17 Again

Title - 17 Again (film)
Author - Burr Steers(director)
Release Date - April 17, 2009

Plot - Michael O'Donnell has a problem with his life.  It seems to be careening out of control before he knows it.  His wife is separating him; he is stuck in a dead end job; and he is forced to move in with his nerdy best friend.  He feels like his whole life took a shift when he was seventeen when he decided to marry his girlfriend instead of pursuing his basketball dreams because his girlfriend became pregnant.  He ends up getting a second chance of sorts with a magical encounter with a janitor who transforms him to the age of 17 again.  He decides to go for his basketball dreams but along the way ends up connecting with his own kids in a meaningful way as they are struggling with relationships and self esteem issues.  Through them he ends up connecting with his wife. 

Comic implications ensue as his daughter starts to fall in love with him (a weird Back to the Future role reversal), and he finds that he still has a passion for the woman that he decided to marry all that time ago when he was in high school.  The question becomes, is he too late?  Has life already passed him by? Or can he go back and fix things because he has come to realize that the one decision, was the best decision of his life.

Critical Review - An often copied tale of a person who seems to be at a crossroads in their life, wanting to go back and relive a portion of their former glory.  Like many in the genre, some magical event transpires and gives them the opportunity to see this through.  While some pick the route of taking the person back to the past, 17 again merely transforms the person into the age at which he felt like his life spiralled out of control.  I was surprised at the depth of character that was displayed by Zac Efron, the 17 year old version of the male lead.  There was a remarkable amount of emotion expressed in his eyes, and he did not overplay his role as the younger version of Michael O'Donnell.  Michelle Trachtenberg, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, plays the lost teenage daughter, who seems to need to have a stronger father role in her life.  She plays up the comic situations quite well, while transferring her affections from the high school bully to her unknowing(and now 17 year old) dad. Overall, it was lighthearted but meaningful fair that I can imagine a teen audience would appreciate while still maintaining the interest of their parents.

Annotation - What was the one decision in your life that you wish you could take back?  Would you live it all over again to get the chance?  Michael O'Donnell did and he is not sure whether he had made the best or worst decision of his life.

About the author - Burr Steers had an interesting life as his family history would suggest.  His father was a Republican congressman from Maryland, while his mother was the daughter of a socialite and a lawyer.  She would eventually divorce his father and get remarried having another brother in that marriage as well as five step-siblings.  His relatives read like a whose who list with people like Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson's Vice President and man who shot Alexander Hamilton, Gore Vidal, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as well as Oliver Burr Jennings, the creator of Standard Oil.  One can imagine the social and political pressure to be something big in this family.  This may have been too much pressure as he ended up being expelled from two separate schools. 

Eventually, proving that you can overcome anything, Steers would get his GED and move on to New York University.  Out of which he got involved in various film productions including Pulp Fiction and Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid. 17 Again was his second major piece in the director's chair.

Genre- Film, Comedy, Coming of Age

Curriculum Ties - Discuss coming of age stories in class such as Huck Finn.  Compare and contrast how alike and different these coming of age stories are. - Literature

Booktalking Ideas - N/A

Reading Level/Interest Age -  Grade 9+

Challenge Issues - Scene of sexual interest with 17 year old Michael O'Donnell and his older wife is slightly awkward and maybe considered gross.

Challenge Overcoming - Focus on intent of the story and that it still is Michael O'Donnell despite the appearance, for the sake of the movie.

Why Included - Zac Effron is a very popular film actor and somewhat of a teen heart throb especially since he was involved in the High School Musical set of movies for the Disney Channel.  I enjoyed this movie and its complexity of interweaving teenage themes with adult issue.

Teen Ink

Title - Teen Ink.
Editor - Stephanie H. Meyer
Publication - 1989 - Present

Plot - While I would not exactly call a magazine to a specific plot line, it is certain that Teen Ink wishes to be able to generate a magazine for teens that consists of materials that teens are interested in by having them be the people who write for the magazine.  While perusing through the various Teen Ink Magazines, it is possible to see a larger picture emerge, where the editors want to reflect a little bit of teen life in all stages.  They have sections about parents, relationships, political opinion, books, movies, etc.  And while some issues such as political ones seem to be limited to a particular time, they are not so current issues focused that the book reviews have to be current ones.  In fact, I saw reviews of Fahrenheit 451 in the book section and a review of Titanic the Movie in the film section.  While Titanic may not be quite as old as Fahrenheit 451, in terms of film history, 13 years is quite a bit of time.  The magazine desires to engage the reader in such a way that they can connect to the teenage experience of something else.

