Tales from Silver Lands by Charles J. Finger won the John Newbery Award in 1925. I didn't know anything about the book when I picked it up other than it's Newbery, but I must say, I was quite pleasantly surprised by what I found.
I have always loved Fairy Tales. Like, a lot. If you remember, a few weeks ago I talked about my first experience reading Grimm's Fairy Tales, which helped cement my love for reading them as well. (If you are really interested, in my blog, and you can go back and read it.) So, imagine my delight when I realized this was a collection of 19 fairy tales recorded by Finger from South America. Although I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about other countries and their rich cultural histories as I'd like to be, I'm always open to learning more. And I think you can learn a lot about a society from their fairy tales and children's stories.
This was a real treat for me to read, and one I'm definitely looking forward to adding to my shelves and rereading, not only for myself but also to read to kids. I used to read some of the Grimm's fairy tales to my little brothers as a bedtime story, and I'd love to be able to add these tales to stories I can read/tell to young kids.
Although some of these stories might be classified as more mythology than fairy tale, I felt the same way reading these as I did reading the classic fairy tales. There's that sense of magic and possibility, where you know anything can happen, and although things might get a little rough along the way, and there probably won't be super happy ending, the good guys do win in the end.
I also noticed that the emphasis of each tale was placed on the struggles of each character rather than the resolution. The ending is always over so quickly. Normally, this is something that is a major no-no in writing, I mean, seriously. Who wants to read a 400 pg. build up to a 4 paragraph resolution?! But it seems to work in fairy tales. The stories aren't about what happens, it's about learning how to get there. We see their struggles, know their challenges and then we get to know they end up relatively alright in the end.
This is definitely a book I would recommend. The writing is a little older, but to anyone who is a fan of fairy tales in their original setting (or people who want to write a fairy tale retelling but are wanting new material) this is a great book to read and one that I strongly recommend.
Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath by Stephanie Hemphill received a Printz Honor award in 2008, and Carver: A Life in Poems by Marilyn Nelson won a Newbery Honor in 2002.
Both books are biographies written in verse. When I first heard about this idea, I was intrigued. Although I don't always love it, I do enjoy poetry and I've found that I really, really enjoy novels written in free verse (like Ellen Hopkins). I was very interested to see how reading a poetic biography would turn out, and I'm sorry to say that I was quite disappointed.
I read Carver first and I really expected to enjoy myself. By the time I got around to Sylvia, I was no longer expecting much. Some of the poems were thoughtful and insightful and made for interesting reading, but I never felt like I was really gaining that much knowledge about the lives of either GW Carver or Sylvia Plath. I would have much read an actual biography of each individual that then had these poems interspersed throughout the pages. In each book, there were brief notes offering a little additional insight into the person or time period the poem addressed, and I feel like I learned more about their lives, thoughts, and emotions from these tiny blurbs than from the poems, which I doubt was how I'm supposed to feel.
I feel like I'm missing a lot of essential information that is important for a biography to offer. I don't really feel like I know much more about these two people than I did before picking up the books.
Although I didn't particularly enjoy reading either 'biography' I believe I can understand why both the Printz board and the Newbery board decided to award these books an Honor. It is a unique idea that changes the way we view and understand historical figures. But, I don't think they did their subjects justice. Instead of being more interested in the story of their lives, or coming away more knowledgeable than I was before, I merely felt annoyed.
I don't know of any other biographies written in this style, but I believe I'm safe in saying, I won't be reading them.
John Lennon: All I Want is the Truth, a Photobiography by Elizabeth Partridge is not a book I would have chosen to read on my own. I read it because I want to read every Printz Honor and Award, and this book won the Honor in 2006.
I've never been interested in the personal lives of celebrities. I just don't care. So, I wasn't expecting to love this book. And I didn't. But, that was probably more because I wasn't particularly fond of the subject matter than because of the writing or presentation of Partridge. The book is presented as a photobiography, which I generally enjoy. But, John Lennon was not really a person to admire, and I find it hard to enjoy reading any biography if I don't much care for the subject.
I really enjoy the music of The Beatles. I grew up listening to their music with my dad, and my favorites are always able to bring a smile to my face or call up a fond memory. And, there is no doubt about the fact that they changed the face and future of music. But, liking their music doesn't mean I'm terribly interested in their personal histories.
And really, John Lennon is not a person who made it easy to like him. I felt like most of the information related about Lennon was negative. He was moody, felt a huge sense of entitlement, just knew he was so misunderstood, and felt that he was above normal standards of conduct, even before they became super famous. It just got worse after. He wasn't terribly loyal, and turned away from the people who loved him most. He's not a person to look up to or aspire to be like. I find that I respect his music, but have very little, if any, respect for who he was.
Maybe that makes me a bad person, or maybe I'm just another one of those who misunderstands, but I don't really care. He wasn't a nice person, and I don't feel like I have to respect that.
I've decided that awards committees really like the photobiography. There are several photobiographies on the Newbery list, both winners and honors, and then this. The book is well written, well researched, and the information was presented well, but I don't know why it would be widely read, unless you are a huge Beatles or Lennon fan, or are like me and trying to read the whole list.
The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman is an in depth look at the life and career of Marian Anderson, and what impact her career had on the 1960s Civil Rights movement.
Before picking this book up, I didn't really know who Marian Anderson was. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't have told you who she was. When I think of the Civil Rights movement, I think of the main people associated with that — the ones you learn about in school — Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and the Montgomery, AL bus boycotters, the lunch counter sit in crew and Malcom X. I'd never thought much about performers and the impact they might have.
Marian Anderson was a young black woman who loved to sing. She sang in her church choir, and after a series of sacrifices made by both her and the members of her community and congregation, she was able to begin a successful singing career in the time when very few people who weren't ethnically Caucasian had a chance. Her abilities as a vocalist and her wide international fame made it possible for her to take a stance on equal rights and have people listen.
As her fame grew, she refused to sing for segregated audiences, and when Constitution Hall, owned by the Daughter's of the American Revolution in Washington D.C. refused her the chance to preform because she was black, she and her good friend, Elanor Roosevelt (the first lady) staged a free concert on the steps of The Lincoln Memorial.
