The Harvey House Cookbook: Memories of Dining along the Santa Fe Railroad
George H. Foster & Peter C. Weiglin
ISBN: 1563520338
A combination capsule-history and cookbook, with facts and recipes from Harvey House rail stops.
Read Fall 2016
I think I would have enjoyed the book a bit more if it were simply a history of the Harvey Houses, but I do think people will be interested in the recipes. I would have rather seen more of the menus and the organizational documents (if any of them survive) but I know I'm a bit weird compared to most people.
The only thing that really bugged me about this book was the layout: each very short nonfiction section was sandwiched in between the larger chapters of recipes, and thus it was hard to create any sort of narrative momentum. It made the history sections seem disjointed and fragmentary, which, when dealing with a portion of history that has perhaps not been recorded as well as it might have been, isn't really the optimal impression to leave.
Other than that, the nonfiction information presented was clear, chronological, decently-organized, and topical. I think the recipes either seem painfully normal, or strangely dated, but as I don't cook, I have no basis for informing whether they're good or useful for modern cooks.
An interesting donation that showed up at random and fulfilled a passive sort of interest I've had for a while in the concept of the Harvey Girls, so I was very glad to see it.
Showing posts with label Americana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Americana. Show all posts
Monday, December 19, 2016
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Juv Fiction: Ranger in Time: Long Road to Freedom, Kate Messner
Ranger in Time: Long Road to Freedom
Kate Messner
ISBN: 9780545639217
Ranger is a flunked-out search and rescue dog with a magical first aid kit collar that sends him through time to people who need to be found or rescued - or both!
This is the first of this series I've read, and it appears to be the third or fourth book. Vague references are made to what seems like a gladiator/Roman setting, and perhaps the American West? This one is set in the days of the underground railroad and of slaves escaping to try to avoid the brutality of the developing cotton market in the deep south. Ranger pops back into time on the day that Sarah learns that her owner is selling her little brother Jesse down south, because he's not valuable to him any more. Sarah decides to take matters into her own hands and take them both north to freedom. Messner presents an incredibly accurate book (granted it's light on the gory details, and overall it's more positive and uplifting than a lot of accounts actually were) that focuses attention on the agency of the former slaves saving themselves, with the assistance of kind people across the country - white, black, free, and slave. An even more powerful Author's Note at the end goes into details about the people and places in the story which are real, and about the resources and museums available.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
New Arrival: Juv Nonfiction: Nettie and Nellie Crook: Orphan Train Sisters, by E. F. Abbot & Clint Hansen
Nettie and Nellie Crook, Orphan Train Sisters
E. F. Abbot (pseudonym for Susan Hill), illustrated by Clint Hansen
ISBN: 9781250068354
A "based on a true story" junior novelization of the experiences of a set of twins on the orphan trains.
This was a very sad and sobering story, and even more so when I read the coda at the end and realized how very true to actual events the narrative was. Even more sobering is that this is a relatively happy story: the girls were allowed to stay together, and they were eventually matched up into a happy family in town, as opposed to being used as slave labor out in the wilds, or used for prostitution, or simply abused by their "adoptive" families. I feel for the kids involved, but also for the charities involved - trying to figure out a better option than orphanages and workhouses (which were even more horrible) or them dying on the streets or getting picked up by organized crime and abused or prostituted in the cities. Their solution was novel, and I'm sure for at least some of the kids and western families, worked out beautifully. Unfortunately, for many others, it was simply a move to a very different kind of horrible life.
Sad read, but an important chapter in American history.
E. F. Abbot (pseudonym for Susan Hill), illustrated by Clint Hansen
ISBN: 9781250068354
A "based on a true story" junior novelization of the experiences of a set of twins on the orphan trains.
This was a very sad and sobering story, and even more so when I read the coda at the end and realized how very true to actual events the narrative was. Even more sobering is that this is a relatively happy story: the girls were allowed to stay together, and they were eventually matched up into a happy family in town, as opposed to being used as slave labor out in the wilds, or used for prostitution, or simply abused by their "adoptive" families. I feel for the kids involved, but also for the charities involved - trying to figure out a better option than orphanages and workhouses (which were even more horrible) or them dying on the streets or getting picked up by organized crime and abused or prostituted in the cities. Their solution was novel, and I'm sure for at least some of the kids and western families, worked out beautifully. Unfortunately, for many others, it was simply a move to a very different kind of horrible life.
Sad read, but an important chapter in American history.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Science Fiction: Area X, Jeff Vandermeer
Area X (collected volume of short novels Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance)
Jeff Vandermeer
ISBN: 9780374261177
Read April 15, 2016
Weird book. The first of the trilogy was divisive: either it was the future of American sci-fi (weird fiction) or it was a self-congratulatory writing exercise by someone with an overactive imagination but no discipline. The furor died down a bit as the other volumes arrived on schedule, and then built back up a bit with the release of the collected volume.
Plot summary time: (attempting to be spoiler-free)
There is a government research facility called the Southern Reach that is investigating a strange disaster that occurred along a portion of the southern coastline of the country, forming an impermeable border around that section with only a few mysterious terrifying portals. The area inside the border is called Area X. These three books are concerned with the people who either work for or are guinea pigs sent on "expeditions" inside Area X. The government is attempting to understand and control whatever mysterious force is maintaining the border, the portals, and the facility (Southern Reach) is trying to figure out and stop it from doing horrific and unexplained things to all of the truly unfortunate expedition teams that are repeatedly shoved inside the place.
Thoughts on the collected edition:
The first book is absolutely the best, by a notable margin. We are introduced to a peculiar character beginning a new expedition, with a curious background and emotional hooks to the expedition concept and to the oddly horrible and mundane natural setting of Area X. The plot goes quickly, the horrible things are interesting and haunting and cleverly written to be evocative rather than overly helpfully descriptive.
The middle book lagged badly. I wasn't enamored with the new characters we follow there, and thought that the slow progression towards madness was less inevitable and looming and more simply interminable and plodding. It was also the most "obvious" of the three books, with heavy-handed symbolism and events that were painfully obvious to the reader, while the characters labor on unsuspecting. Oddly enough, except for sections about two previously minor characters, not necessary to the progression of the story, and one could almost read only the first and last books and not miss too much substance. In the middle book, we shadow a new director who has been sent out to run the Southern Reach facility after the previous directer was lost to Area X. He's got problems of his own, and the Reach begins to really impact his sanity as he tries to figure out what is going on (and mostly fails, frustratingly).
