tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18568635406991289722024-03-12T23:06:12.370-07:00Project: Newbery AwardReviews of kids' books which have won the prestigious Newbery Award for children's literature. Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16627065628317652042noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-60238368515495088072022-08-25T21:54:00.000-07:002022-08-25T21:55:39.168-07:001954 - …And Now, Miguel<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotKhwn4qu5Fy1n5p1FWJjDVP-G1b95qmHx23uyHEKUqJ28q0gO6WkoIYm0jUUqnvvaRgIQVQfLvtEnxIl3uwYn1-1DONBYrV7mv0x-s4LKoxhnoK9zbPUJgHuEty5LiApuoIZsZSRSXTYwtGaovs7IMl1wVuaB9fVUmQ39g5jjNvkxp1xtKMsuF60/s1440/Photo%20on%208-25-22%20at%209.49%20PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="960" height="437" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotKhwn4qu5Fy1n5p1FWJjDVP-G1b95qmHx23uyHEKUqJ28q0gO6WkoIYm0jUUqnvvaRgIQVQfLvtEnxIl3uwYn1-1DONBYrV7mv0x-s4LKoxhnoK9zbPUJgHuEty5LiApuoIZsZSRSXTYwtGaovs7IMl1wVuaB9fVUmQ39g5jjNvkxp1xtKMsuF60/w291-h437/Photo%20on%208-25-22%20at%209.49%20PM.jpg" width="291" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> </span><p></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This book, written by Joseph Krumgold, is one of the older Newbery Award books. It was written several years before I was born, but would have easily been present in my school or hometown library. Indeed, it is an old library discard, because the old usually has to make way for the new. I try to imagine myself reading it, possibly in the 4th grade, and wonder how well I would have enjoyed it. And did I enjoy it now, almost 70 years after it was written? Kinda, sorta.</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Miguel is an 11 year-old boy in a large family of sheep ranchers in New Mexico. He is not the youngest child, and not the oldest one, but in the middle, and he is trying to find his place and his role in the work and in the family. He is not a little boy any more and yearns to be regarded as a valuable worker along with the men and his big brother, Gabriel. Miguel’s biggest goal, his dream is to be allowed to go with the other men to take the sheep up into the Sangre de Cristo mountains for the summer. </span></p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This book is like a mini-documentary, following the work of raising sheep, seen from a boy’s perspective. From spring lambing time, shearing, finding a lost herd, Miguel describes everything he does and sees, and how he tries to prove his worth. But he is disappointed when his dad says, “No.” He is still too young. Desperate, he prays to the patron saint of his town, San Ysidro to find a way to let him go with the sheep and the men of his family to the summer grazing fields. </span></p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When Miguel’s father calls to him and says that the boy will go with them after all, he is ecstatic and proud—until he finds out how his prayer was answered. His brother Gabriel has gotten a letter from the draft board calling him up, and now, in spite of his youth, Miguel will be needed with the sheep. Miguel is close to and looks up to his big brother, and feeling guilty, he prays to take back his request, but San Ysidro does not answer this prayer. </span></p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Miguel and Gabriel have a deep discussion about the role of the saints and prayers, and why things work the way they do. Even though their conversation is emotionally taxing, Gabriel says that he is glad that they could have the talk. The reader could feel a deeper connection between the two of them after that. Almost like an epilog, the journey up to the grazing grounds is told, and they arrive safely. </span></p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The author spent time with the real Miguel, and the book recounts his real life story. It is told in the first person, and the manner of speech must be similar to what Krumgold picked up from him. If Krumgold’s name is slightly familiar, that is because he is the one who wrote another Newbery Award book Onion John (which I have previously reviewed on this blog).</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I can see why this book was a contender for the prize, but I can also see that it is not the subject and style of what youth today would be interested in reading. I found it in a Little Free Library at Turtle Bay Park.</span></p>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-60629707136620522602021-08-29T21:51:00.001-07:002021-08-29T21:51:10.880-07:002007 - The Higher Power of Lucky<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwh4jn2sDiFh4bOVXfkQVTtCZKiJkn9CZ_qrX08wH9skRJSSm_ts6U7-gUMYiXo6MtlGYyGgYS9l0AvO7XnV7p3B5ShJ0VNvv8i34mFdYVnJ3OUbdwM_BpIqyrAHqz0xtlFjgRFTWhGms/s2048/IMG_6352.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwh4jn2sDiFh4bOVXfkQVTtCZKiJkn9CZ_qrX08wH9skRJSSm_ts6U7-gUMYiXo6MtlGYyGgYS9l0AvO7XnV7p3B5ShJ0VNvv8i34mFdYVnJ3OUbdwM_BpIqyrAHqz0xtlFjgRFTWhGms/s320/IMG_6352.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It was a pretty little book with a puzzling title and a delicately sweeping image of a young girl in a red dress, clutching a object, with her hand open to the sky. Her face, lightly sketched, was wistful, peaceful. Plus that gold seal that calls to me, A Newbery Award winner! I plucked “The Higher Power of Lucky” by Susan Patron off the thrift store shelf, looking forward to discovering what it was about. </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A book doesn’t have to sock you in the first couple pages to insure you don’t get bored and set it down. Sometimes it just has to intrigue you or ask a question or make you curious about what is going on with the character. The first couple paragraphs did that for me. I’d wondered about the title. Did it mean, being lucky gave the character power? Nope. “Lucky” is the name of the character.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Lucky is crouching behind the dumpster with her ear to a hole in the wall of Hard Pan’s Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center. She is listening to Short Sammy tell the story of how he hit rock bottom, quit drinking, and found his “higher power.” She has heard lots of rock-bottom stories at all the twelve-step meetings behind that wall; gamblers, alcoholics, smokers and overeaters, but Short Sammy’s is her favorite. He had drunk a half gallon of rum listening to Johnny Cash all morning in his parked ‘62 Cadillac, then fallen out of the car when he saw a rattlesnake on the passenger seat biting his dog, Roy, on the scrotum.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Do tell.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Lucky is always a little disappointed with the stories. Because the people never say HOW they got their higher power. And that is what she needs to know, since she needs a higher power and has no idea how to get it. Gradually we learn that Lucky has a guardian, and that the story of her parents is very unfortunate. Stability for a kid is so important, and Lucky knows that even though things seem fine, you can’t trust they will stay that way. She thinks:</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">“…let’s say her Guardian just gave up and quit because Lucky did something terrible. The difference between a guardian and an actual mom is that a mom can’t resign. A mom has the job for life.”</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The little hardscrabble desert town of Hard Pan is where Lucky lives. Her world is populated with interesting characters including her best friend, Lincoln, who is obsessed with knots; tying them, learning new ones, talking about them. Bridgette, the Guardian, is from France, and Lucky is worried that she will decide she has had enough of Hard Pan and Lucky and fly back home, leaving her with no other option but to go to an orphanage somewhere. </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A little better communication would have helped stave off the inevitable crisis, but in reality, that is what happens. People don’t share the whole story or the plans with the kids, not realizing how deeply their minds are trying to process what’s going on, how maybe the kid thinks they have to do the work of controlling the very scary situations that seem to loom in their lives. And you cannot count on the child confiding their fears and conclusions to the grown-up in charge.</p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Lucky takes some lessons from the twelve-step stories she has been eavesdropping on and starts looking for signs for when she should act upon her secret plan. By now she is convinced that Brigette is going to leave her, and the best way to gain control over her life is to leave first. She is going to run away. The emotions Lucky goes through as she makes her running-away plans are plaintive. She cries as she imagines how everyone will miss her. And the next day she begins looking for the signs. </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I really liked this book. It was gently funny in surprising little situations. Her budding awareness of Lincoln as someone she wanted to impress, as a pretty girl, was humorous. Her patience with Miles, the annoying little boy who always came over for cookies, added a layer to Lucky’s character. </p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I got this book at Salvation Army for about a buck. </p>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-24950890393976023172021-02-25T09:59:00.003-08:002021-02-25T10:09:25.156-08:002013 - The One and Only Ivan<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-7IdE8qih1vTYXpkzwgP1td5RUw4FGB_55mKGK0wXpsOjfUECbWyBimwL-M4ga3u63cMCY34CJFcYtFe3B0w147Qy-ikaTH-p0-ee3zdARs3McEB6se9664e6IMi9806Itjv9HqWB5s/s1020/Screen+Shot+2021-02-25+at+9.52.12+AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="740" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-7IdE8qih1vTYXpkzwgP1td5RUw4FGB_55mKGK0wXpsOjfUECbWyBimwL-M4ga3u63cMCY34CJFcYtFe3B0w147Qy-ikaTH-p0-ee3zdARs3McEB6se9664e6IMi9806Itjv9HqWB5s/w267-h368/Screen+Shot+2021-02-25+at+9.52.12+AM.png" width="267" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">I decided to review “The One and Only Ivan,” by Katherine Applegate when I saw a Facebook post by my teacher friend, who had just finished reading it aloud to her 5th grade class. It sounded like a moving experience for her, and when I realized it was a Newbery Award book, I put it in the “Newbery Project,” and requested it from the library.</span><p></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve been doing a lot of digital books from the library, and while they don’t have the sensory advantages of paper and binding, their accessibility makes up for it. I had no idea of the length of the book. By touching the screen here and there, you can kind of figure that out, but I usually just start reading. I was really glad that the book was longer than I first thought and took the time to tell the story well. The characters were able to reveal themselves gradually, rather than the plot just zipping right along.</span></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ivan is a fully grown, mature silverback lowland gorilla. He is one of the star attractions of a cheesy little circus-mall at an interstate offramp. Ivan lives in a cage with a jungle scene painted on the back wall. And as he puts it, the waterfall doesn’t flow and the flowers don’t smell. Ivan is a survivor, and one way he survives is to put the best spin he can on his life circumstance. He refuses to refer to the enclosures as “cages.” They are “domains.”