RBHS BookTalk

Gone from RB, but never done with the reading....

2011-08-01T21:40:00.004-05:00

For future updates, please join my reading community on Goodreads.com. Search for me: Doreen Fritz, and you'll continue to see my book reviews. . . .

Happy reading. And it WAS great to be a bulldog!

Finishing a Trilogy

2011-05-13T13:46:00.002-05:00

In Timelock, David Klass finishes his futuristic warning about the eventual destruction of our planet due to human's careless and selfish habits. Jack (Jair) meets his parents after time-traveling to the future. But the final battle against the Dark Lord must be fought and won in order to change the otherwise inevitable extinction of all plant life and of the human species. And Jack must decide two things: in which time he belongs (the one in which he was born (future), or the one in which he grew up), and the woman with whom he will spend his life (P.J, his high school girlfriend, or Eko, the ninja priestess from the future). Will Jack accept his destiny? Klass did a great job of creating a deep, believable, and inspiring trilogy. And each of the three individual stories stands strongly on its own while continuing to develop the running thread of the environmental disaster story. 3 out of 4 stars.

A Successful Sequel

2011-05-06T07:33:00.005-05:00

Sequels get a bad rap. Especially if they're in a series of more than two - the second one is often seen as the weak link, just a placeholder til the creator gets to the "big finish." This book breaks that mold, though I had my doubts in the first couple of chapters. (Jack's and Gitmo's never-ending smart-aleck bantering seemed forced, and got to be annoying). Whirlwind continues the story of Jack Danielsen, who in Firestorm discovered that he was sent from the future because he is the only one able to save the world from an ecological disaster. His "parents" (actually just people who posed as his parents and raised him in a small Pennsylvania town) were killed by superhuman people from the future who came back to stop him. But others came back, too, and they taught Jack about his powers and prepare him for the battles ahead. These partners included a talking dog named Gitmo and a beautiful martial arts expert named Eko. Firestorm ended after a nearly fatal, but ultimately successful battle with Dargon, the bad guy in this story.

In Whirlwind, Jack , who has been on the move since the end of Book #1, returns to his hometown to apologize to his girlfriend P.J. for just disappearing without notice. But he finds out that she has been kidnapped by the Dark Lord, the father of Jack's old nemesis Dargon. To find and rescue her, Jack must follow the trail to the Amazonian rain forest, where the Dark Lord is engaged in an all-out effort to eliminate the rain forest, thus destroying the Earth's atmosphere. When Jack's meditative trances transport him to the place where P.J. is being held captive, he sees that the Dark Lord has the ability to transform himself into a huge tarantula that tortures and torments his prisoners. Jack discovers that in this battle, he is not destined to be the "chosen one" who will save the day. Instead, the Dark Lord speaks of a wizard with unimaginable powers.

By the end of this book, I was anxious to get started on #3, Timelock. 3 out of 4 stars!

Monsters and Mind Games

2011-04-21T11:12:00.002-05:00

Fire is a monster. She can read minds and can often change or guide another person's thoughts. She is also an 18-year-old girl. In the world created by author Kristin Cashore (author of Graceling), there are both animal and human monsters. All are feared or hunted and collected, but never accepted as "normal." But Fire has been raised by Lord Brocker, alongside his adopted son Archer. As Fire and Archer have grown into their late teens, they have moved beyond friendship into love, but Archer has grown to be jealous of everyone that Fire even looks at or talks to.

They live in an agricultural area in the north of The Dells, a country on the brink of war. Both Gentian and Mydogg, rulers of nearby lands, are plotting (separately or together?) invasions. Cansrel (Fire's father), who had worked side-by-side with the previous king, Nax, had also been a monster, but he was a tyrant who enjoyed torturing others and wielding his cruel power -- a reputation that horrified Fire.

Now, with the threat of war looming, Fire accompanies Archer to the capital city to help the Dells by using her powers. There has been a threat made against the king, Nax's son Nash, and Fire's task is to find out who's behind it and to stop the murder. Nash rules with the assistance of his brother Brigan, the commander of the royal armies. Spies and thieves own the roads, and thrive on the undercurrents of intrigue that threaten the peace. The land is riddled with tunnels that provide shelter for the homeless, and secret passage for messengers traveling between various plotting factions. One of the dangers that Fire uncovers is the presence of a new kind of monster, who seems able to remove people's memories, remove their natural inclinations to defend themselves, and even force them to kill. Can Fire find this "monster" in time to prevent disaster?

The book is fast-paced with lots of action and suspense. There is also quite a bit of romance, as more and more characters and their ever-increasing relationships are introduced. And family relationships (parent-child, sister-brother) as well as varying levels of friendships are also explored. The author is on a roll with her descriptions of these stories of fantasy and adventure.

Teen lives (and re-lives!) her own "Groundhog Day"

2011-04-12T11:12:00.003-05:00

Sam has it all - the perfect (to DIE for!) boyfriend, three wonderful best-friends, and the privilege that is bestowed on all popular kids to get the best of everything offered at school -- the best cafeteria table, the right to act silly in the hallway without fearing ridicule from others, the look-the-other-way from teachers, and -- best of all -- the assurance that they will get LOTS of roses delivered to them on Cupid Day from all their admirers. Today, February 12th, is the day -- in honor of Cupid Day, Sam and her friends Lindsay, Elody, and Allie have all dressed identically in fur-trimmed red tank tops and sexy black mini-skirts. On the ride to school the girls are all alternately teasing, encouraging, and offering advice about tonight, when Sam is finally going to be the last of them to lose her virginity. Throughout the day Sam interacts with other kids, teachers, and each encounter builds up to a party at Kent's house that night where her boyfriend, the dork who has liked her since they were kids together, and Lindsay's enemy (whom they all have labelled "Psycho") show up. On the way home from the party, with Lindsay driving, there is an accident, and Sam dies. But she wakes up the next morning, and it's February 12th again. Sam remembers vividly everything that happened yesterday - including the horrible accident. But nobody else is aware that the day is repeating. Sam sets out to do things differently, so that she won't die this time. And things do turn out differently for some of the people in the story -- but not for Sam. She ends up re-living her life 7 times, and each day is very different from the ones that came before. Although I thought I would find the "Groundhog Day" theme tiresome, this story really grew on me. Sam's problems with her friends, family, and boyfriend rang true, and I loved how she learned and grew throughout the story. You will leave this book with a wonderful feeling in your soul.

On the road again . . .

2011-04-04T12:51:00.002-05:00

The book opens with a young boy (12) waiting sleeplessly in his room for his mom and her new boyfriend to come back. He is all packed, ready for a trip across the country. But this isn't a fun vacation -- his mother is sending him on a Greyhound bus from Stockton, California to Altoona, Pennsylvania. Chain-smoking and impatient, she can't wait to dump him so that she can run off to get married (again) without being bogged down by her son. Sebastien is shy, he stutters, he knows nothing about bus schedules or transfers, and he begins the trip with only the $35 his mother reluctantly gives him. His inner voice expresses the anger and frustration with his mom, but he has gotten used to keeping his thoughts to himself, as he remembers beatings, ridicule, and other consequences of speaking up. Somehow Sebastien is taken under the wing of Marcus, an ex-con also traveling cross-country, and the two of them share adventures, dangers, and a growing knowledge of how to work the Greyhound system -- where to sit on the bus, where to eat at the stops, and how to deal with the drivers. This book has been compared to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and I would agree. Marcus is like Jim in his wisdom (or is it just life experience and street smarts?) Some of the best parts come during the conversations that Sebastien and Marcus share about life, troubles, literature, the future, and so on. It's also enjoyable to read about the "world of Greyhoune" (history!), and the places they visit - each stop seems to have its own culture, which the author represents in the characters these two encounter along the way. A question I had at the end - is this autobiographical? (the question sparked by the photo of a young boy, dated "circa 1981" accompanied by the specific dates that are spread throughout the book. Hmmmm.....) All in all, this was a great "vacation read," and a quality representative of the "road trip" genre. I would give this book 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

People are the same everywhere

2011-03-25T12:34:00.008-05:00

(This book takes place in contemporary Jeddah, a coastal city in Saudi Arabia.) Nouf ash-Shrawi, 16, disappears 3 days before her wedding. A truck and a camel disappear, too. She comes from a wealthy family, and her brother Othman asks his old friend Nayir, a desert guide, to find her. After a couple of weeks Nouf's body is found. When Nayir goes to the coroner's office to claim the body for the family, he overhears an argument between two people: the coroner and a lab assistant, Katya. Nayir, devout and modest, is horrified to see a woman who is unveiled working where she might be with men. But when the police officially close Nouf's case, citing an accidental death by drowning, Nayir and Katya end up working together to track down some unexplained details - things that Nayir couldn't understand about the crime scene, and things that Katya noticed during the autopsy that are being swept under the rug.

What I loved about this book was the realistic way it portrayed the lives of both men and women in a modern and changing Mideastern world -- in a country that is caught between preserving the "old ways" that have identified their culture and the new ideas brought through commerce and communication with the rest of the world. What is one to think about a woman who doesn't recognize that those traditions and rules that were intended to protect her, but rather sees them as stifling? Nayir, who has no experience with women (he is an only child who was raised by his elderly uncle), feels that he is putting his soul at risk as he pursues the truth for the sake of his good friend Othman -- even if it means violating society's rules about men and women being alone together.

This book develops its characters well as it describes the culture and society without judgement. It's also a page-turning mystery. If you like this book, you will probably also like its sequel, City of Veils.

4 out of 4 stars!

A Classic War Protest Novel

2011-03-02T11:24:00.002-06:00

I remember loving Vonnegut when I read him in college, so I was eager to get back to him. This was a quick read, but not as wonderful as I had remembered. I agree with other reviewers that this is "threaded with compassion, and behind everything, the cataract of a thundering moral statement." But - he made his points to a fault. Especially irritating was his repeated "so it goes" statement every time someone (or a group of people) died. Although "cute" at the beginning, it brought a feeling of "oh, no, will he say it AGAIN?" dread each time a death was forthcoming. And death there was, as this novel tells about the bombing destriction of Dresden, which was so thorough and horrific that it has been compared to Hiroshima in its brutality. The main character, Billy, lived through the event -- and, in fact, many others in which everyone around him died while he survived. He re-lives the experience through the wonders of time-travel, which he learns from the aliens who kidnap him and display him in a zoo -- the Tralfamadorians. I admired the creativity and humor that permeated throughout the novel, and sympathized with the moral intentions of the author. But Billy was just a doofus of a main character. Read this for its historical perspective (a 1960's look at World War II). 3 out of 4 stars

International Woman of Mystery - at age 15!

2011-02-15T11:23:00.005-06:00

Ally Carter has done it again! Her previous series (Gallagher Girls) involved a private girls' school that trained its students to be spies. This mile-a-minute story follows a girl who is in a family of high-stakes thieves. Like, they steal things like Monet paintings. Ready for a more normal life, Kat (Katarina) had created a secret identity so that she could enroll in a prestigious boarding school. But now somebody has set her up (there is actual video of her somehow putting the headmaster's car on the fountain in the quad), and she is expelled. At the same time, someone has set her father up to take the fall for the theft of five long-"lost" paintings -- from one of the most notorious evil mobsters in the world. And that guy has threatened to kill Kat's father - and everyone else Kat loves - if the paintings aren't returned. So -- it's time to get the gang back together. Kat assembles her old friends (fellow thieves and cons) and her cousin Gabrielle to pull the most daring of stunts. They need to steal the paintings from the place the REAL thief hid them -- a highly secure museum in London. And besides the danger involved in the job, Kat has to deal with her growing feelings for her billionaire friend (potential boyfriend?) Hale.
This book has earned 4 out of 4 stars!