She was an incredible woman, who didn't apologize to anyone for who or what she was. She had a firm sense of self, and a strong character. Reading this book, I was amazed at the impact she had on moving the Civil Rights Movement forward.
This isn't the first Freedman biography I've read, and I have to say that I like his style. It's easily accessible for younger kids, but contains enough information that they are a great starting place for adults as well. He uses a lot of photos to illustrate his points, and they really help to bring the subject of the biography (or photobiography) alive.
I read this book because it won the 2005 Newbery Honor Award, but it's a great book to read if you are interested in her life, classical singers, or the impact of some of the lesser known, but still influential, members of the Civil Rights Movement.
This clip is a video of Marian Anderson singing Ave Maria in German.
Although I do really enjoy reading book lists, and various award winners, you can't always trust the committees who pick the books. Sometimes, you get a 'bad' on in the bunch. Gay-Neck, the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji is one such book.
While not a horrid book, Gay-Neck is also not a book I would recommend or reread. I picked it up because it is on the Newbery list, and it is one of only two books thus far that I truly disliked. (The other being Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field.) It's been a little while since I read this one, so my memory of specific details, but the way the book made me feel is still pretty fresh. I was reorganizing my books for storage (sad, I know) and I saw this one, and decided to write my review now and get it over with while I was thinking about it...
The book is about a young boy in India who trains pigeons around the time of World War I. Gay-Neck happens to be one of his prized pigeons. Initially, our narrator is the young boy. Through him, we learn about the training procedures for carrier pigeons and what his life is like. Later in the story however, we get to hear from Gay-Neck himself as he goes off to war and a few other places as well. I have never been a big fan of animals being the ones to tell a story. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, I rather dislike that.
There wasn't much that I liked about this book. The writing never grabbed me, the story never interested me, and the characters never moved me. I don't know what I'm supposed to feel when a pigeon starts making eyes at this pretty lady pigeon, but I definitely missed that one.
I respect this as an award winner, because there are very few award winners that are so obviously set in, or about other cultures beyond America. Not to say that the book has no merit on its own, but I believe the glimpse into another culture played a large role in earning this book the golden sticker. I can't think of another Newbery book set in India or written by an Indian author right off hand, and it's always nice to be able to add a bit of culture.
Although I wasn't a fan of this book, I can understand why some view it as a distinguished contribution to children's literature, and I've even been told that there are people out there who truly enjoyed this book. I haven't met any yet, but I'll let you know if I do! I think that this is a book with a very limited audience, and sadly, one of the Newbery winners that has not stood the test of time well.
how i live now by Meg Rosoff won the Printz Award in 2005. Beyond that, I didn't know much about this book when I picked it up, other than it takes place during an almost apocalyptic war. I must say that when I started reading, I was not expecting this book.
Our narrator is Daisy, a 15 year old from Manhattan who is coming to England to visit some cousins to escape, what in her mind, is a toxic environment (wicked and pregnant step-mother). At first, I almost felt like I rattled around this book. There is very little standard sentence structure, punctuation and grammar. It took me a few pages to really understand the style of writing and at first, I didn't like it. It's written as a stream of consciousness narrative, so we are actually 'listening' to Daisy's thoughts. And remember, she's a 15 year old from Manhattan who may or may not be slightly unbalanced.
As I mentioned, I didn't originally like the writing style. This was my first experience with this style of writing and it took some getting used to. Once I got involved in the story though, the prose flowed wonderfully and felt insanely realistic. I felt like I was connected to Daisy in a way that rarely happens with a character. I understood her because I was experiencing her.
It was an interesting way to learn about a character, because there wasn't really an introduction in the normal method. We learn about Daisy as she thinks certain details. We don't get a lot of back story on her family, because she doesn't like to think about them. We don't know a lot about her English cousins, because she doesn't know a lot about her English cousins. There are certain facts about Daisy that are never really specified. They are hinted at through conversations with other people and later on in the story are addressed a little more, but as long as Daisy chooses not to think about/focus on them, we don't get anymore information. We are completely in Daisy's mind.
I will admit that I was a little bit weirded out by the incest. Daisy and her cousin Edmond fall in love, and do very little to stop or hide their feelings. Their relationship was incredibly intense. It's hinted throughout the whole story that there may be something a little bit extra in the way these three English cousins are able to communicate, and you see elements of this in Daisy's interactions with all three cousins, although none more so than Edmond. After Daisy and Edmond are separated during the war, they maintain an almost telepathic connection allowing them to know the other is safe, and deliver comfort when needed. I will say one thing though — this relationship was vital to the story. It was a necessary part to truly advance the plot and the characters in the way required. Rosoff uses this as a device but she doesn't let it become overwhelming or take control of the story. It is there, but it isn't extreme and it's definitely far from the level of V.C. Andrews. (That stuff is just creepy to be creepy.)
I know that this review is a little all over the place, and I apologize for that. However, that's a little bit the way this book makes you feel, so i don't really feel too bad about it.
I definitely recommend this book, although I will say that this is not for the faint of heart or the squeamish. This is a story about growing up and discovering who you are and what is most important in life. But, it takes place during a war. War is never pretty, and Rosoff makes no attempt to spare readers from the horrors of a major war. The way the characters handle the side effects of war felt very real, very raw. My heart hurts for these children.
This isn't a book that's going anywhere for me for a while. It's definitely one that is going to stay with me for a long time. Daisy really gets into your mind, just as you get into hers. It's a book to make you think, to make you questions, to give you hope, and to make you reevaluate everything you once thought important. This is one of those books I imagine you love a little more every time you read it. So what are you waiting for? Go grab it!
Figgs and Phantoms by Ellen Raskin won the Nebery Honor in 1975. Four years later, she won the Newbery Award for The Westing Game. I read The Westing Game several years ago, and I really enjoyed it. It was wonderfully complex and the characters were simply delightful. (More on that later). So, I was actually quite excited to read Figgs and Phantoms.
Alas... Figgs just didn't work for me.. It was quite the disappointment. I started this book, not really knowing what to expect about the story itself, but looking forward to it, because I had so enjoyed The Westing Game. Sigh.
