I Beat the Odds by Michael Oher

From Doret's interview with Michael Oher:

1. Many people read Michael Lewis's book The Blind Side, in which your story was depicted. Even more saw the movie. When I first heard about I Beat the Odds, I was very excited you were telling your story since Hollywood tends to distort everything.

When did you decide to write I Beat the Odds?

As the movie took off, I started to get a huge flood of mail from people wanting to know what I thought of it and if my life was really the way it looked on screen. I also started getting letters from kids in foster care or from families who had taken in troubled kids, and they all thanked me for being a voice for them. That really made me start to realize the need for someone to step up and speak out about the reality of life for too many kids in America. It seemed to me that maybe God was giving me the opportunity to help people by sharing not just my perspective on the story, but also to try to become the kind of role model I wish I’d had when I was growing up.

2 This is a very personal look at your early years in Memphis and growing up in foster care system. What gave you the strength to remember?

I had gotten as far as I did by trying not to remember – by putting everything behind me and not dwelling on the past. Sometimes, it’s scary to think about looking back because you’re afraid that you might get pulled back into the world you’ve fought so hard to try to escape. But if I was going to write a book about my story, it needed to be as honest as possible. I wasn’t doing this for me; I was doing it for all the other kids out there who were like me, and I wanted to give them something real.

There is also mention of poetry, Cinderella and Don Yaeger. Check it out and get a glimpse of who Oher is, in his own words.

Guys Write for Guys Read

The Guys Read website (guysread.com) "offers a list of books recommended by the webmaster, children's author Jon Sczieska..." Part of the site's funding comes from sales of this book, edited by Scieszka: Guys Write for Guys Read. It is filled with stories by guys who know what being a guy is like: Pinkwater, Paulsen, Paolini. And that's not even all of the "P" contributors. Matt Groening. Eoin Colfer. Anthony Horowitz, whose piece, "My French Teacher Tried to Kill Me," ends - "But if you ask me what it was like to be a guy... well, for me, doing badly at school was part of the answer.

"I hated school. But I still enjoy the dreams...

"Random Fact: Had a dog called Lucky but accidentally ran it over, so he changed the dog's name to Unlucky"

Atlas of Remote Islands

In this age of GPS tracking satellites and Google Earth it might seem like books of maps and atlases are little more than quaint collections of geological and political demarcations painted in dusky tones from some other era. How much fascination can there be in looking at a collection of remote islands, their contours shaded by pointelest dots against gray and white surrounded by seas of pale blue, each facing a page of text that gives their location, their distance from nearby land masses, their size, and a bit of history?

Plenty.

Judith Schalansky, in her introductory essay to Atlas of Remote Islands, was born in East Germany and calls herself "a child of the atlas," a person who never imagined going beyond the limitations of her country's borders much less see the exotic lands that peppered her schoolroom maps.  Looking at maps was her way of escaping, of grounding daydreams. As the political lines on her world map changed radically with the fall of the Berlin wall and dissolution of the Soviet Union what remained unchanged were the islands, and each of those lonely places had their own stories to tell.

CAKE POPS by Bakerella

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and it occurred to me that (1) some guys really like to cook and (2) some guys really want to impress their significant other, and (3) MANY guys need a Valentine's Day gift, and CAKE POPS is the answer for a bunch of those guys. And it turns out that they're not all that hard to make.

Seriously. If I can make them, anyone can.

Donald Goines and the Low Road

Make no mistake, Donald Goines' books aren't for kids. Yet his vividly-titled novels--Whoreson, Black Gangster, Swamp Man and White Man's Justice, Black Man's Grief, for example--are read by teens as much as by adults. The reason for this is partly in their "forbidden" subject matter of addiction, prostitution, and gangster life, and partly in their undeniable authenticity. Goines lived what he wrote.

Low Road: The Life and Legacy of Donald Goines is an attempt to put his accomplishments into the context of their specific times. Allen describes the Detroit in which Goines grew up, as well as the racial situation throughout the country. Goines, son of a successful middle-class black family, faked his way into the air force at fifteen, served in Korea and returned at seventeen a veteran and heroin addict. He tried careers as pimp and hustler, served time in prison and then, inspired by former pimp turned literary darling Iceberg Slim, decided to pursue writing.

Jack: Secret Vengeance -- F. Paul Wilson

As usual, F. Paul Wilson begins Secret Vengeance with an excellent hook:

Weezy was attacked on a Saturday night.

On the surface, Secret Vengeance is about the aftermath of popular senior Carson Toliver's attempted date rape of Jack's best friend, Weezy Connell. Weezy refuses to report him, and Jack keeps her secret, as it's hers to tell. But when rumors start to spread about Weezy, Jack secretly (of course!) takes matters into his own hands. Because not only does he feel that Carson deserves payback, he figures that since Weezy won't -- maybe even can't -- stand up for herself, he will.

Subject Seven by James A. Moore

Subject Seven by James A. Moore
"Years ago, scientists began developing the ultimate military weapon: deadly sleeper assassins housed within the bodies of teenagers. Now, Subject Seven, the dangerous alter-ego living inside a 16-year-old boy, has escaped the lab and is on a mission. His objective? To seek out others like him and build an army capable of destroying their creators.

Hunter, Cody, Gene, Tina, and Kylie: five teenagers leading typical lives, until the day they each receive a call from a mysterious stranger and learn that their destinies are intertwined. Subject Seven holds the key that connects them all. And a vicious, bloody battle for their lives is just beginning."- summary from Amazon

Wow, this was a rollercoaster ride of a book, full of suspense, mystery and action with a bit of sci-fi/futuristic thrown in. Moore's YA debut is pretty original and he handles the multiple perspectives well, though in the beginning, it can be a bit confusing (which may be the point). The characterization is okay, as it tends to be with multiple narration, and a lot of it is more telling than showing.

