"Witch and Wizard" and "The Gift" by James Patterson

Sometimes, the books recommended to me by students are awesome. Sometimes they are just "okay." The interesting thing about books is that they may, or may not, strike the reader depending on the individual threads each person brings to each book they read. That being said, this is the second James Patterson series I have tried on student recommendation, and the second one I have said "ehh" to. In the new Witch and Wizard series, I have the same issues as I did with the Maximum Ride books. It's not that they are bad. They are fun, action-packed, fast-moving and capture the teenage mindset very well. But both series, IMHO, are somewhat shallow and highly derivative. Did I say derivative? I meant to say "blatant rip-offs." Okay, I know all great authors steal -- Shakespeare did it -- and Patterson makes no apologies for it. In fact, he almost makes fun of the fact that this new series is like some bizarre combination of "Oliver Twist," "1984," "Fahrenheit 451" and a host of other classics ... if they were written in a kind of facile, disinterested way. He employs the same dystopic, alternative future that many YA authors are writing about these days, but his protagonists blithely skim along from one torturous situation to another with little engagement other than "we want to find our parents!" and "hot guy/gal, but I'm busy fighting for my life right now." Despite the trials and tribulations of the characters, I was never able to connect emotionally with anyone in the books -- a huge weakness if you want readers to cheer on our heroes. With strong resonance to the Hunger Games books, these two titles are to Hunger Games as Vampire Diaries are to Anne Rice. Similar content simply doesn't create similar quality. It's almost as if Patterson is making fun of the genre. He includes all the prerequisites of YA Fantasy: missing or dead parents, teens who have powers they didn't know they had, an older mentor who is seemingly inscrutable and a map. But the map is drawn carelessly, just a big box, and doesn't add anything to the story (maps are usually there to elaborate that these tales are often both physical and psychological journeys). The inscrutable mentor pops in and out just long enough to provide fortune-cookie wisdom and the yearning for parents amidst apocalyptic destruction just gets tiresome. Lastly, the powers the kids have seem to be on-again, off-again with little rhyme or reason. Rule number one in such books is that you can create any rule you want, but once you create it, you must be consistent about holding to it. As I said, I didn't hate these books, but I didn't love them. I guess I read too much. I just know the sources he took his story from are better than the work he created by using them. I can see them being popular as beach reads or for kids who just like the action without any need for a substantive story, but in the end they felt too much like a never-ending MMORPG (massive multi-player online role-playing game). Time to find the magic answer, kill the bad guy forever and ever and end this thing.

"The Dreamer" by Pam Munoz Ryan and Peter Sis

In a word, "wow." Some of this year's notable titles left me a little "ehh," not this one. "The Dreamer" was the Pura Belpre winner and is, IMHO, the top pick of the honorees. "The Dreamer" is the lyrical story of Neftali Reyes, a young boy growing up in Chile in the early 20th century. Neftali is small and thin, a lover of words with a rich imagination, and a child who craves love from a harsh and demanding father. The text off-shoots from time to time, much like Neftali's mind, with detailed artwork by Peter Sis bringing these flights of fancy to bold and detailed beauty. The soft green text is large and spaced across the pages in wide paragraphs, allowing the reader's eyes to fly across the words like they are birds in flight. It doesn't take too long for the experienced reader to realize this is the story of Pablo Neruda. A fictionalized tale taken from real events of his childhood, Ms. Ryan has done an outstanding job of giving us an insight into the mind of a man who helped change our world-view. I recently had a discussion with the TAB book group about books that can be appreciated on many levels, by different ages of readers. This is one such book. Appealing to young children (Neftali is seven when the book begins) but with enough layers and richness to appeal to adults, this story should be considered one of the "modern classics." Enjoy.

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson

Well, well. Well, well, well. This one is a little odd. First, I *never* see a movie before reading the book and second, there are people who want to ban this book. Long story short: My mom called me up this summer very anxious to see the film and I told her I hadn’t read the book yet, nor did I have the time to. But, she’s my mom, so I went to see the movie. Given that it is, on one level, a mystery, I really didn’t see the point of reading the book after seeing the film. Then, TPTB said we should ban this book and then I had to read it! Not easy to put away a 465 page tome while taking a graduate-level class while working full-time. But, given determination and a three-day week (gift of the GODS), I was able to pull it off. So first, the review.

