Book 8, FINAL Blog...Finally

I have finished James Fenimore Cooper's epic tale, The Last of the Mohicans. While it did take me several weeks...make that months to get into and out of this book, I am glad to say that I completed the read. The further I got, the better it got, to where the final few chapters were compelling me to spend late nights with my book light.
So why was it so hard to get into? Well, the language is tough. It was not the use of words unfamiliar to me, but rather word order and phrasing that didn't come naturally. Additionally, each character had a minimum of two names..."Magua" was also "le renard subtile" and was also referred to as "Huron" and "chief" at various stages. The "scout" was "Natty Bumpo", "Nathaniel", "La longue carabine", "Hawkeye", etc. etc. I couldn't keep the characters straight, much less the various names for the native tribes. Perhaps I didn't try hard enough. Perhaps I need the elementary, picture version.
I do have the film version starring Daniel Day-Lewis. I will be watching it soon. However, having seen parts of it, I know it strays from the story quiet a bit. I think my greatest dislike of this is that in the book, The Scout (Day-Lewis's character) is a godly man who actually presents the Gospel and is a reverent, honest man who appreciates the differences between the "pale faces" and the various tribes. In the movie, Hollywood has created an otherwise non-existent love story between his character and one of the daughters, "Cora". Leave it to the movies to add sex where it isn't to see tickets.
My next read is yet to be determined, as I have been gifted several excellent choices and have also received other great recommendations. Feel free to post comments making suggestions!

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

Jumped is a brief - but jam-packed book about three high school girls in NYC; Trina, Dominique and Leticia. The reader sees events of the story from each girl's perspective to get the "full" story.
Basically, Trina loves herself and is extremely confident. We discover that Dominique and Leticia would say - to a fault. Leticia wants to stay out of it, when she sees an exchange between Dominique and her friends that indicates Trina will get "jumped" after school. Trina is oblivious to this threat. Dominique's motives run so much deeper than an annoyance by Trina...but Trina will be the perfect release for Dominique's rage over being benched for her grades and her frustration with her teacher. So, does Leticia "get involved", as the school's theme song encourages her? Or does Trina get completely surprised by Dominique after school? Or does Dominique find another means of release or just change her plans?
I can't tell you that. It will spoil the ending! But I can say that the richness of the build-up is much more fascinating than the moment of truth - 2:45pm. As an adult reading this, I know what I want to happen. However, truth in writing suggests that the author might choose to unfurl events differently than I might expect. I like that. The message of the story presents young adult readers with an opportunity ripe for discussion - "what would you do?"
A great story. A quick read. A wonderful "teachable moment" opportunity.

Quick Shout-Out

I have to give a quick shout-out to my newest Follower!! Thanks, Carlton!

E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

I loved this book. Loved it. No real complaints here...no inner-prude diatribes. Reading something like a newer and more light-hearted Dead Poet's Society (please forgive this loose allusion), The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks explores one young woman's foray into private school secret societies and power struggles. E. Lockhart writes witty prose that is both accessible and complex. In other words, an adult doesn't feel like a 6th grader when reading it.

Frankie "develops" over the summer and suddenly gets noticed by her dream guy. Through her relationship with Mr. Popularity and based on things she's observed from her father and his "old boy" cronies from the same institution, Frankie finds a way to secretly get herself entwined with the Basset Hounds (an all-male secret society on campus). Fueled by a paper in one of her classes, Frankie pushes beyond pranks and into social protesting with hilarious and poignant results.

But why is she doing all of this? Well, I wont delve into that train of thought...but I will say that it has something to do with not only power, but that deep-seeded tendency we have as teens to want to be liked.

This book is a great read. It's funny and honest. A young girl definitely comes into her own and establishes herself as a force to be reckoned with while at the same time, experiencing some of the painful teenage dilemmas.

Other great things about this book - No vampires, demons, drug abuse or under aged sex...Yippee!

Laini Taylor's Lips Touch Three Times

If this is what "kids these days" are reading, maybe I'm right to not want kids at all. Hum. Not that I didn't enjoy this book - I did - however, I'm not a pre-teen or adolescent diving into the stories put before me as an alternate reality. I can read these books and keep myself in the here-and-now. I can enjoy a good fantasy with goblins, devils and demons. I guess I'm just old school, but some of this stuff is a little...hum...mature for young adults (emphasis on the young).

My "old prude" aside - Laini Taylor's Lips Touch Three Times is a thought-provoking foray into supernatural fantasy. Written to include three separate stories, each vignette develops more than the previous and explores other cultures, customs and superstitions with an artfulness and ease. Taylor's clearly done her research enough to fictionalize the rest.

The first story, Goblin Fruit begins with a heroine much like any good coming-of-age story for girls. Kizzy is not popular, but she's self-confident in her own ways. An awkward teen can easily identify with her - a real person. However, when a new and extremely good looking boy begins to take interest in her, the reader is already shouting, "no! Don't!" We've been warned - she's "ripe for goblins". We also get lots of warning comments - "if she remembers her grandmother's stories", "if she lives to adulthood" and so forth. What makes this story compelling is the combination of that identifiably real character and her desires mixed with her choice in the end, shockingly wanton and unlike any typical moralistic fable. (Gee, I hope I didn't spoil it...but it is a good read.)

