company. Roiben falls deeper for Kaye, and she returns the favor but is still unsure of who or what exactly he is. (She also spends a large chunk of her time questioning herself.) The whole situation with the faeries provides a counterpoint to the grittiness of the world above the ground, in regular old New Jersey.

Understanding the politics and shifting alliances of the faerie world could be difficult for readers who are not fans of the fantasy genre. Also, while the teenage dialogue is modern, believable and effective at capturing the dark mood of the human young people, Black’s faeries speak stilted, quaint English. Perhaps their language never evolved due to their isolation underground or in forests, even if their actions are all too human, based as they are on greed, self-indulgence, sacrifice and love.

These criticisms aside, the story still comprises a journey Kaye needs to make to right a wrong, and it is fitting that in the climactic scene, Kaye has to “think like a human girl” (309) and figure out a way to get Corny, Roiben and herself out of a difficult situation. By the end of this novel, she has begun accepting herself for what and who she is. Black lightens the tone in the last few pages, and Kaye seems to have developed a sense of humor along with her sense of self-acceptance.

Reference List
Wright, Beth. 2002. Review of Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black. School Library Journal 48(10): 158. Library, Information Science & Technology (LISTA) database through TWU Library. Accessed 27 October 2011.

RECOMMENDED (High School and up)

Review Excerpts
Dark, edgy, beautifully written, and compulsively readable, this is sure to be a word-of-mouth hit with teens, even a few usually unmoved by magic and monsters. (Booklist, February 15, 2003)

Black skillfully juxtaposes Kaye's life of messy, ripped clothes and brambles with the excesses and depravity she encounters in the faerie court, making both appear more believable in the process. (Books in Canada, August 1, 2004)

While most of the supporting cast has little to do beyond playing villains or victims, Black has an eye for the telling detail that brings the most minor character to life. A labyrinthine plot with Goth sensibility makes this a luscious treat for fans of urban fantasy and romantic horror. (Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2002)

The author's Bosch-like descriptions of the Unseelie Court, with its Rackham-on-acid denizens, and the exquisite faeries haunt as well as charm. (Publishers Weekly, October 28, 2002)

Awards & Recognition
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2003
YALSA Teens Top 10 Booklist, 2003

Module 4: Among the Hidden

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. 1998. AMONG THE HIDDEN. New York: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 0-689-81700-2.

Set in the (not too distant) future, Among the Hidden describes a dystopic political and social vision of food shortages, population control, and totalitarian rule by a small favored elite over the majority of the citizens. At its heart, though, it is the story of a 12-year-old boy, Luke Garner, the third child of a farming family whose land the government of this unnamed country wanted so that it could build houses for the Barons, those in power. As the youngest brother of Matthew and Mark, Luke is a “shadow child,” a living violation of a law stipulating that families are only allowed two children.

Luke was born when the Population Law was still new, and when his mother relates the story of her pregnancy and his birth early in the story, readers understand her original wish to have four sons: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It was her way of being in control of her life and that of her family. From this point onward, readers see how little control Luke and his family have over their lives. Everything is dictated by a distant government that tells families what to grow and how to grow it. The government controls the economy to such a degree that Luke’s family, embodied by his father, lives a hand-to-mouth existence in a state of servitude. With Luke in the house, everyone fears the dreaded Population Police.

While government authority controls the family, Luke’s father controls Luke’s destiny. He confines Luke to his room and yells when Luke ventures to the kitchen. He remains one-dimensional throughout most of this short novel and becomes real only when readers see his helplessness at supporting his family. The government has taken the land that fed his family, and when he attempts to grow crops by other means, the government warns him off. Readers could be more sympathetic to his plight if he were more sympathetic to Luke. In most of the scenes when he talks with Luke, he is anything but sympathetic. He enjoys giving orders, perhaps to preserve the last vestige of control he has left in his life, over his son and family.

As a character, Luke is curious and adventurous. Before the new houses for the Barons, he was able to play outside. Since their completion, he is confined to his house. In addition to reading and playing games, he spies on the neighboring houses and gives the families nicknames based on their particular characteristics. He knows how many neighbors there are and their daily habits. One day, he notices a curtain move, and he decides to leave his house to investigate. Sure, he has been told to stay indoors and out of sight by his father, but that is not good enough for him. He chooses action, and his rebellion brings him into contact with Jen, the shadow child of the "Sports Family."

