13. It's Complicated: The American Teenager by Robin Bowman

Bowman, Robin. (2007). It’s complicated: The American teenager. New York: Umbrage Editions. ISBN-13:978-1-884167-69-0, p. 149

Genre: Nonfiction/Photography
Interest Age: 15+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation

Through photographs and interviews, Robin Bowman shows the collective face of the modern American teenager.

Plot Summary

It’s Complicated: The American Teenager is a collection of over 100 photos and interviews conducted over a 5 year period. In her quest to capture the American teenager, Bowman traveled across the country from Santa Monica, CA to Sully, IA to Brooklyn, NY and everywhere in between; she met thousands of teens, finally interviewing and photographing four hundred and ninety teens between the of ages 13 – 19 from all socio-economic, cultural, religious, and ethnic background. She interviewed and photographed individuals, groups of friends, siblings, young families, and occasionally teens with older family members.

Teens were all asked the same series of questions including “What is one of the biggest things to happen to you and how did it change your life?”, “Tell me about your family”, “Do you believe in God?”, “Have you ever personally suffered from discrimination?”, “Have you ever experimented with drugs?” and “As you look ahead in your life what do you think you will become?”. Excerpts from the interviews accompany almost all of the photographs.

Critical Review

It’s Complicated: The American Teenager is filled with gorgeous photography (all black and white) and candid interviews. Many of the stories are heartbreaking. Many of the teens come from divorced homes or already have kids of their own. Many have faced discrimination, economic hardships and have battled drug and alcoholic addictions. But these stories are balanced out by numerous teens that come from middle class to very affluent society. What connects all these images and stories are common themes of faith, perseverance, love and hope for the future.

Many of the teen discuss religion. The first photograph and interview are of a 19 year old Muslim girl on the day of her wedding discussing how it wasn’t until after 9/11 that she became passionate about her faith. Interviews with groups of Hasidic Jews, Amish, Muslims, Christians and even one Voodoo priest show that while the media may play up the more materialistic, secular side of today’s youth, faith in something greater than themselves still plays a powerful role in the lives of many of today’s teenagers.

No subject had what one would define as a perfect life. Some of the teens’ struggles are more spiritual (i.e. trying to define who they are and what they want to do in their life) while other have much more tangible struggles with drugs, discrimination, poverty, family and crime. Ebony Wilson, age 15, is a member of the Bloods gang in the Bronx, NY but struggles with the keeping her young sister out of gangs and laments the lunacy of racism. Anastaizschzia, age 16, is on her own in Los Angeles, CA making her way as a hustler. Tup, age 17, lives on the streets of Philadelphia, PA and dreams of running an organic farm. Several teens live in areas like East L.A., Watts, or the Bronx where violence and gangs are a constant threat.

What makes the biggest impression is not the struggles these teens endure but the hope they still have. Even the most cynical of them have goals and things they want to accomplish. Each of the teens is filled with hope, depression, joy, anger, sadness, love and faith. Bowman captures all these conflicting emotions in each photograph.

Bowman states in her introduction that her goal was to discover the “American Teenager” and to have the reader “know these kids as [she] does”. She admits that in actuality, these are impossible goals. The book offers no definitive definitions or images that wholly encapsulate the essence of the modern teenager. But what the interviews and stunning black and white photography does give the reader is a sense of the vast similarities and diversities which make up the American adolescent experience.

Author Info

Robin Bowman majored in anthropology at Wheaton College and then studied photography at the Maine Photo Workshops. She current lives in Maine and works as a photo journalist. Her photos have appeared in numerous publications such as Berlin Journal, Fortune, Life, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Time, U.S. News and World Report, and People. She has traveled around the world “documenting social and political issues”.

“Robin Bowman: Biography”. (2005). Open Society Institute. Retrieved May 5, 2010 from http://www.soros.org/initiatives/photography/movingwalls/13/bowman_bio

Book Talking Ideas

1. Who is the American Teenager? How would you define him or her?
2. What are some of the common themes and experiences that the teens share?
3. What do the settings say about the teens in the photos? Why do you think Robin Bowman chose to shot these teens where she did?