</span></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ivan’s neighbors, Stella the elephant, and Bob, the stray dog are like his family. Emily, the custodian’s daughter has a special relationship to Ivan because they are both artists. At night, Emily sits in front of his cage painting and drawing, and slipping crayons and sheets of paper through a hole in his glass wall.</span></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But business isn’t going so well. Ivan isn’t a cute little gorilla anymore. Paying customers like baby animals. When Mack, the owner and operator of the circus-mall buys and brings back a baby elephant to boost sales, things begin to change for Ivan. He begins to remember events in his life that, for his survival, he’d had to set aside. And along the way, he makes a promise that seems impossible to fulfill.</span></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The book has many many chapters. Some are longish, some are only one sentence. But these “chapters” are points of significance to Ivan, who tells the story. Some of them recount what’s happening in his daily life, some are memories or reflections or decisions.</span></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’d already come to the conclusion that it is wrong to keep as pets exotic animals who should be in their natural environment. And there is absolutely no ethical way to justify taking baby animals from the wild for the pet trade. “The One and Only Ivan” is a sensitive and well-written book to introduce children to that concept. </span></div><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Fun Fact: Katherine Applegate and her husband co-authored the enormously popular "Animorph" series books.</i></span></p><div><br /></div>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-89205647697865692382021-01-08T21:19:00.003-08:002021-01-08T21:25:51.006-08:001994 - The Giver<p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqfLHYCth5sxKBP4BswdaWolNRNntnTV7LazS4gSUKVlAfvbg30qc3lY8Uc1Px01O2vU1QoolsUFe4-J45-BuJV_EDuVFPS8GcbNpmWDAay8f2NEcOo7rmSQ4WhR7IgtVWUpSQB3bq3FQ/s2048/IMG_5932.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqfLHYCth5sxKBP4BswdaWolNRNntnTV7LazS4gSUKVlAfvbg30qc3lY8Uc1Px01O2vU1QoolsUFe4-J45-BuJV_EDuVFPS8GcbNpmWDAay8f2NEcOo7rmSQ4WhR7IgtVWUpSQB3bq3FQ/s320/IMG_5932.JPG" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Reviewing “The Giver,” by Lois Lowry has been on my list for a long time. But I have put it off. I think one reason is because it is such a significant book for its ideas and its precedence in dystopian literature for youth. I had to do justice to the teachers who required reading it and the children to whom it was assigned. And also, I wasn’t sure how to cover it properly. I didn’t read it as a child, but only as an adult. I couldn’t decide whether I enjoyed it all or just parts of it. So I let it sit. And then picked it up and read it again for fresh perspective.</span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Here is the warning: Spoilers ahead. I’m not just going to hint at the events and then say, “Go read this!” If you want that, you can read the back cover.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">It’s a short little book, only 180 pages, and the messages aren’t complicated. When a civilization gives the authorities permission and power to make life fair, equal, safe, and predictable, the end result is that choice is taken away. And the unfolding of what that really means is why the book is gripping.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Jonas is an eleven-year-old boy in a family group. He has one little sister. That is what is allowed. It matches the available food supply and ensures a stable population. One boy and one girl. They have an enviable manner of relating to each other, the parents kind and nurturing, understanding and guiding. Jonas is nearing his 12th birthday, his coming-of-age ceremony, when he will be treated like an adult in the community. He will be assigned his job, the one he will do for the rest of his life. But he is worried. What if he doesn’t like his assignment? Soothing assurances that he will are very believable. His youth has been spent trying out all possibilities, and the elders have been paying close attention. Who wouldn’t want to have someone slot you into exactly what is right for you? Who doesn’t remember the agony of having to figure out “what I want to be when I grow up?” The reader accepts this. And continues to find out all the other choices that have been taken away from the people with the goal of peace and comfort and equality. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Spouses are carefully matched and then assigned. Their purpose is to become a family group. After the children are raised, there is no purpose to their union, so they each go their separate ways to live in community with other childless adults. The babies are likewise applied for and assigned. This situation ensures that there are no connections, no memories passed down through generations, as if the present is all there is.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">At his (and all the other 12 year-olds) birthday ceremony, Jonas finds out that he has been selected for a very rare position, a Receiver of Memories, to eventually replace the current Receiver, who is old. These memories, his own plus the collective memories of the entire community only exist in his head, and he must pass them on to the next Receiver before he dies. The memories might be vital for important decisions the elders might need to make, though apparently being summoned for advice is exceedingly rare. When Jonas asks his name, what he should call him, the man replies, “The Giver.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Over their sessions, Jonas learns about pain, love, death, beauty, and family, things that have been traded away in exchange for security and equality. He would like to share what he has found out, see if anyone else would rather have choices. But it is forbidden to speak of what he learns, and when he tries to carefully broach the subject, he is rebuffed. No one is interested in a seeing things a different way. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">There is a sinister element that winds around their lives, clouded by a euphemism. “Released.” Such a pleasant term, such a good exchange for when it's time to give up life in the community. Or when someone just doesn't fit in. Of course, the reader knows what that really means, and Jonas’s turning point comes when he realizes it. And when it comes so close to home that he is horrified and repelled, he must act. He must leave. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">It can be seductive to consider the offer of peace and comfort in exchange for control and self-autonomy. It can start small. And some of these exchanges are necessary for societies to function. If, after the tipping point, one could turn around and view what’s been lost, then perhaps they would protest, rebel and take back their free humanity. But if the memories are gone, if the experiences aren’t there, to remember what “snow” is, or “grandparents” are, then it won’t happen. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I wasn’t happy about the ending. There is no other way to interpret it than it is ambivalent. And of course we want to know, what really happened‽ (My favorite punctuation—the interrobang) There is apparently a sequel that seems to take care of that, but I think the most honest way of explaining an ending is to just use what is provided in the book. And if I had to pick the optimistic or pessimistic ending, I’m afraid I’d have to go with the sad ending. But you can choose the other if you wish! </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I got this book at the thrift store. It was a school library discard with the pocket and the check-out card still in it. It was charming to see the signatures of all the children who had read it over a four year span. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5roZozalYkEw1x1ZRT3Cdke1SYj7mN-uFakthiqqSA02nGTB2Ai6I4g7MuyAcycIckkOxeFgw-Jx9fQdwPIz3NFZxaT3w4a_LjCq68fPV5OmazPD7_H8he8q638GJri5C8MlQoiVHeI/s2048/IMG_5933.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5roZozalYkEw1x1ZRT3Cdke1SYj7mN-uFakthiqqSA02nGTB2Ai6I4g7MuyAcycIckkOxeFgw-Jx9fQdwPIz3NFZxaT3w4a_LjCq68fPV5OmazPD7_H8he8q638GJri5C8MlQoiVHeI/s320/IMG_5933.JPG" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-63676943815981664122020-01-27T10:45:00.000-08:002020-01-27T12:25:17.993-08:001987 Honor - A Fine White Dust<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I wasn’t sure that I wanted to write a review on Cynthia Rylant’s “A Fine White Dust.” I had picked it up (at a thrift store), read it, put the title and cover picture in the blog as a draft, and then just left it alone for a long time. Wasn’t it a good book? After all, it received the Newbery Honor prize. For one thing, it wasn’t my style of enjoyable reading. It was very “meaningful,” and felt a little disturbing to me. But as I told my kids when they were in school and sometimes resisted those sorts of book assignments, wanting to stay in the fast & fun novel category, I said that it was the “meaningful” books that they would remember. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">“A Fine White Dust” is a short little book, coming in at just over a hundred pages and can be read in under an hour. The subject is religion, but the theme of the book is about betrayal and a sensitive adolescent boy’s efforts to find meaning in life and work out his value system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Pete is a spiritual boy who connects with that part of himself through going to church and feeling love for Jesus. It disturbs him that his parents are not church-goers, even though they put no obstacles in his way for attending, and that his best friend, Rufus, is an avowed atheist, even though Rufus doesn’t mind Pete being religious. In the middle of Pete’s growing concern over the state of their souls, the Preacher Man comes to town to hold a revival, consisting of evening evangelistical church services held over several days. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The Preacher Man is a charismatic guy with a compelling and enthralling personality. Pete first sees him at the side of the road, hitchhiking, and he feels an instant reaction, imagining him to be an axe murderer. When Pete attends the church meeting and sees that the hitchhiker is actually the revival preacher, that intensity of feeling turns into an infatuation, a crush on the man. Pete throws his loyalty, affection, and sympathies to “The Man,” as he internally refers to him, going into full-blown hero worship, turning away from his best friend and his parents who create conflict with his new-born feelings. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The Man, however, is a charlatan, and Pete himself is betrayed. The people who are real in his life, his parents and Rufus, are there to support him as he recovers from his personal trauma. Pete learns that he can’t take any of them for granted, and that they love him by choice, and that they will stick by him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">One thing I was reminded of, in reading this book, is that communication can be difficult, especially for a child or adolescent. Pete finds it hard to communicate his spiritual feelings and growth to his parents and Rufus. Parents should know or remember how shy and squirmy kids can be about initiating or responding to conversations about religion, inner feelings, sex, dreams and goals, and embarrassing things. One thing in the book that is alluded to, but never explained is some past and personal experience Pete’s parents had with church or religion. Perhaps if that had been a conversation they had been able to initiate with him, some of Pete’s problems might have been avoided.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">A word of reassurance, even though the Preacher Man seems a little creepy in his attention to Pete, there is no overt reference to “that sort” of an inappropriate relationship.</span></div>
