July Jacket Flap-a-thon

And another month has come to a close. My summer's quickly fading; the girls will be back in school soon, and I'll be back to having a more organized day. I'm not sure if that means more or less reading time, though....

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Doubleday): "The wondrous Aimee Bender conjures the lush and moving story of a girl whose magical gift is really a devastating curse. On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents’ attention, bites into her mother’s homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the cake. She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother—her cheerful, good-with-crafts, can-do mother—tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose. The curse her gift has bestowed is the secret knowledge all families keep hidden—her mother’s life outside the home, her father’s detachment, her brother’s clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up she learns to harness her gift and becomes aware that there are secrets even her taste buds cannot discern. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a luminous tale about the enormous difficulty of loving someone fully when you know too much about them. It is heartbreaking and funny, wise and sad, and confirms Aimee Bender’s place as “a writer who makes you grateful for the very existence of language” (San Francisco Chronicle)."
This is actually what made me want to read the book. It's good copy: intriguing, inviting, and made me curious. Too bad the book didn't live up to the copy.

The Demon's Lexicon (Margaret K. McElderry Books): "Nick and his brother, Alan, have spent their lives on the run from magic. Their father was murdered, and their mother was driven mad by magicians and the demons who give them power. The magicians are hunting the Ryves family for a charm that Nick's mother stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -- and they want it badly enough to kill again. Danger draws even closer when a brother and sister come to the Ryves family for help. The boy wears a demon's mark, a sign of death that almost nothing can erase...and when Alan also gets marked by a demon, Nick is desperate to save him. The only way to do that is to kill one of the magicians they have been hiding from for so long. Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.This is the Demon's Lexicon. Turn the page."
Reading flap copy as long as I have -- trying to figure out the ins and outs of good copy -- I start noticing that some publishers really get it right. Margaret McElderry is one of those publishers. And this is some good copy.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (Amulet Books): "Meet Dwight, a sixth-grade oddball. Dwight does a lot of weird things, like wearing the same T-shirt for a month or telling people to call him "Captain Dwight." This is embarrassing, particularly for Tommy, who sits with him at lunch every day. But Dwight does one cool thing. He makes origami. One day he makes an origami finger puppet of Yoda. And that's when things get mysterious. Origami Yoda can predict the future and suggest the best way to deal with a tricky situation. His advice actually works, and soon most of the sixth grade is lining up with questions. Tommy wants to know how Origami Yoda can be so smart when Dwight himself is so clueless. Is Yoda tapping into the Force? It's crucial taht Tommy figure out the mystery before he takes Yoda's advice about something VERY IMPORTANT that has to do with a girl. This is Tommy's case file of his investigation into 'The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.'"
I just loved everything about the design of this book, and that includes the clever back copy. Too much fun.

Other Books Read This Month:
In Mike We Trust
Donut Days
The Prince of Fenway Park
Jane Eyre, the Graphic Novel
Wishing for Tomorrow
The Night Fairy
Turtle in Paradise
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
A Step from Heaven
Incarceron
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling
Carter's Big Break
North of Beautiful

Running Total: 110 books
Adult fiction: 23
YA: 39
MG: 29
Non-fiction: 9
Graphic Novel: 11
Didn't Finish: 6

Library Loot 2010-26

Week one of my no-library policy, and I have 5 holds to pick up.... (Half are for M and C, though.)

Picture Books:
If I Ran the Zoo, by Dr. Seuss
Word Builder, by Ann Whitford Paul/Kurt Cyrus
Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast, by Philip Christian Stead
Race You to Bed, by Bob Shea
You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together, by Mary Ann Hoberman/Illus. by Michael Emberley
Timothy Tunny Swallowed a Bunny, by Bill Grossman/Illus by Kevin Hawkes
Harry and Horsie, by Katie vn Camp/Illus. by Lincoln Agnew

Middle Grade Fiction:
Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko (so C can read it for our mother-daughter book group)

YA Fiction:
Revelations (Blue Blood, Book 3), by Melissa de la Cruz
The Van Alen Legacy (Blue Bloods, Book 4), by Melissa de la Cruz
The Demon's Covenant (The Demon's Lexicon Trilogy), by Sarah Rees Brennan (*happy dance*)

Non-Fiction:
Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women, by Geraldine Brooks
Beads, Badges, & Bangles, by Clare Beaton

The roundup is either at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader or The Captive Reader. 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.

Guess the Author Answers

So, on Sunday, I put up this picture:

And asked people to guess the authors. Amanda got Rick Riordan there in the center, and Darren got Maggie Stiefvater next to Rick. As for the rest:

Row 1: Winifred Watson, Rebecca Wells, Tom Angleberger
Row 2: the unknown was Jackson Pearce
Row 3: Louis Sachar, Eileen Spinelli and Wendy Mass

Next time, I'll try to make it easier!

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

by Tom Angleberger
ages: 9+
First sentence: "The big question: Is Origami Yoda real?"
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Two quick things about this book before I get started: 1) I cannot spell origami right to save my life (thank heavens for spell check!). And 2) I have not seen a more cleverly designed book in a long, long time. All the way through, from the cover to the end pages, it's just a delight to look at. The only thing that would have made it better was if the little drawings on the bottom corners would have been a flip drawing. That would have been really cool.

