Transcript: Supreme Court Hearings on Gay Marriage Cases

This is proof that reading is reading, no matter what you read.  I took a  break in my regular reading of YA novels to look at the actual arguments before the court on this hot-bed issue.  I find the arguments in these cases to be fascinating, because there is an attempt to look at the law, impartially, in highly emotionally charged topics.  I also like "smart", and these are very, very smart people.  The precedents cited are also interesting.  I studied Lawrence in my school law class, and have a "slightly" personal connection to Loving, as my family moved to Virginia in the 1960s and were shocked at the difference in race relations here, as opposed to their native California.  In any case, it's all very intriguing.  The arguments were strong, but circular, as the Supreme Court justices repeatedly pointed out in their challenges to the lawyers making these cases.  The impact of approving gay marriage is a civil rights issue that would have far-reaching consequences.  Questions remain -- is marriage a religious institution, or a government one?  Is it an institution within the domain of the federal government, or in the purview of the states?  Should civil rights like these be decided by the electorate?  (Here, I have to say no.  If we had waited for the electorate to vote on civil rights for blacks, we would still be waiting.  On a personal level, I think the government sometimes has to step in and protect certain classes rather than wait on societal opinion to catch up.)  No matter what the outcome, the justices clearly want to make "good law."  I think the reason they turned back the Prop 8 case is because it didn't have enough meat to hang a major decision on.  It is clear that when they rule on this in June, they will be careful to be solid in how they write the majority opinion, so that it withstands any future challenges.  And, I'll say it now -- my money is on 6 to 3 for the plaintiffs.

"Greenglass House" by Kate Milford

This one is complex.  So complex that I was surprised 5th graders at a local elementary school selected it as a favorite, but then we tend to constantly underestimate kids and what they can get from the books they read.  This one reads like a magical twist on an Agatha Christie tale.  There are tons of themes -- adoption, mystery, geography, role-playing games, history, ghosts.  This is a story inside a story inside a story, all with an ever-so-slight Steampunk atmosphere.  There is a boy, Milo, who lives in an a smuggler's inn at the top of a hill.  There are unexpected guests in the dead of winter, who bring with them stories of their own and a book with more stories.  There are good guys, bad guys and people with secrets.  Most of all, there is a local legend or two adding to the atmosphere of it all.  Did I like the book?  I did.  I wish I had been able to curl up with it and read it through, since my stop and start routine did not lend itself to an appreciation of the many twists and turns.  I did find it a challenging read.  The prose was not eloquent, and I guessed at a huge reveal very (very) early in the tale, which may have taken away some of the punch at the climax.  On a personal level, I felt some of the many threads were left unexplained, and, like mysteries of old, there are false clues that lead nowhere.   Nonetheless, Ms. Milford has created a rich, layered world here, and it is easy to see how a reader would "fall into it" and the variety of characters she has invented.  Students voted this as a favorite pick, so I say to "check it out."

"Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy" by Karen Foxlee

There have been a host of books lately, "Splendors and Glooms", "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making", "Tangle of Knots" etc., which have a kind of classic children's book charm.  Written in solid, accessible, but engaging prose, "Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy" joins those novels that seem eternal.  This was written in 2014, but could have been written in 1950, or 2120, as the appeal is fairly universal.  Using a bit of magical realism in a "different" take on the Snow Queen tale, this is both a very simple story, and a sophisticated one.  Ophelia is dealing with the loss of her mother, her disaffected father, a distant teen sister and a trip to a "foreign" city, along with a mysterious museum, where the contents change from hour to hour.  She meets the Marvelous Boy but does not believe his story.  Ophelia is a girl of Science, of groundedness, but the aching hole in her wants to reach out and believe in something greater.  The adventure begins. 

One interesting note is that I had a kind of Narnia flashback at one point with some subtle Christian symbolism, but by and large, readers are not likely to see it unless they are looking for it.  On the whole, I greatly enjoyed this book.  There is a kind of "otherworldlyness" that comes out.  Foxlee joins a glittering host of authors from Australia gracing U.S. bookshelves these days.  Like Craig Silvey, Markus Zusak, Melina Marchetta, Jaclyn Moriarty and more, there is a difference here.  The world Foxlee creates has an ethereal quality, a small sense of the unfamiliar.  Most of the short chapters begin with an amusing summary, as in "In which Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard discovers a boy in a locked room and is consequently asked to save the world."  The subtle, tongue-in-cheek humor runs throughout and makes an engaging book even that more delightful.  This isn't just a page-turner, it's one you will stay up to finish.  The end comes abruptly, after significant build-up, and I'm still deciding if I liked it.  On one hand, things wrapped up so quickly, I was left with a moment of tears, but on the other hand -- do you really want to wax on when everything is said and done?  Perhaps this is not a book that needs a lengthy denouement.  This is one case where the author seems to say exactly what she needed to.