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Cybils Verse Novels

Oct17

All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg.

Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarita Engle.

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.
~Robert Frost

Both of these books fit Mr. Frost’s statement about poetry; they’re both about a sense of wrong, a homesickness, and a lovesickness. However, with the first, All the Broken Pieces, I got a lump in the throat. With the second, I only thought, “How interesting! Holocaust refugees in Cuba.”

I’m thinking that makes All the Broken Pieces better poetry. It’s also a more emotionally engaging story. Matt Pin, the narrator of the story, is the son of a Vietnamese woman and an American soldier. His mother sends him on one of the last refugee flights out of VIetnam after the war so that he can live a life in country where he won’t suffer for being part American. However, Matt is never sure whether his “other mother” just wanted him to leave because of what happened to his little brother. Matt loves his “now father” and his “now mother,” but he’s not entirely sure they really will be there for him even if he disappoints them. So, Matt is sort of lost between cultures, not knowing where or how to belong. He also deals with prejudice, finds peace in playing music, and finds a way to excel as a pitcher on the school baseball team. Here’s a brief sample of the one of the story poems in this novel:

Music is soothing.

Music is not like words.

Words are messy.
Words spill out
like splattered blood,
oozing in every direction
leaving stains
that won’t come out
no matter how hard you scrub.

But not music.
Even when it’s so loud
you can’t hear anything else,
music lulls you to sleep.

Right now,
I need music.

Other bloggers on All the Broken Pieces: Reading Junky, A Year of Reading, Saecker at Kid’s Lit.

Tropical Secrets was also about a boy, Daniel, sent away by his parents for his safety. In this book the parents are Jews living in Hitler’s Germany. They scrape together all the funds they have to send their son to safety in another country, and Daniel ends up in Cuba. Daniel, like Matt, is unsure of himself and of how he fits into this new and strange-to-him culture. Like Matt, Daniel finds solace in music. Maybe I just didn’t identify with Daniel so strongly because the poems in the book are not all from David’s point of view. Some of the poems tell the story from the point of view of a Cuban girl, Paloma, and others from the elderly vantage point of David, a Jewish Russian refugee who has been in Cuba for many years.

Becky loved Tropical Secrets. Rasco from RIF says it’s a ” special experience from the illustrated cover to the final words.” Book Addict found it to be “very emotional.” Fuse #8 says it’s “a remarkable novel about an amazing and true moment you probably will not find in your average elementary school world history textbook.”

I just couldn’t get the feel of it, no lump in the throat.

Advanced Reading Survey: The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang

Oct12

I’ve decided that on Mondays I’m going to revisit the books I read for a course in college called Advanced Reading Survey, taught by the eminent scholar and lovable professor, Dr. Huff. I’m not going to re-read all the books and poems I read for that course, probably more than fifty, but I am going to post to Semicolon the entries in the reading journal that I was required to keep for that class because I think that my entries on these works of literature may be of interest to readers here and because I’m afraid that the thirty year old spiral notebook in which I wrote these entries may fall apart ere long. I may offer my more mature perspective on the books, too, if I remember enough about them to do so.

Author:
Lin Yutang, or Lin Yu-t’ang, was a Chinese American author born in China and educated in Christian schools there. He later moved to New York and still later to Singapore. He also moved from a childhood immersed in Christianity to a sort of joyful paganism and then back to a deep commitment to Christ and to the church. At the time that his most famous book of essays, The Importance of Living, was written (1937), Mr. Lin was in the happy Chinese pagan chapter of his life. He later wrote another book, From Pagan to Christian, in 1959 that detailed his return to Christianity and the reasons for it. Lin Yutang was a best-selling author, and he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature several times in the 1970’s. He is said to have been a writer who bridged Eastern and Western cultures. Oh, and he also invented and patented a Chinese typewriter.

Quotations:
“Somehow the human mind is forever elusive, uncatchable, and unpredictable and manages to wriggle out of mechanistic laws or a materialistic dialectic that crazy psychologists and unmarried economists are trying to impose upon him.”

“The world, I believe, is far too serious, and being far too serious, it has need of a wise and merry philosophy.”

“A plan that is sure to be carried out to its last detail already loses interest for me.”

“Somewhere in our adult life, our sentimental nature is killed, strangled, chilled, or atrophied by an unkind surrounding, largely through our own fault in neglecting to keep it alive or our failure to keep clear of such surroundings.”