The first half of the book is a bit slow because everything's being set up, but once the second half starts and the characters all meet up, things really heat up and the pages fly by. I do also think that even though there are several girl narration parts throughout the book, teen boys will enjoy this book. It just fits right up their alley- there are huge action scenes here that go on for pages and it's pretty awesome.

Overall, I really enjoyed this first book of a planned series and can't wait to read more. Also, it's a paperback original, so it's cheap!

Flash: Rebirth by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver

Ever since childhood I've always been fascinated with the Flash. There's just something appealing about the Flash as a character - or as a myth, since DC characters lend themselves more readily to operatic, iconic and mythical storytelling. Certainly the idea of instantaneous, high-speed travel has a lot to do with my childhood fascination, but there was also something else, some working class ethic and overarching sense of rightness that was present in the character of Barry Allen that wasn't in Hal Jordan, Bruce Wayne or even Clark Kent. It's that core, almost indefinable motivation of the Flash that writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver have tapped into in their effort to bring Barry Allen back from the dead and back into the living pantheon of DC characters.

If you haven't followed the Flash comics for a while, you might be in for a surprise. A LOT has changed, and the introduction of a wealth of supporting characters can be daunting for new readers. Barry Allen, probably the most iconic of those who have worn the mantle of the Flash, has been "dead," inasmuch as any comic book character CAN be dead, since around 1985, when he gave his life to save the universe. Since his death, Barry's Kid Flash apprentice, Wally West, has been the Flash, and I suppose there's a generation of comic book readers out there who have known no other Flash but Wally. To add to the confusion, there is a "Golden Age" Flash (Jay Garrick) who is miraculously still around, and another Kid Flash (who WAS the Flash briefly, then was murdered, but now is back.....oh, you get the idea). With this many Flashes running around, you'd think Johns would have a heck of a time making any sort of narrative sense out of this mess. However, the opposite is true.

What writer Geoff Johns does is what so many other writers for the Flash have avoided. Rather than streamline characters, plot lines and conflicts, Johns embraces them all and in doing so creates a sort of "Flash Family" that exists around Barry Allen. There's no confusion...no muddled narrative...just a living, breathing family of characters who have more depth than you might expect. Heck, Johns even dives headlong into Barry Allen's own backstory, which has never been developed or plumbed appropriately. What he creates in Barry's past is a motivation for the character's actions, something that even DC's mythic characters need. After all, what is Bruce Wayne without his parents' murder, and what is Clark Kent without his childhood in Smallville? To this, add the unsolved murder of Barry Allen's mother and his undying love of Iris West. These are the touchstones of Barry Allen's life, and they are the kind of stuff that finally fleshes out an all-too-often two-dimensional character.

On top of all of this psychological depth lies a rollicking good action story, complete with a distinctly dangerous villain. There's melodrama a-plenty, don't you worry; it's just more sophisticated and engaging.

Hard-boiled High School

In Sean Beaudoin's You Killed Wesley Payne Dalton Rev is a teenaged private dick, gone undercover through an arranged transfer to Salt River High in order to investigate a students' death. The student, Wesley Payne, was found hanging from a goalpost , and his death has been declared a suicide by the police, the school faculty, and the student body. But Wesley's sister Macy doesn't think it was a suicide and hires Dalton through his website to solve the case. There's also the matter of $100,000 missing from the principal's safe, and while he's at it, Dalton figures he can find that to, for a suitable percentage.

Bone: Quest for the Spark, Book One by Tom Sniegoski and Jeff Smith

Are you ready to go on the adventure of a lifetime? The first volume in a new trilogy, Bone: Quest for the Spark, Book One follows 12-year-old Tom and his faithful raccoon Roderick on an amazing journey to stop the spread of evil. Along the way, they make some unlikely friends, including three members of the Bone family, two Rat Creatures, a Veni Yan warrior, and a woman who is a cross between Mother Earth and a shapeshifter.

Written by Tom Sniegoski and illustrated by Bone creator Jeff Smith, with color by Steve Hamaker, this book is sure to please fans of adventure stories. It has all the elements which make a journey great: friends, foes, unlikely allies, transportation contraptions, food, good intentions, and sheer determination. Really, all that's missing is a mix tape. When surrounded by all types of beings and personalities, our protagonist, Tom, remains unshaken, making him a wise choice to lead this crazy band of travelers. Mal from Firefly would be proud of this young man.

On more than one occasion, author Tom Sniegoski has reduced me to tears - because he makes me laugh so hard that I cry. The man puts me in stitches when we're talking face-to-face. Now it's your turn, gentle readers. Between Roderick's blunt declarations to the bumbling Rat Creatures (who, in my mind, sound an awful lot like Lurky from Rainbow Brite), this may be Sniegoski's funniest book to date. It blends comedy and action effortlessly. It also has great pacing. The different characters' plotlines are balanced, then become interwoven, bringing to mind Neil Gaiman's Stardust.

The Bone graphic novels have a large following, and those dedicated readers will love the new stories. Thanks to Smith, Hamaker, and Sniegoski, the first installment of Quest for the Spark wholly captures the spirit of the Bone series in both picture and text. This trilogy will surely spark the interest of new readers as well.

While you are waiting for the second volume in the trilogy, you ought to pick up the original Bone graphic novels as well as Bone: Tall Tales, also by Sniegoski & Smith. (Sniegoski & Smith... Hmm... Kind of sounds like a famous pair of spies or secret agents, doesn't it? Watch out, Scarecrow & Mrs. King!)

On a personal note: I cried when I read the book's inscription. Sniegoski dedicated this book to his faithful dog, Mulder. We miss you, buddy.