The Dating Game #1: The Dating Game
By "Natalie Standiford"
OK, so I just finished reading this book, and while at first I thought it was The Worst Book Ever Written, I have since decided that it is simply Hilariously Awful. This is the first of a series, and I look forward to reading the next few.
What makes this book so Hilariously Awful, to me, is the fact that the subject matter would be best suited to probably 16-17 year olds, but the language and dialogue and overall writing style is better suited to 12 year olds. So I don't know who it is really aimed at. I guess 12 year olds? But that is fairly creepy considering:
a) how obsessed with sex the three main characters are
b) the casual drug and alcohol use in the book (with no real negative consequences)
And I have no problem with YA books that deal with either of these things - but when the style of a book makes it seem like it is clearly marketed to 12 year olds, I find this all somewhat offensive. But at the same time, throwing all of this stuff in the book does make it more realistic - what high school party didn't include drinking and/or pot? I guess, though, since characters in book are usually a few years older than the intended audience (i.e. these girls are all 15 and 16, which is why 12 and 13 year olds would be reading these books) the characters are acting almost like role models to the kids, and if the characters are drinking screwdrivers and making out with potheads and getting themselves into extremely dangerous situations - I guess I am afraid that 12 year olds will be going out and trying to emulate this behaviour.
Man, I am getting old. Probably kids would read this and just think, "Man, that is awesome, I can't wait till I'm in high school and my life is like this!" Or, alternately, kids would think "Geez, I was doing all that stuff back in Grade Three" (because kids are growing up faster these days)
Anyway. The bottom line is: the writing style is so unbelievably crappy (for instance, the introductory chapter's desription of all of the girls feels like a throwback to Nancy Drew books or something where you have to describe exactly what all of their hair is like, how tall they are, and what they are good at) - but, I will freely admit, that the characters are spunky and fun and I do think that 12 and 13 year old girls would eat this up. That may make me feel kind of bad for them, but there really are worse things they could be reading.
Oh, and also - this book makes very good use of modern technology. An example is how the girls fill out an on-line quiz for "what is your love aura" (while drunk, incidentally), e-mail the results to a classmate, the classmate posts it on her blog, and at school the next day, everybody knows that one of the girls is apparently a slut because she has a red love aura. That sequence of events, which would not even exist ten years ago, seems realistic and a good handling of the way that teens use the internet.
Rating: A good pick for girls aged 12-14
By "Natalie Standiford"
OK, so I just finished reading this book, and while at first I thought it was The Worst Book Ever Written, I have since decided that it is simply Hilariously Awful. This is the first of a series, and I look forward to reading the next few.
What makes this book so Hilariously Awful, to me, is the fact that the subject matter would be best suited to probably 16-17 year olds, but the language and dialogue and overall writing style is better suited to 12 year olds. So I don't know who it is really aimed at. I guess 12 year olds? But that is fairly creepy considering:
a) how obsessed with sex the three main characters are
b) the casual drug and alcohol use in the book (with no real negative consequences)
And I have no problem with YA books that deal with either of these things - but when the style of a book makes it seem like it is clearly marketed to 12 year olds, I find this all somewhat offensive. But at the same time, throwing all of this stuff in the book does make it more realistic - what high school party didn't include drinking and/or pot? I guess, though, since characters in book are usually a few years older than the intended audience (i.e. these girls are all 15 and 16, which is why 12 and 13 year olds would be reading these books) the characters are acting almost like role models to the kids, and if the characters are drinking screwdrivers and making out with potheads and getting themselves into extremely dangerous situations - I guess I am afraid that 12 year olds will be going out and trying to emulate this behaviour.
Man, I am getting old. Probably kids would read this and just think, "Man, that is awesome, I can't wait till I'm in high school and my life is like this!" Or, alternately, kids would think "Geez, I was doing all that stuff back in Grade Three" (because kids are growing up faster these days)
Anyway. The bottom line is: the writing style is so unbelievably crappy (for instance, the introductory chapter's desription of all of the girls feels like a throwback to Nancy Drew books or something where you have to describe exactly what all of their hair is like, how tall they are, and what they are good at) - but, I will freely admit, that the characters are spunky and fun and I do think that 12 and 13 year old girls would eat this up. That may make me feel kind of bad for them, but there really are worse things they could be reading.
