Monthly Round-Up

March Jacket Flap-a-Thon

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I have to apologize for the short reviews the past couple of weeks. I was looking through them yesterday, and I realized how little I had to say. Ah, well. Chalk it up to residual flu-like symptoms. I hate being sick, it tends to slow me down and make everything (mostly my brain) hazy. I’m feeling more up to snuff today… the first time in a couple of weeks. Maybe I’ll even be able to churn out something lucid this week.

On to our flaps…

The Top Five:
5. Robot Dreams (First Second): “Richly endearing and full of surprises, Robot Dreams follows an ill-fated friendship between a dog and a robot. After a Labor Day jaunt to the beach leaves Robot rusty and immobilized in the sand, Dog, unsure what to do abandons him. As the seasons pass, Dog tries to replace his friend, making and losing a series of new ones, from a melting snowman to epicurean anteaters. Meanwhile, Robot passes his time daydreaming, escaping to better places. . . Through interwoven journeys, the two characters long to recover from their day at the beach. Although its adorable characters and playful charm will win over young readers, Robot Dreams speaks universally to the fragile nature of friendship, loss and redemption.”

I think this is remarkable — it’s a wordless book, and yet they’ve come up with an interesting (and accurate!) blurb about the book. Not an easy task.

4. Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Scholastic): “A Hero with an incredible talent… for breaking things. A life or death mission… to rescue a bag of sand. A fearsome threat from the powerful secret network that rules the world… the Evil Librarians. Alcatraz Smedry doesn’t seem destined for anything but disaster. But on his thirteenth birthday, he receives a bag of sand, and his life takes a bizarre turn. This is no ordinary bag of sand… and it is quickly stolen by the cult of evil Librarians who are taking over the world by spreading misinformation ans suppressing truth. The sand will give the evil Librarians the edge they need to achieve world domination. Alcatraz must stop them!… by infiltrating the local library, armed with nothing but eyeglasses and a talent for klutziness.”

I liked this one primarily because it made me laugh. Kind of like the book.

3. A Curse Dark as Gold (Arthur A Levine Books): “The gold thread shimmers in the fading light. It promises Charlotte Miller a way out of debt, a chance to save her family’s beloved woolen mill. It promises a future for her sister, livelihood for her townsfolk, security against her sinuous and grasping uncle. It might even promise what she didn’t know she needed: lasting hope and true love. But at what cost? To get the tread, Charlotte must strike a bargain with its maker, the mysterious Jack Spinner. But the gleam of gold conjures a shadowy past — secrets and bonds ensnaring generations of Millers. And Charlotte’s mill, her family, her friends, her love… What do those matter to a powerful stranger who can spin straw into gold? In her brilliant debut, Elizabeth Bunce weaves a spellbinding fairy tale, spun with mystery and shot through with romance.”

I like how this alludes to Rumpelstiltskin, without coming outright and saying “this book is based on the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin”. I also like that it works in the elements of weaving and family, which were also important to the book.

2. The Winter Queen (Random House): “Moscow, May 1876: What would cause a talented young student from a wealthy family to shoot himself in front of a promenading public in the Alexander Gardens? Decadence and boredom, most likely, is what the commander of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Moscow Police thinks, but still he finds it curious enough to send the newest member of the division, Erast Fandorin, a young man of irresistible charm, to the Alexander Gardens precinct for more information. Fandorin is not satisfied with the conclusion that this is an open-and-shut case, nor with the preliminary detective work the precinct has done — and for good reason: The bizarre and tragic suicide is soon connected to a clear case of murder, witnessed firsthand by Fandorin. There are many unresolved questions. Why, for instance, have both victims left their fortunes to an orphanage run by the English Lady Astair? And who is the beautiful “A.B.,” whose signed photograph is found in the apparent suicide’s apartment? Relying on his keen intuition, the eager sleuth plunges into an investigation that leads him across Europe, landing him at the deadly center of a terrorist conspiracy of worldwide proportions. In this thrilling mystery that brings nineteenth-century Russia to vivid life, Akunin has created one of the most eagerly anticipated novels in years.”

A bit long, but really fun — and it works in a bit of Fandorin’s personality without giving away too much.

1. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (Farrar Straus Giroux): “If Naomi had picked tails, she would have won the coin toss. She wouldn’t have had to go back for the yearbook camera, and she wouldn’t have hit her head on the steps. She wouldn’t have woken up in an ambulance with amnesia. She certainly would have remembered her boyfriend, Ace. She might even have remembered why she fell in love with him in the first place. She would understand why her best friend, Will, keeps calling her “Chief.” She’d know about her mom’s new family. She’d know about her dad’s fiancée. She never would have met James, the boy with the questionable past and the even fuzzier future, who tells her he once wanted to kiss her. She wouldn’t have wanted to kiss him back. But Naomi picked heads. After her remarkable debut, Gabrielle Zevin has crafted an imaginative second novel all about love and second chances.”

