Battle of the Books 2011!

Book Links, Events 0

The time is getting away from me. There are only a few days left for me to encourage my readers to vote in the Undead Poll for this year’s School Library Journal Battle of the Books! (*cough* A Conspiracy of Kings! *cough*)

The Battle of the Kid’s Books is a once a year tournament between 16 outstanding children’s and young adult books from the previous year. What makes it incredible fun to follow is that the judges are celebrity authors. There’s no criteria pre-assigned for judging, so the judges just pick their favorites. But the fun is when these highly gifted authors explain what they liked about two outstanding books. And there’s plenty of drama in wondering if your favorite will win.

Another fun aspect of the Battle of the Books is the Undead Poll. Before things begin, readers are given a chance to vote for their favorite book. The book with the most votes will come back from the “dead” and compete in the final round. If that book has not been killed off yet, then it will go to the next book, and so on.

Another fun way to participate is to predict the winners at Eric Carpenter’s blog. Last year, I failed abysmally, with only one of my first-round picks going on to the next round. Last year, judges seemed to pick the book least like the ones they write. This year, I think I will just root for the books I would pick if I were judging, and not try to predict what the judges will do.

Now, last year I did want Fire, by Kristin Cashore to win. This year, I definitely want the winner to be A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner, because that series is up there with my all-time favorite books. Since Megan Whalen Turner has a fan site on LiveJournal, I’m hoping the people of Sounis/Attolia will have voted her in the Undead Poll, just in case one of the judges does not appreciate the books utter brilliance.

If Conspiracy does make it to the Big Kahuna Round, I hope that One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia is the next in the Undead Poll. Because I wish it had won the Newbery Medal instead of “just” a Newbery Honor (and the Coretta Scott King Author Medal and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and a National Book Award Finalist).

Okay, below are the first-round match-ups and my comments:

1. As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth, by Lynne Rae Perkins
vs. The Cardturner, by Louis Sachar
judged by Francisco X. Stork

For this one, I haven’t yet read As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth, though I do have it checked out. However, I loved The Cardturner so much, I find myself hoping I won’t actually like As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth as much. I want a book for mathematically-minded game lovers to win a round!

2. A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner
vs. Countdown, by Deborah Wiles
judged by Dana Reinhardt

I think you already know which one of these I want to win! I have read both books, and while I liked Countdown, the “documentary novel” approach really didn’t work for me. There were a few places where there were reports about people that revealed what happened later, and that really pulled me right out of the story. I wasn’t sure if those were supposed to be school reports, but if so, they should have been written as a child would have written them in the time of the story. The other material was interesting, but it also tended to make me less in the thread of the story, which was a good story.

And Conspiracy of Kings? Well, like all Megan Whalen Turner’s books, I enjoy and appreciate it more on each rereading. I’ve read it twice already, and just discovered that the library has the audiobook version, so that’s my next audiobook to listen to. It has absolutely brilliant plotting, and we see real growth in Sophos as he discovers what it means to be a king.

3. The Dreamer, by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Peter Sis
vs. The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie, by Tanya Lee Stone
judged by Barry Lyga

Okay, will all the other children’s literature folks despise me if I confess that I usually like Fiction a lot better than Nonfiction? Though I’m also influenced here because I thought that The Dreamer is a true work of art. The story is told poetically, with lines from Pablo Neruda’s poetry woven throughout, and the illustrations perfectly set the mood. I think the book is far more moving than a straight nonfiction account of the poet’s childhood would have been. I have looked at The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie, and while I think it’s a worthy inclusion in this contest and a well-done look at the history of the Barbie doll, I’m too big a fan of The Dreamer to want it to win.

4. Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, by Barry Deutsch
vs. Keeper, by Kathi Appelt
judged by Susan Patron

This one is a toughie. Both of these books are beautiful and slightly quirky, with a little girl involved in something with a touch of magic. Both were completely delightful. (I’ve read both, but haven’t reviewed them yet.)