Oh, and also - this book makes very good use of modern technology. An example is how the girls fill out an on-line quiz for "what is your love aura" (while drunk, incidentally), e-mail the results to a classmate, the classmate posts it on her blog, and at school the next day, everybody knows that one of the girls is apparently a slut because she has a red love aura. That sequence of events, which would not even exist ten years ago, seems realistic and a good handling of the way that teens use the internet.
Rating: A good pick for girls aged 12-14
Ultimate Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 : The Fantastic
Yeah, I didn't like this one very much. The artwork was maybe too busy for this size of book? And I was confused when to read left to right and when to read top to bottom. Also, I didn't like the story very much, and was much more confused than with other graphic novels I've been reading.
Rating: maybe bigger comics fans than me would like this more? I thought it was pretty bad. Recommended for Fantastic Four fans, ages 8 and up.
Yeah, I didn't like this one very much. The artwork was maybe too busy for this size of book? And I was confused when to read left to right and when to read top to bottom. Also, I didn't like the story very much, and was much more confused than with other graphic novels I've been reading.
Rating: maybe bigger comics fans than me would like this more? I thought it was pretty bad. Recommended for Fantastic Four fans, ages 8 and up.
Runaways Vol. 2 : Teenage Wasteland
By Brian K Vaughan, et al.
So, I just finished reading the second and third (and am midway through the fourth) installments of the Runaways series of graphic novels. These are seriously extremely enjoyable.
I would say that Volume 2 shows more character development of the core group of teens, and increases how much we know about the world they are living in (i.e. the Marvel universe). They also introduced two characters who are apparently C-list Marvel heroes from the seventies, Cloak and Dagger, who are themselves former teen runaway superheroes.
It is also in this volume that the Nico character realizes that the way to unleash her magic wand (which resides inside of her body usually), is to cut herself. When she bleeds, it emerges. This is an interesting twist to the usual teens-cutting-themselves thing, especially since her character is quite gothic-y.
I was going to complain that when this new character, Topher, shows up, the Runaways all come kind of unhinged (both Nico and Karolina end up kissing him) and I was going to criticize that silly plot development, but then when we find out more about Topher in this volume, there is a good character reason for that all to happen.
Which leads us to...
By Brian K Vaughan, et al.
So, I just finished reading the second and third (and am midway through the fourth) installments of the Runaways series of graphic novels. These are seriously extremely enjoyable.
I would say that Volume 2 shows more character development of the core group of teens, and increases how much we know about the world they are living in (i.e. the Marvel universe). They also introduced two characters who are apparently C-list Marvel heroes from the seventies, Cloak and Dagger, who are themselves former teen runaway superheroes.
It is also in this volume that the Nico character realizes that the way to unleash her magic wand (which resides inside of her body usually), is to cut herself. When she bleeds, it emerges. This is an interesting twist to the usual teens-cutting-themselves thing, especially since her character is quite gothic-y.
I was going to complain that when this new character, Topher, shows up, the Runaways all come kind of unhinged (both Nico and Karolina end up kissing him) and I was going to criticize that silly plot development, but then when we find out more about Topher in this volume, there is a good character reason for that all to happen.
Which leads us to...
Runaways Vol. 3 : The good die young
By Brian K Vaughan, et al
What is interesting about this one (volume three) is that it basically wraps up the first "volume" of Runaways comics, tying up all of the loose ends and making these three kind of like a trilogy. (But now I am starting up Volume Four, which starts a whole new plotline - and introduced new characters due to the carnage at the end of this one - SPOILER!!)
What I think works very well telling this story in graphic novel format is that - everybody knows one of the Runaways is a mole (i.e. working against the other Runaways by secretly helping their evil parents). But the parents don't know which one is the mole. The Runaways don't know which of them is the mole. And by doing it all in graphic novels, where we don't ever see the thoughts of the characters, only what they say and do - the readers don't know either. Even when The Mole makes a phone call, we (the reader) can't tell if it's a male or a female voice or anything other than the words the mole says.
And I won't spoiler stuff here, but the whole reveal of Who Is The Mole, is very well done. The authors clearly knew before they started who would be The Mole, and after finding out who it is, you can go back and look at that character's actions in earlier comics and suddenly you can read all of their actions a different way.
I think it is in this comic that two unlikely characters make a romantic connection - and that kind of works for me. Obviously you heighten sexual tension in graphic novels featuring teen superhero characters - but that sometimes doesn't work, like Alex and Nico's declarations of love for each other, or when (in Volume 2) Topher kisses Nico and also Karolina. But the unlikely connection between two characters in this one works very well.