Sixth-grader Tommy has a problem: see, Dwight -- the really uncool kid who's only saving grace is that he's good at origami -- has made this Origami Yoda that's been giving advice out. And, interestingly enough it's really good advice, even though Dwight is horribly annoying and not at all someone you want to take advice from. So, Tommy has asked Origami Yoda a question about a girl he's had a crush on the entire year, and it's imperative -- mostly so he won't make a complete fool of himself -- that he figure out if Origami Yoda is really real or if he's just a hoax. In a series of "interviews" and "testimonies" the story of Origami Yoda comes out, and if you're not believing in the power of the Yoda by the end, then you're completely heartless. (Yes, I still believe in the magic of Santa. Why do you ask?)

It's an interesting concept, and as an adult there was much to think about, especially with Dwight: does he have aspergers? (He's good at math, but nothing else; he has a hard time in social situations; he's always acting up weirdly.) Or is it just an 11-year-old misfit's way of trying to fit in? It's difficult to tell because it's told through the point of view of an outsider -- which was brilliant, by the way: it added to the mystique of Origami Yoda -- but there's some intriguing questions there. Other than that, aside from Tommy, most of the characters are very... 11-year-old boy. Which keeps the book real, I think. And the characters are almost beside the point: it's really about Origami Yoda and making things work out for the best.

It's also got kid appeal, as well: C really liked it; she thought it was fun and interesting. And that's what really matters, in the end.

The Dancing Pancake

by Eileen Spinelli
ages: 9+
First sentence: "I am on the front lawn making snow angels with Albert Poole."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there.

This is a sweet little novel in verse. Although it addresses some deep issues: parents separating, homelessness, friendship, it does so in a very unassuming way. It's hardly angst-ridden, or even very sad; it's very much the way you assume it will be from the cover and title: it's a world where everything will work out, if you just give it time.

The winter Bindi is eleven, her father leaves. She doesn't think much of it, until her mom and aunt and uncle start saying things like "he's not coming back" and "we need time apart". Then her mom sells the house and opens a restaurant, moving them into the apartment above. None of this meets with Bindi's approval, and she spends the bulk of the story just learning to accept her new life without being a complete grump about it.

There really isn't much else to say about this. It was nice. The illustrations, I felt, were almost superfluous, and distracting: I had a picture of Bindi in my mind and the illustrations kept distracting me from it. I'm not sure if there was a moral -- perhaps just hang on through the tough times? -- but it felt like the sort of book that wanted to have one. The characters were nice, but not really gripping. The situations were fun, but not really moving. And so, in the end, it was just kind of nice and sweet but not quite much else. (Kind of like pancakes, huh?)

North of Beautiful

by Justina Chen Headley
ages: 14+
First sentence: "Not to brag or anything, but if you saw me from behind, you'd probably think I was perfect."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

At first glance, Terra is your average 16 year old. But, you get close and the first thing most anyone notices is the port wine stain that covers most of one side of her face. Her parents have spent lots of money trying to remove the stain, all to no avail, and Terra spends her time trying to hide it: through her otherwise perfect body, through make up, through pushing herself to get through high school a year early, through her art (though she doesn't share that). She lives a half-existence, mostly because of her controlling father (it's flat out emotional abuse -- of both her and her mother -- and it's the most hateful thing I've read in a long, long time); she's never good enough, beautiful enough, to satisfy him.

That is, until Terra and her mother meet Jacob and his. It was a freak accident (literally), but it was one that will change the map of Terra and her mother's life.

The first part was incredibly difficult, emotionally, to get through: I literally wanted to scream at Terra's dad. Headley did such a fantastic job of portraying not only an abuser -- he never hit anyone, but he was an abuser all the same -- but the way the victims of the abuse would react. It was real, and it was literally very heavy to read; I can't come up with any better way to describe it.

But the second half, when Terra and her mother get brave enough to go to China, is lighter. It feels lighter, like a weight has been lifted, and it's amazing to watch the women bloom. Headley does a masterful job with characterization in this book, and it's not just about Terra: both she and her mother make distinct, yet similar, journeys to find themselves. It's a treatise on beauty, and the expectations of what beauty is. It's an exploration of abuse, but it's a hopeful one; perhaps healing can be done in the family. But, it's also a real story: there are real consequences, real emotions, real characters.

And a really good book.

Carter's Big Break

by Brent Crawford
ages: 14+
First sentence: "On the last day of school, I'm happily strolling down the hall after Mr. Rumpford's ridiculously hard algebra final."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I picked this one up, initially, because the inscription on the back made me laugh:

Warning: This book is intended for immature audiences. If you find teen guys annoying and/or disgusting, this may not be the book for you. There's gotta be something about a cute wizard or moody vampire around here... Go find it!

I kept reading it because, like Carter Finally Gets It, this one is very guy. Very guy. And yet, it's also very sweet. Crawford walks the line between immature and wise incredibly well, and manages to tell a good story with a lot of heart. I know: don't tell the guys.

Carter's made it through his freshman year, coming out in style: he's passed his classes, starred in the musical, has a girlfriend. All he wants to do is hang with his "boys" at the pool this summer. And, of course, karma/fate/adults get in his way. Turns out that a local boy who's made it big is filming a movie of his book in town, and he wants to cast locals as the lead. Carter tries out, and -- because he's just lucky -- gets the lead opposite the famous starlet Hilary Idaho (side note: how lame a name is that? Totally obvious, but it works.). There goes the easy summer he'd planned.

