Talk Back

[ren]

9. The Devil’s Arithmetic
Jane Yolen
2.24.07 © 1988

I read this book as part of a course I was taking about children's literature. A young girl is frustrated by the rehashing of the past and the rantings of her grandfather. During a Passover Seder, she opens the door as part of the traditional activities, but she is no longer in her home. She has been transported back to the time of the Holocaust and gains a deeper understanding of the magnitude of this period in history.

10. Cracker Jackson
Betsy Byars
2.26.07 © 1985

(Cracker) Jackson Hunter, a ten-year-old boy, receives a note from his former babysitter. The note reveals her concern for Cracker. She is worried her abusive husband will begin to target Cracker as well. Cracker is sure Alma’s husband is abusing her, though she denies it, until things become much worse. Cracker recruits his friend and they try various ways to help Alma and her little girl including “borrowing” his mother’s car and attempting a trip to a shelter in a neighboring town. As things progress, Cracker involves his mother and ultimately she is able to remove Alma and her daughter from the home following a particularly violent beating. In addition, Crackers parents are divorced though his father maintains a nightly connection with him. Byars also wove humor into the story, e.g, using the UNICEF box of the friend’s sister to collect door-to-door giving them a “legitimate” excuse to check on Alma, which balanced the otherwise sensitive topics.

11. The Crow Girl
B. Bredsdorff
3.1.07 © 1993

The story strikes me as one that could have occurred in the more distant past, though a time period is not specifically referenced. Crow-girl and her grandmother, prior to her death, live a very simple life and subsist on the minimal resources available to them in the isolated cove. She seems to have many responsibilities for a girl who seems to be about 12 or 13 years old. Throughout the book, as she travels along the coast of Denmark and inland, no mention of school or foster care are mentioned. Crow-girl is totally responsible for her day-to-day existence. It reminded me more Laura Ingalls Wilder and her life on the prairie, but she had the support of her family. I enjoyed reading the story and admired her determination and courage as she sought to return to the cove. She continued to move forward in her life when it would have been easier to simply fade away.

12. When I was young in the mountains
Cynthia Rylant
2.28.07 © 1982

This Caldecott Honor Book helps the reader experience the day-to-day experiences of life in Appalachia as a child might see it. The author tells of grandpa coming home from the coal mines covered in soot, being escorted to “johnny-house” by grandmother in the middle of night, going to the general store, pumping water and warming it for a bath, and never wanting go elsewhere because she loved her life in the mountains. The illustrations in this picture book appear to be ink and colored pencil drawings giving them a soft, dream-like appearance.

13. An Inconvenient Wife
Megan Chance
3.4.07 © 2004

From Publishers Weekly:

In this gripping historical, Chance (Susannah Morrow) exposes the horrors women faced in late 19th-century New York when they dared to show passion of any kind or repudiate society's norms. Highborn Lucy Carelton suffers from a common female disorder, "hysteria": its symptoms are headaches, excitable reactions and feelings of claustrophobia. Her cold-hearted, nouveau riche husband, William, determined to find her a cure, brings her to several specialists, who recommend everything from an ovariotomy to several months of confinement in a private asylum. At their wits' ends, the Careltons come to the renowned Dr. Victor Seth, a controversial specialist in the new field of neurology, who uses a combination of hypnosis and electrotherapy to cure his patients. Chance ratchets up the tension when Victor and Lucy's patient/doctor relationship crosses the line into something more intimate and intriguing, as Lucy's horrifying childhood and loveless marriage are brought to light in her therapy. The author showcases the class prejudices inherent in New York's high society in the 1880s and aptly depicts the stifling life a woman had to accept. It becomes clear that the healthier and more independent Lucy is, the more threatened and alienated her husband becomes, and the resulting fallout is catastrophic. The role of the unconscious mind and its impact on conscious behavior is explored in depth here, and [u]Chance ends this lightning-paced narrative with a clever twist underscoring the risks one woman takes to be her own person. [/u]

14. The voice that changed a nation
Russell Freedman
3.6.07 © 2004

"A voice like yours," celebrated conductor Arturo Toscanini told contralto Marian Anderson, "is heard once in a hundred years." This insightful account of the great African American vocalist considers her life and musical career in the context of the history of civil rights in this country.

According to the book jacket, Russell Freedman has written over 40 nonfiction books for children, including books on Lincoln and the Wright Brothers. He also wrote one of the Informational Books that I read, [i]Buffalo Hunt[/i], which features some facts that are perhaps commonly known, in addition to other information specific to tribes and geographic areas.