And I did read ahead on-line to see plot outlines for later volumes, so I know where Karolina's character is headed (i.e. lesbianism!) and that is all being nicely foreshadowed here. Having her be an alien, and also a lesbian and also a teen girl who only wants to be "normal", is a neat way of looking at things - in so many ways, she feels disconnected from her friends, and (bad pun!) alienated from her closest friends.
Anyway, I have to go now and finish reading Volume Four.
Rating: Totally good! If you read the first one, you have to read these two (obviously) as all three volumes are really part of one long story. Ages 12 and up.
By Brian K Vaughan, et al
What is interesting about this one (volume three) is that it basically wraps up the first "volume" of Runaways comics, tying up all of the loose ends and making these three kind of like a trilogy. (But now I am starting up Volume Four, which starts a whole new plotline - and introduced new characters due to the carnage at the end of this one - SPOILER!!)
What I think works very well telling this story in graphic novel format is that - everybody knows one of the Runaways is a mole (i.e. working against the other Runaways by secretly helping their evil parents). But the parents don't know which one is the mole. The Runaways don't know which of them is the mole. And by doing it all in graphic novels, where we don't ever see the thoughts of the characters, only what they say and do - the readers don't know either. Even when The Mole makes a phone call, we (the reader) can't tell if it's a male or a female voice or anything other than the words the mole says.
And I won't spoiler stuff here, but the whole reveal of Who Is The Mole, is very well done. The authors clearly knew before they started who would be The Mole, and after finding out who it is, you can go back and look at that character's actions in earlier comics and suddenly you can read all of their actions a different way.
I think it is in this comic that two unlikely characters make a romantic connection - and that kind of works for me. Obviously you heighten sexual tension in graphic novels featuring teen superhero characters - but that sometimes doesn't work, like Alex and Nico's declarations of love for each other, or when (in Volume 2) Topher kisses Nico and also Karolina. But the unlikely connection between two characters in this one works very well.
And I did read ahead on-line to see plot outlines for later volumes, so I know where Karolina's character is headed (i.e. lesbianism!) and that is all being nicely foreshadowed here. Having her be an alien, and also a lesbian and also a teen girl who only wants to be "normal", is a neat way of looking at things - in so many ways, she feels disconnected from her friends, and (bad pun!) alienated from her closest friends.
Anyway, I have to go now and finish reading Volume Four.
Rating: Totally good! If you read the first one, you have to read these two (obviously) as all three volumes are really part of one long story. Ages 12 and up.
How to be popular
By Meg Cabot
So, a lot of Meg Cabot's books are really super crappy. Take one "unique" teen girl (unpopular and/or vegetarian and/or misunderstood and/or artsy and/or thinks she is a lot weirder than she is) and add one kooky best friend (renegade filmmaker or daughter of religious zealots or farmgirl) and add the gorgeous but secretly mean head cheerleader who the heroine used to be friends with, and the gorgeous quarterback boyfriend of the mean cheerleader who the main character is in love with... throw in misunderstandings, excessive use of the phrase "I mean", and extremely current pop culture things that leave the books really weirdly dated (i.e. a character is thinking about Party of Five in the first book in a series and by book Four is talking about The O.C. as though those shows existed within two years of each other) - oh, and also the fact that the heroine is totally clueless that, although she thinks she is in love with the Stupid Quarterback, but she is actually in love with the Geeky Guy Who Is Her Friend.
This one follows the generic Meg Cabot style, but does have some interesting other stuff. Yes, there is the mean head cheerleader (I think she is not a cheerleader in this one though - shocker!) and the "outsider" heroine is in love with the quarterback boyfriend of the mean girl... but there is interesting stuff about the heroine's family (very fertile mother who owns a bookstore; grandfather just built a planetarium to woo an older lady), and OK, yes, so she realizes at the end of the book that - OMG! - she is actually in love with the guy who was her friend all along (who saw that coming!) - but, whatever. I don't know. This one was OK.
Rating: This one is OK, in Meg Cabot terms. Definitely a girl book (duh) and I'd say best for ages 12-16.
By Meg Cabot
So, a lot of Meg Cabot's books are really super crappy. Take one "unique" teen girl (unpopular and/or vegetarian and/or misunderstood and/or artsy and/or thinks she is a lot weirder than she is) and add one kooky best friend (renegade filmmaker or daughter of religious zealots or farmgirl) and add the gorgeous but secretly mean head cheerleader who the heroine used to be friends with, and the gorgeous quarterback boyfriend of the mean cheerleader who the main character is in love with... throw in misunderstandings, excessive use of the phrase "I mean", and extremely current pop culture things that leave the books really weirdly dated (i.e. a character is thinking about Party of Five in the first book in a series and by book Four is talking about The O.C. as though those shows existed within two years of each other) - oh, and also the fact that the heroine is totally clueless that, although she thinks she is in love with the Stupid Quarterback, but she is actually in love with the Geeky Guy Who Is Her Friend.