Challenges

No current challenges, but the interviews include candid statements about sex, drugs, religion, politics, racism, sexuality, and family. All of which can be controversial topics. There is a fair amount of profanity (the interviews are not edited) and there is one photo of a fully nude 16 year old girl (she’s a Naturalist). This book would definitely not be appropriate for a middle school library and I would be hesitant to place a completely uncensored version of it in even a high school library due to its content.

Why I choose this title

I wanted to include some nonfiction about today’s teens. The mix of interviews and photography makes this an interesting and involving read, different from a straight biography or nonfiction book.

12. I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle

Doyle, Larry. (2007). I love you, Beth Cooper. New York: Harper. ISBN: 978-0-06-174485-3. p. 273

Genre: Fiction/Comedy
Interest Age: 15+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation

With 5 little words, “I love you, Beth Cooper”, Denis Cooverman began a Graduation Day he could never have imagined.

Plot Summary

During his valedictorian speech during his high school graduation ceremony, Denis Cooverman, a shy and constantly perspiring kid, decides to profess his undying love to the head cheerleader and girl who he has sat behind (yet, barely spoken a word to) his entire high school career, Beth Cooper. He also calls out the bully who has been tormenting him since middle school, the stuck up rich girl whom everyone hates, and his best friend, who may or may not be gay.

His profession of love also enrages Beth Cooper’s coked-up, Army soldier ex-boyfriend who targets Denis for termination. Denis’s only aid is his movie-quote-spouting best friend Rich.

In the grand tradition of Animal House, Revenge of the Nerds, and American Pie, I Love you, Beth Cooper is a farcical, teenage romp through a Graduation Night filled with sex, drugs, fights, cow-tipping, and destruction of property both private and public. As Denis so concisely states, “All my memories from high school are from tonight”.

Critical Review

The characters in I Love You, Beth Cooper, in no way live in reality. Instead they live in the consequence free world of the farcical teen-comedy. The entire book reads like a teen movie (and in fact, the movie was released in 2009, directed by Chris Columbus) in the vein of Animal House or American Pie. Kids drink and drive, have sex, break numerous laws, and cause major property damage without any serious consequences. But teaching a moral or ethical lesson is not the goal of such stories. The goal is to be funny and I Love You, Beth Cooper accomplishes this with gusto.

The humor stems from both the ludicrous situations our hero, Denis Cooverman, finds himself in as well as the witty and incredibly intelligent writing of Larry Doyle. Whether describing the vulgar hit “thrash rap” song “F**K this S***T” as “captur[ing] the essence of adolescence and expressed it in easy to understand language, while simultaneously managing to aggravate adults” or commenting on a playground’s ability to entertain children “despite its safety”, Doyle’s witty word play and dry sense of humor balance out the ludicrous moments where people are falling down or driving an SUVs through someone’s living room. The balancing of high and lowbrow comedy is executed nicely.

Although most of the characters are easily defined stereotypes (the nerdy, debate team valedictorian, vapid cheerleaders, boozing, violence prone jocks, etc…) Doyle does put a slight twist on the Beth Cooper character. She is not a dimwitted, bubbly cheerleader (although her friends fit this description to a tee). Instead she is far more introspective than Denis realizes. She’s the beautiful head cheerleader who knows the minute high school is over, she’s no longer special; she’s just another, ordinary girl.

She’s also FAR from the perfect girl that Denis had placed on a pedestal for the last four years. Had she been in a different book, Beth Cooper could have worked as the embodiment of the fear of leaving “the best time one’s life” and entering the real world. But this is not that story. Here, Beth Cooper opens beer bottles with her teeth and drives cars into living rooms.

The best thing to do is sit back and enjoy the lunacy and ridiculousness of it all.

