Priest, C., & Ciesemier, K. (2015). I am Princess X. New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic.
Pages: 227
ISBN: 978-0-545-64274-3
Price: $6.99
Format: ebook
Lexile Rating: 790L
For years, May would dream that Libby had escaped -- that she’d somehow kicked free of the sinking car and clawed her way to the surface through the night-black water, cold as a soda from the fridge, the city lights sparkling above her like stars. Leading her up. Leading her out. She’d burst through the surface of the Bay, her soaked hair spilling down her shoulders like a mermaid’s, trailing behind her as she swam toward home. (p. 10)
May and Libby became friends when they created a character called Princess X together. Drawn by Libby and written by May, the Princess X’s adventures were told in a series of comics the two created together, which Libby stored in her room at home. However, when Libby and her mother died in a tragic car accident, Princess X disappeared along with her. And when May moved to Atlanta with her mom, she gave up hope of seeing her best friend or their creation again. That is, she had given up until a strange thing happened: suddenly, she was seeing Princess X everywhere. It started with a sticker, and then assorted merch until May finally discovered the source: A webcomic called Princess X. Their Princess X.
What if Libby wasn’t really dead? What if the website was a message to May written by Libby, calling for help, calling for her friend to find and save her?
Initially, I liked the intermingling of prose and graphics throughout the novel, with words broken up by excerpts from the Princess X webcomic. This helped integrate me into the story, like I was discovering clues alongside May as she tried to solve the mystery behind Libby’s apparent death. This is a unique reaader experience and is where I think this novel shines. The other aspect of this story that I enjoy is the complete lack of romance, which was a pleasant surprise. Despite the fact that May recruits a tech-savvy accomplice about her age to help her solve the mystery behind the creator of the webcomic, the two do not end up romantically linked. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective, but I wanted to throw that out there: There is no romantic subplot, whatsoever.
However, the story is not without its flaws. Understandably, it is written in a somewhat “graphic novel” format, while the main story is not depicted in drawings. What I mean by this is that the story is at times outlandish and “comic book-y.” People take actions that make no sense and would logically get them killed in real life. The antagonist is more a supervillain than a real-life bad guy. The police are completely useless. May’s parents are well-meaning and also completely useless. And May herself, despite seeing stickers for Princess X everywhere, never even considers googling Princess X herself before a random passerby mentions the website. Descriptions of hacking, doxxing, and the dark web seem similarly unrealistic.
These issues may well be a deliberate choice, given the outlandish nature of comics, so I try not to judge too harshly, and many readers may in fact enjoy that aspect of the novel. I appreciate the fact that this novel would be a good bridge between comics and full-length non-graphic novels for reluctant readers as well. For these reasons, the flaws do not completely break my enjoyment or appreciation for the story, but they may be things to keep in mind when considering your own choice of reading material.
Content-wise, there is some violence, particularly in the end. The bad guy is very, very bad and there is murder and gun violence. The language is mild, however, and there is no sexual content, so the violence is the only aspect of the novel that contains sensitive content. For that reason, it’s probably suitable for ages 10 and older, mostly enjoyable to readers in the 10-15 age range.
Overall, I give this novel 4 out of 5 stars. This was a hard one to rate because I appreciate the novelty, but the unrealistic aspects throw me out of the novel. I decided to be more lenient in my scoring because the illustrations are lovely and I did enjoy the story despite rolling my eyes at times.
Lowry, L. (2018). The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Pages: 300
ISBN: 978-0-547-34590-1
Price: $8.99
Lexile: 760L
Format: ebook
Awards: John Newbery Medal,
“Even trained for years as they all had been in precision of language, what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?” (124)
What would you do if you discovered that everything you knew was a lie, but you couldn’t tell anyone the truth? How would you explain the concept of love, or music, or color, or even animals, to someone who had never experienced those things before?
Jonas is an Eleven, meaning he is in his eleventh year of life. He has a normal family unit: two parents and a sister, Lily, who is a Seven. Just days away from the ceremony where he will become a Twelve and have his career chosen for him, where he’ll work for the rest of his life, Jonas is feeling apprehensive. He’s always fit into his community well, a necessity if one does not want to be publicly singled out by an Announcement. He never lies, he engages in the appropriate dream-telling and feelings sharing family rituals that are mandatory in a family unit, and he feels the appropriate lack of emotions that everyone in the community feels. He is, by all accounts, a perfectly functioning Eleven.
