A few titles

I just finished The Limit by Kristen Landon; I thoroughly enjoyed it, until the ending. The first sentence, "An eighth grader was taken today." is clearly compelling, and truly from that point forward the story's momentum continues until the poorly developed ending.

This was another bookfair purchase, and I will recommend it to my students because the plot is so engaging. In a not too distant future, everyone has a debt limit..families can only purchase so much, and if they go over their limit their oldest child is taken to a workhouse to work off the debt.

Matt gets taken and soon discovers all is not kosher in the workhouse. Many of the revelations are rather obvious (what they purchase while in the workhouse is of course counted against their debt..increasing what they owe). I wish the author brought in some historical perspective..sharecropping and child labor would have been easily worked in, but the lack of information doesn't truly take away from the plot development.

The ending is truly my major quibble with this novel. It seemed rushed and not well thought out. The fact that the kids remain in the workhouse, and are now happy, makes the theme of the novel less worthy. I did enjoy the fact that each chapter has a bar code, and that nice touch plays into the theme quite well, however it somehow makes the ending seem even more poorly done.

Two other books I read recently are part of the adolescent book club I run. The first, Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix by Gary Golio, is a true must have. It is simply wonderful: a beautifully illustrated (Javaka Steptoe) picture book about Jimi when he was a child, discovering music and discovering a "rainbow of sounds." One great line, “A truck engine backfired, pounding like a bass drum, as a neighbor’s rake played snare against the sidewalk. . . . The sounds of life were calling out, and Jimmy Hendrix wanted to answer them.”

After the story is told, there are wonderful references to learn more about Jimi, music and substance abuse.

I held off reading, Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson due to the fact that Patterson has essentially franchised his name. I have been very dubious of his writing for sometime now as a result. I ended up purchasing it though, for my group, since a number of students recommended it.
I was concerned when I started reading it that members of my group would complain that it was inappropriate, and when we meet again in January I might hear comments along those lines, but I suspect those complaints will only occur from people who don't actually finish the book.

The main character sets out to break every school rule there is. Hence, my fear of complaints. However, those who finish the book will recognize there are consequences for his actions, and they will realize the reason he sets out to do what he does. It should make all teachers ponder why students misbehave, and perhaps not merely write off a kid as a "bad" kid.