Literary Feast Discussion: Hush, Hush (Chapters 19-24)

Hey all! We're back, with our second-to-last installment of Hush, Hush, which, I have to tell you, Shel and I are just loving.

...

And by "loving," I mean we keep asking ourselves, "Is there a new way for us to express how creepy we find everyone? Or should we just not reiterate it, and try to bluff our way through the rest of the novel?"

Bluffing aside, however, our comments on chapters 19 - 24 are below. Feel free to jump in with comments of your own -- we may be the only people on earth who loathe this book, so definitely try to convince us otherwise if you're a fan. ;)

Shel: At first I felt like Nora got to the "Patch's scars match those of the fallen angel in that mural I saw that one time" place too quickly, but then I remembered being so annoyed that it took Bella sooooooo long to figure out Edward was a vampire in Twilight. How did you feel about it?

Monica: I... yes. I think it's okay. It was a *little* fast, but honestly, can you think of a way that she would have learned about it? At least Bella had websites and stuff; I think the likelihood of Nora being able to google "funny shoulder marks" and learn about fallen angels is a slimmer one. So murals it is!

Shel: Of course, she did still find the exactly right information on falling angels on the first website she visited.

Monica: ::: laughs ::: Her search engine must be epic, because when *I* type in "angel wing scars," my first five links are to tattoo websites, and the sixth is to a review of Hush, Hush. Once again, deus ex machina saves the daaaaay!

On the other hand, at least we're FINALLY getting somewhere with the angels. Were you getting as frustrated as me, Shel, waiting for them to pop up? It's the danger of having a fallen angel in both the cover and the tag line -- we have to wait to get into the action until Nora finally figures it out....

Shel: I know, I was excited to finally have a little angle action. Not that I think of angels as being action-oriented. This is what? The second book we've read about romantically inclined angels? I still have trouble viewing angels as sexual beasties.

On another tangent, Nora's trip to Portland turned tragic fast. On the plus side, Portland, Maine seems to be home to ladies with attitude. I'll have to keep that in mind if I ever travel there.

Monica: Looking to pick up your own tragically fallen angel? Who... will basically force you into the shower? Yick. I think I would have rather stayed in my soaking wet clothes, instead of going through the drama of Patch In The Dark. What do you think?

Shel: I don't know, Monica, when I face potential rapists/killers in a sleazy hotel room, I think the only way to do it is in undies and a camisole. Duh. Movies taught me that much.

Monica: Just don't kiss on the mouth! That way lies tragedy and Richard Gere!

Shel: Nothing says "sexy" like "when we first met, I was trying to kill you.

Monica: Ah, welcome to the world of paranormal romance. If the threat of death isn't ever present, the relationship has absolutely no chance of working out.

Okay kids -- let's get this over with. Our comments on chapters 25 onwards will be up on Wednesday. Read, read if you still have it in you! Perhaps the finale will redeem itself!?!?

REVIEW: Medusa Jones--Read it or fear being turned to stone

Collins, R.  (2008).  Medusa Jones.  New York:  Arthur A. Levine Books.

137 pages.


Appetizer:  Medusa Jones is teased and bullied by the champions at her school.  She just wants to be normal, but having snakes on your head pretty much makes that impossible.  And no matter how much she begs, her parents won't let her turn the bullies to stone.  (Annoying parents.)

Along with her friends and fellow outsiders, Chiron and Mino, Medusa must go on a camping trip with the Champions on Mount Olympus.  The question is, will they all return?

The setting of Medusa Jones is this anachronistic version of Athens, Greece that has schools and newspapers and suburban looking home but everyone also wanders around wearing togas and the Greek gods and heroes are big in the news.  On top of that, Collins seemed to choose his good and bad guys among the characters of myth in what seemed to be a willy-nilly fashion.  Sure both Medusa and Mino the Minotaur are traditionally "bad guys" who deserve redemption, but generally Chiron the centaur is perceived as a good guy and teacher.  It was interesting to see the traditional heroes (Theseus and Perseus) portrayed as bullies, but I was a little sad to see Cassandra in their number, since I see her as a kind of tortured hero who wouldn't be a bully.  (I could see her going goth as opposed to popular and petty.)

It also took awhile for the actual plot of the story to develop.  The camping aspect wasn't introduced until about half way.  I found myself wishing that Medusa's friends had been introduced sooner.  Collins first shows Medusa going through a miserable week seemingly on her own.  Her friends are introduced on the weekend, then on Monday *surprise* her friends do attend the same school, her teacher is Medea and they're going camping.  I wanted more cohesion!  (Was that a very long ramble to get to my point?  It kind of feels like it was.)

I also wasn't too crazy about the ending.  It felt like the punch line of a joke.

Don't let my criticisms get you down though.  I found Medusa Jones to be very fun.  The illustrations were a nice touch.  Here are some examples:

I did have a little trouble pegging down the age appropriateness of the book.  It has plenty of illustrations (completed by the author) and it reads like an early chapter book, great for about second grade, but every now and then there's some advanced vocabulary (like gorgeous, pessimistic, deficiencies, etc.).  Because of that, I'd probably use the book as a one-on-one read aloud so the child would have access to all the pictures, but wouldn't be on his or her own for sounding out the difficult words.


Dinner Conversation:

"Pleeeaase can I turn them to stone?" Medusa begged.
"It's not the polite thing to do, dear," said MEdusa's mom.
"They're not polite," Medusa said. "They were mean about my hair again today."
"Sticks and stones, Medusa," said Medusa's mom.  "You can't go turning everyone who's mean about your hair to stone."
"Gran did," Medusa scowled.
"Gran is insane and lives in a cave" (p. 3).

"The Champions always stood at the school gates in the morning.  They got up early each and every day.  Brushed their shiny white teeth, which would be just as shiny and bright if they never saw toothpaste.  Put on their dazzlingly white chitons and got to school before everyone else.  The Champions considered it their duty to remind everyone of their deficiencies firs thing in the morning" (p. 14).

