Book Review: The Club of Queer Trades

Title: The Club of Queer Trades
Author: G. K. Chesterton
Release Date: 1905 (pre-conversion)

Genre: mystery, adventure, humor, morals
My Rating: ***
Official Rating: fiction (adult)
Age Group: 12+
Students' Rating: "confusing but funny"

Summary
A collection of G. K. Chesterton's writings about Basil Grant, this novel is more episodic than the classic novel we are used to. It revolves around men belonging to the Club of Queer Trades, where one must create an entirely new way of earning an honest living in a way that has never been done before. Basil Grant, likely a precursor to Fr. Brown, left his job as judge long ago, apparently having gone crazy. Now, he wanders about England with his brother Rupert (a mockery of Sherlock Holmes) solving apparent mysteries that, well, aren't nearly as mysterious and criminal as they appear.
 
Word of Warning

• Mention of opium
• Mention of adventures that involve going to different countries and killing animals for sport
• Fist fights
• Apparent danger, prisoners
• Some slightly immoral businesses. Not immoral along the lines of inappropriate, but immoral as in not morally right.
• There are lots of things that simply have to be interpreted a different way for them to be understood as not crimes but merely interesting ways of living.
• Basil is a mystic and stargazer (among other random things)
• Characters smoke

My Thoughts
Think the beginnings of Fr. Brown and Manalive. It's got enough misunderstandings, moral and philosophical murmurings, quirky characters, ramblings, bashing of others' ideas and authors (Darwinism, Doyle, etc), and Chestertonian-ness to be amusing and full of insights. These are fun little capers that are just quirky enough to keep you smiling and reading. Sure, there's a lot going on, and it's not the best of Chesterton's writings, and it doesn't hold together well. But it's still a fun read that can be thought provoking.
At the very least, it's very, very interesting to watch what new methods of work/income GKC can come up with. There really is no end to this guy's imagination.

Book Review: Sea of Tranquility

*******MATURE CONTENT WARNING*******

Title: Sea of Tranquility
Author: Katja Millay
Release Date: 2013
Genre: romance, coming of age, YA fiction
My Rating: *****
Official Rating: YA fiction
Age Group: 18+

Summary
Nastya is dead. Or so she says. She continually refers to herself as the girl who died. We meet her at the beginning of her senior year at a school she has never attended before. She lives with her aunt even though her family is alive and well in a different city. She's that problem student who doesn't care, doesn't socialize, and dresses like a slut. She's not destructive or violent, but still.
And she doesn't talk. No, she actually doesn't talk. Nastya has not spoken to anyone in over two years and it looks like she doesn't intend to start any time soon.
What Nastya does do is run. Every day, she runs until her body can't take it anymore. One night, having puked up the contents of her stomach after a long run, she comes across a curious garage. She approaches to find a boy from her school. He's a woodworker, according to his tools and materials.
But it isn't Josh's woodworking that captures Nastya's attention. It's the fact that everyone in school just leaves him alone. That's what she wants. So, she decides to watch him and figure out how he does it.
But you can't just watch, as Nastya and Josh eventually find out. Sooner or later, someone breaks the awkward silence with an awkward question which turns into an awkward one-sided conversation.
And then one day, that one-sided conversation suddenly becomes two-sided, and horrible secrets come out.

Word of Warning

•  We have the stock characters of high school. The jerk, the nerds, the angry ex-girlfriend, the player, and so on. This in itself isn't bad, but some of these roles (like player) are.
• Violence and graphic injuries. A character is beaten near death and details are not spared for the reader.
• Serious language issues. Teens swear. A lot.
• Teens refuse to listen to adult guidance, when they really really should.
• Minors drinking and becoming drunk. Also, use of drugs by minors (though any use of drugs would be bad).
• Teen sexual intimacy. For the most part, we're merely aware of its existence but are able to avoid any sort of descriptions. However, there is one poetically graphic scene. By "poetically graphic" I mean no specific biological terms are used, but there is no question as to what is going on.
• Hints of depression. The main character may very well be depressed, as some of the others may be as well. While none of the characters consider suicide, it is mentioned that a character did commit suicide. This character is a minor character who accidentally spurs some of the biggest events in the book, but the suicide happens before this book starts. Basically, the suicidal teen's world is separate from the book's world except for one bridging character. I apologize if this is too cryptic, I am trying to avoid giving away the story but still warn you of the contents.
• Attempted murder. I will assure you that none of the characters proposed as main characters does this.
• Death. One character in particular is surrounded by death, with this character's entirely family being dead before this character is a legal adult. This is emotionally very hurtful, as I'm sure you can imagine.
• Attempted rape. Not successful, but still a disgusting and disturbing and horrible scene.

My Thoughts
And if you're not judging me at this point for giving this book a rating of five stars, I am a little worried. Nevertheless, let me explain.
I came across this book by accident, and the biggest problems (sexual content) did not show up until I was greatly invested in the characters' journeys. Now, that doesn't make reading it ok, but the way the objectionable content was dealt with is honestly beautiful, especially for YA fiction. I think my favorite scene is after two characters have sex. They both realize they've ruined the beautiful relationship they had by doing such a thing before marriage. The "before marriage" part isn't explicitly stated, but is implied. They're heartbroken and have to figure out how to rebuild a relationship with this white elephant in the room.
Now even that isn't enough to read the book. Thankfully, the things that are bad are treated as bad. Still, this book is a beautiful study of humanity. Nastya starts out as barely human and becomes human through her actions. Objectionable content is faced head on by characters and author and hashed out as best they can before coming to the conclusion that there is an answer, but it is out of reach of the characters (perhaps because they have no religious beliefs to stand on?).

And the whole thing is an interesting journey from the uncomfortable gritty aspects of life, progressing to beauty even when surrounded by dirt.

