Thematic Battle: Understood Betsy vs Eight Cousins

Understood Betsy, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, illus Kimberly Bulken Root.
ISBN: 0805060731
Read October 9, 2013

Eight Cousins, Louisa May Alcott, illus Ruth Ives.

ISBN: Nelson-Doubleday Hardcover 1958 (MCMLVIII).

Re-read October 9, 2013

I never thought I'd say this, but I actually like Fisher's book better than Alcott's. Weird.

To be clear, Eight Cousins is a long-time favorite, and I've read it at least 5 times, maybe as many as 10 times over.  (I don't like Rose in Bloom, the sequel, as well as I do Eight Cousins, but that's another post.)

In contrast, this is the first time I have read Understood Betsy.  

I really like it.  I don't know if it's the deft touch with the moralizing, or the very carefully developed tongue-firmly-in-cheek descriptions of the "delicate" little child creating more trauma to satisfy the delicate aunt's fearmongering, or the only somewhat obviously shoehorned-in Montessori principles, but it really is a very clever, very well-written, very straightforward read.  

Sadly, the more I read Alcott, the more it starts to feel Elsie Dinsmore-ish, or (horrors) Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories-ish.  She's just so moralistic, and the preaching tone is starting to grate on me as I get older (and to be perfectly honest, less interested in having God show up in everything just as a matter of course or culture).

So in a total shock to myself as much as anyone else, I found Understood Betsy to be more readable and more modern, where Eight Cousins is more melodramatic and ostentatious.  On the other hand, they both are better than a lot of what's out there.  I would be interested to read them both in sequence (it works well because Betsy is around 8 to 10, and then Rose is a pre-teen) and see how it goes.  I do have to admit that the action is more present and prevalent in Eight Cousins, where Understood Betsy is fairly straightforward and only has a few discrete adventures.

I think for an upcoming post I'll compare and contrast Rose in Bloom (which I read immediately following Eight Cousins, and it grated me something fierce) and Jo's Boys.  Both are roughly the same book, but for some reason, Jo's Boys always struck me as being much more progressive and modern (read less sexist and less preachy) than Rose in Bloom.  I find that interesting. 

Hoofbeats: Lara Series, Kathleen Duey

Hoofbeats: Lara Series, Kathleen Duey
Lara and the Gray Mare.  ISBN: 0525473327
Lara and the Moon-Colored Filly.  ISBN: 0525473335
Lara at Athenry Castle.  ISBN: 0525473408
Lara and the Silent Place.  ISBN: 0142402338

Juv Historic Fiction: Irish 10 year old girl must fend for herself and her filly against the rest of the world.

I had fun reading these, but the very last one had significant typo and editing problems, which hampered my enjoyment at the last.  I also felt that the plotting of the last one was weak, and the telegraphing of the final solution felt both last-minute and heavy-handed.

Short summaries:

Gray Mare: Larach lives in a poor tuath (holding) where her father is the ri (lord) and her aunt is 15, unwed, unbetrothed, and unhappy.  After a raid, the girls are sent to care for the sheep and cows in the upland, and Lara finds the stolen pregnant mare giving birth.  The book ends with both Lara and her aunt being abducted along with the days-old filly.

Moon-Colored Filly: Lara is at a much richer holding, in the care of the lord that took her and her Aunt.  While the Aunt falls in love with the enemy, Lara continues to scheme to get her own freedom and that of the filly.  She learns of the filly's heritage, and finds her own enemy to begin having feelings for.

Athenry Castle: Lara's filly was taken from her, and now she's in disguise in the "city" around the castle as a boy, and working in the stables.  She's been training the filly to run with her, and that may be key to winning her - if she can keep her identity hidden, and manage to win the upcoming race.

Silent Place: Lara's on the run with the filly, in a different disguise, from the disgrace and chaos of Athenry.  She meets with a party of nuns, but decides to leave them to minimize their chances of being harmed through association with a horse-thief.  Her father captures her on the road unknowing (in disguise) so even though she didn't want to bring the filly (and the danger) back to her home, she is stuck following her father.  Her independence is too much for his traditionalism, and her peace-loving desires don't mesh with his need to war.  It all comes to nothing when Lara and her father are caught and returned to Athenry, where Lara manages to save the day with ancient knowledge.  Afterwards, Lara realizes she can't live at home, and she slips off to return to the nuns. 

