Book Review: The Queen's Daughter

Joan, the youngest child and only daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, is The Queen’s Daughter in this novel by Susan Coventry. I must admit to having forgotten most of the details of this medieval time period when Henry II, Eleanor, and Joan's brother Richard the Lionhearted took center stage. I read this solely as a novel, without being able to fit all this into a solid historical context.

I enjoyed the book. I wish I had brushed up on all the battles, the Crusades, and medieval history in general before I had read it. But as a story of a princess who is forced to choose between loyalty to her father, mother, or brothers and who has no choice but to marry the King of Sicily when she is only 12, the novel was good. There were way too many confusing battle scenes and political references for me, but someone who knows the historical details would probably love all this. My father, for example, who pretty much knows every single bit of history ever, loved The Queen's Daughter.

I actually read this book because I thought it might be fantastic for a European history class. This could be a good book to enrich a study of medieval history, but I wouldn't really recommend it for kids under 15, as there were several scenes focused on her sexual relationship with her husbands.

If you're a history buff, you may love this; otherwise, well, I'm not sure the writing was compelling enough for me to give it an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Book Review: When My Name Was Keoko

"If a war lasts long enough, is it possible that people would completely forget the idea of beauty? That they'd only be able to do what they needed to survive and would no longer remember how to make and enjoy beautiful things?"

When My Name Was Keoko is a young adult novel by Linda Sue Park about a Korean family in Japanese-occupied Korea during World War II, told in the alternating voices of 10-year-old Sun-hee and 13-year-old Tae-yul. Korea has long been under Japanese rule when this novel begins, but a new order from the fascist regime seeks to strip them of their last bit of Korean identity: all Koreans must take new Japanese names. Already the people have been forced to give up their cultural symbols, language, and traditions. Sun-hee becomes Keoko and Tae-yul becomes Nobuo, but they remain fiercely Korean in their hearts.

What the siblings suspect and soon realize with both happiness and anxiety is that their beloved Uncle is a leader in the resistance movement. Although they are frightened of the repercussions, Sun-hee and Tae-yul do what they can do help Uncle and eventually Tae-yul risks his life for Korea.

This was a beautiful book. I had trouble sometimes with the alternating voices of Sun-hee and Tae-yul, but that was my own lack of concentration. The chapters are clearly labeled. The story is a powerful one, and I regret that I didn't use this book last year when teaching a literature circle on various experiences in World War II. I highly recommend this not only to the 10-14 year old "suggested reading audience," but to adult readers, as well. There is also a great bibliography at the end that includes several more young adult books about the Korean experience in WW2.

Book Review: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

"It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start believing that you're poor because you're stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you're stupid and ugly because you're Indian. And because you're Indian you start believing you're destined to be poor. It's an ugly circle and there's nothing you can do about it."

I was introduced to Sherman Alexie's poetry years ago in graduate school and thought he was amazing. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is his semi-autobiographical novel, written for young adults but totally loved by this older adult. (As far as that goes, I wouldn't recommend this to a very young adult. Lots of language, etc.)

This is the story of Junior, a genius with multiple medical problems born to heavy-drinking, impoverished parents on an Indian reservation. He is rejected everywhere he goes: by the rez community because of his weird looks and brains, and by the white community outside the reservation because he's, well, an Indian. Recognizing Junior's genius, his math teacher persuades him to go to Rearden, the all-white school outside of the reservation. Junior figures that he doesn't have anything to lose, so he agrees.

The next several years become a struggle of Junior trying to get to school every day (it's 22 miles away, and his father is rarely sober and his truck rarely works) and then surviving in school. Initially he is bullied and ostracized at Rearden and even more rejected at the Rez, where he is branded as a traitor. But with a tremendous sense of humor and the ability to find superhuman emotional strength and determination, Junior knocks down one obstacle after another.

Alexie is a the kind of author that had me laughing one minute and then tearing up at the next. Junior's life is something the vast majority of us can't possibly imagine, but he doesn't ask for pity—he's just telling it like it is. We know Junior immediately. Alexie is that good at immersing us in his world and allowing us to be in his head. Junior is a cartoonist, and the cartoons sprinkled throughout the book add to that knowing of him.

I can't recommend this book enough. It will absolutely go on my Top 10 list of favorites for this year.


Some Other Reviews
The Book Smugglers: "A triumph in storytelling, filled with heartbreak but also so much warmth and I can’t recommend it enough."
Ramblings of a Writer: "The issues were treated with finesse, and issues of family, the individual and belonging added layers of wow-awesome-amazingness to this book."
The Book Lady's Blog: "What sets this book apart from the YA lit masses is that the author manages to tell a great story and explore themes about identity and culture that many authors shy away from."
Maw Books Blog: "teaches us not to be limited by our circumstances."
Brown Girl BookSpeaks: " Junior's quirky persona while coping with life and pursuing a permanent way off the rez through education provides a hopeful and uplifting tale for young people."

The Sunday Salon: YA Search

I'm searching again for the perfect books to read for my next literature circle for middle schoolers. The theme this time around is roughly "overcoming adversity." I know, that's a ridiculously gigantic theme. Initially we were looking at specifically at books which tell the story of a character overcoming a battle with illness. However, we are having a hard time finding books like this suitable for middle schoolers, so we've broadened our search to various kinds of struggles—racial, cultural, disasters, etc.

We'll use a total of three books. We are definitely going to do Peg Kehret's Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio. This is an awesome book that my kids have read over and over again.

