This book competition seems almost unfair, as the genres, intended audiences, and content are so vastly different, but we gave it a go. For all of us at Westminster (5 teachers and 1 student), the clear winner was FAR FROM THE TREE, but Spiderman: Miles Morales got some unexpected love too.
As a rule, I don't care for comic books and would never readily pick one up. However, Spiderman: Miles Morales, had interesting and relatable (to an extent) characters, a unique plot and great artistry. I have definitely passed this on to some of my reluctant readers and it has been very well received. Overall though, I found it too hard to follow without knowing the backstory, and some of the layout made it difficult to digest too. I also really disliked the ending, or lack thereof, as I don't want to have to wait for the next one to see the story resolved.
From From the Tree was full of all the aspects that seem to permeate YA literature...multiple narrators, a love story (or two), and a slightly implausible, but highly engaging plot. The premise of the story, that three biological siblings separated at an early age meet up in their teens and deal with the hardships that life is throwing at them, was heartwarming and engaging. The story was well crafted, with characters who were both likeable and fallible, which added a nice dose of realism to a story that could otherwise be too unrealistic to be believed. Overall, I think the novel story idea paired with the relatable characters makes this story the obvious victor.
We look forward to reading the post of others who have read this one to see if it's going to move forward!
Far from the Tree was a pleasant surprise as we all turned our noses up at the cover of our edition of the novel. And I know we are not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but all I saw was a dated story of some young lovers. So when the issues of nature vs nurture began to develop,I was
ReplyDeleteintrigued.