Emma by Jane Austen

Austen, Jane. Emma.

CreateSpace; 2010,

ISBN: 1451537948.

Reader’s Annotation

Emma Woodhouse fancies herself a matchmaker, and she chooses Miss Harriet Smith to be her “project” to remake, little realizing the chaos that will ensue.

Plot Summary

As a wealthy young lady from a very old family, Emma Woodhouse enjoys the status that comes from such a position.  After her long-time governess and dear friend is married to a local man, Emma finds herself all alone in a big house with only her frail and ailing father to care for.  Fortunately, Emma enjoys the company of friends and neighbors, including the brother of Emma’s brother-in-law, Mr. Knightly, who is a regular visitor.  Mr. Knightly and Emma have a long-time friendship that makes Emma feel as though he was her brother.  Emma now finds herself a bit bored, and when she sees Harriet Smith, a girl without any family at all, living in the small boarding school, Emma thinks of a plan.  She will befriend Miss Smith and remake her, and finally make a match for her!  Unfortunately, one misunderstanding after another causes chaos as the man Emma chooses for Harriet, falls in love with her instead.  As Emma tries to untangle the mess, new misunderstanding spring up, until Emma is quite over her head.  It is only when Harriet mistakenly thinks that Emma is encouraging her of Mr. Knightly’s interest that Emma realizes the truth, that she herself loves, truly loves Mr. Knightly!

Critical Evaluation

Emma is one of Jane Austen’s most light-hearted and fun novels.  The character of Emma is funny, likable and entertaining.  As always, Austen paints a picture of life for the middleclass gentry in England in the 1800s. So many of the characters capture aspects of human nature, that readers will swear that they know the characters personally.  The book Emma has been adapted into movies in various forms, most recently in the blockbuster hit starring Gwyneth Paltrow.  The popular teen movie Clueless is also based on Emma.

Information about the Author

Jane Austen was born in December 1775 to Rev. George Austen and his wife Cassandra.  Austen, the sixth of seven children, had only one older sister, to whom she was very close.  Jane and her sister were sent to boarding school at an early age for their education which consisted mainly of French, music and dancing.  Back at home jane was free to continue her education through reading and learning whatever her brothers and father could teach her. Although Austen never married, she did have several liaisons.  Her writing career culminated in six highly successful novels that have been the measuring stick for romances stories since the 1800s.  All of Austen’s works were published anonymously, and it was not 1814, after Pride and Prejudice that Austen’s identity became known.  Austen had an especially close relationship to her brother Henry, and he served as her literary agent until her death in 1817.

Genre

Classic Fiction

Romance

Curriculum Tie-ins

English Literature

     

Booktalk Ideas

1. Why do you think that marriage was so important to women in this society?
2. What do you think Mr. Knightly’s attitudes towards the different classes of people were?  Di his views differ from the other characters?

Reading level/Interest age

Ages 12-Adult

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

None

Why I included this work

This novel has been made into many movies and adaptations, including Clueless.

Great Quote from the Book:

"Mr. Knightley, in fact, was one of the few people who could see faults in Emma Woodhouse, and the only one who ever told her of them...."

Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita

Calonita, Jen. Secrets of My Hollywood Life.

Little, Brown and Company, 2006.

ISBN 978-0-316-15442-0

Reader’s Annotation

After 12 years of working as a TV child star, Kaitlin Burke needs and break, and a chance to experience “normal” life, but her plan affects more people than she anticipated, including Evan, a boy she dates who has no idea of who she really is.

Plot Summary

Sometimes being a celebrity is just plain exhausting.  For 16-year-old Kaitlin Burke, the stress (and the competitiveness of her costar Sky Mackenzie), have her wondering what it would be like to just be an ordinary teenager for a few months.  She devises a plan to enroll in the same high school as her friend Liz, and for a few weeks enjoys the simple joy of being liked just for who she really is (or rather, who she appears to be).  Only the principal of Clark Hall High School and, of course, Liz knows Kaitlin’s true identity.  Because she has been working since she was four years old, Kaitlin savors the simple things that she’s never experienced before.  Taking the name Rachel Rogers, and student visiting from England for two months, Kaitlin indulges in things like math class that she loves, and serving on the dance committee.  Kaitlin even begins a relationship a great guy named Evan, who ironically has a slight crush on the famous Kaitlin Burke.  When, at a school dance, Sky cattily “unmasks” Kaitlin, her friends and Evan feel betrayed.  Will Kaitlin be able to save her new-found friendships?

