Archive | February 2007

LOST Rehash: Flashes Before Your Eyes

I want everybody to tell me I’m wrong —and why I’m wrong. However, I think the LOST guys have messed up big time. They haven’t read enough science fiction or theology. First of all, however, I give the obligatory SPOILER ALERT. Probably there are spoilers here. I don’t know. If we live in a self-correcting universe, then the spoilers get corrected, too. Right?

Either everything is predestined or determined or nothing is. A basic law of science fiction and of theological speculation is that you can’t have it both ways. Right? If the guy in the red shoes is meant to die under a falling building, then in a deterministic universe, he has to die under the building. He can’t die in a car wreck the next day, as the universe “self corrects,” because that would affect other people and their predetermined fates. What about the guy who’s driving the other car? Was he meant to kill Red Shoes in a car accident? Won’t the accident, or the lack thereof, affect his life in profound ways? If Charlie was supposed to be struck by lightning, then who was supposed to save Claire when she was drowning? Not Desmond; he just stepped in to save Charlie. Or was Claire supposed to drown? In that case, Claire’s fate is messed up, too, and the Universe will have to do some more self-correcting. The universe can’t “self correct.” There are too many factors. An impersonal force like the Universe can’t make everything work the way it’s supposed to as people make choices in opposition to the Will of the Universe. Shoot, the Universe can’t even have a will in the first place.

So maybe Desmond is crazy, and the universe is not predestined. Desmond is just using predestination or determinism as an excuse for his own cowardice. But that can’t be so because Desmond really is having flashes of true precognition. Claire really does almost drown. The soccer team on TV really does win the game. So Desmond must be seeing things that really are planned to happen or have already happened. By whom? The Universe? If so, why don’t they happen? How can Desmond prevent something that is supposed to happen without changing the Plan completely?

There is a Third Way. But I don’t think the writers of LOST have left room for a God who is in control of the Universe and yet allows human beings to make real choices. A God who is powerful enough and intelligent enough could weave corrections into the predetermined plan for the universe without making human choice into a farce. It’s the only path I see between determinism and chaos. But I’m no philosopher.

I’ve just read a little sci-fi and a lot of Bible.

Aside from all that philosophical junk, I think Desmond has a great accent. And Pen’s father is a particularly nasty villain —the kind everybody loves to hate. Very satisfying.

Oh, and they can’t kill off Charlie. If the Orcs couldn’t kill him and Saruman couldn’t get him, then what chance has a puny old universe that can’t even keep Desmond from buying a ring that he wasn’t supposed to buy? And if the universe self corrects, what was the white-haired lady so upset about? It would all get corrrected anyway, right?

I give this episode a C-. Was Henry supposed to die of cancer, and is Jack messing around with the universe?

“Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.”

(I wish I knew how to do accent marks. It bothers me to see it without the accents. Maybe the Universe will correct it for me.)

The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes

Feb15

Philip Marsham was bred to the sea as far back as the days when he was cutting his milk teeth, and he never thought he should leave it; but leave it he did, once and again, as I shall tell you.

Book #2 in my 2007 Newbery Award Project is Charles Hawes’ tale of adventure and piracy in a seventeenth century sailing frigate, The Rose of Devon. It’s a “dark frigate” because of the dark deeds that take place in and around it as the ship is captured by pirates, and the hero of the story, young Philip Marsham, is forced to join the pirates against his will —or lose his life.

In an introductory note on back of the dedication page, Hawes writes, “From curious old books, many of them forgotten save by students of archaic days at sea, I have taken words and phrases and incidents. The words and phrases I have put into the talk of the men of the Rose of Devon; the incidents I have shaped and fitted anew to serve my purpose.”

