Ebb & Flow vs Season of Styx Mallone

                    Ebb & Flow                vs        The Season of Styx Mallone

Vanessa and Debbie: Well I wanted to like Styx Malone, I really did.  At first I thought I was reading a re-telling of One Red Paper Clip but kid style.  But what I found was a story that was all over the place and IMHO, not well written.  It was a struggle just to finish.  I really did want to like it.... Then I read Ebb & Flow and my faith in a good story returned.  Written in verse, it is a tale of a student who made some bad choices after hooking up with some “bad kids” and how he spent a summer at his Gramma’s place learning to take ownership of his actions.  I think the Gramma is the real hero of this story - she loves her grandson unconditionally but doesn’t let him get away with anything. For me, there is no contest....Ebb&Flow for the win!

Norma: Started Ebb and Flow, got right into the story and format and finished the book quickly.  It was an easy read in a format that would appeal to young readers.  The story was very engaging.  I was excited to get into reading The Season of Styx Malone.  I started the book and kept waiting for it to amp up but it dragged on and on.  I had a hard time finishing it as it lost its appeal.  My vote is for Ebb and Flow for the win!

Kim: Read Heather Smith’s Ebb & Flow first because I am usually not a huge fan of books in verse (although the sun and her flowers by rupi kaur turned my world rotating in a different direction) and I thought I would get it out of the way and get to Styx Malone - the good book. Wow, I could not have been more wrong!

Ebb & Flow was beautiful in so many ways and dealt with heavy, deep themes that would serve up delicious discussion/conversations with teens. The relationship between Jett and his “cotton candy granny” is tender, nonjudgmental and just what he needs to redirect him to a better path. She allows Jett the freedom to look at who he is and who he wants to be. “... Junior made Jett do lots of bad things. Grandma looked right through me. Great story… if you like fairy tales.” I read it twice because it was so well written. 

The Season of Styx Malone was simple and underdeveloped. I was hoping to love Styx and see all his complexities. None of that happened. 

My vote - hands down - is Ebb & Flow. 

Joelle: Okay, this is going to be an unpopular thought: I thought Ebb and Flow was a bit pretentious with the verse format.  I think many of the truly beautiful lines: “They came like arrows shot from a bow.  Fast, mean and straight for the heart.  If only they came like boomerangs instead.  Boomerangs go back where they came from.” “...When I was a good person; when people with no teeth made me sad,” could all have been just as beautiful in prose.  So I thought the verse style made it rather gimmicky, but it clearly couldn’t stretch into a prose novel.  The riff was very Touching Spirit Bear, with a grandmother and a protagonist once removed from violence.  Growing up I knew a kid like Junior; he lived in a shack, his dad beat him, he was violent and tried to push his pain onto the world around him, and reading Ebb and Flow I could only see him and wonder what ever became of him, if anything.  It was personally affecting and the language was occasionally gorgeous.  Even if the ending was a little unsatisfying, I don’t know how else it could have happened; it ended like real life--messy and more than a little unfinished.  I was glad by the end though that Jett hadn’t done all of the terrible things you imagine all the way along. 

Season of Styx Malone was empty.  I had no real feelings for any of the characters; I didn’t care what happened to them.  The whole thing seemed so unlikely, and I had difficulty imagining their world because it was so simple.  I enjoyed the brief appearance of Pixie but that was it.  I definitely have to vote with Ebb and Flow for sure!  

  vs.

The Hillcrest Team:
The winner is... Patron Saints of Nothing

The Weight of Our Sky and Patron Saints of Nothing both pivot on the coming of age characters who are dealing with tragic situations.  Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing is a powerful coming-of-age tale about 17 year old Filipino-American Jay Reguero, who goes to the Philippines to uncover the truth about his cousin's death.  Compassion, identity, and courage are important themes is this book.  The novel explores Filipino culture and history, specifically President Duterte's violent war on drugs.  The war on drugs is central to the story, and there are mentions of articles and descriptions of photos that depict some of the gruesome murders happening in the Philippines.  Jay must come to terms with the injustice of the violence visited upon the people, specifically his cousin, by the government, as well as the silent aggression of his uncle's house, where no one is to speak of Jay's cousins death. 

In The Weight of Our Sky, Malaysian author Hanna Alkaf places her protagonist Melati, a music-loving teenager afflicted with obsessive compulsive disorder, alone and directly in the line of the country's 1969 race riots.  This book deals with themes of identity, compassion and courage, but they are overshadowed by the all-consuming nature of the protagonist's OCD. Every decision Melati makes is met with demands from her tormentor, the inner voice she refers to as the Djinn, and she spends the bulk of her time counting to threes to prevent disaster, and the brutal death of her mother and loved ones.  In contrast, the actual death of her best friend, a fate she would have shared had not a bystander intervened, is spoken of in very little detail.  The constant references to her psychological condition becomes tedious, maybe the point of this fixation is to drive home the debilitating nature of OCD, but I found that it detracted from more salient issues in the story.