The last book is the one that really ended up lighting people on fire. We follow a set of characters (alternating sections) this time, most from the second book. They return to the actual Area X, and things get promptly weird and a lot more metaphysical and philosophical. It has been compared to the TV series LOST, where the series appealed to two different types of audiences: the ones who like a good mystery to be solved and "figured out" and completed and put away into little tidy boxes, and the ones who like weird mysterious conspiracy-theory ideas and don't mind the world (or their fiction) to be messy and unexplained in the end. Like LOST, this book pissed off roughly half the readership - the ones who like things to be tidy and explained. I read it fairly quickly in a few big chunks, and so was less unhappy with the very open ending, but even I was confused by the massive shifts in tone and focus right at the end.
So.. I don't know if I recommend it or not. If you like creepity haunting descriptions, and don't mind a meandering plot and unresolved endings, then read the first book by itself and see if it intrigues you. If you've read Lovecraft or Hodgson's ancient The Night Land, and thought that they were a bit too linear, but nicely desciptive, you're likely going to like this. If you really want things to be explained and "finished" in any sort of tidy way, don't even bother - you'll just frustrate yourself.
Jeff Vandermeer
ISBN: 9780374261177
Read April 15, 2016
Weird book. The first of the trilogy was divisive: either it was the future of American sci-fi (weird fiction) or it was a self-congratulatory writing exercise by someone with an overactive imagination but no discipline. The furor died down a bit as the other volumes arrived on schedule, and then built back up a bit with the release of the collected volume.
Plot summary time: (attempting to be spoiler-free)
There is a government research facility called the Southern Reach that is investigating a strange disaster that occurred along a portion of the southern coastline of the country, forming an impermeable border around that section with only a few mysterious terrifying portals. The area inside the border is called Area X. These three books are concerned with the people who either work for or are guinea pigs sent on "expeditions" inside Area X. The government is attempting to understand and control whatever mysterious force is maintaining the border, the portals, and the facility (Southern Reach) is trying to figure out and stop it from doing horrific and unexplained things to all of the truly unfortunate expedition teams that are repeatedly shoved inside the place.
Thoughts on the collected edition:
The first book is absolutely the best, by a notable margin. We are introduced to a peculiar character beginning a new expedition, with a curious background and emotional hooks to the expedition concept and to the oddly horrible and mundane natural setting of Area X. The plot goes quickly, the horrible things are interesting and haunting and cleverly written to be evocative rather than overly helpfully descriptive.
The middle book lagged badly. I wasn't enamored with the new characters we follow there, and thought that the slow progression towards madness was less inevitable and looming and more simply interminable and plodding. It was also the most "obvious" of the three books, with heavy-handed symbolism and events that were painfully obvious to the reader, while the characters labor on unsuspecting. Oddly enough, except for sections about two previously minor characters, not necessary to the progression of the story, and one could almost read only the first and last books and not miss too much substance. In the middle book, we shadow a new director who has been sent out to run the Southern Reach facility after the previous directer was lost to Area X. He's got problems of his own, and the Reach begins to really impact his sanity as he tries to figure out what is going on (and mostly fails, frustratingly).
The last book is the one that really ended up lighting people on fire. We follow a set of characters (alternating sections) this time, most from the second book. They return to the actual Area X, and things get promptly weird and a lot more metaphysical and philosophical. It has been compared to the TV series LOST, where the series appealed to two different types of audiences: the ones who like a good mystery to be solved and "figured out" and completed and put away into little tidy boxes, and the ones who like weird mysterious conspiracy-theory ideas and don't mind the world (or their fiction) to be messy and unexplained in the end. Like LOST, this book pissed off roughly half the readership - the ones who like things to be tidy and explained. I read it fairly quickly in a few big chunks, and so was less unhappy with the very open ending, but even I was confused by the massive shifts in tone and focus right at the end.
So.. I don't know if I recommend it or not. If you like creepity haunting descriptions, and don't mind a meandering plot and unresolved endings, then read the first book by itself and see if it intrigues you. If you've read Lovecraft or Hodgson's ancient The Night Land, and thought that they were a bit too linear, but nicely desciptive, you're likely going to like this. If you really want things to be explained and "finished" in any sort of tidy way, don't even bother - you'll just frustrate yourself.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Nonfiction: From Hardtack to Home Fries, Barbara Haber
From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks & Meals
Barbara Haber
ISBN: 0142002976
Micro-history of American foods and cookery.
Read April 8, 2016
This was a cute little book rescued from a recent weed at a branch location - (don't worry, it's been sent off to keep living at the central library) that looked so interesting (and nicely short) that I just couldn't resist picking it up.
Basically, Haber's been fascinated with cookbooks and history her whole life, and she's parlayed that into a job keeping and furthering a collection of historic cook books and cooking-related books at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard's Radcliffe Institute. Pretty nifty. Haber has a moderate, readable, likeable tone that wanders between just slightly professorial (when something interestingly historical or consistently overlooked is under consideration) to happily chatty and casual. The read feels like nothing so much as an afternoon porch visit or an evening out drinking with someone who is knowledgeable and secure enough in their knowledge that they enjoy discussing it, but don't feel that they need to convince anyone or prove themselves. A very enjoyable tone for a nonfiction, especially a micro-history of something as interesting and overlooked as cooking and women's experiences with food and culture.
The whole book was fascinating, but I especially enjoyed learning more about:
Chapter Three: They Dieted for Our Sins: America's Food Reformers
Chapter Four: The Harvey Girls: Good Women and Good Food Civilize the American West
Chapter Five: Home Cooking in the FDR White House: The Indomitable Mrs. Nesbitt
The bits about the Irish immigrants and the potato famine, and about African American women re-claiming their heritage as cooks and creators of good food with American and African roots were also very interesting, but not as new or unexpected.
I could have done without the chapters on wartime deprivation and starvation (American Civil War nurses and Japanese POW nurses) and I didn't find the chapter on the interesting social-activism shop in Boston as compelling as I think I ought to.
Overall a cute little foray into American experiences and cookery. A fun, enjoyable little microhistory that I didn't even know to look for. I love when books come to me like that - so nice to have a fun unexpected discovery.
Barbara Haber
ISBN: 0142002976
Micro-history of American foods and cookery.
Read April 8, 2016
This was a cute little book rescued from a recent weed at a branch location - (don't worry, it's been sent off to keep living at the central library) that looked so interesting (and nicely short) that I just couldn't resist picking it up.