At first, working on a movie and hanging out with Hilary is totally awesome, but things go sour pretty quick (because it is Carter after all). Carter's girlfriend, Abby, breaks up with him. Hilary is a lot to manage, to say the least. The whole movie-making experience isn't quite what it's cracked up to be. And he decided, for better or worse (generally the latter), that he's much to "good" for his family. Of course there will be a lot of mishaps along the way. Of course things will work out for the best in the end. And of course you will find yourself rooting for Carter whole heartedly. Because, even though he's very guy, he's what makes this book completely worth reading. (Even if you're a mom of four girls and are terrified by the guyness of it all.) Crawford has created a character so honest, so real, and so unpretentious (and yes, there are stereotypes in there, and yes, I like most of the girls as well, especially his sister, Lynne) that you can't help but enjoy the journey.

And that means I'm quite interested to see what happens to Carter next.

Sunday Salon/Weekly Geeks: Guess the Author

This week's Geek (it's been a LONG time since I've participated!) is a fun one:

"Post pictures of authors that answer the questions listed below, but without saying who they were. Then Weekly Geek visitors should guess, by leaving a comment, who they think those authors are."

I'm going to make it a little easy on you; all the authors are of books that are currently on my nightstand.



Have fun guessing; answers will go up on Friday!

Library Loot 2010-25

I have come to a decision: I will not. check. out. books. in the month of August. I have a GINORMOUS backlog of ARCs and other books I want to read that I own, and I really, seriously, honestly, need to read them. I have a problem: library books always take precedence: I work best under deadlines, and the library conveniently provides one for me. But that means the other books, the ones without deadlines pile up, staring at me from their shelves, reminding me of the commitment I made to actually buy or request them. (Library books are much to alluring for their own good....)

So, I'm going to be a good girl, and call this one my last checkout (of middle grade/YA/adult fiction for me; I'll still get stuff for the girls), except for Demon's Covenant, which I'm waiting for. And I'm going to spend the next month reading the ones I already have. (I hope.)

Picture Books:
Angelina and the Royal Wedding , by Katharine Holabird/Illus. by Helen Craig
The Book That Eats People, by John Perry/Illus. by Mark Fearing
The Little Moon Princess, by YJ Lee
Marco Flamingo Under the Sea, by Shelia Jarkins
When Stella Was Very, Very Small, by Marie-Louise Gay
My Mother Is So Smart, by Tomie dePaola

Easy Readers:
Beans Baker Bounces Back, by Richard Torrey
Little Witch Goes to School , by Debora Hautzig/Illus. by Sylvie Wickstrom
The Curse of the Cobweb Queen: An Otto & Uncle Tooth Adventure , by Geoffrey Hayes
Amanda Pig, Schoolgirl, by Jean Van Leeuwen/Illus. Ann Schweninger

Middle Grade Fiction:
Alchemy and Meggy Swann, by Karen Cushman
The Dancing Pancake, by Eileen Spinelli
The Last Best Days of Summer, by Valerie Hobbs
Frankly, Frannie, by AJ Stern/Illus by Coreen Mulryon Marts

YA Fiction:
Blue Bloods (Blue Bloods, Book 1), by Melissa de la Cruz
The Cardturner, Louis Sachar

Adult Fiction
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, by Winifred Watson

Non-Fiction:
The New Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are, by Dr. Kevin Leman

The roundup is either at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader or The Captive Reader. 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 Step from Heaven

by An Na
ages: 14+
First sentence: "Just to the edge, Young Ju."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Young Ju is just a small girl when her family leaves Korea for America. They are hoping for something better, a future besides fishing boats for their children. It's not easy being in America: her father struggles for work, her mother is forbidden by her father to work, and Young Ju is walking a line between worlds: she's neither fully American or Korean.

It's a common story, one that I'm sure every immigrant family could tell: of the trials adjusting to a new country, of trying to hold on to the old one. Of wanting a better life for your children, and sacrificing everything you have for them. And An Na tells it well: it's a spare book, told from Young Ju's point of view, but it's haunting and moving and hopeful, all put together. She shows the journey from first arriving and not knowing the language through to a Young becoming a successful high school graduate, with the world It's an interesting look into a Korean family, though I won't say it's Korean culture; aside from the bits and snatches of language, I would be wary about calling it "typical".

See, the domestic violence got to me: sure, I can understand the need for male dominance in Asian cultures, but it still grates on me. And the Apa, the father, in this story demonstrated this need, combined with and fueled from a sense of powerlessness, through abusing his wife and daughter (and to a lesser extent, his son). It was horrible, horrifying, and disturbing and disgusting.

And so, while this book was well written and important and interesting and good, I find myself not really liking it. Perhaps because it is just too raw.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

by Muriel Barbery
ages: adult
First sentence: "'Marx has completely changed the way I view the world,' declared the Pallieres boy this morning, although ordinarily he says nary a word to me."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

This book has been making the rounds over the last year or so, and I've come to a conclusion: you will either really love it (if you are a certain sort of person and it is the right sort of time) or really hate it (if neither of these things are true). To be completely honest: it is an incredibly pretentious book, full of Philosophy and Art and the Meaning of Life. There are times when you want to roll your eyes at the platitudes and the "smarter-than-thou" attitude of the whole book. (A common complaint is that one is just not smart enough to read this book.)

