Tag: school assignments

REVIEW: The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt

REVIEW: The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Clarion Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Hercules Beal doesn’t want to go to the Cape Cod Academy for Environmental Sciences. But his brother, Achilles, made that decision for him. He’d been responsible for Hercules since The Accident.

Hercules’ homeroom teacher at his new school is Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer, a retired marine. He’s also their Language Arts teacher. And he assigns each student a year-long Greek mythology project. And he gives Hercules a project to study the twelve labors of Hercules – and repeat them in a contemporary context.

At first, Hercules isn’t sure how he’s supposed to turn these myths into real events – and write 150 words about each one. But solutions seem to pop up along the way to help him – and not just with his school assignment.

Review

Oh, this book. I am tearing up just thinking about Hercules and Hupfer (who I adored!) and Achilles…. This was a constant journey from tears to laughter and back again. And I loved it.

Hercules has a FANTASTIC “voice” here – earnest and honest and twelve. I totally believed it and got a huge kick out of him. I was impressed with how the author worked myth-Hercules’ labors into things our Hercules could do – and what those experiences would teach him along the way.

This would be an outstanding choice for a family or classroom read aloud. It would also be an excellent book club selection for upper elementary/early middle school classrooms. I would love to watch students meet Hercules and dig into this story. This is not to be missed! (A couple uses of the word “jackass.”)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥♥½ = I loved it! Would re-read.

REVIEW: Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner

REVIEW: Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Ever since her brother Nick’s death, everything in Brynn’s life has been falling apart. Once a strong student, Brynn’s grades have dropped so low she can’t do the school newspaper, the only school activity she ever really cared about. Brynn’s girlfriend broke up with her, citing “too much drama.” And she can’t do anything right at home. Her step-father is horrible, her mom never stands up for her, and her father is so disconnected he didn’t even show up for Nick’s funeral.

Brynn’s focus is mostly on getting to her 18th birthday so she can move out of her house and maybe even quit school.  But some local events have her longing for the days she was working on the paper, reporting on the truth.  To get that back, she has to get her grades back up. Towards that end, Brynn starts writing emails to TV personality Rachel Maddow for a school assignment. At first she picks Maddow because it infuriates her conservative mom and step-father. But Brynn finds comfort in composing the emails though she only sends the first couple for the official school assignment. She knows that she feels better when she can write out her thoughts. But the exercise awakens new skills and passions in Brynn that take the school – and Brynn – by surprise. And nothing at Westing High will ever be quite the same again.

Review

This book was not a great fit for me as a reader. If I had not committed to reviewing this, I probably would not have finished. But then I would have missed a few great moments, so I am glad I stuck with it.

I enjoy the email storytelling format; I’ve seen that used a lot lately, and when it is done well, it’s lots of fun. And this book used the format fairly well. There were occasionally some emails thrown in that were not between Brynn and Rachel, which was jarring to the reading process – I had to stop and figure out who was writing to whom because the voice and tone changed – but it ultimately helped tell the larger story. I also enjoyed watching Brynn get fired up about school politics and being a voice for the voiceless at her school. This was the piece that made the reading time worthwhile for me.

Unfortunately I didn’t really connect with any of the characters in this except for the English teacher and the janitor. And characters are everything for me as a reader. The romantic storyline wasn’t a good fit for me. It wasn’t any different than a heterosexual romance in another book except when the characters in this one tried to make Brynn’s sexuality scandalous. The matter-of-fact nature of Brynn’s sexuality will be affirming to readers looking for books with gay romance in the storyline.

This is a well-written story that will really click with the right audience. There is a lot of foul language – both swearing and crass references – that may impact some readers (although the English teacher’s response to the language is amusing).

Rating: ♥♥♥