The Madness Underneath

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by Maureen Johnson
ages: 13+
First sentence: “Charlie Strong liked his customers — you don’t run a pub for twenty-one years if you don’t like your customers — but there was something about the quiet in the morning that pleased him to no end.
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Name of the Star

A short story about this first. I had put this one on preorder MONTHS ago at the store, and I knew the release date (because I obsessively follow Maureen Johnson on Twitter) and so when the UPS guy came on Monday, I knew, just KNEW my book was in there. But it was snowing (yet again), and we closed the store early, and the managers were in Kansas City for Winter Institute, and I couldn’t get my book on Monday. So, when Tuesday rolled around, I practically accosted the person responsible for receiving the books into the system, and after paying his bribe of one tall peppermint hot cocoa, I walked out after work a happy woman. I had my MJ.

The initial question here is this: does is live up to the awesomeness that was Name of the Star? The short answer: no. It’s not as good as the first one. It really is a middle book in a series: even though the book starts with a murder, the action really doesn’t get going until page 240 or so. After the Ripper events of Name of the Star, Rory is, understandably, doing a lot of soul searching. To say she’s behind in school is an understatement; in fact, her parents don’t even want her to go back. Her relationship with Jerome is suffering, her connection to Wexford is tentative. In fact, the only thing keeping her going is her place in the ghost squad, and even that’s not at its most healthy. If it wasn’t for the constant humor and — to be truly honest — brilliance in MJ’s writing, the story wouldn’t have been as interesting as it was.

Does that mean it’s not worth reading? Oh, heavens no. IT’S MAUREEN JOHNSON, people. And everything I love about her writing is in there: it’s funny, it’s observant, it’s intelligent, it’s a wee bit swoony, and the ending will catch you completely off guard. In fact, the book is worth reading for the last quarter alone, the set up for the next book that had be both flabergasted, crying “NOT FAIR” on Twitter, and wishing I could pick up the next book right now.

While it’s not the most gripping story, it’s a good middle book. Here’s hoping the next one blows the socks off of me. Then again, it’s MJ. No need to be anxious. 

First Sunday Daughter Reviews: March 2013

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I had a Grand Plan to make a vlog for this, but then it SNOWED (and I should have done it then) and we got off our schedule, and yeah… it just Didn’t Happen. Here’s their thoughts on what what they’ve been reading.

K: Recently finished reading The Adventures of Nanny Piggins with her dad, and fell in love. She still can’t stop talking about it. She thought it was Hilarious, and loved Boris the ballerina bear the best. She’s become a Nanny Piggins evangelist, begging her older sisters (and me; though I read — and liked — the sequel) to read it, too.

A: Read the ARC of Rump, by Leisl Shurtliff, because C recommended it to her. She liked it, but was annoyed it took too long for the main character to figure out his name. That said: it kept her interested until the end.

C: Snagged the ARC of Rachel Hawkins’ new one, School Spirits. Probably the best way to describe her reaction is through this series of tweets:

(Click to embiggen)

 M: Finished both Finnikin of the Rock and the ARC for Dark Triumph, the next in His Fair Assassins. The short version about both? Everything else — including the mounting physics homework — went by the wayside because she couldn’t finish them fast enough. (Finnikin was slow going at first, but I told her to stick with it and she did. And she was REALLY glad, too.) Great books, both of them.

Maybe next month I’ll get that vlog up.

Audiobook: Madame Bovary

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by Gustave Flaubert
read by : Donada Peters
ages: adult

So,  thought I’d listen to the classics this year. And, since I’ve never read Madame Bovary, I figured why not listen to it? I admit that I had no idea what it was about going in, and also that the back blurb was singularly unhelpful.

That said, even though Donada Peters sounds vaguely like Judy Dench, I found myself highly — HIGHLY — bored with listening to this one. After a while, Peters voice began to grate on me, and I just bailed. Nothing — not a single thing — about the story was drawing me in. Not the characters, not the writing, and definitely not the narration.

