female characters – Page 2

Anne Ylvisaker and The Book Club

Author Anne Ylvisaker

I was the host of our book club last night and we had a a fantastic time. Through a round of chance encounters (one of our members worked with Anne’s husband in Cedar Rapids a few years back) and after I’d read and loved Little Klein we cooked up a plan to read a few of her books and see if she would skype with us. We’re so happy she agreed.

Ylvisaker grew up in Minnesota; in the St. Paul area, her father was a minister and she spent time in Iowa as an adult as well. All three of her fiction books take place in these Midwest settings. She had a lot of good stories to tell; some about her family and some about her writing process. I particularly loved this one…her writing group at one time gathered words and shared them with each other; using them to write with that week. She could pick them out of Little Klein and demonstrated how they raised the story up. She also shared many of the personal family stories that have became part of her books.

It was one of the best book club experiences we’ve had and it had nothing to do with the delicious food or the wine. It was the lively conversation we had with her and the discussion we had after we hung up the camera.
I’m a huge fan of hers and hope you will take time to read any of her fiction books for fun.

I read Dear Papa recently (2002) a wonderful elementary/middle grade fiction that shares the letters Isabelle writes to her deceased father and other family members as she deals with her grief and her mother’s eventual remarriage. The book is filled with daily joys and disappointments…just like real life. It takes place in Minnesota around the second World War.
Here’s a snippet:

“Dear Papa, Jan. 1, 1944 It’s a brand-new year. I have made some resolutions: Help the first time Mama asks. Hang up my clothes before bed. Go to church with a willing heart. Keep our family together. Your daughter,Isabelle, nine and a half today” (15)

I also read her latest book, The Luck of the Buttons (2011) about a young Iowa girl, Tugs Buttons, who is cursed with an unlucky family. Tugs changes her stars as she wins a three-legged race, an essay contest and a raffle all at the 4th of July celebration. She suffers some hard times but in the end she is able to show her family sometimes you got to make your own luck happen. Tugs is another positive young heroine!
Another snippet to share:

“Tugs shrugged into yesterday’s clothes, which still lay in a heap on the floor, slipped past Granny, who was writing a letter at the kitchen table, and collected five pennies from her mother on her way out the door. Wednesday mornings were Granddaddy Ike’s checkers mornings. and in the summer, Tugs was in charge of walking him from his house to Al and Irene’s Luncheonette…”(60)

We found out she has two more books in the works about this Button family and the next one up is Button Down, featuring Tugs’ cousin, Ned. Read my review of Little Klein here, which features an adorable boy and a dog combo that will make you smile to the heavens.

There was a grand moment for me when Ylvisaker recognized the “Peaceful Reader” name and asked if we were not on twitter together…I was over-the-moon-thrilled!

Thank you to Anne for taking time out of her busy schedule (her children had just returned home for the holidays) to talk with our group and to all authors who make themselves available to us, their adoring readers.
Thank you to my book club friends for willingly taking this leap of faith with me and Kay!
(now I’m thinking why didn’t I ask her for a preview copy of Button Down…silly me)
Enjoy.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Soon after reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver I picked up Forman’s If I Stay. I found both books had similar themes of resurrection and death. The most glaring difference, for me, was personalities; Sam Kingston was a follower and her focus was on popularity~she does grow as she tries to fix things in her life.

If I Stay’s main character, Mia was lovable just as she was~she grows as she learns to live without her family. Her life was lovely; she had funky and interested parents, she was a talented cello player and had a funny and supportive best friend. And the boyfriend, Adam, just as lovable as Mia but scruffier.

Synopsis:

Mia chose life in If I Stay and this second book, told through Adam’s perspective, tells us about his journey without her. The band he plays in, Shooting Star, has taken off and he and the band are playing big shows with groupies and fans trailing after them. He always wanted to make it big but it isn’t what he expected at all because now it’s not really about making music and getting their groove on; it’s a show and it’s bigger than them. His band has always been like a family and now they are broken pieces linked but not happily. He is popping pills and smoking cigarettes just to make it through the day.

