Mr. Edmonds' Literature Log

  Stonewall Book Award  I couldn't get into this one. Reading this felt more like something that I would have read as some form of fanfiction, which I guess is where a lot of novels start. There were some parts of this novel that I did enjoy, like how the author made vampirism sound more like a debilitating disease that people have to live with rather than a super power like other series. And I thought the fact that the characters are having to find a workaround for Sol's vampirism is a compelling way to tell a love story. But overall, I think that the main ideas of this novel turn me off of it. Or rather that I could find myself connecting with the characters, which is an important part for me to get interested in a character-based drama.   I think that some Young Adult novels are written to target the group of teens that spend a lot of their free time online, and this feels like one of them. I think that there are some readers that this book would really resonate w...

Book v Movie/TV Okay, this is where I get to be the cynical old guy in the room. I thought this book was okay. When I first looked into it, I was blind-sided by how popular this series is. And after reading it, I thought it was okay. To me, there's been more compelling mystery novels, and I just couldn't bring myself to be as interested in this one. Then, when I watched the first episode of the Netflix series, I found myself checking my phone often. I think that the popularity of series like Euphoria  has affected teen drama shows in a very negative way. From what I watched, it felt faithful to the series. But I don't see myself finishing the book series or the Netflix show on my own. It could also be that I was never very interested in shows/books like this when I was a teenager.   I think that the relevancy to teens with this series has been part of a an ongoing trend now for a few years. There's a lot of drama/mystery shows targeted towards young adults and many of t...

Schneider Family Book Award   I love reading novels in verse. Ever since I was originally introduced to them with Crank  by Ellen Hopkins, I've found enjoyment in reading them. While I think this had some stiff competition with Long Way Down, I think this novel was deep and relatable in a different way. I think describing anxiety using poetry is a great way to try and describe the emotions and feelings of what it's like to live with anxiety. How I knew that this book had effective imagery is when it triggered my own anxieties when I was reading it. While, there are some parts of the character that I can't exactly identify with, for obvious reasons, I think that there are lines that stand out that most people would be able empathize with. I like that this book ends in a much happier note and a hopeful look towards the future, the other novels in verse that I've read recently have all be much more depressing.  This novel strikes me as one of those books that I would try t...

  Printz Award If I'm being 100% honest, I picked this novel off the list of Printz Award books because I saw the title and thought it was the other young adult romance novel about a hockey player published in 2022 (weird, huh?). Then I saw the cover when I loaded the audiobook. I really liked this book because of how well the characters were written. One of the biggest issues I have with the romance genre, is when characters make stupid decisions in order to be with other person, but it's such a bad decision that it will likely ruin everything anyways. But, I didn't get the sense of that with this novel. It was very reminiscent of Romeo & Juliet, but if they were hockey players instead of teenage aristocrats. I can't say this was my all time favorites, but I also don't really see myself reading a lot of sports romance novels. Overall, I thought it was pretty good. As far as teenage interests/relevancy. This appeals to a specific group of teens. And the best way...

Bank Street Books of the Year  Tiffany D. Jackson knocks it out of the park again! This was such a cool and unique book. I had seen this one sitting on shelves in libraries and bookstores, but hadn't bothered to check it out until now. It was such a cool book to read with all the different rap references and lyrics. And with it being a historical book, it's specifically the late 1990s when the East Coast/West Coast rivalry was at it's peak. I also think that the reality of one of the characters being murdered is something that would hit home for a lot of students, especially those from rougher areas. I also love idea of having one of the characters be dead, but still be a part of the story by having their lyrics and music be apart of the story. It was also really cool to see a lot of the actual rap lyrics written by Malik "Malik-16" Sharif. While the period isn't my personal favorite for rap, I appreciate it enough to find real enjoyment in this book. This is ...

Pura Belpré Award   This one was interesting to me, mostly because I could see what it was going for. It a way, it reminded me a lot of the film Candyman, in the sense that there's a viral trend that goes around that is invoking the supernatural. At first, I wasn't enjoying this book because I was like, "Well, duh. if you mess with the demon ritual you saw online, don't be surprised when the demon shows up. This kids are so stupid." But then my fiancé pointed out that there's tons of examples of that in the real world that kids always test out. I think what initially kept me interested is how horrific the first scene is. I've noticed that a lot of horror novels are starting to mirror trends in genres that are successful in film, just in book form. And I think the idea of showing something scary in the first chapter, then introducing the protagonist, is a great way to keep readers invested in the story from start to finish since there is a looming threat in...