Do Not Pass Go
Juvenile fiction
Alaskan writer, mother of six and grandmother of eight
Kirkpatrick Hill had a family member in jail at one point. Visiting
this person, an experience that most people would want only to put
behind them, was the impetus for her to write a book. Do Not Pass Go
looks at a man's incarceration through the eyes of his not-old-enough-
to-drive son.
Deet is a super organized young man who gets frustrated by the
way his folks waste money and fail to plan or follow through with
stuff like cleaning the furnace or shoveling snow off the roof.
Sometimes he feels like he's the only adult in the family. He
discovers that things can get worse, a lot worse, when his step
father, taking uppers to have energy to work two jobs, is busted for
drugs and incarcerated.
Things start to go to Hades in the proverbial handbasket. Even
with Deet's mother working the family finances are a mess. His step
dad was working two jobs to compensate for over spending. Not to
mention Deet's two very young half sisters he and his mom must protect
and care for.
Deet had always thought only bad guys went to jail. When he
first visits his step father he is surprised by the ordinariness of
the inmates. "...Where were the perverts, the steely-eyed hoodlums,
the disgusting underbelly of society? They were prisoners, in jail,
but they looked like anyone else you might see in the streets..."
That's just the beginning of the thought transformation dilineated in
Do Not Pass Go.
It's a poignant novel of a boy and a man coming of age under
much less than ideal circumstances.
On a personal note, when I was quite young I acquired a baby sitting
client who told me her husband was ill in the hospital. I believed
that until his trial hit the newspapers. He was in prison for
homicide. People told me I should quit lest he have someone on the
outside kill me. Actually he was glad that I was helping to give his
son and daughter the happy experiences they deserved.
A great big shout out goes out to all who reach out to help children
with the person or people they love the most incarcerated.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
The Extra
The Extra
YA historical fiction
When you think of movie production, images of splendor and
ritziness probably pop into your head. When you imagine the
circumstances of imprisoned Gypsies during the time of Adolph Hitler,
you probably imagine anything but. If you're anything like me, you
probably never imagined those two worlds ever colliding.
Guess again.
Filmmaker, dancer, actress Leni Riefenstahl was a favorite of
Adolph Hitler, getting Third Reich backing for her artistic
endeavors. She wanted to direct and star in a movie, Tiefland, that
would bring to the big screen a Spanish folk opera. She planned to
produce it in Spain but was stymied by the Spanish Civil War and the
start of World War II. Germany did not boast a Spanish population,
but the Gypsies who were being rounded up and murdered along with Jews
and other enemies of the Reich had a strong resemblance to Spaniards.
This very little known historical episode inspired master
storyteller Kathryn Lasky to pen The Extra. "...It is a Holocaust
story, but one that has for the most part slipped between the cracks
of history. It is the story of two people, one real and one
fictionalized; Leni Riefenstahl, a real person who rose to prominence
during the early 1930s as Hitler's favorite filmmaker, and Lilian
Frewald, a fictional Gypsy girl who became Riefenstahl's film double
in the making of the film Tiefland."
As the story begins, Lilo (Lilian's nickname) is a 15-year-old
student in
Vienna. The Nazi Nuremberg laws are altering life for Jews there and
worse is rumored to be in store for them. But she still lives in a
comfortable home with her master clockmaker father who plays violin in
an exclusive restaurant and her lacemaker mother.
That is until officers of the dreaded SS imprison them in a
holding camp for Gypsies. They're crammed into a primative and filthy
facility with hundreds of others. Rumors of their destination
multiply. Lilo is told of a surgery being done to Gypsy girls and
women.
"Lilo felt all the blood suddenly drain from her face. It was
as if the future had been erased, any hope for a future obliterated.
Being in this barbed-wire cage was nothing compared with the utter
darkness of the black wall of sterility, of a childless world, of a
family that simply ended forever and ever. The Friwalds would be
extinct."
Imagine facing that at fifteen.
One night, separated from her father with no idea where he might
be or if he is even alive, Lilo and her mother arrive at a camp.
Standing in formation under watchtowers where guards train guns on
them, they and the others glimpse a shocking and surreal sight: a
glamorous movie star making her way toward them.
"...It was not supposed to be this way, Lilo thought. Leni
Riefenstahl belonged on the billboard, hovering in the moonlight of
the clock-tower square, or on the movie screen in the Palace Theater,
but not here--not here with them, dirty Gypsies, women still bleeding
from terrible operations."
Riefenstahl is casting extras for her new movie. Lilo is chosen
and gets her fragile mother included. She is under no delusions of
safety. Now she must search for a way to use this opportunity to help
them not become part of Hitler's final solution.
When it comes to YA novelists, Kathryn Lasky is in a small
special league. In my book reviewing years so far I've read the work
of many good to great authors. Some very frustratingly show real
potential and then vanish. Some produce a steady supply of
commendable work. Lasky keeps improving with publication. Her plots
and characters become richer and more nuanced. Her ability to show
rather than tell grows beautifully, as you can see in the piece quoted
above where Lilo encounters Riefenstahl.
Can even Kathryn Lasky top The Extra? I'm certainly eager to
find out.
On a personal note, last Saturday my church held the fund raising
supper and silent auction I designed to help girls in Tanzania get
education. It was a rousing success. Everyone had a wonderful time.
We are sending Jane Goodall Institute over $300. People are already
talking about next year.
A great big shout out goes out to all who help people recognize and
treasure our common humanity. It is when we objectify those who are
different from us that demogogues like Hitler have a chance to prevail.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA historical fiction
When you think of movie production, images of splendor and
ritziness probably pop into your head. When you imagine the
circumstances of imprisoned Gypsies during the time of Adolph Hitler,
you probably imagine anything but. If you're anything like me, you
probably never imagined those two worlds ever colliding.
Guess again.
Filmmaker, dancer, actress Leni Riefenstahl was a favorite of
Adolph Hitler, getting Third Reich backing for her artistic
endeavors. She wanted to direct and star in a movie, Tiefland, that
would bring to the big screen a Spanish folk opera. She planned to
produce it in Spain but was stymied by the Spanish Civil War and the
start of World War II. Germany did not boast a Spanish population,
but the Gypsies who were being rounded up and murdered along with Jews
and other enemies of the Reich had a strong resemblance to Spaniards.
This very little known historical episode inspired master
storyteller Kathryn Lasky to pen The Extra. "...It is a Holocaust
story, but one that has for the most part slipped between the cracks
of history. It is the story of two people, one real and one
fictionalized; Leni Riefenstahl, a real person who rose to prominence
during the early 1930s as Hitler's favorite filmmaker, and Lilian
Frewald, a fictional Gypsy girl who became Riefenstahl's film double
in the making of the film Tiefland."
As the story begins, Lilo (Lilian's nickname) is a 15-year-old
student in
Vienna. The Nazi Nuremberg laws are altering life for Jews there and
worse is rumored to be in store for them. But she still lives in a
comfortable home with her master clockmaker father who plays violin in
an exclusive restaurant and her lacemaker mother.
