Dining Room Dinner Doodles a la Mo Willems

Inspired by Mo Willems’ dinner doodles, my friends and I attempted our own. Behold!

Happy spring!

A snail with attitude.

Newbery Challenge: Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze

It’s been three months since I’ve made any progress towards my goal to read all the Newbery award-winning books since the dawn of Newbery award-winning books. Admitted, I’ve been avoiding the 1933 winner, which I had read before and didn’t like. Two years later, I can say it’s actually worse than I remember. I don’t think I have the stamina to address all the indignities in this book, but here’s the lowdown:

Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze, by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis, chronicles thirteen year old Fu Yuin-Fah’s life after he and his widowed mother move to the city of Chungking (one of the big five in China) to make his fortune as an apprentice coppersmith. In a Ragged Dick manner, Fu learns to climb the ranks of Tang’s workshop and navigate city life during a tumultuous time of political upheaval, instability, and modernization. Lewis doesn’t state when, but with mentions of Dr. Sun Yet-sen and someone with vaguely Communist ideas, I’d say Young Fu’s story takes place about the same time Lewis was in China as a missionary and teacher, 1917.

When Lewis writes, she has a habit of telling, rather than showing. As a result, the story is a tedious mishmash of dialogue and exposition. Also, her characters tend to be caricatures and stereotypes: the nagging mother, the superstitious peasant, the wise unworldly scholar. And she has a habit of suddenly switching points-of-views during the narrative, effectively halting the flow to go into the mind of a side character we’ll never meet again. Worse, their perspectives don’t offer anything new, but echo the superstitious and pessimistic mentality expressed by almost every character in the book.

Code Name Verity, the Audiobook

After reading and re-reading Code Name Verity, and rooting for it in multiple prizes, I simply had to listen to the audiobook. I won’t bother summarizing the plot–if you’ve read it already, you certainly don’t need a rehash, and if you haven’t read it, you need to find a copy, stat (and avoid all spoilers, which means you should stop reading this post now).

So here’s what worked, and didn’t:

• the tone was just right. Narrators Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell pulled off the tense balance of fear and nostalgia and black humor. When Julie’s reminiscing about her time in England, I was drawn in completely and forgot all about her dire situation. And during the final raid, I kept fearing for Maddie’s life despite knowing how it all ends.
• the narrators sounded older than I’d imagined. That jarred me out of the story, but I eventually got used to it, because:
• they were so brilliant with the languages and accents. How do they do it?! Julie’s French was perfect, and her German sounded impeccable too, though I’m not a reliable judge. Maddie’s terrible French accent rivals Georgia Penn’s cringe-worthy français. Best of all, Julie’s so Scottish–how could von Linden and his minions ever mistake her for being English?
• Engel’s underlined text: there was no way to convey that in the audiobook, so if someone had listened to it before reading the book, they’d be very confused about the references to the red pen.
• that sublime passage about Maddie’s flight over the Pennines? It’s even better read aloud than on the page.

Review: Maggot Moon

Maggot Moon, by Sally Gardner, is one of the most unsettling books I’ve read all year. In England, in a possible past before the moon landing, in a totalitarian society ruled by the Motherland, there live two classes of people: those who are brainwashed and toe the party line, and those who dissent and vanish into the night. It’s easy to tell who’s a rat because those that tattle on their fellow citizens are rewarded with privileges like clothes, food, and the illusion of security.

Fifteen-year-old Standish Treadwell, with his mismatched eyes, dyslexia, and inherent off-the-train-tracks way of thinking, belongs to the latter group. After his parents are forced to flee because of their political views, Standish lives with his grandfather in dilapidated Zone 7, just outside the walled-off palace. So many of his neighbors have disappeared that Zone 7 is mostly populated by an overabundance of well-fed rats and order-enforcing Greenflies.

When the Lushes move in, Gramps is initially skeptical of their motives, but Standish and Hector, the Lushes’ son, soon become fast friends. Hector stands up for Standish against the bullies, and together, they use their imaginations to escape the vicious abuse of power that permeates from the government all the way down to the schools. Then one night, the Lushes vanish as well because they know a secret that could undermine the Motherland. And on the day the Motherland propels a rocket into space to demonstrate to the world their “ultimate supremacy,” Standish stumbles upon that secret and realizes it’s time for him to take his stand.

Gah! More Acronyms! #TBR #ABR

I noticed people often reveal their TBR pile to show what reading experiences are looming on the horizon. My TBR pile is daunting at the moment, so I’m going to take some deep breaths and present my ABR (already been read) pile.

TBR pile

• Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce (read Millions and wanted more)
•  M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman
• Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (saw Neil at CPL and thought I should give his adult stuff a try)
•  From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
• Father’s Arcane Daughter by E.L. Konigsburg
• A Proud Taste For Scarlet and Miniver by E.L. Konigsburg 

For those who’ve read these books, which title do you recommend I plunge into first?

Review: The Runaway King

Warning: mild spoilers ahead.

Picking up a month after the end of The False Prince, The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen has all the hallmarks of its prequel: action, adventure, swordfights, danger. Jaron, the newly crowned king, is in trouble. His advisors don’t trust him, his people don’t like him, and his country is being threatened with war on multiple fronts. After thwarting an assassination attempt, Jaron escapes with a wounded arm, and perhaps a concussion as well, because he then comes up with a ridiculous, downright dumb idea to run away (after convincing a friend to impersonate him at court) and broker peace on his own. In other words, he’s going to save the kingdom single-handed, with nothing but his wits.

It’s a fun idea, and Nielsen somehow makes it work, though I had trouble following (and believing) some of the logic and plausibility. Don’t ask me how Jaron decided to join the pirates–the same people who tried for years to kill him–and turn them over to his side, because that defies all reason. Then again, Jaron isn’t exactly sensible.

I could have handled the implausibility of the plot. What bothered me is that the book felt like a pale echo of The False Prince. Once again we have Jaron the Lone Hero, hiding his identity while deciding the fate of the kingdom. As I read, I couldn’t help but think that we’ve seen all of this before, just with different names and locations. The stakes are higher this time, and the odds stacked even more against Jaron, but it’s essentially the same story. I wanted more from Jaron’s character arc–considering how the last book ended, I was expecting The Runaway King to take place at court, forcing Jaron to play politics and wrestle with court intrigue (a la The King of Attolia). That would have been a real challenge. Instead, Jaron gets to run off and enjoy more solo adventures. So despite some brilliant moments (like the trick Jaron pulls to escape forced military service) and edge-of-your-seat action, the book left me disappointed. I am, however, looking forward to its sequel, because Nielsen makes it clear that Jaron will have to stay at court and rule. Hopefully it will make up for some of the flaws of The Runaway King.

Guess WHO

(cue Doctor Who intro)

A residual thought from World Book Night at the Cambridge Public Library: Neil Gaiman has not a few hardcore, dedicated, borderline stalk-y fans, depending on which angle you look at it. Does finding his features perfect for the 15 Minute Sketch* challenge make me one of them?

*For an explanation of what 15 Minute Sketches are all about, see here, here, and here.