by Jarrett Krosoczka
Hennepin County Library paperback unpaged
genre: Children's graphic novel fiction
I don't remember where I first heard about this author, but I love the video of him sharing his books and honoring his childhood lunch lady. The lunch ladies are crime-fighting superheroes at an elementary school. I am tempted to buy it because it's just plain fun (and some of my less-skilled readers would probably find it at their level). It's a delightful little tale.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
I Didn't Do My Homework Because . . .
by Davide Cali with artwork by Benjamin Chaud
Hennepin County Library hardcover unpaged
genre: Picture book
What a cute, clever book about a boy who comes up with wild excuses for why he can't hand in his homework. "My brother and I were kidnapped by a circus." The illustrations are detailed and fun to examine.
Hennepin County Library hardcover unpaged
genre: Picture book
What a cute, clever book about a boy who comes up with wild excuses for why he can't hand in his homework. "My brother and I were kidnapped by a circus." The illustrations are detailed and fun to examine.
Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College
by Doug Lemov
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 CDs + 1 DVD
genre: non-fiction, teaching profession
I didn't finish this book . . . but I found it quite interesting. Lemov did quite a bit of research in classrooms across the country. He took the examples of teachers who dramatically improved their students' learning experience and distilled common factors. Things like "No Opt Out" give teachers tools for getting students who say "I don't know" a safe way to participate and learn. I watched a part of the DVD and appreciated seeing examples. I simply don't have time to read everything I have from the library right now. I may return to this one . . . however, most of the example so far (first fifth of the book) apply to whole-classroom instruction. This is something we are getting away from at my school. I am going to focus on other books right now.
Added 8/14/15 (original post was 7/29/15):
Found a note with a quote that came from this book . . . "Reluctant students quickly come to recognize that 'I don't know' is the Rosetta Stone of work avoidance." The section that I listened to with the advice on how to make certain that students participate in a positive way has really stuck with me. I may need to get this book back and spend time with it. Just this little piece - not letting kids off the hook if they respond, "I don't know" is huge.
Comments below added 10/6/15
I found a scrap of paper. "Demography is not destiny" - this is interesting in that so many researchers say that where and to whom kids belong (nature vs nurture) determines a lot of what their future lives will be like.
Also, I made a note that the author highlighted an exemplary professional. The example was of Julie, an administrator who left her home at 5:50 a.m. (so she could ride a bus with her students) and returned home at 8:00 p.m. Wow. She may be an excellent educator, but she's a crappy mom. How can a parent justify being away from family for more than 14 hours a day on a regular basis? That's horrible!
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 CDs + 1 DVD
genre: non-fiction, teaching profession
I didn't finish this book . . . but I found it quite interesting. Lemov did quite a bit of research in classrooms across the country. He took the examples of teachers who dramatically improved their students' learning experience and distilled common factors. Things like "No Opt Out" give teachers tools for getting students who say "I don't know" a safe way to participate and learn. I watched a part of the DVD and appreciated seeing examples. I simply don't have time to read everything I have from the library right now. I may return to this one . . . however, most of the example so far (first fifth of the book) apply to whole-classroom instruction. This is something we are getting away from at my school. I am going to focus on other books right now.
Added 8/14/15 (original post was 7/29/15):
Found a note with a quote that came from this book . . . "Reluctant students quickly come to recognize that 'I don't know' is the Rosetta Stone of work avoidance." The section that I listened to with the advice on how to make certain that students participate in a positive way has really stuck with me. I may need to get this book back and spend time with it. Just this little piece - not letting kids off the hook if they respond, "I don't know" is huge.
Comments below added 10/6/15
I found a scrap of paper. "Demography is not destiny" - this is interesting in that so many researchers say that where and to whom kids belong (nature vs nurture) determines a lot of what their future lives will be like.
Also, I made a note that the author highlighted an exemplary professional. The example was of Julie, an administrator who left her home at 5:50 a.m. (so she could ride a bus with her students) and returned home at 8:00 p.m. Wow. She may be an excellent educator, but she's a crappy mom. How can a parent justify being away from family for more than 14 hours a day on a regular basis? That's horrible!
Monday, July 27, 2015
Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific
by Mary Cronk Farrell
Foreward by First Lieutenant Diane Carlson Evans
Hennepin County Library hardcover 133 pages plus glossary, timeline, etc.
genre: YA non-fiction, history
This wasn't as gripping as I expected. Perhaps because I've read enough accounts of WWII experiences so that I'm a bit jaded? The writing was very appropriate for middle-school. The photographs and documents included in the book were superb. I especially liked the first-person accounts that were included, though I got quite confused at which nurse was which.
The most enlightening part was chapter 19 "Forgotten." On page 119, "After four grim years of war, Americans wanted heroines to raise their spirits. But no framework existed in the 1940s for people to understand women who had acted with enduring courage and strength on the battlefield and as prisoners of war - women who had acted like men." The expectation that these women would just settle down and "return" to some kind of normal life after what they had been through . . . mind-boggling. Many of their children didn't know about their war service until decades later.
Foreward by First Lieutenant Diane Carlson Evans
Hennepin County Library hardcover 133 pages plus glossary, timeline, etc.
genre: YA non-fiction, history
This wasn't as gripping as I expected. Perhaps because I've read enough accounts of WWII experiences so that I'm a bit jaded? The writing was very appropriate for middle-school. The photographs and documents included in the book were superb. I especially liked the first-person accounts that were included, though I got quite confused at which nurse was which.
The most enlightening part was chapter 19 "Forgotten." On page 119, "After four grim years of war, Americans wanted heroines to raise their spirits. But no framework existed in the 1940s for people to understand women who had acted with enduring courage and strength on the battlefield and as prisoners of war - women who had acted like men." The expectation that these women would just settle down and "return" to some kind of normal life after what they had been through . . . mind-boggling. Many of their children didn't know about their war service until decades later.
Water from My Heart
by Charles Martin
Carver County Library hardcover 363 pages
genre: Christian fiction, adventure, romance
*Spoiler alert - some of the excerpts toward the end give away plot points.*
I didn't love the first half of this book. Charlie Finn is a drug runner who keeps people at arm's length. The chapters alternating between his past and his present just serve to make him less likable in his old work (playing poker while at Harvard and high finance with Marshall) as well as the evils of being a drug runner in the Miami area.
But halfway through the book, he gets violently ill (from fresh salsa) in Nicaragua. He meets Pauline and her daughter Isabella. And the story gets better and better from there until the end. So worth the read! I wish the author had focused (and/or the editor deleted liberally) the negative and repetitive first half.
page 144 - When he asks Pauline how she can stand to help people when they have so little going for them. "When I first traveled to the States to study, I was struck by how everyone I encountered spent their days working feverishly to make enough money to buy a better tomorrow. Here, people are content - they buy what they need today and leave tomorrow to God." So true! Our culture seems to be busy busy busy going somewhere and it's all about having money and control. But none of us can control our futures.
page 186 - This was just a giggle to me. Charles Martin doesn't come across as a strong Christian author. But this sentence caught my attention. "What I didn't realize at the time was that my half-fast proposal . . . " At first I thought it was a typo, then I realized he didn't want to use the vernacular. I had to read "half-fast" a few times before I realized it was a deliberate choice to avoid swearing!
page 216 - The first encounter with the title - "Aqua de mi corazon" - "Water from my heart" I loved the story of her father and digging the well.
page 242 - Charlie describing the emotional release that can come from crying. "The proof lies in the source. They did not fall from my head. They poured up and out of my heart."
page 270 - "I might not be in league with other evil men, but over my life, I'd looked away, gone on my merry way, done nothing to prevent or hinder - or rescue. While not an active instigator, I'd been passive. An accomplice even. That passivity had only served to multiply. Maybe that was the toughest thought to swallow. The effect of my life had been to multiply evil, not fight it. Not eradicate it." When we talk about our legacy at church, I think about what I want to achieve. What really matters. I couldn't live with myself if I felt that the effect of my life had been to multiply evil.
page 296 - This is when he talks to the bones of Alejandro Santiago Martinez and his wife, down in the well. He had already given her mother's locket to Pauline. Moving, touching. I like this scene. It's like a confessional.
page 306 - When the water is rising and he is stuck. "The sin of my life had been and remained indifference, and in that instant, I was indifferent to my own death."
page 311 - When Zaul asked Charlie to teach him how to do wood working. "For growing up with such privilege, there was a lot Zaul had not done. Evidence that money did not buy experience." I think this is so true of a lot of privileged kids! Some of my students have so little experience with chores, yard work, or other life experiences that middle class and poorer kids have to do!
page 314 - "I realized that Leena shined a light everywhere she went. She was a walking headlight. A coming train. A rising sun. Unafraid, she walked into the darkness, and when she did, the darkness rolled back as a scroll." I want to be a woman who shines light into the darkness! I love this imagery.
page 315 - I can so relate to this! Charlie is agonizing over his role in the closure of the Cinco Padres Coffee . . . and "Get it off my chest and dump it on hers under the guise of being truthful when in reality I just wanted to make myself feel better?" Sometimes, it's hard to know what your motives are in telling someone the truth. If it will hurt them, you have to weigh carefully what to say and how to say it. "Like gasoline in a Styrofoam cup, it was eating me from the inside out."
page 322-3 - Wow. Almost to the end of the book and we learn about a momentous, life-changing day in Charlie's life when he was seven or eight years old. That would have helped to make his character and personality traits a bit more logical for readers like me. I don't usually like a book if I don't like the protagonist. This one took me a while to warm up to!
page 344 - Makes me think of Sunday's sermon on hope. "I'd been letting the pain of my past dictate the hope and promise of my future. . . . If she was right and hope was the currency of love, then I'd been broke a long time."
page 359 - author's notes at the end were really interesting! I'm glad Marin included them. "Indifference is the curse of this age. We need to hear that. Indifference is evil, and it could not be further from the heart of God."
page 361 - LOVED this part about the real-life man named Moises and the faith he lives. I love the report of signs and wonders in his community in Nicaragua. "With a budget of zero, Moises has planted seven or eight churches and invests his time, encouragement, and leadership in some thirty more. He gives when he has nothing - which is all the time."
Yep. This was a really wonderful book!
Carver County Library hardcover 363 pages
genre: Christian fiction, adventure, romance
*Spoiler alert - some of the excerpts toward the end give away plot points.*
I didn't love the first half of this book. Charlie Finn is a drug runner who keeps people at arm's length. The chapters alternating between his past and his present just serve to make him less likable in his old work (playing poker while at Harvard and high finance with Marshall) as well as the evils of being a drug runner in the Miami area.
But halfway through the book, he gets violently ill (from fresh salsa) in Nicaragua. He meets Pauline and her daughter Isabella. And the story gets better and better from there until the end. So worth the read! I wish the author had focused (and/or the editor deleted liberally) the negative and repetitive first half.
page 144 - When he asks Pauline how she can stand to help people when they have so little going for them. "When I first traveled to the States to study, I was struck by how everyone I encountered spent their days working feverishly to make enough money to buy a better tomorrow. Here, people are content - they buy what they need today and leave tomorrow to God." So true! Our culture seems to be busy busy busy going somewhere and it's all about having money and control. But none of us can control our futures.
page 186 - This was just a giggle to me. Charles Martin doesn't come across as a strong Christian author. But this sentence caught my attention. "What I didn't realize at the time was that my half-fast proposal . . . " At first I thought it was a typo, then I realized he didn't want to use the vernacular. I had to read "half-fast" a few times before I realized it was a deliberate choice to avoid swearing!
page 216 - The first encounter with the title - "Aqua de mi corazon" - "Water from my heart" I loved the story of her father and digging the well.
page 242 - Charlie describing the emotional release that can come from crying. "The proof lies in the source. They did not fall from my head. They poured up and out of my heart."
page 270 - "I might not be in league with other evil men, but over my life, I'd looked away, gone on my merry way, done nothing to prevent or hinder - or rescue. While not an active instigator, I'd been passive. An accomplice even. That passivity had only served to multiply. Maybe that was the toughest thought to swallow. The effect of my life had been to multiply evil, not fight it. Not eradicate it." When we talk about our legacy at church, I think about what I want to achieve. What really matters. I couldn't live with myself if I felt that the effect of my life had been to multiply evil.
page 296 - This is when he talks to the bones of Alejandro Santiago Martinez and his wife, down in the well. He had already given her mother's locket to Pauline. Moving, touching. I like this scene. It's like a confessional.
page 306 - When the water is rising and he is stuck. "The sin of my life had been and remained indifference, and in that instant, I was indifferent to my own death."
page 311 - When Zaul asked Charlie to teach him how to do wood working. "For growing up with such privilege, there was a lot Zaul had not done. Evidence that money did not buy experience." I think this is so true of a lot of privileged kids! Some of my students have so little experience with chores, yard work, or other life experiences that middle class and poorer kids have to do!
page 314 - "I realized that Leena shined a light everywhere she went. She was a walking headlight. A coming train. A rising sun. Unafraid, she walked into the darkness, and when she did, the darkness rolled back as a scroll." I want to be a woman who shines light into the darkness! I love this imagery.
page 315 - I can so relate to this! Charlie is agonizing over his role in the closure of the Cinco Padres Coffee . . . and "Get it off my chest and dump it on hers under the guise of being truthful when in reality I just wanted to make myself feel better?" Sometimes, it's hard to know what your motives are in telling someone the truth. If it will hurt them, you have to weigh carefully what to say and how to say it. "Like gasoline in a Styrofoam cup, it was eating me from the inside out."
page 322-3 - Wow. Almost to the end of the book and we learn about a momentous, life-changing day in Charlie's life when he was seven or eight years old. That would have helped to make his character and personality traits a bit more logical for readers like me. I don't usually like a book if I don't like the protagonist. This one took me a while to warm up to!
page 344 - Makes me think of Sunday's sermon on hope. "I'd been letting the pain of my past dictate the hope and promise of my future. . . . If she was right and hope was the currency of love, then I'd been broke a long time."
page 359 - author's notes at the end were really interesting! I'm glad Marin included them. "Indifference is the curse of this age. We need to hear that. Indifference is evil, and it could not be further from the heart of God."
page 361 - LOVED this part about the real-life man named Moises and the faith he lives. I love the report of signs and wonders in his community in Nicaragua. "With a budget of zero, Moises has planted seven or eight churches and invests his time, encouragement, and leadership in some thirty more. He gives when he has nothing - which is all the time."
Yep. This was a really wonderful book!
Friday, July 24, 2015
"Virals
by Kathy Reichs
Hennepin County Library audiobook 8 discs
read by Cristin Milioti
genre: YA murder mystery
I started to read this in eBook format, but didn't get far. Then I got the audiobook and kept renewing it. Finally, I was in "just get it done" mode. A lot of my middle schoolers (and a few adults) have raved about this series. I'm not sure if it's the story itself or the reader's voice, but I didn't love it. Considering how much I love the TV show Bones, I thought I would love stories by Reichs. This just didn't work well for me.
Tory (Victoria) Brennan is the fictional Temperance Brennan's niece. Mom died and Tori went to live with her father Kit (Christopher), who didn't even know that he had a child! Tori is 14, intelligent, and missing her mom. A science nerd, she befriends Hiram, Ben, and Shelton, who are also science geeks. Most of their parents work in animal research on nearby Loggerhead Island, where Professor Karsten is in charge. They live on Morris Island but go to school in Charleston.
The "young-ness" of the story was part of what bothered me, though it's very middle-school appropriate. Whitney and the cotillion were ridiculous. Just say no, Tory. The wolves, research, many break-ins, skeleton, clues, bad guys . . . there was enough action to keep the story moving. Just not sure I feel like reading book two.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 8 discs
read by Cristin Milioti
genre: YA murder mystery
I started to read this in eBook format, but didn't get far. Then I got the audiobook and kept renewing it. Finally, I was in "just get it done" mode. A lot of my middle schoolers (and a few adults) have raved about this series. I'm not sure if it's the story itself or the reader's voice, but I didn't love it. Considering how much I love the TV show Bones, I thought I would love stories by Reichs. This just didn't work well for me.
Tory (Victoria) Brennan is the fictional Temperance Brennan's niece. Mom died and Tori went to live with her father Kit (Christopher), who didn't even know that he had a child! Tori is 14, intelligent, and missing her mom. A science nerd, she befriends Hiram, Ben, and Shelton, who are also science geeks. Most of their parents work in animal research on nearby Loggerhead Island, where Professor Karsten is in charge. They live on Morris Island but go to school in Charleston.
The "young-ness" of the story was part of what bothered me, though it's very middle-school appropriate. Whitney and the cotillion were ridiculous. Just say no, Tory. The wolves, research, many break-ins, skeleton, clues, bad guys . . . there was enough action to keep the story moving. Just not sure I feel like reading book two.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Everybody Sleeps (But Not Fred)
by Josh Schneider
Hennepin County Library
genre: picture book
This one is fun! The artwork is great - there are fun details in each picture (I think the chicken coop is my favorite). Although this is ideal for a parent to read to a child at bedtime, I can see uses for it in a classroom. I don't love the rhyming text, but it works for this story.
Hennepin County Library
genre: picture book
This one is fun! The artwork is great - there are fun details in each picture (I think the chicken coop is my favorite). Although this is ideal for a parent to read to a child at bedtime, I can see uses for it in a classroom. I don't love the rhyming text, but it works for this story.
In Real Life
by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang
Hennepin County Library paperback 175 pages
genre: YA graphic novel, gaming
This is a definite "buy" for my collection. Most kids will skip the intro (which talks about economics and the power of the internet for organizing) but totally "get" the story. Anda is a girl gamer who hasn't connected with many friends in her new community. When she gets started playing Coarsegold (an online MMRPG), her world starts to open up. Her online persona begins to change her IRL identity. Parental clashes, a realization of other people's lifestyles, and moral dilemmas confront her. Great story, wonderful art!
