SPEAK-Book Review

SPEAK

By Laura Halse Anderson
240 pages
Ages 12 and up
From Inside Cover:
The ninth graders are herded into the auditorium. We fall into clans: Jock, Country Clubbers, Idiot Savants, Cheerleaders, Human Waste, Eurotrash, Future Fascists of America, Big Hair Chix, the Marthas, Suffering Artists, Goths, Shredders. I am clanless. I wasted the last weeks of August watching bad cartoons. I didn't go to the mall, the lake, or the pool, or answer the phone.I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don't have anyone to sit with.
From her first moment at Merryweather High, Melinda Sordino knows she an outcast. She busted an end of the summer party by calling the cops-a major infraction in high school society-so her old friends won't talk to her, and the people she doesn't know glare at her. She retreats into her head, where the lies and hypocrisies of high school stand in stark relief to her own silence,making her all the more mute. But it's not so comfortable in her head, either-there's something banging around in there that she doesn't want to think about. Try as she might to avoid it, it won't go away, until there is a painful confrontation. Once that happens, she can't be silent-she must speak the truth.
My thoughts:
I really wanted to read a challenged book for Banned Book Week but was having a hard time deciding which one. I was subbing at our middle school library and much to my surprise saw this book on the shelf. So I guess you could say the book choose me.
Melinda is a 9th grader going into high school. A scary event without drama. But during the summer while Melinda was at a party she was involved in a situation and called the cops. We the reader are left in the dark for most of the story as to exactly what transpired but we know the Melinda has been emotionally damaged and lost all of her friends. Her depression and isolation is heart breaking. What I found most frustrating was her parents and their lack of reaction to her drastic mood and personality change.  Thank goodness Melinda finds a way to deal with her hurt and grief through an art class and a perceptive teacher.
This book belongs in school libraries and public libraries. Parents should be reading this book with their daughters. It's true to life and could prove to be helpful in social situations.
I am overjoyed that it's in our middle school library and I hope many girls check it out and take something away from Melinda's story.

Getting Ready For SPOOKTACULAR Hop!

I LOVE Halloween!

The costumes,  pumpkin carving, trick or treating and all the scary movies on cable TV! I can't think of a better way to celebrate the good times than be a part of a hop in a big way. For the upcoming Spooktacular Hop Mug of Moxie will be offering not one book BUT four books in the giveaway!

FOUR BOOKS!

The hop will go on for a week so please drop back by on October 24-31 Monday and enter. 

R.I.P. VI Challenge-Movie Review

R.I.P. VI Challenge-Movie

The Last Exorcism was watched as part of the R.I.P. VI Challenge-hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings. This is my review. Southern minister Reverend Cotton Marcus recruits a documentary film crew to help him set the record straight. For years he's been conning people and he's ready to come clean.
He recently received a letter from a desperate man who is convinced the devil as taken possession of his daughter, Nell. Reverend Marcus prepares to shoot the final exorcism of his career revealing the tricks of the trade that he has used on faithful and desperate people during his career.
The reverend performs the fake exorcism, all while sharing his secrets with the camera and the crew. The whole act includes wires that shock, recorded sounds and smoking crosses.
But as Marcus and the film crew prepare to leave not all seems right-Is it possible that this possession is real and that Satan is not ready to let go of Nell or Marcus?
I really enjoyed the mockumentary style of this film. The shaky, slow to focus camera shots remind me of The Blair Witch Project and in my opinion amp of the suspense of the film. The Reverend is a snake oil salesman in a white linen suit. You don't want to like Cotton Marcus but yet he sells you on his charm-he's regretful, yet arrogant. You are buying what he is selling even though you know he's a phony!
The film is creepy with enough twists and turns to keep the viewer on their toes. PG-13 means that it could be fun for the whole family.
Of course there are going to be comparisons to The Exorcist-UNFAIR! There will never be or can be another Exorcist....let it go!
That completes my review of The Last Exorcism.