Basically, Haber's been fascinated with cookbooks and history her whole life, and she's parlayed that into a job keeping and furthering a collection of historic cook books and cooking-related books at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard's Radcliffe Institute. Pretty nifty. Haber has a moderate, readable, likeable tone that wanders between just slightly professorial (when something interestingly historical or consistently overlooked is under consideration) to happily chatty and casual. The read feels like nothing so much as an afternoon porch visit or an evening out drinking with someone who is knowledgeable and secure enough in their knowledge that they enjoy discussing it, but don't feel that they need to convince anyone or prove themselves. A very enjoyable tone for a nonfiction, especially a micro-history of something as interesting and overlooked as cooking and women's experiences with food and culture.
The whole book was fascinating, but I especially enjoyed learning more about:
Chapter Three: They Dieted for Our Sins: America's Food Reformers
Chapter Four: The Harvey Girls: Good Women and Good Food Civilize the American West
Chapter Five: Home Cooking in the FDR White House: The Indomitable Mrs. Nesbitt
The bits about the Irish immigrants and the potato famine, and about African American women re-claiming their heritage as cooks and creators of good food with American and African roots were also very interesting, but not as new or unexpected.
I could have done without the chapters on wartime deprivation and starvation (American Civil War nurses and Japanese POW nurses) and I didn't find the chapter on the interesting social-activism shop in Boston as compelling as I think I ought to.
Overall a cute little foray into American experiences and cookery. A fun, enjoyable little microhistory that I didn't even know to look for. I love when books come to me like that - so nice to have a fun unexpected discovery.
Friday, January 29, 2016
2015 Review Round-Up: YA Fantasy: The Girl with Ghost Eyes, M. H. Boroson
The Girl With Ghost Eyes
M. H. Boroson
ISBN: 9781940456362
Haunting story of a magical Chinatown during the Chinese Exclusion Act days.
Read December 2015
I'm torn. I enjoyed this story, but once I figured out the author was male, it made me feel just a little bit squicky. There's a lot to unpack here in terms of cultural and gender roles, and internalized racism and sexism, and the juxtaposition of a very traditional YA sort of tentative girl-power heroine of color with a white male author was a little offputting. I'm not sure if that says bad things about me, or about our culture, to be totally honest, because the book was really quite good, and the Author's Note seemed to indicate that care was taken with the language and the customs represented.
All that aside, this was a rollicking good ghost story, and I really enjoyed every minute of it. The nasty creepy ghosties, the relentless focus on "face" and reputation, the tensions between the old ways and the new, between China and America, between folkways and revolvers, all made for a tense and exciting story. Characters were vibrant, the plot was juicy and twisty without being unnecessarily convoluted, and our main character was flawed, desperate, and resourceful. Also I want to be a Buddist were-tiger in my next role-playing game, because YES PLEASE.
Fascinating, interesting, and a rocking good read from start to finish.
M. H. Boroson
ISBN: 9781940456362
Haunting story of a magical Chinatown during the Chinese Exclusion Act days.
Read December 2015
I'm torn. I enjoyed this story, but once I figured out the author was male, it made me feel just a little bit squicky. There's a lot to unpack here in terms of cultural and gender roles, and internalized racism and sexism, and the juxtaposition of a very traditional YA sort of tentative girl-power heroine of color with a white male author was a little offputting. I'm not sure if that says bad things about me, or about our culture, to be totally honest, because the book was really quite good, and the Author's Note seemed to indicate that care was taken with the language and the customs represented.
All that aside, this was a rollicking good ghost story, and I really enjoyed every minute of it. The nasty creepy ghosties, the relentless focus on "face" and reputation, the tensions between the old ways and the new, between China and America, between folkways and revolvers, all made for a tense and exciting story. Characters were vibrant, the plot was juicy and twisty without being unnecessarily convoluted, and our main character was flawed, desperate, and resourceful. Also I want to be a Buddist were-tiger in my next role-playing game, because YES PLEASE.
Fascinating, interesting, and a rocking good read from start to finish.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
2015 Review Round-Up: Fantasy Novella: Six-Gun Snow White, Catherynne M. Valente
Six-Gun Snow White
Catherynne M. Valente
ISBN: 9781481444729
Sets Snow White in the American West, with a side-plot giving the Wicked Queen actual motivation.
Read December 2015
This was an interesting and powerful retelling, and I finished it off quickly. I loved the addition of the sub-plot that gave the stepmother/wicked queen an actual motive for Snow's heart, and the interesting twisty development that ensued. I thought that the "six-gun" motif was undertilised and somewhat forgotten as the story progressed, and especially the detail of the gemstones seemed to fall by the wayside. Likewise the ending of the story felt a bit rushed, and the epilogue was peculiar. I had the oddest feeling that the story beforehand, all wild west and openly magical and folkloric, was the reality, and that the glimpse of modern life with professors and physics and apartments was the fantasy, all hazy and unreal. It was the strangest sensation of disjointed impressions I've ever gotten from a story that I liked.
Despite all that, it was a glorious magical (grim, depressing, hellish) world to visit for a short while, and Snow was a captivating protagonist to follow.
Catherynne M. Valente
ISBN: 9781481444729
Sets Snow White in the American West, with a side-plot giving the Wicked Queen actual motivation.
Read December 2015
This was an interesting and powerful retelling, and I finished it off quickly. I loved the addition of the sub-plot that gave the stepmother/wicked queen an actual motive for Snow's heart, and the interesting twisty development that ensued. I thought that the "six-gun" motif was undertilised and somewhat forgotten as the story progressed, and especially the detail of the gemstones seemed to fall by the wayside. Likewise the ending of the story felt a bit rushed, and the epilogue was peculiar. I had the oddest feeling that the story beforehand, all wild west and openly magical and folkloric, was the reality, and that the glimpse of modern life with professors and physics and apartments was the fantasy, all hazy and unreal. It was the strangest sensation of disjointed impressions I've ever gotten from a story that I liked.
Despite all that, it was a glorious magical (grim, depressing, hellish) world to visit for a short while, and Snow was a captivating protagonist to follow.
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Nonfiction: Living the Secular Life, Phil Zuckerman
Living the Secular Life
Phil Zuckerman
ISBN: 9781594205088
Presents studies and historical counterpoints to the pervasive belief that secularism is dooming civilization.
Really appreciated the emphasis on studies and research, and on historical figures. The "case studies" with interviews from various secular people were also very interesting. Thought that it was a little bit of a gloss over a complex and interesting societal shift, but in a pop-science book clocking in under 300 pages WITH notes, bibliography, and an index (made my researcher heart so happy to see all of those) I can't really blame the author for a bit of glossing over sticky points.
