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Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, by Donald Zochert
First things first: I am SO glad this book is more accurate than its cover. It's plain that Donald Zochert relied heavily on Laura Ingalls Wilder's unpublished memoir, Pioneer Girl, which pleased me very much. I loved learning all the real-life details behind the Little House books. In that regard, this is a very satisfying book. However, being an incurable history geek, I was frustrated by the total lack of bibliography or footnotes, which were left out for ease and simplicity of reading. The thing is, this biography often waxes poetic and from time to time flirts closely with the line between fact and what appears to be assumption. For example, this passage comes from a time when, Zochert tells us, "Laura was still too little to remember." She was in fact 18 months old: "Laura couldn't see over the backboard if she sat in the wagon bed. She had to stand up and hold tightly to the smooth wooden backboard with her fingers. What she saw was a circle of woods and hills falling farther and farther behind. She heard the snort of the horses. She felt the lullaby of the wagon and she felt sleepy." If Laura herself was too little to remember this trip, I can't help wondering where Zochert got his information. Sure, it's almost certain that Laura would have experienced the wagon trip as Zochert describes it, but it makes me cranky that it's presented as if we know for sure how 18-month-old Laura felt, and what did in the back of that wagon on any given day. (Aside: Helen Keller created a simliar literary sleight of hand in her autobiography. With careful wording, she describes the scenery of her Alabama home in the days before she lost her sight in a way that inevitably leads the reader to believe she remembered seeing everything she describes. In fact, she remembered no sights at all from her early childhood, and was only relaying what others told her about how her home looked.) Do I think Zochert is making stuff up? Absolutely not. It's clear from the tone of the appendices that he's a serious biographer, and that he's got his facts straight. I just wish he'd been more straightforward about presenting speculation and assumption, even if his guesses are well-founded. Much as I enjoyed this book, I also wish the last 70 years of Laura's life hadn't been crammed into just 40 pages. The writing of her memoir and novels in particular is glossed over. Ah, well. There's always Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder for that, I guess.
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On the Way Home, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
This is probably the sort of thing most likely to appeal to die-hard Laura Ingalls Wilder junkies. You know, like me. It's the diary of the wagon trip Almanzo, Laura, and Rose Wilder made when they left DeSmet in 1894, looking for a better life in Missouri. There's a lot of mundane stuff in here -- times, temperatures, grain yields, and land prices -- but it's also interesting to see such an early example of Laura's unedited writing. A snappy sense of humor surfaces from time to time: "Mrs. Cooley and I went to a house to buy milk. It was swarming with children and pigs; they looked a good deal alike." You tell 'em, Laura!
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Loving Will Shakespeare, by Carolyn Meyer
I once heard this book jokingly referred to as "Being Anne Hathaway" and now that I've read the whole thing, I heartily agree. Don't get me wrong -- this is very good historical ficiton. But if you're expecting a couple hundred pages of Shakespearean romance, you might be disappointed. This book is very much about Anne, and it begins with her first meeting with Shakespeare; she was seven, he a mere three days old. If, on the other hand, you want to know what life was like for a yeoman's daughter in the 17th century who just happens to marry the world's most famous playwright in her mid-twenties, then this is the book for you.
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Coal Black Horse, by Robert Olmstead
Just about every review I've seen mentions the gore-factor in this book. Yeah, things get pretty messy there in the fields of Gettysburg, and I don't suppose everyone will care to read those scenes over a bowl of meaty red chili like I did. (Sick, I know.) That said, there's plenty more to Coal Black Horse than battlefield ooze. It's gritty and tragic, but it's also very well-written and strangely quick to read. Matter of fact, given the choice between this book and Cormac McCarthy's similarly themed The Road, I'll gladly take Coal Black Horse.
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Mary Ingalls on Her Own, by Elizabeth Kimmel Willard
I had this read in about 90 minutes. It's quite good - true to the characters, the time, and the place. Matter of fact, I like it even better than Cynthia Rylant's Old Town in the Green Groves. Read the nitty-gritty review on my blog. (Note: You may find occasional references to Mary Leaves Little House online. Same book, previous title. The final and official title is Mary Ingalls on Her Own.)
