Chanda's Secrets, by Allan Stratton. Annick Press, 2004

It's hard to know where to start in describing this powerful teen novel.  I downloaded the MP3 version last summer via the SYNC program, and just listened to it a couple of weeks ago.

Chanda is a young teen in South Africa who is faced with adult matters and decisions. Her father and brothers have died, and her mom has moved the remaining family to a different town and has remarried. In this new town, Chanda must confront the realities of AIDS and learn to deal with loss, death, and attitudes towards it all.  Her voice is real, young, questioning, and ultimately strong. I believe it is a novel every young person should read, as the attitudes and feelings, coping strategies and personal weaknesses apply to many other situations kids encounter.

Captains Courageous, by Rudyard Kipling. Amereon House, 1896, c 1897.

I read this classic in prepartion for July's Classic Movie Night @ Central Library. As a teen, I saw the movie and fell in love with the story, and especially the character of Manuel, the Portuguese fisherman, but have never actually read Kipling's novel.

Kipling, best known for The Jungle Books and Kim, among others, spent four years in the United States, and made four visits to Gloucester during that time. He was captivated by the colorful characters, language and way of life of the fishermen, and decided there was a compelling story just waiting to be written. He put Kim on hold until Captains Courageous was completed. The research for this book took him about two weeks.

Harvey Cheyne, a spoiled rich kid, is expelled from school for troublemaking. His father takes him on a transatlantic voyage in an effort to "bond" with him and set him on a better path. An on-board prank causes him to fall overboard as the liner crosses the Grand Banks, and Harvey is rescued by Manuel, of the Gloucester fishing schooner We're Here. After unsuccessfully attempting to bribe the Captain to return immediately to New York, Harvey is unwillingly schooled in the ways of a Gloucester fisherman's way of earning a living.

I didn't find the novel as engaging as the movie, but, after reading it, I understood the movie far better. Character development is much better in the book, as are descriptions of Harvey's relationships with the crew members and what he learns from the Captain and others. Kipling attempts to capture the accents of the fishermen and throws in much fishing jargon, which is explained in context in the book, but not in the film. And finally, some elements of the book are changed for the movie: Harvey's age is 15 in print and 10 in film, and his mom is alive in print and deceased in film, and his dad owns a private rail car in the book, but flies by air in film. The character of Manuel in the film plays a much greater role than in the book, due to legal restrictions at the time (1937) regarding depictions of certain occupations (priests) in a derogatory manner in film. I am glad I finally took the time to read Captains Couragous after all these years.

Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhha Lai. Harper, c2011

In this award-winning children's novel, ten year old Ha and her family escape from Viet Nam in 1975 and relocate to Alabama. She chronicles the year in free verse as a form of journal, using language at once descriptive and lyrical.

Through the dated poems, we learn of her life in South Viet Nam as the war comes closer to home and her father is missing in action. We feel the political pressure building until mother decides it is time to pull up roots and go to America. We experience what it is like to live on an overcrowded boat, lost and adrift, and to be rescued by an American ship. And once sponsored out of the relocation camp in Florida and moved to Alabama, we learn of the painful acclimation to a new country, a new language, and a new culture.

I found the story compelling and touching, and at times frustrating and painful. I was not prepared for the honesty of the ten-year-old's insights, which were much different from what I would expect from an American child. The author acknowledges it is an autobiographical story. She successfully educates, without apology, while entertaining. Be sure you have tissues handy.

The Body of Christopher Creed, by Carol Plum-Ucci. Volo, 2001.


One of our Tuesday-night regulars recommended this book to me. I was skeptical, and waited until I got my three-day due-date warning before opening it. After a rough beginning, I was hooked.

It's a teen angst novel that explores the issues of tolerance, diversity, prejudice, stereotyping, and hazing during the week after a classmate vanishes. There are allegations and finger-pointing, sleeping around, murder, and theft on many levels, and both the characters and the reader come to see that they don't really know at all those whom they thought they knew inside and out. And that common knowledge covers up lies and secrets.

