Month: November 2010

November Jacket Flap-a-thon

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Ah, nearly the end of the year; sometimes I’m amazed at how fast time flies. I’m treating you to a non-Cybils rendition of the Jacket Flap-a-thon, out of the five non-Cybils books I read this month, here are the best three:

I Shall Wear Midnight (HarperCollins): “It starts with whispers. Then someone picks up a stone. Finally, the fires begin. When people turn on witches, the innocents suffer. . . . Tiffany Aching has spent years studying with senior witches, and now she is on her own. As the witch of the Chalk, she performs the bits of witchcraft that aren’t sparkly, aren’t fun, don’t involve any kind of wand, and that people seldom ever hear about: She does the unglamorous work of caring for the needy. But someone—or something—is igniting fear, inculcating dark thoughts and angry murmurs against witches. Aided by her tiny blue allies, the Wee Free Men, Tiffany must find the source of this unrest and defeat the evil at its root—before it takes her life. Because if Tiffany falls, the whole Chalk falls with her. Chilling drama combines with laugh out-loud humor and searing insight as beloved and bestselling author Terry Pratchett tells the high-stakes story of a young witch who stands in the gap between good and evil.”
Maybe I’m biased because I love these books, but I love that the flap copy gives you a brief overview of the series and a hint of this book without giving much away at all.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk (Little, Brown and Company):
“If animals were more like us,
if mice kept pets and toads could cuss,
if dogs had wives and chipmunks dated,
sheep sat still and meditated,
then in the forest, field, and dairy
you might find this bestiary,
read by storks, by rats and kitties,
skimmed by cows with milk-stained titties.
“I found the book to be most droll,”
might quip the bear, the owl, the mole.
Others, though, would be more coarse.

“Bull,” could say the pig and horse.
As to the scribe, they’d quote the hen,
“Trust me, he’s no La Fontaine.”

Absolutely pointless as flap copy. Seriously. But it’s SO much fun, and horribly clever, which makes it perfect for this book.

Starcrossed (Arthur A. Levine Books): “In a glamorous castle full of Llyvraneth’s elite, Celyn Contrare serves as a lady-in-waiting to shy young Merista Nemair. Her days are spent dressing in velvet, attending Lady Merista, navigating court gossip, and charming noblemen over lavish feasts. And at night, she picks locks, steals jewels, forges documents, and collects secrets. Because Celyn isn’t really a lady-in-waiting; she’s not even really Celyn Contrare. She’s Digger, a sneak-thief on the run from the king’s Inquisition, desperate to escape its cruel instruments and hatred of magic. If she’s discovered, it will mean her certain death. But life as a lady-in-waiting isn’t safe either. The devious Lord Daul knows her secret, and he’s blackmailing her to serve as his personal spy in the castle. What she discovers-about Daul, about the Nemair, even about her own Lady Merista — could signal civil war in Llyvraneth. And for a thief trained never to get involved, taking sides could be the most dangerous job yet.”

It doesn’t give the plot twists and turns away, and yet manages to be intriguing. What is going on in this book? I want to know.

Other books read this month:
Clementine, Friend of the Week
The Kneebone Boy
Linger
Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool
Bamboo People
Zora and Me
What Happened on Fox Street
The Lost Hero
How I, Nicky Flynn Got a Life and a Dog
Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze
Shooting Kabul
Out of My Mind
Belly Up
The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt

Running total: 163 books
Adult fiction: 24
YA: 58
MG: 56
Non-fiction: 15
Graphic Novel: 10
Didn’t Finish: 7

The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt

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by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
ages: 11+
First sentence: “What goes through people’s heads when they come up with names for their kids?”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Moxie Roosevelt Kipper has spent the first 13 years of her life regretting her name. It’s such a big name to live up to, and she’s not been exactly anything more than ordinary in her small town. Now, going in to eighth grade (her small town school doesn’t go past seventh), she’s been accepted into a boarding school on a music scholarship, and she has a chance to become different.

To reinvent herself.

She goes about this by deciding, in some hilarious turns, to put on different personalities depending on the situation she’s in or person she’s with. This, predictably, causes problems: can you be a Detached, Unique, Coolly Knowing Individual (code name: DUCKI) with your uber-hip roommate, and a Mother Earth Goddess (code name: MEG) with the Buddhist ashram-raised girl across the hall and make it all work? Well, of course not. And things get sticky for Moxie before she figures out what she really wants to be.

It’s a cute book, if a bit precious with the whole boarding school setting. It taps into the insecurities of every tween/pre-teen/teen girl: how can I get people to like me? And what is my personality, really? And is it okay if I’m not just like everyone else? It’s a bit over-the-top with the lying and experimenting, but mostly with humorous results.

And in the end, it gets its point across: being yourself is just fine.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)

Belly Up

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by Stuart Gibbs
ages: 10+
First sentence: “I’d just been busted for giving the chimpanzees water balloons when I first heard something was wrong at Hippo River.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Teddy Fitzroy has had a charmed life. The son of a gorilla researcher and a nature photographer, he’s spent most of his life surrounded by animals in the Congo.

