This read like outakes from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, not a coherent novel (or novella). The first half with Americans in outer space is insuThis read like outakes from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, not a coherent novel (or novella). The first half with Americans in outer space is insufferable. The second half in the factory is vaguely amusing and made me think about aging and youth for a moment but is mostly disconnected from the first half. All of it was mercifully fast and my eight year old enjoyed it--which counts for something. (We read about half and listened to about half on Audible.)...more
I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did like his book. The Brontë siblings (Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell) are making an unwI wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did like his book. The Brontë siblings (Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell) are making an unwelcome trip on their own by train to boarding school when a fantastical person made of books and newspapers shows up at the station. They can see him but no one else can. Then a train made of leaves and branches shows up, again no one else can see it but they get on. They are greeted by life-size, living versions of Branwell's famous toy soldiers that, in reality (and in the book) inspired the children to create their own fantasy world--the fantasy world that they now enter in The Glass Town Game, including their imaginary creations Gondol, Angria and Glass Town. They then get in the middle of a battle between a child version of Napoleon riding a giant rooster and Wellington. Eventually they go through all sorts of adventures, end up teaming up with writers like Byron and Shelly, meet some of their characters and scenes from their novels, and ultimately meet an alternative Queen Victoria who resides in the imaginary world they created where she imagines a fantasy land called "England," and eventually have to figure out how to get back. When they do a certain amount of the cold, hard reality of their lives returns--but with the lingering fantasies and leaps of imagination that they enjoyed in the interim.
All of the above is why I really wanted to like it and in some ways it really did. But I also felt like it was a bit of an orphan book. It was pitched to middle grade readers and had a middle grade sensibility of foregrounding the plot and keeping the characters relatively simple and static. But it also was very long, sometimes it felt like one new invention after the next without exploring them. It had its wonderful moments but also long stretches with a "oh, yet more of this" feeling. And, if you lack context I think it would be even harder for readers to engage with it--and I have some context but suspect I missed an awful lot (like did characters from Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey show up at some point? I think so but that book is still on my TBR.
If you have particularly niche tastes in the Brontë's and a certain type of metafictional fantasy this may be the book for you, but hopefully you'll start with lower expectations than I did....more
I listened to this together with my family in one sitting on a car trip. It is about two Danish sisters helping a Jewish family escape form Denmark toI listened to this together with my family in one sitting on a car trip. It is about two Danish sisters helping a Jewish family escape form Denmark to Sweden. It is well told and although fictional the underlying circumstances are extraordinary (almost all of the Danish Jews escaped, helped by the Danish people). But the story itself feels obvious, predictable, the characters are heroic children and one-dimensional German soldiers and nothing feels particularly complex or exciting or revealing about the way it is told. Is worth being widely read by older children but also feels a little musty and award covered to my taste....more
Although The House in the Cerulean Sea was sweet and charming and even moving at points, it suffered from having the plot of an adult book (that is toAlthough The House in the Cerulean Sea was sweet and charming and even moving at points, it suffered from having the plot of an adult book (that is to say none) and the moral sophistication of middle grade book (that is to say none). The characters are all amusing types, one of whom grows and develops and changes as he learns, but the others mostly don't. It is also much longer than it needed to be. Part of the issue may have been that I ended up listening to it with my children on and off over the course of two months....more
This short graphic novel that depicts of a boy's journey from Niger, across the Sahara desert, and onto a boat with the hope of making it to Europe. IThis short graphic novel that depicts of a boy's journey from Niger, across the Sahara desert, and onto a boat with the hope of making it to Europe. It is a cruel, brutal and heartbreaking trip with some kind supportive people along the way but many criminal, brutal thugs, and selfish people as well. I thought it was a bit too short and thin, I wanted to see the character fleshed out more, maybe learn more about why he was leaving Niger and more about what happened along the way. Nevertheless it was powerful and I wish every middle schooler read it (which seems to be its target audience)....more
A young adult graphic novel about the first female astronauts is by the team that wrote the excellent Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, A young adult graphic novel about the first female astronauts is by the team that wrote the excellent Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas and the author of numerous other young adult graphic scientific biographies, most notably Feynman. Primates was a much more unique and interesting book, weaving primatology together with the lives and using it to better appreciate the psychology and behavior of the human subjects of the book. This was a little closer to standard fare, astronaut training, launches, and the like, only focusing on the first women--including the obstacles they overcame, the ways NASA did and did not understand them, and a vivid recounting of what it was like to be on the first set of Shuttle flights. Relatively quick reading and passes the test of being worth the time....more