The book is very good. Very very good. What I don’t know, and will never know, is the degree to which the movie influenced my take on it. That being said, the movie struck me as film noir. I expected the novel to border on pulp fiction. I could not have been more wrong. The book, entitled “Men Who Hate Women” in Swedish, is part of a complex, dense series that covers everything from corporate exploitation to government conspiracy to Nazis to the abuse of women in that nation. Most notably, the first book in the series has something the film does not – humor. The series was a form of Stieg Larsson’s personal diaries, so to speak. The tale reads much like his own life and is far less dark than the film. It is no wonder that every person reading the Millenium series has a different take. One reader describes the first book as a detective/crime novel, another sees it as a cry against right-wing extremism, yet another person sees it as a love story. Unlike the movie, which I felt was a crucible for the character of Lisbeth, the book to was a layered exploration of humans and the varied threads that we weave. The book is not filled with literary allusion, but it has tremendous depth, and Larsson virtually channels Dickens in his high degree of detailed description. And yet, I found myself powering through the chapters. Was it because I knew what was coming or because Larsson was able to provide a teasing through-line even during the driest of conversations? The book has such disparate storylines that the author himself makes fun of the style, remarking that his investigative journalist character Blomkvist (the alter-ego of Larsson) wrote a book which shouldn’t have hung together, but did. This story shouldn’t hold together, but it does. Another possible theme could be extracted here ... “everything is connected.” So, from a personal perspective, it was a good read. My two complaints are minor. One, the publisher used a rag-edge binding which makes page-turning difficult. Two, while one expects significant changes from the book to the film, I took exception with one change, which portrayed a minor event with Lisbeth’s laptop in a completely different way and made it far more violent in the film than in the book. There was simply no need to do this other than to hype the darkness of the film up another notch.

Now, on to the banning issue. The complaint is that the book has “one of the most brutal rape scenes” ever published. How surprised was I to find that the sexual assaults in the book are actually milder than those in the film? Okay, I know I’m visual, but the first assault in the book comes after some 170 pages, lasts less than a page, and is less specific than your average romance novel. It is blunt. And it is distressing. But it’s not exactly the strongest stuff I’ve read. The second assault is slightly more graphic, as the assault itself goes further. But again, the event is covered in about a page of text and doesn’t include the lengthy screams that made the film version so difficult to watch. Interestingly enough, it is the “retribution” section that gets very, um, specific. I’m not sure which of these attacks was objectionable to TPTB, but I would say they are very in character for an adult book that uses strong language from the beginning, blithely covers the exploits of Mikel Blomkvist (a man who likes his women) and begins section headings with statistics on female assaults in Sweden. Do I keep the book? Yes. The huge popularity of the book causes people to pick it up, but I know of four people so far (two adults and two teens) who began the book and didn’t get through the first 100 pages. It would take a dedicated reader to get to the pages where the violence is portrayed (and let’s be honest, it is a concern about violence, not sex). I have previously justified similar titles (no, I’m not saying what they are) for the same reason – their very length and mature content turns off most casual readers. Readers looking for something salacious will have to wade through many many chapters filled with detail on the Swedish economy and its business interests before getting to anything with prurient value. The book is well-written, it is well-reviewed, it does come from a known and respected publisher and it does "encourage reading." At the point last fall when the concern was voiced, every copy in the system was checked out. Does it merit a warning sticker? No. I’ve done that before and it only leads to more people wanting to check something out that may not be appropriate. We will do what we always do, and explain that we have reading materials for our entire population, which means that not every book is right for every person. This book may not speak to the bulk of our population, but it spoke to me. The power of a young woman standing up despite brutal abuse is a tale that should be told, must be told. The spirit of Lisbeth Salander is one which will make some readers cheer. The fact that the character was based on a real victim only makes the tale more poignant. Brava, Lisbeth. And Brava to those who read that which they are told not to.