Do I think everyone should read this? Absolutely not. I myself would not normally read something like this. But do I think the book has redeeming qualities? For sure. And way more redeeming qualities than the average YA novel. In fact, it was far too deep of a study on humanity for me to feel comfortable calling it YA fiction. There was just something more to it that I can't explain.

Below is a more extensive description written for an education course of why the book might be acceptable for select audiences in case you are curious to read more.

Short Story Review: Half-Hours in Hades

Hello hello!
It is my great pleasure to introduce not only one but two new elements to this blog!

First, the short story review. Short stories have great power and take great skill to write. While not as talked about as other forms of writing, it does have great value, especially in class rooms due to time restrictions and the ability to narrow in on specific elements. So, enter the short story reviews!

Second, and far more exciting, student authors! I have offered my students the opportunity to write reviews for class, which can be posted here if they like, as an entrance to the world of academics and critics, as well as many other great learning opportunities. And I'm very very excited to say that they have taken me up on this offer! All posts will be preread by myself before being shared, and I trust this group to be thorough in their analysis of the content of the media they review. Feel free to leave feedback--I will be sure to pass it on to the student authors.

Title: Half-Hours in Hades: An Elementary Handbook of Demonology
[Due to loopholes in copyright laws when it comes to death and time, the full text (and hilarious illustrations) can be found by clicking on the title]
Author: G. K. Chesterton
Release Date: 1890ish
Genre: fiction, short story
My Rating: *****
Official Rating: children's/young adult fiction
Age Group: 11+ (make-believe characters that might be concerning to younger children) [Maria Gianna here. I might advise a little older so the reader can appreciate the intertextual references. If there's one thing G. K. Chesterton loves, it's a good name drop.]

Summary
The wonderful author, G. K. Chesterton, again shows his brilliance in his work "Half-Hours in Hades." He gives a hilarious and interesting account on the different types of demons. He goes over the different types of demons, explains them to you, and tells where one could find them. This is a good essay to read if you are studying G. K. Chesterton.

Word of Warning

• Non-existent characters
• Topics on demons or devils [and how they operate]

My Thoughts
I think this is a very funny essay to read. It gives an interesting view on demons in a good way, even though they are generally bad. It might be a little confusing for young readers. I enjoyed reading it very much.


Author Bio
Hello! I am a budding writer that has taken numerous writing and literature classes throughout my life. I my spare time, I enjoy reading, playing chess and card games, diving, swimming, skiing, acting in plays, and hanging out with friends. When I grow older, I Want to be an actor or an airplane pilot! Thank you for reading my Text Review on Half-Hours in Hades!

Book Review: The Prisoner of Zenda

This book, like Peter Pan, is one of the books I have included in the British Literature course I am teaching. I hope that, even if I do not have much time to review books I have read in my free time, I can always turn to the literature courses I am teaching for material.

Title: The Prisoner of Zenda
Author: Anthony Hope Hawkins (commonly just "Anthony Hope")
Release Date: 1894
Genre: action, adventure, drama, fiction, Ruritanian Romance (like The Princess Bride!), politics, romance
My Rating: *****
Students'* Rating: Unanimous "Awesome!"
Official Rating: fiction
Age Group: 12+

Summary
Rudolf Rassendyll has never done anything productive with his life, and his sister-in-law can't take it anymore. Go see the crowning of the king of Ruritania, she says. Go rub elbows with the big shots. Have fun.
Fine. To keep his sister-in-law happy, Rudolf wisely heads off to Ruritania. However, on the way, he finds himself caught up in a political war and impersonating someone, the threat of death always upon him.
Best (worst?) of all? He falls in love with the woman he is courting--while impersonating her real betrothed.
Will Rudolf be caught in his impersonation? And how to rescue the man he is impersonating?
And what is he to do about Princess Flavia?

Word of Warning

• Characters get drunk. We don't see them acting drunk, they just are drunk.
• A character is drugged and kidnapped.
• People get hurt, but nothing graphic and usually not serious.
• A few chaste kisses.
• Sword fights. Guns. Excitement!
• A character impersonates another.
• Someone dies.

My Thoughts
This is possibly one of my favorite books of all time, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when my students liked it too. Maybe I wasn't biased after all!
No, in all seriousness, this is a fantastic tale. It's so good that it established the Ruritanian Romance genre (courtly romance in a fantasy setting). There is danger, impersonation, sword fighting, break-ins, and very interesting moral musings about what is right and what is not.
It's not the easy-going style of more contemporary writing, but it is intriguing enough and not too complex, making it readable, just a bit of work for younger readers less experienced in the classics.
The main character is fun, witty, and a great adventurer. And while he might start of careless and fun, he develops into a self-sacrificing man who ultimately does the right thing, no matter how heartbreaking that ends up being.

Fun Fact(s)
In addition to establishing a whole new literary genre, Hope/Hawkins earned the praise of Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island.
Anthony Hope Hawkins is much better known as simply Anthony Hope, it is fun to note that he has the same last name as Stevenson's protagonist Jim Hawkins.
Though he wrote 32 works of fiction in addition to plays, Hope/Hawkins is best known for The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau.


*Students in this particular case range from grades 8-12, class contains nearly even number of boys and girls.

Book Review: Johnny Tremain

Title: Johnny Tremain
Author: Ester Forbes
Release Date: 1943
Genre: adventure, war, revolutionary war, romance, coming of age, historical fiction
My Rating: *****
Official Rating: children's fiction
Age Group: 10+
Awards: Newbery Award

Summary
Young Johnny Tremain has it all. He's the star silversmith apprentice at a successful shop in the New World. He's set to inherit the practice, and marry the silversmith's pretty daughter, in a few years' time. And the thing is, he's good at what he does and he loves it. Sure, he's an orphan and still has no idea who his father was, but he did love his mother very dearly before she passed on. And while he still misses her, he's made a great life for himself.
Until he slips. Literally, he slips. Working on a Sunday to get a very important job done, Johnny slips and burns his hand in molten silver. When the bandage comes off, it is discovered that his thumb has grown attached to his palm. He's not useful as a silversmith anymore.
Kicked out on the streets while tensions rise between the colonists and the British, Johnny must find a way to survive.

