Author Archive
How far away is our society from televising survival games that culminate in the last man standing? Watch a little cable TV, and you’ll quickly realize that depravity and debauchery abounds and that sanctioned killing (voluntary of course, just sign here on the dotted line) can’t be far off. Suzanne Collins’ new novel The Hunger Games takes this premise and cuts a little deeper.
To celebrate reaping day, the twelve districts that comprise what was formerly North America must each submit a boy and girl tribute to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised survival game in which children fight to the death. Kat’s little sister’s name is drawn in the lottery and Kat volunteers to take her place in the games. At sixteen, she has been caring for her family for years, hunting game, gathering food and developing some pretty savvy survival girl skills in the forbidden woods outside the Seam, the mining district where she lives.
Kat can hold her own, but what about the boy tribute from her district? Peeta is the son of the baker and completely and secretly in love with Kat. Will this help him or hurt him? Does he have any useful skills? And what does it mean for Kat?
All I can say is, “wow.” This book is beyond beyond. The Hunger Games are outrageous. Parades, interviews, professional stylists and sponsors are involved. The contestants range from trained child soldiers to starving children from the poorest districts. Add to that multiple love stories woven into a setting where children fight to the death? You will not be able to put this book down. Absolutely, this was my favorite book of 2008. How about you?
January 6th, 2009
Molly - Central
- these are the well-known lyrics of the folk song Scarborough Fair. Nancy Werlin weaves the tasks featured in a variation of verse two of the song into the suspenseful plot of Impossible. Seventeen-year-old Lucy Scarborough must break the curse of the Elfin Knight by completing the following:
- make a magical shirt…without any seam or needlework.
- find an acre of land…between the salt water and the sea strand…
- plow it with just a goat’s horn…and sow it all over with one grain of corn…
This book is fantastical and fast-paced and impossible to put down. I am not generally a fantasy reader (I know, I know, I said the same thing about vampires), but I would say this book is primarily a romance with thrills and fantasy thrown into the mix. Lucy is a modern American teen, heading off to prom. She is also struggling with an apparent genetic tendency towards mental illness, a horrific date rape, an unexpected pregnancy and a possible family curse. If you like a story where true love battles evil and prevails against all odds, Impossible fits the bill.
This book has been garnering lots of attention and is on the YALSA 2009 Nominations list of Best Books for Young Adults. The modern-day setting serves as a great contrast to the medieval lyrics and elfin curse and is a surprising, spellbinding read. Impossible is my second favorite YA book of the year: stay tuned for my #1 read in an upcoming review.
December 29th, 2008
Molly - Central
Wisconsin’s history of hauntings and spooky stories is rich indeed. When I was a kid, Haunted Wisconsin by Beth Scott and Michael Norman was THE book to check out from the school library. It has since been rewritten and reprinted by Michael Norman and is still very popular at the public library. Haunted Wisconsin contains new and old ghost stories set in Wisconsin, divided by region, and the ghostly locations referenced are fairly easy to track down. This is very handy when at sleepovers, when traveling, or when trying to win a bet with a sibling, in order to make quick references to places visited, etc.
I consider this to be the quintessential guide to ghosts, apparitions and supernatural occurrences in the area. Michael Norman, a former college professor from River Falls, might be regarded as the North American ghost expert–he has written several other books on the area including Haunted Heritage, Haunted Homeland, and Historic Haunted America.
If you are looking for a new offering in this genre, you won’t want to miss Spooky Wisconsin: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore retold by S. E. Schlosser. Spooky Wisconsin covers more Wisconsin history and folklore than Haunted Wisconsin. The tale of the shrouded horseman, for example, shares quite a bit about the history of beer brewing in Milwaukee. Indian mounds, Mississippi river pirates and early miners and loggers make appearances alongside Paul Bunyan, elfin Tommy knockers, and kobold toymakers. The writing style makes for great storytelling, perfect for sharing in front of a cozy fire or before bedtime for those who like a scary story that is not too scary.
Both Haunted Wisconsin and Spooky Wisconsin are great gift ideas for ghost and folklore enthusiasts, those who collect local memorabilia, and former Wisconsin-ites looking for a frighteningly fun taste of home.
December 16th, 2008
Molly - Central
M
ariko Tamaki’s two new graphic novels featuring arty biracial punk/Goth girls provide similar glimpses into teen angst. Both novels take place in Canada, in different decades, but could easily be set anywhere and anytime because the plots are so character driven.
