Maeve in America...so good that I remembered this little orphaned reading blog. :-)

Oh, c'mon. How did I forget this dumb blog AGAIN? Well, if there's one thing to be said about the fabulous book, Maeve in America by Maeve Higgins, is that it was so good that it made me remember that I used to have a book blog! 

Maeve in America by Irish comedian Maeve Higgins

*****9  stars****

Dedication: For Liam, Aoibhinn, Cathal, Hazel, Nora, Sadie, and Daniel. You think I am your aunt, but really I am your mother.


NOTE: There are two books I regret reading this year instead of listening to the audiobook version, instead, and this is one of them. I'll bet hearing comedians Noah Trevor and Maeve Higgins read their own books in their own delicious accents would be even better than reading them the old-fashioned way.

From the tears of hysterical laughter in the first essay as she reluctantly swam with dolphins to the throat-lump of concern in her essay "Aliens of Extraordinary Ability" to her thoughtful acknowledgments at the end of the book, Maeve Higgins just NAILS IT. 

     Favorite quote? Too many to list, but her essay called "Other People's Children" was so great, I had to read it twice. Her idea of an Auntie Army, made up of women "who have somehow managed to wrench off that veil placed so craftily on us as we grew up, obstructing our view of the truth, which is that women are just as valid and important and human as men."

"We will be an army of women, there to protect these girls and claim back their land. Our recruits will come from all around. Aunts can be mothers, too. And, actually, boys can be nieces. You don't even have to be related to a niece to be her aunt, did you know that? Nieces are everywhere and the aunt ranks are made up of any woman who can guide a girl to safety."

Run, do not walk, to see if your library has Maeve in America...and REQUEST IT, if they do not. (That's how I got mine! Our fabulous Abilene Public Library has a suggestion form, and if they take your suggestion, you get an email so that you can check it out first.) 

https://www.maevehiggins.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzVFoXHFK3A

https://youtu.be/iUwntYVxkWA 

Well, hello, little orphaned reading blog that I forgot about for SIX YEARS. Let me tell you about Hope Jahren's _Lab Girl_.

There have been lots of laughs and tears and LOVE and living and travels and wonderful books (and a few terrible books) in the last six years, but a crazy busy schedule--coupled with no Internet connectivity on the farm--meant that I didn't have time to keep a reading list.

BUT...if I keep my thoughts short and sweet, maybe this will be doable at my new job WHERE I HAVE A LUNCH HOUR (a full hour! really!) for the very first time in my whole life. (Imagine my envy last year when our high school instituted MegaLunch, giving nearly 2,000 kids a free hour in the middle of the day. There I was, a grandmother with two college degrees who never had a lunch hour at ANY of her many jobs, working MegaLunch every day so that teenagers could enjoy their leisurely lunch break. The Bible says it's a sin to envy so a LOT of praying was done last year!)

Okay, then...let's light this little orphaned candle.

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

*****9 1/2 stars****

Dedication: Everything that I write is dedicated to my mother.

Epigraph: 

"The more I handled things and learned their names and uses, the more joyous and confident grew my sense of kinship with the rest of the world."
   --William King, The Art of Cookery (1708)


What a great companion for a trip to Michigan. I couldn't stop reading quotes aloud to Philip (before I left Texas) and then to Karen, Thomas, and Molly who not only humored their tag-along librarian in the back seat, but even pretended to be interested!

Favorite quote? Hard to nail down since this book has so many compelling sections that BEG to be read aloud to a companion, but this one stuck in my mind.

     "Every single year, at least one tree is cut down in your name. Here's my personal request to you: If you own any private land at all, plant one tree on it this year. If you are renting a place with a yard, plant a tree in it and see if your landlord notices. If he does, insist to him that it was always there. Throw in a bit about how exceptional he is for caring enough about the environment to have put it there. If he takes the bait, go plant another one. Baffle some chicken wire at its base and string a cheesy birdhouse around its tiny trunk to make it look permanent, then move out and hope for the best.
     How about an oak? There are more than two hundred species and one is bound to be adapted to your specific corner of the planet...For my money, I'll take the bur oak, the slowest-growing but strongest of all; even its acorns are heavily armored, ready to do battle with the uninviting soil."

If you love science...or if you love a girl who loves science and can overlook a few impolite words she is sure to hear in a science lab...run, do not walk, to grab a copy of Lab Girl.

https://youtu.be/Yht9LrYRxqg

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/the-secret-life-of-plants-and-lab-girl-author-hope-jahren/

https://hopejahrensurecanwrite.com/

Well, this is ridiculous.

I obviously read WAAAY more books than I have time to blog about (just ONE so far in 2010? really???), but I will tell you that Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place was wonderful and heroic and thought-provoking--and means more to me today than when I read it back in the 'Seventies. TEN STARS!