Critical Review - Teen Ink develops a fascinating connection with its readers almost instantaneously.  The essays here maybe be grouped by certain subject matter, but the important part of them is the human element in all of them.  They are about how the teen relates to a particular problem or issue.  I was heartily engaged by one essay about a girl who was trying to relate to her step dad.  There is a magical moment when the two, almost disinterested, parties share a connection.  And the girl feels that her step dad is now connected by a deeper love than before. 

Of course whatever things may be gleaned and appreciated from the magazine will change from magazine to magazine as they have an open invitation for anyone to write to it.  But the project of trying to get teens to connect to a magazine in a meaningful way I believe is accomplished.  If I was to level one complaint at the magazine is that occasionally I found the pieces to be slightly silly, especially some of the interviews done for the magazine.  It was a good interview that was done by the person doing it, but then there was an essay about how she got the interview and gushed about it.  Then there was another essay asking the interviewer questions about her experience.  I thought that it brought down the level of the intellectual content that had preceded it.

Readers Annotation - If you want to connect to someone who just "gets" you; if you want to read about movies, music and literature from someone who knows what its like to be a teen; if you want to watch your own literary talents shine; come to Teen Ink.  Its the magazine by teens, for teens.

About the Author - Stephanie H. Meyer helped create the Young Author's Foundation with the assistance of her husband John Meyer.  This foundation was created to help teens achieve a voice in the modern world.  She also authored Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul.  She has spent much of her times since attaining a masters degree in education and social work helping disaffected teens and other youth.

She has taken the profits from her work and translated that into action.  She takes the finances and puts them towards the Foundation which then helps with youth publishing throughout the world.  She is also the mother of two children.

Genre - Magazine

Curriculum Ties - Teaching the art of the Short Story in Literature.

Booktalking ideas - N/A

Reading/Interest Level - Grade 9+

Challenge Issues - None

Why included - I have a great deal of affection for the short story format, and this was another magazine that was aimed at teens.  It also had the added distinction of being written by teens and I was curious as to the level of their writing.

Spy vs. Spy Missions of Madness

Title - Spy vs. Spy Missions of Madness
Author - James Prohias
ISBN - 0823050505
Publication Date - August 11, 2009

Plot - It is hard to pinpoint the exact plot of the Spy vs. Spy series without somehow discussing the history of the series.  As it was originally developed as a Mad Magazine comic in 1961, and developed by Prohias after he fled Cuba it depicts the crazy adventures of two eerily similar looking spies who were hell bend on destroying one another.  The one was dressed in all black attire, while the other spy was dressed in all white.  The plot of these adventures is not particularly complex, as it is essentially a series of comics put into one large book.  The setting of each strip begins with one of the spies getting an idea about how he is going to defeat the other spy.  As he goes about his plot to destroy the other spy, it always seems to turn out that he has miscalculated something and the second spy ends up hurting or destroying the first.   But of course the pair keep at it, and before long the shoe is on the other foot.  And the second spy finds an idea of how to destroy the first, creating a kind of comic misadventure drawn from the two characters.

Book Review - It might be slightly unfair to call this a book as it is pieced together comic sketches, but I think there is a theme to all of these comics.  Especially as these comics were developed in the 1960s, during the heart of the cold war, there was a commentary being made about the nature of the spies that were fighting each other.  Yes one wore black and one wore white, but that was where the differences ended.  It was not written like a typical movie script where the villain of the story wore black and the good guy wore white.  Each of the spies seems to be involved in some maniacal plot to destroy the other spy.  And there is seemingly no back story or reason for the destruction.  Through it all we get a sense that both parties should not be fighting at all.  Because if they took a look at their similarities, their differences may ultimately be meaningless.  This comic set will certainly tickle your funny bone, but the underlying premise causes one to think, especially in world where people are afraid of their own shadow, and that terrorists might be lurking around every corner.

About the Author - Antonio Prohias was a product of the revolution of Cuba.  In late 1950s and early 1960s if one was not a supporter of the government of Cuba, Castro's regime, then he or she would be labeled as a spy.  Prohias, therefore, considered himself a spy.

