Quantum Science Goes to the Dogs

How to Teach Physics to Your Dog
Chad Orzel
New York : Scribner, 2009.
241 p.

Have a student interested in quantum theory? This is not a bad book for that. Orzel uses humor and the shtick of his dog supposedly asking question after question about the fundamentals of quantum theory.

In spite of the book being meant for the lay reader, I still had a lot of difficulty with understanding the author's explanations of wave functions and his attempt to explain decoherence and the idea of infinite universes. But, there is plenty to enjoy in the book and I LOVED his last chapter where he debunks and derides the shameless hucksterism of people like Depak Chopera who use shallow quantum theory mumble-jumble to sell their self-help and self-improvement books.

Other books I've liked that touch on quantum theory are the book You Are Here by Christopher Potter and The Elegant Universe by Brian Green (which is more about super string theories, and yet discusses a lot of quantum theory, too.)

Flowers for Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyes
Orlando, Fla : Harcourt, 2004, c1959.
311 p.

I was recently at a public library where the librarian was looking for a recommendation for a young man who had read A Child Called It, and wanted to find a book that hooks you in and is a fast interesting read. Our book club at Urbana High School had just finished reading and discussing Flowers for Algernon and so I suggested it as a choice for the young reader. It came to mind quickly because the main character in the book also reveals life with a mother who - though not as monstrous as the one in Child Called It - is a horrible, abusive parent.

It's pretty amazing that this book was written in 1959. There is a certain timeless quality to it, and it still captivates readers; our book club readers all liked it. There are a few dated moments in the novel, but its plot is so engaging and the emotional impact of the novel is really compelling.

If you are completely unfamiliar with this novel, it involves a 30+ year old man with mental retardation who becomes the subject of an experiment that not only eliminates his retardation, but rapidly turns him into a polymath genius. Of course, there is a catch, but you'll have to read the book to find out what that is. What saves the book from being just an interesting curiosity, is its grappling with issues of what does it mean to be "intelligent" - and how does intelligence shape our understanding of what it means to be human. The main character also must come to terms with family memories, his stunted emotional life, new and old friendships, and of course, love.

Do you have a young reader looking for a catchy, plot driven book? Then suggest Flowers for Algernon - and old, but good read that doesn't disappoint.

Don't Rush to Rush

Rush
Johnathan Friesen
New York : Speak, 2010.
295 p. ; 21 cm.

I honestly wanted to like this book, but Publisher's Weekly judges that Friesen's "effort mars the excitement of rappelling into wildfires with flat characters that seem more motivated by the needs of the plot than real development....and too many of the other characters...are paper-thin archetypes." I couldn't agree more.

It's a shame, though, because there's a lot of good storytelling in this novel, and I confess that Friesen has a knack for hooking you in so that you want to read on - which is no small achievement, especially when looking for books that will interest young adult readers. However, I found some of the over blown heroics and feats of the main character just downright silly. His first day in elite firefighting training he runs a five mile wilderness course in 25 minutes flat and is barely winded! Additionally, motivations of the wooden characters leaves much to be desired. For example, one can never really understand what the main female character - Jake's love interest - sees in him, his main trait is a disturbed, depressed personality that only comes to life in adrenaline pumped danger.

I probably should have read Friesen's book, Jerk, California - which is probably a bit better. This book misses a chance to be a thrilling read that could have seriously wrestled with what makes thrill-seekers tick, the nature of courage, and definitions of honor. Instead it's more like a Saturday morning cartoon: fun, but ultimately very, very thin.

Breaking the First Rule of Fight Club

Fight Club
Chuck Palahniuk
New York : W.W. Norton, 2005, c1996.
218 p. ; 21 cm.

"The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about Fight Club."

A student recently asked me if we had any other books by Chuck Palahniuk besides Fight Club, and I said, "No, we don't. Do you like his books?" We got into a short discussion and when I explained that Fight Club was on my "to read" list, the student told me I absolutely had to read Fight Club as soon as I could. So this weekend, I put aside Crime and Punishment (our Book Club choice for October and November) and read Fight Club.

