Story of a Girl

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by Sara Zarr
ages: 14+
First sentence: “

I procrastinated this, because I had no idea what to say.

On the one hand: powerful, powerful story of a girl trying to get past a BIG mistake she made because she was lonely and wanted attention… and the guy told everyone. She the rep now of being the school slut (even though she’s never done it with anyone else). To make it worse, her dad can’t forgive her, and she can’t forgive herself. How does one get past that?

On the other hand: totally and completely depressing. The family is totally messed up, and I wanted to scream at the parents: parent already! Hard to read when you have a 13 year old girl yourself. At times, I found myself crying in frustration and disappointment at how totally wrong ALL their lives had gone. (Then again, that’s a sign of a really good story.)

Not exactly a cheerful, take-you-away kind of book. But a good one for discussing.

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.

Book to Movie Friday: Becoming Jane

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I know I talked about this a bit in my review of the book (and technically I shouldn’t count it since I saw the movie first, and this breaks the rules I’ve set up for myself), but I haven’t watched a movie adaptation of a book in a while, and I wanted to keep this little feature going.

I should also start with a couple of confessions: I saw this movie when it came out, in the theater, and I liked it from the start. Which means, I’m not a Janeite. For all my love of her novels, I don’t mind it when they play with them and interpret the story a bit.

But, as I said in my review of the book, while this is a decent love story (and James McAvoy is quite dreamy), it’s not history. The whole Tom LeFroy love angle of the book was a blip, a passing mention. Not much is known about her relationship with him, and even Jon Spence is inferring much from her novel and what is known about both Tom and Jane. There’s really not that much there… especially not enough to make a 2 hour movie out of.

That said, I think they did a good job capturing the essence of Jane Austen — her conflict with propriety, her wit, her observations of people. We know so little about her, that it’s fun to infer what she might have been like based on what she did write. And while those inferences probably aren’t anywhere near the truth (dang you, Cassandra, for burning all those letters!), that doesn’t mean it’s not fun to speculate.

Which means, I can’t be too upset at all the liberties they took (mixing up times and places and names, creating instances which probably didn’t happen). Anne Hathaway did a good job capturing Jane’s curiosity with and frustration at the world; James McAvoy was perfect as a foil for her sharp tongue and brilliant mind. Which, for me, is really all you need in a good movie (like this).

Verdict: the movie is a LOT of fun, but check out a biography of her, too.

Fire

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by Kristin Cashore
ages: 13+
First sentence (ARC): “Larch often though that if it had not been for his newborn son, he never would have survived his wife Mikra’s death.”
Release date: October 5, 2009

(Okay, Kailana, I finally got around to it. 🙂 And thanks, Corinne, for sending me the ARC!)

Fire is a monster. In the Dells, monster creatures — immensely beautiful, irresistible to humans, and with the ability to control human minds — are a part of life, and Fire is the last of the human monsters. She has the ability to make people do her will — an ability her father, Cansrel, used frequently before he died — but she doesn’t use it, instead preferring to hide away in her northern home. That is, until people start mysteriously attempting to kidnap her and then mysteriously dying once they are captured. The events make her curious, and restless, and so when Prince Bergin shows up, at the king’s request, to escort her to King City in order to use her powers to aid in the preparations for the upcoming war, she goes.

It’s obviously more complex than that, mostly because Cashore is a brilliant storyteller and world weaver. There’s scores of new characters to know and love: complex, fascinating, amazing. There’s a new world to discover, full of interesting, and dangerous, creatures. But, in the inevitable comparisons, it’s a much more reflective book than Graceling is. While Fire and Katsa are vastly different heroines, they’re both strong, intelligent, amazing, and willing to do much for those (people and country) that they love. While the romance doesn’t as sparkle and sizzle as much as it does in Graceling, it’s there and amazing in its own mature, lasting way. We meet Leck, Graceling‘s creepy evildoer, as a boy, and even though he didn’t play the role that I was hoping he would, he was still evil enough to give me chills. In fact, the weakest link in the book that is Fire is the “bad guys”; they are there, but they tend to lurk and make polital maneuvers rather than actively confronting the main characters.

That said, Cashore keeps the pace moving, the pages turning, and the reader engrossed to the very last page.

Pre-order it at: Amazon Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.

Library Loot #26

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I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold.
I must stop putting books on hold. I must stop putting books on hold.

(Do you think I can convince myself if I say it enough? *snort* Probably not.)

