June Group Reads: We Have a Tie

[Kellee]

1. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

2. The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

[Arya]

1. Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My To-Do List

2. The Demon King

[Kandice]

1. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster

[Felina]

2.Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen.

[Jennifer W, WT Moderator]

I like that we can nominate for both. :)

1. Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne

2. The Third Eye by Mahtab Narsimhan

[Kandice]

We can, but I don't really have a nomination for category 2, although the main character in mine is pretty prgressive for a girl of her time.;0

[Pollyanna]

1. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
2. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

[Angela Sunshine]

1. The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson
2. I, Coriander by Sally Gardner

[Arya]

Oooh I, Coriander is so cute! :D I also like that we can nominate two, though I had to keep editing my feminism pick'cuz first I chose Graceling then The Hunger Games - but ya'll have already read those . . . so sad for me!

[Felina]

When will we be voting? I have 2 Audible credits burning a hole through my pocket.

[Donna]

1. Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland

[Angela Sunshine]

Arya wrote: "Oooh I, Coriander is so cute! :D I also like that we can nominate two, though I had to keep editing my feminism pick'cuz first I chose Graceling then The Hunger Games - but ya'll have already read..."

Ohh, Arya! If you haven't read those two you better get busy!! Sooo good!!

[Felina]

Fiona wrote: "20th! *extinguishes fire in Felina's pocket*"

Ha ha I think I can wait until the 20th...maybe. If that fire re-ignites I can't be held responsible for my actions.

[Eden]

1. Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde

[Rachel]

2. Uncommon Faith by Trudy Krisher

[Kaion]

Oh, we can't have strong women without me nominating the classic Sybil : The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. Strong, mothering, ruthless, loving, logical, and absolutely doesn't care about the categories in which the world tries to define her.

[Arya]

AngelaSunshine wrote: "Arya wrote: "Oooh I, Coriander is so cute! :D I also like that we can nominate two, though I had to keep editing my feminism pick'cuz first I chose Graceling then The Hunger Games - but ya'll have..."

Oh I have read those books! I just didn't want anyone else to miss out on their awesomeness! I cannot WAIT until Mockingjay comes out!!

[Stephanie]

1. Vampire Academy
2. Beautiful Creatures

[Chaitali]

I'd like to nominate The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley in the 2nd category.

[Angela Sunshine]

Chaitali wrote: "I'd like to nominate The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley in the 2nd category."

Yay! I've nominated this one before too. I hope we get to it sometime.

[Nat]

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by E. Lockhart.

[April]

1. Monster by Walter Dean Myers
2. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

[Carolyn]

2. Liar by Justine Larbalestier

[Lani]

1. The Maze Runner by James Daschner
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

[Lani]

Thanks Fiona! I'm new to the group, obviously, lol!

[Lani]

2. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

[Donna]

I can't wait to vote!!!!!

[Arya]

Oh me neither! Voting should be pretty hard this time given the options!!

[Angela Sunshine]

I did! I did! :)

[Amy]

I did. I can't wait to find out the results!

[Leslie]

(1) Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde
(2) Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

[Leslie]

Sorry about that. I just voted in the poll.

[Donna]

I voted! I also have The Maze Runner so this should be good!

[Amy]

The Maze Runner looks AMAZING! LOL. Seriously, it looks really good. Can't wait to read it.

[Amy]

I think people posted what they thought. Many YA books don't fit the category. If you are disappointed, then reading the books is an option. This is meant to be a fun thing, not taken so seriously. I hope I'm offending anyone, but I just don't see the purpose in getting crazy about it. Just for fun.

[Angela Sunshine]

Which book did you vote for, Heather? I'm just curious... I didn't vote for either of the two winners myself. I'd hoped for I, Coriander.

But, on the flip side (and possible defense of the nominators) I know that I try to always nominate books that I haven't read before, so maybe people think the books they nominated fit the bill better than they actually do.

I have yet to read I, Coriander, and it sounds like a strong female lead, but I could be entirely wrong!!

[Kandice]

I agree with AngelaSunshine, that many of us nominate or vote for books we have not read. When that's the case we have to rely on what we've read or heard about the books as opposed to what we know. Even if the eventual winner doesn't fit the category as well as some of us might have hoped, the conversation can always be skewed and steered in that direction.

[Jennifer W, WT Moderator]

Heather, I nominated The Third Eye. I read it maybe a year ago and really enjoyed it. It isn't "feminist" per-say, but the main character is a young woman in rough circumstances who works to over come them to save her family/village. It's a little bit Cinderella story mixed with some southern Asian folk elements. Plus, there's a twist at the end highly suggesting there's a sequel coming out. If you get a chance to read it, drop me a line and let me know what you thought. :)

[Lani]

I nominated Someone Like You and in defense of my nomination-I believe the characters are strong females. I didn't nominate a book that promoted/highlighted feminism, I choose a book with what I percieved to be strong female leads which was part of the category for nominating. I have read this book and would highly recommend it.

[Amy]

I think everyone is valid in their nominations. Don't feel that you have to defend them.

[Donna]

I simply shose the book I wanted to read!

[Carolyn]

I think a big discrepancy is from the differences between the categories of 'feminism' and 'strong female characters'. I'm not sure why they are always associated together, it happens in other groups I'm in as well (on and off GR). I was also a Women's Studies minor in college, so I associate books in a 'feminist' genre to be something that pushes the boundaries of traditional female roles, or actively explores a gender issue. These will de facto have a strong female lead character (unless a SF/F book, which could have any, no, or multiple genders. = )

Don't get me wrong, I love books with strong female characters, and many of the books I read are such, but that is such a *huge* category (thankfully nowadays, not so much 40 years ago), and not necessarily anything to do with feminism or gender issues.

Perhaps next time we put up feminisim as a category, we can keep it to just that with a bit of a definition, rather than spreading it so thin by lumping it together with all books with "strong female characters", which is pretty much a huge percentage of books, across all genres and topics. I'd even feel better about this month's selections if we had said strong female main character, because, nothing against it as a book, but with a male narrator POV Beautiful Creatures doesn't fit the bill for that.

I just googled 'feminist YA books' and came up with something I'd not heard of before: The Amelia Bloomer Project of the ALA. Looks very interesting - here's a link which explains it more, but:

According to the Task Force, "This bibliography of inspiring feminist books published within the past 18 months for young readers from birth to age 18 memorializes the legacy of nineteenth-century feminist activist Amelia Bloomer." As the Task Force reported, "Within these pages, girls and women overcome the obstacles of the intersecting forces of race, gender and class."

and here's a link to the page of annual lists.

Perhaps next time we can nominate books from these lists - there are nine so far - that would give us plenty to select from, and each would probably give rise to some interesting discussion. Thoughts?

[Misty]

Ooh, thanks for the list, Carolyn! There are a lot on those I haven't heard of and want to check out. :)

(and I'm glad mommy and daddy aren't fighting any more. ;p)