“No one should aim at writing immortal poetry, one should learn the writing of poems merely as a way to record a meaningful moment, a personal mood, or to help the enjoyment of Nature.”

“Scholars who are worth anything at all never know what is called “a hard grind” or what “bitter study” means. They merely love books and read on because they cannot help themselves.”

“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.”

I really would like to re-read Mr. Lin’s essays on living a good and wise and simplified life. Maybe when I simplify my life . . .

Nonfiction Monday: The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton

Oct12

The Day-Glo Brothers is subtitled “The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors.”

These are the closest examples I could get of Day-Glo (fluorescent) colors:

Fluorescent Green
Day-Glo Yellow
Day-Glo Orange

They’re those colors that crossing guards wear and that characterized the 1960’s, and they glow in the daylight or when illuminated by an ultraviolet light source. The Switzer brothers, Bob and Joe, invented these colors just before World War II, and the colors became useful in wartime, especially on aircraft carriers and in naval warfare and rescue, and later in peacetime as companies and individuals began to think of multiple uses for these easily visible colors.

I can see how a book like this one might inspire young inventors and scientists who are still in elementary school to think about the many unexplored areas of science and about the intersections between science and other disciplines, in this case art and advertising. Mr. Barton tells the story in straightforward prose and yet includes enough anecdotes about the Switzers’ lives and personalities to keep readers interested. The bright Day-Glo illustrations on black background complement the story perfectly.

Buy some Day-Glo make-up.
Day-Glo Brothers Activity and Discussion Guide
Chris Barton’s blog, Bartography.

This book has been nominated for the Cybil Award in the Nonfiction Picture Book category. I received my copy of Day-Glo Brothers from the publisher for the purpose of review. Nonfiction Monday is hosted today at Jean Little Library.

Sunday Salon: Take a Look at My Shelves

Oct11

The Sunday Salon.comIt is my plan for the second Sunday of the month that Operation Clean House kicks into gear. I will post before and after pictures of one area of the house that I’ve managed to clean, and as a reward to myself and to you for looking, I’ll also post a picture of a favorite shelf of books in my house and highlight some of the Good Books on that shelf. SInce I have approximately 250 shelves of books in my house and more areas that need to be cleaned than that, this project should last my lifetime if I choose to continue it that long.

How about “the area to be cleaned” is the same area where the bookshelf is, the corner where I spend a lot of time: my computer corner. As you can see, it hasn’t been cleaned yet, but I’ll spend some time on it today and Monday.

IMG_0346

This shelf of books is in my bedroom just to the right of my computer desk. Several of the books pictured are worth a mention.

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William Zinser’s On Writing Well is a fine guide to the art of writing nonfiction articles in particular. I should get it out and go over the material in it with Karate Kid who needs to be writing more. I could use some tips on making my writing a bit more sparkle-y and interesting, too.

The Homeschool Journey by Susan and Michael Card makes homeschooling sound so so artistic and beautiful and homely.

There are a couple of very old books on this shelf:

The Mother’s Book is from 1921, edited by Caroline Benedict Burrell and WIlliam Byron Forbush. It’s a collection of essays and advice for mothers from the Jane Addams settlement house era. In fact, one of the articles in the book, “Companionship vs. Loyalty in the Gang”, is by Jane Addams. The advice in the book is sometimes good, but more often it seems rather quaint and even silly to twenty-first century readers. I really ought to excerpt some of the more amusing and telling passages for a beginning history of child-rearing advice in the U.S.
I also have an 1812 fifth edition copy of Noah Webster’s Elements of Useful Knowledge, Volume 1, Historical and Geographical Account of the United States for the Use of Schools. I’m wondering exactly how this little book was used in schools. It contains 529 sections, about a paragraph or half a page each on such topics as RIvers of New York, Settlement of Georgia, Introduction of Printing, Trade of Connecticut, etc. Did students read an assigned passage aloud or recite it back to the teacher or write about a section or what?

The large yellow book called A to Zoo is a discarded older edition of a reference book that lists picture books by subject. It’s useful for finding picture books on a certain subject to read to preschoolers, but it’s somewhat outdated. If you’re interested in having one of your own, you might be able to pick one up at a library discard sale. Or you can get a brand new 2005 edition for $67.00 at Amazon.

