Posted on by Ms. Kelly Proulx

On Reading Fan-fiction and a Review of Jo & Laurie

When I say I read everything, I mean that I read EVERYTHING.

One of my comfort reading activities, especially after reading or watching something that I really enjoyed or was unsatisfied with, is to take to Tumblr and find fan-fiction for that book or movie or a favorite character.

And, I am not afraid to admit it.

In high school, I stumbled upon LOTR stories and Harry Potter stories. After reading Cassandra Clare’s Draco trilogy, even today, I sometimes cannot separate her story from the Harry Potter canon.

I know that fan-fiction is not thought of as “literature” or as as a respected form of reading or writing, but I love it for what it is. How many budding authors have fine-tuned their craft while creating new universes and situations for beloved characters? How many characters have become beloved because the fan-fiction world took notice of them and gave them storylines they were lacking in a book or movie? How many of us have gotten to enjoy a continuation of our favorite series because someone took the time to write about it for us? How many of us have enjoyed a character/YN pairing that allowed us feel something?…whatever it might be.

Of course fan-fiction has its own issues: quality of writing, questionable themes, and even creating personas for real people, but on the whole, it is a fantastic concept. People are reading more, writing more and exploring more complex emotions through the genre. As an educator and a reader, I love that.

Now, I also love when authors create published fan-fiction…like Jo & Laurie.

Margaret Stohl and Melissa De La Cruz wrote this fun reimagining of Little Women, for readers like me, that maybe wanted a different ending to the book. Some critics of this book slammed it for being “glorified fan-fiction,” but that is exactly what made me enjoy it. I would be lying if I said that I never searched for fan-fiction where Jo and Laurie’s relationship ended differently when I was a teenager. I appreciate that two established and talented authors made something that told the story I was looking for in the early 2000s.

I really enjoyed this creative, new take on Jo’s relationship with Laurie, with her family, and with her writing. And you may too!

In sum, fan-fiction, I like what do….most of the time.

Posted on by Ms. Kelly Proulx

Reading Challenge (BIPOC Authors) Update 2

Challenge aside, I would read anything that Anna-Marie McLemore writes. To complete the category “Latinx Author or Book in Spanish” I chose their Wild Beauty.

Once again, I wanted to live in the world that they created. This time, the book followed the youngest of three generations of cursed women. Each women in the family blames themself for killing or making the person they love disappear. So, what happens when a mysterious boy appears in their magical garden? You will have to read to find out.

I will say it again…I adore Anna-Marie McLemore and want to live in the worlds that they create. The scenery and the book itself was lush, beautiful, and heartbreaking. I loved coming across the references to the” weight of feathers” and the cursed red shoes; both parts of her later books.

A spot of magical realism and strong women always make for a great read.

Posted on by Ms. Kelly Proulx

Book Review: Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists

ALERT: Great graphic novel by two BIPOC authors ahead.

Looking for a graphic novel introduction to the women’s history, look no further than: Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists by Mikki Kendall and A.D’Amico.

This is a great introduction to some fascinating, fierce, diverse female leaders throughout the history of the world, some that I had not heard of until I opened the book. Each page had so much to look at and gave me some new people to research. I had just been reading Stamped from the Beginning and A Woman of No Importance (Virginia Hall,) so it was also nice to see some familiar names, names that I am intrigued to read even more about.

The only thing that didn’t always work for me was the narrative surrounding and connecting the history bits. The class traveling through time to see these women was a very cool concept and often worked really well. I also liked the dialogue about race that the student’s had with each other, as they learned the history bits. However, sometimes the students asked a question and the instructor said “We will come back to that” or “You’ll find out more later” and they didn’t. I get that it was a lot of material to juggle and it didn’t ruin the reading experience. Just something I noticed.

Definitely worth a read and some book-inspired future reading.

Posted on by Ms. Kelly Proulx

On Happy Endings

Over the summer, I am tutoring one of my former students.

Together, we have been reading The Crossover by Kwame Alexander and The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, their summer reading work.

During tutoring time this week, we got into a conversation about happy endings, or “fairy tales.” They animatedly started explaining that they cannot stand that everything they read and watch has a happy ending. They noticed that in many books the parents push their child hard to succeed, the child rebels, but it all ends up okay in the end.

I asked them what the problem with that was.

They said: “Well, because that’s not what happens in real life.”

I kindly challenged them to think about why we read and watch things: often to escape and sometimes people need happy endings, when there are none in the world. They conceded but offered up the Series of Unfortunate Events as an example of entertainment that people liked, but did not have a happy ending.

Checkmate. I’ve taught you well.

At the end of the day, I agree with them. There seem to be a lot of happy endings in what we read and what we watch these days. And my student speaks the truth real life does not always have a happy ending. So, that made me think: are we setting people up for disappointment?

I say nay.

If we read to escape, to learn, to be entertained, there is a place for a happy ending. I say this without rose colored glasses. I think happy endings bring hope. We can only endure the harsh reality if we have hope that things can be better, that we can make things better.

However, trouble can ensue when the reader starts believing that fiction is reality; that happy endings will always arrive, no matter what. And, they mistake hope for certainty and naivety.

But, that does not mean that people cannot enjoy a happy ending every now and again. Right?

Posted on by Ms. Kelly Proulx

2020 Reading Challenge Part 2: Reading BIPOC Authors

I love a reading challenge.