Word of Warning

• Violence and death. This being a young man's experience with the Revolutionary War, there is violence even though the book is considered children's fiction. None if is particularly graphic, but people do get hurt and die.
• Crime is sometimes glorified. For those who know the history of the Revolutionary War, the rebels who are so often praised acted very much like common criminals at times, stealing, destroying property, and hurting people. Granted, this particular book only hints at these deeds, but it should be noted that our "heroes" do commit criminal acts.
• Guns. A war is fought with guns, and characters get guns and they use them and people die.
• A character who could be considered disabled is shamed and treated poorly. However wrong this is, it was the reality of the time and this is historical fiction.
• Along those lines, this story is also told from a very one-sided point of view: a young white male colonist. This could potentially constrain the story to missing other important things. But on the other hand, a point of view does need to be taken or the author won't be able to get anything done.
• Our good old Johnny Tremain can be a bit of a bully, particularly in the beginning of the book. This should not be taken lightly. The hero is a bully. Once he is on the other side of things, he does change some of his ways.

My Thoughts
Honestly, this is one of my childhood favorites. It's one of those books you read once every two years or so just to remember how great it was. It's the book you buy whenever you see it on sale because you know some young person in your life could use this great adventure (or am I the only one who rescues books from the sales shelf and rehomes them?).
And all the objections up there? This might sound awful, but they don't really matter. I mean yes, they are bad things, and yes, we need to consider the youth we are handing this book to because not everyone should read this. But this is historical fiction, and these problems are treated as such. They are a representation of what life was like, not what it ought to be like. Because that's what fiction in general does: it represents a truth the writers sees in the world, not necessarily the way the world should be. That's the reader's job to figure out based on a well-formed conscience, faith, and the reality the writer is pointing out.

Book Review: The Silent Governess

Title: The Silent Governess
Author: Julie Klassen
Genre: Romance, Christian, Regency
My Rating: ****
Official Rating: Adult fiction
Age Group: 18+

Summary: Olivia Keene wants to be a teacher, but when she saves her mother's life through a violent act, things change. Fleeing her home town in obedience to her mother, Olivia encounters various friendly and unfriendly people before she is captured by the gamekeeper of the Brightwell Estate. It seems she has overheard a rather confidential conversation between Lord Brightwell and his son, Lord Bradley.
Lord Bradley has his own problems to deal with. He's too much of a gentleman to leave Olivia in a jail where she has been assaulted, but too careful to set her free with the information she knows about him--information he himself has just discovered and isn't quite sure how to come to terms with. The solution is simple: hire Olivia as the under nurse for his cousin's young son and two stepchildren--requiring her complete silence of course. But the problem gets bigger still. Olivia is a charming girl and the servants, and everyone around her, truly enjoys her company whether or not she can speak. That's not really a problem, since Lord Bradley has limited contact with his servants.
No, Lord Bradley has to deal with threats of violence, the possibility of losing his inheritance, and falling in love with the silent under nurse.

Word of Warning
Please note that I did not originally intend to review this book and so did not take notes as I usually do when reviewing a book. This means I may have missed some of the smaller things which should go under this section. By giving the bigger problems, and providing the age rating of 18+, I do not believe anything I may have missed with be a problem. I apologize for not being as thorough with this review as I usually am.

A few small things first:

• A man brings his young daughter to the bar and has her show off by adding or multiplying big numbers. She enjoys this and he is able to encourage men to bet on this, winning money off her talent.
• A man is hit with an iron poker from the fireplace over the head. He lives.
• A fire nearly kills a small child and a man is injured (not seriously) in his rescue attempt.
• Olivia is choked by a man attempting to rape her.
• A young woman accidentally walks in on a man bathing (she sees only his upper body).
• Lord Bradley is obviously attracted to Olivia, physically as well as her character. Most, if not all, descriptions of physical attraction are sweet and handled well (this is a Christian romance novel, after all).
• A young woman is attacked by wild dogs thought to have rabies. She hits her head on a rock and is bitten by one of the dogs.
• A young man stands in a doorway, watching a young woman sleep with a child in her arms. His excuse is that he is helping the child's older sister look for him (the child) as she was worried that he was missing. While this excuse is true, the fact that he stands there at all and is clearly enchanted by what he sees is a bit uncomfortable.
• A man is wrongly accused of embezzlement and nearly sentenced to death.
• Lord Bradley orders Olivia to remain silent even after she recovers her voice, to protect his reputation. He also forbids her from talking to the outside world without his approval, and various other small measures to keep his secret safe. Eventually he begins to trust her and finally he apologizes for treating her in such a disrespectful manner.
• It is commonly understood that servants are not allowed to marry other servants from the same household. Also, if a young women (servant) becomes pregnant, she is let go by the household and, if lucky, given a bit of extra money before being sent out into the world to fend for herself and her unborn baby.
• A young man is constantly flirting with servants and even the young woman everyone understands is intending to marry his cousin. He also squanders his money while away at college.
• Squandering of money, gambling, drinking (mentioned and sometimes a key part of a minor character's arc).
• A few rather sweet kisses.

Now for the bigger things:

Olivia escapes attempted rape more than once. A man forces her to kiss him (she promptly punches him in the eye). Sometimes she is rescued, other times she has to fight her way free.

The entire story revolves around illegitimate children. A woman who is unable to give birth adopts the child of another young woman (who was raped) who dies after giving birth to her son. A few more honorable men in the story confess to having love affairs with women other than their wives (often servants) and regret their actions, realizing the actions were not out of love for the women involved. Others do not confess or regret it, but the more honorable ones do this for them.
 