Wow! It is an amazing first novel. It opens strong, has taut, crisp writing and dialogue, and develops its opening premises through to the very end. Additionally, there is a lot to think about in this novel - ideas of masculinity, violence, alienation, reality v. delusion, leadership, and individual v. group identity predominate, but are by no means the only subjects. This would be a great book for a book group.

The novel has mature/graphic subject matter and so it wouldn't work as a high school classroom text, but is suitable for a library collection. The novel's most graphic material are the descriptions of the fights, the violence positive attitude of its main character, and some sexual situations.

Part of Fight Club's widespread popularity is due to its being made into a movie starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. The movie is an excellent adaptation of the novel, but - as I told my son - I wish I had read the book first because it was impossible for me to get the movie characters out of my head as I read the novel.

Given the strength of Fight Club, I'll definitely have to see about adding a few more titles by Palahniuk to our library's collection.

Werewolves, and Vampires, and Shadow Hunters, Oh My!

City of Bones

by Cassandra Clare
New York : Simon Pulse, 2007.
1st U.S. ed.
340 p. ; 24 cm.

I have to be up front and admit that this is not really my kind of book, but that being said, it was a fun read with a very imaginative and compelling plot. Where does one start with this realistic/fantasy set in New York. Regular high school girl Clara Fray quickly finds out she's anything but regular and quickly becomes part of the world that we regular folks (mundanes) never see. It is a world of demon killers (shadow hunters), down worlders, raveners, the Forsaken, magic, portals, etc. (you get the picture). The story revolves around Clara coming into her own as she seeks to find out who she really is, how she can save her mother, and who she can love and trust.

Clara is an admirable protagonist - not ridiculously smart, but smart, brave, loyal and oddly normal. The strange coexistence of magic and the normal world recalls Rowling, Gaiman, and Meyer. The plot has just enough romance along with plenty of fights, blood and scariness.

This is the first book in a trilogy, and I assume it will be popular.

A Wondrous Read

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

by Junot Diaz
New York : Riverhead Books, 2007.
1st U.S. ed.
340 p. ; 22 cm.

No wonder Wondrous won the Pulitzer Prize for 2008. It is a stunning read - full of passion, humor, history, wit, and anger (and an unforgettable protagonist, the overweight and unlucky in love Oscar). Reading this book, most Americans will realize how little they know of the Caribbean Stalin aka Trujillo, who merits some unsavory nicknames from the author, the nicest of which is the Cattle Thief. Unfortunately, Trujillo ruled with help from Uncle Sam, and when overthrown, popular rule was again thwarted by US Marines sent in by LBJ. The joy of this novel is all in the telling though - the history is woven in with such scathing humor and deadpan craziness that it only really sinks in after you have put the book down.

And what about the high school audience? Well, the book was written for adults, though Booklist recommended it for mature YA readers, which makes sense with the teen/college-aged protagonist. It's definitely not a book one could assign since it has mature sexual scenes and rather salty language. It's also rough with political violence, but for any student who wants to get a grip on the history of the Dominican Republic through an inspired coming of age/immigration novel - this is it.

New World, New Insights

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.
465 p. ; 25 cm.

This book offers the reader much to think about, and I would highly recommend it to any US History teacher. However, I don't think it is a great read for most teen readers since it spends an inordinate amount of time discussing the scholarly/academic rivalries and infighting over issues regarding when and how the first peoples came to the Americas. That being said, it would be an excellent reference source for any students researching the peoples of the Americas.

The book naturally looks at three regions: North America, Mesoamerica, and South America. Things I found especially fascinating were the discussions of Cahokia (since it is fairly near to Urbana, IL), the amazing civilizations of the Andes, and the ways in which the "pristine" environments of the Americas that Europeans stumbled into (prairie, woodland, Amazon rainforest, etc.) were really not pristine at all, but essentially well managed ecosystems constructed and cultivated by the original inhabitants to benefit them.

