The Marvels by Brian Selznick

What a unique crafting of a story by a talented artist, writer, and storyteller. Brian Selznick mixes wordless pictures with text to create a moving story about a boy finding a family that is diverse and loving. In 1766, The Marvels, a theatrical family, was entertaining a ship's crew at sea when a storm sunk the ship stranding two brothers on an island. The pages show the ensuing generations of Marvels that have adventures, mysteries, and careers that tell a story without words but create characters whose emotions are clear in close-ups and graphite sketchings.

The magic and mystery intensify as narrative text replaces illustrations about a boy, Joseph, who has run away from boarding school with a friend that has since disappeared on him. The two were headed for his uncle's house in London. Joseph makes his way alone to his uncle's place who is not happy with his appearance on his doorstep. More mysteries reveal themselves as Joseph explores the house that seems to be from a time long past and the stories of the Marvels becomes more complex. Strange sounds, half-finished meals, and decor from the past suggest magic or hidden people in the house. A series of events reveal the truth and Joseph learns what it means to be loved and find happiness.

A subplot shows Joseph making friends with a girl that lives by his uncle whose brother died when she was very young. It tore their family apart and affected Joseph's uncle who knew the boy well. Selznick leaves clues that makes the story unfold like a mystery. The story is based on a real person that lived in a similar house in New York and if the reader knows that story I can see it making the plot direction more predictable than for someone like myself who has no background knowledge. I wasn't sure if it was going to turn into a fantasy at one point and I was delighted by the unexpected turns in the plot. Good plot surprises are like a tickle.

So many themes emerge from this book from creating art, finding a family, grief over the death of loved ones, friendship, gender identity, and more. When I grew up stories about families made up of partners that were not heterosexual did not exist in children's literature. Today, there are more diverse books that allow for self-identification for readers. In a time when hate and violence seen in the imagery of the aftermath of terrorist bombings and wars are so prevalent in the media, the message of tolerance seems even more urgent. While Selnick's book doesn't get into any specifics on the AIDS epidemic or gender identity like young adult books, it is a subplot that can either be discussed or not. More importantly, it shows that there are many different types of families in the world.

5 Smileys

MiNRS by Kevin Sylvester

Science fiction over the years has reflected the fears and concerns of society. In the 50's, 60's, and 70's there was hype over landing on the moon and exploring space, the fear of alien invasions and nuclear war. The cold war fizzled in the 90's and the war on terrorism and technology exploded. Books such as "Fahrenheit 451," by Ray Bradbury reflected fears over the invention of the television while more recent novels like, " Hunger Games," by Suzanne Collins mirrored reality-TV shows and the Iraqi war. From biotechnology to artificial intelligence, science fiction dances across a gamut of topics exploring scientific, political, and social implications in a speculative society. Kevin Sylvester's book, "MiNRS," shows the political ramifications of one company controlling resources needed by a future Earth that has been destroyed by humans. When a war breaks out, the story unfolds from the viewpoint of one boy who is trying to survive and make sense out of violence.

Christopher Nichols appears like a typical kid, going to school and thinking about homework while adults run a mining operation for metals and minerals in his town-like setting; however, there is one itty-bitty detail that is far from typical... Christopher's "town" is a small space colony plopped on the asteroid named, "Perses." For a kid with a slant toward science and math, his life is not only cool, he absorbs the information and world around him like a hygroscopic substance. Perses threatened to collide with Earth until a scientist, Hans Melming, was able to use rockets and gravity to propel it into a habitable part of orbit. He terraformed the planetoid's surface and sent up humans to mine the ore. About twenty children live on Perses and Christopher is one of them.

As time passed, Earth depleted its resources and left Melming Mining Company with the golden rod or rock of invaluable resources. The colony seems unaware of the target on its back but some are worried, like Christopher's parents. Christopher has everything he needs and leads a privileged life with his parents who work as supervisors at the mine. He idolizes Melming and every year the school watches a propaganda movie about the great contributions Melming has made to the survival of Earth.

The inhabitants on Perses are readying for a blackout caused by solar interference and know that communications with Earth will be knocked out for a month. The colony is protected by the Melming Mining Company from Earth but the blackout means no protection or warnings. Their worse fears are realized when they are attacked by "Landers," an unknown group from Earth, intending to steal the ore. They bomb the facility and the adults are killed with only a few children able to seek shelter underground. Christopher's mathematical and scientific brain immediately goes into survival mode and makes plans. His parents had a backup plan if something went wrong during the blackout, except the plan was in code and Christopher is having a hard time deciphering it. With the aid of his friend, Elena, the two seek help from Earth and retaliate against the Landers.

Futuristic or science fiction novels speculate what the world would be like in a different setting. A common trope in these novels is an authoritarian government that is in control with a naive protagonist that accepts the status quo. The government is seductively attractive until the protagonist unravels serious flaws in the system. Such is the case as Christopher believes the propaganda at first before slowing realizing that all is not idyllic. Others are in forced labor and oppressive conditions but this has been hidden from the 20 children. When discovered, most of the other privileged children don't see what is wrong with it but slip into superior, prejudiced views that do not value other human beings. As Christopher's ideal world is exposed to harsh realities, he has to choose right from wrong and it is these internal battles that give the novel depth. Not only is Christopher dealing with problems on a personal level, but he has to analyze and think critically about the political and social issues of how the asteroid was governed and maintained by the adults.

The surviving children are suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. They have seen family members blown up by bombs and shot at and respond in different ways. Elena tries to take comfort in military strategies and attacking the enemy. Christopher makes plans and tries to think of the survival of the group. Another character cares medically for the others, while another hoards food. Everyone reacts differently to traumatic events and it adds to the authenticity of the characters. The attack and subsequent deaths are traumatizing making it difficult to move forward each day.

The world-building is well-done and not so scientific that young readers can't follow it. The reader never discovers who the enemy is and the end suggests that the government is seriously messed up down on Earth. I wanted more back story but enough was given to tease me along. While I would normally want to know who the attackers are rather than have these faceless, pirate villains that never interact with anyone, I didn't think it detracted from the novel. I think it was left out to entice the reader to the sequel, but I would have preferred more clues as to who the Landers were that so violently attacked Christopher's community.

The subplot of Christopher's budding romance with Elena adds another emotional element to the story, but is not overpowering. Elena's jealousy of the grinder is never realized in this novel and the cliff-hanger ending leaves more than just that question. The adults that Christopher thinks he sees raises new questions as well. This reminds me a little of the book "Shipbreaker," but less violent. Not that this one isn't. It is. The action adventure will appeal to many of my students along with Christopher's ability to use math and science to survive in dire circumstances.

5 Smileys

The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1) by Rick Riordan

If you liked Percy Jackson, you will enjoy this first book in a series that follows a similar pattern with a snarky protagonist, humor that balances violence, great monsters, a demigod, mythology-based fantasy plot, mnemonics to learn foreign words, a cross-over with a character (Annabeth Chase appears), and a first person narration. Why mess with a good thing? Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series has sold in the millions. Magnus Chase will satisfy loyal fans. Yah... sure.

Magnus Chase is sixteen and homeless. His mom died protecting him when two monsters burst into his apartment. When Magnus discovers two people looking for him he breaks into the home of his uncle setting in motion a hunt for an ancient and powerful sword. He learns that his dad is a god which gives him the ability to retrieve the sword. And don't cha know, good and evil beings want this sword and once he calls it to him he sets in motion events that signal not only the end of the world, but life as he knows it. That's right. He's killed. This isn't a spoiler. He tells the reader in the first paragraph using the oh-so-familiar Rick Riordan hook. I bit. As Magnus learns what it is like to be a ghost warrior in Valhalla, he tries to save the world with the aide of a Valkarie of Arab descent and two disguised homeless men. The action snowballs to an exciting climax.

In Norse mythology, the gods know that their destiny is inescapable and doomed to a bloody epic battle called, "Ragnarok," that will leave them and humanity dead. From the ashes will rise two people that signify the regeneration of life. The myths show life as cyclical with gods and human beings not in despair over their fate, but attempting to hold it off. Loki points this out when he tells Magnus: “Well what you do is change the details. That’s how you rebel. That’s how you change the narrative. I know how I’m going to die, but between now and then I’m going to make my own game.” You betcha.

Magnus reminds me of the Germanic heroic code found in medieval literature such as Beowulf and the Icelandic sagas where death is heroic and not tragic and destruction is final not life-giving. The heroic code means that Magnus places honor above death and dies saving the lives of strangers. He decides at the last minute to make his death count by taking out a fire demon. Magnus displays courage in the face of overwhelming or impossible odds and remains strong in the face of death. This hero understands that Fate will take everything - power, family, wealth - gained in the world, but it can't take the hero's character. Out of this mentality comes the literary trope where the Germanic hero dies with a quip taking light of the situation. Magnus does not have wealth, fame, or power and he puts his own spin on the heroic code calling the fire demon, "Fire Dude,"and acting like a rebellious teen taunting him and giving him the finger, but he does reflect elements of this type of hero.

Don't worry. All my Minnesota speak that comes from German and Scandinavian immigrants is not in Rick Riordan's book. He does have a deaf person in it that uses sign language to communicate with others. That character is unique and worked into the plot in interesting ways. He does have several characters use Old English that enhances voice and setting, but don't expect to find kennings and alliteration found in Beowulf and the Icelandic sagas. That's probably a good thing for the younger reading audience. Kennings are confusing. Although I do like how Riordan makes it easier to memorize the names of gods using mnemonics. If he could come up with a way to wade through the murky waters of kennings that would be amazing.

The character of the Valkarie that is Muslim-American is a nod to 10th century writer, Ibn Fadlan, an Arab traveler who was part of a delegation sent by the Caliph in Baghdad to help establish Islam for the king of the Volga Bulghars in Russia. Fadlan wrote about the "Rus" or Vikings that had settled there for trade and goes into detail the funeral rites involving a ship burial and human sacrifice. Riordan has the Valkarie character descending from this family. Ironically, Fadlan was a theologian and thought the Rus Vikings were vulgar and primitive. I doubt Fadlan would appreciate his descendant being loyal to the Norse gods; however, no religion is revered by these characters, especially Magnus.

Fadlan's account about Viking funeral practices have been somewhat generalized and it might not be how a funeral was conducted in Scandinavia during the Viking reign. Fadlan met a band of select warriors who became merchants and that adapted to a new culture in Russia. I'm not an archeologist, but I don't think there is an account of Viking funeral rites in Scandinavia. Don't quote me on that. Sorry. This has nothing to do with the book. I'm digressing into my fascination with Viking history. Maybe that is my clue that I've written enough book reviews on Rick Riordan's series. Time to move on.