Hennepin County Library paperback 175 pages
genre: YA graphic novel, gaming
This is a definite "buy" for my collection. Most kids will skip the intro (which talks about economics and the power of the internet for organizing) but totally "get" the story. Anda is a girl gamer who hasn't connected with many friends in her new community. When she gets started playing Coarsegold (an online MMRPG), her world starts to open up. Her online persona begins to change her IRL identity. Parental clashes, a realization of other people's lifestyles, and moral dilemmas confront her. Great story, wonderful art!
Wolfie the Bunny
by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Zachariah OHora
Hennepin County Library
genre: picture book
I liked this one the best of the picture books I've read so far. Mama and Papa bunny find a wolf pup in a basket outside their door and adopt him. Dot shouts, "He's going to eat us all up!" At every juncture, mama and papa are crazy about their new child and Dot tries to sound the alarm. When Dot and Wolfie (dressed in a bunny outfit) go to the carrot market to get more food, a bear grabs Wolfie and shouts "Dinner!" Dot's reaction is beautiful.
This one has some nice applicable lessons about sibling relationships.
Hennepin County Library
genre: picture book
I liked this one the best of the picture books I've read so far. Mama and Papa bunny find a wolf pup in a basket outside their door and adopt him. Dot shouts, "He's going to eat us all up!" At every juncture, mama and papa are crazy about their new child and Dot tries to sound the alarm. When Dot and Wolfie (dressed in a bunny outfit) go to the carrot market to get more food, a bear grabs Wolfie and shouts "Dinner!" Dot's reaction is beautiful.
This one has some nice applicable lessons about sibling relationships.
My Teacher Is a Monster! No, I Am Not.
by Peter Brown
Hennepin County Library
genre: picture book
Bobby's teacher is portrayed as a hideous green-skinned monster as she gives directions, yells at Bobby when he throws paper airplanes, etc. But when he runs into her outside of school, helps rescue her hat, quack with the ducks, etc. she becomes a normal human teacher.
Cute, interesting. Still not sure I'll buy one for my collection.
Hennepin County Library
genre: picture book
Bobby's teacher is portrayed as a hideous green-skinned monster as she gives directions, yells at Bobby when he throws paper airplanes, etc. But when he runs into her outside of school, helps rescue her hat, quack with the ducks, etc. she becomes a normal human teacher.
Cute, interesting. Still not sure I'll buy one for my collection.
The Book With No Pictures
by B. J. Novak
Hennepin County Library
genre: picture book
I don't know if I'm just too far removed from reading to young ones or what . . . this didn't really float my boat. The enjoyment comes from the humor in having the reader say silly words and sounds (and then object to it). I'm trying to think of how this could be used in the context of my teachers and their classrooms. Perhaps our Litwits discussion will give me some ideas.
Hennepin County Library
genre: picture book
I don't know if I'm just too far removed from reading to young ones or what . . . this didn't really float my boat. The enjoyment comes from the humor in having the reader say silly words and sounds (and then object to it). I'm trying to think of how this could be used in the context of my teachers and their classrooms. Perhaps our Litwits discussion will give me some ideas.
Dog vs. Cat
by Chris Gall
Hennepin County Library
genre: picture book
Enjoyed it but didn't fall in love with it. Mister and Missus pick out a dog and a cat and have them share a room. Challenges arise. Then a newcomer arrives - a baby! The artwork is interesting. I love the last page. Not sure it's something I'll add to my collection on my limited budget.
Hennepin County Library
genre: picture book
Enjoyed it but didn't fall in love with it. Mister and Missus pick out a dog and a cat and have them share a room. Challenges arise. Then a newcomer arrives - a baby! The artwork is interesting. I love the last page. Not sure it's something I'll add to my collection on my limited budget.
Talon
by Julie Kagawa
Hennepin County Library hardcover 446 pages
genre: YA fantasy romance
I liked this. I may even read the next book in the series, if my "to be read" pile ever shrinks! I think I need to buy some of this author's YA books for school.
Talon is the secret dragon organization. Dante and Ember are "twins" - nest mates, but in their human form they are brother and sister. Sent to Crescent Beach, CA for the summer to learn how to assimilate with other humans and prepare for the next stage of their training, Ember fully embraces the experience. In fact, she starts falling in love with Garrett, a human.
Garrett is a soldier in the Order of St. George. They are sworn to destroy all dragons. He and his partner Tristan are sent to Crescent Beach on a mission to locate a "sleeper" dragon and destroy it before it can fully mature.
Throw in rogue Dylan (aka Cobalt), the evil trainer Lilith, and lots of action and romance. Fun read!
Hennepin County Library hardcover 446 pages
genre: YA fantasy romance
I liked this. I may even read the next book in the series, if my "to be read" pile ever shrinks! I think I need to buy some of this author's YA books for school.
Talon is the secret dragon organization. Dante and Ember are "twins" - nest mates, but in their human form they are brother and sister. Sent to Crescent Beach, CA for the summer to learn how to assimilate with other humans and prepare for the next stage of their training, Ember fully embraces the experience. In fact, she starts falling in love with Garrett, a human.
Garrett is a soldier in the Order of St. George. They are sworn to destroy all dragons. He and his partner Tristan are sent to Crescent Beach on a mission to locate a "sleeper" dragon and destroy it before it can fully mature.
Throw in rogue Dylan (aka Cobalt), the evil trainer Lilith, and lots of action and romance. Fun read!
Friday, July 17, 2015
Crossover
by Kwame Alexander
Hennepin County Library hardcover 237 pages
genre: YA (though HC lib marks it "Children's") realistic fiction, basketball
Twins Josh (aka Filthy McNasty) and Jordan (aka JB) tell their story in prose poetry. Lots of basketball and brotherly dynamics. The thread of their father's career and health run throughout. JB's girlfriend Alexis (Miss Sweet Tea) changes the relationship between the two boys.
I didn't love it, but will probably buy it for my boys who love sports and don't love to read. My favorite parts were Josh's love of English and use of vocabulary words. Also, having mom as the Assistant Principal - no fun for any kid.
Hennepin County Library hardcover 237 pages
genre: YA (though HC lib marks it "Children's") realistic fiction, basketball
Twins Josh (aka Filthy McNasty) and Jordan (aka JB) tell their story in prose poetry. Lots of basketball and brotherly dynamics. The thread of their father's career and health run throughout. JB's girlfriend Alexis (Miss Sweet Tea) changes the relationship between the two boys.
I didn't love it, but will probably buy it for my boys who love sports and don't love to read. My favorite parts were Josh's love of English and use of vocabulary words. Also, having mom as the Assistant Principal - no fun for any kid.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Trillium
by Jeff Lemire
Hennepin County Library paperback unpaged
genre: YA graphic novel, Sci-Fi romance
I didn't love it or hate it. Interesting story. Nika, xeniologist from 3797, accidentally goes to Peru in 1921 and runs into William, a WWI soldier still suffering from PTSD (though it wasn't called that, of course). The temples and the Trillium flower have strange powers.
I struggled a bit with the part of the book where you were to read one story line by flipping the book upside down and then the other storyline right side up. I also didn't get the logic of when they switched lives - how did it also switch a few key other people, but not everyone in their respective worlds? Why did Commander Pohl go so kill-crazy?
Anyhow, I like graphic novels a lot, and this author is an Eisner-winner, but I don't think I'll be buying this one for school. The artwork is also not a style I love.
Hennepin County Library paperback unpaged
genre: YA graphic novel, Sci-Fi romance
I didn't love it or hate it. Interesting story. Nika, xeniologist from 3797, accidentally goes to Peru in 1921 and runs into William, a WWI soldier still suffering from PTSD (though it wasn't called that, of course). The temples and the Trillium flower have strange powers.
I struggled a bit with the part of the book where you were to read one story line by flipping the book upside down and then the other storyline right side up. I also didn't get the logic of when they switched lives - how did it also switch a few key other people, but not everyone in their respective worlds? Why did Commander Pohl go so kill-crazy?
Anyhow, I like graphic novels a lot, and this author is an Eisner-winner, but I don't think I'll be buying this one for school. The artwork is also not a style I love.
We All Looked Up
by Tommy Wallach
Hennepin County Library hardcover 370 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction, coming-of-age
(Spoiler alert! Ending of book info at the bottom!)
This one is definitely more for a high school reader than my middle schoolers. An asteroid is heading for Earth, with a 66.6% chance of it hitting and ending all life. Things that used to have great meaning suddenly don't. Lots and lots of alcohol, sex, and strong language.
Peter - handsome kind athlete, trying to decide what really matters
Stacy - his superficial girlfriend
Andy - slacker who just wants to get laid before he dies
Bobo - Andy's best friend and drug dealer - seriously messed up
Misery / Samantha - Peter's sister, Bobo's girlfriend - so incredibly lost
Anita - smart girl who has always done what she is supposed to do, but really wants to be a singer
There were other characters, but these are the main ones. The story is told third-person, but from their perspectives.
Liked: the growth and interaction of these characters, the realness of their struggles
Disliked: the darkness of so much of the conversation and behavior
page 27 - What a horrible library! Sounds like it's stuck in the 50s . . . "no one other than the librarians, toddling about behind the desk and in the circulation room, begrudgingly lending out their precious books. They seemed to see students primarily as things to be shushed." Okay, I know this is irrelevant to the overall story, but it's a sensitive spot to me.
page 172 - When Anita and her mom are fighting about the Bible and what is going on. It saddens me when people use the Word as a way to prove their point or to control others, rather than as instruction. Her parents don't demonstrate Jesus' love at all.
page 335 - When Anita, Eliza, and Misery are talking in the hotel room. "And there in the darkness of the hotel room, scarcely more than twenty-four hours before the maybe end of the world, the three of them managed to laugh together. It turned out that no amount of terror could stop the great human need to connect. . . . Real winning was having the most to lose, even if it meant you might lose it all." I love this scene because it gets at the heart of what really does matter most in life. There are a lot of great conversations between the characters in this book.
page 346 - Peter and Eliza in the car after the big scene at the apartment . . . Eliza telling her made-up story about the world and second chances and mercy . . . poignant scene, especially considering what follows.
Spoiler: I love that the author ended the story without saying whether the asteroid does hit or passes by. A lot of the tension in the book was the "what if" factor - what if the asteroid doesn't hit and life goes on? What if we will all die in X days? I don't skip ahead to the end, so that tension was present to the very end of the book. Excellent!
Hennepin County Library hardcover 370 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction, coming-of-age
(Spoiler alert! Ending of book info at the bottom!)
This one is definitely more for a high school reader than my middle schoolers. An asteroid is heading for Earth, with a 66.6% chance of it hitting and ending all life. Things that used to have great meaning suddenly don't. Lots and lots of alcohol, sex, and strong language.
Peter - handsome kind athlete, trying to decide what really matters
Stacy - his superficial girlfriend
Andy - slacker who just wants to get laid before he dies
Bobo - Andy's best friend and drug dealer - seriously messed up
Misery / Samantha - Peter's sister, Bobo's girlfriend - so incredibly lost
Anita - smart girl who has always done what she is supposed to do, but really wants to be a singer
There were other characters, but these are the main ones. The story is told third-person, but from their perspectives.
Liked: the growth and interaction of these characters, the realness of their struggles
Disliked: the darkness of so much of the conversation and behavior
page 27 - What a horrible library! Sounds like it's stuck in the 50s . . . "no one other than the librarians, toddling about behind the desk and in the circulation room, begrudgingly lending out their precious books. They seemed to see students primarily as things to be shushed." Okay, I know this is irrelevant to the overall story, but it's a sensitive spot to me.
page 172 - When Anita and her mom are fighting about the Bible and what is going on. It saddens me when people use the Word as a way to prove their point or to control others, rather than as instruction. Her parents don't demonstrate Jesus' love at all.
page 335 - When Anita, Eliza, and Misery are talking in the hotel room. "And there in the darkness of the hotel room, scarcely more than twenty-four hours before the maybe end of the world, the three of them managed to laugh together. It turned out that no amount of terror could stop the great human need to connect. . . . Real winning was having the most to lose, even if it meant you might lose it all." I love this scene because it gets at the heart of what really does matter most in life. There are a lot of great conversations between the characters in this book.
page 346 - Peter and Eliza in the car after the big scene at the apartment . . . Eliza telling her made-up story about the world and second chances and mercy . . . poignant scene, especially considering what follows.
Spoiler: I love that the author ended the story without saying whether the asteroid does hit or passes by. A lot of the tension in the book was the "what if" factor - what if the asteroid doesn't hit and life goes on? What if we will all die in X days? I don't skip ahead to the end, so that tension was present to the very end of the book. Excellent!
Friday, July 10, 2015
I'll Give You the Sun
by Jandy Nelson
Hennepin County Library hardcover 371 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction, coming-of-age
What an incredible book! Told from the points of view of twins (but at different times), Noah's 13-year-old self and Jude's 16-year-old self shape our understanding of what has happened. There is so much going on in this book, I don't even know how to blog about it. My reaction when I finished was wonderful / horrible / amazing / sad . . . Pages 288-9 is the only part I marked. It was hard for me to read when Noah had his meltdown after Brian kissed Courtney and Noah confronted his mom. So much emotion is wrapped into this book - love, fear, hope, betrayal, truth, and lies. I think it's a bit too mature for my middle school readers, but perhaps I'm wrong. The more sophisticated readers would love it! But it may be too much of a reach book for the majority of my readers.
Big themes: art and art history, homosexuality, superstitions, surfing . . .
Coolness: the parrot asking where Ralph is, Oscar's British self, Guillermo's mad genius
Hennepin County Library hardcover 371 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction, coming-of-age
What an incredible book! Told from the points of view of twins (but at different times), Noah's 13-year-old self and Jude's 16-year-old self shape our understanding of what has happened. There is so much going on in this book, I don't even know how to blog about it. My reaction when I finished was wonderful / horrible / amazing / sad . . . Pages 288-9 is the only part I marked. It was hard for me to read when Noah had his meltdown after Brian kissed Courtney and Noah confronted his mom. So much emotion is wrapped into this book - love, fear, hope, betrayal, truth, and lies. I think it's a bit too mature for my middle school readers, but perhaps I'm wrong. The more sophisticated readers would love it! But it may be too much of a reach book for the majority of my readers.
Big themes: art and art history, homosexuality, superstitions, surfing . . .
Coolness: the parrot asking where Ralph is, Oscar's British self, Guillermo's mad genius
Wednesday, July 08, 2015
Bone Gap
by Laura Ruby
Hennepin County Library audiobook 7 discs
read by Dan Bittner
genre: YA mystical fiction
* Spoiler at the bottom!
The more I listened to this story, the more I got drawn into it. What an incredible story! It's unlike anything I've read before. It's told from multiple points of view - Finn, his brother Sean, Rosa, Petey (Priscilla), and Charlie Valentine. It is mostly Finn's story. From getting beaten up by the five Rood brothers to riding a mysterious horse through the night, Finn experiences life intensely. Called "Moon Face," "Side Track," and other names, Petey learns the truth.
Words I jotted while listening in my car: mystical quality, imaginary, magic, dream, unreal, scarecrow, corn, cold . . .
Is the man/professor a vampire?
I'm frustrated / mad at Sean! He should listen to his brother and believe him!
Loved the resolution! Loved learning what is up with "Bone Gap."
This is such an odd, interesting story. Not sure if it will appeal to my students. I'm curious to talk about this at our Litwits gathering!
Face-blindness / the corn and crows being alive and communicating / Polish
Hennepin County Library audiobook 7 discs
read by Dan Bittner
genre: YA mystical fiction
* Spoiler at the bottom!
The more I listened to this story, the more I got drawn into it. What an incredible story! It's unlike anything I've read before. It's told from multiple points of view - Finn, his brother Sean, Rosa, Petey (Priscilla), and Charlie Valentine. It is mostly Finn's story. From getting beaten up by the five Rood brothers to riding a mysterious horse through the night, Finn experiences life intensely. Called "Moon Face," "Side Track," and other names, Petey learns the truth.
Words I jotted while listening in my car: mystical quality, imaginary, magic, dream, unreal, scarecrow, corn, cold . . .
Is the man/professor a vampire?
I'm frustrated / mad at Sean! He should listen to his brother and believe him!
Loved the resolution! Loved learning what is up with "Bone Gap."
This is such an odd, interesting story. Not sure if it will appeal to my students. I'm curious to talk about this at our Litwits gathering!
Face-blindness / the corn and crows being alive and communicating / Polish
Sunday, July 05, 2015
Strike: The Farm Workers' Fight for Their RIghts
by Larry Dane Brimner
Hennepin County Library hardcover 162 pages
genre: non-fiction YA
This was a quick read and very interesting. I had never even heard of Larry Itliong (a Filipino who was active in the labor union movement before Cesar Chavez was on the scene). This book was very informative and somewhat heart-breaking, as all David and Goliath stories are when David suffers so much and Goliath is supported by politicians, the media, etc.
The perspectives of Governor Ronald Reagan and President Nixon make me sad (and help me understand why my mom was so passionate in her political perspectives). Also when Chavez started hanging out with Charles Dederich, the change in his own leadership style saddens me. I wonder what his wife thought about that. Chavez was tape-recorded saying, "Every time we look at them (the farm workers), they want more money. Like pigs, you know." Later in the afterward, the author writes, "For me, the most troubling aspect of Chavez was his relationship with Synanon founder Charles Dederich and Dederich's apparent influence over him."
I think the author did a wonderful job researching this book and kept a balanced tone throughout. Also in the afterward, she wrote "The critics' views notwithstanding, Chavez deserves credit for a lot of accomplishments, but he didn't achieve them alone." I love that she included the perspectives of Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, Dolores Huerta, and Pete Velasco. I don't know that I would buy this for my collection, because I have such a small budget and I'm spending more on fiction than non-fiction (because of how students research). That makes me sad, because this is a very well-written and informative book.