I listened to this with my children, they loved it, I liked it. In some ways I liked it more than the first book in the trilogy, while there was not mI listened to this with my children, they loved it, I liked it. In some ways I liked it more than the first book in the trilogy, while there was not much in the way of new world building the increasing familiarity with the amazing world of Nigerian-infused magic that Tomi Adeyemi built actually made it better not worse. The plot was interesting enough, although again some of the psychological tensions and drama between the two main female characters--Zellie and Amari--was somewhat implausible. Inan, the prince in the first volume turned king in the second volume, emerges as an increasingly interesting character as he struggles between what he views as his duty to his kingdom, his love, his mother, and more. And, of course, being the second volume it ends on a cliffhanger leaving us all waiting for the currently undated, untitled third volume....more
My son made me read this and I can see why--a delightful story of a man who takes off on a balloon, discovers a mysterious society built around a RestMy son made me read this and I can see why--a delightful story of a man who takes off on a balloon, discovers a mysterious society built around a Restaurant Constitution on Krakatoa, and then gets blown all the way back to the Atlantic Ocean. Written in 1947 but harking back to an even earlier era of explorer tales with mysterious lands filled with gems and other adventures....more
An enjoyable, charming story about a Chinese-American family that moves to a mostly white part of Metropolis and gets harassed by the "Clan of the FieAn enjoyable, charming story about a Chinese-American family that moves to a mostly white part of Metropolis and gets harassed by the "Clan of the Fiery Cross," a group that is also developing a secret weapon to kill Superman to rid Metropolis of all foreign elements. A group of white and Chinese children team up together to support Superman in humiliating and defeating this racist menace.
All of this might sound like a conventional, diversity story but it is actually a retelling of an immensely popular 16 episode Superman radio serial from 1946 about him battling the "Clan" (which was terrorizing Chinese families, as actually happened in California) that is credited with helping to stifle the re-emergence of the KKK after World War II by pointing out its bigotry and also embarrassing it. Which makes sense since Superman was developed by two Jewish immigrants and was both the ultimate American but also the ultimate foreigner and they themselves had to pivot to a new menace after the end of World War II, and that menace was the scourge of racism....more
I am a huge fan of Gene Luen Yang, one of the best graphic novelists working today, especially Boxers & Saints, American Born Chinese, and The EternalI am a huge fan of Gene Luen Yang, one of the best graphic novelists working today, especially Boxers & Saints, American Born Chinese, and The Eternal Smile: Three Stories. I started out this book and after a few pages was disappointed wit, after he concept the sweeping sagas and magical forays of his previous books this one looked set to be a clichéd high school basketball novel. By the end I was crying.
It definitely is a high school basketball book. But it is a nonfiction account of a team he followed in real time, and Yang was committed to writing regardless of what happened in the season. So that made it suspenseful, the frames of the games, the timer going down, really conveyed the thrill of the game. But it was much more--it was an autofiction about how Yang decided to write the book, some of his struggles with what to include and how to write it, and how his career developed and changed over the course of writing it. And it was about the difficulty of penetrating the lives of the players on the court. And it was about the history of basketball, including several streams that come together--Catholic schools adoption of the sport, women's basketball, and basketball in China. Most profoundly, it is about racism, diversity, and what it means to be an American. Oh, and even the endnotes are good....more
A detailed account of the planning leading up to Lincoln's assassination, the assassination itself and the twelve day manhunt that follows, Chasing Lincoln's Killer reads like a thriller with short chapters that moved back and forth between different scenes happening simultaneously. It is a bit sensationalistic, but then again its subject is genuinely sensational. It also does a certain amount to glamorize John Wilkes Booth, while eschewing such a glamorization, but it is hard to avoid notorious villains becoming famous and to some degree glamorous long after their time (unfortunately we all know the names of the most famous assassins).
The book does not do much to provide a broader historical meaning for its story, and in fact most of the book is about a manhunt that does not really have much of a broader historical meaning. But in a way that is liberating because it allows James Swanson to focus on what he seems to do best--tell an excellent, exciting, fast-paced story....more
Amazing book, listened with my children, a thriller, adventure story, American history, biography of a fascinating man. I have read relatively little Amazing book, listened with my children, a thriller, adventure story, American history, biography of a fascinating man. I have read relatively little YA history/biography but stripping a story down to its essentials, doing without padding, and adding a little more author's license to describe perceptions and make it more of a story is a format that works very well--and not just for children.
It helped that I was largely ignorant of the story--I knew Benedict Arnold's role taking Fort Ticonderoga and knew he did some terrible treachery but was only dimly aware of what it was. And never knew anything about the motivations, which in this book unfold like a Greek tragedy that is both inevitable but also fascinating to watch it unfold.
