Little Brother

Reason Book Chosen

This book was required reading for a class. It is already a bestseller and is projected to be a cult classic, by some.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Cory Doctorow

Publisher: Tor Books

ISBN: 0765319853

Copyright Date: 2008

Genre

Fiction, Cyberpunk, Science Fiction, Speculative, Dystopia

About the Author

Cory Doctorow is a Canadian journalist, blogger and author. He writes fiction and nonfiction. Doctorow is coeditor of Boing Boing and the former European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He writes columns for Make, Information Week, The Guardian online and Locus. He has also contributed to Wired magazine, the Boston Globe, and others. He is a copyright law activist, whom is giving away his book, Little Brother for free.

Reader’s Annotation

Watch out big brother. There is power in numbers (and l3tt3rs).

Plot Summary

In a not too distant future, security measures have become even more advanced, and privacy even more stripped. Technologies tracking where people go, among other things, exist and are in use. Marcus, a smart, technically savvy high school student and hacker (who goes by M1k3Y), is at the wrong place at the wrong time when a terrorist attack occurs in San Francisco. Marcus and a couple of his friends are brought to a secret, nearby, Homeland Security Center and are questioned and abused before being turned loose with a threat that they are being watched. Marcus’s best friend, Jolu, is not let loose and is considered missing, although Marcus is sure the government has him detained somewhere. San Francisco quickly starts looking like a police state. Although Marcus and his friends had nothing to do with this attack, Jolu’s dissapearance and their treatment at what they later call “Gitmo by the Bay” prompts them to start an underground network using Xboxes to communicate and start a revolt against Homeland Security. Parents and school officials are not on their side or in the know, and few adults are their allies. Marcus, whom is still an average kid doing average things like falling in love, takes on the challenge anyhow. Marcus, his new girlfriend, a few close and trustworthy friends, as well as some newfound digital friends, stir things up by going off the grid, and confusing some of the technologies in place. Privacy and Freedom, as well as Marcus and Jolu’s safety (and the safety of many others), are at stake. A few people help them along the way, and a few just get in the way.

Critical Analysis

This book does feel very much like a modern 1984. The plot is interesting, as is Marcus’s character. Moral dilemmas, and a variety of topics such as privacy vs. freedom and safety are explored. The idea that one should stay true to his or her beliefs, is another important theme that teens can relate to. The time period in which this is set - not present day, but theoretically not too far off - is intriguing. This book is great for teens because it explores ideas such as anarchy and questioning authority, ideas teens are drawn to. It also makes activism a cool and powerful thing to get involved in and reinvents the image of the techno geek.

Themes/Issues/Tags

Privacy, Censorship, Terrorism, Technology, Surveillance, Government, San Francisco, Near Future, Homeland Security, First Love, Cyber Warfare, Techno-geek, Authority, Dystopia, Hacking, Civil Rights, Question Authority

Challenging Subject Matters

Rebelling against the government

Pro Terrorism/Anti-Safety/Anti-Patriotism

Curriculum Ties

History- American Government-Homeland Security

History- Civil Rights and Liberties

History- Protests/ Youth Revolt- Vietnam

Reading Level

13+

Interest level

13-17

The Giver

Reason Book Chosen

This book is my favorite book from all of high school. It won the Newbery Medal, has sold over 5 million copies, is considered a classic and is controversial. It has been banned by some schools and embraced by others.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Lois Lowry

Publisher: Bnatum Books

ISBN: 0440237688

Copyright Date: 1993

Genre

Science fiction, Dystopian

About the Author

Lois Lowry is a children’s author whom has written many books and a few series. She often writes about complex issues. Lowry won the Newbery Medal for The Giver and Number the Stars

Reader’s Annotation

Utopia is an illusion not everyone is privy to see.

Plot Summary

Jonas lives in a world, presumably the future, and resembling communism, that is supposedly a utopia. Jobs and children are assigned to members of this world, by a governing body. Each person is to fulfill the part they are given and everything is regulated, even births and deaths. Jonas and his younger sister, Lily, have been raised by the mother and father they were given to, after being taken from the birth parents. This is standard procedure. The reason for all of the rules and regulations in this society are to make things easy and painless for citizens to minimize the emotion people have to experience (ex: in making hard decisions). People even have to share their dreams. Privacy does not really exist and is certainly not encouraged. Careers are assigned at age 12, at a special ceremony. Jonas is approaching that age and is nervous and unsure about what career he will be given. Jonas is given the special job of being the “receiver of memory” and has to meet with The Giver, an older man, whom was the receiver but is now ready to pass on the memories.

