Review of The Arrival, by Shaun Tan

Graphic Novel, Stand-outs, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

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The Arrival

by Shaun Tan

Starred Review.
Arthur Levine Books, New York, 2006.

The Arrival is an amazingly effective story of the immigrant experience—told in a graphic novel without any text—or at least without any text that we can understand.

The illustrations, beautifully drawn and wonderfully detailed, show us a man leaving his family behind to go on a long journey.  The pictures seem to be telling a historical story of a man traveling to America.

But then he arrives, and we see fantastic animals such as don’t exist on earth (at least that I know about!).  The letters of the text on signs are incomprehensible.  The clothing is different and strange.  The buildings are wild, unfamiliar shapes.

The man must try to find shelter, learn how to use the machines in his dwelling, find food, (including figuring out what it looks like and how to eat it) and find work.  He meets other immigrants and hears their stories.  And above all, he wants to bring his wife and daughter there to join him.

All this is shown to us without any words we can recognize.  By using strange, alien-looking objects and animals, Shaun Tan communicates the strangeness immigrants experience far more effectively than he could ever have done with words.

This book is shelved in the Young Adult section, but can span all ages from upper elementary to adults.  The powerful, wonderfully crafted images will stick in the reader’s mind for a long time to come.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on the main site at:

www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/arrival.html

Review of Fairest Audiobook, by Gail Carson Levine

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Fairy Tale Variant, Fantasy, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

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Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine

Read and Sung by Sarah Naughton and the Full Cast Family

Music by Todd Hobin

Full Cast Audio, 2007. Unabridged.

Review written January 28, 2008.

Starred Review.

Sonderbooks Stand-out 2009:  #2, Audiobooks.

Here’s a delightful audiobook well worth listening to.

Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted, has written a wonderful retelling of Snow White.  Aza lives in Ayortha, where everyone loves to sing.  She’s quite an eyesore, with her pale skin and blood-red lips, but she is blessed with a magnificent voice.

The Full Cast Audio production of this book advertised that it has more songs than a Broadway musical. This is the perfect tale to listen to, since music is such an important part of the story.

My expectations were extremely high.  Full Cast Audio always does an excellent job, using so many actors for their productions.  The book itself was wonderful, and I was looking forward to hearing it done with music.

Perhaps my expectations were too high, as I was a little bit disappointed.  Unfortunately, the Playaway version that I listened to did not have good sound quality (maybe the fault of my headphones?) and tended to static any time anyone hit a high note—definitely detracted from the enjoyment, though that wasn’t the fault of the production.  I think I will want to try it again as a Book on CD, because it was good enough to want to listen to again.

After reading about how wonderful Aza’s voice was, perhaps it was inevitable that I’d be a bit disappointed in any real person trying to play Aza. (Maybe I would have been happy with Charlotte Church?) Sarah Naughton’s voice is definitely nice—it just didn’t quite fit the build-up from the story as being the best voice in the kingdom. In fact, I thought the singing voice of the actress playing Aza’s sister Areta was sweeter.

There were indeed many, many songs, and they were nice—but I wish there had been a few catchier tunes. Maybe it had more songs than a Broadway musical, but the songs weren’t as memorable as you’d find in a Broadway musical.

Still—those are just quibbles. The fact is, for a recorded book, this production is tremendous. They didn’t just read the book; they used many different actors to read the book, and they performed all the songs in a book about music. This recorded book is something special.

I should add that although I was slightly disappointed at first in Aza’s singing voice (though I liked her speaking voice), the Prince’s voice melted my heart. And Queen Ivy’s voice was perfect—her character showed through with every word and every note.

This production would be a wonderful choice for a family trip in the car. You’ve got a compelling story with music to keep everyone entertained. If the kids have heard the story of Snow White, you’ll have fun discussing how the story is the same, yet different. You can discuss other issues that come up. (How important is beauty? Why did the King love Ivy?) In this case, the recorded book offers even more than the original, because it has music.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on the main site at:

www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/fairest_audio.html

Catching Up

General 0

Happy 2009!  You may have noticed that I’ve been madly trying to finish reviewing the books I read in 2008, without getting them posted on the website yet.  I’d like to get all the reviews done, to make it easier to compile the list of stand-outs for the year.

However, I discovered a big file of reviews I wrote at the start of 2008, before I figured out that I can write them on this blog whether I have time to post them right away or not.

So, here’s my plan:

1.  I’m going to post on this blog the six prewritten reviews of books read in 2008 that I’m choosing as Stand-outs.

2.  I’m going to download the cover images and Amazon links.

3.  I’m going to announce my Stand-outs 2009.

4.  I’m going to post all the reviews on my main site.

That should keep me busy for awhile!

