Sonderling Sunday – Chapter Two, Part Two

Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, Sonderling Sunday 0

It’s Sonderling Sunday again! “Nerd Sonntag,” where I play with language by looking at German translations of bizarre English words and phrases as found in James Kennedy’s The Order of Odd-Fish.

Last time, I left off on page 16 of The Order of Odd-Fish, and page 25 of Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge.

Let me begin with the first paragraph of this next section:

Jo’s bathroom, like everything else at Lily Larouche’s palace, was a gilded wreck of red and gold marble, kaleidoscopic mirrors, and frenzied geometric mosaics, dimly lit by dozens of spicy smoking candles sprouting from a brass chandelier so mammoth and ornate it seemed like a fiery flying city. Jo lay soaking in the ivory bathtub, the silence broken only by the distant chatter of the television, and thought about Aunt Lily.

(Side note: You can see why this book is such a rich source to look at for interesting words to translate! I mean, what phrase book would ever think to translate “kaleidoscopic” or “frenzied geometric mosaics”? No wonder these German words are new to me!)

Here’s the same paragraph in Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge:

Jos Badezimmer war, wie alles andere in Lily Larouches Palast auch, ein vergoldetes Wrack aus rotem und goldenem Marmor, kaleidoskopartigen Spiegeln und verrückten geometrischen Mosaiken. Dutzende Duftkerzen tauchten alles in ein dämmriges Licht. Sie brannten in einem Messinglüster, der so riesig und so von Ornamenten überladen war, dass er wie eine gewaltige fliegende Stadt wirkte. Jo lag in der Badewanne aus Elfenbein. Die stille wurde nur von dem fernen Geplärr des Fernsehgerätes und ihren Gedanken an Tante Lily gestört.

Note: I’m going to use Google translate to get at more literal translations of the German, to get at the roots of what’s being communicated here.

Well, the ones I was looking forward to aren’t quite as interesting as some others. But here we go:

“kaleidoscopic mirrors” = kaleidoskopartigen Spiegeln

“frenzied geometric mosaics” = verrückten geometrischen Mosaiken (I’ve also seen verrückten used to translate “crazy.”)

This one has a lilt to it:
“dozens of spicy candles” = Dutzende Duftkerzen
The sentence itself, Dutzende Duftkerzen tauchten alles in ein dämmriges Licht, translates more literally into: “Dozens of scented candles appeared in a dusky light.”

“brass chandelier” = Messinglüster (“brass shine”)

“ivory” = Elfenbein (“elven bone”? Or is this related to Elefant?)

“distant chatter” = fernen Geplärr (“far bawling”)

My favorite from that paragraph is Dutzende Duftkerzen. I always like the translations that turn out more mellifluous than the original. (I still like saying gefährlichen Gefährtin to myself. Or Papperlapapp!)

I won’t do the full paragraphs for this next part, but here are some fun words:

“handyman” = Faktotum (I had no idea that was a German word.)

“shuffled” = schlurfte (Now that is fun to say! I’m going to schlurfe around my house today.)

“pink foam” = rosafarbenem Schaum

“squirreled away” = eingesperrt (Google: “incarcerated”)

“prowling” = schleichen (“sneak”)

“practiced” = übte

“curiosity” = Neugier (“new greed” — love that! “Curiosity” is a greed for the new!)

“secretly” = insgeheim (“in mystery”)

This one just sounds good:
“what the world was really like” = wie die Welt wirklich war

“stunt” = Art von Nummer (“type of number”)

“frustrated” = frustriert

Here’s another section, so I’ll give the opening paragraph again:

Es war fast Zeit für Jo, zur Arbeit zu gehen. Sie stieg aus ihrem Bad, trocknete sich ab und zog ihre Kellnerinnen-Uniform an: ein pinkfarbenes kratziges Polyesterkleid, das ihr nicht wirklich passte. Dann ging sie nach oben und sah nach Oberst Korsakov.

