Category Archives: …Absolute Favorites

September 13, 2012 · 11:44 am

Nora the Mind Reader by Orit Gidali, illustrated by Aya Gordon-Noy, translated by Annette Appel

What a relief to find out someone has finally found the magic wand! It might look like an ordinary bubble blower to some, but you just need to read to believe.

Nora comes home from kindergarten one day and sadly tells her mother about the boy who called her “flamingo legs.” Even though she’s not quite sure what a flamingo is, she does know that her feelings have been hurt. Mommy goes looking “high and low … for her special wand for days that don’t seem to be filled with any magic at all.” With it, Nora “could see what people were saying as well as what they were really thinking.” What she quickly realizes is “that people don’t always say what they think or say what they think they are saying.”

At school the next day, her magic wand gives her new insight into her classmates. “I don’t feel like playing,” means “I don’t feel like losing.” A testy “Who wants to be your friend anyway,” really means “I do!” A not-so-nice “You ask too many questions”  is an envious “You’re so smart.”

And what about that boy who could think of nothing better than to call Nora a dubious name? When Nora tells him exactly what she thinks of him – “‘You have a nice smile’” – she realizes that Harry (“for that was his name”), for all his smarts, just wants to be friends but doesn’t quite know how to express himself. Nora, of course, knows just what to do!

Orit Gidali, an Israeli poet, adds in her author bio that she wrote this, her first picture book, for her 6-year-old daughter and “that it’s based on real magic.” Gidali surely shared that magic with her illustrator, Aya Gordon-Noy, who imbues each page with gleeful hocus pocus. Her delightfully whimsical drawings are enhanced with clever, imaginative details – a flamingo stamp imprint, real titles on the bookshelf (including Gidali’s own Twenty Girls to Envy Me), the backgrounds of faded type (I wish I could read Hebrew!) that look like they just might be special incantations, and the magic wand itself which happens to be the only photograph overlay making it the most ‘real’ thing in the book! See? Magic is real!

Both creators also share quite the giggle-inducing sense of humor: the woe-is-me-fish in his claustrophobic bowl, the adorable puppy love epilogue, and especially the final page corner with Harry saying one thing, but really hoping for a little magic of his own: “I’ll do anything not to go to sleep yet”!

I’m with Harry … with such magic in the air, who has time to sleep? Move over, puppy! I think it’s my turn with that magic wand!

Tidbit: In the original Hebrew version of the book, our intrepid heroine has a different name – it’s Noona the Mind Reader, which I randomly stumbled on while searching online for a copy of Gidali’s Twenty Girls (no English translation seems available as yet). In Korean, “noona” means older sister (used only by younger brothers), which Thing 2 used to call Thing 1 when they were younger. Just seeing that title gave me a moment of magical memory. The book is dedicated “To Nooni [hence the original title?], who taught me the most important things of all,” which made me ever so grateful for my own ‘most important Things of all.’

Readers: Children

Published: 2012 (United States)

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August 15, 2012 · 10:22 am

Ru by Kim Thúy, translated by Sheila Fischman

* STARRED REVIEW
The recipient of international accolades – including Canada’s coveted Governor General’s Award (2010) for its original Canadian debut in French – this extraordinary first novel unfolds like ethereal poetry. The enigmatic title means “a small stream and, figuratively, a flow, a discharge—of tears, blood, of money” in French; in Vietnamese, it’s a “lullaby, to lull.” Made up of spare vignettes that flow through decades, this autobiographical narrative reveals a girl’s journey from wealthy privilege in Vietnam; her reinvention as a war refugee in Canada; her return to her birth country, where she is considered “too fat to be Vietnamese” – not because of her stature, but because “the American dream had made me more substantial, heavier, weightier”; and her own overwhelming motherhood.

Verdict: Interwoven with glimpses of cousin Sao Mai who was Uncle Two’s princess, of a father “who always inspired the greatest, most wonderful happiness,” of Aunt Seven’s mystery son raised by Aunt Four, and of young cousins and what they innocently did on the streets to survive, this is much more than another immigration story. For readers in search of intricate, mesmerizing narrative, Ru will not disappoint.

Review: “Fiction,” Library Journal, August 15, 2012

Readers: Adult

Published: 2012 (United States)

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August 1, 2012 · 9:33 am

The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna

Months (maybe longer) have passed since I finished Aminatta Forna‘s third and latest title, exquisitely narrated by British actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. I think I just didn’t want to let it go by posting a review … but here’s the bottom line: stupendous.