Figgs and Phantoms is about a family, The Figgs, who are all wildy quirky, except the youngest daughter/niece, Mona. She is decidedly normal, hates her family's weirdness, and is terribly embarrassed by what she believes the people of her town, Pineapple say about all those crazy Figgs.
I thought that Raskin was trying too hard with this novel, and as a result she missed the mark just about everywhere. Every single character has something weird, wacky, crazy, or unbelievable about them. All of them, except Mona. (She's just bitter about life and everything in it. Rather than make her quirky, I'd say she's just a teenager.) It got to be a little bit too much for me. Her mom, Sister Figg Newton (Newton being her married name) tap dances. All the time. Everywhere. Her uncle Truman, the human pretzel and sign maker (but horrible speller). And the list goes on and on and on. There was too much for me to believe it. Sometimes I'd look at the book and want to shout at the author — Enough already! I get it! They are weird. Can we move on please?! — Or something like that anyway...
The majority of the book focuses on Mona and her angst. I think it's supposed to be about her struggle to find her place in life, and accept her family as they are but it always just felt like angst to me, and not the good, realistic kind. Just the really annoying, get over yourself already type. Raskin makes hints about what she is supposed to be learning, and she gives us subtle clues here and there, but by that point, I was so fed up with Mona's whining and general annoying-ness that I didn't care. I just wanted the book to end. The only person Mona feels close to is her Uncle Florence. Everyone else is ridiculous, embarrassing and needs to just stop so that Mona can stop feeling embarrassed to go out in public. But, Uncle Florence is sick, and getting sicker.
The Figgs believe that when you die, you go to a place they call Capri. It's been written about in a journal passed down the family. The family meets together periodically for a night of reading from the family journals about Capri, a ritual they call 'Caprification'. Mona, or course, barely participates but when her uncle Florence dies (not really a spoiler, because it gives strong and obvious hints on the back cover) Mona knows she must find Capri so she can either bring her uncle back, or live with him in Capri. Even more weirdness ensues.
Nothing in this book was very believable to me. I had a hard time believing that much of what happened, and in the order or way they happened would be possible. Very often we were taken from point A to point F and just expected to believe that this was the natural progression of events, never mind the fact that we missed points B-E in the process.
On a positive note, I did enjoy several of the characters and their quirks, especially in the beginning. The secondary characters are often delightfully fun and I actually really enjoyed their time on the page. Truman's misspellings were fun (even one sign where he misspells his own name) and I especially liked the idea of Romulus and Remus Figg, the Walking Book of Knowledge and the Talking Adding Machine, respectively. I did wish the secondary characters had been more a part of the novel, and had been more fleshed out. I don't think I would have been as annoyed by the amount of quirks these characters had it they had also had more personality. But no. They were written as if their unique trait was all there was too them. It was how they were defined, described, and we didn't get to see any more than that. I do recognize that much of this is probably because that is how Mona sees them, but knowing why doesn't make it any less annoying.
All in all, I'd probably say this is one to skip. I don't know that I would really recommend it to very many people. I read it because I enjoyed The Westing Game, and because, as you (should) know, I'm trying to read the Newbery list. But, it's one I feel I could probably have done with out. There wasn't anything really special about it. The rating came really easy too. I finished the book, looked at it a moment, and then said — Meh.
If you've read it, I'd love to hear what you thought about it! Let me know!
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick won the Caldecott Medal in 2008. As I'm sure most of you are aware, the Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American Picture Book for Children. It's akin to receiving the Newbery Award for children's books, or the Printz Award for young adult.
Hugo Cabret was an especially interesting win for the Caldecott, because although it does contain a lot of beautiful illustrations (284 in a 533 pg. book) it's a 533 page novel. The front jacket describes this as a book "combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film" which "breaks open the novel form to create an entirely new reading experience."
The dust jacket does not lie. Reading this book was unlike anything else I've ever read and it was wonderful. I was hooked from the first page, "A Brief Introduction by Professor H. Alcofrisbas" to the last page as we visually watch the moon as it disappears from the sky. The illustrations are... beyond brilliant. Designed to look like sketches, they are surprisingly complex and deceptively simple. As I mentioned in my review of American Born Chinese I am increasingly shocked by what you can portray and how much story you can tell with just one picture.
The story itself was wonderful. Hugo Cabret is a wonderful character just trying to find his place in life. He is a young boy living alone in the middle of Paris in the 1930s, trying desperately to survive. He has no money, but he feels bad every time he is forced to steal something to survive. He is such a good character. He is so confused and desperately searching for something tangible to bring him hope. I loved the secondary characters as well. Questioning and spunky Isabelle, hurting and bitter old Georges, and loving and protective Jeanne. Each of the characters are incredibly well developed. Even the minor characters are given more depth than we normally see.
This book was marvelous. It's definitely one that I am going to want on my own shelf sometime soon. It's beautifully illustrated and wonderfully written. This is a book that can be enjoyed by people of any age, at any stage of their life. I'm enjoyed reading this one so much, that I am definitely looking forward to seeing what else Mr. Selznick has to offer the literary world.
Becky over at Escapism through Books has given me The Prolific Blogger Award! I'm pretty excited! It's been a great week for me! So, here is the award!
"A prolific blogger is one who is intellectually productive, keeping up an active blog with enjoyable content. After accepting this award, recipients are asked to pass it forward to seven other deserving blogs."
Isn't that nice?! So thank you Becky! It definitely made my day!
Here are the blogs I think are also deserving of this award:
1 — After the Fall 2 — Roof Beam Reader 3 — The Next Best Book Blog 4 — Dad at the Chalkboard
Head over and check out their blogs! I know I'm supposed to be giving it to 7 bloggers, but I wanted to get this posted today, and I'm super busy. These are the blogs that immediately came to mind, which mean, of course, that they are extra great! Maybe throughout the next few days I'll add more (no promises though.)
Sometime between beginning my post last night and waking up this morning, I've actually been awarded The Versatile Blogger twice more.
Don't they look swell? I'd like to send a lovely thank you to iamjenai over at Bookingly Yours as well as Christina who blogs at Books Are Life. Thank you much to both of these lovely bloggers!