In English:

It was almost time for Jo to go to work. She got out of her bath, dried off, and changed into her waitress uniform — a pink, itchy polyester dress that didn’t really fit — and went to check on Colonel Korsakov.

Wait a minute! Before “pink” was rosa, and now it’s just pink? Hmm. Maybe German is giving us different shades of pink?

I love “itchy” = kratziges Doesn’t that just sound itchy?

Reading on:
“knocked” = klopfte

“Jo hesitated, then cautiously tiptoed into the darkened room.” = Jo zögerte, öffnete die Tür und schlich auf Zehenspitzen behutsam in den dunklen Raum.

Of course, that gives us:
“hesitated” = zögerte

“tiptoed” = schlich auf Zehenspitzen (“crept on pointed toes”)

“cautiously” = behutsam

Oo, this next paragraph is so lovely in English, it demands mentioning in its entirety:

Korsakov lay on the sagging bed, snoring and snorting, his stomach heaving under his pajamas like an unsteady mountain of jelly. Jo stared in a kind of awe. Korsakov was somehow even more colossal than she remembered — like an exuberantly portly walrus.

Auf Deutsch:

Der Russe lag auf dem Bett, dessen Matratze durchhing, und schnarchte aus Leibeskräften. Sein Bauch hob sich in dem Pyjama wie ein wabbelnder Berg aus Gelatine. Jo starrte ihn fast ehrfürchtig an. Korsakov war noch kolossaler, als sie ihn in Erinnerung hatte, er schaute aus wie ein ausgesprochen korpulentes Walross.

Some more good ones from that:
“sagging” = durchhing (“hanging through”)

This one’s better in English: “snoring and snorting” = schnarchte aus Leibeskräften (“snored with all his might”)

But this makes up for it: “an unsteady mountain of jelly” = wabbelnder Berg aus Gelatine (I don’t know about you, but I really like wabbelnder.)

“awe” = ehrfürchtig (“glory fear” I like that!)

And of course, we can’t let this one go by:
“an exuberantly portly walrus” = ausgesprochen korpulentes Walross (ausgesprochen by itself I would have thought was “outspoken,” but Google translates it “pronounced.” That works, though we don’t really have “exuberance.” But what can you do? Is “exuberantly portly” such a bizarre concept that it can’t be translated? Really?)

Going on, some more choice translations:

“wadded up” = zusammengeknüllten (“together crumpled”)

“gurgling chimes” = glucksende Glöckchen (“clucking little bells”! Again, the German is more mellifluous.)

Ah! This time they do a little better with the onomatopoeia:
“murmuring beeps and bloops” = murmelndes Piepen und Ploppen

“crank” = Kurbel

Here’s another one much more fun to say in German:
“The dirty rag!” = Dieses schmutzige Schmierblatt!

“Shameless!” = Unverschämtheit!

Okay, I’ve been waiting for the introduction of Sefino. Here’s the section in German:

Eine gigantische Kakerlake hatten den Raum betreten. Sie war mindestens einen Meter fünfzig gro?, trug einen violetten Samtanzug, darunter ein Seidenhemd, eine Krawatte und einen Bowler auf dem Kopf. Im Knopfloch steckte eine grüne Nelke. Die Kakerlake hielt mit vier Armen eine Zeitung, die sie durch ein Monokel studierte. Jo wich zurück, aber das Insekt nahm sie kaum war.

In English:

A giant cockroach had walked into the room, three feet tall, wearing a purple velvet suit with a silk shirt, cravat, and bowler hat. A green carnation was fixed in its buttonhole. The cockroach clutched a newspaper with four arms, reading it through a monocle. Jo backed away, but the insect barely acknowledged her.

Don’t miss this one: “giant cockroach” = gigantische Kakerlake (May I never ever have a reason to know that!)

I think this is funny. The translator is very literal with the translation of “three feet tall,” using einen Meter fünfzig gro?, using “one meter, fifty centimeters” instead of just saying about a meter. And wait a minute, a meter is slightly more than three feet, not fifty centimeters less. What’s up with that?

“buttonhole” = Knopfloch

More fun words:
“Libel!” = Verleumdung!

