Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson

First of all, a big shout out to Molly in Section 703 for introducing me to this book. Second, I think a story will best demonstrate what I thought of Catalyst: Molly offered me this book at the end of third period on Wednesday, and I was able to return it to her on Thursday by fourth period. It's not like I didn't have anything to do, it was just that good.

Here’s something that will shock you: I have come to understand that my favorite books are those where the main character is an intelligent teenage girl with a lot of common sense. If she does not talk an excessive amount, that’s a plus. Not surprised? I had never actually figured that out until I started Catalyst and knew right away that the reason I would love the main character, Kate Malone, was because she was an amazing student whose main area of interest was chemistry. Awesome.

It turned out I was right: I thought Catalyst was a great book, although I didn’t always like Kate. She could be a little snotty and self-centered sometimes - even when she was trying to be nice. I guess we’ve all been there, though. Kate didn’t always demonstrate common sense either - like the time she decided making MIT the only school she’d apply to. Nobody’s that good. It’s called a safety school, Kate; get one.

As I started the book, I assumed that the MIT thing would be the big problem Kate dealt with throughout the story. Turns out, even I have a lot to learn about plot: MIT is probably one of the least important things in Kate’s life. There’s also her father, who is a minister, her dead mother, her obnoxious boyfriend (at least I thought he was obnoxious) and her asthmatic younger brother. There is also the town’s “white trash” citizen Teri, a teenage girl who could take on a longshoreman in an arm-wrestling contest. Teri lives with her mentally impaired mom and adorable younger brother in a shack of a house. You’ll be shocked to know that the shack isn’t flame retardant. Poof! up it goes. Did I mention Kate’s dad is a minister? So, like a good minister, he naturally invites Teri and her brother to come on over and live with them.

Dramatic, huh? Please; that’s nothing - but I’m stopping here. The twists and turns in this story could make you motion sick. At one point, I was actually shocked - and that doesn’t happen to me often when I read.

There is no reality show on TV that comes close to this drama, so put down the remote control, wave bye-bye to all the pretty little liars, and grab a copy of this book. You’ll learn a thing or two about drama.

LAME FACTOR: Do I really need to spell it out for you? This book is amazing. Zero lameness.

YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR: Between schoolwork, long distance running, and helping out with her father’s parish activities (“activities” like Teri and her brother), Kate doesn’t have much time for getting into trouble. There’s a little action between Kate and her boyfriend, but she’s not all that into him anyway. Try reminding your parents of the crap they show on TV.

BRAIN POWER: Just because Kate is a genius, doesn’t mean you have to be. If your brain is average, you’ll manage.

Jane Eyre - The Greatest Book Ever is Once Again a Movie!

I'd like to believe that you will read Jane Eyre one day, but experience tells me otherwise. In the meantime, there is this new movie that looks like the best version of Jane Eyre that I've seen in a really long time (William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsbourg - really!?). It has just the right amount of dark creepiness, mystery, and romance. Here in the cultural wasteland that is Long Island, the movie comes out on 3/25/11. If you live in the civilized world, it's already out.

Do you feel inspired by this clip, but not inspired enough to read the original? How about reading the modern version, Jane, by April Lindner? Read my 3/12/11 post about that one.

Jane by April Lindner

Jane Eyre. The two most beautiful words in the English language. The greatest book of all time - and I should know, I’ve read a lot of books. I first read Jane Eyre when I was 13 and have read it at least once a year ever since. Believe me, that’s a lot of Jane Eyre.

Sympathetic soul that I am, however, I understand that the language in Jane Eyre - both the vocabulary and the sentence structure - is a little advanced for the “lol” “brb” generation. I’ve tried to convince several of my students to give it a try and even the best of them has failed. So sad.

So, along comes Jane by April Lindner. What do you want me to say? It’s no Jane Eyre, but it isn’t bad at all. Jane takes all of the important plot details of the original - orphaned young woman working as a governess, falls in love with mysterious employer who happens to have a very deep secret - and combines them with modern elements.

In this version, instead of Mr. Rochester, the passionate, dark hero of the original, we have Nico Rathburn, a rock star who is trying to get his career back on track. Our heroine, Jane, is a sensible young woman with a limited wardrobe and even more limited patience for nonsense. She has been forced to drop out of college as a result of her parents’ untimely deaths and has come to the Rathburn estate to help raise Nico’s daughter. Unless you’ve never read a romance book or watched a Lifetime movie in your entire existence, you can pretty much figure out what happens next. Or can you? Much like Jane Eyre, this Jane has an interesting plot twist that takes the story in an entirely new direction. Awesome.

Will Jane and Nico end up together? Will Jane find true love with someone else? Will somebody please explain to me why you people don’t read classics anymore? Oh well. It is what it is, so my advice is, pick up a copy of Jane. You might even be inspired to try out the original.

LAME FACTOR: Jane really is quite good. In honor of Charlotte Bronte, however, I can’t just give it a 0, so I’ll go with a 1. Very little lameness here.

YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR: In modern terms, Jane is a very well-behaved young lady. The original Jane, however, had the superhuman strength to withstand the advances of an extremely appealing man. You go, Jane. That said, there is very little in here that is objectionable, but if your parents are extremely particular, you might want to run it by them first.

BRAIN POWER: You will need a brain. Short of that, I think you can handle it.