Sword Mountain by Nancy Yi Fan

Sep19

Nancy Yi Fan was eleven years old when she started writing the first novel in her Swordbird series, entitled Swordbird. I haven’t read Swordbird, nor have I read the second novel in the series, Sword Quest. And I had no idea that Ms. Yi Fan was a teen author until I finished reading Sword Mountain and read the author blurb in the back. Nancy Yi Fan’s writing matches that any adult fantasy author, and her deft handling of story, character, and theme outdo many authors with far more experience than she has.

Sword Mountain is the ancestral of the Golden Eagles, and as the story opens exiled musician Prince Fleydur is returning home to the Castle of the Sky as a hero. He and his brother, Prince Forlath, and their Eagle Army have defeated the archaeopteryxes and saved the kingdom. Unfortunately, not all of their enemies have perished, and not much has changed at the Castle of the Sky in Fleydur’s absence. The Iron Nest, the tribe’s ruling authority, still holds to tradition and a rigid social hierarchy, and Queen Sigrid is still enmeshed in her own selfish ambitions for her son Forlath. And nobody understands Fleydur’s love for music nor his compassion in rescuing an orphaned valley eaglet named Dandelion and bringing her to the Castle of the Sky to associate with the eagle nobility.

Dandelion becomes the heroine of the the story as she struggles to find her place and identity in a very rigid, rule-bound society. Fleydur is good, but a bit clueless, thinking that everybird, including the villains of the piece, means well and only needs a taste of music to make them understand the beauty of equality and freedom.

I liked the way this one was written. I liked the aphorisms at the beginning of each chapter. I liked the anthropomorphic birds who felt like characters from a human fairy tale, only with flying. I liked the strong, female protagonist who did the rescuing instead of being rescued. I liked the centrality of the two books, The Old Scripture and The Book of Heresy. I liked the themes of “hope and change”, slow, sure hope and change. I liked it all well enough that I’m hoping to go back and read the first two books in the series when Cybils season is over.

Sword Mountain is eligible to be nominated for the 2012 Cybils Awards for Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy. Nominations open October 1, 2012.

Cybils: Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy

Sep17

Bring it on! I am so excited that I get to be on the Round 1 judging panel for Cybils Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy. What are Cybils, you ask?

The Cybils awards are given each year by bloggers for the year’s best children’s and young adult titles. Nominations open to the public on October 1st. Anyone may nominate one book per genre during the nomination period. We post an online form from Oct. 1-15 every year. Any books published between the end of one contest and start of another are eligible. For 2012, that means books released between Oct. 16, 2011 and Oct. 15, 2012. This year, we are also accepting nominations for book apps for iPad, Web or computers.

What that means is that I get to read probably over 100 middle grade science fiction and fantasy books published this year on a search for the cream of the crop, five or six books that will go on a shortlist from which the second round judges will choose one book to win the Cybil Award in our category. I’m participating as a judge for Cybils for the seventh year, but this is the first time I’ve judged in this category. I love magic and science fiction and utopia and dystopia and weirdness, so I think it’s going to be a blast.

I’ve already put the following books on hold at the library:

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy.

Ordinary Magic by Caitlin Rubino-Bradway.

The Second Spy by Jacqueline West.

Sword Mountain by Nancy Yi Fan.

More suggestions? Nominations open October 1st at the Cybils blog, but I see no reason why you can’t tell me the titles of books you’re planning to nominate for Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy (or the books you think will get nominated by someone). That way I can get a head start on all that luscious reading about other (imaginary) times and places.

What are your favorite middle grade science fiction and fantasy books published since last October 16, 2011?

Texas Tuesday: The Blood of Heroes by James Donovan

Sep11

The Blood of Heroes The 13-Day Struggle for the Alamo–and the Sacrifice That Forged a Nation by James Donovan.

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna: “If I were God, I would wish to be more.”
“In this war you know that are no prisoners.”

Oath Davy Crockett and his men signed on February 12, 1836: “I do solemnly swear that I will bear true allegiance to the provisional government of Texas or any other future republican government that may be hereafter declared, and that I will serve her honestly and faithfully against all her enemies and oppressors whatsoever.”
Crockett inserted the word “republican”, stating that he was only willing to support a republican government, and after signing Crockett and his men became part of the new Texian army and proceeded to the Alamo.