For A/K:
Peep!: A Little Book About Taking a Leap, by Maria Van Lieshout
Yoko Writes Her Name, by Rosemary Wells
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy, by Mo Willems**
Read It, Don’t Eat It!, by Ian Schoenherr
The Donut Chef, by Bob Staake**
Ducks Don’t Wear Socks, by John Nedwidek/Illus. by Lee White**
Tommaso and the Missing Line, by Matteo Pericoli
No Babysitters Allowed, by Amber Stewart/Illus. by Laura Rankin
I’m Bad!, by Kate and Jim McMullan

For M:
Leap of Faith, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley*
Seventh Son (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 1), by Orson Scott Card*

For me:
My Life in France, by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme
Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design, by Michael Shermer

The roundup is either at Reading Adventures or A Striped Armchair.

*Ones that M eventually read.
**Picture books we really liked.

20 Boy Summer

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by Sarah Ockler
ages: 15+
First sentence: “Frankie Perino and I were lucky that day.”
ARC sent to me by a publicist.

Anna was in love with the boy next door, Matt. She and Matt and his sister, Frankie, were the ultimate triumvirate: they did everything together, but Anna kept her feelings to herself. Then, on her 15th birthday, everything changed: Matt kissed her (of course she kissed him back!). They hid their relationship from their parents and his sister, he promised that he’d break it to Frankie when they went on their annual pilgrimage to Zanzibar Bay in California. Except, he died — heart failure from a defect no one had caught — before he could get the chance.

Fast forward a year. Anna and Frankie are still friends, struggling through the grief of losing a brother (and a something-more-than friend, though Anna is Long Suffering and True and hasn’t told anyone). Frankie’s taken to being wild — smoking in her room, flirting (and sex) with boys — partially to see if she can get some kind of reaction from her parents, and partially to reinvent herself. Anna is lost, hanging around Frankie because she’s loyal, not really because she understands how to help, or even how to fully deal with her grief.

Then Frankie’s parents invite Anna to go with them to Zanzibar Bay, the first time they’ve been back since Matt’s death. And Frankie invents this game: 20 boys in 20 days: they should be able to help Anna dump her “albatross” (her virginity) and make it the A.B.S.E. (absolutely best summer ever). Anna goes along, but only halfheartedly because she’s still in love with Matt, and is determined to be faithful to his memory. Besides: if she falls in love with someone else, doesn’t that mean Matt will be erased?

I’m torn about this one: it’s an interesting look at dealing with grief, and with the unexpected loss of a loved one, whether it be a friend or a relative. I liked the romance Anna has, both in flashbacks with Matt, and her learning that she can love again with Sam, the local surfer boy. However, I cringed at everything Anna and Frankie got away with — and they got away with a lot; understandably, Frankie’s parents were grief stricken, but it made them really lazy in the parenting department. I also don’t know if the shedding of ones virginity — especially as a one-time affair — is really a valid method of dealing with grief, which is what I ultimately saw it being used as in the book, which made me uncomfortable.

At any rate, the characters — especially Anna — are interesting and complex, which is difficult to do when dealing with intense emotions and situations. And, while everything is not perfect in the end, everything will be okay.

Which, sometimes, is all you can ask for.

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.

Bookish Food

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The F2F book group is at my house tonight, and since we’re discussing Garden Spells, I thought I would make some food from the book:

Yum. Even if no one comes, I’ll have a good time. 🙂

Beastly

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by Alex Flinn
ages: 13+
First sentence: “Mr. Anderson: Welcome to the first meeting of the Unexpected Changes chat group.”

Kyle Kingman has it all: looks, money, popularity, a hot girlfriend. His father — a newscaster megastar — basically leaves him alone to do what he wants, to buy whatever he wants. Then, one day at school, Kendra shows up. She’s definitely NOT Kyle’s type — ugly, mostly — and on a whim, Kyle decides to ask her to the dance as a joke. Turns out, though, that Kendra’s a witch, and after Kyle ditches her at the dance, she turns him into the Beast that he is. However, since (last minute, and because his girlfriend hated it) he gave a white rose to a girl at the dance, he will have two years to break the curse by (you guessed it) getting someone to fall in love with him as the Beast. And she has to kiss him.

It’s the Beauty and the Beast story, of course, and all the elements are there. The father breaking into the Beast’s house and trading his daughter for his life. The daughter, named Beauty, despising the creature because of her imprisonment but eventually learning to care for him. Beast’s growth and discovering that he really can love. And, yes, the eventual happily-ever-after that comes from a love blossomed out of a friendship. But Flinn takes it and tweaks it just enough, updates it to current times, and then gives us a beast who is broken and lonely and desperate for someone to love him for himself. Amazingly enough, it works on all levels: as a fairy tale, yes, but also as a romance and a story about two broken kids figuring out what it means to love, but also to be loved.