Because I don't have it in my to come up with another 7 interesting facts and 15 bloggers so soon, I am going to take the easy way out and direct you to the two other posts accepting my greatness.:) Yesterday's post is viewable HERE and if you'd like to go back that far, my first award is viewable HERE.
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang won the Printz Award in 2007. Before picking up this book, I had never before read a graphic novel, so I didn't quite know what to expect. I was hopeful though, because I had been hearing a lot of really great things about it. So, what did I think?
I was pleasantly surprised that I really enjoyed reading this as a graphic novel. The illustrations really added a lot to the reading. I don't know why, but I expected the illustrations to be a nice addition to the story, but not necessary to the story itself. I started reading it that way to, giving the illustrations only a cursory glance. It didn't take me long to realize that I was missing a lot of the story that way, so I slowed down and gave each page of illustrations as much attention as I gave the words. And all I can say is, Wow! It amazed me how much emotion and action you can get across to the reader in one small frame. That one illustration is able to convey an emotion or message, thought or feeling in just seconds, while it would have taken several sentences or a paragraph to give that same feeling using only words.
I really liked the graphic novel aspect and will definitely be searching out more in the future. However, I had also heard a lot of positive comments from people who simply gushed about this book. This was harder for me, because I didn't love this book the way so many others seemed to. The book uses three seemingly unrelated storylines to tell us our story. It begins with my favorite of the three, the tale of the Monkey King. He becomes a master of all sorts of Kung Fu, but is unhappy because the other gods will not accept him as an equal, no matter what he does, because he is a monkey, not a man. Next, we meet our main character, Jin Wang. He struggles to find his place, just wanting to fit in and be accepted for who he is. The final storyline (and my least favorite) is young Danny and his cousin Chin-Kee. Danny is the all-american high schooler; good looking, basketball player (bla bla bla) while Chin-Kee is the epitome of the negative Chinese stereotype.
The three stories are told individually, and at first there doesn't seem to be any connection between the three. As we approach the end of the book, the three story lines do pull together to create one larger story. I really liked the idea of pulling all three story lines together, but didn't love the way it happened. Almost all my disappointment in this novel revolves around the Danny and Chin-Kee storyline. I just feel that I missed a little bit of what they were actually trying to say. I understood the message and the importance of that segment, but there are a few details left over that weren't really clear to me. I don't want to ruin the ending, so I won't specify but a little more clarity would have been nice. A few things at the end just seemed to happen. Almost like they popped out of nowhere. (I'm looking at you Wei-Chen) Some of it was just a little too much for me to comfortably grasp, and I wasn't really able to give it the necessary suspension of disbelief in its entirety.
Overall, I must say that I did really enjoy American Born Chinese. It was a very interesting glimpse of what it must be like to grow up different from everyone around you, especially when it's very likely they already have a preconceived (negative) notion about you. There are a lot of life lessons hinted at in this book that many people would do well to learn.
Anyone else read this one? Tell me what you think!
A while back, I received my first blogger award, The Versatile Blogger from Becky at Escapism through Books. Within the past ten days, I've received three more!:) I'd been trying to decide what to say about myself, and who to tag, when I received another one! (And then another!)
So, because I'm lazy, I'm going to combine all three awards into one post, and just give 7 facts once (but I'll make them really good ones) and 15 blogs I think you should check out!
The rules are: 1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award 2. Share 7 things about you 3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers you have recently discovered and think are fantastic! 4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award! So, I would like the thank Savannah at Books with Bite for my second Versatile Blogger award (the first this time around). She did give it to me a while ago, but I've been out of town, and pretty busy. Next, I'd like to thank Kelsey, over at Kelsey's Book Corner for my the second award in this wave. Finally, I'd like to thank Lily who writes the blog After the Fall. Thanks so much to each of you ladies for passing on this award to me! It definitely helped make this week special! Because it looks cool, here are each of my awards:
So, 7 facts about me:
~*~ My BS in Psychology. And you know what? I actually like Freud. I think he's brilliant and has a much better grasp on human nature, behavior and motivation than most people give him credit for. I really believe that most people who hang out in the Freud bashing camp don't actually understand what he's talking about. So there.
~*~ When I know I'm going to need to have one of those type big conversations with a person (confrontation, criticisms, What the *&^# do you think you're doing?! etc.) I will often have the entire conversation with myself first so that I can be prepared for whatever you are going to throw at me. You think you can catch me by surprise? Ha! I already planned for that contingency!
~*~ School has always been really easy for me. Tests too. I 'blame' reading. I think learning is easier for those people who have been long-time readers. (Preaching to the choir about that one, I'm sure.)
~*~ It gives me warm fuzzies to see (or hear from) people who don't read all too often with a book, especially when I am the one who recommended/provided that book.
~*~ Although I like movies, I don't watch a lot of them. I have a hard time blocking out that 2+ hour time slot to devote to a movie. I read instead, because I can pretend I'll only read one chapter (maybe two) before I get on to whatever else I really should be doing — even though I almost always spend longer reading than I would have spent watching the movie.
~*~ If I don't like what's happening in my book, I'll set it down for a minute, 'fix' the scene in my mind, so the characters do what I think they should have been doing, and then I'll keep reading, much happier.
~*~ I like Basshunter, which is Swedish techno. I believe this guy is one of those YouTube sensations, but it's crazy fun and I like it!
Thanks again to you three bloggers for recognizing me, and now for the blogs I would like to highlight: (again, it should go without saying that I enjoy the blog's content, and the extra is just something fun to pique your interest)
1) Cynspiration because I like the crafty stuff. And the Bowser costume?! So cool! 2) Courtney Reads because her about me says 'book maniac' and all I could think is (song) She's a maniac, maniac!... (end song) 3) The Book Coop cuz I enjoy the owls. 4) Harmony's Radiant Reads because she says awesomesauce. 5) The Nerd's Wife because I think she's funny. 6) The Perpetual Page Turner because I want to and I like her flower. 7) Potter, Percy and I because it makes me really happy that she's a reader so young. 8) The Allure of Books because let's be real — books are alluring. 9) A Book Obsession because I have one too. 10) In the Which Ems Reviews Books because I enjoy her smiley faces. 11) Booksploring because I just found it, and I'm liking what I see. 12) Oodles of Books because I like the word oodles. 13) Cracking Spines and Taking Names because of the 7/30 post. 13-13-13... I love it! 14) Blkosiner's Book Blog because her header makes me think of a present. 15) A Chick Who Reads because I am too!
