How to use this Page

Tomorrow - over at BoB - Chime goes up against Daughter of Smoke and Bone.    Now that the book I thought would go all the way has been kicked out, is it a little, um, self-pitying for me to pout and say I don't care which book wins?  YES!!  Yes, it is.  I do have an opinion about this match.

Chime was the second most difficult book in this year's Battle for me to get into.  (I still haven't finished Life.   I will. I promise.)  Briony's stream of consciousness, anxiety-ridden narrative is so confusing.  But I was so glad I persevered because none of her rambling is wasted.

On the other hand, I slipped into Daughter of Smoke and Bone like I was sinking into a fragrant long-awaited bath.  Ahhhh, what a lovely setting, ahhhh, what intriguing characters, ahhhh, blue hair.  Isn't this indulgent?  And then.... there was the battle-y part.

Very Short Digression:  I am getting really really REALLY tired of battle-y parts.

Back to BoB;  The battle-y part was followed by the heart-breaking romance part and the WHAT??!!! ending in Daughter.   That's a lot to pack into one book.

So, there you have it.  Hard to get into but satisfying Chime goes against seductive, action packed Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

I could toss a coin as one of our esteemed judges did.  I could use my Chobani Oracle Cup and pull out the name.  But this time, I think I will just predict that....  Oh, my, this is so hard.

I choose Chime over Daughter of Smoke and Bone.  I think it was the battle-y part that pushed me over the edge.  I suspect that excellent judge e. lockhart, will have a more intelligent take on this match.  And, as I say over and over, I will not be disappointed in either book moving on. 

StoryFUSION!!!  So much StoryFUSION prep work going on.  If you don't hear much from me this week, that is why.  Check the Storytelling page for updates and schedules and stuff.

Add a Comment

Many storytellers become authors - and sometimes authors become storytellers.  It sort of follows - spoken words, written down; written words, spoken out loud.  Here are the websites of two  storyteller/authors:

Aaron Shepard:  I don't know which came first for Aaron - out loud storytelling or paper telling  - but Aaron has enriched folktale collections for quite a while.  I linked to his storytelling page where he offers some of his own stories to other tellers.  Please read any copyright requirements before taking these stories to the public.   But wait, there's more - more, more, more! - on Aaron's pages, including tips for storytellers, resources for teachers and parents and even Reader's Theater scripts! Thanks so much, Aaron.

This face is made for storytelling

Carmen Agra Deedy!  Her latest book, The Cheshire Cheese Cat, written with Randall Wright and illustrated by Barry Moser, was one of my favorite books of the year.  Carmen started doing commentaries for All Things Considered.  I remember listening to her tell a story about trying to recreate one of her grandmother's dishes - rice pudding - as I drove home from work.  She is a featured teller and speaker at storytelling conferences and literacy related events.  She is a HUGE supporter of libraries, too.

Book Review:!
Chime by Franny Billingsley.  Since I just finished reading this last night, this book did not make my list of favorites..but it certainly IS one of my favorite books of the year.  It was also a hard book to read, because the narrator and main character, has trouble separating her feelings from her story.  Briony's ramblings make the story so diffused that the reader spends a lot of time shoving aside pieces of emotional lint.  But these incomplete memories and moods create an atmosphere of dread.  Don't go back into the Swamp, Briony!  Listen to your dead Stepmother's words, Briony.  DON'T listen to your dead Stepmother's words, Briony.  Watch out for Rose - in more than one way.  Can you trust Rose? Can you trust Eldric?  Can you trust yourself?


In an imagined early 20th century English town, on the edge of the Swamp, 17-year-old Briony lives in the Parsonage with her distant father and her twin sister, Rose.  Rose is "different".  We'd likely say she had high-functioning autism, today.  And Briony knows that Rose's differences are Briony's fault - because her dead Stepmother told her so.  Her dead Stepmother told Briony many things, many awful, sad, confusing things - and promised to protect Briony

Display Comments Add a Comment

The National Book Award Nominations were just posted and I’m super excited to congratulate VCFA faculty member Franny Billingsley for her nomination of Chime. I had the privileged of having my writing workshopped by Franny at the winter VCFA residency and she was brilliant and insightful! Not to mention the fabulousness of Chime itself (which I just finished reading)! The writing is simply decadent!

