I know, I know. I said I’d start Monday. I couldn’t wait.

The first book I listened to on my Manitoba road trip was Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King, narrated by Kirby Heyborne. I really hit the ground running with this one.

Well, not literally running. I was driving. I mean, it was 1,234 miles to my destination (which I think is kind of cool) (this is really close to 1984 kilometers, which is also cool, as that’s the year of my birth). Anyway, I didn’t run. I sat. And I listened.

And what I listened to was phenomenal. I had given up on audio books for a little bit because I listened to some stinkers. Basically, if the narrator speaks in either a monotone the entire time or, like, like a valley girl chomping on her bright pink gum? With her fingernails matching her headband matching her gum color matching her lip gloss? And her sentences all sound like questions? I won’t like it. But this one was great.

First, a little plot music. Lucky Linderman is the fortunate hero of this tale. His family is. . .less than functional. His dad is the son of a champion MIA/POW supporter, as Lucky’s grandfather never came home from Vietnam. So this dad character has never really dealt with that fully, and doesn’t know how to be a father. He cooks (that’s his job), and. . .that’s about it. His mom swims. Like, 7 million laps a day swims. Lucky just goes through his day, doing what he can to ignore it all.

But Lucky has a bully. Nader McMillan (what a sweet bully name, right?). And one day, Nader picks on Lucky just enough that his mom can’t take it anymore. So they’re off to Arizona to visit her brother and his wife. Where they can deal with things. Which basically means she can swim 7 million laps a day in a different state, and Lucky can have a different male role model. As if that changes anything.

There’s something else, though: Lucky’s grandfather. Yes, he never came home from the war. But Lucky has been having meetings with him. In his dreams. There’s a very real nature to these dreams. Lucky decides it is his job to rescue his grandfather (which was also his grandmother’s dying request. Oh, by the way: his grandmother is dead).

So much more is going on (there’s a girl, among other things) that wouldn’t really fit in the context of a review. But here’s the thing. This story is layered and complex and all that. But more than anything, it’s just. . .it’s good.

A.S. King takes us on a journey through Lucky’s mind that is just so real it’s impossible to turn off. I mean, not that I had anything else to do but sit and listen, but I didn’t want to stop. This was so good at being a teenage boy’s perspective of life that I didn’t know A.S. King was female until after I got home and looked her up on Twitter. The book was just spot-on.

Without Kirby Heyborne’s narration, though, it might not have come alive as much. There was just this dry, teenage sarcasm dripping through my speakers. This was juxtaposed with intense teenage confusion, as Lucky often experiences this particular feeling. I can’t explain how good it was. Just go listen yourself.

I would recommend this book for anyone looking to try an audio book. It’s not too long (just under 8 hours), and will definitely hold your interest. Also, I think fans of John Green and The Perks of Being a Wallflower will enjoy the story.

My rating: 5 out of 5 fish. 

If you’re wondering/don’t know, I live in Michigan. This was about an 18 1/2-hour drive, one-way. So about 37 hours in a car, over 4 days of driving. Being a member of the Nerdy Book Club, this could mean only one thing:

PIE!

Well, a little bit of pie. If you’re ever near Osseo, Wisconsin, you must stop at the Norske Nook and have some pie. It’s phenomenal. But you might find yourself writing poems about it later and having some people wonder if it’s erotica.

Anyway, 37 hours in a car also means another thing:

AUDIO BOOKS!

The week before my trip, I gassed up Le Grande Topaz (my wonderful car), got an oil change, got new tires, and got some books. And yes, I know my use of “got” in that sentence is terribly wrong. It was for effect. ::chases those particular grammar bullies off with a stick (and logic)::

I settled on five books I knew would keep me good company:

• Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
• Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
• Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton
• Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
• Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

I completed 4 of these on the trip, while the 5th had to wait (disc 5 of 10 was completely ruined by a previous listener, so needed some intense cleaning. It is has been restored to health and is currently being completed while I drive about town).

Side note that cannot wait: if you encounter or create scratches or anything else on your library audio books (such as disc 5 of Just Listen, that looked like someone mistook it for bread when they were making a jam sandwich), please be sure to tell them at the circulation desk! Many libraries have ways to fix this, but they’ll never know if they’re not told! Do your part.

