THE AMBIDEXTROUS LIBRARIAN

It's wine o'clock on a Saturday night, and I am kicking back with a red and contemplating (with a not insignificant level of exhaustion) one of the most thought-provoking and emotional conferences I have ever attended.  It was called "Reading Matters", and it was a YA conference organised and run by the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria, Australia. It was politically charged and emotional.  I mean, I guess I kind of expected it to be.  A lot of librarians, teachers and writers are very socially conscious and are actively concerned about the multitude of injustices, inequalities and hurts that thread through modern society. More importantly, they want to talk to teens about this stuff.  They want to present realistic, meaty, honest narratives that tackle bullying and racism and poverty and mental illness.  They want teens to know that it's OK to feel strongly, to question, to look outwards and not feel alone, to walk in someone else...

TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA (SHAUN TAN) When I was at high school, I drew a picture of the shopping centre that was across the road from the school. It was one of those 80's-designed affairs with an empty open-air square in the middle; furnished with uncomfortable metal seats painted in faded primary colours, uneven cheap pavers and geometric planters full of thin, sandy soil, cigarette butts and the stringy brown remains of palm trees.  And of course there were empty shops. That's a given.  When I drew the shopping centre, I made the shop-front display windows completely black.  The colours I used were all dark, there was no people or movement.  I didn't think of it at the time, but my Art Teacher said it was a creepy drawing, there was no life to it, and there should be because it's a picture of a bloody shopping centre.  I don't know why I drew it like that, but that's how that place felt to me; it made me uneasy.  Shaun Tan's pictures and narratives ...

WONDER (R.J. PALACIO) This book lives up to its name.  Totally.  I had heard about it and seen it kicking around at my previous school, and then the Grade 5 teacher at my current school requested it.  Good choice - all school libraries SHOULD HAVE THIS BOOK.  Yes the CAPS is for EMPHASIS. August (Auggie) was born with some pretty serious facial defects.  He gets stared at - like, most of the time.  And it's not "nice" staring, it's staring in shock and horror, can't-believe-what-I'm-seeing staring.  Auggie for the most part has learnt to ignore it, but it still gets under his skin, and still makes him dread going into situations with new people. So the idea of going to school for the first time? Utterly terrifying.  LOTS of new people, everywhere, and he is stuck with them for hours a day, and they will all stare, and comment, and pretend to look away, and talk about him behind his back.  Auggie knows exactly what it will be like and...

UPPING THE DIVERSITY Jenny Han on YA Literature (link to Huff Post article) I haven't been reading YA for that long so I am by no means an expert... but in this digital age, knowledge is no longer a prerequisite to opinion so eh, I will go ahead and throw in my two cents. I was reading an article on Huff Post about YA author Jenny Han.  The article primarily discussed her novels and her writing process, but it also covered Han's perceived representation of Asian-Americans (and other minority social groups) in YA fiction, and the positive effect her YA stories have on her readers (particularly Asian-American readers). It got me to thinking that as I reader, what better experience is there than to enjoy a novel where you feel deeply connected with the characters?  To whoop with joy or lament in despair, to feel like you've been there, done that, and know exactly how it feels? From Han's comments, it's evident that her stories speak strongly to a young Asi...

Sandy Feet (Nikki Buick) This bright little number caught my eye a few months back, as it subconsciously spoke to my longing for some sort of beachy, sandy, tropically, salty, breezy, sunny, happy respite (I love a good adjective list to emphasis a point) to the misery that is a Melbourne winter in the perpetually sodden Dandenong Ranges .  The cover of the book is yellow with a palm tree... it says "sandy".  That was enough for me. So I read the book and it was OK.  Perhaps not as sunny and sandy on the inside as the cover would have you believe (if you judge books by their cover - which I do), but it certainly kept me coming back despite being a bit slow to get off the ground.  Basically, the protagonist, Hunter, is a guy who has a few issues in life; his mum suffers from depression, his stepdad (endearing called "Step"), is a bit of a toss, and his sister is a pain.  And he is stuck on a loooooooong family car trip up north to "getaway" and "f...