Travis’s message to the alcalde (mayor) of Gonzales, February 23, 1836: “The enemy in large force are in sight. We want men and provisions. Send them to us. We have 150 men and are determined to defend the Alamo to the last. Give us assistance. P.S. Send an express to San Felipe with news night and day.

Colonel Travis to the People of Texas and all Americans in the world, February 24, 1836:

Fellow citizens and compatriots–
I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna—I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man—The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken— I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls— I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch— The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country—

    VICTORY OR DEATH

William Barret Travis,
Lt. Col. comdt.
P.S. The Lord is on our side. When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn. We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels and got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves. Travis

Portion of Travis’s last letter from the Alamo, March 3, 1836:

Col. Fannin is said to be on the march to this place with reinforcements, but I fear it is not true, as I have repeatedly sent to him for aid without receiving any. Colonel Bonham, my special messenger, arrived at La Bahia fourteen days ago, with a request for aide and on the arrival of the enemy in Bexar, ten days ago, I sent an express to Colonel F. which arrived at Goliad on the next day, urging him to send us reinforcements; none have yet arrived. I look to the colonies alone for aid; unless it arrives soon, I shall have to fight the enemy on his own terms. I will, however, do the best I can under the circumstances; and I feel confident that the determined valor and desperate courage heretofore exhibited by my men will not fail them in the last struggle; and although they may be sacrificed to the vengeance of a Gothic enemy, the victory will cost the enemy so dear, that it will be worse to him than a defeat. I hope your honorable body will hasten on reinforcements ammunition, and provisions to our aid as soon as possible. We have provisions for twenty days for the men we have. Our supply of ammunition is limited. At least five hundred pounds of cannon powder, and two hundred rounds of six., nine, twelve and eighteen pound balls, ten kegs of rifle powder and a supply of lead, should be sent to the place without delay under a sufficient guard. If these things are promptly sent, and large reinforcements are hastened to this frontier, this neighborhood will be the great and decisive ground. The power of Santa Anna is to be met here, or in the colonies; we had better meet them here than to suffer a war of devastation to rage in our settlements. A blood red banner waves from the church of Bexar, and in the camp above us, in token that the war is one of vengeance against rebels; they have declared us as such; demanded, that we should surrender at discretion, or that this garrison should be put to the sword. Their threats have had no influence on me or my men, but to make all fight with desperation, and that high souled courage which characterizes the patriot, who is willing to die in defense of his country’s liberty and his own honor.

Juan Seguin, April 25, 1837: “They preferred to die a thousand times rather than submit to the tyrant’s yoke.”

Cry of the men at the Battle of San Jacinto which won Texas’ independence:

Remember Goliad! Remember the Alamo!

Two YA Novels by Susan Vaught

Sep7

Going Underground by Susan Vaught. Sexting. It’s illegal, and it can get you into a lot of trouble. That’s the moral of this ABC-afterschool-special kind of YA novel in which the main character, Del Hartwick, becomes a felon because of a little “innocent” exchange of pictures instigated by his underage girlfriend. Because Del is just enough older to be charged with distribution of pornography and with a sex offense, he goes to juvie and then becomes a pariah in his hometown. The only job he can get is that of gravedigger in a private cemetery owned by a compassionate alcoholic.

I liked this one even though the “lesson” was front and center. It’s true that young teens can do things that will ruin or change their lives for the worse without even realizing what they’re risking. Shoplifting, sexting, trying drugs or alcohol, just being in the wrong place at the wrong time—all of these and more can be so dangerous, and young teens just don’t have the judgement to know what they’re risking. Maybe a book like Going Underground will preach that sermon to them in a way they can understand. I thought the book went a little too far in exonerating Del, saying that he had really done nothing wrong at all, but the point was that the punishment was way too harsh for the crime.

Freaks Like Us by Susan Vaught is after-school special-ish, too, but in a different way. Jason Milwaukee and his friends, Drip and Sunshine, are all self-described “freaks” from the alphabet class. You know, they’re alphabets, people with diagnoses like ADHD and SCZI (schizophrenic) and GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) and SED (severely emotionally disturbed) and SM (selective mute). Sunshine is the SM, and she and Jason and Drip have been friends for a long time. Sunshine actually talks to Jason, who calls himself Freak, and sometimes even to Drip.