After fleeing to America in 1960, as Cuba's world was being crushed, and Castro was removing any dissenters from their midst, Prohias tried to find work doing what he loved.  He had written cartoons back in Cuba but feared that they would not translate as well in America.  Getting a job at what he could do, with little command of the English language, found him working for a clothing factory in Queens. 

The nights found him working hard to try to develop a comic that he would be proud of.  The idea came to him of Spy vs. Spy when he started thinking about himself and how he was considered a spy in Cuba.  If he could translate that in such a way that was engaging, and required no talking he would be set.  MAD magazine loved it and decided to begin publishing in 1961.  Covertly, Prohias would sign the first panel of every cartoon in Morse Code that spelled out by prohias.  He had truly become a Cuban born, American spy.

Genre- Comics, Graphic novels

Curriculum Ties - A study of cold war literature, and how our writing was impacted by our view of the world - History/Literature

Booktalking Ideas - Have an open discussion of the Cold War and how we viewed the Russians and other communists and comparing and contrasting that with how we view the terrorists today.

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 9+

Challenge Issues - This may encourage violence between people as its characters are constantly trying to destroy each other.

Overcoming Challenge - Compare and contrast Spy vs. Spy with other comics. Show how much violence, even if it is cartoonish, occurs in much of the other comics or cartoons we allow our children to watch and see.

Why Included - I loved the recent showings of the Spy vs. Spy series as movie shorts.  I also found this book in the graphic novel section for older teens at my library.

Encyclopedia Mythica

Title - Encylcopedia Mythica
Website - http://www.pantheon.org/

Website Content - Encyclopedia Mythica is a website generated to help teens understand all things about the Myths.  As there are vast amounts of myths throughout literature the website does a good job of trying to break down the myths into the cultures from which they came.  This list would include Greek Mythology, Roman Mythology, Norse Mythology, Celtic Mythology and Native American Mythology and many many more.  As you enter further into the index of articles one finally arrives as a link to individual articles about any particular topic in mythology.  Each link gives a few paragraphs or less devoted to the subject the link is on.  For example, on the Arthurian legend it discusses the context of the legend, a list of all the images it engenders, and various different aspects of the legend such as the Sword in the Stone, the Lady in the Lake, and many others.  It then presents a biography for people to know where the information came from and a suggested reading list for those who want to study further about the legend.

Website Review - While not the in depth material that one might need for a research paper, this cite certainly gives encyclopedic information about any of the various topics that are involved, giving one a good start on what one might be looking for when they are trying to study any of the myths.  This would get one a good grasp on the basics.  Unfortunately, from my perspective, much of the site seems to be sparse as it seems to be a work in progress.  The person in charge of the site has developed a twitter account so that anyone can find out what the new postings are on the site.  I found that much of what was included has barely a sentence or two about any given topic.  When I was perusing through the list of items that included heroes, bestiary, and other things, I found that the lists often did not contain many of the heroes and beasts I would have expected to be there.  I began to ask myself what would qualify as a hero and what would qualify as a beast?  What I ended up deciding was that the website must have a long way to go before I would consider the preeminent resource on the web for all things Mythical.  However, for a teen trying to learn about myths, it does do a creditable job of providing them with a frame of reference for all things mythical.

Annotation - Hercules, Arthur, Zeus, Odysseus, Gawain and many, many others are to be found at the Encyclopedia Mythica.  Its the center for all things Mythical.

Website History - This website appears to have been around for the past 15 years, trying to keep track of all things mythical.  To date they have generated over 7000 articles about various different things in mythology from beasts, to gods to legends.  Unfortunately they are forced to rely on contributions from other individuals to try to get all of the information they want posted on the site.  The web designer makes a plea out to people who are "experts" to help to contribute to the different articles on the site.  I can find little else about the people who are involved in putting together the articles; and one would have a difficult time tracking down all of the authors for a larger sketch of the people involved if, as the website suggests, much of the content is driven by those outside of the website designers.

Genre-  Website

Curriculum Ties - Have the kids view the site when bringing up Greek and Roman Mythology in class.  Show them the links to the vast array of mythological areas.  Have students write a report on mythology using some lesser known mythological areas. - World History and Civilizations

Booktalking Ideas - N/A

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 7+

Challenge Issues - None

Why Included - I wanted to include some reference that the Cerritos Library gave to teens as I knew they had an exclusively teen section to their website.