But, it's also endearing in its pretentiousness; there are little moments of true charm, humor, and maybe even inspiration. My only advice: give the book some time to work on you. It starts with some heady philosophy, but then it settles in.

There isn't much to the story. Our two main characters, 54-year-old Renee and 12-year-old Paloma, are both very brilliant, but neither one seems to know quite where they belong. Renee is a self-educated peasant that's a concierge in a posh Paris apartment building; she knows the tenants expect her to behave in a certain way, and she's more than happy to oblige. Paloma is at odds with her family: they are stuck in a rut, and she's decided that life's not worth living if all it has to offer is how her parents (or even the rest of the tenants) live.

Then Kakuro Ozu moves into the building. He's not like anyone else: he's introspective, intelligent, observant, elegant, and more than willing to reach out to both Renee and Paloma because he senses in them, as Anne would say, a kindred spirit. Age and class don't matter; a friend is someone who is worth spending time with.

The ending is a bit abrupt, and, admittedly, not as moving as I think Barbery wanted it to be. But, even with that, it was an interesting and enjoyable book to journey through.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

Book One: The Mysterious Howling
by Maryrose Wood
ages: 9+
First sentence: "I was not Miss Penelope Lumley's first journey on a train, but it was the first one she had taken alone."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

This one had me charmed at the first sentence. By the end of the first chapter, I was reading passages aloud, telling my girls that I should probably just buy this book. It's a very, very charming book: funny, quaint, and with an interesting story.

That said, by the time I finished it, I wasn't so sure about it. Yes, it's the first in the series, but I felt there were too many questions raised and not enough answers given.

Penelope Lumley is a 15-year-old graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, and her first job is as a governess for three children at the estate of Lord and Lady Ashton. Once Penelope gets there, she realizes that this will not be any ordinary governessing job: the three children -- whom Lord Ashton has christened Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia -- were found in the woods and are more canine than human. This doesn't really bother Penelope: she's always had a soft spot for animals, and she figures -- thanks to the nuggets of wisdom of Swanburne's founder, Agatha Swanburne (like: "There is noEx alarm clock like embarrassment.") -- that she should just make the best of the situation.

The best part, incidentally, is the asides. I adored the asides, because they were just so funny. Like this one:

Extraordinarily busy places are often compared to beehives, and if you have ever seen the inside of a beehive, you already know why this is so.

(It is not necessary to actually set foot inside of a beehive to confirm this, by the way. They are too small and too full of bees for in-person tours to be truly convenient. But there are alternatives: One could peer inside using some sort of periscopelike magnifying device, for example. Or one could simply accept that beehives are busy and get on with it. This second option is called "suspending one's disbelief" and it is by far the easiest row to hoe, now and at other times, too.)

The book is mostly Penelope's experiences in reteaching the children, but there's also an air of mystery surrounding it: how did the children end up in the forest? What is Lord Ashton's "business" and club that he's always spending time with? And what's the deal with Old Timothy, the coachman? Why is he always lurking around?

The problem is that none of the questions are ever answered. As I said before, I know it's the first in a series, but I found the lack of resolution highly annoying. (That, and the "to be continued" at the end of the book. Really? How trite.) It's a quibble, and a bit of a major one for me, but it did serve it's purpose: I need to read the next book and find out if there are any answers. Though, I do hope that Wood doesn't drag it out: enough "to be continued"s and I lose interest.

Which would be too bad, because this book really is quite charming.

Turtle in Paradise

by Jennifer L. Holm
ages: 9+
First sentence: "Everyone thinks children are sweet as Necco Wafers, but I've lived long enough to know the truth: kids are rotten."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Turtle lives with her mom in New Jersey and has (mostly) become accustomed to her role as "the housekeeper's kid". It doesn't mean kids are nice, but her mom has a job, and since it's the middle of the Depression, that's a good thing. Then her mom starts working for a woman who makes Mr. Scrooge look cheery, and Turtle finds herself shipped off to Key West, Florida to live with her mother's sister.

And all the boy cousins.

There's Bean and Kermit and Buddy and their friends Pork Chop and Ira. They are incredibly amusing and adorable, these boys: at times fierce and downright mean, at other times completely sweet. They are the Diaper Gang: going around island, helping out mothers of babies, taking care of them in return for candy. They even have a super-secret formula for taking care of rashes on babies' bungys.

The book is mostly about painting a picture of life in the Keys during late-summer. It's all about mood and place and experience. There are a few adventures, as Turtle finds her way around the town, and discovers things about the island and her past and her family and belonging that she couldn't have found out had she not visited. But the plot is almost incidental to the book. And it didn't really matter. Turtle and the boys were entertaining enough; besides, it felt right for the lazy pace of life in the Keys. If there was a lot of action, rushing around from place to place, it wouldn't have felt as gorgeously summery as the book did.

And I wouldn't have traded all the action in the world for that.

Sunday Salon: Reading and Vacations

We just got back from vacation about a week ago, and I've found myself musing over my reading habits.

While on vacation, I managed to read 5 1/2 books. Since we've been home, only 2. I think a lot depended on where we went: we went to my in-laws' house, a place with much to do for the children (and a lot of cousins to run around with), and my girls are old enough that they really don't need much supervision at all. (Though I think K watched the same 3 movies the whole time!) So, I was left with lots of time on my hands to read as much as I want.