3 Smileys

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley

This book is like a slow boiling pot of noodles. I'm always impatient for the quiet pool of water to heat up. I forget about it and then suddenly boiling water is rushing unexpectedly to the top, steam hissing as it touches the dry sides of the metal pan before spilling over the edge onto the burner. "Circus Mirandus" simmers at the start with the nasty Aunt Gertrudis that cruelly manipulates her nephew, fifth grader Micah, from seeing his dying grandfather. The story erupts at the end with oodles of action as Micah matures into a young man willing to take risks and find happiness in whatever situation life gives him. The writing has beautiful figurative language that had me writing down favorite lines and themes that spilleth over like my pasta pot - although I found it hard to latch onto one. Good book. Thought-provoking. Just hard for me to write about in a cohesive manner. My fragmented sentences truly reflect my thoughts on this one.

Micah Tuttle has heard his Grandfather Ephraim's "Circus Mirandus" stories all his life, but when he finally gets to enter the world of stories for real, he finds magic in illusions that give him hope when things look bleak. His grandpa is dying and Micah needs a miracle to save his life. Micah knows that the Lightbender promised Ephraim a miracle as a young boy that he never used. Micah wants Ephraim to use that miracle now for a cure so he doesn't die and Micah will have to live with the unimaginative and mean-spirited Aunt Gertrudis. Grandpa Ephraim cashes in his "ticket" for a miracle and most of the story is spent seeing what that miracle is. Micah makes friends with Jenny, a girl in his class that doesn't believe in magic but science. She's a loyal friend and grounds Micah in reality as he gets lost in the world of magic.

Illusion in Circus Mirandus is suppose to inspire hope and good-will for children that represent the future. Not everyone understands the power of illusion. Aunt Gertrudis felt deceived by the world of illusion as she never got to see Circus Mirandus. Victoria believes that magic is power and should be spent on oneself and not children. She uses magic for the wrong reasons. Micah and his Grandpa believe in the good and joy that magic brings to their lives. The Lightbender is the master of illusion and a metaphor for storytelling.

Micah and Ephraim tell the Lightbender that he has "changed" them. Storytelling in its own right is a form of illusion with the goal of changing the reader. Readers must be able to enter another world and identify with the characters. In that alternate make-believe world they can interpret what is happening in the plot, apply it to themselves and develop new understandings of themselves in a complex world. In this case, Micah is dealing with death and the choices he makes in life. He realizes that he can't control the adults around him, but he can control his attitude and beliefs. Storytelling is passed from generation to generation and as Ephraim passes his stories on to Micah the tradition and history of this craft is highlighted. Stories as a form of entertainment, socialization, ethics, and education can be found in every culture from ancient times (i.e. Gilgamesh, Beowulf, Vedas, Shijing) to the present.

The friendship between Jenny and Micah reveals the complexity of relationships from acquaintances to interpersonal bonding. Jenny is skeptical of magic and at times embarrasses Micah with her lack of understanding when she meets others from the circus. She's not sensitive to what she is saying and only realizes something is up because Micah seems upset. But Micah doesn't abandon their friendship because of a fight. She helps settle him down during emotional moments and gives sound advice at critical moments. Micah knows this and reminds himself of her strengths when he feels let down or angry with her. The two disagree but they are respectful of each others opinions.

Aunt Gertrudis is an archetype like Dicken's Scrooge or more accurately Roald Dahl's Aunt Spiker. She is wicked and more of a caricature that represents human qualities than a three-dimensional character. I understand that hyperboles are a good way to to point out the details of characters, but it doesn't work for me if the character is cliched or stereotyped. Aunt Gertrudis is neither, but she was plain ole frustrating with her lack of compassion and use of authority to keep Micah from seeing his grandpa. I thought the plot's action got slightly repetitive as she kept preventing him to see his grandpa.

Aunt Gertrudis' description is delicious: "On the inside, Aunt Gertrudis was probably cough syrup. She wore her dust-colored hair twisted into a bun so tight it almost pulled her wrinkled skin smooth, and she starched her shirts until the collars were stiff enough to cut. She made black tea every day in a bright steel kettle. The tea was scalding and bitter, a lot like her, and she wouldn't let Micah add sugar because she said bad teeth ran in the family."

Now compare the above description to Aunt Spiker in Roald Dahl's book. "Aunt Sponge was enormously fat and very short. She had small piggy eyes, a sunken mouth and one of those white flabby faces that looked exactly as though it had been boiled. She was like a great white soggy overboiled cabbage. Aunt Spiker, on the other hand, was lean and tall and bony, and she wore steel-rimmed spectacles that fixed on to the end of her nose with a clip. She had a screeching voice and long wet narrow lips, and whenever she got angry or excited, little flecks of spit would come shooting out of her mouth as she talked. And there they sat, these two ghastly hags, sipping their drinks, and every now and again screaming at James to chop faster and faster. They also talked about themselves, each one saying how beautiful she thought she was."

Grandpa Ephraim explains to Micah that if you hold on too hard to something you break it. When something becomes too important in life such as magic, money, power, fame, it leads to self-centered choices that are distorted in reality. Victoria thought she was so important and special that she murdered animals to prove a point and didn't see anything wrong with it. For her, the future did not exist in the children she brought happiness to but existed in satisfying her own needs and wallowing in her magical powers. She desires to be special, to stand out. Like Aunt Gertrudis she is an archetype  villain whose perspective is distorted in the quest for power.

Circus Mirandus nutures magic. But magic is what is inside of people. For Micah, magic is in the knots he can tie that reflect the complexity of others. For Jenny, magic is in her friendship to Micah and ability to be open to new ideas. Magic for the Lightbender is to create fantastic illusions that give hope in the impossible. Magic is the part of a person that is too big to keep to himself or herself and must be given to others in order for a person to reach his or her potential. Magic is a metaphor for giving to others. Individual talents are not for personal gain but used to nuture and share with others. Like I said, I had a hard time pulling out one strong overall theme that the character development points back to. I think its magic. In the end, I feel more like Big Anthony who loses control of his pasta pot. Perhaps someone else can take my mishmash and make sense out of it. I'm done drudging through my thoughts and I'm hungry for spaghetti.

5 Smileys

The Perfect Place by Teresa E. Harris

Treasure has more on her plate than the normal kid. Her father periodically abandons his family and she is usually left with taking care of her sister while her mom struggles to get out of bed. As of yet, her dad always comes back. However, this time, it has been longer than normal so her mother goes after him leaving Treasure and her younger sister, Tiffany with Great-Aunt Grace, a.k.a. GAG. Grace is a curmudgeon with a tender heart that doesn't reveal itself until later in the story. She's been single her whole life and doesn't quite know how to handle Treasure and Tiffany. One sasses back and the other wails. Both girls long for the "perfect place"; a permanent home to live in without a father that always moves them every few months due to his restless, meandering personality.

As the two girls adjust to Grace, Treasure makes friends with another new kid, Terrance. Treasure can't admit he is a friend, she doesn't want to become attached to anyone as she knows her "homes" are always temporary. The two are "associates" and while Treasure has a tough exterior, Terrance knows how to reach her in a nonthreatening way. Treasure is a prickly kid. She loves her younger sister and looks out for her, but with others she talks back and is sarcastic making for a strong female character that reminds me of the Gaither Sisters series by Rita Williams-Garcia or "Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere."

The characters have strong voices that are distinct from each other. Mom swears quite a bit. Grace is harsh at first and softens toward the end. Tiffany offers comic relief along with Treasure's sarcasm. Grace and her friend, Moon, can smoke up a blue streak but Grace shows she's willing to change her ways when she sees Treasure have an asthma attack. As you can see, this is not the perfect family. People lose their temper. They are disrespectful toward each other. And in the beginning everyone is plain ole' miserable about everything.

Treasure is a bright kid that loves words. So does her father. He isn't a villain in the story. It is clear that Treasure really loves him and that he loves her. This offers hope at the end when things don't go the way they want. At one point Treasure tries to remake herself by changing her name to her middle name. She doesn't want people to know that she is related to Great-Aunt Grace who is not liked by the any townspeople except Moon. This part of the story needed a little balance as Grace owns a store in town and she would have some customers she gets along with; however, every character met is up against her.

The plot has some nice twists, especially with Treasure's asthma. Other parts were slow. And other parts were funny. The woman running the Bible camp yells at Treasure, "This is Camp Jesus Saves for God's sakes!" Another fun dialogue is between Grace and Treasure: "'I wish we could stay here,' I say... / 'But you can't, because y'all don't listen,' she says. / 'You don't clean'/ 'You got a smart mouth.'/ 'You can't cook.' / 'You talk back.' / 'I kind of like you,' I say. / 'I kind of like you, too," Auntie says. 'Now, go on, git.'"

Strong character arcs show the protagonist changing in some way emotionally as well as through events that happen in the story. The author creates a strong emotionally charged character that changes throughout the story and this kept me more engaged in the narrative than the plot. I found some of the events sort of slow, but Treasure's slow acceptance of a friends and her relationship with GAG as the two bumble along like stubborn fools until they start to get along made for great tension. The asthma added more strength to the plot when the author used that as a twist. If you are looking for a realistic book that does not have the perfect family (or perfect place) then give this a go.

4 Smileys

The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste

Eleven-year-old Corinne La Mer lives on an island in the Caribbean with her father and is not afraid of anything. When she chases an agouti into the forest and sees yellow eyes peering at her, she rationalizes what she saw; whereas, anyone else would have said it was a Jumbie. When she spots two boys torturing a frog, she surprises them with scorpions that she has no problem holding in her bare hands. She's faster than most kids her age and adores her father. Corinne's mother died when she was four and Corinne sells the sweetest tasting oranges from their yard at the market while her father fishes during the day. It helps that their garden is closest to the forest and has the richest soil to grow vegetables. The family of two is comfortable and happy until the woman, Severine, comes into their life. Corinne is threatened by the loss of not only her father, but discovers she is of mixed heritage and that her village is being threatened by Jumbies in the forest, ancient magical beings that were on the island long before humans colonized the place. This Caribbean folktale twist is a quick read where the action snowballs into an exciting climax.

