Speak

When I was in High School, this novel appeared on our summer reading list of choices that we could read. However, being in AP, I automatically had my four books assigned and could not choose to read it. My friends all did, and talked about how amazing it was and I always meant to read it just never got the chance. Now that I did, I found it to be alright. Towards the end I found myself waiting for it to be done. I liked the concept of the book, I think I just became extremely annoyed with Melinda and especially annoyed with the adult figures. However, my friends loved it in high school so I guess maybe if I was in high school I might have enjoyed it a bit more. 

I would teach this in my class though. I think it sends a powerful message, that your use of words is your ultimate power, and whether you could use it for a good power or bad. By this I mean, I would point out to my students how awful everyone treated Melinda because she was different. They made fun of her, and did not make her life any better. I would show the students that because someone is different, by bullying them you are not funny because you do not know what has occurred in their lifetime. I would also show that when Melinda finally did use her voice for good, she gained power over her biggest fear. 

I just feel that this book sends out a good message and is easy for teenagers to connect with. Maybe it will do well as a summer reading book like my high school did, or maybe read in class to tie in with another story. Either way, I think it can be taught in class.

Boy Meets Boy

I liked the idea of this book, but I found it to be a little boring at times. However, I do think that it is great that a book like this can even be published without too much controversy. What I did not like originally is how unrealistic this high school is. Then I got to thinking. When kids go through high school they see everything as way more dramatic then it actually is. So maybe the fact that it is so out there will appeal to teenagers because of how much of a big deal they make out of a little thing.
When I started reading this book I didn't look at it as a story about homosexuals. I saw it as a love story which is what Levithan wanted readers to view it as, that gays and lesbians are not defying God, they are just looking for love just like everyone else. But this is why I would not teach this in high school. I feel like there is nothing in this novel to teach. It is a simple love story, not like Forever, where it was a story about love and sex. Sex should be taught in high school but why does homosexuality have to be? You do not teach about heterosexuals so why is it necessary to teach about the opposite? It is necessary to teach about precautions of sex, but not about who you can and can't love.
Just because I would not teach this in high school doesn't mean that I would not recommend it to teenagers. I feel as if they would enjoy this more so than I do, and any book that they want to read outside of school is just as essential to their education as novels that can be analyzed word by word.

Forever

"Forever," by Judy Blume, was a novel about two teenagers falling in love and deciding when was the right moment to have sex. It is amazing how Blume wrote the novel in the seventies and yet how true it still rings to adolescents. The characters were mostly believable, Michael being a hornball, and, my favorite, naming his "manhood" and Katherine by going to planned parenthood and taking the necessary precautions. Of course, not all boys and girls are like these two, but to describe the typical adolescents, Blume did a decent job. If the novel connects with teenagers, then why is it banned from many high schools? Many people believe that the novel is not a romance, but more so explicit and too sexual. But let me ask you this, who in high school REALLY experiences romance? I know in my high school, dating a boy was mostly going to parties or more likely, going to the movies. There are no candle light dinners that many parents wished to see in this novel. If Blume was trying to write a novel that teenagers could relate to, why beat around the bush? Instead of girls reading books about having sex and the girl either a) gets pregnant, b) gets an STD, or c) dies, it is more beneficial for them to realize the feelings and complications that come with sex. Although more girls are having sex at a much younger age then when we were all in middle and high school (hell when I was in tenth grade  a seventh grader was pregnant), there are still some girls who think before doing, and I think that the more books based upon the feelings that come along with sex that they read, the more informed they will be when the time comes. So to ban "Forever," does not protect the kids, but instead lessons their knowledge about it. Now why would parents want that?

Robert Cormier's, "The Chocolate War," is an adolescent novel about a boy who questions the world and the social structures within it. Obviously, the universe in question is not the actual world, but high school, which to teenagers, feels like the world. Jerry constantly questions whether he should disturb the universe. Unknowingly, Jerry asserts his power by saying no to selling the chocolates, which causes Brother Leon to fluster. Soon the rest of the student body starts to admire Jerry, that is, until The Vigils reassert theirs. Ultimately, Jerry is beaten for speaking against what is wrong, which is an odd moral that Cormier projects. Some may believe that "The Chocolate War," is not an adolescent novel because of the evil tone that the world of high school tends to have throughout the novel. However, Cormier shows the high school to be infested with evil by the way the kids rally behind The Vigils, who are obviously extremely mean, and tries to show young adults that following others is not always morally correct. 

Roberta Trites states in, "Disturbing the Universe, Power And Repression in Adolescent Literature," that throughout the novel, "Jerry Renault has power in agreeing to exist in harmony with the forces of oppression at Trinity High School" (4).  This is because Jerry did not disturb the universe and simply does what he is told. However, to what good is it that no one speaks against what is right and wrong? Even Brother Leon, while embarrassing Bailey says that, "But you, gentlemen, you sat there and enjoyed yourselves. And those of you who didn't enjoy yourselves allowed it to happen, allowed me to proceed. You turned this classroom into Nazi Germany for a few moments" (Cormier 45). Even though Leon may state this and want his students to speak out against what is right and wrong, he does not appreciate it once Jerry does so. Essentially, the novel is not about Nazis, but it is a dictatorship in that Brother Leon and the Vigils rule the school out of the fear they make others feel and once their power is in question, they will do anything to gain it back. 

Once Jerry does act out against the Vigils and Leon, originally the rest of the school enjoys what Jerry is doing. Some even stop selling chocolates to support Jerry. However, once Archie realizes that the Vigils power is questioned, Archie decides to reassert it. By doing so, he turns the whole school against Jerry, which makes Jerry start to regret not selling the chocolates. Jerry is literally beaten down because of his use of words. At the end of the novel, Leon even watches and allows Jerry to be beat up.   Jerry, finally discouraged, says to Goober, "It's a laugh, Goober, a fake. Don't disturb the universe, Goober, no matter what the posters say" (Cormier 248). Although this is appears to be discouraging to adolescent students, it shows them what happens if everyone follows what is wrong, rather than listening to those who are right. Sometimes, it pays off to disturb the universe rather than walk through the halls not doing anything about what is wrong.