Book Reviews: A Little Jaunt Through History

Continuing on with my Goodreads Challenge of reading 85 books in 2011, I read a string of historical fiction, primary resources, and stories so old they're history....


 My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

My Brother Sam Is Dead is an interesting piece of historical fiction written for young adults. Full of the mundane details of everyday living of the colonial period, it explores the philosophical struggles of the people dealing with the American Revolution. The first part of the book focuses on the details of colonial life, while in the last 80 pages or so, this book becomes quite a page-turner. The book as a whole is a coming of age story about our hero, Tim Meeker, who is forced to grow up quickly in a war-torn world.

Who should read this? Depending on your toleration of violence and language, this book is most appropriate for eighth graders. I think a lot of teachers read this to their fourth or fifth grade classes, but be aware that there are some violent parts--war-related, of course. The writing is simple and clear--keep in mind that it’s written at about fifth grade level.

I highly recommend My Brother Sam Is Dead to anyone who is interested in the American Revolution, historical fiction, or the interpersonal conflicts of war. I've read quite a few reviews by kids who were "forced" to read this for a class. "I despise history," wrote one reader. "This is the most boring book I've ever read," wrote another. Well--if you hate history and refuse to have an open mind, then you will certainly hate this book as well. If you are blatantly anti-intellectual--yeah, you might find this book boring. But if you want to explore what it's like to run a tavern in the 1700's, trudge an oxen cart through the snow, or be ambushed by cattle thieves--then you will love My Brother Sam Is Dead.


 Inside Lincoln's White House: The Complete Civil War Diary of John Hay by John R. Turner Ettlinger

On the heels of reading Lincoln by Gore Vidal, I was compelled to read the diary of John Hay.

So if you don't know who John Hay is--google him. Did you google him yet? I'll wait....oh never mind. To summarize: He was Abraham's Lincoln personal secretary when Lincoln was president. Later in his career, he was a journalist, a diplomat, and Secretary of State. This book, however, is comprised of his diary entries during the Lincoln presidency.

The Civil War Diary of John Hay is really all that--a diary. The editors lovingly and painstakingly pored through his notes and made their best attempt to preserve the integrity of his words. They even included the parts that he crossed out, represented in print with cross-outs like this. So, how does this book read? It's like reading someone else's diary! You can't possibly understand all of his entries and references, because he uses abbreviations and short-hand (like anyone would in a diary), and he refers to people without explaining who they are (perfectly understandable--although this book contains about 100 pages of footnotes to help).

The big difference between this and a "normal" diary is--when John Hay goes to see a play, J. Wilkes Booth is an actor. And when he delivers a letter for his boss, his boss is Abraham Lincoln, and the letter is addressed to Ulysses S. Grant. And a really good day for him is when everybody gets to read the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. This diary contains the petty annoyances of everyday living, as well as the historically significant events of the time.

Yeah, this is a diary, and this is a really good read. Mr. Hay was an aspiring writer at the time, and we all benefit from his fine turns of prose. During slow times at the White House, he wrote in poetic paragraphs; during the busier times, he jotted down notes (like, "Had lunch with Mr. X.") Just observing the structure of his writing gives insight into the state of the Union at that time.

Anyway, this book would be a great reference for anyone doing scholarly work on the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, and especially John Hay himself. This is not the kind of book you leisurely read. However it did make me want to go back to grad school!

 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I’m so sorry, everybody, but I don’t want to read 500+ pages telling me how horrible it was in Nazi Germany. I’ve actually been to Auschwitz. I’ve laid my hands on the ovens, toured the facilities where they experimented on Jews, and walked through the showers. Believe me, that pretty much does the trick for a long time. I had my World War II overdose and I’m a bit too much of an empath to go back for a while. I guess it's a personal thing.

So many people said to me, you must read The Book Thief--it’s fantastic! But they never told me what it was about. I don’t know why I assumed it was supernatural fiction. Perhaps I was putting it into the same category as Inkheart, another book about books, where characters are viable living things. The Book Thief is nothing likeInkheart.

Having said that, The Book Thief is a fine book to read if you want to understand some of the daily struggles of life in Germany at that time. This book peeks into the trials of pro-Nazi Germans, anti-Nazi Germans, neutral Germans just trying to survive, and, of course, Jews (most of whom are Germans; I assume they are anti-Nazi). The characters each have a clear voice and compelling stories to tell. You really care what happens to them, even if it takes 500 pages to get there.

Sorry I keep mentioning the number of pages, but it’s a very long book. I find it hard to believe this was written for a young adult audience. Just because the main character is a kid, does that make it a book for young adults? But I digress.