The Hunger Games

Title - The Hunger Games
Author - Suzanne Collins
ISBN - 0439023483
Publication  Date - 2008

Plot - Katniss Everdeen is a tough as nails young woman who has protected her family for most of her young adult life.  But now she is faced with a quandary.  The Capitol takes tribute each year, taking kids who are growing into their prime to have some game, to the death.  And this year they have selected Katniss younger sister Prim to fight to the death.  Katniss cannot allow this and takes her place, going off to fight in games that are supposed to remind the people that they have disobeyed and they cannot fight the system anymore.  The fighting is set in the future where the Capitol of this new land is where the Rocky Mountains were.

Katniss and a fellow person from district 12 go to the Capitol to train, fight and probably die.  As the training and all of the shows begin publicizing the big battle, Katniss sizes everyone up, guessing as to the strengths and weaknesses of all the fellow fighters.  By the time all the tributes arrive in the arena, she is ready.  But when it actually comes to killing a person, especially if she gets attached, that is another matter entirely.  The Battle rages, and through manipulations by the Capitol, primarily to increase the betting on the games involved, Katniss and Peeta end up the last two fighters.  And in an act of defiance, Katniss finds a way for them both to get out.  But this act of defiance will have a price.  What it is, neither Katniss or Peeta know.

Critical Review - There have been many science fiction stories where people are selected, seemingly at random, for death.  The Lottery, movies like Logan Run and many others tell the tales of people who end up slated to die because of some way of choosing.  Hunger Games follows that vein, although in this instance there is a sick sense of brutality in that the people they are choosing to die in this "tribute" are teens, starting at age 12 and go up to age 18.  This tribute is imposed upon the 12 districts because of their sedition against the Capitol.  It is an ever present reminder of what they did wrong.  Suzanne Collins, tells the story vividly from the perspective of Katniss, whose mind is ever alert to what is going on around.  Her character is so well drawn that one has a full understanding of how and why she makes decisions about things, even if she does not always agree that she makes the right ones.  The imagery is picturesque and bleak at the same time, a perfect fitting for the world that is crumbling around them, but externally and internally.  And the story leaves you wanting more as it ends.  Thankfully Suzanne Collins has obliged and there are more novels to come.

Readers Annotation - What does one do in a world where everything around them seems to conspire against them?  How does one handle when they are forced to go somewhere knowing that they are most likely going to die?  What does one do when they see slaughter all around them?  Hopefully, like Katniss Everdeen, they fight!

About the Author- Professionally, Suzanne Collins began her career writing for kids television shows for Nickelodeon.  She was writing both for an older set, with shows such as Clarissa Explains It All and for Children's shows like Little Bear.   She was happy to do this until she ran into the person of James Poimos.

James convinced her that her writing talents could be well suited for those of novels.  As a result she decided to try penning children's novels.  Immediately she began thinking of large story arcs, that could not simply be accomplished in one story.  Hence, she has written a five-part fantasy series in the Underland Chronicles.  But as she decided to write The Hunger Games, she drew from more personal fare.  She took much of what she saw in her dad, as he was in the air force, and drew on that to write about the effects of way, poverty, and hunger on a people.  The series has become a runaway best seller in the process.

Genre- Science Fiction / Fantasy

Curriculum Ties - Compare and contrast between other post-apocalyptic worlds in literature.  Relate the control of its population to 1984 by George Orwell.  How does their method of control differ?  How does this effect the population of each? - Literature

Booktalking Ideas - Discuss stories of survival with the teens.  Ask them what things do they think they would need to survive in the wilderness.  If they had a backpack like Katniss, what would it include and why?

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 10+

Challenge Issues - Graphic Violence towards children may cause some parents to desire to pull the book.

Overcoming challenges - Be prepared to discuss the history of the science fiction genre.  Relate to those challenging the book that science fiction only tells of a possible future.  Give parents materials on how to interact with their child when reading this novel with a series of questions that will engage the child about how and why this kind of future might take place, and what might they do to prevent it.

Why Included - It was my favorite novel of the semester and I was able to include it in our list of items for this project.