Without Jen in the novel, Luke and his family would have lived daily (and somewhat blandly) under the far-reaching control of the government. With Jen, the novel becomes social and political. She is a Baron whose father ranks high in the government, and she introduces Luke to her privileged lifestyle of Internet access, books, and even potato chips and soda, forbidden foods. Jen is a character of rash action, attempting to rally other shadow children to rise up and resist the government, but, more importantly, she is the person who educates Luke. Jen is “free”—at least freer than Luke—but her single-mindedness is her downfall. Jen adds an individual flair to a novel whose characters concentrate on submitting themselves to a greater power.

Her fate could have reinforced the arbitrary power of the government and the lack of resistance of the people. In the final chapters of the novel, more positive themes emerge. The first is that all people have individual goodness and can make difficult sacrifices, as evidenced in the actions of Jen’s father and Luke’s parents during the final scene. The second is that knowing is not enough and that Jen’s type of rash action does not work. Luke has transformed himself and decided that he is the type of person to change history, but that he will do so with outside help and by being “more patient, more cautious, more practical” (146). Jen helped him get to know the enemy, but he must take his own action on his own terms.

Haddix has written a story about a boy making a decision, the first in a series, where readers will be enthralled by a “young person defying authority and the odds to make a difference” (Rogers). Careful readers, however, will see more than just Luke. They will see a reflection of our world today, with its increasing population and shortages of food and water. Perhaps in seeing that, they will also reflect on the choices proposed in the novel: to accept their fates as Luke’s father or to risk everything and make a difference, as Luke does.

Reference List
Rogers, Susan L. 1998. Review of Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix. School Library Journal 44(9): 203. Library, Information Science & Technology (LISTA) database through TWU Library. Accessed 27 October 2011.

Highly Recommended (Grades 5-8…and even older!)

Review Excerpts
The plot development is sometimes implausible and the characterizations are a bit brittle, but the unsettling, thought-provoking premise should suffice to keep readers hooked. (Publishers Weekly, August 31, 1998)

When the boy secretly ventures outside the attic and meets the girl in the neighboring house, he learns that expressing divergent opinions openly can lead to tragedy. To what extent is he willing to defy the government in order to have a life worth living? (School Library Journal, September 1, 1998)

The seizing of farmlands, untenable food regulations, and other scenarios that have come to fruition in these pages will give readers a new appreciation for their own world after a visit to Luke's. (Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 1998)

This is an easily understood, younger reader's 1984 or Brave New World, presenting a chilling vision of a possibly not-too-distant future. (Voice of Youth Advocates, October 1, 1998)

Awards & Recognition
Great Stone Face Children's Book Award, 2000-2001
Maud Hart Lovelace Award, 2001
California Young Reader Medal, 2001
Nevada Young Reader's Award, 2001
Nutmeg Children's Book Award, 2002
Sunshine State Young Reader's Book Award, 2001-2002
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award, 2001-2002
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 1999

Module 3: Dairy Queen

Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. 2006. DAIRY QUEEN. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN: 978-0-618-86335-8.

Darlene Joyce Schwenk, known simply as D.J., narrates this contemporary coming-of-age romance novel. Her summer in the small town of Red Bend, Wisconsin looks to be complicated, to say the least, and she is not happy. The oldest child on the family dairy farm, she took over all of the chores after her father’s hip replacement surgery the previous January. Due to her new responsibilities, D.J. quit the school basketball team and failed her sophomore English class. She then learns that her father and a family friend, the longtime football coach at Red Bend’s archrival, Hawley, want her to spend her summer training Brian Nelson until training camp begins in early August. Handsome, spoiled Brian, the popular quarterback, is everything she is not. She resents the responsibilities given to her but lacks confidence to speak out about her situation.

The rural Wisconsin setting, typified by the Schwenk family dairy farm, plays a major role in D.J.’s story. She must awaken at five in the morning to milk the cows and run the farm. If it is her home, it is also her prison. Through all of the chores, there runs a lack of family communication. Her father cooks (but no one tells him how terrible his burnt meals are), her older brothers are estranged from her father due to some undiscussed event from last Christmas, her younger brother Curtis does not say much, and her mother is rarely around the house. Throughout the early part of the novel, D.J. is alone with her thoughts and her endless work, and neither is positive.

