Mini-Reviews: Children’s Books

Immi’s Gift

Karin Littlewood

32 pages

Publication Year: October 1, 2010

Publisher: Peachtree

Source: Publisher

Summary: Immi is a young lonely girl living in an icy land. One day as she goes fishing, she finds a little wooden bird. The bird is just one of several mysterious presents that she starts to find and changes her world into a place that is less lonely.

My Thoughts: I thought the book was okay. It didn’t offer anything different or memorable. The illustrations by the author are beautiful, perfectly showing readers Immi’s cold winter world as how it goes from being a place of loneliness to one of comfort and friendship. The colors are brilliant and give young readers pages they can easily look at over and over again.

My Havana: Memories of a Cuban Boyhood

Rosemary Wells and Secundino Fernandez

65 pages

Publication Date: August 10, 2010

Publisher: Candlewick

Source: Library

Summary: Secundino “Dino” Fernandez is a young artist who loves his city, Havana. He loves the architecture, the vibrant colors, and its history. As a child, he spends hours drawing Havana over and over again. But at the age of six, his family moves to Spain where everything is different – the food, the culture, even the colors which aren’t vibrant but drab. To get through his homesickness, Dino makes a miniature version of Havana. It helps and eventually, his family moves back to Cuba. But when Fidel Castro takes over the Cuban government, Dino and his family leaves Cuba for good and move to the United States.

Thoughts: I thought this was a great story. I don’t think I’ve read many books about Cuba, so reading My Havana was a great introduction. Wells, Fernandez, and illustrator Peter Ferguson do a great job helping readers to “see” Havana for themselves. My only problem with this book is that I wished this book was at least two hundred pages longer so I could know more about Fernandez’s life in Cuba and Spain.  After reading this book I want to read more books about Cuba.

 

The Horned Toad Prince

Jackie Mims Hopkins

32 pages

Publication Date: September 1, 2010

Publisher: Peachtree

Source: Publisher

Summary: The Horned Toad Prince is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Set in the southwest, the main character, Reba Jo is a cowgirl who loves lassoing anything she can find. But when she loses her brand new hat in a well, she makes a deal with a horned toad to get it back. But will she stick to her end of the bargain?

My Thoughts: I thought this was a really cute retelling. Reba Jo is a girl with a lot of spunk even though she doesn’t always do what she promised. In the end a deal is a deal, but this ending has a little twist to it. This is a book that young readers will really enjoy.

Review: Flight Vol. 7

Flight Vol. 7

edited by Kazu Kibuishi

284 pages

Publication Date: July 20, 2010

Publisher: Villard

I’ve read the previous six volumes in the Flight series, so it was a no-brainer to check out volume seven from the library. Flight 7 is one of the better volumes in the series but it’s still not better than my favorite which is volume 3. This volume included stories from series veterans like Kean Soo who returned with another “Jellaby” story and Michel Gagné with “The Saga of Rex”, an intergalactic story of a lovable puppy.

One of the great things about the series is that most of the volumes are suitable for young kids to read and entertaining for adults to pick up too. I found this true for volume 7 also. It’s a volume that my kids can easily read and I won’t feel uneasy about it.

Another great thing about the series is the beautiful artwork with each story. I don’t think I’ve ever read one story from this series and hated the artwork. The stories match the artwork beautifully. Some of my favorite stories in this volume include “Premium Cargo” by Kostas Kiriakakis about an airman who steals a very special package and realizes that it’s time to send it back. It’s definitely a tear-jerker that left me wanting to know more about the characters.

Click to enlarge the image.

Cory Godbey’s “Onere and Piccola” is a mythology story about love that is so beautiful.

Click to enlarge picture.

So if you haven’t read any of the volumes from this series, what are you waiting for? Each volume is a stand-alone so you don’t have to worry about reading them in order. The Flight series is one of the best graphic anthologies you can read. Highly recommended.

Review: Bookhunter by Jason Shiga

• Bookhunter
• Jason Shiga
• 144 pages
• Publication Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Sparkplug Comics
• Source: Library

 

 

The year: 1973.

The place: Oakland, California.

Special Agent Bay is a detective for the Library Police. Chasing down bad guys, finding priceless books, and arresting people who steal library books is all just part of the job. But when he’s called to the scene of a thief at Oakland Main Library, the case may be too hard even for him to solve.

I really enjoyed this book. Bookhunter is definitely a book geared toward librarians and anyone’s interested in libraries. There’s a lot of technical terms in the book about bookmaking, cataloging and other things. I wasn’t used to the terms and became a little bogged down in them, but they’re pretty important for the story.

(click on the picture to enlarge)

I loved the concept of a library police that’s dedicated to book thief and other book-related crimes, especially now as libraries all over the country are dealing with budget cuts. For a graphic novel about libraries, there’s a lot of action and it was so much fun to read.

I highly recommend this book.

Thankfully Reading Weekend

It’s that time of the year again! Time for  Thankfully Reading Weekend which is hosted by Jen from Devourer of Books, Candace from Beth Fish Reads, and Jenn from Jenn’s Bookshelves. The event officially starts this Friday but since the only homework that I have is to read a few articles and poems, I decided to start today!  I have a stack of books lined up for this week. I wanted to do something a little different, so instead of just showing you my stack I want to also give you an excerpt from one of the books I’m reading.

 

The Weird Sisters

Eleanor Brown

Publication Date: January 20, 2011

We came home because we were failures. We wouldn’t admit that, of course, not at first, not to ourselves, and certainly not to anyone else. We said we came home because our mother was ill, because we needed a break, a momentary pause before setting off for the Next Big Thing. But the truth was, we had failed, and rather than let anyone else know, we crafted careful excuses and alibis, and wrapped them around ourselves like a cloak to keep out the cold truth.

Isn’t that a great excerpt? Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Mini-Reviews: I Kill Giants, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Life of Pi, and Read Remember Recommend

Life of Pi

Yann Martel

Publisher: Harcourt

Source: Personal library

I picked this up because it’s required reading for my Philosophy of Religion class. This is a wonderful story about a young boy, Pi Patel, who’s stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker after the ship he was on with his family sunk. There’s a lot in the book about religion, life, and God which was a perfect fit for my class. It’s not a book for everyone but I thought it was a great read.
 
 
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Aimee Bender
Publisher: Doubleday
Source: Personal library
 
What if you had the ability to know what people felt by tasting the food they made? That’s the question behind the story of Rose and her amazing ability. Rose is nine years old when she discovers her gift but at the time it doesn’t feel that way. With an emotionally detached father, an unhappy mother, and a older brother named Joseph who prefers not to have any part in the world, Rose doesn’t know what to do or how to cope with this new abilities. Bender gives readers a great coming-of-age tale about love and loss. I highly recommend this book for readers who love magical realism. It’s also a great companion read to Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate, which features a protagonist with a similar ability.
 