Aside from the characters, the other reason to read this book is the short story contained within it, “The Standover Man.” It is sweetly written and sweetly illustrated.

A comment about the writing style--first, at times Markus Zusak tries too hard to be literary. There is so much metaphor in the book that you get a little tired of it. Dude, just say it! Also I found the use of foreshadowing a bit excessive. Maybe the author feels he needs to do this because the audience is young adult (I’m not sure who came up with that classification), but when every other chapter ends with something like, “That was the last time she would smile--ever”--well, it gets real old. Actually, one chapter ends like this:

For now, though, let’s let him enjoy it.
We’ll give him seven months.
Then we come for him.
And oh, how we come.

Really? Do you have to end every chapter with a teaser like this? Also, I am annoyed by the excessive use of one-sentence paragraphs, but that’s just a pet peeve of mine.

I was so aware of the conspicuous use of literary devices that I had trouble getting lost in the story. Frankly, the writing seemed contrived and distracting. I would read a line like, “His fingers smelled of suitcase, metal, Mein Kampf, and survival,” or, "The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring," and then think to myself, oh he’s using figurative language again. Where was I? Oh right, I’m reading a book about a girl in Nazi Germany where Death is the narrator. See my problem?

As I write this, I am not sure if people are even critical of this book, because they are so impressed by the theme of the badness of Nazi Germany. Nevertheless I’ll take a chance. This book could have (should have) been about 100 pages shorter, or more. Remove the excessive metaphor usage, excessive foreshadowing, and sidebar comments by the narrator that don’t add to plot or character or setting. There! I feel better now. The book doesn’t seem so long and labored.

By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman

By the Great Horn Spoon! is a delightful book for kids about the California Gold Rush. Twelve-year-old Jack runs away with his butler Praiseworthy on a trip from Boston to San Francisco. They seek their fortune in the gold mines of California to help out Jack’s Aunt Arabella, who is on the verge of bankruptcy. Jack and Praiseworthy take the ship's treacherous passage around Cape Horn, up the western coast of South America, and on to California’s gold.

Reading this book is like jumping into a time machine. You will encounter people and artifacts surrounding the California Gold Rush, as well as life on a cargo ship. I don’t know if all the details are historically accurate, but certainly you get the feeling that you are right there with the miners eating sowbelly and beans. This book is worth at least 2 ounces of gold flakes! 

Book Review: Gore Vidal's Lincoln

 

Don’t read Lincoln by Gore Vidal unless you want to get totally sucked into the story and history of the Civil War.  This historical novel is so detailed, well-written, and compelling that you will add dozens of books to your “must read” list and it will consume all of your free time.  You will interrupt your reading as you check out photos of the main players on Wikipedia.  You’ll take a breather by watching the Ken Burns Civil War series--over a plate of crabcakes.  Special order primary resource books like the diary of John Hay from the public library.  Scour your house for your old, stolen high school history textbooks. Thank you for my new obsession, Mr. Vidal.  I am getting nothing done, dishes are dirty, weeds are two feet tall, dogs are neglected and starving.  My house smells like Washington D.C. in 1862.

Is this a positive endorsement?  Absolutely! Using journals, diaries, letters, and countless other primary sources, Mr. Vidal plunks you right in the middle of cabinet meetings, dinner conversations, and carriage rides taking place with the likes of William Seward, John Wilkes Booth, Salmon P. Chase, and of course Lincoln himself.   We spy on the personal tragedy of the Lincolns when their son Willie dies of typhoid.  We snicker as we find ourselves party to the indiscretions of politicians seeking prostitutes.  We worry about our Lincoln as he travels about town without bodyguards.  And we roll our eyes as Mary Todd Lincoln goes on yet another spending binge and buys a $10,000 rug for the White House during wartime.  (By the way, Lincoln tells her exactly what we’re thinking: That money could have paid for 10,000 blankets for our soldiers!)

We’ve all read about the Civil War in one way or another—at the very least in high school.  Vidal’s Lincoln begins when Old Abe arrives in Washington for his inauguration and ends when he dies.  For the most part, we know what happens in between—secession, bloody battles, emancipation -- you know the rest.  But in Vidal’s telling, the men and women of the war become flesh and blood as we pore through the pages of this book.  With a simple turn of phrase, Vidal creates so much character for these people that reading this book feels like watching a movie.

We don't see much in the way of battles, but we do see plenty of the clockwork of Washington politics.  Reading this book is like watching The West Wing--lots of interpersonal action and jockeying for position.  I'm sure Aaron Sorkin had Abraham Lincoln in mind when he created the folksy-intellectual Jed Bartlet.