So there ya go. Check out these great blogs and let me know what you think! And, stayed tuned, because I have another post for another award coming soon. (Beams.)
When Shlemiel went to Warsaw and Zlateh the Goat are both collections of short stories awarded a Newbery Honor in 1969 and 1967 respectively. They were written by Isaac Bashevis Singer, a Jewish author well known for his short stories, who received the 1978 Nobel Prize in Literature.
These two collections included several stories that I really enjoyed and many that I didn't much like. Several stories in each book took place in the city of Chelm and mentioned the 7 City Elders (described by the author as fools). One of the residents of that city is Shlemiel, who appears in several stories and is also, undeniably, a fool. Although I like to think I have a sense of humor, and I enjoy a good taste of the ridiculous every now and again, sometimes, it's just a little too much. The two collections contained just a few too many stories dealing with the utter foolishness of these people for me to truly enjoy the reading. To give a quick example, a short story from Zlateh the Goat entitled The Snow in Chelm begins like this:
Chelm was a village of fools, fools young and old. One night someone spied the moon reflected in a barrel of water. The people of Chelm imagined it had fallen in. They sealed the barrel so that the moon would not escape. When the barrel was opened in the morning and the moon wasn't there, the villagers decided it had been stolen. They sent for the police, and when the thief couldn't be found, the fools of Chelm cried and moaned.
For some, I'm sure these stories would be very enjoyable and amusing tales. However, reading story after story involving more and more absurdities became just a little too much for me. Between the two books, almost half the stories dealt in some way with the preposterous happenings of the residents of Chelm.
However, I generally found the stories that did not mention Shlemiel or the Elders (and people) of Chelm to be very entertaining, and often delightful. I especially enjoyed the stories, Rabbi Leib & the Witch Cunegunde, and Shrewd Todie & Lyzer the Miser and the message of Utzel & His Daughter Poverty from Warsaw. My favorites from Zlateh were the stories Fool's Paradise, and Zlateh the Goat. These stories are all clever and well written, often with a warm moral, subtly teaching the reader ways to improve and become better without beating you over the head with the moral.
For the most part, I enjoyed reading these stories. It's always nice to get a new look at a culture I know very little about. In the foreward to Warsaw, Singer mentions that while each are retold using his own language and ideas, several of the stories within came from legends and stories told by his mother and grandmother. I love the different folk tales from various cultures, so that was fun. I did enjoy reading these short stories, and am glad I picked them up.
In my about me page, I mentioned that I love working my way through book lists. I have several that I am actively working through and many others on the side that would be nice to get to, one day. I thought I would spend a moment and introduce those lists that are an active part of my reading patterns.
THE NEWBERY AWARD
In 1922, the American Library Association (ALA) began awarding The John Newbery Medal to what they determined to be the most distinguished contribution to children's literature for that year. Because of the multitude of amazing books written each year, the committee is also allowed to acknowledge those books which did not make the final cut but are still worthy of recognition. These are given The Newbery Honor Medal. While not a exact system, and each year there are and will be people who disagree with the novel chosen as the recipient, I appreciate the effort made to recognize these books and make them more accessible to children. If you are a recipient of the Newbery Award, your book will likely never go out of print (and it's kept some doozys around) and most libraries and bookstores will carry a copy. As of today — 6/28 — I have read 67 out of the 89 winners. I'm almost there! I intend to read and own every Newbery Winner. I'm not as committed to reading every honor (there are almost 300) but I'd like to read many, if not all of them at some point. THE PRINTZ AWARD
In 2000, the ALA added the Michael L. Printz Award to recognize those books which exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature. Like the John Newbery Award, each year a committee chooses which book most fits this criteria as well as recognizing the 'runners-up', which are awarded a Printz Honor. Because it's a newer award, I am aiming to read all of the winners and honors. I'd like to own many of them, but am not as committed to owning every one the way I am with the Newberys. So far, out of 11 winners I've read 3 and I've read 8 out of 41 honors. I've got a long way to go on this award, but I'm enjoying the process.
THE BBC'S THE BIG READ In 2003, The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) conducted a survey to determine the nation's favorite books. The list is in 3 parts — The top 100 favorites, top 200 favorites and the top 21. The top 21 books were ranked by popularity, with the understanding that each author could only be represented once among the top 21 favorites. My focus is on the top 100 books, although it may shift to include the top 200 once I complete the first bunch. So far I've read 29 1/2 (got stuck getting all the way through The Lord of the Rings trilogy) but I've got several more on my immediate to-read list.
Eilis O’Neal’s debut novel, The False Princess, isn’t directly based on a fairy tale, but has that “feel” to it as you read. It’s about a princess who finds out that for the past sixteen years, she was a decoy for the real princess, who had been cursed at birth. It’s the complete reversal of tales where young maidens discover that they are princesses. Full of its own magic and lore, this novel has already been nominated by The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) for its annual Teens’ Top Ten Award. For a review of The False Princess, please visit A Backwards Story or Books From Bleh to Basically Amazing
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
1) What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them? I loved Beauty and the Beast and The Snow Queen. The first because I liked the fact that Beauty saw through the Beast’s exterior to his inner self, and the second for its atmosphere. And, though I wouldn’t call it one of my favorites, I had a very strong reaction to Bluebeard. We had a book of one-hundred fairy tales, which my mother would read to me from, one a night, and I don’t think I slept for two nights after hearing Bluebeard for the first time. I can still recall the picture that went with it of the wife opening the door, and it still makes me shiver. It frightened me and creeped me out, and I would read it whenever I wanted a good scare.