It's interesting, though: Hubby went on the same vacation to the same place and didn't even get through one book. Perhaps it was because it was his family; he spent his time chatting with his brothers (and playing D&D), not sitting on the couch, reading.

All this makes me wonder, though: do you read more when you're on vacation, or less? What kinds of books do you take? If it all "depends", what does it depend on?

I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

Library Loot 2010-24

Oh, it's SO nice to be back, and to have come home with a bag full of books. Now, to make the time to read them all!

Picture Books:
What's Your Sound, Hound the Hound?, by Mo Willems
George and Martha, by James Marshall
Moving Day, by Ralph Fletcher/Illus. by Jennifer Emery
Five Little Monkeys Wash the Car, by Eileen Christelow
Thirteen, by Remy Charlip and Jerry Joyner
Is There Really a Human Race?, by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell
Best Best Friends, by Margaret Chodos-Irvine

Easy Readers:
The Rainforest Race (Go, Diego, Go! Ready-to-Read)

Middle Grade Fiction:
The Witching Hour, by Stephen Krensky
Peter Pan in Scarlet, by Geraldine McCaughrean
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger

YA Fiction:
Sisters Red, by Jackson Pearce
A Mango-Shaped Space, by Wendy Mass

Non-Fiction:
The Immortality of Influence: We Can Build the Best Minds of the Next Generation, by Salome Thomas-El and Cecil Murphy
Firstborn Advantage, The: Making Your Birth Order Work for You, by Dr. Kevin Leman
Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter, by Steve Dublanica

The roundup is either at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader 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.

The Demon's Lexicon

by Sarah Rees Brennan
ages: 14+
First sentence: "The pipe under the sink was leaking again."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Brothers Nick and Alan are on the run from magicians who are hunting them. Have been for most of their lives. That, and taking care of their mother (who was driven mad by magic) takes up most of their time. That is until Mae and her brother Jamie come into their lives. Jamie, it seems, has a third level demon mark, which essentially means he's ripe for possession.

Perhaps we should take a break here and explain that in this world, demons are spirits who long to possess human bodies and experience human lives. In exchange for this, they grant magicians unlimited power. The magicians don't really see anything wrong with this, but for Nick, Alan, and their "side", it's kind of evil to give away human bodies to demons in exchange for power. I can see their point.

As a result of Mae and Jamie (among other things), Alan gets a demon mark, and so the four of them (unfortunately, in Nick's opinion) set about trying to remove the marks. This involves hunting down a Circle of magicians and killing a couple, since only a magician's blood will remove the marks. Thus begins an interesting adventure, full of suspense and intrigue, a bit of romance (and Brennan knows how to write romance), and a spectacular twist at the end, one that, in retrospect I should have seen coming yet it completely blew me away.

The only really drawback is that one of the main characters, Nick, is so very unlikable. It's a turn off at the beginning of the book; you just want to smack the kid upside the head. But, give it time: he will grow on you, he does have a few redeeming qualities. And then there's Alan, who's an enigma: he keeps secrets from Nick, he's up to something, but you never quite know what. They're an interesting and appealing pair, these brothers. Mae isn't too bad herself, either: with her fiery temper and determination (not to mention pink hair).

All of which makes for a very compelling book.

10 Questions for Wendy Mass

This interview I have to credit C for. She adores Wendy Mass, you see: she picked up Every Soul a Star (after M literally pushed it into her hands) and adored it. She's working her way through Mass's other books, and when she finished Finally, she came to me and said, "Mom, you do interviews with authors, right? Do you think you could do one with Wendy Mass?"

There was only one way to find out, and the answer was: YES! Hooray for suggestions from daughters!

MF: My daughter and I are curious: how do you come up with the ideas for your stories? WM: Basically I keep my eyes open for a topic that interests me (synesthesia, astronomy, candy!), and then I figure if I find it fun to learn about, then others will, too. Then I build a story around the theme, with characters that wind up leading me through the book.

MF: Who or what inspires you to write?
WM: Writing was just a natural progression from reading for me. At some point as a kid I decided to try writing my own stories, and then just never stopped. Now I think it’s the readers who inspire me to keep writing.

MF: Your most recent book, Finally, is a sequel, of sorts, to 11 Birthdays. Is there any particular reason you put Rory and her story in the same world/place as Leo and Amanda? WM: Writing 11 Birthdays was so much fun that I didn’t want to let the world of Willow Falls end. But I also didn’t want to write a straight sequel, so FINALLY became a “companion” to 11 Birthdays, with some overlapping characters.

MF: How did you come up with the plot for the book? Did it evolve out of 11 Birthdays at all? WM: I knew each of the "Willow Falls" books would focus on a girl’s birthday, and 12 is such a special age. Right on the cusp of being a teen, but still feeling like a kid a lot of the time. I wanted to focus on not only the big "coming of age" events that most girls go through, but some of the smaller ones, too, like getting a key to the house, sitting in the front seat of the car, getting pierced ears. But then I thought it would be fun to have all the things Rory was looking forward to go differently than she’d expected.