This book would appeal to both boys and girls, as there are strong protagonists of both genders who keep the story moving right to its modern-day end.

The Green Poodles, by Charlotte Baker. David McKay Company, Inc, 1956.

There are only a few books I read as a student that remain clear in memory. Petroushka was one, a Russian tale about a squirrel with three golden hairs in each ear. Never found any reference to that one again. The horse books by Dorothy Lyons: Silver Birch, Golden Sovereign, Midnight Moon. No longer in the library system. Often, revisiting those early favorites is a shock. Societal mores have changed; stereotyping is out of favor, pejorative language is passe. You feel uncomfortable that you ever liked it.

I must have read The Green Poodles when I was about 10, and I LOVED it! I learned all about poodles, dog shows, obedience trials - and there was a mystery to be solved, as well. I've kept a reminder for about 20 years, and looked for it off and on, and just recently, I found a copy in San Jose State University's library! It is EVERYTHING I remembered!

Fern Green, from England, is orphaned and sent to live with her Green cousins in Texas. She brings her champion poodle, Juliet, with her, and the Greens' rural lifestyle is forever changed. Aunt Lena develops a health problem that prevents her from returning to her job as a seamstress, and the family is faced with a financial crisis that still resonates today. The three Green siblings and Fern build a business around the poodles with the help of Miss Seymour, a professional breeder, and with Juliet's help, they solve a century-old family mystery.

Baker's language is spare, but descriptive, and her pen and ink illustrations bring the children and poodles to life. Her characters and setting are timeless. I place her squarely in the same league as Beverly Cleary, and can totally recommend The Green Poodles to any child today with an interest in dogs and good storytelling.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards. Viking, 2005
David and Nora Henry are expecting their first child. It comes in the winter during a storm, and the obstetrician is unable to attend due to injury in an auto accident on his way to the hospital. David, who is a bone surgeon, delivers his own son. Except, unexpectedly, there is a second child, a daughter, who has the markers for Down syndrome. In a split moment, David decides to tell his wife the second baby was stillborn. He instructs his nurse to take her immediately to an "institution" in another city, thereby setting in motion a chain of events that will have a profound impact on everyone.

The author's use of language to evoke the settings - and particularly the emotions - of the characters is stunning. It mimics real life, in which there are secrets, revelations, motives - altruistic and selfish, presumptuous and defensive - that are not apparent even to people who are closest to each other. Although the plot is mostly predictable, I stayed up many nights, reading as long as I could keep my eyes open, just to revel in the beautiful, lyrical language and the insightful development of the main characters.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret: a novel in words and pictures, by Brian Selznick. Scholastic Press, 2007.

This book, on which the movie "Hugo" is based, won the prestigious Caldecott Medal for its illustrations in 2008. These take up at least half of the 533 pages between its covers. For kids accustomed to the weighty tomes in the Harry Potter series, heft should be no object.  However, "Hugo" is aimed at a younger audience.

In early 20th century Paris, Hugo, a 12 year old orphan, performs his uncle's work as timekeeper for all the clocks in the train station. Hugo has salvaged an automaton from the ruins of a museum destroyed by fire, and steals mechanical toys from the toymaker's store in the train station to acquire parts to repair it. Once he is caught, events that threaten his livelihood and the automaton unfold at an alarming rate.

I enjoyed the author's skill in integrating the pictures with the text, seamlessly transitioning from one to the other as the drama unfolds. I was engaged by the entertaining lesson about early French films, which was certainly enhanced by the visual storytelling provided by the illustrations. I was intrigued by the fairly extensive bibliography and filmography at the end, even though this is a work of children's fiction! Selznick also provides a link to information and videos about a similar automaton in the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

Mistress of the Storm, a Verity Gallant Tale, by M. L. Welsh. David Fickling Books, 2011.

This fantasy unfolds over one year in Wellow, a fictional seaside village in England. Verity Gallant, unpopular, not pretty, is resigned to never measuring up to the expectations of her family and her classmates.  And then, one day as she is reading in the library, a mysterious stranger gives her a red book and a wooden sphere before hastening furtively out the door. The title of the book is, "On the Origin of Stories, a Disquisition" by Messrs R. Hodge, Heyworth & Helerly.