Lots of sailor talk and sea-going jargon in this book: mainmast, mizzenmast, scupper-holes, lee, maintop, lanthorn, forecastle, capstan, windlass, sheet anchor, ship’s liar, boatswain, bullies, whip-staff, breeching, sheet, brace, halyards, clew garnets, leechlines, buntlines, aft, amain, downhaul, traverse, gall, belay, spritsail-yard. Those are just a few of the words for which I had to guess at the meanings from only one chapter. It might be well to do a short lesson on nautical terms before reading this book aloud to a class or at home.

There were also some delightful insults that I’m sure any red-blooded child would love to write down and save for later use: lobcock, lapwing, puddling quacksalver, vagabond cockerel, old cozzener, rakehell muckworm, base stinkard, bawcock. (I’m rather attached to “puddling quacksalver” myself.) Of course, I would never allow a child of mine to use such terms in polite company, but then again, no one would know what they meant anyway. so . . .

I think with a bit of preparation and a bit of explanation along the way, The Dark Frigate could be a great read aloud, especially for boys. I can envision hours of pretend play following the reading of this book. And the book doesn’t idealize pirates, either; these pirates are real villains, bloodthristy and greedy and cruel with hardly any redeeming qualities. There’s a moral to the story: be careful whom you trust, and don’t get involved with bad company if you can help it. Or get away from bad company as quickly as possible before you get tarred with the same brush as they are. But the moral is something to be derived from the narrative; not once is the story preachy or unrealistic.

This Newbery Medal book (1923) holds up well. The introduction to the copy I got from the library was written by Lloyd Alexander, and he says much the same thing, “Though it lies beyond our power to sail with him again, we have had the good fortune to sail with him at least once in The Dark Frigate, and we could ask for no more fascinating voyage.”

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born February 15th

Feb15

Galileo Galilei, scientist and astronomer, b. 1564. The Catholic Encyclopedia on Galileo and his conflict with the Inquisition.

Jeremy Bentham, eccentric philosopher, b. 1748.

Susan B. Anthony, women’s rights advocate and abortion opponent, b. 1820. “Guilty? Yes, no matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; but oh! Thrice guilty is he who, for selfish gratification, heedless of her prayers, indifferent to her fate, drove her to the desperation which impels her to the crime.”
Frederica Matthewes-Green on Susan B. Anthony, Pro-Life Feminist.

Lucy Beatrice Malleson, author of murder mysteries using the pseudonym Anthony Gilbert, b. 1899. Her most popular detective character was “beer-drinking Cockney barrister Arthur G. Crook, an overweight detective like Nero Wolfe, who drives in Rolls Royce and comes on stage when it is time to solve the case.”

Norman Bridwell, author of Clifford the Big Red Dog, b. 1928. Scholastic Clifford website with games and stuff for kids.

Cybils

Feb14

The Cybil Award winners will be announced this afternoon (2/14/07) at 2 p.m., CST. Watch this space for more information, or go directly to the Cybils website.

So, they couldn’t wait and announced early. Here they are —the 2006 Cybil Award Books. Check them out.

Fantasy and Science Fiction:
Ptolemy’s Gate (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 3)
Jonathan Stroud
Hyperion: Miramax
Ptolemy’s Gate receives the first Cybils for Fantasy and Science Fiction for its richly imagined fantasy world, strongly realized and unique characters, delightful language and well-honed plot. As a concluding volume of a trilogy, it delivers everything a final volume should do, taking the story arc to its peak with a climax that is both action-packed and emotionally charged. At the same time, Ptolemyâ€™s Gate stands alone as a story and will inspire readers, children and adults alike, to seek out the previous installments and revisit the world of Bartimaeus over and over again.

Fiction Picture Books:
Scaredy Squirrel
by Melanie Watt
Kidâ€™s Can Press
This eponymous squirrel hits little kids and big alike right where they live: in the numbing comfort of routine and abject fear of The Unknown. This is a tiny book with a big lesson about bravery. Watt makes the most of each page, using repetition and exaggeration to hilariously dissect Scaredy Squirrel’s paranoia, from the minutiae of his daily habits to a tour of his emergency kit. When the unexpected finally occurs, the joke’s on all of us. Field-tested in libraries and living rooms and at bedsides by the judges, Scaredy Squirrel elicited the most giggles per page and requests for re-reads among a variety of age groups, including parents.

