Chinese Cinderella

I meant to post a new chapter book review every Thursday, but I was away being a camp counselor for our church camp, and I forgot to pre-schedule it. I love biographies and memoirs and this is one I've been meaning to read for a while. When I received a copy of the author's first fiction book, it was the perfect motivation to read her original and most famous book. This memoir for children is an abridged/reworked version of her adult memoir, Falling Leaves, but even as an adult, I enjoyed the children's version more.

Book: Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah
Vital Stats: Published in 1999 by Delacorte Press, 205 pages
Awards: 2000 ALA Best Books for Young Adults
Marketed Toward: The "Young Adult" market, more or less teens 12+
The Quick and the Short of It: Recommended for the emotionally mature

Book Synopsis
Adeline Yen Mah tells the difficult story of her childhood. She is the fifth child, and a daughter, unwelcome in her family. When her mother dies from complications from childbirth, Adeline is blamed. After her father's remarriage, her place in her family is even more insecure. She is alternatively ignored and abused, only receiving minimal praise from a father who can't remember her name when she wins school prizes. Set during a backdrop of WWII and then communist revolution in China, Adeline Yen Mah (or Yen Jun-Ling in Chinese) had a rough childhood to say the least. The only ones who take an interest in her are her aunt and grandfather, but they are powerless to make a substantial change in her life. Yet she manages to overcome a cruel stepmother (worthy of any fairytale), an apathetic father, and siblings who are alternatively friends and foe to find herself and her own path in life.

My Take
Fantastic book! It's well written and captivating (I got through it in two days). Most fascinating for me were the insights into Chinese culture, the explanations of language and family structure. This book would be the perfect accompaniment to a unit on China. However it is not an easy book to read. The maturity level required for this book is higher than the reading level. While not as intense as A Child Called It, I would still recommend taking your child's emotional level into account. That being said, this is still a fantastic book. The children's biography covers her life until she is finally granted an escape, college in England. The adult biography glosses over the childhood years and focuses more on her life as an adult and her continuing struggles with her family even after she achieves her independence.

Possible Issues/Christian Connection
The abuse doesn't usually take the form of physical abuse, but abandonment and emotional abuse can be as traumatic for the child and the reader. There is one particularly disturbing scene in which the author's beloved pet duck is killed by her father's dog. Both her grandfather and aunt are devout Buddhists, but their traditions are not lingered on much, actually I wanted more. Overall this program shouldn't be a problem for a Christian family provided you choose an appropriately emotionally mature child. I would think a minimum age is 12 or 13.

Your brothers, your own family—
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you. -Jeremiah 12:6

Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord

One of my favorite middle grade children's chapter books (4th to 6th grade) in the last five years was Cynthia Lord's debut novel Rules, so I was thrilled to get an advance copy of her new book. I highly recommend Rules, especially to those whose lives are touched by someone with autism, and I found her newest book to be as poignant as her first.


Book: Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord
Vital Stats: Published August 1, 2010 by Scholastic, 192 pages
Awards:Lord won the Newbery Honor for Rules and a host of other awards
Marketed Toward: Ages 9 to 12
The Quick and the Short of It: Highly recommended

Book Synopsis
A small town on an island in Maine decides to bring foster children into their houses to raise the number of students and keep their school from being closed. Tess, still reeling from her best friend moving away, places high hopes on Aaron who is coming to live with her family. Of course he isn't exactly what she had hoped (an orphan like Anne in Anne of Green Gables), but real life is always more complicated than a book. Aaron is a gifted musician, but he's never played Monoply. He's angry, uninterested in island life or catching lobsters, and he's curious about his real mom. Grace tries desperately to help him consider the island his home, but when she tries to reconnect him with his mom she might have gone too far.

My Take
Simply put, I loved this book. It's beautifully written. The island life in Maine is so perfectly drawn that the setting could be an additional character. (I love books where the setting is rich and evocative as this one is.) Tess has a number of superstitions (such as the titular touching of blue which will make a wish come true) and each chapter is headed with a new superstition that naturally weaves its way into the action of that chapter. As I read this book, I flashed back to all the superstitions of my own childhood. Tess is a believable and a relateable character trying to make the most of what life has given her. If you're anything like me, you'll be rooting for Tess, for Aaron, and for the rest of the characters in this exceptionally well done book. Cynthia Lord deserves at least another mention on the Notable list for this marvelous book.