Our HOPE church book club chose this one...and I'm so thankful! (At first, I was a little disappointed because I'd already read it, but getting the updated 35th Anniversary Edition--and being 30 years older and more mature--made this the PERFECT choice.)

The other night, probably around 2 or 3 in the morning (when everyone does their best thinking), I lay awake considering how these two elderly spinsters mustered the courage to fight injustice, ready and willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice. Corrie's recounting of their ordeal in prison, cattle cars, and a concentration camp broke my heart...and challenged me to be more deliberate about being the hands and feet of Jesus on this earth. 

If you've never read this one, brace yourself for one of the most poignant books you've ever loved...

_The Mysterious Howling_ by Maryrose Wood

*****9 1/2 stars****

Book One of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series

Dedication: "For Mike"

What's a poor governess to do? Our heroine, Penelope Lumley, arrives from the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females to discover that her three charges have actually been raised by wolves. While other, less plucky girls would have turned on their heels and headed back to the train station, our Miss Lumley rises to the challenge, fortified by the encouragement of Swanburne Academy's wise founder, Agatha Swanburne (whose pithy sayings are sprinkled throughout the book) and the encouragement of the Academy's headmistress, Charlotte Mortimer.

In one of the most touching scenes, as Penelope stands alone on the train platform about to begin this new adventure, she closes her eyes and squeezes her own hand, imagining for just a moment that it is Miss Mortimer reassuring her.

Or did she? I'll let you be the judge...read pages 6 and 7 of Chapter One (entitled "One home is forsaken in hopes of another") and tell me what you think!

You will enjoy unraveling the mysteries of Penelope's new manor home, Ashton Place, and the dark secrets the estate, its inhabitants, and the surrounding forest grounds try to hide. You'll fall in love with three little wolf children, ridiculously named Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia by Lord Ashton.  I don't recall laughing as I read Jane Eyre, but I laughed out loud more than once as I relished each page of The Mysterious Howling, described by School Library Journal as "Jane Eyre meets Lemony Snicket."


Convinced yet? Check out the book trailer.


Run, don't walk, to get your copy...in fact, run on all fours, if you wish.
Ah-ah-ah-wooooooooooooo!!

_The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie_ by Alan Bradley

*****9 1/2 stars****

Dedication: "For Shirley"

Epigraph:

Unless some sweetness at the bottom lie,
Who cares for all the crinkling of the pie?
--William King, The Art of Cookery (1708)


Yes, please! More Flavia de Luce right away! The best news I can tell you is that Alan Bradley is hard at work on the second Flavia de Luce novel as we speak; the second-best news for you (if you live in Abilene) is that I'm sending the Abilene Public Library's copy with Karen to work tomorrow, for her to return if she gets a minute. Whip out your library card, put this one on hold, and read this GREAT book for FREE! (Sorry, Mr. Bradley. Not only have you made plenty of money already, but we public educators are huge fans of the Free Library System. In fact, Karen and I toasted the memory of Ben Franklin just last night.)

This book, which won the Debut Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association, is a MUST-READ for anyone who loves mysteries and/or All Things British...castles, boarding schools, headmasters, nosy villagers, servants, and MURDER. You will absolutely love it, and Flavia's fresh voice will rivet you from the first page.

Favorite quote? Oh, there are so many, but this one took the cake:

"...Heaven must be a place where the library is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. No...eight days a week."

Thanks to Dr. Norton for this book recommendation! Thanks to Karen for picking it up (and returning it) for me! (Karen, if you ever have an operation and are forbidden to drive, I swear to do ALL your library-related errands with a smile and enthusiasm...)

_Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time_ by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

****8 1/2 stars****

Dedication:

to
Irvin "Dempsey" Mortenson
Barry "Barrel" Bishop
and
Lloyd Henry Relin
for showing us the way, while you were here


Well, it looks like I haven't read anything since June, which is just crazy...and crazy has been the OPERATIVE word--since an OPERATION thirteen days ago made July (initial diagnosis, sonograms, horrible sigmoidoscopy, etc.) and the first part of August (trip to N.C. & Va.) sort of a blur. Dr. Norton allowed me to go on vacation with Bethany (non-refundable airline tickets), but he refused to let me run all the middle school students through Orientation.

Good thing, too...the larger of the two cysts ruptured as he tried to remove it, and he said he's glad he didn't let me wait. (Amen!)

So yes, there were books during those days (like the wonderful professional book Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire by Rafe Esquith, one of Shusterman's two Lone Star selections, Antsy Does Time, and a terrific Lone Star book called The Dead and the Gone, and another great Lone Star set during the French Revolution called The Red Necklace), but life was just too insane to make any entries in a book journal.

Now, however, I have the time to sit and journal. LOTS of time to sit and journal. I still am not allowed to drive and won't even be returning to work on a half-time basis until Sep. 15th. So...here goes...liked (but not loved) Three Cups of Tea. Glad that someone is willing to risk his life to educate ALL children, including girls...no, especially girls. (I think we all need to add Greg Mortenson to our prayer lists, asking God to keep him safe, and then we all need to whip out our credit cards and put our money where our mouths are.)

