Almost there! August-Literacy 8

August was a light reading month for the Literacy challenge. I was house sitting a majority of that month, and out of town for a large portion of the time I was not house sitting.  This means that I was not often reading, and when I was, I was reading what was at hand.

I got three read in August (but one I had to leave at the house I was sitting, so it did not get to join the photo op).

 

We will start with the book that you do not see.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This is one of those books that I have heard about for a long time, have intended to read, but never managed to get in my hands. I had always figured that because I have siblings 7 and 9 years younger than myself, I would just be able to snag it whenever they brought it home, but either they did not bring it home, or I was away at college at the time(dang, I never considered what a problem college would be).  Diary of a Wimpy kid is a very easy book to read, as it is a graphic novel. It is somewhat entertaining, watching the character deal with the mishaps of life as they happen to a middle schooler.  It is honest, in that sometimes the main character can be a little bit of a jerk, as we all can be, but rarely admit it to our journals. With all of that said, it is a book written specifically for children.  It did not give me the desire to read the next book.  There are some children's books that are written to be read by everybody, books that can snag anyone's interest.  This book is written just for children.  Good for Jeff Kinney, convincing boys to read more, making them look smarter with a book in their hand. Maybe it will encourage boys to branch out to more challenging material, but knowing my brothers, probably not.  If you have an 8-12 year old who needs something to read, this might be a good one for them(though I think that The Magic Tree House series probably has more literacy value to it).  For the adults out there, it's probably not worth your time, though I did not begrudge it my own time.  I enjoyed it for the silly, brainlessness I needed at the time.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

This book is a vacuum book. When you pick it up, it sucks you in.  You can't stop reading it, even if you want to.  It also has some disturbing scenes in it.  In the beginning, a 9th grader gets raped and murdered, and that scene is written in suggestive detail.  The remainder of the book is spent with the dead 9th grader, watching the world's response to losing her and trying to break the barrier between the two worlds to get her murderer caught.  The book is very interesting, and I might have liked it very much, if the author had not chosen to include the main character in a wild hare of a scene near the end of the book that swung the book into the category of "trying too hard to be teenage smut."  That's right, it threw sex into the story where there was no justification, and where honestly, it would probably be considered a stupid move by anyone but a teenager who has been told by countless books and movies how romantic sex is, and that no love story is complete without it.  That part was just plain weird.  That ploy, really, it ruined the book for me. It went from a "halfway decent book that would be a good read to suggest to people" book to a "don't bother" book for me. Had that one chapter had been completely removed from the book, it would still be a great book. It is not even just because there was sex, but the pure stupidity of that scene, which I can't even explain properly to you without spoiling the book for those of you who still intend to read it.  In conclusion, unfortunately, this book gets no reading suggestion from me, though I am glad I finally read it. In the end, it just was not a great book. It was shallow. I would like to add a little warning for certain parents of teenagers and teenagers: This book really has a lot of sex in it, not just the one scene that ruined the book.  It has a lot of disturbing elements, and a lot of scenes using "bad days" as legitimate excuses for really bad decisions, and it has a tendency to normalize casual sex.  Be careful about trusting books for your teenagers just because they come from the "Young Adult" section of the library. There are many untrustworthy books in that section hiding under the guise of literature.


