April Reading Log (and notes)

After reading so many wonderful stories this month, I decided to annotate my reading log. Never Jam Today means I can't review every book I like, but I can surely spare this many words.

North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell
Golden. I adore the BBC adaption, and the book is even better.

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, by Ally Carter
Quick and fun ... a sequel that improves upon the original.

The Shuttle, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Decidedly Victorian, but gripping in that way.

Emotional Purity, by Heather Paulsen
Recommended.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You, by Ally Carter
The aforementioned original.

Murder Must Advertise, by Dorothy Sayers
I don't think Sayers could have written a dud if she tried. Brilliant.

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick
Reviewed. One of my MG favorites for 2009.

David Livingstone, by Janet & Geoff Benge
Interesting light bio.

Any Which Wall, by Laurel Snyder
Reviewed. One of my MG favorites for 2009.

Princess of the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George
I liked this. It didn't try to pull anything fancy ... but it satisfied in its simplicity.

North of Beautiful, by Justina Chen Headley
I liked this, too.

The Year of Jubilo, by Ruth Sawyer
Reviewed.

II Samuel, KJ version
(Only Joshua, Judges and Ruth until I finish my second reading of the Bible!)

Miss Pym Disposes, by Josephine Tey
Lite British chick-lit, circa 1940. Tey knows how to turn a phrase.

Laureate Top Sevens

This week, five UK children's laureates were asked to pick their favourite children's books.

Have you ever tried to do that?

It strikes me odds-bodkin that an author like Jacqueline Wilson would choose books like Little Women, A Little Princess, The Railway Children, Ballet Shoes and Mary Poppins.

But anyway, I love what columnist Lucy Mangan adds: "But we do not devour other people's book lists for insights into their taste or the influences that might have moulded them - no! We read them to see what heinous oversights have occurred and assemble our alternatives. And in that exuberant, borderline aggressive spirit, here are mine."

And so, at the very bottom, is my list (not a bitty presumptuous, eh?).

Chosen by Quentin Blake:
1. Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain by Edward Ardizzone (1936)
2. Queenie the Bantam by Bob Graham (1997)
3. The Box of Delights by John Masefield (1935)
4. Rose Blanche by Ian McEwan and Roberto Innocenti (1985)
5. Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (1902)
6. Snow White by Josephine Poole (1991)
7. Stuart Little by E.B. White (1945)

Chosen by Anne Fine:
8. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken (1963)
9. Absolute Zero by Helen Cresswell (1978)
10. Just William by Richmal Crompton (1922)
11. Journey to the River Sea by Iva Ibbotson (2001)
12. Lavender's Blue by Kathleen Lines (1954)
13. A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885)
14. Sword in the Stone by T.H. White (1938)

Chosen by Michael Morpurgo:
15. Five Go to Smuggler's Top by Enid Blyton (1945)
16. Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton (1939)
17. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (1838)
18. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (1902)
19. A Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear (1846)
20. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883)
21. The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde (1888)

Chosen by Jacqueline Wilson:
22. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868-9)
23. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1905)
24. What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge (1872)
25. The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett (1937)
26. The Railway Children by E. Nesbit (1906)
27. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (1936)
28. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers (1934)

Chosen by Michael Rosen:
29. Clown by Quentin Blake (1995)
30. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)
31. Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner (1928)
32. Not Now, Bernard by David McKee (1980)
33. Fairy Tales by Terry Jones (1981)
34. Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear by Andy Stanton (2008)
35. Daz 4 Zoe by Robert Swindells (1990)

Chosen by Noel De Vries:
36. Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery (1908)
37. Little Women, by L.M. Alcott (1868-9)
38. The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1909)
39. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis (1950)
40. Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt (1975)
41. The Enchanted Castle, by E. Nesbit (1907)
42. The Star of Kazan, by Eva Ibbotson (2004)

Kidz Book Buzz Blog Tour: Savvy (Game Time)

One thing about the Beaumont family, their savvies--on the surface, at least--appear to be plagues. I mean, no more swimming for Fish! All sorts of shattered glass for Rocket to clean up!

Yet throughout the story, the Beaumonts learn to make the best of their savvies. Not just live with them, but find the good in them.