This story is told from the point of view from numerous people surrounding the Lincoln White House (figuratively and literally).  We are privy to their thoughts, feelings, and motivations.  The one person who remains a mystery, though, is Lincoln himself, whose point of view is conspicuously missing.  The personality of Lincoln is revealed entirely through his words and actions, plus through the views of others.  This is the best way to learn about this compassionate, brilliant, and yet mysterious man. 

        

There are two love stories in Lincoln.  One subtle story line is between Lincoln’s secretary John Hay and Kate Chase, the celebrated daughter of Secretary of Treasury Salmon P.  Kate agrees to marry Governor William Sprague to help further her father’s career.   When Hay indirectly mentions his previously unspoken affection for Kate, she responds, “There was no time, ever, for us….There is not much time for anyone, really.  We must all move with such haste toward…our goals.” 

Just as this unfulfilled love is extinguished by the ambition of the daughter and the plague of war, so is the affection between Abraham Lincoln and his beloved Union—the other love affair.  For almost five years in office, he struggles to hold that Union together, finessing every move and appointment, risking failure and hatred for what he believes is a solution that will keep the Union together--until finally he wins the love of the Union at the war’s end.  And then the love affair is tragically cut short by his untimely death.  As Kate said, there was no time, ever--for a love between the Union and Lincoln to last.  

Lincoln might be a tough book to read.  It’s long, and very dense, and at the start you already know he dies in the end.  But you need to read it carefully because every word promotes plot (every intrigue and manipulation), character (each eyebrow raise and twitch), or setting (all the mud and swampy stink).  There isn’t a word wasted, and there are a lot of words in this book. 

Political intrigue.  Backstabbing.  Love triangles.  Indiscretion.  And a stinky, smelly swamp.  Gore Vidal’s Lincoln has something for everybody.

*All photo in public domain with the Library of Congress.

Snow Crash Your Brain

Book Review: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Reading Snow Crash was like being on Snow Crash—the drug-virus, that is.  Neal Stephenson crams so many images and ideas into each sentence that it fried my brain.  I mean, how many images, metaphors, acronyms, and obscure references can you take in one paragraph? 

Here’s an example:

"The Deliverator knows that yard.  He has delivered pizzas there.  He has looked at it, scoped it out, memorized the location of the shed and the picnic table, can find them even in the dark--knows that if it ever came to this, a twenty-three-minute pizza, miles to go,  and a slowdown at CSV-5 and Oahu--he could enter.  The Mews at Windsor Heights (his electronic delivery-man's visa would raise the gate automatically), scream down Heritage Boulevard, rip the turn onto Strawbridge Place (ignoring the DEAD END sign and the speed limit and the CHILDREN PLAYING ideograms that are strung so liberally throughout TMAWH), thrash the speed bumps with his mighty radials, blast up the driveway of Number 15 Strawbridge Circle, cut a hard left around the backyard shed, careen into the backyard of Number 84 Mayapple, avoid its picnic table (tricky), get into their driveway and out onto Mayapple, which takes him to BellewoodeValley Road, which runs straight to the exit of the Burbclave..."

Brain hurt yet?

Neal Stephenson reads like Harlan Ellison on steroids.  Or maybe Robert Anton Wilson on acid, which is almost redundant.  You know, Neal, you don't have to write everything that comes into your head.  It's just TMI.  Many authors write a backstory that feeds the motivation of the characters; in this book, you make the audience privy to all of the backstory.  You include all the backstory of all the minutiae of each and every character, setting, and crack in the sidewalk.  Reading this is like reading a data dump when you're debugging programming code (something I had to do repeatedly when I was writing machine-language programs in college--it's not a pretty sight).  And as you read the 160,000+ words in this book, you can't help but wonder--is all this germain to the plot?

No--but the plot takes a back seat to the setting.  Every little detail contributes to a highly complex and developed world.  

Random ideas:

• As girl "kourier" Y.T. careens through the roads of L.A. on her board, ‘pooning onto passing vehicles and watching the landmarks pass with a blur, we careen through this novel in a similar manner.  We plow through so many images and ideas that eventually it’s an overwhelming blur.  Hold on tight or you might fall of and forget what you just read.

• At one point, we get quagmired into dozens of pages of exposition as our hero, Hiro Protagonist (smack me on the head but I love his name), questions a virtual Librarian about the history of Sumerian culture. Meh.

• Being a native of Los Angeles, I really enjoyed the geographic product placement of locations and culture of L.A.  Any references to Wilshire Blvd. and the 405 freeway always make me smile.