A not-so-surprise ending

2011-02-04T07:30:00.006-06:00

Yes, spoilers here. So don't read on if you like the suspense of a slowly-revealed mystery. But then, that's my biggest objection to this book -- her usual twist at the end is such a disappointment. This novel introduces us to Jacob, an older teenager with Asberger's Syndrome who has been accused of murdering the college student who tutored him on handling social situations. Jacob's fixation on forensic science has led him to follow local and national cases, to conduct his own tests, to set up "crime scenes" at home for his mom and brother to "study," and to insist on a regular daily viewing of a CSI-type TV show during which he records observations in several notebooks. This "hobby" brings him to the attention of the local police and leads to his arrest after the murder.

Jacob's mother Emma, divorced and employed as an advice columnist in the local paper until forced to quit after Jacob's arrest, hires a VERY young and new attorney, Oliver, to defend him. Throughout the book we readers are well-educated about Jacob's "condition" - and about the hardships that his mother has endured in trying to ensure for Jacob a life as normal as possible. But now his only hope lies in claiming that Asbergers is the cause of his loss of control -- for while his mother doesn't believe he is capable of murder, she apparently somehow thinks that he is guilty, and will try anything to keep him out of prison. Jacob's younger brother Theo has not had a normal childhood, either -- the whole family's routines, eating habits, etc. revolve around Jacob's unpredictable tantrums, quirks, and preferences.

Although it went on in minute educational detail about Asberger's Syndrome, the descriptions made it seem as if Jacob's traits represent the full spectrum of AS -- whereas I know that the syndrome can take a wide range of characteristics, and can vary greatly from person to person. Picoult obviously had a reason to write this novel, and as always her characters are painted clearly and deeply -- but the mystery itself was a disappointment. I would give this book only 2 out of 4 stars.

2 for the price of 1!

2011-01-11T10:33:00.002-06:00

Two wonderful young adult authors collaborated to write this book, in alternating chapters, each author covering a boy named Will Grayson.

John Green's character lives in Evanston and is a timid but intelligent and well-read friend of an outgoing and huge boy (who happens to be gay) nicknamed Tiny. David Levithan's character lives in Naperville and is an "angry young man" who is coming to the knowledge that he is gay. Though a girl named Maura is always trying to draw him out, and would probably like to be more than a friend to him, his best friend is someone from Ohio that he met online, Isaac, with whom he spends hours chatting in IM.

The Evanston-based Will likes a girl named Jane who hangs out with Tiny - but he's too afraid of rejection to take a chance on asking her out. Tiny has written a musical, and gets both the Gay/Straight Alliance and the Student Council at school to sponsor it.

Somehow all of these characters eventually meet in downtown Chicago as their lives surprisingly intertwine. The book shows off both authors' strengths, and fills the bill as a typical young adult novel caught up in the angst that both Will Graysons experience as they try to come to terms with what life throws at them, and with who they are.

3 out of 4 stars

History in a can't-put-it-down story

2010-12-06T08:27:00.003-06:00

17-year-old Lev and his friends are starving in the 1943 siege of Leningrad. When they see a dead paratrooper drop into their neighborhood, they run to see if there's anything good on his body that can help them to live -- but the police chase them. Lev is the only one caught, and he knows the punishment for looting is death. Lev is thrown into a cell with a deserter, Kolya. The two are brought before a lieutenant who offers them freedom in exchange for a dozen eggs needed to bake his daughter's wedding cake. They have six days to deliver the eggs, and in those days we follow them through danger, humor, and a growing friendship. As they tromped, always hungry, through frozen snow and ice, I found that I could not get warm -- even though I was in my comfortably heated house. I walked with them as they dodged cannibals, partisan revolutionaries, and the German army -- and then were captured and marched along with other prisoners through endless winter forests. Although I forgot the connection as I got caught up in the story, the Prologue (if we can believe it) explains that Lev is the author's grandfather, and this story tells his memories of his struggles to survive war on the Russian home front. That personal connection added poignancy to the story.

This is a quick read that I could not put down. 4 out of 4 stars!

Creepy Irish ghost story...

2010-11-29T12:33:00.002-06:00

Three dead women are found by the postman in a house at the end of a lane, in a small town just outside Dublin. One woman died from having her head bashed in, presumably by the shovel found upstairs, next to the emaciated bodies of her two nieces who had been imprisoned, fed rat poison, and slowly starved to death. Shortly after the grisly discovery, Niall, an aspiring graphic artist who works at the post office, finds an unclaimed package in the dead letter bin, mailed by Fiona Walsh (one of the dead girls) to "anyone at all" in the post office. It turns out to be Fiona's diary, and once Niall opens the book and begins to read, he is dragged into a world of fairy tales and evil. Fiona and her sisters grew up in a town in West Cork, and Niall goes there to follow the story.

How much of the tale is fanciful or exaggerated? How much is just a romantic telling of something very real and horrible? Fiona and her sister are dead -- and so is their Aunt Moira. They all had been involved with a traveling storyteller named Jim. And it is Jim's story that forms the spellbinding tale which leads to the final chapter of doom.

Read this one with the lights turned down low -- to get into the mood of horror and things-that-go-bump-in-the-night. Or keep all the lights on to their full brightness so you won't get too freaked out. I give this book 3 1/2 stars for spinning such an intriguing yarn.

Beautiful but Haunting

2010-11-23T11:20:00.003-06:00

Marilynne Robinson, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Gilead, started her published writing career with the short (in page length) novel Housekeeping, published in 1980. Her writing is gorgeous and rich - I wanted to slow down and treasure the phrases and descriptions. But this is a novel that is short on plot and which focuses on character development. The narrator is Ruthie, who was raised by a number of relatives. Her mother, Helen, dropped Ruthie and her younger sister Lucille off at their grandmother's house just before she drove her car off a cliff into a lake. After their grandmother died a few years later, some old maiden great-aunts came to watch over them, but they were set in their ways, easily worried, and didn't "take" to child- rearing so they were happy to go back home when their mother's long-wandering sister Sylvie showed up to take over. The novel is awash in watery imagery. (get the pun?) They live in Fingerbone, a town perched beside a bottomless lake, into which their grandfather's train dove off the tracks on the long bridge which spans the lake. That tragedy (and their mother's suicide in that same lake) colors all their lives. Sylvie's care of Ruthie and Lucille doesn't meet the standards or expectations of the town or the school, and eventually people stop by and observe the hoarded piles of newspapers and tin cans, the rat droppings, and other signs of Sylvie's lack of "housekeeping." We learn that Sylvie has a hard time being tethered to any house, and Ruthie is increasingly drawn to Sylvie's dreamlike wanderings. Lucille, on the other hand, craves a life of normalcy.

As a lover of language, I appreciated the writing. I can see how Robinson was awarded a contract to write a second novel. But this one was just too drawn out and sad for me to give it any more than 2 out of 4 stars.

Asian American Romeo and Juliet

2010-11-10T09:06:00.002-06:00

I was initially enamored of this book because it provided a personal insight into the experience of Japanese Americans who were mistrusted to the point of incarceration during WWII. Several neighbors in the housing cooperative where I have lived for almost 30 years had moved to the Chicago area after leaving the "relocation camps" in which they were imprisoned in the 1940's, and having heard just brief references to their experiences over the years, I was very interested to hear more about what might have happened to them.

The romance between Chinese American Henry and Keiko, the only other non-white student at their school, seems a means of mutual safety and support in the face of ridicule and bullying by their white classmates and the kids in their own neighborhoods who feel betrayed by Henry's and Keiko's abandonment to the "other side." Henry and Keiko are 12 when they get together, so there is a "Romeo and Juliet" suggestion to their growing relationship. Henry is further isolated by his father's avid Chinese nationalism. Henry is forbidden to speak Chinese in the home -- his father wants for Henry to be American -- and yet his father determinedly follows the war in China and hates Japan for its ongoing onslaughts against China. He would hate to know about Henry's feelings for Keiko.

The story is told in two time periods -- during Henry's childhood, and then 40 years later when the old Panama Hotel is purchased by a developer who wants to restore it to its original Japanese splendor. Henry sees a news report that mountains of abandoned goods have been discovered in the basement of the hotel, left behind when local Japanese-American residents were taken away to relocation camps. And he remembers Keiko. Henry's wife Ethel had died just 6 months before this. His son is a college student who thinks of Henry as old-fashioned, unromantic, and prejudiced.

I think that the book lost its punch and degraded into a Nicholas Sparks-like romance about halfway through. The historical stage has been set - we know what's happening with the war and with the major characters, and all that's left is for them to get back together. Or not, to the tune of moaning violins. So - although I liked the premise, the execution of this story was not strong. So - only 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Wanna Get Away?

2010-10-28T13:52:00.004-05:00

You might think you want a change - even a drastic change - in your life, but after reading this book, you might be happy with the usual humdrum. The author, an Afghani married to an Indian woman and living in England, really misses the sun, remembers his childhood family vacations wandering in northwest Africa, and decides to capture that geography and less-hectic lifestyle for his own children. He buys a long-unoccupied palace in the middle of a shantytown in Casablanca and embarks upon the overwhelming task of renovating the palace. He inherits a group of employees and soon is forced to hire many more -- and let's just say that this man was not born to be a boss. He is soon pushed around by all the carpenters, tile-layers, "guardians," as well as the cook, the nanny, and his professional assistant, Kamal. This assistant somehow cuts through red tape, gets things done, and navigates Tahir through many back alley deals -- but he, too, exhibits his own Moroccan way of working -- he doesn't show up for days, and then appears seemingly out of nowhere with a long-missing but absolutely essential document or permit. Besides the employee problem, Tahir also faces the obstacle of superstition about evil spirits -- especially the evil Jinn (i.e. genie) which inhabits his palace. Tahir adjusts to the fact that the uneducated workers are obsessed by the need to placate the Jinns, but as he meets other people whom he respects, he discovers that this superstitious belief is universal throughout Morocco.

This book is a series of funny anecdotes interspersed with history, culture, geography, and travel. If you enjoy reading to spread your awareness and to travel to new places, you will love this book. I did -- and I've heard that his newer book, In Arabian Nights, is even better. I give this 4 out of 4 stars.

A Boy and his Dad at War

2010-10-20T07:49:00.004-05:00

Liam has grown up with the critical voice of his dad always harping on his multiple failures, to the point that Liam knows what a screwup he is. He can't do anything right. He makes poor choices. He isn't smart, and his chances for future success at anything are pretty much nil. And the sad thing is, Liam absolutely believes this, and the first words out of his mouth whenever he interacts with his dad are an apology and a promise to try harder. Liam admires his dad, who is a CEO of an important company, a well-recognized success story. Who wouldn't admire such a man?

Liam has gone too far this time. Caught drunk and in the midst of having sex in his dad's office with a girl he doesn't even like, Liam is sent off to live "for a while" with his dad's brother -- whom he hasn't seen since he was about 7 years old. That was when "Aunt Pete" showed up in drag, dressed in a gorgeous red ball gown, at Liam's mother's retirement party (when she gave up her successful international modeling career). Liam's dad and his ultra-strict grandparents were horrified, threw Pete out, and haven't spoken to him nor seen him ever since. So as Liam starts a new life at a new school, he is hoping to do whatever it takes to get back home, which would mean earning his dad's respect. So instead of continuing as "Mr. Popularity," he figures, he should become the least popular kid at school. Focus on academics. Join an unpopular club. Avoid the "cool kids." And if he can only get Darleen, the dorky neighbor girl whom everybody has predicted will earn the label of "Class B*tch" in the yearbook, to like him, his dad will surely see how hard he's trying to be a serious student.

I loved the message of this book. Liam learns some important life lessons, and so do we. But I can honestly say I've never met such a one-dimensionally hateful father in any of the books I've read. Even though the author was trying to make a point, it's hard to believe that there were never any redeeming qualities or some reasons that he was as mean as he was. Otherwise, why would Liam's mother have stayed with him? That was never explored, and that gap was a flaw in the book.