Clever, intriguing and to the point. It also reflects the tone of the book really well. Very, very good.

The Worst One:
Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (Kodansha):“This engaging series of childhood recollections tells about an ideal school in Tokyo during World War II that combined learning with fun, freedom and love. This unusual school had old railroad cars for classrooms, and was run by an extraordinary man — it’s founder and headmaster, Sosaku Kobayashi — who was a firm believer in freedom of expression and activity. In real life, the Totto-chan of the book has become one of Japan’s most popular television personalities — Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. She attributes her success in life to this wonderful school and its headmaster. The charm of this account has won the hearts of millions of people of all ages and made this book a runaway bestseller in Japan, with sales hitting the 4.5 million mark in its first year.”

For me, the worst crime a jacket flap copy writer can commit is to underplay a very cute book. Granted, it’s a very hard book to categorize and summarize, but, still, this blurb does not do anything to make me want to read the book, and the whole deal about the author becoming a huge TV star in Japan is just padding. Terrible.

February Jacket Flap-a-Thon

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Happy Leap Day! Are you doing anything exciting today? (Hubby and I are off to Oklahoma City later today — sans kids — for the afternoon and evening. Unfortunately, it won’t be as romantic as it sounds. But it will be nice to do something on our own, even if it’s not wildly romantic. The five hours in the car — 2 1/2 there and back again — without the kids is worth it. M asked me what my “ideal date” was last night. My reply: it doesn’t matter, as long as there’s free babysitting. Ah, such is life. Enough off-topic-ness.)

Anyway…. there was actually a very good bunch of books this month; it was hard to decide. But, forced by my own rules, I managed to narrow the list down to five. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. 🙂

5. Kira-Kira (athaneum books for young readers): “Glittering. That’s how Katie Takeshima’s sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people’s eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it’s Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And it’s Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering — kira-kira — in the future. Luminous in its persistence of love and hope, Kira-Kira is Cynthia Kadohata’s stunning debut in middle-grade fiction.”


I thought this one reflected the tone of the book quite nicely. It was a hard book to write a blurb for, because there wasn’t much “action”, being a series of childhood reflections. But this did a good job of capturing the essence of the book.

4. Dragon Slippers (Bloomsbury): “Many stories tell of damsels in distress who are rescued from the clutches of fire-breathing dragons by knights in shining armor and swept off to live happily ever after. Unfortunately, this is not one of those stories. True, when Creel’s aunt suggests sacrificing her to the local dragon, it is with the hope that a knight will marry Creel and that everyone (aunt and family included) will benefit handsomely. Yet it’s Creel who talks her way out of the dragon’s clutches. And it’s Creel who walks for days on end to seek her fortune in the king’s city with only a bit of embroidery thread and a strange pair of slippers in her possession. But even Creel could not have guessed the outcome of this tale. For in a country on the verge of war, Creel unknowingly possesses not just any pair of shoes, but a tool that could be used to save her kingdom… or destroy it.”

It’s cute and spunky. Just like the book.

3. Northanger Abbey (Everyman’s Library): “Northanger Abbey is a perfectly aimed literary parody that is also a withering satire of the commercial aspects of marriage among the English gentry at the turn of the nineteenth century. But most of all, it is the story of the initiation into life of its naive but sweetly appealing heroine, Catherine Morland, a willing victim of the contemporary craze for Gothic literature who is determined to see herself as the heroine of a dark and thrilling romance. When she is invited to Northanger Abbey, the grand though forbidding ancestral seat of her suitor, Henry Tilney, she finds herself embroiled in a real drama of misapprehension, mistreatment, and mortification, until common sense and humor — and a crucial clarification of Catherine’s financial status — resolve her problems and win her the approval of Henry’s formidable father. Written in 1798 but not published until after Austen’s death in 1817, Northanger Abbey is characteristically clearheaded and strong, and infinitely subtle in its comedy.”


I have discovered that writing blurbs for classics is actually a very tricky business. Saying something interesting about a book that’s really well known (or a lesser-known book by a well-known author) is not as easy as it sounds. This one did well.

2. Song of the Sparrow (Scholastic Press): “Since the days of King Arthur, there have been paintings and poems created in her name. She is Elaine of Ascolat — the Lady of Shalott. And now, there is a new story, a new vision, of this mysterious and captivating girl…. Beautiful sixteen-year-old Elaine has a temperament as firey as her long red hair. The daughter of a solder in young Arthur’s army, Elaine is the sole girl in the militaristic world of men. Often slipping into daydreams, she wishes that the handsome Lancelot would see hear as more than a tomboy. Then a new girl arrives, and Elaine is thrilled — until Gwynivere proves to be cold and cruel. But when Elaine and Gwynivere are thrown into a situation of gravest danger, the girls must band together in order to survive. Can Elaine find the strength to fight for the kingdom she has always believed in? Acclaimed author Lisa Ann Sandell brings a haunting lyricism and an epic sweep to this tale of love, betrayal, and war. Heartbreaking, eloquent and gripping, this novel is a striking addition to the canon of Camelot mythology.