Possible Issues/Christian Connection:
There are the obvious issues inherent with a foster child, including that Aaron's mother has lost custody of him due to drinking issues. Other than that (which is minor and shouldn't be an impediment), I don't see any issues that would cause concern for a Christian family. Acutally I was thrilled to read a book where they attended church regularly. Tess performs Peace Like a River for the talent show and Aaron becomes the church organist. It's a refreshing book and one that I whole-heartedly endorse. There are a number of families in my church who have welcomed foster children into their homes and I'm thinking about sharing my copy of this with them.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." - James 1:27

The Prince of Mist

At the risk of sounding like a literary snob, I love reading Spanish Magical Realism. If you're unfamiliar with that genre, it is a mix of reality and fantastical elements by Spanish (or Mexican) authors. Great examples includes authors such as Gabriel García Márquez and Laura Esquivel and books such 100 Years of Solitude and Like Water For Chocolate (my personal favorite). Last year when a coworker introduced me to a new author from Barcelona, I immediately devoured the two adult works of Carlos Ruiz Zafón that had been translated (The Shadow of the Wind and it's companion The Angel's Game). Those are amazing books, some of the best I've read in years, but definitely adult books. I do not recommend them to kids or teens. That why I was so excited (thrilled, over the moon, doing a happy dance) to get a copy of his first (translated) book for teens.

Book: The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, translated by Lucia Graves
Vital Stats: Published in May 2010 by Little, Brown and Company, 200 pages
Marketed Toward: Teens
The Quick and the Short of It: Recommended, with a few reservations, for teens 14+

Book Synopsis
It's 1943 and the war is pressing in on daily life in Spain. On his 13th birthday, Max's father announces he is moving the family away from the city to a coastal town to escape the war. There his father opens up a watchmaker's shop and they move into a beach home abandoned after tragedy struck and the son of the previous owners drowned. That was not the only tragedy to strike this small community: years before a ship had sunk leaving only one survivor. Said survivor built the town's lighthouse and took in his orphaned grandson to raise. Max and his older sister become friends with the grandson, Roland, and together discover a mystery surrounding the drowned ship, the lighthouse keeper, a garden of creepy statues, and the previous occupants of the house. It's primarily a ghost story, with a bit about a deal with a devil thrown in, and of course a sense of magic.

My Take
I am not a person who enjoys being scared for the sake of being scared, but I loved this. The intertwining of the real and the not-quite-real is brilliant. It's not as fluid and poetic as Zaf´o;n's adult works, but it is much shorter and a quicker read. The story is less complex and fleshed out, but has the same interweaving of characters and places that make Zaf%acuteo;n's works so spine-tingling. Anyone who likes a creepy read, or beautiful writing, will find something to like here. However, I do have a couple of reservations, as always, read on.

Possible Issues
The first line of the book sets the stage: Max would never forget that faraway summer when, almost by chance, he discovered magic. So yes, this book includes magic. Choose for yourself how you feel about that. No main (or likeable) character practices magic, magic is shown as an evil force, and a consequence is always paid for practicing magic. The titular "Prince of Mist" is an evil-magician who grants wishes for people for a terrible price. (There's a nice object lesson about making a deal with the devil.) I do not feel that the presence of the supernatural element in this book should automatically preclude it from being enjoyed by an older Christian teen. Parents should also be aware that in the developing intimacy between Max's older sister, Alicia, and Roland, there is some physical intimacy. Max observes the two kissing and rolling around in the sand on the beach. Alicia also removes her dress before going swimming with Roland. Nothing is ever graphically described and at no point do they explain to exactly what level the intimacy between Roland and Alicia progresses.

