Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Dead to the World

Honestly, there's not much to say... brain candy!  This series is excellent summer reading or vacation reading; if you're looking for anything more, you'll be sorely disappointed.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Club Dead

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Living Dead in Dallas

Brain candy. Charlaine Harris writes brain candy. Living Dead in Dallas is no exception.  Once I reconciled myself to this fact, I enjoyed the second book of the Sookie Stackhouse novels a great deal more. I still find myself constantly comparing each incident to True Blood, and I'm much more captivated by the visual adaptation.  I still feel that the novel's dialogue is unsophisticated and that the plot lines in the book move so slowly; however,  I like the escape that the fantasy world provides.

I will continue to read the books as everyone says the third book is even better! I have to admit that the books are great for a summer afternoon when I don't want to have to think too hard!  Harris has created a very marketable character and I'm interested to see just where she takes Sookie next.

What I Saw and How I Lied

Judy Blundell's book, What I Saw and How I Lied, was totally unexpected.  The story was full of intrigue and deceit.  I bought it on a whim, because of its setting, Post World War II.  I received much more than I bargained for.

Evie Spooner is 15.  She is a typical school girl.  Her mother, Beverly, is a bombshell, with a reputation to match.  Bev was a young mother and her first husband walked out on her.  She married Joe right before he left to fight in Europe. Bev and Evie have struggled for years, Bev's marriage to Joe was a good decision.  Joe has opened three appliance stores since he returned from fighting.  It seemed as though the family of three would be able to move to a bigger house away from Grandma Glad, Joe's cantankerous mother.

Joe's been receiving a bunch of phone calls lately, all of which he ignores.  The mysterious calls seem to leave him on edge.  He seems even more spooked when Grandma Glad tells him the caller plans to stop by for a visit.  This prompts a spontaneous trip to Florida!

Joe, Bev and Evie begin the journey to the Sunshine State and settle into the Le Mirage, a virtually deserted Palm Beach hotel.  Apparently everyone, except the Spooner family knows that Palm Beach shuts down for the summer and fall!  Once in Palm Beach, a pal of Joe's shows up.  Peter Coleridge.  Evie quickly develops a crush on Peter.  While Evie and Peter develop a friendship, her parents form a friendship with another couple, the Graysons.

Enter intrigue, suspense and mystery.  Now, the story gets good.  I truly enjoyed Blundell's story.  I especially liked the innocence of Evie's character.  Evie began the story as an innocent school girl and ended the story as a woman.

Friday, June 25, 2010

The Hole We're In

The average American family has about $8,000 in credit card debt.  The Pomeroy's in Gabrielle Zevin's The Hole We're In, unfortunately, are anything but average.  Roger, an assistant principal at a Christian high school, leaves his job to pursue a PhD, leaving his wife George (Georgia) to take care the family financially.  Roger's meager salary, only $5,000 for the year, combined with George's hourly wage at a temp. job, causes their debt to escalate to extremes.  With their daughter Helen's impending wedding, George makes some drastic financial decisions.

This novel follows Roger and George and their three children:  Vincent, Helen and Patricia (Patsy).  Each child digs themselves into holes of their own and we're able to easily follow them through Zevin's biting commentary.  From over zealous Christians to the war in Iraq we're able to see just how delicate a balance life is. 

I was struck by some similarities I saw in Zevin's characters to myself.  In each work I've read of hers, I am always able to find myself somewhere.  I truly believe it is the ability to write such life-like characters, that makes Zevin such a fantastic author to read.  She takes risks, writes in different styles and always finds a compelling story in such simple concepts. 

The Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks is a beautifully written tale of a small village's attempt at survival.  A traveling tailor has brought the Plague to a small English village.  Through the eyes of the narrator, a housemaid Anna Frith, the reader follows the struggles that torment her and the rest of the village. 


There is much more to this story, and at times these other plot elements seem to replace the importance of Anna's story.  However, I was most distracted by the ending of the novel.  While I understand where Brooks' idea developed, I think her taking the novel in the direction she did made for a much weaker ending.  I was actually disappointed in the ending! 

