The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
A Novel in Words and Pictures
by Brian Selznick
533 pages
YA Fiction
Published March 2007
Scholastic Press
Set in France in 1931, this is a story told in pictures and words giving a complete portrayal of Hugo Cabret. Hugo is a boy who lives at the train station, loves machines and robots and is a thief. I am fearful to share more because as it is a mystery I'd hate to taint even a second of your experience with this book. I enjoyed discovering every little piece of information as it came. I hate ruining surprises, but: it should be no surprise that this book is wonderful both in imagery and word! What I can tell you is that if you are at all on the fence about this book, not knowing if it is really something you would like to read, go to the bookstore and open it up. You will not even realise that you are slinking down to the floor to read page after page and dream along with the author in the world of Hugo Cabret and his invention. Then with the close of the book, the words written THE END across the back, you will come to, understanding but not believing that it wasn't actually real, that you didn't actually dream it up. It is that good- that entrancing.
I didn't have any idea what this book was about, the cover didn't particularly call my name, since it looked boyish. Oh, but thanks to Alyce (who is in my real-life book club) who walked me over to it and opened it. I think I heard music playing then, and since that moment I knew I would have to read it. I knew it!
It reads like a silent film, and many pages are a full spread of a face, a hand, or a machine. The art is so fantastic and beautiful. Brian Selznick really broke the mold with The Invention of Hugo Cabret, as it isn't a graphic novel, but the story is narrated just as much in pictures as it is in words. The style of the charcoal and pencil drawings is elaborate and very high quality, not leaving any detail out. I love to draw and that is another reason I couldn't stop looking at this book (still can't)! The little gizmos and gadgets come to life for sure, but more than the story of an invention it is the story of a family separated through time but united in memory and in likeness, it is a mystery that brings up almost too much pain for the past to carry and yet it is so gentle in its touch that it feels almost light.
I loved it, loved it! You have to try it too. It wins my Stellar Five Chicken Book Award (That means it is even better than a smashing five star hit- because chickens are better than stars!!!)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret book trailer:
Did you read it? What did you think of the art? Didn't the story just captivate you!?! It did me, and that was after I had already been reading for 12 hours straight for the read-a-thon!
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of Avonlea
by Lucy Maud Montgomery
256 pages
Ages 9-12
Sterling (October 7, 2008)
first published in 1909
The second book in the Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Mud Montgomery, was just as spectacular and worthy of its classic status as the first. I am not a big believer in sequels, I know there are few occasions on which sequels work, but to me it seems they have more of a cult following than actual talent. Of course there are exceptions, but generally the story that needed to be told was told and people move on (or should move on) to different character entrancements. Anne of Green Gables left me no where near done learning about Anne Shirley nor Gilbert Blythe, I guess I am a cult member of the Anne club now. I love those two youngins!
In this book Anne starts out at 16 years old and she takes on the local school, she is just as hazardous as always and while she has grown out of the vain mischief that so surrounded her actions in Anne of Green Gables, she will still find ways to cause damage to property, people and well, just some good 'ol time confusion. Oh, yes it is always an accident, and always more than entertaining to watch her try and fix the problems that she has caused.
In this book I never felt a pinch of annoyance with Anne as I did in the first one, she is much more mature and less dreamy and chattery. I did expect things to move quicker between her and Gilbert though, and was a little disappointed that it didn't progress more rapidly. That is just the romantic in me though, the rest of me loves that they held off, I mean they are still really young when this book ends and it wouldn't make any sense to move so fast, but still I wanted to gush.
Yes, this is another stellar performance by Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe and of course author Lucy Maud Montgomery! I loved the whole world of Green Gables and beyond that she created for me to inhabit as I read through Anne of Avonlea. I will no doubt pick up the next one when I go to the library. Yes this book takes the cake as a five star "On the Lowest Shelf Children's Book Reviews" feature. Well worth the read! Careful though, you'll get sucked in!
I have been interested in watching it on the screen, but I am a little confused with all the different versions out there. Can anyone help me who is a Anne fan? I would like to watch Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea on DVD or if possible online. Any hints or ideas? Are there good versions and bad ones?
The Teashop Girls
The Teashop Girls
by Laura Schaeffer
256 pages
Young Adult Fiction
Simon & Schuster
Annie, Genna, and Zoe have been the closest of friends and at the age of six they all fell in love with the Steeping Leaf. It was there that they were coined Teashop Girls, by Annie's Grandmother Louisa when they were almost too young to remember. The teashop was their childhood, they made treats and served them to each other for tea, and spent hours pouring over their Tea Handbook learning all there is to know, making up special advice and interesting uses for different types of tea. They even had a Teashop Girl rules one of them being that it was required to meet weekly for tea together.
