In early 2007, I stumbled upon John and Hank Green’s now-complete Brotherhood 2.0 video blog (or vlog). (They now have a new vlog/blog at Nerdfighters.com.) To be honest, I had never heard of either of them before their project, but their vlog posts were painfully funny and a welcome diversion from my piles and piles of graduate school work.
Here are two vlog posts of John Green reading a draft of Paper Towns way back in 2007: Paper Towns, Part 1 and Paper Towns, Part 2. (And don’t worry, they’re not spoilers.)
In December 2007, Brotherhood 2.0 ended. Eventually, I stopped thinking about the Green brothers and Paper Towns until Melissa Walkerposted on her blog in October about Paper Towns and this fantastic video of people with their new copies! (Thanks for the reminder, Melissa!)
Paper Towns was definitely something to be excited about. It’s a fantastic realistic story wherein the protagonist learns more about himself than the person he is searching for. I would put it in the Catcher in the Rye—Perks of Being a Wallflower—Be Good—Tell Your Sister category of bildungsromans that are and would be appealing to young adults, 20-somethings, and YA literature fans like myself.
John Green balanced the right amount of emotionality without becoming sappy, existentialism without becoming too abstract, and humor without becoming insincere. I was thoroughly impressed, and I look forward to reading more of John Green’s work. 4.5/5
Have you read this book yet? What do you think of it?
It has all come to this: The Amber Spyglass continues and completes the story of Lyra and Will with the greatest climax in all of the trilogy and the final denouement. And no, I didn’t get my happy ending, per se, but I did get a promise.
There are more ambiguities, more philosophical ideas, more complex relationships in The Amber Spyglass than the parts before it.
I was engrossed from start to finish; I could not put it down. When I finished, I had a hard time putting my thoughts to words. From the world of mulefas (ultimately quadruped intelligent people with seed pods for wheels), to the world of the dead, to the world of our own, to Lyra’s — from meeting, despising, and befriending the Gallivespian spies (fairy-sized people with poisonous spurs on their heals), to meeting Lyra’s own death, to falling in love — there was so much to say. All of it was worthwhile, all of it added to the complexity and depth of the characters, all of it made me want more.
This trilogy would be a set of jewels in any collection, especially one for young adults. The progression of the story not only takes place in what happens, but in the ideas expressed and the maturity of the prose. I can’t wait to read all 1200+ pages again. 5/5
My first exposure to immigrant services in public libraries was when I read a case study on free English as a Second Language tutelage for adult learners in Michigan. I was touched then, reading about how great it was for the people involved and the community at large. I saw this NYLA program, Libraries Pave the Road to Citizenship, as a chance for me to learn more about that subject.
I was surprised to learn that I would hear not only about libraries participating in teaching adult immigrants the English language, but also that there are libraries participating in aiding patrons with the naturalization process. The panelists were:
I’ve always found information literacy to be really interesting, not least because of its importance in being a good citizen of a democratic government and making wise decisions. Without knowing how to judge sources on their reliability and bias and critically analyze them, all information is useless.
So it is no surprise that the first program I chose to go to at the NYLA Conference in Saratoga Springs was called 21st Century Information Literacy Standards for Digital Learners of New York. The presenter was Fran Roscello, of Roscello Associates Information Literacy Consultants and the co-chair of the NYLA Information Literacy Task Force. Read the rest of this entry »
The Subtle Knife is definitely a sequel, and reading it immediately after reading The Golden Compass is satisfying in a way that reading it alone would not have been. However, as a stand-alone work it was very good. It maintained the same tone of voice as The Golden Compass without being tiresome or too similar to it. (And I’m still glad to know that there is more to come in Book III.)
Lyra is still our protagonist, and in this part of His Dark Materials, she befriends a boy named Will who is from a different world than Lyra’s, one much like our own. Their relationship grows and strengthens over the course of this part of the story. Lyra and Will, both clever and good-natured prepubescent children, form a friendship with each other when they are both in trying times of loneliness and desperation. But it is not just a friendship of convenience; they sincerely admire and care about each other. In a quiet conversation near the edge of sleep, Pantalaimon, Lyra’s dæmon, encourages Will:
“[Lyra] thinks you’re the bravest fighter she ever saw, as brave as Iorek Byrnison.”
“I suppose I better try not to seem frightened, then,” Will said. He was quiet for a minute or so, and then he said, “I think Lyra’s braver than me. I think she’s the best friend I ever had.”
“She thinks that about you as well,” whispered the dæmon.
Presently Will closed his eyes.
Lyra lay unmoving, but her eyes were wide open in the dark, and her heart was beating hard. (p. 267)
Book II maintained the excitement of Book I, but in a more sobering way. I felt much more panic reading this book than I did the other, and much less bliss. It is still an exciting story and still one I want to continue (forever), but it’s sad. Here’s to hoping for a happy ending! 5/5
All views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the people or organizations with whom I have been, will be, or am now affiliated. They are my own opinions, unless otherwise noted.