“Outrage!” = Frechheit! (“cheekiness”)

“Shootings, canings, and bludgeonings from the sky enlivened the evening” = Schie?ereien, Züchtigungen und Prügel aus heiterem Himmel belebten den Abend

Oh, here’s a chandelier again:
“a frightful glass chandelier that, I maintain, was improperly installed” = ein furchterregender Kristalllüster, der, worauf ich bestehe, nicht sachgemä? installiert war (Don’t you love a language where the proper spelling of a word can involve three Ls in a row?)

“Chatterbox” = Plaudertasche

“Will I never be rid of these rumor-mongering muckrakers?” = Werde ich diesen im Schlamm wühlenden Dreckspatzen denn niemals entkommen? (“Will I never escape burrowing in the mud with these dirt sparrows?”)

“intestines” = Dickdarm (“large intestine” Don’t ask!)

Oh, Sefino’s dictation must be quoted:

Dear Eldritch Snitch. I slap you with the satin glove of righteous wrath! From what noxious nest of nattering nincompoopery do you release your rancorous roosters of rumor . . .

This translates to:

Liebe Schauerliche Petze! Ich ohrfeige Euch mit dem Seidenhandschuh rechtschaffenen Zorns! Aus welchem verderbten Nest schwatzhafter Einfaltspinsel Ihr Eure boshaften, aufgeblasenen Gerüchte . . .

Some notable translations:

“Eldritch Snitch” = Schauerliche Petze (“gruesome sneak”)

“I slap you with the satin glove of righteous wrath!” = Ich ohrfeige Euch mit dem Seidenhandschuh rectschaffenen Zorns! (“I box you on the ears with the silk hand shoe of righteous scorn!”)

Alas! The alliteration of the last sentence seems untranslatable. We do have:
“noxious” = verderbten
“nattering” = schwatzhafter (“chatty”)
“nincompoopery” = Einfaltspinsel (“simpleton”)
“rancorous roosters of rumor” = boshaften, aufgeblasenen Gerüchte (“evil overblown rumors”)

Going on:
“narrowed his eyes” = kniff die Augen zusammen (“pinched his eyes together”)

“Jo had just about had enough.” = Jetzt hatte Jo die Nase endgültig voll. (“Now Jo’s nose was finally full.”) Love it!

“tied up” = gefesselt

“upsidedown” = kopfüber (head over)

“You’re never so happy as when you have a nice fresh bullet lodged in your belly.” = Sie sind nur dann glücklich, wenn Sie eine hübsche neue Kugel in Ihrem Wanst haben.

“You deliberately enrage armed lunatics!” = Sie ermutigen diese bewaffeneten Verrückten doch absichtlich!

“Boiling Brezhnevs!” = Brodelnde Breschnews!

Not as good in German: “We meander, we drift.” = Wir folgen verschlungenen Pfaden, wir treiben umher. (“We follow tortuous paths, we drive around.”)

“I once gallivanted” = Einmal habe ich mich sogar herumgetrieben.

“powdered wigs” = gepuderter Perücken (Another one more fun to say in German.)

“Danish” = Kopenhagener (Same idea, there. It’s talking about the pastry.)

“sighed loudly” = seufzte vernehmlich

“in a small voice” = klang kläglich (“rang miserably”) Nice and alliterative.

“coughed” = räusperte

“pile” = Haufen

“doubt” = bezweifle (This has the word for “two,” zwei, in it. Like “doubt” comes from “double”? Wavering between two opinions?)

Okay, I got through the rest of Chapter Two! Perhaps I can make progress after all…. Now that I know more of the words, I’m pausing to translate only the most interesting. But they still haven’t gotten to Eldritch City, so I know there will be many more interesting phrases to come! And I hope I’ve intrigued some readers into reading the inimitable book The Order of Odd-Fish in order to find out the context of some of these phrases! Enjoy!

Battle of the Books Round Two!