• I have a problem with books that rely heavily on dreams or other virtual worlds to advance the plot.  I really can’t take anything that happens in a dream seriously.  So when we first walked into the virtual Black Sun with the avatars of our characters interacting, I had trouble caring what happened to anyone while in there.  The whole hook of the book, though, is that something that happens in the virtual world can actually affect you in the real world (i.e. the Snow Crash drug-virus).  So, it made me care just a little bit. 

But that’s not to say I didn’t like or appreciate this book. Don't get me wrong.  Snow Crash is a really fine piece of science fiction, which is why I rated it so highly.  Neal Stephenson takes a few ideas and evolves them as we jettison into this strange commercial world.  To be honest, the trajectory was so far-out-crazy-believable (once you accept the science fiction as fact), that it made me want to get out of L.A. before all this happens.  Nice job, Mr. Stephenson.

And now?  It's time for a good SnowScan.

Book Review: Enclave

I was pleasantly surprised by Enclave by Ann Aguirre, the July selection for the Goodreads Young Adult Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia group.



Elements of Enclave reminded me of City of Ember. When the world up top becomes uninhabitable for whatever reason (like plague, nuclear holocaust, alien invasion), survivors duck down below ground to create a new civilization. After who-knows-how-many generations underground, the culture below has developed into a well-controlled citizenry that has only a distant attachment to the world on top. Citizens of our underground world don’t trust the viability of life up there.


The world of Enclave is dark and murky. The life expectancy is around 25 years, presumably due to poor nutrition and sub-par living conditions, not to mention the lack of vitamin D. Consequently most characters in the story are teenagers. Enclaves of people live in subway tunnels. The social structure in the “College” enclave is carefully stratified. Youngsters are called “brats” and have a number for their name until their naming ceremony when they are in their teens. They receive a brand and a role—hunter, breeder, or builder. Everyone has their place and they stick to it—or else. The underground enclaves have limited contact with each other, so, like the old walled towns of Italy, dialects and traditions emerge. For example, the zombie creatures that plague the tunnels are called “freaks” by the College enclave and “eaters” by the Jengu group. We don’t even know what the Nassau enclave calls them.

I enjoyed the detail that author Ann Aguirre put into her world, and I was thankful that she did not take the romantic line of the story in a slobbery direction. The setting is at the forefront, and Aguirre throws you clues along the way as to what part of the world you’re in. It’s a fun puzzle, and you’ll be satisfied to know that there is an answer! You have to read the whole book, though.

The culture of the College enclave is borne out as we follow the life of our protagonist Deuce, who has just been through her naming ceremony. As she branches out from the bowels of the enclave to administer her duties as a hunter, she learns about the layout of the underground, other creatures living below, and eventually the world topside. And as Deuce learns, so do we. 

Book Review: Some books give me the shivers...

Whew!  I read some high-profile books for which I had plenty of expectations.  What a rollercoaster.  Thankfully I read a book by Neal Shusterman somewhere in there--he never disappoints.

 Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I read Shiver on a hot summer day. That was probably a mistake, because I had to take a real leap into the icy setting of the story. It was difficult to imagine anyone feeling cold, or icy, or shiver-y. And the temperature was a major factor in this story--just look at the chapter sub-headings, which list the temperature at the time. Anyway, I fixed the problem by cranking up the A/C, and I was able to get a little shivery myself. 

So--nobody told me that Shiver was first and foremost a romance novel. I had thought this would be typical YA supernatural fiction, teens in peril, an interesting world to portray, and lots of plot (and maybe a little romance). I was hoping for something on the lines of Midnighters. Not even. This was 90% romance, and I'm not a big fan of romance novels to begin with. But--I'll withhold judgement to see if it's an interesting well-written romance novel. With a romance novel, you'd better have a great plot and great characterizations. Sadly, Shiver is not one of those romance novels. Most of the book went like this: She said, "Blah blah blah I like your eyes," and He said, "Blah blah blah it's getting cold." Honestly, I skimmed those parts. Like this: character babble (skip), character babble (skip), character babble (skip), oh they're getting in the car now it's time to read again because something's happening. There was so much telling-not-showing that I wanted to take a black marker and line out all the unnecessary parts. That probably would have taken out at least a third of the book and gotten me a library fine. So I didn't. 

I want to add (trying to avoid spoilers here) that our protagonist boy "Sam" reminded me so much of "Sam" in True Blood that I had a hard time picturing anyone else. That's okay--I like Sam in True Blood, so the Sam of Shiver gets the halo effect. 

That's it. A quick read about a girl and her dog. 

