Pennyroyal Academy

by M.A. Larson
T. Helgerson's personal signed copy, hardcover 312 pages
genre: YA fantasy

I read this so I can share with a friend how to best recommend it to her sixth graders. Quite frankly, it's not an especially well-written book. (I have found that screenwriters are not necessarily good novelists . . . ) It was entertaining enough, but it may languish on the shelf. I also question whether there will be a book two, though the storytelling in this volume sets it up easily.

An unnamed girl is wandering through a haunted woods. Who she really is becomes the main source of conflict as she is "rescued" by a knight in training (Remington) and heads to Pennyroyal Academy to try to train as a princess. Princesses are expected to have courage, compassion, kindness, and discipline so that they can defeat the evil witches. Not much of the book is about what the knights in training are supposed to embody or learn. Princesses defeat witches and knights fight dragons.

The book had enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. It's a pretty quick read. I'll have fun sharing ideas with my colleague.

One thing I want to note here:
I love words! I have a fairly large vocabulary (but still can get kicked in the can at Scrabble and Words with Friends). This book, which is pretty much geared to sixth graders, had words I'd never seen before! It wasn't a problem, since the context clues were enough for me to know what the words meant without having to look them up. Still, it was a surprising choice and I'm not sure what the author's intent was . . .

I finally made a note for it on page 245 when he used the word "jennet" and even though I could tell it was a horse (or another creature that has hooves that one rides) I wondered why he picked that word. Now that I'm blogging about it, I have to actually find the definition. According to Dictionary.com, a jennet is "noun 1 a female donkey 2 a small Spanish horse."And on page 247, "berfrois" was obviously a building or structure that is part of the castle. But it is such a weird experience for me to come across words I've never heard of . . . and in a children's book, it almost never happens!

Besides the new vocab (kind of fun, actually), I don't think this guys hangs out with twelve-year-olds very much. When they're putting out a fire, they use "water butts." I am familiar with the term and understand its use in the context. But how many kids will read that and either have a giggle fit or just go "What?!?!" Anyhow, if he does write a book two, I can safely skip it.

Becoming Mrs. Lewis

by Patti Callahan
Dakota County Library hardcover 392 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction

This book tells a fictionalized version of Joy Davidman, the woman who married C.S. Lewis. I had never heard of her before and found this book to be fascinating and somewhat challenging. We'll discuss it at book club tomorrow night, but I heard snippets of people's reactions this morning, so I'm glad I've read the book and am blogging it before we talk!

I (wrongly) assumed that the pieces of letters written between the two were from actual letters. In the author's note at the end, I found that their letters to one another were destroyed. I believe the author did plenty of research and captured the tone of each writer, but some of the things I noted might credit her more than either Lewis (whose writing I love) or Davidman.

Page 28 - in a letter from Lewis - "Along with Dante, Plato, and moorings in Classical Greek thought and of course many others. How can we know what has filtered into our work? This is precisely why we must be careful of what we read." It's interesting to think about our ideas and where they come from . . . but it's also important that we are cognizant of what we are feeding our minds.

Page 69 - Joy talking with her friend Phyllis - "What's fascinating is the way I see the world now. It's as if in believing in God I was given new eyes - the world is full of possibility and fascination. It's no longer just nature, or just beauty - it's revelation." I love the idea of seeing with new eyes. God changes us in so many ways!

Page 87 - Yes! She answered the question I'd been asking . . . "Why are you called Jack when your name is Clive?" C.S. stands for Clive Staples, but he was called Jack in this book. Apparently, he'd had a dog named Jacksie when he was a boy. He was devastated when the dog was hit and killed by a car. "I announced my name was Jack and vowed never to drive a car." Again, I'm assuming the author did her research diligently and included info like this accurately.

Page 94 - Ugh! I can relate to this bad habit . . . "We were in great trouble if we didn't finish our meals on time or finish at all. It led to this terrible habit of gobbling, which I've tried to no avail to break." Jack isn't the only one who eats too fast! I really need to work on slowing down.

Page 105 - Joy admits, "I stayed out of trouble mainly because my most pleasurable activity was reading, and you can't get in much hot water doing that." I love reading, too! Perhaps that habit kept me out of trouble as well.

Page 124 - This is a part that will be good to discuss. Jack says to Joy, "My false face. It can get in the way. I don't see God as magic; you know that. I wanted my conversion to escort some change into my life, but sadly I think I'm essentially the same. Only with God. My masks remain. Anger still bursts out before I can stop it. I built my masks readily and with such skill that I believe they lock into place when I'm unaware and nervous. It can be blisteringly difficult to show one's real face." Authenticity . . . being a new creation in Christ . . . struggling with one's old sins and weaknesses . . .

