It's the Finals Baby!

Here it is folks all the blood, sweat, haikus and words have led to this! A MONSTER CALLS vs OKAY FOR NOW vs your zombie pick....A TALE DARK AND GRIMM.

Now we've heard the murmuring...nothing could beat such and such, how could you think such and such, what is the best book and just what the heck is the criteria for picking anyway? All of this unsureness pleases us because as all good teachers know there is no right answer which is why many of us ended up doing this zany work.Pick your book and support it. Maybe it is the best book for kids to pick up and read, maybe its the best book to work with kids on in the classroom, maybe its the best book for you.

All comments welcome and all of our thanks goes out to our fantastic bloggers who are this close to getting books for work - yeah!

Deadline for your final SMACK of this school year is MAY 31st.

A Monster Wins

A Monster Calls Wins

Insightful Literature, Tears

Truth, Love, Fear, Scary

Annabel

a revolution?
no assault to my senses
poetry perfect

narrative flawed.
no compassion for Andi
no love for this tale.

I'm okay for now
It touched my heart, gave joy
okay forever

Tracy

Split Monster

Edgy. Action-packed.

Keep you wondering? You bet!

Finish? Forget it.

A universal

story? Inevitable?

Death. A monster calls us all.

A Monster Calls is my vote to move forward.

No zombie pick for me!

Fictional Monsters VS Real Monsters

A Monster Calls

Sad, Dark, Depressing

Struggle, Death, Understanding

Brave, Truth, Life Lessons

(I liked and hated it!)

Split

Human monster Dad

Teens and broken family

Abuse, real life

The real monster Dad beats the Tree monster.

Split! Winner for me!

Donna O

no split here

Real bad dad, teen angst,

and soccer. What’s not to like?

Then, a monster called.

I don’t think this was really much of a contest. Split certainly offered much of what one might want in young adult fiction: a sympathetic, yet edgy (and, of course, as we’re told ad nauseum, sexy) protagonist; a clearly defined villain; several burgeoning love stories; and healthy doses of suspense throughout. I would imagine that there would be aspects of this novel that many of our students would enjoy and some would undoubtedly appreciate the way the whole thing is packaged. And therein lies the problem. This novel struck me as a YA package, even though the author is clearly trying to show us that she has moved beyond some YA tropes (which is, in itself, part of the package, but, I digress). A Monster Calls, on the other hand, was original, thought-provoking and moving. I have a lot to say about both of these works, but I’ll respect the spirit of the haiku round and stop in a second. As I mentioned, there are aspects of Split that are appealing, but there were many more that I found sublimely irritating, however, a detailed bashing wouldn’t seem to offer much at this point. If anyone needs convincing (I’m looking at you, Dia!), just let me know, and I’ll lay out my case. As for A Monster Calls, I’ll refer you to Brad’s eloquent and detailed review from a couple of rounds back. I think he covered everything that I could possibly address. It’s quite lovely.  Here’s the bottom line for me: Split is the kind of book that someone writes when they are trying to write”YA” fiction; A Monster Calls was a story that needed to be told and that story will appeal to young adults, as well as everyone else.

A Zombie Pick? Hmm. A Monster Calls was the best book I read during the smackdown. Beauty Queens, Sign Language, A Tale Dark and Grimm and Yummy all offered more, for my money, than either Split or Okay for Now, but I don’t think any of them are in the same league as A Monster Calls. Can I choose not to put forth a zombie pick?

Hard Choice

Fractured family
Struggle to SPLIT from abuse
Struggle to forgive

Luminous writing
Slows my reading to savour
The monster lessons

I read Split first and I really liked it. The tension was crazy at the end and I felt myself wanting to shout at the characters to get moving near the end when they go back for Mom. It was sad and mature but a book that could be dived into by many. It was my first pick. Then I read A Monster Calls.....darn that Arlene for picking such a book! It is just ridiculous. I cried at the illustrations and the words. Nothing anyone else hasn't said already. However, I will say I found the Henry character a little forced but still it is so good!  That's the problem. Would a kid say it was that good? Once again I sit on the edge of spectacular book but spectacular kids book?

The easy thing here is my vote isn't going to go against 5 others. In that case just for the above reason - accessibility  I vote SPLIT.