"What'll we do?" Chiron asked.  "We have to go look," said Medusa.  She amazed herself even as she said it.
"Why?" Mino asked.  "They wouldn't cross the road to help us."
"I know," Medusa answered.  "But we're not them, and we can't just sit here and listen to that [screaming].  It's awful" (p. 103).


Tasty Rating:  !!!

Literary Feast Discussion: Hush, Hush (Chapters 13-18)

Hello again, Few But Dear Readers!

I know, I know, this commentary is a day late.  But in our defense, somebody's [my] university email account keeps automatically putting somebody else's [Monica's] emails in the junk folder.  IT also does this with my students' emails.  Way to go, University.  Way to go.

Any-hoo, lets not focus on the university's flawed email system.  There is Hush, Hush to tear apart, I mean, discuss.  (It would seem that as our feminist sensibilities are flaring up and causing both Monica and I to get a wee-bit...frustrated with the book.  But more on that below.)


CHAPTERS 13-18

Shel: Wow, Nora wrote flirting tips on the back of her list of interrogation questions about Patch. While funny, you'd think that would be a clue that SOMETHING IS OFF!

Monica: I have decided to just try and suspend reality where she is concerned. It’s like she has gotten herself so enmeshed with this dude that she can’t even think straight. I would say she’s in a cult, or in an abusive relationship, only it’s not EITHER yet. She’s just stupid. Sigh.

Shel: Okay, so I'm with Nora on having trouble believing that Vee and Jules are together. I suppose she's just being manipulated into some grand nefarious plot.

Monica: We haven’t even *seen* Jules! Go Nora, go! Save your friend! Vee’s going to get into trouble, I can sense it all ready. And I really do like Vee; I don’t want her brains to be eaten when it turns out Jules is a zombie, or something.

Shel: Mmm, zombies. That would be a fun less-scary twist for this book. But on a more serious note, I like that Nora's mom tries to distinguish between "thinking your in love" and "being in love." I kind of wish that was explored some more.

Monica: Of course, since the moral of her mother’s story apparently was, “If you think hard enough about being in love it eventually turns into real love,” I’m not sure Nora will really benefit from it. “Hmm,” she will say to herself. “I don’t know if I love Patch, but according to Mom if we stick it out, we’ll end up in love! Yay!” No. No, Nora.

Shel: It is sadly hilarious that Nora thinks the guy who is "too nice" is creepy. It's a close step to the mentality that a girl should suspect something is wrong if her boyfriend actually treats her well.

Monica: Shel, has there been any discussion about what the author intended with this book? As I’m reading your comments, and my comments, there’s a definite pattern here of Weak Female Character Overwhelmed by Threatening Male Character, and I don’t like it. Plus, as mentioned above, the implication that Nora should not believe in her own instincts (don't worry if you're just "thinking you're in love," it will eventually become "being in love") is eerie.

Shel: Along those lines, I find myself writing 'WTF' or 'Ick' a lot in the margins. Am I alone in this?

Monica: NO. Well, sort of – I’m using sticky notes, since it’s a library book. But I definitely have comments like, “If my friend was saying this to me I would make her get counseling,” and “Is there no one sane in this novel?” and “Way to not give us any healthy relationships, author.”

Shel: Okay, I admit that I do like the thought of Nora taking the initiative and figuring out what happened with the hanging. Of course, she hasn't *done* anything yet....

Monica: No, but at least she’s all “Something bad! Something bad is coming!” And I like how she’s not immediately leaping to think it’s Patch; it’s sort of nice, I guess, that she can think of someone other than him every once in a while?

Shel: Maybe. But if a guy took me to his usual bar hang out (where a man had died previously) on a first date, I would steal his car to drive away and then torch the evidence.

Monica: I think it's official. We would totally be handling this entire book differently than the characters are choosing to. ;)


And with that, we'll leave you for the night.  But we'd love to hear what you think of the book in the comments.  That'd keep us busy until we can discuss chapters 19 to 24 on...Suuuuuunday-ish?

Thoughts: Chalk and the psychotic little children

Several weeks ago I picked up the wordless picturebook Chalk by Bill Thomson.  And it is amazing and imaginative.  As an illustrator, Thomson amazes me with the way he shares different perspectives and shows people in motion.  To see some examples of the way he powerfully portrays some young athletes you can look at a couple of the previous books that he illustrated.

He's kind of a rock star.

Chalk shares about three children out on a rainy day who discover a bag of chalk.  By drawing on the wet pavement they realize that the things they draw can become real.  Of course, the kids realize there can be a bit of danger to this process when they draw a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Here are a couple of the illustrations:

It's kind of like a new, shorter, wordless version of Harold and the Purple Crayon.

But what I want to focus on today, is this one image:

What a crazed-looking little girl.

I've seen similar expressions on *real* children.  I don't deny that in excitement, kids make the psychopathic faces.  I'm sure I've made some similar expressions of my own.  (Don't post them, people who have known me since I was six.  I know how to hunt you down!)

But it's so unusual to actually see such expressions on children in illustrations.

But I think 2010 is the year of the vaguely psychopathic looking child.  Because when I look at this historical mystery novel (which I'll admit, I haven't read yet, but is also getting some excellent reviews.  It re-imagines the youth of an amazing author), I can only assume that if this were a full-body illustration of Zora Neale Hurston or her fictional best friend, Carrie, from the story, it would reveal this girl to be wielding a knife at the reader:

REVIEW: Thief Eyes

Simner, J.L.  (2010).  Thief Eyes.  New York:  Random House.

256 pages.


Appetizer:  Thirty generations ago, to escape her fate of marrying a man she cared nothing for, a sorceress attempted to exchange her fate with that of one of her descendants.

Now Hayley, who has traveled to Iceland in search of her mother who went missing last summer, is haunted by dreams and a strange coin that is connected to an ancient spell.