That is until officers of the dreaded SS imprison them in a
holding camp for Gypsies. They're crammed into a primative and filthy
facility with hundreds of others. Rumors of their destination
multiply. Lilo is told of a surgery being done to Gypsy girls and
women.
"Lilo felt all the blood suddenly drain from her face. It was
as if the future had been erased, any hope for a future obliterated.
Being in this barbed-wire cage was nothing compared with the utter
darkness of the black wall of sterility, of a childless world, of a
family that simply ended forever and ever. The Friwalds would be
extinct."
Imagine facing that at fifteen.
One night, separated from her father with no idea where he might
be or if he is even alive, Lilo and her mother arrive at a camp.
Standing in formation under watchtowers where guards train guns on
them, they and the others glimpse a shocking and surreal sight: a
glamorous movie star making her way toward them.
"...It was not supposed to be this way, Lilo thought. Leni
Riefenstahl belonged on the billboard, hovering in the moonlight of
the clock-tower square, or on the movie screen in the Palace Theater,
but not here--not here with them, dirty Gypsies, women still bleeding
from terrible operations."
Riefenstahl is casting extras for her new movie. Lilo is chosen
and gets her fragile mother included. She is under no delusions of
safety. Now she must search for a way to use this opportunity to help
them not become part of Hitler's final solution.
When it comes to YA novelists, Kathryn Lasky is in a small
special league. In my book reviewing years so far I've read the work
of many good to great authors. Some very frustratingly show real
potential and then vanish. Some produce a steady supply of
commendable work. Lasky keeps improving with publication. Her plots
and characters become richer and more nuanced. Her ability to show
rather than tell grows beautifully, as you can see in the piece quoted
above where Lilo encounters Riefenstahl.
Can even Kathryn Lasky top The Extra? I'm certainly eager to
find out.
On a personal note, last Saturday my church held the fund raising
supper and silent auction I designed to help girls in Tanzania get
education. It was a rousing success. Everyone had a wonderful time.
We are sending Jane Goodall Institute over $300. People are already
talking about next year.
A great big shout out goes out to all who help people recognize and
treasure our common humanity. It is when we objectify those who are
different from us that demogogues like Hitler have a chance to prevail.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Monday, October 27, 2014
Jessie Elliot Is A Big Chicken
Jessie Elliot Is A Big Chicken
Juvenile fiction
Do you remember the summer before starting high school with at
least a little recollection of apprehension? If so, you were
definitely not alone. Have you experienced this transition with your
own kids as I have? If one of your kids is headed towards this big
event, I would strongly suggest Elise Gravel's Jessie Elliot Is A
Chicken. It's a wonderful blend of narration and illustration.
Designed to look like it's created on the pages of a composition book,
it's very believable as a fourteen-year-old's journal.
Self-described nerd extraordinaire Jessie Elliot is about to
start her last summer as a child. In the fall she'll be attending
Hochelaga High where the students, "...look like bored wannabees.
They hang around with sultry faces, call each other names, paint their
eyes like raccoons, and smoke cigarettes, imagining I guess that they
look like rockstars. Maybe there's some kind of chemical reaction in
human brains that's triggered when we turn thirteen that makes us
instantly stupid."
Of course this won't happen to Jessie. No one who still has a
My Little Ponies collection, reads too much, and enjoys playing
Scrabble is in danger of being SUPERCOOL. And she'll have best friend
Julie to hang out with. Or will she? Following a misunderstanding at
Julie's cottage, the girls aren't speaking to each other. Worse yet,
Julie is hanging out with Jessie's nemesis, mean girl Isabelle Lemoine.
So what is Jessie to do? Get her nose pierced, start smoking,
and dress sexy or face high school alone?
Shakespeare it's not, but Jessie Elliot Is A Big Chicken is a
great comfort read for kids on the verge of high and even some of us
who made that transition quite awhile ago.
On a personal note, my family moved from the fishing and shoe factory
based coastal city I grew up in a week or so before I started high
school. It was so my sister, who had incurred brain damage as a
result of spinal meningitis, could try another school. So I entered
high school not only not knowing a soul, but feeling guilty for having
mixed emotions, having told about a gazillion times to think about
Harriet's suffering. I remember one moment as clearly as if it were
yesterday. It was a lovely fall evening. Mom, Harriet, and I were
walking to our new apartment. We passed an outdoor party--all boys
and girls about my age. I thought, if we'd stayed in Beverly I'd be
in there, not on the outside. Then I looked at Harriet and felt like
the most evil sister in the history of the universe.
A great big shout out goes out to the young women and men navigating
the transitions to high school and college.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile fiction
Do you remember the summer before starting high school with at
least a little recollection of apprehension? If so, you were
definitely not alone. Have you experienced this transition with your
own kids as I have? If one of your kids is headed towards this big
event, I would strongly suggest Elise Gravel's Jessie Elliot Is A
Chicken. It's a wonderful blend of narration and illustration.
Designed to look like it's created on the pages of a composition book,
it's very believable as a fourteen-year-old's journal.
Self-described nerd extraordinaire Jessie Elliot is about to
start her last summer as a child. In the fall she'll be attending
Hochelaga High where the students, "...look like bored wannabees.
They hang around with sultry faces, call each other names, paint their
eyes like raccoons, and smoke cigarettes, imagining I guess that they
look like rockstars. Maybe there's some kind of chemical reaction in
human brains that's triggered when we turn thirteen that makes us
instantly stupid."
Of course this won't happen to Jessie. No one who still has a
My Little Ponies collection, reads too much, and enjoys playing
Scrabble is in danger of being SUPERCOOL. And she'll have best friend
Julie to hang out with. Or will she? Following a misunderstanding at
Julie's cottage, the girls aren't speaking to each other. Worse yet,
Julie is hanging out with Jessie's nemesis, mean girl Isabelle Lemoine.
So what is Jessie to do? Get her nose pierced, start smoking,
and dress sexy or face high school alone?
Shakespeare it's not, but Jessie Elliot Is A Big Chicken is a
great comfort read for kids on the verge of high and even some of us
who made that transition quite awhile ago.
On a personal note, my family moved from the fishing and shoe factory
based coastal city I grew up in a week or so before I started high
school. It was so my sister, who had incurred brain damage as a
result of spinal meningitis, could try another school. So I entered
high school not only not knowing a soul, but feeling guilty for having
mixed emotions, having told about a gazillion times to think about
Harriet's suffering. I remember one moment as clearly as if it were
yesterday. It was a lovely fall evening. Mom, Harriet, and I were
walking to our new apartment. We passed an outdoor party--all boys
and girls about my age. I thought, if we'd stayed in Beverly I'd be
in there, not on the outside. Then I looked at Harriet and felt like
the most evil sister in the history of the universe.