But Aunt Pete and his gay friends were well-drawn, without stereotypical limits, and Liam's changes, though extreme, were believable.
I give "King of the Screwups" 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Like "24" for teens

2010-10-19T08:45:00.004-05:00

The Long Way Home, by Andrew Klavan. A Homelanders book.
A thrill a minute, this book reads like a pitch for an action movie. I can see it now -- all the narrow escapes, high speed chases, and the scene where our hero just HAS to go into that dangerous place to get the clue he needs to clear his name. It's all in here. If you like that type of movie, you'll enjoy this book about Charlie, who is on the run, trying to avoid both the police, who want him for murdering his best friend, and the Homelanders, a group of terrorists out to destroy America. They seem to think he was a member of their group who has betrayed them, and now they want him dead. But Charlie can't remember whether he was or wasn't. And he can't remember murdering his friend. In fact, the entire last year has been erased from his memory. To find out what really happened, he must return to his hometown, where he connects with some good friends who believe in him. Including Beth, whom he remembers liking a lot. But he can't remember that they had actually been an "item," which apparently they were. Before his life got so complicated. And dangerous.

One interesting element of this book was that the language was suspenseful but 'clean' -- and there were many references to the values that Charlie holds. He remembers many debates/discussions with his American History teacher, who seemed to constantly challenge Charlie's faith in God, his belief in his country, and his willingness to express his admiration of a good way to live. so, though I wouldn't call this overt Christian fiction, it doesn't try to hide positive values or role models from the reader.

This is the second in a series, which began with The Last Thing I Remember. The 3rd book, The Truth of the Matter, is due out this November.

I give it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

Girl Gone Bad - - - ?

2010-10-14T07:20:00.002-05:00

Devon is the perfect high school girl: straight A's, varsity and club soccer player with Olympic aspirations, more responsible even than her mother, a sought-after babysitter. But then she is arrested and charged with disposing of her newborn infant in a dumpster behind the apartment building where she lives. And she denies that she was even pregnant. During the following days in the juvenile detention center, as she meets with her attorney, a psychologist, and other adults sent to get to the bottom of the "incident," she flashes back to significant scenes in her life over the past few months. And to all the years with her mother, the flirty and flighty Jennifer, who'd had Devon when she was 16 and has spent most of the years since going from one man to another. Devon remembers when she was 5 and her mom left her alone for the weekend, because she "needed some time to herself" - (though she had really gone away with a man). Devon has lived her life according to some very strict rules, trying to be excellent and to be -- at any cost -- NOTHING like her mother.

I liked After for its look into the mind of a teen portrayed as a monster by the media, whom we see in all her complexities. I liked it for the sympathetic look at the many "types" of girls who are incarcerated, and at the people who choose to work with them. In some ways this book took on an almost nonfiction tone, though Devon's character and story were fictional. I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Another girl with a secret past

2010-09-29T11:05:00.004-05:00

This book reminded me a lot of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, in that it involves a girl who starts the school year being ostrasized by everyone because of something that happened at the end of the previous year. Although a successful model and a good student, Annabelle has no friends -- although some of that isolation is self-imposed. In flashbacks we read about her life from about age 11 on, up to the pivotal event which changed everything. We see her through changes in best friends, and events in her family such as her mother's depression, her two older sisters' careers as models, and one sister's eating disorder. Annabelle does have one new friend -- another kid isolated by everyone else: Owen, an angry and sometimes violent kid who sits by himself at lunch. He DJ's a radio show on Sunday mornings at a local station, and introduces Annabelle to a wild variety of musical styles. And she is able to be honest with him about her opinions of his musical taste -- but not about anything else.

Kind of good, but nothing new or earth-shattering. I give it 2 out of 4 stars.

Can't Stop Readin' Those...

2010-09-20T11:22:00.004-05:00

As addictive as Jay's potato chips, the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins has gripped RB's reading world. The 1st book in the series was selected as the Eng. 10 summer read, and several sophomore classes are embarked upon a research project based on the 2nd book, Catching Fire. The 3rd and final book in the series, Mockingjay, was just released a couple of weeks ago, and true fans have "flocked" to purchase or borrow it. I myself had to wait for my husband and daughter to finish our copy before getting my turn.

The tone of Mockingjay is different from the first two. While they were based on the to-the-death games imposed on the other 12 districts by the ruling "Capital," there was still an element of adventure and suspense. This third book gets right to the point and doesn't let the reader escape from the absolute control and unrelenting terrorism practiced by the Capital. Yes, people died in the other books, but we weren't slammed in the face with the brutality, torture, and genocide. Mockingjay makes it clear that Collins was writing about war, violence, and totalitarian governments. While The Hunger Games could have been compared to the TV show "Survivor," there is no chance that Mockingjay can be considered light-hearted fun. Still well-written and gripping, though. And the love triangle between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta continues . . .

I give this one 3 1/2 stars out of 4.

Appearances can be deceiving

2010-09-09T11:38:00.002-05:00

Yet ANOTHER book using the currently-popular writing style of two stories told concurrently in alternating chapters, which eventually merge as the author slowly reveals the common elements. And though I found myself initially irritated by the style, the story grabbed me, and I found myself staying up late and trying to find stray moments to pick up this book to continue reading.

Each of the two stories is about a mother immersed in the early months of parenthood. Lexie Sinclair (aka Alexandra) is tempestuous, fiercely independent, and bright. At 18, she left Devon for postwar London and was soon deeply involved in the art scene - living in Soho, writing as a critic for a magazine, and deeply in love. Fifty years later Elina is an Finnish artist who just had a baby with her boyfriend Ted. She almost died during delivery, and can't remember anything about her life before the baby. Ted is having his own memory issues -- he is starting to remember disturbing new things about his early childhood.

I love the "period piece" descriptions of 1950's London, the dreamy writing style, and generally the language of the book. The characters came alive, and the story was gripping.

4 out of 4 stars

A new year for sharing about books

2010-09-02T14:45:00.011-05:00

Stop by the RB Library to pick up a book for those odd moments when you have a free moment. Or for a weekend's relaxation. Or for an SSR requirement assigned by a teacher. The librarians would be happy to help you choose a book you would enjoy.

Did you read any good books this past summer? I did. (though I also had a great time camping, biking, and spending some quality time with my kids - one got married, two moved to Chicago, one has a beautiful son that I spend time with whenever I get a chance) But I escaped into some great books, too. See my summaries below. (and share YOUR favorites in a reply comment!)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is the third book in the series about the mysterious Lisbeth Salander, multiply-tattooed computer hacker who was featured in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Faithful Place is the third book by Irish author Tana French, who previously gained worldwide fame with her thrilling mysteries In the Woods and The Likeness. This one is her best so far. It tells the story of Frank, who has for years distanced himself from his "crazy" family - only to be pulled back into their midst when the body of his old girlfriend is discovered in an abandoned house on his childhood street, called Faithful Place. He had always believed that the girlfriend had dumped him and run off to England alone. As an experienced detective, he is prepared to run an investigation - but is he prepared for all the drama and trauma his family brings to the situation?

Jerk, California is one of the Abraham Lincoln High School Book Award nominees for 2011. What I liked about this one is that I felt like I gained some understanding of Tourette's Syndrome beyond the stereotypes. Sam experiences uncontrollable twitches, which sometimes build up to seizures. His stepfather is ashamed of his condition, and continually

berates him and tells him that his father was a deadbeat deserter. But then Sam meets George, who knew his father, and he begins to learn the truth about his past - including the fact that his real name is Jack. And he is launched on a cross-country journey of discovery.

There are many more summer books to write about - stay tuned for regular updates!

A Girl With Serious Problems

2010-06-08T17:28:00.004-05:00

This book was OK. Not wonderful. Not terrible. Somewhat mysterious -- where did she go? Why? Is she dead or alive? Quentin ("Q") has grown up next-door to Margo Roth Spiegelman (always referred to by full name), and when they were nine, they found a dead man under the tree at the park. Q's parents are therapists, and they "talked him through his feelings" - but Margo's parents are painted as less-involved, less-tolerant, and less-loving. So what happened when they were just about to graduate from high school might have been caused by that early trauma.

Q has loved Margo from afar since their worlds spun apart years ago -- hers into popularity, and his into nerd-dom. One night about a month before their graduation she appears at his bedroom window and lures him out to a night of pranks, adventure, and revenge. And then she disappears, leaving clues that seem meant just for Q to follow.

As I said, the mystery is somewhat interesting. But the characters and descriptions are over-the-top, beyond believable, and overly dramatic. That really lost me after a while. I just kept reading to see what would happen, but this is not on my top-ten.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

Look out - Here comes Frankie!

2010-05-28T08:26:00.003-05:00

Did you ever feel like people don't really listen when you talk? don't understand the real you? don't appreciate your talents or recognize what you can do? If you've ever felt slighted, or slotted into a category of "type of person" that no longer fits, you will definitely recognize the character of Frankie Landau-Banks. Her family calls her "Bunny Rabbit," which sounds cute and powerless, right? Well, Frankie no longer wants to be seen as powerless. She wants people to recognize her intelligence and creativity -- and she wants to be a full player in whatever activities she finds interesting. She has no interest in dabbling in things that boys don't bother doing, such as field hockey or decorating the gym for the dance. In short, she is this generation's embodiment of women's lib!

After a summer in which her body suddenly develops, she returns for her sophomore year at Alabaster, an exclusive and challenging private boarding school. She catches the attention of one of the most popular senior boys, Matthew, and she's happy because she's had her eye on HIM for a year. After they start to date, she discovers that he leads a secret life as a leader of a secret male society to which she had heard her dad and his business associates, also alumni of Alabaster, allude during a summer dinnertime restaurant meal. She tries to get Matthew to tell her more about this society - but he acts like he doesn't know what she's talking about, and tries to change the subject to inconsequential topics, or tries to distract her by making out.

Well, even though she likes to make out with him, she is hurt and angry that he doesn't think she's "worthy" of knowing about his stupid club -- so she creates an anonymous email account pretending to be Matthew's co-leader (aka Alpha Dog) and orchestrates a series of outlandish pranks and public protests for the club to carry out. And thus begins her "disreputable history."

Many young adult books try to describe their main characters in ways that make them familiar. A trend lately has been to use slangy language, and to describe the traumas and the social life (i.e. parties, dating, emotional and physical challenges, etc.) of the girls, especially. One reason I loved this book was that it recognizes the depth and diversity of teens -- not EVERYone spends all their time figuring out their love life, or dealing with family issues such as alcoholism or eating disorders. Most kids have geometry tests, play Monopoly, have friends who like things other than just sports and popularity (some play chess, or are in the band, or set up AV equipment at school). They all might be trying to figure out who they are, what they want to be, and what matters to them. But just as Frankie objected to being slotted as a "type," many young adult novels also slot all teenagers as a "type."

Another fun aspect of this book was how Frankie played with language. She made up words based on the extension of the rule of non-positives. If INflexible means "not flexible," and DISjointed means "not jointed," then what do you do with words like Disgruntled? Is "gruntled" a word? (not gruntled) Frankie thinks it should be, and she soon starts to pepper her conversations with these words, which catches the reader's attention and reminds us of her new game.

For the rich character development, the suspenseful story line (will she get caught and revealed as the mastermind (or should it be "mistress-mind?) of the pranks), and for the intelligent vocabulary, I give this book 4 out of 4 stars.

Road trip to self-discovery

2010-05-21T17:45:00.003-05:00

Just before graduating from high school, Sam runs into beautiful Naomi -- almost literally, as they are both jogging through the woods at the time. Sam's home life is terrible, as his stepfather, Old Bill, continually abusing him, both verbally and physically. And his mother doesn't stick up for him. Part of the reason Old Bill picks on Sam is the Tourette's - a disease which causes his muscles to continually contract, jerk, and twitch. Then Sam meets "Old Coot" (his village nickname), or George (his real name), a gardener who knew Sam's real dad. But he won't call Sam by his name -- he keeps calling him Jack, saying that's his REAL name. And the things he's saying about his dad are very different from the stories Old Bill has been feeding him for over 16 years: that his dad was no good, a drunk, that when he crashed his car into a telephone poll a strange woman was in his car. That he was dumb, couldn't hold a job -- and that Sam is very lucky that Old Bill took him in and has spent money all these years to feed and house him, even though (as Old Bill repeatedly tells him), he's as worthless as his old man. George paints a very different picture, and even offers Sam/Jack a job as an assistant gardener. One day they plant flowers at a beautiful house - in which the beautiful Naomi lives.

