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The saga of the Donner Party is fascinating to me, perhaps because I am a native Californian. More likely because, as an adult, I read Nathan Hale's excellent graphic novel recounting this story of survival, Donner Dinner Party. Despite the witty title, Hale handles the gruesome events with tact and respect for his young audience. He also shares so many facts that I had not known before, like the fact that George Donner murdered a man in anger during the journey and that one young member of the party actually died from overeating just after being rescued. While Hale's graphic novel is packed with facts, in To Stay Alive, Skila Brown masterfully uses the verse novel format to explore this story from the perspective of Mary Ann Graves, who was nineteen when the novels begins.
The second oldest child in a family of nine, Mary Ann and her family leave Lacon, Illinois with three horses, twenty head of cattle, eighteen oxen and three wagons. There are thirteen in the Graves party, including Jay Fosdick, oldest child Sarah's husband, and John Snyder, a hired hand who is stabbed to death by an irate George Donner before the snows even set in. While Hale, with an omniscient narrator, is able to share all aspects of the Donner Party, their struggles and outcomes, Brown's book gives us only Mary Ann's experience with an author's note at the end recounting the fates of the others. In doing this, Brown is able to have Mary Ann comment on the experience of being a woman in 1846. While expected to work as hard as the men, especially because she is not a child, her opinion means nothing, she has no say. In the poem, "In the Canyon," after the men have made the ill-fated choice to take Hasting's Cutoff, promised to be a well traveled shortcut, but really a forest, Mary Ann thinks,
Each time I push on a rock, I think
that these men in our camp
cannot admit when they're wrong.
Each time I snap off a limb, I think
that those men at the fort
did not know a shortcut, had us make one instead.
Each time I pick up a load of brush that scratches my face, I think
how much easier it will be for those who come
next year, now that we've made a path.
Divided by the four seasons with Winter being the longest section, To Stay Alive is completely gripping, but also hard to read if you are familiar with the history of the Donner Party. However, Mary Ann's strength of character and intelligence, as portrayed by Brown, kept me reading throughout the bleak and startling poems, many of which combine form and words in dynamic ways that allow you to feel the extreme jostling of riding in the wagon or the rush and flow of the Humboldt River or the intense pain of the cold and the blinding white of the snow. Fabric, sewing and specifically quilting was a theme in To Stay Alive that I felt was especially powerful. In fact, the first poem of the novel is, "New Dress" where Mary Ann describes her newly made travel dress,
thick and crisp and green,
white buttons in a line,
a bright stiff collar, perched high.
It's a dress for adventure,
a dress ready for
whatever it will face.
Strongly stitched, unspoiled, new,
well made.
It is meant to endure.
By the end of the novel, this enduring new dress is much like Mary Ann herself, stained from the blood of the Graves' last heads of cattle they slaughtered for food, stained from the blood of a deer she and William Eddy killed while trying to make their way over the mountain pass. Mary Ann notes that fabric of her green dress is, "stiff again - / not from newness, but from / something else, something that won't let it bend," as she tears strips of it off with her teeth, using it to bind and protect her feet, which are bleeding and aching after thirty-two days trying to make it to Sutter's Fort. She recoils "at the stench of her dress." Over the course of their journey, Mary Ann had been sewing a quilt. She leaves the finished quilt behind at Truckee Lake when she joins the party that will leave camp and ultimately find help. It is this same quilt that her youngest brother is wrapped in, buried in the mountains, in their Mother's arms. In Brown's version of Graves's story, Mary Ann spends her four months of recovery at Sutter's Fort sewing a new quilt, one made from the gray remnants of her clothing.
It is a field of gray,
a wall or worn-out worry,
patches and patches
of sewn-together sorrow.
But that is only the background.
on top of there is a rainbow of life,
a tapestry of creatures,
a forest of hope,
for I used brightly colored threads.
To Stay Alive is a powerfully told story of survival, made even more so by Brown's crafting of the poems that make up this novel. I look forward to the next subject that she chooses to turn her poetic sights to.
Source: Review Copy
Patricia MacLachlan is a big name in kid's books. Author of the Newbery winner, Sarah Plain and Tall, a classroom staple, as well as many other novels and picture books, I have reviewed only two of her books. The title of her newest book, The Poet's Dog, hooked me immediately. As did the length of the book. As a librarian at a school where the majority of students are English Language learners who are not reading at grade level, short books like this give them a sense of accomplishment needed to persevere with longer books. As an adult reader, I found The Poet's Dog to be alternately charming and frustrating, not sure what to make of this book. In the end, I decided to read it as a fairy tale and that helped quiet the the questioning voices in my head, allowing me to enjoy MacLachlan's book as I know young readers will.