1491 also helped me realize that the origins of American Indians is not yet a settled issue, and there may have been several waves of immigration extending farther back than the usually dated 15-20,000 year range.

Not Mad About Mad Cow Adventures

Going Bovine
by Libba Bray
New York: Delacorte Press, 2009.
480 p. ; 22 cm.

All right, this book garnered great praise and won the 2010 Printz Award - but... I just couldn't lose myself in this overwrought book. The back of the book offers breathless comparisons to Catcher in the Rye and predicts that it may well become a cult classic. I don't think so. It's hard to put my finger on what I don't like about this book, but perhaps a few excerpts will illustrate:

"'Who the heck is Don Quicks-oat?' That's what Chet King wants to know.

It's early February, six weeks into the new semester, and we're in English class, which for most of us is an excruciating exercise in staying awake through the great classics of literature. These works - groundbreaking, incendiary, timeless - have been pureed by the curriculum monsters into a digestible pabulum of themes and factoids we can spew back on a test. Scoring well on tests is the sort of happy thing that gets the school district the greenbacks they crave...." (p.6)

***

"After some minor league pleading with Mom, she agrees to let me take the Turdmobile, her crap-brown box of a car. It's ugly but it runs, and it's better than the bus when you're late. All down the block, the lawns are alive with men on riding mowers. They gallop across their yards, whipping them into shape, in control of those few square feet of ground. All hail the suburban action heroes!" (p.39)

I just don't buy it. The voice is of an adult writing as if a teen. I think what made Catcher in the Rye so unbelievably great, was its pure originality. There's nothing about this character that's original. He's cynical about school, jocks, and suburbia...yeah? A real cult classic will have a protagonist who loves suburbia and who's school is both inspirational and dull and complicated - now that I will get my attention.

The plot of the story is creative and original, though, featuring the hero who is literally losing his mind to mad cow disease. Is the narrative real or in his head? For this the book deserves great praise, in that it's action puts you very much inside the mind of someone who's mind is disintegrating and becoming increasingly unreliable.

My experience with this book is that it just doesn't circulate all that much, and the several kids who checked it out did not recommend it, alas.

Mad About Alice

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
by Lewis Carroll
New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004.
286 p. ; 22 cm.

Before there was Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett there was Lewis Carroll. Not able to remember if I had actually read all of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass (or just absorbed it ala Disney!) - I decided to read the novels this summer.

They are an easy read and enjoyable, but I found them both to get a bit tiresome after a while. Again and again one follows Alice as she wanders through a world of absurdity, metafiction, pun, wordplay, and pure zaniness. Not bad at all, if that's to your taste, but after a bit I just found myself wanting a little more. However, like Adams (and maybe like Neil Gaiman), Carroll's novels are not all light and fun; and undercurrent of threat and morbidity runs throughout the novels. Given Carroll's own stunted sexuality and abuse of the little girls he spent time with, this unsettling aspect is not surprising; I couldn't help but feel that the greatest threat lurking in the novel is the dread of girls actually growing up.

Mourning for America

The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America
by William Kleinknecht
New York: Nation Books, 2009.
317 p. ; 22 cm.

This book is a great antidote to the hagiography surrounding our 40th President, Ronald Reagan. Kleinknecht doesn't pretend to be unbiased, but lambastes the policies and legacy of the Reagan administration. However, the book is not just polemics, but a well researched investigation into activities of the Reagan administration and especially its powerful legacy of deregulation and redistribution of wealth upward.

The book is a bit long for general high school readers, but is indispensable for research into the politics of the 80s. The book is not a biography, but an analysis of the successes of the Reagan revolution - successes that Kleinknecht argues have made our society less equal, less compassionate, more consumerist, and more vulnerable to the predations of unfettered capitalism.

