The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson

Leyson, Leon. The Boy on the Wooden Box. New York: Atheneum, 2013. Print.         

Brief Summary: The Boy on the Wooden Box is a memoir of a holocaust survivor, Leon Leyson. He was the youngest person on Schindler’s list and gives him complete credit for his survival. Through his first person telling of his childhood experiences in Poland, readers will feel a new empathy for those who suffered from Hitler’s reign.   

Overall impression: Powerful and humbling.

Critical Analysis:

Relation to Young Adults: This book would be great for young adults interested in the holocaust or for those who are learning about it in school. It is usually classified as a juvenile book rather than a youth book, but it would still work well, especially for reluctant teen readers. Because it is told in first person and is relatively short, most teens will enjoy it and learn from it. In addition, it is considered juvenile because it lacks some of the more explicit things that happened during WWII and the Jewish holocaust. This would make it a good choice for school reading because it would expose students to the topic without overwhelming them with every single awful thing that happened during that time. Older teens should know about everything of course, but if the audience is younger, then this book might be a good starting point.

Strengths & Weaknesses: Its strengths are that it is easy to read and it gives light to a young boy’s life during a horrible part of our world’s history (in other words, it is informational). I did not see any weaknesses.

Activity: This would be a good opportunity for the library to collaborate with their closest museum or other place that has connections to WWII and/or the holocaust. There could be a presentation at the library hopefully with artifacts for patrons to view, a speaker who either lived through that time period or an expert on the topic, and a ton of library materials including Leon’s book.       

                                

Related Resources: https://youtu.be/tXBWkl10Vkk This video shows parts of one of Leon Leyson’s speeches about his experiences. It is about 10 minutes long and would make a good addition to his book. There are other, longer, videos of him available on YouTube as well for those who are interested.

Schindler's List. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Prod. Steven Spielberg. By Steven Zaillian. Perf. Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes. Universal Pictures, 1993. DVD.

Another related resource is the film Schindler’s List. Leon’s story revolves around Schindler and gives him credit for his survival and even references the movie. It is rated R though, so be aware of that when considering your audience.

https://www.ushmm.org/ In addition, this is the website for the United States Holocaust Museum. It has tons of information related to Leon’s experiences.

Published Review: "THE BOY ON THE WOODEN BOX How The Impossible Became Possible…On Schindler's List." Kirkus Reviews 81.15 (2013): 293. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. Web. 25 July 2016.

Lock In by John Scalzi

Scalzi, John. Lock In. New York: Doherty, 2014. Electronic.         

Brief Summary: In the not-so-distant future, Locked-in Syndrome has become a widespread disease across the world. People of all ages are now restricted to their beds in a coma-like state. Fortunately, technology has allowed these people to continue to interact with the world through androids and, in some cases, through actual people called Integrators. The main character, Chris Shane, is a victim of this disease and is just starting his new job as an FBI agent. Along with his partner, Leslie Vann, he has an action-packed first week on the job. Beginning with a seemingly simple murder case, Shane and Vann soon discover that this is only the start of a much more complicated case involving everyone from Shane’s dad to Integrators to Locked-in victims to people living on the Navajo Reservation.

Overall impression: Completely agree with Kirkus’s thoughts: “Contains plenty of action, great character development, vivid and believable worldbuilding and a thought-provoking examination of disability culture and politics--is definitely worth the ride.

Critical Analysis:

Lock In and Young Adults: I would not classify this novel as being a “young adult novel” nor would I say that it is developmentally appropriate for them, but YAs interested in futuristic settings and action could still enjoy it nonetheless. There are no teen characters and there is not a lot that teens will explicitly relate to. However, there are subtle aspects of it that some teens, probably older ones, would find familiar and interesting, such as the world’s view of the characters with Lock In Syndrome (disabilities, etc.) and the world’s widespread acceptance of same sex relationships.

Strengths: As stated in “overall impression,” it has action, good characters, a believable futuristic world, and allows the reader to think about our society’s view on disabilities and politics. In addition to that, the story itself is interesting and will keep readers engaged throughout.

Weaknesses: Parts of the story are left unexplained (like Vann’s former partner’s story and the twins threep). This is more of an annoyance than a weakness, but maybe he will explain in the sequel.   

Activity: A fun activity that could be paired with this book is a murder mystery dinner/party. The story could be set in the futuristic world that Scalzi has created, with threeps, Integrators, Hadens, and so on. Participants (teens and/or adults) would have to read the book in order to solve the mystery.   

                                 

Related Resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome This Wikipedia article explains the basics of “Locked-in Syndrome.” It’s important for readers to know that this is a real disorder even though the book is fiction and adds information to fit the future world the author has created.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-02/nasa-unveils-android-astronaut This article shows readers the android created by NASA about 6 years ago. It shows readers that technology from Lock In is not all that far away.