My Thoughts
The last time I actually finished a Christian romance novel was, well, I can't even remember when. Basically, novels which revolve mainly around romance, especially overly-preachy ones, drive me up a wall and I usually end up throwing them at the wall. It's just not my thing.
But I finished this one in less than a week. It's a sweet story and the romance, as well as the Christian aspect, are skillfully woven in between two mysteries and various other small plot points. Lord Bradley is not perfect and though Olivia boarders on being so, even she has her moments.
It was refreshing. And I can assure you I am off to see if I can find any more books by Julie Klassen. I'm very glad I rescued this book from the pile of books in my friend's bedroom. And I'm glad she let me rescue it and didn't keep it for her own bookshelf.

Book Review: Fantastic Voyage

Title: Fantastic Voyage: An amazing journey through the human blood stream
Author: Isaac Asimov
Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure, Biology
My Rating: *****
Official Rating: Fiction
Age Group: 16+

Summary: Having finally rescued Benes from Them, We have run into a bit of trouble, mainly the problem that he may die before he's able to reveal very important information. Information so important that if We don't have it, They might start a war and We might lose.
This requires a last minute and utterly fantastic voyage into Benes' blood stream in order to clear a blood clot in his brain which cannot be reached from the outside. A grumpy old surgeon and his beautiful assistant, a pilot for the submarine, a doctor who knows the map of Benes' circulatory system, and the secret agent who saved Benes and seems to be along for security are miniaturized and injected into the blood stream.
A lot of things can go wrong in a blood stream, especially when there may be a traitor along. With only and exactly sixty minutes to complete the mission, things could go very wrong.
Of course, they do.

Word of Warning

• Agent Grant makes numerous suggestive remarks to Cora (the surgeon's assistant). Since this book was written in 1966, these remarks really are only suggestive and leave much to the imagination. Still, these remarks contributed to the book's age suggestion.
• Cora, for the most part, completely ignores Grant. When she starts to pay attention to him, he slows down on the comments.
• The whole thing is full of drama involving the blood stream, which might be considered gross by some readers.
• People almost die, are tossed around and injured, and one man is hit over the head. Another man is killed by bacteria (though we don't see this happen).
• Grant hints that he planned to spend a few days (or nights) with a woman (who, we're unaware) before he's selected for this mission, and he's a bit annoyed by his change in plans.
• A car crash ends in one man being killed, a shootout (another death), and a man who is injured and has a blood clot in his brain. None of this is graphic.

My Thoughts
I rarely enjoy science fiction, and when I do, that's usually on the screen in a well-done movie. Clearly I've been reading the wrong science fiction. Though this book is anything but recently written, it's recent enough that as I read I recognized things I am studying in science classes right now, and explained how they worked as well. The characters were interesting, even Grant. At first I found him annoying, but his persistence on the mission (refusing to give up and making due with whatever he's got) and his bravery (sacrificing himself for other members of the crew often) grew on me and eventually I looked forward to his lines.
The pace was nicely done. Just fast enough to feel as frantic as the story line suggests, but slow enough that sixty minutes really does fit into about 150 pages without feeling overdone.
The adventure itself was incredibly interesting. It was fun to travel through a human blood stream in a submarine, even if it only happened in the pages of a novel.
Simply put, a great adventure that will continue to be so for a long long time.

Book Review: Goddess Tithe

Title: Goddess Tithe (novella)
Series: Tales of the Goldstone Wood
Author: Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Genre: Fantasy, Christian, Teen
My Rating: *****
Age Group: 13+

Note - I received and am reviewing a preview copy of this book. Goddess Tithe is available for purchase from major book vendors beginning November 12, 2013.

Summary -
Sailing is dangerous, for the goddess demands a sacrifice from every ship that dares sail her sea. Munny, a young boy and a runaway, fears the vengeance of the goddess, and his fears are only strengthened when a foreign stowaway is discovered on board. The Captain demands that the stowaway, Leonard, be kept safe, but all of the other sailors wish to sacrifice him to the goddess.
And Munny is caught in between, wanting to both protect the young man and to return safe to his mother.
The goddess demands a sacrifice, and who will pay?

The Bad -
- Leonard is known to the sailors as "the Foreign Devil", and he retains that name throughout the book. The sailors mistreat him and Munny because they are both seen as bad luck
- Munny, the underdog on board, is bullied by the other sailors, particularly Chuo-tuk. They often force him to eavesdrop for them, and also press him into doing their work.
- The sailors insult each other with various phrases that aren't insulting to a reader, but are obviously negative.
- The fey (fairy) Risafeth is referred to and considered a goddess by the sailors. This is never clarified in this particular book, but in the rest of the Goldstone Wood series, fairies are not gods/goddesses.
- Munny is considered an illegitimate child by his uncle because his mother's marriage was not approved by her father. However, Munny's mother makes it very clear that she was honorably married to a very good man.
- Munny is almost forced into killing Leonard by the other sailors.

The Good -
- Leonard displays great courage by protecting Munny and standing up to the bullies. He also risks his own life by diving overboard to rescue him from drowning.
- Munny refuses to kill Leonard, and proceeds, against his better judgment, to protect him from being sacrificed to the goddess.
- Munny's motivation for surviving the sea voyage is to return to his sick mother. This motivation strengthens him through many dangers that would otherwise be overwhelming.
- The Captain not only refuses to sacrifice Leonard, but he also vows to protect every man on the ship from the wrath of Risafeth.
- Tu-Pich, Munny's mentor, sacrifices his own life willingly in order to protect the boy. By doing so, he drives away Risafeth, who cannot stand true self-giving, but only hate and fear.

Conclusion -
Anne Elisabeth Stengl is somehow able to write a story that, while not necessarily compelling, is utterly transcendent. I honestly loved this book, despite the fact that the plot did not interest me at all, nor the setting, nor the characters. I would be completely willing to reread this book - it's hauntingly lovely, and there's a hidden beauty that I'm not quite able to understand, but I know that it is there to be found.
At the center of all her stories (which are at least implicitly Christian, and often explicitly so) is one main thought - Goddess Tithe is driven by the truth that hate and destruction can only be stopped with self-sacrifice. As the Captain states, "Vengeance cannot abide the agony of grace." It's something that is so very forgettable in everyday life, but also so incredibly essential.