Critical Evaluation

Who doesn’t secretly wish that they could be a celebrity—to live a glamorous life and be the center of attention.  Secrets of My Hollywood Life puts a new spin on that daydream, giving readers a fresh perspective on what that kind of life might actually be like. The fact that Kaitlin has been working since she was four clues you in that she is searching for her identity just like every teen does.  And most teens don’t have a pushy agent, stage mom, and a competitive costar to contend with.  Kaitlin’s relationship comes across as a honest breath of fresh air for Kaitlin, even though you know that it can’t last.  While the premise of the story is as old as the Prince and the Pauper, Secrets of My Hollywood Life is a very entertaining, fun read, and is the first of a six-book series.

Information about the Author

Jen Calonita knows what she writes about.  Uniquely qualified to write celebrity, Calonita worked as a Senior Entertainment Editor at Teen People, and has also written for TV Guide, Glamour and Marie Claire, has interviewed countless young stars.  Calonita live in Merrick, NY with her husband and two sons.  For more information, go to: Jen Calonita.

Genre

Reality Fiction

Chick Lit

Curriculum Tie-ins

None

Booktalk Ideas

1. Did reading Secrets of My Hollywood Life change how you view celebrities?  Why or why not?
2. Discuss Kaitlin’s relationship with Liz.  Compare what that friendship meant to each of them.

Reading level/Interest age

Young Adult (ages 13 +)

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

None

Why I included this work

Yalsa's Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults

Winner of the Louisiana Young Readers Award

Great Quote from the Book:

“What if? Your picture was taped inside teenage boys’ lockers across America, your closets were bursting with never-worn designer clothing, and the tabloids constantly asked whether you were losing your “good girl” status?”

Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka

Hrdlitschka, Shelley.  Sister Wife.

Orca Book Publishers; 2008,

ISBN: 1551439271.

Reader’s Annotation

Celeste, Nanette, and Taviana are all girls growing Unity, a community that practices polygamy, and Celeste, about to turn fifteen, makes choices that affect them all.

Plot Summary

Sister Wife is set in the remote town of Unity—a religious, cult-like, community that is centered around the practice of polygamy.  The story is told through the voices of three central characters: Celeste, a son-to-be 15 year old who is thought to be a bit rebellious; Nanette, Celeste’s slightly younger sister, who seems to be very pure and devout; and Taviana, Celeste’s best friend, and a girl who was rescued from prostitution on the streets, and brought into the community.  As Celeste’s fifteenth birthday approaches, she knows that soon the Prophet will assigned her to become the wife of one of the older men in the community.  Dismayed at the prospect, Celeste spends more and more time away down by the river, pondering her circumstances.  She’s worried that she’s been attracted to Jon, a boy in Unity, and one day they meet by the river, and there they are seen, kissing.  Jon flees Unity, and Celeste is punished by being immediately assigned to a husband—and the Prophet, rather vindictively chooses Mr. Neisson, Jon’s own father.  Taviana unjustly gets blamed for being “a bad influence” on Celeste and is kicked out of Unity. And Nanette, we find, is not perfect—she’s jealous of Celeste for getting to be married.  Celeste misses several opportunities to escape Unity, but then later finds Taviana and Jon—but will things ever be the same between them again?

Critical Evaluation

There just something fascinating about polygamy.  Hrdlitschka tells this story through voice of the three main characters.  They each are unique, and yet each one also struggles to determine who they want to be, and what they need to do to get there.  One interesting device that Hrdlitschka uses is a local boy Celeste meets by the river.  He spends his time making Inkusuks—stone landmarks used by the Inuits to guide the way.  This boy is Celeste’s only connection with the outside world, and she becomes fascinated by making the Inkusuks.  It’s as though he symbolically serves as a guide to another life for Celeste.  Although some of the decisions and choices made the characters, especially Celeste, are maddening, Sister Wife is a book you won’t put down.

