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The God of Animals, by Aryn Kyle
A terrific book, in a very subtle, sneaky way. The writing is great, but you don't even notice at first because it's the sort of writing that doesn't jump up and down and say "Look at me!" The characters are just plain real. I'm not sure how Aryn Kyle does it, but in a matter of pages you really, really want to know what's going to happen to these people.
I know I'm young and I've written a pretty darn good book, but Aryn Kyle just might knock your socks off.
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The Entertainer and the Dybbuk, by Sid Fleischman
I'm not quite sure what to make of The Entertainer and the Dybbuk. The premise is interesting: the spirit (or dybbuk) of a young holocaust victim inhabits a ventriloquist. This means the ventriloquist's dummy gets to make all sorts of snappy and biting remarks about Nazis and Jews, courtesy of the dybbuk. Before long, the ventriloquist is a sensation. The catch is, the dybbuk's got some unfinished business to take care of – namely, completing his bar mitzvah and searching for the SS officer who killed him and his sister during the war.
How this all plays out is quite clever, but I'm not sure how it'll work for kids because though the dybbuk is young and scrappy, the ventriloquist is a grown-up and he's definitely the main character. (It worked fine for me, but I'm 28.)
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Song of the Sparrow, by Lisa Ann Sandell
Maybe I shouldn't admit to this, but my experience with the King Arthur legend is sadly limited to Disney's Sword in the Stone and that part in Anne of Green Gables when Anne recites "The Lady of Shalott." So this book went over quite well with me. I could probably get away with saying that Song of the Sparrow is as good as its cover. (With a cover like that, what more can you hope for?)
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These Happy Golden Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I can't say enough good things about this book. Granted, a HUGE part of my enthusiasm is because of Cherry Jones, the audio performer. Cherry Jones's readings of the Little House series brings the Ingalls and Wilder families to new life the way Garth Williams's illustrations did in the 1950's. I am in the process of loading the entire series onto my iPod because of her.
Now, onto the story itself. I couldn't help but compare the 15-year-old Laura to Annie Sullivan as she set out to teach school for the first time. In some ways, I'd go so far as to say Laura had it worse than Annie – leaving such a happy home at such a very young age and all. Anyway… Laura and Almanzo's courtship is so understated that it drove me bonkers as a kid, but this time around I found it rather sweet. I don't know when Laura started to fall for Almanzo, but he had me during that awful 12 mile sleigh ride from the Brewster school in a near-blizzard. All in all, there's just something about watching a character grow up like this. But more than that, it's amazing to have such a full slice of American history preserved this way. I'm in serious danger of adding the Ingalls/Wilders to my list of historical passions.
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The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex
Why do I like this book? No idea, really. C'mon – it's essentially a cross country road trip in a floating car with an alien riding shotgun and a 12-year-old kid named Gratuity (her friends call her Tip) narrating the whole thing. Oh, and they need to save the world. Get real, right?
Strangely enough, it worked for me. Ok, the reference to 'I am Loving Lucy' and a stop at the blatantly Disneyesque 'Happy Mouse Kingdom' were big pluses for me, but still. It's silly and outlandish yet somehow manages not to become a complete farce. From time to time I found myself noticing parallels to such weighty issues as the holocaust, 9/11, and most obviously the resettlement of Native Americans. Go figure.
Perhaps the biggest thing Smekday has going for it is the voice. Gratuity is endlessly sardonic and finds her adventure almost as ridiculous as the reader is likely to. If an author is going to try pulling off a plot this crazy, it helps a lot if the book isn't above making fun of itself. A sample of what I mean:
"You…" he squealed, wagging his finger. "…your hand!"
I raised my hand to my face, turning it over and back again.
"What? What's wrong with it?"
"You are bearing the mark! The mark that has been fore "What, this? This is taco sauce," I said, wiping it clean. And so it goes. Just try Smekday. You'll either love it or hate it.
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Tyrell, by Coe Booth
Tyrell is the sort of book that can make a girl like me feel very white, and very sheltered. That's probably a good thing to realize on a regular basis, actually. At any rate, I loved the voice of this book. I'm sure some folks will fuss about the language and the perceived lack of "good" grammar, but the linguist in me just ate it all up. I may even have to check out some of the old skool rap Tyrell loves.