One night in NYC Adam is out wandering the streets and passes by Carnegie Hall as people are going in for a performance. It just so happens that Mia is playing and he buys a ticket. Through word-of-mouth Mia learns that Adam (he is a major rock star now and recognizable) is in the audience and sends for him at the end. They meet and talk for a few minutes and it doesn’t go well. Adam has all these things he wants to say to her and they just don’t come out. He wants to know why she let him go, why she stopped answering his emails and taking his phone calls. Adam leaves Carnegie in frustration and Mia follows him and tries to talk more. The second half of the book recounts this night together as they argue and slowly come together over what happened when Mia’s family died.

My thoughts:

I liked this one but I missed Mia’s eclectic parents. In the first book you get a real sense of family from them; a coziness and in this one we meet Adam’s parents and while they are both there they are not as interesting as Mia’s were. I loved Adam’s interaction with her family and it added a lot to the characters. Listening to Adam and Mia’s dad talk about music helped us get to know Adam. He wasn’t just a guy playing in a band-he had potential.

We do get to hear all about Shooting Stars rise, crash and rise to fame again after Adam has a writing epiphany. We get to understand why he’s been in crisis and I was a bit bummed his band didn’t understand this more. His story was interesting but it got much more exciting once Mia and he were talking-even if at times I found it frustrating and wanted to talk for them!

Both these books are worthy and I like that it is a two-book set and I haven’t heard anything about another one. I felt the ends were tied up nicely and I could let them go. And they made me weep!

Read my review of Lauren Oliver’s Before i Fall.
Reading Rants reviews Where She Went.

Here’s a trailer but I wanted Adam’s voice to sound different.

One Thousand White Women; The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus

A friend gave me this book and said “You’ve got to read this; it’s the best book I’ve ever read.”

A big build up. It sat for about 6 months on my to-read shelf by my bed and every time I ran into my friend, Rocky, he would say…”Have you read it yet?” and I’d have to say “not yet, but I’m going to get to it soon.” I put a limit on it for myself; I needed to finish it by July.

I finished it last night at 11:57, (July 31). It only took me four days (in between single mother duties as the male half of my family is off on a mission trip to W.Va.) and I liked the book. I don’t think it is the best book I’ve ever ready but I liked it. Mostly it points out human frailty and that it has been with us since the beginning of time.

The book is a bit of historical fiction, according to the author, but not completely. He’s mixed true factual events and real people with a whole lot of fiction. The book begins with a peace meeting between Little Wolf, the Sweet Medicine chief, addressing the President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, Little Wolf’s request was that if 1,000 white women joined them, became brides of Native men and had babies this would be a clear path to assimilation between the races. The idea made perfect sense to the Cheyenne but the peace meeting collapsed and all went home. This book interjects to change the outcome…What if 1,000 white women did marry into the Cheyenne tribe? What then?

May Dodd is a fictitious character who reads like a real person so well is she created. She’s a woman of means from Chicago who had the misfortune of falling in love with, Harry, a foreman with her father’s company. They live scandalously, unmarried, and have two beautiful babies together. One night while Harry is off drinking, men come and take May and the babies away. The babies end up with May’s parents and she ends up in a lunatic asylum-her illness is reported as “moral perversity.”

She is approached one day by special permission as she’s not allowed to be near men at all during her “confinement” due to her “condition.” She and several other women are given the opportunity to volunteer for the Brides for Indians Program. May signs on immediately as this, in an odd way, is her ticket to freedom. As these women travel west on the train we get to know them and it is these women and the friendships that make this book worth reading. My favorite character was Phemie, a strong African escaped slave who made her way to Canada and then signed up for the program to become truly a free woman. I understood her motivation and her need to connect with the Cheyenne.