Now, at age 12, he’s found himself smack in the middle of the Texas Hill Country, at FunJungle, the worlds biggest, best, and newest zoo. It’s supposed to be state-of-the art, best researchers, finest environments for the animals, a whole safari experience without having to go to Africa. Except, Henry the Hippo — the mascot, and a huge, ornery, animal — has turned up (literally) dead. It looks like natural causes at first, but upon a closer look, it turns out that Henry was murdered. And it seems it’s up to Teddy (and his new friend, Summer, who is also the daughter of the park owner) to figure out who did it and why.

There’s adventure as Teddy and Summer try to unravel the mystery before them, with some close scrapes. It’s not so hard of a mystery that the reader can’t at least try to figure it out, but not so easy as to be predictable. It’s entertaining, and yet with all the animals, it kind of feels (I’m hoping it is at least) a little educational. If anything, it has a fabulous balance to it: well-written and engaging plus entertaining and kid-friendly.

Quite enjoyable, in other words.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)

Starcrossed

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by Elizabeth C. Bunce
ages: 13+
First sentence: “I couldn’t think.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I adored Elizabeth Bunce’s first novel, A Curse Dark as Gold, so when I found out that she had another (thanks, Leila), I knew I would read it. And I kind of had an inkling I would love it. Which, of course, I did.

Without giving too much away, sixteen-year-old Digger is a thief in the city of Gerse. She’s made a living, ever since she ran away from the convent at age 11, stealing things for people. It’s been a good way to survive, especially in the increasingly intolerant and restrictive atmosphere of the capital city. Except, this time, the job went horribly wrong. The authorities were waiting, and Digger just barely escaped with her life. Twenty-four hours later, disguised, she falls in with a bunch of nobles and ends up in a mountain retreat with them. Where she finds that nothing is quite as it seems, especially since she’s being blackmailed to find out all the secrets.

It’s a complex world Bunce has created, fascinating in its religion and politics. I would have been captivated if it had only been that. She reveals things slowly, peeling back layer by layer, to keep you guessing and wondering and hoping. But it’s more than that: the characters, especially Digger, are fascinating. (Okay, it helps that I’m half in love with one of the men, yet again.) Like the religion and politics of the world, they are fairly complex; you can sense that even the stereotypical ones are hiding some sort of secret. Maybe it won’t be revealed in this book, but it’s there, lurking under the surface.

It’s the first in a series (I hope; there’s a sequel due out next year), something which I can’t wait to sink my teeth into.

Out of My Mind

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by Sharon M. Draper
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Words.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Melody is very, very smart. She’s known words and ideas and concepts since she was very little. She loves music, and can see colors when it plays. But, she has no way to tell anyone any of this. Melody has cerebral palsey, and while she can hear and understand, she just can’t communicate. Which is incredibly frustrating to her.

She’s got her parents and her neighbor, Mrs. V, on her side: encouraging her, teaching her, trying to communicate with her. The book recounts the ups and downs she’s experienced her whole life — from birth to the fifth grade — as she tries to figure out how to communicate. She can accept most of her limitations, but she needs a way to express the words in her head. It’s an intriguing process, frustrating and hopeful, as she goes through it all, trying to figure out where she fits in this world.

If this is ever a treatise of the hopelessness of doctors and school teachers (even if there is occasionally one that “gets” it), then I don’t know what is. But, it’s also a treatise on the determination of one girl (and her family) and what that can do. It is, in many ways, a “message” book: disabled people are NOT different than the rest of us, and just because they look or act different doesn’t mean they are not worth getting to know and understand.

But Draper presents this in such a way so that the book doesn’t feel like a heavy-handed message book. It’s heartfelt, and you end up both cheering for and crying with Melody as she recounts her experience. It’s wonderfully written, and yet simple enough to be accessible to middle graders. It’s a story worth telling, and definitely one worth reading.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

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I thought about putting up reviews today, but… it’s Thanksgiving. And while I know not all of my readers are American, it’s still a holiday.

One in which I attempt to cook a 25 pound turkey for 18 people by this afternoon…

At any rate (I just realized I missed my blogoversary; how did I manage that this year!), after six years of blogging, I’m still very thankful for my little corner of cyberspace (and that people visit), for the friends I’ve made and met, for the books you’ve all recommended, and for the way blogging has shaped my reading over the years.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Library Loot 2010-42

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No pithy comments, today. Just the loot. 😀

Picture Books:
Aggie the Brave, by Lori Reis/Illus. by Frank W. Dormer
Bats at the Ballgame, by Brian Lies
I Really, Really Need Actual Ice Skates, by Lauren Child
Thank You, Miss Doover, by Robin Pulver/Illus. by Stephanie Roth Sisson
The Scarecrow’s Dance, by Jane Yolen/Illus. by Bagram Ibatoulline

Middle Grade:
Julia Gillian And The Dream Of The Dog, by Alison McGhee
The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang, by Amy Ingatow
Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus

Adult Fiction:
The Importance Of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe: A Novel, by Fannie Flagg

The roundup is either at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader or The Captive Reader. Obligatory FTC note: the links are provided through my Amazon Associates account. If you click through and actually purchase one of these books, I’ll get a teeny, tiny payment. But, since no one ever does, and it’s SO much easier using the associates account to put up these links, I’m going to keep doing it.

