Review of Graceling, by Kristin Cashore

Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Stand-outs, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

gracelingGraceling

by Kristin Cashore

Harcourt, Orlando, 2008. 471 pages.
Starred review.
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #5 Fantasy Teen Fiction

Katsa has a Grace. Like every child whose eyes settle into two different colors, Katsa has an extraordinary gift, and was sent to the court of the king, her uncle, until it became clear what her Grace would be and if it would be useful to him.

When she was only eight years old, it became clear that her Grace was killing. She can fight and defeat anyone, with weapons or not. The king did indeed find this gift useful, and from the time that she was ten, he ordered Katsa to do his bullying for him, to punish anyone who displeased him.

Now that she is eighteen, she is finding ways to rebel, ways to use her Grace to help people, to fight injustice instead of causing it. On one mission, she encounters a mystery. Why would anyone want to kidnap the kind old father of the king of Lienid?

Then she meets the old man’s grandson, a prince of Lienid, who is also apparently Graced with fighting, and the first real challenge she’s ever encountered. They begin practicing together, and Katsa is horrified to find herself beginning to trust this man. They decide to tackle the mystery together.

This book has a great story of adventure against impossible odds, with a tremendously likable heroine who can defeat almost anyone or anything. Woven into the story is Katsa’s struggle with who she is. Is she a killing machine for a bully of a king to use for his purposes, or can she choose to be something more?

I found the romance particularly wonderful, as we watch Katsa wrestling with her feelings and her habits of not trusting anyone. I thought that part especially well-written and delightful to read.

Parents, this book isn’t for young teens. Katsa is not interested in marriage, and she and the prince decide to be lovers. Their encounters are described tastefully, even beautifully, but they are described. You might want to discuss your opinion of Katsa’s choice not to marry. To me, it seems consistent with her character and her difficulties with trust. But on the other hand, it’s clear that either one of the lovers would be completely devastated if the other one were to take advantage of the “freedom” they’ve been granted. I like the way Kristin Cashore shows us Katsa talking about being free to leave her lover, but then having tremendous difficulty actually doing it, even when their lives depend on it.

All in all, I thought the romance, with all its ambivalence and wildly fluctuating new feelings for Katsa, was the most beautifully written part of this magnificent book. I’m amazed that it’s a first novel, and am now among those eagerly looking forward to the sequel, Fire, which comes out in October 2009.

Buy from Amazon.com

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

Review of the Audiobook The Last Battle, by C. S. Lewis, performed by Patrick Stewart

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Christian, Fantasy, Fiction Review, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

last_battle_audioThe Last Battle

by C. S. Lewis

performed by Patrick Stewart

Harper Audio, 2004. 5 hours, 5 compact discs.
Starred review.
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: Wonderful Rereads

When I saw the library had The Last Battle on audio CD, performed by Patrick Stewart, I snapped it up without a moment’s hesitation. Patrick Stewart could make the phone book sound entertaining!

This is the last book of The Chronicles of Narnia, which I’ve read so often I’ve lost track of how many times. It struck me on this listening that this one isn’t so much about the story as it is about describing the wonders of what heaven may be like. After all, the main characters don’t win the last battle — they are defeated, but then Aslan makes all wonderfully right.

So I’m not sure you could really enjoy this book if you don’t believe in heaven. If you do, however, here’s a chance to glory in the magnificent voice of Patrick Stewart marvelling over the wonders of what may be in store for us. Definitely an uplifting treat!

Buy from Amazon.com

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

Review of the print version.

Review of The Forgiving Self, by Robert Karen, PhD

Forgiveness, Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth, Relationships 0

forgiving_selfThe Forgiving Self

The Road from Resentment to Connection

by Robert Karen, PhD

Doubleday, New York, 2001. 288 pages.

Even quite a few years into the divorce process myself, I still feel that anyone going through a divorce can benefit from thinking about forgiveness, if only for your own sanity!

I’ve read quite a few books on forgiveness. This one by Robert Karen took a more academic approach, a psychological approach, to the subject. I especially liked the way he explored many different aspects of forgiveness, including our natural tendency not to forgive.

I read the book slowly, and it gave me plenty of food for thought. I maintain that thinking about forgiveness can’t help but be a good thing.

Robert Karen says,

“When I first turned my attention to forgiveness, it seemed a worthwhile, if unexciting, topic. But as I immersed myself, I realized that forgiveness is as fundamental and important as any topic in psychology. There are few places it can’t take you. It embraces the meaning of love and hate, the nature of dependency, the torments of envy, the problems of narcissism and paranoia, as well as the tension between self-hatred and self-acceptance, between striving for maturity and refusing to grow up. . . .