Read, Remember, Recommend for Teens: A Reading Journal for Book Lovers
Rachelle Rogers Knight
Publisher: Source Books
Source: Publisher
 
I thought this was a great book for teens who really love to read. Read, Remember, Recommend is divided into several parts featuring awards and notable lists, a place to write down recommendations and tbr lists along with everything you’ve read. My favorite part of the book was the awards and notable lists because it featured the lists of winners from such diverse awards like the Eisner Award to the American Indian Youth Services Literature Award.
 
 
I Kill Giants
Joe Kelly and J.M. Ken Niimura
Publisher: Image Comics
Source: Personal Library
 
I Kill Giants is probably my favorite graphic novel of the year. Barbara is a young teen girl obsessed with killing giants. A girl who’s practically friendless, Barbara spends her time playing fantasy games and ignoring the growing dysfunction in her home. But when a new girl named Sophia wants to be friends with Barbara, it starts a chain of events that change everyone involved. What I love about this book is how it deals with grief and love. I highly recommend it.

Review: Revenge by Taslima Nasrin

Revenge

Taslima Nasrin

Translated from the Bengali by Honor Moore

176 pages

Publication Date: September 7, 2010

Publisher: The Feminist Press

Source: Personal library

Jhumur is a young physics student living in Bangladesh when she meets Haroon, a businessman of the same age. In Haroon, Jhumur thinks she’s found everything she’s looking for and marries for love. Once she becomes his wife, life changes drastically. No longer can Jhumur work or leave the house unaccompanied, she must wear a head scarf at all times, and is expected to be the perfect bou: daughter-in-law. When Jhumur becomes pregnant, it’s a dream come true. That is until Haroon tells her that her unborn child couldn’t be his. Shocked by this revelation and unable to get her husband to believe her, Jhumur starts to plot her revenge with a neighbor who’s unaware that he’s the key to Jhumur’s revenge.

After I read the book’s synopsis, I thought Revenge could be a really interesting read and it was. Jhumur is a girl with hopes and dreams of being a physicist. Raised in a somewhat non-traditional family, Jhumur had parents who gave her freedom that is usually given only to men. She was encouraged to stick up for herself, fight if she had to, dive into whatever career that she wanted, and marry for love instead of money. But when Jhumur marries Haroon, all of that goes out the window. She isn’t content to stay at home and care for her husband’s family, but she doesn’t think about not going against her husband’s wishes and stay an individual. One of the great things about this book was the peak into Bangladeshi culture readers are given. Without it, I don’t think we would have been able to understand why Jhumur didn’t get a divorce (which would have labeled her an outcast), and instead plotted a revenge in the only way she could in her culture.

Here’s an excerpt from the book:

He was utterly impervious to the fact that he violated me. He had shattered my dreams and destroyed my belief in love, which was my only excuse for marrying into a situation in which all that my life and education had prepared me for was wasted! Instead of taking a job in a physics lab, I took care of my in-laws. I had dreamed of a happy married life that would not deprive me of individual freedom that respected differences, allowed contradiction-a venture built on trust, sympathy, honesty, and compassion. How naïve I had been! How blinded by desire! How stupid not to have asked ahead of time what Haroon’s dream of marriage was! Yet even in the midst of these thoughts, I was feeling a bit sorry for him.

Readers see a change with Jhumur after she starts going through with her revenge. It’s not a change for the better and she becomes cold and calculating, very different from who she is in the beginning of the book or when she’s around her best friend or new neighbor. The change was interesting to read about and it pushed me to read to the end. For such a small book, it packs a punch that leaves readers thinking about women and the roles that a society wants women to fit into – usually perfectly, without the thought of the consequences behind those roles.

Highly recommended.

Review: Bone: Tall Tales by Jeff Smith

Bone: Tall Tales

Jeff Smith and Tom Sniegeski

128 pages

Publication Date: August 1, 2010

Publisher: Scholastic

Source: Personal Library

 

Bone: Tall Tales is a collection of tales about a larger than life ancestor of the Bone cousins from the Bone series. Big Johnson Bone is a guy who isn’t afraid of anything but sitting still. In the stories Big Johnson goes on one adventure after another fighting the personification of winter, rat creatures and more. The tales are humorous with plenty of outrageous twists to keep readers entertained. Any specific details about the plot and I’ll just spoil the stories.

Bone: Tall Tales is not another volume in the Bone series but a companion book. These stories don’t have any of the darkness that the series has, so I think it’s a perfect read for children who haven’t read the series yet. I also think that fans of the series will enjoy this book though it’s not as great the series.

Readers of the Bone series shouldn’t pass this companion book up.

 

Review: Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon

Zora and Me

• Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon
• 192 pages
• Publication Date: October 12, 2010
• Publisher: Candlewick
• Source: Personal Library

Young Zora Neale Hurston can spin a story in a way that no one else can. Whether she’s talking about the pine tree that she loves so much or about gators that can turn into men, once you hear Zora’s stories the world looks different. Zora has a passion for storytelling and a curiosity to know all that she can. With best friends Carrie and Teddy, Zora explores their hometown of Eatonville, Florida which is the first all-black town to be incorporated. Things take a sinister turn when a body is found on the railroad tracks beheaded. Zora thinks she knows who committed the murder but what adult will believe her story of shape-shifting men?

What I really liked about this book is that the many storylines that are introduced in various parts of the story feel so authentic and blend together easily. There’s Zora and her stories, her best friend Carrie and her grief at the father who has abandoned his family, the murder of a drifter, the issues of passing and racism, along with figuring out who you really are in a world that wants you to stay in your place.

Zora’s curiosity about the world outside of Eatonville is something her mother understands. Her father wants her to stay in her “place” as a girl and an African-American. He thinks because she isn’t white, she doesn’t have a right to want the things that she desires. But Zora isn’t happy with that and in a suspenseful moment, she sticks up for herself even when the consequences could be painful.

Walking home later, I thought about the difference between a mama’s girl and a daddy’s girl. I decided that a daughter who belongs to her daddy expects gifts, while a daughter who belongs to her mama expects a lot more. Not from her mama. From herself.

My only complaint about this book is that it wasn’t enough description for me. I wanted to know exactly what Eatonville and the characters looked like. Other than that, I found Zora and Me to be a great read. Highly recommended.

Other reviews:

• Bermudaonion
• A Wrung Sponge
• Good Book and Good Wine

Review: Too Late by Clem Martini

Too Late
Clem Martini
57 pages
Publisher: Annick Press
Source: Publisher
YA fiction

 

Everything I touch is dust, everything I touch crumbles, everything I do goes wrong.

In a story that’s only fifty-seven pages long, Clem Martini gives readers a story that is heartfelt, powerful, and like all good stories, observes the complexity of life by asking hard questions and giving no easy answers. A young boy is living in a facility for young offenders. Readers don’t know why or how this child is sent there. As the story unfolds we learn that the young boy is Greg, fifteen-years old, and sent to a facility for underage sex offenders after having sexually assaulted his stepsister. After a mentally draining meeting with counselors, his mom and stepdad, Greg runs away from camp.

This may sound like a depressing book but it’s really not. It is sad. The author asks a lot of hard questions that readers need to think about. Until this book, I didn’t think about what happens to these kids after they have committed a horrendous act at such a young age. Or what causes them to commit these acts to start with.