Football is the other important aspect of setting in this story. The Schwenks are a football family. The father played for the Minnesota Vikings when the team began, and her brothers were both legends in high school. Raised in this environment with that set of genes, D.J. is the natural choice to train Brian. Due to D.J.’s resentment and lack of confidence, and Brian’s unwillingness to do farm chores, their relationship begins poorly. However, after training and doing chores together, they become closer and even create their own football field on an isolated part of the farm. This is their secret, a symbol of their budding friendship.

Is it a relationship? D.J. hopes so but still lacks confidence, as shown in her “tongue-tied nature and self-deprecating inner monologues” (Pickett). She and Brian play together, talk, and warm up to each other in what seems to verge on a relationship. In one critical scene, D.J.’s best friend Amber interrupts them and reminds D.J. that “Guys like that don’t go out with girls like you” (158). D.J. understands that, but it is still a blow to her. She does not stand up for herself and understands what Brian means when he refers to her as a cow. Others lead life; she follows.

When D.J. decides to try out for the Red Bend football team, she begins taking control of her life and moving beyond the setting confining her. Fittingly, she leaves the farm for Madison, the state capital and more liberal university town, to have her hair cut so that it will fit inside her football helmet. When she arrives there, she sees herself as a “farm hick” (187) in the city and is afraid to tell the woman at the salon about football. The response she gets heartens her and bolsters her confidence to return to Red Bend and begin changing her life.

The football scenes are mainly serious, as D.J. tries to be accepted by her coach, teammates and opponents, and as she keeps her participation secret from her family. Lighter moments arise with the complications of locker rooms and cheerleaders. The main complication, though, is with Brian, who tells her, “When you don’t talk, you know, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up getting not said” (225).

By learning to like herself and speak honestly and openly (referred to as “Oprah moments” throughout the book), D.J. comes to understand that her lack of self-confidence stifled her, not Red Bend or the rest of the Schwenks. With her newfound understanding and confidence, she can empathize with and relate more equally to her family, her best friend Amber, and Brian. In D.J., Murdock has created a powerful character capable of reaching a wide range of readers able to understand her shortcomings and smile as she comments on them.

Reference List:
Pickett, Amy. 2006. Review of Dairy Queen, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. School Library Journal 52(4): 145. Library, Information Science & Technology (LISTA) database, TWU Library. Accessed 3 October 2011.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (Grade 8 and up)

Review Excerpts:
At the end, though, it is the protagonist's heart that will win readers over. (School Library Journal, April 1, 2006)

A painfully funny novel takes readers into the head of D.J. Schwenk, frustrated dairy farmer-cum-football trainer-cum-star linebacker…A fresh teen voice, great football action and cows—this novel rocks. (Kirkus Reviews)

This humorous, romantic romp excels at revealing a situation seldom explored in YA novels, and it will quickly find its place alongside equally well-written stories set in rural areas, such as Weaver's Full Service (2005), Richard Peck's The Teacher's Funeral (2004), and Kimberly Fusco's Tending to Grace (2004). (Booklist, April 1, 2006)

D.J.'s voice is funny, frank, and intelligent, and her story is not easily pigeonholed. Readers will learn a lot about sports and farming but more about taking charge of oneself. (Voice of Youth Advocates, June 1, 2006)

Awards & Recognition:
Great Lakes Book Awards, 2007
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award, 2007-2008
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, 2006

Module 3: I'd Tell You I Love You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You

Carter, Ally. 2006. I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU. New York: Hyperion Press. ISBN: 978-14231-0004-1.

The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women looks like any other prep school for elite girls, but looks are deceiving. Though its students are all high schoolers, their school is a CIA training facility, and they are the most gifted of its recruits in training. “Gallagher Girls” have a long pedigree dating from Gillian Gallagher, who killed “the guy who was going to kill Abraham Lincoln—the first guy, that is. The one you never hear about” (3). She used a sword that the school still proudly displays, even if it is booby-trapped.