My only gripe: In a couple instances I found it a little hard to believe that a kid as sharp as Tyrell didn't catch on to what the people around him were really up to, especially Novisha.
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Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America, by Linda Lawrence Hunt
Almost as amazing as Helga Estby's walk across the United States is how the author pieced together a full-length book out of a story that was nearly squelched into oblivion. The lack of day-to-day details regarding the journey may be frustrating, but it can't be helped – Helga wrote hundreds of pages of memoirs, which her daughters destroyed after her death. In fact, the Estby family's shame and resentment of Helga's cross-country trek is nearly as fascinating as the journey itself.
There were a few minor irritants, mostly to do with repetition. Multiple references to relevant skills and pivotal events in a person's life are certainly reasonable, but I soon got the feeling that the author didn't trust me to recall the circumstances surrounding Helga's surgery or where she acquired her abilities as a seamstress and lacemaker.
Those are small gripes, though. Overall, Bold Spirit gives a good taste of both the immigrant homestead experience and Victorian attitudes toward women – two molds Helga Estby had the gumption to defy.
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Red Glass, by Laura Resau
Excuse me for a minute while I make a snarky remark: It sure is nice to see Mexicans portrayed as real people with a unique culture instead of just farm equipment with rights. Don't get me wrong – I like books about the migrant experience, but there's a whole lot more to Mexico and its people than that.
Like What the Moon Saw, Red Glass takes place in part in Oaxaca, Mexico. Despite the shacks and outhouses, Laura Resau somehow doesn't make Pablo's village seem quaint and primitive. She's been there, and it shows – the place feels real, not like some Disneyfied Mexico-land.
Mostly though, I loved the characters. Little Pablo and crazy, exuberant Dika in particular. They're an odd, perhaps far-fetched group, but they're awfully endearing. Don't let them slip by you.
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Monday After the Miracle, by William Gibson
Either I'm an easy touch, or that William Gibson is a helluva writer. I may have to read one of his non-Annie Sullivan plays just to see if he can make me cry every time.
Click here to read my full reaction.
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The First Four Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Little House audio marathon continues...…
I can't help thinking that this is not a book originally aimed at children. For one thing, it repeats much of the end of These Happy Golden Years, but expands those scenes with a more adult point of view. The style is similar to the previous Little House books, but the tone is much bleaker. There's more worry and pessimism here, as well as subjects Laura rarely touched in her other books – birth and death and debt. It's really a tough little book, and I remember being somewhat put off by it as a kid. I appreciate it a whole lot more now, but I still don't think it's kids' stuff.
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The Know-It-All, by AJ Jacobs
I like AJ Jacobs, I really do. His wit and style remind me alternately of Bill Bryson and my good pal Casey, and that's great fun. I got a little annoyed with him halfway through this book, though. The know-it-all aspect of his personality got tiresome after a while, and it's hard to believe he didn't realize sooner that yes, spouting trivia can in fact be that irritating in social situations. On the other hand, I'm a big old Jeopardy dork, so I did like acquiring the trivia even if the way he dispensed it didn't entirely agree with me. Figures.
Note from a Russian history nerd: Britannica's "Rasputin" entry could use some updating. Judging by what Jacobs has quoted, they've relied mostly on murderer Felix Yusupov's tall tales, which don't jive with Rasputin's autopsy report. (And yes, I realize I've pretty much just given AJ a run for his money in the irritating-reporting-of-facts department. We're even now.)
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
There's an awful lot of buzz about this book, which isn't always a good thing. Why? Apparently I was expecting to sit down and have the story take off like a rocket launcher – instantly knock my socks off and all that. It didn't. But here's the thing: it's still darn good. For a while there the writing felt superficial and simple, then suddenly the characters reached out and grabbed me. Junior is a guarded kind of guy, and what initially struck me as a lack of depth and subtlety is actually Junior expressing his feelings in a roundabout – dare I say typically male? – way. Once you've gotten to know him, you can read beyond the words, and that's when you start to understand what all the buzz is about.