The Poet's Dog begins with a haiku-like verse, "Dogs speak words/ But only poets/ And children/ Hear." This is the magical premise that sustains the story of Nickel and Flora, siblings lost in a snowstorm who are rescued by Teddy, the dog of the title. Teddy guides the two back to a cabin in the woods belonging to Sylvan, the poet. Slowly, over days, Teddy tells the children about Sylvan, who rescued him from the pound, and the children tell Teddy about the car stuck in the snowbank and their mother leaving to get help. Teddy tells the children about the poetry class held in the cabin and his love of the The Ox-Cart Man, a Caldecott winning picture book written by Pulitzer prize winning poet, Donald Hall, which he hears as a poem. Sylvan becomes ill and Ellie, a student of his, gets him to the doctor and, along with Teddy, becomes heir to his estate when he dies. Teddy refuses to leave the cabin, which is how he is able to rescue the children and keep them safe, but off the grid, until the storm clears.
Like siblings in a fairy tale, Nickel and Flora deal marvelously with the challenges they encounter. They make a fire and tend to it, get wood from the shed and cook with the provisions left in the pantry. Taking the role of cook, Flora explains, "It's not because I'm a girl that I cook. I like it. It's in the herbs. Like science. When I grow up and have twenty-seven cats and dogs and become a horse trainer, I will have a large collection of herbs." Nickel writes in a notebook, sharing his view of life snowed in at the cabin. Teddy says his writing is, "funny, sly, and sometimes poignant. Sylvan taught me the word poignant." Sylvan thinks that poignancy "may be the most important thing in poetry."
And, The Poet's Dog is definitely poignant. Teddy, who, it is revealed, is an Irish Wolfhound, is clearly a reliable caretaker for Nickel and Flora and readers will never worry about their eventual rescue. But, readers will begin to worry about Teddy and what will become of him. Just before Sylvan dies, he tells Teddy that he hopes he will "find a jewel or two." This proves to be a prophetic little mystery that is solved by the (happy) end of the story. So what did I find frustrating about The Poet's Dog? I think I made the mistake of not reading it as a fairy tale from the start, which left me worried and frustrated when I realized that Nickel and Flora's parents must be wild with worry upon realizing they have left the car stuck in the snow bank and that there would be no way they wouldn't be found sooner. I went into this book not realizing that I needed a willing suspension of disbelief, despite the poem at the start! I know that I will return to this book and read it again, maybe even out loud to students. It is magical in the best way, because it's about the magic of words and writing and that, even with a willing suspension of disbelief, is poignant.
One note that I feel bears repeating: I often reading other reviews of books before writing my own, to see what others are thinking and to find a perspective other than my own. I often read the reviews at Kirkus, an industry magazine. In the last year or so, every review (of children's books) makes note of the color of the characters in the book. The review of The Poet's Dog alerted me to the fact that, on the jacket art, the siblings appear to be brown skinned children with black hair while the text describes Nickel as "having blond hair, implying whiteness." Miscue on the part of the artist, Kenard Pak or calculated choice on the part of the art director and editor?
Source: Review Copy
By: C. C. Gevry,
on 8/13/2014
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Publisher: Candlewick; Reprint edition (July 22, 2014)
ISBN-10: 0763676209
ISBN-13: 978-0763676209
Genre: Dystopian
Suggested reading Age: Grade 9+
Three stars
Seventeen-year-old Seth drowns; in fact his action is deliberate. He wants to escape the horror of his existence. Racked with guilt over the fate of his younger brother, an event he feels is his entire fault, he doesn’t have much to live for. Then he wakes up, back in his old home in England, and things start becoming very weird indeed. He is wrapped in silvery bandages, and his old street is deserted. The whole place is uninhabited and overgrown. He seems to be the only person left alive in the world. He must now forage and scrounge for clothing, food and water. He wonders if this is hell. His dreams don’t help because his previous life comes back to him in huge, unwelcome chunks of memory. Then he meets two other people, with their own unique and strange tales to tell.
Despite the fantastic beginning, with a description that pulled me right into the ocean with Seth, I struggled to finish this book. Parts of it were incredibly exciting and then would grind to a halt with unnecessary introspective and philosophical meanderings on the part of the main character, meanderings which became boring and one had the urge to say, “Oh, just get on with it!” The plus side: an utterly riveting and plausible story premise that comes much later on (just when you are wondering what on earth this is all about and is he dead or not, and if everyone else is dead, then where are the bodies?); really wonderful descriptions that have the reader in the grip of the moment; action and tension to add to the positively bleak and hopeless situation; events that come out of nowhere that have a cinematographic and surreal feel to them; the depth of emotion Seth feels for the loss of his younger brother and his friends. In fact, Seth’s guilt is so palpable that one is consumed with curiosity to learn the truth. The two characters that join him are so different, so lost as well, and so eager to hide the circumstances of their lives/deaths. One feels the pain of the characters as they reveal the humiliating and tragic burdens they each carry.
