Mrs. Pollifax books

by Dorothy Gilman
up at the lake, paperbacks
genre: spy / mystery fiction

Why on earth do I re-read spy books where I already know the outcome? I'm not really sure, but they are like vegging out on a tv show (and we don't have a tv at the lake).

Like:

• her innocence, especially when she surprises Mr. Carstairs and Mr. Bishop at the CIA
• her resourcefulness
• the serendipity of people and situations
• the good guys win

Dislike:

• the "inst-love" between characters, with marriages after barely a week of even knowing one another
• her (Mrs. Pollifax, and presumably the author's) fondness for mysticism, past lives, ESP, etc. 
• careless errors!!! See below.

In chapter one of Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station,  she is listing mail received from people met on different adventures. " . . . a birth announcement from Colin and Sabbahat Ramsey in Turkey; a holiday message from the king of Zabya with a note from his son Hafez, and . . . " Hafez was General Parviz's son, NOT King Jarroud's! That was in A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax and it bugged me.

Then in chapter 13, Mrs. Pollifax is on a runaway horse in the mountains. "Up they went at a 90-degree angle, the crazed horse slowing a little . . . " Um. Pretty sure a horse going STRAIGHT UP would slow down more than a little! Don't editors catch these things?! Does Gilman not understand what a 90 degree angle IS?!

Okay, rant over. I still like these books a lot. The four I read up at the lake last week were:

• 1.4 A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax (1973)
• 1.5 Mrs. Pollifax on Safari (1976)
• 1.6 Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station (1983)
• 1.7 Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha (1985)

(off Wikipedia because I'm lazy . . . )

When We Collided

by Emery Lord
Hennepin County Library hardcover 337 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction

Oh my! This made me smile and cry and think. Loved it! Put it with John Green and Rainbow Rowell books.

Told from two POV, Vivi is bipolar and not taking all her meds. Jonah is struggling with the loss of his dad and trying to hold the family together while his mom withdraws. Amazing book that had me crying at the end. (Though some of my "predictions" didn't happen . . . nice to not KNOW the ending of the book ahead of time!)

page 126 - Vivi "To the deepest, most cellular level of my being, I resent people who believe that depression is the same as weakness, that "sad" people must be coddled like helpless toddlers."

page 158 - Jonah "I didn't think about money, let alone worry about it, for almost sixteen years of my life. Worrying about money makes you old."

page 214 - Jonah "Sometimes I think everyone should be handed a manual for this stuff when they turn fourteen. That seems like a good age. Starting high school. Staring at the business end of your childhood, when you have to start growing up. So maybe the school school distribute a book called The Field Guide for Broken People."

Page 233 - Vivi "If you want to push someone away, I strongly recommend rambling about death and theology. That oughta do it."

Page 308 - when Ellie visits Vivi and they talk about depression, it's such a powerful and moving scene. As mature as this book is (reading with my "middle school teacher" lens), it contains a wonderful story AND some powerful information (in a non-teaching manner) about depression. I know some of our students could really get a lot out of this book. In fact, I'm thinking of a few students (who will be ninth graders in the fall) who I may contact to recommend this book . . . despite the mature language, sex, and drugs. The mature stuff isn't over-the-top and in-your-face; it's just a part of Vivi's life and reality.

The author's note was wonderful, too. I hope teens read it. One paragraph starts "I can also tell you that you are so, so not alone." Wow. Amazing job, Ms. Lord.

The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family

by Josh Hanagarne
Hennepin County Library hardcover 288 pages
genre: non-fiction, memoir

This book had three main threads: a love of books and libraries, Tourette Syndrome, and Mormonism. I found all three interesting for very different reasons. I appreciate the author's honesty about his life and struggles.

page 3 - "I also work here because I love books, because I'm inveterately curious, and because, like most librarians, I'm not well suited to anything else. As a breed, we're the ultimate generalists. I'll never know everything about anything, but I'll know something about almost everything and that's how I like to live." This just resonates with me!

page 34 - As he writes about a teen library patron, I think of my students. His change of attitude when he's alone vs when he's with other teenage guys is not at all surprising. How do we get past the "it's not cool to like books, learning, etc." of teen boys?

page 52 - His teen reaction to bully Jason Lawson . . . so classically teen boy! It's a bit disheartening that his frustrated response (to God not answering his prayer to melt Jason's head) was to mutter "I hate God. I love the Devil." Later he mused "By uttering those words, I'd taken a risk and stepped toward the limits. . . . I'd put my hand out and tried to find the wall but there was nothing there."