And then George dies, leaving Sam/Jack his business, house, and entire estate - including an assignment to follow a map and drive out west, stopping at designated locations all the way to California, where his grandmother whom he's never met lives. Through a coincidental run-in, Naomi ends up going along for the ride. Each stop along the way introduces more and more people who knew his dad, and gradually he comes to know the real James Keegan -- and gets to know the real Jack Keegan, too. Naomi has her own issues and challenges, and she and Jack help each other out on their respective quests.

The author interview at the end was instructive - it turns out that he also has Tourette's, and so much of this book is autobiographical. In addition to being a good character-centered story with believable conflicts, this novel many discussable topics. It was a page-turner which held my attention throughout.
I give it 3 out of 4 stars. This is another of the 2011 Abraham Lincoln H.S. Book Award nominees.

She kicks #%!

2010-05-11T09:07:00.003-05:00

Katsa is the king's enforcer, due to her "Grace," (i.e. talent or gift), which is an unusual ability to fight. He sends her off to "convince" his subjects to pay their taxes, or to punish them if they don't give him what he wants. You may get the picture that this king is not such a nice guy. But he is Katsa's uncle, and has raised her. Her uncle, King Randa of the Middluns, is no worse than many of the kings of the surrounding countries - they all vie for power. Now 18, Katsa has started an underground movement called The Council which tries to counteract some of the abuses of the kings.

On one mission for the Council, Katsa and some friends are rescuing a kidnapped old man, the father of the King of Lienid, kept captive in the dungeons of the king of Sunder. And that's where Katsa meets Po, a mysterious fighter who also has two differently-colored eyes, just like her -- which means that he also is Graced. But what is his grace? And how will their futures overlap? As Katsa tries to evade the power of her uncle king, she becomes wrapped up in the intrigue between neighboring countries. And she discovers that Po could be a friend - or maybe something more.

I loved this book, and hope that it will be the start of a great new series. The characters evolve, the mysteries are captivating, and the problems are real in spite of the obvious fantasy-world setting. This is one of the Abraham Lincoln Award nominees for 2011.

3 out of 4 stars.

Futility of Africans' Plight

2010-04-16T14:04:00.002-05:00

The Faculty Book Club chose this book for our April book, so I took it with me to Mexico over Spring Break. What a downer! Apparently Oprah and Anderson Cooper had raved about this book and how it would open one's eyes to the reality of what so many people in Africa are dealing with. The books has won multiple awards. So I went in expecting to be enlightened and inspired. Instead, I found it unrelentingly depressing. There are three short stories and two longer novellas - each one centering on a child living in a different country. The first one deals with an impoverished street family. The oldest, a 12-year-old-girl, is supporting the family through prostitution. She's giving the secrets of the trade to her 10-year-old sister to get her ready. The narrator brother is destined to go off to school - he is their future and their hope. But he can't stand the guilt - so runs away. HOPELESS. Then there is the story about an uncle who "saves" his niece and nephew from their parents who are dying of AIDS -- only to sell them into slavery. HOPELESS. Follow that story up with the one about a young man running away from marauding revolutionaries in the Islamic north to the Christian area in the south (his mother was Islamic; his father was Christian). He is on a bus -- and the very long story deals with the people on the bus talking about the politics, religion, and other philosophies -- and his fear that he'll be discovered and killed. Which is what happens at the end. HOPELESS. Or how about the one where a Rwandan family is destroyed when the father is forced by tribal revolutionaries to murder his wife -- and the reader knows that his children are also facing imminent death. HOPELESS. Why am I telling you the end of these stories? To save you from the depression that enveloped me after trudging through this collection. The thing is, you come out of this book without any idea of what will ever solve the problems all those people are facing. The conflicts based on colonially-imposed borders and the inequality (politically and economically) between factions is not going away. The disease, poverty, and overall lack of hope for a decent future seem unrelenting. I was not enriched by reading this book. Nor was I disturbed in a good way -- one that might have encouraged me to take action to improve the situations. The stories were poisons that infected me - and I just needed a good Disney movie or two to clear them out.

1 out of 4 stars.

Another Holden Caulfield?

2010-04-16T11:37:00.004-05:00

Though he wants to be known as Huge, the narrator in this novel, Eugene, is called Genie by everybody who knows him. And he is NOT huge - he's a small 12-year-old boy going-into-6th-grade who has been hired by his senile grandmother to investigate the vandalism of the sign at the nursing home where she lives. Huge has anger issues, which led to a long-term suspension from school last year. He carries around a stuffed frog (known as Thrasher) that he got from his counselor. He rides a bike (the Cruiser) that he built out of spare parts. While on suspension, he had read the entire collection of Raymond Chandler and Phillip Marlowe detective books, and has taken on the hard-boiled detective persona of those books. He "sees" problems all around, and "collects evidence" -- but are things really as he sees them?

His dad had abandoned him, his older sister, and his mom a few years ago. Now his mom works two jobs, and he sees his sister as a sleep-around loser. The language in this book is vulgar, which was somewhat shocking. It has the tone of an old-fashioned detective novel - all simple, short, choppy sentences. In some ways Huge seems old for his age -- but there IS that stuffed frog...

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Catcher in the Rye, since Huge is a similar type of character, and he tends to do outlandish things. It's also a good choice for lovers of detective stories. But if swear words upset you, don't try this book. I would rate this one 2 out of 4 stars.

Bon appetit!

2010-03-10T13:47:00.003-06:00

Recently highlighted in the movie Julie and Julia, with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, Julia Child's star has risen again. A cultural icon in the 60's and 70's because of her PBS cooking show, she was the precursor for the many cooking shows now filling the Food Network. She was the first to encourage American cooks to aspire to gourmet-level meal creation. Coming to popular success in the years immediately following the creation of processed food (Campbell's soup, Kraft Mac and Cheese, Chef Boy R Dee pizza in a box, etc.), Julia issued a challenge to those who valued food for the soul -- food to savor -- not just food as fuel.

This book, written in collaboration with a great-nephew at the very end of her life (c. 2005), tells of the years in the 1950's when she and her fairly-new husband Paul lived in France. He worked for the U.S. State Department and was in charge of setting up exhibits to raise public opinion about the United States in France. Julia became interested in cooking after her "soul and spirit were opened up" by some wonderful meals. She took some classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, learned from private chefs, and eventually opened her own cooking school with two other women. These three women then set out to write a cookbook for Americans to introduce them to French cooking -- and that was the beginning of everything.

What I loved about this book was the joy with which she described EVERYTHING -- the sights, sounds, tastes, people, weather -- even the inconveniences of having no hot water, living in a freezing apartment, and having no gas for their stove were all welcomed as a grand adventure. Julia and Paul entertained frequently, and they went out and about to take advantage of their time abroad. They went to restaurants and clubs, toured the countryside, explored the markets, immersed themselves in everything France had to offer -- and she describes it all so convincingly in this book that one almost can't help but book a flight immediately!

4 out of 4 stars

Back in time -- to look forward?

2010-03-10T13:27:00.003-06:00

I have always loved the short stories of Ray Bradbury. From Something Wicked This Way Comes to Martian Chronicles, his stories combine vivid descriptions of life-as-we-know-it with realistic portrayals of space exploration. And beneath those "flights of fancy" is a shared conviction between Bradbury and his readers that no matter where humans go or to what extent we advance our technologies, we will carry with us our human failings and faults. Which will bring about our downfall.

By telling the stories of individual characters, he communicates his opinions about issues of the day, such as racism and civil rights, technology, class systems, the importance of creativity and freedom, and the importance of the arts. In many of his stories, it is evident that he believes that science, big government, and "progress" are trying to quell creativity, fantasy, and fun.

But I like his books mostly because he doesn't make any grand pronouncements. His themes don't blast the reader too strongly. Instead, we get drawn into the lives of his characters. Like the astronauts flying through space in "Kaleidoscope" -- without the benefit of a rocket, after theirs has blown up and thrown them out into space. They are flying in different directions at hundreds of miles per hour - some destined to re-enter Earth's atmosphere in a trail of fire -- others to collide with meteors or to continue moving toward other planets. Their communications technology allows them to continue to talk to each other as they fly along, and in a few short sentences we have a clearly-painted image of their personalities and what they've gone through to get to this point. And what a title -- doesn't the word Kaleidoscope immediately conjure up an image of little dits and dots twirling against a background? To think of those random images in a black sea of space as being humans creates a quirky (humorous and yet horrific) mental image.

Another story, "Zero Hour," raises memories of the long days of childhood summers spent outside playing with friends. And the mother inside doing her chores or attending to the kids when they run in and out looking for something, getting a drink, or telling her about their games. They are playing 'invasion," which sounds very creative and imaginary -- but we soon come to realize that the kids are more in touch with reality than the adults. Martians really ARE planning to invade -- tonight. The kids are prepared to help them take over the Earth -- and that is unbelievable, horrible, and yet fits into every kid's childhood fantasy.

If you haven't yet tried out a Bradbury, stop by the library and check one out. We have 5 of his books.
I'm rating Illustrated Man 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.

A Modern Ghost Story

2010-02-24T07:57:00.004-06:00

Audrey Niffenegger rose to fame with her story of The Time Traveler's Wife - which I loved because it took place in and around Chicago, and it was fun to recognize music venues, museums, etc. (heck, the main character WORKED at the Newberry Library!) And it was just quirky enough to keep me intrigued -- "What? He travels through time? Does he have any control over where he shows up, or when?" Well, this adventurous and risk-taking author has reached even further into her bag of tricks to come up with Her Fearful Symmetry.
Plot summary: Two 20-year-old twin girls, Julia and Valentina, living with their parents in north suburban Chicago, inherit a London apartment from their mother Emily's twin Elspeth, from whom she has been estranged -- for about 20 years. Hmmm. What's the deal? The catch to the inheritance is that in order to truly win the apartment, they will need to live in it for a year -- and their parents are forbidden to visit. Well, the girls are at loose ends anyway - they've dropped out of at least two universities and are just hanging out at home doing not-much. So off they go, to their grand adventure in London. They meet the other inhabitants of the apartment building. There is Martin, the upstairs neighbor, who suffers from debilitating OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and whose wife has recently left him as a result. And downstairs is Roger, their Aunt Elspeth's younger lover, who is ostensibly working on a doctoral thesis about the cemetery next-door -- though he seems to be stuck, and instead of writing spends his days giving tours of the historic cemetery and his nights sitting out among the graves. Very soon we find out that Elspeth has NOT left, but her ghost remains. She is frustrated by her in-between state and wants to still feel, touch, and interact with those around her. So she practices her powers until she is able to move objects, turn lights on and off, and communicate with the twins, using an Ouija board. Valentina, the more frail of the twins, is more in-tune with Elspeth -- she can even see her faint image. And Roger comes to love Valentina -- or is it just her connection to Elspeth that he loves?
The novel really gets into both generations of sibling rivalry, love stories, and the existence (or not) of ghosts all around us.

All in all, though it was intriguing, the characters were NOT sympathetic - they were majorly flawed in so many ways that I did not root for them or hope for their wishes to come true. It was a very dark book -- in London it was always rainy and gloomy, Martin had his windows covered with paper to keep out the germs and other "bad stuff," the characters were often depressed or unambitious, and the ending did not redeem anything or anyone.

So, though this is my first time to do so, I can only give this book 2 out of 4 stars.

Camelot's little brother

2010-01-26T11:26:00.004-06:00

When one thinks of the Kennedy's, how many of us think of Teddy? Well, maybe I'm thinking of people in MY generation as opposed to those of you currently in high school. Us old folks tend to think of JFK and Bobby -- but how much of our remembrances are centered around their assassinations rather than their leadership or their impact on legislation? In actuality, Teddy, as a longtime leader in the Senate (the longest-serving in American history) until his death this past August, had perhaps the most enduring impact on social and political policies of all the Kennedy's. Throughout his early life he had his brothers' popularity to live up to (and sometimes to overcome).