What I did not enjoy: the flashbacks were sometimes jarring and intrusive, until I accepted them as part of the story-telling process; the fact that this world, while it began as an interesting construct, did not have enough to sustain the story and/or the last three inhabitants. I found the ending abrupt and it short-changes the reader in a way. There were many loose ends in the unfolding of this tale that I feel the author might have tried to answer. The characters were confused and, as a result, the reader becomes confused. It is as if the author didn’t bother to work things out to the last detail, which is possibly not the case, but feels that way. The reference to same sex love/relationships was dealt with sensitively and delicately, in an almost tender way. However, this might surprise readers who are not prepared for it, especially if the reader is younger than the protagonist’s age of 17. Ultimately, the characters’ thoughts on what constitutes life and death, and the option of living in a constructed world, avoiding the reality of a life too sad/tragic/hopeless to contemplate should give readers food for thought. However, I have no doubt that the intended audience of older teens and YA readers will love this book.
http://www.amazon.com/More-Than-This-Patrick-Ness/dp/0763676209/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Reviewer’s bio: Fiona Ingram is an award-winning middle grade author who is passionate about getting kids interested in reading. Find out more about Fiona and her books on www.FionaIngram.com. She reviews books for the Jozikids Blog.
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This was of the funnest books I can remember reading in a long time. Gripping, funny and told in a totally original and authentic voice you can’t help but be hooked in by this part-Apollo 13, part-Castaway survival story.
Mark Watney is an astronaut, part of the third manned mission to Mars. Six days after landing on Mars a fierce dust storm forces Mark and his crewmates to abandon the planet. However during the evacuation Mark is left behind. Now he must work out how is going to survive on Mars until the next resupply mission. In two years time.
The majority of the book is told via Mark’s log entries detailing his survival. The log is written in a beautifully sarcastic tone where outright panic is only a hair’s breath away. There is plenty of self-deprecating humour and the log format works perfectly in detailing Mark’s day-to-day survival.
Mark is completely stranded. He has no way of communicating with his crewmates or NASA. He only has enough food and water to last half the time he needs. Mark puts to work his skills as an engineer and botanist to figure out if he can survive. The how is one of the most entertaining reads you will come across. Full of insane (but practical) problem solving you are glued to the book wanting to find out how Mark gets himself out of each new predicament he finds himself in. I defy anyone to be able to put this down once they start!
Buy the book here…
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on 9/26/2013
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Book: Monument 14: Sky on Fire
Author: Emmy Laybourne (@EmmyLaybourne)
Pages: 224
Age Range: 13 and up
Monument 14: Sky on Fire is the sequel to Monument 14 (reviewed here), in which a group of 14 kids end up living in a big department store after a series of apocalyptic events. A third book is due out next May. Sky on Fire begins immediately after the end of Monument 14 (stop here if you don't want spoilers for the first book).
The narration alternates, chapter by chapter, between sixteen-year-old Dean and his thirteen-year-old brother Alex. Alex is on the school bus that brought the kids to safety in the store in the first place, together with seven of the other kids. They're on a quest to travel 67 miles to Denver International Airport, where they believe there may be government evacuations to safer locations. The journey is quite dangerous for the kids, because exposure to toxins in the air will cause terrible side effects. These vary according to each person's blood type. The kids have gas masks and multi-layered clothing, but don't know whether or not this will be enough.
Meanwhile Dean has stayed behind in the Greenway store with his crush, Astrid (who is pregnant), and three of the littler kids (including the absolutely adorable five-year-old twins Henry and Caroline). Former big man on campus Jake (father of Astrid's baby) is missing, having gone for help and never returned. Dean and Astrid have to contend with people attempting to break into the store, and with taking care of the smaller children. They've stayed, in part, because Dean, Astrid, and eight-year-old Chloe are all Type O, and react with extreme violence (towards everyone) when exposed to the air outside.
I must admit that I had to pause mid-way through in my reading of this book, asking myself "Can't these kids ever get a break?". Because this is a pretty bleak book, and bad things just keep on happening. Despite some dark events, the first book also had a certain sense of fun - the idea of being trapped in a big department store, with no adult supervision is cool. But the idea of traipsing through a hostile post-apocalyptic landscape in which the people who are still alive will kill you for your water bottles, well, it's not as appealing.