Cameron (Cammie) Morgan, the narrator of this romantic, adventure (sort of) novel, is a normal 15-year-old. “Normal” at Gallagher is a relative term, however. As part of their school curriculum, Gallagher Girls learn and use 14 different languages, study martial arts, engage in covert operations, and know enough chemistry to receive a Ph D. Even though they live in a privileged world, with a five-star chef, secret passageways, and an overall sense of uniqueness, Cammie realizes that Gallagher Girls—herself included—lack knowledge about the one topic most important to a 15-year-old girl: boys. This is a (highly) comic novel where appearances and reality collide. Though the girls learn how to be great spies in school, living in the real world means they must also be girls.

Two events signal that this school year at Gallagher will be different. First, a “hot” new Covert Operations (CoveOps) teacher, Joe Solomon, arrives. He knew Cammie’s father and is one of the few who knows of the exact circumstances of his death. To Cammie, this knowledge reveals her vulnerability and contrasts her ignorance with her desire to know what happened to her father. She never learns the truth, but her questions about his fate serve to make her a more rounded character able to empathize with her mother and her friend, Bex, whose own father misses a “call-in” while on an operation. Solomon, an operative just out of the field, understands what awaits the Gallagher Girls in the real world and tells them to “notice things” after they fail a class exercise. They have been living in a bubble, and he attempts to help them break out of it.

The second event to jolt the complacency of Cammie, Liz and Bex (best friends and roommates) occurs when the campus goes into “Code Red” (unannounced visitor) and the McHenry family visits. Macey McHenry is rich and spoiled and has been expelled from other schools. Gallagher is her last chance. The girls do not see her as Gallagher material, but they are overruled by the headmistress (Cammie’s mother) who has seen her test scores and knows that the McHenry family is related to Gillian Gallagher. Macey is disliked, but she is an expert on boys and fashion. If Joe Solomon introduces the girls to the hard realities of espionage for their future careers, Macey ensures that they get being teenage girls right first.

Appearance and reality also drive the setting and plot development. With its gadgetry and resources, Gallagher is truly “exceptional” to readers, while to the townspeople of Rossville, Virginia, it is just another snooty private school for wealthy girls. (If only they knew!) When Cammie meets Josh during a CoveOps field exercise, she must create a believable “legend” for her identity to hide who she is and where she studies. Their secret meetings in town involve espionage techniques and become part of Cammie’s “surveillance report,” wherein she documents how she and her roommates tail Josh, tap into his computer, sift through his family’s garbage, and break into his house. Is he a honeypot (appearance for her roommates) or a regular guy interested in Cammie (reality)?

The complications of the plot are never that serious, not even in the climactic scene. Carter splashes laugh-out-loud humor onto nearly every page of this enjoyable novel, if not in the action, then at least in Cammie’s view of it. Things turn “serious” only when Cammie thinks about fathers (her own and Bex’s) and when Josh believes he has learned the truth about her after only having heard her legend. (He hasn’t.) Carter captures the voice of a teenage girl, even if she overuses “totally” a bit. Her sarcastic and very teenaged italicized and capitalized mini-commentaries allow Cammie to explain Gallagher’s history, the finer points of being a spy, and her own confusion as she falls deeper and deeper for Josh. Even if “the stakes never seem very high since there are no real villains” (Doyle), Cammie still learns important lessons about love, friendship and truth.

Reference List:
Doyle, Miranda. 2006. Review of I’d Tell You I Love You, but Then I’d Have to Kill You, by Ally Carter. School Library Journal 52(7): 98. Library, Information Science & Technology (LISTA) database, TWU Library. Accessed 3 October 2011.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (Grade 7 and up)

Review Excerpts:
Though the plot takes a while to unfold, fun details and characters will keep readers engaged. Publishers Weekly, May 15, 2006)

The teen's double life leads to some amusing one-liners, and the invented history of the Gallagher Girls is also entertaining, but the story is short on suspense. (School Library Journal, July 1, 2006)

The characters and their relationships, including Cammie's mother—Headmistress of the Gallagher Academy—propel this story beyond just being an action-packed novel into something special. (Voice of Youth Advocates, October 1, 2006)

Reviews retrieved from Bowker’s Books in Print database, October 3, 2011.

Awards & Recognition:
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, 2008-2009 (Maryland Association of School Librarians)
Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award, 2009-2010 (Minnesota Youth Reading Awards)

Module 3: Sunrise over Fallujah

Myers, Walter Dean. 2008. SUNRISE OVER FALLUJAH. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 978-0-439-91624-0.