She soon finds herself tangled in her ancestor's spell and in another realm.  Not only must she find her way home, but she must decide whether she wants to seek revenge against the sorceress for sending her mother away or saving the world that may unravel due to the spell.

So, at first, I thought I was going to love this book.  It dealt with gender issues.  You know how I feel about books that address historical and contemporary inequities between the genders:  Luuuuurves it!  But those issues were all kind of in the background.

Next I thought I was going to love this book because it dealt with Norse myths and it could become a part of my dissertation.  But I have to admit, Norse mythology is not my strong point.  I've only read one of the Eddas (and I honestly don't remember if it was the prose or the poetic one).  But my lack of knowledge was made worse by the fact that Simner seems to assume that the reader will not only have more than a vague recollection of the figures in Norse mythology, but will be familiar with the various sagas.  The only reason I was able to read with any confidence was because I googled all the names in the story that seemed like they could have been in a myth.  I found that to be very disappointing.  Maybe the goal was for me to already have researched Norse mythology.  Maybe after reading the book I'm expected to venture out and read both Eddas.  Either way, I would have just preferred Thief Eyes explain in a sentence or two some fragment of a myth that might be familiar.   Hell, I would have accepted for a phrase of description.

If that wasn't bad enough, I also had some trouble with the actual story.  How to explain it....

Have you read Kit's Wilderness?

It's this fantasy in which kids essentially time travel to solve an ancient problem.  But the book is structured in a poetic and trippy way that you kind of have trouble knowing what and when the action is going one.  Many people love Kit's Wilderness.

Thief Eyes reminded me of Kit's Wilderness.  I fraking hate Kit's Wilderness.

As I was reading Thief Eyes, I had a lot of trouble with the way Haley flowed among times and locations.  I'd be reading, and suddenly it seemed that Haley was in great danger because there was fog and she fell (?) and had lost all of her memories and I didn't know how the paragraph had gotten to that point--not even after rereading--because I had thought she was just going for a walk and a raven stole her memory and to understand why that had happened I had to google Norse mythology, which was fine, but wouldn't it have been even better if the story helped me with that--oh and now somebody else is in this unknowable magic place and has transformed into a bear and I did not understand.

Sigh.

So, clearly, I had some trouble with Thief Eyes.  I do feel my issues with the story were solely mine.  I'm not a big fan of books that deal with the bending of time and location in fluid ways.  And this book is all about that.  The writing is good.  Haley's concerns as a character are interesting (having learned that her father cheated on her mom influences how she feels about Ari, who she is on this journey with and feels connected to, even though she has a boyfriend/best friend waiting for her at home).

I think I'm going to just have to conclude that this book just wasn't for me.


Dinner Conversation:

"I will not allow it.
I will not be given to the first man who asks for my hand, bartered like a horse or a sheep.  I will determine my fate, as my father promised me long ago" (p. 1).

"A moment more and this woman and I will trade places.  I will see through her eyes; she will see through mine.  She will marry Thorvald, Osvif's son, and I will be free" (p. 5)

"I want to see.  Is that so much to ask?" I kept my voice calm, reasonable--the same voice I'd used to convince Dad to take me to Thingvellir today, because I really wanted to visit the national park that was the site of Iceland's ancient parliament and in the middle of a rift valley and, oh, yeah, just happened to be the place where my mother disappeared last summer" (p. 10).

"Teaching Hallgerd was a mistake.  She combined the runes in ways I never intended, and in so doing called on fires that yet threaten the land beyond these stones.  I think it is not by chance that you've come to me now."  He nodded.  "It is time to undo my mistake.  I will leave with you, Haley, and teach you the sorcery with which to end Hallgerd's spell" (p. 103)


Tasty Rating:  !!!

Literary Feast Discussion: Hush, Hush (Chapters 6-12)

Aaaaand, we're back.  Ready to discuss the next round of Hush, Hush.  And we're only a day late in posting.  That's pretty good for us, right?  Right.

We know that our response to the book isn't the same to all you all other readers out there.  So, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the book.

So, let's get down to the talking part....


Shel: Wait! Elliot has P.E. TWICE a day and his two classes are separated by a couple of hours?! Ick! I can think of no Hell worse!

Monica: But it’s okay! He’s hot and buff! So really, everyone benefits – he gets his gym credits in, and everyone else gets to watch him getting his gym credits in!

Shel: I suppose. I'd just hate to be in his position. But I have to say, I kinda like Elliot. He isn't creepy. I have no doubt he'll turn out to be the son of satan, an evil angel, demon or something of that sort.

Monica: The nice ones always are. It’s as though authors cannot imagine a world in which a guy is both politely flirty, and not a serial killer. “Blaha, behind my kind façade lurks a crazed madman with eyebrows that go in all different directions.” Which is too bad, because I totally agree – he’s kind of darling. I will miss him when he goes all crazy-like.

Shel: Stupid having to look beyond the surface to see if someone is truly good or evil.

Monica: Seriously! ;) Nora, Nora Nora. Please stop hanging out with Patch. When you can admit to yourself that the man "outwardly frighten[s]" you, it's time to back away. And girl, I don't care that his touch is sending Hot Sensations down your legs. Look at your life, look at your choices. I'd drop Elliot too, because of his aforementioned inevitable descent into evil. Grab Vee, and the three of us will go find some nice men who will love you without threatening you. Yes? Yes.

Shel: Yes!

Monica: Stephanie Meyer has ruined me for any sort of Supernatural Creatures Playing Baseball scenes, no lie. ;)

Shel: Ha, I hadn't even made that connection.

Monica: Has Becca Fitzpatrick ever *been* on a roller coaster? For real? Because seriously, I cannot name a single time I have ever gone on a new, revamped coaster and had the very back and the very front be free, but all the boring middle seats be filled. And while Patch might be rigging it with his brain waves, I feel like Nora should have noticed the discrepancy. ALSO. Lap belts are the only safety feature? A roller coaster featuring a 100-foot vertical drop, and they're in cars with doors that open on the sides, and lap belts that buckle?! ... Back me up on this, Shel. I feel like I'm ranting.