So what about you? What savvy do you have that seems more of a pain than a blessing? Can you turn it right-side up? Here's my stab (albeit one-eye-twinkling):

I repel potential boyfriends. I'm an average 22-year-old who has never been asked out. Ever. It's like a force shield or something. Quite handy in certain circles ... when among nuns, for example. Or jerks. Seriously, think of the agony some heroines have, rejecting queues of unwanted suitors. I have none of that grief, all thanks to my savvy.

:)

Fess up!

Kidz Book Buzz Blog Tour: Savvy (Interview with Ingrid Law)

What fiction most influenced your childhood, and what effect did those stories have on your writing?

I loved books about magic, or books with a sense of wonder or adventure. Diana Wynne Jones was one of my favorite authors. I loved the Anne of Green Gables books as well. Arthurian legends, the Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Prydain, books about spies... I loved them all. I also enjoyed science fiction as well, but more so later, in my teens. I think I enjoyed anything that showed me new worlds or new ways of looking at the world. But mostly, I wanted to be wrapped up in an adventure. So, when I began to write, it began as a way of taking my mind to new places and thinking about things in new ways.

Why do you write for young people?

I love the age group I write for because they have one foot firmly on the path toward growing up, yet their other foot is still happy hopping on the playground. Young people can tap into their sense of wonder so easily. Their ability to pretend and imagine is so great, as is their ability to form new ideas about themselves and the world around them.

What prepared you to write for children?

Nothing specific, really. I took a wide variety of classes in college, mostly in the arts, but I don't have a degree in writing. I don't even have a degree. I simply never stopped reading books written for children. And I think reading is one of the best ways to learn about writing. I have a daughter, who is now nearly fourteen. I've always read to her, and still do. We've always talked about the books we read together, and she loves to write as well. It's just something I do because I love stories, and I find that I prefer to tell stories to kids!

Savvy won this year's Newbery Honor from the American Library Association. How has that award changed the way you write, market and live?

It was an amazing honor and thrill to receive such recognition. It was also fairly overwhelming because Savvy is my first published book. But there's nothing like being mid-revision to keep one grounded! The Newbery Honor has definitely made me busier! I am very proud of the award, not just for myself, but for everyone who helped get Savvy out into the world and gave me such excellent input during its process... my agent, my editor, the great people at Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin, and Walden Media. Savvy has a big family. That family has supported me throughout it all.

What are a few of your all-time favorite books?

Oh, that's so hard. "All-time" is such a sweeping, permanent concept and I find that I love different books at different times in my life. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was the first book I couldn't put down when I was a kid. I still want to go to Prince Edward Island because of Anne of Green Gables. I read the Lord of the Rings several times growing up. Recent favorites are A Crooked Kind of Perfect, by Linda Urban, and Red Glass, by Laura Resau.

What's the best advice you've heard on writing for children?

Don't talk down to your audience just because they are young. Children have an intelligence that we often lose in the business and self-importance of being grown up.

What aspect of writing is the most difficult for you to conquer? How do you overcome it?

Lack of confidence... trusting my own voice. Isn't that what Mibs needs to learn in Savvy, as well? Also, I'm such a character-driven person, sometimes I get carried away and forget that I need to keep driving my plot.

If you could choose to have one strength of another writer, what would it be and from whom?

Jane Yolen just commented on another blog post about Savvy that her "savvy" is that she is "a plot magnet." She is also incredibly prolific! If I could have just a little bit of Jane Yolen's magic, I would be very, very happy. Also, I danced around the house for a week singing "Jane Yolen has a savvy! Jane Yolen has a savvy!" I'm my own special breed of fan-girl... all because of Owl Moon.

Your current work in progress is ...

A follow up to Savvy. The next book could be called a sequel, or a companion book. But it follows an all new main character--one nobody's met before. A cousin of the Beaumonts. But there will be some familiar faces along the way. I felt Mibs's story had been told and wanted to explore a "savvy" birthday from an all new perspective, while still being able to spend time with some of the characters I love.

Do you have a dream, something you'd love to achieve with your writing?

A perfect first draft! Wouldn't that be lovely? Quite honestly, my experiences with Savvy have exceeded all my dreams. It's been the most amazing experience. I'm not sure I'd feel right asking for anything more (aside from that perfect first draft thing).

Thanks so much for a wonderful conversation, Ingrid!

Kidz Book Buzz Blog Tour: Savvy (Review)

The night before 2009's Newbery winners were announced, I lay in bed with a book--the last book of award season. It was a grin-inducing, delicious story I couldn't put down, and when I finally turned the last page, my bleary thoughts giggled, "Wouldn't it be funny if this whale-of-a-tale won something in the morning?"