I think I’m going to pick Hereville. Now, that might be because it’s the one I read most recently, so the delight it brought is still fresh in my mind. I simply can’t resist it’s tagline: “Yet Another Troll-Fighting 11-Year-Old Orthodox Jewish Girl.”

5. The Odyssey (graphic novel), by Gareth Hinds
vs. One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia
judged by Karen Hesse

I haven’t read this version of The Odyssey, though I hear it’s exceptional. But I loved One Crazy Summer far too much to possibly root against it. (With the ONE exception of A Conspiracy of Kings.) I hope that this being similar to books that Karen Hesse writes will not work against it, but that she’ll appreciate a historical novel with poetry included.

6. The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud
vs. Sugar Changed the World, by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
judged by Adam Rex

Again, I’ve read both of these but haven’t reviewed them yet, and they are both completely brilliant. If I were going to root for any nonfiction book, Sugar is the one I’d pick. It’s a well-written, fascinating look at the history of humans and sugar. It shows that sugar did, in fact, change the world.

However, The Ring of Solomon is simply too good. An intricate plot, a wildly imaginative story, and lots of humor make it my pick for this round. In fact, I recently read a short story by Adam Rex in the Guys Read: Funny Business anthology, and the humor is very similar to the humor in The Ring of Solomon, so I suspect that’s what he’ll pick.

7. A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz
vs. They Called Themselves the KKK, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
judged by R. L. Stine

I haven’t read either of these, though I have checked them both out and looked them over. It is probably telling that I intend to read A Tale Dark and Grimm very soon, but I turned They Called Themselves the KKK back in to the library. I hear it’s a well-written book, and I’m definitely in favor of children reading about the terrorist group and understanding that ugly part of our history — but I didn’t feel like finding out details about the KKK myself.

Anyway, A Tale Dark and Grimm looks like it will be a book I will thoroughly enjoy. It certainly takes an imaginative approach. I’m going to root for it. I’ll let you know if that changes after I actually read it.

8. Trash, by Andy Mulligan
vs. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan
judged by Mitali Perkins

Okay, I’m going to be lazy with this one. I haven’t read Trash, and I probably won’t, unless Mitali Perkins and any later judges make it sound very compelling. It looks to be yet another dystopian novel, and I’m getting a little tired of them, so I wasn’t in the mood to read this one and turned it back in. On the other hand, I enjoyed Will Grayson, Will Grayson, so I’m going to guess that Mitali will pick the more upbeat book. Yes, the Will Graysons have some trouble, but there’s plenty of humor and the ending is definitely feel-good.

So there you have it! Vote in the Undead Poll for your favorite by March 6. The Opening Ceremony will be on March 8, and the First Round will begin on March 14. It’s sure to be a lot of fun!

Here I am with the t-shirt I got for blogging about last year’s Battle of the Books:

Review of The Postmistress, by Sarah Blake

Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

The Postmistress

by Sarah Blake

Amy Einhorn Books (Penguin), New York, 2010. 326 pages.
Starred Review

I had the library book of The Postmistress actually sitting on my bedside table with my bookmark right in the middle when I saw a line at ALA Annual Conference where the publisher was giving away copies of the book for you to have the author sign. I was enjoying the book very much, so I eagerly got in line and got her signature.

This is a story of World War II and lives that intertwined in England and in America.

Frankie Bard, an American radio reporter in London during the war introduces the story:

“There were years after it happened, after I’d returned from the town and come back here to the busy blank of the city, when some comment would be tossed off about the Second World War and how it had gone — some idiotic remark about clarity and purpose — and I’d resist the urge to stub out my cigarette and bring the dinner party to a satisfying halt. But these days so many wars are being carried on in full view of all of us, and there is so much talk of pattern and intent (as if a war can be conducted like music), well, last night I couldn’t help myself.

” ‘What would you think of a postmistress who chose not to deliver the mail?’ I asked.

” ‘Don’t tell me any more,’ a woman from the far end of the table cried in delight, shining and laughing between the candles. ‘I’m hooked already.’

“I watched the question take hold. Mail, actual letters written by hand, being pocketed undelivered. What a lark! Anything might happen….