The American Girl Kaya Series by Janet Beeler Shaw

In all technicality, yes, there are six books, and I would have counted them as such when I was 7-12, but as a 25 year old, it just seems wrong.  I would like to toss in an interesting fact about this series before we get into details: This series was written by the same author who wrote the Kirsten series. That may explain why I appreciated Kaya as much as I did. This series is about a Nez Perce girl during the decade before the declaration of independence was signed, which is also before her specific tribe has any visual contact with Europeans, though there are stories and rumors about the white skinned people, and her grandmother, as a girl, survived a small pox epidemic that raced through the different tribes at the first sound of the Europeans arrival. I really enjoyed this story, and I know that had this series been written when I was still in their target ages, it probably would have been one of my favorite American Girl collections, rivaling with Felicity of course.  Really that is an obvious choice, both girls have horses.  Felicity was a redhead, so of course there was an immediate bond there.  Kaya is Native American.  There are two things I have always known for sure about my heritage: Irish and Native American.  Sure, Kaya is Nez Perce, and my heritage claims Chickasaw and Cherokee, but I am pretty sure I would not have held that against Kaya when I was younger.  I like to keep up on the American girls(at least the historic ones), even though I have long outgrown them.  I have gotten behind on a few series, but Kaya is one I have been wanting to read for a long time and this is why: When I was in their target age range, I remember my constant question was, "Why don't they have a Native American girl?"  It seemed wrong to me to have a genre called "American Girl" and not have a collection about one of the first American girls.  Now, on to the series. I really appreciated these books. The stories were catching enough to make me want to pick up the next book.  True to American Girl, the stories were mainly about Kaya learning to be responsible, caring and patient.  Unlike many of the other American Girl characters, Nez Perce girls were expected to take on many family responsibilities at Kaya's age. I like that, while each book has its own climax and conclusion, there is also a larger story running through the series, with its climax and conclusion in the sixth book.  In book one, pardon me for ruining part of it, Kaya does something irresponsible that earns every child in the village a switching, and Kaya winds up with the disgraceful nickname "Magpie." Through the entire series, you see her trying to outgrow both the incident and the nickname, and eventually she learns to appreciate the lessons she learns through the torment of her nickname. In the second book, Kaya and her blind sister and Kaya's horse get kidnapped by a raiding party from another tribe.  Kaya manages to get away in following books, but the escape could not accommodate her sister's blindness, and they agree it is best so that Kaya can get help. Through the series, there is the constant task of trying to find her sister again.  I really enjoyed the educations tidbits that were slipped into the story, as well as the "Peek into the past" history segment found in the back of every American Girl book.  In conclusion of my opinion of this series, I believe it is the only thing I read that month that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I would recommend it to any adult brave enough to read a children's book, and all little girls who can be convinced to read it.  Yes, I do suggest these books.

And the conclusion of this Literacy blog means that for now, I am finally caught up in my literacy blogs!  Small happy dance moment inserted :::here:::

Thanks for reading.

July-Literacy Challenge 7

Time to catch up again!

These are the books I finished in July.  This time, all 3 books were new to me.  I don't begrudge this self imposed literacy challenge, but sometimes, much like homework, it is difficult to get around to writing the report.  Here we go!

Madness by Jossy Chako

This book is written by a missionary to India. He also is Indian. I came by his book because I had an amazing opportunity to hear him speak at a missions conference. It was an amazing presentation. In the book he tells about how he moved away to Australia as a young man, and ended up marrying an Australian. She persuaded him totake her to India for their honeymoon.  Jossy grew up in an area that was mainly Christian, and he was well provided for. The India he saw on his honeymoon was completely different, and though he never saw himself being the "missionary type" he realized his heart was aching for the people in his country.  Jossy also realized that there were many Indian pastors already reaching out to India on their own, with no training or support, and he saw his opportunity.  This story tells about his childhood, as well about what it took for him to start an organization. What impacted me the most in this book is the amount of faith of the different people in his life. Their faith and fervor for the Lord can easily put me to shame.  Also, I was struck by the oppressing darkness so many people live in.  They live in a world where demons possession is an obvious problem. That is a scary thought to me, to see the devil so blatantly at work, but then maybe I see the devil blatantly at work often, and explain it away so I can comfortably ignore him. The thing about having such an oppressing darkness, having the devil running so rampant is that these missionaries see amazing works of God. It takes a lot of faith to stand up in the midst of such intimidating darkness, and God meets them where and how they need Him.  It was an interesting book. I would not say that it is a must read. It is informative for anyone who wants to know about missionaries, and about India, as well as about starting a non-profit organization.  I definitely would not stop anyone from reading it.  It is not the best book I have ever read, but I also really appreciated it, and I don't think it was meant to be a best seller.  An added perk, is that it is a thin book, so it does not require a lot of commitment to finish it.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