Shel: Yeah, it's very hard to believe. It'd be one thing if it was a carnival that skirted the laws or an old coaster that hadn't been brought up to spec. But this was very hard to believe. Unless of course, part of the reality bending involved not allowing Nora to see the safety bars that were keeping her shoulders in place.

Monica: His brain must have powers of epic proportions... one wonders why he bothers with creepy-flirting at all, and doesn't just take over her mind....?

Shel:  P.S. What is up with all of these "dangerous situation X happens, no wait it didn't, did it?" moments?

Monica: Whiplash. Obviously the author hopes that if she throws us around enough, we won't notice the fact that Vee appears to be the only semi-sane character in the entire novel.

Shel: So, after Patch drives her home on her motorcycle...that scene gave me the sceevies. This book is not paranormal romance. It is HORROR. *shudders*

Monica: And he has her *keys*, and he has a *knife*, and he's making her phone wonk out. Honestly, if they make this into a film, I don't know how they're going to convince anyone that it's sexy. It absolutely screams terror, for sure.

Shel: I just read the computer lab scene. Soooo, Elliot turned evil super-quick. Everyone in the book is creepy. Creepy. Creepy. Even the new psychologist. CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPY! Except Vee. Poor Vee. I might grab Vee and pull her out of the novel and leave all the rest to their creepy fates.

Monica: ::: LAUGHS ::: That's what we get for writing comments as we read the chapters; we can still like someone at the beginning of the section, only to have him go all STALKER at the end. ;)


So, are we in for more creepy stalker action in the next section?  You'll have to join us in reading Hush, Hush to find out.  We'll be taking on chapters 13-18 next.  We'll have it done by...let's say...Tuesday-ish.  Make note of the "ish" at the end of that Tuesday.  It means we have some ishy space to be early or late. Place your bets on which one we'll be.

Enjoy your reading!

REVIEW: The Lost Hero Read it or the Greek gods may smote you!

Riordan, R.  (2010).  The Lost Hero.  New York:  Disney Hyperion Books.

553 pages.


Appetizer:  When Jason wakes up in a school bus, he has no idea how he got there or who he is.  His friend Leo and girlfriend (surprise!) Piper try to fill him in on the last several months before exploring the Grand Canyon as a part of their class trip.

But before the trio can see the sights, they're attacked by a monster of mythic proportions.  They manage to survive with the help of Annabeth (famous for being Percy Jackson's girlfriend), who had arrived just in time to save them in the hopes that she would find Percy; who is missing.

Even worse, all of the gods of Olympus appear to be missing.  Hera seems to be trapped somewhere.  It's almost the solstice, when the gods are at their weakest.  AND it looks like The Great Prophecy (shared at the end of the last Percy Jackson novel) might be unfolding.

I don't think it could get any worse.  How could all these problem be solved?  A quest, of course.

So, my initial description sounds a little convoluted.  That's because the plot of this book is kind of complex.  The story is split to be shared in Jason, Piper and Leo's perspectives after every two chapters.  All three characters have dark aspects to their pasts.  Jason can't remember most of his life, but he is particularly skilled at speaking Latin (while most of the other demigods know Greek).  Piper is being told in her dreams that she must betray everyone that she cares about.  And Leo has lost his mother.

It's very interesting having to explore this book from three different perspectives and having much of the protagonists' pasts be mysteries.  It's a real departure from the Percy Jackson series, in which I felt like I knew everything about Percy as a character.

Having said that though, at several moments, I had trouble feeling some of the emotional tensions of the story.  As a part of their quest, Piper and Leo want to get back their coach who had been captured.  Since he was captured at the start of the book, I couldn't emphasize with the emotions or see how the coach was such an important person in their lives.

I had a similar reaction to when Leo's supposed jealousy of Jason comes to a head.  Sure, Riordan had dropped a subtle hint or two that there might be an underlying tension, but I didn't feel it.  Later in the book the tension was definitely there, long after the supposed-dramatic face-off was already over.  Meh.

Also, having the narrative split among three characters did make it more difficult for me to get into the story.  I felt like it took at least 100-ish pages for the story to start to roll.

After those first 100 pages though, I thoroughly enjoyed The Lost Hero.  In this book there are tensions between the Greek and Roman understandings of the gods and some mortal villains from myth manage to make some re-appearances.  I couldn't wait to get to the explanation of what exactly was going on.  (And wait I had to!  I'd figured out who the bad guy was looooooooong before I had any understanding of Jason's background.)

As a Midwesterner, I was thoroughly excited that this quest featured the midwest.  YAY!   I also like that the book was more multiculturally inclusive:  a Latino, Leo, and a Native American (Cherokee), Piper, were two of the heroes.  One of my biggest complaints about the Percy Jackson series was that the central cast all appeared white.  (Of course, when they turned it into a movie, they did cast an African American actor as Grover, the satyr.  I'm sure the thought process was:  Yes, let's take the character that is marked and physically different and part-animal and make him black. *Rolls eyes*  sigh.  That, my friends, is racial inclusivity at its worst.

Excuse the blurriness of the photo to the left.  I couldn't find a photo of Grover to my liking online, so I actually had to rewatch the movie.  I kind of like that it's blurry.  It makes it seem like I took the photo in the wilds of Camp Half-Blood.  It's kind of like a blurry photo of Sasquatch or an alien space ship.  I could have a future in the conspiracy industry.

(Random note:  As I was looking for a photo of Grover, I happened upon this gem of a picture.  One of my favorite actors, and the most redeeming aspect of the The Lightning Thief movie, Kevin McKidd reading the first PJ novel!  Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaart it!  Thank you, Poseidon!)

Focus, brain!