Events, General 0

As of today, Round One of School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids’ Books is complete, and today things really heated up! You can tell from the comments, I wasn’t the only one disappointed when Okay for Now was knocked out today.

As far as predicting went, I was feeling cocky when my first five predictions won. Then, alas, my next three lost, so my top bracket looks like I wanted it to (except for the awful fact of two favorites competing against each other next round), but the bottom half is full of books I’m just not as crazy about, especially since the one I got right in the bottom half wasn’t a big favorite, anyway.

But I’m now ready to talk about how I’d like the rest of the Battle to go. Will I get my way? Probably not. I usually don’t. But I’m sure that there will be some eloquent explanations made, even when I think the judges are woefully misguided.

Round Two, Match One: Amelia Lost vs. Between Shades of Gray

For this one, I’m definitely rooting for Between Shades of Gray. Because it made me forget it wasn’t nonfiction, but also caught me up in the plight of the characters.

Now, the judge for this contest is Marc Aronson, who writes excellent Children’s Nonfiction himself. Will that bias him toward picking Amelia Lost? Well, I’m going to go with my old tried and true guess that judges usually pick the book least like the ones they write. Though I strongly suspect Marc Aronson might be an exception to that rule, since the one I really want to win is Between Shades of Gray, I’ll stick with that choice as my prediction.

Round Two, Match Two, my heartbreaker match:
Chime vs. Daughter of Smoke and Bone

When I ranked my 2011 Sonderbooks Stand-outs, I listed Daughter of Smoke and Bone ahead of Chime (just barely), and I’m going to stand by that ranking. Both books feel like innovative, creative, something-new fantasy stories, so I loved both. Some accused Daughter of being just another paranormal romance, but Laini Taylor was writing fantasy tales based on less well-known folklore long before the paranormal rage, so I definitely don’t think she was copying anyone. I didn’t like the love-at-first-sight aspect — until the back story was given and I found out why it wasn’t actually love at first sight. I do know I’m really really looking forward to seeing how the story develops in the next installment. (The worst thing about Daughter of Smoke and Bone was the way it “ended”: “To be continued…”)

Given how I feel about these books, you won’t be surprised at my prediction/hopes for
Round Three, Match One:
I want whichever book wins Round Two, Match Two to defeat whichever book wins Round Two, Match One. Because I like both Chime and Daughter of Smoke and Bone better than Between Shades of Gray or Amelia Lost.

Now, the bottom half, where my favorites are not doing as well:

Round Two, Match Three:
Drawing from Memory vs. Inside Out and Back Again

I definitely want Drawing from Memory to win.

Round Two, Match Four:
Life: An Exploded Diagram vs. Wonderstruck

I definitely want Wonderstruck to win.

I don’t think I need to go over again the things I didn’t like about Life and Inside Out and Back Again. I read all four and only chose to review two. You can read those reviews to see the things I liked about the two I reviewed.

Then, for Round Three, Match Two:
If my predictions are right, and this is Drawing from Memory vs. Wonderstruck, I would be torn, but I think I’d want Drawing from Memory to win.

If either of those books loses in Round Two, I want the other to win Round Three. If both of them lose Round Two, I would probably pick Life over Inside Out and Back Again, but wouldn’t feel strongly about that choice, because I’d want them to lose the next round!

For the Final Round?
Okay, I’m really hoping that Okay for Now wins the Undead Poll. If not, then whichever book loses Round Two, Match Two.

Not considering the Undead, I want whichever book wins Round Three, Match One to defeat whichever book wins Round Three, Match Two. Except maaaaaaybe if it were Amelia Lost vs. Drawing from Memory. In my Sonderbooks Stand-outs, I ranked Drawing from Memory just higher, and I should really stand by that.

Now, throwing the Undead winner in there could change it. I’ll post again after the Undead winner is announced. In general, my top three books in the tournament are Okay for Now, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and Chime probably-but-not-necessarily-definitely in that order. So if Okay for Now does win the Undead Poll, I want it to win. Otherwise, I’ll go with the winner of the top half. If we end up with Daughter of Smoke and Bone vs. Chime, I’ll have to go with the opinion expressed above, with Daughter edging out Chime.