Note: Goddess Tithe is a companion novella to the Goldstone Wood series, but while someone who has read the other books in the series would definitely understand many of the hidden references and themes in the book better than a new reader, this shouldn't prevent anyone from picking up this book without having read the others. It's a standalone story, and it does quite a remarkable job at it.

Links:
Author's Blog
Goddess Tithe Website

Book Review: Stormbreaker

Title: Stormbreaker (Alex Rider series)
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Teen, Action, Thriller
My Rating: *
Age Group: 14+

Summary -
After his uncle dies in a tragic car accident, Alex has nothing to look forward to in life. He's a fourteen-year-old orphan with no friends and no real knowledge of his uncle's past. But when he begins to suspect that his uncle's death wasn't an accident and starts to investigate, he's picked up by the MI6. Apparently, his uncle was more interesting than Alex thought; he was actually a spy whose last mission killed him.
And now MI6 wants Alex to complete the mission. They don't really give him much of a choice in the matter. So he's packed off to a computer manufacturing facility to discover why his uncle died and what Herod Sayle, a technology mogul, is doing. Neither MI6 or Alex realize just how dangerous the mission will be.

The Bad -
 - Ian Rider is killed by an assassin (not described).
 - Alex gets into various dangerous situations, either purposely or accidently, most of which you would expect to find in a spy book. Some are: sneaking into a junkyard and getting trapped in a car about to be destroyed, various fistfights, gunfights, climbing dangerously high buildings, sneaking around a high-security facility, being dropped into a jellyfish tank to die, etc.
 - MI6 blackmails Alex into joining them, knowing full well that he might not live. This is made more serious because he's only 14.
 - A man at the training camp that Alex is sent to purposely sabotages him.
 - A remark is made in a description of a fat man about his buttocks.
 - A remark is made about how jellyfish have no anus.
 - There is a mention of drug smuggling.
 - There are several uses of the euphemism "bliddy" for a popular British swearword.
 - Herod Sayle, the bad guy, is genuinely evil, with many evil sidekicks. They all threaten Alex's life at some point. Sayle's evil plot includes killing thousands of children in order to get revenge for bullying he received when he was in school.
 - An assassin kills a man for dropping a box (described).
 - While Alex tries to avoid killing anyone in cold blood, he does cause quite a few accidental deaths as he escapes from various dangers.
 - Alex shoots a gun in a crowded room. He misses everyone but the bad guy, whom he wounds.
 - Sayle is assassinated.
 - Alex states his intention to kill the man who murdered his uncle.
 - While this does not become more apparent until later books, the characters of the Alex Rider stories have very little moral sense of right and wrong. Their general philosophy seems to be that as long as everything ends up alright, anything can be done to get to that conclusion. Alex himself seems to have at least an inclination toward good, but his irresponsibility and selfishness tends to drown this out in later books.

The Good -
 - In this story at least, Alex tries to do what he thinks is right.
 - Alex shows great resourcefulness and bravery.

Conclusion -
I'll admit that I've read quite a few of the Alex Rider books, though it's been a few years since I bothered to pick one up. And rereading this book reminded me exactly why I stopped bothering.
No matter how hard he tries, Anthony Horowitz cannot write. I don't know how these books became popular, or even sold to a publisher, but it's like Horowitz wrote them in his sleep and published them without editing them at all.
Outside of the utter sloppiness of the writing, the Alex Rider books don't really tell an uplifting or enlightening story anyway. The "get it done" attitude of the characters leads them into doing many things which would disgust many sensible readers, and while this first book in the series is relatively clean, you can still pick up hints of this attitude, particularly in the adult characters.
Would a younger reader enjoy it? Maybe, if they're the sort who can overlook a bad writing style. But should they read it? The first book is innocuous, but as it ends on a semi-cliffhanger, parents should probably be wary of introducing the series, because the later books become much less innocent.


Please Note: This is the first book in the Alex Rider series, and while it is relatively appropriate for a 14+ age group, the rest of the series is not. I would suggest that parents read the series before giving it to anyone under the age of 16. 

Maria has also written a review of a movie based off of this book: Operation Stormbreaker

Movie Review: Sleeping Beauty

Title: Sleeping Beauty
Author: Disney (animated)
Genre: Children's, Fairy Tale, Animated films
My Rating: ****
Official Rating: G
Age Group: 8+

My Summary -
When King Stephan and Queen Leah finally announce the birth of their daughter, Aurora, the kingdom is ecstatic. A royal feast is prepared, and all the most important people are invited (including Aurora's betrothed, seven-year-old Philip). Included on the guest list are the fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather, who all decide to give Aurora a special fairy-gift. But before they have time to cast their spells, an unexpected guest crashes the party.
Malificent is utterly evil, and utterly angry at being ignored by the king and queen. In a rage, she too casts a spell on Aurora: on her sixteenth birthday, the girl will prick her finger on a spindle and die.
Horrified, the royal couple look to the three good fairies to fix the situation, so they spirit the little baby away into the woods, where for sixteen years she lives, hidden from all society.
Until she meets a young man.

The Bad:
This movie is really early Disney, so there's nothing "bad", per se. A few things deserve caution for younger children, however.
Malificent is by far the most scary Disney villain; she doesn't have an ounce of goodness in her, and the scenes with her in them are dark and menacing. While there is little violence (Philip pushes around her evil minions, as does Malificent, and the Prince throws a sword into her at the end), she is completely creepy.
We see three men drinking champagne and fall into various stages of cartoon drunkenness (one even falls asleep).
The three fairies bicker with each other over silly things.
Aurora is extremely innocent, as is Philip. They literally fall in love at first sight, and after five minutes are ready to marry each other. Philip's advances are not bad in any way, but could be taken so by a modern audience (the movie was made over fifty years ago, and I think we tend to read more into certain situations than people back then). Their relationship is more ill-advised than anything.
Philip kisses Aurora while she is asleep.