In Freedman’s book, he describes the feelings that Marian expressed prior to singing before an audience of 75,000 or more people on an Easter Sunday; but when I turned the page and saw the photograph taken from her perspective on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, I gained a greater appreciation of those feelings. Over ten years ago, we were on The Mall in Washington, D. C. on the fourth of July for the fireworks. The people were tightly packed on the lawn waiting for the display. I can’t imagine the same crowd, becoming silenced by Marian’s voice as it floated over them that Easter morning.

15. Lost in the Forest
Sue Miller
3.17.07 © 2006

Eva and Mark had two children, named Emily and Daisy. When the girls were small, Mark has an affair, and the marriage ends. Eva remarries John ("a nice guy"), and has a son, Theo, with him. When the book opens, we discover that John has been killed in a car accident (he was a pedestrian), and everyone is feeling enormous grief. he book tells the story of that grief, and how each character deals with life without John.
Mark now becomes a more vital part of the family's life, Eva deals with loneliness, and Daisy, 14 years old and the most troubled, deals with her grief, her alienation from other kids, and her burgeoning sexuality (with a much older man, which, for me, was a very difficult part to read... almost put the book down in spite of the fact that I have read every one of her other books). [sb-lynn provided the summary; my commentary added in the parentheses]

16. Sahara Special
Esme Raji Codell
4.11.07 © 2003

A former student suggested I read this book. It went very quickly as it is designed for children in grades 3-6, but the storyline was up my alley. The teacher cares for and fosters what she sees in a little girl struggling to figure things out.

From School Library Journal:

In this delightful first novel, readers meet Sahara Jones in the school hallway, where she's been pulled out of class for sessions with the Special Needs teacher. It seems that Sahara's official school file is filled with her letters to her father, who had left the family, instead of her completed assignments. Sahara is a secretive writer; she fills her journal at home, then rips out the pages and stuffs them on the public library shelves behind the 940s for someone to discover someday. At her mother's insistence, the girl is taken out of the Special Needs program but is forced to repeat fifth grade. Enter a new teacher, Madame Poitier, who encourages her class to do, to write, to be, as never before. Sahara is sweeter than Harriet the Spy, as needy and engaging as Ramona, and is sure to be a character whom children will want to read about and get to know. Codell's take on fifth graders, teachers, Special Needs students, and mothers is very funny, and underneath the humor glows real warmth and love. A special novel that readers will not be able to put down.

(Linda Beck, Indian Valley Public Library, Telford, PA)

17. An invisible sign of my own
Aimee Bender
4.20.07 © 2000

At the center of Bender's first novel is Mona Gray, an anxious and unhappy 20-year-old in love with numbers and math. Mona lives in an unnamed town that has a utopian or fantasy feel about it. Without any qualifications, Mona acquires a teaching job. Mona's father's unnamed illness marks her teenage years, and as soon as Mona develops a talent for anything, she leaves and never looks back. Some things she cannot give up--for instance, her fascination for numbers becomes an obsession, along with her persistent need to knock on wood. Interacting with people outside of her family--her curious and eager students and the good-looking science teacher--helps Mona face her knocking rituals as their admiration and care for her deepen. With its sparse, ironic prose, this novel is a wonderful literary treatment of anxiety, depression, and compulsion. (Michelle Kaske from Booklist)

The book was quirky enough to get me to read The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, her collection of short stories. I liked this novel better than the collection of stories, largely because it allowed me more time to get to know the character and all the things that made her tick.

18. The Time Traveler’s Wife
Audrey Niffenegger
6.17.07 © 2003

"The underlying story concerns Henry, a librarian at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and Clare, his artist wife. Henry suffers from a condition which whisks him from the present to another point of time (usually the past). One minute he may be in the stacks of the Newberry Library in 2003, the next minute he may find himself in a field (probably naked) in Michigan with his future wife as a child sometime in the early 1980's." [crazyforgems - MA]

19. A short history of tractors in Ukranian
Marina Lewicki
6.30.07 © 2005

"This is the story of an old Ukrainian man who decides to get married to a much younger Ukrainian divorcee and the struggle of his daughters to get their father back. This was a funny book with memorable characters. The readers are told the story of family history and the father's description of the developments in tractors from the agricultural to the industrial economy. The family history presented to the reader in installments, provides insight and depth to the characters. And the information about the development of tractors helps the reader to understand and appreciate the differences between the characters." [Cem Tanova]

20. Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortenson
7.05.07 © 2006

“Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time. Greg Mortenson’s dangerous and difficult quest to build schools in the wildest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan is not only a thrilling read, it’s proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world.” -Tom Brokaw

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/188/story_18898_1.html

Mortenson heads the Central Asia Institute (http://www.ikat.org) and also has a program for school children called Pennies for Peace
(http://www.penniesforpeace.org/home.html)

21. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
J. K. Rowling
7.24.07 © 2007

Ok.. you know this one. I liked it much better than Six because it hit the ground running and didn't stop til the last page. "Not my daughter, you bitch..." one of the best quotes from it. I wonder how they will make this one into a 2.5 hour flick.