Eight years later they are all still close friends, but there is much more to do now that they are in middle school. Annie discovers troubling news about the shop, it is likely to not be around much longer. After earning herself a position as a barista at the teashop, there is no stopping her, she wants to keep Steeping Leaf open! She wishes she could run to her best friends for help and support but will the years have allowed them to stop valuing their teashop the way she still does?
I adored the Teashop Girls. The writing was great, the characters developed to where I felt I knew them, and I couldn't put it down. The clocked ticked and I stayed up reading it hour after hour. I needed to know what was going to happen to the Steeping leaf, and the Teashop Girls!
What I respected the most about this young adult read is that it is one that I would actually let my kid read. I have read other books in this genre which are just to mopey, dark or depressing for me to want to pass on. The Teashop Girls however is spectacular. It isn't that the girls are perfect, or that they always do everything right, but they try and they know what is right and that is what makes the difference. Sure, they are in the midst of their awkward years (do those years ever end!?!?) but they have security in knowing who they are and this book is helping them develop a sense of what is important to them. Most of all I love Annie, she sees what she wants and grabs it, she is motivated, brilliant and extremely sweet...just my kind of gal! I strongly recommend this book, it is sure to satisfy, as long as it is read with a cup of tea in hand at all times.
Q&A with Laura Schaeffer
Author of The Teashop Girls:Tea:
What is your favourite tea? Do you drink different teas at different times of the day? Do you worry about caffeine intake, or do you just sip away?
When did you first fall in love with tea, and who was it that shared that first cup with you?
My two little boys love tea parties, we use my fransiscan china apple tea cups and they love the little saucers. We drink licorice root (mostly because they love the natural sweetness of it and I love that it doesn't have any stimulants). What are the best teas that you know of which are naturally sweet for little kids like mine?
The Teashop Girls:
Lets move on to your book, The Teashop Girls. Personally I can't wait to share it with my daughter when I have one who is old enough to read it. You are an amazing writer and even though it is a YA book, I was engrossed like crazy!
What books did you read when you were that age (between the ages of 8-14) that really inspired The Teashop Girls?
I personally loved the purity in this book, the girls acted like girls and yet they were honest, kind, and it was clean and wholesome. Was that a goal of yours while writing it or is that naturally your style for that age group? Did you consciously remove things that you found questionable for young girls to read?
I cannot describe how excited I was to read a novel for girls in which the girls have their faults but are still very secure in themselves. They didn't question everything and were loving to their parents. Did you intend Annie, Genna and Zoe to be three role models for young girls (not that we all can't learn from them!!)?
Annie is a very mature girl, thinking about things way beyond her age, worrying about the teashop that she has grown up in and really is home to her. Did you write her character from experience? Do you find you have a lot in common with Annie when you were that age or even now?
The Making of The Teashop Girls:
I'd like to ask you about the writing of this book. When did you start writing The Teashop Girls?
I know first second and third drafts are common, did the story change drastically from when you first wrote it?
Besides tea and cupcakes where did you find your inspiration?
I already have gushed over how much I loved this book, how great I think it is...so tell me, is there a sequel!?! Do you have a title for it and release date or am I getting ahead of myself!??!?
Laura, thank you so much for this interview. I wish every book I read had this stature, this quality and the appeal that this one did. I can't say enough just how much I liked it. Thank you for writing a book that I think should be on every young girl's shelf and I will hold onto my copy in hopes of a daughter to share it with. Thank you.
What tea is Laura Schaefer drinking right now?
Gingerbread Cupcakes(p.35) & Organic French breakfast from Cha Cha Tea
Spiced Blueberry Scones(p.78) & Jasmine bloom from Adagio Tea
Cucumber Sandwiches(p.189) & Citrus mountain oolong Cha Cha Tea
You are in luck, Laura Schaefer is going to share the Gingerbread Cupcake recipe with my readers, but if you want to try the other scrumptious delicacies, well that is just one more reason to buy the book!
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
(Published on B&b ex libris with permission from the author. original recipe is from The Teashop Girls p. 35)
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 egg
1 cup all -purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup milk
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated
2 cups powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl combine the butter with white sugar. Add the molasses and the egg to the creamed mixture.
In another bowl stir the flour, two kinds of ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt together. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add in the milk mixture. Pour the batter evenly into the lined tin.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool.
To make frosting: combine cream cheese, half-and-half, lemon zest, and powdered sugar. Frost cupcakes once they are cool.
Makes 10-12 cupcakes.
(aka. who says tea parties are only for girls!?)
My Little Red Book
by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff
240 Pages
Non-fiction, Self-Help, Women's Issues
My Little Red Book written by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff is a conglomerate memoir of that sacred experience, which is a woman's first period. This splendid little anthology begins with the story of the editor getting her first period while on water skis in a bright yellow bathing suit, and moves from there to woman after woman, mothers and daughters, grandmas and aunts sharing their horrors, their joys and their stories of shame.