A beautiful blurb for a beautiful book. Reflects the tone, gets the gist of the story and make me (at least) want to read it (again).

1. The Year of Living Biblically (Simon & Schuster): “Raised in a secular family but increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to dive in headfirst and attempt to obey the Bible as literally as possible for one full year. He vows to follow the Ten Commandments. To be fruitful and multiply. To love his neighbor. But also to obey the hundreds of less publicized rules: to avoid wearing clothes made of mixed fibers; to play a ten-string harp; to stone adulterers. The resulting spiritual journey is at once funny and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal and will make you see history’s most influential book with new eyes. Jacobs’s quest transforms his life even more radically than the year spent reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica for The Know-It-All. His beard grows so unruly that he is regularly mistaken for a member of ZZ Top. He immerses himself in prayer, tends sheep in the Israeli desert, battles idolatry, and tells the absolute truth in all situations – much to his wife’s chagrin. Throughout the book, Jacobs also embeds himself in a cross-section of communities that take the Bible literally. He tours a Kentucky-based creationist museum and sings hymns with Pennsylvania Amish. He dances with Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn and does Scripture study with Jehovah’s Witnesses. He discovers ancient biblical wisdom of startling relevance. And he wrestles with seemingly archaic rules that baffle the twenty-first-century brain. Jacobs’s extraordinary undertaking yields unexpected epiphanies and challenges. A book that will charm readers both secular and religious, The Year of Living Biblically is part Cliff Notes to the Bible, part memoir, and part look into worlds unimaginable. Thou shalt not be able to put it down.”

Yeah, it’s long. But it’s funny; the last line cracks me up every time I read it. And it’s compelling: it makes me, at least want to read the book.

The Worst One:
If Mama Don’t Laugh, it Ain’t Funny (Palm Tree): “From hunting down AWOL hermit crabs, to euthanizing pet watermelons, to sharing a meal of prescription strength crow, you’ll tag along on absurd adventures, observe awkward family rituals, squirm under uncomfortable questions, and explore the perpetual mysteries of children. If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny will make you laugh until stuff comes out of your nose. Pass a tissue to your mama ’cause she’ll be laughing too.”

The back blurb wasn’t nearly as horrific as the cover, but it is presty lame. Full of quotes from people I didn’t know, this little blurb was nearly buried. It tries to be clever… and doesn’t quite make it. Which is too bad, because the book’s actually pretty good.

January Jacket Flap-a-thon

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I’ve been blogging for over three years now, and I know I’ve never gone in for weekly or monthly features before. But, inspired by Erin’s favorite first lines, I have decided (at least for this year) to become a connoisseur of jacket flap copy, in a quest to find what makes an excellent jacket flap. At the end of the month, I’ll pick my top 5, and analyze (ha!) why they work for me. I’ve either copied them from the publisher’s websites or from the jacket flap of the edition I read, depending on how long it was and how much I felt like typing.

I guess I should set up some guidelines. The “perfect” (or at least really good) jacket flap will: be catchy, making me want to open up the book; reflect the tone and style of the book; be accurate — I hate it when blurbs make me believe that there’s more to the book than there really is; and be succinct, nothing overly wordy (the journalist in me comes out again). I’ll probably add to this as the year progresses, for for now that’s a good start.

So, without further adieu, I give you January’s Jacket Flap-a-thon.

My top 5:
5. Ptolemy’s Gate (Hyperion Books for Children): ” Three years have passed since the magician Nathaniel helped prevent a cataclysmic attack on London. Now an established member of the British Government, he faces unprecedented problems: foreign wars are going badly, Britain’s enemies are mounting attacks close to London, and rebellion is fermenting among the commoners. Increasingly imperious and distracted, Nathaniel is treating Bartimaeus worse than ever. The long-suffering djinni is growing weak and vulnerable from too much time in this world, and his patience is nearing its end. Meanwhile, undercover in London, Kitty has been stealthily completing her research on magic, demons, and Bartimaeus’s past. She has a plan that she hopes will break the endless cycle of conflict between djinn and humans. But will anyone listen to what she has to say? In this thrilling conclusion of the Bartimaeus trilogy, the destinies of Bartimaeus, Nathaniel, and Kitty are thrown together once more. For the first time, we will learn the secrets of Bartimaeus’s past, and get a glimpse into the Other Place — the world of demons — as together, the threesome must face treacherous magicians, unravel a masterfully complex conspiracy, and defeat a formidable faction of demons. And worst of all, they must somehow cope with one another….”