Memory has two of the elements I love most about great fiction: multiple perspectives and zig-zagging time, which woven together create a literary puzzle, unsettling in its myriad pieces, luminous once interlocked. The frame is Sierra Leone, and ‘now’ is a time of post civil-war recovery although ongoing violence is never far off; over almost 450 pages, time moves fluidly through some four decades and three generations.

Professor Elias Cole lies in a hospital bed, dying. When he’s able to speak, he shares fragments of his life with Dr. Adrian Lockheart (take notice of that name), a British psychologist with the best intentions, hoping to use his education and experience for good in an unfamiliar country so seemingly alien to his own. One late night, on the doorstep of Adrian’s apartment arrives Dr. Kai Mansaray, a gifted young surgeon who managed to survive the vicious massacres, whose truculent nightmares rarely give him rest, whose closest friend entices him with a new, past-free life in America.

These three learned men, their memories, their presents, become thickly entangled … with each of their memories of love eventually laid bare – vulnerable, betrayed, bloody … and yet always, there is the love. Narrator Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is remarkable in voicing each character, but especially unforgettable in Elias’ dying growl, Adrian’s naive hope, Kai’s wrenching helplessness; their voices haunt, constant reminders of the overwhelming personal price of war.

Thanks to a phenomenal writer and a narrator her dramatic equal, The Memory of Love proves to be a rare, extraordinary, breathtaking experience. I let it go for now … sharing testimony, investing in hope, believing in love.

Readers: Adult

Published: 2011 (United States)

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July 6, 2012 · 10:52 am

5 Centimeters per Second by Makoto Shinkai, illustrated by Yukiko Seike, translated by Melissa Tanaka

The copy of this story I hold in my hands is apparently the fourth iteration of a Japanese modern classic-in-the-making – it debuted in 2007 as an animated film, was then adapted (and expanded) as a novel in late 2007, became a manga in 2010, and just arrived in English translation last week from those savvy pop lit folks at Vertical, Inc.

Like the film (which I’m now desperate to see), the English manga is presented in three parts; unlike the film in which the segments are titled (“Cherry Blossom,” “Cosmonaut,” and “5 Centimeters per Second”), the manga’s tri-part structure is comprised of three chapters each (plus a bonus epilogue – but no spoilers here!).

In chapters 1-3, Akari Shinohara and Tohno Takaki meet as elementary school students, become close companions bonded by their shared peripatetic pasts and their love of reading, are separated by another move, but try to stay close through letters. Now in high school living on a remote island, in chapters 4-6, Tohno goes about his days quietly detached, seemingly oblivious to his feisty, surfing classmate Kanae’s blinding devotion to him. Fast forward to young adulthood in chapters 7-10 when the ever-noncommittal Tohno is working in Tokyo as a computer programmer, on the verge of ending his three-year relationship with a caring, patient young woman; meanwhile Akari is preparing for her upcoming wedding but still dreaming about someone clearly not her husband-to-be …

If eyes are indeed the mirrors to people’s souls, then illustrator Yukiko Seike must have special sight. Ironically, the cover art, in spite of its full color, hardly does justice to the panels within that are so gorgeously drawn with such intricate detail. Surely, the unmistakable depth and resonance of the life-long love story comes from the expressions Seike manages to capture through the characters’ eyes – from the innocent awe of two children watching the cherry blossom petals fall (five centimeters per second), to the surprised relief of recognition, to utter adoration, to a peek-a-boo side glance of hope.

Oh, oh, oh … be still my jaded heart. Mark my words, you’ll melt, too!

Readers: Young Adult, Adult

Published: 2012 (United States)

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June 27, 2012 · 12:02 pm

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

When a book is this original, this heartfelt, this inspiring, this real, I find myself babbling in cliché: Wonder is truly wondrous.

Auggie Pullman is 10. He’s about to start fifth grade after being homeschooled, and he’s more than a little nervous: “I know I’m not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. I mean, sure, I do ordinary things. … And I feel ordinary. Inside. But I know ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don’t get stared at wherever they go.” Born with a genetic facial deformity, Auggie has survived 27 operations since he was born. “I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.”

In a world where being even a little different can cause a lot of heartbreak, Auggie’s entry into a New York City private middle school is a shocker – for both him and everyone around him. Wonder follows Auggie through his public debut as he navigates beyond his comfort zone, finding new friends and allies, experiencing an independence he (nor his family) dreamed of, and learning who to trust and who to let go. [The NON-Wonder Award, by the way, unquestionably goes to a wealthy parent (who is vice president of the school board, no less) who Photoshops Auggie out of the class picture and even shares it with other parents!]

