The Devil’s Paintbox

As I believe I’ve mentioned before, I hate westerns.  I find the vast majority of them to be boring and retellings of the exact same story.  That being said, I did enjoy my latest read, Victoria McKernan’s The Devil’s Paintbox.  This story follows Aiden along his journey on the Oregon Trail and into his new “life” as a logger.  This was not a happy book by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought it portrayed Aiden’s struggles in a very real way.

Aiden and his little sister, Maddy, are the last surviving members of their family.  They live in the remains of their family’s Kansas farm which has been ravaged by drought.  Aiden knows they are close to death unless help arrives soon.  Well, help arrives in the form of Jefferson J. Jackson, a man organizing a wagon trail to Oregon.  Jackson is wary of taking on Aiden and Maddy, but he is eventually convinced, and the two young people earn their keep along the trail.

The trail is not without its troubles.  Wagons break, tempers flare, people die.  Aiden’s journey is fraught with danger, but Aiden does make friends with an Indian community along the way.  When smallpox, or “the devil’s paint,” threatens Aiden’s friends in the Nez Perce tribe, Aiden risks the new life he has carved for himself to save the tribe from certain annihilation. 

The Devil’s Paintbox is a heartbreaking look at one teen’s life as he tries to find some semblance of hope in a world that no longer makes sense.  I would definitely recommend this book to those interested in what the Oregon Trail was really like and what happened to the people who made it to the end of the journey.  The trail was just the beginning.

Audrey, Wait!

Greetings, dear readers!  (Please note the cheerful tone of this post.  I’ve been a good mood for an entire week, which I’m sure is some kind of record for me.)  My latest read in Robin Benway’s Audrey, Wait!  This is a great book, especially if you follow “indie” music at all.  Each chapter begins with a line from a song that most people my age have never heard of.  (Thankfully, I am not like most people my age.)  Some of the bands mentioned include:  Cowboy Junkies, The Velvet Underground, Radiohead (Yay!), R.E.M., Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and many, many others.  This alone gave me an inkling that I would like this book.

Audrey’s life has just been turned upside down.  She broke up with her musician boyfriend Evan, and he decided to write a song about it.  The next thing she knows, the song, Audrey, Wait!, is a hit, and her life will never be the same.  She’s being hounded by the press and the paparazzi, people she’s never met want to be her friend, and her name is known worldwide.  At school, she has to do all of her work in the office because her new–and unwanted–fame has caused all kinds of distractions.  Other bands think of her as a muse, and want to use her to jumpstart their own careers.  It’s a mess. 

Audrey doesn’t really know what to do about this new stuff in her life.  She never asked for any of it.  Some people, like her best friend Victoria, think she should take advantage of all this fame while she can.  Others, like her new boyfriend James and her parents, just want life to return to normal.  But normal may be a thing of the past in Audrey’s world.

Read Audrey, Wait! to see what one music-obsessed, sarcastic-to-the-core, sixteen-year-old girl will do about the fame she never wanted.  Will she embrace it like so many others before her?  Or will she find a way to be normal again?  Is normal even possible?  I’ll leave it for you to figure out.  Enjoy!

The Year My Sister Got Lucky

As many people know, relationships between sisters are complicated.  Yes, there is love, but there is also anger, joy, jealousy, happiness, disappointment, pride, bitterness, and loyalty.  I know I have experienced all of these emotions at some point in my relationship with my own sister.   In Aimee Friedman’s The Year My Sister Got Lucky, the relationship between sisters Katie and Michaela comes into focus.  These sisters experience the ups and downs that come with sisterhood, and they take the reader along for the ride.

Katie has just discovered that her family is moving from her beloved Manhattan to a small town in Upstate New York.  She is less than thrilled.  She’s even more upset when she learns that she was the last to know about this move.  She doesn’t want to give up her ballet school, her friends, and her wonderful New York City life.  She’s also a little shocked that her sister, who is being groomed for the ballet program at Juilliard, is taking news of the move so easily.

When the family finally arrives in Fir Lake, their new home, Michaela, the perfect older sister, begins to adjust almost immediately.  Katie, however, doesn’t want to let go of her old life.  She misses the noise of the city, her friends, her routine, and her closeness with her sister.  See, while Katie is having a hard time in Fir Lake, Michaela is thriving and seems to be drifting farther and farther away from Katie. 