I only wish that some of the male characters weren't horrid people.  The only ones worth anything are the men from Moon-Colored Filly, one boy at Athenry, and one man from Lara's hometown.  Nearly ALL of the women are portrayed positively, so that was a slight let-down.  It's possible (and better) to have girl power without slandering the guys.

Otherwise, nice quick moral-but-not-Christian set of books for the adventuresome horse-mad reader. 

The World Above, Cameron Dokey

The World Above, Cameron Dokey. ISBN: 9781442403376

Read Oct 5, 2013

YA - fairy-tale retelling (part of a retelling-series called "Once Upon a Time" by Simon Pulse, most by Dokey)

Jack and the Beanstalk meets Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow meets the evil usurper medieval Duke.  A bit of a smush, and the choice to use solid, practical, feet-on-the-ground Gen as the POV character is odd considering the fanciful and fairy-tale nature of the story, most of which even takes place in a country above the clouds (in true fairy-tale fashion, NO time is wasted dealing with how that even would work out). 

Characters appear and then vanish (some do get dealt with in the epilogue, but not all) and insta-love makes quite a few appearances.  A weak bad guy with no real visible impact on the kingdom doesn't help matters seem more serious.  There's no doubt from the start that everything will work out, just a question of how pat the solution will be (answer: very pat).

Not terrible, but doesn't make me want to rush out and see what she does with other fairy-tales either.  

Peppermints Duology, Barbara Brooks Wallace

Peppermints in the Parlor.  ISBN: 068930790X

The Perils of Peppermints.  ISBN: 0689850433

Barbara Brooks Wallace

Read October 2 & 3, 2013

Juv Gothic Dickensian mysteries.

Oh the joys of juvenile gothic tales.  Shades of The Little Princess meets Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Series of Unfortunate Events.  Dear spunky Emily is our guide through the perils of childhood when surrounded by adults who are either dimwitted, gullible, or criminal.  

In Peppermints, Emily's pampered childhood is over - her parents dead within the first page of the first volume, and she's off to her Aunt and Uncle Twice (siblings on both parents' sides, of course) to live in their own fabulously wealthy mansion.  

On arrival, things are unexpectedly dismal - Aunt Twice is wan and haggard, and Uncle Twice is nowhere to be seen.  Even worse, the beloved memory of the mansion is betrayed by a decrepit old pile housing even more decrepit old people - all left there by their families to molder away.  The architect of this horror is Mrs Theodosia Sly Meeching, grim of countenance, and heavy of hand.  She lavishes punishments upon servants (Emily and Auntie, as well as the sullen Tilly, a fellow "orphing" girl) and oldsters alike, for the smallest of infractions - including (as per the title) taking peppermints from the parlor.

How Emily perseveres through hardship and prevails over her sinister foe is totally unrealistic, but very satisfying.

In Perils, Aunt and Uncle Twice once again prove their utter inability to function as reasonable rational adults, and squander their fortune, sell their mansion, and pack off to India - all on the advice of a fortuitiously-met lawer named Mr Josiah Slyde (I love these names, they're seriously epic).  Small children aren't allowed in India (obviously), so Emily must stay in America, at an equally fortuitously-known school which is of such high character that there is an actual ROYAL PRINCESS in residence.  

Sadly, things once again go sour from the beginning, and Emily is once again reduced to penury and servitude.  Again, no resemblances to reality were harmed in the writing of this epistle, but it's awfully good fun in the reading.  The adults (with the exception of the fishmongers, on whose gingered heads rest my whole fading hope for adult humanity) are hopeless until the very end, whereupon they are altogether much too cocky and thrilled with themselves after Emily's done all the work and suffered through all the hardships and worry.

