Diversity Club: Half World

The second book for Rachel Manija's permanent floating YA diversity book club was Half World by Hiromi Goto, which I got from the library on my NOOK.  Unfortunately this made it hard to share with my in-house YA, since he's not keen on electronic books and anyway I was hoarding my NOOK in a frantic effort to read books from all 50 States and from each continent and with authors and titles filling in every spot in the alphabet.  December is a crazy month for the Silly Reading Challenge addict.

Anyway, once the new year started I was free to read what I wanted, so I called up Goto's story and started reading.  For some reason I thought the main character was male, and I was pleasantly surprised to find Melanie the one called to save the world.  The mythos seemed very Roman Catholic -- people live in the world of flesh, and when they die they more to Half World where they process their worst experiences (sounds like purgatory) and then they ascend to Spirit World.  The pope probably wouldn't approve of the spirits eventually getting reincarnated back to Flesh world, though.  But something severed the worlds, and Melanie is the only one who can fix things.

She's a reluctant savior, bullied and neglected, and she only goes in to save her mother, who has been fading for years and finally dragged back to Half World.  Melanie has a few gifts to aid her: a magic 8-ball and a jade rat figurine that comes to life when needed.  The creatures in the dream-like Half World are straight out of the Narnian Island of dreams -- nightmarish and terrifying.  And the destruction of Glueman struck echos of Meg Wallace defeating IT with her love, although Melanie has the harder task of avoiding anger at the evil guy and eventually even finding compassion for him.

The ending was satisfactorily messy -- Melanie doesn't get her parents back, and she does end up with a lot of extra burdens, but she did save the worlds.  So she can go on, even if it wasn't fair.  This ending probably would have annoyed my YA, and his insomnia is bad enough without some of the images in this book, so I'm not too sorry he missed this installment, but I enjoyed it.  The writing impressed me, and I saw enough of the illustrations to realize that my NOOK was not the best platform to read this on.

Well, this year I haven't really settled down to reading much.  So far it hasn't been hard to keep my resolution to only read what I have available, because what I have is a huge pile of library books rapidly coming due.  But I want to check in and see what I've finished so far.

This is the meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  I look at what I've read, what I'm reading, and how I'm doing on any challenges.  This week I finished:

• Absolutely American, David Lipsky.  
• Mastiff, by Tamora Pierce
• Dark Whispers, Bruce Corville
• Half World, Hiromi Goto

All were from the library, and one was for a book club.  I've also read some of the Cybils picture books, but this year I'm not keeping track of my picture book count.


I'm currently reading:

• Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Rob Lowe.  Turns out I can renew this, so it fell back in urgency.
• A Lady Awakened, Cecelia Grant.  Romance the Early Readers sent me.  
• Twilight and Philosophy.  So I could properly appreciate the movie.
• White Night, Jim Butcher. Audio book for car.  I can't decide if I've read this before or not -- some of it sounds familiar.  I'll wait till I'm done to look it up.
• Enchanted Glass, Diana Wynne Jones.  Audio book for when the kids are in the car.
• London Eye Mystery, Siobhan Dowd.  Reading my library book.
• Bindi Babes, Narinder Dhami.  Reading my library.  Slowly.
• The First Men In the Moon, H.G. Wells.  Heh, heh, they just name-checked Jules Verne.
• Twenty Palaces, Harry Connolly. On my NOOK.  When his publisher didn't pick up the Ray Lily books (BOO), he self-published the extra one.  I like this author.
• Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott. I'm out of her youth so no more drugs. Yay!
• The Terrorists of Irustan, Louise Marley.  They got caught.
• The Secret Duke, Jo Beverly. They struggle on, knowing they'll never meet again. Ha!
• The End of Racism, Dinesh D'Souza.  A bad example he likes is a trend; one he doesn't like is an anomaly.

What will I read next? Mostly more library books coming due.  The only new books entering the house will be for book clubs, Cybils finalists, and Reading My Library entries.  After I conquer the library mountain, I'll start on my unread book piles.

