“Alabama Moon” by Watt Key

Simply one of the best books I have read this year. Fresh with surprising twists, it was a terrific read. Ten year-old Moon Blake has been raised in near total isolation by his survivalist father in rural Alabama. When the father breaks his leg and refuses to be treated, he dies; leaving Moon to try and follow the father’s last commandment – travel to Alaska, where Moon will find others who believe as they do. Needless to say, things don’t turn out as planned. Moon’s incredible ability to fend for himself is juxtapositioned with his complete lack of understanding about the outside world. The detailed prose creates an engaging story that had me staying up late at night to see what would happen next. Many of the adults are sympathetic but make poor choices about how to engage with this complex young man. The result is a tumultuous adventure as Moon learns to appreciate, and finally trust, some of those around him. Moon’s honest voice will draw in all readers, but it is delightful to have a book of strong literary merit which will definitely appeal to boys. Not for the squeamish (he kills and guts animals of the forest and the language of the book is a tad PG-13) it parallels the kinds of stories told by Gary Paulsen. As someone who has done my share of camping and hiking, I actually learned a lot about living in the wild. This is Mr. Key’s first novel, and it portends good things. Soon to be a film (coming to a theatre near you) I’m putting down a bet that this book picks up some awards in the coming months.

“Samurai Shortstop” by Alan Gratz

This first novel by Alan Gratz will appeal to some – I’ve already had one student who loved it – but I found it to be convoluted and forced. The book is about 16 year-old Toyo, a besu boro (baseball) loving student at the Ichiko school in Tokyo. Going in, I assumed some historical context (I read it for the Historical Fiction portion of an upcoming book conference). I was not prepared for the extremely graphic and detailed description of a seppuku (ritual suicide) in the opening pages. The book ranged widely from amusing to brutal in a tale that included the Meiji Restoration (revolution), samurai teaching, baseball and boys in an elite private school with undertones similar to “Lord of the Flies”. Throw in “Field of Dreams”, “The Bad News Bears”, “Shogun” and “The Karate Kid” and you have a sense of the themes. Mr. Gratz, in my humble opinion, made the classic error of a new author … he forced plot devices to tell the story he wanted to tell. Most mature authors tell you they create the elements of a story, but then the plot and characters tend to take on a life of their own. Mr. Gratz, on the other hand, compressed events ranging from 1877 to 1915 into one year (1891) so that he could juxtapose traditional Japan with modern Japan and have his lead character be the tipping point. The result was incongruity that I found extremely distracting. Despite the decently strong narrative voice of Toyo, I couldn’t picture much of the story. For instance, when Toyo and his friend take a day in the city, they flirt with girls. Girls of 1891 would have dressed and acted far differently than they would have in 1915, where the “psychological” setting seems to be. In the same chapter, the Ginza is seemingly mentioned for no other reason than to indicate that it was “all lit up with electric lights”. In 1891? Not. Toyo dutifully follows the bushido teachings of his father but thinks and acts in too contemporary a manner to have been a Japanese boy of this period. Gratz gets it right in some instances, wrong in others. The boys will not shake hands with the Americans, a custom that is alien to their culture (where bowing is a proper greeting), but they hug one another after a significant game win (their culture sees physical contact of any kind as highly inappropriate). The book has some surface enjoyment and may appeal more to male readers. The baseball games, dorm activities and sword-play could easily be of interest to those who play the sport, admire the Samurai tradition, etc. Readers more familiar with historical context will be frustrated by the jumbled nature of the setting, but if some people enjoy it, does it matter? Not my cup of tea, but maybe yours.