There is an account of a mother telling her daughter how amazing and symbolic this event is in their lives as African American women, she tells of how in the days of their great-grandmothers the beginning of menstruation marked a change from a girl to a woman. That day was feared as it meant that her slave value went up and therefore many times she would be sold away from her family to benefit the slave owner. I just couldn't shake that account, still can't.
Even now so many girls look upon the day of their first period with apprehension, fear, guilt, and shame however I find that this book is pioneer to change that. It is no Judy Blume and I thank God that it isn't as women are tired of learning about belted pads, which are so not happening anymore. The author wants this book to be more than just a collection of women telling their stories, but a breakthrough, a change in the way first periods (and periods in general) are perceived, and everyone's attitudes towards them.
On of my favourite stories in My Little Red Book is an essay by Gloria Steinem called "If Men Could Menstruate" (p. 114) it is over-the-top-funny and I just had to agree (not to her extreme, but still) if men did menstruate it would be a test of manhood, a time of the month filled with pride and glorification. What is wrong with us women!?! Not that periods are great, they really aren't that fun but we should see them as what they are, an amazing ability that we have to monthly remember our common bonds of womanhood, and well, that we have the god-given ability to pro-create!
I really enjoyed this book, it is a great resource to share with your daughter, I can't say that I would let her read every story (if she were my 12 year-old) as there is mature content in a couple of the stories, but it would be great to read through it together. My Little Red Book gets my full recommendation, it is spectacular in that it captures all the angles of a girl becoming a woman.
Personally though reading through this I feel slighted . No, it isn't anything wrong with the book, it is that I cannot remember really anything about my first period. I don't think it was that monumental, I wasn't apprehensive and I wasn't scared that I was dying. I don't remember it at all. I kept thinking throughout the book (and still) that there would be something to trigger my memory in one of the stories, I didn't find it. I can't even remember how old I was. I know I was around 12 or so, maybe almost 13 but that is a guess. My friends have told me of amazing dinners they go out to with their mothers, get their hair and nails done, get all fancied up and have a celebration of womanhood where they learn the importance of what is happening and how to handle it, and how to not be ashamed of who they are as women. That didn't happen for me, I bit my nails so getting them done was out, and I didn't like anyone messing with my hair or wearing fancy dresses, still I would have liked some sort of adapted version of that. If I have daughters, I will figure out what they would enjoy and we will have that celebration!
Because the point of the book is to open women up to talk about their experiences, let's do it. If you are a women, what do you remember about this grand event which was your first period? Would you have wished your mom to make a bigger deal about it? Did she even know when you started?
Twilight
Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer
544 pages
Fiction, YA, Fantasy
If you haven't decided to dive into this YA vampire series yet, then I don't think that I could possibly write a review that would wet your lips. I have read the reviews of how intriguing, interesting and entertaining these books are and yes, I decided to read it too. I'm not going to do my regular review, I decided to do a list of likes and dislikes instead.
Spoilers!!
What I liked:
*It was a good entertaining read
*I was mystified by the vampire plot
*The storyline was interesting.
*I liked that Edward didn't give in to Bella's nagging to make her a vampire. It would have ruined the story for me. I am not saying that it wouldn't eventually make sense, but in this first book it just didn't feel right. Yay Eddie!
*I liked how he saved her all the time, heroes...I can't get over searching for heroes.
What I didn't like:
*Bella was too much for me, and was really whinny.
*The concept that Bella was completely lying to everyone that she loved before Edward, I think that is a BAD idea to get into kids' heads. The mentality that parents don't have a clue what they are going through, and wouldn't understand if they did. I resent that mentality among today's youth and did even when I was a youth.
*I will not allow my own children to read this series. The vampire darkness is nothing compared to the manipulation, guilt, lies, and crap that these books feed to book-starved teens.
End Spoilers
I won't read the next book in the series, at least that is my thought right now. I won't recommend this to anyone either. The Writing isn't good, using the same words over and over. More like a film than a book in my opinion. I will just watch the films, but I won't waste my time on the reading...because it really would be a waste of my time. However there is a little intrigue for me as to exactly what happens in the end therefore I will watch them.
Twilight questions for you!!
Are you still holding out on this saga? why? If you have read the books, which is your favourite? This one felt a little too informative (as in setting up the plot with how all the vampires came to be and such) do the next ones move more quickly? Did you like Bella or were you annoyed by her like me? On a scale of 1-10 how dreamy do you find Edward (if you imagine yourself back in highschool)?
My rating:
50/100
The Book Thief
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
560 Pages
YA Literature, Holocaust
Stellar Five Chicken Award Book
I knew this was going to be good before I started reading it. Sometimes that makes me jaded and I don't enjoy a book as much as I could have, it is almost as if it has been ruined by expectations of how it was going to be good and if it isn't good in those ways I am let down and disappointed. The Book Thief was good enough, in all areas that that wasn't a problem, it was well rounded and real, honest and humble and yet Zusak took those leaps that jumped it into greatness. It could have been just good, it covered a strong subject matter and that could have been just good enough, but I felt he pushed beyond all that and catapulted The Book Thief to go down in history.
