Sonderbooks – Page 203 – Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

based on an original new story by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne

A new play by Jack Thorne

Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic), 2016. 327 pages.

It was lovely to be back in Harry Potter’s world. This play features best friends Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. I liked the look at their friendship and what the wizarding world is like twenty-two years later.

But I didn’t love the story. It’s all about Time Turners and changing history — and trying to fix what happened when that goes wrong. I don’t like time travel stories. It’s far too easy to mess up the internal logic. This story completely strained believability, even in the wizarding world.

Hermione’s Time Turner in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban always brought you back one hour. The Time Turner in this story can go farther back, for only five minutes — but there’s no indication how you set the time you want to go back to.

I won’t even get started on my disagreements with what would happen because of a simple change. And the silliness of people in the original timeline waiting to see if their kids can fix a different timeline or if they would just wink out. Why wouldn’t the Time Turner just bring them back to when they left? (My son told me about the concept of San Dimas time — “San Dimas Time is used when a writer wants to add some against-the-clock tension to a Time Travel story in spite of how little sense that makes.”) After all, Hermione’s Time Turner would have been pointless if it hadn’t worked that way.

Besides that, sloppy Time Travel stories have the effect of making all the stories seem less significant. How do we know in ten more years someone else won’t go back in time to make sure Voldemort doesn’t lose? If the timeline is so fluid, what “really” happened?

Anyway, I probably shouldn’t belabor it. I have several objections to this particular plot. And the play format doesn’t read as nicely as the novel form.

But what I did like? I liked going back into Harry Potter’s world. I liked looking at what it would be like for the son of the famous Harry Potter if he got sorted into Slytherin and had as best friend the son of Draco Malfoy. I liked finding out that the sweet old Trolley Witch has an important job of keeping young wizards and witches on the Hogwarts Express and can get fearsome when crossed.

A small part of me felt like J. K. Rowling is still trying to vindicate herself for killing off Cedric Diggory. (See what would have happened if he hadn’t died!) But mostly this was a fun excursion into a beloved world. I’m looking forward to the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie coming out this Fall. But I don’t think I’d want to read the script. Since I couldn’t go see this play in London — this was the next best thing, but I don’t think I’ll be buying a copy for my own extensive Harry Potter collection.

pottermore.com
arthuralevinebooks.com
scholastic.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/hp_cursed_child.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Aug 4, 2016

Review of Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys

Historical, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Salt to the Sea

by Ruta Sepetys

Philomel Books, 2016. 391 pages.
Starred Review

This is not a cheery book. I knew that, going in. I got the Advance Reader Copy signed by the author and learned that it is about the greatest naval disaster in history, happening in 1945, when nine thousand people lost their lives. The picture on the cover is of empty life preservers floating in a dark sea.

To make things a little worse, the characters in the book don’t even board the ship until the last section of the book. It’s also a book about war.

Knowing all those things, I had a hard time picking up this book! But when I did (on an airplane trip), I was so glad I had. You do come away with a feeling of hope and transcendence, despite huge difficulties the characters face along the way.

I think it’s fair to tell my readers that some people you care about die – but not everyone. It is possible to read this book and feel uplifted at the end, rather than depressed!

And Ruta Sepetys’ writing is outstanding. She does get you caring about these people, seeing from their eyes. The book is all based on fact. The greatest naval disaster in history, yet who in America today has heard of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff?

The author did voluminous research (reflected in the back matter), talking with many survivors as well as people who lost family in the disaster. And then she used all this information to bring the stories to life.

We get the perspectives of four different young adults. Every chapter is very short, and the backgrounds unfold in bits and pieces. We begin with Joana, a nurse of Lithuanian and German descent traveling with a group of refugees, fleeing toward the port city. Then we have Florian, who is Prussian and wounded but also fleeing and hiding an enormous secret. Florian stumbles across Emilia, and rescues her from being raped by a wandering Russian soldier. Emilia has her own secrets, and she’s Polish, who are despised by the Germans. Florian and Emilia join the group of refugees whom Joana is tending.

