Shadowmancer by G.P. Taylor, read by Graeme Malcolm in a Listening Library production, 2004
Vicar Demurral isn’t satisfied running the affairs of his village. He wants to control the world. Messing with powers he doesn’t completely understand, he seeks two cherubim, one gold and the other flesh, to overthrow the one ruling god and become like god himself. However, Raphah, the healer and cherubim of flesh, with the help of two village children Thomas and Kate, alludes his grasp, even though dark angels come after them. They find unlikely allies such as the smuggler and an old wanderer. The good and evil gods, their angels, and the philosophies of their followers are described with phrases familiar in Christianity, though there are plenty of supernatural elements thrown in. Sometimes the creepiness struck too close to the sacred for me, but the reader was HP-good, and the story kept me engrossed the entire 8-and-a-half hours.
Some memory-jogging tags: Good vs. evil. Village life. England. Medieval-like setting. Smugglers. Oppression. Choices.
MS Rating: OK. Not for all listeners because of creep factor.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, 2007
12-year-old Hugo is an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931. His father has died in a fire at the museum where he worked, and his uncle has taken him in, but has been missing these past three months. He is caught stealing from the toyseller one day, and the toyseller takes away his notebook, the one link he has to his dad and the broken automaton he rescued from the burned museum. When the toyseller’s goddaughter becomes involved, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep his life and automaton secret. The cover and black paper totally pulled me in. The story is fast-paced and the pictures pull you along the mystery as much as the words.
Some memory-jogging tags: George Melies, filmmaker. Robots. Orphans. Railroad stations. Paris, France. Friendship. Trust. Secrets. Mechanical ability. Silent films. Clocks.
MS Rating: Great.
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, 2004
I picked this up because it won a Beehive Award in 2006 and I’d never heard of it before. Matt is a young cabin boy working aboard an airship that his dad worked on and fell to his death off of. He loves the air, has great “sea-air” legs, feels close to his dad up there, and feels trapped on land. Kate is a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, on her first air voyage, and trying to retrace the steps of her grandfather’s last adventure. After being boarded by pirates and marooned on an uncharted island, these two team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth’s surface. I thought the pacing was a little uneven. It was great fun when talking about ship life and avoiding crashing or escaping from pirates, but got a little slow when talking about the cloud cats. I liked the alternative-reality aspect of this world, but didn’t like the supernatural aspects as much.
Some memory-jogging tags: Airships. Pirates. Imaginary creatures. Friendship. Adventure story.
MS Rating: Great
Remembering Raquel by Vivian Vande Velde, 2007
This story is told in several voices who talk about Raquel, their high school classmate or student or relation or chance acquaintance, who stepped off the curb and was struck and killed by a car. Raquel is dead already when the book begins and we learn about her through these acquaintances’ comments. She was overweight and unpopular. Her mom had recently died, and she loved animated film and playing an online alternative persona game. Who is our neighbor? How well do we treat others? How well do we know another? These types of questions are explored in this fast read.
Some memory-jogging tags: Fast read. Overweight. High school story. Death. Popularity. Car accident. Online gaming.
MS Rating: OK.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Pride and Prejudice; Beastly; and The Ironwood Tree
MID-FEB
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, 1813
I enjoyed rereading this book while I’ve been watching the PBS Masterpiece Classics special covering all her works. I also have watched Keira Knightley’s version several times. I felt that maybe I have been born in the wrong century and continent, until I learned that they had bugs living in their hair, that they would pee in the grand staircases during balls, and that they very rarely took baths. Add to this the fact that most people living in England during Austin’s lifetime were peasants and not gentlefolk, and I am much better off having my life than one back then.
Beastly by Alex Flinn, 2007
Kyle Kingsbury is a class A jerk: stuck up, selfish, even mean and spiteful. With a famous personality dad, lots of money, and great looks, he never thinks of others. But that all begins to change when one night, after a prom dance at his private New York City school, a witch changes him into a beast. Banished to live with just a tutor and maid, he manages to capture a girl who lives with him and eventually helps him break the curse.
All the classic elements of the Beauty and the Beast story are there in a realistic (for a fantasy) way in the New York City setting. Very enjoyable.
Some memory-jogging tags: Beauty and the Beast. Famous dads. Tutors. Freedom. Love. Selflessness. Shakespeare’s sonnets. Enjoyment of books. Roses. Gardening. School dances.
MS Rating: Great.
The Ironwood Tree (The Spiderwick Chronicles, bk 4) by Tony DiTerlizzi, 2004
During a fencing match, Jared spies someone going through Mallory’s bag. When he then sees his brother Simon rifling through her bag, but also sitting up on the stands, he knows he is dealing with someone, or something after the field guide. But then Mulgarath, the ogre trying to get the field guide, shape-shifts into a little boy and makes it seem that Jared has pulled a knife on a helpless child. While he is trying to clear it up with his mom and the principal, Mulgarath kidnaps Mallory. Jared and Simon set off to find her, which they do under the quarry in the dwarfs’ kingdom. Master builders, they have mechanical dogs, birds, and iron trees, but they are in the service of Mulgarath. Jared tricks them by handing over a wrapped book in place of the field guide, and through the help of a stone-speaker, makes their escape.