I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so cover your ears and hum if you want to read this and you haven't read it yet. No, I won't spoil it. But one thing that I can tell you is that the omniscient narrator is death, or an angel of death. I thought that sounded too spooky before reading it but it really isn't. It is real, it is life- that death comes to us all.
Spoiler
I couldn't and still cannot get over the ending, or the last phrase in the book, "I am haunted by humans" (p. 550) I loved what this conveyed to me, what it made me understand. Several times throughout the book the narrator speaks of thinks that should be beautiful as ugly, and he uses the word 'ugly' in strange ways throughout The Book Thief. I came to understand thoguh, that this last phrase of the book is both good and bad, he is haunted by our beauty and attracted to the good that we can do, and also by the harm we cause each other, the pain.
Death is what we tend to fear, death is scary and cold but for me the point of the book was that what are fellow humans can do to us is worse than death, worse than uncertainty. I thought it was also interesting because death is attracted to humans, he has a job in life and has a need to perform when death comes to people, he is programmed and just does that. The beautiful side of humans is that we do have a free choice, a will and we get to make the call between walking in beauty and walking in brutality. It makes both extremes so much more severe because we do not HAVE to do either, we choose good, or bad and our choices affect those around us even if we don't want them to.
Spoiler end
The perfect ending to me is that which Zusak leaves unsaid- to have an ending where you just close the book sit in silence and think of all the immensity of it all. That is what a good book, great book should do to you. That is why I believe The Book Thief is one of the best books I have ever read, I'd say in my top 5 now. And that is saying a lot coming from me, since I abhor jumping on any sort of bandwagon. Heaven help me!
What about you do you automatically try to dislike things that EVERYONE else likes? Or do you just not read them or watch them? I still haven't seen the Titanic (yep the one with Leo DiCaprio) I am stubborn, and the only reason I haven't see it is that, well I didn't want to jump on that bandwagon!! (I was much more hardcore in high school!) Do you do that or is it just me?
I give it my biggest two thumbs up, and all the clucking it deserves with Dreadlock Girl's own Stellar Five Chicken Book Award!
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
Title: A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
Author: Valerie Zenatti
Pages: 160
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Yearly Count: 36
Far removed from the conflict in the Middle East it is easy to live day by day not thinking of the dangerous situation that mothers, fathers, children and grandparents live through daily in many places on the other side of the ocean. It is easy to forget the freedoms women don't have, the childless babies and the violence. However in my drive to feel more, to know more and keep all peoples close to me. I believe education difies prejudice and so I read on.
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea is a book of two hopefuls in a sea of killing, prejudice, and a tradition of violence between the Palestinians and the jews, from Jerusalem and the Gaza strip. Tal, a teen from Jerusalem wills to find peace, and longs for a glint of hope, of life from the other side. She puts a letter in a bottle and asks her brother, who is a soldier to put it in the Gaza Sea. Naim, is what comes of it, a bright Palestinian teen topped off with sarcasm. They email back and forth. Facades are broken down, lies made to truths, and through their friendship hope comes to them and those around them.
I genuinely enjoyed reading A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, Zenatti did an excellent job with the witing and the content of the book. The characters are fully believable, lovable and unforgettable. I hesitate to mention that this is designed as a young adult read, and that because of that you would steer clear, feeling that maturity and wisdom would most likely be lacking. I can promise you that those assumptions are wrong. The young Tal and her Gaza friend, Naim are young in age, but it is easy to be captivated by them, as they both portray the losses of their peoples at the hands of each others people. I was involved, interested and Zenatti spoke to me. I highly recommend this book, it gives all the emotion without the descriptions of blood and guts ( but does not hide that that is everywhere). A Bottle in the Gaza Sea is a realistic hope for peace, a dream of a future life of freedom, no matter how many generations the war has already gone on for.
Quotes:
The two of us don't have much luck: we were born in the twentieth century- the bloodiest century in history, as Rosebush reminded us yet again yesterday.: Two world wars, the Soviet empire dominating part of the world +conflicts pretty much all over the place with increasingly sophisticated weapons= hundreds of millions of deaths. 'It's just maths,' he added with an almost sadistic smile (p. 34).'We choose none of the things that determine out lives: not the way we look or where we're born or our parents. None of them. We just have to cope with all the things we haven't chosen and which make us who we are.' My father told me that last year, when I was having trouble with just being me (p. 132).
Other blogger reviews for A Bottle in the Gaza Sea:
Corinne at The Book Nest: A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
If you have read this book, I'd love to link to your review.
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