Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
ISBN: 0771008139
Plot Summary: A theocratic dictatorship has overthrown the government of the United States and created the Republic of Gilead, in response to what it perceives as widespread immorality, corruption, and increasing infertility. In this dystopic future, women are not allowed to read, or even venture outside their homes except to run errands. In addition to the wives men already have, they are also allowed to take "handmaids," presumably still-fertile women who can provide them with now desperately needed offspring. A woman known only as Offred, a patronymic indicating only the name of the man she serves, feels stifled by her current life, remembering as she does the way things were before Gilead was founded, when she could live, love, and work as she chose. The only roles available to women in Gilead society are as wife, handmaid, or - for those who want a bit more freedom - prostitute. Offred makes plans to escape, but her ultimate fate remains unknown.
Showing posts with label Sex Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sex Education. Show all posts
The Sandman: A Game of You
Title: The Sandman: A Game of You
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch, Dick Giordano
Lettering: Todd Klein
ISBN: 1563890895
Other Books in Series: Preludes and Nocturnes, The Doll's House, Dream Country, Season of Mists, Fables and Reflections, Brief Lives, World's End, The Kindly Ones, The Wake.
Plot Summary: Barbie is a young woman with an active fantasy life, living in the city with a quirky group of friends including a lesbian couple, a male-to-female pre-operative transgender, a witch, and a quiet, somewhat mysterious man who turns out to be working for the book's main antagonist. When Barbie is visited by Martin Tenbones, a large dog from the realm of Dreams, he tells her that the fantasy land of her dreams is being threatened by a malignant being known as the Cuckoo. Alarmed, Barbie travels mentally to dreamland, leaving her comatose body behind in the waking world. After finding out that George, the quiet man, is in league with the enemy, Thessaly, the witch, kills him and draws down the moon to help her and the other women in their quest to find Barbie. However, the moon will not let Wanda, the transgender, accompany the three other women, as she feels he does not count as a "real" woman. While left behind with George's head, Wanda is ultimately killed by Thessaly's magic raging out of control. Barbie eventually defeats the Cuckoo, but not without paying a price, both in terms of the land of her dreams and the loss of a dear friend.
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch, Dick Giordano
Lettering: Todd Klein
ISBN: 1563890895
Other Books in Series: Preludes and Nocturnes, The Doll's House, Dream Country, Season of Mists, Fables and Reflections, Brief Lives, World's End, The Kindly Ones, The Wake.
Plot Summary: Barbie is a young woman with an active fantasy life, living in the city with a quirky group of friends including a lesbian couple, a male-to-female pre-operative transgender, a witch, and a quiet, somewhat mysterious man who turns out to be working for the book's main antagonist. When Barbie is visited by Martin Tenbones, a large dog from the realm of Dreams, he tells her that the fantasy land of her dreams is being threatened by a malignant being known as the Cuckoo. Alarmed, Barbie travels mentally to dreamland, leaving her comatose body behind in the waking world. After finding out that George, the quiet man, is in league with the enemy, Thessaly, the witch, kills him and draws down the moon to help her and the other women in their quest to find Barbie. However, the moon will not let Wanda, the transgender, accompany the three other women, as she feels he does not count as a "real" woman. While left behind with George's head, Wanda is ultimately killed by Thessaly's magic raging out of control. Barbie eventually defeats the Cuckoo, but not without paying a price, both in terms of the land of her dreams and the loss of a dear friend.
Forever
Title: Forever
Author: Judy Blume
ISBN: 0671695304
Plot Summary: Katherine, a teenage girl, meets and falls in love with Michael, who is slightly older and more experienced. She has her first sexual experiences with him, as well as her first serious relationship, but when they are separated for the summer, she starts having feelings for Theo, an older tennis pro at her summer job. What impact will this have on Katherine and Michael's relationship - and will it really last forever?
Author: Judy Blume
ISBN: 0671695304
Plot Summary: Katherine, a teenage girl, meets and falls in love with Michael, who is slightly older and more experienced. She has her first sexual experiences with him, as well as her first serious relationship, but when they are separated for the summer, she starts having feelings for Theo, an older tennis pro at her summer job. What impact will this have on Katherine and Michael's relationship - and will it really last forever?
Go Ask Alice
Title: Go Ask Alice
Author: Beatrice Sparks (writing as "Anonymous")
ISBN: 1416914633
Plot Summary: The anonymous narrator, a teenage girl, comes from a good home, but feels out of place at home and in school. At first, she deals with typical teenage concerns: dieting and weight loss, boys, meeting new friends when her father moves. Then, she is introduced to drugs at a party, where she is unwittingly slipped a dose of LSD in her soda as part of a drinking/drug game. In short order, her life spirals downwards into a morass of meaningless sex, shady companions, and ever more dangerous drugs. Her diary entries disintegrate along with her life, degenerating into angry, almost meaningless stream of consciousness written on whatever she can find. She eventually gets cleaned up and moves back in with her parents, but finds the "good" kids will no longer associate with her, and her drug-using acquaintances threaten her for being a snitch. After being slipped yet another dose of LSD against her will, she winds up in a mental hospital. Eventually her condition improves, and she again returns home, determined to rebuild her life - but it is too late.
