Fall Reading: A Healthy Method of Procrastination

I think it's safe to say that I read more during the school year as a healthy means of procrastination.  Yes, I love grading essays as much as the next English teacher, but why not read a few novels along the way to speed up the process? This Fall I've had to catch up on some Young Adult reading, as well as make time for the stellar new arrivals. 

Marcelo and the Real World by Fransisco X. Stork

I remember in college having to read The Curious Incident of the Dog and the Nighttime for a class on students with disabilities and writing a scathing review not because it was poorly written or a boring story but because the main character with autism was not a dynamic character but more of a device. Too often characters with disabilities are used as conduits for another character's change of heart. Think Rainman. Marcelo does not fit this trope. Meet a 17-year-old boy who is forced from his comfort zone to intern at his father's law office in order to prove to his family he can "function" in the "real world." Along the way, Marcelo not only proves he is capable; he proves he is exceptional by picking up on some conspiracies around the office and forging meaningful relationships with his peers and adults.  I absolutely adore this book and I cannot wait to meet the author when he speaks at our school on October 17. I also might teach this novel in class with my Sophomores.

Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham

This is what I'm currently devouring but I am not infatuated. At the same time I can't put it down.  Lena is honest, funny, and unconventional. I love the show Girls and learning about how the show was inspired and created; however, some details seem too sensationalized and I'm not sure I would be friends with the author. Seems like a strange comment on a book review, but I do respect that she illustrates an honest portrait, not completely likable. That takes guts. At the same time, I get the sense that she is writing from a persona of herself, and there is some kind of comic or ironic filtering taking place.  If she is a voice of our generation, this kind of narrative style is definitely in vogue, but I feel cheated, let down, somehow unsatisfied. Maybe that's because there is more to come later on.

On queue:

 

Abandoned: