The Archivess

I am the Messenger, by Marcus Zusak, @ 2005, Knopf Publishing.  A Printz Award Honor Book

Once again I am taken by surprise about how much I like this book. I was lucky enough to ‘read it’ on CD, in the long commute down Route 7, and I think that made it especially good.  The audio version uses an Australian actor who captures the lackadaisical voice of the main character Ed perfectly.

Ed is a young man, 19 years of age, who is smart enough but totally without direction. After witnessing a foiled bank robbery, he begins to receive playing cards that appear to give him messages about how he should intervene in other peoples’ lives.

As weird as it sounds, this story keeps you listening and you really care about what happens to Ed and his friends.  This is one of those books, like the CDs that NPR sells, that you could call a “Driveway” book: something you do not stop listening to when you pull into the driveway at home. While it has a message, it is a message that you don’t resent. You want to hear it.

I loved it and would recommend in highly to both adults and teens, and would especially recommend the audio version.

Things Hoped For,  by Andrew Clements, @2006, Philomel

You know, there is this whole subplot in this book that completely threw me and made it not fun to read. This is listed as a mystery for young adults. And not only is it a mystery, it is a very well-written book about a girl struggling with the senior year auditions of a talented musician. But the subplot of invisible people is just plain weird and detracts mightily from this good story.

After I had read it and wondered what the heck this was all about, I went back and read Things Not Seen, which is apparently the prequel. But that is a stupid book. Just plain stupid.  So let’s take the book without the invisibility thing and enjoy it.

Gwen is a prodigy on the violin who is lucky enough to have a grandfather who lives in New York. She is able to leave her small West Virginia town to come to New York to go to school and concentrate on the violin at a private school for music. Now she is getting ready to do her senior auditions for the coveted place in college music conservatories. When her grandfather disappears, leaving a message on the answering machine not to worry or try to find him, Gwen has to keep her balance and both find him and stay afloat emotionally so she will not blow her auditions.

Then Robert appears, the kid from Things Not Seen. Enough said.

I liked the story without all the weirdness and stupid subplot. I wonder what kids will think. There are books which ask you to suspend belief, and then there are books that are just plain dumb. This is the latter.

Bread and Roses, Too by Katherine Paterson, @2006, Clarion Books

Because of an interesting find of my own in the family papers I wrested from my sister this summer, I find myself more and more drawn to historical fiction for young adults. And of course, who can resist seeing Katherine Paterson still has the touch? Well, she does.

I listened to this book on CD, which made me concentrate more on the plot than I do when I read. and I am glad I did. This is the story of the Bread and Roses strike of 1912, and how it affected the children of Lawrence, Massachusetts, who were evacuated to other union families in New York and Barre, Vermont.

Paterson’s story centers around Rosa, a very smart girl whose mother and sister are part of the strike, and Jake, a street boy who pretends to be Rosa’s brother so that he can leave town for better things when his alcoholic father dies.

This book makes you go and read about the strike like all good historical fiction should–it makes you want to learn history. The only thing I did not like was that Rosa seemed to be so so obsessed with her family that she could not even enjoy her time in Vermont. But that is probably a true characterization of many little over-responsible girls, so Paterson still can draw people well. I just didn’t like her.

This is a very good book that will probably win many awards next year. Highly recommended by me! 

Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause, @ 1997, Delacorte Press

Don’t like vampires, werewolves, or science fiction.

But, this was well-written, and I can see why some people like it. It was kind of fun to try and figure out where around here this was supposed to be set–Riverview, Maryland–Potomac?

Vivian, a young female werewolf, struggles to try and live a normal life as her extended wolf pack family recovers from a devasting fire where her father, the leader of the pack, was killed. As the pack trieds to regroup and select a new leader, various members of the pack jockey for new positions of leadership.

Vivian falls in love with a human boy (meat-boy) and tries to figure out if he could possibly understand her life, and what it means to her to be a wolf. Her family warns her about getting involved with such a boy, and their warnings come true.

I find it hard to believe that this book is allowed in our conservative school system, so I look forward to the debates. Lots of sex, violence, and general mayhem. Interesting.

Endymion Spring, by Matthew Skelton, @ 2006, Delacorte Press

Oooh, I liked this book!

I thought it would be just another Harry Potter knock-off–a poorly-written fantasy for kids, with a British theme and a goal of making money. But I liked it! It is the author’s first book, and it shows, but it was good.