There are many interesting themes in this book but the idea of humanity came to me over and over. I wanted May to grandly discover how beautiful Native culture was-and she does to some extent-but every time she feels that way something negative happens and she is thrown backwards. Toward the end of the book my mind kept thinking about our current situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, in a no-win situation bullying another culture, just as we did with the Native Americans.

Life keeps circling and humans do terrible things to each other in the name of religion and assimilation. The book made me think, question some preconceived notions and, especially, appreciate the strong women this book introduced me to. The image of Phemie on horseback, May writing, Helen painting and the Kelly twins will stay with me for a long time. This would make a wonderful book club choice as there are so many elements to discuss.

Jim Fergus website

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

(2009)

Fantasy

471 pages

I just finished and am overwhelmed with how wonderful this book was to read. Cashore created a world of kingdoms ruled by kings where two people, Katsa and Po, meet and become friends in the truest sense. Both Katsa and Po are graced with a special talent far beyond what others can imagine. Katsa, orphaned at a young age lives with her uncle, King Randa, who has control over her and uses her killing grace to his advantage but through her own rebellious feelings she forms a council to right some obvious wrongs. On one of the council’s missions she meets Po, a prince from one of the seven kingdoms, and things begin to change in her world as Po teaches her that no man, especially Randa, can control her; that her control always lies within her.

I don’t want to go into detail as much of what was great about this book took me by surprise; points I don’t want to now hand to you, if you haven’t read it. I like fantasy and I thought Cashore built a believable world with very likeable characters. I liked how the characters from part one were not forgotten as I liked Raffin and Helda. I want to know more about Po’s family, Katsa’s decisions and Bitterblue’s struggles.

Last night we drove for two hours home from a music fest and I couldn’t put the book down, even though my head was nodding, begging for sleep and I was reading with a tiny book light. I woke up this morning, picked the book up again, read, made breakfast, read until I turned the last delicious page. I think I will probably be at the library when the doors open tomorrow morning to get Fire.

After Thoughts: I’m a little perturbed because I did some research about Fire, the “sequel” to Graceling and it’s about a different character and as much as I can gather does not further Katsa and Po’s story. (How many of you already knew this…?) I will still read it but am not racing to the library to get it.
I also read a few other reviews and want to comment. The whole relationship issue was believable to me…this is something many people grapple with today and marriage is complex. Can you marry someone and not feel a little “owned” even when you love that person? Yes, but it’s not always easy and the book makes that argument. Katsa and Po are not high school teenagers either and Katsa hasn’t had any positive guidance in this area either. She knows she doesn’t want someone to be in charge of her life. I think it is a worthy debate and thought the example of love was done well; showing depth from both characters.

I did think the book ended quickly but I didn’t think it let the story just drop off. I was ready to read about Katsa’s lessons with Bitterblue and Po’s journey home. I think Katsa and later Bitterblue offer strong female characters for readers and great examples of friendship and self-esteem exist in the book.
Find Kristin Cashore at her blog, This Is My Secret.
Find Graceling at an Indie Bookstore near you.

The Award-Winning Moon Over Manifest

by Clare Vanderpool

(2010)

342 pages

I would love to be the kind of person who is able to read the Newberry winner right away or even better, to have already read it before the announcement. But let’s face it, I have a busy life with family, school and all the other books on my stack(s). There is a certain amount of guilt involved as a librarian until you’ve read the Newberry there. Ahhhh. I feel so much better now and I know the committee made a worthy choice.

When this one was announced it wasn’t even on my radar so I quickly ordered it for my school and then, let it languish around the library. One day in trying to model good reading to a class I picked it out of a stack and started reading while I wandered among the fourth grade students. I was hooked.
Abilene’s voice is strong, clear and interesting. Here she is getting ready to jump off the train:

At the last car, I waited, listening the way I’d been taught-wait till the clack of the train wheels slows to the rhythm of your heartbeat. The trouble is my heart speeds up when I’m looking at the ground rushing by. Finally, I saw a grassy spot and jumped. The ground came quick and hard, but I landed and rolled as the train lumbered on without a thank-you or goodbye. (3)

Summary from GoodReads:

Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.
Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”

Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.