The book was Savvy, and the award was a Newbery Honor.

For generations, the Beaumont family has harbored a magical secret. They each possess a “savvy” – a special supernatural power that strikes when they turn thirteen. Grandpa Bomba moves mountains, her older brothers create hurricanes and spark electricity…and now it’s the eve of Mib’s big day.

As if waiting weren’t hard enough, the family gets scary news two days before Mibs’s birthday: Poppa has been in a terrible accident. Mibs develops the singular mission to get to the hospital and prove that her new power can save her dad. So she sneaks onto a salesman’s bus…only to find the bus heading in the opposite direction. Suddenly Mibs finds herself on an unforgettable odyssey that will force her to make sense of growing up – and of other people, who might also have a few secrets hidden just beneath the skin.

My 7th-grade sister and the school librarian read Savvy months before I did, and both of them kept telling me, "You've got to read it!" Which shows how well the story straddles age categories, and contains lovable ingredients for preteens, twenty-somethings, and middle-agers alike. It would be a great read-aloud: steady downpour of action, heaping spoonfuls of laughter, a large family that delights in every member, and sober moments, too ... Ingrid Law's debut novel ladles out a thick, toothsome stew.

A cross between the wacky hilarity of Polly Horvath's The Trolls and the overall well-done-ness of Elise Broach's Shakespeare's Secret.

One of my favorite 2008 titles.

Kidz Book Buzz Blog Tour: Savvy

Here's a tour on a book you've probably heard of.

I'm so excited to have my own copy of Savvy to stroke and randomly thumb through ... it's the Kidz Book Buzz selection this month, so stick around for some fun.

Other participants:


A Christian Worldview of Fiction
All About Children’s Books
Becky’s Book Reviews
Booking Mama
Cafe of Dreams
Dolce Bellezza
Fireside Musings
Hyperbole
KidzBookBuzz.com
Looking Glass Reviews
Maw Books Blog
Olive Tree
Our Big Earth
The 160 Acrewoods
Through a Child’s Eyes

By Jingo

As we watched Cheaper by the Dozen the other night (I really hope you don't have to ask which one), I felt another analyzing session coming on.

What better way to illustrate a society's moral metamorphosis than to compare a film with its remake?

Not just any film, though. A film whose central figure is the father of twelve children. Could Cliffton Webb and Steve Martin be more contrasting?

I must admit, when I watched the 2003 remake, I glazed. Strangely enough, the scenes I didn't skip through usually contained Tom Welling ... huh. But one glance at the movie's tagline gives a pretty good basis for comparison: "This Christmas, The More... The Scarier!"

How did filmmakers in 1950 view large families? Fathers who ruled with dignity and discipline? Mothers who lovingly welcomed each new addition? Granted, the real Gilbreths were far from perfect. But they were a family. And they had real happiness.

Frank and Lillian were partners, not just in raising a dozen children, but in managing the consulting firm of Gilbreth, Inc. Tom and Kate, on the other hand, can barely keep their "insane amount of kids" in order while pursuing their individual dreams.

The Gilbreth children were a mixture of good and horrid. Kind of like my six siblings. But they stuck together. Each time I reread Cheaper by the Dozen, I think, despite inevitable cons, I would love to be a Gilbreth. But who has mentally planted themselves into the Baker family? (Except for wanting to live with Tom Welling.) Making a home with fourteen Bakers holds no appeal at all.

"We'd roll along, we'd sing three and four part harmony, with Mother and Dad joining in as soprano and bass... "What do other children DO with themselves?" we'd think. Dad would lean back against the seat and cock his hat on the side of his head. Mother would snuggle up against him as if she were cold. The babies were asleep now. Sometimes Mother turned around between songs and said to us: "Right now is the happiest time in the world." And perhaps it was.

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

They don't make them like they used to.

Real Dutch Tulips

I bought these bulbs at Schiphol Airport last October. Now I'm homesick for places I've only visited.

Quotes from The Shuttle, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

"The perceptions she had brought with her filled her journey into Kent with delicious things, delicious recognition of beauties she had before known the existence of only through the reading of books, and the dwelling upon their charms as reproduced, more or less perfectly, on canvas. She saw roll by her, with the passing of the train, the loveliness of land and picturesqueness of living which she had saved for herself with epicurean intention for years."