Immediately, things begin to change. Verity's mother becomes pregnant, and her father becomes distant and unresponsive to his family. The Storm, a big sailing ship, has anchored in the bay. A heretofore-unknown - and very unpleasant - grandmother arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay with Verity's family. A mysterious dark-skinned boy begins following her. An adult friend disappears.

With information gleaned from stories in the red book and the help of her friends, Henry and Martha, the librarian, Miss Cameron, and the dark-skinned boy, Jeb, Verity pieces together the fantastic stories of the families in Wellow and discovers the true identity of her "grandmother".

This is so unlike any other fantasy I have read, I was glued to the pages until the very end of the book. Characters were not who they seemed to be; friends turned out to be foes and vice-versa. All my guesses were wrong; but the author provided a very satisfying conclusion. I especially liked the role of the library as a source of research materials for Verity and her friends. I hope there will be more Verity Gallant tales forthcoming!

The Arabian Nights Cookbook, by Habeeb Salloum. Tuttle Pub., 2010

I borrowed this book without opening it, thinking to surprise Husband with an exotic meal or two. He, having lived in Saudi Arabia for two years, looked skeptical, but immediately found two recipes to try. They were delicious!  Four stars! Who would have thought a cookbook could be a page-turner?

Husband is compiling his next grocery list - can't wait to see what he'll choose to make this time!  In fact, he's decided he wants to purchase his own copy

The Postmistress, by Sarah Blake. Amy Einhorn Books, 2010.

What would you think about a Postmistress who deliberately withheld mail? What would you think about a journalist who deliberately withheld the truth? In the months before the United States enters the Second World War, in the thick of the German blitz on London, Iris, the Postmistress in a seaside Massachusetts town, and Frankie, the radio journalist on location in London, each has a profound effect on the lives of those in their service areas - and on each other.

Told from alternating American and European viewpoints, life in America, England, France and Germany comes into focus through letters, radio broadcasts, and vivid description. The plot ends are neatly tied at the last, though the underlying philosophical questions are not so tidily dispatched.

Although it is set in a time before television, this novel has all the graphic impact of a wartime documentary - it is a journalist's report, after all, a radio lifeline which brought news from the war in Europe to America. It brought home to me the horrors of the London blitz and the mass emigration of Jews on the continent in a way that I will never forget. The author personalized the characters so well, there was never any question about labels or categories - each major and minor character was a Person with a Story.

Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2007.

Jacob Jankowski, now in his 90s and living in a nursing home, finds memories of his earlier life as a circus veterinarian during the Great Depression rushing back when he hears that a circus is setting up next door. The residents have been promised a visit to a performance under the Big Top. Sandwiched between vignettes of his current situation, memories of the years he spent on the road with the "Benzini Brothers Most Spectactular Show on Earth" come flooding back.

This would be a great book-discussion title. There are many sub-plots, tangled relationships, economic, social, and ethical issues that could provide material for a spirited discussion. The description of circus life is rich in color and detail, evoking both dismay at the lack of political-correctness (by today's standards) and longing for a time when adventure was more easily achieved. And although one reviewer called the ending "predictable", I found it redeeming and totally in keeping with the illusions that keep people coming back to the circus.

The Girl in the Green Raincoat, by Laura Lippman. William Morrow, 2008.

Tess Monaghan, private investigator, is confined to bed during the last months of her pregnancy. Bored, she spends her days watching the people in the park outside her window. Every day, a young woman in a green raincoat walks her Italian greyhound, and talks on her cell phone. One day, the dog appears, running through the park with leash flying, sans owner. Tess, convinced something terrible has happened to her, determines to get to the bottom of the mystery and discovers layers of crimes and cover-ups which lead to a startling - and dangerous - discovery.

I just returned from the American Library Association's annual conference, held this year in New Orleans. The Public Library Association President's program featured the husband-wife team of David Simon and Laura Lippman, who discussed their works and philosophy of writing, and also shared anecdotes from their days as journalists. I bought one book from each author, and read this novella, the 11th in the Tess Monaghan series, on the plane coming home. I found it to be light, tight, and twisted, and have already placed the first book in the series on hold.

Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin. Walker & Co. 2008.

A few years ago, I was selecting audiobooks for my mom, who has macular degeneration. She was particularly taken with this title, and I've only just now read it in e-format.

As part of the Cultural Revolution in China, Li Cunxin was selected from a rural town to become a dancer. He was sent as a young child to Beixing and spent many years in rigorous training and indoctrination. But after a 6-week period as an exchange ballet student in Houston and an eye-opening introduction to the western world, he began to doubt the Communist tenets he had believed in. He made plans for a return trip, and ultimately defected.

In retrospect, I can completely understand why my mother found this an inspiring biography. It is a compelling story, a window into a place that was shrouded in secrecy and prejudice; it is a bridge between that place and the world we know and take so much for granted. And it is a powerful paean to the triumph of will in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

90 Miles to Havana, by Enrique Flores-Galbis. Roaring Book Press, 2010.

When Castro takes power in Cuba in a violent uprising, and rebels begin taking over the homes and possessions of families, 9-year old Julio's parents decide to send him and his two older brothers to a refugee camp in Miami for safety. They expect to be reunited in a few weeks. In camp, they are met by a different reality than the one promised: bullies, gangs, poverty and lies. Through Angelita, a family friend, Julio becomes involved in an illicit and daring plan to rebuild an abandoned boat and rescue his parents.

Flores-Galbis was a child refugee from Cuba and this children's novel is based directly on his own experiences with "Operation Pedro Pan." It is a story that picks up momentum with each chapter, and gives voice to a part of American history that is seldom taught.

The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch. Amazon Crossing, 2010. (Kindle Ed.)
A young lady asked me for this book last week, and it was available neither in our collection nor in the larger Link+ collection. She said it had been recommended independently to her by three friends in the same week and she thought she should seek it out. Curious myself by then, I bought a Kindle edition and read it on the iPad.

Having so recently read Brooks's Year of Wonders, I found this novel to be a perfect counterpoint. Told in a male voice and set in the same century, this is the story of the hangman in a small German town and his impact on its citizens, businesses, politics, and commerce. There is the suspicion of witchcraft when brutally murdered orphan children are discovered to have the same mysterious mark on their shoulders, and also a blossoming romance between the hangman's daughter and the doctor's son.

The descriptions are graphic, particularly of the tools and methods of the hangman's trade, but they only add to the tension as the tale becomes ever more tangled. I found it to be a very satisfying read, and plan to recommend the library purchase a copy.

Update: The library now owns copies of this title.

Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See. Random House, 2009.

Pearl and May, teenage daughters of a business man in Shanghai in the 1930s, are modern and liberated. They model for advertisements, wear western clothing, and speak English. In public. At home, they are still bound by traditional Chinese family customs, and are stunned to learn their father has sold them to be wives of the American Chinese sons of their father's debtor in payment of his gambling debt. Their world is shattered upon discovering their father has lied to cover up his gambling losses, and the lengths he is willing to go to to save himself and his wife.

Thus begins an exploration of the atrocities of the war with Japan, the harsh and impersonal treatment of immigrants to the United States, and the struggle to reconcile the stories of the riches that will be theirs in Hollywood with the realities of poverty, hard work, and deep prejudice.

As with the author's "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan", Lisa See tells the story with vivid and lyrical language. Her intimate understanding of the Chinese and American cultures, and deep knowledge of the historical setting allows the characters of Pearl, May, their parents, their in-laws and their husbands to sharpen and develop through the interplay of relationships, and the effects of secrets, war and segregation on their ambitions and dreams. And then, there's Joy, the daughter around whom May and Pearl build their new lives.

I felt the first half of the book set the stage; in the middle, the drama of the tale build quickly and grabbed me, and from then on it was a page-turner that kept me up till the wee hours.

Moon over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool. Delacourte Press, 2010.

