e2

e Squared Matt Beaumont

I loved loved loved Beaumont's e and The E Before Christmas* so I was super excited to see this title!

The first two were told all in email, but as technology has changed over the years, the book did to! We still have email, but also IM, internet news articles, ebay listings, texts, photo attachements, blog posts and comments,etc.

Beaumont is truly a master of the e-format. Many authors who write email novels are writing standard epistolary novels, but with a to and from field. Beaumont understands that not only are emails different than letters (shorter, for one) but also really gets the form-- you have to really pay attention to the date stamps, because they matter. Also, lots of misunderstandings involving accidentally cc'ing someone, not understanding spam, and those annoying people who send crap company wide or don't know the difference between "reply" and "reply-all."

The favorite characters from e are still there and there are many new ones as they've moved on to a new agency that's one of those super-dysfunctional too-cool-for-work hipster places. Relationships are on the rocks and the products they're supposed to create campaigns for are unbelievable.

I super love the text messages between the kids and their parents, especially how the kids then go turn around and have a completely different text conversation with their friends. It's so true.

British comedies that capture voices and technology perfectly? YES. It's super-smart, snort beer out your nose laugh-out-loud hilarious, and expertly crafted. This is a series you must read.



*Interestingly, this was originally only issued in e-book, back in 2004, before e-readers. Dan and I bought it, printed it out, and took it to Kinko's to have it bound. My how things have changed! I thought about getting e2 on Kindle, but the reviews all said that the email formatting was off so it was hard to read to/from fields and date stamps. So I bought it in paper. Heh.


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A Midsummer Tights Dream

A Midsummer Tights Dream Louise Rennison

After the summer holidays, Tallulah is back at Dother Hall in the Yorkshire Wilds, hoping to become good enough to earn the golden slippers of applause. Of course, Dr. Lightowler still hates her. And Charlie still has a girlfriend. And Alex is off at uni. And Cain licked a snowflake off her nose. But Ruby has the owlets and the mad twins are as mad as ever. Tallulah's friends continue to be a laugh riot, as do her teachers.

Big problems-- Dother Hall has a tax issue and might shut down (and, of course, continues to fall down around everyone's ears.) Also, the local girls are NOT HAPPY with the Dother Hall girls stealing their men.

I still cannot get over the fact that Rennison named her broody, dark Yorkshire men Cain, Ruben, and Seth. And then when Beverly's mum starts hunting Cain across the moors? DYING OF LAUGHTER.

I love Tallulah's outlook on life. I love down-to-earth Ruby and Mr. Barraclough's pie tribute band. I love all the broad Yorkshire dialect that's a bit more fun that what you read in The Secret Garden.

But seriously, I just live for the drama of the town, especially between the Eccles lasses and the Hinchcliff lads. Oh yes.

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Jinx

Jinx Grave Cavendish

Huzzah for Lady Grace.

In this most excellent historical mystery, Grace and the other ladies are off to St. Bartholomew’s fair. While there, a tent burns down, killing a gypsy woman and severely burning Lady Sarah. Unfortunately, the apothecary that the Queen has brought in to treat Lady Sarah is a fraud. Grace knows this, but has to prove it.

An excellent look at health care, race relations, superstitions and omens at Court. Plus, a wonderful mystery story. I especially loved the humor of the Spanish delegation visiting court-- Grace’s complaints about the women and the Queen’s reactions to the men were great.

Love this series so much. I’m sad that the last few were never published in the States and even in England, it looks like publication stopped with Loot. :(

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Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?

Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? Louise Rennison

This is the last Georgia Nicolson book! The very last one!

The band is making it big and going off to London to be proper rock stars. Masimo wants Georgia to move with them! Yes, she's only 15, but he's a Luuuuuuuuuuuuurve God. But first she must survive another Shakespearean extravaganza.

Their production of Romeo and Juliet is hysterical. Although this is the LAST AND FINAL book in the series, it doesn't read like one. YES I like how it ended but... this is Georgia, Rennison could totally write another book starting the next day where Georgia pantses is all up. Which has happened on many, many occasions. To the point where I almost don't *trust* this ending. But I guess I must because (a) I like it (b) there will be no more fabnosity.