However, one day, after the three friends walk home from school together, Sunshine disappears. Has she been kidnapped? Is she hiding? Has she run away without even telling Jason good-bye?

I thought all of this book was realistic and engrossing, except for the ending. Nevertheless, I recommend it for anyone who, like me, is interested in the way people on the edges of sanity think. Jason’s voice in the book is heart-breaking and vivid as he tries his best to hold himself together for the sake of finding Sunshine. (Jason’s “voices” do use some vlgar and obscene language, so if you don’t want to read that kind of language, be warned.) I wanted Jason to be able to overcome his mental illness, to get healed, but of course, that would be unrealistic with such a pernicious disease as schizophrenia. And I very much wanted to change the ending of the book, but I couldn’t do that either.

Try either or both books if you’re interested in reading about teens living on the margins of society, working to make a place for themselves in a world that often shows very little mercy or compassion for felons, freaks, and alphabets.

Texas Tuesday: A Personal Country by A.C. Greene

Sep4

I didn’t quite finish this travel homecoming memoir by a Texas author who hails from my neck of the woods, Abilene, Texas, where I went to college. However, I did find some gems in the book before I had to return it to the library, and I’ll probably come back to it and finish the journey someday.

“Rainfall or the lack of it, the thing that may have killed my great-grandfather, puts its mark on all West Texas life. . . Uninitiated radio and television weather experts will get called down by the natives (assumed or born) when they speak of ‘it’s a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, the forecast calling for fair weather . . .’ This may be pretty in one sense, but not nearly so beautiful as a black overcast day with the clouds threatening to shed tears at any minute, or a strong, wet wind scudding the dark masses overhead.”

Oh, yes, a lesson I learned early in life: never complain about a rainy day.

And windy days: “Then the girls clutch their skirts, not just for modesty but for survival, feeling the wind to be altogether capable of lifting them up bodily and dumping them, at best, in an undignified sprawl.”

I absolutely remember a day when I was walking down the sidewalk at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, and the wind picked me up and I flew for about 10 feet down the sidewalk. I felt like The Flying Nun.

“West Texans are not adventuresome food eaters. Until enough servicemen from other parts had been stationed there in World War II, steaks were customarily cooked until dark gray throughout, and roast beef with a tinge of pink was regarded as raw. My grandmother Cole sent back more than one hamburger for recooking because the meat ‘wasn’t done’—a term that implied a uniform brown quality. Even now most cattle ranchers will have their steaks no way but well done.”

Yep, me too. I don’t want to eat any pink meat, except for ham. If that makes me unadventurous, so be it.

Happy Tuesday, everyone, especially those of you who live in West Texas. I hope it’s raining or threatening rain for you today.

Some Labor Day Links

Sep3
'The boy who harnessed the wind' photo (c) 2009, afromusing - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Happy Vocation Day by Gene Veith.

Labor of Love: Death of a Salesman & The Problem With Success by Karen Swallow Prior at Christ and Pop Culture.

Labor and Calling in Heart of a Shepherd by Roseanne Parry at Redeemed Reader.

Semicolon review of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryn Mealer.

If you are not a Christian, where do you derive a philosophy that dignifies labor/work and gives it meaning?

The Songs of Me

Sep3

The British Guardian has launched a project called “Six Songs of Me,” which seeks to answer a question for as many people as possible. It wants to know which six songs would be on your playlist, if you had to pick one track for each of the questions below.

What was the first song you ever bought? Something by Glen Campbell, probably Gentle on My Mind.

What song always gets you dancing? Me? Dancing? This song, In the Mood by Glen Miller makes me wish I could dance.

What song takes you back to your childhood? Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.

What is your perfect love song? Laughter in the Rain by Neil Sedaka.

What song would you want at your funeral? I Know Whom I Have Believed.

Time for an encore. One last song that makes you, you.

Your turn.

