The Fire Horse Girl

by: Kay Honeyman
ages: 11+
First sentence: "There one was a girl, a fire horse girl."
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It's China in the early 1920s, and while some progress has been made for women -- our 17-year-old protagonist Jade Moon never had her feet bound -- there is still are a lot of restrictions. Once that Jade Moon struggles with. And there's an added layer of stress: Jade Moon is a Fire Horse girl -- one that was born in the Chinese zodiac year of the horse that matched up with an element of fire. As is often Chinese way, that means she's labeled as cursed: she's stubborn, she's head strong, she's outspoken. She's everything the Chinese don't want in a daughter (at least at that time).

So, when a stranger proclaiming to be a lost uncle's adopted son shows up, offering her father a trip to the United States, Jade Moon begs to go along. She figures there will be more opportunity for her in the U.S., less restrictions, and more room for her to be who she really is.

Of course things aren't as rosy as Jade Moon thought they would be; there wouldn't be a book if there were. While I didn't find myself entranced by this book, I was interested in all the historical detail Honeyman included. The portrait of Angel Island was less than rosy; there was a immense dislike and distrust of the Chinese during that time period, and officials would do anything they could to keep the Chinese from entering the U. S. Then, there's the references to both the gangs that ran Chinatown and the brothels the women were kept in. Nothing explicit, but Honeyman did an excellent job making this book feel like the 1920s. As for Jade Moon herself, while I liked her, I found that I couldn't quite connect with her.

In the end, it was a good book, but not a fabulous one. Which isn't bad. 

Audiobook: The Castle of Otranto

by HoraceWalpole
Read by Tony Jay
ages: adult
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 It starts out on as a happy day for Manfred, the lord of the Castle Otranto. His only son, Conrad, is going to be married to Isabella. However, right before the wedding, Conrad is mysteriously killed by falling helmet. Weird, right? That's only the beginning: Manfred, distraught, does the only thing possible (huh??) and decides that, to insure his lineage will go on, he will marry Isabella. (Yeah, Manfred does have a living wife. And a daughter.) Isabella (rightfully) escapes (go girl!) with the help of a peasant, Theodore. Whom Manfred locks in the tower. Theodore's rescued by Matilda, Manfred's daughter (you've gotta love the pluck of these girls. The novel was published in 1764), and sent off to help Isabella. After almost nearly killing her father (who appeared out of nowhere, really), they head back to the castle to confront Manfred and the ghosts that have been haunting him.

It's a melodramatic, over-the-top novel. But, I really had a great time with it. The best part of this one was the narrator. Jay was fabulous. I found myself gripped in the thralls of what I would have otherwise  found to be a boring, hard to understand novel. I found myself listening in the car because Jay was so captivating.

And that made all the difference for me.

Eleanor & Park

by Rainbow Rowell
ages: 14+
First sentence: "He'd stopped trying to bring her back."
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Eleanor is the new girl on the bus. She's not noticeable because she's attractive. Rather, it's because she stands out: she has flaming red hair, she's not the thinnest person on the boat, and she dresses like a hobo. The last thing Park wants is for her to sit next to him.

Park is not exactly someone who blends in all-white Omaha, Nebraska in late 1986. He's short. He's half-Korean. He likes alternative music. He reads comic books. He's spent his life trying to lay low. And so, having the "taint" of Eleanor isn't exactly the attention-getter he wants in his life.

Except, slowly, he realizes what a gem she is. It starts with comic books: she begins by reading over his shoulder, and that leads to actively sharing them with her. And as their relationship develops, Park realizes things about Eleanor -- why she is who she is -- and falls head over heels in love.

The most beautiful thing about this book, I think, is the slow development of Eleanor & Park's relationship. It's not instalove, it's not all sparks and romance. It's a friendship that develops into something more. And it's complicated. Not the least reason because Eleanor's stepfather is a real piece of work. Seriously. He's one of those guys who is all about power and control, and yes, he abuses Eleanor's mother. I loathed the man. It's because of her stepfather (and her father, really, who isn't much better) that she's anxious about men, tries to fly low on the radar, and dresses the way she does. And Park, because of his innate decent-ness, is able to get through all of Eleanor's defenses.