Information about the Author

Shelley Hrdlitschka (pronounced “Herd-litch-ka”), was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1956.  She worked as a teacher in the 80s, a stay-at-home mom and writer in the 90s, and she says that she does all three now!  Actually she explains that she now teaches creative writing classes.  Hrdlitschka has three daughters and lives in Canada.  For more information, go to Shelley Hrdlitschka

Genre

Realistic Fiction

Romance

Curriculum Tie-ins

Religions

Civics

Booktalk Ideas

1. Discuss Celeste’s choice not to run away.
2. How do you think that Nanette could want to marry a man thirty years older than her?
3. Discuss the character of Mr. Neilsson.  Do you think he was a good man to Celeste?

Reading level/Interest age

Young Adult (ages 13 +)

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

Religion

Polygamy

• Present the library’s selection policy
• Be familiar with similar works in the collection
• Refer to ALA Intellectual Freedom resources

Why I included this work

2010  ALA Best Books for Young Adults
2010  CCBC Best Books
2010  IRA Young Adult Choices selection
2010  White Pine Award nominee
2009  CLA Young Adult Book Award nominee
2009  Governor General's Literary Award - Children's Text nominee
2009  VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers List
2008  Resource Links "The Year's Best"

Great Quote from the Book:

"Every movement becomes an effort, as if the air is water and I have to push my body through it. My legs are dead weight and I feel like I'm sinking."

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

Brashares, Ann. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Delacourt Press; 2001,

ISBN: 0385730586.

Reader’s Annotation

Best friends Tibby, Carmen, Lena and Bridget must part for the summer, but they discover a pair of magical jeans, and they make a pact to share the jeans, as well as all their adventures during the summer.

Plot Summary

Four friends, best friends, are sophomores in high school, and are about to face their first summer apart.  But before they part, they discover a magical pair of jeans that fits each one of them, despite their different shapes and sizes.  The girls agree to rotate the jeans throughout the summer and include letters about the adventures each girl has.  During the summer, Ann Brashares chronicles the experiences of the four friends: the Tibby befriends a 12-year-old with leukemia, Carmen's father has a new family, Lena falls in love in Greece, and Bridget has her first sexual experience, which devastates her.  This book is the first in a series of four, which follows Tibby, Carmen, Bridget, and Lena from their sophomore year of high school to the end of their freshman year in college.

Critical Evaluation

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants paints a wonderful picture of friendship—the kind of friendship everyone wishes they could have.  When Lena, Bridget, Carmen and Tibby find the jeans, and discover that they fit each one of them perfectly, even though they all are different shapes and sizes they make a pact, to stay close, and to share the jeans.  As each of the girls’ stories are featured, Brashares depict a variety of scenarios, emotions—from joy to anger and sorrow.  The girls make a few bad decisions along the way, but the thing they know that they can count on is their friends. This book, the first in the series, was made into a popular movie in 2005.

Information about the Author

Ann Brashares was born in Alexandria, VA, and grew up in Chevy Chase, MD. She attended elementary and high school at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C. (the same school Melia and Sasha Obama attend now).  At Barnard College, Barashares studied philosophy, and then she went on the work as an editor 17th Street Productions. She is best known for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which became an international best seller. For more information, go to: Ann Brashares.

Genre

Romance

Chick Lit

Curriculum Tie-ins

None

Booktalk Ideas

1. What do you think the pants may symbolize?
2. Discuss the importance of friendship in the lives of Lena, Tibby, Bridget and Carmen.  Are those things important to all teens?

