Review of Led by Faith, by Immaculee Ilibagiza

Biography, Christian, Nonfiction Review, Stand-outs, Starred Review, True Stories 0

led_by_faithLed By Faith

Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide

by Immaculee Ilibagiza

with Steve Erwin

Hay House, Carlsbad, California, 2008. 205 pages.
Starred Review
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #2 Nonfiction: True Stories

Led By Faith continues the story Immaculee Ilibagiza began in Left To Tell, telling what happened after her amazing escape from the Rwandan Holocaust. That story is an astonishing one of survival and of how God spared her life, protected her, and helped her to forgive the evil men who killed her family and so many others.

Led By Faith tells of Immaculee’s less glamorous struggles, trying to follow God’s leading in the aftermath of the horror. She deals with more prosaic concerns like sexual harrassment, fighting false accusations, breaking up with her boyfriend, paying for a wedding, and finding a job in America. In many ways, these struggles were much easier for me to relate to, but she still deals with them with amazing faith and forgiveness.

The timing of my reading this was excellent, coming just when I needed it. Last night, I got a chance glimpse on Facebook of a young woman whom I knew had had a long-standing affair with a married man, and encouraged him to leave his wife and kids. Then shortly afterward I saw on a friend’s profile the profile picture of a man I’d been acquainted with — who was posing with a smiling young woman — presumably the woman he abandoned his wife and kids for.

That got me reflecting on how much, how very much, pain and suffering is caused to people and to innocent children by adultery — and yet our culture treats it as if it’s all a lovely step of growth, something to be proud of. Such men proudly appear in public with their new “love,” pretending they haven’t made fools of themselves and deeply wounded the very people they promised to love and cherish.

I have many friends now who have been betrayed by their husbands. Some are happily married now to someone else, some are happily married to their original husbands, some are living a happy single life, and some are still in the midst of the pain and suffering. But all suffered horribly, all have been through incredible and unbelievable pain. All would agree with me that there is a reason that God calls adultery evil, plain and simple.

But I like Immaculee’s approach to people around her doing evil. Here is what she thought when two men with power tricked her and trapped her in a hotel room with plans to rape her:

“I was no longer afraid of Mr. E, and I was no longer afraid of Kingston. I felt sorry for these men, who only looked for material gain or physical gratification, never caring whom they hurt to satisfy their wants. Looking at Mr. E, I now saw him for what he was: a weak and pleading man with a dirty mind standing by the edge of a hotel bed. All he saw when he looked at me was an orphan he could mistreat without fear of getting caught or facing the consequences. It was all too familiar, and God had helped me through far worse situations with men far more vicious and depraved than Mr. E.

“What good did he think his power would do him when he faced God? How could he think his money would protect him when all he had could be snatched away from him in an instant?

“I wanted to tell him about meeting Mupundu, who’d been a big politician in the Hutu government and the richest woman in Mataba . . . until she gave in to the bloodlust of the genocide. I saw her limping back to our village from Zaire, and she’d lost everything — her money, her power, her family. She didn’t even have shoes to cover her bleeding feet. She’d turned from God, and she’d lost the only real thing she could count on, just as surely as Mr. E would lose everything unless he turned his heart away from wickedness and back to the Lord.”

Don’t Immaculee’s words apply equally well to any sinner? She is consistent in reminding the reader what a horrible place those who do evil have gotten themselves into. We can forgive them, because God is more than capable of taking care of their punishment, and their own consciences will punish them cruelly. If we refuse to forgive, then we only bring ourselves into that hell with them. Why should we give them so much power, when turning to God, Who gives the power to love and forgive, can bring such healing?

I’ve noticed with my friends who have been betrayed that the betrayers consistently aren’t able to face the guilt and shame of what they’ve done — so they consistently blame their wives for their actions. They don’t want forgiveness, which would imply they had done something wrong. They want to be excused. They want to go along with our culture’s lines like “They were too different,” or, “She didn’t meet my needs.” In the case of the Rwandan genocide, the government was all too eager to portray the Tutsis as insects who needed to be exterminated. But, inevitably, the guilt came later.