Graphic Novels:
Ages 12 and Under:
Amelia Rules! Volume 3: Superheroes
by Jim Gownley
Renaissance Press
Amelia Rules celebrates the power of imagination when school lets out for summer vacation. There’s plenty of time for dressing up in capes, fighting a gang of evil ninjas, and investigating the evil conspiracy known as the Legion of Steves. Amelia McBride’s adventures are portrayed with warm-hearted good humor. There’s plenty of slapstick comedy, which combines with an exploration of some of the serious issues of childhood â€“ moving, growing up, and the secret a new friend tries to hide. Jimmy Gownley’s art shifts styles based on his character’s vivid inner worlds, portraying superhero space battles and silent movie romances with ease. Amelia Rules can be easily be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

Ages 13 and Up:
American Born Chinese
Gene Yang
First Second
American Born Chinese skillfully explores the idea of identity by weaving together three distinct stories â€“ the traditional tale of the Monkey King, Jin Wang’s longing for acceptance by his classmates, and popular Danny being plagued by his cousin Chin-Kee who embodies the worst Chinese ethnic stereotypes. Gene Yang uses humor when portraying the perils of adolescence, and his colorful art easily adapts to the tonal shifts of the three stories.

Middle Grade Fiction: This is the one I helped choose, and I’m rather proud of it. I feel as if I helped write the book or publish it or dotted an i or something. Anyway, read it; it’s a good book.
A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama
by Laura Amy Schlitz
Candlewick Press
It’s a mystery story, it’s a ghost story, it’s delightully gothic and eerie. In A Drowned Maiden’s Hair we have a protagonist with a very authentic child voice, and her motivations and feelings are described in clean, nuanced lines. Maud is also a person of her time and place; she never comes off as anachronistic. The story, too, is something of a time and place–the darkness of the Hawthorne estate was like an L.M. Montgomery novel gone delightfully to seed.The adoption of the plucky orphan by the wealthy lady is a trope of the Victorian novel, and yet does not come off as trite or formulaic. It is as if Schlitz had taken familiar characters and plotlines from Victorian fiction and injected them with a realism and emotional force that transcends its familiarity, making it seem new again. Truth–be it in the cries of a widower, or in a tearful confession–is what lets Maude see her true role and path, and ultimately brings redemption.

Non-Fiction, Middle Grade and Young Adult:
Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
by Russell Freedman
Holiday House
The story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott has been told many times by many different people and has almost become legend, but in Freedom Walkers, Russell Freedman is not sharing folklore or the iconic stories of civil rights heroes like Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks. This book tells how ordinary men, women and children planned and worked together to peaceably stand up against the injustice of the segregated transportation system–and won. Their heroism makes the reader ask, “Could I do this? Could I stand up to the threats? Could I walk to school every day for almost a year to make justice happen in my hometown?” Well-chosen historic photographs bring to life the American South of the 1950’s. The true story is gripping and well documented. This is a read-in-one- sitting kind of book, which will appeal to young teens up through adults.

Non-Fiction Picture Books:
An Egg Is Quiet
written by Dianna Aston; illustrated by Sylvia Long
Chronicle Books
Don’t be surprised if some future master birder cites this book as an early influence. Multiple layers of thoughtful, poetic text–about not only birds but also insects, reptiles and sea creatures–make An Egg Is Quiet a book that readers can enjoy quickly or in depth, depending upon their level of interest. The handwriting font gives the feeling of a scientific field journal, and the artwork is of the first class, with outstanding visual variety and clarity. The endpapers alone are breathtaking.

Poetry:
Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow
written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes
Houghton Mifflin
Three cheers for Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow! Each poem is a nature riddle–guessing the answers will keep children hopping. Joyce Sidman’s rich, rhythmic language and Beth Krommes’ intricate scratchboard illustrations make the Cybils poetry winner a book to return to again and again.

