Hi my dear readers!
The other author present at the Colorado Teen Literature Conference was Andrew Smith. Like with Wendelin Van Draanen, we were asked to read a book by Smith so that we would be prepared to meet at the conference. (Andrew Smith is nothing like I imagined. I expected a somewhat young and hip author; this video interview actually shows what he's really like. It's awesome.)
The book I picked for the Smith selection was Grasshopper Jungle. The premise is that the world is going to end due to giant preying mantises, but there's this high school love triangle that is taking place that is waaay more interesting than the mantises. Everything is over the top, from body odor to what girls think of guys. It was a fun read that I read in a single day.
In group, we got to talking about why this book made so many waves in the YA market. We decided it was because Grasshopper Jungle is so over the top and in your face about everything. One of the things that came up was wondering if Smith drew from his students for this book. Like, did he take all of the drama that they deal with and make it into this exaggerated narrative. It worked, if that was the case. All of us agreed that the book was humorous and a great read.
The only criticism we had for it was the ending. None of us liked how the story ended.
I would recommend Grasshopper Jungle for high school students and beyond. There is a little bit of crude and graphic stuff in it, but not enough to ruin the story. It will have you cracking up and I highly recommend it.
~Meaghan
Showing posts with label colorado teen literature conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label colorado teen literature conference. Show all posts
Sunday, April 26, 2015
CTLC Novel: Runaway and Group Discussion
Hello my dear readers!
You may remember my blog about the Colorado Teen Literature Conference (found here) and how as a volunteer I got to meet Andrew Smith and Wendelin Van Draanen. Well, before the conference, we were required to pick a text by each author to read and discuss so that we would understand why they have the impact on the YA literature market that they do.
The first one was Wendelin Van Draanen. Wendelin is awesome and a little over hyper, which makes her even more likable in my mind. (Here is a great interview video of her so you can see what I mean.) I chose to read Runaway for her selection.
Runaway is about a 6th grade girl named Holly who runs away from the foster care system and keeps a journal of her day to day life. It's the kind of book I would have gravitated to as a middle school student, it really is. I have always been writing, and while I didn't start keeping an actual journal until I was 15, I know how it feels to need to write about things.
I thought I was going to love it. I didn't even finish it. It just seemed to drag on and on for me.
When we talked about it in group, a lot of the members said they felt like Holly seemed too old for her age. Maybe that's part of why I struggled with it. We wondered if maybe it was because kids in that situation are forced to grow up faster than they should, so they come across as older. Another thing that was prevalent through the book was Van Draanen's idea of "Hope in the Mail". There was a lot of hope by the end of the book (I skipped to the ending and read it) and peppered throughout.
The writing style really does a good job of speaking for the character of Holly though. There are bits of poetry throughout, and you really get a sense of how angry Holly is until the end. I think maybe I just wasn't in the right place to read this book right now; Van Draanen is a very good writer and me not getting through is not a reflection of her.
Overall, this is a middle to early high school book. The consensus in our group is that everyone should give it a look.
~Meaghan
You may remember my blog about the Colorado Teen Literature Conference (found here) and how as a volunteer I got to meet Andrew Smith and Wendelin Van Draanen. Well, before the conference, we were required to pick a text by each author to read and discuss so that we would understand why they have the impact on the YA literature market that they do.
The first one was Wendelin Van Draanen. Wendelin is awesome and a little over hyper, which makes her even more likable in my mind. (Here is a great interview video of her so you can see what I mean.) I chose to read Runaway for her selection.
Runaway is about a 6th grade girl named Holly who runs away from the foster care system and keeps a journal of her day to day life. It's the kind of book I would have gravitated to as a middle school student, it really is. I have always been writing, and while I didn't start keeping an actual journal until I was 15, I know how it feels to need to write about things.
I thought I was going to love it. I didn't even finish it. It just seemed to drag on and on for me.
When we talked about it in group, a lot of the members said they felt like Holly seemed too old for her age. Maybe that's part of why I struggled with it. We wondered if maybe it was because kids in that situation are forced to grow up faster than they should, so they come across as older. Another thing that was prevalent through the book was Van Draanen's idea of "Hope in the Mail". There was a lot of hope by the end of the book (I skipped to the ending and read it) and peppered throughout.
