Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Blume, Judy. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. New York: Antheneum, 2001. Print.         

Brief Summary: This novel is about a 6th grader, Margaret, who just moved from New York to New Jersey. She is a pretty typical young girl with anxieties about typical 11 year old girl things - getting her period, growing boobs, kissing boys, doing well in school, and making friends. Also, there is one other thing. She has no religion. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is the funny and honest story of Margaret’s experiences with discovering herself and becoming a woman.

Overall impression: Authentic. Fantastic.

Critical Analysis: This novel would be best suited for the younger end of the young adult spectrum (12-14 years old). The main character and first person narrator is a girl in sixth grade (turns 12 in the book) and she talks about experiences specific to this age group and gender. I cannot imagine young adult boys having any interest in this novel, but girls could benefit greatly from it. She talks about personal (and controversial) things like periods, kissing boys, growing breasts, religion, and so on. Many young girls find this time in their lives to be complicated, confusing, and scary. Unfortunately, there are girls out there who only have wonderful authors like Judy Blume to look to for guidance, rather than their family or friends. Books like this are able to help young girls feel less alone and self-conscious about their experiences.

There are many strengths to this novel. It is honest, humorous, and relatable. There were no weaknesses, in my opinion. It obviously has had some controversial issues due to its content, but I loved it and wish I would have read it as a young girl (although I still got plenty out of it as a 23 year old).    

Activity: (For a school setting - about 5th - 7th grade) During the reading of the book, use Margaret’s struggle with religion as an opportunity to discuss and learn about various world religions. Students could discuss their beliefs and the teacher/librarian should emphasize the importance of tolerance and respect. There could be many different activities, but the main one could be a large poster/white board with columns for different religions where students write what they are learning about each. After completing the board as a class, each student can choose two or three religions and create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast them.                                      

Related Resources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/ This website has information on many different religions. YAs could use it to learn about the ones Margaret discusses in the book, as well as others they might be interested in.

https://sites.google.com/site/worldreligionsforkids/ This website also has information on world religions. Students could use this resource during the activity.

Published Review: "ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET. by Judy Blume | Kirkus Reviews." Kirkus Reviews. Bradbury, 15 Oct. 2011. Web. 28 June 2016. <https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/judy-blume/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/>

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Bacigalupi, Paolo. Ship Breaker. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2010. Print.         

Brief Summary: Ship Breaker tells the story of Nailer, a 15 year old boy working as a ship breaker (he scavenges wrecked ships for valuable parts). The book is set in a dystopian future and he lives on an island where ship breaking is the only way to make any money. He is trapped in a life of poverty where his mom is dead and his dad is always beating him. Just when he feels completely hopeless, he ends up rescuing a “swank” (rich) girl from a wrecked ship. She might be his ticket out of the rough world he has known all his life, but first they must find a way to escape the evil clutches of Nailer’s dad.  

Overall impression: I wasn’t terribly impressed by the plot, but dystopian and adventure lovers will enjoy.  

Critical Analysis: Ship Breaker is classified as dystopian/scifi and has won the Printz Award, the Locus Award for best science fiction novel, and has been nominated for many others. Although many dystopian novels have gained popularity over the past decade, this particular one stands out for its emphasis on natural disasters and environmental causes of the future world.

It has definite appeal for teens who are fans of this genre, particularly boys. The main character is a 15 year old boy and the other young characters are all around that age. Teens might pick up this book thinking that they will enjoy the intense adventure that awaits them, but many will find that they have some similarities with Nailer or even the rich girl, Nita. Nailer faces many hardships that are seemingly unique to this futuristic world that he lives in, but teens might relate to his lack of a family, his struggle to get out of poverty, his hopelessness, or even his struggle to do what is right despite what others think. Although we all hope that teens are not facing these issues, we know that many are and need books like these to tell them they aren’t alone.