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How to Steal a Dog, by Barbara O'Connor
There's so much more to this book than I thought at first glance. The voice is spot-on, and the premise is totally something a kid would concoct and try to pull off. I liked Georgina's feistiness, and her anger sure felt real too. I knew she was being unreasonable, but that's very different from being unrealistic. My favorite characters? Mookie and Willy, of course.
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Into the Wild, by Sarah Beth Durst
The premise is amusing, the logic clever, and the hop-scotching through different fairy tales is a hoot. Some of the characters are familiar standards, and some are delightfully more obscure. I got a little thrill out of Baba Yaga's brief appearance, for example. When all is said and done, I can't help recalling David Weisner's Three Pigs.
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Straw Into Gold, by Gary D. Schmidt
This guy can write. Period. Yeah, I'm a sucker for the folklore-inspired stuff, but this is so, so good. I wouldn't call it a retelling, or even a sequel exactly – more a story of the consequences of Rumplestiltskin.
As if that wasn't enough to hook me, there's a character in Straw Into Gold that's enough like one of my own characters in the unpublished book under my bed to stop me in my tracks. I think maybe they're sisters, and it's so nice to meet her.
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Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
There's a reason this is the best-remembered of the Little House books. It's easily her most lively, and her most dramatic story. So many of the exciting and beloved Little House moments are all here in one book: Remember when they tried to cross the creek and the water rose so fast Pa had to jump out and help the horses swim? This is the book where the log falls on Ma when they build the house. Mr. Scott passes out in the well, Mr. Edwards meets Santa Claus and walks 80 miles to give Laura and Mary their presents, the prairie catches fire, and on and on. It's going to be a tough one to top.
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The Madonnas of Leningrad, by Debra Dean
Of course I picked this up because it's set in Russia and I like artsy fiction to boot, but I ended up enjoying it mostly because of how Debra Dean portrays Alzheimer's. Even the structure of the book models the disease. At first the chapters alternate clearly between past and present. Then they begin to blur and shift like Marina's memory. I suppose it's mostly impossible to know how an Alzheimer's patient's mind really works (or doesn't), but this sure seems real to me. And the end is just so cool.
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In Search of Mockingbird, by Loretta Ellsworth
I've read my share of girl-runs-away-on-a-bus books, so it took me a while to warm to this one. Same old same old, I thought. Somewhere in the middle though, the suspense kicked in. Knowing what I do about Harper Lee, I began to wonder and worry about how things were going to work out for this girl who's got her heart set on meeting the famously reclusive author. I also wondered if Loretta Ellsworth would be bold enough to use Harper Lee as a speaking character. The solution? Practically perfect. I even caught on a bit before the main character and felt simultaneously smug and stricken until things worked themselves out.
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Iron Thunder, by Avi
This appears to be the first title in a new series called I Witness, which Hyperion's website describes as "accessible, action-packed, first-person historical narratives illustrated with primary source material -- period illustrations, photographs, and maps -- to make the history concrete and vivid." It's a neat idea, and I can't help comparing them just a little to DK's Eyewitness books. Thankfully, Hyperion is wise enough not to clutter the pages up with too many extras to distract from the story, creating a palatable mixture of fiction and information. My only complaint with this setup is that a few of the illustrations' captions gave away a bit of the story many chapters before the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac even began. Why am I not saying much about the story? It's written by Avi – what else do you need to know?
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No Talking! by Andrew Clements
As far as I'm concerned, this is Clements's best book yet. I loved the narrator's voice, which was clever but never got in the way. I liked getting the adults' point of view, but they never overtook the story. And the kids, the kids are right on – I'm beginning to wonder if Andrew Clements actually lives in an elementary school. What fun! It made me laugh, and I even got a little sniffy at the end.
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On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Sooner or later my Little House audio reviews are bound to get redundant. Suffice it to say that this is the 5th book I've listened to, and I'm not tired of them yet.
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The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
A decidedly odd book, but worth it in the end. Let's be honest, many of these characters are nearly as disturbing as they are fascinating. They may border on creepy, but I knew they were up to something -- especially Miss Winter. So I hung in there, hoping for a twist, and boy did I get it.
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