You can purchase any one (or all) of these books via Amazon by clicking on the cover picture. Or take a trip to the bookstore and purchase your Cybil Award books there. Either way, you have some good reading in store for you. (The blurbs were written by the judges in the various categories, not by me.)

Love Quotes

Feb14

The Woman
“She did not dare to own that the man she loved was her inferior, or to feel that she had given her heart away too soon. Given once, the pure bashful maiden was too modest, too tender, too trustful, too weak, too much woman, to recall it.” Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.

“One of woman’s magnanimities is to yield. Love, at the height where it is absolute, is complicated with some indescribably celestial blindness of modesty. But what dangers you run, O noble souls! Often you give the heart, and we take the body. Your heart remains with you, you gaze upon it in the gloom with a shudder. Love has no middle course; it either ruins or it saves.” Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

“I’m waning in his favor, yet I love him.
I love this man, who runs to meet his ruin.
And sure the gods, like me, are fond of him;
His virtues lie so mingled with his crimes
As would confound their choice to punish one
And not reward the other.” All For Love by John Dryden

The Man
“He looked at Natasha as she sang, and something new and joyful stirred in his soul. He felt happy and at the same time sad. He had absolutely nothing to weep about yet he was ready to weep. What about? His former love? The little princess? His disillusionments?… His hopes for the future?… Yes and no. The chief reason was a sudden, vivid sense of the terrible contrast between something infinitely great and illimitable within him and that limited and material something that he, and even she, was. This contrast weighed on and yet cheered him while she sang.” War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

“So was man created, to hunger for the ideal that is above himself, until one day there is magic in the air, and the eyes of a girl rest upon him. He does not know that it is he himself who crowned her, and if the girl is as pure as he, their love is the one form of idolatry that is not quite ignoble. It is the joining of two souls on their way to God.” The Little Minister by James Barrie

In Love
“To see a young couple loving each other is no wonder; but to see an old couple loving each other is the best sight of all.” Henry Esmond by William Makepeace Thackeray.

“Our souls were near together, like two raindrops side by side, drawing irresistibly nearer, ever nearer; for now they had touched and were not two, but one inseparable drop, crystallised beyond change, not to be disintegrated by time, nor shattered by death’s blow, nor resolved by any alchemy.” Green Mansions by W. H. Hudson.

“Love is my life, life is my love,
love is my whole felicity,
Love is my sweet, sweet is my love,
I am in love, and love in me.” From A Shepherd’s Garland by Michael Drayton.

The Cure
“It may have been observed that there is no regular path for getting out of love as there is for getting in. Some people look upon marriage as a short cut that way but it has been known to fail.” Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.

“My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I’m well aware , as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath–a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind–not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.” Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

“Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love.” As You Like It by William Shakespeare.

True Love

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love’s sake only. Do not say
‘I love her for her smile … her look … her way
Of speaking gently, … for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day’ —
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee,–and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry,
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love’s sake, that evermore
Thou may’st love on, through love’s eternity.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born February 14th

Feb14

Richard Owen Cambridge, poet, b. 1717. This article says he had “a penchant for writing verse and building boats.”

George Henry Kingsley, physician and world traveller, b. 1827. He wrote about his travels and also educated his daughter, Mary Henrietta Kingsley, at home and allowed her to help him in his scientific studies until his death in 1892. After her father’s death, Mary Henrietta became a world traveller in her own right, especially making several trips to Africa. She wrote Travels in West Africa about the animals, plants and people she encountered in her travels. She died in Africa nursing soldiers during the Boer War.

Graham Hough, literary critic and scholar, b. 1908. “The fact that poetry is not of the slightest economic or political importance, that it has no attachment to any of the powers that control the modern world, may set it free to do the only thing that in this age it can do —to keep the neglected parts of the human experience alive until the weather changes; as in some unforeseeable way it may do.”