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-44211370443216640042020-01-21T08:20:00.000-08:002020-01-21T08:20:18.247-08:001949 - King of the Wind<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The author’s name, Marguerite Henry, is a familiar one. At a young age I read Brighty of the Grand Canyon, multiple times, and I was familiar with some of her other books. For some reason, “King of the Wind” had never crossed paths with me, so when I saw it in Goodwill, and that it had a Newbery sticker on it, I grabbed it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">King of the Wind is the story of the Godolphin Arabian, the origin of the line of racehorses that brought us Man ‘O War, Seabiscuit, and War Admiral. This book is a “historical novel,” part truth, part fiction, and begins with an introductory chapter of Man ‘O War’s match race against Sir Barton, the pride of Canada. After winning the race, Man ‘O War’s owner ponders the story of the Godolphin Arabian, the ancestor of this dynasty of racehorses, which began 200 years ago as the little orphaned colt, Sham.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Sham was born in the royal stables of the Sultan of Morocco, cared for by the little stableboy, Agba. Agba remembers the words an old storyteller told him when the mare, Sham's mother, was ready to foal, “When Allah created the horse, he said to the wind, ‘I will that a creature proceed from thee. Condense thyself.’ And the wind condensed itself, and the result was the horse.” Sure enough, the little colt grows up to be unusually fast. The Sultan decides to send a gift of six of his young steeds to the boy-king of France, Louis the XV, to better their line of horses and curry favor from France. Stableboys are sent with the animals, and Agba is chosen to accompany Sham.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Things go wrong from there. The horses arrive in terrible shape, the king and his advisors do not appreciate the fine-boned size of the Arabians, and Sham is set to work as a carthorse. None of his owners can manage him properly because of his high spirit, and so he is relentlessly passed on from one owner to the next, at the mercy of rough men and their ignorant handling. All the while, Agba stays with Sham, one way or another, caring for him as best he can, understanding him, and believing in him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Finally through a mishap during a breeding session at the Godolphin Stables, Sham covers the visiting mare instead of the chosen sire. And when the resulting colt proves himself unusually fast on the racetrack, Sham is brought out to finally live in the glory he was destined for, as the Godolphin Stallion, the sire of famous racehorses, that live on to this present day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I enjoyed the book, and several of the scenes stuck with me, but towards the end, the rough owners began to blur together, and I just wanted to get to the end where Sham is finally recognized for the great horse he is. So there might have been a bit of skimming.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">King of the Wind is a very nice horse book, and it will bring to mind Anna Sewel’s Black Beauty. But of course, when I finished it, I had to know; what was fact and what was fiction? So I looked it up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Agba, the little Moroccan stableboy was fiction. He is a well-placed device to give continuity to the story, and for SOMEONE to know Sham’s history during the book. Black Beauty didn’t need an Agba, since his life was told in first person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Sham was actually foaled in Yemen, not Morocco, in about 1724. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The breeding mishap was not as dramatic as the novel conjectures. In reality, Sham was used as a “teaser stallion,” a stud used to judge receptiveness of the mare. When Roxanna, the broodmare, rejected the intended sire, they went ahead and let Sham breed her. But the core of truth in the novel is plain; it was a serendipitous match that brought about a whole dynasty of racehorses. </span></div>
Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-55297759747668474482019-11-14T21:51:00.000-08:002019-11-14T21:51:35.908-08:001939 - Thimble Summer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I hadn't been looking to pick up new Newbery Books lately, since I already had a handful in my library that I haven't done reviews on yet. But there I was in Goodwill, skimming through the titles and came across "Thimble Summer" by Elizabeth Enright. I did not remember seeing that one in the lists that I go over every now and then. The cover fooled me, as covers do, in thinking it had been published in the last dozen or so years. It had a sort of "modern look" about it, though I thought the subject matter might be perhaps, say, set in the 50's. But a page into it, I could tell it had been written in a more old fashion style. I checked the copyright, and it was written in 1938, and set in its time, I'd say.<br />
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The quaint interior illustrations, by the author, clearly show the time period the book was written.<br />
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It is interesting to me to consider how the style, feel, and content of children's literature has changed over the last hundred years. The whole "Life was simpler then, blah blah," is definitely one factor. Thimble Summer is well-written, and not boring, but the big climax of the story is the county fair, when Garnet takes her pig in to see if it will win a ribbon.<br />
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There are other gentle enjoyments of the story. Perhaps the one with the most tension to a modern-day mom like me is when she gets mad and takes off hitchhiking to a town some distance away, staying most of the day there. Of course, kids did that then. My own mother tells me about doing that when she was a kid.<br />
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Garnet's family are farmers. It was hot and the rains wouldn't come. The bills were coming though, and her dad was plenty worried if they could make it, if everything shriveled and there were no crops. While out playing in the creek with her brother, Garnet finds a silver thimble and feels that there might be magic in it. That night, the rains come.<br />
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That summer brings a lot of good things to Garnet and her family, a new family member, a new barn, adventures with her portly friend, Citronella. The thimble reappears later, but strangely is not referred to much during the story.<br />
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When I looked up the Newbery winners before and after Thimble Summer, I saw that the honor books bookending it were Ingalls Wilder's "On the Banks of Plum Creek," and "By the Shores of Silver Lake," which gives some context to the tale-telling of the era.<br />
This was a decently good book, and it would be enjoyed very much by a reader who doesn't demand action-adventure and has an interest in some bygone ways.<br />
I got this used at the thrift store for about 2 bucks.Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-91075511987029587142017-07-08T11:07:00.001-07:002017-07-08T11:07:01.043-07:002000 Honor - Getting Near to Baby<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P047ArZmKwM/WWEWqJErbOI/AAAAAAAACDk/oY1JW59O_GAYM5a1CsdX_HUsgP0IY4AiACHMYCw/s2048/Photo%2B20170708102956531" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P047ArZmKwM/WWEWqJErbOI/AAAAAAAACDk/oY1JW59O_GAYM5a1CsdX_HUsgP0IY4AiACHMYCw/s500/Photo%2B20170708102956531" id="blogsy-1499535022046.8298" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="669"></a></div><p> What a mysterious title! And what sad (thoughtful? dreamy?) expressions on the two girls, rendered in a soft, yet stark black and white cover illustration! And what are they doing, sitting on a roof? I picked up <u>Getting Near to Baby</u>, by Audrey Couloumbis off the book rack at the thrift store and bought it. I let myself find out only that the family's baby had died, and then I began reading it. </p><p>Willa Jo is already on the roof as the story begins. Little Sister has already followed her up there as the morning breaks, and folks begin to discover them perched up there. Willa Jo tells this in her own voice, letting the story unfold gradually. She has a lot on her mind. She and Little Sister have been sent to stay with their Aunt Patty and Uncle Hob for a while after Baby died. Their mother was affected to the point she had difficulty caring for them, and Aunt Patty swooped in to take the two sisters in. </p><p>But Aunt Patty and Willa Jo are at odds from the beginning. They are both brash with strong personalities. Aunt Patty is not only trying to navigate having two children suddenly living with her, but she has never had children and doesn't always know to relate. Willa Jo is frustrated with suddenly having so much control over her own life taken away, such things as having to buy and wear new clothes she hates and having her aunt try to manage her new friendships. And underneath it all is the deep sad minefield of Baby's death.</p><p>How did Baby die? How can the family come together again? Can they help each other through this? And why did Willa Jo decide to go on the roof and hang out? </p><p>Finally, near the end of the book, we have Willa Jo's complete narrative of the event that led to Baby's death. And the reader understands why they are on the roof. Through the filter of Willa Jo's words, I did not care much for Aunt Patty. But that is the way it is when you have one side and that persons feelings influence all the description. When Willa Jo grew in her understanding, Aunt Patty became a more sympathetic figure. And it didn't hurt when Aunt Patty finally joined the girls on the roof!</p><p>In this book, I especially enjoyed the pages spent on Willa Jo's growing friendship with the neighbor girl and her eccentric family. I appreciated how firmly she was able to claim her own friendship in spite of Aunt Patty's strong disapproval. </p><p>Don't let the inherent sadness in the topic put you off this book. It is worth reading!</p><p>I paid about 2 bucks for this at Goodwill.