Coincidence at King’s Cross?

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My son and I started a new book this week as his bedtime read-aloud. We’ve made it through about five chapters so far, and here are some key points:

  • There is a special platform at King’s Cross Station in London which leads to a hidden, magical world
  • Regular humans have no idea this magical world exists
  • Our hero is a nice boy being raised by people who are not his parents
  • He lives in the non-magical world, and doesn’t know that he belongs in the world of magic
  • He is not treated very well: he is considered the kitchen boy, works hard dawn to dusk, goes to a run-down, second-rate school, and sleeps in a cupboard
  • The favorite son of the family is a fat, spoiled boy of about the same age, who has a room overflowing with more toys and gadgets than he can possibly ever use or enjoy
  • The fat boy’s mom speaks to him in baby-talk (“Where does it hurt, my pettikins?”), sees him as sensitive and frail, and gives him everything he wants

Sound familiar?

Psych. This is The Secret of Platform 13, written by Eva Ibbotson, and published in 1994… which, by the way, is about three years prior to the introduction of the Boy Who Lived to the rest of the world.

Coincidence? I’m sure this was all hotly debated when Harry Potter first appeared in 1997 (so I’m a little late to the party). And seeing as I’m only about a third of the way through Platform 13, I’m in no position to state whether the similarities continue. It’s a little hard to believe that two different children’s authors came up with such similar elements within such a short time span without there being… oh, let’s call it cross-pollination.

I had a hard time buying it when the author of a bestselling series of vampire books claims to never have read any other vampire fiction. Really? Do you live in a media-less cave, perhaps? Of course, writers of children’s fiction read other writers’ works, and it’s natural to be influenced by what you’ve read, especially when it’s the good stuff. And as far as I can tell, based on the five chapters I’ve read, The Secret of Platform 13 is indeed the good stuff.

It’ll be interesting to see how the story plays out, and whether the seemingly familiar elements will continue to pop up. Somehow, I doubt that we’ll be seeing a wizarding school, a sport played on broomsticks, or a flying motorbike, but I could be wrong.

Genre confusion

Posted in The Reading Life by

It’s finally happened — Facebook is “timelining” me. (Yes, I just used timeline as a verb. I expect a bolt of lightning any minute now.)

One interesting side effect is the random voyage through my personal history that it’s providing. Movies, TV shows, odd things I said that I’m sure I thought were quite witty at the time… it’s all there. A quick scan through my recent Facebook past revealed this forgotten nugget, dated September 16, 2010:

Dawning realization that the book I’m reading may in fact be a romance novel. Bodices have been ripped.

Any idea what I’m talking about? Only one of my all time favorite novels, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon! Of course, at the time, I didn’t yet realize how very much in love I’d fall with this series (and with the main character, Jamie Fraser, but that’s a different topic).

I can be forgiven for my genre confusion, having just read this passage:

Randall slowly drew the knife in a semicircle under one breast. The homespun came free and fell away with a flutter of white chemise, and my breast sprang out. Randall seemed to have been holding his breath; he exhaled slowly now, his eyes fixed on mine.

Followed on the next page by – ta-dum – our hero’s arrival:

“I’ll thank ye,” said a cool, level voice, “to take your hands off my wife.”

By the end of the book, I was hooked, so much so that by October 16, 2010, my status update read:

Have finished four books of a seven-book (so far) series in the past month. Page count: 3926 read, 3740 to go.

What can I say — other than, I’m glad I stuck with it! Despite the ripped bodice and the occasional heaving breast, what I found myself reading was not a romance novel, but a remarkable piece of historical fiction that includes a lovely romance, as well as a crash course in the history of the Jacobite rebellion, battlefield medicine, Scottish culture, and speculative time travel.

So what shelf does Outlander belong on? According to the author (on her website, here):

In essence, these novels are Big, Fat, Historical Fiction, ala James Clavell and James Michener.  However, owing to the fact that I wrote the first book for practice, didn’t intend to show it to anyone, and therefore saw no reason to limit myself, they  include…

history, warfare, medicine, sex, violence, spirituality, honor, betrayal, vengeance, hope and despair, relationships,
the building and destruction of families and societies, time travel, moral ambiguity, swords, herbs, horses,
gambling (with cards, dice, and lives), voyages of daring, journeys of both body and soul…

you know, the usual stuff of literature.

Thanks, Diana G., that clears that up!

So, has this ever happened to you? Have you ever started a book expecting one thing, and found yourself someplace completely different? And if so, were you glad for the detour?