A Plot That Never Let's Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go
by Patrick Ness
Cambridge, MA : Candlewick Press, 2008.
1st U.S. ed.
479 p. ; 23 cm.

The first thing to say about The Knife is that it is a very creative novel. It manages to be science fiction without seeming to much like science fiction. It has several conceptual devices that are unprecedented. For example, much of the novel is about Noise. On the colonized planet where the action takes place, the men can hear and even see one another's thoughts. Men can try to hide or obscure their Noise, but it is impossible to keep it completely hidden. As one can imagine, this situation creates some very tense and dramatic episodes - especially when one is being hunted by hostile men. Women, on the other hand can hear men's Noise, but their thoughts remain private. Lastly, animals on this new planet can talk - and as you might guess, their expressions are very limited and basic.

The novel also delves into very deep issues about men, women, violence, xenophobia, religion, war, colonization, lies, propaganda, brainwashing, friendship, bravery, cowardice, loyalty and - of course - love.

As you can probably tell, there was a lot that I really liked about this novel. The writing, too, is very skillful. The main character, who narrates the story, has a way of expressing himself that uses interesting mispellings and Noise is indicated by bold, casual font. In spite of liking a lot about this novel, I ultimately found it to be very disappointing. It is essentially a pursuit-thriller story and the chase of the main character and his female ally by the villains is at times overwrought and improbable. Over and over the two heroes seem safe only to be surprised or overtaken by their pursuers. Especially ridiculous, is the main villain, Aaron, who seems to be more of a terminator sort of figure than a human as he survives mauling by crocodiles, near drowning, severe head injuries, and a severe dog mauling.

Finally, I was really put off with the ending of the novel, in that there is no real closure. The story is left hanging - really just another version of the repetitive plot device of supposed safety reached that actually results in even greater peril. This kind of unfinished ending feels manipulative, and a thinly veiled tactic for selling the sequel. I would contrast this kind of gimmick with the satisfying ending to The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a complete novel, but does not preclude it's being continued in book 2, Catching Fire. When you reach the end of The Knife on the other hand, you are essentially left with an unfinished book. Some readers may enjoy this, but it is not my cup of tea.

You Are Here

You Are Here by Christopher Potter
New York : Harper Perennial, 2010.
1st Harper Perennial ed.
294 p. ; 21 cm.

This book is a darn good read for the scientifically inclined. Does a bang up job of covering a lot, and I mean a lot of material in a short readable bit of space. The book begins with size on the macro scale, moving out into the cosmos in sets of meters (starting at 1-10 meters) ending in the over 10²⁶ meters range (over 10 billion light years) and then later heads in the opposite direction down to the 10^-10 meter range. Between these scales Potter gives us a brief history of science from the presocratics to the present.

As if this weren't enough, Potter helps us understand the nature of light (all forms), time and the origin of the universe, and finally with the history of good old earth and current thinking about human origins. Amazingly Potter manages to do all this without being dull or extremely confusing. The only section I found slow was the information on the various early scientific theories, but any young person reading this could skip or skim this part and still not lose the benefits of the book.

Definitely a recommended read for the student wanting a contemporary science overview. I also should mention that this book had one of the best explanations of basic quantum theory for the lay person.

Not Your Usual Road Trip

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
New York : Knopf, 2006.
1st U.S. ed.
241 p. ; 25 cm.

This was a great book to read after the two disaster books by Pfeffer. McCarthy is an amazing stylist, his dialogue often reads like a liturgy and his effects are poetic. I was also struck how this takes the familiar American "road" story and turns it on its head in a way - the characters are on foot and there's little real development in character from beginning to end. This is a paradoxical book in that very little really happens from beginning to end - two characters come out of the mountains of what used to be the Carolinas, head for the coast, and search for food, shelter and safety. That's pretty much it, and yet it is a compelling read - I found myself wondering, "What is going to happen next?"