Earthshaking literary worth?  Not a chance.  Great fun and a light (relatively peril-free) gothic adventure?  You bet!  If this set's a hit, move on to The Little Princess, Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Series of Unfortunate Events, and The Secret Garden.

Gratefully Yours, Jane Buchanan

Gratefully Yours, Jane Buchanan. ISBN: 0374327750

Juv Orphan-Train-setting.

Hattie is sick of everyone telling her she should be "grateful" that she didn't die in the fire like the rest of her family, "grateful" that she's healthy enough to go on the Orphan Trains, "grateful" for the charity of the church poor-box for her clothes, and "grateful" that Henry and Elizabeth have taken her in, even though Elizabeth didn't even want a child after her own losses.

What Hattie is grateful for is that Emily, her roommate and friend from the orphanage has been placed in the same town (but with a shrew who treats her like a servant and even changes her name!) and that Cloud the cat offers unconditional love and doesn't think she's a sinner or a freak because she's an orphan (even though he's just a cat, and she's kept busy with chores and school).  

Over a slim 177 pages, Hattie settles in, Elizabeth thaws, Henry shows his mettle as a great father, and eventually, Hattie realizes that despite her righteous indignation over well-meaning people and their "grateful" admonishments, it is possible to be somewhat grateful, even after tragedies.

Spoiler Alert: The cat kicks it during the climax.  If I had read this as a child, I would have been devastated.

Molly Bannaky, Alice McGill, Chris K. Soentpiet

Molly Bannaky, Alice McGill, illus Chris K. Soentpiet.  ISBN: 039572287X

Read Oct 4, 2013

Oversized picture book - oil paintings.

The illustrations in this book deserve a better-told story than what they are currently paired with.  McGill gives us the bare-bones, "just the facts, ma'am" with no feelings or interpretation or evocation of mood - leaving all that for the illustrations to carry.  And they do a great job, considering they've got to handle a slave-purchase, illegal marriage and kids, and then death, all within the space of three or four page-spreads.  

The cover painting is arresting, and the interior work does not disappoint, but the flat writing really does the story and the artist a disservice.  A short biographical and historical note at the end does more to liven up the tale than the actual text does!

I'd love to see these paintings re-purposed into a short chapter-book rendition of the story of these Americans, similar to the classic illustrated Robin Hood or Robinson Crusoe.  I think that the extra time and space to TELL the story in a more full and rich manner will then make the occasional beautiful artworks pop out even more.  As it is, it's beautiful, but not very interesting, which is impressive, given the subjects.

Big Jabe, Jerdine Nolen, Kadir Nelson

Big Jabe, Jerdine Nolen, illus by Kadir Nelson.  ISBN: 0688136621

Read Oct 2, 2013

Picture Book: Plantation South slaves are delighted with Big Jabe, a tall-tale man who does all their work for them, and might have something to do with mysteriously spiriting them away when they're tormented by the overseer.

Abby loves to fish, but she never thought she'd fish a great big boy out of the river!  Big Jabe grows fast - from one day to the next he's a grown man!  The pear tree he plants likewise grows quick - before a full season is gone, it's full-grown and heavy with fruit.  He can pick the entire cotton harvest in one morning, and the plantation itself seems blessed with enormous yields.

But woe betide them all if someone gets beaten - tornadoes swirl down, and torrential rain falls; and afterwards, someone's always gone missing!  No scent to follow, no trace of them anywhere, and Big Jabe's always around, working hard and helping everyone out. 

By the end, Addy herself is suspected of magic, and both her and Big Jabe vanish like the mist - on to another place to help out and rescue the unfortunate. 

Kadir Nelson is an amazing illustrator, and this story has all the tone and cadence of a sermon, without the preachy parts.  Nice to pair with John Henry for another great black folk figure, or with the original story of Moses.

Nicholas Pipe, Robert D. San Souci, David Shannon

Nicholas Pipe, Robert D. San Souci, illus David Shannon.

ISBN: 0803717644

Read Oct 2, 2013

No signs of No, David! here.  Nicholas Pipe has some strange trousers, but that's the only unrealistic element in illustrations that deal with land-loving mermen, homicidal merwomen, and a daughter who loves the one man her dad can't stand.  Isn't that always the way it goes?

