Sense of Self: Room

Room
by Emma Donoghue
Read for "Sense of Self" theme

Room is an incredible book. While it pushes the boundaries for young adult and borders fiction for adults, I still stand by the fact that this is an excellent novel and possibly a good recommendation for a (mature) high school student. Room is told from the perspective of a five-year-old named Jack. He and Ma live in a room, and to Jack, Room is the entire world. He was born into a captivity of sorts, as his mother was abducted and then impregnated by her captor. Now the frame description of this novel would make it seem extremely inappropriate for young adult, but I still stand that this could work for (mature) high schoolers.

Jack's perspective offers an innocent look on evil matters. This lesson alone is a great aspect to the novel which makes it, in my opinion, brilliant and great for learning opportunities. Perspective is a difficult trait of writing that is difficult to teach students at times, and understanding the complexity of a foreign perspective or finding meaning in the author's choices with perspectives is no easy feat either. Room is a great tool to help teach these big ideas and make it more understandable for students.

I really could talk for days about this book. I found it ground-breaking in terms of narrative form and intriguing in terms of originality. But what struck me most about this book and my experience reading it was the reaction I saw in myself to what was happening or what Jack was saying. I got angry at Jack for not understanding how Room was a bad place and for not embracing the outside world. Rationally, I should have known to expect this in his behavior. Yet, I was still compelled to judge him and get angry at him. This is not the first book to make me feel like this, nor should I expect it to be the last, so I vie for its place in the young adult world so readers may learn this very lesson. Characters in book could just as easily be people in the flesh, and one should learn to understand perspective before jumping to conclusions or rushing to judgments.

Hero: Going Bovine

Going Bovine
by Libba Bray
Read for "Hero" Theme

For this week, I read Going Bovine by Libba Bray. Initially, I connected with the main character and narrator Cameron. Like Cameron, I was a little angsty with the world and the perceived hypocrisy surrounding me. I'll admit though that Cameron takes it a little farther than I did. I did have a lot of friends who shared his sentiments to a tee, though, so that brought me in right away just based on the fact that I understood Cameron so well. Once I understood who I was dealing with, I simply couldn't put the book down.

While it took a little while to get to the meat of the story and the main conflict with Cameron's Mad Cow disease, I appreciated Bray's patience in developing Cameron's character and the dynamics within his family. This seemed like a key aspect for me as a future teacher, as I know it provides students with the opportunity to connect with Cameron; even if students don't connect with Cameron's personality, they may relate to his personal/family life. My outlook on teaching literature is to always find a way for the student to connect to the material, whether it's personal connection to a character or understanding or previous knowledge of a subject. I really liked how there were so many opportunities for students to connect or find something engaging in this novel.

Another great aspect for drawing in readers are all the crazy different elements this story provides. At its core, it's an adventure story. But it is not limited to just that. It's also fantastical, comical, enlightening to others' struggles, and, at times, heart-breaking. This novel is an emotional and categorical roller coaster, and this novel is one of those that pulls off the roller coaster well; there were so many things happening so quickly, but I didn't get whiplash or need to take a break. It compelled me to finish.

Overall, two thumbs up and a commemorative toast to Balder from me!