Eventually, Katie does make a friend or two in Fir Lake and begins to see a new, if uncomfortable, relationship emerge with her sister.  She also realizes that this “hick” town might not be so bad after all.  But after Katie discovers that Michaela has been keeping secrets, her world is sent into yet another tailspin.   Katie realizes that she doesn’t really know her sister anymore.  Did she ever? 

Read The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman to learn how Katie and Michaela deal with their new lives and perspectives and how being friends with your sister is often easier said than done.

Ten Cents a Dance

Christine Fletcher’s novel, Ten Cents a Dance, explores the world of taxi dancing in Chicago around the time of World War II.  The book follows Ruby Jacinski, a poor sixteen-year-old girl, who is sick and tired of working in the slaughterhouse for next to nothing.  Her mother has rheumatoid arthritis and cannot work, so Ruby has to quit school to earn money for the family.  She eventually comes across what she believes is a solution to her financial woes:  taxi dancing at the Starlight Dance Academy.  Men would pay her ten cents a dance.  The Starlight would get half, and she’d take a nickel for every dance.  Add tips in, and Ruby thinks she’s rolling in dough.  Soon, though, the money begins to run out.  It just never seems to be enough.

After a scary run-in with a customer who loaned her some money, Ruby thinks she’s got a handle on things.  Her mother thinks she’s a telephone operator, and her sister doesn’t seem to know what’s going on.  Ruby’s also got a serious boyfriend, local ne’er-do-well, Paulie Suelze.  He’s helped her out of a few jams, and he always seems to know when she needs a little help.  If only he wouldn’t keep pressuring her to do things she’s really not ready for.

Ruby soon realizes that her world is slowly unraveling.  Her new life has lost some of its luster, she’s lying to nearly everyone, Paulie is not the guy she thought he was, and the world is at war.  Can she straighten things out before her life is destroyed completely?  How is it even possible that she’s sunk so far so fast?  Read Ten Cents a Dance to learn what one girl will do to escape a life she’s not sure she ever wanted.

As someone who is fascinated with the WWII era, I really enjoyed Ten Cents a Dance.  I knew a little about taxi dancing, but this book shed new light on it.  I knew this “occupation” began in the speak-easies of the 1920’s and continued through WWII.  I didn’t know, however, that there are still taxi dancers in some major cities today.  Through this novel, it is easy to see how quickly girls could be drawn in by the money and attention and how easily things could also go horribly wrong.  Readers will root for Ruby to clean her life up and become the person she should be.

Alligator Bayou

I’ll be honest.  When I first picked up Alligator Bayou by Donna Jo Napoli, I was less than enthused about reading it.  The cover was boring.  (Yes, I do judge a book by it’s cover.)  Once I began reading, however, I was drawn into the story.  I didn’t know until reading the afterword that the story was based on actual events.  That shed a whole new light on what I had read.

Calogero and his family are Sicilian immigrants living in Tallulah, Louisiana.  The year is 1899.  The South is trying to rebuild from the Civil War, and Jim Crow laws are in full effect.  In Louisiana, like in many other parts of America, Sicilians are viewed as lower than dirt.  They are seen as criminals and are trusted by few.  Calogero, his cousin, and his uncles are grocers in Tallulah, and they deal with these prejudices day after day.  Calo doesn’t really understand why these prejudices exist.  What makes white people better that black people or Italian people?  Why can some people enter the ice cream parlor while others have to be served at the back door?  It just doesn’t make sense.

Calo does, however, make friends in the midst of this turmoil.  He joins a group of black teens in a midnight gator hunt in the swamps.  Although he is terrified the entire time, the hunt actually serves to cement friendships between Calo, his cousin Cirone, and the black teenagers.  Calo is also deeply in love with Patricia, a black girl he met while working at his uncles’ grocery. 

Many white people in Tallulah are noticing that Calo and his family spend a lot of time with the town’s black community, and they don’t like it.  Some of the more powerful men are just looking for a way to wipe Calo and his family out of Tallulah.  Can things ever change?  What will become of Calo and his family?  Read Alligator Bayou to find out.