page 72 - Reading his explanation of the levels of heaven and the Plan of Salvation (per the Mormon Church) frustrated me as a Christian, but I tried to keep an open mind. How did Joseph Smith come up with all of this? Why do so many people believe it? (I think I need to have a conversation with Power!)

page 82 - "We threw 'I love you' around like someone would murder us if we stopped." Again, interesting perspective on young love and the overuse of language that doesn't have depth of meaning. I appreciate his honesty, because I remember the guy I was "in love with" and planning to spend the rest of my life with . . . at age 13. And a different guy when I was 15 with the same plan. Sigh.

page 87 "Was I just a kid, experiencing a kid's immaturity and worry about the future? Was this just teenage melodrama? Even if that were true, wondering about it, acknowledging it in some way . . . wouldn't have made it feel true. What felt true was that I was wracked with panic and tears." His exploration of his feelings is powerful. Feelings are just that - neither good nor bad. I can't imagine trying to live with Tourette's the way he describes it's impact on himself. It makes me think of my students - which of them have it?

page 91-92 - When he writes about the patron who's mad because Christian writings are in the non-fiction section . . . "They're never annoyed that the healing power of crystals is advocated at great length one mere aisle away, or that the massive books of reptile-paranoia guru David Icke take up a square foot here and there. They accept that people who want to summon fairies would visit my department, but that anyone who prays to God or Gods is an imbecile who mustn't be tolerated." This is so maddening! But very true . . .

page 115 - "I was a twitchy, delicate little daffodil with feelings made of porcelain." His writing style is very engaging!

page 207 - A long lovely paragraph about libraries and why they're important ends with "I believe physical libraries always need to exist in some form." Amen!

page 213 - His discussion of libraries being "relevant" made me laugh. I almost want to scan and include the entire half-page, but I'm too lazy right now. I love his writing! (Okay, I uploaded a pic, below)

page 264 - When adult Josh is with his mom and his son Max, his mom says, "Josh, do you know what my favorite thing is? I mean, my very favorite thing?" "I'm not sure." "It's when the whole family comes for a holiday and you kids just sit around and laugh together. You don't have any idea what that feels like for me. There's nothing I look forward to more." Yes. I get it. I feel that way, too. I absolutely love when my adult children are together here. The author's mom seems to be an amazing person who did a great job raising her kids.

This Is Where It Ends

by Marieke Nijkamp
Hennepin County Library hardcover 282 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction

A depressing school shooting story. There were a lot of characters, but it wasn't hard to keep track of them. They were varied and interesting, male and female, and the relationships almost made me want to draw a web. This would be a great discussion book . . . so many people blame themselves - the shooter's former girlfriend, his sister, her girlfriend, etc. The adults in the story are poorly drawn, other than an outline of the shooter's dad who has his own tail-spin after his wife dies.

The shooting spree is horrifying. Tyler Browne locks the doors to the auditorium where everyone is gathered for the semester "talk" from the principal. He's on a killing rampage and doesn't care about consequences. The frightened students are another story, however.

page 165 - Sylvia approaches Steve and asks him to help Asha (who is catatonic after her younger sister was murdered) get out of the auditorium. "It's a trick I learned from dealing with Mama's illness. Whenever she zones out, the best thing to do is give her specific tasks . . . " And so she successfully helps both Steve and Asha to get out of the auditorium.

page 281 - At the end, when the survivors are lighting the paper lanterns, all I can think is "I know they're beautiful, but it's really dangerous to send burning paper into the sky!"

Overall, this is a well-written book. The perspectives, text messages, etc. all seem relevant. The thing that makes me sad is that we as a country are getting used to this. For the shock and horror after Columbine or Newtown, what really changes? Not gun laws. Not increased access to mental health professionals. It just seems that we talk talk talk and express outrage. Hatred and violence are not just going to go away. I'd be curious to hear teens' perceptions of this book. What stands out to them?

Secrets She Kept

by Cathy Gohlke

Hennepin County library, paperback 391 pages

Genre: Christian historical fiction

·         This was a different kind of WWII / Holocaust book! Protagonist Lieselotte’s father is a war criminal and her brother is a hard-line Nazi Youth, but Lieselotte works with friends to save Jewish people. The “modern” (1972) protagonist Hannah Sterling is coming unglued after her mother Lieselotte’s death. Why was she so cold and distant? What in her life made her so unloving toward Hannah and her dad? My overall reaction: gripping story, very realistic. I look forward to discussing it at book club tonight.

