The name of the game for October books was censorship. First, the nationwide Big Read was going on, and my library was a participant. Second, the first weekend in October was the conclusion of ALA's Banned Books Week. All of these books (actually, I'm unsure about Ender's Game ) were challenged in libraries.
First up was our choice for the Big Read, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. I read this book in high school and thought it was "alright." After reading it a second time, my opinion still stands, mainly because this tiny tiny book took me a whole month to read! Anyways, the book is about a world where fire fighter start fires instead of suppressing them. It's about a world where books are banned, not simply challenged, but banned. The main character, Guy Montag is one of the firefighters, but his life is forever changed when he meets his strange teenage neighbor. From here, Montag begins to question his world, and the reader follows his decisions and expected consequences. The book is really good, but I enjoy reading more about Bradbury himself since he has led such an interesting life. I can't believe he wrote this book in a matter of days. I think this book took me so long to read because a colleague and I ended up presenting at a children's literature conference on the novel and censorship. Even then, I found it tedious at times.
I've been meaning to read more Judy Blume forever (ha) and finally picked up the pre-teen favorite Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. This book is great. I can remember being 11 going on 12 and worrying about much of the same things. Reading it at twice the age makes the book a bit more comical, but I think almost any girl can identify with Margaret and her thoughts and feelings. I'd recommend this book to any female.
Next up was another challenged book that I had previously never heard of, although it did receive a Newbery Honor, called Olive's Ocean. Also, after reading it, I failed to see why it was in the top 10 for most challenged books for 2007. It's about a girl who visits her grandmother during the summer with her family. One of her classmates, Olive, was killed in a bicycle accident and had written that the main character was one of the nicest people in her class, although they did not have much contact. As the summer goes on, she experiences a few firsts (kiss and heartbreak) and also figures out a way to pay tribute to her fallen classmate. Overall, I thought it was a very good book, but fail to see why a kiss is worthy of challenging a book.
I had recommended His Dark Materials to a friend, who ended up loving the series. Watching her read it for the first time made me want to pick it up again as well. I think Lyra is one of the most well rounded characters in modern young adult literature. The worlds and imagery Philip Pullman creates are beautiful. The Golden Compass, which is actually my least favorite of the three, is about a fierce girl named Lyra who lives in a world where a person's soul is represented by an animal companion. She also lives in a world where children are being taken by people called "gobblers" and nobody knows exactly what happens to them other than they have something to do with the mysterious "dust" which is definitely not something that one sweeps. I feel very strongly about this series and most everything that he writes. Just because I don't agree 100% with his religious philosophy (which is usually misunderstood and incorrectly reported anyways) doesn't mean I can't read his books, find some common ground with them.
Finally, I have been meaning to read the sci-fi YA classic, Ender's Game for a while. It's a total boy book, but it had me hooked from the beginning. It's about a 6 year old boy named Ender Wiggin who is chosen to go through training to save the world from the alien buggers. He is placed in school to learn combat, and moves up in the ranks very fast. He is constantly manipulated by his superiors to the point where a good majority of his classmates do not like him at times. Does Ender persevere, or does he crack under pressure? This book was written in the 1970s and is way ahead of it's time. The gaming systems are similar to present day video game systems. There is also a system similar to the internet. I loved this book, and heard it is one of Card's best.
November should be a decent reading month. More His Dark Materials and maybe a classic... should be fun!