I read so much, that it is always great to add new award winners, authors, and subjects to my “Read” list. Currently, along with three of my teacher friends, I am working on a reading BIPOC authors challenge. Part of our work is our own cultural, racial, and global education. Part of our work is finding new texts to recommend and teach. Part of our work is finding new authors and choosing them purposefully. Part of our work is finding less known authors. And, part of our work is just finding great books.

These are the categories (Note: I have already done two books so far.)

I plan to post updates on the challenge and recommend some of the great new reads that I have found.

Do you have any must-reads for any of these categories? I love recommendations!

Posted on by Ms. Kelly Proulx

On Re-Reads

I think I talked about it in my post on trilogies, but I am a big re-reader.

I love delving into a book or series every few years to revisit favorite characters and favorite relationships, to see how my reading experience changes as I do, or to remind myself of previous books in a series before I tackle the newest one.

When the stay-at-home order for COVID-19 was put in place in Mass, I immediately began re-reading some of my favorite series. To be fair, I prefer reading paper books and the library was closed, so I had to re-read what I already owned.

The whole experience got me thinking about why I re-read and which books I tend to re-read. I find that I often turn to books that helped shaped my teenage years and books that contain my favorite “book boyfriends.” As a 32 year-old reader, I hold no more naivety about the idealism of fictional relationships, but that doesn’t mean I cannot read them anymore.

Books that I have re-read over the years:
1. The Ringmaster’s Secret by Carolyn Keene (my favorite of the Nancy Drew books)
2. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (I read this book for the first time in 2000 and I have read it every few years since. One year, when I was in my early twenties, I hated it. It has been with me for a long time)
3. Meg Cabot’s Heather Wells series (Ex-pop star works at a college dorm and solves murders with a hunky PI. Yes please. The first one is called Size 12 is Not Fat and I was one then,)
4. Meg Cabot’s The Princess Diaries Series (such fun teen angst)
5. Phillip Pullman’s Sally Lockhart series
6. Deanna Rayburn’s Veronica Speedwell Series
7. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
8. Emma by Jane Austen
9. The Collected Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
10. Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices series
11. Harry Potter (up until this year)
12. Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery (until after Anne and Gilbert get married and Anne’s character changes completely)
13. The Murder of Roget Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
14. All of Dan Brown’s books (they are fun and I don’t care what you think)

I’m sure there are many that I am forgetting, but no matter what, re-reading is an important part of my literary life. Sometimes I crave the comfort of a story that I know the ending of. Sometimes I need to swoon over a hero. Sometimes I have to see how a text has aged and how I have aged with it.

Why do you re-read? What do you find yourself re-reading? I would love to know!

Posted on by Ms. Kelly Proulx

On Recommendations: Continued and Why I Use Databases for Mine

When people find out I “read,” they also want to know my favorite book or what I recommend they read.

This is always a bit of a delicate situation to find myself in. As readers of previous posts know, I am not great at expressing extreme opinions (Libra problems,) I am always loathe to divulge “guilty pleasure” reads that I enjoyed, and I do not want to recommend something that the asker will not like.

So, I tend flip the question back around, “What do you enjoy reading? What is the last book you finished and liked?” Why just recommend a book, when I could recommend something that I know they will enjoy, that suits their tastes, and that might make them think?

The act of recommending books should be a deeply personalized experience. That is why I try to approach book reviews with caution. I want to explain what I liked or did not like, not what everyone will like and dislike. There are many types of readers, just as there are many types of books. What works for one reader, will not necessarily work for every reader. I have been caught up in this pervasive general consensus mentality in 2020 too many times. Everyone has to like the same shows, movies, and books, disliking all the same in those categories. It seems like the only time people are allowed a real opinion is when it comes to food. Our taste buds are allowed to be critical, but our brains are not.

That changes now.

With all of this in mind, I have been attempting to create a database of adult books that I recommend, similar to my book database for students. That way, when I am approached for a recommendation, I can send a link, show them some favorites, and some genres. Thus empowered, they can choose for themselves. They can read what they WANT to, not what they think that they HAVE to.

For now, my database is a Google Doc. Over my summer break, I intend to turn it into a Google Sheet. Check it out here: Kelly Recommends. It is a WIP, with a lot of mystery novels set in England. Oh well, I like what I like.

Also, check out my book database for middle school and high school students. There are some great books for 11-18 year olds and beyond.

What are some books that you always recommend?

Posted on by Ms. Kelly Proulx

But first….introductions

Hi! I’m Kelly (Ms. Proulx to some of my social circle) and I read a lot. I often don’t have the patience to sit and watch TV or a movie, but I usually have the patience to read. By day, I am a middle school teacher. By night, I am an avid reader, puzzler, football fan, baker, runner, lifter, and fashionista (not my words.)

Not to brag, but, according to Goodreads, I have read over 3000 books in my life….I know…that is a lot. So, it is no surprise that I get this question: do you have any book recommendations?

My students ask me, their parents ask me, my friends ask me, my family asks me, strangers ask me. If someone finds out you are a reader, suddenly, you become an expert in all things literary. Luckily, I love giving recommendations and have read a little of everything. I do not pretend to be an expert, but a know a lot of books.

To answer your question: Oh, I do. But, first, I need to know:
-What is the last book you read?
-What is the last book you loved?
-What type of books do you normally choose?

I created this blog to help me to answer my favorite question “Do you have any book recommendations?” To keep reviews and links in one place. Check out my posts for my personal favorites for all ages.