Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

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by Rebecca Wells
ages: adult
First sentence: “Sidda is a girl again in the hot heart of Louisiana, the bayou world of Catholic saints and voodoo queens.”

I’ve seen this around for years (I think I’ve even seen the movie), and I always thought, off hand, that it would be an interesting book to read. Mother-daughter relationships, the South, and a promise to laugh and cry and be swept away.

And I tried to read it. I tried to like it. I tried. But…

*yawn*

I didn’t even make it 100 pages in, and I was bored stiff. Bored with Sidda and her whining. Bored with her attempts to find love and embrace life. Bored with the story. I did like Vivi as an adult; she had spunk and a fiery spirit, but there just wasn’t enough of her. I’m sure if I had given it time, I may have even grown to like the flashbacks to the Ya-Yas childhood. But the jumping around in time was bugging me, and I bailed after Vivi and Caro were scrubbing the Virgin Mary from Cuba white again.

Enough. I don’t have time to deal with this, and I exercised my right to stop reading.

Sometimes, doing that is really quite liberating.

Green

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by Larua Peyton Roberts
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Four or five things arrived for me on my thirteenth birthday.”
Support your local independent bookstore, buy it there!

Lily hates moving. She hates adjusting to a new home, making new friends. And it’s been especially hard in the last two years since her favorite grandmother, Gigi, has died. And yet, here she is, in another town, on the eve of her thirteenth birthday, trying to fit in, trying to make friends.

And then a package arrives for her — addressed to her in her full name, Lilybet, which no one EVER uses — and blows up, causing a mild concussion. So, admittedly, when she starts seeing little Green men — leprechauns from the Green clan — she wonders if it’s real or if it’s just her head playing tricks on her. But, once she gets to the Meadow (kidnapped would be the word for it), and is told that she either passes three tests to become the clan’s keeper of the gold, or she’ll lose all memories of her grandmother, she decides that it is very real indeed.

We follow Lily through her three tests, each more difficult than the other, as she learns to accept the reality of the leprechauns and learns to love them as her grandmother did. There are some ups and downs, some easy outs and not-that-great moments, but overall it’s a fun little take on a bit of folklore.

Library Loot 2010-31

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I went through my stacks of books and found twenty (only twenty!) that I would like to finish before the end of September. And yet, another three books (only three!) came in on hold for me. What I could use right now is Hermione’s time-turner…

Picture Books:
One of Us, by Peggy Moss/Illus. by Penny Weber
Clever Crow, by Cynthia DeFelice/Illus. by S.D. Schindler
Bubble Homes and Fish Farts, by Fiona Bayrock/Illus. by Carolyn Conahan
You Can’t Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum, by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman and Robin Preiss Glasser
A Crazy Day at the Critter Café, by Barbara Odanaka/Illus. by Lee White
Owl at Home, by Arnold Lobel
A Fabulous Fair Alphabet, by Debra Frasier

Middle Grade:
Scumble, by Ingrid Law

YA:
Mare’s War, by Tanita S. Davis

Non-Fiction:
Alive, by Piers Paul Read

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.

August Jacket-Flap-a-Thon

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It was the month of the questions. I’m not sure if it’s a trend — there has always been flap copy that asked a question of the readers. It just seemed that this month (especially in MG and YA books), I got it a bit more than usual. Which begs the question (sorry): what do you think about flap copy that asks a question? Does it work to draw you into the book?

I tend to find myself wanting to answer the questions…

Sisters Red (Little, Brown): “Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris–the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She’s determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead. Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls’ bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett’s only friend–but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they’ve worked for?”

Possibly, but you’re going to feel very very guilty about it all.

The Last Best Days of Summer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux): “For twelve-year-old Lucy Crandall, the last week of August is the most perfect time in the world. It’s the week she gets to spend with Grams at the lake house, canoeing, baking cookies, and glazing pots in Grams’s potting shed. Grams has a way of making Lucy feel centered, like one of the pots on her kick wheel—perfect, steady, and completely at peace. But this summer, Grams doesn’t seem to be exactly the person she once was. And as the week turns into a roller coaster of surprises—some good, some awful—Lucy can’t help but wonder: Will things ever be centered again?”

No. Never. You’ll just have to live your life off balance.

The Demon’s Covenant (Margaret K. McElderry): “Mae Crawford’s always thought of herself as in control, but in the last few weeks her life has changed. Her younger brother, Jamie, suddenly has magical powers, and she’s even more unsettled when she realizes that Gerald, the new leader of the Obsidian Circle, is trying to persuade Jamie to join the magicians. Even worse… Jamie hasn’t told Mae a thing about any of it. Mae turns to brothers Nick and Alan to help her rescue Jamie, but they are in danger from Gerald themselves because he wants to steal Nick’s powers. Will Mae be able to find a way to save everyone she cares about from the power-hungry magician’s carefully laid trap?”

I sure hope so. Because Mae rocks.

Al Capone Shines My Shoes (Dial): “Moose and the cons are about to get a lot closer in this much-anticipated sequel. It’s 1935. Moose Flanagan lives on Alcatraz with his family, the other families of the guards, and a few hundred no-name hit men, con men, mad dog murderers and a handful of bank robbers too. And one of those cons has just done him a big favor.You see, Moose has never met Al Capone, but a few weeks ago Moose wrote a letter to him asking him to use his influence to get his sister, Natalie, into a school she desperately needs in San Francisco. After Natalie got accepted, a note appeared in Moose’s freshly laundered shirt that said: Done. As this book begins, Moose discovers a new note. This one says: Your turn. Is it really from Capone? What does it mean? Moose can’t risk anything that might get his dad fired. But how can he ignore Al Capone?”

You can’t. Al Capone SEES ALL.

How to Survive Middle School (Delacorte Books for Young People):”Eleven-year-old David Greenberg dreams of becoming a TV superstar like his idol, Jon Stewart. But in real life, David is just another kid terrified of starting his first year at Harman Middle School. With a wacky sense of humor and hilarious Top 6½ Lists, David spends his free time making Talk Time videos, which he posts on YouTube. But before he can get famous, he has to figure out a way to deal with:

6. Middle school (much scarier than it sounds!)
5. His best friend gone girl-crazy
4. A runaway mom who has no phone!
3. The threat of a swirlie on his birthday
2. A terrifying cousin
1. His # 1 fan, Bubbe (his Jewish grandmother)
1/2. Did we mention Hammy, the hamster who’s determined to break David’s heart?

When David and his best friend have a fight, David is lucky enough to make a pretty cool new friend, Sophie–who just (gulp) happens to be a girl. Sophie thinks David’s videos are hilarious, and she starts sending out the links to everyone she knows. Sophie’s friends tell their friends, and before David knows it, thousands of people are viewing his videos–including some of the last people he would have expected. David may still feel like a real-life schmo, but is he ready to become an Internet superstar?”

Sure. Why not? John Green did it.

Other books read this month:
The Waiter Rant
The Girl in Hyacinth Blue
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
No and Me
The Cardturner
A Mango Shaped Space
Under the Tuscan Sun
Mockingjay
Nurture Shock

Running total: 119 books
Adult fiction: 22
YA: 44
MG: 32
Non-fiction: 11
Graphic Novel: 10
Didn’t Finish: 6

Nurture Shock

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by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman

ages: adult

First sentence: “My wife has great taste in art, with one exception.”

Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

This was my on-line book group this past month, and to be honest, I really had no intention of picking it up at all. I’ve been trying to make it through stacks of books that I own, or have been sent. Not to mention indulging in rereading.

But, the discussion on the board made me curious, and I cracked it open to read a few chapters.

For the most part, the chapters I read (I dipped in and out, reading the chapters on praise, race, lying, sibling rivalry) were pretty much rehashing parenting advice that I’ve either heard elsewhere or figured out on my own. (But look: it’s backed by science. Therefore it must be credible.) Admittedly, I’m inherently distrustful of these types of parenting books (well, to be really honest: I’ve been inherently distrustful of parenting books, period, ever since I tossed my copy of What to Expect During the First Year — or something like that — fourteen years ago), and so I really wasn’t expecting anything earth shattering. I think, for parents who talk and think and use common sense and put their kids best interest ahead of what’s “expected” or “right” or what the kids “should” be doing, most of the information in this book will be second nature.

But the chapter on the science of teen rebellion? That, I found interesting.

