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Emma by Jane Austen. 1815.

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.

I have a love-hate relationship with Emma. You see, I don't like Emma, the character. On the other hand, Emma is a fun treat because she's so very clueless. She is unaware of herself. She's unaware of the world around her. She just doesn't get it. Once the reader is aware of this, knows that Emma is the joke of the book--an inside joke shared between the reader and the author, then it's a fun book. The reader has a clue while the heroine is helplessly stuck on herself and her misconceptions about reality. Emma may think she's wise in matters of the world, of the heart, of the home. But the reader knows better!

The plot of this one is relatively simple: Emma thinks she's good at matchmaking. Pairing up single men and women. But the fact that she misreads signs of affection and devotion left and right mean that the unfortunate soul she's trying to do good by is in for a messy few months. Emma is the last person who should be giving out advice. In a way, the relationship between Emma and Harriet reminds me of that of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Emma is promising Harriet a fine match with a good man, a man of some means, a true gentleman, and handsome too. Just like Don Quixote keeps promising Sancho that he'll reward his service by making him a governor of some province (or the like). But in reality, the faith that their loyal friends place in them is hopelessly misguided.

Of course, the book is more than just about Emma and Harriet. It also features the much-praised Jane Fairfax and the mysterious Frank Churchill. I don't have an opinion of Jane Fairfax really. She's much more patient than I would expect any girl to be under the circumstances. But since we only see her through Emma's eyes, it's hard to know what she's really like. Frank Churchill, I definitely have an opinion of...I think he was awful...and I really have no sympathy at all for him. I think both Emma and Jane have reason to be ticked. And he wouldn't have gotten off that easy if I'd been Austen. Then there is the true hero of Emma, Mr. Knightley. If there is redemption in Emma it is found in the character of Mr. Knightley. He kept me reading.


© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Anderson, M.T. 2008. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation: Volume 2: The Kingdom On The Waves.

I'm at a loss of words. I almost think this would take a second reading to cement just how I feel about the second volume of Octavian Nothing. I'll start by saying that I loved the two page summary of the first volume. (Is it wrong to admit that it made me smile?) It perfectly sums up the action and motivations of the first volume. The second volume begins right where the other left off. We've got Dr. Trefusis and Octavian on the run. They're lives are at stake, and they're seeking refuge in Boston--a city which at the moment is under British control. (Call them Tories, Loyalists, Redcoats, whatever.) Both know that Boston is a dangerous city. A city that could fall into Rebel hands. And if and when it does, they know that their lives would be forfeit. There hope is to obtain a place within the British army--on a British vessel or ship. Octavian at last is able to join fellow runaway slaves and enlist in Lord Dunmore's army. He has promised to free the slaves of Rebels if they will join his cause and fight.

Here is the scene where he enlists:

"Your name?" said the Serjeant. "Octavian," said I. "Your surname?" I considered. I would no longer be called Gitney. "I have none," I said. "And ye don't have no master." "I have no master, sir," said I, "except the King." To the tatooed Craigie he said, "Write 'Octavian Negro.'" "While I would not trouble the Serjeant, I would beg--" "What then?" "If it please you, sir, put down nothing for the surname. I would rather be called nothing than be named only for my race." Serjeant Clippinger gave an insalubrious smile. "Octavian Nothing?" said he. I regarded my name. Knowing not who I was, it seemed a fair enough appellation. "Octavian Nothing," I agreed. And thus it was inscribed. (129-130)

Army life is hard. And war isn't all Octavian thought it would be. He is keeping a journal of his life, the events as they unfold. (1775-1776) Along the way, he makes new friends and rediscovers old friends. Pro Bono is back wearing the new name of William Williams. The book is a continuation of his quest for freedom, liberty, and identity.

The book is well-written. And the pacing (or action) is much steadier and more intense than the previous volume. Old characters--Dr. Trefusis, Mr. Gitney, Pro Bono, etc--are there alongside new ones: Slant, Will, John, Pomp, etc. There is much depth--heart and spirit--to the two books. There is much to admire and appreciate within the pages. When you think of it as a coming-of-age story it is quite impressively done. Both books showcase humanity--the good, the bad, the ugly, the abominable, the admirable.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Anderson, Laurie Halse. 2008. Chains.