This is a typical English literature novel. Depending on my mood, I like those.  It was sometimes hard for me to get through, but in the end I did.  I go back an forth on whether I liked it.  It is about a young woman who marries an older widower.  When she moves onto his estate, she struggles in living under her husband's late wife's (Rebecca) shadow, and there is something strange going on with the staff and the mansion. Many times the main character feels as though she is being haunted, and there just seems to be a sinister, unwelcome spirit about the place, and especially the house manger.  Much of the book is about watching this young woman transition from a silly school girl with a silly inferiority complex very gradually become assertive, desperate woman.  I found it frustrating to sit inside the main character's head, when I just wanted to give her a good shake, tell her to be a big girl and start handling her problems, as they obviously weren't going away.  Part of this frustration, however is what kept me reading.  It's a little on the mystery side, as it slowly reveals hints about the darkness of the estate.  When it ended, and even still, I range between "That was a stupid book" and "I really liked thinking through that book."   You should know that, when it comes to English literature, I dislike it more often than I like it. The fact that it intrigued me at all is a compliment. My roommate enjoys this book thoroughly.  So, if you are the sort who thoroughly enjoys Victorian era English literature, with all of its rambling details, then by all means, you will enjoy it.  If not, then I probably would not recommend this book to you.

Loser by Jerry Spinelli.

This book was written at about a 5th-7th grade level. It is about the child who was doomed from the start to never fit in: uncoordinated, weird name, off-kilter interests, a strange tic, with passion for weird sounding words and a desire to shout them.  He is earnest and goodhearted, but somehow always manages to be misunderstood by even the adults in his life. He never seems to figure it out.  As I read the book, I truly enjoyed each scene and chapter as a well written narrative. It starts with "the loser" at the beginning of kindergarten, before he or any of the other children realize he is a loser, but really, it was only a matter of time.  As he and the children grow up, they slowly start to realize what he is: an outcast. Most of the time, our main character is so oblivious, he doesn't even notice that it should bother him to be an outcast.  The book is almost like peeking into the daily lives of children from kindergarten through seventh grade. The anecdotes are quite enjoyable.  The plot, on the other hand, I have turmoil over. The upfront plot is abnormal. It is linear, with little climax and no story arch. It it's like climbing a mountain half way, and stopping. At the end of all the anecdotes, you feel like you have learned nothing.  This book is tricky, though. It feels as though it has two plots, the story telling one, with all the anecdotes that don't add up to much, and the underlying plot that sneakily interweaves a slow paradigm shift in both "The Loser" and the kids who make up his community, caused by the sheer unyielding, unphased weirdness of the main character, and the fact that he, though weird, friendless, and an outcast, never understands that he should dislike who he is and his social position within the class.  Because of the sneaky, second plot line, I will have to conclude that, yes, I liked  The Loser.

And those, my friends, are the three books that filled July.  Coming soon, the books of August!

Somebody's running REALLY late...(Literacy, 5 )

For those of you who have been paying attention, you may have noticed that I have failed to write up my Literacy Challenge book reports for May and June, and that the end of July is rushing up.  I read the minimum required books (Just barely...squeaking by!), I just did not have the time to write about them.  Because I am running so late, this blog probably will never get any photos, sorry.

So here it goes.

