booksc8pes

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House of Stairs

If Lois Duncan isn’t enough horror for you (see that post here), then William Sleator might be. Set in an indeterminate time, this story follows five 16-year-old orphans, all placed in a room full of stairs and platforms, but no walls, ceiling, or floors. There is a light that flashes indeterminately, and food- a vaguely meatlike pellet- is given to them at random intervals. Going off of the machine’s cues, the five end up choreographing a “dance”- an ever-shifting series of movements that they think is the key to getting out alive. 

This is not the case. One of the girls is blamed for starting rumors; as a response, the machine gives them more food than before. This starts a bitter competition between the teens to see which can do the most harm to the others. As the food gets scarcer, the stakes get higher, and the once amicable group devolves into two factions. For those who like the survivalist stakes of The Hunger Games or the psychological bent of Lord Of The Flies, House of Stairs is a gripping story that will have you on the edge of your seat. 

My song choices try to emulate this sense of confusion, hence why most of the songs are by Oingo Boingo. Call me crazy, but there's something about the synth noises that translates very easily to "dystopian horrorscape tries to sound upbeat and Completely Normal". Throw in some lyrically relevant stuff (Everybody Wants to Rule The World, Every Breath You Take), and you've got a slightly unsettling but very catchy group of songs.

Ready to enter the labyrinth? Check out this playlist or this board for more.

#book review #ya lit #house of stairs #william sleator #ya horror

[booksc8pes]

welcome to booksc8pes!

Howdy! I’m Lina, and I'll be your guide for this journey into literature. I'm a graduating college senior, and this blog is part of an ongoing project for my English class, although I plan to keep it going post-grad. 

My personal experience with books is the desire to be fully immersed in the story; to go beyond the world a book creates. Book reviews are great, but they can’t give you an idea of the music the protagonist might listen to, or the way the setting can look. 

Here, you’ll find book reviews for young adult literature, some “classic”, some not. Time is a construct, but all these books, in my opinion, are worth it. 

Not a book person? No problem! Each review has a moodboard and a playlist and to broaden the horizons of its plot and/or universe: its "bookscape", if you will. 

Take a look around, and happy bookscaping!

#intro post #ya lit #book reviews

[booksc8pes]

Fangirl

     Before there was Simon and Baz, there was the college freshman who wrote about them. Published before Carry On, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl gives us the story of Cather, her sister Wren (yes, their names are each half of Catherine), and their respective college experiences.

Cath is a perfect example of the 2010s it girl, by which I mean she is Not Like Other Girls. She wears glasses, favors oversized sweaters, has "emergency dance parties" to Kanye West songs, and is one of the most popular writers in the World Of Mages fandom, a thinly-veiled Harry Potter AU where Harry and Draco have the enemies-to-lovers arc they deserve didn’t get in the original series. What separates Cath from other characters like her is that all of these traits are not a replacement for an actual personality. 

Writing is a deep love for Cath, and it turns from a coping skill into something that she wants to do as a career. We see her grow from someone who depends on fandom and media as a means of escapism/as a crutch, but through the rest of the book we see how this has brought her the ability to make friends and romantic relationships- how fandom pushes her out into the real world, as it were, when she is ready to try. She also does not leave fandom spaces entirely- there is no polarizing of online and offline spaces or placing it as superior to the other.

Fangirl also shows how the genre has progressed since the "golden age" of YA. The explosion of YA content and fanfiction in the 2010s can be likened to the increase in the genre after the publication of Maureen Daly's Seventeenth Summer, as well as the rise of the "problem novel" in the 60s and 70s.

The thing I love the most about Fangirl is that it gives incoming college students a more nuanced idea of what their first year experience can look like, and it doesn't shy away from the isolation and challenges freshman students can feel. For me, Cath's character was something solid for me to project on when I was struggling at that age, and her success made me believe that I could find that space for myself. Through being so candid about these experiences, Rowell continues the "clear-eyed and unflinching look" at the way young adults come of age and step into the world (Cart).

Above all, Fangirl is love letter to fandom. It shows how online and fanmade spaces bring people together and creates spaces for them to feel safe expressing themselves when the real world is still too threatening to exist in. I tried to do the same with my playlist. It's not too accurate to the time, since I included some of the songs I listened to as a college freshman, but I made sure to add plenty of Kanye for those dorm room dance parties.

Take a trip back to 2013 and listen to Cath's mixtape, or check out some fandom posts in her tumblr reblogs.

Works Cited:

Cart, Michael. “The Sixties and Seventies.” Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism, ALA Neal-Schuman, Chicago, 2022, p. 32.