Critical Analysis

This is a great book for people who like (soft) science fiction, psychology (especially Jungian psychology), and philosophy. The setting and plot are what make this book particularly interesting, but the characters are also well developed, and the relationship between Jonas and the Giver is complex, interesting, and magical. This book raises some really interesting and important ideas about what perfection really is. This is great for teens, whom often feel idealistic and cynic at the same time, and whom are dealing with or thinking about questioning authority. The language is very simple and so this is also a great read for teens whom may be at a lower reader level.

Character- Jonas’s “Receiver of Memory” job description”, p. 68

Themes/Issues/Tags

Socialism, Communism, Collective Pain/Trauma, Utopia, Future Society, Safety, Freedom, Choice, Suicide, Euthanasia, Choice

Challenging Subject Matters

This book has been banned in many middle schools because of its suicide references and because it details euthanasia and suicide as a means of keeping a “Utopia” in tact.

Defense: This book does not promote suicide or euthanasia in any way. It challenges the reader to look at these issues as complex, complicated ones that are not black and white. It brings about discussions of morality and “the grey” and pushed readers to think.

Other reasons this book has been banned are because it is deemed to be “negative”, violent, sexually explicit, objectionable themes, offensive language.

Curriculum Ties

History – Communism

History - Hitler –Aryan Utopia

American Government/Domestic Policies (ie. Terrorism/Patriot Act) – Safety vs. Freedom

Reading Level

11+

Interest level

12-17+

Go Ask Alice

Reason Book Chosen

This book has sold over five million copies, is one of the most banned books, and is very controversial.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Anonymous

Publisher: Simon Pulse

ISBN: 0133571114

Copyright Date: 1971

Genre

Fiction (now listed as such by publishers but once listed as nonfiction), Realistic

Reader’s Annotation

Alice is far far away from Wonderland.

Plot Summary

Fifteen year old Alice is isolated, depressed and has low self-esteem, especially when it comes to boys. She lives a fairly normal, boring life in the suburbs, the daughter of a college professor, and she doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends. She starts a diary, the format for the book. Soon Alice’s family has to move because of her father’s job. Alice is excited when she is sent to her grandmother’s house during summer vacation. There she runs into an old high school acquaintance, Jill, and a few others, and someone gets the idea to slip acid in Alice’s drink. This leads Alice to do drugs in a very quick decent. She soon loses her virginity and starts doing more and more drugs. Alice also runs into a boy, Roger, whom she once had a crush on, and worries what he thinks of her. At a certain point Alice thinks she might be pregnant, but is not. After returning from the summer, she meets a new friend, Chris, whom also likes to do drugs, and Alice dates a drug dealer and starts dealing a little bit herself. Eventually her and Chris runaway to San Francisco, where it is utopia at first, but then they have a few unfortunate situations happen. Alice goes through some really rough periods and slowly unravels, mentally, and eventually returns home after experiencing homelessness and despair. Even though Alice eventually comes back, gets help (is committed after trying to hurt herself), and things are looking up, especially with Roger, the book ends in tragedy.

Critical Analysis

Some people think this book is exaggerated, is propaganda, is even, perhaps, fiction disguised as preachy nonfiction in a diary format. The question-marked entries make it feel more substantial, but it is hard to know if the author was just not very clever. Reading it as an adult, it felt more like propaganda than it might have had I read it as a teen (I probably would have just been scared but not had the insight to think of it as propaganda).

Regardless of whether it is true or not, many teens can relate to the good-girl-gone-bad (or wanting to go bad), the desire to be popular, to have thrills and adventures, and to experiment. The actual portrayal of drug use and abuse seems somewhat realistic.

The diary entries work well as a format, the pacing is good, and the entries do seem to capture Alice’s state fairly well. Alice’s self-esteem issues - how she feels about her weight, boys, and sex - also seem to reflect what many teens experience.

Themes/Issues/Tags

Drug Addiction/Abuse, Coming of Age, High School, Pregnancy, Suicide, Banned, Mental Health, Runaway, LSD

Challenging Subject Matters

This is one of the most challenged books of all time. Some reasons include profanity, references to runaways, drugs, sex, and rape, and blasphemy.

