Realistic Fiction: Zee's Way

Butcher, K. (2004). Zee's Way. Victoria, B.C.: Orca Book Publishers


Orca publishes levelled readers for older kids. Orca soundings is for tweens and teens, Orca Currents is for middle school students, and Orca Echoes is for kids 7-9. There is also Orca Sports and Orca for young readers. Zee's Way by Kristin Butcher is from the Sounding series, and it shows. The book opens with a bunch of tattooed, punked out teens in some beef with a group of bullying store owners. Given the books racy start I found the ending to be slightly cliché. The book is small, but has an attractive cover. It is just over 100 pages, but the font is large, legible. These features keep it looking like an age appropriate book, but keep it at the appropriate literacy level for those who read reluctantly because of difficulties. Orca books are the best example I’ve found that might get teens reading and draw them away from equally racy TV dramas.

Realistic Fiction: Blubber

Blume, J. (1974).Blubber. New York: Dell Publishing

Despite being over 30 years old, this book seems more relevant today than ever. This book is frequently challenged due to the persistent cruelty that runs through the text. The story revolves around Jill, a girl in the fifth grade. There is a girl in Jill’s class, Linda, who has weight issues and after presenting a report on whaling she is dubbed, Blubber. Throughout the book there are issues of peer pressure, mob mentality, children's cruelty towards each other, and so on. In a society that is in the midst of an obesity epidemic the reality of Linda's situation hits home. There are many passages that are hard for even me, a perpetually skinny male, to read, which speaks to Judy Blume's ability to spin a convincing narrative. The reader alternatively feels Linda's pain, spite for the antagonism of her classmates, and relief that this isn't happening to them... but somewhere this story is happening to someone and that is why this book should be read.