Anyway, the point here: I am going to attempt to review these audio books over the next week, in order. So Monday, we will begin with Everybody Sees the Ants.

Just a word of caution: I have told myself that I am not going to force myself to stick to schedules on the blog. That means that while I hope to review one each day, it might end up being one each week. Also, if I’m not done with Just Listen by Friday, I won’t be posting a review (though I only have a couple discs to go, so I should be finished). But come on by, and I’ll try to have things posted.

And for your next road trip: think audio books!

What happened was the title of this post. Those words came out of my student’s mouth. I think her next words were something along the lines of “What?” In between, I had said one simple word.

“Yes.”

Now, this exchange took place in my Pre-Algebra class, where failure is a bit easier to define than in a literature class (if you’re curious: they were going to be attempting to find out how to find the a-value of a quadratic function in vertex form. They had never encountered quadratics before). But my response is the same in nearly all cases: “yes, I am setting you up for failure.”

Of course, there are some words omitted from my thought for effect. My thought in these cases goes something like “yes, I am setting you up for [short-term] failure [so that you may have long-term success].” But they don’t hear that. Even if I say it. They hear “failure” and get so scared, they’re actually happy they wore their brown pants that day.

That is how we are failing them.

I can’t imagine a world full of people afraid to fail. Fortunately, we won’t have that. But we might have a country full of them. Some of these students have been spoon-fed for so long, they don’t even know they can pick up their own utensil to eat. So when we do put something in front of them that they can salivate over (like the richness of If You Come Softly, which I am currently reading to some of my 8th graders), they don’t even know how to dig in. They’ve never had to try.

We must cut the decades-long umbilical cord. It’s doing nothing but keeping them in orbit, when they need to explore the future.

(Am I mixing enough metaphors for you yet?)

We learn by failing. Simple as that. We learn other ways, too, but none of them seem to be nearly as good as failing in a safe way, then figuring out how to succeed. We must continue coming up with creative ways for our students to fail. And then help them back up.

If you’re wondering, nobody was able to figure out how to find a. At least not a rule for how to find it in all cases. It’s unlikely that any will. But there are at least 3 theories going around. And they were talking about it across the table groupings, hearing people say “I’ve got it!” and then flocking over to them to hear their idea. Those ideas were wrong. They realized they were wrong. And then they went on to something else.

Also, all of my 15 students (yes, I know, I have a 15 student math class; you are correct to be jealous) had enough work done to receive full credit on the assignment. None of them figured out a, but they all did figure out everything else. I told them they could turn it in at the end of class, or they could take it home to continue working on it.

Only one was turned in.

Failure works.

Before you say anything, just stop. “Dude, aren’t you a little old and male to be reading these dystopian books with female protagonists?” See? I can ask the question myself. If you’ve watched any of these shows or movies, I want you to stop even thinking that these books aren’t okay for a guy my age to read:

• The Bachelor/The Bachelorette
• American Idol
• Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
• Duck Dynasty
• Swamp People

Okay, my list ends there because I can’t think of anything else, because those shows are awful. Yet people watch them. And enjoy them. And they have good moments. In fact, some of those shows might actually be really good, but they get lumped in and judged with the others.

What am I talking about? Right. Requiem. YA dystopian fiction with a female protagonist. Oh, and it’s also about love being a disease, the government ordering people to be cured when they’re 18, but of course we have our rebellious ones who believe too strongly in the power of love (not to mention the power of freedom). Totally the book for a 28-year old man.

Oh, just one thing: that last sentence was not sarcastic.

This book is AMAZING! It’s the third and final book in the Delirium trilogy (“Oh, really, a dystopian trilogy? Didn’t see that one coming.” Can it.), so I’m going to try not to give anything away. But Lena is on the run with some of the other Invalids, and they’re basically trying to figure out what to do. The cities are coming after them. They can’t stay hiding. They must fight back. How can they possibly win? How can their belief in love and freedom win?

Well, I’m not gonna tell you. Read the booking book.