Corinne catches two orphan boys torturing animals when she decides to give them a taste of their own mischief. She rescues the frog that has more human characteristics than normal and replaces it with scorpions. An unlikely friendship ensues that shows these two brothers are resourceful and loyal to Corinne's plight when things go wrong. Corinne also makes friends with Dru, an Indian girl, that comes from a large family and is afraid of many things. Dru learns about bravery in more ways than one. She must choose between being Corinne's friend when she finds out she is of mixed heritage or be afraid of her like some others in the village.

The message of intolerance and whether colonization makes it right to take land is good for discussions. The witch asks Corinne hard questions when the Jumbies attack the humans. She is able to see both sides and does not choose one over the other, except when murder is involved. The Jumbies are controlled by Severine, the Earth mother. I wanted more of a mythological explanation of Severine's role. Why could she control the creatures in the forest? Corinne's mother used love to power the amulet, but where did Severine's power come from? If she could draw power from the earth like Corinne could make nature listen to her voice, then was Corinne's orange tree like the tree of life?

The boys torture animals and then become brave rescuers that are loyal to Corinne. Their transformation was too sudden for me to buy but they moved the plot forward as needed.  Dru is afraid of Corinne but changes her mind. I was not sure why. People are afraid of Corinne. The author shows at the end that not everyone is happy with her and that some blame her for the deaths of their family members. The resolution of this is not complete and made me wonder if the author is thinking of doing a sequel.

This fantasy is unique in that its roots are in Caribbean folk lore, but I wanted more explanation of its mythological roots. I don't know anything about it and I have more questions than answers. The fantasy or fairy tale has typical conventions with the hero's journey and quest to save the world. The witch is somewhat of a mentor and the other children help Corinne as she saves the world. While some good messages on tolerance, bucking social norms, and colonization are touched on they are not explored in depth. An interesting book but not one that will stick in my memory.

3 Smileys

The Terrible Two (The Terrible Two #1) by Mac Barnett, Jory John, Kevin Cornell (Illustrations)

When we moved to northern Minnesota the high school mascot was a potato spud. The students would try and modify it to "potato studs," but it didn't help when the mascot, that looked like Mr. Potato Head's twin, was leading cheers at sporting events. Darn funny, though. Miles Murphy is moving to the town Yawnee Valley where they revere their cows. The school mascot is a cow. The mayor is a cow. The founding father statue in the park is a cow. Dairy farms surround the town of 10,000 and the night air is not full of the sounds of crickets but cows mooing. The school marquee reads, "Welcome back bovines," and the principal has written a fact book about cows. Miles is pretty depressed until he goes to the first day of school and sees the ultimate prank, someone blocked the front doors of school with the principal's car. The only problem is that Miles was the Prankster at his previous school and there can't be two King pranksters in the same school. A prank war ensues where Miles learns he just might not be the James Bond of pranksters and friendships have more meaning than constant jokes. The slapstick humor and message of when taking jokes too far hurts others make this a keeper.

Miles Murphy needs to make a statement and top this principal-car-blocking-entrance prank. He invents a supercool fictitious student that is having a birthday party and invites 12 students who invite everyone else in the class. Miles plans to show up and surprise everyone with his prank by revealing it is him and taking off with the gifts. However, he gets upstaged by his James Bond prankster rival, who has revealed himself to Miles by this time in the story. Miles doesn't get some of the fundamentals in pranking as his rival points out. First, Miles wants people to know he did the prank. That's a no-no. Mile's desire for self-glory is one of the downfalls, as well as, he is supposed to prank a person that deserves it (the goat). Instead Miles is being mean to kids and turning them off. The James Bond prankster tries to teach Miles that showing up to a party and then running off with all the presents is not going to win him friends. Sometimes kids think they are being funny when they are really being mean.

The mastermind prankster really wants to team up with Miles but he messes up by insulting Miles and being condescending. These two pranksters have a ways to go with setting aside their egos if they are to be friends, but they manage it in the end because as they admire different qualities in each other. Although Miles gets somewhat run-over in the process. He has to have a prank war that the reader knows he will lose. It is a spectacular loss though with some small recoveries that keep Miles from being completely humiliated and showing his own unusual talents. Miles is just outgunned in the planning area. He doesn't think through his pranks as well as his rival.

The banter is funny along with humorous illustrations. "Mom, what if I skipped this grade?" Miles asks. He says he'll spend a year working on projects. They go back and forth until she says he is not having a project year. "Maybe I could take this year to travel. You know I've been wanting to see the world! They say traveling is the best education." She responds in the negative. "Maybe I could take a sabbatical. Do you know what a sabbatical is, Mom?" /"Yes. Do you know what a sabbatical is?" /"It's basically a project year." /"No," she says as they pull up to the school.

Literature is full of archetypes that give text meaning and universal appeal. They are recognizable character types like the hero, trickster, mother, mentor, and more. Sometimes the archetype gives me comfort and other times it annoys me with its stereotyped character. Here, the authors setup from page one that this is an absurd tale so the archetypes fit in with the cartoonish feel of the entire story from the illustrations to the narrative. The cows are treated like famous citizens and the long list of how students try to fit in at school by adopting a persona that makes them stand out in the crowd fits right in with archetypes. This story is silly, dumb, and plain ole fun.

The principal, bully, and do-gooder are some archetypes found in this story. There is also the trickster whose identity is concealed for most of the story. Principal Barkin is a stitch. He wants power. He wears a red tie. He practices his power speeches. He eats "Breakfast of Barkins". He's the perfect "goat" for a prankster. He can't figure out how to move his car that is blocking the school entrance. He doesn't even recognize prank phone calls when he receives them while writing his power speech. He blames kids and punishes them based on circumstantial evidence, and he's raising a son to value power above all else. So often I find the bad principal archetype stereotyped and boring, but here it worked for me because the book is more like a cartoon with its slapstick humor.

The James Bond prankster is pretty easy to figure out early on in the story. The twists in pranks and funny ending bring the story full circle with the cows getting the last laugh. This reminds me of the book, "Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School," by Kim Baker except with a main character like Timmy Failure. I wonder if Mac Barnett and Jory John dreamed this plot up while milking a cow. Read this with a bowl of your Breakfast of Champions and snort-laugh milk through your nose while the cows moo in laughter outside your window.

4 Smileys

A Nearer Moon by Melanie Crowder

Some writers make every word count. They are so succinct and efficient at the craft that what would leave others scrambling for extra sheets of paper, they can wallop a manuscript out in fewer words. Melanie Crowder does that in 150 pages. Her poetic prose is rich with meaning, characterization, and plot that makes for a satisfying read. Two sisters are playing together when an accident happens and one becomes ill with a wasting disease while the other does everything in her power to heal her out of love and guilt. This story looks at grief, disease, community and sisterhood and what it means to be resilient in the face of terrible odds.

Luna lives on a swamp where the water is dangerous. It wasn't always that way. Luna's grandma recalls when the river flowed clear and was swimmable until the day the earth shook and trees fell forming a dam that created an inky sludge of backwaters. The villagers put their homes on stilts and created swinging bridges as sidewalks to get around and used boats for transportation.  Any villagers that accidentally got swamp water in their mouths became infected with a wasting sickness and died three weeks from the day. Rumor is that the swamp is cursed and a creature lives below the waters, but Luna doesn't believe it.

Luna loves to pole through the waters on her boat with her younger, joyful sister Willow. One day the two are having a hey-ho time with Willow laughing hysterically as Luna spins the boat. Out of nowhere the boat dips down into the water and Willow gets the murky swamp water in her mouth. Sure enough, symptoms of the wasting sickness appear and Luna does everything in her power to cure Willow. While the reader knows what pulled the boat down, Luna does not and the reader is not sure why Willow was a target. The answers are slowly revealed and paralleled with two points of view.

Luna's story alternates with Perdita's, a sprite who loves to wander and adores her twin sister, Gia. The magical world of sprites is disappearing as more humans appear and dig metals out of the earth. Most metals poison sprites and they can no longer coexist with the humans so they portal to other worlds. The world of magic and make-believe exists in the vast imaginations of children. As they grow up they lose this to some extent as they gain scientific knowledge and explanations. In this story the adults no longer believe in magic and they can't help cure their sickness because they lack the imagination to realize a sprite lives beneath the waters.

At first Luna embraces science and tries to get a doctor to heal Willow. When the doctor says there is nothing he can do, Luna tries to drain the swamp. She goes through all the steps that others have tried and that have not worked. Sometimes science fails with curing or diagnosing diseases and a loved one dies. Luna faces this dilemma but it doesn't stop her. When she embraces the fact that something magical might be happening then she gets results. Unexpected results. Reading fantasy stories means believing in that which is unbelievable, but that can point to truths in everyday life.

Luna learns the satisfaction of trying to do everything she can and that alone gives her peace at the end. It is not the goal so much as the process that is important. When playing soccer the teams that do the best are the ones that don't think about the score but focus on doing what they can and working together as a unit. The same happens in this book except Luna has to work with her best friend, Berry, and less so with the rest of her family. Her uncle gives her a book with a tip on dealing with magic, but people don't really believe in magic anymore. Her mother is so absorbed in her grief and anger that she cannot see how Luna is hurting or her harshness. Luna's grandma refers to moon charts hoping for a cure. In their own way, the family is trying to deal with the hurt and grief but Luna takes the most action out of everyone. She tries the hardest and that is a message we all need to hear over and over again.

Luna's mother has already lost her husband and the thought of losing another family member has put her over the edge. She spends her days in the chapel and has given up hope. Unlike Luna who feels guilty that Willow got sick on her boat, she takes action while the mother seeks comfort in religion. One poignant line shows the difficulty of grief: "Mama had left early that morning taking her frightened fury up to the chapel where it wouldn't lash out like a bent branch and strike Luna's already bowed back." Paralleled to Mama's grief is Perdita's or Perdy's. She has let sorrow turn her into something ugly. She can't stand to see joy in others so she snuffs it out of their lives.

The heart of the story is the bond between sisters. The alternate story strengthens Luna's as it shows how Gia did everything in her power to create a link between herself and her sister so that she could call her home whenever she was wandering. This metaphor reminded me of the parable of the lost son a bit as Perdy is lost but redeems herself when found again. The powerful bond of families and siblings is another theme. Just talk to a grieving person as they talk about going "home" to see the loved ones that have died before them. Just like Gia and Perdy are separated by worlds, so are humans by death from those they love.