Margaret and her father Marius disagree on Nicholas, but they're eye to eye on everything else.  Nicholas is known to be a merman by the whole town, but he warns them of high tides and storms, and so is tolerated - until Margaret falls in love.  Unable to bear it, Marius heads to the king to announce the arrival of a rarity, an oddity, a strange sea-man.  Soldiers fetch the poor merman in chains, but Nicholas doesn't bother to tell them his limitations - if he doesn't touch the sea once per day, he's dead.

Margaret alone knows his secret, and she's off to the rescue with skins of salt-water.  She can't quite manage it alone, but Marius comes to his senses before too late, and makes amends as best as he's able.  

The original courtly love story had a tragic ending (of course) but here everything works out in the end a la Beauty and the Beast, although there is no transformation necessary.

Interesting fairy-tale look at the power of love to overcome differences and obstacles. 

The Matchbox Diary, Paul Fleischman, Bagram Ibatoulline

The Matchbox Diary, Paul Fleischman, illus by Bagram Ibatoulline.

ISBN: 9780763646011

Read Oct 2, 2013

A stunningly illustrated book, and a clever conceit.  The frame story has full-colored illustrations of a grandfather and granddaughter in a room full of mementos, collectables, and books.  The girl wants a story, and picks a cigar-box full of tiny little ancient matchboxes.

Now we're into the heart of the story, and the illustrations really shine.  Very like Shaun Tam's The Arrival, these are sepia-toned vignettes based on the "diary entries" found inside of each matchbox.  A dried husk of an olive pit tells of a childhood in rural Italy, marked by hunger and lack of work.  A bejewelled hatpin shines with the hope spurring a harsh trip across the ocean to a land of gold and plenty, while cracked sunflower seeds mark the number of days it took to make the crossing.  Later on, a cracked tooth shows the reality of racist America, a hunk of coal indicates continued aspirations for literacy, and a ticket stub memorializes a first-ever baseball game.

The boxes all opened, the frame returns with color again to finish out the visit to grandfather, and show the girl beginning her own collection, in an emptied box of chocolates.

Truly, absolutely, stunning.  Pair with The Arrival, or Molly's Pilgrim

Street Child, Berlie Doherty

Street Child, Berlie Doherty.  ISBN: 0531068641

Read Oct 1, 2013

Juv Dickensian street-urchin story, based on an actual urchin.

Jim's had a rough life - his father passed away so they're kicked out of their country cottage home, his mother gets sick and can't work, so they're kicked out of their tenement, and then his sisters get essentially given away into domestic servitude to allow them warmth, sleeping places, and food to eat.  Jim and ma are on their own, but then even ma dies, and Jim is left to the tender mercies of the workhouse.  

After abuses and restrictions get too much, Jim runs away to the streets, only to find that freedom isn't any better, and might actually be worse.  A stint selling cockles by the wharves is cut short when he's kidnapped into service aboard ship, and then when he's injured, he's back to the streets as a beggar.

Finally, desperation leads him to the Beggar School, where the headmaster makes the despondent realization that there are armies of little vagabonds, and begins the work of housing and feeding them to keep them off the streets and rooftops.  

Depressing, but realistic view of what life was (and is in many places still) like for the truly poor children of the world.  

Pair with Wolves of Willoughby Chase or the first book of the Mary Quinn Mysteries, so you can really feel what they're escaping from.   

The Samurai's Daughter, Robert D. San Souci & Stephen T. Johnson

The Samurai's Daughter, Robert D. San Souci, illus Stephen T. Johnson.
ISBN: 0803711352

Re-Read Oct 1, 2013

Picture Book: Kamakura Japanese folk-tale.