We have some others up for consideration:
Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Mockingbird by Katherine Erskine
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Parks
The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

My co-teacher and I will be reading through this list, hoping to find just the perfect books for our 6th-8th grade class. But I'm always searching for more ideas. Do you have a book that comes to mind that might fit this rather broad category? I'd love your suggestions!

Book Review: Mockingbird

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
~ Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird

I wasn't expecting to be blown away by this little book written for a preteen/YA audience. But Katherine Erskine's Mockingbird was absolutely fantastic. In fact, I had to keep checking the back of the book to make sure that it really was written for young readers, not necessarily because of the content but because I enjoyed it so much.

The story centers on Caitlin, a 10-year-old girl with Asperger's Syndrome. I can't even begin to describe Erskine's amazing ability to get inside the head of Caitlin, to describe what she's doing and thinking in a way that makes perfect sense, even to those of us who have very little real-life experience with anyone on the autism spectrum. As the reader, you are immediately there in Caitlin's world from the first sentence.

The book begins in the aftermath of a horrible tragedy: a school shooting in which her 13-year-old beloved brother, Devon, is killed. As Caitlin tries to process this tremendous upheaval in her life, the adults around her—particularly her widowed father and her teachers—try to cope with their own devastation and to help Caitlin.

I generally avoid books that deal with school shootings because they often seem to be capitalizing on a tragedy. NOT SO here at all. Not one single bit. This book is filled with heartache, especially for Caitlin's father and for another young boy in the book; but it's also filled with hope and restoration. I cannot express enough how absolutely beautifully written this book is on so many levels, from Erskine's actual writing style (including fantastic dialogue) to her ability to get inside Caitlin's skin and "walk around on it."

If you liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time, you will love Mockingbird. I loved The Curious Incident…, but I will have to say that Mockingbird blows it away. I know that's very bold of me to say, especially with the former making its rounds of required reading in schools now; but I think Mockingbird is a rare gem.

I've given this to my 12-year-old daughter to read, so I'll be curious to hear if she loves it as much as I do. As it is with many YA books, I think adults will appreciate this book on a completely different level as teens or tweens. Please don't hesitate to pick it up even if you aren't the targeted audience.

Other Reviews of Mockingbird
Forever Young
Reading Nook
Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup
Tina's Book Reviews
Bibliochic
Carrie's YA Bookshelf
Laughing Stars
Kids Lit
Six Boxes of Books

Book Review: Maniac Magee (YA)

Last week we finished our World War 2 unit, and I was looking for something that took place in the second half of the 20th century. Something not too heavy, after reading about the Holocaust for several weeks. Maniac Magee popped out at me. I've had this book by Jerry Spinelli on my shelf for probably three years but somehow had never gotten around to it.

I'm so glad that we finally did. If I'd known about this book, I probably would have included it in the African-American literature circle that I taught this past year. Maniac Magee is the story of a boy without a home who becomes a legend in a small town that is vehemently racially divided. Maniac doesn't know that, as a white person, he should stay on the West End. In fact, Maniac doesn't understand the terms "white" and "black." He understands that some people offer love, books, and food—a home—and that's all that matters.

As Maniac roams the streets, he finds an eclectic mix of homes in the East End, West End, and at the city park. He encounters all kinds of prejudices and tries to untie the knot of ignorance that pervades the town's citizens. As he does, he becomes a hero and a legend. He can run faster and pitch harder than anyone else, and he has courage that's never been seen before in Two Mills.

My kids (9 and 12) loved this book. Spinelli has a poetic, jazzy kind of voice. His word combinations are surprising and refreshing—definitely a fun-to-read-aloud kind of book. In our home, this brought up a lot of discussion about segregation and racism. We had read William Armstrong's Sounder and Mildred Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry recently. Maniac Magee brought the problem of racial tension into the middle part of the century. (The time period isn't named, but I'd put this in the 1950s-70s.) I highly recommend it not only to help understand the ignorance that perpetuates stereotypes, but as a fun read. My nine-year-old wanted to read it again right away.

Book Review: Road to Paris (YA)

While searching for books for our next Literature Circle class, I found this one by Nikki Grimes on the Coretta Scott King Book Awards list. Paris and her brother, Malcolm, have been in one foster home after another for most of their lives. When they are unexpectedly split up and sent to different homes, Paris is devastated. But while she aches for her brother, Paris finds comfort in her new foster home, in spite of the racism in the nearly all-white neighborhood.

Books about foster care can be risky for young readers. As readers, we expect "abuse" to be paired with "foster care," although this is an unfortunate reaction on our part. I'm sure we all understand that there are a multitude of excellent, nurturing foster families who strive to make a good home for kids; however, literature's portrayal (particularly in the memoir genre) of foster care is often harsh and cruel.

So, I was a bit skeptical that a book about a girl's escape from an abusive foster home would be acceptable (G-rated) reading material for 5th-8th graders. In The Road to Paris, however, Nikki Grimes manages to deal with a whole lot of hard issues in a quiet, matter-of-fact way. Yes, Paris's mother is an alcoholic who chooses men over her children, and the grandmother isn't a kindly old lady who will do anything for her grandkids; but neither are demonized. Grimes doesn't dwell on the abusive foster home from which Paris and Malcolm flee. Instead, she focuses on Paris's new life and her struggle to figure out where she, as a foster child and a biracial girl, really belongs.

Highly recommended for ages 10 and up.