Oh Georgia, even though you'd have so much less drama in your life if you just chilled out a bit, I will miss you dreadfully. I love you and the mad gang dearly. I love your crazy family and your demented cat and your array of boys in the cakeshop of life. You have changed my vocabulary forever. You have made me snort all manner of liquids out my nose. You made many, many people stare at me oddly as I laughed loudly at this book flying back from London.

Speaking of, even though I had the US edition pre-ordered and everything, a few weeks before it came out I was walking through Heathrow and saw a giant display of this book and couldn't help myself. It not only entertained me wonderfully on the flight home, but I'm happy to say that the British edition still has the glossary in back. HUZZAH!

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The Illustrated Mum

The Illustrated Mum Jacqueline Wilson

Have you ever read anything by Wilson? She's huge in her native England and has a steady following here. I've listened to a few of her books on audio and this is the first I've actually read. But, with everything by her I'm familiar with, I'm always stunned by her ability to really get at dark, hard topics but in stories that are appropriate for kids and not totally depressing.

Dolphin thinks her mum, Marigold, is the best. She has witchy green eyes and tattoos all over her body. Dolphin's sister, Star, used to like Marigold, too. But lately Star's been growing up and thinking that Marigold needs to grow up too. She needs to get a job, stop drinking, and just be normal. When Star's father shows up, she takes the chance to move in with him, leaving Dolphin with Marigold.

Star's always taken care of Dolphin and Marigold and when Marigold's behavior gets really bad, Dolphin quickly realizes she's in over her head.

As an adult, my heart broke for Dolphin. Marigold is very unstable and can't provide for her children-- Star takes her to get the welfare check because Marigold would just go out and spend all the money, while Star uses it to buy food. But all the other adults in Dolphin's life have failed her. They look down at her because she's from a bad family and wears weird clothes and needs a bath. They never reach out and try to help, they just judge her and make everything worse.

At the same time, this is a hopeful story, with great friendships and learning to accept change and loving someone no matter how they fail you.

My only complaint was that the end was a bit abrupt-- not that it suddenly got super tidy (it's deliciously ambiguous for adults, probably not for younger readers.) But rather it ended and my first thought was "is this copy missing pages?"

Still, it won a ton of awards in England (including the Children's Book of the Year Award and the Guardian Award for Children's Fiction) and overall it was really excellent.

I will be seeking out much more of Wilson's work.

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Boom

Boom! Mark Haddon

The story itself is easy to explain-- Jim and Charlie are best friends who discover that there is something very, very, very weird about two of their teachers. Upon this discovery, Charlie gets kidnapped by the bad guys who are in league with their teachers. Jim and his sister chase Charlie across England and Scotland to get him back. Only, it doesn't end there... Let's just say there's a reason there's a rocket ship on the cover.

But, it's more than that. There are a lot of complicated family dynamics being played out. Jim's dad has been unemployed for a long time and is struggling with feelings of inadequecy and it's putting a strain on the marriage. Jim's sister Becky has a horrible boyfriend and wears a lot of of make-up and is all around not nice.

But, back to the bad guys. None of the adults believe what's going on (because, let's face it, if your kid told you that your teacher was wearing some weird wrist band and is totally freaky, and the police are totally in on it, you'd say "no more excuses, go do your homework" too, right?)

What makes this book so good though, is that it's gripping and suspenseful (once Charlie gets kidnapped) but it's also really funny. It's a very, very hard combination to do right (especially because this is laugh-out-loud funny, not dark comedy funny) but Haddon nails it.

It's also very, very British. I give David Fickling Books (part of Random House) credit for not translating this one-- it really retains its flavor and kids will get it, even if they aren't familiar with terms such as washing-up liquid, half five, or everything going a bit pear-shaped.

Interestingly, this is actually a rewrite of a book Haddon first published in 1992 (way before his big hit of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which is also why I'm not lumping him in the adult-authors-who-think-they-can-do-children's). It quickly went out of print but it had a following, so his publishers asked him to revise it for a new edition. Eventually he did, and ended up not revising so much as rewriting the whole thing. I'm glad he did though, because it's very fun.