The story provided much information about the Plague and measures that were taken during the 1600s to reverse the disease.  I especially enjoyed the fact that I was learning about the Plague while reading a very pleasant story about a courageous young woman.

The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank: A Novel

Ellen Feldman has created an alternate universe in her novel The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank.  In this universe, Peter Van Pels (Peter Van Daam in Anne's famous diary) survives the Holocaust.  Keeping his identity and Judaism a secret, he emigrates to the United States.  The story begins in the 1960s.  Peter is married, has children and is co-owner of successful business.  However, his life begins to unravel when he notices the cover of a book his wife is reading:  The Diary of a Young Girl.  Peter is haunted by Anne's image.  He feels all the things any survivor feels:  guilt, anger, anguish.

While the reader knows that Peter Van Pels died days before Mauthausen was liberated, the details Feldman includes in her novel begins to convince the reader otherwise.  I especially enjoyed the inclusion of the controversy surrounding the dramatization of Anne's diary.  I had only heard of the controversy after reading Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife.

I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed Feldman's novel.  While I was inclined to believe the book would be sugar-coated tripe, it was actually a compelling look at what could have been.

Surviving the Angel of Death: The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz

When I teach my students about Holocaust they are often most curious about Dr. Josef Mengele and his horrible experiments.  Mengele is notorious for his quasi medical experiments on twins, dwarfs, gypsies and other people with physical abnormalities.  His is referred to as the Angel of Death because while his experiments were, more often than not, deadly, being selected by him gave one a glimmer of survival.

This glimmer of survival is Eva Kor's story in Surviving the Angel of Death:  The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz.  Eva and her twin, Miriam were chosen by Mengele on the platform at Auschwitz.  While the rest of their family was sent to their death, Eva and Miriam were subjected to inhumane living conditions and gruesome experiments.  The story is told in Eva's words.  She recalls events in vivid details and she makes you feel as though you were traveling along with her.

What makes this story even more poignant is that both girls survived the war.  Eva lives in Terra Haute, IN and has opened a museum.  She frequently speaks to adults and children across the United States.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Josie and Jack: A Novel

Josie and Jack by Kelly Braffet is reminiscent of a car accident.  You don't want to stare.  You don't want to keep looking back, but somehow you can't help yourself.  Josie and Jack are siblings.  The usually fend for themselves living in an old house on a hill.  Jack takes care of Josie.  However, his methods leave a lot to be desired.  The two are frequently high and drunk.

Their mother is dead and their father is a professor at a university.  He is home only over vacations.  When he is home, he is abusive.  This abuse eventually drives the two to leave home.

The plot twists and turns and surprises.  While the concept of the story is interesting, I believe it falls a bit flat.  I was expecting more and Braffet rarely delivered.  When she did, the surprises were over the top.

Friday, June 18, 2010

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel

Using the familiar fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, Louis Murphy weaves a Holocaust story.  I found using the Grimm's fairy tale as a way to convey the horror and devastation of the Holocaust quite clever.  If you have ever read Grimm's in the original German, you know that the fairy tales were actually quite terrifying and gruesome.

I will say that I thought that the comparisons in the novel were quite a stretch.  The step-mother was indeed cruel.  I realize that the will to live is quite powerful.  But, I cannot imagine anyone, even an evil step-mother abandoning children in order to better escape the Nazis.  Although the children were young (11 and 7), they were old enough to keep pace and follow directions to make escape possible.  Magda, the woman with whom the children hide, was no more of a witch than I am.  She was just an eccentric older woman, whose thoughts and ideas were different than the villagers she lived with.  In any case, she risked her life in order to save the children, and for that she should not be vilified. 

In any case, the novel presented an accurate depiction of survival of a Jewish family.  While the children became "Aryans", the parents hid in the woods and joined with resistance fighters, each trying to survive and be eventually reunited.

Murphy's novel is fair.  I've read other Holocaust stories that pack more of a punch.  The title, The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, is what first caught my eye; however, it is somewhat misleading, as the story is definitely fiction.