“Never mind, I thought. I am old. And tired of the terrible clarity of the young. And all of you are young these days.

“Long ago, I believed that, given a choice, people would turn to good as they would to the light. I believed that reporting — honest, unflinching pictures of the truth — could be a beacon to lead us to demand that wrongs be righted, injustices punished, and the weak and the innocent cared for. I must have believed, when I started out, that the shoulder of public opinion could be put up against the door of public indifference and would, when given the proper direction, shove it wide with the power of wanting to stand on the side of the angels.

“But I have covered far too many wars — reporting how they were seeded, nourished, and let sprout — to believe in angels anymore, or, for that matter, in a single beam of truth to shine into the dark. Every story — love or war — is a story about looking left when we should have been looking right.

“Or so it seems to me.”

The Postmistress is a story of a postmistress who is new to a small New England town in 1940. It tells what happens that results in a fine upstanding conscientious woman not delivering a letter.

It’s also the story of the other people of the town: a young doctor and his wife, a man who watches for German submarines landing off the coast, and what people in the town think of the war “over there.” It’s the story of a war correspondent writing stories for the radio that catch people’s imaginations back home. And it’s the story of why Frankie Bard came to visit that little town.

This story is richly textured and intriguing. It gives you a taste of what it must have been like in London during the Blitz. But mostly, it tells you the story of fallible humans trying to do what’s right in extraordinary times, humans who each have their own stories, but whose stories become intertwined.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/postmistress.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 signed copy I got at ALA Annual Conference.

Tweetle Beetles for Read Across America Day

Delightfully Silly, Easy Readers, Events 0

I remember when I was 3 or 4 years old, my mother read me a new book, Fox in Socks, by Dr. Seuss. What really impressed me about it was the warning at the front: “Take it slowly. This book is DANGEROUS!”

Perhaps that was why, over the years, I was inordinately proud of being able to read it quickly. I am the third of thirteen children, so I got plenty of practice reading aloud to my younger brothers and sisters. Then I started reading aloud to my own sons. I think it was as an adult that I finally got where I could read all of Fox in Socks quickly and without a mistake. And that was an accomplishment that took years to achieve! (Though I don’t prove it here. I think the camera flustered me!) Now that my sons are grown, I’ve become a librarian, so I can continue to read aloud to children.

About a month ago on YouTube, I saw a video of a teenager reading Fox in Socks extremely quickly. Much, much faster than I can do, no contest.

However, watching that video gave me the bug. I can go pretty fast, and I think listeners can actually understand what I’m saying. At any rate, I wanted to make my own video, because what a lovely excuse to read Fox in Socks as fast as I can! And what better day to pick than Read Across America Day, Dr. Seuss’s Birthday?

So I made an announcement in the library and rounded up the kids in the children’s area so I had an audience, and went at it. Lots of fun! I will have to try to do it faster (and with less flubs) next year.

After tweeting about reading Fox in Socks, I came up with the following about School Library Journal’s Battle of the Books:

When a reader tweets on twitter about which novel is the sweeter, it’s a
Tweeting Reader Sweeter Novel Twitter Chatter Battle.

Happy Read Across America Day, everyone!

Review of Smile, by Raina Telgemeier

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, True Stories 0

Smile

by Raina Telgemeier

Graphix (Scholastic), New York, 2010. 214 pages.

Smile is a graphic memoir — graphic meaning the comic-book format, with no reflection at all on the content.

In this book, the author tells the true story of the awful saga with her teeth when she was in middle school. Just when she was ready to get braces, she had an accident and knocked out one front tooth and jammed the other into her jaw. The dentists and orthodontists made heroic attempts to fix and straighten those teeth, and this book tells vividly, with a nice sense of humor, the long involved process.

Of course, just telling about teeth wouldn’t be interesting. But Raina Telgemeier puts in the story of finding her place in middle school and finding out who her true friends were. In middle school, no kid wants to stand out, but Raina’s smile alone made her look different.