So, yeah.  Yay, The Lost Hero.  Bring on the next book (called Son of Neptune)!  I'm so glad that it will be coming out in 2011, so it won't have to be a part of my dissertation.  Every time, Riordan publishes a new book I have to revamp two or three chapters of Dudley the Budding Dissertation.


Dinner Conversation:

"Even before he got electrocuted, Jason was having a rotten day.
He woke in the backseat of a school bus, not sure where he was, holding hands with a girl he didn't know. That wasn't necessarily the rotten part.  The girl was cute, but he couldn't figure out who she was or what he was doing there.  He sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to think" (p. 3).

"She had a vision telling her to come here, to find a guy with one shoe.  That was supposed to be the answer to her problem."
"What problem?" Piper asked.
"She's been looking for one of our campers, who's been missing three days," Butch said.  "She's going out of her mind with worry.  She hoped he'd be here."
"Who?" Jason asked.
"Her boyfriend," Butch said.  "A guy named Percy Jackson" (p. 31).

"Starting about a month ago, Olympus fell silent.  The entrance closed, and no one could get in.  Nobody knows why.  IT's like the gods have sealed themselves off.  Even my mom won't answer my prayers, and our camp director, Dionysus, was recalled" (p. 63).

"Real Greek warships moored at the beach that sometimes had practice fights with flaming arrows and explosives?  Sweet!  Arts & crafts sessions where you could make sculptures with chain saws and blowtorches?  Leo was like, Sign me up!  The woods were stocked with dangerous monsters, and no one should ever go in there alone?  Nice!  And the camp was overflowing with fine-looking girls.  Leo didn't quite understand the whole related-to-the-gods business, but he hoped that didn't mean he was cousins with all these ladies.  That would suck.  At the very least, he wanted to check out those underwater girls in the lake again.  They were definitely worth drowning for" (p. 66).

"Olympus is closed.  Percy's disappeared.  Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day.  I mean, something weird is going on.  The Great Prophecy has started, right?" (pp. 121-122).


Tasty Rating:  !!!!

Literary Feast Discussion: Hush, Hush (Chapters 1-5)

Few But Dear Readers, I was denied a great beauty.  When my copy of hush, hush arrived in the mail it lacked a dust jacket.  I was depressed.  Where was my pretty?

I almost couldn't get over it.  My suffering was so great.

Only Monica's promise that we would read the book together managed to rouse me.

Our thoughts about the first five chapters are below.  Feel free to leave your insights about hush, hush in the comments.

Shel:  Tell me, who describes herself as a "smoky-eyed brunette with volumes of curly hair that holds its own against even the best flatiron.  And I'm all legs, like a bar stool" (p. 9).  Well written, good imagery.  I've just never heard someone say, "Hi, I'm a smoky-eyed brunette" before.

Monica:  I’m not going to lie, it’s kind of refreshing to have a character describe herself good looking, for all that she follows it up with a description of how much better looking her bestie is.  I’m so used to the Bella-type descriptions, “OMG am so disgustingly plain and ugly, how could anyone like me, oh look, yet another ridiculously attractive man is drooling all up in my business….”

Shel:  This is true.  But of course, Nora still manages to be uncoordinated.  Apparently we can't have it all.  I have to say, from first meeting Patch is rocking the creepy vibe.  Why must stalkers be presented as sexy?  Why must this be a trend?  

Monica:  Say it with me, girls!  Stalking!  Is!  Not!  Sexy!  If there is a man who is a) watching you sleep, b) staring at you in a bizarre fashion for any length of time, c) telling you disturbingly accurate personal information about yourself, or d) expressing that you’re “Not what he expected” whilst gazing into your eyes and looking like he wants to eat you, GET AWAY FROM HIM AND CALL SOMEONE WHO CAN HELP.  Like Buffy.  Or Harry Dresden.

Shel:  If possible, I'd have Buffy on my speed dial.  I think when we finish this book we're going to have to add it to our Stalker Scale.  *claps*  Also, why the name Patch?  It makes me think of a stuffed dog.

Monica:  I’m assuming “Patch” is short for something, like Apatchapherialazaringal, and we’ll learn about in the presumably-upcoming big reveal.

Shel:  You're probably right.  But don't be too surprised if in the meantime I start referring to him as Patches and start cooing about his fuzzy little ears.  Who's a good puppy?  Muh-muh-muh.

Monica:  Wrong genre, Shel!  He’s not a werewolf, he’s a… actually, I don’t know exactly what he is, yet.  I assume some angely-type critter……

Shel:  Such an awkward classroom conversation.  What are your top three qualities for a potential mate?  Here are mine:  gentle...dumb...and easily manipulated.  Where does that leave the future of humanity?  That biology class needs to rebel against that coach/teacher.

Monica:  Dude, I’m finding the coach fairly stalkerish as well, really.  He seems to be breaking any number of classroom conduct rules.  I don’t care what he’s told them; I would be recording Biology like it was my job, via both video and a hidden microphone feed, and if he tried to take them away, I’d shriek about constitutional rights until he either left me alone or let me drop the class.  (This is obviously a function of me reading way too many Bruce Coville books as a child.  I am perpetually ready to assume that my teacher is out to get me.)

Shel:  I'd have a back-up microphone in my bag, just in case one of yours fails to record.  So, how threatened do you think Nora actually feels?  Like, I get the bad boy thing generally.  But if I actually felt threatened by a crush, I think in that moment he would stop being my crush.  Patch certainly is king of making a girl uncomfortable.  I wouldn't want to be his biology partner.

Monica:  Apparently it’s hot when a guy makes you want to hide under your desk?  Seriously, though, Nora.  If a guy makes you uncomfortable, stay away from him.  If the guy makes you uncomfortable and the professor refuses to allow you to stay away from him, contact a person in a position of authority.  What the heck is this book teaching young girls about protecting themselves!?!?

Shel:  I do not know.  And I really don't understand the motive for wanting to write such creepy, icky, fiends as the good guys.  I like a little romantic escape as much as the next girl, but that doesn't mean I want to see the female protagonists abandon their ability to, you know, manage their own bodies and decisions.  I do like Vee and her rapport with Nora, though.  It entertains.