During the group therapy sessions that Greg has to attend, readers learn the stories of some of the other kids there and the abuse they suffered by family members. Readers learn about the sexual abuse that Greg himself endures as a child, his relationship with his family, and how Greg comes to be who he is and why he did what he did. Learning the stories of those who committed such horrible acts doesn’t take away any of the pain that their victims suffer or lessen the horror of the abuse. But this story can start a dialogue about sexual abuse and youth offenders.

Highly recommended.

 

Sunday Salon: What are your three books?

Good morning! Right now I’m sitting at my desk with a hot cup of coffee and enjoying the start of my day even though it’s still dark outside. My daughter’s birthday is tomorrow so I’m spending the next two days running around getting her tea party and presents ready. But for now I’m relaxing before the chaos starts.

As you all know I’m a college student. Next year I plan on transferring to the college of my dreams (there’s six colleges on my list!).  I’ve been spending time every week researching different colleges, application deadlines, and also the personal essay statements or required critical essay. One essay statement stood out more than the others. It asks for students to look back on their reading for the past few years and pick the three best books. Three.

Though it’s a hard question, I was so excited. A book-related question! I started compiling a huge list of possible titles to write about: Persepolis, Wit by Margaret Edson, the Fable series by Bill Willingham, and more. I started thinking about titles I could write about that might impress the admission committee but I changed my mind. I love discussing books especially those that aren’t well-known. I decided to just be me and discuss the books that I really love.  I still haven’t picked three books but my list is down to four: Bayou by Jeremy Love which is a graphic novel, Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama a few years ago, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I really think these are the four best books I’ve read in the past few years, books that have stayed with me and that I still think about months after reading them. I’ll probably spend the next few months reading these four over and over again as I write my essay.

My question for you: What are the three best books that you’ve read in the past few years? I know that’s a hard question but I’m curious to see which books you would pick. Can you pare it down to just three books?

Review: The Heartbreak Diet by Thorina Rose

The Heartbreak Diet: A Story of Family, Fidelity, and Starting Over
Thorina Rose
176 pages
Publication Date: April 2, 2008
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Source: Personal library

The Heartbreak Diet is Thorina Rose’s graphic memoir that details the author’s dissolving marriage and how she starts her life over as a single mom to two young boys. The beginning of the book starts with Rose’s husband always leaving to go running with his “running partner”. What once was boring to him is now so interesting that he’s constantly gone. Rose illustrates this beautifully by consistently showing readers his back. It’s when her brother runs into Rose’s husband and his running partner holding hands that Rose starts to suspect something and learns the truth: her husband is having an affair and isn’t sorry at all about it. That doesn’t stop Rose from trying to win her husband back or meeting the other woman for coffee. When she realizes that she’s lost her husband, Rose starts to put the pieces of her life back together.

I enjoyed reading about Rose’s journey to become a different but better person after her husband’s affair is revealed. That’s where the strength of this book is at. Readers see why the author spent twenty years with the same person and also watch as she changes. She starts going to therapy and  becomes a better mother while also going back to the passion she had years before as an illustrator.

What sometimes got in the way of my enjoyment with this book is the illustrations and the author’s almost obsessive focus on her husband. Like all graphic novels, the illustrations are either a hit or miss with some readers. Rose’s illustrations were done in black and white and sometimes took the focus away from the words (for me) but the further along I got into the story, the more I could see how the illustrations and the words were perfect together. When I look back on the author’s obsessive focus on her husband, I could see many of the reasons behind it. You see the author losing herself slowly but surely over time after she marries her husband and they start a family. The passion she has for illustration is replaced by late night feeding and being a single (but married) mother. There was just a handful of panels that showed Rose’s husband being emotionally involved with their family. By the time he admits to Rose about the affair, Rose is basically just a shadow of her old self, so seeing her navigate the world on her own and become this new person was so great to see.

Sorry about the quality of the above panels. I had to use my scanner since I couldn’t find any panels online.

The “Words of Wise Women” panels was a great transition between the past and present and also the author’s emotional state.

This graphic memoir has its flaws but I would recommend it to readers.

Other reviews:
Marie at Boston Bibliophile
Alea over at Pop Culture Junkie

Banned Book Review: Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret

Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret
Judy Blume
140 pages
Publication Year: 1970
Publisher: Yearling

Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret. We’re moving today. I’m so scared God. I’ve never lived anywhere but here. Suppose I hate my new school? Suppose everybody there hates me? Please help me God. Don’t let New Jersey be too horrible. Thank you.

A few days ago I was at the library and saw this book on the banned books display. I hadn’t read this since I was a pre-teen and seeing the title brought back so many memories of my life then, I had to check this out again.

For those of you who don’t know, the protagonist of the story is Margaret, an twelve year-old girl who has just moved to New Jersey from New York with her parents. She has the same worries that most kids that age have like fitting in, making new friends, and having crushes. She has a relationship with God, who she’s always talking to but worries about her non-religious status because her mom was born a Christian and her dad a Jew. She sees the way that religious differences can divide a family, sometimes forever. What makes this book a classic though is how realistic Blume makes Margaret’s growing pains. Margaret is at that ripe age where she starts to worry (and hope) over getting her period soon and her growing body. Blume doesn’t talk down to tweens and teens but talks to them with this book.

I have no idea why this book has been banned. Is it because Margaret has an open but non-religious relationship with God? Or the fact that she explores religion by visiting different places of worship? Is it all the talk about menstrual cycles and pads? No matter what the reason is, it’s not good enough to ban this book. Instead of being banned, this book needs to be given out to kids. Parents can use it as a starting point in discussions about crushes, religion, God, and more.  I plan on giving this book to my little sisters and daughter.

Have you read this before? What are your thoughts? What Judy Blume book is your favorite?

Sunday Salon: Devouring books and a few mini-reviews

Good morning! It’s been so long since I’ve participated in Sunday Salon, that  I knew it was time for me to start again. July started off as a month where I couldn’t read as much as I wanted to since I was taking two classes that occupied a lot of my time. After dropping my math class (yay!), I have more time to read and my reading life is back! I’m pretty behind in reviewing books, so I’ll just tell you about a few of the books I’ve read lately instead of trying to review them all.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. I read this book back in June but I still wanted to write something about it. Will Grayson, Will Grayson is the story of two teens with the same name who meet unexpectedly one day and who are changed by the meeting. Told from the viewpoints of both boys, readers learn the characters’ flaws and also what makes them so special. I really liked some of the diversity of the characters like Tiny, best friend to the first Will and a very talented teenager who puts on a school play about his life. Tiny is gay and there’s no bits about coming out or struggling with his sexuality. Tiny is who he is and he’s not afraid to be emotionally vulnerable. He’s a very caring guy who puts his neck out too much for other people. Some of the secondary characters were just as interesting as the main characters. This book is filled with humor and also had a few scenes that brought tears to my eyes. If you haven’t read it already, you should.