The Good:
This is a real, Chestertonian, Tolkienian fairy tale that was not ruined by any attempt to make it more interesting or realistic. In fact, its charm lies in the fact that the characters ARE unrealistic, idealistic, and completely good (except for Malificent, who is said to be completely evil). It's a traditional battle of good and evil, with the Shield of Virtue and the Sword of Truth helping Philip to defeat the dragon (yes, he literally has a Sword of Truth).

My Thoughts:
From a film critic's point of view, this movie is a complete flop according to today's standards. The characters have no depth, there's random and drawn-out music sequences, and the plot is full of holes (the animation was very impressive, however).
But somehow, this movie has become a classic - it basically IS the epitome of Disney fairy tales.Very few Disney fairy tales directly address the fight of complete good against complete evil, and for some reason, the fact that this one did makes it more endearing than the rest.
I like Disney movies (the old ones, anyway), but I never actually saw this one until last night, and it instantly became my favorite. Maybe I'm an idealistic sap, but this is one good story.

I do advise parents that this movie probably isn't appropriate for anyone under the age of 8 just because of Malificent (quite honestly, I was rather afraid of her myself).

Book Review: October Baby

Title: October Baby: a novel
Author: Eric Wilson and Theresa Preston
Genre: Fiction
My Rating: ****
Official Rating: Teen, Young Adult
Age Group: 16+

Summary:
Hannah is a relatively normal girl with a few health problems (asthma, hip surgeries, etc). She has friends, parents who lover her, and a crush on her childhood friend. Why then does she always feel so empty?
At age nineteen, a terrible accident occurs which reveals to Hannah the truth behind her birth and all her medical problems. It might even explain the feeling of loneliness she has lived with all her life. In a desperate attempt to find out who she really is, she joins her childhood friend Jason, his girlfriend Alana, and four others on a Spring Break road trip. On the way, they will pass through Mobile, Alabama. It is there that she will find answers.
The question is: will she make it that far? And will the answers do her any good?

Word of Warning:

• This is a story of abortion and survival. It follows that young women are pregnant before marriage, get abortions, and so on. Generally abortion is mentioned as a procedure. A child is born missing an arm because of a failed abortion attempt.
• Children are aborted, unborn children are referred to as tissue and not children, and many of the other things which go with abortion.
• Hannah's parents keep secrets from her. Later in the book we see that they have been struggling too, but early on it is hard to forgive them for not telling her the truth.
• Hannah's parents let her decide whether to go on the trip or not, but strongly advise she not go. She goes anyway. Because of how they acted about the trip, she is in a certain sense going against their orders (almost).
• Hannah and Jason end up sharing a hotel room, Hannah on the bed and Jason on the floor. She can't take it and leaves to spend the night in the lobby on a bench. Jason joins her.
• Hannah says she's never been with someone, physically speaking. Jason says he hasn't either, and it was a hard choice ("I am a guy") but it was the right choice.
• Depression is mentioned. Hannah has a "shrink."
• There are two kisses at the end, presumably short and chaste. There is not much description.
• The biggest thing to keep in mind is that this is the story of an abortion survivor.

My Thoughts
The story is beautiful. I would have given it five stars had the writing style not suffered far too often. Sometimes, it was a bad word choice, sometimes something was worded strangely, other times italics was not used. Many of the mistakes felt amateur and frustrating.
Other than the writing style mistakes, it is a beautiful story. For those of you who have seen the movie (if you haven't, do so right away*), there are more scenes with Jason and Hannah (along with more screen time for Truman, stronger moments for Alana, and others) that really add to the story. For those of you who have not seen the movie, the book is a very moving story about forgiveness. How does one face abortion, being a survivor? Hannah was not wanted. How does she come to terms with that? And Hannah's birth mother, what will she do? Characters have to face hard facts about life and the journeys they take are beautiful and incredible.
A story of beauty. A story of goodness.






*Although we do not have a review of October Baby (the movie) up at this time, the issues are generally the same when it comes to "Word of Warning" and the story really is the same when it comes to "Summary."

Author Alcove: Mike Lupica and Bryan Davis

Author Alcove is more about authors and less about one particular work. Since these two are a bit short and slightly different than the regular Author Alcove format (these here were pre-written for a different purpose and I am short on time), I am posting them together instead of separately. Here are two authors more (who have almost nothing in common):

Author Mike Lupica:
Why I read The Underdogs: because it was about football and I needed to know more about football for my own novels. At the time, I didn't have a whole lot of time to actually research with nonfiction books so a novel was a good way to go.
What I thought: AMAZING!
Why: His style is perfect for what he writes. It's simple and to the point and yet it does some comfortable pacing now and then. The voice he uses is clear and matter-of-fact. His girl characters seem to always be tough on the outside and sweet on the inside, but unfortunately are almost all identical. His boy characters sound very real and are funny and yet serious and honest and over all very realistic. And the way sports are worked into the story.....I believe every story (at least the ones I've read so far) has a character conflict (not enough funding for the football team and now a girl joins the team, a friend going blind, death of a father, etc) along with sports things worked in. It's smooth and great. Plus, his conversations. I would have to say the dialogue in his books beats nearly all dialogue I've read in nearly all other genres.
Overall: simple but lovely in a mud-and-grass-stain way. Plus, can't forget the dialogue. :)
Read it: if you want to read some good dialogue, strong characters, a good voice, and some sports mixed in. I've never played football for real but when I read it I sure felt like I was right there on the field.

