Teams post your Round 1 Winners here! Leave a comment. Your 'comment' can be as long as you like...tell us why your team chose the winner to be the winner....
After much tussling, our team has decided to forward the novel Calvin. Although, we appreciated the Lumberjanes novel for its strong and diverse female characters and graphic format, in the end we felt the story in Calvin was more compelling and appealing to a broader audience (boys, girls, people who like Calvin and Hobbes, etc.). We also really liked the philosophical tone of the story. The beginning few paragraphs are very engaging and the novel keeps up its engagement all the way through…read the first page (excerpt below) and then try not to read the rest…:)
Looking forward to round 2!
Dear Bill,
This is Calvin again. I hope it’s ok if I call you Bill. Meaning no disrespect at all, but Bill is easier to type than Mr. Watterson and this is going to be a long letter.
I am writing this letter for two reasons. One is because it has to be my English project, which is worth fifty percent of my final grade. My teacher gave me the idea but said it better be a long letter if it’s going to be worth fifty percent.
So where do I start? They say a person my ages knows maybe thirty thousand words, so picking the first word out of thirty thousand is the hardest part. After you pick the first word, it weirdly picks the next one, and that one picks the one after that, and then next thing you know you’re not in control at all--the pen is as big as a telephone pole and you're just hanging on for dear life…
Sometimes I riff like that. Sorry.
Everything I am going to say in the story is true with some real stuff thrown in. You may wonder how you can believe that, coming from a recently diagnosed schizo kid, but I have figured out there's a difference between the meaning of the word real and the meaning of the word true. Reality is all the stuff that won't go away. Like school and gravity, no matter how much you wish it would. It’s the ceiling your imagination bumps up against. People with my condition just keep floating on up as if there weren't any ceiling, with every so often a few hard falls and then more floating.
The SAL BOOKANEERS are voting for BONE GAP by Laura Ruby over THE NEST by Kenneth Oppel. Bone Gap was a story that kept the reader engaged through its plot, while The Nest had deeper more thoughtful underlying themes. In other words, both were good, but BONE GAP was felt to be the one that would be appreciated by a wider audience.
Ligature Lovers will be putting forward Exit Point by Laura Langston. While a short and simple read, this quasi-short story is an easy yet thought provoking piece of literature. Particularly well suited for our students who are reluctant readers or who are struggling academically.
Far Far Away, while an well written piece, is very predictable and vanilla. I personally disliked the protagonist and was unable to connect with him or his struggles. As a fantasy reader enthusiast, McNeal's piece fell flat for me. This may be a good novel for junior high students, it would not be something a high school student would gravitate towards.
Langston's Exit Point however is more universally relatable piece of literature for both Junior and Senior High Students. Part of the draw with this book is the numerous themes presented that would speak to a wide variety of readers.
For these reasons we will be putting Exit Point by Laura Langston forward into the next round of the Book Smackdown.
The Bison Bibliophiles are choosing ‘Winger’ by Andrew Smith over ‘When I was the greatest’ by Jason Reynolds. Both were good books but ‘Winger’ was far more readable. It took longer to get into ‘When I was the greatest’ and while the story was good we could put the book down. ‘Winger’ on the other hand grabbed your interest and kept it through the whole book. We hope everybody gets a chance to read ‘Winger’ over the course of the smackdown and that is another reason we choose it, we feel it is a book that our students will recommend to each other.
The Completely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian This story is about Arnold Spirit, otherwise known as Junior. It follows his struggle with leaving the high school on the Spokane Indian Reservation in order to attend an all-white public school in Reardan, a nearby town. Overall the story was engaging, although at times the writing seemed a little blunt and simplistic. There are a number of sexual references (which did not contribute to character development or enhance the plot) that would make this book more appropriate for high school students. It was an interesting story, and it did have me feeling sympathetic for and rooting for the protagonist at the end. I would give this novel a 3 out of 5.
Illuminae The Illuminae Files_01 This novel follows the protagonists Kady and Ezra, who become caught in a deadly battle between two mega corporations in 2575. It is told from an unconventional point of view in that it is told through a variety of classified documents, such as interviews, e-mails, instant messages, and other hacked documents. It does take a little time to get used to reading the story in this way, but once you get used to it, it is a suspenseful read. The story, as well as the way it was written, would make an excellent movie. I would give this book a 4 out of 5.
Our group has chosen to put Illuminae forward into the next round.
And moving on from FRH is.... Diamond Boy although Dumplin' was an easy read, we felt that Diamond Boy had stronger content and may appeal to more readers.