The second story, Spicy Little Curses Such as These is set in India. We meet a woman who's job is to bargain with a demon in hell for children's souls...I know, right? Anyway, this demon enjoys creating curses in exchange...and after an earthquake kills 20+ children in a village, he comes up with one of his "best" curses yet. The daughter of a British official will kill with the sound of her voice. Luckily, the child is kept mute until adulthood. Then, she falls in love. Is the curse real? She struggles with wanting to know but not wanting to kill anyone to find out. She finds out...However, unlike the first story, Taylor takes us beyond the moment of choice to a moment of redemption.

The final story, Hatchling is the most in depth and bizarre story. A 14-year-old wakes up to find one of her brown eyes has turned ice blue. Her mother flips out. The truth begins to spill out but not completely before a mysterious creature, a Druj whisks the young girl away, leaving the mother hysterical. The story jumps between past and present, weaving a web of a story that requires a little more concentration to follow but is worth it. Unbeknownst to the girl and her mother, she's an incubator. It's strange. It's a little much for a tween (in my opinion). But it is a creative spin, for sure.

Overall, this book is an extremely creative adaptation of the coming-of-age experience. It combines the current trend of other-worldliness (for better or for worse is for the reader to decide). It also introduces words, locations, superstitions of other cultures. I actually Googled a location in one of the stories. I learned something new. An added bonus that is actually an essential part of the story is the artwork. Taylor's husband, Jim di Bartolo has created several pages before each story that prepare the reader for the tale to come. After each story, there is one image that hints at the completion of the story. The artwork perfectly compliments the writing and adds a bit of intrigue from the beginning. A very interesting book...but again, young adult? I wonder...

Judy Blundell's What I Saw and How I Lied

"Truth, justice...I always thought they were absolutes, like God. And Mom. And apple pie.
But you could make apple pie from Ritz crackers. You could make cakes without sugar. We learned how to fake things, during the war." (p 249)

I always fall for it; no matter how old I get, I'm always going to be a bit of a sucker when it comes to coming-of-age stories. Judy Blundell's What I Saw and How I Lied was no exception. The story revolves around a teenage girl's first love and her family's dark secrets. Blundell eloquently paints the pictures, writing from the perspective of Evie - a sixteen-year-old with a war veteran step-father and a head-turning mother.

When Joe (step-father) suddenly sends the family on a trip to Florida, the past is hot on their heels. The worst part? I saw it coming...I saw it coming for pages and I didn't want to admit what would happen.

Don't worry...I wont spoil it. It's an easy read, with small pages and large font. But don't let it fool you! It maybe written for young adult readers, but the story is captivating anyway. As an adult I saw it all unfolding from Evie's perspective and it broke my heart for her.

But as you might hope in a true coming-of-age tale, Evie rises to the occasion. There is certainly no "happily ever after" here. However, Evie concludes her story, now a "truth teller" and much "tougher" for having been through it all.

This book will take you back; that is, it will take you back if you were ever the awkward type. If you found love and romance and popularity easily...well, good for you. However, most people I know at least claim some solidarity with the awkward duckling-to-swan types. And many of us will gladly admit that there isn't always such a dramatic swan transformation...and I think Blundell does a nice job of avoiding that cliche, as well.

Oh, and this was a little PG-13 for the reading level. I was surprised at some of the detail. It wasn't too much or even Harlequin-esque for me, but I would probably have a fit if I had a preteen reading it...But it's honest.

Overall, an interesting novel exploring first love, loyalty, post World War II sentiments, hate and deception.

Phillip Hoose's Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

Growing up in the South, specifically Alabama you know the name "Rosa Parks". You know what she did - refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and thus becoming the face of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts that would lead to the integration of the buses and serve as a vital part of the Civil Rights Movement.

But do you know Claudette Colvin?

Me neither. Not until I read Phillip Hoose's Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. This National Book Winner is a history book of approximately 100 pages, full of pictures and historical sidebars. The main thrust of the book, however, is the little-known story of the 15-year old who refused to give up her seat 9 months prior to Ms. Parks' landmark defiance. The story is told from historical accounts, as well as interviews with Ms. Colvin and others associated with her story, trial and the Civil Rights Movement.

What it seems to boil down to is that Ms. Colvin wasn't the ideal poster-child for the boycott and was thus, overlooked. The book didn't paint Ms. Parks and her contemporaries in a negative light, but Ms. Colvin does express her heart - that she was just as much a part of this great moment in history as the names we all study in school.

So what happened to her? She was a teenager, labeled "emotional". Additionally, she was pregnant when the bus boycott began, and an unmarried pregnant teenager was not the ideal face of the movement. Ms. Colvin, however was one of the plaintiffs in the landmark trial (that I had heard about from school) Browder vs. Gayle. It was in this trail that the Supreme Court determined segregation on the buses was unconstitutional.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice is an excellent read for all students. In an age of information, we know so little about what happened only a few short years ago. We see racism in our lives today all over the world and sadly we still see some of the "old hate" from the 1950s in the South. As George Santayana once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."