The Word Exchange

I recently finished, after some long stressful days, The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon.

The stressful days weren’t caused by the book, I should add. So. This book. I alternately loved, hated, was exhilarated by, and was irritated by this book. I’ve noticed a lot of the reviews of this book have ranged from 1-5 stars, so it’s not just me. What I can say is that I think this book is challenging to read, but I also believe that is part of what makes it awesome. Because the story is about losing language, when characters start to sound like Jabberwocky (which YES is hard to read, on purpose, people), then it adds to the experience of the story. It is just like it would be if you were living in a world where electronics and a weird word flu had taken over.

So. The book is about the future when we are even more addicted to our electronic devices than we are now (shocking), and a virus seems to be attacking people’s abilities to speak and corporate moneygrubbers are out to control language and there are good people and bad people and people who don’t know what they are. At times, the story was difficult, especially when some of the characters who were troubled by both their wavering ethics AND the word flu were trying to tell their part of the story, but it was such a relief when Doug or Anana would report that it made up for most of that. I’ve said before, this is NOT an easy book to read. Then again, neither are many of the classics, and I don’t think we should only be giving good reviews to books that are easy on the eyes and don’t challenge us. This was definitely worth the read, although it took me a bit longer than normal…I did enjoy it in the end (there were, yes, moments when I did NOT enjoy it). So. Read it.

Saga Review

I recently read Saga Volumes 1 and 2 (Volume 3 just came out), loaned to me by the boychild, written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples. He had it lying around and I grabbed it because it isn’t often that you see a breastfeeding momma on the front cover of ANY book, let alone a graphic novel…

And one with wings, no less (the mom, not the novel). Anyway, Saga is described as a combo of Star Wars (with which the author is slightly obsessed) and Game of Thrones. I didn’t compare it to either while reading it, but love the crazy alien world and fighting for family interspersed with some seriously funny goofiness…

Marko really wants to uphold a nonviolent lifestyle, even when it comes to cutting the umbilical cord of his first child, especially now that he’s a daddio. This becomes increasingly difficult when you live in a universe that is being torn apart by war. Vaughan says he first envisioned the series in math class as a kid, and becoming a parent just solidified the story arcs.

After finishing Volume 1, I chased the boychild down for Volume 2…

And then demanded all future volumes. DAMMIT. There is only one and it just came out. Ah, a mother-son obsession I can get behind. This is a great story…it drives me crazy to have to wait for the collected volumes to come out, of course, but I will survive. We did have a discussion about how it was incredibly inappropriate (sexual innuendo, naked parts, etc.), and how it was good that he was a legal adult (ha!), so I didn’t have to worry about his poor addled brain dealing with all that. There is one monster-like creature with enormous testicles that is disturbing no matter what your age.

That said, Volume 3 will be here shortly (I hope). If he’s lucky, I’ll let him read it after I’m done.

Reviewing The People Inside

I recently read Ray Fawkes’ The People Inside, a graphic novel telling the stories of 24 different relationships at the same time…

Each relationship gets one box on a 2-page spread, and all 24 stories take place at the same time. They range from the perfect, happy couple who lives into old age to one dying in an accident, through straight and gay relationships, and normal versus kinda out there. I really liked this, enough that it was difficult to put it down when I had to leave. It was compelling…you wanted to know what would happen in each story, and the emotional range on each page was sometimes painful…from extreme happiness and joy to devastating loss or depression, from just one box to the next. When characters die, their box is black. There’s a definite sense of time passing, of relationships developing and falling apart. Fawkes style is simple and graphic, which supports the complexity of the stories he tells, piling up on each other, page by page.

I had not read his previous One Soul, which is a similar style of graphic novel. The page below is from One Soul.

Just to give you an idea of what his style looks like. I was unable to find any pages from this book online.

I definitely recommend this book, and it’s one that I will read again…which is a rare thing for me…but this one is definitely worth a second read-through.

The Frangipani Hotel

I recently read The Frangipani Hotel by Violet Kupersmith.

It’s a collection of short stories about Vietnam and its myths and legends. It’s obviously colored by the influence of the Vietnam War; many of the stories are ghost stories of fantastical creatures who have followed Vietnamese characters and haunt them in a variety of ways. Kupersmith’s grandmother’s folk tales are the basis for many of these stories.

This is Kupersmith’s first book, and it is very well-written. As always, though, with short stories, there are some that are amazing and some that are not as amazing; these lean towards almost all amazing, which is nice. I did think the collection was very good and hope to see a longer book out of her in the future. Her ability to turn the story around, to make you wonder what just happened, and her characters’ abilities to deal with the crazy and the scary were definitely worth a second read. Most of the characters lead fairly normal, boring lives until they mix with the supernatural. The connections to Vietnamese culture and the shadow of the Vietnam War are also intriguing. The book is due to release April 1.

The Truth about Alice

I recently read The Truth about Alice by Jennifer Mathieu…

The release date is June 3. Mathieu is an English teacher and this is her first novel. The Truth about Alice is YA fiction, a story about a girl who has more rumors flying around her than one of the Kardashians (OK, maybe not THAT bad). She apparently slept with two guys in one night, and then it’s her fault that one of the most popular guys on campus is dead. There’s a bathroom stall dedicated to making her look even worse, and through all this, Alice continues to come to school and attempt to function normally.

The story is told from a variety of perspectives: Alice herself, a former friend of hers, a couple of popular kids on campus, and the token geek boy. Each perspective lends some insight into what actually happened, but also into the minds of teenagers (always a scary place to be) and how they negotiate relationships, conflict, and their own inner issues.