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes. This summer like every summer, I participate in my library’s summer reading program for adults. When you review three books, you can pick a free book to take home and Ghost World was my pick. Enid and Rebecca are teenage girls with a complex friendship. Like most teenagers, both girls are trying to figure out who they are while planning their futures. Enid walks around in these ridiculous costumes while Rebecca plays the role of Enid’s sidekick. It’s not until almost the end of the book that the roles are reversed and we get to see the characters for who they really are.

This is definitely a book that once you finish reading, you have to reread it for all the subtle things you miss.  This was my first time reading a book by Clowes but I don’t think it’ll be my last.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Maree from Just Add Books decided to host a read-along for American Gods and since I’ve already read several of Gaiman’s books, I  joined in.

Shadow is an ordinary man, counting down to the end of his 3-year prison sentence, so he can finally be with his wife Laura. When Laura is killed in a car accident Shadow is released early to find the mysterious Wednesday, ready to pay Shadow a decent amount of money to take a job as his “helper”. Shadow soon learns that this isn’t an ordinary job. Both men travel across America, finding the Gods of Old: Anansi, Kali, Czernobog, Eostre, and others who are willing to go to battle with the Gods of New like technology, media, and tv for the soul of America.

I love this book! Love love love! Gaiman uses American Gods as a way to ask and answer the question: what happens to the gods of certain cultures when its followers die off or assimilate into a different culture? The gods are personified and you see how they have suffered from the loss of belief. The gods can be obnoxious, funny, or dangerous. They come from a variety of cultures and lands. In the book they are like everyday people: fortune-tellers, cab drivers, even addicts. One of my favorite things about the book was reading the lives of different believers and how their beliefs are incorporated into their everyday lives.  The book is funny but tragic and also beautiful. I listened to the audio book while also reading a print copy and enjoyed the dual way of reading. Out of the many books I’ve read by Gaiman, American Gods is probably my favorite.

A passage from the book:

People believe, thought Shadow. It’s what people do. They believe. And then they do not take responsibility for their beliefs; they conjure things, and do not trust the conjurations. People populate the darkness; with ghosts, with gods, with electrons, with tales. People imagine, and people believe: and it is that belief, that rock-solid belief, that makes things happen.

So that’s only a tiny bit of the books I’ve read lately. What are you reading today?

Book Review: The Truth About Delilah Blue

The Truth About Delilah Blue
Tish Cohen
Publication Year: 2010
Pages: 448 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Source: Publisher

The smell of asphalt and dandelions and the last days of school made the air tingle with summer promise. . .

I love the first line of The Truth About Delilah Blue. There’s something about the first line of this story that promises so much and it was great to find out that the book delivers. Delilah Blue is a twenty-year old transplant from Toronto living in L.A. with her dad after being abandoned by her mother. Her dream is to become an artist so she attends art class for free by modeling nude for art schools, learning as she poses. When her mom unexpectedly arrives along with a younger, unknown daughter, she reveals that she didn’t abandon Delilah but that Delilah was kidnapped from her by her father and kept hidden for the past twelve years. Now it’s up to Delilah to figure out who to believe and find out the real story behind the sudden move to L.A. so many years before.

I started reading this book early this morning during a bout of insomnia and within a few hours and despite the book’s length, finished it satisfied and left wondering about the book’s characters. Delilah is a girl lost. Years of living with an emotionally detached dad hasn’t help. She’s sure about her father’s love and devotion and her own passion for art but other than that, the future’s pretty murky. Her  loneliness is almost heartbreaking. The author conveys the sense that the main character has almost a bewilderment about emotionally connecting to other people. With the unexpected arrival of her mother and younger sister Kieran, that starts to change.

I love seeing the way Delilah handles her parents. Her father, Victor, has memory lapses and is diagnosed with  early-onset Alzheimer’s so readers see how his illness is handle while Delilah tries learning the truth about what happened. Her mother, Elizabeth, is a carefree parent with almost no regard for danger when it comes to both of her daughters. Essentially Elizabeth is a child who dreams of being rich if she can just find a decent man with the right amount of money. Both parents have their faults and because the author gives readers the story of this family through the eyes of Delilah and Victor, we come to know the true reasons behind Delilah’s abduction. Cohen brilliantly asks the question: how much is any parent willing to do to keep a child safe?

Highly recommend.

Book Review: The Great Lover

The Great Lover
Jill Dawson
326 pages
2009
Source: Publisher

Rupert. . . It is the first time I’ve said his name. I know without looking up that the word has drawn him like a hook and that he is staring straight at me. I can tell from the way the bees huddle in the corner of their frames like gathering moss, deep and brown and heaving, that some power from him is transmitting itself to me, to the very air around us. Even the sweetest creature on this earth can be dangerous, Father used to say, if you make it buzz too hard. Father, Father – you were never here to teach me. What do I do now?

Ninety-year old Nell Golightly receives a letter from the daughter of  famous but long-dead poet, Rupert Brooke. In the letter, the woman asks for personal information about Brooke, a man she never had a chance to know. As a young adult, Nell worked at a tea garden that Brooke frequent and though of different social classes, came to know Brooke personally. Nell’s letter and the memories it brings forward are just half of Jill Dawson’s The Great Lover, the fictional account of the life of British poet Rupert Brooke.

The book is also told from Rupert’s perspective. Rupert Brooke is  a young poet who loses both his father and brother in a short period of time. Doubtful of his talent, unfocused, forever wandering from place to place,  in several relationships at the same time, Rupert is a complex person. But for all his complexity, it wasn’t enough to interest me in his story.

Surprisingly I found myself more interested in the story of Nell. Nell Golightly is the oldest of five siblings. Orphaned after the loss of her father, the nineteen year old girl accepts a job at a tea garden as a way to take care of her much younger siblings. There she meets Rupert, a young charming poet who swims naked in a nearby river and takes up lovers both male and female. Nell is the exact opposite of Rupert. Practical, caring, and patient, she sees Rupert for who he really is underneath the sarcasm and flamboyance. They have a small affair and though many readers probably hope for the two to be together, I wanted Nell to find someone more dependable than a man who loves for love’s sake.

One of the things I love about The Great Lover is all the historical facts that the author gives reader. Readers learn details about the suffragist movement in the early 1900s, how women were treated in prison if arrested for protesting for women’s rights, the Poor Law reform, and what happens to those who cannot work for whatever reasons. I found myself wanting to know more about the time period and the working class people that Nell interacted with everyday.

Overall The Great Lover was entertaining and absorbing read that I’m glad I read.

Review: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Junot Diaz
340 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Publication Date: 2007
Source: Library

They say it came first from Africa, carried in the screams of the enslaved; that it was the death bane of the Tainos, uttered just as one world perished and another began; that it was a demon drawn into Creation through the nightmare door that was cracked open in the Antilles. Fukú americanus, or more colloquially, fukú−generally a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and the Doom of the New World.

I have to admit this wasn’t my first time I tried to read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I picked this book up a few years ago but couldn’t get into it. By chance I somehow ended up listening to a sample of the UK audio version. I couldn’t believe this was the same book I put down so long ago. Within minutes I bought the audio book. Though I knew it wouldn’t and couldn’t arrive fast enough, I practically ran to my library and picked up their only copy.