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Thank You, Jeeves

Thank You, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse

Easy-going Bertie Wooster is in a bit of a bind. The neighbors keep complaining about his banjolele playing, so he's being evicted. Instead of giving up the banjolele, he will remove to a country cottage where he can play to his heart's content without bothering anyone. Jeeves would rather resign than live in a country cottage with the banjolele. And he does.

Bertie's off to the country, living in a cottage owned by his good friend the Fifth Baron Chuffnell (aka Chuffy) who, conveniently, now employs Jeeves. Rounding our our comedy are Pauline Stoker (Bertie's ex-fiance) her father (who hates our dear Bertie) and Sir Roderick Glossop (who also hates Bertie and is the reason Mr. Stoker hates Bertie and made Pauline call off the engagement.)

At stake is the fact that Pauline and Chuffy are rather in love, but there's a money issue. Bertie tries to shove them in the right directions, but always gets caught by Mr. Stoker, which only fuels Stoker's feelings that Pauline is still in love with Chuffy.

Hijinks and hilarity ensue.

I've never read any Wodehouse before, and I absolutely loved it and have a great desire to read the rest of his work, at least when it comes to Jeeves and Wooster. It was just pure silliness.

I will, however say, that this book is a product of its place and time (England, 1934). One of the plot points revolves around the fact that there is also a team of Minstrels in the same part of the country. Jeeves refers to them as "Negro Minstrels" while most of the other characters use a different N word. There is also a great deal of people running around in black face. We never actually meet the Minstrels, so we're at least spared that. It is what it is. I did still enjoy the book, but wanted to let you know that it was there and not nice.

I will definitely be on the look out for other Wodehouse.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Lockdown

Lockdown: Escape from Furnace 1 Alexander Gordon Smith

14-year-old Alex was just a petty thief until the day the men in black suits showed up at a house he was robbing, shot his best friend, and framed him with the murder. Sentenced to life with parole, Alex is sent the The Furnace, Britain's prison for the worst juvenile offenders. The Furnace is underground and run by the black suits. They have skinless dogs that eat kids. At night, the Wheezers come. The wheezers have gas masks for faces and take kids away in the night, never to be seen again. At 18, you're transferred out of the Furnace, but no one ever lives that long. Alex needs out. No one's ever escaped before, but Alex is going to try. He'll die if he's caught, but he'll die if he stays.

I really liked the concept of the Furnace, built after "The Summer of Slaughter" when youth gangs got out of control. I wanted to learn more about the world that would create Furnace rather than life within Furnace itself. I was also really frustrated because the book builds and builds to the cliff-hanger ending for the second book. And, it gets really exciting close enough to the end that you know you won't get anything until the sequel comes out next year. (Or you could order the next two books now, from England.)

With lots of gross creatures to keep the kid prisoners in line and the action-filled adventure plot, there's enough here to make this a *great* book for reluctant readers, but it just didn't do it for me. I enjoyed reading it, but have no desire to read the rest of the series. (ok, I did read the plot summaries of the next books).

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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John Le Carre

There's been a shake-up at the Circus (which is what British intelligence calls itself.) Control is out (and dead). Percy's in charge and swept out a lot of Control's men, including George Smiley.

Smiley's wife has left him for good and he's wondering what to do with his life when he gets sucked back in. There's a mole at the Circus, and they want Smiley to find him, but no one at Circus can know what he's up to.

Smiley doesn't look like much of spy, but he's one of the best, and he's about to blow the Circus wide open.

You know what I loved most about this? That it wasn't all international danger and action. While it did look back at past operations by different characters, all the present action mostly consisted of Smiley sitting in a hotel room, reading stolen files, trying to piece together a story.

And you may not think that makes a very thrilling novel, but it does. The reader gets bits of files, bits of Smiley's memories as they're triggered, and tries to put it together, to get the story of Control's downfall and Percy's ascent, and to figure out who's been passing information to the Soviets...