Sky on Fire is compelling, however. Laybourne uses the alternating narration to ratchet up the suspense. The kids on the bus receive information from someone on the way suggesting that the airport isn't safe after all, and they (and the reader) don't know what to believe. There are interpersonal tensions, particularly between Astrid and Dean, and there is personal growth on the part of several characters.
There's also growth in the general relationship between the kids. It becomes clear in Sky on Fire how much these kids have bonded into a family. Not an idealized family with no tensions, but a family that is loyal to one another above any outsiders.
I particularly enjoyed Alex's intelligent voice. Like this:
"If we two were the two last people on earth--not, by the way, as statistically implausible as it was a month ago--she would still be rude to me and I would still pretend that it didn't bother me." (Page 45)
And Dean's more poetic voice. Like this:
"Was it wrong to feel a heart-spike of happiness in the middle of the Apocalypse?" (Page 97)
Because what they were experiencing was so different, I never found the two first-person voices confusing.
For the second book of what appears to be a trilogy, Monument 14: Sky on Fire wraps things up quite well. It's suspenseful, and has emotional impact. Despite many loose ends being tied up, there are still questions left unanswered, large and small. I am eager for the next book. Recommended!
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (@MacKidsBooks)
Publication Date: May 28, 2013
Source of Book: Purchased on Kindle
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© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.
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Wild Boy : The Real Life of the Savage of Aveyron, written by Mary Losure and illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering can be described as narrative non-fiction
A Monster Calls is now in paperback!
I don't know how or where to begin writing about this breathtaking, heartbreaking, perfect new book. The start would be the best place, I suppose. As Patrick Ness says in his Author's Note from the beginning of A Monster Calls,
I never got to meet Siobhan Dowd. I only know her the way that most of you will - through her superb books. Four
First reviewed in 2009, Toby Alone presents the reader with a world within a world, in miniature and facing enormous problems. Enchanting, exciting and magical, Toby is a wonderfully brave, thoughtful character you won't forget.
Reading Toby Alone by French playwright Timothée de Fombelle, translated by Sarah Ardizzone, winner of the Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation,
First published 2/19/2010, SHEEP is a MUST read, even for those of you who, like me, are squeamish when it comes to animal stories. The hardships faced by most literary animals, the ones who haven't been anthropomorphized, are usually more than I can bear. But, in SHEEP, Valerie Hobbs balances the realities of the life of a homeless dog with a memorable journey and kind humans along the way.
I don't know how or where to begin writing about this breathtaking, heartbreaking, perfect new book. The start would be the best place, I suppose. As Patrick Ness says in his Author's Note from the beginning of A Monster Calls,
I never got to meet Siobhan Dowd. I only know her the way that most of you will - through her superb books. Four electric young adult novels, two published in her
I am now half way through my third ND Wilson book and I have to say, he really likes to beat the tar out of his main characters - all of whom are boys. Leepike Ridge is Wilson's first published book, his second, 100 Cupboards, is also the first in a trilogy. Having been a female my whole life, this getting beaten up and bashed about thing is still pretty alien to me as I/we try to stay out of
Reading Toby Alone by French playwright Timothée de Fombelle, translated by Sarah Ardizzone, winner of the Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation, and illustrated by François Place, is a bit like looking at an optical illusion where two different images vie for prominence - in a good way. The story of Toby Lolness, thirteen at the start of the story, and the events that cause him
On the back of the jacket for the edition of Theodore Taylor's The Cay there is a quote from the review in Booklist that reads, " - eloquently underscores the intrinsic brotherhood of man." Racism and race relations, examined through the prism of children's literature are often very personal and immediate rather than expansive and historical. The Cay is a story in which racism and race relations
This sounds wonderful. I'm adding it to my wish list!
Thanks for yet another wonderful recommendation. I asked our library to buy it, and Ivy just finished it -- now she's dying to get her hands on the sequel!
I can't wait for the sequel either! Was the library copy at hardcover, and if yes, were you able to look at the great illustration of the tree on the inside? So glad to hear Ivy liked the book - I still think about it often. It's kind of a hard sell at the bookstore, though. It's so different and hard to get all the details into a quick verbal synopsis.
One of the lucky librarians must have claimed the illustration -- might be a good reason to buy a copy. I'm not surprised that it is hard to sell. It sat in our library box for two weeks and I had to suggest it several times before she'd dig into it.
I have just bought the paperback and I want the hardback now! <br /><br />Haven't finished it yet ( I skipped your review for a later read :-) but enjoy it so far :-)
I did the same thing! I had the paperback first and I went and bought the hardcover so I could have the map inside the jacket! Glad you didn't read the review! Always nice to discover a book fresh, and I sometimes tell too much of the story...