A great big shout out goes out to the young women and men navigating
the transitions to high school and college.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Hidden Like Anne Frank
Hidden Like Anne Frank
YA nonfiction
In a haunting black and white photograph a wide eyed little girl
with carefully styled ringlets stands with her arm around her smiling
mother. In a real life plot more horrific than the writings of Mr.
Stephen King himself, the little girl and legions of her peers had to
be sent away from parents to live with strangers in a desperate fight
for survival. Adolph Hitler was on his quest for world dominion. It
was not a safe time to be Jewish.
Little Rita was one of the children who survived. She went on
to have a son, Marcel Prins. She shared her experiences candidly with
him. Fortunately for us, they piqued his curiosity.
"But what did going into hiding actually involve? Where did you
go? How did you know who to trust? How did you find money to pay for
your hiding place? What did you do when you were frightened?...
He asked these questions of the elderly men and women who were
the frightened and confused children in the 1940's. Their stories and
very poignant photographs are the text of Hidden Like Anne Frank: 14
True Stories of Survival. These children, some as young as three,
basically had everything children take for granted--home, school,
family, food, safety--wrenched from them. They had to make life or
death decisions most adults don't have to. Even after the war some
returned to the news that their family members had been murdered.
Living parents were sometimes too traumatized to be the loving people
they had been before the war. Donald De Marcus observed,
"Father was able to deal with the pain better than Mother, who
was never as affectionate as she was before the war. She was troubled
by nightmares for years. She used to dream about the concentration
camp where her only sister was murdered along with her husband and
children. She was destroyed the mother I had known."
As a mother, I found this book both enlightening and very
difficult to read. I would recommend it even more to adults than to
the teens who are its target demographic. Those who don't learn from
history are doomed to repeat it. America does not do a very good job
learning from history. This summer there was a great hue and cry
about young illegal immigrants smuggled into this country in desperate
attempts to save their lives. Governor Paul LePage, for example, had
a major league hissy fit when he learned that eight had infiltrated
Maine. A lot of people demand that these innocent children be sent
home. I would strongly urge them to read Hidden Like Anne Frank and
really take it to heart. How would they feel if it was their children
in peril, if they knew the only way to keep them safe was to send them
away, possibly to never see them again? Hidden Like Anne Frank is a
very powerful book in its ability to evoke a sense of how humanly
alike we are and how we must do somthing when others are in peril.
On a personal note, one of the things I am enjoying the most about the
fundraising dinner/silent auction my church is doing for girls'
education in Tanzania is the dialogue it is creating and the great
enthusiasm people are showing for this worthy cause. With any kind of
luck it will be an annual event.
A great big shout out goes out to all who are working to protect the
refugee children.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA nonfiction
In a haunting black and white photograph a wide eyed little girl
with carefully styled ringlets stands with her arm around her smiling
mother. In a real life plot more horrific than the writings of Mr.
Stephen King himself, the little girl and legions of her peers had to
be sent away from parents to live with strangers in a desperate fight
for survival. Adolph Hitler was on his quest for world dominion. It
was not a safe time to be Jewish.
Little Rita was one of the children who survived. She went on
to have a son, Marcel Prins. She shared her experiences candidly with
him. Fortunately for us, they piqued his curiosity.
"But what did going into hiding actually involve? Where did you
go? How did you know who to trust? How did you find money to pay for
your hiding place? What did you do when you were frightened?...
He asked these questions of the elderly men and women who were
the frightened and confused children in the 1940's. Their stories and
very poignant photographs are the text of Hidden Like Anne Frank: 14
True Stories of Survival. These children, some as young as three,
basically had everything children take for granted--home, school,
family, food, safety--wrenched from them. They had to make life or
death decisions most adults don't have to. Even after the war some
returned to the news that their family members had been murdered.
Living parents were sometimes too traumatized to be the loving people
they had been before the war. Donald De Marcus observed,
"Father was able to deal with the pain better than Mother, who
was never as affectionate as she was before the war. She was troubled
by nightmares for years. She used to dream about the concentration
camp where her only sister was murdered along with her husband and
children. She was destroyed the mother I had known."
As a mother, I found this book both enlightening and very
difficult to read. I would recommend it even more to adults than to
the teens who are its target demographic. Those who don't learn from
history are doomed to repeat it. America does not do a very good job
learning from history. This summer there was a great hue and cry
about young illegal immigrants smuggled into this country in desperate
attempts to save their lives. Governor Paul LePage, for example, had
a major league hissy fit when he learned that eight had infiltrated
Maine. A lot of people demand that these innocent children be sent
home. I would strongly urge them to read Hidden Like Anne Frank and
really take it to heart. How would they feel if it was their children
in peril, if they knew the only way to keep them safe was to send them
away, possibly to never see them again? Hidden Like Anne Frank is a
very powerful book in its ability to evoke a sense of how humanly
alike we are and how we must do somthing when others are in peril.
On a personal note, one of the things I am enjoying the most about the
fundraising dinner/silent auction my church is doing for girls'
education in Tanzania is the dialogue it is creating and the great
enthusiasm people are showing for this worthy cause. With any kind of
luck it will be an annual event.
A great big shout out goes out to all who are working to protect the
refugee children.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Saving Lucas Biggs
Saving Lucas Biggs
Juvenile fiction
Margaret O'Malley, one of the narrator/protagonists of Marisa de
los Santos and David Teague's Saving Lucas Biggs, has an intriguing
genetic trait. Members of her family can time travel. However, each
generation is strongly admonished not to. In fact they must take a
solemn pledge:
"There is one Now: the spot where I stand,
And one way the road goes: onward, onward."
Time strongly resists revisionists attempts. In fact a time traveler
begins to weaken the moment she lands in another time and could end up
dying in both.
So why would Margaret even consider taking these risks?
Love, pure and simple. Her father is a whistleblower in a fuel
company owned and run town. He's been framed for arson and murder.
The judge has sentenced him to death.
Margaret would do anything to save her dad--even going back on
her sacred vow to travel to a time when the sentencing judge was an
idealistic boy rather than a cynical old man and prevent the incident
that hardened his heart.
Youngsters who choose to go with her will find it a fascinating
journey.
On a personal note, my benefit dinner/silent auction to raise money
for girls' education in Tanzania is only two days away. Two major
complications have arisen. I've been elected official Veazie School
Committee delegate to the annual Maine School Management Conference.
I'll be in Augusta the two days I can least afford to, getting back
hours before the event. Also I have a pesky urinary tract infection
which has me constantly needing to pee. Suffice it to say it's been a
week since I've slept even two hours in one block. I may be a few
fries short of a happy meal. Will the event succeed? This story may
be as fascinating as the books I review.
A great big shout out goes out to the fine folks who are putting time,
effort, and energy into this cause which is so dear to my heart.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile fiction
Margaret O'Malley, one of the narrator/protagonists of Marisa de
los Santos and David Teague's Saving Lucas Biggs, has an intriguing
genetic trait. Members of her family can time travel. However, each
generation is strongly admonished not to. In fact they must take a
solemn pledge:
"There is one Now: the spot where I stand,
And one way the road goes: onward, onward."