Hennepin County Library hardcover 162 pages
genre: non-fiction YA
This was a quick read and very interesting. I had never even heard of Larry Itliong (a Filipino who was active in the labor union movement before Cesar Chavez was on the scene). This book was very informative and somewhat heart-breaking, as all David and Goliath stories are when David suffers so much and Goliath is supported by politicians, the media, etc.
The perspectives of Governor Ronald Reagan and President Nixon make me sad (and help me understand why my mom was so passionate in her political perspectives). Also when Chavez started hanging out with Charles Dederich, the change in his own leadership style saddens me. I wonder what his wife thought about that. Chavez was tape-recorded saying, "Every time we look at them (the farm workers), they want more money. Like pigs, you know." Later in the afterward, the author writes, "For me, the most troubling aspect of Chavez was his relationship with Synanon founder Charles Dederich and Dederich's apparent influence over him."
I think the author did a wonderful job researching this book and kept a balanced tone throughout. Also in the afterward, she wrote "The critics' views notwithstanding, Chavez deserves credit for a lot of accomplishments, but he didn't achieve them alone." I love that she included the perspectives of Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, Dolores Huerta, and Pete Velasco. I don't know that I would buy this for my collection, because I have such a small budget and I'm spending more on fiction than non-fiction (because of how students research). That makes me sad, because this is a very well-written and informative book.
Wednesday, July 01, 2015
A Casual Vacancy
by J.K. Rowling
Hennepin County Library audiobook 15 CDs
read by Tom Hollander
genre: adult fiction
I only made it through seven of the CDs (not even halfway!). I have wanted to read this since it came out, but my curiosity could not overcome my dislike. Hollander's vocal work was wonderful, but the story was just too negative. Referred to as a "big novel about a small town," this book reminded me of Sinclair Lewis' Main Street. Nasty, small-minded people. Very little to like about it.
I had to make notes because there were so many characters:
Simon - abusive / running for parish council
Ruth - nurse
Andrew - angry teen / wants Gaia / BFFs with Fats
Paul - little brother
Cubby / Collin Wahl - administrator / teacher, mocked by kids, nervous disorder, inordinately attached to Barry Fairbrother
Tessa Wahl - school counselor, has some deep dark secret
Stuart "Fats" Wahl - nasty teen boy
Barry & Mary Fairbrother - he dies of a brain aneurism at the outset of the story (leaving the casual vacancy of the title), she struggles with grief and being a single mom
Howard Molisand (?) - I never quite caught their last name, deli owner, nasty human being, obese
Shirley - wife, also nasty but covers it in smothery sweetness, adores her son
Miles Molisand - pathetic boor, appeases his parents, smug lawyer
Samantha - his wife, chesty and showy and terribly unhappy
Lexi
Libby
Paminda & Vikram Jawanda - She is a g.p. and was a close ally of Barry's on the council. He is a stunningly gorgeous heart surgeon.
Sukvinda - one of their children, feels unworthy and is bullied badly. She cuts herself. Gaia seems to be her only friend.
Gavin - commitment coward, partner in law with Miles, target for Samantha's rage and frustration
Kay - social worker, trying to get Gavin to treat her as a partner
Gaia - Kay's daughter, stunningly gorgeous, unhappy to have moved from London to Pagford
Terri - druggie mom who can't parent
Crystal - her teen daughter who is managing the best she can, with lots of the F word and misbehavior, was on Barry's rowing team and lost an advocate when he died
Robbie - 4 years old and still in diapers
So much nastiness - Simon's abuse, Sukvinda's cutting, Andrew's use of porn, the F word, . . . and general meanness, selfishness, and greed. I found myself not really caring about these people, except perhaps Crystal. But there is too much of this story to extract one thread. The smallness of Pagford and everybody being in everybody else's business just didn't hold my attention enough.
Kudos to Rowling for branching out from her Harry Potter books, but I'm not yet a fan of her adult fiction.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 15 CDs
read by Tom Hollander
genre: adult fiction
I only made it through seven of the CDs (not even halfway!). I have wanted to read this since it came out, but my curiosity could not overcome my dislike. Hollander's vocal work was wonderful, but the story was just too negative. Referred to as a "big novel about a small town," this book reminded me of Sinclair Lewis' Main Street. Nasty, small-minded people. Very little to like about it.
I had to make notes because there were so many characters:
Simon - abusive / running for parish council
Ruth - nurse
Andrew - angry teen / wants Gaia / BFFs with Fats
Paul - little brother
Cubby / Collin Wahl - administrator / teacher, mocked by kids, nervous disorder, inordinately attached to Barry Fairbrother
Tessa Wahl - school counselor, has some deep dark secret
Stuart "Fats" Wahl - nasty teen boy
Barry & Mary Fairbrother - he dies of a brain aneurism at the outset of the story (leaving the casual vacancy of the title), she struggles with grief and being a single mom
Howard Molisand (?) - I never quite caught their last name, deli owner, nasty human being, obese
Shirley - wife, also nasty but covers it in smothery sweetness, adores her son
Miles Molisand - pathetic boor, appeases his parents, smug lawyer
Samantha - his wife, chesty and showy and terribly unhappy
Lexi
Libby
Paminda & Vikram Jawanda - She is a g.p. and was a close ally of Barry's on the council. He is a stunningly gorgeous heart surgeon.
Sukvinda - one of their children, feels unworthy and is bullied badly. She cuts herself. Gaia seems to be her only friend.
Gavin - commitment coward, partner in law with Miles, target for Samantha's rage and frustration
Kay - social worker, trying to get Gavin to treat her as a partner
Gaia - Kay's daughter, stunningly gorgeous, unhappy to have moved from London to Pagford
Terri - druggie mom who can't parent
Crystal - her teen daughter who is managing the best she can, with lots of the F word and misbehavior, was on Barry's rowing team and lost an advocate when he died
Robbie - 4 years old and still in diapers
So much nastiness - Simon's abuse, Sukvinda's cutting, Andrew's use of porn, the F word, . . . and general meanness, selfishness, and greed. I found myself not really caring about these people, except perhaps Crystal. But there is too much of this story to extract one thread. The smallness of Pagford and everybody being in everybody else's business just didn't hold my attention enough.
Kudos to Rowling for branching out from her Harry Potter books, but I'm not yet a fan of her adult fiction.
The Shadow Hero
by Gene Luen Yang, artwork by Sonny Liew
Hennepin County Library, paperback 152 pages plus extras
genre: YA graphic novel, superhero
What an intriguing book! I wish I had read it before TeenLitCon. Yang is a fascinating man and his work is stunning. A little bit of history (both about Chinese Americans and about the Golden Age of comic books), this is the story of four ancient spirits and the fall of imperial rule in China. More than that, it's the story of a boy named Hank who aspires to nothing more than to be a grocer like his father. His mother, however, wants him to become a superhero. This is a delightful story on many levels. I will definitely buy it for my collection. The extras include a full-color reproduction of the first issue of The Green Turtle, published by Blazing Comics in 1944.
Hennepin County Library, paperback 152 pages plus extras
genre: YA graphic novel, superhero
What an intriguing book! I wish I had read it before TeenLitCon. Yang is a fascinating man and his work is stunning. A little bit of history (both about Chinese Americans and about the Golden Age of comic books), this is the story of four ancient spirits and the fall of imperial rule in China. More than that, it's the story of a boy named Hank who aspires to nothing more than to be a grocer like his father. His mother, however, wants him to become a superhero. This is a delightful story on many levels. I will definitely buy it for my collection. The extras include a full-color reproduction of the first issue of The Green Turtle, published by Blazing Comics in 1944.
Monday, June 29, 2015
Afterlife with Archie
by Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa with artwork by Francesco Francavilla
Hennepin County Library paperback unpaged
genre: YA graphic novel, zombies
I grew up reading and loving Archie comics! In this one, a horrible accident leaves Jughead's beloved Hot Dog dead. When he brings the dog to Sabrina (the Teenage Witch), she defies her aunts and reanimates the dead creature. Mayhem ensues. Not sure if kids nowadays are familiar with Archie, Veronica, Betty, and the rest of the gang, but they'll love the gore and mayhem. Yep. I'll buy this one for PRMS.
First book off the Litwits 2015 list! About time I got started!
Hennepin County Library paperback unpaged
genre: YA graphic novel, zombies
I grew up reading and loving Archie comics! In this one, a horrible accident leaves Jughead's beloved Hot Dog dead. When he brings the dog to Sabrina (the Teenage Witch), she defies her aunts and reanimates the dead creature. Mayhem ensues. Not sure if kids nowadays are familiar with Archie, Veronica, Betty, and the rest of the gang, but they'll love the gore and mayhem. Yep. I'll buy this one for PRMS.
First book off the Litwits 2015 list! About time I got started!
The Eyes of the Amaryllis
by Natalie Babbitt
PRMS hardcover 128 pages
genre: YA historical, supernatural
Wow. When I was weeding books like crazy this spring, it was hard. This is another that looked brand new, but it was published in 1977 and is stamped "Pioneer Ridge Freshman Center." So I read it to see if it should have been kept. No.
Jenny goes to stay with her Grandma Geneva at the house on the coast. Jenny is going to help grandma, who injured her ankle. Grandma is obsessed with checking the shoreline for items sent to her by her long-dead husband . . . whose ship sank decades earlier. Jenny gets sucked into the allure of being free at the beach, even though it involves middle-of-the-night searches of the shoreline for "a sign." (The tides dictate the day.) One day, she finds the figurehead from the ship - the Amaryllis was named for the flower and had the masthead of Geneva. Blah blah blah. At least it was short.
PRMS hardcover 128 pages
genre: YA historical, supernatural
Wow. When I was weeding books like crazy this spring, it was hard. This is another that looked brand new, but it was published in 1977 and is stamped "Pioneer Ridge Freshman Center." So I read it to see if it should have been kept. No.
Jenny goes to stay with her Grandma Geneva at the house on the coast. Jenny is going to help grandma, who injured her ankle. Grandma is obsessed with checking the shoreline for items sent to her by her long-dead husband . . . whose ship sank decades earlier. Jenny gets sucked into the allure of being free at the beach, even though it involves middle-of-the-night searches of the shoreline for "a sign." (The tides dictate the day.) One day, she finds the figurehead from the ship - the Amaryllis was named for the flower and had the masthead of Geneva. Blah blah blah. At least it was short.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Secrets of a Charmed Life
by Susan Meissner
Carver County Library paperback 386 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction
I am so glad we have book club tonight! I liked, but wasn't head-over-heels in love with this one. I wonder what Jodi thought of it. It takes place during WWII, primarily in London, but also in the countryside where the children are evacuated. The story opens with a history student scoring an interview with a secret story of what happened during the evacuation of the children during WWII.
page 11 - "If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree," - Michael Crichton. I'm not a huge fan of history, but I recognize the importance of it. I loved this quote from Crichton.
page 89 - the description of Charlotte made me think, "I want to be like this!" ". . . her skin was wrinkled but in a nice way, as if she had one day started smiling and then had never stopped." This really resonated for me. Throughout the story, what Charlotte says and does (and how she says and does it) made me think about the kind of person I am and who I want to be.
page 109 - When Charlotte invited them to pray at their first meal together. "It had been a long time since Emmy and Julia had been in the same room with someone who spoke to God out of reverence." This makes me think of the importance of being true to God - we never know when we are setting an example.
page 142 - The foreshadowing is more like foreshouting. "She would look back on that moonlit night and wonder and wonder and wonder what she would have done had she considered that the owl that awakened Julia was divinely sent so that she wouldn't leave Thistle House that night."
page 185 - "But on that Sunday morning when fires still burned and the dead were still being carried out and the extent of the destruction still could not be fathomed, a missing seven-year-old was just another calamity in a collection of calamities the likes of which no one had seen before." So much of our personal tragedies are wrapped within a framework of what else is happening.
page 216 - "Grief sapped her of mental clarity and made her feel weak. She could not be a companion to it now. All that mattered was finding Julia." So true that grief can sap you. This also resonated for me.
page 252 - "Thistle House is for people who love and care for one another. We respect one another in this house, Emmeline. We carry one another's burdens. We weep for one another and we laugh with one another. We hold one another by the hand when the lights go out and when the way seems hopeless. We work together and we share the table together and we pray together. No matter how old we are or what we are called." Love this! Sounds like a home motto you could hang on your wall!
page 268 - Talk about collapsing a story line! "The next two years were spent in a mindless routine . . . " Well. That helps to grow her up to legal age!
page 291 - Well. I had to read this page twice. I didn't think she would go there and do that . . . knowing what had happened to her mother. And where did this come from? "But life is lived at the moment you are living it, she thought. No one but God in heaven has the benefit of seeing beyond today." And is that supposed to be an absolution of her mistakes? I may have to re-read this page a third or fourth time . . .
page 331 - The scene where Julia and Frannie are in the boat and Frannie is seeking reassurance from the mute Julia. Julia's nods and the word "maybe" were significant. "The girl who knew what war was like was telling her not to give up hope." Hope is powerful!
page 359 - ". . . if I know anything about time, it is that it stretches to walk with you when you grieve. The rest of the world may zoom past at breakneck speed, but when you are learning to live with loss, time slows to the pace of your breathing."
page 381 - I love Colin, the money, and the way things worked out for Thistle House!
page 384 - the end of the interview. This didn't really work for me. We don't get to know Kendra well enough to really care about her story. And Isabel is a bit enigmatic about her purposes here.
My ending frustration is that the neighbor didn't just leave a not in the flat! How hard would it have been?!?! Okay. Overall, a wonderful story.
Carver County Library paperback 386 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction
I am so glad we have book club tonight! I liked, but wasn't head-over-heels in love with this one. I wonder what Jodi thought of it. It takes place during WWII, primarily in London, but also in the countryside where the children are evacuated. The story opens with a history student scoring an interview with a secret story of what happened during the evacuation of the children during WWII.
page 11 - "If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree," - Michael Crichton. I'm not a huge fan of history, but I recognize the importance of it. I loved this quote from Crichton.
page 89 - the description of Charlotte made me think, "I want to be like this!" ". . . her skin was wrinkled but in a nice way, as if she had one day started smiling and then had never stopped." This really resonated for me. Throughout the story, what Charlotte says and does (and how she says and does it) made me think about the kind of person I am and who I want to be.
page 109 - When Charlotte invited them to pray at their first meal together. "It had been a long time since Emmy and Julia had been in the same room with someone who spoke to God out of reverence." This makes me think of the importance of being true to God - we never know when we are setting an example.
page 142 - The foreshadowing is more like foreshouting. "She would look back on that moonlit night and wonder and wonder and wonder what she would have done had she considered that the owl that awakened Julia was divinely sent so that she wouldn't leave Thistle House that night."
page 185 - "But on that Sunday morning when fires still burned and the dead were still being carried out and the extent of the destruction still could not be fathomed, a missing seven-year-old was just another calamity in a collection of calamities the likes of which no one had seen before." So much of our personal tragedies are wrapped within a framework of what else is happening.
page 216 - "Grief sapped her of mental clarity and made her feel weak. She could not be a companion to it now. All that mattered was finding Julia." So true that grief can sap you. This also resonated for me.
page 252 - "Thistle House is for people who love and care for one another. We respect one another in this house, Emmeline. We carry one another's burdens. We weep for one another and we laugh with one another. We hold one another by the hand when the lights go out and when the way seems hopeless. We work together and we share the table together and we pray together. No matter how old we are or what we are called." Love this! Sounds like a home motto you could hang on your wall!
page 268 - Talk about collapsing a story line! "The next two years were spent in a mindless routine . . . " Well. That helps to grow her up to legal age!
page 291 - Well. I had to read this page twice. I didn't think she would go there and do that . . . knowing what had happened to her mother. And where did this come from? "But life is lived at the moment you are living it, she thought. No one but God in heaven has the benefit of seeing beyond today." And is that supposed to be an absolution of her mistakes? I may have to re-read this page a third or fourth time . . .
page 331 - The scene where Julia and Frannie are in the boat and Frannie is seeking reassurance from the mute Julia. Julia's nods and the word "maybe" were significant. "The girl who knew what war was like was telling her not to give up hope." Hope is powerful!
page 359 - ". . . if I know anything about time, it is that it stretches to walk with you when you grieve. The rest of the world may zoom past at breakneck speed, but when you are learning to live with loss, time slows to the pace of your breathing."
page 381 - I love Colin, the money, and the way things worked out for Thistle House!
page 384 - the end of the interview. This didn't really work for me. We don't get to know Kendra well enough to really care about her story. And Isabel is a bit enigmatic about her purposes here.
My ending frustration is that the neighbor didn't just leave a not in the flat! How hard would it have been?!?! Okay. Overall, a wonderful story.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Lady Catherine's Necklace
by Joan Aiken
PRMS weeded / donated, hardcover, 272 pages
genre: YA fiction, styled a la Pride and Prejudice
This was published in 2000 and was still in excellent (i.e. never read) condition. I weeded it from the collection because of its age and lack of readers, but took it from the discard pile because I love Jane Austen and was curious. The Pride and Prejudice characters and references were mildly enjoyable (no Elizabeth or Darcy except a brief mention). The style was familiar enough to be Austen-honoring, but the plotting was much faster-paced. I like that Anne de Bourgh was more lively and personable away from her mother. I liked the Maria Lucas character as she helped Charlotte and wrote letters and pined for FitzWilliam. The de Laval siblings were shifty and untrustworthy from start to finish. It's sort of a mystery and sort of a character analysis. I'm glad I weeded it.