Powerful in its simplicity and rich in historical detail, Clare Vanderpool’s debut is a gripping story of loss and redemption.

My thoughts:

The last sentence says it all…It is a powerful tale! It is a gripping story! One of the reasons I love historical fiction is because there’s a lot to learn while reading and I AM a life-long learner at heart. This story is special because you get two sets of histories; Abilene’s in 1936 and her father’s in 1918, which Abilene begins to understand as she tries to piece together her father’s part in Manifest’s history. The result is back and forth storytelling brought on by one of my favorite characters, Miss Sadie, a soothsayer or fortune-telling woman of Manifest. As Miss Sadie tells her remembrances a beautiful picture of Manifest is created for Abiline and her friends.

If you haven’t had a chance to read this award-winner take the time as it is richly written.

To find this book at an independent bookseller near you, click on the title, Moon Over Manifest

Ninth War (excellent middle grade read)

by Jewell Parker Rhodes

2010

217 pages

Hurrican Katrina swept through the city of New Orleans almost 6 years ago. Wow. I remember watching it unfold on the news every day and wishing I had the means to get there and help-do anything. Even though I watched it I can’t imagine what it would be like to be there-this book gave me the feeling of being there. If I had been there I would have wanted to be with Lanesha.

Synopsis:

Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in tight-knit community in New Orleans’s Ninth Ward. She doesn’t have a fancy house, like her uptown family, or lots of friends, like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya’s visions show a powerful hurricane-Katrina-fast approaching, it’s up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm.

My thoughts:

This is the powerful story of Lanesha, raised by Mama Ya-Ya, able to see ghosts, especially her dead mother. Her mother died in childbirth and Mama Ya-Ya, the mid-wife, raised Lanesha as her own, loving her and filling her with knowledge of signs and the world around her. The relationship between Lanesha and Mama Ya-Ya is strong and both of them have special talents that set them apart from their neighbors. Even though Lanesha has had trouble fitting in she is now in a new middle school and she’s met a new friend as well as a teacher who sees talent in her. She is busy dealing with her day-to-day life when Mama Ya-Ya senses the storm’s arrival. Lanesha shines as she takes the predictions seriously enough to get her and Mama Ya-Ya to the upstairs bathtub where they live through the hurricane. Lanesha’s strength shows through as she gets them to higher ground and takes the neighbor boy with them to the attic. The scene in the attic is amazing as Lanesha figures out what she must do and is able to leave behind everything that is familiar to her.
Ninth Ward made Katrina come alive for me as a reader. I could feel the water rise and Lanesha’s panic as well as her ability to see what they had to do to stay alive. She figures it out step-by-step like a math problem; something to be solved and move on to the next step. Students will love reading about Lanesha’s struggles with friendship even as she conquers the rising flood waters. I’m so glad to have read this story-I feel richer knowing more about how this time in New Orleans unfolded so quickly.

Perfect Quote:

“Do you know why your momma is still here?” (Mama Ya-Ya)
I swallow.
“She wasn’t sure you were going to be all right. The world can be a hard place sometimes, Lanesha. You have to have heart. You have to be strong. Not just any strong, mind you, but loving strong. Your testing should’ve come much, much later. But when it came, you shined with love and strength.”
“You’re my strength,” I say, confused my Mama Ya-Ya’s words. I’m not sure what I’m feeling. It’s not pure happiness, but something sour. Bittersweet. (144-145)

Other thoughts:
Stacy at Welcome to my Tweendom.
Tanya at books4yourkids.
the Kid’s Book Club has Lanesha’s recipes.
Jewel Parker Rhodes website

Finally by Wendy Mass (2010)

I have to get this one back out on the library shelves…students are clamoring for it because many read 11 Birthdays by Mass last year. I read Finally a few weeks ago and will be happy to share it with students-I think they will like it more than I did. Hmm, don’t get me wrong, I liked it, I just didn’t love it.