This one follows the generic Meg Cabot style, but does have some interesting other stuff. Yes, there is the mean head cheerleader (I think she is not a cheerleader in this one though - shocker!) and the "outsider" heroine is in love with the quarterback boyfriend of the mean girl... but there is interesting stuff about the heroine's family (very fertile mother who owns a bookstore; grandfather just built a planetarium to woo an older lady), and OK, yes, so she realizes at the end of the book that - OMG! - she is actually in love with the guy who was her friend all along (who saw that coming!) - but, whatever. I don't know. This one was OK.
Rating: This one is OK, in Meg Cabot terms. Definitely a girl book (duh) and I'd say best for ages 12-16.
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1 : Gifted
By Joss Whedon and John Cassaday
Marvel Comics (2004), Paperback, 152 pages
This takes place after the X-Men movies, when Kitty Pryde is grown up, and she goes back to be a teacher at the mutant school, and there is this cure for being mutants and that leads to all sorts of fighting between characters who were not in X-Men the movie, or Marvel 1602, and hence who I don't know who they are.
Anyway. This one ends with an obnoxious cliffhanger, which is why I am annoyed with comics, because I like things that end properly. But anyway, there is this very cool new character in this one, called Emma Frost, who I guess used to be a villain but now is a good guy, and who wears very skimpy ridiculous outfits and is telepathic and, it turns out, possibly still secretly evil. And there is a series of graphic novels about her as a teen (in the same style as the Mary Jane comics) which I hope the library gets soon so I can learn more about her.
Rating: Pretty good, but I think people who know more about graphic novels than I do would enjoy it more than I did. Recommended for X-Men fans aged 12 and up.
By Joss Whedon and John Cassaday
Marvel Comics (2004), Paperback, 152 pages
This takes place after the X-Men movies, when Kitty Pryde is grown up, and she goes back to be a teacher at the mutant school, and there is this cure for being mutants and that leads to all sorts of fighting between characters who were not in X-Men the movie, or Marvel 1602, and hence who I don't know who they are.
Anyway. This one ends with an obnoxious cliffhanger, which is why I am annoyed with comics, because I like things that end properly. But anyway, there is this very cool new character in this one, called Emma Frost, who I guess used to be a villain but now is a good guy, and who wears very skimpy ridiculous outfits and is telepathic and, it turns out, possibly still secretly evil. And there is a series of graphic novels about her as a teen (in the same style as the Mary Jane comics) which I hope the library gets soon so I can learn more about her.
Rating: Pretty good, but I think people who know more about graphic novels than I do would enjoy it more than I did. Recommended for X-Men fans aged 12 and up.
Pigboy
By Vicki Grant
Orca Book Publishers Ltd. (2006), Paperback, 101 pages
As my mother said, this book is REALLY hi-lo, as in, REALLY high interest, REALLY low vocabulary. I read it in about half an hour, so I would imagine that the target audience would make short work of it as well.
Rating: An excellent choice for reluctant readers, or readers who read at a few grade levels below their actual grade. Recommended for readers ages 12-16? I am not sure who the target audience of YA Hi-Lo books is, but this is a great choice for anyone looking for a title in this genre.
By Vicki Grant
Orca Book Publishers Ltd. (2006), Paperback, 101 pages
As my mother said, this book is REALLY hi-lo, as in, REALLY high interest, REALLY low vocabulary. I read it in about half an hour, so I would imagine that the target audience would make short work of it as well.
Rating: An excellent choice for reluctant readers, or readers who read at a few grade levels below their actual grade. Recommended for readers ages 12-16? I am not sure who the target audience of YA Hi-Lo books is, but this is a great choice for anyone looking for a title in this genre.
Speak
By Laurie Halse Anderson
Douglas & McIntyre / Fsg Kids (1999), Hardcover, 198 pages
So, this book is about Melinda, who was raped the August before her Grade Nine year. She called the cops after it happened, which resulted in the party being broken up, which has resulted in everybody in school hating her.
The title comes from the fact that she has more or less stopped talking after this event happened. The arc of the book is really her metamorphosis back to life, and how she is able to heal from this incident. I enjoyed how her art class is helpful in allowing her to explore her emotions and ultimately learn to reveal them.