PRMS weeded / donated, hardcover, 272 pages
genre: YA fiction, styled a la Pride and Prejudice
This was published in 2000 and was still in excellent (i.e. never read) condition. I weeded it from the collection because of its age and lack of readers, but took it from the discard pile because I love Jane Austen and was curious. The Pride and Prejudice characters and references were mildly enjoyable (no Elizabeth or Darcy except a brief mention). The style was familiar enough to be Austen-honoring, but the plotting was much faster-paced. I like that Anne de Bourgh was more lively and personable away from her mother. I liked the Maria Lucas character as she helped Charlotte and wrote letters and pined for FitzWilliam. The de Laval siblings were shifty and untrustworthy from start to finish. It's sort of a mystery and sort of a character analysis. I'm glad I weeded it.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
When Elephants Fight: The Lives of Children in Conflict in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Uganda
by Eric Walters & Adrian Bradbury
PRMS hardcover 89 pages
genre: non-fiction for middle school readers, war impact
The kid stories were the best part of this. The photographs were also quite good. The background info was bland and quite frankly, I had to force myself to read through it. Not sure a middle schooler would persist. The title is from a proverb: "When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers." The truth of this observation - that innocents suffer when bigger powers battle - doesn't really come through in the book's text. I'm not sure how the authors could have made the info on the conflicts more interesting or relevant to young readers, but I wish they had. The other thing that kind of bothered me was how old some of these conflicts are . . . with so much fighting and suffering going on right now, why use such old examples?
Uganda / Jimmy / 2000s
Sri Lanka / Annu / 1990s
Afghanistan / Farooq / 1990s
Bosnia / Nadja / early 1990s
Sudan / Toma / recent 2000s
I was also surprised by how many people escaped from violence and moved to Canada! Or perhaps the authors are Canadians and they went with the people with whom they had contact.
PRMS hardcover 89 pages
genre: non-fiction for middle school readers, war impact
The kid stories were the best part of this. The photographs were also quite good. The background info was bland and quite frankly, I had to force myself to read through it. Not sure a middle schooler would persist. The title is from a proverb: "When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers." The truth of this observation - that innocents suffer when bigger powers battle - doesn't really come through in the book's text. I'm not sure how the authors could have made the info on the conflicts more interesting or relevant to young readers, but I wish they had. The other thing that kind of bothered me was how old some of these conflicts are . . . with so much fighting and suffering going on right now, why use such old examples?
Uganda / Jimmy / 2000s
Sri Lanka / Annu / 1990s
Afghanistan / Farooq / 1990s
Bosnia / Nadja / early 1990s
Sudan / Toma / recent 2000s
I was also surprised by how many people escaped from violence and moved to Canada! Or perhaps the authors are Canadians and they went with the people with whom they had contact.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever
by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
C. Chapman's hardcover 315 pages plus index
genre: non-fiction history
Cina loaned this to me quite a while ago . . . and I had a hard time getting into it. I'm not sure if it's because I've already read books about Lincoln's assassination or that O'Reilly's style is so flamboyant (that it makes me question the veracity). I enjoyed his Killing Kennedy book more than this one and I'm not sure why.
page 257 - "Incredibly, eighty-seven of these brave men will drown in their painstaking weeklong search for the killers." Seriously?!?! Eighty-seven men searching the swamps of Maryland to find John Wilkes Booth and David Herold DIED? That is horrible! If this is true, then the search for Lincoln's killers exacted quite a toll. (Survived fighting in the Civil War but died searching for two assassins in the swamps. Makes me think of soldiers who get home from Iraq and are murdered in their neighborhood by thugs.)
page 262 - "But even after the burial, Lincoln's body will never quite be at rest. In the next 150 years, Lincoln's casket will be opened six times and moved from one crypt to another seventeen times. His body was so thoroughly embalmed that he was effectively mummified." I would be curious to know when and why he was exhumed all these times.
page 276 - The guy who shot JWB was Boston Corbett. "Boston Corbett, in his own way, is as much a zealot as Booth. Only his passion is religion. Incredibly, years before, Corbett cut off his own testicles with a pair of scissors after experiencing a moment of lust." Really? Really? How does a man do this? Physically, mentally, emotionally . . . . can't imagine.
page 292 - Major DUH! moment. I knew of the attempt on William Seward's life before. (What kind of coward tries to murder a man on his sickbed?) It still amazes me that Seward and his three children (especially Frederick, who had his brains bashed out) survived the attacks that night. And of course I already knew about Seward's Folly (the purchase of Alaska, which turned out to be an incredible investment, given the gold and oil found there). What I didn't realize until reading this is that they were one and the same! I felt kind of dumb having 2+2=4, but I had just not realized it before. Cool stuff, learning.
page 313 - in their notes, O'Reilly / Dugard list many books that were helpful in their research. "thanks to the magic of Google's online books, many of the older titles can be easily accessed" Love it! I tell my students during History Day research that GoogleBooks can be a good source of titles that are hard to find in print form.
I am glad I am done with this and can return it to Cina. I am glad I learned some new stuff. I don't think I'll read O'Reilly's Killing Jesus book. I'm kind of curious to go back and see what I wrote about the first one of his I read . . .
C. Chapman's hardcover 315 pages plus index
genre: non-fiction history
Cina loaned this to me quite a while ago . . . and I had a hard time getting into it. I'm not sure if it's because I've already read books about Lincoln's assassination or that O'Reilly's style is so flamboyant (that it makes me question the veracity). I enjoyed his Killing Kennedy book more than this one and I'm not sure why.
page 257 - "Incredibly, eighty-seven of these brave men will drown in their painstaking weeklong search for the killers." Seriously?!?! Eighty-seven men searching the swamps of Maryland to find John Wilkes Booth and David Herold DIED? That is horrible! If this is true, then the search for Lincoln's killers exacted quite a toll. (Survived fighting in the Civil War but died searching for two assassins in the swamps. Makes me think of soldiers who get home from Iraq and are murdered in their neighborhood by thugs.)
page 262 - "But even after the burial, Lincoln's body will never quite be at rest. In the next 150 years, Lincoln's casket will be opened six times and moved from one crypt to another seventeen times. His body was so thoroughly embalmed that he was effectively mummified." I would be curious to know when and why he was exhumed all these times.
page 276 - The guy who shot JWB was Boston Corbett. "Boston Corbett, in his own way, is as much a zealot as Booth. Only his passion is religion. Incredibly, years before, Corbett cut off his own testicles with a pair of scissors after experiencing a moment of lust." Really? Really? How does a man do this? Physically, mentally, emotionally . . . . can't imagine.
page 292 - Major DUH! moment. I knew of the attempt on William Seward's life before. (What kind of coward tries to murder a man on his sickbed?) It still amazes me that Seward and his three children (especially Frederick, who had his brains bashed out) survived the attacks that night. And of course I already knew about Seward's Folly (the purchase of Alaska, which turned out to be an incredible investment, given the gold and oil found there). What I didn't realize until reading this is that they were one and the same! I felt kind of dumb having 2+2=4, but I had just not realized it before. Cool stuff, learning.
page 313 - in their notes, O'Reilly / Dugard list many books that were helpful in their research. "thanks to the magic of Google's online books, many of the older titles can be easily accessed" Love it! I tell my students during History Day research that GoogleBooks can be a good source of titles that are hard to find in print form.
I am glad I am done with this and can return it to Cina. I am glad I learned some new stuff. I don't think I'll read O'Reilly's Killing Jesus book. I'm kind of curious to go back and see what I wrote about the first one of his I read . . .
The Rent Collector
by Camron Wright
Scott County Library paperback 264 pages
genre: adult fiction
Oh my. This book was amazing! I had gotten it from Carver County for Ann for her book club, but had also requested a copy through Scott County. She read and returned the one I got for her. I read this one but haven't had the chance to talk with her yet. I got the sense she didn't care for it much . . . I'm curious to know her thoughts.
This fiction story is based on real people and real events - set in a garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, here are the main characters:
Ki Lim (dad) and Sang Ly (mom) with baby Nisay (constantly sick with diarrhea) are pickers of trash - anything they can resell for money for food
The Rent Collector (Sopeap Sin) is a nasty woman who comes to get the money from the people living on the dump for the person who "owns" the land.
Lucky Fat - an orphan boy with a round face and a happy disposition
Maly - a girl who is coming of age and afraid to be sold into prostitution by her brother
Others in the dump - family members, the healer in the village, the foreign doctors, the Khmer Rouge, the gangs, and others play key roles.
Because this is such an amazing, wonderful book, I do not want to write any spoilers! Suffice it to say that I love literacy and how it can change lives. I love that the author based his story on real people (and included photos at the end!)
page 67 - When Sang Ly is trying to find "literature," her sister Narin remembers a memorized poem her mother had whispered to her over and over when she was young. "Laugh with me, monkey. Bring impish tricks and mischievous heart. Help sorrow waft and cheer restore before the sun sets red. . . . " It is lovely and it is an opening for Sang Ly to grow in her understanding of literacy.
page 80 - I'm no history buff, but the issue of people choosing not to "get involved" in other people's struggles is not specific to any one era or culture. This got my attention, though. "During the Khmer Rouge revolution in the mid to late 1970s, more than a million Cambodians were slaughtered by the vicious dictator Pol Pot and his government. Since that genocide, those who managed to survive have raised an entire generation of children who have been taught that to stay alive in the world, it's best to lie low, mind your own business, and let others do the fighting."
page 124 - I love love love different versions of the Cinderella story!!! I am too lazy to scan and include the pages of Sarann's story, but the characters mention "Ye Xian in China, Tattercoats in England, Aschenputtel in Germany, Critheanach in Scotland, Nyasha in Africa, Cinderella in North America" . . . and it makes me kind of sad that the Disney video is the story version most people have experienced. I could do an entire unit on these different Cinderella stories!
page 201 - I cried at this point. The healer has just given her a photo of her dad (who died the night she was born) and when she says that they live in the dump, he replies "It doesn't matter where you live, Sang Ly, it is how you live." This scene struck me as both poignant and powerful.
page 220 - More crying. Sopeap has written her story for Sang Ly. "Only later would I realize that there are no words harsh enough, no paragraphs wide enough, no books deep enough to convey the weight of true human sorrow."
This book is well worth reading! If, like me, you get curious about the author's son's film, find more at www.riverofvictory.com .
Reading this also made me think of Trash by Andy Mulligan.
Scott County Library paperback 264 pages
genre: adult fiction
Oh my. This book was amazing! I had gotten it from Carver County for Ann for her book club, but had also requested a copy through Scott County. She read and returned the one I got for her. I read this one but haven't had the chance to talk with her yet. I got the sense she didn't care for it much . . . I'm curious to know her thoughts.
This fiction story is based on real people and real events - set in a garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, here are the main characters:
Ki Lim (dad) and Sang Ly (mom) with baby Nisay (constantly sick with diarrhea) are pickers of trash - anything they can resell for money for food
The Rent Collector (Sopeap Sin) is a nasty woman who comes to get the money from the people living on the dump for the person who "owns" the land.
Lucky Fat - an orphan boy with a round face and a happy disposition
Maly - a girl who is coming of age and afraid to be sold into prostitution by her brother
Others in the dump - family members, the healer in the village, the foreign doctors, the Khmer Rouge, the gangs, and others play key roles.
Because this is such an amazing, wonderful book, I do not want to write any spoilers! Suffice it to say that I love literacy and how it can change lives. I love that the author based his story on real people (and included photos at the end!)
page 67 - When Sang Ly is trying to find "literature," her sister Narin remembers a memorized poem her mother had whispered to her over and over when she was young. "Laugh with me, monkey. Bring impish tricks and mischievous heart. Help sorrow waft and cheer restore before the sun sets red. . . . " It is lovely and it is an opening for Sang Ly to grow in her understanding of literacy.
page 80 - I'm no history buff, but the issue of people choosing not to "get involved" in other people's struggles is not specific to any one era or culture. This got my attention, though. "During the Khmer Rouge revolution in the mid to late 1970s, more than a million Cambodians were slaughtered by the vicious dictator Pol Pot and his government. Since that genocide, those who managed to survive have raised an entire generation of children who have been taught that to stay alive in the world, it's best to lie low, mind your own business, and let others do the fighting."
page 124 - I love love love different versions of the Cinderella story!!! I am too lazy to scan and include the pages of Sarann's story, but the characters mention "Ye Xian in China, Tattercoats in England, Aschenputtel in Germany, Critheanach in Scotland, Nyasha in Africa, Cinderella in North America" . . . and it makes me kind of sad that the Disney video is the story version most people have experienced. I could do an entire unit on these different Cinderella stories!
page 201 - I cried at this point. The healer has just given her a photo of her dad (who died the night she was born) and when she says that they live in the dump, he replies "It doesn't matter where you live, Sang Ly, it is how you live." This scene struck me as both poignant and powerful.
page 220 - More crying. Sopeap has written her story for Sang Ly. "Only later would I realize that there are no words harsh enough, no paragraphs wide enough, no books deep enough to convey the weight of true human sorrow."
This book is well worth reading! If, like me, you get curious about the author's son's film, find more at www.riverofvictory.com .
Reading this also made me think of Trash by Andy Mulligan.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Some Assembly Required
by Arin Andrews
Hennepin County Library hardcover 239 pages
genre: non-fiction memoir
A student requested this title, which was not in my collection, so I got it from the public library for her. I was curious (especially with all the recent press about Caitlyn Jenner), so I renewed it and read it myself. Arin was born Emerald, but never liked the girly dress-up (including pagaents) during her childhood. She was what I think of as a tomboy. As a teen, she struggled with her identity and sexual orientation. Eventually, Arin and mom went to a therapist to talk through some of the issues arising.
As of the writing of this book (2014), Arin had been taking hormone therapy and had "top surgery," but had not yet had "bottom surgery." This was an interesting (and to me, sad) book. I'm glad I'm aware of it, because it is well-written and could be a helpful book for kids struggling with LGBTQ issues and needing support.
There were a lot of passages that I thought about tagging, but I'll just include this one. It's worth thinking about and talking about. As Emerald, this child attended a Christian school with traditional Bible-based beliefs.
"For all the religion I was faced with at Lincoln, I was starting to realize that I felt much more spiritual when I was in the woods or any other sort of natural surrounding. The feel of bark against my cheek while I was up in a tree gave me more peace than scripture ever did. It was becoming increasingly harder for me to ignore the hypocrisy of the students at my school - they claimed to be Christians, but it was in image only. The fact that they could quote the Bible and showed up at church every Sunday didn't prevent them from being relentlessly cruel."
Hennepin County Library hardcover 239 pages
genre: non-fiction memoir
A student requested this title, which was not in my collection, so I got it from the public library for her. I was curious (especially with all the recent press about Caitlyn Jenner), so I renewed it and read it myself. Arin was born Emerald, but never liked the girly dress-up (including pagaents) during her childhood. She was what I think of as a tomboy. As a teen, she struggled with her identity and sexual orientation. Eventually, Arin and mom went to a therapist to talk through some of the issues arising.
As of the writing of this book (2014), Arin had been taking hormone therapy and had "top surgery," but had not yet had "bottom surgery." This was an interesting (and to me, sad) book. I'm glad I'm aware of it, because it is well-written and could be a helpful book for kids struggling with LGBTQ issues and needing support.
There were a lot of passages that I thought about tagging, but I'll just include this one. It's worth thinking about and talking about. As Emerald, this child attended a Christian school with traditional Bible-based beliefs.
"For all the religion I was faced with at Lincoln, I was starting to realize that I felt much more spiritual when I was in the woods or any other sort of natural surrounding. The feel of bark against my cheek while I was up in a tree gave me more peace than scripture ever did. It was becoming increasingly harder for me to ignore the hypocrisy of the students at my school - they claimed to be Christians, but it was in image only. The fact that they could quote the Bible and showed up at church every Sunday didn't prevent them from being relentlessly cruel."
Thursday, June 04, 2015
Menopause for Dummies
by Marcia Jones, Theresa Eichenwald, and Nancy W. Hall
Hennepin County Library paperback 342 pages
genre: non-fiction health
I wanted to know what was "normal" as I head toward my second half-century on the planet. I feel a lot better knowing that my current symptoms aren't really very troublesome at all. I am also confident that I will NOT be a good candidate for hormone therapy (because of my Factor V Leiden clotting issue.)
page 48 - "Fuzzy thinking is common when you're deprived of sleep or your hormones are in flux. When we say fuzzy thinking, we mean the feeling that you're just not with it today - as though you're walking through a fog or you just can't concentrate on what you're doing. Fuzzy thinking can be the result of interrupted sleep (which is extremely common during menopause)." I'm glad it's not just me losing my mind . . . I hate the feeling of fuzzy thinking! And it has been happening all too often lately.
page 120: "Water-based lubricants, such as Astroglide, are healthier for vaginal linings. Avoid petroleum-based products." Not an issue yet, but good to know!
I marked pages 236-7, but I'm not sure why . . . it's dealing with "controlling cardiovascular disease" and most of this info is old news to me. Perhaps it was the section on dealing with bone loss . . .
page 271-280 - great info on warming up and cooling down / hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds
Hennepin County Library paperback 342 pages
genre: non-fiction health
I wanted to know what was "normal" as I head toward my second half-century on the planet. I feel a lot better knowing that my current symptoms aren't really very troublesome at all. I am also confident that I will NOT be a good candidate for hormone therapy (because of my Factor V Leiden clotting issue.)
page 48 - "Fuzzy thinking is common when you're deprived of sleep or your hormones are in flux. When we say fuzzy thinking, we mean the feeling that you're just not with it today - as though you're walking through a fog or you just can't concentrate on what you're doing. Fuzzy thinking can be the result of interrupted sleep (which is extremely common during menopause)." I'm glad it's not just me losing my mind . . . I hate the feeling of fuzzy thinking! And it has been happening all too often lately.
page 120: "Water-based lubricants, such as Astroglide, are healthier for vaginal linings. Avoid petroleum-based products." Not an issue yet, but good to know!
