The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Tuesday, October 25, 2011 by 2 Comments

Ponyboy Curtis, 14, has always been a ‘greaser’, a label given to the boys from the East Side who put grease in their hair. He has two older brothers, Darry and Soda who are always on the lookout for him. Darry is only 20 but is already working hard to provide for his younger siblings after their parents died in an accident. Ponyboy is much closer to Soda, a 16-year-old school dropout who works at the gas station.

The greasers usually get bullied and sometimes attacked by another group called the Socs (Socials) – ‘the West-side rich kids’ as what Ponyboy calls them. One day, Ponyboy finds himself surrounded by the Socs but was rescued by his gang. He was lucky this time because his friend, Johnny, had been jumped by the Socs who beat the life out of him. Johnny has become a much more nervous person since the incident.

That’s the life that Ponyboy knows. He is a good student at school and is on his way to become a track star. But he is a ‘greaser’ who cannot get along with the Socs. There is the difference between the two groups in terms of class, society and lifestyle. Ponyboy usually hangs out with his brothers or close friends such as Johnny, Two-Bit Matthews, Steve and Dally.

However, something unexpected happens when Ponyboy and Johnny come face to face with a group of Socs in which one of them had beaten up Johnny before. The group was not happy that their girlfriends had preferred the company of the greasers during an outing to the movies. They then confronted the two young boys not knowing what happens next – an occurance which will spark many changes after that.

I have always wanted to read The Outsiders because I know it won awards and was listed as one of the highly recommended books for young adults. Moreover, I was impressed that the author, S.E. Hinton, began writing the book when she was only 15 years old.

The important themes in the story are on the different social classes and stereotyping. We also read about friendship and family values as well as the sacrifices that the characters are willing to make for one another. For example Darry skipping college to instead work at two jobs to make sure his younger brothers, especially Ponyboy, are well taken care of.

This is an honest book that will give readers an unforgettable insight into the trials and tribulations of the characters. I also liked the way the book ended.

Oh, I will be sure to watch the 1983 movie version which starred C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio and Diane Lane.

Filed Under: Authors H, Genre - YA Realistic Fiction, Titles O

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

Wednesday, September 7, 2011 by 2 Comments

I really enjoyed The Cardturner even though almost the entire story revolved around the card game of bridge, a game that I know nothing about.

Alton Richards, 17, has a very rich Uncle Lester who is also very old. Alton’s parents always prompted him to tell his uncle over the telephone that he (Uncle Lester) was his favourite uncle and that he (Alton) loved him. The only time Alton met his uncle was when he was six years old during the uncle’s 65th birthday party.

Uncle Lester’s health deteriorates, leaving him blind but still having a sharp mind nevertheless. He hires Alton to be his cardturner at bridge games four times a week. All Alton has to do is sit at the bridge table with his uncle beside him and turn the cards on his uncle’s behalf.

Alton was initially not jumping for joy at spending so much time with his elderly uncle at bridge games but finds himself being drawn to the game. He would watch how his uncle plays at the bridge club and then go home to share with his younger sister, Leslie, of the new things he has learnt.

He then meets Toni Castaneda who is closer to Uncle Lester than Alton or his family is with the uncle. Alton feels jealous with their closeness at first but soon discovers that he enjoys playing bridge and spending time with Toni.

The Cardturner is definitely an enjoyable read. It’s written from Alton’s point of view and I liked the short chapters as well as his easygoing personality which is reflected in the storytelling. There are also simple explanations on the basics of bridge in random parts of the book. You can skip them if you don’t want to know how bridge is played but only want to know what is going on in the story.

I really disliked Alton’s parents. They were obviously only eyeing Uncle Lester’s money and probably couldn’t care less for him. I didn’t like the way they kept telling Alton that he had to say something to Uncle Lester in order for the family to be included in his will. I’m not sure if I liked Alton but I found the characters of cranky Uncle Lester and Leslie endearing.

To me, bridge was a game played by a group of people. That’s all I know about it. And guess what? I still have no idea how to play the game BUT now I do know the basics of the game as well as the terms and phrases associated with it, thanks to the simple lessons given in the book. I didn’t realise that I would like the book so much. I don’t think that just because the book is about bridge that it should intimidate readers who have no interest in the game, like me. I also liked the book because there are funny bits in it.

I realised that bridge was about partnerships and that it’s important for bridge partners to cooperate well during games. Alton learns a thing or two about it which spurs him to want to find out more about Uncle Lester’s ‘perfect bridge partner’. Yes, there are mysteries to be unraveled in this story!