</p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-80771413232020483332017-04-22T18:36:00.001-07:002017-04-22T18:36:09.700-07:001962 - The Bronze Bow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ehe7UBFznEo/WPv7V08nj-I/AAAAAAAACAQ/m2tHUFu1asUGJc7cVCGTojf9A_tm-16twCHM/s2048/Photo%2B20170422175431535" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ehe7UBFznEo/WPv7V08nj-I/AAAAAAAACAQ/m2tHUFu1asUGJc7cVCGTojf9A_tm-16twCHM/s500/Photo%2B20170422175431535" id="blogsy-1492908891776.126" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="669"></a></div><p> </p><p>Sometimes I wonder how it is that the same authors win the Newbery Award multiple times. Are they champions in the world of children's literature? Are there actually just few writers of children's literature? Is there a familiarity with these names in the higher reaches? I don't know enough to make a guess. But if you are familiar with the interesting and excellent Newbery Winner, The Witch of Blackbird Pond (1959), then you are familiar with Elizabeth George Speare, who also wrote this award winner, <u>The Bronze Bow.</u></p><p><u><br></u></p><p>The first time I started to read this book, I was put off at first by realizing that it was a story about young people interacting with Jesus and his ministry. I put it away for awhile while I examined my feelings about a book of this nature being part of the Newbery Award platform. I had to consider how I would feel if it were about the origins of Islam, promoting that way. Or, like <u>The Cat Who Went to Heaven</u>, a clear pitch on Buddhism. I didn't want to dismiss it, just because it might belong to the category of propaganda or tracts. It did win the award, after all. So I picked it up again and dove in.</p><p> </p><p>Daniel is a young man, 18 years old, who has chosen to live a life in hiding, in the mountains with Rosh and his band of zealots. He has a sorry past of pain and loss at the hands of the occupying Romans, and he has turned his life over to revenge and hate, and future glory when they overthrow the hated overlords and Israel reclaims its land and autonomy. He looks to Rosh as a father figure and is proud and grateful when give the chance to participate in raids against traders on the road. We are allowed to see that Rosh is an uncouth and selfish leader, who cares nothing for the men in his band except what they can do for him. But Daniel is blind to that. </p><p> </p><p>After Daniel makes some friends from the town, while they were out exploring the hills, he begins to spend some time down there. He visits the hut of his grandmother and sister, Leah, who is suffering from mental disorder from the earlier trauma to their family. He stays, he goes, he comes back; he can't stand to be there, but he feels guilty for not being there for them. He develops his friendship more deeply to the pair he met in the hills, and then enters into intrigue and spying and plans for revenge and helping to bring about the revolution, trusting in Rosh to carry through on his part. </p><p> </p><p>Daniel hates the Romans, deeply. Stupidly deeply. Spitting at them, insulting them, seemingly not able to control his actions. Hate and anger, anger and hate. Selfishness. Mean to his sister. He's nice at times, but is so selfish he cannot care for her or her needs beyond a pretty low bar. Jesus is kind of a sidebar to the story, really. You just get a brief inclination of what he was all about. But it feels that the story is leading to a redemption of Daniel and his awful nature, even if that nature is mixed in with sincere concern for Jewish freedom. He struggles a little with some of the ideas Jesus has communicated, such as loving your enemies and his coming kingdom, but manages to shrug most of it off. </p><p> </p><p>Even though Jesus is a real person in this book, he has been cast in a mystical glow, as he speaks and heals the sick. You will have guessed already that Daniel is indeed redeemed and changed from his former self, but unsatisfyinly so. I did not like the character. He did not have my sympathy, especially for the way he treated his family, and for his rage and surliness. I could have invested more of myself in the story if I had been allowed to see more of his change of heart, his reactions to self-revelation, his regret over past actions. But the author waited until the last couple pages to handle that, and I only know Daniel's character as the young man I spent 250 pages getting to know and dislike.</p><p> </p><p>Bought this book at the thrift store.</p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-3891197973989925142017-04-07T12:20:00.001-07:002017-04-07T12:20:18.235-07:002017 - The Girl Who Drank the Moon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LwP69pnYK5A/WOfhITIK0xI/AAAAAAAAB_8/8RHmSjC88d4/s2048/Photo%25252020170407115721049.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LwP69pnYK5A/WOfhITIK0xI/AAAAAAAAB_8/8RHmSjC88d4/s500/Photo%25252020170407115721049.jpg" id="blogsy-1491591461857.9402" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="669"></a></div><p> The kindly witch of the forest did not mean to feed the baby moonlight. She had only intended to satisfy the infant with drops of honey-sweet starlight to keep her happy on the journey to the free cities, where the formerly doomed child could be raised with love and happiness and sunshine. But she wasn't paying attention. She let her mind wander. Maybe you will feel that she did it "accidentally on purpose." But in any rate, the deed was done--the child was now enmagicked, and Xan must raise Luna as her own, teaching her the ways of magic and loving her as her own "granddaughter."</p><p> </p><p>Where did these abandoned babies come from, one each year? Xan didn't know, but she did know that if she did not rescue them, they would be devoured by wild animals. The truth is, they were the annual sacrifice from the gloomy village, to sate the evil witch of the forest, according to their myth. But the truth was even more horrible than the depressing loss of the youngest child of the town each year. An evil existed that was beyond their knowledge, and almost beyond Xan's, perhaps the only one who could help their world from being destroyed.</p><p> </p><p><u>The Girl Who Drank the Moon</u> by Kelly Barnhill is lyrical, mysterious, tucked with magic and mysterious creatures, but grounded in the reality of a good story well-told. The threads that run through the pages eventually come together. And while you know what you want to happen, you cannot trust that it will. This is that sort of book. </p><p> </p><p>I really enjoyed every one of its 386 pages. But unless you want to find yourself staying up late because you don't want to put it down, don't get too close to the end of it at bedtime!</p><p> </p><p>I bought this hardbound version (brand new 2017 award) from Amazon.</p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-74667175952995658672017-03-26T17:36:00.001-07:002017-03-26T17:36:21.598-07:002015 Honor - El Deafo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I loved this book!<br />
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I wanted to get some more contemporary Newbery books in my collection, rather than flip through the old classics always present at the thrift store. I did some research online and came up with a few books to order, this being one of them.<br />
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<u>El Deafo</u>, by Cece Bell, is an autobiographical graphic novel of her life from age 4 until about 18. The illustrations are very very fun. Everyone is a sort of animal, my best guess is rabbit. That makes it less about who is pretty, who is not, what ethnicity are they and what does that mean, etc. It's all about, what are they like? What is their personality and way of interacting with their friends? And it's all about the people. No swirling background scenes to distract from the interactions and from the inner life of Cece, the main character and star.<br />
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At 4 years old, little Cece was stricken by a severe case of meningitis, which left her without most of her hearing. A hearing aid helped. And that was good. Except that you can imagine what it was like starting school with a bulky device strapped to your body and wires in your ears. What do these kids think about you? Are they staring at you? Are they making fun of you? Cece shares her thoughts, fantasies (which can be very funny, and will also strike a chord if you can remember your childhood fantasies) accomplishments and regrets as she goes along with her life.<br />
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And then, when she realizes her superpower, well, that is very empowering. Could the teachers have guessed that having a microphone around their necks so as to communicate clearly with their hearing-impaired student would enable said student to hear what they were doing throughout the school grounds?<br />
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I found her relationships with her different "best friends" to be somewhat hilarious. You can think back on different school friends you have had, and name some that match up to these girls! And I totally get the eye-hearts when Cece is thinking about her crush.<br />
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I remember being like Cece, who found it difficult to say out loud what what she really thought about things. Watching her grow in the ability to assert herself was rewarding.<br />
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Honestly, if you have a kid who is about 4th grade, or a little below, or a little above, get them this book! Or if you are like me, and just have that appreciation for middle-school level literature, get it anyway. And then share it with the kids you know.<br />
<br />Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-59347176785548076132017-03-22T15:57:00.001-07:002017-03-26T12:41:55.914-07:001976 Honor - The Hundred Penny Box<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I had never heard of <u>The Hundred Penny Box</u> by Sharon Bell Mathis before. And there it was before me on the Goodwill shelf, a slim 47 page volume that looked more like a children's picture book at first glance. The illustrations are ethereal, with a dream-like quality, and also strong with emotion. Was this a simple little book with a nice message, or could something powerful be packed inside? <br />
We don't find out right away exactly what the hundred penny box is, but shortly we do see the family situation. Michael's dad's great Aunt Dew has come to live with them. She is very old, a hundred years old, in fact. Michael loves to visit with her and hear her stories, the stories that inhabit every year of her long and interesting life. And that is what the hundred penny box represents, a penny for each year, all packed into an old rugged wooden box. <br />
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Michael's mother is having a difficult time, however. There is little meaningful communication between the two women, and some misunderstanding. His mother has had to discard many of Aunt Dew's possessions when she moved in with them. And now she has her eye on the hundred penny box! To her, it is old and ugly and should be replaced with something newer and more attractive. Michael realizes what his mother does not, that the box is not just a decoration or a holder for the pennies, but that it is part of his family heritage and is the essence of Aunt Dew's self-identity. <br />
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The balance of power is never equal in a family. And this imbalance is well-felt by the reader. The lead characters, Michael and Aunt Dew, are the least powerful, as the very young and very old are. Simple things like autonomy of self, where to go, what to say, holding on to a beloved item that is slated for disposal, those can be a battle hard to win. <br />
