& Wonderful

Wideness & Wonder: the life and art of Georgia O'Keeffe by Susan Goldman Rubin
San Francisco : Chronicle Books, c2010.
117 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 22 cm.

One of the things I love about biographies for young people is that they are often short, vivid, compelling and not overwrought with insignificant detail.  I found this biography of Georgia O'Keeffe to be a beautiful introduction to the painter.

The book is handsomely designed with many lovely reproductions and photos that bring alive O'Keeffe's long and productive life of painting.  I think the thing that I really enjoyed was how the book conveys just how new and avant garde the work of O'Keeffe was at the time she was creating it.  Her work seems so accessible and mainstream now, but there really was nothing like it when she was painting.  Her mix of stunning color, expressionist vision, realism, and large scale focus on the single simple subject are all really amazing.

I also appreciate how the biography both pays tribute to O'Keeffe as a trailblazing woman artist, but focuses on her mainly as an innovative, interesting and successful American artist.  The biography pulls together a great deal of interesting information - her early farm years in Wisconsin, her teaching experience in rural Texas, her time at the Art Institute of Chicago, and of course her productive years in New York City and New Mexico (where the O'Keeffe Museum is located)

Home at Heart

Feels Like Home by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo
New York : Delacorte Press, c2007.
213 p. ; 22 cm.

I wanted to read this novel before the author, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo came to our school for the second time this October. I was glad I picked it.  It's a bit of a throw-back novel, in a sweet way.  There's no aliens, zombies, dystopian overlords, fights to the death, or raunchy sexual situations. What there is, is an homage to S.E. Hinton's 1967 classic, The Outsiders and an homage to the small-town outsider - an outsider with heart and brains and the determination to go on to bigger things.

It's a good old-fashioned drama - with grief for lost parents and family and grief for a past that is no more - all told though the viewpoint of a teen girl who is trying to come to terms with the past and with a brother who has let her down.

It's not a fast novel or a flashy novel, but it's a good, solid read.

Additionally, the author is a wonderful guest to have at a high school. She is passionate about writing, about connecting with young people, and about living a life of art and connection.  She's great with students and I'll be encouraging kids to check out her books and be looking forward to reading her latest novel, the award-winning, Fat Angie.

Solid Gone

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
New York : Broadway Books, [2014]
422 p. ; 21 cm.

Publisher's Weekly describes Flynn's Gone Girl as the "tale of a marriage gone toxically wrong" which "gradually emerge[s] through alternating accounts by Nick and Amy, both unreliable narrators in their own ways."  I couldn't have said it better myself - so I won't!  Booklist calls it a "compelling thriller and a searing portrait of marriage" which it is, though I'd say it's a pretty twisted and horrible portrait to be sure.  Booklist does note that Flynn "possesses a disturbing worldview, one considerably amped up by her twisted sense of humor." That is definitely true.

Almost all reviews note that it is compulsively readable and I have to agree.  But it does present a rather sordid and extreme view of human relationships and has some pretty crude generalizations about men, women and their interactions.

I think the strength of the book is the plotting (which is creative and unpredictable) and the use of the unreliable narrators - which keeps the reader guessing and on edge.  

Anyone working with young adults should be aware that though there is not a lot of graphic sex in the novel,  sexual situations are frequently referred to - and occasionally described in very explicit and crude terms.  It's definitely a novel for mature readers, but there will be a lot of requests for the book given its phenomenal success and the successful movie version of it which opened the day I finished the book, Oct. 3, 2014.

The title of this post is a nod to a Carter family song - and it's wonderful performance by the late Doc Watson. 

Nothing Natural About It

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
New York : Hyperion, [2013]
308 p. ; 22 cm.

It's probably no surprise that I didn't care for this novel.  Most of what I wrote about Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers applies here.  I'm just not interested in being entertained by the lurid retelling of serial killer exploits, but this novel scored VOYA's perfect 10s, so I kind of felt like I had to give it a chance.

So how was it aside from the serial killer aspect?  It was all right, but I just never could really believe that the characters were real people.  The novel for me felt like watching a TV show (and it's interesting that many of its fans reference TV shows in their reviews).

