Audiobook Review: SAVVY

Audiobook Review, Genre 6, SAVVY

Author: Ingrid Law

Title: Savvy (unabridged)

Read by: Lily Blau (adult)

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Publication Date: 2008

ISBN: 9780143143482

Format: CD

Number of discs: 8

Plot summary: Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont and her family and friends just as she turns 13 and her "savvy" is revealed. Will her special savvy power be able to save her beloved Poppa after he gets in a terrible accident?

Sound quality, effects: I would rate the sound quality of the audiobook CD as excellent. I had no issues with static or erratic volume control. It helped that the CDs were in good condition, despite being 8 years old. This audiobook did not use sound effects.

Reading: Lily Blau was the reader of the audiobook of Savvy. According to the packaging, she is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and has spent time as an actress in the theatre. Using clear pronunciation, Blau created voices for each of the characters in the book (very common in audiobooks with one reader). The voices were distinct and after a while, you could tell which character was talking before they were identified. I liked how she made the voices of Will Sr. and Will Jr. very similar as they are father and son in the book – the cadence was the same and the difference was the pitch. The only character voice that grated on my nerves was Grandpa Beaumont – it seemed a very stereotypical voice one would use for senior adults.

Front and backmatter: Reader Lily Blau gave the front and backmatter in a very efficient manner. The only music was at the very beginning of the book and at the very end while the reader gave the bibliographical information for the audiobook.  

Listening experience: I listened to this audiobook CD in my car and only when my 12-year-old son was with me. I wasn’t sure if my son would enjoy listening to the audiobook until he ordered me not to listen to the book without him!  It became an experience we shared together which gave me insight to a child’s perspective of the audiobook. We both found the audiobook entertaining and it quickly engaged our interest. Sometimes I would pause the audiobook to discuss a plot twist or air a theory on the main character’s “savvy.” There was one line: “some people don’t know they have a savvy. Like people who never get bitten by mosquitos.” My son and I immediately laughed and discussed that his dad (my husband) must have an anti-bite savvy because he NEVER gets bitten by mosquitos!

Critical analysis: The story of Savvy opens with an explanation of the book’s setting, located in the middle of America at Kansas and Nebraska. The characters spend most of the book traveling on a pink bus – which sounds silly but is very believable with the descriptions that helps the reader visualize the surroundings.  The plot centers around the main character, Mibs Beaumont, and her journey to get to her father, who was hospitalized after a horrific car accident. True to the fantasy format, the plot involves obstacles to overcome (Mibs learning to control her savvy) and villains to vanquish (evil girlfriend Charlene and the goody-two-shoes Rosemary Meeks).

The author’s writing style was humorous, causing listeners to laugh. The theme of family love and unity flowed throughout the book. As listeners learn about Mibs through her feelings and her savvy, they stand behind her, feeling distraught when things look bleak for Mibs and cheer for her when she finally makes it to the hospital to see her father.

Overall, the experience I had listening to a book on CD with my son in the car was rewarding in that he asked to listen to more audiobooks. Because of this one positive experience, my son has now listened to two more audiobooks and we are currently on our third. We have even branched out to listening to Playaway, an all-in-one audiobook format that you can take anywhere. We check these out from our local public library and all you need to listen to a Playaway is one AAA battery and a set of earbuds (or a cord to hook up to your car stereo). I suspect my son’s trend of audiobook listening will continue to evolve into a habit!

Connections:

• Listeners can learn more about author Ingrid Law at her website: http://www.ingridlaw.com/about

• Other audiobooks by Ingrid Law featuring the Beaumont family:

1. Scumble, ISBN: 9780142428146
2. Switch, ISBN: 9781101925690

Bibliography

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. November 27, 2016.

