emergency content: i, part 2

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.  I do not like this book.  For one thing, I thought the main story was presented poorly, with the author jumping around and giving the story out of order, which was confusing.  For two things, the author incorporated similar stories, but either I did not see the relevance, or in some, I felt he had not given enough information.  Some of the time it felt like he just needed to fill up pages.  For three things, I did not like the character at all.  He was stupid and doesn't deserve his own book.
I have no problem with the writing style, though (besides the jumping around).  There was nothing complicated to try to understand, although his descriptions were somewhat lacking.  It certainly isn't higher-level writing.  I can't believe I've had to read this for multiple classes; it's so terrible.

Island of Ghosts by Gillian Bradshaw.  For a story based on a few minor historical points, it didn't actually go into too much detail about any established facts, thus bypassing the danger of getting it wrong.  Without those details, it didn't have a necessarily specific sense of time-- there is a span of a few hundred, or at least one hundred, years when it could be set.
Other than that ambiguity, I don't have anything negative to say.  The author's style had the characters speaking in a more current-day vernacular than anything historical.  I didn't enjoy it-- it took away form the historical setting-- but it was a stylistic choice.

Invitation to Seduction by Vicki Thompson, Carly Phillips, and Janelle Denison.  This was a compilation of three short-ish smut stories (each by a different author), hinged around one central item.  As far as general smut goes, they were rather more tasteful than one expects.

It's Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris.  I'm working my way through the Banned Books List.  I didn't have any problems with this book, which was about for the 9-year-old level, I would think.  I think this book did a very good job-- it was straightforward with facts and didn't argue for or against any sensitive points: it just presented the topics.  It later encouraged the reader to talk to an older family member or friend.  It has drawn pictures but no great amount of detail.