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I paid a dollar for this book at Goodwill.<br />
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Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-90289104273674580512017-02-15T12:36:00.000-08:002017-02-15T12:37:38.802-08:001995 Honor - The Ear, the Eye and the Arm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The what? What a strange name for a book, I thought.<br />
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After I read a couple of other books from Nancy Farmer (and reviewed them on this blog) , <u>The Ear, the Eye and the Arm</u> was also recommended to me. This one was also deemed good enough for a Newbery medal, and so it was good enough for me.<br />
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When I know I'm going to read a book, I try not to know too much about what happens in it. I avoid the details in blurbs and reviews that give away the surprises. But I also like to be just a little prepared, so I can have more appreciation of the tale from the beginning. So I read the author's forward, which bears quoting:<br />
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<i>I used to work for a company in Zimbabwe called College Press. My job was to create stories for African school children, so I went to the secondhand stores to find out what they liked. There were no free libraries in Zimbabwe then, and new books were far too expensive for my students. I discovered that they loved science fiction. Several would chip in to buy a new novel for ten cents. They would read it and read it and read it until it fell apart. I went straight home and wrote </i>The Ear, the Eye and the Arm.<br />
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So yes, it is science fiction. But it is grounded and accessible to a concrete mind, concerned with all the things that children of this age are concerned about.<br />
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It is 200 years in the future, and although Africa is recognizable, things have changed technologically and to a lesser degree, politically. Tendai, Rita, and Kuda, the children of Zimbabwe's wealthy and powerful chief of security are itching to fulfill their scout badges. But even though all have been earned in the safe enclosure of the family compound, the explorer badge required some exploring. 13 year old Tendai wants to be allowed out into the city, for the first time in his life, to quickly and safely navigate a distance, and then return home later that day. With just a little trickery, they are out, and on an adventure.<br />
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When their father finds out, he is devastated, and for the first time realizes how unprepared he has made them to be out in the real world. He has made them weak, by keeping them isolated and totally safe, all while being somewhat disappointed in them because they were not as strong as he wanted them to be. He knows that his enemies will be after them, for ransom and, as it turns out, even more nefarious purposes.<br />
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But the children are actually pretty resourceful, and even when they end up in the clutches of people who don't wish them well, they are getting savvy, and learning the strengths of each other, and Tendai begins growing in the spirits of Africa.<br />
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After it is obvious their father will be unable to find them, their mother hires three detectives from an agency. They are Ear, a man with freakishly large ears who can hear whispers from another room, Eye, a huge-eyeballed man who can see details all others miss, and Arm, a strange spider-like man who picks up others' emotions. They pick up the trail, always just late enough to miss the children, but as they work, they are a part of the larger story that comes to a crashing conclusion with all the characters and spirits warring against each other at the top of a mile-high building.<br />
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I haven't read many African- based tales, but I do remember the feel and rhythm of <u>Anansi the Spider</u> books that I used to read to my children when they were small. This has a similar feel. Farmer's writing is fun and refreshing, and the concrete details that pop up make the story come alive.<br />
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I think the most popular youth books are coming-of-age stories, like this one, and the best ones handle complicated subjects in an interesting, skillful and realistic way. I liked how Tendai comes to appreciate the stubbornness and uncooperative personality of his sister, Rita, because that is how she survived their ordeal--she was strong. I appreciated the deep bond between the children. I liked the subtle way Farmer shows that Tendai's parents understand that he has now become a man.<br />
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I bought this book from Amazon. <br />
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<br />Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-18831867385582685572017-01-27T15:10:00.002-08:002017-01-27T15:10:45.543-08:001931 - The Cat Who Went to Heaven<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Have you ever heard of this one? I had not! Not until the other day, as I was browsing among the kid's books at Goodwill and saw it. There it was, the gold Newbery seal in the corner. <u>The Cat Who Went to Heaven</u>, by Elizabeth Coatsworth, is a slim little novel, only 54 pages in this edition. At the start of each chapter there is a small woodcut-looking picture of the cat, and between chapters there is a small poem, the old housekeeper's reflections and observations on the events unfolding.<br />
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This is an oriental story, specifically Japanese. It is supposedly based on a Buddhist folk tale, from what I can glean on the internet.<br />
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The painter is poor, so poor that he and his old housekeeper are practically starving. He hasn't sold any paintings in so long, there is hardly any money left. The wise housekeeper understands that they are lonely, and buys a cat with some of their last coins. At first the artist is furious. After all, cats are evil!<br />
"'A cat? A cat?' he cried. 'Have you gone mad? Here we are starving and you must bring home a goblin, a goblin to share the little we have, and perhaps to suck our blood at night! Yes! it will be fine to wake up in the dark and feel teeth at our throats and look into eyes as big as lanterns! but perhaps you are right! Perhaps we are so miserable it would be a good thing to have us die at once, and be carried over the ridgepoles in the jaws of a devil!'"<br />
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But the cat's meek, polite and well-mannered ways gradually win over the man. Especially when he notices the cat "praying to The Enlightened One," he becomes quite fond of her.<br />
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One day the priest brings news that a painting of the Death of Buddha is needed for the temple, and the omens have chosen this artist to provide it. The commission comes with an initial purse of money, to ease his mind while he works.<br />
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The artist spends 3 days meditating on Buddha's life, so that he can best represent his death. He paints in all the animals that have a significance in Buddha's life and his past lives. As the painting nears completion, he becomes more and more saddened as his fondness for the cat grows. For everyone knows that a cat has no place in heaven or with Buddha, since the cat was too proud and rebellious to receive his blessing. What should he do? Turn in his commissioned work like he knows they would all want it to be? Or to follow his conscience and paint in this cat, who obviously honors Buddha and wishes to be included?<br />
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You'll have to see what happens. I wish I could say what happens. But it should be discovered on one's own reading. Not your typical western children's story finale.<br />
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I did enjoy reading it, though it did read equally balanced between a folk tale and religious tract. It was interesting to imagine it told in a western Christian version.<br />
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I got this from Goodwill for $1.99.Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-80042830709952641282016-12-28T11:09:00.003-08:002016-12-28T11:09:33.327-08:002003 Honor - The House of the Scorpion<br />
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This one, I couldn't put it down. I think I pretty much read it straight through. It was the day after Christmas guests left, and it was just me, the fireplace, the couch, and leftover Christmas candy. And <u>The House of the Scorpion</u>, by Nancy Farmer.<br />
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I like books that don't spew everything you need to know on the first couple pages; that is part of the deliciousness, letting the interesting and pertinent bits come as they will. And even though you will be a little ahead of Matteo in figuring things out, that's ok, because he is just a little kid.<br />
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This dystopian-shaded book is set in the future, not too far away, just far away enough so that some things have changed. The important one being the border area between The United States and Mexico. Finally the countries got fed up enough with trying to manage border security that they made a deal with the drug lords, and a new country, appropriately named "Opium" stretched in a narrow band all along the border. Opium handled border security far better than either of the countries above and below, and in the process ending up with enough workers to toil in their eponymous fields. The concession was that they would only peddle their wares to the eastern hemisphere.<br />
<br />
But that is just the setting. What of the boy Matteo? Why is he so important, yet treated so strangely? What is his connection to El Patron, the 140 year old de facto ruler of Opium? You'll see a glimpse in the short family tree printed at the prologue, but you won't understand all the meaning of that until you get a little further into the book.<br />
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At first I was dismayed by listing of the family tree and the summary of who the characters were, at the start of the book. I don't like to have to figure out who everyone is before I am even motivated to do so, or to have all their relationships be so confusing that I need to keep flipping to where it's all mapped out. But never fear. A brief scan of the tree and then a few referrals are all that is needed. Once, I couldn't remember if someone was a cousin or other relative, but a quick check at the summary showed me she was only an acquaintance.<br />
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This is a book that I don't want to summarize, because you should enjoy the same pleasure I did in finding things out as they come along. But just a hint--if you like clones and "zombies", this will satisfy. One trait this book shares with some others I'm sure you have read is the jolt of the New Section, in this case called La Vida Nueva (The New Life). When you enter that, you will have the sense that it is another book, yet there is no time gap or style change between the two sections. You understand that he must leave in order to go back. He must endure other experiences before he can become a man. He must see things, understand other things, and The New Life brings that to Matteo.<br />