This book will draw kids to pick it up and read it to the end. The vivid pictures draw you in, and you’ll find a certain fascination with all she had to go through. Ultimately, she learns to face life with a smile!

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/smile.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.

Open Letter to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

Library Links 0

Today I sent the letter below to the members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, along with a copy of This Book Is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, by Marilyn Johnson, in support of restoring Library funding. I would love to get lots of comments from readers who support libraries. Please read, comment, and share!

Dear Supervisors,

I am writing to speak up on behalf of Fairfax County Public Library. Please consider restoring some of the funds and hours that were cut in the last two years.

Back in June, my job as Youth Services Manager at Herndon Fortnightly Library was cut, and I was transferred into the Office for Children as a Management Analyst. Although it was the same pay grade, the new job had much less responsibility, much less challenge, did not supervise anyone, and did not require a Master’s degree. Most telling, though, I did not feel that I was doing nearly as much good for the people of Fairfax County as I could daily in my Librarian job.

Shortly after the RIF, I wrote a review of the book, This Book Is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, by Marilyn Johnson. The book made me proud to be a Librarian by calling, as it pointed out the many ways librarians serve the people of their communities. It pointed out that in a recession, libraries are more necessary than ever. I said in my review, “This book is indeed overdue! I wished so much that I could afford to send a copy to each member of the county Board of Supervisors!”

In January, the author herself found my review online. She told me she would be happy to donate copies of the book to send to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. So I am now presenting you with this book, signed by the author. I’ve marked a few passages that talk about how librarians benefit the communities where they work.

Along with this gift, I want to make three points about the 30% library budget cuts of the past two years.

1. If Education is truly a high priority in Fairfax County, then we need to have strong libraries to support that education. Students need internet access to do more and more of the assignments. For many students, the Library is where they get that access. But that’s only the beginning of how we support education. The Library still supports students in the traditional way of providing resources for reports, science projects, and supplemental materials. Studies have shown that library summer reading programs make a huge difference in students retaining what they’ve learned during the school year.

But we don’t only serve students who attend the public schools. We serve homeschooled children and those who attend private schools. We serve college and university students. We serve adults who want to teach themselves something new or find out how to complete a project. We serve people who want to acquire new job skills or prepare for certification tests. We serve seniors who suddenly have to use a computer to prepare their taxes. We serve immigrants who want to learn English. We serve people who want to learn about current issues and vote as informed citizens. We serve parents of preschoolers and provide programs that build early literacy skills, making them more ready for success when they start school.

2. If Human Services are truly a high priority in Fairfax County, then we should not cut library funding. Sadly, the people the cuts hurt most are the people who are least likely to speak up. In libraries, I often see homeless regulars. They are too proud to ask for help from more traditional social services. The shelters don’t let them stay there during the day. But they spend their days with dignity at the library, and do not have to apply to get that help. If their local branch is closed, they will not be able to just run over to the nearest regional branch.

I also think of the many people who come to use the library computers to apply for jobs. Most jobs now require an online application, and we see several people applying for such jobs every single day at even the smaller libraries. Or the middle school students who use the library to do homework while their parents are at work. They can’t just go to another branch, either.

3. In the overall scheme of the county budget, the amount cut from the Library was tiny. This was glaringly obvious when last year’s budget carryover was eight times the amount that had been cut from the Library. Conversely, a tiny amount going back to the libraries now will make a huge difference in the service we are able to provide.

Libraries provide vital help to the poor – but they also help the rich! Studies have shown that proximity to a library even increases property values. An investment in libraries provides benefits both tangible and intangible.

Please consider restoring some of the Fairfax County Public Library budget.

Regardless of the decision you make on the budget, I hope you will enjoy this signed copy of This Book Is Overdue! It’s a fun look at how librarianship is changing – and vitally necessary – in the 21st Century. I should add that I am happily back in FCPL as of November, when a Librarian retired. So I’m not making this appeal for my own job, but for the people of Fairfax County. I did write this letter on my own time, expressing my own opinions as a resident of Fairfax County. I am also planning to post the letter on my blog, www.sonderbooks.com/blog.

