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. 

Labels:

Comments

  1. MandyApril 19, 2012 at 7:46 PM

    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

THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

copyright date: 1943 primarily marketed for: everyone The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint- Exupéry was a reread for me.   I read this book for the first time when I was in high school.   All I remembered about it was that I expected it to be too complex for me to understand, and I was surprised when at its charming simplicity.   I always remember feeling like I had a special place in my heart for The Little Prince , but I didn’t remember exactly why. It was written so long ago and is translated from French that it is no wonder I first expected to find its meaning elusive.   However, I am sure that if you pick up this book, it will nestle itself into a special place in your heart as well. Simply, The Little Prince is the story of a clever man who has never lost the child inside of himself and finds himself stranded in the desert after a plan crash.   In the desert, he happens upon the little prince who is traveling to earth from his d...
4 comments
Read more

ONE FOR THE MURPHYS by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: intermediate readers (5 th grade and up) I sort of expected One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt to be one of those overly sappy books with unrealistic, sickeningly sweet characters.  However, although the storyline might make it sound sappy, the characters are realistic and dynamic.  After a traumatic incident that lands both she and her mother in the hospital, Carley Connors is taken away and placed in foster care with the Murphy family.  The only life Carley has known is one of put-downs, food scraps, and shopping for clothes in Salvation Army drop boxes.  Until she meets the Murphys.  The Murphys are too good to be true: Julia, the mom, happily makes home-cooked meals for her three boys and firefighting, sports-loving husband.  In fact, Julia isn’t even rattled by Carley’s rough around the edges attitude.  At first, Carley despises the Murphys and the way they make he...
4 comments
Read more

THE MISFITS by James Howe

copyright date: 2001 primarily marketed for: grades 4-8 In honor of No Name-Calling Week, the idea for which originated with this book, I thought I would post a review of The Misfits by James Howe.    This book has one of my favorite leads: "So here I am, not a half-hour old as a tie salesman and trying to look like I know what I am doing, which have got to be two of the biggest jokes of all time, when who should walk into Awkworth & Ames Department Store but Skeezie Tookis. " I think I like it because it is such an inviting introduction to Bobby and Skeezie, two of the four friends referred to in the book’s title.   Bobby, Skeezie, Addie, and Joe are seventh graders who decide to create their own political party to run in the student council election.   Their goal is simple: to put an end to name-calling.   Who doesn’t think that is a good idea? The wonderful things about this book aren’t limited to the positive messages about acceptance and k...
5 comments
Read more