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I felt like the book could have spent a little more time handling the wrap-up of the new life, which circled back around, of course. It felt a little dizzying, the speed by which events happened. but perhaps since this is a young adult novel, it felt long enough to the author or editor by then. There is a sequel, which has good reviews, and I am interested enough in what happens to these characters and their situation that I plan on buying it.<br />
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I bought this book new on Amazon.Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-42860750660070520952016-12-22T18:43:00.001-08:002016-12-22T18:43:00.284-08:002011 - Moon Over Manifest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e7mMq-OjIOQ/WFyEYLV9KSI/AAAAAAAAB5c/jUEP1dhQ4O8/s2048/Photo%25252020161222175634228.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e7mMq-OjIOQ/WFyEYLV9KSI/AAAAAAAAB5c/jUEP1dhQ4O8/s500/Photo%25252020161222175634228.jpg" id="blogsy-1482458211955.4185" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="669"></a></div><p> Not only was <u>Moon Over Manifest,</u> by Clare Vanderpool, a Newbery Award winner, it was also a New York Times bestseller, according to the cover. A book full of mysteries, both big and little, it is a lush 342 pages, long enough to relax into the tale and let it unwind itself.</p><p>The adolescent girl Abilene is at the heart of the story. At least she is the heart of the story of her present day, which is actually back in the 30's, in the depression era. A sort of parallel story is going on alternately, which is happening around 1918, during WW1. </p><p>Abilene has been sent by her father to the town of Manifest, his hometown. They both rode the rails, until she became ill. She recovered, but it spooked him and caused him to send her there into the care of an old acquaintance. She knows nothing about the town, nothing about his presence there, nothing about the people, except embellished stories he has told her. She understands that she is to find out certain things, but no one in town is apparently willing to fill her in. She gains a couple of gal pals and they start sleuthing around, looking for the answer to some of the questions brought up by a bundle of old letters she has found in a secret hiding place.</p><p>Her best source turns out to be the local mystic/diviner. Abilene ends up spending time with her, and the old woman tells her, as if in a trance, segments of what happened back during the time of her father's childhood. Finally it all comes together, and Abilene is made more whole, along with those around her.</p><p>It could have been a little more confusing to keep track of what time period was going on at different times, but a couple things helped. The typeset was different, and the present day is told first person, while the older time is told by a narrator. But still, thinking back on the story, parts of my mind get a little confused about when was when. I liked the story and appreciate a lot of the elements, such as how people can give a first impression, but then when you get to know them, how different the story is. </p><p>Vanderpool is a really good writer, but... I liked reading it, but I didn't LOVE reading it. Why? I'm not sure. Personal preference with the style, possibly. I found it harder than I would have thought to latch on to Abby as someone I liked/identified with/had strong feelings about. The girls' conversations and figures of speech, and Abby's internal conversation just didn't grab me that much.</p><p>There is plenty here to enjoy and try to guess along with the clues gradually revealed, and the end wraps itself up pretty well. It was interesting to me that I am also in the middle of an audiobook with the subject being the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was also part of the "older time" part of the book. </p><p>I bought this copy from Amazon.</p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-84075015579344329582016-12-16T21:28:00.001-08:002016-12-16T21:28:30.365-08:002016 Honor - The War That Saved My Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O2T07_H1teI/WFTAn930LZI/AAAAAAAAB5I/WEtqneIpNvg/s1440/Photo%25252020161216203510056.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O2T07_H1teI/WFTAn930LZI/AAAAAAAAB5I/WEtqneIpNvg/s500/Photo%25252020161216203510056.jpg" id="blogsy-1481949346551.9978" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div><p> A dramatic title, and boy does it fit! This is bestselling author Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's first Newbery Honor book, but I bet it will not be her last. I was hooked from the first page, and I could hardly put it down until I had read the whole thing. <u>The War That Saved My Life</u> is WWII historical fiction for middle school readers, but adults will also find this to be a great story with enough depth to satisfy a more mature reader.</p><p>The story is set in England, at the cusp of Germany's air attack on that country. But Ada is hardly aware of what is going on outside her small room and little window, which is her only view and knowledge of the world. That and what she finds out from her little brother Jamie, who is allowed to go outside for school and to play and explore. But not Ada. She has a clubfoot, and her mother is ashamed for anyone to see her and so keeps her confined. But it becomes obvious that the mother is also sadistic and cruel, and there is no way for Ada to escape from her abusive life. Not until Jamie comes home with the news that London's children are being evacuated to the country. Without their mother's knowledge, the siblings manage to slip onto the train with the other evacuees and start a new life.</p><p>It is not that easy to move into a new life, especially with the burdens and trauma Ada has already suffered, and the home they move into is not especially welcoming at first. Susan, their new "foster mother" has more than enough of her own distractions and sadness to have a lot to give to the children. But they gradually work their ways into each other's hearts. Ada's clubfoot has always defined her, and indeed, it continues to loom as a large presence in her life, but her spirit heals and grows in the setting of kindness, respect, accomplishments, and... Ponies! The horses are moved into the story so naturally that it never feels like a horsey-girl genre book, but it will please any horse-loving girl reader. </p><p>I like both character-driven books and plot-driven books. This one handles both, each without the expense of the other. And 316 pages give the author a nice amount of time to round both Ada and Susan's characters in satisfying ways. I found the final scene with Ada and her mother a bit abrupt, and I had to ask myself if it were as believable as the rest of the story. If it were my story, I would be saying, OK, I'm near the end of this story, and I need a way to resolve it right now, so I'll write it this way. But the very end is rewarding and heart-warming.</p><p>If you read <u>Goodnight, Mr. Tom</u> by Michelle Migorian, you will see a lot of similarities, however, Mr. Tom was told more from the old man's point of view, and The War is from the girl's view and thoughts, and I believe at a reading level more accessible to younger readers. Be aware though, that there are several disturbing images, some descriptions of the war, and the cruelty of her mother. So very young readers, while at the reading skill level, may not be at the maturity level to read it. </p><p>I bought this book from Amazon.</p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-90319741011528603202016-12-11T21:58:00.001-08:002016-12-11T21:58:51.471-08:001977 - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mPuqmzbrIP4/WE4t8Fr-96I/AAAAAAAAB40/0gCPOrAAEYU/s2048/Photo%25252020161211205559556.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mPuqmzbrIP4/WE4t8Fr-96I/AAAAAAAAB40/0gCPOrAAEYU/s500/Photo%25252020161211205559556.jpg" id="blogsy-1481518580328.4119" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="669"></a></div><p> <u>Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cr</u>y, by Mildred D. Taylor, took me a long time to read. Only 276 pages in a smaller sized paperback, but I did not zip through it like I could have done. It sat on my bookshelf for a year before I decided I had better get going on it. It was the cover. I knew it would not be pleasant. I knew it would be sad and hopeless and I would feel the horrid injustice of the racist evil present in our county a generation ago, and be reminded that all is still not well in America. But I faced up to what was right, and that was to read, and to gain knowledge and wisdom from reading good literature. And to trust that the Newbery brand on the cover spoke for its integrity and worth.</p><p>So I read a couple chapters, and put it down. Some days later, I read another couple chapters. And then after a few weeks, another chapter. Finally I decided to get with the program and get the thing read. </p><p>The Logan children ranged from ages 12 to 6, with Stacey the eldest, then Cassie, telling this story in her own first-person words, Christopher-John, and Little Man. Their Mama and Papa, Grandma "Big Ma," and Mr. Morrison, the hired hand made up the rest of the household. They lived on their own land in 1930's Mississippi cotton fields. Living and working on their own land sets the Logans apart from most of their neighbors, who are sharecroppers. The importance of keeping their land is the fabric of which the background of the story is made of.</p><p>The indignities and slights and injustices that made up parts of their daily lives are laid into the tale, without mining them for melodrama or manipulation of emotion, but not glossing over the stark realities of growing up black in the deep south. Cassie is a lively bold girl who does not quite understand her position in the community as being "less than" her white neighbors. And her parents are reluctant to make her grow up too soon by educating her in those things. Which makes for some tense situations, such as when Cassie doesn't understand why the white shopkeeper keeps waiting on white customers ahead of her, when she had been waiting before they entered the shop. Indignant, she tries to bring the merchant's attention to his rudeness, but instead gets chased out of the shop by angry men, asking the crowd, "Whose little nigger is this?" For a bright girl, Cassie seems really slow to pick up on some of the harsher realities of life.</p><p>While the children have their conflicts and relationship issues in their world, the grown-ups have their problems too, one of them being the local bigwig who wants to own the Logan land. The kids' and the adults' crises come together near the end of the book, with a crime, a near- lynching, and a fire. The end is not entirely satisfying, but is realistic, which is as it should be.</p><p>Having the story told through the eyes of Cassie is effective in making the topic accessible to young readers and helps keep the uglier realities at an appropriate distance, while still being an honest eye-witness to the facts. But to do this, the author has to keep Cassie on her toes, eavesdropping on every important conversation, sneaking out of her room past the sleeping "Big Ma" multiple times, talking her way into going along when something interesting was up. It made me begin to wonder what the story would have been like if told in a different perspective. And she is sassy and talk-back, enough to make you think, "You are hiding! For Pete's sake, shut up!"