This book is pretty darn grim, too. In the post war-apocalypse of North America a father and son trudge through a godforsaken landscape where the sun never breaks through the clouds, nothing grows, no animals exist, and starvation and human predators threaten at every turn. And yet it is a strangely moving book. In some ways it is a meditation on the power of love (familial) in the face of the most extreme predations. There's no real happy ending, but not pure despair either. I'd definitely recommend this book, especially to any students interested in futuristic dystopian, post-apocalyptic novels.

Moonstruck Redux - the Urban Version

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Boston : Graphia/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008.
1st U.S. ed.
321 p. ; 18 cm.

Pfeffer wrote this book as a parallel novel to her Life as We Knew It (see post below). The former takes place in rural Pennsylvania, while this one follows the same global catastrophe in New York City. This one is a bit grittier: main characters die, parents disappear, and there are bodies aplenty - yet the story is really very similar. I would recommend either one, but not necessarily both unless the patron reading one was hugely engaged with it.

Reading this one, I did think about City of Thieves by David Benioff as a far more realistic story of how a city starves to death (re. Leningrad during WWII), and a title to recommend to a mature reader who liked The Dead and the Gone and was interested.

Moonstruck

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Orlando, Fla. : Harcourt, c2006,
1st ed. 337 p. ; 22 cm.

After an implausible start - the moon getting kicked into a dramatically lower orbit by rather unspectacular asteroid impact - this book becomes a very satisfying catastrophe-survival novel. The moon's new orbit creates apocalyptic changes on earth - monster tsunamis, extreme volcanism, earthquakes, climate change, and the general collapse of civilization as we know it.

The story is told in journal entries - also a bit unrealistic due to the level of detail and quoted dialogue - that work well to push the narrative forward chronologically and reveal the thoughts and feelings of the protagonist, Miranda, 16. She and her family in rural Pennsylvania try to survive on the food, water and wood supplies that they have stocked up on while losing electricity, and dealing with a harsh, extended winter brought about by volcanic cooling of the atmosphere.

The novel resonates with the current zeitgeist of unease regarding energy woes, climate disaster, and the way in which disaster can reduce our advanced civilization to a primitive state in short order. Parts of the novel were surprisingly moving - as we follow Miranda and her Mom, college age brother and little brother fight the challenges and each other as they struggle for survival.

There's lots for students and teachers to reflect on. Would be a great supplement to an earth science class that could look at the accuracies and inaccuracies of the events in the novel.

I'd definitely recommend this book, especially for someone who likes apocalyptic fiction. Now I just have to read Cormac McCarthy's The Road and see how I like that one.

Not For the Breakfast Table

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yance
New York : Simon & Schuster BFYR, c2009.
434 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.

This book is a Printz honor book - and it is a compelling read. This book would be a great step up for fans of the Cirque du Freak series. There is lot (and I mean lots) of gore and bloodshed. Because most of the violence is committed by monsters that are like humanoid great white sharks, it is more fantastical and less offensive than simple murder and mayhem stories.

The book is well-plotted and conceived, cleverly nested as a story from the late 1800s as conveyed in the journals of an old man who has passed away in a retirement home.

The novel has also features a likable orphan protagonist and uses many of the stock in trade tricks of Gothic horror - gloomy midnights in graveyards, basement labs, and underground lairs where the last monsters must be hunted. The novel has some creative touches in references to the civil war period and to the gruesome habits of parasites (an interesting comparison could be made to Peeps in this regard.)

The Dispensables

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
New York : Other Press, c2008.
268 p. ; 22 cm.

This novel - translated from the Swedish - was a Booklist Editor's choice for 2009. It is a great read, set in a contemporary/future society where childless women (50 and older) and men (60 and older) in certain (usually artistic) jobs are categorized as "dispensable" and are relocated to a locked unit where they live in pampered luxury while being subjected to medical experiments that range from harmless to horrible and having their tissue and organs harvested for indispensables on the outside. Most resident inmates last about 2-3 years.