Clear as fog? You know I won’t be able to resist further comments as the tournament continues. I am pleased with the set of books left after the first round. And whatever happens, it’s going to be entertaining!

Review of Wonderstruck, by Brian Selznick

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

Wonderstruck

A Novel in Words and Pictures

by Brian Selznick

Scholastic Press, New York, 2011. 637 pages.
Starred Review
2012 Battle of the Kids’ Books Contender

Brian Selznick did something amazing with The Invention of Hugo Cabret, telling half the story with pictures. The pictures were so excellent, he won the Caldecott Medal for his work.

Now, with Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick has created another work that will fill readers with wonder. The form is very similar to Hugo Cabret, but the book has a logic and beauty of its own. In both books, the writing didn’t draw me in, didn’t make me feel for the characters as much as I wanted to. However, Wonderstruck pulled me in anyway with the characters. Where, to me personally, Hugo Cabret felt like a clever puzzle, Wonderstruck is a brilliant puzzle wrapped up in a heart-warming story and fascinating historical details.

In Hugo Cabret, the detailed pictures evoked the silent films the story was about. In Wonderstruck, we’ve got two separate stories going on. The written narrative is set in 1977, beginning in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota, and the story told through the pictures is set in 1927, beginning in Hoboken, New Jersey. The story in 1927 is about a deaf girl, so silent pictures, like the silent movies she loves, are appropriate for her story. The two stories converge in New York City at the end of the book.

The author’s Acknowledgements at the end reveal the vast amount of research he did and his incredible attention to historical detail. This book is an amazing work of art in the way he wove together words and pictures, but also two separate stories into one. He even makes the pacing the same as he tells the stories. When one child is running away, so does the other. When one child is discovering things, so does the other.

I do love having Brian Selznick’s books there to offer to children. They look like a big, daunting book — but with all the pictures, can be read quite quickly. So even reluctant readers can read an “Award Winner” and thoroughly enjoy it.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/wonderstruck.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 I got at ALA Annual Conference.

Review of A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness

Fantasy, Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

A Monster Calls

by Patrick Ness
Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd

Candlewick Press, 2011. 105 pages.
Starred Review
2012 Battle of the Kids’ Books Contender

This is a novel about a thirteen-year-old boy named Conor whose mother is dealing with cancer. His father recently left them, so they live alone. At least for as long as his grandma stays away. At school, Conor has to deal with bullying. He acts out at times, and everyone, teachers and kids, tiptoes around him because of what is happening with his mother.

“The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.”

The monster comes over and over again. No one else can see the monster. But it leaves yew leaves in Conor’s room. It damages Conor’s house.

The monster tells him three tales. Three tales that Conor doesn’t like. Three tales that pack a punch. When those are done, what is the truth that Conor needs to tell, and will he have the strength to tell it?

The illustrations in this book are atmospheric and creepy, pulling the reader into the dark, sinister setting. Everything about this book works.

However, let me just say that if you’re a recently divorced mother living with your teenage son and you’re experiencing strange medical symptoms, this book is not a good choice. This fact makes me think the book might not be a great choice for someone whose mother actually has cancer. It’s great for building empathy in kids who are not going through something similar right now, but it might be too discouraging if the situation feels at all like it’s matching life. Let’s just say the outcome for the mother is not good.

For me, I had a stroke last July, and thought I’d come off very lucky, with no permanent disability and the stroke never touching my higher thinking. Then in October, I had a weird setback, feeling like I did right after the stroke again. After another setback, I saw the neurologist. He wasn’t very impressed by my low-grade dizziness and feeling “funny,” but then he did a neurological exam. When he saw I was seeing double if I looked up and to the right (my left eye not tracking with my right eye), he told me I’d probably had another stroke! This was December 23rd. He told me to get an MRI done the next week and see him the week after that. I tried to make an appointment to see him, and they gave me January 25th.