Time strongly resists revisionists attempts. In fact a time traveler
begins to weaken the moment she lands in another time and could end up
dying in both.
So why would Margaret even consider taking these risks?
Love, pure and simple. Her father is a whistleblower in a fuel
company owned and run town. He's been framed for arson and murder.
The judge has sentenced him to death.
Margaret would do anything to save her dad--even going back on
her sacred vow to travel to a time when the sentencing judge was an
idealistic boy rather than a cynical old man and prevent the incident
that hardened his heart.
Youngsters who choose to go with her will find it a fascinating
journey.
On a personal note, my benefit dinner/silent auction to raise money
for girls' education in Tanzania is only two days away. Two major
complications have arisen. I've been elected official Veazie School
Committee delegate to the annual Maine School Management Conference.
I'll be in Augusta the two days I can least afford to, getting back
hours before the event. Also I have a pesky urinary tract infection
which has me constantly needing to pee. Suffice it to say it's been a
week since I've slept even two hours in one block. I may be a few
fries short of a happy meal. Will the event succeed? This story may
be as fascinating as the books I review.
A great big shout out goes out to the fine folks who are putting time,
effort, and energy into this cause which is so dear to my heart.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Don't Tell
Don't Tell
YA fiction
A lot of the books for older teen girls that don't involve
glittery vampires or other elements of the supernatural are painfully
superficial and materialistic. She lands a fabulous internship, meets
the perfect boy, only he hasn't gotten the memo that they're meant to
be together. Puhleeze. Nothing has changed in decades other than she
being a cheerleader and he being football team captain.
Lava Mueller's Don't Tell is a striking exception. Told in four
voices, set in 1979, it follows four girls, best friends seemingly
forever, as they navigate the end of their anything but ordinairy
senior year of high school. There's:
*Mary who starts the book off by ingesting toxic substances and hoping
she won't be found too soon. Only what looks like a suicide attempt
may be a much more complex plan;
*Zana, daughter of famous psychiatrists who thinks her parents are as
crazy as their patients. She knows they have a major league secret
housed at the local psychiatric hospital and resents their refusal to
acknowledge the truth;
*Berrie, who has her own secrets. She pretends the family dog has
just wandered off rather than tell her parents she ran over and buried
it. Her choices of boys for intimate relations could get her in deep
trouble;
*and innocent Lili, track athlete and school play lead, who must carry
Mary's secret even believing that her best friend's plans are not in
her best interests.
The story is set in a small town in Maine. But it could be anywhere
young women come of age.
On a personal note, I played detective while reading it. For some
reason I was sure it was set it Orono. I kept finding these clues--
steam plant, College Avenue, University--than confirmed my intuition.
Still don't know, but it was fun.
A great big shout out goes out to our daughters as they navigate their
complex and compelling worlds.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
A lot of the books for older teen girls that don't involve
glittery vampires or other elements of the supernatural are painfully
superficial and materialistic. She lands a fabulous internship, meets
the perfect boy, only he hasn't gotten the memo that they're meant to
be together. Puhleeze. Nothing has changed in decades other than she
being a cheerleader and he being football team captain.
Lava Mueller's Don't Tell is a striking exception. Told in four
voices, set in 1979, it follows four girls, best friends seemingly
forever, as they navigate the end of their anything but ordinairy
senior year of high school. There's:
*Mary who starts the book off by ingesting toxic substances and hoping
she won't be found too soon. Only what looks like a suicide attempt
may be a much more complex plan;
*Zana, daughter of famous psychiatrists who thinks her parents are as
crazy as their patients. She knows they have a major league secret
housed at the local psychiatric hospital and resents their refusal to
acknowledge the truth;
*Berrie, who has her own secrets. She pretends the family dog has
just wandered off rather than tell her parents she ran over and buried
it. Her choices of boys for intimate relations could get her in deep
trouble;
*and innocent Lili, track athlete and school play lead, who must carry
Mary's secret even believing that her best friend's plans are not in
her best interests.
The story is set in a small town in Maine. But it could be anywhere
young women come of age.
On a personal note, I played detective while reading it. For some
reason I was sure it was set it Orono. I kept finding these clues--
steam plant, College Avenue, University--than confirmed my intuition.
Still don't know, but it was fun.
A great big shout out goes out to our daughters as they navigate their
complex and compelling worlds.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Volunteer Vacations
Volunteer Vacations
Adult travel
I've never been all that interested in the kinds of vacations
most people seem to covet. A trip to the "magic kingdom" would having
me thinking on all the workers ironically pulling down decidedly
family unfriendly wages and benefits. Put me on a luxury cruise and
I'd be wondering exactly what ills we were inflicting on the
environment. And tours seem a huge waste of money, going to tourist
spots with a gang of other tourists.
It's not that I dislike travel. I very much want to see other
cultures and get to know the people without leaving a humungous carbon
footprint. That's why I was OVERJOYED to see the Eleventh Edition of
Bill McMillon et al's Volunteer Vacations. For people like me who
would be thrilled to do good while learning and exploring this volume
is a treasure trove. One hundred fifty agencies are profiled in its
pages. There are locations all over the world that need people with
passions for agriculture, community and economic development,
education and children, health, women's issues... Some require
specialized training; some require little more than a caring heart and
willing hands. You can skim through the book as I did or use the
index to customize your search. The pages give enough information to
help you decide which adventure is best for you; contacts are listed
to help you pursue it in more depth.
So if you're seeking an extraordinary travel adventure and the
chance to pursue your passions...good luck and bon voyage!
On a personal note, I want to eventually do some of the vacations in
the book. I want to start out on an organic farming one. Someday
when I can afford it. Actually when I'm in grad school maybe I can
chaperone alternate spring breaks.
A great big shout out goes out to people who spend their vacations
helping others and folks and organizations that make this possible.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Adult travel
I've never been all that interested in the kinds of vacations
most people seem to covet. A trip to the "magic kingdom" would having
me thinking on all the workers ironically pulling down decidedly
family unfriendly wages and benefits. Put me on a luxury cruise and
I'd be wondering exactly what ills we were inflicting on the
environment. And tours seem a huge waste of money, going to tourist
spots with a gang of other tourists.
It's not that I dislike travel. I very much want to see other
cultures and get to know the people without leaving a humungous carbon
footprint. That's why I was OVERJOYED to see the Eleventh Edition of
Bill McMillon et al's Volunteer Vacations. For people like me who
would be thrilled to do good while learning and exploring this volume
is a treasure trove. One hundred fifty agencies are profiled in its
pages. There are locations all over the world that need people with
passions for agriculture, community and economic development,
education and children, health, women's issues... Some require
specialized training; some require little more than a caring heart and
willing hands. You can skim through the book as I did or use the
index to customize your search. The pages give enough information to
help you decide which adventure is best for you; contacts are listed
to help you pursue it in more depth.
