Sam and CY students & staff are reading…

Review by Spencer

Who would like this book? People who enjoy a sad story about a little girl growing up in China with unloving parents.

Why? A little girl named Adeline Yen is the child of a women who died a few weeks after Adeline’s birth. She lived with her Grandma, Grandpa, her loving Aunt Baba, her father and all of her siblings. Her father remarries to a 17 year old women who only loves her birth children. Adeline is separated from her aunt and joins many boarding schools. In each school she is one of the smartest children. She is inspired by her grandfather to write a play and submit it to a contest. After a few months of waiting to see if she won, her grandfather died.. and a few months later she won the contest. Her (normally not caring) father is so proud and he allows Adeline to go to medical school (unlike Adeline’s older sister). She grows up to be a doctor and a writer.

The details:205 p. 1999   Submitted by Spencer

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Who would like this book? Readers interested in China, Chinese, and/or the true story of triumphing over adversity.

Why? American readers are all familiar with the story of Cinderella, but most of us are not aware that the Chinese Cinderella story of Ye Xian predates the earliest Italian version (1634) by eight hundred years. Adeline Yen Mah shares this information in an historical footnote at the end of Chinese Cinderella, her autobiography. She uses the Cinderella story as a lens through which to show her mistreatment as she grew up in China in the 1940s. Tragically, Adeline’s mother died of fever a few weeks after she was born. Her family blamed “Fifth Younger Sister” or “Wu Mei” (Adeline’s family names) for their mother’s death and scorned her. When her father soon remarried, her stepmother Niang escalated this mistreatment in ways that will bring the sensitive reader to tears. Wu Mei suffers one injustice after another but always seeks to rise above it by working hard at school and keeping hope of a better life when she is grown. She has some encouragement along the way from her Aunt Baba and her frail grandfather Ye Ye. Because she grew up during World War II and the communist takeover of China, her story touches on important events in China’s history. Adeline also has great reverence for the Chinese language and, through the voice of Ye Ye, describes the wonder of Chinese characters. As an inspiring story of triumphing over injustice and as an introduction to China’s history and culture, Chinese Cinderella is worth reading. It is also a Battle of the Book selection for 2009-2010.

The details: 205 p. 1999   Submitted by Samrarian
A Battle of the Books 2009-2010 selection

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Who would like this book? Anyone who has any interest in dance, especially ballet. Also, people who like the graphic novel format will want to read this book.

Why? The combination of energetic illustrations with the author’s personal story of growing up  with a passion for dancing is highly effective and engaging. Sienna ‘s story starts when, at the age of six, she finds that she loves to leap and spin. When she sees Maya Plisetskaya of the Bolshoi Ballet, she becomes inspired to try out for the American School of Ballet. Her story is full of the painful challenges of being dedicated to dancing and also includes her the joys and sorrows of her thoughts, her friendships, and her family. This book is a quick read that stayed with me. I could feel her passion.

The details: 64 p. 2006  Submitted by Sam

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Who would like this book? This book is for those people interested in archeological mysteries. ( about 200 pages) It is also on the verge of a Biography, but is, still completely interesting.

Why? Digging For The Truth offers great insight on the dangers behind the scenes of the History Channels High scoring series, also called Digging For The Truth. It follows Josh through his life and how he became the host of Digging For The Truth, and what that itself entitles. It is truly a great real life adventure story, that made me dive back into mystery.

The details:  208 p. 2006     Submitted by Chance

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Gabcast! Library Podcasts #2

Who would like this books? Anyone – teens or adults – who read and enjoyed Beverly Clearly’s books (books like Henry Huggins or Ramona Quimby) when they were younger. It would also be a good read for people who are interested in becoming writers or for people who are interested in daily life in the 1920s and 1930s.

Why? Beverly Cleary is a very remarkable person and writer with an amazing memory. She is also honest and does not edit uncomfortable events out of this highly readable autobiography. I have to admit a special connection to her story. I grew up in Portland on 77th street a number of blocks south of her house, and I went to Camp Namanu and have visual memories of most of the landmarks that she describes. Even though I am a couple of decades younger than she is, her descriptions of neighborhoods, libraries, farms, and schools brought back personal memories for me. This memoir is not only engaging to read as the story of her life through her graduation from Grant High School and her move to California for college, it is also a valuable source of information about coming of age in the 1920s and early 1930s. The precision of her memory astounds me. Throughout the book, she sprinkles lists of the books that she and her friends were reading, along with their music, their dances, and their classes in school.Her assessment of the boys throughout the upper elementary grades is hilarious. Her honesty about a dangerous uncle and about other family difficulties are noteworthy. The story reminds me of her books, simultaneously heartwarming and heart-crunching,with hilarity woven into the telling of everyday events. My only wish is that she would have kep on going through her college years. I went to her website (http://www.beverlycleary.com/beverlycleary/index.html) for more of the story. This book is a great choice for the 2008-09 Battle of the Books list.

The details: 344p. 1988

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