LOOKING FOR ALASKA

By John Greene
ISBN: 9780142402511

Bibliography:
Green, John. 2007. Looking for Alaska. New York: Speak.

Plot:
Miles Halter (Pudge) leaves home to attend Culver Creek Preparatory School in search of the “Great Perhaps”. He becomes part of a circle of friends that revolve around Alaska Young, an energetic yet troubled girl with whom he becomes infatuated. When Alaska is killed in a car crash, the group tries to make sense of the circumstances behind her death.

Analysis:
Where do I fit in? What am I supposed to do in life? How do I deal with suffering? What happens to us after we die? This thought-provoking story revolves around teenage Miles and his ongoing struggle to find answers to these questions. Readers will relate to this story and its characters on many levels as we all have sought answers to the above questions. Everyone can relate to Miles’ feelings of awkwardness and his need to find his place amongst a group.

Miles’ quirks in the story are very endearing and create a connection that enables the reader to root for him throughout the story and put one’s self in his place. Readers will connect with Miles as he deals with the longing for his first love to love him in return, the loss of Alaska around whom his whole world revolved, and feelings of regret for letting her go. Green keeps the reader intrigued with the suspenseful story by titling each chapter “with the number of days before “it” happens. Readers will race through the story just to discover what “it” is.

Culver Creek, the setting for these events, is a place where teens have created their own set of norms and values. When these norms and values are broken, banishment, isolation, and possibly retaliation by the group is the consequence. One such norm, not "ratting out" others, is a recurring value throughout the story. The story ends with Miles quoting Thomas Edison's last words as he tries to make sense of losing Alaska: "Thomas Edison's last words were: 'It's very beautiful over there.' I don't know where there is, but I believe it's somewhere, and I hope it's beautiful."

Review Excerpts:
Horn Book: "At boarding school in Alabama, narrator Miles Halter faces challenging classes, school-wide pranks, and Alaska Young, a sexy, enigmatic girl. After Alaska is killed in a car crash, Miles and his friends question whether it could have been suicide and acknowledge their own survivor guilt. These intelligent characters talk smart, yet don't always behave that way, and are thus complex and realistically portrayed teenagers."

Kirkus Review: " What sings and soars in this gorgeously told tale is Green's mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges of Pudge's voice. Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska's vanilla-and-cigarettes scent."


Connections:

*Visit John Green's webpage and blog at http://www.sparksflyup.com/

* Other books by John Green

Abundance of Katherines ISBN: 9780525476887

THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX

By Kate DiCamillo
Illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering
ISBN: 9780763625290

Bibliography:
DiCamillo, Kate, and Timothy B. Ering. 2006. The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread. Cambridge, Mass: Candlewick Press.

Plot:
The Tale of Despereaux, set within a castle, describes what happens when three worlds collide: the mouse world, the world of humans, and the rat world. This story describes a mouse who doesn’t seem to fit into the mouse world. As Despereaux follows the sweet sound of music, he stumbles upon Princess Pea, with whom he falls in love. Then he breaks the unforgiveable rule of not speaking to humans, which has him banished into the rat-filled dungeon where he is fated to meet his doom until he tells a story that saves his life. Despereaux learns of a plot to “bring the princess to darkness” and bravely plans to save her.

Analysis:
Despereaux fills the role as the unlikely hero in this story and immediately draws sympathy from the reader when he is described as being a disappointment to his family upon birth. Readers will identify with Despereaux’s need to be different and his quest to find his place in a mouse world in which he doesn’t feel he belongs. This tale touches on themes of loss, forgiveness, and friendship as DiCamillo draws the reader into the story by directly addressing them: “Reader, do you believe in such a thing as happily ever after? Or like Despereaux, have you, too, begun to question happy endings?” The story is arranged in short, manageable chapters at the end of which DiCamillo often encourages the reader to continue reading: "Poor Mig. What will become of her? You must, frightened though you may be, read on and see for yourself. Reader, it is your duty."

Review Excerpts:
Kirkus Review: "And so unwinds a tale with twists and turns, full of forbidden soup and ladles, rats lusting for mouse blood, a servant who wishes to be a princess, a knight in shining-or, at least, furry-armor, and all the ingredients of an old-fashioned drama."

Booklist: "Forgiveness, light, love, and soup. These essential ingredients combine into a tale that is as soul stirring as it is delicious."

Connections:
*Check out The Tale of Despereaux Movie Website: http://www.thetaleofdespereauxmovie.com/

*Kate DiCamillo's website: http://www.katedicamillo.com/

ARTEMIS FOWL: THE ETERNITY CODE

By Eoin Colfer
Read by Nathaniel Parker
ISBN: 9781855490581

Bibliography:
Colfer, Eoin, and Nathaniel Parker. 2003. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code. Bath, England: Chivers Press.

Plot:
Artemis plans one last scheme before his father returns home and the family goes straight for good. In an attempt to con the shady businessman, John Spiro, everything goes wrong and Artemis’ loyal and trusted bodyguard, Butler, is killed. Artemis calls on the fairy world to help him save his companion and retrieve the C-Cube, which is a fairy technology unlike anything the human world has ever seen, from Spiro. During this adventure, Artemis learns that his schemes must come to an end so that those he loves will be not be harmed.

Analysis:
This audiobook version of The Eternity Code, which is read by Nathaniel Parker, is absolutely riveting and will keep listeners on the edge of their seats. Parker's assortment of voices along with their own special accents and dialects combined with his masterful use of inflection adds much dimension to this story. Listeners will relate to Artemis, the boy-genius and master schemer who is different from others his age. Colfer uses diary entries to reveal a deeper, more sensitive side of Artemis. In these entries Artemis describes meetings with his father and the promise to stay on a straight and narrow path upon his father's return.

Colfer's tale takes us on a journey that spans the globe and includes the underground world of the fairies. The theme of helping others is apparent as Artemis saves Butler and fights to recover the C-Cube from Spiro, which will protect the fairy world from being discovered by the humans. Colfer cleverly ends this story with Artemis undergoing a mindwipe which has deleted his memories of the whole adventure and every dealing with that of the fairy people, which perfectly sets the stage for the next sequel.

Review Excerpts:
Horn Book: "Artemis and Captain Holly Short are at it again, this time attempting to thwart the evil Spiro's theft of an ingenious device Artemis has designed that (inadvertently) puts the fairy world in danger. There's plenty of snappy dialogue and blow-by-blow fight scenes, but by the end the characters and story are right back where they started, which means that the next book in the series is completely free to do the same thing all over again."

Publisher's Weekly: "In the second and third books in the series about the 13-year-old criminal mastermind, he proves he has a heart after all (in the former), and, in the latter, craves one more adventure before he turns to the straight and narrow. "Rapid-fire dialogue and wise-acre humor ensure that readers will burn the midnight oil."

Connections:
*Other books in the series include:
#1 Artemis Fowl ISBN: 9781423105152
#2 The Arctic Incident ISBN: 9780786808557
#4 The Opal Deception ISBN: 9780786852895
#5 The Lost Colony ISBN: 9780786849598
#6 The Time Paradox ISBN: 9781423108368

*Check out the Artemis Fowl website: http://www.artemisfowl.com/