Library Loot 2010-12

Y'know, one of the things the library is good for is when you own a book, and you have a daughter who wants to read it, but then you realize that you've loaned it to your dad... oops. I'm just glad our library is awesome that way.

This week's loot:

Picture Books:
The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza, by Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans/Illus. by Lynn Munsinger
Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Really Big Adventure, by Kristina Stephenson
Little Cloud and Lady Wind, by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison/Illus by Sean Qualls
Louise the Big Cheese and the La-di-da Shoes, by Elise Primavera/Illus by Diane Goode
Paulie Pastrami Achieves World Peace, by James Proimos
Smile!, by Leigh Hodgkinson

Middle Grade Fiction:
Peter and the Sword of Mercy (Starcatchers), by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
The Farwalker's Quest, by Joni Sensel
Hachiko Waits, by Leslea Newman
The Storm in the Barn, by Matt Phelan

YA Fiction:
As You Wish, Jackson Pearce
I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President, Josh Lieb
The Stonekeeper's Curse (Amulet, Book 2), by Kazu Kibuishi

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

March 2010 Jacket Flap-a-thon

Shall we forgo the usual blather, since I'll have a Library Loot post going up later, and just jump into this month's books? I think so.

The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook (Bloomsbury): "What do a secret squirt watch, a pair of spring-loaded super-boots, and the incredible Kablovsky copter have in common? They're all inventions of the Secret Science Alliance. This trio of gadgeteers is hard at work in a secret lab, tinkering with technology that's definitely too cool for school! But when an evil scientist steals their blueprints and hatches a deadly plan, the Secret Science Alliance springs into action. Can three young inventors, armed with their crazy creations, defeat this criminal mastermind? Strap on your welding goggles and get ready for a high-tech adventure from comic supergenius Eleanor Davis!"

Doesn't this book sound like great fun? I didn't really love it, but I have to admit that this flap copy made me want to read it!

Shine, Coconut Moon (Margaret K. McElderry): "Seventeen-year-old Samar -- a.k.a. Sam -- has never known much about her Indian heritage. Her mom has deliberately kept Sam away from her old-fashioned family. It's never bothered Sam, who is busy with school, friends, and a really cute but demanding boyfriend. But things change after 9/11. A guy in a turban shows up at Sam's house, and he turns out to be her uncle. He wants to reconcile the family and teach Sam about her Sikh heritage. Sam isn't sure what to do, until a girl at school calls her a coconut -- brown on the outside, white on the inside. That decides it: Why shouldn't Sam get to know her family? What is her mom so afraid of? Then some boys attack her uncle, shouting, "Go back home, Osama!" and Sam realizes she could be in danger -- and also discovers how dangerous ignorance can be. Sam will need all her smarts and savvy to try to bridge two worlds and make them both her own."

This sums up the book nicely, but doesn't give away too much of the conflict. Can I mention, though, that I didn't notice the guy on the cover of the book? And that I really am very tired of headless teen girls on covers??

Heist Society (Hyperion): "When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre...to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria...to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own--scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving "the life" for a normal life proves harder than she'd expected. Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat's dad needs her help. For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in history-or at least her family's (very crooked) history. "

Okay, so I guess I was in a "fun" mood this month: this one, too, makes the book sound like a huge amount of fun. Which it was.

Other books read this month:
Frankie Pickle
Scarlett Fever
Angus, Thongs, and Full-frontal Snogging
Howards End
Sugar
Over Sea, Under Stone
The Truth About Forever
Candor
Sea Glass
Open: An Autobiography
Swiftly Tilting Planet (DNF)
Timekeeper's Moon
Marching for Freedom
The English American

Running Total: 42
Adult fiction: 8
YA: 15
MG: 9
Non-fiction: 5
Graphic Novel: 5
Didn't Finish: 2

Marching for Freedom

Walk Together, Children, and Don't You Grow Weary
by Elizabeth Partridge
ages: 10+
First sentence: "The first time Joanne Blackmon was arrested, she was just ten years old."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I'm sure this was on my radar before SLJ's Battle of the (Kids) Books began, but the decision of Gary Schmidt prompted me to delve into it.

And he's right: it's a remarkable book.

It's the story of the Selma, Alabama marches in 1965 as told through the eyes of the children and teenagers that were involved. Partridge's words and photographs from the time paint a vivid picture of the stories of these children, their parents, and the general plight of African Americans in the south before the mid-60s. The sacrifice that these people made to get what many people now take for granted is awe-inspiring. Sure, the civil rights leaders show up -- Dr. King, Rosa Parks, among others -- but the real heart and soul of the book are the children that faced the billy clubs, cattle prods, tear gas, and were consistently arrested and rearrested. It's enough to bring one to tears.

Honestly, two thoughts kept going through my mind while I was reading. First was that I think that this book couldn't come at a better time. Sure, it was 40 years ago, but I think we need to constantly be reminded of, and remember to teach our children about, the sacrifices that were made. I think -- and this just may be me talking -- that we tend to become apathetic about what we have, and forget all the people that worked to make it all possible.

Second was that if I wasn't a voter, I'd be very ashamed. In fact, the next time someone tells me they don't vote, I'm going to hand them this book. It's a right, it's a privilege, and -- dang it -- we should take advantage of that.

Enough soapbox. The book really is worth your time.

Timekeeper's Moon

by Joni Sensel
ages: 11+
First sentence: "The moon refused to hush or come down, so Ariel Farwalker was forced to climb up."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.

A little while ago, Charlotte reminded me how much I loved The Farwalker's Quest, and reminded me that I really wanted to read the sequel. So, off the shelves it came, and (as I expected) I was not disappointed.

Ariel has been plagued by the moon speaking to her. She, initially thought she was going crazy, but as the voices in her head become more insistent, she's realized that she needs to heed what the moon -- and her feet -- are saying. That she needs to go, somehow, and find the sender of the telling darts that were the starting point of her first journey. So, she and Scarl -- her father figure, friend and protector -- head south, with only Ariel's instincts and a vague map/calendar to guide them, not knowing what they'll find.

Like Farwalker, much of the joy in this book is in the world that Sensel has created. Going south gives her a reason to introduce us to more of this world, including a swamp village, Skunk, where Ariel finds friends, traveling companions, and even a first love. They discover more remnants of the world before the Blind War, and find that perhaps not everyone has completely forgotten the old ways. And, in a very interesting use of fantasy conventions, they do find the answers to the questions that led them on this journey.