</p><p>Yes, I would recommend this book for kids to read; it's an important story to be heard and thought about. And the warmth of this family, and the safe place that home is, regardless of the uncertain world outside, that is also an important feeling to know.</p><p>This copy was given to me as a previously read book. </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-53465133469505512312016-04-02T16:39:00.001-07:002016-04-02T16:39:05.122-07:001986 - Sarah, Plain and Tall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yzcVYN27xgQ/VwBXQk7xNOI/AAAAAAAABqM/28fz50xYgpo/s2048/Photo%25252020160402163512385.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yzcVYN27xgQ/VwBXQk7xNOI/AAAAAAAABqM/28fz50xYgpo/s500/Photo%25252020160402163512385.jpg" id="blogsy-1459640136112.5166" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="669"></a></div><p> </p><p> This little book is absolutely charming. I had not heard of it before, and when I saw the title, I did remember the movie they had made of it, though I had not seen it. There are only 58 pages, but the author does a lot with those pages.</p><p>The plot is simple, but deep and meaningful to the characters. Papa, Caleb, and Anna, the narrator, have been left without wife and mother when she died the day after giving birth to Caleb. There is a lingering sadness; Papa doesn't sing anymore, Caleb wants to hear the story of his birth over and over again, hoping that it will bring up a memory, any memory of his mother. They live in pioneer times out on the Midwestern plains. And now Papa breaks the news that he has placed an advertisement for a wife, and it has been answered by Sarah, "Plain and tall," as she describes herself.</p><p>Sarah comes out for a month, during which time she will see if they suit each other. The story gently proceeds, with them getting to know each other, Caleb worried that she will not like them, Anna and Caleb looking for clues and hints that she is planning on staying, and Sarah's lonesomeness for her place by the sea, where she came from. Sarah does stay, saying that "There is always something to miss, no matter where you are," and that she would miss them more than the sea, if she left.</p><p>I enjoyed that the children were not bratty and resentful about a new person coming in to take a role in the family - they wanted their Papa to have a wife and themselves to have a new mother. The conflict was whether Sarah could love them and the land that was so different from her home enough to stay. We only see Sarah's mind through Anna's eyes and words, as Sarah speaks of the sea and is quiet and thoughtful. </p><p>I liked the book, and I think it would be a pleasure to read aloud to a child. I picked this copy up for under a dollar at the thrift store.</p><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-5746537528033093992016-04-01T21:58:00.001-07:002016-04-01T21:58:50.854-07:001945 Honor - The Hundred Dresses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BA9qDIwoH0A/Vv9FQ7TumaI/AAAAAAAABp8/G6K0tZvn9_I/s2048/Photo%25252020160401210530940.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BA9qDIwoH0A/Vv9FQ7TumaI/AAAAAAAABp8/G6K0tZvn9_I/s500/Photo%25252020160401210530940.jpg" id="blogsy-1459570499524.9417" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="669"></a></div><p> The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes, is just a slim book, eighty pages with illustrations and generous white space. It's quick and easy to read. But it is also hard to read, because it is about the careless bullying that privileged and secure children can dish out to kids who are poor, different, or outsiders.</p><p>Peggy is the well-off and popular girl. She is one of the de facto leaders of the girls in their classroom. Her best friend Maddie would say she was not a cruel person. She "protected small children from bullies and cried for hours if she saw an animal mistreated." But Peggy was the one who had started the game of making fun of Wanda Petronski.</p><p>Wanda was very poor, from the slum area of town, and had a strange last name and accent. Mostly the other children ignored her; even the teacher seemed to have not taken any interest in her progress. Until one fine day when Wanda made the mistake of joining the circle of girls as they admired a classmate's elegant new dress. For a moment, she seemed to feel like she fit in and was emboldened to say the words that would be the fuel for all the unkind teasing to come: "I got a hundred dresses home."</p><p>It instantly became a habit for Peggy to wait for Wanda at the start of each school day and "have her fun," asking Wanda to describe them and why she never wore any of her hundred dresses to school. The other girls would join in, but Maddie mostly listened, uncomfortable, but never sticking up for Wanda. Maddie was in a precarious position with her status. She understood that Peggy, in spite of being her best friend, could turn on her and make her suffer the same fate, since she did not have the security and standing of her friend. </p><p>The most poignant passages of the book deal with Maddie's inner dialog, as she struggles with wanting to stop Peggy's "game," and the fear of being ostracized herself, and with her pain as she realizes how hurt Wanda and her family were by their treatment. </p><p>There is a small light at the end of the book to ease her guilt, but no shining moment to make it all better. I looked up Eleanor Estes and discovered that she wrote the book to help her overcome some of her own guilt from being involved as a child in an episode like this. I think we all can look back at at least one example where we wish we had been more kind, or been stronger in protecting the weak from a bully. Perhaps this well-written and interesting story can be the book that helps children understand some forms that bullying takes and that sometimes, one can be just as complicit when standing by silently.</p><p>I bought this library discard at a thrift store for under a buck.</p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-4865983392866116182015-07-24T11:59:00.001-07:002015-07-24T11:59:25.048-07:002014 Honor - One Came Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kbCWdSG8Zq8/VbKAVRQRL4I/AAAAAAAABmI/T-JpNj3C9cA/s2048/Photo%25252020150724111326137.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kbCWdSG8Zq8/VbKAVRQRL4I/AAAAAAAABmI/T-JpNj3C9cA/s500/Photo%25252020150724111326137.jpg" id="blogsy-1437764027549.45" class="alignnone" width="500" height="669" alt=""></a></div><p> During my latest trip to the county library, armed with a list of current Newbery winners, I checked out a short stack of books to go read and review. I don't go out of my way to find the honor books, but <u>One Came Home</u> by Amy Timberlake, was available and right before me, and with a jacket leader like "A sister lost, a body found, the truth buried," I was hooked. </p><p>The book was immediately interesting and intriguing with Georgie's opening words being, "...it was the day of my sister's first funeral, and I knew it wasn't her last, which is why I left." Georgie is a 13 year-old girl who lives with her small family in south-central Wisconsin, and the year is 1871. Her beautiful older sister disappears, and parts of a mangled body are found a couple weeks later which is identified as being the sister. But Georgie does not believe it is her, and since no one else is willing to consider she might still be alive, Georgie decides to slip away on her own to find out what she can. </p><p>This is not a fanciful, unbelievable quest. It is realistic and gritty. Georgie is no helpless little girl. She has a dead aim with her Springfield single shot rifle, but dismisses her skill with the comment, "I practiced. Anyone can if they practice enough." She describes the remains of the body they buried as, "Not the weight of two cats, and no face," Which is one reason why, even though it was clothed in her sister's dress, she holds out hope. </p><p>The fascinating setting to the tale is the arrival of a huge nesting flock of passenger pigeons. This is a boon for the town, that they have settled so near. Pigeoners come from everywhere to harvest them, relying on supplies and goods from the town. While I have heard the historical stories of the massive flocks of passenger pigeons, I have never been able to visualize what that meant on a local level. The author does a great job of using that backdrop without letting the descriptions compete with the story. </p><p>I really liked this book, and would highly recommend it. It had a bit of the flavor of the book <u>True Grit,</u> by Charles Portis. I like that it kept close the mysteries of what really happened, and indeed, made you wonder if you would even find that out by the end of the book.</p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-41184159634722087222015-07-13T17:28:00.002-07:002021-02-25T10:18:01.059-08:002014 - Flora & Ulysses, The Illuminated Adventures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Enough for now with the dusty Newbery Winners of our parents (and grandparents!). I have actually just read a brand-new, this very year 2015 Newbery Award Winning Book, <u>Flora & Ulysses</u>, by previous medal-winning author Kate DiCamillo (<u>Tale of Despereaux</u>). <br />
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A comic-book air of fun and surrealism suffuses this book, making it immediately engaging, yet it never takes over or minimizes the story. Some of the action that is presented through images and comic-strip match with the fantastical air of what is happening in the tale.<br />
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Ten year-old Flora, though a "natural-born cynic," is none-the-less quite influenced by the comic books introduced to her by her father. They feature Alfred T. Slipper, the unassuming janitor who becomes "Incandesto," the superhero who fights evil and other malfeasance. She has also learned a lot from bonus parts of the comic books, such as "Terrible Things Can Happen to You!" Which comes in really handy when she needs to give CPR to a squirrel who has been vacuumed up by a Ulysses 2000X Vacuum Cleaner in the neighbor's yard. Though the squirrel has lost a lot of fur going through the brushes, he has gained a rational, thinking brain. Luckily he can also type, so the astonished rescuers can understand what is going though his mind.<br />
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But like most good literature, the story isn't all in the plot action, but just provides a fun and exciting background to reveal more about the characters.<br />
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While I find Flora fun and worthy, the character I like the best is the boy William, who is staying with his aunt (the one who accidentally vacuumed up the squirrel). William wears dark glasses and announces that he is temporarily blind induced by trauma. You sense there is something interesting going on with his story from clues dropped here and there. He's a bit insufferable, in a fun way, and I liked him.<br />
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Flora's biggest challenge is deciding to be loyal to Ulysses, the squirrel, in spite of the acute conflicts that arise, specifically her mother wanting to kill that "rabid, diseased thing."<br />