"It is England we love, we Americans," she had said to her father. "What could be more natural? We belong to it—it belongs to us. I could never be convinced that the old tie of blood does not count. All nationalities have come to us since we became a nation, but most of us in the beginning came from England. We are touching about it, too. We trifle with France and labour with Germany, we sentimentalise over Italy and ecstacise over Spain—but England we love. How it moves us when we go to it, how we gush if we are simple and effusive, how we are stirred imaginatively if we are of the perceptive class. I have heard the commonest little half-educated woman say the prettiest, clumsy, emotional things about what she has seen there. A New England schoolma'am, who has made a Cook's tour, will almost have tears in her voice as she wanders on with her commonplaces about hawthorn hedges and thatched cottages and white or red farms. Why are we not unconsciously pathetic about German cottages and Italian villas? Because we have not, in centuries past, had the habit of being born in them. It is only an English cottage and an English lane, whether white with hawthorn blossoms or bare with winter, that wakes in us that little yearning, grovelling tenderness that is so sweet. It is only nature calling us home."

April 23rd ... Choose Your Own Adventure

If you decide to start back home, turn to page 4. If you decide to wait, turn to page 5.

I used to love those books.

So anyway.

You're the awed, lowly, pupil-of-the-master? Celebrate his birthday with my favorite sonnet.

You're more the have-fun-with-Bill type? Visit Becky's Book Reviews. She's got vids for you.

Either way, enjoy the day!

Book Rack Loot

Whoever thought up the idea of a paperback trading post: thank you.

Cashing in unwanted titles for old favorites ... spending hours browsing with siblings, trying to outdo each other as you dig diamonds from the rough ...

Priceless.

Scoop of the e-e-evening: Any Which Wall

It’s not every day that I find myself gushing about two books in the same week—in fact, this may be the first time it’s happened. But gush is all I can do when I mention Any Which Wall. Snyder, who calls her story an Edward Eager tribute slash ripoff, has followed in the footsteps of the master. It’s not a watered down version of classic storytelling. It’s a tale to endear the “light and tasty fantasy” genre to a whole new generation of readers.

If you had a magic wall that could take you to any place and any time, where would you go? Would you want to visit castles and desert islands? Would you want to meet famous wizards, terrible pirates, beautiful queens, and dastardly outlaws? If so, then you are just like Henry and Emma and Roy and Susan—and you will probably like this story a lot.

There are too many favorite bits to list. The story is so appealing … the children eat potato chips and chocolate milk for lunch, “which would have horrified their parents but tasted just right.”

The writing is spot-on … “Wichita Grim turned and pulled the rope to him, hand over hand, so fast that the animal flew along the ground, despite her great size. If you think of how a piece of spaghetti flies into your mouth when you suck it in, you will have some idea of how the dog flew.”

The laugh-out-loud moments are lovely … “But Alexandria says she’s a weirdo, and she only became a librarian so that people would have to talk to her.”

Strangers to Edward Eager will still love Any Which Wall, and will hopefully be led back to the master of us all. But devotees will have even more fun. They’ll spot brilliant strokes, like Henry and Emma playing Parcheesi … a game played by the children in Eager’s novels.

I’ve already started reading Any Which Wall aloud to my siblings. Another Top Book of 2009.

ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Sorta-Kinda Freudian Art Analysis

I've had two rooms in my life, and both featured a Waterhouse painting. Currently, The Tempest hangs above my bed. I was staring up at it the other day, and suddenly wondered what my favorite art reveals about my subconscious.*

For one, Miranda is a dreamy, cloistered innocent. She's standing there, looking out to sea, waiting. The outside world rushes on, but Miranda is content with her island.

Slightly unnerving.

But better than analyzing my previous companion, The Lady of Shallot. The Lady is (again) cloistered, this time in a tower, where she weaves, night and day. Alright ... then she sees Lancelot through her magical glass, looks down to Camelot, and the curse comes upon her. She promptly dies. Oh, goody. That's fantastic.

So what's on your wall?


*One-eye-twinkling. My mother graduated with a psychology degree, which she now regards as One Hundred Percent Worthless, so in our household, psychological dissections are seen for What They Are.

Scoop of the e-e-evening: The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

Last year’s reading list includes a category labeled, “Books I Thought I’d Hate But Ended Up Loving.” Of the two novels listed, one is Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels, an absolutely stunning tale of Gettysburg. As a rule, I dislike war-books. But in this case, I went around for weeks trying to force the CDs on the rest of my family. It’s just the sort of story my ten-year-old brother would have loved—but for a certain soldier’s bad Anglo-Saxon.