"Dave at Night" by Gail Carson Levine

Gail Carson Levine departs from her girl-centered fun fantasy novels here to write a guy-centered fun historical fiction novel. As a librarian, I've had a terrible time "selling" this book because the attempt to describe it "a boy in an orphanage spends his nights enjoying the Harlem Renaissance" tend to fall flat with pre-teens. I did like the book a lot. Ms. Levine strikes a great balance in description by painting a picture that you can see, but not providing "too much" detail (as my students say). The action is fast-paced and engaging and I was able to read the entire book in a relatively short sitting despite its length. The characters are diverse and engaging, particularly that of "Grandfather" Gideon. Unexpected twists, like a slightly insane art teacher who none-the-less inspires, are replete throughout the book. This is clearly a novel aimed at upper elementary, lower middle school students. The language is straight-forward and clean, the characters have life and color but depth is only hinted at. The minor stretches of reality can be forgiven as this isn't a story of a time period as much as it is about a child with a survivor's soul and the events around him. I'm glad our students are reading it in class (it is so much more upbeat and wholesome than the dark tomes we tend to foist on them) and hope the joys of this unique moment in time can be relished by them.

"Welcome to the Ark" by Stephanie Tolan

I was prepared to dislike this book. I chose to read it after a colleague expressed concern that her elementary-aged daughter was asked to read it in class. It was, she felt, far too dark for a fifth grade child. I really wasn't up for yet another apocalyptic, dystopic, violent book. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the plot is *not* another apocalyptic novel. Although violence paints the background of the story, the book mostly focuses on the journeys of self-discovery by four gifted children who are committed to an upscale mental health facility when their unique differences cannot be tolerated by mainstream society. Think more "Escape to Witch Mountain" than "Hunger Games." I found the characters of Miranda, Doug, Taryn and Elijah to be interesting and fun. For the first two-thirds of the book, I liked the various twists and turns and found the mix of prose with poetry and "memos" to be a nice way of moving the tale forward. The book's weakness, in my humble opinion, is not its violence but the degree to which the story is dated. Written in the mid-1990s, Ms. Tolen drew on the explosion of computer technology and the growth of militia groups under the Clinton presidency to predict a "near future" (1999) where the U.S. is besieged by internal and border violence and people are just learning how to connect to one another on the " 'nets." The passage of time has not been kind to this book. In the age of Twitter and Facebook, the awkward electronic interactions depicted are nearly laughable. The unimaginable that has occurred since the printing of this book -- Oklahoma City, Columbine and 9/11, showed our ultimate ability as a society to rise above violence and find our humanity in the face of darkness rather than be consumed by it. Beyond our growth in technology and our powerful history in the last 12 years or so, the book still feels mired in the past. Harking back to a 1970s morality tale, the last third of the book relies on hokey discussions of extra-sensory perception and a hippie-esque wholesomeness ("Goodness overcomes all") that was too much to stomach. In the end, it made for an "okay" read on a snow-day, but not something I would recommend as a class read. I don't feel the violence was over-the-top, but I do feel the writing style and vocabulary were more suited to middle school than elementary. It was a notable book and the first half was good, so it is likely to stick around for a while, but IMHO it has gone past its expiration date. Perhaps it could be used in a Creative Writing class. Given what we know now -- how should the book end?

"Operation Yes" by Sara Lewis Holmes

Much like "Pay It Forward," this book has a tremendously inspirational tone. The story of young people whose parents are serving active duty, and the young teacher who wakes them up from the everyday life of school, brings many smiles and easy page-turning for the reader. Credit is given to Ms. Holmes for creating real characters, child and adult, that are admirable, flawed and quintessentially human. The tale begins with "Bo" -- a squirrelly sixth grader who gets in trouble for basically being a typical sixth grade boy. His new teacher, Ms. Loupe, not only sees his strengths but shows him how to use them to succeed. Enter Gari, Bo's cousin, who comes to live with Bo's family when her mother is posted to Iraq. The stories of these two kids interweave with those in their class and the adults around them. What could be a jangled mess of storylines and perspectives flows nicely. The lessons of the book hold disparate elements together in a clear picture. The choice to make the protagonists sixth grade is also well thought-out. Sixth grade is a magical tipping point -- they are still little kids but have a burgeoning understanding of the greater world slipping in. Bo and Gari are just beginning to understand the serious underpinnings of the military world around them, but they focus on what they can do to improve things ... and are remarkably successful. The book was a delight to read. It voiced messages I like: "Say Yes and..." to life and "Everyone has their battles." I look forward to meeting the author this Spring.