Review of Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan

Christian, Nonfiction Review, True Stories 0

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Then Sings My Soul

Volumes 1 & 2

250 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories

by Robert J. Morgan

Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 2003.  308 pages.

http://www.robertjmorgan.com/

My Mom taught me to love hymns when I was a girl.  She made sure our family had a copy of the church hymnal.  My sister and I used to while away long drives by singing hymns.  We used to kneel at the two back windows of our van (oh horrors, without seatbelts!) and sing out the back window.  With all the noise of the car, it felt like no one could hear us but each other, and we could sing our little hearts out with the wind blowing in our faces.

So I thought Then Sings My Soul is the perfect book for morning devotions.  Each two-page spread has a hymn on one page, and the story behind the writing of that hymn (or perhaps a story of someone touched by the hymn) on the facing page.

Not only are the stories inspiring, but the book also has a wonderful selection of old classic hymns.  As the author says in the introduction, “Hymns connect us with generations now gone.  Each week millions of Christians in local settings around the world, using hymns composed by believers from every era and branch of Christendom, join voices in united bursts of praise, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in their hearts to the Lord.”

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on the main site at:  www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/then_sings_my_soul.html

Review of Our Own Selves, by Michael Gorman

Musings, Nonfiction Review 0

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Our Own Selves

More Meditations for Librarians

by Michael Gorman

American Library Association, Chicago, 2005.  224 pages.

http://www.alastore.ala.org/

I’m a new librarian.  I got my MLIS degree one year and one month ago.  All the same, once something becomes a job, there’s a danger that it will become “just a job” instead of a calling.

Reading a book like this one, slowly, one meditation per day, helped to remind me why I’m so proud and happy to be a librarian.  It reminds me that, despite the day-to-day little annoying details, I am doing a good work from a noble tradition.

As Michael Gorman says, “One of the great intangible benefits of library work is the sense of self-worth that comes when we realize that, no matter how humdrum the day or week, we are playing a part in bringing the good things of life to everyone and improving our communities, one life at a time.  A library serving a community of any kind (a village, school, city, college or university, corporation, government) enriches that community, which would be impoverished and weakened if that library did not exist.”

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on the main site at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/our_own_selves.html

Review of Forgive for Love, by Dr. Fred Luskin

Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth, Relationships, Starred Review 0

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Forgive for Love

The Missing Ingredient for a Healthy and Lasting Relationship

by Dr. Fred Luskin

HarperOne, 2007.  234 pages.

Starred Review.

http://www.learningtoforgive.com/

http://www.harperone.com/

After my husband left me, I did a lot of reading about forgiveness.  What do you do when your life falls apart?  Well, I look to books to help.

Of all the books I read about forgiveness, the one that made a breakthrough for me in helping me actually DO it (instead of just thinking about doing in) was Dr. Luskin’s earlier book, Forgive for Good.  (http://www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/forgive_for_good.html)

The key thought that helped me was this:  This person has already hurt me.  Why in the world should I give them power to continue to hurt me by brooding over that hurt?  And he has some practical tips to help you get your mind away from all the ways you were wronged.

I thought that book was so outstanding, when I learned that Dr. Luskin had written a book about forgiving in the context of romantic relationships, I knew I had to read it.

So much of this book rang true for me, quotes from it fill up five pages of my Sonderquotes blog (http://sonderbooks.com/sonderquotes/?s=luskin+forgive+love).

I have come to believe, along with Dr. Luskin, that forgiveness is the essential key to a lasting marriage.

“Think about it.  The centrality of commitment in relationships is expressed through the marriage vows, which ask us to love our partners through richer and poorer, in sickness and in health, and for better and for worse until death.  That means that we promise to love them when they are not doing well, when they have failed, when life is not exactly turning out as hoped, or when we’re going through a financial reversal.  What I see in the marriage vows is a basic prescription:  if we want our relationships to last, we better be prepared to forgive.”

But Dr. Luskin doesn’t only tell us we should forgive, he also shows us how.  This book is full of wise and practical tips toward becoming a better forgiver, and thus a better lover.

As he says in the final chapter, “Both the good news and the bad news about being in a relationship is that you will get many opportunities to practice forgiveness.”

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on the main site at:

www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/forgive_for_love.html

Review of In the Ever After, by Allan B. Chinen

Folk Tales, Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth 0

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In the Ever After

Fairy Tales and the Second Half of Life

by Allan B. Chinen

Chiron Publications, Wilmette, Illinois, 1994.  203 pages.

I love Allan Chinen’s collections of fairy tales.  This volume deals with tales from all over the world that involve “elders” rather than the youthful protagonist going off to seek his fortune.

After presenting each fairy tale, he speaks as a psychiatrist about the insights the fairy tale gives us and the light it sheds on living the second half of life.

Fairy tales are full of wisdom.  Allan Chinen helps you see how that wisdom can apply to your life.  This is perfect for people like me who love symbols and images.  It’s fascinating how the same concepts come up in fairy tales from completely different parts of the world.

