Young Lit for My Students (and me)

Lately I have thrown myself into some youth literature. I say that it is to pre-read for my students to see if I should buy a copy for my room, and it may have started out like that but it turned into something a lot more. A friend of mine was talking about these books she was reading at the beginning of the summer, I had the first book and I decided to give it a go. This was City of Bones I wrote about earlier. I was hooked. Cassandra Clare is in the process of writing two series dealing with the same basic concepts; Shadowhunters. I made the mistake of trying to explain this concept to a friend of mine and I failed.... miserably. So I am not going to try it here, I have learned my lesson. These stories are written for young adults, like the dreaded Twilight series. I have to admit that I liked the Twilight books when I first read them and then they were ruined by the movies. These two series make the teenage girl inside a happy girl.



The Mortal Instruments Series: City Of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls with the last being City of Heavenly Fire that is not yet published (ahhhhh) expected out in March 2014. They are making a movie but I am hesitant, I saw who is to play Jace and he is too pretty. Oh well, we will have to see.

What I like about these stories  is that they take the reader into another world. They are so easy to get lost in. The books are long but a fast read with some great character development. I enjoyed myself.

Family was the focus that I got from the first three in particular. Can you choose your family? How does your family affect you? How do they affect the person you will become? Can you really shake their influence if it wasn't very good? What is family? Last, how do you know if something is really evil?

These stories are filled with teen angst, but unlike Twilight, the main characters do something. They save the world and fight demons! Not a classic story but one that is enjoyable, very fun to read!

From what I understand, the first 3 books were meant to end the series but Clare decided to take it further with the last 3. She ran the risk of making it obvious that she meant to end the series and then wanted to make more money so she took it further, which usually means that the last three books are not as good. She didn't, the books do flow and the events do go together. New challenges and new reasons for the two main characters to not live a calm life. I love how the outer characters were developed in this last series, Isabelle in particular. She does a lot in the other books but later the story is told from her eyes for a while and it was great to get to know her and her take on what was happening.

The Infernal Devices Series: Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince and the soon to be released Clockwork Princess in March 2013.

I started to read these because I was going through withdrawal from the first series. I actually think that I like these stories better. It is set in Victorian England with the Institute in London. Her main character is now a Downworlder (not Shadowhunter or human, vampies, warewolves, warlocks etc) with a power she doesn't understand who is taken in by the Institute to help her and for her to help them. There are two boys there. There, our female Downworlder has a choice between two very different but great men. There are curses, poisonings, addictions and marriage, plus a woman in charge of the Institute, love her! Once again, family is called into question and what makes a family. Ready for the next book.

My issue with these books for my students is how long they are. They will see how long it is and then not try to read it. I was thinking about trying to break the books apart for my students. I don't want to mess with copyright laws but I need to find a way to trick my students... :-)

Good, enjoyable books that are fun to read.



Next, I am going to give The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand another shot. I know that many people either love Ayn Rand or hate her. I read this book in high school and thought it was ok. I am going to give it another shot and see if there is something that I missed.