In the late 1930s, 12-year-old Abilene Tucker has spent much of her life riding the rails with her drifter dad. But suddenly, he decides to send her to live with a friend in Manifest, KS, where he grew up. She is disappointed that the town doesn't live up to her dad's descriptions, but she soon becomes involved with two classmates in solving the mystery of the spy, The Rattler. She also discovers a cigar box under the floorboards of her bedroom. It is full of mementos and clues which lead to the discovery of snippets of her dad's earlier life.

I particularly enjoyed the contrast between Abilene's more worldly point of view and the more insular viewpoints of her Manifest friends. The characters of Pastor and bootlegger Shady Howard, "Reporter About Town" Hattie Mae Harper, and diviner "Miss Sadie" are quirky enough to be believable as small-town characters. And through Hattie's newspaper and the mementos in the box, we uncover the story of the influence of World War I on the development of the people and the town.

This year's Newbery Medal winner will appeal to all ages.

Year of Wonders: a novel of the plague, by Geraldine Brooks. Viking, 2001.

Anna, an 18-year old widow with two small children, unwittingly introduces the bubonic plague into her village when she takes in a lodger from London in 1665. The rest of the story is predictable, save for one thing: it's based on events that happened in the real English village of Eyam, which imposed a voluntary quarantine upon itself in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease to other towns. At the end of the year, by the time the spread of the disease had stopped, two thirds of the villagers had died.

Brooks's story includes just about every element that could possibly be squeezed into the village boundaries: fear, blasphemy, women's education, herbalism, witchcraft, sex, opportunistism, flagellation, religious tolerance and intolerance - and squeezed them all into a single year. The language and descriptions are powerful and evocative, though I thought the ending was a bit weak - as if she had just got too tired and wanted to be done with it.

What I loved about the book was the use of colorful and contemporary words, that placed the story squat in the middle of its culture and time: handfasted, boose, beastings pie, overweening, oatcake and brawn, unruly tup. Mostly, an approximate inference is possible, but I ended up looking up many words in the OED.

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic Press, 2008.

North America in the future is no longer 50 states, but 12 Districts governed by the Capitol, located somewhere west of the Rockies. To remind the Districts of their defeat, annual Hunger Games test the mettle of two representatives ("tributes") from each district, who compete in an event that is strongly reminiscent of today's "survival" TV shows - there will be only one survivor.

Collins successfully explores the effects of war on young people as they struggle to live in a poor and repressive envronment, and on the emotional impact on the tributes and their families as they deal with murder and the responsibilities of being a victor. She personalizes the message vividly as she follows Katniss and Peeta, the two tributes from District 12 (somewhere near Appalachia), and the repercussions from their first-ever dual win in the Hunger Games.

I've read successful post-holocaust novels before, some written for teens and some for adults (like Hoban's Riddley Walker), but this one grabbed my heart, and I purchased the second title in the series, Catching Fire, as soon as I read the last words.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford. Ballantine Books, c2009

The American poet, John Greenleaf Whitter, wrote, “For of all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'.”

The Panama Hotel is the vehicle that ties the two ends of this novel together. Although the characters are fictional, the hotel and its history are very real. Henry, son of a Chinese immigrant family, befrends Keiko, daughter of a Japanese family, when they are assigned to cafeteria duty in an otherwise all-white middle school in Seattle. Henry's family in particular is very much opposed to the friendship. In fact, his father spends all his free time monitoring news stories about the Sino-Japanese war and later, the Second World War.

In the late 40s, all the Japanese families were sent to internment camps. Keiko's family is uprooted from Nihonmachi, the Japantown of Seattle. Although Henry tries to keep in touch with her, the letters cease coming after a couple of years, and he reluctantly accepts that he needs to move on with his life.

In the 1980s, we re-join Henry, now a widower, as he and his son Marty experience the discovery of belongings from nearly 40 families preserved in the basement of the Panama Hotel.

The story of the complex relationships between Henry and his parents, between Henry and Keiko, between Marty and Henry, and between Henry and his late wife bring a shameful period of American history to vibrant life. I couldn't put it down.