Sensel is not only a gifted world-builder, she has a knack for involving the reader in her world, for making us care about the characters and the situations. She is also a master at keeping us -- or at least me -- as readers engaged. It's a lyrical book, but it's never slow, and full of enough twists and turns to keep me guessing as to how it will all turn out. My only quibble is with the ending -- it seemed a little too... convenient. Pat. And yet, confusing. I knew what was going on, but I had to read it through twice to fully "get" it.

Still, that's a small quibble, and it doesn't ruin the book at all. If you haven't experienced the world that Sensel has built, do. It's thoroughly captivating.

Sunday Salon: Interacting With Books

Good morning, all! I meant to get this up earlier, but stayed up really late last night watching Back to the Future with M and C. You know what? It's still a good movie 25 years later.

So, a few days ago, Hubby and M got into a discussion. Here's the gist of it, if I remember right: Hubby started by asking why there weren't, if JK Rowling was "right", more magical people in the world? Then he branched out: how does one come by magical powers? Is it genetic? If so, how does one get the gene? M really got into the discussion; it ranged all over from genetics to the idea of cultural pressure to general world-building techniques -- Riordan and Tolkien were both brought up at one point -- as well as trying, very hard, to justify the small numbers of magical people in Rowling's world.

I participated a bit, but mostly I sat mystified, thinking, "Guys.... it's just a book."

Hubby and I talked about it afterward: he asked if, say, I had ever stopped to wonder how rich Elizabeth Bennett was after she married Darcy. And I honestly had to admit that no, I haven't. I read books, I enjoy books, I write about books, I talk about books, but I don't actually think about the world in the books. The most I can admit to is getting crushes on men in books, or wanting to live next door to a particular family, but even those don't last long after I shut the pages. I just don't interact with books that way.

Which leads me to today's question: do you? Do you wonder about the small intricacies in the world that a particular author has created, whether it be fantasy or contemporary fiction? Do you see yourself in that world? Do you want to interact with the people in it?

Heist Society

by Ally Carter
ages: 12+
First sentence: "No on knew for certain when the trouble started at Colgan school."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Why is it that we, as normal people, love stories about thieves? About good people who live just outside the law? Or, even better yet, about good-looking, rich people traveling the world doing things, buying things, that normal people can't even dream about doing.

You make those people teenagers, and you've basically got the idea of what this book is about. Though don't get me wrong: this book is a LOT of fun. Impossible, improbable, sure. But unputdownable fun.

Kat has walked away from the family "business" of stealing things. Robbing museums, banks, mansions, you name it; she was the grease man, the inside man, the go-to girl. Then, in her biggest con, she got into an exclusive boarding school. She wanted, needed a normal life. However, it turns out that she can't get away from family. Three months into her self-imposed exile, she gets kicked out because of a prank she didn't pull (she was framed!). Turns out that her father is in trouble; he was framed for a job he didn't do, and now a powerful mobster is out to get him. And it's Kat who has the know-how, and her friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, who has the resources, to get him out of trouble. Even if it means traveling the world, trying to find the trail of the real thief. Even if it means robbing a famous high-security museum in England.

It takes an incredible suspension of disbelief to make this book work -- really? 16-year-olds popping all over the world? Right... -- but, suspend it, and you will have fun. There's action, adventure, suspense, thrills, laughs, hot guys (both British and American, take your pick), and romance. It's about family; sure they're mostly dysfunctional, but hey: they care.

The ending was a bit abrupt for my taste; there's one string left hanging that I wish would have been wrapped up. I suppose it was for the best though, to leave a little mystery. While I don't think there's a need for a sequel, I sure wouldn't mind hanging out with Kat and her gang some more.

The English American

by Alison Larkin
ages: adult
First sentence: "I think everyone should be adopted."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

If you've hung around here for any time at all, you know I love many things British. So, how could I resist a book with this title (or the pretty cover)? I couldn't, though it's been on my TBR list for a very long time.

Pippa Dunn is adopted. She's had a good life, growing up in England and traveling the world with her parents and sister. Yet, even though she's mostly happy -- she has abandonment issues with her relationships -- she wonders: who is she, really? Who are the people who gave her life? What are they really like? So, she sets out on a quest to meet her birth parents, and to hopefully figure out herself.

She sets up a meeting with her birth mother, who, by all accounts (except for Pippa's, at first), is crazy. Needy, clingy, paranoid... you name it, this woman is mentally unstable. Pippa tries for a connection, but finds that -- after a while -- it's best to just get out. She finds her father -- she's a product of an affair -- and while, initially connecting with him, discovers that he, too, is not what she wanted, needed or expected.

The whole book is her journey to this conclusion: that, while it's nice to know the people who gave you your genes, that does not a family make. It's an interesting journey, though. I liked the tension between British customs and manners and American ones, which created much of the tension in the book. There was a bit of a romance (hooray, she ended up with the guy I wanted her to!), as well, but mostly it was about self-discovery.

And in that journey, I felt that there was something missing. Perhaps the pacing was off: I felt too much time was devoted to her discovering her parents and not enough to developing anything else; everything happened overly fast at the end, wrapped up in a neat little bow. Perhaps it wasn't British enough, or funny enough: I didn't laugh as much or as often as I hoped I would. It also lacked a wit that I think would have helped the book overall in the end. Perhaps it was that I'm not all that interested, right now, in self-discovery: there was a lot of Pippa flailing around, trying to figure out who "Pippa Dunn" really is. I can respect that, but it's a journey for much younger, much less settled people, which I am not. I'm sure it would mean more, as well, to someone who was adopted, or had adopted a child.

All that said, it was a quick, fun, mostly enjoyable read.

Library Loot 2010-11

I missed last week because we were gone for spring break, and let me tell you: going to the library mid-week has got to be one of the things that gets me through the rest of the week. Last week was so LONG without a library trip.