Not Just a Political Statement

Sep2

This is not just a political statement by a guy who happens to believe that he should be elected vice-president. It’s a religious statement. The government cannot, and should not try to, provide for all our needs and wants. Jesus said, “You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.” That truth is two-fold:

First of all, we will never be completely want-free, totally satisfied, without any problems or needs, here on this earth. We live in a sin-marred, incomplete, imperfect world, and no government instituted among men, by men, can change that fact. The purpose of government is to “provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” We can argue about the lines that limit government in those basic duties, but any government or politician who promises the moon and everything in between is over-stepping his or her boundaries and responsibilities and giving out empty promises.

Secondly, freedom, adventure, and security are found only in Christ. Neither the Republican Party nor the Democrat Party nor Congress nor the President nor any other person or institution in all creation can provide us with true freedom, true joy, and true peace of mind. Those things are found only in Christ, imperfectly and partially here, perfectly and completely when we see Him face to face. If we are not free to pursue Christ and obey Him as the Holy Spirit guides us, then we are not free at all, no matter how we are blessed materially.

Sunday Salon: Books Read in August, 2012

Sep1

Children’s and Young Adult Fiction:
Freaks Like Us by Susan Vaught.
Going Underground by Susan Vaught.
The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi. Semicolon review here.

Our Read-aloud Books in Progress:
Galveston’s Summer of the Storm by Julie Lake. Z-baby is studying Texas history this year, and this is the perfect time of year, hurricane season, for this story of a girl caught in Galveston’s deadliest hurricane ever. Semicolon review here.
First Man to Cross America: the Story of Cabeza de Vaca by Ronald Syme. Not exciting, but informative.
The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff. Betsy-Bee and I are listening to this book to accompany her medieval history studies as we drive back and forth to dance each day. So far it’s rather boy-intensive, lots of hunting and boy-type friendship bonding.

Adult Fiction:
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Nonfiction:
The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy. Semicolon review here.
Catherine the Great by Robert Massie.

I liked what I read this month, but I can’t say that any of these books really got me excited. Maybe in September.

55 Books I’d Like to Read from the Reading Lists I Perused

Aug29

1. Overseas by Beatriz Williams. From NPR’s Lesser Known Lit List.

2. Mrs. Robinson’s Disgrace: The Private Diary Of A Victorian Lady by Kate Summerscale. From NPR’s Summer Reading List. Nonfiction about a Victorian scandal.

3. Canada by Richard Ford. Recommended lots of places, but I saw it at NPR’s Summer Reading Critics’ list.

4. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.From the Man Booker long list. Actually what sold me on this one was not its place on the list, but rather this review by Susan Coventry. Thanks, Susan.

5. The Fault in our Stars by John Green. Recommended everywhere, and no, I haven’t read it yet.

6. The Jane Austen Guide to Life: Thoughtful Lessons for the Modern Woman by Lori Smith. Recommended by Gina Dalfonzo at NRO. I read Ms. Smith’s first book about Jane Austen and loved it, so this one one should be a good read, too.

7. Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics by Ross Douthat. Recommended by Patrick Lee at NRO.

8. One Second After by William Forstchen. Recommended by Clifford May at NRO.

9. And the Show Went On by Alan Riding. Recommended by John O’Sullivan at NRO. Paris during WWII’s German occupation, “a story of secret heroism, hypocritical cowardice, subtle evasion, or double-dealing on every one of Mr. Riding’s pages.”

10. Wish You Were Here; Travels Through Loss and Hope by Amy Welborn. Recommended by Elizabeth Scalia (The Anchoress) at NRO.

11. The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy. Recommended by Al Mohler. Actually, while I was in the process of making this list, I read this book and enjoyed it immensely.

12. The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service by Henry A. Crumpton. Recommended by Al Mohler.

13. The Grace Effect: How the Power of One Life Can Reverse the Corruption of Unbelief by Larry Taunton. Recommended by Eric Metaxas at Breakpoint.

14. Dark Eyes by William Richter. Recommended by Kim Moreland at Breakpoint Youth Reads.

15. The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King Roland, the world’s last gunslinger, tracks an enigmatic Man in Black toward a forbidding dark tower, fighting forces both mortal and other worldly on his quest. Recommended at NPR’s list of 100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Favorites.