MAJOR POST SCRIPT: 

I've just read a blog post on the difference between YA UF and YA PR. "YA" is young adult. "UF" is urban fantasy. "PR" is paranormal romance. YA UF takes place in our world but has aspects of fantasy in it like magic (e.g. Harry Potter series, Midnighter series). YA PR is primarily a romance novel where the romance takes place between a human and a non-human or partially non-human (e.g. Twilight series). Aha! I was expecting YA UF and I got YA PR. I like the P in PR. I'm not crazy about the R, though. 

I'm not against romance novels as long as they're well-written. After all, I read and loved Gone with the Wind, and that's over 1,000 pages. I do admit, though, that I've only read a few in my lifetime. I took a swing at Pride and Prejudice--which, admittedly, was very well written. I just wasn't into it. Looking at my Goodreads list, most of the romance novels I've read are fairly poorly written. Either the characters are flat (e.g. Twilight, Shiver), or the writing is trashy (e.g. Twilight, Dead Until Dark). *sigh* 

I guess YA PR is just not my genre. Maybe if Anne Rice stepped into the fray, there would be something good to read. Oh I remember now--she's sworn off vampires. Oh well...

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

I’m sad to say that I was a little disappointed in The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. I don’t know what I was expecting. It was listed on so many “best of fantasy” lists, and judging from the cover, it looked like something Narnia-esque. With that build-up, I was expecting a full meal but only got the appetizers.

It took me a very long time (say, 200 pages) to actually get into the book, and in fact halfway through I considered putting it down. Yes, the author created a complex and detailed world, and it takes a while to get immersed in that world. However I suppose that in a trilogy of 1200 or so pages, it takes that long to create the fantasy world. I should have noticed the warning sign at the beginning of the book, which stated that this was the first part in a three part trilogy. 

What mostly troubled me about this book was every character’s unwavering trust and obedience to the commands of the girl Lyra (whose age is apparently over 11 but we’re not quite sure). Aw c’mon, really, you’re going to trust her judgments when it comes to military strategy? I mean, I know she’s smart, and special, and “the one,” but she lacks the experience to really understand the intricacies of this kind of strategy. Yes, I can believe that polar bears wear armor and humans have animal-familiar daemons. But I find it hard to swallow that little girl bossing everyone around. The fantasy aspects were totally believable. The true-to-life aspects were not.

Having said that, I do respect the world that the author created, and the various factions of creatures was believable. The concept of animal daemons is exceptionally cool and well-thought out.

I guess first and foremost, this is a trilogy. And since I don’t trust the author enough to finish the other two books, I’m only a third way through the adventure. 

 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Many things happen Because of Winn-Dixie. A lonely girl in a new town makes a few friends, among other things. A charming book that I will read to my fourth graders next year.

 Duckling Ugly by Neal Shusterman

“How do you judge beauty?” We dance around this question in Duckling Ugly, as Neal Shusterman takes us on a psychological tour of the consummate teenage ugly duckling. We climb into Cara DeFido’s head as she competes in a spelling bee, navigates the school lunchroom, and endures sibling torture. Like many Shusterman books, there are elements of fantasy that lend Duckling Ugly a fairy tale flair. But instead of giving us beautiful fairy godmothers and princely ponies, he grounds that fairy tale in gritty details that make you squirm like a nightcrawler. The fairy godmother in this story has milky cataract eyes, and the princely pony is an old beat-up Chevy. Basically this is Stephen King meets Hans Christian Anderson. Instead of politely turning away from the ugliness of Cara, we are forced to focus on every zitty detail of her hideousness. It’s painful. We take a trip as we consider the question—how do you judge beauty? Toward the end of the book, one character declares, “Ugly is the new pretty.” At that point, you might have an answer to the question. Thanks again, Mr. Shusterman—you never disappoint me.

 The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Oh Dan Brown, you have a formula and you love to use it. But you know what? I like your formula and enjoy the ride. Your books have been panned by critics, panned by book aficionados—people love to hate you. Why? Are your books any worse than, say, James Patterson’s? 

Admittedly, if you’ve already read The DaVinci Code or Angels and Demons, then The Lost Symbol certainly will feel familiar. But if you like the character of Robert Langdon, then this is just another fun ride. 

What annoyed me about The Lost Symbol: 

1. The ending that never ends. Reminded me of the final installment of the Lord of the Rings films. Get on the boat and leave Middle Earth, already! 

2. Predictably unpredictable solutions to dire situations. Even when characters were in life-threatening situations, I was able to predict the outcomes. Maybe not HOW the outcomes would surface, but certainly I had an idea about what would happen generally. I know Dan Brown likes to write himself into a corner (a good writer’s trick, no doubt), but some of the solutions were a bit too convenient. 