George Washington Gale Ferris, engineer and inventor, b. 1859. He developed the Ferris wheel for the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Robert Lawson wrote a children’s fiction book called The Great Wheel that tells the story of this event. We read it aloud last year in our homeschool and found it to be a good story.

Paul O. Zelinsky, Caldecott award winner and creator of the book The Wheels on the Bus. b. 1953. He’s illustrated some beautiful fairy tale books. Rapunzel is the one for which he won the Caldecott Medal, and he’s also done versions of Rumplestilskin and Hansel and Gretel.

My Aunt Audrey, b. 19??. She was actually only my great aunt-by-marriage, and even that marriage ended in divorce. And she never was sure whether her birthday was on February 14th or 15th. It got recorded in the family Bible as one date and handed down verbally as the other. My Aunt Audrey was a character: soft and sentimental and at the same time, tough as nails. She and her second husband, Charlie, lived in Fort Worth for a good while, and they liked to go to the wrestling matches on Saturday nights. I never knew anyone else who did that. They collected salt and pepper shakers and were as poor as church mice, but Charlie took good care of Aunt Audrey, unlike her first husband, the one who was actually related to me. Husband #1 was an alcoholic who gave me my first taste of beer. He gave me a sip when I was two or three years old, and I spit it out at him. Served him right. I miss Aunt Audrey. My urchins would have gotten a kick out of meeting her and Uncle Charlie.

Marty

Feb13

Someone on a blog somewhere suggested the movie Marty, and we borrowed it from Blockbuster and watched it last Friday afternoon. It’s a light, sort of romantic, movie, perfect for Valentine’s Day, but at the same time the themes and some of the scenes are jarringly tragic and almost painful to watch.

Marty was made back in 1955, and it won four Oscars that year, including Best Picture. Ernest Borgnine (Oscar for Best Actor) stars as a 35 year old Italian butcher who’s still not married in spite of the fact that all his younger brothers and sisters have already tied the knot. His very Italian mother and all of his customers and friends wonder, loudly and persistently, why Marty doesn’t have a girl. In fact, they all say, with their thick Italian accents, “Marty, you should be ‘shamed of yourself. Why aren’t you married yet?”

Marty, however, isn’t married for the very good reason that he hasn’t found a girl who’s interested. “Ma,” he says, “sooner or later, there comes a point in a man’s life when he’s gotta face some facts. And one fact I gotta face is that, whatever it is that women like, I ain’t got it.”

Marty also calls himself “a fat, ugly man,” and it’s obvious from the beginning of the movie that Marty is a man whose self-esteem has suffered a series of blows from heartless girls and interfering friends and family members. His mother, essentially good-hearted but worried about her son and his future, convinces Marty to make one more trip to the Stardust Ballroom in hopes of meeting a girl. And, wonder of wonders, he does! Unfortunately, for Marty and for his girl Clara, everyone in Marty’s life, including Marty himself, is more used to Marty the Lonely Bachelor, than Marty in Love. Change is threatening, and Marty’s best friend is jealous of the time Marty spends with Clara. His mother, who so much wanted him to marry and have a family, is now afraid that a daughter-in-law might push her out into the cold. (Marty lives with his mother in an old 40’s style house, with a porch!, in New York City.)

Will Marty call Clara for another date as he promised he would? Will he continue to see Clara even though his friends and family disapprove? Or will he listen to those bad advisors and end up hanging out with the guys, asking that eternal question: “Whatd’ya wanna do tonight?” “I dunno. Whatd’you feel like doin’?”

This movie was such a challenge to Hollywood stereotypes: a movie about a nearly middle-aged butcher and an awkward chemistry teacher. And the “ugly ducklings” never turn into swans, either. They find a meaningful relationship without becoming something other than what they are. The leading man in this movie isn’t tall, dark, or handsome, nor is he witty, suave or debonaire. The girl (Betsy Blair) isn’t such a “dog” as some in the movie call her, but she is sweet and shy and rather unassuming. My urchins, who hate Napoleon Dynamite, will cringe to hear me say so, but the movie reminded me of a kinder, gentler Napoleon Dynamite.