The strengths of this novel are its unique setting and characters, its fast-paced nature, and its ability to relate to struggling young adults without being blunt about it. Its weakness (strictly in my opinion) is its ending. I just found the end to be dull. He could have added more detail.  

Activity: Librarians could create a book trailer to promote this book, using footage from real hurricanes and shipwrecks. This trailer could be displayed in the library so that teens can watch it. Along with the trailer there could be a selection of nonfiction books about environmental issues and natural disasters and teens could scan a QR code that will take them to a fun quiz to test their knowledge on such information.                                    

Related Resources: http://climate.nasa.gov/ This website explains climate change. Readers of Ship Breaker might use this resource to delve deeper into the underlying cause of the book’s setting.

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/ This website explains the many different natural disasters. Ship Breaker mainly references hurricanes, but teens might find the information on the other disasters interesting as well.

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders. New York: Speak, 2006. Print.         

Brief Summary: The Outsiders is a story set in Oklahoma during the 1960s and is told by a fourteen year old boy named Ponyboy (yes, that is his real name). He’s a greaser, is being raised by his two older brothers, and can’t seem to avoid conflicts with the Socs. The greaser gang, made up of Ponyboy, Sodapop, Darry, Dally, Two-Bit, Steve, and Johnny, is all the family each other has. The Outsiders tells of a time when the greasers face some tough issues and must stick together and face some hard truths in order to get through it all.

Overall impression: It’s considered a classic for good reason.  

Critical Analysis: Despite being a classic YA novel, this is the first time I have read The Outsiders. I thought that it was engaging and still relevant for YAs today (nearly 50 years later). The protagonist is 14 years old and the majority of the other characters are between 16 and 20. This gives readers of many ages the opportunity to relate and connect with the characters. Also, because the main focus is on the two extreme socioeconomic statuses (low income being “Greasers” and high income being “Socs” or “Socials”), YAs can either relate to the characters’ situations or develop an empathetic attitude toward those who are different than themselves. In addition to these aspects of the novel, The Outsiders seems to appeal to YAs mostly because of its intense plot. It has smoking, alcohol, rumbles, fights, and murder all in one story. Teens tend to either seek out risks or at the very least they tend to have the “I’m invincible - that’ll never happen to me” outlook. Reading this novel will satisfy their desire for realistic action while also showing them that no one is invincible.    

The strengths of the novel, in my opinion, are its relatability to boys, its emotional bluntness, and its engaging plot. The weaknesses are that it may not appeal to girls as easily as boys and its narrative is not always believable. I was not aware of this until after I finished the book, but the author is a woman even though the story is narrated in first person by a young boy. This made more sense to me because a few of the things that Ponyboy says did not come across as ‘boyish’ to me. Things like his awareness of his brothers’ handsomeness and his openness about his emotions did not seem typical for a 14 year old boy, but these details do not necessarily have to negatively affect the story. The strength outweigh the weaknesses by far.    

Activity: High school librarians could collaborate with teachers who have assigned this book as required reading and do an activity in the library related to their classroom learning. The library could create a display promoting the book and allow students to use sticky notes to write things like why the book is still relevant today, what they might have learned from reading it, and/or what character they most related to and why. Students can write their student ID numbers on the backs of the sticky notes in order to receive credit for participating but their responses will remain anonymous to their peers.                                   

Related Resources: The Outsiders is now considered historical fiction for YAs, so one of the most important things to discuss with teens while reading this book is the time period in which it takes place. Teachers or librarians can use many resources for showing YAs life in the 1960s (those who have grown up in the ‘60s can tell their own experiences and maybe even bring in actual things from that time). Here are a couple of websites to get started with:

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=17&smtID=1  (I wouldn’t necessarily make teens read directly from this website, but rather the educator should take information from the site and present it to them in a less boring way)

http://www.pbs.org/opb/thesixties/topics/culture/ (Teens might enjoy exploring this one)

Published Review: Peck, Dale. "'The Outsiders': 40 Years Later." New York Times Book Review (2007): 31. Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 June 2016.