“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.”
– Francis Bacon, English philosopher
quick quote: what to do with a book May 17, 2011
quick quote: on the nature of libraries May 10, 2011
“A library doesn’t need windows. A library is a window.”
– Stewart Brand, American author and businessman, 1994.
quick quote: the importance of libraries May 3, 2011
“What is more important in a library than anything else — than everything else — is the fact that it exists.”
– Archibald MacLeish, U.S. poet, 1978.
This Gorgeous Game October 14, 2010
Donna Freitas is a religion writer. She’s done some nonfiction for adults and a teen novel, The Possibilities of Sainthood. Her latest novel is This Gorgeous Game; it deals with the experiences of 17-year-old Olivia Peters, a gifted writer who’s caught the professional eye of nationally-known novelist Father Mark Brendan. Olivia is initially pleased and flattered by the attention, but when it starts to be something a little darker she doesn’t know quite how to handle things.
I have mixed feelings about This Gorgeous Game. I think the author does a nice job of articulating Olivia’s ambivalence about Mark and her feelings of guilt and self-doubt. I think she’s dead on about the grooming process and the attempts at manipulation and control on the part of an abuser. I think that part of the story is really, really important, and it’s a story that doesn’t often get told.
At the same time, I don’t know that the way Olivia lives is entirely realistic. She’s 17 and has never had a boyfriend, only ever kissed one boy (and it’s not like she’s socially awkward), and the parish priest is a frequent dinner guest at her home. Olivia’s older sister (oddly named Greenie) has a boyfriend, but has chosen not to kiss him until they get engaged. I don’t get that, really — and maybe it’s just me, but I don’t know that a lot of high school kids would really get it either. The very best thing about this book for me is Olivia’s struggle to figure out what’s what and remain true to herself. She really embodies the internal conflict of an abuse victim, and (lucky for her) happens to connect with a boy who has the chutzpah to help Olivia get the help she needs. This Gorgeous Game is an important book, but I think all the uber-Catholic references may distract from the message.
The Looking Glass Wars October 7, 2010
I broke a cardinal rule last winter and booktalked Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars without having read it first. (In my defense, I didn’t actually talk much – just showed the book trailer and noted that we own the book.) It’s a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland; I talked it up as a fractured fairy tale. Having just finished it, I think it’s more a SF/battle story that happens to use Alice as its backdrop.
The story begins with Alyss Heart’s seventh birthday and a palace coup that forces her to flee Wonderland through the Pool of Tears. She lands in Victorian London and makes a life for herself with the Liddell family (Alice Liddell was the actual little girl for whom Charles Dodgson/Lewis Carroll wrote the original Alice stories), until eventually she’s brought back to Wonderland as an adult and takes on a fight for her rightful throne.
Frank Beddor walks a fine line in this book — Wonderland is recognizably the world of Alice, but it looks a lot different from the way Lewis Carroll brought it to us. The events of the story are plausible in that world, but completely new and intriguing. On top of that, The Looking Glass Wars is the start of a trilogy and is followed by a series of graphic novels dealing with Hatter Madigan (Alyss’s royal bodyguard).
Though I found this book slow at first, I think that may have been me and not the story. It picked up considerably about a third of the way through and really kept me going from then on. So I was wrong about the fairy tale situation — sorry, high school kids. You should probably read this book anyway.
The Maze Runner August 3, 2010
Dashner, James. The Maze Runner. Random House (Delacorte Press), 2009.
Thomas is the newest arrival to the Glade, a compound where preteen and teenage boys are fending for themselves and creating a life with no adults. Up to the time he arrives in the mysterious lift (called The Box), a new Glader just like Thomas has arrived every month, with no recollection of his previous life and no information about himself except his first name. It happens once a month like clockwork – until 1) another person comes through The Box the very next day who is 2) a girl and 3) is clutching a note that says, “She’s the last one. Ever.”
The Glade, thus far, has proven inescapable. It’s surrounded by a giant maze that changes every day. A team of eight Runners goes out each day to try and find an exit, but none has been found and the Runners are beginning to think it’s unsolvable. Thomas wants to be a Runner even though he’s new to the Glade, and the presence of the girl is making him think he might have some answers if he could just get to his memories.