It's the little things. :-D

Picture Books:
Dora Celebrates Earth Day!
No T. Rex in the Library, by Toni Buzzeo/Illus. by Sashiko Yoshikawa
The Banshee, by Even Bunting/Illus. by Emily Arnold McCully
Shades of People, by Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly
Bats at the Beach, by Brian Lies
I Will Be Especially Very Careful, by Lauren Child
Bobby Bramble Loses His Brain, by Dave Keane/Illus. by David Clark

Non-Fiction books:
Marching For Freedom: Walk Together Children and Don't You Grow Weary, by Elizabeth Partridge

Middle Grade Fiction:
Dragonbreath, by Ursula Vernon
Green, by Laura Peyton Roberts
, by Julia Alvarez

YA Fiction:
Never Cry Werewolf, by Heather Davis
Hamlet, by John Marsden
A Brief History of Montmaray, by Michelle Cooper
, by Lisa Mantchev

Adult Fiction:
Neverwhere: A Novel, by Neil Gaiman
Except the Queen, by Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder

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

A Swiftly Tilting Planet

by Madeline L'Engle
ages: 8-11
First sentence: "The big kitchen of the Murrys' house was bright and warm, curtains drawn against the dark outside, against the rain driving past the house from the northeast."

I never much liked this one, even as a kid. And the only reason I can think of, now, is that it's because Meg isn't really a part of the story. Oh, she's there: she's older now, married to Calvin, and pregnant with her first child. But she's not really an active part in the story. She spends the book lying on a bed kything with Charles Wallace, who, at age 15, is off on an adventure of his own.

And honestly his adventure -- saving the world from certain destruction by Madog Branzillo -- isn't really that interesting. He rides through time with a unicorn/Pegasus creature named Gaudior, popping in and out of within other people. I'm sure it has a very nice and neat conclusion, where Madog is stopped (not that it was memorable enough to stay with me), but honestly, I gave up halfway through. Charles Wallace was never my favorite character; he was always a bit too precocious for my taste. It was Meg I liked, Meg that resonated with me. And a Meg that just lies around being worried for Charles Wallace is kind of boring. Even now -- perhaps especially now -- after I'm all grown up, living the life that Meg was starting out on.

I feel bad about it, though. Like I'm giving up on some part of my childhood. Perhaps some books just shouldn't be reread?

Candor

by Pam Bachorz
ages: 14+
First sentence: "Ca-chunk, ca-chunk, ca-chunk."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy given to me by the author.

There's perfect, and then there's Candor.

Perfect houses on perfectly manicured lawns, full of perfect parents and perfect children all doing perfectly respectable things. And it's desired: the waiting list to get into the community is over a year long, because once you move into Candor, you don't move out. It's not just that you don't want to, it's that you can't. No, there's no fences; there's something more sinister holding you there: subliminal Messages piped into all the music that's constantly running throughout the town, all day, all night. Messages training you to do perfect things, say perfect things, be perfect people.

Except for Oscar Banks, son of the town's founder.

He's figured out a way to get past his father's Messages, and knows how to create his own. He uses this knowledge to help smuggle teens -- ones old enough to survive on their own -- out of Candor. Not out of the goodness of his heart; no, he's making a bundle on this, all squirreled away in a nice offshore account. He's the perfect kid by day, rebel -- complete with a shed full of magazines, candy and liquor -- by night.

And then Nia moves in. Oscar is immediately attracted to her: she's everything that Candor is not. Free, artistic, fun, slightly dangerous. He wants to help her, and yet can't bring himself to tell her everything. It's a long, slippery slope, one that, ultimately, Oscar finds he can't control.

It's an intense book, one that looks at the danger of conformity as well as the meaning of freedom. There's not a wasted word or scene; everything builds upon everything else leading toward the inevitable conclusion, the one which you hope won't come, and yet expect all at the same time. The tension between being human and being perfect was palpable throughout the book, which just added to the intensity.

It's also got one of the best bad guys to hate: Oscar's father is quietly evil, doing what he deems to be "right", and yet you just want to yell at (or possibly) kill the guy. I don't think I've had this strong of a reaction to a character in a very long time. Oscar's father. is. evil. As for the rest of the characters, they range from the pathetic -- Sherman -- to the creepy -- Mandi. The only one I felt was truly "real" was Nia. Perhaps, though, that's the way we're supposed to feel about them.

At any rate: an excellent story.

The Truth About Forever

by Sarah Dessen
ages: 13+
First sentence: "Jason was going to Brain Camp."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

As far as Sarah Dessen books go, this one's pretty mild. Macy Queen's dad died a year and a half ago -- a heart attack on a morning run; Macy was the one to find him, which led to a lot of people giving "the look" -- and Macy and her mom have been scraping by. Emotionally, that is. From the outside, everything looks perfect: Macy's mom has thrown herself into her work. Macy has thrown herself into being perfect: perfect boyfriend, perfect grades. No waves, no problems.

Except that, deep down, Macy's not really happy.

She doesn't realize this until she falls in with a crazy group of caterers (you know those catering types: absolutely insane), and slowly begins to realize what she's been missing. Real friendship. Real laughter. Real love. Connection.

Of course there's a boy -- Wes, a gorgeous artist with a tortured past. Of course Macy has issues with her mother -- she doesn't want to let Macy grow up and change; heaven help me if I'm EVER this controlling as a mother. Of course the whole thing bubbles and boils over near the end, where everything comes tumbling out, and finally there's resolution and healing begins to happen. We don't read Sarah Dessen books for new and edgy. We read them because she's a good storyteller, good at romance -- though this one fell short of some of her others -- and unafraid to paint a picture of imperfect teens.

And this book was all of those things. It wasn't as good as some of the other ones I've read, but it was good enough. And for some authors -- Sarah Dessen being one of them -- that's okay.

Sunday Salon: Ten Influential Books

I was musing about the fact that I didn't have a Sunday Salon post, and hubby mentioned that around the blogs he frequents, they're talking about the ten influential books in their lives. Hubby's list includes 15 heady philosophical books; he said that while it's mostly academics doing this, there's no reason why us non-academic readers can't play along.

So, ten influential books in my life, in no particular order:



Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan: I've mentioned this before, but Pollan has changed the way I -- we -- think about food. It started with some articles that were the basis of this book, but ever since I first read them, I've been obsessive about High Fructose Corn Syrup in my diet. I make bread weekly because of this man. I shop at farmer's markets and buy my meat from a local rancher because of this man. I cringe every time I walk into Wal-Mart (it's still a work in progress; we are on a limited budget after all) because of this man. My life is healthier because of this man, and I am glad for it.

