Some Assembly Required by Arin Andrews

Finished the book

The search continues. I very much enjoyed Andrew's story. I will highly recommend it to the high school librarian. I have decided not to add it to this library's collection. The detail in which he shares his physical relationships is too much for this particular middle school audience. Also, his description of transition surgery is informative but a bit more graphic than what I was looking for.

Some Assembly Required by Arin Andrews

Currently on pg. 100, chapter 8

About 2 or 3 pages into chapter 5, I realized that this book was perhaps to explicit for the library's collection. I feel that Andrews' sharing about his body as he goes through puberty as a girl might be too vivid for this particular middle school. Andrews then goes on to write about his first girlfriend and their physical relationship which is very realistic.  I am very much enjoying this book. Whether or not I decide to put it in the middle school library's collection, I plan on recommending it to the high school.

Some Assembly Required by Arin Andrews

Interest level: 7th grade & up 

Reading Level: 6.3

Lexile: 970

Genre: Memoir 

Currently on pg. 39

Last summer the Oregon Association of School Librarians challenged school libraries to look at their LGBT collection. Upon review, I set out to find books that were about transgender youth. You may have seen in a previous blog post that I found and liked Gracefully Grayson. My quest continues for a f2m title. So far, I am excited with Some Assembly Required. I have high hopes. Keep your fingers crossed.

Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire

Currently on pg. 193 and calling it quits

As much as I hate to admit it, I am calling it. Drop the mike. I am done. I have to say that I use to never 'not finish' a book, once I had started it. I usually power through and in the end am glad that I did. But now that I am responsible for buying books for a middle school library, I have discovered that I do not have that kind of time to dedicate to a book. And so, I am sorry to say that I will be leaving Elena and Cat in the woods outlining St. Petersburg, Russia. Perhaps I will revisit during winter break.

As I stated in my previous post, I did find the Prince and the Pauper story-line intriguing. However, once Elena got off the train and Cat found herself with Baba Yaga, I again lost interest. And so, I must bid Russia farewell. I am onto another tale. Let's hope this one is more enthralling.

Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire

Interest level: 6th grade & up 

Reading Level: 4.3

Lexile: 700

Genre: Fantasy

Currently on pg. 102

I have read Wicked, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and Mirror Mirror all by Gregory Maguire. And I liked them.  Even though Wicked was 560 pages long, I have to say that the 475 pages of Egg & Spoon has me scared. But it is the last of the 2017 Oregon Readers' Choice Award nominees, so I will do my best to read it.

It was around page 60 that I decided that I might like this book after all. It has a Prince and the Pauper feeling to it. I am not quite carrying the book around with me, which is a true mark of an excellent read, but I will keep you updated.