Quarterfinals....

What can be said....beyond wait for that zombie pick it could be a doozie! Ties, bracket predictions, friends and families torn asunder, books thrown in rage and then picked up and returned to libraries...(we're not monsters!) have all brought us to this - THE QUARTER FINALS!!

 Now it will be Blood vs Bomb, Ness vs Ivan, Leonard vs the Witches and 7s vs Aristotle & Dante. What will the odds makers say now? Those reading will learn their brackets by tomorrow with books to follow...those reading feel free to Smack!

Tie No More!

As Holly stated in an earlier post comment, I did go back to the reading lair and sat (sadly without the book slippers - where do I get those?) reading through The Silence of Our Friends last night.

As some know, I like my history wrapped in a story and was very excited to get into this graphic novel. I have read a few entries in this era and enjoyed Lions of Little Rock, Claudette Covin: Twice Toward Freedom and Marching for Freedom: Walk Together Children, And Don't you Get Weary. Frankly, I was leaning towards this book to be an unique graphic novel experience in this reading area.Unfortunately, I found the graphic novel disjointed. The book roamed from the children's perspective - never really fleshed out to the men's friendship - never really fleshed out  and out of the YA arena. Perhaps one focus (I would say child's ) would have enhanced this experience. I do believe background for this book would be important, as it would be for any of the books listed previously. I think Arlene is right this book would go off the shelf easily - more easily than a fantasy book with an unfortunate manga cover; but I don't think the story, as it is told, is worthy. In School of Good and Evil - it's a better story and that's where the gavel is going to come down.

Careful What You Ask For...

Well, Andrew, you wanted more Silence of Our Friends in this discussion.  Here it is.

The book that stood out for me this round was most definitely Silence of Our Friends.  I don't see the same problems with content that my colleagues on the opposing side did. Yes, maybe background knowledge might not be as strong for all readers as it should be to fully grasp the entire story. However, for me its power is in what each reader would take away from it which does not necessarily need to be the same thing at the same level. If our students are reading it with an open mind, asking questions and wondering as we hope that they would, they could come to have the questions that are meaningful to them about the things that they may not have the background. If we are building a community of readers as we hope we are, readers would have individuals with whom they could discuss.  From a library perspective, scaffolding happens when the book is returned and the conversation takes place. The student asks if there are more books like the one being returned or about the same topic to build knowledge around the topic. I can see readers who enjoyed Yummy, a former Smackdown contender, enjoying this book as they work their way up their personal reading ladder. In addition, circulation and student requests of realistic stories and graphic novels far outweigh student requests for fantasy. In the end, part of it is how well we know our students as readers. While we didn't have time to test out School for Good and Evil with a students, we did try out Silence of Our Friends and was enjoyed by a girl in grade nine.

I also wonder if we aren't underestimating our readers. Our students are much more visual learners than we ever were (or are). I think we have to give our students more credit in their ability to determine what the images mean. Some might not always know what the images mean, but would know that they mean something.  My opposition might use my own argument against me as I opened our discussion at lunch the day before yesterday with The School for Good and Evil was too.... Too long. Too repetitive. I know a niche group of a readers who would gobble it up. For others, the message would get lost in the length. Many more would never persist to the end and, if they were a male reader, wouldn't get past the cover art.

The Silence of Our Friends would not sit quietly on the shelf; The School for Good and Evil would.

The School for Good and Evil vs Silence of Our Friends

Who would have thought that two books could have divided a staff so much.  As a result we are tied (2 votes Silence of Our friends and 2 votes School for Good and Evil).

As I am one of the supporters for Good and Evil; I do wish that there was a bit more Silence from my Friends in this decision. I do understand that the graphic novel format is quick and easy for students to read and therefore could be accessible for them, but I don't think that this "ease" out weighs the problems with the content. A deep and through set of background knowledge is needed to support the story of Silence of Our Friends. It took me at least two full classes to prepare our students before we watched The Butler earlier this year and even so, students still had questions about events that they could not understand.  This scaffolding does not happen when students simply check a book out of the library. On the other hand, Good and Evil is a story that needs no background teaching or support to understand the concepts or storyline.  I will admit that it is long and somewhat repetitive, but not at the expense of a unique and interesting story line filled with deeper meanings.  I believe that students will quickly find the story  interesting and will grasp the  bigger issues (such as the difference between words and actions - a necessary life lesson).  Bottom line:  I would move The School for Good and Evil forward and let Silence of Our Friends sit quietly on the shelf to be used as a supporting resource for a social studies class.

Smack on ...

Tie Breaker

I will keep this short and sweet. In the history of Smackdown, I have never had to break a tie. I have read both Code Name Verity and Counting by 7s. I enjoyed them both, although I was reminded that it took me a while to get into Code Name Verity. I have used beautiful sentences from both as a place for my students to start writing.

My tie breaking vote has to go to Counting by 7s. Why you ask? It is a book that does not require much, if any, of a sell. Code Name Verity was not a book that my students were interested to read at all, not even my very best readers.

Smackdown History!!!

Never in our long (almost 4 year) history have we ever had to issue this phrase:  Here come the judge...s.  Two brackets battled bravely and could not get past their deadlock.  That means Arlene and I will break the tie.

