Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

It is really difficult to criticize a great book like Speak (PZ7 .A54385 2009). The layout, plot and characters are all wonderful and just as they should be. If I were in a position to require such things, I would say that every girl from 12-18 should be required to read it, and most other people would benefit from it as well. All in all, this is a really good book about the horrifying yet realistic life of a teenager.

The book begins with Melinda Sordino’s first day of high school. Melinda called the police at an end of summer party, getting several kids into trouble. Before high school even begins, she is ridiculed and ostracized. Melinda starts school lonely and misunderstood and things just keep getting worse.

I’ve read this book multiple times, and I was especially struck by how little identity people seem to have; I think this is intentional. There is a running joke throughout the book about the school being unable to select a mascot. Girls seem to change themselves to fit into the clique of their choosing. Melinda sits in an outdated bedroom that no longer reflects who she really is. I feel as though Anderson is telling us that the trauma and depression that Melinda is suffering is all-consuming. But then again, does anyone really know who they are in high school?

Better Biographies

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

I recently decided to re-read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (PZ7.R79835 Har 1998).. This is as much due to my lack of self restraint as it is to the quality of the books themselves. The public library’s well stocked rows of several Harry Potter volumes call to me. I just can’t resist putting away the adult fiction for the wonderful wizardry that is Harry Potter.

I don’t know how important it is for me to provide a summary in this case, since I think most people are at least loosely familiar with the storyline, but I’ll do my best. In this first book of the seven-volume Harry Potter series, an orphaned, eleven-year-old Harry Potter discovers he is a wizard and begins his schooling at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There, he befriends fellow students Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and encounters the dark wizard Voldemort.

There isn’t much that I can say about the merits of the series that hasn’t been said before, so I’ll stick to a couple general observations. First, I never fail to be impressed by J.K. Rowling’s foresight. It as if she had every detail of all seven books planned out in advance. She has said before that she always knew how she would end the series, but I’ve never heard her quoted as saying that she had every detail planned before she starts. It really seems like she did.

The Harry-Dumbledore relationship progresses wonderfully through the series, similar to that of a real life relationship with a mentor. After the final six books of the series, it is easy to forget how little the two knew of each other at the beginning. This isn’t news to anyone who has read the series, but it is nice to back up and remember the beginning. If nothing else, I hope that by praising the books, I can convince other fans to re-read them, and possibly persuade some new readers to pick them up.

36 Arguments for the Existence of God By Rebecca Goldstein

The title of this book is misleading for a couple reasons. First, it is not a list of 36 arguments for the existence of god (although this information is in the appendix). Second, the title makes it sound like the author is making a case for god’s existence. Even if you take the novel format into account, this is not the case (The appendix that includes arguments for god’s existence only includes the arguments so they can be refuted). When I initially discussed this with a friend, I was chastised for not calling the book 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction (I kind of think it is a pain to include this subtitle in conversation), but it does help one know what to expect.

The book takes place during a couple weeks of Cass Seltzer’s career; he is a university professor of the psychology of religion and an author who has recently written a book about atheism. The book is not a list of 36 arguments for the existence of god, but he did include an appendix in his book (I believe that Goldstein’s appendix is meant to be Seltzer’s appendix). Even though the book spans a short amount of time, approximately half of the chapters are flashbacks, so the reader really gets to know Cass from the time he was in his 20’s. Several periods of Cass’s life are explained, his relationship with his eccentric mentor, his background as an Orthodox Jew, a failed marriage and a happy new relationship.

Although this is a book about one man’s explorations in religion and life, we can easily put Cass Seltzer’s atheism in perspective. Can’t we be good without the expectation of an eternal reward? Can’t we love our fellow humans without feeling that we are obligated by our religion? In my opinion, the book is less about the faiths that people embrace and more about the ways that they share their faiths and lives with others.