"Code Orange" by Caroline Cooney

I liked Caroline Cooney's earlier works, then felt she "sold out" a tad with "Emergency Room," "Flight 116 is Down," etc. "Goddess of Yesterday" was a welcome return to the Cooney I enjoy. "Code Orange" falls somewhere between the two extremes. Realistic and engaging characters draw you in (much more than the icky cover). Ms. Cooney either knows a lot of teens or she remembers her youth very well. She is also somewhat unapologetic in creating her characters, making Mitty Blake, the lead character in this novel, a genuinely disengaged rich kid who you may have to take a while to warm up to. Mitty's internal monologue of the pointlessness of school is accurate to a fault, not to mention a little humorous. The New York city setting is also a good fit with details evoking strong memories of time I have spent there. Where the novel went off the rails for me, a bit, was an improbable and convoluted plot involving a biology paper, memories of 9/11 and smallpox scabs. While the disease aspect does bring a certain page-turning aspect to the story, the overall level of drama eventually rises, as it must, to a somewhat silly level. It's not that it was screamingly bad, just a poor mix of the actual fear felt during the terrorists attacks mixed with quickly aging scientific and technical data in the book. I was left feeling angst over the dredged-up memories of actual history combined with the knowledge that this novel, written in 2005, lacked the perspective I now have on the events mentioned. This will not be a problem for the students being asked to read it -- they will not remember 9/11, the Anthrax attacks or the general mood of the country in those years. For me, it will never go away. Not sure I'm ready for the fictionalized version, particularly when the voices ring so much like the kids I know. Hopefully, Ms. Cooney will continue writing character-driven books, and not return to these "crisis of the times" novels.

"Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

First-time author Clare Vanderpool has won the lottery. Watching this book rocket to the top 10 of Amazon's sales in the 24 hours after the Newbery was announced was, as always, fun. After a brief dalliance with "cool" when they awarded the annual award to Neil Gaiman's "Graveyard Book" two years ago and the somewhat trippy "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead last year, this year's award committee returned to the Newbery safe-zone ... an historical novel with strong literary underpinnings that was on no one's radar. Keeping with the trend of focusing on the 1910s (is this a 100 year thing?), "Moon Over Manifest" tells a story in two times -- 1936 and 1917/18. When I was growing up, historical fiction was often set in the American Revolution, the Civil War or the Great Depression. This recent attention on America at the time of WWI and the Spanish Influenza is interesting for no other reason than I don't know much about it. Most notably, I enjoyed the 1914 novel "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson. This book has many similar themes -- the struggle the nation had with the influx of immigrants at the turn of the last century, the building of community in the burgeoning towns of the plains states, the loss of the (very) young men who served the nation in the war -- but it is told from a younger perspective and is much more dense, combining the perspective of the Depression-era present with this colorful decade as a girl searches for her father's presence in a town "with a past." Abilene, our main character, is the kind of plucky 12 year-old that one thinks of in these kinds of books. She is engaging and well-drawn, as are all the characters (although I would skip the unnecessary character list at the beginning). A weighty tome at more than 350 pages, it was an engaging read that I read in one (albeit long) sitting. Mostly realistic and not dark, with a solid mystery or two and just a dash of humor, the story had a nice flow given its time-jumps. Like "Hattie Big Sky," the additional historical information provided at the end of the book is interesting and the titles listed as reference sources are good picks. The only real challenge of this title is the problem with many of the Newbery picks. Other than librarians and English teachers, who will read it? The protagonist is too young to be of interest to older readers and the text too high for many younger ones. I can see it being of interest to those library types who love to read pretty much every Newbery (check out this blog, a friend of a friend: http://lauramitolife.blogspot.com/) but I don't see it as being widely popular, historical fiction being on the wane in general among our wired teens. But then, the Newbery committee, much like the Oscar committee, prides itself on saying their selections aren't about popularity, they are about "quality." I wonder why those two things have to be mutually exclusive. In any case, the book is good, and worth the read, even if it isn't "your kind of thing."

"Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan

Finally! A book I not only loved, but was laugh-out-loud funny. To be fair, I knew I would like it. John Green and David Levithan are not only favorite authors, they are exceptionally cool. When I learned that they wrote a book together, I knew that it would have to be gold. My only sorrow is that it didn't win any of the Printz Honors this year -- it should have won the Medal (IMHO). It did win a Stonewall Honor, a nod to the heavily gay themes (dude, it's David Levithan, what did you expect?). What is notable, for me, is that the gay themes aren't all about *being* gay, rather the entire book is really about teenage love, gay and straight, and how the rushed/over-the-top/confused romantic efforts of the young often go awry. Despite the title (oh yes, it is a tale of two Will Graysons), it is Tiny Cooper who stole my heart. A wild combination of an ex-boyfriend and most of the theatre guys I've known, Tiny is an absolute joy. "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" is an extremely mature book, one with two male protagonists who use the kind of language you are likely to hear on any secondary school campus, but not the kind usually heard in the classrooms. I think that is part of Green and Levithan's gifts as writers -- their characters are rippingly real. Neither one of these guys has forgotten what it was like to be 17. Clearly, their work resonates. The book has been extremely popular here and I understand why. Teens like books that are real, books that are funny, and books that speak to ~them~. This is clearly one of those books. Bravo. Enjoy.

“The Heart is Not a Size” by Beth Kephart

Award-winning adult author Beth Kephart is getting attention for turning her talents to YA fiction. Her latest book, “The Heart is Not a Size” has considerable buzz going into awards season. I can understand the appeal from the award committees. The book is one of those rich literary novels that give English teachers a deep thrill. It’s also one of those YA novels that seem to be labeled YA because of teen protagonists, rather than literary style. For me, the problem is that the literary trappings disguise a meandering plot. It’s a story beautifully told, but not a particularly compelling tale. And it should be. There are strong characters: Georgia and Riley are best friends at one of those moments in life, the end of Junior year, when the pressures of the next step in life seem overwhelming. They decide to spend two weeks in Mexico on a social service project. Georgia wants to find purpose in an overly stable life, Riley wants to escape the confines of her loveless home. The girls are well-off, suitably self-absorbed yet curious, straining at their self-definitions like most teens. The writer tries to focus on Georgia’s internal explorations, but ends up veering along a multitude of storylines. In the end, the teen angst, the prerequisite anorexic, the hints at a blossoming romance, all fall flat. In her acknowledgments, Ms. Kephart states that the book began “as a series of impressions glimpsed,” and that is how it comes off. The impressions one is left with are not unlike the photo essays Kephart made of her actual journey to Juarez. Despite the stabbing attempts at story, the end result is nothing but snapshots, colors, and incredibly rich descriptions. Phrases like “the parabola of sun” were too high-falutin’ for me, and didn’t help connect me to characters I found to be just a tad two-dimensional. This book being a very faint echo of Mackler’s “The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things” and Anderson’s “Catalyst,” I have no doubt that a specific teen reader might find characters to connect to, but to me, they sounded far too much like the life of a teenager remembered rather than created. Georgia sounds like the person I would describe myself as being with 20 years of hindsight. I’m not sure she sounds like one of the teens I interact with who lives “in the moment.” Nonetheless, this book is likely to show up on some recommended lists in the coming month. Read only if it is your cup of tea.

“Ship Breaker” by Paulo Bacigalupi

(Color me surprised. Just as I was finalizing this review, “Ship Breaker” won the Printz Award. Have to say, this will be my least favorite Printz thus far. Please keep in mind that I didn’t think it was a bad book, just not ~~my~~ thing. Much like “No Country for Old Men” I can acknowledge the brilliance without particularly liking it.)

This 2010 National Book Award nominee was, perhaps, not the best choice to read right after concluding the Suzanne Collins series. Filled with dense text worthy of an SAT exam, it is yet another post-apocalyptic, dystopian story of violence and brutalized kids. That being said, the lead character of Nailer is both engaging and encouraging as a born survivor in the bleakest of worlds (although he does seem to spend a good deal of the tale recovering from injuries). I can see boys, in particular, being attracted to this strong male protagonist. Rich vocabulary and a detailed world make for a rather European novel. Given the author’s name and the foreign feel, I was sure this book was a translation. I was quite surprised to discover the author lives in Colorado. The dark tone is apparently typical of the works of Mr. Bacigalupi, who has won both Nebula and Hugo awards for his adult titles. This is the first book he has written for young adults, although the complexity of the novel makes me think the only reason it is labeled “young adult” is because of the age of the main character. It is a worthy read if you don’t mind another gut-wrencher like “Mockingjay.” Enjoy ! ? ! ?

