Running Loose

Bibliographic Info

Title: Running Loose

Author: Chris Crutcher

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Publication Date: 2003

ISBN: 978-0060094911

Plot Summary

Louie Banks starts out his senior year with everything looking good.  His summer workouts have paid off and now he’s a starting football player in a town that shuts down early for high school football games.  For reasons he can’t fathom, a beautiful girl with a solid head on her shoulders has decided to be in a relationship with him.

Things are going so well until the day that the football coach makes a target out of a black football player from an opposing team.  When the kid gets hurt in an intentional onslaught by one of Louie’s teammates, Louie quits the team. The coach sees no repercussions, but a far greater injustice is just around the corner for Louie.

Critical Evaluation

This is an exceptional book showing the workings of small-town football, the pains of growing up, and the difference that caring individuals can have on the lives they touch.  As usual, Crutcher’s voice is genuine, allowing a reader in.  The story and characters are relatable, even for readers who haven’t grown up a football starter in small-town Idaho.

Reader’s Annotation

Louie Banks’ senior year started out so right, he was pretty sure he’d be able to coast right through to graduation.  He was wrong.

Author Info

Chris Crutcher was born on July 17, 1946 in Dayton, Ohio.  He grew up in Cascade, Idaho, a small logging town.  He studied psychology and sociology at Eastern Washington State College, which is now Eastern Washington University.  He later earned a teaching certificate and taught in Washington and California.

Crutcher served as the director of an alternative K-12 school in Oakland, California.  The school was racially diverse a place of last resort for many students.  Crutcher claims that the students he worked with there provided a lot of inspiration for the characters in his stories.

Crutcher moved to the Northwest after around ten years at the Oakland school.  He worked as a child advocate and began writing.  He continues to act as a therapy consultant.    He has written more than a dozen books and several more short stories.

Genre

Sports Fiction

Curriculum Ties

None

Book Talking Ideas

Do you ever feel like right as things are coming together, something comes along and changes everything?

Reading Level

12-17

Challenge Issues

Touches on child abuse.

Challenge Responses

Active Listening

Refer to library’s collection policy

Provide complaint form

Refer to book reviews

Selection

The teacher mentioned the author.

The Hero and the Crown

Bibliographic Info

Title: The Hero and the Crown

Author: Robin McKinley

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Publication Date: 1985

ISBN: 978-0688025939

Plot Summary

The Hero and the Crown is the prequel to The Blue Sword.  In the story, Aerin is the only child of the king Damar.  She feels like a disappointment to her father.  She isn’t very capable at the feminine arts (being graceful, displaying proper manners, shopping) and as such her prospects are lost for providing any kind of diplomatic advantage that as a woman, would otherwise be her highest aspiration.

When Aerin finds the recipe for a fire-protection salve, she and her retired war-horse Talat find their purpose in hunting down the little dragons that plague the villages.  They are mostly a nuisance to the warriors of the kingdom, who consider them to be more vermin than threats.  But the demons of the Northern Lands unleash a true dragon, Maur who would have been a match for an army.  Aerin faces him alone.

Critical Evaluation

This book provides a window into the history of The Blue Sword.  Aerin, the heroine of the story, is courageous and self-sacrificing, not self-effacing as many fairy tale princesses are, but physically putting herself in the path of destruction because it is her responsibility.  The story lacks some of the tightness and continuity of first book.  Still, it is a treasure.

Reader’s Annotation

As Aerin stumbles around the castle, feeling useless, she has no idea how the future will bring her face to face with a destiny so powerful, it will define her people for centuries to come.

Author Info

Robin McKinley was born Jennifer Carolyn Robin McKinley on November 16, 1952 in Warren, Ohio.  She graduated from Bowdoin College in 1978.  McKinley held several jobs including editor, research assistant, bookstore clerk, teacher, and barn manager.  She began writing at age 26.

McKinley currently lives in Hampshire, England with her husband, Peter Dickinson.  She says she enjoys grand opera and long walks to keep her imagination active.

Genre

Fantasy

Curriculum Ties

None

Book Talking Ideas

Do you believe in fate or destiny?

Reading Level

12-17

Challenge Issues

Magic

Challenge Responses

Active Listening

Refer to library’s collection policy

Provide complaint form

Refer to book reviews

Selection

A friend suggested the book.

The Blue Sword

Bibliographic Info

Title: The Blue Sword

Author: Robin McKinley

Publisher: Puffin Books

Publication Date: 1982

ISBN: 978-0141309750

Plot Summary

Harry Crewe has lived in Istan for three months, and while staring out at the mountains on the horizon of the desert, she is restless.  She’s always had trouble doing what was expected of her – embroidery, lessons.  She preferred to ride horses and read adventure novels.  When both of her parents die and she moves to the privileged house of kind relatives in remote Istan, she strives to behave herself in a world of white napkins, dances, and servants.