Arlene will cast the deciding vote between Code Name Verity and Counting by 7s because I smacked without all the results being in (bad me).

I will cast the deciding vote between The Silence of our Friends and School of Good and Evil because I can stand to have at least two more people from my school enraged at my decisions.

Stay tuned friends....end of the day the quarter finals will be set.

13 Hangmen or More Than This?

Brad:  Well, it seems that our esteemed, and clearly-more-organized-than-us, colleagues have already posted their thoughts on our round, and I’m guessing we will be in agreement (he said, hopefully, but not having any idea what Jyoti is about to write).   First up:  Art Corriveau’s 13 Hangmen.

Shockingly, I kind of loved it.  Why shockingly?  Terrible cover.  A premise that (at least initially) seems bordering on redonkulous.  Kind of time-travelly, kind of ghosty shenanigans (both of which I usually despise).  Lots of American history, of which I know almost nothing (other than that which I acquired from Schoolhouse Rock—almost forty years later, I can still tell you how a bill becomes a law).  Some terribly klunky dialogue.  And, the novel’s greatest flaw, an almost interminable first third or so.

But once it gets going…

If my twelve year-old self could think of one book to compare 13 Hangmen to, and this is pretty high praise from twelve year-old me, it would be The Westing Game.  Good lord, I loved that book.  Not so much in style or tone or even plot, but I just loved the riddles and the running around and the over-arching mystery and breathless, goofy, chaos of it all.  And that’s 13 Hangmen for me.  There’s a real satisfaction when it all starts clicking into place, every chapter ending on a cliffhanger or a moment of shocking revelation.  Rollicking.  Maybe even thrilling.  Twelve year-old me would be reading this one under the covers with a flashlight, that’s for sure. 

But…there’s that first third.  Which I think would turn off most readers.  To the point where, I’m not sure I could convince an entire class to keep slogging.  But for some kids?  This would be like literary crack.  Definitely something I would keep in the classroom to put into some lucky kid’s hands.

But first I would burn that terrible dustjacket.

Jyoti:  I can totally see how 13 Hangmen has rollicking appeal for a bit, but I couldn't help but be reminded of that book my junior high kids were reading about six or seven years ago. The one where the boy gets transported to a parallel universe but only his BFFs know about it? The title totally escapes me, but that kind of proves my point. This one was fun once you get into it, but it doesn't really 'stick'.  

 If 13 Hangmen felt more like a bowl of popcorn, then More Than This felt more like...oh forget it...there's absolutely no appropriate food analogy. Well, except maybe a tin of canned goods scavenged from an abandoned supermarket? 

This one was smart and compelling and drew me in immediately, despite my initial fear that it would turn into a boy version of The Lovely Bones. Ness handles sensitive and difficult topics deftly while combining them with some serious suspense. 

Brad:  Man.  I really loved this.  I couldn’t agree more.

And so as not to ruin any of the unfettered joys of pure, unadulterated twistiness of the novel, I think we should keep this as spoiler free as possible.  Hmmm…how to extol the virtues of a book when you can’t really speak of the narrative…?

How about this:  Ness has a knack for having Seth ask himself just the right questions about his circumstances so that his paranoia fuels our paranoia, and Seth’s (sometimes justified, sometimes not so much) suspicions drive us to question everything that we understand, until the next ball drops, and the circumstances change again.  But not in an irritating, eye-rolling, deus ex machina kind-of-way—this is a book that demands careful, deliberate close reading, and one soon realizes that all of the "pieces" are there in front of your eyes for the entire book, from the first three pages onward.  It is a book in which a deliberate, seemingly unimportant word or phrase on page two holds the key to an event hundreds of pages later.  Yep.  This is the kind of book that would demonstrate to a student that what we teach of artistic unity and authorial choice really does matter.  And it is done so in such a compelling, freaky, terrifyingly enthralling narrative, it doesn't even feel like "work."

Jyoti:  You're absolutely right about the close reading Ness demands of his readers. It's such a carefully constructed novel that invites the reader to engage philosophically in ways that are deeply satisfying and quite unexpected. There's nothing that feels contrived or patronizing: he's just that good.

Brad:  Ness sure has a way with language--even in the tensest of chase or fight scenes, a carefully chosen metaphor or simile brings an affective quality to the writing, catalyzing a real cinematic viscerality to what, in the hands of a lesser writer, would be thrilling, perhaps, but clichéd and tired.

Jyoti:  I love how he manages to make it philosophical, suspenseful and emotional all at once.  This is definitely worth the almost 500 pages, and I don't say that lightly at all. Absolutely time well spent.

Brad:  Oh, and those last two pages.  Good lord.  Bawling.  I can’t think of a more satisfying and affecting conclusion to a book in a looonng time.  In such a dark book of terror and suicide and existential misery, the last thing I expected was such kindness and compassion.  Like I said:  bawling.  And not just a little bit.  Entirely, unexpectedly satisfying.

Sooo…it’s pretty clear that we agree with Vanessa and Sandy that More Than This advances.  I’m not sure that we can count on a second Mighty Smackdown victory for Mr. Ness, but expect this one to go pretty far:  maybe Final Four?