It is clear when reading this book that author Donna Jo Napoli has done her homework.  She includes a detailed afterword and notes on her research.  These tools may serve as jumping off points to learn about a little known prejudice in Reconstruction America.  Napoli’s research shows that Italian Americans were reviled across the United States, not just the South.  Alligator Bayou is an excellent book to begin discussions on prejudice and how various groups of people have been treated in our nation’s history.

Beneath My Mother’s Feet

My latest read, Beneath My Mother’s Feet by Amjed Qamar, is not a very happy book.  In fact, I was mad at most of the characters for nearly the entire book.  That being said, it is a good story about a culture that many American readers know little about.  It also touches on dealing with one’s family expectations and duties while forming one’s own identity.

Nazia is a good daughter.  She always does exactly what her mother asks of her.  Her family lives in Karachi, Pakistan, and, while they are not wealthy, they seem to be comfortable and happy.  Nazia enjoys school and is looking forward to her arranged marriage at the end of the school year.  Things change, however, when Nazia’s father is injured at work and can no longer earn money for the family.  Nazia is forced to drop out of school and work with her mother cleaning others’ houses.  Her older brother steals her dowry, and, even when her father has healed, he refuses to work.  When word of these changes gets to her future father-in-law, Nazia’s engagement is called off.  On top of all of this, Nazia and her family are evicted from their small house and are forced to become live-in servants.

Nazia feels that she has lost the life she once had.  She can see no way out of her current situation.  Who will provide for her mother and two younger siblings if she does not do the lion’s share of the work?  What will become of her if she cannot marry, as is expected of a proper girl?  Read Beneath My Mother’s Feet to learn the story of a girl who is doing all she can to make a better life for herself while still being a good daughter.

When I was reading this book, I reflected on my own relationship with my mother.  Honestly, my mom is a saint compared to the mothers portrayed in this book.  (My mom should probably be sainted for putting up with me anyway.)  I know that culture plays a large part in the mothers’ behaviors in this book, but I cannot imagine a mother seeing her children as workers whose only worth is earning money for the family.  My mom has never shown me anything but love, and I now consider her one of my best friends.  I highly recommend Beneath My Mother’s Feet for any readers, particularly females, who want to examine the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters.

The King’s Rose

Isn’t that a beautiful cover?  Alisa M. Libby’s book, The King’s Rose, is a fictional account of the short life of Catherine Howard, one of the wives of King Henry VIII.  Like many other people, I knew very little about Catherine Howard.  Her story is often overshadowed by that of her more famous cousin and previous queen, Anne Boleyn.  This book helped to shed some light on this frequently overlooked wife of Henry VIII.

While the ghost of her cousin Anne’s crimes do haunt Catherine throughout this book, they are not the only things that plague this young queen.  Catherine can feel the ghosts of her predecessors crowding around her, but she is determined to be the best queen she can be, even though she is only fifteen years old when she marries Henry.  She is pressured by her family to conceal her previous indiscretions and present herself to Henry as one who is completely pure, both of body and heart.  She is also being watched constantly to see if she will become pregnant with an heir to the throne.  With all of these pressures on her young shoulders, it is inevitable that something will give.  When those around Catherine begin to reveal her past sins to the King and his advisors, she is doomed.  Even so, she hopes that Henry’s love for her will save her life. 

If you know anything about British history, you know that Catherine’s hopes were in vain.  She was the second of Henry’s wives to be executed.  The King’s Rose, however, does provide the reader with a glimpse of what life as the King’s teen bride might have been like.  I, for one, cannot imagine putting that much responsibility on the shoulders of a teenage girl (or even a woman in full adulthood).  While much of the story is fictionalized, most events have basis in fact (as can be seen in the author’s note).  Libby has done an excellent job of telling the story of one of Britain’s tragic figures, Catherine Howard.

Snow Falling in Spring: Coming of Age in China During the Cultural Revolution

Yay!  My second post of the day!  It’s rare for me to finish two books in one day, but I felt the need…the need to read. 

My latest book is also a rarity for me–a work of nonfiction.  As I’ve mentioned before, reality isn’t really my thing, so nonfiction is not typically something I’m drawn to.  I made an exception for Moying Li’s Snow Falling in Spring.  This book is a moving account of her life in China during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution.

