Still Strong

Speak: the graphic novel by Laurie Halse Anderson (artwork by Emily Carroll)
New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2018.
371 p. : chiefly ill. ; 22 cm. 

I am very pleased that a graphic novel adaptation of Anderson's groundbreaking YA novel, Speak, is now out.  It's hard to believe that it has been almost 20 years since Speak came out.  It is a powerful story of a freshman girl who is shamed and shunned for calling the police during a summer party. Melinda, the hero of the novel, also silences herself until she is finally able to speak her truth - she called the police because she was raped by a popular senior boy.

In the powerful introduction to this graphic novel, Anderson states that she first wrote Speak to "deal with the depression and anxiety that had shadowed me since I was raped when I was thirteen years old." She also notes that graphic novels were not the popular and available format for literature that they are now and that most of the social media now so prevalent did not exist back then.  That made her story perfect for updating.

Sadly, her story's as necessary as ever.  Even as I write this, the President of the US (admitted sexual predator ) has just mocked a rape survivor .

Speak has remained a novel that still circulates widely, and hopefully this graphic novel will expand the number of people who read it.

Reasons to Read Not to Watch

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
New York : Razorbill, c2007.
288 p. ; 22 cm.   

As you can see, Thirteen Reasons Why was published back in 2007, so why am I getting around to reading it ten years later?  In one word: Netflix.  Back in March, Netflix launched a thirteen episode series based on the novel, and the series has proven hugely popular and controversial - more so than the book.

So I ended up both watching the series and reading the book.  I was an interesting experience.  It really makes you think about what works in reading - and conversely what doesn't work when filmed. The book is not perfect, but it is strong and it's brevity saves it from becoming voyeuristic, lurid and exploitative - which I believe the Netflix version unfortunately is (in addition to being irresponsible and just plain icky).

But what about the book?  I liked the book well enough.  The book is clearly a work of fiction - and as such functions more like a mystery, tragedy and psychological ordeal instead of a supposedly accurate depiction of bullying and suicide.  Also it's brevity allows it to move along and not drag out scenes for dramatic effect.

I'm guessing many, many more people are going to watch the series.  I just hope that especially young people will watch it with supportive friends and adults.  Despite its shortcomings, the series does invite discussion of extremely important topics such as bullying, date rate, sexism, and of course, suicide.  The popularity of the series has also led to an increased demand for the book, and so I'm glad I had a chance to read it.

A Tough One

Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2005.
165 p. ; 22 cm.

I nearly didn't post on this book, mainly because it's getting a bit old (2005), but it was such a powerful and tough little book that I had to write up a review.  I've wanted to read the book since my son read it years ago, and I'm glad that I finally did.  Inexcusable is the story of a date rape and is written from the point of view of Kier Sarafian, the perpetrator, who relentlessly tries to excuse and justify his deed.  The book moves right along, and - with it's strong character development, nice sports angle, and dramatic relationship crises - should appeal to both young men and women.  

The novel received a lot of praise when it came out, including being a National Book Award finalist. And after reading it, I can see why.  The strength of Lynch's book, as pointed out by reviewers, is his ability to keep the book from being an easy "black and white" case of good guy / bad guy.  Instead  Lynch gives us a character study of the kind of "good guy" whose charm, recklessness, immaturity, arrogance and self-denial are, in fact, the very components of a self-centered and self-serving sexual user and potential rapist.

By telling the novel from the point of view of the accused, Lynch is able to explore the blurred morality of a perpetrator who refuses to accept that he has done anything wrong.  In this way he is able to draw the reader into the same moral questions around consent, manipulation, and violation.  Students who read it will have to wrestle with how reliable a narrator Kier is and just how much of a "good guy" is he.  The book would be a great book for sparking discussions and would pair well with Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak.

An Addictive Novel

Crank by Ellen Hopkins
New York : Simon Pulse, 2004.
537 p. ; 18 cm.

Hopkins manages to pull you into the mind and world of a high school-aged good kid drawn into a downward spiral due to her growing addiction to methamphetamine (crank).  She does it with really nice verse that allows her to often have the main character's thoughts, spoken words, and dialogue from others all in one poem.

This book, and many of Hopkins very long novels in verse are very popular and I can see why. Her strength is that she deals honestly with the appeal of drug abuse - while at the same time illuminating the horrors and dangers of addiction.  It's a skillful balancing act that keeps her book compelling but not preachy.  Also the variety of poetic line structures works pretty well - allowing calm meditative poems, jumbled high-on-meth poems, broken blocks of verse to reflect multiple voices and perspectives, etc.

In a short "Author's note" at the beginning of the book, Hopkins reveals that much of the substance of her novel in verse is from her own life as a mother with a meth-addicted daughter, though she admits that many events, characters, etc. are composites based on real life experiences.

No need to recommend this book, as it remains very popular.  I'm glad I finally got around to reading it, so I can appreciate its many strengths.