Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger

Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2007.
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1622-2

Plot Summary

Angela Katz-McNair has never felt like a girl so after trying to live up to everyone’s expectations for years she finally decides to be herself—a boy. Choosing the name Grady for its nebulous quality, she decides to fully transition from girl to boy. She cuts her hair and asks some of her teachers to address her by her new name. Grady, however, is not prepared for the backlash her transition causes. Where he was once comfortable walking the halls of his school he now lives in a haze of constant anxiety, especially once school bully, Danya, decides to make him her number one target. Grady’s life becomes further complicated as he must find a way to end his father’s Christmas mania. That’s right, he lives in that house, the one with dozens of Santas in the yard and enough lights to need its own power grid. To make matters worse, Grady’s father insists on a family produced vignette of the Christmas Carol. Because his mother and siblings are too cowardly to confront their father, it’s up to Grady to end the public humiliation the family has had to endure every Christmas. Can Grady find a way to endure his peers’ criticism and his father’s overly enthusiastic Christmas spirit or will he succumb to fear and embarrassment?

Critical Evaluation

Nominated for the 2007 Cybils and the 2008 ALA Stonewall awards, Parrotfish is a wonderful novel filled with authentic characters and a succinct plot. While Parrotfish’s prose is well-crafted, the most striking feature of the novel is Grady’s honest voice. Not only does Grady approach life in a straightforward manner, he refuses to shy away from asking difficult, and often unanswerable, questions, especially those that pertain to gendered identity. For example, when pondering the sex of his new nephew he writes, “Is it a boy or a girl? Because, for some reason, that is the first thing everybody wants to know the minute you’re born…Why is that so important?...And why does it have to be a simple answer? One or the other?” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 3) Grady continually contemplates the importance (or lack of importance) gender plays in people’s lives as the novel progresses. “Why was it such a big freaking deal what I looked like or acted like?” he asks, “I looked like myself. I acted like myself. But everybody wanted me to fit into a category, so I let them…” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 9). Not only does Grady ponder abstract, philosophical concepts but he examines himself in an equally honest light. For example, fearing his mother and father’s altered treatment of him after he announces his transition he states, “[f]or the first time since I started understanding who I was, I wondered if the change was worth it” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 36). Grady refuses to fool himself into believing that his transition will be easy. Instead, he seeks to endure as best he can.

And while forthright Grady may not completely understand what his transition will entail, he is correct in his assumption that it will be difficult. Wittlinger expertly depicts Grady’s troubles from his stabbing pains caused by the bandage he uses to bind his chest, to the loss of his best friend who cannot handle his transition, and finally to the ignorance of his principal who tells him that his transition is “just silly” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 54). Wittlinger also includes all of Grady’s emotions in the telling of his story—of his embarrassment of his own body’s betrayal when his period begins, of his anger when people suggest that this phase is his fault, and of his loneliness as he wishes the beautiful Kita was his. In including such honest and personal details Wittlinger reminds readers that Grady’s transition isn’t done simply on a whim. After all, what person would choose to walk around in a haze of anxiety as Grady does once he decides to transition? And, most importantly, Wittlinger refuses to make Grady’s story a tidy one. “How far would my transition go?” Grady asks himself towards the end of the novel, “Did I want to take hormones? Would I eventually have surgery to make my body fit my soul?” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 285). Wittlinger rightly leaves these questions unanswered as Grady’s newfound life is just beginning.

