Updated to Add: We have a winner - Salome Ellen! Please send your address to clouth@gmail.com, and I'll get it right out to you.
If you're waiting for a prize from me, rest assured you will receive it this week. Thanks!
Tonight I'm so excited to watch Grey's Anatomy and The Office that I'm doing two things I never do: posting twice in one day, and posting a book review on time.
I was happy to review the new book, Pick Me Up, for one reason: Dorling Kindersley. DK is one of my favorite nonfiction book publishers. This book, which DK markets as "an unencyclopedia for the Internet generation," is the publisher's first foray into the young adult (10+) market.
OK, I lied. There were two reasons I wanted to review this book, the other being my 6 year old. Ben has a thing for encyclopedias. He always brings them home from the school library. Half the time when he grabs a book for bedtime, it's an encyclopedia, causing Brian and I to groan and say, "No, Ben, a story book!"
When I received the "Advance Uncorrected Proof" (which, unbelievably, did not affect my objectivity), I felt disappointed. Ben is, indeed, a little too young for it. The frenetic layout, which has the feel of a collage, makes my head hurt a bit. My eyes just don't know where to go next. However, I am an old person, and this book is designed for our multimedia-addled youth.
You can get a feel for what the book looks like by exploring this site, which also made my head bang, but it has some cool content if you give it a few minutes. Likewise, after I gave the book a few minutes of my full attention, I began to appreciate, if not the layout, the unpredictability of what would come next.
The 3-D cover and boatload of graphics, the sassy writing (the Vietnam War is referred to as a "rumble in the jungle"), and the schizophrenic topic association ("Bill Gates to Software to Salt") do make for a fun, interesting read. I was just about to write "Thank God the book has a thorough index," when I realized my proof doesn't have an index. Hmmph. See? Writing these reviews is not all glamour.
Do you have a young adult who might enjoy learning "Stuff you need to know ..."? To enter to win a real, non-advance-proof copy, leave me a comment telling me your favorite reading material as a 10 to 16 year old. Mine was Stephen King and anything else scary. What can I say? As a teen, I got my adrenaline rushes any way I could -- any way except exercising, that is.
I'll accept entries until Saturday at midnight, EST, and I'll post a winner on Sunday. Good luck!
2 comments:
I read anything and everything when I was 10-16... except maybe textbooks (I'd read other people's, but not my own). I was that kid who came home from the library with 30 books every time she went there.
I think you should read Ben encyclopedia articles. If you pick the boring ones, they should put him to sleep quickly.
Mysteries! Adult (Perry Mason), kid (Nancy Drew), anything in between. And the encyclopedia, of course. My husband and I both read it as kids (loved the human body overlays in the World Book), and our son does now. And I can get sucked in if I'm not careful.
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