Page 3 – Hannah’s boss “Everybody needs time when they lose a parent.” / Hannah’s thought “How could I lose a parent I never had?" “We weren’t close.” How many times did I have to explain that? This resonated for me, but I won’t bring it up at book club. I don’t think the others understand my lack of emotional connection toward my dad. They all really like their dads! I truly feel more relief than sorrow over my dad’s death.

Page 84 – “I wanted the assurance that enveloped Frau Kirchmann, that radiated peach in her soul and through her eyes, her smile. But I knew that came from her relationship with Jesus, and I was still uncertain about giving my life to Him.” I want to be like Frau Kirchmann!!! Seriously, I love when people are so filled with Jesus' love that it overflows and people notice it. I want to glorify God in my life!





Page 105 – “ . . . I wanted to believe in God, the author of love and mercy. I bowed my head when the pastor prayed . . . even though I prayed then too, I believed nothing and no one. I trusted no one.” So very sad! How many people have the outward appearance of faith but not the peace in their souls?

 Page 279 – when Carl is helping Hannah returned some of the confiscated items to Jewish descendants – “I just don’t understand why she would still be afraid, or why you came so unglued.” “That is right, Hannah. You do not understand. And what you do not understand can be frightening, even dangerous for others. Let me think.” Americans and seeing things through our own lens . . . not understanding the depths of pain and fear (and subtexts) of Germans who lived through WWII.

Page 300 – Frau Kirchmann praying in the camp . . . her witness to Lieselotte and others. Love this.

Page 337 – When Lieselotte is confiding in Corrie tenBoom (cool inclusion in the story, btw) . . . she responds “Don’t hate, my child. That’s a prison worse than Ravensbruck.” So powerfully true!

Page 359 – Lieselotte thinks “If I could be the mother to my baby that Mutter Kirchmann was to me, life might come full circle.” At this point, I was thinking, “Why didn’t she? Why did her own daughter grow up thinking her mother didn’t love her and was incapable of love?” I’m not really satisfied with how the author “answered” this question in the last forty pages of the book.

Page 386 – When Hannah meets with Corrie tenBoom to try to resolve the mystery of her mother’s life, Corrie says “This is proof that Jesus does not expect us to forgive in our own strength – that the hurts in this world are not healed by us, not forgiven by us, but by His great love. Jesus said to love our enemies . . . and with that command He gives us the love to do it.” It's kind of out of context here, but forgiveness and the power of God's love shine through.

Hannah’s prayer and peace at the end are a good resolution. The apple struedel was a nice touch.

A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy

by Thomas Buergenthal
Hennepin County Library hardcover 225 pages
genre: Non-fiction memoir

I am so glad that Buergenthal wrote this book, and I am incredibly grateful to the neighbor who kept the suitcase of photographs that his parents gave them (even though they were worried about getting caught by the Nazis). This was a fairly unemotional account of his childhood experiences, which surprised me. How does one relate such harrowing times without a strong outpouring of emotion? I disagree with the publishers who said there was "no market" for Holocaust books. These personal narratives are powerful and soon the first-hand storytellers will be gone.

page 70 - when talking about the Jewish prisoners who worked with the Nazis to avoid even worse treatment, "Had they not ended up in the camps, they probably would have remained decent human beings. What is it in the human character that gives some individuals the moral strength not to sacrifice their decency and dignity, regardless of the costs to themselves, whereas others become murderously ruthless in the hope of ensuring their own survival?"

page 85 - many years later, he reflected on food and the difference between his children and his own childhood. "Years later, when my own children would have to be coaxed to drink their milk, I would think of that milk in the SS kitchen and be grateful that they never had to risk their lives to get it. At the same time, I would have to hide my anger that they did not appreciate what it meant to have milk in abundance. But how could they? For many of us who survived the camps, food took on an almost mystical quality."

page 95 - on civilians who were evil toward Jews and Nazi guards who were surprisingly sympathetic - ". . . I have never been able to reconcile these two events to my own satisfaction, other than to end up with the trite conclusion that generalizations about the Holocaust, about German guilt, or about what Germans knew or did not know do not help us understand the forces that produced one of the world's greatest tragedies. Nor do they help explain what it is in our nature that enables human beings to plan and commit the genocides and the many other mass murders to which mankind has been subjected during my lifetime."

page 107 - ". . . I was in yet another camp. That explains why I was not particularly excited about all this talk of our impending liberation. . . . I could never quite believe that there would actually come a time when the war would be over and I would be free and able to go to school."

page 171 - As an educator, this jumped out at me! He came to America as a 17-year-old in 1951, to live with his aunt and uncle and go to school. "Being used to the oppressive discipline that in those days still reigned in German schools, I found the atmosphere in my American school almost too free and undisciplined. What most impressed me, though, was the freedom that American teachers tolerated and encouraged when it came to the expression of student views on almost any subject under discussion." And this was in the 1950s! Wow.