The best time to talk to ghosts is just before the sun comes up. That's when they can hear us true, Momma said. That's when ghosts can answer us.

Isabel and Ruth are two slave girls who have just been freed by their master's will. Their mistress, Miss Mary Finch, has just been laid to rest. And Isabel, though nervous, is excited about their future prospects. Unfortunately, Mr. Robert Finch, the visiting nephew, has different ideas. Ignoring their protests that they have been freed within Miss Finch's will, he insists that they are his property to sell and make a profit from. His. His. His. And the local pastor who witnesses this exchange, Pastor Weeks, well he supports Mr. Finch in whatever he decides. The girls are told to gather their blankets and shoes and come with him.
These two girls are sold to Mr. and Mrs. Lockton. This wealthy loyalist family owns several properties--one in New York City, one in Charleston, I believe. (It is in the south, that much I know.)

Ruth becomes a favored curiosity for a short while in the Lockton household. Unfortunately, her epileptic seizures bring an end to that status. Mrs. Lockton knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ruth is possessed of the devil. And she tries her hardest to convince her husband that the demon-child must go. Her husband refuses, but tells her that the girl can stay out of sight and do her work well away from Mrs. Lockton. Everyone is hoping that out of sight will become out of mind. Isabel, though accused of being too talkative, does her best to stay in her lady's good graces. She still dreams of freedom. But she knows that her place is precarious. That Ruth's place is extremely so. If she wants to stay with her sister, she must be cautious.

But several things tempt Isabel. Freedom. She meets a slave of one of the rebels, Curzon, who promises her that the Rebel Army will reward her if she spies for them. Mr. Lockton is a loyalist. He's a conspirator as well. Curzon knows that she could bring back juicy-and-vital details to the Rebels...if she will be brave enough to risk it.

A nation at war. A young country seeking freedom, justice, liberty. Set in New York City during circa 1776-1777, the story is vibrant and heartbreaking. It's a story rich in detail and emotional and powerful in nature. Isobel's story--her struggles--resonates so deeply that I think this one is a must-read.

My only complaint about Chains is that it's one of those cliffhanger books with a big "to be continued" at the end.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Anderson, M.T. 2006. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation: Volume 1: The Pox Party.

Let's see...what can I say about Octavian Nothing. It's an award-winning book--winner of the National Book Award, winner of a Printz Honor. It's historical fiction--set in the Colonies right before the American Revolution. It's more literary than your typical teen book--it's heavy in semicolons and rich in detail.

So what is so astonishing about the life of Octavian Nothing? Many things. Many many things. For starters, he's a slave who doesn't quite realize he's a slave. He has little inkling just what he is...or who he is. Who is he? He's a human experiment. He's being studied to determine if Africans are inferior (or equal to) to Europeans. Everything about him is being observed and measured. He's been given the finest clothes, housed in a luxurious way (at least comparatively speaking), taught to play musical instruments, taught in a classical way--learned in many diverse subjects including English, French, Greek, and Latin. He is a child who had a very strange, very odd, very out-there upbringing. Who is raising him the members of the College of Lucidity. Strange men who are fascinated by science, math, philosophy, art, music, etc.

There are several events that change everything for Octavian. That turn his whole world, his whole life, his very being upside down and inside out. Through the course of the book, Octavian goes from a privileged boy who is clueless about the oppression of slavery to a full-grown man who has experienced the oppressive wrath and cruelty of his masters. A man who now longs for freedom.

Even that isn't quite a fair assessment of what this book is about...of what it has to offer readers.

I can't promise you that you'll love it...or even like it. You may, of course, respond that way. But this is a book that requires you to be engaged, to connect emotionally and intellectually with the text. It's a book that requires you to wear your thinking cap.

It's a book that I'd love to use for my Reading With Becky google group. I haven't gotten any response from that group yet whether they'd be interested. But I *do* hope that I can sway some to read it. If you're interested in reading this as a group, come and join the group (there's a box in the sidebar; or email me at my google address also in the sidebar)...let's make this happen :)

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Adler, David. A. 2008. Don't Talk To Me About the War.