Author: Beatrice Sparks (writing as "Anonymous")
ISBN: 1416914633
Plot Summary: The anonymous narrator, a teenage girl, comes from a good home, but feels out of place at home and in school. At first, she deals with typical teenage concerns: dieting and weight loss, boys, meeting new friends when her father moves. Then, she is introduced to drugs at a party, where she is unwittingly slipped a dose of LSD in her soda as part of a drinking/drug game. In short order, her life spirals downwards into a morass of meaningless sex, shady companions, and ever more dangerous drugs. Her diary entries disintegrate along with her life, degenerating into angry, almost meaningless stream of consciousness written on whatever she can find. She eventually gets cleaned up and moves back in with her parents, but finds the "good" kids will no longer associate with her, and her drug-using acquaintances threaten her for being a snitch. After being slipped yet another dose of LSD against her will, she winds up in a mental hospital. Eventually her condition improves, and she again returns home, determined to rebuild her life - but it is too late.
Jacob Have I Loved
Title: Jacob Have I Loved
Author: Katherine Paterson
ISBN: 0064403688
Plot Summary: Louise Bradshaw is a young woman growing up in the Chesapeake Bay area during the Second World War. Her twin sister, Caroline, has always been her parents' favorite: prettier, more talented, and initially in poorer health after their birth, which has garnered her far more attention throughout her life. Caroline, although never intentionally cruel to her sister, takes from Louise everything she wants in life. When Louise gets the opportunity to leave her small community and build her own future, a large part of this will be learning how to develop her own identity, separate from that of her sister.
Author: Katherine Paterson
ISBN: 0064403688
Plot Summary: Louise Bradshaw is a young woman growing up in the Chesapeake Bay area during the Second World War. Her twin sister, Caroline, has always been her parents' favorite: prettier, more talented, and initially in poorer health after their birth, which has garnered her far more attention throughout her life. Caroline, although never intentionally cruel to her sister, takes from Louise everything she wants in life. When Louise gets the opportunity to leave her small community and build her own future, a large part of this will be learning how to develop her own identity, separate from that of her sister.
Freak Show
Title: Freak Show
Author: James St. James
ISBN: 0142412317
Plot Summary: Billy Bloom is a teenage drag queen. He has moved to Florida to live with his father, a well-known local figure, and goes to a conservative high school where his flamboyant persona and outfits make him an outcast, figure of ridicule, and occasional target for violence. He makes a few friends and even falls in love, but it is as hard for the people around him to learn to live with him as it is for him to live with them.
Author: James St. James
ISBN: 0142412317
Plot Summary: Billy Bloom is a teenage drag queen. He has moved to Florida to live with his father, a well-known local figure, and goes to a conservative high school where his flamboyant persona and outfits make him an outcast, figure of ridicule, and occasional target for violence. He makes a few friends and even falls in love, but it is as hard for the people around him to learn to live with him as it is for him to live with them.
Luna
Title: Luna
Author: Julie Anne Peters
ISBN: 0316733695
Plot Summary: Regan, a high school student, lives in a troubled household: her father, himself the victim of physical abuse as a child, bullies Regan's brother Liam into accepting traditional gender roles; her mother, a prescription drug addict, uses denial as a coping mechanism; and Liam himself is transgender, attempting to make the slow, painful transformation from his male body to the female person he believes he truly is. Regan attempts to help Liam/Luna as much as she can, but this often comes at the expense of her own time, effort, sanity, and even social life. In the process, both she and the reader learn not only what being transgender truly means, but also the effect it has on the family unit, how society reacts, and what effect this has on the transgender individual.
Author: Julie Anne Peters
ISBN: 0316733695
Plot Summary: Regan, a high school student, lives in a troubled household: her father, himself the victim of physical abuse as a child, bullies Regan's brother Liam into accepting traditional gender roles; her mother, a prescription drug addict, uses denial as a coping mechanism; and Liam himself is transgender, attempting to make the slow, painful transformation from his male body to the female person he believes he truly is. Regan attempts to help Liam/Luna as much as she can, but this often comes at the expense of her own time, effort, sanity, and even social life. In the process, both she and the reader learn not only what being transgender truly means, but also the effect it has on the family unit, how society reacts, and what effect this has on the transgender individual.
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