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the LORD." -Ezekiel 13:20-21

Ending Randomness, Adding Structure

When I began this blog, I didn't know exactly where I was going. I knew I wanted to talk about secular books from a Christian perspective, and I knew that I had a LOT of opinions. I've been adding content fairly willy-nilly and just trying to find my style and my flow. But it is time to start adding more structure. So I'm starting with three defined goals and I'm publishing them to add in accountability (and honestly guilt) so that I do it.

Goal One:
A new review of a children's or teen novel every Thursday morning. (Morning being defined by West Coast time.)

Goal Two:
A feature on picture books every Monday.

Goal Three:
A index listing page of all reviews alphabetically.

My hope is to start this with a review on Thursday, July 1st. I'm at ALA Annual Convention right now where I've picked up some great Advanced Reader Copies to review. I'll head back home in a couple of days, but I'm doing a lot of reflecting about the state of librarianship, of children's and teen literature, and what I want from my career and this blog in particular.

I know that this blog has very few readers right now, but if you have any suggestions please let me know. And if you know anyone else who could use a Christian perspective on secular literature, please share. Somewhere in here is a goal to really start promoting this blog, but I'm not precisely sure how I want to go about that yet.

A Tale of an Unknown Country volume 1

One of the biggest trends in graphic novels in the last ten years has been the growth of manga imports from Japan (and manhwa from Korea and manhua from China). These manga books are read right to left and "front" to "back" (in the Western prospective). Many of them are based on anime (Japenese cartoon shows) and are generally known by their large eyed characters. If reading right-to-left completely intimidates you, don't worry, you're not alone. Open the book up from the traditional front and most of the time you'll get a diagram explaining how it works and directing you to the other side of the book. The text is still printed left to right, but you'll read the panels and dialog bubbles right to left. It took me about 3/4ths of the first book to figure it out, but once you get it, it's fun. Promise. In fact what I struggle with most now in manga is telling the characters apart, but I'm working on it. The thing that parents should be wary of is a lot of manga contains graphic violence, nudity, sexual situations, etc. Most manga publishers include an age rating on their manga to help you make a decision..


Book: A Tale of an Unknown Country by Natsuna Kawase

Vital Stats: Published in the US in 2009 by CMX*, 144 pages, black and white throughout
Marketed Toward: Ages 9 to 12
Rating: E for Everyone
The Quick and the Short of It: Recommended for preteens and up, most likely to appeal to girls.
*CMX is the manga imprint of DC comics and is going under this summer. Therefore their titles may soon be hard to get.

Book Synopsis
Rosemarie is the princess of the kingdom of Ardela, a small country that celebrates nature and is primarily tourism based. In fact her country is so poor that she (a princess) sells bread and her brother (the prince) gives tours of the castle to the public (for a fee). Her brother is trying to broker Rosemarie's marriage to Prince Reynol of the nearby science and technology based (and rich) country of Yurinela. (Why yes, I do have my copy of the book right beside me so I can look up how those words are all spelled.) Rosemarie goes in disguise a maid to Yurinela to see what Reynol is like. Though no one is fooled by her disguise, her "meddling" in his life (forcing him to sleep and eat vegetables) causes him to fall in love with her. Apparently his willingness to smile causes her to fall in love with him. (Seriously I could discern no better reason.) Reynol visits her country and after some more shenanigans, they both admit they love each other and the engagement goes on. There are two more volumes in this series that I have not yet read.

At the end of volume one is a bonus standalone story about two teenagers in a school who fall in love. The girl does the announcements and the boy falls in love with her voice. At first she is embarrassed by the crazy stalker, but then she comes to love him as well. (It's short, but trite.)

My Take
Despite occasionally being confused as to who was whom (particularly among the male characters), I enjoyed this book. It was a quick light read and exactly the sort of thing I would have loved as a 10 or 11 year-old girl. She's a princess and she is going to marry a prince, but only if she really loves him. No one's pressuring her into it, her brother turns out to have her best interests at heart. I can see 10 year-old me happily curled up on my pink rose bedspread reading this on a rainy afternoon. This series will have little to no appeal to boys. Often manga series can run into many volumes (40 or 50+ easily) and this one is happily complete in three. All in all it's a good choice for dipping your toes into the manga waters. I will be reading the next two volumes.