I don't want to be too negative about the book, so I'll just defer to fans of serial killer and murder/thrillers.  They love it! So if there's a student who is interested in this topic, I'll be sure to mention that this is a fun, thrilling and interesting read in that direction - with a plot that is sure to satisfy.

Peculiar, Creepy, and Wildly Inventive

A found photo from Riggs' collection.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Philadelphia : Quirk Books, 2013.
382 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.

I might have missed this book if not for a donation from our local Barnes & Noble store.  They gave our library several copies of various books from their "World Book Night"- including Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  I was intrigued by the cover...

...and thumbed through it to see that it was filled with enigmatic,evocative and unsettling photographs from times gone by.  I was definitely hooked.

The novel combines history (WWII and Holocaust survivors), time travel, monsters, the supernatural, danger, and romance - as Ransom Riggs weaves a great story sparked by his own hobby/obsession with old photographs.

I really enjoyed the wonderfully imaginative interweaving of photos and story.  As you read the novel, you will find the related photo reprinted within close proximity the page you're on. The photos are memorable and haunting in their own right, and add an element of "is this true" to what is otherwise a truly "out of this world" thriller.

I will definitely recommend this book to students looking for "something different," students who like fantasy/supernatural, and to any student who enjoys horror/monster/paranormal stories, too.

Compass, Knife, Spyglass

An Alethiometer

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass (bk. 1)
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, c1995.
399 p. ; 22 cm.


The Subtle Knife  (bk. 2) 
 New York : Ballantine Books, 1998.
288 p. ; 18 cm.


The Amber Spyglass  (bk. 3)
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, c2000.
518 p. ; 22 cm. 

I read The Golden Compass about 12 years ago for a class in young adult literature.  I thought it was pretty good at the time, but also remember having to rush through it so as to finish all the books on the class reading list.  When my son - who is now several years out of high school - heard me say I was fishing around for some books to read during this summer, he said , "You really ought to read all the books in the The Golden Compass series," better known as His Dark Materials.  I decided I would read them, and I have to say that I enjoyed them a lot.

The trilogy is a fantasy, science fiction tour de force. It manages to explore ideas of the multiverse, religion, theology, particle physics, war, loyalty, family, etc. within a wildly imaginative and every expanding story of adventure, danger, betrayal, loyalty and love.  Religion and theology plays a central role in the books, and so it is no wonder that Pullman's series has faced many challenges and controversy (think Banned Books Week!)

For myself, I liked The Golden Compass best.  I think it is the most spare and elegant - the next installments begin to layer on more and more elements of the supernatural - angels, god, the alternate worlds, etc. to the point where I found it a bit much.  The Golden Compass is also the book that presents Pullman's great conceit - the daemon, an intelligent animal embodiment of the persons psyche/soul.  It's really a marvelous concept and well developed throughout the trilogy.  Though the first book was my favorite, I have no doubt that fantasy fans would love all three.  There are great characters, exciting plot developments, and really wonderful expositions of the setting, etc.

Do you know a fantasy reader who has not read His Dark Materials?  If so they won't be disappointed.

Sprawling History, Sprawling Novel

The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
New York : Vintage Classics, 2011.
xxviii, 675 p. ; 21 cm.

I've been wanting to read Dr. Zhivago for some time, and given it's length  (675 p.), it seemed like a good choice for a summer read.

I enjoyed a lot about this novel - it richly conveys the crazy reality that war and revolution can force on people, and the ways in which people try to find a meaningful life within that.  It is also a great love story, of course, which is probably part of why the movie version in the 60s was so successful.

I liked the historical content and movement of a lot of the book, but I did find that the plot began to get a bit unwieldy and confusing as the novel went on, and felt rushed to me at the end.  I also just found the increasing number of improbable coincidences became distracting as read the book.

This was a good book, but not a fantastic novel, in the way that Dostoevsky and Tolstoy have their truly magnificent articles.  However, if a student is a fan of Russian/Soviet history and literature and is looking for a good read, Dr. Zhivago may be just what the doctor ordered!