Members of the community didn't leave when the river changed, because it was home where their grandparents and "...great-great grandparents had first taken a felled tree and carved a boat to winnow through the streams." Luna's community came together during the river crisis and they helped each other and cared for each other. They still do. I feel a bit like Perdy. A wanderer. One that uses Skype as my magical locket to see those I love. Home for me will always be where I grew up; where my great-great grandparents first migrated to the United States. But home is changing now. My daughter lives in a different state with my grandson. I've lived in different countries. But the one constant has always been my family and that is ultimately what this story is about - being loved, having a home, and doing your best.

5 Smileys

Flora Segunda (Flora Trilogy #1) by Ysabeau S. Wilce

Flora Segunda Fyrdraaca is almost fourteen and preparing for her Catorcena, an event where she will go off to Barrack school to become a soldier, like all of the famous Fyrdraaca's before her. Her mother, the General, runs the city of Califa and while mother has to whack delinquent people on occasion to make them behave, Flora is not comfortable with it. She wants to be a ranger or spy like her hero, Nini Mo, whose words of wisdom help Flora deal with her own problems in life such as a mother that works too much and a dad that is literally mad. As Flora's father trashes the house and keeps setting her back with getting everything done for her Catorcena, Flora meets Valefor, the banished house butler, who promises to help her if she gives him some of her Anima or Will. Flora doesn't really know what she's getting into and when she and her best friend, Udo, decide to free Nini Mo's sidekick, the Dainty Pirate, everything turns into a "pigface psychopomp" as the two "snapperheads" like to snip at each other. Funny, strong characters, and a great voice carry this tale to an exciting finish.

Things go spectacularly bad for Flora and Udo. They make plans, that fail or semi-fail. One mess leads to another to the point that Flora wants to give up. Of course, her Will is being siphoned so it makes sense she has some really low moments. Udo picks her up and supports her until she finds the courage to face the mess she has made as well as the unforeseen consequences. Even her dad tries to help in his own crazy way. Messages range from resilience to taking responsibility, to parents insisting their children tell the truth but then hiding it from them to protect them, to figuring out what you want to do in life and having the courage to tell an adult.

Flora's alter ego is Nini Mo, a famous Ranger, whose adventures were published in yellowback novels, many owned by Flora. They resemble the Penny dreadfuls mass produced in the UK during the 1800s. Nini Mo wrestles with problems in a bull-headed, calm fashion as nothing is too massive for this hero to overcome. Flora quotes Nini Mo when she is in a tangle or on the verge of a meltdown. This reminded me of "Utterly Me, Clarice Bean" by Lauren Child where Clarice has an alter ego detective and the boy who wants to be a knight but becomes a spy in Rangers Apprentice by John Flanagan.

Some great lines had me hooting, "Persistence may be good for a general, but it is not such a happy quality in a mother." "Valefor sniffed. 'That's awful tripe, you know [refering to Nini Mo novel Flora's reading]. You should read something more educational. I have a lovely book on eschatological extensions and their role in im-manentizing the-'" Flora describes the polished floors of the building where her mother works: "It's perfect for sliding down if you sit on a file folder, but if someone opens a door while you are flying it's off to the Post Hospital and ten stitches in your grape. Believe me, I know whereof I speak." 

I wasn't quite sure by the end where Flora's magical words were coming from. At first I thought it was Valefor, but it is not really explained. Also, the house is alive at the start, but then the focus shifts to the butler's magic. The Houses of the city have power with an Adept or magical entity that is tapped into that power. The Adept is controlled by the owner of the House, but seems to vary in Houses and I'm not sure who controls the "live" house. The Bilskinir House lost its owner so the Adept controls it. Or does it? It wasn't clear to me what was happening in that house. There is a sequel that will probably hash out my questions.

In Flora's culture women are equal with men. Flora is not beautiful and is slightly plump, but it makes her no less appealing than some svelte character. No one questions that mom is the General. Flora also takes responsibility for her actions when things fall apart on her. Udo loves fashion and is not condescended to by others and Valefor tells Flora he'll become a girl if she wants. The periodic neutralizing of genders was interesting. I may not always know whereof I speak, but me thinks this novel is worth noting. Oye.

4 Smileys

The Story of Owen (The Story of Owen #1) by E.K. Johnston

I struggled with this one. Most of the action takes place off the page. The idea is interesting but the execution made the pacing slow and action secondhand. Owen is the son of two famous dragon slayers that retire to the country. The world is being destroyed by dragons that are drawn to carbon emissions and dragon slayers are the only ones that can protect cities. Owen's aunt, Lottie, is a world-famous slayer that worked for a huge corporation in the city before receiving a serious injury that forced her to retire. In rural Trondheim, Canada, she makes a home and battles dragons on a much smaller scale with the help of her brother and wife. Owen is in training and goes to school where he meets Siobhan McQuaid, a talented musician that he makes his bard. Lottie wants to go back to the old days when dragon slayers protected rural towns for free and were not concentrated in cities with corporate and publicity contracts. When dragon attacks start to pick up at an alarming rate in Trondheim, Siobhan, Owen, and others try to learn the reason and stop their threats.

Teen Siobhan is Owen's bard or poet and tells of his epic battles in a "Once upon a time" frame. At first I thought the book had roots in Icelandic folklore because of Owen's Viking heritage, but then Siobhan would be his skald and there was not much reference to this culture. Then I thought maybe it was going to follow the Viking hero and Beowulf story like "Heroes of the Valley" by Jonathan Stroud. Instead St. George is introduced and Hannah is a smith so I thought the text would lean toward medieval works but it is set in modern times so perhaps it was headed toward a plot like, "Boys of Blur," by N. D. Wilson. The dragons do not talk and are not characters in the book so the "Once upon a time..." really solidifies it as a fantasy with no saga references and a bard comes from the Celts culture.

The bard idea is clever and Siobhan is a musician so it works to some extent. The book at this point started to remind me of "Seraphina," by Rachel Hartman. The bard manipulates the public so that the masses are socialized as to how to behave during dragon attacks. "The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom," spoofs this notion if you are looking for some belly laughs. Owen and Siobhan joke back and forth along with the adults providing some comic relief. What doesn't work is the bard sometimes tells the story twice, is giving information secondhand which removes the immediacy of the action, and the world-building comes at the expense of character development and pacing.

Once the action picks up and I start to settle into the story, whomp, the blithering bard has to tell her tale and halt the movement with a back story dump. I wanted to ring her bells. Maybe if she was Shakespeare I would have been interested, but she is no Shakespeare. This book has won awards and many of the reviewers that I agree with gave it a high rating. I always wonder when that happens what went sour in my filtering system. You'll have to read it yourself to see what you think. I'm a fan of high fantasy, medieval texts, and just about anything but this came across too garbled.

2 Smileys

Wish Girl by Nikki Loftin

Nikki Loftin has realistic, gritty plots with a touch of magic in her books. Her first book, "Nightingale," shows poverty and how it affects lives and decisions tied in with the Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale. This book shows two kids that don't fit in with their peers and a protagonist that isn't accepted by his family. The magic in this story is an oasis where nature soothes the soul and heals. While entertaining, this one doesn't come together particularly well in character development and plot.

Peter Stone's family has moved from the city to the countryside so Peter can get a fresh start. Something terrible happened to him and while his family is supportive on the outside, they keep trying to change him on the inside. His mom and dad fight more than is healthy and Peter has to get away from the noise. While wandering the countryside he finds a peaceful valley that literally speaks to him through the animals and insects. He meets Annie Blythe, artist extraordinaire, with a cancer riddled body. Together they face their problems trying to overcome bullies and adults that subvert their voices.

Peter's family comes off as neglectful at first then overly protective later. They don't communicate with Peter and the parents are having marital problems since his dad lost his job. The beginning presents the parents as not really caring about Peter who goes off for hours and no one notices. Then they suddenly notice and everyone is worried to the point he is grounded. Peter is supposedly fragile but his internal voice seems awfully clear-headed to me. I didn't see him as having serious problems. The author shows his fears and inability to speak, but that is it. I wanted more. The one-dimensional bullies never really come to life either and while it is revealed their parents abuse them and one of them is not as cruel as the other, I thought the accident would expose them and their parents with a telling scene. That action is left hanging and unresolved.

Sometimes the plot is predictable and other times it is not. The magic is conveniently used when the plot needs to move forward or the humans make a bad decision. This made it feel contrived and at the end when Peter talks to his family he doesn't come across as a broken kid that has learned life lessons, he comes across as a kid that has been wronged by the adults in his life who have misunderstood him and forced him to do things that he didn't want to do.  He says some mean things to Annie but I think the first person narrative worked against giving the reader a well-rounded view of who Peter really was and what he had dealt with in the past. He's not very melancholy or raw emotionally. Instead he tells too much versus showing it.

The artistic Annie has some interesting insights into art. She tries to teach Peter that art transforms and he is transformed to some extent by their friendship. At the end the resolution happens off the page and the wrap up was a bit anti-climatic. The bullying Annie endures doesn't make sense either. Again, I think the point of view worked against rounding out the characters in a more sympathetic way or in a way that I could get sucked into the storyline. As is, I kept noticing the craft which kept me from magically disappearing into the story.

I kept thinking the story might be like "No Fault in the Stars," but it does not look at cancer in the way that one does. It does remind me of the Romantic writers of the 1800's, such as Frances Hodgeson Burnett's, "The Secret Garden," that uses nature to the extent where it is almost a religious experience for the characters in its power to heal. While I like Loftin's word choices and voice, I just couldn't get into this one like her other one.

3 Smileys

The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold, Emily Gravett

My daughter's imaginary friend, "Fred," lived in her little finger and she would talk to her pinky on a daily basis. Fred helped her deal with different emotions. Her imaginary friend was her way of working through reality. "Fred, that's a no-no," she'd scold. "You get hurt." She'd be mimicking me at times or working through socializing with a playmate that was two years old like her. Years of research shows that imaginary friends are important in child development and here is an unusual book that creates a character, Amanda Shuffleup, who is so good with her imagination that she dreams up an imaginary friend, Rudger, who blurs the line between what is real and what is not. Her creative play draws the unwanted attention of an evil man, Mr. Bunting, who feeds off others imaginations.

Amanda's imaginary friend, Rudger, gets annoyed because she doesn't care about his thoughts and feelings, especially in the beginning. This irony adds humor as he is not real and she doesn't really have to think about his feelings. When a creepy man, Mr. Bunting, starts to stalk Rudger he can't get Amanda to listen to his fears. It isn't until Mr. Bunting tries to suck his being into his mouth that Amanda realizes her creation is truly being threatened. She tries to save his life only to get separated from Rudger. In a fun twist, he ends up being someone entirely different. It seems that all is lost until Rudger is saved by a patch-work cat, Zinzan, and finds refuge with other misfits in a library. He regroups and learns more about the evil Mr. Bunting and his devilish assistant before seeking Amanada once again.