Immaculee’s perspective, to first feel sorry for the perpetrators, is so valid. That young woman can smile in the profile picture — but how in the world can she possibly have a healthy relationship with someone who is already established as a liar and a cheater? And why is it, with the broken marriages I know about, that the one who cheated is the one eaten up and consumed by hatred, bitterness and lack of forgiveness? Where is all that happiness they said they were going to find by leaving their wives?

Okay, I’m going on and on about what was on my mind when I was reading the book, and not about the book itself. But it’s that kind of book — a beautiful model of love and forgiveness and guidance and walking by faith. It tells you that sinners are to be pitied, and evil can be overcome by good. The principles can apply to almost anyone.

If you have ever been wronged, if you have ever noticed evil in the world around you, if you have ever worried about what to do next or how you would get by, then you can learn from and be inspired by Immaculee’s story.

I wish her all the blessings in the world. And I love her message that love and forgiveness can overcome hatred and evil.

In the Epilogue, she goes back to Rwanda for her brother’s wedding and finds a country that is healing. This is the beautiful ending to the book:

“Cousin Ganza had told me that people were healing in Rwanda, that faith was being restored. God, he said, was working a miracle of forgiveness in our country. Gazing out over the glowing city below me, I knew that this miracle would inspire the entire world. If the evil that was unleashed here could be conquered with love, where could evil not be conquered? If the hearts of Rwanda could be healed through forgiveness, then what heart couldn’t?

“The sun slipped beyond the horizon, its last rays illuminating the tops of a thousand hills. It was enough light for the entire world to see Rwanda rising from the ashes of genocide.”

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Review of The Patron Saint of Butterflies, by Cecilia Galante

Contemporary, Teen Fiction Review 0

patron_saint_of_butterfliesThe Patron Saint of Butterflies

by Cecilia Galante

Bloomsbury, 2008. 292 pages.

Agnes and Honey have lived all their lives at Mount Blessing. They have always been friends, always done things together.

But now that Agnes is past twelve and was given a copy of The Saints’ Way by their blessed leader, Emmanuel, she would like to be a saint. Perhaps it will take fasting, or punishing herself if she does something wrong, but she wants to live a holy life.

Honey, on the other hand, would rather push the boundaries. Her mother left her at Mount Blessing when she was a baby. When Honey’s caught kissing a boy, she’s labelled a harlot — in red marker, next to the welts on her back from her whipping.

When Agnes’ grandmother Nana Pete finds out, she wants to rescue the girls and Agnes’ brother Benny from the commune for good. But there are some secrets in their pasts that need to be cleared up, and Nana Pete’s health is precarious, and Agnes does not want to leave her parents or her home. And she certainly doesn’t want to give up the call to the life of a saint. Certainly Emmanuel can’t do anything wrong, can he?

This powerful and thought-provoking novel pulls you in and lets you see both girls’ perspective at once. Will they be able to break free?

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

Review of Four Seasons in Rome, by Anthony Doerr

Biography, Cross Cultural, Musings, Nonfiction Review, Travel, True Stories 0

four_seasons_in_romeFour Seasons in Rome

On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World

by Anthony Doerr

Scribner, New York, 2007. 210 pages.

Anthony Doerr won an award to come to Rome for a year to write. What a fabulous opportunity! The timing, however, was interesting — the fellowship began when his twin sons were six months old.

Four Seasons in Rome tells the story of that chaotic and amazing year when Anthony Doerr and his wife and infant sons got to live in the Eternal City. This wonderful book combines aspects of many types of memoir: the bemused blunderings and awe of a new parent, cross-cultural adventures and misadventures, musings about the writing process and the ways we avoid it, and the wonders of Rome.

I had an extra interest in the book, because the time our family visited Rome (our last family vacation as an intact family) was during the very year that Anthony Doerr was there — We were there after the Pope’s funeral, but before the next Pope was elected. So we saw a teeny tiny bit of what he mentions.