Author Info

Larry Doyle has worked as a writer and producer on many TV shows and films, including a four year run as a writer-producer on The Simpsons. He has also written for the MTV shows Bevis & Butthead and Daria. He also produced and penned the screenplays for the films Duplex (2003) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) as well as the film adaptation for his novel I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009). He also has worked as a reporter for the United Press International.

He has won two Emmy Awards as well the Thurber Prize for American Humor, 2008, for I Love You, Beth Cooper. Doyle currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Although reviewers criticized his lack of originality, they have highly praised his “comedic skills”.

"Larry Doyle." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas

1. How are Denis’ perceptions of Beth Cooper different from the reality?
2. What “teen comedy” conventions does Doyle employ? Which ones does he alter or play with?

Challenges

While there are no current challenges to this novel, it is full of sex, drugs, underage drinking, profanity, violence and a general disregard for the law, personal safety, and common sense. But everything is done in the name of comedy and nothing is taken seriously. It probably should not be included in a Middle School library collection.

Why I choose this title

The premise sounded funny. Moreover, although the subject matter and comedy is fairly straight forward and lowbrow, Doyle’s writing is quiet witty and complex; it takes a seasoned reader with a strong vocabulary to fully appreciate the humor. This type of novel would be good for, older reluctant readers.

11. Down to the Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole

Dole, Mayra Lazara. (2008). Down to the bone. New York: Harper Teen. ISBN: 978-0-06-084310-6. p. 351

Genre: Fiction/GLBT
Interest Age: 13+
Curriculum: NA

Reader Annotation

After being outed in front of her classmates, expelled from school and disowned by her mother, Laura must find a new family and a new place she can call home.

Plot Summery

Lauri is an average 16 year old Cuban American girl living in Miami, FL, until her Catholic nun teacher reads a love letter from Luara's girlfriend and "outs" her in front of her entire class. She is quickly ostracized by her friends and classmates for being a tortilleria (slang for lesbian), expelled from school, disowned by her mother and finally kicked out of her home. If that wasn't enough, Laura's love is quickly shipped back to Puerto Rico and quickly becomes engaged to man. Within a matter of weeks Laura's life goes from perfect to complete chaos.

Lauri moves in with her understanding and supportive friend Soli and her mother. Here she meets an eclectic mix of new friends, struggles to understand her own sexuality and redefine her definitions of family and home. All of this takes places within the Cuban American culture of Miami.

Critical Review

Mayra Lazara Dole paints a colorful gallery of diverse characters. Not only do these characters allow the reader to explore numerous GLBT issues like "coming out", family tensions, homophobia and prejudice, but the reader is given a window into Cuban American culture. Dole's writing is filled with Spanish (so much so that a Spanish glossary is included), and references to Cuban culture. Ultimately this is what distinguishes Down to the Bone from other GLBT, "coming out" stories.

Lauri's story isn't an unusual one: She is "outed" before she really even understands her own sexuality and feelings; she is is forced to confront homophobic teachers, parents, friends and co-workers; she struggles with reconciling her new life with the desire to return home and live the life she was "supposed" to live. Although the story has been done before and Dole occasionally lets the events descend into soap opera like melodrama, the Cuban/Miami backdrop and a collection of diverse characters who don't readily fit into stereotypes keep the reader engaged and thoroughly entertained.

The dialogue is fast and fun although for those readers who do not speak Spanish, it can be challenging at times. Even if the reader is not passionate about GLBT literature, Down to the Bone works equally as well as a story about Cuban American culture in Miami. It is interesting seeing a GLBT story told through a different cultural lens.

Author Info

Born in Havana, Cuba and currently living in Miami,FL, Mayra Lazara Dole has worked as a translator, drummer, dancer, landscape designer, hairdresser, Cuban chef and library assistant. She is the author two bilingual children's books including Drum, Chavi, Drum!/¡Toca, Chavi, Toca! (2003) and Birthday in the Barrio/Cumpleanos En El Barrio (2004) and one young adult novel Down to the Bone (2008). She also contributes to the various gay and lesbian magazines as well as other periodicals including Cipher Journal: A Journal of Literary Translation, Palabra: A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art, and Velvet.