Blankets (Craig Thompson) What can I say about this graphic novel?!?!?! READ IT.  NOW. I was never a huge fan of the graphic novel until recently.  In fact, the moment I was converted was a quiet afternoon at work; my colleague and I were randomly browsing the Junior Fiction.  Enter Jane, the Fox and Me by Fanny Britt.  Suddenly I realised that graphic novels weren't all science fiction, fantasy and reluctant male readers.  The illustrations in Jane, the Fox and Me are beautiful, as is the story.  I have a colour photocopy of one of the illustrations on my fridge, which involves Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre caressing a swim-suited sausage.  Graphic novels, why had I forsaken you???? So fast-forward to Blankets.   It's a hefty read at 600+ pages.  But it's a graphic novel so it's not a dense or taxing read.  But it still takes time.  There were moments when I would stop and just gaze upon one certain picture, or ...

Zac & Mia (A.J. Betts) I am back on the rickety reading wagon, and it's trundling along slowly, and the path meanders all over the shop, but I am finally getting places! Next stop?   Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts.  Let me start by saying that I did NOT know this was another YA cancer story.  Should I really say "another"?  I am obviously referring to The Fault in Our Stars  which immediately springs to mind with thoughts of oxygen tubes and unrealistic teen dialogue (don't get me started on that novel!).  I found Zac & Mia to be, I dunno, a bit more down to earth than The Fault in Our Stars.   That novel had me eye-rolling frequently throughout the first few chapters.  I only read the first few chapters. But enough.  I digress. So, Zac & Mia .  Engaging story, nice use of statistics; as a Librarian I always approve of the use of well researched facts throughout a narrative.  Both Zac & Mia are likeable, enga...

Millie and the Night Heron / Rain May and Captain Daniel (Catherine Bateson) Please remember I have only "officially" been a school librarian for a little over a year, so when it comes to getting to know children's authors, I am but a babe in the woods.  In my latest endeavour to chop back some of the forest I picked up two books, completely separately, and thought "I'll read those".  Turns out those two books were Millie and the Night Heron  and Rain May and Captain Daniel.   I didn't look at the author at all, and it wasn't until I started Rain May  I realised they were both by Catherine Bateson. An author who lives in my area of Melbourne.  Who, for all I know, may even live up the road from me. Anyways, turns out that any self-respecting children's librarian should immediately know of Catherine Bateson.  Well, now I do. I have only read these two examples of her work, and let me say, there are quite a few similarities between the two....

Cicada Summer (Kate Constable) I stumbled across Cicada Summer in a very "professional" attempt to increase my general knowledge of junior fiction. I had heard of Kate Constable, most recently through her acclaimed novel Crow Country , which won the 2012 CBCA Young Readers Book of the Year (haven't read it yet - should do soon!)   Cicada Summer  wasn't quite what I expected, mainly because I totally judged the book by it's cover and didn't read the blurb at all.  Regardless though, I found it to be quite an engaging story, and surprisingly atmospheric for a junior fiction novel. Eloise doesn't speak much.  Actually, she doesn't say anything at all, and hasn't really spoken since her mother passed on a wee while back.  Instead, Eloise speaks through her art, as she is quite a talented artist. Eloise's father, who is an "entrepreneur" and forever chasing his next big bucks breakthrough, has just been given a beautiful, but deca...

Bad Behaviour (Rebecca Starford) Scroll back a few posts and you will come across my review of Alice Pung's recent novel  Laurinda , an unsettling story of the nastiness that teenage girls can inflict upon each other in an "exclusive" girls school setting. When the opportunity arose to delve into another account of the sinister world of privileged teenage girls and their power plays, I eagerly nabbed the chance. And so enter  Bad Behaviour,  author Rebecca Starford's personal memoir of her year in an exclusive outdoor education school in Victoria, Australia, Just like the good old "train wreck" from which you can't look away, the behaviour of these girls towards each other, and particularly towards the weak, is both compelling and disturbing.  Read any review of Bad Behaviour and Lord of the Flies is bound to be mentioned at least once.  To be fair, it's hard not to think of William Golding's classic when reading Starford's memoir. ...