What I will tell you is this: this book is powerful. There are emotions you will feel when you read it, and that’s absolutely okay. You might laugh. You might cry. I think I laughed, and got a little choked up. But the ending. Oh. The ending. Some books, when I get to the end, I want to throw them against the wall because they’re just awful. Requiem, on the other hand, has an ending that is like the book pulls you in and spreads a warm blanket around your shoulders to keep you warm on a chilly fall evening. It’s just that perfect.

But. My favorite part of the book is Hana. Hana is Lena’s childhood friend. We haven’t really heard much from her, as Lena is our narrator. But in Requiem, we hear from both Lena and Hana. Now, normally, I hate dual narration. I think it adds a lot, but I think it just ruins things overall. Here, though, because the characters are where they are and so separated, it’s incredibly well done. It’s vital to the story. And it shows us things in Hana that we’d never know. And it shows us, for the first time in the series, what it’s like inside the mind of a Cured. It’s amazing. Hana is heartbreaking and beautiful.

With all of that, though, there’s probably some of you out there thinking, “Well, yeah, sure, but isn’t this book written for teenagers? I want something written well, not just a good story.”

Since when are those two things mutually exclusive? Requiem is both a great story and written beautifully. This is not grade-school work here, people. This is a master work of art carefully crafted by someone with a MFA from NYU. It reads that way. Yet a 12-year old can enjoy it. Now that takes talent.

Am I off topic enough here? Just. . .just go read this series. It’s worth your time. I loved it, and I think you’ll love it, too. When you’re done, let me know. I want to talk with you about it in ways I can’t here because they’re too spoilery. So go. Read it.

My rating: 5 out of 5 fish.

7A Class Book Award 
Honor: Burning Blue by Paul Griffin and Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Award: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

7B Class Book Award
Honor: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green*, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, and Lincoln’s Last Days by Bill O’Reilly
Award: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

8A Class Book Award
Honor: TeenBoat! by Dave Roman and John Green
Award: This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen**

8B Class Book Award
Honor: Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally
Award: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green*

Realistic Fiction Award
Honor: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green*
Award: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Fantasy Award
Honor: Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick
Award: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Dystopian Award
Honor: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
Award: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Wyzbery Award
Honor: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green* and Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Award: This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen**

ALA Youth Media Awards
Click the link for the official ALA press release. I don’t want to steal their thunder by announcing their awards. Except for the two notes below, because WE TOTALLY PICKED THOSE BOOKS, TOO!

*Also won the Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production
**Also won the Randolph Caldecott Medal for Most Distinguished American Picture Book for Children

[Brian's note: this post is a bit longer than most, but every word, image, and video (did I say video?), is worth it. So be sure to push through. Wyzlic out.]

For the Wyzbery, all books were considered. The students nominated titles of books from all different genres and types. Picture books, graphic novels, chapter books, YA novels, adult novels. Realistic fiction, fantasy, humor, science fiction, dystopian, mystery, non-fiction, biography. There were books nominated for each of these descriptors. 21 books in total received multiple nominations and made it to the final ballot. And then it was time to vote.

When it came time to vote, the students were instructed to select the one book they believed was the best book published in 2012. Not most popular. Not favorite. But also not most distinguished nor most excellent, nor most well-written. Best. Here are the results.

80 votes were cast for 20 different books (including one write-in because this student was adamant that her choice was the best book of 2012, even if nobody else agreed enough to put it on the ballot, bringing our total of nominated books up to 22). Five books received above the average of four votes. Of these, three books were heads above the others. These are the books that will receive Wyzbery Honors or the coveted Wyzbery Award.

Now, before the reveal, a bit of potential controversy. Because, come on, what’s an awards ceremony without some controversy, right? Of the 3 that will receive shiny stickers (maybe — we’re working on those back at headquarters), 2 of them were read aloud to all the students. So I wonder how much influence my choices had on their voting. I am gladdened, though, that there is one book that made it through despite not being pushed by me, but rather, by the students. One of our top five is even a book that I do not keep in our classroom library.

So despite my potential influence as the lead learner and lead book pusher in the room, it is clear to me that the students can also follow their own conscience with their book choices. They are passing books they love to each other, and they are finding and sharing similar tastes with each other. The students are becoming book pushers as well, and in some classes in particular, they have eclipsed my influence. They may see that as some sort of subverting the system. I see it as victory.