I've decided that what I need to do is man-up and realize that my high school years are really historical fiction. This is the third book this  year set in the mid-1980s, and honestly, I think it's the best. It actually felt like the 1980s -- not only because of the music and vague pop culture references, but I think Rowell really got the way things were -- but she also used the 80s as a way to connect her characters. And I was caught up in it all, not just for nostalgic reasons, but because the characters were caught up in it.

And the ending? Shall I just say it was perfect. Not "happily ever after", but hopeful. Amazingly, wonderfully, perfectly hopeful. I appreciated that.

As Bill and Ted would say: it was excellent.

Eoin Colfer is Actually a Stand-Up Comedian

I could have titled this something normal like "Eoin Colfer Author  Event" (which is what it was), but this went so far beyond "author event" that I had to tell it like it is. I was warned by a co-worker going in that he 1) had the Irish storytelling gene and 2) was a leprechaun but I still wasn't prepared for the absolute hilarity that the evening was.

I'm not even going to try to recount his stories except for one. He was telling us about his teenager, Finn, and how he never tells Eoin that he loves him anymore. Then Eoin got sick on a plane once and decided to play it up like he was dying, thinking he'd get Finn to say those dreaded words. He drew it out for a while, but eventually Finn came over saying, "Dad, I need to tell you something." Eoin thought that it'd be "I love you" but it turned out to be: "My headphones are broken." Everyone laughed and he moved on. Eventually, he started taking questions and A (all of 9 1/2) stuck her hand up. He called on her, and she asked, "So: did you ever fix Finn's headphones??" Everyone cracked up, and she rendered Eoin speechless. I think he said something like "Are you a plant from J. K. Rowling??" (to which A nodded; of course she is!) But then he proceeded to tease her the rest of the evening.  It was pretty funny.

Traveling with Eoin was a magician (who was pretty funny -- and good -- in his own right). But afterward, he sought A out and told her that he's been traveling with Eoin for 9 days and had never seen anyone call him out on one of his stories. He gave her a high five, did a couple of tricks just for her, and became her friend for life.

Kindred spirits

I do have to mention that A took Eoin's teasing pretty hard -- she was convinced he hated her. But (especially after the magician cheered her up) she stood in line to talk to him after. He gave her a wink and a smile and shook her hand and cracked jokes right before the camera went off.

It amuses me that he's the only one not smiling.

I had him sign Airman, which is my favorite of his books.

And we decided on our way home that out of all the events we've been to, this one was the best. Period.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

by Benjamin Alier Saenz
ages: 14+
First sentence: "One summer night I fell asleep, hoping the world would be different when I woke."
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It's the summer of 1987, and 15-year-old Aristotle -- Ari; he hates his given name -- is a bit lost. He's the caboose in a Mexican-American family; he was born after his father returned from a tour in Vietnam. He's got older twin sisters and an older brother, but since he's in prison, no one talks about him. Ari's got a whole lot of bottled up angsty feelings, and is quite directionless with his life.

Then he meets Dante, who is everything Ari is not: vibrant, interesting, talkative. They become friends -- best friends -- and slowly over the course of the year, that friendship blossoms into something more.

I think I need to just come to terms with the idea that the 1980s are historical fiction now. Though, I'm still at a loss as to why this couldn't have been contemporary. It's set in El Paso, and the world that they inhabited didn't feel like it needed to be in the 80s. Their parents were incredibly accepting of Dante's homosexuality, and the experimentation with drugs and alcohol could have happened just as well today as it did back then. There side plot that involves violence against Dante for being gay, but again: not necessarily something that needed to be in the 1980s. In fact, even with the violence, it seemed... tame. We have come a long way in the last 30 years.

Though -- and maybe it was me -- I never really found myself connecting with this book. I think part of it was that I don't do 15-year-old boy angst well at all. I just found it hard to relate to Ari, to all his angst and his non-communication. And I'm not sure that the spare prose -- as lovely as it was, sometimes -- helped the situation much. While I understood Ari, and what he was going through, I found I couldn't sympathize with him. And I do have to say that while I didn't have a problem with the end, I didn't think it was terribly convincing, either.

In short, it wasn't a bad novel, just one that I don't think was for me.