22. Isaac’s Storm
Erik Larsen
8.01.07 © 1999

"Isaac's Storm is a fascinating look at the physics and meteorology of hurricanes (especially the X-storms that scientists say are a statistical certainty in our own future), a suspenseful re-creation of the track of the 1900 Galveston storm, and an electrifying account of the day the storm released its unfathomable fury on Galveston. In the story of Isaac Cline, whose pride was the pride of his nation and his time, and whose education in the unpredictable power of nature, is one that if we forget today we do so at our peril." http://www.randomhouse.com/features/isaacsstorm/book/

23. The Sunflower Forest
Torey Hayden
8.12.07 © 1984

"Seventeen-year-old Lesley’s Hungarian mother Mara – charming, childlike, lovable – was traumatized by her adolescent Holocaust experiences. Though her American husband and daughters try to live a normal life in Kansas, Mara holds them thrall to her moods and quirks. Lesley struggles to understand, but dealing with Mara is a severe strain which sets her apart from her peers."
http://www.torey-hayden.com/sunflower_forest.htm

I have read MANY other books by Torey Hayden, which often feature children with exceptional educational needs or who have experienced more than anyone should have to experience in a lifetime. This book was the only one I had not read. It was difficult to get... it is out of print.. I waited a long time with it on my wish list at paperbackswap.com and eventually it, too, arrived and I was able to read it before passing it along. The topic was very different than the other books she has written, but the powerful story was worth telling.

24. Me & Emma
Elizabeth Flock
9.5.07 © 2004

"In many ways, Carrie Parker is like an other eight-year-old -- playing make-believe, dreading school, dreaming of faraway places. But even her imaginative mind can't shut out the realities of her impoverished North Carolina home or help her protect her younger sister, Emma.

By turns achingly naive and utterly pragmatic, Carrie has been shaped by the loss of her beloved daddy and by a drunken stepfather and her emotionally absent mother. Charting an astonishing course of survival for herself and Emma, she hopes to transform their lives into one more closely resembling the storybooks she treasures.

But after the sisters' plan to run away from home unravels, their world takes a shocking turn -- and one shattering moment ultimately reveals a truth that leaves everyone reeling."

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780778322856&itm=1

25. What Girls Learn
Karin Cook
9.9.07 © 1997

"This story is told by Tilden (who at the beginning is 12). Tilden also has a younger sister, Elizabeth, who is just one year younger than her. As with any siblings, there is a lot of jealousy and competition between the two of them. When Tilden and Elizabeth's mother decides to move the family up to New York, their whole lives change. Not only does the rift between the two sisters widen, but the closeness they once shared with their mother must now be shared with Nick (their Mom's new boyfriend). When their mom finds a lump in her breast their lives go downhill and things really begin to change." [T. A. Rogers, TN]


26. Educating Esmé
Esmé Raji Codell
9.14.07 © 1999

The Madame featured in the book, Sahara Special, described above, is the author of this book. She details in diary form her first year as a teacher in a school that has way less than what they need across the board. Esme describes her feelings about the job, the kids, and contemplates whether her choice of occupation was the correct one. She is one of those teachers who gets away with things, in a good way, that others might not because of her conviction and the evidence that her methods work. Humorous and direct... it was also a quick read.

[jeffp]

What? Not even a rating from 1 to 10?

[jeffp]

OK... here's a slightly less flippant reply now that I am actually awake and have reviewed the list as part of putting it into the index pages...

I have no idea what some of these are about, and I have never heard of many of the authors.

You're doing them and yourself a disservice by saying that your reviews aren't "all that descriptive or enlightening". That's simply not true. But even if it was true and all you gave was an idea of what these books are about and whether or not you enjoyed them, you'd be doing everyone on the list a favor by broadening our (or at least my) horizons.

Please consider editing your post and adding a brief comment about each book in your list. I - for one - will read your words in depth, and I suspect others will as well.

Thanks!

[Samurailynn]

I shall add that I am looking up one of the books on Amazon.com for reviews and a description of what it's about. I do get a lot of ideas for what to read based on books that people review here.

So... please, tell us what you thought!

[jeffp]

Still no descriptions, eh?

How do we get you to fix that?

[ariel05]

[ren]

Eventually, they will all have some sort of summary.

[jeffp]

These are great! Keep going please!

[jeffp]

Hey Ren, still not done with this!

Sorry. I can be a bit like an elephant - that whole never forgetting thing.

[ren]

now, the elephant can concentrate on other things....

[jeffp]