Title: Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
Genre: Fiction
Rating: ****
Life of Pi had been on my radar for years because I had heard it was a good book, especially for book clubs and discussions. What really moved it up on my list though was having it recommended to me by high schoolers. Last May I subbed in for an AP English teacher who was on maternity leave. As the kids had already taken the AP exam, I decided to do activities with them centered around creating or renewing their love of reading. I learned that their favorite book that year had been Life of Pi, and they all encouraged me to read it. That did it for me.
All I knew about the plot before reading it was pretty much what I learned from the flap copy. Basically, there was a boy, a tiger, and a raft in the middle of the ocean, and the book was supposed to make me believe in God. That's a pretty big assumption to make about any book, but I already believe in God, so it is hard to say what effect this book would have on me if I did not. It was thought-provoking though, and I enjoyed the plot. Pi is a boy who grows up in India, whose father is a zookeeper, and who follows Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism. When the ship carrying him from India to Canada blows up, Pi finds himself alone on a life raft. Alone that is except for an injured zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a tiger.
I thought this book was going to be purely philosophical, perhaps just the boy's musings about the meaning of life as he is stranded on the raft. However, it is actually a really good story with a real plot and some decent action. While it is philosophical, it is not overtly so. It makes you think but doesn't tell you what to think. The kids were right.
I thought this book was going to be purely philosophical, perhaps just the boy's musings about the meaning of life as he is stranded on the raft. However, it is actually a really good story with a real plot and some decent action. While it is philosophical, it is not overtly so. It makes you think but doesn't tell you what to think. The kids were right.
Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: ****
This one was recommended to me both by high school students and fellow English teachers, so I checked it out from the library.
Before committing suicide, Hannah Baker creates seven cassette tapes with thirteen stories for thirteen people explaining her thirteen reasons why she did what she did. Clay Jensen is one of those people, one of those reasons. As he listens to the tapes and follows the map that Hannah also left behind, the reader is sucked into a story that is sad yet compelling. I couldn't put it down.
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