However, despite Wittlinger’s excellent craftsmanship in both plot and character, Parrotfish leaves something to be desired. While Wittlinger develops some excellent characters she also leaves several in unfinished stages. This is particularly true for the school bully Danya. Like so many bullies portrayed in young adult fiction, Danya enjoys intimidating and abusing people, drawing others to her out of fear instead of love. Unfortunately, Danya remains a stock character despite Wittlinger’s subtle hints that she could be something more. For example, when the principal suspends Danya three days for the cruel trick she tries to play on Grady she pleads, “You can’t suspend me! You don’t understand—my parents think I’m—I can’t be suspended” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 190). And while Grady notes that Danya looks like “any other scared kid whose parents were about to be told the bad news” clearly Danya’s fear is fueled by something more than her parents’ disapproval (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 191). Maddeningly, Wittlinger never reveals any hint of Danya’s home life. Even when Grady learns that Danya is sobbing hysterically in the bathroom at their prom, readers learn nothing of why this may be. Instead, Sebastian glibly says “Wow…You wanna take a camera in there and get some footage?” and readers never learn anything more of Danya (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 251). Because Wittlinger develops expert characters in Grady and Grady’s family, her refusal to apply the same amount of skill to Danya’s development is inexplicable and frustrating. However, in spite of this shortcoming, Parrotfish is an excellent novel and one that all teens should read as it not only is an excellent introduction to LGBTQ literature but also addresses themes that every teenagers will want to ponder.

Reader’s Annotation

As Grady transitions from female-to-male, he learns how to navigate crushes, friendships, and his Dad’s intense love of Christmas.

About the Author

Ellen Wittlinger grew up in Belleville, Illinois, the daughter of grocers. She briefly moved to Oregon until she traveled to Iowa in order to attend the University of Iowa’s Master in Fine Arts program. Wittlinger originally wanted to be a poet and even published a book of poetry in 1979. However, after school she moved to Massachusetts where she wrote plays and worked for the local newspaper. Eventually she married, had two children and became a children’s librarian. It was then that she began writing for children. Her first children’s novel, Lombardo’s Law, was published in 1993. She currently has fourteen published children’s and YA books including Hard Love which won the Printz honor in 2000.

Some of her favorite books for youth include The Goats by Brock Cole, Jacob Have I Loved and The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. In addition to reading , Ellen Wittlinger enjoys watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Office, and House while noshing on bagels and chai soy lattés.

Wittlinger, E. (n.d.) About me. Retrieved from http://www.ellenwittlinger.com/about.html

Wittlinger, E. (n.d.) Frequently asked questions. Retrieved from http://www.ellenwittlinger.com/faq.html

Genre

Bibliotherapy, Coming of Age, LGBTQ literature, Realistic fiction, Romance

Tags

LGBTQ, transgender, female to male, parrotfish, Christmas, A Christmas Carol, bullies, female bully

Curriculum Ties

There is a strong tie between Parrotfish and the study of fish and animals in general. In addition, this book could be used in a unit on identity and gender as well as one on bullying.

Booktalk Ideas

--Show pictures of parrotfish and talk about how they switch genders. Ask the audience how this might relate to humans.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Reading Level: 5^th grade

Interest Level: 8^th-12^th grade (13-18 yrs)

Reading level is rounded from that found on AR BookFinder at:

http://www.arbookfind.com/bookdetail.aspx?q=116399&l=EN&slid=189297773

Challenge Issues

This book could potentially be challenged because it is about a transsexual teenager. If challenged, librarians should point out statistics involving how many teenagers are LGBTQ. Librarians should also show how the book contains positive themes such as the importance of treating everyone kindly and not giving up on people.

Favorite Quotes

“But, making money is stupid. I mean, you have to make some money, but I want to do something that actually matters when I’m an adult. Otherwise, why bother to be an adult? Just so you can buy stuff?” –Sebastian (p. 90)

Why Was This Included?

I included Parrotfish because I am doing a group project on LGBTQ literature and wanted to read a book that featured a transgendered protagonist. I originally wanted to read Luna by Julie Anne Peters but a fellow classmate had already ordered it for herself so I searched for another book. This, at the time, was the only other one I could find that featured a transgendered main character.

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2007.
ISBN: 978-0-374-40011-8

Plot Summary

Liza Winthrop has her life all figured out. She’s going to finish her project on the Temple of Dendur, be a good student body president and, in a year, attend MIT’s architecture program. But then she meets the mysterious, magical Annie. Annie, naturally exuding childlike innocence, captivates responsible, staid Liza and soon their friendship blossoms into love. But the strength of her feelings for Annie frightens Liza who has never heard about homosexuality and knows her strict school would never approve. Inevitably, a schoolmate discovers the girls’ relationship and the principal threatens Liza with expulsion. With everything on the line Liza must either muster the courage to continue her relationship with Annie or give it up entirely.