We also see the perspective of Alfred, who writes letters in his mind to Hannelore, a girl he left behind, about his exploits serving the Reich. We can see by the things that he’s called upon to do that his actual job is not so lofty as he describes it. He is going to be part of the reason our refugees are even able to board the Wilhelm Gustloff.

The background is that Germans are fleeing East Prussia ahead of the Russian army. An enormous evacuation happened in 1945, and this book helps the reader understand those desperate times.

Gradually, we learn the stories of each of the characters. I’m not going to say much more because the unfolding of the stories is part of the brilliance of the book. But we learn how each one was shaped by past choices leading to the road they’re taking now.

This is a wonderful book. I was kind of amazed by the time I finished how much I loved it, despite some of the horrendous things these people went through.

rutasepetys.com
penguinteen.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/salt_to_the_sea.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy signed by the author.

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Aug 3, 2016August 3, 2016

Review of Soar Above, by Steven Stosny

Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth, Starred Review 0

Soar Above

How to Use the Most Profound Part of Your Brain Under Any Kind of Stress

by Steven Stosny, PhD

Health Communications, Deerfield Beach, Florida, 2016. 229 pages.
Starred Review

I think of Steven Stosny as a relationship guru. His book, You Don’t Have to Take It Anymore (retitled Love Without Hurt) dramatically changed my outlook when my marriage was falling apart and helped transform my own anger into compassion. More recently, his book Living and Loving After Betrayal helped my healing process after divorce. I also attended his Compassion Power Boot Camp years ago and enjoy reading his “Anger in the Age of Entitlement” Psychology Today blog.

It was from the blog that I learned about his new book, Soar Above. At last a book for everyone and for every situation of life – not just when you’re in a tough relationship. This book I can recommend to everyone without fearing they’ll think I’m saying something negative about their relationships.

The Preface of the book lists the questions Dr. Stosny is trying to answer:

Why do so many smart and creative people make the same mistakes over and over, in life, work, and love?

At what point does the unavoidable emotional pain of life become entirely avoidable suffering?

How do we escape suffering while remaining vibrant and passionate about life?

Most of this book talks about the tension between the Toddler brain and the Adult brain. They are specific sections of our brain. The Adult brain does develop later in life – but sometimes it’s hard to get out of the habit of reacting with our Toddler brain.

He explains the problem:

The downside of late maturity in the Adult brain is that it comes online after the Toddler brain has already formed habits of coping with the alarms it raises, mostly through blame, denial, and avoidance. Many Adult brain interpretations and explanations under stress are dominated by those habits, which lowers the accuracy of its reality-testing and impairs its ability to make viable judgments. To the extent that Toddler brain habits are reinforced in adulthood, the Adult confuses the alarm with reality, which makes Toddler brain alarms self-validating:

“If I’m angry at you, you must be doing something wrong. If I’m anxious, you must be threatening, rejecting, or manipulative.”

The result is self-fulfilling prophecy. Other people are bound to react negatively to the negativity I transmit.

Fortunately, the Adult brain has the power to override Toddler brain habits and intentionally develop new ones that serve one’s long-term best interests. Developing new habits is not an easy process, but it’s utterly necessary to soaring above.

The Adult brain is good at lots of things, including calming down Toddler brain alarms. But where it really helps us is with its ability to create Value, Meaning, and Purpose.

Value is a special kind of importance that goes beyond survival and biological needs. To value is to make people, things, and ideas important enough to appreciate, nurture, and protect. We create meaning and purpose in our lives by honoring the value we bestow on people, objects, concepts, behaviors, and some notion of spirituality.

A sunset has value if and only if we give it value – that is, invest energy and effort to fully perceive it, which allows us to appreciate it. While it does nothing for the sunset if we value it, valuing it does wonders for us. The moment of value creation makes us feel more vital, engaged, interested, and appreciative – in short, more alive. Life means more at the instant we create value, just as it means less when we’re not creating value. Most positive emotion, passion, meaning, purpose, and conviction come from creating and protecting value, and much emptiness, aggression, and depression result from failure to create value.