This creepy book reminds me of kids that love to share ghost stories and use their imaginations. There is a dark side to the story, although I laughed when Rudger bit off an imaginary's finger that attacked him. Perhaps I'm a classic person who has become desensitized by social media violence or perhaps I never forgot that these are children and this is all pretend. If you read other reviews, you'll see that some thought it crossed a line. Mr. Bunting reminds me of the Boogie Man stories my brothers would tell me. This is the type of story they'd make up to scare me. You'll have to decide for yourself.

The villain, Mr. Bunting, hunts those with powerful imaginations like Amanda's because they feed his insatiable hunger. He describes the flavor of swallowing imaginaries whose fear and panic add spice as he inhales them into his being. Afterwards Mr. Bunting feels "whole, complete, and satisfied." Mr. Bunting would be the equivalent to my childhood, Boogie Man, or perhaps he is a metaphor of an adult that has lost his or her imagination. The author suggests that a healthy person has a strong imagination while an unimaginative person has an insatiable hunger and takes the creative products from others to try and satisfy himself or herself. This type of person is shriveled inside and empty.

Imaginary friends are a part of natural child development and years of research encourages parents to support kids that create these imagined companions. Amanda's mom does just this in the story; whereas, Julia's mom does not. Julia is a friend of Amanda's from school whose mom freaks out when Julia starts talking to an imaginary friend, "Victoria." The mother's reaction is to bring Julia to a psychologist who "cures" her. I think most psychologists would enlighten the mother that this is a normal cognitive development in children, but the author would lose her foil and tension. I understand how it moves the plot forward even though it is unlikely. Later Julia's mom offers to give Amanda's mom the psychologist's phone number. The two parents represent opposing viewpoints but it is obvious which one the author supports.

Emily Gravett's illustrations are gorgeous and add to the story but her image of Amanda was older than the one I had in my head. In the beginning Amanda doesn't show empathy for Rudger or much self-awareness and she reminded me of the 6 to 7 year old children at my school. Also, my daughter's two year old friend had me picture someone younger. But once Rudger is threatened and Amanda sees it with her own eyes, then she became older in my head because she does respond with empathy. The author doesn't give her age, or at least I couldn't find it, but maybe that's good because kids pretend at many different ages and in different stages. I think this is a case where working with children went against me because I couldn't get a clear picture of the protagonist until well into the book and my distinctions are probably more sharply divided than someone that doesn't work with children every day ages 4-11. Her characterizations are good so it didn't distract me from the storyline.

Amanda's mom enters the world of make-believe when Amanda is choking. As soon as she believes then she can see the imaginary things that are hurting her daughter. Adults use their imaginations but on a limited basis compared to children. The real world makes it impossible to be in the land of make-believe as much as a kid. But it is an important quality to not lose. Rudger understands the temporariness of being an imagined being. "Imagination is slippery, Rudger knew that well enough. Memory doesn't hold it tight, it has trouble enough holding on to the real, remembering the real people who are lost." How true. As an adult, this slipping of my memories frustrates me more than anything. And childhood now has some big gaps for me. I know what I remember are fragments slapped together much like the patched fur of Zinzan.

Working with children allows me to see raw creativity on a daily basis. To be in a profession that allows the nurturing of this is satisfying and fulfilling. To let children explore, think, imagine, and generate new ideas brings an electrical current to the air where learning is fun and the future is full of potential. It is a constant reminder that creative potential exists in all of us no matter what the age and that a person doesn't have to be a genius to reach this potential. Instead, they need to take risks, be allowed to make mistakes, be supported, be encouraged, and let their imagination erupt. This is the message I got from this author. See what you think.

5 Smileys

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones

I admire authors that can pull off well-written epistolary novels. To find the right balance between epistle and narrative without losing the reader is tricky to say the least. Too many internal thoughts by the character and you threaten to bore the reader. Too many flashbacks and you lose the immediacy of the action. Too few points of view and you wonder what motivates the other characters. If I were a writer I would think the chances of writing a boring, passive story would skyrocket with this format. Not so for Kelly Jones. She manages the technique well creating a strong character voice with humor and using few words creating a strong narrative arc and setting. Not easy, but she kept my interest throughout the story. Some might feel ping-ponged by all the chicken facts. However, Jones nicely ties them in with Sophie's superstitions of what she thinks she is seeing and the scientific facts. A clever juxtaposition, but we will get to that later.

Twelve-year-old Sophie Brown has moved from Los Angeles to a farm that her family inherited from her mother's great-uncle. Her mom knows how to run a farm but she is working full-time and can't help explain things. Sophie's dad lost his job and he's somewhat useless at figuring out equipment or even pruning. Sophie's got more smarts doing research at the library and contacting experts by writing letters when she's faced with a problem. Her dad could learn a thing or two from her. Sophie explores the farm on her own finding a hen pecking around a hen house. She names her hen, Henrietta, and is off to the library to learn how to take care of chickens. Sophie finds an advertisement in the barn for the Redwood Farm Supply company and writes them an old-fashioned letter, when she can't find them on the World Wide Web, asking for advice on caring for chickens. When a woman shows up at the farm saying she lost a chicken that looks like Henrietta, Sophie does some research only to find out things are not as they seem. Sophie meets another kid her age and gets help solving her chicken mystery.

Sophie writes letters to her dead grandma and Uncle Jim. The epistolary format works well in this regard as it helps keep them alive and shows that Sophie really misses them. My mom died this summer and I find myself talking to her in my head, much like Sophie's letters. I do the same thing with my grandma who I was close to when she was alive. Kelly Jones creates a strong and funny voice as Sophie corresponds with them. They don't write back so it's important when the author adds the correspondence with Agnes at the Redwood Farm Supply company. Her letters are full of typos and there is something fishy about them even though her advice is sound. The author does a great job balancing internal monologue with action and dialogue to keep my interest going.

Sophie's mom is smart, her dad struggles with problem-solving, and Sophie dives right into things not feeling sorry for herself nor lacking courage to try new things. She's terrified of speaking but recognizes when she needs to say something even when her knees are clanging together. Her mixed heritage and the townspeople's racist stereotyping is subtly shown in different situations. Sophie doesn't take it personally. She expects it and recognizes that comments were made in ignorance versus maliciousness. The comments range from people assuming Sophie's mom is from Mexico when she was born in the United States and is as American as them or the librarian assuming Sophie is a migrant worker.

Sophie describes the chickens like magic. One floats. One disappears. One is like Medusa. Eventually, Sophie learns all the unusual characteristics of the chickens from scientific facts. I was a bit confused by this at first like Sophie but it becomes clear as the author shows right after each incident the reason it happened such as the floating chicken. If the explanations didn't come right away I would have been really lost and it helps setup for the twist at the end. I did think the motivations of the villain were not clear. The explanation at the end was somewhat weak, but it doesn't take away from the other fun plot surprises.

Our library doesn't have bucketfuls of children's epistolary novels. The few I can think of are "Dear Mr. Henshaw" or "Stargirl." Actually more picture books spring to mind such as "The Day the Crayons Quit" or "I Wanna Iguana" or "Dectective LaRue: letters from the investigation" or "The Jolly Postman." Teachers like the picture books as mentor texts so I might be more in tune with them than fiction. Whether the epistolary novel is hard to write or not, or few and far between, Kelly Jones hatched a winner with this one.

5 Smileys

Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

Rebecca Stead is brilliant with her characterizations and intricate plots that have you wondering where the heck she is going with her stories, and this one won't disappoint, but for me, it missed the mark. If I had not read her previous books I would have not slogged through the first fifty pages, but abandoned it. If you are a patient reader who is sustained by great writing and like details that show how complicated relationships are, then you probably won't have the problem I did. I'm just not patient with slow moving setups. That said, I really want to use this for book club to see what other students think of it. The depth of the messages range from self-identity, to changing relationships, to changing bodies, to social media messes, to feminism, to bullies, to choices... you get the idea. Themes pile on themes like a skyscraper.

Bridge, Emily, and Tab are seventh graders that have been friends since elementary school. They swore on a Twinkie that they would not have any fights but it has been difficult this year. The three are changing. Bridge survived a car accident in 3rd grade that should have killed her. She wonders why she didn't die. Emily is a soccer star that has matured physically and is getting attention from boys in school. Tab is inspired by a feminist teacher in school and breathes her ideals sometimes like an annoying puppet, sometimes foolishly, and other times with some wisdom. As the three change they manage to hold onto their friendship with respect and support each other in some trying situations.

An alternating viewpoint has a mystery narrator that has ditched school for the day and has done something terrible to another friend. Written in a second person narration, this story thread didn't hold my interest as much as the main story with the three friends. I admire Stead's daring use of the second person and actually I would have probably been even less interested in this mystery person had she used the third person narration found in the rest of the story. I just found the mystery character boring. She's skipping school so the tension is there. She's done something awful and I should be eager to find out what is was, but I never got vested in her crisis. The incident took too long to unfold for my bouncy brain. I was more interested in the three twinkle-toes and their drama.

And once the drama got rolling, boy, did the beat get loud. Em has an 8th grade boy that is interested in her and they begin by sharing photos of each others body parts. A foot. A shin. A thigh. But this head-and-shoulders-knees-and-toes song loses its innocence along the way and the two get in heaps of trouble when an inappropriate photo leaks to other classmates phones. This is one media blitz that Em did not foresee nor want and her friends are there sometimes helping and sometimes making the situation worse.

I'd be pretty dippy if I didn't mention some of Stead's great lines. Like I said she's a great writer... I just struggled at slipping into this storyline. I did eventually, but it was like a dragged-out warmup before soccer practice. "Life was a too-tall stack of books that had started to lean to one side, and each new day was another book on top." Or when Em is complaining about her four-dimensional zit. Tab asks if the 4th dimension means it smells to which Em replies, "Ew, no. The fourth dimension is time. This thing has been here for two weeks!" Done laughing? Here's a serious one about time, "Life isn't something that happens to you. It's something you make yourself, all the time."

