Schooled
by Gordon Korman
Cap Anderson has always been a little odd but never knew it until now. Before his hippie grandmother became injured, they lived together on a remote rural commune where everything was locally grown, money didn't exist, and where the evils of the capitalist outside world couldn't touch them. Life was simple and Cap loved his homeschooled life.
Everything changes after his grandmother is injured and is unable to care for him. Cap moves in with a social worker and is enrolled at the local high school and it is like he is visiting a foreign country.
Students at his new school are quick to see Cap's differences and he becomes the target of school bullies. Cap's ignorance of the ins and outs of the high school social hierarchy protects him from a lot of the teasing and pranks, but eventually he realizes that what he thought was friendly chatter is actually bullying at its worst.
Schooled is a great read that provides a fresh look at bullying from the eyes of a teen character who has no idea what bullying is. This book will have older elementary school and younger teen readers chuckling as they read about Cap and his bizarre antics while also wincing at the teasing he endures.
Find a copy of Schooled in the teen section at the Bob Harkins Branch of the Prince George Public Library.
-- Reviewed by Amy Dawley,
Teen Librarian at the P.G. Public Library
As Nature Made Him
by John Colapinto
The title alone should make you want to read this book - As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who was Raised as a Girl.
This is the story of David Reimer of Winnipeg, whose circumcision went horribly wrong in 1967 so his desperate parents went to John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and had their son surgically made into a girl. He was raised with his twin brother not knowing his true identity until it all came crashing down when David, raised as Brenda, became a teenager.
This is a touching story, filled with heartbreak, deceit and tragedy, but where love, kindness and truth finally carry the day. David Reimer's life makes it clear that when it comes to being a boy or a girl, it's not what's between your legs that counts, but what's between your ears.
As Nature Made Him by John Colapinto is located in the non-fiction section at both branches of the Prince George Public Library.
-- Reviewed by Neil Godbout,
Administrative Communications Coordinator at the P.G. Public Library
The Weird Sisters
by Eleanor Brown
Eleanor Brown has pulled off a stunning debut novel with The Weird Sisters. Three sisters have all come up against some difficulties in their adult lives: Rosalind, the eldest, finds herself torn between caring for her parents and leaving her home town with her fiance; Bianca, the middle sister, has found her spending habits in New York City have finally caught up to her, and Cordelia, the youngest, has found herself unexpectedly pregnant.
These crises have brought the three sisters back to their childhood home, back to their books, back to their Shakespeare-obsessed father and their cancer-stricken mother. Each of the sisters is determined that she will not reveal what unfortunate circumstances has brought her home. She's just come for a visit, after all - there's no way she would consider actually staying in this small hometown.
What follows is a beautiful story of how Rosalind (Rose), Bianca (Bean), and Cordelia (Cordy) all open up to each other. And although the three sisters have stereotypical roles, it is the way they are portrayed and the way that they grow beyond their predictability that is so enjoyable.
Author Eleanor Brown has a gorgeous way of putting words together. Those who love books (the sisters are considered "weird" not only in a Shakespearean sense but also because reading is a family obsession) and those who love Shakespeare will be completely enthralled with this novel.
The Weird Sisters has received rave reviews and was rated Amazon's best book of the month at the beginning of the year. The Prince George Public Library has one copy available on the adult fiction shelves.
-- Reviewed by Rachel Huston,
Marketing & Development Assistant
at the P.G. Public Library