R.J. Palacio enhances Auggie’s story with multiple points of view – his friends, his sister, his sister’s new boyfriend, his sister’s ex-best friend even! – to create a richly detailed, utterly believable record of one extraordinary boy’s one unforgettable year. Note to parents: don’t read (or listen, as I did – so convincingly narrated by Diana Steele, Nick Podehl, and Kate Rudd) in crowded places, unless you’re okay with being an exhibitionist (pack Kleenex!).

Tidbit: So even though Wonder practically debuted on the bestseller lists, I actually heard about it as book news – that is, it made book headlines as a kiddie-to-adult crossover hit, much like Mark Haddon’s fabulous The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (to which Wonder is constantly being compared), and other no-age-limit contemporary classics like Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief (oh, be still my heart!) and John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (holy moly!). In the U.K., Wonder (which debuted in the U.S. in February) hit shelves with two different covers, two different pub dates: the younger edition in March, the adult earlier this month! Uncommon publishing news indeed.

Tibit2: R.J. Palacio is actually pseudonym. Am I supposed to reveal that? Since the information is google-able, I guess I can share: Raquel Jaramillo. This is her fiction debut, but she’s had a long publishing history with Henry Holt and Workman, too. All that literary experience certainly paid off big-time, most especially for us lucky readers. WOWOWOW!

Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adult

Published: 2012

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June 5, 2012 · 2:42 pm

between shades of gray by Ruta Sepetys

First of all, please do not confuse this spectacular title with that OTHER Shades of Grey. Not that any comparison is even merited, but gray – notice spelling difference – hit shelves more than a year before Grey (March 2011 vs. April 2012), and gray is indisputably the superior title.

This is one of those unput-downable books you finish and repeatedly ask yourself, ‘why didn’t I know more about this before?’ An estimated 20 million people were murdered during Josef Stalin’s reign during the 1930s to his death in 1953. As author Ruta Sepetys explains, the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia “simply disappeared from maps” in 1941 under Stalin’s occupation, and did not reappear until a half century later. Her connection to this history is highly personal: Sepetys is American, but her father was a Lithuanian refugee, and her grandfather a Lithuanian military officer who was miraculously fortunate enough to escape his homeland through Germany into refugee camps.

More than one-third of the population of these Baltic countries were annihilated. Survivors of the massive deportations who spent 10-15 years in terrifying Siberia finally returned to an occupied homeland where they were treated as criminals. Under constant surveillance by the KGB, mere talk of their tragic experiences meant imprisonment; their silent submission was all but guaranteed. “As a result, the horrors they endured went dormant, a hideous secret shared by millions of people,” Sepetys explains in her “Author’s Note.” In this near-perfect debut novel, she reclaims these heroic voices: “Many of the events and situation I describe in the novel are experiences related to me by survivors and their families.”

Lina is just 15 when her happy, privileged world is shattered in just one night; the Soviet secret police – the NKVD – give Lina, her mother Elena, and her 10-year-old brother Jonas just 20 minutes to pack a suitcase and leave their lives forever. The threesome, separated from Lina’s father Kostas, begin a tortuous journey from their home in Kaunus, Lithuania that will pause for almost a year in a labor camp in Siberia’s Altai Mountains, and eventually settle in a hellish prison in the North Pole.

Amidst the mindless violence and monstrous abuse by the Soviet soldiers, Lina and her family survive on moments of shared humanity, whether among the fellow prisoners, or even with the so-called enemy. Elena’s strength rarely falters, keeping sanity intact for her family and their small group of prisoners, even when nothing around them makes any sense. Lina uses her artistic gifts to briefly draw – on a handkerchief, birch bark, and too-precious paper – herself out of her misery whenever she can, even as she bears witness to the atrocities all around her. Her art will prove to be a precious legacy.

In spite of the utterly inhumane history she exposes, Sepetys manages to imbue Lina’s story with overwhelming hope. She seems always aware of her younger readers, and knows when to suggest rather than sensationalize. Without ever diminishing the suffering, she highlights the tiny details that amount to heroic survival, the unbreakable bonds that keep people alive, and the deep hope that gets them to tomorrow and beyond. Like Markus Zusak‘s phenomenal The Book Thief –  another story of a child’s survival amidst brutal tragedy – gray is ultimately an unforgettable, inspiring love story: ” … love is the most powerful army. Whether love of friend, love of country, love of God, or even love of enemy – love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit.”