Author Bryan Davis:
Why I started reading: a former soccer teammate told me I just had to read the first Dragons In Our Midst book and wouldn't tell me anything else. So I read. And I fell in love. Ok, maybe that's a bit of a strong word, but I really do enjoy Bryan Davis's books to the extreme. I can't seem to stop reading them and I'll be very sad when there aren't any more. The only problem is one has to be in the right mood for his books. Sometimes, I simply cannot stomach his writing. Other days, I can't get enough.
What I thought: WOW! Unlike Mike Lupica's books, Bryan Davis's books have quite a few unbelievable speeches. You know the kind. The kind that make you think, "Awww. I love that. Why hasn't anyone said something like that to me?" and then you realize, "That's not realistic. It would take a few rehearsals before anyone in real life could get that out." But have you ever read a book where that just doesn't matter? Where the realistic-ness isn't really compromised because that isn't the point. The point here is beauty, I think. These books are beautiful. They're C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien beautiful, they're Madeline L'Engle beautiful. Yes, they are that kind of beautiful. The first time I read is for the plot and the stuff with music (Echoes from the Edge) or the King Arthur references (Dragons In Our Midst) or the mythology (Starlighter). The second time is for the Christianity hidden just below the surface. The third time is because I know I will never be able to get everything out of it. The fourth is because there are so many quotes I love. And the fifth is because I just can't get enough. The girl characters are strong but gentle and sweet. The boy characters are gentlemen, strong and gentle, caring and protecting, and yet they still make mistakes. I hate a book where the girl or boy is too perfect. Even these characters make mistakes. But in all, a must read.
Overall: beautiful. Absolutely beautiful and deep and containing so many layers that I'm afraid no matter how many times I read it I won't find the bottom. Incredibly creative. I have never read any thing like what Davis has written.
Read it: for King Arthur, for dragons, for strong guy characters like Paul Fester and Alex O'Donnell (Regina Doman's characters, not Bryan's), for good girl characters (no comparison here), for music, for family, for faith, for depth. For beauty.

Book Review: Artemis Fowl

Title: Artemis Fowl
Author: Eoin Colfer
Genre: Fantasy
My Rating: ***
Official Rating: Teen Fiction
Age Group: 12+

Summary: Artemis Fowl is a twelve year old genius. Absolutely nothing can stop him. Unfortunately for the world, he's a criminal mastermind, the son of a rich family, and has a huge and powerful butler named, well, Butler. This all adds up to something very bad for the world. In fact, nearly the only limitation Artemis has is his mother's illness, but even that doesn't hold him back. When he hears about fairies and their gold, he wants some. He believes, and he does everything necessary to take this gold.
What he didn't plan for was the fairies. It was strange, really, since Artemis Fowl always plans for everything. This is the first time he made a mistake.

Word of Warning

• The main character is a criminal mastermind who is twelve.
• Magic. Yes, the fairies have magic and use it to do various things. In order to get this magic and keep it, they have to plant an acorn in a certain spot once a year during a certain time of night.
• Artemis has almost no human feelings. At times we glimpse a love for his mother, but we can never be sure if that is genuine.
• Mr. Fowl is dead or has disappeared.
• Mrs. Fowl is insane and does not recognize her son most of the time. She lives in the attic and refuses to open the windows. SPOILER: this is resolved, but it's a rather pitiful and sad description nonetheless.
• Butler uses force all the time. This involves weapons and using his own hands.
• Fairies die.
• A fairy swears, but it's in the fairy language and all we know is that translated, it would be a swear word (the author doesn't translate it).
• Characters shoot at things and each other, things blow up, characters die.

My Thoughts
This was a fun read, but at times it was frustrating. I think it really depends on the mood of the reader. Sometimes I was enthralled by the narration and the story line. At other times, I became frustrated with the wordiness. I have read other books by Colfer, and I believe this is really due to his writing style.
Overall it was fun and creative and I never knew what was going to happen next. While I wouldn't reread it (currently don't have the time), I would recommend it to others.
The one thing lacking here was a true friendship. There were plenty of near-friendships, but nothing true. As a result of this, there was, of course, no romance (which is, written correctly, a form of friendship). This made the book feel empty. It felt exciting and thrilling--and didn't go anywhere. Friendship, that is, love, seems to be necessary in order to make anything feel worthwhile. Even Artemis's relationship with his mother was unclear as to whether it was because of a need for money, or because he actually cared for her.
While the thrills and crazy turns were great, the end was a bit of a let down thanks to that simple fact: it lacked what makes the world go 'round.

Book Review: A Handful of Dust

Title: A Handful of Dust
Author: Evelyn Waugh
Genre: Fiction
My Rating: *****
Official Rating: N/A
Age Group: 16+

Summary:
Welcome to English high society during the 1930s. John Beaver is a "professional luncheon-goer" (back of the book)--a lazy man with no job and friends who only call when their dates stand them up at the very last minute. When Beaver meets Brenda Last, things change dramatically. Brenda has been married to Tony for seven years and the two have an incredibly annoying son named John Andrew. But Brenda is bored, and Beaver is her way out.
Of course, everything falls apart.

Word of Warning:
This is a story of adultery--amid a world filled with it. We see very little, though Brenda does ask what Beaver's sex life is like, but it stops there. It's implied that things happen, but never shown.
The characters have no moral standards at all and live very empty lives. They are petty, negative, and self-centered. They are everything that happens when one encounters Christianity--and turns it down.
There is a death of a young character but even that is quick. Tony catches a terrible fever and is delirious (in one of the most skillfully written delirium scenes of all time). Native Americans are portrayed in a negative light, but digging deep and looking closely, we see that the Englishmen are portrayed in the same way.
Tony and Jock get drunk. Characters party, spend money, and for the most part don't work.
In order to get a divorce, Tony must get "evidence" that he has been unfaithful. This consists of taking a woman (and her daughter) to the seaside and then having breakfast in bed with her.