A contemporary realistic novel, Sunrise over Fallujah tells the story of Robin Perry, an 18-year-old African American from Harlem in New York City, who has enlisted in the army and been deployed to Iraq. His father had hoped Robin would go to college, but, like many young men and women his age, he joined the military after the events of September 11, 2001 because he wanted to serve his country. The complexities of war, the clash between ideals and reality, and the theme of lost innocence all feature in this novel.

The novel begins with Robin and the members of his Civil Affairs unit on the ground in Kuwait prior to entering Iraq. Their job is to build relationships with Iraqi civilians while others fight the Iraqi military as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Robin’s unit enters Iraq after receiving unclear and often contradictory orders from their superiors. Their experiences with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), sniper fire, weapons searches, and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) will probably be familiar to readers who have followed the news about the war. The setting for these events, Iraq, is not depicted in graphic detail nor is it a place of many colors. It is brown, the color of the desert, a bland backdrop to the daily, almost “matter-of-fact” violence.

Most of the plot revolves around the growing confusion Robin and the members of his unit are experiencing. The Rules of Engagement (RoEs) change daily, and the novel is filled with questions about the purpose of the war and fighting an enemy that can melt into the civilian population. In his own words, Robin says, “I didn’t know which of the figures in robes down to their ankles were praying for peace and which were planting bombs on the side of the road” (144). To underscore the uncertainty, Myers includes an allusion to the anti-war novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. One of the characters in this story receives a stuffed monkey (nicknamed “Sergeant Yossarian”) that becomes the unit’s mascot. Their bitter humor clearly demonstrates their growing loss of naivete and their awareness of the incompetence and even insanity that exists in wartime.

Myers uses Robin and the two main female characters, Marla and Captain Mills, to humanize the soldiers involved in the war. Marla is there after bouncing around foster homes and having unspeakable experiences, while Captain Mills wants to empathize with and truly help Iraqis. Mills is bound to fail (and does), while Marla joins the guys in joking about and questioning the war until the climactic scene in the tribal lands. Then, she crumbles. Even though she is tough and tries to be a good soldier to escape from her earlier experiences, Marla seems to symbolize a recurring idea that escaping from injustice is impossible. War is neither for idealists (Mills) nor those wishing to escape (Marla). However, it is an Iraqi woman, Halima who reinforces the basic message of the novel. When she says, “Treat our lives as if they are as precious as your own” (148), Myers is reminding his readers of the complex, multi-tiered nature of war. Fighting for a cause is noble but unrealistic.

Robin’s letters to his mother and uncle are interspersed throughout the novel. In the letters to his parents, he tries to calm his mother and make amends with his father. When he writes to his uncle, a veteran of the war in Vietnam, readers gradually realize how difficult this conflict is for Robin and also how he develops an understanding of his uncle’s unwillingness to discuss his own wartime experiences. Robin’s early letters question why his uncle is incapable of discussing Vietnam and seem almost defiant in tone. Throughout his final letter, his tone suggests that he has become his uncle and will be unable to discuss what he has seen in Iraq. If understanding is part of maturing, Robin has matured by the end of this story. “Robin is only eighteen, and it is difficult to watch his innocence erased as war leaves its mark on him, but it is the reality for many young men and women” (Petruso 2008).

Reference List:
Petruso, Stephanie. 2008. Review of Sunrise over Fallujah, by Walter Dean Myers. Voice of Youth Advocates 31(1). Library Literature database, TWU Library. Accessed October 16, 2011.

Highly Recommended (Grade 8 and up)

Review Excerpts:
Through precise, believable dialogue as the catalyst, tame compared to that warranted in Fallen Angels, Myers's expert portrayal of a soldier's feelings and perspectives at the onset of this controversial war allows the circumstances to speak for themselves. (School Library Journal, April 1, 2008)

Given the paucity of works on this war, this is an important volume, covering much ground and offering much insight. (Kirkus Reviews)

Readers will get a sense of the complexities of the war, and of the ways the rank-and-file, as represented by Robin, are slowly drawn into covert or morally dubious engagement. (Publishers Weekly, April 21, 2008)

Reviews retrieved from Bowker’s Books in Print database, October 3, 2011.

Awards & Recognition:
Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year, 2008
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, 2008