Devourer of Books

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Just a caution: it is pretty much impossible for this review NOT to be a spoiler for “Uglies” (which I have also reviewed).  If you haven’t read Uglies and are concerned about knowing the ending, please do skip this review.

Tally Youngblood is no longer Ugly, she is now Pretty and she is getting ready to join the Crims, one of the coolest cliques in New Pretty Town.  Tally is finally at the party she’s been anxiously awaiting, the one at which the Crims will decide whether or not she can join, when some of the Smokies show up with a secret about the past she can no longer remember.  Tally and her new boyfriend Zane fight to stay bubbly and not let themselves give into the lesions that make them pretty-minded, but it isn’t easy when the city and Zane’s own body are against them.

I really do like this series.  Westerfeld keeps up the action without making this a brain-dead action book.  The love-triangle also worked much better than one in another young adult I could name.  Perhaps the best part is the social commentary, which works because of the dystopian society in which Tally lives.  I don’t even want to describe some of the commentary both about Tally’s time and our own because I don’t know how to keep it from sounding heavy-handed, although Westerfeld pulls it off quite nicely.

Perhaps the only the I didn’t like about “Pretties” is that it ended with a similar sort of cliffhanger (although not quite the same) as did “Uglies.”  They were a little too similar for my taste, but that didn’t stop the ending from propelling me straight into “Specials!”

Buy this books on Amazon.

Recently I read (okay, listened to) the third book in Gregory Maguire’s OZ series, “A Lion Among Men” and I wasn’t really terribly impressed.  As I was writing my review, I realized I haven’t really been crazy about any of his work, except “Wicked” which I really enjoyed.  I don’t have anything against him as a writer (or a person, for that matter), he and I just don’t really click.  This got me to wondering why on earth I read four books by him, none of which I enjoyed, just because I liked “Wicked.”  Heck, I even reread “Mirror, Mirror” to see if it was just timing, or if I really didn’t care for it.

And I’ve done the same thing with Philippa Gregory.  I really liked “The Other Boleyn Girl,” which actually is what drew me into historical fiction, now my favorite genre.  I enjoyed “The Queen’s Fool,” and “The Boleyn Inheritence” although not nearly as much as “The Other Boleyn Girl.”  “The Constant Princess” disappointed me and “The Virgin’s Lover” left me cold.  And yet, I actually bought “The Other Queen” in hardback when it came out – although I quickly gave it away on my blog, it definitely was not a keeper for me.  Seriously, what does she have against Elizabeth I?  All this and I can’t help but be curious about her upcoming book, “The White Queen,” although it seems like she’s cranking them out pretty quickly now (“The Other Queen” just came out in the fall, about a year before “The White Queen” is scheduled to be released) and I can’t imagine but that the quality is suffering.  At least this time I’ve pledged that it WILL be a library book.

The library book lesson is one that I’ve started to learn with Jodi Picoult.  I initially loved all of her work I read, but I quickly OD’d on her.  The storylines seem very different on the surface, but if you read too many of them they all start to blend into one another, although I do hear her newest book is quite good.  She’s really cranking them out too, though.

Why is it that I seem to give an author endless chances to impress me if they managed to do so with their first book?  Really, if I haven’t liked over half of their work, shouldn’t I just call it quits?  How many chances do you give an author?  Is it three strikes and they’re out?  More?  Less?  How many should they get?

Lucky Girl by Mei-Ling Hopgood

When’s the last time you read a memoir about someone who just has an interesting story?  Someone whose life was not screwed up by tragic illness, crazy parents, or drug addiction?  *Waits*  Okay, it has been awhile for me too.  Now, I like many of those memoirs, but they can get to be too much.  Sometimes you need a break from the scope of human tragedy, especially if that tragedy devolves into ‘why me?’ complaining  and blame passing.  “Lucky Girl” is, in my opinion, a cure for those who have over-indulged in the tragic/victim memoir.

Mei-Ling Hopgood was born in Taiwan in the 1970s and adopted by an American couple in Michigan.  A few years later, their family was enlarged by first one than another young boy adopted from Korea.  Despite not having a large Asian-American community in their immediate vicinity, Mei-Ling and her brothers grew up remarkably well-adjusted.  They loved their parents, got along well as a family, and never really dwelt on their birth families.