Empower Fairfax County Public Library to serve your constituents more effectively! “In tough times, a librarian is a terrible thing to waste.”

Sincerely,

Sondra Eklund

Here are some links to more articles in support of libraries:

Scott Turow, in an article “Let-Them-Eat-Cake Attitude Threatens to Destroy a Network of Public Assets,” says, “Widespread public access to knowledge, like public education, is one of the pillars of our democracy, a guarantee that we can maintain a well-informed citizenry.”

Philip Pullman writes in “Leave the Libraries Alone. You Don’t Understand Their Value,” “The public library, again. Yes, I’m writing a book, Mr Mitchell, and yes, I hope it’ll make some money. But I’m not praising the public library service for money. I love the public library service for what it did for me as a child and as a student and as an adult. I love it because its presence in a town or a city reminds us that there are things above profit, things that profit knows nothing about, things that have the power to baffle the greedy ghost of market fundamentalism, things that stand for civic decency and public respect for imagination and knowledge and the value of simple delight.”

Roberta Stevens wrote an article titled “Technological and Economic Shifts Have Only Made Libraries More Valuable.” She says, “Today’s challenging economy demands strategic investments. While the job market continues to recover, one of the best uses of public and private funds is to help ensure that people are digitally literate and are improving their employment skills.”

What do you think? I’d love it if this gift of books, through the generous donation of Marilyn Johnson, would get people speaking up on behalf of Libraries.

Review of The Blood Red Horse, by K. M. Grant

Audiobooks, Historical, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Blood Red Horse

by K. M. Grant
Performed by Maggie Mash

Recorded Books, 2005. 9 compact discs, 9.75 hours.

Here’s a horse story of the same sort I loved as a kid: We’ve got a horse who’s strong and fast and brave, who narrowly escapes death many times, and loves his master. The horse of the title is named Hosannah, and he belongs to a boy in medieval times who sets out on one of the crusades with Richard the Lionheart.

The story is many-layered. We follow Will de Granville and his horse, but also his friend Ellie who must stay behind in England, and his brother Gavin who is betrothed to Ellie and almost kills Hosannah with his recklessness. The book also takes a close look at a Saracen boy who fights against them and also encounters Hosannah. We see many sides to the conflict, and it’s not portrayed as one side either good or bad.

The narrator wasn’t bad, though I would have preferred a male narrator doing so many male voices. This book is the first of a trilogy about the deGranvilles, and I intend to read them all, but will probably read the rest in print form. Still, it did make an enjoyable way to pass many hours in traffic.

This book is good for those who like historical fiction on an epic scale, battles, or just a good old-fashioned horse story.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/blood_red_horse.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 The Man in the Queue, by Josephine Tey

Audiobooks, Fiction Review, Mystery, Starred Review 0

The Man in the Queue

by Josephine Tey
Read by Stephen Thorne

Chivers Audio Books, 2000. First published in 1929. Complete and Unabridged. 6 cassettes.
Starred Review

After listening to Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time, I’m on a Josephine Tey binge. It turns out that this one, The Man in the Queue, was the first one she wrote, while The Daughter of Time was the last.

The Man in the Queue, naturally enough, is not about a historical mystery like Daughter of Time. However, it’s a good classic whodunit. The detective, Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, is the same one who solves the mystery in the later book. Already we see his “flare,” his sense of people, knowing who’s telling the truth.

The mystery is intriguing. There’s a large queue to get into one of the last nights of a play in London. When the queue starts moving, and gets up to the front of the line, a man falls over on his face, and it turns out that he is dead, stabbed in the back.

The man has no identification on him, but he has a revolver in his pocket. No one comes forward to identify him. So Grant must not only figure out who killed him; he must also figure out who the man is and why he was in the queue with a revolver in his pocket. No one in the queue with him noticed anything, not even if someone had left the queue. They all claim to have never seen the dead man before in their lives.

The only trouble with my Josephine Tey binge is that these audiobooks always make me feel like I’ve gotten to my destination much too quickly, and I want to sit for awhile in the car and hear more.

