Schooled- Gordon Korman
Schooled was just announced as the winner of the Snow Willow award, part of the Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Awards. No real surprise here; this has been popular with students from grade 5 and up. Here is my review of the book.
Well-known author of the Bruno and Boots series, the Island, Dive and Everest trilogies, Korman has written a funny and yet heart-warming novel about a young man, Capricorn, who has been raised in a commune and is suddenly thrust into the real world. When Capricorn’s hippie granmother breaks her hip, Capricorn has to attend school for the first time in his life. The kids who run Claverage Middle School always choose the biggest geek to be the school president, and then proceed to make his life sheer torture. Hugh Winkleman has the job sewn up until Cap arrives on the scene in his home-made sandals, hemp clothes and his habit of performing tai chi on the front lawn. Who could be a better president than that? Capricorn is duly elected and then is subjected to all the worst forms of cruelty and bullying. Where most students would break, Cap seems to be unfazed by them until one act goes a little too far. Prepare for some good laughs, some sad moments and the surprising ending.
High School, Realistic Fiction, YA | Comment (0)Getting the Girl- Susan Juby
This was a totally fun read- Sherman, just starting grade 9, is in love with women generally. Upon finding out that girls in the school are put on a D list (D for defiled) and then basically ostracized, he makes it his objective to find out who and why is doing this. So he thinks of himself as a private investigator and gets into the most hilarious escapades during his sleuthing. I chuckled aloud many times. The theme compares nicely to Gotcha by Shelley Hrdlitschka ,with a somewhat lighter touch. Gotcha is the story of a graduating class who traditionally play the game Gotcha. Each student gets a bead which they try to retain and the name of a fellow student whose bead they try to nab. Unfortunately, the game has got out of hand in previous years and is banned by the school, but the student council decide to carry it out anyway. This book has a lot of tension and is an excellent example of something which seems innocent but spins out of control. It shows what can happen when the mob instinct takes over and when winning becomes too serious.
I would recommend both of these titles for high school and with some reservations for elementary; in particular, Getting the Girl. They would certainly need to be housed in a Young Adult section of the library. I would love to hear other viewpoints on this.
High School, Realistic Fiction, YA | Comments (4)