Critical Evaluation

Annie on My Mind tells the story of two girls straddling the innocence of childhood and the gravity of adulthood. Although Liza and Annie are seventeen years old they are very much like children, especially Annie. Annie finds wonder in the everyday world whether she’s playing knights-in-shining-armor or marveling over a flower. Her childlike wonder is partly what draws Liza to her. Although Liza is the sheltered one, attending a school that makes a fuss over ear piercings, she is the one that is cognizant of life’s potential cruelty, particularly to those who do not grow up. In fact when Annie begins playing pretend Liza remarks, “Part of me wanted to join in…[b]ut the other part of me was stiff with embarrassment” (p. 11). But Liza soon flings caution to the wind as she becomes more and more enchanted with Annie’s innocence.

As the novel progresses, readers cannot help but root for Annie and Liza’s tender, vulnerable romance. Time and again, Garden includes details highlighting this vulnerability. For instance, when Annie and Liza have a misunderstanding over Annie’s school Liza cannot bear the awkwardness of the moment: “…[T]here we were sitting moodily on a cold bench saying ‘I’m sorry’ to each other for things we couldn’t help. Instead of being happy to see Annie, which I’d been at first, now I felt rotten, as if I’d said something so dumb the whole friendship was going to be over with when it had only just started,” (Garden, 2007, p. 73). And just as Liza and Annie are both neophytes at relationships so they are too at life. Both girls take delight in the simplest things—imagining their dream houses and playing pretend. As Annie so aptly puts it, “And here we are…Liza and Annie, suspended in between” (Garden, 2007, p. 78).

Of course, both reader and practical Liza alike realize this golden time cannot last forever. Once a classmate discovers Annie and Liza together in a bedroom the two girls must face a firestorm of criticism and intolerance. But, and perhaps this is the best feature of the novel, Garden refuses to abandon Liza and Annie in their hour of need. She doesn’t turn the girls into cynical, bitter characters who cannot move on with their lives. Instead she shoulders (and succeeds) in the difficult task of having the girls grow up. And it is the successful completion of this that perhaps makes this novel so great.

Annie on My Mind is a true masterpiece, reminiscent of novels of old such as Little Women and I Capture the Castle. Garden’s prose is romantic and bittersweet, the seasons reflecting the fate of Annie and Liza’s relationship. In fact, the novel is almost autumnal in nature as Liza reflects back upon the early days of her relationship with Annie. Needless to say, the details and tone are pitch perfect as Garden expertly crafts the characters of Annie and Liza, shaping them into figures that readers’ cannot help but love.

Reader’s Annotation

Liza believes her life to be right on track—she’s hoping to attend MIT to study architecture and is hard at work on her report on the Temple of Dendur. Then she meets wonderful, vibrant, ethereal Annie and her whole world changes.

About the Author

Nancy Garden always loved writing partially due to her parents’ love of stories. However, before she became a published author she had a variety of jobs including actor, office worker, teacher, and editor. She attained her undergraduate degree at Columbia University School of Dramatic Arts and later received her Master’s in Speech at Columbia Teachers’ College. She finally became a published author in 1971 with her fictional book What Happened in Marston and her nonfiction book Berlin: City Split in Two. She has won multiple awards for her activism work and novels including the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award, the Margaret A. Edwards Award, the Katahdin Award for Lifetime Achievement, and induction into the Saints and Sinners Hall of Fame.

When not writing, Nancy Garden enjoys spending time with her partner Sandy and their pets—one dog and two very naughty cats. She also enjoys gardening, hiking, and reading.

Garden, N. (2011). About me. Retrieved from http://www.nancygarden.com/aboutme/

Genre

Bibliotherapy—coming out, Coming of Age, LGBTQ literature, Romance, School story

Tags

New York, private school, grandmother, Italian immigrants, lesbian relationship, coming out, younger brother, architecture, MET, singing

Curriculum Ties

Annie on My Mind would be an excellent book to use when discussing diversity or in a unit on descriptive writing and character development. It could also be used to discuss intellectual freedom and banned books.