We always talk about how shameful it is that the girls of this world are still denied an education in many parts of this world, and here's our chance to do something about it! I plan to make a donation in honor of the ladies in my book club in September...the least I could do...

If you enjoy non-fiction or if you're interested in world events or education, this book will appeal to you...enjoy!

_Still Alice_ by Lisa Genova

****9 stars****

Dedication:
In Memory of Angie
For Alena

Epigraph:
"Even then, more than a year earlier, there were neurons in her head, not far from her ears, that were being strangled to death, too quietly for her to hear them. Some would argue that things were going so insidiously wrong that the neurons themselves initiated events that would lead to their own destruction. Whether it was molecular murder or cellular suicide, they were unable to warn her of what was happening before they died."


One of our July book club selections, Still Alice is simply heartbreaking. One of our book club members has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease (just like the main character, as well as half a million people in the U.S. under the age of 65), and she suggested this as one of our summer reads...and I'm so thankful that she did.

Everyone with a friend or family member with this diagnosis, perhaps the cruelest of all diseases, should read this book without delay. Not only will it increase your awareness of the disease itself, but it will reveal new aspects of what the patient and caregivers go through. I was reminded of my grandmother on every single page.

It wasn't easy to read, and it certainly isn't one to tuck under your arm for the beach (unless you don't mind crying on your towel), but it was important and I'm so thankful to Libby for suggesting it...and for Lisa Genova for writing it. The discussion questions at the back were thought-provoking and should guarantee some lively debate next month at our book club meeting.

See you at Memory Walk this fall, where I'll proudly walk with Team Libby.

_The Cracker Queen_ by Lauretta Hannon

****8 1/2 stars****

Dedication: "For Jazz Daddy & Princess Brown Eyes"

About two weeks ago, the Radcliffes (who are just about the cutest couple God ever put together) walked through Books-a-Million and caught me holding this book with a dreamy, faraway look in my eyes. We laughed about how bookstores are my personal crackhouses, and I showed them the two I really wanted to buy: I'm Down by Mishna Wolff and The Cracker Queen by NPR commentator Lauretta Hannon.

They perused both book jackets and agreed that these selections seemed especially promising...but being public school teachers themselves, they understood why sometimes things can only be cradled and admired and thoughtfully considered instead of actually *purchased*.

So imagine my delight when the Abilene Public Library had a copy of The Cracker Queen! How cool is that? (FREE is Very Cool.)

It's great. You'll love it. And while my family was a little too law-abiding and wholesome for true Cracker Status, we were poor and we were Southern so I could relate to the Cracker Queens in almost every chapter. (The introduction is subtitled "Everything You Need to Know I Learned Inside a Singlewide," so I started this book already smiling...)

There's a great interview with Ms. Hannon HERE. And while you wait for the mp3 file to download, here are are just a few of The Cracker Queen's memorable quotes:

"Nonsmokers, Yankees, professors, and even men can be Cracker Queens. Your age, race, and country of origin are irrelevant. But your willingness to whup some a$$ is nonnegotiable."

(Ms. Hannon does not use dollar signs in the word a$$, by the way, because she is a true Cracker Queen, and I'm only a Cracker Queen Lite. She truly would whup your a$$, while I would just fervently wish that you would meet with your well-deserved comeuppance.)

Of her job at Atlanta Technical College, in one of the poorest parts of the city:
"The truth is that the bad days at work are the best, too, because they remind me of the urgency of our mision. It goes far deeper than education: We are soul warrors...During the graduation ceremony, there is a constant buzz and hum in the air that isn't coming from the PA system. It is the sound of the Universe expressing its supreme contentment. Thank you, Jesus. You showed up and you showed out again."

On gratitude, one of the "linchpins of the Cracker Queen world":
"Gratitude is the cherry on top of the ice-cream sundae or the big bow on top of your dream car. It brings an extra sweetness to everything...Being grateful can change a situation from one that would set you back to one that will catapult you forward."

Posted on her Mama's fridge:
"If it has tires or testicles, it's gonna' give you trouble."

On allowing yourself to become a victim:
"All Cracker Queens are biters. Meaning that if you victimize us, we don't stay victims for long. Try and perpetrate on us a second time, and the men in fedoras might be drawing a chalk line around your sorry lifeless body." (May Bee is a Cracker Queen; I'm only a lady-in-waiting.)