Skim is generating a lot of buzz and is on the 2009 nominations list of Best Books for Young Adults from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association, as well as the short list for Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Awards. The main character, Kimberly “Skim” Keiko Cameron is a wannabe Wicca with a classmate whose boyfriend commits suicide. Because of the suicide, the community is on alert and Kim is targeted as being “at risk” because she is a loner and wears a lot of black. While everyone is keeping an eye on Kim, the girl who really is at risk goes unnoticed.
Emiko Superstar is one of the final graphic 
novels in the much hyped but slow selling Minx series published by DC Comics. Emiko is a geek turned freak that performs on Friday nights at a performance art venue known as The Factory. Auditions for the Friday night show are judged gong style and it takes Emi weeks to get up the nerve to finally try out. She finds a stage persona by costuming herself in her grandmother’s sixties era go-go boots and Twiggy dresses and her performance material is stolen from the diary of the woman she baby-sits for. Emi achieves the stardom she yearns for, but feels that she has earned it through false pretenses.
In addition to the arty biracial punk/Goth Canadian girl main characters, the plots of both books are similar in that Kim and Emi need to reconcile who they are with who they are perceived to be. They are labeled geeks and itching to break free from their peers. Both books also deal with some heavy issues: key authority figures take advantage of teens in each novel, the girls grapple with different forms of abuse, the highs and lows of first loves and lesbian romances are explored.
The primary difference between the two books is in the artwork: Skim is more realistic, while Emiko is drawn in more of a comic book style. Both stories are compelling and I am wishing the author well during the upcoming awards season.
December 8th, 2008
Molly - Central
Long before Mean Girls and Heathers were popular slumber party fare and the concepts of Queen Bees and Wannabes peppered modern psychology and the study of interpersonal relations, cliques were wrecking havoc on ye olde Salem. You know the girls I’m referring to. Led by the scorned Abigail Williams from The Crucible, this group would not stop at teasing, idle gossip and tarnishing reputations. These lovely girls kept up their theatrics until their victims got sent to the gallows.
Interwoven with the history of the Salem witch trials and the chaos that surrounded life at this time in Massachusetts comes the fictional account of Sarah Carrier in The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent. Sarah writes to her granddaughter upon the occasion of her wedding and tells the story of her youth, shuttling between Billerica, Andover and Salem. She then confesses her involvement in the hanging death of her mother, Martha Carrier, one of the first to be accused and tried of witchcraft in Salem in 1692.
The book starts out with the family trying to outrun smallpox. Life is difficult, with the family struggling to work the fields and maintain their stay at Sarah’s grandmother’s home. When Sarah’s brother Andrew is discovered to have small pox, Sarah and her baby sister are sent to stay with her Aunt and Uncle Toothaker. The Toothakers and the Carriers have been feuding over land and there is much ill will, but Sarah is comforted by her relatives and so enrapt with spending time with her cousin Margaret that she is only resentful when they are eventually separated and she must go home to her own family.
Her father is a giant of a Welshman and does not adhere to the Puritan ethics or attend church. Rumor has it that he may have been involved in the death of King Charles the First and everyone steers clear of him. He makes an imposing partner with Sarah’s mother, a strong, hard woman with a sharp tongue. Even though Sarah is only ten years old, the reader understands that she and her mother are exactly the same. Sarah and Martha both have red hair, keen senses and a way with herbs and healing. They are also at odds constantly. Sarah is rebellious and hurtful to her mother, but soon realizes the depth of her mother’s love.
A combination of events involving a scandalous servant girl named Mercy Lewis, the vengeful Uncle, a neighbor’s runaway cow, liquor and jealousy collide. Soon, Sarah’s mother is on her way to Salem in shackles, accused of witchery. She has sworn Sarah to agree to whatever the magistrates ask of her in order to save herself and her siblings.
The witch trials would be laughable if we didn’t already know that they, in fact, happened and innocent men, women and children died because of outrageous false accusations. What’s most stunning about the actions of the girls responsible for the initial witch-hunt, beyond the fact that no one had the sense or wherewithal to reign them in, was that they had the energy for this sort of mayhem to begin with. This richly detailed fictional account reinforces that life was not easy in the early colonies. Everyday living was rife with hard labor and disease and the struggle to stay fed, warm, clothed and out of the way of the warring Wabanaki. It seems impossible that there would be much time for making mischief, but as they say, there’s no rest for the wicked.