A short graphic, group biography of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by the author of the excellent Feynman. Conveys the sense of exciteA short graphic, group biography of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by the author of the excellent Feynman. Conveys the sense of excitement and the commonalities and differences in the experience of these three women who were all sent by Richard Leakey to study different primates in order to both advance inherent knowledge but also learn more about humanity. Like Feynman, Primates also does not appear to whitewash his human subjects in an effort to pander to children, instead portraying (some) of what seems to be the philandering of Leakey, the complicated marriage of Galidikas, the tragedy of Fossey, and the like.
The Zita the Spacegirl trilogy was fantastic. I read the first one myself and then read and re-read them numerous times with my children. They were crThe Zita the Spacegirl trilogy was fantastic. I read the first one myself and then read and re-read them numerous times with my children. They were creative, funny, intriguing, whimsical, humane, and altogether a real joy. Several years later Ben Hatke is back with a sequel that merges the story with his Might Jack series. It was worth reading but veered further a tick further into silly and incoherent in a way that made it fall short of its outstanding predecessors....more
I have been captivated by Alan Turing’s story ever since I saw Derek Jacobi perform it in Breaking the Code. The Imitation Game movie almost ruined itI have been captivated by Alan Turing’s story ever since I saw Derek Jacobi perform it in Breaking the Code. The Imitation Game movie almost ruined it. But this book does not share much more than a subject and a title, it is much better.
I really like the Jim Ottaviani scientific biographies in graphic novel format ostensibly aimed at YA readers (Feynman, Hawking, and Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas) and this one was no exception. This was probably a higher ratio of life to works than the others with Jim Ottaviani making less effort to explain Alan Turing’s major contributions and doing more to showcase his life. But it is quite a life.
I say ostensibly YA because all of the biographies are relatively sophisticated in a variety of ways: flashbacks, imaginary scenes, someone narrating interspersed with the stories, somewhat complicated themes that do not whitewash some of the more sordid personal details, and most importantly a lot of attempt to explain the science....more
A collection of the first ten issues of Ms. Marvel, this is her origin story and first adventure. The origin story starts well, a Pakistani-American hA collection of the first ten issues of Ms. Marvel, this is her origin story and first adventure. The origin story starts well, a Pakistani-American high school girl in New Jersey with conservative parents who don't want her going out at night gets transformed into a shape-shifting superhero who is constantly forced to balance her families rules and expectations with her friends and her desire to do good in the world. This all brings some diversity and interest and makes Ms. Marvel, or Kamala Khan, into a sympathetic and interesting character.
But once you get past the origin story you are into what feels like a juvenile story as she teams up with a large teleporting dog to fight a bird-creature called the Inventor who is kidnapping children to turn them into batteries. She has battle after battle with his inventions and then with him. No plot twists, no real character for anyone but Ms. Marvel, and the premise itself is silly (the Inventor supposedly preys on the fact that everyone thinks teenagers are phone-addicted wastes, but when they come together to prove otherwise he is defeated).
About every other year I read standard comic books. But I still have not found one that for me sustains its interest in a format that is limited to repetitive installments that all have to be tied together in much the same way when they end. Before I give up, however, I'll try The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power....more
I listened to this with my daughter. I wanted to like it more but was never particularly enthralled by it. I liked the African magic world it created,I listened to this with my daughter. I wanted to like it more but was never particularly enthralled by it. I liked the African magic world it created, the writing was perfectly fluid, I loved the audiobook narrator, but I never really got into the characters or the plot and also never particularly felt impelled to read on. My daughter liked it more and wants us to listen to the second one together, we’ll see about that....more
What a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful book. I mostly listened to this with my children (but read them parts), I was torn but pressed four stars. TheyWhat a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful book. I mostly listened to this with my children (but read them parts), I was torn but pressed four stars. They caught me, got upset, and so I have put it down as five.
A story of climbing boys and girls who clean chimneys in Victorian London. The first half is called "Innocence" and the second half "Experience," mirroring the William Blake poems that play such an important role in the book. The story itself is not exactly innocent in the first half, but it becomes considerably more "experienced" in the second--turning into an even darker portrayal of the danger and brutality of a horrible form of child labor that plays off Charles Dickens as well as more magically inclined authors.
The story itself centers around a girl, Nan Sparrow, who is almost killed in an accident but is rescued by a "monster," actually a Golem, made of soot. They learn to survive together in a tender story of friendship, as she is forced to confront villainous master sweeps (modeled a big on Fagin, without the Jewish part) and a largely indifferent society. In the backdrop is a larger story of social change.
I don't want to say much more. It is not overly plot driven, more about the characters and their relationship. But the plot kept everyone interested ad served the broader purpose. At the end, the author's not put's a good perspective on all of it and portrays it more as a rallying cry for continued social justice than just a period piece.
Is middle grade, not sure I would have thought to read it without my children, but in that case I would really have missed out....more
Loading...