“In most familiar fairy tales, the Prince and Princess battle against terrible enemies and survive overwhelming ordeals.  Then they meet each other, marry, and live happily ever after.  And surely true love and finding one’s own kingdom represent symbolic goals for all individuals.  But much more remains of life in the “ever after,” and perhaps the most important:  restoring innocence and wonder to a world that has forgotten them.  That is the ultimate promise of elder tales, and their challenge — infusing the magic of myth and childhood into real life.”

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on the main site at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/in_the_ever_after.html

Review of The Prodigal’s Perspective, by Robert E. Steinkamp

Christian, Nonfiction Review, Relationships 0

The Prodigal’s Perspective

by Robert E. Steinkamp

Rejoice Marriage Ministries, 2006. 263 pages.

www.rejoiceministries.org

Of all the books from Rejoice Marriage Ministries, I think I am most encouraged by the ones Bob Steinkamp has written about his experiences as a “prodigal.”

Bob’s wife Charlyne divorced him for adultery and abuse, on the advice of her pastor.  But then her heart was convicted and she felt God was telling her not to give up on Bob, but to fast and pray for him to repent and come back to God.

At the time, he thought she was crazy.  He told her the marriage was over, and melted down his wedding ring to prove it.  He told her he was never ever coming back.

But now, twenty years later, he tells a different story.  He tells how God was working on him the entire two years that they were divorced before he finally gave in to God’s promptings and remarried his wife.

He says, “It took a long while, crisis after crisis, almost a promise of a plane crash, and even coming face to face with three visible demons in my bedroom, for me to do what the Lord desired.  Yes, I had my own ‘free will’ as people are reminding you, but it would take a book to share all the ways God used to bring my free will into alignment with His will for my life.”

This book gives a window into what happened behind the scenes while his wife was praying.  She certainly didn’t know what he was thinking at the time.  I thought this paragraph was eye-opening:

“How many times a day do you think of your absent mate?  How often does something happen that will instantly remind you of the one you love?  Rest assured that you are coming to your prodigal’s thoughts just as often.  When you were married you became one flesh, a relationship that simply cannot be dissolved at will.  Your absent mate may wish you would drop from their memory, but God will never allow that to happen.  As you stand strong, doing things God’s way, those memories in your mate’s mind will be enhanced.  Take that as fact from a man who called the other woman by his wife’s name a year after our divorce!”

Bob also reminds the reader that his transformation came from God’s work in his heart, not something that Charlyne engineered.  He urges you to give your marriage to God, but reminds you that prayers for your spouse are far more effective than you may realize at the time.

Find this review on the main site at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/prodigals_perspective.html

Review of The Sweet Potato Queens’ Book of Love, by Jill Conner Browne

Humorous, Nonfiction Review 0

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The Sweet Potato Queens’ Book of Love

A Fallen Southern Belle’s Look at Love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared

by Jill Conner Browne

Three Rivers Press, New York, 1999.  213 pages.

http://www.sweetpotatoqueens.com/

http://www.randomhouse.com/

Oh my goodness, the Sweet Potato Queens make me laugh!

This is the first book Jill Conner Browne wrote.  It explains the hilarious origins of the Sweet Potato Queens and some of their initial exploits.

All books about the Sweet Potato Queens are hilarious, not exactly respectful of men (at least when they don’t deserve respect), irreverent, and did I say hilarious?  Reading Jill Conner Browne brings out the queenliness in each of us and helps us laugh at ourselves and everyone else.

Tremendous fun in a way that can’t be explained.  Pick up a copy and read it yourself!

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on the main site at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/spq_book_of_love.html

Review of Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara

Fantasy, Picture Book Review 0

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Ghosts in the House!

by Kazuno Kohara

Roaring Brook Press, New York, 2008.  28 pages.

This simple little picture book reminds me of years ago when my landlady effectively dealt with my son’s fear of ghosts by telling him that if one bothers you, to bite it on its bottom.  We decided it would taste like marshmallow.

This book presents a similarly nontraditional way of dealing with ghosts.

A little girl moves into a house that is full of ghosts, but fortunately she’s a witch and knows how to deal with them.  She catches them all, puts them in the washing machine, hangs them up to dry, and then puts them to good use all over the house.

This whole story is played out with simple language and happy, smiling faces.

There is some initial surprise when the first ghost shows up, but soon the girl says, “How lovely!  I hope there are some more!”

This is a cheerful and cozy story, showing that things people are afraid of aren’t always so scary at all.

The illustrations are creative.  It’s all in simple black and orange, with the ghosts showing up in a somewhat transparent white.

There are very few words on a page, and this would make an excellent story for very young listeners, for a friendly, reassuring, and cozy story about ghosts.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on the main site at:

www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/ghosts_in_the_house.html