Anyway, on to the awards. As mentioned, there are two books that will be receiving Wyzbery Honor Status:

Wonder by R.J. Palacio                             and             The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

These are two of my favorite books of 2012, and I feel somewhat validated that my students think they are among the best. I chose Wonder as our first read-aloud this year, and I wasn’t sure what the reaction would be. There are some students who flat-out do not like the book (and are very vocal about this). There are some students who beg me to read longer every day. But overall, I wasn’t sure what the temperature of the water was. Well, they like it. Enough to honor it, which I am grateful for.

The Fault in Our Stars was a book I was excited for the day it came out (actually, for months before it came out). And when it finally arrived at my doorstep, I couldn’t contain myself. This book has come with a word of caution to my students and to their parents (teaching at a Catholic school, there are some mature scenes in the book that are actually so well done that the students might misinterpret them, or be confused by the message they are giving, and I need to be cautious of that). However, that has not stopped my students from picking it up and falling in love, as I did. I’m glad they saw fit to honor this book as well.

But ultimately, there is another book that was considered an even better book by more students. That book is our 2013 Wyzbery Award Winner.

And it is. . .

With no further ado. . .

(okay, a little further ado). . .

[this is kind of fun]. . .

You guys are still here, right?

Is anybody reading these, or just scrolling down?

You should probably read them.

Maybe I’m hiding an easter egg-style surprise in them.

Or maybe not.

If you passed all this up, you will never know.

But you also won’t know you’ll never know.

Hmm.

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen!

Klassen’s sequel (of sorts) to the 2012 Geisel Honor Book I Want My Hat Back was an instant favorite among my students. When it won the 8A Class Book Award, I started to worry a little. Could a picture book possibly win the Wyzbery? Then I realized: what do I have to worry about? Yes, a picture book could win — ANY book could win. That was the whole point. And, lo and behold, a picture book did win. Congratulations, Mr. Klassen. The students love your clever use of pictures to add a layer to the story. This Is Not My Hat is a mentor text in how pictures and words combine to tell the story, as opposed to one merely aiding the other.

Interesting note: this book may have been based on a true story (though the book came out before the story happened). See the tale:

What will happen to me? Will Mr. Sharp ever get his hat back? Read I Want My Hat Back and stay tuned to see!

Go back to the 2013 Frannies Main Page.
See the 7A Class Book Award.
See the 7B Class Book Award.
See the 8A Class Book Award.
See the 8B Class Book Award.
See the Realistic Fiction Award.
See the Fantasy Award.
See the Dystopian Award.

As I alluded to in yesterday’s Fantasy Award announcement, we have not yet awarded a dystopian novel in this year’s Frannies. This after Divergent won it all last year in the first-ever Wyzbery. So whoever is awarded today will be a first-time winner, after we saw repeat winners with both the Realistic Fiction Award and the Fantasy Award.

The students chose the following criteria for the Dystopian Award:

• The book ties a corrupt government into the story
• The book has quality characters/character depth
• The book demonstrates quality writing
• The book helps the reader relate to the world

I like these criteria because it has a bit of the fictional world (the corrupt government) with a little bit of the real world (helping the reader relate to the world). A good dystopian book does that. It allows for a bit of escape from the world, but it also makes us as readers think about our own world. I’m proud of my students for recognizing that.

67 votes were cast for the Dystopian Award, and like the other two genre awards, two books ran away with it. 44 of the votes were dividing among the top two vote-getters.

First, our Dystopian Honor Book:

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium has been a favorite of our 7th and 8th graders alike, aided by the buzz of having an ARC of Requiem making its way through our classroom.

So what could be even better than such a well-loved book? Our 2013 Dystopian Award Winner is. . .

Insurgent by Veronica Roth!

Insurgent has been a hot commodity in room 8A, spending very little time on our bookshelves, until nearly everyone had had a chance to read it. Congratulations to Ms. Roth! You are welcome to pick up your award at any time.

Interesting note about the Dystopian Award: the top four vote-getters were all books from female authors. All the other awards were pretty split, with only the 8A award and honor going to authors of the same gender. Apparently I have my work cut out for me with that dystopian novel I’m working on, because a sex change is just not happening.