The tension builds slowly, and different mysteries pile on top of each other, we try to tease out the answers, to see if they're related or not. There's a reason this is considered a masterpiece of the genre!

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Cold Comfort Farm

Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons

In 1930s England, Miss Flora Poste is orphaned and without means, so she moves in with her rural cousins. They are crazy and backwards, just as Flora figured they must be, but with a firm hand and some common sense, she sets everything to rights.

This is a loving spoof of a British agrarian novels (think Hardy). And while I didn't find it as hysterical as those who love it do, I did find it amusing. The characters in and of themselves are fairly funny, but my favorite part was the cows, who are always losing body parts, much to the chagrin of their keeper.

Definitely not a book for everyone, as it does go a bit over the top in parts, and does assume a knowledge of the books it's sending up, but I found it rather enjoyable.

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Stop Hating on the North!

The Ballet Family Again Jean Estoril

Not much time has passed between the end of The Ballet Family and its sequel. There is certainly lots of ballet and Joan's attempts to fit in with the Garland family, but most of the focus is on Anne and her changing relationship with Lisa, who stopped attending the Thorburg School and started attending the same school as Joan and Peigi. Joan and Peigi naturally take Lisa under their wing, which convinces Anne that she's lost her dearest friend forever. There's also a fun subplot involving Edward and his girlfriend, who seems to only be attracted to him because of his family's fame. Delphine, as always and even more so, continues to be a piece of work and constantly creates a nuisance of herself.

A few things irked me-- Joan's life is pretty well settled in this book, and the narrator seems to place the success of this on Joan changing and that the initial friction was because there was something deficient in Joan (and how could there not be, growing up in the North of England! She really was raised under a rock!) Grrrr. I really feel that fault actually lies with the Garlands. They were not all that nice or understanding to Joan.

Also, there is the continuing saga of Pelagia and Timothy. Pel's very set that she doesn't want to get married and instead concentrate on her career (which makes sense. She's 18!) but everyone else (including her parents) seem to think such feelings are very silly and encourage her to marry the boy already. Uhhhhh... The book's a bit old fashioned, but 1964? Should she really be pressured into marrying so young?

And, of course, my resentment at how awfully the North is portrayed. I asked the British History expert that lives in my house if the North really was so bad in the mid '60s. He says (and this is largely based on the stories the old men used to tell at the pub) that the canals were nasty and that everything was much dirtier and grimier, but that was the only difference. Sadly, this London snobbery about the North is still true today. Stupid London.

But, I do like the role of food. Estoril often proclaims how hungry ballet dancers are and how much they have to eat. She seems to have them all on the Michael Phelps diet. Of course, she was writing when Balanchine was still in the process of transforming the ideal image of a ballet dancer, so I think it was more true then. Now, I'm not so sure.

Overall though, while it's no Drina, I did rather like it, but that's because it's Estoril and there are many things I will forgive her.

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Bottle Factory Disaster

The Bottle Factory Outing Beryl Bainbridge

Freda and Brenda are two (English) women working at a wine bottling company in London. The rest of the workers are Italian, plucked from rural Italian poverty by the factory's owner, the near-mythical Mr. Paganotti. Freda is big and loud and in love with Paganotti's nephew, Vittorio. Brenda is small and dumpy and uptight, but doesn't want to make a fuss so lets the factory manager, Rossi, molest her. In an attempt to set the perfect scene for Vittorio can confess his love (for surely he loves her!) Freda organizes an outing to a Stately Home for the factory to take together.

Of course, nothing goes right and in fact goes horribly wrong. Bottle Factory Outing is a macabre twist on the classic British bedroom farce/comedy of errors type. And... it didn't really do much for me. I didn't connect with or particularly care about any of the characters and was only mildly interested in what happened to them. Freda's over-dramatics annoyed me, but not nearly as much as Brenda's spinelessness did. I just didn't understand Brenda. At all. I had no idea what made her tick and why she did the things she did and reacted the way she reacted. There's something about this book that I just can't put my finger on. I was to say it reminds me of Bottom and Benny Hill with a bit of Alan Partridge (all shows I don't particularly enjoy) but it's not that madcap slapsticky and those seem like really bad comparisons, but they just gave me that vibe for some weird reason. It's hard to put my finger on. Anyway, overall I give it a "meh" which is solely based on me on the reader and nothing to do with the book itself.