Reading level/Interest age

Young Adult (ages 12 +)

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

Sexual content

Language

• Present the library’s selection policy
• Be familiar with similar works in the collection
• Refer to ALA Intellectual Freedom resources

 

Why I included this work

• Honors and Awards include:
• South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominee (2003-2004)
• Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice (2004)
• ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2002)
• Garden State Book Award (Teen Fiction Grades 9-12, 2004)
• Book Sense Book of the Year (2002.6|Children's Literature Winner, 2002)
• (show all 14 items)ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (2009.02|Journey > Destination, 2009)
• TASL Volunteer State Book Children's Choice Award (2003-2004)
• Iowa Teen Award Nominee (2003-2004)
• Iowa Teen Award Winner (2003-2004)
• Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee (2003-2004.2|Middle Grades, 2003-2004)
• Young Hoosier Book Award Winner (Middle Grades, 2003-2004)
• Sequoyah Children's Book Award (2004|YA, 2004)
• Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award Nominee (2007)
• Rhode Island Teen Book (2002)

 Great Quote from the Book:

“I could tell the pants hadn’t come into our lives because of tragedy. They’d just witnessed one of those regular but painful life transitions. That, it turns out, is The Way of the Pants.”

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1975,

ISBN: 0374378487.

Reader’s Annotation

When Winnie discovers the Tuck family, she learns their secret—100 year ago, they drank from a spring in the woods on her family’s property, and now they are immortal.

Plot Summary

Winnifred Foster, also known as “Winnie”, lives with her very wealthy, straitlaced family.  Winnie is kept very safe behind the four-foot wrought iron fence surrounding their home on the edge on town.  Winnie’s family also owns the surrounding woods, and one day, Winnie slips away from home into the woods.  There she finds a stranger—a young man named Jesse Tuck—drinking from a spring at the base of a tree.  Winnie learns that Jesse and his family drank from this very spring 100 years ago, and unwittingly became immortal.  Jesse’s family decides that the safest thing to do is to take Winnie home with them in order to explain everything to her, and help her to understand why the spring must remain a secret.  But neither Jesse nor Winnie realize that someone had been watching them—a man in a yellow suit.  Because of stories he heard from his grandmother, this man has been searching for this spring, this “fountain of youth” for years.  When the man sees them take Winnie away, he decides to call it a kidnapping and exploit it in order to buy the wood (and the spring) from the Foster family.  At the Tuck home, Winnie comes to love them all like a real family, because they are loving and loving and relaxed.  The man in the yellow suit tracks them down, and confronts the family.  When Mae Tuck hears his plan, she takes a shotgun, hits him over the head, and he later dies.  The sheriff sees what happens and arrests Mae.  When Mae is sentenced to be hanged, the family knows that their secret will be revealed since Mae cannot die.  Together with Winnie, they free Mae from the jail, and Winnie takes her place while the Tucks escape.  Winnie gets in trouble for helping the Tucks, but her real question, is when will they come back to find her?   

Critical Evaluation

Tuck Everlasting touches on a number of issues.  One is Winnie’s relationship with the Tuck family and how different they are from her own.  They are warm and affectionate, where her family is cold and stern.  They are relaxed and unrestricted, where hers is strict and straight laced.  The most important issue, of course, is mortality and how important it is to the balance of life.  The Tucks explain to Winnie that when you are immortal, you are taken out of the cycle of life and death, and become like virtual rocks.  Winnie, who is attracted to Jesse, is unsurprisingly drawn to him and to the Tuck family.  The dilemma that Winnie faces is very similar to the dilemma that Bella wrestles with in Twilight.

Information about the Author

Natalie Babbitt was born in 1932 in Dayton, OH.  After attending Deanna’s School for Girls, Babbit attended Francis College.  Babbitt’s first book published was a collaborative effort with her husband, Samuel Fisher Babbitt.  Later, their publisher encouraged Natalie to continue producing books, even after Samuel became too busy to work on the projects.  Natalie Babbitt is a board member of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance, a national not-for-profit that actively advocates for literacy, literature, and libraries.

Genre

Fantasy

Romance

Curriculum Tie-ins

None

Booktalk Ideas

How do you think the character of Winnie compares to Bella in Twilight?

Would you drink from the spring if you could?

Reading level/Interest age

Ages 10 +

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

None

Why I included this work

This novel has a compelling premise and bears similar themes to Twilight.

