I have been spending this week in YA land. I love young adult literature and I always have. But it has gotten me wanting to go back to high school a bit. A lot of people wouldn't relive those years for anything, but I had a great high school experience.
One of the things that I keep thinking about is how sometimes I wonder what it would have felt like to go to public school. I wonder how my experiences would have been different. I loved going to boarding school and I wouldn't change it for anything. But there was definitely a level of freedom that I missed out on. What was your high school experience like? Did you love it? Did you hate it? Are you still in high school?
Earlier in the week I finished Wake
by Lisa McMann. The title is appropriate because I was up all night reading it. I just couldn't stop!!! This is Lisa's first novel and it is a huge success. Hopefully I won't be lazy and will post more about this book later but for now I just wanted to mention i because I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!!
Shortly after I finished Wake I picked up Audrey, Wait!
This book is by Robin Benway who I had the opportunity to chat with earlier this week thanks to Enchanting YA Chats! I was really enthusiastic about the book after Robin shared a whole bunch of great factoids about it. But, after just finishing Wake I had a hard time getting into Audrey, Wait! The book made up for it thought, by page 100 I was HOOKED. I haven't quite finished the book yet because I am having a massive ADD attack. But what I can tell you is that Robin is an amazing writer. She strikes the perfect balance of reality with that touch of poetry. You know those lines that are so amazing and beautiful they just smack you deep down in your soul? Well this book is full of them, and they sneak up on you making them even more poignant.I should be posting more about these books later in the week! What have you been reading today?
I'm aware that I'm not exactly a member of the Sunday Salon deal, but I feel like I should answer your questions. =D
ReplyDeleteI'm still in high school and I think that the thing I'll remember most is my friends... They are the BIGGEST part of my life, and I honestly think I would die without them. Of course, my opinion might change as I get older... in fact, it probably will. =D
And I'm reading The Day I Killed James and I JUST got to the good part, and so I think I'm going to go read it some more. =P
-Chelsie-
Hi Megan,
ReplyDeleteFirst, Thanks for visiting bookwormsdinner.blogspot.com
and leaving a message. Yes, I should have reversed the video of Barbara and the blog when I met her. I think a lot of people missed that. She was fantastic. Inside the cover in very small print are all the people she has interviewed. Talk about perspective.
Second,
High School....Bah!!!!
You seem to have a sense of humor and I can't really tell your age. I am over 30 less than 100. I went to public high school and I was a musician. That translates to geek.
I also was a straight A student...double geek. I also loved to read....triple geek. I was just not cool. But I tried to be in rebellious harmless ways. My best friend went to boarding school. She had a blast, but said all she learned was how to do drugs.
So for what it's worth, I think it is whatever the person makes out of the situation.
You obviously, are an avid reader, with an awesome vocabulary, incredible talent for writing,very creative and sense of humor. So....you didn't miss a thing. Just keep reading.
Hey, the book Wake looks awesome. What age level? I teach K-5, but know a lot of YA students. Thanks....
I am one of those who would not go back to high school for anything. It wasn't that my experience in high school was that terrible, but it wasn't that good either. It just was.
ReplyDeleteDon't you love it when you can't put a book down and end up reading most of the night? At least until you have to wake up and realize you didn't get nearly enough sleep as you should have. :-)
I hope you have a great week!
I wouldn't go back. Graduating from high school was one of the happiest days of my life.
ReplyDeleteBoarding School????
Both those books sound fabulous I'll have to add them to my TBR list. I'm also having a bit of a YA moment, so many good books in this genre.
ReplyDeleteAs to High school (secondary school for me as I was in the UK) it was fine neither excellent or horrible. Looking back I wished I'd worked harder and been more self aware but I seem to have done okay :)
Thanks for visiting my blog :)
In recalling my high school years (which takes a lot of recalling, they were so long ago!) I remember being relatively happy with the experience. I now work in a high school part time, and it's interesting to watch the various relationships develop and unravel. Teenagers have a lot more on their plate than back in my day.
ReplyDeleteI don't see a lot of them reading "young adult" fiction. The readers among them gravitate directly to adult fiction.
Thanks for visiting my Sunday Salon at Bookstack!
Megan:
ReplyDeleteI loved high school! I had loads of fun and learned a great deal. In spite of loving my own high school experience, we homeschool our own kids. They have loads of fun, too! Anyway--thanks for commenting on my blog. And we also resisted the DVD player until just 2 years ago, when I needed to make a 15-hour trip by myself with the 3 kids. BUT--the DVD player is only for long trips; we don't have it in for around town!
I would love to hear your thoughts about Mere Christianity when you get around to it. There is just soooo much in that book. C. S. Lewis' mind and clarity of speech/writing it really amazing to me.
ReplyDeleteI don't go out of my way to read YA. That said, I read a few YA books. It doesn't matter what age group as long as it's a good story.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, you have me interested in WAKE by Lisa McMann. I'm going to see if I can locate a copy. I think I've seen this on another blog too.
Thanks for the heads-up!
Megan, first let me say 'thanks' for visiting my Sunday Salon post (www.southerngal-lisa.blogspot.com)and leaving a comment. I don't read alot of YA, but I'm not ruling it out! :) High school was wierd for me. It was late 70's early 80's. Went to the same school from Kindergarten thru 10th grade. Was a musician in the band (aka geek), but we all took it serious and WE ROCKED! Had lots of close friends. Then my family moved 1500 miles away and I went from being very involved to barely functioning. From tiny school to HUGE school. Culture shock big time! I would not go thru that again for any amount of money!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm about six years out of high school now. It seems like it was only a few years ago (it was!) but then I realize that I don't know any of the students who are currently at my old school.
ReplyDeleteI loved high school. Like you, my experience was a bit atypical. I went to an all-girls, Catholic high school. I wasn't Catholic. I was so shy when entering the school, but the school really helped me come out of my shell. I think it was actually good there weren't any guys around - most girls felt free to be themselves. (The only thing is that some girls - in their true selves - were cattier than they'd act around guys.) I was a geek but I somehow managed to form friends amongst all types of "groups". I had friends who were super sporty, and friends who were in the musical (the drama geeks, I guess). I had friends who were involved in student government, and other friends who weren't involved at all. I even had one or two friends who were considered "popular". I think the biggest thing for me though was my close group of friends - my "best friends". We were all very diverse (we used to joke that we could have been an ad for PBS kids) but got along because of our shared love for books, our quirky sense of humor, and our passions for learning. In a normal school setting, we probably would have been extremely geeky, but in my book, they were just my friends.
I studied in a very well known public school. It was a all girls school. I was there from Grade 6 to Grade 12. I would call it the best part of my life. I used to be good student, a good reader, good orator. I did well in my science subjects and excelled in maths. I was damn good n English literature too despite the fact that it is my second language. Or maybe THIRD!
ReplyDeleteOn top of that, I made lasting friendships. Even after 25 years, some of us are very close to each other.
Now I teach in a Govt school, again all girls. Where we get students from the lower middle class. Most are first generation learners. For whatever it is worth, I love them to bits. They might not excel in studies. But they are like any other student in any other school.
Phew!
That is a long one!
As Wisteria says, it does not matter where you study as long as you get your priorities right. Nowadays teenaged girls are more into body image, boyfriends and drugs. Studies are nowhere near. Sad, wouldn't say?
PS: Do visit my blog:
ReplyDeleteSS 1: Books read/received
SS 2: Book Shopping