So, that leaves me with this: was it the translation? Was it the audiobook? There has to be a reason this is considered a classic. Should I give it another try?

Tokyo Heist

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by Diana Renn
ages: 13+
First sentence: “The wind, the rain, my soaked Converse sneakers.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Violet loves all things Japanese, from kimono fabric to drawing manga. And so when her father gets commissioned to paint a mural in the offices of one of the most influential families in Japan, Violet jumps at the chance to join him.

But, things quickly take a turn for the sinister: a couple of original Van Gogh drawings have been stolen and a Japanese mobster is demanding that the painting based on those drawings be found, or everyone’s life is forfeit.  There’s more to it then that: there’s suspicious characters (always suspect the security guard), FBI stings (Neal Caffrey needed to show up; it would have been better if he did), shopping (always up for that), Japanese festivals (in this case, Gion Matusri), parent-child tensions (the dad was annoyingly hot and cold — he’d either ignore Violet or ground her to her room *sigh), and lots and lots of manga.

It wasn’t a bad read; I liked Violet, and I actually liked the fact that while she did solve the mystery, she didn’t do it by gallivanting about the country in defiance of everyone. She worked with the adults, letting the FBI know what she found out every step of the way. I did think that Renn balanced the responsibility with action and adventure, and even if it wasn’t constantly thrilling, it was good.

But the thing I liked most was how very, well, informative it was about Japan and Japanese culture. I’m hoping it’s mostly accurate, I felt like I was immersed in a Japanese world, and came out on the other side more educated because of it.

And for that alone, I found this book worth reading.

February 2013 Wrap-Up

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The problem with February is that the end comes up a lot more quickly than you think. March? Already?? The good thing about February is that it means, generally speaking around here, that winter is just about over. Hooray for that!

My favorite this month:

Perfect Scoundrels 

Scarlet floored me, Just One Day had me dreaming of Paris, Out of the Easy enthralled me, but a girl has to go with her crush. You can’t say I’m not loyal. Hale. *swoon* It helps that it’s a really good book, too!

The others read this month:

YA:

The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door

Out of the Easy

Paper Valentine
Just One Day

Etiquette & Espionage  (DNF)

Scarlet
Son

Audio book:

To Kill a Mockingbird

Middle Grade:

Almost Home

Number the Stars

The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket (DNF)

Case File 13: Zombie Kid

Twelve Kinds of Ice

Adult Fiction:

Big Boned

What were your favorite reads this month?

Big Boned

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by Meg Cabot
ages: adult
First sentence: “You came!”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Size 14 is Not Fat Either

Heather Wells, former pop star and current assistant Fischer Hall director, is quite happy with her life. Sure, her new boss is a bit of a stick in the mud, and sure her boyfriend Tad is a vegan who doesn’t watch TV and is trying to get her to *gasp* exercise, and sure it’s not really the guy she wants to be with, but all in all, she’s doing okay.

Then, one morning without warning, her boss gets shot in the head.

Something about Heather just attracts murder, doesn’t it?

An aside: about a third of the way in, I started wondering: how long can Meg Cabot keep up this Death Dorm thing? I mean, three murders in the same hall over three books? I need to read the next one to figure out whether or not she branches out and starts solving murders at other places.

This one was actually murder lite this time around. Heather, of course, is on the case (no matter how much Cooper tries to tell her not to get involved), mostly because her grad assistant Sarah’s not-quite-boyfriend is the primary suspect. Of course he didn’t do it, and it’s up to Heather to figure out who did. Mostly, though, this was Heather obsessing about her relationship with Tad and wishing that Cooper was her boyfriend. That’s not to say this wasn’t interesting — Cabot is really a fun and engaging writer — but that I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time around. Perhaps because it was that I read it rather than listening to it (the narrator really was that good). Even so, I enjoyed hanging with Heather and her crowd, and even though the mystery wasn’t that great, it was good enough.

Which means: 1) I’ll be reading the next one eventually and 2) it’s some good fluff. I’m converted to the cult of Cabot.