A good read for anyone interested in the growing percentage of religious "nones" living in America (and to a lesser extent, in other countries, but the supermajority of the focus is American life and mores).
Phil Zuckerman
ISBN: 9781594205088
Presents studies and historical counterpoints to the pervasive belief that secularism is dooming civilization.
Really appreciated the emphasis on studies and research, and on historical figures. The "case studies" with interviews from various secular people were also very interesting. Thought that it was a little bit of a gloss over a complex and interesting societal shift, but in a pop-science book clocking in under 300 pages WITH notes, bibliography, and an index (made my researcher heart so happy to see all of those) I can't really blame the author for a bit of glossing over sticky points.
A good read for anyone interested in the growing percentage of religious "nones" living in America (and to a lesser extent, in other countries, but the supermajority of the focus is American life and mores).
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Juvenile Nonfiction: ... If you lived at the Time of the American Revolution, Kay Moore & Daniel O'Leary
... If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution
Kay Moore, illustrated by Daniel O'Leary
ISBN: 0590674447 (Scholastic paperback)
Well-constructed sociology report on Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution
This came through delivery, and it's an excellent resource for American history. Simple language, focuses on both the Patriots and the Loyalists, keeps things factual and answers "curiosity" questions about home-life, schooling, or joining the armies.
Really impressed by this, and it looks like it's part of a nonfiction series by Scholastic - I'm going to have to check out the others to see if they're as good as this one is.
Kay Moore, illustrated by Daniel O'Leary
ISBN: 0590674447 (Scholastic paperback)
Well-constructed sociology report on Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution
This came through delivery, and it's an excellent resource for American history. Simple language, focuses on both the Patriots and the Loyalists, keeps things factual and answers "curiosity" questions about home-life, schooling, or joining the armies.
Really impressed by this, and it looks like it's part of a nonfiction series by Scholastic - I'm going to have to check out the others to see if they're as good as this one is.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Nonfiction (biography) Picture Book: Gingerbread for Liberty! Mara Rockliff & Vincent X. Kirsch
Gingerbread for Liberty! How a German Baker Helped Win the American Revolution
Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch
ISBN: 9780544130012
Gingerbread-iced cut-out illustrations liven up this adorable story of a very generous baker.
This is an adorable biographical story of Christopher Ludwick, who immigrated to America in the early days of the colonies, and baked for the armies, and persuaded the invading German Hessian troops that they really ought to be on the American side of the conflict.
Fascinating history, and a truly well-told tale of a wonderful life of service to his adopted country.
Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch
ISBN: 9780544130012
Gingerbread-iced cut-out illustrations liven up this adorable story of a very generous baker.
This is an adorable biographical story of Christopher Ludwick, who immigrated to America in the early days of the colonies, and baked for the armies, and persuaded the invading German Hessian troops that they really ought to be on the American side of the conflict.
Fascinating history, and a truly well-told tale of a wonderful life of service to his adopted country.
Monday, December 22, 2014
New Picture Book: Blizzard, John Rocco
Blizzard
John Rocco
ISBN: 9781423178651
Norman-Rockwell Americana in a pint-sized snowy adventure.
This was adorable. We're taken back to the past, when a freak blizzard blew through our narrator's town, burying it in over 4 feet of snow in one afternoon. At first, this was a great treat (school let out early, snowmen and snowforts galore) but after a couple of days of being snowed-in, spirits start to settle, and the food starts getting tight.
In a heroic (and adorable) bid to save the family from gustatory boredom, our narrator sets out across the blizzarded neighborhood to fetch groceries for his family and for the neighbors. A full-spread page of his perambulations through the neighborhood make it clear that this was not some dire mission, but an adventurous trek - there might be a few detours and digressions along the way. Still, every journey must end, and the alert reader will be happy to note the grocers kindly phoning back home to report on the adventurer's progress. Back home again, tired and thrilled with victory, and a reward of cocoa WITH MILK as the capper for the event.
The illustrations are really what makes this book. It's like Rockwell illustrated a picture book. Slightly tongue-in-cheek, laser focus on the simple joys of life and of a mythological "simpler time" in the past, a keen childs'-eye-viewpoint, and bright colors and traditional lines that manage to not be garish or overdone.
Really beautiful, and perfect for a storytime for our blizzard-less southern kids.
John Rocco
ISBN: 9781423178651
Norman-Rockwell Americana in a pint-sized snowy adventure.
This was adorable. We're taken back to the past, when a freak blizzard blew through our narrator's town, burying it in over 4 feet of snow in one afternoon. At first, this was a great treat (school let out early, snowmen and snowforts galore) but after a couple of days of being snowed-in, spirits start to settle, and the food starts getting tight.
In a heroic (and adorable) bid to save the family from gustatory boredom, our narrator sets out across the blizzarded neighborhood to fetch groceries for his family and for the neighbors. A full-spread page of his perambulations through the neighborhood make it clear that this was not some dire mission, but an adventurous trek - there might be a few detours and digressions along the way. Still, every journey must end, and the alert reader will be happy to note the grocers kindly phoning back home to report on the adventurer's progress. Back home again, tired and thrilled with victory, and a reward of cocoa WITH MILK as the capper for the event.
The illustrations are really what makes this book. It's like Rockwell illustrated a picture book. Slightly tongue-in-cheek, laser focus on the simple joys of life and of a mythological "simpler time" in the past, a keen childs'-eye-viewpoint, and bright colors and traditional lines that manage to not be garish or overdone.
Really beautiful, and perfect for a storytime for our blizzard-less southern kids.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Juv Historical Novelization: The Arrow Over the Door, by Joseph Bruchac
The Arrow Over the Door
Joseph Bruchac, illustrated by James Watling
ISBN: 0803720785
Read Oct 20, 2014
A pacifist Quaker boy outside of Saratoga in 1777 is stung by accusations of cowardice in the face of the American Revolution, while an Abenaki boy (from what is now Canada) travels south to decide if his people will fight on the side of the distant King to punish his unruly colonists.
This is an interesting novelization of an actual historical event between Quakers and Native Americans. The author has done extensive research to puzzle out the actual records of the event, to reach past stereotypes and assumptions of the past to present a (hopefully) historically-accurate narrative of what may have happened.
What we KNOW: there was a Quaker (Friends) meeting where a notable friend of the Native Americans was visiting. A party of Native Americans with a prisoner arrived at the meeting house, discovered it full of friendly pacifists, and declared friendship with the people within, recognizing them as people of peace who would not be involved with the impending conflict. A Friend invited the guests to dine, and after dinner, they left, leaving the Friends and their belongings in peace.