Now, I’d been laboring under the belief that the fact I was on Coumadin would keep me from having a second stroke. After this appointment, I had some days off because of Christmas. After Christmas, at work I noticed that now I was seeing double if I looked up and to the left. I called the neurologist’s office and they told me to go to the ER, but the ER didn’t find anything new wrong. I had more days off for New Year’s and felt awful but just wasn’t sure what the symptoms meant.

Then I read A Monster Calls for Heavy Medal blog’s shortlist. Can I just say this was really bad timing? When I originally had the stroke, I wasn’t very scared because I had no idea what was going on and I hadn’t read about all the bad things that can happen as the result of a stroke. It was a holiday weekend, I felt awful, and my neurologist’s office was closed. And I’m reading a book about the recently divorced mother of a teenage son dying. Is it so surprising that I freaked out? (Actually, after I thought about that connection, I decided to blame my freaking out directly on A Monster Calls, and then I felt much better.)

So, all this is to say: This book is outstanding. It’s atmospheric, powerful, well-written and hard-hitting. But be careful when you read it.

www.candlewick.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/monster_calls.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 the Fairfax County Public Library.

Review of Heart and Soul, by Kadir Nelson

Award Winners, Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Heart and Soul

The Story of America and African Americans

by Kadir Nelson

Balzer & Bray, 2011. 108 pages.
2012 Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner
2012 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
2012 Battle of the Kids’ Books Contender
Starred Review

Kadir Nelson’s paintings, as usual, are stunningly beautiful in this book. His use of light makes the people seem warm and alive.

In this book, he takes the voice of an old woman whose family has been in America from the start. She talks about the slaves who fought in the Revolutionary War. Then she talks about her grandfather, Pap, who was born in Africa, captured in 1850 when he was only six years old, and brought to America. She traces all the changes Pap saw — The Civil War, Reconstruction, moving West, the Great Migration, and through the Depression and the Second World War. She talks about the Civil Rights Movement as she saw it herself, and finishes up with an Epilogue that includes these paragraphs:

“Forty-five years after Dr. King spoke on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, I marched my old legs to the polls along with millions of other Americans to vote in an historic election. It was the first time that an African American — Barack Obama — had won the Democratic nomination and appeared on the national ballot for president of the United States. As I cast my vote, I thought about my grandfather Pap, who didn’t live to see this moment, and my three children and two brothers, who did; I thought about my mother and father, and my aunts and uncles; I thought about Abe Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman; I thought about presidents Kennedy and Johnson, Dr. King, Thurgood Marshall, the Freedom Riders, the marchers, and all the people who lived and died so that I might walk into this booth and cast my vote. I thought about them all and smiled; and as I walked away, I closed my eyes and said, ‘Thank you.’

“Our centuries-long struggle for freedom and equal rights had helped make the American promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness a reality for all Americans. We have come a mighty long way, honey, and we still have a good ways to go, but that promise and the right to fight for it is worth every ounce of its weight in gold. It is our nation’s heart and soul.”

The words alone of this book make a grand, sweeping story of African-American contributions to American life, but combined with the paintings, this book has majesty.

Kadir Nelson’s art continues to be breathtaking. He shows you the dignity and beauty of his subjects.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/heart_and_soul.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 the Fairfax County Public Library.

Battle of the Kids’ Books, Week Two

Events 0

School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids’ Books has completed it’s first week, and I guessed EVERY match correctly! Go me!

Maybe it’s helping that this year, for the first time, I’ve read ALL the contenders. Mind you, I only finished them this week, but I did finish every book before its match. And tonight, I posted a review of a book in Monday’s match, The Grand Plan to Fix Everything.

So it’s time to post my picks for the rest of the first round. I have no more excuses.

But right away, Monday’s match, Drawing from Memory vs. The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, is a super tough match to decide.

Before I read Grand Plan, I was sure Drawing from Memory would win. It’s a unique book, not quite a graphic memoir, not quite a picture book, and a true story as well. It doesn’t fit well with Newbery or Caldecott criteria, but it’s definitely a distinguished book.