There is also a very nice metaphor with her struggles to draw a perfect tree - she comes to realize that it is not perfect, that the imperfections are what make the trees real, and how small plants can survive underneath a bed of dead branches.
What I really liked about this one was how her former friends gradually return to her - not with big declarations of apologies, but kind of sheepishly and naturally, as it would happen in real life. And I was so glad when she finally stood up to her vain friend Heather.
Oh, and this book is totally funny! Which I had not expected. Melinda is so dry and sarcastic in her descriptions of high school life, and you can see how even through this terrible time, she has not lost her sense of humour. All of the details of high school life, especially the deranged teachers and their idiotic assignments, are spot-on.
Bottom line: Totally excellent book! Very recommended, especially for teen girls ages 13-16.
By Laurie Halse Anderson
Douglas & McIntyre / Fsg Kids (1999), Hardcover, 198 pages
So, this book is about Melinda, who was raped the August before her Grade Nine year. She called the cops after it happened, which resulted in the party being broken up, which has resulted in everybody in school hating her.
The title comes from the fact that she has more or less stopped talking after this event happened. The arc of the book is really her metamorphosis back to life, and how she is able to heal from this incident. I enjoyed how her art class is helpful in allowing her to explore her emotions and ultimately learn to reveal them.
There is also a very nice metaphor with her struggles to draw a perfect tree - she comes to realize that it is not perfect, that the imperfections are what make the trees real, and how small plants can survive underneath a bed of dead branches.
What I really liked about this one was how her former friends gradually return to her - not with big declarations of apologies, but kind of sheepishly and naturally, as it would happen in real life. And I was so glad when she finally stood up to her vain friend Heather.
Oh, and this book is totally funny! Which I had not expected. Melinda is so dry and sarcastic in her descriptions of high school life, and you can see how even through this terrible time, she has not lost her sense of humour. All of the details of high school life, especially the deranged teachers and their idiotic assignments, are spot-on.
Bottom line: Totally excellent book! Very recommended, especially for teen girls ages 13-16.
Tell it to Naomi
by Daniel Ehrenhaft
Delacorte Books for Young Readers (2004), Paperback, 208 pages
This book, Tell it to Naomi, is pretty bad. It apprently should appeal to fans of "The year of Secret Assignments", of which I am a fan, but unfortunately this book is a really stupid plotline and maybe with another couple of drafts could have been better, but sadly, it is crappy.
Example of crappiness: THE DAY AFTER he does his first advice column, EVERY KID IN SCHOOL is quoting to one another and they all think he is soooo smart. Now, really, how many high school kids even READ their newspapers? I thought that was pretty dumb.
Bottom line: This book is really, really dumb. Not recommended for anybody. OK, maybe extremely bored 12-14 year old girls, but they would be better served watching a re-run of the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson TV show than reading this crap.
by Daniel Ehrenhaft
Delacorte Books for Young Readers (2004), Paperback, 208 pages
This book, Tell it to Naomi, is pretty bad. It apprently should appeal to fans of "The year of Secret Assignments", of which I am a fan, but unfortunately this book is a really stupid plotline and maybe with another couple of drafts could have been better, but sadly, it is crappy.
Example of crappiness: THE DAY AFTER he does his first advice column, EVERY KID IN SCHOOL is quoting to one another and they all think he is soooo smart. Now, really, how many high school kids even READ their newspapers? I thought that was pretty dumb.
Bottom line: This book is really, really dumb. Not recommended for anybody. OK, maybe extremely bored 12-14 year old girls, but they would be better served watching a re-run of the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson TV show than reading this crap.
Doomed Queen Anne
By Carolyn Meyer
Gulliver Books Paperbacks (2004), Paperback, 256 pages
This book, Doomed Queen Anne, is about Anne Boleyn (aka second wife of Henry VIII, also a main character in The Other Boleyn Girl). It is interesting to read this, which has a lot of the same events as The Other Boleyn Girl, but from Anne's perspective. i.e. to Anne, Mary Boleyn is stuck-up and mean. Whereas in The Other Boleyn Girl, Mary is sweet and naive and Anne is scheming and evil.
Anyway. This book is also not very good. It is all basically a long narrative summary of events, and people tend to say stuff like, "Oh, haven't you heard? Cardinal Wolsey has just decreed that blah blah blah which will affect England's foreign policy with Spain blah blah blah was just made Supreme Chancellor blah blah..." like people just hang out all the time and talk about specific historic events to one another. And also (but this can't be helped due to historic fact) far too many characters are called either Anne or Mary or Jane.