WINNER Of Banned Books Giveaway

And the winner of a copy of the book Fallout by Ellen Hopkins is:

BJ
beejee77@comcast.net

She has 48 hours to respond to the email I sent her to claim her prize.

Thank you to all who participated in the hop. Who took the time to leave comments and opinions.

70 people entered this giveaway!

I loved participating in this hop because it gave me the opportunity to read other bloggers thoughts and experiences. I didn't get to visit as many blogs as I wanted because I would get caught up in the stories  

 posted at every site.

I think that we are all in agreement that the choice to read a book should be a freedom not tampered with. I believe that parents should be aware of what their children are reading, watching and playing. It's the responsibility of a parent to be involved-books can open the door to communication and education. If my daughter brings home a book that is too mature to read as a parent I have the right to take that book away from her-BUT I do not have the right to take that book out of the hands of YOUR child. That is your job. 

I LOVE Banned Book Week and I love that we have a place to celebrate our freedom to read.

A big thank you to I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and I Read Banned Books who hosted this event. I look forward to the next one.

BANNED AND CHALLENGED CLASSICS

Banned and Challenged Classics

Each year, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom records hundreds of attempts by individuals and groups to have books removed from libraries shelves and from classrooms. See Frequently Challenged Books for more details.
According to the Office for Intellectual Freedom, at least 46 of the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century have been the target of ban attempts.
The titles below represent banned or challenged books on that list ( see the entire list here). For more information on why these books were challenged, visit challenged classics and the Banned Books Week Web site.
The titles not included may have been banned or challenged, but we have not received any reports on them. If you have information about the banning or challenging of these (or any) titles, please contact the Office for Intellectual Freedom.
1. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses, by James Joyce
7. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
8. The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
9. 1984, by George Orwell
For more information please visit the ALA Website. Get educated!

BANNED BOOK WEEK HOP

IT'S FINALLY HERE!
BANNED BOOK WEEK
AND TO CELEBRATE
WE ARE GOING TO HOP!
A GIANT thank you to I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and I Read Banned Books for hosting this AWESOME Giveaway and Hop. Take this opportunity to visit the other blogs participating. Everyone has something very interesting to say about Banned Books Week.
Mug of Moxie is giving away a copy of Fallout by Ellen Hopkins. She is an author that I admire and support. Her books have been banned in school and public libraries across America.  The subjects she writes about: drug abuse, prostitution and incest are not easy topics. Her stories are honest, raw and emotional. I believe that her stories can educate, inspire and have the power to change someone's life.
Do I want my 8 year old daughter to read this book? No, not yet. But in a few years-YES! I would encourage her to read it and then we can talk about it. This is what books are meant to do-educate so we can communicate.
If this book will help her see the ugly reality of drugs and the effect that it has on lives....if it stops her from experimenting with meth...if it keeps her safe... I will personally put it on her night stand and NO ONE better mess with our choice to make that decision. I support and celebrate the freedom to read.
To enter this giveaway simply leave your name and email address in the comment section. You are not required to follow-but would be happy if you decided to. This giveaway is open to US residents only.  A name will be drawn on October 2. You must be 13 years or older to enter. Good Luck!



DYSTOPIA CHALLENGE 2011

dys/to/pi/a

(dis-toh-pee-uh)

dystopia-noun. a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease and overcrowding

A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of              being utopian.

Challenge Update!

Dystopian Challenge 2011-Read 30 Books

These are the books I have read and reviewed so far-

1. Bumped by Megan McCafferty

2. Tomorrow When the War Begans by James Marsden

3. Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

4. Restoring Harmony by Joelle Anthony

5. House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

6. Gone by Michael Grant

7. XVI by Julia Karr

8. Rot & Ruin by Johnathan Maberry

9. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

10. The Line by Teri Hall

I need to read 20 more books by the end of the year to complete the challenge.

Let me know if you have some dystopian book recommendations!

If you would like to join the challenge click on the link at the right of the page.