Grand Plan has the disadvantage of being in Present Tense, which I hate, but the book itself completely won me over. And I find myself thinking we need a few light-hearted books in this Battle. Things are a bit dreary so far. On top of that, Barbara O’Connor’s books are much more like Grand Plan than Drawing from Memory, and I know from painful experience that judges often don’t pick the book most like their own. But it’s really hard for me not to tap her as choosing The Grand Plan to Fix Everything. It seems almost like a book she would have written.

But on reflection, for excellence in art and story, for NOT being in present tense, and for being least like a book the judge would write herself, I’m going to pick Drawing from Memory. But I won’t be sad if I’m wrong — it would be nice to have a light-hearted book left in the second round.

I’m afraid the other Round One matches were pretty easy for me. Let’s just say I didn’t like Life: An Exploded Diagram or Inside Out and Back Again enough to review them. Okay, let’s say a little more. Life felt like a literary book for adults, not a book for teens, since a lot of the book is from an adult’s perspective. If I had picked it up expecting a literary book for adults, I probably would have enjoyed it more, though it still wouldn’t have been a favorite. With Inside Out and Back Again, it was up against my not being terribly fond of prose poems. Besides that, it reminded me of K. A. Applegate’s Home of the Brave, which aroused a lot more sympathy in me, for some reason.

That makes my pick for Match Six, Heart and Soul, and my pick for Match Seven, A Monster Calls.

Match Eight, Okay for Now vs. Wonderstruck, was more difficult. I did think Wonderstruck was brilliant, and I wish it weren’t up against that book I championed all year long, Okay for Now. So despite Wonderstruck‘s excellence, for Match Eight, I have to go with my favorite middle grade book in this competition (How’s that for couching my words?), Okay for Now.

I’ve written reviews for Heart and Soul, A Monster Calls, and Wonderstruck, and will try to post them all before their matches. Meanwhile, may the odds be ever in your favor!

Review of The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, by Uma Krishnaswami

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything

by Uma Krishnaswami
illustrated by Abigail Halpin

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York, 2011. 266 pages.
Starred Review

This is a completely fun book about a girl whose parents pick up and move to India for two years, leaving their home in Maryland behind — and Dini’s best friend, Maddie.

Dini hopes maybe, just maybe, it can work out for the best if she can meet the Bollywood film star, Dolly Singh.

“Dini is a Dolly fan. She has been forever, from the time she discovered that Dolly’s first movie, in which she was just a kid, came out the day — the very day! — that Dini was born. You can’t be more closely connected than that.”

Now, I should say that I am horribly prejudiced against books written in present tense. I’m not sure why, but it really bugs me. However, I read this one anyway, since it’s a contestant in School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids’ Books. And I have to admit that it grew on me so much that most of the time I didn’t even notice the tense. Also going for it were Abigail Halpin’s illustrations. She illustrated Penny Dreadful, by Laurel Snyder, and I love the feel her illustrations give a book — telling you correctly that this is a nice, light-hearted, solid story with lots of fun.

This book did have lots of coincidences, but it felt right. The whole book is a tribute to Bollywood films, and I have a feeling (I don’t actually know) that the coincidences may have made the book more like a Bollywood film, where everything works out happily in the end. There’s even a dance number!

This is a great solid and entertaining middle grade story. I enjoyed reading it, and hope I can find some library members to recommend it to, because I think there are lots of kids who would enjoy it.

KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/grand_plan.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 book I got for free on the last day of ALA Midwinter Meeting.

Review of Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos

Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

Dead End in Norvelt

by Jack Gantos

Farrar Straus Giroux, New York, 2011. 341 pages.
Starred Review
2012 Newbery Medal

It’s refreshing to read a book set in the Sixties that is not about the Cuban Missile Crisis or Vietnam! This book is about a kid’s strange and interesting summer. It’s surprising how much fun our hero Jack Gantos has, considering that he’s grounded the whole summer. Or at least, we readers have fun reading about it.