Here’s a little taste:

“Every few days there are moments of excruciating beauty. We are simultaneously more happy and more worn out than we have ever been in our lives. We communicate by grinning and pointing and waving food in the air. We don’t sleep as well as we used to. Our expectations (today I might take a shower; the #75 bus might actually show up) are routinely dashed. Just when we think we have a system (two naps a day; Shauna finds a rosticceria with chickens on spits that is open on Sundays), the system collapses. Just when we think we know our way around, we get lost. Just when we think we know what’s coming next, everything changes.”

It’s fun to vicariously share in Anthony Doerr’s experiences, not quite sure whether to envy him or to feel sorry for him — mostly glad I can enjoy it in nice comfortable book form.

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

Review of Firebirds Soaring, edited by Sharyn November

Fantasy, Short Stories, Teen Fiction Review 0

firebirds_soaringFirebirds Soaring

An Anthology of Original Speculative Fiction

edited by Sharyn November

Firebird (Penguin), 2009. 568 pages.

Here’s another outstanding collection of stories by authors who are associated with the Firebird imprint. Looking at my review of the first anthology Sharyn November edited, Firebirds, I’m reminded that it was the collection that introduced me to Sherwood Smith’s writing, including Crown Duel, one of my all-time favorite books. I found that amusing, since my reaction to finishing Firebirds Soaring was to go on a Sherwood Smith spree, beginning with rereading Crown Duel and then several other Sherwood Smith books I have bought since then, but didn’t get read because they were not library books and didn’t have a due date. (There’s a similar problem with the second Firebirds anthology, Firebirds Rising. I liked Firebirds so much, I bought my own copy of Firebirds Rising as soon as it came out — and then didn’t get it read because it didn’t have a due date. I plan to remedy that soon!)

Yes, Firebirds Soaring had another Sherwood Smith story, which was what got me started on my Sherwood Smith spree. Another story I liked was the first story, “Kingmaker,” by Nancy Springer, about a girl who can tell when someone is lying and the fate of a kingdom. I’m afraid I especially liked it when I read the Author’s Note after the story:

“The story developed from a fortunate fusion of a daydream I’d been having ever since my divorce — a fantasy about magically knowing whether people are telling the truth or lying; gee, I wonder where that came from — and my long-time interest in legend and mythology, particularly Celtic.”

I hasten to add that the story resonates far beyond that germ of an idea.

Another story I enjoyed was the science fiction offering “Flatland,” by Kara Dalkey, where a young professional lives in a high-tech “cubio” owned by the corporation. Another favorite was “Egg Magic,” by Louise Marley, with magic showing up in the eggs of the grumpy chicken left to a girl by her mysterious mother. I liked the every-day-ness of that story, with the magic mixed in. Nina Kiriki Hoffman had a novella in the middle of the book, “The Ghosts of Strangers,” which was particularly good, with dragons and a girl who can see and talk with ghosts.

Elizabeth Wein’s story, “Something Worth Doing,” isn’t even fantasy (as her novels aren’t), but is a wonderful story about a girl taking her brother’s place and training as a pilot during World War II. Another one I particularly liked was “Three Twilight Tales,” by Jo Walton.

A few of the stories were on the dark side for my taste, but mostly I found this anthology a treat to dip into and enjoy. It’s also a great way to find new authors I’m sure to like. I will definitely have to look for more of these writers’ books.

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Review of When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

when_you_reach_meWhen You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead

Wendy Lamb Books (Random House), 2009. 199 pages.
Starred Review
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #1 Children’s Fantasy and Science Fiction

When You Reach Me is hard to categorize. Technically, you might call it Historical, since it is set in 1978 and 1979. But the focus is not the time period or issues of the time period, so I don’t think it really fits that category. There’s a touch of science fiction, a touch of mystery, and a touch of adventure. Mostly, I feel like this is a school story, a story of a sixth-grade girl who loses her best friend and must learn how to cope — while strange events are going on around her.

Also interesting, the day before I picked up this book, I read a chapter from Reading Like a Writer, by Francine Prose, on point of view. She talks about the rarity of good fiction written in the second person.

Francine Prose says,
“The truth is that marvelous fiction has been written in the second person, though in these cases, the ‘you’ is less likely to be the reader in general than someone in particular, an individual to whom the story (often metaphorically or imaginatively) is being addressed.”

