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| Author: | Jane Urquhart |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2006 |
Three plot arcs in which:
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Or, can it be that by living in the world, we change it so radically that we can't accurately remember it? | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Map of Glass, A | |
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| Author: | Diana Wynne Jones |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2006 |
In this, the latest episode in the life of Cat Chant, Cat has truly settled in to preparing for his future. The story reveals that he has come far in his apprenticeship to Christopher Chant, (the current Chrestomanci -- Chief Enchanter) and his family. Cat has learned how to learn from a very gifted nine-lived enchanter who is (obviously) very talented, but possibly not as talented as Cat is. Throughout the book, Cat works on identifying skills Chrestomanci has that Cat still needs to learn, on when to solve problems on his own and when to call for help, and on how and when to intervene in the lives of the less gifted inhabitants of the universes he is destined to govern. Like the plots of many other stories in the Chrestomanci series, the plot of this novel explores the problems of a gifted child (in this case a girl) who is made to feel inferior because she is special. | |
There are many thrilling touches in this tale, which started out "less slowly" (as my 12 year old says) than other Chrestomanci books and then -- got better and better. Two of our favorite were when:
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Pinhoe Egg, The: A Chrestomanci Book | |
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| Author: | Carole Matthews |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2005 |
"There are pink tents and pink high-heels on the cover of that book, Mom. Are you reduced to reading chic-lit?," my most opinionated daughter demanded. Don't know how exactly I ended up reading With Or Without You, but there I was. And, once you start reading a book like this, it's easier to just finish it than it is to put it down. And, yes, the standard required elements of chic-lit are provided:
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The thing that struck me about the plot was that the author must have been able to pay for at least one, possibly several, trips to the Himalayas, perhaps from the profits on her previous pink best-seller and she did clearly learn from those trips. And, no doubt, she with clear conscience deducted the full costs of all those trips once the book was published. So, not the best book I ever read, but might prove inspirational for aspiring young women authors. -- Emily Berk | |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: With Or Without You | |
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| Author: | Rohinton Mistry |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2002 |
Poverty and religious fanaticism nearly destroy a Parsi family trying to care for a grandfather dying of Parkinson's disease in Bombay. Wrenching, but the characters are so endearing that I found myself alternately clutching the book, putting it down in horror and sadness, then grabbing it up again to find out how everyone was doing. | |
Highly recommended for very sophisticated young readers (teens, perhaps), especially those with an interest in the history and culture of modern India. | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Family Matters | |
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| Author: | Diane Duane |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
Fourteen year-old wizard Nita's parents are worried about her "relationship" with her wizarding partner (a boy), so they ship her off to Ireland, where she gets into much more harrowing situations (and a romantic one as well) than those she might have experienced if she'd just stayed put in the USA. My daughter and I loved the way the tiny Bard Cat interacts with her less gifted human allies. The seeming contradiction between the way wizards look -- ordinary -- and what they have to do -- extraordinary -- might be heartening to a child who feels that his or her specialness is not reflected in appearance or circumstances. And, the cameo appearances by Celtic mythological beings are fun. The discussions of Nita's romantic thoughts (nothing graphic, but probably not of great interest to younger children) and the responsibilities that go along with great power, and the excitement, mayhem, and death that inextricably mix with battle might make this book appealing to adolescent readers, rather than to younger readers. | |
My 12 year-old and I enjoyed reading this not very challenging, but plot-intensive story. We did feel that we might have liked it even more if we'd at least read the first book in this series first. One of my cynical thoughts on reading this book was that Duane almost certainly was able to deduct a summer's vacation or maybe even a home in Ireland and use this book to prove that it was business-related. Must be nice to be a successful author. -- Emily Berk | |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Wizard Abroad, A | |
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| Author: | Anne Tyler |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups |
| Genre: | fiction, historical |
| Year of publication: | 2004 |
Thing is, most marriages in the USA are "amateur", aren't they? In fact, most decisions made by anyone, especially in his or her personal life, are going to be made amateurly, and some better than others. And just because a decision is sudden, that does not always mean that it was wrong. | |
After reading one of Anne Tyler's novels, we know so much about the characters that we feel that, if the character walked past us in a shopping mall, we might recognize him or her. And Tyler doesn't have to tell us much about each character to work her magic. This one wears a red coat; that one has a limp. In this way are decisions made and in this way are people known, both in Tyler's novels and in real life. A heartbreaking occurrence in many Tyler novels is the sudden disappearance of a child or teenager, through death or other circumstance, and the repercussions of that disappearance on the parents. The disappearance described in this novel is cruel, believable, and utterly wrenching. -- Emily Berk | |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Amateur Marriage, The | |
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| Author: | Diana Wynne Jones |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2001 |
A cheerful, easy to read, but very complicated, backwards fairy tale, in which the protagonist is the oldest of three stepsisters. Nearly every character in this story, major and minor, wears at least one or two disguises. In some cases, the disguise is of his or her own choosing, but not always. | |
For example, our young heroine Sophie has fooled herself into believing that she'll never accomplish anything, since, in the world in which she grows up, eldest sisters never do. This belief keeps Sophie from realizing that she does magic nearly every time she does anything. Meanwhile, Sophie struggles through the story in the body of an old woman because of the misdirected curse of a witch. Although the words of the story are not too challenging, and the ideas are gentle, the complications of the plot may keep even the most sophisticated minds engaged throughout. -- Emily | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Howl's Moving Castle | |
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Some creative twists on myths and fairy tales…
When my daughter and I chose to read East, we did not know it was based on the title story in the collection East of the Sun and West of the Moon  Twenty-One Norwegian Folk Tales (EOTSAWOTM) and were unfamiliar with all of the Norwegian fairy tales in it.