“Mockingbird” by Kathryn Erskine

This 2010 National Book winner is a fast read that echoes “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” to such a degree that it is difficult to avoid comparisons. Similar to the Haddon book, “Mockingbird” is a fiction novel narrated in the first person by a young girl with Asperger’s. The loss this time, however, is more profound and the emotional ups and downs within the story left me grabbing for hankies. It is not a dark book. Rather, it is a “laugh/cry” book where the unique observations of the main character make you giggle one minute, then go “ohhh” the next. In the afterward, the author explains that she was profoundly saddened by the VA Tech shootings. That event, and her challenges as the parent of a child with Asperger’s, led to this little gem of a novel. The resolution in the book is somewhat transparent and I knew by chapter 2 how it would end, but I was still swept away by the engaging narrative and delightful characters. This is not a plot-driven story, it is a tale of an internal journey – made even more obvious in the way dialog is represented, in italics rather than quotes. The text that matters the most is what goes on in the young girl’s head as she tries to make sense of that which none of us can make sense of. I deeply loved this book and immediately recommended it to others as soon as I had finished it. Grab it before the next round of awards on January 10^th. I strongly suspect we will see this one get a few more accolades.

“Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins

Whew. Blew through the second and third books in the “Hunger Games” series as quickly as possible. Became somewhat irate when I had to stop for -- you know -- work, or food or sleep. If nothing else, these books are incredible page turners. After finishing them, however, I had to pause before writing a review as the emotional toll was…um…high. As sequels, they are excellent. “Catching Fire,” in fact, became my favorite in the series. In the first book, you work to understand this world. In the third book, there is inevitable loss and sadness. In the second book we get to really see these characters as people and there is still hope. Many of my students have said that they do not like the concluding book, “Mockingjay.” The storyline and writing do not degrade in any way in this last book. I would say it is the way things end which causes the negative reaction by many of the younger readers. If “Hunger Games” was an arch look at the underlying violence of our world and “Catching Fire” is about a growing revolution, then “Mockingjay” is the very likely outcome. The body count, which has never been particularly light in these books, ramps up considerably, with some of the losses beyond bearing for both characters and readers alike. After a Harry Potter-like climactic end, one craves a happy ending. And the ending is not sad, but it’s not exactly uplifting, either. Unlike Harry Potter, these books have underpinnings in our modern world and Ms. Collins is focused on how our world dehumanizes us. The young people at the heart of the story cannot help but be damaged by the events that occur and expectations of a rosy outcome, while wished for, would not fit these otherwise dark tales. The books are sometimes predictable, which left me shell-shocked (literally) when things took a turn I *didn’t* expect. They are powerful without being epic, well-written without being overly literary, and a true clarion call to look at the elements of our society that shatter our humanity. Everything from the pablum of the media to the dark lashes of destruction from war are targets. Ms. Collins mentions her father’s study of war and peace and her mother’s love of Greek history in her acknowledgements, but in an interview, she talked of the impact of the ongoing middle east wars as evidence that we still have far to go. You only have to look at Iran’s proposal to televise the stoning death of an adultress to realize these books are not to be dismissed as “far-out fantasy.” Given their rampant popularity right now, they are absolute must-reads, but given the subject matter, a “fun book” might make for a good palate cleanser afterwards.