May: Literacy Challenge- Update 5

I am ashamed to admit that one of the two books I am claiming for this month is Amelia Bedelia (by Peggy Parish) ... not that I am ashamed to read from that series, because they were some of my favorites when I was learning to read, and my most recent reading of them probably had me giggling more than when I read them at the age appropriate level. I am simply ashamed to admit, that I didn't end up reading more in May when it comes to the page tally. In my defense, however, it was a 3 book set.  The set included the first book, Amelia Bedelia, the second book, Come Back, Amelia Bedelia, and also Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia!   I actually had not realized until I ready it in May that I hadn't read Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia.  Amelia Bedelia is a maid. She is a very earnest worker, unfortunately, she is a very literal person.  Being a very literal person, she has a tendency to be considered a problem.  She is told to dust the furniture, so she spreads dusting powder all over the furniture, all the while saying, "This is very strange, at my home, we un-dust the furniture." but she does what she is told, and does it well.  There is a whole list of things she does, exactly as she is told, which in the end means that her employers are very frustrated with her, and nearly fire her every time, unfortunately for them, Amelia Bedelia has mad baking skills, and just as they are about to fire her, her employed happen to sink their teeth into the pie she made, and they decide to keep her, and adjust to telling Amelia Bedelia to "un-dust the furniture."  I enjoyed it thoroughly as a kid  for all the mix-ups I understood then. The play on words in these books is delightful. As an adult, I truly appreciated how sometimes, we very eagerly try to do a good job, try so hard to impress, and in the end get it all wrong.    I know the feeling all too well. I have been told I can make a mean pie crust... maybe I should attempt putting my own baking skills to "safety-net" uses. The best way to handle such utter failure is with a hint of humor, when all is said and done, and I appreciate Amelia Bedelia for both her workmanship and the sheer, rueful comedy of failure.

The second book of May was I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced  by Nujood Ali, Delphine Menoui, translated by Linda Coverdale.  This book has been looking at me for months, or, I should say, Nujood has been looking at me for months, as the cover of the book is a head shot of the little girl who relates the story.  Nujood Ali, as the title hints, was forced into marriage some time near the age of 10.  I found this book to be haunting, simply because of the tone in which the story was told.  It has a childish, simple, innocent feel to it, because the story is told like a 10 year old girl.  She was not a child raised to be a small adult, trained in the ways of womanhood before being turned over to a husband (not that such a situation is more justified). She was a child skipping happily through childhood in the most flippant way that any ten year old does when she was suddenly handed a head covering, and sent to live with her husband's family, far away from any of her own family.  She had never been warned about the details of adulthood.  The tone reflects this.  It is haunting read about the things she lived through when Nujood relates them in the simplistic, immature, bluntly honest way any of our own protected 10 year old girls might use when talking about the events of school yesterday.  The only difference is underlying, matter of fact numbness that threads through words she strings together. Nujood makes some very courageous choices, and did something that no child bride had managed to do up to that point. It was well worth the read.  The story, though disturbing, is discreet, never overusing details simply to shock a reader.  It is short, and well formed, and somewhat heartbreaking.  Would I suggest it to a friend? Yes, but probably with the warning that while the reading is not at all strenuous, the material is no light read.  The truly heartbreaking thing about this story is that it is not unique, it is just one of the very few to actually be printed.

And that sums up the books that I read in May.

Thanks for reading. Check back soon, if you are interested in the June update!

Oh, for the love of children's lit! (Literacy 4.5)

To finish the literacy update, I chose to keep the easy ones for the end

I talked to my cousin recently, and she was telling me that her daughter, who is  about to turn seven, has experienced a serious spurt in book love.  She has surpassed her reading level, and my cousin was discussing the need for more advanced, still appropriate books. As I thought about it, I realized, there are so many excellent books in the childrens section!  Fortunately for me, this young reader's birthday is coming up, which is a perfect excuse to buy her the delights of my childhood.  I bought them, and then... they sat there, just staring at me, asking me, "Are you really going to send us away without a read?"  And of course, I couldn't say no!  I hope the my first cousin once removed doesn't mind that I took a run through her books, but it seemed a shame to send her books that I could only vaguely remember the plot of.

