Stories Coming Alive

If you like fantasy, fairy tales and quest stories, The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly is for you. Even if you don’t think you like this type of book, you might still be absorbed by the themes of loss and grief in children. The book was nominated for the 2007 Irish Novel of the Year and received a 2007 Alex Award, which honors adult books that appeal to teen readers.

I honestly cannot remember exactly who recommended this book to me. It must have been one of the geeky-cute twenty-somethings working in the auditorium desk at Montreat. We had a long discussion about fantasy novels one night this summer. All I know is a week later I was at Malaprops in Asheville, North Carolina (another one of my favorite bookstores) and I found this book title written in my notes in my iPhone. I looked for it and decided I needed a fantasy novel this summer. The Book of Lost Things did not disappoint.

As soon as twelve-year-old David loses his mother at the start of the novel, I realized I was entering the realm of fairy tales and Disney movies. This was not going to be the typical fantasy novel. Connelly manages to weave in many well-known fairy tales throughout the novel. The familiar tales are told with unfamiliar twists. This is definitely an adult novel. The malevolent Crooked Man is hideously evil and the child David witnesses horrifying sights in the strange world he enters in search of his mother.  Yes, we have portals, woods, even a Woodsman, dwarfs, trolls, wolves, evil princesses, and much more. I am a sucker for books like this one.

And the best part of all, David’s mother taught him to love books, especially fiction. She “would often tell him that stories were alive.” She told her son that stories could “take root in the imagination and transform the reader. ‘Stories wanted to be alive,’ she would whisper in his ear.”

So, of course, after her death, David’s beloved books did begin to talk to him and he was transported into another world where, indeed, his familiar fairy tales came to life and not usually with a happily-ever-after.  In the course of this amazing journey, we see the often-petulant child David mature into a wise young man who develops empathy and understanding. He learns that everything one could want to know about life is found in books. Don’t you agree?

John Connolly ends the novel with a 120 page section subtitled, “Some Notes on The Book of Lost Things.” This is a scholarly treatise on the fairy tales mentioned in the book and each one’s origins. Each story is re-told in its original or most popular form. These are stories like Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Billy Goats Gruff, Beauty and the Beast and more.  To me, this made the book even more interesting. Check it out and see for yourself. 

Obsessed with Jackson Brodie

I've been on vacation for the last month. Actually I've been on vacation with Jackson Brodie the last month. Forget my family trip to the beach and my dear friends I see annually at Montreat; I've been in England and Scotland with Jackson Brodie, the "hero" in Kate Atkinson's "detective" novels. As you read in my last post, I discovered Kate Atkinson in her latest book, Life After Life. That award-winning novel was part romance, part historical fiction, part mystery and prompted me to find Atkinson's earlier books and devour them! I think many others have had the same urge -- I visited one of my favorite bookstores, Sun Dog Books, in Seaside, Florida and most of her books were sold out. I did manage to find Case Histories and One Good Turn which started my affair with Jackson Brodie, the brooding, imperfect star of the four books Atkinson has published since 2004.

I think I fell in love with Brodie when I learned of his taste in music -- Lucinda Williams, Nancy Griffith, Iris Dement -- all my favorite melancholy country/folk singers. Brodie's a type of anti-hero, with many faults and negative feelings, but he always manages to do the right thing, in spite of himself.  He's a tough, brooding guy on the outside, with a tender heart on the inside. I'm currently on my last of Aktinson's four Brodie novels, Started Early, Took My Dog, and I'm going to be bereft when I finish this book.  But researching my man Brodie for this post, I discovered there is a BBC series based on the novels. The only thing is I don't really want to see a flesh and blood Brodie, I prefer the man in my imagination. Atkinson cleverly gives no physical descriptions of her characters, she prefers to describe them by characteristics. Her characters come to vivid life without physical descriptions. Atkinson is a clever writer using plot twists and turns and humor to create an unforgettable story. You can bet that I will stay on vacation with Jackson Brodie as long as I can!

Getting a Re-do in Life

I completed the novel Life After Life by Kate Atkinson last night and I can’t stop thinking about it. The world the author creates is a dangerous place. The seemingly comfortable middle class life in the English countryside in the first half of the twentieth century is deceptive. A life can quickly and unexpectedly end by umbilical cord, beating, bombing, drowning, falling, and more. Death is ever present in life.

Although the story of Ursula Todd begins with her birth in 1910, the book is not chronological, and does not follow a sequence of events. It jumps from 1930 to 1910 to 1914, back to 1910, 1947, 1910, 1945, 1926, 1940 and so on. The author’s narrative device is telling and re-telling Ursula’s story through multiple outcomes to her life changing choices. The book is almost like one of those children’s chapter books where the reader chooses an ending from a number of choices. But it’s not exactly like that because Ursula has fragments of memories from other outcomes (or other lives?) in the same life. So the different outcomes and lives feel connected. The characters remain the same, but the endings change.

At one point in the book, Ursula’s beloved brother Teddy says, “What if we had a chance to do it [live our lives] again and again until we finally did get it right? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

“I think it would be exhausting,” replies Ursula.