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The Children's Blizzard, by David Laskin
All right, I admit it: I am a historical ambulance-chaser. Give me a past event that involves a body count, and I'm there. As the flap copy promises, this book does indeed read like a thriller. I confess I did a little skimming over the politics of weather reporting in the 1880's, but other than that it's gripping reading. My only complaint? As you've probably noticed by now I'm awfully persnickety about non-fiction, so I got a bit irritated by how the author presented the last unwitnessed hours of some of the blizzard's victims. Laskin admits in his source notes that some of what he wrote about how these particular kids died was speculation - and it's certainly well-researched speculation - but it still rubs me the wrong way when speculation is presented as fact in the text for the sake of effect. I know, you lose some suspense when you start talking in "maybes," "perhapses," and "might haves," but to my mind, that's a sacrifice you have to make when you commit to writing non-fiction.
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On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God, by Louise Rennison
I picked this up because I was in desperate need of a laugh. Did I get what I bargained for? Oh yeah. It's a laugh-a-minute sort of book. But... Is it to much to ask for a book to have even a teensy bit of resolution at the end instead of halting with a blatant you-gotta-wait-for-yet-another-sequel? Honestly! This sort of thing is exactly why I have such a rampant case of sequel prejudice. Aside: I find it mildly disquieting that Georgia seemed so teenagery, in a way that made me feel like I might have become a dowdy ol' grown-up since reading Angus. Yikes!
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A Year Down Yonder, by Richard Peck
I somehow managed to forget just how good this book is since the last time I read/listened to it. Gosh, it's good. I daresay it's even better in the audio edition. This has a lot to do with the reader, Lois Smith. Hiring a lady in her seventies to read a novel told by a 15-year-old character may come off as a little odd, but once you've heard her Grandma Dowdell voice, you'll know exactly why Lois Smith got the job. Think of Vicki Lawrence in Mama's Family (but with a little less twang) and you'll have a taste of what I mean. So, so good.
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Clementine, by Sara Pennypacker
Another audio book that can't be beat. The voice in Clementine is strong as all get out, and yet it's great fun to hear an actual kid-voice read the text. I love it when an audio performance adds a layer or expands a book somehow (the way good picture book illustrations enhance the text) but this performance sounds just like Clementine did in my head the first time I read the print edition. That's a good thing in this case. It might come off as a backhanded compliment at first glance, but I mean it as a tribute to the strength of Sara Pennypacker's writing, as well as the folks who do the casting at Recorded Books. It is a perfect match.
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How to Build a House, by Dana Reinhardt
Gosh, this is good. Granted, I like Dana Reinhardt and I like Habitat for Humanity so this was probably a no-brainer for me. More than that, though, the lady can write. I enjoyed the suspense created by the way the narrative moved between past and present. I liked how a number of the chapter titles had a double meaning to reflect both the home-building project and the structure of Harper's own story -- "Lay the foundation" and "Putting up walls," for example. Most importantly, I liked the characters and the story. And if I'm going to be totally honest, this was a day on which I could really identify with a girl who wanted to just step away and leave her domestic troubles behind her for a little while. This is easily my favorite book of the month. So far... (Available in May)
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The Essential Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson
I read the entire Calvin and Hobbes series back in late elementary and middle school and LOVED it. So why only a three-leaf rating? Well, like anything else, Calvin is a character who develops over time. These early strips are not quite the Calvin I remember -- yet. That said, it's interesting to watch Calvin evolve, both in terms of the artwork itself and the writing. All the elements of Calvin are here, and even if they don't pack a full wallop just yet, there's plenty in this first collection to laugh at and think about.
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The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson
Pow! Calvin's really warming up now. His facial expressions, his personality -- it's all there in full force. Much to my delight, the story threads are getting longer, stretching over multiple strips. I'm increasingly fascinated by just how much Bill Watterson can get across in four short panels, especially when one of them has to be sacrificed to backstory. Any author could learn a thing or two about writing tight scenes from this guy. Oh, and forget English class workbooks -- I'm suddenly realizing just how much vocabulary development I owe to Calvin and Hobbes.