Dead Until Dark

After watching one episode of HBO's True Blood I was hooked.  What could be better than the not so distant future, a time where vampires have "come out of the coffin" and are a part of society?  The quirky scripts and awesome casting truly compliment the allegory for the inane laws regarding race and sexual orientation.  After watching 27 episodes in 36 hours, I decided I had to read the books that the steamy (mmmmm... vampires!) television series is based.

What a disappointment!  I wasn't expecting fine literature, but the writing is often extremely juvenile in nature, almost as if one of my students had written it!  While I enjoy the character of Sookie Stackhouse I'm finding her dialogue in the book is far less entertaining than the on-screen adaptation.  However, where my dissatisfaction with the novel is greatest is the lack of the titillating and steamy vampire sex.

However, many assure me that the series (10 novels so far) does greatly improve and to not give up!  I will continue to read Harris's brain candy, but as for now, I recommend the video version over the written word!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Mozart Question

When a young journalist is sent to interview Paolo Levi, she never dreams of the information she'll glean from the straight forward talk.  She's told not to ask "the Mozart question," but not even knowing what this question is, she chooses to ask Paolo how he came to be a violinist.  What follows in Michael Morpurgo's The Mozart Question is an easy to read, short tale of how a boy came to learn of his parent's Holocaust journey.  I'm refraining from revealing too many details, as I think the story truly speaks for itself.

Although Morpurgo's story is short, it is powerful and allows students to see yet another side of the complex history of the overwhelming genocide.  I definitely recommend this story as a quick read aloud during a unit of the Holocaust.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

Gennifer Choldenko's young adult novel If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period is the story of two middle school students:  Kirsten and Walker.  Kirsten is a fat girl with a self-deprecating sense of humor.  Walker is an African-American boy who has been transplanted from his city school to attend a hoity-toity all-white private school.  The novel is narrated by both Kirsten and Walker in alternating chapters.

Choldenko writes with the bitter honesty that is middle school.  She especially has a keen sense of how bitterly adolescent girls treat each other.  As a formerly plump teenager (now, I'm no longer a teen, but still plump!), I have felt that cruelty.  Kirsten's feelings are palatable.  I enjoyed reading the novel through Kirsten's eyes as I saw a bit of myself.

Walker's chapters were equally well-narrated.  It is impressive to me that Choldenko speaks as well for a young man as she does for a young lady.  However, the story itself is a bit contrived.  Up until the secret is revealed, the story was plausible.  I felt the story fell apart after that point.

All in all, I would definitely recommend If a Tree Falls, if merely for the bully aspects.  The scenes created will provide excellent talking points in the classroom.  I may even decide to use this story as one of my read alouds.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Margarettown

What an interesting book... Zevin certainly doesn't adhere to one writing style or genre.  This novel is so different from Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, I cannot believe it's written by the same woman!  While Memoirs was simply fiction, and Elsewhere was clearly fantasy, Margarettown falls somewhere in between.  In fact, I would have trouble classifying this book. To summarize the story, I feel, would give away too much of the plot.  Needless to say, Margarettown had me captivated and I read the book within a few hours.

Two interesting points to ponder that the novel brought up for me.  One, different versions of one's name for various life stages.  I've always been Kristin.  I can't imagine myself with any other name.  Yet, the in this book Margaret is May, Maggie, Marge, Meg... and it works for her.

The other thought that occurred to me is does your name destine you to a certain future.  Margaret has a variety of names for a various life stages, almost predicting personality changes, but Jane is Jane is always a Jane.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this tale and look forward to reading more Gabrielle Zevin creations!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

Good young adult fiction allows a teenager to place herself easily within a story, regardless of how unimaginable the story is.  Gabrielle Zevin has a knack for writing such stories.  Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac begins with Naomi waking up in an ambulance.  She has no recollection of the previous four years of her life.  This includes no memory of her parents' divorce, her boyfriend, her best friend, how to drive.

