The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen

I didn’t expect this book to be so sad, but it was. It was almost painfully sad at times, even by my depressing standards. But I’m glad that it touched on a lot of dark terrain that isn’t really thought of as belonging to YA, and I think this is a really good example of how mature YA literature can be. (I have a friend who scoffed at The Hunger Games because he believed as a YA novel, it couldn’t possibly present a true dystopia accurately or have anything meaningful to say about dystopias since, as we all know, all YA lit ends with problems neatly being solved and everyone gets along again.)

Anyway, I’d recommend this one. Susin Nielsen (a Canadian!) wrote it, and I had the chance to watch a talk with her and speak to her afterwards. I didn’t expect her to be so funny and self-deprecating!

Also, here is me undergoing Clothes Therapy (which works pretty well, I must say). And yes, you must tuck your hoodie under your sweatpants. How else are you going to look stylish while your skin heals?

Dreams about writing + The Hunger Games

Last night, I dreamt I had a conversation with my Writing for Children and Young Adults instructor about how to go about getting my fan-fic story about Foxface from The Hunger Games published in the world. I suppose it partly my fault for dreaming that because I watched Catching Fire yesterday and subsequently spent a bit of time on the Hunger Games wiki, reading up on the characters. And I only saw my instructor on Monday too. But very strange dream.

Oh, am I writing a fan-fic about Foxface? I thought about it a lot, mostly since I find her to be so fascinating and I would’ve loved to know her story. Officially, no, I am not writing it. But maybe one day!

People of Sparks

So in my previous post, I said how I put City of Ember on the same level of sci-fi commentary and intelligence as a young adult novel as The Hunger Games.

I am going to take it a step further (and I know there are some crazy loyal fans of THG out there but whatever), and say that People of Sparks has more layers and is a deeper book than the books in THG trilogy.

There. I said it.

Don’t get me wrong. I love that THG is laden with layers of philosophy, like government corruption, commentary on violence and mass media, but there’s something about People of Sparks that isn’t as obvious, that is more nuanced in its message than THG, which I really appreciate.

Anyway, I highly recommend teens and adults alike to read People of Sparks. Then tell me if you agree or disagree with me.

City of Ember

While I was busy doing my Earth Week’s worth of posts, I finished a couple books. City of Ember is a fantastic book that I’d put on the same level as The Hunger Games in terms of good YA fiction featuring dystopias and using sci-fi as commentary.

On a sidenote, I think I’m running out of poses with all the books I’ve read.

Also, excuse my drab outfit. I was grungy and didn’t care.

Saw the Hunger Games!

What a nerve-inducing movie.  I was on edge in the first hour of the film, super tense from the atmosphere and the dread of the upcoming killing.  Quite a good movie, I must say, and I do think it did the novel justice.  It holds up as a film on its own right quite well too.

Anyway, I gotta start on my Canadian Lit. essay so not much writing from me today.  Coincidentally, I did have a dream last night where I was in my old house and my family was forced to kill each other.  I was told a prophecy that I would kill everyone and win a big prize… I’ll write the details later and keep you in suspense about what happened.  🙂

The Hunger Games so far…

isn’t all that great.  Kind of disappointed, actually.  The first chapter, although I know it’s told from the point of view of a 16 year old, was quite mediocre– the writing was– but I suppose Collins is one of those authors who is known better for her storytelling than for her writing, much like Dan Brown.  I much prefer a young adult novel like The Dead Kid Detective Agency by Evan Munday.  Also, Evan is way cooler and his sense of humour is awesome.

Also, the endorsement by Stephanie Myer on the front of the book really didn’t raise my expectations.