I’m posting lots of quotations from this book on my Sonderquotes blog. I’m also going to reread it to help its message sink in.

If you ever feel bogged down in your Toddler brain, reacting with blame, denial, and avoidance; if you’d like to feel more Meaning and Purpose in your life, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

Anger in the Age of Entitlement
Compassionpower.com
hcibooks.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/soar_above.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on my own book, purchased via Amazon.com.

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Jul 31, 2016August 16, 2021

Fibonacci Blanket – Finished!

Mathematical 0

I finished my Fibonacci Blanket to give to my little niece Meredith!

The blanket is a Golden Rectangle, with a Golden Spiral, based on the Fibonacci numbers.

Here’s how the Fibonacci sequence works. You start with 1, then each number in the sequence is the sum of the two previous numbers.

So the sequence goes: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, …. To get the next number, just add up the two previous numbers.

To make a Golden Rectangle, start with a square with sides of length 1. On the side of that square, make a square that touches it and has sides of length 1. For the next square, use the sides of the two previous squares next to each other. So that square will have sides of length 1 + 1 = 2.

Spiral the squares around so that the sides of the new squares are always the sum of the two previous squares. This Golden Rectangle that results (all these squares together) is a pleasing proportion to human eyes. If you extend the Fibonacci series out and take the average of each number divided by the previous entry, it gets closer and closer to ?, phi, the Golden Mean.

You can also make a Fibonacci Spiral inside the Golden Rectangle by inscribing a semicircle inside each square. My semicircles aren’t perfect in this blanket (I eyeballed them.), but I think it gives the idea.

To make the blanket I chose shades of pink once I found out the baby would be a girl. I began with one color in the square for 1. The next square used stripes of that color and a new, slightly lighter color. The next square used the colors for each of the two previous squares and added a new color. I just alternated rows with each of the three colors.

That was the pattern I used for the rest of the blanket. Mirroring the Fibonacci Sequence, I used a color from each of the two previous squares and added a new color representing the new square.

Then I crocheted a chain-stitch Golden Spiral on the finished blanket.

I did the blanket in garter stitch, since that stitch is the best for squares. If the number of ridges and number of stitches are equal, you’ll get a square.

My unit square had six ridges (twelve rows), so one unit was six ridges. I went up to 21, so my final square was 21 x 6 = 126 stitches wide and 126 ridges high.

Best of all, the colors turned out very pretty for my lovely niece Meredith!

Jul 27, 2016

Review of Booked, by Kwame Alexander

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Poetry, Starred Review 0

Booked

by Kwame Alexander

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 2016. 314 pages.
Starred Review

A sports novel in verse is pretty much the last sort of book I’d pick up on my own. But this one is nominated for Capitol Choices, and I did love Newbery-winning The Crossover, so I picked up this book last night and ended up reading it in one sitting. I’d forgotten just how good Kwame Alexander’s poetry is.

The story revolves around Nick Hall, a kid who loves soccer. His Dad is a professor of linguistics and he requires Nick to read from his dictionary called Weird and Wonderful Words. Nick hates this task – but his writing – the poems in this book – is peppered with weird and wonderful words, defined in the footnotes. The words include things like limerence, sweven, cachinnate, and logorrhea.

Nick’s got some conflict going on. His best friend’s on an opposing soccer team. There’s a girl he likes. Issues with teachers. He wants to compete in the Dallas Cup, but first his parents, then his own health gets in the way. But the big overarching problem is conflict between his parents.

The story is good, and compelling (I didn’t, after all, put it down until I’d finished.), but what makes the book truly wonderful is Kwame Alexander’s poetry.

He varies the formats so beautifully. There are poems that rhyme. There are acrostic poems. There are poems in two voices. There are long poems and short poems. There are poems made by blacking out all but a few words on the pages of a book. There are poems in two voices to show conversations.

Here’s a short one:

Problemo
The girls
let down
their ponytails,
high-five
their coach,
then walk over
to shake
our sweaty palms
after beating us
five to three.

