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Why is it that authors feel the need to state that their characters don't like the site of blood. As in "She couldn't stand the sight of blood, especially her own." Um, shouldn't that go without saying? Now if she loved the sight of blood, that would be something to write about maybe. That might be unusual. But not caring so much for the site of your own blood outside of your veins...not a shocker!

Ok, that said, I just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and I want someone else to read it now so we can discuss. I've been reading some mixed reviews, with some valid points, but overall I liked this one. Clary Fray is living an ordinary existance when she witnesses three teenagers killing a demon and is drawn into the supernatural world of the Shadowhunters, rune tattooed warriors who hunt down demons . Soon it's clear that Clary is not so ordinary after all. Imagine Harry Potter and Star Wars all mashed up together in a good way and you have City of Bones. There is the dreaded mention of disliking the sight of blood which made me afraid Clary would end up being Bella-ish. Then there was the begining of a Jacob/Edward feud and I'm thinking uh oh, this is going to be Twilight all over again. But the book redeemed itself by the end. This is only book one, so we'll see, but so far Clary seems rather smart. (Well, she should have figured out who her father is MUCH sooner, but I'll let that slide.) In fact I found most of the characters really appealing which is why I didn't mind that the plot seemed to borrow heavily from other stories. I'm looking forward to the next book.

1. Pics of the cast from the Twilight movie are up on Stephanie Meyer's website. I'm sorry but looking at those pictures made me giggle. For some reason, reading about a family of sparkling vampires is much less silly than looking at pictures of them.

2. Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom I have found my dream house. Check out the staircase/bookcase. Yum.

3. In local news the penguins are starting trouble again. But at least they have people standing up for them though. School Board Vice Chairman John Stevens said in a written statement “Parents determine what is appropriate for their own children and how to guide their children as they learn and grow,” and that “The schools should not be an instrument of censorship."

Ah. So there are some sane people on school boards!

4. I just finished reading Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin and Extras by Scott Westerfeld. Loved Memoirs. Didn't care for Extras. Zevin writes teenagers really well and Memoirs reminded a lot of the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCaffrey. Extras was a whole lot of superficial characters riding around on hover boards. It was like one very long Quiddich match. I know some kids like that sort of thing but I was never that kind of reader.

I have been thinking about fear lately. I just finished reading The Terror Dream by Susan Faludi and then there was an article in BUST by Michelle Dobrovolny about women, fear, and solo travel. So it’s been on my mind a lot. Then, as I was leaving the library last night a youngish guy stops me and asks me why I’m leaving so early. I’m confused but not really wary because I figured that he was just wondering if the library was closing soon. But no, it was my schedule he wanted to know about. He said he thought I always closed on Mondays. That’s when I started feeling a bit sketched out. But I thought about the Bust article and how I didn’t want to be fearful when there really wasn’t any danger so I just made a joke about not being willing to work 16 hour days and headed out to my car. Well, this dude followed me asking me where I lived. I said DC. At this point I was at my car in the parking lot and I was getting a bit nervous. The dude asked what I was up to after work. I said I was off to the gym, wished him a goodnight and hopped in my car. No harm done. But could there have been? As I sat in my car I realized that I had no idea if my fear was warranted in that situation or not. Obviously, the dude wasn’t planning on attacking me or he would have done so in the parking lot. Was it fair of me to assume he was an aggressor when he was just being friendly? Was it right for me to be afraid or was I falling prey to a big myth?

and I'm bored and trolling craigslist, looking at houses I'll never be able to afford. And anyway, who knows where we will have to live once Josh gets a job. But oh, this one is just so cute. Not quite as 'pony and tea party" evoking as the last one, but still I would live there. Sigh.

There's been some great discussion over on the child_lit about the anti-feminist tones in Stephanie Meyer's Vampire series which has gotten me thinking more about the influence books have on teen readers. I read Meyer's first book, Twilight, one day at work and I have to admit, I enjoyed the the story, angst, drama, and all. The later books in the series started to irritate me though. The main character, Bella, becomes the constant the damsel in distress and Edward is too perfect. I mean, he's too content to make an interesting vampire. And yes, he's creepily controlling. And yes. she too submissive. So is this going to corrupt the throngs of teen girls reading the series? It is okay to say, well at least they are reading, or is that akin to giving kids free run to eat as much candy as they like.

My opinion comes out of my own teen reading experience. As I've already admitted, I read all sorts of trash. V.C. Andrews, Christopher Pike, R.L. Stine... but I also read the good stuff too. And by time I was a "teen" I could tell the difference. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the junk food. I think we need to give teens credit. I'm sure they are capable of reading critically, when they want to. But sometimes it's pleasurable to get swept up in a melodramatic story without the critic in your head chiming in to spoil all the fun!

I kinda really liked this article in Slate this week on preteens reading the ever so trashy Flowers in the Attic series. I have to fess up to reading the entire series at the age of 12. Then I moved on to the other V.C. Andrews series. And guess what? No harm done. Now what really had me disturbed was my first viewing of Hamlet. But that's another story!

The article starts off with the author talking about not encouraging her kid to read The Golden Compass. I thought that was an odd jumping off point for talking about the allure of dreck. But I do like her points about allowing kids to read what they want to read.

From Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf

"Children who never have a story read to them, who never hear words that rhyme, who never imagine fighting with dragons or marrying a prince, have the odds overwhelmingly against them."

Illustration Friday: Polar

Luggage tag, collage, acrylic and pencil