Dole admits that Down to the Bone is slightly biographical as well as being inspired by her love of her "Cuban heritage/culture and a desire for Miami Cuban homophobia to be exposed so it can be discussed openly." She feels that writing for children and teens gives her a chance to "help change the world".

"Mayra Lazara Dole." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 4 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas

1.
How was Lauri's "outing" at school in the beginning of the novel different from her proclamation, "I'm gay!" at the end of the novel? What were the affects of those events?
2.
How does Lauri's Cuban heritage affect her "outing"? How do different people in her life react to the letter?
3.
Even though they are both Cuban, how are Lauri and Soli's families different?


Challenges

There are no current challenges but books with themes of homosexuality are common targets for challenges especially when younger readers are involved. The novel deals with several GLBT characters and contains some profanity and homophobic slurs.

Why I choose this Book

The novel was nominated for ALA Best Reads for Young Adults 2009 as well as making the ALA's 2008 GLBT Round Table/ SRRT Rainbow List. I also liked the idea of a GLBT themed novel set in a culture different than my own.

10. Slam by Nick Hornby

Hornby, Nick. (2007). Slam. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN: 978-0-399-25048. p. 309

Genre: Fiction
Interest Age: 14+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation

Sam’s life was going pretty good: he skated, idolized Tony Hawk, got decent grades, had a good relationship with his mom and had a beautiful new girl in his life. But a momentary lapse in judgment with his girlfriend and his life will be changed forever.

Plot Summary

Sam is an average teen living in England with his single mother. He’s not a bad kid or a trouble maker. Even though his mom had him when she was only 16 years old, the rough times are behind them and Sam’s doing pretty well in life. He loves to skate (that’s skateboarding, not ice skating, as Sam is always quick to point out), he does alright at school and is looking forward to being the first person in his family to go to college. He even gets a beautiful new girlfriend and they quickly fall in love. Everything is perfect, until one night, in a brief moment of weakness, he has sex without protection. He soon learns he will soon be a parent at 16.

Sam and his girlfriend Alicia must now adjust to life knowing that they will soon be parents. They have to deal with angery and disappointed parents, judgmental friends and classmates, and the fact that their relationship was close to being over until this child forced them back together. Sam must learn how to take responsibility for his actions and his life. Lucky, he can always turn to his most trusted advisor in all things: Tony Hawk.

Critical Review

This is Hornby’s first Young Adult novel. Fans of his previous books such as High Fidelity, About a Boy, and A Long Way Down will be pleased to find Hornby’s sense of wit and humor are still very much present in this coming of age tale about a kid who must learn to take responsibility for his choices, the good and the bad.

Stories of teenage pregnancy abound in today’s culture. From TV shows, movies, and books, to real life headlines, there is no hiding from the fact that many teens start experimenting with sex at ages when they are ill-prepared to deal with the emotional and physical consequences. The plot of Slam is not unique: Boy meets girl. Boy and girl do something stupid. Girl gets pregnant. Boy freaks out.

Hornby does a solid job hitting all of the pertinent issues: parent relationships, responsibility, fear, parenthood, etc. What sets this story apart from the myriad of other teen pregnancy stories is Hornby’s wit and ability to dissect the inner workings of the male mind, in this case, the teenage male mind. Sam’s inner though processes is hilarious, touching, frightening and it always feels authentic. Hornby shows teens for what they are: Erratic and contradictory. One moment Sam is taking responsibility, the next he’s running away; he often knows the right thing to do or say, but then says or does just the opposite. At certain points you want to commend and support Sam for trying to do the right thing; at other times you want to smack him for being such an idiot.