The story is straightforward - Samurai has a daughter and trains her as a Samurai, and then as a lady, but she prefers the active life and fishes with the women deep-sea divers off the coast.  Samurai is banished due to ruler's "mental instability" to a faraway island.  Daughter gets tired of being alone, and determines to head off to banishment with him, facing typical quest-narrative difficulties in the process.  Once on the island, she's distracted by a girl getting sacrificed to the sea, volunteers for the assignment, fights a sea-serpent, and rescues a drowned statue. Conveniently enough, the statue is that of the ruler, who is now healed of his mental problems, and summons the  Samurai and his daughter back home to Japan in full glory and honor.

I'm used to seeing Pinkney's drawings with San Souci's words, so the illustrations were not quite as lavish and textural as I expected.  Johnson did a lovely job, and some of the panels are very beautiful, but there's a flat quality to them that heightens the flat nature of the narrative.  Sadly, older folktales aren't always the best at varied story-craft, so the tale itself is example after example of Daughter breezily conquering challenges with no real difficulty or peril.  That, combined with the pat fairy-tale ending, is a bit distancing.

Wagon Wheels, Barbara Brenner & Don Bolognese

Wagon Wheels, Barbara Brenner, illus Don Bolognese.  ISBN: 9780064440523
Read Sept 30, 2013

Juv "I Can Read" book, African-American pioneers, Native Americans

Really excellent summary of the adventures of the Muldie boys, who moved to Nicodemus, Kansas (a black settlement) as pioneers, and then lived alone at ages 11, 8, and 3 while their father staked out a claim about 150 miles further west.  Then, as the kicker, they're summoned by post with short directions, and travel the entire way themselves to get to their new home!!

A sub-plot near the beginning focuses on the kindness of the Native Americans to the settlement when they were starving during a harsh winter.  Another deals with prairie fires.  

Very short and direct (for beginning readers) but interesting plot and good pacing.  Compare with the Little House books or the (expurgated) Sadie Rose books.

The Courage of Sarah Noble, Alice Dalgliesh

The Courage of Sarah Noble, Alice Dalgliesh.  ISBN: 0684188309

Read Sept 30, 2013.

Juv easy reader: pioneer life and Native Americans

Sarah's father has staked a claim in the high north of the frontier, and he's taken Sarah (aged 7) along with him to be his cook and housekeeper.  The other sisters aren't interested, and Mama can't come because the baby is too young.  Father and Sarah are to start the house, and when everything is ready, then Mama and the siblings will join them.

Sarah repeatedly reminds herself of her bravery, which is a nice note.  Her and her father also build strong relationships with the local tribe of Native Americans, so much so that when Father needs to head back east to fetch the family, he asks Sarah to stay with the neighbors (the Native Americans) while he's gone.  

Excellent story, small bit of Christianity (reading from the Bible, praying before bedtime for the Indians) excellent counterpoint to stories where the Indians are the perilous unknown.

Fantastic Mistakes, Neil Gaiman & Chip Kidd

Fantastic Mistakes, Neil Gaiman's "Make Good Art" Speech, Neil Gaiman, book art and text design by Chip Kidd.  ISBN: 9780062266767.

Read Sept 26, 2013.

I've read this speech several times, and listened to it online at least twice.  This edition I feel doesn't quite do justice to the simultaneous levity and solemnity of the subject and the speaker.  Gaiman was being quite serious about all that he said - making good art, not taking yourself seriously, being open to the joys and experiences of the present, doing work because it inspires you.  However, at the same time, he was presenting it in a conversation, casual, almost confessional manner - nothing like a sturm-und-drang bombast or fire and brimstone preacher.  Just a nice conversation, with a wise friend.

This version makes the serious parts seem like a business-conference pep-talk motivational-speaker powerpoint, and the casual friendly conversational style seem trite and limited in scope.  The expanses of white space with various linear elements in blue or red only makes the speech seem much less robust than it actually was - many spreads make the language seem puny and unfinished, rather than powerful and spare.

I will say that I liked the composition of several individual pages: the "list of things I wanted to do" page spread, the "universe kicks me hard" page, and the "This is really great.  You should enjoy it." page.  Otherwise, I just felt the graphic elements and design competed with the message, rather than complemented it.  I was also driven nearly furious by the "1irst of all"  "2econdly"  "3hirdly" (yes, he really did, yes, all the way through the numbers, yes, I died a little inside.)  