Perhaps it’s because M is hitting that stage, and I haven’t really broached the topics of teenagerhood or arguing. There’s part of me that’s got my head in the sand: everything will run as smoothly as middle school did, since I honestly believed those would be the terror years. But, the studies that they cited, and the results that were found made me think. Arguing good? To a certain extent, yes, because it’s a dialogue of sorts with the teen. Having rules is good, too, but being anal about them leads to lying and hiding. In other words, don’t be a pushover, but also listen to your kids and work the rules around what seems reasonable. The studies on the pleasure center in teens brains was fascinating, too.

Typing this up, I realized that, yeah: all this is logical, common sense stuff, too: there’s really nothing ground breaking. But perhaps, as parents, what was needed was a one-stop shop, someplace where all this good stuff about parenting, and treating our kids differently from adults (which is really their final conclusion), which includes having different expectations for them, because they’re not adults is quite a good thing.

Which, I suppose, I can agree with.

Library Loot 2010-30

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I caved and put two books on hold this week. I couldn’t resist. *hangs head in shame* There’s just so many books I want to read!

Picture Books:
The Heart and the Bottle, by Oliver Jeffers
Say Hello!, by Rachel Isadora
Big Red Lollipop, by Rukhsana Khan/Illus. by Sophie Blackall
Ella Kazoo Will Not Brush Her Hair, by Lee Fox/Illus. by Jennifer Plecas
Petit, the Monster, by Isol
Where the Sunrise Begins, by Douglas Wood/Art by Wendy Popp
Pingo, by Brandon Mull/Illus by Brandon Dorman

YA:
Cracked Up to Be, by Courtney Summers

Graphic Novel:
Gunnerkrigg Court, Vol. 2: Research, by Thomas Siddell
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.

Mockingjay

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by Suzanne Collins
ages: 14+
First sentence: “I stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! (Though you probably already have.)

NO SPOILERS. Promise.

Like Hunger Games and Catching Fire, this book is very unputdownable. Thankfully, I set aside the day to sit and read, otherwise I’d have been biting my nails and obsessing over the book. Better to get it all over with in one sitting.

And, for the most part, I really really liked the book. I liked what Collins did with Katniss, and the rebellion, and Gale, and especially Peeta. I liked the direction Collins was taking the books, the whole Katniss-as-Mockingjay thing. There were touching moments, some kick-butt moments, she kept me guessing as to where the plot was going, and she generally laid foundation work for something absolutely incredible to happen. There’s a lot of good anti-war stuff in there, how rebellions don’t always work right, how killing ourselves isn’t always the answer.

There are some things I wished she would have done: I missed Cinna, I wished Haymitch had more to do, I wished she had done something more with the District 13 government. Those were minor quibbles, though.

Because, the book fell apart for me. Completely and totally by the last 45 pages. There’s a moment near the end — and if you’ve read the book, you know where it is — where I was on the edge of my seat, disbelieving. However, in the pages that followed, Collins made choices — with characters, with the plot, with narrative — that completely derailed the rest of the book. It would have been so much better if… but it wasn’t. The whole ending was anticlimactic, and took the book in a direction that felt forced. I ended up feeling dissatisfied with the whole book, in the end. I’m not sure what I wanted, really, but it wasn’t the ending that Collins gave me.

Which, unfortunately, left me with a less-than-stellar reaction to the book overall. (And am I the only one?) And that’s too bad. Because it’s a great series: thought provoking and intense. I just wanted something better to end with.

How to Survive Middle School

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by Donna Gephart
ages: 10+
First sentence: “The first day of summer vacation is important, because what you do that day sets the tone for the rest of summer.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy sent to me by the author.

David Greenberg loves making movies: short little funny vids that kind-of riff on The Daily Show. He makes them with his best friend, Elliot, and yeah, they just upload them to YouTube, but it’s the making them together that’s the fun part.

Or so David thought. That was before the summer before sixth grade, and Elliot decides that what they really need to go is go to the mall and scope out girls. David, however, disagrees, and the friendship is on the rocks. Right before middle school.

