Archive | January 2008

Poetry and Fine Art Friday: A New Year

A New Year by Susan Coolidge

Yesterday is a part of forever
Bound up in a sheaf which God holds tight,
With glad days and sad days and bad days, which never
Shall visit us more with their bloom and their blight,
Their fulness of sunshine or sorrowful night.

Let them go, since we cannot relive them —
Cannot undo and cannot atone;
God in his mercy, receive, forgive them;
Only the new days are our own—
Today is ours, and today alone.

Every day is a fresh beginning;
Listen, my soul, to the glad refrain:
And spite of old sorrow and old sinning,
And puzzles forecasted and possible pain,
Take heart with the day and begin again.

Prodigal Son in the Tavern (Rembrandt and Saskia)

Giclee Print

Rembrandt van…

Buy at AllPosters.com

I looked at several depictions of the story of the prodigal son, mostly pictures showing the return of the prodigal to his Father, but I chose this painting by Rembrandt as the most interesting of the lot. They don’t really look very happy, do they? They look rather like people who are desperately trying to celebrate the new year, but instead of looking forward or at each other, they’re looking back at the artist. (Nowadays, they’d be posing for the camera.)

And the glass is already half empty. I get the idea that their “prodigal” days are numbered. Farm work will make short work of that hat and fine coat, and the sword will be less than useless among the pigs. It’s really a sad sort of picture even if they are smiling.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born January 3rd

Jan3

I got busy today and almost forgot to recognize Tolkien’s birthday (just like last year)! We’ve been enjoying the products of Tolkien’s inventive mind around here for many years, and lately has been no exception. I’m planning to read the old/new Tolkien book, Children of Hurin, just as soon as I finish the book I’m working on now. And this book is on my TBR list.

Here are a few nice tributes to Professor Tolkien:

Fantasy Author L.B. Graham: “J.R.R. Tolkien is the fantasy writer that changed my life. Iâ€™d never encountered anything like Middle Earth before, and even as an avid reader, his work set my imagination on fire.”

Mental Multivitamin: “Have you, like Family M-mv, found yourself referring back to the text (over and over again) only to realize that as grand as Peter Jackson’s vision is (and it is, really; we do love it), the story is most fully realized as text?”

Past celebrations of Tolkien at Semicolon:

Happy Birthday, Professor Tolkien!
Thoughts on The Silmarillion
Yesterday Was Tolkien’s Birthday
On Seeing the Movie Version of Return of the King

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Jan3

I read another book by Dean Koontz once upon a time. I found it disturbing and violent. Odd Thomas is also disturbing and unnecessarily violent, but I liked it anyway.

Odd Thomas is odd, not because of his name but because he sees ghosts, spirits that are for some reason or another unable or unwilling to “cross over” because something has been left undone or unfinished here in this world. He also sees some other, invisible to the rest of us, beings which he calls “bodachs” and I would call demons. These bodach demons make an appearance in force in Odd’s small town of Pico Mundo (which being loosely translated is Small World, nice touch), and their activity is an indication to Odd Thomas of looming disaster. It seems that wherever there are bodachs, death and violence are not far away.

Odd’s day job is a fry cook for an unassuming cafe, but by night or whenever he can get the time off, he’s an investigator, avenger, and bringer of justice. His task in this book is to find out why there are so many bodachs hanging about and try to head off the tragedy that they’re anticipating.

There’s romance, violence, suspense, and mystery in this page-turner. Maybe a little too much violence, but I’m thinking after reading Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, nonfiction, maybe I just don’t realize what a violent place the world is. Maybe I don’t want to be disillusioned. I may or may not read the other books in this series.

Madeleine L’Engle Project

Jan3

My Madeleine L’Engle reading project, with a goal of reading or re-reading her complete oeuvre, is ongoing. It started out as a project for January 2007, but I quickly saw that I’d need more time to read all of the books. Last year I posted an annotated bibliography of all Ms. L’Engle’s works. And I read and posted reviews for the following books:

The Small Rain

A Winter’s Love

Camilla, also published as Camilla Dickinson

I also read And Both Were Young and re-read A Wrinkle in Time, but I didn’t write about either of them here at Semicolon. I didn’t like the former very much, and I didn’t feel as if I had anything new to say about the latter.