The first was actually a new book to me: Good Job, Kanani by Lisa Yee. It is an American Girl book about a modern day girl living in Hawaii (Actually, this series is part of the American Girl Today section).  It is the second book in the series, which I got because, my little cousin has already devoured the 1st one, and I remember how longingly I waited for the next book in each American Girl series I read.  Apparently, in the first book, Kanani's cousin from New York came to visit, and while she was there they rescued a Hawaiian seal, which is an endangered species. In Good Job, Kanani Kanani has decided to raise money to protect the seals, and raise awareness, by running her Dad's snow cone cart with her best friend, Celina.  Celina has her heart set on learning to surf with Kanani this summer. Kanani is not very good, and quite honestly, surfing scares her.  Then a new girl, Jo, who is  good at surfing enters the picture, and begins surfing with Celina. The strains cause the girls to pull apart, but neither friend is willing to discuss it, and so the chasm grows.  I enjoyed the story, and it held the same feel that the American Girl books did that I grew up on. At first, I was disappointed that it was not a historic story, as I didn't feel there would be much education available in a modern day story aside from "be nice to your friends" but the book held a lot of information about the Hawaiian culture, which impressed me. Of course, everything ends happily and leaves the reader with the insatiable "I can do anything" sort of optimism, both of which hold true to the American Girl genre I know. While it isn't a book I suggest adults rush out and buy or else miss out on something amazing, it also isn't a book I would say "Don't do it" about.  It was good, it held my interest, and it was quick. If the adult had a young friend looking for reading material, it would provide an opportunity for the young friend to feel like they had a common topic of interest to discuss with the adult.  My Granny used to read books at my reading level, especially my American Girl books, and having those books available to discuss as equals and sharing "inside" jokes from the stories were real bond builders for us. (Think this review is rivaling the length of the book!)

The second book is one of my childhood favorites: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald.  I could make the longest review on this book, simply because of the love I have held for it, and its following series since early childhood.  Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lives in an upside down house, and has a hump on her back which children think holds all of her magic, she lets children dig for buried treasure in her backyard, and little girls brush and braid her long hair for as long as they want, and wears the hairstyle all day, afterward.  Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle loves children as real, legitimate people, rather than just second class people who might grow up into legitimate people, and she sees the good in even the worst of children, because according to her, bad behaviors are either just a disease or a bad habit, both of which can be cured.  Her methods for curing these behaviors are clever, and always shocking to parents, but they always work.  Each book, including the first one, is a series of 4-5 stories about different kids and their behaviors, and each story has interlinking details from another story. For example, Violet, in the story about Henry and his behavioral problem, is very well behaved, but we all know that two stories ago, she had a horrible temper tantrum disease, and in another story, we will see that Henry is quite well behaved while Dick suffers the never-sharing habit.  It allows for the underlying thought that while everyone can succumb to bad behavior, it doesn't mean they are bad to the core.  Truly, in each story, there really is no actual bad guy, just another kid who needs a lesson. I read portions of it out loud to my Mom, and two teenage siblings, and it had all of us, at one point or another, in giggles. It is just plain good stuff.  If you haven't read it, or haven't read it in a while, pick it up!

And third: Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary.  I had so much fun reading this book. When I read it as a child, I remember siding with Beezuz, because Ramona was such a problem while her sister was trying so hard. To be honest, I still mostly sided with Beezus. The difference is, this time, the trouble Ramona caused was so funny!  When I was younger, the trouble Ramona caused was not cute or funny, but serious business, because as an older sister, I knew for a fact that the older sister would be getting in trouble for the younger sister's trouble.  This read, I couldn't believe how cute and funny it was. I was torn, rooting for both Beezuz and Ramona. The only thing that I am sad about is that I didn't buy the whole Beverly Cleary series for my young cousin, because now, I would really like to read the rest of them!  Again, if you haven't read this book yet, rush to the store and start it while you wait in line to pay for it! If you read it a long time ago, read it again, it's good for the soul!

And that my blogfriends, is my conclusion of story corner, and the end of April's Literacy report. Now, I really need to get going on May's reading, or there will be very little to report then!