You Don't Know Me by David Klass

Testing students’ reading levels is one of the most boring things I have to do as a teacher.  It’s a necessary evil, of course, since I have to have an idea of where to begin teaching each kid, but some of the passages are absolutely painful.  There’s one about dragons that makes me want to shoot myself – but maybe it’s just because I’m not a dragon kind of gal.  There’s another one that focuses on a conversation that I’ve heard so many times that I have it memorized.  Happily, some of the passages are actually really good like The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare and Ann Martin’s A Corner of the Universe.

The one I’ve always liked best is from the book You Don’t Know Me by David Klass.  The passage the students read is about 300 words long and highlights the fourteen year old main character’s love of a classmate, Gloria, who, in his fantasies, he refers to as Glory Hallelujah.  Glory seems pretty sweet and accepts John’s invitation to a basketball game and I had great hopes that this really nice kid was about to begin a relationship with the girl of his dreams. 

Then I decided to Google the book while a student was reading the passage.  Let’s just say that, in spite having read thousands of books, I was totally wrong.

You Don’t Know Me is no sweet YA (early YA) novel.  Instead, it is the story of an abused boy dealing with his mother’s cruel and criminal boyfriend and a host of other people who treat him like crap.  “You don’t know me,” is the phrase John uses to protect himself.

Luckily for John, not everyone in his world is a giant jerk and there are people who value him, who care about him, and who actually do “know him.”

I don’t want to give away anything, so suffice it to say that You Don’t Know Me is a touching coming-of-age story with a very likeable main character who makes you want to beat up almost everyone else in his life.  It’s well worth reading – and so much better than that damn dragon story.

LAME FACTOR:  If it were lame, I would have stopped reading it.  0/5

YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR:  I doubt it.

BRAIN POWER:  The story is well written and aimed at late middle school through early high school.  It’s nice to have a story with a male narrator.

Eleanor & Park: A Playlist

To say that I am obsessed with Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell would be an understatement.  In fact, I love it so much, I am having trouble writing a blog post about it.  I think I may need to sit with it a bit more before I'm ready.  I first read the book a few months ago - and immediately read it again to absorb it (the first time I just wanted to see how it ended).

I'm currently nearing the end of my third reading and I still feel like I haven't absorbed it quite enough.  I don't think I've ever felt that way about any book.

In the meantime, music plays a central role in the book and I recently discovered this playlist on Barnes & Noble's website.  I've been listening to it pretty much non-stop.  It's a pretty accurate and complete representation of the music in the book.

Enjoy.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/eleanor-parks-lovely-mix-tape/

The Riverman by Aaron Starmer

Lately, I’ve been reading more for research than for pleasure; that is, I look up the best selling self-published books and try to figure out what makes them sell.  I can’t say I’ve been terribly impressed by the quality of most of these books, but they’ve earned their authors plenty of cash, so bravo for them.  I hope that I will be clever enough to manage the same thing.  That said, I have managed to squeeze in some legitimate reads including The Riverman by Aaron Starmer.

The Riverman is a middle grade novel with a male narrator, twelve-year old Alistair Cleary.  I love this kid – which is most likely why I enjoyed the book so much.  He is sweet and sincere and well meaning boy trying to navigate the world between being a kid and being an adult.  That world becomes much more complicated when a neighbor, Fiona Loomis, shows up at the door with an incredible story and a request to write her biography.

At first, Alistair is reluctant to get involved in the project.  Fiona is pretty weird (wonderfully weird) after all, but as Fiona tells her tale, Alistair finds himself irresistibly drawn to both the story and the storyteller.  As Fiona tells it, she and a select handful of children, all of whom have disappeared, have access to an alternate universe of their own making, a world where everything would be perfect were it not for the presence of The Riverman, a stealer of children’s souls.

And while Alistair isn’t entirely sure that he believes the story Fiona has to tell, he is certain that she needs protection and that he is just the one for the job.  With his friendships with other boys deteriorating, Alistair’s feelings for Fiona grow providing his life with a meaning he hadn’t realized he was missing – which makes her well-being that much more important. 

Suffice it to say the story comes to an end with a fair amount of excitement, some missteps, and a really sweet exchange between Alistair (did I mention I love that kid?) and Fiona.

LAME FACTOR:  I can’t say I’m big on series books, but I’m actually going to read the next one.  Definitely a zero of five.

YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR: Boys will be boys.  Kids will be kids.  There’s nothing that bad in here and if your parents think so, they don’t know what you’re up to.

BRAIN POWER:  While the story is very well written, it is a middle grade book so no problems.