Bone : Out From Boneville

Title - Bone : Out From Boneville
Author - Jeff Smith
ISBN - 9780439706230
Publication Date - 2005

Plot - The Bone Cousins, Fone, Phoney and Smiley, set off on their adventure, being kicked out of their hometown for some scheming plot that Phoney had developed.  While out in the desert they are trying to find their way back to Boneville.  They find themselves beyond the end of their maps, when Smiley produces another, less professionally produced map.  After locusts split them up, the reader follows Fone Bone, the most normal and kindness of the Bone people.  His adventures lead him past dragons, away from Rat People, finding a bug named Ted, and eventually to Thorn and Granny.  By the time all of them are finally reunited, Fone is staying with Granny and Thorn, hoping to make his way back to where they came from.  We find that Phoney Bone has got himself in some dark plot that we cannot fully understand as of yet.  And Smiley Bone is the comic relief for the two.  Also, Thorn has come connection to the map that Smiley found in the desert, that we do not know yet, but will figure significantly to the rest of the series.

Critical Review - As these were actually comics published and then put together in graphic Novel form, one may wonder how the comics were split up from week to week.  What Jeff Smith has created in these comics are really engaging and fun drawings and fully realized characters as complex and interesting as any novel.  Being that this is the first in a series of Graphic Novelizations, the biggest job of the author is to introduce the characters, and to develop the conflicts that will occur for the rest of the series, while maintaining an air of mystery throughout the rest of the series.  Jeff Smith has figured excellently in this as you realize Fone is the kind Bone, who falls for Thorn.  Grandma is quite a character, with a past that somehow has a connection to everything going on.  As phony a character as Phoney Bone may be, he still has feelings about his cousins and what happens to them.  And this dragon who has hung out behind the scenes is out to stop whatever evil maybe in the world, which is represented by these rat people and some Grim Reaper type of individual.  This is well worth the read.

Readers Annotation -   Follow the Bone cousins and their amazing adventures, through the desert, past the rat people, evading fire breathing dragon's and those who are mad at Phoney Bone.  Laugh a little along the way as the story is certainly able to tickle your funny bone.

--Information about the Author--
As early as the age of ten, Jeff Smith was developing his characters for the Bone's in what would be his greatest graphic novel works.  He says that early development of his love for comics was developed by Charles Shultz and his famous Peanut comics, but other comics that inspired him include the Pogo series of comics.

The Bone series was originally published as a set of comics from 1991 to 2004.  Aside from Bone, Smith has worked with many different comic Characters including Captain Marvel, put out by DC Comics.  Overall Smith finds himself well connected and well-suited for the comic/graphic novel genre he has chosen.

Curriculum Ties - Explore the nature of Graphic Novels as a literary format/genre. - Literature
Talk about Comics as graphic Art. - Art
How  has the Comic transformed itself into a Novel. - Literature

Reading Level - Grade 9+

Book Talking Ideas - Talk about the use of the Serial in literature.  How effective is the use of serialization in literature?

Challenge Issues - N/A

Why Included - I included this because I was interested in these characters and had seen this set of Graphic Novels at my work.

Go Ask Alice!

Title - Go Ask Alice!
Website - http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/

Website Contents - This site is a generalize website for teens that are interested in any amount of subjects.  It would appear to be developed for teens who are interested in particular topics but maybe having a difficult time asking someone a question about something for fear of the response they will get when asking the question.  The information on the site ranges from sexual questions to pieces on health and other health related issues teens are interested in. 

Website Review - The opening page of the site is pleasing to look at and divided into easily viewable material.  The left side has a bar to be able to look at general topics.  While the opening page seems well developed the rest of the site seems overly confusing to me.  When looking into the sexual health section on the site I found a bunch of questions that someone might have about anything related to sexual health.  The unfortunate thing to this page was that it seemed to have no organization to it.  While it may have been difficult to organize so many different questions it makes it hard for someone who is looking for something specifically to find what they are looking for.  Overall, while the cites looks on the outside are interesting and inviting, and the range of issues they cover are of great interest to the user, the downside of having to do large searches through the cite outweigh the benefits.

Reader's Annotation- Having any health related issue that you are afraid to talk to your parents or friends about?  Don't go to just any website?  Go Ask Alice!

About the Author- Alice is part of the Columbia University Health Services program.  The program was created to meet the health needs of the average university student to be able to give them a place to get help and advice on any number of subjects on the campus.  They believe in this mission and as such they are trying to do two major things on the campus. 

These two things consist of promotion, which concerns of a pro-active care for the students in the community. This means making them healthier on the inside and out.  This encourages activity and healthy eating habits in the community.  The second area consists of education of the student.  They want the community to have a vast understanding of the latest health issues of the day.  They believe this in turn encourages the student to live an active and healthy lifestyle.

