Personal Reading
The Bronte Plot
by Katherine Reay
Lucy Alling works in an antique and interior decorating gallery, with a sideline of selling old and rare books. However, she has crossed the line with some questionable purchases and false book inscriptions. This puts her at odds with her boyfriend and boss, but then her boyfriend's grandmother takes her on a trip to England to deal with some of her (the grandmother's) own secrets. Along the way, Lucy learns more about the importance of being scrupulously honest and deals with issues in her own past.
I appreciate all of Reay's books as her characters work through complicated relationships and deal with past personal and family issues, while weaving in lessons from classic literature. In this case, it helps to have some familiarity with the Bronte sisters and their most well-known works.
Sophie
by Emma Pearse
The subtitle of this book is "The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog." It's about a Blue Heeler in Australia who fell overboard from her owner's boat and was presumed dead for 5 months until she was trapped on a remote island and, by a happy series of circumstances, was immediately reunited with her owners. The book begins with the story of how Sophie came into her owners' lives and background on their family and her puppyhood. After she goes missing while out on their boat, the book then spends a lot of time describing her owners' grief and feelings of guilt. It spends a little time describing the sightings of a strange dog on two different, minimally inhabited islands, and lots of speculation about how she might have gotten there and how she survived for 5 months before being trapped alive by park rangers. And it's just that -- speculation -- because nobody knows how she lived and survived. It was an interesting story, but it was probably longer than necessary. A few language considerations and some routine alcohol consumption, but mostly clean.
Iron Rose
by Abigail O'Bryan
From the back cover: There is no future for Lydia Brightwood. The Crimson Lord, a tyrant bent on destroying Lydia's country, made sure of that. Her only hope of a different life is to find the one person who could unite her country: a royal heir. There's just one problem...They're all dead. The Beast's humanity is slipping away. Shut away from the world by a horrible secret, Adam watches the destruction of his homeland from the ruins of a fortress all the while holding the devastating truth in his chest: It's his fault. Adam and Lydia's paths cross in the ruins of the north where they must find a way to conquer the curse before everything they love collapses...but being truly human has its price.
This was an interesting twist on the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale. The crown prince has been cursed and turned into a beast. The curse can only be broken if the woman he loves dies to save him. The "beauty" has suppressed all her femininity in order to lead the rebellion against the evil tyrant. Both have to learn to trust and love and how to be fully human. I was intrigued by the premise of the story, and I thought the execution of it was pretty good. There are maybe some things that a more experienced author would have done better: parts of it seemed a little rushed, perhaps, or not fully fleshed-out. The major drawback for me were the very graphic and gory battle scenes. This is not one that I would buy. I might enjoy reading it again, except for the graphic violence.
One Wrong Step
by Jennifer Nielsen
Fourteen-year-old Atlas goes on an expedition with his father and several other men in an attempt to scale Mt. Everest in 1939. He and a similarly aged girl are left behind at base camp while their fathers head to the summit. When the expedition is trapped by an avalanche, Atlas and Maddie head up the mountain to attempt a rescue. Along the way, Atlas has to deal with his past -- his trauma over losing his mother several years ago, his anger with his dad, his tendency to freeze up when he needs to make a decision. I enjoyed the book -- for the adventure, the history and details of mountain climbing, and the growth of the characters. Typically excellent writing that I've come to expect from Jennifer Nielsen. The only thing that struck me as being a bit "off" was the inclusion of the suspicion of an unknown Nazi lurking around somewhere on the mountain. It didn't seem to really make sense why they would be worried about that while they are climbing Everest, even though the story is occurring at the same time as Hitler's invasion of Poland and the start of WWII.
The Librarian Spy
by Madeline Martin
An American woman is sent to Portugal during WWII to gather newspapers and books to send back to the US for intelligence gathering purposes. Meanwhile, a French woman joins the French resistance after her husband is arrested by the Nazis. They both become involved in helping Jewish refugees escape from their oppressors. The story alternates between the two points of view until finally the lives of the two women intersect. Relatively clean, except for the war-time violence.
The Keeper of Hidden Books
by Madeline Martin
A powerful story set in WWI Warsaw, Poland. Zofia and her best friend Janina begin their resistance to Hitler's oppression by forming a book club dedicated to reading all the books that Hitler has banned. As Nazi oppression in Warsaw increases, they also increase their resistance activities, including hiding and distributing books that the Germans have deemed illegal and subversive. A fascinating novel, based on true events. It's difficult to read in places because of the war-time violence and the knowledge that there is no way for all the characters to have a happy ending (because there was no happy ending for Warsaw in WWI). But there is hope and redemption and the joy of finding meaningful connections through literature.
There's a great article/interview with the author here. For more historical fiction about the Warsaw ghetto uprising and the Warsaw uprising, I recommend Jennifer A. Nielsen's two books:
Resistance and
Uprising.Biography/History
God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life
by Paul Kengor
I thoroughly enjoyed this in-depth look at Ronald Reagan's spiritual life and the beliefs that shaped his thinking, his life, and his politics. The audiobook was excellently narrated by Bob Souer. I highly recommend this book!