Bottom line: Too much exposition and historical summary in lieu of character or plot development. A good choice for history buffs, ages 12-16 (more so for the younger end of this age range)
By Carolyn Meyer
Gulliver Books Paperbacks (2004), Paperback, 256 pages
This book, Doomed Queen Anne, is about Anne Boleyn (aka second wife of Henry VIII, also a main character in The Other Boleyn Girl). It is interesting to read this, which has a lot of the same events as The Other Boleyn Girl, but from Anne's perspective. i.e. to Anne, Mary Boleyn is stuck-up and mean. Whereas in The Other Boleyn Girl, Mary is sweet and naive and Anne is scheming and evil.
Anyway. This book is also not very good. It is all basically a long narrative summary of events, and people tend to say stuff like, "Oh, haven't you heard? Cardinal Wolsey has just decreed that blah blah blah which will affect England's foreign policy with Spain blah blah blah was just made Supreme Chancellor blah blah..." like people just hang out all the time and talk about specific historic events to one another. And also (but this can't be helped due to historic fact) far too many characters are called either Anne or Mary or Jane.
Bottom line: Too much exposition and historical summary in lieu of character or plot development. A good choice for history buffs, ages 12-16 (more so for the younger end of this age range)
The catcher in the rye
By JD Salinger
Little, Brown (1991), Mass Market Paperback, 214 pages
So, I guess this book is pretty good. What I liked most about it were some of the specific character moments Salinger wrote - like Holden randomly starting to tap-dance while his friend is shaving - these moments that seem so true to life.
My sister read this in high school, and all she remembers is that Holden is always whining about people being "phonies" which, to be fair, is a lot of what the book is about. I am not sure why this book is "controversial" and so frequently banned - possibly because Holden is anti-authority, and not a good role model? There is some swearing in the book, but Holden reacts negatively to it.
Oh, and I also really liked how people kept telling him to talk more quietly, which is a good "show not tell" detail about his personality.
And he is very strangely attached to his little sister, who is a sweet character, but all the same, that is all really kind of strange. I guess this is the whole "innocence lost" thing, but his frequent preoccupation with small children and their innocence is actually quite creepy. And also the whole thing where he stays at his teacher's apartment and he makes a pass at him - did Holden misinterpret that whole thing? Or is that just also creepy?
Anyway, so many authors were inspired by this book, and it's hard to remember that this is the first real first-person, sarcastic, unreliable narrator YA sort of book. And I read so many other books in this same genre, it is easy to see how other people have been inspired by this book. So, if this book didn't exist, then neither would books like Sloppy Firsts, Joe College, The Cheese Monkeys, Speak, and numerous others.
Bottom line: OK. A pretty good book. Not sure what the big deal is about this one. Good choice for teens, especially boys, ages maybe 14 and up?
By JD Salinger
Little, Brown (1991), Mass Market Paperback, 214 pages
So, I guess this book is pretty good. What I liked most about it were some of the specific character moments Salinger wrote - like Holden randomly starting to tap-dance while his friend is shaving - these moments that seem so true to life.
My sister read this in high school, and all she remembers is that Holden is always whining about people being "phonies" which, to be fair, is a lot of what the book is about. I am not sure why this book is "controversial" and so frequently banned - possibly because Holden is anti-authority, and not a good role model? There is some swearing in the book, but Holden reacts negatively to it.
Oh, and I also really liked how people kept telling him to talk more quietly, which is a good "show not tell" detail about his personality.
And he is very strangely attached to his little sister, who is a sweet character, but all the same, that is all really kind of strange. I guess this is the whole "innocence lost" thing, but his frequent preoccupation with small children and their innocence is actually quite creepy. And also the whole thing where he stays at his teacher's apartment and he makes a pass at him - did Holden misinterpret that whole thing? Or is that just also creepy?
Anyway, so many authors were inspired by this book, and it's hard to remember that this is the first real first-person, sarcastic, unreliable narrator YA sort of book. And I read so many other books in this same genre, it is easy to see how other people have been inspired by this book. So, if this book didn't exist, then neither would books like Sloppy Firsts, Joe College, The Cheese Monkeys, Speak, and numerous others.
Bottom line: OK. A pretty good book. Not sure what the big deal is about this one. Good choice for teens, especially boys, ages maybe 14 and up?