However, it's art, it was published (way to go!) and it's personal - other people may find it beautiful and breathtaking.  For me, I'll just continue to listen to the recording and read the boring black-and-white text version.  I just don't seem to need funky typesetting or overtyped words or color-changing sentences to get the idea.  

Mary Quinn "Agency" Mysteries, Y.S. Lee

1) A Spy in the House.  ISBN: 9780763640675
2) The Body at the Tower.  ISBN: 9780763649685
3) The Traitor in the Tunnel.  ISBN: 9780763653163

All by Y. S. Lee.

Re-read 1&2, Read 3 September 27, 2013

YA historical mysteries, half-Chinese female protagonist, light romance.

These are enjoyable, but there are a lot of mysteries left in the stories.

Particularly, the role and scope of the Agency is puzzlingly unclear, as is their reach.  Mary herself is a puzzle - able to pass as an elderly lady AND a 12-year old "penniless lord" working boy (within the same day, mind).  There are also some liberties taken with the Royals in the palace in the last book - I don't care how dissolute poor Bertie was, or how pretty he thought her, there's no way that the prince of the realm would act that way around a servant.  Likewise the enemies of the second and third book are left puzzlingly un-motivated.  I don't know why the blackmailer kept asking for more, and got violent when he failed.  I don't know why the traitor decided that he needed to PERSONALLY handle guncotton.  Even the first villain's aims are unclear - there are reasons to suspect the motivation, but the problem isn't exactly solved.

And speaking of solving problems, I find myself increasingly irritated at how the heritage situation has been resolved (or if there are future works, at least how it has been dealt with thus far).  It seems upon reflection that the author simply didn't wish to deal with the complications she introduced in the first book, and so they were made to vanish in awfully convenient ways.  First by unnecessary housefire and death (and when there is a fire, people put their lives in danger by fetching what they most love - I find it very hard to accept that a certain item was simply left behind after the rescue was completed.)  Then, another unnecessary death (with the attendant inability to convey any information at all) ties the whole thing off quite nicely. 

I think that's taking the easy way out, and I would very much like to have seen Mary handling her heritage, instead of having it conveniently whisked away from her to leave her burden-free to head into the future.   

Other than those quibbles, they are quippy, quick, fun, well-set, and enjoyable, even on a second read.  I've been unable to determine if they are a trilogy, or if there are other books forthcoming.  I do hope for the latter, and if so, I hope that the heritage question is brought up again, because that is the real sticking point of dislike for me so far.   

Gated, Amy Christine Parker

Gated, Amy Christine Parker.  9780449815977.

YA dystopia/cult thriller:
Read September 27, 2013

Lyla is the "Little Owl" of the community - always watching and observing, staying a bit apart.  She's a gentle soul, who fights against her lingering qualms about the necessity of the sacrifices that the Chosen have made.  Life in the community is peaceful, but they all know that when the End comes, the Unchosen will attack the compound to steal what they need in a desperate attempt to escape their predestined destruction.

Pioneer is the leader of this community, and he's been watching Lyla carefully.  As the end grows ever closer (3 months and counting) he's begun to realize that this one questioning girl could unravel his entire plan.

Cody is the son of the local town sheriff, and he's determined that Lyla realize that she and the community have all been had by Pioneer's careful indoctrination over the years.

Lyla's mom is the true tragic figure of this story, broken and defeated after the unsolved abduction of Lyla's young sister, just days before the Towers fell.  Even now, years later, she yearns for the destruction of the world, and even the dissolution of her own being, to be with the Brethren and experience eternal life with her missing daughter again.  

Excellent story, well-crafted plot, and believable people.  Overall suitable for younger teens, except for the death and violence at the end.  (very graphic in two instances, and many other deaths alluded to)

The end is left a bit unfinished, not in a "to be continued" sense, but in the real-world sense that life goes on but stays connected to the past, and nothing is ever entirely tied up in a nice pat bow.  