Book reviews come down to opinions. I will read this novel again for book club. Who knows? Maybe the second time I will love it. I remember an English teacher telling me she hated Wuthering Heights until her third year teaching it. She said with each go-round she picked up on more and more themes, craft, and characterizations. I think that could be the same for me. It has been bonkers this fall, so all my interruptions and reading two chapters here-and-there might have kept me from getting into this plot as quickly as I normally do when cranking through books. Either way, it is worth reading and making your own conclusions.

Two fantastic reviews can be found on Betsy Bird's SLJ blog and Mike's blog.

5 Smileys

Gone Crazy in Alabama (Gaither Sisters #3) by Rita Williams-Garcia

Swirl into the Gaither Sisters' hurricane-like family and discover their crazy history, relationships, and untold secrets. You might want to read the first two books as it helps keep all the characters straight and understand their personalities. While the three bickering Gaither sisters and two great-grandmas drove me crazy in the middle of the story, it made the message even more powerful at the end; that oppression manifested in society is hard to overcome externally and internally. Set in the 1960s, it follows 12-year-old Delphine, the oldest of the Gaither sisters who is the self-designated referee between her two squabbling younger sisters as well as their judge and jury. It gets her in trouble, but the end shows her learning when to speak up or zip it. Words are powerful as Delphine realizes when she and her younger sister gang up on the middle one and when she watches her mother squash her usual recalcitrant manner in a tricky family situation.

Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern hop on a Greyhound bus in New York and head south to visit their grandmother, Big Ma, and great-grandma, Ma Charles, in Alabama. Delphine has always watched out for the youngest, Fern, and the two sometimes gang up on Vonetta who has little power as the middle child. The three must face Uncle Darnell who stole money from them (in book #2) and was mixed up in drugs. Delphine is trying to read the Classic, "Things Fall Apart," a story about an African man whose traditional way of life is threatened by colonialism, religion, and modernization. "Gone Crazy in Alabama" echoes some of the themes in "Things Fall Apart" brought about by the Vietnam War, feminism, and the counterculture of the Sixties. Uncle Darnell's problems metastasize after serving in the Vietnam War and Big Ma does not accept change easily whether its starching sheets the traditional way versus using a spray can or getting remarried. Quite a bit is going on in the subplots of this story while the main plot follows Delphine who is trying to understand her family's mixed heritage, the verbal sparring of her great-grandma's, and her relationship with her sisters.

Don't expect a nurturing family where the adults say the right things and people are always nice. The author captures the messiness of families. Delphine gets hit. This represents the times. When I grew up in the 70's, it was common for my friends to get "hit with the belt" or a spoon on their bottom and not a sign of inappropriate disciplining, like it is today. Big Ma threatens with a switch, but she also hits Delphine in the face even though she doesn't deserve it. As the oldest, Delphine is often blamed for her sisters actions and is expected to be the model example. The harshness of the adults made me cringe at times but it is authentic and not commonly found in children's literature. Foster or orphan stories with protagonists in harsh conditions come more to mind than a family like Delphine's. Don't get the impression that Delphine's family is not loving, it is obvious that they care deeply for each other, but their ways show the complexities of relationships and the adults make just as many bad decisions as the kids. And in many ways the adults are the worst because they are in the authority position and abuse it through intimidation. While I find this bothersome, it is reality.

Delphine's mother, Cecile, is one of the hardest adult characters to understand in the series. Her manners are sporadically selfish, destructive, loving, and nurturing. She left her three girls when Fern was a baby. Delphine took care of Fern and (in book two of the series) the girls meet their mother who loves them but who does not know how to nurture. She changes just a bit with Fern but it is Delphine that explains to her why Fern needs her to show outward affection to some extent. While she does this for Fern, she doesn't with the older two girls. She's a bit of a tragic figure like Okonkwo in "Things Fall Apart" and it is easy to see why she gave it to Delphine to read in book two of the series. Cecile is a poet and can hurt or heal people with her words. Hers is the frustrated voice of women in the Fifties that had less choices and freedoms; whereas, the Sixties was a time of big transitions and changes in societal norms. Cecile is smart and it is implied that she felt trapped in the role of homemaker. Raising three children was contrary to Cecile's goal of writing poetry in a quiet setting and her only way of dealing it was to leave her children.

*a few small spoilers* and here I thought I would have a review without them. Gosh darn.

The reader does not know Cecile's thoughts and Delphine is constantly trying to understand her biological mother. This confusion reflects a child's viewpoint as kids usually don't understand adult behavior. They are trying to figure themselves out in the world and have limited experience to make sense of it all. Again, this adds authenticity to the characters and plot. Sometimes Delphine hates Cecile, but most of the time she loves her.  In this third book of the series, Cecile exposes her great love for her children and is silent under Big Ma's verbal abuse rising above the anger being hurled her way. It shows Delphine a way to handle her sisters and helps her make sense of her world. The beautiful poem at the end shows a mother who loves her children in her own flawed way and knows the power of words. Even though the reader never gets Cecile's point of view, the author does a good job keeping her character consistent.

On the other hand, the sheriff in this story wasn't as clear. I wanted more information on him. His character was developed to show some interesting contradictions and there was some obvious history between him and Ma Charles and slavery. The blacks in the South lived in more fear than the North and this is captured in Big Ma's attitude. She tries to hide her hair that shows her mixed heritage. People that are oppressed are belittled, kept ignorant, and stripped of being human. They feel worthless and fearful. Big Ma represents this type of oppressed individual. She lives in fear of White people and the KKK. When JimmyTrotter talks about being a pilot, Big Ma says that coloreds don't fly and that their minds are not good enough to handle all the decisions needed to do so. She does not let herself dream or hope for a future that empowers black people. It keeps her from understanding Cecile whose job is publishing materials for the Black Panthers. The fact that Big Ma gets married shows a shard of hope that she might change. She's so hard-nosed about her views, that I doubt she'll change too much.

The generations after Big Ma show the changing attitudes in African Americans and the feminist movement in the Sixties that redefined women's roles in society. The time showed a relaxation in racism and sexism. While Cecile and Darnell reflect those changes, Big Ma is the era before and represents one who clings to the security and comfort of the past. Delphine's generation gets to try and make sense out of the mixed-up adults. Lucky them. No wonder Delphine struggles to figure out what oppression means from ironing sheets to how she treats her middle sister to how it has defined her mother. What I liked best about this book is ultimately, Delphine has to look inside herself and evaluate her own actions. It's easy to point the finger at others, but not so easy to examine our own biases and flaws.

5 Smileys

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor (Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #5) by Nathan Hale

I can't recall a graphic novel series where I've read five books and given them all four or five stars. This guy just nails 'em every time infusing humor with his own creative juices to create a fictional account of history that is loaded with accurate facts. How the heck he takes grizzly information and makes it entertaining is the work of an author that knows his craft. I didn't even realize this book was about Harriet Tubman. I know... black woman on cover with the word, "underground." Duh. Must have been the jet-lag. I miss details on a normal day. Toss in a 20 hour door-to-door trip with a 12 hour time gain and my brain responds like a zapped zapata. Wherever your lightning bolts zap, make sure they hit this winner.

Speaking of messed up neurons, zappings, and lightning, Harriet was a bit scrambled in her brains too after an angry overseer accidentally fast-pitched several pounds of lead into her skull while she was protecting another black man. The injury left her with narcolepsy, a disease where she nods off to sleep. Imagine being on the run with slave-catchers and dogs hunting you, and your guide or abductor falls asleep in the middle of it! Yet, Harriet was one of the most successful abductors and when she did nod off she'd wake up and tell people she had a vision from God and usually it was a warning that danger was ahead.

The author doesn't gloss over the brutalities and continues to use the hangman for comic relief. Different people in history used violence to try and end slavery and they justified killing others to accomplish their means. Nat Turner and John Brown died violently but they did inspire others to seek changes in laws. Hangman reacts to their violence in shock even asking if Nat Turner got knocked on the head with a piece of lead like Harriet. Their suicidal strategy to end slavery is ripe for discussions and can be compared with current events.

Harriet, on the other hand, started her career in rescuing people because she was trying to save her family. Under the ownership of an oppressive white family, she was abused as a young girl and mistreated by other owners. Her amazing ability to not get caught as an abductor, led to her helping other families and at one point she helped Colonel James Montgomery on a raid where 800 families escaped north. The Colonel used more violence with his methods, burning down homes and Harriet shows she wasn't opposed to it. Again, I think the contrast between violent means and the later civil disobedience during the 1960s is interesting. Is there a best way to enact change in societies? How do people get laws changed? If they don't have access, how do they get societies attention? These are just a few questions that electrically discharged in my brain. You could pair this with the picture book, "Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation" by Duncan Tonatiuh. A thunderbolt series.

5 Smileys

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon

"Castle Hangnail" by Ursula Vernon drips with irony and plays on fantasy conventions and tropes surrounding minions and evil villains. The guardian of the castle makes it clear from the start that he is a decent person although he looks forward to an evil master. As he waits for the new Master or Mistress he ticks off acceptable ones: Evil Wizard, Dark Sorceress, Loathsome Hag (although he's not thrilled about the slime she'll bring), Necromancer, Cursed Beastlord, Mad Scientist, or Evil Witch. The latter preferably with cats. He likes cats. When the ravens tell him the Master-or-Mistress is walking, Lord Edward, the talking armor, is suspicious but the guardian believes she is admiring the scenery. He is not the brightest of minions, but is caring, genuine, and hilarious. If you are looking for a fantasy that won't scare the snot out of your child, then take a look at this one. And it ain't all fluff folks. The protagonist, twelve-year-old Molly, learns about manipulation versus friendship and lies that hurt others. A bit like "Monster on the Hill" meets "Casper the Friendly Ghost," or if you like Eva Ibbotson or Jessica Day George's books then grab some popcorn and enjoy this one.

The minions at Castle Hangnail are proud of their place from the minotaur cook to the screwball goldfish. But the castle is in trouble. If the minions don't get a new Master or Mistress it will be sold and demolished to make way for an apartment complex. With the roof over their head and way of life threatened, they are more than anxious to meet the latest Master or Mistress. When Molly shows up, the only thing on her that looks evil are her boots. She's short. She's cute. And she's not properly unpleasant. In fact, she's nice! Eek! The hunchback guardian and talking armor are suspicious but not alarmed. Molly flatters Lord Tinman's fears away by calling him, "stalwart," but the guardian, whom she magnanimously names, "Majordomo," is still worried. If Molly can't complete a series of tasks given by the Board of Magic, they will lose the castle.

