Whose Selection?

The Selection by Kiera Cass

New York : HarperTeen, 2013, c2012.

327 p. ; 22 cm. 

I was not planning to read this YA novel, but about two months ago a student returned it and said she loved it and I should read it. So did I have a choice? Not really. 

I can't say I loved the book, but I certainly did enjoy reading it. It was fun. It's kind of a Hunger Games meets The Bachelor - no, seriously! In the fictional world of the hero - 16 year old girl America Singer - there is a post-war county that is a Monarchy where the laws are harsh, poverty is endemic, and the country is divided up by caste - 8s are the lowest and 1s the highest. America's family is a 5. So that's the world she lives in. In this world, instead of a yearly mortal combat competition as in the Hunger Games, there is a once-in-a-generation chance for 35 randomly selected, eligible young women to compete for a chance to marry the prince of the land and eventually become queen - a grand version of The Bachelor. Just being in the competition has status and monetary benefits, and becoming royalty means attaining the highest status there is.

The hero of this tale already has a beloved (a lowly 6!) and only enters the competition to help her family out. But the prince turns out to be a much better person than she had imagined. Through complicated twists, she finds herself wondering who she really does/should love. All this while competing against a selection (sorry!) of the best and worst of competitors. There's love, drama, intrigue and even danger (rebels twice storm the palace where the competition is being held). Do you wonder how it turns out? Well you'll have to read it to find out - no spoilers here. However, I will warn you that the novel ends without resolution as it sets up for the next installment in the series.

Is is a serious read? Nope. Was it a fun read with some nice touches? It was! So if you're looking for a little escapist fun, this might be just the thing.

Particle Detector

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

New York : Anchor Books, a division of Random House LLC, 2014.

588 p. ; 21 cm.     

The thing I loved about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah is the author's ability to subtly recreate in her fiction those nuanced threads of race, identity, class, politics (and longing) that make up the patchwork of cultures in a country.  It makes me think of the way that scientists sometimes identify invisible particles by studying their tracks.  

When her main character, Ifemelu, is in New Haven with her Black Yale professor partner the reader can feel the bubble of intellectual snobbery and conformity that one often encounters around academics. Adiche does this while also describing the overarching issues of racism that define the US.  When her main character is back in Nigeria, Adiche's immerses us in a world of crass materialism, pretension, and the endless/meaningless pursuit of wealth. 

There is so much one could say about this novel.  It touches on issues of race, wealth, internationalism, immigration, romance, family, corruption, and appearance v. reality.  Adiche does all this while also telling a great tale of young love, exile, disillusion, return, and love pursued. It's a long read, but a great tale.  This is a book that I could see recommending to students who know of Adiche through her short book, We Should All Be Feminists. I also would recommend it to students interested in fiction about contemporary African life since much of the novel occurs in Lagos, Nigeria. 

Monstrous Beauty

Mary's Monster by Lita Judge

New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2018.

312 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

I finally got around to reading Frankenstein back in 2011, and - after reading this fine book - I want to read it again! The reason is indicated in this book's full title Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley created Frankenstein. 

Judge's book is an superb retelling of the courage, grit and brilliance of the young Mary Shelly with a focus on the years that lead to her creation of the classic novel, Frankenstein, published in 1818.  The author tells the well-researched story in easy free verse that moves the story along at a breathless clip.  We see Mary Shelly live the shock of her widowed father's remarriage to a very unlikable stepmother, her surprisingly lovely exile from family to an extended family in Scotland, and then her return and scandalous elopement with the already married Percy Bysshe Shelley - a passionate but troubled Romantic Poet.

It is during a Swiss exile with Percy and Byron that she begins writing her masterpiece. The success of this biography is that it is able to create a very clear narrative out of the tumultuous time that Mary Shelly wrote the novel. During the period covered she leaves home, returns, leaves, has two daughters who die and one son who survives, marries, is widowed, and sees her controversial novel become famous.

Additionally, the book is illustrated with evocative (haunting) illustrations of which the cover featured here is one.

I would definitely recommend this book to students.  It humanizes famous authors and makes their painful and passionate lives very real and very compelling.    

It's Complicated

Frida & Diego: Art, Love, Life by Catherine Reef
Boston : Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014
168 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm. 

Most people have some passing familiarity with the art of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, but this is one of those great non-fiction books for young adults that really expands the range of information about these two stunning Mexican painters.

The book is richly illustrated with photos and includes back matter featuring a nice selection of famous works by the two artists.  The back of the book also includes a timeline and copious notes by the author.

I really loved how this book does not condescend to young adults and manages to objectively convey the very unconventional nature of Rivera and Kahlo.  The book also skillfully conveys the artistic excellence of both artists - showing that Rivera was definitely more famous, prolific and well paid, while Kahlo was truly both a skilled (and self-taught) and truly original painter.  The book conveys the deep and complex love that existed between these two as they married, split up, and eventually remarried.

I also appreciated that Reef was able to honestly portray what a sexist user Diego Rivera was, but she also conveys the poignant tenderness that he held for Frida, and the deep bond between them.

"Stuck in the hospital [1950], Frida missed seeing Diego receive the National Prize for Plastic Arts....She saw her husband often, though, because he took the room next to hers, to be nearby at night.  Diego's presence comforted Frida like nothing else.  He read poetry to her and rocked her to sleep.  About once a week he brought in a borrowed movie projector and showed her the old Laurel and Hardy films....he did whatever he could think of to lighten her mood, even if he had to shake a tambourine and dance around the room, or roar like a bear with his arms raised and fingers curved like a claws." (p.101)

I would definitely recommend this book to any student interested in knowing more about Frida Kahlo or Diego Rivera... or both!