MF: Reading about Rory was almost painful; it was one bad thing after another (my daughter said she's scared to get her ears pierced now!). How did you come up with all the ideas? Was it as painful for you to write as it was for us to read? WM: To come up with the things on Rory’s list, I asked a few hundred 11-year-olds what they were looking forward to being able to do. Then I took the responses I got the most often, and those are the ones that made it into the book. I wanted it to feel real (and be funny), but I wasn’t aiming for painful! Tell your daughter that chances are she won’t wind up with an elephant ear like Rory! :o)

MF: Is there anything you hope your readers take away from Finally? (Or any of your books, for that matter.) WM: I think most kids are in a big hurry to grow up, and if there’s any message in Finally, it’s about taking your time and not rushing. To do things when you’re ready for them, not when a date on the calendar tells you to be.

MF: I know it's like picking a favorite child, but which of your books is your favorite or means the most to you? WM: A Mango-Shaped Space was my first, so that one holds a special place in my heart. I learned the most while writing Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, and ate the most candy while writing the upcoming book The Candymakers.

MF: Do you have a specific time or place for writing? How do you fit it into your busy schedule
WM: Sometimes I have no idea how the books get written. Juggling family and writing and traveling for school visits is really hard. I recently started renting an office in town, and that has helped a lot. Just having someplace to go where I can focus (with no internet access or Dora the Explorer!), has made it easier to buckle down and focus. I also do a lot of "writing" in my head, so when I get to sit in front of the computer I’ve worked a lot of it out already.

MF: Are there five books you think everyone should read?
WM: Everyone’s taste is so different, and we all take different things away from each book. But I can tell you the five books that I read growing up that had the biggest impact on me. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was the first book that I sought out on my own in my elementary school library. The Time Garden by Edward Eager was the first one that I searched the country to find on every family trip for years (this was when finding a book actually required going to a bookstore and pulling books from the shelves!) I’ll never forget finding it in a Waldenbooks in the middle of nowhere, and clutching it to my chest with pure glee. Charlotte’s Web was the first to make me cry, and Harriet the Spy made me a very sneaky kid! Allegra Maud Goldman by Edith Konecky showed me how serious themes can be hidden in really funny books and made me want to be a writer.

MF: So, if you don't mind telling us, what can we look forward to from you next?
WM: The Candymakers is coming up this fall. It’s about four kids competing to make the world’s best new candy, but things aren’t at all what they seem. After that is a companion book to 11 Birthdays and Finally which I don’t have a title for yet, but will be about a girl’s 13^th birthday in Willow Falls. Then after that will be my first foray into science-fiction fantasy. Wacky sci-fi fantasy! Yikes! I better get back to my desk and write! :o)

MF: I can't wait for all of those; something to look forward to, at least.Thanks for your time, Wendy!
You can find more about Wendy and her books at her website.

The Night Fairy

by Laura Amy Schlitz/Illustrated by Angela Barrett
ages: 8+ (or read aloud 5+)
First sentence: "Flory was a night fairy."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

There are some books that just beg to be read aloud. Ones where the narrative is just beautiful that you find yourself mouthing the words while you're reading, or make you want to grab the nearest child and say "You have to listen to this!"

This book does both of those things.

It's a simple story -- Flory is a night fairy who has her wings accidentally cut off by a bat when she's very young, and so has to learn to fend for herself, without the aid of her wings or other fairies. She decides to become a day fairy, making the adjustment, and then... learns to grow up. She makes a tentative friend with a squirrel, and learns to adjust and compromise and behave nicely toward others. Of course there's a moral to the story, but Schlitz handles it so delicately that you really never notice it coming.

Because the book is all about the adventure. There's tight squeezes, hair-raising rescues, amazing daredevil flights... and yet, it's also a very girly book. Schlitz says in the afterward that she wanted to give the little girls that love fairies and nature and adventure something lively. And she did. It's a page turner, one that will leave the girls breathless for more.

It also helps that Barrett's illustrations are so lush, so beautiful. Is it wrong to want a copy of this book to desecrate it and frame the illustrations? They are that pretty, full of vivid little details that will make you (or your little girl) want to pour over them for hours.

And that, my friends, is priceless.

Wishing for Tomorrow

The Sequel to A Little Princess
by Hilary McKay
ages: 9+
First sentence: "Once upon a time, there was a city."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

There are very few people who could get away with a sequel to a classic like Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess. Thankfully, Hilary McKay is one of those people.

Charming, quaint, and oh-so-Hilary McKay, this book follows the story of everyone else at Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies after Sara Crewe leaves them. Ermengarde is mourning the loss of her best friend, resentful that Sara has escaped into a new life. She's not the only one trying to adjust to the change: Lavinia has met the new boy next door, Tristram, and is suddenly more interested in learning than she is in gossip, which puts her best friend, Jessie, into a snit. Miss Minchin is becoming increasingly suspicious: she believes she sees Sara everywhere, and that means Sara is out to get her. The girls have to adjust to the new maid, Alice (since Sara took Becky with her), who just does everything wrong. And Lottie, the littlest, has become increasingly wild since Sara left.

The question is: will they find a way to survive?