Booktalk Ideas

--Discuss a hypothetical world in which people are not allowed to be together if they are different from the norm. Tie this discussion into Annie on My Mind.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Reading Level: 6^th grade

Interest Level: 8^th-12^th grade (13-18 yrs)

Reading level is according to AR BookFinder found at

http://www.arbookfind.com/bookdetail.aspx?q=68034&l=EN&slid=189299476

Challenge Issues

Annie on My Mind positively depicts two teenagers who are in a lesbian relationship. As a result, there is a chance that this book may be challenged. In fact, it ranks number 44 on ALA’s Most Frequently Challenged Books from 1990-1999. If challenged, librarians should show statistics related to the number of LGBTQ people and explain that it is important to have literature that discusses these themes within the library. They should also point to curriculum ties and library collection policy.

ALA. 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990-1999. Retrieved from: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/1990_1999/index.cfm

Why Was This Included?

I decided to include Annie on My Mind because I am currently working on a group presentation on LGBTQ literature. I also thought this was a good book to include as it is a foundational book in YA literature. I have seen Annie on My Mind on library and bookstore shelves for a long time but never picked it up partially because it felt so forbidden. I finally decided it was time for me to challenge that stigma and see what the book was all about.

Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez

Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez, Simon & Schuster, 2001.
ISBN: 978-0689857706

Plot Summary

Jason and Nelson are in denial. Jason refuses to believe that he likes boys while Nelson ignores the fact that he might be in love with his best friend. And while not in denial, Kyle hopes his parents, and the whole student body for that matter, never find out that he is gay. But Jason, Nelson, and Kyle soon find out that their troubles simply won’t go away by ignoring them. Jason finally must decide how to come out to his girlfriend, Nelson needs to face his father’s neglect and rejection, and Kyle has to find a way to successfully pursue the crush he’s had for years. The boys’ dilemmas are further complicated by homophobic friends and teachers, pushy older men, and their own convoluted and ever-changing feelings.

Critical Evaluation

Sanchez’s highly readable Rainbow Boys marks the first book in the Rainbow Boys trilogy. Told from alternating perspectives, Sanchez follows the growth of jock Jason Carrillo, swimmer Kyle Meeks, and activist Nelson Glassman as they struggle to define their sexual identities. While the writing in Rainbow Boys is simple and easy to read the best part of the novel lies in its diverse cast of characters. While Jason, Kyle, and Nelson all attend Rainbow Youth meetings they are at various stages in their journeys. Jason shows up at the meeting questioning his sexuality. While he has a girlfriend he is disturbed and confused by his erotic dreams involving men. Kyle and Nelson attend the meetings with regularity but whereas Nelson has been out for years, Kyle has not revealed his sexual orientation to anyone save Nelson. Throughout the book all three struggle with their sexual identities as they battle stereotypes, bad grades, and parental misunderstandings.

Sanchez does an excellent job highlighting many of the potential problems gay teens face. For example, Jason fears telling his father that he is gay because his father is homophobic. Kyle avoids telling his parents out of fear of disappointing them. And while Nelson is out, he uses his sexual identity as a way to hide from facing his other fears. The adults in Sanchez’s novel range from fiercely supportive to belligerently unsupportive, ensuring that most gay teens who read the book will be able to identify at least in part with one of the characters. Sanchez also raises a number of issues that all teens potentially face such as abusive relationships, safe sex, and breaking up.

