Many Happy Returns: January 27th

Jan27

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, b.1832 at Cheshire, England.

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.
“Which road do I take?” she asked.
“Where do you want to go?” was his response.
“I don’t know,” Alice answered.
“Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”

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Other Lewis Carroll posts to cause you to lose your way:

Of Snarks and Quarks

Lewis Carroll’s Birthday: 2006

Radio Jabberwocky

“The horror of that moment,” the King went on, “I shall never forget!”
“You will, though,” The Queen said, “if you don’t make a memorandum of it.”
This is so appropo of my life and memory. The 3M’s, middle age, menopause, and memory loss, are my constant companions.

“The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday – but never jam today.”

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.”

“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”

“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – that’s all.” Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

If you’ve never read Mr. Carroll’s masterpieces, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There, you really, really should do so immediately.

Some (perhaps) motivational facts to get you to pick up a copy of Alice:
Queen Victoria and the young Oscar Wilde were among the first avid readers of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
You could host a Mad Hatter Tea Party.
Lewis Carroll, aka Charles Dodgson, was a mathematician, a scholar, and an amateur photographer. There is no evidence that he was a pedophile, although he did enjoy the company of little girls.
“Dodgson was devoted to games as croquet, backgammon, billiards and chess, enjoyed conjuring and card tricks and invented many mathematical and word puzzles, games, ciphers and aids to memory.” (Source: Lenny’s Alice in Wonderland site)
“Through the Looking Glass” is the third season finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the twenty-second and twenty-third episodes of the TV program. Therefore, you can read either Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass as a part of the LOST Books Challenge.

And then there’s always a dissenter in the bunch. Author Terry Pratchett has said of Alice: “”I didn’t like the Alice books because I found them creepy and horribly unfunny in a nasty, plonking, Victorian way. Oh, here’s Mr Christmas Pudding On Legs, hohohoho, here’s a Caterpillar Smoking A Pipe, hohohoho. When I was a kid the books created in me about the same revulsion as you get when, aged seven, you’re invited to kiss your great-grandmother.”

Don’t listen to him (even if you like Mr. Pratchett’s books). Alice is very funny, witty, and quite undated. The observations of Humpty Dumpty and the Cheshire Cat are endlessly applicable to current events.

Janet at Across the Page just read Alice for the first time, and here are her thoughts.

‘It’s a cravat, child, and a beautiful one, as you say. It’s a present from the White King and Queen. There now!’
‘Is it really?’ said Alice, quite pleased to find that she HAD chosen a good subject, after all.
‘They gave it me,’ Humpty Dumpty continued thoughtfully, as he crossed one knee over the other and clasped his hands round it, ‘they gave it me–for an un-birthday present.’
‘I beg your pardon?’ Alice said with a puzzled air.
‘I’m not offended,’ said Humpty Dumpty.
‘I mean, what IS an un-birthday present?’
‘A present given when it isn’t your birthday, of course.’
Alice considered a little. ‘I like birthday presents best,’ she said at last.
‘You don’t know what you’re talking about!’ cried Humpty Dumpty. ‘How many days are there in a year?’
‘Three hundred and sixty-five,’ said Alice.
‘And how many birthdays have you?’
‘One.’
‘And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five, what remains?’
‘Three hundred and sixty-four, of course.’
Humpty Dumpty looked doubtful. ‘I’d rather see that done on paper,’ he said.

Unless you share a birthday with Mr. Dodgson, I hope you have a very happy un-birthday today!

Esther, Illustrated

Jan26

420px-Esthermillais

Esther by John Everett Millais.

She’s not as beautiful in this painting as I would have imagined her, or perhaps she’s just not exactly fitting my cultural expectations. Of course, she’s also awfully fair-skinned, not very Jewish looking to me at all. If there is such a thing a “Jewish-looking.” And there has been a lot of discussion of that particular aspect of illustrating stories lately.

Millais borrowed the Yellow Jacket, “a gown given to General Gordon by the Chinese emperor after his defeat of the Taiping rebellion.” But Millais turned the gown inside-out so that it wouldn’t look Chinese. (The book of Esther takes place in the Persian court of King Xerxes.) Esther is supposed to be adjusting her pearls and preparing to put on her crown. She doesn’t look particularly frightened or brave to me. Maybe thoughtful.

Texas Tuesday: Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

Jan26

What an inspiring and absorbing book! Ms. Smith writes about Ida Mae Jones, a self-identified “colored girl” who is light-skinned enough to pass for white. The book begins in late 1941, and of course, that means Pearl Harbor, and World War II. Ida Mae learned to fly airplanes from her daddy, who was a crop duster. So when she hears that the U.S. Army has formed a group called the WASPs, Women Airforce Service Pilots, Ida Mae Jones is determined to sign up, even though she lives in Louisiana and the training is to take place in Sweetwater, Texas, two places where the very idea of a young black woman serving alongside white women is sure to be anathema. So in order to get into the WASP’s, Ida Mae basically pretends to be white.