Challenges I've signed up for (for which I've signed up?):

1. Cybils: 6/80.  Or I should say 6/73, since the 7 Apps aren't possible.
2. Where Am I Reading?:  1/50.  Everything I've read has either been in New York or off planet.  Or in Canada.
3. TBR Double Dare.  So far everything I've read is a library book.
4. Comment Challenge.  I skipped yesterday, so I need 10 comments today.

Middle Story: Dark Whispers

When browsing the C shelves for Reading My Library, I recognized Bruce Coville's name as a popular children's SF writer, with titles about brain-frying teachers.  The Unicorn Chronicles were unfamiliar to me, and I had a vague memory that I needed more "U" books (wrong!), so I decided to try one.

Dark Whispers turns out to be the third book of four in the Unicorn Chronicles.  So the story begins in media res, which is not really a problem for me but gave my older son hives when he saw me do it ("uh mom, you DO know that is the third book, right...").  The unicorns live in their own alternate dimension, along with a variety of other creatures (dwarfs, delvers, centaurs, griffins, etc.), some friendly, some hostile.  Cara, our human heroine, is the granddaughter of the unicorn queen, and she has the gift of tongues and some fancy magic doo-dads that raise her status even higher than just having opposable thumbs in a kingdom of horned horses does.  But the adventure felt rather flat and cliched to me, with very predictable beats and villains.  I was a little more interested in Cara's father Ian, who is attempting to make up for years of misguided service on the wrong side, but even his story never really sparked to life.

The tone is very sincere, with strong overtones of high fantasy.  Great quests are the norm, and struggles with virtue, and so on, with very few breaks for humor other than from the cute and unique squirrelly creature who follows Cara around.  I'm probably missing a few things from starting in the middle (I'm not sure if I'm supposed to recognize the mysterious man who helps Ian), but mainly it lacks the quirky humor that Coville's SF stories have.  Despite the steep cliffhanger at the end, I'm not motivated to pick up book four to see if the good guys win.  I bet my sons would like the series, although they'd want to start at the beginning.

Cops Good, Slavery Bad: Mastiff

Mastiff is the final book in Tamora Pierce's Tortall prequels about Beka Cooper, cop and direct ancestor of George Cooper, best known for his relationship with Alanna.  Beka writes her own books, recording her story mainly as part of the official record keeper she does for her job, but also using the books as a journal since I think she plans on copying them out of the code used by her department before turning them in.  Or maybe she just doesn't have much sense of privacy, I forget.


Anyway, Beka writes about feeling fraudulent at her fiance's funeral, because she had been planning on leaving him anyway, partly because of stupid behaviors that did indeed lead to his death.  It's almost a relief when an emergency call drags her out of the city for the most important case of her career -- rescuing the young crown prince from his kidnappers.

Beka wrestles with the ideas of friendship, relying on her dog and her partner and his lover while learning to trust and then love the goofy mage also assigned to her party.  The question of trust plays a large role -- the absolute trust between a dog and a handler, the trust between lovers, between partners, between servants and masters, between royalty and subjects.  What happens when trust is betrayed? What about when it is abused? There are major betrayals at many levels, as well as small ones.  Obviously the rebellious nobles who orchestrated the kidnapping personify betrayal, but what about a fiance who never trusts you to do your job?  Or never listens when you ask for or refuse help?

Pierce also uses this book to attack slavery, which is a common practice in her world.  Beka confronts the dangers and horrors of this practice in steadily building scenes as she gets closer to the prince, who is learning about the pains in a very personal way.  The final solution seems very idealistic, but that is a Tortallan tradition.  Beka's viewpoint keeps the book focused but limited; this is a good book for Pierce enthusiasts but probably a poor gateway into her worlds.

Toughest Challenge of All: TBR Double-Dare

This could be the scariest challenge of all; that must be why C.B.'s  TBR Double Dare isn't really a challenge, or even just a single dare.  The Double Dare is to only read books my possession on January 1st, and the dare lasts until April 1st.  Nothing new from the store or the library for months and months.  Luckily for me, anything currently on my holds list at the library counts as "in my possession."  