This year I hope to read or re-read the following:

Meet the Austins, 1960
The Moon By Night, 1963
The Arm of the Starfish, 1965
The Love Letters, 1966
The Young Unicorns, 1968
A Ring of Endless Light, 1980.

As you can see if you’re familiar with Ms. L’Engle’s books, I’m concentrating on the Austin family stories this year. If I get all these read, I may try to get to a few more before the end of the year.

P.S. Suzanne has joined in on the project and is inviting others to do the same. You can sign up at her blog or here, and as she says, “Maybe someone could make a button?” Pretty please, because I don’t have any of that graphics talent stuff.

Historical Fiction of Ancient Times Project: Greece

Jan2

These are some of the books I’d like to find and read as a part of my Ancient History Through Fiction Project:
Maia of Thebes by Ann Turner. (1463 BC)

Winged Girl of Knossos by Erik Berry, pseud. (Allena Best) (Appleton) Ms. Bird at Fuse #8 gives this book a wonderful review in an Under the Radar post from last August.

The Windswept City: A Novel of the Trojan War by Henry Treece.

Inside the Walls of Troy: a Novel of The Women Who Lived The Trojan War by Clenence McLaren.

Goddess of Yesterday by Caroline Cooney.

The Moon Riders by Theresa Tomlinson. (c.1100 B.C.) Amazons in Ancient Greece.

The Voyage of the Snake Lady by Theresa Tomlinson. Sequel to The Moon Riders.

Deeper Song by Patricia Pfitsch.

I don’t really know much about any of these books, except the time period (c. 1500-900 BC) and the place (Greece or among Greeks). If you’ve read any of them and have comments or if you have other suggestions of children’s or young adult historical fiction for this time period set in Greece, please leave me a note.

I’ll be reading as many of these as I can find, and I’ll let you know how I like them.

Long Way Gone: Pray for Kenya

Jan2

I just finished reading Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishamel Beah (which takes place in Sierra Leone), and this morning I read about similar violence in Kenya. We have a tendency to think that nothing like this could happpen here in a “civilized” ‘Western” country, but New Orleans, riots in Los Angeles, and other events within my lifetime indicate that our American sin nature is just as active and just as treacherous as that of any African.

So, pray for Kenya. And pray for ourselves: “Lord lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.”

Blogs from Kenya:

Diary of a Mad Kenyan Woman

Kenyan Pundit

Joseph Karoki

Pure Christianity

What An African Woman Thinks

Thinker’s Room

Farmgal

Cybils Finalists

Jan1

The Cybils Finalists are posted at the Cybils website, and the Middle Grade Fiction finalists, which I helped choose, were the first up. I’m quite pleased with our choices, and I don’t envy the judging panel their task of choosing ONE winner. We had enough trouble narrowing down a list of 70+ nominees to eight finalists.

All eight of the finalists are worth your reading time, especially if you enjoy children’s fiction.

A Crooked Kind of Perfect
by Linda Urban
Harcourt

“I teach middle school, and sometimes I find that I have more choices for my readers who like edgy YA stories than I do for those kids who read well but aren’t quite ready for teenager issues. A Crooked Kind of Perfect is a perfect kind of book for those readers.”
Kate: Read her review
Semicolon review here.

Cracker: The Best Dog In Vietnam
by Cynthia Kadohata
Atheneum

“It’s a war story about a seventeen-year-old named Rick Hanski and his experiences as a dog handler toward the end of American involvement in Vietnam’s civil war. As he stumbles into the army, then into dog handling, then over to Vietnam, Rick grows into a man of integrity and purpose.”
Semicolon review here.

Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree
by Lauren Tarshis
Dial

“This was a very refreshing book and one I really feel middle school students can and will enjoy. It is great to read books that are written about abnormal children or kids that simply do not blend in with everyone else, yet are perfectly fine with that fact. So many stories are written about wanting to fit in and needing to gain social acceptance, yet this, shows the reader that being different can be perfect.”
Amanda, A Patchwork of Books: Read her review.
Brown Bear/Semicolon review here.