“In our capacity or failure to forgive we reveal our ability to recognize the humanity in someone who has hurt or disappointed us, as well as to see our own limitations and complicity. It represents an ability to imagine what life is like on the other side of the fence, where another human being is engaged in his own struggle, to let go of the expectation that people exist to be just what we need them to be. And this sensibility applies to our view of ourselves, too: for forgiving others is nothing but the mirror image of forgiving oneself. Significant acts of forgiveness also entail letting go of a precious story we tell about ourselves, risking the awareness of a larger, less self-justifying truth.

“What we do in the realm of forgiveness . . . speaks to the magnitude of our self-centeredness and the extent to which we organize the world into a simple pattern of good versus bad, as opposed to a more mature ability to tolerate ambiguity and ambivalence. In the capacity to forgive we see our largeness of heart. And, in struggling to forgive what is most difficult for us to forgive, we reveal our courage, imagination, and potential for growth. The development of forgiveness is, I now think, as clear a marker of general psychological development as there is.”

I found myself posting several quotations from this book on Sonderquotes. I recommend this book for some deep thinking about all that forgiveness means in our lives.

Buy from Amazon.com

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

Review of The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd

Contemporary, Mystery, Stand-outs, Teen Fiction Review 0

london_eye_mysteryThe London Eye Mystery

by Siobhan Dowd

David Fickling Books, New York, 2007. Originally published in Great Britain, 2007. 323 pages.
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #5 Other Teen Fiction

“We took Salim to the Eye because he’d never been up before. A stranger came up to us in the queue, offering us a free ticket. We took it and gave it to Salim. We shouldn’t have done this, but we did. He went up on his own at 11.32, 24 May, and was due to come down at 12.02 the same day. He turned and waved to Kat and me as he boarded, but you couldn’t see his face, just his shadow. They sealed him in with twenty other people whom we didn’t know.

“Kat and I tracked Salim’s capsule as it made its orbit. When it reached its highest point, we both said, ‘NOW!’ at the same time and Kat laughed and I joined in. That’s how we knew we’d been tracking the right one. We saw the people bunch up as the capsule came back down, facing northeast towards the automatic camera for the souvenir photograph. They were just dark bits of jackets, legs, dresses and sleeves.

“Then the capsule landed. The doors opened and the passengers came out in twos and threes. They walked off in different directions. Their faces were smiling. Their paths probably never crossed again.

“But Salim wasn’t among them.

“We waited for the next capsule and the next and the one after that. He still didn’t appear. Somewhere, somehow, in the thirty minutes of riding the Eye, in his sealed capsule, he had vanished off the face of the earth. This is how having a funny brain that runs on a different operating system from other people’s helped me to figure out what had happened.”

This mystery reminds me of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, narrated as it is by someone whose “brain runs on a different operating system from other people’s.” This one is much less grim and offers an intriguing mystery with a believable solution.

This book is, fittingly, more cerebral than emotional, since Ted isn’t very good at reading emotions. Though we can see the emotions of everyone in his family are on edge when Salim disappears, and the author handles it well.

I’m not sure when I’ve last read such an enjoyable mystery appropriate for middle school students through teens. Ted is a young teen himself, but the reader can believe that he had the insight and noticed the details to solve the mystery. It isn’t a case, as in some mysteries for young people, of just happening to deal with stupid adults.

My biggest regret, after reading this book, is that I never went up in the London Eye when I was in London.

Buy from Amazon.com

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

Review of Dreamdark: Blackbringer, by Laini Taylor

Adventure, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

blackbringerDreamdark

Blackbringer

by Laini Taylor

Firebird (Penguin), 2007. 437 pages.
Starred review.

Magpie Windwitch is as different from the other fairies in her world as her world is different from your “typical” fantasy fairy kingdom.

Fairies have been in the world for eons longer than humans, and thousands of years ago, fairy champions had great battles and sealed all the devils into bottles. The sealing spell on the bottles ensured that nothing existing at that time could possibly break the seal. But humans showed up on earth some time after that, and the seals had no power against them.

“Magpie sighed. One devil, just one in all of devil history, had granted three wishes to the human who freed it. Magpie had caught that troublemaking snag five years ago and put him back, but the damage was already done. The mannies had a mania for it now, and every chance they got they freed some wicked thing back into the world, and they surely didn’t get wishes for their trouble.”

But the devil whose empty bottle Magpie finds at the start of this book is no ordinary devil. The fishermen are gone, but there is no blood. When Magpie reads their last memory, it is only of darkness. Most sinister of all, the bottle was sealed by the Magruwen himself, one of the great djinn who made the world, but is now sleeping. He wouldn’t normally bother with a mere devil.

Most fairies wouldn’t worry about it, either. But Magpie is different. She and her crow “family” can’t let it rest, and her attempts to set right this evil unloosed on the world bring her to terms with her own destiny. Ultimately, the very existence of the world rests in her hands.