I marked pages 236-7, but I'm not sure why . . . it's dealing with "controlling cardiovascular disease" and most of this info is old news to me. Perhaps it was the section on dealing with bone loss . . .
page 271-280 - great info on warming up and cooling down / hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds
- walk or cycle for 5-10 minutes to get warm
- stretch upper torso and arms by clasping hands above head, interlocking fingers / push palms upward / stretch until you feel tightness and hold
- clasp hands behind back / slowly and carefully life arms, stretch until you feel tightness and hold
- stand close ot a wall with one leg forward / bend front leg at knee and keep back leg straight / put hands on wall / stretch forward keeping back foot flat on the floor / switch legs and repeat
- lie flat on back / stick one leg up in the air / grab thigh of that leg / slightly bend leg on the floor / gently pull leg toward chest keeping leg straight / switch legs
- sit on floor with both legs extended straight out in front of you / bend one leg so your knee touches your chest / lean forward, reach out, and touch your toes / switch legs
- lie on back / raise legs in the air and bend at the knees / grab both legs behind and below knees / keep back flat to the floor while pulling thighs in toward chest
The Prince of Mist
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 discs
translated by Lucia Graves
read by Jonathan Davis
genre: YA mystery, suspense
Liked: music and sound effects, which added to the story
Diskliked: slow pacing, odd character development (is Max supposed to be a young child or a maturing teenager?), illogical plot development (the evil guy has the kid confronted, then just goes away . . . ),
Why was this set during WWII? Just so that the family had to relocate to avoid the war? So that Roland was in danger of being "called up"?
Why did Roland (17 y.o. if he's on the verge of being called up) become best friends with Max (14? 15? 12?)?
The love story didn't fit well with the creepy ghost story. The time / clock / watch theme didn't GO anywhere! Even in the author interview at the end of the story, he basically just says that it's his "thing," to play with the notion of time standing still or going backward. Dumb.
The cat, the statues, the ship . . . there was potential here, but it was ultimately a disappointing story. I had been curious about it since genrefying my media center. Guess I can get rid of this one.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 discs
translated by Lucia Graves
read by Jonathan Davis
genre: YA mystery, suspense
Liked: music and sound effects, which added to the story
Diskliked: slow pacing, odd character development (is Max supposed to be a young child or a maturing teenager?), illogical plot development (the evil guy has the kid confronted, then just goes away . . . ),
Why was this set during WWII? Just so that the family had to relocate to avoid the war? So that Roland was in danger of being "called up"?
Why did Roland (17 y.o. if he's on the verge of being called up) become best friends with Max (14? 15? 12?)?
The love story didn't fit well with the creepy ghost story. The time / clock / watch theme didn't GO anywhere! Even in the author interview at the end of the story, he basically just says that it's his "thing," to play with the notion of time standing still or going backward. Dumb.
The cat, the statues, the ship . . . there was potential here, but it was ultimately a disappointing story. I had been curious about it since genrefying my media center. Guess I can get rid of this one.
Monday, June 01, 2015
Six Suspects
by Vikas Swarup
Hennepin County Library audiobook 14 CDs
read by Lyndham Gregory
genre: realistic fiction
I only got through one and a half discs . . . it was taking too long for the story to come together. I think I was on suspect number three or four . . . and I didn't really care who killed Vicky Rai. He was a jerk who deserved it. I got this because I LOVE the story of Q&A (aka Slumdog Millionaire, which I NEVER want to see). But I just couldn't get into this one; each new suspect had a new story and my brain was having trouble keeping it all straight. Gregory's vocal work is wonderful, but this story didn't catch me.
"Seven years ago, Vivek Rai murdered Ruby Gill in a restaurant in New Delhi because she refused to serve him a drink. Now Vicky Rai (pronounced "Rye") is dead, killed at a party he had thrown to celebrate his acquittal. Six of the guests are discovered with guns in their possession and are taken in for questioning. Who are these six, and what were they doing that night? In this elaborate mystery we join Arun Advani, investigative journalist, as the lives of the six unravel: a corrupt bureaucrat, an American tourist infatuated with an Indian actress, a stone-age tribesman on a quest to discover a sacred stone, a Bollywood sex symbol with a guilty secret, a mobile phone thief who dreams big, and an ambitious politician prepared to stoop low. Each is equally likely to have pulled the trigger." (from the back of the case)
Hennepin County Library audiobook 14 CDs
read by Lyndham Gregory
genre: realistic fiction
I only got through one and a half discs . . . it was taking too long for the story to come together. I think I was on suspect number three or four . . . and I didn't really care who killed Vicky Rai. He was a jerk who deserved it. I got this because I LOVE the story of Q&A (aka Slumdog Millionaire, which I NEVER want to see). But I just couldn't get into this one; each new suspect had a new story and my brain was having trouble keeping it all straight. Gregory's vocal work is wonderful, but this story didn't catch me.
"Seven years ago, Vivek Rai murdered Ruby Gill in a restaurant in New Delhi because she refused to serve him a drink. Now Vicky Rai (pronounced "Rye") is dead, killed at a party he had thrown to celebrate his acquittal. Six of the guests are discovered with guns in their possession and are taken in for questioning. Who are these six, and what were they doing that night? In this elaborate mystery we join Arun Advani, investigative journalist, as the lives of the six unravel: a corrupt bureaucrat, an American tourist infatuated with an Indian actress, a stone-age tribesman on a quest to discover a sacred stone, a Bollywood sex symbol with a guilty secret, a mobile phone thief who dreams big, and an ambitious politician prepared to stoop low. Each is equally likely to have pulled the trigger." (from the back of the case)
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Trapped
by Michael Northrup
PRMS discard, paperback 232 pages
genre: YA suspense, survival
Published in 2011, I removed this from my collection because of water damage it had sustained (not sure when or by whom). It sounded intriguing enough that I wanted to read it to see if it was worth replacing. Seven kids are stuck at school when a monster snowstorm sends everyone else home early. Theoretically, parents are on the way to get them. The teacher who is with them goes out to get help, since all phone lines are down. He never comes back. It keeps snowing. The power goes out. The heat goes off. The roof collapses on part of the building.
This book had suspense, but not much action (or dynamic character development). The author does a great job of foreshadowing! But not much really happens. And only one person dies for sure (that we know of by the end of the book). Scotty Weems is our narrator, along with his buddies Pete and Jason. Bad boy Les, outcast Elijah, and beautiful girls Krista and Julie are the not-so-interesting kids.
I did like on page 122 and page 155 when the characters decide to pray (since they're on day four and the snow is about 18 feet deep).
"It was probably the ten thousandth time I'd heard Jason say "Jesus," but it was the first time I'd heard him mean it." So true! People use that precious name of power and sacrifice in such casual and even profane ways. But when people get desperate, they call on Him differently.
PRMS discard, paperback 232 pages
genre: YA suspense, survival
Published in 2011, I removed this from my collection because of water damage it had sustained (not sure when or by whom). It sounded intriguing enough that I wanted to read it to see if it was worth replacing. Seven kids are stuck at school when a monster snowstorm sends everyone else home early. Theoretically, parents are on the way to get them. The teacher who is with them goes out to get help, since all phone lines are down. He never comes back. It keeps snowing. The power goes out. The heat goes off. The roof collapses on part of the building.
This book had suspense, but not much action (or dynamic character development). The author does a great job of foreshadowing! But not much really happens. And only one person dies for sure (that we know of by the end of the book). Scotty Weems is our narrator, along with his buddies Pete and Jason. Bad boy Les, outcast Elijah, and beautiful girls Krista and Julie are the not-so-interesting kids.
I did like on page 122 and page 155 when the characters decide to pray (since they're on day four and the snow is about 18 feet deep).
"Oh, such, now you're religious. Where was that on about fifty-one of the last fifty-two Sundays?" Love this!
The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries & Other Stories
by John Taylor
Hennepin County Library audiobook 2 CDs
read by: Benedict Cumberbatch
genre: mystery
Inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work, the author created four new adventures (theoretically "old" ones) told from Watson's point of view. Although not as good as Doyle's stories, they were enjoyable (though Louie always guessed the villain before me). The vocal work was wonderful, of course.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 2 CDs
read by: Benedict Cumberbatch
genre: mystery
Inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work, the author created four new adventures (theoretically "old" ones) told from Watson's point of view. Although not as good as Doyle's stories, they were enjoyable (though Louie always guessed the villain before me). The vocal work was wonderful, of course.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Crusher
by Niall Leonard
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 discs
read by Daniel Weyman
genre: YA mystery adventure
This was pretty intense! Finn Maguire is a dropout working a crappy job at a fast-food place with a pinhead boss. When he comes home from work one day, he finds his dad dead. Things go from bad to worse when the cops see him as the prime suspect, he gets tangled up with organized crime, and people betray him. Poor kid! There were a few little bright spots, but mostly it was a dark story. Definitely worth listening to, though. Finn is a believable and likable character. Weyman's vocal work is superb.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 discs
read by Daniel Weyman
genre: YA mystery adventure
This was pretty intense! Finn Maguire is a dropout working a crappy job at a fast-food place with a pinhead boss. When he comes home from work one day, he finds his dad dead. Things go from bad to worse when the cops see him as the prime suspect, he gets tangled up with organized crime, and people betray him. Poor kid! There were a few little bright spots, but mostly it was a dark story. Definitely worth listening to, though. Finn is a believable and likable character. Weyman's vocal work is superb.
Truth Stained Lies
by Terri Blackstock
Hennepin County Library hardcover 299 pages
genre: Christian fiction, mystery
Liked:
- quick read
- suspence
- character of Michael
Disliked:
- not a very well-developed story
- book club discussion - only two of us read it and the other reader panned it!
"Cathy Cramer is a former lawyer and investigative blogger who writes commentary on high-profile homicides."
When her brother Jay is arrested in connection with his wife's murder, Cathy and her sisters Juliet and Holly work hard to exonerate him and save their nephew.
The first part of the book was full of mystery and clues; the second half was suspenseful.
I marked a bunch of spots but don't want to blog about them. Mostly characters struggling with their faith and some witnessing to others. I also liked Holly being kind to Mrs. Haughton.
Hennepin County Library hardcover 299 pages
genre: Christian fiction, mystery
Liked:
- quick read
- suspence
- character of Michael
Disliked:
- not a very well-developed story
- book club discussion - only two of us read it and the other reader panned it!
"Cathy Cramer is a former lawyer and investigative blogger who writes commentary on high-profile homicides."
When her brother Jay is arrested in connection with his wife's murder, Cathy and her sisters Juliet and Holly work hard to exonerate him and save their nephew.
The first part of the book was full of mystery and clues; the second half was suspenseful.
I marked a bunch of spots but don't want to blog about them. Mostly characters struggling with their faith and some witnessing to others. I also liked Holly being kind to Mrs. Haughton.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Take Me There
by Susane Colasanti
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 discs
read by Macleod Andrews, Angela Dawe, and Sarah Grace
genre: YA realistic fiction, romance
I think what I like best about Colasanti's books are the catchy covers . . . the two stories I've read so far haven't really made me a fan. This one has three narrators telling the same story from their individual perspectives in two overlapping story chunks. James was my favorite character by far. I especially like his home life and connection to Mrs. Schaefer. Most of the hand-wringing by Rhiannon and Nicole is immature and overwrought. Nicole's very serious secret gets overshadowed by the angsty teen approach to everything from note-passing to crushing on her math teacher. The slang seemed horribly outdated, but perhaps it's coming back into vogue and I'm just not aware? At least this is "clean" enough for my middle school kids.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 discs
read by Macleod Andrews, Angela Dawe, and Sarah Grace
genre: YA realistic fiction, romance
I think what I like best about Colasanti's books are the catchy covers . . . the two stories I've read so far haven't really made me a fan. This one has three narrators telling the same story from their individual perspectives in two overlapping story chunks. James was my favorite character by far. I especially like his home life and connection to Mrs. Schaefer. Most of the hand-wringing by Rhiannon and Nicole is immature and overwrought. Nicole's very serious secret gets overshadowed by the angsty teen approach to everything from note-passing to crushing on her math teacher. The slang seemed horribly outdated, but perhaps it's coming back into vogue and I'm just not aware? At least this is "clean" enough for my middle school kids.
Monday, May 04, 2015
Savage Drift (Monument 14 #3)
by Emmy Laybourne
PRMS hardcover 305 pages
genre: YA dystopian
When the teens see a picture of Josie in a newspaper, Niko determines to go get her out of the "O Camp." Astrid's pregnancy is not smooth, but she's terrified of being taken away like other pregnant women who have disappeared. Jake and Dean fight constantly. Action. Adventure. Danger. Another exciting story about teens impacted by a future apocalyptic weather and NORAD-based emergency. Wonderful writing! I hope she is working on more books, though I'm glad she wrapped up this story in three books.
PRMS hardcover 305 pages
genre: YA dystopian
When the teens see a picture of Josie in a newspaper, Niko determines to go get her out of the "O Camp." Astrid's pregnancy is not smooth, but she's terrified of being taken away like other pregnant women who have disappeared. Jake and Dean fight constantly. Action. Adventure. Danger. Another exciting story about teens impacted by a future apocalyptic weather and NORAD-based emergency. Wonderful writing! I hope she is working on more books, though I'm glad she wrapped up this story in three books.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Sky on Fire (Monument 14 #2)
by Emmy Laybourne
Hennepin County Library hardcover 215 pages
genre: YA dystopian future
Most of the kids load up into the bus to try to make it to the Denver International Airport. Astrid wants to stay for two big reasons. Dean decides to stay with her. The events that happen to both groups of kids make this a real page-turner!
One funny (to me) aspect of this story is the near-future predictions and situations. When the catastrophic storms hit, the network is down and everyone stresses because their "mini-tabs" (cell phone / entertainment devices) don't work. (I can completely picture that world.) On page 214, "Printed papers have made a comeback with the interruption of the Network." :-) Some of us still like printed papers, but the demise of traditional newspapers certainly does seem imminent.
One thing I wish - that somewhere in the story the author included information on what is happening on the rest of the planet. This is a fantastic series, though, and I need to finish book three!
Hennepin County Library hardcover 215 pages
genre: YA dystopian future
Most of the kids load up into the bus to try to make it to the Denver International Airport. Astrid wants to stay for two big reasons. Dean decides to stay with her. The events that happen to both groups of kids make this a real page-turner!
One funny (to me) aspect of this story is the near-future predictions and situations. When the catastrophic storms hit, the network is down and everyone stresses because their "mini-tabs" (cell phone / entertainment devices) don't work. (I can completely picture that world.) On page 214, "Printed papers have made a comeback with the interruption of the Network." :-) Some of us still like printed papers, but the demise of traditional newspapers certainly does seem imminent.
One thing I wish - that somewhere in the story the author included information on what is happening on the rest of the planet. This is a fantastic series, though, and I need to finish book three!
Monument 14
by Emmy Laybourne
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6? CDs
read by Todd Haberkorn
genre: YA dystopian future
Tomi and I listened to this on the way to and from school. She took it home to finish over the weekend (with her mom) and had to get the second book Monday morning! She finished it in a few days and book three as well . . .
I finished the audiobook and lent it to Tom C. He enjoyed M.T. Anderson's Feed so much, I thought he might like this one, too.
It's 2024 and en route to school, a tremendous hailstorm hits. The bus carrying the high school kids ends up on its side with the hail pelting through the windows and injuring the kids. Mrs. Wooly, the driver of the elementary school bus, delivers the little kids to safety and returns to get the "big kids." The action and danger are intense. An earthquake and the release of biological weapons from NORAD make this group of Colorado kids a fascinating experiment as they hide away in a Greenway store! This book had me - I've already read book two (after Tomi) and I'm on book three now.
Haberkorn is a great reader! Dean is a bit too much of a wuss for me (for a protagonist), but the characters are interesting and varied.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6? CDs
read by Todd Haberkorn
genre: YA dystopian future
Tomi and I listened to this on the way to and from school. She took it home to finish over the weekend (with her mom) and had to get the second book Monday morning! She finished it in a few days and book three as well . . .
I finished the audiobook and lent it to Tom C. He enjoyed M.T. Anderson's Feed so much, I thought he might like this one, too.
It's 2024 and en route to school, a tremendous hailstorm hits. The bus carrying the high school kids ends up on its side with the hail pelting through the windows and injuring the kids. Mrs. Wooly, the driver of the elementary school bus, delivers the little kids to safety and returns to get the "big kids." The action and danger are intense. An earthquake and the release of biological weapons from NORAD make this group of Colorado kids a fascinating experiment as they hide away in a Greenway store! This book had me - I've already read book two (after Tomi) and I'm on book three now.
Haberkorn is a great reader! Dean is a bit too much of a wuss for me (for a protagonist), but the characters are interesting and varied.
Something, Maybe
by Elizabeth Scott
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 CDs
genre: YA romance
read by Ellen Grafton
I couldn't finish even one CD. At first, I wasn't sure if it was the story or the narrator that was troublesome. Then I knew that whether the story was worth the time or not, I simply could not listen to the voice anymore! It was nasal? Whiny? Just plain irritating!
The story is about Hannah, whose father is an elderly playboy-type. Her mother is a has-been actress who tries to capitalize on her looks. Hannah just wants to disappear. Hannah has a crush on co-worker Josh, who is attractive, smart, and civic-minded. Her co-worker Finn is just irritating. What will it take for her to get Josh to really notice her?
I'll probably never know unless I am holding a print copy of this book in my hands.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 CDs
genre: YA romance
read by Ellen Grafton
I couldn't finish even one CD. At first, I wasn't sure if it was the story or the narrator that was troublesome. Then I knew that whether the story was worth the time or not, I simply could not listen to the voice anymore! It was nasal? Whiny? Just plain irritating!
The story is about Hannah, whose father is an elderly playboy-type. Her mother is a has-been actress who tries to capitalize on her looks. Hannah just wants to disappear. Hannah has a crush on co-worker Josh, who is attractive, smart, and civic-minded. Her co-worker Finn is just irritating. What will it take for her to get Josh to really notice her?