Word on the Author:
Waugh is a master at the art of writing fiction. He is a Catholic convert and in his writings we see just how despicable a world is without Christianity. We also see a very realistic portrayal of a society Waugh himself belonged to for some time.
He has been referred to as the second greatest author at satire. This means to enjoy the book, one has to pay attention just a tad more than usual. It's well worth it.

My Thoughts:
I loved this book very much. It's full of laughs, utterly horrible things, and a complete lack of morals (but in a negative light). The narration and the dialogue are near-perfection and the whole thing is just so wonderful words fail every time. Granted, the topic is for an older audience, but adultery is, for the most part, just that: a topic. We know that somewhere in the background things are happening, but we see no more than a kiss. Impressively handled.
I assure you I will be reading this over many times, and also reading more Waugh.
A bright light amid all the lack of morals is Tony Last. He is loyal and tries so hard to fix matters when he finally realizes they have gotten out of order. Unfortunately, it's simply too late. But we love him for trying.

Author Alcove: Ally Carter

Ally Carter is one of the few authors I read who is still alive, and one of the few teen fiction authors I read willingly. Compared to some of the more questionable children's books I've seen, many of her works could actually sit among children's fiction and not teen fiction.

Carter is amazing. She is inventive, convincing, and has a fun style. At times her style feels a bit detached, and as a reader who loves to see extensive character development, occasionally I was  disappointed. However, in her most recent additions to both her series(es?) she has proved that she can pull in some major character development and actually make the reader see and feel the pain.

In her Gallagher Girls series, she gives us a very interesting portrait of a private school which trains girls to be spies. The picture she describes sounds so realistic it's hard not to believe it. In her Heist Society series, she takes the opposite approach: that of professional thieves. They too are so convincing that sometimes I wonder if it's real or not.

Why, then, are her writings considered teen fiction? Generally this is because of some awkward scenes that show up now and then. Take the scene when character Z (a boy) sneaks into character C's bedroom in the middle of the night (C is a girl). The intent is innocent. He simply needs to warn her about something and had no way of contacting her. Still, the scene is set up so that it's extremely awkward. I do have to credit Carter with this much: the scenes which do put her writings in teen fiction are, for the most part, simply awkward and are clearly so, going no farther than awkwardness.

However, moving to the Heist Society books, things get a little more awkward than girl and boy characters running into each other in strange places. I take that back. That's pretty much the nature of the awkwardness in Heist Society as well, only these go a little further. Take the boy in his pajamas with no shirt on, or the awkward kiss that is thought about just a little too much, or the time when two characters end up spending an entire day in a closet while they are undercover. Did I mention that they were dating, are now going through a rough time, but both want to make up?

Aside from the awkwardness, we do have to take into account that the Heist Society characters are portrayed as the good guys even though they are only glorified thieves who have a tendency to come off as being "good" since they have decided to only steal from those who do not own what they have.
As for Gallagher Girls, we can't forget that these girls are trained as spies and agents. They also come into contact with a very dangerous group of people called the Circle of Seven and a school of boys who are trained to be assassins (luckily the one who does stick around is trying desperately to escape his past).

Let's put it this way: I hand the Gallagher Girls books to my sister of 13 without questioning it. She knows what's wrong in them and the wrong is never far enough that I'm worried. And while I'm willing to recommend Heist Society books to my friends, and my sister in the future, I have not yet handed them over to her.

Overall, Carter writes some relatively clean teen fiction. The worlds she draws up are impressive and totally believable. The adventures are fun and often have a light carefree feel about them, but she also knows how to write something a little deeper and more sensitive.
She's a fun read, and I eagerly await the next instalments to both her book series(es?).

Book Review: Mr. Blue

Title: Mr. Blue

Author: Myles Connolly

Genre: Fiction*

My Rating: ****

Age Group: 16+ just because it's hard to appreciate. Nothing bad in it though.

My Summary: Where to begin? Mr. Blue is, according to the back cover of the book, "a young man who decides to take Christianity seriously, not as a chore but as a challenge". He's crazy--but way more sane than anyone around him. He lives in a packing box on the top of a roof for the sheer enjoyment and thrill, painting the box and kites, which he flies from time to time. He also loves letting balloons fly off with musical scores written on them. And yet he's not the least bit immature and has a very well-developed mind. Who is this man who spends a huge inheritance so quickly and with so little regret? This man who appears here and there, leaving impressions on the people he meets and then disappearing?
He is Mr. Blue. And he's awesome.
The narrative is done in first person, and such a beautifully honest first person it is. The narrator admires Mr. Blue at the same time as thinking him insane, but he struggles with ever admitting his admiration to Mr. Blue himself. Don't we all struggle like that at times? He sees the beauty of what Mr. Blue has, does, and is, and yet he cannot help but see the negative side, often only negative from worldly perspectives.
Could Mr. Blue actually survive? I highly doubt it. But he's that person you meet once (or twice) in your lifetime who's a true breath of fresh air. He has such a different way of looking at life that you are taken aback by what he suggests, reacting on instinct and drawing away, yet also seeing the beauty in what he is and has.
Mr. Blue is balance. He is joy, not happiness. Joy. He is Catholic.

Word of Warning: one must have patience. One must not be in any hurry. One must savor every word. Only then can you enjoy the book. At least, that's what I found. It's a great book, but I found that I really had to choose to pay attention to it in order to actually get anything out of it. Once I did that, I was utterly amazed.

Note on the Author: Myles Connolly wrote screenplays, 40 in all, but Mr. Blue is his  most famous work. It has been suggested that he was influenced by G. K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy which was published just a few years before Mr. Blue. Indeed, many of the themes are similar, or so John B. Breslin, S. J. says in his introduction to my copy of Mr. Blue. I wonder if Chesterton ever read it.
I think he would've smiled.

*It was so well done, and so out there but still so possible, that it took me forever to figure this out. I actually had to go back and read the introduction to find out whether it was fiction or not. It is, right? Correct me if I'm wrong :)