Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging
Louise Rennison

New York: Harper Collins, 1999

Annotation: The Ace gang are out to conquer new and undiscovered territory where no eighth grader has gone before...except the rough crowd. They are about to learn the unmentionable and find out what it's all about and in the process, they are going to tell each other EVERYTHING about it. This mysterious matter that has Georgia Nicholson on the phone with Jas for long periods at a time is: Boys. And she's just met the ultimate sex god of them all, who also works at a vegetable market. But she has to overcome some major obstacles, including the zit on her nose, the fact that her nose is so big, she doesn't have any experience snogging, her baby sister (who is always in her care) just informed the sex god that she's performed a big poo, her wild cat Angus, and her irritating parents, who always treat her like she's still a little girl in rompers and not a budding woman with womanly bossomers. In the midst of it all, Georgia's hilarious attempts to advise her friends and dye her hair has readers clutching their sides with laughter and anticipating the arrival of her next book.

Reason for Rejection: While Louise does a fairly excellent job describing the ignorance of teen sex and the frivolty of teenage years, I feel that this book does not really fulfill one of the most important aspects of young adult literature, which is that the character grows by the end of the book and becomes changed. Georgia's growth, while is an occurance that does happen, requires an entire series to take place. In addition, while the ignorance of Georgia and her friends is prevalent amongst most teens, there is no lesson or value to be gained from her story. It is a book that is purely for leisure.

Genre: Humor/Extra Credit

Just Ella

Just Ella
Margaret Peterson Haddix

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999

Annotation: Life as a princess after rags and tatters seems like a dream come true. So what happens if the dream that you've always wanted turns out to be something you don't really want? Ella relates her Cinderella tale by showing the real means to her survival. She had no fairy Godmother to get her into the castle walls and now she doesn't need one to get out. She finds life to be a dull and senseless routine of being unable to express ideas and free thought as a woman. In addition, she has met her match in strength. But not in her true love the prince, but rather the governess figure in her life, Madame Bisset. Bisset is a woman who, for all her charms and lady-like mannerisms, grew up amongst the poor and less fortunate. Yet, like Ella, she has built a place for herself in the castle and won't let Ella's unhappiness keep her from staying. In the battle of the wills, and finding love in Prince Charming's tutor rather than the prince himself, it's the greatest test of strength to find out if Ella or Bisset will prevail in the end. Does Ella get to be a princess forever or will she follow a new dream by aiding the refugees of war at a camp outside the kingdom?

Reason for Recommendation: This was a complete twist on the Cinderella tale. Haddix did not try to recreate the story as it was, but rather looked at it from a practical angle. Ella has the chance of a lifetime and the dream of any young girl to ride off into the night, but she must learn the hard way that love must be deserved and earned and not given upon meeting. She also learns that a the riches don't make the prince and a heart of gold isn't inherited.

Genre: Romance/Extra Credit

Forever

Forever
Judy Blume

New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1975

Annotation: Katherine is about to enter her senior year when she meets Michael at a party. What starts as a mere crush turns into full blown love and Michael and Katherine discover a whole new side to romance. While Katherine and Michael form an attachment and fall in love, Katherine is faced with the hard lesson that falling in love is not necessarily forever. In the midst of her romance, Katherine's friends are also dealing with issues of their own, from teen pregnancy to questioning sexuality. And Katherine's summer away at camp teaches her about feelings and friendships.

Reason for Nomination: I felt that this book addressed a lot issues relating to teen sexuality very well. Blume did not exaggerate on either side of the spectrum, but rather tried to show the reader all the different aspects that can come from exploring sexuality. She did not punish the main characters, nor did she reward them based on certain characteristics. And most importantly, the learning experience and bridge between being a teenager and an adult is very evident in this book.

Genre: Censored/Extra Credit

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
Chris Fuhrman

Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1994

Annotation: Francis and his three best friends (all artists, who learned under the great leader of the pack, Tim) are bored at Catholic school and in their last year. The novel starts with them getting in trouble for drawing Sodom vs. Gomorrah '74, a comic that depicts inappropriate scenes about the Nuns at their school. Francis is under the unfortunate circumstance of having a hernia and being in love with Margie Flynn. As the novel progresses, Francis deals with the issue of race and trying to understand that people of all different backgrounds can be good and bad. In the midst of this battle of knowing right from wrong he is faced with the test of hating certain people of different races and not basing this hatred on their racial profiling. In addition, Francis' relationship with Margie progresses as he learns her deep and dark secret, but does not know how to handle this information without the support of his friends. As an attempt for one last moment of glory with a mountain lion, the boys learn that being young does not always mean that they are invincible.