“Impossible” by Nancy Werlin

I’ve been waiting to read this National Book Award Finalist title for years. I heard the author speak about it just before it was published, and I was intrigued. A modern fairy-tale taken from Scarborough Fair. Long before Simon and Garfunkel got hold of it, Scarborough Fair was a medieval poem. One with darker implications. One that told of a love unfulfilled and the spurned lover who took a terrible revenge. Enter Lucy, a contemporary teen who knows nothing of magic and evil, but is inexorably walking a path not of her own making. Grounded in solid reality, the mystical elements of the story are easily acceptable to those who enjoy a good fantasy. A strong romance element would also be hard to swallow if not for the excellent writing and compelling voices of the characters. To be honest, I raced through this novel, frustrated when I had to put it down, because I simply had to know what happened next. Unreal as it may be, I’m a big old softie who really wants everything to work out in the end. In an attempt to avoid spoilers, I will simply say I was very impressed with this book and purchased a gift copy for a relative right after finishing it. A great story to curl up with on a gray winter day. Feel free to be transported … and, to learn the secrets that may help you break an ancient curse.

“Refresh Refresh” by Danica Novgorodoff, Benjamin Percy and James Ponsoldt

“Refresh Refresh” is another distinctly mature graphic novel by the edgy First Second Press. It tells the story of three young men awaiting their fathers’ return from the Iraq & Afghanistan wars. The teen boys live in a town where everyone knows someone in the military, and while that should be comforting, the reality in this book is just the opposite. The bullying between the teens is brutal. Even friends engage in daily slugfests – presumably to blow off steam. Like many graphic novels, I felt like the characters weren’t as fully developed as they should have been and the lack of a moral compass for the young men is typical in these kinds of stories, which have a flat, negative impact on me. That being said, the “elements” of living with a parent serving overseas are clear and well-done. The conflicting emotions, the sense of loss, the feeling of being unmoored ... all ring true. The violence, language and adult scenarios are realistic, I think, for kids who feel abandoned by parents. The “Refresh Refresh” title emphasizes their conflict – no matter what they say and how they act, the truth is that their world lives and dies during those few moments each night when they check their email, hoping more than anything for a brief word or two. The events at the end of the book are hugely unrealistic and left me with a sense of cop-out. The great redeemer in the climax is the artwork, which takes a dramatic turn and feels more compelling than the actual story. High School readers will find empathy here for the realities of military families during war-time, and fans of “Fight Club” will be suitably entertained.

“Redwoods” by Jason Chin

This was a book I kept coming across on recommended lists but dismissed several times because it was obviously a picture book. But I kept seeing it listed, over and over, as a “must buy.” So I bought it. Beautiful and breathtaking, it provides voluminous information on redwood trees – more than I knew, and I know a lot. In the story, a young boy riding the NYC subway discovers a book on redwoods. As he reads it, he is transported. The slow growth of the redwood forest around him is clever, and the awe the child finds in this new world seemed to translate off the page to me, as a reader. Having felt swept up in the otherworldly nature of an actual redwood forest, I sensed the same overwhelming wonder in reading the book as I did standing in Muir Woods. My only two complaints are minor and nit-picky. The boy’s face is not drawn consistently from frame to frame, his expressions tend to give him drastically different features at times; and the fauna described are not listed with nametags, so guessing which is which becomes an issue. As I said, small concerns with an otherwise lovely book. A good pick for the whole family.

“The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating” by A.W. Flaherty, illustrated by Scott Magoon

An absolutely charming little picture book that provides a version of the Loch Ness story you may not have heard of. Young Katerina-Elizabeth takes a cruise to see Grandma (circa early 1900s) and doesn’t like the oatmeal served to her for breakfast each morning. Along the way to Scotland, she makes a friend. The book will engage both children and adults with the subtle humor and detailed drawings reminiscent of the “Madeleine” books. The simple, to-the-point text can easily be understood by the very young and the author adds an interesting epilogue regarding the “science” of picky eaters which will have every reader looking for food coloring and reinforcing rings for three-holed paper. I’d recommend this one as a great holiday pick for the whole family.