Alice herself is not perfect, by far, but it’s a telling view into how rumors can affect someone. I did like the book and the writing; my only complaint is that the story is fairly obvious. There’s no real new insight…of course, I work with teenagers and am an adult who has apparently survived high school, and since this is geared towards the demographic of teenagers, it’s possible they may not realize what they’re doing and this might help them deal with issues at school or with other teens. So I would say it would be a good choice for teens. There is another version of the cover, but I like this one because of the reference to the bathroom stall wall.

Book Review: Above

A few weeks ago, I read Isla Morley’s new book Above, to be released March 4.

Above is a fictional account of a survivalist kidnapping that unexpectedly turns into a dystopian novel. In fact, it feels like two novels, with the kidnapping of 16-year-old Blythe and installing her in a nuclear bomb silo underground as the first part, as she comes to adjust to her existence…and then the second novel, when she escapes. I don’t want to say much more because of spoilers, but it was not what I expected…which was refreshing…and jarring…shades of “be careful what you wish for…”.

Anyway, the important part is the writing…was it well-written? Yes, I would recommend the book, because it was certainly a book that was difficult to put down, albeit a bit slow in reading and jumpy in years in the middle of the book, but I would add that the last part of the book seemed weak in comparison. I love the idea of the last part of the book, love that it was unexpected and strange and messed with your head, but I thought the actual writing of that section fell a little flat. It seemed rushed, flat, compared to the rest…and maybe that is the difference between focusing on a significantly inner life for years and then being out in the world in the second part…but it just seemed like it was cut short or it lacked the depth of the first section.

All in all, though, worth a read, just to consider the possibilities.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

I was invited to read and review Karen Foxlee’s Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy on NetGalley.

This book is aimed at middle-school kids, although I think elementary readers could also handle it, as long as they aren’t the types to have nightmares about scary things. This is the story of a young girl in a foreign city who discovers a boy locked up in a room in a very strange museum where her dad is working. Her mom has died recently, and one of the most interesting parts of the book is her hearing her mother’s voice encouraging her to be more adventurous and do the right thing, even when it’s scary and she will need her inhaler. There are some interesting characters throughout the book as well.

Honestly, at first, the book didn’t grab me. There wasn’t enough explanation of what was going on and there were too many references to other children’s books (can you say C.S. Lewis?) for me to enjoy it, but about a quarter of the way in, the story grabbed me anyway and I enjoyed the rest. It’s nice to have a strong young female character that faces her limitations and her fears and still manages to do the scary stuff. There were a lot of stereotypical characters in the book, but I have to remember it’s written for a younger audience. Many of my middle-school kids would like this book, but it would easily entertain 3rd-5th graders who were better readers as well.

Sheltered

I am a fan of apocalyptic fiction, although I have a really hard time spelling that word, so when Sheltered showed up on NetGalley’s pages, I grabbed it. I knew nothing about it when I started reading it (I didn’t even really read the blurb), which I think was a good thing, because this comic was a bit of a surprise…people gathering together to try to survive some giant event (in this case, volcanic eruptions are believed to be some predictor of future earth-damaging issues). Safe Haven is a place where they have gathered to increase their chances of survival.

The story itself is good, although not amazing…it kept my attention and surprised me a bit…I wasn’t expecting it to go the way it did, but it raises the question of how we would expect kids to think if we raised them in an over-planned pre-apocalyptic world…

The art is standard fare, although there are some very good full-page splashes (I had to go look up that term, which is ironic, considering I used to work in publishing…the brain deletes what it no longer needs). This is Volume 1, which collects issues 1-5, so you know what that means…Ed Brisson and Johnnie Christmas will be back with more story (I’m kind of curious about where they will be able to go with that…), in fact, issue 6 is already out. If you’re wondering what the Preppers do before the disaster actually hits, and how all that paranoia might affect this kids, then this comic will help you worry even more about that scenario.

Phoenix Island Review

I recently finished Phoenix Island by John Dixon.

This book started very dramatically and held my attention for about the first half. It’s the story of a 16-year-old kid, Carl Freeman, sent to to a disciplinary camp on Phoenix Island in the middle of nowhere. It’s a military-type camp and there is the typical hazing and bullying that goes on in these stories. Then the story changes when the boy makes a discovery about what goes on after the first month. As he grapples with his sense of ethics and Dixon introduces a new leader and set of information about the purpose of the island, the story seems to lose a little of its power and storytelling strength, unfortunately. The book ends typically, and I had a hard time imagining where it would go from there (sequel setup?).

I enjoyed most of the book; it is YA, and holds together well for that audience. It is due to release January 7, 2014, which is also apparently when the CBS TV show based on it, Intelligence, will air. I am interested enough in the premise to watch the show. This was a NetGalley book.

4 to 16 Characters

It’s taken me a while to get around to writing this review, but mostly that’s a time issue…it’s not because of the content. 4 to 16 Characters, by Kelly Hourihan, is not for the weak at heart when it comes to the internet and other electronic communication. It is composed of a lot of emails, texts, and online communication, which can make it difficult to read if you care about that (probably the target teen audience does not, and neither did I…it felt more real because of that). The story is about a teen girl who has retreated from the real world into the online one. She has many different personas that eventually become impossible to juggle, and she ends up having to deal with the real world, much as we all do.

The core story was good and kept my attention; it’s only fault was that hey, teens can be irritating sometimes, and she’s a teen. And the writing could be a difficult adjustment for those who don’t live on the Internet; most teens would have no issues with either of those things.

I reviewed this from an ARC via NetGalley; no money etc. changed hands. The book is due to release in early November.