Genre - Website

Curriculum Ties - Health education,

Booktalking Ideas - N/A

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 9+

Challenge Issues - Much of the information on the cite consists of things of a sexual nature.  Some parent may complain that they don't want their teens to have access to this information.

Overcoming Challenges - Encourage parents to have a proactive relationship with students, and discuss with them the need to have accurate information about health issues.  There is a ton of information on the net, that can be false and misleading.  Explain to them that it is better to have accurate information available for them on these delicate issues that is promoted by the library rather then them finding some website that gives misinformation about an illness or sexually related health issue.

Why Included - One of my librarians pointed out this website and showed it as colorful and interesting, something that teens would find engaging.

Student Resources In Context

Title - Student Resources In Context
Websites Address - http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/?userGroupName=orange_main

Website Content - Gale Resource Group has developed another website for library resources whose purpose is designing a broad based cite that allows students to peruse through a bunch of resources about all different types of topics.  The site includes links on things from all different fields from science to politics to literature.  As you pass through the links on some of the major subject headings they give you more specific things that you can look at.  When looking up what is on the website on literature you are taken to a link of many of the frequently used titles that are given in the literature classes.  This included many of the classics from Hamlet to Of Mice and Men.  When digging deeper into the individual item they have plot summaries and critical reviews of the particular item as well as their own brief history of the book itself.  In other areas they provide primary and reference resources to items that you want information on.

Website Review - Gale Student Resource Website consists of a lot of topical relevant information for teenagers in all subject areas.  When considering the amount of research that students must do as well as giving them a historical background to any given topic, Gale provides an excellent website to do when beginning any topic of study.  The only problem with this resource from my perspective is that it is limited to whatever the Gale Resource group considers relevant at any given time.  While this may be easily done in fields that are about history or the sciences, as updates can be easily created, literature is a somewhat complicated field.  Teachers rarely stick to any certain curriculum about what they teach.  Gale has to rely on what is primarily taught in classes, and this is hard to determine for English literature.  The cite receives high marks for usability, despite the fact that it may have limited resources in certain fields, which makes this a site well worth examining for any high school student.

Cite Annotation - Want the world of subjects at your fingertips?  Not understand why Huck Finn thinks he's going to hell?  What is stem cell research and why is it controversial?  If you want the world at your fingertips, go to the Gale Student Resources Website.

About the people who produce the website - Gale, the company that does the development of the site considers itself to be among the premier web designers when it comes to creating e-resources for libraries and schools.  The company maintains more than 600 databases online for libraries and schools to use on a variety of different topics.  Some of their more famous databases include Primary Source Media and Macmillan Reference USA. 

Genre - Database

Curriculum Ties - This website would tie well into almost any subject that you can imagine.  For the teacher who is trying to get their students to write a research paper in whatever topic they choose, having the students view this website would be highly useful.

Booktalking ideas - N/A

Reading Level - Grade 7 +

Challenge Issues - None

Why Included - I wanted to include a database that was offered at the Library System that I worked for.

Gale Opposing Viewpoints

Title - Gale Opposing Viewpoints
website - http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/?userGroupName=orange_main

Content - Linked to the OC Public Libraries Website, Opposing Viewpoints contains arguments on all the latest social issues of the day from both sides of the issue.  As many teens have to develp viewpoints papers in high school, this makes Viewpoints a very useful tool for teens to be able to develop an argument on any given topic.  One such issue is Animal rights.  Many people today are arguing whether animals should be given the same protections as people.  They summarize the arguments at the link to each debate.  In this instance they present one side of the argument that states that all animals are part of the same evolutionary chain.  The other side of the argument is that animals certainly lack some of the spirit, mental abilities and other qualities of humans. Therefore animals should be able to be used in some circumstances that people should not.  The site then presents several differnt articles that present in an intellectual argument, their side of the issue.  The site contains almost all of the major debates of the day, from arguments about the death penalty, to abortion, to marijuana legalization.

Cite Review - The content of the site is amazing for finding stuff for papers, especially position papers that are frequently given to high school juniors.  It allows people do to a lot of research and have several different articles from both sides of a position.  The site is easily broken down into sections so one can find the argument they are discussing quite easily.  If there is one complaint I have to the site is that it has a limited usability for people.  It works as well as the mission books that are contained at the library, where they are used for a couple of months each year as a new group of fourth graders are doing their missiong project, and then they are neglected for the other nine months.  However, as it is something that comes up frequently in school projects, it is a very useful site overall for the library to be providing to the kids who need this information.