Page 177 - I love the part where Lewis talks about coming up with the idea for The Screwtape Letters! (Perhaps because I love the book itself . . . ) This is yet another place where I have hope and trust that the author did research to learn about this and isn't just making it up herself. "While the preacher spoke of temptation, my mind wandered. How would a head devil instruct his underlings on such things? Would he do it in the same but opposite manner as this preacher?"

Page 184 - Yay for moms who support their children's creativity! "No matter how long we were cooped up in the little end room of that attic, we had our paper, pencils, and paint boxes." This is from Lewis' brother Warnie. Delightful memories for old men who were boys during a difficult time.

Page 191 - Lewis talking to Joy - "If you're looking for a religion to make you happy, it wouldn't be Christianity. . . . Christianity is rightfully not here to make us comfortable or happy." This is another good section for discussion.

Page 208 - Joy connecting with her friend Belle - "When I'd first met her in college, her beauty had caused me to withdraw. Comparison was the devil of self-esteem." So true! It's discouraging to compare oneself to others who are more beautiful, talented, smarter, etc. . . . because there will always be others who are "better." I like the way the author words this.

Page 212 - Also during her time with Belle, who says she's "working on a novel about an English teacher in New York City. I've titled it Up the Down Staircase." There were SO many literary allusions in this book! This one just caught me by surprise; I know this book and have read it! Davidman sure hung out with a lot of writers. How have I never heard of her before?

Page 241 - When Joy is visiting with her friend Michal, she makes a comment about being a Christian. Michal responds, "Being a Christian isn't what most think it is - all rules and regulations. . . . It is all trust and surrender and transformation, at its best." It can be hard for unbelievers to understand the distinction, though.

Page 263 - I was a bit surprised when Joy chose to get lusty with Harry (especially as a friends with benefits, no commitment . . .) "This was a sin. I wasn't a fool; I knew the commandments of my religion. I wrote about them. Still I fell. And repented. And fell again. Maybe I always would, but somehow grace felt big enough, sturdy enough as I stood again, resolute to do better." This was disappointing, but says a lot about her.

Page 294 - "Discernment fell down on me with great weight: You must know when it's enough. I would not ask him about Ruth Pitter or his feelings for her or for anyone else. I must know when it is enough. And I must trust God - again and again I was learning and relearning to trust the Truth who had entered my sons' nursery. The rusty and decrepit habit of trusting in only myself, only abiding in my own ability to make things happen, died hard and slow." This paragraph has a lot of wisdom in it, and I sometimes have to remind myself to trust God.

Page 324 - "From that moment on, the love affair I would develop would be with my soul. He was already part of me; that much was clear. And now this would be where I would go for love - the the God in me. No more begging or pursuing or needing." I don't especially love the way she worded this, but I love the idea of looking to God almighty for the love and acceptance we need instead of looking to another human being.

I look forward to book club tomorrow, but may be the only one there who enjoyed the book! It was more scholarly than most of our recent books, but I'm okay with that!

Hidden Among the Stars

by Melanie Dobson
Dakota County Library hardcover 391 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction

This was our October book club title, but I didn't get it in time to read it before the discussion. It is pretty new and I spent a month on four different counties' waiting lists! Ah well, it's a very good book and I enjoyed reading it despite the fact that I had already heard the conversation about it.

I made a cheat sheet for the characters (based on other readers' recommendations), but I didn't think it was too confusing . . . Part of the book is set in 1930s Austria and part in modern day Mount Vernon, Ohio. The main characters in pre-WWII Austria are Max (wealthy German boy) and his parents, Annika and her dad (caretaker for their castle), Luzi (beautiful violinist, Jewish) and her family (mom, Dr. Weiss, Marta), Hermann (helper to Annika's drunken dad), Ernst (nasty piece of work . . . Hitler admirer), and various others . . . I guess that is kind of a lot! In the modern part of the story, Calisandra Randall (Callie) and her sister Brianna (Brie) run the book store given to them by Charlotte Trent. Callie was dumped the day before her wedding to Scott a few years earlier, and she's still in "hiding" from the emotional pain. She's happy for her younger sister's happy marriage to Ethan and she dotes on their twin sons Owen and Oscar. There are various shop customers who come to hear "Story Girl" (aka Callie) on Saturdays.

Without having any spoilers here, "StoryGirl" stumbles on a mystery when she sees handwriting between the lines of text in an old edition of Bambi. (Wow! Never realized that the book Disney turned into the movie was originally written by a Jewish man as a kind of allegory of Nazi Germany! Must find and read a copy.)

Page 81 - "My sister and Charlotte are the only adults who don't wear me out after an hour. And they are the only ones who understand that I still adore them, even when I need my space. Family, I guess, is supposed to be like that." I love the idea that family just knows and loves us, even with all our idiosyncrasies. It's so good to have people like that in your life!