Leap of Faith
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Dial

“The writing in Leap of Faith was good; the plot always moved along smoothly and compelled me to keep reading. I needed to know that Abby was going to pull through and be okay. Leap of Faith was a sweet, hopeful story that I’m very glad to have read.”
Miss Erin: Read her review
Semicolon review here.

Leepike Ridge
by Nathan D. Wilson
Random House

“Leepike Ridge is a book for every kid (and every grown kid) who played in refrigerator boxes, caught critters in the woods, and floated down creeks on homemade rafts. It’s a fantastic story with a grand adventure, a heroic boy, bad guys that you love to hate, a loyal dog, and a hidden treasure. The fact that it’s beautifully written with magical, transporting descriptions is gravy.”
Kate: Read her review
Karate Kid’s review.
Semicolon review here.

Louisiana’s Song
by Kerry Madden
Viking

“In Gentle’s Holler, Kerry Madden introduced young readers to Olivia (better known as Livy Two) Weems, a twelve-year-old with a passion for books and music. Livy has eight siblings of various ages and temperaments, a sweet mama, and a starry-eyed daddy. Money’s tight — Daddy’s music fills the heart and ears more than it fills the pocketbook — but the Weems make do, and their household is always bursting with family, love, and music. Louisiana’s Song is a worthy sequel to Gentle’s Holler, and, unlike many middle books in trilogies, can stand on its own two feet. When Louise learns to do the same, Livy Two will cheer her on, and so will readers.”
Little Willow: Read her review
Semicolon review here.

Miss Spitfire
by Sarah Miller
Atheneum

“This book is the story of Helen Keller’s teacher, Annie Sullivan, as she struggles to teach a girl who can neither hear, see, nor speak. She displays incredible strength and determination as she sacrifices herself completely for Helen. Almost everyone knows this story, but hearing it from the teacher’s point of view is a really unique insight. This delightful debut novel will keep you rooting for teacher and student right up until its triumphant ending.”
Miss Erin: Read her review
Semicolon review here.

Wild Girls
by Pat Murphy
Viking
“Pat Murphy tells the story of two girls — the rule-following Joan (a.k.a. “Newt”), who just moved to California from Connecticut and has always written the kinds of stories she thought her teacher would like, and Sarah (a.k.a. “Fox”), who hangs out throwing rocks in the woods near the run-down house where she lives with her dad, a motorcycle-writer-guy who doesn’t fit the image of any dad Joan has ever known. Fox and Newt form the kind of bond that can only be forged in secret clearings and treehouses, and together, they weather the storms of family trauma and trying (or not) to fit in among their peers. More than anything, though, they learn about writing and about the power of story to help us see truth — especially when truth is different from the story that the grownups are dishing out.”
Kate: Read her review

Newbery Project: 2008

Jan1

I think in terms of projects rather than resolutions. I’m posting the plans for some of my projects here so that I can keep track of them and for your edification.

I’ve been working on this project off and on since last year. I managed to cover three years last year: 1922, 1923, and 1924. I would like to read, in addition to the Newbery Award book for each year, as many of the Honor books as I can find. Many, if not most, of them are out of print and inaccessible. Anyway, here are the Newbery Award and Honor books for 1925-1935. Perhaps I can read several of these this year.
Some of the titles of these old and award-winning books are fascinating: Spice and the Devil’s Cave? Vaino? Queer Person? Runaway Papoose?

I think it’s something of a treasure hunt into the recesses of the history of children’s literature in the United States.