On this historical framework, we get a nice (very slender) dual-narrative from two author-invented characters; the teen Friend and the teen Native, as they navigate their own consciousnesses and the responsibilities and expectations of their cultures and religions.
Very short, and raises lots of questions about intentions and cultural responsibility and personal growth, and doesn't really answer them in any depth; the ending is perfunctory and abrupt for the amount of buildup. That ending is actually a bit of a let-down, considering the time and care taken in establishing moods and personality and cultural perspectives for each boy.
Still, in addition to being a good look at both Friends and Abenaki culture, this is an interesting short vignette about the founding of America, from not one, but two marginalized and often-overlooked perspectives.
Joseph Bruchac, illustrated by James Watling
ISBN: 0803720785
Read Oct 20, 2014
A pacifist Quaker boy outside of Saratoga in 1777 is stung by accusations of cowardice in the face of the American Revolution, while an Abenaki boy (from what is now Canada) travels south to decide if his people will fight on the side of the distant King to punish his unruly colonists.
This is an interesting novelization of an actual historical event between Quakers and Native Americans. The author has done extensive research to puzzle out the actual records of the event, to reach past stereotypes and assumptions of the past to present a (hopefully) historically-accurate narrative of what may have happened.
What we KNOW: there was a Quaker (Friends) meeting where a notable friend of the Native Americans was visiting. A party of Native Americans with a prisoner arrived at the meeting house, discovered it full of friendly pacifists, and declared friendship with the people within, recognizing them as people of peace who would not be involved with the impending conflict. A Friend invited the guests to dine, and after dinner, they left, leaving the Friends and their belongings in peace.
On this historical framework, we get a nice (very slender) dual-narrative from two author-invented characters; the teen Friend and the teen Native, as they navigate their own consciousnesses and the responsibilities and expectations of their cultures and religions.
Very short, and raises lots of questions about intentions and cultural responsibility and personal growth, and doesn't really answer them in any depth; the ending is perfunctory and abrupt for the amount of buildup. That ending is actually a bit of a let-down, considering the time and care taken in establishing moods and personality and cultural perspectives for each boy.
Still, in addition to being a good look at both Friends and Abenaki culture, this is an interesting short vignette about the founding of America, from not one, but two marginalized and often-overlooked perspectives.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Short Story Collection/Ghost Story: Sparrow Hill Road, Seanan McGuire
Late to the party, (this collection has previously published stories from all over the place, and was itself published back in May) but this is a really really good combined ghost story.
Sparrow Hill Road
Seanan McGuire
ISBN: 9780756409616
Read October 2, 2014
Doesn't everyone look for a good ghost story to set them up for Halloween? If you do, I'd strongly suggest you add this one to your rotation.
This is such a good cumulative ghost story. Fair warning, the book is (from what I can tell researching) an edited compilation of previously existing stories and short fiction about a single character and world, and as such, some of the stories either slightly disagree with each other, or (more often) are a bit repetitive, as the basic introductions and world mechanics must be introduced as part of what was originally intended to be a single story standing alone. It didn't bother me, because I greatly enjoyed McGuire's worldbuilding and thought that the characters inhabiting this world were interesting and quirky, but that repetition seems to have really bugged the snot out of some readers,
Summary: It seems like everyone knows the ghost story of the Girl in the Diner, or the Phantom Prom Date. Those two stories especially - the first of a trucker's angel who appears as a hitchhiker and saves her driver from impending accidents, and the second of a murderous jilted ghost who kills boys in retribution from being stood up at her prom - have haunted Rose Marshall since 1952. Or, more appropriately, Rose has haunted the roads, and the stories have slowly evolved.
The reality is closer to the first than the second (although I have to say there was a solid tease that there IS a darker version of Rose out there, homecoming away, and would I ever love to see the story of that realization and confrontation unfold) and Rose has been around longer as a ghost than she ever was as a living girl. She's just starting to get the hang of the rules of the undead world, of twilight ghosts interacting with the living, and the midnight world of long-dead ghosts interacting with strange and terrible creatures of myth. She is lucky to have survived this long, because she's being hunted by someone who seems to be both living and dead, and needs her soul for fuel.
Despite the chronological (roughly) progression of the story, we don't get a solid "here is the ending of the book" resolution. Again, I'm pretty sure that this is because we're just seeing a collected version of all the existing stories about Rose. I really really hope that we'll get MORE stories, or perhaps a novella or novel about her and her world, but for this one, having a character wrapped up in a pretty "the end" bow would cut off so many possibilities that I'm really not surprised at all to come away without a final resolution to her through-line conflict. The 'miniboss fight' that we did get was good, but not amazingly climactic, which makes the open-ended sense a little stronger.
On that note, I did feel like our antagonist could have been a smidge more active or at least a bit more present in the stories. He came off a little weak in the aggregate, even though his individual appearances were suitably tense. I'm not entirely sure why the overall impression weakens like that, but it might be that we never actually see any consequences of his predation (other than Bethany, who was 1) partly spared, and 2) blase about her experiences).
I'm immediately passing this on to one of my friends, and I very rarely do this. It's just up his alley tho, and I think he'll enjoy it.
Similar ghostly or american-creepy reads:
The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)
The Boneshaker (Kate Milford)
Anna Dressed in Blood (Kendare Blake)
anything written by Charles de Lint
American Gods and Anansi Boys (Neil Gaiman)
The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman)
The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane (Laird Koenig)
Mad Maudlin (Bedlam's Bard series, Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill)
Sparrow Hill Road
Seanan McGuire
ISBN: 9780756409616
Read October 2, 2014
Doesn't everyone look for a good ghost story to set them up for Halloween? If you do, I'd strongly suggest you add this one to your rotation.
This is such a good cumulative ghost story. Fair warning, the book is (from what I can tell researching) an edited compilation of previously existing stories and short fiction about a single character and world, and as such, some of the stories either slightly disagree with each other, or (more often) are a bit repetitive, as the basic introductions and world mechanics must be introduced as part of what was originally intended to be a single story standing alone. It didn't bother me, because I greatly enjoyed McGuire's worldbuilding and thought that the characters inhabiting this world were interesting and quirky, but that repetition seems to have really bugged the snot out of some readers,
Summary: It seems like everyone knows the ghost story of the Girl in the Diner, or the Phantom Prom Date. Those two stories especially - the first of a trucker's angel who appears as a hitchhiker and saves her driver from impending accidents, and the second of a murderous jilted ghost who kills boys in retribution from being stood up at her prom - have haunted Rose Marshall since 1952. Or, more appropriately, Rose has haunted the roads, and the stories have slowly evolved.
