Review of Before Green Gables, by Budge Wilson

Children's Fiction Review, Historical 0

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Before Green Gables:  The Prequel to Anne of Green Gables, by Budge Wilson

G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 2008.  389 pages.

ISBN: 978-0-399-15468-3 

Before Anne Shirley, the red-headed orphan, came to Green Gables, no one wanted her.  She helped Mrs. Thomas, with all her children and a drunken husband, and then Mrs. Hammond, who had twins three times in succession, before she ended up in an orphanage.

Before Green Gables tells the story of Anne’s first eleven years.  I knew they were hard years, so I thought it would be a depressing book, but of course a hard-core fan of L. M. Montgomery can’t resist reading it.

Although the book didn’t quite reach L. M. Montgomery’s genius, there were moments when I did feel the author had captured Anne’s soul and given us insight into how she might have become the jewel we see in Anne of Green Gables.

I loved the picture Budge Wilson gives us of Anne’s parents, Bertha and Walter Shirley, two schoolteachers, very much in love with each other and with their new baby daughter.  She portrays how the cleaning lady was touched by their lives — enough to take in their baby even when her own house was full.

I like the side characters the author portrayed in Anne’s life, especially the Egg Man, who taught her to love words.  I like the teachers she encounters who feed her soul, so hungry for beauty.

Most of all, this book gave me a story of a girl who cherished transcendent moments and refused bitterness, in spite of a life of drudgery and hardship.  Anne relished beauty and found friendship, even if only in a reflection and an echo.

My own hardships seem small in comparison.  Oh, to be like Anne, finding moments of beauty even when doing so takes great imagination.

This book is a worthy addition to Anne’s legacy.

Link to the review on the main site:

www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/before_green_gables.html

 

Review of The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen, by M. T. Anderson

Children's Fiction Review, Delightfully Silly, Humorous, Light Reading, Mystery, Science Fiction 0
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M. T. Anderson’s Thrilling Tales:
The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen
by M. T. Anderson

Reviewed September 9, 2007.
Harcourt, Orlando, 2006. 243 pages.

This book, another “Thrilling Tale” in the spirit of Whales on Stilts, is a delightful spoof of children’s series books. Both my sons, ages 18 and 12, read this book, and laughed so much and read bits aloud so often, I simply had to read it myself. It may not be great literature or a terribly compelling story, but it is hilariously clever.

Katie Mulligan, her friend Lily, and Jasper Dash, Boy Detective, are ready for a vacation, so they take advantage of a coupon for a free dinner at the Moose Tongue Lodge and Resort. Once there, they learn that the coupons are fake—and many other people, all stars of series books, have received them as well.

Then the Hooper Quints are kidnapped on their way to the hotel. Which of the dashing detectives will be able to solve the mystery? Then a valuable necklace is stolen while people are out searching for the quintuplets. Are the two mysteries tied together?

The story isn’t the point of this book. It’s got lovely unlikely plot twists, just like the series books they are spoofing would have.

Here’s the first section that my 12-year-old felt he HAD to read to me. It’s talking about how Jasper Dash’s books are somewhat out of date.

Often, if you go to a town library and under Keyword Search type “Jasper Dash,” you’ll come up with a list of his books—and beside each one, it says: “Withdrawn. Withdrawn. Withdrawn. Withdrawn.” This means that they are no longer in circulation. Some librarian has taken them off the shelf, wiping away a tear, and has opened the book to the back, where there’s a pouch for a card dating back to the time of the Second World War, and she’ll crumple up the card, and then she and her fellow librarians will take special knives and slice away at the book and will eat the pages in big mouthfuls until the book is all gone, the whole time weeping, because they hate this duty—it is the worst part of their job—for here was a book that was once someone’s favorite, but which now is dead and empty. And the little cheerful face of Jasper Dash, heading off to fight a cattle-rustling ring in his biplane, will still be smiling pluckily as they take their Withdrawal Knives and scratch his book to pieces.

(How did he know?)

A section my 18-year-old was compelled to read to me was actually on the back flap:

M.T. Anderson is seven monkeys, six typewriters, and a Speak & Spell. It took them ten years to write The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen. Their previous books include Adf2yga^vvvv, WpolwOox.S Ppr2dgn shr Elssf, and The Riverside Edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Adf2yga^vvvv was a National Book Award finalist. The M. T. Anderson Monkey collective is located outside Boston. Its hobbies include flash cards, hopping, and grooming for lice. It divides its time between the parallel bars and the banana trough.

 

Who wouldn’t want to read a book with such a blurb?

Here is the review on the main site:  http://www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/linoleum_lederhosen.html

Caddy Ever After, by Hilary McKay

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Light Reading 0

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Caddy Ever After

by Hilary McKay


Reviewed August 12, 2007.
Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster), New York, 2006. 218 pages.
Starred Review. I love the Casson family! Their delightful chaos and artistic creativity are authentic and warm-hearted.

Each of the books features one of the children of the family. In this one, Caddy gets to be in the title and has the most dramatic story, but each kid gets a long section to tell. In many ways, the story is truly about obsessive, creative Rose, who gets to begin and end.

The book begins with Rose telling us about why the Ghost Club has been banned from her school, and her daring rescue attempt.

Then Indigo takes up the story. He begins, “I can only think of two things that Rose is good at. One is art and the other is loving.” Indigo goes on to tell how Rose inspired him to invite Sarah to the Valentine Dance, and how he figured out a way to get her to go, despite her wheelchair.

Saffron then tells about how she lets down her friend Sarah and is haunted by a balloon. Then she ends up lost and stranded with Rose, and they are saved by someone whom Caddy thinks is probably the “Real Thing.”

So Caddy plans a wedding, but Rose is terribly upset. Because Caddy is planning to marry someone who isn’t darling Michael.

Once again, Hilary McKay weaves an absolutely delightful tale.

Review of Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0
Fairest

by Gail Carson Levine


Reviewed July 9, 2007.
HarperCollinsPublishers, New York, 2006. 326 pages.
Starred Review.

Fans of Ella Enchanted, of which I am one, will love Gail Carson Levine’s latest book, loosely based on the fairy tale of Snow White. In fact, the story involves the king who married Ella’s stepsister, Ivi. It turns out he was king of neighboring Ayortha, the home country of Ella’s roommate, where everyone loves to sing and those with beautiful voices are honored.

Aza has one of the most beautiful voices of all, and she finds she can do amazing things with her voice. Unfortunately, she’s terribly ugly.

When Aza gets a chance to go to the king’s castle, the new queen takes special notice of her. Then the king gets injured, and the queen is in charge. She seems only concerned that people think her beautiful. The queen has a mirror. When Aza sees her own reflection in the mirror, she is changed, astonishingly beautiful.

This book doesn’t follow the fairy tale it’s based on as closely as Ella Enchanted does. But the elements of Snow White are there, woven into a story of beauty and power and love and deception. Gail Carson Levine has done it again!