As Molly settles in, she makes friends, gardens, learns spells and slowly works through the tasks. She even gets the admiration of the townsfolk when she scares the evil developer out of town after turning a donkey into a dragon. All is well until the real Evil Sorceress shows up exposing Molly's lie and causing hurt with the friends she has made so far, especially Majordomo. The guardian also has to figure out who to be loyal to, a Mistress that is evil or one that is wicked? Molly distinguishes between the two in that wicked is scaring someone by turning them into an earwig, but evil is turning them into an earwig and stomping on them. Even the guardian recognizes that the Evil Sorceress does not love the castle or the minions and has to go.

Molly and the Evil Sorceress are actually friends and Molly explains to Majordomo how "She was mean to me, but then sometimes she'd be sort of nice too." As she thinks about it she realizes that the Evil Sorceress was only nice when she messed up which wasn't really nice at all. Then she thinks about how she'd take her magic and knows that her friend cared more about herself than Molly. Perhaps she wasn't ever a friend.

Molly decides that a witch takes responsibility for what she does and she apologizes to everyone for being an imposter and lying to them. They still accept her as their Mistress and they plan on retaking the castle. Majordomo accepts Molly even though he knows that he might lose the castle anyway. He likes Molly and gets over his fears to help her. Molly, on the other hand, must decide how to proceed with her friendship with the Evil Sorceress whom she now sees as the bully she is. When Molly is faced with getting revenge on the Evil Sorceress, she has to make a choice and between evil and wicked. An exciting climax along with plenty of laughs that is hard to put down.

5 Smileys

Masterminds (Masterminds #1) by Gordon Korman

This is one of those books that most people liked and I couldn't remember the title two days after I had read it. When that happens I sort of wonder if I was having a bad-book-reading day or jet-lag brain. I had been on a plane traveling for 20 hours so maybe the neurons were short-circuiting? Whatever the reason I found it hard to get into the beginning with all the multiple points of view, was reminded of Haddix's "Running Out of Time," in the middle and figured out quite a bit of the plot, and then was plain ole pissed at the cliffhanger ending. I'm not a fan of cliffhangers except if there is some sort of resolution. This end left me with more questions than answers. I wanted to take a bite out of the back cover and spit it out like a Doberman Pinscher. As you can see, that is NOT a healthy reaction when done reading a book.

Eli Frieden lives in the town of Serenity where there is no dishonesty and everyone is kind. The thirty kids that live there have everything they want materialistically and socially, but not everyone is emotionally healthy or content. Malik thinks the town is too happy. Amber tries too hard to be perfect. Hector gets into trouble following Malik. Eli wants to explore with his friend Randy. When Randy takes Eli to see a sports car, he falls mysteriously ill ending up in the hospital. When he wakes up, Randy has moved away leaving a cryptic message as Eli uncovers the mysteries of Serenity with his friends.

The beginning character development has many different points of view. I thought this sacrificed depth keeping me from identifying or caring about any of the characters. Eli seems to be the main one I was supposed to get hooked with but he was sort of boring and his internal thoughts too few and far between. Normally, I like Gordon Korman's character development. I think it is a strength of his, but this crew was too forgettable for me.

The plot had some twists, some conveniences, and some unbelievable parts. The start was slow as all the characters are introduced but then the action picks up and goes gung-ho. There is an adult that helps the kids, but it is unclear how much she knows about what is going on in Serenity. She added an interesting element to the plot that isn't resolved in the end. The main twist is a great premise and once that was revealed toward the story's end, I was really interested. I think the sequel will be much more engaging because it will address the origins of why the kids in Serenity are "special." At least that seems to be the direction the plot will go.

Gordon Korman is coming to our school next week. I am going to quick read, "Swindle," so I can gush about a book. The students love that one and "Gifted." This one fell short for me, but I am interested in the sequel. Although if it is written with a cliffhanger ending... well, just picture me chomping on the book.

3 Smileys

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

I did the hokey pokey after reading this book. I thought I had missed much of the imagery the first go around so I went at it again. Ever want to squeeze every detail out of a book? I rarely do, so I take note when it happens. This book satisfies on all levels: plot, character development, imagery, tension, pacing, word choice, and more. A rich and complex murder mystery, historical fiction, fantasy, and allegory that crackles with multiple themes: the nature of lies, evolution, being an oppressed female in the Victorian era, relationships that nurture or destroy, faith, and revenge. And that is just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Turn yourself around and pick up this one.

Fourteen-year-old Faith is moving from Kent, England to the island of Vale, but circumstances don't add up. Her family doesn't usually go with her father, Reverend Erasmus Sunderly, on scientific trips and their hasty retreat from Kent has left her "...full of questions, coiling and writhing like the snake in the crate." Faith and her seven-year-old younger brother, Howard, sense her parents fog of unsaid words, whispers, and knowing looks. The two wonder when a disreputable man approaches Erasmus after church and hints at some oncoming scandal involving her father. But their questions go unanswered because they are children and their parents feel the need to protect them from the truth. Faith decides she'll look for answers by spying and eavesdropping on conversations and she discovers that her father is involved in some kind of fraud.

Faith adores her father, but is a second citizen in the family because she is a female. She is bright but all eyes are on Howard, for he is a boy that can make a name for the family as an adult. A daughter, on the other hand, cannot and is dependent on men to provide her living expenses as an adult. Faith desperately wants to be a natural scientist but that is not the way of the world during the Victorian era. While traveling to Vale, the carriage gets bogged down in the mud with all of the family's luggage. Faith's father humiliates her by keeping an importance piece of luggage, instead of her. Forced out of the carriage Faith rummages through his trunks to try and find some answers to her questions.

She knows that she is not important to her family and that she is not respected in her culture because she is a female. It drives her crazy. Faith is extremely bright and self-taught. She wants to go to school but only Howard can because he is a male. She wants to discuss excavations and science with her father, but she can't because it is not proper for a female to show she is clever. She is given the smallest room in the house where they were staying in Vale and she is delegated to eat with Howard in the nursery instead of sitting with the adults. She wants to go to the Vale excavation site but can't because she is female. Whenever she does get to the site it is by manipulating the men around her. She knows Howard is afraid but her father wants him at the site so she offers to take her brother. She plays Dr. Jackler and Mr. Lambert against each other using their jealousies and egos to get her way. She's clever and quiet but simmering with anger. Her anger spins and grows inside her like a complex spider web building in strength and increasing in size as the story progresses. She is pressured to be an invisible girl by the adults around her, but she sneaks around and spies on people because it gives her some sense of power and control over her life.

Faith's hunger for knowledge is so great that she seeks out conversations and does not mind being told facts she already knows. When she asks Dr. Jackler if he is a craniologist he frowns at her and stops talking. She backtracks and asks him if that was the right word so he can feel superior to her in the conversation. He falls for the ploy and starts talking again. Angrily, Faith thinks, "Right now, somebody was talking to her about science, and if she sounded too knowledgeable he would stop." She remembers trying to impress her father and colleagues as a young child by being clever and meeting uncomfortable silences. Her mother calls her "absurd" when she asks if an artifact is a glacial needle. She thinks something is wrong with her and that she is a "freak of nature."

Faith is trying to fit in with society's image, definition, and socialization of women, but finds it impossible. "Rejection had worn Faith down. She no longer fought to be praised or taken seriously. Now she was humbled, desperate to be permitted any part in interesting conversations." Doctor Jacklers then goes on to tell Faith that men's heads are bigger than women's; hence, they are more intelligent than females. Twisting the knife deeper he adds that too much intellect in a woman's brain "...would spin and flatten it, like a rock in a scuffle." Faith is crushed by his comment because he uses the science of craniology to justify putting down females. She always thought that science did not judge her because of her sex.

Faith's mom, Myrtle, is a manipulative social climber who is not close to her husband. In fact she is afraid of confronting him. She won't even confront Howard on using his right hand over his left and insists that Faith do it instead. This setup is necessary to the mystery for Faith acts in ways that the parent should and it explains why Myrtle was afraid of going against her husbands orders. When the housemaid, Jeanne, is accused of reading her father's letter, Erasmus attacks Myrtle unfairly for Jeanne's behavior showing his disregard and condescension toward woman, "I know to my cost that there are limits to the female understanding." Myrtle shrinks under his scathing comments. Their marriage is one where his word is God and he does not seek his wife out for discussions.

*spoiler alert* I am abandoning my attempt of a book review. I want to use this for book club with grade 5 students so the rest is an analysis/summary that will trigger discussion questions as I won't read this until the spring with students. 

Jeanne is accused by Erasmus for a crime that Faith committed, but Faith doesn't want to tell her father because she is afraid of losing his love. When Faith sees Jeanne weeping and dismissed, she goes to tell her father the truth. Even though Erasmus is a Reverend he has no forgiveness inside him and he explodes in anger when Faith tells him she's clever. He berates her and says a girl cannot be clever or brave like a boy, but she must be honest; however, while honesty is essential for a woman or girl, it is not necessary as a man. He cruelly says, "You will never be anything but a burden, and drain on my purse" because she is a woman who will not have a career but must rely on a man's charity for room and board. He makes it clear that she is of no value to him unless she can "hold steadfastly to the path of duty, gratitude, and humility." Then he asks her help for a secret mission and tells her to lie and deny it if anyone asks her about it. Faith, being clever, sees right through his hypocrisy. And even though he is a jerk, it is clear Faith loves him unconditionally.

After their mission her father shows up dead. It looks like a suicide but clues don't make sense and Faith thinks he was murdered. Her mother tries to cover up the suicide and has the two men that retrieved Erasmus's body lie and say they found his body in the Dell and not on the cliffs. Myrtle gets the others to agree, but one won't lie if he has to swear on the Bible. The Bible represents truth in this story, but science and evolution suggest it has lies in it. The author uses these two opposing viewpoints to add great tension throughout the story in imagery and different theories about the creation of man. Faith hates her mother's lies, but starts to think about how she condemns her mother for lying and realizes that her high moral path is not being honest with her own self. "She could brush away her mother's lie like a cobweb. But how many of her own strands of untruth would she destroy with the same gesture? Besides her last experiment with truthfulness had burned her to the core." The latter refers to her going to her father and confessing that she snooped in his personal belongings and read a letter, instead of the wrongly accused Jeanne.