3. Cliffhangers. They seem a little contrived. Every chapter doesn’t need to end with a cliffhanger, you know. 

4. Bad guys are so….grotesque. I’m not going to make comparisons between Silas in The Da Vinci Code and Mal’akh. Never mind, I just made a comparison. Couldn’t help it. Maybe next time make the bad guys more three-dimensional? 

5. It’s not very well written. Okay okay!!!! I know Dan Brown has trouble constructing a sentence. I don’t care. It’s still fun to read. 

What I loved about The Lost Symbol: 

1. Robert Langdon. He knows a lot, but he doesn’t know everything. I enjoy reading about clever, intellectual, educated characters, and I look forward to the next Robert Langdon installment.  (side note: When I picture Robert Langdon, I actually picture someone more like Robert Downey Jr. than Tom Hanks.  I'm sorry Opie didn't include me on the casting call....)

2. Washington, DC. Like all of Brown’s books, The Lost Symbol makes you want to get on a plane and investigate the setting yourself. The beauty and design of the city of Washington DC comes to the forefront of this story. 

3. The pace. Some people complain about it, but I love it. Switching from one point-of-view to another after a few pages works just fine with me. (Did I mention I have a slight case of ADD?) On the other hand, the short chapters frequently end on cliff-hangers (see complaint #3). 

4. You learn about cool things. I do happen to enjoy the almost nauseating flood of references to literature, science, and art. After reading a Robert Langdon book, you are compelled to jump on the Internet and check out that painting of Melancolia I or the Kryptos at the CIA headquarters. 

I know, I know—Dan Brown takes fact and twists it into some kind of weird fictiony fact that is only remotely related to the original kernel of truth. Yes, we all know the culture and history of the Masons runs deep. But taking what we know about the Masons and running it to sometimes illogical conclusions is kind of fun. I’m not looking for accuracy, here. Just entertainment. 

5. Puzzles. Plain and simple: they’re fun. 

Near the end, there was an Obi Wan Kenobi moment for me. You know, when Luke Skywalker challenges Obi wan, “You said my father was dead!” And Obi Wan counters, “Wellllll, he was dead in a certain sense of the word.” When you start rationalizing actions because of semantics, you know you’re in trouble. Towards the last pages of this book, I was getting that feeling. Awwww, it’s just a matter of semantics. (Don’t want to put any spoilers here so I apologize for the vagueness.) 

In defense of this, though, I want to point out that Dan Brown quite deliberately brings semantics to the forefront of his story (and stories, I might add). It is through the evolution of the meaning and use of a word that we come to understand the evolution of humanity, religious thought, scientific inquiry, and other big picture ideas. 

The Lost Symbol is a fun book—not a great book, but a fun book. On my rating: I wavered between 3 and 4 stars. For me, this is a 3.5 star book; I pushed it over to 4 stars because I get the sense the people are beating up Dan Brown for being popular and ranking him much lower (feels like how the entertainment industry HATES Tom Cruise--but you know, his films are fun). Looking at Goodreads ratings, they seem to vary deeply depending on whether the book is popular with the younger crowd or not. Seriously—Twilight gets a better rating than The Lost Symbol (or The Da Vinci Code, for that matter)? It’s not better written than The Lost Symbol--and neither book is very well written. The Y-A fan base, I suspect, is a little overzealous with its application of 5 star ratings. Having said that, I’m bumping up my rating to compensate, so there! Twisted, huh? Not as twisted as the plot of The Lost Symbol! 

Goodreads Challenge 52 - 56/85: Dogs, Losers, and Crazy Girls

Here's a hodgepodge of books--classroom drama, young adult, fantasy, and dysfunctional character study.

Goodreads Challenge 56/85: Loser by Jerry Spinelli


Heartfelt, sad book about that kid in your class who is always picking his nose.

Goodreads Challenge 55/85: Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder


I can't remember experiencing this much pain reading a book since...oh yeah, since Twilight. Fire Study is the third installment of the "Study" series, which began with Poison Study. I really enjoyed the Poison Study book, even though it wasn't very well written. The whole angle of food taster really hooked me in. The second book, Magic Study, held my attention with its explanation of the use of magic in its world. But Fire Study--blecch!

Poorly written, rambling, too many characters with weird names, a plot that literally goes all over the place--reading this book was just one giant lesson in frustration. The only reason I finished it was because I felt I had to complete the series. What's really mind-numbing is that this book was a whopping 440 pages long.

I seriously wavered between one and two stars. This book does have a couple of cool things in it, like the glass figurines that glow. And Kiki the horse adds a lot to the book. I would give it two stars just for Kiki--but really, this book has an average of close to 4 which is completely insane so I'm overcompensating by giving it one star.