You will love Ms. Hannon's thoughts on Solitude and Play, and I laughed out loud in the Acknowledgments when she thanked a certain "Kathy Tidmore," a member of a group called the "High Order of Whup-A$$ Waitresses." (I can't wait until Monday to ask our school secretary, also named "Kathy Tidmore," if she once waited tables in the Southeast. Wouldn't it be funny if our demure Kathy Tidmore was once the sort of waitress who could deliver a well-deserved a$$-whuppin'? Karen says I should make Kathy a sign for her desk, informing Madison visitors that Ms. Tidmore belongs to the "High Order of Whup-A$$ Secretaries.")

Enjoy the book...and be sure to visit The Cracker Queen web site!

_The Compound_ by S.A. Bodeen

****8 stars****

Dedication: "For Bailey"

Epigraph:

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper
--T.S. Eliot


Not my usual cup of tea, but if you're in the mood for a book with an egomaniacal dictator, a claustrophobic underground bunker, moral and ethical dilemmas, and increasing suspense that will have you devouring the pages near the end, this should be the one!

Loved the plays on names (Rex, Finnegan, etc.), too!

There's already buzz about this book at my school since it's a Lone Star selection next year and because it's one of the eight books we've purchased so far on Playaway (digital audiobook). When my niece saw it tucked under my arm, she gasped, "Is that the one with CANNIBALS?" Among teens, any book buzz is good buzz so I'm happy...and can't wait to hear what the kids think.

_Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature_ by Robin Brande

****7 stars***

Dedication: "For Amanda and Matthew"

Liked it...perhaps because, like our narrator and heroine, I also believe in God *and* evolution.

Didn't love it, though...the characters seemed a little flat and stereotypical. The only person wrestling with conflict in the book seemed to be the narrator. The love interest, who has lost a parent, never adequately discussed or expressed that loss, even after his girlfriend opened up about the things that weighed on her heart. Christians, until the last chapters of the book, are almost always shown as hard or mean-spirited or unquestioning followers, and I've found this to be exactly the opposite. (In my personal experience, people of faith--any faith--are the ones who are more likely to seek meaning and be kind-hearted and routinely examine their leaders to see if they're worth following.) The reactions of her parents at the start and end of the book seemed a little improbable, as well. So, I give this one a C+.

Enjoyed the puppies and love interest story lines. Liked that our heroine loved God and church and could still find room to have faith in her Creator. (In the Acknowledgments at the end of the book, Ms. Brande thanked Dr. Kenneth R. Miller, author of Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution, which is now on hold for me at the public library.) I do NOT agree that Creationism and Intelligent Design are one and the same...and am looking forward to reading more about this topic!

Interested in a podcast with Ms. Brande? Go here and choose your link.

_The Glass Castle_ by Jeannette Walls

*****9.5 stars****

Dedication: "To John, for convincing me that everyone who is interesting has a past."


What a great book! This is how memoirs OUGHT to be...not white-washed, but with all the gritty truth, with all the despair and hope...proving how the circumstances and relationships of our childhood shape the person we become.

The other great message was that our childhoods don't define us. I wish more of my students knew that the decisions of their parents don't necessarily have to be THEIR decisions. In this great country, if someone is armed with Big Dreams and Some Smarts and An Ability to Work Hard, he or she is going to be just fine.

We tell our students to dream big and shoot for the stars and "a man's reach should exceed his grasp," and Jeannette Walls is living proof. I wish that the teachers of this country would add this book to their high school reading lists.




Some great excerpts:

On Christmas morning, Mom took us down to a gas station that sold Christmas trees. She selected a tall, dark, but slightly dried-out Douglas fir. "This poor tree isn't going to sell by the end of the day, and it needs someone to love it," she told the man and offered him three dollars. The man looked at the tree and looked at Mom and looked at us kids. My dress had buttons missing. Holes were appearing along the seams of Maureen's T-shirt. "Lady, this one's been marked down to a buck," he said.
***
We called the kitchen the loose-juice room, because on the rare occasions that we had paid the electricity bill and had power, we'd get a room. The first time I got zapped, it knocked my breath out and left me into the kitchen, we needed to wrap our hands in the driest socks or rags we could find. If we got a shock, we'd announce it to everyone else, sort of like giving a weather report. "Big jolt from touching the stove today," we'd say. "Wear extra rags."
***
"Poor mom," Lori finally said. "She's got it tough."
"No tougher than the rest of us," I said.
"Yes she does," Lori said. "She's the one who's married to Dad."
"That was her choice...she needs to be firmer, lay down the law for Dad instead of getting hysterical all the time. What Dad needs is a strong woman."
"A caryatid wouldn't be strong enough for Dad."
"What's that?"
"Pillars shaped like women," Lori said. "The ones holding up those Greek temples with their heads. I was looking at a picture of some the other day, thinking, Those women have the second toughest job in the world."

_Home of the Brave_ by Katherine Applegate

*****9.5 stars****

Dedication: "For Michael, Jake, and Julia, with love."

You simply HAVE to read this book. It won't take long, but you really MUST read this book. If you have a tender spot for refugees who have come to this great, strange country called the United States of America, you will LOVE Ms. Applegate's touching Home of the Brave.