I haven't read many biographies lately -- and only picked this one up because my two Book Clubs are doing it. But I am very much enjoying it! A co-writer is not mentioned (though my skeptical self wonders about a possible staff of ghost writers), and I was impressed at the writing style - how the chapters are organized and titled, and the way he told the stories of his childhood, education, and policial life - and how he told of coming into his own. He admitted using lots of notes, letters, and other sources to remind himself of dates, speeches, and so on, and those details added a lot to the writing -- but the strength of the book comes from his personal voice, which is self-deprecating and honest. His references to his parents are unfailingly loving and admiring -- the same with his references to other family members. He gives perspectives on his colleagues which provide a behind-the-scenes look at the daily life of a legislator. I found that enlightening, and gave me an admiration for the work that they do. He readily admits without excuses some of his escapades, which led to my trust when he insisted that some things of which he has been accused (Chappaquiddick) did not happen the way the media portrayed them. (for example, he was kicked out of Harvard for a year when he allowed a friend to take his Spanish final, an impulsive mistake that he confesses and regrets.)

He knows that his family has a lot of money, and we readers can easily see how that money provides some great opportunities, as in travel and education, as well as the THINGS - homes, boats, and so on. He probably takes those things for granted to some extent, but he also clearly outlines the high standards and expectations to which he and his siblings are held. "Of those who have plenty, much is expected." While growing up, they were expected to be well-prepared for dinnertime conversations on a variety of topics (announced daily via a notecard on the hallway bulletin board) from the situation in Uganda to possible solutions to the hunger crisis. Over the years this very public family suffered tragedy again and again - of the 9 children, Joe, Jack, Bobby, Kathleen all died early; Rosemary's mental problems were increased as a result of a faulty surgery; and Teddy's oldest son had a childhood cancer which resulted in amputation of a leg. Throughout it all, Kennedy maintained his positive attitude of hope, belief in the basic goodness of people, and the conviction that if we all work hard enough for justice, society as a whole will benefit. The many photographs scattered throughout the book help to remind we readers that these larger-than-life people were real. The names we know from history were down to earth family people facing many of the same issues as the rest of us, enjoying holidays and special events with their family, laughing together -- just like us. It's easy to forget, in the stories and the pictures, just how different their situation has been. What a fun close-up of the lives of the Rich and the Famous.
Because I learned so much and enjoyed the writing style, I give this book 3 1/2 stars out of 4

Gothic Romance and Suspense - with a twist

2010-01-12T14:28:00.006-06:00

Kate Morton is an Australian author who has erupted onto the world scene with these wonderful stories of 20th century characters involved in mysteries involving both World Wars, secrets, social position, relationships, and the usual assortment of screwed-up family dynamics.

The Forgotten Garden opens with a little girl being found alone on a dock in Brisbane, Australia in 1907. The dockmaster takes her home until he can find out where she belongs - and he and his wife end up raising her. He finally tells her when she's was 21 that she had been adopted, and years later, after she died, her granddaughter travels to England to try to find out where the grandmother had come from. All she has to go on is a white suitcase with a book of illustrated fairy tales inside, which the little girl was carrying when she was found. There is romance, intrigue, and Dickensian settings.

The House at Riverton tells the story of a former maid in one of the fine country mansions owned and occupied by a family of "landed gentry" in Yorkshire, England. The story is told in flashback as the former maid, now in her 90's, remembers her life for a movie director making a film about the rich family, which was made famous when a prominent poet killed himself at one of their parties -- amid suggestions of a love affair with one daughter, an engagement to another . . . What this old woman remembers about what REALLY happened makes the story, but of course the truth is not revealed until the very end.

Both of these are good books to grab when you're ready to curl up under a blanket, sipping a cup of hot chocolate in front of a roaring fire. Dive in!

Both books earn 3.5 stars out of 4

A walk in different shoes . . .

2009-12-16T10:04:00.003-06:00

What do I really know about modern-day life in Mexico? I have vacationed in a couple of resort towns -- I have read headlines about the effect of NAFTA and other USA economic policies on business, agriculture, and so on, and about how "they" all want to come to the United States for jobs -- and "they" take unfair advantage of our social services and education, but refuse to learn English. All the usual prejudicial statements. This novel immersed me into the realities of daily life in a small southern Mexican coastal town -- one which has been abandoned by most of the men (who have gone north to find work), leaving the women, children, and old men to be harrassed by banditos. These thugs have invaded the town, taking over the home of the wealthiest resident, eating food without paying, and generally creating an unsafe living environment. Nayeli, who works at a diner and also runs the projector at the local movie theater, is inspired by The Magnificent Seven, and she decides to go north to Los Angeles to recruit seven "soldiers" to come back and protect the town. And, by the way, she plans to take a side trip to Kankakee, Illinois, to find her father and bring him back home. Two of her girl friends and Tacho, the gay owner of the diner, come along.

The novel provides a look into life at the border -- the poverty and crime among the hopeful border-crossers, who are victimized by those charging large amounts for minimal service -- the garbage dump in which many unsuccessful crossers and other homeless people have settled -- the wealth and privilege of others -- the nightlife peopled with both Mexicans and Americanos who have no trouble returning back to their homes in the United States . . .

This is a book of adventure and humor, as well as an immersion into a culture both foreign and familiar. A lot of Spanish dialogue is scattered throughout -- some of which I could figure out in context, while some passages went right over my head (but Spanish readers would no doubt love these parts!) Although not one of my favorite books of the year, I AM glad I read it, and recommend it to the extent of 3 out of 4 stars.

What's scarier - terrorists or politicians?

2009-12-07T08:37:00.004-06:00

This 3rd book in the Gallagher Girls series was just as much fun -- and as well-written -- as the first one. Cammy Morgan, 16-year-old daughter of two spies and a student at the exclusive Gallagher Academy just outside Washington D.C., is the central character in this series. After her father's death in some foreign country about four years ago, her mother "retired" from active service and became the headmistress at the Gallagher Academy, ostensibly a snooty school for spoiled rich girls, but actually a training ground to prepare girls for a future as a spy, researcher, or some other illicit government service. Cammy is now in her junior year, and has moved on from basic language study, history, and "the best ways to evade a pursuer" to more advanced study of "Covert Ops." This year they're getting into disguises -- which comes in very handy when Cammy, Bex, and Liz need to escape the school to protect Macey. Since her father is running to be America's next Vice President, Macey is out on the campaign trail helping with the "family image" so important to candidates today. But someone is out to kill Macey. Cammy just happened to be on hand in Boston when someone made the first attempt, and she and Macey barely escaped, though with serious injuries. Cammy's long-lost Aunt Abby (also a spy) shows up to serve as Macey's personal security guard, but she's only one person, and doesn't know everything that Cammy and her friends have found out -- so they know they just have to chip in when Macey has a command appearance at the next stop on the campaign trail. But other considerations are complicating the whole story -- why does Zach, the romantic but mysterious boy from the OTHER spy school, keep showing up when things go wrong? And is Macey seriously interested in that dorky son of the presidential candidate? Is there really a secret society whose mission is to destroy anyone connected with the Gallagher Academy? There is definitely more here than meets the eye!

For its clever dialogue and writing style, for the romance, adventure, and suspense, and definitely for its unexpected twist at the end, I give this book 4 out of 4 stars. Can't wait for the next book in the series!

It's GOOD to be skinny - - - right?

2009-11-23T08:24:00.004-06:00

Karen Carpenter. Justine Bateman. Susan Dey. Mary-Kate Olsen. Nicole Richie. There are always new names in the celebrity news telling about girls and women battling with eating disorders. As a person who LOVES to eat - and loves to cook for others - it has been hard for me to understand the need to do without food. In fact, I've lacked the self control to even diet effectively. Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson (author of Speak), really draws the reader into the mind of a girl, Lia, suffering from anorexia. Her best friend Cassie was bulimic, and until Lia was put into a treatment center over a year ago, they shared their problems with each other. After Lia came back, Cassie had not wanted to be her friend any more. Now Cassie has died, alone in a motel -- and the night she died, she tried 33 times to call Lia. But Lia wouldn't answer her phone. And now she's dealing with the guilt and self-hatred in the usual way - by refusing to eat. Punishing herself, and proving how strong she can be. Her mental and physical deterioration are masterfully described - and you won't be able to read this book without truly understanding anorexia. It isn't a diet plan. Or a means to becoming a famous model and actress.
For the descriptive language, the well-developed characters, the style (loved the cross-outs which were Lia's true thoughts), and the education, I give this book 3 out of 4 stars.

Visiting an old friend. . .

2009-10-29T15:44:00.005-05:00

After seeing the most-recent HP movie (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) last weekend (was I the LAST person in America to see this?!), I re-caught the Hogwarts bug and decided to go on and read the next (and last!) book in the series, in early preparation for next summer's release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I. The first time I read this book, I was kind of confused by all the explanations of the purpose, locations, and ways to destroy the Horcruxes, and then when they got into the Deathly Hallows - the history, powers, and how they could overcome the horcruxes (right?), I gave up and just skimmed for the basic story line. I knew it was to be the last in the series, and wanted to know who would die, who would win the fight between The Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters, whether the stories coming out about Dumbledore were true or not (was he a good guy who loved and protected Harry or a selfish person just using him?), and whether Harry would survive another encounter with Voldemort -- er, I mean, with You-Know-Who. This time through, however, knowing where we're headed in the story, I was able to take my time and revel in the reappearances of characters I had met throughout the series, and to really enjoy the story. I still think the time when they're wandering around trying to figure out what to do next -- and basically doing not much dragged on too long (apparently, Ron agreed, right?) -- but the formula Rowling had set up for each book required that it take an entire school year. So Rowling was stuck. And maybe the lack of action was realistic, building up frustration and allowing the Death Eaters to really take over and establish their regime. I just had always liked the fast-paced action in some of the previous books. But then - knowing this was the last book, I wasn't in a hurry for it to end, either. Basically, I very much enjoyed the return visit to Harry's world. If you haven't taken a trip through that world lately, grab one of these books, sit down with a cup of hot chocolate, and pass a few pleasant and stress-free hours.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Twists and Turns

2009-10-13T08:51:00.004-05:00

Mrs. Duell had reviewed this book so well that I couldn't help but read it -- and am I glad that I did! It is AWESOME! I loved the movie Mystic River, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane -- but loved it with a spine-tingling dread, and aftereffects of reliving certain parts. I had forgotten all of my mixed feelings about Mystic River until I was about 3/4ths of the way through Shutter Island. WOW! I loved the characters - they are so familiar and multi-dimensional. Teddy and Chuck are U.S. Marshalls sent to the island to investigate the disappearance of a woman from this prison/mental institution for the criminally insane. To complicate matters, a hurricane is blowing in. They encounter not just lack of cooperation, but resistance to their questions -- and as time goes on, they begin to suspect that someone is trying to keep them on the island forever. And then the story REALLY goes off in unexpected directions - to my absolute delight. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mind games, suspense, and thrillers.I couldn't put it down.

Rated: 4 out of 4 stars

How Romantic!

2009-10-06T10:49:00.004-05:00

Jack and Laurel Cooper are owner/operators of a small-town B&B in Virginia. They've been married a long time, and are leaders in their community and at their church. At the beginning of this sweet book, they die one night in each other's arms, he from a brain tumor and she of a heart attack. What, you say, they die at the BEGINNING?! What kind of a story is THAT?