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I enjoyed reading the book, and I expect that most junior readers would find it fun and interesting too, and also appreciate the conflicts that arise around Flora.<br />
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I checked this book out of the library. It was a donated gift to the Shasta County Library.Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-89392903799314886762015-07-09T09:53:00.001-07:002015-07-09T09:53:58.755-07:001981 - Jacob Have I Loved<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HfkcfMVhqik/VZ6mSWiLQKI/AAAAAAAABkc/-R0p_ntQ4e0/s2048/Photo%25252020150709094958154.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HfkcfMVhqik/VZ6mSWiLQKI/AAAAAAAABkc/-R0p_ntQ4e0/s500/Photo%25252020150709094958154.jpg" id="blogsy-1436460623129.2651" class="alignnone" width="500" height="669" alt=""></a></div><p> </p><p> And it has finally come to this, reviewing <u>Jacob Have I Loved</u>, by Katherine Paterson. This is not a book I read as a kid. I first came across it courtesy of my children, who had to read it for school. It's hard to say if I would have liked it as a child. I don't think my kids particulary enjoyed it, but not because it wasn't well-written, and not because it wasn't interesting. It was the "M" word, "meaningful."</p><p>I'm sure this was one of the books that provoked my discussion with them on reading fiction, that the fluffy, fun, escapist books might be entertaining to settle down into, but are soon forgotten. The meaningful books will stick in your mind and, sometimes uncomfortably, cause you to think deeper thoughts. Like her other Newbery Award-winning book, <u>Bridge to Terebithia</u>, this book is also meaningful and thought-provoking, dealing with deep sibling rivalry, adolescent angst, not fitting in, and gender roadblock issues. </p><p>Louise and Caroline were twins, born on Rass Island, a small Chesapeake Bay community, populated by fishermen who harvested oysters and crabs. The stage is set for their relationship when healthy baby Louise is born, followed by weak, sickly Caroline, who immediately receives all the attention, so that she can live. When Louise asks for retellings of the story, hoping to hear a scrap of extra attention paid to her newborn self, she never gets it, reinforcing her idea that Caroline is the favored child, and that she is less. Her feelings even gain a slogan, after her demented grandmother meanly and pointedly quotes from the Bible to Louise, "Jacob have I Loved, Esau have I hated." </p><p>This story is told in the first person voice of Louise. Her feelings are complicated, and expressed honestly to herself. She is the tomboy, but is unable to go out on the boat with her father as a son would have because she is a girl, though she does manage to become quite skilled by going out on her own little skiff. Jealousy and having incompatible personalities taint her relationship with Caroline. She has an inappropriate, but rather natural crush considering her stage of puberty, which her senile grandmother torments her over. Louise has never really thought about what she would want to do in life besides her dramtic fantasy of being the eccentric single woman going out crabbing like the men. </p><p>So yes, this is a "coming of age" story. And like several others I have read, the last couple chapters dramatically speed up the passing time. So while you are used to strolling through the days, a season or two, then a year, all of a sudden, ZING! She graduates, goes to college, graduates, takes a job in a remote area, marries, has a kid... and then wraps up the story. Personally, I prefer a book to carry on its pace to the end and then wrap it up in an epilogue. But that's me. </p><p>I like to feel sympathetic toward the protagonist, and at times that was hard to do here. But it is a difficult thing, feeling misunderstood and unappreciated, yet unable to easily communicate with those around you. I expect that is the case with more tweens and teens than not, and it's helpful to understand the universality of that.</p><p>I got this book at the thrift store for about a buck.</p><p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-223007136828175912015-07-04T18:08:00.000-07:002015-07-04T18:08:29.922-07:001929 Honor - Millions of Cats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"What?" You are saying. "<u>Millions of Cats</u>? By Wanda Gag? But," you sputter, "Isn't that a kid's PICTURE Book? Don't they have their own awards, like the Caldecot Medal, for Pete's sake!" Well, I guess that in 1929, it slid into the ranks of books under consideration for the Newbery Award, and it did indeed win an honor medal.<br />
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When my kids were young, I ran across it often in kid's book references. I always wondered why it totally passed under my radar, or maybe wasn't even around much when I was little. I did get a copy of it for my kids and was very charmed by the lovely pen and ink illustrations and the story, all 29 pages of it.<br />
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I'm not going to worry about spoilers because the nature of the book is to be read and re-read to kids, ad nauseum. If you like cats and kitties, this story will appeal to you, since it contains, "Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats!"<br />
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The old man and old woman were lonely. "If only we had a cat!" are the fateful words of the old woman, so the old man sets out to find them one. Eventually he comes to a hill covered with cats, hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats. He selects what he thinks is the prettiest one, but of course there is always one just as pretty, so he continues picking cats, until he has chosen them all. So off they go back home. The environmental disaster that accompanies them on the way home is a foreshadowing of what awaits the herd. They are thirsty, and drink an entire pond dry. They are hungry, and devour every blade of grass on the grassy hills. When the old man arrives, the more practical old woman declares, "They will eat us out of house and home!" The old man decides to let the cats themselves choose who will stay. Since the old man's criteria had been, "the prettiest one," they begin arguing over which one is the prettiest. It turns into such a catfight that, frightened, the old couple dash inside and shut the door. When they finally peep out, all the cats are gone! They have eaten each other up! Except for one. A scrawny little thing who did not think itself pretty at all, and so did not engage in the quarrel. Of course, with a little milk and loving, the homely little cat turned into the prettiest one, after all.<br />
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There are really so many elements you can pick out and ponder in this simple tale. A pet can make you less lonely. The humble will be elevated. The prideful have their ruin. Prettiest matters the most. Men just don't think things out to their logical conclusion. And then the big one. Where the heck did all these cats come from? 1929 was way before spay and neuter, and I have seen what happens when cats have kittens, their kittens have kittens, etc. if nothing disastrous happens to the population. I expect it was an unpleasant reality at times to have to "take care of the problem." It is pretty tidy that in this book, the problem takes care of itself, but that's the way fairy tales work. I'm left with some unease over the noisy violence that was surely happening out there. I think some kids will just accept that, and some will imagine the process. (How can a million cats "eat each other up?")<br />
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The book was entirely inked, drawings and text alike. It is really a beautiful thing, and the cats are so drawn that you are tempted to actually count them.<br />
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I bought this hardbound book at the thrift store, and have purchased multiple other copies the same way to give out to young nieces and nephews.<br />
<br />Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1856863540699128972.post-58089931517430512532015-06-11T10:11:00.002-07:002015-06-11T10:11:58.443-07:002001 Honor - The Wanderer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since I mostly focus on the gold award seal rather than the silver "honor" designation, I almost passed this book up at the Goodwill Thrift store where it was shelved. But then I saw it was written by previous Newbery Award Winner Sharon Creech (<i>Walk Two Moons</i>). I knew that it had to be delightful and tantalizing, the secrets of the story gradually unfolding at just the right moments.<br />
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I was not disappointed.<br />
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I finally got around to reading it, and only put it down because it got too late to read, and then I finished it this morning.<br />
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The Wanderer is the name of a Uncle Dock's sailboat. He and his two brothers have fixed it up and are going to sail to England, taking along two of their boys. Sophie persuades her mother, Uncle Dock's sister, to let her go along with them. The three children are all about the same age, thirteen. Sophie and Cody each keep a ship's log, which is the way the book is written.<br />
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For such a sizable cast of main characters; Uncle Dock, Uncle Mo, Uncle Stew, Brian, Cody, and Sophie, they quickly become memorable for their personalities and quirks. That makes it an easy process to dive into the story without having to leaf back to see "Now which one was that uncle?" Enough attention is given to them so they do not seem too shallow, but not so much to keep from focusing on Sophie, whose story unfolds against the background of the others.<br />
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At first it seems like a pretty straightforward adventure book. Will the boat ever get the final kinks worked out? Will the shakedown trip go all right? Will they get lost in the fog? How bad will that storm get? But tidbit by tidbit, the reader finds the heart of the story lies in Sophie's past and how she is dealing with her past trauma.<br />
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The author lets the two main characters in the story, Sophie and Cody, tell the tale in their own words. Done skillfully, like in this book, the first person view can be a superior storytelling method. Many books that switch off between the "I's" seem jarring and clunky to me, almost like the author can't manage to convey what is happening with the other characters without resorting to the switcheroo. But <i>The Wanderer</i> makes it seem like a bonus rather than a crutch to see events from Cody's thoughts and feelings along with Sophie's, the main protagonist.<br />
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I got this book at the thrift store for less than a buck. I always enjoy inscriptions in used books. This one says, "Keep reading Baylee! Love, Mrs. Imes, May '04" I know that children grow up and get rid of their childhood books, but I like to think that teachers like Mrs. Imes (whoever and wherever she is) would be pleased to know that their gifts keep on giving!<br />
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<br />Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06022843273272878598noreply@blogger.com0