Curriculum Ties

Health - Drugs - Addiction

1960s/70s

Propoganda?

Reading Level

11+

Interest level

12-18

Ghost World

Bibliographic Information

Author: Daniel Clowes

Publisher: Fantagraphics Books

ISBN: 1560974273

Copyright Date: 1997

Genre

Graphic Novel, Realistic Fiction

Reason Book Chosen

I chose this book because I enjoyed it when I was a teenager and because it is a popular graphic novel, especially within the category of realistic fiction. Additionally, it won the 1998 Ignatz Award Winner, Outstanding Graphic Novel or Collection.

About the Author

Daniel Clowes is an Academy Award-nominated author, screenwriter and cartoonist of alternative comic books. Most of his work appears, first, in his ongoing anthology Eightball, a collection of self-contained narratives and serialized graphic novels. Several of these narratives have been collected and published separately as graphic novels, most notably this one.

Reader’s Annotation

Two jaded hipster girls on the “outside”, harp on their suburban town and its outcasts, while trying to sort out their futures, their feelings, and their friendship.

Plot Summary

High School is ending and Enid Coleslaw and her best friend Rebecca don’t know what to do with themselves or what this really means. They spend most of their time making fun of and hating on all the pathetic people they come across in their suburban town, while on mini adventures. They visit diners, record stores, an x-rated adult store, have a garage sale, watch tv, and hang around. They rope their friend Josh into driving them around, and use other people to get little things they want. They play some mean pranks on people, adults included, whom they think are lame. In Enid and Rebecca’s world, everyone is lame or too wealthy, too pretentious, too geeky, too boring, too annoying, too anything, and everyone is trying too hard to be cool. Except Enid and Rebecca of course. Nothing matters because nothing is significant enough. They are so above everyone and so self aware, at least on the surface. At a closer look, though, we see them question their future, their sexuality, the strength of their friendship, and their feelings about growing up.

Critical Analysis

This graphic novel captures many of the emotions that teens cycle through constantly – sadness, anger, confusion, anxiety, alienation, boredom. It captures the bleak and cruel world of teen girls who want to be different and whom feel different from all other teens - yet they really aren’t that different at all. They face many of the same issues and ask themselves many of the same questions that other teens do. This book covers a vast amount of topics in a short span, mainly how a person (Enid) changes and grows and how her relationship with her friend and her outlook on community also changes. The artwork is bathed in a ghostly light blue, and this adds to the mood and setting. The dialogue is very real, the topics the girls discuss and they way they discuss them. There is a lot of ambiguity in this book (ex: is Enid or Rebecca actually gay? How does Enid really feel about Josh?) which may leave a reader frustrated or satisfied, depending on the reader.

Themes/Issues/Tags

High School, Insecurity, Hipster, Punk, Friendship, Sex, Virginity, Loneliness, Nostalgia, Suburbia, Angst, Boredom, Identity, Sexuality, Individuality, Conformity, Stereotypes, Aging, Change

Challenging Subject Matters

Homosexuality

Defense: It is not clear if Enid and Rebecca are gay. The point is to bring up the idea that teens question these things (i.e. their sexuality) and that this is sometimes normal (i.e. even if it turns out they are not actually gay).

Morality – Some of the things Enid and Rebecca do are cruel and mean and the book and characters don’t seem to have a conscious about it.

Defense – Teens can be cruel! Part of bonding is making fun of “the other” or others, in order to create a “we” (i.e. “we are special, we are different from them”). Underneath, the characters do have a conscience that can be seen.

Derogative Comments and Inappropriate Language – Enid and Rebecca make fun of Jews, Asians, etc.

Defense – Enid and Rebecca make fun of everyone. The book does not say that this is ok. The book ops to show life and its characters “as is” without making too much commentary, or pushing opinions about how we should feel about these characters.

Curriculum Ties

End of High School - Graduating Seniors

Reading Level

12+

Interest level

14-17

StarGirl

Reason Book Chosen

I chose this book because it is the winner of the 2001 ALA Best Books, and a New York Times bestseller. Also, I had yet to read a book by Jerry Spinelli, a well-known young adult author.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Jerry Spinelli

Publisher: AlfredA. Knopf

ISBN: 0439444438

Copyright Date: 2000

Genre

Realistic Fiction

About the Author

Jerry Spinelli has written more than a dozen books for young readers, including Maniac Magee, for which he won the Newbery Medal.