Beauty, by Robin McKinley: this is what started my love of KidLit as an adult. A friend was properly shocked that I hadn't read this, handed it to me, and I've never looked back. So they're kids books? So what? I love kids books. I love the writing -- I think it's tighter, almost better, than adult books -- and I love the stories being told. My life would be so much less without the kids books that I read.

Austenland, by Shannon Hale: admittedly, it's not one of Shannon Hale's better books, though I do like it quite a bit. But, this is on my list because it's the first ARC I requested from a publisher. I'd never even thought about doing that before Andi and Heather came into my life, and then suddenly a whole new world was opened up: I could request books! Before they are published! I heard about this one; I coveted it. And, when I asked, they sent it to me! Amazing. I'm still not as into all the ARC love as other bloggers, but I do like it when I get some in the mail. It's kind of a validation thing, I guess. At any rate, I do love what I do.

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen: I couldn't not have a Jane Austen on here, right? This one, my mother handed to me when I was 14 and I just didn't get it. Everything fell flat. Luckily A&E and Colin Firth came along and reintroduced me to Lizzy and Mr. Darcy (yes, I saw the miniseries before I read the book!). I went back to the book, discovered Jane's wit and observations and humor, and fell in love with her. Now I can't imagine literary life without picking up and reading an Austen book once in a while.

Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder: Hubby said I should have a book from my childhood, and this one popped into mind. As I wrote to Besty at Fuse #8 when I submitted my Top 10 Children's fiction books: "This was one book that spurred my love of reading. I read it so many times when I was a kid that I practically memorized it. (And I still quote passages of it to my children.) I wanted to be Laura. I wanted to enjoy life like Laura. I wanted to write like Laura. I'm glad I had Laura in my life."

Sports Illustrated magazine: I know: not a book. But, honestly, it influenced me to major in journalism in college. I had my own subscription for most of high school, paid for with my own money. My mom would always watch for the swimsuit issue and squirrel it away -- though I managed, on occasion, to find it: there were articles I wanted to read! It fed my love of sports, it showed me what tight, interesting, good reporting could do. I suppose I should have been reading Time or Atlantic Monthly, but, dang it, I loved my SI.

Deadly Persuasion, by Jean Kilborne: Soon after C was born, a friend loaned me this book. It simultaneously scared and empowered me: these girls I was embarking upon raising were going to be inundated with terrible images from the media, they would be pressured into buying things that were degrading to them, and yet... I had the power to teach, to guard, to guide, to put my money where my mouth was. Which is why I won't let my kids be billboard ads for companies, among other things.

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Hubby thought this was an odd inclusion: why does a book that I haven't opened up in 20 years rate here? Because, for me, this is all tied up in thinking about music and literature and the power of metaphor. I'm not sure it changed me, but it did stay with me.

Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau: I'm a pacifist. I can pinpoint this to my reading of Thoreau's work and the whole idea of non-violent protest as a means for change. My admiration of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ghandi came from this essay, too. It resonated deep within me, and -- again -- even though I haven't reread this since high school, I found that it fundamentally changed my thinking about war, about protest, about how to go about creating change.

I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Bill Bryson: I'm sure I could have picked any number of travel books to fill this last slot; ones that feed the wanderlust that my pocketbook cannot satiate. But, it comes down to this one: Bryson's hysterical reflections on being reintroduced to America after years of living in England. It feeds into my European sensibilities, it looks at my country with a new and fresh light. But, most of all, it makes me laugh.

So, there are my ten. What are yours?

Book to Movie Friday: Coraline

Chalk this one up to mom-brain: I was going through something the other day, and I discovered I had written this one up last September, but never published it. Sigh....

I think I really should have seen this one in the theaters. I think, for maximum chills, this one should really be seen on a large screen with surround sound. Granted, it's too late now (unless you have friends like ours who have an in-home movie system), but still. If you saw it in the theaters, lucky you.

I wasn't necessarily attached to the book, but I still found myself comparing the movie to the book to see how it held up (which, I suppose, if you're a reader, that's inevitable). And, it held up pretty well.

The biggest difference (aside from making it American -- I got the distinct impression when reading the book that Coraline was supposed to be British) was the addition of a boy character, Wybie. I'm not sure why they did that -- perhaps the movie makers felt that if there wasn't a boy character, boys wouldn't want to see the movie (because, you know, it's about a girl). But, really, Wybie didn't do anything, or at least not much of anything. Sure, he gave her a doll that allowed the other mother access to Coraline, and he helped Coraline in the end, and he was her (non-talking) companion in the other world. But the movie would have been just as good without him as it was with him. Sorry, boys. (And while we're at it: the ending in the book is better. In my humble opinion.)

What the movie did get spot on was the mood. This was one creepy, scary movie. (My girls watched it without me -- I wasn't even home -- and they were still up when I got back late, watching "happy things" in order to counteract the scary.) The Danny Elfman-esque music aided immensely, as did the animation. I really like how they envisioned the other mother, dissolving slowly into a spider-like entity. And the other world was exotic and terrifying all at the same time.

Sure, there were issues: I didn't like Coraline's parents, and was baffled as to why she'd want to rescue them, since they were such jerks. But, that's a minor thing. It was a grand movie experience. One that would have only been better had it been on a larger screen.

Verdict: nearly as good as the book (but read it first!).

Sea Glass

by Maria V. Snyder
ages: adult
First sentence: "Worry and dread clawed at my stomach."
Support your local independent bookstore, buy it there!

The problem with second books in a trilogy is precisely that: they are second books. They neither create nor resolve conflicts that are playing out over the course of the books. Their place is to advance the story, to create subplots, and to, well, make people want to read the conclusion. Which means, often, that they are either meandering or depressing.

In this case, it's meandering that wins out. We pick up the story immediately after Storm Glass ends, with Opal facing the consequences of her new-found powers. Opal, as a character, is all over the map in this one: she's moody, she's mistrusting, she's insecure, she's trying to strike out on her own. She develops her romance with one of the leads, but yet can't deny she has feelings for another. She wanders around in the dark abyss of second-book-in-a-series-dom, leaving us readers to wonder why on earth we're reading this book (so we'll be ready for the conclusion!).

Synder's not on the top of her game in this book; while the world is still fascinating, it's not quite enough to offset the wandering plot. Snyder has the characters go all over the place -- so much time is spent traveling! -- and introduces plots and subplots and characters that don't go anywhere, or even do much to add to the initial story. It'll all probably make sense when the third book comes out, but until then, readers are left hanging and wondering what this all means.