Straight from the back cover…

I’m a big wisher. I’ll wish on anything. Shooting stars, stray eyelashes, dandelion tops, coins in fountains. Birthday candles (my own and other people’s). Even when my glasses fog up. When I was younger, the wishes used to vary. A pony. A best friend. A new bike with streamers on the handles. A baby brother or sister. some of these even came true (not the pony). But over the past year, every wish has been spent wishing I was 12 already, a date I’ve waited for my whole life and one that is only six weeks away. Looking back, I wish I had saved one of those wishes because, if I had, I wouldn’t be stuck in this drainpipe right now. Yes, drainpipe.

Rory gets herself stuck while on a field trip and an elderly woman rescues her. This has some of the same mystical, magical charm that 11 Birthdays did as well as intertwining characters. Amanda and Leo (from 11 Birthdays) attend Rory’s school, so we know we are in the same community. Kids will love meeting up with these characters!

Rory has this whole list of things she wants to be able to do once she turns 12, most things her friends can already do. The first half of the book we get a nice understanding of her family and why she wants all these things to happen. She feels like she has the strictest parents in the universe…(she wouldn’t want to come live at my house).

On the big day, Rory has a chart ready to share with her parents and her parents are prepared to let this list of demands become reality. Some of them are normal: she wants to babysit so she takes the beginner’s Red Cross course for babysitters (I did this myself back in the day!). She gets an IM account, a cell phone (which she loses way, way too quickly) and is interested in getting a rabbit and her ears pierced.

It’s a lot of demands and all of it turns out hilarious. My favorite part was the ending, which was filled with warm feelings and great resolution but the middle made me a little overwhelmed. Kids will love it though-especially the murderous bunny!

Wendy Mass’ website

Laura Resau's Star in the Forest

(2010)

149 pages, including pronunciation and glossary

This book is a perfect gem for elementary students, especially at my elementary school. Not every school population will relate to this story even though they could still take much from it’s great characters and friendship theme.

Synopsis:

Zitlally’s father has been deported and her mother, in order to earn enough to bring him back, works extra jobs and takes in boarders to their already cramped trailer. While her family struggles Zitally escapes to the woods behind their trailer and finds a lonely and abandoned dog trailer park and puts all her energy into comforting the dog~which makes her feel closer to her father. Because of the dog, Zitlally is befriended by Crystal, a girl from her class who also happens to live in the trailer park. Her and Crystal’s relationship to each other and through the act of taking care of Star is filled with kindness and true friendship. They accept each other and Star for what is real.

Random Quote:

Papa’s favorite thing in the world is mushroom picking. I don’t remember too much from Xono, but I remember when he took me mushroom hunting. It smelled like rain and mud, and the ground squished beneath our feet, and it was just me and him because Dalia didn’t like walking very far. (24)

I can’t wait to introduce this to students at Highland as we have a large Hispanic population and many of our students live in a one of two close trailer parks. I think reading Star in the Forest will give students an instant connection to Zitlally and her family, no matter their background or where they live, because she is a very real and loveable character.

Ellie McDoodle; Have Pen, Will Travel

by Ruth McNally Barshaw

2007

170 pages

elementary fiction

My reader girl and I just finished this book last night. It is half chapter book, half diary with pages of doodles thrown in for fun! Think Wimpy Kid but not as crazy. We loved Ellie and her games.

From the back of the book:

When Ellie McDougal’s parents go out of town, she’s forced to go on a camping trip with her aunt, uncle, cousins, and baby brother, Ben-Ben. Mosquitoes and poison ivy she can handle, but a week with crazy relatives? No way! Thank goodness she at least has her sketchbook for recording all the excruciating details.

