Female Role Models in Young Adult Fiction

November 23, 2013July 11, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Raising a teenager is hard, but if you think back to actually being a teenager, it was even harder. There are so many influences in your life it can be hard to know who to trust, what to do, and how you are supposed to be feeling. As you might have guessed, I spent many of those years reading books about other teenagers and adults in order to discover if I was ‘normal’ and if the feelings and doubts I had made me weird. Finding books that can reassure girls and young women that they are powerful, they can be strong, and that there is nothing wrong with diverging from what society expects can be hard. Convincing those same girls that it is better than just alright to follow their hearts and trust in themselves is terribly difficult, but sometimes a book with a heroine that does just that can be a good start. Here are some books for the thirteen and older crowd that feature strong, positive, female role models.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
On her way to marry a prince she’s never met, Princess Anidori is betrayed by her guards and her lady-in-waiting and must become a goose girl to survive until she can reveal her true identity and reclaim the crown that is rightfully hers. The Books of Bayern series continues with the sequel, Enna Burning and Hale’s Princess Academy series is also worth a read.

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
A young witch-to-be named Tiffany teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of six-inch-high blue men, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from Fairyland. The Tiffany Aching series continues with A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith and I Shall Wear Midnight.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg’s father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.
Meg’s adventures continue in the sequel, A Wind in the Door and for a graphic novel version of this classic novel, check out A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel.

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
During World War II, a light-skinned African American girl “passes” for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
Lame and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously removed from her squalid village to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the bidding of the all-powerful Guardians.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Living with a foster family in Germany during World War II, a young girl struggles to survive her day-to-day trials through stealing anything she can get her hands on, but when she discovers the beauty of literature, she realizes that she has been blessed with a gift that must be shared with others, including the Jewish man hiding in the basement.

Lyddie by Katherine Paterson
Impoverished Vermont farm girl Lyddie Worthen is determined to gain her independence by becoming a factory worker in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1840s.

If you have a tween that is not quite ready to hit the young adult section or a teen willing to cross over into the juvenile fiction area, then some of these books might hit the spot; Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata, One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia, Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Muñoz Ryan, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich, The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente ; with illustrations by Ana Juan, Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, or The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages.

And as always, I am sure to have missed some fabulous books that offer female role models for teens and tweens. I know I let a few of my favorite authors out in the interest of space and a varied list. If I missed your favorite, or one you would like to recommend to others, please let us know in the comments so fellow readers can add it to their lists.

Six Picks: Movies That Are As Good As The Book (Or Better!)

November 21, 2013June 5, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

The following movies have been deemed to be as good or better than the book they were based on. What do you think?

The Shining – the movie

The Shining – the book

Silence of the Lambs – the movie

The Silence of the Lambs – the book

The Godfather – the movie

The Godfather – the book

Fight Club – the movie

Fight Club – the book

Children of Men – the movie

Children of Men – the book

There Will Be Blood – the movie

Based on the book Oil! by Upton Sinclair

Louise Reads: The Good House by Ann Leary

November 19, 2013June 30, 2014 / Louise / Leave a comment

I happily dove into into The Good House. I’ve been a fan of Ann Leary (wife of comedian/actor Denis Leary) since her 2004 memoir, An Innocent, a Broad. Her 2009 fiction debut, Outtakes From a Marriage, was equally enjoyable., and her blog, with peeks into her life with her family and menagerie of animals in rural Connecticut, is a lot of fun to read. I am happy to report The Good House did not disappoint.

Leary’s second novel is told from the point of view of Hildy Good: 60-year-old realtor extraordinaire, alcoholic-in-denial, and lifelong resident of the quaint seaside town of Wendover, MA. Having lived more than half of my life on Massachusetts’ North Shore (where fictional Wendover is located), I was pleasantly surprised by how authentic the author’s portrayal of the area felt, the town is almost another character in the story. As Wendover’s most successful businesswoman, Hildy knows how to work a room, bend the truth, and keep a secret. And there are secrets aplenty in Wendover. Soon, those secrets have Hildy drinking again (albeit alone, at home), and things spiral out of control from there.

As the novel progresses the story takes a dark turn, yet this book made me laugh out loud several times. Hildy’s voice has a dry wit that softens the sometimes difficult subject matter. Despite the fact that she gets less and less reliable as the novel progresses, Hildy can be quite a bit of fun (at first) when she’s off the wagon. When she enlists a lonely newcomer in town as a covert drinking buddy, however, it sets off a series of events with dire consequences.

The Good House is a fantastic read, especially if you are partial to character-driven novels. The character portrayals in the book are so vivid you truly feel like you know this small town and its quirky but relatable inhabitants. Hildy is a fascinating, flawed character, and an interesting choice as narrator. If you are an audiobook listener, I highly recommend the audio version read by Mary Beth Hurt – she was perfection as the voice of Hildy. On a related note, it’s been announced that The Good House is being adapted for the screen with Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro set to star. Not too shabby!

A recent review by The Examiner said of The Good House, “…humor meets harsh reality in this irreverent look at a non-recovering alcoholic navigating the murky waters of small-town Massachusetts. The Good House is a paragon of New England Fiction.” I would have to agree, it was wicked good – it gets 4 ½ out of 5 stars from me.

Remembering Children’s Author Barbara Park (1947-2013)

November 18, 2013July 11, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Children’s author Barbara Park died at the age of 66 on Friday November 15th after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She was diagnosed with cancer seven years ago. Since then she and her husband, Richard, founded Sisters in Survival (“SIS”), a non-profit, all-volunteer organization that offers financial assistance to ovarian cancer patients. Random House said contributions can be made to www.sistersinsurvival.org.

Barbara Park was the author of the well-known and much-loved Junie B. Jones series. Starting in 1992, Park wrote more than 30 illustrated chapter books about the smart-mouthed girl with an ungrammatical opinion of everybody. The first book in the series is Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. The Junie B. Jones character is well loved by many children and families, but not everyone approved of this trouble-prone character. Some parents and educators have been troubled by Jones’ language and cheeky ways, worrying that she was a bad example and might negatively influence her readers. The series has found itself on the American Library Association’s list of “challenged” books. Despite the trouble, according to Random House, Park’s books have sold more than 55 million copies in North America alone. The series has also been adapted into a popular musical theater production.