So if you're seeking an extraordinary travel adventure and the
chance to pursue your passions...good luck and bon voyage!
On a personal note, I want to eventually do some of the vacations in
the book. I want to start out on an organic farming one. Someday
when I can afford it. Actually when I'm in grad school maybe I can
chaperone alternate spring breaks.
A great big shout out goes out to people who spend their vacations
helping others and folks and organizations that make this possible.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wild Things
Wild Things
Juvenile fiction
The back stories behind published books are sometimes as
interesting as the novels they inspire. Clay Carmichael claims that
Wild Things entered her life on four paws. "A big, wild, mustachioed
black-and-white cat lumbered into my yard and heart and became my
shadow and soul mate for ten extraordinary years," she reveals in her
acknowledgements. "He and I were pals like Lassie and Timmy or Rascal
and Sterling North. Our years together included a genuine miracle,
and maybe I'll get to write that story one day. Until then, I hope
this book begins to thank Mr. C'mere for all he gave me." He must
have been SOME CAT. That's all I can say. Wild Things, told on two
richly integrated levels, is one of the most vibrant, richly nuanced,
novels for young readers I have ever had the great good fortune to
discover.
To start with there's the experience of 11-year-old Zoe, born to
a very psychologically challenged mother who was in and out of mental
hospitals and cycling through a series of loser boyfriends. Her
biological father took off before she was born. In the absence of
reliable adults, she's had to pretty much take care of herself.
Things change when Zoe's mother dies and social services enters
the picture. She is given over to Henry, a half uncle on her father's
side. He's a former doctor turned famous sculptor. Although he's
reclusive and slightly eccentric, he seems to offer what Zoe wants
most in the world. Contrasting his house to the series of decripit
places she's dwelt in before, she finds herself thinking, "I imagined
having my very own room instead of a sleeping bag or a made-up sofa, a
book I could keep longer than two weeks if I wanted, and a grown-up
smarter than I was in the house. I imagined having all that for a
whole minute before I remembered what it felt like to hope for things
I'd never get. I pushed the wanting away as hard as I could."
As Zoe discovers the fascinating individuals who make up her
community it's impossible to not hope that for once she's wrong. Once
is all it would take to change her life forever for the better.
The second perspective is that of a feral cat who hesitantly
starts to trust. Through his narration you learn much of the back
story of the family and community. His pictures, done in black and
white, are quite beguiling.
Oh, yeah, there's an elusive boy and his albino deer who are in
an even more precarious situation than Zoe.
In my mind Wild Things is a must read for perceptive young
readers.
On a personal note, at the University I got the chance to paint a
pumpkin. Wild Things must have been on my mind. I painted a cat face
on the front and a lovely striped tail on the back. I dropped it off
at the Orono Public Library children's wing. Turns out we'll have
pumpkin painting at the children's Halloween party. Louise needed a
sample. Talk about serindipity! I am surely looking forward to that
party. I get to dress like a butterfly and be paparazzi.
A great big shout out goes out to cat lovers...OK dog lovers too.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile fiction
The back stories behind published books are sometimes as
interesting as the novels they inspire. Clay Carmichael claims that
Wild Things entered her life on four paws. "A big, wild, mustachioed
black-and-white cat lumbered into my yard and heart and became my
shadow and soul mate for ten extraordinary years," she reveals in her
acknowledgements. "He and I were pals like Lassie and Timmy or Rascal
and Sterling North. Our years together included a genuine miracle,
and maybe I'll get to write that story one day. Until then, I hope
this book begins to thank Mr. C'mere for all he gave me." He must
have been SOME CAT. That's all I can say. Wild Things, told on two
richly integrated levels, is one of the most vibrant, richly nuanced,
novels for young readers I have ever had the great good fortune to
discover.
To start with there's the experience of 11-year-old Zoe, born to
a very psychologically challenged mother who was in and out of mental
hospitals and cycling through a series of loser boyfriends. Her
biological father took off before she was born. In the absence of
reliable adults, she's had to pretty much take care of herself.
Things change when Zoe's mother dies and social services enters
the picture. She is given over to Henry, a half uncle on her father's
side. He's a former doctor turned famous sculptor. Although he's
reclusive and slightly eccentric, he seems to offer what Zoe wants
most in the world. Contrasting his house to the series of decripit
places she's dwelt in before, she finds herself thinking, "I imagined
having my very own room instead of a sleeping bag or a made-up sofa, a
book I could keep longer than two weeks if I wanted, and a grown-up
smarter than I was in the house. I imagined having all that for a
whole minute before I remembered what it felt like to hope for things
I'd never get. I pushed the wanting away as hard as I could."
As Zoe discovers the fascinating individuals who make up her
community it's impossible to not hope that for once she's wrong. Once
is all it would take to change her life forever for the better.
The second perspective is that of a feral cat who hesitantly
starts to trust. Through his narration you learn much of the back
story of the family and community. His pictures, done in black and
white, are quite beguiling.
Oh, yeah, there's an elusive boy and his albino deer who are in
an even more precarious situation than Zoe.
In my mind Wild Things is a must read for perceptive young
readers.
On a personal note, at the University I got the chance to paint a
pumpkin. Wild Things must have been on my mind. I painted a cat face
on the front and a lovely striped tail on the back. I dropped it off
at the Orono Public Library children's wing. Turns out we'll have
pumpkin painting at the children's Halloween party. Louise needed a
sample. Talk about serindipity! I am surely looking forward to that
party. I get to dress like a butterfly and be paparazzi.
A great big shout out goes out to cat lovers...OK dog lovers too.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
The Secret Box
The Secret Box
Juvenile fiction
If you have a youngster in your life who would much rather play
video games than read, Whitaker Ringwald's The Secret Box is a sweet
enticement you can offer for going old school. Told from the
alternating viewpoints of two cousins (feisty, impetuous Jax and shy
bookworm Ethan) it's a fast paced narrative with plenty of allusions
to virtual worlds and the mythology that underlies some of them.
On Jax's twelth birthday she receives a mysterious package from
someone named Juniper. Her mom immediately grabs the box and sets off
to return it to the mystery sender with no explanation for her strange
behavior other than that she knows what's best for her.
What 12-year-old will accept that? Certainly not adventurous
Jax. She enlists her trusty sidekick cousin Ethan in her quest,
promising him they won't get in any trouble. They end up in bigger
peril than they've ever been in. Juniper, who turns out to be Jax and
Ethan's great aunt is not a sweet old cookie baking lady.
International thieves are hot on the trail of the box. And its
contents hold very strong, almost hypnotic powers.
A young student with a book report due will find The Secret Box
an excellent choice for fun reading as well as class credit.
On a personal note, I was thrilled yesterday to find a pair of my
favorite brand skinny leg jeans that fit like they were made just for
me. Don't you love finding the perfect jeans? Also jewelery,
diaries, and wind chimes featuring ceramic bees and flowers. Life is
good.
