May 28th 2007
Who would like this book? Teens who enjoy creative mixes of reality and fantasy, with real characters dealing with real problems encountering alternative worlds filled with creatures from myth and legend. If you’re also a baseball fan, that’s a plus.
Why? Ethan Field has recently lost his mom to cancer, and his inventor dad has taken Ethan and moved to Clam Island, an island that is located somewhere near the San Juan Islands. When I started this book, I was excited about the main characters, the setting, the plot motivation, and the creative allusions to legend and myth. Sorry to say, at around page 250, I started thinking less about what I was reading and more about the next book that I want to read. I got lost in too much cleverness and not enough meatiness. I’d love to talk with someone who disagrees. Coyote, Sasquatch, giants, goblins…it’s a good mix, especially with the international rules of baseball, but it just couldn’t hold me.
The details: 500 p. 2002.
May 28th 2007
Who would like this book? Teens (and adults) who like Peter Pan, pirates, swashbuckling adventure. Do you like Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow? Read this book and see if James Matthew (Capt. Hook) reminds you of him.
Why? Long black curls that grow back immediately when cut, yellow blood, keen intelligence, and irreverent humor: you know it’s going to be trouble when James Matthew, the illegitimate son of an upper-class British blueblood, begins his college career at Eton. The adventures that James (or King Jas as he’s known to his fast friend, Jolly Roger) stirs up are exciting, challenging, and satisfying. It’s a page turner with depth in its main character and a twist on the “bad guy.”
The details: 337 p. 2005.
May 28th 2007
Who would like this book? Adults or teens who are interested in Buddhist teachings, peaceful mediation, and the power of compassion.
Why? Satish Kumar has written a challenging sutra, a teaching, in the tradition of Buddha. A violent criminal (Angulimala) terrorizes the countryside with his violent mayhem. When he encounters the Buddha, who invites Angulimala to kill him and then engages him in enlightening discussion, Angulimala is transformed and takes a new name, Ahimsaka, as he pursues the peaceful path of a monk. The book is full of significant teaching and would be good to have a copy to read and reflect over frequently. An example is Ahimsaka’s teaching on pain:
“Sister, pain is part of life. By accepting it, its intensity is reduced. Do not resist it. Resistance to pain brings tension and anxiety, anxiety leads to fear. Fear of pain is worse than pain itself. This pain will pass. There is no need to fear, you are not alone, I m here. I offer you my like and my love for your well-being.” (p.111)
The details: 121 p. 2004. The physical book is an apt wrapping for its message. It’s beautiful.
May 14th 2007
Who would like this book? Adults or teenagers with a sense of the power of imagination and story as a way to explore grief and loss.
Why? David, a twelve-year-old British boy, is mourning the death of his mother on the eve of WWII. When his father remarries and has a son with his new wife, David burns with hatred and retreats into his books and imagination. The line of reality begins to blur, and the reader is not jolted when David finds his way to an alternate reality in which heroes, monsters, kings are real and fairy tales are twisted expressions of David’s fears. John Connolly is Irish; this novel fulfills every promise of the magical story-telling of the Irish. It’s an Alex Award book (adult book with teen appeal). It won my heart and soul.
The details: 339 p. 2006. Alex Award Nominee
May 11th 2007
Who would like this book? Teens who want a fast-paced book that places a schizophrenic teenager in the middle of a robbery.
Why? Zach, a schizophrenic teenager who is waiting at a coffee shop for his mom to pick him up and give him his medication, inadvertently foils an attempted robbery by two teenagers and ends up as their hostage. Zach’s hold on reality is slippery, and his narration of the events of the robbery and his interactions with the two robbers give an honest depiction of the effects of schizophrenia. Each chapter of his first-person account of the robbery begins with excerpts from Zach’s psychiatric records, and these records give the reader a complete picture of Zach in his current situation. The last page of the book directs the reader to Terry Trueman’s website for more information about schizophrenia, but the link is no longer there. Another option for more information is the National Institute of Mental Health: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/schizophreniamenu.cfm
Details: 117 pages; 2003
May 11th 2007
Who would like this book? Teens that are interested in the reality of mental illness.
Why? Poetry conveys meaning intensely. In choosing verse to tell the story of her older sister’s mental breakdown and hospitalization, Sonya Sones is able to powerfully convey the intensity of the experience from the point of view of the little sister. The fact that the story is based on Sones’ own life makes it even more effective in portraying the isolation of mental illness. The poems weave together a full picture of the effect of her sister’s breakdown: on her sister, their family, her friendships at school, her view of the world. The conclusion presents much hope, and she concludes with contact information for where to get help for mental health.
Details: 149 pages; 1999
May 11th 2007
Who would like this book? Adults or teens who appreciate literary classics and know that with some books, reading slowly is the key.
Why? Carson McCullers became a literary sensation with the publication of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter when she was 23. Set in a small southern town in the 1930s, Heart unfolds with the heartbreaking, intertwining stories of a deaf mute, Singer; the owner of the cafe, Biff; a drunk, Jake; an African-American doctor, Dr. Copeland; and Mick, the teenage daughter of the family who runs the boarding house in which Singer takes a room. Each of the characters is struggling in some way for self-expression and to overcome isolation. McCullers’ meticulous prose and construction of the novel leave me breathless. As the point of view travels from one character to another, the style adjusts to that characer’s voice. Her prose mitigates the depressing aspects of the novel. Though the characters fall short in their efforts at making connection, McCullers acheives a a masterpiece of comunication.
Details: 359 pages; originally published in 1940
May 11th 2007
Who would like this book? Teens and adults will love this story of Taylor Greer and her adopted daughter “Turtle.” It’s a sequel to Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees.
Why? I picked up Pigs in Heaven before reading The Bean Trees and fell in love with Taylor, her mother Alice, her boyfriend Jacks, and her illegally adopted daughter Turtle. It would be better to start with The Bean Trees, but I wasn’t confused by Pigs. Kingsolver takes her time to build solid characters through quirky but believable plot twists, engaging dialogue, humor, and compassion. Minor characters, especially Barbie and Cash, bring color to the story. Kingsolver drives to the essential conflict between Taylor and Annawake Fourkiller, the Cherokee lawyer who claims that Taylor belongs with the Cherokee nation, with humor and dignity. Woven seamlessly into the novel, Kingsolver presents Cherokee history and traditions, and the issue of adoption outside the tribe. I highly recommend this novel and hope to get back to The Bean Trees soon.
Details: 352 pages; 1993