I’m ashamed to admit that I knew next to nothing about this period in Chinese history, especially since I was a political science major and am a former social studies teacher.  This period of time is often glossed over if it’s even covered at all in many high school and college classes.  Unless one goes looking for information on this time period, one may remain as woefully ignorant as I was.  Now that I have read Snow Falling in Spring, I have a new appreciation for the struggles of the Chinese people who lived under the rule of Mao Zedong.  I did know that he was a horrible dictator, but I was unaware of what really happened while he was leader.  I was saddened and moved by Li’s tales of what her life was like:  her grandmother denounced, her father sent to a labor camp, people she knew committing suicide when pushed too far by the government.  Her childhood was cut short by politics that she knew little of and was certainly too young to understand fully.

There is, however, hope in this story.  Li found solace and peace in learning.  She read all that she could, even when her precious books were banned or destroyed.  She did all she could to read everything she could get her hands on.  This was truly inspirational for me.  I don’t think many American students realize how lucky they are to have such ready access to any book they may desire.  Snow Falling in Spring may help to open their eyes a bit.

I would definitely recommend this book to any and all readers.  The writing is simple yet poetic, and Moying Li draws the reader into her life as a child and young adult during a dark period of Chinese history.

Twelve Long Months

“Just a small town girl livin’ in a lonely world…”

Those immortal words from one of the world’s greatest songs make a great introduction to Brian Malloy’s Twelve Long Months.  (And if you don’t agree with me that Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ is a great song, you’re in denial.  You know you sing along whenever you hear it.)  Molly Swain is your basic smart-girl outcast.  She lives in a small Minnesota town, is in love with her lab partner, Mark, has no friends, and dreams of being a physicist.  After graduating from high school, Molly moves to New York where she attends Columbia University.  Mark is moving to New Jersey, so Molly thinks she finally has her chance to get him to really notice her.  Well, fate is not without it’s own sense of irony.

Soon after Molly and Mark meet up in New York, Mark reveals that he is gay.  Molly, understandably, is crushed, but she puts on a brave face for Mark and helps him to accept who he really is.  She also enters into her first serious relationship with fellow physics major Simon.  Molly feels like she’s finally getting the life she’s always wanted:  She has two awesome friends, a great boyfriend, she’s living in one of the most exciting cities on the planet, and she remains friends with Mark.

Well, this wouldn’t be a young adult novel without emotional turmoil, and Molly gets a lot more of it in spades near the end of this novel.  I won’t tell you what happens, but you’ll see it coming a mile away, but you’ll wish you didn’t.  I found myself praying, “Please don’t let it happen, please don’t let it happen.”  It happened, and I felt as lousy as Molly did.  (Well, probably not, but I did empathize with her.)  Even though I predicted what would happen, I found this book to be an engrossing read that I did not want to put down. 

Although Twelve Long Months will be a hard sell for most guys, many female readers will enjoy it.  They’ll see that the book is about love at its core…maybe not the love envisioned at the beginning but something that grows into an unbreakable friendship at the end.

Secret Keeper

My latest read (finished about a minute ago) is Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins.  It is about Asha, an Indian girl in a time of turmoil.  Her father has left India to try to find an engineering job in America, and she, her older sister, and her mother must go and live with her Uncle and his family in Calcutta.  It is a difficult adjustment for Asha’s family.  They don’t have the freedoms they enjoyed when living in Delhi.  But Asha strives to keep some sense of normalcy about her.  She looks forward to hearing from her father, spending time with her cousins, writing in her diary, and talking to her neighbor, Jay.

When tragedy strikes her family, though, Asha must take steps to make sure her family is secure.  She must choose between her own desires and the path that may be best for her family.  Difficult decisions are ahead for Asha.  Read Secret Keeper to discover which road she decides to travel.

While I did enjoy this book once I got into it, I preferred Padma Venkatraman’s Climbing the Stairs.  It is a similar story (set in India about thirty years earlier), and the writing is beautiful and rich.  Also, I liked the main character better than Asha in Secret Keeper.  Both characters are strong females, but I sympathized more with Vidya in Climbing the Stairs than I did with Asha in this book.