The most interesting things happen because Jack is asked to help his neighbor, the ancient Miss Volker. Miss Volker has terrible arthritis, so she needs Jack’s help to type up obituaries for the original residents of Norvelt, who seem to all be dying quickly this summer. Miss Volker tacks on a surprisingly interesting history to each obituary, and she knows relevant details about each resident.

On top of that, we’ve got Jack driving Miss Volker’s car around town. His Dad building an airplane and a runway. His Mom monitoring his behavior. His best friend, the daughter of the funeral parlor owner, teasing him about his fear of dead bodies. And then there’s Jack’s nose:

“How could I forget? I was a nosebleeder. The moment something startled me or whenever I got overexcited or spooked about any little thing blood would spray out of my nose holes like dragon flames.”

There’s a lot of death in Dead End in Norvelt, including a Hell’s Angel who gets hit by a truck in town. But Jack Gantos the author manages to keep things funny. He gives us a great yarn about a kid just trying to stay out of trouble, and managing to learn lots along the way.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/dead_end_in_norvelt.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 the Fairfax County Public Library.

Battle of the Kids’ Books, Week One

Events, General 0

Today I stayed home from work with a headache, but on the plus side, the one thing I was able to do was read, and I finished two contenders from School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids’ Books, Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys, and The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, by Uma Krishnaswami. That leaves me with only one book left of the sixteen contestants. It’s probably the shortest, Inside Out and Back Again, so I hope to finish it tonight or tomorrow.

Since Inside Out and Back Again doesn’t compete until next week, I thought I’d post my picks for the first week.

The first match happened today. My pick, Amelia Lost, was the winner. Judge Matt Phelan gave a brilliant analysis of both books.

Getting them finished in the nick of time, tonight I posted reviews of both of tomorrow’s contenders: Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys, and Bootleg, by Karen Blumenthal.

You can see from my reviews that I thought both books were brilliant. But for my pick to win, I have to go with Between Shades of Gray for the way it made me continually forget that I was reading fiction, not fact.

The remaining matches this week involve two of my favorites for the entire tournament, so these ones I care a lot more about:

For The Cheshire Cheese Cat vs. Chime, I definitely want Chime to win.

For Daughter of Smoke and Bone vs. Dead End in Norvelt, despite the brilliance of Newbery-winning Dead End in Norvelt, my heart is solidly with Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

But, again, half the fun is reading the judges’ analysis and opinions. Who will win this year? Stay tuned!

Review of Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys

Award Winners, Historical, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Between Shades of Gray

by Ruta Sepetys

Philomel Books, 2011. 344 pages.
Starred Review
2012 Morris Award Finalist

Here’s a work of fiction that constantly made me forget it wasn’t nonfiction.

The book opens dramatically:

“They took me in my nightgown.

“Thinking back, the signs were there — family photos burned in the fireplace, Mother sewing her best silver and jewelry into the lining of her coat late at night, and Papa not returning from work. My younger brother, Jonas, was asking questions. I asked questions, too, but perhaps I refused to acknowledge the signs. Only later did I realize that Mother and Father intended we escape. We did not escape.

“We were taken.”

It’s 1941 in Lithuania. Stalin has annexed their country, and now he rounds up Lithuanian teachers, librarians, and university professors like Lina’s Papa, and their families. They are shipped in cattle cars to labor camps in Siberia.

The author, Ruta Sepetys, was from the family of a Lithuanian refugee who did escape and made it to America. But she researched this book well (even arranging to be locked away in a former Soviet prison!), and her words ring with terrible truth.

This is by no means a pleasant story, and though I was hoping it would end with Lina’s freedom, I’m afraid it doesn’t. An epilogue tells us that surviving deportees spent ten to fifteen years in Siberia. She does, however, manage to work in a message of hope, of the resilience of the human spirit, and of good even in apparent enemies.

This is a powerful and moving story about an episode of history I knew nothing about. The book is not only beautifully crafted, but does the good work of telling the world a story we should never forget.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/between_shades_of_gray.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 the Fairfax County Public Library.