Reader’s Annotation

A new girl in town brings out the wonder, imagination, jealousy, magic, resentment, and confusion in a small town and a star struck boy.

Plot Summary

Leo Borlock moves to a small, Arizona town and goes to a small, suburban high school where not much happens. Then, one day, Stargirl shows up, wearing funny outfits, playing her ukulele, singing happy birthday to students in the cafeteria, and walking around school with her pet rat. No one knows what to make of her, not even Leo. Her differences are confusing, but also celebrated. Everyone is curious and everyone wants in. Stargirl suddenly becomes wildly popular, then wildly unpopular. Leo falls in love with her, but as the students’ perspectives change, so do Leo’s. While Leo is attracted to her eccentricities and her oneness with the universe, Leo also wants a normal girlfriend, someone that other people will like, will acknowledge, will talk to. He doesn’t think it is so much to ask her to be just like the other girls, to give up a piece of who she is really is.

Critical Analysis

This is, above all, a story about the universe, the lessons it teaches us, and the funny ways it works. It is about relationships with others and with oneself, about individuality, about the power of trusting what is right and real. It is about love, and growth, and loss, and the way people change over time, but never really change who they are at the core. It has many wonderful timeless qualities and a few long, beautiful earthly passages. Stargirl and the world she lives in, and the world she draws Leo into, is magical. This book has a lot of soul, a lot of heart, and works like a magical charm much like Stargirl herself, whom resembles a younger and stronger version of the movie character, Amelie. The tone is reminiscent, even ominous. Leo’s voice echoes the wisdom and naivety of Fred Savage in the wonder years. The plot is realistic, but the world created, the essence of the novel, teeters on magical realism.

Themes/Issues/Tags

Conformity, Individuality, Stereotypes, First Love, Popularity, Acts of Kindness, Being True to Oneself, Timelessness, Wisdom, Intuition, Reality, High School, Identity, Worldliness, Rebellion/Revolution

Challenging Subject Matters

New Age, Hippy Dippy, Teaches Rebellion

Defense: On the surface this book might appear cultish or socialist, preaching love and acceptance and individuality. Stargirl’s character might have some parents concerned – her zen-like, prophetic nature. The book’s focus though, is not on Stargirl, but on the way others react to Stargirl. More than anything this book teaches youth to have their own opinions, to wonder, to ask, and to question others, beliefs, systems around them, and the world, and not to pick everything up like a sponge.

Curriculum Ties

Diversity

Acceptance

Individuality/Conformity

Reading Level

15+

Interest level

12-17

FOUND: The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items Around The World

Reason Book Chosen

This is my absolute favorite anthology. I wish it was around when I was a teenager to help me make sense of the world, the people in it, and the culture around me.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Davy Rothbart

Publisher: Fireside/Simon & Schuser

ISBN: 0743251148

Copyright Date: 2004

Genre

Nonfiction

About The Author

Davy Rothbart is the creator, editor and publisher of Found Magazine. He is also a filmmaker and has published a book of short stories, The Lone Surger of Montana, Kansas.

Plot Summary

This book is, as the title suggests, a collection of found notes, letters, and items. Originally a magazine, Found and its creator, Davy Rothbart, had so many items sent in from people around the world, that they put out this anthology. Anything is fair game! Love letters, diary entries, emails, flyers, faxes, signs, grocery lists, pictures, and more. The found items are sad, funny, angry and everything in between. Each item includes who found it and where, and each has a title given to it by Found staff. The items read like short stories unto themselves.

Critical Analysis

It gives great insight into what is taboo in our culture, what is funny, sad, and everything in between. It is psychologically gripping and would help any teen understand people better (people, in general, that is). It especially shows how people are all different- what they care about, how they react, and what drives them. It covers love, loss, and angst, and taps into almost every human emotion out there.

Themes/Tags/Issues

Voyeurism, Collective Conscious, Taboo, Culture, Love, Loss, Humor, Sadness, Love, Loss, Human Condition, Angst

Challenging Subject Matter

Privacy

Defense: These items were found (not stolen, etc.)

Reading Level

Any

Interest Level

Any (some content is suitable for children, some for teens, some for adults, and some for all).