A great big shout out goes out to mystery book lovers.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile fiction
If you have a youngster in your life who would much rather play
video games than read, Whitaker Ringwald's The Secret Box is a sweet
enticement you can offer for going old school. Told from the
alternating viewpoints of two cousins (feisty, impetuous Jax and shy
bookworm Ethan) it's a fast paced narrative with plenty of allusions
to virtual worlds and the mythology that underlies some of them.
On Jax's twelth birthday she receives a mysterious package from
someone named Juniper. Her mom immediately grabs the box and sets off
to return it to the mystery sender with no explanation for her strange
behavior other than that she knows what's best for her.
What 12-year-old will accept that? Certainly not adventurous
Jax. She enlists her trusty sidekick cousin Ethan in her quest,
promising him they won't get in any trouble. They end up in bigger
peril than they've ever been in. Juniper, who turns out to be Jax and
Ethan's great aunt is not a sweet old cookie baking lady.
International thieves are hot on the trail of the box. And its
contents hold very strong, almost hypnotic powers.
A young student with a book report due will find The Secret Box
an excellent choice for fun reading as well as class credit.
On a personal note, I was thrilled yesterday to find a pair of my
favorite brand skinny leg jeans that fit like they were made just for
me. Don't you love finding the perfect jeans? Also jewelery,
diaries, and wind chimes featuring ceramic bees and flowers. Life is
good.
A great big shout out goes out to mystery book lovers.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
So Much For Democracy
So Much For Democracy
Juvenile Fiction
We hear a lot about political coups in other countries on the
news. They may seem quite removed from our experience of life, quite
hard to relate to. Kari Jones' So Much For Democracy helps bridge the
gap by introducing the experience of a girl and her family caught up
in the turmoil.
Canadian Astrid has a list of 35 things she hates about Ghana,
where she and her family are living while her father helps with that
country's elections. They range from the constant presence of
soldiers through snakes and spiders to the medicine she must take to
prevent maleria.
There are also drastic changes in her mother's behavior. Astrid
is used to the great degree of freedom she had in Canada. In Ghana
she must follow a long list of rules. Her mother is in constant panic
mode, always in her children's business. It seems to Astrid that
she's blamed for everything that goes wrong.
Why is Astrid's seemingly indomitable teacher afraid of the
soldiers? How does a man go from being imprisoned to taking over a
government? Will her mother ever get back to being herself?
Young people who read So Much For Democracy will learn a lot
while enjoying a suspenseful plot and a likeable, feisty protagonist.
On a personal note, I am working on organizing a benefit supper and
silent auction to raise money for education for girls in Tanzania.
That will be my very belated birthday celebration. It will be October
24 at Orono United Methodist. I have mixed feelings. I'm excited
because I think it will be fun and raise money (and consciousness) for
a very important cause. I'm also nervous because I've never run
anything like that before. I want to make it an annual event.
A great big shout out goes out to the fine people who go into nations
to deal with humungous challenges like war and Ebola.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile Fiction
We hear a lot about political coups in other countries on the
news. They may seem quite removed from our experience of life, quite
hard to relate to. Kari Jones' So Much For Democracy helps bridge the
gap by introducing the experience of a girl and her family caught up
in the turmoil.
Canadian Astrid has a list of 35 things she hates about Ghana,
where she and her family are living while her father helps with that
country's elections. They range from the constant presence of
soldiers through snakes and spiders to the medicine she must take to
prevent maleria.
There are also drastic changes in her mother's behavior. Astrid
is used to the great degree of freedom she had in Canada. In Ghana
she must follow a long list of rules. Her mother is in constant panic
mode, always in her children's business. It seems to Astrid that
she's blamed for everything that goes wrong.
Why is Astrid's seemingly indomitable teacher afraid of the
soldiers? How does a man go from being imprisoned to taking over a
government? Will her mother ever get back to being herself?
Young people who read So Much For Democracy will learn a lot
while enjoying a suspenseful plot and a likeable, feisty protagonist.
On a personal note, I am working on organizing a benefit supper and
silent auction to raise money for education for girls in Tanzania.
That will be my very belated birthday celebration. It will be October
24 at Orono United Methodist. I have mixed feelings. I'm excited
because I think it will be fun and raise money (and consciousness) for
a very important cause. I'm also nervous because I've never run
anything like that before. I want to make it an annual event.
A great big shout out goes out to the fine people who go into nations
to deal with humungous challenges like war and Ebola.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Uncertain Glory
Uncertain Glory
Juvenile historical fiction
My mother was a young woman when the unthinkable happened. In a
day that would live in infamy, according to President Roosevelt, Japan
attacked Pearl Harbor, plunging America into World War II. Until her
death she remembered those dark days of fear and uncertainty when the
world probably seemed to be going to Hell in a handbasket. In her
Uncertain Glory, Lea Wait brings readers to an earlier historical
crisis--the brink of the Civil War. Many of her characters, including
narrator Joe, were real people back in the day.
Wait gives us a real sense of who Joe is in her first
paragraph: "Reverend Merrill, up to the congregational church, says
God has our lives all planned out for us. And I'll tell you: I'm
just Joe Wood, from a little town in Maine. I figger I'm not exactly
in a position to question what God has in mind. But between you and
me, sometimes those plans of his are pretty hard to make sense of."
Joe may consider himself insignificant. These days we'd
consider him anything but. He has more responsibility, at the age of
fourteen, than many adults do now. He publishes his own newspaper. A
debt he took on when he started his operation is coming due with no
guarantee he can make it. He also must help his mom with her store
since his dad, grief stricken over his older son's death, isn't always
up to it. His two workers pose challenges of their own.
Oh, yeah, there's also a very ypung spiritualist in town. Her
uncle who claims custody claims she can contact deceased loved ones.
Some folks devoutly and desperately believe; some claim she's nothing
but a fraud. Joe is caught right in the middle.
Joe is far from the only one finding God's will hard to
determine. As news slowly travels from the South by telegraph, people
wonder how this will effect their lives, their families, their
community, and even their very young country. For a book about a teen
at an important turning point in his country's history, you can't do
better than Uncertain Glory.
On a personal note, I am enjoying my own personal snow day. Nope,
there is not a flake of snow coming down. But I have so many things
to catch up on (including this blog) that when my ride to church
couldn't happen I had this giddy, exhilirating, anything is possible
feeling. Breathing space. It is so sunny out I am doing most of my
catch up work outside on my glider. Heavenly.
A great big shout out goes out to all Mainers taking advantage of
these Indian summer days.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Juvenile historical fiction
My mother was a young woman when the unthinkable happened. In a
day that would live in infamy, according to President Roosevelt, Japan
attacked Pearl Harbor, plunging America into World War II. Until her
death she remembered those dark days of fear and uncertainty when the
world probably seemed to be going to Hell in a handbasket. In her
Uncertain Glory, Lea Wait brings readers to an earlier historical
crisis--the brink of the Civil War. Many of her characters, including
narrator Joe, were real people back in the day.