A lot of the book is about the training and the dangers these pioneering women pilots faced as they bravely gave themselves and their abilities to the war effort. I don’t know much about flying airplanes, so although I thought the parts of the book that described the training and the women’s heroics were wonderfully written, I don’t know how accurate they were. I assume Ms. Smith did her research since the book Flygirl started out as a master’s thesis.

Another aspect of the book is the discussion and treatment of race and skin color. I thought this was fascinating, especially in light of recent discussions in the kidlitosphere. What does it mean to be black or to be a person of color? How do POC themselves see the variations in skin color? Is it wrong to pretend to be white and leave your darker-skinned family and friends behind? Even for a good cause?

One of the scenes in the book reminded me of Esther in particular. Ida Mae, like Esther has hidden her heritage and her connection with her people, but she is asked by her mother to go to the military authorities and ask for help in finding her brother who is MIA. Ida Mae knows that if she asks about her brother, she may be discovered and sent home. Her story doesn’t exactly parallel Esther’s, but it is similar. And Ida Mae shows similar courage.

All the issues, discrimination against women and against people of color, the varied reasons that people have for volunteering to fight in a war, misunderstandings and rifts between family members and friends, the cost of following one’s dreams, are explored with both sensitivity and humor. I would recommend this book to all young women who are in the middle of deciding who they are and what they want to be. And as an older woman, I enjoyed reading about Ida Mae Jones and her adventures. I wanted her to be able to “have it all,” even as I knew that the time and place where the story was set wouldn’t allow for a completely happy ending.

Reading in Color: “Flygirl made me want to go out and learn how to fly an airplane (or at least fly in one so that I can sit in the front and observe the pilot). The way the characters describe their love of flying makes you want to try it.”

One Librarian’s Book Reviews: “The setting is absolutely perfect, with the details from the time period completely enhancing the whole feel of the book. I absolutely felt like every part of it seemed like it could be true.”

Liz at the YALSA blog: Flygirl examines universal questions of identity, family, and growing up, with flying being both what Ida Mae wants to do, as well as working as a metaphor for a young woman trying to escape the limitations her country places on her because of her race and her sex.

Interview with Sherri L. Smith at the YaYaYa’s

Many Happy Returns: January 25th

Jan25

Robert Burns, b. January 25, 1759.

“Robert Burns is Scotland’s best-loved bard and Burns Suppers have been held in his honour for over 200 years. This site gives you the complete guide to Robert Burns the man, his poems, his travels, haggis, whisky and much more.” From this website dedicated to all things Burns, The Bard.

In the Prospect of Death
burns1
O Thou unknown, Almighty Cause
Of all my hope and fear!
In whose dread presence, ere an hour,
Perhaps I must appear!

If I have wander’d in those paths
Of life I ought to shun,
As something, loudly, in my breast,
Remonstrates I have done;

Thou know’st that Thou hast formed me
With passions wild and strong;
And list’ning to their witching voice
Has often led me wrong.

Where human weakness has come short,
Or frailty stept aside,
Do Thou, All-Good-for such Thou art-
In shades of darkness hide.

Where with intention I have err’d,
No other plea I have,
But, Thou art good; and Goodness still
Delighteth to forgive.

And that plea sounds good to me.

Kate’s Book Blog on Burns’ Birthday
Semicolon: January 25, 2004
Rebecca celebrates with a whole slew of Robbie Burns posts from last year.

Somerset Maugham, b. 1874. “There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are”

Virginia Woolf, b. 1882. Eldest Daughter on Virginia Woolf: “To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. This is a beautiful poetic exploration of the ephemerality of human relationships. You can have Joyce; give me Woolf for the highest example of the stream of consciousness technique. Because with her it’s not about the technique, it’s about the people.” I couldn’t say. Modern-day philistine that I am, I’ve never read Joyce or Woolf.

Edwin Newman, b. 1919. Longtime anchorman of NBC News, he also wrote the book Strictly Speaking about the use and misuse of the English language.

Reading Through Haiti

Jan24

Mitali Perkins gives us Kid and YA books set in Haiti.

Amy Wilentz’s Haiti Booklist These books look as if they mostly deal with Haiti from a liberal, US-bashing point of view, but they’re filled with solid history and ambience, too.
“There is a surprising amount of stuff written by Haitians and others about the country–libraries full of it. Haiti’s writing elite is prolific, and the people who love Haiti for some reason are often writers.”

Other selections:
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. I read this book about American philanthropist Paul Farmer back in 2006, but didn’t review it. I think that’s because I had mixed feelings about it. Mr. Farmer sounds like a hard man to know, but one you would want on your side in a crunch. He’s obviously dedicated to the eradication of tuberculosis and to relieving poverty, and most of his work has been in Haiti.

Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat. “In a single day in 2004, Danticat learns that she’s pregnant and that her father, André, is dying—a stirring constellation of events that frames this Haitian immigrant family’s story.” The Haitian bornDanticat has written several novels and other books set in and around Haiti, including Breath, Eyes, Memory and The Dew Breaker.

Tonight By Sea by Frances Temple. “When the brutal macoute regime in Haiti kills her friend Jean-Desir, Paulie realizes that she must do more than flee, and she sets upon a dangerous course to make her community’s plight known.”

Sunday Salon: Gleaned from the Saturday Review

Jan24

The Sunday Salon.comGhost Writer by Rene Gutteridge. Reviewed by Word Lily. This mystery sounds intriguing.

Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship by John Meacham. Reviewed by Carrie at Reading to Know. I really already had this one on my radar, but Carrie reminded me that I want to read it. Winston Churchill, whatever you may think of his politics, was a fascinating man, and the same could be said of FDR.

Searching for Pemberly by Mary Lydon Simonsen. Reviewed at Diary of an Eccentric. This Jane Austen spin-off is set in England just after WW 2. The reviewer, Anna, makes it sound a cut above the recent spate of Jane Austen rewrites and sequels.

The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch. Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Books gave this one to daughter Amanda, and it was a hit. I saw Mr. Bosch, sort of in disguise, at the Texas Book Festival, and I’ve been wanting to read this book ever since. Some of the kids at the festival were real fans.

Murder on the Cliffs by Joanna Challis. Reviewed at S. Krishna’s Books. Daphne du Maurier investigates a murder in a setting reminiscent of Rebecca. If it’s done well, this concept could be amazing.

The Confederate General Rides North by Amanda Gable. Recommended at A Bookshelf Monstrosity.

Island of the World by Michael O’Brien. Laura says it’s a “best book ever.”

By the way, the linky for the Saturday Review got messed up yesterday, and I lost the first 50 or so links that were left on Friday night and Saturday morning. If you left yours and it’s gone now, please re-link for the benefit of all of us.

Many Happy Returns: January 22nd

Jan22

Francis Bacon, b.1561. English philosopher, statesman, and essayist.

Prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.

The joys of parents are secret; and so are their griefs and fears. They cannot utter the one; nor they will not utter the other.

As for the passions and studies of the mind: avoid envy; anxious fears; anger fretting inwards; subtle and knotty inquisitions; joys and exhilarations in excess; sadness not communicated. Entertain hopes; mirth rather than joy; variety of delights, rather than surfeit of them; wonder and admiration, and therefore novelties; studies that fill the mind with splendid and illustrious objects, as histories, fables, and contemplations of nature. Laugh, wonder, and hope. Study in accordance with Philippians 4:8.

Judges ought to remember, that their office is jus dicere, and not jus dare; to interpret law, and not to make law, or give law. Isn’t this just what conservatives have been saying in regard to judicial appointments for the past fifty years or so?

Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.

George Gordon, Lord Byron, b.1788.
Byronic: “of, like or characteristic of Byron or his writings, romantic, passionate, cynical, ironic, etc.” I thought Lord Byron, whose birthday is today, was supposed to be wildly good-looking. Here’s the best picture I could find; you see what you think.

Maybe you’re more impressed than I am–or maybe I’m just being Byronic (cynical). Anyway, I did always like this scrap of poetry by Byron–even though I’ve heard people quote it Byronically (cynically and ironically):

SHE walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that ‘s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow’d to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair’d the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o’er her face,
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek and o’er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,—
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.

It would be fun to have that written about me. It’s probably the most innocent-sounding poem Byron ever wrote.

Today’s Poetry Friday Roundup is being hosted by Caldecott Honor Medal winner Liz Garton Scanlon at Liz in Ink.

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Jan21

I’m not sure where to start with this YA title, nor where to end. First of all these thoughts from a blogger named Amanda on sex and marriage directly relate to my appreciation or lack thereof for Ms. Ockler’s book, so read what Amanda says first.

Then, I’ll tell you up front that I agree with Amanda. Sex within marriage is a wonderful, blessed thing. Sex outside of marriage is, at the very least, a dangerous and bad idea. With that perspective in mind, it was difficult for me to read about the decisions the girls in the book Twenty Boy Summer make, even though the book portrays accurately a certain mindset and cultural norm that is all too common these days.