Ella's Big Chance, Shirley Hughes

Ella's Big Chance: A Jazz-Age Cinderella, Shirley Hughes.  ISBN: 0689873999

Re-Read Sept 26, 2013

Fairy-Tale Retelling Picture Book: 

 

Plump and beautiful redheaded Ella and her father run a stylish dress shop together with Buttons the bellboy, until a snaky bony stepmother and her two snaky bony daughters take over everything.  

Ella ends up in the basement working her tail off until the day of the big ball, when she is dis-invited by her bony steprelations for not having the right "look" for the event.  

The stylish flapper fairy godmother shows up (parasol instead of wings, of course) and Ella is be-flapperized to within an inch of her life.  She has a grand old time at the ball, and the Duke is smitten.  

Sadly for the Duke, Ella's already taken, and this Cinderella politely declines the Duke for her very own Buttons.  The only way this would have been better is if she had rescued her poor father from the harpies, because it won't be long before his tail is in the cold basement working all day and night.

Very much reminded of Thoroughly Modern Millie: "raspberries!"

Mailing May, Michael O. Tunnell & Ted Rand

Mailing May, Michael O. Tunnell, illus. Ted Rand.  ISBN: 0688128793 Library Edition.

Read Sept 26, 2013

Nonfiction Picture Book: 

Poor Idaho family takes advantage of the newly instated US Parcel Post rate to "mail" their daughter by train in the keeping of her uncle the rail-postmaster to visit her grandmother across the state.  Adorable, beautiful painterly illustrations, and even more interesting because it's true!  No real drama or tension except a short tiff with a conductor, quickly resolved.  Excellent Americana.

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick; Joe Schreiber

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick, Joe Schreiber.  ISBN: 9781547577388

Read Sept 25, 2013

YA thriller.  Perry Stormaire is trying to live his life. His overbearing high-power-lawyer father is trying to control his choices, his band, his swimming, his college options.  His mother is trying to recreate her own childhood, and that's where Gobi comes in.  Mom's lifelong friendship with her own foreign exchange student means that she has high expectations of Gobi and Perry.  Sadly, Gobi is sallow, shy, and quiet.  A wallflower.  Now, on her last night in America (also Perry's prom, also Perry's band's first gig in New York) she's decided that she wants a taste of the American life, and Perry has to take Gobi to the prom.  On the plus side, Dad sweetens the deal with the Jag!

Sadly, no one in the family has quite realized just how world-changing Gobi's visit will be, and it will all take place on this one last night.  

The story is told with chapter-headings taken from college-application essay-questions, which is a fun quirk.  Perry's "voice" is wry, self-deprecatory, and ironically aware.  Gobi is almost a force of nature in contrast: the perfect la femme nikita, goddess of vengeance, the incarnation of Death.

Lots of standard YA ground is covered; the family scandal, the father-son conflict, seeing beyond the physical, social awareness, revenge vs vengeance, but they're all dealt with in tiny little flashes between violence and thrills and car-chases.  

Nifty read, totally implausible, lots of fun.

The Half-A-Moon Inn, Paul Fleischman & Kathy Jacobi

The Half-A-Moon Inn, Paul Fleischman, illus Kathy Jacobi. ISBN: 0060219181

Read Sept 25, 2013

Juv Chapter Book: medieval setting, light fantasy.  (Similar to GRRM's The Ice Dragon)

Aaron is mute, and his mother has always been there to help and shelter him at their isolated house by the sea.  But now he's 12, and mother thinks he's old enough to stay home for a night and a morning while she makes the quarterly trip to the nearest village to sell her weaving and buy supplies.  

A freak snowstorm hits, and Aaron waits at home for an extra night before venturing out to find her.  He's lost quickly, and discovers the Half-Moon-Inn.  The devious and thieving proprietress takes his clothes and shoes to prevent his escape, and beats him into submission to work for her.   The tension rachets up as his every attempt to escape (many of them plucky or quite bright ideas) is thwarted by the proprietress, or by fate itself.  Finally, fate intervenes again, and the baddies get what's coming to them through no fault of our protagonist, and mom appears at the end to fetch him safely home again.