Monica:  I also sympathize with Vee’s diet.  All fruits and vegetables on a color wheel of sorrow?  No thank you.  ;)

One does wonder, though, at what point she’s going to suggest to Nora that Stalker Patch is *not* endearing but rather creeptastic.  That’s kind of a best friend’s job, don’t you think?

Shel:  I don't know, I think she is crushing on Patch too.  I think she's more likely to be jealous.

Monica:  Girls, girls.  Fight over someone who seems like he’s worth it…..

Okay, cool cats and hot dogs, that's it for now.  Never fear, the next course in our literary feast will (hopefully!) post on Thursday.  Probably.  We'll be reading chapters 6-12.

This doesn't mean the discussion of hush, hush has to be put on hold until then.  Let us know what you think of the book!

Another 2011 Challenge Accepted: Read five historical novels in 2011

I know I just wrote about how I'd accepted a challenge for 2011 a few days ago.

And now I've decided to accept another one.  HAHAHA!  Aren't I optimistic about 2011?!

I know these posts are close together, but the challenge organizers like to see the post informing you, Few But Dear Readers, of my plans.

It's almost as though someone doesn't trust me to come through on my promises.  (See m non-existent, twitter story about...something...a mermaid?  I don't remember.)

Any-hoo, in 2011 I am going to try to read 5 historical novels intended for children or young adults.  I think this should be very do-able.  Possibly.  Most likely.

This challenge is sponsored by YA Bliss.  If you click on the link, you'll notice that I chose the option that involved the fewest number of historical novels.  I call this "the slacker level."  That is me!

While the books don't have to be published in 2011, I may try to sing at two birds with one tweet (yay!  my own non-violent version of an idiom that is nonsensical!) by reading a couple of historical books that will be published next year to save myself some time.  Because I iz smortz.

See, you in 2011!  *Does some more fist pumps*  My arms are going to be looking goooooo-ooooood.

Blog Challenge! Because Life Isn't Difficult Enough: Debut Author Challenge

Hello again, Few But Dear Readers!

How was your turkey/tofurkey day?

I would still be in a food coma, but the 2011 Debut Author Challenge at The Story Siren energized me.

Over the next year, I'm going to do my best-est to try and read and review (at least!  Cause y'all know I may be able to read more, right?) 12 novels by young adult and children's authors debuting in 2011.

I don't know which books I'll be reading just yet.  I'll try to pick a January release out as my chosen book within the coming weeks.

So, Few But Dear Readers, bring on the challenge!!!!!  *pumps fist in the air!  Woo-hoo!*  ...In January... *decides to give my arm a break for another month*

REVIEW: Alchemy and Meggy Swann

Cushman, K.  (2010).  Alchemy and Meggy Swann.  New York:  Clarion Books.

Hark!  Mistress Cushman, you are a luminous scribe, a queen who is greatly skilled at abracadra to summon your reader across ages back into the days of....

That's enough of making your eyes suffer and bleed by me writing super ol' school.  What was I trying to say there?  Cushman is AMAZING at allowing her readers to enter into the past.  Cushman uses historical vocabulary, tries to maintain the authentic voice of her characters and the keeps the worldview of the 1500s and still manages to make her books interesting and relatable.


Appetizer:  Meggy Swann has just arrived in London to live with her father.  Her mother didn't want her.  And it would seem her father would have preferred a boy who could serve him instead of a girl who felt pain with every step.

As Meggy adjusts to life in London and struggles to get around on her crutches to find food for herself and her goose, Louise, her father hides himself away in his workroom, trying to transform metal into gold and find the elixir for immortality.

When Meggie stumbles upon the fact that her father may be connected to a plot to assassinate a noble person, readers can reflect on what they would do if they were in Meggie's position, facing her difficult choice.

The fact that Meggie is sent to be raised by a single-parent is a modern parallel that a lot of readers could relate to.  Plus, the fact that Meggie had to deal with bilateral hip dysplasia can begin a lot of great conversations about the history of medicine and the way that people with disability have been discriminated against in the past (and now!).  Also, since Cushman's Author's Note does a great job of exploring how the study of alchemy would lead the way toward scientific inquiry and the study of chemistry.

I'd actually consider pairing Alchemy and Meggy Swann with the first Harry Potter book to compare both the fantasy and history of alchemy.

To go a Language Arts direction, I'd also use the book to study ballads and have my students write their own.

I enjoyed the book.  As I attempted to say in my bad Elizabethan English, I was very impressed by the way Cushman managed to draw me into the story.  For the past several months, I'd felt like I'd lost my ability to engage with historical novels, but this book proved that not all hope was lost.

I really liked Meggy's struggle to try to understand her father and to try to know how to reveal the assassination plot without putting someone she cares about at risk.


BTW, "Ye toads and vipers" will now be a regular part of my vocabulary.  I also plan to start calling annoying people Master or Mistress Peevish.  You should be prepared for me to say these things to you, World.


Dinner Conversation:

"Ye toads and vipers," the girl said, as her granny often had, "ye toads and vipers," and she snuffled a great snuffles that echoed in the empty room" (p. 1).

"Her name was Margret Swann, but her gran had called her Meggy, and she was newly arrived from Millford village, a day's ride away.  The bit of London she had seen was all soot and slime, noise and stink, and its streets were narrow and dark.  Now she was imprisoned in this strange little house on Crooked Lane.  Crooked Lane.  How the carter had laughed when he learned their destination" (p. 2).

"I do not allow beggars at my house" was the first thing he said to her.  "Begone and clear my doorstep."
"Pray pardon, sir, we are not beggars," the carter had told him.  "If you be Master Ambrose this be your daughter, come at your bidding" (p. 7).