Published Review: “Lock In.” Kirkus Reviews 82.15 (2014): 36. Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson). Web. 13 July 2016.

Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta

Koryta, Michael. Those Who Wish Me Dead. New York: Little, Brown and Co, 2014. Electronic.         

 

Brief Summary: Jace Wilson, 14 years old, has just witnessed a murder. He now must do everything in his power to protect himself from the murderers whose mission it is to kill him. His parents have tried everything to hide him, but these guys are just too good; they have too many allies in too many inside sources. Now, as a last resort, Jace is sent to Montana’s mountains to learn about survival techniques from the best, Ethan Serbin. He is given a new identity in hope that the murderers will not be able to find him, but Jace and everyone around him is in for some surprises.

Overall impression: Fantastic and full of surprises.
 

Critical Analysis: Although this novel is developmentally appropriate for young adults, I would not have labelled it as a “young adult novel.” The main plot revolves around a 14 year old boy, Jace Wilson, but each chapter alternates (in third person) between him and other characters, all of whom are adults. Young adult readers will no doubt relate with Jace in some way or another, whether it is his bad luck (being in the wrong place at the wrong time), his desire to be safe, etc. However, I do not imagine that younger teens will find much interest in the adult characters. I would recommend this novel to 16 year olds and up, depending on their interests.

The strengths of this novel are its surprises/plot twists, its multiple points of view, and its authentic characters. I could not name any weaknesses besides its lack of focus on the teen character (resulting in a smaller YA audience).    

Activity: To promote this book to a teen audience, an outdoor survival course and survival books could be paired with a reading of this novel. The library could bring in a person who could teach teens some basic wilderness survival techniques and he/she could tie them to the events in the book. After the course, teens could be shown the library's collection of nonfiction books on the subject for further reading.    
                                    

Related Resources: http://www.wilderness-survival.net/ This website has all sorts of information on wilderness survival. Teens who were interested in that aspect of the book could use this resource for further information.

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Books-Outdoor-Survival-Skills/zgbs/books/864488 This is a link to an amazon list of books on outdoor survival skill guides. This could be useful for teens interested in this or for librarians who wish to add more of these books to their collection.

Published Review: "Those Who Wish Me Dead." Kirkus Reviews 82.11 (2014): 92. Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson). Web. 11 July 2016.

 

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. New York: First Second, 2006. Print.         

Brief Summary: American Born Chinese is a graphic novel that alternates between three characters, the monkey king, Jin Wang, and Danny/Chin-Kee. With Jin Wang’s struggles to fit into a mostly white community, Chin-Kee’s stereotypically Chinese life, and the monkey king’s journey in the heavens, Yang tells three seemingly independent stories. However, they all come together in a surprising way in the end.

Overall impression: Great combination of fantasy and a young boy’s true experiences as an Chinese-American.

Critical Analysis: This graphic novel is absolutely necessary for any library young adult collection. It is developmentally appropriate for teens 13 and up. Although the main characters begin as young kids, the majority of the stories take place while the characters are young adults and readers younger than 13 may not understand the stereotypical aspects without guidance. The whole story is focused on the lives of characters from the Chinese culture, but any YAs could relate and benefit from reading it. Many of the experiences of Jin Wang are things that the author himself went through. He deals with racism and other prejudices which readers can either directly relate to or can empathize with at the very least. Because some of the events are true, readers will be affected in a deeper way and could learn about the struggles that some of their peers are probably going through.

Strengths of this graphic novel are its 3 in 1 story, its display of Chinese stereotypes in a realistic way, and its great drawings/story flow. The weakness (completely in my opinion) was its ending. I’m glad that the three stories connected in the end, but I thought it was too strange compared to the rest of the book and took away from the believability of Jin’s story.         

Activity: An activity that could be used to promote this book would be to have a comic strip contest for YAs. Other graphic novels could be displayed with American Born Chinese and YAs could be given the opportunity to create their own short comic strip. Different categories could be applied such as comic strips about a personal story, nonfiction story, adventure story, etc.

                                  

Related Resources: http://geneyang.com/american-born-chinese This is the author’s website which has information on the three different points of view of the book, the monkey king, Jin Wang, and Chin-Kee. Readers might enjoy learning about the reasons Yang chose to write about these three characters.

http://en.chinaculture.org/ This website gives information on China’s culture. Readers could use this information as a way to better understand portions of Yang’s book.

Published Review: Thornell, Peter. "American Born Chinese." Library Journal 139.10 (2014): 53. Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson). Web. 4 July 2016.