Well, the rest of the book deals with their three adult children and other family members who gather for the funeral and share memories of this loving couple. Each of their kids is dealing with his or her own life problems. Matthew, the oldest, comes "home" without his wife. They have been trying unsuccessfully to adopt a baby, and the stress has been damaging. Morgan has been on the run (most recently in Brazil) from an outstanding warrant for his arrest, and when he returns, he is forced to confront his old sweetheart, who is now engaged to his nemesis (i.e. "enemy"). Samantha (aka Sam) is a single mother, having divorced her husband after learning about his second extramarital affair. Going through their parent's things, they discover several boxes full of letters, and they learn that throughout their entire marriage, their father had written a letter to their mother each and every Wednesday. These letters range from love letters to newsy chats, and sometimes the letter was no more than a scrawl on a used envelope -- but as they go through the letters, the kids read about a devastating event that their parents had kept secret for years. They are forced to confront not only their own problems, but their parents' -- and to decide what to do next.

I liked this book because it was a quick read, the characters had real problems, and the solutions weren't pat or too-predictable. There was a definite Christian angle, which I found refreshing after reading too many books about vampires, murder, and social deviants.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

The 60's weren't all about the hippies!

2009-09-22T17:34:00.006-05:00

As the "elder librarian" at RB, I was actually ALIVE during the 1960's. Involved in school, softball, my friends, family activities, and so on, I was barely aware of life outside of Illinois - and I lived in a town with very little diversity. In other words, I led an unrealistic and sheltered life. The big news was about Kennedy's assassination, the increasing drug use (especially out in California, where the hippies were!), the space race against the Russians, and the protests against the Vietnam War. I don't remember hearing much about the Civil Rights movement (other than a unit in my U.S. History class in about 1969) until I was an adult. I didn't know any African Americans, and their problems were remote -- it was like hearing about wars and unrest in other countries.

The Help, a first novel by Kathryn Stockett, does an amazing job of making the Civil Rights era come alive. First of all, it doesn't read like a history lesson, a moralistic tale, or a documentary. It's a wonderful story surrounding three very strong female characters in Jackson, Mississippi.

Eugenia ("Skeeter") Phelan has just graduated from college and wants to be a writer. Having failed to get a job, she has reluctantly returned to her parents' plantation home and drops right back into her social group of women who spend their days at the country club, at card parties, shopping, or visiting with friends. She resents being under the thumb of her very-controlling mother, who wants only to see her engaged or married. Skeeter sets out to assert her independence by getting a job writing a housekeeping column in the local paper. However, she knows NOTHING about keeping house -- and so she turns to:

Aibileen, the housekeeper for one of Skeeter's friends. (Of course, Aibileen can't say No when Skeeter asks for her help!) They meet in secret so that Skeeter can pump Aibileen for "tricks of the trade" to include in her column. As they speak, Skeeter becomes increasingly aware of the perspective of the black domestic help who toil for the whites - they are "trusted to raise the white children, but not to polish the household silver." (Publisher's Weekly) Aibileen has raised 17 white children, but, we discover later in the novel, she leaves them when they lose their toddler innocence and "color blindness". As Skeeter's awareness of the rampant racism grows, she decides to write about it in a collection of essays, each one about a different housekeeper, cook, maid, or other domestic worker in town. To recruit more subjects for her book, she needs the help of:

Minnie, Aibileen's best friend, who has been fired from many jobs through the years because of her habit of mouthing off to her white employers.

One thing I liked about the book was its unpredictable turns -- so I'm not going to say much more about the story line -- but I will praise the character development. It would be too easy to make these women cardboard cutouts to represent the cause of civil rights, or to represent a stereotype of a kind of person, just to build a convincing story. But each of these women is so much more - and we slowly discover things about them throughout the story which make them deep and real.

As the women take incredible risks to continue to meet and share their stories, we also hear news headlines of the day - about Martin Luther King's peace march on Washington, DC, about the bombing of the church in Birmingham, Alabama which killed four little girls, about efforts to integrate the schools, etc. - and we realize that change was brought about by such brave people as the women in this book. Not by the laws, but by the people who caused those laws to be enforced.

Highly recommended -- 4 out of 4 stars

Girls go all Harry Potter

2009-09-10T18:37:00.004-05:00

It's been a long summer, and I've read a LOT of books, seen a lot of movies, watched a lot of TV, pulled a lot of weeds, etc. etc. . . . but what I want to share with you, dear readers, is my joy at discovering a new, fun series that I want to recommend to all of you. It's the Gallagher Girls series by Abby Carter - and the first book hooked me right away. In I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You, Cammy Morgan is a student at an exclusive girl's school just outside of Washington, DC. But it's no ordinary high-falutin' private school. No, this is a school for spies. Cammy studies covert operations, culture and assimilation, and advanced encryption. (see, that's how it's like Harry Potter - a "secret school" with really unusual subjects to study!) Her parents were both spies -- her father died "on the job," and her mom is the director of the school. Soon after she returns to the school for a new year, she meets a hot local guy in town, Josh -- but she can't reveal to him the true nature of the school or what she's training to become. Before you know it, her friends have conspired to investigate this new object of Cammy's desire, and have developed convoluted plans to help her sneak out of school to meet Josh. Can Cammy and Josh have a NORMAL relationship, when everything about her is everything BUT normal? This was a fun book - and will make a great movie (I was trying to cast it the whole time I was reading it). There are two sequels already - stop by the library to try out at least this first novel in the series.
4 out of 4 stars

A Collection of Word Pictures

2009-06-03T15:38:00.003-05:00

David Rhodes was an up-and-coming writer who had won some success when he had a severe motorcycle accident in the late 70's which caused him to be paralyzed from the chest down. Now, years later, he has emerged again with the publication of this novel set in rural southwestern Wisconsin. He floats from character to character, creating beautiful descriptions of the scenery, the "feeling" of the small town, the interactions and daily lives and feelings and attitudes of the people -- and as one moves through the town and the book, one becomes caught up in it all. This was one of those where once it got going, I didn't want to set the book down. The characters were both extremely familiar (Rhodes is a master at evoking experiences and settings that made me think to myself "I've been there" or "I know just what he means!") I can't write a summary any better than the one I found on Amazon.com, so here it is: "The novel features July Montgomery, the hero of his 1975 novel, Rock Island Line, which movingly involves him with the fates of several characters who live in the small town of Words, Wis. Through July, we meet Olivia Brasso, an invalid who loses her family's savings at a casino; parolee Wade Armbuster, who befriends Olivia after she is mugged; Winifred Smith, Olivia's new pastor; Jacob Helm, a widower who finds himself falling in love with Winnie; Gail Shotwell, a local musician who has an unusual reaction when her idol offers to record one of her songs; and Gail's brother, Grahm, and his wife, Cora, who blow the whistle on the milk cooperative that has been cheating them and other farmers. It takes a while for all these stories to kick in, but once they do, Rhodes shows he still knows how to keep readers riveted. Add a blizzard, a marauding cougar and some rabble-rousing militiamen, and the result is a novel that is as affecting as it is pleasantly overstuffed."

4 out of 4 stars

Another attempt at heart-tugging

2009-05-20T08:00:00.003-05:00

The faculty book club selected this one because it has gained so much attention lately, and because we wanted something light and quick, to balance the craziness surrounding the end-of-year activities, the construction, the packing, the classroom and library moves, and so on. Well, it WAS quick. Not too challenging. A real folksy language style, with vivid descriptions of northwest Iowa which made that whole area sound appealing. (Of course, fond memories of my own childhood spent in Iowa might have been evoked by those descriptions in the book.)

As to my overall reaction to the book -- well, have you seen or read about that goofy dog Marley? This is another in a long series of memoirs featuring a family changed forever by a beloved pet. The family, in this case, is the staff of the public library in Spencer, Iowa -- and the entire population of Spencer, if the author is to be believed. Are you familiar with the term "anthropomorphism"? Giving human characteristics and personality to a non-human. Well, this book provides an excellent example. This cat, Dewey, thinks, has feelings and opinions, is empathetic to others in pain, has learned the daily schedule and plans to be at certain places at certain times, and practically speaks - his intentions and beliefs are so clear to those around him. The strength of his personality permeates the town, softens the stubborn opposition of the Village Board, raises money when it's needed, increases the number of visitors to the library, comforts the homeless, sick, and lonely -- well, you get the picture. Where would Spenser be without its beloved Library Cat?

In short -- yes, a quick and not-unpleasant read. I'm sure the people of Spenser, Iowa LOVED it. And it was okay.
2 out of 4 stars

Catching Up

2009-05-05T16:47:00.008-05:00

It has been quite a while since I updated my reading list, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been reading. This past month I've tackled a variety of book topics and genres (as you can see from the images uploaded to this post). I LOVED This I Believe - was inspired and awed by the quality of writing by people famous and not-famous. This book originated with a radio series in the 1950's, during a time of upheaval, disillusionment, mistrust, and cynicism (sound familiar?) A group of guys decided to invite people to focus on what they DO believe in, what their hopes and dreams are, and on what basis they make daily decisions as they live their lives. The resulting essays were read aloud (by the writers themselves) and played on a radio show --- which was revived just a few years ago. I was amazed that anyone could condense their world view into a couple hundred words (how would one decide on just-one-principle to write about?) The language/vocabulary/sentence structure was more complex in the 1950's essays than in the 21st century essays (what does that say about our declining willingness to challenge ourselves intellectually?) But the people are the same - and the struggles which we all face are universal. I made a vow to write my OWN "This I Believe" essay by the end of the school year.
4 out of 4 stars

Mr. Forberg recommended The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - and then I read a couple of reviews and heard about it from several other people who said it was "one of the best books of the last couple years." So I picked it up, and it's a long book. Written by a Swedish author, now deceased. A mystery -- always a favorite genre! An old man hires a recently-disgraced financial journalist, Mikael Blomkvist, (convicted of libel, destined for prison) ostensibly to write a book describing the old man's family history - but in reality he wants him to investigate the disappearance of his young niece 35 years ago. The old man's family is wealthy and powerful - but as the journalist soon learns - full of its own share of kooks. Another main character is Lisbeth Salander, a much-tattooed secretive girl who is an expert computer hacker - whom Mikael hires to do some investigations. We learn a little about Salander's past, which has led to her isolation, insistence on personal space, and inability to trust anyone --- but I'm hoping that a sequel will tell more of her story. This novel, it turns out, is one of those modern tales which is SO realistic and possible that it reflects the reality of no-clear-endings, and everything is NOT neatly packaged and tied up as it would be in an Agatha Christie story, for example. So -- more depth in story and character - but also more to think about after one finishes the novel. Can't wait for the next in the series (Stieg Larsen had handed in the manuscripts for the series before he died in 2004).
4 out of 4 stars

And for my 3rd book of the month, I finally read Crank, by Ellen Hopkins. It tells the story of a girl whose life changes when she gets hooked on crystal meth. I loved the poetic style, cringed at the pain and ruined relationships, the hidden-ness of Kristina/Bree, her toughness and her vulnerability, and the mistakes she makes along the way. I can see why this is a popular book, though -- her struggles are realistic, and she tells her story with visually-pleasing poems. (Aren't those called "Concrete Poems" when the shape of the words on the page reflects the subject matter? There are poems shaped like a cross, like waves, like a Christmas tree, etc!) Fun to read -- and hard to read, too.
3 out of 4 stars

Uglies, Pretties, Specials - a whole new world

2009-04-01T12:32:00.004-05:00

Tally Youngblood is almost 16, the age at which teens in The City have the surgery to make them Pretty. In this world, young kids are known as littlies, and pre-16-year-old teens are called Uglies. Their noses are too big, their skin might be flawed, they may be under- or over-weight, their eyes too squinty -- or some other imperfection may mar their "perfect" appearance. All of that is corrected in the surgery. Pretties live in Prettytown having nothing but fun -- drinking, partying, having sex, and doing outlandish stunts. During the summer before her 16th birthday, after hef best friend Peris has left for Prettytown, Tally meets a new friend, Shay, who introduces her to the idea that she needn't have the operation - she could remain Ugly but free. She tells her about the Smoke, a group of people living in the wild. Shay runs away to live with the Smoke, but Tally really wants to be Pretty. Just as she is in the hospital awaiting the surgery, she is taken instead to the headquarters of Special Circumstances, the police force for The City. They are convinced that she knows where Shay has gone, and force her to follow Shay into the wild in order to betray the Smoke. Thus begins the big conflict for Uglies, which is followed by at least two sequels (Pretties and Specials) as the free-thinking Smokies continue to recruit new rebels from the City, and Special Circumstances continue to try to trap and capture all the rebels and control their minds and bodies through the surgeries they can order to be done. And somehow, through all these books, Tally Youngblood is in the middle of the action.
I just read these books over Spring Break, and couldn't put them down. The way that so many of the characters idolized good looks and popularity was way too similar to our society. I loved the inventions that the characters use -- like when they dash through the forests on their hoverboards (mostly solar-powered!), leap off tall buildings wearing bungee jackets, choose their clothes from a revolving closet that brings them whatever they ask for, and stuff like that. There was romance, suspense, intrigue, and friendships. The series has spun off into websites, online forums, and the first movie in the trilogy will be released in 2011. How would you like to be cast as one of the Uglies?!

