Author: Gary Paulsen
Published: 2004, Yearling
128 pages
This book is the definition of “short and sweet.” I read it in half a sitting. Paulsen starts out with a lighthearted dedication: “This book is dedicated to all boys in their thirteenth year; the miracle is that we live through it” and carries this sweet humorous tone throughout his true tales of dangerous teenage boy behavior.
In the title story, one of Paulsen’s friends decides he wants to break the world record for speed on skis and the results, as well as the journey leading to the results, are hilarious. All of Paulsen’s tales are endearing, with a sweet sense of nostalgia, and very entertaining.
Many reviewers laud this book as an ideal read for elementary-age or teenage boys, but I could see many girls really enjoying this book as well. I know that my own thrill-seeking teenage girl self (I used to light rolls of toilet paper on fire “just because” and also “to see what would happen.”) would have really appreciated the antics these boys resorted to out of sheer boredom and curiosity.
Author: Robert Cormier
Published: 2004, Knopf (this version)
272 pages
Originally published in 1974, this book established Cormier’s strong footing in the YA market. A lot of people are really crazy about this book, but I found myself slightly unimpressed with it. It is certainly an entertaining read (I got through it in a matter of hours), but I just can’t relate to it as much as I can relate to other YA books that I’ve read.
The book is about a kid named Jerry Renault taking on The Vigils — a secret society that rules his elite boys’ prep school. Jerry asks himself throughout the novel “Do I dare disturb the universe?” and he ends up disturbing at least his school’s universe when he rebels against The Vigils, with disastrous results.
Cormier raises some interesting questions about human nature, and the reason many reviewers have loved this book is because of his “uncompromising portrait of human cruelty” (School Library Journal) or his “good sense for the realistic” (Bestsellers). I, on the other hand, think the portrait Cormier paints is so overwhelmingly negative and harsh that it becomes unbelievable. There are many villains in the novel, and none of them have the redeeming qualities that would make them human. Maybe I’m just lucky, but I’ve never met anybody as “bad” as Brother Leon or Archie, the two main villains Cormier creates.
The Chocolate War is nonetheless worth a read because a) it’s a classic, b) it’s entertaining, and c) maybe you’ll feel lucky for never having met anybody like Cormier’s villains (Come on, your ex-boyfriend really isn’t that bad).
Author: Donna Jo Napoli
Published: 1996, Dutton Books
240 pages
Zel is Napoli’s reimagining of the classic Rapunzel fairy tale. I seem to be the only person who didn’t enjoy this book. I have nothing against fairy tale retellings, but I do not think Napoli offers anything fresh or unique to the classic fairy tale, except for giving us more background information and painstakingly (emphasis on the pain) more detail.
Napoli goes in-depth about what it was like for Rapunzel to be locked up in the tower. Rapunzel eventually goes mad (as would be expected from someone who is locked in isolation for years), and the imagery along the way is absolutely horrifying. I appreciate that Napoli tries to give us a bit of realism, but for me it was just too much.
Napoli attempts to bring the tale down to earth, and what we end up with is something so grounded that it is a total bore. It’s nice to see Rapunzel and the prince having actual emotions and fears and faults (as opposed to their stereotypical fairy tale counterparts), but at no point in the book do any of their emotions or fears or faults actually surprise me. It is exactly what I would have expected from the original fairy tale version, just 240 pages longer.
I am going to stop calling this a “reimagined” fairy tale and call it just an “extended” fairy tale. Maybe that will make it more tolerable for me.