#ya lit #rainbow rowell #fangirl rainbow rowell #book review

[booksc8pes]

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Lois Duncan is known for her young adult literature, and most notably, her novel I Know What You Did Last Summer, which upon first glance would appeal to those interested in the slasher film of the same name. The book is much different from this, but that does not mean horror fans will leave unsatisfied. The main draw in IKWYDLS is its suspense, something prominent in its slasher counterpart, but deeply present throughout the novel. The central group of teens are responsible for a hit-and-run, where they killed a small boy when driving home from a party in the mountains. Each character copes differently. Ray packs his things and moves across the country, Barry flings himself into the college lifestyle, much to the dismay of Helen, who moves out of home to fully pursue her dream of being on television. Julie tries to move on as best she can by preparing for college, but it all comes crashing down when she receives a letter with the titular phrase written on it. The mystery begins here: who wrote the letter, and how much do they know?

Originally set in the 70s, the story has been revamped for a more modern audience, complete with cell phones and up-to-date historical references (for example, a character who originally fought in Vietnam now served in Afghanistan). While the updated version tries to adapt to the current reader base, the technology aspect of the story falls flat and does not seem integrated into the plot well. In my opinion, the original setting of the novel is far less disconnected, and would appeal to readers who enjoy shows such as Stranger Things or I Am Not Okay With This. While most of the draw for Summer comes from the thriller, the book genre subverts this expectation while still managing to be a darker story, something that stands apart from the oversaturated high fantasy enemies-to-lovers plots. 

My song choices in this playlist attempt to combine the old and new versions of the text, and focus more on the tension between the characters rather than trying to conform to a specific genre of music. While not lyrically relatable to the plot, Phanta by Le Tigre captures the feeling of not knowing the next steps to take in a crisis, and Christmas Kids by Roar could act as a stand-in for the traditional Villain Monologue readers are treated to at the end of the novel. (I may have added some puns in here as well- see Cop Car, Rubberneckers, and Shut Up And Drive.)

Listen to this playlist to travel back in time, or check out this board for a look into the night that changed everything. 

#ya lit #classic literature #lois duncan #ikwydls #book review #book blog

[booksc8pes]

The Chocolate War

Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War is a book best suited for those with a “dark academia” aesthetic. Set in an all-boys Catholic school, the plot follows multiple characters as they either rally around or reject a chocolate sale proposed by their vice principal, Brother Leon. Its protagonist is an unlikely one: freshman Jerry Renault, a boy dealing with the recent loss of his mother and all the existential questions that come with it. He channels his feelings into football, which earns him more than a few beatings on the field. His friend Roland Goubert (unfortunately nicknamed “Goober”) is there for support, but his classmates tend to let him fade into the background. Even the Vigils, Trinity School’s own secret society of pranksters and driving force behind the student body, spares him from being involved in their infamous “assignments”. That is, until Brother Leon steps in as acting headmaster and announces the chocolate sale.

Each boy is to sell fifty boxes, and the funds will go back towards the school. He enlists the Vigils for help, and sales skyrocket. All the boys, through one way or another, are meeting their quotas- all except Jerry. Emboldened by the T.S Elliot quote “do I dare disturb the universe?” Jerry sets out to disrupt his own world through resisting the chocolate sale. The Vigils have assigned him to refuse the sale for ten days, but this quickly turns into a long-term strike. My song choices were inspired by both the time period (the 1970's) and this act of defiance- I picked tracks like Revolution by the Beatles, but also included modern songs such as The Man by The Killers. I wanted to capture the lingering effects of the 60's counterculture but also tie in the modern teen experience. Songs like Car Seat Headrest's Destroyed By Hippie Powers can speak to the feeling of teen angst and getting rid of the old self, just as Glass Animals' Space Ghost Coast To Coast talks about the feeling of being betrayed by someone you thought you could trust.

The Chocolate War is a fast-paced, impactful story about the risks and consequences about disturbing the status quo. It has the existential crisis of Holden Caulfield and the academic bent of The Secret History, with a darkly satisfying ending reminiscent of Lord of The Flies. The all-boy cast and the private school setting create a microcosm of the outside world, and Cormier can easily tackle big life issues and topics with the smaller world of a school, which makes it digestible for younger audiences without being patronizing. The story switches between character perspectives, and is unique in that chapters are not divided between characters and each perspective is randomly shuffled as the plot goes on. 

Want to see more of Trinity School? Look here, or listen to a playlist inspired by the Vigils, Jerry and his friends, and the war on chocolate.

#book blog #english literature #the chocolate war #robert cormier #ya lit #classic lit