Annotation - Should we maintain the illegality of Marijuana, as the drug can do irreperable harm to teens and others, causing them to withdraw from the community; or should we regulate the drug, making sure that a clean product free of poisons is put out on the market and tax it thereby creating a new source of revenue for people and governments?  Find this and many other things to debate in the Gale Opposing Viewpoints database.

About the Cite - Gale, the company that does the development of the site considers itself to be among the premeir webdesigners when it comes to creating e-resources for libraries and schools.  The company maintains more than 600 databases online for libraries and schools to use on a variety of different topics.  Some of their more famous databases include Primary Source Media and Macmillan Reference USA. 

Genre -
Database

Curriculum Ties -
Review the site in advanace of Juniors and Seniors writing position papers in school.

Booktalking ideas -
N/A

Reading Level -
Grade 9 +

Challenge Issues -
None

Why Included -
I wanted to include a database that was offered at the Library System that I worked for.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Title - Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Author/Director - John Hughes
Release Date - June 11, 1986

Plot - What more can be said about Ferris Bueller?  "Bueller... Bueller... Bueller...," Ben Stein's famous teacher famously queries as he begins his history class.  Ferris Bueller has decided to take a day off of school.  He is a high school senior waiting for the last year of high school to finally pass by.  But he does not want to let it pass him by without fully being able to take advantage of it.  His best friend Cameron wants to hide under his sheets, letting it go by as quickly as possible, trying to hide from the craziness of high school life.  His girlfriend Sloane is nervous about what the rest of her life has in store. 

But Ferris wants to seize the day.  And seize it he does.  He convinces Cameron to take his dads incredible car.  He gets his girlfriend out of school by pretending to be her father, and he goes out on an incredible trip downtown, even ending up as the lead of a big float in a parade, all while convincing his parents that he is seriously ill, evading the prying eyes of his sister, and ditching his principle who wants to get him into serious trouble.  What more trouble can any teenager get into in one day?  Through it all Ferris convinces all around him to relax, and enjoy every moment of life, because if you don't, it will surely pass you by.

Critical Review - Coming out in 1986 in the middle of the Cold War and changing situations throughout the world, John Hughes has developed a little gem.  The character he has created for Matthew Broderick creates the perfect story around him.  But the message to live life to its fullest is a lesson that resonates throughout the ages.  Whether it be from the 18th century poets imploring their lovers to take advantage of the time given to them. or Robin Williams in Dead Poet Society encouraging his students to seize the day, the notion to take advantage of the time given is timeless.  Bueller perfectly encapsulates this message to those around him.  You cannot get caught up in everything that is going on around you or you are going to miss the opportunities and life that is given to you.  While maybe one shouldn't ditch school, lie to their parents and school administrators, and sneak into restaurants pretending to be someone you are not, Hughes connects to his high school audience in this way that may others do not.  This age is testing its boundaries more than any other.  Through his day off, Bueller tests the limits of his intelligence and the boundaries of his world.  And all the while he makes sure not to let his life passing him by without being able to truly live it.

Reader's Annotation - Driving hot cars, dating the hottest girl in school, going to high class restaurants, and being the lead float in a parade leading everyone to dance wildly across the street: what more could any high school boy want?

About the Author-  John Hughes grew up in Grosse Point Michigan, mostly quite and introspective as many of the people around him were women and older people.  Through this he developed his imagination and his ability to be creative.  When he got to high school he finally started his life having some sort of a direction.  It is these days in high school that he would be able to draw from when doing many of the high school comedies that he would become associated with.

Hughes got his big film break when he wrote the screenplay for National Lampoons Vacation, written to reflect his own experiences on family vacations.  In 1984, he would get his directorial opportunity to do something and he developed 16 Candles, wildly praised reflecting the teen spirit of the age as opposed to many of the comedies being released at the time.  He would go on to direct many efforts reflecting teens and their struggles with such classics as Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Genre- Movies, Comedy

Curriculum Ties - Literature as film - How does Hughes translate the teenage plight to find their identity.

Booktalking Ideas - N/A

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 9+

Challenge Issues - It encourages disrespectful and negative images of authority figures.

Overcoming - Discuss classic literature that questions authority and whether or not questioning authority is a good thing.

Why Included - This was certainly one of my favorite teen comedies from my day as I was just about to start high school the following year.  This comedy seems to resonate then as much as it does today.