The writing style really does a good job of speaking for the character of Holly though. There are bits of poetry throughout, and you really get a sense of how angry Holly is until the end. I think maybe I just wasn't in the right place to read this book right now; Van Draanen is a very good writer and me not getting through is not a reflection of her.
Overall, this is a middle to early high school book. The consensus in our group is that everyone should give it a look.
~Meaghan
Colorado Teen Literature Conference: Reflection
Hi again, my readers!
A few weeks ago I had the great fortune of volunteering for the Colorado Teen Literature Conference (CTLC), which is a statewide conference for teens and adults alike. There are local authors as well as headliners, classes on various subjects that you can attend all day, and places to buy items from local vendors and authors. (Their website is here and is awesome.)
I had never been before or even heard about it before, so volunteering for it was a great way to get introduced to what CTLC is all about. Most of what I was doing was directing visitors to the various places on my school's campus so they could find their seminars and classes easily. I also got to participate in classes if I felt inclined (I went to one on fairytales in YA literature and now have like 20 more books on my "To Read" list on GoodReads) and hear the guest speakers present.
This year, the guest speakers were Andrew Smith, author of Grasshopper Jungles, and Wendelin Van Draanen, author of Runaway. They were amazing. Hearing them speak about why they became writers was one of the most inspirational experiences of my life.
Wendelin started writing as a way to cope (she called it revenge writing) when her family's business was destroyed in an arson act. She used to teach computer programming and math at the high school level and wrote in her free time. When she decided to start sending things to publishers, she came up with the term "Hope in the Mail"; what it means is that as long as something is out there, there's hope.
Andrew is a high school English teacher and also writes in his free time. He mostly wrote things for himself and was convinced by a friend of his to send some of his stuff off to a publisher. He now has two contracts and writes two novels a year while teaching. One of his books required for him to figure out how many miles the earth moves in a period of time. The answer is 20 miles in five seconds. He tries to encourage all his students to stop thinking about what they're going to do with the rest of their lives; instead, he wants them to think of what they're going to from 20 miles to the next.
I was able to meet both the authors and get Andrew to sign my book. I also got this wickedly awesome picture with Andrew that Wendelin photo bombed. Of course I blinked.
It was fantastic. If you get the chance to go to CTLC, I highly recommend you take it.
~Meaghan
A few weeks ago I had the great fortune of volunteering for the Colorado Teen Literature Conference (CTLC), which is a statewide conference for teens and adults alike. There are local authors as well as headliners, classes on various subjects that you can attend all day, and places to buy items from local vendors and authors. (Their website is here and is awesome.)
I had never been before or even heard about it before, so volunteering for it was a great way to get introduced to what CTLC is all about. Most of what I was doing was directing visitors to the various places on my school's campus so they could find their seminars and classes easily. I also got to participate in classes if I felt inclined (I went to one on fairytales in YA literature and now have like 20 more books on my "To Read" list on GoodReads) and hear the guest speakers present.
This year, the guest speakers were Andrew Smith, author of Grasshopper Jungles, and Wendelin Van Draanen, author of Runaway. They were amazing. Hearing them speak about why they became writers was one of the most inspirational experiences of my life.
Wendelin started writing as a way to cope (she called it revenge writing) when her family's business was destroyed in an arson act. She used to teach computer programming and math at the high school level and wrote in her free time. When she decided to start sending things to publishers, she came up with the term "Hope in the Mail"; what it means is that as long as something is out there, there's hope.
Andrew is a high school English teacher and also writes in his free time. He mostly wrote things for himself and was convinced by a friend of his to send some of his stuff off to a publisher. He now has two contracts and writes two novels a year while teaching. One of his books required for him to figure out how many miles the earth moves in a period of time. The answer is 20 miles in five seconds. He tries to encourage all his students to stop thinking about what they're going to do with the rest of their lives; instead, he wants them to think of what they're going to from 20 miles to the next.
I was able to meet both the authors and get Andrew to sign my book. I also got this wickedly awesome picture with Andrew that Wendelin photo bombed. Of course I blinked.
It was fantastic. If you get the chance to go to CTLC, I highly recommend you take it.
~Meaghan
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