Almost Home

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by Joan Bauer
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Mr. Bennett walked into room 212 carrying a plastic bag.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Having been on a Middle Grade Fiction Round 1 Cybils panel a few times, I am quite familiar with dead moms, absent moms, crazy moms, overbearing moms, controlling moms, and all sorts of other bad moms. Kids have had to deal with homelessness, with abuse, with death. Which they usually do with varying degrees of success.

But never before have I read a character with so much down-to-earth pluck and good-natured spirit as I have in Sugar Mae Cole.

Her father — she calls him Mr. Leeland — is a gambler, and comes with pretty much all that baggage that that entails. He’s taken out loans against the house, gotten involved with less-than-respectable characters, and is absent more than he is home. Sugar’s been basically raised by her mother, Reba, and her grandfather, King Cole (pretty awesome name if you ask me). But, King died a year back, and it’s been increasingly more difficult for Reba and Sugar to make ends meet. Until they don’t anymore, and the lose the house.

The bounce around from living with family to living in a shelter while Reba tries to find a job. Then she gets a sort-of lead on a job in Chicago, so on a whim the two of them head up there. Things — of course — don’t go the way they are supposed to, and Reba has a mental breakdown. Sugar is shuffled off into foster care, and Reba’s in an institution while they figure out the best way to rebuild their lives.

I should mention the dog on the cover: his name is Shush and he’s adorable. He’s more a metaphor than an actual character: he’s been abused by a previous owner, and is insecure about his place in the world. But, through love and acceptance, Sugar helps him gain the confidence he needs to be a courageous dog. Which is a parallel to Sugar’s experience: she has a difficult time trusting, but through a loving foster family and an amazing teacher, she blossoms.

As I said to begin with, this novel rests squarely on Sugar’s shoulders, and she carries it superbly.

A Brief Familial Interlude

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I don’t quite know where to start (besides, I should have gotten this out earlier today!).  About two years ago, my oldest daughter, M, fell in love with all things India thanks in part to a blog post by Kristin Cashore. See, Kristin was going on about this Bollywood movie called Om Shanti Om, so I decided to watch it. M came in while I was in the middle of it, and was literally mesmerized. She then proceeded to obsess over India, and decided that what she’d really like is to spend a year there.

I figured it all would pass, and didn’t do anything to help or  hinder her obsession. But, it persisted, and she did enough research to decide that the Rotary Youth Exchange would be a good match for her. She contacted one of the local clubs, did the legwork to find out what it took to graduate early, and put the wheels in motion.

Fast forward to right now: through the help of the Rotary, she’s raised $1900 of the estimated $5000 total we figure it’ll take for her to spend a year in New Delhi. She’s turning in her application to get matched with a family (or two) there. She’s got her passport, and most of her shots. She’s saved what she can from gifts and allowance money, since we decided that it was more important for her to keep her 4.0 while taking a double load of classes this year than to get a job. Though she will go looking for something for this summer (she can’t leave for India before she turns 17 in August) as soon as she finishes finals in late April/early May.

Which brings me to the point of this. Hubby and I are comfortable, financially, but not by any means well off. So, we’re turning to our friends (and readers and family) to see if they’d like to pitch in to help our daughter make a difference. Maybe not while she’s in India (though she’s going to look for chances to help and learn the culture) but in the future. We’ve set up a Go Fund Me site, and are inviting people to contribute what they can.

What’s in  it for you? Well, we’re going to work with M — who is not a natural writer or journalist — to set up a blog detailing her experiences. But beyond that, just the warm fuzzies you get from helping a good kid do something amazing.

I’d love it if you could help out. I won’t hold it against you if you can’t. In these tough economic times, I understand. But every little bit makes a difference. And I appreciate every little bit that’s already been donated.