Page 84 is where she explains to some visitors to the book store her philosophy of books for kids - "Books are a lot like food . . . First is the healthy stuff that most parents want their kids to read. Some of it tastes great, others perhaps not so much, but it's good for the body and mind. . . . Next there's brain candy, the sugary sweet stuff that tastes good going down, but turns into a bellyache if you binge. . . . And then there's the poison. . . . Kids need to eat real food for their bodies to grow, not the pieces of poison left out for, say, rodents." She goes on from there. People in book club really liked this analogy, but I'm not sure I agree. Different readers like different genres. And their are Christian authors who write horror stories (Peretti) and fantasy (C.S. Lewis). It's an interesting idea to discuss, that's for sure!

Page 126 - "I should be thrilled to see everyone. I suspect I'll be feeling guilty a lot tonight." Ugh. This resonated with me because I do a LOT of "shoulds" and feeling guilty . . . it's not a pleasant way to live.

Page 160 - on a section break, the author has a page with a quotation. This one is from the Talmud - "Anyone who saves a life is as if he saved an entire world." - Mishnah Sanhedrin, The Talmud. I'm curious why the author chose this. I wish we could have discussed it, but that's what happens when you don't read the book before book club!

Page 225 - "The evil that raged during that time . . . it still rages all over the world today. How can people be so cruel to others? This is one thing I don't want to ever understand." I worry sometimes that we're in danger of forgetting how awful Hitler's Germany was. I hope and pray that we do not return to a place of turning a blind eye to evil.

Page 269 - I should include the entire page here! (I added it later, below.) As Josh and Callie are talking about God, suffering, compassion, etc. there is so much wisdom and truth. "This purity, I think, often stings deep inside, but what freedom to know that God never forces anyone to love or serve Him. Even if it breaks His heart, He allows people to walk away."

Page 354 - "Whe'd prayed for his entire life that the only evil he and his siblings would ever have to fight was that which tried to infiltrate from the inside. And she'd prayed that each of them would fight with all their might." Praying moms make a difference!

Page 362 - "I think we can cling to the goodness we see in the world. To the beauty in these lakes and the laughter of those kids who come every Saturday to hear your stories." Yes! Cling to goodness! It's so important in the dark world to focus on the light!

King's Cage: All Will Burn

by Victoria Aveyard
(Red Queen #3 . . . out of 4)
Scott County Library audiobook 14 discs
read by Amanda Dolan, Adenrele Ojo, and Erin Spencer
genre: YA dystopian fiction

This was torturous! And when I got to the end and realized there's another book after this . . . I went online to read about it so I wouldn't have to actually go through the agony of reading it.

Clearly, Aveyard's writing resonates with enough people to make this series very popular. But some of the reviews I read online had the same reaction I did: too long, too much of Mare being Mare, disappointing (especially for those of us who loved the first book!).

My quick notes in the car: self-recriminations, self-talk, doubt, angst . . . ugh! Get over yourself!
Each time Mare drones on about how she "broke" Gisa's hand (um, pretty sure Gisa chose to try to steal, got caught, and the silver guards hurt her . . . exactly how was this Mare's fault?), I want to scream.

Then the whole part with Maven and love . . . really?!?! When did she ever seriously feel love toward him? The murder / hate dichotomy with love / a kiss . . . just messed up.

To have some sections narrated by Cameron, then Evangeline (aka "Eve") . . . interesting choice.

"Convoluted, angsty, gross, ugly, drawn-out . . . on and on and on . . . ugh."

Suffice it say, I will NOT waste my time with book four. Thank heavens for the online reviews! I only wish I'd read them for this book and saved myself the time. It's interesting that at least one reviewer thought that the books were each getting better and better . . . but at least one person shared my opinion that the first was best and they are getting longer and poorer in quality with each one. (#4 is over 600 pages!) Longer is NOT better!

Thomas Paine Writes Common Sense

by Gary Jeffrey, illustrated by Nick Spender
Graphic Heroes of the American Revolution
Blue Earth County Library hardcover 22 pages
genre: non-fiction history

What a disappointment! This book was 16 pages of comic book style storytelling and four pages of non-fiction kid-oriented textbook. Neither parts were that informational or inspiring. There's so much potential with a series like "Graphic Heroes of the American Revolution," but I think the publishers missed the mark. Too bad.

I was surprised that on my shelves of books, I don't have Paine's Common Sense. I got a collection of his writings along with this little gem to brush up on my history lessons. The volume I got is dense to say the least . . . and I confess I skim-read.

I love that his writing impacted so many people! Words have power.
I learned that the famous line "These are the times that try men's souls . . . " is from his work The American Crisis (volume 1) and not from Common Sense.
I find it interesting that the huge volume with many of his writings did not include The Age of Reason (which the graphic book had cited as an attack on organized religion).

I am curious to read more, but not at this point in time. I do lament the fact that my K-12 education mostly served to make me dislike social studies . . . history, geography, economics, . . . and playing catch-up as an adult is not very delightful. (Don't know what grade or class, but I do remember doing a project on South America and the different countries. That was a cool learning experience!)