Middle Grade Novels
Shell Shocked: An Ocean Mystery
by Kathleen Welton
I received this middle-grade novel as a giveaway from LibraryThing.com in exchange for a review.
The back cover describes the book in this way: "In the quaint coastal town of Cataluna Island, a group of friends stumble upon a sea turtle with bizarre markings -- a discovery that spirals into a daring environmental mystery. Led by the spirited Alex, a teenager determined to deviate from her family's fishing legacy, the team dives deep into the island's ecological secrets. From analyzing mysterious bioluminescent patterns to decoding messages left on turtle shells, Alex and her allies race against time to protect their community and the endangered turtles that inhabit it. With each clue, they inch closer to unveiling a threatening environmental crisis. Can they navigate the treacherous waters of greed and ignorance in time to save their beloved island?'
Sounded intriguing, but the book fell woefully short of delivering on the promises described on the cover. The "bizarre markings" are mentioned only as "strange red markings." The "bioluminescence" is not mentioned till later, and its significance is not explained. There are no coded messages on the turtle shells. There's no explanation as to why injured turtles or poached turtle nests are a threat to the community or why it's suddenly "not just about turtles anymore, but about saving our homes and our island." There's no explanation of the motives of the poachers. At the beginning of the book, Alex's parents are described as running tour boat cruises; later they are said to be in the fishing industry. Her father's boat is involved in trespassing into protected waters and Alex intends to confront her family about their involvement, but they are not home when she goes to speak to them. No confrontation is ever described, yet at the end of the book, suddenly they are there supporting, having been "won over."
I wanted to like the book, but it was disjointed and hard to follow. While the author did have some good descriptive phrases and sentences, the overall disjointedness made the story hard to follow. This book has a clear environmental agenda to push ("save the turtles at any cost"), but it is overly dramatic about it and the overuse of many phrases weakens its message. Just about every page uses some form of "weight," "heavy," or "tension." Also, the phrases "It's not just about the turtles anymore" and "We have to act fast" and "we need to rally the community" are overused.
Romance: none
Language: two uses of "God" in an exclamatory way, several "damns."
Violence: none
As I said, the cover blurb was intriguing and I wanted to like the book, but the disjointed storyline, poor writing, and overuse of words and phrases made me want to quit reading it after the second or third chapter. I forced myself to finish it because I wanted to give it fair review, but it was a slog. Fortunately, it was only just over 100 pages.
Marked
by Chantol Aspinall
Princess Avery has been promised in marriage to the King of Trenton -- a man she's never met -- for the benefits that both nations will receive from their alliance. She has a birthmark on her face that her mother has told her is a curse, so she tries to hide it. On the way to the wedding, Avery is kidnapped and discovers that not everyone and everything is what they seem to be. She has to sort out truth from the lies.
The length of this book (~80 pages) made me think it was aimed at the elementary/middle grade audience. But the content was more along the lines of a young adult romance book. I think it has potential as a young adult book, but it would need to have the characters, back-story, and plot more fully developed.
Content considerations: several uses of "hell" and "dammit," graphic violence ("blood splattered all over").
I received this middle-grade novel as a giveaway from LibraryThing.com in exchange for a review. I believe this is a self-published book. It was relatively free of editing errors and was easier to read than the one I reviewed above. I think it had a premise and storyline that was worth developing into a longer, full-length story.
Children's Books
The Puffin Keeper
by Michael Morpurgo
I was attracted to this book because I've read some other books by the same author. This is a delightfully illustrated story of a lighthouse keeper who rescued a young boy and his mother from a shipwreck. The boy later returned to the lighthouse and befriended the keeper. Together they rescued an injured puffin, who later brought his friends back to the island and rebuilt the puffin population. Suitable for middle-grade to read alone or for younger children as a read-aloud.
The Story of Bodri
by Hedi Fried
This picture book describes the life of a young Jewish girl who is forced to leave her beloved dog behind when she is taken to a concentration camp during WWII. Happy ending: she survives and is reunited with her dog after the war.
Mel Fell
by Corey Tabor
A delightful picture book about a fledgling kingfisher who falls out of the nest, catches a fish, and returns to his siblings and mother in the nest. Highly recommend.
Watercress
by Andrea Wang
A thought-provoking picture book about a Chinese girl in America who is embarrassed by her parents' behavior until she learns what they went through before they emigrated to America.
Newbery Award Books
A Visit to William Blake's Inn
by Nancy Willard
A collection of poems and pictures describing guests who come to an inn named after the English poet William Blake. I did not think these poems were anything special, but then I am not appreciative or understanding of much poetry in general. I only skimmed the first few poems before deciding I had better things to do with my time.
1982 Newbery winner
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
There are lots of pictures, but there is also lots of text. A decent biography of Abraham Lincoln for upper elementary (if they're skilled readers and history buff) or teens.
1988 Newbery winner
Read-Aloud
Heidi
by Johanna Spyri
The wonderful classic story of a little Swiss girl who lives on a mountain with her grandfather. Lots of great biblical truths and lessons. We listened to the audiobook -- partly from the library and partly from Librivox.org.