The reality is closer to the first than the second (although I have to say there was a solid tease that there IS a darker version of Rose out there, homecoming away, and would I ever love to see the story of that realization and confrontation unfold) and Rose has been around longer as a ghost than she ever was as a living girl. She's just starting to get the hang of the rules of the undead world, of twilight ghosts interacting with the living, and the midnight world of long-dead ghosts interacting with strange and terrible creatures of myth. She is lucky to have survived this long, because she's being hunted by someone who seems to be both living and dead, and needs her soul for fuel.
Despite the chronological (roughly) progression of the story, we don't get a solid "here is the ending of the book" resolution. Again, I'm pretty sure that this is because we're just seeing a collected version of all the existing stories about Rose. I really really hope that we'll get MORE stories, or perhaps a novella or novel about her and her world, but for this one, having a character wrapped up in a pretty "the end" bow would cut off so many possibilities that I'm really not surprised at all to come away without a final resolution to her through-line conflict. The 'miniboss fight' that we did get was good, but not amazingly climactic, which makes the open-ended sense a little stronger.
On that note, I did feel like our antagonist could have been a smidge more active or at least a bit more present in the stories. He came off a little weak in the aggregate, even though his individual appearances were suitably tense. I'm not entirely sure why the overall impression weakens like that, but it might be that we never actually see any consequences of his predation (other than Bethany, who was 1) partly spared, and 2) blase about her experiences).
I'm immediately passing this on to one of my friends, and I very rarely do this. It's just up his alley tho, and I think he'll enjoy it.
Similar ghostly or american-creepy reads:
The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)
The Boneshaker (Kate Milford)
Anna Dressed in Blood (Kendare Blake)
anything written by Charles de Lint
American Gods and Anansi Boys (Neil Gaiman)
The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman)
The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane (Laird Koenig)
Mad Maudlin (Bedlam's Bard series, Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill)
Friday, August 22, 2014
The Mirk and Midnight Hour, Jane Nickerson
The Mirk and Midnight Hour
Jane Nickerson
ISBN: 9780385752862
YA: Civil-War gently creepy fantastical novel of manners.
This is a companion-book of sorts to the author's first book, Strands of Bronze and Gold, and where that one gently tweaked the Bluebeard tale, this one has Tam Lin at heart.
The story begins with our focus character Violet reeling from the loss of her twin brother, dead in a Civil War battlefield. Her father is preparing to head to war himself, leaving her behind with the family slaves, Laney and Michael, and baby Cubby. Violet's household is soon filled to the brim with a stepmother (more pathetic than wicked), a stepsister (excellent character development there, shattering expectations), and a set of cousins - one, the fae and sensitive child heir to a luxe plantation, and the other, a swaggering blockade-running showboat of a young man, from the cadet branch of the family, raised on the plantation, and expected to be the heir himself until the unexpected birth of his young cousin. The variety of relationships (and neighbors) made the story really flow like a novel of manners, gently showing relationships building and changing over time. The discovery of an injured Union soldier in an abandoned lodge nearby, cared for by the enigmatic and creepy VanZeldt "family" of a white doctor and a set of haughty Africans changes everything, and the ripples of her discovery will impact every corner of Violet's life.
As in the other story, I was very happy to see that abusive characters are shown clearly, with no excuses made for their behaviors, even when other characters don't see (or remain willfully blind) to those faults.
I also liked the way that the author presented the question of slavery - slowly showing Violet becoming aware of how her way of life was impacting people that she loved or respected. It could have been corny or harsh, but it was almost natural.
I especially enjoyed the tension set up by the VanZeldts. They exist somewhere on a range from casually evil to amoral to totally alien, which is an interesting path to take with your main "villains" and I think only works as well as it does for me because of the association with the unknowable fae of the traditional Tam Lin tale. Relatedly, I thought that the integration of houdoun and voodoo and grisgris and rootworking was done nicely (even the shoutout to traditional zombies!) I especially enjoyed reading all the various interpretations and justifications that the different characters used to make their non-Christian practices fit into the dominant culture and belief system.
The storyline didn't grip me quite as hard as the first one did - I think partly because of familiarity. I've encountered lots of variants on Tam Lin, some good (as this one was) and most really wretched, where I don't recall ever reading a novelization of Bluebeard other than Fitcher's Brides (which I liked, but felt like the fairy-tale association was a bit forced into the cult setting).
I'm happy to see Nickerson writing another novel so soon, and I hope that she continues - her take on the Civil War south is a nice change of pace and setting from usual fantasy works.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Picture Book: The Carpenter's Gift, David Rubel & Jim LaMarche
The Carpenter's Gift
David Rubel, illustrated by Jim LaMarche
ISBN: 9780375869228
Read February 10, 2014
This is a fictionalized account of the first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, and I truly wanted to like it, but it just felt like it was trying too hard the whole way through. This is like the picture book equivalent of a Hallmark Holiday Special, complete with wispy, wistful pencil illustrations.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it, it wasn't horrible, just - none of the moments impacted me like they were obviously meant to do. I'm not even entirely sure why. If I had to guess, I'd say that it reads like a Christmas commercial, like the touchy-feely Saint Jude commercials, or those godawful adopt-a-pet sobfests. It just felt artificial and forced, and the point (look, the Rockefeller Tree isn't entirely a crass spectacle! Look, we give wood to Habitat for Humanity!! See? Christmas spirit, man!) was entirely too belabored.
I did love that the Sparky at the end was a girl. Nicely done.
I also, for the most part, liked the wispy, wistful illustrations. I just wish the writer(s ?) would have trusted the artwork to carry the emotion instead of beating the reader over the head with meaning.
This book was recommended by The Read-Aloud Handbook.
David Rubel, illustrated by Jim LaMarche
ISBN: 9780375869228
Read February 10, 2014
This is a fictionalized account of the first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, and I truly wanted to like it, but it just felt like it was trying too hard the whole way through. This is like the picture book equivalent of a Hallmark Holiday Special, complete with wispy, wistful pencil illustrations.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it, it wasn't horrible, just - none of the moments impacted me like they were obviously meant to do. I'm not even entirely sure why. If I had to guess, I'd say that it reads like a Christmas commercial, like the touchy-feely Saint Jude commercials, or those godawful adopt-a-pet sobfests. It just felt artificial and forced, and the point (look, the Rockefeller Tree isn't entirely a crass spectacle! Look, we give wood to Habitat for Humanity!! See? Christmas spirit, man!) was entirely too belabored.
I did love that the Sparky at the end was a girl. Nicely done.
