Plot Summary: Cath is in her first year of college, and she’s having trouble adjusting, because of her anxiety and because her twin sister Wren is pulling away from her. Cath enjoys writing fanfiction for her favorite series about a boy magician named Simon Snow. Wren isn’t interested in fanfiction anymore, but Cath still loves it. She even writes fanfiction for her creative writing class, though her professor gives her an F, saying that Cath is a talented writer but that this is plagiarism. Cath finds a writing partner named Nick and they write very well together, though she’s not sure if they are friends. She does become friends with her roommate and her friend Levi, though, and she starts to do better socially.

Critical Evaluation: I enjoyed this book a lot. I think people with anxiety can relate to Cath. It’s very hard to adjust to new stages of life, and college is a difficult one. It’s especially difficult for people with anxiety, but Cath manages after an adjustment period. I’m glad that she ended up having a romance with Levi, because I think it shows that you don’t always connect with the people you might expect to. Nick would have been a more obvious choice, but he ended up being a bad writing partner and a bad friend. I liked the fact that Cath writes fanfiction, because fanfiction was formative to me and a lot of people in my age group. It is still very relevant to young people today. Simon Snow is an obvious reference to Harry Potter, the series that spawned probably the largest fanfiction community on the internet. I don’t personally think fanfiction is plagiarism, but I’m glad Cath got the encouragement to write her own unique works. Fanfiction is a good way to get into writing, but all fanfiction writers should be encouraged to write their own original material. I think this book is good for older teens who are interested in writing or who have anxiety.

Author Biographical Information: Rainbow Rowell is an American author of young adult and adult contemporary novels. She completed the first draft of her novel Fangirl for National Novel Writing Month.

Ties to Curriculum Units: Creative writing

Booktalking Ideas:

Discuss Cath’s journey as a writer
Discuss the Simon Snow books

Challenge Issues: Sexual themes, profanity

Challenge Defenses:

Mention awards the item has won or been nominated for
State the library’s collection development policy
Reference the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights
Provide rationale for the item being in the collection
As a last resort, offer the patron a “Request for Reconsideration” form

Undertale

Developed by Toby Fox

2015, published by Toby Fox

Video Game, Fantasy

undertale

Interest Age: 10-adult

Annotation: This fantasy RPG about conflict between humans and monsters encourages nonviolent conflict resolution.

Plot Summary: The game opens with some background explaining that monsters and humans once lived together peacefully. There was a war, however, and humans forced monsters underground. The player of Undertale controls a human child who has fallen into the Underground, the domain of the monsters. The player meets various monsters throughout their journey through the underground trying to get home. There is combat in the game, but the player has the option to either fight or resolve conflict in nonviolent ways. There are multiple ways to get through the game. If the player uses only nonviolent means and doesn’t kill any monsters, that is commonly called a “pacifist run.” The pacifist run results in what is known as the “true ending.” This is the full story and the most satisfying ending to the game, in the sense that it wraps up the most plot points and has the most positive outcome for the most characters. If they kill some and use nonviolent means with some, regardless of the ratio, that is a neutral run. The neutral ending is like an incomplete version of the true ending. The final option is to kill everything in the game, known as a “genocide run.” This option is highly discouraged within the game. It includes killing characters who are the player’s friends, as well as intentionally seeking out every monster in the game to kill them. If that were not enough, monsters beg for their lives and for the player character to change their ways. Even most of the way through the game, characters continue to tell the player that they can be redeemed if only they will stop killing now. It is an emotionally harrowing process to get through this type of run. The ending is sad and bleak, and it permanently damages your game. It is impossible to get the true ending after you play a genocide run, and characters in the game make reference to the genocide run throughout subsequent runs.

Critical Evaluation: Though this game was not made for children, it does appeal to people of all ages. It was probably intended primarily for adults, since they are the primary audience for independent video games. It is a great game for all ages because of its anti-violence message. I really appreciate how the game rewards you for using nonviolent means to resolve conflict. It is such a unique way of creating a game, and yet it still feels like a classic game in a lot of ways. The combat system is actually fun in this game, so it might seem unfortunate to have to not fight, but the player still gets to defend themselves and thus still enjoy how it works. It’s a great message to kids and adults alike to have a game that rewards nonviolence.

Author Biographical Information: Toby Fox is an indie video game developer, composer, and musician most known for developing and composing the soundtrack for the critically acclaimed roleplaying game Undertale.

Ties to Curriculum Units: Violence in video games and other media

Booktalking Ideas:

Talk about the game’s anti-violence message
Talk about the different possible plot paths

Challenge Issues: Violence

Challenge Defenses:

Mention awards the item has won or been nominated for
State the library’s collection development policy
Reference the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights
Provide rationale for the item being in the collection
As a last resort, offer the patron a “Request for Reconsideration” form

The Lovely Bones

Alice Sebold

2002, Little, Brown

9780316166683

Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy

lovelybones

Reading Level: 890L

Interest Age: 14-17

Annotation: Susie was brutally murdered, but she is able to watch the world she has left.

Plot Summary: The narrator of this book is Susie Salmon, who is watching over her family and friends after her own brutal death. Susie goes back and forth in time, telling stories of her life and observing what has happened after.

Critical Evaluation: Though Susie is only 14 and young people normally prefer to read about protagonists older than themselves, I think this book is unlikely to be appropriate for readers younger than 14. It is better suited for older teens both because of the intense subject matter and the high reading level. Susie’s rape and murder is incredibly hard to read, but it is not gratuitous. The author is writing from her own experiences, as she was once kidnapped and raped by a man who killed his previous victim, similar to what happened to Susie. This sort of thing does really happen to women, of course, but sometimes authors portray it in in a way that seems like it is just for shock value or to further the story of a different character. The fact that Susie has an afterlife means that even her death is a character development opportunity for her, and she is able to express her feelings about the situation. I think it’s important that she gets some form of agency even as a victim of such a terrible crime.

Author Biographical Information: Alice Sebold is an American writer and bestselling author of the book The Lovely Bones, hailed as the most successful debut novel since Gone With the Wind. (source: https://www.biography.com/people/alice-sebold-20702765)

Ties to Curriculum Units: none

Booktalking Ideas:

Discuss the concept of Susie’s afterlife; where is she, how does it work?
Talk about Susie’s life and how she affects things after she dies

Challenge Issues: Violence, Sexual content, drug use, alcohol use and alcoholism, profanity

Challenge Defenses:

Mention awards the item has won or been nominated for
State the library’s collection development policy
Reference the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights
Provide rationale for the item being in the collection
As a last resort, offer the patron a “Request for Reconsideration” form