Shooting Kabul

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by N. H. Senzai
ages: 10+
First sentence: “It’s a perfect night to run away, thought Fadi, casting a brooding look at the bright sheen of the moon through the cracked backseat window.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

The target age group for this book were barely born when 9/11 happened. They missed all the stress (though they live with the aftermath, not having any idea what it was all like before), the tension, the fear. I know C was barely 18 months when the Twin Towers went down, and was blissfully clueless about it all. Even M, who was five, only has a foggy memory of what it was like during those days.

Enter Shooting Kabul. Set in the time right around the attacks, it gives us a peek into what life was like in Afghanistan at that time. Fadi and his family are intellectuals; they had lived in the U.S. while his father got a PhD before returning to Kabul to help the Taliban (yes, you read that right) eradicate the poppy fields and convince farmers to actually plant food to feed the Afghani people. Unfortunately, as the Taliban became more and more extreme, Fadi’s family’s lives were in danger and they managed to escape. Except, in the desperate attempt to get out, somehow the Fadi’s little sister, Miriam, gets separated from the family and lost.

Fadi blames himself (as does the rest of the family), and in San Francisco he keeps trying to concoct ways to get back to Afghanistan and find Miriam. It’s heartbreaking to think about the weight this poor boy is carrying around. As weeks and months go by, it seems less and less likely that they will find her. Especially since his father hasn’t been able to take a teaching job, and is forced to drive taxis, which barely covers rent and food. Things are tough, and get tougher with the racism and fear after 9/11. So, Fadi enters a photography contest with the hopes of winning the grand prize — two tickets to India — so he can do his part to find Miriam.

First off: it does have a happy ending. Miriam is found, and the way it happens is quite surprising and actually very realistic, which I found wonderfully satisfying. As was the rest of the book; I liked the use of photography, how Fadi stood up to the bullies without using violence, and the glimpse into what the lives of Afghanis are like, both in Agfhanistan and in the U.S. It’s a good book to interest kids in the area, to give them a picture of what life was like nearly 10 years ago (and remind them that things aren’t that different now), and give them a good, engaging story on top of all that.

Excellent.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)

Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze

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by Alan Silberberg
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Summer Goodman never knew what hit her.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

This is not your average mom-is-dead book. Sure, Milo’s mom is dead; she passed away from cancer a couple years ago. But, Milo, now eleven and in his fifth house starting another new school, is determined to push past the fog and make a halfway decent go this time.

It’s not a deep book, plot-wise; it’s basically the tale of Milo putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes he succeeds: he really likes his new best friend, Marshall; grateful for the fact that they can just hang out and drink Freezies, and that Marshall doesn’t really push or demand much. Sometimes he fails: his other neighbor, Hillary, tries to befriend Milo, but he’s so caught up in having a total and complete crush on Summer that he doesn’t notice Hillary (not in a romantic way) until it’s nearly too late. Underneath it all, though, is the pain of loss. He misses having his mother around, especially the little things.

Instead of just wallowing in the loss (well, they did that already; this book is about learning to move on), he not only figures out a way to mourn his mother, but to help his family understand and accept the loss that they all went through. And it’s done with humor, love, and some good friends. (The ending even made me cry; not the sad kind of cry, either.)

Very touching and sweet.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)

Sunday Salon: Finding an old Favorite

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First, a little background:

For the last couple of months, I have been working one afternoon a week as a volunteer at the library. I have learned several things about libraries and myself, like while I can alphabetize quite nicely, the whole number thing with the Dewey decimal system kind of throws me. Why do we need a 100.1 and a 100.11 and a 100.01? So, while I shelve non-fiction once in a while, mostly I stick to fiction and mystery and science fiction/fantasy and romance (oh, I love reading the jacket flaps on those) because it’s just ABC order and I can do that.

As I’ve mentioned before, I read a lot of (what I think of now as) crap when I was in high school. With M in high school, and making some of the same free-time reading choices, I think I can sense what drove it in me: a need for brain fluff, a need for release. For the longest time, though, while I could remember much of what I read, one series of books that I loved eluded me. I remembered that there were state names as the titles, that it was vaguely a historical romance, and that I read as many as I could. For years I looked off and on, just to satiate my curiosity with no luck.

Then, to my amazement, as I was shelving this past Thursday, I found them!

It’s the Wagons West series by Dana Fuller Ross. I was so happy, I did a little dance. Seriously. Now, I need to decide if I want to go back and read them all, just so I can see if they are as wonderful/corny as I remember them being.

Maybe I’ll make it a project for next year.