Fantasy Novels Strike Again

Kristin Cashore's first novel, Graceling, is a present to fantasy lovers. It has all the elements of a great fantasy novel-believable characters, a little mystery, a far away world, romance, action and adventure-all packaged and tied up with powerful prose.

I am going to present a brief summary, without giving away too many details. Partly because this is the type of book one needs to explore on their own, and partly because I think a teacher could do wonders with a book talk on this book, beckoning students on the edge of their seats, then dangling them there…you will have them begging for a copy!

Katsa, the main character, is forced to work as the Kings killing machine. The king is her uncle, and she is his murder weapon. She is a Graceling, one of a select number of people born with two different colored eyes and an extreme skill. Katsa’s is the ability to kill. Almost everyone fears Katsa and she dislikes this. Although she physically may be in control, emotionally Katsa is struggling. She seems rather untamed in the first part of the book, and she is so often in a struggle between good and bad. Katsa is fueled by her emotions, like almost all teens, and Cashore does a great job on characterization in this novel and really stirring up the emotions they go through. Katsa meets Po, a prince from another kingdom, and one of the few people to live through a fight with Katsa. They form a friendship, which soon blossoms into a romantic relationship. The great thing about this book is Katsa gains control of her emotional state. She gains self-actualization and proves to be a very dynamic character, and Po seems to be a catalyst to her development. The ending, which is anything but cliché, comes as a shock to many readers, especially female readers. The book introduces themes of patriarchal dominance, loss of innocence, love, romance, sex and marriage, and the balance between good and evil.

Such themes, which are touched on in many YA novels, are presented in this fantasy context. So what does this do for readers? Coming from a person who is not a fan of the whole fantasy mumbo jumbo, I think books like this enable me to think critically. This book allows readers to think more broadly about the themes, rather than just in relation to the novels characters and settings. Readers can think about issues raised in the book in relation to the world and/or society. The book is fantasy for a reason-it is not a real world-so why can we as readers still relate and understand? I think it is because it is saying something bigger, it should be looked at analytically as a possible social and cultural critique. If students have the ability to do this—they can take away so much more from a novel.

We Were Here: A window into the mind of a troubled teen

Matt De La Pena writes with beautiful and straightforward language in his YA novel, We Were Here. The book is written in first person, from the main characters voice. Miguel’s authenticity in his narration enables readers to connect with him and truly appreciate the road he is on – the road to not only Mexico, but the road to find himself. The books journal format lends credibility to the story as well. The book is an account of Miguel’s current situation where he resides in a group home for delinquent teens, finding friendship with crazy Mong and rough Rondell. The three of them manage to break out of the home and head to Mexico to become fisherman.

What I find so engaging about this book is not the fact that it has a great plot and characters, but that it introduces readers to the “unspoken” voices of delinquent children, and acts as a social critique. The characters in the book are judged, outcasts, and truly shunned by society, they are “delinquents in society,” and must be put into a “system.” Miguel deals with these stereotypes, and in his voice, readers see pain associated with this stigma. He often wonders what the point of his very existence is now that he is associated as a “bad” person; he knows he cannot become good again. There is a beautiful line that his friend says when asked why he doesn’t ever get scared:

“I think we’re all just passing through in this life. We are only temporary. When I learned that I realized there’s no reason to be scared.”

This idea of fatalism has almost an underlying tone of the book, in the sense that all the characters feel this way. Where does this thought of not caring what happens to you begin? The truth is, I am sure almost every young adult has felt this way before-that they were just temporary, that no one or nothing really matters. Also, the great thing about teaching this book to a class is that not only do students have the opportunity to interact with themes of race, class, delinquency and society, but also they can relate to the character whether they identify with all of his circumstances or none of them. The language Pena writes in is in itself relatable, that we can somehow understand Miguel no matter what our background is. I think this might be a great book to incorporate into a school with students of a low-socio economic background, where violence in young adults it is more prevalent.