Congratulations Franny!

Add a Comment

In the Swampsea live the Old Ones, horrors as ancient as time. Though the villagers fear the spirits, only the witches can see them. And witches must be hanged. Briony used to roam the marshes as wolfgirl, fast and sly and friend to the dreaded swamp creatures. But that Briony's gone -- she was lost in the fire that destroyed the Old Ones' stories, when Stepmother discovered her guilt and swore never to tell Father. The new Briony holds her deadly secret close, and keeps the world at bay. Yet, things are not always what they seem, and in the Swamp lies a truth that might just set her free.

I can honestly say I've never read anything like Chime -- I bow before Franny Billingsley's imagination. Everything from the language to the plot to the pacing has a style and rhythm all its own in this modern day Grimm's fairy tale. It's clear that Billingsley delights in language, using it in inventive and unusual ways. Her incredible wordsmithery gives flair to this gritty tale. Chime is an intelligent novel, with Dickensian wordplay and echoes of Shakespeare in the metaphysical musings on the immortality of literature. Yet this story is not pedantic or abstruse. The novel is earthy and intuitive, accessible to anyone who enjoys the monsters and magic that lurk in the human imagination.

This isn't a whitewashed Disney tale. Chime is dark and grim and macabre, definitely not a bedtime story for the faint of heart. Billingsley's unflinchingly visceral descriptions will be emblazoned on readers' minds. Life isn't always rainbows and butterflies, and the rawness of the tale acknowledges that truth. Life can be cold, hard, and unfair -- and in this story, it is. Yet there's always light at the end of the tunnel, and Briony's journey out of the darkness is heartening, if harrowing.

It's difficult to pin down the novel's time period -- it is almost timeless. While the Swampsea seems colonial, the allusions are more modern, and the tale itself seems ancient. Briony imbibes this ethereal quality, both wise and naive, selfish and selfless. She lays it all on the table for the reader, and her authenticity is undeniable and bracing. Briony is an unforgettable heroine. Her crystal clear cadence sets the tone for the novel: she can be cold and cynical, yet her life is so spectacularly harsh that readers can't help but sympathize with her. Her wonderful imagination shines through in every word, from her wry use of understatement to the personification of the Swamp which permeates the tale.

Eldric, the electric boy with the lion's eyes, is also not the typical hero. He's like a cross between Henry Tilney and Prince Po -- carefree and playful, yet surprisingly worldly. Readers will fall in love with lion-boy and wolfgirl, as Billingsley shows (not tells) their spine-tingling romance. Though readers may foresee the final truth, it's impossible to tell what twisting path the novel will take to reach it -- just hold on tight and enjoy the ride. Chime is utterly unique and brilliantly creative -- a master class effort from a phenomenal talent.

Rating: 

Click here to purchase Chime by Franny Billingsley. Display Comments Add a Comment

Publisher: Dial (March 17, 2011)
ARC: 320 Pages
Genre: YA Paranormal
Book From: Publisher*

Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.

Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.

Review by Jessica
CHIME, by Franny Billingsley brings you to a story unlike I have ever read before introducing new kinds of monsters, the traditional witches and solid characters to love!

I picked up this book and immediately I knew I was going to love it. It was near impossible to put this down and whenever I did put it down I was thinking about it like a woman obsessed! The plot was new and refreshing with a great narration voice from the main character.

Briony is my favorite character. I felt that I understood her. She is a twin and incredibly protective of her sister who seems to be a little nutty. She puts on a mask for the people around her, and I found that I could relate to that and Franny Billingsley beautifully described her masks and her self hatred for what she was.

Eldric at first to me seemed like the typical guy that comes in and sweeps the girl off her feet but as I progressed through the book I found he wasn't that guy at all and he actually had depth and character. I think I fell for the lion boy-man too.

The monsters in this were great, this unique story really got me excited. Billingsley combined swamp monsters and witches all in one and they all do something wickedly different. With so many monsters I did find it hard to keep up and remember who each of them were but it didn't effect my opinion on the book at all. This book was in one word...terrific.