And until then, we can blame it all on it being the second book in a trilogy.

Over Sea, Under Stone

by Susan Cooper
ages: 9+
First sentence: "Where is he?"
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I've been trying to remember when I first read these books. It wasn't when I was a kid, even though I would have loved them had I come across them. I'm thinking it was about the time that I rediscovered kidlit, about 15 years ago. I don't remember what I thought about this particular book -- I do love the next one in the series, The Dark is Rising -- but I did find I remembered elements of the plot.

Simon, Jane and Barney Drew are on vacation in Cornwall with their family and their Great-Uncle Merry. On their second day there, they're exploring the old house that "Gumerry" rented for them and discover an old map. It turns out that the map is written in old English and Latin; it's a guide of some sort leading to the Holy Grail. It's up to the kids to figure it out and find the grail... before the "other" side does. There's a bit of adventure, some kind of tense moments, and it's truly a middle grade book: except for a bit at the end, it's a straight-up mystery that's solved by Simon, Jane and Barney working together.

All that said, it's really kind of a silly little book. Aside from introducing us to Merry (Merriman Lyon, who shows up in the other books. He's actually Merlin...) and the Drew kids (they do make a reappearance), I'm not quite sure what purpose this book serves to the whole of the series. (Maybe it'll become clearer as I read more.) You could honestly not read this book and not be missing much of anything. The writing's not even as evocative as I remember some of the other books in the series being.

It's a good thing I don't judge series by the first book.

Good Heavens, It's That Time Already!

For Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge!! (YAY! It's really, truly spring now.) I love the gorgeous button this year, too.

I think I'm going to do Quest the Third this year. (I wouldn't mind rereading Midsummer Night's Dream...)

1. Fantasy: A Conspiracy of Kings, Megan Whalen Turner
Timekeeper's Moon, by Joni Sensel
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
2. Folklore: I am Morgan le Fay, Nancy Springer
3. Mythology: Radiant Darkness, Emily Whitman
4. Fairy Tale: Princess of Glass, Jessica Day George
The Wide-Awake Princess, E. D. Baker
5. Midsummer Night's Dream, via Manga Shakespeare

Ah, let the fun begin!!

Open: An Autobiography

by Andre Agassi (with help -- credited in the acknowledgments -- from J. R. Moehringer.)
ages: adult
First sentence: "I open my eyes and don't know where I am or who I am."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I'm a sucker for memoirs, especially well-written ones by interesting people. I was doubtful -- at first -- that this one would be well-written, but was game to read it anyway: I've adored Agassi for years. And I was pleasantly surprised: while the writing style took some getting used to (there's conversations, but no quotation marks, which bugged me at first), thanks to the help of Moehringer, this book was honest-- almost brutally so -- and interesting.

It's basically Agassi's story about his relationships: with tennis, with his father, with the women in his life, with his trainers and coaches, with himself. It's not an easy road: he was (you get the impression, by the end, that he isn't anymore) a very tortured individual. He was often depressed, conflicted, unsure of himself. You would think it would be a very depressing book, a harsh read, and yet it's not. Partially that's because it's fascinating (I thought, anyway) to see Agassi's tennis career from his point of view. It's interesting to see the inner conflict between his hatred of the sport and the fact that he had this natural talent for it. It's interesting to see his career ups and downs from his point of view -- like how much losing to Pete in Slam finals really ate at him, and how much winning the 1999 French Open meant to him. He breaks down most matches he played, talks about the men he played against (dislikes Connors, loathes Chang, and hates Becker; respects Borg, Federer and Sampras), and talks about what's going through his mind. I found it interesting to see the game from the inside (even if it was tortured), to get a feel for what goes on in the head of a player on the court. Fascinating stuff.

But, what really made the book for me was when he finally got to his relationship with Steffi (he calls her Stefanie, since that's what she prefers, which I think is really sweet) Graf. She's a running theme through the book, an aside here and a mention there (I wonder if it really happened that way, or if he's just remembering it that way because he loves her), but his recollection their first "real" meeting (they met in 1991 and 1992, and she brushed him off) in 1999, before the French Open, is so incredibly sweet, you can't help but smile. And for the rest of the book, the tone changes: he's a better man because of her. (Well, that, and he finally realizes that doing something for someone other than yourself is a helpful thing; he's so incredibly proud of the school he's helped build and the good its doing.) Maybe he's not a better player -- he still wins some and loses some -- but he's less conflicted, more sure of himself.

I'm not sure if your average reader would like this book, though. It's for fans of Agassi, of tennis. But for us, it's fantastic.

Sunday Salon: The Lazy Edition

I saw this over at Abby (the) Librarian's yesterday, and couldn't resist the need to share it. It's just too cool (and I love the song, too!).



Oh, and don't forget: SLJ's Battle of the (Kids) Books starts tomorrow. Do you have your brackets filled out yet? (I do!)

Kicking it Up a Notch: When Children are Stuck in a Reading Rut

Imagine this scenario:

Your first child is a precocious kid. She asks you to read aloud books like The Secret Garden or House at Pooh Corner when she's barely four years old. She's a bit of a slow learner when it comes to reading (which you happily blame on the school system in Mississippi), but by the end of first grade, she's reading books like Junie B. Jones and The Magic Treehouse series to herself. She seriously takes off in second grade, and by third grade she's devouring Harry Potter (all of them that were printed by that date, anyway) and anything else she can get her hands on. She progresses increasingly as she gets older; nothing is too difficult, to obscure, or too big for her.

Then along comes your second child. She's not as precocious; she's happy to have you read picture books aloud to her well into kindergarten. Eventually, she asks you to read Wizard of Oz aloud, but that's pretty much all. She dabbles in Narnia and with Harry Potter, but is not enthusiastic about them. She learns to read faster than her older sister (different school system), and is also able to read Junie B. Jones and The Magic Treehouse books (as well as Clementine) by the end of first grade. And then... she stalls. Second grade, third grade go by and she really shows no sign of being interested in longer books. That's not exactly accurate: she has discovered that she loves having longer books read aloud to her: Matilda, the Ranger's Apprentice, Sisters Grimm and so on. But, she shows no sign of desiring to read ahead in the book (unlike her sister), to pick up the book on her own after you close it every night.

Sound familiar?