Some memory-jogging tags: Metalwork. Dwarfs. Caves. Ogre. Shape-shifter.
MS Rating: Great.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, 1813
I enjoyed rereading this book while I’ve been watching the PBS Masterpiece Classics special covering all her works. I also have watched Keira Knightley’s version several times. I felt that maybe I have been born in the wrong century and continent, until I learned that they had bugs living in their hair, that they would pee in the grand staircases during balls, and that they very rarely took baths. Add to this the fact that most people living in England during Austin’s lifetime were peasants and not gentlefolk, and I am much better off having my life than one back then.
Beastly by Alex Flinn, 2007
Kyle Kingsbury is a class A jerk: stuck up, selfish, even mean and spiteful. With a famous personality dad, lots of money, and great looks, he never thinks of others. But that all begins to change when one night, after a prom dance at his private New York City school, a witch changes him into a beast. Banished to live with just a tutor and maid, he manages to capture a girl who lives with him and eventually helps him break the curse.
All the classic elements of the Beauty and the Beast story are there in a realistic (for a fantasy) way in the New York City setting. Very enjoyable.
Some memory-jogging tags: Beauty and the Beast. Famous dads. Tutors. Freedom. Love. Selflessness. Shakespeare’s sonnets. Enjoyment of books. Roses. Gardening. School dances.
MS Rating: Great.
The Ironwood Tree (The Spiderwick Chronicles, bk 4) by Tony DiTerlizzi, 2004
During a fencing match, Jared spies someone going through Mallory’s bag. When he then sees his brother Simon rifling through her bag, but also sitting up on the stands, he knows he is dealing with someone, or something after the field guide. But then Mulgarath, the ogre trying to get the field guide, shape-shifts into a little boy and makes it seem that Jared has pulled a knife on a helpless child. While he is trying to clear it up with his mom and the principal, Mulgarath kidnaps Mallory. Jared and Simon set off to find her, which they do under the quarry in the dwarfs’ kingdom. Master builders, they have mechanical dogs, birds, and iron trees, but they are in the service of Mulgarath. Jared tricks them by handing over a wrapped book in place of the field guide, and through the help of a stone-speaker, makes their escape.
Some memory-jogging tags: Metalwork. Dwarfs. Caves. Ogre. Shape-shifter.
MS Rating: Great.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Into the Wild
Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst, 2007
Julie, daughter of Zel (as in Rapunzel), lives with the Wild under her bed, mostly harmless, turning shoes into seven-league boots and magic rings. Her grandma, Gothel, runs the Wishing Well Motel and guards the wishing well, the last remnant of the Wild not under Julie’s bed. The Wild sounds fun to her friend, Gillian, but Julie knows better. When the Wild is wished out from under the bed, begins to overtake Julie’s New England town, and has already recaptured her mom and grandma, Julie must try to rescue them. She is the only one who knows enough about the old fairytale stories, without being one of them, to make it through the Wild’s tricks and restore her life back to normal, even if that means having to put up again with mean schoolmate Kristen and embarrassing family friends, such as Cindy and Snow’s seven.
For me, the premise and summary work better than the actually reading of it. I couldn’t ever quite suspend disbelief. The idea of the Wild as a conscience entity seemed too abstract to fully engage me. And the writing is very episodic: too choppy for my tastes.
Some memory-jogging tags: Jolly green giant. Swan brothers. Hansel and Gretel. Princess and the pea. Poisoned apple. Snow’s seven. Puss-in-boots. Hair salon. Cindy is Cinderella. Goldie is Goldilocks. Mom is Rapunzel. Absent father. Wish the wish that is dearest to your heart.
MS Rating: Great.
Julie, daughter of Zel (as in Rapunzel), lives with the Wild under her bed, mostly harmless, turning shoes into seven-league boots and magic rings. Her grandma, Gothel, runs the Wishing Well Motel and guards the wishing well, the last remnant of the Wild not under Julie’s bed. The Wild sounds fun to her friend, Gillian, but Julie knows better. When the Wild is wished out from under the bed, begins to overtake Julie’s New England town, and has already recaptured her mom and grandma, Julie must try to rescue them. She is the only one who knows enough about the old fairytale stories, without being one of them, to make it through the Wild’s tricks and restore her life back to normal, even if that means having to put up again with mean schoolmate Kristen and embarrassing family friends, such as Cindy and Snow’s seven.
For me, the premise and summary work better than the actually reading of it. I couldn’t ever quite suspend disbelief. The idea of the Wild as a conscience entity seemed too abstract to fully engage me. And the writing is very episodic: too choppy for my tastes.
Some memory-jogging tags: Jolly green giant. Swan brothers. Hansel and Gretel. Princess and the pea. Poisoned apple. Snow’s seven. Puss-in-boots. Hair salon. Cindy is Cinderella. Goldie is Goldilocks. Mom is Rapunzel. Absent father. Wish the wish that is dearest to your heart.