November 24th, 2008
Molly - Central
Are you an animal lover? Library lover? Lover of all that is good and sweet and wholesome? Maybe looking for a little heartwarming adorableness? Look no further than Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron. This delightful book will renew your faith in humanity, and sometimes you need just that.
Dewey Readmore Books was found stuffed into the after hours book drop of a small public library in Iowa on the coldest night of the year, with temperatures dropping below minus 15 degrees. Only a few weeks old, the little grey kitten was frostbitten, and desperate to be saved. Library director Myron gave the ice cold kitten a bath to warm him back up (and wash his grey fur into orange and white tabby), and from that point on Dewey warmed the hearts of the library staff, the residents of the town, and legions of fans worldwide. He resided at the Spencer Public Library for 19 years, until his death in 2006.
There is no disputing the fact that Dewey was an extraordinary animal - handsome and winsome and bright. And while some might argue that having a cat in a library poses more problems than positives (allergies, kitty litter, and fur balls to name a few), Dewey served as an official library ambassador in the small farming town of Spencer and helped the community rally together during a very difficult time. Dewey came to live at the library during the height of the 1980s farm crisis. The residents of Spencer were hurting, the family farms were collapsing and the economy took an abrupt downturn. The public library was busier than ever with residents using the job bank, scouring the papers for job notices and making use of free books, magazines, videos and programs for enrichment and entertainment.
During that tough time, the library was a more vital community center than ever. It was also at this time that the Spencer Public Library was fighting for a much needed renovation. Director Myron urged her City Council to appropriate more funds with this speech:
“Newly paved roads are nice, but they don’t lift our community’s spirits. Not like a warm, friendly, welcoming library. Wouldn’t it be great for morale to have a library we’re proud of?”
And so it was that Dewey started to make the argument on behalf of the library. Because of this remarkable cat, visitor numbers were up, people were staying longer and leaving happier and spreading the word that the library was the place to be. Before long the renovation was approved and Dewey the Library Cat lived on for almost two more decades, keeping the residents of Spencer, Iowa, entertained and in touch with the community spirit while the library met their information needs.
November 12th, 2008
Molly - Central
Oh, Robert Olen Butler, you’ve done it again. You write stories that are so surprising their content still dazes me well after I’ve finished reading them. The topics are provocative (tabloid headlines, decapitation, now sexual relations) personal and poetic. Even with the sensitive topics, many are humorous.
This latest work literally illuminates the afterglow of famous couples – their imagined thoughts, feelings, physical responses and manners during and after sex. Intercourse: Stories presents the settings and stories of couples in their most intimate moments. Like Severance, Intercourse is arranged chronologically with a brief description of each couple and the place and time. Paired monologues follow.
Some of the pairings are predictable: Adam and Eve, Anthony and Cleopatra, Bonnie and Clyde. Others are more ingenious. Who is J. Edgar Hoover really dreaming of while having relations with another? What has held Bill and Hillary together all these years? It’s powerful and passionate, but it’s not the sex.
I wait with much interest for this Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s next venture: imagined, speculative or extraordinarily exact.
November 4th, 2008
Molly - Central
It is also not too early to start thinking about the holidays and these books make great gifts:
Happy Fiftieth Anniversary, Paddington! I first read A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond when I 
was in third grade based on a friend’s recommendation. I remember enjoying it, but couldn’t remember much of the plot when I recently picked it up in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of its first printing. I was surprised at how much of the phrasing I remembered exactly as I read it again and how truly comical the story is. This is laugh out loud stuff. When Paddington tumbles into his saucer of tea and is covered in sticky buns–ha! And when he gets caught in the display window at the department store–ha ha! And the idea of a bear from darkest Peru wandering about London in a Macintosh and safari helmet–timeless. It doesn’t matter how old you are or what generation you were a child in, Paddington is a classic.
The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry is a spoof on the genre of children’s literature that pays homage to orphans, nannies, millionaire tycoons, confectioners, babies left on doorsteps, wicked parents, old-fashioned children, and on and on in all hilariousness. This book pokes fun at them all and riotously refers to many classics. When the little boy is trapped in the Swiss Alps and tries to apologize in German by combining words? Sorrybrauten? Need I say more? Especially recommended for fans of Lemony Snicket.