4 out of 4 stars

Freedom or Oppression?

2009-03-20T09:34:00.003-05:00

My opinion about women "forced" to wear garments to cover themselves have mostly come from books about the Taliban oppressing women in Pakistan and in areas of Africa. Books like My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban, by Latifa; Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi; A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini; and others. So I have always felt sorry for women and girls who were forbidden to reveal their femininity and woman-ness, to become anonymous. Thus, I was surprised by this book as the narrator described her wish to become fully open in her faith, to join the sisterhood and be obvious is her faithfullness to God by wearing the hijab, the headcover or scarf worn by Muslim women. The story takes place in Australia, which leads to some unfamiliar vocabulary and cultural references (which I love). the narrator is in high school, in a community with very little diversity. She shares the same desires and fears of her peers - she wants to be herself, but doesn't want to stand out. Her conflicts ring true in this humorous debut novel - I am anxious to read about her future adventures. 3 out of 4 stars.

Everybody Does Something They Regret . . .

2009-03-13T14:40:00.006-05:00

... and everyone deserves a second chance. Three years ago, when she was 13, Deanna's dad found her having sex with Tommy, her brother's best friend, in the back of his car. Dad hasn't really looked at her since, and Deanna has been labeled the "school slut." She longs to live a life that's not defined totally by her past - but nobody at school or at home makes that easy. Her brother lives in the basement with his girlfriend and baby. They work opposite shifts at Safeway. Dad was laid off after 17 years at the paper company, and now has a job working for a 20-year-old manager at an auto parts store. Mom works all the time, too. Deanna's whole life seems hopeless, with no future. But she has a best friend Lee, and her oldest friend Jason, who now happen to be dating each other. An awkward triangle, once Deanna starts to wish that Jason could me more than a friend. The story takes place during the summer after sophomore year, when the only job Deanna can find is at a run-down pizza place in town, and discovers that Tommy is the only other employee - and he still thinks of her as easy prey. 3 out of 4 stars

I'm addicted . . .

2009-03-05T13:38:00.004-06:00

As promised in my earlier post, I will first finish telling about In The Woods. WOW! I have discovered a new author that I want to keep reading til all hours of the night. As I already mentioned, we were challenged to find out who killed the 12-year-old girl, and as Rob and Cassie investigate, various members of her family become suspects, along with neighbors, some of the archaeologists working on the dig where she was found, and even Rob himself, as he is connected to this area and to the unsolved crime - the disappearance and possible murder of his two best friends 20 years ago. I'd better not say anything more - but the depth of the characters in this novel, the beautiful writing that urges you to re-read some passages over 2 or 3 times, the realistic descriptions of a new (to me) culture in modern-day Dublin, and the unlikely turns in the story make In the Woods a definite 4 out of 4 stars.

So . . . when I finished, I immediately went out and got The Likeness. In this story, Cassie Maddox reappears (about 6 months after In the Woods finished up). She is called to the scene of a murder by startled detectives who fear that she has died -- because the dead girl is a "dead ringer" (sorry) for Cassie. Years ago, when Cassie was just getting started in her career, she worked an undercover operation at Trinity College, under the name of Lexie Madison. And the identification on the body of the dead girl is --- you guessed it --- Alexandra Madison (aka Lexie). There is no evidence - so the police don't know whom to suspect or why. Cassie is persuaded to go back undercover as Lexie - people are simply told that Lexie was stabbed, but recovered. The dead girl had been living with four other 20-something graduate students in a big old house that one of them had inherited from a rich old uncle. After a week of intensive study of her new character, Lexie/Cassie falls seemingly naturally into her new identity - and takes up the relationships with her housemates. There are strange vibes among them - she discovers that none of them is allowed to talk about their past, and they all speak as if they are a family, and they all inherited the house. When she takes her nightly walk, she feels as if she's being watched -- and why shouldn't she? Someone DID stab Lexie, after all, and that someone is still out there. This is another nail-biter. I'm busy checking my public library to discover what else Tana French has written, and if there's nothing, I just can't wait til she finishes her next book!

Another 4 out of 4 stars!

A great mystery!

2009-02-22T18:52:00.005-06:00

This story takes place in contemporary Dublin, where a 12-year-old girl has been murdered; her body was found by archaologists - she was laid out on an ancient stone used for sacrifices centuries ago. In this same location about 20 years ago, three 12-year-old kids went into the woods and disappeared. Well, two of them did -- the third was found hours later with his arms wrapped around a tree, his shoes filled with blood. He has no memory of what happened. This boy became a policeman when he grew up, and he is one of the detectives trying to solve the crime of the current murder. Perhaps he'll also be able to find out what happened to his two friends, who were never found.
He realizes that he probably shouldn't even be connected to the case because of his personal involvement, but only his partner knows his story, and she leaves the decision up to him.
I'm only about halfway through this story, but I LOVE the mystery, the description of the characters and their relationships, and the just-slightly-different culture that is Dublin. And I'm being good - I haven't read the end of the book yet, and I'm trying really hard not to. I will update in a week or so when I finish, but so far, I would highly recommend this one. Four stars
!

One false step, and BAM! there goes your future . . .

2009-02-18T10:50:00.003-06:00

A videotape of a sexual encounter between three H.S. basketball players (ages 18 and 19) at a private boarding school in Vermont and a 14-year-old freshman finds it way to the headmaster -- and eventually to the parents, police, and the press. What happened to these three promising young men, two of whom had never been in trouble before? Did the girl "seduce" them, and in light of the law, does it even matter if she did? Shouldn't they just say no? This disturbing novel takes a look at the issue from multiple viewpoints, illustrated by interviews conducted two years after the event. If any of these boys could go back in time, you just know they would make a different decision -- but who among us can't say the same thing about various episodes in our own lives? Most of us are lucky, though, in that the consequences of our bad decisions don't affect us as drastically as they do the characters in this novel. This is a sad story - but utterly believable. It's hard not to point fingers at who was MOST responsible, who was hurt the most, who should pay the biggest price. The characters are multi-faceted and real, and the entire story just made me so grateful not to be in the middle of it. But it was still kind of sleazy, and therefore I can't give it all four starts. So -- three out of four.

Ghostwalk: don't look behind you!

2009-02-10T14:38:00.005-06:00

I know, I know, this is the wrong month for ghost stories, but this is the book selected by the teacher's book club for February. To appease those who insist on love stories for Valentine's Day, this is also a love story -- but not your ordinary kind. Writer Lydia Brooke agrees to complete the unfinished book after her ex-lover's mother dies unexpectedly. She moves into his mother Elizabeth's house and is soon enmeshed in research on the life and career of Sir Isaac Newton, the subject of the unfinished book. Sure enough, Lydia and the married Cameron soon resume their affair, but they both have many secrets. Cameron, a scientist who develops pharmaceuticals in a lab where they use rats for their trial experiments, is always in danger from an animal rights terrorist group -- but he doesn't tell Lydia about the true purpose of the drugs he's developing, nor of his involvement with a world-wide group pulling the strings. Lydia, conducting research on Trinity at Cambridge University in the 17th century, doesn't share information about the mysterious lights that appear in his mother's house, the odd disappearances, the man in a red cape she keeps seeing just out of the corner of her eye, nor the woman who approaches her to channel the spirits of contemporaries of Newton who died in unexplained ways.
The story takes meandering paths and leads Lydia into dangers she can neither foresee nor avoid. This is a book full of historical facts and scientific explanations -- but always with that surreal twist. Do you believe? This books makes it seem so possible that by the end you're not sure which explanation to believe -- the scientific or the supernatural.
I liked it okay, but it wasn't a totally-awesome thriller.
I'll give it three stars out of four.

Chilling yet Possible?

2009-01-12T09:19:00.006-06:00

After reading a couple of "have-to" books, I was hungry (get it?) for a just-for-fun good book. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, fit the bill perfectly. It encompassed a cautionary tale along with a romance, adventure, a suspenseful conflict, and plenty to think about along the way.
The story takes place in a country that used to be the United States, which is now divided into twelve "districts" ruled by the Capitol. In punishment for the attempted rebellion of the twelve districts, the Capitol enforces an annual "Survivor"-like competition in which a boy and girl representative from each distrist must meet and fight to the death. 17-year-old Katniss is a hunter, responsible for putting food on her family's table since her father's death in the coal mines six years ago. Two names are drawn from a large ball to determine the district's representatives, and when Katniss' 12-year-old sister's name is drawn, Katniss rushes forward to volunteer in her place. Peeta, the son of a baker whom Katniss knew from school -- and also from an incident when he saved her from starving -- is the designated boy. They are whisked off to the Capitol to prepare for the Games. Soon the 24 competitors are locked into the "arena," which this year includes a forest with a stream, a lake, a grassland, and a large open meadow. All her life Katniss has been forced to watch the Games, and she knows some of the strategies that have helped former competitors survive. But she, and all the competitors, are at the mercy of the all-seeing Capitol, which has cameras stashed everywhere, and which can manipulate the weather inside the arena, can introduce natural disasters, predatory creatures, and other things to force the competitors to come together for battle -- for the sheer entertainment of the "viewers at home." I really got into this story, and saw many parallels with today's reality TV "entertainment." The environmental situation which brought the country to the conditions described in Hunger Games are reflected in almost every disastrous prediction you read in today's paper. So -- this COULD happen. And what would you or I do to survive, if this all came to pass?
I highly recommend this book, and give it 4 out of 4 stars!

Favorite Book of 2008 -- what's yours?

2008-12-16T09:10:00.004-06:00

Mrs. Duell challenged all the RB teachers to identify their favorite book that they read this past year (don't you just love all the end-of-the-year Best-Of lists?) Believe it or not, I have kept track of all the books I've read this year (and the movies and plays I've seen -- what a nerd, right?) But that list is at home. Nevertheless, it took me only a moment to think of my favorite. The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield, was at the very top of a long list of great books that I met this past year. It had suspense, drama, well-developed interesting characters, humor, pathos, and a satisfying ending. It was very well written, which captured my admiration -- it's fun to observe how an author structured a book, and to be still surprised by wonderful turns of phrase, delightful word choices, gorgeous passages... So - what it's about - - - Margaret Lea works at her father's rare book shop and hides the pain of her knowledge that her conjoined twin sister died on the day they were born, in the very operation that saved Margaret's life. After she wrote a biography that reveals her understanding of sibling (and specifically twin) relationships, she was contacted by reclusive author Vida Winter to write her biography. Miss Winter has spent a lifetime telling various biographers varying fantastic stories - but she vows that THIS time she'll tell the truth. Margaret combines interviews of Miss Winter with independent investigations. Vida tells about the once-proud Angelfield family from Yorkshire, who lived in an estate now fallen to ruins. There was eccentric and seductive Isabelle, her sadistic brother Charlie, and Isabella’s oddly disturbing twin daughters Adeline and Emmeline. A governess, a doctor, a few devoted servants, an abandoned baby, and a streak of madness and murder run through Angelfield. What do these characters have to do with Vida Winter? Finding out will keep you pasted to the pages of this wonderful novel. Grab it for a cold winter's day -- or couple of days. I guarantee you won't be able to put it down. 4 out of 4 stars

Suspense -- and empathy, too, in this book

2008-11-24T15:41:00.005-06:00

Ms. Hayes' freshman English classes have been reading Stuck in Neutral, by Terry Trueman, so I decided to read it, too -- it's been on my "to-read list" for quite a while. It was a fast read, and a real page turner. Shawn is a 14-year-old boy who has cerebral palsy, and therefore has no control over his muscles. We the readers are able to hear his thoughts, and he sounds like any other kid his age, though he is very honest about his abilities and disabilities, his desires and wishes, and his relationships or lack thereof. Shawn can't speak, feed himself, control his bowels, stand, or let anyone know his thoughts. His parents have been divorced for years. Shawn, his brother, and sister live with their mom, and Dad is not too far away. He had written a Pulitzer-Prize winning poem about Shawn years ago that won him a lot of acclaim, and now he is appearing on TV to suggest that too much money is spent to "educate the uneducable" -- and he features an imprisoned man found guilty of murder after he killed his brain-damaged 2-year-old son. Shawn comes to suspect that his father plans to kill HIM, too. And if that IS his dad's intention, Shawn knows he can't do anything to stop it.