I haven't read the Burnett original recently, so I'm not really being overly picky here, but this book charmed me to pieces. Everything -- from Ermengard's earnestness and longing for her friend to Lottie's impish behavior -- was just right. McKay even managed to squeeze in a bit of A Little Princess for those of us who haven't read it in a while (or haven't at all), but did so in a way that felt natural. There were fun little letters back and forth from Ermengarde to Sara, as well as delightful little snippets of late 19th-century life. Not much happens over the course of the book, but it really didn't matter; McKay's writing is so captivating, and the characters so likable, that it doesn't matter that the plot is pretty thin.

Now I suppose I should go reread the original.

Incarceron

by Catherine Fisher
ages: 12+
First sentence: "Finn had been flung on his face and chained to the stone slabs of the transitway."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

For some books, the plot summary comes easy. But as I was reading this book this past weekend, when people asked me what it was about, I was really at a loss. Mostly, I just said, "It's complicated."

It's one part dystopian novel: Incarceron is a prison that the "Outside" designed for the refuse of society as an experiment. They meant it to be a Paradise, but over the years, it has degenerated into the worst of Hells. Finn has recently appeared; he was "cell born" -- he has no memory of a childhood: he just appeared in Incarceron's cells one day. He struggled to survive, and joined a group of thieves, becoming oathbrothers with a man named Keiro. Circumstances happen to push Finn, Keiro and a couple of others to attempt to escape, and the book is mostly their attempt to get out of Incarceron.

But, it's also one part political intrigue: Claudia is on the Outside, the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron. She's been playing her father's game of power her whole life, matching him move for move in his quest to make her Queen. She's not exactly happy about this; the current Queen is ruthless, and her son is a complete idiot; Claudia would have rather married the original heir, who died in an accident. The only person she can truly trust is her mentor and tutor, Jared. In her end of the game, she desires to know what her father actually does, and in the process finds a crystal Key and ends up communicating with Finn in Incarceron.

Complicated.

And yet, Fisher pulls it off beautifully. It's difficult to explain, but while reading it, the plot makes complete sense. It's a page-turner of a book; you have to see what happens next. The characters range from the sympathetic to the mistrustful, and yet you find yourself interested in their fates, invested in the outcome. Fisher has a talent for writing action; from the opening scene in the book, she has you completely invested in the book. In addition, the world she's created is a fascinating one, something that is the product of a very creative imagination. And yet, there's a balance between the world and the rest, so that neither dominates the book.

And all this means the only thing wrong with the book is that it's the first in a series, and we have to wait for the rest.

Since We Were in Portland

We needed to stop at Powell's, right?

The girls were amazed: it's a whole block, there are that many kids books? How are we going to choose??

Well, we managed (to choose, that is), and this is what we got:




And I picked up this, which I've coveted for years!

Hooray for bookstores!

Jane Eyre: The Graphic Novel

by Charlotte Bronte/Adapted by Amy Corzine
ages: 12+
First sentence: "Now that typhus has felled both my sister and her husband, we must look after their child."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I read Jane Eyre a couple of years ago, and found that I really enjoyed it. So, when my in person book group decided to read it for this month's book, I figured I'd give the graphic novel a try, just to see how it held up.

And while I found that the pictures were a poor substitute for the narration, I really quite enjoyed it.

The drawings were easy enough to follow, and the book was stripped down to it's basic elements: Jane's perseverance and the love story with Mr. Rochester. It's not a bad thing to have the book taken down to those bare elements; in fact it makes them shine by putting them in center stage. The ending, after she finds Mr. Rochester again, was quite poignant.

It's a good introduction to the classic, however I wonder if by doing it this way, too many people will read the graphic novel and think that they don't need to go read the book now. And that would be a shame.

Nerds Heart YA: In Mike We Trust versus Donut Days

In Mike We Trust
by P.E. Ryan
ages: 13+
First sentence: "They were just finishing dinner when they heard a screech of tires, followed by several taps of a car horn."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Donut Days
by Lara Zielin
ages: 13+
First sentence: "I'm no biblical scholar, but I'm pretty sure Adam -- as in the guy who named all the animals in the Garden of Eden -- wasn't a hermaphrodite."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

When I found out what two books I'd be looking at for this round in Nerds Heart YA, I realized that I've got a terribly difficult task: I'm choosing between a book about a gay guy figuring out how to get his family to accept him for who he is and a book about an evangelical Christian girl dealing with problems in her church and her family as the church tries to oust her mother as a pastor. Apples and oranges, right?

In many ways, yes: these two books are polar opposites. I have no idea what Emma and Garth would think of each other, but the fundamental feeling and sensibilities of these books are polar opposites. How was I supposed to choose which one?

So, I went back to what appeals to me: plot, characters, and whether or not I found the book interesting. (Totally subjective, I know.)

I thought In Mike We Trust was a good book. There was much to like about the underlying issues of honesty throughout the book -- not just with the con game, but also with who Garth was. I did think that the plot was a bit of a stretch -- con games, in Richmond, really? It occurred to me to wonder if this was set in the south because the author thought Southerners were more gullible. That said, the characters in the book seemed a bit stereotypical to me: the struggling single mom, the understanding best friend, the open-minded guy, the lovable best friend.

I didn't have a much different reaction to Donut Days, though. It was a good book as well, dealing with honesty issues; in this case, being more open about issues and problems within a family. Emma's dealing with some pretty stressful problems in her world, and while there were times when I didn't particularly care for Emma, overall I thought she was a likable character. I related to her struggles with her faith and her determination to make her own way.

