Who's Afraid of the Real World!

...the line that separates the time when you're a child, when most things are provided for you, from the time when you're out on your own, taking care of yourself and forging your own way. That line is not often an age but an event... We're thrown into this so-called real world before we're ready (Jill Santopolo, Introduction).

No Such Thing as the Real World by An Na, M.T. Anderson, K.L. Going, Beth Kephart, Chris Lynch, and Jacqueline Woodson Harper Collins Publishers, 2009, 247 pp. $16.99 Short Story Collection ISBN: 9780061470592


Royal Readers,

That statement matches my thoughts exactly. Oftentimes it is how we handle events in our lives that help define who we are. Lovers, haters, bullies, victims, home wreckers, dreamers, thinkers, creators, destroyers to whatever comes in between will shape what the "Real World" will be like. It takes all kinds to make the world go round.

Six authors, six varied tales from realistic fiction to a bizarre tale that I'll say is science fiction and an invitation for Young Adults to submit their own "Real World" short stories are pretty cool. I recommend this for high school because of language and explicit and implicit sexual situations.

In An Na’s Complication we meet a young single mother with an agenda for revenge, but like the title suggests there’s a complication.

M. T. Anderson’s The Projection: A Two-Part Intervention needs an intervention, we meet two people (you really aren’t sure of their genders at first) who might be actors-hmm…the story is interesting at best and intricate as we find ourselves suspended from reality.

K.L. Going’s Survival is perhaps the realest and ultimate story of betrayal (or is it) and a classic case of sibling rivalry at a high school graduation no less.

Beth Kephart’s The Longest Distance is about suicide and its aftereffects on those left behind.

Chris Lynch’s Arrangements was a humorous look inside a father-son relationship, a funeral and a pawn shop business.

Jacqueline Woodson’s The Company is about the goings on in a Dance Company-enough said honey.

I chose this collection of short stories because I am familiar with the last author, Jacqueline Woodson who I have reviewed in the past. I could see these stories used in literature circles, for plot development and character studies. I would definitely use this book in a Creative Writing course. These short stories were written by some of today’s hottest and award winning young adult authors. Moreover, some of the plots alone are worth the price of admission.


Check out each author by clicking on their name:
An Na
M. T. Anderson
K. L. Going
Beth Kephart
Chris Lynch

Jacqueline Woodson

Queenie

Grab A Thunder, Steal A Lightening!

But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you (Percy Jackson, p.1).

THE LIGHTNING THIEF: Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book One by Rick Riordan Miramax Books/Hyperion, 2005, 375 pp. $7.99 paperback Fantasy/Mythology ISBN: 0786838655

As a princess, I loved reading mythology. Imagining the gods and goddesses wrecking havoc on mortals and demigods displaying feats of courage. Ah youth! To explore and seek understanding while learning something of other cultures. Well Royal Readers this is a gateway for new readers of this genre. Dahlings I would slide this book to tweens ages 10 and up (older YA-ers might like it too-maybe). However, since they made the book into a movie you'll get more buy in for the hype.


For readers who are not familiar with mythology (in this book Greek) this tale will lead them to discover who Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, Hades, and Medusa (to name a few) are and their respective stories. Think of the lessons this would generate for teachers and librarians across the curriculum.

For those of you who know the main characters, this is an opportunity to reacquaint yourself with these zany characters and storylines.

Now I must confess that I thought the storyline of Percy and his two friends sounded an awful lot like the central characters of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. However, there are enough differences to make it enjoyable to readers. The struggle that Percy has with dyslexia and attention deficit disorder (ADD) should relate to children and young adults alike who have experience with these issues. Actually, you'll find that this helps Percy to fight against some of the immortals out to get him.

Percy's motivation above all else is to help his mother. Most teens (especially males) whether they will admit it or not will do for their mother. The plight of not knowing your father and growing up around cruel or distant stepparents is also something that is identifiable.

Moreover, Percy and friends will have to go on a quest to find a stolen object of the gods. Percy goes on this obstacle filled journey-some hilarious, with the knowledge that he will be betrayed by a friend and will not be able to save what he loves most. If you found this out would you still risk everything? Would you try to find a way out of no way?
The story is set in modern day United States from New York-the hippest place in the world to the Coast of California with some other cool places and landmarks in between. Riordan does a good job of convincing readers that the Olympians see America as the Gold standard of the West and moved Mt. Olympus above New York City and that the Underworld is out west between Las Vegas and California.

I recommend that you continue on this journey with the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians .

Also check out this Greek Mythology Pathfinder from Emerson Middle School.

Queenie