Be sure to come back tomorrow at 7 for THE WYZBERY ANNOUNCEMENT! And then stick around Twitter afterwards, because #titletalk is at 8. You don’t want to miss that.

Go back to the 2013 Frannies Main Page.
See the 7A Class Book Award.
See the 7B Class Book Award.
See the 8A Class Book Award.
See the 8B Class Book Award.
See the Realistic Fiction Award.
See the Fantasy Award.

The criteria the students generated for the Fantasy Award are as follows:

• The theme of the book has meaning in the real world
• The book has quality characters/character depth
• The book demonstrates quality writing
• The description of the fantasy world is neither too confusing nor too shallow

Six quality books were nominated as meeting those criteria. 80 votes were cast. 48 of those votes went to just two books. Again, there were clear-cut winners here.

One book has been designated as a Fantasy Honor Book:

Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick

One eighth grader in particular loved this book, claiming it was the “best book [she's] ever read” (and she is very well-read). Not bad praise.

No more delay. It’s Friday. We have bigger fish to fry (was that a Catholic Friday Fish Fry allusion? I’ll leave it up to you to decide. But Lent is coming). The 2013 Fantasy Award Winner is. . .

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan!

This is the second win for The Mark of Athena, putting it into rare territory. These students do love their Greek mythology, which is why I’m so excited to be discovering more and more well-written books in that vein. But for them, The Mark of Athena is the top dog for 2012.

Be sure to come back tomorrow to see what the students chose as their best dystopian book of 2012. We’re yet to award or honor a dystopian novel (after a dystopian book won it all last year), so it will be interesting to see what the students have chosen!

Go back to the 2013 Frannies Main Page.
See the 7A Class Book Award.
See the 7B Class Book Award.
See the 8A Class Book Award.
See the 8B Class Book Award.
See the Realistic Fiction Award.

Today marks the beginning of the second wave of awards. The first four awards were voted on only by each homeroom. The next four were voted on by all students together. The first three of this second half are the genre awards. The genres were chosen by the students, and then they decided upon criteria for the awards, gave speeches, and voted. We begin with the Realistic Fiction Award.

For this award, 80 ballots were cast. The top two books received 54 of them. These kids weren’t messing around; they knew what they liked.

There is one Realistic Fiction Honor Book:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This gives TFiOS one award and two honors this Frannies season, with one more award it is eligible for. Not too bad. However, not to be outdone, the Realistic Fiction Award Winner is. . .

Wonder by R.J. Palacio!

This is the second win for Wonder, to go along with one honor this Frannies season, and, like TFiOS, it also has one more award for which it is eligible. I suggest that all those who would desire Frannies for their books make certain the cover is a blue field with black over white for the graphic. That appears to be the formula for success.

That and really good stuff between the covers, supposedly.

See you tomorrow, everyone!

Go back to the 2013 Frannies Main Page.
See the 7A Class Book Award.
See the 7B Class Book Award.
See the 8A Class Book Award.
See the 8B Class Book Award.

8B is a group of 20 young ladies who, despite their occasional protests, love to read. In particular, they love contemporary realistic fiction. Some of them enjoy their fantasy and dystopian and the occasional novel-in-verse, but by and large, they’re pretty committed to the realistic stuff. They are also a very mature group of readers — both with their reading ability and their book choices. Their award winners reflect their tastes and their maturity.

There is one 8B Class Honor Book:

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

Miranda Kenneally has become a recent favorite of the students, with many of them passing around Catching Jordan. I’m pretty certain that at one point, we’ve had all the public library’s copies of her books in my classroom.

And now, the 8B Class Book Award Winner:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green!

There was no book more widely enjoyed by the 8B crowd than The Fault in Our Stars. Let’s see what they have to say:

“It made me think differently about the world and about people with cancer.”

“This book is a great realistic fiction book! I recommend everyone to read it.”

“I really like this book!”

Mr. Green, we are honored to grant you this award. We will keep it in our classroom for safekeeping until you are able to pick it up.

Go back to the 2013 Frannies Main Page.
See the 7A Class Book Award.
See the 7B Class Book Award.
See the 8A Class Book Award.