As a reader we had a great time listening to Ellie try to fit in with her cousin’s family. It is always difficult feeling like the outsider. She’s ticked from the beginning of the trip because her aunt and uncle plan to stay in a cabin and Ellie’s family are tent-campers. Oh, what a big divide that is! Coming from a long line of tent campers I can relate to her dilemma but have adjusted very nicely to cabin camping and even motel camping on occasion. They have some many amazing adventures all on one camping trip. Frogs, marshmallows, rainy days, hurt feelings and getting lost are just a few of the issues to get through for Ellie and her cousins!

Lucky for Ellie she can doodle her frustrations away and she eventually discovers her relatives aren’t so bad. The camping trip made this a really unique read and my reader girl and I loved all the games she listed to play with doodles for explanation. I believe there are two more in the series and we’ll have to check them out as well. Beyond getting to know her cousins we are anxious to meet her best friend, Amy and her new camping buddy, Scott-we hope they both show up in Ellie’s next adventure!

Ellie has her own page!
Ruth McNally Barshaw

Fuse #8 Reviews the next book in the series.

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earthgirl

by Jennifer Cowan

(2009)

232 pages

Earth Girl, while interesting, left me unsure. When I first picked it up the inside liner intrigued me in that the main character, Sabine is on a going green personal journey but also because there was a statement about getting plastered with plum sauce from a McDonald’s to go bag. Hmmm. In the U.S. we don’t get plum sauce with Mickey D’s. Because it takes place in Toronto-perhaps they do or maybe that’s what they call Ketchup. This odd little fact stuck in my brain and for some reason this made me check the book out.

It’s written in very short snippets-good for teens but felt a little like texting, to me. Sabine shares her thoughts by blogging and we read her rants and the comments, which is an interesting twist. And unlike Hippie Chick this one gets a little preachy-even though I’m in her corner. I think it is because she is so new to the whole eco-movement, everything is so like, “OMG, did you know people who make all that cheap stuff earn next to nothing a day…” I’m not in this age-bracket but I think the book and the character, Sabine serve a very big purpose…to alert teens of these little known facts that many should pay attention to-facts that paint a bigger picture of the world. That fact alone makes this book a should-read. Maybe if it turned one teen toward a more eco-friendly existence it would be worth it.

Synopsis: Sabine, after getting pelted by before-mentioned plum sauce, has an aha-moment of what’s important in the real world. As she researches and discovers more about the environment, third-world markets, and green living she bores her two best friends, who are way more into purchasing cheap junk froom street vendors. She does gain a hunky earthy boyfriend who appears to have all the right answers. Vray, the boyfriend, is an interesting character but seemed less than real. The one character I adored was Ruby-Sabine’s co-op coworker, who has all kinds of good karma advice. If I had to play a character in this made-for-tv-movie, I’d want to be Ruby.

Favorite Quote:

“I’m pretty sure Vray is for me,” I sighed. “I think that’s what’s freaking me out.”
“That’s awesome. I love that feeling.” Ruby said, doing a little twirl in the aisle. “Better than drugs. Love’s the elixir of life. Wish we could bottle it and give it away to everyone in the world.”
“So then I’m not overreacting?”
“I hate that expression,” she answered emphatically. “You’re not overreacting. You’re feeling what you’re feeling and it’s totally fine.” (135)

I love the twirl in the aisle as much as the good advice! Go Ruby!

Read EarthGirl by Jennifer Cowan if you are remotely interested in making the earth a better place-or if you have a teenager who needs a push in that direction. The plum sauce thing still bugs me though…so if you know anything about plum sauce and McDonald’s, enlighten me.

Happy Reading, earthlings.
p.s. Library Reading Challenge
More info:

Shameless Mags interview with Jennifer Cowan-who previously wrote for the tele.
SKPL Teens review
Sabine/Earthgirl’s own blog

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