Obviously, this is based on personal experience, here: M is our "reader", devouring books, sometimes as many as one a day. C is our extrovert: it's not that she doesn't like reading, or that it's difficult for her. Rather, there's better things that she wants to do with her time. And, to tell the truth, long books intimidate her.

I have thought about pushing C; M and I have thrust books at her, telling her that she'd LOVE this, that or the other. We've bribed her: the only way she read Order of the Phoenix was that we wouldn't let her see the movie until she finished. But, I wonder about either of these approaches: I want C to love reading, and she's not going to love reading if she's forced or coerced or bribed to do it.

So, what to do? I've thought long about how to get C to enjoy what she's reading, to be excited about books -- long or short -- and these are some of the ideas that seem to have worked for us.

1. Find a genre that your child is interested in. For M, we let her read the Harry Potter books over and over, and threw fantasy books at her as often as possible. Sure, we gave her other books to "branch out" but mostly we let her read where her interests were. For C, however, it's not been so easy. She enjoys picture books, and still pilfers through our picture book piles every library day. So when I'm at the library, I pick up a few picture books with longer stories that I know C will pick up and read. Fairy and folk tales, books about girls her own age (Moxy Maxwell or Bobby Versus Girls, Accidentally), and general non-fiction, are also all things that she likes.

2. Try Graphic Novels. This was the big winner in our house. Graphic novels like Babymouse and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, or Dork Diaries and Ellie McDoodle, bridged the gap between early chapter books and more difficult middle grade books for C.

3. Don't push it. You know the saying "at least they're reading"? Think about that. Reading is not supposed to be a chore, it's supposed to be fun. And if they LOVE reading Magic Treehouse (even though you think it's crap), then let them read Magic Treehouse. Besides, if you push a kid to read something they're not ready for they're going to end up hating it (or at the very least, not getting much out of it). And that would be worse, I think, than them reading under their grade level.

4. Have someone else -- a librarian, a friend, a teacher -- suggest books. Sometimes, the reason your child isn't progressing is because it's coming from you, the parent. (Sad, but true.) There are other sources to get book recommendations. Have your child (not you!) talk to them, and get some ideas there. They might find something they really like. Included in this are fads, which are not always bad. Perhaps part of the reason M read Harry Potter was because everyone around her was reading Harry Potter. Likewise, C willingly reads and loves the Percy Jackson books because they're popular right now.

5. In that same vein, try a parent-child book group. I'm not going to go into details, but rather send you over to Imagination Soup for some great ideas and reasons why this works, and works well.

Oh, and 6. Keep trying. Just because they don't love Saffy's Angel right now, doesn't mean they won't love it later. (We handed the book to her at the end of third grade; she could have read it because she read well enough. But she didn't actually read the book until a month ago, and started it only because she couldn't find anything else to read. She did like it, in the end.) Time and patience, as with everything, is the key.

Because, in the end, you don't want to raise a precocious reader. You want to raise a child who loves books. Right?

10 Questions for Varian Johnson (Plus a Giveaway!)

The first thing that struck me when I met Varian last October at KitLitCon was that this man has an absolutely fabulous laugh. When he laughs, it rings out across the room, and you can't help but at least smile, if not laugh along. It was then that I knew I had to interview him. (Didn't matter that I had never read any of his books!) Thankfully, he was generous enough to give me an ARC of Saving Maddie, which I found to be an interesting, thoughtful read.

And, thankfully, he was kind enough not only to give me an interview, but to include it in the week-long blog tour for the book. Which brings me to this: I have three copies of Saving Maddie to give away to three lucky readers. Just leave a comment (include your email, too, please) about something that struck you from the interview. Oh, and double entries for tweeting this, too (just let me know). You have until March 21st to enter.

Enjoy!


MF: You're a civil engineer and you write books. Awesome! How do you manage to reconcile/juggle those two (vastly different) careers?
VJ: They actually work pretty well together, most of the time. At least to me, it seems like I work different parts of my brain when I’m designing bridges versus writing a book. Because of this, I don’t feel nearly as wiped out at the end of the day as I would feel if I had a day job in, say, copyediting.

That being said, it can be tough to juggle everything. I try to get up very early in the morning to get my writing done. I’m fresh and eager then, and the idea of having to leave for the day-job really pushes me to take advantage of the little writing time that I have.

MF: What led to your decision to become a writer?
VJ: I always wanted to be a writer. Ever since elementary school, I was always working on short stories, mini-novels, and very bad poetry. But I was also very good at math and science, so when comparing options, being a well-fed engineer seemed like a better life path than becoming a starving author.

However, while in college, I couldn’t shake the writing bug. I eventually begin working on novels while juggling everything else, and was able to start on a manuscript that would become my first published novel.

MF: What was the initial inspiration for Saving Maddie?
VJ: I think Saving Maddie was born from a number of different things. I’ve always been interested in religion, and because I was so adamant on avoiding religion in My Life as a Rhombus (I didn’t want to bog down the novel with the religion versus abortion debate), I was really itching to explore it in my next novel. Also, I really wanted to explore the idea of saving someone, which was also a minor thread in Rhombus. And while Saving Maddie isn’t an autobiographical story, I very much felt like Joshua when I was a teenager—I felt like everyone was trying to force me to be this two-dimensional person. I was the smart one. The good one. I felt like few people saw the real me. But looking back on it, I’d bet that a lot of my classmates felt the same way, and perhaps I was just as guilty of seeing them in very confined ways as they were of seeing me. I found that while I liked most of the characters in the book, I related to Joshua most (says something about me, doesn't it?).

MF: Do you have a favorite character or scene?
VJ: I don’t have a favorite character, but I have two favorite scene—the motel scenes. Without going into too much detail, I felt that both of these scene were the perfect storm of everything I’d been trying to say in the novel—the combination of love and loss, friendship and sacrifice. In these two scenes, we not only see the real Joshua, but I think we get a glimpse of the man that Joshua is destined to grow into.

MF: In your books, you seem to tackle tough subjects like abortion or religion, and work at finding a balance between all opinions. Is this something you consciously try to do, or is it just the way you look at life/writing/storytelling/issues?
VJ: I try really hard to find a balance between opinions. As an author, I don’t feel it’s my place to dictate want a reader should think or believe. Rather, I want to make it hard for the reader; I want him or her to struggle with what’s going on in the novel, to try to see all sides of an argument. Nothing, not even fiction, is all black and white.