Also luckily for me, you can set your own exceptions.  I already used that rule to check out a few books for my son's school report, since his card is disabled until we pay some of the fines. And I'm giving myself another exemption for Cybils Challenge books; I consider them all preloaded on my library hold list and as I read one from each category I order up the next.  I am requiring myself to read any I have in my possession first, but it looks like that only applies to one book.  And I'm sorta cheating on the Scholastic catalogs from school; I'm not ordering any for myself but if the kids pick the ones I've circled and labeled LOOKS LIKE A GREAT BOOK, well, that's just supporting their reading, right? I probably won't get to read them until after April anyway.  

Also, I have a life-time goal of reading a book from each shelf of my library; I think I'll exempt that as well.  I also attempt to read a book from my TBR list each week, but instead of working from the start down and using the library I'll hunt out any books I have in my possession.  If I run out, I'll probably exempt those as well.  Prior lists take priority, after all.  I may not run out until I flunk out of the challenge anyway.  The challenge anticipates that few will make the distance; part of the instructions involves returning to check in when I fall off the wagon.  We'll see how long I last.

(I'm only listing books that I own, not library books, since the latter disappear from the pile whether I read them or not.)

1. Darth Paper Strikes Back, Tom Angleberger
2. The Red House, Edith Nesbit (NOOK)
3. The Terrorists of Irustan, by Louise Marley
4. Twenty Palaces, Harry Connolly (NOOK)
5. The Secret Duke, Jo Beverley
6. A Lady Awakened, Celia Grant
7. Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo (reread)
8. Alvin Ho, Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things, Lenore Look
9. The Maze Runner, James Dashner (technically belongs to my kid)
10. Christmas Angel, Jo Beverley
11. Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott
12. (The Girl Who Could Fly, Victoria Forester). Well, I read the library copy but the cover looked familiar, so I checked my TBR shelves and there it was!
13. Amulet of Samarkard, Jonathan Stroud (the graphic novel)
14. The End of Racism, Dinesh D'Souza. I think I've had this book for a decade.

BAM! The library had the newest Elizabeth Moon ready for my NOOK, no waiting, no will power, and I fall short by one week of the challenge.  Oh well, I mostly tamed my library TBR stack.

1. The Android's Dream, John Scalzi
2. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Jacqueline Kelly

High and Tight: Absolutely American

Once again I have no idea how this book wondered into my TBR list, but I found David Lipsky's Absolutely American engrossing.  Lipsky spent four years embedded into West Point, watching the kids in their classes, training, and career planning.  His last year included the 9/11 attacks, which put everything the cadets did into a vivid reminder of the reason the country has military academies.

Lipsky focuses both on superior and lagging examples of West Point virtues.  The worst one spends four years dancing on the edge of dismissal, coming within seconds of failing various physical tests and never moving much past probation in academics.  The only lesson he seems to absorb into his bones is the creed that a cadet never gives up, although the various officers who practically beg him to resign don't see the benefit of that.  Meanwhile other cadets also wrestle with the meaning of duty, of what it means to commit to the army, of whether they are trading a free education for five years of duty or whether they intend a lifetime of service.

I wouldn't have made it a week at West Point, so it's an alien world that I'll only see through a writer's eyes, and Lipsky's descriptions made it seem vivid and clear.  He also seemed to keep himself out of the way more; he reported on kids who never doubted that their lives belonged in the military and on people clearly there for the career opportunities and cheap education with equal respect.  This contrasted with Army 101, where the author never seemed to get past his bemusement that anyone could choose the military for any reason other than to escape a gun-torn ghetto.

Cybils 2011!

Last year I managed to read my way through the entire Cybils Finalist list, mostly with pleasure.  So this year I thought I'd try again.  Sadly, I'm doomed because of the book apps category; I don't have a device so I can't "read" those, unless some of them play on my NOOK.  And I don't think our library has them for borrowing, so even if technology falls from the sky I still probably can't get a look at them.  This makes my tidy-list-keeping soul grumpy, but I'll still include them at the bottom of my checklist for completest sake.