Wait gives us a real sense of who Joe is in her first
paragraph: "Reverend Merrill, up to the congregational church, says
God has our lives all planned out for us. And I'll tell you: I'm
just Joe Wood, from a little town in Maine. I figger I'm not exactly
in a position to question what God has in mind. But between you and
me, sometimes those plans of his are pretty hard to make sense of."
Joe may consider himself insignificant. These days we'd
consider him anything but. He has more responsibility, at the age of
fourteen, than many adults do now. He publishes his own newspaper. A
debt he took on when he started his operation is coming due with no
guarantee he can make it. He also must help his mom with her store
since his dad, grief stricken over his older son's death, isn't always
up to it. His two workers pose challenges of their own.
Oh, yeah, there's also a very ypung spiritualist in town. Her
uncle who claims custody claims she can contact deceased loved ones.
Some folks devoutly and desperately believe; some claim she's nothing
but a fraud. Joe is caught right in the middle.
Joe is far from the only one finding God's will hard to
determine. As news slowly travels from the South by telegraph, people
wonder how this will effect their lives, their families, their
community, and even their very young country. For a book about a teen
at an important turning point in his country's history, you can't do
better than Uncertain Glory.
On a personal note, I am enjoying my own personal snow day. Nope,
there is not a flake of snow coming down. But I have so many things
to catch up on (including this blog) that when my ride to church
couldn't happen I had this giddy, exhilirating, anything is possible
feeling. Breathing space. It is so sunny out I am doing most of my
catch up work outside on my glider. Heavenly.
A great big shout out goes out to all Mainers taking advantage of
these Indian summer days.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Starbird Murphy And The World Outside
Starbird Murphy And The World Outside
YA fiction
I think most of us have not so positive associations with the
word cult--anything from charasmatic leader mandated mass suicide to
relinquishing material possessions and being brainwashed. Cults and
their danger are probably closer to home for me than most. They can
be very appealing to people with disabilities like my sister, Harriet,
offering the acceptance the "normal" world often withholds, providing
the sense of family, of a cogent world view. But what exactly is a
cult? This is a question posed beautifully in Karen Finneyfrock's
Starbird Murphy and the World Outside.
Starbird, Finneyfrock's protagonist, lives with her mother, at
the communal Free Family Farm, a group run by three principles:
"One: The Free Family is chosen by the cosmos.
Two: The cosmos provides for us and we share what is given equally.
Three: Everyone in the Free Family gets a calling."
Members of the group, the saved, are kept safely out of the
reach of the outside world and its denizens. Children are home
schooled. At the age of 13 they receive their Callings from Earth,
the charasmatic leader who translates the messages of the cosmos to
his followers and pretty much runs the show. As the book begins,
however, he has been gone on missions and people are having a hard
time managing without him.
Starbird imagines she'll live her life out at the farm.
However, when a restaurant owned by the family is in dire need of a
waitress, she ends up in Seattle doing stuff like handling money and
attending public high school for the first time. Some of the
outsiders she comes in contact with don't seem so bad. At the same
time the people from her group she trusts the most, including Earth,
may be involved in illegal or at least unethical activities that have
the potential to bankrupt the organization.
Through this insightful book you'll experience a young woman's
transition from the sheltered world she's spent most of her life in to
more traditional society. It's quite memorable and thought provoking.
On a personal note, Penobscot County recently experienced an amazing
weekend. Saturday was more like July than early fall. Eugene and I
drove around leaf peeping and stopping at funky thrift shops and yard
sales. Then Sunday Bangor at 84 degrees broke the record set back in
1948. Those days were a precious gift.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow Mainers getting ready to
cope with upcoming colder weather.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
I think most of us have not so positive associations with the
word cult--anything from charasmatic leader mandated mass suicide to
relinquishing material possessions and being brainwashed. Cults and
their danger are probably closer to home for me than most. They can
be very appealing to people with disabilities like my sister, Harriet,
offering the acceptance the "normal" world often withholds, providing
the sense of family, of a cogent world view. But what exactly is a
cult? This is a question posed beautifully in Karen Finneyfrock's
Starbird Murphy and the World Outside.
Starbird, Finneyfrock's protagonist, lives with her mother, at
the communal Free Family Farm, a group run by three principles:
"One: The Free Family is chosen by the cosmos.
Two: The cosmos provides for us and we share what is given equally.
Three: Everyone in the Free Family gets a calling."
Members of the group, the saved, are kept safely out of the
reach of the outside world and its denizens. Children are home
schooled. At the age of 13 they receive their Callings from Earth,
the charasmatic leader who translates the messages of the cosmos to
his followers and pretty much runs the show. As the book begins,
however, he has been gone on missions and people are having a hard
time managing without him.
Starbird imagines she'll live her life out at the farm.
However, when a restaurant owned by the family is in dire need of a
waitress, she ends up in Seattle doing stuff like handling money and
attending public high school for the first time. Some of the
outsiders she comes in contact with don't seem so bad. At the same
time the people from her group she trusts the most, including Earth,
may be involved in illegal or at least unethical activities that have
the potential to bankrupt the organization.
Through this insightful book you'll experience a young woman's
transition from the sheltered world she's spent most of her life in to
more traditional society. It's quite memorable and thought provoking.
On a personal note, Penobscot County recently experienced an amazing
weekend. Saturday was more like July than early fall. Eugene and I
drove around leaf peeping and stopping at funky thrift shops and yard
sales. Then Sunday Bangor at 84 degrees broke the record set back in
1948. Those days were a precious gift.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow Mainers getting ready to
cope with upcoming colder weather.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
We Were Liars
We Were Liars
YA fiction
Under normal circumstances I don't read fiction featuring rich
and privileged families. When I'm under the weather, employing my old
school remedy of bed rest and fluids, I'm surprised by what books
circumvent my usual biases. Yesterday, felled by a miserable virus, I
curled up with Joey cat and e. lockhart's We Were Liars. I am
profoundly glad I did.
Cadence, lockhart's protagonist, is a member of the Sinclair
clan, "a beautiful and distinguished family". It's a family that, if
they existed in real life, most of us would never get near unless we
worked as their hired help. They look enviably perfect in the public
eye because they keep their secrets well. Divorce, desertation, and
even death are not to elicit grief. Youngsters are told to be
"normal" and, no matter what happens, show up where they're supposed
to with smiles on their faces. "It doesn't matter if divorce shreds
the muscles of our hearts so they will hardly beat without a
struggle. It doesn't matter if trust-fund money is running out; if
credit card bills go unpaid on the kitchen table. It doesn't matter
if there's a cluster of pill bottles on the bedside table."
The Sinclair clan even has their own island where they spend
their summers. Patriarch Harris Sinclair has had cottages erected for
his three daughters and their families in addition to his own oppulant
retreat. To Cadence it has seemed to be an enchanted escape from the
everyday world, a chance for reinvention, a space apart to be a part
of the Liars, a quartet of same age cousins and a friend with whom she
is in love.