Stoner & Spaz

Reason Book Chosen

This book won the 2003 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Children's Literature, was chosen as a Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, and as a Top 10 Romance Fiction for Youth in 2002. It is an ALA best book for young adults, a Booklist Editor’s Choice, a Blue Ribbon Winner and was chosen Best Book of the Year by Publisher’s Weekly.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Ron Koertge

Publisher: Candlewick Press

ISBN: 0763616087

Copyright Date: 2002

Genre

Romance

About the Author

Ron Koertge has written and published children's books and young adult books. His other books include Deadville, Strays, Boy Girl Boy, and Margaux with an X.

Reader’s Annotation

An awkward, charismatic pair meet and move right into a dark, gorgeous place in your heart.

Plot Summary

Benjamin has Cerebral Palsy, lives with his grandmother, has no friends, and absent parents. He has never talked to a girl on the phone, let alone brushed elbows with a girl, and he spends most of his time studying or watching movies. He is polite, sensitive and caring. Colleen wears tall silver boots, is on the edge of the music scene, sells drugs, and lives in a world revolving mostly around drugs. Her family is dysfunctional, she admits to doing anything with any guy when she is fucked up, she rarely picks up a book, and rarely remembers movies she sees because she is usually too drunk or baked. She is brutally honest, and has no “pc” sensor. Benjamin and Colleen have a chance encounter at a movie theatre that leads to an unlikely friendship. As their friendship develops, Benjamin’s entire world broadens and changes, including his relationship with his Grandmother, his neighbor, and the community at large.

Critical Analysis

The dialogue in this book is phenomenal. The characters are unique, but not in a quirky, contrived way. I have never been introduced to a disabled character, let alone a teen one, that resembles Benjamin. The relationship between these two outcast characters, “freaks and geeks”, would be interesting enough on its own, but the witty and funny writing make it that much better. Colleen calls Benjamin a spaz, a cripple, and a slue of other derogatory terms, yet somehow the reader is left genuinely smiling about these things. Somehow Colleen’s honesty comes off on the page as endearing. The transformation of both characters, whom inch towards one another, is a perfectly slow and natural progression, as is their retreat backwards into parts of their old, familiar selves. This book is one to keep and treasure for a very long time.

Themes/Issues/Tags

Drug Addiction, Sex, Disability, Cerebral Palsy, High School, Romance, Friendship, Differences, Dysfunctional Family

Booktalking Ideas

Character Hooks- Read the character description from the critical analysis, above.

Topic Hook- Having a friend so different from you, yet someone you feel really similar to. Having a relationship where the differences is what brings you together

Topic Hook- Being sensitive to someone and their problems without pitying them or enabling them

Challenging Subject Matters

The Use of Non-Politically Correct Language

Defense: Everyone else in Benjamin’s life is overly sensitive to his condition or pretends it does not exist, which is just as enabling. Colleen’s words are just words. They are not hurtful because they come from a place of good intention, which they do. What she is actually doing is acknowledging Benjamin’s condition (and flirting with him!). The book does not condone teasing, bullying, or ostracizing, and instead teaches tolerance, learning from differences, and the importance of breaking away from stereotyped environments.

Curriculum Ties

Diversity

Disabilities

Stereotypes

Reading Level

12+

Interest Level

13-17

Goodbye Chunky Rice

Reason Book Chosen

This is the favorite graphic novel of more than a few of my friends. I had read Craig Thompson’s other novel, Blankets, and really liked the story and the illustrations, so I thought I'd give this one a go.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Craig Thompson

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

ISBN: 1891830090

Copyright Date: 1999

Genre

Graphic Novel

About the Author

Craig Thompson won the 2000 Harvey Award for Best New Talent. He is also the author of Blankets, another graphic novel book, and Carnet De Voyage, a travel journal.

Reader’s Annotation

The open sea tells the story of a friendship between a timid turtle and an intrepid mouse, and a few other enchanted characters.

Plot Summary

Chunky Rice, a sweet, timid turtle who “wears his home on his back” leaves the rooming house he lives in and the friends he has made to find where he belongs. He wants his best friend, Dandel, a wide-eyed mouse whom is heartbroken that Chunky Rice is leaving, to come with him, but Dandel is “at home” and does not want to leave. Merle, Chunky Rice’s wacky, longshoreman friend and neighbor helps Chunky Rice move his belongings and hop on board his brother’s boat, which carries Chunky Rice to his new destination. Merle’s brother, the Captain, is shady and conniving, using Chunky Rice, stealing from him and making him do chores on the boat. Chunky also encounters a middle-aged pair of conjoined twins on his voyage. Merle’s relationship with his new roommate, which is a bird, and his relationship with brother, also exist as side plots to Chunky Rice’s adventure and separation from Dandel.