To be clear and concise, Anna and her best friend Frankie make a pact to meet at least twenty boys during their summer vacation, “do a little test-drive”, and maybe manage to get rid of the problem of Anna’s virginity in the process. The reasons leading to and surrounding this little challenge are a little complicated, and since those reasons are the best part of the story, I won’t give them away. Suffice it to say that Frankie’s gone wild for a reason, and she’s trying to get Anna to join her. The problem is that these girls have a skewed perspective about sex and love and boys and virginity. Virginity is an albatross that must be consigned to oblivion as quickly as possible. It probably won’t be that pleasant, but it must be done. Then, life, and perhaps good sex, can commence.

One problem I have with the novel is that no one ever expresses an opposing viewpoint. Neither of the girls thinks to look at sex and virginity in a different way. The boys they meet are fairly decent, but definitely place a priority on sex. The girls don’t talk to their parents and in fact, spend the entire summer vacation deceiving Frankie’s parents into thinking they are total innocents. Instead, they’re really sneaking out at night to meet boys on the beach and going to a wild party and visiting San Francisco alone. Not one person over the course of the entire novel tells Anna and Frankie that “having sex permanently alters your relationship with someone: makes you connected to them forever in a really transformative way” and that perhaps virginity is a gift to be guarded and saved until marriage instead of an albatross to be discarded ruthlessly.

In other words, I get it that the way Frankie and Anna think in this book is the way lots of teens in our culture think. I get that they are hurting and longing for any kind of connection, and I don’t want a preachy kind of book where the two girls end up in major trouble because of their bad choices or where they’re lectured by someone older and wiser. But I do wish that somehow an alternate view of sex and commitment could have been presented.

The other half of the book is about friendship and grief recovery, and that part was quite poignant and moving and real. However, the two halves aren’t really halves, and the illicit sex part sort of spoiled the story for me. I’ve been accused of not wanting my (YA) books to have any sex in them at all, but I really don’t think that’s it. I just want the author to be honest. And I don’t think it’s honest or helpful to tell young people that sex is something you’ve got to experience in order to grow up, the sooner the better, and there are no emotional or physical consequences connected with premarital, promiscuous sexual relations.

Not true. Not even in New York or on the beach in California.

Here’s a lovely video at Amazon with the author, Sarah Ockler, telling what she was trying to achieve with Twenty Boy Summer. She talks mostly about the “half” of the book that I liked.

The Best YA You Haven’t Read

Jan21

Kelly of YAnnabe is hosting a blog blitz to highlight our favorite YA titles that need a little more buzz. Check out her round-up of the Best YA You Haven’t Read for bloggers’ lists of books that deserve a second look.

Relatively new, and not as well known as they should be:
Unsigned Hype by Booker T. Mattison. Semicolon review here. “Tory’s rise to fame as a rap/hip hop producer is fraught with temptations and with danger to his reputation and even his life. But Tory’s “moms” is praying for him, and he finds a friend who keeps him grounded.” For those who are looking for more books featuring People of Color, this one ought to be on the radar.

I really didn’t think Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins got nearly enough attention when it came out last January, even though everyone loves Mitali and her blog. Semicolon review here.

Isle of Swords by Thomas Wayne Batson. Semicolon review here. I loved this 2007 pirate adventure, and it has a sequel, Isle of Fire that’s just as good.

The Homeschool Liberation League by Lucy Frank. Semicolon review here.

After by Amy Efaw. Semicolon review here.

Oldies but Goodies:
Escape from Egypt by Sonia Levitin. Semicolon review here.
The Faraway Lurs by Harry Behn. Semicolon review here.
A Winter’s Love by Madeleine L’Engle. Semicolon review here.
The Moves Make the Man by Bruce Brooks. One of my favorite YA titles of all time is a basketball book about two boys. And I don’t even like sports. But this book is about so much more than just sports; it’s about friendship and authenticity . . . Well, read it , and tell me what you think it’s about.
The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcock. This book and its sequels should have sold a million copies, but it’s a quiet little book, not one to jump onto the classic or best-seller list by itself. The books are made up of stories that a mother tells her daughters about a monastery and the monks who live there. All I can say is that’s a deceptively simplistic description, and the book has some profound insights into the meaning of mercy, and vocation, and repentance, and lots of other stuff–not to mention some great, very sticky (as in, will-stick-with-you-for-a-long-time), stories.

Many Happy Returns: January 20th

Jan20

Blair Lent, b.1930. Illustrator of one of our favorites, Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel. Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sa Rembo Chari Bari Ruchi Pip Peri Pembo! I can say it fast. Can you?

I really believe Tikki TIkki Tembo is one of the best picture books ever. It came in at number 35 in Fuse #8’s Top 100 Picture Book Poll, quite a respectable showing. I found the video of this Weston Woods production at Fuse #8.

Wow, that takes me back to when we used to watch filmstrips in the filmstrip viewer in my school library. Does anybody else remember filmstrips?

Blair Lent died last year (2009) on January 27th, just a few days after his 79th birthday. He won the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations for another Arlene Mosel book, The Funny Little Woman.