This was an enlightening book which made me really think. I found it especially moving that the author has a son much like Shawn - and he must have wondered whether his son has deep thoughts, whether he knows things and is aware of his world as Shawn is. That thought is both sad and hopeful. I highly recommend this book -- and can't wait to read its partner-book, Cruise Control, told from the point of view of Shawn's brother Paul.

Omnivore's Dilemma

2008-11-16T12:28:00.003-06:00

My son has been telling me facts from this book for months. I've heard rumblings in various conversations, read in assorted news reports, and have been on the periphery of understanding many "background secrets" of how our diets or overly dependent on Almighty Corn. Well, as a former Iowan, and as a descendant of many Illinois farmers, the chapters on corn and the changes in farming over the past 25 years was fascinating. How agribusiness has changed the planting cycle, the use of the land, the use of pesticides, the way livestock is raised, fed, and butchered -- it all was very depressing and yet, viewed logically, understandable from a purely business perspective. Nutritionally, ethically, and possible-doomsday-apocalyptic-worldly, it is easy to buy into Pollan's view that the changes we have wrought may come back to bite us in the ____. Feed us now, starve us later. . .
This is an important book. But somewhat overwhelming in what it calls for us to change in our daily lives. And leads to the view that "though I may change my own little piece, what possible difference will that make in the world as a whole?" But then, an awareness of global climate change has brought about all sorts of movements and changes -- so maybe we can also bring the world back into harmony agriculturally and food-wise, too. If you haven't read this book, check out at least the first section on corn. I hear the second section, on organic gardening/farming, is also good, so I intend to keep plugging away.
Rating so far: 3 out of 4 stars.

TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY

2008-11-16T11:44:00.004-06:00

LONG time, no update! Since October, I have finally finished reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. It's a LONG book. Very interesting, very descriptive, intriguing characters, and a lot about animal training and about dog behavior (and dog mental states -- does that sound weird?). I was into the story, wishing it were a little better edited (it's so LONG -- did I mention that?), but still hanging in there. And when I got to the ending, I tried to figure out why that ending was necessary. Did it resolve a character, or a theme, or did the author just not have any other ideas of what could happen next? It was totally an Oprah book ending, and I was a combination of disgusted, disappointed, and depressed. Why invest that much time in a book to end it with no hope, no uplifting message, no real resolution for the problems that the characters had wrestled with throughout the book??? Why, why, why?
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars. Some good phraseology, but yuk on the construction of the story/and the ending.

Anyway, as you can see from the image posted above, I just read another book -- Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. It was a pretty quick read -- well, if you decide to do without sleep, read during an entire three-hour car ride, and ignore people around you, which was my process. The premise is that Clay receives a box with no return address which contains several numbered audiotapes. When he begins to listen, he hears the voice of a girl from his school, Hannah, who had committed suicide a short time before. He hears that he has received the tapes because he is one of thirteen people who needs to hear why she killed herself, and he may be one of those reasons. What follows is an agonizing step-by-step journey through some painful interactions she, Hannah, had with other people, and we, the witnesses to her story, are forced to acknowledge that what we say and do really DOES make a difference -- sometimes in ways we can't foresee or imagine. I usually cringe if a book is too melodramatic (my objection to the Twilight series,) but this one gets a pass because the emotion is too real and raw. This book provides a lot of ideas to think about, and would be a good one to discuss with others. If somebody else reads this, please seek me out so we can chat.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

Edgar Sawtelle, part 2

2008-10-21T09:40:00.008-05:00

So I finally started reading Edgar (in SPITE of Oprah's recent attention to it!), and so far, it's wonderful! I love the characters, the setting, the pacing -- and the constant sense that something horrible is going to happen -- I just keep turning the pages waiting for that next shoe to drop. It's interesting to be immersed in the life of dog breeders - how it's a living, but also a series of continuing relationships. I'll keep you posted on further impressions, but at this point, it's a very-thumbs-up recommendation. Please respond if you agree OR disagree - - -

2008-10-21T08:41:00.003-05:00

A friend had recommended this mystery, saying she "couldn't put it down." I was between books, so decided to try it. I was leery because this particular friend has sometimes encouraged me to read books that felt a little too smart for me - i.e. I often felt too ignorant to appreciate the subtleties. The Savage Garden tells the story of Adam Strickland, a lackluster art history student at Cambridge, who travels to Italy to study a 16th century garden at Villa Docci for his thesis. The first owner of the villa, Federico Docci, had the garden built in honor of his dead wife Flora, and as Alex deciphers the sculptures -- their subjects, their placement, and their hidden meanings - he comes to suspect that the young Mrs. Docci's death was not an accident. As Alex comes to know the current owner of the villa, seventy-something Francesca Docci, he learns that her eldest son Emilio had been killed by the retreating Germans at the end of World War II -- but even that story becomes suspect over time. He is attracted to Signora Docci's granddaughter - and that attraction appears to be mutual --- but can Alex really trust Antonella? Who really killed Emilio, and what is he/she willing to do to protect the secret? I liked this book because of the setting - countryside Italy is rather exotic - the characters are deep and multifaceted - and the mystery kept me guessing til the end. I recommend this book. (3 1/2 out of 4 stars).

Oprah ruins a good thing? You tell me!

2008-09-23T13:58:00.005-05:00

So - Oprah has just announced that The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski, is the new selection for her Book Club. In the past, such pronouncements have been the kiss of death for me, as I found that so many of her books were just continual doom-and-gloom --- about people who had horrible depressing lives (who often raised themselves up, so there's hope for us all!) -- but you still had to wade through a lot of description of depravity.

Edgar Sawtelle has been on my "TO READ" list since I started hearing and reading rave reviews from various people and publications. It is listed as amazon.com's "Best of the Month June 2008". The story sounds intriguing -- a young boy, forced to escape into the wilds of far-northern Wisconsin to avoid his possibly murderous uncle, has three dogs as his only companions. He is mute, and communicates via sign language. The reviewers praise the novel for its use of language, and descriptions of the young boy, his striving to survive against formidable odds, and the relationships that are described in the book. Well, it SOUNDS like something I'd like, but do I change my prejudice against "Oprah books" and give it a try? If any of you have read this one, let me know your opinion.

update - after a LONG hiatus

2008-09-11T10:20:00.004-05:00

So, Mrs. Duell has her Bulldog Banana Bread Blog, and I realized I hadn't updated my blog for a couple of years. But to resume - -
The teacher/staff/retired persons book club here at RB has been reading some really good (and some mediocre) books over the last couple of months.

I was surprised that I liked Loving Frank, about the doomed love affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, one of his clients, and a married one at that. The story was told from her point of view, and it was believable, romantic, and a good look at the historical time period -- and full of local references, to boot.

Our September read was Ann Patchett's Run. She won fame and fortune with her novel Bel Canto a few years ago, and although I loved that one (read it!), this novel had all the earmarks of a "sophomore novel" -- the characters weren't as well-developed, and the story ran from one plot point to another without really holding together. The basic idea is that two African American little boys are adopted by a white couple in Boston who already have their own son, 10 years old -- and then the adoptive mother dies of cancer. The father, a former mayor of Boston and very into the political scene, raises the boys on his own. Years later, the father and the two adopted boys meet at a political speech, and afterward, just as one of them is backing away while telling his pushy dad that he no longer wants to go to political meetings (he's a scientist who's interested only in studying fish), he is almost hit by a car ---- but a black woman pushes him to safety and is herself hit and critically injured. Her young daughter is left stranded when the ambulance takes the woman away -- so the mayor and his sons take the daughter home. It turns out that the injured woman is the birth mother of the boys, and she has been following their lives all these years. As the relationships are established and then develop, we follow a series of flashbacks and explanations which lead to some surprising revelations.

Join us on October 14th to discuss our next book, One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd, by Jim Fergus. "This is an imaginative fictional account of May Dodd and others in the controversial "Brides for Indians" program, a clandestine U.S. government-sponsored program intended to instruct "savages" in the ways of civilization and to assimilate the Indians into white culture through the offspring of these unions. May's personal journals, loaded with humor and intelligent reflection, describe the adventures of some very colorful white brides (including one black one), their marriages to Cheyenne warriors, and the natural abundance of life on the prairie before the final press of the white man's civilization. Fergus . . . writes with tremendous insight and sensitivity about the individual community and the political and religious issues of the time . . ."

RBHS BookTalk: Students - what are YOU reading?

2006-08-10T09:43:00.000-05:00

RBHS BookTalk: Students - what are YOU reading?

This is a test to see if anyone can respond to a posting - so here I go: What I'M reading is Saving Fish from Drowning, by Amy Tan. It combines travel, history, and geography (mostly about Burma) with a mystery and mysticism. I'm reading it for my book club. My opinion so far is that Tan is a good writer, but not a good story-teller. It just goes on and on without really getting anywhere.

Students - what are YOU reading?

2006-08-09T14:59:00.000-05:00

Just jot a line or two to let others know of a good book they might like to read. And let me know if we should buy it for the RB Library!
Mrs. Fritz

What I'm reading

2006-08-09T14:50:00.001-05:00

Handling Sin, by Michael Malone. A hilarious story of a very ordinary, do-the-right-thing guy, Raleigh, who gets caught up in a quest when his extremely ill father "escapes" from the hospital and sends for his son to meet him in New Orleans in two weeks with several items: an old trumpet; the concrete sculpture of his archrival, which must be stolen out of the library; an old family trunk; his ne'er-do-well and long-missing half-brother; and a man named Jubel. A series of unbelievable coincidences and misfortunes brings Raleigh in contact with the KKK, Hells Angels, an antebellum plantation that MIGHT be the site for the sequel to "Gone With the Wind," some escaped convicts, jazz musicians, gangsters, and an adventure that will change him forever. It's long, but I've really gotten caught up in the bizarre characters. Great summer read!
Mrs. Fritz

Bulldog Book Club September Selection

2006-08-09T14:38:00.000-05:00

Teachers - don't forget about our selection for September. It's called "How to be Lost", by Amanda Eyre Ward. As a teenager, Caroline had enlisted her two younger sisters to run away from their alcoholic and abusive dad and their tipsy, ineffective mother. But on the last day of school, the day they were to run away, youngest sister Ellie disappears. Years later, Caroline sees in a magazine a picture of a woman she thinks is Ellie, grown up, and she sets out to find her.

The discussion will take place in the library on Thursday, September 14th at 3:15. See you there!

D. Fritz

Welcome to the RB Library Book Discussion BLOG!

2006-08-09T13:24:00.000-05:00

This is a new way to share our impressions, opinions, recommendations, and general information about books, books, books! Students and teachers are welcome to post messages and to react to others' postings. My hope is that the blog will become a common meeting ground for RB readers.

To start things off, tell about a book you read this summer that you really enjoyed, or would recommend to others.

Mrs. Fritz
(P.S. This is my first blog, so be patient with me as I will no doubt make mistakes!)