We loved reading East, which describes in great detail the life of Karen (well, she’s called Karen in EOTSAWOTM; in East, she mostly goes by Rose), who is implored by a mysterious white bear to leave her family and come to live with him in his magical castle far away. East hews to the plot of the fairy tale, but adds evocative details, including fully realized supporting characters such as an adorable, shy troll who helps Rose defeat the Troll Queen and an Inuit wisewoman who equips Rose with the skills and equipment to survive in wild, cold Trontenheim. East also gives voice to the passionate Troll Queen, the White Bear, and Rose’s father and brother.
Reading EOTSAWOTM after reading East got us thinking about how fairy tales differ from novels. One obvious difference is that in a fairy tale, the plot/moral is what’s important and all else is de-emphasized — supporting players, for example, and so, their deaths or disappearances are not necessarily cause for dismay so long as the hero and heroine triumph in the end.
In East, we get to know all of the characters, and the happily-ever-after is tinged somewhat with regret for the losses of the \”minor\” players we’ve come to love.
The moral lesson of the original folk tale, EOTSAWOTM, is that the union of a man and woman needs to be closer than the the relationship of the woman to her family. The woman owes her unquestioning love, loyalty, and trust to the stranger, not to her mother, for example.
This moralizing is softened a bit in the treatment in East, but is still there.
On the other hand, the variety and humor of the Norwegian folk tales, and the wonderful illustrations by the D’Aulaires make it a collection that necessitates re-reading.
In EOTSAWOTM, as in Nancy Farmer’s Sea of Trolls, the Norse gods and their temporal neighbors, the trolls, unwillingly share the lands of snow with the more modern people of the North.
Farmer’s tales, like fairy tales, adhere to strict conventions, except that, unlike in fairy tales, in Farmer’s universes, humanity always trumps greed. Which is why, in Sea of Trolls, the Beserker Viking heathen finds common cause against his own Norse gods with the Christian child. And that’s also why, in The Eye, The Ear, and The Arm, the woman known as the She Elephant, who is willing to enslave and exploit her own people as well as kidnapped innocents, becomes nearly heroic when she recognizes true — inhuman — Evil.
Here are more of our reviews of other takes on myths and fairy tales.
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| Author: | Diana Wynne Jones |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2001 |
Many of the stories in Wynne Jone's Chrestomanci series explore the problems of gifted children who are made to feel inferior or taken advantage of because they are special. This happens to the protagonists of The Lives of Christopher Chant and Charmed Life, for example. But in the society evoked in Witch Week, anyone identified as a witch is burned at the stake. Which puts the students at the Larwood House School, all of whom are orphaned because of a family connection to witchcraft, in a desperate position. Many of them know they are witches. And although it's exhiliarating to know that one has great power, they know from experience that the penalty for getting caught, or worse, being turned in by one's peers, is death by fire. Spoilers below... | |
If my daughter and I had not already read several of the earlier Chrestomanci books, I don't know that we'd have enjoyed this Lord of the Flies meets The Fountainhead for the younger set as much as we did. When Chrestomanci, he of the perfectly-creased gray suit and impeccable hair, finally makes his appearance, our horror and dread turned to giggles, even while the poor, witchy students retained their mortal fear for quite a few more pages. But then, once again, there's that ending. In this case, the remedy is to make the gifted students accept that they need to make themselves just slightly less gifted, at witchcraft at least. So they do. Kind of like the protagonist in the movie, Pi, albeit not quite as bloody. Sigh. I'd vote for The Fountainhead instead, but that is more difficult to read. | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Witch Week | |
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| Author: | Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire |
| Illustrator: | Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, fairy tales |
| Year of publication: | 1939 |
Beautifully illustrated, interesting collection of Norwegian folk tales. | |
Get the hardcover, because you'll want to re-read these stories again and again. See also: East, for a novelistic treatment of the title story. | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Twenty-One Norwegian Folk Tales | |