And last but certainly not least, you won’t want to miss The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall. This is the second book in the series featuring the Penderwick sisters and their escapades of childhood lived in the slow-paced manner of years gone by. In the first book, The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, the girls, their widowed professor father and the family hound pack up for a summer holiday in a rented cottage on a country estate outside of Boston. The girls bake brownies, sneak through hedges, go to a dress-up birthday dinner and enjoy the kind of summer that seems impossible with a modern schedule of soccer practice, music lessons and the myriad of other activities around today. In the second book, the girls concoct the “Save-Daddy Plan” aka “operation prevent Daddy from dating - we don’t want a stepmother” with disastrous results. The girls are sweet, their relationship with their father is tender and honest, and their antics are refreshing. These books are an inspiration for those involved in the Slow Movement, or those hoping for a quiet wind down to a harried day.
October 23rd, 2008
Molly - Central
and his name is Bill Compton. Such a shame that he is already in love with the coolest girl, Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic waitress extraordinaire at Merlotte’s Bar and Grill in Bon Temps, Louisiana. And that he is dead and all that. But what a gentleman! Such excellent manners!
I was first introduced to Bill and Sookie on HBO’s new series True Blood. Total addict that I am, I had to go back and watch all of the in-demand extras interviewing the cast and crew, producer and creator. When author Charlaine Harris appeared, I thought, hey, I know her. I’ve heard of that series! Why haven’t I been reading these books? I do not know. I’ve read all the Twilight books and the Southern Vampire series that begins with Dead until Dark is funnier, smarter and a lot sexier. So I am reading the series now.
Dead until Dark covers all of the episodes I’ve seen thus far (that’s 4) of the HBO series. Sookie is a pretty waitress at a bar in Northern Louisiana who is unable to date because her telepathy ruins all chances for romance. She lives with her liberal granny and the Vampire Rights Act is currently in Congress. The vampires have been “out of the coffin” for a couple of years, thanks to a synthetic blood drink that the Japanese have created called Tru Blood. By consuming this drink, the vamps no longer need to feast on humans, and hypothetically, everyone can co-exist in peace. Of course, there are some bumps in the road. Vampire blood (V-Juice) is the hottest drug since crystal meth and when the vamps aren’t preying on humans (trust me, they’re still preying on humans) the humans are preying on the vamps.
Good and bad are present in both the mortal and immortal realms and it’s hard to know who to trust. Even though Bill scares Sookie, she is drawn to him and lets down her guard bit by bit. Their relationship is complicated but romantic, and I am definitely rooting for them.
The television series has me totally hooked, but it is only on for one hour a week and I need more. Simultaneously reading Bill and Sookie’s story really prolongs the entertainment for me. And the best thing about reading the books - I have seven more to look forward to!
October 7th, 2008
Molly - Central
No need to apply the 50-page rule here! The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows had me laughing and crying in the first 50 pages and thanking my lucky stars I started reading it on a Sunday, so I could settle in and keep reading all day.
This enchanting epistolary novel is set post WWII in London and on the English Channel Island of Guernsey. A Guernsey farmer named Dawsey Adams obtains a used copy of Londoner Juliet Ashton’s Selected Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb and they begin corresponding after he finds her name and address written inside the cover. Soon, Dawsey’s friends and neighbors are writing to Juliet as well. Juliet’s weekly newspaper column about the war has recently been compiled into the book Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War and the islanders are thrilled to make the acquaintance of a famous authoress. Juliet starts answering the many questions the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society have concerning the war; the Channel Islands were completely cut-off from the rest of the world during the German occupation.
In the course of their correspondence, Juliet poses three questions to the society members as well: Why did a roast pig dinner have to be kept a secret? How could a pig cause the islanders to begin a literary society? What is potato peel pie and why is it included in the society’s name?
All of these questions and more are answered in this book that is sure to become a classic in the way of 84, Charing Cross Road. One cannot help but fall in love with each and every bright, quirky, endearingly flawed, open-hearted character. Without a doubt, this is my favorite book of the year and one of my new all-time favorites. This is how much I love it: I checked it out from the library and read it, then I went to the bookstore and bought it, and now I am waiting for the audiobook so I can listen to it. And then I may read it again.
September 26th, 2008
Molly - Central
Previous Posts