"Don't talk to me about the war. It's across the ocean, and I haven't even been to Long Island and that's just over the bridge. What I mean is, the war's so far away and we're not even it it. And anyway, it's all Beth talks about, so if there's any war stuff I should know, she'll tell me."

Don't Talk To Me About the War spans the time of May of 1940 through (in the epilogue at least) December 1941. Tommy Duncan. Our narrator is a young boy whose world is about to change. When we first meet him, his primary interest is in baseball. That and hanging out with his friends. Sounds pretty typical, right? True, he is listening to these games on the radio and following his teams in the newspaper instead of watching the games on TV. And what he does with his friends when they're "hanging out" would be different...still there is something universal about Tommy. Especially when it comes to family and friendship and school.

Friendship. His best friend is a girl, Beth. And she's quite a girl--intelligent and compassionate and beautiful. And he's just beginning to notice just how wonderful she is in that way. So innocent, so hopeful, so curious.

Family. His mother is getting sick--really sick--and no one knows why.

School. He hates it. Really hates it. Until he begins to realize that education may just be useful. That there might be a point to all this work.

Don't Talk To Me is about the meaning of life. It focuses on heart and soul issues of what it means to love someone, need someone, want someone. It's about the nature of life itself. The fragility of life. The beauty of life.

Yes, this one is about war--the rightness or wrongness of going to war in the first place. The questioning of what war means. Examining the issues of life, death, and justice. And it is about baseball. Loving the game, following the game, being loyal to your favorite team. And friendship. And first love. And family. It's a novel about growing up, about growing wise, about making right decisions, about loving others more than yourself.

Recommended.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Antieau, Kim. 2008. Ruby's Imagine. September 2008 release.

First sentence: A Butterfly the color of my name did tell me that a Big Spin was coming our way.

Ruby, our narrator, is a teen girl with a unique way of seeing the world, a unique way of talking. Let's just say--long story short--that she likes Capital Letters. (I can imagine that this will irritate some readers.) Her own way of speaking does set her apart from others in her New Orleans community, and it irritates the dickens out of the woman who is raising her, Mammaloose, her grandmother. "Mammaloose never hears my words as glad tidings. She says I is constantly putting a target on myself by using my Ruby words." (2) But her best friend, a young guy named Jacob Lazarus, JayEl sees it differently. He appreciates her in a way only a best friend can. One other thing I should mention, Ruby speaks with "Flying People" and "Rooted People." She has a very hands-on approach to nature, and loves to converse with the trees and plants and insects and birds.

Here's just a snippet so you'll see what I mean about Ruby's voice:

I walked the place where I lives--I calls it my Garden of Neighbors--down toward JayEl's Daddy's Corner of Happiness Store. Some people talks about what ward they lives in. I don't do that. I heard Mammaloose once say that calling where you lives a ward make you sound like you living in some kind of institution. I can only be agreeing with her. I says I is a citizen of the Earth and right now I be living in a place somewheres between the old oak next to the yellow-two-story and the gum tree out front of the pale green double shotgun. I lives in the place where the wisteria dips over the fence to hold hands with the magnolia that dips down to say hello to the Place Where My Vegetables Grow. That's where I lives. (11)

Ruby likes to give unique names to all the people and places in her life. In a limited way, I suppose, you could call Ruby a modern-day Anne of Green Gables.

When the book opens, Ruby has just been warned--by a butterfly, though later warnings come from other animals--that a "Big Spin" is on its way. That danger is coming. Danger with a capital D. And Ruby does warn a few folks as the days pass, but it isn't until the radio and TV start talking about a hurricane--a big hurricane--Hurricane Katrina--that folks really start listening. But listening doesn't mean acting, not necessarily. Ruby and her friends--some by choice, some not so much--do end up braving the storm right where they are, in their own homes.

And it is when the storm hits that Ruby's Imagine transitions from a slightly-irritating, slightly jarring book to a true page-turner. The more intense the action--the storm and its aftermath--the more "normal" Ruby becomes. Her speech, her thoughts, change and shift. In the heat of the moment at least, Ruby is too focused on surviving, on clinging to her friends and family, to "bless" the readers with her uniquely capitalized take on the world around her.

The second half of the book is a page-turner. It is here that the action begins to happen. Here where characters begin to develop, begin to matter. Here where family secrets get thrown to the surface. The book loses some of its foolishness and gets down to business.

