Comments on: By Popular Demand http://blogs.slj.com/printzblog/2011/12/05/by-popular-demand/ by Karyn Silverman and Sarah Couri Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:03:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Sarah Couri http://blogs.slj.com/printzblog/2011/12/05/by-popular-demand/#comment-2635 Sarah Couri Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:42:55 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/printzblog/?p=568#comment-2635 Hannah, the two stories do come together nicely! But one other thing I'd be looking for on reread is the way they play off each other throughout the book (before the connections become clear). In this way, I'd *almost* be looking at it like a collection of short stories, to see if/what images, themes, ideas the two halves bounce between them throughout the book. It's, of course, impossible to really appreciate that on first read when you're just trying to reconcile them...but I'd be curious how the structure works when you already know the ending! Hannah, the two stories do come together nicely! But one other thing I’d be looking for on reread is the way they play off each other throughout the book (before the connections become clear). In this way, I’d *almost* be looking at it like a collection of short stories, to see if/what images, themes, ideas the two halves bounce between them throughout the book. It’s, of course, impossible to really appreciate that on first read when you’re just trying to reconcile them…but I’d be curious how the structure works when you already know the ending!

]]> By: Hannah http://blogs.slj.com/printzblog/2011/12/05/by-popular-demand/#comment-2552 Hannah Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:32:28 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/printzblog/?p=568#comment-2552 This is my absolute favorite YA of the year...it's unique and complex structurally, emotionally, and thematically. I adore the repetition of the disappearance and return with the zombies, the woodpecker, and Gabriel. I love the way the two stories seem completely incongruous but actually come together brilliantly. I love Cullen's voice and his insecurities and his perceptiveness. I think this book does something different than a lot of realistic YA lit, which is that it's not trying to be a perfectly accurate representation of the teenage everyday, but instead take a much broader concept and creates a fantasy/essay set in a believable teenage world. It's in the everyday, but with more imagination. This is my absolute favorite YA of the year…it’s unique and complex structurally, emotionally, and thematically. I adore the repetition of the disappearance and return with the zombies, the woodpecker, and Gabriel. I love the way the two stories seem completely incongruous but actually come together brilliantly. I love Cullen’s voice and his insecurities and his perceptiveness.

I think this book does something different than a lot of realistic YA lit, which is that it’s not trying to be a perfectly accurate representation of the teenage everyday, but instead take a much broader concept and creates a fantasy/essay set in a believable teenage world. It’s in the everyday, but with more imagination.

]]> By: Karyn Silverman http://blogs.slj.com/printzblog/2011/12/05/by-popular-demand/#comment-2460 Karyn Silverman Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:38:31 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/printzblog/?p=568#comment-2460 Interested by the serious love this one keeps getting on the one hand but the lack of starred reviews on the other. Is this one of those books that grabs some readers and won't let go, but leaves others cold? (It left me so cold that I put it aside when Sarah picked it up.) Interested by the serious love this one keeps getting on the one hand but the lack of starred reviews on the other. Is this one of those books that grabs some readers and won’t let go, but leaves others cold? (It left me so cold that I put it aside when Sarah picked it up.)

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