While Rainbow Boys is a quick, engaging read it does fall short in one area. While the main characters and adults in the novel are diverse, the teenage supporting cast is not. Most of the people at the boys’ school are intolerant to the point of being unbelievable. For example, when Jason is at the mall with his girlfriend Debra she spots two boys in the line at a restaurant. She proceeds to thrust her limp wrist out and mouth “Homos.” Her two friends, of course, laugh (Sanchez, 2001, p. 28). This sort of behavior is repeated when Debra and her friend Corey are discussing the homecoming queen election: “Debra shifted in her seat. She’d lost homecoming queen by only twenty-three votes, but she was being a good sport. Corey laughed. ‘I heard Nelson Glassman was going to run.’ Debra flung her wrist in the air. ‘But he’s already a queen!’” (Sanchez, 2001, p. 56) If Debra was the exception to the student body, she might be a plausible character, however, with the exception of one student, the entire student body is equally homophobic. They scrawl queer on Kyle’s locker, place crank phone calls, call the boys a host of derogatory terms, tease them using falsetto voices, and beat them up. And while there is a student who is not outright homophobic he isn’t supportive either. “Take it easy,” Jason’s friend Corey advises him about Jason’s friendship with Kyle, “All I’m saying is be careful. You know how people talk” (Sanchez, 2001, p. 93). And when Jason considers attending the LGBTQ Alliance meeting at his school, Corey warns him that he might be putting his college scholarship in jeopardy. Simply put, the students’ reactions to Jason, Kyle, and Nelson will make readers feel nonplussed, wondering why Sanchez chose to integrate complex adult characters at the expense of teen ones. However, despite Rainbow Boys shortcomings, it remains a good novel and a wonderful introduction to LGBTQ fiction.

Reader’s Annotation

Rainbow Boys follows the journey of jock Jason Carrillo, swimmer Kyle Meeks, and activist Nelson Glassman as they try to understand and define their sexual identities.

About the Author

“Alex Sanchez is the author of the Rainbow Boys trilogy of teen novels, along with The God Box, Getting It, and the Lambda Award-winning middle-grade novel So Hard to Say. His novel, Bait, won the 2009 Florida Book Award Gold Medal for YA fiction. Alex received his master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Old Dominion University and for many years worked as a youth and family counselor. His newest novel, Boyfriends with Girlfriends, will be released in 2011.”

Born in Mexico City, Sanchez moved to the United States when he was five years old. He attended college at Virginia Tech University earning his B.A. in Liberal Arts with a focus on English, Philosophy, and Architecture. He later went to Old Dominion University where he received his M.S. Ed. in Guidance and Counseling. While working as a counselor for ten years, he wrote his first book, Rainbow Boys, hoping it would help gay youth. The School Library Journal would later go on to equate Rainbow Boys with the Judy Blume classic Forever. He’s had a variety of jobs including website manager, juvenile probation officer, scuba instructor, college recruiter, program coordinator, and movie production assistant. He is currently an author and publishes roughly one book a year.

Sanchez, A. (n.d.) Alex Sanchez—The bio. Retrieved from http://www.alexsanchez.com/Alex_Sanchez_bio.htm

Sanchez, A. (n.d.) Who is Alex? Retrieved from http://www.alexsanchez.com/WhoIsAlex.htm

Genre

Bibliotherapy—alcoholic parent, coming out, Coming-of-Age, LGBTQ, School story

Tags

LGBTQ, virginity, alcoholic parent, m/m relationship, f/f relationship, breaking up, AIDS, activism, bullying, sports

Curriculum Ties

This book would fit in any unit on diversity, bullying, and teen activism. It could also be used to discuss love triangles like those found in Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dream.

Booktalk Ideas

--Ask “What would you do if your school refused to let you start a club?”

--Use different articles of clothing to represent the different boys—red hat of Kyle, a lock of green hair for Nelson, and a varsity pin for Jason—and ask the audience what they think the pieces have in common.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Reading level: 4^th grade

Interest level: 9^th-12^th grades (14-18 yrs.)

AR Book Finder (2010). Rainbow boys: Book details. Retrieved from http://www.arbookfind.com/bookdetail.aspx?q=66873&l=EN&slid=190534578

Challenge Issues

With major sexual themes and plenty of profanity, it is no surprise that there has been at least one challenge to Rainbow Boys. In 2006 the Webster Central School District removed the book as a summer reading option due to its explicit sexual content. If an adult challenges Rainbow Boys librarians should point to its ties to the curriculum and refer the challenger to the library collection policy.