Unfortunately — and in a very stereotypical turn; do all middle schools have to have the bully who is less-than-smart, smokes, and flushes heads in toilets? — Elliot partners up with the school bully, and they gang up on David. Now, on top of still trying to adjust to his Mom’s leaving two years earlier, David has to deal with a best friend-turned-traitor. And this leads to all kinds of trouble: suspensions, detentions, fights… On the other hand, it also leads him to be friends with Sophie, bright, formerly homeschooled, and, interestingly enough, amazingly connected. She finds David’s videos hilarious and emails a link to some friends. The link passes around and the video goes viral. David’s an internet star!

Now, to just reconcile his popularity on the internet with his increasing loser status in real life.

It was a clever concept, contrasting real life with virtual life, and I think Gephart managed that fairly well. It’s a timeless story, adjusting to new situations, trying to make new friends, and what to do when your anchor leaves you. But, sometimes I couldn’t help wondering: how relevant will all this be in five, ten years? Will we even know (or care) who Jon Stewart is? Don’t get me wrong: I love the show. It’s just using pop culture references in a book automatically makes it less timeless than those where the story stands more on its own.

That said, David is a great character, and his trials and tribulations will be real to the age group this is intended for. So it’s a bit pop culture-heavy, and a bit too stereotypical. There’s a singing hamster and an 11-year-old who gets to be famous for 15 minutes. It’s fun. And sometimes that’s all you can ask for out of a book.

A Mango Shaped Space

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by Wendy Mass
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Freak.“
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Mia doesn’t quite know how to deal with her world. She seems normal from the outside, possibly the most normal in her family. She likes to paint, she has been best friends with Jenna since forever, and she does okay at school. Except she has a secret: sounds, numbers and letters have a color for her. You wouldn’t think this was a big deal, but back in third grade, when she tried to tell people, everyone — adults and kids alike — thought she was making things up. So, she stopped telling people, quietly bearing the burden of being a… freak.

Then she hits eighth grade and things start to fall apart for her. She finally admits the color “thing” to her parents, they take her to a series of doctors, finally diagnosing her with synesthesia. On the one hand, this is good: Mia is no longer a freak, or alone in dealing with the challenges that synesthesia brings. On the other hand, Mia delves into an intense regimen of self-discovery, inadvertently shutting out her family, her friends, her schoolwork, and (perhaps most of all) her cat, Mango.

It’s an interesting growing up story; Mia has so much to deal with on her plate — from the usual teenage stuff, to sibling stuff, not to mention all the colors which color her life — that there’s just so much to juggle. On the one hand, it’s a very teenagery book, and because of that, Mia was a bit much to handle. There were some issues that never got resolved for me (as a parent, admittedly), and the story just didn’t quite gel as well as I wanted or hoped. On the other hand, the descriptions of what Mia sees was so vivid, so amazing that it almost made me jealous I can’t see the world that way. My “normal” world seems so boring in comparison.

Which is one of the reasons I like Wendy Mass so much: she takes something not-quite-mainstream — like synesthesia or astronomy — and weaves a story around it in such a way that makes you want to have a similar experience, even if the story isn’t all that great.

Which is why I keep reading her books.

Sunday Salon: Savoring

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I’ve been rereading Under the Tuscan Sun, enjoying it as much as I did the first time around. I am finding myself savoring the language, and feeling myself being pulled to Italy, to slow down, stay a while and enjoy the language, the landscape and the food. (I am also finding myself wishing there was more than one sense employed when reading; I want to touch, smell, and hear this book as well!). I don’t normally consider myself an Italy person (preferring France and England and China in my literary pursuits), but this book is written well enough that it pulls me there.

When they arrive it will be the soft, slow Tuscan twilight, fading after drinks from transparent to golden to evening blue, then, by the end of the first course, into night. Night happens uickly, as though the sun were pulled in one motion under the hill. We light candles in hurricane shades all along the stone wall and on the table. For background music, a hilarious chorus of frogs tunes up. Molte anni fa, many years ago, our friends began. Their stories weave an Italy around us that we know only through books an films.

This book demands you slow down, you enjoy the prose, you savor each moment as it unfolds.

Which has got me thinking about savoring. Too often, and sometimes with good cause, I find myself propelling through books, either because I’m clamoring for the next development in the story or because I just want to finish it. I vary rarely slow down and enjoy the scenery, so to speak.

I’m not sure I’d want to do it all the time, but I find that right now, in these lazy late summer afternoons, this is what I really need. You could say that I’m savoring it.

Is there a particular book (or books or genre or author) that just demands you savor?