When readers first met the main character Oscar de Leon, he’s a cute seven year-old girl-crazy kid. The older he becomes, the more his looks go until he’s an obese young adult in love with fanfiction, sci-fi, and everything else his family feels he shouldn’t bother with. Call it the fukú (curse) or call it life, but either way Oscar is a loner and the only person who understands him is his older sister Lola. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a multigenerational story that covers the lives of Oscar, Lola, and their mother Beli from the Dominican Republic to New Jersey and back again.

The book surpassed my expectations. It’s not just a novel but also a history book, telling the era of dictator Rafael Trujillo who ruled the Dominican Republic for more than thirty bloody years.  The book includes footnotes that luckily don’t distract readers away from Oscar’s story. They’re there to educate readers who probably don’t know much about Dominican history and also to illustrate how the Trujillo Era affected Dominicans and Haitians along with the role the United States played in Trujillo’s rise to power. The footnotes also explain references to Lord of the Rings, Watchmen, and more.

This book isn’t about just Trujillo. It’s about the de Leon family and how they come to be who they are: Oscar the “ghetto”, Lola the rebel, Beli the dominant mom who has nothing good to say about anything, and La Inca, Beli’s aunt who raised Beli as her own child. Told from the perspectives of Lola and Yuῇior, Lola’s ex-boyfriend, the switch in perspective can be confusing at times, but I caught on pretty fast.

Another thing that stands out besides the footnotes is the heavy use of Spanish by the author. Diaz does a great job in bringing authenticity to the book with the mixture of English and Spanish. He makes it easy to under the gist of what is being said. After reading the book, I read interviews with the author. In one interview Diaz wrote that the inclusion of Spanish was to make an “immigrant” of the reader, for the reader to come to an understanding of how hard it is to not only learn a new language, but also a culture. I also read that Diaz struggled for years to learn English fluently. As a native English reader you get pushed out of your comfort zone as you try to grasp the meaning of each word. It can make for slow reading but it’s worth it. This isn’t a book that you should speed through.

As great as the book is, one thing that bothered me was the use of the “n” word. When I first started reading the book, I was taken aback by it the heavy use of it. But I pushed through. I wanted to know how important and also why is this word being used.  So I did a little cyber-stalking by reading more interviews and found that growing up in the United States in the 80s, the kids in Diaz’s neighborhood used English, Spanish, and what they thought of as “slang” to express themselves.

This has got to be the longest review ever on 1330v. If you haven’t read it, I think you should.

One of my favorite passages of the book:

At the end of The Return of the King, Sauron’s evil was taken by “a great wind” and neatly “blown away,” with no lasting consequences to our heroes; but Trujillo was too powerful, too toxic a radiation to be dispelled so easily. Even after death his evil lingered. Within hours of El Jefe dancing bien pegao with those twenty-seven bullets, his minions ran amok−fulfilling, as it were, his last will and vengeance. A great darkness descended on the Island and for the third time since the rise of Fidel people were being rounded up by Trujillo’s son, Ramfis, and a good plenty were sacrificed in the most depraved fashion imaginable, the orgy of terror funeral goods for the father from the son. Even a woman as potent as La Inca, who with the elvish ring of her will had forged within Banί her own personal Lothlόrien, knew that she could not protect the girl against a direct assault from the Eye. . .And perhaps it was the strain of her final prayer, but each time La Inca glanced at the girl she could swear that there was a shadow standing just behind her shoulder which disappeared as soon as you tried to focus on it. A dark horrible shadow that gripped her heart. And it seemed to be growing.

Other reviews:

Books I Done Read
Things Mean a Lot
The Book Lady’s Blog
Nomadreader
Paperback Reader
Linus’s Blanket
Age 30 Books

DNF: Legend of a Suicide

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review

Legend of a Suicide: Stories
David Vann
256 pages
2008
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Source: TLC Book Tours

My mother gave birth on Adak Island, a small hunk of rock and snow far out on the Aleutian chain, at the edge of the Bering Sea. . .

I didn’t know what I was going to do about this review. You see today my blog is supposed to be a part of the TLC Book tour for Legend of a Suicide. I read a lot of positive reviews for this book and a few that weren’t so positive.  When I heard that Trish and Lisa were going to host a tour, I had to sign up. The problem though? This book dragged for me. I started reading it a few weeks ago but still hadn’t finished. I usually don’t talk about the books I haven’t finished reading but since I agreed to be apart of the tour, I will.

Legend of a Suicide is a collection of stories and a novella. Though the work is fiction, the author uses the stories as an exploration into his father’s suicide. What I loved about the stories I read was the Alaskan setting. I haven’t read any books that use the state as a setting so it was refreshing. While I struggled to read the book, I turned to the back which featured an interview with the author. In the interview, Vann stated how both his sister and mother felt they had signs from his father saying goodbye. According to Vann, “nothing happened for me”.  Legend of a Suicide is a son’s way of trying to connect with his lost father.

Read-a-thon Pile

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Art Spiegelman, Bill Willingham, Cory Doctrow, Dale Peck, Dewey's readathon, Doug Wright, fantasy, fiction, graphic novels, Guillermo Del Toro, Hannah Berry, Jeanne DuPrau, Joann Sfar, Kazu Kibuishi, Lauren Groff, Margaret Edson, Margo Lanagan, Mike Mignola, Nick Hornby, Peter Beagle, Peter David, plays, Pulitzer award, Sandra Cisneros, Sherman Alexie, Sherri L. Smith, Tony Kushner, Tracy Letts, Zetta Elliot

Okay so we all know that I have a tendency to go overboard when it comes to books. Whether it’s my library loot, buying binges, or signing up for reading challenges, it always seems to be all or nothing. My current reading pool for the read-a-thon encompasses almost every genre and ranges from a mere 32 pages for many of my picture books to almost 500 pages for Margo Lanagan’s Tender Morsels. Maybe instead of thinking of this stack as just my read-a-thon picks, we should also think of it as my October/November even possibly December reads.

Plays I started reading plays during last year’s read-a-thon. I found so many wonderful playwrights that I’ve started slowly reading as many as I can especially Pulitzer prize-winning plays. Plays are usually no more than a hundred pages long and contain memorable characters and great settings. For the upcoming read-a-thon, here are a few plays I plan on reading that won the Pulitzer for Drama.

I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright. 2004 Pulitzer.
Wit by Margaret Edson. 1999 Pulitzer.
Angels in America by Tony Kushner. 1993 Pulitzer

not shown: August: Osage County by Tracy Letts.

Short Stories The great thing about reading short stories during the read-a-thon is that you can dip in and out of collections and still feel as though you’re accomplishing something.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie.
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros. I read this collection years ago and I think it’s really time for a re-read.
Dedicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff.

