Skip to main content

CHOPSTICKS by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral


copyright date:  February 2012
primarily marketed for: high school readers (14 and up)

Chopsticks is a story told through images.  The images include pictures, postcards, newspaper clippings, notes jotted on photos, scrapbooks, and text messages.  All of which have an ageless vintage sort of quality to them.  


It is a very aesthetically pleasing book that tells the story of a piano prodigy named Glory who has disappeared.

Her story unfolds as readers are taken back in time to the months that led up to her disappearance. 

In those months, Glory seemingly met and fell in love with the boy who moved in next door.  This love affair with Francisco coincides with an apparent breakdown Glory is experiencing, causing her to break into an energetic rendition of Chopsticks mid-concert. 

As details of their story unfold the love affair grows more intense.  While Glory is becoming less and less stable, Francisco seems to get in more and more trouble over aggression at school.  

This book is definitely for mature readers, not just because of the pencil sketches of Glory’s topless torso or the minimal use of the F-bomb (which, unfortunately, make it difficult to put on my classroom shelf—especially because they are so, well, visual…hmm do you think maybe I could modify the book a bit so my current students don’t have to miss out entirely?  I am so against censorship, but in this case...), but because of the darkness of the story itself.

Although readers ultimately find out where Glory has disappeared to, it is left to readers to decide exactly which details of the story were affected by Glory’s mental state. 

This book is one of those that part of my brain will keep chewing on, like bubble gum, for awhile—trying work and rework the details to match the story I wanted it to be to the story that is really being told here. 

Reading Chopsticks is a rare, truly amazing, thought-provoking-yet-fully-entertaining experience. 

Comments

  1. I didn't think I was going to care for this book, but after a few pages, I was enthralled by the way the story is told. I finished it in one sitting and have returned to it over and over, just in case I missed something.

    It's a great critical thinking book for our students, as well.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TAKE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY by Kevin C. Pyle

copyright date: March 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) Despite the fact that the teacher in me sees so many lesson possibilities in Kevin C. Pyle’s graphic novel Take What You Can Carry , you should read it simply for the grace of its stories.   The artwork is as striking as the stories it tells.   Using artwork in two different colors and styles, Pyle tells the stories of two teenage boys living years and miles apart.   And yet, he communicates the universality in their experiences.   One boy is a Japanese American forced to move into an internment camp during WWII.   His family struggles to maintain their dignity and sense of peace under unbearable conditions. The other is a rebellious boy with an attitude whose reckless behavior causes him to wind up in trouble with the law.   To make amends, he finds himself completing community service hours in the most unlikely place.   I found my...

THE SEA IN WINTER by Christine Day

  release date: January 5, 2021 primarily marketed for: Middle grades The Sea in Winter  by Christine Day is a gift to its readers. It is a book of quiet strength with much to offer.  Maisie is a ballet dancer who feels most herself when she is at the dance studio. However, at the start of this story, Maisie is coping with a serious knee injury that prevents her from dancing long-term. She misses her friends from dance and struggles to maintain those connections when she is no longer part of the dancing life they shared.  When her mom and stepdad plan a road trip to the Olympic Peninsula to visit sites of familial and cultural significance, Maisie stubbornly overworks her healing knee. She is determined to heal and return to the studio  faster than expected. Although her knee is the only focus of Maisie's wellness journey, it turns out there is more to healing than physical fitness.  Maisie is a quietly compelling character, but I was surprised to find myse...

THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF AIDAN S. (as told to his brother) by David Levithan

 copyright date: February 2, 2021 primarily marketed for: Middle Grades I devoured this one in a single sitting. The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother)  by David Levithan is the book I did not know I needed.  The story opens when Aidan S. has gone missing. His parents are distraught. His brother, Lucas, is beside himself. The town is pitching in to help search. As the days pass, the outcome looks more and more grim.  And then Aidan shows up in the attic, wearing the same pajamas he had on when he left, and everyone wants answers. Is he alright? Where was he? What made him disappear?  Although Aidan's story is the driving force behind this novel, it is really Lucas's story readers enter. When Aidan returns with an explanation beyond belief, Lucas is left to decide what really matters. Levithan hints at classic tales, but his perspective is uniquely fresh and inventive. Readers will be left thinking about what really makes a story true....