This is the second book that I’ve read by Louis Sachar. The other book was Holes, which I read and enjoyed around four years ago. He has another book, Small Steps, which is the sequel to Holes.

Filed Under: Authors S, Genre - YA Fiction, Titles C Tagged With:

Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont

Friday, August 12, 2011 by 1 Comment

I remember Beauty and the Beast as the first Disney movie video cassette that my father bought for me. I don’t recall how old I was, probably around six or seven years old. Since then, I grew up only knowing that the heroine in the story was Belle and the hero was Beast. Of course, I disliked Gaston but cheered up whenever the enchanted teapots, cups, clocks and candlesticks in the castle made their appearances. Ohh, and I still drool over the enormous library!

So I was enlightened when I read Beauty and the Beast on my Kindle. Jeanne-Marie wrote an abridged version in 1756 and it was later translated into English in 1757. Not bad, they translated fast, didn’t they?

In this story, Beauty is the youngest daughter of a merchant who had three sons and three daughters. Beauty’s two elder sisters were mean and only cared about themselves. They were jealous of Beauty who seemed perfect in every way.

The merchant lost his wealth and the family were forced to move to a farmhouse. A few years later, in the hopes of recovering his wealth, the merchant leaves for the city. Before he left, the sisters requested for dresses but Beauty only asked for a rose.

Unfortunately, the merchant could not regain his money, leaving him as poor as ever. He loses his way when returning home and finds shelter in a castle. Duh, he landed right in the home of the Beast! He eats and sleeps there for the night. The next morning, he could not resist plucking a rose from the garden for Beauty. The Beast appears and demands that in return, the merchant must sacrifice himself or one of his daughters. The merchant goes back home, tells his sad tale and Beauty offers herself up to the challenge.

That was my abridged version. Well, the story was longer than that but you could read it all under an hour. I enjoyed it somehow and simply ignored most of the stereotypes in the story.

Beauty = good, good, good, perfect!
Beast = kind, a bit stupid but smart at the same time.
The merchant = Loves his children very much but willing to sacrifice youngest daughter to the Beast.
Beauty’s sisters = self-centred, envious, cunning.
Beauty’s brothers = no personality.

Unlike The Little Mermaid, this fairy tale has a happy ending.

Have you read the story? Any thoughts on it?

Filed Under: Authors B, Genre - Fantasy, Titles B

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Sunday, July 31, 2011 by 2 Comments

Lena Haloway can’t wait to turn 18 to undergo a procedure to be cured of a disease called love.

Hey wait, what? Yeah, in Delirium, love has been identified as a disease, which can be deadly for the infected person. When one is ‘cured’, he or she will be married to someone already matched earlier to them and they will supposedly live together peacefully and lead normal lives without the complications of love or heartbreak.

Lena may be impatient for her turn to receive the cure but she can’t help thinking back of her mother who committed suicide when Lena was still a child. Unlike other parents, her mother was as loving and fun as Lena could remember. Her mother even said those forbidden words – I love you – to her.

Still, Lena thinks the cure is the best thing for her. That is until she meets Alex, the guy with hair like autumn leaves. She never expected to fall in love with him but that’s what happened. She has never felt like this before and the days towards her procedure are passing by quickly. Now that Lena’s up in the clouds of love, she’s not so keen in getting the cure after all.

There’s been a lot of hype around this book and I was glad to download it from the very awesome Netgalley. I read the synopsis and thought ‘Wow, a story where love is a disease? Not bad.’ The beginning was interesting. I liked reading about Lena’s life, her family and friends. The government that runs Portland, where she lives, sounds very familiar like the one in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. There is constant monitoring on the daily activities of the people so there is no complete privacy and less opportunity for funny business.

I did not know what were ‘sympathizers’ and ‘resisters’ but I sort of figured them out as I continued reading. Anyway, there was no extra background on how love was called a disease. And did none of them ever traveled to other countries? Or people from other countries traveling and staying in the United States?

Lena’s relationship with Alex was new and unexplored so it should be exciting. But I wasn’t really pulled in to the story during the chapters on the new lovebirds. I was glued back to the story at the last few chapters though, wondering about their impending fate.

As for the ending, it’s a cliffhanger. There will be a sequel, Pandemonium, and its expected publication is on March 6 next year.