I know I originally picked up my battered, used edition of Outlander because I remembered seeing the title listed in reference to time travel. I’m sure, though, that if the original context had been about romance, I probably never would have thought to give it a try.

So, here’s to trying new genres! Stepping out of our reading comfort zones! Crossing the book store aisles and browsing a new shelf! You just never know where your next new favorite might be lurking.

And thank you, Facebook, for this strange trip down my book-addicted memory lane.

Fictitious fiction, TV-style

Posted in Pop Culture by

Earlier this week, I put together a photo collection of TV characters reading books. Why? Because I wanted to. And I read. And I watch TV. And it gave me a good excuse to search for cool pictures.

The one that was hardest to find was from an episode of Sons of Anarchy [SPOILER ALERT], in which the dearly departed Piney (RIP) sat in his mountain cabin, drinking heavily and reading a Stephen King novel.

Boards were a-buzz the day after the episode originally aired. Shock, outrage, and sorrow were rampant. Me? I wanted to know what book Piney was reading, and so, apparently, did lots of other book-loving viewers. The question kept coming up: Was it The Stand? Nah, not thick enough. Christine? Nah, the artwork didn’t seem right.

Show creator Kurt Sutter was kind enough to put the debate to rest by sharing this image, with the explanation:

February 11, 2012did anyone notice what piney was reading right before clay killed him? asked SK if he wanted to plug a book, he said have piney reading CYCLE ZOMBIES. our art department created this —

Mystery solved! Wouldn’t you love to read Cycle Zombies by Stephen King?

Wishlist Wednesday

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And now, for this week’s Wishlist Wednesday…

The concept is to post about one book from our wish lists that we can’t wait to read. Want to play? Here’s how:

  • Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
  • Please consider adding the blog hop button to your blog somewhere, so others can find it easily and join in too! Help spread the word! The code will be at the bottom of the post under the linky.
  • Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get to put on your shelves.
  • Do a post telling your readers about the book and why it’s on your wishlist.
  • Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of the post at Pen to Paper.
  • Put a link back to pen to paper (http://vogue-pentopaper.blogspot.com) somewhere in your post.
  • Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My Wishlist Wednesday book is:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

From the author’s website:

Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.
There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.
She’s wrong.

Why do I want to read this?

It sounds mysterious, intriguing, suspenseful… with a hint that some sort of conspiracy or larger force is at play. The synopsis doesn’t tell me much, but I like how dire it all sounds. I actually came across this book after seeing a blurb for the sequel, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, which is due out in October.

Once again, I may be breaking my own rule about not starting any more trilogies — I really have to stop doing that! Still, my library branch has a copy available, so I think I’ll dive in, give The Unbecoming a try, and then make a decision about continuing with the story.

 

Read a book. All the cool people are doing it.

Posted in Pop Culture by

Taking a brief pause to appreciate TV characters who read… for no real reason except that it gives me a good excuse to Google stuff. Without further ado:

Damon Salvatore thinks sparkly vampires are stupid.

Sawyer rockin’ the reading glasses.

Don Draper is a very serious reader.

Good slayers always do their homework first. But where are the Scoobies?

Good slayers always do their homework first. But where are the Scoobies?

No, the other Scoobies!

Joey found Little Women kinda scary.

Gemma hitting the medical texts. Career change?

Trying to read here, Varys.

Never too old for a bedtime story.

Updated 8/24/2012 to add:

Piney reading a one-of-a-kind Stephen King novel. That’s “Cycle Zombies”, and it exists only in TV land.

That’s all I’ve got! If you come up with any other good ones, please share.

11/5/2012: Updated to add this additional cute photo:

Some scary things happen in “The Angels Take Manhattan” episode of Doctor Who, but this reading-friendly picnic scene is just adorable.

Q&A with the kiddo: A kid’s-eye view of…

Posted in Book Reviews, Q&A With The Kiddo by

Book Review: The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Edwards

(Mom’s squeal: That’s JULIE ANDREWS, by the way! How can you go wrong with a book written  by Mary Poppins??)

From Amazon:

The Whangdoodle was once the wisest, the kindest, and the most extraordinary creature in the world. Then he disappeared and created a wonderful land for himself and all the other remarkable animals — the ten-legged Sidewinders, the little furry Flukes, the friendly Whiffle Bird, and the treacherous, “oily” Prock. It was an almost perfect place where the last of the really great Whangdoodles could rule his kingdom with “peace, love and a sense of fun”– apart from and forgotten by people.

But not completely forgotten. Professor Savant believed in the Whangdoodle. And when he told the three Potter children of his search for the spectacular creature, Lindy, Tom, and Ben were eager to reach Whangdoodleland.