It’s good to see a movie in which Hollywood celebrates ordinary, average guys and gals who live simple lives and still want love and marriage and all that implies.

The story and the screenplay for Marty were written by playwright Paddy Chayefsky, who, according to Wikipedia, has been compared to Arthur Miller. I was going to write that Marty also reminded me a bit of Miller’s salesman, Willy Loman, but again much kinder and gentler and much less tragic than Mr. Loman. I thought this story about Mr. Chayefsky, also from Wikipedia, showed a a good picture of his character:

He is known for his comments during the 1978 Oscar telecast after Vanessa Redgrave made a controversial speech denouncing Zionism while accepting her award for Best Supporting Actress in Julia. Chayefsky made a comment during the program immediately after hers stating that he was upset by her using the event to make an irrelevant political viewpoint during a film award program. He said, “I would like to suggest to Miss Redgrave that her winning an Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation and a simple ‘Thank you’ would have sufficed.” He received thunderous applause for his riposte to Redgrave.

Marty was a good movie, and I really liked the porch.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born February 13th

Feb13

Eleanor Farjeon, b. 1881. Click on her name to read a little more about her life and her poetry.

Grant Wood, b. 1892. American artist born near Anamosa, Iowa. The picture to the right is a sample of his wor, although his most famous picture was called American Gothic.

Georges Simenon, b. 1903. He was a Belgian-born author of detective fiction. Many of his books feature the Parisian detective, Inspector Maigret. Has anyone read these books? I think I tried one a long time, and it lost something in the translation. But maybe not.

Betsy-Bee, b. 1999. She’s a joy and a wonder, Miss Fashion, full of life, our Funny Little Valentine.

Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller

Feb11

Reviewed by Brown Bear Daughter, age 12:

I’ve been reading the five finalists for the Middle Grade Fiction Cybil award (Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller, Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz, Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce, Heat by Mike Lupica, Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata), and Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City has, so far, been my favorite.

What I really loved about Kiki Strike was that I could imagine myself as many of the different characters, and I would be content with who I was. I would think, “If I was Kiki Strike, would I be happy?” And the answer was yes. This made me love the book. Because simply imagining something can make me so happy.

Of course, it was terribly sad in the end, and yet happy too. I really enjoy sadness in a book. This one, sadly, didn’t make me cry, but it was very pathetic nevertheless. I can’t reveal the ending, but I wish I could because then I could explain why it made me so sad. But now you’ll probably want to find out why it is so sad, and you’ll read it.

The book is about a girl named Ananka Fishbein. Kiki Strike is a girl who goes to her school. Kiki Strike, with her deathly pale features and mysterious actions, arouses Ananka’s curiousity. Kiki Strike chooses Ananka and few other girls to form the Irregulars, a group which discovers one of the greatest secrets of underground Manhattan.

Sidonia Galatzina, or The “Princess,” as Ananka calls her, and Sidonia’s mother are the villains of the story. Sidonia is rich and snobbish, and becomes very interested in Kiki Strike, when Sidonia’s precious ring is stolen at school and Kiki reveals the real thief when Ananka is blamed. Sidonia’s suspicions are aroused, and not until the end of the book do you find out why Sidonia is so interested in Kiki.

Now I hope I’ve gotten you so interested in Kiki’s fate that you’ll read the entire book.

Note from the blog owner:
The winners of the 2007 Cybil Awards for Children’s and Young Adult Literature will be announced in just two days, on Valentine’s Day. I am one of the judges for the Middle Grade Fiction category, so I haven’t posted my reviews of the the finalists that I hadn’t read or reviewed before the judging started. The Middle Grade Fiction committee has chosen a winner, and you’ll see the announcement, as I said, on the 14th. Now you know which book was Brown Bear Daughter’s favorite, although she’s enjoyed all of the books she’s read for the award.