Texas Tuesday: Joseph A. Altsheler

Oct6

In 1918 Joseph A. Altsheler was voted by the nation’s public librarians the most popular author of boys’ books in the United States.

I had never heard of him. Had you?

Altsheler, who lived and wrote around the turn of the century until his death in 1919, wrote historical adventures stories set during the Civil War and the Westward movement. One of of his adventure series was set in Texas:

The Texan Series
The Texan Star, the story of a great fight for liberty (1912)
The Texan Scouts, the story of the Alamo and Goliad (1913)
The Texan Triumph, a romance of the San Jacinto campaign (1913)

I was able to find the middle book in the series at the library, and so I ordered it and read it. It took a few pages for me to get into the story of a teenaged “scout” and his two adult companions who are scouring the countryside for signs that the Mexican army under Santa Anna is coming to invade Texas. Of course, they find exactly what they’re looking for. Ned, the teen protagonist, accidentally runs across the Mexican army at least six or eight times over the course of the book. He’s captured and escapes three times; he conceals himself in a serape and makes his way through Santa Anna’s army as a spy at least twice. Ned witnesses the fall of the Alamo and the massacre at Goliad. He becomes friends with Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and he confronts both Captain Urrea (General Urrea’s nephew) and General Santa Anna multiple times. In short, it’s an unbelievably adventurous tale with barely room to breathe and turn the page between major historical events for all of which Ned has a ringside seat and a major part to play.

Ned is brave, somewhat hot-tempered, but wise beyond his years. Santa Anna and almost all of the Mexican officers are portrayed as courageous, but also cruel, deceitful and vain. The Texans are woefully outnumbered, but they are sure the righteousness of their cause will enable them to prevail. Even Ned’s horse is a heroic figure, responding to Ned’s least command and helping Ned to escape his enemies more than once.

OK, it sounds totally hokey. It is definitely one-sided. The Mexican peasants in Santa Anna’s army are dupes and ignorant cannon fodder. The Texans are all brave and honest and true. Nevertheless, the more I read the more I enjoyed this un-nuanced, bigger than life version of the pivotal events of Texas history. After all, it’s a good thing to know the myth before (if) you start debunking it. And Santa Anna was a villain.

The same, mostly homeschooled, boys and parents who have made a market for G.A. Henty’s historical fiction accounts of boyhood bravado in the midst of historical events would love these books, too. Altsheler’s Texan series is available in paperback reprint editions at Amazon and since it’s no longer subject to copyright it’s also available for various eReaders. His other series set during the Civil War, the French and Indian War, and other places and times on the American frontier are also available.

Especially if you have boys to please, I recommend you check one out from the library and try it. The language is early twentieth century, but not too difficult. Maybe read aloud at first and stop at a strategic moment. (Yes, I have been known to pull such tricks.) You might inspire a boy to become a brave, independent, resourceful (Texan) patriot.

Other Texas-themed posts from around the web this week:
Gautami Tripathy reviews Lonestar Secrets by Collen Coble.
Melissa Wiley on The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, a juvenile fiction title which takes places on a Texas pecan farm.
Melissa at Book Nut interviews Jacqueline Kelly.
Jen Robinson reviews The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill Alexander.

Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor

Oct3

The front page of the copy of this Pulitzer prize-winning novel that I got from the library says that MacKinlay Kantor “planned the writing of Andersonville, his masterwork, for twenty-five years.” I can believe it. The novel is 750 pages long and almost unbelievably detailed in its treatment of the Confederate prison of war camp at Andersonville, Georgia. The style of writing is a little odd. The book is mostly made up of short story or novelette length vignettes of the experiences of different people, mostly men, in and around the prison. A few characters persist throughout the entire book–the Claffey family who own a plantation just outside the prison, another family of poor whites who live nearby. The Yankee prisoners themselves and the prison guards and Confederate officers who run the prison move through the book, making appearances, telling their own stories, but mostly they don’t survive. Sometimes we read from the perspective of one of these prisoners, and then the writing becomes almost esoteric, as the reader partakes of the stream of consciousness, muddled thoughts and actions of disease-ridden and psychologically confused, sometimes delirious, men.