As Naomi recovers she questions things she's supposed to feel.  She no longer has the drive for yearbook that she once did, surprising as she is co-editor.  She longs to spend time with her mother.  This too is surprising, because she hadn't spoken with her mother for a very long time.  Naomi also has little or no feeling for her boyfriend, Ace.  Having amnesia allows Naomi to reinvent herself, which causes discord among the other key players in the novel.

While I enjoyed Elsewhere a great deal more than Memoirs, I did enjoy Naomi's journey.  I found myself wondering how I would respond in her situation.  I especially like the fact that Zevin's characters are human, they have flaws.  It is in the exploration of the flaws of her characters, I often find pieces of myself. 

Friday, June 4, 2010

Wench

Like many other blemishes in American History there are many hidden tales and secrets surrounding slavery.  Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez follows the story of three women who summer at Tawawa House in Ohio.  A luxurious retreat for Southern white men and their black mistresses.  Make no mistake, the women are slaves.  They travel in chains.  But, in the free territory of the resort the women reside with a modicum of freedom in small cottages awaiting visits from their masters.

The summer of 1852 is different.  Mawu is a new woman at the resort.  She speaks of slaves who have escaped and freedom.  Her ideas trigger a chain of events that continue through the following two summers.   Lizzie, Reenie and Sweet begin to question the lives they lead.

Wench brought humanity to a decidedly inhumane time.  The hypocrisy of the white men was appalling, but not surprising, in the way they showed their "love" to their black lovers and children, able to easily switch their view of both from humans to property in the blink of an eye.  Perkins-Valdez has written a beautiful story of perseverance in spite of everything.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Little Bee

The promises on the back of the book were intriguing!   The cover claimed a special story and a magical unfolding.  While Little Bee was a special story, I didn't necessarily view it as particularly outstanding or surprising.  Perhaps I've read a few too many Holocaust stories where personal sacrifice is more often than not, the theme.

Chris Cleave's Little Bee tells the story of a Nigerian refugee and her journey to Britain to thank them for saving her life.  But, that is not Little Bee's only reason for her journey.  There is more, and I believe that is where editors believe the shock and surprise enters the story.  Honestly, I was neither shocked or surprised.  Perhaps, I am jaded.  Or, maybe I just feel that people's motives are more bad than good.  I am not sure, but I just wasn't as moved by this story as I think reviewers feel I should be.

Don't get me wrong, Cleave writes an entertaining story.  The characters were very well written and multifaceted.  I was totally enamored by Charlie, better known as Batman.  Charlie's dialogue often reminded me of my three year old's manner of speaking.   The presentation of the novel provided a few challenges for me.  It often took be the better part of page to determine who the current narrator was.  Once I determined who was narrating, I had to go back and reread what I already read, to digest the context.


I would definitely recommend Little Bee, but I wouldn't tout it as a story with a surprising and shocking ending.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

June 2010

June brings the official start of summer and the end of the school year.  Although I teach at a year-round school, I still have a summer vacation.  This year, vacation officially begins on June 10!  I am looking forward to a summer filled with books, swimming and relaxation!


I am fortunate enough to have sister with a wonderful pool and a float similar to the one picture!  I do believe that I can accomplish all 3 goals though a visit to Auntie Kara's house!

I have quite a few books I'm hoping to read this month.  I won't list them for fear of not reaching my goal, but hopefully I will amass a long list of reviews by the end of the month!


59.  Little Bee by Chris Cleave
60.  Wench by  Dolen Perkins-Valdez
61.  Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
62.  Margarettown by Gabrielle Zevin
63.   If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko
64.  The Mozart Question by Michael Morpurgo
65.  Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1) by Charlaine Harris
66.  The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy
67.  Josie and Jack:  A Novel by Kelly Braffet
68.  Surviving the Angel of Death:  The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz by Eva Kor and Lisa Rojany Buccieri
69.  The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank:  A Novel by Ellen Feldman
70.  The Year of Wonders: A Plague Novel by Geraldine Brooks
71.  The Hole We're In by Gabrielle Zevin
72.  What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell 
73.  Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse #2) by Charlaine Harris
74.  Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #3) by Charlaine Harris
75.  Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse #4) by Charlaine Harris