Along the way, she meets some others her age who seem, like her, able to sense the Tapestry that makes up the world, each in a distinctive way.

Laini Taylor has constructed an intricate world with feisty, memorable characters. The different fairies and fairy clans have different types of magic, usually intriguing. I especially like the one who can knit himself a magical skin with wings that work. (It makes sense. Knitting is magical!) There’s even an imp with the gift of serendip that can find anything it seeks, wherever it may be.

Magpie is incredibly tough and loyal to her crow “brothers.” But she still has the vanity of a lass, hurt when an elegant lady turns up her nose at the dirt of battle sticking to Magpie and her unpolished manners. She’s a believable and lovable heroine.

I like fantasy books where the fantasy could really be happening, only we humans are oblivious. In that case, I’m mighty thankful to Magpie for saving the world!

Buy from Amazon.com

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

Review of His Majesty’s Dragon, by Naomi Novik

Adventure, Audiobooks, Fantasy, Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

his_majestys_dragonHis Majesty’s Dragon

by Naomi Novik

Read by Simon Vance

Books on Tape, Westminster, MD, 2007. 10 hours, 9 CDs.
Starred Review.
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #5 Fiction

His Majesty’s Dragon reminds me of a Patrick O’Brian naval adventure story — with dragons!

Set in an alternate world where dragons are used for aerial combat, the book opens as Captain Will Lawrence discovers a ready-to-hatch dragon egg on the French ship he has just captured. He orders all the officers to draw straws to decide who will have to give up their life on the navy, harness the dragon, and switch to the lonely life of an aviator. They all know that the new aviator will henceforth have mainly the dragon for company.

However, the newly hatched dragon has his own plans and chooses Lawrence himself. Without having given it thought ahead of time, he names the dragon Temeraire, after a ship he once served on. Then he must leave the Navy to train with Temeraire for the expected imminent invasion by Napoleon’s forces.

The facts of dragon training are presented matter-of-factly, as we learn along with Lawrence how it’s done. It’s all taken as seriously as if these were sailing ships of the time, and you find yourself completely believing in this world and coming to understand the strategies of dragon combat.

As you might expect, despite his youth and inexperience, Temeraire and his captain are drawn into a great battle at the climax. It’s all exciting and fascinating.

I listened to this book on my way to work, and found myself quickly drawn in. Simon Vance presents the different voices so you can recognize who is speaking. I found life in His Majesty’s Aerial Corps to be so intriguing, I quickly forgot it had never really happened.

Yes, an aviator’s life is limited in human companionship, but Lawrence quickly finds that Temeraire’s companionship more than makes up for it.

This is a brilliant book, and I’m looking forward to listening to the rest of the series.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/his_majestys_dragon.html

Review of Cybele’s Secret, by Juliet Marillier

Fantasy, Teen Fiction Review 0

cybeles_secretCybele’s Secret

by Juliet Marillier

Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2008. 432 pages.

This book says it’s a “companion novel” to the wonderful Wildwood Dancing, which is to say that you can read Cybele’s Secret without having read the earlier book. But as I have said about some other companion novels, why would you want to?

Cybele’s Secret follows Paula, the scholarly sister, as she accompanies her father as his assistant on a buying trip to Istanbul.

“We had come here to buy Cybele’s Gift, the fabled treasure of a lost faith. Somewhere amongst those steep ways clustered with shops and houses, mosques and basilicas, it was waiting for us…. The cult of Cybele had long since died out, but the legend of Cybele’s Gift survived. If the artifact fell into deserving hands, the owner and his descendants would be blessed with riches and good fortune all the days of their lives. As is the manner of such promises, the thing worked both ways. In the wrong hands, the artifact would bring death and chaos. This had not been put to the test in living memory, for nobody had known the whereabouts of Cybele’s Gift for many years. Until now.”

The first half of this book is rather slow-paced. It is full of atmosphere, and Paula has reason to believe inhabitants of the Other Kingdom are near at hand. She learns that she has a quest, but she does not know what it is.

I didn’t find myself truly believing Paula’s motivation to get into the situation that leads her to the fast-paced second half. But no matter, the book gets exciting after Paula blunders into danger. For then she learns her quest and can set about the challenges of carrying it out.

This book has a richly detailed setting and a story that ends up being intriguing. Paula also meets two men who are fascinating in very different ways. They both end up being an important part of her quest.

I think that fans of the first book will be motivated enough to happily get through the first half to enjoy the exciting finish.

Buy from Amazon.com

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

Review of Hello Baby! by Mem Fox and Steve Jenkins

Contemporary, Parenting, Picture Book Review 0

hello_babyHello Baby!

by Mem Fox

illustrated by Steve Jenkins

Beach Lane Books, New York, 2009. 32 pages.