Her summer 17 things are different. Cadence had spent summer 16
on a forced tour of Europe with her estranged father. The summer
before that some kind of accident had prematurely ended her time on
Beechwood Island--a traumatic event that had left her with serious
memory loss and severe frequent migraines. The family remembers what
she can't. They have been told by doctors to let her recover memories
on her own. She has four weeks--less actually since the only meds
that render her headaches tolerable take out chunks of time. As
familiar loved places prompt recall and the drastically different
behaviors of family members proved puzzling, Cadence is on a rapidly
accelerating path to reexperiencing an event of true evil and tragedy.
We Were Liars drew me out of a day of viral misery into an
enchanted created fictional realm. If it could do that, imagine where
it could take you. Read it for the sheer pleasure of a well written
story.
On a personal note, after a day of rest, I was healed up enough to get
out and run errands in the fresh air and sunshine. I was delighted
when my every other month op ed page came out in the Bangor Daily News
and enjoyed all the compliments I got.
A great big shout out goes out to the Bangor Daily News readership.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
Under normal circumstances I don't read fiction featuring rich
and privileged families. When I'm under the weather, employing my old
school remedy of bed rest and fluids, I'm surprised by what books
circumvent my usual biases. Yesterday, felled by a miserable virus, I
curled up with Joey cat and e. lockhart's We Were Liars. I am
profoundly glad I did.
Cadence, lockhart's protagonist, is a member of the Sinclair
clan, "a beautiful and distinguished family". It's a family that, if
they existed in real life, most of us would never get near unless we
worked as their hired help. They look enviably perfect in the public
eye because they keep their secrets well. Divorce, desertation, and
even death are not to elicit grief. Youngsters are told to be
"normal" and, no matter what happens, show up where they're supposed
to with smiles on their faces. "It doesn't matter if divorce shreds
the muscles of our hearts so they will hardly beat without a
struggle. It doesn't matter if trust-fund money is running out; if
credit card bills go unpaid on the kitchen table. It doesn't matter
if there's a cluster of pill bottles on the bedside table."
The Sinclair clan even has their own island where they spend
their summers. Patriarch Harris Sinclair has had cottages erected for
his three daughters and their families in addition to his own oppulant
retreat. To Cadence it has seemed to be an enchanted escape from the
everyday world, a chance for reinvention, a space apart to be a part
of the Liars, a quartet of same age cousins and a friend with whom she
is in love.
Her summer 17 things are different. Cadence had spent summer 16
on a forced tour of Europe with her estranged father. The summer
before that some kind of accident had prematurely ended her time on
Beechwood Island--a traumatic event that had left her with serious
memory loss and severe frequent migraines. The family remembers what
she can't. They have been told by doctors to let her recover memories
on her own. She has four weeks--less actually since the only meds
that render her headaches tolerable take out chunks of time. As
familiar loved places prompt recall and the drastically different
behaviors of family members proved puzzling, Cadence is on a rapidly
accelerating path to reexperiencing an event of true evil and tragedy.
We Were Liars drew me out of a day of viral misery into an
enchanted created fictional realm. If it could do that, imagine where
it could take you. Read it for the sheer pleasure of a well written
story.
On a personal note, after a day of rest, I was healed up enough to get
out and run errands in the fresh air and sunshine. I was delighted
when my every other month op ed page came out in the Bangor Daily News
and enjoyed all the compliments I got.
A great big shout out goes out to the Bangor Daily News readership.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
Kindness For Weakness
Kindness For Weakness
YA fiction
While Shawn Goodman's Kindness For Weakness is quite
appropriately pegged as YA, I also see it as an important read for
regular adults. Goodman has worked in juvenile justice facilities.
The man knows what he's talking about. The world he introduces
readers to is grim, terrifying, and all too real.
James sleeps on a sofa in a one bedroom apartment, waking up to
verbal and often physical abuse from his mother's drug addict
boyfriend, Ron. His mother, a chain smoking shadow of her former self,
takes Ron's side. His older brother, Louis, moved out when Ron moved
in. James misses him terribly.
Not surprisingly, when Louis invites him to work for him, James
jumps at the opportunity. Maybe they can regain their previously
close relationship. Sure they're pushing drugs. But it doesn't seem
to hard until the police bust James while Louis departs, leaving him
to take the fall.
James ends up in the dreaded Thomas C. Mortan Residential
Center, a place where physical and psychologic abuse run rampant,
gestures of kindness are perceived of as acts of weakness, and eighty-
four percent of the kids who make their way out are doomed to return.
Read it and get angry, very angry. It'll take a lot of us to get kids
like James (who was making what seemed like a reasonable choice) to
get out of a truly Hellish situation.
I can't wait to get my hands on Goodman's previous book,
Something Called Hope.
On a personal note, I celebrated my 57th birthday September 21 which
was a perfect Indian summer Sunday. I got what I wanted the most:
the chance to spend time with my children. I hung out with Amber and
Brian after church. Katie joined Adam, the hubby, and me for supper:
soup and grilled cheese sandwiched, mine with golden sun tomatoes. :)
A great big shout out goes out to all who work to get real justice and
hope for kids who are often condemned by poverty and negligence before
they commit even a misdemeanor.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
YA fiction
While Shawn Goodman's Kindness For Weakness is quite
appropriately pegged as YA, I also see it as an important read for
regular adults. Goodman has worked in juvenile justice facilities.
The man knows what he's talking about. The world he introduces
readers to is grim, terrifying, and all too real.
James sleeps on a sofa in a one bedroom apartment, waking up to
verbal and often physical abuse from his mother's drug addict
boyfriend, Ron. His mother, a chain smoking shadow of her former self,
takes Ron's side. His older brother, Louis, moved out when Ron moved
in. James misses him terribly.
Not surprisingly, when Louis invites him to work for him, James
jumps at the opportunity. Maybe they can regain their previously
close relationship. Sure they're pushing drugs. But it doesn't seem
to hard until the police bust James while Louis departs, leaving him
to take the fall.
James ends up in the dreaded Thomas C. Mortan Residential
Center, a place where physical and psychologic abuse run rampant,
gestures of kindness are perceived of as acts of weakness, and eighty-
four percent of the kids who make their way out are doomed to return.
Read it and get angry, very angry. It'll take a lot of us to get kids
like James (who was making what seemed like a reasonable choice) to
get out of a truly Hellish situation.
I can't wait to get my hands on Goodman's previous book,
Something Called Hope.
On a personal note, I celebrated my 57th birthday September 21 which
was a perfect Indian summer Sunday. I got what I wanted the most:
the chance to spend time with my children. I hung out with Amber and
Brian after church. Katie joined Adam, the hubby, and me for supper:
soup and grilled cheese sandwiched, mine with golden sun tomatoes. :)
A great big shout out goes out to all who work to get real justice and
hope for kids who are often condemned by poverty and negligence before
they commit even a misdemeanor.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Sent from my iPod
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