Critical Analysis

This book is sad, touching, and wonderfully offbeat. The characters are simple and complicated at the same time, huggable and darling, yet sometimes rough around the edges. This book goes to places that are existential, magical, and real all at the same time, capturing the timelessness of adventure, loss, travel, friendship. This book could be great for young adults trying to make sense of the world and the relationships in it, and how they interact. The illustrations are gorgeous and Thompson is very playful with his use of framing. The plot also takes playful and adventures curves, gliding along like a boat at sea or like a song, creating a zen-like balance and leaving a reader satisfied.

Themes/Tags/Issues

Friendship, Adventure, Moving On, Saying Goodbye, Loss, Travel, Ocean, Regret

Reading Level

8+

Interest Level

8+ but highly suitable for and popular with young adults and adults

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Reason Movie Chosen

I chose this movie because it is new and popular and stars Michael Cera, the star from the popular movie, Juno. It also was nominated for a variety of awards, including the MTV movie award, mostly for the performances. Additionally this movie is an adaption of the book written by David Levithan, whom also wrote Boy meets Boy.

Bibliographic Information

Director: Peter Sollett

Studio: Sony Pictures

Release Date: 2008

Genre

Romance, Comedy, Drama

About the Director

Peter Sollett is a director, writer, producer, cinematographer, and editor. He has directed State of Romance, The Burg, Cinema 16: American Short Films, Raising Victor Vargas, Five Feet High and rising. He has won eight awards and been nominated for 6 others, mainly in the independent circuit.

Teaser

In one night, the possibilities are infinite.

Plot Summary

Nick, his gay friends and bandmates, are on their way to play a show and find a secret concert, happening later in the night. Norah, music enthusiast and daughter of a wealthy music industry tycoon, and her friend Caroline, are also out on the town looking for the same concert. Nick is desperately not over his ex girlfriend, Tris, who happens to also be Norah’s arch nemesis. Norah, has secretly been listening to the 7+ breakup mixes that Nick has made for Tris, and she has a secret crush on him. The two meet at Nick’s show, when Norah asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend for five minutes. Then, they spend the rest of the night trying to find Caroline, whom has disappeared, the secret show, whose location keeps changing, and some common ground. Do they hate each other or like each other? They both love music, but it is hard to tell what else might keep them engaged. The night becomes a long adventure, and more complicated, when Tris, whom is a little jealous now that Nick has moved on, and Norah’s ex-boyfriend, appear and shake things up.

Critical Analysis

The plot of this movie is fairly bare bones. Boy and girl meet, boy and girls’ ex’s complicate the situations. Boy and girl run around town with their friends and have silly adventures in a long night in New York City. It is not a particularly new plot. The writing however, is fairly decent, there is some cute dialogue and some awkward yet sweet moments. Nick and Norah’s characters are quirky and charming, and essence of being a teenager is captured quiet well. The soundtrack, to be expected, is good and a substantial part of the movie, and Michael Cerra, gives a good performance. Much like Empire Records, or Can’t Hardly Wait, in spirit, this movie might be memorable, just shy of a cult classic. Lastly, there are some gross-out scenes, that could have been cut, such as the sharing of some foul gum, but the metaphor kind of threads the piece and literally holds it together in some ways. Being a teenager is fun, and hard, and, well, sometimes kind of gross!

Themes/Tags/Issues

Romance, Getting over heartbreak, Friendship, Adventure, Partying, Music

Booktalking Ideas

This movie was actually a book first, written by David Levithan, the author of Boy meets Boy. Connect the movie to the book, and also push the book! (especially if readers read Boy meets Boy and liked it).

Getting over and ex

Rating

Pg13

But I'm a Cheerleader

Reason Movie Chosen

I chose this movie because it is a spoof on queer stereotypes, because it has two actors whom are well respected (Natasha Lyonne and Clea Duvall), and because it is well liked in the gay community.