The premise is simple–two young Americans stay in Oxford while their mother, estranged from their father, tries to complete research that she and the children’s father started while they were students at Oxford in college. And the Oxford librarian babysits them all day, which I find very strange. The boy Blake, (main character, of course) finds a magical book that creates intrigue and mayhem, resulting in the discovery of secrets and the reuniting of their family.

But there is more to it than that. It is based on the back stories of Gutenberg and his Bible, and Faust and the selling of souls. Although I consider myself fairly well-read, I had to go and read up on Faust before I could go on. If only kids are inspired to do the same!

I also had to go and actually look up a word in the dictionary.

I think that good readers would really like this book. The author kind of slammed the little sister for being smart, and portrayed her as a whining chicken, but maybe he will wise up next time. I’ll give him one more chance to make his female characters good. I would recommend this for both teachers and students, and enjoyed it very much.

Note: some of those tricky little topics like devils and souls are featured in this–beware!

Stand Tall, by Joan Bauer, @2002, G.P. Putnam’s  Sons

This is a book that would appeal to young teens–the main character is a 12-year old boy who is six foot, three and a half inches tall, and growing. His nickname, appropriately so, is Tree.

But it is not a story about a freak. Tree’s parents are getting divorced, and as the youngest of three brothers, he spends every other week at alternate parent’s houses. His older brothers are reacting to the divorce in their own ways, and Tree feels responsible for holding his Dad’s house together.

Tree’s grandfather is a Vietnam veteran who has to have part of his leg amputated due to non-healing injuries. As his grandfather learns to walk again, and as Tree and his family try to heal, they are beset by sadness–the illness of their faithful dog, a severe flood in the town, and the final dissolution of their family.

This is not the typical quirky upbeat Joan Bauer book. As her books do, it comes to a resolution, but it is a sad one, and maybe this will touch a chord in a child’s heart as he or she struggles with sadness in their own life.

Part of Me, by Kimberly WIllis Holt, @2006, Henry Holt and Company

Here’s what it says. Guess why I like it?

“Tracing a family’s roots is like taking a journey through the years. In the case of one Louisiana family, that journey can be charted by the books they’ve read and loved.”

Wow, maybe that could be the hook I use to organize my huge family history. Not to write a beautiful book like this, but to hang the story on. Hmmm.

Anyway, this is the story of 5 generations of a Louisiana family and their struggle to grow up, using books and the bookmobile as the foil and centerpiece of the story. It could appeal to both boys and girls, and could introduce a little of Louisiana to kids who only see it as devastated New Orleans.

It starts out in Oklahoma and moves quickly to Louisiana bayou country, and there it stays. Of the 5 stories, my favorite is that of Kyle–and this one would be the most appealing to kids today.

Try it. I think you’ll like it.

Here’e the other thing I like. She says she has lived all over the world, but Louisiana remained her emotional home. I have one of those!

Her other books have won multiple awards:

Keeper of the Night

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town

Dancing in Cadillac Light

and My Louisiana Sky

Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher, @ 2001, Dell Laurel-Leaf

Wow, I like this book! This is an author I had never heard of, which makes me wonder how many other people I am missing. Guess that’s what this class is about, right?

While the premise seems a little too good to be true, it could happen. This very smart together mixed-race adopted teenager, who could be a star athlete but chooses not to, decides to take on the whole Letter Jacket culture at his high school. He creates a swim team from a group of loners and weirdos, the people who also could become serial killers, and helps them all earn athletic letters.

It is great. As you read, you root for the team, and watch them overcome the obstacles that constantly come their way. The back story of his family, and especially that of his dad, is very moving.

Not entirely believable, but a great story that is very well-written.

Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, @2000, Scholastic Books

This is a beautiful book written by Ms Ryan from her grandmother’s stories about her journey from Mexico in the early 1930′s. Esperanza moves to California with her mother and the family servants after her father dies. They are forced to leave the famliy ranch when the uncles take over, leaving behind a life of ease for a life of harsh work in a farm labor camp in the fields of California. Esperanza saw herself as a princess in her former life, and has to learn the rigors of manual work the hard way.

But this is a story of family members who love each other and friends who help and support each other. How Esperanza takes care of her mother, and how they are reunited with her grandmother are parts of this story that you will not forget.

In times like this, with immigration on everyone’s mind, a book like this serves to humanize the issue and remind us that we are all here to help each other.