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Etiquette & Espionage

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by Gail Carriger
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Sophronia intended to pull the dumbwaiter up from the kitchen to outside the front parlor on the ground floor, where Mrs. Barnaclegose was taking tea.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I’m going to say this up front: I was drawn in by the cover and by the back, which has a very catchy and kind of awesome blurb on it:

It’s one thing to curtsey properly
It’s quite another to learn to curtsey & throw a knife at the same time.
Welcome to Finishing School.

But I couldn’t finish it. In fact, after about the first paragraph, I was questioning my desire to read it at all.

From what I can gather, Sophronia (Really? REALLY? What a terrible name. Then again, all the names are terrible) is a 14-year-old tomboy in 1850-something.  It’s a steampunkish world, with machinery and robots, but there’s also paranormal beasties (you know: werewolves, vampires and the like). Because she’s such a handful, her mother’s neighbor (I think that’s who Mrs. Barnaclegoose is; I was never really quite clear on this), takes it upon herself to enroll Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing School. Which, as it turns out, has a lot more to do with finishing than Finishing. (Ha.)

I never really got the rest of the plot, because after the attack of the flywayman (double ha) and the revelation that Mademoiselle Geraldine is actually a 17-year-old student named Monique (who has an Agenda), I lost interest. I wanted this to be awesome in the over the top but way cool sort of way,  but instead it ended up just being convoluted.

Orson Scot Card said once (I think it was him) (and I’m obviously paraphrasing here) that a good story needs more than one good idea. But that’s the problem with this one: a Finishing school for assassins is a good idea. A fellow student who has an Agenda is a good idea. A steampunk world is a good idea. Werewolves and vampires are good ideas. But all of them  together? Not so much. The book felt — and granted I only got about 70 pages in — cluttered.  Crowded. It made me feel claustrophobic.

And the writing? Sure, it’s the 1850s, but this is just banal:

“Your mother is occupied in an important private audience. I was going to await her leisure. But for this, I shall disturb her. It is 1851 and I believe we lived in a civilized world! Yet you are as bad a a rampaging werewolf, young miss, and someone must take action.” (3)

Dimity sidled up to Sophronia and whispered, “Isn’t he simply scrumptious?”
Sophronia pretended obtuseness. “The coachman?”
“No, silly. Him!” Dimity tilted her head toward their new escort.
“He’s a little old, don’t you feel?” (47)

(Much talk like Yoda, hmmm?)

“Oh yes, lead on, do. To the Squeak deck.”
“What-ho.” (73)

And that sound you hear? It’s the sound of my hopes being dashed.

Pity.

Case File 13: Zombie Kid

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by J. Scott Savage
ages: 9+
First sentence: “Please relax and make yourself comfortable.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the author.

There are two things you should know about Nick, Carter, and Angelo. One: they are inseparable. Two: they love Halloween. This Halloween’s a bust, though, because Nick has been spirited off to the Bayous of Louisiana in order to go to the funeral of a great-aunt he’s never met.

Who might possibly have been a voodoo witch.

So when Nick finds an amulet in a crypt (at midnight), you should expect weird things to happen, right? How about turning into a zombie? At first it’s cool — who wouldn’t want to be a zombie, right? — but Nick and friends eventually end up racing against the clock before Nick ends up undead permanently.

On the one hand, this is a fun, silly, horror-lite story. It’s just about my speed when it comes to zombies (I just don’t do the undead), and I kind of liked both Nick and Co’s reaction to the zombifying. Very 10-year-old reaction. And the chapter titles –“Do Not Try This Part at Home” and “This Chapter is Where Things Really Start to Get Weird” — totally killed me. Oh, and I liked the increasingly decaying cartoon of the boy at the beginning of each chapter.

But, the more I read the less I liked it.  From the narrator that bookends the story (unnecessary) to the snotty girls that were supposed to compete with Nick and Co (pointless; why have them, if all they’re going to do is get in the way?) to the mildly weird and kind of confusing ending (huh? Where’d HE come from?), it’s internal logic (as Sondy would put it) just didn’t hold up for me.

Then again, I’m not 9. So it may just be me.