Enter The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. Homer is Killer Angels for kids.

Although he is underage, Homer P. Figg’s beloved older brother, Harold, is illegally sold into the Union Army by their ruthless guardian. Now Homer must run away from Pine Swamp, Maine, and his wretched home to find his brother and save him from the war, before it’s too late.

I just loved this story. The characters are vivid, the high jinks are … high, and the history is completely engaging. I must admit, I was wary of the name Rodman Philbrick. One of my violin students is a Werewolf Chronicles zombie-fan, and I get a wee bit tired of hearing about the amazing, stupendous Philbrick. But Homer Figg’s humor and prose are without spot or wrinkle.

“Things Uncle Hates … Hates Southerners, because they own slaves. Hates Negroes, because they complain of being enslaved.”

“Harold is so true and brave and fearless that he’s bound to get himself killed.”

“This isn’t fair,” Mrs. Bean admonishes him, shaking her gravy ladle. “He’s just a boy, and a scrawny one at that!” “I know,” says Mr. Brewster, sounding regretful. “But boys are fighting this cruel war. Boys are enslaved, and boys own slaves. None may escape. All must decide.”

“But it is a big war. How will I know him?” “Looks a lot like you, except Harold is slightly taller and stronger and better looking.”

I’ve officially started my Top Ten of 2009, and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg is right up front.

Winning streak

Such a good month for reading so far.

I've really liked every book I've finished:

Year of Jubilo, I mentioned already.

North of Beautiful was good.

Princess of the Midnight Ball was good.

Any Which Wall was PERFECT (review in queue).

Homer P. Figg is going swimmingly.

And I have two Lord Peter Wimseys on deck!

Loverly.

All in a day's work

You know what gets on my nerves?

These kids:

"I've read all the Harry Potters and Lord of the Rings and Eragons."

And then, a blank stare while I feebly fire recommendations against their absolute surety that there's nothing else worth reading in the entire building.

But once in a while, an I've-read-all-the-Harry-Potters patron turns out okay. More than okay. A sweet little fourth grader was just in ... after I'd piled her with The Star of Kazan, Walk Two Moons, The Penderwicks, and Masterpiece, I paused, cautiously, with Those Other Kids in mind, "You can look through them and decide which one you want." She giggled. "Oh, I'll take them all. I just love to read."

Did I mention she was adorable?

Morning has broken!

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ... and with his stripes we are healed

Scoop of the e-e-evening: The Year of Jubilo

Some books make you want to be good. Old books, usually, with garish blue and yellow covers and heroines named Lucinda. The lines that swell your heart are part treacle, part truth, and remind you of the importance of C.S. Lewis’, "It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between."

The Year of Jubilo is the sequel to Sawyer’s Newbery-winning Roller Skates, where Lucinda grows and flourishes despite--because of--hardships in the cool, crisp state of Maine. I’m an enormous fan of both novels and the simple pleasures they provide. Rich prose, as befits a writer raised on the stories of an Irish nurse. Plenty of allusions to Shakespeare and the King James Bible, as becomes a 70-year-old tale. “…holding these things we have in common as being more precious than rubies.” “I’ll be shield and buckler against Carter.” “Lucinda, who hated sewing as Tybalt hated the devil, all Montagues, and Romeo, gave of her time religiously to help her mother on.”

Sawyer is an author to read slowly and steadily, with a pencil in hand.

“Duncan brought up the matter of studies…. They would inaugurate the Oxford system. Each man for himself and as hard as he could go it.” A reminder of what used to dominate a good college education: reading.

“Early in the morning the stars drop so close to earth—no, water—that you feel if you cast up in the sky you could hook enough for breakfast…. There you have us, sitting for half an hour, talking in whispers, why whispers I don’t know. Perhaps because the world is enchanted and a loud, harsh voice might break the spell. And as we sat, there came from the four corners of the earth a hush, you know, finger to lips. I’ve sat that way with you so many times waiting for the curtain to go up. And we were waiting for the day’s curtain to go up, and for five minutes no one even whispered.”

It may sound Elsie Dinsmore, but it isn’t. And in this fast-paced publishing world, we can’t forget to enjoy a few hours with good, strong, old stories once in a while.