I also, for the most part, liked the wispy, wistful illustrations. I just wish the writer(s ?) would have trusted the artwork to carry the emotion instead of beating the reader over the head with meaning.
This book was recommended by The Read-Aloud Handbook.
Storytime Potentials: Mama Played Baseball, David A. Adler
Mama Played Baseball
David A. Adler, illustrated by Chris O'Leary
ISBN: 0152021965
Read February 10, 2014
I just finished off a 'larger than life men' storytime, and I'm going to pair it with a 'larger than life women' installment as soon as February is done. I considered this one for that purpose, but decided on Anthony Browne's My Mom instead.
Mama Played Baseball isn't a bad read, but it is a bit on the long side for my age group, and it also has more to do with wartime changes and family-members in the armed services than really celebrating the mother in the title. I do like it, but I'm going to keep it in mind for when I focus on patriotism or service to one's country or wartime sacrifices/changes.
David A. Adler, illustrated by Chris O'Leary
ISBN: 0152021965
Read February 10, 2014
I just finished off a 'larger than life men' storytime, and I'm going to pair it with a 'larger than life women' installment as soon as February is done. I considered this one for that purpose, but decided on Anthony Browne's My Mom instead.
Mama Played Baseball isn't a bad read, but it is a bit on the long side for my age group, and it also has more to do with wartime changes and family-members in the armed services than really celebrating the mother in the title. I do like it, but I'm going to keep it in mind for when I focus on patriotism or service to one's country or wartime sacrifices/changes.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Why 'classics' aren't always classy. Robert Lawson's They Were Strong and Good
They Were Strong and Good
Robert Lawson
ISBN: 0670699497
1941 Caldecott Award Winner
Read February 4, 3013
Fair warning, I don't always agree with the Caldecotts, and sometimes I violently disagree. I think a great value of children's materials is that they are accessible to, and interesting to, children. Not interesting to adults, not necessarily artistically or stylistically fascinating or innovative. Soapbox, I know. Sorry.
Anyway, with that background, I don't actively look up all the past Caldecotts and Newberys to check out. If they are attractive to me, I'll see them on the shelf and pull them out (Hugo Cabret, Creepy Carrots, I'm looking at you). If they aren't attractive to me, then I have a neverending pile of books, a legal pad full of lists of books, and a limited lifespan.
So here is this early winner, showing up on my desk to be checked for condition. I figure, oh hell, professional development, right? So I start reading it. It's a little weird, a set of short-bit dry family stories, and then we get to the first twinge: lazy, thieving, disreputable Indians in Minnesota. Also, judging by the engraving, black 'Mammys' were in Minnesotta. Ok, that's a little twitchy, but it was the forties. Moving on. Grandparents again, nothing much here... Oh. Oh dear. 'When my father was very young he had a Negro slave.' Oh? That's... lovely. The kicker? His father also had two dogs, which have full Roman names. The slave? Just Dick. Not even Richard. No last name, of course. Ai yi yi.
Now we're off to fight in the war, and lose the war, and the comment at the end is 'and (dog's full name) and (dog's full name) and Dick were all gone too.' Nice to see the order of importance there.
So I'm pretty solidly cringing at this now, and I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I'm being a little too touchy. So up pop Google to see what I can see.
Reader, it was worse. This is the 'revised' version. The first edition, that won the Caldecott? 'Tame' Indians in Minnesota. And the bit with the slave? 'When my father was very young he had two dogs and a colored boy' oh and it gets even better: 'The colored boy was just my father's age. He was a slave, but they didn't call him that. They just called him Dick.'
I have no words, gentle reader. No words.
Robert Lawson
ISBN: 0670699497
1941 Caldecott Award Winner
Read February 4, 3013
Fair warning, I don't always agree with the Caldecotts, and sometimes I violently disagree. I think a great value of children's materials is that they are accessible to, and interesting to, children. Not interesting to adults, not necessarily artistically or stylistically fascinating or innovative. Soapbox, I know. Sorry.
Anyway, with that background, I don't actively look up all the past Caldecotts and Newberys to check out. If they are attractive to me, I'll see them on the shelf and pull them out (Hugo Cabret, Creepy Carrots, I'm looking at you). If they aren't attractive to me, then I have a neverending pile of books, a legal pad full of lists of books, and a limited lifespan.
So here is this early winner, showing up on my desk to be checked for condition. I figure, oh hell, professional development, right? So I start reading it. It's a little weird, a set of short-bit dry family stories, and then we get to the first twinge: lazy, thieving, disreputable Indians in Minnesota. Also, judging by the engraving, black 'Mammys' were in Minnesotta. Ok, that's a little twitchy, but it was the forties. Moving on. Grandparents again, nothing much here... Oh. Oh dear. 'When my father was very young he had a Negro slave.' Oh? That's... lovely. The kicker? His father also had two dogs, which have full Roman names. The slave? Just Dick. Not even Richard. No last name, of course. Ai yi yi.
Now we're off to fight in the war, and lose the war, and the comment at the end is 'and (dog's full name) and (dog's full name) and Dick were all gone too.' Nice to see the order of importance there.
So I'm pretty solidly cringing at this now, and I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I'm being a little too touchy. So up pop Google to see what I can see.
Reader, it was worse. This is the 'revised' version. The first edition, that won the Caldecott? 'Tame' Indians in Minnesota. And the bit with the slave? 'When my father was very young he had two dogs and a colored boy' oh and it gets even better: 'The colored boy was just my father's age. He was a slave, but they didn't call him that. They just called him Dick.'
I have no words, gentle reader. No words.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Sally Slick & The Steel Syndicate, Carrie Harris
Sally Slick & the Steel Syndicate: A Tale of the Young Centurions
Carrie Harris
ISBN: 9781613170632
Read January 2, 2014
YA: FATE role-playing system tie-in novel, first of a planned series (sequel: Sally Slick and the Miniature Menace).
Sally is the only girl in a family of 7 boys, and she's an inventor to boot. She's proud of her inventions, especially her racing tractor. She's less proud that the town bully and his gang continue to beat up her best (only) friend Jet while she stays out of their way. When her eldest brother returns from Chicago and tries to secretly bury a broken mechanical man in the family graveyard, Sally gets mixed up in more danger and excitement than she'd ever imagined. The mechanical man is the focus of a turf-war between Chicago gangsters. The Steel Don and a strange inventor, her brother's employer Doktor Proktor, both want the power this invention will grant them. As Sally tries to keep her family, especially her brother James, safe, she realizes that her own skills are in demand as well, and that her opponents will stop at nothing to secure her talent.