I thought this one captured the essence of the book quite well. You’ve got Bartimaeus as a weakening djinni, you’ve got a reference to Ptolemy, and to Kitty’s adventures with Bartimaeus. It’s not as catchy as I’d like, but I think it does a fairly good job drawing you in. I’d want to read this one. (Though, I have to admit, that if I hadn’t read the other two, I don’t know if I’d be as eager.)

4. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow (Bloomsbury): “Blessed—or cursed—with an ability to understand animals, the Lass has always felt estranged from her family, who struggle to make a living in the windswept north. So when an isbjorn (polar bear) seeks her out and promises that her family will be provided for if she accompanies him to his castle, she doesn’t hesitate. But the great white bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle. Slowly the Lass unravels the mystery of the bear’s enchantment and the spell connecting him with the strange symbols carved in the castle’s icy walls. But on a journey to a place where the four winds fear to travel, the true horror of the bear’s spell is revealed, and the Lass’s courage—and love—will be tested.”

I was torn about this one — it’s an excellent blurb for a book I wasn’t overly thrilled with. But, in the end, I chose it because it made me really want to read the book. And so it did it’s job well, even if the book was less than I wanted.

3. Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little (Schwartz & Wade Books): “It isn’t as if Moxy hasn’t tried to read Stuart Little. She has. They’ve been practically inseparable all summer, like best friends. If the book isn’t in her backpack, it’s in her lap. If it isn’t holding up the coffee table on the front porch, it’s following Moxy into the pool. So you see, it isn’t as if they haven’t spent quality time together. But now it’s the end of August. The last day before fourth grade starts. The last possible second to finish summer reading. And if Moxy does not stay in her room and read ALL of Stuart Little, there will be “consequences.” (Which means she won’t get to play the eighth daisy petal in the “Goodbye to Summer Splash!” water ballet. Which will be tragic.)”

I liked that this one picked up the tone of the book. It’s a cute blurb for a cute book. (And it makes me smile.)

2. Omnivore’s Dilemma (Penguin Books): “Today, buffeted by one food fad after another, America is suffering from what can only be described as a national eating disorder. Will it be fast food tonight, or something organic? Or perhaps something we grew ourselves? The question of what to have for dinner has confronted us since man discovered fire. But as Michael Pollan explains in this revolutionary book, how we answer it now, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, may determine our survival as a species. Packed with profound surprises, The Omnivore’s Dilemma is changing the way Americans think about the politics, perils and pleasures of eating.”

This was on the back of the paperback version, but I liked it mostly because it was short. Jacket flaps for adult books tend to go on and on and on…. but this one is quick and succinct, and gets across the importance of Pollan’s argument.

1. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! (Candlewick): “Varlets, Vermin, Simpletons, Saints — in these pages, readers will meet them all. There’s Hugo, the lord’s nephew, forced to prove his manhood by hunting a wild boar, a beast whose tusks can “slice a man, groin to gorge.” There’s sharp-tongued Nelly, who supports her family by catching and selling live eels, and the peasant’s daughter, Mogg, whose downtrodden mother teachers her how to save a cow from a greedy landlord. There’s also mud-slinging Barbary and her noble victim, Isobel; Giles, the talented beggar; Alice, the singing shepherdess; and more. With a deep appreciation for the period and a grand affection for both characters and audience, Laura Amy Schlitz has created a series of riveting portraits. Read silently or performed before an audience, the collective voices tell an unforgettable human story about what it took to survive in the Middle Ages. Robert Byrd’s insightful pen-and-ink drawings take inspiration from an illuminated thirteenth-century manuscript. Together, illustrator and author have constructed an exquisite bridge to the people and places of medieval England.”

This one is excellent. It captures the feel of the book — medieval England — and points out that they are a series of short plays. And it mentions the absolutely beautiful illustrations. Perfect.

The worst one (you didn’t want to read 5, anyway):
Matilda (Puffin Books): “‘The Trunchbull’ is no match for Matilda! Who put superglue in Dad’s hat? Was it really a ghost that made Mom tear out of the house? Matilda is a genius with idiot parents – and she’s having a great time driving them crazy. But at school things are different. At school there’s Miss Trunchbull, two hundred menacing pounds of kid-hating headmistress. Get rid of the Trunchbull and Matilda would be a hero. But that would take a superhuman genius, wouldn’t it?”

AAAHHH! I don’t know what I would have done with Matilda, but this isn’t it. It’s horrid. It’s banal. It’s stupid. Yeah, it’s the basic plot, but it doesn’t make me want to read the book. (It sounds stupid.) And the book is wonderful.