Persepolis

Ah, the final book to review is here. The graphic novel Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, is the story of an Iranian girl growing up into adulthood in a time of revolution and war. While this book is not done in the same style as the other books I’ve reviewed, I still have the same criteria for the reviewing the book.

1. What catches my interest about this work of literature?

2. What is off-putting about it?

3. Is the content reasonable for the age group suggested?

4. What significance does this work have on me, my life, or my perspective?

(Stories only) 5. A. Are the characters relatable? B. Does a character’s plight help me?

In regards to question 1, the easiest answer would be that is has PICTURES! Everyone loves pictures. The more “esteemed” answer would be that the author has combined pictures with the text. Doing thing helps readers be less overwhelmed by giant blocks of words that scream “READ IT ALL!!!” On a different note, the content of the story is very interesting to me. And to put the child-like comic and perspective with such real, depressing content is a very good way to catch my attention, and the attention of other readers as well.

Enough about 1, onto question 2. What sorts of things are off-putting in this book? Not much at all. Actually, nothing mentionable. The comic-style this book is done in makes the entire thing easy to read, and does a great job of including real, unhappy events with the happy events of a childhood. Hmm… so much for “Enough about 1”.

So far, an awesome book. This book is a great resource for younger children (early teens ) to read. Which answers question 3. Persepolis is a good book for teens because it shows the life of a young girl and her struggle to survive and be happy. Despite being set in a time of revolution and war, this novel centers around the up-bringing and childhood of Marjane herself. The events that happen are great for background in her life, but the story is mostly about her, which is very enjoyable.

As for question 4, I think this book helps me to understand Iran a little better, or at least helps me to understand that people in other countries grow up just like anyone, and their life choices lead them to be who that are today, and that not everyone has the chance to choose like I do.

In regards to question 5… I’m not really sure if I can relate to Marjane that much. I feel like I can to a degree because of the childhood things she would do, like disobeying teachers and stealing a cigarette for the first time. Even ditching school is relatable, but the most of her life is centered around growing up in Iran and being informed about her surroundings, where-as I grew up thinking everything was ok overall. I don’t know if things were better back then, or if things have always been thing bad, but Marjane is relatable in one way or another. And finally, when it comes to her plight helping me… not so much. I didn’t relate to her problems as much, so they didn’t help with any of mine, but her character as a person did help me to understand people a little better.

And finally… as a student, I would definitely recommend this book to other students and friends, and as a teacher, I would love to teach this book. The lifestyle of Marjane, the events in her life, and the great story overall would be a great tool for students to read.

A Northern Light

Ok now… time for another blog/book review. This time, the book is A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly. As I stated in my “Feed” blog, there is a set of questions I ask myself when reading a book that help me think about what I am reading. These questions are my own criteria, but anyone can use them.

1. What catches my interest about this work of literature?

2. What is off-putting about it?

3. Is the content reasonable for the age group suggested?

4. What significance does this work have on me, my life, or my perspective?

(Stories only) 5. A. Are the characters relatable? B. Does a character’s plight help me?

Question number 1! Some of the things that interested me in this book… Not super hard to find. I really like the idea of Mathilda “Mattie” Gokey (no relation to Danny) being a semi-oppressed farm worker. Mattie isn’t really paid for work on her family farm, but I like that she is doing it in place of her brother, who decided he hated dad enough to leave everyone. I really liked the fact that Mattie isn’t a “country bumpkin” and loves to read and write. This seems a little familiar to me, but we’ll get back to that later, in question 5. For now… on to question 2.

What things are off-putting in the story? I’d say the number 1 thing that I didn’t like about the story is that the brother reminds me of Richie Cunningham’s brother, Chuck. He went upstairs once, and was never heard from again. The same is true about her brother. After leaving, he really isn’t heard from again unless you re-read the parts he IS in. That fact stuck out a lot while reading, and is really the only thing I can think of that isn’t great about the novel. The language used isn’t archaic, and the characters aren’t swallow and one-dimensional. Having answered that, we can move to question 3.

Is this book good for its age group? I’d say yes. This book isn’t exactly family friendly, but it is far from a slasher book. I’d say my reason for saying yes is in question 5, too.

Are the characters relatable? Definitely. Despite racism being more rampant back then, I’d say a lot of African-American boys could relate heavily to Weaver. He is loyal, honest, and a great friend in general. He’s tempted to do some things that he shouldn’t, just like anyone would be, and generally, he pulls through with flying colors. Mattie on her own note, is very relatable too, especially to Midwesterners. Many of my childhood friends had to miss out on playing sports or going to the movies because they had to do work on the farm. Thankfully enough, the technology now has made it much easier for college-bound farm workers to take time away from the farm to go to college. While I haven’t been a farm boy myself, I’ve done work on farms and with corn for enough time to realize that it does take a lot of work to do, especially without modern machines. Almost everything about this book is relatable; the characters, the lifestyle, and even the “I can’t wait to get the hell of ‘insert state’” mentality.

As a student, I’d recommend this book to people, even if only for the sense of nostalgia. As a teacher, I might teach this book because of Mattie’s great approach to her problems. I might have to change teaching patterns for the book depending on where I am. New York – “This is what it’s like for Midwesterners” Farmers – “See, you CAN get out!”

Resist the FEED!

As a read of books, magazines, articles, and a comic here and there, I have established a few guidelines to think about while reading whatever it is that I’m reading. But, because I am attempting to become a teacher, I have to look at these readings as both a student and a teacher, which can be hard. The criteria I have established are important, and I feel that they can help other readers.

My 5 questions I pose to myself are these;

1. What catches my interest about this work of literature?

2. What is off-putting about it?

3. Is the content reasonable for the age group suggested?

4. What significance does this work have on me, my life, or my perspective?

(Stories only) 5. A. Are the characters relatable? B. Does a character’s plight help me?

While reading Feed, a dystopian sci-fi novel, there were a lot of things that came to mind. Some of the most obvious to anyone reading the book is the constant, annoying interruptions from the main character’s microchip, or “feed.” These interruptions were very interesting because they fit into both question 1, 2, and even 3 in a way. The feed itself represents the “umbilical cord” that many people have to society in the form of media. This comparison is right on key, and is a great way to establish a connection to readers, especially teenage readers who access many sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. As society grows more and more attached to technology, this novel becomes more and more significant, thus falling into question 4. This novel helps the reader, me in this case, to think more about how much people rely on technology. As a student, I use Facebook to stay connected to friends I’ve made around the world and across campus. This novel is a very extreme exaggeration of sites like that.

A well written book, Feed’s characters are not exactly the most intelligent, which I believe is a good way to make the reader feel much smarter. This lack of intellect can be seen through-out the novel in almost any character’s speech. The character speech and the constant interruption of Titus’ feed are the main reasons this falls under the 2^nd question.

This all the questions have had their own little examples in the book, except question 5. The only characters I feel that I can actually relate to are Titus, Violet, and her father. Most wouldn’t relate to Titus because of his lack of thinking for himself, but this isn’t exactly the case with me. Because of how I was raised, there were many times that I didn’t really have to think for myself. And when there was a lot of responsibility thrown my way, I, like most people in that situation (including Titus), just shoved it away and pretended it was all ok. While Titus’ dilemma didn’t help me, it DID show me I was not alone. Because of this reason, I believe that Titus is a relatable character to many people, whether they know it or not. Despite the tragic end, the constant interruptions, and lack of intelligent characters, this is a very good, very thought-provoking book.

As a student, I would love to have other people read it and discuss it. As a teacher, this is most definitely a book to teach because if there are other children that are like me, which I know there will be, they will find some comfort in this book, knowing they are not alone.