When Harry is kidnapped by the king of the Hillfolk, life becomes an adventure, and for the first time in her life, Harry feels like she is where she belongs.  Her initiation into the Damarian culture leads her to discover her past and her true strengths.

Critical Evaluation

In The Blue Sword McKinley has created a rich world and a resonant story of a girl finding herself in a kingdom far from home.  The elements of the story compelling and echo something eternal that rests within the human spirit – a connection with the natural world that calls you, the grandness of kings and queens who are noble, not by title, but by deed, a kind of magic that seems like a force of nature.  The story has a strong female protagonist.  The story is strengthened by a romantic subplot, and by the Harry’s friendships.

Reader’s Annotation

Harry’s life on the remote outpost of Istan leaves her restless.  When she is kidnapped by the king of the Hillfolk, she discovers a world that she never knew, but was always a part of her.

Author Info

Robin McKinley was born Jennifer Carolyn Robin McKinley on November 16, 1952 in Warren, Ohio.  She graduated from Bowdoin College in 1978.  McKinley held several jobs including editor, research assistant, bookstore clerk, teacher, and barn manager.  She began writing at age 26.

McKinley currently lives in Hampshire, England with her husband, Peter Dickinson.  She says she enjoys grand opera and long walks to keep her imagination active.

Genre

Fantasy

Curriculum Ties

None

Book Talking Ideas

Do you ever find yourself staring out the window, thinking that your true destiny lies somewhere else?

Reading Level

Challenge Issues

Magic

Challenge Responses

Active Listening

Refer to library’s collection policy

Provide complaint form

Refer to book reviews

Selection

Recommended by a friend.

1 Giant Leap (DVD)

Bibliographic Info

Title: 1 Giant Leap (Movie)

Author: (Directors) Jamie Catto, Duncan Bridgeman

Publisher: (Label) Palm Pictures

Publication Date: (Release Date) 2002

ISBN: n/a

Plot Summary

Directors Jamie Catto and Duncan Bridgeman have toured the world gathering musical clips, commentary, images, spoken word poetry and compiled it into a grouping of chapters on life with universal themes such on love, death, god, and more.  Interviews by Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Robbins, Ram Dass, and Dennis Hopper are featured.  Music by Michael Stipe, Baaba Mall, Robbie Williams, and more are laced throughout the film.  The slogan of the film is “seeking unity in diversity.”

Critical Evaluation

This collection is inspiring.  The themes are strongly anti-commercial, spiritual, but non-religious, and embracing of individuality.  The music is powerful and inclusive of cultures worldwide.  The film is one of a kind and leaves the viewer with feeling full of the strongest elements of the human experience – creativity, vitality, awareness.

Reader’s Annotation

This intense and beautiful mosaic of human culture explores universal concepts like love, death, money and more.

Author Info

Jamie Catto was born in London, England on August 14, 1968.  He is a singer/songwriter and art and video director.  He runs an online record label website.  He’s an activist for free speech and civil disobedience.

Jamie Catto (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Catto.

There is no biography available for Duncan Bridgeman.

Genre

Movie

Curriculum Ties

World History, Religious Studies

Book Talking Ideas

Demo: Ask one person to read a poem, another to stomp rhythmically, another to clap, another to read an editorial at intervals.

Reading Level

15+

Challenge Issues

Seriously grown-up topics such as sweat shop labor, the porn industry, violence in the name of religion.

Challenge Responses

Active Listening

Refer to library’s collection policy

Provide complaint form

Refer to book reviews

Selection

The DVD was a gift.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home (Season 8, Volume 1)

Bibliographic Info

Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home (Season 8, Volume 1)

Author: Joss Whedon

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Publication Date: 2007

ISBN: 978-1593078225

Plot Summary

Season 8 of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic series picks up where the television series ended.  The Hellmouth has been destroyed, and all the “Potentials” have become fully realized slayers.  Despite the rosy potential of a great evil’s destruction and the unleashing of girl superheroes across the land, all is not well in Slayerville.

A new version of the Initiative has formed with the mission of taking Buffy out, who certainly must be powerful if she wiped out an entire city.  Now she’s commanding an army of female superheroes.

Buffy must face down the monsters sent by the Initiative to destroy her.  Willow also comes face to face with a monster from her past.  Once again, it’s up to Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles to save the world and stay alive.

Critical Evaluation

For Buffy fans, this comic revives a beloved television show.  Joss Whedon’s writing stays true to the themes and dialogue of the t.v. show.  The images created by George Jeanty compliment the story and add a cool visual element to the text.

Reader’s Annotation

Even after the Hellmouth is wiped out and slayer powers granted to all the Potentials, Buffy’s still got it rough.  A new division of the Initiative has formed with Buffy as a target.  What they send after the Scoobies will test all of the gang’s powers.

Author Info

Joss Whedon (born Joseph Whedon) was born in New York City on June 23, 1964.  His father and grandfather were also television writers.  His mother was a history professor at Riverdale Country School in New York City.  Whedon graduated from Wesleyan University in 1987.