Hornby controls the story and never lets it fall into the realm of melodrama. The characters grow and learn how to become the people they need to be and although the ending could be considered “happy”, Hornby is never one to give the reader a “storybook” ending. In fact, an important point is made that in this type of story, there is no real ending. Life continues and so do the challenges. In life, much like in skating, if you lose your concentration or focus for a moment, there can be disastrous consequences. Ultimately, Slam is not so much about how to avoid “eating concrete”, as it is about picking yourself up, brushing yourself off, and doing what you have to do; Being who you have to be.

Author Info

Hornby grew up in a working class town, west of London. He first arrived on the literary scene in 1992 with his autobiographical book Fever Pitch, where he chronicles his long devotion to the Arsenal football club. With the publication of High Fidelity (1995) and About a Boy (1998), Hornby became the face of what was labeled “lad lit” (a counter point to “chick lit”) which focused emotional stunted male leads coping with fears of intimacy, monogamy, relationships, and adulthood. He has often been criticized for writing for an audience who normally doesn’t read and for “devaluing literacy culture”. (Sullivan, 2010)

Hornby went on to write How to be Good (2001), Songbook (2002), A Long Way Down (2005), as well as several short stories. His novels Fever Pitch, High Fidelity, and About a Boy have all been adapted into films. In 2009 he wrote the screenplay for the film An Education, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Sullivan, Paul. "Nick Hornby." British Writers. Ed. Jay Parini.: Supplement 15. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas

1. Why does Sam talk to his Tony Hawk poster? How does this help him?
2. Why does Sam choose the have sex with Alicia, even after he decided not to?
3. How did Sam react to Alicia’s pregnancy? How did their parents react?
4. How did the pregnancy change Sam’s life? How did it change Alicia’s life? Were they affected in the same way?

Challenges

I did not find any challenges but the novel does deal with teenage sex and pregnancy. There is also some explicit language and profanity.

Why I choose this title

I’m a big fan of Hornby’s writing and loved the idea that he was tackling an issue like teen pregnancy in a Young Adult novel. His reading is very accessible even to those who normally wouldn’t read a book about teen pregnancy.

9. When Jeff Comes Home by Catherine Atkins

Atkins, Catherine. (1999). When Jeff comes home. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN: 0-399-23366- 0. p. 231

Genre: Fiction, Child Abuse
Interest Age: 15+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation

Jeff was kidnapped when he was 14. Two and a half years later he is returned and must come to terms with his abduction as well as try to be something he no longer is: a normal teenager.

Plot Summary

When Jeff was 14, he was kidnapped from a highway rest stop. His friends and family never knew what happen to Jeff. To them, he simply disappeared without a trace. Two and a half years later, Jeff is unceremoniously released by his captor. Jeff is finally home, but home is not the same and neither is he. The police and the FBI want Jeff’s help to find “Ray”, the man who abducted Jeff. Jeff’s father wants him to get back to his old life and forget the last 2 ½ years. All anyone wants to know is if he was molested. All Jeff wants is for everyone to leave him alone.

When Jeff Comes Home is a gut wrenching story of the emotional, psychological, and physical scars left by the brutal crime of child abuse. Jeff struggles with feelings of terror, shame, embarrassment, and anger as he tries to fit back into his old life. His family and friends want Jeff to feel safe, to feel normal again but no one (most of all Jeff himself) is fully prepared to deal with what actually happened to Jeff.

Critical Review

Catherine Atkins, although writing specifically for a YA audience, pulls few punches in showing the effects child abuse has on not only its victims but the family and friends of those victims. When Jeff Comes Home is not so much a story of the abuse itself (thankfully, the reader only gets quick glimpses of Jeff’s ordeal through flashbacks) but of the aftermath and the long term effects of the abuse.

Overcome by feelings of guilt, shame, anger, and embarrassment, Jeff can barely think about the trauma he has gone through let alone discuss what happened openly. His friends and family only want to help him return to a normal life but Jeff’s entire perception of himself and the world were so violently torn apart he is left feeling alone and unable to relate anyone he used to know.