However, when he gets his career assignment as a Twelve and embarks on his training to be the new Receiver of Memory, an honored role of which there is only one in the community and which involved keeping all the memories of the past, Jonas learns that everything he has ever known has been a lie. Even worse, he can’t talk about it and has to lie, himself, an act he never thought he would have to do. When the Giver, the old Receiver of Memory before him, shows him memories, both good and bad, that cause him to question everything he has ever known, he and the Giver make a plan that will change life in the community for everyone forever.
I rate The Giver 4 out of 5 stars. It certainly has literary value and is an entertaining read, but is rather heavy-handed in its warnings against conformity and loss of feeling. While a society without art and love is definitely not something I would ever want, and I believe differences should be celebrated rather than discouraged, some aspects of Jonas’s society do sound appealing, such as the fact that everyone has a job and enough food to survive. While the loss of suffering comes at the cost of a loss of joy and love, the book tends to focus on the negative of the community without addressing the good once Jonas “awakens” and learns the truth about the world around him. The loss of color in the pursuit of “sameness” is a strange concept to me that is not fully explained to my satisfaction, either. I can understand how the community lost art and music when it lost strong emotions, but I do not understand the loss of color. The characters, however, are believable, and work well within their setting. The parallel between Jonas and Gabe, the baby Jonas’s father is trying to save from being released, is compelling as well.
The Giver is an award-winning novel often assigned as required reading in middle school classrooms. It includes themes of free will and choice, as well as the dangers of “Sameness” and lack of diversity, emotions, and art. The Giver was written in 1993 and is still being taught and read today. The version I read was the 25th anniversary edition, which has a note at the end about rituals, “sameness,” change, memory, and unquestioning loyalty. As these are all themes within the novel, it is a nice addition to the end of the story. It also discusses the novel’s ambiguous ending, which troubles some readers, and may give some closure.
This novel is suitable for ages 10 and up, because while it contains minimal sexual references (called “stirrings” in the novel), the only such reference occurs in the retelling of a dream, and is no more explicit than anything a child will probably have learned in a fifth grade unit on puberty and sexual health. Murder and suicide are also present in The Giver, but the writing style and language are simple enough most children and teens older than 10 can read and understand it easily. The page count in the ebook version is 300 pages, many of which consist of notes and previews at the end, so the true page count is 172 in the paperback version, making it a decent length for middle school-age teens.
The following excerpt comes from pages 128 and 129 in the digital edition:
“Let me try one more thing. Look over there, to the bookcase. Do you see the very top row of books, the one behind the table, on the top shelf?”
Jonas sought them with his eyes. He stared at them, and they changed. But the change was fleeting. It slipped away the next instant.
“It happened,” Jonas said. “It happened to the books, but it went away again.”
“I’m right, then,” The Giver said. “You’re beginning to see the color red.”
Star rating: 4/5
Below is a video interview about the film version of The Giver where the author, Lois Lowry, discusses the context of writing the novel.
Yousafzai, M., & McCormick, P. (2016). I am Malala: How one girl stood up for education and changed the world. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 978-0316327916, Paperback: $8.29
This version of I Am Malala was written specifically for younger readers after the adult version of Malala Yousafzai's memoir for adults. It focuses mainly on Yousafzai's life leading up to the fateful day when she was shot by members of the Taliban. The book details Yousafzai's early life at school, how she became a spokesperson for women's education in Pakistan and worldwide, and the struggles she and her classmates faced just trying to get to school when faced with threats from the Taliban. Yousafzai also writes about her life after the attack: her recovery, the reunion with her family, and adjusting to both a new home and a new identity as a world-renowned public figure and even a Nobel Prize winner.
Because I Am Malala is written by a teen for a teen audience, readers will most likely be able to connect with the reading more than they might with a memoir written by and about an adult. Most teens can relate to Yousafzai's experiences with friends and school, even if the exact circumstances are not identical. I Am Malala is an engaging and thought-provoking reading experience that should cause readers to consider what it is like to have access to education restricted as well as discover a new perspective on a culture likely different from their own. I Am Malala is written in a simple, straightforward style that young teens and preteens can easily comprehend and enjoy, and would be a welcome addition to any library's Young Adult or Teen Nonfiction section, suitable for ages 10 and older.
Content warnings: War, violence
See below for a Daily Show interview with Malala Yousafzai.