1935 Medal Winner:Dobry by Monica Shannon (Viking)
Honor Books:
Pageant of Chinese History by Elizabeth Seeger (Longmans)
Davy Crockett by Constance Rourke (Harcourt)
Day On Skates: The Story of a Dutch Picnic by Hilda Von Stockum (Harper)

1934 Medal Winner: Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women by Cornelia Meigs (Little, Brown)
Honor Books:
The Forgotten Daughter by Caroline Snedeker (Doubleday)
Swords of Steel by Elsie Singmaster (Houghton)
ABC Bunny by Wanda GÃ¡g (Coward)
Winged Girl of Knossos by Erik Berry, pseud. (Allena Best) (Appleton)
New Land by Sarah Schmidt (McBride)
Big Tree of Bunlahy: Stories of My Own Countryside by Padraic Colum (Macmillan)
Glory of the Seas by Agnes Hewes (Knopf)
Apprentice of Florence by Ann Kyle (Houghton)

1933 Medal Winner: Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Lewis (Winston)
Honor Books:
Swift Rivers by Cornelia Meigs (Little, Brown)
The Railroad To Freedom: A Story of the Civil War by Hildegarde Swift (Harcourt)
Children of the Soil: A Story of Scandinavia by Nora Burglon (Doubleday)

1932 Medal Winner: Waterless Mountain by Laura Adams Armer (Longmans)
Honor Books:
The Fairy Circus by Dorothy P. Lathrop (Macmillan)
Calico Bush by Rachel Field (Macmillan)
Boy of the South Seas by Eunice Tietjens (Coward-McCann)
Out of the Flame by Eloise Lownsbery (Longmans)
Jane’s Island by Marjorie Allee (Houghton)
Truce of the Wolf and Other Tales of Old Italy by Mary Gould Davis (Harcourt)

1931 Medal Winner: The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth (Macmillan)
Honor Books:
Floating Island by Anne Parrish (Harper)
The Dark Star of Itza: The Story of A Pagan Princess by Alida Malkus (Harcourt)
Queer Person by Ralph Hubbard (Doubleday)
Mountains are Free by Julie Davis Adams (Dutton)
Spice and the Devil’s Cave by Agnes Hewes (Knopf)
Meggy MacIntosh by Elizabeth Janet Gray (Doubleday)
Garram the Hunter: A Boy of the Hill Tribes by Herbert Best (Doubleday)
Ood-Le-Uk the Wanderer by Alice Lide & Margaret Johansen (Little, Brown)

1930 Medal Winner: Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field (Macmillan)
Honor Books:
A Daughter of the Seine: The Life of Madame Roland by Jeanette Eaton (Harper)
Pran of Albania by Elizabeth Miller (Doubleday)
Jumping-Off Place by Marion Hurd McNeely (Longmans)
The Tangle-Coated Horse and Other Tales by Ella Young (Longmans)
Vaino by Julia Davis Adams (Dutton)
Little Blacknose by Hildegarde Swift (Harcourt)

1929 Medal Winner: The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly (Macmillan)
Honor Books:
Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo by John Bennett (Longmans)
Millions of Cats by Wanda GÃ¡g (Coward)
The Boy Who Was by Grace Hallock (Dutton)
Clearing Weather by Cornelia Meigs (Little, Brown)
Runaway Papoose by Grace Moon (Doubleday)
Tod of the Fens by Elinor Whitney (Macmillan)

1928 Medal Winner: Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji (Dutton)
Honor Books:
The Wonder Smith and His Son by Ella Young (Longmans)
Downright Dencey by Caroline Snedeker (Doubleday)

1927 Medal Winner: Smoky, the Cowhorse by Will James (Scribner)
Honor Books:
[None recorded]

1926 Medal Winner: Shen of the Sea by Arthur Bowie Chrisman (Dutton)
Honor Book:
The Voyagers: Being Legends and Romances of Atlantic Discovery by Padraic Colum (Macmillan)

1925 Medal Winner: Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Finger. (Doubleday)
Honor Books:
Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story by Annie Carroll Moore (Putnam)
The Dream Coach by Anne Parrish (Macmillan)

Postscript: I looked for all of these books in my library system, and aside from the obvious ones, the winners and the Wanda Gag titles, my library had next to none of them. I did find a copy of Davy Crockett by Constance Rourke and Calico Bush by Rachel Field (which I’ve already read). And they have Swift Rivers by Cornelia Meigs; I reviewed that one here.

So, I’ll go to the local university library next. They may have some titles since they have a fairly decent children’s iterature collection.