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Ballet!

These books took me forever to find. Drina is an eleven book series, all of which are out of print. The first 5 were favorites of mine as a munchkin, but the last 6 were never released in the US. I finally got them through the University on ILL, but they were marked Library Use Only, so I had to read them in the college library. Since then, I have collected them all. phew. I reviewed the first 6 here.

Some over-arching things apply-- these books are unbelievably old-skool British. In a vaguely racist way. Drina's temper is always blamed on her Italian blood. Or, such sentences as Drina though yearningly of summer warmth and the delights of wearing few clothes, for she was half-Italian and so naturally delighted in sunshine and warm air. eye roll.

WARNING: I am reviewing series books! While there aren't spoilers for individual titles, there might be spoilers for earlier titles in the series. It's the nature of the beast.

Drina Dances in Paris Jean Estoril

After falling so hard in luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurve on her trip to New York, Drina has some issues readjusting to the Dominick. But, Grant surely only thinks of her as a kid, and ballet must always come first. Well, maybe. Diary of a Dancer is becoming a West End play and Ilonka and Terza really want her to audition. And then... Drina gets to go to Paris to revive Casse Noisette. And... there's a surprise visitor!

Even better though, is that Drina has some issues balancing her friends, which makes her a little more human than usual!

Drina Dances in Madeira Jean Estoril

Drina's back for the new term in London. Of course, after Paris and Grant, it's a bit of a shock getting back, especially when she learns that the lease on the school in Red Lion square won't be renewed and the school will be moving. Lots more of the plot about Diary of a Dancer. There's going to be a movie and Drina's acting in the stage version again. Then, the vacation to Germany gets cancelled and it's off on a cruise instead. But there's dancing on the cruise! Of course there is!

This is where we start to see the development of my favorite subplot--Jenny's economic woes. Her father's firm fails (which I think happened in an earlier book) and so Jenny has to leave school and become a secretary, giving up all her dreams of becoming a farmer. It's a nice juxtaposition to everything going so freaking RIGHT all the time for Drina. Also, with their divirging paths, the two friends are starting to grow apart, which is heartbreaking for both of them. I love this plot line because it's the most real thing in the entire series.

Drina Dances in Switzerland Jean Estoril

Drina's grandfather has been ordered (for health reasons) to leave England for the winter, so Granny and Grandfather are off to Switzerland and they're taking Drina with them. Drina's new boarding school is not the right place for her to be by any stretch of the imagination. First off, the only ballet instruction is a twice-weekly lesson with the ballet master from La Scala. The lessons are good, but not enough, and her teachers don't understand why she wants to practice a full hour a day (a concession that Granny had to get from the headmistress.) The school is for training future diplomatic wives and is more a finishing school than anything. Drina, used to running around London and other various European capitals by herself is horrified to find she's watched every minute and not trusted here.

Drina's really tested in this book, because things are genuinely hard at her new school. She does try to make the best of it, but it doesn't come easily, and where people have tried to keep her from dancing in previous books, everyone around her at least understood (a) what dancing meant to her and (b) the amount of work needed to become a professional and (c) how good she really was at it. No one really gets that in this one, which is a first for her.

Drina Goes on Tour Jean Estoril

So, here's the book where we really realize how old Drina and her friends have gotten. Jenny's getting married!!!! And after Drina finishes her exams, she and Rose and everyone become members of the Corps de Ballet! Before that, Drina has to get used to really being famous, because the secret fact she's Ivory's daughter becomes public knowledge.

The great thing about this is how hard touring is. Drina always thought she'd love it, and she doesn't. I mean, she does, she loves the dance, but there are nights when it is work. Touring is everything she's ever heard it was and that takes a bit of adjustment.

DID I MENTION JENNY GETS MARRIED?!