I'll probably never know unless I am holding a print copy of this book in my hands.
Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3)
by Sarah J. Maas
YAC hardcover 569 pages
genre: fantasy adventure
I read this because none of my Young Adult Choices readers wanted to read book three in a series that they hadn't read books one and two of . . . and since I had read book one, I "got" the characters and storyline to enough of a degree to tackle this one. I read it a little at a time each day over lunch, then finally brought it home last weekend to finish it.
Liked:
- characters, especially Rowan
- mystery / what will happen next
- Celaena's growth as an individual and her ability to handle her powers
- the writing is much better than in book one. She has developed as an author!
Disliked:
- three different story lines, especially with the witches. Since I didn't read book two, I may have missed some major plot developments
- after 569 pages, I want to know the outcome! There will be at least one more book . . .
YAC hardcover 569 pages
genre: fantasy adventure
I read this because none of my Young Adult Choices readers wanted to read book three in a series that they hadn't read books one and two of . . . and since I had read book one, I "got" the characters and storyline to enough of a degree to tackle this one. I read it a little at a time each day over lunch, then finally brought it home last weekend to finish it.
Liked:
- characters, especially Rowan
- mystery / what will happen next
- Celaena's growth as an individual and her ability to handle her powers
- the writing is much better than in book one. She has developed as an author!
Disliked:
- three different story lines, especially with the witches. Since I didn't read book two, I may have missed some major plot developments
- after 569 pages, I want to know the outcome! There will be at least one more book . . .
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Legend
by Marie Lu
Carver County Library paperback 304 pages
genre: YA dystopian fiction, romance, adventure
Set in a future world where the USA is now the Republic (west), the Colonies (east), and the Patriots (mercenaries), Day is a criminal and June is a soldier prodigy. The author gives a nod to Les Miserables in this story of law and order (June, the Republic) against the criminal element (Day).
Engaging story! I can see why my students want book two right away. I got this book club kit for my sixth grade book club (discussion today) and although it's a bit mature for them, I think they'll like it.
Carver County Library paperback 304 pages
genre: YA dystopian fiction, romance, adventure
Set in a future world where the USA is now the Republic (west), the Colonies (east), and the Patriots (mercenaries), Day is a criminal and June is a soldier prodigy. The author gives a nod to Les Miserables in this story of law and order (June, the Republic) against the criminal element (Day).
Engaging story! I can see why my students want book two right away. I got this book club kit for my sixth grade book club (discussion today) and although it's a bit mature for them, I think they'll like it.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Hold Still
by Nina LaCour
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 discs
read by Emma Galvin
genre: YA coming-of-age
Caitlin's best friend Ingrid committed suicide at the end of their sophomore year in high school. Caitlin's parents have done everything they can to help their daughter deal with her pain. Most of the book deals with Caitlin's thoughts, memories, and struggles. Photography, Ingrid's last journal, building a tree house, a new friend (Dylan - a lesbian who is new to school) and a potential boyfriend - Taylor - all help her work toward healing.
Liked it okay, but it was pretty depressing. At times, I wanted to shake her and tell her to get a grip! The reader had a wonderful voice and made the story come alive, but it wasn't what I was in the mood to read. Just too sad.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 discs
read by Emma Galvin
genre: YA coming-of-age
Caitlin's best friend Ingrid committed suicide at the end of their sophomore year in high school. Caitlin's parents have done everything they can to help their daughter deal with her pain. Most of the book deals with Caitlin's thoughts, memories, and struggles. Photography, Ingrid's last journal, building a tree house, a new friend (Dylan - a lesbian who is new to school) and a potential boyfriend - Taylor - all help her work toward healing.
Liked it okay, but it was pretty depressing. At times, I wanted to shake her and tell her to get a grip! The reader had a wonderful voice and made the story come alive, but it wasn't what I was in the mood to read. Just too sad.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky
PRMS paperback 213 pages
genre: YA coming of age
I finally read this! It is almost always checked out from my media center. The movie looks pretty interesting.
Charlie seems to be so incredibly naive to the point of being stupid. His identity is formed based on his relationships to other people. In fact, his young English teacher encourages him to think for himself - to be a filter and not a sponge.
Liked:
- Character development, especially siblings Patrick and Samantha
- True-to-life scenarios from high school
- Vivid descriptions
Didn't like:
- OLD technology! Published in 1999, it's hard to believe that Chbosky included mix tapes and darkroom developing . . . have things really changed so much in 16 years? I wonder if kids even know what mix tapes are.
- casual drug use
I was surprised by Charlie's revelation toward the end of the book. It completely changed the story for me.
PRMS paperback 213 pages
genre: YA coming of age
I finally read this! It is almost always checked out from my media center. The movie looks pretty interesting.
Charlie seems to be so incredibly naive to the point of being stupid. His identity is formed based on his relationships to other people. In fact, his young English teacher encourages him to think for himself - to be a filter and not a sponge.
Liked:
- Character development, especially siblings Patrick and Samantha
- True-to-life scenarios from high school
- Vivid descriptions
Didn't like:
- OLD technology! Published in 1999, it's hard to believe that Chbosky included mix tapes and darkroom developing . . . have things really changed so much in 16 years? I wonder if kids even know what mix tapes are.
- casual drug use
I was surprised by Charlie's revelation toward the end of the book. It completely changed the story for me.
Monday, April 13, 2015
Dear Mr. Knightley
by Katherine Reay
Hennepin County Library paperback 317 pages
genre: Christian romance
Now I have to see the movie Daddy Longlegs . . . or read the book. This story was inspired by that 1912 book by Jean Webster (but I had never heard of it before). Delightful little story about a girl named Samantha Moore who moved through the foster care system and ended up at Grace House, a group home. A benefactor offers her a scholarship to attend journalism school and she initially turns it down, wanting instead to work and live in an apartment (and to be away from Grace House).
page 26 - Sam's introspection and different perspective than Kyle, the boy she goes running with. I like the Sam / Kyle scenes. They are dynamic and interesting. (as on page 56 when Coach Ridley intervenes during one of their runs and she thinks - "I don't like losing. And I don't like criticism.")
page 69 - "Consider it grace - a gift unwarranted and undeserved." / also I have a post-it that says "Katie!" because the narrator writes "Then I'm coming after you if this turns weird."
page 123 - Again, with Kyle, she says, "I finally stopped my inane chatter and told him the truth about school and all my other struggles. It helped us both - shared failure is always a comfort." Truth is powerful, indeed!
page 141 - I love when she writes about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Aslan. "There's no Aslan in the real world, so there's no hope. Mrs. Muir would say I'm wrong. She says there is hope in God and hope in Christ." I love how this sweet couple, the Muirs, share their faith, their lives, their home . . . I want to be like that!
page 147 - "Maybe that's what love is - sacrificing yourself to save another . . . " Again she was talking with and about Kyle. That kid was my favorite character in this book! I love how he encouraged Sam to share their stories.
page 149 - "As we headed to bed, Mrs. Muir prayed for me. No one has ever done that before." Love love love this!
page 216 - "Love spills out of these people. That's what I want. Settling for anything less is a lie." It's ironic that she's writing about love to Mr. Knightley . . .
page 267 - The Ridleys' prayer when they have dinner after adopting Kyle. Awesome!
page 280 - "How can I not believe that there is a God who exists and loves, when the people before me are infused with that love and pour it out daily?"
page 301 - The story was so captivating until this point. The rest was pretty much a let-down. Her big revelation about Ebenezer Scrooge realizing that others were more important than he was . . . just lame.
I loved the romance, the Kyle/Sam growth dynamic, the literary allusions (though there were some I had to look up!), and the overall tone of the story. I liked many of the characters.
I wrote the above after reading this book for the first time in 2015. Now that our book club has read four other Reay titles, I was curious about her very first being my favorite. I re-read it yesterday (08.30.2020) and can affirm that it IS my favorite Reay book. I love it!
Wednesday, April 08, 2015
Living Dead Girl
by Elizabeth Scott
Hennepin County Library audiobook 3 CDs
genre: YA realistic fiction (horror!)
read by: Kate Reinders
Oh my word. This story was awful, but well-written. It opens with a fifteen-year-old girl "Alice" who has been with Ray for five years, ever since he took her from a school trip. He has beaten her, threatened her, and brutally raped her. This story was absolutely gripping. I am both sad and glad about how it ended. The reader was very effective.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 3 CDs
genre: YA realistic fiction (horror!)
read by: Kate Reinders
Oh my word. This story was awful, but well-written. It opens with a fifteen-year-old girl "Alice" who has been with Ray for five years, ever since he took her from a school trip. He has beaten her, threatened her, and brutally raped her. This story was absolutely gripping. I am both sad and glad about how it ended. The reader was very effective.
Monday, April 06, 2015
After Visiting Friends: A Son's Story
by Michael Hainey
Hennepin County Library audiobook 7 CDs
genre: non-fiction memoir
read by Dan John Miller
This was not as captivating as I expected it to be. His father died when he was only six years old. He grew up to be a reporter; his dad had been a "slot man" - a lead night editor at a Chicago paper. His dad's death impacted his childhood and his adulthood . . . in an almost obsessive way. I had some compassion for his struggles and his desire to find out what actually happened the night his dad died, but it all seemed overwrought and overblown. The father / son connection was important, and I can't relate to that. Plus, this wasn't my life story. It is definitely thoroughly researched but includes his introspection and wonderings along with the facts.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 7 CDs
genre: non-fiction memoir
read by Dan John Miller
This was not as captivating as I expected it to be. His father died when he was only six years old. He grew up to be a reporter; his dad had been a "slot man" - a lead night editor at a Chicago paper. His dad's death impacted his childhood and his adulthood . . . in an almost obsessive way. I had some compassion for his struggles and his desire to find out what actually happened the night his dad died, but it all seemed overwrought and overblown. The father / son connection was important, and I can't relate to that. Plus, this wasn't my life story. It is definitely thoroughly researched but includes his introspection and wonderings along with the facts.
Sunday, April 05, 2015
I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Hidden Enemy
by Pittacus Lore
PRMS paperback 403 pages
genre: YA fantasy adventure
The three stories - Five's Legacy, Return to Paradise, and Five's Betrayal - are just enough to tide me over until the next installment comes out. This is a very addictive series. Action, relationships, a few surprises. Since this book focuses on Five and Mark James, it is one of my least favorite in the series.
PRMS paperback 403 pages
genre: YA fantasy adventure
The three stories - Five's Legacy, Return to Paradise, and Five's Betrayal - are just enough to tide me over until the next installment comes out. This is a very addictive series. Action, relationships, a few surprises. Since this book focuses on Five and Mark James, it is one of my least favorite in the series.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
The Hot Zone
by Richard Preston
Hennepin County Library paperback 316 pages
genre: non-fiction, science, deadly viruses
How interesting! I'm glad I got this after talking to Pam Silverain about it. Written in 1994, Preston covers the Marburg virus, then three different forms of Ebola. He makes science sound like science fiction!
Pages 79-82 describing what Ebola Zaire did to Sister M.E. is horrific! It is so graphic that it reads like a passage from a zombie book. To think of people actually being this sick . . . it's a wonder anyone can survive it. The mortality rate is 90% (or was, at the time this book was written).
The part where the military is moving in on the monkey house in Reston, VA kind of bothered me. I understand about not wanting to cause a panic (and the media is fantastic at whipping people into frenzies), but it seemed a bit over-the-top. It was also interesting to read about the different approaches taken by the CDC and the level 4 military virus-fighters.
Nancy Jaax choosing to work instead of going to see her father on his death bed . . . I think she had her priorities messed up. That and leaving her children on auto-pilot. When your job is more important than the people in your life, it's time to re-think your job.
Page 310 - interesting to think of viruses like AIDS or Ebola as nature's corrective system for overpopulation by humans. Not that I agree, but it's an interesting hypothesis. Ultimately, I found the first half of this book to be quite gripping and the second half to be over-blown and ultimately a let-down. (I am glad, though, that there wasn't a major outbreak of a deadly virus!)
Hennepin County Library paperback 316 pages
genre: non-fiction, science, deadly viruses
How interesting! I'm glad I got this after talking to Pam Silverain about it. Written in 1994, Preston covers the Marburg virus, then three different forms of Ebola. He makes science sound like science fiction!
Pages 79-82 describing what Ebola Zaire did to Sister M.E. is horrific! It is so graphic that it reads like a passage from a zombie book. To think of people actually being this sick . . . it's a wonder anyone can survive it. The mortality rate is 90% (or was, at the time this book was written).
The part where the military is moving in on the monkey house in Reston, VA kind of bothered me. I understand about not wanting to cause a panic (and the media is fantastic at whipping people into frenzies), but it seemed a bit over-the-top. It was also interesting to read about the different approaches taken by the CDC and the level 4 military virus-fighters.
Nancy Jaax choosing to work instead of going to see her father on his death bed . . . I think she had her priorities messed up. That and leaving her children on auto-pilot. When your job is more important than the people in your life, it's time to re-think your job.
Page 310 - interesting to think of viruses like AIDS or Ebola as nature's corrective system for overpopulation by humans. Not that I agree, but it's an interesting hypothesis. Ultimately, I found the first half of this book to be quite gripping and the second half to be over-blown and ultimately a let-down. (I am glad, though, that there wasn't a major outbreak of a deadly virus!)
Home, and Other Big Fat Lies
by Jill Wolfson
PRMS hardcover 281 pages
genre: YA realistic, relationships
Eleven-year-old Whitney, aka Termite, is heading to foster home #12. This time, she' going away from big cities and out to logging country. She is active, loud, and mouthy. Her foster brother Striker and Mr. and Mrs. McCrary are nervous about adding her to their family, but the lumber layoffs and spotted owl protection have affected everyone in town. Whitney's presence means a monthly check for foster care. Mr. Cator, the science teacher, is a major character. Other foster children like Honeysuckle, Connie, and Josh (in a box) all add to the story. Nice, light, touches on the challenges in store for kids with no real home of their own.
Funniest / most unique part is Whitney's misuse of common expressions - that "stuck in my claw" and other malapropisms.
PRMS hardcover 281 pages
genre: YA realistic, relationships
Eleven-year-old Whitney, aka Termite, is heading to foster home #12. This time, she' going away from big cities and out to logging country. She is active, loud, and mouthy. Her foster brother Striker and Mr. and Mrs. McCrary are nervous about adding her to their family, but the lumber layoffs and spotted owl protection have affected everyone in town. Whitney's presence means a monthly check for foster care. Mr. Cator, the science teacher, is a major character. Other foster children like Honeysuckle, Connie, and Josh (in a box) all add to the story. Nice, light, touches on the challenges in store for kids with no real home of their own.
Funniest / most unique part is Whitney's misuse of common expressions - that "stuck in my claw" and other malapropisms.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Bzrk
by Michael Grant
Hennepin County Library audiobook 9 discs
read by Nico Evers-Swindell
genre: YA technothriller
I did not like this book. It's too dark, violent, and immoral. I don't know why some of my students have liked it so well. There are a lot of characters and it's hard to identify "good guys" because everyone seems pretty awful. Sadie McClure and Noah (Plath and Keats) were my favorites, but not by much. Nanotechnology is being used to control people's thoughts and the Armstrong brothers want to control the leaders of major countries. The twitchers of Bzrk are trying to stop them, but they're not exactly "good guys" in the classic sense of the world. The wanton killing was disturbing. I didn't enjoy this book and will not read the rest of the series.
I found it very interesting that the author referenced A Clockwork Orange (in describing blood). I also find it interesting that Michael Grant is married to Katherine Applegate. I like her writing style. Her stories are so much more human and relateable.
7 May 2014 added:
I found a note I made when I was about one-third the way through this book. Positives: futuristic / potential reality in terms of nanotechnology. Negatives: dark, creepy, scary / too many characters, places, events to follow / who are the protagonists?!?! Sadie? Noah?
Hennepin County Library audiobook 9 discs
read by Nico Evers-Swindell
genre: YA technothriller
I did not like this book. It's too dark, violent, and immoral. I don't know why some of my students have liked it so well. There are a lot of characters and it's hard to identify "good guys" because everyone seems pretty awful. Sadie McClure and Noah (Plath and Keats) were my favorites, but not by much. Nanotechnology is being used to control people's thoughts and the Armstrong brothers want to control the leaders of major countries. The twitchers of Bzrk are trying to stop them, but they're not exactly "good guys" in the classic sense of the world. The wanton killing was disturbing. I didn't enjoy this book and will not read the rest of the series.
I found it very interesting that the author referenced A Clockwork Orange (in describing blood). I also find it interesting that Michael Grant is married to Katherine Applegate. I like her writing style. Her stories are so much more human and relateable.
7 May 2014 added:
I found a note I made when I was about one-third the way through this book. Positives: futuristic / potential reality in terms of nanotechnology. Negatives: dark, creepy, scary / too many characters, places, events to follow / who are the protagonists?!?! Sadie? Noah?
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Just Like Heaven
by Julia Quinn
Hennepin County Library audiobook 8 discs
read by Rosalyn Landor
genre: historical romance
This is the Honoria and Marcus story. I had previously read the "Miss Winter" and Honoria's brother story (which occurs after this one). Landor has a wonderful voice and I like the era and class of dukes, earls, and proper manners. Delightful, fluffy story.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 8 discs
read by Rosalyn Landor
genre: historical romance
This is the Honoria and Marcus story. I had previously read the "Miss Winter" and Honoria's brother story (which occurs after this one). Landor has a wonderful voice and I like the era and class of dukes, earls, and proper manners. Delightful, fluffy story.