This was created as a "stretch goal" for a Kickstarter campaign for the FATE system, and it shows a little. The book is softbound, with those glare-white pages and really narrow margins that scream "self-published" but the content is thankfully not subject to the usual low self-publishing standards. I didn't notice any typographical or grammar mistakes, no great jumps in narrative, or strange railroading or mystical decisionmaking. The plot was funny and quick, the characters quirky and individualized (except for the 7 brothers, of whom I know of the sick baby, the twins (one of whom is a prankster, and the other a tactical genius) and the eldest brother. 4 out of 7 isn't bad, right?
The only real complaint I have with this one is that more times than not, the dialogue is stilted and somewhat off. People don't really talk to each other the way that the author has them do here, and it's a little bit of a detriment to the story, especially when the characters themselves are pretty nifty, and well-drawn.
Cute, fun, clean, and in the same excellent early-century inventor breed as Tom Swift, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and The Rocketeer, but specifically geared towards younger readers. Not quite Jules Verne, but amusing and inventive. I only hope that Calamity the tractor will play a slightly larger role in the next book.
Carrie Harris
ISBN: 9781613170632
Read January 2, 2014
YA: FATE role-playing system tie-in novel, first of a planned series (sequel: Sally Slick and the Miniature Menace).
Sally is the only girl in a family of 7 boys, and she's an inventor to boot. She's proud of her inventions, especially her racing tractor. She's less proud that the town bully and his gang continue to beat up her best (only) friend Jet while she stays out of their way. When her eldest brother returns from Chicago and tries to secretly bury a broken mechanical man in the family graveyard, Sally gets mixed up in more danger and excitement than she'd ever imagined. The mechanical man is the focus of a turf-war between Chicago gangsters. The Steel Don and a strange inventor, her brother's employer Doktor Proktor, both want the power this invention will grant them. As Sally tries to keep her family, especially her brother James, safe, she realizes that her own skills are in demand as well, and that her opponents will stop at nothing to secure her talent.
This was created as a "stretch goal" for a Kickstarter campaign for the FATE system, and it shows a little. The book is softbound, with those glare-white pages and really narrow margins that scream "self-published" but the content is thankfully not subject to the usual low self-publishing standards. I didn't notice any typographical or grammar mistakes, no great jumps in narrative, or strange railroading or mystical decisionmaking. The plot was funny and quick, the characters quirky and individualized (except for the 7 brothers, of whom I know of the sick baby, the twins (one of whom is a prankster, and the other a tactical genius) and the eldest brother. 4 out of 7 isn't bad, right?
The only real complaint I have with this one is that more times than not, the dialogue is stilted and somewhat off. People don't really talk to each other the way that the author has them do here, and it's a little bit of a detriment to the story, especially when the characters themselves are pretty nifty, and well-drawn.
Cute, fun, clean, and in the same excellent early-century inventor breed as Tom Swift, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and The Rocketeer, but specifically geared towards younger readers. Not quite Jules Verne, but amusing and inventive. I only hope that Calamity the tractor will play a slightly larger role in the next book.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Short Reviews: March 2013: Ashton Place Series, Pretty-Girl 13, Orleans, Freaks
Freaks, Kieran
Larwood. ISBN: 978-0545474245March 2013
Sheba is a wolf-girl raised as a side-show freak, and bought to join a troupe in London, joining a Strongman, a women with a strange connection to her rats, a monkey boy, and a mysterious ninja girl with cat eyes. When a mudlark sneaks into the show, Sheba realizes life could always be worse. Then the mudlark vanishes, and the poor desparate parents turn to the Freaks for help, or vengeance. Set around the Great Exhibition. Creepy villainess.
Orleans, Sherri L. Smith. ISBN: 978-0399252945
March 2013
YA virus/illness dystopia. Fen lives in the quarantined former American states of Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. She, like most other residents, suffers from an unspecified Fever that impacts different blood types differently. Mainly an extended chase-escape narrative as Fen tries desperately to rescue an infant (an amazingly durable infant) from the hell she calls home.
Pretty Girl-13, Liz Coley. ISBN: 978-0062127372
March 2013
YA psychological thriller. Angie is kidnapped at age 13, and blocks the whole multi-year experience. Relies heavily on psychobabble about DID/multiple personality syndrome. Overly simplistic and lighthearted for a very complicated and traumatic real-life subject matter.
The Incorrigible Childern of Ashton Place, Maryrose Wood (series in progress)
The Mysterious Howling (ISBN: 978-0061791055) read 2010
The Hidden Gallery (ISBN: 978-0061791123) read 2011
The Unseen Guest (ISBN: 978-0061791185) read Spring 2013
Juv "manners" fiction, leaning fantastical. Brilliant. For everyone who likes the wordplay of Snicket but needs something a little less depressing. Werewolves and feral children and governesses with copper hair and mysterious pasts. Did I mention it was brilliant?
Sheba is a wolf-girl raised as a side-show freak, and bought to join a troupe in London, joining a Strongman, a women with a strange connection to her rats, a monkey boy, and a mysterious ninja girl with cat eyes. When a mudlark sneaks into the show, Sheba realizes life could always be worse. Then the mudlark vanishes, and the poor desparate parents turn to the Freaks for help, or vengeance. Set around the Great Exhibition. Creepy villainess.
Orleans, Sherri L. Smith. ISBN: 978-0399252945
March 2013
YA virus/illness dystopia. Fen lives in the quarantined former American states of Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. She, like most other residents, suffers from an unspecified Fever that impacts different blood types differently. Mainly an extended chase-escape narrative as Fen tries desperately to rescue an infant (an amazingly durable infant) from the hell she calls home.
Pretty Girl-13, Liz Coley. ISBN: 978-0062127372
March 2013
YA psychological thriller. Angie is kidnapped at age 13, and blocks the whole multi-year experience. Relies heavily on psychobabble about DID/multiple personality syndrome. Overly simplistic and lighthearted for a very complicated and traumatic real-life subject matter.
The Incorrigible Childern of Ashton Place, Maryrose Wood (series in progress)
The Mysterious Howling (ISBN: 978-0061791055) read 2010
The Hidden Gallery (ISBN: 978-0061791123) read 2011
The Unseen Guest (ISBN: 978-0061791185) read Spring 2013
Juv "manners" fiction, leaning fantastical. Brilliant. For everyone who likes the wordplay of Snicket but needs something a little less depressing. Werewolves and feral children and governesses with copper hair and mysterious pasts. Did I mention it was brilliant?
Monday, October 21, 2013
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.
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