Mr. Edmonds' Literature Log

  Coretta Scott King Award  A cannon. A strap. A piece. A biscuit. A burner. A heater. A chopper. A gat. A hammer A tool for RULE   Oh boy, this one is deep. For something so short, there's a lot of content to unpack. Jason Reynolds is always a great read; his passion comes through the lyrical format that is only ever present in novels written in verse. I love how this book unpacks the true impact of gun violence in an interesting way. I also have theories about how all the people in the elevator were killed by the same gun, which is such an interesting way to think about it. I also love how each time we go to a different floor, we learn more about the impact that gun violence has based on the impact that it has on Will. Even the character that he doesn't know first hand, his death is exactly what caused Will's brother Shawn to be killed. Also, the development that his father had died because he had killed the wrong man. It's direct foreshadowing to what is about to hap...

  Alex Award Man, this book was thrilling. I have been a huge fan of Stephen Graham Jones since I first read his novel The Only Good Indians, which was so good that I actually dropped the book out of shock with how gruesome one of the scenes was (granted, it is a horror novel). And so when I saw this book was an option for the Alex Award, I slammed this option down. And it did not disappoint! This book was a perfect mixture of horrific, funny, metatextual, and melancholy to be a perfect mix for me. The book is all about the protagonist becoming a teenage slasher, and it makes fun, but also plays homage to the slasher subgenre of horror movies. But, it shows his transformation in subtle ways and explains common tropes of the genre through the eyes of the slasher instead of their victims. But this story is also about the relationships that are built during this time and how much they can impact people. Because the protagonist is a loser (their words, not mine) and doesn’t have a lot ...

  State Book Award With all of the possible professionalism that I can muster, I am only able to truly articulate my feelings on this book in one way: This book f**king sucks. That may seem like an extreme reaction, but I have not read a book in a while that sets itself up for a literary “slam-dunk,” just to drop the ball and land flat on its face. The concept alone is enough to keep the reader’s attention through the novel, but it never does anything truly interesting or meaningful after the initial concept is explained. The plot is kickstarted by the idea that we have figured out how to “teleport,” but teleportation in this version of the future involves, essentially, 3D printing another body, and having your previous body destroyed. Then your downloaded conscience would then be uploaded to your brain so you would retain any memories that you had, up to that point. The problem lies in the fact that the author has introduced an insanely intriguing premise where the protagonist of ...