“A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge” by Josh Neufeld

For intent and concept, I give this an “A”. For execution, a “C”. “A.D.” is a story of Katrina as told through the eyes of five individuals/couples/families who experienced it. As a concept, it’s smart. We see this huge and horrific event from different perspectives – rich and poor, black and white. Since this was a disaster that highlighted those on the margin, I found it interesting to read about the spectrum of impacts. The weaker elements of the book, however, frustrated me. The color choices in this graphic novel are sometimes poor. For the opening bird’s eye view of the city (clever idea), the roads are indistinguishable from the water. I believe a clear delineation would have made more impact on readers who don’t understand the presence of water around New Orleans. The interwoven stories often start and stop abruptly, meaning that I had to re-read some panels to keep track of where things were heading. My biggest complaint was that the factual information is simply wrong. Misrepresenting the number of lives lost, for instance, is not acceptable five years after the tragedy. The timelines are also somewhat off, as the levy break that caused the flooding happened after the actual storm (compared to the story in the book, which seems to indicate the flood taking place at the height of the storm). Here’s the thing – this book takes the events “as told” by those it affected. It’s pretty much understood that those who live through a traumatic event remember it through the filter of powerful emotions. Which means that the feelings of the event are clear, even intensify over time, but the details … not so much. The strength of the book is the emotional tone. The image of the storm like a mushroom cloud over the Superdome is not so much fact as the “sense” of the event. Especially well-done is the story of the comic book writer who mentally pictures his lost belongings swirling around like waves of depression. The water metaphor alone is layered and powerful. Illustrated by Neufeld (a favorite of Harvey Pekar), the facial expressions are perfect and the backgrounds adequate. Based on a webzine, this book is definitely not for younger teens, as the language is clearly aimed at adults. If you want to get a number of perspectives on this event, read the book. If you are looking for something more meaty, try one of the excellent documentaries on the topic.

“Nation” by Terry Pratchett

From Chapter One: “Light died in the west. Night and tears took the Nation. The star of Water drifted among the clouds like a murderer softly leaving the scene of the crime.”

Mix “Swiss Family Robinson” with the Michael Dorris book “Sees Behind Trees” and you have Terry Pratchett’s award-winning book “Nation.” It *could* be Historical Fiction – it’s not, but that’s fairly immaterial. In a departure for the hard-core fantasy writer of the Discworld series, this book is set in the islands of a mythical Pacific around 1900. A natural disaster lands two young teens from different worlds together as they try to rebuild a community. The point of view between them flows freely from sentence to sentence. Leave it to Pratchett not to adhere to the current style of flipping voice-over from one chapter to the next. The large book (which I whipped through … of course) is the story of the ties that bind – to people, objects and gods. Like all Pratchett books, there are questions about religion, faith and belief, and death is personified. The dry, subtle wit, which takes a few gentle shots at British aristocracy is a hallmark of a gifted writer who is smart and clever and makes you think. Terry Pratchett is, without doubt, one of my most favorite authors. I kept this book for the end of my summer reading because I knew it would be like a delightful dessert – and it was. Terry Pratchett is also suffering from early-onset Alzheimers. Read his announcement at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1986843/posts. It’s like one of his storylines. Once the struggling little shlub finally makes it, the fickle gods strike him down in a stroke of apathetic irony. Except it isn’t a story, it’s real, and it is hugely sad and unfair. Nation is not Pratchett’s last book but it does feel like it in a way. An adorable epilogue not only wraps up things as they should (instead of how I wish it…) but seems to be a letter to his faithful fans to keep on dreaming. It was incredibly touching. For those who love his work or those who have never experienced it, read this novel before the fire goes out.

“Sabriel” by Garth Nix

Finally, I get to read a popular fantasy novel which came out in … 1995. Boy, am I behind! Sabriel is your typical fantasy, but very well written. Given the range of genres I encountered this summer it was great to return to my “home-base” as it were. All the elements are here: A birth of the chosen one laced with omens, a young girl called before her time, a journey into darkness and magic that is overpowering. Add in a handsome enchanted guy and a mysterious cat and you have the de rigueur fantasy novel (complete with map of the enchanted kingdom and an epic final battle). When written poorly, this style can be trite and plodding. Australian author Garth Nix, however, is a wordsmith, and his rich (at times overwhelming) text smoothly glides you to the building crescendo of good facing off against evil. The general tone of the book is not light. The “Abhorsens” are masters of death. I not only liked the book and look forward to (someday) reading the sequels, but felt a certain kinship – as if I were discovering Ursula K. LeGuin’s “Farthest Shore” trilogy all over again. There are many parallels to that series, but this feels more like an homage than a rip-off. This e-book, like many, includes an “extra” essay by the author on his writing process. In any case, if you are purist who likes a solid fantasy, this is definitely your cup of tea.