Drina Ballerina Jena Estoril

And here's the last book. Within the first four chapters, three big things happen:

1. JENNY HAS A BABY! A BABY!!!!!

2. Drina and Grant get engaged! (Ha ha, Jenny's childhood prediction was right! Drina does end up with a businessman!)

3. The Dominick (company, not school, because Drina's all grown up now) is going to do the ballet Drina wrote for her school in Switzerland, staring Drina.

My one quibble is that Jenny has a computer. Yes, this came out in 1991, so it's possible, but the first book came out in 1957 and while they grow up, they don't grow up THAT much. My guess is in this last book it's, at latest, 1970. A small computer to help with the accounting? No.

This is a lovely wrap-up to the series. I'm so glad I was able to track down these books. If you read the Drina books growing up, do try to seek out these sequels. It's wonderful to watch as she and her friends grow up and what happens to everyone as they find their way.

My New Favorite Series

Diva without a Cause Grace Dent

The British original was called Trainers V. Tiaras and the US hardcover was just called Diary of a Chav.

Shiraz Baily Wood is NOT a Chav, thank you very much. Even if the local paper does refer to her school as super-chav academy. Just because she likes track suits and gold hoops doesn't make her one!

(Ok, it kinda does, but chav really isn't a nice thing to call someone, so we can forgive Shiraz her denial.)

Her career goals are to go on Big Brother and create lots of controversalities, which she will, because she totally keeps it real, and then spin that into an empire and make two million pounds, just like Tabitha Tennant. Meanwhile her best friend's boyfriend is a bit minging, her older sister Cava-Sue is in drama school and dressing like a hobo, and her brother Murphy is just gross.

Hilarious. Dent's writing is pitch-perfect. Astoundingly so. I'm so glad that the American publication didn't touch the lower-working-class British dialect at all.

What I love most about this book is it's more than funny British chick-lit. There's a lot going underneath the surface, most of it class related. Going to college or university isn't a goal Shiraz's parents want for her. They don't even care about her A-levels-- her mum thinks she should get a job and start earning money and find a nice rich man to marry, preferably a builder because they can fix things around the house. A lot of the family tension comes from the fact that Cava-Sue is doing her A-levels. But, Shiraz has a new teacher who's forcing her to think about some things. This is not a side of British life we see in lit very often, especially the stuff that makes it over here. Most readers will think Shiraz's mum is crazy and that her ideas of what's classy are CRAZY (seriously, think Chardonnay from Footballers Wive$) but the way Dent portrays them isn't mockingly.

Some of the drama, like in most teen lives, is created by Shiraz, but a lot of the bigger issues are not. I loved her.

It's laugh-out-loud hysterical, but Shiraz has a lot of heart and is, really, a proper legend. As a note though, unless you're very, very good at British-English (and not just your regular ones such as "trainers" and "GCSEs" but you need to know words like "minging" "WAGs" and "ASBO"), you'll want to make use of the glossary at back.

The sequel, Posh and Prejudice comes out in December.

If you're good enough at your British to not need the glossary (like those of us who used to live in the dodgier parts of Manchester), this series is up to book 6 in the UK. BOOK 6!!!! And, may I remind you, for all of your British book buying needs, there is nothing better than The Book Depository. Regular prices and FREE WORLD WIDE SHIPPING with no minimum order. Yes, I make money off Amazon, but not Book Depository, I just love them. And I've ordered the rest of the series through them. Huzzah!

And now, an excerpt:

I LOVE going to bingo with Nan. Nan is the bingo queen. Nan always reckons that she has a bad heart and bad eyesight, but when she gets to bingo she can do six bingo cards at once while smoking a Lucky Strike and talking about everyone else there with Gill. Nan don't even get shaky when they do the live national link up for ₤40,000!!! I only did one card and my hear was thumping like mad! Nan said that if she gets the big national one she's moving to Spain with Gill and they're going to sit in the sun and drink rum-and-Cokes and find themselves new fellas, seeing as their old ones have gone and died. Nan said I can come with her and get myself a Spanish fella with brown eyes. (Even Nan is obsessed with me getting a lad.)