Possible Issues/Christian Connection
All of the characters in the book are teens. Rosemarie's marriage negotiations are handled by her (slightly older) brother and Reynol's marriage negotiations are likewise handled by his older brother. (And by handled, I mean the older brothers make the final decision and hold all the power.) Books that depict teenagers falling in forever love and getting married are always slightly worrisome to me. I feel it can send a wrong message and give too much weight to teenage infatuation. While some people marry their high school sweethearts, most teenage relations are ephemeral. Also, where are the parents? Why are there no older adults anywhere in the book? There's no explanation for their absence, they simply don't exist, only teenagers who are close enough to the readers to be relatable, but old enough to act with a degree of independence. Mostly safe for a Christian family.

Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. - Jeremiah 29:6

Binky the Space Cat

It's summer, time to run, to play, and to read light fluff for fun. Perfect season for graphic novels. This is one of my favortie graphic novels from last year (it helps that I'm a cat person) and sure to be a fun summer treat for any beginning reader.


Book: Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires

Vital Stats: Published in 2009 by Kids Can Press, 64 pages, full color throughout
Marketed Toward: Ages 6+
The Quick and the Short of it: Highly recommended for kids from beginning readers to beginning chapter book readers

Book Synopsis
Binky would like to be a space cat, but he's never left his space station (family house). As he plots and trains to go into outer space (outside) he continues to battle the aliens (bugs) that occasionally invade his home. He's finally ready to go, he built his spaceship, packed extra kitty litter, grabbed his stuffed mouse, but he realizes something. Can he really leave his humans behind? They need him to stay and protect from the aliens (bugs).

My Take
Love this book! It's colorful and engaging with a lot of jokes that will appeal to kids. Kids love to laugh by feeling superior so they'll chuckle when Binky labels bugs as aliens and the garden as outer space. It has a good balance of sweet, funny, adventure to appeal to both boys and girls, though I expect that it's appeal tops out at about 9 or 10 years old. I highly recommend this for early elementary school students.

Possible Issues/Christian Connection
I see no issues with this book. It might be worth noting (to some) that Binky lives with two humans a mother and son and no mention is ever made of a father or lack thereof. He simply just lives with those two.

I love the house where you live, O LORD,
the place where your glory dwells. - Psalm 26:8

Geronimo Stilton

The perenially popular Geronimo Stilton is constantly in demand at my library. Originally written in Italy, they're an amazing import for emerging readers. They're perfect beginning chapter books that capture kids who are transitioning from picture books and readers to novels.


Book: Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye by Geronimo Stilton

Vital Stats: Published in 2004 by Scholastic, 116 pages, full color throughout
Awards:
Marketed Toward: Ages 9 to 12
The Quick and the Short of It: Highly recommended!

Book Synopsis
Geronimo Stilton is harried newspaper man living in a world of mice. He likes cheese and a quiet orderly life. All of that is turned topsy turvy when his sister, Thea, shows up with a treasure map and convinces him to join him on an adventure. They're also joined by their cousin Trap and a stowaway. As they make a brave sea voyage, they might just discover that what they though of as a treasure is different than the treasure they find.

My Take
These books are unbelievably colorful and engaging. Words are often written in a fun color and font in the middle of the text for emphasis. (Think like a comic book with POW being surrounded by a balloon.) Perhaps it's my grownup brain, but it took me about half the book to adjust to that, yet children eat them up. As of this writing none of the copies (and we have many) are available at my library because they're all checked out. Yesterday I had three children ask for these book by name within 90 minutes. They're fun, sweet, adventurous, and wonderful. These are at the top of my list of recommended books in the beginning chapter book range. (So in my opinion, probably works well for kids ages 7 to 10.)

Possible Issues/Christian Connection
I didn't see any issues in this book. Recommending without reservation.

Education Connection
Did you know that I write another blog? It's more geared for professional librarians and covers library programming and issues. One of my favorite programs is a book club for 1st to 3rd graders (age 6 to 9). Here is an entry about when we used this book as our book club choice. I've actually re-done this book club since then and should post an update. You might find some fun ideas to use even at home when your children read the Geronimo Stilton books.