Graphic Novels

Britten and Brulightly by Hannah Berry.
Amulet 2: The Stonkeeper’s Curse by Kazu Kabuishi.
Maus by Art Spiegelman

Not shown: The Professor’s Daughter by Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert

Fantasy

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Tigerheart by Peter David
The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Other Notables

Peter and Max: A Fables Novel by Bill Willingham
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle
A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliot

Books not shown:

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
B.P.R.D. series by Mike Mignola
Sprout by Dale Peck
Uglies by Scott Westerfield
The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Little Brother by Cory Doctrow

You see how crazy I went? This is why I’m calling this pile my October-November-and-possibly-December pile. I have a ton of books on hold at the library that will be coming in sometime next week. I can’t wait for the read-a-thon to start but I’m not going to wait to start reading some of these great books.

Have you read any of these graet books? Which ones do you think I should save for the read-a-thon? Are there any that you think I should move to the top of the pile? Have you thought about what books you’re going to read for the big event?

Sea Change by Aimee Friedman

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Aimee Friedman, book reviews, books, fantasy, reading, Reading Journal, women writers, Young adult novels

Sea Change (2009)
Aimee Friedman
320 pages
Young Adult
Rating: Re-read

Summary

Miranda Merchant is ready to spend her summer interning at a museum in New York. But when her maternal grandmother Isadora dies, Miranda has to push her plans back and she and her mother travels to Silkie Island to take of Isadora’s estate. While there Miranda finds a strange book at the Mariner, her grandmother’s summer home. The book tells of the legend of the merman who once lived off the coast of the island. These mermen look normal but it’s when they’re fully in the water that you can see their true form.

While on the island Miranda meets Leo, a gorgeous and mysterious native who seems to be everything Miranda needs. But something tells Miranda that Leo is hiding a secret. Does it have to do with the merman legend?

Thoughts

What a great story! I was originally planning on waiting for the read-a-thon to read Sea Change. Last night I glanced through the book and ended up spending the next two hours reading. Miranda is a great character. She’s an intelligent and shy teenager who’s not really into dating and boys. She just tries to stay focused on her passion,which is science, and keep out of trouble. It’s when she meets Leo and also T.J. another boy, that she starts to understand what chemistry between two people feels like.

Friedman’s description of Silkie Island is so believable. I felt as if I was there. You can picture the setting so well, whether it was the Mariner or Fisherman’s Village.

If you’re participating in the upcoming read-a-thon and looking for a short but well-written story, look no further than Sea Change, a light tale about teenage love.

Book Review: Crazy Beautiful

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book reviews, books, fairy tales, fantasy, fiction

Crazy Beautiful (2009)
Lauren Baratz-Logsted
193 pages
Young Adult
Rating: Re-read

Instead of just giving you the regular book review format, I’m giving you five reasons why Crazy Beautiful is a great book and why I think you should give it a try.

Reasons why I love Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted:

1. Great characterization. The main characters, Lucius and Aurora, are a blast to read about. After losing his arms in an explosion of his own doing, Lucius and his family moves to a new town for a fresh start. Aurora Belle is also getting a new start in the same town with her father after losing her mother to cancer. The instant they see each other it feels as if they’ve always known each other. The problem: Lucius is deemed crazy by everyone except Aurora and her father while Aurora becomes the new addition to the popular crowd.

2. It’s about seeing the good in people, knowing who you are and being that person instead of what’s easier for others to deal with.

3. The story is so addictive that I read this book in one sitting. It’s not often that a book makes you drop everything you need to do and read it. The reader almost instantly starts to care about the characters. You want to know as much as possible about them.

4. The book is sparse, giving the reader only the details needed for the action to keep going.

5. This book has made Lauren Baratz-Logstead one of my newest favorite authors. I will definitely be checking out her other books.

Have you read this yet? If so, please let me know so I can link to you.

The Ghost’s Child

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book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, middle school fiction, Sonya Hartnett, The Ghost's Child

The Ghost’s Child (2008)
Sonya Hartnett
176 pages
Young Adult Fiction

Matilda, an elderly woman, comes home one afternoon to find a young boy sitting in her living room waiting for her. She has no idea who he is or what he wants. As they sit down for tea, the boy asks Matilda about the picture of her as a young girl on  her boat.

Matilda tells the story of her childhood and growing up as a young girl named Maddy. She was the daughter of a materialistic mother and a father who had to divide himself into two different people: the “Iron-man”, an important and wealthy member of the community who only wants to make money and “Daddy”, a man who loves his daughter and only wants her to be happy.

Matilda describes her childhood self as

an over-lookable child, doubtful and reluctant in her dealings with others, mousey as a mouse. She was easily hurt, deceived and dispirited.

After a year-long journey with her father all over the world to experience life for the first time, Maddy comes back changed and more sure of herself.

Soon she falls in love with a mysterious boy named Feather. They fall in love and though Feather wants to make Maddy happy, one day he disappears to the horizon and a place called The Island of Stillness. Unable to let Feather go, Matty learns to sail and goes off on an adventure to ask Feather for the answer to the only question she has. . .

I really enjoyed reading this book. The Ghost’s Child is a book that has to be read slowly. The book isn’t really plot-driven but focuses more on character-building: Matilda as an old woman and as a young girl named Maddy. One of my favorite things about this book was the language. There were so many passages that I marked to read again later.

I love this passage by Matilda on love:

The world changes when something in it is loved. Words become feeble. Colors glow. Every moment vibrates with possible importance. And the heart that loves wonders how it live, in the past, without loving-and it will live now, now that it loves.

What I didn’t like were the few times that were unbelievable. Maddy as a child was a little too mature. She understood too much about life though she hadn’t experience life yet. Here’s a passage from Maddy as a child:

In the black of night, however, she was wrung with fear. She did not want to be uncaring, and uncared-for. She did not want to spend her whole life taking steps in the darkest, the coldest, the most lonely direction. Yet how, she wondered, does one craft sturdy happiness out of something as important, as complicated, as unrepeatable and as easily damaged as a life?

A beautiful passage but from a child? The Ghost’s Child has few faults and all can easily be overlooked. This is a great fable about the lessons of love and letting go, beauty, and having the courage to live life as you see fit.

Highly recommended.

10 fiction books for the summer

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book challenges, books, fiction, summer reading, Summer Vacation Reading

When summer hits the only thing about my reading that changes is the amount of books I actually read. Like most readers I read more during the summer. This summer I signed up for Molly’s Summer Vacation Reading Challenge, joined Andi for her personal challenge, Reading In Order, and also joined Shauna for her June challenge, 30 books in 30 days. Callapidder Days challenge, Spring Reading Thing, ends June 20th and I want to complete the books I signed up for. Between reading and keeping the kids busy, my summer is packed.

Here are ten books of fiction I’m looking forward to reading this summer:

Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun. Mun’s debut novel takes place in 1980′s New York. The main character, Joon-Mee, is twelve years old when she runs away from home and lives the life of a runaway teen. The book gives the reader six years in Joon-Mee’s life.

Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff. Andi at Estella’s Revenge recommended that I read Lucky Chow Fun, the first story in this collection of short stories. I read it and loved it.