With the Professor’s help, they discovered the secret way. But waiting for them was the scheming Prock, who would use almost any means to keep them away from his beloved king. Only by skill and determination were the four travelers able to discover the last of the really great Whangdoodles and grant him his heart’s desire.

Proudly presenting this week’s book review, courtesy of my 10-year-old son: Q&A with the kiddo!

In which I ask my kiddo to describe a book he’s enjoyed recently and he gives his opinions, more or less unfiltered by mom. The kiddo’s big sister picked this one out to read to him at bedtime, and it was a huge success. I think he would have liked the book anyway, but certainly the added bonus of quality time with his favorite non-parental person was a big plus.

Without further ado — Q&A with the kiddo:

Q: What book did you read this week?

A: The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles

Q: What was it about?

A: It’s about these kids who went to the zoo once. They were talking about what’s the most unique animal that they know. This guy came up and said “I think it’s a whangdoodle”. They asked him what a whangdoodle is and he said that it’s sort of like a moose that can change color and has a sweet tooth. The tooth has flowers and stuff on it. They became friends. The children went home and talked about him. One of the kids said, “I don’t believe you.” The scientist said, “Go look it up in the dictionary” and it was there. Then it was Halloween. The kids went to whangdoodle land and met the last whangdoodle. The kids were bragging about the scientist and they brought him back to whangdoodle land and he made another whangdoodle. Then they went back home.

Q: What do the Whangdoodles look like?

Sort of like a moose with giant antlers. They can change colors with their feelings or whenever they want to. They also have a really sweet tooth with flowers on it. They can also take the shapes of other objects.

Q: Did you like the book?

A: Yes. A lot. One of the best books I ever read.

Q: Who are the main characters?

A: Ben, Lindy, Tom, the professor, and the Prock. The Prock is the prime minister. He looks like a human. Also, the whangdoodles.

Q: Can you tell me something funny from the book?

A: The way they say I love you is “umbeldumbeldum”.

Q: Would you want to read more by this author?

A: Depends on what the book is about.

Q: Was this a good reading level for you?

A: My sister read it to me. I didn’t understand everything, but for the words I didn’t understand I asked her. I probably could have read it on my own, but it would have taken me a year.

Q: Who do you think should read this book?

A: You (that means me, good old mom). Kids my age or maybe a year older. Kids who like adventures, intense stories, or stories about creatures would like it.

So there you have it. We’ll be back with more book opinions from my kiddo, whenever I can get him to talk books again.

The Monday agenda

Posted in The Monday Check-In by

Not a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

Continuing with the Monday agenda concept started a few weeks ago, it’s time to see how well last week’s reading agenda worked out and sketch out the plan for the coming week.

This week’s fresh catch. Thank you, O Great Public Library!

From last week:

Ashfall by Mike Mullin: Thoroughly enjoyed this young adult novel of disaster and survival (reviewed on this site on 8/15/2012).

1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham: Fantastic addition to the world of Fables. If you’re a fan of the series, this is a must-read.

Small Damages by Beth Kephart: Still haven’t gotten my copy, but expect it any day. This one moves back to my to-read list for now.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Another couple of terrific chapter this week, with thought-provoking discussions, as always.

Non-agenda reading: Because there’s always room for change! Who needs to be confined by an agenda, when there’s a world of books out there? I also read Rape Girl by Alina Kline (reviewed 8/18/2012) and — for some light, fun diversion — Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories by Zack Whedon.

And this week’s new agenda:

Going Bovine by Libba Bray: I loved Beauty Queens by this author, and am finally getting around to reading this earlier young adult novel, winner of the 2010 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. I’ve read about a third of Going Bovine so far, and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Can a book about a boy with a fatal illness be funny? You see my dilemma.

I hit the motherlode at the library over the weekend, and now have some tough decisions to make. As far as I can tell, my next book will be:

Gold by Chris Cleave. The subject matter doesn’t really call to me, but I did love Little Bee, and I just found out that Chris Cleave will be speaking locally in October. Perhaps I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

In graphic novel world, I have a tough call to make: Start reading Joe Hill’s Locke & Key series, or stay in the world of Fables with the Jack of Fables series?

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Chapters 40 and 41 on deck for this week.

I’m sure I’ll also dig into a library book or two… in all of my non-existent spare time.

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Are you there, Judy Blume? It’s me, a grateful reader.

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Judy Blume’s books have never been made into movies. Astonishing, right?

While reading about an upcoming film festival, I stumbled across an article about Judy Blume, whose novel Tiger Eyes will be the first of her works ever to make to it to the big screen. I have no idea why it’s taken so many years… but that’s not what this post is about.