MS Rating: Great.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Does My Head Look Big in This?; The Seeing Stone; and Lucinda's Secret
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah, 2005
Amal, a high-schooler in Australia, decides over school break to start wearing the hijab full-time when she returns to school. The first part deals with the consequences of this decision and the reactions of people around her. The second half gets into her relationships with two sets of friends, one from her former Muslim school and the other from her current private prep school. Her current friends stick by her, though she has a rough time when her guy friends wants to kiss and she refuses. One of her Muslim friends comes from a very repressive, conservative family and is being constantly pressured to marry already. It is this second half that was most interesting to me. I think it captures how it must feel to be under the veil and confronting others’ reactions on a daily basis.
Some memory-jogging tags: Islam, fiction. Hijab, Islamic clothing. Friendship. Oppression. Stereotypes. Religious differences. Religious tolerance. Religion vs culture.
MS Rating: Great. It’s a good cross-cultural read.
The Seeing Stone and Lucinda’s Secret (Spiderwick Chronicles, bk 2 and bk 3) by Tony DiTerrlizzi, 2003
When Simon is looking for his missing cat, he is taken as well. Jared sees the goblins through an eyepiece that Thimbletack helps him find. When Thimbletack starts giving riddles as the price for the eyepiece, Jared takes it by force and he and Mallory go after Simon. They first find fairies who like to trick them and a troll who wants to eat them, but finally stumble upon the goblins around a camp fire eating something that looks a lot like a cat. Several cages are hanging from the trees, one containing Simon and another containing Hogsqueal, a goblin that uses baby teeth instead of animals’ and helps them escape. Jared tricks the goblins into following them toward the troll, who lets the children go and feasts on the goblins instead.
In the next book, the Grace children visit Aunt Lucinda who’s living in an asylum. Aunt Lucinda is the daughter of Arthur Spiderwick, the author of the field guide, and has been committed by her cousin, the Grace children’s grandmother, because of her refusal to eat and bad cuts down her arms. But the children know she is not crazy, just aware of and abused by the fairies and goblins who are after the field guide. They learn from her that the magical creatures want the book. Since Thimbletack has stolen the book, the children snoop around the library, looking for a clue of how to proceed, when they find a map with a long-ago meeting noted on it. They wonder if Arthur didn’t leave his family on purpose, but was somehow forced to because of this meeting. They follow the map and end up in a conference with elves, who indeed want the book and try to trap one of the boys as a ransom until they receive the book. Jared’s quick thinking saved them again, as he tricks the elves into swearing an oath to let the trapped boy go.
Books Two and Three of the Spiderwick Chronicles read just as fast and fun as the first.
MS Rating: Great. Good books for comic-book readers.
Amal, a high-schooler in Australia, decides over school break to start wearing the hijab full-time when she returns to school. The first part deals with the consequences of this decision and the reactions of people around her. The second half gets into her relationships with two sets of friends, one from her former Muslim school and the other from her current private prep school. Her current friends stick by her, though she has a rough time when her guy friends wants to kiss and she refuses. One of her Muslim friends comes from a very repressive, conservative family and is being constantly pressured to marry already. It is this second half that was most interesting to me. I think it captures how it must feel to be under the veil and confronting others’ reactions on a daily basis.
Some memory-jogging tags: Islam, fiction. Hijab, Islamic clothing. Friendship. Oppression. Stereotypes. Religious differences. Religious tolerance. Religion vs culture.
MS Rating: Great. It’s a good cross-cultural read.
The Seeing Stone and Lucinda’s Secret (Spiderwick Chronicles, bk 2 and bk 3) by Tony DiTerrlizzi, 2003
When Simon is looking for his missing cat, he is taken as well. Jared sees the goblins through an eyepiece that Thimbletack helps him find. When Thimbletack starts giving riddles as the price for the eyepiece, Jared takes it by force and he and Mallory go after Simon. They first find fairies who like to trick them and a troll who wants to eat them, but finally stumble upon the goblins around a camp fire eating something that looks a lot like a cat. Several cages are hanging from the trees, one containing Simon and another containing Hogsqueal, a goblin that uses baby teeth instead of animals’ and helps them escape. Jared tricks the goblins into following them toward the troll, who lets the children go and feasts on the goblins instead.
In the next book, the Grace children visit Aunt Lucinda who’s living in an asylum. Aunt Lucinda is the daughter of Arthur Spiderwick, the author of the field guide, and has been committed by her cousin, the Grace children’s grandmother, because of her refusal to eat and bad cuts down her arms. But the children know she is not crazy, just aware of and abused by the fairies and goblins who are after the field guide. They learn from her that the magical creatures want the book. Since Thimbletack has stolen the book, the children snoop around the library, looking for a clue of how to proceed, when they find a map with a long-ago meeting noted on it. They wonder if Arthur didn’t leave his family on purpose, but was somehow forced to because of this meeting. They follow the map and end up in a conference with elves, who indeed want the book and try to trap one of the boys as a ransom until they receive the book. Jared’s quick thinking saved them again, as he tricks the elves into swearing an oath to let the trapped boy go.
Books Two and Three of the Spiderwick Chronicles read just as fast and fun as the first.
MS Rating: Great. Good books for comic-book readers.
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