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. Last year when I read Ann Hood’s memoir, Comfort, about the death of her young daughter, I feel in love with author’s voice. The Knitting Circle is a book about grief and trying to live after tragedy.

In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefield. I found out about this book while on Twitter from fellow blogger, Wendy at Caribousmom.

The Angel of Forgetfulness by Steve Stern. This book has been sitting on my shelf for much too long. A fallen angel, his half-human son, a young woman named Keni, and a long-forgotten manuscript make up this story about love and memory.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Chris would probably seriously harm me if I don’t read one of his all-time favorite books soon. (Just kidding, Chris!)

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. You can never go wrong with a Pulitzer winner.

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen. Meghan at Medieval Bookworm told me about this debut novel. A talented 12 year old hitchhikes across America. It’s more complicated than that, but still. . .

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors of all time and I figured summer is the best time to Steinbeck.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.

Reading Journal: Currently Reading

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fiction, Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson, Reading Journal, women writers

Yesterday I started reading Marilynne Robinson’s debut novel, Housekeeping. The novel is the story of Ruth and her sister, Lucille, as they’re raised first by their grandmother, then her sister-in-laws, then by Sylvie, their eccentric aunt. According to the back cover,

Ruth and Lucille’s struggle toward adulthood beautifully illuminates the price of loss and survival, and the dangerous and deep undertow of transience.

While reading Housekeeping I’ve learned that this is a book to read slowly. This book is lyrical, so well-written. I’ve been keeping a pencil with me every time I continue the story because of the beautiful passages I want to go back to later on. Like this passage,

If heaven was to be this world plunged of disaster and nuisance, if immortality was to be this life held in poise and arrest, and if this world purged and this life unconsuming could be thought of as world and life restored to their proper natures, it is no wonder that five serene, eventless years lulled my grandmother into forgetting what she should never have forgotten.

Originally published in 1980, Housekeeping was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1982. It didn’t win though Robinson later won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for her second novel, Gilead.

Wild Magic by Cat Weatherill

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book reviews, books, Cat Weatherill, fairy tales, fantasy, fiction, Wild Magic, women writers, Young adult novels

Wild Magic (2007)
Cat Weatherill
280 pages
Middle School Fiction

What led you to pick up this book?

When I heard this was a re-telling of the Pied Piper fairy tale, I wanted to read it badly. I’ve been on a fairy tale kick for a while now. It took about six months for me to get this book from the library so when it finally arrived I was surprised.

From the jacket flap

The Pied Piper had his reasons for enchanting the children of Hamelin and stealing them away—ones rooted in a deep history of wild magic. Mari and her brother Jakob are among the children who followed the piper’s song, and they are now trapped in a beautiful but cruel world inhabited by a horrid Beast.

What I liked most

Everything. Mari and Jakob are great characters to follow. The book’s summary is actually wrong. Mari followed the Pied Piper but Jakob couldn’t because he had a bad leg. Jakob was so determined to get to his sister that he sat at the magical door of a mountain every night for days, waiting for it to open. The effects of Elvendale, the magical city inside the mountain on Jakob almost had me in tears, it was so touching.

In Wild Magic readers find out what happened to the children of Hamelin Hill and also get the background story on the Pied Piper.

Though this book stayed on my shelf for weeks once I opened it, I read it in a matter of hours. I was drawn into this story of three great characters, a beast, and a deadly forest. Even the minor characters were interesting. I definitely recommend this book.

Here’s a description of the children leaving Hamelin Town with the Pied Piper,

He dared to be different. Into a sad, drab world of gray and black he had come, burning bright in turquoise and jade. Dazzling as a dragonfly. He had played a pipe and the rats had followed, dancing till they drowned in the quick brown water of the river. They had to follow him. They couldn’t resist his music. And Marianna couldn’t resist it now. It was glorious. She wanted to dance. She wanted to dream. She wanted to follow the Piper.

And Marianna wasn’t alone. The streets were packed with children. Every boy, every girl in Hamelin Town seemed to be there, and they were all dancing.

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

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Bones of Faerie, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, Janni Lee Simner, women writers, Young adult novels

Bones of Faerie (2009)
Janni Lee Simner
247 pages
Young adult/Dystopian fiction
Well-Read Ladies pick for May

Summary

A devastating war between human and Faerie leaves both sides changed forever. Liza, a young girl, has only heard of the Before which is so different from the aftermath. Humans live in small villages instead of cities. Modern technology is a thing of the past. Even nature is now an enemy where trees can attack at will and plants are not to be trusted. The one lesson that Liza has learned from her cruel father is to never let anything magical in. Your life depends on it.

But when Liza’s mother gives birth one night, the child is different. Born with hair as clear as glass, Liza’s father knows the baby is part Faerie and abandons it on a hillside to die. Soon after Liza’s mother disappears and Liza is left alone with her father to fend for herself. When Liza realizes that she has the power to see into the past and future, she too flees in search of her mother and a safe place to live.

My thoughts

I think Bones of Faerie is a pretty good book. The aftermath of the war between the two races was believable. Teh author constantly illustrated the effects of the war: people had to pump their water and grow plants that could possibly kill them if they wanted to live. Liza’s display of strength and her relationship with Matthew, a boy from her neighborhood, was also entertaining.

What I didn’t like was that readers were never given a reason for the war, just a quick explanation that the two sides didn’t get along. I wanted to know the details behind the war and what lead up to it. I wanted a feel for both sides like you do with Hunger Games.

I still think it’s a good read. The story captures your attention and doesn’t let you go until the end.

Other reviews:
Becky

Emily’s Piano by Charlotte Gingras

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book reviews, books in translation, Charlotte Gingras, Emily's Piano, middle school fiction, women writers

Emily’s Piano (2005)
By Charlotte Gingras
Translated from the French by Susan Ouriou
Illustrations by Stephane Jorisch
60 pages

Middle school fiction

Grown-ups think I don’t understand anything. They’re wrong. I watch soap operas just like everyone else. What’s more, I have hypersensitive ears and piercing eyes. Even my sense of smell is much better than most people’s. I’d make a great bloodhound.

Summary

Emily’s family life is not the best. Her father rarely comes home at night and her mother spends her days crying. One day the family has to move from their grand house to a much smaller apartment. Most of their things are sold including the family’s old black piano.

Emily thinks that if she can just get her mother’s piano back, it would make her mother feel so much better. She goes  on walks all around the city, looking for the piano. Will she find it and bring her mother happiness?

Thoughts

I enjoyed reading this book. The author never tells you Emily’s age but I imagine her to be a  tween, ten or eleven years old. Everyone from her parents to her much older sisters are too busy with their own lives to pay her any attention.

As an adult and a parent it was sad to see that no one in that family was focused on Emily. Though Emily herself is a little sad about her parents’ divorce, she’s still going on with her life, taking care of herself while understanding her mother’s grief.

Here’s two more great quotes from the book,

There’s no hope of a truce in this family now. We criticize each other, we tell each other’s secrets. Sometimes we scream insults.