The book is not politically correct — the main suspect is called “The Dago” for most of the book. But it’s fun to have discovered a classic mystery author of the same style as Agatha Christie, but whose books are all new to me.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/man_in_the_queue.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 The Talented Clementine, by Sara Pennypacker

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

The Talented Clementine

by Sara Pennypacker
Pictures by Marla Frazee

Hyperion Paperbacks for Children, New York, 2007. 137 pages.
Starred Review

I’m hooked on Clementine, and am so happy I finally discovered her. In this second book about her, her third grade class is going to put on a talent show. But Clementine does not think she has any talents that could be displayed in a show. Not like Margaret, whose fourth grade class will also be taking part. Margaret has talents to spare.

This book is full of Clementine’s hilarious attempts to find an act, with an unexpected and satisfying solution.

Once again, Marla Frazee’s brilliant illustrations add to the characterization of Clementine and her friend Margaret. Even before the book begins, we see Clementine walking to the bus with a loaded backpack — until she is overcome by the weight of it and must crawl.

I love the first paragraph, which gives you a taste of Clementine’s way of thinking:

“I have noticed that teachers get exciting confused with boring a lot. But when my teacher said, ‘Class, we have an exciting project to talk about,’ I listened anyway.”

This book is exciting and fun. And I’m not a teacher.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/talented_clementine.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 Zombies vs. Unicorns, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Fantasy, Short Stories, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Zombies vs. Unicorns

edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Margaret K. McElderry Books, New York, 2010. 415 pages.
Starred Review

When I met Diana Peterfreund, author of Rampant and Ascendant, at the 2009 Kidlit Bloggers’ Conference, she told me about this upcoming anthology, and I was waiting for it eagerly ever since. The premise is too fun! I will use the beginning of the Introduction to present it:

“Since the dawn of time one question has dominated all others:

“Zombies or Unicorns?

“Well, okay, maybe not since the dawn of time, but definitely since February 2007. That was the day Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier began the heated exchange about the creatures’ relative merits on Justine’s blog. Since then the question has become an unstoppable Internet meme, crowding comment threads and even making it to YouTube.

“Here in the real world Holly and Justine are often called upon to defend, respectively, unicorns and zombies. The whole thing has gotten so out of hand that the only remedy is . . .

“Zombies vs. Unicorns. The anthology.”

Yes, Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier, defenders of the reputations of unicorns and zombies, respectively, have compiled an anthology of stories by stellar authors about unicorns and about zombies. Team Unicorn is represented by Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, Margo Lanagan, Diana Peterfreund, Meg Cabot, and Kathleen Duey. Team Zombie presents stories by Alaya Dawn Johnson, Carrie Ryan, Maureen Johnson, Scott Westerfeld, Cassandra Clare, and Libba Bray.

Now, to be right upfront with you, I am firmly and decidedly on Team Unicorn. My first unpublished and probably never-to-be published children’s novel is about a winged unicorn. I like them. And I don’t like zombies. If this anthology had only included the zombie stories, I would not have been even slightly tempted to pick it up.

However, as it was, I’m am forced to admit that some of the zombie stories were quite good. The one by Maureen Johnson I loved. It reminded me of my favorite vampire story ever with an oppressed wife caring for the adopted vampire children of her abusive husband. In Maureen Johnson’s story an unwitting teenager comes to an isolated house to babysit some toddlers who turn out to be zombies. It probably shouldn’t be read by a teen about to go on her first babysitting job, but I enjoyed it.

The unicorn stories, of course, were brilliant! My favorite was “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn,” by Diana Peterfreund, which tied in beautifully with her books. You would not have to have read her books to enjoy the story, and I hope it will win her some new readers. My second favorite was “Princess Prettypants,” by Meg Cabot. A girl’s crazy aunt gets her a unicorn for her birthday, and at first she’s horrified at such a baby present, but in the end she finds it quite useful.

I do highly recommend this anthology. Whichever fantastical creature you prefer, you’ll find brilliant stories that look at them in a new and interesting way. The banter between the editors before each story is amusing as well.