"Just what does he do in the rooms upstairs?
He searches for the aqua vitae, the elixir of life that can rid substances of their impurities and make all things perfect."  Roger took another bite of bread.  "Transformation, he says it is, changing things in their essence."
"And that will turn metal into gold?"
Roger nodded.
You have seen him do it?" Meggy asked.
"Nay, he still has not the method, although he swears he is close to finding it" (p. 20).


Tasty Rating:  !!!

REVIEW: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Kinigsburg, E.L.  (1967).  From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  New York:  Aladdin Paperbacks.

162 pages.


As a child, I always meant to read The Mixed-Up Files.  I just never got around to it.  The same was true when I was an adult.

It took my students choosing it as a class read to finally getting around to reading it.

And as I started the book, I wished I'd gotten around to it much sooner.  From the first page I as entertained by Claudia's characterization.


Appetizer:  Claudia Kincaid, the oldest of four children, has decided to run away.  But the detail-oriented girl refuses to do it in the ordinary way.  She plots and plans, saves money and chooses one of her little brothers--who compliments her well--to join her in escaping to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Her and Jamie work as a team to mange how to get food, find a place to sleep and do laundry.
When a new exhibit of a small angel statue is put on display, Claudia can't help but be drawn in by the mystery of the sculpture and wants her and Jamie to to solve the mystery of whether or not Michelangelo sculpted it.

I like how practical the book is.  Konigsburg makes a point of dealing with all of the issues about how the Claudia and Jamie spent their money (got more money), remained hidden from the museum security and spent their time.

(Of course, including these practical issues also dates the text since the value of a dollar has inflated so much.  It's hard to imagine a train ticket, a meal, etc. ever being as cheap as they are in the book.  Plus, the siblings don't have to contend with any high-tech security systems that a runaway of today might face...not that I've given this thought and am considering running away to a museum.  Not at all.)

Hello, Columbus Museum of Art....

 
You are a nice museum, aren't you?

No.  No plans to run away to the museum.  None at all.

I mean, who would feed my cats while I was gone?

While the four students who chose to read the book (alas, this is the problem between having students pick between reading a novel and a picturebook, almost all of them chose the picturebook) enjoyed it, as a group we failed to address one of the biggest potential problems of the text.  The fact that the main characters run away and the messages that sends (while Claudia and Jamie do feel a little homesick, the reader is almost entirely denied seeing the grief that their family experienced at their disappearance).

The easiest argument is to say that the book provides the reader with a sense of escape and that no reader will actually be inspired to run away based on reading the book.  And I don't really have any thoughts to add to that argument since there aren't any statistics on children who were inspired by 1960s children's literature to leave home and camp-out at a national museum.


Dinner Conversation:

"You never knew that I could write this well, did you?  Of course, you don't actually know yet, but you soon will.  I've spent a lot of time on this file.  I listened.  I investigated, and I fitted all the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle.  It leaves no doubts.  Well, Saxonberg, read and discover" (p. 3).

"Claudia knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away.  That is, running away in the heat of anger with a knapsack on her back.  She didn't like discomfort; even picnics were untidy and inconvenient:  all those insect and the sun melting the icing on the cupcakes.  Therefore, she decided that her leaving home would not be just running from somewhere but would be running to somewhere.  To a large place, a comfortable place.  And that's why she decided upon the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City" (p. 5).

"I want you, Jamie, for the greatest adventure in our lives."
Jamie muttered, "Well, I wouldn't mind if you'd pick on someone else."
"Claudia looked out the window and didn't answer.  Jamie said, "As long as you've got me here, tell me" (p. 13).

"This was all Claudia needed.  Something that had been smoldering inside her since she first saw the statue, that had been fed by the Times article, now flared into an idea.
"Jamie, let's do it now.  Let's skip learning everything about everything in the museum.  Let's concentrate on the statue" (p. 62)


Tasty Rating:  !!!

Literary Feast Invitation: Hush, Hush

Hi friends! We're back, having recovered from the stress of werewolves, sisterly angst, and unrequited longing for scarred subway drum players brought about by Sisters Red. Now, energy restored, we've decided to hit up yet another bastion of angst and unrequited longing -- namely, Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush.

To be fair, I haven't actually read it before. I'm just assuming the angst and longing from the description on the flap:

A Sacred Oath.
A Fallen Angel.
A Forbidden Love.

Apparently Average Student Nora Grey finds herself irresistibly drawn to the obnoxious but mysterious Patch. Terror and mistrust ensues, along with An Ancient Battle and a Way Unsettling Truth. And presumably lots of romance.

Plus, guys, I'm having kind of a crush moment with the front cover. Take this in, in all its glory.
How can you not want that to fall directly into your lap!? Granted, I'm not completely sure what's up with the guy's lumpy-bumpy left shoulder, but we'll ignore that in favor of drooling. Shel, you up for drooling?

So grab yourself a copy of the book -- we'll be reading up to page 80 (or the end of chapter five, for those of you who dislike page numbers) and will report back next Monday. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get my forbidden love on.

REVIEW: Troy High

Norris, S.  (2010).  Troy High.  New York:  Amulet Books.


Appetizer:  In this modern retelling of The Iliad, sophomore Cassie Prince has always been in the shadows of her popular, football playing brothers, Hunter and Perry at Troy High.  She's in-like with her best friend Greg (a student at the rival high school, Lacede) and wants to be popular.

When the beautiful girlfriend of Greg's older brother, Elena Argos, has to transfer from Lacede to Troy due to redistricting, knowing Elena could be Cassie's one chance to become popular.  All she has to do is lie for Elena and help her to win Perry's affections.

But when Elena doesn't handle her break-up with her Lacede boyfriend in the best way possible, what has been a school rivalry for 50 years turns into all out warfare that Cassie fears will lead to ruin.

I was really surprised how easily the plot of The Iliad leant itself to teenage drama, especially when focusing on the romantic entanglements.  That was pretty awesome.