This book may sound exhausting with the repeated events, but that’s not all there is to the story.  The characterization of Ursula and her parents, brothers and sister really hold the book together, in my opinion. Their personalities remain the same through the different parts of the book. 

The book also mesmerizes because of the vividly drawn story of the London Blitz. The descriptions of life during the constant bombing of civilians were so real and horrifying that I felt like I lived through the Blitz myself.  

I can’t give away the “end” of the book, but Ursula attempts to change major events of the twentieth century for a better outcome for not just herself, but for her loved ones and society. This may sound kooky, but the book is deftly written and cleverly controlled. The story holds your attention even though the author goes back and tells the story of Ursula’s birth and other major events in her life over and over with different results. The effect is strongly compelling. As a reader, you are pulling for Ursula to get it right. I guarantee you will not want to put down this amazing book.  I will definitely read more by Kate Atkinson. She is a genius.

Spreading the Love of Reading

It was a book lovers's dream come true. Yesterday I got to share 30 copies of one of my favorite books with young readers at KIPP Middle School, thanks to an amazing worldwide celebration called World Book Night. The USA version of this great organization just tried this for the first time in 2012. So it was quite a feat that at least half a million books were distributed across America last year thanks to more than 25,000 volunteers like me. The final numbers aren't in yet, so I have no idea how many volunteers and books were distributed yesterday.  But this is a well-run operation. First the books were selected, then publishers had to agree to publish them for free, then the volunteer "givers" applied and were selected, then the bookstores distributed boxes of 20 books to each volunteer "giver," then the givers distributed the books to light or non-readers in their community.

When I saw the list of this year's books, I knew I wanted to be a Giver. I just had to decide which book and who I wanted to distribute it to. I had to focus on light readers. Here's the list of books - which would you have chosen? I finally selected Looking for Alaska by John Green as my first choice and Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward as my second. I reviewed Looking for Alaska in one of my first blog posts. My daughter wrote her first author fan letter after finishing this amazing YA novel.  Salvage the Bones is a piece of literary artistry written by a young Mississippi writer. I couldn't lose either way. But a few months later, I received the happy news: I was selected as a Giver and could share Looking for Alaska!  I decided to give the books to the seventh and eighth graders I teach two afternoons a week at KIPP Middle School, a magnet school for underserved students in the heart of the city. I am their creative writing teacher in a unique joint project with Writers in the Schools and Aurora Picture Show. They are a  rowdy bunch, full of hormones and other distractions, so I was a bit apprehensive about how my generosity would be received. 

A couple of weeks before World Book Night, my local bookstore, Blue Willow Bookshop, emailed me about picking up my books on a certain day. I requested an extra 10 books, since my class totals 30 students and WBN was only distributing 20 to each giver. Valerie and her staff were generous, as always, and allowed me 30 special WBN editions of Green's book and sent me on my way with handouts and a button and giant sticker designating me as a giver. I wasn't allowed to share my books until April 23, which (if you are wondering) is Shakespeare's birthday, UNESCO International Day of the Book and the anniversary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes. 

Finally the big day arrived. I had prepared a poster for my students because I felt I wouldn't have their attention long enough to really tell them what I was doing. I told them I had a "surprise" for them. They asked if it was candy and I said, "No, you know me better than that, what would I think would be the best thing I could give you?" Someone quickly guessed. "Books!" 

"Yes!" I said. "I brought you each a special copy of one of my favorite books." I had written each student a letter to go with the book telling them why I loved the book and asking them to email me their thoughts after finishing the book. A couple of them had even read the book already. The students quickly mobbed around me grabbing their book and letter.  The students were really sweet and grateful; They couldn't believe the book was theirs for free. I can't wait to hear back from them. World Book Night was a wonderful opportunity to share my love of reading with a population that rarely had the opportunity to receive a free book. Join me next year and spread the love of reading. 

Love Conquers All

Hello dear readers. I missed the month of March on my book blog. I was busy with compiling (and typing and typing) anthologies for my Writers in the Schools students, and traveling for spring break with my high school senior. I’m finding some writing time again and want to talk books.  I’ve read some excellent novels, a book of short stories by the star of that genre (in my opinion) - Alice Munro - and one amazing book of poetry since I last posted here.  You can see the list of books I’ve read since July on the column to the right of the screen.

           A Land More Kind than Home  by Wiley Cash is a first novel that you may not have heard much about, and you must hurry out and get the book, now in paperback, from your local independent bookseller. It’s a Southern story of evil and love and families and it blew me away.

The story is told in through three distinct voices – the wise woman Adelaide Lyle, the young boy Jess Hall, and the seasoned sheriff Clem Barefield. All three have experienced tragedy in their lives and have chosen love over bitterness. Love is the answer and (spoiler alert) love wins in this tale of redemption.  Thanks again to Blue Willow Bookshop for the great book suggestion!

        

    The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker is also all about love. It was one of those books that I finished with tears pouring down my face, on an airplane. So hard to hide and so embarrassing. But I couldn’t stop crying; it was such a beautiful story.

            Heartbeats is a love story for the ages. The novel also involves a puzzle as a young woman searches for her missing father and unlocks his mysterious past. Her quest leads to her father’s native country of Burma and the tiny village of his sad origin.  I won’t say anymore except -- read both of these wonderful books!