The difference between the books -- and eventually, for me the deciding factor -- was the endings. In Mike, the ending felt organic, something that I could see happening, something that made sense and yet wasn't too pat. In Donut Days, though the ending felt a bit melodramatic and forced, swelling to a crescendo that was out of place with the rest of the book. And then the denouement was just too saccharine for my tastes.

So, I'm going to send In Mike We Trust on to the next round.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

by Aimee Bender
ages: adult
First sentence: "It happened for the first time on a Tuesday afternoon, a warm spring door in the flatlands near Hollywood, a light breeze moving east from the ocean and stirring the black-eyed pansy petals newly planted in our flower boxes."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy sent to me by the publisher.

I was sitting on the computer, idly watching my Twitter feed when I noticed that Heather at Capricious Reader mentioned that she picked up this book. A prime opportunity for a buddy read... and so I proposed it. Thankfully, she was game to go along!

The basic story is about Rose who, at nine years old, discovers that she can "read" people's feelings through the food she eats. It's only the feelings of the people who pick or prepare the food, but it's an incredibly unsettling experience. The book follows her journey as she figures out what the feelings mean, how to understand them, and how to deal with the fall out from what she knows. In addition, the book explores the dynamics within Rose's family, with her hovering, yet disconnected mother; her distant father; and her very odd older brother.

Melissa: I wanted to read this book for two reasons: the cover looks sooo yummy, and I was looking for something similar to Sarah Addison Allen's books, and readers on Twitter -- don't remember who -- suggested Aimee Bender. How about you?

Heather: Pretty much the same reason. That cover is hard to resist! I also thought the premise sounded interesting. What did you think of Rose and her special ability?

Melissa: I thought it was an interesting idea, to be able to sense the places ingredients are from, to be able to sense the feelings of the cook. But nine seemed a little... young to handle it. I guess that was part of the story, though: Rose's inability to handle her skill. There were moments in the book when I thought Bender captured the essence of Rose's gift perfectly... the angst, the discovery, the learning. But, there were times when I wanted to smack the characters upside the head? What did you think?

Heather: About the same! I thought it was a very interesting idea. Nine did seem young, especially having to face such adult feelings coming from her mother, but like you said, I think that was part of the story. I also wondered what I would do, or anyone really, could do that and how they would react to it. I thought the fact that Rose, for the most part, kept it a secret was spot on. I don't think I would want anyone to know that! Yet, at the same time, I was thinking if I could do that, I would want to help everyone FEEL BETTER and that could potentially make you go nuts. And I totally wanted to smack her father upside the head! And her brother too! What did you think of what happened to him?

Melissa: How much do I manage to answer that without giving too much away?!? Actually, I thought the subplot with the brother was the weakest part of the book. I kept wanting more Rose, more exploration of the food, more exploration of how Rose handles the food and less with her brother. Okay, he's weird. And I got that he was doing weird stuff, but... it just wasn't interesting? I think it would have been a different book had maybe Bender glanced at Rose's childhood, but spent more time with Rose after she developed into her own; I wanted to know more about the cafe owners. Though, on the other hand, perhaps Bender was looking at the family dynamic as a whole?

Heather: I kept thinking he seems so autistic and no one seemed to want to help him. I mean, did anyone try to figure out what was wrong with him? In fact, it seemed he was encouraged to escape. He was definitely different and I agree, it felt kind of week. Almost like Bender wouldn't even figure out what to do with him!

I think she was looking more at the family dynamic. It seemed Rose was the most normal, even with her "skills." I thought their whole interaction was pretty interesting. They were always so together (eating meals together, watching TV together, etc), to not seem to know anything about each other. Well, except for Rose, of course. What did you think of their dynamic?

Be sure to head over to Heather's for the rest of the conversation.

The Prince of Fenway Park

by Julianna Baggot
ages: 10+
First sentence: "The boy who would break the Curse didn't know that he was the boy who would break the Curse."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Twelve-year-old Oscar Egg feels like he doesn't fit in anywhere. A mixed-race child, adopted by white parents. He's the child of divorce, and his father's a bit on the run-down side. He doesn't really fit in at school, and even though he's a die-hard Red Sox fan, he even feels let down by them.

And so when his mother leaves him on the eve of his birthday with his father, he isn't really surprised.

What surprises him, though, is his father's world. His dad lives under Fenway Park, along with the other Cursed Creatures. See, the Curse on the Red Sox that prevented them from winning a World Series in 86 years? It's a real, palpable thing, put on them by an Irish fairy (for reasons I never could quite figure out, but had something to do with selling Babe Ruth in 1919). And it turns out that the only person who can break the curse is Oscar.

There's some of the Cursed Creatures who don't want Oscar to succeed, though. And so it'll take a lot of perseverance, a talent for cracking codes, and some help from some very unusual people to succeed.

This book is impossibly clever. From the moment I realized what Baggott had done -- taken a major recent historical event and turned it into a work of fantasy -- I was hooked. The fact that Baggott wrote an incredibly engaging story, and threw in a subplot about racism and acceptance only sweetened the deal. Add the fact that it's a well-written baseball book (and even though I'm not a huge fan, I don't know how you can grow up in this country and not like it at least a little bit), with facts about the past (from both the Major Leagues and the Negro League) and the spirit of the game; throw in the fact that it's summertime, and you've got a complete winner.

Amazing.