Stepsister by By Jennifer Donnelly

**** This blog post is contributed by Kara, a Grade 6 student, copied from her own book blog with permission****

Isabelle is the ugly stepsister that cut off her own toes. Her sister, Tavi, cut off her heel. And Maman made them do it. Isabelle was about to win the prince, but then he discovered Ella, Isabelle’s pretty stepsister and Isabelle is left with Tavi and Maman. Life is hard there in Saint Michel for them; the villagers hate them because of all the mean stuff they did to Ella. They throw rocks and other objects at their house all the time, and they charge Isabelle more for food.

Then one night, Isabelle sneaks out and meets the fairy queen, Tanaquill, the one who granted Ella her wish to go to the ball. Isabelle makes a wish, which is to become pretty. Tanaquill says “Find the lost pieces of your heart.” So Isabelle tries but she doesn’t really know what the pieces are. Tanaquill also gave her three gifts, a walnut shell, a jawbone from a small animal and a blackbriar seedpod.

Meanwhile,  is taking over France and killing towns. All the armies are trying to stop him and his men but they can’t.

Fate and Chance are both trying to change Isabelle’s path. Chance is trying to help Isabelle find the pieces of her heart; Fate is trying to prevent it. 

The one night Isabelle and Tavi’s house burns down and they beg to stay at the stingy Madame Benet’s house. Fate has also disguised herself as a relative of Madame’s and Isabelle knows her as Tantine. Fate tries to stop Chance, But they keep stealing Isabelle’s map from each other.

Isabelle needs to find the pieces of her heart-and fast. Time is running out and the skull on Isabelle’s map tells Fate and Chance that she doesn’t have much time before she dies. Will Isabelle find the pieces of her heart or will she give into Fate and die? Find out in this fascinating story!

I loved this book so much because I love fractured fairy tales. This book also was great because it was about powerful girls who changed the world and were brave. This book was also written in a very descriptive way, and all of the chapters ended on cliffhangers. Isabelle was a strong character with lots of emotion and she made readers think. 

I think this book was a lot like Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism because Molly and Isabelle were both strong female leaders anyone can look up to. I’d give this book five stars! ★★★★★

The Faithful Spy by John Hendrix

***This blog post is contributed by Iris H, a Grade 6 student, copied from her own book blog with permission****

     The Faithful Spy is about a man named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Dietrich is a Theologian. He grew up in a very intelligent family. He had seven siblings, one of them being his twin sister, Sabine, and two parents. Even though he liked music and science, he was more interested in god. 

     When Dietrich was 14, a man named Adolf Hitler, a former veteran of World War I, Decided to share his ideas with Germany. He promised a great future for the country, where there would be no more suffering. This gained Hitler popularity because people were desperate for a better life. Dietrich did not like this because he also knew that Hitler hated Jews and he didn’t like injustice, even if it wasn’t towards him.

     In 1930, Dietrich traveled to New York City to continue his studies at Union Theological Seminary. There, he met many friends that helped him become who he was.

     While Bonhoeffer was in New York City, Germany was falling deeper into disaster, giving Hitler more chances to strike. Germany’s president became deathly ill and died. Adolf saw this as an opportunity and called an election to see who will be the next president. As you guessed, Hitler won and became the president as well as the chancellor.

     Dietrich had returned already and found the situation of his beloved country horrid. He had met with some other people who were against Hitler’s ideas and they formed a group.

     Hitler started making plans, huge plans, in fact, he wanted to invade Austria, then Czechoslovakia, and after that Poland and many more countries, and claim them for Germany. All with the people’s approval.

     Dietrich knew Hitler was steering Germany into another World War, but what could one man do? He knew time was running out, he had to think quickly to save his country.

     Dietrich was a very faithful man, who sacrificed so much for his home. He always thought about other people first, even if it cost him his life.

     If you like history books that aren’t just pages full of tiny words, this is the perfect book for you. It contains graphics and bright colours that are very interesting to look at. Facts are just scattered enough to be fun to read.

     Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s last recorded words were, “This is the end- for me the beginning of life.” I find this quote very inspiring since he is still hopeful even in a time of tragedy. 

     I give this book ★★★★★★★★★★

Sadie vs Otherwood

Both novels speak to a hidden darkness, secrets that lie restless underneath the dust of silence. Even though it may seem that Sadie would eat Stuey and Elly Rose alive, the power of secrecy and the desire to unleash them, binds them together.