Atkins focuses on the emotional and psychological conflict which Jeff goes through as he struggles to adjust to the life he once knew. Jeff says very little, but for every word Jeff says or hears, there is a whirlwind of painful memories and feelings that are storming inside of him. With painful precision, Atkins makes the reader feel every emotion, see every detail, and relieve every memory Jeff does. Atkins shows how child abuse wholly destroys the victims’ understanding of love, family, closeness, and self worth.
When Jeff Comes Home is by no means an easy read. The healing process is neither fast nor simple and can be incredibly painful for all who are involved. However, as brutal and painful the experience can be, Atkins ultimately shows that there is hope for healing.

Author Info

Catherine Atkins was born in San Francisco, CA. She works as an alternative education teacher and writer. Her first book, When Jeff Comes Home, was based on a true incident that occurred near her home town. The novel received the International Reading Association Young Adults Choice and the ALA Best Books for Young Adults awards.

Her second book Alt Ed (2003) is the story of a group of six students who “enroll an after-school counseling program to avoid expulsion”. (“Catherine Atkins”, 2005) The novel made both the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age List (2004) and the ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults citation.

"Catherine Atkins." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas
1. How do the different characters (i.e. Jeff, his father, Vin, his brother, kids at school, etc.) react to Jeff’s return? How did his abduction affect them?
2. Why does Jeff defend Ray in the beginning, saying repeatedly “He never touched me”?

Challenges

This novel has been challenged due to its content, specifically the issues of sexual abuse, and language. In 2005 the novel was challenged in an Irving, TX middle school, although the book remained in the collection, a parent permission slip was needed to check out the book.

Unmuth, Katherine Leal. (2005). Librarians fight limits on book about sexual abuse. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved May 3, 2010 from http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/DN-nubook_19met.ART0.State.Edition2.b8ffc8.html

Why I choose this title

The subject of sexual abuse is a very difficult one to discuss. The emotions the victims and their families must go through are complex and painful. I fell that this novel does a good job of giving some insight into mind and experiences of someone who has gone through one of the most horrible violations I can imagine.

8. Debbie Harry Sings in French by Meagan Brothers

Brothers, Meagan. (2008). Debbie Harry sings in French. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC. ISBN: 978-0-8050-8080-3. p. 232

Genre: Fiction, LGBT
Interest Age: 15+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation

Johnny’s had a rough life: his father’s death, a distant mother, a drug overdose, rehab, and being shipped to a new school in a new town. But through the power of Blondie and Debbie Harry, Jonny begins to learn how to take control of his life and understand who he really is.

Plot Summary

Johnny McKennzie’s father died in a car accident when he was 12. His mother became distant and removed from reality. Johnny was left to figure out how to pay bills and take care of himself as well as his mother. He coped using the music of Joy Division, The Cure, New Order, Bauhaus and by drinking. One night he goes to a Goth club with some friends and inadvertently overdoses. While in rehab he first hears the music of Blondie and his obsession with lead singer Debbie Harry begins. He’s fascinated by her music, beauty, and strength. Upon completing rehab his mother ships him to live with his uncle in South Carolina.

Even though he never really fit-in in his home town of Tampa, FL, he has now officially become an outsider; he is constantly being picked on by the school jock bullies and everyone assumes he is gay. Although he is pretty sure he isn’t gay, he can’t help feeling an attraction to Debbie Harry. More than just loving who she is and her music, Johnny finds that he kind of wants to be her. This only complicates his growing relationship with Maria, a girl whose past is as troubled as his.

Critical Review

Debbie Harry Sings in French deals with issues of broken families, homophobia, love, and finding out that sexuality is not as simple as straight or gay. Meagan Brothers provides the reader with a cast of very likeable characters. Johnny is a self described “goth” kid who has had a rough family life and nearly killed himself after drinking heavily and taking what he thought was Aspirin at a club; he gets taunted at school and his mother is over protective to the point of suffocation; Johnny very easily could be a whining, angst-ridden, depressed teen. But he is not. He’s fairly positive, deals with his hardships with a sense of humor and never descends into a state of self loathing.