Overall, an important first-person account of a Jewish childhood in Nazi Germany. The least compelling part (to me) was about his adult career as a lawyer for international human rights. The specific details (like his first experience with Coca-Cola and his connection to Odd Nansen) were my favorite parts.

250 Hours

by Colleen Nelson
PRMS discard paperback 152 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction

I had started reading this YAC (Young Adult Choices) novel during brief lunch breaks at school. I've decided not to add it to the collection.

Jess has been assigned community service for arson. Most of his fires are small - garbage can size - but one burns down a shed. He burns for the sense of control and he is always itching to start a new one. Jess' dad left years ago.

Sara Jean cares for her elderly grandmother, who is obese and diabetic. Her mother abandoned her when SJ was four.

This story had a lot of potential, but never seemed to go anywhere. Sara Jean is deciding between going to college and staying in town to marry Rich. Jess is torn between leaving the Indian reservation and staying near his kokum (grandma). Both young people struggle with missing parents. There was potential romance between the two. The book also dealt with the horrors of the schools the Indian children of a generation earlier had been forced to attend.

I'm donating the book.

Learning Outside the Lines: Two Ivy League Students with Learning Disabilities and ADHD Give You the Tools for Academic Success and Educational Revolution

by Jonathan Mooney and David Cole
Hennepin County Library paperback 277 pages
genre: non-fiction, education

This was kind of disappointing, since it mostly focused on providing tips for students with disabilities to succeed in college. I had hoped it would focus more on K-12.

I did like the emphasis on personalized learning! That fits with what we're doing in district 112.

Page 72 - ". . . the act of self-reflection can be an empowering experience. Looking at your past, present, and future is not only good for the soul, but it also can be good for the budding pragmatist inside all of us." This section on personal narrative included:
Have compassion - for yourself and others in your past. Understanding, not blame.
Look for the story - look for threads, patterns, events that stick out
Look for blood on the floor - what were the hurts in your past?
Look for the gains - What did you gain from your struggles? Your successes?
Look for lifesavers - Who are the people in your past who believed in you and loved you?
Ask big questions -
Find the joy - find it and hold on to it

page 97-98 Seven Habits for Highly Disorganized People (this made me laugh, but also realize how tough it is for people like this):
Habit 1 - Mark your territory (binders, book bag, etc.)
Habit 2 - Find it a home (routine / place for everything and everything in its place)
Habit 3 - Personalize It (set up a system that works for YOU)
Habit 4 - Make It Essential - put things in your notebook that make you NEED it
Habit 5 - Avoid Notebook Cross-Over (one subject per notebook, less confusion)
Habit 6 - Make Time to Declutter (on a regular basis!)
Habit 7 - Watch Out for Transitions (between classes, especially)

So . . . interesting problem. When I got to page 129, I realized that there was something funny. In this copy of this book, pages 129-160 are from a completely different title. They are pages from The Mind of God . . . and yet pages 128 and 161 are from this text. Too bad this book is on hold for someone; I'm pretty sure the library will yank this out of circulation as soon as I show them the printing error.

page 188-9 Top Ten Ways to Make Spell Checking More Effective. Interesting section! Some of these are helpful for my students. (Though the last comment is "screw spelling.")

page 210 - "Our Favorite Study Tip - According to Jacobs and McNeely (1992), information learned at the point of orgasm during sexual intercourse has a 98 percent likelihood of being retained for later use. We don't make this stuff up. We just report it." This is one of those places where the book is clearly written for a young adult audience! It does make me curious about how such a study was conducted . . . and what kind of new information people are learning during intercourse.

page 247 - "School develops and values less than 10 percent of what it means to be human and to live a full life. Learning outside the lines and living a life less ordinary is about moving beyond blackboards and academic success to creating experiences that embrace and nurture the parts of our selves that are left unrealized by traditional education." I really did appreciate their perspective on schooling. I'm glad that the traditional ways are changing! (At least at my school.)

I loved the end section on the Eye to Eye program where college students with disabilities and/or ADHD went into elementary schools and worked with kids like them. Very, very cool!