You know the refugees I'm talking about...their clothes aren't exactly right, their voices are just a little too loud or a little too soft, they walk beside busy Buffalo Gap Road in their mismatched outfits in all kinds of weather...and your heart just goes out to them.

Last month, a woman marched up to two refugee boys who were pondering their milk choices at the back of HEB and loudly apologized for the rudeness of the elderly woman who had just insulted them. (I had apparently just missed somebody being awful to them, for some reason.) The two young men seemed completely bewildered...by the dairy cases, by the bills in the older boy's hand, by the loud young woman who was apologizing on behalf of All Good People Everywhere, by the handful of bystanders who stood shaking their heads and glaring at the Insult Hurler, AND by the crabby old witch who was stomping off behind her shopping cart.

Standing alone after the teapot tempest calmed down, they just looked at each other in amazement. (I thought of those two boys often as I read this BEAUTIFUL book.) Here's a short excerpt about Kek's last day of school in his ESL (English as a Second Language) class:

The last day of school
Ms. Hernandez and Mr. Frankin
put our desks into a circle.
Ms. Hernandez stands in the middle.
Here comes a speech, she says.
We all groan.

That noise is the same in all languages.
She laughs.
I promise it'll be a very short speech.
I just want you to know
that I'm very proud of all of you.
You have learned much and
come far this year.

She makes a funny sound in her throat,
but I do not think she has a cold.

Like so many immigrants before you,
I know you'll help make this country
a better, stronger place.
She wipes her eyes. OK.
Speech over.

***
Beautiful writing, isn't it? And even though I drive people crazy with my love for dogs (and just quoted an excerpt from Haven Kimmel's Iodine about dogs), Kek has a special place in his heart for the cattle he grew up raising in Africa:

Again I'm learning
that America people
don't understand the wonder of a cow.
Maybe if they had more cows
on the TV machine,
people would begin to feel
as Ganwar and I do.

You can have your dogs and cats,
your gerbils and hamsters
and sleek sparkling fish.
But you will have lived
just half a life
if you never love a cow.

***
It's a great book...hats off to Ms. Applegate! Oh, and if you want to help Abilene's refugees, call or visit the web site of our chapter of the IRC!

_Iodine_ by Haven Kimmel

****7.5 stars***

Dedication: "This one is for Scott Browning and for Robert Rodi, with my love and gratitude."

Epigraphs:

Each dream is a child of Night, affiliated closely with Sleep and Death, and with Forgetting (Lethe) all that the daily world remembers. Dreams have no father, no call upwards.
--James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld

"I did this," says my Memory, "I cannot have done this," says my Pride and remain inexorable. In the end--Memory yields.
--Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

It was an easy birth, once it had been accepted, and I was younger.
--Martha, in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Well, obviously, I haven't been keeping up with a reading journal since The Big Move, but since Haven Kimmel is one of my all-time favorite authors AND since our principal told us all to go home today because of the horrible ice storm (her husband called her from a 9-car pileup this morning to report that while HE was okay, their truck was not), it seems like a good time to post again.

And even though I constantly beg people to read Haven Kimmel, perhaps Iodine isn't for everybody. Interesting and surprising and well-written, it's just...well, perhaps not the exact book for fans of Zippy and She Got Up Off the Couch. If you go into Kimmel's 4th novel expecting something different, expecting something darker, you may be pleasantly surprised.

A great excerpt from Iodine:

"I'm not a dog person, people say, I hear it all the time. Oh? Oh, you're not a dog person? Are you a zombie, an automaton, a marionette? Is it about your carpet? Your beige carpet? Or is the nuisance, the caretaking, the ritual? Is it about how you'd prefer not to be bothered, or how you find a certain level of sterility necessary in order to support your loveless marriage and your absurd career and your rapid decline and death? The death you will go to without the irritant of dog hair on that black suit, split up the back by the undertaker? Is it because you don't understand that dogs are Other, they are messengers and wild animals--they could survive just fine without us--and they are carnivores, they are dangerous, they could kill us (and do), and yet virtually all of them choose to live in harmony with us for reasons we will never understand? There is no species of mammal on earth with greater diversity: a papillon is a dog, and a Neapolitan mastiff is a dog, and a greyhound is a dog, and a mutt scavenging at the edge of a garbage heap in Calcutta is a dog..."

_Breathe_ by Cliff McNish

*****9 stars****

Ooh. Scow-weee! (rhymes with "cow pee")

That's what my daughter used to say when something was scary, and that's how I felt about this book. Even though I don't believe in McNish's Nightmare Passage, it was a terrifying description of any place without God. So if you're in the market for scary, Breathe will be right up your alley.

One time, Dr. Teri Lesesne's granddaughter put Coraline in Teri's nightstand as the sun was setting and walked away muttering, "Not at night. Not at night." Some books are just too scary to read once the sun goes down, and this book was one of them!