Here’s another:

Thought

It does not take
a math genius
to understand that
when you subtract
a mother
from the equation
what remains
is negative.

One of my favorites rhymes, but gives away what happens, so I won’t include that one.

And I must confess – all the white space of a verse novel did make it easier to keep going until I finished. I’m sure it will act on kids the same way, too. A verse novel and a sports novel is a great combination. It’s also a novel about words and about issues important to eighth-graders. A win all around.

hmhco.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/booked.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Jul 24, 2016July 24, 2016

Sonderling Sunday – Odd-Fish Chapter 21

Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, Sonderling Sunday 0

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! – That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.

This week I’m back to the book that started it all, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, otherwise known as The Order of Odd-Fish, by James Kennedy.

Last time, we finished up Chapter 20. We are really making progress in this book! Tonight I’m not planning to spend a lot of time — but we will tackle the beginning of Kapitel 21

The first sentence is a good one to know:
“Rainy season struck hard.”
= Die Regenzeit schlug diesmal hart zu.

“flying ocean” = fliegender Ozean

Ha! This one’s shorter in German:
“Thunder banged and growled at all hours”
= Es donnerte unaufhörlich
(“It thundered incessantly.” Hmmm. Seems like the translator got a little lazy there.)

But this one’s not shorter:
“fog wrapped the mountain in an unbreakable cloud”
= Nebel hüllte den Berg in eine undurchdringliche Wolke
(“Fog shrouded the mountain in an impenetrable cloud”)

We’ve seen this before, but it’s still fun to say:
“muddy rivers” = schleimige Flüsse

“droned” = prasselte (“pattered”)

“leaky ceilings” = löchrigen Decken

“don’t worry about that” = machen Sie sich deshalb keine Sorgen

“enough fight” = genug Mumm

“pulled her jacket closer” = schmiegte sich in ihre Jacke
(“snuggled herself in her jacket”)

That’s the first section of Chapter 21. It’s short, but I’m going to call it a night and do some schmiegen.

Bis bald!

Jul 23, 2016

Review of This Is My Home, This Is My School, by Jonathan Bean

Contemporary, Picture Book Review 0

This Is My Home, This Is My School

by Jonathan Bean

Farrar Straus Giroux, New York, 2015. 48 pages.

This is a picture book about homeschooling, created by the brilliant illustrator Jonathan Bean.

The text is simple. It explains that their living space and classroom space are the same, and that they have a very large playground. It talks about the field trips they take in their school bus (the family van) and the art room that is the top of a hill where they can see the world.

The text is simple, but the pictures show all kinds of activities.

Most fun is this sequence:

Sometimes our teacher gets tired very easily.
[A two-page spread showing Mom taking care of multiple tasks.]

Oh no, she’s calling for help!

This is the substitute teacher.

This is our dad!

At the back, we see photos of Jonathan Bean and his sisters from the days when they were homeschooled.

This book is recommended for all homeschooled families. Finally, a picture book about them!

jonathanbean.com
mackids.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/my_home_my_school.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Jul 23, 2016

Review of My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, by Cari Best and Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Contemporary, Picture Book Review 0

My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay

by Cari Best
pictures by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Margaret Ferguson Books (Farrar Straus Giroux), New York, 2015. 40 pages.

I’m reviewing this book in the interest of promoting diversity. It’s a message book, yes – about a day in the life of a blind girl – but the message is done well, and done through story.

Zulay narrates the story, telling about her classroom and her three best friends. It takes the reader awhile to realize Zulay is blind, because that’s not the most important thing about her.

In fact, Zulay goes through a large part of her day before anything really stands out. She gets to school, links arms with her friends and skips down the hall. She greets the hall lady and notices her new perfume. She hugs her teacher, comes into her classroom, hangs up her bag, takes down her chair, and sits at her desk. She talks about her new pink running shoes and has to be reminded to raise her hand.

Zulay needs help drawing shapes, but then she is able to help her friend Maya with addition and tens and ones.