In When You Reach Me, part of the puzzle is to whom exactly Miranda is telling her story. Who is the “you”?

She’s telling the story to someone, someone who has sent her mysterious letters that seem to be able to foretell the future. How did the letter writer know, for example, that Miranda’s Mom would appear on The 20,000 Pyramid on April 27?

They live in an apartment in New York City, and Miranda must walk past some alarming characters on her way home, but she has her friend Sal to walk with. Until the day that Sal got punched. That’s the day that Miranda thinks it all started.

I admit I can’t help but fall for a character who carries around Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time everywhere she goes. Miranda faces a lot in this book. Trouble with friends. Scary situations. A stressed-out mother. Things going missing.

Miranda comes through. She figures out how to be a better friend, navigates some tricky situations, and ultimately solves the mystery of the letters.

I like Miranda’s way of dealing with someone she’s afraid of:

“I have my own trick. If I’m afraid of someone on the street, I’ll turn to him (it’s always a boy) and say, ‘Excuse me, do you happen to know what time it is?’ This is my way of saying to the person, ‘I see you as a friend, and there is no need to hurt me or take my stuff. Also, I don’t even have a watch and I am probably not worth mugging.’

“So far, it’s worked like gangbusters, as Richard would say. And I’ve discovered that most people I’m afraid of are actually very friendly.”

This story is surprisingly simple for something with a complicated idea behind it. It will leave your mind spinning in a small, pleasant way, and your heart warmed.

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Review of Bubble Trouble, by Margaret Mahy and Polly Dunbar

Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review, Readalouds, Stand-outs 0

bubble_troubleBubble Trouble

by Margaret Mahy

illustrated by Polly Dunbar

Clarion Books, New York, 2009. 37 pages.
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #5 Picture Books

Here’s a silly story that’s simply good fun to read. It’s a mild tongue twister with a nice rhythm that makes a lovely read-aloud. In fact, the day after I first read it, I used the book as an opener for a baby program. I half-expected the babies to lose interest, since the words were mostly over their heads. However, the whole room — parents and babies — seemed to enjoy the book. The sounds of the words were enough for the babies, and the parents seemed to enjoy it, too. I’m going to use it again this week in a storytime for preschoolers.

The story is simple. Mabel blows a bubble, and her baby brother gets trapped inside and floats away. Various people with melodious names and activities see the bubble and follow, to the dramatic conclusion.

This book should not be read silently!

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Review of A Stranger to Command, by Sherwood Smith

Adventure, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

stranger_to_commandA Stranger to Command

by Sherwood Smith

YA Angst (Norilana Books), 2008. 476 pages.
Starred Review

Recently, when I was feeling sick and without much energy, I decided to indulge myself by rereading Crown Duel, by Sherwood Smith. I didn’t realize it would blow the entire afternoon, since I wouldn’t be able to stop until I finished. In this case, knowing what is going to happen makes the story even more compelling as we watch the main character figuring things out and notice the hints the author placed along the way.

A Stranger to Command is the prequel to Crown Duel, but even though it describes events that take place before those in Crown Duel, you should NOT read the prequel until you have read Crown Duel. In the prequel, we learn how the love interest got so awesome. But since half the fun of Crown Duel is figuring out who the love interest is, if you have not read Crown Duel, please STOP reading this review and go place it on hold at your library or order it from Amazon!

I’m not sure if I would have liked A Stranger to Command so much if I hadn’t already loved Crown Duel, but as it was, it gives intriguing insights into court life under wicked king Galdran, and shows us how Vidanric learned to be so awesome. (I’ll call him that because that name doesn’t show up until much later in Crown Duel, so it’s not as bad a spoiler if someone disobeys me and reads this review without reading the first book.)

It turns out that Vidanric’s parents sent him to the academy at Marloven Hess to get him out of the way of the evil Galdran — the same school that Inda went to in the book Inda, though it sounds like that was hundreds of years earlier. The king of Marloven Hess is Senrid, so the next book I will be reading is Sherwood Smith’s Senrid, to find out more about him. She definitely needs to write a book about what takes place after Vidanric is king, since in this book he establishes a friendship with King Senric.

