Oregon

The Wicked Deep

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by Shea Ernshaw
First sentence: “Three sisters arrived in Sparrow, Oregon, in 1822 aboard a fur trading ship named the Lady Astor, which sank later that year in the harbor just beyond the cape.”
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Content: There are instances of teenage drinking and lots of talk about sex. There is also swearing, including several f-bombs. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore. 

This one a hard one to summarize: it’s a slowly unfolding tale of three sisters who were accused of being witches and drowned, of a town that’s paid for their deaths for nearly 200 years through drownings of boys each summer. It’s the story of forgiveness and sacrifice and of falling in love. It’s the story of judgement and the price paid for not being open and accepting. 

It was atmospheric, as it slowly unfolded the historical tale of the Swan sisters and the contemporary tale of Penny and Bo. I was interested enough to keep reading to the end, but once there I was left with a shrug. I think I was supposed to care about the sacrifices made, about the love story. But mostly, it was all just a big meh. I guessed the twist fairly early on, and once I got to the Big Reveal, I was left kind of shrugging: yeah, so? 

I suppose I just wanted to like this one a lot more than I actually did. 

Ribsy

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by Beverly Cleary
First sentence: “Henry Huggins’s dog Ribsy was a plain ordinary city dog, the kind of dog that strangers usually called Mutt or Pooch.”
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Content: It’s pretty simple writing, so it’d be good for the younger kids. It’s in the classic middle reader section at the bookstore.

I didn’t realize, when I picked the books for my summer book group, that Ribsy was kind of a sequel to Henry Huggins. I don’t think you need to read that one first, but it helps to know how Ribsy came to be with Henry before starting this one. Because Ribsy, for better or worse, isn’t a dog that sits still and waits. And so, when he gets left in the car in the parking lot of a shopping center (first of: different times, because NO ONE would think of doing this now…),  he doesn’t sit still. He gets out of the car (by accidentally rolling down the window) and then he’s off looking for Henry. Of course he gets lost, and ends up in the wrong car, and is off on an adventure, trying to find Henry again.

It’s an adventure, and Ribsy meets quite a few characters before Henry is able to track him down and bring him home. It’s very much a dog book (so if you don’t like dogs…) and not a bad one at that. I think this one stands up to time better than Henry Huggins did. Definitely enjoyable!