...

It was a right bother getting Nan and her mates home after bingo 'cos Gill won a bingo line and spent the ₤30 on rum-and-Cokes for her, Nan, and their mate Clement. "You can't take it with you when you die," said Gill. They were singing on the bus all the way home. They are worse than us hoodies.

Voices from our pre-historic past

I read Kit's Wilderness by David Almond for my YA lit class last summer. I didn't like it.

I read Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd this weekend and absolutely loved it.

But, when I was finished Bog Child on Monday morning and was thinking about it (because it is a book that stays with you) I was struck by the similarities in the stories, and how one was so much more successful than the other.

Kit's Wilderness is the story of Kit, who moves to an English mining town to help take care of his elderly grandfather. He and his friends play the game of Death, to scare themselves. His grandfather tells him the stories of the mines, of his family. He develops a relationship (not friends, but almost) with the school troublemaker. He writes a story about a pre-historic cave family that's woven in throughout the main story.

Look, Kit's Wilderness is a Printz winner and I haven't liked the other books by Almond I've read. The story was good. But... it was heavily layered and full of symbolism and parallels. I don't mind that--it usually makes a good story, but the craft of the story was just so obvious. I could see what Almond was doing as I was reading it. When the craft of a story is so blatant that I notice it as I'm reading? Then I can't enjoy the story. I don't want such things to be obvious until I put the book down and start thinking. In this, the parallels were SO OBVIOUS. The book should come with a frying pan, because it kept hitting you over the head.

Now, Bog Child is completely different.

Fergus lives in Northern Ireland, near the border with Ireland in 1981. One day he finds a body in the bog and assumes it's a victim of the increased violence since Bobby Sands died. But, the body in the bog turns out to be from the Iron Age. Fergus must navigate life in Northern Ireland with a hunger-striking brother in prison, being recruited into IRA activities, and the archaeologists trying to discover the story of the body he dreams about at night.

So the similarities are:

Mood--Kit's Wilderness gets its bleakness from the winter season and mining landscape. Bog Child's is from the political undercurrents and family tension.

Pre-historic Story--Kit writes a story about a cave family that's woven through, Fergus dreams the life of the Bog Child leading up to her death.

Parallels--Both have several parallel stories and layers.

The story Kit's writing in English class parallels what is going on in his day-to-day life in a way that's so obvious I couldn't handle the book. Bog Child is subtler--Fergus's brother is starving himself in prison, the Bog Child is living through a time of famine, and there are subtle hints that Cora might have an eating disorder, starving herself for another reason (although this is NEVER said and might be me reading more into the text, but I'm willing to write a pretty strong paper on why I think this is so.)

All in all, Kit's Wilderness left me cold, while Bog Child haunts me. I had to force myself to finish the first (hello homework!) and couldn't put the second down.

Girl, 28, Catching Up on Reviewing, (Slowly) Going Insane

I am from the midwest. While winter is not my favorite season, I do enjoy it. DC winter makes me sad. It's cold enough to be annoying, but not cold enough to actually be cold. It's gray and rainy. There's no snow. :(

Today, I didn't wear my jacket when I went out to dinner, because it would have been too hot. IT IS WINTER! I NEED TO WEAR A JACKET!

Anyway, books. Today I'm reviewing the rest of the Girl... series by Sue Limb. It's hard to review a series book without some spoilers for previous books. I apologize, but I don't have the skillz to do it any other way.

Girl, (Nearly) 16: Absolute Torture Sue Limb

Jess and Fred are in luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurve, but tragedy awaits them—mainly in the form that Jess is going on holiday with Granny and Mum. How will insecure Jess handle being torn away from Fred for weeks?! Even if Jess is looking forward to finally visiting her Dad at his place, how can she leave Fred with the bevy of beauties inevitably surrounding him?

