Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Pop (by Gordon Korman) with *spoiler alert*



I think Pop was the third book I've ready by Gordon Korman and it wasa bit more than just the fluff I expected. Korman has a knack for putting out books with teenage boys finding themselves in self discovery mode. Pop is one of Korman's newer novels, but it doesn't disappoint in following the formula that both Son of the Mob and Born to Rock followed. The main character is looking for himself through some conflict, he finds himself in a sticky situation and lies in order to be loyal to his fellows, and then the conflict resolves itself and everyone sees how truly good this protagonist is (and the lies are miraculously forgotten). I guess I'm getting cynical in my old age. However, with this Korman novel, the lighthearted gives way to larger, unresolved issues.

Pop follows Marcus Jordan, a newcomer in a town with a football addiction problem. Jordan is psyched to try out for the team, but he's treated like a newbie even though he is pretty decent. As Jordan begins to learn his place on the team (making the 1st string QB, Troy, look good), he begins to practice at a local park on his own time. As things will have it, a stranger begins to join his practice and this stranger has the habit of randomly showing up and randomly leaving, in addition to giving Marcus a helluva beating with tackling practice.

Marcus finds himself drawn into a handful of pranks with the adult stranger he practices with, who we finally find out is named Charlie. Each time, Marcus gets busted and Charlie disappears leaving Marcus with the wrap. Marcus continues to get notoriety for his skills and he begins to be used for his newfound tackling abilities.

Marcus continues to push for the role of QB, but the coach resists, insisting that Troy is the best bet. As well, a girl starts to show interest in Marcus, and she just happens to be Troy's on-again-off-again girlfriend. In the meanwhile, Marcus realizes that Charlie is actually Troy's father, after Charlie congratulates Marcus after a game and Troy responds negatively.

While the story at first seems to be about father-son problems, the reader actually find out that Charlie's peculiar behavior is due to the fact that Charlie's taken one to many hits to the head while being a professional player for the Bengals. Marcus begins to do research on Charlie's condition and realizes Charlie has a form of early on-set Alzheimers common to professional athletes with repetitive head injuries. This information further digs Marcus into a hole with Charlie's family because they don't want the public to know, but Charlie's antics have left Marcus holding the bag legally.

Marcus finds himself angling against Charlie's family so that Charlie can be honored by his college alma mater. When this angling doesn't work, Marcus enlists Charlie's old high school buddy to help take Charlie to the Hall of Fame recognition at the college. Charlie's family finds out what's going on once they see Charlie online at the alma mater and Marcus ends up in more trouble with the law- but this time for kidnapping Charlie.

Marcus ends up taking over the QB position from Troy because Troy is unable to cope with his father's Alzheimers and the family decides to finally deal with the Alzheimers head-on. The arrange for Charlie to enter a nursing home. While the antics appear to be over, an old prank involving a stolen hawk reemerges in a tragic, yet dignified form. Korman manages to take a seemingly light-hearted topic into a statement about dignity and respect for the human body's capabilities.

Far From You- *spoiler alert*




I read Far From You by Lisa Schroeder a few weeks ago. I can see how some of my high school students, especially female romantics, might really enjoy it, but it was another one that was a bit too predictable for me.

The book uses lyric poetry, like Crank (by Ellen Hopkins) and quite a few other YA lit. novels. I enjoy this style in that it's a super fast read, but I feel that it's become a bit of a cop-out for true novel writing. Nonetheless, the story was sweet. It's about a teenage girl, going through a typical rebellious stage. Alice, the girl, has recently lost her mother to cancer and Alice's father has remarried and the step-mother has a baby soon after we meet Alice.

Alice it less than thrilled about the baby, particularly because it takes away the little time her father still spends with her (rather than with the step mom). Alice uses her angst to write emo, christian tunes with her best friend, Claire.

Alice also has a sweet, but slacker boyfriend that is less than supportive of Alice's religious choices. I found myself rooting against the slacker boyfriend (yes, his name is Blaze), despite the fact that he has a few moments of clarity regarding encouraging Alice to at least give her step-mom a chance.

While Alice gets into an argument with her friend, and she is forced to go on a family trip, the turning point finally comes: she gets trapped in the snow with her baby step-sister and step-mother on the way home from the family trip. Alice finally has to face her issues with her step-mother and really with her late-mother.

Of course, Alice, the baby and the step-mom get rescued (after the step-mom leaves for help) and Blaze, Claire, and the father all meet the popsicle-like ladies at the hospital for a happy reunion- vowing to put all of their differences aside.

In order to spice up the story, I kept hoping to find out the deceased mother would come back to haunt someone or that vampires would show up on the scene and force the family and friends to bond in order not to become a juicy dinner. I guess this means I'm ready to get back to reading some of the usual depressing teen lit. (vampires, murders, drugs, etc.). Maybe it's time to re-read Catcher in the Rye.