What I took away from the book was a reminder that there really is evil in the world, that Auschwitz and the killing fields of Cambodia, are sadly not the only examples of men treating men like animals, and worse. Interestingly, although Kantor seems to have some sympathy for the Confederates caught on the losing end of a war that they saw as a battle for the survival of their way of life, nowhere does the book make the excuse for Andersonville that I have read before: that the Confederates themselves were malnourished and drained of resources and could not adequately feed or house thousands of Yankee prisoners. In the book, at least, there is plenty of food, just outside the prison walls, and the Claffeys and their neighbors even offer to help provide for the prisoners. But the cruelty of a few officers overrides any attempt to alleviate conditions at Andersonville. In this novel the infamous Captain Henry Wirz, commander of the prison, is a stupid, cruel German (reminding me again of Auschwitz) dictator whose wish is for all of the Yankees to die. And Wirz’s supervisor, General Winder, who is in charge of all of the Confederate prisoner of war camps, is even worse, if that is possible. The two of them make no excuses for their behavior; they are fighting their own war, against the Yankees, even those in prison. (No Geneva convention here.)

Andersonville won its Pulitzer Prize in 1956, several years after the horrors of the Holocaust of Hiter’s Germany had been revealed and somewhat assimilated, so I imagine that the echoes of those WW II atrocities are not unintended. The stories of how some of the Yankee prisoners at Andersonville kept some kind of human dignity even under the most degrading circumstances, and of how some became evil predators themselves, parallel stories of Hitler’s concentration camps and the conditions and choices made there. Andersonville is a disturbing book, but worth slogging through for the lessons and reminders it gives: evil can happen here, and good people can become enmeshed in that evil.

Hymn #21: Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

Sep27

Lyrics: Henry van Dyke, 1907.

Music: ODE TO JOY, from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony #9.

Theme: “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” I Corinthians :10

Dr. Van Dyke was a professor of English literature at Princeton University, a lecturer at the University of Paris, Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg appointed by President Wilson, and a Presbyterian clergyman. He wrote the verses to Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee intentionally to be set to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.

Henry van Dyke: “These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time—hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy religion, or any revolution on earth over throw the kingdom of heaven. Therefore this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.”

Brenda: “I had this played at my wedding. It makes me happy as it seems a preview of the Heavenly Host singing.”

Secret Notebooks: “When I was a child in Rhode Island, attending Catholic services with my family every Sunday, we often filed out of our pews to this hymn, following the priest and altar boys in a slow, crowded shuffle to the double doors which had been thrown open to the sun and air. It remains one of my clearest childhood memories, and I can hear the voices of both my mother and my father singing when I recall it.”

Chris: “Beethoven’s 9th owns all other melodies ever composed or ever to be composed.”

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.

Hymn #24: In the Garden

Sep24

Lyrics: C. Austin Miles, 1912.

Music: C. Austin Miles, 1912.

Theme: When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
John 20:14-16.

The story of the writing of this hymn.

Jennifer, Snapshot: “I help with our church’s nursing home service and the oldtimers love this one, so it’s become one of my favorites too.”

John MacArthur: “Those lyrics say nothing of any real substance, and what they do say is not particularly Christian. It’s a mawkish little rhyme about someone’s personal experience and feelings. Whereas the classic hymns sought to glorify God, gospel songs like “In the Garden” were glorifying raw sentimentality.”

Brenda: “I love the vision this hymn brings to my mind, a little glimpse of Heaven as well as bringing peace to troubled souls.”

Joseph Holbrook, Jr.: “America’s all-time religious favorite, ‘In the Garden,’ has done the worst in fostering the I-me-myself version of Protestantism in our country.”

Cecelia: “This was one of my beloved Grammy’s favorite hyms and I love knowing that God will walk and talk with me, calling me His own!”

Nothing like a little controversy to liven up this hymn countdown. I won’t say which side I lean toward, but I will say that a little sentimentality never hurt anyone.

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear,
Falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.

Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody
That He gave to me,
Within my heart is ringing.

I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Tho’ night around me be falling,
But He bids me go;
Thro’ the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

Read Aloud Thursday: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsberg

Sep24

Z-Baby (8) can’t read very well yet. She reads, but not well enough to enjoy reading the stories that are appropriate for her maturity and intellectual level. We do read to her, but we can’t read to her all day long. So, she has discovered the joy of recorded books. When she’s not doing school or something else that I ask her to do, while she’s playing Barbies and other eight year old games, she’s listening to a book on CD. And she listens to them over and over again. Right now the favorite is the Newbery-award winning book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. For today’s Read Aloud Thursday, I present an interview with Z-baby on her favorite listening experience. FYI, the story is about a brother and sister, Jamie and Claudia, who run away from home and hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While there, they try to solve a mystery concerning Michaelangelo and a small statue.