MF: What do you hope people will take away from your book? (Saving Maddie in particular, but all of your books in general...)
VJ: Hmm…that’s a tough question. On one hand, I don’t have any expectations for what people will take away from my novels. Some will read my books for entertainment purposes only, some won’t. Going back to a previous answer, I guess I want my readers to realize that life is complicated; there are no easy answers. What works for one person may not work for another. And that’s okay. We don’t have to agree with everyone’s opinion, but we need to try to respect it.

MF: When did you start blogging? What inspired you to do it? What do you get out of blogging -- if anything?
VJ: I started my blog back in the summer of 2005, after hearing author Chris Barton talk about blogging. I wanted a way to interact with the kid-lit community and to talk about my take on the writing life. While I’m not able to blog as much as I’d like, I love how blogging makes me feel so connected to the kid-lit community.

MF: Did you choose to write for a YA audience, and if so, why?
VJ: I would not be a YA author if not for Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger. That novel totally changed the way I thought about the genre. Hard Love is equal parts funny and painful, and while it’s about a straight boy falling in love with a lesbian, it’s so much more than that. I loved the voice and the immediacy of the novel, and I knew after finished it that that was the type of books I wanted to write.

MF: Are there five books -- lets be particular here: how about by people of color, since I, in particular, seem to be lacking in that area -- you think everyone should read?
VJ: Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia
Every Time a Rainbow Dies, also by Rita Williams-Garcia
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Tyrell by Coe Booth
If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson

MF: If you don't mind telling us, what's next for you?
VJ: I’m actually working on a companion novel to Saving Maddie. I can’t say much about it, other than it’ll be from Madeline’s POV.

Thanks so much for your time, Varian! (And don't forget about the giveaway!)

And, if you haven't already, be sure to check out the other stops on the tour.
Melodye Shore in The Author's Tent.
Reading in Color with Ari.
Gwenda Bond's Shaken and Stirred
Edi at Crazy Quilts

Library Loot 2010-10

It is well known on my my love for British men. What is less well known is a long-time crush on Andre Agassi. Loved him when I was a teenager, something which continued until his retirement four years ago. Sigh. So, I was incredibly excited when Open showed up at the library for me today. I don't care if it's a good book (though it'd be nice if it was, kind of like Sting's was...). I just want to enjoy Andre for a little bit longer. I'm shameless. :-D

This week's loot:

Picture Books:
The Goblin and the Empty Chair, by Mem Fox/Illus by Leo and Diane Dillon
Don't Worry Bear, by Greg Foley
Supersister, by Beth Cadena/Illus by Frank W. Dormer
Have You Ever Seen a Sneep?, by Tasha Pym/Illus by Joel Stewart
Surprise Soup, by Mary Ann Rodman/Illus. by G. Brian Karas

Non-Fiction books:
Open: An Autobiography, by Andre Agassi

Middle Grade Fiction:
Scones and Sensibility, by Lindsay Eland

YA books:
Heist Society, by Ally Carter

Audiobooks:
I don't often get audiobooks, but we're going to Oklahoma for a couple of days over spring break, and our new mother-daughter book group is reading The Penderwicks. I thought it'd be a good way to enjoy the drive and get the reread out of the way. Then Hubby complained; he hasn't read the second book, and wants to. Now we get to duke it out: which one to listen to while driving?!

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, by Jeanne Birdsall
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, by Jeanne Birdsall

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

Sugar

by Bernice L. McFadden
ages: adult
First sentence: "Jude was dead."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I don't quite know what to say about this.

On the one hand, it's a really well written story about acceptance and redemption (of sorts), of prejudice in a small Southern town, of friendship.

On the other hand, it's about sex. All kinds of sex. Violent sex. Prostitute sex. Married sex. Lustful sex. How women react to sex. How men need sex. How sex drives so much of what we do.

Sure, the book's about a prostitute, and it starts with a violent murder/rape. But, I've read other books about prostitutes that were less about the sex and more about the person than this book was. It was a bit heavy on the sex for me. Perhaps McFadden meant for it to be this way; perhaps the story couldn't have been told any other way, but I often felt that the sex was weighing down the story, not allowing the real story -- the relationship between our two main characters, Pearl and Sugar, and their respective needs to heal -- to come through.

And so, being distracted by all the sex, I wasn't really able to appreciate what McFadden was attempting to say. Attempting, because I'm not sure she even succeeded without all the sex. The story was well-written -- there was some beautiful descriptive language, and sometimes even the vulgarity was used effectively -- but meandering. At first, I liked the flashbacks and back story, but by the end, when I as a reader knew more than the characters in the book, it felt wearisome. I wanted more of a redemptive story, and I was given the hopes of one. Then, at the last minute, it was taken away from me; Pearl was sent back into mourning, Sugar went back to her old lifestyle, and Pearl's husband, Joe, was thrown into the metaphorical fire. Not a happy or even hopeful ending.

However, I'm sure you can chalk this one up to it being just me, for whatever reason.

Shine, Coconut Moon

by Neesha Meminger

ages: 14+
First sentence: "There is a man wearing a turban ringing our doorbell."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

One would expect, in the aftermath of 9/11, a lot more books dealing with the reactions of teens to that event. Perhaps there are a lot out there, but this one was the first one I've read that dealt with the attacks on the World Trade Center and the aftermath -- not so much the aftermath of loss, but the aftermath of suspicion and racism that was pretty strong for a while (some would argue still is) immediately following the attacks.

Seventeen-year-old Samar -- Sammy as her mom and friends call her -- is Indian (her family hails from Punjab), but she doesn't have any connection with her heritage at all. She was raised by a single mom -- her father left when she was two -- who has severed connections with her uber-strict Sikh family. Her mother has raised Sammy to be an "American" through and through; your typical white, middle class American, that is, with no real sense of her Indian heritage.

And then, the Saturday after 9/11, a turbaned man shows up at Sammy's house. He turns out to be Sammy's Uncle Sandeep -- her mother's younger brother -- and he sets off a chain of events that lead to Sammy finally question the way her mother's brought her up, and awakens a desire for her to learn about her heritage, the religion that goes along with that heritage, and her family.