Filed Under: Authors O, Genre - YA Science Fiction, Titles D

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Thursday, July 7, 2011 by 4 Comments

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Publisher: Penguin Books | 2007 (first published 1911) | 276 pages
Buy on Amazon

Ten-year-old Mary Lennox, who has lived in India all her life, is sent to stay with at her uncle Lord Craven’s Misselthwaite Manor in England when her parents died of a disease. Mary has never had a friend all her life and her parents had never bothered much about her. This makes Mary an obnoxious, sullen little girl who always expects her servants to wait hand and foot on her.

As Mary tries to adapt to the strange new ways in her new home, she improves in physique and character. She passes the time by exploring the gardens and trying to make conversations with an old gardener Ben Weatherstaff. Martha, a young chambermaid, is also the only other person who usually speaks to Mary.

Soon, Mary befriends Martha’s younger brother Dickon who has a way of charming animals around him. She lets him in on a secret that she found out a little earlier. She has discovered a garden which was abandoned for 10 years with the door’s key buried somewhere. By some stroke of luck, she found the key, entered the secret garden and felt that she was in a whole new world. So together with Dickon, they begin to work to bring the garden back to life.

Besides the garden, Mary uncovers another secret in the manor that has a hundred rooms. She stumbles upon her 10-year-old sick cousin Colin one night when she followed the sounds of his crying. From then on, she would visit him every day to talk and play, without them realising that they were making each other better and learning to enjoy their childhood at the same time.

I have watched the 1993 movie version of The Secret Garden when I was a kid and loved it till now. While reading the book, images from the movie would constantly pop into my head and I would compare how the characters were portrayed in both versions.

Descriptions were abundant in the book and it made me a little more knowledgeble about gardens and flowers. I was also a bit puzzled but tickled when I read that Dickon has a funny face. How can a person’s face look funny? But Dickon is a good-natured boy and it would be difficult not to like him.

The book got off to a great start but it slowed down for me halfway. It thankfully got better after three-quarter of the book until the ending. I’m glad that I have finally read the book as I have watched two movie versions of it, and like I mentioned earlier, I really liked the 1993 one starring Kate Maberly.

Filed Under: Authors B, Genre - Children's Classics, Titles S

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Thursday, June 9, 2011 by 4 Comments

Taylor Lily Markham was abandoned by her mother at a 7-11 outlet six years ago. She was found by a young woman named Hannah who then becomes her guardian. Taylor has little memory of her father.

Now at the age of 17, Taylor is a house leader in her boarding house at Jellicoe School on Jellicoe Road. She is also in charge of all the boarders in the territory wars with the Townies (kids from town) and Cadets who are Sydney boys who come to Jellicoe for training. The leader of the Cadets also happens to be Jonah Griggs, who Taylor ran away with a few years ago to go search for her mother. However, the attempt was not successful and Taylor never wanted to see Jonah again.

Now, not only does she have to face Jonah after all these years, Taylor has to stand up to other house leaders who are unhappy with her leadership in the wars. To top it all off, Hannah disappears without an explanation and Taylor can only look for clues in some of Hannah’s manuscripts that tell a story about five kids.

I was lost when reading the first few chapters of Jellicoe Road. There was the boy in the tree in Taylor’s dreams, the Hermit and then in came the five kids named Webb, Narnie, Tate, Jude and Fitz from Hannah’s manuscripts which ran as a parallel story. I went like, ‘Who are all these people???’

There were so many names that I could not keep track of who was who and what were their roles in the story. I almost gave up after a few chapters but I kept on reading as I’ve come across many reviews that praised this book to the skies. I loved Marchetta’s Looking For Alibrandi so I felt that there should be something mind-blowing in this book as well. True enough, there was.

I was not disappointed. If you feel like quitting the story halfway, I suggest that you don’t but to continue reading. Whatever that you did not understand in the earlier part of the book will all be answered in the coming chapters. After that, you will want to keep on reading till the end! That’s how it was for me. When I finished the story, I went back to the first chapter and read it again, with a better understanding the second time around.

In a nutshell, the story is mainly about Taylor trying to find her own identity, to know why her mother left her as well as to understand her relationships with Hannah and Jonah.

It is not all depressing though as there are a few funny parts that you will laugh at. I tell you, this is one book that I will be thinking about for a while. I’m also definitely going to get my hands on a copy of another book by Marchetta! Maybe either Saving Francesca or Finnikin of the Rock or her latest one, The Piper’s Son!

Filed Under: Authors M, Genre - YA Fiction, Titles J Tagged With:
«Older Posts