So, I was a little disconcerted with the ending of Girl 15, Charming but Insane. I mean, Jess’s best friend Flora, really likes Fred. But at the end of the book, Jess and Fred hook up. What about Flora? Even if you like a boy, if your best friend expresses interest first, he’s off limits until she says otherwise. I feel very strongly about this and was kinda pissed at Jess for not really thinking about Flora. Bad friend! (Plus, I was reading this after sunrise during the 24 hour readathon, so I was really mad.) Anyway, I thought there would be some friendship drama in the start of this book but Flora was over it (even though she had sulked about it for three days.)

Anyway, I really liked this one. Jess is insane and insecure and invents her own drama, but her voice is laugh-out-loud hysterical (she does want to be a comedienne when she grows up) A great addition to the funny Brit chick-lit scene—good for fans especially of Georgia Nicolson or Angelica Cookson Potts.

Girl, Going on 17: Pants on Fire Sue Limb

After their fantastic summer, school’s about to start. Sadly, this means a heart-breaking comedy of errors as Jess and Fred break up over pride and misunderstanding. To top it off, there’s a new teacher at school—one that hates Jess and her comedy. Things are so awful Jess keeps getting “sick” and keeps spinning outrageous tales to cover her absences.

Once again, Jess must lie in the bed of drama that she made. And! If she can get around annoying MacKenzie and the horrible Miss Thorn, there will be an end-of-term comedy show to end all comedy shows.

I think this is my favorite of the series. Jess’s drama is entirely invented, and entirely avoidable, but yet, entirely real and believable. Problems escalate when she doesn’t want to show vulnerability, and in her attempt to keep her life under control, it spins wildly out of it. Hysterical and full of heart.

Girl, Barely 15: Flirting for England Sue Limb

This is the prequel to the saga of Jess. In the term before Girl, 15, Charming, But Insane, before Fred, before lusting after Ben, before Granny moves in, a group of French exchange students is coming. Luckily, the student Jess is hosting sends a picture that shows him to be super-hott. Jess can’t wait. Too bad her French sucks. But, when Edouard arrives, he’s a small, little kid! With English skills to match Jess’s French ones. International romantic drama (and hilarity) ensues, culminating in a camping trip of comedicly epic proportions.

This is a well-done prequel—it sets up the first series perfectly, without everything pointing to things that fans of the series already know (like Gossip Girl: It Had to Be You does.) It’s also nice to see Jess completely insane, but not in relation to Fred—you know it’s just her.

One Last Post!

One last post before I go-go...

Also, can I say how much I am NOT looking forward to flying with the double whammy ear and sinus infection combo? The Beijing Kao Ya, however, should make up for it. (That's Peking Duck. I've been brushing up on my food vocabulary.)

Also, 'cuz I'll be offline, an early Shana Tovah to y'all. I'm celebrating by climbing a Taoist mountain (Tai Shan) to watch the sunrise. I figure starting the Days of Awe with a bit of awe is probably a good thing.

Anyway, one last book review.

Gifted: A Novel by Nikita Lalwani

Rumi was 5 when her kindergarten teacher walked her home to tell her parents she had a gift for math.

At age 10, she sees a news report about an 8 year old who's just done their math O-level. She could do that. She wants to do that. In fact, she's a little ticked that the 8 year old beat her to it.

Her father grabs a hold of this dream and subjects Rumi to a rigorous study schedule. All math, all the time. Nights? Weekends? Math.

Their goal, their dream, is to attend Oxford by age 15. Mahesh wants it for prestige, to make his immigrant family's mark on their new country. Rumi wants it to escape her life and parents in Cardiff. Rumi wants the freedom it promises.

Mahesh will do everything to make sure their dream comes true, but Rumi is growing and would like to have other things on her mind than just math.

Rumi is an interesting character and Lalwali's omniscient narrator's shifts in point of view make this less a story focusing on the immigrant experience and more an exploration of the relationships, motivations, tension and drama that hold this family together and ultimately tear it apart.

Lalwani's narrative gift lies in the little details-- the way Rumi becomes addicted to raw cumin as a means of control in her life. Or the way, when studying, she has the radio on, the record and pause button both depressed on her tape deck, ready to record a good song if one comes on...

An excellent book for book discussion groups.

Available September 11.

Full disclosure: ARC provided by Random House through Library Thing Early Reader's Program.