Team: THE WALKING READ
ReplyDeleteAfter much tussling, our team has decided to forward the novel Calvin. Although, we appreciated the Lumberjanes novel for its strong and diverse female characters and graphic format, in the end we felt the story in Calvin was more compelling and appealing to a broader audience (boys, girls, people who like Calvin and Hobbes, etc.). We also really liked the philosophical tone of the story. The beginning few paragraphs are very engaging and the novel keeps up its engagement all the way through…read the first page (excerpt below) and then try not to read the rest…:)
Looking forward to round 2!
Dear Bill,
This is Calvin again. I hope it’s ok if I call you Bill. Meaning no disrespect at all, but Bill is easier to type than Mr. Watterson and this is going to be a long letter.
I am writing this letter for two reasons. One is because it has to be my English project, which is worth fifty percent of my final grade. My teacher gave me the idea but said it better be a long letter if it’s going to be worth fifty percent.
So where do I start? They say a person my ages knows maybe thirty thousand words, so picking the first word out of thirty thousand is the hardest part. After you pick the first word, it weirdly picks the next one, and that one picks the one after that, and then next thing you know you’re not in control at all--the pen is as big as a telephone pole and you're just hanging on for dear life…
Sometimes I riff like that. Sorry.
Everything I am going to say in the story is true with some real stuff thrown in. You may wonder how you can believe that, coming from a recently diagnosed schizo kid, but I have figured out there's a difference between the meaning of the word real and the meaning of the word true. Reality is all the stuff that won't go away. Like school and gravity, no matter how much you wish it would. It’s the ceiling your imagination bumps up against. People with my condition just keep floating on up as if there weren't any ceiling, with every so often a few hard falls and then more floating.
But true doesn't float. It just is.
So this is how it started, Bill: I got sick.
The SAL BOOKANEERS are voting for BONE GAP by Laura Ruby over THE NEST by Kenneth Oppel. Bone Gap was a story that kept the reader engaged through its plot, while The Nest had deeper more thoughtful underlying themes. In other words, both were good, but BONE GAP was felt to be the one that would be appreciated by a wider audience.
ReplyDeleteAnd the winner is...
ReplyDeleteSIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIEN AGENDA!
TEAM DICKENS enjoyed both books, but believe the SIMON is accessible to a broader audience and deals with situations that are relevant to teens.
Ligature Lovers will be putting forward Exit Point by Laura Langston. While a short and simple read, this quasi-short story is an easy yet thought provoking piece of literature. Particularly well suited for our students who are reluctant readers or who are struggling academically.
ReplyDeleteFar Far Away, while an well written piece, is very predictable and vanilla. I personally disliked the protagonist and was unable to connect with him or his struggles. As a fantasy reader enthusiast, McNeal's piece fell flat for me. This may be a good novel for junior high students, it would not be something a high school student would gravitate towards.
Langston's Exit Point however is more universally relatable piece of literature for both Junior and Senior High Students. Part of the draw with this book is the numerous themes presented that would speak to a wide variety of readers.
For these reasons we will be putting Exit Point by Laura Langston forward into the next round of the Book Smackdown.
The Bison Bibliophiles are choosing ‘Winger’ by Andrew Smith over ‘When I was the greatest’ by Jason Reynolds. Both were good books but ‘Winger’ was far more readable. It took longer to get into ‘When I was the greatest’ and while the story was good we could put the book down. ‘Winger’ on the other hand grabbed your interest and kept it through the whole book. We hope everybody gets a chance to read ‘Winger’ over the course of the smackdown and that is another reason we choose it, we feel it is a book that our students will recommend to each other.
ReplyDeleteThe Completely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
ReplyDeleteThis story is about Arnold Spirit, otherwise known as Junior. It follows his struggle with leaving the high school on the Spokane Indian Reservation in order to attend an all-white public school in Reardan, a nearby town. Overall the story was engaging, although at times the writing seemed a little blunt and simplistic. There are a number of sexual references (which did not contribute to character development or enhance the plot) that would make this book more appropriate for high school students. It was an interesting story, and it did have me feeling sympathetic for and rooting for the protagonist at the end. I would give this novel a 3 out of 5.
Illuminae The Illuminae Files_01
This novel follows the protagonists Kady and Ezra, who become caught in a deadly battle between two mega corporations in 2575. It is told from an unconventional point of view in that it is told through a variety of classified documents, such as interviews, e-mails, instant messages, and other hacked documents. It does take a little time to get used to reading the story in this way, but once you get used to it, it is a suspenseful read. The story, as well as the way it was written, would make an excellent movie. I would give this book a 4 out of 5.
Our group has chosen to put Illuminae forward into the next round.
And moving on from FRH is....
ReplyDeleteDiamond Boy
although Dumplin' was an easy read, we felt that Diamond Boy had stronger content and may appeal to more readers.