Go Team Unicorn!

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/zombies_vs_unicorns.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 Baking Cakes in Kigali, by Gaile Parkin

Cross Cultural, Fiction Review, General, Literary, Starred Review 0

Baking Cakes in Kigali

by Gaile Parkin

Atlantic Books, London, 2009. 361 pages.
Starred Review

This enjoyable yet surprisingly deep book reminded me of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith. Both books are set in Africa, though this one in war-torn Rwanda instead of peaceful Botswana. But in both books, the main character’s profession lets her get to know people from a wide variety of backgrounds and help solve their problems and bring people together. Precious Ramotswe is a detective, but the protagonist of this book, Angel Tungaraza, bakes cakes.

We learn quickly that baking cakes in Kigali is a much more artistic endeavor than baking cakes in America:

“In the same way that a bucket of water reduces a cooking fire to ashes — a few splutters of shocked disbelief, a hiss of anger, and then a chill all the more penetrating for having so abruptly supplanted intense heat — in just that way, the photograph that she now surveyed extinguished all her excitement.

“‘Exactly like this?’ she asked her guest, trying to keep any hint of regret or condemnation out of her voice.

“‘Exactly like that,’ came the reply, and the damp chill of disappointment seeped into her heart….

“‘As you know, Angel,’ the ambassador’s wife was saying, ‘it’s traditional to celebrate a silver wedding anniversary with a cake just like the original wedding cake. Amos and I feel it’s so important to follow our traditions, especially when we’re away from home.’

“‘That is true, Mrs Ambassador,’ agreed Angel, who was herself away from home. But as she examined the photograph, she was doubtful of the couple’s claim to the traditions that they had embraced when choosing this cake twenty-five years ago. It was not like any traditional wedding cake she had seen in her home town of Bukoba in the west of Tanzania or in Dar es Salaam in the east. No, this cake was traditional to Wazungu, white people. It was completely white: white with white patterns decorating the white. Small white flowers with white leaves encircled the outer edges of the upper surface, and three white pillars on top of the cake held aloft another white cake that was a smaller replica of the one below. It was, quite simply, the most unattractive cake that she had ever seen. Of course, Mr and Mrs Wanyika had married at a time when the style of Wazungu was still thought to be fashionable — prestigious, even. But by now, in the year 2000, surely everybody had come to recognize that Wazungu were not the authorities on style and taste that they were once thought to be? Perhaps if she showed Mrs Wanyika the pictures of the wedding cakes that she had made for other people, she would be able to convince her of the beauty that colours could bring to a cake.”

Angel and her husband are from Tanzania. They lost both their adult children to AIDS, and now must take care of their five grandchildren.

“It’s only that we won’t be able to provide for these children as well as we did for our first children. But we must try by all means to give them a good life. That’s why we decided to leave Tanzania and come here to Rwanda. There’s aid money for the university and they’re paying Pius so much more as a Special Consultant than he was getting at the university in Dar. Okay, Rwanda has suffered a terrible thing. Terrible, Mrs Ambassador; bad, bad, bad. Many of hearts here are filled with pain. Many of the eyes here have seen terrible things. Terrible! But many of those same hearts are now brave enough to hope, and many of those same eyes have begun to look towards the future instead of the past. Life is going on, everyday. And for us the pluses of coming here are many more than the minuses. And my cake business is doing well because there are almost no shops here that sell cakes. A cake business doesn’t do well in a place where people have nothing to celebrate.”

Although Angel herself is dealing with some heavy losses, and so are the people around her, she is able to touch people’s lives — from convincing a mother to give her daughter a better name than Goodenough to providing family for a couple getting married who have lost all of their own families. This is an uplifting book and provides enjoyable and interesting reading.

One fun note: I was watching the DVD series of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, which is filmed in Africa, and the first episode happened to have someone selling cakes. I noticed happily that those cakes were indeed far fancier and more colorful than cakes I’d see in America. So apparently I’ve learned something true about baking cakes in Kigali.

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