2) Did any fairy tales influence you when writing THE FALSE PRINCESS? In a way, you could say that all the fairy tales in which common girls either become princesses or in which princess are raised in obscurity as common girls influenced The False Princess. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are probably the two most famous of these types of fairy tale, though they certainly aren’t alone. Having grown up with their stories and having had them in my imagination for so long is part of what made me ask the question that lead to The False Princess: What if you grew up thinking you were a princess and then found out you weren’t? I wouldn’t have gotten to this reversal without first having read it the other way around.
3) Was it hard coming up with your own lore when you began world-building for TFP? How did you bring everything together? It’s always such a balance when you’re world-building. With The False Princess, there are quite a few elements of the world—the oracle of the Nameless God, the way magic works, the tension between commoners and nobles—that are essential to the plot. The reader needs to understand them and how they work to really get into the book. But TFP also has heavy doses of mystery, adventure, and romance, and so the pacing has to move along at a pretty good clip. So it was sometimes a challenge to balance fleshing out the world and its rules and keeping the book moving. I want the information to be there, but in a way that feels natural and keeps the book going, rather than a ten page diatribe on exactly how magic functions in Thorvaldor. So that was what I tried to concentrate on: getting the needed information into the book in a natural way.
4) What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors? I love Robin McKinley’s Beauty—I’m still so jealous of the Beast’s library in that book, which contains books that haven’t been written in Beauty’s time. Edith Pattou’s East, which retells East of the Sun, West of the Moon, has a prime place on my fairy tale shelf. Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow’s anthologies of fairy tale retellings (the first one is Snow White, Blood Red) are must-reads. Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl is a favorite, and recently, I’ve gotten really attached to Malinda Lo’s ASH, which is a very powerful and wonderfully written twist on Cinderella.
5) If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why? Probably Beauty and the Beast. It has so many elements that appeal to me: the enchanted castle, the mysterious curse, the slow building of trust and love between two people. And, of course, in many modern retellings, a girl who loves books!
6) Will you be writing any more novels that read like something out of a fairy tale? Can you tell us anything about your upcoming work? I think so. It’s a feeling that I love in other books, and one that I like to cultivate in my own work. I’d like to do an actual fairy tale retelling myself someday—I just have to figure out which fairy tale I want to do most!
As for what I’m working on now, it has a bit of a more modern feel than TFP or many fairy tales, though by “modern,” I mean Regency England. Still, there are some definite fairy tale tropes in it. I’m going to be coy and not say much more than that, as these are still early days, and I tend to lose momentum if I talk about works in progress too much.
7) What's your favorite Disney rendition of a fairy tale? What makes it so special? I feel a little like a broken record, but I would have to say Beauty and the Beast. It came out when I was in 6th grade and having a really hard time socially. I felt very alienated from kids my own age, and I spent a lot of time alone with my books. So to see a girl who loved to read and who was considered odd by the people around her be strong, fall in love, and have someone fall in love with her meant a lot to me.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ We want to thank Bonnie for sending this interview our way for FTF, and thank Eilis for stopping by and chatting! Make sure to leave them some comment love!
With us now, we have Jaclyn Dolamore, author of Magic Under Glass and the upcoming Between the Sea and Sky. Jaclyn was homeschooled in a hippie sort of way and spent her childhood reading as many books as her skinny nerd-body could lug from the library and playing elaborate pretend games with her sister Kate. She skipped college and spent eight years drudging through retail jobs, developing her thrifty cooking skills and pursuing a lifelong writing dream. She has a passion for history, thrift stores, vintage dresses, David Bowie, drawing, and organic food. She lives with her partner and plot-sounding-board, Dade, and two black tabbies who have ruined her carpeting. So now, I give you, Jaclyn:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The "Serious" stuff:
~ Even if not direct fairy tale retellings, your stories definitely have fairy tale-esque elements. Is this intentional on your part, or just a by-product of the tales you like to tell? Any plans to do a direct retelling?
Well, so far, my intention with any story is to take a period of history and run it through an otherworldly, magical filter. I guess the fairy tale part just comes in as a by-product. Certainly, I read a lot of fairy tales as a child; we had an old book of Perrault stories as well as some of the Lang Fairy Books, Russian tales and Hans Christian Andersen (way to traumatize me as a child, Hans), and I read many retellings. One of my favorite things are stories that mash-up a bunch of tales like the mini-series "The Tenth Kingdom" (seriously, it is so fun, if anyone hasn't seen it yet you should), the musical Into the Woods, or the comic Fables. I always thought that would be fun to do, but I'd have to come up with a new take on it because it's already been done so well by others. I've often thought it would be fun to do a fairy tale retelling, but I'm waiting for the right one to cross my path, something a little creepy but also romantic in just the right way... Of course I've seen a lot of comparisons between Magic Under Glass and Beauty and the Beast so perhaps I DO retell fairy tales in some ways.
~ Your ideas are really original and interesting, with great juxtaposition (a dancer falling for an automaton, a mermaid falling for a winged man, etc): can you tell us a little bit about where these stories come from?
I am a SUCKER for star-crossed romances between two outsiders. Magic Under Stone, of course, continues the Erris/Nimira love story but there is also a jinn whose master pits him against the girl he loves. (To be very vague about it... I don't want to be spoiler-y.) All my books have some element of this and I doubt that will change anytime soon. I am especially attracted to stories about two like minds in unlike bodies... a girl and an automaton, a girl with a fish tail and a boy with wings... I guess they are kind of stories about how human hearts cross boundaries.
~You mentioned in a past interview with another blogger (I’ll link to it) that you wanted to see more Victorian era fantasy, so you wrote Magic Under Glass: what was the research process like for this? Beyond the rest of the Magic series, do you intend to set any more books in the Victorian era, or is there another time period calling your name?
I've always loved the Victorian era, and history in general, and I am a total non-fiction book junkie, especially when it comes to the details of domestic life such as houses, clothes, social mores, etc. so I wrote the first draft of Magic Under Glass without any research. But, the more detail, the better, so I also read many books while writing it, and looked at a lot of period photography of people and places so I could capture details like what you would really see when you walked down the street or what accessories a woman would wear with her dress.