Tidbit: As noted in my earlier post of Eowyn Ivey’s The Snow Child, I (unintentionally) happened to read gray and Snow simultaneously, the former on the page, the latter stuck in the ears. Read together, they make for interesting companion texts in spite of their many differences, but wrenchingly overlapping they certainly turned out to be. Check out both for yourself and do please share your reactions …

Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adult

Published: 2011

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May 22, 2012 · 9:33 am

Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Dascher

Guy Delisle is a graphic genius who draws what he sees – simply and unadornedly – with droll, minimal commentary, and creates some of the most poignant, effective, resonating memoirs ever. French Canadian Delisle has undoubtedly found international fame as a traveling artist: he recreated his temporary assignments to faraway animation studios in Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China: A Journey and Pyongyang: A Journey In North Korea; he’s turned his family’s foreign postings (a result of his partner/girlfriend/wife/mother of his children – her moniker varies, sometimes by the panel! – employment with Médecins San Frontières/Doctors Without Borders) into The Burma Chronicles and now this, his latest, Jerusalem.

From August 2008 to July 2009, Delisle, his partner Nadège, their two young children Louis and Alice, call East Jerusalem ‘home.’ Two days after arrival, an MSF employee stops by and provides an initial glimpse of the complicated, labyrinthine geography – literal, historical, cultural, religious – into which the family has landed: “This is the ‘east’ part of Jerusalem. It’s an Arab village that was annexed following the six-day war in ’67. … According to the Israeli government, we’re definitely in Israel, but for the international community, which doesn’t recognize the 1967 borders, we’re in the West Bank, which should become Palestine (if that day ever comes). … For the international community, [the capital of Israel is] Tel Aviv. That’s where the embassies are. But for Israel, it’s Jerusalem. The Parliament, or ‘Knesset,’ is here, not in Tel Aviv.” Delisle’s outward reaction is “Hmm … ok.” Silently, he admits, “I didn’t really get it, but I tell myself I’ve got a whole year to figure it out …” And thus begins a year of living surreally…

While Nadège works, Delisle takes care of the children, and works when he can, which includes explorations between shifting borders. His gleeful sense of discovery is contagious; his observations are priceless.

His first outing without the family is an invitation to accompany an Israeli women’s group to the separation wall (“I didn’t think it would be so high”) where he dons one of the organization’s vests for safety (“At Machsom Watch, we’re against the systematic oppression of the Palestinian people. We’re calling for their freedom of movement in their own land and an end to the occupation, which is destroying Palestinian society and damaging our own”), where he buys pickles (“Let’s try the local delicacies”) amidst journalists, kevlar-helmeted photographers, soldiers taking posed pictures of each other (“You’d think it’s the Eiffel Tower or the Great Pyramids”), before taking cover from tear gas grenades, machine guns … and stones (“F**k me!”).

Suffice it to say that no one, no one, can capture that ‘you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up’-sense of reality like Delisle. Jerusalem is surely his best work thus far; it’s also thankfully his longest. To reveal anything more feels selfish … to share the contagion seems to be the nobler option. To quote Delisle at book’s end: “And that’s it, a year of good and faithful service.” Spread the word.

Readers: Young Adult, Adult

Published: 2012 (United States)

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April 15, 2012 · 12:22 pm

Excuses Excuses by Anushka Ravishankar, art by Gabrielle Manglou

Ack! Taxes are due today! Already! For those filing extensions, this one’s for you (and me, ahem!) …

In spite of the best intentions, some things just don’t happen like they should … and, like young Neel, we’re usually ready with the Excuses Excuses! Neel announces daily the various ways he’ll improve himself: “On Monday Neel decided / He’d be in time for school … On Wednesday he decided / To be a helpful son …,” all the way to Sunday when “he decided / That he would mend his ways / Then suddenly he realized / That he’d run out of days.”

In spite of Neel’s tenacious attempts at betterment, on Monday his “clock began to tick / In an anti-clockwise way” just to make him late again. Instead of being a helpful son on Wednesday, he brings home a canine friend instead. His Sunday intentions land him in the corner for “[a] day to be sorry …,” no attention given to his protestations of “It’s not at all fair!”

Poor Neel, no matter how much “he explained how he really tried / What deeply grieved him / Was no one believed him. / Excuses! Excuses! Excuses! they cried.” But lucky for his tenacious, and not a little mischievous spirit, “There’s no cause for sorrow, / I’ll start once again – It’s a new week tomorrow!” Here’s to the inspiring determination of youth, indeed!

Excuses hits shelves next month from Tara Books, a fabulous picture book publisher based in South India, with titles readily available Stateside through distribution by Publishers Group West. Peruse Tara’s website and you’ll see that the indie press brings together “a growing tribe of adventurous people from around the world” to create wondrously eye-popping titles.