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s, Half.com, or your local independent bookstore.

Echoes From the Dead

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by Johan Theorin
(translated by Marlaine Delargy)
ages: adult (though it could be a 16+ book, if they’re interested)
First sentence: “The wall was built of big, rounded stones covered in grayish white lichen, and it was the same height as the boy.”

Julia Davidsson’s five-year-old son died 20 years ago on the island of Oland off the coast of northern Sweden. They searched for him for a while, but it was foggy, and everyone (from the police down to Julia) assumed he was out wandering and drowned in the sea. However, for the past 20 years, Julia has not been able to get over her grief for her son, Jens. This has cost her her relationship with Jens’ father, her job, her relationship with her father and sister, and nearly her sanity.

Then one day, her father, Gerlof, calls saying that he received what he thinks is Jens’ sandal in the mail, which opens up the possibility that Jens didn’t drown, but rather was killed. And Gerlof thinks everything points to Neils Kant — someone who “died” before Jens was born — as the person who did it.

It’s a quiet mystery — more about grief and closure than an actual “whodunit” — as we follow Julia through her process of acceptance and discovery. Gerlof, who has lived on the island his entire life, and who knows practically everyone, does most of the detective work, trying to figure out what really happened. Nils Kant’s history is also explored through flashbacks; in order to understand what happened to Jens, you need to understand the motivations of Nils. I expected this book to be more graphic than it was, especially considering the subject matter. But, Theorin spends less time on the actual killings (and there are multiple), and more on the process of grieving and of coming to terms with what life deals you.

Mystery fans won’t be disappointed, though: there are a couple of twists near the end that turn most of what you thought was going to happen on its head, and allowing for some decent closure. That said, I found the book highly unemotional, almost clinical. The characters and situations were interesting, but didn’t really evoke a lot of emotional connection with me. Perhaps, though, this was for the best, since I don’t usually deal well with crime novels.

At least it had a somewhat happy ending.

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s or your local independent bookstore. Or just pick it up at your library…

Need

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by Carrie Jones
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Everybody has fears, right?”
ARC sent to me by the publisher.

Zara has issues: she collects phobias like some people collect stamps, and ever since her dad (step-dad, actually) died, the phobias are worse then usual. So her mom sends her to live in Maine with her grandma, in order to help Zara shake out of whatever funk she’s gotten herself in to.

It starts out as your typical new-girl-can’t-fit-in book, but then takes a sharp turn: there’s pixies out in the Maine woods, and one — the king — is stalking Zara. These aren’t your fairy-tale pixies: they’re out for blood (specifically boys’ blood) because they don’t have a queen.

With the help of her new friends — Nick, Devyn and Issie — she figures out what she needs to know, which includes several interesting, and somewhat unexpected, twists in the plot — in order to save herself from the impending doom of being turned into a pixie.

Of course this smacks of Twilight-ness (the comparisons are about as obvious as the many Harry Potter-type books), but that’s beside the point. It’s got everything: bloodthirsty pixies, weres (wolves, yes, but other animals, too), romance, adventure, a heroine who can hold her own (unlike Bella). Jones holds her own with the narrative: it’s tight and supsenseful and swooning, everything a novel like this is supposed to be. And even though it tapers off near the end — will there be a sequel? — it all comes together like a nicely wrapped package (with the gorgeous cover and all).

It’s pure escapism and, even with all the snow in the cold Maine winter, a perfect summer read. (Maybe reading about snow will keep us all cool?)

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.

Library Loot #25

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A piddly small week this week because (gasp!) we’ve been very bad about reading to A and K. We tend to get off schedule in the summer… and stay up late… and watch too much TV. (Even A’s watching Robin Hood with us… on an unrelated aside, Richard Armitage is totally winning me over as Guy. He is definitely list-worthy.) Sigh.

What I did come home with:

For A/K:
My Friend is Sad (An Elephant and Piggie Book), by Mo Willems**
I Love My New Toy! (An Elephant and Piggie Book), by Mo Willems**
Crazy Hair, by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean**
OK Go, by Cain Berger

For M (and me… I want to get to them)
Goddess Boot Camp, by Tara Lynn Childs*
Fragile Eternity, by Melissa Marr*

For Hubby:
Shop Class as Soulcraft, by Matthew B. Crawford

For the road trip:
Inkheart (it’s the audiobook; we told C she couldn’t see the movie until she read the book. She balked — she’s not that into reading really long books — and so we came up with a compromise: we’ll listen to the book on the way down to Dallas and back. She liked that…)

The roundup is either at Reading Adventures or A Striped Armchair.

*Ones that M eventually read.
**Picture books we really liked.