I Was Here (Gayle Forman) In my little school library, we have a couple of Gayle Forman's novels, including the popular If I Stay , which I have to admit to not having read yet.  It's been on my list, but I always seem to pick up other books instead.  And it's still on my list, mainly because when I Was Here  came across my processing desk I thought eh, I'll give it a go instead.  I'll get to If I Stay one of these days! Let's say upfront that Gayle Forman tends to deal in weighty topics, and I Was Here  is  no different.  The novel's narrator, Cody, is left behind in the wake of the suicide of her best friend, Meg.  Cody had no idea that Meg was considering suicide, and is left grieving, baffled and alone, but also determined to find out the reasons why Meg would take her own life.  In her search, Cody discovers that her best friend hadn't shared many details of her new life at the University of the Cascades.  When Cody goes to ...

Beautiful Monster (Kate McCaffrey) Let me start by saying that I had mixed feelings about this book.   I went in with high expectations.   Beautiful Monster  had been recommended to me as a great read, and as I had read In Ecstasy ( also by Kate McCaffrey) and thought it to be a highly intelligent and worthwhile book, I was expecting another novel of the same calibre.   In Ecstasy  deals with the attractions and dangers of dabbling with Ecstasy as a teenager - everyone should read it!   Beautiful Monster  deals with anorexia, another important topic for teenagers...but I found that it just didn't engage.   The story follows teenager Tess, who, after losing her brother to a terrible accident has to deal with this loss, all the while witnessing her mother breaking apart with grief.  The strained family relationships and Tess' own belief that if she could just be perfect, everything would get better, make for a destructive combination. ...

Laurinda (Alice Pung) I remember being a girl in high school.  The constant worry of what others thought of you, the fear of speaking up in case what you say was ridiculed, the conflicting desires of fitting in yet also standing out, the desire to achieve and compete whilst casually pretending you couldn't care less.  It all boiled down to the struggle between who you thought you should be, and who you actually were.  Of course you didn't know that at the time.  Reading Laurinda  brings all these thoughts back to the foreground, and sadly reminds me that the struggles of school life don't seem to have changed much. Laurinda  is a novel set in the fictional all-girls school named, unsurprisingly, Laurinda.  It follows the narrative of Lucy Lam, a Chinese-Vietnamese immigrant who earned the inaugural "Equal Access" scholarship, and soon discovers that surviving Laurinda has little to do with academics and achievement, but more to do with politics, p...

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie) I wanted to live up to expectations. That's what it comes down to. The power of expectations. I hadn't heard of this book until I started looking into "Best of YA Literature" lists, and it kept popping up.  As I work in a school library, I felt it my duty to give it a blat!   The novel follows the life of a Native American teenager who is acutely aware that he is Native American.  He is also aware of all the issues and expectations that come with this.   Arnold, or "Junior" as he is also known, lives in the "poor-ass" Spokane Indian Reservation (the "rez"), and outlines for the reader (in both written and pictorial form), the depressing reality that is his daily existence.    Alcohol, violence, hardship and the complete lack of hope are the main themes, with topics discussed including (but not limited to) the potential success of his parents had they been white (...

Alex as Well (Alyssa Brugman) Alex as Well is a book that should be required reading for all those living through gender identity issues, or those who want to obtain a deeper understanding of the struggle of teenage years for those who are born transgender.   Alex is born "a bit of both", but her parents choose to raise her as male.  Alex hits puberty, and decides to stop taking her testosterone - she is a female, and wants to start living life as a female. The narrative begins with Alex enrolling herself in a new school as a female, electing to become vegetarian, and so beginning her journey of true identity.  Unlike Raven Girl , the story of Alex's transition to her true identity is not met with support from those who surround her.  In fact, the characterisation of Alex's mother, who writes down her horrendously selfish thoughts via an online "Motherhood Shared" blog, are enough to make anyone cringe.   Alex as Well  is a well written, engaging a...