As for other time periods, well, Between the Sea and Sky is set in that world's equivalent of 1800, so it's earlier than Magic Under Glass, and now I am working on a novel based loosely on the 1927 German silent film Metropolis, so the settling is based heavily on Weimar Berlin. Which has proved to be a pain to research. Most books on Weimar Berlin seem geared to really intellectual political or art scholars and as an extra bonus, were translated from German and read very stilted, and it's been hard to find much information on everyday life. Even memoirs and diaries have been kind of hard to find. I've cheated a bit and read a lot about 1920s Paris... There is a silent film called "Berlin: Symphony of a Great City" that is nothing but scenes of everyday life in 1920s Berlin, though, so you do find these little tidbits...
~I know Between the Sea and Sky is a companion novel of sorts to Magic Under Glass, but do you intend it to be a stand-alone, or is it going to spin-off into its own series?
It stands alone. I do have some sequel ideas, although they would focus on characters that are children in Between the Sea and Sky. But whether my publisher would buy a sequel depends on whether the book does well.
~What’s the most challenging aspect of writing for you? And what’s the thing that makes it all worthwhile?
Challenging: There is always a sticky spot somewhere in the middle of a book. Also, endings! Sealing the deal is one of my weaknesses for sure. I don't really LIKE things to end... In my mind my books keep going, but of course I can't write endless sequels to everything, so I have to find a spot to wrap everything up, it's just hard. And action scenes. Augh. As a reader, I usually skim fights and escapes. I wish I could skim them as a writer too...
But except for those occasionally sticky spots, I love every part of writing; the research, the early development, the first page, the part where you really start to know where it's going, the editing, the line editing, the copy editing... And sharing that story with others and hearing from fans is a huge rush, although I have to be careful not to get caught up in advances or awards or fans (or the flipside--the lack of those things) and stay focused on the writing itself.
~What is your writing process like? What do you do to prepare and get yourself in the mood to create worlds?
I'm a workaholic, really. I do take days off. But I feel very guilty about them, unless I take an actual vacation away from home. Even when I'm not writing, I think about both my current project and think ahead to my next project almost constantly. It's a constant struggle not to zone right out of my real life and back into my invented one. One time I was apparently in 7-11 with an old man clad entirely in lime green spandex and I didn't notice. I got to the car and my boyfriend was like, "Did you see that guy in line in front of you and his crazy outfit?" I was like, "Uhh, I was thinking about my characters... " Even as a kid I was like that. I'm just glad I found a way to make a career out of it...
~What’s your favorite scene you’ve ever written?
@_@ Ever?
Boy, that's tough. I do love the climax of Between the Sea and Sky, with its mingled vulnerability and yearning. And kissing and rain. Who doesn't enjoy that mix?
Quickfire, Silly and Random stuff:
~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale? Hmm, not to steal the produce thing, but I could be named after an apple. I think they are nature's most perfect food! Plus they turn up in fairy tales a lot. ~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale: "When the weather was fine, Jonagold and her sister Gingergold would play in the scrub pine forest, catching minnows in the pond and crawling under the palmettos hoping to spot rabbits, but they never ventured into the swamp, for that was where the fairies lived." (Note 1: Apples don't make for very good names. Especially if you are trying to find some that match. Note 2: I really did grow up on a 5-acre property in central Florida with a swamp in back and I wouldn't be surprised if some North American breed of fairy lived back there.)
~Best fairy tale villain and why?
Bluebeard. Talk about creep-tacular; it plays to my love of the mysteries behind locked doors, but in a far scarier way than The Secret Garden. The first time you hear that story you NEVER forget it... Although I also love crone archetypes in general which includes a lot of women you wouldn't want to cross paths with like Baba Yaga.
~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites?
In childhood my favorite tale was in a collection "Princess Tales" by Nora Kramer. I no longer have this book and I'm not sure if it was an original story or based on an older tale; the collection did have The Twelve Dancing Princesses in it so I'm not sure, but I vaguely recall it was about a painter who painted an ugly-but-honest picture of the king or something and was thrown in a prison with a tiny window, but a blackbird would visit him, and in the end just as he was about to be executed the birds saved him. I was enthralled by the poor painter trapped with only one window and the birds rescuing him. I need to get a new copy of that book... As an adult my favorite might be The Seven Swans; I always feel for the poor mute girl weaving shirts of nettles and I always wonder about the brothers who lived as swans and the boy who was left with one wing in the end. I like birds, clearly. There is actually a fairy tale I invented mentioned within Between the Sea and Sky called "The Girl Who Fell in Love with a Bird."
~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be?
Fairy tale characters don't have very good lives! I mean, up until the happily ever after part. I guess I'd be Sleeping Beauty because at least she just sleeps through the whole thing. So many of them have to go through a lot of trials; great fun to read about but not much fun to live through.
~Would you rather: - — live under a bridge with a troll, or all alone in a high tower? I think I need more information about the troll and what kind of roommate (bridge-mate) he would be before I can decide...
- — ride everywhere in a pumpkin carriage (messy) or walk everywhere in glass shoes (uncomfortable)? Glass shoes. I already have a heck of a time finding comfortable dressy shoes so maybe it wouldn't be much difference.
- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? These quickfire questions are harder than the serious questions!;) Well, I guess, although the term "Prince Charming" sounds shallow, I'd rather have someone to spend my life with than a fairy godmother.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A conversation with Misty and Ashley:
Misty and Ashley: Wow! Jaclyn, you are amazing! We loved the interview!
Ashley: So, Jaclyn's bio mentions that she loves to draw. It would be cruel, would it not, to brag about her mad-drawing skills and not share that with the rest of the world.
Misty: It would be cruel. Too true!
Ashley: So, because Jaclyn has an official saved spot at the 'Fairy Tale Cool Kids Table' and is not, in fact, a cruel person, she has offered up an absolutely stunning giveaway!
Misty: She is providing one lucky winner with hand-drawn bookplates, featuring the main couples from each of her novels. Aren't these covers absolutely stunning?!