Loudon, B.J. (2006, August 29). Author decries removal of gay-themed book. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.alexsanchez.com/Banned_Books/banned_book_1.html

Why Was This Included?

I knew from working in a children’s bookstore that Alex Sanchez is a major author within the LGBTQ genre and since my group project was on LGBTQ literature I decided to include Rainbow Boys. I chose Rainbow Boys partly because it was the first book in Sanchez' famous Rainbow Boys trilogy.

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen, Viking, 2009.
ISBN: 978-0670011940

Plot Summary

Cursed with egotistical, competitive parents, Auden’s missed out on a normal childhood. She’s never been to prom or even learned how to ride a bike. Now, the summer before her first year in college, Auden is determined to change that. Moving to the beach town of Colby to spend time with her absent father, ditzy stepmother, and brand new stepsister, Thisbe, Auden hopes that this summer will be a memorable one. However, Auden soon learns that people are not always who they appear to be and that sometimes the person who has to change the most is yourself.

Critical Evaluation

Dessen’s ninth book, Along for the Ride contains all the detailed characterization and beautiful writing present in her previous novels. She is clearly a master in her craft as she delicately shapes not only the plot but her characters. While Auden is certainly a sympathetic, likable character, Dessen’s true talent lies in her creation of Auden’s family, particularly her mother, father, and stepmother. Named after her father’s favorite poet, Auden grew up in a hostile household where her scholarly father envied her mother’s academic success. Eventually, her father leaves them and marries a younger woman. Much of Auden’s growth throughout the novel centers on her relationship with her narcissistic parents.

Growing up in the shadow of a self-centered academic is not easy. Auden spends the entirety of her youth seeking her mother’s approval. As she later explains, “I’d always had to work so hard to keep my mother’s interest, wresting it away from her work, her colleagues, her students, my brother…her attention was not only hard come by, but entirely too easy to lose.” (Dessen, 2009, p. 125-26). While her mother doted on her older, irresponsible brother Auden is left with the breadcrumbs of her mother’s time—a woman who is often absent as she writes prestigious books and attends academic parties. Even when Auden ventures outside her everyday world to spend the summer with her equally egotistical father, initially all she can think about is her mother’s approval. For example, when she volunteers to help her stepmother, Heidi, at the shop Auden claims that she couldn’t recognize herself: “My mother would be disgusted, I thought. I knew I was.” (Dessen, 2009, p. 50). In fact, when Auden does almost anything that involves helping others she always assumes she is disappointing her mother.

Fortunately, the longer Auden spends in Colby, the more she realizes that her mother’s opinions are often erroneous. For example, when Auden’s mother, Dr. Victoria West, visits Heidi’s shop her every utterance drips with distain and sarcasm. In her world, she cannot fathom that Maggie, the shop girl clad in all pink, could possibly be bright and knowledgeable. Nor can Auden’s mother imagine Heidi to be anything but ditsy. Fortunately, Auden can. Auden knows both she and Maggie are attending the same prestigious university and that Heidi is a brilliant business woman. Slowly Auden separates herself from her mother’s poisonous, self-centered opinions.

Auden’s father, Robert West, is equally, if not more, narcissistic than Auden’s mother. Jealous of his first wife’s success, he fought with her constantly only to divorce her and quickly remarry. Just as he refused to help Victoria with the upbringing of their children, so he refuses to involve himself in little Thisbe’s life. However, whereas Auden’s mother had sarcasm and a high powered career to turn to, Heidi has little. It is clear that Heidi is desperately trying to make her relationship with Robert work as she capitulates to him in the naming of their child. When Auden discovers Heidi’s list of beloved baby names (none of which include Thisbe) she writes, “I thought back to the day she’d [Heidi] admitted her dislike of the name Thisbe, and how I—and my mother—had judged her for giving in to it anyway. My father was selfish. He got what he wanted, and even then, it wasn’t enough” (Dessen, 2009, p. 281). Not only does her father treat his new wife like gum on the bottom of his shoe, he neglects Auden as well. Always promising to spend time with her, he does little except write the same book he has been working on for years. Even when Heidi confronts him he does not defend his actions, instead accusing her that she only wants Auden to visit for her babysitting skills (Dessen, 2009, p. 69).He’s a truly despicable character. In fact, Dessen’s creation of Victoria and Robert West is so well done that the reader spends much of the book hoping that Auden, Heidi, and little Thisbe will run away together and leave the Wests to their miserable, self-centered lives.