Bibliographic Information

Director: Jamie Babbit

Studio: Universal Studios

Release Date: 1999

ASIN: B00004X13Q

Genre

Gay & Lesbian, Comedy, Romance

About the Director

Jamie Babbit has directed many films and television show episodes. Many of them are geared towards young adults, and a few have queer themes or characters. Some TV shows include The L Word, Gossip Girl, 90210, Malcolm in the Middle, Drop Dead Diva.

Teaser

Playing straight has never been so gay.

Plot Summary

Megan, a feminine teenage cheerleader in the suburbs is confronted by her friends and family and told, much to her surprise, that she is a lesbian, because she has a Melissa Etheridge poster, pictures of girls in her locker, and is a vegetarian. She is shipped away to True Directions, an over-the-top rehabilitation camp that turns gay teens straight. The entire camp is painted blue and pink and the overpowering director, Mary, and her feminine son Rock, run the camp, along with a few other ex-gay counselors. The girls must wear pink all the time and learn how to be domestic, wash dishes, take care of babies, vacuum, and cook. The boys have to wear blue and learn how to be chop wood, learn mechanical skills, and be burly. Megan admits that she is a lesbian and really tries to learn the ways of ‘becoming straight”, but her willpower is tested by another camper, Graham, and by a couple ex-ex gays.

Critical Analysis

This movie has a lot of potential as a spoof because the idea driving it, a gay to straight camp, iz good one, and because the cast has a couple phenomenal actors. The writing, however, is poor, the characters are flat, and although this seems intentional it doesn’t work because the plot is also flat and predictable. The main character, Megan, is naive, and a little bit annoying. The movie pokes fun of clichés but in many ways becomes just as cliché itself. This movie got poor ratings in critic circles, but is still well liked by the gay community.

Themes/Tags/Issues

Gender Roles, Religion, Homosexuality

Controversial Issues

This movie could spark some interesting conversations about gender roles and stereotypes, as well as arguments about how homosexuality is perceived by different people in society (as a sin, as a perversion or psychological disorder, or as “normal”).

Curriculum Tie Ins

Gender/Sex studies

Rating

R

Cut

Reason Book Chosen

This book is an ALA Quick Pick for YA Readers. It had great reviews from Voice of Youth Advocates, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and other sources. Also, I had heard it referred to as “a cult classic.”

Bibliographic Information

Author: Patricia McCormick

Publisher: Seven Stories Press

ISBN: 0439324599

Copyright Date: 2000

Genre

Fiction, Realistic

About the Author

Patricia McCormick was a National Book Award Finalist in 2006 and Booklist 2006 Editor's Choice Award winner.

Reader’s Annotation

The words Callie hides behind tell a story louder than the scars she bares.

Plot Summary

Fifteen-year-old Callie is at Sea Pines, a suburban residential treatment center, for cutting herself. She refuses to talk in either group therapy or during individual sessions with her individual therapist, and for a good portion of the book, Callie says nothing at all. She just observes, as the reader hears her thoughts, the things she wants to say, and the things she has stuffed inside. The other girls call her S.T., which stands for silent treatment, and generally disregard her. Callie watches all of the other teen girls around her, in treatment for eating disorders or drug use. She watches as a new girl, Amanda, also a cutter, arrives and this triggers different responses in her. Callie thinks about her family, her sad and tired mother, her distant and busy father, and her sick little brother. And she thinks about cutting. In silence, Callie builds relationships with people, and when something drives her to speak, these relationships unfold, and so does Callie.

Critical Analysis

The plot in this book is nothing original. Girl goes to residential treatment center, builds relationships, and eventually moves towards recovery. There are books with characters whom are cutters, but not very many in which the main character is a cutter. Also, it is the writing, the way that McCormick captures Callie’s psychological world, that is so poignant. The reader will feel how shut up Callie is, will be begging for Callie to speak, yet empathizing with her for not doing so. The silent world McCormick creates is complicated, layered, and intense. McCormick builds a world that feels void and then gives us the release, essentially how Callie feels when she cuts. The characters are real, the dialogue is real, and raw emotion pours through the pages, eventually. Anyone who struggles with perfection, anger, guilt, loneliness, alienation, or feeling out of control due to situations they clearly can’t control, will feel heard. That’s just about every teen, isn’t it?

Themes/Tags/Issues

Cutting, Self-mutilation, Anger, Perfection, Family Issues, Therapy, Selective Mutism, Psychiatric Hospital,

Curriculum Tie Ins

Health - Self Harm

Psychology

Reading Level

11+

Interest Level

14-17