by Chris Crutcher
Hennepin County Library, audioCD, 6:32
read by Brian Corrigan
I just noticed on the back that this audiobook is recommended for ages "10 and up" - seriously?!? It's another powerful Crutcher story, well-written and intense. But the language is vintage Crutcher - lots of swearing, including liberal use of the F-word. The language shouldn't deter teen or adult readers, though. There is an incredible story of power, morality, family, and honor.
TJ is a complex character - powerful athlete who won't play on school teams because he won't buy in to the "jocks rule" mentality. A mixed-race boy in a mostly white community, his adoptive parents and his counselor Georgia have helped him tame the rage that he learned early in his young life. A decent, good person, TJ tries to make a point with the newly formed swim team.
What an incredible story! This one was easy to booktalk to 8th graders (part of their coming-of-age and making-a-difference literature circles). I loved it!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Monday, April 05, 2010
Kim
by Rudyard Kipling
Hennepin County Library audioCD 10.5 hours
read by Ralph Cosham
genre: historical fiction / classic literature / adventure
I don't think I would have ever read this text cover-to-cover. I was curious about this legendary Kipling story, but I struggled to finish it even in audio version. The narrator was wonderful, but the story meandered too much for me. There was a lot of it that I missed because the names and some of the ideas just didn't sink in. I think I'll just summarize here by copying from the back flap:
"Kimball O'Hara is . . . (covered by barcode) . . . streets of India. As a boy, he shows self-reliance and resourcefulness, running errands for Mahbub Ali, who works for the British Secret Service. Kim also meets a Tibetan lama who is on a quest to be freed from the Wheel of Life and becomes his disciple. Together they have wonderful adventures on the exotically colorful Grand Trunk Road through the Indian countryside. Then Kim is pulled into the great game of British imperial espionage and becomes a member of the Secret Service, even capturing documents from the enemy spies. Yet Kim is greatly attached to the lama and begins to feel the conflicting pulls between a life of contemplation and one of action."
I don't regret reading it, but it wasn't one that I enjoyed a lot. Kim, along with The Life of Pi, and one other that I read in the past year that is set in India (Ann's book club title . . . ) all give me an interesting idea of what India is like as a country and a culture.
Hennepin County Library audioCD 10.5 hours
read by Ralph Cosham
genre: historical fiction / classic literature / adventure
I don't think I would have ever read this text cover-to-cover. I was curious about this legendary Kipling story, but I struggled to finish it even in audio version. The narrator was wonderful, but the story meandered too much for me. There was a lot of it that I missed because the names and some of the ideas just didn't sink in. I think I'll just summarize here by copying from the back flap:
"Kimball O'Hara is . . . (covered by barcode) . . . streets of India. As a boy, he shows self-reliance and resourcefulness, running errands for Mahbub Ali, who works for the British Secret Service. Kim also meets a Tibetan lama who is on a quest to be freed from the Wheel of Life and becomes his disciple. Together they have wonderful adventures on the exotically colorful Grand Trunk Road through the Indian countryside. Then Kim is pulled into the great game of British imperial espionage and becomes a member of the Secret Service, even capturing documents from the enemy spies. Yet Kim is greatly attached to the lama and begins to feel the conflicting pulls between a life of contemplation and one of action."
I don't regret reading it, but it wasn't one that I enjoyed a lot. Kim, along with The Life of Pi, and one other that I read in the past year that is set in India (Ann's book club title . . . ) all give me an interesting idea of what India is like as a country and a culture.
Heart and Soul: The Story of Florence Nightingale
by Gena K. Gorrell
PRMS hardcover, 135 pages
genre: biography
Interesting book! I have read other articles and a shorter children's biography of Florence Nightingale, but this one was much more informative. She was a very driven woman. One fact that stunned me was "in her lifetime she wrote about thirteen thousand letters, and published some two hundred books, pamphlets, and papers." There were others who were also pushing for reform in the medical field, but she was tireless! And she was an acquaintance of Queen Victoria. Interesting how frustrated Nightingale got by her lack of power in a male-dominated world. Very interesting book. Gorrell does a nice job of blending the story of Florence's life with photographs, documents, and information about other world events at the time. The Crimean War was just once piece of Florence's fight for reforms at a time when many doctors scoffed at the idea of germs.
PRMS hardcover, 135 pages
genre: biography
Interesting book! I have read other articles and a shorter children's biography of Florence Nightingale, but this one was much more informative. She was a very driven woman. One fact that stunned me was "in her lifetime she wrote about thirteen thousand letters, and published some two hundred books, pamphlets, and papers." There were others who were also pushing for reform in the medical field, but she was tireless! And she was an acquaintance of Queen Victoria. Interesting how frustrated Nightingale got by her lack of power in a male-dominated world. Very interesting book. Gorrell does a nice job of blending the story of Florence's life with photographs, documents, and information about other world events at the time. The Crimean War was just once piece of Florence's fight for reforms at a time when many doctors scoffed at the idea of germs.
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