Semicolon review of Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Semicolon review of Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata.

Semicolon review of Heat by Mike Lupica.

A list of the books nominated in the Middle Grade Fiction category for the Cybil Award.

Real Romance for Grown-up Women

Feb9

I was once stuck in a house for two weeks, no library nearby, with only a box full of Harlequin romances to feed my reading habit. I read them all. I’ve never had any desire to read another. A couple of years later I had a friend who was hooked on “bodice-rippers,” the books that have a picture on the cover of a beautiful young woman with a lowcut dress and a sexy tall-dark-and-handsome who looks as if he’s about to rip it off. I read half of one of those and again never had any interest in reading another. If you like either genre, there are plenty of them out there. However, I’m a sucker for real romance, the kind of romantic story that shows both the difficulties and the joy of initiating and sustaining a loving male/female relationship, aka a marriage. Here are a few of my favorite intelligent and multi-faceted romances —just in time for St. Valentine’s Day:

The Love Letters by Madeleine L’Engle. Charlotte is running away from home, running away from her husband Patrick and from their very troubled marriage. She runs from New York City to a Portuguese retreat, and there she discovers a book of love letters written by a seventeenth century Portuguese nun, a nun who pursues a forbidden love to its bitter end. Charlotte struggles with her marriage vows as she reads about Sister Mariana’s struggle with her vows.

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Yes, I think Gone With the Wind is an intelligent romance. It’s a tragedy; Scarlett realizes, too late, that she’s given her life to goals that are foolish fantasies and in the meantime she’s missed the love she could have had. Yes, it paints a somewhat sentimental picture of the antebellum South, but actually the book is much less sentimental and shallow than the movie was.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Newland Archer is torn between the expectations of society and his own desire for stability and respectability and the passion and adventure he experiences with the exciting and forbidden Countess Olenska. He must choose between May Welland, the woman whom all New York society expects him to marry, and Ellen Olenska, the woman who needs his love and awakens his passion.

Emma, Pride and Prejudice, or Sense and Sensibility, all by Jane Austen. What can I say about Jane Austen that hasn’t already been said? One of my daughters hates Jane Austen’s novels in which she says “nothing happens.” I think she’s just not grown-up enough to see the action that lies under the surface calm.

The Prince of Foxes by Samuel Shellabarger. Adventure and romance in Renaissance Italy. Andrea Orsini poses as an up-and-coming son of the minor nobility trying to make his way admidst the intrigue and danger of Italy’s labyrinthine political situation during the time of the Borgias. Madonna Camilla is the beloved wife of the old and respected gentleman, Lord Antonio Varano. The two of them have nothing in common, but their lives become intertwined and their fates are joined.

A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Van Auken. This one is a true love story that not only tells the story of the human love of a man and a woman who were determined to have the ideal romantic relationship, but it also tells what happened when God unexpectedly entered the relationship and changed the lives and the marriage of Mr. van Auken and of his wife, Davey, forever.

Christy by Catherine Marshall. Christy is an eighteen year old innocent idealist when she goes to the mountains of Appalachia to teach school in a one-room schoolhouse. By the end of the story she’s a grown-up woman who’s experienced friendship, grief, and love.

Anna Karenina and War and Peace are both very romantic novels. They’re probably not any longer than Gone With the WInd, and people who see you reading one of them will be much more impressed with your reading choices. Kitty and Levin and Natasha and Pierre are both very romantic couples, not without their share of obstacles to a perfect marriage.

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. Kristin also begins her story as an innocent, but she makes choices as a teenager that set the course of her life. Again, the choice is between established expectations and passion. Kristin chooses the passion, and the rest of this 1000+ page novel in three parts demonstrates the consequences, good and evil, of that decision.

Christian Science Monitor: What Authors Read on Valentine’s Day.

All moms need a little romance in their lives. I think I’ll buy a copy or two of one of these romances to give to a friend for Valentine’s Day.