Books that mess with the identity of your MOTHER (like Breathe and Coraline) give me the jibblies!! When I was little, I remember having nightmares about my mom going away, or shrinking, or fading, or turning into the green Wicked Witch. (The Wizard of Oz is one of the scariest movies I've ever seen, and if that band of flying monkeys ever comes after me, there won't be anything for them to collect because I will die of fright when I see their evil silhouettes in the sky!)

So, anyway, it was good...glad it's on the Lone Star List...bet kids will eat it up...and I'm thankful to be done with it so I can turn to something light-hearted (that doesn't mess with my momma)!

_The Florist's Daughter_ by Patricia Hampl

*****8 1/2 stars****

Did you catch Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion this weekend? Keillor informed his faithful listeners that our nation's supply of English majors is dwindling--we're down to only one English major for every 75 citizens--and our American memoirs may be in peril!

Well, not if Patricia Hampl has anything to say about it.

Pat Conroy has said, "Sentence for sentence, Hampl writes the best prose of any American writer, period. The rest of us can not touch her," and "Patricia Hampl writes the best memoirs of any writer in the English language." So you know this book Hampl wrote about her parents was good. (It wasn't as deliciously edible as a Haven Kimmel memoir, but it was terrific nonetheless.)

My only complaint about The Florist's Daughter? Not only did Ms. Hampl NOT share a certain photo of her parents mentioned repeatedly in the book, but it's not even available on her web site. (For those of us who came to care about Stan and Mary, it would have been nice to see the cottonwood photo. Just sayin'.)

Here's a memorable passage from The Florist's Daughter:

"During their yearlong engagement, sometime between leaning into each other under the cottonwood on the riverbank and the Scarlett O'Hara wedding day, they had bought the exquisitely uncomfortable pieces of Victorian dark wood and upholstery that we lived with our entire family life. The love seat, scrolled armrests set high, discouraged any form of affection. It looked like a purposely unforgiving settee used to keep hapless petitioners waiting, ramrod straight, before entering a chamber of power. She called it--and therefore we all called it--Napoleon. It's French was her only explanation. Bring your aunt her old-fashioned. She's sitting on Napoleon.

And the hideous, low-squatting little chair with the lion-faced armrests? That was Benito. It's Italian.

Two little dictators, gloomily commanding the living room. Mr. Williams was also there, the red mohair chair named for the kindly man who had sold them Napoleon and Benito. He liked us, he knew we were setting up housekeeping. Mr Williams was a widower, he was breaking up his own house. A very sweet man, but of course heartbroken. This we knew, had always known, though we never met Mr.Williams. His story was part of the chairs, part of our story. A figment of their romance. I'm not sure when it dawned on me that other people didn't name their furniture."

***
I laughed out loud when I read that passage. Bethany made me read "What was so funny?" out loud to her. (When we visited Thomas Everett's Fine Furniture later that weekend, we sat in lots of chairs, looking for our own "Mr. Williams.")

A slow, delicious read...a perfect book for summer...especially when you're roasting in the heat and kicking the SHEET off your bed as Hampl describes the brutal cold of St. Paul! It certainly shut my mouth and stopped me from complaining about the temperature! I'll take hot Abilene over frosty St. Paul nine days out of ten!

_The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney_ by Suzanne Harper

*****9 stars****

Dedication: "For Virginia Duncan"

Interesting, funny, and well-written. Sparrow Delaney is the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter, and we all know what that means!

No? You DON'T?

Well, it means that Sparrow is supposed to have...well, let's say "unusual" spiritual gifts. The only problem, as far as her spiritually-gifted family is concerned, is that she hasn't shown a bit of talent. She can't see the ghosts sitting right in the same room, doesn't receive messages from The Great Beyond, and doesn't attend the "message services" held for the assembled tourists visiting Spookytown--what the locals call the Delaneys' spiritualist community.

Her grandmother thinks she may be hiding her talents, her mother is ever hopeful, and her older sisters tease her about her lack of ability. So what's Sparrow's story? Is she truly blind and deaf to the ones who have crossed over? Now that she's fifteen, her abilities only have one more year to manifest themselves!

I loved the Delaney gals. They handled their poverty with a sense of optimism and cheerfulness and put the FUN in dysFUNction. It was also cool how Sparrow's sisters' names perfectly matched their personalities and the qualities of the bird for which they were all named. I wished the ending would have been a little more satisfying for Sparrow on a personal family level, but to reveal more would be to spoil the ending for you so you'll just have to read it yourself.

Warning, especially for our sixth graders: If your family doesn't want you to read books with magical elements or characters who can contact the dead or a sprinkling of "bad" words, feel free to skip this one. You only have to read 15 of the 20 Lone Stars to be recognized at the awards luncheon so you can afford to skip the ones that aren't right for you...

