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*********************** This message has been scanned for viruses by the InterScan Messaging= Security Suite. -HPS Technology ***********-*********** Michelle and Colleagues: I reviewed Zoe Trope's debut "Please don't kill the freshman" for SLJ and, personally, found it very compelling. I tore right through it one splendid summer day on the hammock.=0D I can understand why memoirs--both fictive and authentic--are such a hot genre right now: I got a speedy and voyeuristic kind of thrill reading= about the private life of this precocious young woman, and I found myself imagining what it must have been like to have suddenly landed a six-figure book deal around the same time most kids get their driver's licenses. Yeah, it's caustic; she hates just about everything about high school and uses her verbal flamethrower pretty effectively. (She slams a bad school librarian pretty effectively, I seem to recall, saying about our profession something like 'would ANYONE actually WANT to devote their LIFE to doing THAT?) Zo=EB basically writes like most smart, urban kids speak, with a sophomoric sophistication that naturally is punctuated with some class-A cussin'. And yeah, it's candid; she lets you know all about her emergent homosexuality--(maybe "pansexuality" would be a better term for her moony eroticism)--and stuff but, despite all the self-conscious edginess, the= book somehow remains just the rambling diary of a sweet and thoughtful teen figuring stuff out. I'd put it in my High School Library, if I HAD one (any job openings out there?) though it's undeniably a pretty obvious target for censors. And,= the problem with that is, if the book ever is contested, it's simply not great literature (Not that it attempts to be) which would make it much more difficult to defend. If your colleague is interested in using it in a secondary teaching situation, it may not be a good fit; I can't really imagine any strict, curricular utility it could be put to, unless you= happen to have a state standard calling for familiarity with the "angst-ridden= teen memior" genre. =0D Jeffrey Hastings Librarian Highlander Way Middle School Library=0D hastingj@howellschools.com LEGAL NOTICE: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient,= =0D you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any= action=0D in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. -------------------------------------------------------------------- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/el-announce/ LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html --------------------------------------------------------------------