The Storyteller - Jodi Picoult

I saw this book sitting on the shelf at the student book fair. I'm an English teacher; it was called The Storyteller. I put it on my teacher wishlist and moved on with my life.

And then I read the book, which changed my life.

Seriously. I'd read 20, 30, 40 pages. Put it down, and then 10 minutes later come back. The multiple story lines weave beautifully (and surprisingly) through one another. The characters are refreshing - not stock characters by any means.

And the story. It is definitely one to be told. It's beautiful, poetic. It's full of charge, and full of tragedy. Love. Confusion. Wonder. Fear. Pushing boundaries, breaking norms.

In fact, it's so fabulous, I want to say as little as I can - the story is so precious, I don't want to spoil even a corner. 

My Name is Not Easy - Debby Edwardson

I had my students write book reviews for this novel after we finished it. Here are some of the things they had to say:

"...Experience being ripped away from your family and forced to adhere to a culture you don't believe in, and which doesn't believe in you..."

"You will laugh, cringe, and cry all within 3 pages."

"The past never felt so current."

Words they used to describe this novel: encouraging, heart-breaking, endearing, sad, shocking, honest, communal, accepting, educational, confusing.

Truthfully, I don't think the students picked up on the subtle unconventional tones of this novel. You are dropped feet first into a culture you know nothing about, but at no time do you feel "out of the know." You as the reader become part of the instant-family in the novel.

I really appreciated the jokes about white people. So many times in life you hear phrases like "is it because I'm black?" or "You know how Mexicans/Natives/Asians can be."

But you almost never hear "Oh, you know how White people are."

This is a theme that occurs again and again - the white person as the outsider, the minority, the one that has strange customs and eating/religious habits.

I really enjoyed seeing my white students squirm in their skin. They've never had to think about themselves as the "other" and so it was really cool to have that experience with them, to help them see that people view white culture just as awkwardly as we view 'other' cultures and customs.

So - final word: read this book. There are some obvious typos and occasionally it gets slow, but that's life. And this book is teeming with it.