Otherwood started off much like how I start off in the morning. Stiff, creaky, blurry and so damn slow. I even debated just skimming the book because I just wasn’t interested. I remember rolling my eyes at some parts of Otherwood just hoping that SOMETHING would happen so I could get on with it and finish it. It wasn’t until “the incident” that my interest was somewhat piqued. I simply found the writing hard to connect to. It was dry, emotionless, and at times forced. Cliches ended up making it’s presence known a few times. I wasn’t very impressed with the stereotypical wide-mouthed, gap-toothed, heavy set image of a black woman that the author created. I just wasn't impressed. You know how you can tell that the author had a startling image in their head and the whole purpose of the first 50 pages is just to get to it… that’s what this felt like. I wanted the beginning of the book to be more meaningful. The middle was muddy but started to get more intriguing.  The ending was good, however, I just wanted more. Once I reached part 4 and 5 I was much more invested and actually started to enjoy it. It’s very confusing at first but after a while, it starts coming out of the mist.

Oh, Sadie. Well, I can say it did live up to my expectations. I saw this book on a few lists and haphazardly read the summary. I was curious, and thought I can finally read a YA mystery book. This book had me engaged from the first page. It reminded me a little of Veronica Mars meets Criminal Minds meets Betty from Riverdale. It's raw, emotional, and speaks to a truth we all need to learn. As I was reading this book, I felt that the author was an architect. Courtney Summers built this mesmerizing world, crafted a strong ending, and made you want to look in the nooks and crannies of her narrative. Summers carefully added in different layers of knowing, little hints here and there, which left me constantly wanting to know more. I haven’t read a lot of books that use a podcast format so to see it done was fresh (to me). As a student reader, I can see how these would be a nice break between the Sadie chapters. The alternating chapters and perspective played well off of each other and really built the tension. I can say she successfully had me hooked until the end. I just wanted to get to the end and see what happened. Phew, what an ending. Some will love it, some will absolutely hate it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Me? After I took a day to digest I realized it was a perfect ending.

I only have to say that I feel bad that I read Otherwood after Sadie. Otherwood never had a fighting chance going after a powerhouse book like Sadie. Otherwood did take me to another world but I was always one foot in, one foot out. Sadie clawed her way into the pit of my stomach and made a home there. Either way, I would definitely recommend both books to my students.

Nellie Carlson Team

“I, Claudia” by Mary McCoy vs. “Moonrise” by Sarah Crossan

Our team debated the merits of both books, and there were many merits to debate.  

“I, Claudia” is a spinoff of Robert Grave’s novel, “I, Claudius”, which is itself a retelling of Roman history.  The book considers the question: Does absolute power corrupt? I, Claudia is a wonderful introduction to politics, both the potential and the corruption.  The premise, while a bit unrealistic, is challenging, complex and filled with believable motivations and ideals. Throughout the book, the reader is lead to believe the protagonist, but the final trial leaves the reader doubting the truth… we all see the world through our own eyes.  

However, there are a few weaknesses to the book.   The opening chapter has an encounter with a fortune teller that seems random, unconnected, and distracting.  The amount of power invested in a student body is unrealistic, even if you choose to see this book as a school life allegorical extension of Roman history.  The teachers and administration are for the most part, anemic, weak, and even unethical. However, such is the strength of the writing, that the student politics engages the reader to the point where they are able to suspect belief for the sake of the plot. 

Overall, I, Claudia is a strongly written modern day prep-school rewrite of Ancient Roman politics and corruption.  It would be a great way to introduce students to politics, history, and the philosophical question of power and corruption. 

The second book, Moonrise, by Sarah Crossan, tells the story of a family struggling with the imminent death sentence of an older brother.  The story is written in blank verse and with an emotional intensity that is both gripping and heart wrenching. Although a quick read, the book is written in a style that is not easy to read.  It requires concentration.  I read parts of the book out loud to enjoy the style, and to force concentration and engagement. 

Moonrise raises difficult issues of justice, forgiveness, racism, and social marginalization.  It also forces the reader to consider whether capital punishment is simply legalized murder, based on revenge, the ultimate irony of a “justice system”.  At the same time, Moonrise forces readers to wrestle with issues of family dynamics, poverty, and prejudice. Dysfunctional families still feel love, hope, laughter, and profound sadness.  The balance of justice and mercy is dynamic, and effects more than the immediate victim and criminal. Does our justice system consider this balance?

Moonrise is a beautifully written book that leaves the reader unsettled.  It is serious, political, thoughtful and moving. For round one of Smackdown, Moonrise rises as the winner. 

Henry (and Team)

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