I'm also excited to note that I've already read four of them, and a fifth is my pick for our January family book club.  So I feel all hip and in-crowdy.

Easy Readers (DONE!)

• Aggie Gets Lost (Aggie and Ben) by Lori Ries Charlesbridge
• Dodsworth in Rome (The Dodsworth Series) by Tim Egan *P
• Flowering Minds Frog and Friends (I Am a Reader) by Eve Bunting *N
• I Broke My Trunk! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) by Mo Willems *X, *A

Early Chapter Books (DONE!)

• Clementine and the Family Meeting by Sara Pennypacker 
• Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke 
• Just Grace and the Double Surprise (The Just Grace Series) by Charise Mericle 
• Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg
• The Trouble with Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery (J.J. Tully Mysteries) by Doreen Cronin

Fantasy & Science Fiction (Middle Grade)  DONE

• A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd by Patrick Ness 
• Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu     
• Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac 
• Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby 
• The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy 
• The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty 
• Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George 

Fantasy & Science Fiction (Young Adult) DONE

• Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, Book 1) by Susan Ee 
• Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake 
• Blood Red Road by Moira Young
• Misfit by Jon Skovron 
• Red Glove (Curse Workers, Book 2) by Holly Black 
• The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson 
• The Shattering by Karen Healey 

Fiction Picture Books  !DONE!

•  Blackout by John Rocco 
•  Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan A. Shea 
•  I Had a Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn 
•  I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen 
•  Me . . . Jane by Patrick McDonnell 
•  Press Here by Herve Tullet 
•  Princess and the Pig, The by Jonathan Emmett

Graphic Novels Elementary/Middle Grade DONE

•  Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch 
•  Nursery Rhyme Comics: 50 Timeless Rhymes from 50 Celebrated Cartoonists by Various Authors
•  Sidekicks by Dan Santat 
•  Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick 
•  Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke 

Graphic Novels Young Adult DONE

•  Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol 
•  Bad Island by Doug Tennapel 
•  Feynman by Jim Ottaviani 
•  Level Up by Gene Luen Yang 
•  Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge

Middle Grade Fiction DONE

• Darth Paper Strikes Back: An Origami Yoda Book by Tom Angleberger 
• Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri 
• Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman 
• The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson 
• The Great Wall Of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang 
• Warp Speed by Lisa Yee 
• Words In The Dust by Trent Reedy

Young Adult Fiction (DONE)

• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins 
• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys 
• Bunheads by Sophie Flack 
• Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King 
• Frost by Marianna Baer 
• Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen 
• Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

Nonfiction for Tweens & Teens  (DONE)

• Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming 
• How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg 
• Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air by Stewart Ross/Stephen Biesty 
• The Many Faces of George Washington: Remaking a Presidential Icon (Exceptional Social Studies Titles for Intermediate Grades) by Carla Killough McClafferty 
• The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery by Steve Sheinkin 
• Unraveling Freedom: The Battle for Democracy on the Home Front During World War I by Ann Bausum

Nonfiction Picture Books (!DONE!)

• All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon 
• Bring On the Birds by Susan Stockdale 
• Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins 
• I Feel Better with a Frog in My Throat: History's Strangest Cures by Carlyn Beccia
• Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith 
• The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle 
• Thunder Birds: Nature's Flying Predators by Jim Arnosky

Poetry (!DONE!)

• Cousins of Clouds: Elephant Poems by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer 
• Dear Hot Dog by Mordicai Gerstein 
• Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems by Kristine O'Connell George 
• Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko 
• Self-Portrait With Seven Fingers by J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen 
• We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart by Walter Dean Myers

Book Apps 

• Be Confident in Who You Are: A Middle School Confidential Graphic Novel by Annie Fox 
• Bobo Explores Light by GameCollage 
• Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson and Trilogy Studios 
• Hildegard Sings by Thomas Wharton 
• Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt 
• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by Moonbot Studios 
• The Monster at the End of This Book by Callaway Digital Arts, Inc

73/80 (73 books)