What is most interesting about Johnny is the way he struggles with his fascination with Debbie Harry and his desire to embody all of the positive qualities which she exemplifies. Although Johnny knows he is straight (even though he is constantly taunted and harassed for being “gay”) he doesn’t exactly understand his desire to be Debbie Harry. He wants to be sexy, beautiful, and strong like Debbie but is unsure how to do that. What do these desires make him? Gay? Bi? A freak? Brothers handles these issue masterfully through humor and wit. She never becomes overly didactic with the themes of homophobia or tolerance; the message is stated through her characters’ thoughts and experiences.

Debbie Harry Sings in French is a well constructed story which uses humor to introduce the reader to issues of sexuality, homophobia, and self discovery. Brothers’ writing is concise and to the point. Although everything about the story and themes seem to lend themselves to preachy melodrama, Brothers’ never lets the story or her characters become needlessly dramatic. The sense of fun and wit make Debbie Harry Sings in French a very accessible story.

Author Info

Meagan Brothers was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina and first had success as a spoken word poet in New York City. Her chap-book, 1978 was published by CafeMo Press in 2001. Debbie Harry Sings in French (2008) is her first novel and she is currently working on her second.

Brothers states that the inspiration for Debbie Harry came from imagining a Blondie fan and a Patti Smith fan having a discussion and teaching each other about music. The idea grew and eventually was fleshed out into a full length novel.

"Meagan Brothers." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 2 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas

1. What is the difference between Gender and Sex? Are Johnny’s identity issues more about gender or sexuality?
2. How does Debbie Harry help Johnny deal with the adversities and addictions in his life?
3. Why is Johnny perceived to be homosexual? How does he deal with these perceptions?

Challenges

I have not found any examples of this book being challenged or banned but it is still relatively new. Issues that might lead to a challenge: profanity (including many homophobic slurs), LGBT themes, sexuality, drinking and drug use.

Why I choose this title
This novel made the ALA Rainbow Project’s 2009 GLBTQ Books for Children and Teens. It was also recommended on readingrants.com for those who enjoyed Parrotfish.

7. Feed by M.T. Anderson

Anderson, M.T. (2002). Feed. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 0-7636-1726-1. p. 236

Genre: Science Fiction
Interest Age: 16+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation
Imagine a world where technology is hardwired into the brain of almost every living person on the planet and there is no turning it off.

Plot Summary

The “feed” is an advanced internet-like technology that is implanted into the brain of almost every living person on the planet. Through the Feed, kids like Titus, our narrator, chat with his friends, go shopping, do drugs (or “mal” as it is referred to), get directions, get the news, share memories, and live their lives. The Feed is owned and operated by major corporations which have taken over everything including education (School is a trademarked product) and people have merely become disposable consumers who can no longer read, write, or think for themselves. Titus lived in blissful ignorance until he met Violet while on Spring Break on the moon.

Violet is not like the rest of his friends. She had her Feed installed later in life. She talks funny, using words Titus can barely understand; she plans to mess with the data miners who are constantly trying to profile her as a consumer; she can read and write. But soon after meeting at a club on the moon, Titus and Violet are “hacked”. While Titus seems to recover quickly, it soon becomes apparent that Violet has suffered far more permanent damage which causes her Feed and her entire body to begin malfunctioning.

As Violet’s mind, body and life slowly begin to break down like a malfunctioning piece of hardware, Titus is forced to confront some of the ugly and disturbing truths about the Feed and the world in which he lives.