Maybe I'll write more details later, but right now I am so fatigued from plowing through this miserable mess that I won't spend any more time thinking about it.

Goodreads Challenge 54/85: Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren


I read Pippi Longstocking for two reasons. First, apparently Steig Larson based his Dragon Tattoo Girl on this premise: What would Pippi Longstocking be like as a grownup? Urban legend or not, it was certainly the carrot that led me to this book. The second reason is that I am screening this book for reading next year with my fourth graders.

Anyway, it's entirely believable that Lisbeth Salander (the dragon tattoo girl) is Pippi all grown up. Pippi has no sense of relating to other people and has a limited sense of morality. Or a weird sense of morality. Oh it's hard to say. Leave it at this: Pippi makes me cringe. She lies, she invades, she disregards. She is pure id. Just think--Salander's diet of nothing-but-pizza is something that Pippi would do. Now, Lisbeth Salander isn't really pure id, but don't forget that she's Pippi grown up. You wonder what happened to Pippi to make her that...anti-social.

Many of the images in this book are vivid--Pippi riding a horse at the circus, battling a strong man, and annoying old ladies at a coffee klatch. The images are great. However, I don't particularly care for the episodic nature of the book--it is really a string of short stories.

I gave this story four stars because freckle-faced Pippi is an icon. You have to get to know her, at least once. You might not like her, but that doesn't matter--boy, does she take you for a ride. I probably won't read another Pippi story, but I'm always happy to learn more about classic kids' stories. 

Goodreads Challenge 53/85: Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl


Fantastic Mr. Fox is a charming fantasy story written by Roald Dahl. I read it because I might use it as a read-aloud in my fourth grade class. This book definitely lends itself to a class read-aloud, with uncomplicated language, but enough rich vocabulary to make it challenging. There are also several moral themes that will be great to discuss in class, such as: Is it okay to steal if you are starving? This short book will be a great way to introduce chapter books to my students. Long enough to build reading stamina, but short enough to give them a carrot with a short stick. Thanks, Mr. Dahl!

Goodreads Challenge 52/85:  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time was a weirdly compelling book. Told in the first person by an obsessive-compulsive (or maybe Asperger's) teenager, at first it's quite difficult to read. Christopher Boone's voice comes out loud and clear as he dictates the details (i.e. facts and observations) of his life. At first I was annoyed by his inability to use contractions and was thrown back to my Star Trek Next Generation days of Data, the cyborg who can't use contractions either. But this book reads as clunky. Eventually, though, you get used to his voice, and in fact this story couldn't be written any other way. It's through the main character's voice that you really get to know him deeply and understand the other characters in the story.

For example:
"Why were you holding the dog?" he asked again.
"I like dogs," I said.
"Did you kill the dog?" he asked.
I said, "I did not kill the dog."
"Is this your fork?" he asked.
I said, "No."

Sounds boring and sophomoric, right? Yet, Christopher Boone lays out the facts dispassionately--which, by the way, describes him personally. He has trouble understanding people's emotions, yet can recite all the prime numbers up to the 7,000s. (Come to think of it, that sounds more like Asperger's...) So dialogue exchanges like this, which in the beginning of the book seem annoying, by the end of the book make perfect sense once you have gotten to know our hero.

Anyway, this kid is certainly an unreliable narrator, and you really have to read between the lines (and in fact wait for other characters to reveal things) in order to discern what actually happens in the story.

Reading the selection above, I'm reminded of The Sun Also Rises, which I read recently. I was completely annoyed by The Sun Also Rises because the story was told so plainly and dispassionately. But that book was different, because the narrator was a journalist and who should have quite frankly had a more interesting voice. In The Curious Incident, though, this lack of emotion just lends depth and mystery to the character. And it makes Christopher Boone sadly charming.

I suppose I should include a brief summary--this book is about a teenager with Asperger's Syndrome who is investigating the murder of the dog next door while dealing with the death of his mom. I can't reveal anything else or I'll spoil it! This story unfolds bit by bit, until at the end, all of the mysteries have been solved.

Random things I liked about this book:
Christopher Boone reminds me of Adrian Monk--one of my favorite television characters.
His favorite book is The Hound of the Baskervilles--also one of my favorites.
We get an in-depth description of taking the Tube in London.
I can't recommend this to my fourth grade students because it uses the f-word too many times. *sigh*

Are you a voyeur? You'll love this book because it gives you a great opportunity to climb into somebody else's mind. Twisted as it may be.