The novel follows Dorrit Weger as she enters her new life in the unit. We see her move from her initial shock and fear, to acceptance, to normalcy, and repulsion at life in the unit. Much of the novel revolves around relationships that she forms on the unit.

The novel raises many profound questions about contemporary life - what sacrifices are acceptable for the well being of the society at large, what are the values of the artistic life, what are the rights of the individual versus society, and what are the ethics surrounding tissue/organ donation and medical experiments.

The novel is a bleak and upsetting story to read through. It would appeal to readers who like dystopian fiction and reminded me a lot of Margaret Atwood's fiction. I would not recommend placing this on any curriculum reading lists for high school, given that its mature and controversial themes, and for some explicit - though not sensationalized - sex scenes.

The Templars - Bias Revealed

The Templars: the secret history revealed by Barbara Frale.
New York : Arcade Pub., 2009.
xiv, 232 p. ; 22 cm.

I was hugely disappointed in this "history" of the Templars. Given the popularity of Dan Brown's books, I was hoping for a well-written, informative narrative of the Templars. Booklist reviewer Ray Olson called it "the first-choice primer on its legend-laden subject" and Library Journal's Daniel Harms praises the book as "the work is a solid contribution on a topic where misinformation is rife." I couldn't disagree more. The book begins with a great deal of religious legend dressed up as history, and much of the early narrative appears as little more than an apologia for the misdeeds of Christianity/Catholicism - with a generous helping of anti-Muslim cant thrown in for good measure. Her point of view is very positive toward the Crusaders of the late llth and early 12th century and simplifies and distorts their motives and behaviors to the point where one has to doubt everything that follows.

The book opens by dressing up theological wishful thinking as historical fact:

• "Jesus, son of Mary, died in Jerusalem on April 7 in the year 790 after the founding of Rome...his disciples....soon resumed their religious activities with renewed enthusiasm, because they were certain that their master had risen from the dead..."
• "the disciples who remained in and around Jerusalem gathered up all the evidence of Christ's earthly passage and began preparing a well-ordered record of the events of his life...in accounts that bore the auspicious title that Jesus himself had suggested..."
• "In the fourth century...The empress mother Helen....conducted what amounted to an archaeological expedition...The result was the discovery of the the wood of the True Cross..."

I honestly don't see how you can take such a historian seriously. As for her comments on Muslims:

• (in 1071) "Pilgrimages became extremely dangerous because the roads were infested with Muslim brigands..."
• (describing the horrendous slaughter of Jerusalem by crusaders in 1099) "the crusaders finally recaptured Jerusalem...but not without some committing heinous crimes at the expense of the Muslim population, despite orders from their leaders to protect..." (the rotten apple excuse).
• "the crusaders were unable to exercise complete control over the territory, and they were constantly exposed to to the risk of Muslim aggression."

With such dishonesty, I found it impossible to finish the book, and would definitely not recommend it.

Interestingly, I did a brief bit of searching on Professor Frale, and found that she recently weighed in on the Shroud of Turin, declaring that it had the imprint of a "death certificate" for Jesus. Curious to say the least.

Kipling's Choice

Kipling's Choice by Geert Spillebeen.
Boston : Graphia, 2005.
147 p. ; 19 cm.

This is a fine little novel about WWI. The plot centers around Rudyard Kipling's son, John and his yearning to be a soldier in the "Great War." The plot moves in and out of John's memories as he lies dying on a battlefield in Loos, France after being mortally wounded on his first day of combat.

His father is an uber-patriotic Englishman and, of course, the world famous Nobel Prize winning author. The story is in many ways a story of romantic ideals of war and patriotism crushed by the barbarity and grief of actual warfare.

John's remains are never found and this loss, the grievous toll of the war, and his own role in promoting war and his son's participation in it leave Rudyard a broken man.

This book would make a great companion read to Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun and Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front.