Emily’s conversation with her father,

He says children can’t know how complicated and strange grown-ups’ lives are, even to them. How sometimes life is like a canoe trip down a dangerous river when the canoe tips down and sinks. How sometimes a person has to run away, or how . . .

What about me? Do grown-ups know what they’re doing to me?

Though this  is a short book, readers travel with Emily on a journey through sadness and emotional maturing that has a beautiful ending.

Congratulations to Sarah for winning the Karma Wilson giveaway!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Hunger Games (2008)
Suzanne Collins
374 pages

I thought about not writing a review of The Hunger Games since this book has swept the blogging community since its publication. I have read so many great reviews and thought one more wasn’t really needed.  What changed my mind was laying in bed two o’clock this morning and feeling my heart beat faster as I thought of Katniss and Peeta, Rue and Thresh, and wondered what will book 2, Catching Fire, have in store for the main characters and District 12.

Summary from the jacket flap:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Tha Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to patricipate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in teh Hames. But Jatness has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

No matter how much you read about Hunger Games you are never prepared when you finally read it. One of the first things that stood out for me was how much information Collins gives on what’s life is like after the rebellion within the first  few chapters. As the reader you take how granted how gifted Collins is as making us feel what it’s like to live in District 12. It’s the poorest of all the districts, except District 13 which has been obliterated in the rebellion and used as a reminder of the Capitol’s power.

The Hunger Games is sci-fi, a romance, and social commentary rolled up in a young adult novel. Many have talked about how honestly reality television and violence have been portrayed but what echoes for me was the social commentary on the lifestyle differences between the poor who live in the farther districts and the rich who live at Capitol which was shown through Katniss’s perspective of the residents of the Capitol and her physical hunger.

What must it be like, I wonder, to live in a world where food appears at the press of a button? How would I spend the hours I now commit to combing the woods for sustenance if it were so easy to come by? What do they do all day, these people in the Capitol, besides decorating their bodies and waiting around for a new shipment of tributes to roll in and die for their entertainment?

Compare that with this:

Starvation’s not an uncommon fate in Distict 12. Who hasn’t seen the victims? Older people who can’t work. Children from a family with too many to feed.  Those injuried in the mines. Straggling through the streets. And one day, you come upon them sitting motionless against a wall or lying in the Meadow, you hear the wails from a house, and the Peacekeeprs are called in to retrieve the body. Starvation is never the cause of death officially. It’s always the flu, or exposure, or pneumonia. But that fools no one.

I enjoyed reading this book so much that I stayed up until the early morning to finish reading it. The ending, though short, was what I expected. I have so many questions I want answers to including what is going to happen to the “bodies” of the contestants who lost at the Hunger Games. I cannot wait until September 1st to buy the next book in this trilogy. Until then,  I think I will start reading Collins’ Underland Chronicles series.

Challenges Read for: Young Adult; 100+ books; April’s pick for The Year of Reading Dangerously; A Novel’s Group; and  Once Upon a Time

Bird by Rita Murphy

Bird by Rita Murphy (2008)
150 pages
Middle school fiction

From the inside flap:

Miranda has no recollection of where she came from-only that years ago, a gust of wind deposited her outside Bourne Manor. The Manor’s sole inhabitant, Wysteria Barrows, took Miranda in and promptly outfitted her with special boots-boots weighted with steel to keep Miranda anchored to the ground. But aside from shelter and clothing, Miranda receives little warmth from the aging widow. The Manor, too, is a cold place, full of drafts and locked doors. Full of menace. Full of secrets.

Then one day a boy named Farley appears, and with his help, Miranda embraces her destiny with the wind . . . and uncovers the Manor’s hidden past.

I saw the cover of this book and decided to check it out. Originally I picked this book up for the read-a-thon because of its small size but I became a little impatient and decided to read it now.

Miranda is a girl so small she can easily be carried away by the wind. She was so young when the wind carried her away and dropped her in trees next to Bourne Manor that she cannot remember where she came from and what her name was. One day Miranda finds a skeleton key and her imagination opens  up. She secretly explores Bourne Manor behind the back of her guardian Wysteria. After Miranda meets Farley and Wysteria is sent away to the hospital to recover from an illness, Miranda starts to become more sure about herself and learns the Manor’s past.

I loved the cover of Bird which was done by Fernando Juarez. In the beginning of the book Murphy describes Bourne Manor and I wouldn’t have been able to see it in my mind without the cover. The inside of the Manor was easy to visual with its many rooms and the ballroom that no one had ever danced in. I love the way Miranda described the Manor, which is not just a setting in the book but an actual character:

For although no one ever perished unnaturally within its walls that I knew of, the Manor, set out on its own as it was, battered by the wind, invited the spirits of those long departed and of those who roamed the shores in search of a warm fire, as it had invited me. The lost and aimless: to these Bourne Manor gave its shelter.

Rita Murphy’s writing style is simple yet so beautiful. Every character comes across the way they’re supposed to. There is not one sentence that is there needlessly.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I recommend this book to any reader of middle school or young adult fiction. I hope the author writes more stories about Miranda.

Hansel and Gretel

I should be honest–as much as I like fairy tales I’ve never really cared for Hansel and Gretel. A brother and sister being left in a forest to starve and die by their cruel stepmother and cowardly father. Then for the siblings to find the gingerbread house in the middle of the woods. We’re all aware of what happens next. As a child I always wanted an explanation. Why was the stepmother so cruel? Why was the father such a coward?

Cynthia Rylant’s retelling of Hansel and Gretel is the story that’s been missing. In the beginning,

It has been said that guardian spirits watch over and protect small children, and that may be so. But there are also stories of children who find the courage to protect themselves.

Such is the story of Hansel and Gretel.

Instantly I was lost inside this short tale. With illustrations by Jen Corace, it’s a new classic. What’s different about this re-telling from all others is the feel and language of the book.

The father and the stepmother again told the children to wait under a tree, promising this time certainly to return with berries.

The children waited all night. By morning they were waiting still.

I read Hansel and Gretel in one sitting and reread it before getting up. This book will be a new addition to my children’s library.

Book Infomation:

• Hansel and Gretel by Cynthia Rylant (2008)
• Illustrated by Jen Coarce
• Hyperion Books for Children
• 32 pages

Read for the Once Upon a Time, Young Readers, and 100+ challenges

Day Seven’s Summary

I finished reading Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan this morning. What a great read! It’s marketed towards the high school crowd, but after several references to the sitcom My So-Called Life, I knew this book is really for my generation.

The book is about the “five-minute” relationship between two strangers that turns into an unforgettable first date complete with great music, drunk loyal friends, ex-girlfriends from hell, and the possibility of new love.

I also finished Patti Digh’s Life is a Verb: 37 Days to wake up, be mindful, and live intentionallyy. It’s a great self-help book with tons of stories, exercises, examples and laughs to get you going. The inspiration for the book come from Digh’s father. Her father was diagnosed with lung cancer and died just thirty seven days later. This is not a book of sadness or grief, but one that celebrates life and the human potential fully. I cannot say enough about the book, but I can say this: go out and buy it now. Also go and check out Patti’s blog: http://37days.typepad.com/37days/