P.S. Does it make me *old-fashioned* that I think this book would have been better (and more appropriate for our state's awards list) without the "bad" words parents & teachers don't like to see on the page...the same ones that, if uttered aloud in the principal's office or in front of most parents would get kids in *serious* trouble?

Fine. Then I'm old-fashioned.

_Pieces of Georgia_ by Jen Bryant

*****8 1/2 stars****

Dedication:
For---
Leigh, Jeffrey, Rachel, Michael, Maddie Jo, and Miles...
and for young artists everywhere

Epigraph:
"Live your life. Write your life. Paint your life...very few people do that. They're scared of it."
--Andrew Wyeth


What a lovely surprise! Thought I would hate it...thought it would be a sickeningly revolting "girl" book...but Georgia's honest, true voice hooked me and kept me reeled in for the rest of the story. My heart ached for Georgia--not only does she face some unique challenges in life (financial difficulties, estrangement from her grandparents, being placed on a school "At Risk" list, feeling distant from a formerly-close friend, trying something new by creating and submitting an art portfolio to a contest, etc.)--but she must do it without the mother she lost and with a father who is still emotionally raw about his beloved wife's death.

The art angle was especially appreciated. Part of my youth was spent in Pennsylvania, and Keystone State folks are very proud of Chadd's Ford and Longwood Gardens. If you ever visit the museum Georgia loved in this book and you do not stop at Longwood Gardens just down the road (one of the most beautiful places on God's green earth--and where my father taught me to use his Nikon camera), it would be a crying shame.

I think you'll like this book. Just wait until you find out who gave Georgia her anonymous present...

_Bad Monkeys_ by Matt Ruff

***6 stars***

Dedication: "For Phil"

Epigraphs:

Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field..."
--Genesis 4:8

Conscience: the inner voice that warns us someone may be looking.
--H.L. Mencken

REALLY not my cup of tea. I picked this one up because it has a great cover and was recognized with an Alex Award…given to an adult book recommended for young adults “based on literary quality, readability, and strength of teen appeal.” Definitely NOT appropriate for our 6th-8th grade middle school campus, but okay for most public high schools.

If it hadn’t had as many surprising twists (including the ending!) which will keep young readers hooked, it would have earned even fewer stars from me. Although Booklist gave it a starred review (?!), I think Kirkus was more accurate: “Despite the metaphysical trappings of Existential Big Themes, it's hard to care too deeply about the characters, who remain intellectual cardboard cutouts.”

_Beastly_ by Alex Flinn

****7 stars***

Dedication: “To my daughter Katherine, who is finally old enough to read one of my books”…and then thanks to many friends…and then “Special thanks to my daughter Meredith for listening to numerous versions of Beauty and the Beast, often without pictures.”

Hmm. Maybe my expectations were too high. (Then again, I’m not really the romantic type so maybe this just isn’t my genre.) I’ll bet it will be a popular Lone Star book this fall… sure wish it could have been written with fewer “bad” words...dang it.

Kyle Kingsbury is vain and shallow, and his life takes an unexpected twist after the victim of his cruelty turns out to be a witch…someone uniquely talented at crafting revenge. I enjoyed the modern-day setting and how Flinn intertwined old themes with new locales and technologies. (The online chats, moderated by a “Mr. Anderson,” were a nice twist, but I have a sneaking suspicion it was supposed to be “Andersen,” an inside joke for those who know how to spell the name of the greatest fairy tale spinner of all time!)

_Same Kind of Different as Me_ by Ron Hall & Denver Moore

*****9 & 1/2 stars*****

~No dedication, foreword, or epigraph…and I can’t reveal the final acknowledgment at the back of the book, of course, because you should experience it as the authors intended.~

When our principal offered three hours of Alternative Staff Development to any staff member who would read this book, it certainly got the librarian’s attention…and oh, what a book. I simply could NOT put it down!

When I wrote to everyone in my family telling them to read Same Kind of Different as Me without delay, my brother surprised me with the fact that he and Amanda Faye had attended a lecture given by the authors!! (Their church in Charlotte is looking for meaningful ways to help the homeless of their community, and Ron Hall & Denver Moore were the guest speakers at a recent symposium.)

The book is terrific…and eye-opening…and sad…and joyous…and inspiring. My principal is a smart woman and having her staff read Same Kind of Different as Me is an innovative way to have us look at the issues of poverty and homelessness and education and equality with new eyes.

(Warning: Although this book is not a sentimental “weeper,” there was one part that made me cry with abandon. It was a good thing I was in bed because the extra sheet hanging off the side of the bed soaked up the tears the tissue didn’t catch.)

(Oh, and the part where something totally creepy and strange and unexplained happened to the authors while they were in Louisiana? Yeah, my dad and I aren’t the least bit surprised...Louisiana simply *feels* haunted, even when you’re just driving through it as fast as you can!)