Ashley: What must you do to win these bookplates? These hand-drawn bookplates?! It's simple really. You must provide us with unicorn sprinkle cupcakes. (what Misty? Oh... Ooops. Right)
Ahem. To win this one-of-a-kind giveaway, you must leave us a comment. But, not just any comment. Because Jaclyn is putting so much effort into making this giveaway special for you, you must put forth a little effort as well. For any MEANINGFUL comment left on this review, you will be entered to win. If your comment isn't meaningful, I'm going to assume that you don't actually want to win the awesomeness that is these bookplates, and I will NOT enter you into the contest. You must also leave a way for us to contact you, if you are the winner. If I can't contact you, you can't get your prize.
This contest IS open Internationally! Closes May 5th.
The Story of Mankind by Hendrik van Loon was awarded the very first Newbery Medal in 1922. I decided a few years ago that I wanted to read and own every Newbery Award Winner. Given that this won the first Newbery, I was excited to read it, even though I had heard some less than favorable things about the writing.
Let me first admit that I skimmed a vast majority of this book. I started the book with the full intention of reading everything as normal, but it didn't take long for me to realize that I would never get through the book if I tried to read without skimming.
The one positive thing I can say about this book is that Hendrik van Loon took on an impossibly difficult topic. He tried to fit the entire history of mankind into one book. This must have taken huge amounts of time and research, and I give the man props for that. However, that is about the positive thing I can say about the book.
While reading, it is painfully obvious that van Loon thinks himself to be terribly witty and clever, but he's not. At all. He's dry and dull and tries too hard to be entertaining, instead of just letting the history tell itself.
I was also rather confused at the way he broke up history, and what time periods he gave more weight to. In a book that only has 485 pages to talk about the entire history of mankind from when we were amoebas until the 1920s, there are only a few pages to talk about different parts of history. But why would you spend 4 pages on Ancient Egypt and 13 on chivalry in the Medieval Era?! This feels a bit backwards to me.
Overall, this is not a book I'd recommend. The only reason I read it was so that I could complete the Newbery list, and I admit to feeling a huge sense of accomplishment now that it's done. But man, was it a struggle to get through.
Hello everyone, and welcome to Memory Monday, guest blogger edition! I'd love to welcome Emily, or Ems, someone I've known for a very long time. She's prepared a lovely post to share with all of you about her childhood reading experiences, so stop, stay a while, and let us know what you think!
Info:
Ems: 30-something book reviewer, book lover, library haunter, old bookshop fiend, and general bibliophile. Currently a graduate student in Education at Idaho State University, with plans to become the greatest advocate of books the public school system has ever seen. Working on a novel herself, which may or may not see the light of day. It doesn’t really matter, since writing is almost as cathartic as reading for her. Ems blogs about books and life, at In which Ems reviews books and Some days I'm just plain philosophical, respectively.Post: I fell in love with reading at a very young age, thanks to my mom. One of my earliest memories is of her reading to me from a Babar book. Oh, how I loved Babar! I’d have done anything for that elephant, not to mention all his friends. It was the book I’d request over and over. Knowing what I know now about how kids get attached to books, I’d kind of like to give my mom some kind of award for reading it to me so many times.
Not only did Mom read Babar, but she read everything. We were forever reading. I feel very lucky to be the oldest child, because I had her undivided attention for almost 2 ½ years! My other siblings aren’t nearly the readaholic that I am. They didn’t get as much solo Mom-time as I did. To be fair, I was probably hanging around begging for books during their solo Mom-time.
Mom and I read just about everything under the sun. She introduced me to Barbapapa, Amelia Bedelia, The Little Golden Books, Charlotte and Wilbur, a mouse named Ralph, Sylvester the donkey, and the list goes on and on. The characters lived for me back then, and they still do. I can’t read a childhood favorite without getting a little bit choked up.
I love that she never felt obligated to stick to ‘age appropriate’ books with me. She just read. When we’d go to the library, I’d get to pick some and she’d pick some for me. She made sure that I had exposure to a wide variety of authors and illustrators. I know that it’s because of her that I’m such a bibliophile.
Because of my mom, I learned to read early too. She kept a list of books that I’d read by the time I was four years old, and it’s hundreds of books long. I really wish I could find that list now. It’s around here somewhere, but eludes me. The list isn’t just picture books either. I read my first chapter book (Babar, of course) when I was three. Nothing could stop me. By the time kindergarten rolled around (I was four years old for kindergarten), I was already reading on a fourth grade level and had read every book we owned multiple times. I got my own library card at five.
I learned that if there’s one thing I’m going to replicate with my own kids, it’s reading aloud to them and showing them that Mom loves to read too. (My mom doesn’t really read that much herself, ironically. I don’t know why she decided it was so important to read to me, though I’m forever grateful for that.) I’ve got to model reading for pleasure to them so they see that it’s a pretty okay pastime to have. As a future teacher, it’s something I’ll pass on to my students as well. Hey kids, it’s okay to love reading! It’s okay to get lost in books! It’s the cool thing to do!
Thanks so much Emily! That was a wonderful post! I love that you mom kept a list for you, and I hope you find it soon! That would be a treasure!
If you would like be be a guest blogger on a future Memory Monday, fill out this form, or send me an email!
I love book lists. And reading books from those lists. It's part of why I like challenges so much. I love being able to cross a book off my list. It makes me feel like I'm definitely accomplishing something. I love them! Whether it's a list I put together myself, like the Fill-in-the-Gaps reading challenge, a prize list, like the Newbery Award, or the Printz Award, or a list that someone else compiled, like the BBC's Big Read, I love them.
But, my sister mocks me. Especially when I find a book I didn't particularly like because I was reading from a list. (Gay-Neck, I'm looking at you!) It hasn't changed my reading preference — I simply point out the books to her that I read and loved because of lists, especially the ones I then recommend to her.
But, it does make me wonder. Am I the only person who loves reading lists? Does anyone else search for great book lists to add to their to-read piles, and gleefully highlight/cross-out the books from said list once they've been read?
So, I'm asking you, because that's what book blogs are for, right? Communication and the sharing of brilliance? So, who out there is like me, and loves them some reading lists? And, who is like my sister, laughing at the rest of us as we stumble through that (hopefully rare) bad addition? And, why? What makes them attractive, or repulsive to you?