The book--especially the second-half--is interesting and worth reading. It's not flawless. I can imagine some readers will feel *elements* of the story to be a bit unbelievable, a bit too coincidental. But at the same time, those elements feel good even if they're not quite credible. I can't go into details of exactly what I mean because it would spoil the story. But if you've read it, you'll probably be able to guess what I'm referring to.

I really really enjoyed Mercy, Unbound.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Ardelius, Gunnar. 2008. (November release). I Need You More Than I Love You And I Love You To Bits. Translated by Tara Chace. Frontstreet Books.

Not quite poetry, not quite a novel, I NEED YOU MORE THAN I LOVE YOU... is a verse novel of sorts about the joys and sorrows, ups and downs, of young love, of first love. Told from both the male and female perspective, it has a little bit of everything emotionally speaking. It does share quite a bit of the couple's intimate moments, and because of this 'adult nature' of the work, it may not be appropriate for younger teens. But for older teens, it has its rightful place.

Here is the first piece,

Her foot slides over and then back, cautiously
stroking the toes of his left foot. His head quivers
when he glances up and catches her gleaming
eyes, as wide as fie kronor coins. He blushes,
noting the soft tug at his heart.

And here is another a bit further on (p. 37)

My taste has changed. The love songs on the
radio have started describing how everything
really is. I'm not sure I can deal with being
happy, it feels like I'm made out of play dough.
I don't want to be in love like that, like all the
other boring people. Our love is different. It's
about us.

Anyway, it's a nice enough book. These two young lovers are ordinary folks who do ordinary things. They're in and out of love and confused at times. Sometimes they're fighting with their parents. Sometimes they're at odds with the world around them. Sometimes nothing seems to be going right. Sometimes it does.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Avi. 2006. Crispin: At The Edge of the World.

Have you ever loved a book so much you ended up hating it? I read the first Crispin book a few weeks ago. (Click here to refresh your memory unless you're perfect and know-it-all.) I didn't know what to expect with the first one, but I went into the second with very high hopes. There proved my mistake. It's not that it's awful. It's not. It's that I'm a baby. Let me clarify, the tone of both books is a balancing act between hope and despair and life and death. Crispin is an orphan on the run. In the first book, he teamed up with a man named Bear, a man who was flawed it's true, but a man who was as good as a man could be when it came to loving and protecting and teaching a young boy in great need. It was interesting. It was suspenseful. It didn't end on the brightest note, but it was relatively good ending. Meaning that there was still hope but plenty of doubt and danger thrown in as well.

Crispin: At The Edge of the World opens right where Crispin ended. But in this case, I would have probably been better off not knowing what happened next. My imagination being much kinder towards these characters than Avi's proved to be. Don't get me wrong. My imagination would have been in fantasy land. Clearly in the territory of happily-ever-after. Avi's was much more realistic, much more rustic and down-to-earth. Humanity is very flawed in Avi's novels and that makes them authentic. This book drowns in reality--the death, the danger, the disease, the despair, the confusion--so it may be authentic and true to the time period. Politics and war were deadly, have always been deadly. We do meet a few new characters in this one. And Crispin does make another connection, another friendship, he gets a "sister" of sorts. But everything about this novel--almost--is just so dark and so depressing.

Maybe it's a mood thing. Maybe I'm just being a baby not wanting a certain someone to die. Maybe I'm being a baby because I don't like the characters always always always being on the edge of certain disaster and death. Maybe I like my characters to be safe and loved and happy. I'm sure it's a mood thing. I can handle death and grief and despair at certain times, many a dark book has gotten a good review. But this one, for some reason, I just wanted it to be completely different than what it was. Dare I say, I think I want this one Disney-fied.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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It's a rare rainy day. Well actually, so far this year, not so rare. We've had more rain in one month than we did in all of 2007. But back to the point. It's cold and rainy. That kind of gray day where the sky opens up and lets out a continual drizzle. Now that is a rare thing here! So a package in the mail was a great treat. Not a surprise, it was expected, but a treat. Now, if it would only stop raining so I could head out to my studio and start setting it up.

My studio is detached from the house. Most of the time I find this to be an advantage, but not today.

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