16. Stardust by Neil Gaiman. In the quiet English hamlet of Wall, Tristran Thorn embarks on a remarkable journey through the world of Faerie to recover a fallen star for his lover, the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester. Recommended at NPR’s list of 100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Favorites.

17. The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon “Hurtled back through time more than 200 hundred years to Scotland in 1743, Claire Randall finds herself in the midst of a world torn apart by violence, pestilence and revolution, and haunted by her feelings for a young soldier.” Recommended at NPR’s list of 100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Favorites.

18. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I’ve heard good things about this novel somewhere else. Recommended at NPR’s list of 100 Killer Thrillers.

19. Teenager in the Chad Civil War: A Memoir of Survival, 1982-1986 by Esaie Toingar. Recommended for the Olympic Reading Challenge at Lists of Bests, this book fits inot my North Africa Reading project, and it sounds educational.

20. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie King from Independent Mystery Booksellers Association list of 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century.

21. A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong from Independent Mystery Booksellers Association list of 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century.

22. The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell from Independent Mystery Booksellers Association list of 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century.

23. The Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos from Image Journal’s 100 Writers of Faith.. I have this one on my Kindle, ready for the right reading mood on my part.

24. Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell from Independent Mystery Booksellers Association list of 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century.

25. Godric by Frederic Buechner from Image Journal’s 100 Writers of Faith..

26. I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb from Image Journal’s 100 Writers of Faith..

27. All Hallows Eve by Charles Williams from Image Journal’s 100 Writers of Faith..

28. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton from Image Journal’s 100 Writers of Faith..

29. West With the Night by Beryl Markham from National Geographic’s 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time.

30. The Gay Place by Billy Lee Brammer. From Book Lust to Go and also recommended by A.C. Greene in Texas Monthly’s The Fifty Best Texas Books. In my library basket right now.

31. Life After God by Douglas Coupland. Recommended by Garry DeWeese, Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Ethics at Biola.

32. Between Two Worlds by Miriam Tlali. Recommended by Natasha Duquette, Professor of English at Biola.

33. Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation by Jonathan Kozol. Recommended by Bradley Christerson, Associate Professor of Sociology at Biola.

34. The Shadows of Ghadames by Joelle Stolz, translated by Catherine Temerson. Set in 19th century Libya.

35. The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela: Through Three Continents in the Twelfth Century by Uri Shulevitz.

36. Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger. Recommended at Longitude’s 86 Greatest Travel Books of All Time.

37. Down the Nile, Alone in a Fisherman’s Skiff by Rosemary Mahoney. Recommended at Longitude’s 86 Greatest Travel Books of All Time.

38. The Nomad: The Diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt. Recommended at Longitude’s 86 Greatest Travel Books of All Time.

39. Me, Myself and Bob by Phil Vischer. From the Hutchmoot reading list.

40. Real Love for Real Life: The Art and Work of Caring by Andi Ashworth. From the Hutchmoot reading list.

41. Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl by N.D.Wilson. From the Hutchmoot reading list.

42. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok. From the TAYSHAS list.

43. Illegal by Bettina Restrepo. From the TAYSHAS list.

44. Across the Universe by Beth Reavis. From the TAYSHAS list.

45. We Are Anonymous: Inside the HackerWorld of Lulzsec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency by Parmy Olson. Recommended by Janet Maslin in the New York Times. Nonfiction about computer hackers.

46. Off Balance: A Memoir by Dominique Moceanu. Recommended in the Chicago Tribune, but I heard Dominique being interviewed on the radio just before the Olympics started I would like to read this memoir, even though it promises to be somewhat disillusioning and heart-rending.

47. Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden. Recommended by the panelists of the PBS program Washington Week.

48. Crow Lake by Mary Lawson. Recommended by Sarah Bessey.

49. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. Recommended by Sarah Bessey.

50. The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. Carnegie Medal Winner.

51. The Lark on the Wing by Elfirda Vipont Foulds. Carnegie Medal Winner.

52. River Boy by Tim Bowler. Carnegie Medal Winner.

53. The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. From the Man Booker long list.

54. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. Recommended at Hermeneutics.

55. Noticing God by Richard Peace. Recommended at Hermeneutics.