The Maze Runner is a terrific follow-up recommendation for kids who are reading the Hunger Games series, with some similar themes of beating the system and sticking it to the man. There’s lots of action here and while the author classifies himself as a fantasy writer, I think sci-fi readers would enjoy it as well. I will say this: I hated the ending, but it is the first in a series (The Scorch Trials is due out in a couple of months, and we can only hope it has some answers in it).
Marcelo in the Real World August 3, 2010
Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo in the Real World. Scholastic, 2009.
Marcelo is about 17, and maybe on the autism spectrum – at least that’s how his doctor defines his quirks (which include hearing music that no one else can hear). His father arranges for Marcelo to work in his law firm’s mailroom to get some “real world” experience outside the sheltered environment of Marcelo’s small private school.
Marcelo ends up getting way more experience than anyone expected: experience with the city, with people who can and cannot be trusted, with doing the right thing in a setting that doesn’t always ask or expect the right thing, with the very beginning of Being Friends With a Girl. He’s naive to a fault, but also entirely consistent in the ways he moves in the world.
There is a sweetness in this book that really appeals to me. Marcelo is a real person and very true to himself — although his method of determining what is and isn’t okay for him is hyper-logical and consistent with an autism diagnosis. I love the fact that he finds a friend in the book, someone who definitely has his best interests at heart and might eventually come to take a different role in Marcelo’s life. Marcelo in the Real World is a good read for someone who enjoys a good story and strong characters, and for those who might not enjoy the action/thriller/trauma genre.
Cashay July 21, 2010
McMullan, Margaret. Cashay. Houghton Mifflin, 2009.
I keep reading books that begin with the death of someone important – a lover, a sister – and it’s hard to get through them, because I’m living that grief and I don’t especially want to live someone else’s grief at the same time. But there’s no denying that bereavement is a compelling story, and I haven’t yet put a book down because I couldn’t handle it.
Cashay is 14, and her sister’s been fatally shot while the two walk home to their apartment in Cabrini Green. This book is the story of Cashay’s struggle to wade through her grief and overcome her circumstances.
While some story elements are predictable – a crucial after-school program and an unlikely mentor, for example – Cashay’s voice is fresh and true. I believe what she says, and I care what happens to her (and not just because her little sister died). This is a great urban novel for teenage readers, offering glimpses of life in Chicago’s slums without being overly gritty. It’s realistic about poverty and drugs and danger, but it features a heroine who shows that hope can grow anywhere.
I like this book for grades 7-10 because of the narrator’s youth, but I think older readers would enjoy it as well if they could be convinced to pick it up.
American Gods July 20, 2010
Gaiman, Neil. American Gods. HarperCollins, 2001.
This novel is dense and deeply rooted, involving stories of old gods (literally ancient, old-world gods from a variety of cultures) transplanted to America by immigrants and gradually forgotten as people assimilated to American culture and created new, slicker, faster gods for themselves.
Shadow is the person who connects the old gods with each other. A convict out on parole, he hooks up with Wednesday (Wodin) and gets involved with the brewing battle between the old gods and the new. Eventually Shadow learns that things are not what they seem – but despite having been deceived, he finds that his world is richer for the experience.
I love the way Gaiman develops his characters – they’re complicated people, even when they aren’t people at all. Each mythological figure in American Gods has a personality and a history. This book is vivid and richly imagined, with a final plot twist that shows that even the gods are bound to be faithful to their own stories.
Her Fearful Symmetry July 19, 2010
Niffenegger, Audrey. Her Fearful Symmetry. Simon and Schuster, 2009.
The flap synopsis for this book says it’s about identical twins (Julia & Valentina Poole) who inherit a London flat from their mother’s estranged sister, with some peculiar stipulations in the will. That barely scratches the surface – Her Fearful Symmetry turns out to be a ghost story, and the ghosts have some bold ambitions of their own.
Niffenegger’s description is deliciously detailed, and she’d dedicated to the particulars of a premise that’s… imaginative, to say the least. A must for Niffenegger’s fans (though very different from The Time Traveler’s Wife), or for readers looking for a modern Gothic romance. More adult than teen, though older YA readers might appreciate it.