In Excuses, Gabrielle Manglou, an artist from the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, uses a combination of photographs, watercolor, graffiti, and other media to uniquely enhance the imaginatively catchy rhythms of Indian children’s poet and veteran kiddie author Anushka Ravishankar. Art and text – intertwined with balanced whimsy – imbue Neel’s tall tales with colorful energy and unlimited creativity. Not to mention just good ol’ fun, fun, fun.

We can only hope our children eventually learn a wee bit more veracity, although surely not at the cost of ever losing that contagious vivacity … no matter how taxing (couldn’t resist!) real life might become!

Readers: Children

Published: 2012 (United States)

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March 28, 2012 · 12:43 pm

Vote for Me! by Ben Clanton

Given this is a presidential election year, I know you’ve been searching for the perfect (non-partisan!) political primer. Look no further … this is definitely it.

On the (left) blue pages, you have the Donkey grabbing your attention with a few compliments about your “great hair” and “dazzling smile.” On the (right) red pages, Elephant reminds you that “[y]ou’re too smart” to fall for such flattery, especially since he’s really the one who is so “adorable.”

The debate ensues as to who’s the very best candidate, complete with promises to voters for candy (“suckers”) and peanuts (although Uncle Sam is allergic). A cataloguing of various family connections on either side is also proffered, because knowing who’s who will surely help you get ahead in any race, right?

The mud-slinging proves inevitable, but both candidates soon enough see the error of their partisan ways. In a moment of wishful peace-making, blue and red literally become  purple (oh, so very clever!) … at least until the independent little guy surprises everyone and becomes the Big Cheese.

According to his jacket flap bio, creator Ben Clanton “ALWAYS tells the truth”! Veracity notwithstanding, he certainly couldn’t have made up a more perfect name to author this truthfully delightful text. [Its deceptive simplicity, I must mention, is oh so wonderfully reminiscent of Lane Smith's fantabulous (and Luddite-friendly) It's a Book. Here's hoping the resemblance channels some bestselling sales figures for Clanton's menagerie, too.]

Go ahead, take a media break … not that politicking is ever a laughing matter (ahem!), but we’ll all be better citizens if we occasionally remember to indulge our sense of humor.

Readers: All

Published: 2012

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March 26, 2012 · 9:33 am

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

After two books on the horrors of North Korea, two memoirs about the Palestinian occupation, another about a Lost Boy of Sudan, still another highlighting Hindu/Muslim massacres in Kashmir – all one after the other (what was I thinking??!!) – I picked up Markus Zusak‘s The Book Thief, only because it came with my teenage daughter’s insistent recommendation. In spite of the Thief‘s countless (major) awards and accolades – it’s one of those rare titles with deservedly unanimous approval – I had managed to somehow bypass its celebrated pages for six years.

That the book is about a young girl during the Holocaust whose story is narrated by Death, gave me an initial shudder of terror, having already caused myself regular literary nightmares. But as read by Allan Corduner (who sounds uncannily like Jeremy Irons), the audible production is a transcendent experience of one of the best books I’ve encountered in years. And yes, I wholeheartedly endorse both handheld and stuck-in-the-ear formats together: if you choose only the not-to-be-missed audible route, you’ll miss the wrenching illustrations available only on the page. This is when the library comes in handy for experiencing both … how fitting as the book is so much about books, after all.

Liesel Meminger arrives in the small town of Molching, Germany, to become the foster daughter of Hans and Rosa Hubermann who live at 33 Himmel Street [Himmel means "heaven"; 33 is also deliberate]. The year is 1939, and Liesel is just about to turn 10. All around her, the Führer’s abominable doctrines are fueling what will be remembered as history’s worst war.

Hans, who plays the accordion like no one else, whom Liesel will love “the most,” will teach her to read, which will ultimately save her life. Rosa, who hides her enormous heart under impatient curses, will demand that Liesel call her new parents Mama and Papa and will love her unconditionally into forever. Rudy, her next-door neighbor and soon-to-be best friend, will finally get his kiss too late. And Max, who comes to live in the Hubermann basement, will give her the gift of writing … and of everlasting friendship.

In a book about the redemptive power of words, storytelling, and books, I can’t seem to find the right vocabulary to describe the utter brilliance of Thief. Just know that Zusak’s writing is so affecting and glorious that you’ll smile, hope, mourn, laugh, weep … and thoroughly, unabashedly, savor this extraordinary treasure.

Readers: Young Adult, Adult

Published: 2006 (United States)

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