Jeanne spreads rumors and half-truths that suggest her father's death was a suicide and at the funeral the people block him from being buried. Jeanne is mad at Faith's family because her mother berates her for how she cut the bread and is not nice to the servants. Faith gets back at Jeanne by using Jeanne's superstition to pretend her father's ghost is haunting her. Women were not encouraged to think for themselves and Faith uses science to debunk superstitions, so while Faith has learned that the old wive's tales are hokey, most of the townspeople believe them. The author shows how local superstitious beliefs are easy for Faith to manipulate and how uneducated people, such as women represented in Jeanne, are one of the reasons for them believing in ghosts.

Faith notices clues that don't add up regarding her father's death and becomes suspicious. Why didn't her father shoot himself? He had a gun with him. Where was the gun? It wasn't found on his body. Why was the wheelbarrow in the wrong place from when they brought it back after their secret mission? What was the mysterious letter burnt in the fire? Faith discovers her father's secret mission was to hide a magical plant called The Mendacity Tree or The Lie Tree, a plant that grows when a person spreads lies. In return the person can eat its fruit and learn secrets. Faith thinks someone wants the tree and that is why he was killed.

Faith is given her father's notes that she hides and reads in secret to learn about the tree from a scientific point of view. She symbolically stores her father's notes in the Mandarin snake's cage. The author uses snake imagery to describe Faith's feelings and refer to the Bible's story of Adam and Eve. As a result, the story becomes a rich allegory of truth and lies or knowledge and ignorance. Faith's father writes in his journal how others wish to believe lies. "The will cling to it, even if it is proven false before their face. If anyone tries to show them the Truth, they will turn on them and fight them tooth and nail." When his vision showed him that man did descend from apes rather than the Creation story in the Bible, he did just that, he turned on it and fought it tooth and nail. He didn't want to face that the Bible might be false. Erasmus wanted scientific proof of the Bible, just like Faith wanted scientific proof that women were as important as men. Neither finds evidence, but while Erasmus gave into lies that led to despair, Faith gave into truth and moved forward with hope.

The author weaves the Bible's creation story in with Faith's life morphing religious images into her own unique creation. Adam and Eve had the perfect life in the Garden of Eden, control over everything and direct communication with God, but they were forbidden to eat from one tree: The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve was duped by Satan in the form of a snake to pick fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Eve were innocent and pure like children before picking the fruit, just like Faith is called “innocent and pure” by her mother when she refuses to let her testify at the hearing. Here, Hardinge plays on Victorian novels and Romanticism that focus on the child as innocent. Faith is far from innocent and is a knowing child that is "invisible" to adults.

Adam and Eve fell for Satan's lies and the result showed humans from then on had personal choices between good and evil, the experience of loss, and the death of their bodies. This is mirrored in Faith's father who chose wrong-doing and lost his career and life because he was self-delusional in his quest to scientifically prove the Bible was correct literally. He doesn't know that trees like the one in the Bible story show up in other creation stories, many much older than the Bible. Erasmus missed the symbolism in the Bible story that showed humans have choices that lead to consequences. People can choose to be honest or dishonest, they can murder or do good, they can help others or destroy them, they can use power for selfish reasons or not. Faith has a better grasp then her father's fundamentalist mentality because she has been marginalized by society and she has more empathy for the human condition.

Faith decides to use the Lie Tree to discover her father's murderer. When she first visits the Lie Tree it hisses like a snake. When she tells the tree her lie, that her father's ghost will seek revenge on those who wronged him, she methodically goes about creating it. She adds his tobacco to the fire to get his smell in the room, she switches the bell chords to sound like he is ringing for service, then she puts a gash in the curtain covering a mirror to keep his spirit from escaping and haunting the house. She plays off superstitions and likes the control it gives her that people don't suspect the shy, prim daughter of the household is the culprit.

Faith starts to examine clues to try and determine the murderer. She wonders why her father jumped off a cliff where a tree was in the way versus the side that had a clear shot to the beach below. She points out to Dr. Jackler that it was too clumsy for her father. When she asks about the bump on the back of her father's head and suggests someone hit her father from behind, Dr. Jackler condescendingly tells her she has read too many novels. At this point she realizes she must find the killer herself.

Faith is embarrassed by how she first approaches the plant using emotion versus the scientific method. She resolves to ask questions, observe, and use logic. Magic, she thinks, is an excuse to avoid looking for answers and cling to superstitions. After she studies her father's notes on the plant she determines that The Lie Tree is a symbiote, an organism that profits with another one from being in partnership with it. Faith takes her father's field kit and takes samples from the tree to study. She also takes a fruit that has grown from the lie she spread about her father haunting the house. She has a vision and discovers that Miles used her family to get access to the Vane excavation. She realizes that someone planned the murder and is linked to the excavation. She also wonders if the broken basket that almost killed her and Howard was intended for her father.

Her next lie is about buried treasure and duplicity that leads to theft, violence, and arson. The lies have grown beyond her control and are destructive and dangerous. Her first lie scares Jeanne so much she refuses to eat and it looks like she'll die. Jeanne is cruel and ignorant. She laughs when the townspeople were cruel to Myrtle. Faith chooses to seek revenge but changes her mind when she realizes it hurts her more than the victim. "A lie was like a fire, Faith was discovering. At first it needed to be nursed and fed, but carefully and gently. A slight breath would fan the new-born flames but too vigorous a huff would blow it out. Some lies took hold and spread, crackling with excitement, and no longer needed to be fed. But then these were no longer your lies. They had a life and shape of their own, and there was no controlling them!"

In an ugly confrontation, Faith gets attacked by her Uncle Miles when she won't give him her father's papers. Myrtle shows her tigress side and her character becomes more three-dimensional when this happens. She hits Miles with a poker to get him to leave Faith alone. Myrtle shows that she is not an idiotic shallow person, but one that will fight for her children and her own rights. She could have sided with her brother, Miles, because she did want Faith to give him the papers, but instead she protects Faith. Myrtle explains to Faith that when someone commits suicide the Crown takes everything they own, but that wouldn't happen if she gave her property to Miles. Faith is flabbergasted by such an unfair law. So often adults hide truths from children wanting to protect them when they should really be upfront and explain the situation. "The truth had been hidden from her, and she had been slapped for not knowing it."

Faith confronts Myrtle about everything she doesn't like about her personality: how inappropriate it is for Myrtle to be encouraging suitors right after her father's death, as well as, her vanity and her extreme attention she gives to her appearance. Faith is frustrated that her mother accepts Erasmus's death as suicide and won't listen to her suspicions. Myrtle explains her actions to Faith as fighting for her family's survival and using the only weapons she has - her looks. She describes women being on a battlefield with no weapons and unable to show they can fight. "But fight we must, or perish." Faith realizes that her comment to her mother and thoughts of hatred or "you disgust me" as being hypocritical like when her father scolded her for reading his letter. How could Faith claim a higher moral ground when her own actions had hurt people too? She slowly empathizes with her mother and by the end the two show that they can respect each others differences.

Faith kept telling Howard that ghosts only hunt bad people and if he was a good boy and said his prayers and copied his scriptures the ghost wouldn't haunt him. But Howard can't copy scriptures because he is a lefty. Children were forced to use their right hand and Howard had a jacket designed so that he couldn't use his left. Faith had to ensure he wore it under Myrtle's orders. Howard asks the Wise Man (or Faith) from the play theater they made if it was all his fault that his father was dead and haunting the house. When the Wise Man says "no" but that Faith will go to Hell because she has been bad, Howard rips the character up symbolizing the death of Faith's oracle. The Wise Man is supposed to tell the truth, but this is really a lie because Faith is the real voice behind the pretend character. Howard needs to see Faith as a woman and Faith needs to change from being invisible to the world to visible even though it will mean rejection from most. It takes courage to stand alone and pave new roads where none have gone before. Faith will do just that if she embraces becoming a scientist. Next, the two kill the lie that has been dodging Howard which is denying that he is left-handed. They rip up the jacket, showing they are prepared to accept the truth and the consequences.

In a subplot Faith becomes friends with Paul, the curate's son. He is only person she has confided her suspicions to and he helps her try and capture the murderer, but theirs is a rocky friendship. When Faith goes to the tree and Paul follows her, she confronts him with a gun and says she will shoot him. Her lies have twisted her so that she can't see right from wrong. She has two choices: harm Paul and embrace evil or darkness or enlist his help. She realizes that she has never lied to Paul and thinks of the different types of lies: kind lies, frightened lies, predatory lies, half-lies, self-delusional lies, and more. She realizes that her father didn't help Winterbourne and let him die because he coveted the tree. She is disillusioned that her father, the man she idolized and compared to God, would choose to let a man die rather than help him. It is difficult when children realize their parents are human.

When Faith tells Jeanne that she was the ghost, Jeanne responds with anger and hatred. Faith does not and it shows her growing up and taking responsibility for her actions, as well as, letting go of her anger. She says that she got a "tiny ribbon of herself back." Faith chose to not be like her Father. She does not want someone to die because of of her lies. Then she concocts a way to get the murderer to confess with Paul's help; however, she is wrong in her deductions and almost dies as a result.

Faith shows great empathy with her enemies as well as those she likes. She realizes that the murderer is similar to herself as Faith understands "calculated, cold-burning revenge." Again, Faith chose to not give into her anger to the point of taking another life. Faith cleverly escapes but allows herself to get captured when she realizes that the rest of her family's life is in danger. She shows that she is not so different than Myrtle who was doing all she could to ensure that her family would have a roof over their heads and food on their table. The character arc of Faith shows a girl seeking revenge, finding it within her power to really harm those who have wronged her, but rejecting it for compassion and love.

In an exciting conclusion, Faith thinks about how she is not credited for her part in solving the murder and becomes invisible again. She is not full of anger any more and she resolves to fight for her rights even though she knows she will be ostracized and isolated. She also reflects that her father didn't forgive her but she forgives him. Forgiveness is the step to letting go of hatred and not seeking revenge. Myrtle supports Faith at the end with her notion to be a scientist. Myrtle does not feel sorry for herself and regrets that her husband never opened up to her. When Myrtle starts concocting a plan to get Clay, Paul's dad, her late husband's rectory position, Faith is no longer disgusted but sees Myrtle as a "perfectly sensible snake, protecting her eggs and making her way in the world as best she can."

Hardinge's book shows what happens when people try to oppress other people and don't treat them with respect, how relationships filled with lies and anger are destructive, and how each person has a choice to do good or evil in the world. The complexity of the book and weaving of themes and genres is quite brilliant and if you have read this long-winded analysis or summary, then you might feel like you did the hokey pokey and turned yourself around. I know I have. I've never picked a Carnegie Medal contender before but I hope I see this one get some kudos.

5 Smileys