Law, Ingrid, and Lily Blau. 2008. Savvy. New York: Penguin Audio. 9780143143482

Book Review: AMERICAN BORN CHINESE

Book Review, Genre 6, AMERICAN BORN CHINESE

Author: Gene Luen Yang

Title: American Born Chinese

Illustrator: Gene Luen Yang

Publisher: First Second

Publication Date: 2006

ISBN: 9781596431522

Plot summary: A graphic novel that alternates between three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in popular culture.

Critical analysis: I am not very familiar with the graphic novel genre. I wasn’t sure which book to review for this blog until I heard American Born Chinese mentioned in a The Librarian Is In podcast by the New York Public Library. One of the podcast hosts said American Born Chinese was the best graphic novel he had ever read. I thought that if it was good enough for a New York Public librarian, it was good enough for me! Since reading American Born Chinese, I have checked out several other graphic novels to test the waters, so to speak. I’m still not comfortable with the genre, but I do appreciate it.

Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese offers striking visuals while weaving together three seemingly different stories. Each story line is separated by a lone red drawing on a stark white page, letting the reader know who’s story is next: the Monkey King, Jin, or Danny. It’s not until the reader is 200+ pages in that the three separate stories suddenly transform into one – in text and in illustrations.

Each of the three stories provide believable and entertaining plots of quests to accomplish, friendships to grow, and obstacles to overcome. The settings of the stories are either in China or in America and each story has a universal theme that transcends time and place leaving the reader contemplating their own family history and asking how they show love to family members.

Author Yang’s writing style is humorous and his illustrations enforce the humor, especially the pouty faces of the Monkey King. Readers might find the exaggerated Chinese stereotype language of cousin Chin-Kee shocking at first (“Harro Amellica!” p. 48, or “Would Cousin Da-Nee rike to tly Chin-Kee’s clispy flied cat gizzards wiff noodle?” p. 114) but then the reader gets the joke.

I thought it interesting that American Born Chinese was the first graphic novel to be recognized by the Michael L. Printz Committee.

Review excerpt:

• 2006 National Book Award, finalist
• 2006 Cybils Awards, winner
• 2007 Michael L. Printz Award, winner
• 2007 James Cook Book Award, honorable book
• 2007 White Ravens Award, winner

• Booklist, Sept. 1, 2006 (Vol. 103, No. 1), by Jesse Karp: With vibrant colors and visual panache, indie writer-illustrator Yang (Rosary Comic Book) focuses on three characters in tales that touch on facets of Chinese American life. Jin is a boy faced with the casual racism of fellow students and the pressure of his crush on a Caucasian girl; the Monkey King, a character from Chinese folklore, has attained great power but feels he is being held back because of what the gods perceive as his lowly status; and Danny, a popular high-school student, suffers through an annual visit from his cousin Chin-Kee, a walking, talking compendium of exaggerated Chinese stereotypes.

• Children’s Literature by Susie Wilde: Yang’s graphic stories skip around from the disgusting to the sublime, his tongue firmly in his cheek as he illustrates first love, booger-eating, bullying, friendship, and shame. He uses subtle coloring and bolded text to emphasize his points. As you read you see the connection of all the characters who fight their way out of the boxes designed for them by others. The contemporary stories and the fable come together in terms of plot and theme as the characters enter each others stories, revealing and transforming themselves as the tales merge.

• Publishers Weekly: Yang accomplishes the remarkable feat of practicing what he preaches with this book: accept who you are and you'll already have reached out to others. 

Connections:

• Other books by author and illustrator Gene Luen Yang:

1. Level Up, ISBN: 9781596432352
2. The Shadow Hero, ISBN: 9781596436978
3. The Eternal Smile: Three Stories, ISBN: 9781596431560
4. Boxers, ISBN: 9781596433595
5. Saints, ISBN: 9781596436893
6. Animal Crackers, ISBN: 9781593621834

• Students can view author Yang’s video podcasts at http://geneyang.com/reading-without-walls-video-podcast
• Readers can learn more about author Yang by visiting his web site: http://geneyang.com/

Bibliography

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. November 27, 2016.

Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. New York: First Second, 2006.9781596431522

Book Review: SPEAK

Book Review, Genre 6, SPEAK

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: Speak

Illustrator: Filomena Tuosto

Publisher: Square Fish

Publication Date: 1999

ISBN: 9780312674397

Plot summary: While at a teen drinking party near the end of summer, freshman Melinda Sordino is raped. The traumatic event has a devastating effect on Melinda's school year. Will she be able to recover and find her voice again?

Critical analysis: The definition of the verb “speak” is to say something in order to convey information, an opinion, or a feeling. In the realistic fiction young adult novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, main character Melinda Sordino is unable to give information about being raped, is unable to voice her opinion about the boy that raped her, and is unable to feel the excitement of being a high schooler. The knee jerk reaction is the theme of the book is about rape recovery. In fact, the theme of depression is not stated too obviously – it is only when the reader questions Melinda’s eating habits, sleeping habits, mood swings, and sliding grades that the idea of depression is brought up.

Young adult readers will be able to relate to the school year setting as they traverse Melinda’s freshman year of high school. The plot has a few twists and turns as the trauma of being raped is revealed in flashbacks as the school year progresses. The style of writing seems natural and believable – you can imagine yourself as a 14-year-old thinking the same snarky mental comments as Melinda: “My Spanish teachers breaks the ‘no English’ rule to tell us that we had better stop pretending we don’t understand the homework assignments … I don’t know why she hasn’t figured it out yet. If she just taught us all the swear words the first day, we would have done whatever she wanted the rest of the year” (p. 51).

What spoke to me most about the gender and culture of Speak was that a girl’s view of rape and depression was heard. At the end of the book author Anderson answers questions about her novel. The question that showed a boy’s view of Speak was: “Have any readers ever asked questions that shocked you?” Anderson answered: “I have gotten one question repeatedly from young men. These are guys who liked the book, but they are honestly confused. They ask me why Melinda was so upset about being raped. … I realized that many young men are not being taught the impact that sexual assault has on a woman.” Anderson closes with a battle cry of discussing rape with teenagers and providing assistance resources for victims.

Review excerpt:

• 2003 Volunteer State Book Award, winner
• 2000 Carolyn W. Field Award, winner
• 2000 Golden Kite Award, award book
• 1999 National Book Award, finalist

• Booklist, Sept. 15, 1999 (Vol. 96, No. 2) by Debbie Carton: “In her YA fiction debut, Anderson perfectly captures the harsh conformity of high-school cliques and one teen's struggle to find acceptance from her peers. Melinda's sarcastic wit, honesty, and courage make her a memorable character whose ultimate triumph will inspire and empower readers.”

• Children’s Literature by Maggie Meacham: “The author's sharp eye for the absurdities of high school life, and of our media crazed society, like the constant renaming of the high school football team to insure political correctness, add sardonic humor that will appeal to teens. But the novel's real power lies in the story of Melinda's gradual reclaiming of herself through the help of a compassionate art teacher, her concerned parents, and some caring students, and of her ultimate redemption as she finally finds the courage to speak.”

• Kirkus Reviews: “The plot is gripping and the characters are powerfully drawn, but it is its raw and unvarnished look at the dynamics of the high school experience that makes this a novel that will be hard for readers to forget.”

Connections:

• Readers can learn more about author Anderson at http://madwomanintheforest.com/laurie/
• Readers can watch the movie based on the book: Speak ASIN: B000A7Q2I2
• Other Young Adult books by author Anderson:

1. The Impossible Knife of Memory, ISBN: 9780670012091
2. Wintergirls, ISBN: 9780142415573
3. Twisted, ISBN: 9780786298853
4. Prom, ISBN: 0670059749
5. Catalyst, IBSN: 0670035661

Bibliography

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Square Fish, 1999. 9780312674397

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. November 27, 2016.