• Goodreads’ Best Young Adult Books
• ALA Notable Book
• The Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List.
• Janusz Korczak Medal
• 1976 Christopher Award for Best Book for Young People.

 Great Quote from the Book

"It'd be better if I could be like you, out in the open and making up my own mind."

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice.

CreateSpace; 2010 (originally published in 1813),

ISBN: 1453837736.

Reader’s Annotation

Mr. Darcy is too proud to admit that he loves Elizabeth, and Elizabeth biased to realize that she doesn’t really know the truth.

Plot Summary

When Mr. Bingley, a wealthy and single man, moves in, Mrs. Bennet can’t wait for him to meet her five daughters.  As Austen writes, “A single man of large fortune must be in want of a wife.”  Mr. Bingley did not come alone.  Besides his two sisters and his brother-in-law, his brought his good friend, Mr. Darcy.  The village quickly finds out that Mr. Darcy is an extremely rich man, but unfortunately, his taciturn personality turns people off and he is quite unpopular.  Though Mr. Bingley immediately is attracted to the eldest daughter, Jane, Mr. Darcy refuses to dance and inadvertently insults the protagonist Elizabeth.  Lizzie, as her family calls her is quick-witted and lively, and after insulting her, Mr. Darcy begins to pay more attention to her.  As the story goes on, Elizabeth and Darcy have alternating conflicts and heated debates.  When Mr. Wickham comes to town, everything changes.  After Elizabeth sees Darcy freeze and then turn his back on Mr. Wickham, Wickham tell her a story about how he and Darcy grew up as friends together, and eventually Darcy cheated him out of an inheritance.  Elizabeth, who’s attracted to Wickham, despises Darcy for the incident, and also the fact that Darcy helped breakup Bingley and Jane.  Sometime later when Darcy confesses that he loves Elizabeth, she coldly refuses him.  Before she leaves the area the next day, Darcy gives her a letter explaining the true story of him and Mr. Wickham.  Elizabeth feels terrible at misjudging Darcy, and when they encounter each other sometime later, they seem to get a fresh start.  Until a huge scandal hits Elizabeth’s family, it involves none other than Mr. Wickham and Elizabeth’s youngest sister Lydia.

Critical Evaluation

Jane Austen is acclaimed at being one of the finest authors, and she captures the life of the middle class gentry of her day.  She manages to describe her characters in such a way that you are certain that you are reading about someone you know.  The fact that Pride and Prejudice was written in 1813, and is wildly popular today indicates exactly how accurately Austen portrays human nature.  The relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy remains one of the most celebrated love stories in literary history.  The character of Elizabeth is amazingly smart, strong and funny—quite remarkable for its time.

Information about the Author

Jane Austen was born in December 1775 to Rev. George Austen and his wife Cassandra.  Austen, the sixth of seven children, had only one older sister, to whom she was very close.  Jane and her sister were sent to boarding school at an early age for their education which consisted mainly of French, music and dancing.  Back at home jane was free to continue her education through reading and learning whatever her brothers and father could teach her. Although Austen never married, she did have several liaisons.  Her writing career culminated in six highly successful novels that have been the measuring stick for romances stories since the 1800s.  All of Austen’s works were published anonymously, and it was not 1814, after Pride and Prejudice  Austen had an especially close relationship to her brother Henry, and he served as her literary agent until her death in 1817. that Austen’s identity became known.

Genre

Classic Fiction

Romance

Curriculum Tie-ins

English Literature

               

Booktalk Ideas

1. Why do you think that Elizabeth was so quick to believe Mr. Wickham when he told his story about Darcy?
2. Do you think that Wickham loved Lydia?
3. Discuss Charlotte Lucas--what do you think of her decision to marry Mr. Collins?

 Reading level/Interest age

Ages 12-Adult

 Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

None

Why I included this work

This novel has been made into countless movies and adaptations.  And a hilarious version of it was made, called Pride and Prejudice and Vampires.

Great Quote from the Book:

“Laugh as much as you choose, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion.”