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Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer's Life, by Pamela Smith Hill
I can hardly say enough good things about this book. It's exactly the sort of Laura Ingalls Wilder biography I've been wishing for: straightforward non-fiction (footnotes and everything!) with a steady focus on Laura, giving equal weight to both the true details of her life and to her writing. As an author of children's historical fiction herself, Pamela Smith Hill gives ample insight into the craft of Wilder's writing, drawing attention to a great many elements of the structure and theme of the Little House books that I'd never put together myself. Based on those observations, Hill presents a compelling case that despite being steeped in historical and autobiographical details, Wilder's books are indeed fiction -- a personal history consciously trimmed and molded to fit the form and countours of the novel. Hill also tackles the fascinating editorial partnership between Laura Ingalls Wilder and daughter Rose Wilder Lane, pointing out with concrete examples how the combination of each woman's natural strengths and gifts contributed to the overall shape and tone of Wilder's novels. Thankfully, Hill manages to keep Rose's dynamic and voilatile personality from overpowering the second half of the book, all the while giving an uncluttered assessment of Rose's role in bringing the Little House stories to print. I have no complaints about this book. Not a single one.
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42 Miles, by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
I snitched this out of the Houghton Mifflin spring 2008 sample kit for two reasons: 1. Tracie Vaughn Zimmer wrote the reader guide for Miss Spitfire.
That said, 42 Miles may be short and sweet, but it's also not a book you just whip right through. Books written this well make you stop and take notice. Take this stanza, a reflection on being the daughter of divorced parents: They try to split me
This book is brimful of stuff like that. I don't know how Tracie does it. (Available in March)
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The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt
This is such a sneaky book. I loved it when I read it, but for the first hour or so of the CDs I couldn't quite figure out what had originally struck me as so fabulous. And then -- BANG! -- it jumped up and grabbed me. Again. (Long about the time the first Marine dies, if you want to pinpoint it.) I think what I love about Gary Schmidt's writing is how he makes you understand what he isn't saying. The emotion lurks silently in the background, and when it surfaces it's all the more powerful for the subtlety.
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Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, by Gabrielle Zevin
In all fairness, this should be a 4-star book. It's well-written, and I can't point out any obvious flaws, but somehow Memoirs wasn't quite what I was hoping for. I picked it up because I'd run across a review quote that said (and I'm paraphrasing) "Gabrielle Zevin explores the question, Who are we without our experiences?" A fascinating question, but I came away feeling like the book didn't answer it very well. On second thought, that's not entirely fair -- a novel's job is to provoke questions, not answer them. In that case, I think my frustration is that Memoirs didn't trigger any new thoughts or insights about the nature and significance of memory for me. Maybe if I'd read this book before The Madonnas of Leningrad and The Giver I'd feel differently about it. Setting all that aside, this is a good story with an intriguing premise, and I know my own memory-fixations aren't likely to get in the way of other folks' enjoyment of it. In short, this is probably a better book than I think it is.
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Christmas at Grandma's, by Donald Davis
There's no getting around it -- Christmas is a-comin'. Need a little something to give your holiday cheer a boost? Give Donald Davis a try. I ran across Christmas at Grandma's at the library, waaaay back in the audio cassette era, and I've hogged it every year since. Imagine Jeff Foxworthy telling G-rated holiday stories and you'll have a faint idea of what this is like -- twang and all. That said, Davis is no blue-collar comedian. Not by a long shot. He's a retired Methodist minister and a professional storyteller, born and bred in Southern Appalachia, where I have a feeling stories grow on trees. Believe me, the man knows how to spin a yarn. All the stories in this collection contain an element of Christmas catastrophe -- the sort of stuff that would do the Herdmans proud, and makes folks in the thick of it say, "Someday we'll laugh at this." Fortunately, YOU won't have to wait to get the giggles. I've got the thing more or less memorized, and it still cracks me up every year. It just ain't Christmas without Donald Davis.
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Let the Hurricane Roar, by Rose Wilder Lane
Once upon a time, this book was a bestseller. Nowadays, most people find their way to it only because the author is Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter. Devoted readers of the Little House books will recognize a number of striking parallels in Rose Wilder Lane's story of pioneer life. In fact, Let the Hurricane Roar is undeniably constructed from a number of Laura Ingalls Wilder's personal recollections - so much so that the book's publication briefly strained the relationship between mother and daughter. When you start adding up the similarities - "Wild Plum Creek," the grasshopper plague, Charles's return from the east in a blizzard, to name just a few - it's easy to see why. It's also awfully tempting to infer that the main characters, Charles and Caroline, are based on Lane's grandparents, Charles and Caroline Ingalls. In reality, according to Wilder biographers William Anderson and Pamela Smith Hill, outside of a few circumstantial similarities, these characters are almost purely of Lane's invention. Drat! Still, a quick and interesting read for Wilder-junkies.
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