Vlautin's The Motel Life is a darkly hilarious, gritty, and honest novel about two brothers living in Nevada. Their lives are hard. They make mistakes, or as one of the brothers, Jerry Lee, says, they’re ‘fuck-ups.’ But they’re not bad people. Scattered throughout the novel are mini stories that Frank, the younger brother and main character, tells Jerry Lee. They sort of give you a deeper understanding of what the brothers are going through at the time, and they’re enjoyable to read.
It is 1967 and Holling Hoodhood has just started the seventh grade. He is convinced that his teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates him because as a Presbyterian, he ruins her Wednesday afternoons by staying behind when all the other students have gone to Catechism class or Hebrew school. So she has him read a number of Shakespeare's plays (which he really enjoys despite Mrs. Baker trying to bore him to death). All Holling has to do is get through the year alive. Never mind the yellow-toothed giant rats that are out to get him, or the costume he has to wear for the Shakespeare extravaganza (yellow tights and feathers covering his butt), or the fact that Vietnam is going on and Martin Luther King, Jr. is trying to make the world a better place. As the world seems to tumble down around him, Holling struggles to make his way through it, to find his own voice.
You can list some things that "The Wednesday Wars" seems to be about, but I think it's more than the list. It has that instant timeless/classic appeal. Or as Mrs. Baker says on Shakespeare, "'It is about the abundance of love. It is about the weakness of armies and battles and guns and.…' She stopped. Her mouth worked back and forth. 'It is about the endurance of love,' she whispered."
When eleven year-old Gregor follows his two year-old sister, Boots, down a storm drain in his New York City apartment, he enters a world deep, deep underground. There are giant spiders, cockroaches two feet tall, rats as tall as basketball players, bats large enough for humans to fly on... and they all talk. Almost right upon his arrival to this dangerous new world, Gregor is identified as the possible warrior foretold in a nearly 400 year-old prophecy. But none of this matters to Gregor. His only concern is to protect his sister, escape the Underworld, and rescue his father who's been missing for the past two years. But without the help of all the giant creepy crawlies, Gregor has little chance of survival. Thus begins the quest that intertwines the fate of the Underworld and the survival of Gregor and his sister and father.
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Gregor the Overlander is an easy recommendation. The book is well-written and the plot just sails you through to the end. And thankfully, all of the books in the Underlander Chronicles are available. Go get some.
It seems that there are a number of books that have been coming out lately where the male protagonist is brilliant, young, and unflappably brave in the face of danger: Evil Genius, Artemis Foul, and The Mysterious Benedict Society are just a few that come to mind. But what we have with Marcus is a reluctant hero who is at times brilliant and incredibly brave, but can be broken by stronger forces to the point of utter shame. I liked this about Marcus. He seemed more believable as a character.
Wrapped into the plot of the book is a sort of how-to at taking down those that try to control you through technology. There is also quite a bit of history as far as the protest movement of the 60's, specifically in the San Francisco area. Surprisingly, the informational sections of the book seemed to be a great addition to the book's overall story. I appreciated the (albeit one-sided) consideration of national security--does it really make us safer? This book has the potential of changing the way many young people look at the world.
There is a clear comparison to Orwell's 1984, but I also think fans of Fight Club and Scott Westerfeld's Uglies trilogy will also find a similar passion in Little Brother.
Mr. Carey should definitely be added to the best teachers in children’s literature.
The students of class 6C are starting a new year with a new teacher. Mr. Carey. He's different. He has a beard and a ponytail, he listens to Bob Dylan, and he reads the students poetry. He even laughs when one of the students makes a joke.