While I found the book enjoyable, I wasn't blown away by it.  I thought the writing was so-so (especially when compared to the oral epic it is based upon) and when Norris tried to use metaphors of warriors to describe the football players, it felt very forced.  (Plus, there were several pages of intense football description, which made me tilt my head to a side and ask, "Say, what's happenin' now?").

Nothing about Cassie's character or voice really impressed me.  (But given the fact that she was based on Cassandra the seer, living up to the expectation was difficult.)  I did find a few of her interactions with Greg to be cute (see the last quotation in the dinner conversation for an example).

Elena/Helen was annoying (but she often is) and Achilles/Ackley is barely memorable.

I also thought the ending was a little too quick for me.  I won't give spoilers, but some people were too quick to forgive some incidents and other people remained unpunished for other incidents.  I did not likey.

On the plus side, the book did make me want to reread The Iliad.  Or watch Troy (Brad Pitt!).  Whichever.

Troy time!

Smile, Achilles.  Smile!


Dinner Conversation:

"It was a late Sunday afternoon when I kissed my best friend.
We had been playing our favorite video game, Martial Battle 2, in his parents' den.  Playing video games was something we did a lot.  Kissing was not" (p. 1).

"So, tomorrow's the big day," he said as he selected his next fighter.  "We go back to being enemies again."
I rolled my eyes.  "I can hardly wait."
Every school had a bit of a rivalry with other schools, but the one between Lacede High and Troy High was legendary.  It made sense, I suppose, that our mascots were the Spartans and Trojans, respectively.  Just as the Greeks and Trojans battled thousands of years ago, our schools fought wars on the football field" (p. 2).

"The second reason the rivalry had grown so huge this year was that over the summer the board of education had redrawn the school district lines to help ease overcrowding at Lacede.  Which meant that some of the Lacede students would now be attending Troy High, starting tomorrow.
And the most beautiful girl at Lacede, Elena Argos, was one of those students" (p. 9).

"You haven't broken up with Lucas?  But I thought you were so crazy over Perry?"
"I am," Elena said.  "I'm going to break up with Lucas before I go out with Perry.  I promise.  Don't worry, Cassie, I'll treat your brother right.
It wasn't my brother I was worried about" (p. 52).

"Tell your brother that he has no idea what he's started.  Steal from me, and you have to deal with every Spartan wanting revenge" (p. 69).

"Who's going to make sure you get back home okay then?" I asked.
Greg puffed out his chest.  "I can take care of myself."
"And I can't?" I asked.  "What do you think I am, some defenseless little girl?"
"Sorry," Greg said, rolling his eyes.  "I didn't mean to offend you.  What I meant to say was, let me ride home with you so that I can protect innocent pedestrians from making the mistake of thinking that they could easily overpower a ninja disguised as a five-foot-tall, one-hundred-pound girl" (pp. 144-145).


Tasty Rating:  !!!

REVIEW: The Outsiders

Hinton, S.E.  (1967).  The Outsiders.  New York:  Speak.

180 pages.

To start this post I need to tell you a secret, internetz.  I know most would say it is unwise to share a secret on the internetz, but I think in this case it will be okay.

*Looks around for people who might be eavesdropping*

I haven't read The Outsiders before now.

I know, I know.  That pretty much makes me a YA failure, but never fear.  I am no longer a failure.


Appetizer:  Ponyboy (yes that is his legal name) and his friends are outsiders.  They're from the wrong side of town, they wear their hair long and everyone judges them on sight.  They're the greasers and they are constantly at war against the privileged Socs who live on the other side of town.

When a gang rumble goes wrong, Ponyboy and his friend, Johnny, wind up on the run, with their futures uncertain.

Okay, so over the past couple of years, a handful of students have raved about this book, and I doubted I would share their love.  I'd seen the movie.  I could barely pay attention to it.  Despite the fact that there were a lot of famous actors in the cast, I could keep the boys straight and couldn't remember their names.  (Sidenote--In the introduction to the "platinum edition" of the book, Hinton writes that the actors were a "group of sweet, goofy, incredibly talented and at the same time incredibly normal teenage boys."  *snort*  What happened, Tom Cruise?)

When my students chose to read The Outsiders, I pretty much assumed I would have to suffer through reading it.

Surprisingly, that was not the case.

It took a little while, I initially had to laugh through some of the slang, the fact that Ponyboy described how he wished he looked like Paul Newman, etc. but then I got to the first scene with Cherry Valance (Oh, what a name!) and I somehow got into it.  It was easy to get into the book on an emotional level and feel the frustration of Ponyboy and the other greasers.  This book rings of truth.  I couldn't help but feel for Johnny.

Based on the movie and some of my students' assignments, I had a general memory of the plot, except for the fact that I didn't remember who died when (see the part about not being able to keep the character's names straight--and that was still a problem as I read.  I mean, Dally and Darry?  Come on!  I won't be able to tell those two apart without cues.)

I wouldn't say I thought the book was perfect.  There were some moments when I felt the book told me things instead of showed me.  Plus, with presenting it to younger readers, the danger of the book seeming dated is very real.  But I think if a teacher focuses on the emotional truths he or she can still manage to reach a lot of reluctant readers.


Dinner Conversation:

"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind:  Paul Newman and a ride home.  I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman--he looks tough and I don't--but I guess my own looks aren't so bad" (p. 1).

"So Dally, even though he could get into a good fight sometimes, had no specific thing to hate.  No rival gang.  Only Socs.  And you can't win against them no matter how hard you try, because they've got all the breaks and even whipping them isn't going to change that fact.  Maybe that was why Dallas was so bitter" (p. 11).

"Why did the Socs hate us so much?  We left them alone.  I nearly went to sleep over my homework trying to figure it out" (pp. 16-17).

"You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do.  When you're a gang, you stick up for the members.  If you don't stick up for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn't a gang any more.  It's a pack.  A snarling, distrustful, bickering pack like the Socs in their social clubs or the street gangs in New York or the wolves in the timber" (p. 26).


Tasty Rating:  !!!!