New on our shelves at the library this week is Gary Paulson's Masters of Disaster. This quick, 100-page novel was published in 2010, and features three 12-year-old boys trying to escape the banality of suburban Cleveland life. The group leader, Henry, comes up with the plans. Riley, the group's secretary documents everything the group does while Reed, the unfortunate comic-relief character, has to perform all the stunts and ends up smelling like something horrible after each plan.
I picked up this book because Paulson is quite popular for one of his books, Hatchet, which I remember reading when I was in 5th grade more than fifteen years ago. This is not in the same vein as Paulson's survival stories, however, there are plenty of adventurous elements throughout the novel.
One of the most insteresting aspects about this novel is the way Paulson demonstrates his influence over literature for tween readers. In the beginning of the story, Henry reveals that he is motivated by the stories they have been reading in English class, one of them about a boy whose plane crashes and he is left to survive in the wilderness with only a Hatchet. This of course is referring back to Hatchet and its companions which, as I mentioned earlier, children encounter sometime around fifth grade. To have been around for so long producing literature that you can then write another book about how children have been influenced by a previous work is quite the accomplisment.
I would recommend this to boys ages 10 and up. Some of the stunts that the students pull off may need to be contextualized for some readers as the boys are extremely lucky they aren't hurt more, and there ought to be a "Please don't try any of these stunts at home" message on the front. All in all though, Masters of Disaster is a fun read for a lazy Saturday afternoon.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Banned Book Week Ends
Banned book week comes to a close today. It looks like we fell short of our goal, but not to worry, we had a great time exploring different titles that have been challeneged or banned in schools and libraries around the country.
After taking stock in the number of books that have been banned, it would seem that they should expand the banned book week to a month long so that we might have more time to cover the many, many books that become censored or face censoship each year.
I personally do not agree with censorship of most types. I make a few exceptions regarding materials that aren't just unsuitable to a particular age, but that are simply unsuitable for people. By and far, most of the books that face censorship are at the mercy of concerned parents who would rather their children remain ignorant of the realities of the world than read about some general truths from a safe distance. One of the largest topics that came up in the lists of books that have been challenged include explorations of religion, sexuality, the use of adult-oriented language and abuse. The books I explored this week all shared a common theme of people who felt like outsiders trying to fit into a world where everyone else seems normal. This is a popular theme in many contemporary novels, movies and television shows because it captures a very unique quality that most of us share: we all feel like we are somehow different and that everyone else is someone the same. The characters are oddballs, but typically so. This is interesting to think about when pitted against the fact that these books are challenged not because they are so disconnected from reality, but because they capture an aspect of reality that many adults struggle with or are uneasy about.
So when you read a book that is surrounded in controversy, keep questions in your mind about what it is about the novel that you read that makes people so upset. Often times you will find it is the truth in fiction that scares people, and to that extent drives adults to protect their child from that truth that the world is not such a safe comfortable place afterall.
After taking stock in the number of books that have been banned, it would seem that they should expand the banned book week to a month long so that we might have more time to cover the many, many books that become censored or face censoship each year.
I personally do not agree with censorship of most types. I make a few exceptions regarding materials that aren't just unsuitable to a particular age, but that are simply unsuitable for people. By and far, most of the books that face censorship are at the mercy of concerned parents who would rather their children remain ignorant of the realities of the world than read about some general truths from a safe distance. One of the largest topics that came up in the lists of books that have been challenged include explorations of religion, sexuality, the use of adult-oriented language and abuse. The books I explored this week all shared a common theme of people who felt like outsiders trying to fit into a world where everyone else seems normal. This is a popular theme in many contemporary novels, movies and television shows because it captures a very unique quality that most of us share: we all feel like we are somehow different and that everyone else is someone the same. The characters are oddballs, but typically so. This is interesting to think about when pitted against the fact that these books are challenged not because they are so disconnected from reality, but because they capture an aspect of reality that many adults struggle with or are uneasy about.
So when you read a book that is surrounded in controversy, keep questions in your mind about what it is about the novel that you read that makes people so upset. Often times you will find it is the truth in fiction that scares people, and to that extent drives adults to protect their child from that truth that the world is not such a safe comfortable place afterall.
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