Okay, this one you simply have to look at yourself. Yes, again Mem Fox has created lyrical, soothing rhymes to share with a baby:

“Hello, baby!
Who are you?
Are you a monkey with clever toes?
Perhaps you’re a porcupine, twitching its nose.
Are you an eagle, exploring the skies?
Perhaps you’re a gecko with rolling eyes.”

But what makes this book stunning and unforgettable are the incredibly detailed cut-paper illustrations by Steve Jenkins. I’ve raved about his illustrations before, in my reviews of Actual Size and Dogs and Cats. They only seem to get better with each new book. When I saw Hello Baby! I had to pass it around to my co-workers to watch them marvel as well. He makes cut paper look alive.

These animals aren’t necessarily the traditional ones you’d teach your baby, including warthogs and geckos. But I’m sure the visual feast here will capture your child’s attention. There’s a final cozy question:

“Then who are you, baby?
Wait, let me guess–
Are you my treasure?
The answer is . . .
Yes!”

I like the way they made the hands reaching out to each other a range of colors, so you can see almost anyone’s hue there. That’s one place it doesn’t look as lifelike, because no real person’s hand has all those colors, but the use of mottled paper in that place works so that it could apply to anyone.

Buy from Amazon.com

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

Review of The New Codependency, by Melody Beattie

Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth, Relationships, Starred Review 0

new_codependencyThe New Codependency

Help and Guidance for Today’s Generation,

by Melody Beattie

Simon & Schuster, New York, 2009. 270 pages.
Starred review.

Those who have been blessed by Melody Beattie’s earlier books, particularly Codependent No More and Beyond Codependency, will be excited to hear that she has written a new book about codependency, called The New Codependency.

Her first book, Codependent No More, is the one that made the term “codependent” a standard part of recovery vocabulary, but she wrote that more than twenty years ago.

She says,

“I’m writing this book to clarify confusion, discuss new information, write about how codependency has mutated, address new support options, and remind us about what we’ve learned.

“Although I’ve changed significantly since writing Codependent No More, I still step in codependent puddles. I might get hooked into someone’s stuff, let their problems control me, over-engage, or start reacting instead of taking right action. I’ll let family conditioning affect me, neglect to set boundaries, or shut down emotionally. There are times I have to slam on the brakes, STOP, and remember to take care of myself. I don’t sink in the quicksand of life like I used to, but sometimes I revert to survival mode. That’s yesterday’s news.

“I don’t call that relapsing. Caring about people we love, feeling victimized when we’re betrayed, giving our all to people we love, or wanting to control people because we’re watching them destroy themselves and hurt us doesn’t mean we’re sick. These are natural reactions. Codependency is about normal behaviors taken too far. It’s about crossing lines.”

All in all, you can think of this as a book about healthy relationships, about setting boundaries, and about remembering to care for ourselves and let other people live their own lives. There are quizzes to help you examine your own issues and emotions, and there are many suggested activities to help you put these ideas into practice.

As with all of Melody Beattie’s books, this one is uplifting and encouraging. She concludes,

“Learn to love and take care of yourself. You’ll learn to love others better. Being healthy doesn’t mean being so tough we don’t care, or so hard-hearted nobody can hurt us again. The path we’re on might start with not giving so much or so compulsively but living and loving with an open heart — even when that means paying the price of saying goodbye too soon — is where this journey leads. Don’t stop until you’re there.”

Buy from Amazon.com

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

Review of the Audiobook The King of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Historical, Stand-outs, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

kingofattoliaThe King of Attolia

by Megan Whalen Turner

performed by Jeff Woodman

Recorded Books, 2006. 9 CDs, 10.5 hours.
Starred review.
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: Wonderful Rereads

I’ve already raved about the three books about Eugenides by Megan Whalen Turner. As with The Thief and The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia gets better with each rereading.

In this case, I recently moved further from work, and have been listening to audiobooks on my commute. This is a wonderful way to force myself to savor The King of Attolia, as every other time I’ve read it, I wasn’t able to read it so slowly! I did find myself lingering in the car a few times, and was frustrated that my own copy of the book is in a box somewhere, so I couldn’t just read ahead.

Jeff Woodman does an excellent job reading, and you can easily follow the different characters.

I still don’t want to say much about the plot of any of these books. Megan Whalen Turner’s richly textured plots and subplots are what make these books better on every reading, as you notice details that escaped your attention the first time through.

The gods come into the story a little less obtrusively in this segment, urging Eugenides to face his destiny. The reader gets the sense that he will have an important role to play in political destinies of the entire continent.

I’ve started urging other adults to try this series. These books are among my all-time favorites, and go higher in my estimation with every rereading. Start with The Thief, and soon you’ll be eagerly waiting, like me, for a fourth book in the series. Don’t underestimate Eugenides!

Buy from Amazon.com

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