Daniel X, House of the Scorpion: The Good, the Bad, and the Chocolate

Book Reviews

I really have a backlog of book titles to include with my Goodreads Challenge of reading 85 books during 2011.  And with summer upon us, I'm reading a lot more!  Anyway, here are a few selections moving through my reading queue.  Some of the books are pre-screenings for my classroom, and others are for general personal consumption.

Goodreads Challenge 51/85: The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

Every so often a book makes me angry because it is so poorly written. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X is one of these books. 

I read this book to screen it for my classroom library. In particular, one of my fourth grade boys (we'll call him Tom) refuses to read anything but action books. At the beginning of the school year, Tom unabashedly exclaimed that he hated to read. I made it my personal quest to change him and asked him what kinds of video games he likes. He said, quite cheerfully, "I like violent games!" So, I started him with Alex Rider, a recommendation from my son, which is basically James Bond for kids. 

Tom quickly took on to Alex Rider and tore through the whole series. After that, I was stuck--he wanted action, but he didn't want anything with magic or fantasy involved. Sadly, that left out a whole sub-genre of some great young-adult fiction. But then I figured, maybe he should try The Hunger Games. Right now, he is gobbling up the second of the trilogy. 

But now, with summer drawing near, I've been frantically looking for a book that has all the action this kid craves with none of the magic. I googled "books like Alex Rider" and had to skip over great books like The Lightning Thief and The Warrior Heir because of the fantasy angle. What popped up most often? The Daniel X series. I reluctantly cracked open the book---I have found James Patterson to be the most overrated writer around. His books actually irritate me because they are so poorly written....and yet he is so popular. But Daniel X ended up on a lot of librarians' lists, so I decided to give it a try. 

Here's the hook in a nutshell: Daniel X is an alien hunter. End of story. I won't waste any time on the plot--I'm sure you can read summaries elsewhere. It's basically a Men-in-Black knock-off for teens. 

I just want to ask--who put these books on the same list as Percy Jackson? It's shameful. There is no coherent world view--apparently Daniel X has any power that will conveniently solve his problems. Unless the writers need to put him into a life-or-death situation, in which case they conveniently fail to mention his alien superpowers. 

The descriptions are completely void of any detail. Oh--let me quote an example: "The inside of Seth's cochlea was even grosser than his earwax situation. It was filled with this fluid that was...ugh, I don't even want to get into it." Pleeeease get into it! I want to hear all about the fluid. Every last, disgusting detail.  But James Patterson and his co-author pass up every single chance to give the reader a stimulating reading experience. 

This book has two things going for it: (1) aliens are, in general, fun to read about, and (2) it's a very fast read. (Read: the pain of reading it was brief.)  I wavered between giving it one and two stars--but this book is so horribly disappointing that I'm punishing it for letting me down. 

So---next time I am tempted to read another James Patterson book, would somebody please poke me in the eye?

Goodreads Challenge 50/85: The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

There's a reason why The House of the Scorpion was showered with so many awards, including the National Book Award and Newbery Honor. This book treats us to an evolved future, some solid science fiction, and wonderfully complex characters.

Author Nancy Farmer develops a trajectory of the geo-political climate surrounding drug lords in Mexico, illegal border crossings, and child labor. The governments and drug lords have created a buffer zone between Mexico (now called Aztlán) and the United States called, of all things, Opium (wonder what goes on there….). People fleeing both sides get trapped in the heavily guarded state of Opium and are turned into zombie slave workers. Meanwhile back at the ranch, literally, drug lords nurture their own personal clones for organ harvesting, thus sustaining their lives upwards of 140 years.

How refreshing it is to read about complex characters whose motivations are revealed through their actions. Our main character, Matt Alacrán, is a boy clone of the drug lord El Patrón. El Patrón is cultivating Matt for future use as a possible heart donor—for when the time comes. As we see Matt grow up, we wonder if he is going to turn into a deadly killer like his genetic donor. Nature battles Nurture as El Patrón blesses Matt with many life lessons, such as "Easy targets are opportunities to frighten enemies you aren't ready to tackle yet." As we progress through the book we wonder—what part of his DNA contributed to the evil side of El Patrón? And what part will he pass on genetically to Matt? Conversely, what part will he pass on the Matt through his parables and advice? By the end of the book, we wonder which way the chips will fall—will Matt become a cold-blooded killer like El Patrón, or will he forge a new direction for his DNA code?

The House of the Scorpion is a very smart book. It will stoke your intellectual fires as you consider the implications of the numerous big ideas in the story. 

Goodreads Challenge 49/85: The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling

A cute book with lessons learned originally by King Midas--this time with chocolate.  My fourth graders love this book.  'Nuf said.