An Unseemly Wife
by E.B. Moore
Hennepin County Library paperback 309 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction
I've never been a huge fan of Amish fiction, and a story set during the Westward Expansion is even less inspiring to me. Ruth reluctantly goes west with her husband Aaron and four children while nine months pregnant . . . I told Louie if he'd told me we were doing this, I would have said "have fun."
pg 71 - ". . . the end destination made Aaron seem wooly-minded, even greedy in light of the plenty they possessed." Although the reasons Aaron gave for wanting to leave made sense, they really had a nice life already. Why risk everything for more land?
pg. 96 - "This was not who she wanted to be. She believed the tenets of giving and receiving." I like Ruth as a character and her strength. She was a great protagonist.
pg 114 - Part II "Keeping Plain" . . . the delineation between the sections wasn't very distinct other than the lovely section headers.
pg 146 - "No, her children would not be baptized. They would choose at eighteen, the way everyone in their Fold did, and until then no one could deny them the glory of God's love. It wasn't theirs to withhold." I love this! Infant baptism vs. individuals choosing for themselves. It makes a difference!
pg 170 - When Bathsheba went missing, I was so sad. That cow was precious and meant so much to Ruth.
pg 234 - Ely and his bride eyeballing all Ruth's and Aaron's possessions . . . how maddening! I could identify with Ruth's feelings a lot.
pg 247 - Part III "A Wager of Bones" - I finally lost it and cried hard at the end. When Ruth and Esther (dear little Esther!) walked past the people who gathered to watch the wagon burning . . .
This was a depressing story. I still don't like Amish stories. We had a great conversation about it.
Hennepin County Library paperback 309 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction
I've never been a huge fan of Amish fiction, and a story set during the Westward Expansion is even less inspiring to me. Ruth reluctantly goes west with her husband Aaron and four children while nine months pregnant . . . I told Louie if he'd told me we were doing this, I would have said "have fun."
pg 71 - ". . . the end destination made Aaron seem wooly-minded, even greedy in light of the plenty they possessed." Although the reasons Aaron gave for wanting to leave made sense, they really had a nice life already. Why risk everything for more land?
pg. 96 - "This was not who she wanted to be. She believed the tenets of giving and receiving." I like Ruth as a character and her strength. She was a great protagonist.
pg 114 - Part II "Keeping Plain" . . . the delineation between the sections wasn't very distinct other than the lovely section headers.
pg 146 - "No, her children would not be baptized. They would choose at eighteen, the way everyone in their Fold did, and until then no one could deny them the glory of God's love. It wasn't theirs to withhold." I love this! Infant baptism vs. individuals choosing for themselves. It makes a difference!
pg 170 - When Bathsheba went missing, I was so sad. That cow was precious and meant so much to Ruth.
pg 234 - Ely and his bride eyeballing all Ruth's and Aaron's possessions . . . how maddening! I could identify with Ruth's feelings a lot.
pg 247 - Part III "A Wager of Bones" - I finally lost it and cried hard at the end. When Ruth and Esther (dear little Esther!) walked past the people who gathered to watch the wagon burning . . .
This was a depressing story. I still don't like Amish stories. We had a great conversation about it.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Still Life with Bread Crumbs
by Anna Quindlen
Hennepin County Library hardcover 252 pages
genre: realistic fiction, relationships
This was the January book for Eden Prairie library, but I was curious and wanted to read it anyhow. (At the rate I'm going, I'll be ready and able to attend a book club there in 2017. . . ) Although I'm familiar with Quindlen as a writer, this may be the first novel of hers that I've read. It was beautiful and sad and hopeful. Rebecca Winter is a 60-year old photographer who is in financial straits and worried about becoming a "has-been." When she sublets her NYC apartment and takes a cottage in the woods, her life is slowly transformed. I loved the characters - Susan, Kevin (yuk!), Jim, Ben . . . this book is worth reading and discussing. Beautiful.
Hennepin County Library hardcover 252 pages
genre: realistic fiction, relationships
This was the January book for Eden Prairie library, but I was curious and wanted to read it anyhow. (At the rate I'm going, I'll be ready and able to attend a book club there in 2017. . . ) Although I'm familiar with Quindlen as a writer, this may be the first novel of hers that I've read. It was beautiful and sad and hopeful. Rebecca Winter is a 60-year old photographer who is in financial straits and worried about becoming a "has-been." When she sublets her NYC apartment and takes a cottage in the woods, her life is slowly transformed. I loved the characters - Susan, Kevin (yuk!), Jim, Ben . . . this book is worth reading and discussing. Beautiful.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Shiver
by Karen Robards
Hennepin County Library audiobook 9 discs
read by Shannon McManus
genre: thriller romance
Liked:
Daniel Panterro as a male protagonist, undercover FBI
mystery . . . what were the bad guys after?
reader - effective vocal work
Disliked:
repetition
sloooooooww drawn-out descriptions of things that could only take a matter of seconds real-time. This got very irritating!
Hennepin County Library audiobook 9 discs
read by Shannon McManus
genre: thriller romance
Liked:
Daniel Panterro as a male protagonist, undercover FBI
mystery . . . what were the bad guys after?
reader - effective vocal work
Disliked:
repetition
sloooooooww drawn-out descriptions of things that could only take a matter of seconds real-time. This got very irritating!
Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Time Out
by David Hill
PRMS hardcover 117 pages
genre: YA mystery
Liked it, but didn't love it. Kit has troubled home life (dad is gone, mom drinks, they fight when they communicate) and runs to escape it. Mark is the "star" on the track team, but Kit can outrun him. One day when Kit is running, a truck gets too close and . . . alternate reality, black holes, teen attraction, etc. It was a nice light read, but not compelling enough to keep. It was on my weed pile, but is in beautiful condition. It will go.
PRMS hardcover 117 pages
genre: YA mystery
Liked it, but didn't love it. Kit has troubled home life (dad is gone, mom drinks, they fight when they communicate) and runs to escape it. Mark is the "star" on the track team, but Kit can outrun him. One day when Kit is running, a truck gets too close and . . . alternate reality, black holes, teen attraction, etc. It was a nice light read, but not compelling enough to keep. It was on my weed pile, but is in beautiful condition. It will go.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
by Wes Moore
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 discs
read by the author
genre: non-fiction, memoir, social commentary
"Two kids with the same name were born blocks apart in the same decaying city within a year of each other. One grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison."
I had read a review of this book a few years ago, then saw it on the shelf at the library. What a fascinating story of similarities and differences. The tag line of "The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine, The tragedy is that my story could have been his." Moore says that he doesn't really know why their lives turned out so differently. He talks about choices and the mentors he had. I think one key difference is that the author had a loving, attentive father who happened to die when the author was quite young. The other Wes Moore had no father at all.
I love this quote from the book: "Boredom in teenage boys is a powerful motivation to create chaos." How true! There were other parts in the epilogue I would like to note, but time is short and I need to get going.
Oh! I like what he had to say about privilege and chances and the role of luck. Even though I know I've had a lot of privileges (due to my skin color, neighborhood, parents, etc.), I can't really know what it's like to feel that I could never succeed. As a teacher, I get frustrated with kids who seem (to me) to squander their opportunities. I forget sometimes that I was raised in such a way that success was expected. This book is a worthwhile read.
I also liked how the author identified poverty as he knew it growing up in Baltimore and the Bronx versus the poverty he saw in South Africa when he studied abroad.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 5 discs
read by the author
genre: non-fiction, memoir, social commentary
"Two kids with the same name were born blocks apart in the same decaying city within a year of each other. One grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison."
I had read a review of this book a few years ago, then saw it on the shelf at the library. What a fascinating story of similarities and differences. The tag line of "The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine, The tragedy is that my story could have been his." Moore says that he doesn't really know why their lives turned out so differently. He talks about choices and the mentors he had. I think one key difference is that the author had a loving, attentive father who happened to die when the author was quite young. The other Wes Moore had no father at all.
I love this quote from the book: "Boredom in teenage boys is a powerful motivation to create chaos." How true! There were other parts in the epilogue I would like to note, but time is short and I need to get going.
Oh! I like what he had to say about privilege and chances and the role of luck. Even though I know I've had a lot of privileges (due to my skin color, neighborhood, parents, etc.), I can't really know what it's like to feel that I could never succeed. As a teacher, I get frustrated with kids who seem (to me) to squander their opportunities. I forget sometimes that I was raised in such a way that success was expected. This book is a worthwhile read.
I also liked how the author identified poverty as he knew it growing up in Baltimore and the Bronx versus the poverty he saw in South Africa when he studied abroad.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Breakpoint and Beyond
by George Land and Beth Jarman
Hennepin County Library hardcover 225
published in 1992
genre: non-fiction, change, trends
I wish I had kept track of who recommended this book! It's definitely geared to business, but at 20+ years old, a lot of what they write about is history. I kept renewing it and not reading it, so I'm just going to return it to the library. It would help me a lot to know which context I wanted it for when I requested it.
From the introduction: "The science of natural change and growth shows that at critical points in the development of anything the rules shift." This makes me think of the joke about PRMS - Perpetually Reinventing Middle School. That's certainly how it feels!
Again, written in the early 90s, it has a dated feel to it. I loved this quote from William Glasser, though. "So quickly that few have recognized what is happening, a society that lasted for ten thousand years has begun to dissolve. In its place a new society has been growing up, one in which the mores, habits, and goals of a hundred centuries are being profoundly altered. Some might take longer than others to recognize this colossal reorientation; many will undoubtedly spend the rest of their lives resisting the new direction of humanity. But it is real."
I have no desire to read this book in its entirety. It's about change and the inevitability of it. It compares change in nature to change in society and organizations. It defines breakpoints and patterns of change. Enough said.
Hennepin County Library hardcover 225
published in 1992
genre: non-fiction, change, trends
I wish I had kept track of who recommended this book! It's definitely geared to business, but at 20+ years old, a lot of what they write about is history. I kept renewing it and not reading it, so I'm just going to return it to the library. It would help me a lot to know which context I wanted it for when I requested it.
From the introduction: "The science of natural change and growth shows that at critical points in the development of anything the rules shift." This makes me think of the joke about PRMS - Perpetually Reinventing Middle School. That's certainly how it feels!
Again, written in the early 90s, it has a dated feel to it. I loved this quote from William Glasser, though. "So quickly that few have recognized what is happening, a society that lasted for ten thousand years has begun to dissolve. In its place a new society has been growing up, one in which the mores, habits, and goals of a hundred centuries are being profoundly altered. Some might take longer than others to recognize this colossal reorientation; many will undoubtedly spend the rest of their lives resisting the new direction of humanity. But it is real."
I have no desire to read this book in its entirety. It's about change and the inevitability of it. It compares change in nature to change in society and organizations. It defines breakpoints and patterns of change. Enough said.
Don't Give Up, Don't Give In
by Louis Zamperini and David Rensin
Hennepin County Library hardcover 232 pages
genre: non-fiction, inspirational
I wish I'd had time to read the whole thing! This is actually worth purchasing. Some of it I was already aware of because of having read Unbroken. But I like the way he shares life lessons and stories from throughout his life. Wonderful book! I'd also like to read The Devil at My Heels. What an amazing man!
Hennepin County Library hardcover 232 pages
genre: non-fiction, inspirational
I wish I'd had time to read the whole thing! This is actually worth purchasing. Some of it I was already aware of because of having read Unbroken. But I like the way he shares life lessons and stories from throughout his life. Wonderful book! I'd also like to read The Devil at My Heels. What an amazing man!
The Story Keeper
by Lisa Wingate
Hennepin County Library hardcover 413 pages
genre: Christian realistic fiction
Jennia Gibbs is a New York editor who is new to Vida House Publishing. When a manuscript from the forbidden "slush pile" shows up on her desk, she is drawn into the story of Sarra and Rand. She is also drawn back to her home region and the tangles of family connections (especially poor family wanting money from her). I really enjoyed this book and our discussion last night.
page 47 - talking about her grandma - "I hadn't thought about that in years, hadn't allowed Momaw Leena and her meanness into my life - not even long enough to consider how incredibly wrong it was to heap misery on kids who were already struggling to survive." This made me think about some of my students who have tough situations and lack supportive adults.
page 70 - from the manuscript, when Rand stands up to Jep - "He sensed the balance slowly turning. he could feel, for the first time in his life, the power of good against evil." I like that! (both the power and his realization)
page 162 - When Jen goes to the stables - "I was struck again by the fact that, for all appearances, this was a beautiful life. A perfect life. It's so easy to make assumptions, passing by other people's homes at a distance. To be so certain that the goings-on inside mirror the exteriors - that glittering facades and squeaky-clean windows equate to perfect families, yet the reality is that containers often tell nothing of the contents."
page 239 - "I wonder if it's ever possible to fully cast off twisted family bonds and move through the world without them slowly digging into the skin . . . " (Katie noted this one, too!)
page 294 - I love the librarian reference!
page 295 - When she comes to terms with the messed-up religion of her childhood (all punishment and rules without the grace and love) - "Just a building, created by men, filled with bits of God's Word town from context and recombined like the pieces of a ransom note."
page 333 - Title! From the manuscript - "You ken the stories, and when I'm shed a this place, then it'll be you who's the story keeper."
page 366 - my favorite line from the book - "Even when we are lost, God has not lost us."
This was slow to start (in my opinion), but Katie asked me if it was worth reading past a certain point (Sarra and her life at the start of the manuscript) so I read on. Yes, it's worth it!
Hennepin County Library hardcover 413 pages
genre: Christian realistic fiction
Jennia Gibbs is a New York editor who is new to Vida House Publishing. When a manuscript from the forbidden "slush pile" shows up on her desk, she is drawn into the story of Sarra and Rand. She is also drawn back to her home region and the tangles of family connections (especially poor family wanting money from her). I really enjoyed this book and our discussion last night.
page 47 - talking about her grandma - "I hadn't thought about that in years, hadn't allowed Momaw Leena and her meanness into my life - not even long enough to consider how incredibly wrong it was to heap misery on kids who were already struggling to survive." This made me think about some of my students who have tough situations and lack supportive adults.
page 70 - from the manuscript, when Rand stands up to Jep - "He sensed the balance slowly turning. he could feel, for the first time in his life, the power of good against evil." I like that! (both the power and his realization)
page 162 - When Jen goes to the stables - "I was struck again by the fact that, for all appearances, this was a beautiful life. A perfect life. It's so easy to make assumptions, passing by other people's homes at a distance. To be so certain that the goings-on inside mirror the exteriors - that glittering facades and squeaky-clean windows equate to perfect families, yet the reality is that containers often tell nothing of the contents."
page 239 - "I wonder if it's ever possible to fully cast off twisted family bonds and move through the world without them slowly digging into the skin . . . " (Katie noted this one, too!)
page 294 - I love the librarian reference!
page 295 - When she comes to terms with the messed-up religion of her childhood (all punishment and rules without the grace and love) - "Just a building, created by men, filled with bits of God's Word town from context and recombined like the pieces of a ransom note."
page 333 - Title! From the manuscript - "You ken the stories, and when I'm shed a this place, then it'll be you who's the story keeper."
page 366 - my favorite line from the book - "Even when we are lost, God has not lost us."
This was slow to start (in my opinion), but Katie asked me if it was worth reading past a certain point (Sarra and her life at the start of the manuscript) so I read on. Yes, it's worth it!
Monday, February 09, 2015
Darling Jim
by Christian Moerk
Hennepin County Library audiobook, 9 discs
read by Stephen Hoye and Justine Eyre
genre: murder mystery, eerie . . .
This book was very, very creepy in that it drew me in and kept me wondering although I didn't really enjoy it. I was compelled to continue the story to find out what really happened - much as the characters in the story are drawn to Jim's storytelling. From the back flap:
"When two sisters and their aunt are found dead in their suburban Dublin home, it seems that the secret behind their untimely demise will never be known. But then Niall, a young mailman, finds a mysterious diary in the post office's dead-letter bin. From beyond the grave, Fiona Walsh shares the most tragic love story he's ever heard - and her tale has only just begun."
Okay, I'm not sure "tragic love story" fits . . . but the author definitely weaves a multi-layered tale that draws the reader in. I had to know what happened to the sisters and to Niall. I wondered how their aunt captured them. I wanted Mary Catherine to be shut down . . . This isn't a very nice story, but it is fascinating.
The readers were both incredibly excellent and brought several characters to life very effectively.
Hennepin County Library audiobook, 9 discs
read by Stephen Hoye and Justine Eyre
genre: murder mystery, eerie . . .
This book was very, very creepy in that it drew me in and kept me wondering although I didn't really enjoy it. I was compelled to continue the story to find out what really happened - much as the characters in the story are drawn to Jim's storytelling. From the back flap:
"When two sisters and their aunt are found dead in their suburban Dublin home, it seems that the secret behind their untimely demise will never be known. But then Niall, a young mailman, finds a mysterious diary in the post office's dead-letter bin. From beyond the grave, Fiona Walsh shares the most tragic love story he's ever heard - and her tale has only just begun."
Okay, I'm not sure "tragic love story" fits . . . but the author definitely weaves a multi-layered tale that draws the reader in. I had to know what happened to the sisters and to Niall. I wondered how their aunt captured them. I wanted Mary Catherine to be shut down . . . This isn't a very nice story, but it is fascinating.
The readers were both incredibly excellent and brought several characters to life very effectively.
Saturday, January 31, 2015
The Summer Hideaway
by Susan Wiggs
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 discs
genre: romance
This was so much better than the last few I've tried! There was actually a plot and some character development. Claire Turner is a private duty nurse. She's been on her own and on the run since she was 17 years old and saw her foster dad (a respected cop) murder her two foster brothers. Ross Bellamy is coming home after two years in Afghanistan and is dismayed that his grandfather is "giving up" on medical treatments for his brain tumor. I didn't enjoy the back story quite as much . . . every time the story went back to the 1940s and 50s, I urged it to hurry back to the modern story. (Yeah - what's dumber - talking to my stereo while I drive, or continuing to check out romance stories?)