Whedon created several television series in addition to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, such as Angel, a spinoff of Buffy, Firefly, and Dollhouse.  He wrote or co-wrote films such as Toy Story, Alien Resurrection, and Titan A.E.  Whedon has written for several comic books and for online media like blogs.

Joss Whedon (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joss_Whedon

Genre

Comic book.

Curriculum Ties

None.

Book Talking Ideas

Suddenly a target for a new Initiative, Buffy, Willow and Xander fight off fiends new and old.

Reading Level

14+

Challenge Issues

Witches, monsters, a super-sized STD (uh, eww, actually Dawn turns into a giant after sleeping with a Thricewise)

Challenge Responses

Active Listening

Refer to library’s collection policy

Provide complaint form

Refer to book reviews

Selection

Stumbled across in the library.

Twilight

Bibliographic Info

Title: Twilight

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Publication Date: 2005

ISBN: 978-0-316-03837-9

Plot Summary

Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan has just moved from Phoenix to the tiny town of Forks, Washington.  She’s not looking forward to the constant rain, or to being the new kid in a high school with only 57 other kids in it.  What she doesn’t expect is to meet Edward, an impossibly handsome, impossibly strong, impossibly wealthy vampire, who, despite really wanting to suck her blood, becomes Bella’s impossibly devoted boyfriend.

Critical Evaluation

This book has massive appeal for a wide audience.  The plot is fairly tight.  The world and its rules are well drawn.  It’s also corny, sometimes morose, and Bella has an unfortunate tendency to think of herself as worthless, while Edward is perfect.  Still despite the shallow lure of being near extraordinarily beautiful, wealthy, smart, uh, beings through the medium of fiction, at heart there is that universal desire to be loved, as you are, and even if, apparently, you don’t deserve it.  This may account for part of the book’s popularity.

Reader’s Annotation

Bella’s just moved from Phoenix to Forks, Washington, population 3,000 something.  Things are looking grim until she meets Edward Cullen, dreamboat of epic proportions.  When she finds out he’s a vampire, she’s immersed in a fairy tale world where real wonders and real monsters play hand in hand.

Author Info

Stephenie Meyer was born on December 24, 1973 in Hartford, Connecticut.  She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona with five brothers and sisters.  She earned a BA in English at Brigham Young University.

Before writing Twilight, Meyer had never written so much as a short story.  She was a stay at home mom, who had once worked as a secretary.  Meyer claims to have received the idea for Twilight in a dream.  She wrote the novel in three months.

Meyer lives in Cave Creek, Arizona with her husband Christian Meyer and their three children.  A novella accompanying the Twilight series is set to be released in summer 2010.

Stephenie Meyer (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephenie_Meyer

Genre

Vampire Romance

Curriculum Ties

None

Book Talking Ideas

Discuss: Author Stephenie Meyer says that she got her idea for the Twilight book from a dream.  Have you ever had a dream that you thought would make a cool book or movie?

Reading Level

14+

Challenge Issues

Some might object to vampire stories, also Bella’s boy-obsession is unhealthy.

Challenge Responses

Active Listening

Refer to library’s collection policy

Provide complaint form

Refer to book reviews

Selection

A coworker gave me the book.

Salamander Dream

Bibliographic Info

Title: Salamander Dream

Author: Hope Larson

Publisher: Adhouse Books

Publication Date: 2005

ISBN: 978-0972179492

Plot Summary

Hailey, age eight, used to swim, listen to stories, and dream in the woods with Salamander.  As she grew up and made friends, she began to see him less, but once in a while she would find him in quiet moments in the forest.  Before she was about to move away for college, she found him one more time.  This time, she told him a story and she left him sleeping in a meadow.  She never went back.

Critical Evaluation

Salamander Dreams is a beautiful story about carefree childhood – swimming in a lake, running barefoot, climbing trees.  As the character grows older, these things are replaced by magazines and secrets, but whenever she returns to the wood, when there is quiet, her friend Salamander returns and it’s as if they were never apart.  The story is touching, visually poetic, and recalls the best moments of childhood.

Reader’s Annotation

Eight-year-old Hailey wanders through the woods in bare feet, looking at butterflies and cicadas, running up and down hills.  In the forest, she meets her friend Salamander, and swims and listens to his stories.  As she grows up, she begins to loose touch with Salamander, but occasionally, he’ll appear, and will tell her a story.

Author Info

Hope Larson was born on September 17, 1982.  She grew up in Asheville, North Carolina.  She earned a BFA in 2004 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Larson lives in Asheville, North Carolina with her husband Bryan Lee O’Malley.  She is currently working on a graphic novel adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time.

Hope Larson (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Larson.

Genre

Graphic Novel

Curriculum Ties

None

Book Talking Ideas

Think back to a time when you were young, and to a place that was all your own.  What did it look like?  Do remember how it smelled during the summer?  If you went back there again, what do you think it would be like?

Reading Level

13+

Challenge Issues

None

Selection

Found it while searching for Robot Dreams for my daughter.