Very good story for beginning readers, good plotting and quick storytelling.  Frightening, but never too intense.  Excellent for giving to confident young readers, or for bedtime/daily reading.   

My Wicked Vampire, Nina Bangs

My Wicked Vampire, Nina Bangs. ISBN: 9780843959550

Read September 24

Paranormal Romance: Plant experimenter Cinnamon (Cinn, obviously) has developed plants that feed on human pheromones, cast "love spells," recognize and attack intruders, and in the case of Vince the periwinkle, developed sentience.  That's enough to get her hired by the Castle of Dark Dreams (obviously the through-line for this series) to add to the atmosphere for their kinky patrons looking for fantasy.  Also new to the Castle is Dacian the "night-feeder" vampire, who was rescued from a couple of centuries of self-imposed exile and off-and-on murderous rages at the request of his brother, another Castle employee, and also a vampire.

The supernaturals (nonhumans, according to the book) are many: the aforementioned vampires (of which there are strong indications of other types, but they don't come into this story), wizards, a trio of chaos spirits, goddesses, emissaries of goddesses, and various flavors of demons.  Oddly enough, nothing too weird really comes of all these nonhuman protagonists, other than the ability to take and dish out wild amounts of violence to each other.  

The only true weirdness here is Cinn's plants.  Good thing too, because they form the lynchpin of her side of the plot (the more interesting one, to my mind) - her goddess-ancestor is pissed that she's overstepping her authority to create plants that are more like animals, and wants her to stop it, and to kill off her already-created plants. 

On Dacian's side, there's a veneer-thin conflict between his sociopath creator and Dacian's unwillingness to play beta to someone weaker than him (of course his creator is weaker than him).  

The characters are amusing, their dialogue flows well, and the interactions are fun to read through.  I especially enjoyed the doomed love triangle between Asima, Vince, and Tommy, and the bemused attentions of Wade the outdoorsman.  

The plotline is serviceable.  I thought the ending was overdrawn, and Cinnamon's plot antagonist was co-opted into solving Dacian's on a totally predictable level, but the inclusion of a clueless peanut gallery actually worked fairly well.  "Run, kitty, run!" was funny as hell, and nameless "professor guy" gets a good bad-ass line: "Hey!  Leave the plant alone!"  

The love story suffers from the same flaw that most romance novels have - the characters meet in dangerous and uncertain circumstances, fall madly in love, and within pages/hours are defending each other against opponents that any sane person would flee.  At this point it's so entrenched that I can't get too worked up over it.  However, when the worst affront to suspension of disbelief in THIS particular novel is the love story?  That's saying something.

Cute, but I'm mostly fond of the plant angle, so I think I'll be giving the other "Castle" books a miss.       

Tell Me a Story, Elaine Reese

Tell Me a Story, Elaine Reese, ISBN: 9780199772650

Read Sept 23, 2013.

Nonfiction: interactive story-sharing.

Excellent parenting/professional guide discussing how reading and literacy and oral language skills improve children's mental stats, their ability to learn, and their emotional skills, metacognition, and theory of mind.

Not a bad slate of improvements for a fairly simple technique - involving the child in telling (or sharing) a recitation of story - either from actual books (from wordless picture-books on up through adult-level fiction and nonfiction) or from telling and re-telling stories of your own family (from the time you went to the zoo, to the time grandpa ended up in the hospital) or from allowing the child to create stories of their own (from fictional "and then I grew wings and flew to the moon" to chapters-long created adventures cribbed from Star Wars or Warhammer.  

Nice balance between scientific study and child-development milestones (listed at the end of each chapter with real-life implications and indications) and actual transcripts of kids and parents/researchers using the techniques with actual kids (some of whom we see over and over again between infancy and teenagerhood).  Very interesting resource, but not complicated enough or profound enough to feel like I need to own it.

If you're already devoted to literacy and language skills, it's pretty much a simplified and straightforward set of examples to make sure you're loading as much language into every encounter with your kids as is humanly possible.  Knowing my husband and me, I doubt that's going to be a problem.