In fact, this book is where Vidanric absorbs the idea of being a king some day. He learns how to fight, he learns about strategy, and he learns to command. He also learns about love, and we can see how his painful first experience would make him particularly drawn to Meliara’s charms.

I’ve long thought that in all of her books, Sherwood Smith seems to have an excellent and almost overwhelming grasp of the politics of kingdoms. I don’t know too much about it myself, but she completely convinces me that the way she describes the politics is entirely realistic. In Crown Duel, Vidanric shows Meliara that she hadn’t considered the practicalities of her revolution, but in A Stranger to Command, we see how he himself first begins to consider political realities of ruling.

My one quibble with the book is that Vidanric leaves Marloven Hess very abruptly, as they are being attacked — and we never learn how that is resolved or how his friends fare. (She definitely needs to write another book!) In fact, I decided I had to read Crown Duel yet again to see if she had put in any information about their fate. Little did I realize that only a week after my last rereading it, the book would still captivate me enough to lose another entire afternoon because I couldn’t bring myself to stop! Of course, I suspect I may just be a sucker for books where a sinister tall handsome stranger carries off the heroine on a horse and it takes her the whole book to realize how awesome he is and that she loves him and he loves her back. Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword can also be described that way, and it’s another of my absolute favorite books.

Even though A Stranger to Command did not have the romance of Crown Duel, it pulled me back into that world, intrigued me, and let me enjoy the process of a future leader learning to command.

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Review of Project Sweet Life, by Brent Hartinger

Contemporary, Humorous, Stand-outs, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

project_sweet_lifeProject Sweet Life

by Brent Hartinger

HarperTeen (HarperCollins), 2009. 282 pages.
Starred Review
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #2 Other Teen Fiction

I first heard about Project Sweet Life after a girl patron at Herndon Fortnightly Library won the monthly prize drawing in Kay Cassidy’s Great Scavenger Hunt Contest. For registering the winner’s entries, the library won a choice of five books, and as soon as I read the description of this book, I not only chose it for the library, I also bought a copy to give to my son for his fifteenth birthday, which is in the middle of the summer. It seemed completely appropriate.

Dave and his two friends Victor and Curtis believe that the summer you are fifteen should be the year when a summer job is optional. “You can get one if you really want one, but it isn’t required. And I really, really didn’t want one.”

He explains his philosophy:

“I certainly understand that some people, even some fifteen-year-olds, need to work. They’re saving for college, or they have to help pay bills around the house. For them, a summer job at fifteen isn’t optional. But my dad makes a good living as a land surveyor. He wears silk ties! And my mom is stay-at-home. We aren’t poor.

“The adults won’t tell you this, but I absolutely knew it in my bones to be true: Once you take that first summer job, once you start working, you’re then expected to keep working. For the rest of your life! Once you start, you can’t stop, ever — not until you retire or you die.

“Sure, I knew I’d have to take a job next summer. But now, I had two uninterrupted months of absolute freedom ahead of me — two summer months of living life completely on my own terms. I knew they were probably my last two months of freedom for the next fifty years.”

Unfortunately, Dave’s dad has been discussing the situation with his own friends, the fathers of Victor and Curtis. On the first night of summer vacation, all three dads inform their sons that there will be no more allowance, and they need to get a summer job.

When the three friends meet that night after dinner, they discuss the situation and the incredible unfairness of it all. That’s when, together, they come up with the scheme for Project Sweet Life: Instead of slaving away at a minimum wage job all summer, they will fake the job, find a quicker way to make the same amount of money, and then loaf off all summer.

Brent Hartinger does a wonderful job showing us their schemes, which actually work — and then inevitably have bad luck snatch all the money out of their grasp. It adds up to a hilarious coming-of-age friends-forever adventure that is tremendous fun to read.

I got a piece of writing advice long ago that I have seen work many times: Never let your characters solve their problems by coincidence, or no one will believe it. Instead, have your characters get into trouble because of coincidence, and everyone will think how true to life that is.

In the case of this book, it seemed slightly unlikely that their schemes would work out so well, but then when bad luck snatched the profits from their grasp, it suddenly seemed true to life and also very funny. I think the unlikelihood of their success in the first place made their downfall that much funnier, though we definitely felt sorry for them. As the summer wears on and their bank balance gets lower, their plans get more and more desperate.