Girl Defective (Simmone Howell) As a teenager, did you ever look longingly at other people’s apparent domestic bliss, and wonder just why your family was so damn weird? Girl Defective’s protagonist, Skylark Martin, laments that her family are “like inverse superheroes, marked by our defects”.  As the daughter of an absent, artist mother, a borderline alcoholic father, and with a brother who is “on the spectrum”, Sky certainly has her share of domestic challenges.  Throw into the mix an older, unpredictable best friend, an intense teenage romance and a mysterious death (all against a St. Kilda backdrop) Girl Defective certainly delivers a colourful, engaging narrative.  A novel that tackles the issues of self-identity and familial relationships within romance and suspense, Girl Defective certainly offers the reader a little bit of everything! Howell, S 2013,  Girl defective , Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney. Young Adult - Family

We Were Liars (E. Lockhart) Welcome to the beautiful Sinclair Family. No one is a criminal. No one is an addict. No one is a failure. Narrated by Cadence, the first born grandchild of the wealthy Sinclair family, We Were Liars is a tale told across the summers of Beechworth Island; the private oasis of the Sinclair family. Life is perfect when on the island, and Cadence describes each summer through the experiences of “The Liars” a band of three cousins, Cadence, Mirren and Johnny, and one outsider, Gat, who is Johnny’s not-quite stepbrother. As the summers pass, Cadence knows that all is not well in the family; but like a good Sinclair she dutifully maintains the required image of perfection. But this thin veneer is shattered when Cadence wakes to find herself in hospital after suffering a serious accident during “Summer Fifteen”, which has left her with debilitating migraines and no memory of the event. Following her accident, Cadence begins her slow rebellion away from ...

Eleanor & Park (Rainbow Rowell) To say Eleanor and Park is just a love story, or a book on teenage romance, is to do it a gross disservice.  Eleanor and Park doesn’t just narrate first love, it takes you right back there again.  To read it is to feel the all-consuming glory of a first love; the detail and nuance of getting to know another person and to think about them constantly, the shock of discovering the way they can make you feel, the sheer bliss associated with these discoveries and the strange and exhilarating feeling of emotions that you never fathomed could exist.  Quite simply, this book beautifully and vividly narrates what it is like to fall utterly and completely in love for the first time. Eleanor is new to town and as a red-headed, freckled misfit with her own eccentric style, she knows fitting in will be tough.  Park is half Korean and half American, keeps his head low, listens to punk music and generally does his best to stay under the r...

Wintergirls (Laurie Halse Anderson) In this sombre tale on the tragedy of eating disorders, Lia struggles with the crushing isolation of her anorexia, distance from her family and the guilt and confusion that comes after a friend dies of bulimia. Lia’s estranged best friend, Cassie, dies of complications of bulimia after leaving 33 messages on Lia’s mobile phone asking for help.  Lia is left struggling with guilt over her choice to ignore the calls, and also the secret knowledge that she was sabotaging Cassie’s quest to recover from bulimia. Lia’s self-hatred is such that she absolutely can’t and won’t listen to the voice inside telling her to eat.  She also struggles with family, both wanting to make them happy but fighting against the anorexia telling her to hide her true self and remain independent. Beneath the disturbing narrative that documents the erosion of Lia’s life from anorexia, the moral of listening to your true voice, speaking of your troubles, and s...

Head of the River (Pip Harry) Leni and Cris are rowers and twins, and with Olympic rowers as parents, the twins see competition in everything.  Rife with sporting metaphors, the clear message of this story is the price you are willing to pay to win.  The book charts the slow decline of each character as they continue to sacrifice their true identities to “win at all costs”.  Leni cuts herself off emotionally from friends and family in the belief that frivolity does not fit with perfection.  When Cris starts struggling emotionally and physically to stay on top, he chooses to take steroids, despite knowing how ashamed his parents would be. As events progress, each character slowly realises their choices are actually making them miserable.  It is only after some choices lead to unintended (and tragic) consequences that both characters begin to understand their true selves, and what brings them happiness.