The Secret Life of Bees

by Sue Monk Kidd
PRMS paperback 302 pages

I read this a long time ago (I'll unearth my review, if I can find it. It's pre-blogger.) Then I had some book club kids read it and we watched the movie after school in March(?). It was interesting to guide their discussion when I only had vague memories of the story, so I had to do a re-read. I only finished it this past week!

page 9 - the Women's Club bars Lily from Charm School because she has no mother or grandmother to present her! Imagine - a child who needs female guidance and instruction more than any other is refused that guidance. In essence, she's punished for being motherless. So sad!

page 12 - This made me chuckle. As Lily is pondering what her life would be like if Rosaleen could adopt her (if Rosaleen were white or Lily were black), she thought, "Once in a while I had us living in a foreign country like New York, where she could adopt me and we could both stay our natural color." (The idea of New York being a foreign country made me laugh, not the dilemmas of a motherless child pondering how to get past racism's barriers.)

page 147 - When Lily and August are talking about the house's ugly "Pepto Bismal" pink and making May happy. "You know, some things don't matter that much, Lily. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting a person's heart - now, that matters." Later, August says, "I love May, but it was still so hard to choose Caribbean Pink. The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters." So true! Sometimes I'm appalled at my selfishness and how hard it is to choose lifting others up over my own wishes.

page 148 - The secret life of bees. The beekeeping and honey are beautifully woven throughout the story. August teaches Lily about bees and about life.

page 188 - When May goes out to the wall alone. I don't know if this bothered me as much the first time I read it as it did now when I knew what would happen . . .


page 201 - At the funeral, Lily is torn between her desire to spill everything she has been thinking about with August. "When I peered up at her, though, she was brushing tears off her face, looking for a handkerchief in her pocket, and I knew it would be selfish to pour this into her cup when it was already to the brim with grief for May." Such sensitivity for a fourteen-year-old! Recognizing another's pain and not wanting to add to it is a definite sign of maturity.

page 209 - I love how Lily is accepted by the Daughters of Mary and she is able to laugh about the white people's mortuary with its drive-through window! "I thought of that policeman, Eddie Hazelwurst, saying I'd lowered myself to be in this house of colored women, and for the very life of me I couldn't understand how it had turned out this way, how colored women had become the lowest ones on the totem pole. You only had to look at them to see how special they were, like hidden royalty among us." I remember from my first reading of this book how much I loved the Boatwright sisters and their friends in the Daughters of Mary.

page 236 - When August and Lily finally have their big talk . . . "Because you weren't ready to know about her. I didn't want to risk you running away again. I wanted you to have a chance to get yourself on solid ground, get your heart bolstered up first. There's a fullness of time for things, Lily. You have to know when to prod and when to be quiet, when to let things take their course. That's what I've been trying to do." I love her wisdom. I sometimes wonder if I'll ever get there myself.

page 242 - When Lily comes to the conclusion that she is unlovable, it is so heart-breaking. Sadly, I can think of students who behave as though they are unlovable. I am so glad she has August to encourage her.

When she confronts T. Ray and asks who actually shot her mom when Lily was four years old, he answers that she did it accidentally. But then Lily thinks that T. Ray lies a lot. I think that was one of the things that frustrated me the first time I read this book. What actually happened? Did Lily accidentally shoot her mom? Or did T. Ray murder her in his anger and blame the "accident:"on a preschooler who couldn't really remember what happened? I like resolution!

I can't find my response from when I first read this book, but now this one is recorded here!

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

by Jesse Andrews
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 discs
read by Thomas Mann and RJ Cyler, with five others
genre: YA realistic


I really disliked this. I listened to the whole thing because I kept waiting for it to get better. It didn't. In the guise of writing a college admissions letter, Greg Gaines writes about his life and especially his senior year of high school. He uses a lot of self-deprecating humor, only he really is an incredible jerk.

The language is extremely crude - plenty of F-bombs and extensive use of the Lord's name in vain. The narrator (Greg) is unlikable (as he points out himself) and his friend Earl is definitely a more developed human being (which Greg also points out). It's hard to empathize with someone who is as self-centered and shallow as Greg. I did like Earl as a character, even though he is also quite crude.

One review I saw called it the "poor man's Fault in Our Stars," but the only real comparison is that they're teenagers and one has cancer. That's not enough to make them similar stories. We only get to know Rachel through Greg's eyes and he's mostly focused on himself. The boys' film-making was interesting, but not enough to redeem this story. And it seems a bit too much that they destroyed eight years' worth of movies - the originals upon creation and the DVDs when Rachel died.