For the record, my now fifteen-year-old son did not have a job this summer. But I’m not worried that this book will give him the wrong idea. Although the book does not hold up the boys’ behavior as a good example, and does show that their choice ended up in more work than a job would have, it also has some great things to say about friendship and doing what’s right.

This book had me laughing out loud as I read it, and even as I’m writing the review, I can’t stop smiling. Most of all, it’s simply tremendous fun.

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

Review of Throne of Jade, by Naomi Novik

Alternate History, Audiobooks, Fantasy, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

throne_of_jadeThrone of Jade

by Naomi Novik

Read by Simon Vance

Books on Tape, 2007. 10 CDs, 11 hours, 44 minutes.
Starred Review

Throne of Jade is the second book about Temeraire, the dragon who fought with England against Napoleon’s forces in this delightful alternate history. In the earlier book, His Majesty’s Dragon, navy Captain Will Laurence captured a dragon’s egg from a French ship, and became that dragon’s companion in the Aerial Corps.

After the events of the first book, the world learns that Temeraire’s egg was meant for Napoleon, for he is of a lineage that the Chinese only allow in the company of emperors or an emperor’s family. At the outset of Throne of Jade, a Chinese envoy has come, indignant that Temeraire is treated as the pet of a common sea captain, intending to persuade England to send Temeraire back to China.

Negotiations are difficult, and England desperately wants trade to China kept free. Temeraire will not leave Laurence, and Laurence is willing to face hanging rather than trick him into leaving. So Temeraire and Laurence face a long sea voyage to China, encountering dangers and intrigue along the way. When they arrive in China, they see a country where dragons live almost as equals with humans, studying and learning as much as fighting. Will Temeraire be won over and decide to stay?

These books are intriguing as they reveal “facts” about the lives of dragons, which seem so realistic, you quickly forget that they didn’t actually have dragons in those days. The characters are compelling, and you find yourself indignant with Laurence at the slight to his honour of even suggesting that he would lie to Temeraire. As before, the book reminded me of a Patrick O’Brien book, only with dragons — which I somehow find much more exciting.

My plan was to listen to a different audiobook before I go on to the next book in Naomi Novik’s series. (There are five.) However, I find I can’t stand the wait! When I learned that our library had a copy of the next audiobook, Black Powder War on the shelves, I immediately checked it out and will start listening the next time I enter my car. I first chose to listen to this book because I couldn’t quite get around to reading it, but now I can’t bring myself to “read” it any other way. I have grown fond of the characters as portrayed by the voice of Simon Vance, and don’t want to miss out on that variety by reading it to myself and hearing only the voices my own mind can conjure up.

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Review of Grandfather’s Dance, by Patricia MacLachlan

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

grandfathers_danceGrandfather’s Dance

by Patricia MacLachlan

Joanna Cotler Books (HarperCollins), 2006. 84 pages.
Starred Review

I love Patricia MacLachlan’s gentle stories of the Witting family. With simple language, easy for a child first starting chapter books to read, she conveys worlds of emotion and describes the complex bonds of a family.

Anna, who was once the child narrator telling the story of Sarah, Plain and Tall, is now grown up and getting married. Her young half-sister Cassie tells the story of the family coming together to celebrate.

Her little brother Jack is full of toddler quirks and funny expressions and has a special relationship with Grandfather, who is feeling old these days. Cassie wonders about weddings and watches the family come together, with the Aunts arriving from Maine. Papa buys a car, which delights them.

Hmm. When I describe the simple events that happen, it doesn’t begin to convey the worlds of emotion that Patricia MacLachlan pours into them.

This is another beautiful installment in a delightful series of historical chapter books. If you haven’t read them yet, begin with Sarah, Plain and Tall, and go on to Skylark, Caleb’s Story, and More Perfect Than the Moon. If you have read any of the earlier books, you won’t need me to persuade you to pick up this newest installment. Although they are simple enough for children beginning to read chapter books on their own, they are profound enough for adults.

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