Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don’t Float

Schmelling, Sarah. Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebok. ISBN-10: 0452295734, ISBN-13: 9780452295735. Plume Books. 2009.

Summary
It's taken them awhile, but now some of literature's favorite authors and characters have signed-on to the social network Facebook. Sarah Schmelling has taken classic novels and converted them to Facebook feeds to bring some of the most loved stories into the 21^st century. And hilarity ensues.

Critical Evaluation
Sarah Schmelling has taken classics to a new humorous levels by bringing together authors like William Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, and Jack Kerouac; literature (The Canterbury Tales to Lolita) and a wide range of classic charcters—Hester Pryne, Puck and Scarlett O'Hara to Facebook. Stories are retold on news feeds, groups are joined and heckling occurs through status updates. I think this is the just the beginning for Facebook-themed books. Anyone who is on Facebook and has a basic understanding of the classics will see the humor, but older, well-read teens will really enjoy the book.

Reader's Annotation
What will happen when all of the classic characters and authors sign-on to Facebook and talk about stories from Beowulf to Catcher in the Rye?

About the Author
Sarah Schmelling is a journalist that is known for her writing about pop culture and entertainment, and has been published in a variety of publications including The Washington Post, Real Simple, and The Huffington Post. It was in McSweeney's Internet Tendencies that "Hamlet (Facebook News Feed Edition)" was first published. The wife and mom lives in a Washington D.C. suburb, and this is her first book.

Genre
Non-fiction
Popular Culture

Curriculum Ties
English: to better understand the humor of the book, read the actual novels and plays

Booktalking Ideas
What do you think William Shakespeare would say if he were alive today and was on Facebook…

Awards
n/a

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 16+

Why I included this title...
As a holder of a degree in literature and a Facebook junkie—it was a no brainer!

Body Drama

Redd, Nancy Amanda. Body Drama: Real girls, real bodies, real issues, real answers. ISBN-10 1592403263, ISBN-13 9781592403264. Gotham Books. 2008.

Summary
Body Drama is a completely honest book about how actual female bodies look, smell, change and behave. Nancy Redd, former Miss Virgina, works with a leading adolescent health physician to answer all of those embarrassing questions that young women have, as well as dispel the myths of a perfect female body as paraded by the current media.

Critical Evaluation
Body Drama gives young women graphic, no-nonsense answers about their bodies with medical substantiation and actual photographs of different women and their different bodies. The book offers down-to-earth advice to debunk the myths, reassurances to the issues young women have about their bodies, as well as a lot of fun and informative facts to help young women combat the media's campaign to make them ashamed of their body. Grown women will wish they had this book when they were adolescents.

Reader's Annotation
A fun and informative book chock full of facts and actual photographs celebrate the differences in women's bodies and answer those all-too-embarrassing questions.

About the Author
Nancy Redd is a Harvard graduate, a former Miss Virginia, and the winner of the 2004 Miss America's swim suit competition. With being named one of America's top-ten women most likely to succeed at anything by Glamour Magazine and her degree in Woman Studies, she continues to encourage women of all ages with her visits on ABC's Good Morning America, CBS's The Early Edition, NBC's Today Show, Oprah, CNN, NPR PBS and many more, as well as her work on the new Dove soap campaign and Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People for Teen Girls. Redd also contributes to CosmoGIRL!, American Cheerleader, Fitness and several other magazines.

Redd grew up in Southern Virgina and now lives in Los Angeles with her actor husband, Rupack Ginn.

Genre
Non-fiction
Anatomy and Health

Challenges
Explicit photography of female anatomy

Curriculum Ties
Biology: anatomy

Booktalking Ideas
Is there a question you're too embarrassed to even ask your doctor about your body…

Challenges
Sexual Content
Graphic Images

Awards
NAACP Image Award Nominee

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 14+

Why I included this title...
Highly recommended by a mom of a young woman.