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 discs
genre: romance
This was so much better than the last few I've tried! There was actually a plot and some character development. Claire Turner is a private duty nurse. She's been on her own and on the run since she was 17 years old and saw her foster dad (a respected cop) murder her two foster brothers. Ross Bellamy is coming home after two years in Afghanistan and is dismayed that his grandfather is "giving up" on medical treatments for his brain tumor. I didn't enjoy the back story quite as much . . . every time the story went back to the 1940s and 50s, I urged it to hurry back to the modern story. (Yeah - what's dumber - talking to my stereo while I drive, or continuing to check out romance stories?)
Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
by Roz Chast
Carver County Library paperback 240 pages
genre: graphic novel memoir
This was very interesting! Although there were aspects of Chast's experience that were quite different from mine (Jewish, only child, loss of both parents vs. Christian, three sibs, dad's still alive), there were enough similarities for this book to really resonate with me! Issues of managing time, money, and feelings were key. Dealing with the accumulation of stuff over decades - this really hit home!
I gave it to Louise, hoping she would read it quickly so Ann could perhaps read it, too. I hoped to go to the discussion of the book at the EP library on Monday night. But just now I realized that my appointment for Pepper's grooming is also on Monday night. Reschedule the grooming? Sigh. I would love to talk with others who have read this book and are dealing with these issues.
Her drawing style isn't my favorite, but she is a wonderful storyteller.
Carver County Library paperback 240 pages
genre: graphic novel memoir
This was very interesting! Although there were aspects of Chast's experience that were quite different from mine (Jewish, only child, loss of both parents vs. Christian, three sibs, dad's still alive), there were enough similarities for this book to really resonate with me! Issues of managing time, money, and feelings were key. Dealing with the accumulation of stuff over decades - this really hit home!
I gave it to Louise, hoping she would read it quickly so Ann could perhaps read it, too. I hoped to go to the discussion of the book at the EP library on Monday night. But just now I realized that my appointment for Pepper's grooming is also on Monday night. Reschedule the grooming? Sigh. I would love to talk with others who have read this book and are dealing with these issues.
Her drawing style isn't my favorite, but she is a wonderful storyteller.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Wildflowers from Winter
by Katie Ganshert
Hennepin County Library paperback 293
genre: Christian romance
Bethany is an architect in Chicago. When events in her hometown of Peaks, Iowa draw her back there after a decade's absence, she struggles with her past and present.
Dan - her dad's dad, grandpa Dan is the most stable, positive part of her past
Pastor Fenton - zealous in a bad way; he's the reason she rejects God
Evan - cute guy who has been farming Dan's land for the last five years
Micah - Evan's brother, hospitalized and unresponsive
Robin - Bethany's best friend in childhood, they've not kept close
This was good, but not great. Too many things that didn't fit . . . too many tragic deaths just to make the living characters more sympathetic (Bethany's dad when she was nine, Robin's mom not too many years later, Robin's husband just before he learns they're pregnant . . . ). We have book club tomorrow night and it will be fun to discuss it with the others. If I had to pick a favorite part, it would probably be at the carnival when Pastor Fenton has a stroke - because of Bethany's revelation about the nature of God.
Hennepin County Library paperback 293
genre: Christian romance
Bethany is an architect in Chicago. When events in her hometown of Peaks, Iowa draw her back there after a decade's absence, she struggles with her past and present.
Dan - her dad's dad, grandpa Dan is the most stable, positive part of her past
Pastor Fenton - zealous in a bad way; he's the reason she rejects God
Evan - cute guy who has been farming Dan's land for the last five years
Micah - Evan's brother, hospitalized and unresponsive
Robin - Bethany's best friend in childhood, they've not kept close
This was good, but not great. Too many things that didn't fit . . . too many tragic deaths just to make the living characters more sympathetic (Bethany's dad when she was nine, Robin's mom not too many years later, Robin's husband just before he learns they're pregnant . . . ). We have book club tomorrow night and it will be fun to discuss it with the others. If I had to pick a favorite part, it would probably be at the carnival when Pastor Fenton has a stroke - because of Bethany's revelation about the nature of God.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Jack's Run
by Roland Smith
donation copy paperback 246 pages
genre: YA adventure
I read this in bits and pieces during lunch this school year. It's a quick little sequel to Zach's Lie. I think I like it better than the first book! Jack/Zack/Mack is heading to California to stay with his sister while his parents are holed up in preparation for Alonzo's trial. His sister auditions for a singing show (brilliant move for a person in a witness protection program . . . ) and they are again being hunted. The kids are taken to a vineyard until their parents give up Alonzo's journal. Action. Adventure. Danger. Good stuff. A little too much, but middle school appropriate.
donation copy paperback 246 pages
genre: YA adventure
I read this in bits and pieces during lunch this school year. It's a quick little sequel to Zach's Lie. I think I like it better than the first book! Jack/Zack/Mack is heading to California to stay with his sister while his parents are holed up in preparation for Alonzo's trial. His sister auditions for a singing show (brilliant move for a person in a witness protection program . . . ) and they are again being hunted. The kids are taken to a vineyard until their parents give up Alonzo's journal. Action. Adventure. Danger. Good stuff. A little too much, but middle school appropriate.
The Hundred Dresses
by Eleanor Estes
illustrated by Louis Slobodkin
PRMS paperback 80 pages
genre: children's realistic fiction, Newbery Honor book
Janet Aquino was shocked last fall when I admitted I had never read this book. Since I was helping some of her students, I read it. Wanda Petronski is the odd girl who lives in Boggins Heights and wears the same dress every day to school. Maddie is the narrator of the story. Peggy is her best friend and the chief tormentor of poor Wanda. As they ask her questions, Wanda says that she has a hundred dresses at home in her closet. Only when she doesn't show up for school one day do they try to truly learn more about Wanda. Short, with good conversation points. Not sure how the boys react to having to read this . . .
illustrated by Louis Slobodkin
PRMS paperback 80 pages
genre: children's realistic fiction, Newbery Honor book
Janet Aquino was shocked last fall when I admitted I had never read this book. Since I was helping some of her students, I read it. Wanda Petronski is the odd girl who lives in Boggins Heights and wears the same dress every day to school. Maddie is the narrator of the story. Peggy is her best friend and the chief tormentor of poor Wanda. As they ask her questions, Wanda says that she has a hundred dresses at home in her closet. Only when she doesn't show up for school one day do they try to truly learn more about Wanda. Short, with good conversation points. Not sure how the boys react to having to read this . . .
Saturday, January 17, 2015
The Hunt
by Andrew Fukuda
Hennepin County Library paperback 293
genre: YA vampire / dystopian future
The "people" are actually vampires who thrive at night, eating bloody raw meat since almost all "hepers" - human beings - are gone. Gene (who doesn't use a name, like the people, but remembers his later) has survived by being very, very careful. Shaving all hairs from his face and body. Cleaning thoroughly and using scent to mask his own. Not making any sudden movements. No laughing, raised eyebrows, etc. School is easy for him academically since he's very smart. But he has to constantly be on his guard and cannot make any friends. When he is selected by "lottery" to be part of a heper hunt, staying alive gets much harder.
Liked:
fast pace
interesting elements to the story
Disliked:
unresolved ending with Ashley June in the dungeon . . .
unrealistic fight and escape with rabid vampires on top of them
the revelation at the end about who the scientist was
It's worth reading this book IF you plan on reading book two, The Prey. Not sure I will.
Hennepin County Library paperback 293
genre: YA vampire / dystopian future
The "people" are actually vampires who thrive at night, eating bloody raw meat since almost all "hepers" - human beings - are gone. Gene (who doesn't use a name, like the people, but remembers his later) has survived by being very, very careful. Shaving all hairs from his face and body. Cleaning thoroughly and using scent to mask his own. Not making any sudden movements. No laughing, raised eyebrows, etc. School is easy for him academically since he's very smart. But he has to constantly be on his guard and cannot make any friends. When he is selected by "lottery" to be part of a heper hunt, staying alive gets much harder.
Liked:
fast pace
interesting elements to the story
Disliked:
unresolved ending with Ashley June in the dungeon . . .
unrealistic fight and escape with rabid vampires on top of them
the revelation at the end about who the scientist was
It's worth reading this book IF you plan on reading book two, The Prey. Not sure I will.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Oh, Yikes! History's Grossest, Wackiest Moments
by Joy Masoff
PRMS audiobook 2 discs
read by Johnny Heller
genre: YA non-fiction
This is definitely middle school appropriate, but it's not the grossest or wackiest. This is a more interesting way to learn about history than most textbooks' treatment. Aztecs, Henry VIII, Christopher Columbus, and others are shared in a not-very-flattering light.
PRMS audiobook 2 discs
read by Johnny Heller
genre: YA non-fiction
This is definitely middle school appropriate, but it's not the grossest or wackiest. This is a more interesting way to learn about history than most textbooks' treatment. Aztecs, Henry VIII, Christopher Columbus, and others are shared in a not-very-flattering light.
Monday, January 12, 2015
A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper
by John Allen Paulos
Hennepin County Library paperback 203 pages
genre: non-fiction, analysis
Not sure where I read about this book, but the concept intrigued me. I couldn't read more than a few chapters, though. This book made my brain work too hard and I honestly didn't understand some of his analysis of news stories. The one I really like (and that stuck in my brain as an educator) was asking people to estimate the population of a country, but starting with an "anchor." When "people were asked to estimate the population of Turkey. Before answering, they were presented wiht a figure and asked whether the actual number was higher of lower. Of those who were first presented with the figure of five million, the average estimate was 17 million; of those first presented with a figure of 65 million, the average estimate was 35 million." People use data as anchors to actual information, even though they are not based on fact. (Turkey's population at the time of the study was 50 million.)
Hennepin County Library paperback 203 pages
genre: non-fiction, analysis
Not sure where I read about this book, but the concept intrigued me. I couldn't read more than a few chapters, though. This book made my brain work too hard and I honestly didn't understand some of his analysis of news stories. The one I really like (and that stuck in my brain as an educator) was asking people to estimate the population of a country, but starting with an "anchor." When "people were asked to estimate the population of Turkey. Before answering, they were presented wiht a figure and asked whether the actual number was higher of lower. Of those who were first presented with the figure of five million, the average estimate was 17 million; of those first presented with a figure of 65 million, the average estimate was 35 million." People use data as anchors to actual information, even though they are not based on fact. (Turkey's population at the time of the study was 50 million.)
Friday, January 09, 2015
Bury the Dead: tombs, corpses, mummies, skeletons, & rituals
by Christopher Sloan
PRMS audiobook 1 disc
read by Matthew Greer
genre: YA non-fiction
Put out by National Geographic, this brief book had interesting historical info on different cultures and death practices. It was a bit "over" average middle schoolers' level, but short enough to work for kids who are into this type of thing.
PRMS audiobook 1 disc
read by Matthew Greer
genre: YA non-fiction
Put out by National Geographic, this brief book had interesting historical info on different cultures and death practices. It was a bit "over" average middle schoolers' level, but short enough to work for kids who are into this type of thing.
Wednesday, January 07, 2015
Medicine in the Industrial World
by John D. Clare
part of the "The History of Medicine" series
PRMS hardcover 62 pages
genre: non-fiction
I initially picked this up after I checked out my Florence Nightingale book to a student and wanted an example for doing bibliographies. Then I checked it out because I was curious. Some of it was super interesting. Some was familiar info. Some stuff bugged me, like the author basically saying Nightingale was a "creation of the newspapers." Wow. He completely dissed her contributions in the field of medicine.
part of the "The History of Medicine" series
PRMS hardcover 62 pages
genre: non-fiction
I initially picked this up after I checked out my Florence Nightingale book to a student and wanted an example for doing bibliographies. Then I checked it out because I was curious. Some of it was super interesting. Some was familiar info. Some stuff bugged me, like the author basically saying Nightingale was a "creation of the newspapers." Wow. He completely dissed her contributions in the field of medicine.
Monday, January 05, 2015
The Red Queen's Daughter
by Jacqueline Kolosov
Hennepin County Library paperback 399 pages
genre: YA historical fiction, fantasy
A student (Anna R) raved about this book and basically demanded that I read it. So I did. And it bugged the heck out of me. I'll need to ask her what about it she liked so much and really *listen* to her answer.
Here's what I didn't like:
- the "white" magic and how she explains its role in the world
- the pathetic lack of strength in the protagonist, Mary Seymour
- the twisting of the historical account
- the continual rescue of magic to an extremely difficult situation
Seriously. Did Mary truly fall in love with her cousin? Or was she just that suggestible?
I liked her dog / spirit. He rocked.
Hennepin County Library paperback 399 pages
genre: YA historical fiction, fantasy
A student (Anna R) raved about this book and basically demanded that I read it. So I did. And it bugged the heck out of me. I'll need to ask her what about it she liked so much and really *listen* to her answer.
Here's what I didn't like:
- the "white" magic and how she explains its role in the world
- the pathetic lack of strength in the protagonist, Mary Seymour
- the twisting of the historical account
- the continual rescue of magic to an extremely difficult situation
Seriously. Did Mary truly fall in love with her cousin? Or was she just that suggestible?
I liked her dog / spirit. He rocked.
A Matter of Days
by Amber Kizer
Hennepin County Library audiobook 7 discs
read by Alex McKenna
genre: YA futuristic, SciFi
Loved this! Reader McKenna brought the story to life amazingly well, as Nadia and her little brother Rabbit set out from Seattle to meet their uncle Bean and their Grandpa in West Virgina. The deadly virus BluStar has decimated more than 90% of the human population. Roving gangs have wreaked yet more havoc. Their trip is fraught with dangers (both natural and human) and small joys. What a wonderful piece of storytelling! I am buying the book for my media center asap!
The kids' dad died overseas in combat. Their mom was a nurse who resented the military life that claimed her husband. Zach is a surprising hero. Wanted to write down the dog's name . . . but I may have to re-listen to get it. Something like "tiwocky" - it was an acronym. Relistened - it's Teotwawki "tee-oh-twocky" - The End Of The World As We Know It.
Wonderful book!
<Above written 1.5.15. Below added 6.16.25.>
I got this as a Libby ebook this time. The subtitle is "Will you be a survivor or a statistic?" The kids constantly talked about "being the cockroach" as their dad taught them - survive. The story opens on "Day 56" with their mom's death. Since the start of the emergency, they had hunkered down in their house. Now they had to try to get to West Virginia from the Seattle area.
"Day 57: "Then the clean crisp air hit my lungs. No smell. That wasn't entirely true. Pine and ozone filled my lungs. No death. No rotting flesh. Just air. 'Oh my God, I forgot.' This is what the world used to smell like."
I don't have a super-sensitive nose, but I hold my breath when I walk by a smoker. I think that it would be amazing to smell fresh air after being around decaying corpses!
"Day 61: The idea only worked when the invader was visible - viruses were smarter than humans in many ways. Invisible to the eye and skilled at adapting, they hitched rides on carriers before ever making them sick."
She wrote this before Covid-19. In her author's note, she writes about pandemics, epidemics, history, and future predictions. She is right that viruses can be very difficult to fight.
Day 61: "I tried to remember to breathe - oxygen makes the brain work better. Shallow breathing kills common sense."
I love that Nadia took lessons from both her dad and her mom and put them into practice!
Day 61: "We weren't close before. Too many years, too much technology, and too much responsibility got in the way of a close relationship. That was changing. Needs to change."
Nadia recognizes that she and Rabbit are on different footing now that they are in survival mode together. They've just rescued Teotwawki and she is trying to clean and treat his wounded feet.
Day 63: "'You read a lot?'
'Not before I needed to. Now pretty much every day for something. The streets of Los Angeles didn't really have much in common with here.'"
I love that Zach is turning to books to learn about farming, fixing things, etc. I love books!
Day 63: "'. . . that's why I decided I needed a place, a farm and crap. I used to think school was for morons, but now books about history and guidebooks. You know? How to survive without your cell phone or the Internet.'"
I love that he named his small town "Zachville" and used the police station to store supplies.
Day 89: "In our truck? Why do all these groups seem to have a dictator? Is democracy another fatality of BluStar?"
Dictators and democracy . . . these are incredibly relevant topics.
Day 95: "This wasn't a country of flashy SUVs or European imports, this was a use-it-up-until-it-falls-apart world. Maybe we're all of that mind-set now? How many years of my life will be using up until it all falls apart?'"
Nadia recognizes that poor people in Appalachia didn't have much for scavenging. I am closer to the "use-it-up" end of the spectrum than most people I know. Thanks, Mom. I don't want to be a wasteful, materialistic person
Day 98: "'You can do better than that. It's not like anyone's going to film it and put it on YouTube.'
All the things that were so important once upon a time were gone. No Internet. No school. No popular kids. No college. No parents pushing me to be the best I could at everything.'"
I think it's really hard to imagine what a dystopian / futuristic / survival mode world would actually be like. I was frustrated last week by three days at the cabin with no internet connection! When we're in the BWCA, I'm always so glad to get back to a comfy mattress and cold beverages. Many teenagers nowadays don't seem to be able to function without TikTok, Siri, etc.
Day 98: "Rays of gold caressed the world, slapping at shadows, and pushing the last pinkish gray away."
I love this image!
Author's Note: She mentions being inspired by Richard Preston's The Hot Zone. I've never read this book, but I'm a bit surprised she read it in middle school! I thought it was more geared to adults. I may need to add it to my list. She has a lot of great content in her author's note, but I'm getting tired of blogging! I'm not even going back to read what I wrote and proof for errors . . .
Author's Note: "If you have questions, find an adult you trust and seek out information. Information is always the best tool!"
I just love this advice. I also love that she said a lot fewer people would get sick if everyone just washed their hands properly. True story!
Oh! This book reminded me so much of 96 Days that I kept calling it that in my mind (and waiting for plot points from that book to show up in this one).
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