Fortunately, just is Auden is aware of her mother’s flaws, so too is she cognizant of her father’s. “You couldn’t just pick and choose at will when someone depended on you, or loved you,” she writes, “It wasn’t like a light switch, easy to shut on or off. If you were in, you were in. Out, you were out” (Dessen, 2009, p. 367). And so, just as Auden comes to terms with her mother’s poisonous beliefs so she recognizes her father’s neglect and self absorption. Upon recognition, she must decide whether to follow in the footsteps of her academic parents or to make her own way in life. And while Auden’s parents are extreme examples of neglect, isn’t Auden’s decision something that every teen faces?

Overall, Along for the Ride is a simply magnificent novel filled with complex characters and relevant overarching themes. In fact, it is the quintessential modern coming-of-age story and I would recommend it to all readers.

Reader’s Annotation

When Auden decides to spend her last summer before college in the small town of Colby with her father, stepmother, and new baby stepsister she doesn’t plan on it changing her life. Suddenly, Auden must confront her own fears as she learns how to ride a bike, go to prom, and be the normal teenager she’s always wanted to be.

About the Author

“Sarah Dessen grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and attended UNC-Chapel Hill, graduating with highest honors in Creative Writing. She is the author of several novels, including Someone Like You, Just Listen and Along for the Ride. A motion picture based on her first two books, entitled How to Deal, was released in 2003. Her tenth novel, What Happened to Goodbye,…[was just] published in May 2011. She lives in North Carolina.”

When she is not writing Sarah Dessen enjoys spoiling her two dogs, gardening, and shopping. She particularly likes The Gap and Starbucks. Two of her favorite books from her teenage years are A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume.

Dessen, S. (2011). Bio/Press kit. Retrieved from: http://sarahdessen.com/press-kit/

Genre

Bibliotherapy--neglectful parents, Coming-of-Age, Realistic fiction, Summertime novel,

Tags

Male identity, female identity, bikes, college, academia, single parent household, manipulative, passive-aggressive

Curriculum Ties

This is a wonderful book to pair with discussions on identity, particularly gendered identity. It can also be used for discussions about stereotypes, the class system, and academic elitism.

Booktalk Ideas

--If possible, ride in on a bike and pop a wheelie. That would not only be awesome but it would be highly relevant.

--List off activities and have the audience help you put them in “male” or “female” categories. Discuss why certain activities went into such categories and explain how Along for the Ride helps us challenge our gendered stereotypes.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Reading Level: 6^th grade

Interest Age: 6^th-12^th grade (11-18 yrs.)

Reading level information from http://bookwizard.scholastic.com

Challenge Issues

Auden’s family situation is rocky at best. I suppose some parents might object to the fact that Auden’s father left her mother only to soon after marry and impregnate a woman much younger than himself. Both parents are manipulative and selfish. Additionally, it is implied that some characters have premarital sex. If challenged, librarians should point to statistics of young adults living in single parent households. Librarians should also show parents that while the novel contains out-of-wedlock sex, it does not glorify it.

Favorite Quotes

“My little sister,” he said, shaking his head. “Staying out all night with a boy. Seems like just yesterday you were playing Barbies and skipping rope.”

“Hollis, please,” I said. “Mom considered Barbies weapons of chauvinism, and nobody’s skipped rope since 1950.” (p. 246-47)

Why Was This Included?

I knew from working in a children’s bookstore that Sarah Dessen was one of the go-to names for realistic young adult fiction featuring older girls so I knew I wanted to include one of her titles in the project. Along for the Ride was one of the ones that sounded the most intriguing due to Auden's romance with Eli and her late night adventures. I’m so glad I included it as it is, so far, one the best novels I have read for the project. In fact, when this class is over I’m hoping to have time to read the rest of her books.