Reading about the movie made me think of the impact Judy Blume’s books had on me and my friends, back when we were awkward, curious pre-adolescents just learning about what life had in store for us. I’ll admit it — this was in the 1970s. (Yes, I’m old! Deal with it.) We were subjected to those awful health-ed movies in school (“It’s Wonderful Being A Girl” — ugh!), which left us all horrified by the thought of the messy indignities soon to be inflicted upon us. Does any word cause more blushing and squirming than the word “puberty”?

And then… like a ray of sunshine… we discovered Judy Blume. Suddenly, we had a new language for what awaited us. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was the book to read when we were pre-teens. As Margaret and her friends struggled with identity, family, religion, and boys, we cheered and cried along with her, and modeled our conversations and expectations after what Margaret and her friends went through. I still have the letters my camp friends and I sent each other that year, full of questions about boys and “did you get IT yet?” We learned about periods, about bra-stuffing, about gossip and its harm, about friendship and being true. Puberty, growing up, popularity — all of it was laid out for us in terms we could understand, and the world became just a bit less scary.

Deenie came along, and taught us about beauty, family pressure, responsibility, and — oh, yeah — masturbation. I can’t think of another book from that time that dealt with the issues quite so frankly, and with such lack of judgement. Deenie came to terms with the good and bad of her own body: touching herself felt good, wearing a back brace for her scoliosis made her feel self-conscious, her good looks didn’t have to determine what she did with her life — girl power, 1970s-style!

And then there was Forever. That book was passed around among the girls in my camp cabin so rapidly, I’m surprised it still had pages left by the end of the summer. Sex! Teens! And it was all okay! This story of first love and first sexual experiences was eye-opening for us. Most of the stories we’d encountered so far were along the lines of cautionary tales: scary teen pregancies, girls getting bad reputations… but Forever was a first love story, where a girl and boy explored themselves and each other, and had a good time doing so. (I don’t remember the characters’ names at all, but I’d bet that everyone who read Forever at that time remembers who Ralph was!).

So reading about Judy Blume after all this time makes me wonder: Do pre-teens still read her books? I’m not talking about her books for younger children, which I know have never gone out of style: Fudge, Freckle-Juice, Sheila the Great, etc. Do girls still read Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret when they’re learning about getting their periods? Is Forever still relevant to teens thinking about exploring their sexuality?

If I had to guess, I’d say probably not. Growing up in the 1970s, there wasn’t all that much to choose from in terms of young adult fiction. I’m not even sure that the “young adult” nomenclature was really even used back then. Contrast that to now, when the young adult market is huge, with shelves upon shelves filled with books that go way beyond the innocence of the books of my youth. The choices are unlimited for young readers today, with novels addressing everything from puberty to pregnancy, divorce to disease, sexuality, gender identity, mental health, and more. It’s fabulous to see the wealth of information out there, the choices available, the avenues for discovery open to youth in transition to adulthood.

So is there still a place for Judy Blume? I hope so. The characters’ experiences might come off as a bit dated, all these years later, but the matter-of-fact approach to growing up and making sense of one’s world can only be a good thing… for those still willing to read something that their mothers read back in the dark ages.

 

Book Review: Rape Girl by Alina Klein

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Book Review: Rape Girl by Alina Kline

I had some serious reservations about reading a book called Rape Girl. It’s just so… off-putting, I suppose you could say, and almost seemed to imply a trivialization of the subject matter. I’m pleased that that did not turn out to be the case.

Rape Girl is a slim novel which tells the tale of 16-year-old Valerie, a girl who just wants to fit in, but who ends up being referred to as “that rape girl” after she reports a sexual assault. Valerie is relatively new in town, a Catholic living in Mormon Utah, being raised by her mother after the death of her father two years earlier. An outsider in many ways, Valerie throws a party while her mother is away for a weekend, and things quickly get out of hand. Valerie has too much to drink (it’s unclear to me whether she simply had too much alcohol or if something was added to a drink, perhaps) and passes out. The next morning, she wakes to find her clothes being removed by the boy she likes, and is unable to fight him off after saying no.

After admitting what happened to her mother and reporting the rape to the police, Valerie is ostracized at school and dumped by her best friend. She drifts through feelings of depression and worthlessness, and experiences the all-too-familiar tragedy of a rape victim being blamed for her own assault. The in-crowd at school rallies round the attacker, Adam, who remains remarkably clueless throughout, more focused on what Valerie’s accusations might do to his future rather than concerned that he may have hurt someone.