Reason for Nomination: This novel covers a multitude of issues that are prevalent to the early 1970's, such as racial backlash and trying to grow up. The lives of these boys revolve around their friendship, which is very normal for boys of this age group. In addition, I believe that Chris Fuhrman depicted the feeling of invincibility within most 14-year olds so well, that I nearly forgot that Francis was not actually a real boy writing this story. The heroic attempts of the boys to do something great and get revenge from the bullies keeps the reader cheering for something great.

Genre: Coming of Age Novel/Extra Credit

Mock Printz Passionate Plea Non-Fiction II

Go Ask Alice is a tragic story about a young girl that begins experimenting with drugs at a local neighborhood party. As she spirals out of control and finds herself in a dark place she also tries to crawl out the hole of despair and become something new and fresh.

I don't think that this book is worthy of a Printz Award because it seems too unrealistic. First off, Alice's dramatic attitude seems a little scripted and well-versed. It seems pretty inconceivable that she could write so well, using proper punctuation, grammar and spelling, in addition to a rich vocabulary while under the influence of drugs. Also, even though Alice manages to save herself from a further downward spiral and maintains a better relationship with her family, i don't think that I can accept the fact that she would be allowed to babysit a small child so soon after the experiences she's had. Also, her relationship with her family seems to be readily ammended at a rather speedy rate which is not likely for most other teens. Nonetheless, even thought it is informative, some parts of the story seem a little untrue.

Mock Printz Passionate Plea Non-Fiction

While The Lost Boy, by David Pelzer, is a non-fiction and an excellent attempt to capture the faults of the foster care system and the aftermath effects of child abuse, it is still unable to win my favor for the Printz Award.

To begin with, the dialogue between the main character and his surroundings presents a victimized Tiny Tim persona that is neither appealing nor very convincing at times. While it is possible that Pelzer was trying to recapture his painful memories, I feel that he may have tried too hard to present himself as the poor victim surrounded by menacing characters.

In addition to this, David's voice and description in the book resonated an adult persona. One did not hear the young David speaking, but rather the adult man-David. This voice, while serious and informative, was not necessarily always translatable to teens. In some ways, it was like listening to the dialogue in an adult documentary made for children and trying to picture the images on your own. But even that voice left room for confusion. This may have been provided to give the reader a sense of what David had to experience and his lack of understanding of the people in his life. Yet, I felt that certain matters should have either been explained better or written better to allow the reader to feel as if he or she is viewing the problem through young David's eyes.

Mock Printz Passionate Plea Fiction

America, by E.R. Frank, is a well-written and provocative piece about a young boy who struggles with the inner demons in his head. His life, from start to finish, indicates tragedy after tragedy that enables the readers to not only sympathize with him but also cheer him on as he fights the good fight. His entire life is a metaphor for the struggles that many people have faced in this country, and he also encompasses this country as he looks like he could be any race or ethnicity and gets a lot of attention because of that. People are always walking up to him and asking him where he's from.

When reading this book, young adults are able to view from the eyes of a young boy the problems with the foster care system. They are also able to view the problems with racism, questioning sexuality, depression, and violence. America's voice is frank as he tries to move on from his past and into his future. The multiple metaphors found in this book enable readers with copious topics to discuss and decipher.

In addition, while the book provides a great deal of sadness that leaves the reader's Kleenex box in good company, it also provides hope.

In terms of qualification for the Mock Printz award, this book fulfills the following criteria:
First, the voice of a young teenage boy, who has been dealt a poor hand through luck and the carelessness and desperation of the foster care system, resonates through the book. There is never an instance when the reader suspects that they hear the voice of the author rather than the character.
Second, America struggles with a sense of self and trying to determine whether or not he is truly evil or has acted on his impulses to protect himself from further abuse. He is constantly wondering about the file containing his information and history that his therapist keeps. And it is not until he learns to accept himself that he can stop worrying about the file.
Thirdly, America's sense of distrust of all things adult, with the exception of the only mother-like figure in his life, is prevalent. And even with his foster mother he worries and feels a sense of mistrust towards her when she does not visit him. He does not believe that adults are liable to help him as much as they want to judge him for his confusion.
Fourth, diversity is a common theme in this book. Diversity is seen in race and ethnicity, social backgrounds, career paths, and economic. Yet, it is not limited at that, the rich and diverse personalities of the characters is evident. America's character alone goes through numerous personality changes based on the events that take place in his life, but the theme that never changes in his life is the love he has for his foster mother.

The growth in America's life and the changes he overcomes through the milestones in his life are symbolic of the struggles that this nation had to overcome and had experienced considering that is is relatively new by comparison. Likewise, America's young age is irrelevent to the experiences as he opens his eyes to the many faces of mankind from pure evil to pure good.

Overall, I say that this book is a masterpiece and absolutely deserves the Printz Award.