After reconnecting with the nun who made her adoption possible, Mei-Ling decides to go ahead and make an inquiry about her birth family at the hospital in which she was born.  Imagine her surprise when she discovers her birth family has been looking for her for years and when she begins getting calls from her sisters, along with offers from her father to fly her to Taiwan to meet them and celebrate New Years with them.   Mei-Ling has a bit of a wild ride in meeting her birth family, with her submissive mother, domineering (and son-obsessed) father, and her numerous sisters dying to both get to know and shield her from family secrets.

I really enjoyed “Lucky Girl.”  For one thing, it was fascinating watching Mei-Ling so successfully bridge two cultures.  Part of that is the fact that her parents, although Anglo, were conscientious about raising her and her brothers with as much of their birth cultures as possible.  Part of it was also simply Mei-Ling’s attitude.  Yes, she wanted to learn more about her birth family, yes it was often very difficult dealing with this family who agreed to let her go so many years ago, yes she had tragedy in her life in both families.  Never, though, did she seem to find herself a victim of her circumstances.  She might feel pain and sadness, but she was always looking to make things work, or to figure out what was necessary for her own well-being and sanity.

I would definitely recommend “Lucky Girl” for those interested in Taiwan, adoption, bridging of cultures, or for those who simply need the antidote to the ‘what a tragedy’ memoir.

Buy this book on Amazon.

Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman

“Charles and Emma” is a well-researched biography of Darwin and his wife Emma.  Their relationship was notable because, while he questioned the involvement of God in the workings of the natural world and developed his theory of evolution, she was a devout Christian.   The book works through Charles and Emma’s courtship and even provides glances back to their respective childhoods.

This book is written for grades 8-12, but I think it might be more appropriate for grades 7-9.  I was actually a bit confused about the intended age group because there are some difficult themes such as death – including the death of children.  Some parents may consider Charles’ questioning of God’s role in the world an unsuitable theme for younger children as well.  These aspects of the book would certainly point to a grades 8-12 audience, but at many times I felt that the writing was more at the level of a middle-grades book, 4th or 5th grade through 7th or 8th.  There was simply a certain lack of sophistication in the writing that made the book seem more childish to me than something written for high schoolers.  I do not believe this is due to a lack of skill on the part of the author but because she seems to have primarily written nonfiction for grade school children.  This style carried over into “Charles and Emma” perhaps a bit too much, making it somewhat juvenile for most high schoolers to read for pleasure.

That being said, “Charles and Emma” is very clear and well-researched and would make a fantastic source for a report on Darwin for students up through high school.  They may not be enamoured of the writing, but they will find good, solid information.  Middle school or even mature upper-elementary students with an interest in Darwin could definitely read this for pleasure.  Heiligman did a fantastic job being very even-handed with both science and religion and was not dogmatic in either direction, which should give easy to many parents.

Adults, don’t run out and buy this for yourselves, but it may be interesting for some children in your life.

Buy this book on Amazon.

A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire

I have this tendency, if I like the first book I read from an author, to keep trying his or her work over and over again, even if I don’t like ANY of the subsequent books I read by said author.  I may need to stop doing that.

In this case, I really, really liked “Wicked” when I read it.  I know that some people find it slow, but it really clicked for me, I loved the politics of it.  I then tried some of Maguire’s other fairy tale books, “Mirror, Mirror” and “Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.”  I found both of them pretty ‘bleh’.  They weren’t bad per se, but I didn’t enjoy them in the least.  Even so, I decided to read “Son of  a Witch” sometime back because, even if I didn’t like his other work, I wanted to continue in Maguire’s version of Oz.  I did enjoy “Son of a Witch” more than the non-Oz books, but really didn’t love it.  Regardless, when I heard about “A Lion Among Men,” I knew I wanted to read it.

It took me awhile, but I finally got around to “A Lion Among Men,” borrowing the audiobook from the library.  It tells the story both of Brrr, the Cowardly Lion, and Yackle, the witch who figured prominently in Elphaba’s life in “Wicked.”  On one hand, I did want to know more about both figures and how Maguire saw them fitting into Elphaba’s story.  On the other hand, I was about as interested in this book as I was in Maguire’s non-Oz books, even with my desire to piece together the story, which means that I probably actually liked the book itself LESS than his others.

No more Maguire for me, I think, other than possible re-reads of “Wicked.”

If you have liked Maguire’s other work and want to continue his Oz story, read this by all means.  The problem isn’t poor writing, it is just that, other than “Wicked,” something about these books rubs me the wrong way.  If you’re not crazy about Maguire, learn my lesson and don’t bother.