Books

   According to Dictionary.com, synesthesia is “a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization of a certain color.”  According to Mia, the heroine of A Mango-Shaped Space, it is when words and sounds have colors.  The letter a is “yellow like a faded sunflower” and sounds produce colors in geometric shapes flying around her head.

   The major component of an interesting book is an interesting hook.  Synesthesia is the perfect combination of medical truth and imaginative superpowers.  It makes Mia both relatable and distant, a character who is nice to read about, but who you really wouldn’t want to meet in real life.                 
   Mia’s cat is named Mango.  Although his appearances in the book are limited, he has a more important role than just being a name for the title.  He represents connections to Mia: connections to the spirit world of the dead, connections to the real world from her colors, connections to the earth and nature.                 

   One huge fault of this book, though this commonly happens in most novels, is that it is predictable.  On one hand, predictability is nice because it provides comfort to the reader.  On the other hand, it gets boring. 

   Another problem I have with it is that Mia, about halfway through the book, really begins to get on my nerves.  Lots of heroines do that, but rarely do I find myself actually frustrated with them.  I’m usually pretty patient with heroines, but Mia was pushing my limit.  Her rapture with herself drove me batty.               

A Mango-Shaped Space may be a little young for most of the people who will be reading this, but I encourage you to read it anyway.  There’s nothing like picking up a book written for people a few years younger than you to reconnect with simple prose and easy reading.  A Mango-Shaped Space is a good pre-sleep book.  It is easy to follow and easy to understand.                 

   And who couldn’t use a little simplicity in their life?

First, for the necessary background information (if you’ve read the books I give you permission to skip this part). “Warriors” is a series of books about four groups of cats - though the number changes throughout the series - living in a forest and facing a multitude of problems. The first series concentrates on a cat who starts out as the “kittypet” Rusty but who soon runs away to the forest to assume the life of a ThunderClan cat and becomes, in time, Fireheart. The first part of the series chronicles his adventures and his rise to power, finally telling of how he became Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, and made the forest safe again. The other parts of the series are, to skip over intricate details, pretty much the same, different only in that they no longer center on Fireheart or Firestar or whatever you want to call him.

First off, I would like to say that I don’t like these books at all. In my opinion, they’re very juvenile and not well-written, interesting, original, intriguing or otherwise “good” at all. I have no problem with children younger than, say, 11 reading them, but to hear teens declaring their love of the series somewhat saddens me, to tell the truth. Can’t the youth of today read something better?

I really don’t have a “problem” with people reading this series, I just think it’s rather sad that many teens gush about it when it’s so undeserving. To anyone who has sense, saying, “There’s a very popular series of books about four groups of cats who live in the forest and fight each other,” would sound ridiculous, juvenile and uninteresting.

To attack the plot and writing, Firepaw/heart/star is a sickening character; he’s virtually perfect and just extremely frustrating to read about. On top of that, the idea for the series is not at all original, and the execution is very, very poor. Of course, it could be called a good children’s book, but how could it manage to interest so many teens and people above the age of 10?

I know this may have sounded very harsh and I apologize to those who love this series, but I needed to get this off my chest and send out a warning to anyone who hasn’t read the series that they shouldn’t bother.

This book is all about stereotypes.  There are no novel ideas in this novel.  It is not new, refreshing, or even enjoyable.  Frankly, this is one of the worst books I have ever read.

            The social climber mentioned in the title is named Mimi.  She lives in Texas, where “cotton-candy pink is always the new black.”  She is transferring to Baldwin, a hip school in New York City where there are no grades and the classes are a joke.  Her parents are “separated.”  Her “out-of-it, omnitrusting father” moved away from his wife, who filled up his absence with Maurice and his daughter Myrtle.

              When Mimi arrives at Baldwin, she makes a bet with her estranged friend Sam (who is a guy, therefore, big surprise what’s going to go on there) that she can befriend the most popular girls in school: Nona, Lily, Pia, Jess, and Vivian.  These girls make the words “druggie,” “addict,” and “emo” seem tame.  Lucky for Mimi, her chance arrives when Nona is sent to rehab after passing out in class due to a drug overdose.  Of course, she befriends the girls and in no time is one of the in-crowd.

            All right, time for me to rant a bit.  All throughout the book, there are homophobic slurs, rejections of intelligence, and promotions for drugs and alcohol.  Stereotypes run rampant in here, and every single one points at the group it is stereotyping in a negative way.  The only people who may be considered perfect, based on this book, are the popular girls, the Coolies, who spend their mornings smoking pot and their lunch breaks downing vodka.

           I am not a book-burner, nor am I a censorer.  If you want to read the book, go ahead.  I’m not going to stop you.  I’m not going to point fingers at you and tell you that this book will turn you into a drug addict.  Books don’t do that.  People do that.  (Just like reading The Golden Compass does not make you an atheist.)

            All I’m saying is that I don’t like the book.  That’s all.

Erin Hunter has written a couple of book series, but her best is Warriors. It is about a bunch of cats with human characteristics. They fighting to survive in the forest. They are fighting their prey, they’re predators, and other clan cats. There are four clans, the shadow clan, the river clan, the forest clan, and the field clan, and each clan’s cats have special abilities. The shadow clan are good at sneaking, the river clan can swim very well, the forest clan can climb, jump, and sneak very well, and the feild clan can run very, very, very fast. Fast enough to catch rabbits. It’s a drama for teens, with cats in it! So if you like adventure, drama, and suspense put together, with cats, then this is the book series for you! Let me know if you have read any of the series, tell me what you think of it too. Can’t wait to hear your responses. If you want me to respond within a week, then e-mail me at either redskin.wolf@yahoo.com or punkeybrew346@aol.com.

Perfect, by Natasha Friend, truly is the perfect book! In this novel, 13 year old Isabelle Lee gets caught forcing herself to throw up by her sister. Isabelle can’t keep April (a.k.a. Ape Face) from telling her mother. She ends up in group, otherwise called Body Image and Eating Disorder Group. When Ashley Barnum, the most popular girl walks in, Isabelle in shocked. This story is about two girls coming together, opening up, and helping each other realize that there really is something behind beauty. In a world where looks are everything, Ashley and Isabelle, decide between two ways to go: the dangerous but glorious road, or the straight and narrow. The outcome is truly amazing.