Happy Bloomsday to all you James Joyce fans out there!

UPDATE: This fall, Abilene Christian University (my alma mater--Go, Wildcats!) will be giving this book to every incoming freshman! Then, on September 9th, Ron Hall & Denver Moore will speak on campus in a FREE event and book signing at Moody Coliseum. You can bet some of the Madison folks will be there, including this Bison...

_Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree_ by Lauren Tarshis

****8 stars****

Author’s Dedication:

"To my mom and dad

To David

To Leo, Jeremy, Dylan, and Valerie

With love"

Another fresh voice in YA literature…Emma-Jean, “the smartest—and definitely the strangest” seventh grade girl in her middle school!

After teaching middle schoolers for more than twenty years, I thought I’d had enough Girl Angst to last me a lifetime, but it was refreshing to hear Emma-Jean’s take on the situation. (During the nine years I taught 7^th grade English at Franklin Middle School, at least one girl a week dissolved into sobs at my desk because of hurt feelings, unkind words, bullying, or boy problems.)

Tarshish has created vibrant, appealing characters; the custodian who watches out for Emma-Jean at school and the renter who answered her mother’s ad for the third floor rooms were two of my favorites. Here’s a passage detailing how their renter, Vikram Adwani, came into their lives:

“He had come over one rainy evening for an interview, which had lasted for more than two hours. He made an excellent impression on both Emma-Jean and her mother. He had a serene manner. Judging from his spotless clothing, well-polished boots, and clean fingernails, he practiced excellent hygiene. He maintained a busy schedule of classes and study, which made it unlikely that he would host late-night parties. He moved in three days after their meeting and very quickly assumed responsibility for preparing the evening meal for the entire household.

Within a few weeks of Vikram’s arrival, Emma-Jean had moved some school supplies from her desk to the kitchen table, where she would do her homework. She liked being as close as possible to the wonderful aroma of curry spices and garlic and steaming rice, and to Vikram, who hummed in a soft and soothing manner as he chopped and stirred.”

Doesn’t that sound relaxing? The perfect place to do your homework! The descriptions of Vikram’s culinary dishes were absolutely mouth-watering, and I stumbled upon Stuti Garg’s blog while I was reading Emma-Jean...a lovely coincidence which has inspired me to try my hand at some exotic curry dishes…after I can locate some of the uncommon spices Stuti suggests!

_The Life of Pi_ by Yann Martel

*****10 stars*****

Martel's dedication: “à mes parents et à mon frère”

This book was on my “To Read” list for YEARS…and I deeply regret not reading it earlier--it is dazzling. You will love the character of Pi…and his story…oh, Pi Patel’s amazing story!

(Be sure to read this book before the movie is released! You don’t want the ending revealed to you accidentally…or for Hollywood to wreck it before you get a chance to savor it!)

You will almost certainly drop this book into your lap when you are finished…simultaneously cheered and melancholy, rather exhausted, and deeply grateful to Mr. Martel for an amazing book.

***Only two other books have earned 10 stars from me in the past so please trust that 10s are not distributed like candy around here!***

Oh, and be sure to get the version of the book with illustrations by Tomislav Torjanac; his brilliant artwork made this book even more captivating! (Perhaps it would have been a 9.5 without Mr. Torjanac’s creative genius…)

Tea...and books!

Among my fondest childhood memories are the tea parties Karen and I used to have when we were little girls. We assumed names, of course...Karen was "Miss Snow," and I was "Miss Fondle." (Apparently, Jane FONDA had made an appearance on Sesame Street, and little pitchers are sometimes hard of hearing.)

So, anyway, tea with Miss Snow (and our crazy-haired dolls) was always delightful. So was tea with Mrs. Silver, the elderly lady next door, who would crank up her Victrola and share her Fig Newtons with me. What a peaceful, idyllic childhood!

***Years later, I bought some old Plymouth State College yearbooks that showed that Mrs. Silver had been an "old maid" secretary who married the college President-Emeritus, sometime between the publications of the 1947 and 1948 annuals, after years and years of faithful service. In her first photo as "Mrs. Gertrude Silver" instead of the usual "Miss Gertrude I. Shaw," she had a delightful little smile that hadn't ever before appeared in the Faculty Photos. ("Miss Snow" and I *treasure* this story!)

These days, I have tea with "Miss Bush" and our relatively-normally-haired coworkers, and the discussion *always* turns to books...and everyone knows books are more delicious than Fig Newtons.

I used to post my book reviews/notes/thoughts on another social networking site which eventually disabled that reviewing feature. It made me sad because it had served as a rather nice reading journal, one I could access from anywhere and share with family & friends. It's sorely missed...and so I'll try it one more time, here at "Tea with Miss Snow."

If Blogger ever goes away, Miss Fondle will have to break down and keep a paper diary...