There have been hints, but we understand how things are different for Zulay when it’s time for writing and she takes out her Brailler. Later we learn about Zulay’s frustration as she works with Ms. Turner to learn how to use a cane.

But Zulay conquers her frustration and gets to run in her pink running shoes on Field Day.

This is a nice way to get kids thinking and talking about the lives of others. As well as telling the story of a blind girl whose hopes and joys are similar to those of her friends.

oohlaladesignstudio.blogspot.com
mackids.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/zulay.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Jul 19, 2016

Review of The Complete Peanuts, 1999-2000, by Charles M. Schulz

Humorous, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

The Complete Peanuts

The Definitive Collection of Charles M. Schulz’s Comic Strip Masterpiece

Dailies and Sundays plus Li’l Folks

1999 to 2000

by Charles M. Schulz

introduction by President Barack Obama

Fantagraphics Books, 2016. 315 pages.
Starred Review

This series is wonderful. Every single Peanuts strip is reproduced, in order. My family has been following it since the series began in 2004 with the 1950 to 1952 volume.

I reviewed the first several volumes, but then decided there wasn’t a lot more to say. They are brilliant, and it is wonderful that Fantagraphics is assembling this collection.

My son and I wondered what they would do with the final volume, since Charles Schulz died in February 2000, so the book would only be half as long.

The solution Fantagraphics came up with delighted us — they reprinted Li’l Folks, a cartoon panel series that Charles Schulz drew from 1947 to 1950 for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. You can see some things that showed up in the early Peanuts strips directly quoted.

It has been a tremendous treat to read all of the Peanuts cartoons over these past twelve years. And now one more volume is promised, with “bonus material and rarities.” I can’t wait!

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/complete_peanuts_9900.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Jul 17, 2016July 17, 2016

Sonderling Sunday – Das Buch der Tausend Tage, Day 160

Sonderling Sunday 0

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books, sort of a Very Silly Phrasebook for Travelers.

Today I’m going back to my beloved Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale, Das Buch der Tausend Tage.

Last time on this book, we finished Tag 158 of Dashti and her lady’s time in the tower. Today we begin Day 160.

As usual, I will simply quote interesting words and phrases and show how they were translated. I hope that this gives you a taste of the wonderful writing in this book without giving away the plot.

“Times I’ve asked them for news of the world”
= Hin und wieder habe ich sie gefragt, was es in der Welt Neues gibt
(“Here and again have I them asked, what there in the world new is.”)

This is nothing new, but always fun to say in German:
“fresh meat” = frisches Fleisch

“held open” = hochhielt

“snorted” = schnaubend

Interesting. They don’t just call the color “peach.”
“peach” = pfirschfarben (“peach-color”)

“shades” = Schattierungen

“wondrous” = wundersam

“The guard laughed like a horse snorts.”
= Der Wächter lachte wie ein wieherndes Pferd.
(“The guard laughed like a neighing horse.”)

“he was sorry for us, and he was sorry for being sorry.”
= wir taten ihm leid, und es tat ihm leid, dass wir ihm leidtaten.

And I have to note any Sonderwords:
“They weren’t nice words he said.”
= Sonderlich nett waren seine Worte nicht.
(“Especially nice were his words not.”)

Interesting that the translator changes some of the metaphors.
“having made a person feel rubbed down to bones”
= mir den Boden unter den Füßen wegzuziehen
(“the floor under my feet pulled away from me”)

“rubbish heap” = Unrathaufen

“god of tricks” = Gott der Streiche

“stone hearts” = versteinerte Herzen

“chick” = Küken

Tag 162

“first breath” = erster Hauch

“friskier” = munterer

“jump and play” = hüpfen und spielen

“bits of salt meat” = Leckerbissen aus Salzfleisch

“rounded more than straight” = krummer (“crooked”)

“dim” = trüb (“cloudy”)

“buds” = Knospen

“winter hideaway” = winterlichen Zufluchtsort

I will stop there, at the end of Day 180, before Tag 223, when some awful things happen.

Meanwhile, may this week find you munterer than before.