It was an interesting book, taking the issues of assimilation, family and racism head on. Sometimes too head-on; I felt that it had a tendency to get a bit preachy and over-earnest in parts. But, even with that, it was a good story. Sammy's journey to discover herself -- and the conflict that is created by that-- is an intriguing one. There's quite a bit of material for discussion, as well: from the basic outline of Sikhism (and how to pronounce it!) to the knee-jerk reactions of people when it comes to racial stereotypes. It's a thought-provoking book, which trumps all complaints of heavy-handedness and lack of compelling characters. Which is not something I found I minded.

Sunday Salon: Lists, Battles and Tours: Oh My!

It's pretty much spring here in Kansas, which means I'm reading less and spending time outside basking in the warm sun. Thankfully, my laptop has a high enough wireless reception that I can take it outside and catch up on all the fun stuff that's going on this month.

First of all, if you haven't been following Fuse #8's Top 100 Children's Fiction Book list, why not? It's been a lot of fun to see what's shown up. There have been lots of books that I've thought "Oh, man! Should have put that one on my list!", a couple that I've never heard of and at least one (Order of the Phoenix?!) that I've said "Huh. Why that one?" Betsy's put an amazing amount of work into this, and it shows. (Speaking of Betsy, check out the Forbes article: The Double Life of Betsy Bird. Way cool that a kidlit blogger's made it *that* big!)

Since we're all feeling the void that the Cybils finishing has left in our lives (well, I am), it's a good thing that we have both School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids Books and Nerds Heart YA coming up. You can nominated books for Nerds Heart YA (link goes directly to the nominating form; stop by the blog for guidelines). Like Liz at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy, I had a hard time following this last year, only catching some of the judges decision. Thankfully, they took care of the problem this year by setting up its own blog. And, for those of you on Twitter, a Twitter account. And, in a really cool difference from last year, we get to vote a book back from the dead (zombie books... oooh...) in the Battle of the Kids books. The catch is that we have to do it before the battle starts. So, go, and choose wisely my friends. (Did I mention that they're on Twitter, too? They are!)

Finally (last but not least), there are two tours of going on this week. First, Varian Johnson's book Saving Maddie is released this week, and he's going on a blog tour. There's some great stops on the tour (okay, I'm one of them... but really, it sounds like a good tour)... be sure to check it out. From They Call Me Mr. V:

Monday: I'll be discussing religion, stereotypes and cover art with Melodye Shore in The Author's Tent.

Tuesday: I'll be debuting the Saving Maddie Playlist at Reading in Color with Ari. (This is also Release Day. And my birthday.)

Wednesday: I'll be at Gwenda Bond's Shaken and Stirred, where I'll be talking about my writing process for Saving Maddie. (FYI--Gwenda is also a graduate of Vermont College, and is AWESOME.)

Thursday: I'll be at Book Nut with Melissa, where I'll be answering questions like, "What's my favorite scene?"

Friday: I'll be talking to a student interviewer at Crazy Quilts.

And secondly, it's time for Share a Story - Shape a Future. The tour begins tomorrow and runs through Friday. (Shameless self-promotion: Jen Robinson asked me to be a part of her day on Friday, so do check back!) This year's theme is It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader. Do follow along, either on the blog or on Twitter at #sas2010. I'm sure there will be many great posts and great ideas about sharing books with children.

And that's about it for me, this week. I'm off to go outside and enjoy the day. Hope you are, too!

Howards End

by E. M. Forester
ages: adult
First sentence: "One may as well begin with Helen's letters to her sister."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Quick memory: I first read this book when Hubby and I moved from Utah to Washington, DC. In one of those weird quirks of time and space (especially since I usually get very carsick if I'm not constantly looking out the window), I was able to read this while we were driving the moving truck across the country. I remember two things about my impressions the book: I liked it and I thought it wasn't anything like the movie.

I can't speak for the movie part anymore (though I'm going to re-watch it soon), but I still quite liked the book. If you haven't read it, it's the story of two sisters -- Margaret and Helen Schlegel. They're half German, middle class women in their mid- to late- twenties (old maids in Austen's books, anyway), liberal in their thought. It's only when they cross paths with two families -- one old-school wealthy (the Wilcoxes) and one definitely lower class (the Basts) -- that their ordered lives, as well as their philosophy, get thrown into a tailspin.

The thing that struck me most this time around (perhaps it struck me last time, too) was that this not only a book about the class divide in early-20th-century England, but it was also a book about the connections that are made between people. Margaret meets Mrs. Wilcox, which impresses Mrs. Wilcox enough that she wills Howards End to Margaret. This in turn sets the rest of the family off (because it's just not "done"), which in turn leads the family to interact with the Schlegel sisters, which leads to Margaret's falling in love with and marrying Mr. Wilcox. In turn, Leonard Bast accidentally meets the Schlegel sisters, and that in turn, eventually changes the course of his life. It's fascinating seeing all the intricate connections that Forester weaves through the book.

And it works, I think, because Forester is such an astute writer. He doesn't dribble on like Dickens (sorry), and he's not as brilliantly pointed as Austen. But, he is observant about people's characters and, perhaps most of all, their motivations. He is able to get inside a character, so much so that you understand them, even if you don't like them all that much. And that is what really drives this story, making all the various elements in it work well together. Which is good, because I'm not sure, in the end, that this is a truly memorable story with a memorable plot and memorable characters.

That's not to say it's not a good book; it is. It's just not one that I think I'll talk about and think about for quite a while.

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

by Louise Rennison
ages: 12+
First sentence: "Dad had Uncle Eddie round, so naturally they had to come and see what I was up to."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Sometimes, you get everything you want out of life. But most of the time -- as 14 (well, almost 15)-year-old Georgia Nicholson is finding out -- your little sister just leaves her dirty nappies in your bed. Georgia's trying to wade in the murky waters of makeup (without sticking the mascara brush in her eye), first loves (she's crushing hard on Robbie, whom she calls the Sex God), and learning how to kiss (oh... SO funny). And, while she mostly is okay, sometimes she's well... not.

This book, as pointed out by my dear friend Corinne at The Book Nest, is drink-spittingly funny. Snort, chortle, guffaw, too. Sure, it's not a deep book by any means (what book where the main character spends the entire book obsessing about a boy is?), and yeah, I did get annoyed with Georgia (c'mon girl, cut your parents a break!)... but between the Britishness of it all (oh, I need to use "nuddy-pants" in a conversation now!), as well as the sheer insanity of Georgia and her friends (she shaves off her eyebrows! Had me in stitches.), I couldn't help but really, really like this book.

Double cool with knobs, definitely.