Critical Review

Anderson creates a sinister piece of dark science fiction which satirizes (in a non-too-subtle-fashion) consumerism, the dumbing of society, and human beings’ growing dependence on technology. In the world of Feed people are viewed as nothing more than consumers; through the Feed, people are advertised constantly. There is no privacy and corporations know everything about you in order to sell you the latest fashions and toys. Everyone, from Titus and his friends to the President of the United States, speak in a sort of dumbed down, slang/profanity laden, California Valley Girl vernacular. Translating and understanding most of the dialogue is a challenge for the reader. It takes several chapters before the reader is aware of exactly what is being said and what is happening in the story.

Anderson has some pretty clear concerns when it comes to technology. Being technologically proficient can give the false impression of intelligence. Titus and his friends can look up anything on the Feed and therefore do well in School, but they don’t actually “know” much. They have no ability to evaluate any of the information they receive and accept everything that is given to them through the Feed as fact. The same could be said of many young people and the internet today. Anderson also addresses the physical effects of technology on human beings. In Feed, people have begun developing lesions all over themselves. These lesions, obviously an effect of having the Feed connected to one’s body for their entire life, have become so common that celebrities have turned them into something fashionable and sexy. It’s easier for major corporations to make the ill side effects of their products appear desirable rather than actually fix the problem or stop making the product. The later is in fact impossible since the Feed has become so ingrained in the lives of the people that someone without the Feed, as Violet’s father discovers, is not accepted into “normal society”. They become sort of eccentric weirdos or, in the worse cases, outcasts and terrorist dissenters.

Feed is a challenging read on several levels. First, there are very few likable characters for the reader to root for. Our narrator Titus, is a narcissistic, spoiled brat who willfully keeps himself ignorant about the realities of the world because he is too busy buying things and hanging out with his friends. Even when Violet shoves the ugly truths in his face, he simply pushes her away. Also, the futuristic vernacular and slang which nearly all the characters use can be annoying and difficult to decipher. Characters refer to each other as “unit” (which translates, “dude”) and refer to things as “brag” (cool) or “meg” (very, really). Ultimately, this language helps immerse the reader in this future world and is used to make a point about the dumbing down of language (and society in general), but comprehending the dialogue is challenging in the beginning.

This is dark science fiction. Anderson does not give the reader any easy answers or story book endings. This is not the story of how one person over throws a corrupt system and changes the world. This is the story of how small and insignificant the individual becomes in an ultra consumerist society which is so obsessed with luxury and technology that people would sooner bury their heads in the sands and live in self delusion than struggle to make the world a better place. For those readers who enjoy science fiction which provides a distorted, fun house mirrored image of reality, Feed provides plenty of food for thought and discussion.

Author Info

M.T. Anderson was born November 4, 1968 in Cambridge, MA. His first young adult novel was Thirsty (1998) about a high school freshman who finds he’s becoming a vampire. He has also written the YA novels Burger Wuss (1999) about love and revenge and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Vol. I & II (2006 & 2008 respectively). Vol. I won the National Book Award for Young People as well as Printz Honor Book in 2007.

Concerning his own writing Anderson has said, "We are so used to the bizarre images, cabals, rituals, and rites that constitute our lives that they seem natural, even invisible, to us….I admire books that facilitate renewed awareness of the way we live, and this is what I'm attempting in my own work: renewed awareness both for myself and, I hope, for my readers. That's my goal, in any case."

"M. T. Anderson." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Apr. 2010.

Book Talking Ideas
1. In the world of Feed, how to big corporations view people? Are there any similarities between the marketing/advertising in Feed and the marketing/advertising today?
2. In Feed, technology is essential. What are some examples from the book that exemplify this? Today, has technology become indispensable?
3. Is technology, particularly the internet, making people smarter or dumber? Why?

Challenges

The inclusion of Feed in a Middle School Library in Vancouver, WA has been challenged. The book contains a lot of profanity and has some sexual situations. The subject matter and reading level is probably beyond most Middle School students, but the themes are very appropriate for High School readers.

Why I choose this title

I was really intrigued by the premise. I found the book on a “Challenged YA Book” list on Amazon and was curious to see why it was challenged.