Valerie is repeatedly victimized, by the incessant blaming at school, by the ineffectual school principal who chooses to isolate Valerie as a solution to classroom tensions, and by the legal system that sees her case as unwinnable. It is only by finding new sources of support that Valerie is able to move forward and reclaim her life — not necessarily the life that she thought she’d wanted, but a life that seems promising nonetheless.

Rape Girl is very short, and I think the story ultimately suffers a bit because of the length. There are places throughout where more explanation and more background might have been helpful. Valerie’s family life is outlined, but not explored in any great depth. I had a hard time getting a good sense of the mother’s character, and since she is Valerie’s main adult support, it seemed to me that we should have gotten to know her a bit better. In the aftermath of the rape, Valerie is befriended by a girl from a large Mexican family, and perhaps if there was more time spent on character development, Sandrina and her family might have seemed less like a stereotypical token ethnic element. Valerie’s journey toward healing also seemed unrealistically quick; again, this is an area where more exploration might have benefited the overall quality of the storytelling.

Aside from these areas of weakness — a case where more might have been better than less — I found Rape Girl to be a sad but all-too-believable story, and one that could have an important impact on teen readers, both male and female.

Review copy courtesy of namelos publishing via Netgalley.

Book Review: The Last Survivors series by Susan Beth Pfeffer

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Reading Ashfall by Mike Mullin this week brought to mind another powerful young adult series about a global natural disaster and its aftermath. I read The Last Survivors series (by Susan Beth Pfeffer) last year. This trilogy also deals with teens struggling for survival in the wake of a catastrophe. I have no idea if the science of this series makes any sense whatsoever, but despite that, the books are gripping and well-written, and I thought I’d pass along these mini-reviews for any YA fans who missed the books when they came out:

Book 1: Life As We Knew It

This young adult novel starts on familiar ground — the diary of a teen-aged girl, with the not-too-unusual interests of boys, high school, figure skating, and the internet. Miranda’s world quickly changes when an asteroid collides with the moon, knocking its orbit out of whack, and creating worldwide catastrophe. Tsunamis, floods, volcanoes, and earthquakes destroy life as it once existed, and Miranda’s world narrows to the singular focus of survival. Miranda and her family struggle to stretch their meager food supply and to survive the ghastly winter once the sun has been blocked by volcanic ash, and it’s a mesmerizing peek into a life of desperation. The author does a masterful job of portraying the bleakness, the suffering, and the despair of the family as they count the few remaining cans in the pantry and realize how many days they have left before they starve. I could feel the piercing cold in my bones as I read Life As We Knew It, and couldn’t put it down. Well done!

Book 2: The Dead and the Gone

The Dead and The Gone is a companion book rather than a sequel to Life As We Knew It. The same events unfold in this book as in Life As We Knew It, but this time around the story centers on Alex Morales, a 17-year-old boy living in Manhattan with his large, Catholic, Puerto Rican family. As the disaster unfolds in the city, the horror is magnified by the lack of resources and lack of compassion in the metropolitan setting. Alex struggles to care for his two younger sisters, not knowing if their parents have survived, and must barter and “body shop” (stripping sellable goods off the dead) in order to bring home the precious cans of food he needs to keep his sisters fed. Throughout their ordeal, their faith and love sustain them, and Alex’s bravery is quite remarkable. This book does not dwell quite so much on the events involving the moon, so that a reader who hasn’t read Life As We Knew It might find the narrative a bit abrupt. However, reading it as a second book in a series, The Dead and The Gone was a moving story which left me eager for the third.

Book 3: This World We Live In

I was probably least moved by This World We Live In, in which the lives of the main characters from books one and two intersect. I found Miranda and Alex quite compelling on their own in the earlier books, but their mingled story in the third book felt overly contrived to me. In This World We Live In, Miranda’s father and his new family arrive on Miranda’s doorstep with Alex in tow, and the struggle for survival continues. New hope is found, lost, and found. The blended families have to deal with even more tragedy, and must set out in search of long-lasting solutions yet again. I suppose the author felt a need to wrap up the trilogy by bringing the storylines together, but this third book seemed a bit superfluous to me. Am I glad I read it? I suppose so — I’m a “completist”, so it would have irritated me to know there was a third book out there and not read it. Still, I was much more captivated by the stories in the first two books, and I could see reading them as stand-alone novels.

All in all, I think the author did a terrific job of conveying the terror of living through disaster, the overwhelming fear experienced by young people who must grow up too fast and shoulder adult responsibilities, and the helplessness of trying to hold a family together when the world has fallen apart. I recommend this series, either as individual novels or as a trilogy, and look forward to reading more by this author.