How many times have you listened to From the Mixed-Up Files?
Z: I’ve listened to it whole twice. Parts, three times. I’m listening to it again today.
(Editors’s note: It’s been more like ten or twelve times at least. Z-baby isn’t very good at estimating.)

What do you like about the story?
Z: I don’t know. It’s just interesting. First of all, I like it when stories are really long.

Who’s your favorite–Jamie or Claudia?
Z: Jamie, because he’s funny. My favorite part is when Jamie says, ” You said it. You said it.”

Why does Claudia pick Jamie to run away with?
Z: Because he can keep quiet, and he’s rich. And he has a radio.

Why does Claudia enjoy planning?
Z; Because it’s a secret. And it’s fun to keep secrets.

How do you think Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid felt when Claudia and Jamie ran away?
Z: Worried. Scared.

Would you like staying in the Metropolitan Museum? What would you like to see there? What section of the museum would you like to explore?
Z: Yes. I would want to see all the paintings by Leonardo da VInci.
(At this point in the interview, Betsy-Bee horned in even though Z-baby was insisting that this was her book interview.)
Betsy-Bee (10): I would want to go around and look at everything, not just stand and look at one thing.

How do Claudia and Jamie get more money?
Z: They took a bath in the fountain, and people tossed change in the fountain. They could find the coins and get more money.
BB: I didn’t hear that part.

What do you think Claudia was running away from?
Z: She wanted them to appreciate her. She didn’t feel bad exactly; she just wanted her family to think she was special.

She said she wanted to go back home “different.” How did she want to be different?
Z: She wanted to be a heroine.

What is a heroine?
Z: A hero
BB: It’s a girl hero.
Z: Sometimes it’s a person who saves people.
BB: It can be a hero that is nice to someone.
Z: Or it can be somebody who does something special and good. Or does something important.

Claudia says, “When you hug someone, you learn something else about them. An important something else.” What do you think she means?
Z: She means you just get to know them.
BB: When you hug someone, you get to know them, and they’ll like you. You get to know them better because they’re happy, and they’ll tell you more things, I guess.

Why do Mrs. Frankweiler and the children get along so well?
Z: Because both of them have secrets.
BB: Because I think that they were happy that she had a sketch of the angel, and that was her secret. They might have been scared of her, but then they shared a secret.

What would you say to make other kids want to read this book?
Z: I would say that it’s very interesting and exciting. It just has a lot of meaning. When it starts out, you might not think so, but it really is interesting.
BB: But a little word of advice, don’t listen to it over and over again because your family might get tired of it.

HT to Scholastic’s Discussion guide for some of the questions used here.

Sunday Salon: The Pulitzer Project

Sep20

The Sunday Salon.comI’m supposed to be working on reading, or at least trying out, all of the Pulitzer Prize winning novels. I even joined this project to accomplish that very thing, but I haven’t posted there in a long time. Here’s my list of books I had read when I first joined the project in 2007:

2005 – Gilead (Robinson) Semicolon review here.
1986 – Lonesome Dove (McMurtry) Well, sort of, at least I tried. Unappreciative Semicolon review of the part I finished.
1975 – The Killer Angels (Shaara) One of my Best Books Ever.
1967 – The Fixer (Malamud) I read this one a long time ago when my mom was taking a course in Jewish American literature.
1961 – To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee) One of my Best Books Ever.
1953 – The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway)
1952 – The Caine Mutiny (Wouk)
1947 – All the King’s Men (Warren) Semicolon review here.
1937 – Gone with the Wind (Mitchell)
1928 – The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Wilder)
1925 – So Big (Ferber)
1921 – The Age of Innocence (Wharton) One of my Best Books Ever.
1919 – The Magnificent Ambersons (Tarkington) Semicolon review here.

Since then I’ve read The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty (1973), but I didn’t review it because I couldn’t think of much to say. I started A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, but I found it absurd. I have enough absurd in my life already. And this month, this week dare I say, I’m going to read Andersonville by Mackinlay Kantor, a 750 page novel about the horror that was the Confederate prison of Andersonville during the Civil War. Andersonville is also the Semicolon Book Club selection for this month, so it’s a two-fer. And I’ve been wanting to read it for a while because I like historical fiction. So that’s three reasons.