IA Reads

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Paranormalcy Book Review

Author (Last name first): White, Kiersten
Title of the Book: Paranormalcy
Publisher: HarperTeen Date of Publication: 2010 ISBN# 978-0-06-198584-3
Price: $16.99 Grade Level: M/S (Grade 8 up) Number of Pages: 335
VOYA Rating: 3Q 2P


Evie, 16, has been working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency (IPCA) since she can remember. Evie’s best friend is a mermaid named Alisha, who runs the main computer for the IPCA. Evie’s “mom” figure is her boss named Raquel. Raquel means well, but Evie begins through the story that not all is as it seems. A normal day at the IPCA is for Evie to go out on a mission and bag and tag a vampire. Sometimes she has to use her taser. Evie is one of the IPCA’s best agents because she can see through paranormal glamour. No paranormal can hide from Evie. Evie is being romantically pursued by a Faerie named Reth, that she absolutely loathes. However, the love triangle starts when Evie is intrigued by a captured paranormal named Lend. The IPCA does not know what he is, nor do they know what he wants. Evie becomes close friends with him and finds out that he is there for her. Soon, the IPCA is attacked and Evie escapes with Lend, unharmed. The truth begins to come out about the IPCA and why Evie can see through glamour.

Evie becomes a part of two worlds. The normal teen world, that she longs to be in and the paranormal world that she has been in ever since she can remember. Evie begins to discover new things about herself and she begins to fall in love. This book will definitely appeal to teens who enjoy paranormal characters. The story flows pretty well, but I do think that the author tried to cram in too many types of paranormal people. For the first book in a trilogy, it was almost too much. There are humans, vampires, warewolves, Seelie and Unseelie faeries, mermaids, zombies, gremlins, immortals, spirits, banshees, hags, witches, and a being named Vivian who is the evil one in this story. It helps to have a background in each of these creatures to make the story more understandable because there is not enough detail in the book. The ending was satisfying in terms of the love triangle, but there were many unanswered questions about the paranormals.

I would say that this book is appropriate for a high school library. There is some implied profanity, always written as “bleep.” The cover art is really beautiful and will grab readers. This book can be recommended for free-reads, school library book-clubs and would make a decent addition to a school library. I do not really see it being integrated into a formal curriculum. Students could have fun creating book trailers if they enjoy the story. I don’t think there is much that parents would object to, besides the idea of paranormal beings. I think the paranormal genre is popular right now, so it will appeal to teen readers.

Recommended with Caution

I also found a good book trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEfkhm97vus

Playing with Tagxedo

Just sent this info to all IA Staff

Get books (including textbooks) delivered to your door. Just like Netflix J http://www.bookswim.com/index.html It’s called BookSwim and it’s brand new.

In case you ever have interested students…Building an LGBT-Inclusive Family Library: LGBT parents in children’s and young adult literature http://blythe723.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/lgbtparents/

Web 2.0 Tools for Math Educators

http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/tools_technologies/web_2_0_tools_math_educators

Virtual Math Manipulatives for SmartBoards http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

Physics to Go http://www.compadre.org/informal/

Did you know that book trailers exist? (Like movie trailers) If you ever want to promote a book in your classroom…try here first http://booktrailersforall.com/ Most can be embedded into your Moodle page.

The JFK library has been digitized http://www.jfklibrary.org/